My high school homeroom teacher allowed me to stay quiet during the pledge, but still made me stand up and put my hand over my heart. In 11th grade I moved to a more conservative area of the state, but oddly enough they had more students who opted to stay seated and silent, and the teachers let me do the same.

It was around that time that I started feeling like there was something wrong with all the "America's so great!" stuff we had been taught since 1st grade. I completely deprogrammed when I had the opportunity to work alongside people from all over the world, learn more about their culture, their family, become friends. I began to see the world differently, and my perspective shifted as I learned more about the consequences of American policies and interventions that they don't tell you about in the evening news.

So I guess what I'm getting at is that back then, I didn't say the pledge because part of me was beginning to question the reasons why it was (practically) compulsory. These days, I wouldn't say it because I cannot in good conscience support imperialism.

I would wager that this is going to become a test case that is intended to appeal it's way to the SCotUS. The SCotUS has already ruled that many constitutional protections are waived at the border, so it wouldn't be surprising if that is the intended outcome.

Land of the Free™

Thank you. I know that right now giving her love and affection is best and only thing that I can do for her. I am grateful for all the encouragement and positivity everyone has shown, and I hope the little girl pulls through so that I can share more of her with everyone.

This means a lot to me, thank you. I do my best to do that for everyone, for animals and for people, no matter how long or short our time is together.
I'm not always successful, at least when it comes to people, but then again I've always gotten along better with animals.

Thank you for that, it means a lot. I haven't always been the best person I could have been, even if I thought my intentions were good. As I've gotten older, I've learned to slow down, to be thoughtful and patient; that kindness is something you have, not something you give.

I'm so sorry to hear about Tiger; pets can sometimes be their own worst enemy, but I'm glad to hear that even through that, Tiger pulled through and lived a happy life. It makes me more hopeful for the little one.
One of my current cats is named Mochi, and much like his namesake he is soft, fluffy, and can be sometimes be a big dumb pile of goo. More than once I've had to chase him around the house to pull something dangerous out of his mouth, and despite catproofing the house as much as possible I'm afraid that one day he'll put something dangerous in his mouth and I won't be there to stop him. Thankfully, he's calmed down as he's gotten older.

Thank you for your kind words and positive vibes. FL is a terrible disease, and I'm sorry for what it put you and your kitten though. I hope a cure is found soon. An old coworker of mine adopted an FL+ kitten, but didn't know he had it until the test results from the first vet visit. His condition deteriorated quickly, and they only had a few months together.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm hopeful that the little girl pulls through and gets the chance to grow up in our home; I wish I could give the same chance to every cat.

Feral cats can be dangerous and belligerent under normal circumstances, I imagine that the stress and fear of being in a warzone just makes that worse, both for the cats and your friend! He is equally brave and kind to be doing what he does under those conditions, and I hope that he and the rest of Ukraine find the peace and the justice they deserve on the other end of it all.

Is there a charity or shelter that he works with? If they have a donation link that accepts international funds, please share the link and I'll happily send some support. Слава Україні!

Currently, emergency rooms are bound by law to provide care to all patients, regardless of insurance status. Busy emergency rooms will triage patients, ensuring those who need care the most get it first. Unfortunately for uninsured patients, the hospital will hand them a bill as they leave; something simple as wound cleaning and a few stitches will run upwards of several thousand dollars. That total can exceed tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on level care and length of stay.

A family member of mine recently had a medical episode while we were at a restaurant. Spontaneous syncope followed by prolonged lightheartedness and loss of balance. The ambulance ride to the hospital alone cost over $7000. They arrived at the ER around 4pm and was released shortly before midnight. Within a couple hours of arriving my family member felt and that they had fully recovered, but the ER would not release them until a doctor was available to discuss test results. Around 10pm the doctor finally called them back; they found nothing out of the ordinary in the blood work, heart seemed to be working fine. We waited two more hours before they gave the okay for release.

The bill for the ambulance, ER care, and about a baker's dozen of various fees and incidentals, was over $23000. Thankfully they had insurance, which covered most of it, but they still had to pay several thousand out of pocket for going to an "out of network" hospital. That alone is infuriating because not only is the entire concept of in-or-out of network medical providers a predatory practice, the choice of which ER to go to was up to the paramedics, it was never up to us. Even if it was up to us, we had no way of quickly knowing which local hospitals, if any, were "in network."

These days I also avoid engaging. Not just because I realized that arguing on the internet is a waste of time, but I grew tired of having the same arguments over and over. More people today believe the world is flat than people did back in the middle ages. I honestly believed when I was younger that the internet was going to put the sum of humanity's knowledge at everyone's fingertips, making the world overall a smarter, more enlightened place. Instead, the internet is broadly just a bigger soapbox for the brash and self-righteous.

These days, you could spend 30+ minutes writing a thoughtful reply, deliberately avoiding an argumentative tone, only to be accused of using or being an AI.

Sorry to hear about your friend, it sounds like you meant a lot to each other. I second that our friends all deserve to know how much we love them.

One of my favorite gaming memories is playing MW4: Mercenaries with roommates circa 2002, where I won the grand championship piloting a Cougar.

EDIT: Just remembered my "Daishi Pepperbox": assault-class Daishi fitted with nothing but machine guns and as much frontal armor as it could carry. My strat was to charge straight at opponents, let the armor soak up incoming fire, then drop an alpha strike as soon as I got into machine gun range. Watching their mech turn from green to red to black on my HUD in just a handful of seconds was glorious.