I have seen dramatically different responses to clothing and hairstyles that are perceived to be non-gender-conforming in various places we have lived in the last 10 or so years (several different countries, a conservative US location, and a liberal US location). In my experience, the environments that are more open to people being trans are *much* less likely to enforce or encourage gender-conforming dress and hairstyles than environments that are leery of trans identity. I am so glad that we are in a more liberal environment now because my adult trans family member isn't harassed or misgendered and my cis teenager can wear whatever he wants to school and try out longer hairstyles if he wants to. I can wear pants in a traditional dresses-only-for-women space with far less comment here than in a more conservative area. There's always social pressure to conform, but for me, it feels very different depending on where we live. I've seen no evidence of an extensive trans movement that is trying to enforce gender stereotypes on anyone.

I would still recommend the NMAAHC. Like all the Smithsonians, there's far more to see than you can do in one day, so you could easily spend time on the upper levels where culture is highlighted if you're concerned that the lower levels about history wouldn't work for your dd. The upper levels also have the advantage of being much less crowded if you're there on a busy day.

I do not think that setting the bar at being literally arrested or having to retain counsel is a reasonable representation of harm. I mean, going back to my Saudi Arabia example, I didn't particularly worry that I would be arrested if I went entered a men-only space. When I did do that, usually someone politely told me that I was in the wrong place and was supposed to leave. Sounds like not a big deal, right? But the more it happened, the more I self-regulated until I wasn't even trying to do a lot of things I would normally have done in any other country because simply existing as female in Saudi (even a foreign, white woman) meant that I had to watch my actions in so many ways that men did not. It wasn't just about where I could eat. And it's not just about arrest. It's so much more than that. I get that women want to feel safe in the bathroom. I do too, and I have to pay attention to that in different ways. Women and public bathrooms have a long and complicated history everywhere in the world. Keeping people from using public bathrooms, whether it's through social pressure or fear of arrest, severely limits people.

My favorite trans person was able to change her birth certificate in a state working toward bathroom laws. We fly through that state often. The way that proposed laws are written, I'm pretty sure she won't be able to legally use the bathroom in the airport unless she finds a single stall bathroom that isn't gender designated. It doesn't seem so very different from when I lived in Saudi Arabia and I was banned from eating in a large number of restaurants because they didn't have a family section - they mostly catered to men and it was too expensive to create a section for women. I was constantly aware of not being welcome in many spaces, and now she is experiencing that in the US.

There's no loss to whey (unless you drain the finished product, in which case you choose how much whey to drain off), so if you start with a half gallon of milk, you'll get a half gallon of yogurt. I don't use a thermometer, but you'll need to watch the milk when it's heating. I personally use an instant pot to heat the milk (and a crockpot before that), just to not have to babysit the milk, but I've done it on the stove many, many times. Heat the milk on the stove till it's just starting to boil/rise, then turn off the heat immediately if you have a gas stove or remove it from the heat if you have electric to make sure it doesn't boil over. Let the milk cool till it's warm but not hot to the touch. The exact temperature is flexible. I use a freeze-dried starter for an initial batch, then I use my own yogurt after that. Pour your milk into whatever container where you'll incubate it, and add your starter or yogurt to the warm milk. Stir well and incubate till it's set. I like tangy yogurt so I incubate it for 12 hours. Put it in the fridge and it will continue to firm up The milk needs to stay warm during incubation. I've wrapped towels around a plastic container if that's all I have and leave it in the warmest spot in the house. I usually use a 2-liter yogurt incubator though. If you can get good yogurt at that price, then it might not be worth making, depending on how much your milk costs. I have never found a store-bought yogurt that I like as much as my homemade yogurt, plus it's always cheaper for me to make it. The best yogurt I've made was from my neighbor's cow in a little town in Kyrgyzstan.

Yogurt is all I do consistently, and I've been making that for 22 years. We eat a lot of yogurt.

Never mind

I don't think that it's possible to fix things at the border without making some pretty big systemic changes to US immigration law and also to US foreign policy. That would probably be too political for a main board discussion though. But in my opinion, the problem is not the people at the border. Their difficulties are a symptom of many other broken systems around the world. I do think it's important to realize that there have been some pretty significant, very recent changes in who is coming to the southern US border and how they got there. I think that most US Americans assume that Mexicans and Central Americans make up the vast majority of people trying to cross the border or to claim asylum, but but for the first time ever, Mexicans and Central Americans were a slight minority last year. And the actual number who arrived from Central America and Mexico was lower than in previous years. Instead, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people arriving from other countries, especially Venezuela. In my personal experience, I am meeting more and more Afghans who crossed the southern border to claim asylum. Since asylum seekers can only claim asylum in person, the southern border is often their only option because it's hard to get a visa for the US or Canada.

It has not been resolved. DHS filed additional information with the SC hours before these people died. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23A607/295564/20240112012220571_23a607 DHS v TX supplement.pdf

There's also the question of what and when Texas knew about drowning people and whether they did anything to help. This statement doesn't address that at all.

The statement is carefully worded. It leaves out the fact that the Texas National Guard took control of Shelby Park several days before this incident occurred and refused to allow CBP to patrol the area, including the water. So yes, it may well be true that the woman and children had already drowned when CBP requested access regarding this specific incident, but they should not have been barred from this area in the first place. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-blocks-federal-border-agents-processing-migrants-eagle-pass-shelby-park/ I cannot believe I am defending access for CBP, but here we are.

Yes, there are, as pointed out above. But the US already violates international law regarding asylees and refugees in a variety of ways. This is baked into the system no matter which party is in control of congress or the White House. Every presidential administration for decades has instituted or continued policies that violate international law. This incident described in this thread is obviously a more egregious example of what can happen when international asylum law is violated, but many, many asylum seekers have been harmed in different ways by US policies that violate international law.

The UAE, and especially Dubai, has a strong interest in tourism and they make it pretty easy for tourists to drink. Gulf countries have different rules regarding alcohol depending on lots of factors. It's pretty hard (but not absolutely impossible) to get alcohol in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, for example, but you can buy it in Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, and Oman.

We usually live outside the US and we sometimes use the chase sapphire cc preferred (mentioned above) or the Amazon prime card in countries where credit cards are normal because neither card has foreign transaction fees. We use debit cards and ATMs more often though, both in cash-based countries and in countries where it’s easy to use credit cards. Our bank reimburses ATM fees so that works well for us, as long as we make sure to not use ATMs in touristy areas that have bad exchange rates.

From your explanation, it’s not clear if her birth certificate was originally filed within a year of her date of birth. If it was, then she needs to get a corrected birth certificate that shows the date it was filed, or a long-form birth certificate, if she only got an abstract that didn’t have all the necessary infomation. If the birth was not originally filed within a year, there are secondary forms of citizenship evidence. This page will explain what her options are. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/citizenship-evidence.html

No tallies, but here are my ten favorites from this year: On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed Carry by Toni Jensen All That She Carried by Tiya Miles Homegoing by Yama Gyasi Help Me to Find My People by Heather Williams Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee Soil by Camille Dungy The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee Salt Houses by Hala Alyan Twelve Tribes by Ethan Michaeli

One thing you might want to check is the summer scheduling. For my program, there is about a two-week overlap between the two summer sessions. I had signed up for both sessions last summer, not realizing there was overlap, but I had to drop a class when I found out I would be in the last two weeks of writing a research paper, the first two weeks of a new class, and traveling for a family reunion all at the same time. I thought it would just be the new class and the family reunion at the same time, which I could have managed, but I couldn’t add in a research paper too. I’ve had to make sure to register for classes as early as possible to make sure I could get through all the required classes in the timeframe I had. Some of the classes fill up very quickly in my program. I’m excited for you!

I’ve done one class at a time. A few classes have had a lighter workload and I could have done two classes at once, but most have required the 20 hours/week they said I should plan on, so I couldn’t have done two then. One class is completely doable though.

This sounds like a great opportunity! I’ll graduate this summer with a masters degree from an online program with a similar schedule. Every single class has been fascinating and the scheduling is flexible and manageable. I’m so glad I finally did it.

I’m sorry that happened to you. That would have been really scary.

You might want to take another look at Mexico. It’s a big country and many parts of the country are safe and it’s so quick and easy to travel there. In particular, the Yucatán peninsula is a wonderful place to visit. There are plenty of resorts there if you want go that route (I have never stayed in a resort so I can’t help you there), or you can simply rent a car and explore on your own and stay in small hotels. There are all sorts of things you can do depending on your interests. Food, history, beaches, culture, sightseeing, pirates, pyramids, so much more. You might look at Morocco.

I have never been able to make really good tortillas at home using masa harina. I first started making tortillas when we lived in Mexico and I could get fresh masa at the tienda next door, so I’d use that for everything. Switching to masa harina has been a constant disappointment ever since. What’s your main concern with the tortillas you’ve made? Flavor? Texture? Something else? There are techniques that can help you deal with texture or thickness problems. You might try making chilaquiles with your extra tortillas. We rarely have extras, but chilaquiles are always loved here, and there are tons of different variations. You can use your comal for lots of other things besides tortillas. It’s a great pan to have.

We have tamales on Christmas Eve, so I like to make sweet tamales for dessert. I don’t much like the traditional flavors for any sweet tamale or humita I’ve ever eaten, but we fill ours with chocolate or nuts and sugar. I can’t figure out why chocolate tamales aren’t a thing when they’re so similar to champurrado. We also have risalamande at some point.

Tamales are a perfect Christmas food. You can add in champurrado, buñuelos, or look up other ideas for Las Posadas in Mexico.

Just put it on hold at the library, but 50 people are ahead of me for the audiobook.