Violet, I'm leaving this one comment up to tell you that if someone is harassing you, we'd recommend contacting local authorities. The Jim you're dealing with isn't the Jim quoted in the original post above. We can't help you on this issue except to recommend you contact authorities, as harassment is illegal. I hope this issue gets resolved. I'm really sorry you're dealing with a stressful situation.
No, it is not that Jim. I was not as observant as I should have been in not pointing that out. I apologize. I have decided to delete the post to avoid any more misunderstandings.
Quick moderator comment here for transparency. I just deleted most of the comments under this post, because a few people had taken over the comments, not to talk about this quote, but to discuss between themselves other topics, from the ACA to pro-life and pro-choice commenters on other sites they don't like to some very personal medical issues. There was also something confusing going on, where a "Jim H" was being talked very negatively about, which would naturally lead people to think that this Jim H refers to the Jim Henderson quoted above, but they were clearly talking about someone else based on the description of him. As a reminder, our comments policy is linked above every comments section on this site, and off-topic comments will be deleted. I'd recommend people use alternative means of communicating to each other, especially about personal medical issues. That's not what this site is for.
To change to topic a bit, I posted about a month ago on the lifesitenews article titled 'U.S. gov’t gives pro-LGBT researcher $1million to study, encourage transgenderism in kids'. Needless to say, I got a very "terse" reply. I finally answered that reply today. In case they ban 'Violet' altogether--which would not suprise me (they banned 'Val' over this same issue about a year ago), I will repost it all here. https://disqus.com/home/discussion/lifesitenews/us_govt_gives_pro_lgbt_researcher_1_million_to_study_encourage_transgenderism_in_kids/#comment-3974374804 Violet 25 days ago I will never understand how lifesitenews can brillantly acknowledge and expose the evil of killing unborn babies in some of its threads, but also spend so much time on acts between consenting adults that, unlike abortion, do not involve killing a third party. When you do this, it cheapens your arguments about how evil abortion really is, and your homophobia definately turns many people away from even considering the scientific, moral, and non-religious reasons for strongly opposing abortion. Truly sad. Steve Jalsevac 24 days ago You have just condemned the deeply held beliefs of at least a few billion people on this planet - beliefs based not only on religion but also on millennia of human experience. It is incredible foolishness. Also, we and others we have reported on in LifeSite, have thoroughly explained the connection between abortion and other issues of sexual morality. They are all one package and the advocates of homosexuality and transgenderism are well aware of this with many of the leaders making a strong case against that the entire Judeo-Christian moral code has to be destroyed so that a completely different new moral world order can dominate everywhere. Not one shred of the old culture can be tolerated since even a little of it, because of the power of its truths, threatens the attempt to impose the corrupt new order. Those thoughts do not come from me or LifeSIte but have been openly stated and reported as coming from leading social progressives. 4 minutes ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by http://LifeSiteNews.com. I was not going to even answer this post, because I am almost certain that LSN will ban me, since they are not exactly 'pro-freedom of speech' on this subject. Since today is 'Independent Day', I said to myself, 'I will respond to this post anyway'. "You have just condemned the deeply held beliefs of at least a few billion people on this planet - beliefs based not only on religion but also on millennia of human experience". The above philosophy could apply equally well to the any "deeply held beliefs (PREJUDICES) based on millennia of human experiences". "Also, we and others we have reported on in LifeSite, have thoroughly explained the connection between abortion and other issues of sexual morality". This "connection" that you speak of is on pretty shakey ground. I know this sounds pretty shocking to you, but the first country in the modern era to codify abortion-on-demand was the former Soviet Union in 1920, and it had pretty much nothing to do with LBGTs or sex outside of marriage. It's legalization was meant for 'married' couples for regulating family sizes. I will also add that one of the most abortion-extreme countries on the planet today--China--is most definately not friendly to LBGTs. Your next paragraph seems to be complaining about the fact that most LBGTs do not identify with the pro-life movement. The way that those groups are regularly attacked by sites/groups such as yours, it is truly difficult for them to get your "messages" about pretty much anything else, even when they are valid. Look how a great LBGT writer, who could have written many hard-hitting pro-life articles for LSN, was treated! She was not even allowed to comment on her own articles! That was not only beyond "incredible foolishness" on your part, but how you justify your treatment of her to yourselves is truly beyond my comprehension. I have stated my peace. What you do with it is out of my control. 😑😑 My other, regular reply to you is below.
Oh, yes, and here's another big reason why I'm writing in. You might like to check out these threads: http://blog.secularprolife.org/2018/06/three-takeaways-from-gallup-abortion.html http://blog.secularprolife.org/2018/06/three-takeaways-from-nifla-v-becerra.html Before I launch in, I would like to offer a piece of advice regarding Liz. While I will continue to try to be nice to her, I am sorry she treats you the way she does and yes, I definitely advise keeping her permanently blocked. You are very wise to consider refusing to hold discussions with commenters who are not going to seriously engage with your points, or who bug you or treat you badly. Now for my tale - I wrote something, elpollo comes up to me and says something complimentary, then I respond back. Elpollo writes that s/he and I don't agree, and from my understanding refuses to hold discussions with me. I think we get into some kind of argument on the next thread and, well, I have decided to stop commenting to elpollo for a while - or at least to comment sparingly - because I really think it is for the best. While I personally feel that elpollo is one of the more civil commenters on the other side towards me although s/he has not been so towards others (I say that because I have seen worse), I am sorry we don't get along. I would like your honest opinion of our discussion if you are willing to offer it. Have I really done anything wrong, and if so, what and why? Is it true that s/he refused to discuss the issue with me unless I changed my views on abortion, because it sure seemed like that to me. If you want my honest opinion of elpollo, s/he is a far leftist, or SJA (Social Justice Advocate - the more pejorative term is SJW = social justice warrior). People holding these views tend to dislike free speech, especially the type that pertains to minority groups, because free speech has been used to oppress minorities. They would like to see speech they disagree with - and by disagree with, they mean contribute to oppression of a marginalised group - outlawed, to be perfectly frank. They also don't like being called out on hypocritical behaviour; it is fine when they do it but when someone else does it, that's the total opposite of fine. They are insufferably smug and self-righteous, and ... in my opinion ... the worst part of their behaviour is that they silence you, either through threats, intimidation, or bullying, or deliberately and uncharitably misread your points and respond to what they think you are saying rather than what you are really saying, from your own perspective. They insist on dialogue but their type goes only one way - theirs. They redefine terms like "civility" so that they either have an excuse to lash out at you, if you suggest civility, or cry that you are not being civil if you express your opinion honestly. They make you scared to open your mouth, for fear of engaging in microaggressions or of being chewed alive and ganged up on if you say the wrong thing. That is a toxic environment if you want the truth. You will find that they are big on social issues, the rights of the oppressed, and, in some cases, bringing down the kingdom of God to earth. They believe they have the truth, and everyone else is to be pitied because they can't understand true compassion the way they do. The pathetic irony, though, is that there are groups of people truly oppressed like the preborn, and I don't see these SJWs lifting a finger or raising a voice to help them. Please research the term "social justice warrior" and you will find out that everything I've said is true, and worse. That being said, there are far leftists who hold views on social issues who don't act this way but they are rare. Of course, elpollo got stuck into me about how uncivil I was for saying s/he was a far leftist and SJW, and accused me of misrepresenting their views. Here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about: https://heterodoxacademy.org/true-diversity-requires-generosity-of-spirit/ http://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/05/05/open-letter-left-regarding-silence/ http://www.thehappytalent.com/blog/intersectionality-is-the-opposite-of-feminism https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/05/01/censorship-hate-speech-freedom-first-amendment-column/564868002/ Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Last time I expressed these views, you said you did not understand, but I hope I've made myself clearer here. I had a very bad experience with a far leftist who makes elpollo look mild and respectful in comparison. Am very sorry for my fall-out, but hope it is temporary and can engage in conversations with elpollo in the future, as despite it all, elpollo tends to be far more respectful to people than most of those holding elpollo's worldview. Now, please don't be surprised if I don't write back immediately responding to this, due to time constraints. That being said, while I have decided to comment sparingly, I will always make time for my friends, and that includes you. I want to apologise for all the times I've said I will leave and have not kept my word, and am trying to work on that. If it happens again, please remind me.
"Does she consider it "minor" if one has an adult child that has a terminal condition?" Hmm. I think that she said that to wound you, because she hates prolifers in general. If she'd written half the stuff to me that she did to you, I might just be cringing into a little ball, trying not to cry. Since I am not a parent, I can only admire your devotion to your daughter. She is very lucky to have you as her mum. I guess parenting really does make you think of others, a lot. I know my parents would be as devoted to me as you are to your daughter if I were in such a situation. Of course, in her mind, they - possibly - are minor, because she has had to give up everything to look after her disabled relative and she's mad at the world about it. While I can understand people being angry about such a loss of fulfillment in their lives, what they need is community help so they can fulfill their goals, not abortion availability and legalising doctors taking the lives of their patients. Taking her anger out on you was a very inappropriate and horrible response, especially when your intention was to help her. Will those abortion supporting people she hangs out with be any more willing to help her look after her disabled relative? No! Then why take it out on PL people?? Abortion support and a lack of community involvement breeds a great deal of selfishness in people, I believe. Right now, though, they won't get the support they need unless people change their ideas about helping others. You might not have meant it as a contest but she sure made it into one. I am so, so sorry she was so awful to you. She really does have hatred in her heart and she needs to get serious help for it.
"Does she consider it "minor" if one has an adult child that has a terminal condition?" Hmm. I think that she said that to wound you, because she hates prolifers in general. If she'd written half the stuff to me that she did to you, I might just be cringing into a little ball, trying not to cry. Since I am not a parent, I can only admire your devotion to your daughter. She is very lucky to have you as her mum. I guess parenting really does make you think of others, a lot. I know my parents would be as devoted to me as you are to your daughter if I were in such a situation. Of course, in her mind, they - possibly - are minor, because she has had to give up everything to look after her disabled relative and she's mad at the world about it. While I can understand people being angry about such a loss of fulfillment in their lives, what they need is community help so they can fulfill their goals, not abortion availability and legalising doctors taking the lives of their patients. Taking her anger out on you was a very inappropriate and horrible response, especially when your intention was to help her. Will those abortion supporting people she hangs out with be any more willing to help her look after her disabled relative? No! Then why take it out on PL people?? Abortion support and a lack of community involvement breeds a great deal of selfishness in people, I believe. Right now, though, they won't get the support they need unless people change their ideas about helping others. You might not have meant it as a contest but she sure made it into one. I am so, so sorry she was so awful to you. She really does have hatred in her heart and she needs to get serious help for it. It's really horrible when prolifers reach out in compassion and get it thrown back in their faces like that. I've had that happen to me too - though not nearly as bad as what you got - and it's been awful. There's something about supporting abortion that turns people's hearts really sour and ugly. You have every right to be upset over those posts, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise! As for your daughter's mental issues, I have covered my response to that in another post. I think that, while a good situation helps, your attitude to it will also determine a great deal about how terrible it is. I feel terrible that I can't be there in person to assist you with your daughter, but I do what I can - send comforting messages and let you know I care. I really do hope the treatment works out, and that they start paying that disability money to you right away.
This is gonna be lengthy. Get ready to read a book. "Does she consider it "minor" if one has an adult child that has a terminal condition?" Hmm. I think that she said that to wound you, because she hates prolifers in general. If she'd written half the stuff to me that she did to you, I might just be cringing into a little ball, trying not to cry. Since I am not a parent, I can only admire your devotion to your daughter. She is very lucky to have you as her mum. I guess parenting really does make you think of others, a lot. I know my parents would be as devoted to me as you are to your daughter if I were in such a situation. Of course, in her mind, they - possibly - are minor, because she has had to give up everything to look after her disabled relative and she's mad at the world about it. While I can understand people being angry about such a loss of fulfillment in their lives, what they need is community help so they can fulfill their goals, not abortion availability and legalising doctors taking the lives of their patients. Taking her anger out on you was a very inappropriate and horrible response, especially when your intention was to help her. Will those abortion supporting people she hangs out with be any more willing to help her look after her disabled relative? No! Then why take it out on PL people?? Abortion support and a lack of community involvement breeds a great deal of selfishness in people, I believe. Right now, though, they won't get the support they need unless people change their ideas about helping others. You might not have meant it as a contest but she sure made it into one. I am so, so sorry she was so awful to you. She really does have hatred in her heart and she needs to get serious help for it. It's really horrible when prolifers reach out in compassion and get it thrown back in their faces like that. I've had that happen to me too - though not nearly as bad as what you got - and it's been awful. There's something about supporting abortion that turns people's hearts really sour and ugly. You have every right to be upset over those posts, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise! As for your daughter's mental issues, I have covered my response to that in another post. I think that, while a good situation helps, your attitude to it will also determine a great deal about how terrible it is. I feel terrible that I can't be there in person to assist you with your daughter, but I do what I can - send comforting messages and let you know I care. I really do hope the treatment works out, and that they start paying that disability money to you right away. The question you raise is quite interesting, because it forces abortion supporters onto an equal plane with prolifers. I have noticed that quite a few - not all but quite a few - abortion supporters like to feel morally superior to prolifers. They need to to keep the pipe dream going. So when you ask an inconvenient question like that - force equality into the situation - they hate that because it forces them to confront their own hypocrisy. So they lash out and attack instead, because it's easier to do that than change. Also, one favourite tactic of abortion supporters is to mention prolifers who behave badly, just like you saw, and point out faults in the prolife position in that kind of way. It was a common theme on a site I used to read a lot - common. I think the word "prolife" has something to do with it, because prolife implies "I love all life" but if we called ourselves anti-abortion - not anti-choice, anti-abortion - then that would be better and they couldn't twist the label the same I think. If they can't twist it - prolife - they will hate it - antiabortion. One last thing - the article wasn't the unfriending one, it was the one before it. Do I think the question that got raised was good? Yes. Is attacking prolifers the answer? In a way, no, because prolifers are not a monolith but rather individuals, like abortion supporters are. In a way, though, due to the problems involved in the mainstream PL movement, yes if you're willing to examine your own hypocrisy too - and that is something abortion supporters tend to be unwilling to do because if they do they lose everything. While I can sympathise with the concern raised on the thread, I think abortion-supporting people who are a little too keen to point out PL hypocrisy need to look at their own hearts and what they support as well.
Hi, Val, I was just reading the comments and saw what Ms. Morgan said to you. I thought the way she behaved was dreadfully disgusting and I'm sorry she said something so horrible and hateful. For every kind comment you attempted to send her, she reacted by twisting your words. It's a shame, really, Ms. Morgan seemed to be quite nice to me when we first interacted a long time back. I don't know what changed her, honest I don't. She says your daughter will find out you're a liar and then she says that about your daughter? Man that is, so, like, the most horrible thing that anyone could possibly say! And for someone who will remain nameless to refuse to respond one way or the other, I'm sorry but I don't agree with her actions here. I think one reason the abortion "rights" movement has survived for so long is that abortion supporters tend to stick together and refuse to be divided by anyone, whereas prolifers care about integrity and are willing to call people out, even their own, over a wrong action or word. If you show Ms. Morgan's comments to your daughter, you might like to also show the daughter my comments - that I care about her a lot and hope she gets healed so she can really enjoy her life. BTW, please tell me, how's your daughter going with her treatments and life in general? I know it's been a long time and I apologise for not getting back to this earlier. I hope she is going well, and that treatments are helping her. Please know that I may not be back for a while after posting this, because of the pressing projects that I have to complete plus a million other matters to attend to. Nevertheless, you and yours are in my thoughts, a lot more than you know.
I have a suggestion for what has happened with ms Morgan: Her brain has rotted, and her heart as well. Seriously, the change you describe, combined with the lack of touch with reality suggests to me that she’s either psychotic or suffering from a brain damage.
Yes, that is possible. Perhaps neither him nor Ann have been properly diagnostized. Pretty frightening to think that a mentally ill and disabled man is taken care of by a sister who is also mentally ill! Like a blind leading a blind. Ann would need care herself, rather than being caregiver. Honestly, her hateful commentary makes me wonder, not only what kind of a caregiver she is, but also if her brother’s problems- and her and her mother’s problems with him- might have worsened thanks to her.
One can only imagine how AM interacts with her mother and brother, or what her REAL family situation is, but there is very likely more to it than what she is posting. I remember, awhile back, that PJ4 seemed to have some inside info on her situation that made AM look pretty bad, but she didn't really specify what it was.
True, probably she leaves out some parts, parts that would have shown a truer picture of her interactions with her family, which likely is not pretty. I remember that PJ seemed to have inside info on more than one of the SPL pro-aborts ( she also seemed to have info on Jim), I remember she said that "All will be revealed in time." I guess we will get the specifications then. Wonder what it is that she has found.
Agreed! I have seen her on other sites, telling a little about pro-aborts she has been fighting- she had caught another troll, known on Disqus as ”Ella”, guilty of impersonation, threats, and other offences on Facebook. Perhaps Ann ( and Jim) are guilty of similar things there? I don’t know.
Even though PJ4 does not post near as much as she used to, she does seem to spend time trying to 'find things out' about various posters. It seems like that would take a lot of time, and I really wouldn't know how to do it, myself. A bit off topic, but have you had difficulty getting to this (and other) sites, especially to specific comments? I seem to have more problems with that on this site, and on Patheos, than I do on either LAN or SPL, which seems a bit odd.
I don´t know how to "find out" things about other posters, except when they have left a clue on their profiles of course. I am sorry you have trouble getting to this site. That has not been a problem for me. On the other hand, I have had a bit of trouble getting to specific comments on SPL when I use my phone.
Thanks! I bought it on July 31, it was well worth the money. An Iphone, if you wonder. Has made commenting easier than before, among other things. On the job issue, I have not gotten a job quite yet, but I got a call today from a company that are interested in me and wanted to ask some questions. Since I did not have time to talk right then, and the lady that called was just about to go home for today, we agreed that I call them tomorrow. If I am lucky, I will start working for them on either April 6 or April 20. It is an electrics company, I will do customer service if they hire me, answering questions and stuff like that. I will work full time. Wish me luck! :-) I am also waiting for news from 14 other companies, so I feel fairly optimistic.
It definately sounds like you have a lot of 'irons in the fire', and I wish you luck. The electronics one sounds like it would be fun. I hope that eventually my son Raymond can get into something like that. Cell phones can be good. I had one for years before I did much with it (besides making calls), but I now know that they can do a lot more than that.
Thank you! Yes, I do have many ”irons in the fire” ( a saying we have in Swedish too, BTW), my parents think it almost sounds crazy the way I’ve applied for work lately. I made the call two hours ago, it went well. After having let me ask a couple of questions, the lady made a short first interview with me. After having completed it, she told me I answered the questions really well, which felt good to hear. Afterwards, she sent me an email with some tests to do. I plan to do them this evening. Once I have done the tests, I will get to know in a few days if I get invited for an interview in their office. After that will follow a group recruitment meeting on either March 1 or March 15, if I am lucky. I used to have a really simple cell phone before this one- a Nokia. A good phone, but not possible to access the Internet or check emails with. On the other hand, I used it for seven years, and still have it in reserve, so it was well designed.
Interesting that the Swedish have the "irons in the fire" saying, also. Since you know and write in both languages, I bet that you know all the words and praises that our languages have in common. With the determined way that you are job seeking, you may actually find yourself with MORE spare time when you find one. It sounds like your parents are proud of you, as they should be. Even when I had a cell several years ago that included the internet, I basically just used it as a phone. It is only in the last few years that I have been using it for much more. Basically, I use either my phone or a 10-year-old laptop for the internet--usually my phone.
Yes, I know the words and phrases and sayings that Swedish and English have in common. Which are many; our languages are, after all, closely related. And, when it comes to sayings, people of course learn from one another, too. Well, who knows? :-) Yes, I think my parents are proud of me, though particularly my mom seems to get somewhat nervous on my behalf as well when the subject of work is brought up. I started using my phone for the Internet a couple of weeks after I had bought it. It´s good not having to use my laptop every time I want to access Internet ( yeah, I also use either phone or laptop- my laptop is about three years younger than yours).
One major strength in abortion supporters' arguments is the workings of the brain. The brain is the seat of personhood, according to them, because the science shows it. That's why she was asking me all those questions about brain-death. I suspect my psychopath might have gotten me involved in that conversation in the first place as well, but I am not sure.
To me, that sounds fascinating, since in my experience, she is aggressive most of the time, when talking to me and other pro-lifers. Whether it is because she actually likes you, or because she just wishes to manipulate you, I do not know.
She was one of those who made me feel welcome at a place I no longer comment at, too. She actually made me feel accepted and cared about despite our disagreements on PL. Not only that, she actually engaged in civil conversation with me. She is quite capable of engaging in civil conversation when she wants to. That is one reason I am very disappointed and angered with her actions towards Val, a lady I consider to be one of my dearest friends.
Just a quick clarification before I depart - she was mean to other PLers before she met me, but she always seemed to treat me a little differently from the rest, although she did avoid me at least once when I said hi. But - so far anyway - she hasn't sent me aggressive messages. I do have to keep rather a stern tone when speaking to her, though, otherwise I might land in a mess. We haven't interacted for a while, though. One time I was interacting with her (and a few others) somewhere else. The things she said about brain-death were so foreign to my thinking that I struggled to respond to what she was saying, although I really tried. My psychopath - the one with many names - told me I must go back and answer Ms. Morgan's comments. I did and I found most of what I had said had been flagged. I don't think Ms. Morgan was responsible for that but I do think the strict rules of that forum were - I suspect my psychopath flagged what I wrote now, too. I will now repeat her illustration, as best I can remember (if I find the link I'll share it): she asked me, if I had to choose between someone who was brain-dead and a person who was not brain-dead but injured so severely they would die if I didn't help them, who would I choose to save? Also, she said - and I've heard this argument before - well, let's just say I will have to try hard to remember but it was definitely relating to brain-death and the heart and if I do, can I tell you please? Plus she said that if you make a brain-transplant from Person A to Person B and Person A was an evil person then Person B is responsible for Person A's actions because Person A's brain was the one that engineered the murders, even though Person B is perfectly innocent of the crime. Weird, weird stuff. My mind shuts down when confronted by those kinds of ideas. My psychopath noticed, and remarked on it. One of my psychopath's favourite accusations for me was "cognitive dissonance."
Ann loves that sort of absurd hypotheticals, and all sorts of other absurdities, so what you describe here doesn´t surprise me. Interesting that she treats you differently. Your psychopath sounds like a real control freak asshole.
Cute video. Amanda's issues are complicated. I see some of her mental issues as similar to what her dad has, likely being complicated by the synergistic effects of her meds, trauma she has been through, and her untreated physical problems. You can see that could be a toxic combination for depression, distortion of reality, and temper issues. I will let you know how her next appointment goes.
I'm sorry to hear about what she has suffered. I've said before, I've got huge issues with the way the medical system uses and abuses its patients like guinea pigs :( You and your daughter are in my thoughts - often. Please know that. Is there any way she can come off those meds without complicating issues? I admit to struggling with temper issues myself, unfortunately, so I can sympathise. Here is a natural treatment I recommend looking into: https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/default.htm https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-herbs-and-supplements#1 https://www.verywell.com/turmeric-for-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-715988 http://www.drliptan.com/blog/2017/6/7/effective-natural-pain-relief-for-fibromyalgia Here's a song for her; I know it's not a cat vid but the message is very important: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVLFw5eR250 One last thing - I'm sorry to have to say this but since I am extremely busy at the moment with RL duties, I thought you should know I either might not or won't comment for a while, although I could pop in occasionally (in other words, you could either see me more rarely than you do now, or not see me at all for a while). I very much appreciated being told about your daughter and hope to hear more about how she's going (plus anything else you want to share with me) when I can.
Unfortunately, this is all I could find of your comment that dropped out. If you could try again, I would appreciate it. Crystal’s comment is in reply to Val: Visit Val's profile On a brighter note, thanks again for the animal videos. Amanda sent me this one yesterday, and I admit I did not know that our ... Read more
I´ve heard about the shooting, and just did some more research. Sounds like the deed of a lone madman, I wonder what drove him to suddenly get this violent. Victims of his risking financial ruin is indeed sad, anyway. A real disaster. I keep hoping for the best, it is good that your persuasion of your daughter had effect at last. You´re most welcome.
No one yet knows what the motive was. It was beyond senseless! The shooter was elderly-- very atypical. Related to this issue is the need for more people with such tendencies to have mental health treatment available (NOT CUT) to hopefully prevent tragedies like this. And please don't get me started on how individuals like that are able to get automatic weapons in the first place! Have to go to work. I have a lot to do today. I am sure Crystal told you about Mark and Cynthia--new prolife posters on SPL?
Sorry for miss-reporting. I think I was running a bit late for work and really just skimmed yours/hers remarks. I have made a few comments on that thread (to Mark, Cynthia, and you)--all of them quite different. I will see what responses I get.
Undeniably a very tragic case. Society definitely needs to take better care of the mentally ill, that is for sure. Crystal has mentioned one of the new posters, but she said to me that I shouldn´t comment about him here- only at SPL and LAN, I didn´t really understand why that matters, but am trying to do as she says.
Hi there, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad you convinced her to go ahead with it though. I'm not sure why she felt that way, can you explain? If she starts feeling that way again, remind her that she is not a burden. She is a very special person in your life and you have her back all the way. You care about her, Val. You and she will get through this. My thoughts are with you.
She only left a voice message today saying that I can call, which I will try to do tomorrow. She is still hesitant. I hope they can convince her if she gets a consult appointment. Often times, she is just not thinking straight--and when I try to reason with her, she gets angry. She has depression in addition to physical pain. Sometimes, she turns her anger on to me, and really lashes out at me for NO reason. That hurts a lot. Other times (and this seems to be one), she just sees herself as a 'useless burden' on me. I don't know why she can't just be decent to me, AND see that she has self-worth at the same time. If her pain gets under control, her mental state will be next.
I am sorry to hear that she is going through this and lashing out at you because of it. I wish I knew what to say to help. But I think she lashes out because she feels as if she's not in control of anything. Believing you are not in control of your life, and wanting to be, will certainly make you lash out; I know from experience. "Other times (and this seems to be one), she just sees herself as a 'useless burden' on me." We need to keep reminding her that she is anything but that.
Yeah, I have. Gosh, she's wonderful. A brave lady. When I think of rape victims and whether they should have an abortion or not, I think of Rebecca Kiessling, and her lived experiences. I don't want to deny her lived experiences. Apparently, some abortion supporters (not all) can't stand the idea that someone might have lived experiences different from their own and try to suppress that information, a tactic contrary to the stated principles of the left, which claims to honour the lived experiences of the oppressed. Would you be comfortable with inviting JenAgain here? If you were, I'd love to see her again.
❤ It took me a while. Life has been crazy! I'm here though! You give me too much credit but I do appreciate your kind words. Rebecca and I had a blast in Ireland!
I wanted to add my thoughts on another article I read a while back, thoughts I was hesitant to share for fear some might become aggressive towards me. While I was afraid that I might be accused of all kinds of nasty things under the sun by abortion supporters, I was also grieved by the behaviour of some of the prolifers commenting, and their seeming to forget the fact that we're talking about rape in this case so here it is: http://blog.secularprolife.org/2017/10/love-was-louder-than-my-rape.html While I think all the comments supporting the rape victim making the morally correct decision sum up the issue nicely, I would prefer to abstain from delving too much into my views on abortions for rape during this time, and instead focus on a powerful, though little discussed, aspect of this topic. To start with, here's an article I found today discussing victimisation: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/transparentexpedition/2017/10/victim-believing-without-caring/ In order to properly understand what I wish to say next, my readers will have to read the article for themselves, as my thoughts are kind of based on that article. Please understand my comments are not meant to condemn prolifers in general, as I understand many of them are supportive of rape victims. I am, rather, thinking of the proud ones who ask what dress she was wearing and what she drank to “deserve” what happened to her (and sadly, such prolifers exist). The lady in this paper says she was not believed, meaning she suffered from victim blaming and victim shaming for being raped. If women were believed, and shown compassion when they reported rape, and felt safe enough to report rape and know that justice would be done for them, I have a theory that they might (I don't know how true this is but that they might) be more likely to want their babies to live as well. Here is a testimony of one who did not feel safe reporting rape, and also felt as if she had to sneak an abortion: https://www.xojane.com/issues/pro-life-activist-to-pro-choice-christian Her story is particularly heartbreaking, because she was surrounded by prolifers who had every opportunity to protect her, affirm her needs, and care about her whether she got pregnant or not (and if she did, her child as well), but instead they chose to shame her. It is in part because of behaviour like this that people turn away from values such as holding a more conservative view on sexuality, and prolifism (I'm not accusing those who hold a more conservative view on sexuality, and prolifers, of victim blaming/victim shaming, necessarily, but rather trying to make a point). While many prolifers I have come across tend to be very supportive of rape victims, other prolifers (especially those in hardened, far-right backgrounds such as the ones I am referring to in the articles) have the same problem as described in the articles. I think this is a much overlooked aspect of the issue of rape and abortion that we need to discuss more often. If prolifers wish to encourage women in such difficult circumstances to choose not to abort, they must also be willing to set aside their prejudices and educate themselves on the very real horror of rape, and how often the victim is revictimised, repeatedly, by others. In short, prolifers need to make themselves safe people for rape victims to come to (I know many do this already, but as a movement it needs to become a top priority). I am asking those prolifers and those with conservative sexual values who are quick to blame rape victims for what happened to them to really examine their hearts, and ask themselves if they are doing the victims, or any children they might have, any good. To summarise: when a rape victim comes to you for help, the first words out of your mouth shouldn’t be “keep your baby” but rather “I believe you” because that belief helps you establish a bond with the rape victim (that being said, there are cases where “keep your baby” is probably the first, only, and right thing to say, but I speak generally). Once you have built the bridge and gained confidence, at that point I believe it appropriate to discuss the ethics of abortion with the person. I am not trying to dictate, but rather trying to encourage other prolifers to adopt a more well-rounded perspective in dealing with the issue. I'm curious as to your thoughts on what I wrote, if you're willing to share them.
Dear Jen, Thank you for coming. I am so sorry I missed you. Would you be willing to resume this conversation when we are both not so busy? I am very tied up at the moment but hope that when I get back I can use this forum as a springboard to resume our chats, that you will see my comment and respond as soon as you can. Thanks for the good work you did in that country. I hope you and your friends saved many lives through your effective witness for the truth. TBH, I struggle with the question of rape victims and abortion. I know that saying a woman shouldn't abort during a time like that isn't exactly a feminist position (due to rights over her body); that being said, I also think of people like your friend Rebecca Kiessling and cannot bring myself to say she should have been killed if that was what someone else wanted. So it is hard for me. I also wanted to notice how hypocritical those trying to silence you were. The worst part, in my mind, is that people like this claim to want honest discussions yet silence those holding a different opinion on the topic. You suffered through something terribly traumatic and you deserve a voice like anyone else. I found this tragic testimony of a person who turned to accepting abortion through her rape experience: https://www.xojane.com/issues/pro-life-activist-to-pro-choice-christian I think you might identify with it somewhat, as you went through something similar. While her story is tragic, it has many lessons for prolifers, including putting aside our preconceived notions of what rape is and listening to the stories of those that have suffered this indignity. BTW, your red hair is beautiful, like fire (I mean that sincerely); I have always liked red hair as it symbolises spirit and strength to me and you are one strong woman. From my heart to yours, Crystal
As I and others said in the comments, the intolerance of Ireland's pro-abortion fanatics will hopefully convert some of the saner pro-legal abortion supporters to reconsider. I will call her attention to this thread.
I hope so too. These abortion supporters talk about how threatened they feel, how prolifers are threatening their lives, and this is why they claim they have a "right" to be rude to us, but this is just too much. Distressing. Thank you for agreeing to do that. You might like to delete the link after she has acknowledged it (I'm thinking of you when I say this; I don't want anyone any of us don't feel comfortable around to discover that information).
On a brighter note, thanks again for the animal videos. Amanda sent me this one yesterday, and I admit I did not know that our lovable household cat was THIS vital to mankind! https://youtu.be/gqOzTh2pjEw
I just watched it. Very interesting. Yes, we need cats. Some idiots out there want to kill them all out, but they should watch this video. Plus, they love people. I think it would be just as wrong to kill cats as other animals because they are life, and as he said, they do keep other populations down. Although I admit to feeling a little sorry for rats at times; isn't there any way we could tame them or something so they no longer posed a threat to us? Or am I engaging in wishful thinking?
What really needs to be done is a few things:
1) Doctors need to start working for compassion not money; if the government paid them out of an independent salary they could do the job without expecting their patients to pay them 2) The medical system is in serious need of reform; crooked practices ranging from the situations in the links to refusing to offer life-saving care on the grounds that it "costs too much" should be outlawed 3) Practices that cause death to a patient should be outlawed I hope I have addressed the main points in your comment and if not please let me know. Last but not least, as I mentioned before I can't write in nearly as often as I'd like, and when that changes I hope we can resume messaging each other. Also, when circumstances change in regards to emails, would the partial email address you gave me earlier (I have it stored in my files) still be workable? Thanks for your time; and hope that circumstances improve substantially for you and yours, especially your daughter.
Because, that is basically what opponents of such care proclaim; I realise you have probably heard this before BTW. Please forgive my reserve on this issue but I live in a country where we have systems somewhat similar to the ACA and it's not working out for us - at all - we do have poorer care in publicly run hospitals than in private ones where I live, although I understand that's not always the case in other countries. For the most part, many doctors see themselves in business rather than as guardians of patients' lives, and sometimes have made errors in diagnosing patients. So yeah, our system in this area is in a shambles as well. I am still open-minded, surprisingly; I'm simply speaking of what I have seen. Sounds pretty ironic that the US, despite its having a more traditionally based care system, spends more money on hospitals and medicine than their free care counterparts. I agree with you on minimum wage. "That seems fair, and evidence suggests that unless the increase is MORE than that, it does not increase unemployment, contrary to the right-wing vitriol." I've heard a lot of claims, but not that one yet. What will they come up with next :(
"The Medicaid expansion, the elimination of lifetime maximum benefits, mandating that those with pre-existing conditions be insured, and allowing adult children to stay on their parent's plans until age 26 are all life-saving. The mandate that pregnancy be covered is ALSO life-saving." I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with any of these measures; they sound more like much-needed reforms than anything else. "But the ACA has also, in RARE cases, led to job layoffs" I appreciate that you're honest enough to admit that no plan is perfect (no offence intended, honestly). "My answer, as I have stated a million times, is universal, affordable health care. Medicare-for-all." While that sounds wonderful, how do you respond to those who claim that this kind of care decreases the quality of care patients receive, and leads to cases like this one: https://www.liveaction.org/news/what-if-it-was-your-child-charlie-gards-mother-shouts-in-court-as-judge-announces-terminally-ill-babys-fate
Sounds pretty ironic that the US, despite its having a more traditionally based care system, spends more money on hospitals and medicine than their free care counterparts. I agree with you on minimum wage. "That seems fair, and evidence suggests that unless the increase is MORE than that, it does not increase unemployment, contrary to the right-wing vitriol." I've heard a lot of claims, but not that one yet. What will they come up with next :( What really needs to be done is a few things:
1) Doctors need to start working for compassion not money; if the government paid them out of an independent salary they could do the job without expecting their patients to pay them 2) The medical system is in serious need of reform; crooked practices ranging from the situations in the links to refusing to offer life-saving care on the grounds that it "costs too much" should be outlawed 3) Practices that cause death to a patient should be outlawed I hope I have addressed the main points in your comment and if not please let me know. Last but not least, as I mentioned before I can't write in nearly as often as I'd like, and when that changes I hope we can resume messaging each other. Also, when circumstances change in regards to emails, would the partial email address you gave me earlier (I have it stored in my files) still be workable? Thanks for your time; and hope that circumstances improve substantially for you and yours, especially your daughter.
"The Medicaid expansion, the elimination of lifetime maximum benefits, mandating that those with pre-existing conditions be insured, and allowing adult children to stay on their parent's plans until age 26 are all life-saving. The mandate that pregnancy be covered is ALSO life-saving." I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with any of these measures; they sound more like much-needed reforms than anything else. "But the ACA has also, in RARE cases, led to job layoffs" I appreciate that you're honest enough to admit that no plan is perfect (no offence intended, honestly). "My answer, as I have stated a million times, is universal, affordable health care. Medicare-for-all." While that sounds wonderful, how do you respond to those who claim that this kind of care decreases the quality of care patients receive, and leads to cases like this one: https://www.liveaction.org/news/what-if-it-was-your-child-charlie-gards-mother-shouts-in-court-as-judge-announces-terminally-ill-babys-fate Because, that is basically what opponents of such care proclaim; I realise you have probably heard this before BTW. Please forgive my reserve on this issue but I live in a country where we have systems somewhat similar to the ACA and it's not working out for us - at all - we do have poorer care in publicly run hospitals than in private ones where I live, although I understand that's not always the case in other countries. For the most part, many doctors see themselves in business rather than as guardians of patients' lives, and sometimes have made errors in diagnosing patients. So yeah, our system in this area is in a shambles as well. I am still open-minded, surprisingly; I'm simply speaking of what I have seen.
"The Medicaid expansion, the elimination of lifetime maximum benefits, mandating that those with pre-existing conditions be insured, and allowing adult children to stay on their parent's plans until age 26 are all life-saving. The mandate that pregnancy be covered is ALSO life-saving." I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with any of these measures; they sound more like much-needed reforms than anything else. "But the ACA has also, in RARE cases, led to job layoffs" I appreciate that you're honest enough to admit that no plan is perfect (no offence intended, honestly). "My answer, as I have stated a million times, is universal, affordable health care. Medicare-for-all." While that sounds wonderful, how do you respond to those who claim that this kind of care decreases the quality of care patients receive, and leads to cases like this one: https://www.liveaction.org/news/what-if-it-was-your-child-charlie-gards-mother-shouts-in-court-as-judge-announces-terminally-ill-babys-fate Because, that is basically what opponents of such care proclaim; I realise you have probably heard this before BTW. Please forgive my reserve on this issue but I live in a country where we have systems somewhat similar to the ACA and it's not working out for us - at all - we do have poorer care in publicly run hospitals than in private ones where I live, although I understand that's not always the case in other countries. For the most part, many doctors see themselves in business rather than as guardians of patients' lives, and sometimes have made errors in diagnosing patients. So yeah, our system in this area is in a shambles as well. I am still open-minded, surprisingly; I'm simply speaking of what I have seen. Sounds pretty ironic that the US, despite its having a more traditionally based care system, spends more money on hospitals and medicine than their free care counterparts. I agree with you on minimum wage. "That seems fair, and evidence suggests that unless the increase is MORE than that, it does not increase unemployment, contrary to the right-wing vitriol." I've heard a lot of claims, but not that one yet. What will they come up with next :( What really needs to be done is a few things:
1) Doctors need to start working for compassion not money; if the government paid them out of an independent salary they could do the job without expecting their patients to pay them 2) The medical system is in serious need of reform; crooked practices ranging from the situations in the links to refusing to offer life-saving care on the grounds that it "costs too much" should be outlawed 3) Practices that cause death to a patient should be outlawed I hope I have addressed the main points in your comment and if not please let me know. Last but not least, as I mentioned before I can't write in nearly as often as I'd like, and when that changes I hope we can resume messaging each other. Also, when circumstances change in regards to emails, would the partial email address you gave me earlier (I have it stored in my files) still be workable? Thanks for your time; and hope that circumstances improve substantially for you and yours, especially your daughter.
Dear Val, I'm sorry to hear about how miserably you and your daughter are being treated by those supposed to look after you. "If I get real busy with this, I may need to quit posting on LAN and eleswhere for awhile." I completely understand, and wish to say that in a few days I will quit posting for a while myself, due to personal circumstances, commitments, and other such issues. I wish you the best of luck with you and your daughter. "My daughter has an appointment with a new doctor tomorrow, and we are going to ask for a new patient advocate IN PERSON, because emailing them and trying it by phone do not seem to work. If we cannot get any more than lip service from the patient advocate's office about my daughter's care, we WILL see a lawyer about her mistreatment." I hope she can get the patient advocate she needs and that you won't have to involve anyone outside of the hospital. Unfortunately, however, there's a potential side to this I'm not sure if you know about: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/emergency-room-wait-times-sexism/410515/ https://psmag.com/social-justice/is-medicines-gender-bias-killing-young-women https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761670/ and another article disagreeing with what I said: https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96jun/cancer/kadar.htm Unfortunately, there were some really good articles last time I sent you this but the comment dropped out so here's my present contribution, above. "The new doctor she will see is a general doctor who is supposed to coordinate her care, and take over her prescriptions. We will ask for some tests in regards to nutrient absorption and whether she may have abnormally high pain sensitivities in her abdominal region. She has been tested for many conditions, and we are pretty sure this is all related to her radiation treatment as a toddler. Posting this will help me to remember to ask about these conditions." While I believe in conventional medicine in and of itself, I also believe that many doctors today treat their patients as potential experiments, offering them drugs and treatments that haven't been proved to work very well. This is one way it works: the person is very ill. The doctor says "Your loved one will die if they don't get this treatment." The person trying to look after their ailing friend then feels desperate, agrees, and, well, sometimes it works out and sometimes not. It's honestly a form of marketing - nothing more - and quite frankly it angers me, because people trust doctors due to their expertise and sometimes they get taken for a ride due to "expert advice". "My job is so-so. I was more than a bit upset today to hear that a co-worker of mine was actually DENIED a 'sick day' for her mother's surgery next week, because we are so short handed. I told her it is not our fault that we are short-handed, and to ask our union-reps (yes, we are one of the few workers in the US that are still unionized) if management can do that. I certainly don't want them refusing my requests for time off owing to my daughter. I may ask her new doctor about FMLA, also." I hope you don't get forbidden to spend adequate time with your daughter. Also, you did the right thing there, and I'm sorry to hear she got denied like that. We shouldn't be having "sick times" so much, but more "times for emergency situations"; I wish people thought more of helping people and less for what they could get out of them than they do. Have you ever heard of this man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gompers Please, tell me what you think of all this.
Regarding your deleted comment, all I will say is, while I prefer to stay neutral in conflicts online and treat everyone involved with the same kindness, thank you for telling me (and understand where you're coming from on what you said), and leave it at that (I can't wipe unless I write to a mod, you see).
Regarding your deleted comment, all I will say is, while I prefer to stay neutral in conflicts online and treat everyone involved with the same kindness, thank you for telling me (and understand where you're coming from on what you said), and leave it at that (I can't wipe unless I write to a mod, you see).
Dear Val, I'm sorry to hear about how badly things are going for you and your daughter. You wrote, "If I get real busy with this, I may need to quit posting on LAN and eleswhere for awhile." To which I reply that I understand, and that I will be busy soon myself with issues that will take me away from commenting for a while. "I have been busy today. My daughter has an appointment with a new doctor tomorrow, and we are going to ask for a new patient advocate IN PERSON, because emailing them and trying it by phone do not seem to work. If we cannot get any more than lip service from the patient advocate's office about my daughter's care, we WILL see a lawyer about her mistreatment." Please tell me how that visit went; or haven't you done it yet? Have you ever heard of this aspect of proper care being withheld from people: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/emergency-room-wait-times-sexism/410515/ http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2016/womens-health-gender-bias-cs.html https://www.bu.edu/today/2014/why-medical-research-often-ignores-women/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761670/ and a contradicting viewpoint: https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96jun/cancer/kadar.htm This might interest you. Personally, I find the way your daughter has been treated by the establishment to be thoroughly outrageous! "The new doctor she will see is a general doctor who is supposed to coordinate her care, and take over her prescriptions. We will ask for some tests in regards to nutrient absorption and whether she may have abnormally high pain sensitivities in her abdominal region. She has been tested for many conditions, and we are pretty sure this is all related to her radiation treatment as a toddler. Posting this will help me to remember to ask about these conditions." I really do feel that patients are, nowadays, prospective guinea pigs, to be experimented on at the doctor's whims and fancies. They get the relatives upset by telling them this is their last chance and then the desperate relative/friend will do as the doctor says because they want to save the sick person. It's marketing, honest. While I believe strongly in conventional, time-tested treatments and their abilities to save life, I also do not like the way most of today's doctors act. "I was more than a bit upset today to hear that a co-worker of mine was actually DENIED a 'sick day' for her mother's surgery next week, because we are so short handed. I told her it is not our fault that we are short-handed, and to ask our union-reps (yes, we are one of the few workers in the US that are still unionized) if management can do that. I certainly don't want them refusing my requests for time off owing to my daughter. I may ask her new doctor about FMLA, also." You did the right thing on that one, Val. Perhaps we shouldn't be having sick days so much, but rather days of extreme emergency. The people you're working for sound pretty mean and heartless. I hope your daughter gets a better doctor, and gets the pain in her life under control (better yet, complete deliverance!) very soon. Have you ever heard of this man; you might like to read more about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gompers
I was not as observant as I should have been in not pointing that out.
I apologize.
I have decided to delete the post to avoid any more misunderstandings.
As a reminder, our comments policy is linked above every comments section on this site, and off-topic comments will be deleted. I'd recommend people use alternative means of communicating to each other, especially about personal medical issues. That's not what this site is for.
Needless to say, I got a very "terse" reply.
I finally answered that reply today.
In case they ban 'Violet' altogether--which would not suprise me (they banned 'Val' over this same issue about a year ago), I will repost it all here.
https://disqus.com/home/discussion/lifesitenews/us_govt_gives_pro_lgbt_researcher_1_million_to_study_encourage_transgenderism_in_kids/#comment-3974374804
Violet 25 days ago
I will never understand how lifesitenews can brillantly acknowledge and expose the evil of killing unborn babies in some of its threads, but also spend so much time on acts between consenting adults that, unlike abortion, do not involve killing a third party.
When you do this, it cheapens your arguments about how evil abortion really is, and your homophobia definately turns many people away from even considering the scientific, moral, and non-religious reasons for strongly opposing abortion.
Truly sad.
Steve Jalsevac 24 days ago
You have just condemned the deeply held beliefs of at least a few billion people on this planet - beliefs based not only on religion but also on millennia of human experience. It is incredible foolishness. Also, we and others we have reported on in LifeSite, have thoroughly explained the connection between abortion and other issues of sexual morality. They are all one package and the advocates of homosexuality and transgenderism are well aware of this with many of the leaders making a strong case against that the entire Judeo-Christian moral code has to be destroyed so that a completely different new moral world order can dominate everywhere. Not one shred of the old culture can be tolerated since even a little of it, because of the power of its truths, threatens the attempt to impose the corrupt new order. Those thoughts do not come from me or LifeSIte but have been openly stated and reported as coming from leading social progressives.
4 minutes ago
Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by http://LifeSiteNews.com.
I was not going to even answer this post, because I am almost certain that LSN will ban me, since they are not exactly 'pro-freedom of speech' on this subject.
Since today is 'Independent Day', I said to myself, 'I will respond to this post anyway'.
"You have just condemned the deeply held beliefs of at least a few billion people on this planet - beliefs based not only on religion but also on millennia of human experience".
The above philosophy could apply equally well to the any "deeply held beliefs (PREJUDICES) based on millennia of human experiences".
"Also, we and others we have reported on in LifeSite, have thoroughly explained the connection between abortion and other issues of sexual morality".
This "connection" that you speak of is on pretty shakey ground.
I know this sounds pretty shocking to you, but the first country in the modern era to codify abortion-on-demand was the former Soviet Union in 1920, and it had pretty much nothing to do with LBGTs or sex outside of marriage.
It's legalization was meant for 'married' couples for regulating family sizes.
I will also add that one of the most abortion-extreme countries on the planet today--China--is most definately not friendly to LBGTs.
Your next paragraph seems to be complaining about the fact that most LBGTs do not identify with the pro-life movement.
The way that those groups are regularly attacked by sites/groups such as yours, it is truly difficult for them to get your "messages" about pretty much anything else, even when they are valid.
Look how a great LBGT writer, who could have written many hard-hitting pro-life articles for LSN, was treated!
She was not even allowed to comment on her own articles!
That was not only beyond "incredible foolishness" on your part, but how you justify your treatment of her to yourselves is truly beyond my comprehension.
I have stated my peace.
What you do with it is out of my control.
😑😑
My other, regular reply to you is below.
http://blog.secularprolife.org/2018/06/three-takeaways-from-gallup-abortion.html
http://blog.secularprolife.org/2018/06/three-takeaways-from-nifla-v-becerra.html
Before I launch in, I would like to offer a piece of advice regarding Liz. While I will continue to try to be nice to her, I am sorry she treats you the way she does and yes, I definitely advise keeping her permanently blocked. You are very wise to consider refusing to hold discussions with commenters who are not going to seriously engage with your points, or who bug you or treat you badly.
Now for my tale - I wrote something, elpollo comes up to me and says something complimentary, then I respond back. Elpollo writes that s/he and I don't agree, and from my understanding refuses to hold discussions with me. I think we get into some kind of argument on the next thread and, well, I have decided to stop commenting to elpollo for a while - or at least to comment sparingly - because I really think it is for the best. While I personally feel that elpollo is one of the more civil commenters on the other side towards me although s/he has not been so towards others (I say that because I have seen worse), I am sorry we don't get along. I would like your honest opinion of our discussion if you are willing to offer it. Have I really done anything wrong, and if so, what and why? Is it true that s/he refused to discuss the issue with me unless I changed my views on abortion, because it sure seemed like that to me.
If you want my honest opinion of elpollo, s/he is a far leftist, or SJA (Social Justice Advocate - the more pejorative term is SJW = social justice warrior). People holding these views tend to dislike free speech, especially the type that pertains to minority groups, because free speech has been used to oppress minorities. They would like to see speech they disagree with - and by disagree with, they mean contribute to oppression of a marginalised group - outlawed, to be perfectly frank. They also don't like being called out on hypocritical behaviour; it is fine when they do it but when someone else does it, that's the total opposite of fine. They are insufferably smug and self-righteous, and ... in my opinion ... the worst part of their behaviour is that they silence you, either through threats, intimidation, or bullying, or deliberately and uncharitably misread your points and respond to what they think you are saying rather than what you are really saying, from your own perspective. They insist on dialogue but their type goes only one way - theirs. They redefine terms like "civility" so that they either have an excuse to lash out at you, if you suggest civility, or cry that you are not being civil if you express your opinion honestly. They make you scared to open your mouth, for fear of engaging in microaggressions or of being chewed alive and ganged up on if you say the wrong thing. That is a toxic environment if you want the truth. You will find that they are big on social issues, the rights of the oppressed, and, in some cases, bringing down the kingdom of God to earth. They believe they have the truth, and everyone else is to be pitied because they can't understand true compassion the way they do. The pathetic irony, though, is that there are groups of people truly oppressed like the preborn, and I don't see these SJWs lifting a finger or raising a voice to help them. Please research the term "social justice warrior" and you will find out that everything I've said is true, and worse. That being said, there are far leftists who hold views on social issues who don't act this way but they are rare.
Of course, elpollo got stuck into me about how uncivil I was for saying s/he was a far leftist and SJW, and accused me of misrepresenting their views.
Here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about:
https://heterodoxacademy.org/true-diversity-requires-generosity-of-spirit/
http://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/05/05/open-letter-left-regarding-silence/
http://www.thehappytalent.com/blog/intersectionality-is-the-opposite-of-feminism
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/05/01/censorship-hate-speech-freedom-first-amendment-column/564868002/
Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Last time I expressed these views, you said you did not understand, but I hope I've made myself clearer here.
I had a very bad experience with a far leftist who makes elpollo look mild and respectful in comparison. Am very sorry for my fall-out, but hope it is temporary and can engage in conversations with elpollo in the future, as despite it all, elpollo tends to be far more respectful to people than most of those holding elpollo's worldview.
Now, please don't be surprised if I don't write back immediately responding to this, due to time constraints. That being said, while I have decided to comment sparingly, I will always make time for my friends, and that includes you. I want to apologise for all the times I've said I will leave and have not kept my word, and am trying to work on that. If it happens again, please remind me.
Hmm.
I think that she said that to wound you, because she hates prolifers in general. If she'd written half the stuff to me that she did to you, I might just be cringing into a little ball, trying not to cry.
Since I am not a parent, I can only admire your devotion to your daughter. She is very lucky to have you as her mum. I guess parenting really does make you think of others, a lot. I know my parents would be as devoted to me as you are to your daughter if I were in such a situation.
Of course, in her mind, they - possibly - are minor, because she has had to
give up everything to look after her disabled relative and she's mad at the
world about it. While I can understand people being angry about such a loss of
fulfillment in their lives, what they need is community help so they can fulfill their goals, not abortion availability and legalising doctors taking the lives of their patients. Taking her anger out on you was a very inappropriate and horrible response, especially when your intention was to help her. Will those abortion supporting people she hangs out with be any more willing to help her look after her disabled relative? No! Then why take it out on PL people?? Abortion support and a lack of community involvement breeds a great deal of selfishness in people, I believe. Right now, though, they won't get the support they need unless people change their ideas about helping others. You might not have meant it as a contest but she sure made it into one. I am so, so sorry she was so awful to you. She really does have hatred in her heart and she needs to get serious help for it.
Hmm.
I think that she said that to wound you, because she hates prolifers in general. If she'd written half the stuff to me that she did to you, I might just be cringing into a little ball, trying not to cry.
Since I am not a parent, I can only admire your devotion to your daughter. She is very lucky to have you as her mum. I guess parenting really does make you think of others, a lot. I know my parents would be as devoted to me as you are to your daughter if I were in such a situation.
Of course, in her mind, they - possibly - are minor, because she has had to
give up everything to look after her disabled relative and she's mad at the
world about it. While I can understand people being angry about such a loss of
fulfillment in their lives, what they need is community help so they can fulfill their goals, not abortion availability and legalising doctors taking the lives of their patients. Taking her anger out on you was a very inappropriate and horrible response, especially when your intention was to help her. Will those abortion supporting people she hangs out with be any more willing to help her look after her disabled relative? No! Then why take it out on PL people?? Abortion support and a lack of community involvement breeds a great deal of selfishness in people, I believe. Right now, though, they won't get the support they need unless people change their ideas about helping others. You might not have meant it as a contest but she sure made it into one. I am so, so sorry she was so awful to you. She really does have hatred in her heart and she needs to get serious help for it. It's really horrible when prolifers reach out in compassion and get it
thrown back in their faces like that. I've had that happen to me too - though
not nearly as bad as what you got - and it's been awful. There's something
about supporting abortion that turns people's hearts really sour and ugly.
You have every right to be upset over those posts, and don't let anyone else
tell you otherwise!
As for your daughter's mental issues, I have covered my response to that in another post. I think that, while a good situation helps, your attitude to it will also determine a great deal about how terrible it is. I feel terrible that I can't be there in person to assist you with your daughter, but I do what I can - send comforting messages and let you know I care. I really do hope the treatment works out, and that they start paying that disability money to you right away.
"Does she consider it "minor" if one has an adult child that has a terminal condition?"
Hmm.
I think that she said that to wound you, because she hates prolifers in general. If she'd written half the stuff to me that she did to you, I might just be cringing into a little ball, trying not to cry.
Since I am not a parent, I can only admire your devotion to your daughter. She is very lucky to have you as her mum. I guess parenting really does make you think of others, a lot. I know my parents would be as devoted to me as you are to your daughter if I were in such a situation.
Of course, in her mind, they - possibly - are minor, because she has had to give up everything to look after her disabled relative and she's mad at the world about it. While I can understand people being angry about such a loss of fulfillment in their lives, what they need is community help so they can fulfill their goals, not abortion availability and legalising doctors taking the lives of their patients. Taking her anger out on you was a very inappropriate and horrible response, especially when your intention was to help her. Will those abortion supporting people she hangs out with be any more willing to help her look after her disabled relative? No! Then why take it out on PL people?? Abortion support and a lack of community involvement breeds a great deal of selfishness in people, I believe. Right now, though, they won't get the support they need unless people change their ideas about helping others. You might not have meant it as a contest but she sure made it into one. I am so, so sorry she was so awful to you. She really does have hatred in her heart and she needs to get serious help for it.
It's really horrible when prolifers reach out in compassion and get it thrown back in their faces like that. I've had that happen to me too - though not nearly as bad as what you got - and it's been awful. There's something about supporting abortion that turns people's hearts really sour and ugly.
You have every right to be upset over those posts, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!
As for your daughter's mental issues, I have covered my response to that in another post. I think that, while a good situation helps, your attitude to it will also determine a great deal about how terrible it is. I feel terrible that I can't be there in person to assist you with your daughter, but I do what I can - send comforting messages and let you know I care. I really do hope the treatment works out, and that they start paying that disability money to you right away.
The question you raise is quite interesting, because it forces abortion supporters onto an equal plane with prolifers. I have noticed that quite a few - not all but quite a few - abortion supporters like to feel morally superior to prolifers. They need to to keep the pipe dream going. So when you ask an inconvenient question like that - force equality into the situation - they hate that because it forces them to confront their own hypocrisy. So they lash out and attack instead, because it's easier to do that than change.
Also, one favourite tactic of abortion supporters is to mention prolifers who behave badly, just like you saw, and point out faults in the prolife position in that kind of way. It was a common theme on a site I used to read a lot - common. I think the word "prolife" has something to do with it, because prolife implies "I love all life" but if we called ourselves anti-abortion - not anti-choice, anti-abortion - then that would be better and they couldn't twist the label the same I think. If they can't twist it - prolife - they will hate it - antiabortion. One last thing - the article wasn't the unfriending one, it was the one before it. Do I think the question that got raised was good? Yes. Is attacking prolifers the answer? In a way, no, because prolifers are not a monolith but rather individuals, like abortion supporters are. In a way, though, due to the problems involved in the mainstream PL movement, yes if you're willing to examine your own hypocrisy too - and that is something abortion supporters tend to be unwilling to do because if they do they lose everything. While I can sympathise with the concern raised on the thread, I think abortion-supporting people who are a little too keen to point out PL hypocrisy need to look at their own hearts and what they support as well.
I think one reason the abortion "rights" movement has survived for so long is that abortion supporters tend to stick together and refuse to be divided by anyone, whereas prolifers care about integrity and are willing to call people out, even their own, over a wrong action or word.
If you show Ms. Morgan's comments to your daughter, you might like to also show the daughter my comments - that I care about her a lot and hope she gets healed so she can really enjoy her life.
BTW, please tell me, how's your daughter going with her treatments and life in general? I know it's been a long time and I apologise for not getting back to this earlier. I hope she is going well, and that treatments are helping her. Please know that I may not be back for a while after posting this, because of the pressing projects that I have to complete plus a million other matters to attend to. Nevertheless, you and yours are in my thoughts, a lot more than you know.
Seriously, the change you describe, combined with the lack of touch with reality suggests to me that she’s either psychotic or suffering from a brain damage.
https://blog.equalrightsinstitute.com/quotes/jim-henderson-quote/#comment-3762438695
Since she is obviously mentally ill, it is possible that her brother has a mental illness condition on top of, and possibly not even totally related, to his Downs.
Pretty frightening to think that a mentally ill and disabled man is taken care of by a sister who is also mentally ill! Like a blind leading a blind. Ann would need care herself, rather than being caregiver.
Honestly, her hateful commentary makes me wonder, not only what kind of a caregiver she is, but also if her brother’s problems- and her and her mother’s problems with him- might have worsened thanks to her.
I remember, awhile back, that PJ4 seemed to have some inside info on her situation that made AM look pretty bad, but she didn't really specify what it was.
I remember that PJ seemed to have inside info on more than one of the SPL pro-aborts ( she also seemed to have info on Jim), I remember she said that "All will be revealed in time." I guess we will get the specifications then. Wonder what it is that she has found.
I have seen her on other sites, telling a little about pro-aborts she has been fighting- she had caught another troll, known on Disqus as ”Ella”, guilty of impersonation, threats, and other offences on Facebook. Perhaps Ann ( and Jim) are guilty of similar things there? I don’t know.
It seems like that would take a lot of time, and I really wouldn't know how to do it, myself.
A bit off topic, but have you had difficulty getting to this (and other) sites, especially to specific comments?
I seem to have more problems with that on this site, and on Patheos, than I do on either LAN or SPL, which seems a bit odd.
I am sorry you have trouble getting to this site. That has not been a problem for me. On the other hand, I have had a bit of trouble getting to specific comments on SPL when I use my phone.
Can I ask if you have a job yet?
On the job issue, I have not gotten a job quite yet, but I got a call today from a company that are interested in me and wanted to ask some questions. Since I did not have time to talk right then, and the lady that called was just about to go home for today, we agreed that I call them tomorrow. If I am lucky, I will start working for them on either April 6 or April 20. It is an electrics company, I will do customer service if they hire me, answering questions and stuff like that. I will work full time. Wish me luck! :-)
I am also waiting for news from 14 other companies, so I feel fairly optimistic.
The electronics one sounds like it would be fun.
I hope that eventually my son Raymond can get into something like that.
Cell phones can be good.
I had one for years before I did much with it (besides making calls), but I now know that they can do a lot more than that.
I made the call two hours ago, it went well. After having let me ask a couple of questions, the lady made a short first interview with me. After having completed it, she told me I answered the questions really well, which felt good to hear.
Afterwards, she sent me an email with some tests to do. I plan to do them this evening.
Once I have done the tests, I will get to know in a few days if I get invited for an interview in their office. After that will follow a group recruitment meeting on either March 1 or March 15, if I am lucky.
I used to have a really simple cell phone before this one- a Nokia. A good phone, but not possible to access the Internet or check emails with. On the other hand, I used it for seven years, and still have it in reserve, so it was well designed.
Since you know and write in both languages, I bet that you know all the words and praises that our languages have in common.
With the determined way that you are job seeking, you may actually find yourself with MORE spare time when you find one.
It sounds like your parents are proud of you, as they should be.
Even when I had a cell several years ago that included the internet, I basically just used it as a phone.
It is only in the last few years that I have been using it for much more.
Basically, I use either my phone or a 10-year-old laptop for the internet--usually my phone.
You inspired him, too!
It is quite descriptive.
Well, who knows? :-)
Yes, I think my parents are proud of me, though particularly my mom seems to get somewhat nervous on my behalf as well when the subject of work is brought up.
I started using my phone for the Internet a couple of weeks after I had bought it. It´s good not having to use my laptop every time I want to access Internet ( yeah, I also use either phone or laptop- my laptop is about three years younger than yours).
What do you think of all that?
Whether it is because she actually likes you, or because she just wishes to manipulate you, I do not know.
One time I was interacting with her (and a few others) somewhere else. The things she said about brain-death were so foreign to my thinking that I struggled to respond to what she was saying, although I really tried. My psychopath - the one with many names - told me I must go back and answer Ms. Morgan's comments. I did and I found most of what I had said had been flagged. I don't think Ms. Morgan was responsible for that but I do think the strict rules of that forum were - I suspect my psychopath flagged what I wrote now, too.
I will now repeat her illustration, as best I can remember (if I find the link I'll share it): she asked me, if I had to choose between someone who was brain-dead and a person who was not brain-dead but injured so severely they would die if I didn't help them, who would I choose to save? Also, she said - and I've heard this argument before - well, let's just say I will have to try hard to remember but it was definitely relating to brain-death and the heart and if I do, can I tell you please? Plus she said that if you make a brain-transplant from Person A to Person B and Person A was an evil person then Person B is responsible for Person A's actions because Person A's brain was the one that engineered the murders, even though Person B is perfectly innocent of the crime. Weird, weird stuff. My mind shuts down when confronted by those kinds of ideas. My psychopath noticed, and remarked on it. One of my psychopath's favourite accusations for me was "cognitive dissonance."
Your psychopath sounds like a real control freak asshole.
Amanda's issues are complicated.
I see some of her mental issues as similar to what her dad has, likely being complicated by the synergistic effects of her meds, trauma she has been through, and her untreated physical problems.
You can see that could be a toxic combination for depression, distortion of reality, and temper issues.
I will let you know how her next appointment goes.
You and your daughter are in my thoughts - often. Please know that.
Is there any way she can come off those meds without complicating issues? I admit to struggling with temper issues myself, unfortunately, so I can sympathise.
Here is a natural treatment I recommend looking into:
https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/default.htm
https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-herbs-and-supplements#1
https://www.verywell.com/turmeric-for-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-715988
http://www.drliptan.com/blog/2017/6/7/effective-natural-pain-relief-for-fibromyalgia
Here's a song for her; I know it's not a cat vid but the message is very important:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVLFw5eR250
One last thing - I'm sorry to have to say this but since I am extremely busy at the moment with RL duties, I thought you should know I either might not or won't comment for a while, although I could pop in occasionally (in other words, you could either see me more rarely than you do now, or not see me at all for a while). I very much appreciated being told about your daughter and hope to hear more about how she's going (plus anything else you want to share with me) when I can.
If you could try again, I would appreciate it.
Crystal’s comment is in reply to Val:
Visit Val's profile
On a brighter note, thanks again for the animal videos.
Amanda sent me this one yesterday, and I admit I did not know that our ...
Read more
I keep hoping for the best, it is good that your persuasion of your daughter had effect at last.
You´re most welcome.
It was beyond senseless!
The shooter was elderly-- very atypical.
Related to this issue is the need for more people with such tendencies to have mental health treatment available (NOT CUT) to hopefully prevent tragedies like this.
And please don't get me started on how individuals like that are able to get automatic weapons in the first place!
Have to go to work.
I have a lot to do today.
I am sure Crystal told you about Mark and Cynthia--new prolife posters on SPL?
I think I was running a bit late for work and really just skimmed yours/hers remarks.
I have made a few comments on that thread (to Mark, Cynthia, and you)--all of them quite different.
I will see what responses I get.
Crystal has mentioned one of the new posters, but she said to me that I shouldn´t comment about him here- only at SPL and LAN, I didn´t really understand why that matters, but am trying to do as she says.
I'm glad you convinced her to go ahead with it though.
I'm not sure why she felt that way, can you explain?
If she starts feeling that way again, remind her that she is not a burden. She is a very special person in your life and you have her back all the way.
You care about her, Val. You and she will get through this. My thoughts are with you.
She is still hesitant.
I hope they can convince her if she gets a consult appointment.
Often times, she is just not thinking straight--and when I try to reason with her, she gets angry.
She has depression in addition to physical pain.
Sometimes, she turns her anger on to me, and really lashes out at me for NO reason.
That hurts a lot.
Other times (and this seems to be one), she just sees herself as a 'useless burden' on me.
I don't know why she can't just be decent to me, AND see that she has self-worth at the same time.
If her pain gets under control, her mental state will be next.
"Other times (and this seems to be one), she just sees herself as a 'useless burden' on me."
We need to keep reminding her that she is anything but that.
Jen is back to talk about her experience in Ireland in her "save the 8th" group.
https://www.liveaction.org/news/ireland-rape-survivors-bullied-sharing-pro-life-testimony-courageously-continue-speak/
https://www.liveaction.org/news/ireland-rape-survivors-bullied-sharing-pro-life-testimony-courageously-continue-speak/#comment-3554405266
https://www.liveaction.org/news/ireland-rape-survivors-bullied-sharing-pro-life-testimony-courageously-continue-speak/#comment-3554706052
When I think of rape victims and whether they should have an abortion or not, I think of Rebecca Kiessling, and her lived experiences. I don't want to deny her lived experiences. Apparently, some abortion supporters (not all) can't stand the idea that someone might have lived experiences different from their own and try to suppress that information, a tactic contrary to the stated principles of the left, which claims to honour the lived experiences of the oppressed.
Would you be comfortable with inviting JenAgain here? If you were, I'd love to see her again.
It took me a while. Life has been crazy! I'm here though! You give me too much credit but I do appreciate your kind words. Rebecca and I had a blast in Ireland!
http://blog.secularprolife.org/2017/10/love-was-louder-than-my-rape.html
While I think all the comments supporting the rape victim making the morally correct decision sum up the issue nicely, I would prefer to abstain from delving too much into my views on abortions for rape during this time, and instead focus on
a powerful, though little discussed, aspect of this topic.
To start with, here's an article I found today discussing victimisation:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/transparentexpedition/2017/10/victim-believing-without-caring/
In order to properly understand what I wish to say next, my readers will have to read the article for themselves, as my thoughts are kind of based on that article.
Please understand my comments are not meant to condemn prolifers in general, as I understand many of them are supportive of rape victims. I am, rather, thinking of the proud ones who ask what dress she was wearing and what she drank to “deserve” what happened to her (and sadly, such prolifers exist).
The lady in this paper says she was not believed, meaning she suffered from victim blaming and victim shaming for being raped.
If women were believed, and shown compassion when they reported rape, and felt safe enough to report rape and know that justice would be done for them, I have a theory that they might (I don't know how true this is but that they might) be more likely to want their babies to live as well.
Here is a testimony of one who did not feel safe reporting rape, and also felt as if she had to sneak an abortion:
https://www.xojane.com/issues/pro-life-activist-to-pro-choice-christian
Her story is particularly heartbreaking, because she was surrounded by prolifers who had every opportunity to protect her, affirm her needs, and care about her whether she got pregnant or not (and if she did, her child as well), but instead they chose to shame her. It is in part because of behaviour like this that people turn away from values such as holding a more conservative view
on sexuality, and prolifism (I'm not accusing those who hold a more conservative view on sexuality, and prolifers, of victim blaming/victim shaming, necessarily, but rather trying to make a point). While many prolifers I have come across tend to be very supportive of rape victims, other prolifers (especially those in hardened, far-right backgrounds such as the ones I am referring to in the articles) have the same problem as described in the articles.
I think this is a much overlooked aspect of the issue of rape and abortion that we need to discuss more often. If prolifers wish to encourage women in such difficult circumstances to choose not to abort, they must also be willing to set aside their prejudices and educate themselves on the very real horror of rape, and how often the victim is revictimised, repeatedly, by others. In short, prolifers need to make themselves safe people for rape victims to come to (I know many do this already, but as a movement it needs to become a top priority). I am asking those prolifers and those with conservative sexual values who are quick to blame rape victims for what happened to them to really examine their hearts, and ask themselves if they are doing the victims, or any
children they might have, any good.
To summarise: when a rape victim comes to you for help, the first words out of your mouth shouldn’t be “keep your baby” but rather “I believe you” because that belief helps you establish a bond
with the rape victim (that being said, there are cases where “keep your baby” is probably the first, only, and right thing to say, but I speak generally). Once you have built the bridge and gained confidence, at that point I believe it appropriate to discuss the ethics of abortion with the person. I am not trying to dictate, but rather trying to encourage other prolifers to adopt a more well-rounded perspective in dealing with the issue.
I'm curious as to your thoughts on what I wrote, if you're willing to share them.
Thank you for coming.
I am so sorry I missed you. Would you be willing to resume this conversation when we are both not so busy? I am very tied up at the moment but hope that when I get back I can use this forum as a springboard to resume our chats, that you will see my comment and respond as soon as you can.
Thanks for the good work you did in that country. I hope you and your friends saved many lives through your effective witness for the truth.
TBH, I struggle with the question of rape victims and abortion. I know that saying a woman shouldn't abort during a time like that isn't exactly a feminist position (due to rights over her body); that being said, I also think of people like your friend Rebecca Kiessling and cannot bring myself to say she should have been killed if that was what someone else wanted. So it is hard for me.
I also wanted to notice how hypocritical those trying to silence you were. The worst part, in my mind, is that people like this claim to want honest discussions yet silence those holding a different opinion on the topic. You suffered through something terribly traumatic and you deserve a voice like anyone else.
I found this tragic testimony of a person who turned to accepting abortion through her rape experience:
https://www.xojane.com/issues/pro-life-activist-to-pro-choice-christian
I think you might identify with it somewhat, as you went through something similar. While her story is tragic, it has many lessons for prolifers, including putting aside our preconceived notions of what rape is and listening to the stories of those that have suffered this indignity.
BTW, your red hair is beautiful, like fire (I mean that sincerely); I have always liked red hair as it symbolises spirit and strength to me and you are one strong woman.
From my heart to yours,
Crystal
I'd love to talk more.
Let me know when you have time and we'll figure it out.
💜❤💓
I will call her attention to this thread.
These abortion supporters talk about how threatened they feel, how prolifers are threatening their lives, and this is why they claim they have a "right" to be rude to us, but this is just too much. Distressing.
Thank you for agreeing to do that.
You might like to delete the link after she has acknowledged it (I'm thinking of you when I say this; I don't want anyone any of us don't feel comfortable around to discover that information).
I will delete the post if she responds.
Amanda sent me this one yesterday, and I admit I did not know that our lovable household cat was THIS vital to mankind!
https://youtu.be/gqOzTh2pjEw
2) The medical system is in serious need of reform; crooked practices ranging from the situations in the links to refusing to offer life-saving care on the grounds that it "costs too much" should be outlawed
3) Practices that cause death to a patient should be outlawed
I hope I have addressed the main points in your comment and if not please let me know.
Last but not least, as I mentioned before I can't write in nearly as often as I'd like, and when that changes I hope we can resume messaging each other. Also, when circumstances change in regards to emails, would the partial email address you gave me earlier (I have it stored in my files) still be workable?
Thanks for your time; and hope that circumstances improve substantially for you and yours, especially your daughter.
themselves in business rather than as guardians of patients' lives, and sometimes have made errors in diagnosing patients. So yeah, our system in this area is in a shambles as well. I am still open-minded, surprisingly; I'm simply speaking of what I have seen.
Sounds pretty ironic that the US, despite its having a more traditionally based care system, spends more money on hospitals and medicine than their free care counterparts.
I agree with you on minimum wage.
"That seems fair, and evidence suggests that unless the increase is MORE than that, it does not increase unemployment, contrary to the right-wing vitriol."
I've heard a lot of claims, but not that one yet. What will they come up with next :(
I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with any of these measures; they sound more like much-needed reforms than anything else.
"But the ACA has also, in RARE cases, led to job layoffs"
I appreciate that you're honest enough to admit that no plan is perfect (no offence intended, honestly).
"My answer, as I have stated a million times, is universal, affordable
health care. Medicare-for-all."
While that sounds wonderful, how do you respond to those who claim that this kind of care decreases the quality of care patients receive, and leads to cases like this one:
https://www.liveaction.org/news/what-if-it-was-your-child-charlie-gards-mother-shouts-in-court-as-judge-announces-terminally-ill-babys-fate
I agree with you on minimum wage.
"That seems fair, and evidence suggests that unless the increase is MORE than that, it does not increase unemployment, contrary to the right-wing vitriol."
I've heard a lot of claims, but not that one yet. What will they come up with next :(
What really needs to be done is a few things: 1) Doctors need to start working for compassion not money; if the government paid them out of an independent salary they could do the job without expecting their patients to pay them
2) The medical system is in serious need of reform; crooked practices ranging from the situations in the links to refusing to offer life-saving care on the grounds that it "costs too much" should be outlawed
3) Practices that cause death to a patient should be outlawed
I hope I have addressed the main points in your comment and if not please let me know.
Last but not least, as I mentioned before I can't write in nearly as often as I'd like, and when that changes I hope we can resume messaging each other. Also, when circumstances change in regards to emails, would the partial email address you gave me earlier (I have it stored in my files) still be workable?
Thanks for your time; and hope that circumstances improve substantially for you and yours, especially your daughter.
I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with any of these measures; they sound more like much-needed reforms than anything else.
"But the ACA has also, in RARE cases, led to job layoffs"
I appreciate that you're honest enough to admit that no plan is perfect (no offence intended, honestly).
"My answer, as I have stated a million times, is universal, affordable
health care. Medicare-for-all."
While that sounds wonderful, how do you respond to those who claim that this kind of care decreases the quality of care patients receive, and leads to cases like this one:
https://www.liveaction.org/news/what-if-it-was-your-child-charlie-gards-mother-shouts-in-court-as-judge-announces-terminally-ill-babys-fate
Because, that is basically what opponents of such care proclaim; I realise you have probably heard this before BTW. Please forgive my reserve on this issue but I live in a country where we have systems somewhat similar to the ACA and it's not working out for us - at all - we do have poorer care in publicly run hospitals than in private ones where I live, although I understand that's not always the case in other countries. For the most part, many doctors see
themselves in business rather than as guardians of patients' lives, and sometimes have made errors in diagnosing patients. So yeah, our system in this area is in a shambles as well. I am still open-minded, surprisingly; I'm simply speaking of what I have seen.
mandating that those with pre-existing conditions be insured, and
allowing adult children to stay on their parent's plans until age 26 are
all life-saving. The mandate that pregnancy be covered is ALSO life-saving."
I'm honestly not sure what's wrong with any of these measures; they sound more like much-needed reforms than anything else.
"But the ACA has also, in RARE cases, led to job layoffs"
I appreciate that you're honest enough to admit that no plan is perfect (no offence intended, honestly).
"My answer, as I have stated a million times, is universal, affordable health care. Medicare-for-all."
While that sounds wonderful, how do you respond to those who claim that this kind of care decreases the quality of care patients receive, and leads to cases like this one:
https://www.liveaction.org/news/what-if-it-was-your-child-charlie-gards-mother-shouts-in-court-as-judge-announces-terminally-ill-babys-fate
Because, that is basically what opponents of such care proclaim; I realise you have probably heard this before BTW. Please forgive my reserve on this issue but I live in a country where we have systems somewhat similar to the ACA and it's not working out for us - at all - we do have poorer care in publicly run hospitals than in private ones where I live, although I understand that's not always the case in other countries. For the most part, many doctors see themselves in business rather than as guardians of patients' lives, and sometimes have made errors in diagnosing patients. So yeah, our system in this area is in a shambles as well. I am still open-minded, surprisingly; I'm simply speaking of what I have seen.
Sounds pretty ironic that the US, despite its having a more traditionally based care system, spends more money on hospitals and medicine than their free care counterparts.
I agree with you on minimum wage.
"That seems fair, and evidence suggests that unless the increase is MORE
than that, it does not increase unemployment, contrary to the right-wing
vitriol."
I've heard a lot of claims, but not that one yet. What will they come up with next :(
What really needs to be done is a few things: 1) Doctors need to start working for compassion not money; if the government paid them out of an independent salary they could do the job without expecting their patients to pay them
2) The medical system is in serious need of reform; crooked practices ranging from the situations in the links to refusing to offer life-saving care on the grounds that it "costs too much" should be outlawed
3) Practices that cause death to a patient should be outlawed
I hope I have addressed the main points in your comment and if not please let me know.
Last but not least, as I mentioned before I can't write in nearly as often as I'd like, and when that changes I hope we can resume messaging each other. Also, when circumstances change in regards to emails, would the partial email address you gave me earlier (I have it stored in my files) still be workable?
Thanks for your time; and hope that circumstances improve substantially for you and yours, especially your daughter.
I'm sorry to hear about how miserably you and your daughter are being treated by those supposed to look after you.
"If I get real busy with this, I may need to quit posting on LAN and eleswhere for awhile."
I completely understand, and wish to say that in a few days I will quit posting for a while myself, due to personal circumstances, commitments, and other such issues. I wish you the best of luck with you and your daughter.
"My daughter has an appointment with a new doctor tomorrow, and we are
going to ask for a new patient advocate IN PERSON, because emailing them
and trying it by phone do not seem to work. If we cannot get any
more than lip service from the patient advocate's office about my
daughter's care, we WILL see a lawyer about her mistreatment."
I hope she can get the patient advocate she needs and that you won't have to involve anyone outside of the hospital. Unfortunately, however, there's a potential side to this I'm not sure if you know about:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/emergency-room-wait-times-sexism/410515/
https://psmag.com/social-justice/is-medicines-gender-bias-killing-young-women
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761670/
and another article disagreeing with what I said:
https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96jun/cancer/kadar.htm
Unfortunately, there were some really good articles last time I sent you this but the comment dropped out so here's my present contribution, above.
"The new doctor she will see is a general doctor who is supposed to coordinate her care, and take over her prescriptions. We
will ask for some tests in regards to nutrient absorption and whether
she may have abnormally high pain sensitivities in her abdominal region.
She has been tested for many conditions, and we are pretty sure this is all related to her radiation treatment as a toddler. Posting this will help me to remember to ask about these conditions."
While I believe in conventional medicine in and of itself, I also believe that many doctors today treat their patients as potential experiments, offering them drugs and treatments that haven't been proved to work very well. This is one way it works: the person is very ill. The doctor says "Your loved one will die if they don't get this treatment." The person trying to look after their ailing friend then feels desperate, agrees, and, well, sometimes it works out and sometimes not. It's honestly a form of marketing - nothing more - and quite frankly it angers me, because people trust doctors due to their expertise and sometimes they get taken for a ride due to "expert advice".
"My job is so-so. I was more than a bit upset today to hear that a
co-worker of mine was actually DENIED a 'sick day' for her mother's
surgery next week, because we are so short handed. I told her it is
not our fault that we are short-handed, and to ask our union-reps (yes,
we are one of the few workers in the US that are still unionized) if
management can do that. I certainly don't want them refusing my requests for time off owing to my daughter. I may ask her new doctor about FMLA, also."
I hope you don't get forbidden to spend adequate time with your daughter. Also, you did the right thing there, and I'm sorry to hear she got denied like that. We shouldn't be having "sick times" so much, but more "times for emergency situations"; I wish people thought more of helping people and less for what they could get out of them than they do. Have you ever heard of this man:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gompers
Please, tell me what you think of all this.
I'm sorry to hear about how badly things are going for you and your daughter. You wrote, "If I get real busy with this, I may need to quit posting on LAN and eleswhere for awhile." To which I reply that I understand, and that I will be busy soon myself with issues that will take me away from commenting for a while.
"I have been busy today. My daughter has an appointment with a new
doctor tomorrow, and we are going to ask for a new patient advocate IN
PERSON, because emailing them and trying it by phone do not seem to
work. If we cannot get any more than lip service from the patient
advocate's office about my daughter's care, we WILL see a lawyer about
her mistreatment."
Please tell me how that visit went; or haven't you done it yet?
Have you ever heard of this aspect of proper care being withheld from people:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/emergency-room-wait-times-sexism/410515/
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2016/womens-health-gender-bias-cs.html
https://www.bu.edu/today/2014/why-medical-research-often-ignores-women/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1761670/
and a contradicting viewpoint:
https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96jun/cancer/kadar.htm
This might interest you. Personally, I find the way your daughter has been treated by the establishment to be thoroughly outrageous!
"The new doctor she will see is a general doctor who is supposed to coordinate her care, and take over her prescriptions. We
will ask for some tests in regards to nutrient absorption and whether
she may have abnormally high pain sensitivities in her abdominal region.
She has been tested for many conditions, and we are pretty sure this is all related to her radiation treatment as a toddler. Posting this will help me to remember to ask about these conditions."
I really do feel that patients are, nowadays, prospective guinea pigs, to be experimented on at the doctor's whims and fancies. They get the relatives upset by telling them this is their last chance and then the desperate relative/friend will do as the doctor says because they want to save the sick person. It's marketing, honest. While I believe strongly in conventional, time-tested treatments and their abilities to save life, I also do not like the way most of today's doctors act.
"I was more than a bit upset today to hear that a co-worker of mine was
actually DENIED a 'sick day' for her mother's surgery next week, because
we are so short handed. I told her it is not our fault that we are
short-handed, and to ask our union-reps (yes, we are one of the few
workers in the US that are still unionized) if management can do that. I certainly don't want them refusing my requests for time off owing to my daughter. I may ask her new doctor about FMLA, also."
You did the right thing on that one, Val. Perhaps we shouldn't be having sick days so much, but rather days of extreme emergency. The people you're working for sound pretty mean and heartless. I hope your daughter gets a better doctor, and gets the pain in her life under control (better yet, complete deliverance!) very soon.
Have you ever heard of this man; you might like to read more about him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gompers