By David Futrelle
Today, two catastrophic natural disasters, and the ongoing unnatural disaster that is political life in the US today. Also, Liam Gallagher makes tea!
First, the devastation left behind by Maria in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
This is the trail of destruction that's been left by Hurricane Maria https://t.co/mZrXXB8Owj pic.twitter.com/JYcKJOx8Cy
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 20, 2017
WATCH: Floodwaters rush through streets of Guyama, Puerto Rico as Hurricane Maria strikes the island (via Cruz Rodriguez Keila) pic.twitter.com/apJvSRibDV
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 20, 2017
While Puerto Rico drowns, all of 47% of Americans even know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. https://t.co/vT32YwThUl
— Erik Loomis (@ErikLoomis) September 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/TeaPartyCat/status/910568629787398144
The news from Mexico in the wake of its latest earthquake just gets worse:
In Mexico, rescuers continue a frantic search for survivors after the violent earthquake led to at least 225 deaths https://t.co/8q9fd7kow1 pic.twitter.com/bNVZuNmvR9
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 20, 2017
This is #Mexico #FuerzaMexico pic.twitter.com/04G78zr0t1
— MarthaF (@psicomf) September 20, 2017
Turns out that former Trump campaign head Paul Manafort is as much of a sleazy asshole as he looks:
Manafort offered "private briefings" on the 2016 race to a Putin ally in SUPER SLY UNCRACKABLE CODE. https://t.co/dgnb1xJcMz pic.twitter.com/NBxqLIG3ub
— shauna (@goldengateblond) September 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/patdennis/status/910612013969264640
Mueller's Manafort focus goes beyond Russia: FBI's warrant said probe centered on possible crimes back to Jan. 2006. https://t.co/BizhSGVXtV
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/910617003852955648
Despite all the Manafort news, my Manafort palindrome has not been a giant success on Twitter, alas.
A Manafort a catro, Fanama!
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) September 20, 2017
The GOP is still working hard to steal health insurance from 50 million Americans. Vote planned for next week. CALL CALL CALL.
Graham-Cassidy allows insurers to NOT cover:
-Pregnancy
-Newborn care
-Mental health services
-Prescription drugs
-Rehab
-Birth control— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 19, 2017
Under this bill, pregnancy will cost you an extra 17K. Metastatic cancer 172K. Autism 5K. Asthma 4K. This isn't a healthcare bill.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 19, 2017
Jimmy Kimmel: Senator Cassidy "lied right to my face" about new health care bill https://t.co/H1QMXoQh7j
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) September 20, 2017
CASSIDY (earlier): Any bill must pass the Jimmy Kimmel test
CASSIDY (now): Babies with heart defects will receive a copy of Atlas Shrugged
— Daniel Lin (@danwlin) September 19, 2017
Trump thinks #GrahamCassidy has a "very good chance" of passing. Let's fight to prove him wrong & save healthcare.https://t.co/faaDibDgLC pic.twitter.com/cE0IrhdIQR
— CAP Action (@CAPAction) September 20, 2017
would like to see an analysis of lost productivity because every few weeks we have to call our lawmakers and beg them not to kill us.
— Elon Green (@elongreen) September 19, 2017
In other news:
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/910500775171969024
Tom Price spent $25k to fly from DC to Philly, but Republicans call government healthcare and anti-poverty programs wasteful: https://t.co/1inayUE2bb
— Flippable (@flippable_org) September 20, 2017
GOP DURING CAMPAIGN: We must curb wasteful spending!
GOP IN OFFICE: Event is 17 miles away, should we take a private jet or a space shuttle
— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) September 20, 2017
I honestly don't think you can find a worse "apology". pic.twitter.com/SPeAcVOc3l
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) September 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/laura_hudson/status/910597449969889281
Congratulations to the RNC donor base on footing the legal bills for a (supposed) billionaire and his millionaire son. #MAGA https://t.co/hoXd0iYi2W
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) September 19, 2017
Trump tells African leaders his friends are trying to get rich there – makes up country of "Nambia" https://t.co/VOtXxE73Ey
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 20, 2017
guys, i'm starting to think this new president is no good.
— kim (@KimmyMonte) September 19, 2017
Now, some cute animals (and Liam Gallagher):
https://twitter.com/awwcuteness/status/910282111571120129
I'm done with politics tweets until I get mad again. here is my cat pretending she doesn't know who destroyed the paper towels pic.twitter.com/c3AXIPTcD6
— rachel (@rachelmillman) September 20, 2017
Liam Gallagher making tea is the best thing you'll see today. As you were. pic.twitter.com/JaAB0p6Qr2
— BBC Three (@bbcthree) September 20, 2017
“The KKK is the only place that acknowledges D&D terms”
Three words: Social Justice Warrior.
Although I’m more partial to social justice rogue instead.
Zephkiel:
“In Christchurch, New Zealand, they had an official Wizard.”
Among other things, he put out a world map with south up. The southern hemisphere was labeled “up over” and the northern hemisphere was “down under.” The Date Line was the “crack in space time.”
By the way, David, glad to see your migraine is over.
@Sandra
All my sympathies; partner is in a similar boat, though our local medicaid is better and probably will cover the dentures.
@Leo
Discounted, not free.
I’d actually like to get dentures, but some of my teeth are still good so I can’t get a total extraction covered. It’d be nice to be able to smile and not gross people out.
If anyone is wondering, my current dental state is due to hating and not giving a shite about myself/personal care when I was younger (way before I figured out what the hell was going on).
@Everyone
Thanks for the positive wishes. I feel like a burden to my family because I know we’re going to wind up paying for basically all of it and we couldn’t do that if my folks weren’t basically on the uppermost edge of the middle class AND accepted me.
Not helping: My mother promised to pay for facial laser hair removal for me if I dealt with the dental stuff, and I can’t get her to not do that. I didn’t accept her deal. I capitulated because she was right and I had been meaning to do it for months. Plus I can sort of handle it without laser. It has to be optional, right? Right?
@Jesalin
Oof. I drank four or more sodas a day for more than ten years because I just didn’t give a rat’s ass if I lived or died and it made the pain go away a little. I didn’t really brush my teeth for the same reason, which is the same reason I STILL do not eat enough. I have fucking fainting spells because I simply don’t eat. And that’s self care.
I thought everything was pointless because I hated life so much before, and now I’m armed with the “Life expectancy for trans women is age 25” statistic and I’m still like…why do I even fuckin’ bother.
@Sandra
You’re white, for us it’s more like 35. Which milestone I passed last year, so go me, I guess. But still, you don’t date dudes, which is a big risk factor reduced, so as long as you can keep on top of the dysphoria and depression, you’re good. :p Reassuring, I know. Hormones help a lot IME.
@Dalillama
Thanks. That’s a reasonable perspective. Plus I have at least the tolerance of my family.
The hormones do help a lot, but it’s also like going through puberty again – as in I have very little if any ability to control my emotions right now. I scream at dishes when I forget to put them in the dishwasher. I cry when my cat looks beautiful. I tell people on the news to “Fuck off you useless fencesitting liberal jackasses”, and have been banned from watching the news with Mom. Hell, I keep having to hide sharp objects from myself because I really do not want to cut myself.
Plus I’m crushing on an (asexual) friend of mine, and like…of course I’m this broken. Of course I am. She’s by definition not interested and shit. Hahahaha.
Anyway mildly drunk, not meaning to ramble, just…thanks.
If you think titles like Grand Wizard are bad the so-called Second Era Klan, which covers the 1915-44 period, introduced position names like Kludd and Kligrapp.
@Dimmy
I’m not quite sure how you got from “brit says he can’t understand why poor americans actively vote against their own best interests” to “brits are racist and were slavetraders so shut up”. Those things aren’t actually related.
@Dali
For half a sec, I was confused about whether you meant me or Hubby *smiles cutely but grossly* 😛
@Sandra
#notall, but… Ace folks like looking cute. Ace folks like being charming. Ace folks like being appreciated for said cuteness and charm. Ace folks get crushed/squished on. Ace folks crush/squish on others. You are not broken. You are not wrong. You are not alone
(Sorry, spent a good portion of last night browsing ace positivity tumblr looking for summat to get engraved on a black ring I wanna get. All slogany atm)
Besides, if longing for unavailable people was some great sign of brokenness, half of romance stories wouldn’t even exist. Pretty common thread anyway 😀
Last time I looked we still had a tory clusterfuck “government”, albeit by the skin of the DUP’s teeth, so sadly there are plenty of Brits who vote for a party that is harming them – as in, quite clearly going to go right on damaging our economy in general (brexit) and our health service in particular (stealth privatisation) and who have been paying large sums to Capita and Atos to remove benefits from the poor and disabled resulting in actual deaths.
It works much the same here as it does in other parts of the world such as the USA; the tactics may differ but the strategy is similar. Cut education, cut welfare, use the media to drip poison into people’s eyes and ears, play on our prejudices and fears and divide us against each other. The tories plan to decimate employment rights after brexit, and all they have to do is call it “cutting red tape” and being “competitive”; they are working right now to cut parliament out of the picture with the “Henry VIII” powers and all they have to do it seems is keep wittering on in public about regaining sovereignty from Brussels.
It may be a while before anyone dares implement a charge for healthcare at the point of access, but they don’t mind too much taking the scenic route: underfunding the NHS and gutting it of both money and skills (EC staff leaving? cutting support for training?) until it’s an understaffed skeleton service only the poorest use, while everyone who can gradually buys more and more private health insurance (or sometimes get it as part of a salary package). Already we can’t get the mental health help we need; already almost all of us have to pay at least a contribution up front for dental and eye care; already those who can afford it pay to jump the queue for non-A&E care such as hip replacements etc.
I’d love it if we didn’t fall for the party who effectively offer “vote for us and we’ll kill you”, but I’m afraid too many of us still do. Sovereignty, strong and stable, make britain great again … works just like MAGA.
@Sandra:
That’s a feature, not a bug. If more people were that way, maybe we wouldn’t be in as big of a pickle.
@opposablethumbs
This erosion of the safety net seems to be happening everywhere, unlike say 40 years ago. Why now? How is it being coordinated? And most importantly, what can we do about it, besides not voting Tory/Republican/etc.?
8 years of crap diet, soda, unemployed, and major depression here, so I know the tooth issue well. Still have nightmares about them falling out. Just teeth in general freak me out.
Luckily I just have 3 or 4 that took the worst of it, so not as bad as Sandra thankfully. That’s seriously a nightmare of mine.
@Sandra My mother paid for me to get my facial hair lasered, I had mixed feelings about it at the time, but I do enjoy the results.
In happier news, a neo Nazi has been mauled by a lion.
http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/6287514
Don’t worry, the lion’s fine.
@Sandra, Axecalibur:
And, for at least some ace people, not spending energy thinking about ‘how do I get into this person’s pants’ seems to leave more energy to actually show empathy and be friendly. There’s less expectation for anything to be more than that.
Especially if you’ve been having problems elsewhere, crushing on the person who’s being most open and friendly even if you know they won’t be interested is hardly unexpected. I’d call that pretty normal.
(Gah, re-reading, hope this doesn’t sound like I’m saying all non-ace people are constantly going around trying to get into people’s pants. In some ways it’s just another form of the old lament of ‘all the good men are either taken or gay’: being freed from any expectation that a relationship might progress beyond friendship leaves a lot more ability to just be friends.)
@Sandra: is your friend aro, as well? If they are not, they might be interested in a romantic connection. You know them and yourself, obviously, so you know more about what would be right for you.
Just because an ace person isn’t interested in sex, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t enjoy a relationship. (Possibly.)
@Axe: i’m not wearing my ring anymore, since the label doesn’t fit me as well as it used to. I really miss it sometimes though, i don’t really wear jewelry and it was nice to have something on.
It was this one, which i got a bunch of compliments on:
Did you choose something to be engraved? (If you wouldn’t mind sharing) i would be interested.
I think mine would be something about either not being broken, or that i was whole all along.
@ Alan;
… yeah, I guess!
re: crushing… for me this seems to follow closely on the heels of emotional intimacy and/or intellectual intimacy. Then I do my daily inventory and I’m like “wtf?? I don’t want a romantic relationship with them, I want to talk about paleoanthropology…. so how did I get here???”
@Surplus to Requirements, I wish I knew. I give what support I can to the best option we’ve got here at the moment, imo, i.e. Corbyn-flavoured Labour – he’s not a magician or flawless, obviously, but the policy shift he stands for/with is the most positive thing I’ve seen in this corner of the world for a long time.
<3 Sandra. You remind me that I need to go to the dentist's, too. Work does not cover that for me, so I have put it off far too long. I hope that it turns out better for you than you fear, and that it doesn't destroy your purse in the process. Dentistry should be one of those things that's covered for everyone, regardless. Tooth or jaw pain is tremendously painful, and such a drain. Good luck!
Ooh, Axe, hit us up with somma dat slogan magic. I am strongly inclined to believe I'm ace myself, so they are probably personally applicable!
Best of luck to you, Sandra! I wish for you a dentist as awesome as mine is.
I’ve recently finished months of reconstruction after breaking off a tooth last January (while eating pizza!?) I now have (after two extractions) a new bridge and two new crowns. Even with the dental plan we have with Husbeast’s job, it was a crap-ton of money. But I now have a functioning mouth again. Which I’m not taking for granted anymore.
@Jenora
Definitely! Being friends with attractive people I don’t wanna fuck is great! Nobody told me casual, not going anywhere flirting was so fun, and I’m salty about it ?
@Rhuu
Yep. Alloro aces might totes be into a relationship. And it’s not like aces never like sex either. They aren’t sexually attracted, but that’s not exactly the same
I also wanted to say that I don’t think Paul Manafort is sleazy looking. He rather reminds me of Hugh Downs is why and that kind of pisses me off even though Manafort has no control over it.
I think I’ve been aro all my life. I only ever got into a few relationships over my nearly forty years of being sexually active. Husbeast, being poly, is fine with it and I’ve always been fine with him being poly. We’ve been together since 1997. Funny how things work out.
@Axecalibur
And she fucking is. I hope she does like being appreciated for being fucking awesome.
@Surplus
It’s a package deal. You want the me who cries when my cat hugs me and at the end of Heathers, you also get the me who screams at cutlery, hides from shadows, shouts hurtful things at news anchors, and vibrates when I’m upset.
@Bakunin
I really hope it’s not as bad for you as it is for me.
@Zenobia
I just feel like such a fucking burden, though I know I won’t be able to afford it myself any time soon. Though it’d be fucking glorious not to have a beard by sundown every fuckin’ day.
@Jenora Feuer
I have a long, pathetic history of crushing on people who are nice to me because I don’t get that in my regular life. One of the reasons I’m trying really hard to not show her a damn thing about my feelings is because if this is the same I really owe her better than jerking her around with feelings that are gonna fade.
@Rhuu
I really don’t know if she’s aro or not. I suppose I’d have to ask her about romance. I already don’t view her sexually. I just want to go to musicals and dancing and eat crap and brush her hair and cuddle a bit and complain about everything in both of our lives and sing together and…ugh I have this bad.
@Weird Eddie
Ugh. She’s Columbia in Rocky Horror, so I just wanna perform the show, and she’s really nice at the afterparties and almost punched a neo-nazi for being mean to me, so she’s pretty damn obviously my ally and now suddenly I wanna wander aimlessly through a park with her.
@Scildfreja
Frankly, I’m of the opinion that all medical care should be covered. You can make the argument that I made a poor decision – and I did make a set of poor decisions in not pursuing dental care when I was younger and drinking entirely too much soda, but do I deserve to be toothless for the rest of my life for it?
@Hambeast
My dentist has been my dentist for literally ever. She’s almost like another mom. One of the reasons I’ve been avoiding her is because she is great at making me feel guilty and I just could not take that extra emotional crap on me.
some good news: John McCain has come out against the new deathcare bill.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mccain-says-he-will-vote-no-for-gop-health-care-bill-dealing-major-blow-to-repeal-effort/2017/09/22/077ba8a4-9fc0-11e7-9c8d-cf053ff30921_story.html?utm_term=.aaf18bff5b54