What is on your mind

[clay]

I have a friend who does a lot of buying and selling on line. I spoke to them about a couple of boxsets of baseball cards I have left over from the store that I would like to sell. They were like "Yeah we can split the price of the sale.". Am I wrong to be put off by that response? I was just looking for information and help and was not planning on paying them $100+ for some information. Am I wrong to be upset?

You absolutely have a right to be upset. Presumptious of them......harrruuummmppphhh...F.O.....lol

[Bèsame*]

I bought a new phone today. Let's just say, I hate the break it in and find stuff stage. Like I'm gonna remember every password???

Lol

[GeorgiaMa'am]

I bought a new phone today. Let's just say, I hate the break it in and find stuff stage. Like I'm gonna remember every password???

Lol

May I ask, what kind did you buy? and are you pleased with it? I have to buy a new one soon.

[Gemme]

I have a friend who does a lot of buying and selling on line. I spoke to them about a couple of boxsets of baseball cards I have left over from the store that I would like to sell. They were like "Yeah we can split the price of the sale.". Am I wrong to be put off by that response? I was just looking for information and help and was not planning on paying them $100+ for some information. Am I wrong to be upset?

As clay said, presumptive.

Collectibles can bring in good money so they are definitely expecting some sort of kickback or payout. You can do research yourself. Check Ebay and other collectible sites to see what the market is for those cards, decide how to sell them (it might be more lucrative to separate some of them from the set) and post the sales. All of these processes can be easily found through Google searches or YouTube videos. The question is the time. It's likely to be time intensive and, giving the person the benefit of the doubt, that's what they are most likely considering when mentioning splitting the sales.

Maybe another conversation with them, explicitly laying out how they might factor into the situation? Ex: I can sell the sets myself. I'm just looking for a little guidance to get started in the process. Would you be willing to donate your time to go over that with me for a few minutes? Or, ask them directly what they are thinking.

I'm a blunt person myself, so regardless of how you approach this with the person, clarification on both sides is key. Good luck!

[Bèsame*]

https://i0.wp.com/stevekeating.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/decisions.jpg?fit=788%2C859&ssl=1/

[Bèsame*]

I've been going thru my Mom's stuff. Now I'm realizing all the memories she was holding on too. Now it's going to be me holding on.

https://adirondackgirlatheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/a-cool-collectible-cookbooks-part-i_antique-handwritten-recipe-books-15-900x652-1.jpg

[GeorgiaMa'am]

I've been going thru my Mom's stuff. Now I'm realizing all the memories she was holding on too. Now it's going to be me holding on.



What a coincidence - my sister just gave me all of my mom's scrapbooks. We didn't even know she was a scrapbooker. It's all from her younger days, before I was born. I want to go through them thoughtfully, giving them the attention they deserve, but I just haven't been able to open one yet. I still miss her too much . . .

[Stone-Butch]

I had given most of my moms stuff to my nieces when she passed but I did find a few pics and letters she had written to me. I also found a letter postcard from my grandmother to her sister. I can see you two also miss your mothers. My mother breathed in and I breathed out, far too close as mom and daughter and also friends and confidents. Every day she is in my mind and missing her can hardly say how I feel.

[Kätzchen]

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/67/b6/e8/67b6e8519861997e1ed69d5b27b6d163.jpg

[Orema]

Removing Books From Libraries Often Takes Debate. But There’s a Quieter Way.

By Elizabeth Harris, New York Times

Weeding, or culling old, damaged or outdated books, is standard practice in libraries. But in some cases it is being used to remove books because of the viewpoint they express.

https://i.postimg.cc/43FCSVLW/03-BOOKBAN-WEEDING-vtqz-jumbo.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
Two lawsuits have recently taken up weeding. The practice allows librarians to keep collections current, but some have argued that it has been used in some instances to remove books for their content.Credit...Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Thousands of books have been removed from schools and libraries over the past several years, often accompanied by stormy public meetings and acrimonious debate. But there is a quieter way books have been pulled from libraries — a process called weeding.

The practice is standard for librarians, a regular part of keeping their collections current. Traditionally, weeding involves removing books that are damaged, out of date or haven’t been checked out in a long time. This makes room for new editions and titles that are of more interest to the community.

Now, three years into surge in challenges and removals of books from libraries, weeding is sometimes being used to remove books because of the viewpoint they express or the story they tell. The issue is now working its way through the court system.

Advocates say that, increasingly, administrators and library board officials are using this approach to avoid the public spectacle of formally pulling them because of their content.

“When you remove a book because you believe it’s critical race theory, or portrays L.G.B.T.Q. lives or because you believe it’s too vulgar,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, “that’s not weeding. That’s censorship.”

In recent years, the number of books that have been restricted or removed has surged around the country, fed in part by conservative organizations, lists of books that circulated on social media and state laws that have decided what kinds of books are appropriate for children.

Those in favor of restricting access to certain titles say they are trying to protect children from encountering difficult, inappropriate or sensitive topics while they are alone in the library, or at school without guidance from their parents. Those who oppose these restrictions say libraries should represent a wide range of viewpoints.

Usually, removing a book from a school or library because of its content requires a process. That can include extensive public notice and input as well as board meetings, which can get volatile and heated.

Weeding, on the other hand, is part of the day-to-day work of maintaining a collection. Librarians do this largely on their own, though most libraries have weeding policies and criteria to help guide the choices.

One common standard is called “MUSTIE,” which stands for Misleading, Ugly (damaged or worn out), Superseded (by a newer edition), Trivial, Irrelevant (to the community) and Elsewhere (meaning the material could easily be found someplace else).

The work is essential to keep collections in good shape. Caldwell-Stone of the library association said that librarians never know what they’re going to find when they go into a library’s book return drop box — and generally, they try to sort through it while wearing gloves. She was once told that a book was returned with a strip of bacon pressed between the pages as a book mark. That book, for example, had to go.

Two lawsuits have recently taken up the practice, and how it is being used.

According to a suit filed in federal court this year, officials in Nassau County, Florida removed or restricted access to 36 books in its public school library after members of an organization called Citizens Defending Freedom said they were inappropriate for children. County officials said they removed most of the books because they violated a state obscenity law.

Three of those books did not go through the usual process, according to Lauren Zimmerman, a partner at Selendy Gay, and one of the lawyers who filed the case. Instead, they were weeded. Among them was a picture book called “And Tango Makes Three,” about a penguin family with two penguin dads.

The district said it weeded its only copy of “Tango” because of a “lack of circulation,” the lawsuit said. But according to court documents, it had been checked out at least five times in the previous five years, while thousands of other books in the district’s public libraries that had not been checked out at all during that period were not removed.

The other weeded books were “Ghost Boys,” about racism in the United States, and “Almost Perfect,” a coming-of-age story about a high school romance involving a transgender student, according to the court documents.

The Nassau County case settled last month and all three books will go back on the shelves, along with 21 others. The remaining 12 books will be available for checkout to students who are at least 18 years old, or who have permission from their parents. A lawyer representing Nassau County did not respond to requests for comment.

“It took generations of work by countless individuals for books like ‘Tango’ to make it onto shelves of libraries,” said Justin Richardson, one of the authors of “And Tango makes Three,” who was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “We’re simply not going to sit by and let them take them off.”

Another instance where weeding has landed in court is a case that began in Llano County, Tex. and is now in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. According to court documents, public library officials removed 17 books, including “Caste,” by Isabel Wilkerson, which is about race in the United States, and “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health,” by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley, which has illustrations of sex and masturbation.

County officials said those books were weeded. Lawyers for Llano County have asked the court to reverse a 29-year-old precedent on the issue. They’ve argued that while none of these books were removed because of their content or viewpoint, library officials have the right to do so. Removing books is not a violation of patrons’ rights, the lawyers argued, because the government is not obligated to supply books in the first place. The government is not allowed to stop you from accessing books, but it doesn’t have to help.

This summer, a three-judge panel ruled, in a split decision, that books could not be removed based on their viewpoint. But a few weeks later, the Fifth Circuit made an unusual choice: It would rehear the case, this time in front of the full court. Oral arguments took place last month, and a decision is expected in several months.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/books/book-ban-library-weeding.html

[nhplowboi]

I was just watching The View when an ad came on that said the content might be disturbing....?! Damn straight it was!! It was put out by presidential candidate Randal Terry of the Constitutional Party. The notification said the images might be too graphic and the FCC said they were required by law to air the commercial. Multiple photos of dead fetuses. I understand you are anti-abortion but that commercial should never have been aired. If I had a kid home sick from school and they saw that commercial I would be livid. You made your point but I hope it ends up costing you a lot of $$$. Oh and it doesn't escape me you ran the commercial on a show highly watched by women. What a piece of garbage you are!

[Kätzchen]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71svzg6E7UL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg

https://cdn.britannica.com/37/175337-131-2F590BB0/scene-A-Boy-Named-Charlie-Brown.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lnkAAOSwwMdi-pZh/s-l1200.jpg

https://curioandco.com/cdn/shop/articles/2011_12_20_Charlie_Brown_Christmas_WEB1400_1399x.p ng?v=1537658460

[Bèsame*]

https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/74/13/396626697-90d7609462e5f52ce8827260ebe32241.jpg

[Bèsame*]

https://symbolismandmetaphor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/black-crow-symbolism.png

A crow was in my side garden. I was able to get close and it never flew away. I smiled. My Mom always thought when a crow came to visit it was my Dad.

I have been reflecting on how hard these past few months have been. It's time to go forward and be my best self again.

[Stone-Butch]

I have a ceramic crow on my bookcase. When our mom died I decieded to do a ceremony for the freeing of the souls. It is to allow those who have passed to not feel they must worry concerning us who are left behine. They can finally have peace. SO, my sister and I did what was the burning of white sage and praying that the creator would give our two parents (father also) peace. As we finished speaking on the smoke which takes silent prayers to the skies , two crow flew over and each one cawed once and flew away. We knew then our past loveones had total peace. To visit if they wished but not to feel they had to. I just finished my book on "In the Company of Crows and Ravens" and it showed how intellligent crows are. They know who you are once they meet you and will remember your response to their presence. This has been scientifically verified. SO, take care on your first meeting, the crow will not forget you.

[Bèsame*]

A dear friend is on my mind.

I found out earlier today she passed away last night. My heart hurts for her daughter and granddaughters . We had been friends for a very long time. Our Mom's were neighbors and best friends. They were in each other's weddings.
I think back, it's been at least 60 years of friendship between us. So maybe memories come to mind. She had been very sick for awhile. I was lucky to have spent time with her last year when I visited California.

Rest in peace for longest forever friend. I'll miss our chats but will always have the memories.

[Stone-Butch]

Because Taylor Swift is in Toronto doing a few shows that is all that is in the news. I had never heard one of her songs on purpose so I listened to one. It is a shame that being such an idol and inspiration to so many young girls that this diva could not finish one of her songs without using the F word. If TS does it, it has to be ok cause she is cool. This type of language is unnecessary and uncool. I dislike songs with vulgar language but that is MY opinion. You know, the one I can have. lol.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Because Taylor Swift is in Toronto doing a few shows that is all that is in the news. I had never heard one of her songs on purpose so I listened to one. It is a shame that being such an idol and inspiration to so many young girls that this diva could not finish one of her songs without using the F word. If TS does it, it has to be ok cause she is cool. This type of language is unnecessary and uncool. I dislike songs with vulgar language but that is MY opinion. You know, the one I can have. lol.

Not an excuse, but . . . Taylor Swift started out as a sweet young virginal thing still living at home with Mommy and Daddy. Now she's trying to prove she's grown. Wrongheaded, perhaps, probably, but she's at that age. BTW, she does have some very good songs without coarse language.

[Kätzchen]

In a sea of bad news with not much good news around, I've been noticing that people are starting to really imagine how life can be — when hate and cruelty is so abundant in the world around us. That’s what I was thinking about today, how life can feel rewarding, even during times of hardship. Some people are born into privilege while others aren’t. But it seems we all get to experience life in ways that seem immutably challenging. Or something like that …

Life is about to become survival of the fittest any day now…

Be kind… kindness is precious. Very precious. :stillheart:

[Bèsame*]

On my mind....this pulled/strained hamstring is kicking my butt.

I'm really tired of how long it's taking to get relief. Let me tell you, putting pants on, getting in and out of the car, taking the two steps into the house, and getting up out of a chair, is pure torture! I used to yell at the football players when they would hobble off the field. Just walk it off, like it's a cramp. Well, this is no way like a cramp.

However, I've started physical therapy, which after Thursday, if felt like torture!!

On my mind...kinda like looking at my cute physical therapist!! Be still my heart.

[Orema]

Mammogram. I need to call and make an appointment. I'm usually on this, but have let this go for too long. I will make an appointment later today when the painters leave.

I also need to donate some blood. I have 0 negative and it's helpful to lots of people. I've let that slide, too. Will reach out to the red cross this week.

I guess health is on my mind.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Driving. I bought a second walker to keep outside in my carport. This means I can now get to the car, and then back inside the house, on my own without anyone's help. I'm much stronger now than I was when I last fell in this spot, but it still feels a little dangerous to walk up the steps from the carport to the house. It's only two steps, but there's no handrail, just a wall.

Even so, I'm going to Publix tomorrow to pick up a prescription, and I'm also going to drive through the produce stand. I'll be home before the boy leaves for work, so that takes care of the safety factor. At least I won't have to wake him up to help me get to the car before I leave.

A little more independence is a good thing.

[Bèsame*]

Hurricane Season 2025

Last year, after loosing my Mom and then 2 major hurricanes, totally stressed me out. I will not put myself in that situation this year. I was ready, but I'll be better prepared going forward

I just went thru all my paperwork. I eliminated a lot of back pages of foreign languages. Streamed lined what is really needed and put them in a simple accordion file. It was easier, because it's just my stuff and not double bookkeeping with Mom's stuff. However I have a crap load of stuff that needs to be shredded.

Slowly I'm freezing water that I've filtered. It will act as a freezing element and drinking water later

Making lists and more lists. Things I need and things I know I want to take with, if I evacuate .

I'm watching the Atlantic and the Gulf closely.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Hurricane Season 2025

Last year, after loosing my Mom and then 2 major hurricanes, totally stressed me out. I will not put myself in that situation this year. I was ready, but I'll be better prepared going forward

I just went thru all my paperwork. I eliminated a lot of back pages of foreign languages. Streamed lined what is really needed and put them in a simple accordion file. It was easier, because it's just my stuff and not double bookkeeping with Mom's stuff. However I have a crap load of stuff that needs to be shredded.

Slowly I'm freezing water that I've filtered. It will act as a freezing element and drinking water later

Making lists and more lists. Things I need and things I know I want to take with, if I evacuate .

I'm watching the Atlantic and the Gulf closely.

This is really smart. I'm going to put it all on my to-do list; these are great ideas. For the past several years, the hurricane weather has been travelling up the east coast and wreaking all kinds of havoc. It caused a real mess in North Carolina last year that they are still recovering from. I personally had a tree fall on my house several years ago and lost my chimney and a bedroom. It took over a year to work it all out with the insurance company, and I only recovered about 25% of the total cost, in the end. I didn't qualify for any help from FEMA. Over a year went by before all the repairs were finished.

All this stuff happens yearly now, yet we all (in north Georgia, anyway) act like no serious weather is ever going to come north of Florida. The day a hurricane actually hits Florida, and all the roads are crowded and hotels are full of people fleeing Florida, that's when people who live around here start buying up all the bottled water, eggs, milk and bread. A few people might remember to bring in their lawn furniture and other loose items from the outdoors.

And now, the Navy is no longer sharing satellite weather information with NOAA, and weather forecasters will no longer have access to predictive hurricane information. FEMA has been dismantled, so there will be no coordinating organization between the states or help from federal agencies like the Coast Guard.

The more I write here, the more frantic and nervous I get about the whole thing. Not only am I putting this stuff on my to-do list, I'm sharing it with my friends, family and local Facebook groups.

[easygoingfemme]

Hurricane Season 2025

Last year, after loosing my Mom and then 2 major hurricanes, totally stressed me out. I will not put myself in that situation this year. I was ready, but I'll be better prepared going forward

I just went thru all my paperwork. I eliminated a lot of back pages of foreign languages. Streamed lined what is really needed and put them in a simple accordion file. It was easier, because it's just my stuff and not double bookkeeping with Mom's stuff. However I have a crap load of stuff that needs to be shredded.

Slowly I'm freezing water that I've filtered. It will act as a freezing element and drinking water later

Making lists and more lists. Things I need and things I know I want to take with, if I evacuate .

I'm watching the Atlantic and the Gulf closely.

I remember this from last year. You were really in a rough time. You're smart to be so prepared and I'm sure there is a mental health satisfaction to know you're doing what you can to be prepared. I hope you don't need the preparation but, if you do, you'll be as ready as you can.

[Bèsame*]

Is no news good news?

I'm waiting results of my nuclear update scan of my thyroid, still.

It's taking too long, I say!

[easygoingfemme]

Bèsame*, did you get your results yet?

On my mind: I'm getting a new foster dog next weekend. She's a 1-2 year old pit mix. (Ugh, my favorite!). I'm excited to have her for as long as I have her.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

On my mind: I'm getting a new foster dog next weekend. She's a 1-2 year old pit mix. (Ugh, my favorite!). I'm excited to have her for as long as I have her.

Good for you! Pitties are really so sweet. My pittie/boxer mix is currently in the hallway, trying to untie the knot in her towel to get the treats out.

[Bèsame*]

Bèsame*, did you get your results yet?



I did. Thank you for asking. I'm normal, nothing to go forward with. Yeah!

And...the results of my MRI of my left knee...torn meniscus. Along with arthritis. I got a cortisone shot right in the middle of my knee. Not a fix, but it has relieved the pain. Im still icing my strained hamstring. Continuing with physical therapy, hence joining the gym. I did see, the right knee. Not good. I can definitely understand the crunching and popping, it's bone on bone grinding. As soon as I can recoup from the left leg, the right is priority.

[easygoingfemme]

Bèsame*, I'm glad to hear that!

On my mind. I believe my kiddo will be getting engaged this week or next. Their partner asked me over the winter to make a ring box for the proposal and said they were shooting for this July. I made a nice ring box for them.

So fast forward to this week. My kiddo is super sick. I was over at their apartment this morning bringing soup and tea and shower steamers. Their partner is still hopeful that they can go out for dinner on Wednesday where there would be a proposal. I have a feeling that's not going to happen. I just suggested to their partner that, if they have the rest of their life together, it would be wise to wait another week until they are both able to enjoy it. I get the excitement but... I hope they wait until they both are healthy and can enjoy the moment.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

The boy's birthday is coming up Wednesday. We're both going to get our hair cut that day because it's the only day I could get appointments. Then we will go to eat at the local LGBTQ+ sports bar, because they have delicious food, and that's where we always go to eat after we get our hair done and we look good.

That evening we are going to experiment with making cherry fried pies in the air fryer. The boy loves cherry pie and he is convinced it can be done in the air fryer. It will be an experiment for both of us; we shall see.

He also wants to go see a movie in the movie theater for his birthday, but we will do that later in the week. Trying to do everything on Wednesday would be too much for both of us. Besides, when he sees what I got him for his birthday (a ring light for his video making projects), I know he's going to want to try it out.

[easygoingfemme]

GeorgiaMa'am that sounds like a lovely birthday plan! I hope you both enjoy to the fullest.


Well my kiddo has COVID and we're pretty sure their partner is coming down with it as of this morning. So I'd say their engagement is probably stalled by a week or so. As is the birthday party I was throwing for my kiddo on Saturday. How is my child 26 years old?

[cinnamongrrl]

Starting my new job on Monday. I’m going back into the medical assisting fray. I’ve greatly enjoyed the easy, breezy home health care segue for the last 6 months. But mama needs a new car. And the pay for part time work does not make that feasible…..

[Nat]

I have learned that I have DID. There’s like 52+ personalities in this skull apparently. Some dudes, some chicks, some who don’t care to gender themselves. The main issue is - I don’t have cohesive memories. And I act a lot of different ways and don’t know it. DID is believed to be caused by early childhood trauma, and it is not in the realm of psychosis but more of a neurodevelopmental thing as a result of trauma. It’s sort of like a partitioned hard drive - each of us has our own operating system. A lot of memories are shared, but we have a lot of dissociative amnesia as well.

Anyway, the main reason we are making this post is because something brought us back here today (I don’t remember what - see above for why I don’t.) and there were a lot of nostalgia feels and I just felt like maybe those of you who remember me - if I did or said things that didn’t seem to track, this is probably why. If I forgot you, it’s not because you were unimportant to us.

This community and the dash site were so crucial (and at times painful) in helping us understand so much about ourselves, queerness, transness, racism, classism, ableism, including many very difficult conversations here and on the dash site. Conversations I still am seeing echoes of in the current reality where big hate seems to be the name of the game a lot of the time.

Even though the discourse is traumatizing sometimes, I’m so glad for getting to have those conversations in butch-femme space back then just so I’m not as dumb now as I was. :)

I was 27 years old when I came out as a femme lesbian and found the dash site. Now I’m 47 years old, transmasc, somewhat butch-appearing - our femmes stopped being primary fronters around 2016.

I went through a breakup of an 8 year long relationship at the end of 2023, which was around the time I began to realize we have DID. I’m possibly slow-pacedly romantically pursuing someone currently, but overall I no longer care about dating, looking for a partner, sex, flirting, interpersonal drama, or anything that’s not my business.

I think it’s kinda funny how orientation became such an organizing principle for me in my twenties, and now I think I’m likely to prefer hermit-hood anyway, despite my orientation. I don’t even know what to call my orientation these days other than queer.

My current love interest is a bisexual femme as was my last ltr, and the last two lovers I’ve had were transmasc and nonbinary. They are/were all great.

I’m glad we have had a fair amount of wonderful lovers - we don’t always have access to our memories of them, but when one shows up on the big screen of the mind, we appreciate having those memories.

We have loved so hard, and been loved so hard and nothing lasted - but for those of us who carry significant childhood trauma and attachment wounds, I think sometimes relating is this wonderful thing that happens in the small partitions of time we have before the trauma takes it away again. Kinda like how the ocean will leave new gifts on the shore when the tide goes out but may take them back when the tide comes back in. It’s just a world of waves and and tides and shifting sands for those of us who have never been able to stabilize. Lots of fond memories of people we’ve loved who were prolly in as much pain as we were as well. Everyone in their private hells taking a break to connect and enjoy each other.

We have come to like our life alone with our pets and starting to get to know and understand each other on the inside (as we are able to.) There was a time when we always wanted to know the tea and here was the first place we came to every morning and the last clicks of the night as well - y’all kept me company during some of the hardest, saddest, most despairing, loneliest times in my younger life and we really appreciate the folks here who made it just a little easier to get through the day.

I don’t know if I will be back (but this isn’t a flounce at all - I just don’t know if my mind will bring me back here). I don’t know if I will remember writing this. But if we ever hurt you, it probably wasn’t intentional - we absolutely hate hurting people. But our forgetfulness and sudden changes were often things that harmed the bonds we formed here as well as the rest of the world. I hope I will be back though at least from time to time to check in on folks.

Also I’m still so sad about Juney. And also impressed with her bravery.

- Nat/e

[Bèsame*]

On my mind...the body part I'm hating now. Well, not just now, but daily. I cuss her out often. That no good, weak bladder, you are not my friend!

[Bèsame*]

On my mind...yesterday. I had been waiting at least 3 weeks to have lunch with my lunch buddy. I had to find my way to a new school. She graduated from elementary to 6th grade! I expected to find her taller and full of stories of changing classes all day. Oh, and she did tell me all about it! 7 different classes! Including band! I was surprised she is going to learn how to play a flute.

The biggest difference for me was, the bell going off and a mad run for the cafeteria! Back in elementary, they walked class by class to lunch. Let me tell you, it was loud!! I was just amazed the chaos of students. Lol

Also, very important, the school is on a total lock down. So different as to when I was in school. But these kids don't know the difference of open campus versus being locked down for safety.

[kittygrrl]

Where i'm going to find a nice pumpkin, & where i can go to pick apples off a tree, the squirrels got all of mine

[kittygrrl]

Just got home from grocery shopping, mostly organic although the price of veggies, is insane! I will post prices later but honestly........i'm still in shock!

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Does anyone know how to cancel a paid supporter subscription to BFP? I've looked everywhere and I can't find anything about canceling, although I did find how to sign up.

I'm not planning to leave BFP, but now that I'm on disability I'm reviewing all my paid subscriptions.

[Kätzchen]

There is a fuck ton of disinformation and misinformation on the current policies concerning taxes, tariffs, and inflation have on the US economy.

It’s not too hard for me to understand these concepts and how they work, but the only expert I trust to teach others about it, is Robert Reich.

Here he is in this recent PSA on these very important issues that, unfortunately, due to T——p’s voter base (etc) thinking he is a mathematical genius (which just about everybody knows is not true at all), will affect every US citizen until the next president can figure out how to undo all the hateful, mean policies this person has done to our country. T——p’s misguided policies will damage our country for a VERY long time.

AfVGUiet39E?feature=shared

ETA: Guess who has not divested from making money off farmers who go bankrupt and lose everything? Good ole JD Vance. Yeah he started some business investor-like sham-group that buys up land and assets of farmers who go broke (DBA AcreTrader)

LINK: https://civileats.com/2024/09/18/jd-vance-invested-in-acretrader-heres-why-that-matters/

[Bèsame*]

the waiting is the hardest part...

GAIxVs3ATjw?si=K-yRA28mu_BMc2Hj

[Bèsame*]

https://www.docspeaks.com/sites/default/files/2021-04/justbreathe1-copy.jpg

[Stone-Butch]

Today I watched Cougar as I thought it was a cat thing. Uh uh. Older women with much younger men. One was 71 and he was 28. She was 45 and he was 22. So, I thought perhaps I should sign up to be a Butch Cougar. Might be different and odd but hey, nothing to lose. Just a thought.

[kittygrrl]

Today I watched Cougar as I thought it was a cat thing. Uh uh. Older women with much younger men. One was 71 and he was 28. She was 45 and he was 22. So, I thought perhaps I should sign up to be a Butch Cougar. Might be different and odd but hey, nothing to lose. Just a thought.

Well Stone, it depends on your purr :P

[kittygrrl]

the Forum is very very slow!:tea:

[kittygrrl]

i thank the powers here Tgu91jm_KKE&list=RD-KvnQB56W2Y&index=14for bringing the forum back to normal!::tarot:

[Bèsame*]

I've been feeling extremely worried, and I've been waiting and having lots of scenarios floating thru my mind. I've been feeling apprehensive for awhile. I'm hoping for some answers today.

Keeping my mind busy with my upcoming Christmas Disney trip. Im making a scarecrow dressed in a tutu for my yard. (We are having a contest) I picked up a small bale of hay yesterday. That was fun. Walking thru Michael's is one of my happy places.

[kittygrrl]

very very verrrry slow posting today!

:vigil:

[kittygrrl]

A few weeks ago, was i seeing things or did BF Forum say something about a new feature??? maybe...wishful thinking!:eatinghersheybar:

[kittygrrl]

i love surprises!(nice ones) so i'm trying to figure out what the new thing is for the forum!

[Orema]

yknMJOgy2pA

[Orema]

White House launches website to excoriate media for ‘biased’ stories

Marina Dunbar
Sat 29 Nov 2025 13.50 EST

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/29/white-house-media-website-trump

Trump administration lists reporting it objects to in latest escalation of attacks on US journalism

https://i.postimg.cc/xCsJJfsz/3801.jpg
Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House earlier this year. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

The White House rolled out a new section of its official website on Friday that publicly criticizes and catalogs media organizations and journalists it claims have distorted coverage.

At the top of the page (https://www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/?query-47-page=2&cst), the text reads: “Misleading. Biased. Exposed.” The feature names the Boston Globe, CBS News and the Independent as “media offenders of the week”, accusing them of inaccurately portraying Trump’s remarks about six Democratic lawmakers who released of video encouraging military members to not follow illegal orders.

The controversy (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/20/democrats-condemn-trump-military-video-post) arose after Trump accused Democrats of “seditious behavior, punishable by death” on social media. He also reposted a statement including the words: “hang them.”

According to the site, “The Democrats and Fake News Media subversively implied that President Trump had issued illegal orders to service members. Every order President Trump has issued has been lawful. It is dangerous for sitting Members of Congress to incite insubordination in the United States’ military, and President Trump called for them to be held accountable.”

The online page also features an “Offender Hall of Shame”, which includes the Washington Post, CBS News, CNN and MSNBC (now known as MS Now). Visitors can browse a searchable database of articles, along with the names of the journalists who wrote them. Each story is categorized under labels such as “bias”, “malpractice” or “left wing lunacy”.

A leaderboard currently ranks the Washington Post as the top offender, with MSNBC and CBS News taking the second and third slots.

Among the Washington Post articles named is a report (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/20/coast-guard-swastika-noose/) from earlier this month that states the US Coast Guard would stop classifying swastikas and nooses as hate symbols, an action the Coast Guard reversed after the article was published.

The Post acknowledged the quick reversal in a follow-up (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/21/coast-guard-policy-hate-symbols-swastika/) article. In its coverage (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/28/trump-media-criticism/) of the new tracker, the paper quoted an internal spokesperson who said: “The Washington Post is proud of its accurate, rigorous journalism.”

Beyond those singled out as weekly offenders, the White House page also lists the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Politico and Axios among the long list of outlets it accuses of bias or misinformation.

The launch of the webpage is the latest escalation in Trump’s long-running attacks on the media. It follows lawsuits (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/18/trump-libel-lawsuit-wsj-dow-jones-rupert-murdoch) against the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, legal settlements with ABC (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/dec/14/abc-george-stephanopoulos-trump-15-million) and CBS (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jul/02/paramount-settles-with-trump-for-16m-over-60-minutes-interview-with-kamala-harris), and his repeated references to major news outlets as the “enemy of the people”.

In recent weeks, Trump has also intensified his personal attacks (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/26/trump-insults-new-york-times-reporter-katie-rogers) on female journalists. Earlier this month, he referred to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a “piggy” during a clash onboard Air Force One after the president was questioned about the Epstein files.

Days later, after facing questioning from an ABC News correspondent about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (https://www.theguardian.com/world/jamal-khashoggi) and the Epstein scandal, Trump responded by calling the reporter a “terrible person”.

Last week, in a Truth Social post, Trump called a New York Times correspondent “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out”, following an article that she co-authored that suggested the president was running low on energy in his 80th year.

[Bèsame*]

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/happy-new-year-banner-decorative-stars-shapes-festive-composition-featuring-pink-banner-happy-new-year-393738054.jpg?w=992

[Orema]

Chaos is on my mind.

Trump is exceptionally good at creating chaos but we haven’t forgotten about the Epstein files. Hopefully, that will be his downfall. I’m not counting on it, but I’m “keeping hope alive.”

[Kätzchen]

Chaos is on my mind.

Trump is exceptionally good at creating chaos but we haven’t forgotten about the Epstein files. Hopefully, that will be his downfall. I’m not counting on it, but I’m “keeping hope alive.”

I saw this quote floating throughout the internet yesterday:

“Greenland already said No, just like all the girls in the Epstein Files,” — Aaron Beltran.

—————————————.

I also read earlier last week that survivors of this horrific sex abuse scandal are plotting with their attorney’s and exploring ways that they can reveal the biggest of the sex perpetrators of the entire bunch. I’m fairly certain, due to the “tit 4 tat” structure of the ongoing admin that they are getting all their proverbial ducks in a row and will deliver the biggest throat punch seen since the Dark ages. :vigil: :praying: :vigil: :praying: :vigil:

[kittygrrl]

I was reading a thread about romance and saw some names that make me wonder where they are...Wondering about :bouquet:Bulldog:bouquet: specifically, she loved pie(from what i remember..and the last i heard she went back to Arizona?????? not sure...i know she was dealing with female cancer..and she hasnt been here in ages...does anyone know how she is doing???

[Orema]

I was reading a thread about romance and saw some names that make me wonder where they are...Wondering about :bouquet:Bulldog:bouquet: specifically, she loved pie(from what i remember..and the last i heard she went back to Arizona?????? not sure...i know she was dealing with female cancer..and she hasnt been here in ages...does anyone know how she is doing???

Bulldog passed away on November 6, 2024. Clay posted the news. You can find the post if you look at Clay’s posting history.

[kittygrrl]

Bulldog passed away on November 6, 2024. Clay posted the news. You can find the post if you look at Clay’s posting history.

So sad....thanks for letting me know Orema

[kittygrrl]

I would love to see more avatars to choose from:eatinghersheybar:<<like this candybar

[kittygrrl]

woo...do you like my 'new' look? but, i think at least a few new ones would be really nice!

[Orema]

ICE Is Watching You

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/opinion/ice-surveillance-protesters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1A.gFEL.r zNAn7CO0Hkn&smid=url-share

By Tressie McMillan Cottom
Opinion Columnist, New York Times
Feb 3, 2026

https://i.postimg.cc/vZY0Dpm9/IMG-0182.webp

In the latest stop in Donald Trump’s war on liberal democracy, federal agents in Minnesota have shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It was difficult to avoid the videos of what I can only think of as their executions. The images captured by bystanders and immigration agents were reminiscent of the lynching postcards that white spectators once bought and traded — reproductions of retributive violence, tailor-made to titillate and intimidate.

Pretti’s killing, in particular, struck a chord of dismay with a cross section of Americans. There is some small measure of comfort that our public conscience can still be shocked. One may wish that it had happened sooner — when other people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this past year or immigrants were rounded up into camps. But whichever abuse convinced you, whichever needless death shocked you, you are here now. You need to pay attention to the guns ICE agents are pointing at all of us. You also need to pay attention to everything happening around the guns.

Just before Jonathan Ross, an ICE agent, pulled the gun that he discharged into Good’s S.U.V., he was shooting video of the incident on his cellphone.

The gun and the phone are both weapons — one a tool for violence and the other a tool of control.

We understand what the gun is intended to do. That’s why, finally, opposition to the Trump administration seems to be coalescing around a rallying cry, “Abolish ICE!” It’s another way of saying: Control the hand that holds the gun. It is the gun that produces the spectacle of violence from which we cannot, in good conscience, look away. Yes, we must pay attention to the gun.

But we must also pay attention to the phone.

That phone represents a greater power, one that could outlast Trumpism. ICE knows that it cannot shoot us all. But the Department of Homeland Security is close to being able to track us all.

Trump’s signature domestic policy bill gave ICE $75 billion in new funding and four years to spend it, making ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency. The agency is spending big on signing bonuses — 12,000 new officers and agents have been hired with “big, beautiful” act money — and cutting-edge military weaponry to use on American streets. The Department of Homeland Security also has been, reportedly, spending some of its budget to collect data on people like you.

The federal government, whether Democratic- or Republican-controlled, has repeatedly failed to institute meaningful, urgently needed regulation of or legislation about data privacy that matches the scale of our risk. For decades, Americans have treated their data like a cheap externality. We trade crumbs of ourselves — our names, phone numbers, location data — for discounts, convenience and the illusion of safety. Democratic administrations, in particular, thought Silicon Valley chief executives were the good guys. So they enabled their sci-fi aspirations, invited them into the White House inner circle and consulted them on best practices for consumer data. Then many chiefs turned heel, helping the Trump administration aggressively scale up a data dragnet that will eat our civil liberties for lunch, if we let it.

Many of us have come to believe that our data is something outside ourselves, when, in fact, data is our self. Through our purchasing patterns and our digital habits, we have produced reams of details about how we live, think, vote and spend. And there is an entire industry of data brokers that collects and packages our data to be bought. Consequently, we live in a world where our data is valuable and our power to protect it is negligible.

The companies that already use our data — to target us with advertisements, to assess our eligibility for loans or insurance — are limited largely by the concerns of business: For the most part, a company wants your wallet, not your liberty. The same cannot be said of this administration.

Imagine what our country would look like if a federal agency compiled everything it could find about you on the open market and then paired it with your most sensitive personal data and the full weight of the federal surveillance apparatus. The result would be a system that could not only track you but also pretty accurately predict your choices, behaviors and vulnerabilities. The agency might decline to tell you how the database would be used or, worse, deny that such a database exists at all. In these times, we ought to assume the worst-case scenario: that every technological layer added to our democratic institutions has the potential to be hostile to civil liberties.

Already, there are signs that this future may come to pass.

In a citizen video from Maine that has been widely shared online, an ICE agent told a legal observer that he was taking a picture of her license plate to add her to a “nice little database” that will label her a “domestic terrorist.” (A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, later told CNN that “there is no database of domestic terrorists run by D.H.S.”) In any case, the Department of Homeland Security has issued broad internal guidance for ICE agents in Minneapolis to collect “images, license plates, identifications and general information on hotels, agitators, protesters.” And then on Friday, The Times reported that ICE was exploring ways to integrate advertising technologies and the data associated with them into its operations, specifically asking potential vendors the extent to which data could be collected on “people, businesses, devices, locations, transactions, public records.” There’s no word on ICE having a special decoder ring that tracks only the criminals.

Emily Tucker, the director of Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology, suggested the agency could be constructing a surveillance system that, in my estimation, would make “Minority Report” look like child’s play. Homeland Security, she said, “is increasingly emphasizing interoperability in its contracting.” That is a strong sign that the agency wants to connect a range of databases, which could include those with your biometric data, employment data, driving records, credit reports, tax data, social media data, cellphone location data and automated license plate reader data. “They are seeking data about every aspect of the lives of everyone,” she said.

If combined with the facial recognition and social media monitoring commonly deployed by the Department of Homeland Security, those reams of data would turbocharge ICE’s terror campaign in the short term and destroy American civil liberties in the long term. Should this surveillance infrastructure live up to its technical potential, it would be a leviathan that our Constitution almost certainly cannot restrain.

I spoke on the phone last week to Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, who has been trying, futilely, for years to pass legislation to protect Americans’ data from federal overreach. One such bill passed in the House in 2024 but languished in the Senate. He told me that the federal government is “weaponizing private data” against citizens and noncitizens. Of particular concern, he said, was not simply the data about all of us that is available for purchase but also how states are allowing for the federal government’s data smash-and-grab. What this administration cannot buy, it will simply take.

Your state and federal data is the stuff you are compelled to provide, the data whose accuracy you worry about because a mistake can disrupt your Social Security benefits or put you at odds with the I.R.S. The Trump administration has been taking advantage of state-level data that has been aggregated by a third-party nonprofit data clearinghouse called Nlets. It was established to help local, national and international agencies share data, including Department of Motor Vehicles data, about known criminal activity. In practice, there are far too few restrictions on who can use that data and how they can use it. A handful of states have enacted restrictions on ICE’s access to the D.M.V. data stored with Nlets, but a vast majority effectively give federal agencies self-service, direct access to it. So a tool meant to make D.M.V. data sharing frictionless for law enforcement agencies also acts like a privacy Trojan horse, because agencies don’t need just cause or a warrant to look at it.

You don’t need to understand how digital tracking works or have a degree in constitutional law to grasp what is happening to your privacy. You need only know this: Whatever is happening with your data, it is important enough to the most egregiously lawless administration in American history that it be collected and consolidated. It is important enough that a federal cowboy kept one hand on his phone even as his other hand reached for his gun.

A militarized federal police force that acts out of loyalty on the whim of a political leader who relishes retribution and adulation is the tip of an iceberg. You don’t build a nuclear bomb for peace any more than you build a national surveillance apparatus just to manage a border wall. This kind of weaponry could effectively nullify our Fourth Amendment right to protection from unreasonable search and seizure. It also could more easily enable the government to trample on your free speech. And it could do all of this without meaningful transparency or oversight.

The federal government might have abdicated its responsibility to protect our civil liberties by regulating who can use our data and to what ends. Some states are stepping in, creating their own data privacy laws. But there is still much more to be done, in state legislatures and in Congress. And it all starts with the American people understanding that our freedoms are now bound up in who controls our data.

End the spectacle of vicarious violence. Abolish ICE.

But to end the structure of violence that has ensnared our civil liberties, we will also have to finally, finally turn our attention to who is controlling the damn phones.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/opinion/ice-surveillance-protesters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1A.gFEL.r zNAn7CO0Hkn&smid=url-share

[kittygrrl]

still super glitchy posting here :(

[kittygrrl]

it's been very glitchy in here today...seems ok at the moment tho'

[easygoingfemme]

I have a lot of catching up to do here! Apparently I haven't been in since September? I tried a number of times and the board was down but today- poof, here we are.

I hope everyone is warm, healthy, and content in the possible ways, given the state of the world.

[Kätzchen]

The terrible way that certain members of the Republican Party treated the Marine who spoke up for the Palestinian people and his Palestinian wife. They shattered his arm, yet he did not flinch while he was horrifically assaulted.

May every single one of the members of this political party get the comeuppance they deserve (I hope they rot in hell).

[Stone-Butch]

Went to Hamilton last night for a stage show. Rod Stewart was fabulous. So many of his older songs he was his old self. Sure did not show his age. The audience was pretty wild too lol. Great show. I am happy we went ( a friend) and I would like to go again as he is live again but after over $600. per ticket, I do not think so although it was worth the drive and the money.

[Orema]

I had been thinking of going to the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago this summer but it’s gonna be really, really crowded so I think I'll wait to go till Kwanzaa or next spring/summer. I like crowds and love to go to ball games, concerts, etc, but I think the opening of the OPC will be a bit too much for me. We’ll see.

My nephew and his son will be there for a day or two in July and have invited me to meet them. I might do that.