New Testingstan

I was in charge of writing the denial endorsement for every Marine that requested a waiver of this debt that had not been wounded in combat. There was an instance of a PFC Cocoa who paid child support every month. He had been receiving an entitlement to cover the child support amount that was incorrect, resulting in a total debt/overpayment for this PFC of around $12,000 with a $300 monthly liquidation on this debt at less than $800 biweekly and $200 to pay in child support. In his grievance letter, he said that he could not afford gas money to go and see his daughter because all of the money he was spending was on uniform items and left him with barely enough money to sustain his life. Oh yeah, and he was in the infantry too. His waiver was denied because a brand new PFC to the fleet should “have reasonably known” that he was not entitled to the money he received, even though he asked his superiors several times about the money he was getting. That was not even the half of it. I’ve seen countless Marines fall into the indebted hands of the United States government and have been afraid to leave the service because the debt that they have to pay due to incorrect entitlements sometimes runs to tens of thousands of dollars. This is a system that oppresses and enslaves individuals by instilling indebted control over their lives.

evilsoup wrote:are people actually making complaints like that

Ralin wrote:The more I think about it the angrier I get that they're changing things from the books to give Sansa more agency and wasting screen time on that which could be put to better use making Littlefinger look awesome and brilliant and pimping.

F.J. Prefect, Esq wrote:Is this a parody of a GoT fan

Ralin wrote:

F.J. Prefect, Esq wrote:Is this a parody of a GoT fan

Are you suggesting that Littlefinger is not the real hero of the story and that Sansa isn't lucky to have him on her side?

Ralin wrote:Stannis isn't really all that experienced.

Ralin wrote: There really aren't a whole lot of experienced people in Westeros, all things considered. A friend of mine has a theory that this and all the relatively young rulers isn't normal. Robert's Rebellion killed off a lot of the older nobility and left a bunch of second sons and others who were never supposed to inherit jack in charge of Great Houses.

Crazedwraith wrote:You said everyone had been killed off and left a lot of unprepared second sons in positions they weren't supposed to have. I pointed out that's not the case. How is that besides the point?

If you want to claim the crop of nobility was worse off in war of five kings, you'd have to prove the previous lot were actually more competent and were what the seven kingdoms 'normally had'. Which you haven't.

evilsoup wrote:ugh
some woman who runs a women's shelter on the radio, seems like exactly the kind of person who I should be nodding along to and agreeing with
but no, today they're talking about domestic violence against men, and she's spending so much time trying to minimise the problem
this isn't the first time it's happened either; the last time this program was talking about this, they had these four domestic vioence experts going on and on about how some male abusers pretend to have been hit by their victims in order to cover themselves... while they had a male survivor of an abusive relationship with a woman on the other side of the phone line

magic princess wrote:

evilsoup wrote:ugh
some woman who runs a women's shelter on the radio, seems like exactly the kind of person who I should be nodding along to and agreeing with
but no, today they're talking about domestic violence against men, and she's spending so much time trying to minimise the problem
this isn't the first time it's happened either; the last time this program was talking about this, they had these four domestic vioence experts going on and on about how some male abusers pretend to have been hit by their victims in order to cover themselves... while they had a male survivor of an abusive relationship with a woman on the other side of the phone line

Resistance to oppression is legitimate. Women frequently have hectoring and fighting with their spouses as their only way to express their yearning for liberty and rights in a deeply patriarchal and sexist society. It is a perfectly legitimate behaviour, and it is not something that should be punished by jail time or legal sentences. Rather, sort of like in South Africa, it should be handled by a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the power to forgive what is technically a crime, when the patriarchal system is finally dismantled. Therefore, it would be acknowledged as unlawful, but morally acceptable within the context of the old patriarchal oppressive social order, and something that must be forgiven and buried into the past moving forward in a non-patriarchal society.