Obsidian Wings

Bread - Part Two of X

by JanieM

Part One: Bread on the Table

Part Two: Bread off the Table

About twenty years ago I was diagnosed with an auto-immune skin condition. The dermatologist said that as with other auto-immune diseases, the cause was unknown, there was no cure, and the condition might come and go. There were much worse manifestations than the symptoms I had, but there was no telling whether my outbreaks would repeat, get worse, spread, disappear, or what.

The doc did say that there was anecdotal evidence, but no reliable research, suggesting that diet might play a role in triggering outbreaks. I don’t remember which foods were on his list, but I do remember that NSAIDs and food dye were mentioned, and staying out of the sun was strongly recommended. I gave up gardening (my knees were happy about that) and bought a sunscreen shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. I took aspirin and ibuprofen even more rarely than I already had.

I had outbreaks of the skin condition each year for a couple more years. They would start in the spring, evolve over the summer and fall, and fade away before starting all over again the following spring. They were unsightly – tiny raised bumps that gradually flattened into purplish spots all over my hands, partway up my arms, and thick on one side of my neck.

Somewhere along the way, a friend recommended a non-traditional medical practitioner who had helped my friend with some health problems. I decided to consult that person, and she had a lot of suggestions for me, the most challenging of which was to stop eating wheat. (This was some years before “gluten-free” became a buzzword, and a marketing ploy. My consultant was on the front edge of the wave, I guess.)

For a year or so I pretended, mostly to myself, that I was working on it.

But SRSLY, no bread? No pasta?

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

Until the next time

by liberal japonicus

With this comment, the names of the 17 people killed by a legally purchased AR-15 have been posted in the comments. Unlike the Las Vegas shooting, all of the victims were living in the same area, so I used the local paper to provide the links, except for the first identified victim, Jamie Guttenberg. Most lists order them in terms of last name, I've listed with the youngest first. The list is below.

Some other thoughts/links.

To double check this, I googled for lists and saw that Good Housekeeping has published one. How's that for normalization?

Marty posted this WaPo link in the comments, with those details that stick in your mind. He pointed to this one.

It was a Sunday, but they weren’t going to school the next day, or any day for at least a week. Crime scene tape still clung to the palm trees outside Douglas, a public school that used to count 3,208 students. Now there are 3,194. The school’s fence was lined with 17 crosses built by a carpenter from Illinois who drove through a snowstorm to bring them here. In the past six months, he brought crosses to Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Tex. Before that, to Orlando, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and Virginia Tech.

The NYT article has other painful details, such as this one

Mr. Beigel, one of three faculty members killed in the attack, had only worked for the school for a few months, but Denise Reed, an assistant principal, said she knew Mr. Beigel was a perfect match for the school “in definitely less than two or three minutes” after he began his interview for the job in the spring of 2017. 

The obituaries that hit me the hardest are not the ones that give a list of accomplishments for the victim, but where they have some variation on the line (and you'll note it appears often) "S/he was a good kid", because it underlines the fact that they just didn't have the chance that should be granted to all children, the opportunity to grow up and become adults. I teach university students, 18, 19, 20 year olds and there are any number of them who haven't really found what they to do, what they are willing to chase after. A lot of the discussion focusses on the lost potential of the victims, but it is when you don't have a glittering list of accomplishments that you really see the snuffed out potential.

The other one that hits me is that of Peter Wang and this detail. 

“We are still looking for Peter Wang a freshman at Stoneman Douglass High School. Peter’s parents speak Mandarin Chinese & very little English. If anyone has any information please let me know,” another Facebook user named Mark Moll posted around the same time.

As a Japanese-American, images like this one of an Army officer presenting a medal or award for valor for their son's sacrifice to first generation parents (who were legally forbidden from becoming American citizens), who often spoke little or no English, stand mutely by are often in my memory. Even more poignant are the images of parents and families who were still being kept in internment camps honoring a missing or fallen son. The slippage between the immigrant parents and the naturalized offspring is not simply generational. Our children are always going to go out into worlds that are not the same as the ones we explored, but to add the distances of language and culture into the mix as part of the difference makes that slippage into a yawning chasm. 

If you missed it, this Atlantic article by the doctor who treated some of the victims and observed the damage from high velocity rounds is one you might want to read. I won't post the reams of articles about arming teachers, because the whole idea underlines Trump's idiot savant brilliance, the ability to seize on some point that makes everyone forget what is at stake. 

A bit further afield, this article points out that 5 of the 17 victims were Jewish. Perhaps the shooter would have done this at any school, but it does give one pause when we see the Missouri GOP try to blame George Soros for Eric Greitens' problems. 

Here's this list

Alyssa Alhadeff, 14

Martin Duque Anguiano, 14

Jamie Guttenberg, 14

Gina Montalto, 14

Alaina Petty, 14

Alex Schachter, 14

Luke Hoyer, 15

Cara Loughran, 15

Peter Wang, 15

Carmen Marie Schentrup, 16

Nicholas Dworet, 17

Joaquin Oliver, 17

Helena Ramsay, 17

Meadow Pollack, 18

Scott Beigel, 35

Aaron Feis, 37

Chris Hixon, 49

 

Gin, Guns, Gab and Galt

by Ugh

I don't drink anymore due to an issue with rather excessive consumption over a long period that now is four and a half years in the past (knock on wood). Gin & Tonic really wasn't my drink, but damn those gin hangovers were awful when that's what I was drinking.  

Aside my individual circumstances, alcohol causes a great deal of problems in US society at large. 10,000 people died from alcohol related crashes in 2015, an estimated average of 88,000 deaths per year were due to excessive alcohol use in the years 2006-2010 according to the CDC, god knows how many other deaths were related to alcohol, and this doesn't even count all the other injuries and violence associated with alcohol.  I would say alcohol is the most destructive drug in use in the U.S. today, probably by far.  People also enjoy alcohol and its responsible use is a pleasure for many people.  It's also highly regulated, in good and bad ways.  But no one ever talks of banning because we tried that once and it didn't work out so well.  

The last time I shot a gun was 10 years ago in Vietnam, at a firing range by the Tunnels of Cu Chi where for various amounts of $$ you can shoot a variety of weapons, from an AK-47, to an M-16 to an M-60. I shot five rounds from an AK just to say I did it (these things were bolted to the table and only capable of pointing down range). Before that, my experience was limited to bolt-action .22 caliber rifles (IIRC).  One summer at Y-Camp I won the riflery tourney.  

The U.S. is awash in guns, ISTM. For a country that faces no prospect of invasion and no real other threat (with the possible exception of nuclear weapons), there are an awful lot of military caliber weaponry in the hands of the U.S. citizenry, some of the results of which have been seen recently. Wiki says there were more than 100,000 deaths and injuries due to firearms in the U.S. in 2013, about 70k injuries and 30k deaths, 2/3 of which were by suicide.  Responsible use of guns can bring pleasure to many people.  Guns were once highly regulated but are becoming less so now, with "open carry" legal in many (most?) states, including open carry of things like the AR-15.  But hey, any thought of returning to the 1994-2004 assault weapons ban (which seemed to work decently) seems doomed.  Then there's the 2nd Amendment that somehow evolved in the hands of The Wankers Originalists^TM to encompass an individual right.  So we may be stuck absent a saner SCOTUS or 2nd Amendment repeal.  IMHO a total federal ban would work much better for guns than alcohol for a variety of reasons, but it seems it won't come to pass.

Of course, talking about this leads no where, although watching the bump stock, high capacity magazine owners claim the mantle of the snowflake of liberty and freedom is a bit much, as they vote for the "law and order" party who hates the various amendments that actually do most of the liberty protecting. Also there's the moronic Brownshirt fncks at the NRA and their corporate (and Russian?) backers. No, fnck you Wayne.  Sorry to abrade the discourse.

So, eff it, I'm rambling, now going Galt (aka: wasting all my time on twitter).  

Whatever Open Thread

by Ugh

I guess the Olympics are going on. Adam Rippon is kicking a$$ in interviews and twitter. 

Otherwise, this week reminds me of a line from Se7en "Ernest Hemingway once wrote 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for'. I agree with the second part."

You do you.

UPDATE:  No puppet! No puppet!

Podcast of Doom Open Thread

by Ugh

The radio reception in my car suddenly turning sh1tty and me too lazy/incompetent/scared to get it fixed has finally given me cause to start listening to podcasts (this is also in me keeping up with my aspiration to be at least 5 years or more behind the times technology wise).  

Man, there's a lot of stuff out there.  Have started to listen to the NYTimes "The Daily" in the morning.  Listened to the ESPN 30for30 podcast about edge sorting cards to win millions from casinos. Currently listening to S-Town.  Looking into others.  May cause me to abandon the radio during my morning and afternoon commutes.  Anyone ever listen to Pod Save America?

The Olympics are on, which I guess gives us until February 25th before war can break out on the Korean Peninsula.  Good times.

Open thread. 

 

Super Bowl Weekend Thread of Openness

by Ugh

Yes I'm rooting for the Patriots. For some reason I like to see records pushed as high as they can go.  Thus, Brady wining a 6th ring in his 8th Super Bowl appeals to me.  As does Federer continuing to win grand slams (do we really have to wait until Wimbledon to see him again though? Feh!).  Will be interesting to see if Lebron ends up as the NBA's all time leaders in points scored.  

I burnt myself out on reading and have discovered that Netflix has all 11 seasons of Cheers available. Watched the first 4 episodes of season 1 - it was a good show right from the start. Still need to watch Stranger Things 2.  Any recommendations for series/programming on Netflix either original or from elsewhere? 

It would be quite something if P!nk sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl from her knees.  

Happy Open Thread and Groundhog Day!