DoubleD @DoubleD@merovingian.club

A quick story: I parked near the barber in a small town near me. The closest shop's owner who is an old grandma happened to step outside momentarily. I asked which meter was mine because they were arranged in a strangely. (Don't ask.) She then put a quarter into my meter and said, "this one".
I bought something from her store as a thank you; I now have homemade, dark chocolate confections to savor which is an unexpected treat. Were they more than $0.25? Yes. I value them more than $0.25.

This is not a fair comparison, obviously; it is a reminder.

Today, I reminded my waifu how to use baking soda to clean up stubborn stains on tile. She was very grateful for the lesson, and was happy that I spent time with her.

How many husbands can say the same about their wives?

Some comments about Indians working in the west from my experience in white-collar, highly-technical jobs:

In my experience, those who are competent make up about 25% of the workforce, and I wouldn't know their work from any others' work. They can speak perfect English.

The rest in my experience either must be managed very closely and have their hands held, or are incompetent workers; the hiring company over-sold their skills.

The first, new fruit tree of the season is in. With this and my new berry bushes the year begins again as the starlings and chickadees twitter outside my window.

Remember that no matter how much some political statement or rumor may seem like the end of the world, it isn't. Don't just go outside to touch grass: plant something; nurture it. Bring life into this world. Love this world, and it will bring you joy.

I continued to listen to the Wednesday show after making this comment, and TFM bought up this point, which is good.

I do not like it when people are disingenuous, and in my opinion, Halsey is too well-read to be ignorant of many of these details surrounding Syria and Iran.

Evidence for his arguments, like the BBC article about the UN inspector saying it was "worrying" about Iran developing nuclear weapons, is tenuous at best, and points such as the aforementioned surrender are ignored.

Something that Halsey continues to say on the Wednesday show which irritates me is that Assad was defeated and Russia didn't do anything even though they were allies. If he has not directly stated it, he has implied it, and he uses this as justification for his thought that Russia doesn't care about Iran.

Assad stepped down and the Syrian military did the same because his generals were for all intents and purposes bought off. Russia can't defend someone who surrenders of their own accord.

I hope that everyone doesn't take the Trump-Putin call as Russia cucking because from the summary I read, it sounds like they are merely opening the door to talks. No formal agreements have been made yet. Russia will stilll attack Ukranians, but they have agreed to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.

Nothing is confirmed yet; so, I don't want to hear any crowing about how Russia is champing at the bit to rejoin the West.

@Tfmonkey I hope you will cover this on the Wednesday show.
Halsey may have to admit that Houthi weapons work, but he will likely say it was shot down like the jpost asserts.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/houthis-ballistic-attack-on-israels-nevatim-air-base-after-us-strikes-on-yemen/videoshow/119177846.cms

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-846599

I was considering the Orthodox Christian fathers today while doing some research into mystical practice. When reading about them and looking at icons of them, all of them have beards, young and old. Stylistic restrictions on iconography considered, recognize the type of the theologian and the mystic: a male who is undoubtedly male who writes about his experience with the Divine. There are under 100 female saints, but they are not the drivers of spiritual standards in Orthodoxy...

Here is a new word for your enjoyment: thotistic - adj. - having the qualities or proclivities of a thot; the condition of being a thot. "Please excuse my sister, she's thotistic, which is why she's wearing a niqab.

Addendum: Consider using burkas and niqabs as a punishment or shaming tool for females. I think it is much better than as a blanket (pun intended) condition for females in public.

Personally, I think the niqab is too much covering as a garment in many cases. A shayla is much more flattering and still maintains a degree of modesty.

Recently, I have taken to wearing nicer clothing because I like the way they look on me. It feels good to be able to dress the way you like.

I recently encountered a nonfiction audio book being read by a female, and I disliked listening to her read it.
This spurred my thinking to delve farther until I realized I prefer the male voice both for song and nonfiction works. If a female is playing a part in fiction, that is acceptable and often desirable, though not always.
I can guess as to the cause of this preference just as I can guess at my preferences in foods; however, males often have better diction, which is important to me.

@magicalthinking @SamHarris @Mike_Microwave
@Justicar @Stahesh @Zeb Thanks for your input everyone.

So far in my considerations, there is no tangible benefit to marrying a widow with a child over a single mother with a child since her female nature will treat both situations the same: a new provider with different genes than her offspring.

The society's strictures on property rights in the family would largely dictate how much control you'd have to raise the step child as well.

A question: Assuming the situation once again becomes favorable to males for marriage, would you ever consider marrying a widow who already had a child for the purpose of having additional children and raising the child, or if you can't have children for the purpose of raising her son as your own?
I have no interest in single mothers, but widows and their children are a case worth considering, even if to reject; so, I pose this question to you as well.