JustSo

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

The language isn't a problem. Loads of people in China, especially in and around universities, are fluent in English. Plus OP would get to learn Mandarin in arguably the best environment for it.

(arguably because sometimes you just wanna practice your mandarin but everyone else wants to use their english. many such cases. my experience and so many people I've talked to about this lol)

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JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

I've been to China multiple times and I find the Arctic Circle very appealing as a life experience / novelty / adventure but I would still choose two years in China over one in the arctic.

It would be (presumably) a good career move, an excellent cultural experience, more time away, more exposure to mandarin = quicker and easier to learn, you'd get to see what a real modern country is like and possibly form connections or even friendships with people who might be in a position to work on projects with real positive impact.

Over the span of two years you'd have a few days here and there that you'd need to occupy and China has lots of distinct unique places and cultures, and of course the variety of climates / biomes.

Also what you said about China taking climate change seriously is representative of I think the biggest appeal for me, which would be the mental relief I'd get living somewhere that takes things seriously, is serious about solving problems and that has a proper healthy respect for science and reason. At a policy level anyway-

A friend of mine taught there for a bit over a decade and is a lot less prone to romanticizing everything. In day to day life China isn't an especially rational and efficient place, not tryna sound naive and utopian. But on the whole they are pushing consistently in the right direction on policy and implementation, and for me that would be very subconsciously comforting thing.

Like how libs get to feel when brunch isn't cancelled. I want that. I want communist brunch and I want it for you too.

But the Arctic Circle option would be fucking cool too, what an awesome decision to have to make.

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JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

Does anyone know which thread caused the issue in particular with the user bumping the thread and repeatedly causing crashes?

Probably wasn't me.

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JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

We're the tip of the spear.

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

Ah, I got you. I suppose in general medicines denature faster with heat. For something that has to work as effectively and quickly as possible, I can see the concern esp. for people routinely managing storage and distribution at any kind of scale.

I'll ask my pharmacist regarding my applicators. See if he has an opinion. He's friendly and if I'm there at a quiet time he's often keen to chat about random things. Guessing they're still good, but I'll see how old they are too. Replace them if its iffy.

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

A compassionate position, stated clearly and without compromise. What a breath of fresh air.

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

It was really really odd and unsettling to me, to see the media and pop culture take the ball from the activist front and run with it so far and so fast. With so little regard for nuance and so much time for scandal.

can't really explain this in a way that will make sense to people who are vulnerable now and facing active or imminent repression, but I expected shit to get a lot worse a lot quicker for our people in reaction to how manufactured our acceptance felt at the time.

I underestimated how authentically people adopt the new thing into their world view when society tells them the wind has changed. I sometimes wonder if it was the last big cultural influence campaign executed via the old broadcast media. Not to discount the impact of activist work but shit changed SO fast I'm still a bit disoriented.

Did it feel organic to you? like, I never have much reason to talk about this anymore and you can't really trust cis people with a conversation about it even if they had been positioned to witness the process of change. Just wondering if what I'm describing resonates at all?

Feels entirely possible that I read too much into everything then and now, with a big side of conspiracy brain along for the ride. I'm not really thinking "conspiracy" just.. it was weird right?

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

I hate this grey market shit, its the perfect trap for an unsuspecting person who for any one of dozens of good reasons, isn't able to effectively educate themselves.

Reading some abstracts from papers, it looks like these drugs could have a lot of therapeutic potential for people that don't get relief from existing options. (Unless more recent studies have demonstrated otherwise.) I hope interest in this stuff doesn't completely evaporate due to black market and grey market activity.

Interesting. As part of the studies they use naloxone and other opioid receptor antagonists to try and push the opioid off the receptors. Part of the study measuring how well the chemicals bind and to what extent.

They weren't testing for it, so its not something to trust your life on, but as far as I am equipped to interpret, narcan should be at least partially effective against these. The long half life is a reminder that if you ever revive an OD you still need to get them under medical supervision ASAP. (Someone who knows ochem/pharma is rolling their eyes right now at me observing that water is wet, probably.)

edit: omg they did the lab animals dirty in the 2014 study holy fuck. ;-;

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

Kratom is bound to be made illegal at some point over things like this I guess.

I put my rambling speculation about this about these drugs under a spoiler so as to not detract from the purpose of this thread. I only just learned of this drug and I'm grateful for the warning.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens in America. Unless things have changed, the way their laws are written gives them the precision to ban the isolates and derivatives without necessarily having to go after the plant matter.

Usually we see analogs synthesized in response to a ban on the "parent" drug, since the law usually only identifies and restrict each chemical individually, leading to the whack-a-mole game that ends in dangerously potent substances that hospital stuff haven't heard of. I suppose attacks on other opioids create the demand for kratom and its offshoot chemicals, so its not like this is super different, but you can't trace a direct obvious causal chain where kratom being "a problem" spiraled into a worse problem.

None of this is to say that the law will proceed rationally. But as far as I'm aware this kratom -> 7oh -> (you're just telling me now) MGM15 -> MGM16 escalation is different and distinct enough from previous cases that I don't know what to expect. (well I expect full blown blanket prohibition, but it would/will be interesting to see if a case can be made to outlaw kratom because of extracts and further altered molecules that are not intended as kratom substitutes per se but rather to address a defect in the traditional opioid supply.

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

I'd like to see the rising tide try.

JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

Damn straight. Shoulda heard the lecture I gave the dog lol.

I'm always warning him that he's a lil defenseless ignorant baby compared to the mighty magpies and other creatures he seems to think he's better than.

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JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

I haven't seen it in a while but one of this guy's close relatives was living in my back yard for a lot of the summer. I love big skinks like you wouldn't believe.

It's not cool but my dog caught it or a very similarly mature one transiting the yard, but before I realised what was happening it defended itself! I did not expect it and tbh never seen anything quite like it.

I was so activated (we really try to make sure the dog doesn't harm the native critters) that it seemed to happen in slow motion as I was moving, after the dog tossed it, the lizard leapt AT the dog and bit him on the nose hard enough to hang there for a sec. That made the dog reconsider and back up, and the lizard got Big As I Can in a defensive posture, hissing, and I swear, started to walk the dog down.

By then the dog was finally listening to me and broke off and the lizard got away. But to be clear, this lizard was not big and my dog is not tiny. I already loved and respected the big skink but that just.. sealed the deal for me.

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JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

Say whaat this is fucking cooool. holy shit.

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JustSo [she/her, any] @hexbear.net 4mo ago

even the device was freely swimming around in your purse there is a limit to how contaminated it could become

You are right that this is not enough of a reason to delay carrying and anything is better than nothing.

A part of my reasoning for strongly preferring to keep them in the tamper evident bubble pack is that you can then redistribute them to people in precarious living environments of all kinds and it is a: less "dodgy" to give them something that they can see hasn't been tampered with and b: its sealed against the elements if they have to leave their stuff somewhere.

You're bypassing a lot of the nasal passage's natural defenses when you stick a tube up against the membrane. Its not something to develop a phobia of or anything but I wouldn't be cavalier about someone else's body.