The Dread Slender Gnome

https://spinster.xyz/users/Gnomeshatecheese

The more you push me, the less I'll give in.

"Correct, but obscure." (Feart, 2022 or thereabouts)

From an anonymous YouTube commenter:
"I never gave these nutters my consent to change my reality."

Ceterum censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam!

A recalcitrant, ill-tempered gremlin:
Gargoyle of Beelzebub:
And one with a shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/stroppygnome/shop :

Public Key

npub1dza8s6acmt45awz3g7k3rmeuduxd766yltutsyw0g63r4uefpets6mrpr0

NIP-05 Address

gnomeshatecheese_at_spinster.xyz@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsx3wncdwud466whpg50tg3au7x7rxlddz0479cz885dg367v5su4cpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dswx0u6h

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1dza8s6acmt45awz3g7k3rmeuduxd766yltutsyw0g63r4uefpets6mrpr0

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-07-11 11:14:56 UTC

I think Grover is probably absolutely right here.
With the addition that many likely won't even allow this possibility to enter their consciousness because it's too much of an ego threat to contemplate.

2026-06-29 15:53:16 UTC

- reply

Are there any mentions of this or the killing on any media that you've found?

2026-04-30 08:05:03 UTC

- reply

> Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, ....
Question is, how does she know how these missing people identified? Isn't she potentially misgendering a bunch of them?
Wouldn't the correct form be "missing and murdered indigenous people of all genders"?
Someone really ought to point this out to her.

2026-04-03 20:12:55 UTC

I never realised how big a man Paul Robeson was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0bezsMVU7c

2026-04-03 12:33:03 UTC

- reply

Sorry, can't access that. No idea why.

2026-04-03 08:14:52 UTC

I hope that idiot who decided to switch over to footage of the crowds just as the Artemis booster rockets were about to be jettisoned, gets fired with extreme prejudice.
They should also be publicly shamed.

2026-03-28 19:57:46 UTC

- reply

Speaking of great versions of great songs, someone told me not long ago about this song.
It's "Land Down Under", except Tyrolean.
And it's amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6M3z6C7aIc

2026-03-28 19:17:13 UTC

- reply

> Inherited an old percolator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9WkfXshycU

2026-03-28 18:46:49 UTC

- reply

Just the other day I heard someone in the tech field say that what people making such predictions are talking about, is AGI, and that particular thing is not closer than it was X years ago in any real terms.
In other words, all the hype these days is around LLMs, and those things will not do the stuff executives and grifters claim they will.
Also, as you said, bubble -> crash.

2026-03-27 10:56:17 UTC

- reply

Ah, got it.
For some reason mined salt to me automatically connects to mountains, not a place like the UK. Let alone Denmark, which apparently produces most of the salt imported to Finland by mining (just looked it up).
I've also grown up using sea salt so that is my mental default for salt.

2026-03-27 10:35:55 UTC

- reply

How many medium-to-large island nations are there without their own salt industry..?
I mean, honestly. It sounds like an obvious thing to produce if one is surrounded by one of the main sources of salt.

2026-03-20 21:53:47 UTC

- reply

Oh is this one of those "oh nobody uses *these* anymore" things?
Last time that happened en masse, as in after the cold war when everyone was getting rid of military hardware because nobody needs that any more ha-ha, Finland went around and generously offered to take all that junk off their hands.
Any idea of whether those mine clearing ships were scrapped or sold..?

2026-03-20 21:43:33 UTC

Regarding this push to send help from other countries to secure the reopening of that now infamous strait, at least Finland is off the hook.
I mean what are we going to do? Send a bunch of coastal batteries and forest jäegers?
We are pretty damn well equipped when it comes to seamines and the clearing thereof, but first there would have to be mines to clear. And I'm not entirely convinced Finnish mine clearing vessels would be particularly well-equipped to sail all the way to the straight, at least in a reasonable time.

2026-03-17 19:52:07 UTC

Ali Larijani, the de facto acting leader of Iran, is dead.
As is the head of the Basij guard.
Mullahs and their families, as well as IRGC members and their families, have been spotted arriving in e.g. Australia, as well as Canada. A steady trickle of rats abandoning the ship seems to be continuing.
Tomorrow or today is (can't really follow which in my current state) going to be the eve of the Persian new year, an ancient traditional festival of light and fire. The regime has forbidden the traditional celebrations, fireworks, fire crackers and bonfires, and are threatening to shoot anyone seen participating in the festivities in public. That's probably something to look out for tomorrow.

2026-03-17 15:07:02 UTC

Seems that an Iranian top dog was explaining to remaining IRGC brass that Mojtaba Khamenei survived the strike that hit his compound because he happened to step outside into the yard for some reason. And apparently that was "god's will".
If that's their god's will, then either a) their god is rather feeble since the only thing he can do is kind-a sort-a save one member of the ruling family and not, say, even half of the top commanders. Or b) this god in fact doesn't much like them. As in almost at all.

2026-03-12 18:15:29 UTC

- reply

Who cares. I peel all my apples.
You're not obligated to chase diminishing health returns if you don't want to.
(Allergy reasons, peel is more likely to trigger symptoms than the rest of the apple, but I would peel even if it was just a dislike.)

2026-03-11 23:14:21 UTC

- reply

I'm not sure whether I've come across the NY version.
I'm mostly familiar with the celtic one. I thought it was a very elegant solution the problem of English ditching the distinction between singular and plural second person pronoun.

2026-03-11 23:04:47 UTC

- reply

"... while youse are in here skiving..." is the phrase I remember, spoken by a Scottish man.
Or is it "yous"? Not sure how one would spell it.

2026-03-11 23:02:36 UTC

- reply

"youse"
That one's my favourite.

2026-03-11 23:01:08 UTC

- reply

Finland is a bit different. There's been a push away from formal address and to informal address for a long while now. It has become the norm to use the informal familiar singular "you" to everyone. It's meant to be friendly and so on, but I'm not a fan.
I much prefer the formal plural "you", which then gets changed to informal by mutual agreement. But practically nobody does that anymore.
I'm getting to be old enough that I'll soon be able to say "I don't think we've agreed on informal speech" (there's a set phrase for that, more or less). It'll probably start working too once my hair goes white.

2026-03-11 21:27:48 UTC

A question of opinion.
How old does one have to be, before one can get away with using the phrase "young man"?
As in without coming off as taking on unearned airs of seniority.

2026-01-27 08:51:56 UTC

- reply

Now now nurse.
You know *perfectly* well that "I have been stalking your grandma" is very different from "I hate your grandma".
The first is an action, the second an opinion. Kicking someone out of a pub for an action is perfectly legitimate.
You are merely trying to obfuscate to escape consequences.

2025-09-13 21:20:36 UTC

- reply

I've fairly recently had two people, independent of each other, ask if I'm "on the spectrum". I found both cases very odd in general, since I don't think I'm even close to abnormal in any real sense. And in specific I found them odd because of the reasoning, e.g. the second one was prompted by me bringing up I bump into things.
Surely there's just such a thing as being inattentive or clumsy? Since when did any such thing mean that one is "autistic"?
Sure, there probably has historically been some underdiagnosis. But it's very much starting to look to me that perfectly normal quirks are being folded into the concepts of "autism" and "neurodivergence".
(Obvious disclaimer, I have no idea to what extent this is also an issue among actual relevant professionals, and to what extent it's purely a lay issue. That remains to be determined.)

2025-09-12 20:08:37 UTC

Seems the word on the street is that Antifa have grabbed *Bella Ciao* as their own anthem.
Well fuck that.
I'm not letting those thugs ruin or steal a wonderful little song dripping of history.
I'm going to keep on playing it while also declaring Antifa to be a bunch of cowardly little shites without even a semblance of sense in their heads. I bet they don't even understand how profoundly sad the song is.
Fuck Antifa.
Here's a great song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CI3lhyNKfo

2025-09-07 11:11:36 UTC

Should a 6-year-old know how to cut their own plated food into pieces?
Question courtesy of a tiktok mum who was cutting up sausages for 6 and 8 year old kids.

2025-08-28 15:56:08 UTC

- reply

I made onion jam/marmelade and I really like it. Will definitely make another batch once this runs out.
I might just try adding bacon to it the next time around, I'm sure it would fit right in.
Ginger marmelade sounds lovely, though possibly a bit too spicy. Maybe I could dilute it with some lemon...

2025-08-22 19:08:00 UTC

One of the things that really irks me about this whole Trans-shebang is how the supposed skeptic "community" has either completely fallen for an irrational magical belief, or fallen in line behind one for political reasons.
So any time I see anyone taking one or more of them down a peg over the matter, I'll happily devour the content.
Here's one example. Rebecca Watson, the self-proclaimed "skepchick", being brought to task over the matter. Haven't yet watched beyond the start, but I intend to finish the video while sipping my evening herbal tea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz5VZtWTvbY

2025-05-29 20:35:57 UTC

So tomorrow morning I'll be setting off.
I'll be offline for the most part. Hope everyone has a lovely first half of summer.
In the meantime,
I'm going home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nlU0q4eiw

2025-05-22 15:51:36 UTC

*NOTE: Youtubers are overall a questionably reliable source. Many have been known to distort, leave things out or otherwise colour the truth. So do take that into account when evaluating the following.*
I'm listening to a long video on penis enlargement surgeries and the issues associated with them. There seem to be distinct similarities between these procedures and the doctors willing to do them, and gender "affirming" procedures.
The most striking one is that some doctors have started to give the men who came to them a diagnosis of "penile dysmorphia", which, spoiler alert, isn't a real diagnosis.
But the reason behind this seems to be that the men who are given such a label, are apparently far more likely to agree to the procedure. It seems that being convinced they are suffering from a mental illness much like Body Dysmorphic Disorder, makes these men much more susceptible to the surgeon's sales pitch.
If this is the case, then it means that even the diagnosis of "gender dysphoria" or "sex dysphoria" in itself, even with conservative treatments, may in fact predispose the patient to think more favourably of surgery.
So if what this youtuber says is a known effect in men looking at genital surgery for cosmetic reasons, gender medicine really needs to be re-evaluated also in this respect.
Penis surgeries have been around apparently since the 70s, and like genderist surgeries, have all kinds of complications. The motives for going for these treatments in general also seem to be oddly muddled. It seems to me that the genderist surgeries are really a continuation of this sort of cosmetic surgery.
(Link to the video in a comment, I don't imagine many are particularly interested in spending 47min of their lives on this sort of morbid curiousity.)

2025-05-15 20:09:09 UTC

- reply

He's already hugely mired in Ukraine.
He'd be a fool to divert his military forces now.
Which doesn't mean he won't try more unconventional means.
Estonia will want to keep a close eye on its undersea cables, at the very least.

2025-05-04 18:20:58 UTC

- reply

> A female officer from Northumbria Police described the NPCC position as “keep calm and carry on – we hate this ruling and are looking at options to circumvent it.”
I'm sorry but...
Isn't the police meant to be part of the same branch as the judicial system? As in they one that's supposed to enforce the law?
It's one thing to refuse an order one considers unlawful.
But a lower part of the justice branch looking to "circumvent" the very top of the branch?
Since when has that even been *a thing*?

2025-04-16 07:00:37 UTC

- reply

I never said I would be a badass swordfighter! 🤣
Just that I'd have a lot of fun doing it!

2025-04-15 21:54:35 UTC

One of the things I'd really, really like to do is historical swordmanship.
But unfortunately there's nothing in my area for that. The drawbacks of living in the backwoods.
Not only do I like historical stuff in general and swords in particular, it would be a really fun way to do upper body training.
Alas, it doesn't seem it's going to be feasible while I live here. Sad face.

2025-04-15 20:11:28 UTC

Sydney Watson on what's going on with the whole OF thing. And I agree with her video title.
Too Horrible Didn't Watch: OF is speedrunning the shift from pin-ups and regular porn to hardcore the-worse-the-better gonzo.
She has a follow-up on the two women who have become big names on OF lately, due to their apparent competition to do the most outrageous thing ever.
Of these two, I think Bonnie Blue is genuinely creepy. There's something unsettling about her. Watson uses the word "sociopathic" in the second video, and I'd say I'm getting the same vibe.
About 30min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utKxrWzNsXA

2025-04-14 21:02:06 UTC

- reply

> When I contacted my bank they refused to give me any information beyond the fact they were following government orders, and they gave me a number and name to contact.
I read this to mean that the person she was supposed to contact was from outside the bank.
But it could mean either.
However, she later says she kept trying and in the end called a general number, in which she was stonewalled. She writes:
> “What exactly is your job—what is it you are being paid to do with the tax dollars of Canadians.” She explained her job was to refer people who called to the appropriate departments, numbers, and individuals.
I took this to mean she wasn't speaking to a bank employee, but a government one. Also, after that passage, she says she has had no information "from the government".
It's not explicit, but based on the above, my impression was that she was attempting to get information from both the government and the bank, and wasn't getting anywhere with the government, while the bank was refusing to give information in writing.

2025-04-13 08:30:42 UTC

- reply

Had to edit because I'm clearly tired and my logic was not logicing.
I'm most fascinated by the second reason, that an unstable mind will, because of its unstability, be attracted to ideas and ideologies that rely on detachment from reality.
I also think in the case of trans, it's the least talked about, and deserves more attention.
But people in both other groups are personally invested in shutting down any discussion of this one, because to admit its existence is jarring the same way as being told he's an AGP is jarring to an AGP. It undermines the very thing they're trying to accomplish.

2025-04-07 07:53:08 UTC

- reply

I was just telling the Spouse the other day that if I were living alone now (and wasn't skint) I would most likely get myself two kitchen appliances: a rice cooker and an air fryer. But an air fryer/toaster oven combo would possibly be even better.

2025-02-16 15:14:15 UTC

- reply

But his speech still contained nothing objectionable.
When someone makes correct points, they don't become incorrect if that person has said some other thing before.
Multiple things can be true at the same time. The attempt to broker a peace with Putin by leaving Ukraine out in the cold can be a bad idea, and the things Hegseth pointed out in his speech can be genuine problems.

2025-01-28 09:56:58 UTC

- reply

> It's a reaction to the other side. The left reacts a lot to what the other side does
Which is, really, the only thing I was wondering about.
So it is unthinking reactiveness in your opinion.
(And as for the "in and out" thing, well that's certainly not helped by leaving the gang members to roam free. The other alternative is filling the prisons with them (and then you'd have to revamp the prison system to such that it doesn't actually foster gangs). This is essentially a "criminals are always ahead of the cops" argument. BUT this was not the point of my post so I'm not going to go on further about this. )

2025-01-28 09:34:54 UTC

- reply

Well, that may all be very true and completely accurate, but it really has little to do with my question.
I wasn't thinking about the actual practical and political issues involved in deporting criminals (though I do think that should be done, by and large).
I was specifically thinking about that particular contingent on the far left who oppose the deportations of violent gang-members and other violent criminals. And I was wondering what kind of logic would bring one to that conclusion.
So actually, your last sentence,
> The far left is just doing performance art, the way they always do, to Fight The Man.
is the part of your post most relevant to my issue here.

2024-12-02 21:59:08 UTC

- reply

https://media.spinster.xyz/423174379a2f7b371cbb911da4d401c221a158e301079fb2b84e369377800d9e.jpg

2024-12-02 21:53:43 UTC

- reply

Tenses are easy. It's the articles that are a bugger. Especially when they come in multiple genders.

2024-12-02 21:50:18 UTC

- reply

Oh THAT reminds me...
This little gem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN666q3ptAU

2024-12-02 21:39:14 UTC

- reply

In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that to the extent that English is easier to learn, it's because most speakers are not native speakers. Therefore any learner of English gets away with a *lot* more than a learner of, say, Estonian.
Someone has said that the most common language in the world is badly spoken English. I doubt they were wrong.

2024-12-02 21:35:32 UTC

- reply

This is the first time I see anyone using the word "straightforward" for French grammar.
Although I have a friend who claims French pronounciation is straightforward, and I find that equally unfathomable.
Linguists actually argue quite a bit about which languages are easy and which not, and even over whether such descriptions even make sense. Basically every language is easy and makes sense if you're the native speaker, and I think English has a good deal of complexity that's invisible to native speakers, or even near-native speakers (i.e. myself). Like articles. Those and prepositions are fiendishly difficult to get right for a non-native speaker.

2024-12-02 21:02:57 UTC

- reply

If we're talking national languages, leaving out the tiny surviving relatives of English, I would actually say Dutch.
Dutch is kind of the bastard child of English, Swedish and German, which is easy to see in the written form if you know those three languages. It has a few sounds that'll be tricky, but not nearly as many as, say, Finnish.
Second option, I'd say Swedish. Still close enough for it to be of help, and has a simpler structure than German.
Both have grammatical gender though, which English mercifully has forgotten about, so your second language learner would have to wrap their head around that.

2024-12-02 20:48:38 UTC

- reply

I decided early on I'm not even attempting French.
Italian however, is turning out to be quite straightforward for a foreign language. This is probably because it shares several features with Finnish.

2024-12-02 20:41:45 UTC

- reply

> Me: shrugs in confusion.
Surely that should've been "Me: shrugs in French".

2024-12-02 20:40:07 UTC

- reply

I don't think it's fair to say languages "typically" lose complexity over time. If that were the case, we wouldn't have loads of languages with all kinds of complexity very much in full swing.
The loss of complexity is common, that's true. But from what I know, it needs some kind of push to get going, it doesn't just emerge on its own. Much like the great vowel shift in English started with one vowel being changed in fashionable speech of fashionable people, and that vowel then pushed the other vowels out of its way, because otherwise there would've been too much overlap.
And sometimes apparent loss of complexity leads to a different kind of complexity emerging, like for example if the sound system is collapsed so that you have a lot of homonyms, you now have a complex system of homonyms to deal with.

2024-12-02 20:35:49 UTC

- reply

They tried to teach us the names of the cases at school, but I never learned them because that seemed to me perfectly pointless information, and I staged one of my few rebellions over that. It did not help at all that they were all loan words which I could not at that time derive from any other knowledge, and that many of them sounded very similar to each other. Like inessiivi, illatiivi, allatiivi, that type of bullcrap.
And then when I was in my twenties, I learned that *some* teachers had actually given their pupils a handy little mnemonic litany they could memorise and then know immediately which was which.
Bitter?
ME?
Nooooope.

2024-12-02 20:28:45 UTC

- reply

Finnish has three ways of expressing continuity of action, that spring to mind.
One is putting the object of the action in the partitive case, which expresses incompleteness of action. This is really simple and really common.
Another is using a true passive verb, that takes neither subject nor an object, in present or past tense. This would be your "sataa" or "rains". This is very common for the verbs for which it works.
Third one is using auxiliary "is" together with the verb form that's near identical in appearance to the "location within" case. I don't think it's parsed as a true "location within" case, but I'd wager a pastry that it's related to the noun case. So that would be "I was within the action of drinking coffee". This is not uncommon by any means, but it is a marked form in that it emphasises the in the middle of action-aspect.

2024-12-02 19:24:42 UTC

@FeartnTired
As it happens, I was just thinking about German, and languages in general.
This video is actually a pretty good illustration of how different grammars approach things differently. Now I'm sure he's hamming it up and exaggerating here and there, but the point still stands. When I first learned English, I had to get over exactly this sort of issues between Finnish and English. One example being that in English one says "it is raining", with a pronoun, but Finnish can do verbs without a pronoun, so we would just say "rains".
That's because "suomessa ei ole passiivimuodossa ylimääräisiä sanoja", or "in Finnish no is in passive form extra words".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50jkO2s4Sp0

2024-10-13 22:09:13 UTC

The link to the original article. I say it's worth reading.
It's not quite as insane as the headline suggests, but definitely concerning.
Some quots. Emphasis mine.
> If you haven't heard the term Therian, you're not the only one. Therians are a community of people who identify as a non-human animals, either **spiritually or psychologically**.
> Therians don't typically choose which animal (or Theriotype) they identify with. It usually comes through **introspection**, dreams, or just a strong sense of connection to a particular animal and their characteristics.
So rumination then, and lack of objective thinking.
> more parents like Emma are navigating this identity expression with their children. Which, according to Carly Dober, Director, Australian Association of Psychologists,** is totally normal**.
So thinking that you're actually "psychologically" non-human is "totally normal". How odd. I don't remember anyone doing it when I was a kid.
> "I was worried it was somehow a mental 'problem' **or a reaction to some other issue** in her life," she said. "But as I have watched it unfold I see it brings her great joy and also comfort, and it's an outlet for her too
But then just a few sentences later:
> Indeed, for many children, identifying as a Therian might represent a **way to cope with** mental, social and other **challenges**.
So escapism as a means of coping with distressing reality. That's healthy. /s
At least this is good:
> Teach children techniques to test reality, such as asking questions, seeking evidence, and considering different perspectives. Establish clear boundaries around behaviours, and encourage your child to have a balanced approach to life that includes exploration of identity, and engagement and other activities and responsibilities."
But this isn't.
> "We'd have to solve it together, as you can't just tell a kid to shut off a part of themselves," she told us. "It would be challenging and I hope it doesn't come to that point for us, but we will navigate it if we need to."
So now it's a "part of the kid", rather than an acquired belief or a practice divorced from actual reality.
And apparently you can't tell a child that their acquired beliefs aren't based on reality. What else? A kid decides drug taking is a part of their identity and the parent isn't allowed to lay down the facts?
This is wishy-washy, spineless parenting. Hell, I would go so far as to call it coddling instead of actual parenting.
In fact, it distinctly reminds me of the types of unschooling, where the child is put in the drivers seat with regard to what they are taught (where the meaning of the word "teach" is stretched to breaking point.
https://www.mamamia.com.au/what-is-a-therian
#note1t7t…h39a

2024-09-26 19:50:21 UTC

- reply

I was actually hoping for additional details, that might not make it to international reporting. Not surprised that Reduxx figured out the identity of the accused, as one of the articles gave info which could presumably easily lead to the person, if one knows the local scene.
But from a quick skim it seemed that the linked artikles appeared to say the same things. It might be a while before additional info surfaces, considering things like privacy laws.

2024-09-22 12:21:56 UTC

- reply

I'm not a fan of bowing to authority just for the sake of doing it.
However.
The school I went to as a kid had two teachers, one for the first 2 years and one for the years 3-6. At some point the older kids had been getting progressively rowdy, and wouldn't go back to previous discipline despite of repeated orders to stop being disruptive. So one morning our teacher implemented a rule that hadn't been in use in schools for a long time. At the beginning of every class, each pupil was to stand up next to their desk as the teacher came in, and stand there nice and quiet until the teacher gave everyone permission to sit down.
And it actually worked. The kids returned to normal behaviour and peace was restored in class.
Thing is, the teacher didn't do it to demonstrate he had authority over the kids, or because he wanted external displays of "respect". He did it to restore discipline through the actions of the kids themselves. Following a rule, even an innocuous one like that, and seeing everyone else do it as well, nurtures not just group-discipline, but self-discipline.
But you have to do it right. You can't go all-in on Rules for the sake of Rules, because then the underlings will start resenting you. Rules have to have a function, and this one did. And our teacher very clearly explained the function to us as well.
I think a lot of people don't understand this anymore, that rules have an important role in maintaining discipline, in the larger sense of the word. And I think they've forgotten that larger sense of the word as well. Discipline and rules seem to have been equated with authoritarianism and pecking orders, and nothing else.
I get resenting stupid orders and pointless rules. Both really grind my gears like nobody's business. But just because orders and rules can be stupid and pointless, doesn't mean they always are. When done right, they're an important tool in maintaining cohesion and order.

2024-08-29 19:13:42 UTC

- reply

Yep. See the insanely long post below...
Fish can be a bit expensive in shops, especially the wild caught stuff, but a lot of people fish themselves or know someone who does, so that makes it more easily available.
Fun fact: fishing with a rod, floater and a hook is these days free-for-all in Finland. As long as your fishing rod doesn't have a reel, you don't need any permits or fees for fishing.
Berries are sold at markets and those who don't pick themselves, often buy crate or few in the season, and freeze them for the winter. But a lot of people still go out and pick their own wild berries.

2024-08-29 18:32:22 UTC

- reply

It was a lovely salad too, we had it with some smoked trout.
I sliced three carrots up with a potato peeler and mixed that in with some salt, lemon juice, black pepper, honey, and olive oil (honey was a last minute addition, since I accidentally added too much oil and the result came out bitter), and let the carrots soften in the mix. Then I added that to the regular salad-cucumber-tomato base and served it with smashed potatoes, with rull rye bread on the side for me. Very wholesome.

2024-08-29 18:28:06 UTC

- reply

We had a big salad yesterday, all our tomatoes went into that. I think that was enough veggies for a few days.
Plus I like my mozzarella balls as is. If I want a mozzarella salad (which is also delicious), I'll use the kind that comes in a single big ball.

2024-08-29 18:25:10 UTC

- reply

Neither of us felt like cooking so I had a tub of mozzarella balls with balsamic glaze, salt and pepper, along with some rye cream crackers.
But the mozzarella had to be eaten, lest it go old, so someone had to sacrifice for the good cause.
(It was delicious.)

2024-08-24 10:55:03 UTC

- reply

If you set up a premise, where "god told me to do it" means "the person looked wrong", then yes, it would be a reasonable conclusion. Or even if your premise is something a lot more vague, like "sincere belief that god told them to does not exist as a murder motive".
It's not reasonable if you're looking at it from outside of the premise, but if you first adopt that premise and then operate within it, it is internally consistent.
It's still stupid and insane, of course. But it's internally consistent.

2024-08-24 10:27:56 UTC

- reply

I think by saying that the concept of "sex" is not a biological one, he is in fact saying that Grover's belief of Tickle being male, is irrelevant. He was stating that in law, "sex" means something that is not tied to biology, and therefore when considering whether one is allowed to discriminate based on "sex", one can only take into account that non-biological definition. If this is where you start, Grover's argument becomes almost a non-starter.
His comments are consistent IF, and only if, you adopt the premise that "sex" is in fact not a matter of biology. And he clearly (in my opinion) did adopt that premise, and didn't even consider in his opinion that one might reasonably treat "sex" as a biological concept.
And THAT is the problem. That "sex" is treated in law as something other than it actually is, and that allows for all kinds of insane, yet consistent, outcomes.

2024-08-23 10:50:00 UTC

- reply

He's not making things up *there*, to be exact. He had already appealed to case law, which has treated the concept of "sex" as being this or that thing, depending on which way the wind blows, and concluded that in law, the concept of "sex" is not a matter of biology. Ergo, it must be based on social and psychological matters, in addition to or even indstead of physiology. If that's your premise, then it follows that whatever Grover's ban of tickle was based on, it could not have been based on biological sex. And since Grover banned him on the basis of a photograph, therefore she must've banned him based on his appearance.
It is, as I said, internally consistent. It's just that the basic premise is nutty. And the nutty premise can exist because courts and legislation have been so inconsistent in their use and definitions of what the word "sex" means in law.

2024-08-23 07:34:50 UTC

From https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-23/nsw-sydney-giggle-transgender-discrimination-court-judgment/104260546
> Reading out a summary of his decision today, Justice Bromwich said the defendants considered sex to mean the sex of a person at birth, which they consider to be unchangeable. "These arguments failed because the view propounded by the respondents conflicted with a long history of cases decided by courts going back over 30 years," he said.
Well, if this is the way the legal biscuit crumbles, then it is more than obvious that there needs to be actual legislation on what "sex" means in legal contexts. Basically previous confusion or muddled thinking causes bad or stupid decisions somewhere down the line.
And btw, this is why I harp on about definitions in general and in legal contexts specifically, but that's a side point.
> [...] the successful claim of indirect discrimination was based on a condition being imposed for the use of the Giggle app that Ms Tickle was required to have the appearance of a cisgender woman.
This is the problem. If the court first dismisses that "sex" is a biological category in law, then it can freely pivot to this idea that it all hinges on mere appearances. The argument can be internally logical, even though it is based on a rotten premise.
At least the judge decided against forcing a written apology, acknowledging that Grover holds her beliefs sincerely and is not deviating from them. Although, out of all the small blessings...
(thanks @HebrideanHecate for the link)

2024-08-21 20:39:16 UTC

- reply

That's a fair point too.
I'm honestly not too sure which outcome to wish in this case.

2024-08-21 20:37:37 UTC

- reply

That sucks. Especially since sport makes such a big difference when it comes to quality of life.
But I have a back condition which basically forces me to prioritise sport, lest I get continuous pains. It's one of those things when not having an option is a good thing in the end.

2024-08-21 20:34:30 UTC

- reply

I'm finding a nice time slot in the morning for exercise, before work. It has an added benefit of burning up my excess nervous energy, so I can focus on work a lot better. But this is largely because I have the luxury of setting my own hours.
Injuries are a bitch. I've had two joint injuries and one muscle injury on my left leg, and getting them back to pain free was a massive chore. I do believe it can be done though, with enough mobility and muscle exercises.

2024-08-21 20:27:18 UTC

- reply

I LOVE weight training. The gym is my happy place.
I also really like running, though lately haven't been in the mood, not to mention swimming. And I recently got a new toy, a SUP board with a kayak set-up. With that I can happily go paddling for 3-4h, including headwind.
Compared to that, walking is boring. Unless I'm doing a proper half or whole day hike.
I also heavily suspect that at 5km run is going to benefit me a lot more than 7km walking on easy ground.