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I’m in awe about YouTube’s community guidelines and how some kids content channels are skirting the rules. There are some cheapy fairy tale channels that tiptoe by the automatic monitors by claiming that their stories are “for teenagers” and putting paper-thin content warnings. Here is one such “content warning”:
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I WILL say that some stories they have are a bit mature BUT at the same time what teenager in all of Nook’s endless archipelago is going to watch something like THIS unironically?!?
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it’s obvious that most of these videos are kids bait to replay over and over for ad revenue, while actually decent content gets all the restrictions. I laugh about it but at the same time if anyone knows how to report a channel on a phone for misleading content I would appreciate it.
 
Oh boi I failed the driving test the first time I took it. I don’t really know exactly why (there were a lot of odd factors like construction on the course we took and an extremely odd maneuver that I didn’t even know would be on the test). The second time I aced it completely so it’s not that big a deal but I felt horrible about it.
 
Oh boi I failed the driving test the first time I took it. I don’t really know exactly why (there were a lot of odd factors like construction on the course we took and an extremely odd maneuver that I didn’t even know would be on the test). The second time I aced it completely so it’s not that big a deal but I felt horrible about it.
It wouldn't be too bad except in Ohio they are requiring me to do a 4 hour online class and 4 hours with an instructor (or 24 hours with a licensed driver, not gonna happen) before I can take the est again, and that costs a lotta money so yeah... fun times :////
 
Yea I took a specialized driving class when I learned how to drive. They had a really creepy video on distracted driving that got burned in my mind. I guess that it did it’s job well then lol
 
I attribute most of my love of the sciences (especially zoology) to a couple kids science books that my parents got me years ago. I don’t know the exact names of all of them but I do know one of them is just called “Earth” (a MASSIVE book going over pretty much every natural science) and another one was an overall animal book. I still have an old musty National Parks and related areas book called “America the Beautiful” that I like to leaf over for inspiration (if you’ve seen my character, you know what I mean).
 
It wouldn't be too bad except in Ohio they are requiring me to do a 4 hour online class and 4 hours with an instructor (or 24 hours with a licensed driver, not gonna happen) before I can take the est again, and that costs a lotta money so yeah... fun times :////
What the heck @ Ohio. e_____e In recent years, the testing requirements changed where I live so driving schools authorized by the DMV can administer the test since there weren't enough staff to do so over the years. I get pretty bad anxiety, especially while driving so the day of my road test I was overwhelmed and shaky, had stomach pain, etc. I could barely eat a granola bar so the hunger pain was apparent as well.

I soon find out that the proctor is a cop. So I was even more nervous while taking the test and when we arrived back at the parking lot, I put the car in park and turned off the car. I didn't even unbuckle my seatbelt as he gets out of the car, all nonchalant, while I'm still sitting there, still shaky and with clammy palms.

😭

Just be sure to check your blind spots super obviously and downright comically since those are easy demerits to acquire, along with signaling too late and going over the posted speed limit.
 
What the heck @ Ohio. e_____e In recent years, the testing requirements changed where I live so driving schools authorized by the DMV can administer the test since there weren't enough staff to do so over the years. I get pretty bad anxiety, especially while driving so the day of my road test I was overwhelmed and shaky, had stomach pain, etc. I could barely eat a granola bar so the hunger pain was apparent as well.

I soon find out that the proctor is a cop. So I was even more nervous while taking the test and when we arrived back at the parking lot, I put the car in park and turned off the car. I didn't even unbuckle my seatbelt as he gets out of the car, all nonchalant, while I'm still sitting there, still shaky and with clammy palms.

😭

Just be sure to check your blind spots super obviously and downright comically since those are easy demerits to acquire, along with signaling too late and going over the posted speed limit.
Omg that sounds crazy! Did you end up getting your license though?

Also about the new Ohio driving exam thing, I guess that because of the coronavirus Ohio is using the "modified driving course" as a way to judge you without being in the car with you. But there are a few problems with the test that I've observed:

1. It doesn't measure speed limits (since at most you'll be driving 2-3 mph).
2. It doesn't check your interactions with other drivers.
3. It doesn't check your interactions with crosswalks, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Those are really important matters, and I'm sure that there are other examples that I can't think of at the moment. The test takes like 3 minutes to complete, at most. So basically it's simultaneously the easiest and most idiotic driving test ever administered by a US state.
I had my dad go to the BMV since they tried to schedule me for August 27th, and he got me in a week earlier (Aug 21st). I hate that I have to wait so long just to take a stupid 5 minute test.

Another thing I find odd is that, when they administered the maneuverability test (first) the proctor was like "okay [insert instructions here] and if you mess up you can restart and try again" but then when I went to do the driving portion the person there was like "nope you failed you gotta wait a month and a half to retake it bye." Literally a crock of ****.


But yeah anyways, I ended up being forced to waste $60 on an online drivers ed course that I literally just breezed through because I already know how to drive (and I've taken in-class drivers ed before). We're gonna go ahead and do 24 hours of driving with a licensed person because I don't want to waste $200 more dollars on a driving instructor that I don't need. I've been driving since I was 15 so I think I know what I'm doing.
 
Fun fact: Since the bigotry cards have been overused in political debates, the most offensive terms to use in politics are the a-word and the b-word (which are considered profanity in most uses).
 
Omg that sounds crazy! Did you end up getting your license though?

/snip
Yes, I did thankfully. That new system in place because of social distancing measures sounds overly complicated and pricey and basic in a bad way. Like a driving simulator but it’s actually a flash dress up game. 🙃 And you have a month to wait too ugh. I hope the month long wait flies by for you.

My friend has to renew their driver’s license since it expired last month when government agencies were temporarily closed during lockdown. The earliest appointment he could make a as in September. And I heard the DMV’s appointments during lockdown are proceeding now, but they’re only on the April appointments in terms of getting caught up. It’s a real mess omg.
 
How long has it been since I last seen most cartoons? Over 10 years.

How long has it been since I last seen Avatar? Almost two years.

How long has it been since I last seen SpongeBob? Not even an hour.
 
Thinking about why the George Floyd protests were more aggressive than previous protests and how the COVID pandemic was the first time we shut down the economy came to trace back at the roots. My theory is - ever since Donald Trump got elected, things in America have gotten weird. While we expect to see America as normal under each president, it hasn’t been normal under Trump. Points that prove this theory:

- The 2016 election protests. Nuff said.
- Talks about abolishing the Electoral College have gotten more popular. People have always talked about this, but they didn’t start taking action until Trump got elected.
- The Charlottesville Attack. Had Obama got a third term, or had someone other than Trump got elected, some people would get angry about the decision to remove the Robert E Lee statue, but they wouldn’t go out and protest. But Trump’s presidency made white supremacists feel that they’ll have their pride back, so not only they protest the removal, but they also did a drive-in attack against counter-protesters. I don’t remember a single incident like that happening under Bush or Obama.
- Speaking of the Charlottesville Attack, there was also an increase in demand to remove statues of other historical figures they deem offensive, including our founding fathers. Under Obama, all that people hated were George W Bush and any president that did a horrible job on the nation. But under Trump, they don’t even respect the founding fathers, as they look into the bad side of them.
- The increase in national anthem protests.
- The #metoo movement. This was bound to happen anyway, so I don’t know if this has anything to do with Trump.
- In 2018, the voter turnout at the midterm elections was unusually high compared to previous midterm elections. People aren’t interested into midterm elections as much as presidential elections, but that time, they were. Many experts agree that Trump’s presidency was why the voter turnout was higher.
- Support for socialism is much higher than ever before. Even back in 2016, it wasn’t as popular, but Trump’s election sure has changed Democrats.
- When Kavanaugh was nominated, Democrats behaved poorly in the confirmation hearings, even at the point where they accused him of sexual assault at the last minute. They even delayed the confirmation vote.
- Speaking of Kavanaugh, ever since his confirmation, there was an influx of radical abortion laws in 2019, from both left and right. One state even legalized post-birth abortions.
- When the Hong Kong protests happened, people criticized anyone that supported the Hong Kong protesters or opposed the communist regime of China’s.
- When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, people have overreacted to the pandemic. Under other disease pandemics, we never had to shut down the economy, but this time, we did. Unemployment rates went as high as they were in the Great Depression, and it was over a virus.
- Last, and definitely not the least, the George Floyd protests. While it wasn’t without vandalism and assaults like the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown protests (and several other protests like that), it was more aggressive than any protest in world history (even more than the Rodney King protests). And it was a worldwide demonstration, not just the United States. Add to that, it was also when the cancel culture got more aggressive. During the Ferguson incident, nobody even talked about removing Confederate Flags. Now they’re trying to get rid of everything that had a history of racism. The Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s brands are gone, Disney is updating Splash Mountain to get rid of the Song of the South theme, Planned Parenthood will no longer honor their founder, and even the Washington Redskins are changing their mascot and team name. And let’s not forget that the NFL and other sports agencies are repealing rules against national anthem protests.

Do you think all of this has something to do with Trump, or were these just coincidences?
 
Do you think all of this has something to do with Trump, or were these just coincidences?

You write a number of things that I think can be tied to some fundamental principles and changes we've seen gradually over the prior few decades. There are a number of things; I'll try to break down a few of the most salient ones.

I'm almost 36, and President Trump is definitely the most divisive president I can remember in my lifetime. Sure, Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama had some very aggressive critics, but it's nothing like with President Trump. I think it's in part because he isn't as tactful or kind in his language. The other presidents were much better at smoothing things over.

But that certainly isn't the only reason. I do think, thanks to social media and its never-ending echo chambers, that people are generally much more divided now anyway. We aren't getting our news from the same basic places that we got them back when most everyone watched the same basic cable news television programs and read the same basic national newspapers and magazines 10, 20, 30 years ago. There are now 284,820 versions of everything, and people's brains have been altered by the impersonal nature of social media, so there's far less obligation to try and show understanding for another viewpoint, or respect it, than before.

I'd also add that, because of this, people are less inclined to "live and let live" or "co-exist" than in recent prior decades. Both extremes of the conservative and liberal political movements have gotten more aggressive in separating others whom they don't perceive as having absolute truth or party loyalty. You don't hear near as much anymore, "You're entitled to your opinion." Instead, it's "You're wrong, you're a fool, you must be proven wrong, separated, and silenced."
 
I'd also add that, because of this, people are less inclined to "live and let live" or "co-exist" than in recent prior decades. Both extremes of the conservative and liberal political movements have gotten more aggressive in separating others whom they don't perceive as having absolute truth or party loyalty. You don't hear near as much anymore, "You're entitled to your opinion." Instead, it's "You're wrong, you're a fool, you must be proven wrong, separated, and silenced."
This, and so much ally-hate whether it's from BLM or LGBTQ+ communities, and you must be their hivemind ally or you're as phobic.

Also the fact that Trump basically hired Putin's PR advisor that used to be like some theater dude doesn't make **** better lol
 
You write a number of things that I think can be tied to some fundamental principles and changes we've seen gradually over the prior few decades. There are a number of things; I'll try to break down a few of the most salient ones.

I'm almost 36, and President Trump is definitely the most divisive president I can remember in my lifetime. Sure, Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama had some very aggressive critics, but it's nothing like with President Trump. I think it's in part because he isn't as tactful or kind in his language. The other presidents were much better at smoothing things over.

But that certainly isn't the only reason. I do think, thanks to social media and its never-ending echo chambers, that people are generally much more divided now anyway. We aren't getting our news from the same basic places that we got them back when most everyone watched the same basic cable news television programs and read the same basic national newspapers and magazines 10, 20, 30 years ago. There are now 284,820 versions of everything, and people's brains have been altered by the impersonal nature of social media, so there's far less obligation to try and show understanding for another viewpoint, or respect it, than before.

I'd also add that, because of this, people are less inclined to "live and let live" or "co-exist" than in recent prior decades. Both extremes of the conservative and liberal political movements have gotten more aggressive in separating others whom they don't perceive as having absolute truth or party loyalty. You don't hear near as much anymore, "You're entitled to your opinion." Instead, it's "You're wrong, you're a fool, you must be proven wrong, separated, and silenced."

That’s pretty interesting. First paragraph, yes, I remember reading from conservative critics saying that Obama was the worst president, while liberals still say that George Bush was horrible. But Trump, based on his kind of behavior and personality, is the kind of person that everybody hates. The whole reason why we got him in office is because Obama was pretty radical, and was willing to pop the bubble of compromise we were stuck in. We would be better with Rubio, but Republicans want Trump or Cruz more, which is why we got Trump instead. For the next two paragraphs, if this trend continues, there will be another civil war, and it’s going to be much nastier than the war on slavery (1861-1865). I’m not making any threats here (I won’t even fight in the war if it happens). This is what we’re about to head into if this continues.

There were some other weird things that happened since Trump became president, but those have nothing to do with his presidency. They would happen under any president. Examples include:

- Hurricane Harvey. It was more aggressive than any other hurricane, giving Houston a 1-in-1000 year historic flood.
- The California wildfires were even deadlier and more destructive.
- The box office for Labor Day weekend was at its 25-year-low in 2017. I blame the Emoji Movie on this, but there were also several other bad movies that year. Even Star Wars wasn’t doing well.
- An animated film won Worst Picture in the Razzies. This was the first time an animated film won that category. It was even the first time it landed in that category. And yet, no animated film has won Best Picture in the Oscars.
- I already mentioned the #metoo movement, but that was one of the weird things.
- In 2018, Star Wars had their very first box office bomb.
- In 2019, we had our very first main series Pokémon game where not all species were available in the game.
- Also in 2019, Marvel released a movie that landed in the top ten highest grossing films adjusted for inflation.
- We had our very first World Series where the visitor team won all seven games.
- In addition to the COVID pandemic and George Floyd protests, the Asian giant hornets made their way into the United States. 2020 is rough.

Every year, we always see some things we never seen before, but these examples I listed shown how much times have changed.
 
So I decided to read comments on a Breitbart News article on Disney changing out Splash Mountain into a Princess and the Frog themed ride to rid all traces of Song of the South. For me, I can understand that they really hate Song of the South that much. While I have decided not to ride Splash Mountain again, the commenters on Breitbart are taking it a step further. They are basically saying that they will never go to a Disney park again, or even not buying anything from Disney. I’m not going to paraphrase these commenters, but here’s a summary of what they’re trying to say:

1. They are not willing to show Disney any support for this action and any other action.
2. The Princess and the Frog is also politically incorrect and contains stuff that contradicts what Disney stands for.

After reading these comments, I may actually ride this ride after updating it. But I would only ride it once because of another reason: I do not like getting soaked. It’s understandable to not want to ride it if you want to stay dry, but I was wrong deciding not to ride it for political reasons. Still wouldn’t ride it more than once per visit.
 
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