G+ Migration Blog

I'm not linking to any of it, but I think we are at a place where we can appropriately say that the GOP is using Nazi propaganda tactics. They've gone over and above the whole Willie Horton thing. They are full on going for the lies about Poland attacking ethnic Germans, Jews as aliens and worse, and all of these "bad" races invading and polluting the homeland. Except with Central American immigrants and their own special variants in their ads they continue to release new and worse versions of. I don't know why people are vulnerable to believing these misrepresentations and lies, but the GOP needs to take responsibility for their culpability. I'd take no satisfaction in them reaping the whirlwind because whirlwinds are notoriously indiscriminate in whom they hurt. Maybe they could stop before they cause one.

Jazz, Rock 'n' Roll, Rap - THEY'RE CORRUPTING YOUR CHILDREN. SSDD. Because why find some real issues on which to debate when you can scare a majority white district with a black man. (In case you don't know, all those types of music were presented as black music corrupting good white people.) But this is not a dog whistle! This is going on in the 19th Congressional District in downstate New York. I think we need to have a talk, GOP. https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/7/18/17583044/antonio-delgado-congress-rap-new-york-john-faso-campaign-ads https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/7/18/17583044/antonio-delgado-congress-rap-new-york-john-faso-campaign-ads

- locked - In which I am bitchy sister ... otherwise known as person who has a grasp on reality and gives a rat's butt about someone other than herself and her own convenience. Also has a grasp on reality. I mentioned reality, right? My brother and SIL are coming in for Thanksgiving with the offspring. They have to stay in a hotel because there are 3 of them. Today, my mother informs me that my brother has time off he has to use so now he is suddenly going to come up here a lot with the offspring to visit the grandfather (ie., my dad). I guess he just found out he had to use his time off? He has great attention to detail when it comes to financial spreadsheets. Other things, not so much. Ok, fine. So he is also apparently now coming for a long weekend the weekend after thanksgiving. Not even a week long break between visits. And my mother, being the ... person ... she is, thinks it would just be great! if my brother and nephew stayed here. Because it's fine with her. Because th...

People are being awfully cocky about winter around here. I mean, in a normal year it wouldn't really be a thing until mid-November, but we've had horrible weather in October or November like, every other year since I moved back here. They are only just getting salt into the stores and I cannot find anything smaller than a 50 lbs. bag of the regular old halite. We really do not get temps that are so cold you need the fancy stuff on any regular basis, and while I do love the doggies, the roads are gonna have salt salt on 'em, not magnesium chloride, so spending loads more money on something that will not help them anyway is also simply silly. In addition, nobody has any plain old car brushes. Everything is these $10 and $20 or more fancy things that are just silly. I've used boring old wooden handled brushes and squeegees and the occasional ice scraper and they last for like 10 or 20 years for me. It's a good thing, too, because the kind of squeegee/ice scraper I use ...

- mild lock - O.M.G. Becky. I'm gone for like an hour with my dad, who felt like he really wanted to try driving the car and get a magazine to read. Which is a big deal in terms of it being a sort of improvement in his baseline. So anyway, my mom is off doing something when he thinks he might want to try this so I'm like sure, I'll go shotgun and make sure you're safe and ok or whatever. It's not far from the house and it's good for you to want to try. I leave a note in case mom gets back before we do. We get back and my mom is home and she's all gee, if I'd known you wanted to do that we could have gone and then gotten lunch near there and spent time together, etc. I wish I could convey the tone she used. Yeah, that's right. Everything we do we do SPECIFICALLY to exclude you, mom. In fact, we plan it. For days. Weeks, even. Because the only thing any of us ever thinks about is you and how things affect you and what is good for you and what you nee...

Not the best satire ever but good for some laughs. http://amhersttimes.com/trump-strips-citizenship-from-children-of-immigrants-thus-disqualifying-himself-from-presidency/ http://amhersttimes.com/trump-strips-citizenship-from-children-of-immigrants-thus-disqualifying-himself-from-presidency/

Wouldn't want to run afoul of the CDC. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cdc-chicken-costumes-halloween_us_5bd7e344e4b017e5bfd51600 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cdc-chicken-costumes-halloween_us_5bd7e344e4b017e5bfd51600

Oh, boy. This is starting to sound like the cancer trial they stopped when they found out a researcher at Duke had falsified a whole bunch of stuff. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/29/heart-failure-stem-cell-trial-be-paused-after-calls-retractions/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.276738237d9c https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/29/heart-failure-stem-cell-trial-be-paused-after-calls-retractions/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.276738237d9c

Sadness. https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/30/18044152/nasa-kepler-space-telescope-out-of-fuel-dead https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/30/18044152/nasa-kepler-space-telescope-out-of-fuel-dead

Yes, this has gone on before. No, it isn't new. But don't try to tell me that people thinking it's ok to do this has nothing whatsoever to do with the messaging and behavior of public figures and leaders. Looking at you, Fox News and Trump and his enablers. Edit: Here's the headline - Indiana Woman Leaves Neighbor Racist Note Targeting Black Child, Relieved Because She 'Released Some Anger' https://www.essence.com/news/deborah-cantwell-racist-letter-black-child/ https://www.essence.com/news/deborah-cantwell-racist-letter-black-child/

Jiminy christmas, Land O' Lakes. You had to be threatened with a boycott to stop supporting this white supremacist? Maybe people should boycott you anyway. On Monday, King tweeted a photo of multiple breeds of dogs, noting “all the diversity” at his annual pheasant hunt. The tweet is more offensive than that reference suggests. Here's the link to that tweet, because it's real: https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/1057122875579269125?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet Can we have a frank discussion of white supremacy in this country NOW?? https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-iowa/land-olakes-ends-support-for-u-s-rep-king-after-furor-over-views-idUSKCN1N42LS https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-iowa/land-olakes-ends-support-for-u-s-rep-king-after-furor-over-views-idUSKCN1N42LS

Don't be silly. Of course there's no persistent subconscious idea in society that women are worth less money than men. Pshaw. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/us/politics/women-campaign-fundraising.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/us/politics/women-campaign-fundraising.html

Oh, Pamela Korda's post about forgotten erased woman scientist Maria Sibylla Merian reminded me. If you are an arachnophobe you will want to NOT watch Doctor Who season 11, episode 4. This isn't really much of a spoiler since the title of the episode is out there and contains the word "arachnids". It's an obviously aimed at Halloween episode and no, it's got nothing to do with the Racnoss (from David Tennant era), which was frankly a far more creative and less phobic approach to the whole thing.

In case there was any possibility of not considering Lindsey Graham absolute trash. Even Justin Amash has a better grasp of actual constitutional law and precedent. Besides, what are they going to do? Try a new version of the Nuremberg Laws? How many generations back do you have to go to prove your ancestors were "legal" immigrants? Since no one descended from slaves ever legally immigrated, I guess none of them are citizens? Or does legally imported count? Are we gonna go for one drop of illegal immigrant blood? Let me guess, neither Graham nor Trump nor Miller nor any other idiot realizes there are families in places like New Mexico and Texas that have lived there longer than the USA has existed. More to the point, they ended up in the US when it created states with borders with Mexico and therefore never immigrated to the US. The US absorbed them. They've been here longer than any of Graham's ancestors, never mind Trump's or Miller's, etc. What rhetorical g...

OMG. THEY KNOW MY MOTHER. Gibson had devised an ingenious system wherein she’d buy a bunch of bananas and eat only one or two. A few days later she’d notice that all her bananas had gone black. Instead of panicking at the sight of her rotting produce, Gibson would instead chuck the remaining bunch into her freezer. She repeated this cycle once a month for the past 63 years. “It saves you money!” Gibson would often repeat when anyone questioned her about her refusal to simply throw away her bananas, “Why do that when I can and eventually will just make it into banana bread? https://www.thebeaverton.com/2017/06/woman-freezer-full-overripe-bananas-dies-never-made-banana-bread/ https://www.thebeaverton.com/2017/06/woman-freezer-full-overripe-bananas-dies-never-made-banana-bread/

I can't decide if I should laugh. My sense of humor is badly dented. https://www.thebeaverton.com/2018/10/facing-loud-violent-neighbour-canada-moves-to-a-safer-continent/ https://www.thebeaverton.com/2018/10/facing-loud-violent-neighbour-canada-moves-to-a-safer-continent/

Cute game on google doodle today.

If there's anybody left in the Republican party who is capable of empathy, they need to listen to people like this gentleman. They need to hear him and stop deflecting and blaming other people and lying to themselves about what this is and where it comes from and what they are actively supporting and encouraging. Headline: ‘Nazis are here again’: He hid in a storeroom during Tree of Life shooting. Now, he feels unsafe in home https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/10/29/pittsburgh-shooting-survivor-barry-werber-nazis-here-again/1814726002/

So, I've been watching the new Doctor Who and it has a lot of potential. I'm still watching, too. It needs work, though, and while I'm happy to see a reboot work itself out, it can't take too much longer because you don't get years of messing around until you get your ratings up on TV any more.

This is awesome cool! A super hero with CP whose powers come from her assistive devices! https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-45998421/cerebral-palsy-superhero-creator-i-decided-representation-matters https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-45998421/cerebral-palsy-superhero-creator-i-decided-representation-matters

Remember when colds used to last like, 2-3 days at most? I miss that. As much as I like tom yum, I am getting pretty tired of eating it, even though I feel better when I do and don't really want to eat anything else. Which is also frustrating because I vacillate between my body wanting food as an energy source and being truly repulsed by the idea of eating. All of which just reminds me that the more we think we know about the immune system, all we are really doing is making the powerpoints more complicated. Not one of those powerpoints is making me feel any better just now. #stillfeelinglikedeathwarmedup

If this is validated with other studies, it could have a significant impact on treatment of hypertension. We still have lots of other drugs, but ACE inhibitors are still listed among first line agents, and since the latest guidelines lowered the numbers again to define high blood pressure, thousands and probably tens of thousands of people are going to get put on drugs. Those drugs right now include ACE inhibitors. It's also going to scare the heck out of anyone who has been on these drugs for over 5 years. Title: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and risk of lung cancer: population based cohort study https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4209 https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4209

Ha ha, you must play this Merriam Webster game. Not for the right answers, although the monsters are fun, but for the wrong ones. There are some seriously awesome answer choices. Clearly someone at Merriam Webster is a gamer. Also a fan of Sesame Street. https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-games/monsters-in-the-dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-games/monsters-in-the-dictionary

In which our hero writes a #csbp novella on head colds and soup: So, my head cold that had hung around for a while decided to get notably worse yesterday and I have been feeling, as Emily Blunt so notably states in The Devil wears Prada, like death warmed up. I have mostly not wanted to eat, even though I needed to if only because taking meds, and cough drops have sugar in them, etc. Also, sometimes it turns out you feel better if you eat. So (note use of classic transition phrase "so"), I have basically eaten nothing but Tom Yum yesterday and today. I have no idea why my stomach is ok with this, since it works on the sore throat and head cold because I eat it spicy (not Isan/Lao spicy, I do not have that kind of spicy-fu, but very spicy by 'Murrican standards). All that red chili, red chili oil, and red chili hot sauce, never mind the funky fish sauce part, should surely not be ok on a sick tummy. And yet this is literally the only thing I have eaten for two days and whe...

What the hell?! This timeline is all wrong. https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-responding-active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue/story?id=58790381 https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-responding-active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue/story?id=58790381

The people who should be listening to this are not. It should still keep being put out there, loudly and repeatedly. Most importantly, if someone can find a way to get the message through to ordinary people and get them to stop voting for people who are part of setting up our laws and customs to favor this shift that is damaging to them. The more money you concentrate, the more influence you concentrate. This is part of how you get Citizens United. This is how you get wage slavery. I know using that term is fraught, but when you are given a choice of work for whatever crumbs we throw at you or starve faster, it is not a choice. Not to mention that the same people who are kicking and screaming about freeloaders and entitlements are directly or indirectly participating in setting up this system where you have no options. Therefore, creating more need for entitlements, or what they call freeloaders, because no matter how much or how hard most people work, they cannot survive, nevermind pr...

Headcold, headcold, go away, Don't come back, you've overstayed. Fine, it doesn't scan. The point is this headcold needs to make like a tree and leaf. #niggle

So, when I saw this I thought oh, that's really cool! I mean, I dig Mozart. Then I looked at the graphics and thought that looks ... weird. Then I went to their website and lo and behold, for whatever reason, the designers chose one of the most insane productions of this opera to emulate. It's not like I don't appreciate creative or modern interpretations and stagings, but I have to wonder why, for example, the Queen of the Night and her Ladies look like bondage porn stars with physics defying breasts. This is on the guy who designed the real stage production, not the video game designers; they just copied him. I'm not a Mason, but I'm gonna guess that over-large breasts that would literally be physically impossible to survive is not a big piece of their symbology. I am also at a total loss to explain the human sized monkey. http://lablike.net/magic-flute http://lablike.net/magic-flute

Great. Joe Biden is speaking here tonight not far from where I live. With the now increased security the whole area is going to be a complete, unpredictable traffic disaster. From the airport to anywhere else, including the speaking venue. I feel really badly for anyone driving home from work today. With recent events there's no way they are going to announce ahead of time what route they will use to get him to the venue, which means all of the potential commute routes are at risk so you won't know until you're stuck that you picked the one they are closing for his motorcade. This is how terrorism messes with people. It screws up everybody's everyday life. We think it's the big horrors, which are horrible, but for most people and situations those happen and end. It's the forever ripples after that mess up little daily things like trying to go to the grocery store or get home from work.

Vomit. Steve Bannon is campaigning in Western New York. Bugger off, you horror of a human being. Take your hate and lies and evaporate in a puff of brimstone.

Inspired by one of you using the word "bop". Weird and very not subtle video. #waybackwednesday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFq4E9XTueY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFq4E9XTueY

My butt was on TV! My butt was on TV! Me and my niece, in fact, for two whole seconds! It's at 1:53-1:55. But the whole piece is worth watching in regards to refugees and their economic impact. Hint: it's positive, contrary to Steves Bannon and Miller. Also, this is the West Side Bazaar, which is a business incubator for refugees through Westminster Presbyterian, which is the church my dad worked with in one of their programs to help refugee kids learn (like, at all since many had never had the chance to go to school), tutor math and reading, and catch up to being in the public schools. Even help with a little music - in my dad's case he's a pianist. https://www.wkbw.com/news/fewer-refugees-to-buffalo-could-impact-economy https://www.wkbw.com/news/fewer-refugees-to-buffalo-could-impact-economy

Aside from being appalled at how unbelievably cheap narcotics are, and, gee, that couldn't possibly be a huge part of why people kept getting prescribed the least expensive thing (it doesn't matter with or without insurance, they are unbelievably cheap), we now get to be appalled at the fact that even in hospice care, to protect you from getting addicted and keep a tighter control over narcotics prescribing, you are expected to wait until you are on your last or next to last dose before you can get a refill. It's not that I don't think people at every step of this process need help managing the prescribing, acquiring, and use of the meds. I do. But when you make it supremely difficult for the patients to get documented needed things, and I cannot even imagine what someone without other support would do, and multi-hoop jumping for the prescribers and dispensers, you may not be balancing out your system in an effective way. Specifically, there's some lock-out time per...

- locked - I have a pretty clear idea of my mother's working definition of "cooperation", now. Basically, I micromanage and control/run things until I need something from you or it's too inconvenient/stressful for me, then I dump stuff in your lap and walk away.

#wooflol https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-pictures/2630/Twins- https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-pictures/2630/Twins-

- mild lock - Oh, man. The mom is really not gonna let go of this morning. Holy wow. She is off her rocker. She is also now in charge of managing my dad's meds (because I ain't playin' that). Which she already almost screwed up. See, I'm too detail oriented. Sometimes when things are stressful you just have to let some things go. Of course, my way would probably be an appropriate way to do things if it were a business, but it's family so that makes it different. (I mean, yes, it does, but uh, not that different.) And it's still all about her. She's not stupid! She knows things! Notwithstanding that we're back to the first time my dad was in hospice 4 years ago when things were actually completely different medically but I'm wrong to consider this different and tell her not to use what she was told four years ago to make decisions now. Hours, HOURS were spent in the hospital and the doctors' offices explaining how this is different than last time...

- mild lock - Oh, ok. I didn't want to anyway this morning, but now it's my fault that my mother has the EQ of an inanimate object that I am probably insulting by the comparison. She really screwed up this morning. I mean, I didn't realize I had kind of reached my limit this much until she did it, but I told her I wasn't ok and I was angry, and frustrated and had had it. P.S. Because per her that's not what she intended, whatever that means and which changes whenever she's confronted, you cannot tell her that what she says or how she presents it triggers a particular response in you because you can't have that reaction and you aren't allowed to feel that way because that's not what she wanted. It's ok. You can reread that a few times if you're still trying to parse it. Skipping ahead ... Yeah, we're still playing 4 years ago. Per her that was never worked out. Right, because no matter how many times I directly said hey, I know you don...

Don wanna.

Ok, I haz made my Chicago reservations. Good thing, too. I got the last seat on the one flight.

That crazy weather day the other day? We did not get smog, but it was topped by a tornado south of here. For realz. Glad I don't live south of here. #thisisfine #totallynormal

Yeah, this guy sounds like a real threat. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/20/canadian-deported-despite-having-served-for-us-military?CMP=share_btn_gp https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/20/canadian-deported-despite-having-served-for-us-military?CMP=share_btn_gp

Omg, I'm old. https://www.out.com/popnography/2018/10/20/freeform-celebrates-25-years-hocus-pocus-and-its-gay-legacy https://www.out.com/popnography/2018/10/20/freeform-celebrates-25-years-hocus-pocus-and-its-gay-legacy

Let’s see. Today’s weather total thus far includes: cloudy sunny hail rain lightning Waiting for the smog.

And now it’s sunny. Welcome to fall!! 🍁🍂

Oh, ok. We're supposed to get rain around 1pm or later. Which is why we are being pelted with marble sized hail. #thanksweatherreport

You know that thing where you feel like you have a fever, but you don't? That. #headcolds #virii

Meanwhile, I am trying to cull apps. Which weather app do you prefer? There's so many of them! (I know some of you have this awesomely snarky one. Is it good for more than snark?) I have played with weather underground, weather channel, accu weather, and a local one that's so-so, plus there's the one that comes with the phone. I also found this one that has a puppy pic that suits the forecast on any given day. I'm pretty sure that, while cute, that is not a necessary one. Oh, and I looked at some NOAA apps, but some of them are actually third party things that charge you money? I looked at those because I like looking at the various models and radar and whatnot but too much money. Tell me what to do, internet.

Oh, good. Feel like dirt, probable cold, exhausted. Yay.

- lock - Up much of night with Dad. At least half of the reason is he's stubborn and doesn't like taking pills unless he thinks he has some immediate problem. He really doesn't like this just take it to stabilize or maintain something. I mean, the man has never been on a chronic medication in his life - no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no nothing - and now he has to take all these pills. He hates it. But that's only part of why we are in this situation. Hospice was happy to send a nurse and this nurse actually physically examined him and discussed his mental and emotional state and asked and listened to him. Which was great and my dad is sleeping, now. The nurse spoke with us after and we came up with a plan to try to make this better going forward. Which is great. My mom was 99% appropriate but still trying to make things her way. After the nurse left, I told mom what to do when my dad woke up so I could try and get some kind of nap and she was all full of but wha...

Shocking no one, the media got it wrong. Look surprised ... ok. It doesn't mean this wasn't tone deaf, and the article has a pretty good explanation for why from a Native American. However, the media messed up science (look shocked again) and it played into the narrative that the GOP would have pushed, regardless. tl;dr - to the extent it is possible to make such claims, Elizabeth Warren does, in fact, have a probable Native American ancestor. Does it make any of this ok? Nope. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/18/just-about-everything-youve-read-warren-dna-test-is-wrong/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ebb0b370fdd0 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/18/just-about-everything-youve-read-warren-dna-test-is-wrong/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ebb0b370fdd0

So, "The Dragon Prince" - I would watch more. I have a few quibbles here and there, but it's above average and amused me more than the quibbles bothered me, by far.

- much locked - We are so fucked when my father dies. He is the only sane person in this family other than me and right now my life is not exactly where it needs to be. Like, yeah, everybody has their flaws and hang-ups and whatever, nobody's perfect, but the dysfunctional pathology is so intense it is completely unbelievable. The more garbage I find out about, the more shocked and appalled I am. I kinda really don't know what to do 'cuz I am seriously overwhelmed by all the garbage. It's too much. Way, way too much.

Weird songs you hear on the radio. Ok, I don't remember ever hearing it but that doesn't mean much. It seems oddly topical, though. #throwbackthursday #americansongbook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEULVyg1O_8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEULVyg1O_8

Annoying questions people ask me: is that snow on your car? You’re right here, people. Right. Here. You know exactly what that is. Asking me won’t make it go away.

Wee bit nippy out.

I owe you a cheerfulness offset. #socute https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-pictures/2623/Giraffe-reaches-over-to-meet-a-friend https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-pictures/2623/Giraffe-reaches-over-to-meet-a-friend

Multi-drug resistant salmonella. Thanks, industrial agriculture and the influence you buy in Congress. Guess where else MDR Salmonella is lurking? Commercial pork. Just waiting for that outbreak. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/17/health/raw-chicken-salmonella/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/17/health/raw-chicken-salmonella/index.html

Sometimes a rock is just a rock. (no it's not) (yes it is) and so on https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/658103489/geologists-question-evidence-of-ancient-life-in-3-7-billion-year-old-rocks https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/658103489/geologists-question-evidence-of-ancient-life-in-3-7-billion-year-old-rocks

The Ellcrys Mallorn Aspen is dying. All the aspens are apparently one big aspen and it's dying. Both articles make it clear that humans messing around have created the conditions that are killing it, but we could also turn that around. I just liked the pic from the one article better. https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-biggest-organism-on-earth-is-dying-and-its-our-fau-1829818417 https://www.livescience.com/63852-failing-aspen-clone-utah.html https://www.livescience.com/63852-failing-aspen-clone-utah.html

Well, this is kind of the opposite of a feel good story. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/10/12/how-an-amateur-rap-crew-stole-surveillance-tech-that-tracks-almost-every-american/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/10/12/how-an-amateur-rap-crew-stole-surveillance-tech-that-tracks-almost-every-american/

Harumph Morning

Yeah, well, it's just [fill in the blank]. It's not like it's a disease . https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/10/15/656669752/report-world-support-for-mental-health-care-is-pitifully-small https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/10/15/656669752/report-world-support-for-mental-health-care-is-pitifully-small

Headline: Paralyzing polio-like illness mainly affecting children confirmed in 22 states, CDC says It's "like polio" because they have found no polio virus in any of the patients. Otherwise, it is clinically very similar. So it paralyzes, but they haven't figured out a specific single cause that links every single case. Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist who has treated children with AFM at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, said AFM is “exquisitely rare.” But, if their child is diagnosed, parents should prepare for extensive physical therapy — therapy that isn’t always covered by insurance , he said. Some children paralyzed by AFM have eventually regained their ability to walk, but need time. And why would it be that therapy is not covered? Because that means short of a new Sister Kenny in Minneapolis or Franklin Roosevelt's Warm Springs facility that provides rehab for free, you can guarantee that there will be permanently disabled children, just lik...

Do you ever get the feeling you are constantly having to rescue and take responsibility for other people and this may be impinging on your ability to live your own freaking life? Asking for a friend. (Do not even with the oh, that's so easy, just take care of yourself first type of comments. My friend will hurt you.)

Mock me all you want, but do you who know of such things have any opinions on appropriate places to get an iphone SE or iphone 6? There are reasons, but since Apple doesn't sell them anymore, I'm not familiar with whether there are any reasonable other options that are semi-trustworthy. Edit: Oh, and I should say it needs to be CDMA/GSM unlocked.

Yesterday, - I wed and fed the lawn. (weeded and feeded?) - I took the window air conditioner out of the window and put it away. (last week is probably the last time we'll see 80s for a while.) - I went over schedules with my mother. (oh, the humanity.) - I worked on a timeline with my sister to help re-orient my dad. - We (me, my sister, my niece, and my dad) went to the local firehouse annual open house. (My sister was here Saturday night for less than 24 hours.) Our fire company is and has been a volunteer company for a very long time. Which is how you end up with people you know personally as firefighters. For example, when we were in high school, one of our neighbors was my sister's ballet teacher (guy) and a firefighter, and my Girl Scout leader's husband was the fire chief.

Good grief. https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/9lgfg8/my_wife_has_been_waiting_for_2_days_for_me_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/9lgfg8/my_wife_has_been_waiting_for_2_days_for_me_to/

#lolMinneapolis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTaHI8sRXTw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTaHI8sRXTw

Three sisters dressing as the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus for Halloween. There's a whole photo shoot. Spunky! #IPutASpellOnYou https://www.facebook.com/hrustphotography/photos/pcb.1889994341090899/1889990757757924/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/hrustphotography/photos/pcb.1889994341090899/1889990757757924/?type=3

This is both really awful and totally awesome - WARNING - it is a mash-up of a pregnancy photo shoot and Alien . You know, the Facehugger Chestburster alien, with the whole John Hurt thing. Don't click through if that cross-over would distress you. https://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/2618/Couple-s-Maternity-Shoot-In-A-Pumpkin-Patch-Has-A-Terrifying-Ending https://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/2618/Couple-s-Maternity-Shoot-In-A-Pumpkin-Patch-Has-A-Terrifying-Ending

- locked - Mostly just documenting while venting. My mother just told my dad that whether or not she took him for a ride depended on whether or not he cancelled the scheduled visit from the Hospice social worker. Then she looked out the window, saw that it was raining, and said nevermind. Wtaf?! Like, don't even bother to offer to take someone for a ride if it's such an inconvenience if they can't accommodate your terribly busy schedule. I mean, sick people are so annoying that way. Also, still really pissed off that the special cancer center blew off my dad's heart health and gave him chemo anyway, and now apparently even though the reason he's in hospice is cancer, they don't want him getting his heart checked out. He's not in for heart failure - how is it not a quality of life/comfort issue to make sure his heart isn't having problems that could be adding to his fatigue and exhaustion? Because he received chemo that could have damaged his heart? So, w...

I should read this study, but it's over 100 pages long, so not sure that's gonna happen any time soon. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/large-majorities-dislike-political-correctness/572581/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/large-majorities-dislike-political-correctness/572581/

This week, the Supreme Court declined to overturn North Dakota's controversial voter ID law, which requires residents to show identification with a current street address. A P.O. box does not qualify. Why doesn't a PO box qualify? There are any number of reasons a person may not have a personal home address and that, afaik, does not disenfranchise you. Unless we want to be literal and original and go back to I guess the late 1700's and require property ownership to vote. In which case an address is invalid, because anyone who rents and has an address is not a property owner. What is it with people and believing in these provably false boogey men who are committing non-existent voter fraud? THERE IS NO VOTER FRAUD. There's just a lot of scared white people who think returning to some non-existent nostalgic version of 1950 will fix everything. As if that were even possible. https://www.npr.org/2018/10/13/657125819/many-native-ids-wont-be-accepted-at-north-dakota-polling-p...

And if you think it won't be misused, well, think of what the Nazis accomplished without this. Now imagine what they would have done with this. It isn't hyperbolic to point this out and say that we need preemptive and retroactive laws on this. The Nazis were brilliant bureaucrats who had a mission to eliminate anyone they thought didn't belong in the population. They had all kinds of current science and data and public records and people voted them into office and were very happy about getting rid of undesirables. Knowing what China is doing right now with your citizenship score and not even tracking DNA to control and wipe out entire populations should make it clear that large scale eugenics/genocide/whatever you want to call it is still happening in the world. The Trump administration is exactly the kind of people who would claim they were using DNA to reunite children separated from their parents if they could figure out how to do that. Only then they'd give it to IC...

Hey, classic literature nerds. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/is-the-aeneid-a-celebration-of-empire-or-a-critique https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/is-the-aeneid-a-celebration-of-empire-or-a-critique

I think one can safely say I am in 'hate all the things' mode, at present. I should definitely find some food I can keep down, though, or I will make myself feel worse. Challenge being there is a huge mental/emotional component that leaves the whole food thing in question, since apparently the stomach is the seat of emotion.

Hello Average Eligible Voter - You think voting for these people is going to benefit you how, again? “If I had to live my life over again, I would have been in the real estate business,” said Jonathan Blattmachr, a well-known trusts and estates lawyer, now a principal at Pioneer Wealth Partners, who reviewed the Kushner documents. “It’s fantastic. You get tax deductions for things you don’t pay for.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/business/jared-kushner-taxes.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/business/jared-kushner-taxes.html

Headline: Pennsylvania Republican candidate threatens to stomp on opponent's face I know Trump and his mouth are your (the group you/your) role model for success, now, but you really need to think about who you are and what you are doing if you choose to be this person. Understand that any ordinary person who did this should be subject to legal attention, for good reason. Understand that one of the root values of American republicanism is that we don't do this. As much fun as it might be to bring up Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, we are well past the era of duels for personal honor and even at the time it was not universally well looked upon. Unlike many other governments through the years, we are not in the habit of brutalizing, killing, or imprisoning our opponents or those with whom we disagree or compete. Unlike the Senate, where it is now ok to be personally grossly inappropriate in a job interview, this type of behavior should in and of itself be disqualifying. Anyon...

The picture of privilege. You would think if one was going to engage in an anti-bullying campaign, they would at least work to understand the basic definition of bullying. Yes, there is a clinical definition, and it includes exactly what is pointed out in this article - a power imbalance. It's really hard to have enough power to be a potential bully of the flotus. Mean, yes. Bully? That's a very high bar to clear. It's particularly amazing that she made this statement during an interview in Kenya, where there have been studies noting the rates of bullying in Kenyan schools is very high. Bets on whether she knew any of this before she went there? I wouldn't, since she seems to have spent absolutely none of her trip addressing that. I get that everyone can't know everything, but she's the flotus. Who prepared her for this trip? What preparation did she do? This is supposed to be her signature issue. And she has the ignorance (presumed) and the arrogance to say she...

If I go to bed now, I will be up by 4am. I have no idea what I would do with myself at 4am since nothing is open that early and a lot of what I would do here would wake other people. But I don't really feel all that motivated to do anything now, since I don't want to stay up for several hours, either. Really, I think there's just a general lack of motivation, energy, and interest in much of anything at the moment. Woo.

In the fictitious world of imaginary kindergarten/elementary grade report cards, mine would definitely say "does not deal well with crazy people". In the totally non-judgmental, colloquial sense of the word.

- locked - Today is not shaping up to be a good day. I got some sleep, I thought I might do ok, and then I ended up dealing with what might as well be dementia (in someone else) and the entire morning is shot to hell and I am exhausted already and kind of want to just walk the fuck away from everything. Clearly, I am frustrated, but I also feel kind of trapped right now and like giving up. Exhaustion sucks and I am not taking care of myself because it is a whole lot easier to say than to do and, you know, I have my own issues with being busted and all. So, yeah. I thought it would be an ok day but it's not. Resilience level is apparently not high at the moment. I guess. Maybe it's just my energy level. What's the difference? Whatever it is I am spoon deficit.

It would be great if this is the correct interpretation of this letter published in Nature. The letter itself has a lot of math and stats and is a little over my head for a quick read to see if it says what this says it says. You know me, always questioning until it's been tested. Short version is that if you have a so-called "hot streak" in your career it is not automatically supposed to happen under the age of 45 (or even younger). It can happen at any age, any time. Also, it is not related to productivity. Inference being it is therefore wrong to assume everyone is washed up after 30, or whatever age bias you're working with. https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/10/career-peaks-can-happen-at-any-age-according-to-new-study.html https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/10/career-peaks-can-happen-at-any-age-according-to-new-study.html

I mean, that kinda is the best come back, ever. Six years later, Mailer threw a drink at Vidal and punched him. Prostrate on the carpet, Vidal managed to utter the immortal line: "As usual, words fail him." https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/greatest-feuds-literary-history/norman-mailer-left-vs-gore-vidal/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/greatest-feuds-literary-history/norman-mailer-left-vs-gore-vidal/

One of many reasons I could never be ok with the Catholic church. (The Church formerly known as the Mormons isn't covering itself with glory in regards to public announcements and policies right now, either.) Basically, I am not big on organized religion, especially not when it's all conservative, chauvinist, and misogynist. The problem is these are large, influential organizations and the beliefs (good or bad) they promote get into the public discourse and into the civil society and laws. (I know they didn't write it into the Constitution, but there are many reasons to keep church and state separated.) https://www.vox.com/2018/10/10/17960060/pope-francis-abortion-hit-man-vatican https://www.vox.com/2018/10/10/17960060/pope-francis-abortion-hit-man-vatican

Geez, this is harsh. I imagine the laws aren't any softer the other direction. Whatever happened to having an open border and international friendship and all that? http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2018/10/10/canada-marijuana-law-dwi-implications-us http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2018/10/10/canada-marijuana-law-dwi-implications-us

Oh, good. Some hornets or wasps or whatever have decided that inside our siding is a good place to build a nest for winter. Time to find an exterminator. (Maybe they can get rid of the stink bugs that suddenly seem to be everywhere, too.)

Unsurprisingly to anyone, Chris Collins publicly admitted that he decided to run for his seat again after all so he and the right wing Trump Republicans can retain control of the seat. By implication, to prevent anyone who is less reactionary or, gods forbid, socialist , from doing horrible things to the country. Iow, it's more important to cling desperately to power than to step aside and let people contest the seat. Because apparently all the other potential GOP candidates were inferior to Collins. Because the American system is not about the peaceful transfer of power based on input from the American voting public. Because Collins' district is in no way at all gerrymandered (in favor of GOP). Nope, totally not. I swear if there was a Reichstag to burn down, these people would do it. Not that they aren't trying for metaphorical ones.

Nice try, La Croix haters. #sciencefail https://www.popsci.com/lacroix-lawsuit-natural-synthetic-flavors https://www.popsci.com/lacroix-lawsuit-natural-synthetic-flavors

Creepy cool. Bees freeze at solar eclipse totality. https://academic.oup.com/aesa/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aesa/say035/5123345 https://academic.oup.com/aesa/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aesa/say035/5123345

tl;dr Why do we think having machines doing our hiring is better than having humans do it? Guys, hey, guys. Math is not inherently objective, machines are not inherently objective, algorithms are totally the opposite of objective . You have to decide what biases you want built in and select for those. Either you are biased for diversity of gender, race, education, etc., or you are biased against. There is no fairy la-la land where gender, race, unequal access to education and so forth suddenly cease to exist. Stop lying to yourselves and everyone else. Meanwhile, the Reuters article contains these choice bits: Some 55 percent of U.S. human resources managers said artificial intelligence, or AI, would be a regular part of their work within the next five years, ... Employers have long dreamed of harnessing technology to widen the hiring net and reduce reliance on subjective opinions of human recruiters. I don't quite know how to put this, but if you are hiring humans who might have ...

It would seem the gray whales do, indeed, live in Puget Sound. Silly people on that boat. http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/washington-state-north-puget-sound-gray-whale-photo-id-and-feeding-study-cascadia-research-studies-0 http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/washington-state-north-puget-sound-gray-whale-photo-id-and-feeding-study-cascadia-research-studies-0

Three Pinocchios, but she apologized. Sure, ok, smh. Actual headline: Susan Collins’s wrong claim on Planned Parenthood and Supreme Court justices You know, I was really conflicted about the attacks on her. I still think Graham, Grassley, and several others deserve more opprobrium and I am never ok with doxxing and the usual crap that gets thrown at women, specifically. However, after this and some other things, I would be looking to support someone not Collins. I don't know how she convinced herself to toe the party line, here, but there is some clearly bad news business underlying her approach and beliefs. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/09/susan-collinss-wrong-claim-planned-parenthood-supreme-court-justices/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a71d75537060 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/09/susan-collinss-wrong-claim-planned-parenthood-supreme-court-justices/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a71d75537060

There are a lot of things wrong with this. tl;dr Old fashioned vote buying but with much worse implications than a direct exchange of cash. Trump will literally destroy this country just to get votes and keep lying and promoting his own ignorance and his rich "friends". And people will keep voting for him out of manipulated self-interest. 1) We grow too much corn. Very little is used for food and this does not benefit the small family farmer the agriculture lobby would like us to think it does. It benefits the giant conglomerates like ADM. Not to mention a lot of our farmland isn't even American owned anymore. 2) Monsanto directly or indirectly controls essentially all of the corn 'seed' in this country (possibly the world). Another conglomerate benefiting from growing more corn, but not any ordinary American farmers or American seed companies. 3) Ethanol is damaging to the insides of most cars. Sure, some of the newest cars were built with this in mind, but ther...

Cubs fans. https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-videos/7639/Cubs-Fans-Cheer-On-A-Rat-Who-039-s-Trying-To-Leap-To-Freedom https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-videos/7639/Cubs-Fans-Cheer-On-A-Rat-Who-039-s-Trying-To-Leap-To-Freedom

Fsck you, Cramer. My mom never got raped because she was tough is a BS argument. How do you even know what happened to the women in your family? Newsflash - you don't, because there's no way any of them ever told you anything that personal and devastating because that's how you'd respond. (Asshole alert at the NYT link and below picture.) I wish I lived in ND just so I could vote for Heidi Heitkamp. (The CNN link is a heck of a read about her and why she voted against Kavanaugh.) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/us/politics/heidi-heitkamp-kevin-cramer-metoo.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/08/politics/heidi-heitkamp-kavanaugh-cnn-interview/index.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/us/politics/heidi-heitkamp-kevin-cramer-metoo.html

Last thoughts for the evening: People are pissed off at Taylor Swift because she is the living embodiment of a blond, white, upper middle class, suburban, Southern female. Meaning she looks like what all that is and everyone assumes since it's all in her background it is what she is. Apparently, you can't be all those things and have an opinion, too, never mind say something in public. Just be pretty, and sweet, and let people assume things and it'll all be fine. Busting their assumption bubbles is making people feel betrayed. If you can't trust a blond white woman to be solidly on the side of the 1950s, who can you trust? And that's my philosophizing for the evening. Good night, folks.

Thing that sucks about losing g+ uniquely to me - connections I kept up with a small number of Canadia groups. The groups'll just disappear, not migrate anywhere because they were not super formal, but it was surprisingly hard to find small, reasonable social networking to keep up from there. Plus, it's where I found the snowflake photography guy and his stuff. He has a web page, though, so I can probably look at that occasionally if I think of it. #thanksgoogle

I have been very irritable today. Not a good day for dealing with my mom and her passive aggressive behaviors. But I am going to bed early and then it will not be today anymore.

Sigh. http://blog.saucony.com/pumpkin-spice-grid-sd/ http://blog.saucony.com/pumpkin-spice-grid-sd/

- mild lock - I'm pretty sure I hit a wall this weekend. I'm going to try and see if I can individually meet with/talk with hospice because there are things about this whole situation that are bothering me a great deal and I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. I went and did some stuff this weekend but I felt both guilty for leaving and at one point afraid of what might happen leaving some people alone. Which had to do with some stuff that happened and there are things hospice is just not equipped to deal with, it turns out. We completely and totally suck at dealing with psychosocial issues in this country. We really do.

Women complain about everything. #sarcasm https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/physics-gender-issues-speech-sexism-women-1.4853705 https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/physics-gender-issues-speech-sexism-women-1.4853705

Last weekend I was asked to make enough pumpkin pecan pancakes so that in addition to immediate eating and next day eating, there would be lots to freeze for a future time. Behold, roughly 5 dozen pumpkin pecan pancakes. There was also bacon.

Paula's flavor or the month: Pumpkin (spice) cream. Personally, I find the vanilla icing much too sweet in this situation, but the pumpkin part is an acceptable incarnation of the genre.

This is my shocked face. P.S. Regardless, walking as exercise is still good for you. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-goal-of-10-000-steps-a-day-is-not-based-in-science-says-expert-in-walking-behaviour-1.4851826 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-goal-of-10-000-steps-a-day-is-not-based-in-science-says-expert-in-walking-behaviour-1.4851826

Not that we haven't discussed this to death, but there are some useful thoughts in this article. Such as: a majority of Republican men (61 percent) and a plurality of Republican women (48 percent) said they would consider voting for a political candidate facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Only 19 percent of Democratic men and 14 percent of Democratic women took this view. The PRRI data found that 80 percent of Democrats think politics would be improved if more women were in office, compared with just 31 percent of Republicans. A variety of studies of the 2016 election have suggested that conservatives who backed Trump did so in part because they were wary of a culture war that they felt they were losing. Pushes for gender equality, by a number of measures, are more popular with Democratic men than Republican women. I think Graham and Trump, even if they have not studied the data, have figured this out. And while those two were perhaps the most vocal in suggesting the...

Hi, I'm being obnoxious. Vote for the cutest dog in Washtenaw county! Please and thank you. Edit: I should clarify - you have to click on this photo, then scroll down the instagram contest page and click on the heart under his picture. https://1.shortstack.com/CNhcRC/ptKF6?w=70693693&e=199087359