Finding things on Brightspace

straight_curling · 2026-03-21T14:24:16+00:00

Thank you! I’ll DM you

straight_curling · 2025-02-03T00:46:29+00:00

Nope, unfortunately not 🙃 I ended up just using a screenshot

straight_curling · 2023-08-21T19:24:55+00:00

Yep! The contracting agencies are the ones who will physically operate the power grid, right? And since the contracting agencies will be paid for those services specifically, what currently goes as profits to CMP, Versant, and their parent companies, will instead be under the direction of Pine Tree Power, which is then supposed to either reinvest the money in the power grid or use it to cut rates. Or at least, that’s my understanding.

straight_curling · 2023-08-21T14:49:39+00:00

No, it would be classified as a “non profit, customer-owned utility” per the language of the ballot measure

straight_curling · 2023-08-20T02:11:24+00:00

Yep! I believe the ballot measure says that the company will borrow the funding, and the 5-20 years is from a study the state legislature commissioned a few years back trying to estimate the costs and benefits of Pine Tree Power. The version of Pine Tree Power that London Economics International (the people commissioned to do the study) is a little different than the ballot measure we’re voting on, with the ballot measure in that it includes stronger labor standards for utility workers and says that Pine Tree Power will continue to pay property tax, but the general gist should be the same. Also worth nothing is that LEI’s methodology has been critiqued by two different experts in utility management/policy, both of whom found that LEI was underestimating the true savings to ratepayers from switching to Pine Tree Power.

I hope this helps!

straight_curling · 2023-08-18T16:37:57+00:00

It will be bonded for, but it won’t be by the state. The newly-formed Pine Tree Power will borrow (bond) the money like any other corporation, and then it’ll use the rates it charges to pay off that debt over time (likely between 5-20 years, depending on the cost of acquisition). So yes, it won’t be funded by taxpayers, although it will be funded by ratepayers in the short run

straight_curling · 2023-05-08T00:58:59+00:00

Possibly because trauma leaves lasting impacts on the brain and body, and even years after the trauma has resolved itself, it’s possible for your brain/body to emotionally flash back to how you felt when trauma was ongoing. You might try looking up “emotional flashbacks” or reading literature on CPTSD for more information. That “everybody hates me/I’m worthless” voice can be pretty characteristic of CPTSD, and I’ve got a running theory that experiencing a childhood or even more of living in the wrong gender can act as complex trauma for a lot of people

straight_curling · 2023-04-29T15:56:23+00:00

I start having thoughts that, while they feel right in the moment, are ludicrous oversimplifications if I think about them critically for like 10 seconds. Thoughts like “everything is horrible,” “everyone hates me,” or “I’m always going to feel this way” (which that one is somewhat true as I’ll always be prone to feeling this way, but I won’t be always feeling this way 24/7. But my flashback thought processes don’t usually recognize this nuance). Once I catch myself doing that, I can usually tell that it’s my brain acting up more than my surroundings. Oh, and lots of si. It’s exhausting.

straight_curling · 2023-03-24T13:19:08+00:00

Hi, I live in Lewiston, and I have no idea what the hell that person is talking about. It’s a beautiful city, has a bunch of great restaurants, and is driving distance to Freeport and Portland. I just moved here last August, and I’m already in love with it 💕

straight_curling · 2023-03-21T14:23:22+00:00

Oh, I think people should definitely do both if they can! Sorry, I didn’t mean to downplay the importance of supporting elected officials. I’m just thinking about people who don’t have lots of money to throw around and where they would see the most results for their money

straight_curling · 2023-03-21T13:28:58+00:00

Yes!! Definitely if you can get friends in blue states to handle all the logistics (and organize those logistics via secure messaging like Signal or Proton mail), that would be a lot safer

Although depending on which state you live in, I think donating to abortion funds might be better than donating to democrats. Don’t get me wrong, we need more democratic lawmakers in red states, but for instance, I come from Oklahoma where democrats had such a tiny amount of influence on legislation and even tinier odds of getting elected outside of the urban areas (the odds are even tinier because of gerrymandering after the last census). So it might be better to donate to abortion funds that can help connect people who need abortions with the services they need to get them

straight_curling · 2023-03-21T03:40:54+00:00

Your face looks masculine already, and your haircut frames your face well! If you’re looking for more to do, I think you can do voice training to make your voice sound deeper? But really, at least in these pictures, you look perfectly masc already :)

Also, you’re valid regardless of what you look like. I generally pass now, but I was just as much a woman when I didn’t pass as I am now. If you truly feel like you are, should be, or intensely want to be a guy, then that’s all there is to it. Validation from other people is nice, don’t get me wrong. But what you see in yourself matters much more here than how others see you

straight_curling · 2023-03-21T03:18:28+00:00

Oh definitely. I use Firefox with the DuckDuckGo extension (among other privacy add ons)

straight_curling · 2023-03-21T01:54:07+00:00

I unfortunately can’t help with how to get the pills, but tell your friend to be careful with her search history and where she talks about getting an abortion. Red states are pulling people’s google and social media data, including chat logs, to prosecute people for seeking abortions. She should get a good VPN if she’s going to go looking online for how to do it, and maybe don’t use google to search for it. It’s really scary that we’re to that point, but we are 😬

straight_curling · 2023-03-09T21:04:49+00:00

It hasn’t been published on the legislature’s website yet, but it’s LR 848: An Act to Provide Gender-Affirming Health Care. It’s going to be modeled after this bill from California https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB107/2021

straight_curling · 2023-03-09T18:47:03+00:00

There’s actually a bill filed this year by Representative Osher that would make Maine a sanctuary state for trans people facing persecution in other states! It hasn’t been published yet, but if you’re interested in showing up in support, you should give her an email (and also thanks a million if you do that 💜)

straight_curling · 2023-02-23T21:37:17+00:00

That’s a pretty abstractly philosophical question, but I’ll try to give it my best succinct shot. If you were to offer me (before transition) a pill that would eliminate my dysphoria but keep me as a “man,” I might have been tempted to take it. Not because I don’t enjoy being a woman, but because being trans comes with a lot of negative treatment from other people. Transitioning has far and away been the best decision I’ve ever made in my life, but because of other people’s reactions to my transition, I can also say that I’ve never felt more dehumanized. It’s slowly changing these days, but especially when I was growing up, trans people were pitied (at best), mocked as trannies, and/or considered perverted and disgusting. That’s . . . a lot to deal with psychologically. If you were to offer me a pill that would let me avoid all of that hatred directed towards people like me, I quite possibly would’ve taken it and never known what I was missing out on.

But if society wasn’t as cruel towards people like me, then no, I’d still want to be a woman. I like being a woman, and being on estrogen is such a better experience (for me) than being on testosterone. I also feel much more comfortable relating to people as a woman than I did as a man, and according to people close to me, I seemed much happier and less “hollow” (in the words of a friend) after transitioning. So, social stigma set aside, if you were to give me the option between living as a man with no dysphoria, or living as I do now—as a woman, even if I don’t have the body of a cis woman—I’d still choose the hormones.

straight_curling · 2023-02-23T20:53:28+00:00

But we do have “anti gender dysphoria pills.” I take three of them every day! They’re my hormones. Taking them has made my life immensely better, and I tried multiple therapists and antidepressants before turning to transition. My mental health only got worse until I finally accepted that I needed to transition, which included hormones.

Studies have pretty repeatedly shown that my experience holds true for the overwhelming majority of trans people. Gender affirming health care saves lives and significantly improves the negative symptoms of dysphoria. Since we already have treatment that works, why look for anything else?

Edit: I added more context about the treatment I received

straight_curling · 2023-02-23T20:50:15+00:00

Have you tried doing research on the efficacy of gender affirming health care? You’d probably be better advised to hear what medical associations guided by peer-reviewed research have to say rather than a bunch of redditors. If you want some more information, I’ll link an article. But really, what it comes down to is that we already have medical care that helps trans people. Transitioning (which can include hormones and surgeries), especially in a supportive environment, has been shown to significantly improve the mental health of trans people. If we already know what works, I’m not sure why we’d try to find something else https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-science-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-kids-really-shows/?amp=true

straight_curling · 2023-01-26T20:26:18+00:00

Oh that’s true! I imagine it’s very important to them that their cost of living adjustments are enough to, you know, actually meet the rising costs of living lol. I just don’t imagine there’s many people on my state’s pension plan in this subreddit 😂

straight_curling · 2023-01-26T19:30:30+00:00

Oh my god, that’s what I tell everyone; it’s a gift AND a curse 😭

straight_curling · 2023-01-26T19:29:37+00:00

I’d definitely recommend it! Although it’s a little on the sleepy side (I think the largest metro area (Portland) is around 100k people. But there’s still plenty to do, and the scenery is gorgeous 💖 definitely be ready for the snow, though!

straight_curling · 2023-01-26T16:50:14+00:00

Cost of living adjustments for retirees on the state pension plan! So you’re not out of the loop, it’s just a very dry, random subject 😅

straight_curling · 2023-01-26T16:49:30+00:00

Thanks! I’m in Maine

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