TomMcGiverin's Profile

I have been having to style my hair in a 1962 middle aged matronly hairdo while playing Benjamin's ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

Glad you are still active with and enjoying theater. It is both sad and true that by age 60 all the female stage roles are no longer romantic leads. On the plus side, there are still cool, juicy roles like Martha in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf? or the lead in August: Osage County.

What does the “H.” in “Jesus H. Christ” stand for?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

I don't know. I've just always enjoyed using the expression "Jesus H. Christ on a goddamned crutch!" as a way to express my ultimate disgust and feeling flabbergasted at some absurd situation....

Well, after some discussions with the lead artist, my boss chose to fire me instead of getting rid ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

The few times I was forced out of a job it was the same story each time. Namely that the workplace was dysfunctional and that the way management dealt with conflict in the workplace was to get rid of the person who was speaking up about the problems and was the newest person there rather than deal with person who was the source of most of the problems there who had more power and had been there longer. That is the way office politics goes at most jobs and I learned to accept that that is the way it is. I got older and learned to pick my battles at work, keep my head down, and try to avoid the bullies who would give me the kind of problems that got me forced out of the jobs I mentioned when I was younger. I learned that most workplaces are not open to change and most managers do not have the insight and guts needed to fix chronic problems in their workplace by standing up to the bullies and toxic people in their workplace for reasons that make sense to them even if not to anyone else.

AmeriKKKan Justice.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

In the words of the bard, Bob Dylan, " They say patriotism is the last refuge. To which a scoundrel clings. Steal a little and they'll throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they'll make you king....".

This is directly from Quora: How much does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez know about economics in the ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

I wish she was old enough to run for prez, because even tho she is new to politics she is clearly a hell of a lot more real and honest than Obama ever was. And he was not that experienced in politics when he ran either. If she was old enough to run now I would support her even over Bernie. If she's still in politics by the time she's 35 and her opponents, in both the major parties haven't been able to discredit her, look for her to be assassinated if she runs for prez. Her ideas are just too dangerous to the status quo.

Too young:

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

What is an SAT?

In a paragraph describe yourself, your passions and what you’re looking for in a partner, but also...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 18, 2019:

Doesn't talk about or identify as being family-oriented, has several or more common interests with me, doesn't talk about how they enjoy social drinking, doesn't list a lot of outdoor activities, doesn't talk about how much they love college sports, doesn't identify as religious, doesn't mention liking country music. Non-smoker.

I have a close friend in my professional field whose intellect and wit are sexy to me, and we can ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2019:

No, and I am very skeptical that it happens more than once in a blue moon. To me it seems more like an urban legend that some women, not men, like to believe in so they won't feel guilty about rejecting a man who doesn't sexually attract them. I have heard a few women, not many, on Agnostic say they've experienced this, but never anyone that I have known IRL or from a paid dating site. I have heard of this from a few women IRL who were acquainted with a man while he or they were involved with someone and the woman felt no attraction then, for good reason, but not when both of them were single and available later on. At that time, the attraction was clear and immediate... In my experience, if I and the woman meet for the first one or two times and I'm not feeling any physical attraction, it's not going to happen later on, even if I ended up wishing it would happen...

Date 3: I thought that I posted this last night, but I don't see it.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2019:

I wish you well. You are doing better than I ever have with a paid site. The most times I ever went out with anyone outside of a clear mutual friendzone with anyone from a paid site was three times, with a woman who stood me up on what would have been the fourth time we met, for a movie. We chatted online later, after I got home and she had messaged me that she forgot about the meeting, but later she admitted that she had no physical attraction for me. Wish she had told me that earlier in the process.... I'm sure that in the coming months you will get together more than three times with someone and that in that process you will have more enthusiasm than you had with this guy. I've been on Batch for 18 months and this experience with the woman I mentioned is the only one I met more than twice outside of a mutual friendzone, out of 6 women I have met.

This cat is prettier than I'll ever be. ?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2019:

Ah, Persians are so cute to me, even when they have scrunched up faces.....

This is when i ask my daughter to do anything

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2019:

Poor whiny kitty is so overworked with just having to look cute all the time....

And you wonder why do you name your cats FLUFFY!!!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2019:

Got to keep those kitties out of the dryer so they don't get hurt or killed....

After 5 years of withdrawal from life (after the death of my husband) I decided to try online ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 15, 2019:

The funny thing is I can believe and see the truth of most of Sue's criticisms, but, as has often been said on this site regarding dating behaviors brought up about one gender, it goes both ways. I long ago lost count on the paid site that I'm a member of about how many women who were in their early to mid-fifties- several years to a few years younger than me-that listed in their profiles that they would not date a man who was more than a couple years older than them, while at the same time my late wife was much older than me and I was fine with that while these days I am willing to date someone as much as 8 years older than me. I should also add that these 50-something women have no problem looking like cougar types and they also list a bottom age as low as 35 that they are willing to date..... Instead of getting upset and offended at this common behavior on the paid site, I simply respect and accept the preferences of those women and move on to others that list my age as acceptable to them. Out of curiosity tho, I have asked some women both on Agnostic and the paid site what they think is the reason for that age of women not wanting to date much older than their age and was told that it was probably the assumption of those women that all men over their mid-fifties have ED. Whether that is true or not, I'm not going to change their opinions or bother dealing with their judgemental attitude about age. Same with Rob below and what Judy said, people may get offended about other's preferences, but it's not worth wasting time trying to change them or meet someone who is not a match on something important to you. Sue is miffed that all the men in her dating pool on the paid site are into Westerns, the Bible, and NCIS. In my area, all the women are family-oriented (if not obssessed and emeshed with their family) along with being big on country music, social drinking (I'm not kidding here, most women my age in my area simply won't accept a non-drinker because, as they have told me, they "want to be able to share their drinking with a partner") and college sports. Most of them also want someone who is Christian or Catholic. I'm not going to change any of that about them either. I'll just have to settle for waiting on when the right offbeat woman finally joins my paid site and hope she likes me as I am.

Let me never engage with a person who wants to wear a genital go-pro camera during sex. [cnet.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2019:

Redefined boundaries for the Facebook generation....

Well Im off the dating market.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2019:

Glad someone is beating the odds...Beats having 3 or more cats....

Munchie's home! The girls at the vet hoped that we would forget about him because they loved him so ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2019:

He looks so sweet and innocent..

Quick question

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2019:

It is hard to make friends as a retired Boomer. However I did make two good friends in the last year or so. I was probably very lucky to make each of them because in each case I met them thru joining offline groups that didn't have that many members in each case as well as each group having almost no one my age except these two people. Which just goes to show how impossible it is to find someone to date by simply joining offline groups, since dating requires way more compatibility than friendship....I doubt I will make any more new friends in the coming months.

Lucky is so hidden right meow.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 14, 2019:

On the opposite side of the coin, I once had a neighbor cat that was smart enough to go hide behind a tree when people bothered him outside.

What's one thing that a potential date might have in his/her profile that would get your immediate ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 13, 2019:

"Hates country music/loves alternative music". Also Agnostic or Atheist. If someone listed these things and also had nothing in their profile essay about family, then most likely all the other usual dealbreaker issues would be no problem, so the only other issue would be looks, which is usually decidable based on the pics.

I would think there are free thinkers athiests an agnostic women in ontario canada.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 11, 2019:

I'm sure there are non-believer women in my area, but they don't know about this site as no women have joined from my area in the last two years.

For me... assassination of JFK.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 11, 2019:

Same here, JFK. It really did seem like the world stopped for a time with that.

His name is Roger.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 10, 2019:

Well, you beat the odds. Is he from a paid site or this one?

Read a good book yesterday and wanted to pass it along.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 9, 2019:

My brother went to an Ivy league school, Dartmouth, for one year, then dropped out because it was too expensive, which was back in the 70s. Can only imagine what it costs now. He took away from it a very disillusioned view of how the offspring of the elite think and act as well as the lesson that for most of those members of elite families the main benefit of an Ivy league education as well as the top priority among their kind is the making of connections with others of their kind with which to get jobs in govt. or the private sector. It's just an expensive 4 year boarding school to party and network in.

Sophie and Skeeter at their new digs! They seem to like it!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2019:

Love the big fluffy tail of the black cat.

Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 7, 2019:

Spent very little time during my working life in office jobs, but I still believe the movie Office Space applies to every job I ever had. I still watch it occaisionally as film therapy to enjoy the fantasy of rebelling and beating the system. Damn, it feels good to be a gansta....

Question. Do you avoid dating people with the same name as your ex or exes?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 6, 2019:

My late wife happened to have the same first name as my mother. It never bothered me, but it did get a bit confusing sometimes in conversations with family members and them confusing who I was referring to, my wife or my mother. On a related note, I know a guy that got married twice to two different Debbies and seemed to deal with it ok, he called them Debbie I and Debbie II after being divorced from both of them. Even managed to get along amicably with both of them after all these years. It takes all kinds. He is a much more easygoing man than me.......

Why the Key to a Good Relationship Is Hating the Same Things - When the Hate Is Mutual, Love Blooms.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 6, 2019:

Sounds like if I can just find a woman that hates country music and materialism as much as me, the rest of the dealbreaker issues should fall into place nicely without any big differences. Now, if I could just find that website that would attract those women, wait, maybe it's this one. Too bad there's nobody in my area......

Clarification: I guess in my efforts to keep this group drama-free, I've caused a shit storm with ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 4, 2019:

Mary I think you are explaining the situation very well. I saw the original post by someone that was a snide remark about the new member of the group. Your response was appropriate for that. The person who made the snide remark is someone I have had no problem with who also seems to usually be appropriate in her comments, but was out of line here to belittle someone she didn't like that was joining the group. If someone doesn't like a particular member, and we all have at least one or more that we feel that way about, the appropo thing to do is keep it to yourself, roll your eyes at their comments, or, if you must, block them and miss out on some of the content with this group. Or you can take the most extreme route and leave the group. Regardless, all of the above options are appropriate while firing an opening shot at the new member you don't like is not ok and is a way of trying to act like you are the admissions committee and poison the group against the new member, which is clearly against the community guidelines of this site.

Can you develop a friendship with an on line dating partner with whom you feel no chemistry?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 3, 2019:

The short answer is a no, it will usually not work with someone from a dating site, at least with most men from our generation. I am an exception and have had platonic friendships with several women in my life, but from talking to other men our age, that doesn't seem very common. I think it boils down to most men who meet a woman from a dating site have already developed interest in her at least partly because she looks attractive to them from the profile pics, so they are slow to give up hope on a sexual relationship with her. I have no problem being friends with a woman I have met thru a dating site because, at least in my mind, once I or she have made it known that at least one of us is not interested in anything romantic or physical, then it's settled for good. In the pre internet days of voice personals, nobody knew what you looked like before you met. I met a woman that was a 9, the only one of those I have ever or will meet thru a dating site. She told me as soon as we met that she wasn't interested in me physically, obviously because I wasn't in her league lookswise and I was not hurt or offended at all because her feelings were totally understandable and she was honest with me. We were friends for two years and it was good for both of us because we were both somewhat lonely and really enjoyed each other's company and conversation. I had also been friends more recently for several months with a woman from Batch that I was not attracted to physically. But I think the way most men are wired they can not let go of the hope for a sexual relationship with a woman, no matter how clear she is about it, at least as long as they are not meeting anyone else. The other thing is that in most cases, if you meet someone on a dating site, the friendship you make with them will likely end as soon as one of you does meet someone that is a mutual match that continues, because usually one or both of the new couple are not comfortable with it continuing.

I take care of my mom who has some dementia.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

I don't think you are trying to be mean to her, but my late wife had dementia and you do want them to be as comfortable as possible and surrounding them with as much of the familiar as possible is part of that. They get confused enough as it is and when they get to the late stage I will also advise you to restrain yourself from correcting her when she gets disoriented and imagines things are different than they are, like names of people or whether someone she knew is dead or not. Correcting them will only upset them more and whatever you say in correcting will quickly be forgotten. Good luck and make sure you get help with the caregiving. There comes a point in dementia care that the truth no longer matters and the best way to deal with it is to go with whatever the patient believes as to who is who and what is happening around them, etc. You know what is the truth, but it no longer matters if they do or not. It doesn't mean you're lying to them. What matters is letting them know that they and their concerns are being taken care of.

I'm sitting in a restaurant waiting for my food.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

I hear you. I can be ok with eating alone if I have to, but I get really tired of eating alone almost all the time. Does that make sense? I don't feel weird eating alone at a rest., but I really enjoy it when I do get together with a friend to eat out. It breaks up the monotony and loneliness. It's been longer than I can remember since I felt weird eating alone at a rest., because I've been doing it without my late wife for over 5 years now.

They're getting meowied.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

When I was a young kid we had a kitten sneak into the dryer and die in there when it ran. My mother found it and it was really upsetting to all of us. It was my introduction to death involving any creature or person I cared about.....

A few weeks ago I asked what are your favorite musicals.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

I never liked BBB, either version, nor either of the Grease movies. I have always like Grease as a stage play. I have always like Sunday In The Park... Guess I'm just different. I even bought the DVD of it.

Who remembers? All these years later, they're still my favorites.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

They were incredible. I quit watching the show quite a while ago as the writing just kept getting worse and worse. It seems like the only times I watch it in recent years is when I hear about a good political parody sketch on there and then I find it and watch it on the net, otherwise I have no interest in the show. Black Jepordy seems funny tho.

Domino is way into technology

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

That cat is so long...

Stay Single Until You Find A Man Who Will Do These 8 Things

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 2, 2019:

Those all go without saying. I will settle for nothing less than that. Character and depth of feeling towards me are just as important as sex and looks, if not more so...

I gave up on online dating.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

I share your pessimism and cynicism. Feel free to correct me if I'm misinterpreting you. I don't believe either in the "once you quit looking" cliche, it is luck-based thinking and a rationalization in my book. I also don't believe there is one perfect person for each of us. At my age, I think the best we can hope for or end up with is someone we get along with and are compatible with, because at this age we are not going to change much, if any, and also have our baggage, along with being less willing to put up with shit than when we were young. Love is still possible to find, but perfection and ideal partners are something I gave up on even before I was widowed and that's why in my profile on Batch I even say that I don't believe in finding or seeking an ideal partner and had a happy marriage without one.

Look at that face!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

He is cute. Hope he is a good mouser.

This massager sucks. It scratched my skin!

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

Kitty playing peekaboo. I had a neighbor cat across the street who would stand on their living room couch and play this thru the curtains in the room. It was so cute to watch....

I am at Jonado's apartment now! Here's a photo.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

I'm happy for you Jo, and of course, your guy as well. You're both having more luck than me...

Guys, this is getting under my skin and I need input.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

I made the mistake of lending a book to an old girlfriend when I was in my 20s. It took me 6 months after we broke up to get it back and I had to go to her parent's house when she was visiting them to get it back. She enjoyed making things a chore, when she refused to mail it to me as I had asked her to. Read the messages... Yup, he seems to enjoy games....

You may remember that I played Mattie Fae in August: Osage County last spring.

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

I really liked both of those shows and did a lot of community theater when I was in my 20s and in my first real job. I even played George Gibbs when I was 23 because I had a whole head of hair back then along with my permanent baby face. The woman playing Emily was also about my age. Nowadays I would be terrified about going onstage to act, so I stick to karaoke for my performing fix. Hope you end up enjoying theater as much as I did back then for several years. The community theater group quickly provided me a lot to keep me busy, regular social activities besides the shows, and several new friends.

If you're single, are you lonely?

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

It comes and goes. When I am with friends or in contact with them by phone, I never feel lonely. When I am alone in my apt. for long periods of time, sometimes I feel lonely, sometimes not. I really miss the companionship, sex, affection, someone to talk to some of the time everyday, and the feeling of security I had with my late wife before she got dementia, leading after several years to her death two years ago. Since she became ill, I have lost that feeling of security for what now feels like will be the rest of my life. For me, loneliness feels the most acute and worst when I am running low on hope that I will ever have another partner in my life. Sometimes I have some hope about this, other days I have none... When I was much younger and single, before I met my wife, being alone didn't bother me as much because I had the hope for the future that comes easier with being young as well as not having experienced the loss of a partner and learning that having one that is right and long term is no garauntee that it will last, even if you get along well. It took me almost 20 years of dating to find my wife and then it all started to fall apart with her dementia. So I am understandably pessimistic about finding another partner and having it last for decades. I know that I don't have the strength to be alone for another several years, esp. if I lose all hope of finding another partner. I can see how some people who are widowed die of natural causes fairly soon after they lose their partner.

Looking for an honest, spontaneous, down to earth, family-oriented man who is seeking the same ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

Laugh all you guys want to, but in my area profiles with essays like this are actually very common, with pics of what I am sure of are real women who wrote those essays. What those real profiles I've encountered on Batch and this one have in common is the profile essay that is deliberately lying about the wonderful personality qualities of the woman, esp. the pitch about being family-oriented, because that is the big currency here in my state. The rest of the essay is the usual cliches from women about how personality and character are everything instead of looks and money, tho in this scammer profile the targetted mark is obviously nice guy family men who have some money to lose......

Stupid is as stupid does...

TomMcGiverin comments on Mar 1, 2019:

Gotta love Foghorn Leghorn, used to watch him as a kid. Do any oldtimers know which Southern pol the character was based on? I'm sure there was one, but I never found out...

I'm boarding a plane and headed to Texas to spend face to face time with Jonado.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2019:

I used to chat with her on this site and I really liked her. I miss her too on this site. Tell her hi and I hope it works out for you two.

Alienate friends and family with "super realistic" masks based on your pets [news.avclub.com]

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2019:

Well people have always said that over time pets and their owners begin to look more and more alike....... I might like having the face of a cat if it resulted in me getting frequent petting and rubs of my head, ears, neck, etc...

If dating was like a job interview. [youtu.be]

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2019:

I don't agree with the premise that the woman holds all the cards in the dating game like here, but I do know the employer holds all the cards in the job-seeking process and I don't miss that a damn bit being retired. I could appreciate the desperation of the man in the interview, but I don't feel that myself because I hold as many cards as the woman in the dating interview and process, which is a nice change from my job-seeking days. I will say I have had a few women in my dating experiences sort of grill me a bit like here on my past dating history, ( back in the 90s with personal ads) but not much in my dating experiences since being widowed. As Deiter would undoubtedly agree, the last part of the video is right on the money about how if he doesn't get the position, she won't return his calls, as ghosting is the norm in the job-seeking process on the part of employers as it was also during the last time I was job-seeking.

Wow that took some time.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2019:

And how many live less than a few hundred miles from you, lol? Hold that, just noticed you live in the UK, not the US, much smaller land mass, so you may actually have a chance of meeting someone not so far away thru this site.

Just a few minutes ago I cancelled my subscription to one of those 'over 50' sites.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 28, 2019:

After today, in all honesty, I am starting to feel like I am getting there too. And this is not an easy thing to admit, because I know from experience that online dating is probably my only real chance of meeting someone in the next few years, which is what I want. I know this because I have already tried plenty of offline ways of meeting women too and they just don't provide enough opportunities to meet a large enough pool of women. And I need a very large pool, which Batch provides, in order to have any chance of reaching someone as far outside the mainstream culture here as I and my late wife are.

What do you expect for the first date?

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2019:

On the first meeting, which for me is always for coffee, I want to know if I feel any physical attraction and if I can talk comfortably with the woman. It shouldn't take much effort if we are compatible. I also want to know what their attitude seems to be about dating as well as a feel for their personality. Are they funny? Do they listen well? Do they smile a lot and warmly, or are they closed and guarded? Which is usually easy to gauge at the first meeting. In my experience, gathering info about the person and them about you regarding dealbreaker issues, can and should usually be done before the first meeting thru either a phone call or trading some messages.

I just thought... maybe... you could pet me?

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2019:

Ah.lonesome kitty wanting attention. I could never resist that look, like a lost puppy....

Luke, I am your Father...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2019:

The cat even has an evil expression on its face. Perfect..

I went on a lunch date yesterday for my birthday.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2019:

I'm guessing you met her from a paid site, not from here. Definitely stranger than any first meeting I've ever had. 8 cats is probably the most I have heard for anyone in my life. Proves that crazy cat lady syndrome is not just an urban legend. Also, I try to address the issue of religion during my exchanges of messages, along with discussing other likely dealbreakers, before setting the in person first meeting, but some women manage to avoid sharing what they should have shared about themselves even with that before we end up meeting in person. Very frustrating when you are very open about yourself and they are not.

"Let's plant some catnip," she said.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 27, 2019:

Junkie cats. It's like a needle park in Switzerland, lol...

She looks happy...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2019:

That is funny, but I feel bad for the poor cat, hope it's ok. Poor surprised kitty....Still, I don't think a woman being single past age 35 automatically qualifies as a crazy cat lady. Needs to be much older than that and have at least 3 cats, lol..

Good Day Everyone.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2019:

I have, but I've already discussed my family before here.....

Looks like this is some good advice for meeting someone in the dating world: 'Don't call me ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2019:

To me, this is all bullshit. I don't text, don't know how to and don't want to learn. I prefer voice phone calls to e-mail. I know a lot of this is related to my age, but I will not date someone who has a lot of rules and restrictions over how I communicate with her. I mention this in my profile essay on a paid site and am proud of it. If being attentive and polite during conversations is not enough for a woman, then she can date someone else that is more ok with being controlled and treated impersonally. I have no time or patience for people who are so arrogant or feel so self important and/or busy that they have to impose restrictions on when someone they are dating can call them. Get over yourself, I say to them........If I call when you're too busy to talk, let it go to VM, I'll get the idea that you are busy. By the same token, if that happens and I leave a VM. have the courtesy to listen to it before calling me back so I don't have to repeat myself with the message. You won't believe how many people are too lazy and selfish to do this nowadays.

Be careful what you ask for.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2019:

Debates like this are a perfect example of how bullshit identity politics distract from the more important real issues that the public should be focused on instead, such as why do we continue to have endless war for oil and empire? Why is the economy continuing to leave more and more people behind without any real employment opportunities? Why are more soldiers dying from suicide than on the battlefield in our current wars? Why can't college be affordable and available to anyone who wants it, as it is in most of Europe? Why does our govt. have limitless money to fund wars but can't afford to provide housing for those who can't afford it, affordable healthcare, and repair our infrastructure? The pols of both major parties pretty much don't want to talk about these issues, so they and the media keep the focus on identity politics and the public obediently plays along. Gender equality matters, I fully agree, but I get disgusted with how this gets used over and over to lead people down a dead end instead of dealing with the bigger problems that are more fundamentally killing people and ruining lives....

Be careful what you ask for.

TomMcGiverin comments on Feb 26, 2019:

Calm down everybody. You're all getting worked up over what lawyers call a moot point. Ever since Vietnam we have no longer had a conscription draft and we never will again. Since then the ruling class has replaced it with the poverty draft due to the hollowing out of the economy with outsourcing and automation, as well as increased poverty, soaring costs for college due to less govt. funding of colleges, and the wasting away of jobs and population in rural America. The plan has worked to perfection, leaving a large, permanent underclass of urban poor and rural whites with no job opportunities other than the military to afford college, receive medical benefits, learn skills, and have a job with opportunities for advancement or retirement. Of course, to get those things, the soldier has to survive deployment in some hellhole without getting killed, blown up or suffering a TBI. It's also no coincidence that since the real draft, ended, the offspring of those in congress almost never join or serve in the military, which is nice because in the old days they needed to keep up appearances by having their kids serve in some cushy, protected form of service, like W. did in the Air National Guard, that is when he took a break from drinking and actually showed up once in a while. Can't push for wars and then risk looking like hypocrites, that simply won't do.... Not many years after the real draft ended, the anti-war movement faded and is now a shadow of what it used to be because the middle class is now not affected anymore by our post-Vietnam wars for oil and empire in the Middle East that drag on without end, because they only affect about 3% of the population, unlike Vietnam. Also, the corporate media complies with the plan by keeping these endless wars pretty quiet for the last several years, as do both major parties who support the whole plan. As W, said, Mission Accomplished........

Find people who can handle your darkest truths.