Thank you very much for the very generous offer. Luckily we donāt need to flee, many other less fortunate had no other choice but doing so; the humanitarian crisis is here, but we are fine and thereās no immediate threat after the cease fire has been signed and itās holding. The unrest in Armenia is not that violent, so far. Weāll be on our way to Europe soon, as planned, for other reasons. But I appreciate it.
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Trying to stay warm and balancing that need with a finite supply of firewood.
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Refuse to wear a mask? Then dig the graves of those who have died from Covid-19.
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John, how do you burn your wood and where do you get your wood. Wood burning can be horribly polluting and some sources of wood are very extractive. I love a fire but have not had one for a while. We have natural gas heat which here is not as bad for the environment as electric heat. In the past I have cut, hauled, split, carried and burned wood for heat. I have friends, not local, who use pellet stoves, they are more efficient and use industrial by products so are not very extractive.
I have a danish made Morso stove that has a recirculating system that burns pretty thoroughly once you get it going. the wood I buy locally is an oak that get sculled out of regenerating redwood forests or I get an oak that gets cut for I imagine ag land or suburban development. Other choices are almond wood that gets culled from orchards after so many years and the occasional downed tree. I could cut my own trees but they are mostly fir and redwood which is not great firewood. I could switch to propane - and I have a propane heater in another room. or I could go with electric heat, which costs a lot because you have to run it all the time. My brother has a pellet stove. They are a good way to go. But I have to admit I wouldnāt care for the nonstop noise of the motor that feeds the pellets to the stove. Itās all a tough set of tradeoffs. what I really need is a much better insulated structure.
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Indonesians donāt mess around. I thought Malaysia was hardcore till we made friends with a couple of Javanese kids 
A different option is to build your own island on international waters just outside the coast of your country and hang out there as mask free as you likeā¦ till your government decides to invade then bomb it:
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That instant between clicking on todayās news and the page loading and thinking, ānow what?ā
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Hope everyone is having some well deserved rest time, and getting love 
This was a difficult year for many, not just because of the pandemic, but also due to wars, political fuckups, human rights infringements, and on a personal level, especially social isolation and loneliness. Hopefully we can find resources around us and none of us hesitates to ask for help if neededā¦
Wherever you are, take care <3
(and of course, thanks to @matteo_uguzzoni for launching this whole discussion about strategies to cope with loneliness)
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Iām on my between-holidays dietā¦
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Last gift from 2020: knee inflammation. I end the year walking with a crutch. But itās true that it is getting better. 
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Meanwhile, on the west side of the Atlantic, the crazy show continues: "Trump himself today retweeted an 8-minute video claiming that the Communist Party in China has secretly infiltrated America through Hollywood and newspapers and has bought Joe Biden. It urges āpatriotsā to defend America. To the tweet, Trump added: āJanuary 6th. See you in D.C.ā
This is a fine and column-length essay that makes the point that there is as much, maybe more, reason for hope as their is despair in America today because of what America - most Americans anyway - is really striving to become: a multiracial, multicultural large democracy that operates justly. The violence and craziness is the rumblings of what is going away.
Weāll see if itās true, but itās a good vision and one I often think to myself. That this is the Great Opportunity. And that alternatives all lead to destruction.
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Nice one, thank you.
I wish Europe would also find its own vision, beside the āsingle marketā stuff and so on.
Progressive International and DiEM are encouraging movements for meā¦
And so Trump is gone and it is a new day in America. The inaugural today had a cleansing quality and to see Kamala Harris up there was a thrill. We have been through the wringer the past several weeks. But there is a sense of possibilities and, yes, hope, broadly shared.
But of course the losing side is back in their foxholes sharpening their weapons. They will never concede or change. Regardless, what we saw and experienced today is in fact far closer to what most Americans want: a multiracial, multicultural democracy that works for all, not just the elite. High toned words, I know, but hey - so it is.
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Yeah I hope you get some badly needed stability. As far as ānot for the eliteā part, it doesnāt get more elite than this haha. Unless you consider the elite are white people, then itās a step up from Trump for sure.
I was mainly referring to income inequality, though that cannot be separated from racism in this country.
Ah alright. Curious what are they planning to do in that direction. Is there some specific policy change regarding taxation or employment? Or some measurable steps we can expect?
I really donāt know. I do know that there is a huge amount of built-in opposition to anything that fundamentally changes the hierarchy of wealth. And there is zero chance that the Republicans will go along with any of it and they still have a lot of power. They are the party of inequality, racism and environmental degradation. Not that they have any sort of monopoly on such views, but it is pretty well hard-wired into their core at this point. The Democrats can actually be changed by the members because they have so many more diverse views. But man it is such a long slog.
This 8 minute video (and well worth your time) editorial breaks down the essential problem with the Trump camp better than about any I have seen. From filmmaker and all around brilliant guy, Matthew Cooke.
Well that much is clear, I havenāt seen many new voices in republican camp, while in democrat camp you have new, interesting people which actually give hope. Too bad they get shut down by their own party because they arenāt mainstream enough, branded as Russian agents or god knows whatā¦it is really pitiful.
I personally donāt believe Biden represents change or will create the needed changeā¦in fact I donāt believe he will even lead the country for long. I expect Kamala to take over.
I donāt know why focus on republicans still, didnāt democrats win both senate and the upper house? Itās their 4 years now, they have a job to do. I couldnāt care less for Trump and his camp, as I already said he certainly wouldnāt get my vote. He has shown his real face very soon after 2016 elections and he pretty much disgusted me. In any case, he had his 4 years, itās time to see the new US.