Depression and self-harm are not part of the autistic spectrum; they are consequential symptoms that result from the reality of having to live in a world that is not tolerant of people who are "wired differently".

If you spent your entire life feeling that you were messed up compared to everyone else and confused as to why other people didn't understand you then you'd be depressed and hate yourself too. I know this only too well - I live with these symptoms every day. I don't harm myself any more but the desire to punish myself because my self-esteem is non-existent is still very much there.

I understand your concern that autism is becoming some sort of designer diagnosis, but the reality is that most people can relate to one of the many facets of autism and can feel empathy towards those who experience many of the facets. Therefore it is easy for people to feel that they have a touch of autism, and in reality they just might. It's not that uncommon.

It is more than just a condition to be misunderstood.

I messed up and missed on my moon jump....what do I do now?

Wait, did they just ask these people what their last words to each other would be?
"Just imagine you're sitting beside your future spouse's deathbed..."
That's kinda messed up.

Also, in 2011 the divorce to marriage ratio in the US was 53%. Hihihihi.

I would love to spend less time thinking about the US and how messed up parts of it are. Unfortunately, I live in a world where that's not possible.

At least until China buys you out, the US is still the biggest influence on the rest of the world.. economically, politically and militarily.

Right now, NZ is part of the TPPA talks that will directly affect the way country is run.

So yeah, I comment on the US.

Besides, this is the 21st century. The people in my life are not decided by anything as archaic as national boundaries or even geography. I have friends and family all over the globe.

And @Mordhaus Norway has
- 6th highest per capita income (US is 10)
- 3rd highest educational attainment (US is 5)
- 5th highest on the anti corruption index (US doesn't even make top 10)
- 10th on environmental health (again, US doesn't make top 10)
- 8th in the "Good country" index (US is 21)
- 7th on Forbes list of "best for business" (US is 18)

On pretty much any ranking you look at, Norway is rated as a great place to live. Objectively, it outperforms the USA on almost every metric. As does NZ and Ireland

The US is actually a great country. It has an amazing natural landscape, has fantastic science and technology and the people are (for the most part) incredibly friendly. But it's held back by its refusal to acknowledge its faults and its frankly appalling political system. You do lots of things extremely well, but self-reflection is not one of them.

Did anyone else notice that the green girl's messed up eye kept switching sides?

That is pretty messed up....but you gotta consider the context. They thought the dude had a gun.

"Here are these incredibly creative people.
These are people that could change the world, and I go, why are you putting your energy into really gratuitous and obscene violence?"

Something about the human psyche that is really messed up - It could be the burst of adrenalin we get when we're grossed out.

But she is right, imagine what programmers could do if they put their minds to major issues. The problem is, can you make people watch? And, can they profit from it. That's the challenge.

Would not even try this, i've rode a bike for 35 years, never used a car so it's my only method of transport and needless to say, i'm pretty good at it, really a second nature since i ride more than i walk... I already often think when going downhill what would happen if my brain messed up and started thinking backwards... Steering with your hands crossed, you only need to do it couple of times before you come into same conclusion as this video. I'll rather have the wiring i desperately need than mess with it.

I wonder that this event will get the victim from the suicidal state of mind to a desire to live again. As bad as this looks it might be a good thing.

As for the speeding cop. Should he have gone 2MPH - 10 MPH 20 40?

Should they have created a standoff at which point they would have shot at him at first sign of danger? Then have suicide by cop.

The kid is alive. Messed up but alive.

From the cops perspective the actions seems within reason, all be it a (visually ) odd way of achieving a safe resolution.

Yes, this is pretty messed up.
I understand not wanting to give out a maiden name over the internet, but first name?
Every one of these men bring shame on their mothers and their fathers for denying her, her name.

I'm an American and I'm pretty sure that I can watch the Olympics and not have it look like someone's keyboard exploded onto the screen. But otherwise, yeah, Americans are pretty messed up, just not that much.

I wonder would the gopro on the pole mess up the balance?

I tried putting my gopro on a jo and doing a kata, but I found it completely messed up my technique.

He's legitimately uncomfortable.

He looks like a trapped animal to me, angry at being cornered.

Management never will do that -- I'm betting in part because he actually gets more attention with this than he would if he talked.

It is all so messed up.

And yeah -- it gets back to the media, doesn't it? They know who he is. He has been clear he won't talk. And yet here they come.

Pisses me off.

He totally screwed up the part were River gained or had her "powers" naturally (she was only naturally/gifted mentally, that is, she was a genius or prodigy). That came from the experimenting FROM the Alliance... Same with her fighting abilities, that was also an Alliance "gift" (to use her as a "psychic weapon"). But I think Joss already made the point IN the show that Mal was indeed a very shady person, if you didn't get that you are an idiot!

You were supposed to know that the Alliance brought a lot of great things with them, but they also stole your freedom...essentially (in exchange for a world with lots of rules).

But, what the Alliance was up to "behind the scenes" is what was really everyone's main concern--which they covered in Serenity a bit... In Serenity we found out that they had been up to a LOT more terrible things than just taking individuals like River--they were in the business of thinking they knew how to make all people "better" people...and one day they would try to institute it in force, en masse...

It seemed like the show was more a story about the civil war had the wrong side won--to some degree; I think you could make an argument for both. But it was obvious from watching that "Mal's side" was the "Confederacy", but they didn't stand for the same things, it was just that the history of things were playing out the same in many ways...and that was the point.

If The Union had been lying about a huge amount of things and started to institute policies that you went into action then they'd seem so very much like the Alliance in the show (BUT, some actions are exactly like what The Union did to Confederate "states" after the war; which DID leave them in states of welfare were citizens were left to fend for the most basic of necessities on their own--the Wild Wild West didn't just appear from comic books... Even the citizens had to fight off Indian attacks here and there and most of these attacks were born from the legacy of military campaigns and other actions via The Union (or before the States went to war--but, it's easy to see what the "Reavers" were based on, at least I assume that is what he had in mind).

Ironically, right now in our government it's doing the things that Mal was so concerned over that many that HAD lived in the Alliance regions hadn't been as worried about: slowly eroding our civil liberties, our regular freedoms are being taken away or one-by-one being hamstrung, and regulation is being destroyed allowing the corrupt to make this circle all that much worse (of course one day this cycle will just feedback on itself and create a revolution--as it always has). That is what The Alliance was doing, especially to the planets that didn't join immediately...so it does have a lot in common with our history. As The Union did do some pretty annoying and considering all of the people that needed help and were not getting anything, they actually directly killed a large amount of completely innocent people...just to punish some wealthy land owners and other people that had something to do with the Civil War. They should have taken the matter directly into their hands, but there is a lot on that as well (just like the show...why the Alliance never intervenes in the outer planets...).

God how I miss that show. I can only imagine what Joss could have accomplished in 7 or 8 seasons (maybe more). He could have made a show that could easily be written about in a college setting, about the civil war and the topics related to it. How grand the adventure could have been, except for one dickhead producer at Fox...

(*I take no responsibility for the parts of my comment I messed up on...* )


*nerd rant*

I'm quite saddened to hear that. It makes me feel incredibly lucky to have a loving wife that I got to know for 5 years before marrying, and no children to mess up our relationship (well, there is one child, me, but you know what I mean).
I hope you can find your son...soon.