I made another post and it got removed and I’m hoping this one will be okay, so I’m going to be as careful as I can.
I’m currently homeless. I was previously going to college for a BsE in comp sci but dropped out with 2/3 of my units after a major mental health crisis and covid. I don’t have family to rely on so anything I would need to do I have to be able to do it myself. I would like to somehow either find a job doing anything in or adjacent to tech. I used to code in C++, Swift, Java, Python, HTML/JS/CSS. Although only my c++ was great, python was good, the rest were rough but useable with some good googling. In a cruel twist though I have essentially no proof of my aptitude, I have a project in swift on an xml parser for sheet music for sight reading sheet music, a c++ project of a game engine I was developing as a hobby on git, anything else was lost on my laptop. So I don’t have hopes of getting a job right away and I haven’t coded in years so somehow I would need to practice and relearn if I wanted to get serious. Public library books are an avenue and I bet there are some phone apps for teaching kids I could use to refresh. If I can’t do something like that, working towards somehow finishing my degree? I don’t know if that’s a possible path. And I also need advice for getting the cheapest possible meals out there. There’s a soup kitchen near me but I’m 6’2 and I’ve already lost a lot of weight, if I had to guess I’m around 145lb rn, so somehow I need to keep eating some extra stuff. I also have t1 diabetes so if anyone knows something about where I could look to get insulin for cheaper somehow. I’ve been going to Walmart, but it’s $50 a month for what I need. Any advice anyone has I’ll read through. I’m pretty much in a bad spot mentally and don’t know where to turn. In my last post the mod just said to google it but I feel like I don’t even know what to google, so I’m open to dms too Incase this post gets removed too. It feels like just mentioning I’m homeless leads to mods hating me at this point. I’m not asking for handouts just any advice anyone has. I’m 25 but I’ve been in bad spots all my life so I feel so immature, any real adults please tell me what I might do.

Hello Everyone,
I am a 31M living in NY (Queens) and I'm in the process of getting divorced and I wanted some advice on how to proceed / protect myself as I move forward.
To give some background, I got married in May of 2023 to my soon to be ex-wife who is a singer. A month after we got married she went on a gig in OH and had an affair. She returned to NY and the affair continued through October until the affair partner eventually called it off. It was only then she did the whole, I love you, want to try to make it work, maybe separate for a bit, etc. routine. I tried paying for counseling to see if we could maybe make it work, but ultimately after a combination of horrible treatment (from her and her family), finding out how brazen she was about the affair, and how little regard she had for me and our overall relationship, I decided to serve papers. That and there were some mental health issues at play that she refused to get treatment for (I was gaslit for months being told that I was the one who didn't care about her or love her and she frequently threatened suicide). She went to one psychiatrist session and was told that she had severe anxiety, manic depression, and OCD tendencies and they considered prescribing Prozac, but wanted to do bloodwork first. After saying she didn't want to go on pills she never went back.
In mid January she was supposed to go down to Florida for a week or two for a gig and then return before she went on tour for a couple months. I was going to serve papers on her return and I had told her I had something I wanted to talk about in person (because I wasn't going to talk divorce over the phone). She ended up never coming back and extended her stay twice to avoid coming back. Finally she landed herself in the ER because she didn't eat for three days, so I had to serve papers while she was down in Florida right before she left for her tour--not how I wanted it to be, but I wasn't going to go months lying about the situation. She never ended up returning home and changed her mailing address down to her parent's house in Florida. She has not paid any rent since February and is not on the lease as a tenant, but is a registered occupant.
I have retained a family lawyer and I am doing my best to keep it amicable, but she has been horrible throughout the process and is unnecessarily dragging things out (even though she's already seeing / sleeping with another person while on her tour). It took her 3 months to sign the initial summons. Thankfully, we have no kids or joint assets and there's no real spousal maintenance concerns at play since we were only married a few months before I served.
I've neatly packed all of her belongings into boxes and she came for the first time to "look through" things last weekend. She brought a couple friends (who knew about the affair the whole time) as witnesses and I had my mother and father there as witness for my end and moral support. I didn't tell her they were going to be there (mostly because I was afraid she would continue avoiding and prolonging this). But my family just said hello and that was it - no other exchanges were made between them and she looked through all the things she wanted. My family also secretly recorded the exchange in case she were to try something.
And sure enough...She is now accusing me of having verbally and mentally harassed her, saying I'm lucky she isn't suing for domestic abuse (none of this is true - I've barely talked to her and have logs of every text conversation we've had and audio recordings of our limited interactions, and witnesses who will attest that she is lying). She is also saying that she will no longer be telling me when she's coming to get her things and will not be returning the keys to the apartment. I'm not trying to withhold her things (frankly, I want them gone so I can just move on). But I am not comfortable with her just coming in and ransacking / taking things without a witness from my end present. She is also supposed to leave for another multi-month gig in a few weeks and I fear that if this continues to be put off, then I'll be stuck with her crap again for months and I'm tired of being a free storage unit. I've bought an indoor ring camera and informed my building security to notify me if she comes in, but I'm not sure what to do at this point.
All she needs to do is pick a date so that movers can come: we can both have witnesses present, and then we'd both just need to sign the draft of stipulation and the uncontested divorce papers and we'd be done. But there is a vindictive part of her that just wants to draw this out and I do not trust her alone in my home.
Any advice / kind words would be greatly appreciated.

SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02) Critical Warning: 0x00 Temperature: 36 Celsius Available Spare: 100% Available Spare Threshold: 5% Percentage Used: 14% Data Units Read: 23,709,337 [12.1 TB] Data Units Written: 24,729,181 [12.6 TB] Host Read Commands: 794,230,887 Host Write Commands: 552,036,101 Controller Busy Time: 3,166 Power Cycles: 345 Power On Hours: 21,880 

So I wanted to start off my reminding all you injured workers out there, if you don't have or want to get a lawyer, there are state run workers comp agencies that help us. 🙌🙌
So I had a shoulder strain due to straight up negligence by the employer. Went through a claim that was constantly experiencing delays. Made it a point several times over 5 months in emails with the adjuster " this situation is having a negative effect on my mental health!". Ended up at 5% impatient rating, released to work at medium duty. Diagnosis says it's just arthritis at this point. It clicks and pops, and will occasionally get pretty painful in certain strained positions. But the biggest issue is, it's my left shoulder, I sleep on my left side (gastro issues). So through this entire situation, plus the stress of not being able to work or earn proper money for six months, led to a serious decline in mental health. Insurance wanted to play games and offer ongoing "necessary and reasonable" medical treatment, but only paying benefits of $12 and change going forward. I was terminated from my job 2 days after Christmas. Last month I went to the Workers Comp Administration here in my state. Filed a grievance. On Wednesday, I spoke to opposing counsel. I explained the situation. She asked for my number. Told her I would need to do some math and look at my files. I then emailed her with a small financial breakdown of ongoing treatment, plus the cost of my possibly open mental health claim. We all know that nobody wants to show first in negotiations. But I definitely knew she wasn't gonna show first. So I sent the breakdown and said I want $245k. 🤷 At first I thought it was a little high. But, the average cost of a secondary mental illness claim is around $40k. And the median option of ongoing treatment was around $13k per year. That's physical therapy and/or massage therapy, TENS unit, PRP injections, etc. I also explained that this is now arthritis (to my understanding), and what happens if all this clicking and popping causing bone spurs 5 or 10 years down the road. I genuinely believe if my number was crazy, she would've emailed or called back within 24 hours to say so. It's been 48 working hours since I sent my number. I believe she's making me sweat the weekend. Even if I don't hear back Monday, mediation is Tuesday, and we go in there and opposing counsel already looks like a jerk. 🤷😅 They already seem extremely unreasonable to communicate. I've got a stack of emails introduced as evidence, and I have been nothing but nice and courteous to all the staff down there. I expect that I won't leave mediation with less than $40k. I'm leaning much closer to $100k. But the other factor, is the time it's going to take to process and get to a judge for final approval. Remember folks, there are routes to expedite these things. And I will be making my case for that. This entire situation has caused me to be homeless, so the sooner I get paid, the sooner I get my life back on track.

Finally got a possible Comstar mission. "ComStar presence", "SLDF data". Cool!
I load up. Full 8 mechs. I've got 3 LRM boats, 3 direct fire snipers, and 2 brawlers. My "ally" has an archer, 2 Cicadas, and a Dervish.
I'm dropped about 14 miles from the actual battle. By the time I even get to sensor range, the allies are down to 1 unit.... and Comstar drops a full 15 mechs... ranging from a Griffin to a SLDF Warhammer and Marauder-2R.
I can take them, not a problem. But the remaining ally mech, a Dervish with no arms... charges the full health Warhammer and is instantly targeted by 12 heavy ComStar mechs.
Bloody hell.

1. Wake fans are chill Wake fans are chill af. You half jokingly make a post and they send you a long ass comment. So chill. Can’t take a joke.
   
2. Lizard And they say they don’t like that one Lizard song.
   
3. Health food Self explanatory
   
4. The Illuminati I didn’t want to burden the kind and loving people of this sub but, I’m going to have to say it. There once was a time when Wake fans ruled the world.
   

But some did not like our reign, and vowed to destroy us: they were the Court and the Lizard army. They destroyed our wakedom by stealing our one and only god, the Grooness. The Children of The Night took her heart, her music, and everything else.
It took them 4000 years to decipher the language of the Grooness, but the league of crafty scientists (with the help of Free Mason) finally did, and released the godly music of Wake upon their own world. Only, they put it in the wrong album: Court. Yes fellow KC fans, I must confess the fact that Court copied Wake.
12,000 years ago Wake included every song and hymn known to man. Wake contained every KC song, and each song was a historical record. Wake was our entire history. We were the ones who clapped with one hand, had larks tongues in aspic for dinner, and constructed light.
Wake fans, we must unite. We must take back what is ours, and reign as the supreme fan base within this sub. We will rule with an iron fist. Make the Lizard army pay.
All hail Wake All hail Groon All hail our messiah Pong

• The Israeli cabinet has voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera’s operations in the country. The communications minister says the orders against the network “will go into effect immediately”. Al Jazeera Media Network calls the move a “criminal act that violates human rights”.
• Hamas says this round of truce negotiations in Cairo has ended, as chief Ismail Haniyeh blames Netanyahu for “sabotaging” talks.
• The Palestinian group says it wants guarantees from the United States that Israel will not launch a ground invasion in Rafah, as officials in Israel – which is yet to send a delegation to Cairo – insist the attack will happen regardless of whether a ceasefire deal is reached.
• Meanwhile, Israeli antigovernment protesters are demanding that Netanyahu agree to a truce and bring back captives held in Gaza.
• At least 34,683 Palestinians have been killed and 78,018 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive.
  News presented by Al Jazeera. You can read here the full source notes.
  

Israeli military shells Syria after rockets fired at occupied Golan Heights

Israeli media reported earlier that rockets were fired from Syria at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Israeli military has now confirmed that two rockets were fired from Syria and that they hit open areas near the northern community of Ramat Magshimim without inflicting casualties or damage, the Times of Israel reports.
It also said the military shelled the launch sites inside Syria with artillery strikes.
Several rocket attacks have been launched from Syria on the occupied Golan Heights since the start of the war on Gaza, with the Israeli military retaliating.
Israel has also been significantly ramping up its decade-long bombing of Syria since the start of the war, especially hitting targets linked with Iran or Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Hezbollah claims rocket attack on Israeli settlement

The armed Lebanese group has claimed a 10th and final attack for today on Israeli positions, saying it used rockets to target the Margaliot settlement in northern Israel.
It said the attack is in response to Israeli attacks on villages and civilian homes in southern Lebanon, especially on the town of Meiss el-Jabal.
Hezbollah used dozens of rockets in its strikes today, with the Israeli military confirming that more than 60 were fired. In response, Israel said it struck some of Hezbollah’s launch sites, in addition to mounting attacks on Hezbollah military infrastructure.

‘Use of force against students protesting genocide unacceptable’: CAIR

The footage below is from the University of Virginia in the eastern US, showing how state police were deployed to contain pro-Palestine protests on campus.
“The use of excessive force against students attempting to stand up against a genocide that is being funded by our government is unacceptable,” says the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The US-based civil rights organisation says the university must conduct a full investigation, apologise for calling in police and engage with its students.

Only a third of Gaza hospitals partly functional: WHO

The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) says only a third of Gaza’s 36 hospitals and 30 percent of its primary healthcare centres have some level of functionality.
The hospitals are reeling after being repeatedly attacked by the Israeli military and continue to face shortages of medicine, fuel and staff.
The WHO reports that in April, it resupplied the Kamal Adwan, Ahli Arab, al-Awda, al-Sahaba and al-Helou International hospitals in northern Gaza, which was the first area to be decimated by an Israeli ground invasion.
In the south, the organisation has been able to assist the European Gaza, Al-Aqsa, al-Adwa Nuseirat, al-Helal, Kuwaiti and al-Najjar hospitals.
The UN says Israeli authorities continue to hamper many aid missions to the besieged enclave.

Several killed in Israeli attack on Rafah

Al Jazeera’s correspondent reports that at least 10 people are dead in two separate Israeli army air attacks on homes in the central and eastern areas of the southern Gaza city.
Health officials who spoke to the Reuters news agency said at least nine people were killed in an attack on a home in Rafah.

Yemen’s Houthis say insiders working with US, Israel thwarted

The Houthis in Yemen have suggested that they have uncovered and stopped Yemeni agents who worked with the US and Israel to derail the group’s attacks, which it says are aimed at stopping the war on Gaza.
The Houthi-run Saba news website said security services will on Monday reveal details about “thwarting the intelligence activities of the American and Israeli enemy”.
Nasreddin Amer, a top executive at Saba and the vice chairman of the Houthi media authority, said in multiple posts on X that details will be revealed about “spies” who collaborated with the US and Israel to “strike the capabilities of their country and to stop our support operation for oppressed people in Gaza”.
He added that “they tried to strike at our operations at sea and stop the missiles” in reference to the dozens of attacks the group has launched in waters near its shores.

Israeli forces raid town near Nablus

The Israeli army stormed the village of Yatma in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency is reporting.
Citing local sources, Wafa said there was gunfire and the use of tear gas.
Israeli incursions in the occupied West Bank have intensified since the war on Gaza started on October 7, with about 8,500 people being arrested over the past six months.

Hamas rocket attack kills three Israeli soldiers, wounds 11 others

The 10 rockets that Hamas launched at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing between Gaza and Israel have left three Israeli soldiers dead and 11 others wounded, according to the Israeli military.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement that three staff sergeants, namely 19-year-old Ruben Marc Mordechai Assouline, 19-year-old Ido Testa and 21-year-old Tal Shavit, were killed.
The 11 soldiers who were wounded include two soldiers from the 931st Battalion and a soldier from the Shaked Battalion who are listed as in serious condition.
Israeli officials had claimed the attack had targeted “humanitarian aid”, with Hamas saying it hit a military headquarters at the crossing – which has now been closed by Israeli authorities.

Qassam Brigades says Israeli soldier sniped in central Gaza

The armed wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip has released a video that shows one of its fighters sniping an Israeli soldier in the central part of the enclave.
The Qassam Brigades said the Israeli soldier was hit south of the TAl al-Hawa neighbourhood along the so-called Netzarim Corridor that the Israeli military has constructed across Gaza to separate the northern and southern parts.
The video then showed a military ambulance deployed to transport the soldier.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in multiple West Bank towns

Israeli settlers have been behind several new attacks on Palestinians across the occupied West Bank as the war on Gaza rages.
Settlers attacked farmers in the past few hours in the town of Kafr Ra’i south of Jenin, according to the Wafa news agency, which said the farmers were prevented from entering their lands.
It also reported settler attacks on two Palestinian-owned homes in a Bedouin community northwest of Jericho, coming hours after members of the community received notices from Israeli authorities to demolish eight homes, a sheep barn and a solar energy complex.
Settlers also reportedly attacked Palestinian civilians’ vehicles west of Nablus and threw stones at them.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation denounces Israel’s ‘genocidal war’ on Gaza: Report

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on its members to impose “sanctions on Israel, the occupying power, and halting the export of weapons and ammunition used by its army to perpetrate the crime of genocide in Gaza”.
The resolution, seen by AFP news agency, urged members “to exercise diplomatic, political and legal pressure and to take any deterrent measures to stop the crimes of the Israeli colonial occupation, and the genocidal war it is waging against the Palestinian people, including by imposing sanctions”.
It also called for “an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire”.
In November 2023, the OIC met with the Arab League in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a joint summit, condemning the actions of Israeli forces in Gaza, but refraining from setting out punitive economic and political measures against Israel.

Netanyahu says Gaza victory is ‘only way to guarantee our existence’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again insisted that “victory” in the Gaza war will be an existential issue for Israel, commenting on this during a state-organised Holocaust memorial ceremony.
“Our test is to continue and stand together until we reach victory because these are fateful days and this is the only way to guarantee our existence and our future,” he was quoted as saying by the Times of Israel.
Netanyahu emphasised that Hamas has the “same intention” as the Nazis did during World War II to eliminate the Jewish people, and has only failed to do so because Israel is now able to “defend” itself.
This comes as Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed his intention for “total victory” in Gaza, through launching a ground invasion of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.

Home damaged in Israeli raid on southern Lebanon town

Videos circulating online show the destruction caused following an Israeli raid on Markaba earlier today.
Verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad, the images show smoke billowing from the area, while one of the homes in the area can be seen visibly damaged.
Members of the Civil Defence are shown working to clear the rubble strewn all around the area.

Israeli military claims attack on UNRWA facility ‘used by Hamas’

The Israeli military says it worked with Israel’s domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet to attack a facility belonging to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that it claims was being used by Hamas.
It said the facility was located in central Gaza, and was being used as a “command and control centre” in order to launch attacks on Israeli soldiers in recent weeks.
The Israeli military claimed its assault was carried out in a way to “avoid as much harm as possible” to people not involved with Hamas activities.
Israel has consistently claimed that UN facilities are being used by Hamas, and has used this as justification to strike dozens of schools and other UNRWA facilities, but the United Nations rejects the claims.

UNRWA schools used as shelters amid Gaza education shutdown

About 300,000 children in Gaza used to receive their education in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Some of those schools have now been fully destroyed or damaged by Israeli military attacks. Most others have to be used as emergency shelters.
“Education abruptly stopped and children’s sense of safety shattered – depriving deeply traumatized children of any hope for a better future,” the agency says.

Several killed in air raid in southern Lebanon

Four people from the same family have been killed in an air raid in southern Lebanon, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
“We urgently call for an immediate ceasefire and the protection of children and civilians. This violence must end now,” the agency said in a post on X.
Earlier, we had received reports that Israeli fighter jets targeted the town of Meiss el-Jabal in southern Lebanon.
Since October 8, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Israeli military stationed in northern Israel have traded fire, killing hundreds and displacing thousands on both sides.
​

(Crossposted to advice) A little background: I’ve been a nurse for nine years in the OB/women’s health specialty. A little over a month ago I started on a L&D unit and It’s just not for me/my specific specialty. I love women’s health but this just isn’t the right fit. I’ll be on orientation for a while and don’t want to waste anyone’s time if I get off orientation and decide to part ways a few months later. At the same time I don’t know what to do because everyone has been wonderful and will be shocked if I suddenly leave. I am just torn and don’t know how to proceed, I feel I have wasted everyone’s time. And I know that I shouldn’t care what my new coworkers would think but that’s just not in my nature 😕 I was in tears my whole ride home because I’m already so dissatisfied to be where I am. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
(For what it’s worth I’m considering leaving the nursing profession altogether because nursing in general is not my passion and since day 1 of being a nurse I’ve always dreaded my shifts)

I'm 40 and recently single. Homeownership has always been a goal (I am fully aware that it is often not a good financial move). When my partner and I decided to split, we decided it would make more sense for me to move out of our cheap apartment because I was in a position to buy a home and always wanted to do so.
I live in the Bay Area and have always saved pretty aggressively (after a little bit of a late start due to grad school). I lived for 13 years without a car and have always lived with either a housemate or romantic partner. I've been maxing Roth IRA and optional post-tax 457b plans, and built my down payment fund by saving $1800/month after that, while living a very comfortable life. No debt. Historically I've done everything "right" but I am a somewhat anxious person and the change that I'm embarking on here is earth-shattering. I'm trying to separate the usual anxiety from making a big change from the rational fear of making a legitimately bad decision.
I want to preface this by saying that there are so many people who are convinced that either (a) California real estate will keep going to the moon or (b) real estate, especially in California, is about to fall off a giant cliff. I respect your opinions but don't think either case is realistic. I'd especially like to hear from folks who agree that rules of thumb that might apply nationwide don't necessarily apply in places with extreme housing costs but where other costs are average.
So, the situation: My monthly income, after tax and required pension contribution is $8,700. I am a unionized government employee (good job security), our contract is being renegotiated in July, and the current contract precedes all the recent inflation, so I expect a small bump soon. I also have all but guaranteed $8,000 (annual) step increases coming in January 2025 and January 2026.
I had an offer accepted on a duplex, with one unit occupied by a 5-year tenant who is paying $3,125/month. After the down payment and closing costs, I'll be left with about $100k without digging into my retirement accounts. The house is in good shape though I do need to account for moving expenses and a few immediate repairs (I'm assuming $10k).
All in (mortgage, property tax, insurance), the monthly payment is ~$7,125. That leaves me with $4,700 left over each month while the other unit is occupied. In California, property tax increases are minimal. I worked out a monthly budget that would not leave me feeling at all deprived:
Monthly budget details:

• Maintenance/Repairs/Tenant Expenses: $1000/month. I have a home warranty for the first year.
• Food: $400
• Utilities: $300 (higher than current)
• Commute (public transit): $150
• Gym: $100
• Phone: $100
• Pet expenses (1 cat) : $100
• Dentist/Medical Copays: $83 (I am in great health but my dental insurance is not the best)
• Gifts: $83
• Other Shopping: $400

A few luxury categories:

• Car: $600 (I am experienced at living car-free. My ex and I currently share a car, but it will go to him. I only ever used it for weekend trips and to take the cat to the vet). So I may or may not purchase a car right away.
• Ski pass: $100
• Other hobbies: $83
• Travel/vacation expenses: $750

TOTAL: $4,250
The budget seems to work, with $450 monthly left over that I could use to rebuild my savings (or for categories I'm not thinking of), but I would be forgoing any retirement contributions beyond what I pay into the pension until the raises kick in.
I'm likely to rent out the master suite in the unit that I occupy, at least for a couple of years. It's a nice house in a nice neighborhood and I believe I could fetch $1,800/month for it. Which then would allow me to rebuild my savings much faster and/or restart my 457b contributions.
Obviously things look very different if the other unit is vacant. The vacancy rate in this city is low, so it seems overly fearful to assume that it would sit empty for months but the possibility does scare me....
Thank you so much for reading this wall of text. I appreciate any advice!

I've played with Secret Societies mode on a lot. Until yesterday, I had yet to see the stubbornness of vampires in action when controlled by the AI, in the process of going for the AI's capital.
I was playing as Qin Shi Huang (Mandate of Heaven) on a purposefully cramped map to make tall play more of a thing, with me and 3 other civs. A legendary start had given me a silly number of deer, even if some of them were on tundra, along with multiple horses, just an absurd starting territory once I got Temple of Artemis up and with deer pantheon picked. I had little room to expand and it was fine watching my one city go up and up fast, but I didn't want to try to do a one-city challenge.
So I went Man-At-Arms rush from the gains I had from that city and took out my nearby neighbor Dido, who had managed to get up some 5 cities in the time I'd grown my single big one.
Everything was going well and I was planning to continue my path of domination onto Maya, who was next in the way. The only other opponent remaining was Alexander and I got cultural dominance over him during my attacks on Maya. I took Maya's first closest city without too much trouble, with the help of some Rent-A-City-State units, but some weird things were happening in the process. Maya had a couple of vampires and I had fast combat on, so it was kind of hard to realize what was happening, but something was hitting some units like a truck. I kept making mistakes on positioning and losing weak units, watching as sometimes a vampire at 1 health would surge forth from Maya's nearby capital and attack once again.
Eventually I realized how to position to protect my weakest units, but I was taking way too much damage and in comparing combat strength, it became evident the enemy vampires had grown stronger from the units they'd offed and were getting boosts from a nearby great general, making them higher strength than even my Man-At-Arms in spite of Maya being behind me in tech.
Yikes! After some failed attempts to move forward on the capital and realizing that Maya could just keep sending their 1 health vampire units after me, I went for peace and used my momentum to get better strength. Along with having adopted vampires myself, I beelined Oil and Infantry, made a couple Corps of them, and was able to face down Maya's vampires more effortlessly now. Where before they were wreaking havoc, now they were just ramming into my front line at 1 health and doing little. What a difference some combat strength makes.
A lot of finagling and a little bit of pettiness later, I eliminated Maya from the game. The 1 health vampire ramming finally stopped. And if you remember me mentioning having gotten cultural dominance over Alexander during that, well with him the only one left, that meant I won a culture victory.
Which proves that my vampires are better than Maya's because of their culture. Pay no attention to the Infantry backing them up.

Don’t attempt this unless you are dedicated. VERY DEDICATED. If you are, there are a couple of Omegas recommended and if you have any Zeta upgrades, the one on B2 is probably the best out of the three good ones. Any relic mats should be spread equally on first Droideka, then B1, Magnaguard, B2, and lastly Asajj.
The recommended Omegas, from most to least recommended are 1. B1’s Roger Roger (B2 special if you did his Zeta), 2. Droideka basic (only get if you are struggling with speed mods) 3. Ventress’s basic, 4. Ventress’s AOE, 5. B2 basic, 6. B1 Special, 7. B2 basic.
The target stats for units are: Droideka and B1 Physical Damage: 8500, 9000 is better, 10000 is best; Droideka Speed: 200 without omega, 150 with it; Droideka Tenacity: 80%, 90% is better; B1 Speed: 200; Magnaguard Health/Protection: 140000 total; Magnaguard Tenacity: 60%, 75% better; Magnaguard Speed: 250; B2 Physical Damage: 5500; B2 Health/Protection: 130000 total; Asajj Speed: 215; Asajj Health/Protection: 100000 total; Asajj Physical Damage: 5500; Asajj Special Damage: 6300;
It is important to make sure that Asajj is modded efficiently. In every attempt that I defeated all 4 clones, Asajj was still standing and a major part of the damage output. The basic strategy behind this guide is to give B2 turns by taunting with Magnaguard. Use B2’s AOE every time that Magnaguard is taunting to make sure B2 gets his free turn. To open the battle, use Asajj’s AOE to lower the Troopers protection. If Asajj gets hit by more than just GAS and Fives, restart. This is about the only time you should use her AOE, the only exception being if multiple troops are at low enough health when Fives is already defeated. Every other time, use her basic to stun or to avoid a mass counter. After the AOE, The Clone Troopers should take a few turns. Ideally, one of them will attack Magnaguard and he will counter, thus taunting. If this is the case, B2 should get an extra turn and spam the AOE over and over until GAS is close to down. Hopefully, Rex took a turn by this point and used his turn-meter move. If GAS is about to go down and it’s Droidekas turn, but Rex hasn’t gone yet, use his damage immunity special and hope the B1 doesn’t finish off GAS protection. Ideally, Droideka will take his turn after GAS is down, but that isn’t always the case. If he does, use his second move (if he has 2 or more stacks) on Fives, otherwise use his basic.
ALWAYS TAKE DOWN FIVES FIRST. His Zeta adds Health, Protection, Speed, and Attack to other 501st members if anyone else is defeated first.
After taking down Fives, target Rex first, then Echo, and lastly ARC Trooper. Echo isn’t too much of a concern since you (hopefully) modded for Tenacity on the most important units. When B1 takes his turn, use his special to heal the most injured Droid, usually B2 since Magnaguard is probably dead by this point. If he is not dead, use his stun special first when he takes his turn, otherwise use his Basic. Only use his AOE to finish off a clone. If everything goes well, GAS should be on his own with just B2, Droideka, and Ventress left. If you have all three, your chances are looking good. If just Ventress and Droideka are left, you can probably do it if you play smart. Other than that, your attempt is as good as over. Good luck, and don’t get discouraged. It took me nearly 12 hours of attempts to beat it, but I did. I will upload my mods and stats in a different post.

Hemp drinks are big business in the United States and poised to grow even bigger. Thanks to the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, hemp-based products are at least quasi-legal across the United States – and, unlike marijuana, they’re shippable across state lines.
Companies big and small are betting on hemp-derived drinks becoming the next big thing for health-conscious, smoke-wary consumers.
Bernuth’s Pharos Brands was one of 30 hemp-derived THC beverage companies at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s January expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
According to the Hemp Beverage Alliance, hemp drink companies took up as much as 10% of the floor.
“We’re killing it here,” Bernuth told MJBizMagazine from the bustling convention hall.
Things went so well that she’s banking on contributing to a movement as well as running a successful business.
“We want to mainstream this,” she said. “We feel hemp beverages are an essential piece of destigmatizing THC.”
But when the first can of Pharos seltzer is sold in stores this spring with 2.5 milligrams of hemp-sourced THC, it won’t be sold in Montana, where Bernuth lives and where Pharos is produced.
That’s because Montana law requires any end product with more than 0.3% THC to be sold at a state-licensed marijuana dispensary.
Such rules don’t exist on the other side of the Dakotas in Minnesota, where a 2022 state law specifically allows products with low doses of hemp-derived THC to be sold through mainstream retail outlets such as supermarkets and convenience stores.
In a familiar theme, states around the country offer similar patchworks of conflicting rules.
At least, that’s the case for now.
The federal law that has allowed a hemp-derived product market worth billions to emerge almost overnight could soon change – and dramatically.
Intoxicating hemp market From drinks to gummies or smokable flower, the country’s appetite for psychoactive products sourced from hemp is enormous.
And what economist Beau Whitney estimates “conservatively” as a $28.4 billion market barely existed before the 2018 Farm Bill accidentally legalized it.
That Farm Bill, which legalized the production of hemp across the United States, was intended to be a boon for long-suffering producers of low-THC cannabis intended to be spun into fabric, pressed into oil for fuel or processed into health foods.
Hemp is also a source of CBD, or cannabidiol, which can be converted into psychoactive delta-8 THC, hence the boom in delta-8-infused products.
The latest evolution is hemp-derived delta-9 THC.
Operators with enough hemp also could extract sufficient delta-9 THC to produce and ship gummies and other infused products that are functionally identical to state-regulated marijuana across the U.S.
It’s conventional wisdom that federal lawmakers did not intend to create this new market when they legalized hemp production nationwide with the 2018 Farm Bill.
Since then, businesses including Pharos have existed in a state of uncertainty that some argue is – if you can believe it – even more confusing than the regulated marijuana industry.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has publicly declared that hemp-derived THC has “serious health risks,” and the Drug Enforcement Administration has hinted it doesn’t consider certain hemp extracts legal.
However, federal regulators have so far taken limited enforcement action. Only companies selling products marketed with unproven medical claims or marketed with packaging similar to mainstream snack or beverage brands have drawn negative attention – and then usually nothing more serious than a cease-and-desist letter.
But it’s also understood this uneasy status quo is temporary.
Depending on when Congress passes the next Farm Bill – and exactly what’s in it – the ground could shift under Bernuth’s business and the hemp-derived cannabinoid sector yet again.
The problem is, nobody knows when that might be – nor what will come next.
“Overall, the federal government is quite unpredictable,” said Michelle Bodian, the New York-based co-chair of the Vicente law firm’s Hemp and Cannabinoids Department as well as the Hemp Beverage Alliance’s general counsel.
“The longer things drag out, the more opportunity there is for issues to come to the forefront,” she added.
“It’s obviously hard to predict where those issues are going to land – in hemp’s favor or against.”
Farm Bill provisions One of the biggest and most complex measures that Congress produces, the Farm Bill is an $867 billion behemoth that covers corn subsidies, food stamps, conservation projects and, now, CBD, delta-8 THC and delta-9 THC extracted from hemp.
In theory, Congress must renew the Farm Bill every five years, when the spending allowances run out.
The 2018 Farm Bill’s provisions started running out at the end of September 2023, when Congress gave itself the first in a series of extensions.
Promises that a draft Farm Bill would soon emerge followed the first extension, but as of early February, there was still no draft bill and no timeline for when proposals would appear.
Put another way: It remains an open question whether the 118th Congress will pass a Farm Bill in 2024 at all.
If and when a new Farm Bill passes, it’s also unclear whether lawmakers will choose to wrestle with the hemp-derived cannabinoid market they accidentally unleased.
Farm Bill timeline Neither the U.S. Senate agriculture committee, chaired by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow and Arkansas Republican John Boozman, nor their colleagues in the House Committee on Agriculture, chaired by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, responded to MJBizMagazine’s requests for comment.
In January, Thompson expressed hope that he’d be able to draft a bill and pass it through his committee in March, an optimistic timeline that hemp lobbyists considered unrealistic at press time.
Some influential lawmakers, such as Oklahoma Republican Rep. Frank Lucas, believed to be the only “active farmer” in Congress, say that Congress will absolutely pass a Farm Bill in 2024 – and that it won’t be a major departure from the 2018 version.
That is what the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp is banking on, said Chris Lindsey, the group’s director of state advocacy and public policy.
“This is more about clarifying what Congress did than it is about going in and changing the laws and creating some new regulatory framework,” Lindsey told MJBizMagazine.
But with Congress still fumbling basic tasks such as a long-term federal budget, other observers are planning for 2024 to turn into 2025 with no new Farm Bill in sight.
“I wouldn’t say I’m confident (for a 2024 passage). I’m hopeful,” said Jonathan Miller, co-founder and general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, which lobbies federal lawmakers and counts among its members prominent cannabis companies including Cronos Group and Curaleaf Holdings.
Miller believes the best window to pass a Farm Bill is the lame-duck session between the November 2024 general election and January 2025, when the next Congress – and, potentially, next president – is inaugurated.
That tiny window could, of course, slam shut depending on the election’s outcome.
Regardless of when, there’s “no consensus” for what federal lawmakers want to do, Miller said.
Hemp in the Farm Bill Most industry observers believe that Congress will seriously consider redefining what qualifies as “hemp.”
A legal definition rather than a botanical one, hemp currently refers to cannabis sativa plants with 0.3% THC or less by dry weight.
There appears to be support for raising the THC limit to 1% – a proposition that appeared in stand-alone legislation proposed in 2022 by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine.
But what about regulating CBD, which the FDA has been on notice to do for years?
And what about clarifying the federal legality of hemp-derived THC and the alphabet soup of THC derivatives that have appeared?
It seems as if the status of hemp-derived cannabinoids is anyone’s guess, though it is likely that federal lawmakers will be reluctant to interfere with state regulations.
That would be just fine for companies in places such as Kentucky and Texas, where the lack of regulated medical marijuana programs creates intense demand for a viable alternative.
The hemp market is booming under loose rules that nonetheless call for basic guardrails such as age restrictions and product-safety guarantees.
Lack of action won’t be welcome news to companies such as those trying to operate in Arkansas, where a strict ban on hemp-derived competitors to a fledging medical marijuana industry is being challenged in federal court.
As for Bernuth, she knows at least two things to be true: Hemp-derived THC is too big for the federal government to kill off entirely, and the market needs regulations such as age verification and product-safety standards.
If that means Pharos needs a unique product label to comply with laws in every state where Bernuth wants to distribute the product, she is willing to do that.
And if the rules change even more, she’s willing to adapt.
“Every business has to be flexible, so we’re definitely being as flexible as possible,” Bernuth said.
For now, the opportunity presented by hemp-derived cannabinoid drinks is too sweet to pass up.
https://mjbizdaily.com/hemp-derived-thc-producers-wary-of-us-farm-bill/

I am doing this CMV because I want to see my country together again. I was born in 2000, all I have ever known is my country divided. It's depressing to me that it is this way. I love my country and everything it has done for our people. I want to see our people not divided.
I want to see the promise our forefathers gave to us, the promise our parents and grandparents were told. The promise to pursue happiness, we can not have that promise if we are divided. I want love for our country and our people.
I Believe that RFK Jr could end the division and unite the people. Here are my reasons why.
1.) He Genuinely wants to help our nation, unite our nation, and give power back to American people.
2.) He is Independent. What that means is that he has voters from both vaccinated and unvaccinated. He has voters from both Trump and Biden. He has voters that are pro life and pro choice. He has voters that are pro guns and anti guns.
3.) He's anti war and wants world peace.
4.) He cares about our environment and the health of the American people.
4.) He cares about the young people in America. He knows that many are depressed, angry, and lonely. He also knows that many are suffering from developmental and physical disabilities such as Autism, Asthma, and learning disabilities.
5.) Kennedy is a recovering drug addict. He's recovered from Heroin addiction and admits it.
He's honest about his struggles which is how a president should be. Both my mother, father, and grandfather were addicts that became sober. If he becomes president addicts all across America will have hope for not only recovering but a better brighter future.
I love you all, I love the USA, and I want to see US United and not Divided.
Edit 1: I'm vaccinated so I believe vaccines definitely can and do help people. However I do believe that we should study them much more.
We should study them for dangerous long term effects and short term effects. Some people are not effected the same way.
Now for the breaking of the 2 party system. I think because a lot of people on both sides want change, and are tired of the two party system. Many supporters could leave both Trump and Biden to gravitate twords Kennedy.
I do have to say is that we haven't seen Kennedy debate Trump or Biden yet which is something that we really need. We will see later this year how this goes.