madsci

I remember hearing about the Titan II silos being sealed and the land sold off, but I thought that due to treaty restrictions (which didn't apply to the older Titan I silos that are still around and open) the deal was that the land owners could never dig them up. Am I remembering that wrong, or has something changed?

Not that any silo that has standing water in it is of any use for its intended purpose. I heard from a START inspector once that as long as they saw ground water in a silo, that was all they cared about. It meant the silo hadn't been maintained and wouldn't be feasible to put back in service.

I've also seen a number of Titan IIs launched. I have to wonder if that includes the one that came out of your silo.

I worked at Vandenberg AFB. I'm sure they did test launches there, but that was way before my time. The ones I saw launched were 30 years old or more, refurbished for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

In fact, here's a bit about it that probably isn't as funny if you didn't grow up in Southern California.

and that I should devote my life to God

"God made you this way. You should lock yourself away and thank him for it until you inevitably go to hell for being the way he made you." I hate humans sometimes.

Having my first boyfriend use the condition against me to keep me insecure.

If you haven't already, try to get some professional counselling as soon as you're able. I waited decades longer than I should have to work on the damage that was done to me at that age.

Also be aware that many - probably most - therapists will not be well-equipped to help you. I live in a conservative city and of the dozen or so therapists I've looked at most advertise "Christian family values" and only one mentions LGBT issues at all. They're used to dealing with family conflict and maybe depression, not gender identity and such.

My first therapist was worthless. She could listen, but she had no advice or feedback to give a bisexual man. I found another through the local pride center and it made a huge difference. He was based an hour away at the county seat but made the trip up twice a week to do sessions at the satellite office. The rates were cheaper because the organization is subsidized by some wealthy donors and the guy was way more qualified (PsyD in clinical psychology vs LMFT).

And don't ever feel like counselling is something you need just to fix something that's broken, any more than you'd see a personal trainer solely for rehab.

I haven't seen anything in the AMA about the dance itself yet. What can you tell us about the native dance styles and how they vary between the tribes?

Hoop dance is the area that interests me most - I make LED hoops for performers and some of the multi-hoop moves are very much influenced by native hoop dance traditions.

There are very few modern hoop dance performers who do that sort of off-body work with more than about 5 hoops, though, and I've been told that 28 is traditional in native dance.

Obviously LED hoops are not a part of the native traditions, but it'd be fun to see what a skilled practitioner of the traditional dances could do with modern hoops and lighting design chosen to reflect their artistic heritage.

is that God loves you no matter what because you are God's creation

Definitely not all of them think that. Just this morning a Christian friend posted a long video to FB where some dipshit preacher type is going on about how John 3:16 really tells us that God's love is conditional. He says yes, God loves the world, but he only loves you if you believe in him and to do that you can't be trans or anything.

I've known that friend for about 20 years but I think that's about enough.