ZED!

I am working on trying to find out if Matt Taibbi would marry me. His latest article is monsterously great.

Here is his snarky description of Robert Rubin:
Rubin was the prototypical Goldman banker. He was probably born in a $4,000 suit, he had a face that seemed permanently frozen just short of an apology for being so much smarter than you, and he exuded a Spock-like, emotion-neutral exterior; the only human feeling you could imagine him experiencing was a nightmare about being forced to fly coach.

Oh my, that is so my time in the 70’s.

Oh, here you all are!
Hey, Suz! YGM.
FunnyWheelieDiva

OMG look at late night with Jimmy Fallon!

Wha? Wha?
I think it’s not in my timezone yet.
FWDiva

I guess everyone moved up here…

Which sciences is your master’s degree in, FWD?

Oh sorry, EST. Be my friend!

Hi all, Suz will be late, if she makes it all this evening.

I am an immunolololologist.
BS is in biochem.
I’z a science nerd.

FWDiva

That entire article was terrific. I want to bartend y’alls wedding. *s

Matt sure has written a great revealing article about Goldman Sachs and their historic greed in America. This is one Corporation that should be put out of business!! They have long been a pariah of our economy, only interested in making a buck at everyone’s expense except their own…. Greedy fucking bastards!

:`(

linky? I like Matt, too.

FWDiva

Suz – Not Warner Bros… I’m pleasantly surprised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPX-9QXgGM

Rock!

MOU’s of the worst order.

Like IgA and IgE and IgG and all that jazz?

Cool. I couldn’t pick a field in biology, so I became a statistician… besides which, numbers are generally more cooperative than organisms.

I want to hear what some dipshit said about the wait times in the UK…. I can’t remember where but some wingnut said……. well in the UK there are 197,000 people waiting for procedures, IS THIS WHAT you want?

Ok…. it seems there are around 87 million people in the UK which includes England, Scotland & Wales…… now do the math……. .02% are waiting for procedures.

When I was in Crete there were 5 couples from the UK and I picked their brains on benefits and healthcare. Amazing one of the wife’s was the administrator of the Manchester Royal Infirmary and could get it from her directly. A law was passed several years ago to deal with wait times.

When a primary care writes a script for surgery to the hospital then a clock starts. The time frame is 180 days. If the need is urgent or emergency then care is done immediately, there were circumstances that required delay, the patient needed therapy to get stronger, other health issues make it unsafe for surgery right away. There are patients that end up deciding not to have surgery.

One of the guys from Scotland who worked for Johnson&Johnson (ya our own company) receives 66 days paid vacation.

What’s wrong, That Guy?
FWDiva

I have it handy for ya.

MOUs?

Matt

and all that jazz, indeed.
FWDiva

50 million of us are waiting to get our blood pressure checked! So stfu wingnuts. /s

Masters of the universe

Repugs always want to talk counts rather than rates, Katy. In a population of millions, the counts are scary. If you look at the rates, it’s usually, “oh, no big deal.” Or even less exciting than that.

Given the things that govern when people have surgery, I’ll bet our rate is rather comparable. Our number (if it were known) would be really scary.

We do have an overcapacity of surgical facilities here in the US, but that’s not why we’re in trouble.

Hi Suzzane…both right knee and hand are infected now…they took the stiches out and irrigated…another antibiotic added and appointment with a bone doc The vets authorixed it today so we’ll see the cost is $3K now before the expecred bone surgery. The cuts are leaking so I refresh with wash and new dressings at least twice a day go back to ER in two days.
How are you folks comming along?

Missing Suzanne.

Gracias, amiga.

Has to be more than 50 million by now. Shit, it has been 47 million for four years now. All of those out of work bums don’t have insurance, ya know.

The ER? Sigh.

Lordie. Hope things get better soon. Infection sucks.

What Mary said. Have they checked for MRSA?

Hi bb, Suz is away for a bit.. So sorry to hear about complications… Jezus, nothing worse than an infection in a hospital. And you were feeling so much better yesterday.

Oh, I’m sorry, BB. That sux bigtime.
FWDiva

Much more.

Hey, ES
So, when is Ms Suzanne coming back? Do we expect her tonight?
FWDiva

Cybersecurity Plan to Involve NSA, Telecoms

The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials.

President Obama said in May that government efforts to protect computer systems from attack would not involve “monitoring private-sector networks or Internet traffic,” and Department of Homeland Security officials say the new program will scrutinize only data going to or from government systems.

But the program has provoked debate within DHS, the officials said, because of uncertainty about whether private data can be shielded from unauthorized scrutiny, how much of a role NSA should play and whether the agency’s involvement in warrantless wiretapping during George W. Bush’s presidency would draw controversy. Each time a private citizen visited a “dot-gov” Web site or sent an e-mail to a civilian government employee, that action would be screened for potential harm to the network.

“We absolutely intend to use the technical resources, the substantial ones, that NSA has. But . . .

snip

The issue is that there are people who will never have surgery, unemployed & uninsured, may be living in their kids basement, a shelter or on the streets…. they may need it….

My own kidney surgery was billed $52,000 but the insurance paid $13,000….. now if I was uninsured…… I would owe the whole 52K …. this whole thing sucks

Not sure of the details, but if so, it will be later on this evening.

went out for dinner with the “girls” and we discussed this….. one woman remembers this from 2002….. she did some research and could not find where the source is…… who said 47 million? When? and why has that figure not been elastic……still think it is over 100 million uninsured and another 75 million under insured……. that would make some Democrats pooh their pants…

I thought Suzanne was going down to the bay area to see one of her kids and have a meetup with the bay area pups…

I watched part of SICKO this afternoon… the couple who were well insured, living in a nice home, just old enough to have all four kids out of the house… within a few months of each other they had major medical issues and had to sell their home and move into the kids spare room. Lost everything.

I feel fine…just some tissue in high functionimg spots that are hosting some unknown hungry bacteria. Time wasted sitting around a busy ER. The accompanying bruises are dissapearing. Thanks for the kind thoughts. Nice of the Vet to give me a referral.

Hi ES Did 1800 crunches last night.

See my Oxdown Diary for a ton of linky’s to similar shit Matt’s covering in econ and finan and banking skullduggery.

See Deep Capture, and Sibel Edmonds, among my linkys.

But keep oxygen nearby if yer faint of heart for ugly. *G*

Best to you and Ron . . . always thinkin of ya local.

Speaking of gardening Mary, you ever seen of this dude?

He’s A Hoss!

I think I’ll do an Oxdown about him. Got the linky from Relaxed Politics, Betsy’s site.

Sourced his website. Incredible, what he’s doing.

YOU folks can’t be too far from Soil Barn’s new Rancho Cordova plots along the American River?

Their home base is just a few blocks up from where we are at . . . they do good things! *G*

An immunoligist…all right that is heavy duty. What a wonderful field of medicine. Thanks.

Very true Katy, these so called health care insurance companies could care less about any individual!! Their only concern is How much Profit can they make and fuck the clients who pay premiums for their so called coverage!

Wait a sec… you have insurance, you needed surgery, and your policy only covered 1/4 of the cost? What’s up with that?

I think that the time for mass demonstrations is just around the corner. I hear rumors of a commercial real estate melt down (or maybe that already happened) and the banks are going to come back with their hand outstretched. Time to say NO. When my creditors call I tell them it is unAmerican to pay your credit card bills cause if you do the money doesn’t go back into the real economy. When enough people cannot take care of their sick children and the banksters are sucking all of the cash up things will burst.

She will be here on the 25th for the meetup at my place Katy… Sure wish you could make it here then.

Yep, a huge AM/FM hit in its day.

One of the FEW pop hits of the time I can still listen to.

Nice pic, Suz! And I liked the Moonlight Sonata, the other night, also.

*G*

Later this month, I believe.
I was supposed to head her way tomorrow.
FWDiva

Like Ron and me.

Oh dear bb, I was worried about you. Glad you went back in.

Well, I’m afraid I’m not very current. Haven’t been that area of biotech for some time. But, yes, pretty darn fascinating.
Take care of those wounds, mon!

FWDiva

1800! I didn’t know you were also CRAZY. /s

Hi ES, Chris, FunnyD, Mary and everyone;)

Margot!

Hey, Margot!

Well, there is the whole moral issue of investing and profiting from the misery of others. Insurance companies don’t want us thinking about that.

And, besides, which is worse? Having a government bureaucrat making decisions about your care, or having an insurance company corporocrat whose bonus depends on denying care make decisions about your care?

Back between rounds 1 and 2 of our boxing match about a national system of health care finance, the AMA passed a bundle of principles. One of them was that no third party should ever be allowed to come between patient and physician.

I guess we left that one behind a long old time ago.

I think there is another big home foreclosure round in the future too. Gawd what i wouldn’t do to see our country wake up and mass demonstrate.

I have a PPO contracted plan…. hospital bills 52K and gets paid 13K, met out of pocket…. I owe nothing BUT if uninsured would owe the whole 52K

That is quite a contract negotiation…. the other two stays were even worse….. first one was nearly $600K and the neg contracted amount was $127K

Evening margot..)

And, besides, which is worse? Having a government bureaucrat making decisions about your care, or having an insurance company corporocrat whose bonus depends on denying care make decisions about your care?

Maybe so but at least the gov bureaucrat isn’t worried about profit!!

I have never understood why some people think that the government is different from commerce in terms of management. It is all US. We are the government, business, agriculture, families, communities, etc. duh.

There is something surly about those formulas/ratios.

And while Matt is the hoss du jour, please take a look at this place, and the two IN DEPTH reads that have exposed Godlman Sachs and others in a light that Matt T only dances around.

Read Deep Capture, and read Mark Mitchells Latest, BRUTAL REALITY to get a fully and wholy (or unholy) understanding of what’s really up in our country.

We are no less fornicated up than USSR was when it broke up.

And we are on the edge of it all spilling out.

My guess? We go poor real fast in the next 10 years. All of us.

After that, there’s no crystal balls.

But I’d spend time thinking about making some of yer own foods.
Vegetables, and such. *G*

Hi FunnyDiva I have a quick question. I have a dear friend who had her fourth, a little girl, they both got a fungus in the hospital. After three years she still ahs it. I called around to Mayo, UCLA who sent me to UCIrvine Toziclogy department looking for cures.
Have any ideas?

Gotcha. I was worried that you were on some sort of lame-ass indemnity policy. I read a horror story earlier this week about a guy who thought he had $1.5M/year in hospital coverage.

It turned out that most of that was covering hospital housekeeping charges. His actual coverage for medical procedures was about 100K. And you know how quickly you can burn through 100K in medical procedures.

I keep hearing about 1300 insurers in the U.S. Then this week i learned in my state (Arkansas), 75% of all insured folks are covered by Blue Cross only. Hasbro couldn’t entertain us with a Monopoly game like that.

Crazy no Extreme yes but in a constructive way. I like to experiment too.

I turned 55 today. I am old.

But this morning I found a bunch of the coolest youtubes ever. Made me feel a whole bunch better.

First I found this one. Best piano player on the planet.

Then I found this one. How I adore Jonell Mosser.

Then I found this one. I never get sick of this song.

Then I found this one. Eat your heart out, David Byrne.

ANd I felt better.

standard Medicare only reviews after the fact, so you can get your care, no one between you and the doctor but if the item is not covered, exhausted the benefits then it will not be paid for….

Hi Margot I always strive to do healthy thingd do I have energy to use on good things. Prevention, “A stitch in time saves nine”. How’s things?

May I add to your reading list?

Garry Wills wrote a book about it a few years ago called, A Necessary Good. It’s a history of antigovernment protest, sentiment and action here in the US. It’s helpful in understanding those folks, but not too helpful in finding ways to convince them that St Ronnie of Raygun was wrong when he said, “The scariest words in the english language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Sorry. Not a single inkling.
Sounds rather awful. Are they doing OK?
FWDiva

I’m one of the people who has started looking into herbal and other alternative methods because I don’t have insurance. And because what the ER gave me didn’t really work well.
So I read online and through trial and error found stuff that does work. There must be a lot of people like me out there, no? Trying this essential oil, that herb, etc.

Well, happy double-nickels to youze!
Nah, you’re not old…
You’re just heading for your heavy metal years!
And it beats the alternative. Someone I know, your age, single mom, had serious heart trouble earlier this year. She passed last night, leaving 16 year-old twin daughters. Very, very sad. Don’t think it’s sunk in yet.
FWDiva

one of my layoffs (5 in 18 months) as it was buyout/merger reorganization season in the health insurance business…… in AZ UnitedHealthcare, humana a local statewide plan attempted to merge……. funny how AZ actually cares on the %….. the department of insurance refused to have Humana to be part of the merger because it would be more than the 42% threshold.

That 1300 number is bullsh*t, ES. That counts subsidiaries operating in different States as separate companies. In most of the country, health insurance is a highly concentrated market, in some it’s approaching monopoly status.

Here in New Mexico, we have essentially three health insurers: BC/BS of NM (which is a subsidiary of BC/BS of Indiana or something), Presbyterian Health Care (a native NM company), and United Health Care. If you live in Albuquerque you can add Cigna/Lovelace.

If you’re on Medicaid, you have Molina as a choice, but Molina doesn’t market outside Medicaid and SCHIP. There are other insurers operating in the state, but they don’t have the market share to have any leverage.

Well pups goodnight… we be getting LOST again!!
Only took me a month to get my sweetie interested in it… Now she is Lost also!!

Night good pups and don’t forget July 25th meetup in Redwood city!!

Your insurance commissioner did a better job than ours.

She is mother of four…lot of feeding, shopping, cleaning food prep and refereeing. When the fungus droew the toxins have nasty side effects like heart palpitations, high anxiety, menstrual cycle timing change, depression discharges.
She has some good streches, gets over confident and eats or drinks wrong.
She used to have a lot more energy and wants to be her old self.

My best buddy, my cat, Jesse Yazoo died of what I am sure must have been dumb rabies this week. it was just awful awful awful… The whole time i couldn’t help but think of human parallels and what it would be like for an uninsured human to go through that.

Glad you’ve found something that works.
Do be a bit careful, though, OK? More is definitely not better in many cases. And herbals can adversely affect conventional drugs, so if/when you get back to an MD, you have to tell them everything you’re taking.
Sorry you’re not covered, though.
FWDiva

Niters nahant

I think all insurance commissioners should be canned immediately. They are all working for the wrong team.

Very sorry to hear that ES. Didn’t see my little guy for 6 days last week and really missed him.

My experience is there’s another cat out there with your name on him, and the quicker you find him, the better.

Oh, ES, I’m soooo sorry! It’s so hard to lose a buddy. And so hard when they’re so sick.
((((ES)))) ((((JesseYazoo))))
FWDiva

Be sure to listen to the music. It’s the real deal!

I think when making my calls to congress i need to be as clear as dean-open access pub opt. one open to all americans not just nationwide. must be open for anyone to opt into.
http://www.standwithdrdean.com/faq

Oh ES, I’m so sorry!
RIP (((Jesse Yazoo)))

That’s very sad. Hope she can find a good specialist pretty soon.

Whooo! Guess being unemployed isn’t so bad after all.

FWDiva

Ours was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I doubt the new one’s any better. When I was on sabbatical working Medicaid issues I got to know one of the deputies. He’s the guy they should have made IC, but he was skipped over for someone closer to Big Bill.

Funny you should say that, emerson. This is the first time in my life i have wanted to get another (maybe two this time) so quickly. I think I will in a couple weeks. Right now I just keep expecting Jesse to walk by any second. It’s like he’s still here.

good stuff, that guy. Love the horns!

things are about to blow up here in AZ and it isn’t fireworks…. when the gov left for homeland security, it knew it was going to be bad but it is worse than that…….. the secretary of state succeeds the gov… this lady- Jan Brewer is a blond bubble head ….. we are one of the states who has not resolved the state budget…… both repugs and dems are PO’ed at Brewer…… saw an interview of her today…… “today is a new day” ….”we have rainbows, lots of rainbows” …… the president of the senate says he thinks she is not up to the job……a repug violating Reagan rule….

She looked so stupid….

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. This seemed to be the thread to jump into the fray.

I’ve been a big fan of these blogs for a good year or two, and read them several times a day, in addition to Glenn Greenwald.

I’m an attorney in Idaho. I’ve practiced criminal defense, First Amendment, adult entertainment, other constitutional law (all mainly in Atlanta, GA), complex construction, commercial and real estate law (all here in Idaho, where the constitution does not apply) and I currently work for the Idaho Attorney General’s office representing the Idaho Human Rights Commission.

MUCH RESPECT for the folks who write and post here.

rOB

I once knew the daughter of an insurance commissioner.. who was very naive, spoiled, and a gossip. She had no clue how constantly damning her bragging about her ins. commish parent activities was. Was an eye opener.

Hey, Rob!
Welcome!
I like it over at GlennZilla’s, too.
Hope you stick around. It’s very difficult to re-lurk once you’ve plunged in.
Best,
FunnyWheelieDiva

Welcome madelson! Once you jump in… you’re hooked! And remember Late Late is always open topic, so please visit often and say whatever is on your mind.

Margot, the vast store of such info you share here never ceases to amaze.

I know. I kept seeing my first cat all over the neighborhood, but it was never him. I waited about 4 months before claiming this one, which was about 3.5 months too long in retrospect.

currently work for the Idaho Attorney General’s office representing the Idaho Human Rights Commission.

OK Rob, LOL. Someday, you have to tell us a little about that experience. *s*

Last night I had a dream, he bit me on the hand. It woke me up, was very strange.. and i could feel it all day. Even now.

Parents who work in sensitive areas really ought to be most cautious about what they talk about at home.

Hugs ES, oh no.

Where in ID do you hang out….. did the MT Home thing way back when the sister & ex were in the USAF…

FUCK i hate traffic

well good evening to you too miss muffet

Welcome Rob. Plenty of nice, smart people here. One of the first acronyms I learned here was IANAL.

Perhaps you can translate from time to time?

hey katy… how ya doing?

Sorry to hear about the cat. Losing long-time pets is tough. When Mrs. BC and I got together she had an adult cat and I a young adult dog. The cat passed away a bit over a year ago, and my dog is now a geriatric patient.

Losing them is really tough. Our condolences to you.

Rob, welcome!

SuZ it is about damn time you got here… tap tap tap

Hey Suz.

Jane gave me access to the Silo today.

He’s just letting you know that won’t be the last you see of him. *g*

Hey, THERE you are!

Yeah, it was a zoo in Seattle today, too. Sheesh.

Welcome back. Put yer feets up and have a tall cold one!

FWDiva

heading out….. glad your here Rob…… glad you made it safely home Suzanne….. still want to know were that 47 million figure comes from…..

OMG you should of seen everyone’s jaw drop when I told them that after I qualify for social security disability I would have to wait 24 months to qualify for Medicare….. just shut up the whole table….. and they were well into their 2nd Margarita and going on their third ……

Sunny, you wouldn’t be teasing me, would you? I don’t have a vast anything unless it’s memories of what who said to who in the 7th grade.

There she is…Hey Suz, I hate traffic too!

sorry pups – was at a family event and got stuck in holiday traffic coming home

big thanks to eureka springs for stepping up to the plate – i owe ya dood

rot roh (laughing)

seriously well deserved bct

i’m sorry about jessie es

g’nite katy

just fine….. went out with the “girls” tonight….. it also included Steve who is gay and Bryce my girlfriends son who isn’t….. had a great time

damn! Was hoping you were on a hot date and couldn’t break away.

Night, Katy.

My guess is that the 47M figure is not based on any direct data. My guess is that it’s inferred from hypertension estimates and uninsured rates.

we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy!

You seem like a natural born nurse to me Margot. Nurses to me are heros, just like katymine.

Night, Katy
Glad you had a good day out!
FWDiva

snort

sunny, you aint seen me – hell, i gotta face that breaks mirrors and skin so white it causes something similar to snowblindness when exposed

Dead serious. Whenever it’s about herbals, keeping warm, devices etc, you always chime in with something practical – and a link.

Agreed… that Jane, she’s a smart one. BCT you have been fantastic, glad to hear more is on the way.

Some traffic is better than others…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDJvGSFY-c

ha – hey emerson – how’s the east bay tonight?

pfffffffffffttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht!

that guy – sorry i missed your emails when i was gone – happy birthday (still got 20 minutes to go)

Thank you, was not a nurse though! Big difference between a nurse and a tech.

Wha’d I do this time?
FWDiva

yikes bb – fuck that sucks dood

That won’t fly – we’ve seen pix *g*

well, yes, but techs learn a lot just bein’ around the clinic.
Yet another part of the healthcare workforce that’s been incredibly squeezed by the pursuit of profit uber alles. My auntie’s been a med tech for decades. You’d think the experience would count for something, but nah, not really.

FWDiva

The we are not worthy act…

And you still haven’t admitted to knowing Georgie Tirebiter…

I didn’t know you were a tech. Did you wear one of those sexy white hats? /s

fine. but ya aint’ seen nekkid ones – breaks the camera yanno (laughing)

Back to normal, Suz. Cool and breezy tonight. Sleeping weather.

Obviously, Idaho is not known for its commitment to Human Rights. But if you really want interesting stories ask me about my four years as a porn lawyer in ATL — where I likely represented more masturbation for hire defendants than anyone else in the state. Also, the swingers, but they were the WORST.

Anyway, I’ve lived here in the BOI for six years. Basically, I’m general counsel for the state agency that enforces anti-discrimination laws — age, sex, religion, race, disability, etc. I can’t say Idaho is a particularly open minded state, but the small human rights community we have is, for the most part, but not completely, very committed to equal justice. They are certainly underfunded but very scrappy.

At the risk of sounding like a kiss ass, or worse, a plant, I’m pretty impressed with our AG (R) and the folks who are desperately trying to bring us out of the Stone Age, but nobody will mistake Idaho for civilization — although it seems the rest of the country hasn’t been doing much better over the last ___ years.

At any rate, I’m not really here by choice. I moved here when my wife got a job teaching 18C English Lit. at Boise State. She’s tenured now, so we’re not moving, but Idaho certainly has its ups and downs — especially for a neurotic Jew like myself. Just gotta keep tabs on what currently passes for civilization and travel frequently.

Thanks for indulging me and for your contributions to these blogs. I really appreciate what y’all do and how much time and effort it takes. I know it’s a long, slow process, but it takes time to step into the void created by the collapse of the WaPo, NYT, et al.

rOB

hey and welcome – sorry i am so late in welcoming and greeting you

if ya have any questions please just ask away. very informal here – esp at nite :)

Nope. I admit nothing. I deny everything!
And I had to google the Tirebiter to get the whole shaggy dog story.
Not from that part of Cali. And not NEARLY old enough to remember the 50’s!

Sheesh.
FWDiva

I’ma whomp someone if they don’t behave…

My own kidney surgery was billed $52,000 but the insurance paid $13,000….. now if I was uninsured…… I would owe the whole 52K …. this whole thing sucks

If a doctor’s bill is $13K and they know insurance will kill about half, then they’ll bill at $52K and the insurance may pay $13K. They get what they asked for.

But, when the insurance company bills you they quote the $52K doctor’s bill as evidence they need to charge a LOT.

What they don’t then say is they skim off about 30% for themselves.

And, in the end, the consumer can’t afford the premiums and may go uninsured or under-insured, still owe the $39K left over after the doctor’s bill is cut down to $13K. You go uncared for or uninsured or bankrupt.

Any healthcare reform has to be better than that! Fortunately I think we’re going to get much better than just “any” reform.

Hope you like football. That’s a fun team at Boise State.

I’ll bet in 10 or 15 years there are going to be a bunch of late 20 to mid 30 kids who are gonna wish the camera had broken when they took those nekkid pictures.

who or what is george tirebiter?

I’m pretty exclusive to Boise, and the North End, in particular. I’ve been around a little bit in my six years, and I can certainly appreciate much of what Idaho has to offer, but, honestly, I haven’t felt very welcome. My wife and I have been gay bashed quite a few times because I drive small, red convertibles?!?!?! This is a beautiful and weird place.

It’s the exact same attitude the bankers have had wrt the housing crisis.

And, I’m beginning to wonder if they’re continuing with wrt the economy crisis — where are the jobs.

hehehehehe there are those who are already regretting those piss poor decisions done when all heated up with lust

Hey, stick around the lake, buddy, good ta have ya.
It’s not good to be neurotic all by yerself alone. Especially in Idaho!
Good to hear there’s an “R” AG out there with professional integrity. The lunatic mainstream of his party isn’t doing him any favors these days.

But what would Teh Swingerz need to be defended from?

FWDiva

Good to hear it’s better than one might expect. I’m in Arkansas, E.S. a very small progressive artist tourist community. Nonetheless, travel is a must for balance. And I must say, for me, a beautiful rural home base is the best place to call home.. even when surrounded by a sea of reds. But I like a challenge. *s*

Worse…let em get a nice, big, ugly hematoma after ya draw a blood sample. That’ll larn ‘em!
“just a little poke…awww, did that hurt?”
FWDiva

what does everybody else drive, cattle?

I just had to ask. /s

Sometimes having grown up low-tech is something to be grateful for.

George Leroy Tirebiter was a character from the Firesign Theater’s Moore Science High skits.

In Atlanta? Most everybody, probably…

sounds like it should be the name of a great big ole dog

thanks

OK, that’s funny!
I only got a listing for the USC mascot.
707, man!
Wonder if any of those skits are on YouTube?
FWDiva

It was. “USC mascot in the ’40s and ’50s”.
Named for and met his demise as a tire-nipping car chaser.
FWDiva

pickup trucks with a gun rack in the back window.
FWDiva

Well firedogs, i have a new (to me) truck.. I’m driving again.. it’s been almost five moths to the day.

Think I will sneak into motor vehicle dept. for tags in the morning.. should be no line on a friday before a holiday.

Good night.

Well, pups, it’s been lovely, but it’s time for me to hit the pillow.
Thanks for the good company and good snark.
FWDiva

One of my buddies in college decided that starving as a BSc in Biology sucked, so he came back to school to do a degree in MedTech. He was working a clinical at a local hospital when a really good-looking gal came in and needed a blood draw. She was wearing a peasant blouse, pouffy sleeves with tight wrists.

He wanted to do a really good job, so he was careful about everything … except he forgot that the ties on the sleeves would act as a tourniquet. He said she left with a big ole’ hematoma. So much for trying to get her number.

g’nite es – thanks again – owe ya big time dood

g’nite funny

Nighty night FWD.

Have a great Fourth.

g’nite ES and happy motoring!

g’nite Funny!

So glad to hear that!

Margot, I think Sunny’s right. You’ve got me checking out all these potions and such. I’ve never done that in my life!

Good night, pups.

Have a great fourth. We’ll be celebrating a president who speaks in complete sentences and mangles neither syntax nor semantics.

she has me doing the same :)

but bonkers got me to get a buncha stuff from healin’ hollar and i gotta say i forking love their stuff. herbal and natural and effective – the forking fda is in the pockets of big pharma – i worry about just how crappy the fda has become at ferretting out the crap big pharma tries to pass off to us consumers.

blerg – almost enough to give me a headache

g’nite bct and congrats!

Happy 4th BCT. You’re right, It’ll be a much happier holiday.

I actually googled healing hollar the other night. Phuck Pharma and the FDA. I’m not real thrilled with food safety in this country either. If they haven’t abolished the laws, they simply ignore them. Geez…

i buy organic and local as much as possible. i got spoiled by the ben lommond market when i lived in the santa cruz mts. they stocked organic local produce, meats, etc.

nothing like that up here (sigh). there is the farmers market but it ends for the season end of sept.

I used to know a blond named Susan who lived in Ben Lommond years ago. The good news for me is a new Trader Joe’s in Pinole.

Got plans for the 4th?

have a great cartoon planned for here – and i will be here and on time :)

Oh, I think you’re allowed to have a life, too.*g When I worked in the city, I would only work 11-7 or 1-9 because of my hate of traffic, btw.

swing shift – 4pm to 3am – was my favorite shift for the same reason.

i do have a life – here at the lake (laughing). actually i used to be sorta kinda a hermit type after i retired so my getting out and doing things is a big improvement.

I like having the choice of going out and playing or staying in. Both have their place.

You must know the crowd here loves you.

Hi Folks! It’s almost 4 in the morning over here, and the rain has stopped. (haven’t needed to water any of the plants in quite a while)

I had some truly lovely sushi rolls tonight, and made some great coffee martinis. I’ll leave the pitcher out for you westerly folks.

i go out during the day and spend my evenings here.

and i love the pups here back emerson. yanno, i’ve been here since back in the haloscan days – back before trex was given the keys during the first netroots nation. before christy was finally coaxed to write here by jane. i was a pup before i was honored with the opportunity to help out backstage a couple years ago.

i still think of myself as a pup – front pagers are those other writers who actually write. me i’m just a pup who gets to play backstage and put up some cool videos in the late hours.

i am so forking fortunate to be here emerson – i want everyone to have a positive experience and feel welcomed – just as i was welcomed when i finally delurked and made my first ever comment.

hey beard – how’s the lace?

Hi beard-Do you get up at this time or go to bed now?

Hi Suzanne. Glad you survived the traffic. Nice to meet you rmadelson the water’s fine here at the Lake.

The lace goes *very* well. it’s actually going quicker than I thought it would.

Emerson, usually I’m still up at this time, but today my sleep schedule flipped backwards again. (fell asleep at 8pm) It does that frequently.

any pics yet?

Well, I think we’re the fortunate ones, but anyway…Since I started here on the late, late shift-I’ve become a big fan of Craig Ferguson. There are not many people on TV I think are truly, naturally funny, but I’m hooked on this guy, Check him out if you get a chance.

Well, if we get any sun, I’ll take some pictures. (Up here in the Northeast, we’re beginning to think that the Sun is a cruel hoax, perpetrated by republicans.)

i will have to do so – i tend to watch a lot of pbs and non network science shows (in addition to my fair share of hgtv and the food network). what time is he on?

How come, beard, work sked changes or a sleeping thing?

Did you notice the healin’ holler lady dropped in to late nite a few days back? Tres cool the mod squad knew it wasn’t spam.

we could use some of that rain. still green but the non watered lawn starting to get crispy. been a while since we have had a good soaker – just had drizzles and sprinkles here.

she had said in our email about my order that she lurks here and was surprised to see all the hits from the lake on her sitemeter that weekend. she said she is usually in bed by the time late nite hits much less late late nite.

now. He’s on after Letterman at 12:37 (?) I think. I’m also huge on PBS, Link TV and movies from the 30s and 40s.

Emerson, it’s a sleeping thing. The insomnia is a regular thing over here.
It has its benefits, I can get a lot done while the rest of the world is quiet.

kewl – flipped it over from the nat geo channel. he’s got an accent – aussie???

yeah sunny, that was the night. She in Arkansas, right?

scotch, which is probably why I like him. *s

where are you, Vermont, NH?

I’m up in the lovely capitol city, Concord, NH. It has lovely back neighborhoods of narrow roads and lots of little pocket gardens. It’s really a great city for walking and getting around.

I know the town. Grew up in NJ and used to drive up into NH/Vermont every 3rd week of October just for the fall colors. Still haven’t seen anything like it.

Suz, were techies working on FDL last night during LLN? Got weird for me…
I’m now the proud owner of a new password :-(.

Emerson, if you should wind up in the area again, I can highly recommend one of our local sushi places, Moritomo. They’re worth the trip just for the signature rolls (the ‘Roger’ roll is unbelievably good. Spicy tuna, crunchy flakes, smoked eel, a little avocado, nom, nom, nom)(And the ‘Christy’ roll is wonderful too, avocado, salmon, some lemon marinated salmon, and other stuff)
edited to add: “Whoops, EPU’d”

Attaturk is upstairs.

Went to camp in NH a couple of summers. Also spent time on a lake there one year. Locations are jumbled in memory – need to spend time with maps.
Loved the lakes – small ones I think.

Whoa, both sound delicious. I don’t go back much anymore, but if I’m there some October evening, I promise I’ll check it out. Thank you for the recommendation.

I love eel.

sorry – my internet went out – just now came back up.

not that i am aware of – you were having trouble?

and you can go into your profile and change the password

now that i am connected again, i can sleep. g’nite all.