Interesting Links for 05-02-2026

[andrewducker]

1. From Crisis to Comeback: The Aral Sea's Recovery

(tags:kazakhstan sea GoodNews )

2. Some good news about writing.

(tags:writing ai comic funny )

3. 'Lord Of The Rings' Reader Can't Believe How Long It Taking Sam And Frodo To Fuck

(tags:satire slash lotr funny )

4. If I was as terrible a person as this, I don't think I'd tell the world about it.

(tags:relationships OhForFucksSake )

5. Epstein celebrated Brexit and 'return to tribalism'

(tags:conspiracy uk europe OhForFucksSake )

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

#1: the map does not show much of a progress.

#3: Every couple is different, every human is different. It's not up to us to judge. But many people rush to.

Thank you.

[aldabra]

Wow these people writing for the Indie are unpleasant. I also read one on why anxious people shouldn't get benefits and one on how miserable it is not to have retirement savings because your parents bought you a flat and you spent all your money on expensive clothes. People keep telling me Facebook is toxic but it is a whole lot less toxic than that.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes, I saw one from someone basically saying "I am a grasshopper, and all of my ant friends spent the summer working while I had fun, and now it's winter they won't let me have their supplies!" and just felt aghast.

(I have a lot of time for people who never had any spare money, through no fault of their own.)

[nancylebov]

2. You get even more letters than you can see in the comic, like q and z.

3. This person needs The Very Secret Diaries.

[bens_dad]

4. I guess your experience of caring is limited to caring for people who have plenty to offer in return ?

Yes, I think she has a big flaw in her character, but I too would struggle - and probably fail - in her position. Strike that. I did give up in an easier position. The person I was trying to care for now has a much better life than I could give them, and we still have a strong relationship; "divorce" does not describe things for us.

She describes how her life has moved on. If she had written about how she had put him in a home where he was cared for by people who enjoyed and were good at giving that sort of care, would you see her the same way ? Even if their divorce was largely a financial and administrative action ? Is it worse to leave someone because you can no longer contemplate a life with them than because you would rather be with someone else ?

Yes, I think less of her for giving up on "'til death us do part" but this article has helped me: I am glad she has had the courage to write it.

[bens_dad]

Is that a comment on #3 or on #4 ?

[andrewducker]

It's totally understandable, in many ways. And I would have a lot of sympathy in quite similar situations. But there's phrasing in there that feels incredibly uncomfortable to me.

• "I hadn’t signed up to be a carer." - yes, you absolutely had.
• "I know the prevailing opinion is you marry someone in sickness and in health..." - yes, that's (almost certainly) what you signed up for.
• "I know he always wanted the best for me, even if it wasn’t the best for him" - well, that's not selfish at all.
• "I told him I would visit but I have found that too painful." - Too painful for her to even visit someone who they'd promised they would be with for the rest of her life?

[andrewducker]

What more could a budding writer ask for?

(Except maybe a sprinkling of punctuations!?;)

[juan_gandhi]

Oops, sorry, I meant #4.

[juan_gandhi]

I have a continuation to that grasshopper story. Then, in Spring, the ant crawls out of his hole, hungry, dirty, grim, and sees the grasshopper, dancing. The grasshopper says that he spent the winter singing and dancing in Paris opera, and brought some foie gras that he can share with the ant. (This second chapter is kind of close to my life story, so...)

[channelpenguin]

Yes, we should not judge such things, IMO. Certainly not people we don't know from the small amount of info in such an article.

[juan_gandhi]

It took me lots of time to figure out that neither parents about their kids, nor kids about their parents know enough to figure out what exactly was going on all that time. Kind of strange, right? Kids pretending, parents pretending, and it all goes so natural that we often don't even notice the amount of what's hidden. And of course, friends may know even less (it depends).