Yes, but two hours enveloped within the Tears Of God are amongst the most glorious of all human experiences.

Had there been fewer visitors, I’d have tried to make my train home, but instead surrendered to a slow passage through, happily missing my train and electing to camp beside the tunnel for the next two nights.

Got it. And what did you make of her suggesting that in response?

Wait, did your caseworker just announce this eligibility to you without you having asked about it?

Or have I wildly misread the situation?

Late to reply, but very excited to have Moldova in our Union. I realise a yes vote is not a given, so all power for continuing the campaign to join if it does not succeed this time.

Going to come back to this to reflect in more detail to your original post and to this comment, but wanted to quickly float the idea that perhaps these people view you as particularly sound, so when they lay things on you or are just more emotional or intense in front of you, and you seem unphased - neither rushing to condemn them nor scrambling to reassure - they interpret that as disapproval from someone whom they find sound. And that because they value your judgement & integrity, they get sheepish and awkward in the absence of a strong outward reaction, which in turn you interpret as them thinking ill of you.

Only suggesting this because have seen quite a bit of this between people, and experienced mild versions of both ends of that dynamic.

Not that it helps, if it even resonates, or provides guidance.

Entirely different groups of people, and they’re profoundly opposed to each other.

At the core of this massive protest/strike are groups which have been against the bombardment of Gaza from the outset, and protesting Israel’s war against Palestinians for years.

We dumbly agree, out of convenience or some notion that if we wanted to read the paper edition we’d have to pay for it, but one can shell out cash for the paper, pick it up in a waiting room, read a friend’s copy, etc.

As soon as we attach a subscription to an online edition, all that happens is they get more data on us (as we are les inclined to delete their tracking cookies) whilst handing over solid confirmation that we are who they suspected we probably are.

If you must subscribe, use a dedicated browser & multiple measures to confound tracking.

Nah, they’re nutters with very weird ideas about Britishness, Irishness & everything else, but they no more look to the English for ideas about their own identity & how to manifest it than the English look to NI loyalists as a guide.

If anything they tend to rather despise Englishness, seeing their own culture as the one true, loyal holdout to the Union.

The aprons do seek to emulate Masonic regalia, but the ideals of the Orange Order are entirely contrary to those of Freemasonry, which in any case is not specifically English or even British.

In the absence of irrelevant descriptors, many people struggle to remember that fascists can seem quite normal in other respects. Giving a few details helps them to imagine the woman. In turn this can quell fallacies that attach to ideas about “respectable” or “nice”.

That doesn’t matter with regard to this woman as her behaviour is now a matter for the courts, but reminds Times readers that the terror threat doesn’t come solely from disaffected louts hopped up on larger & sun exposure (& who may be quite partial to kicking off violently anyhow).

I’d think that in the absence of much to go on about her, they lifted stuff from her Twitter bio.

UK Labour’s position on Gaza is no different to that of the Tories (or to the DNC in the US). In Scotland, the SNP is strongly pro-Gaza, but were wiped out. That’s likely to have been in matters besides Palestine, but voters had the option to prioritise it and roundly rejected it. In NI & Wales, pro-Gazan candidates did less considerably less well than predicted 18 months ago. A few pro-Gazan candidates ran for the Workers’ Party - a handful of them won seats, but others, including their party head lost theirs. Meantime far-right Reform loathe Israel & loathe Palestine more, but made massive gains.

In France, pro-Gazan FI is a major component of NFP, the alliance which got the biggest vote share, but they only scraped that by working strategically with the rest of the left & with the neolibs to see off the far-right, and even this alliance did not win a majority. Within this there’s little to no agreement on Palestine, and FI’s position drew in some voters and alienated others.

Nope, because those recent gains were in spite of positions on Gaza & in any case there are few positions which the US could take which would be more grimly anti-Palestinian than that of the GOP.

It is a very long time since I’ve read as ahistorical writing as this article. We all wish that support for Palestine were there, but it very demonstrably is not.

Am so glad you spoke with the vet and that you’ve escaped that part of things.

Much love to you!

Sweetheart,

Choked up just thinking of how you are feeling. Losing a pet, and so suddenly is the worst.

Please be gentle with yourself. Hesitant to suggest much, as you sound so vulnerable just now.

What kind of things do you think might be distracting or soothing when you notice your mind has drifted into the self-blame stuff? Are there any friends who live nearby that you could visit?

Glad you’re feeling better.

GAA hurling can be a fun sport to distract oneself with, if you’re similarly stuck another time.

BEES.

But Beehaws would work too.

Beezers?

YES & YES.

So in ordinary moronland, just back from voting on a metre-long ballot comprising 6 Fascists (mercifully unpopular), 3 NazBols (could fool some), 3 Tankies (quite popular) & 11 assorted others.

Now slinging Jagermeïster & have already mistaken some supposed local hotshot from the arts for a locum parish priest. He’s ever so slightly regretting having asked why I thought he looked familiar.

Gonna regale us with tales from the front?

STOP MAKING ME LIKE YOU SO MUCH ALREADY!!

Which symphony?

Wildly impressed at the homegrown cures.

Anyhow, assume this week’s Witching Hour has struck, as my notifications tell me I missed a reply before it was deleted.

Come rail at us if you need to. Am a reasonably ordinary moron if that helps!!

Something about this feels like the makings of a short story, or collection of them even. Could be a way to divert yourself from rampaging round social media?

If mostly due to hormonal fluctuations, maybe your doctor can tweak them a little to give you a smoother ride?

It would be very rare not to do so.

Most poll results give the margins of error of the method(s) used. No idea if this one did or not, but 2% and 3% don’t seem dramatic enough to not be explicable by margin of error issues.