TurkeyChew

literally (40 years ago) a different political time and age.

For sure, but I think he meant if there is a deadlock, which isn’t the case today.

100% this. Supreme Court is 100% political.

lmao forgot about coming back here to post the link (seriously, did you think I made this up and didn't read an article about this?): https://restofworld.org/2022/el-salvador-bitcoin/

Yea— nobody wants to use the A word. It’s a political death knell these days in this America we live in.

That scene killed me.

Oh sorry, that's not right. It's The Moops.

So you are saying it does make a sound? That tweet you posted which literally nobody on all 33 pages of this thread would have known of its existence if you hadn't posted it, has like 1000 views. That is as non-audience as you can get for a once-upon-a-time national name on social media. I have random comments on YouTube videos doing more comments and likes than that. For all intents and purposes, that guy has been relegated to nobody-status and in rather short order. If your argument is that he still has obscure attention-grabbing status for those who want to follow him and shame or that he might get minimal views and likes for his desperate attempts at outrage attention, then I guess you are right. Once a political celebrity I guess you never really go back to anonymous everyman, but it's impossible to argue he's as relevant as he once was. He's like a Cory Feldman or other disgraced and ridiculed failed child actors-- will always have some sort of name recognition but only briefly and to laugh at for a second before moving on.

Dan. Buckner.

Like a Dick Tracy villain, now that you mention it.

Difficulties could be summed up with 1) money and 2) people in a public sector role with the ability to execute such a strategy as you suggest, without a blank check (see #1) and a modest budget. The answers are always painful in the short-term with a promise of pain-relief in the longer term. Those sorts of visions and policies take a special personality to marshal them and for the populace to have a faith in their leaders/government that is nearly non-existent from most people with finite resources/money and eyes/ears that have seen what government and politicians are capable of the last few decades. In my opinion.

As a practitioner, and I'm not sure what you specialize in and I suppose it doesn't really matter, but given your background does it cause you to think about your own auto-immune and auto-immune generally, in a more curious and investigative way? Have you dug into why there is so little known or what we can do with these things (and why so many variations exist)? Has it made you read up on the research and all that stuff (twin newborn studies, etc.)? What I've found in the last decade or so: 1) The internet is simultaneously your best friend and worst enemy when it comes to all things medical information, and 2) Doctors are the same as you and me (literally, with you), in that they have chosen a craft or profession and dedicate their time, to varying degrees, to honing their skills and abilities. They aren't magicians and what they, and we as society, know about the human body and medical conditions is akin to what we know and have explored about the universe (or our own oceans even). We have good grasps of some basic things but what we don't understand and have seen is way more vast than what we do understand. That is a far cry from my child-like innocence when I viewed doctors as prime intelligent beings in our society with answers to all things human health and body.

If a tree falls in the woods with nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

100% this. Just look at the last page where Ted Cruz was scrolling through his Twitter for mentions and retweets after he did his bit. As everyone knows there is no such thing as bad publicity; anything that gets you mind space for folks, whether outrage or adoration, is solidifying as relevant or legitimate. It’s always been that way (hence that Hollywood adage from yesteryear) but exponentially so in todays attention-based economy with 24 hour news cycles and feeds and algorithms vying for eyeballs and eliciting the aforementioned outrage/love response. Case Study: Yiannis Milapious or whatever that Greek agitator right wing gay guys name was. As soon as the oxygen was sucked out of his go to market (deplatformed, not doing speaking tours, going broke, etc.) nobody has heard from him since. No mentions, no existence.

You really should ignore me, like yesterday. @wildcat09 great post.

I just saw your addendum. I don't see it as "normalizing" as much as just accepting that politics is a disgusting business full of disgusting people, on all sides. Sure there are degrees, for me the differences don't move the needle for me as much as they do for others. It's probably the chaotic neutral version of Brisket's ledge; a political nihilism. But that said of course I have my own "politics" that are derived from my north star beliefs which means if pressed for political comment which, to your point, I'll generally default to tacitly supporting whichever team is more conservative. I am privileged enough (as I suspect you are as well) to not really care either way, however. Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's of course, but beyond that, I take no joy in being either outraged or thrilled, depending on which team is in temporary control. I try to keep an even hand and emotionless approach to my criticism of both sides. I am actually surprised at how emotionally you responded because your hot take seemed to be an opinion without much supporting evidence (your take that the GOP are proactively creating the monsters rather than reactively feeding the monsters akin to blaming the cartels for creating the demand versus servicing the demand that inherently exists).

He wanted it pronounced JIF but the masses (e.g. everyone else in the world except hornian, it seems) has spoken. It organically has become hard-G-GIF and that's just how critical mass and evolution of language and normalization of words, works. It's like George when he tried to give himself his own nickname. You don't get to come up with your own nickname, Coco, others will dictate that for you.

I tried to deduce who she was based on the award she's holding, but that's certainly not an oscar and not sure what is a star trophy-- maybe BET awards or something? Rapper probably.

Thanks for answering. You are the one person who has said it's fair for Lia to race against bio women recently.

I disagree. The politicians who pander to their base/people are doing so for one reason and one reason only; pursuit of political power. Take Ted Cruz for example since people have mentioned him. You really think an hispanic guy named Rafael who was an ivy league legal beagle and scholar would choose to willingly dance to the beat he has been dancing to? Of course not-- he is smart enough to see his line of sight to political power is to play the part--and play it well-- hence, practical politics. Politicians are merely responding to the demand of what their constituents want to consume. When/If MAGAT falls out of favor and XYZ is the new absurd political rage, these politicians will be XYZers if it means the path of least resistance to obtaining and maintaining power. Any other explanation beyond this is assigning too much credit to these politicians, IMO, and nothing you've said has bolstered your strong opinion a few posts up otherwise.

While a decent explanation, I'm not sure that is what Twice was saying.

Heck yea; your doggedness and perseverance paid off. Curious if your experience informs your approach to your own practice with folks, but that’s another conversation. How soon did your blood normalize? Gradually over 5 years, or quickly and has been normal for the last 5 years? What, if any, are the long term damages that could have happened had you not figured it out and had low plt and wbc for years on end? Organ failure or anything weird? What are your risks as someone with Lupus today? Anything extreme you have to do to accommodate your disease?

I thought it meant that stupid accusations that are lazy and baseless mean that you are really projecting your own thoughts and feelings and betraying yourself, and that it’s a universal axiom for all?

Talking specifically about Lia and the specific circumstances of the last week or so. Everyone seems to agree her competing given the context and circumstances (including troph) is unfair to the other women. Do you disagree?