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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 3h

He had also made some posts in the past couple of years that I would consider pretty alarming, but it appears his death was from natural causes. Still too damn young to die, though.

Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 3h

This morning, I learned that one of my grade and middle school classmates from Muncie had passed away at the end of 2023.

Since the posts announcing his death never showed up on my Facebook news feed, I never heard, and wished him a happy birthday for the last two years thinking he was just busy.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 3h

Tell 'em to take their own advice.

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Reposted by Ben McClellan

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 4h

There were several arrests today all involving MAGA individuals who attempted to assault peaceful protesters. Arrests were reported in Michigan, Oregon, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Additional incidents remain under investigation.

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Reposted by Ben McClellan

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 6h

Based on what I saw tonight at No Kings in this R+20 district in East Texas, state liberals are pro Palestine, big on AOC, want fighters, want the Heritage Foundation to die, and want to abolish ICE

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

Regardless, to this day, "Voices That Care" still greatly irritates me, even though it fell off the cultural radar by fall of 1991, and was largely forgotten by the following year.

(Aside from me, who can't let it go, apparently! 🤣)

Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

So, I stood at the rehearsals and the actual ceremony with my mouth firmly closed, thinking how lame this really was, and maybe thinking what a rebel I was being for not going along with expectations. As it turned out, nobody cared...aside from the two dorky kids who kept ordering me to "sing!"

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

I didn't care for the song, since I found it corny, and I was turned off by the overwhelming need for the school to "be patriotic" that year. And the song was also the theme to the eighth grade prom that year, so the DJs just had to play it multiple times that night. I stormed out after the 6th.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

The only time I outright refused to recite/sing along to something at a school related function was at my eighth grade graduation. It was 1991, just after the first Persian Gulf War, and the school decided that the graduating class would sing "Voices That Care" as the centerpiece of the ceremony.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

"Only for me (R), not for thee (D)".

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

Like I said, I didn't question it. I just said it because everyone else was saying it. No need to rock the boat, since I hadn't made up my mind about religion or God back then.

And if I had skipped that part more than once, I know one of my vindictive classmates would've tattled on me.

Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

Back then, though, I wasn't one to question teachers or adults about the pledge, and I wasn't old enough yet to realize that America wasn't the amazing (but still flawed), global wonderland that we were led to believe it was in the textbooks, and in the media.

But for the "under God" portion?

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

What's more, all students stood up and recited it, me included. Not one kid ever refused or even questioned why he or she had to stand and take the pledge.

Growing up in Indiana, I think we stopped standing for the pledge after the fourth grade, but I could be mistaken.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 7h

Reading a discussion about the Pledge of Allegiance on r/Teachers...

I went to three high schools: one in New Jersey; the other two in Illinois (one really rural, the other, very suburban). I only saw the Pledge recited in New Jersey, which I always found a little disconcerting for some reason.

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Reposted by Ben McClellan

Doug Emhoff @douglasemhoff.bsky.social · 12h

No Kings Santa Monica

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 15h

Personally, I still don't have a Reddit account for all of the time I spend there, so I'm probably not really qualified to comment on privacy issues there.

Someday I'll sign up there. Sure I will.

Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 15h

This also pertains to the numerous anecdotes posted where the OP, using their original screen name, still won't disclose certain tidbits because it could allegedly "give away" their real identity.

Or, if someone's best friend or significant other is also a Redditor who might see a certain post.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 15h

"How anonymous are we really on Reddit?"

Probably not very, considering all of the so-called "throwaway accounts" created to write posts that contain potentially damaging personal/professional information that I have seen over the years.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 1d

You can learn a lot about a person by taking a close look at the people they follow on Instagram.

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Reposted by Ben McClellan

Joyful Trouble @mini-marshmallows.bsky.social · 1d

We would not be giving 40 billion dollars to Argentina if Kamala Harris was our president instead right now.

a woman is standing in front of a blue wall and says that is a fact .

ALT: a woman is standing in front of a blue wall and says that is a fact .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Ben McClellan

MSW Media @mswmedia.com · 1d

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 2d

I saw an article called "Why Ghosts is Suddenly Haunting Some Local TV Stations"

I had assumed it was not about the CBS sitcom, but the phenomenon where an old television set starts showing a faint duplicate of the person on the screen. I used to see that a lot as a little kid.

Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 3d

"If Kamala Harris won instead of Donald Trump, how do you think the last 9 months would have unfolded differently for the United States?"

The media would still be giving Trump ten times the attention for every bullshit proclamation he and his allies would make on the sidelines.

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 3d

Right here:

Bubbles - Center for Great Apes

Bubbles is one of the most well-known chimpanzees living at the Center for Great Ape and one of the most beloved by staff and fans alike. Bubbles has lived an extraordinary life. Reportedly born in a ...

centerforgreatapes.org

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Ben McClellan @benmcclellan.bsky.social · 3d

Meth was another answer.

I reconnected with somebody in spring of 2010 who had gone through addiction after we first met (okay, TMI: we had a one night stand in 2003), and she looked at least twenty years older with a few signs of frequent usage. It was shocking, to say the least.

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