Just like to point out that there is a Climax Springs, Missouri. Always my favorite.

The Library of Congress has a lot of great posters for free at high resolution online: Library of Congress WPA posters

There’s quite a good podcast about Russia called “Sean’s Russia Blog”. They have an episode about this book: http://seansrussiablog.org/2016/06/15/the…

Oh Sod Reesing. That was a nice moment.

My big knock on this bit is it lacked a call to action when I think it’s well within the realm of possibility. I’m a scientist, so I found all the info obvious (though I know outside the field it might not be; I hope it was informative for the general audience).

Illness and death rob us of our sense of what it is to be human. (Though empathy in the face of it is one of the best revealers of humanity, ironically.) I think anyone who’s been ill or close to someone ill ponders the various trade-offs of one illness or another, but that central dehumanizing truth is the worst part…

Watching someone you love suffer for a long time is not necessarily better than watching someone you love suffer for a shorter time. Especially if the disease damages their personhood like Alzheimer’s does. Either way, it just twists you up inside.

Right? I feel like the hideousness of the culture is a real focus of the show, and they portray the bro-ness as part of it.

Agreed. As a woman in engineering and a fan of the show, they don’t hide the fact that there are few women in the business. They even have events where women are hired to be there, which is a real thing I’ve read about. They lampoon the dick-swinging dysfunctional culture quite often.

Mine used to do the bear trap thing. But somehow as she got older, she’s grown to love it. She’s a stand-offish kitty, hates to be held, hates to sit on lap, but my goodness does she live for a tummy rub.

Yes, I hate this. I get the runs a lot, and I hate the places with one toilet for each sex. Sometimes getting sick takes a while, and I hate 1) causing a line or 2) dreading the possibility of a line. It’s just stressful. If you aren’t occupying the room at the same time as the opposite sex, I truly dont understand…

God, would that I had that option ever. You spoiled people with your obedient colons.

Actually tummy issues are the biggest reason i want gender-neutral potties. Many restaurants have one toilet for each gender, and if I’m getting sick, it takes a while. I don’t always don’t when I’m done getting sick, so if I have the luxury of time, I’ll hang out. If I feel like I’m generating a line, I try not to,…

Yeah, so enjoy your hatred badge. In Seattle, the only shameful thing to cover up is the traffic.

As a Cardinals (baseball) fan, yep. In our case, it’s the city that’s shitty, and it’s one of the only semi-positive ways anybody notices us anymore. I smile when people shit on the Cards. Hating the BFIB or the “class act” stuff is much better attention than talking about the hollowed out metro area or crime problem.

My brother died from infectious disease while fighting leukemia; I really really get how awful even “normal” infectious diseases like the flu are. It was actually the stress of his illness that triggered that extreme weight loss I mentioned earlier.

You were the one who brought gluten into it which prompted my original comment. All I have said the whole time is that both issues matter, even if I agree that infectious diseases matter more. That is not equating the two, simply asking you not to look askance at an issue when expressing concern about another issue.

It’s frustrating. I get a lot of judgment because I have to be so careful about my diet (and then of course I still get sick all the time, not to mention the absolute constellation of secondary symptoms).

ESPECIALLY as a research scientist, you should understand that item A being more important than item B doesn’t make item B trivial. I said infectious research is massively important. ESPECIALLY as a research scientist, you should be careful in how you express yourself. You mindlessly attacked an area with more nuance…

TB and dietary issues can both be important.