Oh! I had a local mushroom CSA once - it was so good, but I just couldn’t keep up with the mushrooms! I’ve opted into their holiday shares instead :)

We also had a place called Lost Bread Company. They bought a small mill and then were like, “Well, what do we do with this?!” They eventually built up a network of people who were growing various “older” grains on hobby farms or odd bits of land - grains that just aren’t in everyday use these days like spelt, emmer, etc - and they ground their grain for them. But then they were like, “Wait, what do we do with the grain?!” So they started a bakery - and a CSA.

Every month, you got a box focused on the grain of the month. There was a little booklet going over the history of the grain, it’s various traits and uses, and then several tested recipes for what you could do with the grain in it’s various forms. The box would also contain the grain in it’s flour form, the grain in it’s whole-grain or partially hulled form if appropriate (so you might get rolled oats or wheatberries or something), a range of baked goods made from the grain, and usually something else associated with the grain - you might get buckwheat honey, for example, or a small decorative sheaf in October or November. It was a really cool concept, and I really enjoyed it. They eventually backed off the CSA - it was too much work for them - and focused on their hobby mill and bakery. They make these absolutely killer pretzel shortbreads …

They can be expensive, yeah. I’m currently paying $400 for a ten-week share, which used to make me wince when I wrote out the check - $40 a week for veggies? What was I thinking?! And then I put it into context. The food in those boxes filled 80% of my veggie needs for the entire year, plus most of the herbs I use. 80% of a 52-week year is a bit over 41 weeks - and ten dollars a week for a bunch of incredibly fresh produce is a bargain.

One thing I’d suggest, for people who might be interested in CSAs but can’t afford them is to check with all your local CSA farms, as some farms have other options available. Some farms offer work-shares: you agree to work for the farm (it’s usually about 4 hours a week), and you get a free share. Another farm I belonged to offered a distribution-share: a small truck would drop off shares for local people at your place - in front of your garage, or on your porch, or some other agreeable location - and over the next few hours people would come by to pick up their shares. In exchange for hosting the boxes, you got a free share for your family. There are miscellaneous variations on this, and they’re generally offered only by a minority of farms, but they are out there.

It’s extremely charitable of you to assume that these laws will be enforced equitably.

You have cool parents null

I’ve belonged to a few different ones (moved a couple times, one wasn’t a great fit, and one farmer retired during the pandemic), and there’s always something new. Not just heirloom tomatoes and different types of hot peppers, but odd varieties of herbs (lemon basil is fantastic!), odd fruits like paw paws, ground cherries and incredibly fresh Asian pears, weird upscale vegetables that you usually only get at higher priced restaurants and groceries, etc.

Between my boxed farm share and the pick your own extras that come with it, it’s probably about 80% of my veggies for the entire year.

Because you’re looking at the English Wikipedia? It’s there in the French Wikipedia.

Nicole asked around among her friends. “Where do you get real food?”

They stared at her, not comprehending her question.

“Whole Foods?”

Nicole drifted through the aisles of expensive, organic food. Even pricey lettuce after a few days in the fridge wilted and turned slimy. She felt trapped, confined to the industrial food distribution network that girdled the globe.

I could try to grow a head of lettuce, she thought. It can’t be that hard. She was not indentured to the corporate grocer. She was free. Free to grow a head of lettuce. Maybe more.

For anyone who isn’t in a position to grow their own food and also has this question, look into Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). At the start of the year, you buy a share in a local farm, and you get a box of veggies every week of the growing season. [There are variations: you can get a large box or a small box, you can choose to get a box just on alternate weeks, etc.] By having their money up front, the farmer is no longer at the mercy of start-of-season bank loans and the risk of a bad harvest: the farm is guaranteed to survive to the following year. In exchange, you get a box of peak produce: no lettuce that’s been making it’s way through distributors for three weeks, or apples that have been warehoused for nine months. No food that’s traveled halfway across the world - everything is small scale, seasonal, and incredibly fresh.

I think this is partially inaccurate. Vergara is a far-right politician in Colombia, and is a big fan of Trump, but I don’t think she was part of Latinas for Trump. (If anyone has proof of such, I am happy to be corrected.)

Eh, that page sounds like AI output, not sure I’d take their word for the origin of the phrase.

Void wants to know why you’re snooping on their very private bath!?

DHS’ website says that during a funding lapse, the department “may only continue ‘exempt’ activities such as law enforcement and maritime protection.”

Un-hunh. Press [X] to doubt. According to The Hill,

funding for key agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard will lapse Saturday without further action from Congress.

The agencies that are the main targets of Democratic fury, however, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will be able to continue operations without much disruption. Both agencies received tens of billions of dollars through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Even this article says,

The shutdown is not expected to affect the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement campaign, thanks to the $165 billion cash infusion from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection. The funding goes well beyond the annual allotments that the agencies typically receive and means they will be able continue operations despite the shutdown.

My point is that the big manufacturing boom in the US in the 1950s was a direct result of the devastation from WWII, and the US being the one less affected country that wasn’t facing inner turmoil (China, India) and that had a lot of resources and a lot of population. And that the decline of American manufacturing has less to do with the US transitioning to a service oriented economy, and more to do with the rest of the world rebuilding their economies and industrial bases after the war. When you’re the only large-scale industrial manufacturer in the world, of course you do well. When you have to compete with a bunch of other countries, you actually need to compete.

Because this head prioritizes branding over utility, neither the bit nor the screw head can withstand the torque of a standard Torx or Hex fastener. The result? Broken bits, stripped screws, and more time spent on what would otherwise be a simple task.

Ugh.

I’m so happy for Bonnie!

The decline in manufacturing, however, is less a story about policy blunders than one about the long progress of the US economy, which has to a large extent graduated out of producing stuff like phones and cars and into the delivery of services, like finance and healthcare – a process similar to that followed by other countries that moved up the ladder of success.

Oh, ffs! You’d think that a British journalist focused on economics and politics would get this right, but apparently not.

The Republicans look back at America’s manufacturing boom of the 1950’s with nostalgia, and they completely ignore the reasons for the boom - namely, the devastation from WWII. South America, Africa and the Southern Pacific countries didn’t have big manufacturing economies. A significant number of other countries (Russia, Japan, most of Europe, etc) were physically devastated by the war and needed to rebuild from scratch.

With China focused inward and India focused on independence (and both countries recovering from the war), there simply wasn’t another large, heavily populated country to compete - New Zealand, Australia, Canada, etc, simply didn’t have the population to build and staff factories to the extent that the States could. That’s where the US post-war manufacturing boom came from: the war itself.

And the boom died out because other countries recovered from the war and built their own manufacturing bases. That boom was never going to last, and it’s unlikely to ever be repeated, and I just wish that people would realize that and move on from that dream.

“I’m asking you, for the final time: please stop stalking me.”

Rights for me, rules for thee!

Look into adaptations! I have an electric jar opener and an electric can opener. After a friend got frozen shoulder, I got her a couple of rocker-knives and a pair of tong-spatulas (a pair of tongs, but with spatulas instead of grippers at the end). There are plates and cutting boards with little upright prongs on them, to hold things in place while you cut them with your good hand. There are also things like the slap-chopper or magic bullet, those box-dicers where you slap the lid down, etc.

Essentially – you know all those late-night commercials with the weird kitchen gadgets? Those aren’t actually weird, they’re intended for handicapped people. But they know if they market them as being for handicapped people, sales drop. But if they market them as weird convenience devices, when someone needs them, they look at them in a different light and they make the sale.

I’d also suggest searching the web: I know I ran across some disability blogs, where people talked about their adaptation and techniques and where people discussed which products worked or didn’t.

Oh - if you like wearing jewelry, they make little magnets that clip onto the ends of necklaces and bracelets and such, that make putting on jewelry one-handed easier.

That’s a good question. I think it depends on who and what you are, what your resources are, how old you are and how risk-adverse you are.

OP is trans, so is likely to be directly targeted at some point. They’re also in Wisconsin, which is resisting fascism and they’re also near the Canadian border if they want to make a run for it. But you don’t want to wait until thugs are breaking down your door to leave.

If I was OP, I’d have applied for EU citizenship, and then an EU passport. I’d be looking into what countries I could emigrate to, what skills I had or could acquire, and what resources I would need. Like, you can move to any country in the EU, but to become a permanent resident, you need to prove you won’t be a burden to them. Sometimes you can do that by buying property or a golden visa, sometimes you can just show proof of income/resources, sometimes you can have a desired career.

Like, nurses are almost always in demand, so if I was looking to emigrate, I’d see if I could pick up a nursing degree. Because even if you don’t qualify for as a citizen, many places are willing to allow nurses live and practice in their countries.

If you’re on the younger side, it’s easier to move overseas, easier to adjust, and you have a longer period where you’d be living under oppressive rule / a longer period to re-establish yourself and live a happy life, so moving makes more sense. If you’re older and moving is more disruptive, I can see people being more hesitant.

Sometimes, even if you have a passport or the resources, there may be some other reason you choose not to leave - family, friends, responsibilities.

For people who are leaving now, I certainly don’t blame them. For people who are making contingency arrangements - documentation, citizenship, savings, career path, whatever - I think that’s certainly a prudent thing to be doing.

There are also people who have decided to stay: some because they refuse to give in it give up, some because they may have options but they also have responsibilities, some because they don’t have options other than crossing a border and finding someplace to take them in. I feel for this last category, because that’s especially hard to judge: it needs to be “late enough” that more places are willing to take refugees, but not so late that countries are strained: if even 1% of the population flees, that’s 3.5 million people looking for a new home, and no place can handle that. It’ll be another diaspora - but that also means resettlement will be harder for each individual.

The people who are leaving or planning to, the people who have intentionally chosen to stay - they’ve made their decisions for their own reasons, and I respect that. The people who would like to leave and have no path other than literally running away - I feel for them, and I wish they had better options. I don’t think it’s too late, but I also don’t think their options will get any better from here unless they’re taking positive steps - that nursing degree, for example.

The people who are actively cheering for what’s happening - well, if I had The Snap, I think the world would be a better place - though I’m sure they think the exact same thing.

All that said, though: we’re all fucked in the end. Fascism may be coming to the States, but climate change is coming for all of us: drought, famine, pestilence and war are headed our way, and a bunch of rich people would rather see the planet burn than address actual problems and lose a tiny bit of their paper-based wealth.

[slightly rearranged]:

a maintenance issue required a change of planes. [Noem’s] personal blanket was not transferred [to the new plane].

How about you be responsible for your own fucking shit, Noem? What about “personal responsibility”? The pilot is there to fly the fucking plane, not be your personal body-slave.

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