I started a few months ago. I generally use both brakes and progressively work down the gears as I slow down. You could do what you said and slow to a near stop on just engine braking, but it won't engage your brake lights which puts you at risk. So even if you're planning on engine braking the whole way make sure you are at least lightly pressing the brakes so the lights go on.
You could also do the other thing you said, pull in the clutch and jump all the way to 1st as soon as you start braking, but it could get you into some trouble too. I ride a 350cc bike with short gearing until 4th. The first 3 can comfortably get me to like 8, 15, 25mph. My 4th can take me basically to max speed and 5th is an overdrive. So say I'm coming to a red light so I rapidly go down to first because I plan on coming to a stop. Light turns green before I stop, I release the clutch and twist the throttle, and uh-oh I potentially damaged my engine because I just redlined it. If I remember I shifted into first I now have to figure out what gear I should be at and fumble to quickly reach it so I can accelerate. Both scenarios could be avoided if I just kept shifting to the correct gear for my current speed.
You listed a bunch of capitalist nations as examples of nations cured of capitalism.
Truck is just slang for pickup truck. Ute as a term isn't really a thing in the US. Coup utilities like an El Camino or Subaru Baja feel pretty distinct from modern American pickups though. It'd be weird to put them in the same category given how different they are in both form and function.
The treatment you're talking about is conversion therapy - largely considered torture by modern standards. And what happened to the people who received that "treatment?" Statistically they probably fucking killed themselves. Which, like, I guess does solve the issue of you being uncomfortable around trans people and having to see us in public.
I'm not sure if you're a ghoul or woefully uninformed. I'd suggest reading the medical literature on trans people. Nearly every psychiatric and pediatric organization of note agrees that supporting their transition leads to better healthcare outcomes for trans people by a pretty large margin. This isn't some kind of social contagion or whatever the fuck you're talking about. This is evidenced medical practice.
If we want to talk specifically about the drug transphobes shit their pants over, Lupron, it has been in use since the mid-80s. And studies have shown that Lupron as well as other puberty blockers are, by and large, safe for kids. We have like 40 years of data on this.
TL;DR: go for it. It's a great bike. It'll get you where you want to go safely, comfortably, and cheaply, but not very quickly.
I'm also a new rider, started in late May and my first bike is the RE Classic 350. I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner course in mid-May. It wasn't on my short list, but I think the Classic 350 was the right choice for me for a road bike.
The price of the bike is low and it gets good mileage. It has enough power for most streets and delivers that power in a predictable and manageable way. The bike seems heavy on a spec sheet, but when you're in the saddle it's very manageable; I haven't had any trouble doing the exercises from my learner course on this bike or riding on the streets. I live in the northeast USA so the roads are pretty rough, but the suspension is good enough that I can barely feel it. The seat, foot pegs, and bars are in a comfy position so I don't feel sore or tired. Mine came with a low rider seat and I can comfortably flat-foot my bike with leg space to spare; I'm 5'9" with a 31 inch in-seam.
Honestly, the most important things for me though may seem vain, but they're important as a new rider. It's a handsome bike and it sounds good too without being loud enough to bother neighbors or other motorists. When I go into my garage I get giddy seeing my bike there. When I go out I get comments about how sick the bike looks. It makes me really happy to ride it. It's a bike that rewards me for riding it in a lot of ways, and that encouragement keeps me coming back even when I'm a little anxious as a new rider.
Get trained up and get the bike. Make sure you include your gear in your budget; a lot of beginners seem to blow all their money on the bike and then buy the worst helmet and no other PPE. Seen some of my former motorcycle classmates riding their much more expensive bikes with no gear and it freaks me out a little.
Different person, but for western comics I'm using Read Comics Online, ReadComicOnline, and XOXO Comics. Haven't run into any issues finding what I need from at least one of these, but there are more options available too.
I bet a micro van like a Delica or Sambar would fit your needs pretty well. Compact, but large enough to fit like 8 people total and the seats are fully removable so you could totally fit a wheelchair in there. Seen people fit a whole motorcycle in them before.
The safety of the bigger trucks comes at cost to those around it. Statistically pedestrians, drivers, and passengers struck by larger vehicles are far more likely to sustain serious injury or die. The idea that we should drive larger vehicles because those inside of it are safer has lead and will continue to lead to a spiral where we drive progressively larger vehicles to the detriment of literally everyone.
The reason large trucks exist has nothing to do with some kind of democratic capitalism. It's to get around emission laws in the US. The larger a vehicle is the more emissions they are allowed to produce so rather than create more efficient engines it's more cost effective to simply build a larger vehicle. The trend of purchasing progressively larger vehicles is driven by marketing. Market forces are not natural phenomena like a tide; they're manufactured.
