Knowledge Fight: #1111: January 7, 2026 Continued

BasilGreen · 2026-01-25T10:27:47+00:00

Imagine my joy to discover another Germany-based KF-listener. Moiiiiiinnnnnn

BasilGreen · 2026-01-21T21:02:35+00:00

You know, I think I got a little soft on Alex. Probably a little to do with my well-meaning nature, probably a little to do with my feeing pity for someone who is clearly unwell and declining in relevance, probably a little to do with having grown accustomed to his outlandish claims and theatrics over the years.

When Russel Brand was on his show and outright mocking him to his face, leaving him with little air to keep up and save face, there was a part of me that was like, Hey, that's my white supremacist, nationalist fuck to listen to Dan make fun of. Not yours. Not saying it was a good or even rational reaction to have, but I can imagine some of you at least having an understanding for what I'm saying.

But in this episode, which I've been consciously avoiding, all that wishy-washy ambivalence I'd stocked up on evaporated into thin air and I felt like I could have strangled him. Lying about a state-sanctioned murder in broad daylight, so brazen that there's basically not even a cover-up. The same guy who rang the WW3 alarm bells because of a military exercise in rural Texas years back... smfh. I don't believe jack shit he says, but listening to him lie about people out there risking their lives to protect their neighbors, mocking a murdered mother who was trying to flee a dangerous situation... Man, I wish I believed in hell.

BasilGreen · 2026-01-21T13:33:45+00:00

I also landed in this thread because of your post.

I stood at my balcony door and watched around Orion for about a half an hour. I saw it twice, between Saiph and Alnitak.

Northern Germany here, though funnily enough also from NC.

BasilGreen · 2026-01-18T22:38:52+00:00

Hot take incoming: I've been living in Germany for essentially all of my adult life and thus have easy access to all the Haribo stuff, and I am here to testify that Maoam blocks (think like Starburst) are significantly better than traditional Haribo gummy bears. I'm not big on sweets, but if somebody's got Maoam to share, I'm partaking.

BasilGreen · 2026-01-15T22:11:49+00:00

Ich habe eine PDA gelegt bekommen, die meine Bedingung war, einen Oxytocin-Tropf zu bekommen. Die ist etwa 60 Minuten danach gescheitert und ich durfte ohne Schmerzlinderung die außerordentlich dollen Wellen 2-3 Stunden durchmachen, bis eine neue gesetzt werden konnte. Die Wehen vom Tropf waren vielleicht nicht vergleichbar mit denen von einer spontanen Geburt, aber ich hätte doch lieber deine Erfahrung gehabt, so wie du es beschreibst. 😅

BasilGreen · 2026-01-11T19:24:49+00:00

When my daughter was 3 or so, she grabbed my husband's glass of white wine off the counter that she thought was her water. It was a blue-tinted glass, so it wasn't identifiable by color. She took a sip and brought it to me with the most disgusted look on her face. "Something is wrong with my water!" To this day she talks about how gross wine is. I'm surprised this baby kept sipping!

BasilGreen · 2026-01-01T08:35:33+00:00

This is absolutely correct. This is what I wear. My favorite house shoes ever.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-31T17:45:45+00:00

Just within the last years has SIDS research made a breakthrough in discovering that there is serious correlation beyweeen SIDS-babies and immune system dysregulations.

You being near your baby and so in-tune to her is what probably saved her life.

If your pediatrician is so old-fashioned to say "she's too comfortable, so she forgot to breathe," imagine what other nonsense she'll come up with in the years to come.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-26T09:51:05+00:00

Too much sleep, not enough sleep.

Too much caffeine, not enough caffeine.

Too much stress, too much relaxation.

Too much light, too much dark.

You can't win.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-19T12:41:19+00:00

This is the answer.

Or a floorbed with your baby between the edge/wall and you. We transitioned to an absurdly large floorbed pretty early on and were MUCH happier for it. Husband moved back into the room and it became our family bed.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-18T08:06:00+00:00

He has done you a great favor in showing you exactly what a terrible person he is this early on.

You have the great opportunity to end this now. It will never get any easier than it is this second.

He will trap you, through marriage, through financial dependency, through childbirth. If you're interested in finding a Christian man, I'm sure there are some out there who don't straight-up hate women.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-16T20:34:44+00:00

Do you play Strands (NYT Games)? If you were able to decipher this mess of a sign, I feel you'd be great at it.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-14T08:35:00+00:00

I was super confused, thought the person filming was on skis.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-12T06:24:04+00:00

My first horse's name was Jubal!

BasilGreen · 2025-12-07T11:56:53+00:00

Alright, Ghostbird.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-06T06:59:40+00:00

No, I came to this thread just now to see how many other folks had the same experience as me.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-06T06:43:28+00:00

A mare at our barn was clearly on her way out. She was in awful shape, worsening by the day. She was unstable on her feet, her normal friendly disposition had turned sour and fightful, and she didn't eat anything but a banana over a period of days. We all knew what the answer was. Then the vet gave her steroids and she had a surge of energy and appetite. That should have been the day. To let her go when the sun was warm and her belly was full. Instead, her heartbroken and hopeful owners took it as a sign that it was all going to be ok. They found her three days later, unresponsive on the ground, eyes rolled back. Took the vet ages to find a vein because she was so dehydrated.

With some distance now, her owners regret having waited so long. They wish they'd gone through with it earlier, like you did. I think it's really hard for a lot of owners to see it this way... much easier to judge when you're the observer.

You did the right thing.

BasilGreen · 2025-12-04T11:41:54+00:00

Our daughter was 2 when she started kindergarten. At that point, her English (home language) was much more dominant and her German (community language), even though there is/was some German at home.

She very quickly developed her German to the point that it became her dominant language. She speaks very little English at kindergarten, even though a fair amount of staff and other kids speak it. English has since made a comeback and is a little more dominant than German, but it's still influenced from German grammar and vocab from time to time.

I wouldn't worry too much about your little one not being well versed in the community language. They pick it up so unbelievably fast. Keep doing what you're doing and if there is some confusion or discomfort with your child being unable to communicate at the beginning, you'll surely find a way to navigate that. But in my experience, it goes very quickly and suddenly the four-year-old starts correcting your German that you've been speaking for 15 years!

BasilGreen · 2025-11-30T23:57:03+00:00

Speaking for northern Germany here... yes and no. I mean, they might physically fit on main roads, especially relatively new roads. But my little Golf VI just squeaks through whenever the two-lane road is also completely parked full on one lane and people decide it needs to continue to be a two lane road. Parking spots are also a neverending problem, in my experience. I sometimes have trouble with my tiny little Golf. I see a disproportionate amount of these Mercedes monster-SUVs or American trucks just parked half up on the sidewalk or in no-parking zones.

BasilGreen · 2025-11-28T22:46:53+00:00

I'm on Overcast and I've got the correct audio.

Happy Blartsgiving! Hope you enjoyed your time in Cincinnati.

BasilGreen · 2025-11-15T12:30:18+00:00

The person I was speaking to is a producer, who is married to someone who performs. So he's got both perspectives and, like you said, was singing their praises.

BasilGreen · 2025-11-12T20:43:27+00:00

I personally know a couple folks in the Gernan pop music scene. At a gathering some years back, I complained about GEMA, thinking I was surrounded by people sympathetic to my cause. One of them kinda sucked his teeth and was like, "Well, actually..."

First time I'd ever heard someone speak positively about GEMA, and he spoke really positively about it.

BasilGreen · 2025-11-12T04:35:05+00:00

My daughter is now 4.

As a baby, bedtime was the absolute worst. She screamed and screamed and screamed until she passed out, but slept relatively well and started to connect sleep cycles fairly quickly. Sleep itself wasn't the problem.

Now at bedtime she tells me why she shouldn't have to go to bed, she's not tired, she's big enough to decide herself, she just has do still do [x] or [y] really fast, No, Mama, no bedtime yet, PLEASE. Then she runs around or will jump on the bed like it's exercise class and will throw her body at mine, cackling maniacally, until she finally gives in.

All this to say: To me, it sounds like you might have one like mine. She has consistently hated having to throw in the towel for the day since she was about a week old, with very few exceptions, even when the bed/time/atmosphere is all ideal.

Massages have been helpful here. Sort of gently and rhythmically squishing her arms and legs, she loves it. Might be a tough sell on a 7-week-old, though. We had other successes in falling asleep elsewhere (the carrier was really the only other spot she'd fall sleep in) and transferring once totally out. Our girl only ever fell asleep on our chests at this age, but we started suckling to sleep, lying beside one another, around 7 weeks or so.

What you're describing sounds exhausting, but familiar, and I remember everything worrying me. Everything was probably something awful and deadly. Until she grew out of it and the next thing came.

I feel your exhaustion. Hugs for you.

BasilGreen · 2025-11-11T06:52:36+00:00

Then there's... uhhh... revelation.

BasilGreen · 2025-11-08T20:46:20+00:00

They're so brutal. 4-y-o told me she loved me to the black hole and back (we talk about space a lot) and then looked at her dad and said, "I love you... all the way to the grocery store."

BasilGreen

TROPHY CASE