American harvest pellet stove parts

I can understand that owning a home provides psychological safety. But why is owning a home tied to financial well-being? Why is it part of the American Dream?
The same amount of money invested in equity market would have grown much faster and provide retirement income. It is difficult to sell a house to realize the gains, if needed on short order. There are property taxes and other costs to maintain the property annually.
Even when owned, the house is a depreciating asset. Why do we want it so much? Why is renting forever not a good alternative?

Hello, male African American I have a flight on 19th of may to 26 I will be getting hair transplant and teeth correction. I was looking at asli tacan & Heva clinic the dilemma is Asli does teeth a little bit better than heva that’s why I’m leaning towards them a little bit, but I’ve been hearing they over harvest and butchers donor area.
I recently told Asli that I might be looking to go somewhere else and the consultant got really upset and mad maybe cause we been talking for about a year or two
Now thats out the way, I wonder if I can go to Asli for teeth and then get picked up from the clinic or even taxi to the other clinic to get my hair transplant done do anyone think that’s possible?

Slugs have been decimating my seedlings this spring so far. I’ve never had a year like this before - I’m going to have to replant several things. They’ve completely destroyed some of my young cucumbers, so those will need to get replanted. They’ve also chewed some holes in my peppers and tomatoes, though thankfully those aren’t decimated. Yet to see if my melon seedlings will recover or not. I know there are some others with damage too, but nothing else hit quite as hard.
Might be because I had the bed covered with straw all winter and haven’t removed it? This is the first year I’ve done that, due to growing garlic. I had garlic overwintering in part of the bed, and that’s still in place (likely won’t harvest until June or July). Anyway, I simply pulled the straw back where I planted spring seedlings. Unfortunately, I’m guessing this straw has been prime slug habitat. If I remove the straw entirely to hopefully limit slug habitat, how long should I wait before putting down a new layer to act as mulch?
I’ve also ordered Bonide “bug and slug killer” to use, but unfortunately it’s due to rain all week. Assuming that would render it relatively useless. So in the meantime, do you know ow of any remedies I can try while it’s raining? No downpour, just a steady drizzle on and off all week.
Location: Maryland 7b

So a few months ago I (18m) got in a shouting match with my mom (43f). Whenever I come home from school she expects me to wash dishes and clean and refill the pellet stove, before she comes home. This leaves me about half an hour which is doable. On this day I lost track of time and when she got home she immediately started yelling at me. I went to go do the dishes and she continued to yell as I was doing them. I told her to leave me alone and that it doesn’t matter when I do them because it was still a few hours before she starts making dinner. This just enraged her and she started going on about my bad grades and a bunch of other irrelevant stuff. At this point something inside me snapped and I started screaming at her. I brought up how my sister found out she was cheating on my dad (she didn’t know that she told me about this) and also her DUI crash from a year ago. I was so emotional I couldn’t stop screaming, there was so much anger I had towards her that I was just now getting off my chest. She then went into my dad’s bedroom and called my grandma, apparently to ask the number of a therapist she had told her about. This really pissed me off and I think I said something along the lines of “you cheating whore”. As this was transpiring she accidentally hung up the phone. Eventually we both calmed down and she begged me to not tell my dad about this. I agreed but I felt sick about it. All of a sudden there were cops at the door because my grandma had apparently called them when the phone was hung up, even though I never touched my mom or was even that close to her throughout the whole argument. The cops were just asking what happened and my mom explained we had an argument but there was no physical alteration. Just then my dad pulled into the driveway and he was yelling telling them to get out of his house. Eventually they left and he took me on a walk to talk about what happened. I lied for my mom and said the argument was about something else. Everything has been ok since then, I made amends with my mom and grandma but I still don’t know what to think about the whole ordeal. I feel like I was justified in being angry with her for cheating and that it would make things worse for my family if my dad found out. I really don’t know though.

I have lived in New York, London, Madrid and Amsterdam, I’ve travelled all over Asia, visited some Latin American countries - yet I’ve never felt more unsafe, worried and allround terrible in a city as I do in Brussels.
Just pulling into the Gare du Nord/ Midi station and seeing the dilapidated buildings… terrifying for a Western European country. Taking a cab or an Uber: unfriendly, aggressive drivers looking to scam you. Nothing but Muslim women fully covered and looking surly as F on the streets, Muslim men hanging out in groups and wrecking havoc, dirty streets, homeless psychotic people around the train stations… I could go on.
Please don’t tell me “that’s not all of Brussels” because I’m well aware the Sablon, European quarter and some parts of Ixelles are ok, but these few streets do NOT make up for the terrible state the rest of the city is in. The whole energy of the city is negative. What a difference with Antwerp, Ghent, Amsterdam. What a difference even with Paris - where the Gare du Nord area (supposedly a rough neighborhood) looks like a posh quartier compared to most of Brussels. I have some international friends (German, Spanish) working for the EU and living in Brussels and all of them (all well-traveled etc) completely agree. Something is very OFF with Brussels.
I am utterly ashamed of my birth country (I haven’t lived in Belgium for 10 years) and very sad this is what Belgium has to show for its capital of the European Union.

So my wife and I have been married for almost two years, and to make a long story short, she’s living outside of the US, and I’m currently temporarily living outside of the US with her. We have everything that we need to start the immigration process, but she had previously attended and graduated from university in the e US, and part it was paid for and sponsored by our church. Part of her requirements is that she must return to her home country for 4 years, or have to pay back the total cost of her education (about 55k). If I’m being honest I simply do NOT have that in one lump sum, and apparently we are NOT able to pay it in installments, however her sister, who is also married to an American and been living in the US for about 15 years DOES have it in one lump sum, and she and her husband had offered to pay it in full, so that we could be together, however that’s where it gets tricky. My SIL and BIL said that if there going to pay over 50k to help us in the immigration process that they expect my wife to live with them in Florida (which is 5 hours away from my home) but they said they’d be more than happy with me visiting my wife 3-4 times a month, as it won’t intrude in them. Perhaps I’m being prideful (which is what my wife tells me) but I in NO WAY support this idea, I’d rather us just wait the two years she has remaining, and then send her to the US, but everytime I bring it up my wife, SIL and BIl attack me and say I’m being prideful, but I mean for me if I’m gonna sign the affidavit of support to bring her to the US why TF would I willing allow her to live away from me, because if that’s the case she may as well stay in her home country. I need some advice, because I have told my BIL and SIL to TAKE A HIKE, and my wife keeps attacking me telling me I don’t value her family, and that I apparently don’t want her in the US. This is causing so many headaches for me, and I’m already so far away from my home, and just want to be near my spouse. Can anyone offer any advice, or just a nice shoulder to lean on?

Toronto Canada is a city full of opportunities where people all over the world come to migrate and start a new life. We have good health care our minimum wage is decent we have friendly people who live here for the most part. We also have a bad side to the city like most major cities across the world. But then you have a sector of individuals who idiolize our neighbors (Americans). And mimic almost everything they do without giving credit. For example the phrases like fuck the opps, smoking your Manz, loud, slide for your homie, thot etc..this is definitely American slang which we borrow and it's ok to be influenced by Americans. I Don't see how we use their culture and then turn around and act like they don't have culture.Yes we eating way better up here because most of our parents weren't born in Canada so they brought foods from our native lands which makes up Torontos diverse foods and restaurants. We also get alot of our fashion trends from the Americans. When BLM was marching the streets in the US we did the same thing downtown Toronto at the police HQ. We have to admit they set trends. What I need to understand is how do we expect to build our culture if we cant credit those who influence us ?

15: Bruno Sammartino: Mentions about being one of the premier draws of the 60s/70s building the WWWF into the top drawing territory with Vince Sr. Was the prototype for an ethic babyface champion. Becoming the biggest MSG draw in the history of wrestling. Has over 125 main events in the building dating from 1960-1985. Mentions how he was also a giant draw in All-Japan and only came back to the States because Pedro Morales wasn't drawing as much as he was. Set the all-time North American Gate record twice with Stan Hansen and Larry Zbyszko at Shea Stadium.
14: Stan Hansen: Claims that he is "the most popular foreign wrestler in the history of Japan". Had over 120 tours in Japan(most by an wrestler ever). Brought an intensity and realism that had never been seen in wrestling. Paved the road for future Gajiin wrestlers such as Terry Gordy, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Vader. Mentioned being part of the largest gate in US history at the time vs Bruno. Feuded with Antonio Inoki for the better part of 4 years. Before leaving New-Japan for All-Japan and teaming with Bruiser Brody. He was also the first triple crown winner in All-Japan history(Unified the NWA international, Pacific Wrestling Federation, and All Japan Untied National titles). Before losing to in one of the greatest title chases in history to Misawa.
13: Ed"Strangler" Lewis: Talks about being the most dominant world champion of the 1920s. Apparently had a match that lasted 5 hours! Which changed wrestling from a shoot to work. Was a mainstream star for the entire decade. His world title program with John Olin was considered to be the first "worked world title" program in history.
12: Jim Londos: Mentions he was the equivalent in popularity of a prime Hulk Hogan. Was one of wrestling's biggest stars from the late 1910's-early 1950s. Was the biggest attraction at MSG between 1930-1932. He also spent time on the carnival circuit having shoot matches with random people. But, was pretty much the reason why New York became a giant wrestling market. Drawing massive crowds at Yankee Stadium garnering a $63,000 during the great depression era in 1931. Was drawing 4 bi-weekly shows averaging 15,000 people. His match with Ed Lewis a decade later drew over 35,000 fans at Wrigley Field with fans legitimately believing the two were going to shoot on each other.
11: Frank Gotch: Spent 5 years as world champion and considered by many historians the greatest wrestler ever. Claims he was the most popular athlete in the US until 1917. Sports Illustrated him as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century in 1999. Due to his background in amateur wrestling. His influence and moving into pro-wrestling caused a fluctuation of amateur’s to make the transition. Was undefeated for over 5 years as a shooter in wrestling. And won his first world title in 1904. He's noted for having one of the most anticipated wrestling matches ever in Chicago vs George Hackenschmit lasting over 2 1/2 hours with Gotch winning. A few few years later in 1911 fans demanded a rematch drawing close to 29,000 fans and an $87,000 gate(which was a record).
10: Buddy Rodgers: The original heel bumping world champion. Was to Ric Flair that Superstar Billy Graham was to Hulk Hogan. The expensive robe, the bleached hair, the figure four, the mannerisms. Was one of the industries top stars for 15 years. His style modernized wrestling from being just an athletic contest to a “show”. Rodgers benefited from wrestling on national TV when TV’s were starting to be more common in American home’s. And Wrestling was one of it’s hottest commodities identifying this as the original “golden era”. He helped Sam Muchnick who was routinely getting out-draw by Lou Thesz who was drawing 2x the crowds overtake him in the territory of St. Louis. However, Rodgers would make his name in Chicago with his weekly shows doing an average of over 11,000 people. Rodgers career would peak in the early 1960s where he drew a Comiskey park crowd nearing 40,000 which was the biggest crowd in the history of wrestling that lasted nearly 25 years. Buddy Rodgers was also the first WWWF Champion in history famously dropping the NWA title to Lou Thesz. He’s the only person to hold the NWA and WWE championship in the same year.
9: Steve Austin: Was the face of one of the most popular eras in the history of pro-wrestling. During his time on top was drawing over 9,000 people a night on a 4-5 night basis. The biggest PPV draw in wrestling history and television draws with setting cable television ratings. At the time WrestleMania 17 was the highest bought PPV show in wrestling history and the only Million Dollar buy-rate in wrestling history. A pop-culture figure and was pivotal in bringing the WWF and wrestling back into the mainstream. However, injuries stopped Steve climbing from higher spots on the list.
8: Giant Baba: The founder of All-Japan Pro-Wrestling and an icon in Japan. Was known by practically everyone across Japan. One of the most honourable business men in an industry full of carnies. The entire All-Japan would travel togetherookies would work their way up/athleticism credibility was highly valued/didn’t settle people with bad gimmicks. And most importantly “The entire roster from to bottom, out-worked and out-hustled every other wrestling locker room". A student of Rikidozan, Baba was an instant success in the US due to his physical size and wasn’t settled as the typical foreign Japanese villain. In 1964, he managed to wrestle for three different world championships(WWWF Bruno Sammartino, NWA champion Lou Thesz, and WWA champion Freddie Blassie). When Baba returned to Japan he was considered to be more over than Rikodozan. He was considered to be the reason why Japanese wrestling was able to survive after the demise of Rikidozan. Holding the same belt. His clean living persona was able to re-kindle the respect that Rikidozan left. His biggest match came in 1968 when he defeated the Crusher on Prime-Time Network TV in Japan drawing a 48 rating. Which was opposing a Lou Thesz/Danny Hodge match that did a 26.
7: El Santo: Tied to the early days of Lucha Libre, El Santo was one the biggest Mexican stars(not just wrestlers) for 4 decades. Never a great in-ring star but his mainstream crossover was undeniable. Weekly comic books that were a multi-million dollar seller. Popularized a film trope in Mexico with the crime action fighting masked wrestling star. El Santo starred in over 50 films. His Mask vs Mask feud with Black Shadow was considered one of the most historical feuds in Lucha Libre history with it being the birth of the “lose mask stipulation”
6: Andre The Giant: The most in-demand wrestler across the world for the bulk of his career as well as the one of the highest paid people in sports. He was considered in the 70s as not just the most popular wrestler but athletes in the world. The top international box office draw of his era. Moved territory-to-territory due to fans refusing to believe anyone could beat him and would lead to him being over exposed(Lol Andre wins?). Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, Japan every promotion wanted him and he worked all of them and was drawing night after night. Andre was capable of having long matches with Nick Bockwinkel going over an hour. Andre was also able to cross into mainstream with appearances on the Tonight Show, Letterman, and playing Big Foot on the Six Million Dollar Man. Andre was a gigantic draw in both Japan and the US specifically. In arguably the most famous match of all-time he drew the first million dollar gate at WrestleMania 3 and drew 33 million people for his rematch with Hulk Hogan.
5: Hulk Hogan: Hogan is considered the man who made “wrestling cool to the general public” Melzer states that Hogan is the “greatest wrestling card draw of all-time”. His name was the difference between a show drawing 4,000 people to 10,0000 people. Says nobody in wrestling history consistently sold more tickets during a longer stretch than him. Mentions that he is the only face basically non-wrestling fans can recognize. Was the face of the WWF becoming during it’s national and eventual international expansion. Caused a flurry of merchandise deals from actions figures, shirts, toys, cartoons. Brought the WWF into the PPV market and on national prime-time TV. Drew record gates, ratings, attendance which some still stand after nearly 40 years. Revived his career with WCW, was the initial cause for the return of wrestling into mainstream in the 90s. AKA he was kind of a draw.
4: Antonio Inoki: Labelled the “greatest shooter of all-time” he was the founder and face of New-Japan Pro-Wrestling. A man whose defeated Judo Champions, Boxers, Olympic Gold Medal winners, an elected politician, and a presence in geo-politics. Inoki covered all bases. Much like Baba, Inoki was considered the reason Japanese wrestling survived in the 60s after Rikidozan. He was the first Japanese world class wrestler who could move In the ring like a partner. By 1967 when teaming with the biggest Japanese star at the time Baba. Fans thought Inoki was the real star due to his athleticism and performances in NWA world title matches. When he and Baba tried to take over the IWA in the early 70s and didn’t Inoki was outlawed and began NJPW in 1972. Inoki also developed a concept that would become extremely popular which was worked MMA matches with outside athletes to create the image that pro-wrestlers were as tough as any athletes. Famously, this led to the Ali fight in 1976 which was watched by 1.4 billion people and also highly criticized. Inoki was also involved in winning the WWF in 1979 in Japan but WWE doesn’t recognize this as Inoki refused to drop the belt. Inoki throughout his career would continue to book himself against athletes with the biggest(aside from Ali) came in 1989 against Olympic gold medal winner Shota Chochoshivili drawing over 53k fans and the largest paid Japanese crowd ever at over 2 million dollars.
3: Rikidozan: He's called the single most important wrestler in history. Rikidozan is responsible for bringing pro-wrestling to Japan in the 50s. Is called the most famous star in Japanese wrestling history and the industries biggest TV star. Most of his big matches were contested on prime-time network TV in Japan usually against Americans. As well, as handpicking his successors Inoki and Baba. In his early years in the US he wrestled in California and was the top draw within 3 weeks. And lost only 5 of his over 250 matches during his time in America. And his success was heard across in Japan and eventually he formed the IWA in 1953 right as television was in it’s infancy in Japan. And with images spreading of him chopping a big American during one of his matches. The formula of US Vs Japan grew television in Japan as medium and primarily to see Rikodozan become a Japanese legend. Rikodozan went on to face Lou Thesz in front of 27,000 fans in Tokyo in 1957 for the NWA title. The live match drew an 87 rating in Japan which is the largest TV audience for wrestling ever until Rikidozan’s match with The Destroyer drew a 67 rating in the 60s(the share was lower but more people had TV’s by the 60s so therefore more viewers). Furthermore, he had possibly the most vicious feud in wrestling history against Freddie Blassie that was regularly covered on the news. Rikidozan even at the time the book came out his matches were still shown on Japanese TV decades after.
2: Lou Thesz: He was the direct link between the era of Frank Gotch and Ed Lewis and the wrestling explosion on TV during the 40s. He is the person who brought legitimacy and credibility to wrestling. Lou is considered by many historians to be the greatest technician ever. Thesz won his first world championship at age 21(making him the youngest major world champion ever). Thesz captured 3 world championships between 1939 and 1948 throughout the territories(in which would become the more famous NWA in 1948). Thesz turned St. Lous into the Wrestling Capital of the world during the 40s with his continuous sell-outs at Keil Auditorium after his merging with Sam Muchinick’s promotion. Then as mentioned in 1948, due to avoiding anti-trust laws promoters from across the US gathered to co-exist under one banner “the NWA” and the first world champion that was to travel to each territory and defend this new championship was voted to be Lou. Thesz was the foundation of what the NWA was built on. An athletic champion who could work with anyone and was someone who could handle himself if anyone tried to shoot on him in the ring. As a draw, Thesz drew the first $100,000 live gate in wrestling history with over 25,000 fans seeing him in LA. As well, as his famous 87 rating match in Japan against Rikidozan. Thesz reigns were long, lasting years and was NWA champion a record 6 times. And famously relinquished the belt to make more money working in Japan. In total Lou Thesz was NWA champion for close to 4,000 days with his longest reign being 6 years.
1: Ric Flair: Begins by saying "the very definition of pro-wrestling: a performer of unparalleled work ethic, one of the best promo men in history, a man dropping with charisma, a psychologist and a compelling storyteller possessing the ability to carry the most hapless opponent to a five-star classic". Says Flair’s ring style revolutionized pro-wrestling and brought wrestling to in-achievable heights. Says nobody could say they were a top 5 worker in wrestling for 20 years other than Ric Flair. And nobody had better matches for a longer period of time than he did. All while having the toughest schedule in wrestling. Talks about FlaiSteamboat selling out the Carolina's during their initial feud in 70s and set a new standard in psychology in wrestling. And was mentioned as being NWA champion as early as 1978, Flair become NWA champion in 1981 and worked everyone everywhere. He practically never had a day off. Working across the globe having memorable match and having amazing money drawing feuds. World Class drew sell-outs for 3 straight years with him regularly facing the Von Erich’s with the culmination being a $400,000 gate in front of over 32,000 people in 1984. The initial Starrcade(first closed circuit wrestling show) saw Flair win his second world title in a textbook title chase program. Flair’s becoming a full fledged heel in 1985 drew the two best years of Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 and 1986. That saw JCP doing shows now nationally due to the TBS exposure. Flair continued to have classic matches throughout the 80s with Steamboat, Windham, Dusty, Sting, Luger. And when Sting was given the title in 1990 he couldn’t fill Flair’s role as a draw and Flair was back as world champion. Flair would continue to also work extensively over seas with headlining multiple Tokyo Dome shows as NWA world champion before leaving in 1991 and bringing the NWA title onto WWF TV in an unprecedented moment. It ends stating "Flair is a gifted visionary dedicated to his sport, his craft, his profession, his trade-his art:. He is a man who has used wrestling as his canvas-modeling sculpting, and stretching the sport in ways never thought possible, In a business where grandiose metaphors such as these are commonplace. Flair, perhaps more than anyone else, is truly deserving of them"

Spoilers!
What exactly did Palpatine want with Ezra? Was it just access to the World Between Worlds or was there more to it?
We know Palpatine's experiments on Tantiss were ruined at the end of Bad Batch Season 3 when Nala Sé's/Hemlock's research was destroyed. Palpatine also lost access to Omega, Jax, Sami, Eva, and Bayrn all of which were either individuals with significant M-Counts themselves or their blood type (possibly because of mutations) allowed for successful M-Count transfereplication.
Although Tarkin discontinued Project Necromancer in favor of transitioning funding to Project Stardust, Palpatine was still interested in Force sensitives for his experiments. We know this because of Jedi Fallen Order. Palpatine tasked Vader and the Inquisitors with finding a Jedi Holocron, which contained a list of the locations of Force-sensitive children across the galaxy, but Cal destroyed it and again Palpatine's plan was foiled.
We know the Imperial Remnant hunted down Grogu for similar reasons; however, it was revealed at the end of Mandalorian Season 3 his blood was used to make Force sensitive clones specifically of and for Gideon, not Palpatine. It's implied in the Vader comics, Snoke was created using the genetic material harvested from Luke's severed hand and some of Palpatine's own material. That is why Snoke is labeled as a strand-cast. Let's not forget, Sidious had ambitions of using Force sensitives to create clones of himself all the way back during the Clone War as well.
Maybe the reason why Palpatine wanted Ezra was because he wanted to use him to continue his experiments? I doubt Ezra would ever cooperate and permit Sidious access to the World Between Worlds, but Sidious would have no problem subduing him, taking him to Exegol, and having his Sith Cultists use him to create a perfect clone vessel (if it were possible). Or perhaps Sidious would've used Ezra to continue his personal research on Midichlorian manipulation ala akin to Plagueis killing and resurrecting Venamis? Or perhaps Palpatine could've frozen Ezra in carbonite and after Vader's inevitable betrayal, use Essence Transfer on him? Palpatine inhabiting Ezra's body until a more powerful host could be turned like Luke or emerge like Ben? Just speculation on my part. What do you all think?

We are doing some minor updates until we can afford a full kitchen remodel for our older home. The only thing we did differently right here since buying the house was adding the cabinet between fridge and stove. But the above part feels very empty. Any advice?

TLDR: Lowe’s delivered a broken refrigerator but insisted it’s the manufacturers responsibility. 2 months later, no working fridge. Disputed charge with Amex, got credited. I am going to buy a new one ASAP. But what are chances it will get reversed?….i really just want a working refrigerator
I ordered a new refrigerator and stove from Lowes for a vacation property I own. It was later charged to my account when delivered on march 6. This is a second home and I drove 1.5 hours to receive both items, install them and transfer contents of refrigerator over. Every thing initially seems ok, but upon returning to the property 3 weeks later I found a very rancid smelling home with a refrigerator at room temp, can hear compressor but no cooling at all. I called Lowe’s and was told since I did not contact them within 48 hours of receiving appliance, there is nothing they will do, and that I must go through the manufacturer.
Dealing with Frigidaire’s custom service, for what they insist is a warranty issue, has been very difficult to say the least. Long wait times, foreign call center where workers English is poor, workers have little authority to do much of anything except set up service calls and check the computer for progress and decisions being made elsewhere. I have made two trips down there for techs to look at refrigerator, one was no show after the 8 hour window passed, second one recommended replacement of compressor, evaporator and condenser, essentially the entire cooling mechanism. Again Frigidaire customer service, not awesome, no management or supervisors to escalate issues to. But eventually they say they will repair, not replace, and that they have already ordered and shipped some of the parts to my home….that do not live at, and is 1.5 hours away. And will set a service tech appointment for end of month.
So now 2 month later, I do not have a working refrigerator at least until end of may. So I called Amex to dispute the cost of refrigerator, ~$1000. Has been credited to my account, they say they will review with Lowe’s but if I don’t hear anything by July consider it settled. Lowe’s gave me a broken appliance, And after a few hundred dollars in spoiled food, gas traveling back and forth and many hours of my time wasted the best I can hope for is Frigidaire will refurbish my unit and actually get it to work. I really just want a working refrigerator in this home and will buy a new one tomorrow. What are the chances Amex will side with Lowe’s and remove the credit from my account?

"Twitter isn't real life, go touch some grass" was a popular sentiment in this community and others about 3 years ago, but is the underlying assumption still true? I loved the convo between devin and destiny for discussing this particular topic.
I believe one of the central threads sewn throughout the zeitgeist of our current times is the ever increasing influence of the internet on our daily lives. Brave take I know, but I think it has to be said. Especially after covid, something definitely changed. I feel It is so normalized and ubiquitous to many, (especially young people! who have become almost like like fish in water), that we often underplay its underlying influence on the events of our lives, both big and small. I feel that destiny is uniquely positioned to be one of the harbingers of the dangers of the internet that we are beginning to see unfold in real time, and I only hope that he sees and understands this. This conversation gave me a lot of hope that he does, but I think more work needs to be done to realize this idea in the collective unconscious of the masses. Right now it feels like we are the blind men feeling the elephant, one feels the snout and says its the jews, the other feels the tail and says its the democrats, the other feels the hard bulky body and says its the tankies etc. etc. I think you get the point. The truth is we are all feeling the underlying elephant in the room, which is the internet and its downstream effects.
The internet is unlike anything ever before in human existence, a seemingly endless interconnected new dimension composed of human thoughts we can plug into, navigate through and interact with. (Kind of reminds me of the great link from DS9), a veritable virtual hivemind where thoughts are uploaded, spread and immortalized; communications and thoughts go viral and come and go at light speed. Cool right? A realized collective unconscious, I think Jung would have a heart attack, cum his pants or both. Except this becomes has started to become a problem for a number of reasons.
I'm not a philosophy expert, but I would argue that perception is reality, or at least perception often becomes reality, especially for most people who don't think about philosophy and things. Since we cannot experience reality through anything but our own biased perspective who can say what objective reality truly is? is there a such thing as truth? These questions are fun to think about but are beyond me. I'm mostly worried about the idea that human perceptions, which are subject to many thought traps, biases, and distortions that I believe are being magnified via the internet and becoming manifested into reality. Take for example the recent discourse about people being unhappy with Biden's economy. Despite all metrics saying the economy is doing relatively well, people are still unhappy with the economic situation. Why is this? I won't pretend to have an answer but some believe social media is to blame. Will stancil a twitter libtard, and congressional candidate has tweeted A LOT about this phenomenon. some examples: https://twitter.com/whstancil/status/1778517866897174553 https://twitter.com/whstancil/status/1785630261285154961 https://twitter.com/whstancil/status/1785376394492494243 https://twitter.com/whstancil/status/1785352353463276015 It could literally be because door dashing food or eating at mcdonalds costs more.
It is well known that there is a negativity bias in media, this also appears to be true for social media. Except I think there is almost zero effort at creating good faith content on social media, and often explicit effort at creating actually malicious content with almost no punishment as of now. At least in the united states, you can really say almost anything on social media relatively anonymously and get away with it, and people are starting to learn how to use this to their advantage. Whether its influencers, advertisers, foreign governments or some guy in his moms basement trolling the internet is flooded with negative and harmful thoughts. This has led to a gold rush of sorts into the influence sphere. Content translates into thoughts that then spread virally and create a kind of idea virus or meme. The problem is that due to negativity getting more clicks, huge negative spirals of sentiment and discourse are created, like some kind of negativity hurricane. The red spot of jupiter got nothing on Andrew Tate or the Israel Palestine discourse. Most bright spots are few and far between. Cat memes, good oc or creative art and content are often lost inside this whirling storm of internet sludge.
I am reminded of this quote from Earl Nightengale: "let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted. As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison. The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant must return to us." Just as the human mind is fertile, so to is the "mind" of the internet, and there is a rush to plant whatever we can.
I believe that these cyclones has become so powerful, and so REAL, that it is easier than ever to get caught up in it. The hivemind is here, and its easier than ever to turn your brain off and go waste hours scrolling, while you are reading other peoples thoughts or watching them, you are essentially letting other people think for you. Its easy and fun to let other people think for you, especially when so many are grasping at straws for some kind of meaning these days. This is part of the reason I think the US gov banned china. Yes it gave photos, contacts, face scans and more to the chinese government. But More important I think was a foot inside the mind of the average American and a lever to influence it one way or another if desired.
Devin's argument that just going offline will help, is only partially right. It will help you personally, but I feel this is akin to a country trying to become isolationist in an already globalized world. Even if a few people may overcome the perfectly tailored dopamine content machines that are modern social media platforms, the large majority is still feeding into that storm and often stuck inside it themselves. It fails to solve the larger societal problem of the endless raging hurricane that grows stronger everyday
I think You can recently notice this easily when people pull out their phones to record something in bizarre situations, like hunter avalone vlogging during him getting shot, prank videos, people sticking cameras in the faces of people they're road raging against, people snitching on themselves doing crime by posting videos of it etc. there is a real presence the internet that can be noticed by a careful observer if you just think why the fuck are they recording and uploading this? People have even started to use the word chat to refer to this hivemind, which I find kinda funny but kinda terrifying. Many knowingly or unknowingly participate in this, and it begins to alter their behavior because they feel that they if they act in a certain way in connection to the collective consciousness they will be vindicated, rewarded, satisfied etc. by their connection and contribution to the hivemind when they share their experience/video later. I think this is kind of what destiny refers to as a constellation of ideas, and how we are seeing people's ideas influenced and reinforced by the desire for social belonging to the collective
Not to mention that Due to the disconnection from any normal human interaction we have evolved to have (no facial expressions, body language.), its all too easy to revert to our worst selves and forget to be empathetic to one another like human beings. We find safety to do the worst among the mob of others stuck in the frenzied hivemind whirlwind, leading to cancelling, (which is easier than ever due to the ever increasing % of our lives online, especially since its archived forever) increasingly absurd purity testing, trolling, harrasing, doxxing, misinformation, demagoguery, populism and other negative behaviors.
The main point I'm trying to get at is that I feel destiny, not through any fault of his own, often focuses on the downstream effects of this phenomenon of the internet, ex misinformation, divisive rhetoric, extremist politics etc. When instead I think he needs to acknowledge and look into the upstream antecedents of these phenomena, which is human psychology and the powerful magnifier that is the internet. Destiny used to say, oh its just these right wing dipshits. Then he realized it was lefties too... then it was the twitch chatters, and so on. The truth is we are all subject to these sorts of things destiny fights against because we are all humans that fall for the same common human psychological traps. (YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA.) I feel that a greater understanding of human psychology and a psychological approach could help destiny in understanding his debate opponents, convincing audience members, and giving context to public figures thoughts and actions. I honestly believe that what destiny does during his debates, especially with good faith interlocuters, is somewhat akin to Cognitive behavioral therapy, (not with his opponent but with their audience), rather than formal debate. Pointing out the flaws in the other persons underlying thought process is often the most effective method of convincing audience members.
Everyone says things have really gotten crazy in recent years, first it was just an arab spring, then obama, then it was just trump, then it was just covid yada yada. But the real culprit has and will continue to be the internet. I believe in creating the internet humanity has undertaken a construction of a veritable Tower of Babel, a way for us to "climb" to "heaven" and achieve "godhood" through the creation of a physical hivemind inside some supercomputer. The internet seems it is here here to stay, so it stands to reason its only a matter of time before we do away with the clumsy interfaces we know and are all eventually jacked into it on some musk brainchip shit. Who knows what that will be like, but I think it must be the closest thing I can imagine to godhood, a true superconsciousness. That is, Unless god comes down from heaven and punishes us, scatters us across the globe and turns our first attempt at a common consciousness into a scattered landscape of separated idea bubbles where we can no longer interact with one another. It seems is already happening. The writing is on the wall I just hope we can see it and understand its implications in time before we suffer its worst consequences and I think destiny is one of the few who can decipher and spread that gospel written on that wall.
TL;DR:

1. Perception is essentially as good as reality for most people.
   
2. The internet is the collective unconsciousness realized, a real manifested hivemind of human thought independent of our own individual minds. The problem is this consciousness can be interacted with and altered in ways we do not yet understand and are not able to address.
   
3. This hivemind is subject to our typical human faults, creating distorted thoughts. Combined with negativity bias, perceptions are altered leading to an alteration of our reality in a self reinforcing cycle I call a negativity hurricane.
   
4. hiding from this negativity hurricane doesn't make it go away, only awareness of it (and probably subsequent legislative action) can make it go away. That is why it is important to spread this idea which destiny can help with.
   
5. meme magic is real, the internet is the tower of babel and destiny is the messiah inshallah blesstiny
   

I'm from Brazil,a country that only about 1/6 of the population can understand even a little bit of english,witch is the language most of the popular songs are. But i always noticed that even when people don't understand what the lyrics are saying, most people i know(mostly the older folk who never had acess to learning a new language) don't seem to care about what the song is saying/is about. But still they clearly enjoy the song,even trying to sing it anyway, even without knowing how to,giving birth to gibrish versions of american songs or even different lyrics in our own language that most of the time have nothing to with the original theme of the song. So considering that, i got curious and wanted to ask if people from other parts of the world have similar experiences,do you have a story with songs that you or someone you know didn't had a clue of what they were singing/listening to but still loved it? How did you or they reacted when you saw what the lyrics are actually about?

Welcome to Reading The Big Book of Cyberpunk!
Each week we (u/FarragutCircle and u/fanny_bertram) will be reading 5-ish stories from Jared Shurin’s The Big Book of Cyberpunk, which includes a curated selection of cyberpunk stories written from 1950 to 2022! We’ll include synopses of the stories along with links to any legally available online versions we can find. Feel free to read along with us or just stop by and hear our thoughts about some cyberpunk stories to decide if any of them sound interesting to you.
Every once in a while, we reach out to people who have more insight, due to being fans of the author or have some additional context for the story. (Or we just tricked them into it.) So please welcome u/Valkhyrie who will be sharing their thoughts on "Feral Arcade Children of the American Northeast" by Sam J. Miller!
“Exopunk's Not Dead” by Corey J. White (published 2019; also available in the anthology A Punk Rock Future edited by Steve Zisson))
Exoskeleton-wearing punks Jack and Ramón dance in the mosh pit of a demolition site; also, Nazi Punks Fuck Off.

• Farragut’s thoughts: White is an Australian writer, and I’ve read them before with their Voidwitch Saga novellas for Tordotcom. This was a really sweet story and I loved the exo-punk scene that’s depicted—plentiful exoskeleton rigs plus large sized punk rock dancing. It’s always a pleasure when Neo-Nazis get their comeuppance. I definitely want to look up more of White’s stuff.
  
• fanny’s thoughts: This was a cute story where they all wear exoskeletons to the club. The music and club element of this story was great and I really felt like I could be there. Exoskeleton rigs, dancing, amazing music, and romance. The whole club stands up against neo-Nazis and I really appreciated that touch. It was a fun, interesting story.
  

“Études” by Lavanya Lakshminarayan (2020; also available in her mosaic novel The Ten Percent Thief, originally Analog/Virtual)
Nina is a lower class Analog desperate to earn Virtual citizenship and also do well at her piano recital.

• Farragut: Lakshminarayan is an Indian writer with some award success in her country. As best as I can tell, “Études” is a middle chapter of The Ten Percent Thief, her mosaic-novel (novel in short stories) set in Apex City (Bangalore, India). While it’s clear that there’s some elements that will get addressed in the full book, this story was great even on its own—Nina is really struggling as an Analog who was adopted by Virtual parents, and the fact that she’s prevented from the various chip/implants/assistive devices that her classmates get and use freely (she can’t even call her dad without her mom’s assistance). I also loved the discussion on music as played with soul vs. precise mechanicalness (also, my son started taking piano lessons and I’m struggling to even get him to practice, ha!). I definitely want to check out the full book. Highly recommended.
  
• fanny: This is a reread for me (my first of this anthology) as I read The Ten Percent Thief last year. I think this works well as a short story and shows enough of Apex City to understand. I really felt for Nina as she tries to navigate school and society without all the technology available to her peers. Nina believes she can play piano better with all the technology, but I loved seeing her determination and dedication when it was harder for her. She goes through so much and yes more is explained in the full book. Highly recommend both.
  

“Apocalypse Playlist” by Beth Cato (2020)
Orchid survives the apocalypse with help from all the music on her brain chip.

• Farragut: Cato is an American writer and poet whom I better know for her steampunk novels. In a series of vignettes divided by songs, we see how Orchid uses her music chip to keep herself calm and energized (I believe she’s on the autism spectrum hence why she had such an assistive chip in the first place). But in a post-apocalyptic future without much technology, she’s the only one who still has the old music that won’t die. It’s a very sweet and hopeful story, and I love that it exists.
  
• fanny: The vignette style of this story worked for me. We follow Orchid through a lot of her life and a lot of changes in the world. She relates to things through music it seems and needs the songs to stay calm. After many alluded to events, she is the only one with the old music. I loved the journey in this one through the vignettes.
  

“Act of Providence” by Erica Satifka (2021; also available in her collection How to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters)
Hailey, one of the few Rhode Islanders to survive the Great Wave, is intrigued by a game developer’s desire to make a game based on her experiences, though it doesn’t end the way she wants it to.

• Farragut: My favorite tidbit about Satifka’s presence in this anthology is the fact that the editor said he found her by searching “cyberpunk” on Amazon. Sharpen up those SEO, authors! This was a pretty moving story as Hailey is in a weird halfway state in many respects—an internal refugee in the United States who is alienated from her own sister who is a fellow survivor but found her own path as an always-online streamer. Though Hailey’s fate is sad, I really appreciated how Dalton’s game acted as a sort of therapy (and escape) for her traumatic experiences in the Great Wave that devastated New England.
  
• fanny: This story left me angry at Dalton’s exploitation of her story and complete lack of remorse. Bailey's fate is sad and the journey she goes on does help her process her trauma, I just wish it hadn't happened. Her sister is constantly followed by drones streaming everything and Hailey wants to tell her story too. In her own way once the opportunity presented itself. Dalton is very creative, but not very empathetic.
  

“Feral Arcade Children of the American Northeast” by Sam J. Miller (2021) (link to story)
Ish, Fenn, and Jenny seek out the mysterious Destroy All Monsters! arcade game, using all their powers.

• Special Guest Valkhyrie: Having absolutely devoured Sam J. Miller's superlative short story collection Boys, Beasts & Men earlier this year, I went into “Feral Arcade Children” with high hopes and was not remotely disappointed. Miller's strip-mall archipelago, simultaneously dystopian and deeply familiar, is lovingly, viscerally rendered along with its colorful school of underage inhabitants. I am continually in awe of the skill with which he weaves the supernatural into the tapestry of modern life, as if we might stumble across any of his characters with their ill-kept secrets and unnamable quirks around any corner at any time. A nostalgic, magical ode to an era of flickering screens and bootleg dreams that we'll never quite recapture. Five stars! Go read it!
  
• Farragut: Miller was the only person to bring mirrorshades to a panel reading of The Big Book of Cyberpunk at the World Fantasy Convention in Kansas City last year, which immediately puts him on top of the Cool Author Index. I’ve only read a couple of Miller’s stories before now, but he really nailed the voice of Ish, with his experiences as one of the “feral arcade kids”; I’m always a sucker for a truly authentic sounding narrator. The interplay with nostalgia and Ish’s evolving feelings about the similarities and differences between them, against the backdrop of the Destroy All Monsters! machine (and Fenn’s apparently teachable electric-sparking abilities?!) just made for a great time reading this. It’s one of the more magical-realist style stories that Shurin has included, but heck, this is great.
  
• fanny: I have read nothing by Miller and that seems to have been an oversight on my part. The way the author captured Ish’s voice and the atmosphere of the feral arcade children was too real. Fenn has a power to electrically shock the games and other things which he teaches to the other children. I am not clear on the Destroy All Monsters! game, but it made a good backdrop for the arcade archipelago. It also seemed to be kind of a metaphor for the world that these feral children are trying to inhabit. I liked this a lot and it was great.
  

That’s it for this week! Check back the same time next week where we’ll be starting a new section in the Big Book and reading and discussing "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, "Speed" by Misha, "Computer Friendly" by Eileen Gunn, "I Was a Teenage Genetic Engineer" by Nisi Shawl, and "The Gene Drain" by Lewis Shiner.
Also posted on Bochord Online.

Hey, so I'm writing to you because some things have become clearer to me and I would like to set aside my pride to be honest with you from several points of view but especially regarding our separation. It's evident that at the moment I tend to look at my mistakes and analyze my role in the situation, but I am also willing to hear you out whenever you are ready and more emotionally opened. I realize that we've hurt each other deeply, but my feelings for you are still present even though I'm afraid things have changed for you even in such a short time, but I feel I need to be honest with you regarding how I feel, because I don't want to lose you, and I think this is more important for me than any kind of ego-play. Reflecting on our relationship, I realize that I made many mistakes and handled some situations unrealistically. I was too preoccupied with my own fears and insecurities, and perhaps I wasn't always aware of the impact my actions had on you.
I realize that at times I made things worse by trying to push you away, when in reality, I needed you more than ever. I regret letting fear guide my decisions and not being more open and vulnerable with you. We rushed into our relationship and everything felt premature, so I was afraid to open up, but seeing things in perspective, I think that I have already grown a lot as a person, and became more emotionally aware of myself, knowing what kind of relationship I want to build, and I think our foundation is still there, even if very fragile, I think we can both help each-other grow. I remember moments, like when we were in Hamburg, in the car, and you were trying to process your emotions and I burst into tears and I told you I wanted to move out once we got to Amsterdam. There were many attempts on my part to separate from you, simply out of fear of being hurt or abandoned, feeling insecure to show myself as I am. The same thing happened when we returned from Brussels. We didn't resolve conflicts and I wanted to push you away, unaware that it would hurt you, because in my mind, that's what you wanted, to push me away. It's terrible and I'm sorry. I've scared you many times due to this tendency to react to the slightest blow, but I realize that's not how it should be. I realized the impact I had when I went into the kitchen and saw the food burning on the stove after I sent you that text. Many times I'm not aware of the impact my actions or words have on other people. I feel like I'm learning a lot and I'm starting to regain my emotional intelligence, and it's the first time I've seen this pattern because of you, and it makes me want to handle things better. I want to grow emotionally and be better with myself and those around me. I feel that in our relationship, I'm pushed to grow and develop and get to know myself better. I know you're not in the best place right now, but I would be happy to have a real discussion about what happened between us.
However, In case you are not on the same page, I know we talked last Saturday about your return, but I am deeply afraid that when you're coming back the situation from the weekend before your departure will reoccur and that might bring more pain than it is necessary. I know maybe it is still not the right time, but I would appreciate if we can think of a strategy to handle each other with care and trust in some way, at least until I permanently leave. I wish you all the best in the world and hope that we can have a constructive discussion. Sending you hugs.

🌿 Detailed Overview:
Examines the tactics of psychological warfare purportedly used by governments and elite groups to manipulate and control the American populace. The book delves into the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of these strategies, positing that they are part of a broader agenda to establish a New World Order.
🔍 Key Themes and Insights:
History of Psychological Warfare: Gonzalez provides a detailed analysis of the development and application of psychological warfare techniques from wartime propaganda to modern media manipulation. He traces its evolution to suggest that these tactics have been refined and expanded to influence public opinion and behavior on a mass scale.
Mechanisms of Control: The book discusses various mechanisms through which psychological warfare is conducted, including the media, education systems, and political rhetoric. Gonzalez argues that these channels are used to spread disinformation, suppress dissent, and promote ideologies that benefit elite interests.
Concept of the New World Order: Central to the book is the concept of the New World Order, which Gonzalez describes as a globalist agenda aimed at centralizing power and diminishing national sovereignty. He examines the roles of various international organizations and agreements in advancing this agenda under the guise of economic and security improvements.
Impact on American Society: Gonzalez critically examines the impact of these manipulative practices on the fabric of American society, discussing issues such as the erosion of civil liberties, the spread of surveillance, and the manipulation of cultural and social norms.
Call to Vigilance: The book is a call to action for readers to become more aware of the subtle ways in which information and psychology are used to influence their perceptions and decisions. Gonzalez encourages critical thinking and vigilance to recognize and resist manipulative practices.
Audience Takeaway:
"Psychological Warfare and the New World Order" is intended for readers interested in political science, conspiracy theories, and media studies. It provides a provocative look at the power dynamics that allegedly shape global and national policies and perceptions, appealing to those who question mainstream narratives about global governance and societal control.
💌 Your Experiences and Reflections:
Have you observed instances where psychological tactics seemed to be used in media or politics? How do you assess the credibility and impact of claims about a New World Order? Share your views on the importance of critical media literacy in contemporary society and discuss strategies for discerning the truth in a complex information landscape. Let's explore the implications of Gonzalez's claims on personal freedom and societal structure.
- Purchase

Okay, so this is by no means an in-depth analysis, but rather just a collection of some observations I have made regarding their self titled album. When it comes to the styles (of which there are many on this album), it seems like McCartney's songwriting in particular is at his most folk/country, especially by the standard of those genres as they appear in the USA. Moreover, he puts on a silly, over-emphasized American accent for "Rocky Raccoon", a song which itself is steeped in American culture. The song is a country/folk ballad about a wannabe cowboy "in the black mining hills of Dakota", that also utilizes rag-time musical aesthetics, which are heavily associated with the American "Wild West". Overall, there are several references to locations in the USA throughout the album (the Dakotas in "Rocky Raccoon", California/Hollywood in "Honey Pie", and perhaps most notably, the opening lines of the album mention Miami in "Back in the USSR".
I know that these might not be the most in-depth or intentional details, but I still find them fun to notice. For me, I think the country/folk vibe of parts of the album combined with the little details sprinkled throughout cause me to feel this way about it. It is a great album and this is just a way I personally like to appreciate and analyze it. I want to know what y'all think! Has anyone else noticed "Americanisms" on The White Album, or any other albums/songs they put out?
edit: Just realized "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" heavily references "American" details, too. Also, I just remembered what sparked me to write this post! McCartney said that the one of the album's most famous songs, "Blackbird" was written in reference to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, particularly about young Black women who were living in the US during the era.

Mini serial up in my head for a while. Writing after 10 years pause, please go easy on me. No hfy yet, just setting things up.
........................
Looking up towards the orbital ring, through dirty plexiglass roofing, James wipes his forehead and furrowed his eyebrows. The ring, known to the local as Halo Station due to the yellow sun glinting off of it when the angle is right, was an ugly strip of brutalist sunshade in James's opinion. It had been hastily constructed over the course of five years with government of private fundings, with the local bureaucrats and politicians the most well off from the scheme. The locals, third generation from the initial colonisers, had been opposed to government postings from the hub worlds but was strong armed by the mining and agriculture conglomerate to accept it. There were of course altercation between the locals and the conglomerate but anything larger than a demonstration were heavily suppressed with threats of cutting off vital terraforming supplies. The uneasy tension lasted until the ring orbital proposal was announced, with the locals divided in two camps. One was in favour, their thinking was that the station would bring attention of the wider human communities to their plights. The opposing view is that it would only bring more corporate interest to their system, with the oppressions and wealth discrimination that their forefathers escaped from to this new world in the first place.
James was of neither the opinions. He was planning on hitchhiking across the frontier worlds, edges of the explored galaxy, relying on his knowledge and skill of hydroponics to earn his living. He empathise with the locals, as he was ine himself, but knew that corporate greeds is as inescapable as taxes and death. The only thing keeping him from despairing the future was the tiny sum his family saved up. He wasrecently orphaned, but his parents were rather well off when they were alive, working on the water treatment plants of the terraforming complex, before an influx of dissolved salts from a hydrothermal vents eruption caused a chlorine gas build up, leading to an explosion when they were doing maintenance on the gas extraction chamber. James was thankful that at least his parents passed away painlessly, but the funeral arrangements had cut into the family funds. It was due to this that he was still stuck on the half terraformed planet.
"Penny for your thought?" asked a hoarse gravelly voice. One would be forgiven for thinking the owner of the voice a male. A frail looking woman with grey hair peered up at James from behind a trellis supporting vines of red pod peas. "Counting down the days the merchant trader will pick me off this pile of dirt," James replied, "Not that I don't see why you would want to stay here." "Can't get the theiving bastards to give me my insurance money otherwise." The woman scowled. " Speaking about that, how's the surgery going? Inhaling that much chlorine would put anyone out of action, not that I'm not thankful for pulling my parents out of there. The company would've let them dissolved if they had their way." James asked the woman. "Well, the off world volunteer doctors bumped me up cue and if lady luck don't interfere, I'll be fully recovered by the end of the local year." she replied with a chuckle then a cough. The planet they are on has a 22 hours day but 976 days per year. This has made the locals used phrase 'end of the year' as a joke for deliberately slow bureaucracy, especially when the government is the one paying. Elisabeth was working with his parents when the accident occured, a toilet break saving her from the experience. She was trained as a first reponder and had taken it up on herself to at least recover the remains of her colleague and friend. Either due to cost cutting or by sheer incompetence, the recently cleared hazmat suit she took from the emergency storage had a leaking hose and she had barely survived. James was grateful for her action and offered her a job in his mostly automated hydroponic farm as she waits for the company to pay her insurance as she can no longer do heavy manual labour. James was going to transfer all his business to her as thanks when he got off planet but had told her yet. "I hope you recover fully," James smiled at the not bad news, "I'm going to give you this farm and the house after I leave. You've been a good friend to the family and I'd to see you suffer because of a good deed." Elisabeth looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded, realising that James was resolved. "I have no need for more money than what I need to survive, I'll send any profits left from the farm to you. You'll need it if you're going to gallavanting around the galaxy." Elisabeth said with a firm tone, or slightly deeper and hoarser to James's ear. "It'll also be somewhere to return to if the galaxy doesn't agree with you. A journey isn't complete if you haven't return and all that." she added. James was expecting this and knows that she won't change her mind. "I'll drop by with souvenirs whenever I come near this part." James said. The rest of the day went by as usual. As James finished checking the monitoring terminal in preparation for the night, a message popped up on his iris implant. He checked the message as he exited the decontamination airlock:
Dear James,
I hope this finds you well. I hate to impose on paying customers but a good friend of mine needs somewhere hole up for a few days on your planet. He has his own ship and offered to take you anywhere you wish after he finished offloading his cargo to the orbital. I have given him your contacts and attached his along with his headscan. I am terribly sorry for taking liberties but I hope you find this a good deal.
Sincerely,
Cpt. Frank Rowe
James was surprised but didn't mind it that much as he had empty rooms and he'll save some money. He quickly went into his sonic shower booth and tapped off a reply to the captain and his guest. He was preparing to cook some of the ripe tomatoes and eggplants he harvested today when Elisabeth came out of her room. He had asked her to moved into his guest bedroom when she started working on his farm and they had been having meals together since. It helped the make the house more lively and Elisabeth liked his cooking. "I don't know if it's the fresh produce or your cooking that make something mundane taste this god." Elisabeth said in between bites, "Either way, I'll miss this when you go. I'll have to remember to scan this into the automeal." "It'll be close but the Dad's recipe needs more dressing oil and salt than the standard automeal will allow. It won't be too unhealthy if you work and sweat enough for two people." James grinned, "My parents always debated this over dinner." "That reminds me about the workload. I will have to automate the fish feeder, my lungs are about done by the time I finished checking the fruit bins," Elisabeth said. "I'll dial in the settings tomorrow, you'll only need to top up pellets." replied James.
That night James got a reply from the guest confirming he will take up the offer. The guest will arrive in two days and James planned to offer his own room. He had not touched his parents bedroom since the accident and he is going to tidy up the room as a farewell. He did not look forward to spending a night in the room but he knows he will regret not doing something to mark off the end of his stay in this house.
On the day of the arrival, James woke up and looked at himself in the mirror. His curly brown hair that he got from his mother was growing out past his liking, along with the light stubble he put off shaving due to being busy setting up the farm for a one person operation. His grey eyes was sparkling and lively, despite waking up an hour before his usual time. He was excited since he will be departing tomorrow and had finished packing last night. After confirming with Elisabeth that everything is working fine in the farm, he left her to get used to the new routine to prepare lunch. A flying taxi touched down as he fished out a large pizza from the oven. He wiped his hands and went to greet his ticket off the planet. A short stocky man climbed down, his skin, where visible was deeply tan, highly unusual for a ship captain travelling long journey through deep space. His dark hair fluttered in the wind and brown piercing eyes take in the rural sight. His glance fell on James and smiled a toothy grin. "You must be the owner of this lovely estate!" he bellowed out with a thick accent James can't place. James walked up to him, offered his hand, and they shook. "James Howard, looking forward to getting on your ship." James replied, a bit put off by the excitement from the man. "Miguel, Miguel Emille. Captain of the Flying Snail. I am very thankful for your hospitality at such short notice. The corpo here kicks the captain off their ship! Imagine that!" James looked around for security drones, a bit fearful of being reported for sedition. The captain looked at him, confused, then in understanding, "Ah, one of those world? Say no more. I won't put my passenger in danger." "Is it not the same where you are from? That's why I'm trying to get off the planet." James asked. "No, I grew up and works mainly for the frontier colony. This one is a special favour for the captain that you contacted for a lift. Contract for some heavy metal isotopes from one of the asteroid mining station for one of your 'esteemed' governer." Miguel winked.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, with Miguel switching between telling news of the outer colonies and checking his ship's security cameras. The next morning, James and Elisabeth had a tearful farewell before heading off towards one of the pillar supporting the orbital that doubled as cargo elevator. As they rise, James takes a look at the purple and green landscape falling below. He could see the curvature of the planet right as they enter the orbital. He took a picture of his homeworld, intending to put into his journal to mark the start of his journey. The maglev took them towards the internal docking area, James looking out then windows at the opulence of the wealthy living in the station. As they walk towards the flying snail, they were jossled around wnd forced to stop a few times by the workers and machineries bustling around the dock. James took in the sight of the Flying Snail as they approached, staring at the size and unusual roundedness of the ship, in contrast to the blocky and angular ships standard for most space vehicles. "Custom made on Mariana IX station, designed by my grandfather. A great advertisement for my business and comfortable quarters too. And not as slow as the name suggests" Miguel said as he looked at not a few workers staring at his ship. The advertisement mentioned was stencilled in bright red cursive letters on bare metal, in contrast to the ship's black blocky registration number. As they made their way to airlock, passing the the ship's closing cargo door, an inspector passed Miguel a datapad to sign off. "Cargo confirmed received, payments are being processed by customs due to the new tax coming into effect yesterday. You shouldn't lose much with the currency exchange," the inspector said after looking the form over, " you are clear to depart when traffic control indicates." The inspector turn to another ship busy loading cargo, not waiting for a reply. Miguel lead James through the airlock to his room, a larger than standard room furnished with wooden furniture and upholstered, unheard of in a spaceship from the hub worlds. "Get yourself comfortable then join me on the bridge. The ship AI will help you with the layout. No need to address me as captain since it'll only be the two of us until your destination. I'll be going around looking for government approved bugs. Corporate overlords never can get the idea of privacy." Miguel said before leaving James to unpack. James look around the room, trying to wrap his head around the decor. It was as if someone stole a museum exhibit then use it to furnish a spaceship. He unpacked his luggage, looking around for a storage locker, before putting his meager clothings into a dark wood wardrobe. He then set off to put his toiletries in the attached bathroom before being shocked at the size and items he saw. A large oval mirror hangs on the wall above porcelain basin, with an archaic brass and glass shower cubicle with valves and pipes off to the side. He consdered the logistics of internal plumbing and water storage on the ship for a moment before shaking his head, "Might as well enjoy the luxuries. If this isn't a great start, I don't know what is."
After he finished, James head out of his room then froze as he peered into the corridor. The sterile white panelling had turned into stained wood, the harsh lighting into warm yellow glow from what looks like wall mounted lamps. He turned to look back at his room to see the standard white panelling was still there. He decided to ask the AI for directions to the Captain, "Ship? Where's the bridge?" "Please find the ship map in the mailbox behind the door," a synthetic female voice chimed out. He looked at the automatic sliding door and noticed it had changed to a wooden hinged door with a basket below a metal slot. He grabbed a rolled up brown paper bundle from the basket, unrolling it to seems to be hand drawn diagram of the ship. Other details such as crew members list and meal times are neatly list in one corner. He closed the door before following the map. He was not surprised to find his name engraved below the room number on the brass plaque on the door.
James was apprehensive about finding anything on the ship but there were signs jutting out from the wall at each intersection, surrounded by decorative metalwork in forms of flowers, pointing to major locations. The flooring hard changed from patterned wood to being carpeted the closer he is to the bridge. He finally arrived at a double door, with a plaque indicating that it was indeed the bridge, and he wondered if he should knock. He decided not to, and swung open, to hear a bell ring as the door opens. "James! Come strap yourself in. How do you like my ship?" Miguel was seated on what looks like a couch in the centre of the room, looking at a large screen. The screen shows the outside of the ship, which was the landing bay blast door, still shut. "It's nice but too much like a museum piece to be flying around," James responded, "Isn't it against regulation and too hazardous if the grav generator fails?" "That's why I set the nanites to change to standard whenever I dock. Changed back to what my grandpa designed when we're clear for take off," Miguel answered, " also cleared out to bare walls with carpeting whenever there's an emergency. Only ever happens once in all my years of flying." James had heard of nanites but wasn't aware that it could be used on ships. "The ship was supposed to be a private cruiser for a hubworlder, but he backed out of deal so the swimming pool and hydrotherapy areas was converted into the cargo hold," Miguel added.
James strapped himself in a plush fabric covered armchair near the screen. As he figured out the buckle, the comm beeped then a voice called out, " landing bay E42 cleared. All ships ensure airlock and cargo door are closed before depressurisation in 15 minutes." "Hal, check the doors and prepare for take off," Miguel said. "Sorry captain, I cannot do that." "Stops scaring the passengers. Maybe it's time you watch some modern movies." A huff sounded before the AI replied, "Aye aye, Captain." "She always does that, scaring the living daylight out of my last crew when she pretended to lock the airlock during EVA," Miguel sighed, " i don't know what my Pa was doing, feeding her all that old robot uprising movies." "I thought she was just a basic navigation AI when I asked her for directions." "Yeah, she does that to make people let their guards down before springing the 'Exterminate!' stuff on them. That's why my last crews all signed off." "Isn't that bad on you?" James asked, "also your reputation won't be good." " It's fine, I mainly take on crews for company. Most contracts I got are from fellow captains needing to take orders from regulars but are to far out to accept. She got the latest repair drones and all nanites tech to take care of all damages, excluding only jump core explosions," Miguel smiled.
They waited in the bridge, chatting about life in space and homicidal AI, with Hal, James learned shortened from Haley and pronunciation changed courtesy of the AI herself, chiming in when the checks are done. "Landing bay E42 depressurised in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Landing bay depressurised. All ships clear to take off in E42 once landing bay door fully opened. Green light will light up when ready for manually piloted crafts. Halo orbital thanks you for your business." The traffic controller speaks through the comm, indicating he is a native. Off-worlder would usually call the station 'The Regina's Ring' after the planet. Once the door slides open fully, ships start to go out in rows. When it was the Flying Snail's turn to take off, a hologram of Hal appeared besides the captain's couch and the ship starts to move out slowly in formation, coordinating with the other ships. Once the Flying Snail cleared the door, Hal spoke, "Captain, there's any energy spike reading in the aft sensor. No details on origin available due to station's plating. Seems to be mostly neutrons" "Perhaps someone forgot to shut their cargo door. Probably transporting tritium or helium three. Put up shield just to be safe."
The captain's decision turns out to be just in time as a heavy blast blew the ships out of the orbital. Alarms started wailing and James was pushed back into his seat. "Damage report!" Miguel shouted over the alarms and a diagram of the ship's system popped up on screen. "No structural damage, low EMP, main computer rebooting, shields down to 60 percent," Hal replied mechanically, "Reboot complete. Putting rear view on screen." The screen shows a large explosion on the inner ring side, dropping debris onto the planet below. The alarms turned off as Hal reports, "Ring appears to be holding. Debris calculated to fall on low population area and ocean. Minimal damage to civilians and properties." " There's that at least. Are we expected to help?" Miguel asked. "Negative, the station order civilian vessels to clear the area. No detention order." "Good, get us to the jump point. James, you got a destination?" Miguel turns to look at James. James was still trying to recover from being slammed into his seat, saved from concussions by the seat's padding. "I need to check on Elisabeth," James said as he reached for his wristcom. He then saw an incoming video call from Elisabeth. He sighed in relief as he picked up the call. "I'm glad you're alright. Exciting starts to your trip, eh?" Elisabeth said after seeing James. "Good to see you unharmed too. Did the emergency broadcast says anything?" James asked. "They were saying no damage to those living below. The corporate news network was saying it was the work of the anti-hub government groups." Elisabeth said with a grimace, "trying to weasel out of responsibility if you ask me. I need to check the farm systems in case anything went down. Safe trip out there, I don't want to cry for the second time today," Elisabeth was starting to tear up as James tried to reply before the call cut off. "All's well that ends well," Miguel said as James gathered himself, "good to see her safe. So, destination?" James thought for a moment then replied, "I've never been anywhere further than the Halo. I was thinking of getting off at the last stops but I'm the only passenger here so I think I'll get off wherever your next business ends." " Fine by me. I'm going back three system on my route here, pick up some cargo and or crews, then out to the frontiers," miguel said to James then turn to Hal, " You remembered the station with extra medical supplies looking for buyers? Set destination there." " Aye captain. Arriving at jump point. Jumping in 5 seconds," Hal said before starting the count down. The jump drive, the second most popular after warp, generates a wormhole from Lagrange points. The energy requirements is higher than warp but the near instantaneous travel time is highly value by merchants and diplomats alike.
The jump starts without a hitch and they exited into a red dwarf system. As they make they way towards a spherical station above a green gas giants, they were hailed on all frequencies as the screen starts to shows an armada of black pyramids blockading ships trying to enter and leave the station. The screen suddenly flickers then shows a black upside down triangle with glowing blueish white lights runni ng on its surface. The speakers blared out a high pitch voice, " Bags of mostly water our flattest desire exchange thinking patterns. Flattest yours here deliver. Airwaves produce expect agreement." This broadcast then repeats itself. "Ain't this the strangest day of my life," Hal said loudly. "Exciting first day for our passenger here for sure," Miguel added. James just stared blankly at the screens.
.......................

75-year-old Satilal Paswan of Kamala Municipality-6 Maran of Dhanusha has been living on the banks of the Kamala river for 4 months.
He planted melons on about three acres of land in Bagar and also cultivated gourds, bitter gourds and khiri. In his field, compared to other farmers, melons are more abundant. But Satilal is not happy. The reason is that melons are not sold until the third week of Baisakh.
By this time, we would have sold more than half of the melons. But this year, due to drought, the fruit was late. It seems that the income is not as expected", says Satilal.
It has been 50 years since Satilal started cultivating melons in Kamala Bagar. He used to take care of melons by staying in the garden for 4/5 months. He used to pay a large part of the expenses of his family of 12 people with the income from selling melons.
Having rented the land at the rate of 200 rupees per bushel, he has been working day and night since January to grow melons. But they are worried that there will be a loss due to the lack of sale of melons as expected.
4/5 months of the year is spent on melon farming. This year there is a lot of investment and effort, but the result is not as expected. It also bore fruit late," says Satilal.
Satilal's neighbor Ramlochan Paswan has also cultivated melons in three fields. However, the melons of his garden have not been harvested this year like last year.
In earlier times, when it rained, farming was stopped. The product was good. This time, the investment is sinking. Look how it has been without rain, the fruits are not looking good", Ramlochan complained while showing the farm.
According to him, even though there is Kamala river nearby, he has to pay Rs. Since the soil is sandy, it costs a lot to irrigate quickly.
This would not have happened if the government had arranged tubewells, small fire extinguishers and timely fertilizer for farmers like us, he says.
Satilal's neighbor, Mahendra Paswan, planted melons in five boxes. He has spent around Rs 8,000 on farming. He has been in Kamalai Bagar for four months to maintain melons.
Mahendra says, "There was good income at this time last year. This year's crops were eaten by drought.
Last year, he grew 10 quintals of melons in five fields, earning more than 50,000 rupees. In order to support the household expenses, he has to work at times other than the season of melon cultivation.
Mahendra says that if the government arranges for fire extinguishers and fertilizer, by growing many melons, household expenses can be met throughout the year. But Mahendra complains that the government does not understand their problems.
Many families in poor economic conditions have cultivated melons on the banks of the Kamala River. The main basis of their livelihood is this melon cultivation.
Due to the lack of proper system of irrigation and fertilizer and also due to long drought this year, some farmers have given up melon cultivation. Local Ram Vilas Paswan says that many farmers have abandoned farming this year as well due to drought.
This bag will be a big support for many farmers like me. But due to the drought, many people are leaving farming", says Ramvilal.
Local farmer Tanuklal Paswan said that if the government arranges a small fire engine or tubes and fertilizer, it would be a lot of relief for the melon farmers.
The government cannot provide employment in the country. Does not help in farming. "Everywhere there is a government, but there is no cooperation," he said.
With the increase in summer, the demand for melons in the market has increased. At present, melons are sold at the rate of 40 to 50 rupees per kg in the market of Madhesh. According to the farmers, if melons are harvested well, they can earn more than 10,000 rupees from one box.
Farmers say that if the government supports melon farming, they can earn money by growing melons, khiri, bitter gourds, gourds and parsley on hundreds of hectares of land along the Kamala river.

Today I had a matura exam in Poland (Polish equivalent of American SAT) and the final part of it was writing an essay about one of the selected topics. One of them was how relations with other people shape a person. And I knew Beau's problematic relationship with his overprotective mom was a perfect argument of how this kind of relationship can create a paranoid, broken man. Now the worst thing is that the person who has to grade my exam probably has to watch the whole movie and witness the attic scene 😫