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Part 3, final part of the series?

Friend’s reaction to high school boy’s penchant for crossdressing is both unexpected and cute

This 17-year-old boy crossdressing "news" was not brought to you with generous support from any of the following businesses:

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Growing up, check cashing policy was always one of the following. Cash it at your bank, cash it at the bank it was drawn on, or pay someone to cash it for you. This arrangement worked well enough for me for several decades.

Fast forward to my move a few years ago to TN. Now you'd expect that banks are banks and they're really not going to change all that much, yeah? Turns out banks in TN (at least some of them) will charge you to cash a check drawn on an account with them. You heard that right; they literally refuse to honor checks written by their account holders for the full amount.

Now me, I don't do the whole banking thing, so I can't go up and chew them a new ass as an account holder. I think I'm instead going to have The Roomie write me a check for twenty bucks and call the police when they refuse to honor it in full then take them to small claims court when the police ask me to leave. Repeating that once a week sound about right?

His Eye Makeup Is Way Better Than Yours

Would you be inclined to buy makeup because a 10-year-old boy is showing you how to create a look on Instagram? If we’re talking about Jack Bennett of @makeuupbyjack, then the answer could well be a resounding yes.

Since convincing his mother to start his account in May, young Mr. Bennett, who lives in Berkshire, England, has amassed 331,000 followers and attracted the attention of brands like MAC and NYX, which have offered products to create looks. Refinery29 has celebrated him as the next big thing in makeup.

He is the latest evidence of a seismic power shift in the beauty industry, which has thrust social media influencers to the top of the pecking order. Refreshingly, they come in all shapes, sizes, ages and, more recently, genders. Hailed by Marie Claire as the “beauty boys of Instagram,” the early male pioneers, like Patrick Simondac (@PatrickStarrr), Jeffree Star (@jeffreestar) and Manny Gutierrez, (@MannyMua733), have transcended niche to become juggernauts with millions of followers. And their aesthetic is decidedly new: neither old-school-rocker makeup nor drag queen.

The sequel to Bread Boi.

Older articles at NYT:

• Sparkly Eye Shadow? These (Male) Beauty Bloggers Are Experts
• Is Huda Kattan the Most Influential Beauty Blogger in the World?
• Those Lips! Those Eyes! That Stubble! The Transformative Power of Men in Makeup
• Meet CoverGirl’s New Cover Boy

(My writer's block has finally gone away. I used to be a passionate writer but had been unable to write for several years.)

I thought I'd just got banninated from Portland's DamnSingles group over an epic flame war the other night.

But no none of Facebook was working. Sometimes this helps:

      $ sudo ping -f -c 1000 facebook.com

If your net is slow in general, do that to nsa.gov, fbi.gov, vatican.va and cern.ch.

Keep track of how long it takes the nsa to stop replying to your pings.

But no, it was not to be.

    $ ping 8.8.8.8

No? Maybe just the name servers are down. I left this running for a half hour:

    $ ping 4.2.2.4

During this process I cycled my Mac's WifI, power-cycled my AirPort Extreme and cable modem, but still no replies.

I puzzled over what it would cost me to get cell phone directory assistance for Comcast support. This despite that I was using mobile safari so I could continue on Facebook.

Why don't I try the World Wide Web? I hear http is up to 1.1 these days. Will the wonders never cease?

Comcast's support site goes way out of its way to impede your progress toward a live human, but I expect that's for the best as I only pay $29.99 for my first year of their lowest tier. Maybe I'll get satellite internet at month 13.

Amit from support was courteous and helpful, doubtlessly because he has yet to get the memo regarded my Net Neutrality activism on Facebook. That's the great thing about sharing the work of others - you get to pretend you make a difference despite that you're preaching to the choir!

When he asked me to verify my contact details I realized that my phone number changed when I bought my iPhone, but I didn't update my number with Comcast. What was my number? Heck if I know I never called it!

The Wayback Machine saved the day. Good thing I don't worry about my privacy!

      http://web.archive.org/web/20170421201738/http://soggywizards.com/

I knew everything would check out, and Amit said it did so my my feelings towards net neutrality soured considerably. Shouldn't this fine, publicly-traded corporation be rewarded for its courteous and helpful tech support?

I began to hope he never receives that memo. I'll start sharing the right wing's posts from now on.

Amit asked to test my modem, which I was cool with. The test took two to three minutes.

"Can you verify that your Internet is working now?"

It wasn't.

But I used to be a network admin, and I know that things break, and as I told Amit, no one is at fault except for googling getting Portland to revise all its regulations to enable google fiber only to back right out.

So I started my usual troubleshooting.

That went very quickly when I realized my Wifi wasn't connected.

Oopsy. It always disconnects when I power off my AirPort Extreme.

Where is "Den Of Iniquity" in my Airport menu! Ah there it is.

I selected it.

... and promptly commenced receiving ping supplies.

Amit asked me to take a brief survey when we parted.

When asked whether I would recommend Comcast to others, I selected 10.

Australian school apologises for 'suggestive' saint statue

The idea of an "(in)finite unbound"¹ universe isn't new to me at all (insert video game reference here ...Asteroids uses wraparound) but the last bit was a step I hadn't seen or taken myself and it blew my mind.

"If the Universe is finite but unbounded, it is also possible that the Universe is smaller than the observable universe. What are seen as very distant galaxies may actually be duplicate images of nearby galaxies, formed by light that has circumnavigated the Universe. It is difficult to test this hypothesis experimentally because different images of a galaxy would show different eras in its history, and consequently might appear quite different."

From Wikipedia and NextBigFuture's rearrangement. I put the last bit in bold for clarity.

The article of the quote argues that the size of the universe including the size of the universe that we currently observe are much larger than one commonly would think due to expansion i.e. one has to add the expansion during age of the light gathered from a distant object onto the redshift distance to the object. Thus the universe is much larger than what we usually say. Seems legit to me :)

But the main point for me was the quote above, I never thought about how the same galaxies etc. would look very different each time their (older and older) past light looped through an unbound universe. Maybe I'm the last one to hear about it?

¹ To me a "finite unbound" and an "infinite unbound" is exactly the same, simply "unbound". I know just enough to intuit that I might be tempting fate at the hands of aggravated mathematicians by saying something like that but not enough to know why they might (hoo-hoo now I'm really asking for it aren't I) be correct :D (teaspoons please, if you don't mind).

This is a dumping ground for links and other stuff for the 2018 4/20 article. Might as well get started now. Feel free to post articles or your suggestions in here up until April 20, 2018 (journal comments remain open forever, if you hadn't noticed). The article will cover topics including but not limited to cannabis, the opioid crisis, and the drug policies of any countries you are interested in, not just the U.S. I especially want articles regarding state/local ballot initiatives, implementation of drug policies, and the like, as well as articles about single events that can fit well on a timeline (such as this). If you want to critique the pro-legalization crowd, that's fine too.

Theoretically, the article could grow to an insane size without pissing everyone off too much with liberal use of the spoiler tag:

I've already lost some of the links below due to an invalid resource error. I will probably edit my extension to add the equivalent of the "submission draft" feature for journals.

This journal entry will be edited to include more links and notes as we get closer. Although I'll retain a few surprises for the actual article.

Here are the past 4/20 articles:

2015: 4/20: StonerNews is People
2016: 4/20: Half-Baked Headline
2017: 4/20: The Third Time's Not the Charm

Timeline
(I have to decide whether I want to include many events or just past SoylentNews articles here.)

April 21: Massachusetts Throws Out 21,587 Tainted Drug Convictions
April 23: Remake of Classic "Your Brain on Drugs" Ad Slams Disastrous Drug War

May 11: Vermont Legislature Passes Cannabis Legalisation Bill
May 15: Jeff Sessions Reboots the Drug War
May 16: Cop Brushes Fentanyl Off Uniform, Overdoses

July 31: 34 Criminal Cases Tossed after Body cam Footage Shows Cop Planting Drugs

August 5: Cannabis Company Buys Entire California Town to Create Marijuana Tourist Destination
August 11: President Trump Declares the Opioid Crisis a National Emergency
August 17: Another Canadian Banned From the U.S. for Past Drug Use
August 30: FDA Designates MDMA as a "Breakthrough Therapy" for PTSD; Approves Phase 3 Trials

September 11: Thanks to the DEA and Drug War, Your Prescription Records Have Zero Expectation of Privacy

October 14: Study Suggests Psilocybin "Resets" the Brains of Depressed People
October 26: According to Gallup, American Support for Cannabis Legalization is at an All-Time High
October 27: Opioid Crisis Official; Insys Therapeutics Billionaire Founder Charged; Walgreens Stocks Narcan
October 28: Study Finds That More Frequent Use of Cannabis is Associated With Having More Sex

November 2: FDA Cracking Down on Unsubstantiated Cannabidiol Health Claims
November 4: People Who Take Psychedelics Are Less Likely to Commit Violent Crimes, Study Says
November 15: FDA Blocks More Imports of Kratom, Warns Against Use as a Treatment for Opioid Withdrawal
"Drug Bazooka" Seized Near the U.S.-Mexican Border
November 16: Opioid Commission Drops the Ball, Demonizes Cannabis
November 27: Hallucination Machine: Psychedelic Visuals in VR

December: World Health Organization Clashes With DEA on CBD; CBD May be an Effective Treatment for Psychosis
Ketamine Reduces Suicidal Thoughts in Depressed Patients

Links

* Veterans in New York can now get medical marijuana to treat PTSD
* A 12-Year-Old Girl With Epilepsy Is Suing Jeff Sessions Over Medical Marijuana
* Marijuana could be legal in New Jersey as soon as April
* The War On Drugs Repackaged
* Campaign to legalise magic mushrooms gains momentum in California
* Reports: Manson hospitalized in California
* Ohio's First Crop of Medical Marijuana Dealers See Green, But Face Hurdles
* The Rush is on for Ohio's Marijuana Dispensary Licenses
* Don Martin: Retired cops chasing pot of gold at the end of legalization rainbow
* Veterans are key as surge of states OK medical pot for PTSD (archive)
* The Indigenous Mexican Tribe That Honors Rare Psychedelic Toads
* What It's Like to Smoke the World's Strongest Psychedelic Toad Venom
* Europe's Largest Legal Weed Farm Is Being Built in a Nuclear Bunker
* Why It Feels Like You Can Communicate with Nature on LSD
* Jeff Sessions Isn’t Giving up on Weed. He’s Doubling Down.
* VIDEO: For LSD, What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
* New York Is Closer Than Ever to Legalizing Weed
* Solving the Dutch Pot Paradox: Legal to Buy, but Not to Grow
* Non-psychoactive cannabis ingredient (CBD) could help addicts stay clean
* A Dying Southern Town Needed a Miracle. Marijuana Came Calling.
* Reader: Kratom Saved My Life From a Heroin Addiction

Notes

Cannabis is the scientific term for the drug colloquially known as "marihuana/marijuana", which is now regarded as an outdated and racist term that was intended to scare the public.

What is the difference between "opioids" and "opiates"? "Opioid" is a broader term:

Want to legalize drugs easily? Make recreational drugs treatments for "boredom" and "spiritual malaise".

Report: Green Beret killed by SEALs after he uncovered alleged theft

Two Navy SEALs being investigated over the death of an Army Green Beret in Mali in June are accused of killing him after he discovered they had been stealing, according to a report in the Daily Beast.

CNN has not independently verified the information in Saturday's article, which the Daily Beast attributes to "five members of the special-operations community who were not cleared to speak publicly."

Naval Criminal Investigative Service spokesman Ed Buice confirmed to CNN last month that the NCIS was investigating whether two members of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six killed Army Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar.

The New York Times was the first to report that the SEALs were under investigation for Melgar's death at a US government compound near the American embassy in Bamako, the capital.

[...] The Daily Beast article cites two special operations sources as saying the SEALs under investigation over Melgar's death had been taking money from a fund used to pay informants. It says the sources allege that Melgar uncovered the theft and declined an offer to take a cut of the proceeds. On June 4, according to the Daily Beast's sources, an altercation broke out -- the cause of which the article says is unknown -- and Melgar stopped breathing. The SEALs and another Green Beret took Melgar to hospital, the Beast quotes former AFRICOM officials as saying.

Now that's what I call a dishonorable discharge.

Someone gave me 0.990 LTC a week or two ago. At the time that was about $54.00. It has since gone up to about $60.

I bought $60 each of BTC and ETH, paid for with EFTs from my business checking account.

BTC went way down today doubtlessly due to some burglar bragging that he just stole $32,000,000.00 worth of bitcoin by hacking into digital wallets.

CoinBase offers USD wallets if you're down with uploading pix of the front and back of your ID. So I can no longer use CoinBase for money laundering.

The great advantage of the USD wallet is that the transactions take place immediately, rather than having to wait seven days as happened with my EFTs. The price was locked-in when I ordered the purchase but I wasn't permitted to trade the ETH or LTC for over a week.

Now I have BTC 0.0253 that just now is worth $169.15.

My code is going to go beta by the middle of next week. That means I get paid. I'm going to buy one BitCoin - presently that costs $6,682.00 - as well as a mining rig.

The reason I'm doing this is that I have no other hope of funding a decent retirement. Even if I contribute the maximum of $6500 - the "catch-up" rate for people over 50 - until I'm 65, my retirement will have me living like a starving artist through all of my golden years.

So I'm speculating on cryptocurrency. Even if I lose it all, my retirement won't really be any worse than I presently foresee it.

I might form a 501(c)3 tax-deductible non-profit corporation to operate Soggy Jobs. If I do that I could give myself the employment benefit of a 401k, which will enable me to contribute about three times as much as my IRA permits.

I'm soliciting donations but they're not yet tax-deductible.

Google.org exists to give money to charities. I expect I can make a good case for contributing to soggy jobs. There are many philanthropic organizations; if I do form the non-profit I'm going to work with a grant writer to get me some of those Samoleons.

Original story: Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32 (archive)

Roy Moore can still win

Moore has zero incentive to listen to calls from official Washington for him to leave the race. In fact, the louder those calls get, the more likely it is that Moore digs in even further.

Then there is the fact that the widespread condemnation of Moore among GOP senators is not entirely shared by Alabama Republicans.

Take Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler, for one. In an interview, Ziegler downplayed the accusations against Moore by citing Scripture:

Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth and they became the parents of John the Baptist. Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus. There's just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.

Then there was Alabama Marion County GOP chair David Hall, who told the Toronto Star's Daniel Dale this: "It was 40 years ago. I really don't see the relevance of it. He was 32. She was supposedly 14. She's not saying that anything happened other than they kissed."

In the Post report, however, the accuser also says Moore sexually assaulted her. She says Moore touched her and forced her to touch him.

Marrying young girls is old hat. We just grope and move on now.

Romney: 'Unfit' Moore 'should step aside'

Why do we care what Romney thinks, again?

Romney mulling Senate bid: report
I Never Liked Mitt Romney, But Now I’m Desperate for His Comeback

Oh, ok.