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Coda

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  1. The thing is suicide due to depression or other mental illnesses would be preventable in the vast majority of cases given the right environmental, economic, substance use etc. changes in an individual's life. This is demonstrated by the difference in suicide rates in different communities in Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Canada In 2006, Health Canada reported that suicide rates were "five to seven times higher for First Nations youth than for non-Aboriginal youth" and that suicide rates among Inuit youth "were among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average".[26][27] In their 2007 report,[28]: 189  the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) noted that while the suicide rate in Canada overall had declined, for Aboriginal people, particularly Aboriginal youth, the rates had continued to rise. "From the ages of 10 to 29, Aboriginal youth on reserves are 5 to 6 times more likely to die of suicide than their peers in the general population. Over a third of all deaths among Aboriginal youth are attributable to suicide. Although the gender difference is smaller than among the non-Aboriginal population, males are more likely to die by suicide, while females make attempts more often."[28]: xv  As a nation I think we should be saying "Let's strategize how we can improve the lives of Indigenous people on reserves and help them recover from their mental illnesses: Canada messed them up in the first place with generational trauma from Residential schools and other things", not "Oh, it's too bad so many Indigenous people are mentally ill and suicidal...but let's make their deaths as comfortable as possible."
  2. That kind of is what this is. Doctors stopping trying to treat someone who is mentally ill and allowing them to decide to die instead. I'm sure some "safeguards" will be implemented. But as the article notes, there is nowhere near the same kind of medical knowledge available today to decipher when a mental illness is irreversible compared to physical illnesses.
  3. https://nationalpost.com/health/canada-mental-illness-maid-medical-aid-in-dying/wcm/944c8b7f-4c78-489d-9758-7d87733b8d78/amp/ “The expert panel has been instructed to recommend safeguards. For Dr. Sonu Gaind, a past president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the most fundamental safeguard has already been bypassed, because there is no scientific evidence, he says, that doctors can predict when a mental illness will be irremediable. Everything else goes out the window.” Not sure I like where this is going. I’m not against the idea of medically-assisted death entirely: For some with painful terminal illnesses it really may be the most humane thing. However, our society used to promote trying to help the mentally ill overcome their mental illnesses (at least in theory: in practice funding for mental health has been abysmal). Now we’re going to tell the guy who wants to jump off the bridge “hey don’t do that…let’s get you to a clinic…where you can kill yourself with less mess.” People with mental illnesses very often have their brain working against their best interests…such as staying alive and getting healthy.
  4. https://kareem.substack.com/p/will-smith-did-a-bad-bad-thing?s=r&fbclid=IwAR1d7mB0OW_g37M9ZBcnHRei9ivaFeNufdK7V57riBZx_oNvpHidmM9Otio Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA ‘69) writes: "When Will Smith stormed onto the Oscar stage to strike Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife's short hair, he did a lot more damage than just to Rock's face. With a single petulant blow, he advocated violence, diminished women, insulted the entertainment industry, and perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community. That's a lot to unpack. Let's start with the facts: Rock made a reference to Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, as looking like Demi Moore in 'G.I. Jane,' in which Moore had shaved her head. Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, which causes hair loss. Ok, I can see where the Smiths might not have found that joke funny. But Hollywood awards shows are traditionally a venue where much worse things have been said about celebrities as a means of downplaying the fact that it's basically a gathering of multimillionaires giving each other awards to boost business so they can make even more money. The Smiths could have reacted by politely laughing along with the joke or by glowering angrily at Rock. Instead, Smith felt the need to get up in front of his industry peers and millions of people around the world, hit another man, then return to his seat to bellow: 'Keep my wife's name out of your &^@#ing mouth.' Twice. Some have romanticized Smith's actions as that of a loving husband defending his wife. Comedian Tiffany Haddish, who starred in the movie 'Girls Trip' with Pinkett Smith, praised Smith's actions: '[F]or me, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen because it made me believe that there are still men out there that love and care about their women, their wives.' Actually, it was the opposite. Smith's slap was also a slap to women. If Rock had physically attacked Pinkett Smith, Smith's intervention would have been welcome. Or if he'd remained in his seat and yelled his post-slap threat, that would have been unnecessary, but understandable. But by hitting Rock, he announced that his wife was incapable of defending herself—against words. From everything I'd seen of Pinkett Smith over the years, she's a very capable, tough, smart woman who can single-handedly take on a lame joke at the Academy Awards show. This patronizing, paternal attitude infantilizes women and reduces them to helpless damsels needing a Big Strong Man to defend their honor least they swoon from the vapors. If he was really doing it for his wife, and not his own need to prove himself, he might have thought about the negative attention this brought on them, much harsher than the benign joke. That would have been truly defending and respecting her. This 'women need men to defend them' is the same justification currently being proclaimed by conservatives passing laws to restrict abortion and the LGBTQ+ community. Worse than the slap was Smith's tearful, self-serving acceptance speech in which he rambled on about all the women in the movie 'King Richard' that he's protected. Those who protect don't brag about it in front of 15 million people. They just do it and shut up. You don't do it as a movie promotion claiming how you're like the character you just won an award portraying. But, of course, the speech was about justifying his violence. Apparently, so many people need Smith's protection that occasionally it gets too much and someone needs to be smacked. What is the legacy of Smith's violence? He's brought back the Toxic Bro ideal of embracing Kobra Kai teachings of 'might makes right' and 'talk is for losers.' Let's not forget that this macho John Wayne philosophy was expressed in two movies in which Wayne spanked grown women to teach them a lesson. Young boys—especially Black boys—watching their movie idol not just hit another man over a joke, but then justify it as him being a superhero-like protector, are now much more prone to follow in his childish footsteps. Perhaps the saddest confirmation of this is the tweet from Smith's child Jaden: 'And That’s How We Do It.' The Black community also takes a direct hit from Smith. One of the main talking points from those supporting the systemic racism in America is characterizing Blacks as more prone to violence and less able to control their emotions. Smith just gave comfort to the enemy by providing them with the perfect optics they were dreaming of. Many will be reinvigorated to continue their campaign to marginalize African Americans and others through voter suppression campaign. As for the damage to show business, Smith's violence is an implied threat to all comedians who now have to worry that an edgy or insulting joke might be met with violence. Good thing Don Rickles, Bill Burr, or Ricky Gervais weren't there. As comedian Kathy Griffin tweeted: 'Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theaters.' The one bright note is that Chris Rock, clearly stunned, managed to handle the moment with grace and maturity. If only Smith's acceptance speech had shown similar grace and maturity—and included, instead of self-aggrandizing excuses, a heartfelt apology to Rock."
  5. What are you even talking about. No: thinking that the guy who got hit for telling a run-of-the mill joke about a woman is the victim is not misogyny. Do you think the women on the view are misogynists? (whole clip but those words at 2:25). Do you think Ellen Degeneres and Wanda Sykes are misogynists?
  6. Hmm? I would have thought "victim blaming 101" would be blaming the person who got hit for what happened because they teased someone about their hairdo.
  7. If Jada had just let the joke be a joke, this is all the incident would have been:
  8. Interesting: On social media Jada seemingly wanted to embrace her hair or lack thereof. "So I had to learn to get the courage to go, 'Nah, I'm not doing that,'" she said. "Which is why I feel the freedom today – I don't give two craps what people think of this bald head of mine. Because guess what? I love it." https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-2022-jada-pinkett-smith-doesnt-care-people-think-hair-tiktok-video/5ee41fe6-b5e7-4704-b8e8-749525df61fc
  9. It is not being talked about though is it, here or elsewhere. The reality is male hair loss jokes are so commonplace they don’t even move the needle.
  10. Not under the normal understanding of the term…though I guess for an actor not having hair could effect your career (wigs are an option though). I was trying to get your response earlier: why no outrage over this “public humiliation” of Lebron James concerning his androgenetic alopecia, that also occurred during the Oscars ceremony?
  11. This isn’t addressed specifically at you, but my problem is with people applying a clear double standard when it comes to gender. Look up how much work Lebron has done to reverse his own hair loss: do you think he, or many other men, aren’t sensitive about their medical conditions? And applauding Will Smith for defending his wife’s honour when her hair is mentioned…it would be hard to think of a clearer example of stereotypical gender norms and chivalry. Is it once again off limits to comment on a woman’s appearance? They can only be complimented like on 1950s tv? I think some of the woke people today have forgotten about what past generations of feminists have fought for. Including the acceptance in society to have women’s appearances joked about, just like men. Your slippery-slope argument could be applied to any mild joke. Somebody jokes that Kevin Hart is short: does that mean little people or people with developmental disabilities are fair game to be the butt of every kind of height joke? Probably not. Every joke can only be evaluated by itself. And this one, while maybe in bad taste as has been discussed at length, was pretty tame.
  12. Where did you guys go...surely one or two of you will expend the same energy in outrage at Regina Hall making a joke about Lebron James' Androgenetic Alopoecia as you did about Chris Rock joking that Jada looked like G.I. Jane? Nobody?
  13. You realize that the "G.I. Jane" joke would have been forgotten the next day if Will and Jada had just laughed it off or ignored it, right? Did you know that in this year's same Oscars ceremony the female hosts made a joke that Space Jam should be given an award for special effects for what they did for Lebron James' hairline? Interestingly, nobody cared...perhaps partially because of a double standard about talking about men's hair loss, but probably more significantly because nobody went up and slapped Regina Hall for her lame joke. 55 second mark: Edit: Slightly longer clip, but worse quality:
  14. This event has become 2022's largest source of memes so far. Some better than others.
  15. Interesting...you seem to actually prefer a society where people don't hit others when they're offended by a joke or a comment. It's almost like our criminal code exists as it does for a reason.
  16. I mean, by stawns' logic the exact reason for the hair loss is irrelevant: it is all beyond the control of the person suffering hair loss. Apparently by age 50 (Jada's age) 85% of men have significant hair loss of some kind. Those that shave their heads inevitably get the "Mr. Clean" ribbing or worse. Nobody I know goes around assaulting people who make those bad jokes, or get their wives/significant others to do so on their behalf.
  17. Interesting. However you do realize the joke was "haha, you look like the lead from G.I. Jane". Not "haha, you have alopecia". I mean, are you actually advocating that anytime someone jokes about someone's baldness or hair styling that there should be a violent, physical response? Should Will Smith have been punched here for example? Perhaps the "woke" people need to realize how dumb it is when they call for equality of the sexes and then applaud a woman's husband punching the Oscar host for commenting on his wife's hair. For multiple reasons.
  18. Question: If a girlfriend pushes all her man's buttons, questions his manliness, uses his insecurities against him (ie. much worse than Chris Rock's little joke at the oscars) and he then hits her...who is the victim in this scenario? Do you think a joke at the expense of another person, even if intended maliciously (which Chris Rock's was not), should result in a physical response?
  19. Hmm, it seems like you're ignoring the stated plan to put the ultimate control of Canada into the hands of a committee of Canada Unity members, eh? If your reading comprehension and understanding of Canadian civics isn't that great: their MOU calls for the Senate to take control of the country and put Canada Unity in charge of public health. It's an outline for a coup. Perhaps you want Trudeau to negotiate: "Now, we must insist that the house of commons maintains control of federal taxation and foreign policy...we will reluctantly agree to let Canada Unity control public health and border control". If you didn't know, Canadian provinces, (who have jurisdiction over covid restrictions, not Trudeau) are setting up to loosen them. Hopefully a plan based on scientific data and the ability of the healthcare system to avoid being overwhelmed, not the whims of some right wing dip$&!#s. https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/02/01/BC-Looks-To-Ease-COVID-Restrictions/
  20. Probably not so much balls but protecting their behinds in case the collected funds went towards criminal activities.
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