An Ask

Starting when he was 14 my brother has a long work history, the only 'break' being his tours in Viet Nam. He's a builder, a craftsman, gifted with precise attention to detail, especially with the wooden boats he loves to sail. Anyway, time and circumstance brought him to a place where he needed a hand up, and he had a difficult time giving himself permission to ask for help. He had to be reminded about all the times he has showed up to help others, and that he had never belittled any of those he helped nor derided them for having to ask. I'm one of those, seeing as how he stepped in and bought me my lift chair, no lecture about "you should have planned better". It was a supremely delightful surprise when he shed his political silence, switched parties, walked into the local Democratic party office and asked how he could help get Obama elected; he's probably knocked on most of the doors in the county. And the local firefighters, with whom he volunteered for years, still hold him in very high regard.

So now I'm here, asking on his behalf. From the bottom of my heart, DUers, I thank you in advance.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-wheelchair-van-for-corinne?member=15551665&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer



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Postponed. Again.

It wasn't that long ago that I got a call from my pulmonologist's office; they asked for my okay on shifting my upcoming follow-up appointment to another staff doctor seeing as how my regular doctor is in charge of the ICU at the hospital. I asked how many of those ICU beds were occupied by unvaxed patients, the answer was "Every. Single. One." My appointment was rescheduled for later this week.

Today I got another call from the pulmonology clinic. My follow-up appointment has been rescheduled again, this time to February, because all their doctors have now been called to the ICU.

I've now had two procedures postponed indefinitely; a number of friends, some with more serious chronic health issues, are similarly shifted to accommodate the influx. At what point is it okay to stop wondering if anti-vaxers have latent homicidal tendencies?



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Light One Candle

Dancers meet rescue pets in Fort Collins ballet company's annual 'Muttcracker' shoot

Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus, and he's officially brought back the "Muttcracker" photo shoot as a new Fort Collins holiday tradition.

For the second year in a row, Fort Collins' Canyon Concert Ballet partnered with Animal Friends Alliance to showcase nine of the local rescue's adoptable dogs and cats ahead of the ballet company's annual production of "The Nutcracker."

Like last year, Nutcracker dancers posed with the animals for photos celebrating both their upcoming shows and Animal Friends Alliance's adoptable pets. Of the pets featured in the Nov. 20 photo shoot, all of the puppies have since been adopted. Gladys, a senior beagle involved in the shoot, will most like be available for fostering and adoption next week, while the kittens featured will likely be available at an adoption event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at PetSmart, 4432 S. College Ave, according to Animal Friends Alliance.
...more at link, including more pics



https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/2021/11/22/christmas-fort-collins-rescue-pets-ballet-meet-muttcracker-nutcracker/8719372002/?fbclid=IwAR2duqJ1LyRNG_gDSU0ecUqahzg2DR1s1F25vHKAtPYvZBBv-oMxn_QvwiQ



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Unforgotten

The halls of the high school were crowded. No one was talking, most were crying or about to. Classes had just been cancelled for the rest of the day, we were sent home. We walked in silence having no idea what to say to each other. My mother was surprised when I walked into the store where she was working, she asked why I wasn’t in school. They hadn’t heard. When I told them, her boss unboxed a radio and turned it on. There were gasps and utterances of “Oh, no” and then tears. Dad came home from work early, the only other time we’d seen him cry was when his mother died. My memories of those days are all in black and white, like the pictures on the television. Some things are destined to remain unforgotten.





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Dear Santa

Unemployed

One wonders...

How will George Zimmerman handle having to share the pariah status?



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Kevin McCarthy's late night tour de farce

conjures up thoughts of that hapless utterance, "Hands up, mother stickers, this is a fuck up!"



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Optics

Noting that Kevin McCarthy's present whinefest has him flanked by a bunch of grumpy white guys. Quite the contrast to those supporting Hoyer.


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