Stanley center for peace and security

I have a friend who has this weird compulsion. Anything he does, he does in halves. What I mean is, well, let’s say you go out for pizza. The pizza comes, eight slices, you’re ready to eat it. What he’ll do is take four of the slices and eat them all in one go. Then he’ll take two slices and eat those, and then he’ll take one slice and eat that. Now you’re down to one slice. He’ll take that slice, cut it in half, and eat one of the halves. Then he’ll do it again. And again. And again. Eventually what’s left of that last slice is too small to be cut. That’s where he calls it quits, but he always does it with this real weird look in his eyes.
It's not just food that he treats this way, though. Like I said, he does it with everything. He’ll read half a book in one sitting, then half the remainder in the next, then half the remainder of that, until finally he’s at the very last page. If it can’t be physically halved, he does it mentally. If he drives somewhere that’s ten minutes away, for example, he envisions the five-minute mark as the halfway point. Once he’s there, it’s the two and a half-minute mark that’s the halfway point, then the minute fifteen mark, and so on. Everything is neatly organized in his head.
I asked him why he did it once. Well, more than once. Usually he gives half-answers, but eventually I started to see the full picture. I think he wants to preserve that feeling you get during the first half of anything. You know, when you’re looking forward to what lies ahead. Once you reach the second half, of course, all you can think about is how close you are to the end. I get it. I did this study abroad program in Taiwan back in college, it was a summer thing so it was about two months long. During the first month I was all excited since I was meeting and hanging out with the other people in the program. Then it was the second month, and it was like a timer had popped up in my head to tick down the time that was left. Thirty days left, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven… Once that timer hit zero, I’d never see these people again, I’d never be in this place again, I’d never feel like this again… Sure, maybe I’d talk to them every once in a while or maybe I’d go on vacation someday, but it would never be the same. I guess that sounds kind of sappy but whatever. Point is, if I started seeing everything in halves maybe that sinking feeling you get in the second would never show up. Maybe I’d finally be able to enjoy life without worrying about the end.
I decided to be consistent, like my friend. If I only halved the good things, after all, the trick probably wouldn’t work since I’d be consciously switching in and out of that mindset. It was something I needed to fully commit to, and so that’s what I did. Each morning I woke up and ate breakfast in halves, then brushed my teeth and took a shower in halves. I dressed myself in halves and then I drove to work in halves. You get the idea. Sometimes it was hard for me to really conceptualize what doing something in halves actually entailed. One day we got a new recruit at work and I was supposed to get acquainted with them and show them the ropes. How do you become half-acquainted with someone? I guess stuff like that’s up to interpretation, so I tried my best. Talk to them, tell them about yourself, but don’t say too much. Where’s the halfway point? I’d get the hang of it eventually, is what I told myself.
And I did. It took a few months, sure, but eventually I could feel something shifting in my understanding of the world. When I would look at a pizza before, what I would see is something finite – eight slices, and then an ending. Things were different now. Half of a pizza becomes a quarter of a pizza becomes an eighth of a pizza becomes a sixteenth of a pizza. I could gaze at that pizza for hours, contemplating each half becoming smaller and smaller, forever. Then, things become too small and I can’t even comprehend it. Maybe there is a point where the pizza ends, on an atomic level. Thinking about the end of the pizza scares me now. So, let’s talk about something else.
The other day I felt that I’d really internalized the whole idea of dividing things into halves, so I decided to cut, well, the day itself into halves. I know that probably sounds like it would be a really easy thing to do, but I’m talking about doing it alongside all the other halving that’s going on. Think of it as like an extra layer on top of my regular routine. On a work day I wake up at six and go to bed at ten, meaning the first halfway point would be at two. I didn’t obsess over it too hard, after all if I did that would defeat the entire purpose of splitting things into halves. No, I kept it in the back of my mind, and as soon as the day was halfway over I shifted my perspective of things. No, the day was not halfway over. It would be halfway over in four hours, at six o’clock. In this way, the end of the day steadily grew closer. Well, if you viewed time like your average Joe would, maybe. To me, the day had just started. It wasn’t even halfway over. I had all the time in the world.
Then, something happened at 9:59. From my perspective, it had been 9:59 for a very long time. How many halfway points could I possibly fit into that single minute? It’s hard to say, really. Each half felt just as long to me as any of the other halves I’d experienced that day. Eight hours, four hours, fifteen minutes, twenty-eight seconds, these values meant nothing to me. They were halves, nothing more and nothing less. To the untrained mind, I suppose there’s a point where time can no longer be divided. Before you can even process it, the time that’s left has already passed. But I kept going.
Eventually, everything ground to a halt. Each interval, each half, was simply too short – in a physical sense – for anything to happen. All I could really do was lie in bed and think. I wasn’t really bothered, though, because I had plenty of time to think about the things I wanted to think about. All sound had slowed to a steady drone and to be honest I felt as though I was at total peace. If this was what eternity was, I thought, then maybe eternity wasn’t so bad.
At some point the world around me grew dark. I suppose there just wasn’t enough going on to keep my brain stimulated, like when you leave a computer idle for a long time and the screen shuts off. Something like that. To put it another way, maybe the gap between physical time and my mental time was just too large to fit the two together. I’m not like a scientist or anything, though, so don’t take my word for it. Anyway, the point is that everything had become totally still. There was no light, no sound, no feeling of anything. I existed, and that was it. So I thought.
Gradually I became aware of something, some movement in the darkness. Well, maybe “movement” isn’t the right way to put it. I could sense something else out there, all around me, something that existed between the seconds of the day. It was gazing at me, I was certain, in the very same way that I had gazed at all those pizzas. What would become of me if I was halved? Hard to say. Would there then be two of me? And what if I was halved again? What if I was halved over and over again, and then those halves were scattered to the winds? I’d exist everywhere at once, I suppose. I wasn’t really sure why I was thinking those thoughts. Maybe I wasn’t even doing it of my own volition. Whatever the case, I was suddenly aware of how badly I wanted the day to end.
And then I blinked and looked over at the clock and realized that it was ten o’ clock, even. So, I went to sleep, and the next day when I woke up I decided that I’d had enough of the whole cutting things in half dealio. Everything needs to come to an end eventually, after all. Telling yourself otherwise is just a coping mechanism. I don’t mean that as an attack on my friend, though, to be honest I pity the guy. I guess I understand it now, that look he always gets in his eyes. I think it’s something like fear. I think he’s seen the same thing I have, the thing that lies between the smallest possible halves. It’s hard to really go back to normal, knowing something like that’s out there. Or maybe he just doesn’t know how to go back. I should probably ask him about it, but I know I won’t get a complete answer. Really, it’s better that I just leave it at that, get this shit off my chest so I don’t have to think about it anymore. So, that’s what I think I’m gonna do

Hello friends, I am looking for a book that will transmit a certain feeling upon reading. I will try to describe it in a few words. I want a book that feels like a warm blanked on a cold autumn day, a book that feels like hugging a loved one or caressing a pet. A book that feels like eating your favorite home cooked meal and being well taken care of. A book where you will feel the tranquility of a forest and the calm and peace after the storm has washed over the land. The feeling of soaring high above the clouds like an eagle and watching the sun set before the darkness if the night-sky reveals its wonders :)

*This is a short little story around a silly idea i had. It is also my first time writing here, and i am kindly testing out the formatting and such things. *
Galactic Alliance Assembly, Lounge Number 113
Ambassador Phriak rotated his eye-stalks fully around himself upon entering the lounge, carefully checking the various notables from alliance members before choosing one of the freely available seats.
His bulk sank into the synth-cushions, a soft whirring came from below as the seat adjusted to his species shape and formed a perfectly comfortable fit. Soft, generally relaxing music was audible in various spectra, making for a fitting spot to relax from alliance assembly matters for the rest of the day.
The Irio had been invited to join the galactic alliance after their first successful FTL drive test, just decades ago. During that time, Phriak had witnessed scheming as much as genuine progress towards a successful future for every species, and he did understand that the Irio would need a century of probation before permitted full rights and votes in the assembly. So far, nothing severe had happened, his orders from home the same as for his predecessors; "Do not stir in the still waters". A simple thing to do when one had only rights for observation!
Yet, despite the grandly named galactic alliance being a force of mostly good, despite the polite and equal treatment both the Irio and himself received, Phriak felt truly uneasy for the first time as ambassador. The alliance assembly session today had been about various trading contracts and rights to resources in shared-border systems between species. Nothing that impacted the Irio, and nothing unusual. But two species had bickered overly long, flinging accusations of rogue asteroid mining at each other in highly inappropriate language.
Phriak had been quite happy that he only had rights for observing, since it would fall upon others to intercede! "Please just present actual evidence and calm down, i have a headache from your infra-sonic screeching." came a comment that breached assembly protocol, from an observer seat next to Phriak´s own.
It was a ´human´ who talked, and whose species had not been invited to join the galactic alliance at all, at that! Protocol dictated a mild censure by the assembly mediators, yet every single ambassador present, either full member or applicant, stopped like they had felt the echo-call from a ripper-fin!
Phriak himself could not understand that reaction at all, the human itself was a bipedal land-lubber, without proper protective sheathing or any natural weapons bar its tiny teeth. And the Irio ambassador had quickly looked the human species up on the GalNet, finding nothing but platitudes and peaceful intentions. But despite the humans not being members, despite a breach of protocol, the bickering stopped and the two species in question asked the assembly mediators to investigate their own claims each. The rest of today´s agenda was quietly done with, seemingly everyone eager for the break. Phriak did not understand this event in the least, leading to his unease.
"Ambassador Phriak, might i sit opposite to you?"A soft voice called out, startling the Irio ambassador. Eye-stalks stiffening before focusing on a floating metal ball. Phriak thanked his diligent studies "Adjunct Rho of the Cuboids, of course you may." Replied the Irio, pondering the synthetic life-form which was floating down into the opposite seat, showing that the Cuboids had learned about Irio sensibilities.
"You may refer to us as Rho only, communication will be easier"The now resting metal ball said, briefly glowing along its upper part before it continued "You appear uneasy at the way the assembly handled a breach of protocol from humanity today. Please refer: ´Ten hour war´ in your terminal."Rho finished. Curious, Phriak looked the term up, and only found a single entry, from around six hundred years ago. Skimming that entry, the Irio ambassador was more confused than anything. "Rho, this is a formal apology made by a human ambassador for any inconvenience caused by a human civil war?"He asked, eye-stalks swaying in confusion.
"Yes. While other alliance members undoubtedly have confidential legacy reports about that event, our memory has the event logged and highlighted, for it caused us great distress."The cuboid blinked again" The human ambassador at that time apologized since their civil war affected the alliance. "Rho added "However, that effect was both tremendous and trivial, so we agree with the alliance giving humanity favorable treatment despite their stated intent to never join."The cuboid blinked again, signaling the end of its statement.
Phriak had listened and looked up more, but did not find anything regarding humanity having a civil war centuries ago. "Is it called the ten hour war because it was resolved within ten hours, and thus serves as warning about human military capabilities?"The Irio ambassador questioned. "No. Six hundred twenty three years, two months, six days... further data omitted for brevity, the Cuboid network was stressed by a mismatch of our network time synchronization. According to physical laws like planetary orbits and exotic matter decay, we experienced a mismatch of precisely ten hours between expected and physical time. "Rho blinked "Every single alliance member experienced the same to a lesser degree. According to several sources, they ´blinked and it was afternoon´"The cuboid sounded mildly annoyed at the inaccurate statements recorded centuries ago. "Unofficial record of statement by human ambassador during assembly: ´We had a minor civil war and both sides escalated to the point of activating space-time continuum destruction devices. As the use of such devices is banned under article 5 of the Sane Warfare act, we repaired the damage sustained and offer a formal apology for the inconveniences caused.´ Statement record ends."Rho blinked.
Phriak, on the other fin, needed a bit to parse what he just heard.

Canadians were shocked yesterday when news broke that Paul Bernardo, a prolific serial killer and rapist from Ontario, Canada, has been transferred from a maximum security prison to a medium security prison in Quebec recently.
Paul Bernardo, also known as the Scarborough Rapist/One Half of the Ken and Barbie Killers, was responsible for three murders, at least twenty sexual assaults which included rape/attempted rape in the late 80s and early 90s. One of the three rape/murders included the younger sister of his accomplice, Karla Homolka, who has been released from prison since 2005 after a twelve year sentence.
Bernardo was declared a Dangerous Offender in September of 1995 after being convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Under Dangerous Offender status, it is not likely that Bernardo will ever be released.
My opinion: Outrage comes from a misunderstanding of what security levels mean in the prison system. A maximum security prison holds inmates that are of high risk of escape, violence towards other inmates, and violence towards staff. If it's been assessed that Bernardo is low risk of escape/violence within the facility, then moving him to a medium security prison is the right move.
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Bernardo transfer: Prison service to review decision to move killer CTV News
Paul Bernardo - Wikipedia
Dangerous offender - Wikipedia
Karla Homolka - Wikipedia

So, its been 60 days since i've put in a overdraft waiver, I know social security is supposed to stop taking my back payments out, while the overpayment is decided upon. So i've been trying to get in touch with her, six times i've called and left a voicemail for her over three weeks. Asked her colleagues to send her a message to follow up with me, twice. Still nothing, whats the next steps here? Should I ask for a new worker, should I jus wait it out.

I've been a meteorologist for a little while now and it's safe to say I've never seen a wildfire smoke plume this dense before, to the point where it looks like stratus from the ground. One of my former jobs placed me close to a large regional wildland fire, which pales in comparison to what we're seeing today.
This morning's imagery loop from GOES-16 is revealing regarding how much smoke (light brown stratus-looking covering) is over New England. A few thoughts:

1. Smoke Origin: The dense smoke plume overhead is a combination of smoke from wildfires in western Alberta & west central Québec; you can actually see smoke pouring south from the burn scars at the top of the satellite loop window.
2. Forecasting Smoke: Another push of smoke is expected this afternoon out of the wildfire complex in west central Québec, which we can forecast with a dual coupled weather-smoke high-resolution model. There are limitations with this model (particularly deducing when wildland fires are put out), but GOES-16 data confirming this complex is still burning gives credence to the short-term forecast.
3. Air Quality: PM sensors & ASOS observations show air quality has already started to lower this morning, especially across western NH. As the planetary boundary layer (PBL) increases in height this afternoon, it will tap deeper into smoke plume layer and mix it closer to the ground. Air quality will worsen as a result, particularly across southern & western NH.
4. Smoke Particle Deposition: You can see the cut-off low wobbling over Nova Scotia on the satellite loop, which is expected to sling rain back into NH overnight. I anticipate that some of the smoke particles will successfully bond to rain droplets that reach the ground. Don't be alarmed if you find soot-like spots/streaks on your cars or other outdoor objects.
5. The Eerie Sky Color: If you look carefully, you'll notice the sun is an odd shade of red/orange. This is mie scattering of incoming sunlight off large wildfire particles, which deflect red light towards the human eye.
6. Spotting Synoptic Features: Going the full weather nerd route, the dense smoke has helped illuminate larger scale weather features on this morning's satellite imagery. Low pressure is obvious, but can you easily spot the high? The very dense smoke & sharp cutoff just north of the St. Lawrence River in Ontario is the leading edge of the stout subsidence (sinking air) at the high's southern flank. There's less smoke north of this (deeper into Ontario & Québec) at the high's center, which denotes the strongest sinking air & lack of vertical mixing.

Lately, I've been experiencing issues with 2FA after switching from my Pixel 5 to Pixel 7.
In the past the pop-ups for "yes/no it wasn't me" showed up, other times the fingerprint/code login [when on the Pixel device], and occasionally the "select which number you see" prompts.
Unfortunately, things have gotten worse/are broken. When I try to log in on any device, including the Pixel 7 itself, I get prompted to go to "Settings -> Google -> Security -> Get a code". This approach is terrible because the code disappears when I close/open the app, and I can't copy it or take screenshots of it.
I've attempted to disable and re-enable 2FA on my Google account, but it didn't fix the problem. I prefer the prompt method which worked perfectly on my earlier Pixel devices -for years-,
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I don't want to use a 2FA Authenticator app; that's not my question and doesn't address the problem here. How to fix this? What is this nonsense? I've even re-authed all my devices without luck.
Thanks in adnvace

I have 8 monstera deliciosa plants that came from one massive pot at a nursery.
They also came with a nasty root mite infestation, so I had to chop and prop each and every one of them. In the last few weeks I’ve been potting them all up as the roots become ready.
I was sooo sure I knew what the backs of the plants looked like, and secured each one to the wooden stakes that I use as poles.
Now I’ve watched a video that says the aerial roots come out of the back of the plant 🤔 I have one specific plant that has 3 aerial roots all coming from different directions (none of which are facing the wooden stake). I’m pretty sure by this measure, all or most of the plants I’ve potted recently are probably backwards or sideways.
I just got these guys healthy 🤦🏼‍♀️ I really don’t want to disturb them right when they’re transitioning to soil by repotting them again.
What is the worst case scenario of me leaving them how they are? I’ve got them in small terracotta pots knowing I’ll have to definitely repot within the next year (so as to not put them in too large of a pot/cause root rot), so is there any harm in just waiting until that time comes?
Thank you for reading and any advice you may be able to offer!
ETA: since I’m not using moss poles I’m not expecting the aerial roots to attach to anything. I am mostly using the wooden stakes as support, and only have the lower part of the main stem attached with velcro tape. Is this the main reason for having the aerial roots facing your support?

Cozy Corner is looking to expand our community! We are a 21+ community with a Minecraft Java server!
Our world is only a few weeks old. Once the 1.20 update is out and stable for our plug-ins, we plan to regen the entire overworld, except for the spawn mushroom islands. This helps us work together and build up spawn a little, which also houses our starter houses and soon to be shopping district.
We plan to not reset the server ANY time soon and try to keep a relaxed environment.
We have backpacks, /spawn, /home, dynmap and typical datapacks from Vanilla Tweaks. We also have core protect for peace of mind!
Our discord community may be newer but we're building lasting friendships through gaming and similar interests. We do have a small but quick application process right when you join the discord but otherwise we really would love for you to check us out! More info can be found in our discord welcome page for the community or you can comment or message me directly!
Please keep in mind we are cozy game centered, but a lot of us love a lot of different genre of games. We do ask what kind of games you like so if you put Minecraft in there, you'll be golden!
https://discord.gg/cozycornerbesties