Hey I'm (22 f) really lost rn. I have always been very independent, however I've never had problems talking to people (at least as a "grownup". From 16 I've kinda always had a friend group or people I could socialize with. However September of last year I moved abroad to study acting at a creative university (I've always been more creativly inclined even if I'm academically gifted, which I've used to help people in college) so I thought getting friends would be easy. The country speaks my second language (English) but a accent I'm not as used to (English vs American/English as second language accent - it's a thing). However I have not made any friends even though I've tried (tried to talk to people, go to parties/gatherings, hosting gatherings, joining clubs, starting a club) nada. I'm a friendless loser and I just want some advise for the next term because I have no idea how to become better at this socializing thing.
What I think is my problem is that I'm better at talking about myself rather than other people which is probably because I grew up very lonely so I was kinda the only thing I had duringy formable years. How do I genuinely become interested in others and make them feel like I am a interested and good friend?

We’ve been married for 17 years. It has been a tough tough journey. In the beginning, I was a bit immature. Also didn’t try my best to find work, but she stuck by me and even supported us in those first 2 years. I was going to university at the time, and thought that I would land that perfect job. So I was stupid to think if I hold out a little longer, the company I wanted to go to would hire me. I had won a few awards, and was full of myself.
She was the bread winner, and I sometimes helped her at her work. We were innocent, naive, and simple. However we did fight like all young couples, and she did threaten to leave me, though she never did. As I promise to change. Thinking back, I’ve been trying to change for her since that time…
Then I got a call from my dad. He was dying, and only had less than 2 years. He helped pay for all of my educational shenanigans. And being the eldest, it was my duty to take care of him. My dad lived in another country, so my wife and I packed up and relocated.
It was hard for us both. It was a really really hard for her. I got my act together, and had to support her and dad. We spent all our savings on flight and logistics and with barely any money, and working odd hours. It was stressful, but we tried our best to make it pleasant. She made some friends from church, I managed to enroll her to a local university to learn the local language while I worked.
It slowly got better, as she began to form her social circles. Here friends from university, tend to be married into rich and affluent families. Soon she complained about not having name brand bags that cost a whole months worth of salary. We fought and bickered. She tells me, why I would always say no to buying things for her, especially when other husbands would just say ok to their wives.
Eventually I landed a better paying job that paid double the previous. I even introduced her into the company, and she was even hired as a sales assistant. It was very cool, and I was happy we got to go to work together, and leave work together. The extra money really helped the situation more. It was hard work, but it felt good to make money. It felt good to treat her as she deserved to be treated.
Then my dad died. We cremated him, and I don’t remember much, but she was there with me. I really appreciated her being there. Not long after, my mom move in, and things got a bit worse. My wife complained about money, apartment, the way I communicated with her, my mother, etc. To be fair, all those things were valid points for complaint, but very unnecessary. Through thick and thin, I said to myself. It was just very hard to not to get her angry. I believe she threatened divorce again. I had to ask my mom to move out.
Then we made up and had our first child and second child. Continue to argue. She fights and blows up over the smallest things. Lectures me , the kids for hours if we didn’t do as she said. Then she stared withholding intimacy. It had happened before, but not to the extent and frequency as it has been. Compounded by all the fighting and her cussing me out. I became tired, vengeful, and e started chatting to some women from dating apps. Eventually went on a few dates and sexual encounters.
But the guilt was too much. I confessed to my wife. We almost broke up, but she accepted my apology. Since then, when ever she was angry with me, the words she used became more vindictive and hurtful. I don’t say anything, because of my infidelity. My biggest mistakes to look elsewhere for comfort and sexual gratification. I regret it so much.
I have been sleeping on the couch, off and on, for the last 3 years ;70% of the time. She is angry all the time. So I just tip toe and try to a paid confrontation. It’s terrible. I now ham recovering from a serious health condition, due to multiple surgeries. She threatened to divorce, which my kids have heard on numerous occasions. I feel so bad for my kids, having to experience so much fighting.
Finally, last week. We got into an argument about why I was upset at the restaurant. She was telling my kids off in public for chatting and being kids. Then when finally home, she said she wanted divorce. I finally gave in. During the last 7 days, I talked to my children, and told them about what wrong I had done. I told them it was my fault. I told them both mom and I love them always. It was my mistake, and my responsibility alone.
Today, she hands me the papers which she had signed last week. Tells me I owe her money. She’s not my house keeper. We have loans under my name, and she expect me to take a loan out and pay her with it. She wanted to take both my kids, but one wanted to stay with me. She was furious. I was called many things again. I tell her we can sell the car. I giver her a few months of my saved salary.
I don’t know what to do. I’m just sad our family is broken up because of my mistakes, my infidelity. My kids will need to grow up far apart. My kids are heartbroken I told them it’s daddy’s fault. And I am so so sorry.
I got 2 weeks to borrow more money. I gotta pay for their airfare, living expenses, etc. The previous loan she insisted on for Bitcoin and crypto, did not translate into anything. If I don’t, I truly think I won’t see my youngest child again.
Any advise greatly welcomed.

I'm really sorry for any mistakes in my writing. English isn't my first language, so bear with me.
I'm stuck with a two-year contract that relocated me to Europe. If I want to bail out, it'll mess up my career and I'll have to deal with the relocation costs the company invested in me. Some people might think this job is the opportunity of a lifetime, not just because of the salary but also for professional growth. But my personal life feels like a never-ending misery.
Back in my home country, I used to feel down and anxious all the time. I could manage it to some extent because I hardly ever left my room. I constantly compare myself to others, and it feels like everyone's judging me for my god-awful looks. My brother never failed to remind me just how ugly I am. Some of the women I've dated in the past have had the audacity to laugh at my height. That crushed my confidence, you know?
When I was a child, I had this surgery that turned my genitals into a complete horror show. I look like a freaking monster down there. It's no surprise I'm still a virgin. Who would want to be with someone like me?
Now that I'm here in Europe, my anxiety has gone through the roof, and my depression is hitting rock bottom. I had to reach out to my psychiatrist back home for some urgent help.Honestly, I don't even know how to go on living with this miserable existence.

I have always thought that I’d love to have 4 children! We were 3 kids growing up, and I really enjoyed that. It was always loud but in a nice way and I loved to play with my siblings (lots of fights when we were little of course 😂 but we had so much fun always). We get a full house at Christmas and just thinking of having my own big family and everyone coming home for Christmas with their wives/husbands and their own children… ugh it’s just my dream 😍
I’m currently pregnant with our first. I can’t wait to be a mum and I’m just soooo into the whole motherhood thing. I feel like I was made for this (no I’m not a fundie or something, I am indeed a Christian but quite liberal, also I’m European and things are different here anyway) and I would love so much to have a big family with four children!
We’re neither poor nor rich, just normal middle-class. For the standards of our country we are well off but our country is quite poor so yeah. Financial security/stability is very important for me and I’d get super anxious if I felt we were living above our means. So I’m wondering if we could even afford 4 children? We’re currently building a house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms (one master bedroom + bathroom, two children’s bedrooms + one children’s bathroom, one downstairs guest room + bathroom). If we had 4, then 2 will have to share a room, which I don’t see as a problem though.
I’m mostly concerned about the costs of food, bigger car, hobbies, clothes and education. Also we took a small loan for our house that we have to pay off and I’m not sure how much I could still work with 4 children.
Please keep in mind we don’t live in the US so some major cost factors don’t play a role: - university is entirely free, just that we’d probably still have to pay for our kids’ student flats, costs of living etc - healthcare is not fully covered by insurance but much cheaper than in the US and you always have the option of going to a public hospital which would then be for free - daycare etc is also much cheaper than in the US - we live in Greece and we have a summer house on a beautiful island that we can reach by car + ferry and we’re totally fine with just spending most family holidays there. Luckily our country is beautiful and 90% of the times we’ve travelled somewhere else we were disappointed 😂 So there won’t really be a big need for expensive family getaways
Anyone here with 3-5 children who can share their experience? How much of a difference does it really make?

Dear Professor Peterson,
I realize that your schedule probably won’t allow you to read this letter, least to reply. I am not expecting either of these and will not be offended. Why do I write it, then? Well, most probably because in the past several years you have been for me the voice of reason from abroad. Too many things are going in a crazy and disastrous direction, and listening to your lectures and videos have been very inspiring. It always amazes me how deeply you investigate the problem and how thoroughly you analyze it. In many cases listening to what you say have been like hearing what I always felt was true, but could not formulate and justify it myself. Thank you for that experience.
During the past year, which not only attracted the whole world’s attention to a conflict in Ukraine (at last, I’d say, war started there in 2014), but also demonstrated the unwillingness of countries and people to hear each other, I felt the growing urge to share Russian understanding of current situation and of the events that lead to it with someone who could probably be able to hear. Your name was the first to come to my mind. I hesitated until some time ago I came across the interview that you have recorded – “Israel, Russia, China, Iran: The World in Conflict” and it actually triggered me into writing. It occurred to me that, objective as you are, you may be unaware of some facts and interpretations, partly because modern media have mastered the art of being silent about some facts while shouting about the others, partly because you were born and raised in Anglo-Saxon civilization, with all embedded ideas and principles.
A bit about my background. Master’s degree in English language and literature, spent one year as a student in Connecticut, worked in American-owned companies for 17 years. That allows me to a certain degree to understand both sets of values.
I wanted to offer for your attention the view from the other side on what’s happening now between Russia and Western European civilization. I don't say that it is correct, I just say how Russians see it.
Very briefly, just point by point:

• Currently many people in the West are speaking about Russia as about a threat. But what makes you think that we see you differently? We see you as a growing threat. We don’t trust you. And we have plenty of reason for feeling this way.
• We see the West is regularly breaking its own rules and demonstrating double standards, so we can’t rely on its words.
• It has been clearly shown to us, that we will never be accepted by the West as an equal partner, so to us the West is neither a friend, nor a partner, but a competitor at best, an enemy at worst.
• We have seen what the West does to regimes that don’t obey and how the West does it, so West is a serious threat. Don’t come any closer.

3 basic principles of western foreign policy
Looking at the international events of past 30-40 years, we may see 3 basic principles of international policy that the West is utilizing.

1. Democracy is the best possible society model.

Hard to argue – there is the strongest correlation between availability of human rights in society and its prosperity. Let’s accept it as it is, although it is much more complicated and there are other factors that should be taken into account, like, for example:

• Pure democracy is limited to small communities, and is impossible in big countries. Once a certain threshold is passed, democracy is either a burden to every decision made, or is executed via representatives. And representatives, being people with all their imperfections, gradually start spoiling and corrupting the idea.
• Democracy tends to evolve, or, I’d rather say, degrade into oligarchy. Examples are numerous. Ancient Greece and Rome, Novgorod Republic (XII-XV cc), medieval Poland, etc. Even now – with all our experience, we keep hitting the same wall. Legal practice of lobbying in USA is the desire of big money (oligarchs) to have more influence on country policy. In Russia lobbying is illegal, so the same goal is achieved by other means, but without digging deep into details, it is the same – democratic form of power, spoiled by natural human desire to grab more for oneself on the expense of others.
• The most prosperous regions now (North America, Western Europe, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia) are the ones where capitalism appeared and developed earlier than in other parts of the world. That boosted production, country strength and wealth and eventually allowed them to have colonies in other parts of the world. Owning some overseas land gave enormous economic advantages. Remember “British East India Company”, which at its peak of wealth had an army of 160 thousand soldiers (more than some counties had!). The importance of having colonies can be best illustrated by the simple fact – one of the core reasons of the WW I was the desire of Germany, who was late to the table, to have its share of a pie. And even though political power of metropolises over colonies seized in mid-XXth century, economic bounds stayed much longer. If, let’s say, a uranium mine in Uganda belongs to French company, then which country benefits more from it? And to what extent the modern wealth of Europe and North America is due to other parts of the world?
• I doubt that democracy and human rights priority are possible in every country of the world. This idea just occurred to me, so I did not dig deep into finding the proof, but mentality (to put it narrower – religion) could prevent the society from accepting ideas that are just natural for another society. There are some facts I immediately recall that support this idea.

a) Majority of Noble prize winners are from protestant countries. Disproportional majority if you look at country population or wealth or other factors. Why? Maybe because Protestantism urges its followers to read the Bible on their own, whereas in Catholicism you study Bible under the priest’s guidance. Encouragement for independent research must have some effect.
b) After the ancient Rome fell, and Europe lived through the Dark Ages, Arabian countries preserved much of knowledge and science. At that time Arabian East was much more cultural and civilized than Europe. What happened to them later, why they stopped developing science, how could Europe overtake them? One of the explanations is that at some point of time Muslim theologians declared that “Koran has everything”, so scientific research stopped. The legend says that under this slogan the Library of Alexandria has been burnt by Arabian conquerors.
c) There is an interesting correlation between the agricultural conditions in a certain territory and some national traits of character. That’s more than a coincidence. For example, wheat was the main crop in Europe. It doesn’t require any special irrigation, so you can well grow and harvest it alone. That means you are less dependent on other people. Hence smaller states (Germany before mid-XIX century consisted of dozens independent states), hence more independent opinions. Compare it to China. Rice requires serious irrigation works, you’ll never do it alone. In order to harvest rice, you need to organize a fairly large group of people to do a job together. And as the population grows, you need to perform those works at a larger scale, also because the easiest-to-work fields are already busy. As a result, we see that Chinese value the society more than they value an individual. A single person sacrificing his wishes for the good of the others is more acceptable for them than for Europeans.
This idea needs further thinking but it is quite possible that the liberalism and human rights developed in Western Europe to the extent we see due to a unique combination of religion, natural conditions and other factors. And it can’t be copied in other parts of the world. It can be brought to other parts of the world by immigration of people with European mentality, of course. But otherwise it can be done only by complete mentality change of local inhabitants. Not an easy task, could take generations and mean death of local culture.

1. All people are seeking freedom and democracy, so it is our duty to help them achieve this goal. If some part of the society resists this help, it is the tyrannical part and it should be eliminated.

Yeah, really. Take up the White Man's burden… This idea is not dead yet, with all its prejudices.
In some part such understanding is based on the theory that appeared in history (history as a science!) in the UK in 18th century. This theory states that the process of human society development over time is a) linear and b) goes through the same stages in every society of the planet. One of the consequences of this theory was the statement that every society started from matriarchate – researchers came across some primitive society, ruled by women, and made their conclusion. This theory has long been proved wrong, but its influence is still alive.
Even if we accept that all countries, all societies are aiming at maximizing human rights, how justified will interference be? Good intentions are the pathway to hell. How long it took Anglo-Saxon civilization to reach modern state of human rights? Setting the Magna Carts as the starting point, it is a bit over 800 years, roughly 30 generations. Looking at the world history, we see how slowly societies change their organizational forms, evolving one into another. And you can’t forcefully speed it up. Imagine that our modern “crusaders of democracy” take time machine and show up at Hastings early in the morning on October 14th, 1066. “William, Harold, there is no need to fight. You need to run democratic elections, and everything will be ok…” Will they even understand the idea??? And what will happen the next day after they are left alone?
You have shown significant interest in Russian culture. If you care spending some more time on Russian books, I’d recommend you brothers Strugatsky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_and_Boris_Strugatsky). The form of what they have written is science fiction, but the contents is all about ethics, morale, responsibility, conscience. Try «Escape Attempt», «Hard to be a God», «Overburdened with Evil».
Why I am mentioning them now is because among others they are exploring the topic of “progressors” – people from Earth of XXII century who try to speed up the history of other planets, to solve their problems, stop wars, etc. And it doesn’t end well. As one of their heroes says, “You can’t break up the natural course of history without breaking the spine of humanity.”
It’s hard to find examples of good revolutions when they are initiated from abroad. Change of regime should be supported by majority within the country – it is the guarantee that society is ready for it. What Anglo-Saxons and NATO frequently do is supporting the angry minority in its aspirations for power. And instead of peace, freedom and prosperity it brings chaos. The classic example is Libya. Over 10 years ago the country was “spared of Gaddafi’s tyrannical rule”… How do they live now? The GDP is still around 50% of what it used to be, the country is still not at peace, there are two major forces each claiming to be the legal power. How many lives it did cost already and how much time it will take free Libya to recover? Can such liberation be called anything but a disservice? In Russia we call it “bear’s help”. I don’t say that everything was good in the country when Gaddafi was alive, but aren’t they in the worse situation now?
The whole series of Arabian spring looks like a great mess, not a great success. I rely on the opinion of an expert – below is the brief translation of an article published in 2015-2016 by Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli scholar of Arab culture and a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. I can’t find the original, unfortunately.
December 2015 was the fifth anniversary of the events known as an ‘Arabian spring’. The world applauded the heroes of the streets in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain. Now, five years ago, those countries are still battlefields, with no light ahead. What problems have prevented them from positive development? Most of them have developed over centuries and they still prevail in mentality, remaining the dangerous rudiment.

1. Tribalism*, that was always a survival factor in harsh natural conditions of the region. Now the conditions are different but mentality is still the same, when each person thinks of himself as a member of the clan first (family, tribe, tape, whatever…), not the citizen of the country.*
2. Violence*. Resources are scarce, so anyone who is not the member of my clan, is a deadly threat. And the first reaction to a threat is violence.*
3. Honour*, understood very specifically. Dishonoured person will seek revenge. It is not uncommon for a person to kill members of his own family if they dishonoured him. Honour is of primary importance in relations between countries and nations, sometimes more important than economics and healthcare.*
4. Nepotism*, which has its roots in tribalism. Promoting your relatives to administrative positions is illegal in the West, but is part of normal practice in the East.*
5. Corruption*. An office holder will invest in projects and regions where his tribe and supporters live, not otherwise. He feels financially responsible to his family, not to the country.*
6. Multiple ethnic groups*, which protect their own languages and traditions. Marriages outside of a group are rare, coexistence with other groups is tense and hostile.*
7. Islam*. Islamic extremists are sure that people who believe otherwise, are deserved to be killed.*
8. Sunnites vs*.* shiites*. This conflict started back in 7th century as a conflict for control over Islam. Non-Islamic people see them analogous to Catholicism vs. Orthodox church, but in reality now, after centuries of religious wars, these are two separate religions, and the dialogue between them is very difficult.*
9. Predominant culture*. Three main groups are Bedouins who live in deserts, fellahs who are the peasants, and inhabitants of the cities. Each group thinks stereotypically of other two, cross-marriages are rare.*
10. Country borders*. British, French and Italian administration have been drawn the borders straight, just by a ruler and a pencil, paying no attention to the real borders between various groups which differ by religion and ethnicity. People who never thought about themselves as about having anything in common, are now the citizens of one country. And they don’t feel it this way.*
11. Power change*. This is something which never happens peacefully in Arabic countries. The ethnic or religious group at power holds to it by all means.*
12. Israel*. Arabs and Muslims don’t acknowledge Judaism as a live religion, Jewish people as a people. So for them the very existence of Israel is illegal. Plus Israel is very convenient as an external enemy, a good target for the aggression of the masses.*
13. Oil has turned the countries of the Gulf into societies which don’t produce, but do consume without limits. The difference between wealth of the Gulf and poverty of other Arabian countries is shocking.
14. West that interferes into the region to solve its own problems. Oil, gas, weapons – all is targeted to use natural resources of Middle East.
15. Al Jazeera as a catalyst of social and religious unrest.

Throughout the XX-th century Europe tries to solve myriads of cultural problems of the Middle East, trying to create modern Arabic states that will fit Europe’s needs. The brightest example of Western misunderstanding of the East is the belief that Middle east can easily adopt democracy. Western democracy is based on western culture with equality of religious and social groups, minority rights, freedom of speech and opinions. Add to it religious freedom and free elections and you will get the list that is absolutely alien to Middle East.
Here’s an article by the same author on the same topic – https://fathomjournal.org/why-we-keep-getting-the-middle-east-wrong/
Here’s an interview with him – https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2015/07/28/americans-still-dont-understand-the-middle-east-this-man-wants-to-help/
In one of your interviews you discussed the competition between China and the US for influence in Africa. And your opinion was that China wins due to corruption of local elites. Let me offer another reason for your consideration. It is the same reason that allows Russia to gain influence in Middle East, Africa, South America. When China or Russia come to some country to cooperate, they come to cooperate, not to teach, not to judge, not to interfere into the internal affairs of the state. And people appreciate this.

1. We have the right to decide who is democratic and who is not.

This one is undoubtedly wrong. As a psychologist, you can diagnose it, I guess. What will you call such mental blindness, when a person considers himself flawless and assumes the right to judge and punish others, like in “The House of Pride” by Jack London. And here we see a group of countries that consider themselves the best in the world, that judge other countries and feel it righteous to interfere into their life, to change it without being asked. I understand why leaders of these countries have that blindness, but I wonder how many people in these countries actually understand that it is not a radiant crusade for democracy, but a destructive raid of Normans.
De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine.
One of the principles of democracy is separation of three powers – legislative, judicial and executive. So why then countries that consider themselves “leaders of democratic world” forget about this principle in international relations. They make the rules, they judge and they punish.
One of American diplomats said recently that USA supports international rules-based order. Sounds good, sounds undoubtedly right. But why USA and NATO forget about the rules when it is convenient? Or is it “We support international rules-based order, but our own actions should not be limited by these rules”? What immediately comes to my mind without web search:

• Kosovo, 1999. Civil war or genocide or whatever it may be called. How it should have been handled according to the rules? UN Security Council makes the decision, ‘blue helmets’ move in and stop the hot phase of the conflict. How it was done? NATO forces moved in without UNSC mandate. Forget the rules.
• Iraq, 2003. USA and its allies invaded Iraq based on false claims that Saddam had mass destruction weapons. The Center for Public Integrity stated that the Bush administration made a total of 935 false statements between 2001 and 2003 about Iraq's alleged threat to the United States. International lies-based order?

Double standards
Speaking more about the rules… We are tired of seeing double standards. As an illustration, I will use just one aspect – the principle of integrity of the state vs the principle of the right of nations to self-determination. It looks like the West supports integrity of the state, when this state is allied or friendly to the West, and supports nation’s self-determination when the state is not. Let’s go through some examples.
- Chechnya (an autonomous republic within Soviet Union) wanted to become independent after 1991. It quickly started to use terrorism to achieve this goal. It took a lot of effort to stop the war and bring the region back to safety. Reaction of the West – support of chechens, their leader fled to London and was not deported to Russia despite all requests.
- Abkhazia (an autonomous republic within Georgian republic which was part of Soviet Union) wanted to become independent from Georgia when Georgia became independent from Russia. Resulted in a war. The conflict is still not solved. Abkhazia now is an independent state which is acknowledged by very few countries in the world. Reaction of the West – they still consider Abkhazia as a rebellious part of Georgia. Same situation about South Osetia – another region, that was an administrative part of Georgia until 1991 and that also seeks independence.
- Donetsk and Lugansk wanted to become independent from Ukraine after 2014 coup. Ukraine tried to subdue them by force and failed. Then the workplan has been signed in Minsk – what the parties of the conflict agree to do to settle. The result should have been – Donetsk and Lugansk return to Ukraine but have extended political rights, etc. Ukraine did nothing of its promises. Reaction of the West – support of Ukraine.
- Catalonia is seeking independence. And I remember that leaders of independence movement have been under political and criminal pressure.
- Scotland had a referendum about independence. And even though results were in favour of the UK, I remember how nervously London reacted.
Russia – NATO relations after 1991
This is best said by Vladimir Pozner, a journalist who spent years of his work in the USA, Russia, Europe and is one of the most known journalists of the old school (comparing to modern propagandists). Here’s the link to his speech in Yale University on September 27, 2018 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7Ng75e5gQ&t=2556s.
His speech takes around forty minutes, the rest is the Q&A. To save you time, I’d summarize it here in just a couple of phrases. After Soviet Union collapsed, there was an illusion that we aren’t enemies anymore, that the world is open now, and that we will be partners or even friends. Russia dismissed the Warsaw Treaty union and agreed for Germany to unite, that looked just right – why keep a military union when we aren’t enemies anymore? Sometime later Russia made an offer to join NATO to provide world security together and was denied. Russia offered to join the EU, and was denied. Russia was promised that NATO would not expand eastward and less than 10 years later this promise was broken. Since then, we’ve been witnessing NATO getting closer and closer to our borders, inviting countries that are our neighbours and aggressively supporting those candidates to country leadership in East Europe who declared anti-Russia views. So now the illusion is over. We are enemies. And what’s worse – we don’t trust US anymore, so negotiating some new principles of coexistence will be problematic.
Ukraine.
Briefly about history, in more details about recent times and present situation.
In 16-17th century the territory of modern Ukraine was controlled by two forces with no clear border between them. Northwest (where the city of Lvov is now) was under Polish rule, center and the region along river Dnepr – under control of “kazak military democracies” – gatherings of all people, who fled from Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Crimea and who with time formed Ukrainians as a nation. They were ruled by elected chieftains and made their living largely by either joining some military campaign for money and loot, or by robbery raids to Poland, Crimea, Turkey. They were allied to Russia due to same religion – Orthodox Christianity.
As Poland grew stronger, its pressure on the territory grew, which led to periodic rebellions. Poland is a Catholic state, and people of Orthodox Ukraine were severely oppressed. Seeking protection, Ukrainian chieftains asked Russia to include those territories into Russian state. First request came in 1591. Russia rejected this request and several others. Only in 1654 part of Ukraine, controlled by kazaks, was included into Russia. Consequences – war with Poland and tens of thousands orthodox people fleeing from Polish-controlled lands into Russian-controlled lands.
From then on Russians and Ukrainians were really ‘brother nations’. Well, it was not heaven, but it was the best available option. Same religion, very close language and mentality. And forget about oppression. Ukrainians were oppressed as much as Russians themselves.
When the WW I started, Germany and Austria-Hungary were looking for collaborators in occupied territories of Russian Empire. They promised independence to nationalists in Western Ukraine, and found people who bought the idea. Not surprisingly, the most dedicated nationalists came from the least developed region of the country. Ukraine did not become independent at that moment, but the ideas stayed and gave their fruit during WW II, when Ukrainian collaborators actively participated in Nazis’ crimes. In one of your videos you described what Unit 731 of Japanese army was doing and you warned your listeners that they will never forget it. If you will find and read witnesses’ accounts of Volhynia massacre, you will never forget it either. I read it once long ago and I never want to read it again. It was a shock to me that people are capable of such things.
In the period between 1945 and 1991 Ukraine had the same rights as any other republic. There were no impediments to preserving and developing local culture. If you lived in any republic, you learned two languages – Russian and local. National literature was actively translated into other national languages of the Soviet Union, there were no impediments to education. Soviet Union with all its flaws, really tried to unite all of its nations into one big family. (What surprises me though is why antisemitism remained. You could come from Georgia, Uzbekistan or Yakutia and pass exams to Moscow university, no problem if you are smart enough. But it could be problematic for a Jew…)
After 1991 Russia and Ukraine remained friendly states, tightly bound by economic, cultural and even family ties. Ukraine tried to get the most out of relations both with Russia and with the West and it worked fairly well for 30 years. But with time attempts to elevate significance of their own nation led Ukrainians down a dangerous path. They started to slowly eliminate all other cultures that were present in the country. This process sped up dramatically in 2014, when after a coup the nationalist forces gained influence on the government.
Official Kiev denies being nationalistic, but don’t trust what the person is saying, see what he is doing.

• Open Kiev map and you will find two prospects – one named after Bandera, another after Shukhevich. Those two stand behind Volhynia massacre and numerous other crimes. Now they are heroes.
• During WW II Ukrainian nationalists were gathered by Nazis into the division “Galicia”. Collaborators and traitors, they did not show much on the battlefield, but were always victorious in the punitive raids against civilians. Now they are heroes.
• Ukraine is banning and denying Russian language and Russian culture. And it did not start last year. It started much earlier, when bit by bit Russian-speaking people had more and more difficulties teaching their children in Russian, buying books in Russian. It even shows itself historically – famous writers, artists, musicians, etc. of the past are proclaimed Ukrainians if they were born or lived on the territory of modern Ukraine. Aivazovskiy was Armenian by nation, lived in Crimea which was Russian at the time. Repin was Russian, Kuingi was Greek. Gogol and Bulgakov called themselves Russian and wrote in Russian. Shevchenko wrote in Russian, and now his books in Ukraine are translated from Russian.

I live in Moscow region, so all these processes for me were just an echo of a far-away thunder. My friends who lived in Crimea, Kiev, Donetsks, Kharkov many times said how difficult it was to live in a country that is so obsessed with its own magnificence that it becomes absurd. Massive renaming of streets, destruction of monuments that signified joint Russian-Ukrainian history, rewriting of history, when traitors and criminals become heroes, heroes become butchers. Anne, daughter to Yaroslav the Wise, wife to Henry I of France is known as Anne de Russie or Anne of Kiev. But now there are attempts to call her Anne of Ukraine, even though the very term Ukraine appeared at least a hundred years after she died.
We see those nationalistic ideas demonstrating themselves in a number of ways, and we have seen them before and we know what threat they can bring if left unattended. Pay attention to a dragon when it is small, you may be unable to win when it grows up.
I don’t say that our perception is correct, I just say how we see it. And to us modern Ukraine is like a younger brother who joined a bad company and who is becoming dangerous.
Now combine these two. Ukrainian nationalism plus NATO. Two threats, one well known historically, another the most dangerous rival of the past 70 years. We see them uniting and it is really an existential threat to us. In such circumstances could we afford being blind to it, just sitting and waiting what comes next? We tried to settle it peacefully. Many times Russia said that we are worried by NATO expansion, that we are worried by Western support of nationalistic movements in our neigbour countries. No effect. The last attempt was made in autumn of 2021, when Putin offered a negotiation that should have resulted in guaranteed safety. No reply.
If there is a conflict and your rival refuses to talk, he is asking for a fight. I don’t say that war in Ukraine is the right way to solve the conflict, but who can say that we did not try to set it by negotiations?

Hello New Zealanders! (Can I call you kiwis?)
I have travel questions for you. If this isn't the right subreddit, or there's a wiki or travel advice thread that I missed, please let me know.
I have the great fortune to have just booked an extraordinarily cheap flight to Auckland from the U.S. using airline miles. (It's on Delta -- less than 50,000 miles round trip for travel in November, late January, Febuary, and parts of March -- happy to share the specifics if anyone wants.)
My family and I will be there over the U.S. Thanksiving holiday -- Nov. 19 (that's when we land--we leave the US on the 17th) through Nov. 25 (that's when we depart, and, thanks to the International Date Line, also when we get home!). Not a lot of time, I know, but really all we can spare in that part of the year.
My family is small -- it's just my wife and I, and my 7-year-old daughter. We like all sorts of vacations, from wine tasting (okay, maybe not the kiddo) to relaxing beach vacations, to nature hikes and camping, to city life and culture. We also love food, though the wife is a vegetarian and the kiddo doens't like seafood. We live in Salt Lake City, Utah, so we have the mountain life at home, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't be interested in exploring in NZ, too. I guess the only think we can really cross off the list is anything Lord of the Rings related, as my family isn't really into Tolkien and haven't seen the movies (though I have). My wife travels internationally for work a few times a year, and I'm hopeful that this won't be our only visit to your awesome country, but I think we have to assume that this will be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us.
I've looked through the generic New Zealand travel sites, but don't have a really good feeling for what a reasonable itinarary looks like for our time there. Right now, I have the following questions:
1) Is it worth it to try to get to the South Island at all? Or should we just focus on stuff in the north. In other words, is there anything in the south that we absolutely can't miss, and worth the travel time and cost?
2) I was looking at a couple of sites that offer campervans or RVs at reasonable cost. We own an RV and are used to driving and sleeping in it. Is that a good way to explore the North Island? Are there ample places to park and/or campgrounds near cities or attractions? Or would staying in hotels and using public transit / taxis / car rentals be better? I'm pretty sure we don't want to stick just to Auckland, but on the other hand if driving a 6-8 meter campervan or RV around, and finding a place to park it while we're at attractions is going to be a huge hassle, then we'll consider alternatives.
3) For stuff to do, I'm fairly certain we'll want to check out Waitomo caves (my daughter, who's obsessed with nature, will want to check out the glow worms!) snorkel on Poor Knights Islands, and have a beach day (Hot Water Beach? some place else?). We might want to check out Waiheke Island, hike in Egmont National Park, and have a Maori experience at some place like Te Pa Tu, or take a whale watching or other cruise or ferry. Any thoughts on any of those activities? What should we do in Auckland? Is Wellington worth visiting? If we were to do something like a wine tasting, or want to hang out at a brewery, is that OK for kids? Are kids admitted to those places? Are there kids activities in pubs/breweries/wineries? What else should be on our bucket list?
(P.S. I got most of my ideas here... I don't know how interesting or reputable the site is: https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/11-must-do-north-island-experiences/)
Thanks so much!

I'm selling my 6/3 Stadium Club ticket to Toronto. My daughter really wanted to come with me and experience the supporters section for Pride night so I bought tickets for us there. I'm selling well below cost so this could be a great opportunity for someone to try out the Stadium Club! Premium Entry, Access to the Stadium Club Indoor Section, and Free food buffet and non-alcoholic drinks. Also includes access to the stadium club bars and bathrooms.

This post is specific to a middle class family of each country and how it compares.
I'm thinking someone living in rural Madagascar that wants a steak regularly probably needs to have his own cows and butcher all the cuts themselves because there is no butcher round the corner with freshly avaliable meat everyday in convenient clean throwaway packaging.
Someone in Switzerland might no longer go to the butcher because it is too expensive and also cut meat from larger chunks in supermarkets as needed (obviously not the exact same situation) or maybe drive across the border on purpose where meat is cheaper. Rural Madagascar also has to worry about every gram of waste they generate or dumping it personally otherwise no one will collect it for them and it will just accumulate near their home. In Switzerland they have to know which container to use and when to wheel it out on the street (which day) otherwise they get fined and do all the manual sorting themselves (inconvenient).
Whereas the middle income countries have a lot more pampered services (butchers in supermarkets that do everything for you for no extra cost, waste collection where you basically dump anything and everything at any time of the day and by nightfall it gets collected, no questions asked), plastic bags for free, etc.
The same goes for housing - people in poor countries live in terrible unsafe and cramped housing. People in rich countries pay a lot of money to also live in very cramped, old unsafe real estate because everything is so expensive. And the countries in between have mansions, two cars and driveways for pennies, with drivers, maids, etc.

TL:DR as the title says taking wives' sisters on an out of country family vacation. Should we ask them to contribute? We make a lot more than they do.
---------------------------------------------
​
My wife and I want to take our entire family on an out of country vacation. (2-week trip to Japan, we live in the US)
We are bringing and paying for my parents and her parents.
Now here is the hard question.
She has two adult sisters. Should we ask them to pay for their share? or should we take care of the cost?
Both of them has full time jobs and is able to afford the trip. But they are nowhere making near as much as we do.
Per person cost roughly:
Airfare $1,000 + Lounging $1,000 + Food $1,000 = $3,000.
Wife and I financially able to pay for the trip as we bring home north of 300k a year and live quite below our means.
We are a pretty close-knit family, and usually when we go out to eat with her siblings, me and my wife always pick up the tab.
But idk how I feel about this one. 3k x 6 people (me, wife, her ma, her pa, my ma, my pa) = $18k already, so I would love if her sisters can take care their portion or at least part of it?
Am I just being stingy here?
I want to treat them like my own siblings. I don't have any siblings but if I do, I'm thinking I'd ask them how much they can contribute, they contribute what they can and we pitch in the rest?
Idk should we even ask them? If no why not? If yes, how should we phrase it? Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

I know that a lot of aid was provided in the 90s for post Soviet countries and Warsaw pact countries, to help their economies transition and hopefully to foster democracy.
I'm specifically curious about Russia and amount of grants/cost of direct material aid(as opposed to loans) and the context around US and EU relationship with Russia, but other countries in former Soviet Union (and Warsaw pact) and information about the loans given would also be useful.
I understand this issue might run in to the 20 year rule but I could at least get details upto 1993 right? (Not sure if the 20 year rule applies to hard numbers without details/context to interpret for 94-2000)

My wife and I want to take our entire family on an out of country vacation. (2-week trip to Japan, we live in the US)
We are bringing and paying for my parents and her parents.
Now here is the hard question.
She has two adult sisters. Should we ask them to pay for their share? or should we take care of the cost?
Both of them has full time jobs and is able to afford the trip. But they are nowhere making near as much as we do.
Per person cost roughly:
Airfare $1,000 + Lounging $1,000 + Food $1,000 = $3,000.
Wife and I financially able to pay for the trip as we bring home north of 300k a year and live quite below our means.
We are a pretty close-knit family, and usually when we go out to eat with her siblings, me and my wife always pick up the tab.
But idk how I feel about this one. 3k x 6 people (me, wife, her ma, her pa, my ma, my pa) = $18k already, so I would love if her sisters can take care their portion or at least part of it?
Am I just being stingy here?
I want to treat them like my own siblings. I don't have any siblings but if I do, I'm thinking I'd ask them how much they can contribute, they contribute what they can and we pitch in the rest?
Idk should we even ask them? If no why not? If yes, how should we phrase it? Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

Context: This post claiming Elizabeth Warren’s political ideas would not be considered far-left in Europe and Destiny's response to it.
TL;DR: Elizabeth Warren's healthcare plan does not differ much from what is reality in Germany, France and Sweden. In Germany, proposing a Single-Payer-System would not be considered far-left. France and Sweden already have Single-Payer-Systems, albeit with copayments and deductibles.

Elizabeth Warren's Plan

Information taken from: https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/m4a-transition
Elizabeth Warren proposed a range of measures aimed at reforming the health system. These include anti-corruption reforms, government-funded medical research, and initiatives to lower medication prices. Warren also advocates for the implementation of a new form of Medicare for All based on the concept of Bernie Sanders. Since the comparison with Europe focuses on Medicare, I will also focus on the aspect of public insurance.
Warren's plan outlines a two-step approach to introducing a new Medicare system:
Firstly, every individual will have the option to enroll in Medicare. Warren emphasises that it will be “cheap” (whatever that means), with no costs for children under 18 and families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level. There will be no deductibles, premiums will not be dependent on an individual's health condition, and prescription drug expenses will be capped at $200 annually. Medicare would be partially funded by the government.
Secondly, in the second stage, after approximately three years, Medicare would become mandatory for everyone. While private insurance would still be available, it would only offer supplemental coverage and cannot duplicate the services provided by Medicare. Eventually (she gives no timeframe here), Medicare coverage should be free, paid for by the government.

Public Insurance in Germany, France and Sweden

In the table below I compared the public healthcare options of Germany, France and Sweden with respect to the aspects Warren emphasised. I live in Germany and have very little knowledge about the healthcare systems in France and Sweden. The info on those is just taken from the Internet. If I missed something or there is an error in the table, please tell me.
​

	Germany	France	Sweden
Single-Payer or Multi-Payer	Multi-Payer; public option is available to everyone; public or private insurance is mandatory. ~90% of Germans have the public option.	Mandatory Single-Payer system with private option for supplemental services.	Mandatory Single-Payer system with private option for supplemental services.
Public insurance provider	Providers are private non-profit entities that aren’t allowed to compete significantly. Most of them have been founded by the state and are quasi-public and democratically organised without a private owner, similar to Universities.	Different government institutions based on type of employment.	Government.
Hospital ownership	Hospitals can be privately owned. About two-thirds of hospitals are either state or church-owned and not for profit.	Hospitals can be privately owned. About 60% of hospitals are state-owned and not for profit.	Hospitals can be privately owned. About 90% of hospitals are state-owned and not for profit.
Price	~15% of monthly wage, capped at ~700€ per month. Employers pay half of that, so that employees pay only ~7.5% of the monthly wage. Obviously if employees would have to pay the full 15%, wages would increase. No premiums that are dependent on an individual's health condition.	10% of monthly wage and other income. Depending on the type of employment, employers cover a part or even the full amount. No premiums that are dependent on an individual's health condition.	Free
Government funding.	Government gives supplemental funding to providers at about 15€ per person per month.	Additional funding through taxes.	Fully funded by taxes.
Deductibles / Copayments	Small deductibles. 5€ for prescription drugs. 10€ per day for hospital stays.	Yes, significant Co-payments (30% for medications and doctor visits). Many people have private insurance to account for that. No Co-payments for people with a low monthly income.	Insurance doesn't cover medication (until cost cap is reached). Small deductibles for other services (~8€ for doctor visit).
Cost cap for deductibles and copayments	2% of annual income.	50€ per year for medication.	150€ per year for medication. Varying cost caps for other types of services.
Free for children	Yes, until the age of 25 or until they work full-time.	Yes, until 18.	Generally free.
Free for people with low income	Yes	Yes	Generally free.
Dental / Vision coverage	Limited coverage; full coverage for children and young adults.	Most things are covered, but with high copayments / low reimbursement rates.	Limited coverage; full coverage for children and young adults.

Concrete Claims

Now to regard three of the claims Destiny makes in the clip linked at the top of the post:

1. "No country in Europe has state-owned hospitals and insurance providers": This is not true. While private hospitals exist, the majority of hospitals in all three countries are state-owned. While private hospitals make up a fair share of all hospitals, most of them are very small and specialised and it is not the norm (at least in Germany) to visit a private hospital. In France and Sweden the state is the healthcare provider, while in Germany the healthcare providers are private institutions. However, these private institutions are “KdöRs”, which is a form of institution much more alike to a state institution than to a private company.
2. "Dental / Vision is not covered in Europe": Destiny is right that public insurance in Germany, France and Sweden only offers limited coverage of Dental and Vision expenses.
3. "Private insurance exists in most European countries and Warren wants to abolish all private insurance": This is not really true. The role of private insurance in Sweden and France is pretty similar to the role envisioned in Warrens plan, as the public healthcare plan is mandatory and private insurance only covers supplemental services. According to her own website, Elizabeth Warren did not want to abolish private insurance, contrary to what Destiny said. Quote: “Per the terms of the Medicare for All Act, supplemental private insurance that doesn’t duplicate the benefits of Medicare for All would still be available.” Destiny refers to a politico.com article to state the opposite. When characterising Warren's position however, I would tend to give more credence to the positions on her official Website, than to a 300 word article about her raising her hand after an ambitiously asked question during a primary debate.

Conclusion

As you can see, most of the things Warren proposes are already a reality in Germany, France and Sweden.
The main difference to Germany is the proposition of a Single-Payer-System in the second stage. However, such a proposition would not be seen as far-left in Germany: In 2017, 62% of Germans said they would be for a true Single-Payer-System vs. 24% against. In 2021 69% were in favour of a SPS. The idea is spread in both the progressive Green party and the centre-left Social-democrat party (and obviously the Left party as well).
The main difference to France and Sweden is the proposed elimination of all deductibles and copayments. I’m not sure if it would be considered far-left in those countries to want to reduce or eliminate those.

Ozora,boom,modem are probably 1000x more beautiful and million x better music , although I have never been why are Berlin clubs so exclusive ?, what am I missing here ?it's okay for a place to be exclusive by the virtue of it being costly, but what weblanian utopia is this where people are arbitrarily deemed entryworthy or banished based on whims?.

I thought my wife and I were on track to getting ahead a few years ago. We just happened to have a kid during record inflation, especially in the area of childcare. A couple of other expensive life things happened and now it’s difficult to see a path to a comfortable retirement. Life is so expensive. How could a country be great when a place to live costs a fortune? An education is so expensive. I guess I’m just venting here.

​
///11th of June, 2006
“Dad, the moon!” I shouted as I entered the garage. My father was on the floor, under his Bugatti 57SC Atlantic, obsessively removing and re-installing pieces of the car like he always did. He quickly got up, a smile on his grease-stained face.
​
“Finally!” He said with his beer-breath, grabbing a towel and cleaning most of his face, before running outside as fast as he could. I followed him. I don’t know why I always liked these moments. Any child would find them terribly boring. But I always reveled on them. Maybe it’s because they were the only moments he smiled. He positioned his telescope on our front yard, adjusted the lens, drank a beer can and started looking at the full moon above us.
​
“Do you see it?” I asked, sitting on the grass next to him.
​
“Shut up.” He said, still looking. After half an hour of waiting, he started laughing. I opened my mouth to ask if he was seeing it, but I held my voice. Didn’t want to anger him.
​
“It’s blinking! It’s blinking Johnathan!” He laughed. I smiled. That wasn’t my name, though he called me that. Only several years later I would learn that was the name of his deceased younger brother. Every full moon, we would come look at it with the telescope. And he’d always call me Johnathan. Probably because he was always so drunk. But from always avoiding me or calling me “Brat”, Johnathan was a nice shift.
​
“Can I see?” I asked, and he lowered the tripod so I could see the moon. There was a small light blinking on it’s surface. It was truly beautiful.
​
“Fine, my turn again.” My father shoved me back, adjusted the tripod back, and started looking at it again. “It’s blinking so much tonight… Maybe… Brat, get my camera!” He shouted at me. I quickly went inside the house, and looked around for the camera in the living room. There it was, on a little pile of beer cans and empty rythmol boxes in the corner of the room. I hurried back outside, as fast as I could, as I did not want to anger my father.
​
I stopped on my tracks as soon as I was out of the house. There was a strange being involving my father. It looked like a snake, but I knew it was anything but a snake. There were not snakes that big where I lived. And certainly not with human faces. My father seemed oblivious to it, looking through his telescope, but the thing was all around him, from the bottom of his legs all the way to the top of his head.
​
“It’s blinking so much…” He said, in awe. The creature looked at me, locking eyes with me, and smiled, revealing several sets of sharp fangs. And then, it disappeared. My father looked at me, he was sweating. “I think… I need to lay down for a bit…” He muttered, before falling on the grass. I spent the entire night trying to wake him up, before my mother found me there crying the following day.
​
///09th of November 2021
​
“And that’s why you decided to study astronomy? Really?” Melissa laughed.
​
“Oh, come on, babe… Don’t make fun of my tragic past.” I said, finishing my waffles. She went to the fridges, grabbed the orange juice, and poured some in our cups.
​
“Shall we toast?” She asked.
​
“With orange juice? And what for?”
​
“Your impending graduation. What else?”
​
“Impending? Ha! I didn’t even start my capstone thesis.”
​
“So, what will it be about? Venus, right? Or was it Mars?”
​
“Nope. Too many people I know will already be working on planets like Venus and Mars. I thought about Neptune, but it’s too far away. So I figured, why not the Moon?”
​
“Please, don’t tell me this is about your father.”
​
“Mel, he wasn’t the best dad in the world. But he did left me his collection of vintage cars. This is what paid for my education.”
​
“He didn’t left it to you, it was divided between you and your mother.”
​
“Regardless, I feel like I owe him this. Apart from the cars, the moon was the only thing he loved.”
​
“You owe him nothing, Ezra.”
​
“I need to know what the blinking lights are! Lunar transient phenomena, it’s how they call them. There’s no scientific explanation to what they are.”
​
“Just because there’s no known scientific explanation, it doesn’t mean one does not exist. And if there’s one, it’s certainly not creepy snake-man” She laughed.
​
///04th of September, 2022
​
The first thing you feel when you start seriously investigating the moon is how mysterious it is. We only went there a handful of times, and then never again. All reasons are given for this, but it never really felt right to me. Maybe what happened to my father always made me feel paranoid about the subject, but I somehow felt there were things about the moon that were hiding on plain sight.
​
The focus of my research, the lunar transient phenomena, is incredibly unknown. Few studies were done about it, and most of them were never published or were abandoned. The few that were made available were either from little-known universities in third-world countries, in languages that I couldn’t understand and without English translation, or mere compilations of recorded occurrences. I found some theories. The lights were caused by magnetism, or by gasses, or by asteroids, perspective…
​
But mere hypothesis were not enough for me. I needed to know. I needed to understand. I needed… I needed to confirm it weren’t those lights who killed my father that day.
​
So, I delved deep into the research. I spent weeks in my bedroom, reading books and more books, entering all sorts of websites, sending emails to experts, looking for anything that could give me more information. But through all my effort, the only thing I could find were theories or hypothesis, all of them with little to no evidence. In my search for answers, I started straying further away from modern science, entering strange websites and reading books that talked about blatant pseudoscience, like astrology or the paranormal.
​
///17th of February, 2022
​
“So, what books will you be basing your capstone on?” My orienting professor asked. I could not see his face properly, we were talking through a videocall and he was not very tech savvy, so his eyes and nose were out of the frame.
​
“Chris, I can only see your mouth!” I laughed.
​
“Sorry…” He said, adjusting his camera. The framing was not perfect yet, but it was better. "Have you read the books I sent you?"
​
"They... They were not what I was looking for."
​
"What were you looking for, Ezra?"
​
"I told you. Answers. I have been looking for answers, yet I only find questions."
​
"We will only be able to find real answers when we actually set a lab on the moon. Until then, we will have to live with merely hypothesizing."
​
"I know, but..."
​
"Have you tried reading Kulikovsky?Or Hakan Kayal? Non-american studies in general."
​
"Yes, professor Chris. But... All studies seem to contradict themselves. Some point to studies that I can’t find anywhere, like they don’t exist anymore. Like they were erased by someone…”
​
“Some texts were never made digital or registered. It’s very unfortunate.”
​
“Everyone tries to find a logical explanation... What if there isn't one?"
​
"What is this truly about?"
​
"What?"
​
"It's just... You do know you can change your capstone thesis theme, right? Maybe an analysis of something more well-known could work better with your methodology."
​
"Chris, I will not change my mind. We have discussed this before."
​
"Well, well... I talked to one of my former colleagues, he is retired now, who also studied the moon, but his research was more focused on gravity. He told me there's a book called "A Study of the Moon with a New Lens" or something like that. Written by one Dr. Karl Hollfern in 1935."
​
"That is way before LTP was even catalogued."
​
"Catalogued, yes. Recorded? No. Hollfern studied extensevely the lunar mysteries. Unfortunately, he was executed by the Nazis because he opposed them. But his research lived on. My friend told me they have one of his books in the library. But it's in German."
​
///18th of February, 2022
​
I entered the library carrying a bag full of German grammar books and a dictionary. I would not let a little language barrier stop me from getting to the truth.
​
“Hello, how can I help you?” The librarian asked, barely averting her eyes from her cellphone.
​
“I’m actually looking for a book that could either be in the astronomy section or in the foreign titles section… Can you help me?”
​
“Which book?” She was still looking at her phone, seemingly playing one of those generic casual mobile games.
​
“It’s in German. Old, from the 1930s. Talks about studies of the moon made at the time.”
​
“Unusual request, but ok…” She put her phone on the counter, and started typing on the computer. “Can’t find it. Do you have the author’s name?”
​
“Karl Hollfern.”
​
“Uncanny. It’s unlisted.”
​
“What?”
​
“We have it in the library, but it’s not available. We usually do this when books are being cleaned. Usually takes a couple of days… It says it won’t be listed until… Until 2100?
​
“What? How does this makes sense?”
​
“I don’t know. I’ve been working here for sixteen years, and have never seen something like this. Regardless, I can’t lend you the book. I can’t even let you access it in library grounds.”
​
///23rd of February, 2022
​
I was drinking my Starbucks cappuccino while trying to make myself comfortable on the shopping mall bench, to no avail. I was tense. I had never involved myself with something like this. If my mother or girlfriend knew, they would kill me. An older man made his way out of the crowd and patiently sat down next to me.
​
“You were supposed to be sitting on the bench next to Nike. But no problem.” He laughed.
​
“Sorry. I got confused…” I facepalmed.
​
“I got the book you asked me too. But the price is going to be different in your case.”
​
“As in more expensive?”
​
“No. Normally, I charge twenty five grand, or double If the job is hard. In your case, the job was ridiculously easy. I will be charging five grand only.”
​
“Thanks! I’m transferring to your account right now…” I said as I typed on my phone.
​
“The book is in your car.”
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“How did you… Oh, of course.”
​
“Pleasure doing business with you.” He got up and left. I immediately went to my car. There it was, Eine Untersuchung des Mondes mit einer neuen Linse.
​
///28th of February, 2022
​
“Honey, are you still awake?” Melissa asked me. I was sitting on a pillow in the corner of the room, aggressively doing more and more Duolingo lessons.
​
“I’m busy, Mel.” I said, without averting my eyes from the green owl.
​
“Is this about that German book you have been taking everywhere?”
​
“No…” I blatantly lied.
​
“Honey, you’ve been up all night. It’s ten to six.”
​
“What?”
​
“You are obsessed with this shit, Ezra! Look at you! This is the third time I find you here studying German instead of sleeping!”
​
“I’m sorry, but you do know I have a capstone thesis to finish, don’t you?!” I screamed back at her.
​
“Oh. So this is what’s all about, right?”
​
“Babe, it’s not like that…” Before I could say anything, she stormed out of the apartment. I stood there, frozen, for a minute or two, before I went back to my Duolingo.
​
///3rd of March, 2022
​
“Hello Ezra” Chris said, as I adjusted my camera. As usual, I couldn’t see his face properly.
​
“Good evening, professor Chris.”
​
“Ezra, are you okay? You look tired.”
​
“I’m fine.” I said vehemently.
​
“Ezra… I… I have bad news for you.” When he said that, I felt like a hand was smashing my heart. “The university has rejected your intended theme.”
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“W-what?”
​
“You’ll have to pick something else. I’m sorry.”
​
“What? Why?!”
​
“Apparently there’s information about Lunar Transient Phenomena that is undisclosed to the general public. The feds were here yesterday, talked with the dean about it. Said that researching the LTP was considered meddling in national security affairs, and that all projects focusing on it were to be halted.”
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“Bullshit!”
​
“I’m sorry. I know how much time you have already invested in this. But we’ll find something else, Ezra. There are more lunar mys…” I interrupted him.
​
“Why is it so hard to research a simple lunar phenomena?! Every time I advance, everyone tries to block me! They will not stop me from uncovering what happened to my father!” I slammed the table.
​
“What?”
​
“This will not stop me.” I muttered, while ending the videocall.
​
///8th of March, 2022
​
After some turbulent days, I was finally making progress again. My knowledge of German wasn’t great, but knowing basic grammar, using online dictionaries, and with a little help from online German studying communities, I was making my way through the book.
​
The book was almost a century old, yet I felt like I was finally making progress. The research by Hollfern was fascinating, but disturbing. He described how the “blinking moonlights” if watched carefully, could be interpreted as having meaning. My German was advancing but far from perfect, so I didn’t have the exact translation, but it said something about the moon speaking in some sort of secret code using the lights.
​
It also referenced some books, most of which seemed to not exist anymore, but some of them not only existed, I also managed to download their scanned PDFs. It was pretty unorthodox for a scientific study. There was a book on symbols and sigils of different religions, a compilation of theological texts about Gnosticism, a book compiling works by Schopenhauer, and a Hindi scroll explaining Chakras.
​
I didn’t understood yet how everything connected. Seemed like a strange collection of unrelated weirdness.
​
///10th of March, 2022
​
I stumbled upon something I had previously overlooked. There’s an work by Schopenhauer where he discuss reading the Upanishads, which are old Hindi texts. The Hindi text I had downloaded was translated to English, but what if I looked for the original? Maybe there was something I wasn’t shown.
​
The original had a section that was censored in the English version that talked about a Devas that was corrupted by an evil unknown entity called that attached on it’s solar plexus and made it miserable with overwhelming sadness and pain. A thing described as a floating jester.
​
///13th of March, 2022
​
The phone in the living room started ringing. I left it there, unwilling to stop reading the book and trying to translate the contents. The call went to voicemail, and then I heard the caller recording it:
​
“Hey Ezra, I know you’re going through a bad time, but as your orienting professor, I care for you. You didn't show up for any of your tests. I know you seem to be focused on your research, but this isn't the-" I unplugged the damn thing.
​
///16th of March, 2022
​
I got evicted after not paying my rent. Or I was supposed to be at least. I picked up my research stuff and rented a cheap motel room on the outskirts of my town. I could not pay for the rent, and least not for now, I spent most of my money buying books and old magazines during the last weeks. I don’t need a place to call mine for now. I just need to find the truth.
​
I know the government will come after me. I’m coming too close. But if they want me to stop, they will have to kill me. I’ve already lost everything. This investigation is all I have left.
​
///18th of March, 2022
​
There's an old website that I found while researching. A true relic, seems to be from the early 90s. It contains old conspiracies theories, like stuff about the Illuminati and New Age, Satanic Panic, how Ronald Reagan was actually replaced, among other things. But there was something among the insanity that I felt was the last thing missing in my investigation. The true reason why we never returned to the Moon and why the Soviets never even attempted landing on it.
​
According to that website, during the last moon expedition, in December of 1972, the astronauts were secretly instructed to find out what was causing the Lunar Transient Phenomena, and spent three days on the Taurus-Littrow Valley, the region where the phenomena was more frequent on the previous five years. They were carrying a seismometer, as the most influential theory at the time was that the LTP was being caused by moonquakes cracking the surface of the natural satellite and releasing gasses.
​
But what the seismometer detected was that there were no such thing as moonquakes. Their equipments revealed humongous structures, seemingly biological or mechanical, moving under the moon surface.
​
One day before they left, NASA detected an instance of LTP a few kilometers near where they were stationed, so the astronauts went there to check. What they found there was never disclosed, but some theorize they met one of the beings responsible for causing the blinking lights. And that was the reason humanity abandoned all expeditions to the moon. After five missions in three years, we never returned there.
​
///20th of March, 2022
​
I woke up feeling like my head was spinning. I was lying on the sofa of my motel room. Once again, I had spent the entire previous night and day reading texts cited by Dr. Hollfern. My tablet was out of battery, so I got up, feeling pain all over my body, and went looking for my charger. It took me a couple of minutes to notice the two men wearing dark suits, black ties and dark sunglasses sitting on my sofa. One of them had a silenced pistol on his hand.
​
“Good afternoon, Ezra Thornbridge.” The one holding the firearm said, with a voice so ordinary it was scary.
​
“W-what?!” I blurted, still trying to overcome the pain.
​
“Oh, don’t mind us. We are just here to recover something.” The other man said, smiling.
​
“Something that isn’t yours, yet you’re in possession of.” The man with the gun complemented.
​
“I… Who are you?” I asked.
​
“Right now, I’m the man pointing the gun at you.” The man with the weapon said, while his partner just shrugged.
​
“Fine, I’ll return your damn book. But I already know about it. I already put the pieces together."
​
"Oh, interesting. What do you think you know, Thornbridge?" One of them mocked.
​
"The Solar Plexus Clown Glider. I have studied them in depth. Or do you prefer to call them like the Gnostic theologians called them back in the day? *Archons…*”
​
“Look what we have here, Spencer. Like father like son.” The guy with the gun scoffed.
​
“I told you we should have just doped him and looked for the damn book while he slept. He is totally gone.” Spencer said.
​
“I’m not crazy! The Archons are real! They killed my father! They kill people! And you, instead of trying to protect the people, just hide their existence, just lie, just lie and lie and lie!”
​
“How can you be so smart yet so stupid?” The guy with the gun said.
​
“The Archons don’t kill people, Ezra. They just make you miserable and drown you in fear and pain.” Spencer said.
​
“But I saw one kill my father.”
​
“Your father died of chronic ventricular arrhythmia coupled with excessive alcohol ingestion. The thing you saw was merely an emotional parasite, feeding off his negative emotions and influencing him to indulge on them.” Spencer said.
​
“Does this mean…”
​
“Yes. It also infected you that day. That’s why you saw it. It’s been with you ever since. The more you learn about it, the more you dread, the more you obsess, the more you lose… You were feeding it all along.” Spencer explained.
​
“And why do you think we tried to protect you, dumbass? If the knowledge was harmless, we wouldn’t be around breaking the law and breaking people’s necks to prevent it from spreading.” The guy with the weapon said.
​
“It’s not too late, Ezra. When your father was alive, there wasn’t much we could do, but now we have technology to make them go away. But it has a cost.” Spencer explained.
​
“What cost?”
​
“You will forget your father. You will forget most about the moon and astronomy. Probably the entirety of the last few months. And there are probable side effects, like sporadic short-term amnesia.” Spencer said.
​
“Or we can just fucking shoot you in the forehead right now to prevent the thing from infecting more people. Your choice.” The guy with the gun said. I just turned around and ran as fast as I can towards the window behind me. I jumped out of it, shattering the glass, and fell on the hard cold concrete of the parking lot. I tried to get up, my body was all cut from the glass, and I felt something warm on my back, even though it was raining.
​
“Are you stupid?!” I heard the guy with the gun shouting while he and the other agent descended the staircase that led to the parking lot. I finally got up, feeling cold from the rain, and tried to run, but could only limp. Yeah, jumping out of the window like I was in an 80s action movie wasn’t the best idea. I heard another click behind me, and fell to the floor. I could see the agents running towards me, smoke coming out of the gun. There seemed to be snakes around both of them, smiling witch their human faces and several sets of sharp fangs.
​
I looked towards the sky. Among the raining clouds, I could see the moon above me, full and blooming. Blinking. Blinking so much.

So I don’t have any experience as a receptionist. I’ve worked at krogers, meijer, Jimmy johns, and a country club as a hostess and server. I have answered phones and schedule reservations which is somewhat linked to be a receptionist.

I’m a little concerned that you are unable to have assigned seating on the Alaskan Gold Dome train. It is an upgraded cost however, it says your seats are assigned by the rail company.
Question - Is the upgrade to the Gold Dome train worth it ? Are there bad seats or views in this section of the train ?
( I should mention my husband gets claustrophobic in trains. He’s had to travel, in them overseas going from country to country. One of the concerns I have is whether we will be jammed into a small space with no actual defined seats. This will drive him crazy which will then make me crazy 😜)
Any advice from previous travelers on this train would be appreciated.

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

will mostly be using for university work and some casual gaming. i'm a chemistry phd student so the ability to run data processing software like IGOR pro, maple, spartan, etc. would be preferred if it doesn't make a huge difference in the cost. as for gaming, the most intensive game i'd like to be able to run is the sims 4 w/ dlc and good graphics.

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

~$1250-1500

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

within the next couple of weeks

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

everything, i'm starting from scratch :)

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

US, no microcenter location

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

n/a

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

no

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

a semi-large monitor would be nice since i usually need to have lots of windows open simultaneously for schoolwork

What type of network connectivity do you need? (Wired and/or WiFi) If WiFi is needed and you would like to find the fastest match for your wireless router, please list any specifics.

wifi

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

mid-tower, i'm not a big fan of the ultra-modern/futuristic style; i'd prefer something more neutral/low-key

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

no

Extra info or particulars: