Late to reply, but very excited to have Moldova in our Union. I realise a yes vote is not a given, so all power for continuing the campaign to join if it does not succeed this time.

Going to come back to this to reflect in more detail to your original post and to this comment, but wanted to quickly float the idea that perhaps these people view you as particularly sound, so when they lay things on you or are just more emotional or intense in front of you, and you seem unphased - neither rushing to condemn them nor scrambling to reassure - they interpret that as disapproval from someone whom they find sound. And that because they value your judgement & integrity, they get sheepish and awkward in the absence of a strong outward reaction, which in turn you interpret as them thinking ill of you.

Only suggesting this because have seen quite a bit of this between people, and experienced mild versions of both ends of that dynamic.

Not that it helps, if it even resonates, or provides guidance.

Have you considered putting letters written on paper in the post?

Seems unwise to give your child’s early life story to any of these companies, especially when mapped to a network of her relatives and likely including photographs which people may not be as diligent to keep private as you.

Your daughter cannot consent to this, and it is your duty as parents to protect her privacy until she is old enough to decide for herself what to share and where.

Entirely different groups of people, and they’re profoundly opposed to each other.

At the core of this massive protest/strike are groups which have been against the bombardment of Gaza from the outset, and protesting Israel’s war against Palestinians for years.

Yer a pterodactyl, Mox. A pterodactyl.

Do you think, maybe, that even if HRT wouldn’t touch the deepest stuff, that it would ease some matters and give you a bit more space?

It hurts to hear your friend is abusive toward you. I hope you can find ways to be as supportive toward yourself as you have been toward others - I get that the idea isn’t always so comfortable if there’s a lot of heavy history, but tending to yourself is the best way to tend to everything around you.

Having intermittent difficulties loading various things from different phone browsers for the past hour. More so on Firefox.

Have yet to try desktop browsers.

Great news, and looks like some EU institutions and Germany are gearing up to do similar, which should encourage other countries & organisations to follow, and massively expand open source development.

Slightly unclear from the change in word order, but is this a variety of garlic which happens to have a distinct honey flavour, a honey infused with fermented garlic, or a fermented blend of honey & garlic?

I haven’t, though garlic is rather sweet anyhow, so can imagine how it might be.

In reality it would just be chickpeas and tahini, with the garlic, lemon juice and salt omitted.

Then one could add honey to make it sweet, and maybe cinnamon, vanilla or nutmeg.

End result would be a bit like a soft, spreadable halva.

Does not sound fun. Hope you’re well recovered from that now.

Tend to be underweight, and should probably be eating more rather than less, but oh well. Wonky signals all round!

Mm, they went up a bit ago to $2.74, the scandal.

If true, one can conclude I ought to drink more, being able to hold on for at least 48hrs, or that I have some glitch which aids bladder control.

Do not recommend, for general comfort or urinary health, but wetting the bed is a distant concern.

When things are that bad, attending to the urge to pee combined with a strong addiction to tobacco are probably the main things.

As one can postpone the former for several hours and the latter indefinitely, end up coaxing myself to get moving on one with the promise of the other.

Then the cigarette makes me feel much thirstier, so this motivates me to make a cup of tea. Besides, at that point am already up and half way to the kitchen, so it seems less daunting.

Getting low on tobacco is usually a good way to shove myself out of the house, and that means a good wash. Running out completely can be disastrous unless already showered & dressed, however with rollups can usually scramble together a final cigarette from unburnt tobacco in old butts & use thin notepaper if out of rolling papers.

Isn’t ideal, but is what it is & whether this stuff gets me to the kitchen or out to the shops, other bits & pieces flow from there which might not otherwise.

In general, pushing myself to perform good habits before things get close to bad seems best - sleep, hydration, nutrition, personal hygiene, exercise, housework, etc., but as they all seem to evaporate as possibilities in the blink of an eye, am unsure that they actually stave off much.

Made the silly mistake of trying to disabuse myself of the fantasy of rewilding a bit of land with some interlaced permaculture, as am barely functional & very clueless, but wanted to avoid group projects as very introverted & would want to camp overnight at times then perhaps graduate to an extra-basic one-person cob structure.

Found something ideal-seeming isn’t nearly as costly as I’d imagined, so the fantasies I’d been trying to shed have gone… stratospheric.

Don’t really know anyone, so can’t even get together a group to buy it as a trust, but may give a collective I’m aware of a head’s up as they’re likely to know of other collectives who have yet to find suitable land.

Eat, trip, soil health, building materials & more.

How dystopian.

Not if their policies increase the rate of reproduction, no, or at least, not for some time, because they know that unwanted & unplanned pregnancies increase the desperation of the women, both in the immediate sense & in slashing the numbers of women who can access education > good employment > sufficient societal security to unionise.

They intend to make it ever harder for anyone, but especially women, to obtain sterilisation or other means of reducing risk of pregnancy. This is why they chase reproductive health in general, even things such as IVF.

You already know these people to be dangerous ideologues - I’d caution against underestimating them or their grotesque vision.

The extension of their arguments is firstly that women who wish to avoid the risk of being charged with manslaughter or murder in the wake of a miscarriage must abide by behavioural guidelines which are contrary to science. i.e., to rest indoors anytime she may be pregnant.

The intended effect being to remove women of childbearing age from the workplace & from public life.

Secondly: to severely undermine reproductive healthcare, such that clinics shut, specialists flee, research is stopped & general knowledge regarding reproductive health & access to care plummets.

The overarching ideology being the production of new labourers & to increase desperation, so that Capitalists can avail of ever-cheaper labour in order to lure factories to set up in the US. This is the endgame of “bringing back our jobs” + anti-abortion rhetoric.