Meathead is Dead

[Whiskey]

If I had to throw a dart and hit something fast, I'd aim for psychosis.

I don't know much about meth. I do have a relative back East who is up on charges for both meth and heroin. SWAT raid. I kid you not.

When I used to volunteer as security for a weekly homeless outreach feeding/clothing event, there would be the occasional person show up who had been awake for a few days from meth (**story time below**). It was exponentially more difficult than the few regular people who suffered from advanced schizophrenia. The paranoia and hallucinations were usually combined with pretty extreme aggression. When they would show up, our night would be filled with breaking up non-stop fights that they were instigating. With the people who had schizophrenia, there were ways to help defuse situations, and they were rarely if ever violent. With the people who had been awake long enough from meth to start hallucinating, there was nothing we could do other than reactive damage control.


**derail story time (if Whiskey prefers, I can move this to a new thread):

One such individual would fill me and the other gentleman who volunteered as security with absolute dread when he would show up. He only ever seemed to show up after he had been up for a few days, and it was absolute chaos. There was no reasoning with him, and talking to him, there was only the tireless hours of nonstop trying to not let him harm someone else, or someone else harming him. To me he was an absolute lost cause, and was the only person that I actually felt a type of hatred for in those years of serving. I would be in pain for days every time he'd show up, from the accidental blows I would take, and the strain of pulling people off of him and him off of other people. As someone with a pretty hefty streak of social anxiety and introversion, it was emotionally and mentally devastating to have to deal with as well.

About a year (I think? -- time and memory are weird) after I had stopped volunteering, I received a call from the other gentleman who would do security. He asked me if I could wrangle a donated coffee maker for someone in need. This wasn't particularly unusual. All of the volunteers would reach out to each other when they had someone in need of a particular thing, as we had all developed pretty robust networks of people who were constantly looking for opportunities to help those in need. Coffee was also a staple for people trying to get sober, so a coffee maker was a pretty common ask. What was unusual was that he asked me to meet him at the house for the person it was meant for (normally, I'd just give it to the volunteer to pass along).

When I arrived, there were about 10 others there waiting, most of whom I knew and recognized from volunteering. Eventually a car pulled up, and out stepped the man I had written off as a lost cause, and that I had grown to hate. He had gained at least 30 pounds of healthy weight, his complexion was clear, and he had a spring in his step. This was his home, that he had just moved into, after completing a sobriety and job training program with a local nonprofit. He's now inching up on almost a decade of sobriety, has reconnected with his formerly estranged daughter, is gainfully employed, and living his best life. He constantly makes his way into my thoughts to remind me (and hit me with some shame) that I had written off another human being entirely, and abandoned all hope for them.

Thanks. Definitely fits this thread.

[Whiskey]

Expect more of this.

https://x.com/i/status/2001165249966133747

[Equality]

Expect more of this.

https://x.com/i/status/2001165249966133747

Deranged wingnuttery from deranged MAGA wingnuts? Yes, of course. Why would we expect anything else from the people you follow on X?

[canpakes]

Expect more of this.

https://x.com/i/status/2001165249966133747

Deranged wingnuttery from deranged MAGA wingnuts? Yes, of course. Why would we expect anything else from the people you follow on X?

As one person describes the fellow ranting at the link:

“You have no idea what it’s like dealing with someone with addiction clearly or you’re just a drifting scumbag trying to get clicks.”

Sounds about right.

[Whiskey]

Expect more of this.

https://x.com/i/status/2001165249966133747

Deranged wingnuttery from deranged MAGA wingnuts? Yes, of course. Why would we expect anything else from the people you follow on X?

I don't follow that guy. Don't let facts slow you down though.

[Whiskey]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... 236452447/

So Nick was too erratic to be home alone so they took him to Conan's party.

[canpakes]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... 236452447/

So Nick was too erratic to be home alone so they took him to Conan's party.

The article doesn’t say that. It states, “They were reluctant to leave him home alone”. That could simply mean that they felt it would be better to include him.

[Dr. Shades]

. . . but as for the death penalty, I am adamantly and unalterably opposed to that!

Why?

[Gunnar]

. . . but as for the death penalty, I am adamantly and unalterably opposed to that!

Why?

Because there have been documented cases of people found to have been innocent only after having been already executed. This obviously can't be reversed once it has happened. Studies have shown that as much as 10% of incarcerated people, including even on death row, are actually innocent of the crimes for which they were incarcerated. There is no denying the fact that there have been rare cases of innocent people being executed and there is no way I can think of to absolutely guarantee it will never happen again except to abolish capital punishment altogether. Some argue that these cases are extremely rare, but I don't care how rare they are. If it can happen even once, either through honest mistake or malice by corrupt officials refusing to admit having been mistaken or having some vendetta against the condemned, that is, to me, an argument against capital punishment that trumps any conceivable argument in favor of it!

[Whiskey]

Why?

Because there have been documented cases of people found to have been innocent only after having been already executed. This obviously can't be reversed once it has happened. Studies have shown that as much as 10% of incarcerated people, including even on death row, are actually innocent of the crimes for which they were incarcerated. There is no denying the fact that there have been rare cases of innocent people being executed. Some argue that these cases are extremely rare, but I don't care how rare they are. If it can happen even once, either through honest mistake or malice by corrupt officials refusing to admit having been mistaken or having some vendetta against the condemned, that is, to me, an argument against capital punishment that trumps any conceivable argument in favor of it!

Life without parole shares these risks.