gbear

I was a patient advocate for the American Board of Internal Medicine for five years (the maximum allowed tenure). As such I am still on their mailing list as they roll out new programs and continuing education initiatives. The one they rolled out recently struck me as one of my kids has shown some trans signals. He is six, and we will support him regardless (still using he for the time being). I was just happy to see them pushing for more awareness from the medical profession when trans people often don't feel comfortable going to a doctor or feel recognized for who they are when they go. The round table they had included some stats worse than I thought going into the presentation. 40% try to commit suicide. The perceptions of how doctors treat them are worse for Black patients (many studies about this and not just for trans). Still if ever there was a topic a doctor who got a medical degree 20 or 30 years ago might need an update on, I thought this was spot on. If you are interested, here is the link for the round table discussion (probably skip the first few min of intro and saying who is who).

I have little faith in the OL going into the season. It seems like we are basing our expectations on how they were last year. However, 3/5 of the starters are likely to be different or out at the beginning of the year. Then I think about how much of the OL play relies on familiarity with what the person next to you is going to do in any given situation. I just see the OL as real potential weak spot on this team at the beginning of the season. This then tempers my expectations for any unit on O because they all require time and space created by the OL. On D, I think our DL is probably our best bet, but even them I question. Our two stud DE are coming back from season ending injuries. Having had serious leg injuries, it seems optimistic to me to expect them to come back at an elite level. It takes time before your body trusts the injured parts to perform as they should. It's why a lot of knee injuries really show a jump in play from 1 year out to 2 years out. The trust where one does rather than thinks then does jus takes time. Sadly, that moments hesitation can also increase the risks of further injuries. I am just in a "show me" position on our DE. That puts more pressure on our back end of the D. Sadly, I am not overly confident in any position on our D being a strength going into the season. I guess by default that leaves me with special teams. Our punter is good, and our kickers at the end of the season seemed capable. I would hope we could have a reliable special teams unit. It's just hard to get excited for them.

Is Tucker Carson complaining about lowering prices? Did Fox not just run stories complaining about inflation? A guy could get whiplash trying to figure our with what they would be happy.

There is an additional benefit for the U.S. in our being a global reserve currency. When the government spends more money than we take in through taxes, they are barrowing money from somewhere or creating money with a click on a key board. If they are creating it with a click, people worry it will drive the value of existing money down (greater supply with same demand should drive the price of dollars down). Alternatively, if we barrow the money, they has to be somebody who wants us to owe them dollars. The amount of dollars out in the world to the number of governments who use it as a reserve means the number of countries who want our dollar to maintain its value is large. There is an old economist joke about when the bank lends you 100k, it owns you. However, when the bank lends you 100 billion, you own the bank. To a large extent, there are already a number of countries who can not have the value of the dollar go down too far without it killing their savings. The ability of our government to spend its way out of recessions/create a softer landing for us is a luxury we have because it is in nobody's interest for our currency to plummet in value. Thus, they will still try to trade it for a relatively stable value. As long as we are thought more stable than other currencies, we will keep this advantage, and we will likely maintain our status as the richest country in the history of the world.

He looked to be a bit too close for that shot...

I had a doctor tell me the gut is brain#2 when it comes to our immunity system. As a side point, when i was a patient advisor for Patients Like Me, they were trying to do a study in combination with a wealthy Chinese company to install "smart toilets." These would analyze pee and poop to identify health conditions. The study was shut down over fear of U.S. health records potential to end up in foreign control. The science behind it still seems worthwhile if only a U.S. Corp was willing.

The only one I havent seen mentioned that i would add in is vitamin D. I found adding it added a lot to my energy level. As another MS patient, I know the joy of those days where one's get up and go got up and left with out you. I won't add what gets me going as advice because I won't suggest anyone have 4 irresponsible kids, 4 dogs and 3 cats (2 ours). That's my "Get your arse moving. You can stop when they do, and we know that isnt happening any time soon!"

I still like Mayor Pete.

I am listening to The Burning White by Brent Weeks (book 5 of Light Bringer series). I have really enjoyed this version of magic where drafters of different colors have different powers. As a small aside, it also has had my very favorite take on mirrors. One of the characters makes point mirrors are image splitters like prisms are light splitters. Looking in the mirror is like looking through a prism. We suddenly see all the parts of us, not the whole, and it's human nature to focus on all the parts of us we like the least. It is only when we can see the reflection of ourselves through loving eyes that we can put the whole image back together and see the beauty of the whole. Of course I really enjoy the series, and my local library got the remainder of the series when I requested them. We had books 1 and 3. Now we have them all, but there is a large wait list for each of them. The problem is they are long books. The last one is over 30 hours. So sadly, my 2 weeks with the book end today and there is a 2 week wait list for me to complete the last third of the book. Ah well, at least I get all the books for free. So my complaining is minimal.

Dan T, I think you hit the nail on the head. If the two people she said had the conversation want to come and publicly testify they never had the conversation, OK. However, while they are there, they will be asked whether the other things she said happened actually happened. To be honest, the bit about going for the steering wheel is just about the least damaging thing she said to my eyes. Did he knowingly allow armed people in the mob? Was he warned beforehand about potential security issues he was creating... If they want to come out and testify under oath and in public, I will applaud them if they answer the rest of the questions so the public can get a better read on what actually went down. Until then, I will take the word of the one person who testified under oath. In many ways it seems that portion might be the perfect temptation/trap to get one or both of them to testify in public and "set the record straight."

His Place on Netflix was a solid horror/supernatural movie. It told the story of an African refugee couple who are being haunted in their new home. It goes over what they did to get the attention of the vengeful spirit and ultimately what happens to them and the spirit. That is about all I can give away without spoilers. It's a fun evening movie.

If all men regularly had to clean toilets and the areas around them, many more of them would sit to pee.

I don't know if you got why I said he didn't go that far. It would impact him. His wife is white.

What if anything does this mean for the TX law with citizens' enforcement? Are they leaving that one alone because it is anti-abortion?

Thomas stopped short of Loving vs. Virginia. I guess that one hits too close to home?

It is a thought for any of us who have issues with the way we look. It is a thought for people like my daughter who eats whatever whenever because she thinks she is fat and will never be good looking enough. It is a thought for everyone who wonders what their spouse sees in them when all we see in the mirror is a gut or a lack of 6 pack or... It takes a loving look to look at the bumps and imperfections we see in the mirror and get us to the point where we can laugh at them. We need to realize there is beauty there not just despite the imperfections but because the sum total of all the imperfections is us. We have to look with love at ourselves. We have to see the bent sparse trees make a great forest.

I was reading a book in the Light Bringer series which pointed out mirrors act like prisms breaking up light, except they break up our image in our minds. We look in the mirror, see the whole of us, and we tend to focus on all the "imperfections." We are an image splitter the same way a prism is a light splitter. It is only through loving eyes that the whole of us is remade from all the parts. With loving eyes the "imperfections" can be celebrated as part of the whole that is the object of our devotion. In this way, love is the anti-mirror/ant-prism. It puts all our imperfections back into a whole so much greater than any sum of the parts.

I have to go with a good French Dip. The Hideaway in Odenton makes a great one. "Pecan-smoked inside round, caramelized onions, provolone and tiger sauce, with au jus." For whatever reason, they have wonderful pictures of many of the selections on their menu, but they are missing this jem. https://www.hideawayodenton.com/

I just listen/watch on the Washington Post page while working on other things.

Actually, I suspect unemployment rising to 5% would result in an economic speed-up not slow down. Normally, an economy working at peak efficiency requires some "frictional unemployment." These are the people looking for jobs or are between jobs. If you think about an expanding economy, it would mean more production in some way. This usually happens from new businesses and new industry. If an economy has 0% unemployment, then there are no workers to hire into these new positions and businesses. As we get closer to 0% unemployment, we have less people to hire, and this has nothing to do with qualified potential employees. Have you seen a bunch of help wanted signs? I know I get a dozen emails a day looking to hire somebody with my qualifications. These are all potential economic growth opportunities left unrealized. Twenty years ago when I studied macro economics, it was assumed 5% frictional unemployment was the sweet spot for an optimal economy.

In honor of fathers day, I feel compelled to post a pic of this shirt I was given a few years ago. Have you ever seen Mickey with his kids?

Pence is certainly a man of his convictions. I may not agree with him often, but it is hard to argue he is insincere in his beliefs. Still, he was an integral part in an administration that was anything but sincere.

No kidding. I would almost wonder if he isn't a walking talking filibuster of the proceedings.

Will we get global warming from these microwaves? Microwaving the earth? What could possibky go wrong? I figure it cant be that dumb, but how are they transmitting power through microwaves that won't result in heat on the receiving end?

Watched Cargo on Netflix. It was a surprisingly well done zombie movie. While the budget was probably low to make, the writing and story were very well done. My wife, older son and I enjoyed it which says a lot because 2 of us are not typical zombie movie/show fans.