A Tangled Skein

> disables a new AI feature that was turned on by default

> opens my email

> disables a new AI feature that was turned on by default

> launches a software

Link to the pdf of the tool kit

Love you guys, stay safe!

The Amur Leopard and Clouded Leopard (which recently celebrated its 50th cub born at the zoo!)

The Sumatran Tiger

The Red Ruffed Lemur and Ring-Tailed Lemur

The Cotton-Top Tamarin and White-Cheeked Gibbon

The Colobus Monkey and De Brazza’s Monkey

And the Mexican Spider Monkey!

I was driving through Vermont with a friend, and we pulled over at a tiny shop offering Maple Items. We were on the state highway, not the interstate, so "pulling over" meant "squeezing my tiny car into a parking bay the size of a broad highway shoulder."

As we got out of the car, an older woman emerged from behind the building where she had been pruning her roses. She introduced herself as Tammy.

Her shop offered the promised variety of Maple, but also a number of small antiques and a plethora of dog figurines, plaques, and clearly-hand-stitched garden flags.

A huge purple ribbon hung on the wall behind the register, along with many pictures of small dogs. This was no county fair ribbon. It was the size of my torso. The material had the soft sheen of actual silk.

As I placed my purchases on the counter, I asked, "Do you... Breed dogs?"

Yes. She does. She has bred Yorkies for the last 40 years. Her mother bred Yorkies before her. The purple ribbon was from her national championship winning Yorkie.

You may be expecting that the infodump was going to be about Yorkies.

It was not.

It was about 40 years of drama in the Yorkie breeding community. Where – you must understand – the judging at shows is often about who you're in with, not about the dogs. This is especially true when Tammy's opponents win anything.

And Tammy's mother! Well. Phyllis has been on the Yorkie scene since Yorkies were invented. Because of this, many women of equally venerable age hold deep grudges against Phyllis. The sort of grudges that result in episodes of Midsommar Murders.

This led to deep injustices against Phyllis on the part of judges and prevented her dogs from winning so often she retired from the scene. Judging is all about who you're friends with, after all.

After 20 years in hiding, Phyllis – the One True Queen of Yorkie Breeding – hatched a plot. She may have been out of the show circuit, but she was still breeding dogs. She entered an absolutely perfect bitch in the national competition, but sent her with a handler rather than go in person.

None of the usurpers knew who this dog belonged to, and in dog-breeding circles this Does Not Happen. This could have resulted in further injustices, but Phyllis was crafty. She knew this tournament was being judged by a man from the UK, who knew naught of the drama in the US Yorkie Empire.

With these advantages – and being the best dog there – Phyllis's bitch won the highest honor at the show.

Incensed by this insult to their ill-gotten supremacy, the other owners descended on the handler after the show, demanding to know for whom he was working.

"Phyllis," said he.

The name of the overthrown queen evoked horror in the usurpers.

"PHYLLIS!? She's still ALIVE!???"

Yes, Phyllis yet lived, and this bitch – the dog, not the woman – went on to mother Tammy's current dogs. One of whom, Lucy-Fur, is the reincarnation of Tammy's sister (also Lucy). This is certain for two reasons.

Firstly, Sister Lucy absolutely went straight to Hell upon her death, and Lucy-Fur the dog is positively as evil as Sister Lucy was.

Golp: a roundel purpure.

Roundels are circles in heraldry. They are named according to their color, which also has its own lingo. Let’s meet them!

Bezant: roundel or (gold) 🟡

Plate: roundel argent (silver) ⚪️

Torteau: roundel gules (red) 🔴

Pomme: roundel vert (green) 🟢

Hurt: roundel azure (blue) 🔵

Golp: roundel purpure (purple) 🟣

Pellet: roundel sable (black) ⚫️

Spoilers: Search up the following terms

'The Norman Conquest' and 'French Language'

The people who taught you that the correct response to something you don't understand is laughter rather than curiosity have done a disservice to you and to anyone who has to interact with you.

Here's the entry on etymonline that explains where the word comes from:

If a dictionary definition of something doesn't help, try etymonline and wikipedia--wikipedia is especially helpful for nouns.

I used to hate when people applied the word "incest" to psychological/emotional abuse until something clicked for me, and I realized that it really is that invasive, gross, and insidious. (And as someone who's also experienced CSA I am giving you a license to call that shit exactly what it is).

What is enmeshment / emotional incest?

Enmeshment occurs when a child is not allowed to have any boundaries. This lack of boundaries causes confusion between the roles of parent and child, making the child take on an adult role, becoming inappropriately emotionally intimate with the parent and often acting more like a surrogate partner--thus referred to as emotional incest. Other related terms are covert incest (with overt being sexual abuse) and parentification (when a child has to not only act as an adult, or partner, but caretaker for the parent).

How does enmeshment / emotional incest present?

- Parent both lacks personal boundaries for themselves and does not allow child to have boundaries, and frequently gets angry if child attempts to develop any boundaries

- Parent treats child as a source to meet their own needs rather than as a separate/autonomous person

- Parent does not allow child to say "no" to them (even after child has grown up)

- Parent feels entitled to access child at all times (even after child has grown up), and frequently gets anxious or angry if access is denied; frequently uses guilt tripping and other manipulation tactics

- Parent is emotionally needy and demanding, and seeks out an inappropriately close/intimate relationship with child; may even make comments about how special the relationship between them is or that they have a bond like no one else does

- Parent makes child responsible for managing their emotional states and uses child to regulate their emotions for them

- Parent may blame child for their problems

- Parent has unrealistic expectations about child's role and responsibilities toward them, may bleed into expecting/demanding/forcing physical contact that is unwanted by child

- Parent shares inappropriate details about their personal life, may lean on child like a therapist, and is intrusive about child's life, therefore not allowing child to have space or privacy

- Parent assumes that their personality and preferences are shared by child, struggles to see child as their own separate/autonomous person

- Parent says and does things that are excessively controlling; is manipulative and undermines child's ability to feel, think, or act for themselves by keeping them in a state of both control and chaos (also known as coercive control)

- Parent is prone to taking over or unilaterally making decisions for child that child should be capable of and allowed to make for themselves (even after child has grown up)

- Parent has excessive concern or commentary about child's body or other personal matters

- Parent says and does things to keep child dependent on them for as long as possible, may even outright say "you need me" or otherwise undermine child's growth and development as they grow up (or even after child has grown up)

- Parent becomes upset or feels "left out" as child grows up and tries to become more independent

- Parent may take responsibility for child's success, citing their wonderful parenting and expecting credit or praise when child accomplishes things

- Parent displays unreasonable dislike or jealousy toward child's partner(s) as they grow up, may insist that only they can have a special bond with child, outright fabricate reasons to hate child's partner(s), or try to drive a wedge between them

(This is not an exhaustive list, only some examples).

How does enmeshment / emotional incest trauma impact the victim?

Emotional incest is a serious form of abuse, and similar effects are seen between victims of emotional incest and overt incest (sexual abuse). This is because, in both cases, the child is being violated by the parent. Because they are stripped of their autonomy, they are not really allowed to be a person at all. They are fundamentally treated as an object to serve the parent's needs or even as an extension of the parent themselves.

- Disruption in attachment, often resulting in disorganized (i.e. fearful-avoidant) attachment, because the caregiver is both the primary source of emotional intimacy and comfort as well as a source of confusion and distress

- CPTSD and other trauma disorders, especially dissociation as this type of abuse often causes confusion in child's identity and sense of self; pervasive depression and anxiety, addiction, etc.

- Feeling "uncomfortable, gross, or icky" about the parent or relationship with the parent--but often maintaining a feeling of obligation, anxiety, and guilt over the need to meet parent's needs

- Feeling chronically stressed, exhausted, and drained by the demand of parent's needs

- Struggling to form an internal sense of security, not trusting self to know how to function autonomously, feeling lost without being controlled

- Poor self-esteem, emotional dysregulation, and insecurity in relationships

- Extreme anxiety and/or guilt about trying to develop or enforce boundaries

- People pleasing, fear of upsetting others, expecting extreme reactions and retaliation

- Being overly dependent on others to function or make decisions, OR overfunctioning/codependency and even taking on others' responsibilities for them, OR both in different contexts

- Hypersexuality or other problems with intimacy due to not knowing how to have healthy intimacy

Can we please, PLEASE talk about Sharon D. Clarke as Lady Bracknell? MY GOD WHAT A WOMAN. The commanding presence she emanated throughout the play. What a force of nature. She played a constantly disapproving auntie down to a pat! She will have none of this tomfoolery, thank you very much!

And when she threw it down at the curtain call, I was yelling, "YESSSS QUEEN! EAT THEM UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!" at my screen.

Song by Lydia Lefay on bluesky

Here is the tutorial, I don’t get paid doing this and I’m not an expert at this so please don’t think I can answer everything(ask others for help or look up "flying bird mobile" for other tutorials online).

I hope this explains everything enough.

The measurements for mine came out to 15 1/2 inches on the body from tail to beak tip ans the wings 13 inches long(you can make the wings longer if needed)

Please use the comment section below to ask and someone who has done this or understands the mechanics better can answer.

we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

please rb for larger sample size!

Question 1/3

Thank you for helping with this data collection. Please rb for as big a sample as possible!