August 17, 2017

After clashes with white nationalists, U-Va. library employee suffers a stroke

Source: Washington Post

A University of Virginia employee suffered a stroke Tuesday that some of his friends said was linked to an injury he suffered during the violent demonstrations by white nationalists in Charlottesville last week.

Tyler Magill, 46, a well-known musician and DJ for a local radio station who works for the U-Va. library, was with a small group of people who gathered at a statue of Thomas Jefferson on campus Friday night to resist white nationalists who were marching with torches. The marchers, shouting “Jews will not replace us!” surrounded the students and Magill, who had locked arms at the statue. Fights broke out, with punches and torches thrown, and chemical irritants sprayed.

Magill was struck in the neck by a torch, according to several friends.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/08/16/after-clashes-with-white-nationalists-u-va-library-employee-suffers-a-stroke/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.cca651cb60ea

August 13, 2017

Events in solidarity with Charlottesville

You can search here for an event near you:

http://act.indivisibleguide.com/event/stand-in-solidarity-with-charlottesville/search/

August 2, 2017

I was watching "Manhunt: Unabomber" on Discovery ID, and it got me thinking...

It brought back strong memories from that era. I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago - like Ted Kaczynski, and went to Northwestern, which was bombed twice by the Unabomber, so I followed the case closely.

I learned a few things about the role of profiling in the case against Kaczynski.

It got me thinking, though - I have a memory of that era being one in which we had a sense of government as STRONG, with capable people running things. Trump has undermined confidence in government. The 1990's was also the era of Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing. What if we had a domestic catastrophe or crisis NOW? The majority of Americans would have no confidence in the government to handle it well, or to pursue justice for the victims. We have a child in the Oval Office, who thinks that all government agencies are HIS agencies. I personally have no faith in the government anymore, and I worry how a crisis or catastrophe would be handled.

We have a President who spends a lot of time lying and boasting on Twitter as if he is still in seventh grade. It sickens me to think how he would react if a tragedy were to happen. He's so insincere, he makes it clear he doesn't truly care about anyone.

July 19, 2017

The NRA has become a full-on alt-right organization

Several incidents lately have shown that Democrats and black people are not welcome in their organization, they are race-baiting and directing their rhetoric toward their white and far-right supporters.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/watch-nra-tv-hosts-warn-white-families-will-be-tortured-and-killed-if-black-lives-matter-succeeds/

“Right, you know the parallels between what’s happening in South Africa and the blatant racism and violence we’re seeing from people like the Black Lives Matter crowd,” he said. “If we continue to let this get out of control, to go down this path of this racial tension, this racial hatred that is being forced on the American culture by the Black Lives Matter crowd.”

July 19, 2017

Got my Vanity Fair this month (Trump / Cohn article)

It includes an article on Trump's relationship with Roy Cohn. It had this memorable quote:

For author Sam Roberts, the essence of Cohn’s influence on Trump was the triad: “Roy was a master of situational immorality . . . . He worked with a three-dimensional strategy, which was: 1. Never settle, never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deeply into the muck you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.” As columnist Liz Smith once observed, “Donald lost his moral compass when he made an alliance with Roy Cohn.”

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-roy-cohn-relationship

July 12, 2017

My sister has to have her leg amputated...

...because her insuranced denied her OATS surgery. OATS surgery transfers healthy cartilage from one area of your body to the affected area - in this case, her ankle.

She was in three different car accidents - none of them her fault - in the space of a few years. She already had an ankle condition before the accidents, and the accidents made them worse. In addition, she had to have back surgery after the accident, slowing down her recovery even more.

She already had one OATS surgery that wasn't successful, but her doctor recommended a second, as opposed to amputation. Now that OATS surgery is being denied, and she faces amputation.

We're all just sickened and depressed by this. I already struggle with depression and anxiety, and I have to support my sister through this as well. It's just too much to bear.

She can't walk right now, and lost her job due to too many absences from work because of her injuries. She tried an office job, but it was too difficult because of her injured back and ankle. She has been denied disability so far. She and her husband have had to declare bankruptcy.

Because of all of this, she is suffering from depression and anxiety, too.

It makes me sick that someone in an office who likely has no disability has decided that she should lose her leg. It's so drastic. Our society is SICK to practice medicine this way!

June 4, 2017

Why is it so important to RWers to prove how much they care about victims?

It's not as if I care less than they do, but they have to make a huge public fuss about how angry they are, and how much they '"care".

Sick of the Facebook posts making a big production about it. I feel it is self-serving. Why do we let them get away with this posturing?

Do they make such a public fuss to compensate for the fact that their conscience bothers them?

May 25, 2017

Are there any herbal or dietary remedies for anxiety?

I am already seeing a psychiatrist for anxiety and depression. I have to take my medication at night. I seem to be fine in the morning, but by afternoon, I start to have anxiety again.

I've told the doctor, and she increased my dosage. It's helping a little, and I sleep better and feel better in the mornings, but the afternoon anxiety is still there. In the evening I take my meds and am feeling better again.

I am not one of those people who is anti-medication, if you're wondering. I'd just like to know if there is anything additional, like an herbal tea or something, that I could ingest in the afternoon that might calm me down or take some of the edge off my anxiety.

Thanks in advance!

May 10, 2017

I lost forty pounds!

I have twenty more to go. I gained sixty pounds during an illness that left me unmotivated to exercise, and my diet wasn't so great, either. I'm cooking my own meals, using lots of veggies and whole grains. I cut out all dessert, fast food and junk food and just keep a couple of bars of dark chocolate in the fridge for energy. I don't let anything bad for me into the house. I joined a gym and do cardio and weight machines.

I plateaued a bit, so I increased my cardio and walk to the gym (it is one mile away). I started this two weeks ago and I'm already slimming down.

I had trouble motivating myself at first, but now I look forward to working out. You do eventually get used to it and look forward to it. I do intervals on a bike and challenge myself to do higher levels. I go four days a week, and feel depressed when I have to miss a day.

Just letting you know it can be done.

April 23, 2017

People on both sides need to recognize the relationship between feminism and progressivism

It seems to me that there are a lot of people - of all political persuasions - who haven't delved much into what Progressivism is. It is a legitimate political tradition that accomplished much in U.S. history.

Progressives don't bash feminists or sideline women's rights. Women's movements of the twentieth century CAME OUT OF the Progressive movement, particularly women's suffrage, but also economic reforms:

Reforming their World: Women in the Progressive Era

https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/workingwomen.html

"At the end of the nineteenth century, women were considered the "moral guardians" and protectors of the home. During the Progressive Era, female reformers used this ideology to argue that in order to protect the home, women should move into the public sphere where they could exercise their moral authority over issues such as public sanitation and education, which ultimately affected the home. In massive numbers, women joined volunteer organizations to work for reform. Efforts often began at the local level, and expanded to the state and national level. Women conducted research, implemented programs, and lobbied for legislation to address social, political, and economic problems.
Middle-class clubwomen and settlement workers organized to address issues of education, healthcare, and political corruption. Working women organized on their own and in partnership with middle-class women to raise wages and improve working conditions. African American women organized to combat racism and provide mutual support. Together, their efforts led to real improvements in the lives of many Americans."