I've taken diary and write down all the painful memories. I cried for hours. My conclusion was that there's no way I can undo it, there's no justice for little me, no consequences for those who hurt me and I need to accept it. And that acceptance of the pain and injustice that happened to me helped me. I felt my heart melting. There's a long way to healing but I finally made the first step.

I feel so loved when Pete says, "It's not fair, it shouldn't have happened." Thank you for seeing us and saying that.

Pete Walker is a living saint. I wish his wisdom and understanding on cptsd is wider known. I wish I had the understanding of what was happening to me when I was younger.

I am 59 and just found out what scapegoating abuse is all about. I finally have an answer for what I’ve been experiencing. Survived a ten year heroin addiction. But, I made it. I said goodbye to my family last year and I’m starting to finally heal

Pete’s book saved me. I read it in my early 60s after abandonment by the then narcissist in my life, and in reading it I found myself. It has taken me a while to reach me but he gave me a path along which I am still travelling but now I am enjoying the journey. I was the fawner, handmaiden, problem solver trapped in repeated narcissistic relationships. I am now practicing self love and care, lots of creativity and caring for my body so that I can finally recover from MECFS. Thank you Pete 🙏🏼❤️

I absolutely obsessed about running away all the time as a teen and did when I was getting yelled at, until I felt better then returned. I moved out at 17 (from my Catholic parents) and never went back. I struggled, I starved, I made poor choices until I decided to join the Air Force after high school and that was the BEST decision I ever made for my life ❤

This is so relatable. I am a textbook fawner. I calmed my alcholic narcissistic father down and was my enabler mother's therapist. I hate them both but I am trying to forgive. I was also called gifted and precocious which is funny. Literally becoming my parents slave is so messed up.

Everyone should pay attention to this man, he should be famous. His book is so accurate and life changing everyone should read it because let’s face it: Almost everyone has bad childhood experiences

WOW! So many nuggets of truth. "The majority of emotional flashbacks are coming from the nasty way you are talking to yourself. You are just reenacting the criticism, not giving yourself a break, just totally being against yourself."

I am 64. CPTSD developmental trauma stole my life, left me frozen in fear 24/7. But the borderlines Love to keep me as company.

The Tao of Fully Feeling saved my life, Pete. You are a blessing unto this world. Thank you so much for your work in this field.

I am 44 and Im a fight and fawn type. I just discovered this mans work. I have 3 coping addictions: Food, cigarettes and weed. Food was used as a child, cigarettes as an adolescent and weed as an adult. I bought the book and its coming today through Amazon. I listened to videos on his book to kind of get a jump start yesterday and already I have stopped smoking weed and ate normally yesterday to just see how my body feels using a few exercised Ive learned from him to combat emotional flashbacks and it works. I am sooo grateful to have found his work. I will continue to break this cycle. God bless this man.

This book changed my life and healed me. It described my struggle with CPTSD perfectly and it felt like this book spoke to my struggles in many levels. Thank you, Pete Walker for writing this book.

Pete's work has changed me on so many levels. At first, I knew what a flashback was because it happened at certain times in my day (morning when I wake up terrifying myself). But as I continued to meditate and follow the practices he provides, I found that a majority of my day is actually playing out in a flashback. (I'm a high functioning Four F'r, ha,ha!) It's no wonder I have asthma and other heath disorders - how could I not? Like seriously, how could I NOT have health issues. Thank you, Pete, thanks for all you've done to help so many of us!

WOW! Pete Walker is showing up in interviews! Thank you so much! Pete, happy to see you & hear what you have to say!

I think one thing that held me back as a child and even into adulthood was the fact that I would feel mortified if friends, neighbors, teachers would find out I am not worthy of kind treatment from caregivers and that I'm a fraud - I'm pretending to be from a good family, but I'm really not loved. - if they find out what a bad person I am, these people might even treat me bad too.

I'm so greatful for your book. It even makes me think I might not be such a shit I think I am. And hardly anything make me feel this way nowadays. You make this world a better place. ❤ The worst thing about trama is, it can break you and you begin to repeat that cycle of abuse, but this time not as victim but as a perpatrator. But you can go another way and try to break this chain and help other sufferers. Like Chiron, wounded healer. It's so deeply ... humane? And I don't use this adjective often as a compliment 😂. Nor am I often so deeply mooved. You touch that soft spot and make me human again. Just like in that Rumi motto of your book: When inward tenderness Finds the secret hurt, Pain itself will crack the rock And, Ah! Let the soul emerge.

I so agree with healing trauma first in revovery. I couldn't stay sober for 35 years and i dealt with a big portion of the truama and i was able to put the dope down and walk away, never looking back. That was 4 years ago. I continue to heal myself. I don't think it's ever 100% resolved.

the interviewer had to throw in there identity politics when Pete is generously sharing so much eye opening information with us.

It’s just amazing that I lived more than half my life believing I was just no good. I was bad and flawed only to find out it was your family doing it to you all along. I struggled my whole life In everything I did. Relationships, jobs, drugs you name it. Then when it’s all said and done to heal you have to give up your family to stop the abuse. Then you’re all alone and your left out of the will. Lol, this is a horrible thing to happen t0 any person and you hve to educate yourself and heal yourself because the metal communities and all the doctors and in the dark ages.

From Nlp I learned to externalise the inner critic in a funny voice. It takes the power out of it.

Grieving is healing me.

Freeze response, that’s me. I still struggle with it. At least I’m aware now, thanks to Pete Walker’s work.

Thank god for KZfaq videos or I’d be dead now. I am older and just learned what happened to me. I went no contact fast once I knew I was the family scapegoat. My brother who hated me I mean hated me from infancy until present day got his last shot at me. My Farther’s narc wife hated me and my daughter because we were close. She refused to allow us to come see my dying father. My family of course didn’t defend or stand up to her. I voiced my disappointment with my father for the first time ever and my brother called me trailer park trash. That was his last shot at me and I’m 59 yrs old.

I feel like I have moved through every single one of these types throughout my life. As soon as one stops working or Ive exhausted myself I'll go to another. I over achieved early on in life and attracted narcissistic personalities and took uppers. Which led to exhaustion, depression and addiction to pain relievers. I never feel comfortable in my body. Im 42 years old and still havent figured it out.

When I wasn’t even at the half of the book (cptsd), I thought ‘this has done so much more for me than all the other therapy (even emdr) has ever done for me. Thank you so much Pete!

I'm only a few minutes in but already I want to comment. I never heard before of people who believe in healing the trauma first. I've been seeking treatment for 15 years, and every time, I was rejected and told that I should heal my addiction first. So I tried addiction treatments, but none of them worked because I was completely overwhelmed in those groups despite my best efforts. I was punished and blamed over and over again. The result is 15 years of failure, and no treatment for trauma whatsoever. I'm getting seriously discouraged. But hearing this, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm not inadequate, I couldn't heal addiction this way, not without healing trauma at the same time. I managed to stop drinking many many times, but I wasn't better. In fact, every time I managed to stop drinking, I was miserable, and it was never good enough to get treatment. Whatever I tried was never good enough, and I tried it all, I knocked on all doors, doctors, therapists, I went to meetings, I tried on my own many times, I stuck with medication with awful side effects. It's almost as if, in order to be eligible for treatment, you have to be already healed. I never lied about my addiction, because I thought I shouldn't lie to people who are supposed to help, but I thought many times since then that maybe it would have been wise to lie.

Putting a name to the Critic and the Abandonment Melange has been incredibly helpful to me in defeating them. I can name it, know what's happening, and deal with it much faster than I could before - THANK YOU.

I read his book and it helped me so much! Also his articles on his website. Before I discovered his work, I was diagnosed with PTSD but I felt something was missing. It was through him I first discovered CPTSD and I felt that what he said was describing my symptoms exactly. It's been 10 years since then and I'm much better (although it's still a struggle at times).

I've been diving back into Pete's books since being re traumatized last year. I take away something new every time I read them.

The "fawn" response made much more sense to me personally when I thought of it as an "attach" response.

Pain is the royal road to a Higher Power.

Thank you for this. I listened and stopped multiple times because everything was making so much sense and this video alone helped me release so much pain. It really put things in perspective for me. The thing pete said about going for the pain, I’m never going to forget that. It’s a completely new concept for me that pain can actually be my healing light if I’m brave enough to work through it and feel it out. And this talk gave me the courage to tell myself that yes of course I’m brave enough. I got through the traumatic childhood and I’m still here and that’s gotta count for something.

This fellow Pete Walker is extremely clear in describing the content of his book....psychoeducation being a very important part of it....and he talks about this. Really a magnificent interview! So helpful!!

Oh this reminds me I want to make a catharsis list, there are certain pieces of media I’ve always connected with that let me have that kind of “for me” cry and it would be nice to have them on hand in a pinch

I feel like I’m fawn then fight, but the fight is always at me. Like, when I’m fawning nothing else exists, meeting other people’s needs feels good and right and doing anything to upset their expectations means I am inherently a bad person and wrong and am in danger of my life, I’m in a state of anticipation and notice and execution with little access to myself, I will have limited access to my own memories or visualizing the future and even remembering things I am extremely knowledgable on will seem out of reach unless I have a tangent or connection to cue me in on, it’s such a malaise state that was a fantastic way to put it. But also, when it doesn’t work, when I try my hardest to not upset someone and they still get upset anyway, I explode inward, a barrage of “what did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this pain? I tried so hard to be good why am I still being attacked how do I fix this?” Like I never get angry at the other person. I get angry at myself for not completely putting the other person at ease. I get mad at myself for not making myself clear enough, for not approaching it with enough tact or kindness, *I must be the problem here* and then I have to stop myself from trying to overexplain or justify or ‘make’ the other person understand because that’s a whole ass other trap to get into that just makes them feel aggressed and misunderstood so that will just drive up the shame even further yayy

Interestingly there is great overlap with Karen Horney's theory of neurosis, she didn't specifically state it in terms of trauma but actually gave an incredibly accurate description of developmental trauma - how it begins early in childhood, how it unravels and evolves - just that it was named 'neurosis' back then. Oh and the 'Fawning' response was also there, discussed at length and described in minute detail (only named differently - "the compliant solution")

I've learned that I have a very strong flight response.. and I always need to be busy and always in a state of "doing".. and yes I can only fall asleep when I am to the point of exhaustion. While this is burdensome to some areas of my life, it has also been beneficial to my ability to complete graduate school as a single parent.. I know there is a fine line of working and 'overworking' however I feel most grounded when I am 'doing' and as long as I'm 'doing' well in areas of my career, I do not see harm in that as long as I am aware of my symptoms and strive for a work/life balance.. but I also recently learned that my inner critic response pattern is strongly 'perfectionistic'.. pair the perfectionistic inner critic with a flight response disposition and that is one recipe for disaster.. but I am aware of these things now and am in a space to be able to manage them to the best of my ability as an adult complex trauma survivor.. thank you, Pete for your work in the field

Dear Pete Walker, your book is one of my all times favorites and helped me so much. Thank you very much for your work. I am about to reread it and start writing Down my story because I believe that it Will be therapeutic (not for anyone Else to see) God bless you ❤🤗

C-PTSD is an inside job- with help and coaching. I am have what they call lived experience. At age 72 I can see clearly the impact of various episodes on my life's course. Interludes of embracing "codependency theory" helped me understand my own impulses- and to avoid others who wanted to help, or change me- in ways that I was not ready for.

You guys doing this here on KZfaq because the lifesaver in regards to the isolation we're all experiencing from COVID. Thank you so much 🙏🙏💞💞

Thank you so much, I sat in the rooms of AA dying inside for over 10 years because even saying the word trauma in the rooms is considered "therapy speak" and is lookes down on.

Im just finishing your complex PTSD book, the last 10 pages. Thank you. I'm going to start it again when I'm finished. I like reading these type books at least twice if not three times.

Thank you both for an excellent presentation on a very important subject. Great to see Pete Walker in person and love his book!

Gosh, Pete Walker in the flesh (well, on screen). Thank you Sir, for all you have helped me with.

When I was young, although my mum was bipolar, my dad was a narcissist. I prayed that man would die. He walked out when I was a teenager, and we begged my mum to change the locks she wouldn't. At 66, I now have an understanding of what we as a family were undergoing. I don't know if I will ever recover. My doctor even admits she doesn't know if there are counselling services for CPTSD. SO I watch KZfaq to understand myself and grieve for a wasted life.

I think this one of the best interviews yet with Pete. Really impressed, inspired. This has made me realize what iv been missing on this mission to recovery. I made some progress that was really something then its like a few steps back and it seemed like that was a one time thing. But hearing this encourages me to give it another go like its the first time doing it. "Fairness is a fundamental part of initimacy" 37:14 - wow that just hit the nail. Iv been onto the farn response understanding how narcs cant fawn : be fair, compromise from his book. So been using it as a system to make boundaries with narcs but fact that its core piece to connection! That just explains a lot. It even explains why iv been the way iv been to ppl that habitually practise unfairness to me. Damn. Im in the teaching industry and there is nothing worse than a narc as they will act like there goal is to learn, even believe it but there action is manipulate, that is no1 goal and it all them, nothing personal. But also key to stopping them in their tracks...

This video has done something very deep for me it has set me free from the negative mental shackles I’ve been held in for over 24 years. everything has been put into perspective I am thankful and appreciative! THANK YOU

Pete Walker is a gift to us all

Pete would you also consider doing an interview re: your book the Tao of Fully Feeling?

HE~~~~IS~~~~BLOWING~~~~MY~~~~MIND! I want to make affirmative tapes that copy what he is sayin to his inner critic AND PLAY THEM to MINE! As if I have him as a BACK-UP!

Thank you Pete for your work. It has changed my life!

Healing as a marathon. The last man standing is us, never giving up on ourselves 💖

Excellent, excellent, excellent!! This helps me grow and soooo many others also.

Why did this just seem like an interesting topic and here I am listening while cleaning and crying on a Thursday. Ok need to order this book

Im trying to get EVERYONES perspective here..I am watching and most importantly LISTENING to these podcasts uninterrupted. PTSD is a real thing.

Thank you both so much ! 💖💐

I have felt every one of these at one point or another... Anger as a child, teen and into my 20s . . It felt more like cancer, killing me & stealing energy at that point... My first escape was books!! B4 drugs, I escaped through literary fiction, fantasy... Ummm... I never wanted medication 4 anything... Until I lost my shit completely at 17.. I'm 44 now.. I didn't know I was traumatized until I was 35... LoL... I tried many times 2 get help... I had no idea what was wrong with me, aside from the never ending DREAD that just stayed one day at 17... It lasted over a decade... I was told I was depressed... Like, oh really!? That doesn't explain why I'm watching myself at events, like a flippin movie and nothing feels real & I'm trippin out... Thinking, is this how I'm going to be from now on? Meanwhile, someone important I care about, is trying to communicate with me and I don't even realize it because my brains in outer space, with no anchor home, watching me standing there and I realize, shit .. I'm supposed to say something... Act normal, ur fine, everything is ok! It's far from it, but I don't know how to express that I've lost my mind to people I hang out with daily! This was 97.. so things are different now.. there wasn't awareness like there is 2day.... All of the different types of disassociation, disregulation, these words are all newer-ish to myself... And B4 there was freeze and fawn, I called it deer in headlights... Because that's what I did... Did I always, absolutely not... Idk.... I've lost it completely, psychotic episodes many times since... And u never loose it the same way twice... I thought I was good, I've already lost my mind, that was the worst and scariest thing I could think of happening 2 me as a kid .. soooo... It was definitely that, but years later I figured, that happened, now what? Still no clue what the heck is going on in my brain or why... Then something would shatter whatever protection id managed to scrape up & id be shattered, different than last time and Everytime, I loose something of myself.... The last time, my sister passed away... It's been 14 years almost and I've been totally numb with crippling anxiety, which makes no sense to me ... Because I feel a lot of nodda, but that stayed! Uggg .. I'm annoyed with myself, for not having any disire to life, ambition, drive, motivation... It all died and it hasn't come back... I didn't even realize for about 18 months, that I had no idea who I was! Like I just forgot everything about myself, that I like to read, cook, paint, dogs, recycled, upcycle... I was just existing on autopilot until it occured to me that this is more than grief & depression... How do u forget who you are!? It's soooo wild! I get it, to an extent.. I don't feel the guilt and shame I did as a kid, not for a long time... I actually worked through that... I realized I was miserable and didn't know hot to be happy, when I made a passive aggressive comment to a very very good friend... I think she got an awesome job, and when we hung up, I asked myself, WHAT THE F IS WRONG WITH U?! And I answered myself... Ur a miserable twat waffle, you hate yourself & want to die and have no idea how to be happy... What?! I was 28... Prolly a little late 2 recognize this... But it jarred me.. I had a son who was 7 at the time... I never cared after 7th grade, what people thought... I knew it was bad, so I gave them reasons 2 hate me, being that they did it Anyway.. but I had friends and didn't need people who didn't like me in my life, f them and I couldn't care less If they're an authority figure, because they were wrong about me and I paid for their judgement, abuse and just lack of noticing how flippin messed up and sad if a child I was.. not that I admitted that to myself even .. I WAS MAD! If I was mad, I wasn't sad and I won, they didn't hurt me... Tee-hee 🤭... That was my rational then... But every year u never cry, doesn't just dissipate into the ether... Its all bottled up inside... That's why it's important to cry... All the tears we never thought to cry... Or denied, whatever the reason... Anger is pain... And it turns to rage and it will kill u if u don't squish it! So... My kidd opinion was the first person's opinion, I ever gave any Fs about... I thought that if I died, he'd hear some horrible things, cuz I wasn't very nice.. and then I stumbled upon a quote... What u see in other people is what u see in yourself... So I used that to catch any negative thoughts I had, like always, about every1... And think something positive about them instead... And it became natural 4 me to see what's beautiful in people.. even when they themselves cannot see it... Whatever... That was the first major change I needed to make... Accountability for the crap id done that was wrong & I didn't want to be that person... So guilt has been a major teacher for me personally.. I raised myself and did a horrible job... So, I learned things the hardest ways possible, everything and Everytime... I'm grateful that I have the capacity to accept that I'm not perfect and change tho... Self love.. F THATS SO SO SO hard... I've been on stuck as a hermit, recluse for 14 years almost and Im in therapy... I actually like my therapist a lot... I just hope there's a way to activate the parts of myself that feel completely dead... Like I murdered who I was and she's straight up dead dead dead .. that's how it feels... Because I'm not anything like who I ever was... I haven't been sexually active in a decade and the thought makes me nauseous... What the heck!?

Pete walker is wonderful.

It’s so overwhelming. When I try to apply that technique for the inner critic that’s all I’ll be doing. My thoughts are so caustic and hateful towards myself that I have to be vigilant all the time. And I can’t be because it’s exhausting. Then it all comes back and I start over, only to get overwhelmed again. After years of trying to find healing I am at the point where I am giving up. I can feel it happening and it’s terrible.

Incredible book. Reading and re reading. So much information and so much making sense. Thank you.

Thank you❤

Love you Pete … One of the best there is xxx

This information has changed my life And as I listen again on Thanksgiving 2023 I am so thankful I didn't believe the cv19 propaganda. My precocious Inner Child rebelled. Asked the big Question "Is it True?", or in my family "REALLY????". I was fooled. Not fooled anymore. I am liberal & see the scapegoating of the trumpers or rightwing just as bad as family shit. I walked away. #WalkAway. I may have lost my fake friends but have that inner child back. I won't leave her. Great Book, more is being revealed.

I'm experiencing alot of the things that spoken about during this video. 12 step program is helping me look at my people, places and things. Now that I surrender to alot of the steps to flow thru my life is much better. But im just seeing the true light at the end of the tunnel. I know my life has more depth so I'm going yo keep digging.

Is it possible that at bottom of many (the majority of?) society's ADHD, BPD, SUD, etc diagnoses we have societally is actually undiagnosed CPTSD? The reason I ask should be obvious to anyone who's thought about these things and/or who took seriously what Pete Walker says discusses in the first quarter of this video.

I didn't know I had abandonment wounds until I heard Pete explain what it was. Not being special ( my brother was my mother's golden child ) and I had no one to go to for my emotionsl needs. I remember being sexually molested at home by an older cousin, but couldn't tell either parent about it. I also became a fawner, a doormat and people pleaser, my mothers personal slave, denied possibilities, ended up marrying a narc and my abandonment wounds got triggered each time he threatened to leave, by the absence of intimacy and emotional availability in the 25 yr marriage. How do I even begin to heal?

For the feeling thing.. Holotropic breathwork works like nothing else. The results are off the charts addictions HEALED poof gone in a couple sessions.

great info

Refreshing to hear a more balanced perspective on ClownShoes-19. A population traumatized by their own families is ripe for deliberately administered mass trauma. (Did family narcissism develop in response to prior mass trauma?) Luckily the solution remains the same for any level of that fractal, regardless of whether it was the chicken or the egg first -- know thyself.

I was stalked for three years by a person that did not ever meet me... he was obsessed and dangerous. I tried to hide this from the people that I love most. I thought that I might be responsible... although I did not know why. I did not want my children and grand children to be harmed by this person. THREE years day and night... I tried to keep this from them. My life has been destroyed. I am now 73 years old ... I am totally isolated!!!

We have a lonely country. People stay away from ea other like the plague. We have an epidemic of loneliness, the medical profession is in the dark ages when it comes to trauma and you can’t find a therapist. So tell me this, what are my chances of ever having a productive life when I can barely hold down a job.

I have a neural pathway that flashes on this, "My needs are not going to be met, my needs are not going to be met, "on repeat. Age 46 Jacob's ladder style

Why isn’t just called PTS . Why must, Disorder be attached. I have known for 40 years that I have PTS but I will never attach the disorder bit. It’s like telling prisoners of war that because they are/where prisoners ,It’s their fault now that you’re going through all this bullshit, you now have to ware the badges of being disordered.

Pete mentioned that people in flight mode can mimick aspergers. I self diagnosed with mild autism but now I don't know. I stim 14 hours a day. Any advice?

Your video is very interesting, but its level of sound is very low. So, please, pay attention to this aspect in the future. Thanks in advance. 🌹😇🌹

5:20 Fawn Response Gifted child, belonging by being helpful, servile, becomes codependent, susceptible to narcissistic people "Trauma of the Gifted Child" book

❤❤❤

So exhausting

accept the fact this world is not safe there are lots evil selfish greedy ppl some even pretend to be a kind person someone they are not but there are still loving caring kind ppl. i have learn my lesson to not give love or care about ppl don't love themselves anymore. if u wanna give love to the world just donate to food bank give change to homeless ppl. the past is the past u can't change the past u r not a kid anymore u r safe. a happy life is made up of love peace and joy. if no one loves u love yrself any external love from others r blessings. to have peace just stay away from any narcissists. to have joy find hobby that u enjoy to do it's very lucky if u love yr job that's a blessing. wish everyone a wonderful happy life filled with love peace and joy.

The testing is so wrong, please correct it, so that People that dont know a lot from befor can understand, and not missunderstand and get confused ❤

I’m experiencing mania now after a couple of days of depression. I really don’t now how to control it. I get very irritated as well

I ran away from home at 16 because I thought my mom was too strict and didn’t love me because she never said she did nor showed any type of affection. I never felt safe once I was sexually and mentally abused as a kid.

20:21 feel safe (flash backs)

Do you have a video for 13 year-old? Her mother died from an overdose 2 years ago. She is suffering. How do I reach her? I also have severe CPTSD. Isolation has worked for me. Well sort of. Now I have to take care of my own grief and pain to be able to help her be safe in her body and her mind. HELP

what do you do when your critic .starts being an outer critic

✌️

That’s me the freeze,

How can I get this book in Australia?

I literally cannot do the fawn response Im too angry inside

But is borderline the same as CPTS??

I believe there are 5 FFFFFs maybe 6_ as I have experienced them. From the fight,flight,freeze,fauwn,fu (scream and tell anyone who listens as the abuser sadistically torture u) fu gives the flying monkeys terror in the system_ so the other roles comply. The sixth F is a spiritual wound that goes beyond the abandonment _ I experienced this as a wound where the abuser sacrifices u to satan_ essentially the abuser tries to steel your soul for satan. This is when I learned there really is a God.I figured out that they can take everything from me_ but they can never take my relationship with God or my relationship with myself. I could see gow to make them happy by going miserable and then go find something happy to do. I cant believe how much of this abuse me as a child could handle and still be alive.

I feel defective..senseless living..

I don't trust anyone using the number 13.

Feel like the mask and police questions were out of place. Odd

Hey Pete 😂

If you have CPTSD does not mean you become an addict or get diagnosed with mental illness. You might end up in therapy for because you feel something if off but not get diagnosed with what you are talking about.

I love Pete's work and have found his books very useful as a therapist. However, I really think he should steer clear of bringing politics into his interviews. At one point he refers to "Trumpian thinking" and also says that people are more evolved in the coastal (democratic) regions of the US. This strikes me as being arrogant and dismissive of all of those who do not follow left wing thinking. It reminds me of Hilary Clinton referring to these people as "the deplorables". I would advise Pete to stick to what he is good at and keep his political opinions to himself, thus avoiding the polarising that he talks about.

It's curious to me that many vaccinated perople, that i know, were spreading covid to family members and friends . while I, as an unvaccinated individual, who when i did contract covid, presumbly at a funeral, did not as far I am aware infect anyone else. I must have had a very low viral load (yes, that is a real thing) because I was around lots of people that I know for three days straight before I became symptomatic and subsequently tested positive. Truth is essential, not so much political affiliation.

George Floyd.