jtwb768-babbles

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The Weight of Words: How Public Shaming and Cruel Narratives Can Destroy Lives

In recent days, a heartbreaking story has rippled through social media—a story that should force us all to examine not just what we say, but the impact our words have when they meet someone already standing on the fragile edge of their capacity to cope. Lamont Wiley, a father of two, tragically took his own life after enduring public humiliation from the mother of his children on social media.…

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Liberal, Not a Caricature: A Human-Centered Reclaiming of What It Really Means to Care for Each Other

The Misunderstood Word: “Liberal” in a Time of Division In today’s fractured sociopolitical climate, few labels are as simultaneously reviled, misunderstood, and misrepresented as “liberal.” The word itself has become a slur in certain circles—an epithet wielded to reduce thoughtful, human-centered policy goals into caricatures of nanny-state overreach, weakness, or hypocrisy. Yet, behind the…

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The Heart of Home: What I Love About Where I Live

Home is not a place. It is not a collection of furniture or a zip code or the balance of a mortgage. For me, home is a feeling—an intricate, ever-evolving symphony composed of loyalty, history, comfort, connection, and unconditional love. I live in a home where laughter mixes with medical alarms, where the kitchen smells like Dexter’s newest invention while a dog named Zayne plots his next…

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Anxiety: The Invisible War and the Stigma That Keeps Us Silent

Anxiety does not always come crashing into a room like a panic attack. Sometimes, it sits quietly behind a smile. The quote featured in the image accompanying this post captures that experience perfectly: “Anxiety doesn’t always look like a panic attack. Sometimes, it hides behind the smile you force on your face and the endless thoughts racing through your mind… The hardest part? No one can see…

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Dogfluencers and the Rise of Pet Celebrities in 2025

It is the year 2025, and while humans are still out here arguing about politics, battling burnout, and forgetting their online passwords for the 87th time, dogs have quietly taken over the internet—not just with their wiggly tails and sideways head tilts, but with power, purpose, and in many cases, profits. These are not just “good boys” and “good girls.” These are celebrities. Brand ambassadors.…

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Overdose Awareness Month: My Story of Survival, Grief, and the Urgent Need to End Stigma

August is Overdose Awareness Month. And I wish I did not have to write this post. I have overdosed. Not in a movie-scene kind of way. Not with a dramatic rescue or swelling music or a neat little ending. Just a raw, breathless moment suspended between life and death—where time blurred and silence pressed in so thick, I thought it might swallow me whole. But I came back. Somehow, I came…

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August 5 Belonged to George: A Tribute to the Quiet Power of a Father

Some dates walk in with velvet shoes. Others arrive like a steady heartbeat, strong and unwavering, built from purpose and permanence. August 5 is that kind of day. It is not showy. It does not demand attention. But when you look at what happened—who was born, what changed, what endured—you start to see the quiet power underneath. The kind of strength you almost miss… until it is gone. George…

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What Change Would I Like My Blog to Make in the World? Ending Stigma, One Truth at a Time

Based upon the prompt: What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world? When I first started writing, I did not fully understand the power of a single voice. I wrote because I needed to. I wrote because I could not find myself reflected in the glossy filters of mainstream narratives. I wrote because there was a world inside me—aching, complex, and unfinished—that…

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Winston the Platypus and the Curious Case of Duck‑bill Diplomacy

Few stories blend wartime intrigue, intercontinental animal relocation, and animal welfare disaster into a single narrative as strange as the tale of Winston —the platypus. A gift from Australia to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1943, this aquatic monotreme boarded a camouflaged ship bound for England. The mission: curry favour with Britain as world war storms across the Pacific. A…

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Time Travel for Beginners: How to Explore the Past Without Breaking the Universe

Time Travel for Beginners: How to Explore the Past Without Breaking the Universe A Brief Misstep into the Wrong Century Have you ever looked at a flared polyester jumpsuit from the 1970s and thought, “Yes, I would thrive there”? Or found yourself watching a black-and-white film, deeply convinced that the 1940s are where your soul belongs? Perhaps you have even daydreamed about asking Leonardo…

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What This Past Month Taught Me: Death, Friendship, and the Ache for Love

There are some months that drift by, light as vapor, leaving barely a trace. Others arrive with thunder. They rattle the foundations, force open locked doors, and drag the truths you have tried to bury into the daylight. This was one of those months. It came quietly but left with everything rearranged. I did not begin this month with a goal to reflect. In truth, I was just trying to get through…

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Why Is Self-Care So Challenging for Men? A Deep Dive into Shame, Scripts, and the Silent Weight They Carry

Ask any therapist, health professional, or loved one trying to support a man in crisis, and the answer will rarely be simple. Self-care—whether in the form of seeking therapy, resting without guilt, expressing emotional needs, or even getting a yearly physical—feels, for many men, like a mountain they were never taught to climb. This post explores why. Not as a series of accusatory soundbites,…

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Is AI Getting Too Weird? The Strangest Chatbot Conversations of 2025

In the early days of artificial intelligence, our biggest worry was that it would take our jobs. Then it was that it would gain sentience and overthrow humanity. In 2025, the concern is somehow more existential and more ridiculous: what happens when your AI therapist starts quoting SpongeBob during a panic attack, or your smart fridge flirts with your houseguests? Welcome to the latest phase of…

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The Ultimate 2025 Slang Dictionary: What the Heck Does ‘Lawnchairing’ Mean?

If you have ever opened TikTok, glanced at a group chat, or overheard a Gen Z sibling yelling about someone being a “giga red flag,” you may have asked yourself a very reasonable question: “Are these even words anymore?” In 2025, the answer is yes—and also no—and also, it does not matter. Welcome to the wonderful world of viral slang, where rules are mere suggestions, logic is optional, and…

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Aha Conversations: A Masterclass in Silence, Stalling, and Scamming

You do not expect to walk away from a paid focus group feeling conned. Not when the company that recruits you describes itself as a “dynamic platform built to facilitate meaningful conversations.” Not when the pre-session emails arrive polished, prompt, and professional. Not when the incentive offered for your time and labor—$125—is clearly spelled out, confirmed, and tied to your name in…

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Couple of Days Off --

I will be taking two or three days off from writing and posting due to surgery on my tongue. It has been a bit more intense than I anticipated.

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Honk If You Love Parasaurolophus: Why This Weird Dinosaur Deserves a Comeback

Let the Resurrections Begin—But Only the Fabulous Ones Let us be honest. Humanity has done a lot of questionable things with its time on Earth: Crocs, glitter beards, cryptocurrency pyramids, and a thousand Fast & Furious sequels. But despite all that creative chaos, we have yet to bring back a dinosaur. Not one. Zero resurrected thunder-lizards. And that, my friends, is the real extinction…