NaevaTheRat

I think sometimes when I try to point out that political violence underpins much of society people hear "violence is good actually".

It's frustrating because what I'm trying to point out is actually the opposite. Prostrating yourself lets other people use violence with no checks.

you usually work up grits. In general for edges that should end shaving sharp (e.g. kitchen, whirling) below 1k is rough work, profiling work, 1k or so is basic small chip repair etc, 3k is standard sharpen, and higher is polishing wank. You get what you pay for in general: cheap stones need soaking, the wear out fast (needing truing). Shapton makes some great splash and go stones.

However, there is one cheap 2 sided diamond stone that is actually quality. The sharpal one. Be aware diamond cuts extremely fast (good and bad), it doesn't need truing or soaking. I recommend if you're getting one stone get that. Learn proper bur minimisation technique and that'll cover chip repair and get your knives sharp enough to cut seethrough sheets of tomato.

If you feel fancy add 1 micron stropping compound and a sheet of balsa wood to strop on.

I'm not them but tying loads/things down during fierce winds, temp gardening structures, carrying stuff (weaving nets is useful knowledge), lifting stuff/holding suspended.

Idk even stuff like if crossing a stream it's handy to have one person go first and make a temp hand rail by hanging a rope across so people slip less.

Sharpening stones.

you need an edge so many times in your life. When you're using scissors, slicing veggies, pruning trees, harvesting mushrooms, posting online, mowing grass, carving wood, cutting roots, trimming nails, scraping stoves/ovens, shaving, digging, trimming, pealing whatever.

There are so many dumb fancy arse awful tools that butcher edges and work in one specific case. No! For millenia people have been grinding edges, it is not difficult to learn it just takes practice.

Modern manufacturing means we can enjoy extremely consistent stones in well characterised grades. Go use some, and enjoy how much less effort life requires when everything that cuts, cuts easily.

100% read it. I think most things aren't "must reads" even my favourite stories, but some have such unique ideas or skillful execution that if you enjoy literature you owe it to yourself to read them.

There's obviously a very large list, I suggested some I didn't think would be represented here. The dispossessed is a short read and uncomplex in its construction and pros so it's easy to squeeze in a chapter here and there or before bed.

Idk if you will agree it's a must read, that's obviously quite subjective, but I highly doubt you'll find the time you spent with it unsatisfying.

Ursula Le Guin's the dispossessed is pretty impactfull. Very confronting anarchist utopia that is not a Paradise.

The lions of al rassan by guy gavriel Kay (worked on the silmarillion). A deeply melencholic fictional reflection on the reconquista of the Iberian peninsula.

The liveship traders by Robin Hobb has the best realised characters in fiction I've ever seen. Jaw dropping craft.

And finally, an entire shelf of book: The malazan book of the fallen. you will laugh, you will cry, and in the end you will love compassion.

Are you sure about braindeath being a mental condition? My thoughts, confirmed by quick googling, was a medical-legal standard for death based on permanent death of the brain. As a person can otherwise be vegetative/comatosed or whatever, or like a liver can keep operating for a while etc.

As an insult I think it's meant to be taken as "This is only explainable if you have no brain activity" not "you are like a living human with a different or damaged brain".

Do you sauna for 3 hours? or as the experiment is modelling for 5-12? without cooling your body down first?

Oh look. Liberals aligning with facists over paying taxes. Waow. I am so shocked.