Boisterous [he/him]
Sounds like a defense mechanism, anytime he feels uncomfortable it’s your fault for making him feel that way. Easier to do that than confront actually feelings. (Side note: it never fails that people who want to be “manly men” and “don’t feel emotions” are completely controlled by their emotions because they cannot recognise and deal with them).
My advice would be to challenge him on it. When he says you’re uncomfortable with him dating men, tell him “your kid who was going to pride events before you came out and got detention for defending it’s gay friends is uncomfortable with it’s dad being gay. Do you really think that, or is there something else going on?” Likely he’ll continue to deflect and dodge the question, but at least in making him more uncomfortable you can help him on his path to dealing with his feelings.
Good luck. Definitely not an easy situation to deal with, but it sounds like you’ll be fine regardless.
Keep in mind: everyone is susceptible to propaganda. Literally everyone. Smart people who decide they’re so smart that propaganda doesn’t work on them anymore have now made themselves a prime target for propaganda.
Not all types of propaganda work, but everyone is susceptible to the right type of propaganda; and the more ignorant you are, the easier you are to propagandize. Countries know this, and it’s why they all control news sources to some degree. Chomsky isn’t well liked here and has recently been outed as someone who spent time and received money from Jeffrey Epstein, however his work on this sort of “passive propaganda” is timeless. Western countries have multiple “competing” liberal news agencies and political parties who have discussions like “should we allow 1 million new immigrants a year or 100,000” or “should we have a strong safety net or worry about the national debt and budget”. They sound like reasonable different opinions until you realize what’s absent from these conversations is “should we allow anyone who wants to come here to come and get permanent residency quickly” and “should we nationalize a huge chunk of the private sector so we can enact better price controls/reprioritize production”.
What I’m trying to say is, don’t feel any shame in “falling for propaganda”. The only shameful position is to see that things aren’t what they seem but refuse to pursue it further because believing what’s in front of you is more comfortable.
Now also keep in mind that any articles you read from other sources/countries are also propaganda, but you’ll likely find it easier to parse through as you aren’t inundated with their worldview already. Critical thinking is tiring and unfortunately you can’t ever just turn it off. However it’s worth it to lift the veil from your own eyes and see a more objective view of the world. We’re all still human and we’ll never have a perfectly objective view of things, and that’s fine. The pursuit of truth is a worthwhile goal, and I’d just like to encourage you to continue your journey. Also, never be afraid or ashamed of asking for help.
Good luck ♥️
I gave my account to my parents and downgraded it. I had been paying for a more expensive account for the whole family to use, but only my parents use it really. So Netflix lost money from us but it seems like that’s not the norm, which is disappointing but shouldn’t be surprising I guess.
It may seem full now, but everyone is waiting with bated breath for the official announcement of the already presumed winner…
JEB!
Hey OP and everyone else, here’s a free back pain resource from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (public healthcare in Canada). Back pain is generally split into 4 patterns: pattern 1 - constant pain centered in back, 2 - intermittent pain centered in back, 3 - constant pain centered in legs, 4 - intermittent pain centered in legs. Each pattern has a PDF there with education and stretches/exercises you can do. Consider sciatica as pain centered in legs. Note that pattern 3 is the most concerning and tougher to treat conservatively (read: with exercises).
In my personal opinion, I’ve found this stretch (https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=posterior chain stretch legs on wall#id=46E50EADC0E1020F7894AFADB42369BBC5407804) to be very effective for sciatic relief in my patients. Take it slow and focus on keeping a natural curve in your back while you do it. Focus on holding stretches for at least 30 seconds and up to 3 minutes max in a day. You’ll also want to strengthen your core, but sit ups and crunches are generally ineffective. Look for exercises that strengthen your ‘transversus abdominus’, that’s usually the core muscle that’s weakest and it’s very important for stabilization.
Remember that everyone is different and nothing is a cure all for everyone. Hopefully this advice is helpful for you to start. You can also search for exercises for your specific condition, but be careful. There’s still a lot of bullshit in the fitness world.