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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 5, 2018 6:10:33 GMT
So, apparently it is the 1st anniversary of #MeToo.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 5, 2018 6:44:12 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 12, 2018 2:43:19 GMT
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Post by questa on Oct 12, 2018 4:05:44 GMT
Good news indeed. A country that kills its own citizens is demonstrating its lack of development and tendency to remain in the Middle Ages.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 14, 2018 14:56:05 GMT
I'm on (or was on) a feminist forum and practically got into virtual fistfights every time one of them would evoke the death penalty for some particularly horrible sex murderer and accuse me of being soft on the bastard because I'm firmly abolitionist. It has nothing to do with misplaced empathy with such creeps; more that I don't want people killed in my name (however horrible) and that countries, states, provinces etc with the death penalty have higher rates of murder and other serious crimes of violence than those without, all other things being equal. I don't know where that attitude comes from, there were participants from countries with FAR higher rates of murder and other grave crimes, including "aggravated sexual assault" (extremely violent rape, in Canadian law) who never shared that view with was voiced by SOME (by no means all) of the participants from the US). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Crimes_and_Punishments Dei delitti e delle pene was a foundational work by Cesare Beccaria written in 1764 and translated into major European languages very quickly, speaking out against the death penalty and torture, and saluted by other Enlightenment figures.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 14, 2018 15:58:40 GMT
Malaysia is abolishing the death penalty this week.
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Post by fumobici on Oct 14, 2018 20:47:45 GMT
I'm quite happy to see it go away. Death penalty supporters, in addition to being fundamentally too similar to the people they want murdered on their behalf, possess an extremely naive belief in the infallibility of their judicial systems.
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Post by Kimby on Oct 20, 2018 17:21:49 GMT
Fifty years ago today, Jacqueline Kennedy became Jackie O.
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Post by Kimby on Oct 20, 2018 17:28:44 GMT
More significantly, 45 years ago today, Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and AG Elliot Richardson and Deputy AG William B. Ruckelshaus resigned, in what came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre.
Trump is leaning toward firing his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein who oversees the Mueller investigation. Despite his advisors warning him that it would likely lead to the end of his presidency. Since the investigation itself will likely lead to the same outcome, Trump is between a rock and a hard place.
After the mid-term elections, though, he may feel freer to exercise his powers of exorcism. Bring it on Mueller!
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Post by whatagain on Oct 23, 2018 20:09:07 GMT
The Snurfs are 60 years old today. Les Schtroumpfs as we say in the original version were created as additional characters in the series Johan et Pirlouit that was the success of Peyo. Then they took their indépendance - a sort of spinoff - and nobody knows who Pirlouit is nowadays.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 23, 2018 21:06:31 GMT
None of the Smurfs are even wrinkled yet.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 23, 2018 21:59:54 GMT
It's a well known fact that blue melanin provides exceptional protection against sun damage.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 25, 2018 9:47:28 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Oct 25, 2018 20:18:02 GMT
So many common English expressions come from that short speech.
On a lighter note, today is World Pasta Day. Obviously commercial in origin, but it does have the merit of celebrating pastas East and West, of Asian and European origins.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 25, 2018 21:01:00 GMT
Now I am wondering (without looking it up) if South America or Africa invented any sort of pasta independently.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 25, 2018 22:51:26 GMT
From Africa, couscous?
I don't know anything about S.American cooking, but would guess that wheat was a European import.
Marginally related: freeze-dried potatoes are an ancient invention, I think from Peru. Somewhere in the Andes, anyway.
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Post by questa on Oct 26, 2018 5:26:57 GMT
Another ancient pasta story. When the Great Wall of China was being built the workers came from many other countries either as bonded slaves or free adventurers. They followed the Silk Road from Italy to the East and lived with the local people. Two things they took back to their home countries were noodles and pickled cabbage, The latter caught on in the Northern Europe where it became sauerkraut. The noodles took off in Italy where they were modified into the various forms of pasta we know today.
Happy pasta day and thanks to Chinese peasant cuisine.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 26, 2018 20:02:48 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 26, 2018 20:25:20 GMT
I have never thought of couscous as being a kind of pasta ( = noodles in my mind ) although Google has informed me that it is, since it is not just plain grain.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 26, 2018 21:20:13 GMT
You have to learn to think outside the .
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Post by mich64 on Oct 27, 2018 3:30:06 GMT
My father-in-law had knee replacement surgery yesterday and this afternoon I watched him up and walking, I was amazed! (and overjoyed!)
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 27, 2018 16:37:02 GMT
That is wonderful, Mich! Also pretty amazing. I had not idea a person would be up that quickly after knee surgery.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 27, 2018 20:07:26 GMT
Yes, that is really surprising as well as being wonderful.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 28, 2018 1:50:09 GMT
All was going very well and he was scheduled to go home Sunday morning but when they reviewed the x-ray done this morning, they found a piece of the drainage tube! The are doing a scope tomorrow morning to remove it and have now delayed his departure until Monday. But he is getting around really well with his walker. Six weeks of physical therapy to come, but he loves a challenge and can not wait to get back to his regular routine which includes back to the gym!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 1, 2018 2:52:22 GMT
Hope he is home & doing well by now, Mich.
October 31, 1918 <-- birthday of my father, who would have been 100 years old today.
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Post by casimira on Nov 1, 2018 15:21:18 GMT
Oh wow Bixa. (another Scorpio).
I have very, very fond memories of him and I remember seeing the two of you together and how adoringly he looked at you.
Aside from the obvious holiday today, today I am officially a Senior Citizen Medicare recipient.
I ended up after extensive research and intense inquiries of anyone and everyone choosing a supplemental plan that meets all my needs at no cost other than what is taken out of my Social Security monthly payment.
One of the very best caveats included with this plan is free membership at one of the premier fitness centers in the city and, they have a salt water swimming pool!!!! And, it's just a bicycle ride away and next to one of the movie complexes that I frequent. I am so very excited about this!!!
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Post by Kimby on Nov 1, 2018 17:37:36 GMT
Me too, casi, but you knew that! We went with a Medigap policy instead of Medicare Advantage plan. We can see any doctors or go to any ER/hospital while traveling between our two homes in MT and FL. The Advantage plans are PPOs and would charge out-of-network fees for getting sick in the wrong place. I only got part a and b, skipped the drug plan as I have no current drug needs and can just pay the penalty if I need chemo drugs in the future. My plan costs $85 per month on top of the Medicare fee. How did you get a supplement plan for free? Is that related to either of your past employers?
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 1, 2018 17:52:32 GMT
That reminds me that I have to ask for my European coverage card. French social security sent me an email to say that is free and covers all 28 27 countries of the EU.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 1, 2018 18:38:19 GMT
That is great news Casi! Fantastic membership inclusion! Enjoy the saltwater pool!
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Post by casimira on Nov 1, 2018 22:08:21 GMT
Kimby, I was so overwhelmed with all the options. That booklet "Medicare and You" with all the charts in the back listing every imaginable option had my head spinning. I spoke with several friends of mine who are past 65 and every single person highly touted the Humana Gold Plus Advantage supplemental plan. Both T. and I made an appointment with one of their agents here locally and that sealed the deal. T. even switched over from the plan he had which he chose at the last minute almost 5 years now and was paying over $200.00 a month for.(he never bothered to do his homework when it came down to the deadline he went with what retirees from the city were pushed into. In other words, he was just plain lazy. That being said, had he not been on that plan when he got sick we would still be paying medical bills it was that exorbitant a hospital stay and all the various specialists, high powered medications, aftercare etc.) This plan allows him to keep his primary care physician as he is in the network. I will have to switch my primary care physician but I am fine with that. I got to know T.'s Dr. real well as he was the man I had daily contact with when T. was real sick 2 years ago and I really like him. He currently is not taking on any new patients but he is going to take me on because of our relationship with him. It's an HMO and basically has all the same copays that I have been paying under my previous plan, some even cheaper, the prescription drug plan is a minimal co pay if it's a Tier 1 or 2 medication which my 3 prescriptions fall under. When I asked the agent (who had no fee to pay) how this could be, he told me that it was a government subsidized plan. And so we have it.
Everyone I spoke with who has it told me that they have never had any problems. It almost seems too good to be true.
And, Mich, thank you. I plan on starting my new fitness regimen tomorrow morning.
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