Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. “First, do no harm” applies to you as much as to anyone else.

You didn’t fail us.

We failed you.

Ford: Yes, but what about all these bribes?

I’m a big fan of the maxim that how people talk about furries tells you a LOT about how deep their progressive ideals actually run.

There are way too many self proclaimed leftists who either want to or feel compelled to reflexively shit on furries, because they’re the designated punching bags that it’s OK to mock. This, despite the fact that furries aren’t harming anyone.

I don’t get furry kinks. I don’t get spending thousands of dollars on a fursuit. I don’t get the fursona thing. I do know enough to know that for most furries it’s not a kink, furry porn is only consumed by a very small subset of the community, and a lot of self-identified furries probably can’t afford a fursuit.

But most of all, I know they’re not hurting anyone. So who the fuck cares what they do with their time and money, or how they get off, or fucking whatever? It’s none of my god damn business.

I hope every furry is having a good time, and I hope you all get an abundance of head pats.

And I wish that the so-called leftists who keep punching down on them would find someone actually worth shitting on to be mean to instead.

Like Nazis. It’s always good to be mean to Nazis.

In other news, foxes think there should be fewer fences around chicken coops.

Wait, what?

OK, help me understand your reasoning here.

People refuse to vote for Harris, because it would betray their principals to support the Dems when they refuse to call what’s happening in Gaza a genocide (which it is).

They do this, despite knowing that this will help Trump win, who will actively encourage Israel’s genocide, as opposed to the current Dem position of trying to (fairly ineffectively) somewhat temper it.

This is very much an example of what Ian is talking about in his video. (Typically) White progressive activists choosing their own principles over what will actually be most beneficial for the people they claim to be advocating for. The Dems are ultimately the better option for Palestinians, small though the difference may be.

But you seem to be arguing that actually the real villain here is some random commenter calling those people out for doing exactly that. And that said commentor is actually the one guilty of choosing principles over effective advocacy.

Do I have that right?

Sorry, what I meant by that is that individual voters either vote for one or the other. I wasn’t referring to the overall state of who actually wins. But I get that that wasn’t clear at all from how I phrased it.

The thing about Alberta is that they consistently elect the most hardcore right wing crazies in all of Canada.

And they also consistently elect genuinely progressive, openly socialist governments of the kind you imagine Bernie Sanders might run.

There are no middle of the road centrists in 'Berta. You’re either a frothing mouthed “Jewish Space Lasers” kind of crazy, or you’re a proud union member ready to give everyone UBI and free education.

The latter tend to be found more in the cities, as always.

Unfortunately the former seem to have the edge overall in elections.

So, politically, it’s definitely not a great environment, but culturally you’d actually find a lot of like minded folks there. The problem is that right now you’d probably spend your time hanging out with those like minded folks grumbling about your QAnon premier as she sells off the entire healthcare system and deletes sex education from schools.

First thing that comes to mind is Warframe. It’s a co-op third person looter-shooter, with full crossplay, so you can all party up across your platforms. It’s all very controller friendly, with lots of shotguns, SMGs, melee weapons and space magic that are all really forgiving of imprecise aim. It cares less about twitch reflexes and more about movement.

The scifi setting and “space ninja” aesthetic may or may not be to your taste, although I promise if you take the time really sink into the world it’s actually one of the most refreshingly different and unique scifi settings out there. There’s a lot of weirdness, but as you dig deeper into the story that weirdness all makes sense. And, like, it’s the good kind of weird if you get me? Stuff that makes you go “Holy fuck I want to know what the deal with that is!”

It does have a lot of MMO elements, so it can get grindy at times, but in my experience it’s a really solid game for hanging out and chilling on Discord together. Plus the game itself is free, with no paid DLC or add-ons, and for an adult with an income a few bucks here and there skips a LOT of grind, especially if you check out the third party market website where players will sell you a lot of the rare drops you’ll want for less than a dollar.

Added bonus, it’s made by the original developers of Unreal Tournament, Digital Extremes (there are actually a bunch of UT references squirelled away in the game).

Never underestimate the “fuckton of playtime” option. Some people just get really into a game.

Not fucking great buddy. Not fucking great.

For anyone looking for a cheap home made jerky method that can be done in regular bog standard oven, try this pork teriyaki jerky method. It’s super simple, and requires no equipment.

https://youtu.be/NGMIIGpo5Zw?si=MpI41_o9we-3ej89

Edit: Also, keep that bit about pork tenderloin to yourselves OK? Definitely don’t let anyone know that it’s a ridiculously cheap cut that you can use to make an absolutely delicious Pork Wellington (definitely don’t look up Alton Brown’s recipe for it). And certainly don’t let anyone know that if you put it in a sous vide with a little olive oil in the bag, it comes out as one of the juciest, most tender cuts of meat you’ve ever eaten in your life, for less than the price of the cheapest, toughest shoe-leather steaks they sell at the grocery store. Everyone is sleeping on this incredible cut of meat, and I would very much like to keep it that way.

Yeah, the trick with both liquid smoke and fish sauce is to use way less than you think you need. You’ll notice I’m only putting a teaspoon in about a full cup of marinade, and that’s enough to give a very distinctly smoky flavour. You can easily cut that back to a half or quarter teaspoon if you prefer it more subtle.

For fish sauce, I’m going to start out with the same kind of measures. I’ll probably go with 1tsp and then adjust up or down from there. If you can taste the fish sauce in the finished product you’ve used too much. And yes, brand absolutely matters. I only ever use Squid brand fish sauce personally.

I’ve got a big old bowl of freshly cut eye of round from my local butcher marinading in the fridge right now. Tomorrow it’ll go in the dehydrator (I’m lucky enough to have one built into my oven. I’m also very lucky to have a local butcher. Sadly not something most people have access to).

My current marinade is as follows:

• ¼ cup dark soy
• ¼ cup light soy
• ¼ cup water
• 2tbsp maple syrup
• 2tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1tsp liquid smoke
• LOTS of cracked black pepper

Optionally, add red pepper flake for a little spice. You can also up the amount of worcestershire if you like.

For my next batch I want to try adding a little fish sauce and MSG to really up the umami.

Also, I really like how making your own jerky allows you to control the grain pattern. I don’t mind a little chew to mine, but my wife likes it to come apart nice and easy so for her I cut across the grain. I have a vacuum sealer that I got on clearance, so I’ll batch up little packets of jerky for her to take into the field. It’s so much better than the jerky she gets in her issued rations.

Sadly, finding the time and energy to do stuff like this can be a challenge. I’m fortunate in that I work from home, so I can throw this stuff in the oven before my day starts and then just pull it when it’s done.

It is terrifying that this is happening in our country, and that our likely next prime minister supports it.

Well, can’t say fairer than that.

Yeah, I did try to stress that just because I can’t envision a use for it, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist. I’m totally OK with that. My question was more “Am I the idiot here for not being able to see what the use is?”

I mean it with 1000% seriousness when I say that it took an actor of Tim Curry’s calibre to let that pause drag out that long.

They could start by upping wages. It takes a year or more of the most brutal training for can imagine just to get into some of the trades in the military, and they get paid peanuts for it. Some of that training can literally kill if you fuck up. Yet there are service members living in tents or out of their cars because they can’t afford rent.

Obscurity is not the same thing as security.

You know those can be self hosted, right?

And yes, by all means just set up your own Wireguard or OpenVPN access if that’s what you prefer. You do you bud.