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this is almost certainly not a novel take but

i do wonder how much of the derisive language you hear toward "resistlib winemoms" or whatever is just "people who grew up in Safely Blue Coastal Enclaves rebelling against ppl who remind them of their mom b/c they are emotionally stunted adults"

like, as A Child Of A Very Conservative Area, i have a very vivid recollection of the first time i encountered this type of person, and my reaction was mostly baffled delight. wait you're telling me this PTA mom with unassailable Wholesome Americana credentials is gassing up the cause of trans rights at her book club. you're telling me she's batting her eyelashes and "think of the children"-ing, except instead of doing that to promote some obnoxious "ban this book from the school curriculum" agenda, she's shaming her state representative into actually funding the damn schools? i do not care how cringe her UV-bleached "i'm with her" bumper sticker is or whatever, she is working extremely hard & successfully on shit i care about and i will brook no slander against her

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saw someone say "an 11-year-old isn't even supposed to know what sex is and if you do something horrible must be happening to you and you need to get out of there" like can we be for real for a moment. have some people honest to god never heard 11-year-olds making sex jokes in their life

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The amazing Debi Jackson has prepared an "Emergency Response Checklist" for families of trans youth

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usually i loathe when a protagonist gets turned into a "bad" parent in a sequel series but tortall does it so well and so realistically that i can't help but think it'd be ooc any other way. of course alanna is gruff and sometimes unkind and not always present. of course jonathan must do what is best for realm and reputation; of course he's king first, father second. jon's parenting style is visible from the start in how roald acts during his page years — jon as a page sees ralon held down and beaten for the crime of bothering little alan; roald, much as he wants to, can't so much as join kel on her nighttime patrols for fear of how it'd look. jon takes alanna on as a squire because they're good friends & lovers; roald has had his knight-master picked out for him for years before he's even made a squire.

alanna gets along well enough with alan and thom, her knightling and her scholar, but she can't for the life of her understand how aly works. in my opinion this has something to do both with the fact that aly is a lot more like george in the most dangerous ways and with the fact that aly is rather significantly more of a Girl than alanna ever was. alanna had no (0) female friends growing up and only one older female mentor figure. she grew up and still lives the vast majority of her life surrounded by men of similar status. is it any surprise she finds her sons easier to talk to?

there's a passing sentence in trickster's choice that alludes to aly having once been jealous of how effusive her mother was about keladry of mindelan. i can't help but think also about kalasin ii of conté, kally whose mother's people are matrilineal, kally who should by rights have been her mother's heir. kally who calls the lioness aunt and wanted as a child nothing more than to be a knight, who will spend the rest of her life in carthak and likely never see a lady knight again. i think she was jealous of kel too, but in the opposite direction. aly couldn't and wouldn't be who kel was, too protective of her own freedom and too much like her father to ever want a shield. aly envied the easy understanding alanna had of kel's ambitions and grit. kalasin had those same ambitions but never got the chance to show that same grit. kalasin spent the four years of kel's page training at king's reach learning to be an empress.

it's the. not wanting and choosing not to do vs the wanting and not having the choice. it's the jealousy someone so distant from alanna got so much of her attention when her interactions with her own daughter were constantly snippy vs the thought that kally should've been there first, should've gotten to prove the conservatives wrong, should've been able to show kel around and shield (ha) her from the worst of their ire. no little girls will grasp wide-eyed for tales of aly cooper or empress kalasin the same way they do for the lioness and lady kel. i don't think aly minds, but i think kalasin very, very quietly does.

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"According to the Stanford Basic Income Lab, universal basic income is a periodic cash payment that is given to individuals unconditionally, requiring no work requirement or sanctions to access.

And as various nonprofits and cities across the country experiment with basic income programs, most have found that the money received is largely used to pay for the basic essentials many Americans struggle to afford.

A new pilot program in Boston, Massachusetts wants to find out if the same trend applies for a specific demographic: young adults facing homelessness.

The program is called BAY-CASH, or Boston Area Youth Cash Assistance for Stable Housing. Their plan is to offer a select group of 15 young adults ages 18 to 24 $1,200 per month for 24 months.

Each month, they will receive two $600 payments, and they will each have access to a one-time drawdown amount of $3,000, used to pay for things like a security deposit, a car repair, a medical expense, or other crisis.

“BAY-CASH is what we call a demonstration program,” the program’s director Matt Aronson told GBH, the local NPR affiliate. 

Aronson has been working on developing a model for direct cash transfers to address young adult homelessness since 2017, when he also co-led the development of the City of Boston’s plan to prevent and end homelessness among young adults. Finally, his vision has reached a crucial next step.

“We’re trying to demonstrate to the state of Massachusetts that this kind of programming, a guaranteed-income program with supportive services, should be part of our toolkit that we use to prevent and end homelessness for young adults,” he continued to GBH. 

Program participants will also receive two and a half years of supportive services, like a navigator who helps young people identify and access the resources they need, as well as financial coaching.

Aronson added that there is no penalty if a participant doesn’t use them, but they were built into the program based on the services young people asked for.

One of those young people is Deandre (who chose to omit his last name for privacy). Having grown up in Boston, he was out on his own, but after coming on hard times, he found himself involved in a few youth homelessness programs. That’s where he found out about BAY-CASH.

“I heard about … potentially getting cash payments to help with all the necessary things I have to go through on a regular basis,” he told GBH. “I was absolutely ecstatic.” 

He told GBH that he plans to use the money to access food, clean clothes, and rent and housing expenses when he eventually has a place of his own again. He also hopes to one day save up to buy a car so he doesn’t have to rely on the city’s bus system.

The flexibility for him to choose how to spend the money is a key component to what Aronson believes is the magic of guaranteed income. 

“Current homelessness resources for young adults in Massachusetts are scarce, can be slow to deploy and inflexible, and often lead to inequitable outcomes for historically and systemically oppressed populations,” BAY-CASH shares on its website.

“[We are] trusting that young people know their needs and communities better than anyone else.”

Aronson added that the pilot program will provide the state with more evidence to consider something “a little bit more flexible than what they’ve developed,” and ensure that a budget would be available to enact something similar in other regions of the state.

Right now, the pilot program is being funded by private donors and foundations, along with the city of Cambridge via a one-time cash infusion, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services. 

The hope, Aronson said, is that this program proves its efficacy for the long haul.

“There’s some skepticism around and moralizing why folks are poor, why folks who are experiencing homelessness that causes us to suspect, ‘Oh, they must be wasting their money,’” Aronson said. “Over and over, the evidence is consistent that folks use these to meet their basic needs.”

For Deandre, who has dreams of someday becoming an architect, the program represents something greater.

“Just because we’re experiencing homelessness doesn’t mean it has to be a barrier for us to stop living our lives and that we can’t escape it,” he told GBH.

“With more programs such as BAY-CASH and with more people spreading awareness about the issues that are going on in our community … it’s all about making sure that the next person doesn’t have to experience what you’ve had to experience. It’s about doing what you can to eradicate homelessness, and I think that should be everyone’s ultimate goal.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, August 11, 2025

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Based on the notes

With apologies to the -overs, -mouths, -waters, -ports, -stables, -wicks/wichs, -shires, -monds/monts and random guy names. Also -et/ett frankly should have its own option but it's under indigenous town names.

You should do a poll asking people if they’re from a town/city ending with -ham, -field, -borough, or -ton (excluding Boston). Think it would be cool

Sure, why not

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I haven't researched pre-modern teeth cleaning, but I did research dental health after a rough time in college. Basically, your tooth enamel is constantly undergoing demineralization, where acid (either from food or from the bacteria in your mouth that feed on sugar) dissolves it, and remineralization, where it bonds to certain minerals in your mouth and is strengthened. The two ways to take care of your teeth are decreasing demineralization and improving remineralization.

Ways to decrease demineralization (these are just options, do what works for you):

Reduce acidic foods and drinks

Reduce sugary foods and drinks

Chew sugar free gum (be careful with fruit-flavored, it often has citric acid in it) after eating and before brushing or otherwise cleaning your teeth

Drink plenty of plain water, especially while and after eating

Don't scrub too hard when brushing (no one told me you could overbrush until after I scrubbed a hole in my tooth)

If toothpaste is the main issue you can brush/clean with just water

Ways to increase remineralization (again, do what works for you):

Make sure you're getting enough calcium

Stay hydrated and ask your dentist or doctor about treatments for dry mouth if you have it. Saliva carries calcium to your teeth.

Make sure you're not deficient in vitamins D and K (any nutrients, really, but those for sure affect remineralization)

Expose your teeth to fluoride regularly. Use fluoride toothpaste if you can (some brands have bubblegum and fruit flavors that might be milder than the standard mint). Ask your dentist about prescription fluoride pastes with no or mild flavoring that you could use. Swish fluoridated water around your mouth (if your tap water isn't fluoridated you can buy it). If you can use floss or flosser picks, get the stuff with a fluoride coating.

I have trouble taking care of my teeth because everything that involves doing that is a sensory nightmare. I decide to do some research to see if there's anything I can do about this. The results?

"How to make your autistic child brush their teeth"

"Autistic Children and Sensory issues relating to tooth brushing"

"How to get your little shit to brush his fucking teeth"

Like, yeah Google, thanks, that really helps. And like, even if I was a child, some of the advice seemed... unhelpful. Like, doing a dance and singing a song while brushing your teeth? Even for a kid, I don't think that would help distract from a sensory experience as intense as brushing your teeth. Like, the extremely intense and unpleasant flavor, the intense feeling of the brush against your teeth scraping across it, even mouthwash has such an intense and disgusting flavor that I have difficulty keeping it in my mouth for more than a few seconds. I wish there was SOMETHING that could be done.

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have you lot heard about the tiktoker who’s taking on the actual government over a parking ticket? because she’s a hero

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it's so crazy that ppl think professionals being into kink is info that needs to be made public. ur too old to still think teachers live in the school yk?

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Thank you Benny

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Say hello to Loki

(via)

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The main character of the last TV show you watched is now your therapist. How’s it working for you?

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