#are there Amish communities in Texas

[area51-escapee]

I wanted to know if planned parenthood is like the only place to get an abortion not because I’m looking for an abortion but just cuz whenever I see people being anti abortion they always exclusively mention planned parenthood which makes me wonder if it’s like the only facility that offers the service or if there’s other abortion clinics or if you can go to the hospital for that in a state where it’s legal so I googled it but all the results were informative pages from planned parenthood and also I feel like just searching that in the state of texas put me on some kind of list

[spann-stann]

Setting Blurb: The Reserves

It was easy to ship enemy urbanites and POWs out of CorpEmp territory and into the Cordons Sanitaire. But not everyone actively opposed CorpEmp. For every five communities that welcomed the warlords, there was one that was...apathetic. But not hostile. That was the thing. They just didn't want to join, and wanted to be left alone. CorpEmps founding warlords, not wanting a demographic influx of "people pissed at being made CorpEmp subjects" collectively shrugged their shoulders, and said as one "leave 'em be I guess".

Surveyors (armed in case the locals felt like doing more than shooting stern looks) would drive up to these communities, plop down a fence or whatever means of demarcation that was available, and bam! A Reserve was created. The Reserves (CorpEmp's word them) refers to the many, many, many little rural populations centers that are not part of CorpEmp. Unlike the Cordons Sanitaire, which had heavily policed borders, a Reserve only needed a little guard post (and gift shop for tourists) to watch the country road between it and the closest CorpEmp community. Trade and immigration, in and out of the Reserves, is unrestricted (again, these people were never activity opposed to CorpEmp). The closest CorpEmp and the Reserves ever get to diplomatic crises is cross-border brawls at the nearest pub.

Because of CorpEmp's lax security with the Reserves' borders, there are times were malign actors take advantage for their own gain. Some CPC gangbanger looking to make his bones will try setting up a "honest enterprise" within a Reserve. Days later, some Imperial constable will end up finding their body dangling from a telephone pole by the border.

Reserves are very insular (in case you couldn't already tell), contact with the outside world usually depends on if a particular reserve has internet, and how far the nearest non-Reserve is. Cooperation between Reserves is rare, emphasizing their desire to be self-reliant and not involved with the outside world. Cooperation with the Big Three is even rarer, for the exact same emphases. Although littered across CorpEmp territory, Reserves also form on the border between CorpEmp and U.M. territory.

The following is an incomplete list of Reserves in the 29th century:

Amish Countries: The Amish (the term now includes all strains of Mennonite) have continued their policy of remaining separate from the outside world. A few fellowships have taken this to the level of buying old orbital habitats (even building a few of their own).

Anti-Imperial Tribals: Not every member of the New Tribal Movement in pre-WW3 America was as warlike as the Hispano-Gaels. Some tribes decided to ignore the goings-on in Texas, and wall themselves up. A few still exist on the North American continent.

Bunker Dwellers: In some parts of the world, just before WW3 raged, some affluent individuals renovated old bunkers and missile silos to house themselves, families, and friends. A lot of them decided to remain underground after riding out the war and making contact with the many warlords fighting over the remains. Some complexes have become quite expansive by the 2800s, a few became underground arcologies.

Frontiersman: Some people don't like living in the core of human-settled space, and prefer to live on the fringes. Many communities were established in the Outer Solar System after the Big Three staked their many claims in the Inner, and now that all the good real estate inside the Oort is being developed a few expeditions into the Extrasolar territories (and beyond) were planned.

Hiders: There's not a lot to say about these Reserves. As the name (given to them) suggests, these guys just want to be left alone. In order to do so, they cut themselves off completely from the outside world. Hiders have been making moves to the Solar System's Oort Cloud (expect turf wars with the W.C.O.F.).

Leavealones: The bog standard Reserve. Quaint little village, standard of living a century-ish behind CorpEmp's. Usually a dirt country road connecting it to a CorpEmp community.

Nomads: The descendants of traveling folk, Nomads move up and down the many roads of the world. Some rely on horse-drawn carriages, others make do with the latest and greatest RVs. A few affluent Nomad groups own their own private roads. An even fewer number of the most affluent own their own boats to travel from continent to continent.

Peregrini: "Dwellers around", this Reserve takes the form of an enclave within an urban environ. Usually a walled-off, gated city block.

Prims: Sure, Reserves can be considered luddite by the other (technological) factions, but Prims take it to extremes. Eschewing technology altogether, Prims desire to return to state they only refer to as "monke". Uncontacted peoples, under the jurisdiction of the Green Consensus, are often erroneously placed in this category.

San Marino: Somehow, this small republic inside the Italian Peninsula not only survived the Third World War, but also the Warlords' Wars and creation of CorpEmp. When asked why it was never integrated into the West Latin Macrocommunity, locals just shrug their shoulders and say (in their own language) "I dunno".

Schismatics: Despite being a pro-religious empire, not many religious communities are pro-CorpEmp. Fundamentalist Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Sedevacantists, Orthodox Old Believers, and that's just from the Christian family of faiths. Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Animist, Scientologist (and other UFO-cults), and other religious schismatics dot the Earth (and the rest of the Solar System).

Spelunkers: These guys are a variant of Bunker Dwellers. What's different from Bunker Dwellers is that Spelunkers (as the name suggests) went to live inside complex cave systems. A bit like Hiders, in that they really want to be left alone.

Steaders: Steaders decided, once the technology was good enough, to strike out on their own on the open seas. Steader Reserves can vary in size, from single family platforms to a whole neighborhood floating on the ocean's surface. Or on the ocean floor.

Survivalists: Hiders, but packing heat. Wait. More heat than Hiders. These guys are playing the long game, waiting out in wherever they hunker down until another cataclysmic conflict destroys the Big Three. Then, them and their vision for humanity will become dominant. Given the recent discovery of multiple objects blueshifitng to the Solar System, they're beginning to be quite popular.

[newstfionline]

Thursday, March 14, 2024

The US has its first presidential rematch since 1956 (AP) Just when Americans thought they were out, Joe Biden and Donald Trump pulled them back in. The sequel to the 2020 election is officially set as the president and his immediate predecessor secured their parties’ nominations. Biden and Trump have set up a political movie the country has seen before—even if the last version was in black and white. The last presidential rematch came in 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower again defeated Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic opponent he had four years prior. Grover Cleveland, meanwhile, was the nation’s 22nd and 24th president, winning elections in 1884 and 1892.

Congress is becoming less productive (Reuters) The U.S. Congress is navigating yet another government funding deadline—the eighth in less than six months—and are at an impasse over sending aid to key allies in Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Divisions among Republicans in the House and Senate killed a major bipartisan border policy bill. Reforms to bedrock programs like Medicare and Social Security are desperately needed but no closer to getting passed. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives spent close to a month without a speaker last year due to infighting between moderate and hard right factions of the Republican party. When U.S. Representative Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, begged his colleagues in November to “give me one thing I can campaign on and say we did,” he was articulating what many lawmakers and observers were feeling: Congress isn’t working. The simplest expression of this is the number of bills passed by Congress. Just twenty-seven bills were passed last year—a record low.

In yearly Pennsylvania tradition, Amish communities hold spring auctions to support fire departments (AP) A couple hundred used buggies—horses not included—were lined up and ready for the auctioneer’s gavel last weekend when day began at the Gordonville mud sale, a local Amish tradition dating to the 1960s. Mud sales are country auctions that benefit volunteer fire departments across what the Amish community refers to as the Lancaster settlement, located some 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Philadelphia where the devout Christian group began to settle about 300 years ago. They don’t sell mud, although a cold rain brought plenty of it. The name refers to early spring, when wet fields have begun to thaw but may not be ready for the plow. Gordonville’s mud sale, one of at least a dozen being held this spring in the region, drew thousands of bidders and was expected to net the fire department about $100,000, about 10% of the total proceeds. Amish people make and donate much of the food and sale items and are the buyers of most of the buggies and the array of horse-drawn farm equipment.

As leader resigns, Haitian politicians rush to form new government (Washington Post) Haitian leaders scrambled Tuesday to meet a 24-hour deadline to set up a panel that will lead the deteriorating country to new elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Kenyan officials, meanwhile, said they were putting the deployment of a U.N.-approved multinational security force to the beleaguered Caribbean nation on pause until a new government is in place, according to media reports. A senior U.S. State Department official said the transitional presidential council would select an interim prime minister and government in “the very near future” and the mission should “go forward without delay.” Perhaps the greatest question: Would the gangs that helped push Henry allow the transition to a new authority?

Germany hit by new wave of airport, train strikes (DPA) Germany has again been hit by a double wave of strikes in the transport sector, as train drivers and aeroplane cabin crews stopped work on Tuesday in ongoing wage disputes. Around 80% of long-distance trains were cancelled on Tuesday as train drivers from the state-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn went on strike. At major air hubs Frankfurt and Munich, tens of thousands passengers were having to reschedule their flights due to a two-day strike by the cabin crew union Ufo at Lufthansa. Individual flights were also cancelled at other locations such as Berlin's international airport.

‘Jamming’: How Electronic Warfare Is Reshaping Ukraine’s Battlefields (NYT) The Ukrainian soldier swore and tore off his headset. His video monitor had gone blurry at first, the landscape of shattered trees and shell craters barely visible, before blacking out completely. The Russians had jammed the signal of his drone as it was flying outside the town of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine. For a while, the Ukrainians enjoyed a honeymoon period with their self-detonating drones that were used like homemade missiles. The weapons seemed like an effective alternative to artillery shells for striking Russian forces. Now, the bad days are starting to outweigh the good ones: electronic countermeasures have become one of the Russian military’s most formidable weapons after years of honing their capabilities. Electronic warfare remains a hidden hand in much of the war, and like Ukraine’s disadvantage in troop numbers and ammunition supplies, Ukraine suffers in this area as well in comparison to Russia. Russia has more jamming equipment capable of overpowering Ukrainian signals by broadcasting on the same frequencies at higher power. It also exhibits better coordination among their units.

Naval drones versus Russian warships (BBC) The secretive G-13 unit of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency was behind the sinking of the Sergey Kotov warship last week, its fifth downing in the year since it’s been in operation. The group’s not-so-secret weapons are naval drones—cheap, unmanned and lethal. The Magura V5, named after a Slavic goddess of war, looks like a small motorboat with a flat surface instead of passenger seats. “It doesn’t emit a lot of heat, so it’s almost invisible for thermal cameras. It’s made from plastic, therefore even radars struggle to see it,” says the unit’s commander. Produced by the Ukrainian armed forces, the drone’s claimed range is 800km (500 miles), so it can easily reach the Crimean peninsula and even the Russian coastline. It can allegedly carry 250kg of payload, enough to sink a warship.

Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war (Reuters) President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict. Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war. Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory—or to Ukraine—Russia would treat the move as an intervention.

Chinese trust goes bust, reflecting turbulent economy (AP) Some investors in a troubled trust fund in China are facing financial ruin under a government plan to return a fraction of their money, casualties of a slump in the property industry and a broader economic slowdown. Sichuan Trust, headquartered in the southwest city of Chengdu, announced it was insolvent in 2020, stricken by sketchy accounting and failed investments in shopping malls and other projects. A deadline earlier this month to accept a 20%-60% “haircut” or loss on their investments has left some investors in deep financial trouble. China’s economy, the world’s second largest, depends heavily on real estate development to drive growth and create jobs. Property prices and sales have languished after a crackdown on what leaders viewed as dangerous levels of borrowing, causing dozens of developers to default on their debts. The ruling Communist Party faces a dilemma: Debt is a problem, but falling home prices lead people to scrimp on spending. That squeezes companies’ sales, so they lay off workers and cut back on investment. The result: slowing growth and less wealth to go around.

Medics say they were ‘humiliated’ in raid (BBC) For several weeks, Alice Cuddy and several of our colleagues have been investigating what went on when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided Gaza’s Nasser hospital last month. It was at the time one of the few medical facilities still functioning in the Strip. Intelligence, the IDF said, indicated the presence of Hamas operatives—a claim denied by Hamas. Some hostages who got out of Gaza said they had been held at Nasser. Since the raid, Palestinian medical staff in Gaza have told the BBC they were blindfolded, detained, forced to strip and repeatedly beaten by Israeli soldiers. Doctor Ahmed Abu Sabha, whose account closely matches those of two medics who wished to remain anonymous, described being detained for a week. Muzzled dogs were set upon him and his hand was broken by an Israeli soldier, he said. The three men told the BBC they were beaten, doused with cold water, and forced to kneel in uncomfortable positions for hours. The IDF did not comment on the specific allegations, but said “any abuse of detainees is contrary to IDF orders”.

A Ramadan of ‘sadness’ as war-weary Gazans go hungry (Washington Post) For Mahasen Khateeb, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan used to be a time of lavish dinners, family gatherings, communal prayers and gift giving. “All of that is gone,” the 31-year-old graphic designer said by phone from Jabalya, in northern Gaza, which humanitarian groups warn is on the brink of famine after months of Israeli siege and bombardment. Khateeb doesn’t have enough food for suhoor, the traditional meal eaten before dawn, when the day-long Ramadan fast begins. On Tuesday for iftar, the post-sunset meal when people break their fast, she planned to make rounds of bread topped with canned tomato sauce. Her brother risked his life, she said, to get a bag of flour during a rare and chaotic aid delivery last week. “This situation isn’t new with Ramadan,” she said. “We’ve already been fasting for more than a month. … There are no food products to buy and eat.” Khateeb said she has mainly been subsisting on green leafy plants that grow with the winter rains and die out as spring approaches. 16 children have died of malnutrition in aid-starved Gaza, health officials say

A ship carrying 200 tons of food is heading to Gaza (Washington Post) A ship carrying nearly 200 tons of food left Cyprus on Tuesday to deliver desperately needed aid to the Gaza Strip, where concerns are mounting over the worsening humanitarian situation. The journey, if successful, would mark the first shipment of aid into Gaza via a new maritime route—but the supplies the ship is carrying represent only a fraction of the amount of aid needed after five months of a devastating war that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The mission is being undertaken by World Central Kitchen, the aid organization founded by celebrity chef Andrés, who is based in Washington. “We have served more than 35 million meals in Gaza & the maritime corridor will allow us to provide millions more,” the group said.

Zimbabwe, After Expelling U.S. Officials, Accuses Them of Promoting ‘Regime Change’ (NYT) The government of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe detained, interrogated and deported officials and contractors working for the United States government last month, and this week accused them publicly of promoting “regime change” in their country. The incident is the latest in the Zimbabwean government’s aggressive efforts to thwart both domestic and international challenges to its authority. The incumbent government claimed victory in a chaotic election last year that several independent observer missions said lacked fairness and credibility. But it also points to a deeper tension over the United States’ proclaimed efforts to promote democracy around the globe. Some nations, including Zimbabwe, have accused America of meddling in their affairs and attempting to impose its values—as well as of hypocrisy, given the threats at home to its own democracy.

[thegospelhighways2020]

Good Morning My Saints This morning today's Lesson is we're going to talk about School Shootings and Child Safety children that Deserve Safety Should Have Been Brought Out Of the School Shootings Took Place In 1989 or 86 and It still Continues Dunblane Primary School Shooting happened in Dunblane massacre

Start date

March 13, 1996 and not just School Shooting happened but in some Places Shootings Happened and Children Runs Out of the School for Safety Reasons Hungerford massacre

August 19, 1987 Port Arthur massacre

April 28, 1996

Cumbria shootings

June 2, 2010 Plymouth shooting

Incident Start date: August 12, 2021

Deaths: 6 (including the perpetrator)

Injured: 2 disaster

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting Date: December 14, 2012

Location: Sandy Hook, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Newtown School District

Injuries (nonfatal): 2

Number of deaths: 28

Deaths: 28 (27 at the school, including the perpetrator; and the perpetrator's mother at home) disaster

Erfurt school massacre Date: April 26, 2002 disaster

Rio de Janeiro school shooting Date: April 7, 2011 Bath School disaster Date: May 18, 1927 Winnenden school shooting

March 11, 2009 disaster

Robb Elementary School shooting

May 24, 2022 at 12:28 PM EDT Virginia Tech shooting

April 16, 2007 disaster

Columbine High School massacre Date: April 20, 1999 disaster

2018 Santa Fe High School shooting

May 18, 2018 Parkland high school shooting

February 14, 2018 Beslan school siege

Sep 1, 2004 – Sep 3, 2004 Amish school shooting

October 2, 2006 2014 Isla Vista massacre

May 23, 2014 2017 Las Vegas shooting

October 1, 2017 University of Texas tower shooting

August 1, 1966 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting

October 1, 2015 École Polytechnique massacre

December 6, 1989 On March 27, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian Church in America parochial elementary school in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee when 28-year-old Aiden Hale (born Audrey Elizabeth Hale), a transgender man and former student of the school,[4][5][6] killed three nine‑year‑old children and three adults before being shot and killed by two Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers.

[meezcarrie]

Book Review: Bonding Over the Amish Baby by Pamela Desmond Wright

#BookReview BONDING OVER THE AMISH BABY by @PamDWrites is "sweet and sincere with unexpected plot twists and a beautiful message of home and redemption." #BookTwitter #ContemporaryRomance @LoveInspiredBks @HarlequinBooks #readingcommunity

BONDING OVER THE AMISH BABY by Pamela Desmond Wright SERIES: Schroder Sisters #2 GENRE: Contemporary/Amish Romance (Christian) PUBLISHER: Love Inspired RELEASE DATE: October 24, 2023 PAGES: 218 Two perfect strangers Brought together by a tiny bundle of joy After he wrecks his car, Dr. Caleb Sutter finds himself stranded in an Amish community in Texas. What he didn’t count on is becoming the…

[mr880fan]

10 of the Best States for Off Grid Living

  Are you thinking about going off-grid? One of the most significant decisions you’ll make is where to live. While the off-grid movement has become more mainstream, many places still aren’t friendly towards off-grid living. So, we decided to make a list of the best states for off-grid living in America.

How Did We Decide Which States Are Best for Off-Grid?

There are a lot of things you should consider when deciding where to live, but for off-grid living, these are the main parameters to consider: Laws You may be surprised that off-grid living isn’t completely legal in some states. For example, you might find it challenging to get a “certificate of occupancy” if your home doesn’t have electricity. Likewise, some states have stricter permitting and building code requirements than others. This can make it difficult to legally use certain off-grid systems, such as greywater recycling or wind turbines. For more info, read: Is Living Off Grid Legal? The Laws of Every State in America Ability to Live Off the Land For many people, living off-grid and homesteading go hand-in-hand. This means you’ll need to live somewhere with natural resources like fertile soil and enough water for farming. Even if you don’t want to live off the land, you will need natural resources like sunlight or wind to produce your own electricity. For more info, read:  Which States Are Best for Homesteading? Natural Disasters Some states are great for off-grid living but often get struck by severe disasters. This is one reason that Texas, Oklahoma, and Montana didn’t make the list of best off-grid states. Droughts in many states also make it harder to live off the land. Cost Unfortunately, going off-grid usually isn’t cheap. In addition to the cost of land, you’ll also have expenses like building permits. Installing alternative systems legally – especially if the state has strict building codes – can also be pricier than using traditional grid-connected methods. Long term, there are costs like property taxes, sales taxes, and cost of living to consider. Luckily, some states encourage self-sufficient living by giving tax breaks for homesteads. Community and Culture Some states have thriving off-grid communities. These communities can be a great resource and support you as you figure out your self-sufficient lifestyle. Community and culture are important even if you want to live an isolated, off-grid lifestyle. For example, states with a culture of agriculture or strong Amish communities tend to be more accepting of the off-grid lifestyle. You won’t have as much interference from local government or neighbors.

Best States for Off-Grid Living

1. Vermont

Laws Vermont has stringent building laws, and you’ll need a permit for just about everything. However, this is a good thing. Here’s why: In many other states, the laws don’t mention composting toilets or alternative building methods (think straw bale). This puts them in a legal gray area: you won’t know if the system is legal, and it is basically up to the whim of the local inspectors to approve or deny the system. By contrast, Vermont’s laws are very clear. For example, Vermont is one of the only states that clearly outlines alternative waste disposal systems rules. You’ll still need a permit and maybe even a licensed engineer to design the system, but at least you know it will pass inspection. For more info, read: Off-Grid Laws of Vermont Living off the Land Nearly 80% of the state is covered by forests, and the land is lush and arable. The state is well known for dairy, maple syrup, apples, and cheese – but many crops will also excel in the fertile land. There is ample water but only approximately 167 sunny days per year, so producing your own electricity from solar year-round can be a challenge. On the downside, Vermont winters come early and are harsh. The time between the last and first frost is only about 155 days, but the growing season can be extended by building a greenhouse. Disasters When it comes to natural disasters, Vermont is one of the safest states in the country. There are flooding and winter storms, but the state doesn’t have a significant risk of wildfires, drought, heat waves, hurricanes, or earthquakes. For more info, read: Natural Disasters in Vermont Cost The cost of land in Vermont is not cheap. However, unlike in many states, most counties don’t have strict “minimum plot size” zoning rules. This means buying a small piece of land for your off-grid home is possible. Costs are also high when it comes to taxes. Vermont has one of the country’s highest property tax rates and high sales taxes. Community and Culture Vermont is famous for its thriving homesteading culture, and there are numerous off-grid communities. Just note that a lot of this culture is because of how many hippies went to the state during the 1960s and 1970s in a “back to the land” movement. If you are liberal, you will feel at home here, but not so much if you are conservative. 2. Maine

Laws When it comes to laws, Maine is one of the best states for off-grid living. As a water-rich state, you are legally allowed to use the water on your property and do things like digging retention ponds. Zoning laws are surprisingly friendly towards tiny homes and mobile home living. State laws even allow for alternative sewage systems, such as outhouses, in many cases. Like with Vermont, you’ll need permits for almost everything in Maine. However, the laws are clear about what’s allowed, so there’s no legal gray area. For more info, read: Off-Grid Laws of Maine Living Off the Land Maine is very similar to Vermont when it comes to living off the land. It also has a 155-day time between the last and first frost. However, Maine is a bit colder and snowier. The main agricultural items in Maine are dairy, potatoes, and chicken eggs. Because of the short growing season, greenhouse and aquaculture are also popular. Disasters Maine is one of the states that is least at risk when it comes to natural disasters. If you manage to find land outside of a flood zone and learn to prepare for the harsh winters, you can rest at ease. For more info, read: Natural Disasters in Maine Cost Farmland is quite expensive in Maine. Expect to pay at least $5,350 per acre. Finding small plots of land in Maine can be difficult because of minimum plot size zoning rules. The cost of living in Maine is lower than any other state in New England. However, the costs are still higher than in most of the country. Property taxes and sales taxes are higher than the national average. Community and Culture Maine’s motto is “Live and Let Live.” This mentality is very favorable for off-grid living and you’ll find a supportive culture in the state. There are lots of farmer’s markets and a strong homesteading community. 3. Wisconsin

Laws Wisconsin is mostly great when it comes to laws about off-grid living. There are still many places without zoning laws, so you can use your property how you wish in these areas. You must meet the state building codes, but there are exceptions for “primitive cabins” if you don’t live there full-time. The state even allows outhouses and is friendly to tiny homes. However, living in an RV is usually illegal. As a water-rich state, Wisconsin has very relaxed laws about using water on or next to your property for domestic use. You don’t even need a permit to drill a well in many cases. For more info, read: Off-Grid Laws of Wisconsin Living Off the Land Wisconsin’s soil is good for both crops and livestock. However, the growing season is very short, with just 110 days between the last and first frost. There is an average of 188 sunny days per year, so year-round solar power will be a challenge. While Wisconsin does have a good supply of water, the state does have occasional problems with drought. Droughts are expected to worsen over the next decades. Disasters Compared to the rest of the country, Wisconsin is relatively safe from natural disasters. The biggest risk is winter storms and blizzards. Some parts of the state average 3 to 5 blizzards per season. For more info, read: Natural Disasters in Wisconsin Cost The cost of land in Wisconsin is very high and is only getting more expensive. Expect to pay $5,700 per acre of farmland. Cropland is even more expensive. Property taxes in Wisconsin are the 8th most expensive in the country. On the plus side, the cost of living in Wisconsin is lower than in most other states. The Community and Culture There are about 17,000 Amish living in Wisconsin and the state as a whole has a very favorable attitude towards living off the land and self-reliance. Many parts of the state are very rural though. So, if you were hoping to connect to other people living off-grid or need assistance with some of your systems, you may struggle. 4. West Virginia

Laws If you want to build your own off-grid home or live in an alternative structure, West Virginia is one of the best states to do it. That’s because, while West Virginia has a state building code, it does not require communities to adopt or enforce it. As a result, many unincorporated areas in West Virginia have no building codes. About 40% of West Virginia is unincorporated, so there’s a good chance of finding land in an area without building codes. Also read: States without Building Codes Regardless of where you live, you must meet the state’s sewage laws. In most cases, you will be required to have septic, though outhouses are still legal in WV in certain situations. As a water-rich state, West Virginia has very relaxed rules about water rights. In general, you’ll be able to use the water on your property without restrictions. For more info, read: Off-Grid Laws of West Virginia Living Off the Land West Virginia is a very water-rich state and has lots of forests. However, the natural resources mostly stop there. The state has shallow, acidic clay soil. There are only 150 days between the last and first frost, so West Virginia is not great for farming. It is better suited for livestock. There are only about 160 sunny days per year in West Virginia, so providing your own solar power year-round can be a challenge. However, you may be able to utilize hydropower because of the state’s many waterways. Disasters When it comes to natural disasters, West Virginia is at lower risk than the rest of the country. However, the state does regularly experience devastating floods, heavy snowfall, freezing rains, droughts, and heat waves. For more info, read: Natural Disasters in West Virginia Cost West Virginia has one of the lowest costs of living in the country. There are also low property taxes and state taxes are moderate. Farmland is still moderately expensive, though, with costs averaging $3,600 per acre. Community and Culture West Virginia has numerous thriving off-grid communities – and the state is becoming even more popular with people who want to live a self-reliant lifestyle. Overall, the state has a low violent crime rate, though there are problems associated with the state’s high poverty levels. 5. Minnesota

Going off-grid in Minnesota could be difficult from the legal aspect. There are many rules and regulations, especially around waterways and tourist destinations, which might make it illegal to live the type of lifestyle you want. One of the most frustrating obstacles is that the state highly regulates water use. You’ll need to apply for a permit to use water, even if it’s on your own property. Surprisingly, composting toilets and outhouses are legal in Minnesota. Though there are regulations you need to follow about these too. In some places, you will be required to hook up to the local sewage system if it’s located nearby. For more info, read: Off-Grid Laws of Minnesota Living Off the Land Minnesota really shines when it comes to living off the land. The state has ample water with a low risk of drought. Soil quality is also good throughout most of the state, so farming is strong. The state ranks #5 in the USA for agriculture, so you should be able to grow your own food. Providing your own electricity could be a challenge, though, since the state has 195 sunny days per year (slightly below the average of 205 days). Disasters Compared to the rest of the country, Minnesota is at low risk for natural disasters. The state does regularly have harsh winters and freeze events, which you will need to be prepared for. For more info, read: Natural Disasters in Minnesota Cost Farmland in Minnesota is very expensive at over $6,000 per acre. The cost of living is moderate, as are the state’s property and sales taxes. Don’t expect it to be cheap to go off-grid in Minnesota! Community Minnesota doesn’t have a strong off-grid community. However, they do have a very strong farming culture. Almost 3% of all land in the state is farmland. The residents are known for their courteous and reserved manners. 6. Kentucky

Laws Kentucky is very relaxed when it comes to off-grid laws. Approximately half of the state is rural, and the zoning laws in these areas also tend to be very relaxed. The state allows alternative sewage systems (though outhouses are illegal). Kentucky is one of the only states where you can legally recycle graywater without needing a septic system for it. Despite having a high risk of drought, Kentucky still has relaxed laws regarding water rights and usage. You can generally use the water on your property without any restrictions or permit requirements. For more info, read: Read the full article

[esoehh]

The Gift of Faith (Unexpected Gifts Book 3) by Kristen McKanagh

Book Details: 

Title: The Gift of Faith

Series: Unexpected Gifts Book 3

Author: Kristen McKanagh

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 301

Release Date: April 11, 2023  

Genre: Amish Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book Description:

The rewards of faith are plentiful in this sweet Amish romance from the author of The Gift of Joy. The quietest of the three Kanagy boys, Daniel, would prefer to spend his time keeping his bees and selling the honey rather than tending his family’s gift shop. But with both his brothers breaking away from the family business, his parents need Daniel more than ever. Contrary to town gossip, Faith Kemp didn’t jump the fence—she left to track down her twin sister, Mercy. When Faith returns home with a newborn baby, the rumors are tough to set right, and not everyone in the community is welcoming. To help support her family, Faith sells dried flower arrangements to the popular gift shop in town. Each visit, she looks forward to seeing Daniel Kanagy. He doesn’t say much, but his steady strength speaks to her just the same. With girls buzzing around Daniel and trying to catch his eye, why would he turn his gaze to a quiet, plain girl who has a baby and too many rumors about her?

My Thoughts: Beautiful and Inspiring

What a wonderful story! I loved watching Faith and Daniel reestablish their friendship and watching how it blossomed into a mutual trust and support for each other. However, as their friendship deepens, challenging and unexpected situations rise up. Some of the situations are painful, and some involve difficult decisions, but all will require a reliance on faith and trust in God. 

The Gift of Faith is so beautifully written and it deeply touched my heart. Some parts had me smiling, some parts brought tears to my eyes and some had me reflecting upon the awesomeness of God and His faithfulness. That along with elements of forgiveness, grace and love make this an absolutely beautiful and inspiring story that I highly recommend.

I received an advanced copy of this book.  All comments and opinions are voluntary and completely my own.

                        -------------------------------------------------

About the Author: Kristen McKanagh

Romance author Kristen McKanagh writes sweet contemporary romance & Amish romance. She loves plots that warm the soul, feisty heroines with sass, heroes with heart, a dash of snark, and oodles of HEAs! Other titles include wife, mother, Star Wars geek, ex-competitive skydiver, spreadsheet lover, eMBA, organizational guru, Texan, Aggie, and chocoholic.

Kristen attempted to find a practical career related to her favorite pastime by earning a degree in English Rhetoric (Technical Writing) and an MBA. However, she swiftly discovered that writing without imagination is not nearly as fun as writing with it.

Kristen currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her own swoon-worthy hero, their amazing kids, who are growing up way too fast, and 2 adorable fur babies.

kristenmckanagh.com

[lilydalexf]

I have multiple requests for X-Files undercover fics! Here are some very good fics with Mulder and Scully going undercover and posing as a couple. Though I cheated and included general undercover fics too. ("Arcadia" fics aren't included even though being undercover is the episode's premise. Same with "The Pine Bluff Variant" - look here for my PBV fic recs.) Across the Rubicon by Anne Haynes Once you cross the line, where do you go from there? Amish Country, part 1, part 2 by Lolabegood A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the limits of their relationship. Amor Caritas, parts 1, 2, 3 by Marguerite The death of Mulder's mother sends Scully undercover to unravel a mystery...and determine her own destiny. Controlled Substances by Kel Those nanites have to go. Skinner is willing to risk it all to be free of the microscopic parasites that Krycek uses to control him. Failure to Die by Kel An undercover assignment lands Agent Jerry Luskin and his colleagues in a “cursed” hospital. Can Dr. Scully handle an emergency without calling for the paramedics? Just watch. Five Years and One Night by Shalimar This starts post “Kitsunegari” and is full of spoilers including all of season 5. It deals with the events in “Emily”. (alt text file link) Grand Gestures by Revely Disappearing jocks, soaring temperatures and a sweaty Mulder and Scully. All of this and still safe for the underage! Hallowed by OnlyTheInevitable (@gaycrouton​) In order to get a dangerous, misogynistic cult shut down, Mulder and Scully have to go undercover as a married couple to destroy it from the inside. When they get a little too involved, how will they manage to come out alive? The Honeycruise by @wtfmulder  Mulder and Scully go undercover on a honeymoon cruise to investigate the deaths of two newlywed couples. In the Dark by @frangipanidownunder​ Silly semi casefile fic written for several reasons. For @leiascully’s XFWritingChallenge: Exercise and also for an anon prompt on Tumblr who asked for a story about Scully being given an undercover assignment as another agent’s wife. Little Green Women by Jean Robinson Scully's undercover assignment poses unexpected challenges. The Marfa Murder Mysteries by Katie Phillips Mulder gets tied up working on a case with VCU so Scully is forced to go undercover on her own down in Texas investigating mysterious deaths involving the world famous Marfa Lights. Problems arise and Mulder also goes undercover to make sure his partner is safe. Midori No Me by FridaysAt9 When several couples go missing from a 55+ community in Florida, Mulder and Scully are once again assigned as an undercover married couple tasked with solving the case. Mulder can’t wait to play house as a retiree, but because of the nature of their relationship at its current state, Scully isn’t so sure. Set post Plus One. Miracle and Mystery by Tesla MSR (no summary provided) Never by Allison Kinney No clever summary. Smut biscuit, pure and simple. Secret World by Bonetree Scully goes deep undercover to find the secret behind a mysterious death. But with what she learns, will she ever be able to come in from the cold? (Part 2 of the Goshen Universe) She's Beauty, She's Grace by @sunflowerseedsandscience​ I was asked to write a Miss Congeniality/The X-Files mash-up… so here goes nothing. Sore Luck at the Luxor by Anubis (@rivkat​) MSR. Not enough plot to summarize. Sub Rosa by Parrotfish Mulder and Scully go undercover to rescue a kidnapped child from a white supremacist militia group. Success could mean the salvation of the duo's partnership -- if it doesn't destroy them first. (Part 3 of the Caught in the Act series) Swingers by ScullyLovesQueequeg (@suitablyaggrieved) Mulder & Scully are assigned a case and have to pretend to be a couple to get into an exclusive swingers’ club. At first, Mulder isn’t fazed but when he notices that men are paying attention to Scully, Mulder starts to become jealous. Thank You, Drive Around by nevdull An undignified stake-out ruffles Scully's feathers. This House is Burning by Tesla MSR casefile (no summary provided) Under Covers by Skinfull Mulder and Scully seem to be on the cusp of a change in their relationship when one of them is assigned undercover. We're Married Now by Skinfull Mulder and Scully go undercover as a married couple to infiltrate a cult in Arizona. What Was Taken, What Was Lost by @sunflowerseedsandscience​ Mulder and Scully, still reeling from the events of Christmas, 1997, go undercover as a honeymooning couple at a romantic retreat in upstate New York to investigate a series of suspicious suicides and accidental deaths.

[darkshadows93]

Iowa Headcanons from an Iowan's view- Part 1

Iowa can speak French, German, and a bit of Spanish. All for different reasons. French for his time as part of the Louisana purchase, Spanish from him wanting to know more about his growing Latinx population, and German because the state was top of German American Populations. He only speaks German when he's near the Amish community in Kalona.

2. He has a farm in Grundy County in the state's center. Grundy County has one of the best fertile lands in the state, where he tends to raise pigs and grow corn and soybeans.

3. Doesn't have a favorite football team. Iowa is the center of everything and is surrounded by the Vikings and Packers to the North, Bears to the East, and Chiefs to the South. So he kinda just picks which one depending on the mood.

4. Don't mention College football around them. They have three big teams- UNI Panthers, Iowa Hawkeyes, and the Iowa State Cyclones. He takes it extremely seriously and ensures his fridge is always stocked with Bud light when a game is on.

5. He tends to have a Midwestern Nice off between Minnesota and Wisconsin because all three are known for their niceness when it comes to others.

6. Iowa tends to keep to himself because everyone tends to confuse him with Ohio or Idaho to prevent people from calling him one of the others. He just prefers to be called Hawk.

7. He is used to being the fixer-upper of his state cause no one tends to come to his aid if something bad happens.

8. His preferred store is Hy-Vee, and he will defend his store's honor to the death if Florida or Texas had anything to say about it.

9. Iowa tends to correct Texas when he mentions Buc'ee massive truck stop size. Reminding him that he holds the Word's Largest Truck Stop on I80.

10. He tends to forget that he has mountains. 28 eight of them, to be precise, because everyone seems to complain how Iowa is just flat cornfields. But when he does remember he has them, he loves them because its something unique to himself.

[salvadorbonaparte]

Amish, Hutterites, Texas Germans. And Yiddish speaking communities. I think there's also still some Scandinavian communities in the northern US.

Concept: travel documentary but it's just me visiting German or Germanic language (not counting English) speaking communities in the US.

[thestalkerbunny]

About the new vampires-

-Tim and Tom are from a small religious community that would be akin to Amish (which wasn’t exactly getting the weird looks it does today because anyone who lived in the country and couldn’t afford a car used a horse and buggy) and claimed after their parents died, they just sorta wandered off into Debauchery. 

-Otis is from the ‘Backwoods’ which is a very large cover all term for the Deep Deep South and the states there in this universe where monsters and magic reign a bit more loosely because of it’s odd isolation from most modern human eyes. To put it on a map, it’d most likely be around either Mississippi or Arkansas where he’s from. He was brought in from the Backwoods by the vampire council to help out with Bower’s little ‘project’ because the Council is very interested in it.

-Tim and Tom often call Otis a hick; ironically they are calling the kettle black because they are from a similar background albiet they’re from the North.

-Otis’s snake’s name is Gammorah and he claims to have raised her from a snakelet. It is very ambiguous what exactly kind of snake she is, but her coloration indicated she is possibly a Diamond Back-despite those being found more commonly in Texas. Otis claims that snakes do not know what state boarders are, they just go where they please.

-Tim and Tom were turned by Bowers himself as a reward for loyalty towards him during his time of absence. Most of the inner circle was disposed of because of their subordination and attempt on Bower’s life. They are actually very content as vampires; citing they don’t mind being sterile creatures as Tim never liked kids and Tom’s claims that he was already shooting blanks. (2nd gen vampires cannot reproduce and are essentially sterile. They also lack the venom to make more vampires. They’re basically like Drones/Workers to a Hive Queen to simplify it.)

-Otis was turned by a Backwoods Vampire that apparently went by the name of ‘Meemaw’ or ‘GranGran’ by the locals despite not being related to anyone seemingly. He did what most vampire bats do to colony members who cannot feed themselves which is bring food back to them. He was hesitant to leave to go to the city of New Chicago without her blessing and was assured by the Council that another vampire would ensure she would be kept fed and well kept.

-Tim and Tom’s job can be summarized by going around collecting ‘payments’ from the families and businesses that benfit from their little ‘protection plan’ as mob outfits often do. Before Bowers dissapeared, they were on a strict money collection plan-but now with the odd reappearance and the vampiric numbers growing of the inner circle-they’ve been taking pints of blood in lieu of half payments-claiming they’re getting into the ‘medical business’. Not many people want to argue or question that, the Mob has dabbled in weirder things to make money.

-Otis is fasinated with a number of things that continously get him labeled as a ‘no nothing hick’ by Tim and Tom including-Light switches, the number 8 (it’s just a very balanced number, Otis claims) movies which he goes to frequently on his days off, Carnies, cigarette dispenser machines, Roulette wheels (the colors are pretty, he claims) Fancy Poodle Dogs, and most importantly, Board Walk Carnies-one of which he is very infatuated with.

[galadrieljones]

As You Were (Chapter 1)

Fandom: The Last of Us | Pairing: Joel x OC | Content: Fix-it | Rating: Mature

AO3 

When Joel and Ellie take a wrong turn on their journey from Pittsburgh to Wyoming, they find themselves lost in a beautiful place with a dark and dangerous secret. While there, they meet a mother and son who, after a recent, tragic event on their family farm, are fighting tirelessly for survival. In an effort to find hope for the future, the two groups set out west together, growing closer over time, making choices and altering paths that will change the course of their lives forever.

This is an AU, starting after the events of the Summer chapter in the first game, and extending into the timeline of the second. Joel lives.

Chapter 1: A Prologue

“I don’t know what happened,” said Joel. He had been polishing the neck of the guitar. Just south of the second fret there was stamped, or maybe painted, the image of a moth. He had found the part in the wreckage of a community theater in the Bighorn Basin, in a town called Cody some weeks before. “Wasn't no plan.”

“These other people,” said Tommy. They were sitting in a safe house in an old tract community near Jackson. They had a low fire going in the fireplace, for cooking. Outside, it was a summer thunderstorm, and they would have to wait it out till morning for the next patrol. “We never really got to talk about them, when y'all came through in the Fall. Where the hell’d you pick them up?”

“Wisconsin,” said Joel. “We’d gotten lost, needed fuel. We came to this driveway in the middle of goddam Amish country. The middle of nowhere. And there they were. When we met them, they were in a bad spot. They were surviving, but the circumstances where they were living at the time were real...trying. Real bad. They needed to leave, and we gave them the excuse. Almost like it was happenstance.”

“They don’t seem Amish.”

“They ain’t,” said Joel. “I just said it was Amish country. All farming, rural communities and such. You think of where we grew up in Texas and then you expand that by a whole degree. These people had nothing but their land.”

“Well, they’re doing a good job,” said Tommy. He had slouched into his chair, hung his head off the back and looked up at the ceiling as if pondering something profound. “Noah’s as capable as they come.”

“I know,” said Joel.

“And Cici, well. She’s teaching the patrols how to make goddam IEDs? Hell of a woman. Maria speaks of her as if we’ve struck gold.”

“They’re good people,” said Joel. “They’ve had to make do, make hard choices. But don’t make no mistake.”

“That, I surmise,” said Tommy. He puffed up and looked Joel in the eye. The rain was pounding down on the roof overhead. “What happened,” he said. "With the Fireflies. You ever find them?"

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Joel scrubbed at his newly-trimmed beard, and it made a sand paper noise that he wasn’t used to. “Yeah, we found them.”

“We got all night,” said Tommy. “Don’t be shy.” He took a tin of tobacco out of his pocket then, like a surprise. He had some rolling papers, too. "You should just start at the beginning."

Joel placed the guitar aside and leaned over the display. He said, “Y'all growing tobacco?”

“Some,” said Tommy. “The weather ain’t perfect for it, but we got greenhouses.”

“No shit,” said Joel.  

Tommy was hunched over the table now, sprinkling a little bit of the dried tobacco into one of the paper squares. He rolled it up tightly, sealed it with his tongue. Then he slid it across the table to Joel and proceeded to roll another. “I swipe some, every so often, from the pantry stash,” he said. “Don’t tell Maria.”

Joel picked up the cigarette and looked at it, ran it under his nose. Tommy had a book of matches which he left on the table between them. Joel took one, lit the cigarette, and then he shook out the match and flicked it to the floorboards.

“Goddam.” It was a relic from another life. The nicotine made him dizzy. He closed his eyes.

“When’s the last time you had one of these?” said Tommy, smoking.

“Some time,” said Joel. "Not that long."

He said no more on the matter, but he remembered, exactly, the last time he’d had one. It had been late summer, the year before, on top of the roof of the Old Main building, on the Augustana College Campus in Moline, IL. It was with her, Cici. They were overlooking the Mississippi, could see all the way to Iowa. It had been raining that day, and the air smelled good now, for once. It had been a hell of a day. Nothing good right up until the very end. Noah and Ellie had foraged an entire carton of unopened Parliaments from a corner store in the town, along with a bunch of other stuff. Cici had her hair down that night. They were just talking, wearing new clothes and it felt like any other day. The cigarettes were stale, but it was worth it. They had whiskey, too, which they drank out of paper cups. Joel remembered now, how it had all made him think of Texas, at the time.

He took a deep breath and looked out the window. Then, he looked at Tommy, who was smiling through the smoke between them as if he had a secret.

“What’s going on with you?” said Joel.

“Nothing,” said Tommy, smoking. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

“You and Cici,” said Tommy, as if a mindreader. “That anything special? I saw the two of you the other day, walking together by the river.”

“Well, if you saw us walking together by the river, then I guess there ain’t no more to say.”

Tommy laughed. Outside, the lightning was supernatural and lit up the terrain, turning it all white, just for an instant. “You still got that terrible sense of humor. When the four of you showed back up here a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know what I was in for. But you haven’t changed one bit.”

Joel smoked his cigarette, and as he did, he set about rolling another. Wasn’t nothing to it, but he thought about Ellie and whether she’d smell it on his clothes. He didn’t really want that. So he took off his jacket. “I’ll make you a deal, little brother,” said Joel, tossing the jacket to the couch on the opposite side of the fireplace. “You quit asking questions about my personal life, and I’ll tell you my goddam story.”

“The whole story?” said Tommy.

“The whole story,” said Joel.

Tommy had some liquor locked up in a safe in the garage. He went to get it. While he was gone, Joel picked up the guitar. It didn’t have its strings yet, was just a piece of wood. Still, he rested it in his lap, as it was something to hold on to. When Tommy got back, he had a glass mason jar full of moonshine. He unscrewed the top and measured two fingers for each of them into ceramic coffee cups.

Joel took a sip. It was disgusting. “Who made this?” he said, and he coughed, once.

“Eugene,” said Tommy. "You met him last week, at the softball game."

“Tastes like goddam rocket fuel.”

“Can’t guarantee it ain’t,” said Tommy. “Now, start from the beginning. I'm bored as hell."

Joel sighed, looked down at the clear liquor in his cup. The moonshine and the cigarettes with Tommy in the abandoned tract home in the middle of a summer storm was enough to make him feel like a teenager again.

That sort of thing had been happening to him a lot lately. He took a drink. "Well," he said. "It's like I said, we was leaving Chicago, and we got lost."

"How lost?"

"Real lost."

...

[ameliacareful]

Thinking a lot about the call to abolish the police.

Things that influence my thinking—my biases. I’m old. Born in 1959. With all the best will in the world, I’m shaped by that. I’m white. Cops like me. I’ve never had a threatening interaction with one.

If I were European, I’d be a moderate. I believe in nationalized health care. In the US, I’m pretty hard left. I want gun control.

Police often act as judge and jury. Police forces across the US have been targeted for infiltration by white supremacy. If the police ever were an organization that protected and served, that image has been pretty severely damaged by videos of a cop macing a child or a cop pushing a 75 year old to the ground and cops leaving him unconscious and bleeding as they marched past. Cops are at war with the public they feel doesn’t understand.

Large portions of society distrust cops so much that they don’t call them for help out of fear they’ll be targeted. They solve their problems other ways. As rates of violence around the world fall (the 20th Century, with WWI and WW2, the violence and genocide in places like Cambodia, Armenia, and Rwanda, was still the century with the least likelihood of dying by violence to date and this century is even less violent) and yet police forces have been militized. There is a tendency when someone gives you a hammer to view every problem as a nail.

The police murder innocent people.

Full stop. They murder. They are showing us that many of them consider it their right to murder.

Should police be abolished?

I believe that anarchy can work.

The call to abolish the police is a call for anarchy. Despite its name, anarchy is not a call for chaos, and it doesn’t mean no rules, just as calls to abolish the cops doesn’t mean no rules. Anarchy is a political movement that is fundamentally optimistic about people. There are functional anarchic systems and my favorite example is the Old Order Amish. Yeah, the folk in buggies and bonnets. Although the Amish are subject to laws where they live, they tend to self police rather than turning to law enforcement. They are pacifists. They have a strong culture of non-violence. (They aren’t protesting, the people you see protesting are Mennonite, a kind of cousin religion to Amish. Many Mennonites own cars.). They use social pressure, the most famous being shunning, to punish. Not prison or jail. And yet, they have big problems with domestic abuse of both wives and children. They have issues with rape of women and children. They’re patriarchal and this means that the women and children in this situation have no recourse within the community because the authorities are judge and enforcement.

I’ve been thinking a lot about something from Jared Diamond’s book, Guns, Germs and Steel. It’s pop science/sociology and there has been a lot of pushback. There’s a lot Diamond got wrong—for example, his analysis of Easter Island has been sharply criticized. He postulated that a big reason that Europeans were so successful is geographic (i.e., luck, not intrinsic ‘betterness’) and that feels right to me. He also talked about law.

He has friends in New Guinea and they were doing something one day that involved being away from a city in New Guinea. Diamond was inept compared to his friends and one of them asked why the US was so powerful (with the implication being a friendly’when you, a shining example of American exceptionalism, are so inept). New Guinea has laws but in practice, according to Diamond, they’re socially feud based. So if you steal from me, assault me, or murder me, I or my family resolve it by robbing, assaulting, or murdering you or one of yours. The problem with a society organized around this kind of justice is that once I’ve exacted my justice, you are usually likely to feel wronged and the feud continues.

Diamond felt that one of the things that was important was that we had off-loaded justice to a process. That people were socialized to use the courts instead of take care of it themselves. This does not particularly improve the chance of justice—witness black incarceration rates and innocent people on death row, the under reporting of rape as a crime and all the injustice in our society.

Maybe it reduces violence.

We describe areas with gangs or cartels as ‘lawless’ but often they have very strict laws. They just aren’t laws that are enforced by police.

I am a socialist, not an anarchist. I believe in a social system that is heavily shaped by government, where there is a government infra-structure of support. I don’t trust my neighbors enough to put them in charge. My neighbors are mostly capitalist. They are mostly white. I’m in LA so most of them did not vote for Trump but a few of them did. I used to live in Texas and I am far more frightened of white guys doing open carry than I am even of the police because as much of a murdering disaster as the cops are, over-emotional untrained white guys with guns are scary. Abolish the police seems to me to leave the world open for anarchists and the people who created the Autonomous Capital Hill Zone in Seattle which I admire. But I fear the anarchists, queers, and progressives of Seattle are the minority.

Anarchy is hard. It requires a strong moral imperative to do the right thing. It requires internal morality rather than external religious or social morality.

De-militarize the police. Do something about qualified immunity. Spend less money on police and more on addiction, mental health, community infrastructure, change the system. The 57 cops who resigned from the tactical force in support of the officers who were suspended and charged, apparently many did so at the behest of their union and I’m a union supporter but not when it’s in support of crime. Cops who put the thin blue line above protect and serve are cops who believe cops lives are more important than community lives. We have, as a society, rendered our judgement of following orders or supporting others—it is not a justification in war, nor is it a justification in murder.

Policing needs to be examined to its very core. But I am at this moment for reform, not abolition.

However, I am old. White. Female. Middle class. And not optimistic about my fellow humans. I’m also possibly wrong. So I’m putting my thoughts out to hear how others think.

[diarrheaworldstarhiphop]

St. Marys is home to a chapter of the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX. Named for the early-20th-century pope who railed against the forces of modernism, the international order of priests was formed in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church’s attempt, in the 1960s, to meet the challenges of contemporary life. Though not fully recognized by the Vatican, the priests of SSPX see themselves as defenders of the true practices of Roman Catholicism, including the traditional Latin Mass, celebrated each day in St. Marys. Perfumed with incense and filled with majestic Latin hymns, the service has an air of formality and grandeur. To most American Catholics under the age of 50, it would be unrecognizable.

Throughout American history, religious groups have walled themselves off from the rhythms and mores of society. St. Marys isn’t nearly as cut off from modern life as, say, the Amish communities that still abjure all modern technology, be it tractor or cellphone. Residents watch prestige television on Hulu and catch Sunday-afternoon football games; moms drive to Topeka to shop at Sam’s Club. Yet hints of the town’s utopian project are everywhere. On a recent afternoon, I visited the general store, where polite teens played bluegrass music beside rows of dried goods. Women in long, modest skirts loaded vans that had enough seats to accommodate eight or nine kids—unlike most American Catholics, SSPX members abide by the Vatican’s prohibition on birth control. At housewarming parties and potluck dinners, children huddle around pianos for sing-alongs.

In their four decades in St. Marys, the followers of SSPX have more than doubled the town’s size. Even with six Masses on Sundays, parishioners fill the Society’s chapel to capacity; overflow services are held in the gym of the Society’s academy, which inhabits an imposing campus built by the Jesuit missionaries who called St. Marys home in the 19th century. The school is constantly running out of classroom space. The parish rector, Father Patrick Rutledge, has to scramble each summer to accommodate rising enrollment. Real estate sells at price points closer to those of Kansas’s big cities than of its other small towns.

Newcomers are attracted by the opportunity to live beside like-minded neighbors. But many are pushed here as much as they are pulled. When they lived in other places, many SSPX families felt isolated by their faith, keenly aware that their theological convictions were out of step with America’s evolving cultural sensibilities and what they perceive as the growing liberalism of the Catholic Church, especially on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. They were wary of being labeled bigots by co-workers and even friends. They worried that their children would be exposed to sin: A friend’s parents might let their kids watch violent television shows; teens might encounter pornography on a classmate’s phone. “We can’t keep things out that we’d like to keep out completely,” Rutledge told me. But the environment in St. Marys is “as conducive as possible for children to save their souls.”

---

In 2017, the conservative writer Rod Dreher published The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, in which he describes growing hostility to Christian values in the secular world. Dreher, a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, argues that sexual expression has become secular society’s highest god. He laments that Christians have been pressured to accommodate and even celebrate LGBTQ identity. In the face of what Dreher calls the “barbarism” of contemporary American life, he believes the devout have no option but to flee—to build communities, churches, and even colleges where they will be free to live their values and pass the gospel on to the next generation.

Among the conservative-Christian intelligentsia, Dreher’s book was explosive. Charles Chaput, the outgoing archbishop of Philadelphia and an influential figure in the Catholic Church, described it as “a tough, frank, and true assessment of contemporary American culture.” The New York Times columnist David Brooks called it “the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.” The Benedict Option prompted a flurry of essays in evangelical magazines, panel discussions at Christian colleges, and at least one spin-off book from a young Dreher acolyte. Dreher himself continues to write about so-called Ben-Op communities springing up around the country, from Alaska to Texas to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Dreher addressed his book to fellow conservative Christians, but in calling for a strategic retreat from society, he tapped into an impulse felt by a range of groups in America. In Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C., contemporary followers of Marcus Garvey, the 20th-century Pan-African activist and thinker, have built infrastructure designed to free black people from systemic oppression: community gardens to provide food in neighborhoods devoid of grocery stores, and Afrocentric schools that teach black pride. Young leftist Jews skeptical of assimilation have founded a number of Yiddish-speaking farms in upstate New York, in an effort to preserve their ethnic heritage as well as Judaism’s agrarian tradition. Environmentalists have established sustainable settlements in rural Virginia, which serve as both utopian experiments in low-impact living and shelters for the climate disasters ahead.

[sciencenewsforstudents]

Measles is so contagious that the virus can unerringly find the unvaccinated. That knack, combined with the number of people in the United States who haven’t been vaccinated against the disease, has given measles an opening that it hasn’t had in the country for decades.

U.S. measles cases have surged to a 25-year high of 704, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported April 29. The record-breaking number of cases largely stems from an outbreak in Washington, which officials now say is over, and ongoing outbreaks in New York City and New York state. The vast majority of the cases, 88 percent, originated in close-knit communities that have low rates of vaccination, according to the CDC. And 503 of the 704 cases were in those who have not been vaccinated.

The virus is eliminated in the United States, which means that it is no longer endemic, but travelers can still bring it into the country. “When measles is imported into a community with a highly vaccinated population, outbreaks either don’t happen or are small,” Nancy Messonnier, the director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a news briefing.

But once introduced into a community with low vaccine coverage, “it is difficult to control the spread of disease,” she said.

Cases are reported in 22 states, with new outbreaks (defined as at least three cases) in Maryland, Georgia and Los Angeles County. The six infected people in that county included students who potentially exposed the campuses of UCLA and California State University, Los Angeles to measles. To contain the outbreak, health officials told hundreds of students and staff to stay home until they could prove that they’d been vaccinated.

The vulnerable pockets of people who aren’t vaccinated against measles tend to have a common denominator, sharing similar values, religion or culture. And the age of the students at the two college campuses gives a clue to what binds them: Some were born around 1998, the year a now-debunked studycame out questioning the safety of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (SN Online: 2/3/10), possibly dissuading some of their parents from vaccinating their kids.

Also hit are Orthodox Jewish communities, in outbreaks that began in 2018 in New York, while the Washington outbreak heavily affected Russian and Ukrainian communities. In recent years, measles has also spread among Somali-Americans in Minnesota, the Amish in Ohio and visitors to Disneyland in California.

The people in the exposed communities either reside close together or gather to socialize, says Saad Omer, a vaccine researcher at Emory University in Atlanta. But the cultural or religious characteristic that brings them together isn’t why some aren’t vaccinated, he says, but rather underlies why they are in close contact. “We need to make sure that communities … do not get stigmatized,” he says, as they “are victims of both misinformation and disease.”

In fact, most of the people in these communities are getting vaccinated, Omer says. “It’s just that that number may not be high enough for an unforgiving disease like measles … it spreads so easily that even a modest drop in coverage” can set the stage for an outbreak.

To stop the spread of measles, around 92 to 95 percent of a population needs to be vaccinated to preserve its herd immunity, meaning that there are enough vaccinated people that the pathogen runs out of new people to infect and transmission stops. For the 2017–2018 school year, state-by-state coverage for the two recommended shots of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine among kindergartners ranged from a high of 99 percent in Mississippi to a low of 81 percent in Washington, D.C., according to the CDC.

Using data from 2008 to 2013 from the CDC’s national survey of teen vaccination history, Omer and his colleagues have tallied how many measles-susceptible children there are in the United States. Those numbers include those who can’t get shots because of treatments that suppress their immune systems, those too young to get vaccinated and those who haven’t received their shots by kindergarten.

Of nearly 70 million children age 17 and younger during that time period, 12.5 percent — or an estimated 8.7 million — were not protected against measles, Omer and colleagues reported in 2016 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Fourteen states, including Washington, Michigan, Texas, California, Arizona and New York, had 20,000 or more children ages 13 to 17 unvaccinated for measles as of 2013.

“You’re only as safe as your herd is immune,” says Yvonne Maldonado, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Stanford University School of Medicine. “If you have a low immunity herd … the likelihood of being exposed is going to be much higher.”

For kids who can’t be vaccinated, getting the measles “can be fatal or wind up causing serious complications,” she says. “That’s a real fear for [these] families.” Herd immunity provides the only protection for these children.

The outbreaks are an opportunity to renew vaccination efforts, she says. That could ensure that measles doesn’t once again become endemic in the United States. “Most people really do want to protect their kids against these diseases.”

[xo-dailypier-blog]

[Post 3 of 3]: Cheater, Cheater, Booty Eater!

I see you all are still on a natural high following Summer Crush, but I come baring sad news.

Unfortunately, this will be a tragic reveal of the ugly secrets that have been going down behind our backs. And it is no laughing matter ....

I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts that this town is boring. Well apparently you’ve all been smoking the same crack rock as our problematic fav, because the headassery JUMPED OUT! I said last time that I would place myself on the scenes of the lives of our fav Santa Monicans and that exactly what I did during Summer Crush.

In fact, I took it an extra mile by planting cameras in all of the hook-up huts, the cabanas, and even the fantasy suites. So me pretending to be “shocked” when I found out that June got #Dic, was pure theatrics. Though I was actually shocked that she had it in her. BUT I RETURN TO MY POINT...

I’m sure you guys noticed a certain hot couple was missing from the countdown, and what I found out about these two was truly disturbing...

So here we go…

ooc: I do make jokes about The Amish community, but if it gets out of hand in this post, please let me know. And apologies in advance. 

I think the most asked topic, by far, is between Shark Boy and Lava Thot (Yes, I’ve changed the name, sue me). Most of you have simply asked, “Butt Stuff?” And so I decided to get to the bottom I decided to get to the TRUTH of the situation. Just a recap for those who missed it: Myles ditched the strap provided by his Amish girlfriend, Jasmine, for a real lug of MEAT. The rumor was that Myles Bennetover began having a SCANDALOUS affair with Julian Stark. I thought that it was complete MADNESS! Myles “Thicckie Minaj” Bennet would never let down the people that he loves, like his girlfriend, AND ME! But I was wrong. Myles is, after all, a man, so that makes him an idiot.

I followed Miss Bennett to the bar where he went to go met up with Julian one night, before Summer Crush had COMMENCED. The conversation that took place was one that sounded like a break-up. “This ILLUSTRIOUS affair can go on no longer”, Myles said (well he didn’t actually, I’m paraphrasing). Heartbroken, Julian SUNK into himself. All these passionate nights between them, and the entire time, he was only a booty cock call. We know that Julian has no feelings (clearly, he fucking a man in a relationship), but he took this one to heart. He was (is?) in LOVE with Myles, but the two could no longer be together. Julian got up to leave but Myles STOPPED him! In that very moment, he had a change of heart. He then GRABBED the washed up surfer by his shirt and pulled him in, the two began to MAKE OUT in the middle of the bar. But it doesn’t stopped there. They proceeded to MIGRATE to the bathroom where Myles proceeded to sit on Julian’s ... Iron Throne. I didn’t stay long to watch, I was too heartbroken. I did hear the kissing, and moaning, and grunting. And I heard Myles shout out “Sweet Sassafras” (Paraphrasing), upon first penetration. But I had to leave. It was too much.

All I could think of was Jasmine. How she’s been tirelessly WORKING to remain free from the MENNONITES of her VILLAGE that have continued to OPPRESS HER. And it’s SUPER shady that he’d do this TO A GIRL WHO DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE A COMPUTER!!!! I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE YELLED A GIRL LIKE THIS!

So after that night, the two men decided to call it quits. Their bathroom shuffle was their Last Hurrah. In fact Julian ordered Myles to come and collect his ugly ass plaid shirts that FILLED his humble abode and the two swore they would never speak to each other ever again … but then Summer Crush happened.

Their plans to end everything completely fell through once they had to be in each other’s company night after night. Their secret convos, locking eyes across the rooms, disappearing into the FUCK HUTS to BANG — completely cancelled out their plans. I could go into explicit detail about it all, but basically … they still have the hottttttttttts for each other.

After a bit more digging, I’ve found out that this affair has been going on for a while at this point. According to source close to both Wink (Myles) and Wonk (Julian), they met each other during Julian’s Washed Up Surfer Reunion (who even keeps up with surfers anyways) the two formed a connection and … well..

And that was TEN MONTHS AGO! So for TEN MONTHS!! fjhcdcjkdsacjk

I have to say that I am … speechless.

Not necessarily because of the affair itself, but because I’m never wrong. I honestly thought Myles was better than this. Julian? Not so much.

It’s interesting to look at this in retrospect. Knowing that this has been going on all this time while MYLES BENNETOVER was texting sweet nothing to Jasmine by day and was BENNENITOVER by night for #DemonDICK. Watching Jasmine on a date with Julian completely oblivious to everything that was going on, while Julian sat there in knowing what he’s done to her .. It’s actually evil ... and at this point … I nominate MURDER as the solution.

So Jasmine (or people who know Jasmine, cause she probes won’t see this) LISTEN UP, here are a few solutions I think would work, or at the very least, get even. NOTE: IN ORDER TO GET AWAY WITH THESE HYPOTHETICAL THEORETICAL SCENARIOS, JASMINE HAS TO CONTINUE TO BE OBLIVIOUS TO MY BLOG, IT’S HER ONLY ALIBI. MOVING ON...

(Least Recommended) Jasmine dresses up in a beige trench coat and black thigh high boots (see: Ring The Alarm - Beyonce (Preferably the VMA performance she did, the mob of girls and choreographed dance is optional, but would be appreciated)). Hidden in her trench coat is her weapon of choice. A gun is too basic. A knife isn’t a guaranteed kill. A CHAINSAW would be just right, in my opinion. Whatever she decides to use, Julian is the first casualty, obvi. Myles would be the second. After they are DISMEMBERED, feed them to the sharks. (The reason I’m not to keen on this is because it’s to messy, odds are Jas would not be able to get away with it. But the way they kill animals back home in her village, I figured it’d be the easiest for her.)

(Not highly Recommended but better then #1) Go to Whole Foods and buy a bunch of cherries, Google the recipe to how to make homemade cyanide out of cherries, or ask a friend to do it for you, I keep forgetting she doesn’t know how to use a computer. No one would suspect the sweet girl buying cherries is using it to murder her boyfriend and his mistress. After they are OUT drag them to the ocean, tie Wink and Wonk together (using Myles plaid shirts) and throw them into the ocean. Again, the Sharks will do what they need to do. (No guarantee of getting away with this, they might break free from the plaid chains. Maybe I just want the plaid shirts to be gone. Plus side though? You can still wear the Ring The Alarm number).

(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) COMBAT ALL OF MYLES’ HARD WORK BY DEVISING A PLAN TO RID THE OCEAN OF SHARKS! MAKE SURE HE KNOWS THAT THE REASON YOU’RE DOING THIS IS BECUSE YOU MADE HIM! SO IN THE END, IT WILL BE ALL HIS FAULT THAT THE SHARKS ARE DEAD!!!! ONCE THEY ARE ALL GONE MYLES WILL NOT HAVE A JOB NOR WILL HE BE ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH HIS TRIFLIN’ LIFESTYLE SO HE WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE BACK TO BUMFUCK, TEXAS (POPULATION: LOSER!!!!) WHERE HE WILL HAVE TO PICK SHIFTS A FUCKING BASS PRO SHOPS LISTENING TO NICKELBACK’S GREATEST HITS ON REPEAT WHILE HE CHECKS OUT SOME HILLBILLY BUYING AN ASSAULT RIFLE.

Jasmine, if you are reading this, I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I would totally suggest a guy for you to ditch Myles for, but ... all the men in this town ain’t SHIT. Maybe, the mennonites will have you back in your village where you will be free of the evils the outside world has to offer. 

As for Wink and Wonk? I SHIP IT! I hope you guys run off and live happily ever after ... In the depths of hell where you belong!!!!!!!

So this it guys, SWIMMING in at NUMBER 1 are Shark Boy and Lava Thot and their tragic love affair. 

I hope you’re pleased with yourselves boys. You’ve broken a poor Amish Girl’s heart and WORST OF ALL? Julian and his #DemonDick fucked Cutny Westwood, who was (almost) dating Jamie ALL because he was on the oust with Shark Boy, so EVERYONE in this situation gets played. Tragic.

 I guess this is what happens when the #DemonDick takes host.

#PrayerCircleForJasmine (and Jamie too, tbh).

xo, DP