Turns out I had no idea there was going to be a nationwide emergency broadcast test today. Go figure.

@Reciprocity Justly so. I *have* read some of the words and it IS terrifying.

Turns out us lefty types aren't actually paranoid: conservatives really *are* out to get us all. Take a look if you want to understand their goals & strategy, & maybe get a leg up on fighting back.

Ever wondered what conservatives plan to do to the US if they get control? Turns out they've actually written a book about it. https://www.project2025.org/policy/

It's official: I received a letter confirming that my student loans have all been discharged under the PSLF/TEPSLF program.

$57,000 just gone. Holy shit.

@BrentSullivan FB can, yeah; whoever owns the network can see all traffic on the network. They're not usually talking about that tho', they're talking about how their ex managed to see some embarrassing post or other and it led to all kinds of drama. That sort of thing.

"I don't have time to figure all that out." Okay, fine, then don't complain to me about not having any privacy.

It takes a few clicks but it ain't rocket surgery.

It sort of amazes me how many folks I've run into who don't know you can create restricted lists on FB.

Like they're upset about not having any privacy on FB, but they either don't know or haven't bothered to set up their privacy settings. Dude, that's the *first* thing I do on social media, lock that shit down.

I have the CoSo firehose up in a tab on an open browser. Don't have much to say today, I'm just having a day where I need to know there are other people in the world. Seeing posts flitter by in real time is somehow grounding.

@ProjectShadow I mean the sheer fecking AUDACITY is gobsmacking.

It's more gracious to extend compassion. It's kinder to extend empathy. I know this. And what I really want to do is tell them: *You asked for this & you got what you wanted. So shut the fuck up & deal; this is the way it is now.*

Reminds me of this: https://joycearthur.com/abortion/the-only-moral-abortion-is-my-abortion/

It's fucking disgusting.

They asked for this. They fucking ASKED for exactly what they're getting. We fucking TOLD them what would happen, & of course they didn't listen, because they didn't see themselves as murdering irresponsible sluts. Nope, THEIR abortion is OK because Reasons(tm).

& then I look at these articles that are all about nice white middle-class couples, they're always daycare teachers or healthcare workers or pastors or some shit like that, they're always married & straight & trying hard to have a family or maybe they have kids & want more, they have some kind of job & profile that makes them *the right kind of people* for an abortion to be OK somehow...

I find myself thinking of every time I've been called a whore, a slut, a baby killer, a murderer, every single foul & vile insult you can think of, called those things by anti-abortion ppl again & again & again. I think of what abortion opponents proclaim to believe about abortion, that it's done by irresponsible leg-spreading sluts who want to fuck anything that moves & then murder their babies in some kind of joy at wanton destruction...

& I know there have been a number of them, conservative couples who've appeared in the news over the past months, where they find themselves needing the very service they voted against.

I don't want to see anyone in a position where they have to abort & can't. And I still just... I don't know. Mostly I find myself thinking: "This is what you asked for with your vote. This is what you wanted. And NOW it's unfair? Because it affects YOU?"

I read another article, this one in CNN, about a Republican Ohio couple who needed an abortion for serious fetal defects & couldn't get one because of Ohio anti-abortion law.

I... have a very hard time feeling any sympathy for folks in that position.

I stuck around until dinnertime. She tried the soup but didn't like it so didn't eat. She wanted to go back to her room so we did. Had a bit more time together & then big hugs before I had to go. She seemed totally fine with it, just like any friendly good-bye. So, a better day.

Dad worked on setting up her phone & TV & I worked on hanging photos on her walls. I also brought her a pretty basket of silk flowers to hang on her door, which she loved. She napped a bit before dinnertime & dad was able to leave (ahead of me) without any major upset. Just some hugs & kisses & "I love you's", & he was out with no disruptions.

I visited my mom yesterday. She had a better day than before. Not long after I got there my dad showed up too. There was some measure of mom saying she hated being there & missed her dogs & wanted to go home, but no enormous emotional expressions - no sobbing or yelling or bargaining or any of that.