I also read the response linked before this letter here from another linguist which in particular makes a good point about the prevalence of vocal fry in under 40s and how differently it's perceived by over 40s vs. under 40s.

My takeaway from all this is that the way I talk probably is just fine for my health, and a nice amalgamation of my various traits. Likely people of my generation will take me seriously just fine.

I have to say I don't think there is a natural voice, in that while your physical make up may limit your possibilities, your voice has been influenced by your childhood, the languages you speak, the particular variants of those languages you use, and your age and background. How could you disentangle all of those factors to find a natural voice? And which factors if any are the 'natural' ones?

I don't own a gun. I don't want one. I have depression, and the less ways I have to do something stupid, the better.

But I do have a hunting bow, a compound one. I can't fire it into myself, but I can go hunting.

I don't want to kill anybody, not even a home intruder.

I wish I had mentioned the riots in Ferguson.

First of all, I'm offended by your suggestion it's a black mindset. The largest race riot in US history was the Tulsa Race Riot in which a group of white people attacked the richest black community in the US and burned it to the ground. It's no more black, than lynching is a white mindset.

I support the rioters in the sense that I know that they suffered injustice and those riots weren't born in a vacuum. The Department of Justice Ferguson report found that there was unconstitutional policing which included discriminatory intent against African Americans.

The pressure in both Ferguson and Baltimore was building for a long time before riots ever happened and nothing was done. The people rioted out of frustration and anger and desperation, and to reduce it to 'a mindset' really trivializes the issues involved.

Please, take the time to look at the resources that are out there.

There are some ridiculous cases. For instance peaceful protestors taking milk from a McDonalds after they were tear gassed was reported by the media as looting. Fox news took a chant against police violence and distorted the sound so the protestors appeared to be saying "kill all cops". CNN Photoshopped people's signs. I'm not saying we should get our tinfoil hats, just that the media has made distortions for clicks before, and its worth it to try to look for more than one perspective.

In particular I'd urge you to look at some of the things locals in these areas, and other black people in the US have written about what's going on now. They express things with more clarity and insight than I can certainly.

Ultimately 266 years just isn't as long of a time as Americans think. The effects of the actions of the very first colonists are still being felt today in other areas, its almost farcical to think that wouldn't apply to racism.

As far as understanding racial struggle I think this is where systemic comes in. For example, the prison pipeline. Why do black people go to jail more? Profiling is one factor, but there are others. For instance, housing and education. Poverty increases the likelihood of criminal activity. A black person in the US is more likely to be poor than a white person, and that greater likelihood of poverty is a consequence of the history of white control over black people. Black people were barred from better housing by law, were segregated into lower quality schools, etc. At no point was separate but equal truly equal. Black people were denied higher paying jobs. Black people patronized white businesses, but the reverse wasn't true. When white people move into a neighborhood, it's gentrifying, whereas when POC started moving into a neighborhood after house prices drop, white folks started moving out.

A lot of the white people I knew when told any of this, took it as a guilt trip, or ask why black people don't pull themselves up by the bootstraps. Being the 'default race', they don't see themselves in terms of the actions of their race, but continue to categorize other races by the actions of people of the same race.

A non racially charged example of this knock on effect idea might be the increased prevalence of prescription drug abuse in Appalachian Virginia, which is a consequence of the history of absentee land owner landlords, lower education, and orientation around back breaking mine work which then collapsed.

I'm coming at this as a mixed race immigrant turned American expat,which is probably relevant to what I have to say about American race relations.

The point I get from 'people are dying' is that specifically police violence against black and hispanic people is being justified as statistically supported profiling, when its not clear the statistics actually bear that out.

I disagree with them segregating themselves from white people to talk about race because although the best teacher would be talking to people of other races, as someone of another race I get emotionally exhausted sometimes, having to argue about things I have a personal stake in with white people who don't believe me, don't want to believe me, and are less likely to even care what I have to say because I'm not white. It's probably easier for a white person who has tried to inform themselves about these issues to have that discussion than it is for me.

What would I like you to do about it? Educate your fellow white folks? Challenge your knee jerk reactions? Consider whether anti-white attitudes are really as prevalent as you might think and/or where they might come from? Personally, I just lost faith that America is a good place for a person like me to live and stopped believing that would change, so I suppose I have given up, same as the author.

I do find that exercise helps me manage my depression and general energy levels enough to actual stick to diet change.

Fair enough, but I still don't understand why the fact that the money 'created' by the loan relationship (as the BoE put it) isn't erased by the payment and end of the loan relationship isn't relevant. That is, there's new money in circulation, and nothing happens to take it back out? Isn't that inflation in action?

My mother was abusive. The helicopter parent idea, and its general acceptance allowed her to blend right in with real parents. She cloaked extraordinarily controlling behavior in the clothes of helicopter parenting which has made me extremely sour towards both that idea and the 'tiger mother' idea.

The reality from my perspective is, constantly having someone looking over your shoulder does breed anxiety. You are after all being watched, and often criticized. Further this attitude of parenting keeps the kids from learning life skills and independence, which keeps them dependent. Helicopter parents then use that to justify their control. This behavior also breeds a feeling of helplessness, as you are aware you lack skills, but also feel you have so little control because of all the scrutiny and constant following orders, that you can't do anything. I can easily see how this leads to low self worth and depression.

This man has the same attitude as young people who take payday loans, then never pay them back. If the person taking a debt doesn't pay it, others will have to pay that debt for them in one way or another. The extreme case being the devaluation of the currency or the economy as a whole.

Money isn't free, if it were we could just print more all the time and solve problems that way. That this man's stance is somehow intellectual or philosophical compared to youths taking payday loans is class-ism.

It seems to me the author of this piece chose selfishness. I have to agree with the Slate response. This op ed is irresponsible, and I cannot believe the man is writing a book about money.

Thanks for your response. I didn't know it was possible to play vanilla wow! I'll be sure to check that out too.

My much longer reply got deleted, so I'll try to be shorter.

Dolezal is being herself not because she was born a liar, but because she became one over time and rather than evaluate, and try to become someone else (i.e. stop lying to get things) she continued to do so. She learned that lying works, and was uncritical of who that made her as a person.

JBY is advice that encourages tunnel vision, and an undue faith in the rightness of who we are at a given time simply because it's who we are right now. That's what makes it bad advice.

Dolezal believes in the validity of her attempt to 'become black'. She believes that rather than being a liar, she's 'trans-racial'. What she sees as transitioning to being black, the rest of the world sees as blackface and costuming, and then lying about it. Hence, as long as she continues the charade (blackface, costuming, paying a black man to pretend to be her dad) she is a liar. That said the pretend father and the lies about her adopted siblings make me think malice might be involved too.

Another problem with DWYL (and a way it can tie into classism) is that it creates a culture where one is expected to love what they do. Even if you are DWYL outrageous hours and inadequate compensation are still negative, and they are even more negative when you work a soul sucking job you hate.

Actually I find my issue with Rachel Dolezal is that she's 'being herself' as it were. Where who she is is manipulative and dishonest, and ignorant of why living in blackface and lying about your family is an extraordinarily bad idea, or malicious enough not to care.

Can you share more about your gaming experience? Are there compatability issues? Also, for retro games, do the compatability modes still work okay?