Minivanessa

@BetyBee - Happy anniversary!! ❤️ ❤️

I've stopped following this show and now that I've dropped TV from my Xfinity package I only have access to whatever episodes are available to stream on Max. Today I watched this video on YT by Dr. Mike. I think he shows compassion toward Cynthia and makes some IMO sensible critiques of Dr. Now's approach to the patient. I remember this episode; Cynthia was amazingly mobile considering her weight. At least she didn't just lie in bed and eat. I don't know how she's doing now but I hope she's at a better weight and in better health. EDITED to add: I found her on FB; she seems to have maintained quite a weight loss, so good for her.

"Congradulations."

I actually don't disagree very strongly with your position about this. I can see it, but I'm just not there with it. I absolutely agree that psychopaths can be master manipulators especially over the course of a long intimate relationship. I'm also not in love with everything Cathy did, and I agree that anger is corrosive when held on to for too long. I may watch this series again. If I do, I wouldn't be surprised if some of my opinions change a bit. To the extent of feeling some grace toward Brenda, anyway. Bottom line for me: the poor kid was abused and killed, and Cathy was devastated to know that she gave her child up with good intentions, only to have her suffer such a fate . So much cruelty and tragedy, more than enough to go around.

I've just resubscribed to NF so I'm catching up. I thought this documentary was excellent. I have no use for Brenda. At all. Cathy's anger about the remains was jarring, but I can see how she'd feel that way. After Dennis was finally caught for killing her daughter - he and Brenda trash-talked Cathy, sneering that she "abandoned" her daughter. WTAF? So giving a baby up for adoption is evil? Or justifies the adoptive parents freaking KILLING the child and burying the body? Oh, excuse me, it was just the adoptive father who did that. Brenda had no clue. Sure, Jan. "Gracious" is not a word I would apply to Brenda.

My understanding is that c-diff is more of an infectious process than something you get just from your own gut bacteria getting out of whack. I knew someone who had c-diff and it was awful; she got it from caring for a parent - who had got it while in a nursing home after surgery. She had medical issues of her own and I'm not sure her digestive system ever really recovered from c diff. Ugh. The C diff bacterium does apparently spread easily in hospitals, which makes sense. I hope Amy doesn't go home with more medical problems than she already had!

Apropos of the discussion a few days ago, this popped up on my FB feed today: I hope everyone has had, or continues to have, enjoyable holidays. Even if the trees occasionally fall over and the ornaments go awry. Happy 2025 to us all!

Correct.

Today's update on Jill's sister, from the Praying for Amy Foster FB page. It's good that there are signs of improvement, but I assume she's still in serious condition.

I saw that post on the public "Praying for Amy Foster" FB page. Here's a quote: It really does seem grim. I don't think that doctors would want to put a patient on a ventilator without good reason.

Humility and tact were left out of Jill's deck of cards entirely.

Jessa's the queen of grime. We know there's almost no chance that she'll scar her kids emotionally by exposing them to compulsive house cleaning.

I've just watched the Paramount+ original true crime miniseries, The Pillowcase Murders. I was familiar with the underlying story - in fact I may have posted about it somewhere in these forums, if not upthread here. I thought it was well done. It's the story of the murders of at least 22 elderly people (all but one women) in the Dallas area - and the attempted murders of two women. Most of them occurred in upscale retirement living complexes, and the killer's MO was to smother the victims with pillows and steal their jewelry. Although I'd read about the case(s), it was still kind of jaw dropping to see how the deaths were routinely treated as "natural causes" even when there were yellow, and sometimes red, flags to be seen if anyone was looking. Those were upscale facilities, at least one of them in the "luxury" class. I'm not poor, but I doubt I could afford to live in any of them. But security was - lax, and sometimes nonexistent. And the corporate management policies seemed to be, shut up, don't make waves, don't call the cops, we don't want to get a reputation as a place with any problems. Ugh. Once the suburban Plano cops got on the trail after suspicious deaths in a facility in their jurisdiction, the investigation widened into Dallas etc., and good grief there was a LOT of evidence of prior suspicious deaths that had been overlooked or ignored. I empathized with the grieving children, grandchildren, and nephew of the victims. They were plunged into a nightmare scenario and I applaud their strength and resilience, and persistence. The perp was arrested and indicted for a big number of capital murders. He went to trial on two cases, and was convicted on both, with a life-without-parole sentence for each one. Those convictions ensured he'd never be free. The DA decided to dismiss the remaining indictments, and some of the survivors were upset by that. I thought some of them were really over the top and unreasonable about it. I can't remember the exact words but one or two of them said the dismissals meant their mother's case meant nothing and there was no justice, etc. At least one of them, however, acknowledged in passing that the DA and courts have limited resources. I mean, really, with all the serious criminal cases that must be pending Dallas in need of prosecution, how could the DA justify taking eleven more murder cases to trial, just to obtain essentially pointless additional convictions? That's a lot of courtroom and law enforcement time and resources that could be better spent. The series features the lawyers who represented several of the victims in litigation against the living facilities' owners. It was encouraging that one of the facilities apparently made meaningful security improvements, but the biggest most luxurious one, with the most murders, seems to be stonewalling. Bah.

Yes. The church may be tax exempt, but the people who are paid for services by it, are not exempt from paying income tax - including missionaries. That link is to an article that's a quick look at the subject; there are some potential exemptions but generally, as you said, David/Jill should get a 1099 from the clearinghouse.

What grinds my gears when it comes to JillR, is that her "thanking God" reeks of pride that she's extra special righteous and has earned God's blessings, vs. a genuine humble gratitude. She's been saved, doncha know, and is going to heaven, unlike 99.99999% of the world's people who are unsaved sinners. I'm not slamming people of faith, who grapple sincerely with the whys and wherefores of the evils and tragedies of this life. I do not think JillR is one of those people, and I loathe her claiming God's blessings to promote her stupid MLM scam.