IELTS (or acceptable equivalent) is required for visa entry to Canada even if you originate from an English speaking country. Iirc, at least Australia and NZ are the same.

Having certain job classifications will get you more points in the express entry pool, if that’s the way you are going, it can make it easier, but already having a job/offer is worth a lot more points iirc.

That’s a very different calculation then! I can’t say I’d do it differently in your shoes. Godspeed.

If it’s well controlled you can pass the exam, but yeah, still adds difficulty.

You also have to take an English language exam, for migration to any English speaking country. In 2022 those were only offered in large cities, I looked at flying to Chicago for one, but the results are only good for like 2 years iirc.

And you have to get cleared by the local police of… Anywhere you’ve ever lived? (I can’t remember if there was a federal check that was also acceptable or not)

And that’s not everything, and for Canada that’s just to get in the pool for lottery.

So, do what you need to do for your family. But I’ll say this. I spent time looking into this last go round because I knew Biden was a temporary reprieve. I’m the parent of a trans kid, we did not leave the country for several reasons.

The entire western world is experiencing this dramatic rise in fascism. There’s no guarantee that you will actually avoid this long term.

Many countries (especially the UK) have draconian immigration rules, see above note about fascism.

We ultimately decided to move to a blue state, from a red one, primarily for safety reasons, and made it happen over a couple years. We are far happier in this situation and are now able to help extract other loved ones from similar situations.

Again, do what you need to do for yours and your family’s safety, but you’re in for a tough go of it regardless of what you choose.

ETA: I went as far as interviewing for some jobs in Canada after building my immigration profile and starting the job search in NZ.

That sentiment might be the one that pisses me off the most.

I wanted her to win. I voted for her myself.

I also saw how her campaign was fucking up constantly. Neutering Walz, embracing early 00s Republicans from Cheney to Frum, ceding all argument on immigration to the fascists…

The list goes on and on.

The Democrats had a billion dollars and all the goodwill in JULY. I’m so mad at them. The party needs to burn and something else needs to be rebuilt in its place.

I am not interested in voting for the candidate of choice of Liz Cheney, Richard Spencer, and the Lincoln Project.

John Kerry? Is that you?

Good news! The de-regulation and de-funding of FDA and USDA will probably kill you faster and more directly than climate change.

“per my last email” = you’ve critically failed your reading comprehension check and I’m real tired of holding your hand on this, which is why I’ve cc’d your supervisor.

In response to that…

Try this on

“Elon Musk sure seems… Dumb…”

Mmmm Republicans giving us repression?

Don’t forget Louisiana… My wife’s favorite.

I’ve always had to drug test exactly once for my jobs. I feel that it’s probably different for retail workers.

Doesn’t even have to be actual booze. Apple cider vinegar + a drop of dawn dish soap works a treat.

A lot of us have spent our lives masking and suppressing other issues because we were told that all of these issues were due to some kind of inherent badness. “you’re so full of capability, if only you weren’t so fucking lazy” - on repeat, for years, from everyone you love and trust.

It fucks you up. And when you realize that if literally anyone in your life had taken a step back and helped you get the actual tools you needed (often medication, and occupational therapy) you get so sad and angry at all the waste and internalized self-hatred.

I wasn’t diagnosed until after I’d flamed out my first couple semesters at college. First time I took medication after being diagnosed I cried. It’s taken more than a decade of therapy to undo most of the damage.

This feels like it attacks the problem at the margins. How is this approach more effective than direct dilution of power and flattening of hierarchies?

It’s almost as if fascism and unbridled capitalism have some kind of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Weird.

I feel like everyone forgot what happened last time.

People in unmarked vans with no identifying patches or badges, just fatigues, grabbing people off the streets at night in the northwest.

Even worse than the official fascists, the unofficial ones who were emboldened to act with impunity, riding into cities and inciting violence. Attempting to run Kamala’s bus off the road in 2020 in Texas.

Dems run like they want to lose. Always conceding the arguments of the fascists. Touting the endorsement of monsters like Dick Cheney. The kinds of monsters who made the Republican party what it is today.

If “senior democrats” actually gave a shit about avoiding conflict in the US, they’d actually be fighting for universal voting rights and eliminating FPTP voting.

A few degrees difference in ambient temperature can drastically affect your exposure times, and god help you if you have a print failure and forget to clean and filter your vat.

As far as model complexity for 3d printing, you absolutely still have those issues, unless you only ever print pre-supported models (which I absolutely love, but aren’t ubiquitous.)

I have a pretty heavily customized ender 3 and I don’t recommend that to people who don’t want 3d printer maintenance as a hobby either to be frank.

I will say though, my issues with resin are never with the machine itself, it’s always the material and the specific prints.

I haven’t bought one in a year or two, but I don’t think there’s an equivalent.

I recommend something like a Bambu for people who want “a printer to supplement their hobby, not be their hobby.”

Resin printing is incredibly fucking cool, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also like a finicky thing, between leveling (if you have an older Saturn like I do), resin temperature, vat film replacement, model cleaning, safe ventilation, and on and on.

If you wanna “set it and forget it” resin is not gonna be that. Probably ever, but definitely in its current form. You’re just gonna have to do a lot more post processing than you will with fdm.

All that said, if you’re fine with it basically being a hobby that can supplement your other hobbies go for it. I didn’t do fdm till after I did resin, and the detail and print quality you’ll get out of a even an older tuned resin system is in a different universe than what you’ll get out of any modern fdm system. But you’re gonna pay for it in extra effort and various pita that do not exist with fdm.

(I can rec a Saturn for sure, I have a 2 and I love that thing.)