Another well-put response. He is one of those people who think that, because he was able to do it, everyone and anyone else can also do it. Working hard still needs the opportunity to do so. He has apparently not been kept back or repressed socially. He's been privileged and doesn't even know it.

I can see how you might not understand the context of "many communities." Words like "many," "some," "few," "a lot," and "most" are not precise statements. They are meant to be qualifying generalities that have no amount or number intended. People use them when there is no way that they can discover or find a more accurate term to use instead. No percentage or number is intended in such cases (if a percentage or number could be found somewhere - well, that is something that the writer didn't know about, was too lazy to look up, or is out of reach in terms of researchable data). There is no line that can be drawn between the "many" and the "none" or the "all of them." It is a generalized term to use so that the explanation of the issue can continue without becoming too wordy. Using the word "many" does imply, however, that the number of whatever is more than "a couple," "a few," or "some." It also implies that the number is less than "most," "all," or "almost all." It is a convenient "middling" term, and is usually pretty safe to use. It is to be understood that it is not an accurate term. If the reader wants more information, then they can do the research and perhaps find a more accurate number.

In terms of "many communities," the US is so large that "many communities" can be safely used to describe almost any issue - there are so many communities. If the issue concerns something essentially rare, then the term should be obviously inaccurate (for instance, "communities living near a copper mine" - everyone knows there aren't many copper mines). I believe this issue concerned churches and perhaps other religious organizations helping the needy. A fine and noble cause, but there is so little news or information on this happening, that the easy-to-think impression is that there are not many/enough of them. For one thing, helping the needy is very expensive, and most organizations that do help either can only afford to do it sporadically, or else they receive funding from somewhere. Churches themselves are not known to have great resources. Labor can help, but there usually are material costs of some kind involved.

In terms of your statement on politicians - saying "all" would be a blanket statement; saying "many" is not. The term "blanket statement" means complete coverage (like a blanket), so a qualifying term would not be a "blanket statement." Perhaps you could consider "many" to be a questionably inaccurate statement, but to say so would require a reasoned explanation.

I heard it similar. Anyone driving slower than you is an idiot; anyone driving faster is a maniac. Seems right to me.

Yep, they're bad all right. We need signal lights on the rear of our vehicles - one to indicate "f-you" and the other one to mean "learn to drive, you idiot." We could use either one, or both together, at our discretion.

He was good with children - the future of his Aryan race. Ha, ha, choke, gasp.

Well, I don't know if that's an accurate statement. He shows his blood-sucking greed openly, but I would bet that he does not think he's doing (or has done) anything that shouldn't be accepted, and he would certainly not admit that that is a good description of him. After all, his raising the price of that life-saving medication 5000% was actually legal. He's one of those people who thinks that just because something is legal means that it is ethical and acceptable. So his basic personality cannot be considered to be honest - after all, he used subterfuge to get those hedge fund idiots to believe in him.

The pain is not lessened or goes away. It's just that you're not thinking about the pain as much as you would be if you were actually focusing on the pain, which is our normal reaction - it hurts, it's still hurting, it's still hurting, etc.. Distraction lessens the focus, and therefore the suffering. I would imagine this method might have less effect on long lasting pain, like migraine headaches, for instance, because the mind is just not strong enough to keep up the distracting part for very long periods of time. But, for short term pains, like some medical procedures, for instance, it works very well.

I decided to not watch the video, as I don't want to know what to (possibly) look forward to. I had two (relatively brief) level 10 pain experiences about 8 years ago. First there's the intense pain. If it last a while , you find yourself entering the realm of despair, which I did on both occasions. If that lasts long enough, you get trauma. Pain and despair you can recover from and forget, but trauma - even if you eventually learn how to neutralize its possible negative effects - remains a permanent part of your brain and memory. You don't want that. Fortunately, I started to distract my mind with other things than the pain. This doesn't make the pain any less, but it prevents you from DWELLING on the pain, which itself makes the effect of the pain worse. If you can keep distracting yourself, you can avoid trauma in many situations. This should work with "middle of the road" type pain events (as opposed to having your arm cut off, etc., for instance). Thought I'd mention this little trick, if you didn't know it already, for the next time you experience a level 10 pain event. Hopefully, you will never need this information.

Oh, well. There goes my chance to finance my bid for world domination. Damn! LOL

BMW lane. Funny. Whenever I'm in the BMW lane, driving my beat-up 22 year old F150, passing drivers stuck in the "Civic lane," I smile my self-satisfied smile as I whizz past them. But I'm always on the lookout for a BMW driver to come along to make me feel embarrassed, like someone trying to take over what I don't deserve, as I should. Also, I have to be ever on the alert, in case my truck breaks down, again. Several years ago, my left rear wheel FELL OFF on the interstate. Phew! Fortunately, nothing bad happened, but still, we can all have our BMW dreams, can't we? LOL

(The age of my truck and what happened to it are true, however.)

What good news about the, obviously, mentally ill dirtbag! Did you see his self-satisfied smiling during the Congressional hearings about his amoral 5000% price increase on the life-saving medication, as he continually pleaded the fifth? He was almost laughing at how he was defeating the government. I rarely wish such ill will on someone, but I really hope things happen to him in prison that will take his ego down a notch or two, or more. Talk about the bottom of the barrel.

You might not be able to take it beyond 1400 AD, unless you had written records, because, statistically, we are related to everyone on Earth TWICE from that year. If you add the numbers of grandparents of grandparents, etc. all the way back to 1400AD (estimating the average number of years per generation), there are over a billion of these ancestors, whereas the population of the human race was around 450 million at the time. So, we are cousins to everyone on Earth X number of times removed, or so. I think I'll go out and greet everyone as a relative now. Then I can get anonymous strangers to invite me to their parties, do favors for me, and maybe even give me money. Ain't DNA wonderful! LOL

Another instance, where you were forced to explain what you clearly wrote. You wrote "In many communities..." You did not say all communities or every community. It's amazing how your very first sentence was misunderstood. It has happened to me as well.

Another apt response, IMO.

Very well put. I have never seen so much said in such a succinct way. You obviously try to think out your responses in the best way possible. Whether others understand what you say is another matter.