You seem like a good and reasonable person, and I'm glad you're aware of your feelings and not reacting super negatively towards the existence of trans people over them. I'd recommend thinking through this a bit more sometime.

Sure, most people are only into men or women, but most people don't start off getting to know someone before sex is on the table with a "by the way, what genitals do you have?" That feels reductive and is a major red flag to most trans people. It's similar to how chasers who pursue trans women with a penis as a fetish. We're so much more than our genitals.

In case you ever end up in sex talks with someone who either at that moment comes out as trans or mentions what genitals they have, handle that conversation delicately. Many of us and don't want the genitals we have but surgery is too expensive, but we also don't want to have sex with someone agonizing over our genitals or don't want that part interacted with at all if we do. This is also why many trans people date within the trans community to alleviate these kinds of issues.

"Too blessed to be depressed" - they're a Christian fundamentalist who is depressed but trying to convince themselves otherwise. You should run.

And Battle Royale totally ripped off Hunger Games

It can be both, and in this case is. They put the foam bricks in place as an April fools joke to raise awareness and plan to leave them, but they don't think the city will allow the foam bricks to stay.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/granville-island-pedestrian-safety-crosswalk-1.7160751

Great point! So if you have a firework that sparks some dry grass or brush, your home fire extinguisher will likely be fine as long as the fire doesn't get too big before you can grab it.

However, if you have a hoard of fireworks that catch fire, you're better off running and calling the fire department than trying to quickly put that out with your home fire extinguisher as it likely won't work.

Those years of safety training finally paying off:

Do you know what types of fires your fire extinguisher is rated for? There are several different types. Most modern home fire extinguishers are rated for A (wood/paper), B (liquids like oil fires), and C (electrical), but you may have an older fire extinguisher or landlord who cheaped out on one that only works on some of those types.

If you have a fire that's based on metals (like fireworks) or exothermic chemical reactions, have a different fire extinguisher or call the fire department with special instructions.

Always remember the acronym PASS when using a fire extinguisher:

1. Pull the pin
2. Aim at the base of the fire
3. Squeeze the trigger
4. Sweep the fire extinguisher side to side to cover all of the fire till the fire is extinguished

I thought this couldn't possibly be right, and it isn't quite, but the numbers are way closer than I realized.

Canada only has around 37 million people. I always thought there were far more just because of how big Canada is. Guess I've been a standard uneducated American. US population is around 333 million. Latest estimate I can find is 7.2% queer which is roughly 24 million people.

Not all of those will need to flee, and those who do may not be financially able to flee. Others won't want to for the reasons most people don't want to leave their home. Many straight passing people will be "fine". Most trans people will want to for medical care at least, and most I know (myself included) are currently migrating to more progressive states if not to Canada yet. Trans numbers in the US are hard to nail down, but highest estimate is 1% which is only 3 million.

I know this is just a meme, but in case anyone thinks it's real, it isn't. I can't find any mention in Sappho's poems about broccoli nor any articles on queer history of lesbians giving out broccoli at any point.

Remember: if it seems ridiculous or too good to be true, it probably is and deserves some research to confirm so you aren't spreading misinformation or more malicious disinformation.

There's also this blog post on it, but it alone also isn't a reputable source. I just can't find anyone else who actually dug into this and wrote about it.

https://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-sappho-didnt-give-broccoli-to-her.html?m=1

I recently saw an ad for another installment in the awful franchise that is The Santa Clause.

I'm amazed people still watch Tim Allen let alone that many sequels into a well overdone concept.

I'm very curious about this. Did you go into this with some allies or were you able to drum up support by sharing stats and other city/country success stories? Was the council already amenable to the idea? Any resources you could share?

This could be an entire post on its own if you can spare some time to write about it and your experiences.

You just have to look them in the eye and give them a firm handshake when you do it. It's so simple!