This same relative also argued that cis men would go through transition just so they could be at the top of their sport (because they’d beat all the women) or so that they could get scholarships ear-marked for women (because they would be smarter than all the women and would win the scholarships). Somehow that seemed reasonable to them? How on earth!?!?

I got into a very strange argument with a relative (who doesn’t know any trans people -at least none they are aware of). They were absolutely convinced that ANY man is better than ALL women at all things. Athletic, intellectual, creative; men are inherently better at all of it.

Therefore, in their mind, anyone who was a man/boy at any point in their lives will be better at everything than a cis woman ever could be. So trans women will always dominate no matter what.

The profound misogyny at the base of their argument was flabbergasting.

Are you talking about internal hubs? There are many bikes with internal hubs available in the US, far more than bikes with Pinions. Even department/sports stores like REI sell bikes with internal hubs. I have 4 bikes with internal hubs, one is a CVT which is a hoot to shift but heavy as heck.

Good.

I worked in a fairly large clinic (office assistant type stuff) and always wondered why the top-surgery patients looked so much “better” than the mastectomy patients. Finally I asked one of the doctors, and he explained that top surgery is quite different than a mastectomy, with different protocols and goals and results.

Someone with training and experience performing mastectomies can’t just step in and do a top surgery.

Rental prices https://culdesac.com/tempe/apply/unit-selection/

So abused kids grow up to have smaller hippocampi, but not every person with a small hippocampus also has major depression?

I’m gonna be really shallow and judgmental and just say her picture is creepy, too. What a bizarre pose and expression.

Does the company that bought Osprey still honor the warranty?

Keen Newports have the finger loops on tongue and heel. I think Blundstone boots do, too? I’m sure someone with Blundstones can confirm or refute that.

Those loops are so handy, I agree.

Bicycle. No gas expenses, no tabs, no loan, free parking. I understand how it works and can mostly fix it myself for very little money. I can take quiet side streets and arrive in a much better mood, plus my fat lazy ass gets some exercise.

This is the cool part:

But histotripsy foils cancer’s cloaking efforts by destroying its cell walls, leaving the tumor antigens in plain sight for the body’s immune system.

This effect was detailed in a pair of papers published by the U-M research team between March 2022 and January 2023. They demonstrate that the sound waves used to break down cancerous tumors in rats also helped trigger the rats’ immune response. After histotripsy destroyed 50% to 75% of liver tumor volume, the rats’ immune systems cleared away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% of animals.

That immune response occurred throughout the body, not just in areas targeted by the histotripsy treatment, resulting in the reduction of tumors far from the treated area.

The immune response is key. Without it, histotripsy is just yet another way to destroy a tumor without curing the cancer.

There have been similar studies looking at “feeding” mannose to solid tumors. The starve-the-tumor-with-fake-nutrients option has a lot of potential.

Not sure I want my neighbor pawing through my mail, or “accidentally” losing my ballot, or borrowing” my packages.

Privacy and security in the mail is crucial.

People are people. Human nature isn’t going to change just because the culture shifts to solarpunk.

Coffee makes me incredibly hungry (any caffeine does). This would backfire on me soooooo bad.

I have to wonder if an extra cup of any liquid per day would help avoid weight gain. You hear so much about people misinterpreting thirst as hunger - they eat instead of drinking.

Something like the Forest Schools and outdoor schools/daycares now. Students outdoors and engaging with the real world and each other nearly all the time. Nothing stripped to dry and abstract isolated bits (and boring) but always learning concepts in context and seeing how they interact.

I’m finding the opposite. Books that I loved when younger are even better as I re-read them now. Ursula le Guin, Terry Pratchett (their YA and their adult books) have so much more nuance and subtlety than I was aware of when I just read them for the adventure and story. There are some profound bits of wisdom and wry observation tucked in those books.

The old “divide and conquer” works remarkably well.

Keep the poor fighting each other, so they don’t start toppling the extremely wealthy and powerful who are feeding off them.

These are the same folks who think that the pinnacle of comedy is farting as you leave a crowded room.

You can add pockets to the pants you buy, too. This video by Morgan Donner is adding several examples of types of pockets to skirts, but the process is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pE_nrHKd58

And there’s this one by Bernadette Banner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thlzJj1EHiY

Thigh pockets are really great for phones. You can make visible patch pockets or subtle welt pockets and you can customize to the size of your phone.

Billy Connolly

300+ days a year of sunshine, all they need to do next is pop some solar panels up on those roofs!

You can rent a furnished studio short-term for 2 days minimum at $99/day, and you get the same transportation benefits as residents do during your stay. Honestly, I’m considering this for a vacation during the winter. This walkable community idea is fascinating to me and I want to check it out. https://culdesac.com/

And I am very grateful for that. I deeply appreciate this policy.

Thanks, all you awesome admins!

For t shirts I always sing the praises of Gettees. Tiny “factory” of half a dozen people making extraordinarily high quality and durable shirts in Detroit. Most of the people doing the sewing are former auto upholstery stitchers from the car factories. The quality is truly the best I’ve ever encountered. https://gettees.us/

Side note about pockets: Duluth Trading women’s pants have multiple ginormous pockets, and about half have crotch gussets or anterior inseams to avoid chub-rub destroying the pants.

A “final solution”, as it were.

My old Honda has a low and slanted front end (kind of like a wedge). At the time, Honda was crowing about enhanced pedestrian safety and how the wedge would scoop the pedestrian (or cyclist) up onto the hood rather than tossing them under the car.

Dunno about that, but I can say it is far easier to see over the nose of that old Honda than over the damn nose of newer cars I’ve driven.

I read it as being at least one of the three.

That’s how I read the ol’ saying, too. Unless at least one of those things applies, maybe reconsider the post.

This is cool. I always wondered why I can instantly grasp 1 through 4, but 5 and up become abstract. Thank you for posting this!

And even when “right on red” is allowed, they will still lay on the horn when you stop. As if they don’t know you have to stop at the red and only proceed with your turn after a full stop and if the way is clear.

Actually, maybe they don’t know you have to come to a full stop before turning?

A good place to start on YouTube is Bernadette Banner’s channel. She is a clothing historian, so there’s a lot of historical and historical recreation stuff, but she also has a few basic repair and tailoring techniques videos. She wrote a mending book that I hear is much more in-depth than her videos (I haven’t read it). https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/make-sew-and-mend-bernadette-banner/1139915226

Patagonia Wornwear has a lot of repair instructions for outdoor gear (you don’t have to buy their repair materials). https://wornwear.patagonia.com/repairs

Reddit “visiblemending” and “invisiblemending” are also very good resources.

There is a generation of little old ladies who are passionate about sewing, but have no-one to sew for. Their kids are grown, and their grandkids don’t want handmade clothes. Ask at a senior center or at a local (not chain) fabric shop, seek out one of these ladies and hire her to sew for you. Or barter: help her around the house or garden or drive her to appointments or to get groceries, and in exchange she sews clothes from fabrics and patterns you choose. Or tailors used clothes to make them fit you better, or mends your worn clothes, etc.

And “run” the heels and ball of the foot so they felt down and last longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fKKLOUNOHU

I did a deep-dive reading and watching videos learning about sturdy and long-lasting fabrics and materials. Learned a bit about tailoring for durability, too. (For example, Duluth Trading shifted the inseams on their Firehose pants forward. The forward seams don’t rub on each other when you walk, and so the inner thighs don’t self-destruct as quickly.)

There are also a ton of excellent resources on how to mend clothing and properly care for it. And it doesn’t take much effort, really.

So now I have a bunch of older clothes, with subtle repairs, still in good shape. Sure, I’d like some sexy new trendy disposable stuff so I can be one of the cool kids - but that’s how fast fashion gets its claws into you. Preying on our magpie-like desires for shiny new things makes somebody big bucks. (And creates huge waste and exploits desperate workers.)

Buy sturdy “classic” clothes. Keep them in good repair. Fight the system.

Why aren’t chain cases a thing in the U.S.?

Because they are seen as feminine and weak. Machismo requires shunning fenders and chain cases - serious riders can’t afford the weight and are too strong and powerful to be concerned with water, muck, and bike component longevity!

I’m being kind of sarcastic, but really that’s what it boils down to. Sort of the same reason you don’t see station wagons anymore, but truck cabs have expanded to the point that truck beds are minuscule and are pretty much decorative and can’t carry anything. Real Men don’t drive station wagons or minivans, that’s emasculating!

It’s been interesting watching the swing in attitude from ebikes being seen as only for wimps, to now they are powerful tools to assert dominance on the bike path. I would imagine we will see a similar swing with some of the old-school bike tech. (Ryan van Duzer is making internal hubs cool again, at least to a subset of adventure riders. Or people who want to be perceived as adventure riders…)

Yep, it will be free for California residents in need, and much cheaper for everyone else. Pharma corps have been running amok raising insulin costs insane amounts. California can make their own and provide it directly to residents for far less money than they spend buying it from the companies.

You could learn to darn socks by hand. Adults and children have been doing it for thousands of years, and it’s very low impact. It’s not really feasible to patch socks with fabric from other socks - think of socks as a dynamic 3-D knit construct, patching disrupts that.

“A stitch in time saves nine.” If you know you wear out particular areas of your socks, you can reinforce them when they are new by “running” them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fKKLOUNOHU

All you need to darn or run is yarn and a darning needle.

I used to make big platters of deviled eggs for afternoon seminars. The grad students descended upon them like ravening wolves.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/04/12/california-senate-transport-committee-passes-solar-parking-canopy-and-highwayside-law/

Speaking of shade… This is pretty cool.

I’ve had good luck with the rechargeable “Superflash” lights. I assume you’ve already tried those? A back-up kept in my pannier, and one on the bike. (Charge both at work.)

https://www.planetbike.com/bike-lights/

Just give ‘em bus tickets to Seattle and Portland, like Idaho does.

/s, but not really. Seattle even has a program to give people free tickets back to their hometowns.