The Bluestocking - your local women's pub, warm, friendly, and not at all unusual in any way.

[MarieDeGournay]

Welcome to The Bluestocking, the welcome is warm, the conversation is wide-ranging, the food and drink are delicious but magically free from anything they need to be free from, and the bar staff are highly-trained, professional, efficient and very friendly gerbils.

‘Favourites’ is the number of people who have put that pattern in their ‘favourites’. The ranking is done by number of people looking at that pattern page, not number sold as I had thought.

24 posts left before we must be gone from this location, or risk being locked in with the heating off.

Ooh I must comb through my yarn stash. I still have a pink pussycat hat from the last round of protests.

Snow appears to have stopped unless we’re on a hiatus. Not as much as a foot by the look of it thank goodness. Street ploughs have already been round once but will undoubtedly be back later.

Excellent, @Britinme . I have had to order some red yarn, as the only red I already have is earmarked for Woolly Hugs. It’s the exact brand, type and colour they specify, and it’s also acrylic so not as warm as wool or cashmere.

That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

I’m half-watching the BBC lunchtime news. A reporter from Minneapolis has said that there were protest before Renee Good, then there was a point of inflection/inflexion, protests continued, and with Alex Prett’s death there has been another point of inflection/inflexion.

Thinking like the Maths teacher I am, this is what I understand by a point of inflection. Used in ordinary life I’d think it was something which is going in one direction, pauses for a short time, and then continues in the same direction. That might be at the same rate or it could be more or less. It’s not what that reporter and others I hear mean.

What do they mean? What’s a non-mathematical understanding of the expression? I’ve tried looking online but all I can find is mathematical, including definitions which are wrong. 😵

My non-mathematical understanding of 'a point of inflection' is a turning point.
So why don't they say 'a turning point'?
It's like any ol' change has to be 'a sea change'.
At least no-one is saying that they might do a 360, even I know that is wrong!

edited to say that looking at the illustration, it could be continuing in the same direction, but along a different path?

Yes, I saw that and was wondering what they meant. Not being of a mathematical bent, I assumed it meant that there had been a brief hiatus between protests, while people caught up with the latest information and decided whether to continue on the same lines.

I may, of course, have just made all that up in my head

Love this. I saw a knitting post about the hats but I can't knit. I can crochet, however.

I read the Wiki page you lined to, AsWith. 😬

Functions with inflection points whose second derivative does not vanish..
has a nice mysterious ring to it.

But I would re-write it to put it in a Bluestocking context:
Functions with inflection points whose second derivative is not a Damson's Hairbrush...

I still haven't found my kitchen scissors, from which I deduce my kitchen scissors is not the second derivative of a function with an inflection point 😁

Ah, in Maths a turning point is different from a point of inflection. I’ve checked with an authoritative source (DH) and he agrees.

At a turning point things turn, ie change direction. As you say, after a point of inflection they continue in the same direction although it could be at a different rate or starting from a different place.

What I think these reporters may mean is continuing in the same direction but getting bigger (steeper) after each death, with more people involved.

Ignore the writing, just look at the drawing.

That makes complete sense to me. Thank you!

, @ChristmasStars ?

They write, “As with our knitted version, ALL proceeds from the sale of this pattern will be given to immigrant aid organizations within the Twin Cities community.”

Yes! I'm on it...

Yes, much better in our context ❤️

Changing the subject almost completely, I ordered some fabric samples from EBay and they have arrived stapled to squared paper. Clearly I must make an order!

This is Myrtle, transcending dental medication😄

I think I'll ask for some of that at my next appointment!

So 'point of inflection' may have been what the reporter actually meant
I looked at the drawing, very clear and informative and I didn't think anything on there looked at all like norks. Not al all. That would be so immature...😂

A quick Google search said An Inflection Point is that moment when you decide you are ready to make a change that can change everything. An Inflection Point is consciously entering into that moment, putting your intention, emphasis and meaning into it – to bring the desired change. (10 Apr 2025)

Further searching says it's about people changing themselves, not just the law.

So I think this could mean it's the point when the population stops protesting against the administration and does something about it.

Except, this is Minneapolis, which is mostly Democratic and not the deep South and MAGA supporters who also need to change.

And what will they actually do?

The international world order is changing in front of our eyes. We are living through an important point in history and I can only think that this will in time weaken the USA permanently in the eyes of the rest of the world, and in its people.

Personally if I were living there, this would be the point when I started making intentional plans to move overseas.

Real time image of the buses departing. ChatGPT has decided to be hyper realistic which is very weird.

Sadly I forgot to hide Gubbins' triangle...

I had a filling. I take an audiobook and headphones to listen to while it's going on. My dentist uses minimal adrenaline in the local anaesthetic so it doesn't invoke the fight or flight response. And I learned breathing longer on breathing out while also putting my thumb and forefinger together, so it's almost like meditation.

She is very good at inserting the needle without any pain too.

Finalising...

Finishing...

Ending

Closing the door...

Locking up...

New thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5481554-the-bluestocking-womens-pub-definitely-full-of-ludicrous-halfwits-who-refuse-to-get-a-grip-with-unionised-gerbils