You know, a lot of women praise the benefits of having a gay guy friend. I’d say that guys are starting to as well.

But you don’t see as many guys realizing how damn great a lesbian friend can be. It can, by the way, be awesome. Yeah, you still deal with some individuals not being great friends, but there’s really something special about the kind of bond you can get with someone on a different section of the attraction slider.

I can’t even put my finger on exactly what it is that makes it happen, but there’s this kind of inner vibe where there’s just enough differences, and just enough similarities that come along with the mix of cis-het male and cis-les female. That balance, when it works right can be a really deep bond that’s a goodness in life.

I said I wasn’t mad at OP, anyone else is fair game ;)

I’m not mad at you

I covered that by stating that there are multiple usages of addiction. I’m aware that addiction, dependence, and the medical issues each brings is a complicated one. There are nuances to all of it, but they were tangential to what OP asked.

Also, depending on who’s talking about it and in what context, physical addiction may or may not be a thing. All addiction comes with changes in the brain and body. Even something as seemingly non physical as gambling has a physical component, and people may experience withdrawal symptoms, no matter how they stop.

One aspect of why that happens is dopamine. Every addiction I know of has some degree of dopamine release as a part of the overall disease process. Though, disorder may be a preferred term to disease. The experience of losing a dopamine trigger is part of what triggers withdrawal. It’s why even non addictive substances like antidepressants can still cause symptoms on cessation. Though I would argue that dependence on a medication that can cause withdrawal symptoms meets the standard to call addictive. I’ve seen people engage in the same behaviors that someone addicted to illegal drugs will engage in, in order to stop those symptoms and gain access to at least a similar drug if not the exact same one.

Like I said, tangential to the OP’ question.

If you can moderate, it isn’t really an addiction. At least, not by the strict definition. If you use it more colloquially, sure.

But addiction is a compulsion that is acceded to, despite consequences, by the more common usage of the word. If you can resist the compulsion, then it hasn’t reached that level yet.

I mean, a lot of this kind of discussion depends on exactly how someone defines a term, right? Addiction has multiple usages, so there’s no single answer.

I’d say a good frame of reference would be that there’s a difference between dependency and addiction, with addiction being more defined by a lack of ability to resist compulsion. Dependence would be more along the lines of having the compulsion at all, be it to an external chemical or an internal factor. It kinda rolls together the more clinical definition with the looser versions.

Now, me? I’ve been full on addicted to nicotine by any usage of the term. Cold turkey wasn’t possible. Moderation was only possible short term. But, I’ve taken opiates off and on for years without developing a dependence at all, though that’s partially because I hate the damn things and only take them when my pain levels are out of control. Yay chronic pain?

That’s still a benefit of Android. As long as you have the apk of an app, there’s usually a good chance it’ll keep working.

There’s even a patched version on xda of Swype that lets it work on most devices, even though it no longer matches minimum android versions in the last official apk. It’s kinda funny, my phone still runs it fine, and it’s on 14, but I have a tablet on 13 that it won’t allow it without jumping though hoops that are a pain in the ass (but that’s Samsung, and they’re dicks about a lot of stuff).

When possible, I use Swype. I have the apk, and it works on most things.

When that’s not possible, florisboard or heliboard. Both can do swipe typing, though neither is as good at it as swype.

Kinda depends on context. Because, if you’ve ever been around toddlers it means something different lol.

But I suspect you mean when the kids are adults.

It’s typically going to be a blend of things. Wanting to see your kids find their groove. Part of the job of being a parent is getting your kids to adulthood in a state where they can survive, and hopefully thrive, on their own. That’s because nobody lives forever, so they’ll have to do life without you at some point.

You also want them to have stability and success. Not everyone has the same criteria for those things, but it’s the hopeful part of parenting. Ideally, you set your kid up to have a better life than you.

The problem comes in when success and stability don’t have the same criteria for the parents and the kids.

Settling down usually does mean that a person has found their groove, and they’re also likely to be on a career path of some kind. They’re also not likely to be partying too much or engaging in risky behaviors.

So, if the parents value that kind of life as “success”, of course they’ll wnat their kids on a path to that life before the parents age out of being able to help with that goal.

That does sometimes come with parents obsessing over it. Even more common is parents thinking that it has to be reached on a shorter timeline than the kid wants. So it can be a source of conflict, despite it starting out as something positive.

Of course, parents are humans. Humans are assholes. So you run into parents that believe their kids are extensions of themselves rather than independent humans. Those parents want their kids to reflect well on them, to extend their own sense of self. Thus, the child fulfilling the parent’s ideals becomes vital to the parents’ goals.

It’s like anything else, really. Complicated.

Me? I tend to just want my kid to find their groove no matter what it looks like. I may or may not be able to assist them in life, depending on what that groove is, but I just want them to have as fulfilling a life as possible in the world we’re stuck in. Anything else is icing on the cake

It’s effectively the same thing.

Whether or not the recording is kept or not, it’s using the same function.

Ehhh, I don’t think there is a unifying “white” culture.

Plenty of regional cultures that are predominantly white, and definitely city level ones, but that’s different from a “white culture”.

Hell, it’s hard to even say there’s am American culture because it’s just so damn big. Even regional cultures, like the general southern culture I came up in, I can’t say is a single one. There’s to much different between adjoining counties sometimes, and states can be even further apart.

If I point to the Appalachian culture I’m also a part of, you can’t really rely on that as much as you’d think, because five hundred miles in the mountains is a huge barrier to culture connections, even though much of the population shares common ancestry that informs the local cultures.

So, nah, I can’t buy the idea of “white” culture any more than I can any singular racial culture. They just don’t work when in reality, though they’re temping on paper.

Shit, even “ethnic” cultures vary too much between specific cities to rely on them translating fully, so why would arbitrary skin color groupings? The Irish folk here in the hills have kept and/or adapted the culture of their ancestors different than those in Boston, or New Orleans, or New York. Just looking at my maternal and paternal families, there’s enough differences that I wouldn’t give credence to an Irish, Scots-Irish or German culture being fully passed down in the same way.

The UK is way smaller than the US, and every city has its own distinct culture. Some are big enough cities that there’s multiple versions in each one.

If I had to lay claim to a national culture of the US, it would have to be adaptability. The overall culture of the US is to take what comes here and mix it around until it sticks. And that’s not a very distinct thing at all.

If the clutch doesn’t survive, it was already near failure anyway.

It’s easy tbh.

There’s a learning curve, but if you can walk while pulling something out of your pocket, you meet the minimum coordination test.

If you have a tachometer, it’s a little easier to learn when to shift, but it isn’t necessary at all, just a nicety.

No bullshit, I learned in a day, and was able to drive without grinding gears in maybe a week. Taught many people over the decades since. A day of practice that includes hills is all it takes to get the basics down.

When you first drive a different car, it may take a few miles to get a feel for the clutch and shifter throw, but that’s about it.

It seems way harder than it actually is, assuming you have full limb mobility. If you don’t, it can be a good bit harder.

When you first try it, just remember to get the clutch pedal all the way in before shifting, and you won’t have trouble in that regard. Letting the clutch out in sync with the gas is where coordination comes in, so test any new vehicle in an empty parking lot or other open space that’s flat, so you can get a feel for that safely. Once you have that feel, it’s easy peasy again.

At this point, I don’t even pay attention to shifting. It just happens without thinking about it as the vibration reaches the right level.

Hell, in my old car, I had taught dozens of people how to drive stick, and it got to 200k miles with the original clutch in it. That’s how easy it can be to learn.

So, wait, Google can record calls, but we can’t?

That’s one I hadn’t run across before!

Labels are not currently 100% fixed, there’s still some blurry edges around the newer terms, and older ones are shifting. Sometimes they shift faster than a given person can track.

With that disclaimer, it’s possible that would fall under the bi or pan sexual labels. Depending on who you ask, that can be and/or instead of just or.

Bi covers it well, because it’s an attraction to both men and women, and doesn’t specify how they present.

You could fall into the omnisexual rather than pan or bi, as omni is generally considered to be for people that do care about gender, but without a specific preference; while pan generally indicates a lack of concern about gender at all.

However, there is also gynosexuality. Thing is it gets used in two different ways, only one of which fits your description. One usage is really close; an attraction to people that present as feminine. But, the other usage is that you’re attracted to women, which includes anyone that identifies as a woman, but wouldn’t include those that identify as men, while expressing traditionally feminine presentation. So there’s a degree of conflict there, making it difficult to express one’s sexuality with that label in discussions about attraction.

Not that picking a label really defines you or limits you. They’re essentially just there to make matchmaking easier, and for general discussion.

I’m big on fruits and dairy. Berries and butter, cream and tree fruits, cheese and apples, even sour cream with roasted apples (seriously, it’s better than it sounds).

Sometimes I’ll go savory, do some cheese cubes and sauage, maybe crumble in bacon and pepper it up with some butter too. Oooh! Goat cheese, dates, and bacon!

But warming spices tend to be a great base for additions across the board. Cinnamon, some allspice, nutmeg, maybe mace and cloves, cumin even. Whatever mix I’m in the mood for. You can go sweet on top of that, maybe brown sugar or maple. Add fruits. Or just go with just the spices plus salt.

Mind you, that’s quick oats microwaved or stovetop. Instant oats like in packets, I tend to just add a little milk or a juice and leave it at that.

Which, btw, a little fruit juice brings sweetness and taste to any oatmeal. You can even cook oats in it just fine.

Being real though, saying that a dictator isn’t effectively a monarch is sophistry.

Well, everyone on lemmy is just me talking to myself ;)

Any time this comes up, it’s always cool how many people have shared a similar experience. It also always makes me wish there was research into how this kind of dream happens, that so many people have experienced it. The fact that so many people do seems to me that there’s something about humans, as a species, that makes it possible, beyond just the ability/need to dream in general.

In case someone can’t, or just doesn’t want to, visit the site:

You may have seen reports of leaks of older text messages that had previously been sent to Steam customers. We have examined the leak sample and have determined this was NOT a breach of Steam systems.

We’re still digging into the source of the leak, which is compounded by the fact that any SMS messages are unencrypted in transit, and routed through multiple providers on the way to your phone.

The leak consisted of older text messages that included one-time codes that were only valid for 15-minute time frames and the phone numbers they were sent to. The leaked data did not associate the phone numbers with a Steam account, password information, payment information or other personal data. Old text messages cannot be used to breach the security of your Steam account, and whenever a code is used to change your Steam email or password using SMS, you will receive a confirmation via email and/or Steam secure messages.

You do not need to change your passwords or phone numbers as a result of this event. It is a good reminder to treat any account security messages that you have not explicitly requested as suspicious. We recommend regularly checking your Steam account security at any time at

https://store.steampowered.com/account/authorizeddevices

We also recommend setting up the Steam Mobile Authenticator if you haven’t already, as it gives us the best way to send secure messages about your account and your account’s safety.

How would you get rid of them?

All the constitutional monarchies started as just monarchies. Every step between those days and what’s around now have been gradual, and usually very stable.

If you want to completely sever royals from government, it isn’t as simple as snapping fingers. Some of them, you’d have to unmake the constitution and rebuild it from the ground up. And that isn’t something that everyone in those countries wants, so you’d have to get people on board and willing to deal with the transition instability.

Undoing all the baby steps from “King Bob, first of his name, absolute ruler” to “king Fred, he’s kind of a figurehead, but kinda has a minor role too” is, in the cases I’m aware of, a damn hard one to unwind. Each movement comes along with other laws and decisions that would have to be untangled to sever the ties.

Not an impossible task, but a long, difficult, and expensive one. Yeah, you get enough people on board, throw a revolution, and you bypass all that, but then you’ve got to rebuild anyway, which means you’ll be building the new government in baby steps with compromises and concessions and political expediency. With no guarantee of something better at all. It could end up better, but it could end up with a nation in collapse.

Again, if enough people want it, and accept that risk, it could happen.

But most people want stability. Very little gives the sensation of stability like hundreds of years of the same family being in place. Sure, you get assholes and idiots among them, but you have the constitution and the actual government to keep it in check. Another fifty years down the road, it changes faces and life goes on.