Small Talk: Out of Genoa

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, boes said:

I have this great doctor I just know you'd feel comfortable with, 

It's Dr.

Bedside manner is tops!

roll, roll, roll in the hay...

[pearlite]

Buon compleano, mio vecchio Snaporaz! Mi spiace--ho dimenticato. Non ho scuse.

And I really have no excuse as your birthday is the same as PLL's--which you always remember.

Edited January 3, 2020 by pearlite

[jewel21]

Snap is Italian?

[Snaporaz]

9 hours ago, pearlite said:

Buon compleano, mio vecchio Snaporaz! Mi spiace--ho dimenticato. Non ho scuse.

And I really have no excuse as your birthday is the same as PLL's--which you always remember.

Non ti preoccupare, cara...anch'io ho dimenticato il mio compleanno!  (I really did forget!  I needed a car repair that is expected to take about 5 hours, and I initially made the appointment for my birthday before it dawned on me that it was, you know, my birthday and I didn't particularly want to spend 5 hours of it at the mechanic's! 

1 hour ago, jewel21 said:

Snap is Italian?

I'm a 1st-generation American of Italian descent.  Broken English is my mother tongue!   

Did you decide to stay at the dental office, jewel? 

[jewel21]

3 hours ago, Snaporaz said:

Non ti preoccupare, cara...anch'io ho dimenticato il mio compleanno!  (I really did forget!  I needed a car repair that is expected to take about 5 hours, and I initially made the appointment for my birthday before it dawned on me that it was, you know, my birthday and I didn't particularly want to spend 5 hours of it at the mechanic's! 

I'm a 1st-generation American of Italian descent.  Broken English is my mother tongue!   

Did you decide to stay at the dental office, jewel? 

First generation Canadian of Italian and Polish descent. I'm surprised I was able to understand what everyone wrote, lol. I don't read it and I barely speak it, but I sort of understand a bit of it. And what I do speak is mostly Neapolitan dialect. 

I left the dental office. After the first shift he was less creepy but it was really unprofessional. The second shift consisted of yelling between him and a patient in the room, and the third shift was him and his wife bickering in front of everyone with his wife storming out for an hour at one point leaving me alone behind the front desk. She would like me back and maybe if I'm super desperate I might pick up a shift or two, but the Ophthalmologist will be back on the 13th and I will be able to pick up an extra shift until the end of February. After that we will see what happens I guess. I'll have to figure something out because in the summer I don't work at the eye clinic and I'll be down to working only 3 days a week until September or October. 

[Petunia13]

Last night I got a scratch on my cornea. I’ve been wearing an eye patch and keeping my eye closed, but my other “good” eye when it moves makes the hurt one move so I’m tried to keep the both shut when I can. I called off work and said why and my boss texted me saying that wasn’t allowed and he’d write me up or fire me. I showed up w my patch and tears streaming out from under it and he made fun of it then told me I should have gotten my shift covered days ago 🤔 (it was hurt at 10:30 pm after work last night..and I don’t have all the servers numbers to call/text them in the late night)  .... then he sent me home since I looked “funny” but didn’t say feel better just that it would have been easy for me to get a person to pick up my shift.

I hope it heals by Monday I have an interview at a steakhouse and Tuesday or Wednesday and interview at that v fancy landmark restaurant that I’m dying to work for. 

Anyhow I think these are pretty common and this should heal on its own w rest. 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Petunia13 said:

Last night I got a scratch on my cornea. I’ve been wearing an eye patch and keeping my eye closed, but my other “good” eye when it moves makes the hurt one move so I’m tried to keep the both shut when I can. I called off work and said why and my boss texted me saying that wasn’t allowed and he’d write me up or fire me. I showed up w my patch and tears streaming out from under it and he made fun of it then told me I should have gotten my shift covered days ago 🤔 (it was hurt at 10:30 pm after work last night..and I don’t have all the servers numbers to call/text them in the late night)  .... then he sent me home since I looked “funny” but didn’t say feel better just that it would have been easy for me to get a person to pick up my shift.

I hope it heals by Monday I have an interview at a steakhouse and Tuesday or Wednesday and interview at that v fancy landmark restaurant that I’m dying to work for. 

Anyhow I think these are pretty common and this should heal on its own w rest. 

i don't believe in hell but if there is one i hope that guy burns forever. he didn't say it so i will; feel better petunia. we need a special ward for hurt and maimed preverts.

Edited January 4, 2020 by peacheslatour

[bannana]

49 minutes ago, Petunia13 said:

I hope it heals by Monday I have an interview at a steakhouse and Tuesday or Wednesday and interview at that v fancy landmark restaurant that I’m dying to work for. 

Good luck with the interviews!

16 hours ago, jewel21 said:

I left the dental office. After the first shift he was less creepy but it was really unprofessional. The second shift consisted of yelling between him and a patient in the room, and the third shift was him and his wife bickering in front of everyone with his wife storming out for an hour at one point leaving me alone behind the front desk. She would like me back and maybe if I'm super desperate I might pick up a shift or two, but the Ophthalmologist will be back on the 13th and I will be able to pick up an extra shift until the end of February. After that we will see what happens I guess. I'll have to figure something out because in the summer I don't work at the eye clinic and I'll be down to working only 3 days a week until September or October. 

Wow, it is really disheartening to hear the kind of things that women are still being put through in the workplace.  My last workplace was also toxic but in a different way.

[SweePea59]

Oh Petunia! That sucks. But stay in a positive zone and just focus on a better future when you are on your interviews. Don't bring that negative creep in with you (in your mind). Wishing you very good luck!!!

 

(Ooooops, sorry. This was supposed to be a separate post. Oh well, better stick to my new year's resolution - *$#%!!!!!)

Edited January 4, 2020 by SweePea59

[Cupid Stunt]

Lord of the Powers be with Petunia, for in times of distress we have no other help but You. Have mercy. Almighty Father, come to Petunia's help and deliver her from this trial. All of life is under Your care. Shoulder the fear, anxiety and distress, and help her to endure with faith, courage and wisdom. Grant that this trial will bring her closer to You. We trust in Your love and compassion. Blessed is Your name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

Deadly fires are threatening Australia's way of life

 

Columnist Nora McInerny leaves Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine over issue featuring Garrison Keillor -- McInerny isn’t convinced Keillor has earned her forgiveness, or anyone else’s, for that matter. “Redemption includes contrition and action,” she wrote Tuesday. “Happy Holidays!” -- Nora McInerny's podcast is worth a listen.

 

A decade on earth captured from space

 

Culture in the 2010s was obsessed with finding community and building walls

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

 

Japanese woman turns 117 years old, extends record as world's oldest person

 

From opioid deaths to student debt: A view of the 2010s economy in charts

 

Sex, explained -- Got your attention?

 

 

 

[Snaporaz]

I hope your eye heals quickly, Petunia.  And fingers are crossed for the fancy landmark restaurant!  Good luck!

The pictures out of Australia are horrifying.  And now we're going to war.  It's all just too much...

23 hours ago, SweePea59 said:

(Ooooops, sorry. This was supposed to be a separate post. Oh well, better stick to my new year's resolution - *$#%!!!!!)

 I love Mutts comics!  I met Patrick McDonnell about five years ago, and he was super nice.  He graciously autographed my copy of A Shtinky Little Christmas with a quick sketch of Shtinky Puddin' underneath his signature.  Reading his strip every day calms me down after reading about fires and wars and etc...

[Cupid Stunt]

20 hours ago, Snaporaz said:

The pictures out of Australia are horrifying.  And now we're going to war.  It's all just too much...

Yeah … Things are taking a very grim turn.

On 1/4/2020 at 4:54 PM, SweePea59 said:

(Ooooops, sorry. This was supposed to be a separate post. Oh well, better stick to my new year's resolution - *$#%!!!!!)

You're doing a fine job on your resolution, SweePea.

20 hours ago, Snaporaz said:

I love Mutts comics!  I met Patrick McDonnell about five years ago, and he was super nice.  He graciously autographed my copy of A Shtinky Little Christmas with a quick sketch of Shtinky Puddin' underneath his signature.  Reading his strip every day calms me down after reading about fires and wars and etc...

Lovely memory, Snap. Mutts is the best!

[Cupid Stunt]

What is private equity, and why is it killing everything you love?

 

A member of Iraq's Kurdish Jewish community takes part in a ceremony on the last night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the Iraqi town of Al-Qosh, 50 km north of Mosul, on December 29, 2019. Safin Hamed / AFP / Getty

The Atlantic -- Photos of the Week: Hogmanay Fire, London Bubble, Icy Trees

 

TANGO - Mauro Caiazza and Daniela Kizyma

 

9 winners and one really big loser from the 2020 Golden Globes

 

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[jewel21]

For some reason Steve got spooked last night when I came back from the bathroom. He started thrashing in his cage and I had to turn on the light to get him to stop. Chest heaving, he went back onto his branch and I turned off the light. I went to place my duvet over me in the dark and he freaked out again and started thrashing.  As a result, we had to sleep with the light on and I slept badly and messed up my right arm somehow during the night. I could barely move it this morning it hurt so bad and it's still bothering me a bit. 

[peacheslatour]

just got back from the doctor. no cast. he said it's a minor fracture and i can just keep wearing the brace my dh got me. still 4 - 6 weeks though. damn my gp for her "yeah but you still have a broken arm" comment. so yay.

[Petunia13]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

just got back from the doctor. no cast. he said it's a minor fracture and i can just keep wearing the brace my dh got me. still 4 - 6 weeks though. damn my gp for her "yeah but you still have a broken arm" comment. so yay.

Is it the brace device that is basically a plastic thicc AF corset tube you slip on? I’ve broken a lot of bones and that seemed ineffectual AF in concept the first time a doctor presented it to me but used pretty much 24/7 did fuse a fracture back together. When I broke my wrist I did have a plaster cast. That healed and works fine but the ball/angle thing at the outer edge by my wrist kinda flips up, like my forearm was resting too turned in inside the cast. 

I had an interview today and he basically made an unofficial offer saying he knew I’m interviewing elsewhere but will hold me a spot. It was a strange interview actually. At one point he almost panicked and got mad at me when he asked if I was in school and I said no and I got my bachelors degree and where. He also asked me 20 times where I got fine dining experience from and I admitted one place I didn’t list due to harassment. I’m not a good liar. 

My car is still broken. It’s out of the road and in a lot. I still have to go to the interview at the bougie AF place. If they call tomorrow I will interview they are open for brunch and lunch. I thought dinners would be the ticket but the other place is only open dinner. Plus the bougie place has events and weddings during the day and hello automatic gratuity. 

@jewel21 I hope Steve feels better soon. I know it must have been distressing he was scared or needy and random. All you want to do is comfort them and take the fear or stress away and it’s a helpless feeling. 

[Cupid Stunt]

'Your call is important to us': Not really, -- No kidding.

 

Harvey Weinstein charged with sexual assault and rape in Los Angeles

 

 

The Year in Good News 2019 and then there's the Bad News. -- We definitely don’t hear enough good news from most of our media sources. It’s mostly bad news and “feel good” news -- that’s what sells. Note that “feel good” news is not the same as substantive good news and is sometimes even bad news, e.g. heartwarming stories that are actually indicators of societal failures.

 In the article from The Guardian, Oliver Burkeman addresses some of the reasons to be skeptical of claims that the world’s citizens have never been safer, healthier, and wealthier than they are now -- "But the New Optimists aren’t primarily interested in persuading us that human life involves a lot less suffering than it did a few hundred years ago. (Even if you’re a card-carrying pessimist, you probably didn’t need convincing of that fact.) Nestled inside that essentially indisputable claim, there are several more controversial implications. For example: that since things have so clearly been improving, we have good reason to assume they will continue to improve. And further — though this is a claim only sometimes made explicit in the work of the New Optimists — that whatever we’ve been doing these past decades, it’s clearly working, and so the political and economic arrangements that have brought us here are the ones we ought to stick with. Optimism, after all, means more than just believing that things aren’t as bad as you imagined: it means having justified confidence that they will be getting even better soon."

 

The Cloud Appreciation Society

 

 

[peacheslatour]

has anyone heard from anna yolei lately? it seems like she hasn't been around.

[bannana]

9 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

has anyone heard from anna yolei lately? it seems like she hasn't been around.

I saw recent posts on the Bold/Beautiful.  And they were good ones! 😁

[Petunia13]

4 hours ago, bannana said:

I saw recent posts on the Bold/Beautiful.  And they were good ones! 😁

Yeah. She’s a pretty good historian and memory for B&B which is even more remarkable since she mentioned once in this thread or forum, I believe, that she’s not yet 30. 

Y&R is so boring rn and so many characters I hate or don’t give a damn about... for me I literally only keep up with the show here and there so I can be a member of this forum. I barely ever hear people in the gym or workplaces talk about it, occasionally people talk about or tune into Days, B&B, or General Mobsters. I wonder what the ratings are like rn. I still think ABC should have held onto AMC and OLTL i think that not only drove off their viewers but the viewers that would tune in randomly onto other soaps. 

[Cupid Stunt]

California is suing a Silicon Valley billionaire for blocking public access to a beach

 

Strange Beasts, a sci-fi short about an augmented reality game. Magali Barbé wrote and directed this short sci-fi video about an imaginary augmented reality game called Strange Beasts. It starts off with a “hey, yeah, cool, augemented reality games are going to be fun to play” vibe but gradually veers down the same dystopian path as a lot of augmented reality fictions.

 

Most recent articles on the Australia wildfires

 

A staggering 1 billion animals are now estimated dead in Australia’s fires -- The number of kangaroos, koalas, and others killed keeps skyrocketing. Here’s where the eye-popping estimate comes from.

 

Product designer Jonna Breitenhuber has come up with an interesting way to get rid of plastic shampoo and body wash containers: by packaging the liquids in bottles made of slow-dissolving soap. Jonna Breitenhuber page

 

 

Squirrel!

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

Do you want to help Australia's Wildfire Relief and Recovery?

• Australia Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery
• New South Wales RURAL FIRE SERVICE Donation Page
• Country Fire Authority -- Donations, Sponsorship & Fundraising
• South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) Foundation for Volunteer Firefighters
• Emergency Management Victoria Community Relief Fund

[Cupid Stunt]

In Memory of Syd Mead -- The old-school artist and illustrator who designed our future.

 

How an epidemic begins and ends -- What the fight against AIDS can tell us about the fight against opioids.

 

A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof -- “What are you?” a member of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston asked at the trial of the white man who killed eight of her fellow black parishioners and their pastor. “What kind of subhuman miscreant could commit such evil?... What happened to you, Dylann?”

 

 

Michelle Williams’ Surprisingly Personal Speech About Abortion Was the Golden Globes’ Most Powerful Moment -- “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose.”

 

Installing air filters in classrooms has surprisingly large educational benefits -- $1,000 can raise a class’s test scores by as much as cutting class size by a third.

 

 

[Cupid Stunt]

Australia Wildfire update from Vox -- 

• 7 things everyone should know about Australia’s wildfire disaster -- And how to help.
• The challenge of disaster relief
• As Australia burns, its leaders are clinging to coal -- Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter, but its government is downplaying its contributions to climate change.

Reuters --

• Sizing up Australia’s bushfires -- More than 10.3 million hectares (103,000 sq km) of land - an area the size of South Korea - have been razed by bushfires across the country in recent months, with the east coast particularly hard hit. The states of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria account for 84% of that area. The figures are reported by each state’s emergency fire services.

Edited January 9, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[jewel21]

Thanks, Cupid Stunt. 

I've been thinking about donating to help the animals affected by the fires and these links help.

 

[Cupid Stunt]

At least 63 Canadians dead in Iran plane crash

 

Metafilter: “Where’s My Cut?”: On Unpaid Emotional Labor

 

La-Z-Boy and the American dream -- Embrace the Naugahyde.

 

The School of Life

 

U.S. Jobs Trail Forecasts; Wages Rise Least Since Mid-2018

 

Barbie Camper + Barbie Chemistry Lab = Barbie Breaking Bad Starter Kit

 

Worker help sought to combat Super Bowl human trafficking

 

There's an old joke that says Methodists are just Baptists that can read … The Methodist Church split over same-sex marriage, explained -- The church’s proposed splintering is one of the most drastic responses to marriage equality.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

Australian Wildfire Update:

• The viral false claim that nearly 200 arsonists are behind the Australia fires, explained -- Only a handful of fires were deliberately ignited. But that didn’t stop people from spreading misinformation.

 

Monday, January 06, 2020 -- Warrant Officer Class Two Darrel Rowe, from the 5th Aviation Squadron, searches the ground from an Australian Army CH-47F Chinook during the flight to Omeo, Victoria, Australia, to evacuate local civilian residents during Operation Bushfire Assist 19-20, January 4, 2020. Corporal Nicole Dorrett/Australian Department of Defence/Handout via REUTERS -- Reuters Pictures: Fires rage across Australia

 

• World’s largest volunteer force fights Australia’s wildfires
• An Australian ecologist explains just how bad the fires are for wildlife

 

• More contact information on how to help victims of Australia's apocalyptic wildfires

[jewel21]

Leonard DiCaprio has created a fund to help Australia and I donated. I wish I could head to Australia and save the animals personally.

[peacheslatour]

54 minutes ago, jewel21 said:

Leonard DiCaprio has created a fund to help Australia and I donated. I wish I could head to Australia and save the animals personally.

did you see the video of the australian people cheering the american fire fighters as they came into the airport in sydney? it's really heartwarming. good people news for a change.

[jewel21]

38 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

did you see the video of the australian people cheering the american fire fighters as they came into the airport in sydney? it's really heartwarming. good people news for a change.

I did. It's lovely how appreciative they are for all the help they are receiving.

 

[ByTor]

I am so seriously upset now...

Quote

 

Neil Peart, whose nearly five decades with prog-rock power-trio Rush established him as one of the greatest, most flamboyant, and most inventive virtuoso rock drummers of all time, died Tuesday after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. His death was first reported by Rolling Stone on Friday afternoon and confirmed by a family spokesperson. Peart was 67 years old.

In a statement released Friday, Rush bassist/keyboardist/frontman Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson stated: “It is with broken hearts and the deepest sadness that we must share the terrible news that on Tuesday our friend, soul brother and bandmate over 45 years, Neil, lost his incredibly brave three and a half year battle with brain cancer. We ask that friends, fans and media alike understandably respect the family’s need for privacy and peace at this extremely painful and difficult time. Those wishing to express their condolences can choose a cancer research group or charity of their choice and make a donation in Neil Peart’s name. Rest in peace, brother.”

 

 

[Capricasix]

That’s the same cancer that killed Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip.

This is sad news here in Canada - Rush is one of our defining musical acts.

[bannana]

Regarding the Ukraine Airline flight that was shot down, the Globe has a good piece about the victims.  So many young people, young families.  It's heartbreaking and getting barely any coverage in US media, though Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes did good coverage last night.  These are civilian casualties.  😢

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-students-doctors-children-ukrainian-airliner-crash-victims-had/

 

[lovemesomejoolery]

Such sad losses for Canada and the world.  My heart is broken.

[Cupid Stunt]

16 hours ago, bannana said:

Regarding the Ukraine Airline flight that was shot down, the Globe has a good piece about the victims.  So many young people, young families.  It's heartbreaking and getting barely any coverage in US media, though Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes did good coverage last night.  These are civilian casualties.  😢

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-students-doctors-children-ukrainian-airliner-crash-victims-had/

 

I beg to differ on this point -- Associated Press (left column, left click titles Iran and Ukraine), CNN (top of home page has continuous Live Update), Washington Post, NYTimes, LATimes, MSN, CBSN, Vox, etc. all have had continuous coverage of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 incident, along with all the news and official misinformation you can stomach regarding the Baghdad International Airport airstrike and its legality.

Edited January 11, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

How musicians die … In a series of three articles, Dianna Kenny examined the life expectancy of pop musicians, the myth of the 27 Club, and how genre affects popular musicians’ life expectancy. It's from the third article that this chart and quote is taken:

"For male musicians across all genres, accidental death (including all vehicular incidents and accidental overdose) accounted for almost 20% of all deaths. But accidental death for rock musicians was higher than this (24.4%) and for metal musicians higher still (36.2%).

Suicide accounted for almost 7% of all deaths in the total sample. However, for punk musicians, suicide accounted for 11% of deaths; for metal musicians, a staggering 19.3%. At just 0.9%, gospel musicians had the lowest suicide rate of all the genres studied.

Murder accounted for 6.0% of deaths across the sample, but was the cause of 51% of deaths in rap musicians and 51.5% of deaths for hip hop musicians, to date. This could be due to these genres’ strong associations with drug-related crime and gang culture.

Heart-related fatalities accounted for 17.4% of all deaths across all genres, while 28% of blues musicians died of heart-related causes. Similarly, the average percentage of deaths accounted for by cancer was 23.4%. Older genres such as folk (32.3%) and jazz (30.6%) had higher rates of fatal cancers than other genres.

In the case of the newer genres, it’s worth pointing out that members of these genres have not yet lived long enough to fall into the highest-risk ages for heart- and liver-related illnesses. Consequently, they had the lowest rates of death in these categories."

 

Fired Boeing C.E.O. Muilenburg Will Get More Than $60 Million for failing spectacularly. Nice job, if you can get one ...

 

Why nonprofits give away so much crap -- Donor gifts, like tote bags and water bottles, might do more harm than good.

 

Long wave is looooooong

Koa Smith rides in the barrel of a wave for almost 30 seconds (an amazing experience) … it just goes on and on and on, which is a bit misleading. The ride is shown twice but the first time through it’s slowed down so it lasts more than a minute. The full-speed replay starts at 2:01.

 

“The best things about being high is the view.” -- Dope Rider Rides Ever On (left click to follow New Posts comic and site progression) -- My brother was a High Times reader in 1975, and a fan of Dope Rider, a trippy, startlingly surrealistic comic strip starring a Wild West skeleton created by Paul Kirchner. In 2011, Kirchner uploaded the entire Dope Rider oeuvre and shared the back story on what may be one of the comic world’s stranger strips. The psychedelic comic features dope trading, Hells Angels references, and psychedelia popular in High Times.

 

Doctors are doing unnecessary gynecological tests on teens -- It's part of a much larger problem.

 

 

[Cupid Stunt]

I've been thinking about death and cancer for a while, and have no expectations that TIIC will treat Sharon Newman's breast cancer SL with anything close to realistic or substantive information, so I thought I would post a few old items on the subject.

 

•  In 2015, PBS aired a six-hour documentary series, Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies (available on Amazon and PBS). The series is based on 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner for General Nonfiction, Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer -- one of the most engaging and frightening books I’ve read in the past few years -- This quote is near the end of the book: "Like cancer prevention, cancer screening will also be reinvigorated by the molecular understanding of cancer. Indeed, it has already been. The discovery of the BRCA genes for breast cancer epitomizes the integration of cancer screening and cancer genetics. In the mid-1990s, building on the prior decade’s advances, researchers isolated two related genes, BRCA-1 and BRCA-2, that vastly increase the risk of developing breast cancer. A woman with an inherited mutation in BRCA-1 has a 50 to 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime (the gene also increases the risk for ovarian cancer), about three to five times the normal risk. Today, testing for this gene mutation has been integrated into prevention efforts. Women found positive for a mutation in the two genes are screened more intensively using more sensitive imaging techniques such as breast MRI. Women with BRCA mutations might choose to take the drug tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer, a strategy shown effective in clinical trials. Or, perhaps most radically, women with BRCA mutations might choose a prophylactic mastectomy of both breasts and ovaries before cancer develops, another strategy that dramatically decreases the chances of developing breast cancer."

 

• Angelina Jolie wrote effectively about her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy to hopefully ward off cancer -- "My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was. We often speak of “Mommy’s mommy,” and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer."

 

• Paul Kalanithi talks about how time changes as you face your mortality. “Clocks are now kind of irrelevant to me,” he says. “Time, where it used to have kind of a linear progression feel to it, now feels more like a space.” Before I Go -- Time warps for a young surgeon with metastatic lung cancer

   

• Death, Redesigned

 

 

[Petunia13]

Has anyone else’s 2020 so far been weird as hell? 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Petunia13 said:

Has anyone else’s 2020 so far been weird as hell? 

Do tell.....

[bannana]

19 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

I beg to differ on this point -- Associated Press (left column, left click titles Iran and Ukraine), CNN (top of home page has continuous Live Update), Washington Post, NYTimes, LATimes, MSN, CBSN, Vox, etc. all have had continuous coverage of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 incident, along with all the news and official misinformation you can stomach regarding the Baghdad International Airport airstrike and its legality.

Just my perspective, of course, but watching US news shows barely mentioning the crash for the first 48 hours, while leading with the same old same old impeachment story (where nothing is actually happening at that moment) or talking about US/Iran conflict without noting that there actually were casualties, well, that became very frustrating to see.  So that is what I mean by not getting the coverage it should have gotten.  This is a pretty big story, a tragedy and an injustice, but it is way down the list, as far as real coverage.  The exception as I noted was Rachel the other night.  But here in Canada it is a major new story.

[Cupid Stunt]

4 hours ago, bannana said:

Just my perspective, of course, but watching US news shows barely mentioning the crash for the first 48 hours, while leading with the same old same old impeachment story (where nothing is actually happening at that moment) or talking about US/Iran conflict without noting that there actually were casualties, well, that became very frustrating to see.  So that is what I mean by not getting the coverage it should have gotten.  This is a pretty big story, a tragedy and an injustice, but it is way down the list, as far as real coverage.  The exception as I noted was Rachel the other night.  But here in Canada it is a major new story.

No one denies the senseless loss of life of Flight 7525, except those that find it inconvenient to the message that the US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport was one more defensive act in an intractable war of Iranian aggression in the Middle East.

I cannot speak to the US news programs you were viewing. I stopped relying on local broadcast news to keep me informed; My first notification of Flight 7525 was a CNN/BBC flag on my cell 4pm Pacific the day of the attack, and have been following the escalation and official gymnastics ever since.

Coverage of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752S has been and remains a major news story in national US media since it was shot down. My Sunday front page/top of the fold newspapers all have yesterday's Iranian protests of the airstrike against the commercial jet, with full historic coverage of the incident. Sunday AM news had similar coverage. Whether broadcasters and publishers choose to feature it on the front page or after the weather forecast is up to editorial taste. The US media does not act as a single behemoth uniformly dispensing import and information across the land.

Being that 99.9% of media news corporations in the US are exclusively commercial operations, local broadcasters and publishers are particularly sensitive to the preferences of their viewers for advertising dollars. News broadcasters are acutely aware they are in the business of marketing the news. If you don't like what you see or believe you are being short-changed on substantive news coverage, go elsewhere and take your valuable viewer dollars with you. 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

Information is Beautiful

 

In collaboration with creative agency Sagmeister & Walsh, Kurzgesagt explores what beauty is and how it makes people happier. This Atlantic article is a good companion piece that summarizes some of the research done about beauty’s connection to happiness.

 

In Mexican capital, red shoes to protest killings of women

 

The new MIT report on Jeffrey Epstein raises questions about how complicit was Silicon Valley?

 

Can the catastrophic fires bring some sanity to Australian climate politics?

 

Australia's indigenous people have a solution for the country's bushfires. And it's been around for 50,000 years

 

The Early Internet, Explained by One Weird Celine Dion Fan Site

 

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Petunia13]

13 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Do tell.....

Nothing terribly interesting. Just a lot of weird stuff going on in the world. They say 2020 is a year of Karma and it begins today with Saturn conjunction with Pluto. 

Yesterday I got several very long messages on Facebook from a girl who picked on me in middle school. She listed all the examples, where we were, full names of people there. I accepted the apology obviously and barely remembered it in the grand scheme of my life but it was weird I guess that she was still bothered by it. My mom’s been acting odd lately too, very angry. I was a bit annoyed by it actually since it’s been random lashing out and cold. 

 

[lovemesomejoolery]

7 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

No one denies the senseless loss of life of Flight 7525, except those that find it inconvenient to the message that the US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport was one more defensive act in an intractable war of Iranian aggression in the Middle East.

I cannot speak to the US news programs you were viewing. I stopped relying on local broadcast news to keep me informed; My first notification of Flight 7525 was a CNN/BBC flag on my cell 4pm Pacific the day of the attack, and have been following the escalation and official gymnastics ever since.

Coverage of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752S has been and remains a major news story in national US media since it was shot down. My Sunday front page/top of the fold newspapers all have yesterday's Iranian protests of the airstrike against the commercial jet, with full historic coverage of the incident. Sunday AM news had similar coverage. Whether broadcasters and publishers choose to feature it on the front page or after the weather forecast is up to editorial taste. The US media does not act as a single behemoth uniformly dispensing import and information across the land.

Being that 99.9% of media news corporations in the US are exclusively commercial operations, local broadcasters and publishers are particularly sensitive to the preferences of their viewers for advertising dollars. News broadcasters are acutely aware they are in the business of marketing the news. If you don't like what you see or believe you are being short-changed on substantive news coverage, go elsewhere and take your valuable viewer dollars with you. 

This is true for me, as well.  I got several notifications on my I-phone, from all of the various stations I get them from - CNN, NBC, MSNBC, my local news and ABC, AP and a couple more I can't remember.  I think I got something like 7 or 8 of them within a minute shortly after the air strike occurred.  I immediately turned on the news.  It was on the evening broadcasts, it was a feature on each of the various news shows that are on CNN & MSNBC, as well.  Saturday and Sunday news shows were similarly featuring it.

I say this not to minimize the loss of precious life -  just for illustrative purposes only -  but when the world here in the US is the proverbial shit show it has become (no matter what side of the fence you happen to be on) it has to be fairly difficult to pinpoint what gets top billing, when all of it is pretty egregious, in terms of news stories.  Especially with the news dump that tends to happen lately on Friday evenings.

Not nearly enough coverage of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico either, in my view.   Two devastating earthquakes in a country that still hasn't recovered from the hurricane two years ago. 

Edited January 12, 2020 by lovemesomejoolery

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Especially with the news dump that tends to happen lately on Friday evenings.

Fresh Hell Fridays.

[Cupid Stunt]

Quote

Especially with the news dump that tends to happen lately on Friday evenings.

14 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Fresh Hell Fridays.

 

Friday news dump -- Releasing bad news or documents on a Friday afternoon in an attempt to avoid media scrutiny is often called a “Friday news dump” by members of the media.

An example of a scientific report dumped on a holiday, that happens to be on a Friday -- A Grave Climate Warning, Buried on Black Friday

Edited January 13, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

Kimono-clad women who celebrate turning 20 years old walk together following a Coming-of-Age ceremony at Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo, on Coming of Age Day, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. Held annually on the second Monday of January, Coming of Age Day is a special time for these young adults. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

AP PHOTOS: Japan honors young adults on Coming of Age Day

 

Brazil eliminated daylight saving time. Now it’s light out before 5 a.m., and people aren’t happy.

 

Elizabeth Wurtzel, 'Prozac Nation' author, dies at 52

 

Remote control vibrators? Dual stimulation? Sex toys get Las Vegas tech show buzzing

 

Why the Parasite cast deserves Oscars -- and won’t get nominated -- “Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” Bong Joon-ho said on Sunday’s Golden Globes, insisting that filmgoers, including the people that hand out awards, still have work to do and cinematic worlds to discover. That applies to performances, too.

 

Why We Love Untranslatable Words and Undefinable Concepts

 

Astronomy Picture of the Day -- December 28, 2019 -- A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse: Image Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Cupid Stunt

[peacheslatour]

It's been snowing here in Seattle since last night. My DH had to walk to work. Fortunately his shop is only a few blocks from our house. I'm really feeling the loss of Valley on days like this. We used to commiserate about the weather.