A powerful Missouri state lawmaker on Tuesday moved to strip state funding for public libraries over a fight about books. Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith’s budget proposal, unveiled Tuesday, would cut all $4.5 million in state funding that libraries were slated to get next fiscal year. Smith said he’s upset that state and … Continue reading Top Missouri lawmaker moves to cut funding of public libraries by $4.5M

I never thought such a short dating period would screw me up so bad, but it did. I dated a girl for just 1.5 months, it’s now 2 months later and i still think of her all the time. I think i have idealized her because of the short time i had with her. Maybe i have created a fantasy of her in my head?
I think the problem is i’ve only seen her in the same settings on all the dates: us cuddling on the couch, talking, being intimate and watching movies. So it’s only fun and feel good chemicals and feeling really comfortable. I only seen her best sides as we tried to impress each other. My image of her is probably far from how reality with her would really be?
I’ve never experienced a difficult situation with her, never seen her outside the house, i’ve never even woken up next to her or spend a full day together. It was all too short to see any flaws or dislikes. It was short and fun so i only remember the positive. The only negative i can focus on is that we didn’t have a strong spark or chemistry and that intimacy wasn’t that good. We never had one deep or meaningful conversation either, even though we talked all day. But it’s as if my mind can only focus on the positive and on what could have been.
I feel like i went trough a very short honeymoon-phase with her, and then it ended. We had 7 dates and then her ex came back who she apparently still had feelings for. She also seemed really upset when she ended it with me, which only made it worse for me. Now i’m left with all the questions of how it could’ve been if it had continued.. She lives near me, is my type and we’re almost the same age, so i feel like that’s hard to find again. I also feel like if i had known her longer, i might’ve found out about a lot of incompatibilities. How do i move on from all these unanswered questions?

I never thought such a short dating period would screw me up so bad, but it did. I dated a girl for just 1.5 months, it’s now 2 months later and i still think of her all the time. I think i have idealized her because of the short time i had with her. Maybe i have created a fantasy of her in my head?
I think the problem is i’ve only seen her in the same settings on all the dates: us cuddling on the couch, talking, being intimate and watching movies. So it’s only fun and feel good chemicals and feeling really comfortable. I only seen her best sides as we tried to impress each other. My image of her is probably far from how reality with her would really be?
I’ve never experienced a difficult situation with her, never seen her outside the house, i’ve never even woken up next to her or spend a full day together. It was all too short to see any flaws or dislikes. It was short and fun so i only remember the positive. The only negative i can focus on is that we didn’t have a strong spark or chemistry and that intimacy wasn’t that good. We never had one deep or meaningful conversation either, even though we talked all day. But it’s as if my mind can only focus on the positive and on what could have been.
I feel like i went trough a very short honeymoon-phase with her, and then it ended. We had 7 dates and then her ex came back who she apparently still had feelings for. She also seemed really upset when she ended it with me, which only made it worse for me. Now i’m left with all the questions of how it could’ve been if it had continued.. She lives near me, is my type and we’re almost the same age, so i feel like that’s hard to find again. I also feel like if i had known her longer, i might’ve found out about a lot of incompatibilities. How do i move on from all these unanswered questions?

I don't know why, but I feel like vegetable or a zombie since 2023 started. I've started to take Latuda, Lamotrigin a Lyrica, occasionaly Clonazepam and after like 4 months I'm a vegetable with no feelings, no emotions, my IQ had dropped for like 50 points, I can't think properly, my vocabulary is pretty bad, I feel like a robot with no future, just a zombie. I have this condition for 10 years (schizophrenia) and it wasn't this bad ever yet. What should I do with this crippling anhedonia, apathy and everything that comes with this medication, to be me again, to feel, to be able to talk, do stuff and enjoy life? I've started taking cold showers, I feel something after the shower, but it's almost like nothing. I don't work now, I'm mostly isolated and I never exercise, just some walking and sometimes work around the house of my family members. I take some vitamins, I don't eat that bad, yet I'm overweight...

Hey fellow eBay sellers,
I've noticed that many new sellers are unsure about how long to allow buyers to accumulate bids for combined shipping. As you may know, combined shipping helps buyers save on shipping costs by having multiple items won from the same seller shipped together.
Most experienced sellers typically allow buyers to combine items won within a 3 - 7 day period. Extending this period to 2-4 weeks, as some new sellers do, is not the norm and can cause issues like reduced inventory turnover, payment delays, and complicated shipping logistics.
Here are a few quick tips to help you strike the right balance:

1. Set a reasonable timeframe: A 3-7 day combined shipping window should provide enough time for buyers without impacting your inventory turnover or payment schedule.
2. Communicate your policy: Include your combined shipping policy in your item descriptions and terms of sale to manage buyer expectations.
3. Be flexible: While having a clear policy is crucial, remain open to reasonable requests from buyers and consider extensions on a case-by-case basis.

​
In short, offering combined shipping with a clear and reasonable timeframe can help you save on shipping costs and attract buyers while maintaining a smooth and positive experience for both parties. Happy selling!

Group A50 launched to buy tickets for the March 22 Lotto 649 draw. The Gold Ball jackpot is $50 million plus the $5 Classic jackpot. The A groups plan to buy at least 700 tickets for the March 22 Lotto 649 draw.
The $48 million Gold Ball jackpot for the March 18 draw was not won and is $50 million for the March 22 draw. The Lotto 649 Classic jackpot was not won. There is a 10% chance the Gold Ball jackpot will be won in the next draw. Ticket sales of $19 million were 27% higher than average and 9% higher than the previous draw. The expected value was above average at 62%. The Gold Ball jackpot was over funded from sales by $3.4 million. This is the first time the Gold Ball jackpot reached $50 million.
There is a 10% chance the ultimate Lotto 649 draw will occur on April 22 with a Gold Ball jackpot of $68 million guaranteed to be won by a single ticket.

(Hastily Google translated, so errors may be present)
The remake of Silent Hill 2, which the Bloober Team is working on, is technically ready, but the decision on the debut date lies with the partners, Piotr Babieno, the company's president, told PAP Biznes. By 2027, Bloober Team wants to become the leader of the horror genre in the global video game sector.
"Silent Hill 2 is technically ready. It does not mean that the game is finished, but we are close. However, the issue of the release schedule lies with our partners, what the promotion will look like and when the title will debut is not directly in our hands" - he told PAP Business president of Bloober Team Piotr Babieno.
“The new strategy is an evolution, not a revolution from the Bloober 2.0 strategy. We are slowly moving away from environmental storytelling in favor of games that will be based on mechanics recognizable to a wide consumer" - he added.
Babieno pointed out that market research shows that the games that Bloober Team has created so far had a sales ceiling of 2 million copies, while survival horror has a higher bar, at the level of several million copies.
"You can assume that 10 million copies sold is a reach that will be real for us soon," said Babieno.
One of the main goals of the new Bloober 3.0 strategy announced in March is to lead the company to the position of the leader of the horror genre in the video game industry by 2027. "To be the best horror house we have to focus on more publishing activity and have more projects than one game every year and a half, two years. That is why the second pillar of Bloober's strategy is based on cooperation with strategic partners,” said the president.
“We want our titles to be not only milestones for the genre in the future, but also for the entire industry. We've said many times that our goal is where Naughty Dogs or Ninja Theory are," he added. Bloober Team, like Naughty Dogg, wants to promote its games using transmedia, thanks to which elements of fiction are distributed through various media platforms, creating a coordinated and unified experience for the recipient. After the premiere of the series on the HBO MAX platform in January, sales of The Last of Us Part 1 - the first part of the game, rebuilt for PlaySataion 5, increased by 238% in the UK.
“We want to implement horror-game, horror-film, series and book projects, but not entirely and directly through us. We want them to be based on cooperation. We are also not afraid of M&A transactions, but it is not our intention to take over companies that are simply large or popular. Such an entity must have our DNA and fit into Bloober's long-term strategy," he said. "Today, cinema suffers from a lack of innovative ideas, which is largely due to conservativeness, and the most interesting ideas in recent years, whether narrative or technical, come from gaming" - he added. In October 2022, Bloober Team announced that together with Platige Image they will create a series based on The Medium, a game released by Bloober Team in January 2021.
Piotr Babieno draws attention to the potential of the development of virtual reality for the horror genre. He added, however, that a port of the game to VR hardware alone is not enough, because the game must be either an adaptation or a redesigned project to be successful on this platform. “VR is the long-term future of horror. Horror is a genre that relies on immersion just like virtual reality. Looking at the increasingly available, more powerful and cheaper VR equipment, one can say that we are almost on the eve of a broadly understood immersive revolution" - he said.
“But you have to remember that making a VR port of the game doesn't solve the problem. We did two VR ports with Incuvo and we're happy with them, but they were still just ports for us, not full-fledged adaptations," he added. Babieno announced that VR remains in the company's sphere of interest. “VR is important to us. Our partners urge us to such projects, but we do not want another port, but an innovative product, aware of its medium, speaking the language of virtual reality. I am convinced that before 2027 we will achieve success in this field,” he said.
Bloober Team is an independent developer specializing in creating psychological horror video games. Bloober Team assumes basing a long-term strategy on three pillars: creating psychological horror games with elements of action, expansion through cooperation with specialized partners and creative freedom of the team. So far, the company has focused primarily on showing the unique history through the so-called. “environmental storytelling”. In future productions, the action will be in the foreground, through which the studio will tell its stories, which will significantly increase their sales potential.
Currently, the company is working on two large productions - Silent Hill 2 with Konami and Project C - a game on its own IP in cooperation with Private Division (Take-Two Interactive). In addition to the two main titles, Bloober also cooperates with e.g. with Anshar studios in Layers of Fear, with Draw Distance in project M, with Rouge Games in project F. Currently, the company employs over 230 people and has recently moved its headquarters to the new Fabryczna Office Park complex in Krakow. Bloober Team also has its own Motion Capture studio in Krakow and is opening an office in Warsaw. In addition, a new office in Los Angeles is planned to open in the second half of the year. The company also intends to move to the main floor of the Warsaw Stock Exchange this year.
Maciej Białobrzeski (PAP Biznes) mcb/ p

My mom and I have "owned" a pizza place for nearly 20 years and are looking to walk away from it in the coming year. I use "owned" in quotes because we do not own the property it is in and there is no option to buy.
A long time ago we were just grateful to have the opportunity to run our small business. Not knowing the ins and outs of loans and such left us vulnerable to a rent-to-own scenario. After many years we finally owned the business. We still rent the space and have a lease that runs out in 2024.
We've done pretty good for ourselves and have been responsible with the money we have made. My mom wants to "sell" the business to recoup our initial investment/walk away with something a little extra for our future.
I argue that without a guaranteed property to house the business we don't really have much to sell. We know how to run a pizza place and understand that knowledge is valuable. But how do you monetize it? Has anyone else found themselves in this scenario?
Looking for any and all advice to navigate this scenario. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you.

18+ only for these RP's please. I have a pretty down day so I'll be around for a long time today. Very much into tiny little fun-sized girls taking their first BWC or BBC
I tend to lean towards playing closer to my real age. (early 40's)
1 - First time doing porn : You ran away from home and moved to L.A to pursue your dreams of being a actress, only for it to never take off like so many other women. Eventually, broke and unable to get work you decide to go to a casting office for one of the big porn studios. They love you instantly and agree to use you in the next shoot. What you don't know is that the male lead they are basically feeding you to is known for breaking newcomers. Violent, rough and vicious are how people describe him in scenes.
2 - Celebrity Contest - You are a young starlet looking to get some more press. Your agent suggests that you run a contest for your fans with the reward being you. When the contract is drawn up you just sign it without reading it. Without realizing it you've now made yourself the winners slave who has to live with them for a full week, alternatively you willingly enter into a free-use situation with the contest winner. We can discuss what exactly the contest is, as well as anything else about the scene you'd like to alter. Please include the celeb of your choice
3 - The new live-in maid - You've taken a job for a very wealthy (and more attractive then you expected before the interview) single man on the outskirts of town. I enjoy this one both ways. Either it starts with a uniform sluttier then you would of liked and slowly progresses to me getting more and more aggressive. Or you decide to get the slutty outfit and pursue me aggressively.
4 - The Club - You decided to go out with your friends, all dressed as slutty as possible. They all pair off with a guy at the club fairly quickly but you head to the dance floor alone. You feel a very large man come up behind you and encircle your waist with his hands and begin dancing with you, grinding against your back. This one can go many ways, either I'm super aggressive, or I put something in your drink. Alternatively you are just a cock hungry little slut out to have some fun and its my lucky night. (A favorite of mine right now)
5 - Girl Next Door - You've lived next door to me all your life, that older single guy that seems to have all the toys and the party life style. When you got older and your parents retired and spend most of their time away, you still lived at home and spent most of your time out sun bathing. We speak often as my hot tub is near our shared fence. It was innocent when you were younger, now its flirty and I'm obviously checking out your body whenever you're in a bikini. One night you're bored and lonely and see me out in the hot tub listening to music and drinking beer from a cooler and decide to come down and ask to join me. Alternatively you could be the slutty girl next door and come over with the exact purpose of seducing me into some rough play. (This is one of my favorite ideas right now)
6 - Blackmail - You are a minor or major celebrity with a secret, it could be a sex tape or any number of other things. But someone has it now, and all you know is you are ordered to show up to a hotel room at 8pm tonight.
7 - The Party - You went to a party at some ones house you didn't know, of course between the joints and the booze being passed around it isn't long until you're completely trashed. Eventually one of the guys at the party takes you upstairs to "lay down", we all know what happens from that point. This can either be non-con, dub-con or could be that drunk you is slutty as hell
8 - Mind Control - My character has developed a app that will make people who use it completely open to suggestion from him. You could be a regular woman or a celebrity who he tricks into downloading the app, making you his own little slave.
9 - Pornstars stalker - Simple enough, pick a porn star and I'll play her stalker that eventually gets his hands on her to use like a toy. Or combine with some other prompts.
10 - Best friends girl- Your best friend has the most amazing piece of ass for a girlfriend. However one night she's hanging out, drunk and lets it slip that their sex life is less then impressive and goes on about how she just wants someone to rip her clothes off and use her.
11 - Down on your luck - You got kicked out of your house the day you turned 18. After years of not gaining any useful skills you find yourself living on the street. Until one day a man shows up offering to let you stay with him, no strings attached. Until the strings end up tied around your wrists.
12 - Need a ride - Maybe you're unable to find a taxi after coming out of the club, tipsy and alone. Maybe your hitchhiking or maybe your car broke down.
Either way I'm the first car that has stopped for you and you know what they say. Cash, grass or ass
13 - The Purge - Set to the theme of the movie, you're a hot little thing with no plan for surviving the night and decide to do what you always do. Try to get some big strong man to help you by flashing your tits and ass. Only he decides he wants to do a lot more then look.
14 - The Festival - I have several ideas surrounding this. Either spurred on by drugs or just the general atmosphere of the festival.
I don't want to go into too much detail here as I'd rather work it out with a prospective partner but it can go either very dark including non/dub-con or it could be that she is the one that comes hard for me, perhaps wants a RV to spend the festival with and views my needs as payment for it.
15 - Daughter's slutty friend - I'm looking for someone to play my daughter's slutty friend. Over the years you've gotten more and more flirty. Teasing me whenever you're over to our house or sleeping over on the weekend.
Few years pass and I get a divorce. You are staying over with my daughter and decide now's when you're going to make a run at me. Even packing something extra fun to wear when you sneak into my room later that night.
If choosing to go long term this can either be an affair or a long term sneaking around behind my daughter's back.
16- Obsessed with finding a BBC - I'm looking for a partner who wants to play a very petite woman who is absolutely obsessed with finding a BBC to see if she can take it.
Where you find me we can discuss, either a club, the gym or anywhere else you'd like. You come onto me and get me to take you home and I'm so excited to have such a tiny little thing to use I'm much rougher then you expected. Throwing you around like my own living fleshlight.
Today if you've read this far I'm really in the mood for a aggressive partner who comes for me for a change. If you want it to be a darker prompt perhaps she just wants to tease and I can't help myself once she gets me riled up.
Feel free to combine any of the above prompts if you'd like.
Only limits are bathroom play and animals. I am open to pretty much any kind of kink setup. Rough, Soft etc..
Please describe your character or include a reference picture. Please let me know what limits you have

Hey I have alot of different rc benzos for sale. I ship from the usa orders ship out same day. I have bromazolam powder, flubromazolam, clonazolam, flualprazolam. All powder and all top quality dm me if interested.

I'm 28, I was completely healthy before and very fit and active, I ran my own business and I loved my job and my life. Then last summer I got a small skin infection and I was given an antibiotic that disrupted my bile production, I was then diagnosed with small intestine bacterial overgrowth. There are 3 types of it and I've got all 3. In addition to all of the digestive symptoms and food intolerances, it has given me gum disease, rapid enamel loss, loose teeth, my thyroid levels are no longer normal when it was well managed before, I've now got many symptoms of endometriosis which started suddenly after this happened. I'm deficient in lots of vitamins and nutrients because my small intestine can't digest fats and absorb nutrients properly.
The treatment for it is more antibiotics, one of them can be toxic to your ears and I got tinnitus so I had to stop, then I tried another antibiotic and I got peripheral neuropathy in my feet. I also have pain in every muscle in my body including my hands, I can't get any sleep since taking these recent antibiotics because I'm in pain and I can't regulate my body temperature. I struggle to climb the stairs in my house because of muscle fatigue.
I've tried other methods of treatment for it including herbal antimicrobials, supplements, and something called the elemental diet which is a liquid diet for 2 weeks to starve the bacteria. Nothing has worked. My health continues to get worse every day, and I can't use my hands without pain. I used to run a crochet business and now that has been taken away from me. I'm a burden to my family, I've also had a history of abuse from them. I no longer do anything except exist and I spent most of my savings on doctors, most of them didn't listen to me and gave up.
I don't have anything left of my life at all. I don't think anyone in the world can do anything to solve this problem so I think it's over for me.

I have been using emulators for about 8yrs now. I used to play nes and genesis on my computer growing up but I never knew they were emulators. Well I have played almost every popular ps1 and Gameboy games that have come out. I truly enjoy retro gaming but the 1 aspect I have rarely enjoyed Is multi-player. One day I was at a friend's house and I asked if he wanted to battle me in pokemon. I had 2 androids both with emulators on them that allowed for multi-player. One phone had pokemon fire red and the other leaf green. We had a blast playin even tho I knew all of my pokemon and he didn't kno which 1s were available once he got his team it was so much fun. Another thing with emulating pokemon is you miss out on trading which helps evolve certain ones. Currently I'm using RetroArch which has an app in the Google play store and apk available on its website. RetroArch allows for co-op multi-player gaming by creating lobbies that u and ur friends can connect to and play 2gether. Right now I'm playing pokemon white on NDS bcus I have never played it b4 and I hope by time I get to the end I'll have some strong pokemon to battle someone with or trade with. Join the community let's grow and play together!!

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2LP 180g Repress) $25
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads (2LP 180g Remastered Repress) $25
Angel Olsen - Aisles (Ltd. Blue Variant) $15
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend (Special Edition Gold Variant) $20
Florence + The Machine - Dance Fever (Ltd. 2LP Etched Grey Variant) $20
All albums ship from Detroit for $5. USA shipping only.
You can message me here on Reddit if you’d like to purchase any of these, or you can look at other records I have up for sale on Discogs here: https://www.discogs.com/selleSuperbug/profile
The vast majority of the other albums available are Metal/Punk/Hardcore.

> Full name of the product up for sale - COOLER MASTER MH650
> Condition of the item - Brand New ( not even used for 1 day)
> Date of purchase - 20 March 2023 and 2-year warranty remains (replacement period till 28 march)
> Picture of the invoice - gdrive link below:-
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1I-PhfOYevwHxJN-5lQ-Y5qnM8R7eefg_?usp=share_link
> Location of sale - Mumbai, Maharashtra.
> Mode of shipping - No Shipping
> Clear pictures of the item with Reddit username and timestamp uploaded on Imgur - https://imgur.com/a/NCdHXcM
> Reason for selling. - idk, I already have wireless headphone and i realize i dont really need another headphone
> Expected Price - 3K Non Negotiable

Summer at the summer house, only me and Daniel in our bed next to the barren room merely half-painted pink. Like an itch, I touched my stomach. Not again. I thought of her again.
“It isn’t your fault.” Daniel placed his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m aware.”
July just kept heating. The choice was either the porch, down by the lake, or heatstroke. That morning we chose the lake. We spread out on beach mats, all alone with the water.
Then came the sting.
“Ouch!” I cried.
“Hey, don’t get up. I’ll take care of it, sweetie,” Daniel said, swatting the flies off me. “Let all worries fly away.”
“Not funny.”
He tried to distract me, but each attempt was a reminder of what I wanted the heat to cook out of me. The sting, only the sting made me forget.
I put my book down. “I just need some space, okay?”
“Oh, sure. But flies will chase you mad in this heat.”
“I’m done anyway.”
I sighed, my thumb circling the red bite on my wrist. Back on the porch, scrolling my phone for something about the itch, I thought of her again, then read about the bite. Turns out, only female flies sting skin and lap blood, needing the protein to make their eggs. I couldn’t really blame them. They were just doing what mothers should.
I returned to the lake, rolled up my sleeves, and waited. It blew for a while, but just as it died and the heat weighed down once more,they came.
A sharp buzz of wings, then a sudden stop, settling on my arms. I’d never seen such flies before; bronze fur, eyes prismatic mirrors, and calm emerald wings. Then, shoving spiked mouths down, they lapped my blood like honey.
“It must be some rare species,” I said at lunch.
Daniel scoffed. “Pests, you mean.”
Every day, I fed them, my arms marked like the pox. As weeks passed, more gathered. Children of the first batch had learned from their moms. I smiled.
One day I was jogging along the river when that familiar buzz came louder than before. A cloud of bronze stopped me mere feet away from a pit to the river’s mouth. A dead dear was half-sunk in the mud below, larvae squirming out of its flesh: their home.
“You saved me.”
As thanks, I nourished them all.
On the porch, stragglers still feasting, Daniel smacked two dead with his magazine.
“Why are you angry?” he asked.
“It’s fine.”
I woke Daniel before dawn. “Follow.”
“What’s going on, sweetie?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Hesitant, he followed into the darkness. It didn’t help. He fell, sinking waist-deep into the muddy pit below. At first pleading, Daniel screamed once they woke up, biting and planting. Silent, over the coming days, he swelled all over, larvae hatching.
My arms itched as they grew inside me too.
I just had to smile.
We were going to be parents after all.

My 23' trd OR DCSB is supposed to arrive at the end of May. Dealer has quoted it at $54k (CAD) OTD. The offered interest rate is 6.79%, I've looked around at banks and don't feel like I'll get much better than that. I plan to put $15k down, and sell my 06' accord for maybe 2k. My take home is $4000-$4500 and after expenses I can afford the $700/month payments over 5 years, but should I just wait for interest rates to improve? I don't absolutely need a new vehicle but my accord is on its last leg with 280k mileage and it sucks in the winter. Is it smart to pay that much every month for 5 years? I might have a kid, wedding, new house in the next 5-10 years so I'm not sure if I should just cancel the order or accept things won't improve in the next 6-12 months.

Ok so I’ve read many times that CL doesn’t throttle, but I am having a download speed issue. I work from home, and have to transfer large video files back and forth to servers in our facility. Downloading between 30-120 GB per week. We have two approved file sharing methods. My transfer speeds have been abysmal lately at home. I’ll get around 17Mbps on a speed test, but let less than 100kbps transfers. I have 20meg service. Using a MacBook Pro and iMac for workstations. Here’s the kicker, I have taken both systems to a friend’s house, who is also on CL’s service. I am not sure what tier service they have, it shouldn’t be high as they are not heavy users, mostly streaming and minor web/email use. The speed test are closer to 40Mbps (almost 2.5x faster), but the actual downloads are insanely faster. I can download in an hour there, what takes 10 hours overnight at home.
So why the discrepancy on my download speed at home? Nothing is changing on my client or host systems, only the network connection/hardware. Would this be due to setting on my gateway, or something going on outside of my control?