I had no clue there were several republics kinda like France (I think?), I searched Wikipedia and it said that they are on their 6th republic, not 5th. Maybe you are off by one? Either way it's a poor mark on the country and its governance.

Dispenser? You put like toothpaste from a tube and it's like those soap dispensers you push to get soap?

I have a dog-shaped teddy bear which I almost need to support my arms. It has such a novel shape as a pillow, there are so many uses compared to a rectangular/square cube or tube.

A clever tea maker / mug all-in-one. I imported it from China, it's not expensive or anything, it does use Tritan for this steeping chamber thing where it only decants at like a 45° angle. I have some food containers I use for lunch which use the same plastic and they work well, don't get stained. Hope it doesn't have some new kind of cancer or medical issue associated with it, I'll update this post in ~15 years if that's the case.

I liked the first Avatar blue people movie in 3D when I watched it.

I always wished to work in a library in some capacity, hopefully I get a chance to in the future, volunteering would be nice too. I kinda saw them as the 'purveyors of knowledge' where they have a ton of goods available and all you need to give is some time and attention.

Is there at least some benefit (if not immediate, perhaps after sober thought) for people of hexbear to have the experience of engaging with people who are so vehemently against us?

I searched Ferguson and got some stuff about BLM protests in reaction to the murder of an 18 year old. Was there something more recent or was this what you were referring to?

Ah thanks for the clarification.

No yeah it says literally after I click the spoiler "For some reason Memmy cannot render this" :/

I won't argue, I will say that Adam Smith is a notable figure who predates Marx, Ricardo, Madison, Stuart Mill, Hayek and Friedman, etc. All of whom were important figures who have shaped our current economic system and form of liberalism.

Even if you don't care it's important to note the effect he's had as it largely effects you even to this day. Warren Buffet, notable capitalist, said one of his two favourite books was Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Think of it like the Bible of economics. It's where the phrase "invisible hand of the free market" comes from (wording might be off but I hope you get the idea!!)

Hey comrade, I'm on Memmy and the excerpt from Adam Smith won't render, might want to check that out. I'm guessing it's the one about landlords seeking wealth from land which they never toiled or something like that? There were a couple times he talked about the problems of landlords and rentier capitalism.

Nice, I saved this. Thanks for the good work!

Yeah. I want to say that everyone has enough in common to get along and be friends but that doesn't seem to be the case in practice :/

Could anyone comment on how these compare to usenets?

Reading over it I also kinda don't know. I was rambling more or less.

I think I was trying to say I have issues connecting with people who have struggles of their own because they way I try to connect. When it's done personally by myself it doesn't work as well compared to doing the same through an organization. Like if you go to a food bank vs going to someone's house you know for food. I could drop off the food at the food bank and the person who is struggling could take it and not feel as ashamed because it is depersonalized (no one single face to attribute). Whereas coming to my home to get the food directly would be perhaps more shameful or difficult since there is someone (i.e. myself) who can direct focused judgement upon them.

I hope this didn't make it more confusing. I might cut my losses and try not to explain it more before I get even more confused.

That's fair, hurtful but fair. I've found that I tend to become frustrated or ashamed due to my lack of ability to help. Certainly completely blaming oneself isn't ideal, and yet the personal investment gets me all sentimental :/

I'll reach out and invite them and try to have talks in depth, there's only so much one can do given the circumstances and I operate in the grey area of 'not knowing where' to justify the extent of my involvement. This isn't well received by others, rightfully so, and though they'll admit I mean well how amenable is someone to someone else who they've known only for a bit to their excessive interest in themselves? I try to focus on providing bits of information as that is closer to being evidence-based rather than rhetoric to persuade them but it doesn't seem to work and I'm a bit clueless on how to continue. Working with orgs makes it much easier, I don't like the depersonalized approach and would like to find some way to incorporate it.

Thanks for the insightful response. I'm gonna spend some time searching for all those terms you mentioned because much of it is stuff I've only heard in passing or never heard of at all. I'll try to find what works well enough for me. Wish me luck!

I read some horror stories about folks who self-hosted for years and how they eventually quit and moved to an established email provider. It didn't seem like something I wanted to deal with.

Do you think using one of those federated email networks where it's invite only and between people you know would have any appreciable use cases in conjunction with an established provider? I can think of having a small org use it maybe but not between friends or family.

Had anyone heard of or tried buttercup? Any thoughts?

I was mulling around the idea of using KeePass but it seems to be too inconvenient. The pretty UI and cool name makes me want to try buttercup.

Ah christ, I read about repeated concussions causing issues. I guess the full extent is much more than just that.