From: bowman@montana.com   
      
   On Sun, 28 Dec 2025 03:58:16 -0000 (UTC), Lars Poulsen wrote:   
      
      
   > Unitarian Universalist "church". More sundays than not, I am there. And   
   > I serve on the board of my local congregation.   
      
   I went to a UU church regularly when I lived in Maine. In a small town it   
   was sort of the social center for the people that weren't in AA, although   
   there was some overlap.   
      
   I found the UU church in Cambridge MA was a lot closer to its   
   Congregationalist roots. The one in Ft. Wayne IN was building booths in   
   the parking lot for Sukkot when I went. I've never been to the local   
   branch. It's hard to find. I think they're in the basement of the   
   Methodist church currently.   
      
   > Similar to how Walmart had already dismantled a lot of small-town   
   > retail. In my town, we have refused to let Walmart move in. There are   
   > Walmarts 50 miles North of here, and 50 miles South of here, but not   
   > closer. On the other hand we *begged* Target to come in, and they   
   > finally did about 10 years ago.   
      
   35 years ago there was K-Mart and ShopKo and Sears in the mall. They're   
   all gone but Walmart thrives. That's my local store of last resort and I   
   go in about once a year. I hit Target more frequently but often leave   
   empty handed. For example I was looking for plain old Haynes or Fruit of   
   the Loom pocket t-shirts. They had plenty of t-shirts in all the styles   
   except for pockets.   
      
   > We still have one AMAZING independent bookstore here. Chaucerś Books.   
   > Years ago we also had another great independent bookstore called the   
   > "Earthling". The kind with a fireplace and a few comfy easy chars in the   
   > middle. They died when 3 national chains moved in all at the same time.   
   > Barnes and Noble, Waldenbbooks and Borders. After 3 years or so, each of   
   > them realized that they were losing mmoney because the market was   
   > overserved, and then they all closed at the same time. Stupid   
   > management.   
      
   There are a couple of independents that feature local authors.   
      
   https://factandfictionbooks.com/   
      
   Not exactly my sort of place.  There was a B. Dalton and Waldenbooks in   
   the mall but both are gone. B&N staggers on.   
      
   > Chaucerś has one side of a whole aisle of tech stuff. A similar amount   
   > for travel books. And for Cookbooks. Twice that for fiction. A whole   
   > other room for childrenś books. So I go there first, but if they don't   
   > have it on the shelf, I order it from Amazon.   
      
   Except for the sparsely populated shelf at B&N there are no tech books in   
   town. That may be with the decline in people buying them in general.   
      
   > I was raised in Denmark, where the *conservative* parties have platforms   
   > slightly to the left of our Democratic party, so I never found much to   
   > like in the Republican party that I have known since I arrived here in   
   > 1980. Bernie Sanders is a moderate Labor MP in my book. I love Liz   
   > Warren, and I am impressed with AOC. But I did not become a citizen   
   > until 2016, specifically to vore against Trump.   
      
   Bernie self-identifies as a democratic socialist but he really is a social   
   democrat. The DSA isn't a party but sort of a big tent for the slightly   
   edgy left.   
      
   > Well, in my church, "commitment to the democratic process in our   
   > congregations and in the community at large" is a religious principle.   
   > You might say we consider election is a sacrament.   
      
   As I mentioned in my experience the democratic process in the UU church   
   means you're never quite sure what you're going to find.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)