Darkoshi

Mid-August, I placed an eBay order for a product made in India. The seller had no rating/feedback yet but had the best price for the item. I took a chance on them, supposing they might be selling it for a good price to garner some initial reputation points. The order page on eBay was updated a few days later with an India Post tracking number.

The estimated arrival date passed with no further update on the order. The India Post website kept giving me time-out errors; an alternate tracking website indicated "Parcel is not registered yet".

Checking around, I found that Trump removed the $800 De Minimus exemption on Aug 29. Imports of value less than $800 had previously been exempt from tariffs:

The de minimis rule also became increasingly contentious. Backers say it brings low prices to consumers. But critics say the rule hurts U.S. companies and allows unsafe or even illegal items to be imported without a close customs inspection.
...
The U.S. de minimis threshold used to be $200 — that is, packages worth $200 or less were not subject to taxes and tariffs. But in 2016, the country raised the threshold sharply to $800, one of the highest in the world. The spike came out of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, signed by then-President Barack Obama.
...
After the 2016 shift, de minimis shipments started to dominate cargo entering the U.S. The number of such shipments grew from 140 million in 2014 to 1.36 billion in 2024.
...
With Trump's new policy set to take effect on Friday, many international postal and shipping services are suspending delivery of some packages to the U.S. They're trying to figure out two things: how to handle new paperwork for millions of packages, and how to collect money for duties and taxes.

Other articles told of shipping nightmares:
Trump Tariffs Cause Chaos on Ebay as Every Hobby Becomes Logistical Minefield

‘It's Just a Mess:' 23 People Explain How Tariffs Have Suddenly Ruined Their Hobby


That seemed a likely explanation for my order being delayed. I worried what tariff amount would be applied to my item. From what I read online, there was no telling. Some people were getting notices of tariff + brokerage fee amounts totaling more than the original order price.

I messaged the seller to ask if they had even mailed the item yet, as I couldn't check the item's tracking. Two more weeks passed with no reply from the seller and no shipping update. The India Post website continued returning time-out errors whenever I tried to access it.

I grudgingly concluded I'd have to cancel the order and hope to get my money back. It wasn't a large amount, only $42.

But today my USPS "Daily Digest" email shows a new item, "Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item". I don't have any outstanding shipment besides the eBay item that I'm aware of. It doesn't sound like this would be the item from India, but perhaps? So I'll wait to find out what this thing is, before cancelling the eBay order.

Anyway, finally to the topic I wanted to post about: Today the India Post website finally works! For my item's tracking number, it returns "Article not booked - No booking information found for this article number." No good news there.

But the India Post website has interesting things in its menus! Under "Online Services - Featured", it lists "Holy Blessings" and "Gangajal Services".

Under "Holy Blessings", it lists a number of temples from various regions of India. People in India can order various Prasadam, religious offerings, to be mailed to the temples.

The "Gangajal Services" are where one can order small bottles of water taken from the river Ganges.

Under "Offerings - Schemes and Services", are listed "Banking Services" (similar to the German Postbank, I imagine), and "Insurance Services".

Under "Media - News and Updates" is a message dated 2025-08-22, "Suspension booking of all categories of mail destined to the USA". It states:

The Department of Posts informs the public that, due to recent regulatory changes introduced by the U.S. Administration under Executive Order No. 14324 (effective 29tn August, 2025), the booking and transmission of all categories of mail items destined for the United States - except documents/letters and gift items up to USD 100 in value - shall remain suspended with effect from 25th August, 2025.

This suspension has become necessary as U.S.-bound carriers have expressed their inability to carry postal shipments in the absence of fully defined mechanisms for duty collection and data exchange, as required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The Department is closely monitoring the situation and is making every effort to restore services at the earliest. In case any item that has already been booked and could not be dispatched, postage refund can be claimed.

A subsequent message dated 2025-08-29 states (emphasis added):

In continuation with the Public Notice of even no. dated 22.08.2025, the suspension of booking of mail to the USA has been reviewed. In view of the inability of carriers to transport U.S.-bound mail, and undefined regulatory mechanisms, it has now been decided to completely suspend booking of all categories of mail, including letters/documents and gifts value up to 100 USD, destined to the USA.

The Department is closely monitoring the situation and is making every effort to restore services at the earliest. ...

Inconvenience caused to our esteemed customers is deeply regretted.

The News and Updates page includes several messages "from Hon'ble Minister of Communications". At first glance, that looked to me like "Horrible Minister of Communications", which was amusing.

Good simple overview:
Consumer Reports: A Simple Guide For Contacting Your Local Lawmakers (And What To Say To Them)


It sounds so easy.

But then I think, and I get uncertain.

What happens if you call after working hours, when no one is present to take the call? Do you get prompted to leave a message, or to call back?

If I call and speak to someone, or if I leave a message, will my voice be clear enough for them to easily understand? What if I flub my words or message?
Would it be better for me to send an email (or paper mail) after all?

If there are multiple bills or topics you want to voice your opinion on, is it better to call (or mail or email) separately for each one to avoid confusion? Do they keep track of how many times each person contacts them, and do they give you less credence if you contact them multiple times?

I wonder if the lawmaker's aides who handle this stuff are honest enough to keep accurate records of what constituents ask them to support or oppose. Perhaps some simply ignore messages with viewpoints opposed to what the lawmaker or they themselves support.

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I could just call up right now and at least get an answer to the first question.
But I need to verify who my representative is; this is state-government-level. I think I know who it is, but need to make sure.
Oh god maybe later I have to do something else now.

I don't remember hearing about the following Supreme Court decisions. I'm not sure if it's because I don't watch the news regularly and didn't happen to come across it online, or if it's due to my memory not being so good anymore (I hear and read so many things; how can I remember it all?) ...Based on my browser history, I did read about the 2020 decision, but possibly not the other one.

In landmark case, Supreme Court rules LGBTQ workers are protected from job discrimination (June 2020)

Supreme Court Decision on BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY (June 2020)

Supreme Court gives victory to transgender student who sued to use bathroom (June 2021)

MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY - Sundance Film Festival: Columbia

Overlooked by history, Pauli Murray was a legal trailblazer whose ideas influenced RBG's fight for gender equality and Thurgood Marshall's landmark civil rights arguments. Featuring never-before-seen footage and audio recordings, a portrait of Murray's impact as a non-binary Black luminary: lawyer, activist, poet, and priest who transformed our world.

The "non-binary" descriptor caught my attention. While we can only guess what currently-used descriptors someone in the past might have used for themself, and I'm not familiar with Pauli's own writings, the Wikipedia page on Pauli Murray describes them more as a trans-man than a non-binary person.

I'm curious to watch the movie, but it doesn't appear to be available yet through streaming, and I don't feel like going to the Sundance showing at the local theater. It sounds like that will be indoors, with social distancing and mask wearing.

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Biden wastes no time shooting down Trump guidelines on LGBTQ rights

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I dare say SC is now encouraging almost everyone in the state to get tested once a month.

Yesterday:
https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/dhec-updates-guidance-testing-asymptomatic-persons-sars-cov-2-october-5-2020

It is also important to conduct screening of persons who are simply out and about in the community. If they have no symptoms or known close contact, they are less likely to be infected with the virus than persons with symptoms or known close contact but they still are at risk. This is why community screening is important.

DHEC recommends diagnostic testing as needed and screening testing at least monthly for most people in the community, particularly those who spend time around others. This should be a test that directly detects the virus through a sample of saliva or a swab of the nose or throat. Testing for antibodies in the blood is not recommended for this purpose.

Today:
https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/new-covid-testing-site-columbia

DHEC recommends everyone who is out in public be tested at least once a month and potentially more frequently if they are unable to follow preventive actions of mask wearing, social distancing, and avoiding crowded areas. Monthly testing is more important than ever the closer we get to the holidays.

Although...
Given that SC's population is 5 million, and the total number of viral tests done so far in the state ALL YEAR is 1.4 million, that's quite a goal.

First big set of coincidences:

Yesterday afternoon I searched for "Who is Nurse Ratchett". Qiao calls me that jokingly sometimes, when I'm helping him with medical stuff such as after his surgeries.

It turns out that "Nurse Ratched" is a character in the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". So I started reading about that movie and the book it was based on. I watched some video clips. I've probably seen the movie before, but I didn't remember it well.

I started watching this video about the book and movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BHR6xTmwC8
At 2:20, the video mentions that Ken Kesey, the book's author, took part in an experiment at his university. It was a covert experiment being done by the CIA, testing LSD on people; part of what was called "Project MK-ULTRA". The video says "And if you think it's shocking that the United States government would use its citizens as guinea pigs, look it up. It was part of a project, project MK ULTRA. Google it."

So I duck-duck-go'd it and started reading about Project MKUltra. Depressing stuff. The world sucks and has always sucked, don't you forget it.

(I didn't even think of it til just now, but Qiao rewatched Bourne:Ultimatum yesterday evening. That's a coincidence too, considering how it deals with covert CIA "behavior modification training -- which involved torture tactics and psychological manipulation to muddy agents' moral compasses.")

Anyway. Today at work I was listening to music on my phone, in random order like always.

This song came on: "Psience", by Psychophysicist, from the Album "Deepnet" (disk 2).
It's a long eerie song, with a small amount of speech; a man's voice recounting something:
"We had been really chasing a phantom, if you will, an illusion that the human mind was more capable of manipulation from the outside, by outside factors, than it is. We found out that the human being is an extremely complex thing. There were no simple solutions. We got trapped a lot of times with complexities and illusions that didn't exist. But you've just got to bear in mind that these were very strange times."

It sounded oddly like what I'd been reading about yesterday.

Sure enough. I've looked it up now, and the quote is attributed to Dr. John Gittinger - CIA Chief Psychologist 1950-74: The Rise of the 20th Century Mind Control Agenda

This is a clip of that part of the song, if you're interested:

Video title: VA - Deepnet
Posted by: Psychedelic Superbeast
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAxcOFOiSmI
Date posted: Sep 4, 2019

(That's the only clip of the song I found on YouTube. The original CD is from 1996. Someone posted it 5 days ago. What's the odds of that?!! This keeps getting weirder!)

Later, while driving home, I turned on the radio to NPR. This segment was playing:
The CIA's Secret Quest For Mind Control: Torture, LSD And A 'Poisoner In Chief'. It's about the person who ran MK-ULTRA!!!

..

2nd smaller set of coincidences (things breaking / not working):

1. At work, I accidentally dropped my phone from the desk to the carpet. The phone seems ok, but the audio cord for my headphones was plugged into the phone at the time, and its plug got bent. I bent it back, but a wire must have broken, as sound doesn't come out of the right channel anymore.

2. When I got home, that NPR episode was still playing, so I hurried inside and tried to tune the station on one of our radios. I couldn't get the station to tune in! I tried another radio and couldn't get it to tune in there either! I went back to the car... no problem tuning in there, but the segment just ended. Oh well. But why can't the inside radios pick up that station anymore? It used to be one of the strong stations!

I tried tuning the station on the FM Radio app on my phone. That works, but only when I'm holding the phone in a certain position.

3. I wondered if I could tune into FM radio stations on the TV. I think I've come across that option before, haven't I? I checked the channel list and TV menus and didn't find FM radio there. So I duck-duck-go'd how to get FM Radio on TV, and the search results mentioned apps.

Ah! I switched the TV to the Amazon FireTV input, which has apps on it. We don't use that input very often. But the FireTV box wasn't responding to the remote. Sigh. This always happens when we want to use it. I unplugged the box and plugged it back in. The remote still didn't work. I checked its batteries. They are dead. That's odd. Then I notice that the battery contacts in the remote have white powdery stuff on them too. ARGH. I hope the remote isn't ruined. Now I need to open it up to clean it up as well as I can.

Framed for Murder By His Own DNA - how your DNA can end up somewhere you've never been, and why DNA evidence may not be as trustworthy as one might think.

This morning on NPR, there was a discussion about how law enforcement agencies are using public(?) DNA databases to look for people related to criminals, in an effort at tracking them down. Or something like that; I didn't hear the whole segment. (I found it online, but still don't have time to listen to it now: On Point: A DNA Database Helped Find A Suspected Serial Killer. How Is Your Privacy Affected? ) One person said they aren't only doing it for serious crimes like rape and murder; checking for DNA is so common now, they may be doing it even for burglary or theft, etc.

That is indeed something I did not consider when getting my DNA analyzed by 23andme. That if any of my relatives committed a crime, that my DNA could help implicate them. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but it is something that could be abused by people in power.

Several news articles were posted to the Yahoo Androgynes list recently about legislative progress on allowing people to get identification documents that specify their gender as "non-binary".

California moves closer to recognizing third gender - ... The state Senate passed a bill that would allow Californians to choose gender non-binary for identifying documents like drivers licenses and birth certificates...

Oregon becomes first state to allow nonbinary on drivers license - ... Beginning July 1, Oregonians will be able to choose "X" for sex Instead of "F" or "M" on their licenses and identification cards...

D.C. to allow gender-neutral driver’s licenses - At the direction of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the city’s Department of Motor Vehicles will begin allowing residents to choose a gender-neutral “X” identifier on driver’s licenses and other city identification documents on June 26. ...
on the same day that six members of the D.C. City Council introduced a bill that would enact the gender neutral I.D. policy proposed by the mayor administratively into city law. ...

Activist vying for non-binary birth certificate taking N.L. to court

While reading the first 2 articles, I wondered if it's possible that in the not-too-distant future, I could even get a driver's license here in South Carolina which says non-binary. It seems quite unlikely to happen here, but then again, that's what I thought about gay marriage.

But with the Republicans in control of the federal government, it seems likely that there will be some kind of backlash first. Like a "defense of gender act" which would make it illegal for states to issue IDs with non-binary markers.

When the second article mentioned the California legislation again, it suddenly hit me. I was born in California. If the bill passes, I could conceivably get my birth certificate updated. !!! I wouldn't have to wait for SC to pass such a bill, at least not for my BC.

But then that might present other difficulties. Like, "You can't renew your driver's license (or sign up for XYZ), because we only allow M and F, and your BC says X, which isn't a valid value."

I wonder how non-binary gender IDs will affect things that are segregated into M and F. Obviously, there's the bathroom thing... if a state like NC has a law saying that you have to use the restroom which matches the marker on your DL, and your marker is X, can they legally keep you from using both restrooms? And what about prisons... For a non-binary person who is convicted of a crime, how will they decided whether to send them to a men's or women's penitentiary?

For that matter, what about selective service? That will be a can of worms. Suppose that anyone could get out of the draft by changing their gender marker to X or F, because only males are required to sign up? (I'm against the draft and selective service in the first place - I don't think anyone should be required to join the military, regardless of their sex or gender.) I imagine that they'll eventually change the selective service rules to require everyone to sign up, regardless of gender.

Another problem - what about sporting competitions? Will non-binary people not be allowed to compete in men's or women's competitions? But that's already an issue for trans athletes, even without considering non-binary people.

So I just realized it is the last day. Or was the last day. It is the last hours.

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I am so sick of seeing online ads saying things like "Should Trump send Hillary to Jail?"
As if we don't have a judicial system; as if a president can simply send people to jail on his say-so. Is that what people want? A goddamn dictatorship?

Is someone trying to psychologically condition the rest of us into subconsciously thinking that she belongs in jail?

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I got my heater repaired. I decided to only get the broken part replaced. Even if furnaces have an average lifespan of 15 to 20 years, and mine is nearly 20, that doesn't mean that it can't still keep working for many more. If the average is 18 or so, then surely there are some that make it to 30 years or more

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Portable oil-filled electric radiators:

If they smell of burning dust, even after you've cleaned off all the visible dust, you may need to remove the front and/or rear panels too, to get the dust out from those sections. Obviously, you need to be careful when doing that as there are wires and electrical connections behind the front panel.

When not using them, a perfect-sized cover to keep the dust off is a pillow-case!

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Christmas Eve (yes, I'm that behind on writing about things. and doing things):

It was sort of rushed again. We started it earlier in the evening than in the past, as my nephew wanted to leave by a certain time. I went in my car to pick up one of my foster sisters, and my niece. The drive took longer than I anticipated, and by the time we got back to the house, everyone else had already started and finished eating! But at least the get-together was over by a reasonable time, before midnight rather than after.

I still haven't gotten around to ordering my mom the Christmas presents I meant to get her. But partially in my defense, she didn't choose which ones she wanted till after Christmas either.

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Lower thigh muscles: I've been having nerve issues again, but more general soreness rather than nerve spasms like before. Sitting down for too long makes them achy.
It may all come down to not getting enough sleep, body not being able to recuperate.

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I flushed the water heater last weekend. It's really not hard to do, at least the way I do it, just attaching a hose and not turning off anything. Carrying the hose from the front of the house to the back, and back again is the hardest part.

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We're having 7:30am educational sessions for work 2 or 3 times a week, and it's killing me, so early. It's mostly stuff I already know, but I don't want to miss anything anyway..

7:30am isn't even that early, right? Especially when I can dial in from home. But it's still killing me.

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thirsty tired too late heater yay snoring dogs xmas tree lights went out again need to try replacing fuse again.
where's my dessert? what's my dessert. maybe that'll do it.
good night, ch'all.

oh, subject. ummm.

hey, did I ever post ... I don't think I did... where did I ...

Here!



Video title: Boney M. - Felicidad America (Obama - Obama) ft. Sherita O., Yulee B.
Posted by: BoneyMVEVO
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKSRdpi15qc


..



Video title: Baby's Gang - Challenger
Posted by: zyxdance
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN1cekvzY98


I found both those videos on the same day. Both chipper, hopeful, poignant, and sad in terms of later events.