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Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

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Battle won, war still ongoing.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

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Hot air and ill-informed banter

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / SPIDEY Sense (Open Thread)

SPIDEY Sense (Open Thread)

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Something bit me about midway between my wrist and elbow on my left arm. It’s alarmingly swollen, but I’m not alarmed.

I showed the mister, and we speculated on what kind of critter bit me. I guessed a spider and expressed a desire for super spider powers. I imagined snatching the remote from someone (him) with a web.

He said if I had bug super powers, it would probably be a pill bug, or, as we call them down here, rolly-pollies:

img_0993

So my super powers would be rolling up in a ball protected by pretty weak armor. And possibly the ability to roll downhill efficiently. If I happened to be poised on a precipice when trouble struck.

That’s a lame-ass super power. But I get the feeling this place skews old-school nerd, so I’m sure y’all can come up with more appalling specimens.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

244Comments

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    So my super powers would be rolling up in a ball protected by pretty weak armor. And possibly the ability to roll downhill efficiently. If I happened to be poised on a precipice when trouble struck.

    If that were your super power then you should also contemplate being pushed into the “cockpit” of a clay space rocket and thrown as high into the sky as young pre-teen boys could possibly achieve.

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    @NeenerNeener: That does worry me; a coworker got bitten by one of those a few years back, and it went downhill quickly. If it’s not much better in the a.m., I’ll see a doc.

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Sorry about the bite, and hope it doesn’t cause you too many problems. Something, I assume a spider, took a chunk out of the back of my scalp a few weeks ago. I scratched the bejeezus out of it absentmindedly and now have a big infected scab where I can’t even look at it to see what’s going on. Trying like mad to keep my hands off it so it can heal properly.

    When I was five years old, I spent the summer in McAllen, TX, with my great-grandparents. I spent a lot of time lying on my stomach outside poking at the pill bugs and watching them roll up. Fascinating. At one point I came down with what was eventually diagnosed as mumps. When the doctor came to visit, I described my symptoms as “I have got a pill bug in my ear.”

  18. 18.

    Helen

    Hey all. Day 2 in Dublin. I got an apartment. I sign the lease tomorrow afternoon. It is 2 blocks from Issacs. What is Issacs you say? It is the hostel I stayed in my first time here in Dublin, 30 years ago. From there I fell in love with this city. The plan is soooo coming together.

    I move in the 28th. Thrilled is what I am.

    Also ran across kind of a mini Chinatown. A short block of Chinese restaurants. If you’ve never been here, you just cannot imagine how bizarrely wonderful that is in this city.

    And, last night NotMax here at Balloon Juice, advised that I not use agents. Go into a bar and start talking, he said. You’ll find a person with a cousin who has a friend who has an apt, he said. Well after I found the apt I went into a bar to celebrate and dontcha know, I met a guy who knows a Prof at Trinity University. You know, where I want to work. So there you go.

  20. 20.

    beth

    I’ve spent some time today going through my big recipe binder searching for my Thanksgiving favorites which I just stuffed in there last year in spite of vowing (every year) to get my pages and cards of recipes in some kind of order. Does anyone here have a great recipe system, whether a computer program or app or website that they just love? I’m not terribly tech savvy so nothing I’d have to completely set up myself.

  22. 22.

    Garbo

    Juicers, can you help me out? What is that quote about (rough paraphrase) “…white people being happy to live under an overpass cooking a sparrow on a curtain rod as along as the black person next to them doesn’t have a curtain rod or a sparrow…” or something close to that. Looking for exact quote and source please…

  25. 25.

    Linnaeus

    Wrapping up at work, so I of course decided to waste more time on the internet.

    Out of curiosity, I wanted to see the presidential vote breakdown in my dad’s precinct, since it’s one of those leans-Republican-but-isn’t-totally-batshit places (NB: Dad is a loyal Democratic voter, and has been all of his life).

    Trump won the precinct with 801 votes to Clinton’s 669. Third-party candidates totaled around 80. There are approximately 2300 registered voters and about 1500 of them cast a vote for president. So, just over 30% of registered voters in the precinct did not vote (or, at least, did not vote for president).

    That’s terrible, and 68% turnout is considered good in the United States.

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    @Helen

    Congrats.

    For clarity, did not advise against using agents. Presented an adjunct method as you said you were not having amenable results at the time.

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Helen:

    Jealous jealous jealous.

    Technically, I suppose that should be Envious envious envious. Or Covetous covetous covetous.

    Congratulations, sounds great! Please post photos when you can!

  38. 38.

    PatrickG

    Open thread, so… just subscribed to the Washington Post and sent them the most godawful message. I typed it, looked at it, and then just said “fuck it, I’ve got other things to do”.

    But I’m still ashasmed at how badly written this is, so go ahead — tear me a new one. I’m ASKING you to tell me how bad it is!

    Hello,

    I highly valued the Washington Post’s investigative journalism during this election cycle, particularly the work of David Fahrenthold. I wanted to express my appreciation for the Post’s support of high quality, detailed reporting.

    That said… Words are nice, but at the end of the day one has to put one’s money where one’s mouth is. Quality journalism is expensive! So I just paid for a year’s subscription. We need editors and reporters who are willing to dig and fearlessly report, even in the face of what is shaping up to be one of the most press-unfriendly administrations in some time.

    Thank you for your time, and keep up the good work!

    Also, echoing many other people at this blog when saying that if you can afford to reward quality journalism in post-truth America, please take a moment from savaging my words and do so!

  46. 46.

    JPL

    @Lizzy L: My son came over earlier and said he’s trying to block it out, just so he can sleep at night. He also said it hasn’t worked so far. I mentioned that a nightmare woke me at 3:30 and when I took the dog for a walk five hours later, I actually thought, that I know I’m fortunate because I’m white. There is no good news, but we can’t give up the fight.
    I might add that it was a horrifying feeling to realize that Americans are in danger because of him. It is awful

  51. 51.

    hovercraft

    @Baud:
    Oh you people and your first world problems, about ten years ago my mother was bitten by skin maggot fly, she had a ‘bite’, and it became inflamed, what she thought was pus, turned out to be a worm, actually a maggot when she squeezed to try to drain the ‘bite’it out pooped . Even for her who was raised on a farm in a small Zimbabwean village, the concept of a maggot coming out of her live flesh was gross. She had never heard of this bug. I’ll take Jersey with our radioactive bugs, you no if there are superbugs, they are here.

  52. 52.

    Garbo

    @PatrickG: Your words are fine, as is the sentiment. David Fahrenthold is, in addition to being a tenacious journalist, a seriously nice dude. His Twitter-bestowed nickname: Fahrenthold 451: the temperature at which bullshit burns.

  53. 53.

    The Pale Scot

    @Helen:

    Also ran across kind of a mini Chinatown

    So my aunt is Born in the U S and worked for quite a while in a Chinese Restaurant. she went to visit family in Glasgow and ended up at a Chinese place. She thought to dazzle/surprise the owner by ordering in Chinese, (rusty’s a short redheaded freckled pixie faced elf). The guy looks up at hers and replies “What’s that you’re saying Love?”

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    You did! Last night, I think. I ordered it and three of your other books. Haven’t cracked them yet but am very much looking forward to reading them between now and the end of the year.

  58. 58.

    Helen

    @The Pale Scot: LOL. I am actually surprised at how many immigrants there are here. And they are assimilating well. When I first started coming here, there were NO immigrants; everyone was trying to leave! I am quite pleased.

  59. 59.

    Matt McIrvin

    I do remember reading somewhere that most supposed brown recluse bites aren’t. All manner of bites and cuts can get infected by bacteria that cause necrosis, and they get mistaken for brown recluse bites because people know about that.

  62. 62.

    Roger Moore

    It might be kind of cool to be bitten by a radioactive tardigrade. I would love to be able to survive temperatures barely above absolute zero or well above the boiling point of water, deep ocean or outer space, ionizing radiation far higher than needed to kill a human (probably why the radioactive one is still alive to bite me), or dry out into a husk and rehydrate. Not quite as useful on a day-to-day basis as superhuman strength or wall crawling, but pretty cool nonetheless.

  63. 63.

    Juice Box

    Lots of times what people think is a “spider bite” is really cellulitis. You should let somebody look at it tomorrow, if it isn’t looking a lot better. Or sooner than that if it’s getting worse.

    My super power is understanding the French language which always seems to surprise the French. I also study Spanish and Italian and one time some women walked past me speaking a language that I could not identify, but which I clearly understood. It was like having the Babel fish in my ear. I think it was Roumanian. It was a very weird experience.

  67. 67.

    Schlemazel

    @Garbo:
    It was here, I think about 08 or 09 by Davis X. Machina
    “The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.”

    EDIT: ok, I am not the first to remember this

  68. 68.

    RobertDSC-iPhone 6

    I have decided to call the President-elect President Orange. I’ll be damned if I ever use his full name.

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    @Helen

    Haven’t recently checked but probably still true that Ireland has not yet reached its 19th century pre-potato blight population.

  71. 71.

    Mary G

    @PatrickG: As an ex-editor, nothing at all wrong with your writing. I’ve posted before that I got the WaPo on a really good deal from Amazon ($19.99 for a year) and have been so impressed I paid full price when the year was up, so I’m there with you.

    I decided to send money to Mother Jones and Washington Monthly, too, if there is enough left at the end of the month.

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’ve just sprung about 10 of you from moderation. I have no idea what’s causing it, so just bear with it.

  77. 77.

    Lizzy L

    @JPL: Who said anything about giving up? I’m much better than I was; I am sleeping, mostly. Progress, we haz it. A friend commented, when I asked how he was doing, that he is no longer waking up cursing at 2:30 am. I am taking long walks. I am able to laugh at the Joe & Barack memes that keep popping up in my FB feed. I am calling my Congressperson and my Senators, I am donating to causes I want to support, I am planning for Thanksgiving. Last night I took some time to hang out at my favorite used bookstore, and I came home with nine books.

    But it ain’t normal around here.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m not likely to walk into a darkened room where people are having sex and have a fucking hippo chained in the corner, now am I?
    What kind of sick freak show scene are you a part of?

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Since Tuesday a week ago, I’ve mostly been curled up in a fetal position, whimpering softly to myself (or howling at the top of my lungs, one) and sucking my thumb. Am seriously just beginning to return to civilization for more than a few hours at a stretch. And my sleep is totally fucked up. The “take action” posts are helping a bit, and goosing me into doing things like phoning my Rep’s and Sens’ offices. Have been somewhat depressed all year, and the last couple of weeks have me spiraling into black dog territory (not just election, but the death of my cousin two days earlier), so I’m happy for all the good news I can find.

  81. 81.

    Schlemazel

    @hovercraft:
    Years ago, when I was in that crowd, a missionary gave a talk about medical work in Africa. One of the movies (this was before videos were common) was the removal of a parasite that lives just below the skin. It was worm like and the removal process involves making a small cut pulling a bit of the worm out & then wrap it around a stick . They were several feel long & you could see them moving under the skin as extracted.

  82. 82.

    Laura on Kaua'i

    @beth: Several years ago I bought myself several 3-ring binders in different colors (I had a LOT of recipes), dividers, and a big box of page protectors from Costco. I culled and organized my recipes, glued them to sheets of paper, front and back, then slipped into the page protectors and finally put the pages into the notebooks. Throughout the year, new recipes go into the pockets inside the front cover of the notebooks, and then once a year they get sorted (i.e. tell me why I saved this again?), glued and protected. The system has worked very well; I know where to find everything easily.

  86. 86.

    JPL

    @Lizzy L: That was a pep talk to myself. As Americans, I don’t think we will ever give up. This morning after the Sessions announcement, I had such a sinking feeling, but tomorrow I’ll get up and fight again.

  87. 87.

    Pogonip

    @Baud: They don’t bite. They don’t have to.

    My cousin, in Deplorable, Pennsylvania, gets a houseful of hibernating stink bugs every winter. They’re perfectly harmless; the problem is that when they fall asleep they fall off the wall or ceiling and land on tables, on furniture, on your bed, on you if you are in your bed. So you have to carefully put them in gallon jugs. Last year cousin and Mr. Cousin filled 10 jugs.

  88. 88.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @JPL: I’ve been feeling “out of it” all day, I didn’t do my planned trip to San Juan Capistrano?.

  94. 94.

    Juju

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve been bitten by a brown recluse spider. Trust me. You would have known within 5-20 minutes. If your skin starts sloughing off and a hole develops in your arm where the bite is, it’s a brown recluse bite. I was bitten 15 years ago and it took about seven years for the scar to fill in and about three more years to fade. They are nasty spiders. Stay away and don’t worry about killing them.

  101. 101.

    Miss Bianca

    @hovercraft: So, I didn’t know about botflies, really, until last summer. I mean, I had *heard* of them, but didn’t realize that their maggots could burrow under the skin and cause a big, yucky swelling that just grows and grows until it finally pops open and releases the grown fly – unless action is taken. Namely, to squeeze the swelling until it opens up enough that you can reach in with pincers or tweezers (or, in my make-shift kitchen surgery, a pair of needle-nose pliers) and pull out the unbelievably disgusting-looking maggot.

    And how do I know all this? Because my old dog managed to get infected with not merely one, but TWO of the suckers last summer. It was gagalicious fun for all, let me tell you. At least the second time wasn’t quite so traumatic, first because I had some clue of howto deal with it, and second, because I recognized the symptoms before the sucker got quite so big and gross as the previous one.

  104. 104.

    Duke's Archives

    My 1/2 cousin showed at the yearly salute to my Aunt. He wore a black t-shirt with NRA in yellow letters. He has three kids by two different women. His first wife cheated on him with his younger brother (left him with the two kids) who is doing six years in prison for breaking into a Sheriffs house.

    His new wife is already pregnant and he’s about to lose his business because of tax credits or something.

    I apologize for the lack of commas.

  106. 106.

    Ruviana

    @Schlemazel: Yay! Guinea worms represent! Almost wiped out in the African countries they were endemic in, with some help from, I think, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

    ETA slow typing. And I’d wondered if Carter had also been involved.

  111. 111.

    raven

    When we got through with the ortho exam the PA told my bride that, after they put the plate on her wrist, they would “take away her elbow” too. Incapacitated from fingers to elbow for 6 weeks. They gave her some decent pain meds today so she feels better but the drive home will be a challenge especially since Lil Bit always sits in her lap!

  115. 115.

    JPL

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Yup.. Giuliani and Bolton still don’t have their assignment in this administration. I’m thinking Rudy for homeland security and Bolton for Secretary of State.

  116. 116.

    Duke's Archives

    @Gin & Tonic: That’s the thing -> He’s not the racist type but he’s not hurting for money either. Anecdotes and such but he’s more the type who’s racist to his employees but not, ya know!

    ETA: Yes he’s a racist but it’s that kind of ‘soft’ racism….

  117. 117.

    Helen

    @NotMax: They probably won’t get near that soon. The younger generation is leaving once again. Debt to the EU due to the 2008 crash is killing the public sector. Ireland is turning out one of the highest educated populations and they immediately leave for the continent or Australia.

  118. 118.

    hovercraft

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    I’m sorry but it’s important to know all of the dangers we will encounter when the time comes for the great exodus.
    Fortunately I did not witness the “incident”, she just described it quite graphically in a hysterical voice.

    ETA: Maybe one day you can use it in a book.

  120. 120.

    Svensker

    Betty Cracker — wash the hell out of that thing and put antibiotic ointment on it. Keep an eye on it. If it starts feeling hot go directly to the doctor and insist on getting treatment — and don’t settle for cortisone. I had that happen and ended up in the hospital for a week with a very scary infected bite from a nasty ass spider. And then another week at home with an antibiotic drip. No joke, nasty stuff.

  121. 121.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Relevant link for Republic of Ireland.

    The results of the Irish Republic’s 2016 census are out, and the Central Office of Statistics has announced that the population of the state is now 4,757,976 – the highest it’s ever been and the highest the counties that make up the Republic have seen since the days of the Great Hunger.
    [snip]
    The new population total marks the highest the counties that now comprise the Irish Republic have totaled since the census of 1851, when the population was 5.11 million. Ten years prior to that, in 1841, it had been 6.53 million. The years of the Great Hunger saw one million Irish people die and nearly another two million emigrate.

  123. 123.

    Ruviana

    @raven: I similarly broke my wrist and got a plate but my doc was able to do a wrist to midarm soft cast. Ask your local doc, depending on the break they may be able to do that.And I’m generally better now, a bit more than 2 months total. Good luck!

  126. 126.

    Duke's Archives

    –> Which makes me feel sick. He’s not a bad person. I held him in my lap on one of those puke-inducers at the Seattle Center when we were kids. It’s just terrible to see him buy into all this bullshit conspiracy crap.

    Anyway. This blog is a treasure.

  131. 131.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ruviana:
    @Schlemazel:

    One of my all-time favorite memories:

    As most of you know, I used to work for the Canadian Consulate General in Atlanta, and for a time was closely involved in getting the Canadian Government to donate significant money to The Carter Center for the eradication of Guinea Worm.

    Following the unexpected death in 2000 of Sen Paul Coverdell, there was a special election. As it happened, the election was on the same day as a major event at The Carter Center to honor international partners for their support on the GW initiative. I voted that morning and went to the Center that afternoon for the ceremonies. When the formalities were over, we all filed up on stage to shake hands with President Carter. He saw my “I’m a Georgia Voter” sticker and broke into his trademark broad grin. “I have one too!” he said, pulling his jacket aside to show me the voter sticker affixed to his shirt.

    Love that man. Whenever I get fed up with living in Georgia, I think of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, John Lewis, and even Ted Turner, and then I don’t feel so bad.

  138. 138.

    Schlemazel

    found this on on FB, Posted by my niece
    My daughter has a Russian friend who says that her mom voted for trump because Putin said to. Putin put ads out supporting him. It is sad to think a citizen of this country would need to look to a country they fled for guidance. And I find it interesting no one talks about the the illegal Russian immigrant problem.

  140. 140.

    hovercraft

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Yes, and you think you’ve gotten away, but they run along the bottom of the body of water, and then reappear. They are not nice.
    @The Pale Scot:

    Hippos are also very aggressive towards humans, whom they sometimes attack whether in boats or on land, commonly with no apparent provocation, and are widely considered to be one of the most dangerous large animals in Africa

    Sounds like a Shitgibbon I seen recently.

  147. 147.

    hovercraft

    @Miss Bianca: I don’t think I’d make it through said operation, I would need someone else to it, I’m too squeamish. Where do you live, I thought bot-flies were native to Central America, I didn’t know they were here. Something else to worry about. Sigh.

  149. 149.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Billy Carter, hunh. Something of a folk hero in south Georgia.

    Which reminds me, why do we never see or hear one word about the shitgibbon’s siblings? His brother (Robert?) is supposedly active in his campaign, but we never hear about him. His sister Maryanne is a retired, and evidently well-respected, judge, but you never hear about her. There’s another sister, I think. We never hear one word about any of them. The press was all over Billy Carter, Roger Clinton, and Hugh Rodham. Why do the Trump siblings get a pass? Is it just IOKIYAR, or something more sinister? I’m open to any conspiracy theories anyone has.

  153. 153.

    jenn

    Betty, I had an infected spider bite once upon a time – tried several antibiotics (including dr prescribed) without luck – what ended up fixing it was frequent baths with so much salt in them my skin prickled. It started clearing up almost right away. Salt = amazing.

  154. 154.

    hovercraft

    @raven:
    Well at least she’s comfortable for now, but six weeks is a long time, and at this time of the year too, that sucks. Good luck on the drive home, send her my best.

  156. 156.

    PsiFighter37

    I think that the fact Trump’s first appointments – Bannon, RNC PR BS, Flynn, Sessions, and Pompeo – mean that he really is going to focus on the ‘law and order’ BS that he spoke about during the election. You’ll get the regular troglodytes in for the other positions.

    The fact that R-Money is in the running for SoS is quite a harrowing showing, IMO – I don’t think Mitt will want to humiliate himself too much by working for Trump, and it seems like no other GOPer – outside of Blood Money Rudy – has interest in setting themselves up for failure in that position.

    I will be very interested to see who gets SecDef. I saw a rumor about Tom Cotton, which would piss me off to no end – and would almost certainly mean the Iran deal gets thrown in the trash on day 1.

  159. 159.

    Miss Bianca

    @Iowa Old Lady: Ooh, I just got done with March, Book One! I thought it had just come out, because it was on the “new shelf” at the library, and then I saw the copyright date was 2013! So, we’re up to volume 3 already!

  163. 163.

    Gin & Tonic

    @PsiFighter37: Thing is (and I know you know this) but trashing the Iran deal just means that Airbus gets the profit instead of Boeing. That deal had six (?) countries as signatories, and if the US pulls out, it don’t mean shit to anybody else.

  164. 164.

    The Pale Scot

    @Helen:

    Debt to the EU due to the 2008 crash

    Speaking of, the Italian banking sector is probably going to go pear shaped. 25% or so of outstanding loans are De Facto non-perfoming. When/if it is accounted for correctly, Oy. So keep some savings in dollars if you can.

  165. 165.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Gin & Tonic: I saw a piece somewhere about how pulling out of the deal would basically just piss everybody off, Iran would kick out the inspectors and build a nuke as fast as possible, and nobody would be able to impose new sanctions in a remotely effective way.

    This of course wouldn’t stop him.

    Or something, I don’t know, it’s cold and I’m hungry.

  168. 168.

    Mary G

    @PsiFighter37: I just can’t see it choosing Mitt for SoS. Doesn’t fit the pattern of appointments so far. Mitt stood in the cab line with the ordinary people at the airport, which makes me like him a little more, but it will think it shows that Mitt’s a yuuge loser, SAD! Seems more likely Mitt has been summoned so he can be taunted in person.

  180. 180.

    hovercraft

    @Miss Bianca:
    Ah crap, if they can survive up there, then they can get me even up here in the north east. I was hoping you were in the south east or west, sigh.

  188. 188.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Major Major Major Major: I have been visiting SLC for 20+ years, sometimes for business, sometimes for pleasure, and have always found it a very amenable burg. They had brewpubs when I was there in the mid-1990’s.

  190. 190.

    Miss Bianca

    @Gin & Tonic: Brewpubs? Did you have to buy a membership to go in? That’s what I remember having to do when the ex played this bar in Vernal – the bar was actually a sort of “drinking club”, because bars per se were illegal in Mormonland. Good times!

  192. 192.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Miss Bianca: Some bars required you to buy a membership, but somehow there were two brewpubs that operated like normal establishments back in 1993-1995. They are both still in business as of last February, last time I was there. Obviously there are more now.

    SLC itself seems to have always been a bit looser that Orem or Provo or places like that. Plenty of non-Mormons drawn there for the skiing and climbing and stuff.

  195. 195.

    frosty

    @raven:

    Could you drive?

    I broke my right wrist years ago when all I had was a motorcycle. Had a soft cast but I couldn’t twist with my right hand, but I could hook my fingers and pull. So I flipped the throttle to the left and the clutch lever to the right and kept riding.

  197. 197.

    Elie

    Late to the thread! Betty!

    Betty I haven’t tracked all the comments about what your swollen arm is like now. Please note any discoloration or marks like targets or blisters. While most often things are benign, please follow up with your doc tomorrow by phone (and remember you can send a text with a picture of it) or to an after hours, urgent care facility. I would do minimal treatment not to confuse the outlook. Cool baking soda compresses. If itchy, a little Benadryl (oral) is probably ok. Please go if you see any spot on your skin in this site starting to turn darker, swelling increasing or pain and or fever.

    I apologize and don’t want to seem hysterical if you have already settled things. We gotta keep you healthy!

  202. 202.

    frosty

    Betty — I had cellulitis from a spider bite 2 years ago. Started as a black spot like a bruise and kept expanding, to the point that I was delineating the edges with a Sharpie to see if it was my imagination. Went to an urgent care facility, got a round of antibiotics and that fixed it.

  205. 205.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    The wife reminded me yesterday that it was the one year anniversary of her brother’s passing, today is 28 years since my mom died.

  208. 208.

    Major Major Major Major

    Apparently Trump supporters are mad that the Starbucks CEO is pro-Hillary, so they’re going to Starbucks and saying their name is Trump and posting a picture under #TrumpCup. It is apparently lost on them that this ‘protest’ involves going to a Starbucks and giving them money.

  211. 211.

    Jeffro

    @Lizzy L:J

    eff Sessions as AG is horrific. Flynn at NSA is problematic enough that even some Republicans may object to him. Pompeo is pro-torture, fuck him. There is no good news.

    The good news is that the careerists, the ‘secret government’, are not going to play ball with this Klown Kavalkade. The intelligence agencies are going to leak like crazy.

  212. 212.

    Elie

    @frosty:

    Yeah, most benign things don’t keep expanding or start to resolve in a couple of days. If a persoonis wondering (as you recall) if things are getting bigger by outlining with a sharpie, that is not a good sign and you should take action. Of course no one likes sitting around an urgent care clinic and definitely not an ER, but in rare cases things can head south if you are not paying attention. Glad yours turned out ok frosty…

  213. 213.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks, I really didn’t care much for the BIL. For mom it was more of a release for her, she had lived with muscular dystrophy for about 25 years.

  214. 214.

    Scamp Dog

    He said if I had bug super powers, it would probably be a pill bug, or, as we call them down here, rolly-pollies:

    That’s what we called them in Michigan when I was growing up. I’d assume it’s still the same, but it’s been more years than I care to admit.

  216. 216.

    Jeffro

    @Miss Bianca:

    Ooh, I just got done with March, Book One! I thought it had just come out, because it was on the “new shelf” at the library, and then I saw the copyright date was 2013! So, we’re up to volume 3 already!

    We have that here and Fro Jr & I loved it! The next two volumes will be Festivus presents.

  217. 217.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Tracking.

    In further horrible news, WPT just went dark during a P.D. James murder mystery. I am sure that Walker is involved.

    ETA: It has come back. I assume I missed a vital clue in the mystery. I still am sure that Walker was involved.

  220. 220.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    I know, I know! Call on me! about spider bites, that is – got bitten by a brown recluse this summer -on the bottom of my left index finger – little tiny puncture marks, and my whole had turnedbright black and blue pretty immediately, with a red hard spot in the middle. Mildly nauseated , but no other systemic effects.

    Local doc said hm, looks like brown recluse bites, we’ll just have to see how bad it gets and if we have to start cutting, cuz antibiotics don’t work. (which is true – the problem, at least initially, is the venom killing the flesh – THEN it starts to rot! )

    Not wanting to lose my finger or anything, did some web research,found an article by a doc in Missouri where these things are common – had a miracle cure – which I posted about here at the time –

    Step i – make a STRONG epsom salt solution – say two cups in a bucket of water, or any size vessel you can get your arm in. you can dissolve in hot water, but add cold to get it to room temp – you don’t want to stick it in warm water.

    Let it soak for at least 15 minutes at a time, – then out 15 – for about an hour. I could actually feel the solution pulling the venom out . If it’s too late for Step two today, keep soaking it, then apply a baking soda paste and bandage it for an hour – then rinse off soda, smear on neosporin and bandage it.

    Step 2. Go get some bentonite clay. If there’s no granola-herby-natural cure shop where you live, look in the cosmetics section – it’s the main ingredient in a lot of face masks

    Also, get a bottle of colloidal silver solution, some tincture of plantain, and some echinacea root.

    I made a paste of clay, colloidal silver, and plantain extract, smeared it on the bite, and covered with a bandage – changed it every 3 hours or so for the first day. Again, you can feel the clay sucking out the poison.

    Next day – voila – black and blue hand is much less colorful! I kept this up for four or five days – changing less frequently.

    As per typical, my bite had a red round center, with a hard white sunken ring around the puncture site – BUT! The clay worked, teh sunken ring of white flesh slowly came back to life, never went necrotic.

    THe doc – who saw me on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 5 – was pretty amazed.

    Trust me – This WORKS!

    http://healthwyze.org/reports/232-naturally-treating-brown-recluse-spider-bites

  221. 221.

    Elie

    @Jeffro:

    Leak and sabotage…. such that these folks end up fired.

    Trump only has x of these. In between he (and us) may have a number of emergencies that these distractions will make handling very difficult. These are dangerous people in dangerous times. Clapper’s warning about more incursions from the Russians was not idle and a very rare type of warning from a head of CIA stepping down. I had 4 exclamation marks in my head when I read that. He said that we can expect more trouble from Putin. I heard, Putin is definitely up in here.
    I am praying that there still may be one or two Republican Senators with a brain that hasn’t been eaten by the bugs yet, but we are in some severe distress here. Our media, mostly print and now ultra late to the game in terms of the focus they should have had on Trump — is terrified but impotent. Everybody in the “establishment” now knows the Muncharian candidate-like possibility of this is probably happenin, but sorry chumps, the fix is extreme and you can kiss your good life goodbye. My belief is that we are gonna be having some real serious conflict between the government Agency heads and some of the people in agencies like the CIA, FBI, Justice, and the Pentagon. I also imagine that there is all kinds of shit going down right now .. We are in a civil war — and a war for our existence as a real United States — it just hasn’t been called yet. Everyone’s got a good face on it, but things are not looking good. If these appointments are the most obvious things, you have to imagine underneath there is a lot of stuff roiling..

  223. 223.

    frosty

    @lurker dean: @Omnes Omnibus: My brother tried to borrow it once. He had a Kawasaki, this was a Triumph. So not only were the hands backwards, so was the shift and the rear brake. He went about 100 yards and came back. I can’t remember if he walked it back or rode. :-)

  225. 225.

    Jeffro

    Before I check out for the evening: I believe Betty asked about lame super-powers. Just off the top of my head, it’s hard to beat Dung (just be sure to read the ‘powers’ line in the entry!), Squirrel Girl, or any member of the Great Lakes Avengers

    There’s also a very funny, very cool book called the League of Regrettable Superheroes which catalogs all these sorts of horrendous characters. Adam-X. The Green Lama. Great fun for the kids!

  229. 229.

    Elie

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Oh I get that but some part of a good part of them still exist and are doing things. We just aren’t totally sure what. The immediate realistic alternative is not evident yet. So thanks for the chilling but probably fair assessment and warning but its like the people who weigh jumping out of their fifteen story window during a bad fire. How bad does it have to be before you know that its your time? Down here in the hustings, there is little pressure for life and death decisions but we will be sucked into more and more as things destabilize. (God, I sound horrible and don’t want to be one of those hysterical crazy tin foil hat folks whispering how we are all gonna die). I just want to prepare and try stay positive enough to DO something worthwhile when it makes sense and take care of the people that I love.

  231. 231.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Elie: We all are trying to sort out what we are going to do publicly, what we will do but not talk about, and so on.

  235. 235.

    Shalimar

    @Jeffro: Also, the Legion of Substitute Heroes had some weird powers. If you look through the early Legion of Super-Heroes appearances from the 1960s, there were some useless powers highlighted in each of the recruitment issues.

  237. 237.

    Mary G

    Maggie Haberman at the NYT tweeted that it was disrespectful to boo the VP elect at “Hamilton,” and I tweeted back that I was glad I cancelled my subscription in October because it was inappropriate for someone who claims to be a straight news reporter to announce such judgment. Used my real name. Someone said that the “immigrants get the job done” line had a huge standing ovation.

  241. 241.

    NotMax

    @Jeffro

    Actually, the stories in Spark Publications’ 8-issue comic book run weren’t that bad; many worse entries cranked out during the time period, plus had the saving grace of Mac Raboy’s art. In one of those issues, Lama tracks down the writer of a Fascist-inspired letter to the publishers of Green Lama Magazine.

  244. 244.

    lurker dean

    @frosty: ha! yeah, all of that at once would be a bit much, lol. i think i could get used to the footwork, but maybe not the hand stuff, and definitely not at the same time.

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