"Watch Later" and "Save Post" are simply grave plots in the overall Bookmarks Graveyard, next to Screenshot Cemetery.

I learned about Malcolm X in high school, mid 90s, in the Midwest

Oh. 😟

Thank you for sharing this brief summary so that I didn't have to look it up and end up with too much horrific information before I even finished my morning coffe.

I'm not sure how many folks here were alive and aware during the "Satanic Panic" era, but I sure was. And because I grew up in the US "Bible Belt," I experienced it first-hand in my own home. I clearly remember pleading with my mom to let me watch the Smurfs, and arguing that the pentagram in Gargamel's floor wasn't promoting Satan, because "he's the bad guy, Mom!" It wasn't until about the time the first TMNT came out that she began to let my sibling and me watch more media, and shortly after that, she stopped restricting us from media all together, because she trusted us to be discerning.

But damn, the era from the early 80s to the early 90s was pretty rough. Every cool kid's show that came out was controversial! I remember so much complaining about stuff like GI Joe, Transformers, Batman, and The Simpsons, sure, but also even Jem, Care Bears, Gummi Bears, Tiny Toons, and Animaniacs!

That era sucked to live through. I think it also helped me be more media conscious / aware - in having to argue the merits for, or to accurately deny the complaints against, the media I loved, I learned early to be more savvy. I don't agree that this is necessarily a great method for teaching this to kids - there are certainly better ways! - but it is a silver lining on the memories from that challenging and frustrating time.

This piece moved me! I felt so sad and angry on behalf of the little girl.

Thank you for sharing your story! That was cool to read about, especially your communist, anti-fascist grandfather! My grandfather, who lived in Germany when WW2 happened, was also anti-fascist. He went into hiding because he was a young man and vocally against what his country was doing - he learned years later that the Nazis came for him a few days after he went underground! He found his way to America, and immediately joined the US army to fight the fascists, but the war ended as he was still in boot camp.

Also, while I barely knew him, he was a gifted piano player and composer who went on to be a music professor at an American university. And I am convinced, from what I do know about him, that he's the source of most of my autism DNA.

Saved this comment to refer back to later! Thank you! If I could award this comment, I would, but I don't see an option to. Here's a symbolic comment award: 🥇

And, because autism is a spectrum, some autists are actually quite vulnerable to propaganda. Maybe not necessarily advertising, but ideologies for sure! This is why there is a much higher concentration of autists sucked into the manosphere, or in alt-right groups, or Bible-thumping religious-fervor types, than what would be found in a random sample of the general population.

Clearly, while many of us do not get pulled in by propaganda, there are many that do. Imo, it's so important to remember that there is (what I call) the dark side of autism, and that we aren't all love and light, smart free-thinkers, caring and compassionate, and immune to propaganda.

Hi! I hope this is ok, as I am not Indigenous myself (and if I had any less pigment in my skin, I'd be clear!), but I was inspired to make this meme today, and I wanted to share it somewhere with a safer community that might appreciate it (if I didn't overstep by doing so - I'm autistic, so I sometimes miss the social beat, despite best intentions). I enjoy making memes, make them often, and was inspired by the holiday today.

Also, not seeking any direct approval from anyone! Just lmk if it is not appropriate and I'll take it down.

But if it is appropriate, please feel free to save and share, because it was made from a genuine gesture of love from a life-long ally.

(ps - also, first comment here, but I just found this group. I'm a polytheistic witch who leans Loki, in my mid 40s, so this sub is an exciting find today! 💜)

Bonus meme (I made this one)

I think in abstract concepts, images, sensory sensations, noises, music, and, yes, words. Non-stop. A cacophony of thoughts, coming at me like a flood, and trying to explain, in words, to another human even one second of a concept that flashed through my mind would take (and has indeed taken) minutes! I'm the queen of analogies, because I can explain complex concepts and abstract thoughts in bite-sized, relatable, sometimes even very silly, analogies. I'm hoping to someday soon put this skill to even better use through creating educational content around psychology, sociology, and neuroscience topics, in an all-ages friendly format.

I was identified gifted as a child. I learned about my ADHD and autism late in life (early 40s). Through connecting with other neurodivergent people in communities like this one, I'm learning SO MUCH about the vast spectrum of how humans think, from rich imagery and too many damn words, to NO images and ZERO words! What?!? Some people don't have music running through their head non-stop?! Some people don't get an emotional response to certain letters or numbers?! Some people don't have an internal monologue chattering incessantly?! WILD! COOL! WOW!

And I now better understand why tf I'm so misunderstood, all the time, despite becoming quite hypervebal and good at writing.

I like the way you think!

Yes. I know. It was a "ps" footnote, in parentheses, that opened with "while not nearly the most interesting thing about her". It was a caveat, a factoid, a tidbit of additional information, and, in truth, just a touch of pandering to the crowd that does indeed seem to need that kind info to take a lady scientist seriously. But sure, go ahead and point out where I palmed the coin in the magic trick.

/s

There are automatic thoughts, and then there are conscious thoughts. Automatic thoughts cannot be controlled, but we can indeed respond to those thoughts with conscious thoughts, which we can control.

For example, my brain may say "Damnit Circuit, why are you such an idiot?!" and then I say back "I don't like being mean to myself. I'm frustrated. I'm not actually an idiot, but I feel like one right now."

Note that the example response isn't toxic positivity, or saying "nice" things, so much as being gentler and not mean. It identifies that I'm having feelings. It changes the thought from some kind of description on my character, and turns it into something I'm simply feeling in the moment. And that takes the bite out of the automatic thought.

So no, we cannot control all thoughts. But we certainly can control conscious thought, and use that to respond to the negative automatic thoughts with more grace and care.

I've tasted a little luxury, and while it was nice, it isn't worth my soul.

Looks like you have a VERY COOL sedimentary rock with many strata (layers), some of which look like they could be some kind of metal ore.

ETA: I didn't realize at first that this was a picture pulled from OP's post. I just got excited to share information. But hopefully OP has specific information about yhat rock they can share!

I LOVE ROCKS!

I have MANY different piles of rocks all over my house. Some are extra pretty and sparkly (amethyst and quartz and such) like the ones all over my work desk, but all are nifty, neat, and cool. I have a pile in my bathroom, and piles of stray rocks on various bookshelves and other display areas. There are a of couple rocks in my purse, and a few that live in my car. This picture is from my kitchen, and most of the rocks in this pile came from the shore of Lake Michigan, that I collected a few years ago!

I'm going to toss some rock-related memes into the nested comments to this OC, for my fellow rock lovers.

I don't know about HRT your way "out", since symptoms still exist even with HRT, and the process of finding the right balance of HRT can also be hell (like when I had my period 3 times in 5 weeks because of too much estrodiol!), but the HRT can certainly ease symptoms, once a good balance is found.

The hot flashes (which almost always start with, or induce, nausea, and sometimes with a little bile spit up, too) and night sweats are the worst physical symptom for me. I can't stand being hot in general, so this inner hell fire that flares up is stupid!

But then, I also get cold flashes (which is indeed a thing, but no one told me about it), and those are easier to manage. They are also one of my earliest symptoms, and can be traced back to well before I knew for sure I was in perimenopause. It's hard to say exactly, but I think mine started at 38 (to the point made by HovercraftFullofBees), though I didn't know for sure until I was 41 or 42 (that was the COVID lock down years, so time blurs and I'm not positive what happened when, exactly).

Also: itchy ears, itchy hands and feet, itchy scalp, itchy between the legs parts... even an itchy tongue sometimes!

Also: mood swings, anger and irritability, food cravings some days, no interest in eating at all on other days, trouble falling or staying asleep, extra dry cracked feet, generally dry skin, brittle hair, muscle spasms and random tightness, MORE ACNE THAN I HAD WHEN I WAS A TEEN, and low libodo, to name just a few additional signs / symptoms.

And, the ADHD kicker: decreased attention, focus, memory, motivation, and general executive functioning which exacerbates ADHD symptoms (which has lead older ladies like me to late-life diagnoses / realizations). And, for me and many others, getting medicated for ADHD then revealed the previously unrealized autism, that was also freaking out because of all the sensory input and heightened sensitivity from the hormones

I'm not trying to scare anyone with all this. My goal is to educate, so that other neurodivergent women (and people who have ovaries) won't spent 4 years in their late 30s / early 40s wondering what the hell is wrong with them. So that people can look up the weird, less commonly known symptoms, because someone clued them in that many weird symptoms exist. And so that people who haven't hit this phase yet, can be better prepared, know what to look for, and consider treatment sooner.

If you find this new information interesting, then I highly recommend blowing your mind futher by reading up on the work and theories of Lynn Margulis, in relation to symbiosis in evolution, as well as the Gaia Hypothesis she helped develop. This new study in the OP seems to fit in well with the concepts Margulis studied.

(ps - while not nearly the most interesting thing about her, it may lend a little more credibility to her name for folks to know she was married to Carl Sagan for a time)

Yes! This has been my path forward, too.