Tiah Marie Beautement

2/2
To all the people who “never saw this coming,” I had many reasons to insist my kids attend (local) RSA schools and not use their US passports. But one was over concerns about where the US was headed.

My US family had words.

I stood firm.

And I am not sorry.

Nephews in US college went from selecting colleges by, “Which one did I most want to attend,” to “Which one might stills be here in 4 years.”

1/2

So many different feelings on this one.

That would be good. Please and thank you.

Yes.
The moment I saw that unicorn (pre-frog) I was, “The optics is perfect.”

B/c it is all well & good to keep saying, “Non violent protesters,” but it’s totally a different thing when the public sees blow up cartoons facing guns.

All the classics should be there: Elsa, Shrek, Bambi, Ms Piggy…

I can’t understand who they are trying to appeal to.

It’s like news stations trying to become Fox News when the people who love Fox News already have Fox News.

X and Truth Social types are never going to love it here. It’s just a place to harass in between their real hangouts.

Yeah.
I had a lot of hope for this place but now it is starting to feel like the final year before someone walked in carrying a sink.

And yet, I still want the place to succeed despite itself.

I'm suprised he didn't say worse.

I was explaining them to someone last night.

I think their brain about broke.

Flotilla detainees | Six South Africans arrive safely in Jordan Six South Africans who were detained when Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla have arrived safely in Jordan.

Reports that the South Africans on the flotilla are released.

Anyone?

2/2

I am also baffled at how Bsky engineering team could ask about toxicity when Bsky's team does not seem to have any protocol for professional conduct.

Expecting the everyday user to hold themselves at a higher level of professional standard than the professionals running the place is...odd.

My day-to-day is typically enjoyable. I have stayed small.

But there is an overall feeling of unease. The fears of marginalised groups are dismissed. The people who initially were on Bsky seem easily discarded now that "big mainstream names" are on here.

1/2

Would they?

I'm a parent.

But I can't imagine my children sending me such obviously fake photos.

Or wanting to cause such a fuss that people visit the house. (They're introverts.)

And so I think the most entertaining NW drama is over when...

The local paper picks up the story.

5/5

And then the chatter switches to English with somebody demanding the family be kicked off because it is a prank.

Then somebody explains it is a TikTok prank.

Then there are parents on the group apologising for their teen's behaviour and people going, "Any parent would believe it..." 4/

Thus, off i go, meet up with a friend, we ride horses, then my daughter is dropped off from exams, and she gets on the horse and I check my phone and...holy shit, there are now a lot of cars at this house, including cop cars. WTF?

Wait...this couldn't be real? 3/

So despite me living in RSA for as long as I have, my Afrikaans is utter shit (hey, I tried...even hired a tutor, I'm craptastic...).

But the photos are so obviously not a real break-in, I don't bother to Google Translate the chatter. 2/

A Black man in hunting fatigues pushes a trolley filled with random items. The security gate behind him is closed. Which means if these photos were real, the man would have either been let in OR somehow, miraculalously, tossed his trolley over the gate and it landed upright with no spills, before he climbed in after...

A slightly different looking man with a green hat and hunting fatigues is looking for snacks in the fridge. The photo is perfectly clear, close shot - so I ask you - what teenage girl would just stand there as a strange man is digging through the fridge?

Oh, so now the strange man is on the outside of the door security gate, with his back turned. Front door on the inside of the security gate is open. Who the hell, in South Africa, opens their door if there is somebody they don't know on the other side? They don't.

A picture of a Black man in hunting fatigues curled up on a bed sleeping, but he isn't using the pillows; instead, he is beside the pillows. So somebody worried about strangers went into the room and photographed him sleeping - that close up? Ha! No.

A tale where the local neighbourhood watch and TikTok collide.

This morning, shortly before I was due to go out, these photos were posted on my neighbourhood watch WhatsApp group.

I glance at them and assume people are making bad jokes, because the photos don't make any sense (see alt text) 1/

Does anyone speak Greek?

Trying to confirm the meaning of "Kaneís" - which, according to some of the internet, means "nobody" but the internet being what it is...I thought I'd ask more of it.

This is the only site I feel I can be me.

Other platforms I'm on are basically due to work (South African writing community or dog training stuff).

I have sent the link to my son.

Told him the very helpful person who passed on valuable job interview advice last year made the news. (You answered my tweet regarding hourly wages for Rust programmer.)

(Btw, he did get the job.)

Oh wow.

I lived in Chicago for 11 months way back when, the river was right outside my building, and that was one thing I never did because I enjoy not being sick.

Delightful news.

I also find it interesting that the judges are the most bipartisan of the "we're so sick of this nonsense" stance.

Unless they are truly under his thumb via blackmail or blind loyalty, it doesn't seem to matter who appointed them.

They're fed up.

I suspect the Streisand effect is going to be highly relevant to Bsky powers that be.

It was very difficult to follow the whole breakfast food disagreement...

But outright banning a space law expert who had entertaining opinions on cuisine is going to get a lot more notice...

I would watch that.

Great, now who is going to slag off British food?

BlueSky was fun.

Now…it is less fun.

One of the most fun people to follow.

@nerinedorman.bsky.social - made me think of you (in a good way).

Speak of death beyond the platitudes, which are often unintentionally painful.

And also not force the grieving person to publicly always be "celebrating their life" and "carry on."

His question was a gift, providing permission to speak while he sat back and simply listened.

12/12

Before diving into the legal tangle that awaits the survivors after a death, he would ask the person,

"How did s/he die?"

That he was often the first to give space to speak about it.

How providing that space allowed a person to relax, unburden themselves.

11/