CAT5

I'm still a Lion, my g.

That bottom line is key! I just want to clarify my thoughts from earlier, because I don't want people to think that I'm talking down on others from some high horse or that i'm bashing people that sleep around, or that I'm saying people who have slept around aren't worth marrying. Absolutely not. People can and do change. All the time. (I mean, shit, if you aren't changing, are you even alive? XD) So I try to never make the mistake of condemning people. We are not the author of other ppl's lives, and we have no idea how other ppl will change and grow. Plus to condemn someone would make me a hypocrite, because i'm not perfect and I've done (and still do) tons of stupid things, and I've learned and grown from them too. For instance, I used to be someone who thought sleeping around was perfectly ok, and that hedonism was the way to go. But after actually doing that and going around fucking random women for a time, I experienced for myself how dysfunctional, irresponsible, destructive and vain that mindset/behavior is. And as such, I decided to do differently. So this is why I don't condemn people, but I'll definitely condemn actions. We're all just trying to figure this thing out, and mistakes and missteps are inevitable. So far be it from me to condemn anyone for making mistakes. But if I see that a particular line of action or behavior consistently produces negative outcomes, then that's an action that I'll condemn. Such is the case when it comes to sleeping around, as I've experienced and observed how that plays out in the real world, and generally speaking, it doesn't work out too well in the long run. That said, we all have free will and we can do whatever we want. But none of us are free from consequence.

It's clear you have love for this girl, and that's perfectly understandable, but I think it's a mistaken notion to consider this girl your friend. I know that's a bit rough considering this is someone you once wanted to yoke your entire life to, and I definitely understand how her actions would be difficult to hear about. But I think for your own sake, you'd be better off removing this person from your life completely (if possible). Consider this, if you two were truly capable of being friends, would you even be in this situation? Personally, if this girl is truly doing this, then you dodged a HUGE bullet bruh. Any woman that's sleeping around, and then actually has the nerve to brag about it?...this is someone who doesn't even value themselves. You wouldn't want to wife that bruh...trust me. Sorry to hear about all of this, but keep your head up, keep moving forward, and realize you deserve better. Or rather, you deserve what you allow.

This word has no doubt been overused and abused to the point where anything that makes anyone feel uncomfortable is automatically considered "toxic". Imma ruin your joke, because imma nerd like that. In the bible, the term "god" was actually translated from the original Hebrew term "Elohim", and thus lost its meaning. The term "god" kinda misses the point because it's a title and not an actual name (the creator's name is Yahuah - which literally means something like 'the eternal/self-existent one' and was usually translated as "the lord"). Elohim, however, is plural and refers to Yah's powers/ the multiplicity of his powers. There are other powers active in the world, but what makes Yahuah the Most High elohim is the fact that no power supercedes his because he is the source of ALL power. For example, Satan wields a certain amount of power, but even he can only operate in the capacity that Yah allows him to. This is clearly illustrated in the book of Job, amongst others. But even Satan operates in service to The Most High. Everything that Yah created serves a purpose / has a function. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

Oh nice! Thanks for the info bruh! It's good to know that my ears are still sharp Rei's got a nice voice and that's a nice song. she fine too 👀 ....

@YuyoDrift @platy - don't this sound like it could be an old Utada song???

From Japan, these: downy THE NOVEMBERS toe 凛として時雨 (ling tosite sigure) ヒトリエ (HITORIE) ハイスイノナサ (haisuinonasa) siraph 八十八ヶ所巡礼 (88kasyo junrei) cinema staff LOSTAGE

Didn't even realize they dropped a new MV! What yall think?

oh yes, I most definitely fuckz with this

yasssssssss, season 2 is finally being released!!!

Can't wait til they actually release an album!

Welcome to the forum!

o stahp it you! nah, but forreal tho, that's a very heartwarming thing for you to say! for that, I give all praise, honor, and glory to The Most High, Yahuah Elohim (aka "GOD"). Anything good that I speak is of him and his word. I take no credit. as for me, i'm just a royal fuck-up that's trying to do better --------------- I think I may try to invest more time in drawing/sketching. I used to love to do it as a kid/teen, but fell away from it through years depression. Lately tho, my lady has been inspiring me to do it more often, and I've been surprised at the results! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it as well.

I agree with you here to an extent. I do think there are functional and dysfunctional ways to raise children and i'm all for informing others on what's healthy and functional, but here's why I think it's no one's business: we simply do not know enough details to judge the matter. Everyone is in an uproar over a soundbite, essentially. We don't know the relationship that T.I. has with his daughter. We don't know anything about their family, their dynamics, or their history. We don't know his daughter's perspective and we barely know anything about T.I.'s perspective. outside of a 15 sec. audio clip. So everyone is making assumptions based on very limited information. Not a wise thing to do in my opinion. I do think that T.I. may have made a mistake by making this public knowledge. But who knows? Maybe it's not a mistake? Maybe the discussions that have spawned out of this are conversations that need to be had? This really depends on how you view family, fatherhood, and sex. I can't speak for T.I., but I can tell you that from a Hebraic/Biblical perspective, a daughter is supposed to remain under the protection/covering of her father until she is married, and then she becomes her husband's responsibility. And this has nothing to do with trying to control women, or women being "weak" or "helpless" - certainly not - it's about protecting that which is valuable. Sex outside of marriage is also viewed as dysfunctional, because it doesn't serve any sustainable purpose and the harm it causes is not worth the pleasure of a 15-second orgasm. Personally, I subscribe to the Hebraic worldview simply because it's functional and it emphasizes unity, harmony, and peace. I've experienced and observed in horror how ideas like feminism/the "independent woman" and unbridled sex have absolutely decimated black families and given rise to nothing but division,chaos, confusion, and pain. Those aren't the only culprits, but they are major contributors. Before blacks started adopting these ideologies, our families were generally intact. Not only does history clearly illustrate this, but almost every black woman I know that was alive before these ideologies started taking root tells me the same thing: "we didn't need no damn feminism". Why? Because the black man and woman worked together, and black men were not lording over their women. Black women did not feel oppressed by their men. The oppression and racism black ppl faced was much more overt back in those days, so we worked together and relied on one another. Because we're all we had. And we realized the strength that came from family and unity. Feminism was largely a movement headed by white women that eventually recruited black women, much to our demise. (note: when I say "independent woman" - i'm referring to the notion that black women (or women in general) don't need a man, because that's destructive. there's absolutely nothing wrong with women being autonomous and being able to fend for themselves tho. in fact, women should be able to. but as i stated earlier, the notion that men and women don't need each other is antithetical to life itself). But I digress. I'm not sure how T.I. views things, but If I were as famous and rich as he is, I'd probably be overprotective too. You're not being hostile and and I don't feel attacked at all! I'm just glad that you're willing to discuss and share your opinion. Discussions like this can get pretty intense and heavy, so I have nothing but respect for you for engaging with me in a mature manner and speaking your mind! That's a very brave thing to do, especially on the internet where you have cowards that would sooner attack ppl for having different opinions or go talk shit in private amongst a bunch of yes-men like hoe-ass simps instead of just addressing people directly. Believe it or not, you've got more balls than a lot of grown-ass men . But yeah, Gesu, I got nothing but love for ya! And I feel where you're coming from. I do think we have to have a critical eye towards our past generations, as to learn from their mistakes and not continue to reproduce their dysfunction. But I also think it's wise to take into consideration advice and admonishment from older generations too. Personally, I remember being a kid and pretty much hating my dad. I disagreed with a lot of his ways well into my adulthood. But now as i've gotten older myself, and as i've been seeking to take on a lot of the same responsibilities he did, I'm starting to understand why he did things the way he did. And i'm thankful that I had him as a father. Some things I don't think we can understand until we actually have children ourselves. That said, I do think that there needs to be open and honest dialogue between children and parents, youth and elders. And I think both parties should keep an open ear, and an open heart towards one another. Because gray hair doesn't guarantee wisdom, and youth doesn't guarantee the lack thereof.

A few random thoughts that have been bouncing around my head this past week: #1: People trying to cancel T.I. for essentially being a father. Firstly, it's really no one's business how this man chooses to govern his household. Secondly, there are over 60,000 missing African American girls and women in the U.S., sex-trafficking is at an all-time high, new strands of HIV and STDs are still being discovered, the rate of single-motherhood among African American homes is THROUGH THE ROOF, but T.I. is getting shit for being "overprotective"???? Fuck outta here. We NEED more overprotective parents. #2: The way ppl have responded to this is yet another indicator that society has gone far, far off the rails. But I do think there is a silver-lining to this massive attack on men and masculinity. A lot of ppl have been hurt and traumatized by the abuse and misuse of masculinity. I get it. But swinging the pendulum in the opposite extreme through feminism and attacking any and everything that is masculine is definitely not the answer. I just hope people wake up and realize that both genders are equal in worth, but different in function. We balance each other. We need each other. You'd think this would be obvious by the fact that all of us are alive because of *GASP* a man, and a woman, but we just complicate things endlessly with vain rhetoric that obscures that reality. #3: I saw someone post this on fb recently and it made me chuckle a bit: it's obviously satirical, but it wouldn't be so funny if it didn't reflect our reality in some way. I've come across a lot of people (on and offline) that are triggered by new or different viewpoints, and I think it's pretty troublesome...I think it's worse online because ppl will unfriend, unfollow, or block you. It's like everyone creates their own little, self-contained echo-chambers. I don't see how this is helpful to anyone. We live in a big world. With people of all kinds of backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. So what good is it to live in a world like this and not be able to interface with people of different mindsets without getting emotional, defensive, or hostile? Why can't people simply hear each other out and try to understand each other's perspectives? I think the reason is that people simply do not like being uncomfortable. I can understand it. It's uncomfortable to have your beliefs questioned or challenged by others, and probably even moreso for one to question their own beliefs and ideas...and whatever they hold to be true. It's wild to me tho, because ppl would rather get hostile or cut ppl off for having different views before they even try to understand the other person. Which also makes no sense to me, because what if that other person has some wisdom to offer you? What if they could provide some insight that might be resourceful to you? What if they could offer some knowledge that might help you see things in a more well-rounded, or truthful light? So many ppl cut themselves off from this potential out of the fear that they might actually be wrong. Because being wrong doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel...comfortable. But it's ok to be wrong. It's also ok to be corrected. How would you know not to put your hand in a fire if you didn't know what fire felt like? People like that, who avoid the discomfort, stunt their own growth. And i've realized that people ultimately value comfort more than they do truth. And the irony there is this: how is anything outside of the truth truly comfortable? If it's not truth, it's a lie. So it's not actual comfort, It's just an illusion. Many people are comfortable living in delusion. And most of us happily delude ourselves daily. I'm not exempt from this either. I mean, i'm damn sure guilty of this too. But it took my delusions being shattered (which is painful as fuck) to realize that I didn't and still don't know a thing. It took one strong wind for me to realize the house I thought I was "comfortable" in was actually a house built of sand. I had to realize that I didn't know a thing. And how could I? This world is vast and infinite (GITS quote ), and i'm just little ol me. I'm just one speck of dust amongst billions, so who am I to walk around thinking i got everything figured out? It's entirely possible that some of those other specks just might know something that I don't They might just have another piece that I can add to this jigsaw puzzle called life. They might not. But i'm never gonna know if I only interact with the specks of dust that only think things that I agree with, or things that make me feel "comfortable". Anyways, i can ramble on and on. I'll stop here.