And they come with no warning,
nature loves her little surprises.
Continual crisis!

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Linkee-poo on a Sunday

Come on, Americans. The Russians are hitting this blog harder than you. Are you going to take that sitting down? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? (holds for a beat) No! Who's with me!

Stroke risks are increasing across all age groups.

Why I rant about single-payer and against energy drinks. "'After a two hour drive to the hospital, I learned that my husband, the father of my child, the person I am so deeply in love with, had had a brain hemorrhage. Why? The doctors concluded (after running his tox screen and ruling out drugs) that this horrible event was due to his recent excessive energy drink consumption (a habit he had built when he started working longer hours and commuting).'" Normal guy, no warning, life altering health event and now he'll need help for the rest of his life. Not to mention having a newborn in the household.

"Magic mushrooms might help depressed patients by helping them “reset” their brains, according to a new study that uses brain scans to look at the lasting effects of psychedelics… There has been a recent wave of research into the helpful effects of psychedelics for mental health. LSD microdoses make people feel sharper, while magic mushrooms have helped cancer patients cope with depression and anxiety. But most of these brain imagining studies focus on how the brain changes when you’re on the drug, while in a study published today in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers focused on the results before and after." Note the study only include two dosages, and were in very controlled environments. But I'll also note that "magic mushrooms" are linked closely with shamanism (in most prehistoric cultures).

Trump waggles his finger at Iran. Put that away, you don't know where it's been.

"Key Republican members of Congress want to restore the ObamaCare payments, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), that President Trump is ending, fearing the impact his move will have on the individual insurance market and their constituents." Well at least not all conservatives are idiots. Many of them are realizing what I said back in February, the GOP and president Trump now own healthcare. It's success or failure is their own success or failure. Right now, if I were a Democrat in the House or Senate, I'd be voting "present." You broke it, you bought it. Conservatives always want liberals to bail them out. No, GOP, the Democrats don't have to meet you half way. That ship sailed after you tried to ram Trumpcare through the second time. The unfortunate thing is as lot of people are going to be injured and die while the GOP learns the hard lesson of what it means to govern. Again, if I were in office, that would be the only reason that I might not vote "present."

"The Social Security Administration announced today that more than 65 million recipients will get a 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2018, after receiving a measly 0.3% boost in 2017 and no increase for inflation in 2016. That means the average benefit for a retired worker will rise by $27 a month to $1,404 in 2018 while the average benefit per retired couple will grow $46 a month to $2,340. But many recipients will find most or all of that increase eaten up by a jump in the Medicare Part B premiums deducted from their monthly Social Security checks."


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