The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[Margret]

What's been worrying me is how many young, otherwise healthy adults have been dying from the flu this year. It reminds me of what I've heard about the 1918 flu pandemic.

I can't believe he's already over 2 weeks old. It seems like it's going so fast. I'm afraid to blink - when I open my eyes again, he'll be leaving for college.

Quick! Get your pictures now, while you still can! (And post them all here, of course.)

Margret

 

[Katie M]

I just learned something interesting. Al Capone, of all people, may be the reason sell-by dates exist. The story is that one of his family members got sick from drinking spoiled milk, which got Capone interested in the milk industry. He bought a dairy (with ransom money, because his gang kidnapped the president of the milk union) and was the first to stamp sell-by dates on the bottles. The practice wouldn't become widespread until the 1970s, though.

History is weird.

 

[Alicia88]

I read somewhere that Al Capone really did a lot for the community. Yeah, he was a murderous gangster, but he CARED. Lol. I guess it's better than being a murdering gangster who didn't care?

 

[Graceful-Lily]

We're home now! Felix is good. The vet was really nice and understanding. They always are anyways. That's why I haven't gone to another vet when Felix is sick. She listened to his heart and lungs, said everything was good. Was going to send us home but I pushed for the x-ray just in case there was something going on that we couldn't see. She said everything looks good. His heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, bladder, etc. Everything is fine. She said he seems heathy. But there is a very very small grey area in his lungs that might be mucus or fluid but it's very mild so she just gave me antibiotics. 10 days of that and then followup. The vet also said that it's most likely some kind of irritate in the house. We do have a lot of mold and air in the house is dry so I might buy a humidifier and see if that helps.

 

[Katie M]

I read somewhere that Al Capone really did a lot for the community. Yeah, he was a murderous gangster, but he CARED. Lol. I guess it's better than being a murdering gangster who didn't care?

I've read that he was among the first to open a soup kitchen after the Great Depression started. The realist in me says he was clearly trying to curry favor with the public. The idealist in me says the people must've really appreciated it.

 

[Alicia88]

Regardless of why he did it, he still made a difference so I think he deserves a bit of credit. Not too much, cuz he was still a murderous gangster, but at least a little bit.

 

[artiemom]

We're home now! Felix is good. The vet was really nice and understanding. They always are anyways. That's why I haven't gone to another vet when Felix is sick. She listened to his heart and lungs, said everything was good. Was going to send us home but I pushed for the x-ray just in case there was something going on that we couldn't see. She said everything looks good. His heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, bladder, etc. Everything is fine. She said he seems heathy. But there is a very very small grey area in his lungs that might be mucus or fluid but it's very mild so she just gave me antibiotics. 10 days of that and then followup. The vet also said that it's most likely some kind of irritate in the house. We do have a lot of mold and air in the house is dry so I might buy a humidifier and see if that helps.

WORD OF CAUTION:
If you have mold in your house, do NOT get a humidifier.. You need a Dehumidifier and GET the MOLD OUT....

It is physically harmful for all of you.. Humans and Cats...

A HUMIDIFIER will cause MOLD to GROW...

((Hugs))

 

[arouetta]

It's surprising how much good murderous gangsters can do when they see a money or political opportunity. History channel had an interesting show one night, how the mafia actually encouraged integration between black and white people and took on the KKK toe to toe, all because integration meant everyone would mingle in the same speakeasies and it would help bring in jazz music, which would draw even more people to the speakeasies.

 

[muffy]

Yes, she's definitely feeling better. Not completely well yet, but on the mend.

Her grocery store is the local Walmart, and she has to hitch a ride from someone to get there, so quite possibly. Also, the apartment where she lives has just instituted a No Smoking policy, and the designated smoking area is totally unsheltered and quite a ways away from the buildings. Bek was already quitting and is down to one cigarette a day, so she feels no great need to go to the designated smoking area, but she did anyway, during the recent snowstorm when she was so worried about Little Bit and the kittens, using her walker, as a form of protest in solidarity with the smokers who've been forced to go cold turkey or stand out in the weather ("Oh, look at that poor little old woman standing there in the cold to have her cigarette. And she had to use a walker to get there! Couldn't they make a more sheltered smoking area, a bit closer to the apartments?"). There's been a lot of flu going around in her apartment complex, so she could easily have caught it then, when her body's defenses were at their lowest because of the weather and worry about the Bit family.

Margret

Thanks for the update. I'm glad she is doing better and I hope her kittens made it through the cold weather.

 

[Katie M]

It's surprising how much good murderous gangsters can do when they see a money or political opportunity. History channel had an interesting show one night, how the mafia actually encouraged integration between black and white people and took on the KKK toe to toe, all because integration meant everyone would mingle in the same speakeasies and it would help bring in jazz music, which would draw even more people to the speakeasies.

I'm going to go on a Prohibition-related tangent-prior to Prohibition, it was frowned on for men and women to drink together in public. Saloons were generally men-only, with only a few having separate areas for women. Men and women really first drank together in speakeasies. After Prohibition ended, they kept drinking together because they were now used to it.

 

[Willowy]

The Yakuza (Japanese mafia) are very involved with their communities and do a lot of good. Of course they also break your kneecaps if you don't pay your pachinko debt. . .but, yeah, it's weird how criminals throughout history have also been responsible for some good things too.

Abe Lincoln's mom also died from bad milk. I think the raw milk advocates don't have a very good grasp on history :/. Unless you've got the cow right in front of you, you need pasteurization.

 

[foxxycat]

I'm going to go on a Prohibition-related tangent-prior to Prohibition, it was frowned on for men and women to drink together in public. Saloons were generally men-only, with only a few having separate areas for women. Men and women really first drank together in speakeasies. After Prohibition ended, they kept drinking together because they were now used to it.

It's amazing how far we have come and how far we need to keep going. I am glad it's now acceptable for both sexes to drink together-because it's just weird having one group of folks without mingling that goes with the usual club/bar experience... Now I want a captain coke..been craving one for some dumb reason. And it's been oh 2 or 3 years since I had a drink..I don't like alcohol but I just like the taste of captain rum and diet coke..yummy...will have to wait until next weekend..


I am facinated by history now-before I only wanted to follow current events but now that I have gotten older I want to know what my mom and grams lived through..and reading biographies etc. That's the great thing about history channel and other like minded channels=learn a new thing daily.

Last night Jon and I watched that biggest engineering show on I think discovery show-it was about how they built the big submarine in Virginia. I got to see some pretty impressive cranes and welding to build the ship. I don't know why I find how to shows fascinating...then I want to run out and try it!

 

[Katie M]

The Yakuza (Japanese mafia) are very involved with their communities and do a lot of good. Of course they also break your kneecaps if you don't pay your pachinko debt. . .but, yeah, it's weird how criminals throughout history have also been responsible for some good things too.

Abe Lincoln's mom also died from bad milk. I think the raw milk advocates don't have a very good grasp on history :/. Unless you've got the cow right in front of you, you need pasteurization.

The mere thought of drinking raw milk makes me sick

 

[arouetta]

Target has items themed for Black History Month. Some of the t shirts came in today. One shirt says "Frederick & Harriet & Langston & Malcolm & Martin". I am embarrassed over my ignorance, but who is Langston?

 

[Alicia88]

Well, I guess you should always pay your pachinko debt, then!
A lot of people ignore facts in favor of craziness. Like anti vaxxers. They ignore the fact that the only study linking vaccines to autism was falsified and the doctor who conducted it lost his medical license. That idiot did so much damage.

 

[Willowy]

who is Langston

Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes - Wikipedia

"Liberty and Justice--huh!--For All?"

I developed an affinity for his poems after I looked him up when he was on a Black History Month stamp. I don't usually like non-rhyming poems but there's something about his that get me.

 

[Katie M]

It's amazing how far we have come and how far we need to keep going. I am glad it's now acceptable for both sexes to drink together-because it's just weird having one group of folks without mingling that goes with the usual club/bar experience... Now I want a captain coke..been craving one for some dumb reason. And it's been oh 2 or 3 years since I had a drink..I don't like alcohol but I just like the taste of captain rum and diet coke..yummy...will have to wait until next weekend..


I am facinated by history now-before I only wanted to follow current events but now that I have gotten older I want to know what my mom and grams lived through..and reading biographies etc. That's the great thing about history channel and other like minded channels=learn a new thing daily.

Last night Jon and I watched that biggest engineering show on I think discovery show-it was about how they built the big submarine in Virginia. I got to see some pretty impressive cranes and welding to build the ship. I don't know why I find how to shows fascinating...then I want to run out and try it!

I don't know why I know anything about the history of drinking, seeing as I don't touch the stuff

Women used to be arrested for smoking in public. A guy named Edward Bernays changed that. Lucky Strike wanted to expand their customer base, so he convinced a group of women to march in a parade in New York and start smoking. It worked. More and more women were emboldened to smoke, and within a few years, it was considered normal.

Bernays, to his credit, later joined anti-smoking campaigns.

Read up on him sometime. You wouldn't believe how much influence he had on peoples' lives, influence that continues.

 

[Katie M]

Well, I guess you should always pay your pachinko debt, then!
A lot of people ignore facts in favor of craziness. Like anti vaxxers. They ignore the fact that the only study linking vaccines to autism was falsified and the doctor who conducted it lost his medical license. That idiot did so much damage.

I'm on the spectrum. Taking into consideration how much trouble it's caused me, it's made me who I am and I ultimately wouldn't want to be "cured". How can I be cured of myself? If I had kids, I'd vaccinate. It's too important.

 

[Alicia88]

Even if vaccines did cause autism - they don't - I'd still vaccinate my kids. I'd rather have an autistic child than a dead child. Thanks to anti vaxxers, diseases that had previously been pretty much eradicated in the US are making a comeback - like measles. Before vaccines, a lot of kids didn't survive to adulthood. Do we really want to go back to that?

 

[foxxycat]

Even if vaccines did cause autism - they don't - I'd still vaccinate my kids. I'd rather have an autistic child than a dead child. Thanks to anti vaxxers, diseases that had previously been pretty much eradicated in the US are making a comeback - like measles. Before vaccines, a lot of kids didn't survive to adulthood. Do we really want to go back to that?

That's a topic I see daily on Facedumbbook. I always say if we stop vaccinating-then don't cry when you loose your family to a preventable disease=AND when people come into our country I expect them to also be up to date on their shots. Letting unvaccinated people into our country is causing another set of problems-compounded with anti vax crowd=perfect storm for disease to wreck havoc. I know this is something people don't like to hear-but if I were to travel to say New Zealand-I am required to get a chest X ray before entering their country to check for TB. I guess they don't have it there...there's some other stuff but I don't see this as unreasonable..but sadly with the ease of travel-it's too easy for some to come in here and cause a pandemic of some said disease..don't throw tomatoes at me ok?! It's just something I have worried about for years.