Pineapple hits with a one-two punch. Raphides, sharp microscopic crystals of calcium oxilate, scratch the mouth, causing micro-abrasions, while Bromelain breaks down the proteins of the mucus lining the cheeks and tongue. Together they allow the acid of the pineapple to more effectively attack the mouth, giving that traditional stinging sensation.

Honest question: have you considered getting him desensitized to the sound? It’s totally doable; hunters teach their dogs to not be afraid of the bang from their guns after all.

To paraphrase Mark Stanley, corporations only have three rules: get the money, get the money, and get the money.

Don’t think they do things like supporting Pride because they care; it’s only a sign that they want to appeal to the broadest audience possible. But, in that same vein, when they’re supporting a topic is a good sign of is the majority of society’s feelings on the subject.

Polls can be gerrymandered to hell and back, talking heads on the news can make all kinds of claims. But since corporations chase money above all, they spend a lot of money getting very accurate ideas of what our society likes/dislikes.

Think about it. 50, hell even 30 years ago, no corporation worth their salt would have claimed to be in favor of Pride, because it would have been suicidal for the business. Society’s majority take on LGBTQ+ back then ranged from hate and disgust to ‘eww, fine, but not in public!’

Now, corporations fly the Pride flag all over the place. It definitely shows that society is much more supportive of LGBTQ+ and minorities.

I’ve got a reverse one for you then! I have a friend who’s allergic to a ton of things, and we were eating roasted pineapple at a potluck. She said, ‘I love pineapple even though I’m allergic to it! The burning isn’t too bad.’ And I was all like, ‘it does that to everyone; those are the digestive enzymes in the pineapple.’ She was amazed that she’d found a fruit she wasn’t allergic to lol.

My uncle is a pastor. So when his kid came out as trans, he and his wife did the ‘good moral Christian’ thing and shamed her and harassed her until she committed suicide.

Then deadnamed her at the funeral, and wrote and published a book about how ‘his betrayal’ and ‘his unfortunate death’ were just tests from God to test their faith.

This is not a rare or unique story; many people all over the world have stories like this. Is it any wonder those who pay attention find religion distasteful? It may be a part of humanity, but many unpleasant things are, and there is nothing ‘edgy’ about rejecting them.

Yes, there are ‘good’ churches in my town that feed and clothe the poor; a far cry from my uncle’s church. But they are part of the same religion, and the fact that religion accepts both, morals be damned, means I have no interest in it.

With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion. -Steven Weinberg

Basically, yes.

In the books it was just that they would only answer to Isldur’s Heir. They also scared the Corsairs of Umbar away from their ships, but it was an army of Dunadain (along with a few elves, like Elrond’s sons) that actually ran them off permanently, so they could use the ships to bring some of the Gondorians in the south back north to join the main battle.

There’s a bunch of loonies that believe that there are secret chambers under the sphinx that are a storehouse of esoteric knowledge. Like, how to awaken your innate powers of telepathy or spiritually teleporting to other planets. Shit like that.

It always comes back to racism. The last bastion of fools so depressingly mediocre that their only possible ‘claim’ to greatness rests not on their accomplishments, but on skin color.

Sadly that is the most plausible part, for two reasons.

For one thing, machines need constant maintenance from qualified professionals, or they break down. And, once they’re broken, you have to pay for even more expensive repairs or buy a new one. Slaves, on the other hand, you can abuse almost to the point of death and they will keep functioning; they’re also somewhat self-replicating.

The second reason is why so many people want to bring slavery back: the cruelty is the point. There’s a certain mindset that really loves lording it over people; and even better if those people are so in their power that they physically/legally cannot escape. See also: people who verbally abuse wait staff.

Of course, it’s up to debate whether a truly alien lifeform would be thinking in such a human way, but it’s certainly possible.

(That being said, these people are lunatics. Douglas Adams once said, ‘Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?’ and I think that sums their insane rantings up perfectly.)

He’s a stupid vip guy?

The hard-right conservatives are making a strong push to take over school boards, and unfortunately winning a fair amount of them, since many people in the community don’t care.

It not only gives them say over what kids learn, but also is a proving ground for ideas before they take them into goverent.

So rather, a lack of a reasonable amount of wisdom then.

Either you haven’t read through the comments on this thread by people who were actually homeschooled, or you’re being deliberately obtuse.

As libertarian is someone who knows the price of everything, the value of nothing, and the age of consent in every jurisdiction.

There was a book like that, but this illustration is from a calendar James Gurney did.

‘Gigantic welfare system’? What alternate-universe US are you living in? Our welfare system is shit. We don’t even have universal healthcare!

Welfare should be to help support struggling people. Helping those who are struggling improves not only their lives, but all of society as well. This has been proven over and over again—just look at UBI programs. We should be offering more support, not less.

These people pay taxes same as legal Americans, through their employer. They should therefore get access to every American system except voting.

Edit: relevant post lol

Honestly, hard to say. Maybe, maybe not… those guys had a weird disconnect between ‘nice black man I met on the street’ and ‘slaves I own’. But even if he wouldn’t want them, what he said is still true. America should be open to everyone. Pretty much all of us are immigrants here, our families coming in search of a better life. We should be opening our doors to the world, not closing them.

Ever read up on the elections in Germany that led to Hitler’s rise?

The millionaires and billionaires that have paid for all these nominees think Trump will: 1. cut regulations for them, & 2. he’ll be easy to control.

Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

(I admit, there’s also a bit of 3. help get Israel to start WWIII so all them rich white folks can get raptured, which is one of the reasons Biden also is supporting Israel.)

It isn’t just that. Any job seen as a ‘woman’s job’ is going to pay less. And it isn’t just for the ‘traditional’ women’s jobs, like grade school teacher or secretary. If women enter a field in significant numbers, then wages overall will fall. See veterinary work for one example.

Pisses me the fuck off.