The safety net has people-sized holes in it. I nearly became homeless in June, and it wasn't the state that came through for me, it was a relative. Even though I'm stll sleeping on a porch, I count myself lucky.

The programs that are supposed to help people stay housed are failing: not enough funds for housing vouchers, restrictions too high for enrollment, and waiting lists too long for practicality.

And Gavin is a wannabe autocrat. If it weren't for him and his vetomania, we would have legalized natural psychedelics in CA by now. But no, instead we have people out there getting sick from sketchy products. And it seems like it's the same with everything: do the exact opposite of helping while making it look like you care.

Edit: there are decent leaders out there though, such as this mayor who lived as a homeless man for a week to gain some insight on the matter.

The administration of President Joe Biden had considered blocking the battalion from receiving US assistance amid reports of involvement in human rights violations, but Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Friday that such abuses had been “effectively remediated”.

So, we effectively dragged our feet until we got assurances that the battalion corrected its behavior? Yet, when it comes to the UNWRA, we're quick to cease funding on a faint glimmer of a rumor.

9/11. My first thought when watching TV that day was 'Bush did this'. Now maybe he did or maybe he didn't, but it's clear as day the US was just itching pass the Patriot Act and go to war. Every year since then has shown me this country's government couldn't give a shit about poor and downtrodden people in other countries. In fact, the US is doing the trodding, and the poor of this country are also in its sights.

At least we still have social programs here, which is good thing, but it feels like something left over from when more people cared.

I really, really wish the US would get the f out of the Middle East, stop arming Israel and begin making reparations. Unfortunately, those of us wanting peace tend to be meek (up to a point), which isn't a bad thing. Meek people can be strong enough to build a more stabile society, but a lot of unfortunate things are going to have to take place first.

If you wanted it for therapeutic use, you'd have to jump through hoops and spend a lot of $ just to get little bit. Meanwhile, cops can have you sedated with it at will.

I've never used ketamine, but if it's anything like similar dissociatives, an unexpected trip could be very disturbing. And on top of the other abuses from police, I can imagine the whole ordeal would cause life-long trauma (if you survived in the first place).

I'm not buying much, if any, of this story. The FBI has been known to groom potential 'terrorists', catch them before they can act, and then toot their own horns for a job well done. And by groom, I mean nudging unstable people towards extremism and providing them weapons, vehicles, dates, etc. to carry out an attack.

Knowing that the FBI does the things I mentioned also leads to a disturbing question: how many successful mass attacks in the US were the result of FBI involvement? Is it a nonzero number?

Don't drink alcohol with a mood disorder, It might seem ok for a while, but it's totally not.

This is a real bummer. The hacks will say up, but no new uploads. At least there'll be people who still make rom hacks, though. (I hope they don't all operate on Discord.)

The logging industry sucks. They log old growth and plant a single species in what was previously a diverse ecosystem. They spray poison to protect their saplings from competition, and among the poisoned dead are fruit plants which fed the local wildlife. All wildlife suffers as a result.

I met up with some loggers who took down a very old pine I used to walk past. They told me that it looked like it contained a lot of good wood, but after it fell they realized it wasn't so good after all. So they left it laying there, and their attitude was 'oh well.'

Adding to all this suckage, the industry takes trees from the land we all share and if they don't get exported to another country, they get processed and sold here for exorbitant prices. That wood could be used to build affordable housing but no, the rich have to get richer, even if it means shitting all over everything.

Had to do a double take after noticing the people... those tents are huuuge o_o

It's must be like one long nightmare for Palestinians. It's akin to the Great Tribulation, and the politicians who claim to believe in such things are way too happy supporting Israel. I cannot imagine the US standing much longer, not after this and everything else this country has done to the world. It has to end.

Too many people lack compassion.

I almost became homeless myself recently because the landlord wanted his house back after me renting the place for 19 years. It wasn't my fault, and I simply cannot afford rent anywhere else with my SSDI income.

All the usual suggestions and arguments in favor of homeless sweeps and victim blaming fall apart for people like me: shelters are not an option because I don't always stay sane when exposed to too many people; I'm not on recreational drugs at this time, so I can't be dismissed as deserving of homelessness for that reason; I'm taking my meds as I should; I can't get HUD vouchers because I'm sleeping on a relative's porch; mental institutions are not an option unless I'm in imminent danger of hurting myself or others; etc.

The reality is that a person in need often faces roadblock after roadblock when trying to find housing, and there aren't enough funds handed out to solve the problem. I'm just grateful to be one of the lucky few who is stabilizing with a roof over my head, incomplete as it is.

I think most people just won't care until it happens to them.