[Leaving The US -- Has Anybody Moved Or Are You Considering?]

5 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

A short word on this. I hesitate to post this, for reasons that will soon be obvious, but I feel some nuance and detail is required.

My father battled cancer for 7 years. He was initially given only 2 years to live. The quality of his life for all but the last few months of his life was very high. He finally succumbed last weekend.

Dad survived 7 years, and survived well, because of the care our heath care system provided. During that time he was recipient of surgical interventions, chemotherapy, radiation, physical therapy, and, a few months ago, heart surgery to fix a valve.

All of it, with the sole exception of a few prescription medications, which were vastly cheaper than would have been the case in the US, was free. All of it was timely, and all of it was undertaken by highly qualified and caring individuals who, essentially, work for our health care system.

In the last month of his life, Dad need palliative care: the cancer had advanced too far to stop, although continued radiation treatment slowed down the growth and made him more comfortable. We decided to bring him home. We obtained -- free, through the health care system -- a proper mechanized hospital bed. (The bed is free for only a month: thereafter, it is something like $250 a month.) A care worker dropped by each day for a half hour or so to assist my mum with what needed to be done, and a nurse once every two days -- more often, on occasion, as needed. About twice a week, a palliative care doctor came by to check out my Dad, and fill us in on his condition, as well as making suggestions about how to keep him comfortable. For his last week, he was on a morphine pump that allowed Mum to adjust his dosage as needed. When my Dad finally let go, he was asleep and in relative comfort, lying in his own house.

ALL of this, again with the exception of a few prescription drugs, was covered for free by our "not so great" health care system.

There's not much doubt in my mind that my Dad would not have survived 7 mostly good years had it not been for our socialized medical system. My parents live on a fixed income -- they could not have afforded to keep him alive that long, and Mum would not now be financially secure as she is, but undoubtedly very deeply in debt, without government-run health care.

There are lots of problems with Canadian medicare. It's chronically underfunded, and accessibility in some smaller population centres is an ongoing problem. There are longer wait times for elective surgeries and procedures: assuming that one has the cash to throw at it, or really good insurance, you doubtless can get things like hip replacements done more quickly in the US. If you can afford it.

But I have never been more thankful for our "not so great" system than I am right now. It give me an extra few years with my Dad.

I came to Canada in 2010, and my experience with the healthcare system is much like yours with a family member. From serious illness to palliative care, and then gently into oblivion at home. 

Is not without its issues. I've been fighting all hard to get my own medical issues managed. Waitlists and a low number of doctors are among the highest. I have plenty of criticism, and I think it's important for the system to improve to never get bogged down in 'at least we're better than the US'.

But having grown up at the poverty line in the US where healthcare is a luxury, I cannot overstate how even our imperfect system is such an improvement. 

[Mamacita, Mommy, Madre]

7 hours ago, Orwar said:

[Mamacita, Mommy, Madre]

Let it be known that once my last name is visible across the forums, I regret nothing.

[Leaving The US -- Has Anybody Moved Or Are You Considering?]

I immigrated out of the US in 2010, and it was a long and expensive process to become a permanent resident of Canada. I do not regret it at all.

I would say the biggest advice I would give someone is to look at what skills and options they have and then open themselves to several country options, and then see about working in a country for 6-12 months if possible. Many countries offer 1-2 year working visas, allowing people to determine if it is a good fit. One of my best friends ended up settling in Estonia due to that. 

[MFA coming to the Viewer]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

And most people:  "Nah, we don't need that."

While I can't say how many SL users will take to 2FA, I hope most don't discount how valuable it is.

People think they don't need it, until they do.

[Discontinued items you miss. (RL or SL)]

Back before it was purchased by GameStop, ThinkGeek was an online store of random nerdy knick knacks. I never gave it much thought until they came out with their own line of bags, including the Handbag of Holding which was a neat grey shoulder bag made of canvas in the perfect size between purse and laptop bag. It had amazing construction for an everyday bag and I used mine for the last decade before finally, the hardware and canvas began to go. 

I loved that bag and I've yet to find a replacement that really does everything it did. It was understated enough to blend into offices while also carrying my laptop to and from work. It made conferences a breeze because I could so easily slip in a knitting project alongside a small pharmacy of medication and all my essentials. It fit perfectly under an airline seat and went on more than 50 flights with me for work. 

Sadly it was discontinued about 6 years ago, and later on ThinkGeek was absorbed into GameStop entirely and closed their website. I still have my bag, and I might someday recycle the D20 zipper pull or interior hardware.

[Elon Musk buys Twitter to bring back Free Speech]

If you trust Elon is going to be enforcing 'free speech' on Twitter with this acquisition, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. 

[Have you been to a Second Life Wedding?]

I've been to ones at roleplay sims when characters were getting married. None for actual folks having a virtual wedding. 

[Non-binary]

21 minutes ago, cunomar said:

Aye i'm forgetting because i'm a white straight male my life has been a bed of roses suffering no injustice , hurt or disability . I was sent to prison at 16 years old because police accidentally released the actual offender , I was given the choice either make a false statement against the offender or i was going to jail in his place . An insignificant event in the grande scheme of things but hey its been an interesting bed of roses . 

The only person making the claim that you, as a white straight male, have it completely easy is you. I'm genuinely sorry that you went through that, that is terrible.

But your suffering shouldn't be used to diminish the suffering of others. Nor should theirs be used to diminish yours. A group saying 'we are facing hardship' is not an invite to a competition of who has it worse. It's not a cry to ignore injustices and pain other people in the world might be facing. 

Don't use your pain to push other people down. We all have to treat others better than how we've been treated if we want there to real change in the world. 

 

[Non-binary]

5 hours ago, entity0x said:

In short, your rights end where my rights begin. There's no need to confuse what's going on.

Simply put, if one party is IMPOSING their will on the other party, in any way, they have gone out of their jurisdiction and is now trampling on that other person's rights.

This means I can address you or anyone else as I see fit, at my discretion, and as my respect for that person grows or wilts - and continued attempts to compel my speech, coerce my behaviour, or threaten the use of force from any authoritarian source is just going to demonstrate how you continue to attempt to impose your will on others for your own satisfaction.

If I don't call you a proper pronoun, or mr, or sir, or ma'am or madam or whatever - or choose to not participate at all, it is my perogative and personal right to do so. At best you may consider me rude, and feel like you would like to block or ignore me.

Feel free, that is your right.

Amazingly I haven't imposed my will on others just doing what I do in life, but I'm more and more and more these days been subjected to what others want to impose upon me, wield against me and even worse to ensure their 'safe space', their emotional well-being or w/e else they need. And THAT is not fair, and THAT is not in their right.

If we were to create a safe space for everyone, where no one would ever get offended, or ever get their feelings hurt, or get subjected to anyone be rude or uncouth - no person would ever be allowed to speak ever again.

Imagine how much of a good life you have in the West, or any other country, where your only problem that upsets you is if someone calls you a pronoun  you prefer.

Bullets and knifes hurt people, words do not unless they have some truth to them, where then you can use it to self-assess why it bothers you so much so you can improve yourself.

1970: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"

2020: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will utterly destroy me and I must be protected from them at all costs"

My bingo card runnith over! I won't address your fallacies directly. I'll just make the following point; 

Somebody requesting to be treated decently is not someone taking away your rights. You can still choose to be a jerk, as you have signaled you would do. 

Social spaces, workplaces, private businesses, social groups, etc can all choose to enforce standards they agree upon. If part of that includes respecting people's chosen identities, you are free to choose other spaces to occupy. 

[Non-binary]

2 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

Totally agree with that.

That's the reaction of a 5 year old and should be ignored.

-----------------------------------------

Since we're on the pronouns thing; I won't do it for the simple reason that i don't need to participate in how an individual "wants" to be, and i know when i say that i cause a few people to be upset with me. I'm fully aware of that. I also hope those same people are aware of what i said before; I support your right to be whoever you want to be, just don't force me into it. I draw the line at that. I won't say silly things like the "brainwash camps" because that isn't helping anyone.

If I tell you my name is Janice Smith and you call me by that name, then later I get married and it becomes Janis Porter, and you then call me by that name, congratulations. You're participating in validating my identity as someone who changed their name because they got married. 

It is no different in referring to someone by the pronouns they choose. If I told you I go by she/her and you continue to refer to me as he, because you 'feel' that's the right choice, you weren't supporting me in being who I want to be. You're actively choosing to apply your version of me.

And if you're immediate emotional reaction was to say that I should accept being called he/him... I'm a cis female. 

[Non-binary]

"Hi. I would like some basic human rights and decency, please."

"Oh so you mean you want to force people into camps and brainwash them!?"

I'm so tired of this. Tired of this argument. It's not an argument at all. It's an insane strawman with 0 basis in reality.

[Non-binary]

The 'there are bigger problems /children starving / injustices across the world' argument as a reason why we cannot be decent human beings and respect people's identifies at home is a tired one.

[Making SL avatars act less dead.]

Given how uh... Bizaare some bento mesh heads can look when trying to smile or even have subtle changes in expression, I'd almost want to see a feature that read and tracked my face via webcam just for the nightmare fuel it would create in world. 

But that's a lot of work for something I would use once and then be bored of.

[Second Chance For Banned Users]

7 minutes ago, So Whimsy said:

Pedophilia is a sexuality like homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality and so on. It's NOT something you can therapy out of a person.

This is one of the most harmful and inaccurate takes AND is often used to justify why Homosexuality should be outlawed. Major yikes. 

[Show Land Tier INCLUDING tax]

21 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Except that LL -- well, Tilia these days -- just sends a charge to the credit card company or to PayPal.  They don't respond back with a billing address.  At least, whenever I purchase anything anywhere else online, I am the one that has to provide the Billing Address that goes with my credit card or PayPal.

You don't need to. That information is provided by either PayPal or your card itself. If you buy something on the internet lots of your info is available to the processing company for tax purposes and in case you dispute the charge. 

[Show Land Tier INCLUDING tax]

14 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

What I'd like to know is, how do they know where you are in order to compute the sales tax? When we signed up, we gave age and email, but I don't recall entering my Real Life address. They have my Social Security number, because Tilia required that. But again, I don't remember giving my physical address.

If they go by my public IP location, it's all over the map, because I use a VPN service.

And even if they have my current address, what if I move somewhere that doesn't have a sales tax?

The billing address of your credit card. This is standard for every payment gateway. Tax is charged based on that. If you don't update your address with your bank you might see taxes from your old location being charged. 

[Secure donations av for Ukraine?]

2 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

I understand. But I've made a blue/gold dress (others have too) and would like to sell this inworld with all the L$ going directly to the organization.  I just have to know it's really going to get there.

You will likely want to handle passing the funds yourself then to be sure they reach the right people. 

[US Residents to begin paying Sales Tax]

Where they charge sales tax is dependent upon where the government charges them. LL can't slap a tax on the Marketplace and label it your regional sales tax without drawing the ire of the IRS. Remember they don't profit off that tax, it gets reported and paid to the state. They can slap any other fees on they want, but I don't think it's worthwhile to doom and gloom speculate about. It happens or it doesn't.

Currently the Linden Dollar isn't taxable. 

But the next ten years are gonna be real interesting in that regard with Crypto currency throwing a wrench in the works of how countries define the value and taxability of virtual currencies. Where they draw those lines will determine if $L is lumped in alongside Bitcoin or not. 

[help pls]

Would you be making your own logos or using fanart others have made? Generally speaking, you don't use someone else's work without permission. 

Wikipedia isn't really a good source for legal advice. 

[US Residents to begin paying Sales Tax]

What tax landowners will pay will be determined by their state specific laws. It's important to remember the Wayfair supreme Court decision gave states the ability to choose to apply tax to purchases made online by their residents, not made it mandatory. IIRC, most states have already drafted and put into effect their own laws on this, but you'd need to look into your specific state to know what taxes do and do not apply. 

Unfortunately they can't make it easy or clear, because... Well. US taxes. 

[US Residents to begin paying Sales Tax]

1 hour ago, Solar Legion said:

... A business does not need to be doing poorly to no longer absorb the tax fees.

Exactly this. 

Most of my clients (ecommerce) have moved to passing that cost onto the customer. These are not small stores, many of them are in the upper hundreds of millions per year in profit. 

But it's incorrect to completely categorize this as just a company passing on the fees that they make more money. Freeing up extra funds can usually be allocated to another project, additionally it's actually a little more work for your accountant (or accounting software...) if you are rolling the tax into each transaction total. Far easier to just tack it on afterwards. 

Other countries are likely to, eventually, implement rules similar to the Wayfair case. If you're in the United States and shop online regularly then you've already seen the results of this case as part of the taxes that you face in stores based in a state other than your own. 

[Marketplace reviews and comments are now anonymous. Thoughts?]

I've been harassed by a creator for leaving a review they didn't agree with. It was a 3 star review due to issues with the script they refused to resolve. I imagine that might be why that sort of change might happen. 

[What scares you?]

Being over deep water. Boats. Water I can't see the bottom of.

I struggle with severe hydrophobia. I had some trauma as a kid. Baths and showering are ok but I don't actively enjoy them. It took years to work up to being able to let water run over my face to wash it. I still have to fight my brain sometimes telling me I'm actively drowning. Therapy has helped... Somewhat. 

Discovered the game Sea of Theives can trigger my phobia mid PVP ship battle once. That was ... Interesting. 

 

[Purchase, to make or not to make. That is the question.]

I have that house and the very same dilemma. I love that house so much, but it's so big that I find myself unsure of what to do with it. I don't wanna be alone in it.

I say give the extra rooms and a few prims to people you like. Make it feel more homely.