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Well, I'll mention a few generalities from web-land that are not necessarily specific to this forum. Here's some things that can possibly happen: Disagree with somebody's policy and you just get silenced and eventually disappeared. Stuff you write vanishes into thin air (and it ain't AI). Threads get shut down for not being "on topic" (a catch-all for when no other rule can be quoted and somebody with power just doesn't agree with you.) Or if you have a disagreement with somebody (or a few somebodies), they get to mostly say whatever they want, but you get censored. When it happens over and over again, it has the effect of eventually turning forums into echo chambers. Some really good forums on the web have withered and vanished over the years because of this. I have also noticed that the American portion of the internet is increasingly bifurcated, as each partisan side attempts greater control of their own turf. Given that we're all humans, nobody will have the "absolute" answer to this stuff. Only more questions, and plenty of philosophy. I think that one way to measure the health of a forum is to see how acceptable it is to ask questions about policies and their enforcement. Publicly. And regarding specific instances as they occur, rather than generalities with specifics kept in the shadows.

Hi @Madelyn Rain - nice to meet you and Welcome! To answer your question, when I first talked to my Dr about HRT I was in 'boy-mode" - partly because I was not socially out to anybody yet and was not dressing publicly. But my Dr was very accepting and understanding. He knew I had been in gender therapy for a couple of years and this was likely the next step. He noted my preferred name, and my gender pronouns (she/her). He updated my records to indicate this and referred to me as she/her in my medical records. My experience was very positive and I hope yours is also. Congratulations on your decision to start HRT. Deep breaths .. One step at a time

That's a truly inspirational story ... I love the focus of Zaya's mission - "The question was presented to her as, 'If you have one thing that you want to see change in this community, what would it be?'" Wade recalled. "And for her, it goes right to parents. It goes right to the adults. It goes right to us. It's not the kids. It's us."

Thanks @VidanjaliNow that's uplifting.

I have two bags, both UNIQLO bags just different colors. I’ve become a bit of a shoe girl, though. My willpower and my tenuous employment situation has kept me from buying more though.

I try to avoid shopping until I drop, but my weaknesses are purses, I would have to be dragged out of the stores while still clinging onto the purse rack lol

As an admin myself of a group, I truly understand the importance of rules and regulations.

Thank you April

Animal Crossing is fun.

Yes. I appreciate y'all mods and what you do for us - including reining me in when I'm heading in a bad direction.

I could not agree more or be more appreciative of this. As one who has come out to only a few people, here I can truly be myself with little fear of inadvertent exposure. Having that ability has helped me to find myself and to gain confidence in expressing my true self. It has helped me to love myself, something I could never do before.

I appreciate this so much and it's one of the reasons why this community feels like home - a rare treasure among the world wide web.

As far as things being lost on the Web, accidents happen, Just here alone, I have 20,825 posts showing in my number count, but probably only 19K of them are still actually here to view. There was a change to a new server a number of years ago, and a segment of the data base they were in became locked and could not be transferred to the new drive in the servers we use now. Why or how that segment of the data base became locked has not been figured out in the time since but at least we know what happened and it was not intentional or aimed at a single element of behavior here. Data accidents happen with not one single person really responsible for them or for that matter even the computer itself. Frustrating as all get out when it happens, but it does happen. Some other electronics I work on as a hobby had their similar problems here a couple days ago because of the Solar Flares, and power outages or dips in voltage can make electronic life miserable.

This is very true, Jani. The original owner of this site, Laura, and her chief assistants, developed our community rules more than 15 years ago. They have been modified many times, to take into account changing tastes, mores, technical issues and legal issues. Sites such as TikTok and X didn't exist then. Our naughty word filter, as just one example, has been modified many, many times. On this site, as on most private sites, in order to become a member one must agree to the T's & C's and abide by, in our case, the "Community Rules." If you seriously violate those rules your membership can be terminated. So, yes, freedom of speech here is restricted. Some sites are lax about enforcement, but that has never been the case here. We guard the safety of members, and your emotional comfort, zealously. We aren't perfect and sometimes let things get out of hand, or we go too far with restrictions, but those instances are uncommon (IMO). Every site has different standards. Luckily, for every interest there are numerous sites and it's usually easy to find one that fits your needs and temperament. When it comes to the Internet, one size does not fit all. Thanks for your question, @Ladypcnj. Carolyn Marie

Thanks Jani and Vidanjali, it helps me understand more.

If I take time to type something up which I find personally important or impactful, I will first type it on a Word document or on the notes app on my phone and save it before sharing it online if the intention of the writing was to be shared in that way. Indeed, it is extremely frustrating for that sort of work to vanish when it was an emotional experience to have recounted and written it. But if it does happen, my advice would be to try to focus on having had the personal catharsis of transforming the thoughts into words. Even if the writing has vanished, your intention was acted out. You cannot control the results, whether it disappeared or not. So we can try our best to focus on gratitude for having been able to express what was expressed in the way it was expressed, rather than disappointment over it not bearing the fruit we expected it to. From a higher point of view, all things of this world are non-permanent. So when something like that happens, at best we can view it as an opportunity to practice mitigating grief over non-permanence of all things. All this is easily said - I acknowledge it is challenging. But without challenge, we do not grow. As far as freedom of speech is concerned, my view is that implicit in freedom of speech is duty in exercising that freedom responsibly. That means applying ethics to speech. One may ask, "whose ethics?" which is a valid question. The answer is, your ethics. If you wish to participate in a community with a specific code of rules or ethics, it is up to you to use your art and skill to express yourself within that framework. Of course in certain contexts it becomes imperative to speak up, breaking the rules - blowing whistles as it were. But that likewise should be done skillfully as much as possible. If one feels unduly constrained within a community ethical framework, one may also exercise their freedom to not participate in that community. It is a balance, like anything else in life. There is no ethical framework which is ideal because this is not an ideal world. So, tldr; do your best and make good decisions.

As a private platform the owner can limit what is said on this space. I'm sure someone with more authority and/or insight into this issue will chime in. Jani “A few narrow categories of speech are not protected from government restrictions. The main such categories are incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats. As the Supreme Court held in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) The Freedom of Speech is one of the most essential tenants of American democracy, yet that right is not absolute. The First Amendment prohibits States from passing laws that “abridge the Freedom of Speech.” Thus, because Platforms are private businesses, individuals cannot use the First Amendment to pursue recourse against censorship on a private platform.”

I've heard of this being done. It seems like a good idea, I mean the gas is already there. I don't see why it couldn't be done on a larger scale. The technology already exists. I expect the problem would be coordinating it all, and who does that. We're all so determined to protect our own turf, myself included.

Good morning my body and my mind kept waking me up saying hey aren’t you supposed to be getting up now since about 4am. I finally got up at 8:20 to get ready for my 10am shift. I guess your wake up system gets into a habit and doesn’t like change.off tomorrow, then work Memorial day. We got rain and a bit of thunder last night. Nothing too bad, unlike the poor people in the Midwest. They are really getting hammered with tornadoes this spring. I suppose we’ll get ours later on. It’s supposed to be a bad hurricane season and we haven’t had a really bad one in quite a few years. The worst I’ve seen was a Cat 3 when the eye went right over us. I stayed and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be but a 5? Now that’s another story. I really don’t know how these condos will hold up to a bad hurricane. Yes there is bracing throughout but how well was any of it installed? Only the tradesmen plumbing electricians finish craftsmen spoke English the rest were all Hispanic and different emigrants worked together on different parts of the buildings. One group did the framing and sheathing another different crew the roof, another the windows and so on. Each building is 4 stories 18 units. On the bottom we have four units with double walls but the top two are 5 each and no double walls. @Mirrabooka I didn’t see many Reds, Roos or grasshoppers when I was in Australia. I was mostly in Tasmania where they are mostly Wallabies. My wife got to hold a young Tazzy Devil and a Koala Bear and I’ve held a wombat. An emu got the best of my wife stealing all the food she had. time to get ready for my day Willow

I yam wot I yam! Yeah!

As we know online rules are usually created by a team of people, basically the guideline rules are to keep everything running smoothly, and everyone is treated equally, and most importantly the code of conduct to make sure no rules are broken. My concern is, what happens when the online community rules (in general speaking) can have an impact on the freedom of speech? Perhaps it might had been artificial intelligence, that took down a post I made on the internet, somewhere else. I know I haven't broken any rules, I was sharing a true story experience I had about online safety, so it doesn't happen to anyone else.. then the post was taken down. I felt to frustrate the time and energy I've spent typing out my experience what happened to me, and then poof it was gone lol What can I do about this? lol

@Heather Shay you keep opening these cans of worms!!! 😄 I'm not a musician; I've barely strummed a guitar ever, but I LOVE music. As far as influential voices go, I invite you to consider these homegrown guys, who continue to give me earworms. I hope that you listen to and can appreciate them: Jimmy Barnes Daryl Braithwaite Very best: John Farnham

I've listened to this song an excessive amount of times. I always play this when I power up a new music studio which is basically what I have going on today.

I tend to think of most energy politics from the demand side. It's boring to think of just the "usefulness" of food, clothing and shelter, but outside of things like this that are so basic, we are very wasteful in the pursuit of things that are not necessary. I tend to go through phases in life every few years where I just become meditative. You know, it's a fine thing trying to capture this methane in the landfill, but the NET gain from it must be pretty small. There must be a massive amount of propane that is just burned in the refining of oil. At least that is what I understand from what I've read and processed from information on the internet. I've been thinking about how gas tanks in cars have become pressurized over the last few decades. It probably has something to do with ethanol, right? I had this crazy idea last year that ethanol might be made from corn cobs. They have to do something with them. The problem with addressing things on the demand side is the old "buy American" failure of sorts. I think the truth is more complicated than simply calling it a failure. The idea of a world factory with parts produced in a central location making manufacturing more practical seems reasonable. Reducing demand for energy is a fine idea, but is there some similar logistical problem with it? My feeling is that it would probably work with some coordination. We did survive without all this industrialization before. I think the most exciting part is using mountain bikes instead of horses. @awkward-yet-sweetand I got into a thread that exposed that idea. Oh my, I'm laughing again. It's such a cool idea!! Bikes are wonderful as long as they are stored indoors.