Wednesday, April 19, 2023

The only sort of FOX worth watching

Mind you, this one is licking its chops because it saw Spinnaker on the (screened) back porch!

46 comments:

  1. Red foxes are very rare hereabouts; the much smaller San Joaquin Kit Fox is typical.
    ----Alan

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    1. And yesterday we discovered that possums like bagels. Granted that they are not very particular about food. Bagelossums?
      ----Alan

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    1. WaPo: “[Fox News still] faces a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed by another voting technology company, Smartmatic, that alleges Fox broadcast lies that ‘decimated’ its business.”

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    2. Pedant that I am, I suppose that Smartmatic probably means "devastated" rather than "decimated."
      ---Alan

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    3. MSNBC The Beat adds to what O'Donnell said. [Click] For one, the effect of the settlement on Fox's insurance premiums.
      ---Alan

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    4. I donno, Alan. They might mean decimated, if Fox's shenanigans knocked out every tenth customer... Though that doesn't sound too devastating to me. But what do I know?

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  3. Laser eye surgery: significant risk of bad complications. [Click] I will stick with spectacles, thank you.
    —Alan

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    1. Dad hasn't had any problems.

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    2. 👍

      One of our sons had laser surgery more than a decade ago and hasn't needed eyeglasses since. No complications.

      I don't think I'd have it done (at least not at my age), but I will have cataract surgery when needed. That said, what bothers me most about it is the idea of watching the doctor working on my eye...!

      This past week, Wil had a couple episodes of flashing lights in one eye. He went to see the optometrist and, as suspected, it was a vitreous detachment. It's scary when it happens, but not dangerous. I will say I felt much concern until we heard for sure...thinking it could be seriously vascular in his case. (Whew!)

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    3. Penny had flashing lights in her right eye. The ophthalmologist initially diagnosed retinal detachment but it eventually runed out to be ocular migraine.

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    4. Did Penny have just the one?

      We decided to take Wil to the same doc who diagnosed my vitreous detachment when I had it. I got it on a Sunday and he was so quick to phone me back right then. I went in to see him first thing Monday morning and he sent me straight over to the Retina Center to see a particular specialist ophthalmologist, because he saw something he thought could be a tumor. He didn't tell me that. I was in the office waiting for the doctor and my eye doc's note for him was just sitting there. It kind of freaked me out. But he took great care to inspect my eye and said there was no tumor. (Whew!)

      Anyway, we had Wil go to the same doc who helped me, because we trust him and wanted to be certain. So, it's a relief.

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    5. Penny had the flashes off and on for at least several months. After the ocular migraine was diagnosed, meaning there was no tretment and no danger of it getting worse, she didn't mention it again. I would assume it continued, but don't actually know.

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    6. I see.
      I had some flashes, but the weird part was the dark spots that seemed like something liquid breaking and splashing. I can still see some of the black spots.

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    7. I had a posterior vitreous detachment, which was rather exciting. It produced several floaters, one large; the eye doctor said the floater(s) wouldn't actually go away, but my mind would in time ignore them, and so it seems it did. Interesting to hear of flashing lights associated with an ocular migraine; in my case I have difficulty reading. Then I realize it is like seeing things through moving water. It gets bigger, turns into a ring, then expands out of my field of vision. Once I realized what it was (thanks to puddle and some research, which taught me that the severe headaches I had as a teenager were classical migraines), I have been able to simply relax and enjoy the show--which still happens from time to time. No pain, but it leaves a slight sensation in the brain for a while afterwards.
      ----Alan

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    8. Yes, Alan, my brain has likewise compensated for the most part (not all). But those floaters do move around, and when they’re center-eye, I find it really hard to drive at night.

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  4. Replies
    1. {listener}

      😧😧😧😳😣😣😡😡🤬

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    2. Ownership is predicated on the theory that resources and assets owned will produce profit. Parents own children to increase family value (wealth). Mandatory school attendance is widely resented, especially since it is enforced by the severance of parental rights when persistent truancy is proved in court. How do you think half a million children a year end up in foster care?
      What I call human husbandry goes largely unnoticed because juvenile court hearings are conducted in secret.
      Children are property until they are emancipated at age eighteen.

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    3. Surely that vote will be overturned. That's barbaric!

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  5. {listener}

    😮

    via James Webb Telescope FaceBook page…

    BREAKING 🚨: A dead 660-pound satellite will crash back to Earth tomorrow

    NASA says the risk of harm is 1 in 2,467

    The now-retired spacecraft, known as RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager), was launched into space by NASA in 2002 to observe solar flares and coronal mass ejections from its low-Earth orbit. However, due to “communications difficulties,” the spacecraft was decommissioned in August 2018, according to the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

    As of April 17, the US Department of Defense reports that the 660-pound spacecraft will make an uncontrolled reentry through Earth’s atmosphere at 9:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 19. Although, take this time with a grain of salt – as there’s an uncertainty of 16 hours in either direction.

    NASA anticipates that most of the spacecraft will burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, but the agency claims that “some components are expected to survive.” Since Earth is primarily covered in water and uninhabited land, usually, this wouldn’t be alarming. However, NASA states the probability of the falling spacecraft causing harm is “low” at about 1 in 2,467

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    1. {listener}

      NASA’s RHESSI satellite will make an uncontrolled reentry to Earth sometime in the next 19 hours. (Most likely 3 hours.) Most of the 660 lb craft will burn up in the atmosphere, but some parts will likely survive. Chance of a strike is 1 in 2467.
      Be prepared. Get your snacks ready and watch the tracking here:
      LIVE NASA RHESSI Spacecraft Crash to Earth - Tracking Countdown!

      🌟We recommend Reese’s Pieces. 🤣

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  6. {listener}

    Aw, phooey….
    Just got a call from CVS, explaining that the vaccine has FDA approval but they have to wait a couple more days to administer, waiting on the CDC (which meets today). Too bad their site allowed us to make the appointment. Okay…a couple more days, then. Sigh.

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    1. Thanks for saving me the trouble of checking, listener.
      ---Alan

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  7. Biden Can Steamroll Republicans on the Debt Ceiling, and Fed Chair Jay Powell won’t interfere. [Click] The White House doesn’t have to negotiate with hostage takers--and it can wait until the last minute.
    —Alan

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    1. PU leather, or polyurethane leather, is an artificial leather made of thermoplastic polymer used for making furniture or shoes. 100% PU leather is completely artificial and is considered vegan. There are some types of PU leather called bicast leather that have actual leather but has a polyurethane coating on top.

      AKA vegan leather amazing, ad agencies view of our intelligence.

      puddle. . . .

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    2. What TPM says basically reflects my view. Not only was an actual trial unlikely, but the outcome could have been iffy.

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    3. Yes, Bill; but one can dream . . . which thought brings to mind Rupert Murdoch being questioned during application of thumbscrews . . .
      ---Alan

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    4. From Wikipedia: “The primary use for Naugahyde is as a substitute for leather in upholstery . . .

      A marketing campaign of the 1960s and 1970s asserted humorously that Naugahyde was obtained from the skin of an animal called a "Nauga". The claim became an urban myth. The campaign emphasized that, unlike other animals, which must typically be slaughtered to obtain their hides, Naugas can shed their skin without harm to themselves. The Nauga doll, a squat, horned monster with a wide, toothy grin, became popular in the 1960s and is still sold today.”
      —Alan

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    5. Ah, yes. Good old Naugahyde, the late and unlamented.

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  9. Volcanic microbe eats CO2 ‘astonishingly quickly’ [Click] Discovery of carbon-capturing organism[s] in hot springs could lead to efficient way of absorbing climate-heating gas
    —Alan

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    1. Now *that's* interesting. Thanks, Alan.

      BTW I'd never know what was going on in the world if it weren't for you.

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    2. I imagine you would find a way, Cat. I try to get a selection of this and that. I don't know beans about musicians, movies or fashion, so don't post much about those.
      ----Alan

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    3. Since I don't care beans about movies or fashion, that's okay. And since the few musicians I'm interested in have social media/YouTube presences, they're easy to keep up with.

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  10. Pa. Supreme Court angrily sanctions county for violating order on Dominion voting machines [Click] “The sanctions . . . followed more than two years of fighting in the wake of the 2020 election.”
    ---Alan

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  11. Tasting History: Making WWII US Navy Ice Cream [Click] An excellent YouTube channel!
    —Alan

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  12. That so called pre-op appointment of Dad's yesterday turned out to be nothing. They drew blood for lab work...again and gave him an EKG...again.

    No meeting with the surgeon or a member of his team. Nothing to give him an idea in advance what's going to be happening and what to expect.

    I guess my orthopedic surgeon spoiled us. He was very thorough, made sure both I and my family knew exactly what to expect. Even sent us to a class at the hospital, where the procedure was explained, the hospital stay was discussed, the works. Also, we got a thick book and a worksheet, oh, all sorts of materials. Hip replacement is pretty routine, so the system works smoothly and efficiently.

    Apparently, blasting bladder stones, performing exploratory surgery for bladder cancer and doing prostate surgery are none of them so routine as to have well-oiled machinery to go with them. Or maybe the other hospital isn't as efficient. I'd feel better if Dad were going to the hospital where I was, but Dr. Mohamed (Never heard his last name) works out of the other hospital in town, more's the pity. It used to be very good, but I have my doubts.

    Wouldn't you think a man just a few weeks away from his ninetieth birthday might merit a little special care? Sis has a bad feeling about the whole thing. She is easily upset, so I have to reassure her; but, to tell the truth, I'm uneasy about the procedures too.

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    1. I don't know what to say. Surgical competence and patient management aren't particularly related skills. Maybe they thought things were adequately explained before? But it sounds like things could be handled better.

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    2. Part of the problem is that Sis and I haven't been in the loop, since neither of us can go into the doctor with Dad; so, we have to rely on his reports. Everybody really ought to have somebody go into the doctor with them but, understandably, our situation is a bit touchy. What man would want his daughter going into the urologist with him? /shudder/ But that means there are questions we haven't been able to ask, clarifications we haven't been able to get, etc. And Dad, well, sometimes he gets hold of the wrong end of the stick.

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  13. I hearad from Three Ravens today. They rejected the query as submitted but rather explicitly suggested I submit a revised sample. Which I have done.

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  14. Back in the day of my history with rejection slips, I dreamed of wall papering my bathroom with the buggers, and the day I got a letter, still rejection, from Atlantic, but actually asking me to continue to submit poetry to them. Joy.

    puddle~

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