Link Me Up, Scotty - Self-Care Edition

Here's some practical advice about sustainable self-care that does not include spending money you may or may not have. I especially dig items 4 and 5.

H/T Mistress Tania
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My very own Colorado Rockies celebrate Pi Day with style.
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My favorite Christian Pastor on why he's not the same since the 2016 election. Yeah. This. This was the election where I finally lost my ability to "agree to disagree." There is nothing about this President or this Administration that I will agree with, now or ever. And yes, I do hold those who voted for him completely responsible for the next four years.
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Vanguard America, a White Supremacist group that lives right out there with the Neo-Nazis and other whackadoos, is putting up flyers on college campuses with racist messages. 1st Amendment, she tells herself, 1ST AMENDMENT. But by all means, let's not shield these racist fuckpops from the social consequences of their abhorrent points of view.
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A runner in Seattle fought off a sex offender who attacked her in a public bathroom, shouting "Not today, motherfucker!" as she pummeled her way to freedom. Bonus: She locked the reprobate in the bathroom until police arrived. Get on with your bad self, Kelly!
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The West Virginia Senate is voting to basically remove mine safety inspections. Because the mining industry in the Appalachians has proved to be so very responsible and self-correcting when it comes to the safety and health of their mine workers. Apparently.
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It's this kind of incident that makes me hope for the republic. Good on you, Tracey Tong. "I don't like the way you are treating her," indeed.
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Professional historian David gives an interesting take on life on the home front during WWII.
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Oh, good, 45's new 2018 budget (entitled "America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again." I shit you not, that's the actual name of this piece of excrescence) sticks it to the arts, sciences, education, environmental protections, the State Department, and (of course!) the poor and elderly in the form of social programs that allow them to survive. This is the most immoral piece of crap I have seen come from my government in my lifetime. Apparently his plan is to strengthen an already strong military while simultaneously cutting domestic programs that will result in a grim, dystopian nightmare devoid of art, culture, an educated populace, clean air, and clean water. Oh, and we'll have the olds and the poor dying in the street, as well, so that'll be fun.
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Dogs in cars. Miss Jackson Pi loves the car, and is a good passenger. Unlike Boogie the Giant Schnauzer, who had an aversion to mechanical sounds and was convinced any car ride was taking him to his doom.
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My favorite Christian Pastor on white privilege and what to do about it. These concepts are sometimes very difficult to accept, but I think it helps to know that the issue isn't personal but systemic.
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A congressional staffer explains what answering the thousands of phone calls to their office is like in the age of 45. TL:DR: Keep dialing.
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Today's sources:

• Continuum: The website for Continuum, a global think tank devoted to intentional, authentic, and interconnected feminism.
• The Washington Post: Mainstream Media source with minimal partisan bias and highly factual reporting. 
• Stuff That Needs to be Said: The personal blog of Pastor John Pavlovitz
• The Huffington Post: Hyper partisan liberal publication with a high degree of factual reporting. 
• Charleston Gazette-Mail: Left center bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
• 4 Quarters and 10 Dimes: The personal blog of David the Historian. 
• Buzzfeed: Left Center bias with a mixed degree of factual reporting.

News and Updates from the Big Brown House

I realize I haven't been writing much about, you know, my life since 45 won the election. Mostly it's just been Link Me Up posts pointing people to those who are far smarter and more qualified to discuss our current political climate than I. But this is my space, after all, so I thought I'd catch the world up on the goings-on here at the Big Brown House.

1. Yesterday was the twins' birthday. This day affects me weirdly now. On the one hand, it reminds me that my baby girl will never be older than 22, and I grieve anew for her loss. On the other hand, it's also the Smart Son's birthday, and he's grown into a fine human being, a man of good character, humor, honor, and curiosity. I'm hopelessly proud of him, and celebrate his time on this earth and am delighted he's my son. So, weird.

2. We're attending an "invitation only" sale this evening at our local flooring store. The carpet we bought when the house was built was the default option with no upgrades, and we basically hate it. It's separating at the seam to the hard wood floor and the hardwood is thoroughly scratched at the points where it overlays a thoroughfare. I suspect you can imagine the reason for that. (cough*Miss Jackson Pi*cough). So we're replacing the carpet and the wood floors in the main areas and halls (but not my office or the bedrooms). This was always the plan, but it will be expensive and a pain in the ass, to boot.

3. Miss Jackson Pi had an upset tummy over the weekend, and now I feel like I need to write a note to the Bissell Corporation thanking them for the efficacy of their SpotClean Pro™Portable Carpet Cleaner. This machine is the cat's pajamas, y'all.

4. From a leadership perspective, it's irksome that leaders have to spend 90% of their time on 10% of the people, leaving little time or room to actually accomplish goals. This was true when I was a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in the Navy, and it's true now.

5. The "March for Science" demonstrations are scheduled for April 22nd. That's Earth Day, for those of you keeping track at home. I'll be attending here in Denver with some science-loving friends, and I've been knitting "brain hats" for us to wear to the event. Here's an example:

Brainz...it's what's for dinner.

Once I'm done knitting the hats for our group, I may consider taking orders from long-time readers and friends for the cost of the yarn. These take longer than my usual projects, though, and the yarn is much more expensive.

6. I paid off my Fiat this month. So both my Jeep (for which I paid cash) and the Fiat are now free and clear. I figure I'll just keep driving them until I retire, and in the meantime save all that car payment money for my retirement transportation needs.

7. After finishing his general education courses at our local Community College, the Smart Son has been accepted into two of our state universities here in Colorado. I don't know which school he'll end up selecting, as his GI Bill allows him to go to any state school, anywhere, with tuition paid in full. Ah, to have so many choices!

8. I have been assigned a task at my day job that is incredibly tedious and will take a long time to complete. I think I'll have to pace myself, as I'm already so bored I want to take my eye out with a spork.

9. I like lipstick. This is not exactly "news," but as someone who smoked for many years, I have trouble finding a product that will not seep into the fine lines around my mouth and make me look like the Joker. But the new matte liquid lipsticks were made for me! My current faves are Tarte Tarteist Lip Paint and Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor. The Revlon has the advantage of coming with lip gloss in addition to the lip paint, which is convenient.

This counts as my once yearly public display of girliness, by the way.

Link Me Up, Scotty - Picking the Right Person for the Job Edition

The big brains over at Outside the Beltway with commentary on 45's national security team. I firmly believe it is the career bureaucracy that keeps things going in times of transition and turmoil, but no level of institutional memory can supplement such a lack of planning and execution.
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Racial tensions heat up in a small Georgia town, but people decided to stand up and be counted rather than normalizing the return of the KKK to their community. #resist
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Steve King, the most ineffective member of Congress, is such a douchebag I can't even. I wonder if his district is the one of the ones that have hoards of White Militia hiding in the hills with their guns and canned goods.
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My favorite Christian Pastor is inventing a Church I could join with a clear conscience and an open heart: The Church of Not Being Horrible.
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As a promotional stunt, the folks over at Amazon launched a fake "radio station" called "Resistance Radio" to generate interest in the third season of their show The Man in the High Castle. So then 45 supporters came out of the woodwork claiming the station was unAmerican and whining about why those mean liberals are still so outspoken about 45 and his policies?

I find it very interesting, very interesting indeed, that 45's supporters assumed a promotional media event aimed directly at opposing Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan was aimed at them and their resident reprobate. This shows me that deep down, some of these bootlickers know they're on the wrong side of history, but are still trying to defend their untenable positions, probably to sooth their conscience at being such horrible people.
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The White House wants to know how the Affordable Care Act has affected you and your family.

Obamacare: Share Your Story

Obamacare has led to higher costs and fewer health insurance options for millions of Americans.
How has it impacted you? Share your story with the President.

So I shared my story. My story about how my veteran son was able to be covered on my health plan when he returned from his service, and how he was able to get affordable care through the Exchange after he aged out of the adult children provision in the ACA. Somehow I doubt that's what 45 wanted to hear, but hey - he really needs to get acquainted with the truth, and after working for 35 years in male-dominated fields, my inclination to coddle a man's ego and alternative reality is at an all-time low these days.

H/T Brother Nathan
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Oh, look - according to the CBO, 45's health care replacement would make the rich richer and kick 24 million people off the health insurance rolls. I'll bet you can guess 45's reaction to this non-partisan report. You guessed it, deny, deny, deny. As near as I can tell, the new plan basically takes us back to where we were before the ACA was enacted, with no benefit to non-wealthy Americans by any measure.

“The C.B.O. score shows just how empty the president’s promises, that everyone will be covered and costs will go down, have been,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. “This should be a looming stop sign for the Republicans’ repeal effort.”

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Today's sources:

• Outside the Beltway: An online journal of politics and foreign affairs analysis written by a highly educated and ridiculously qualified staff. 
• The Washington Post: Mainstream Media source with minimal partisan bias and a high degree of factual reporting. 
• One Hot Mess: The personal blog of Libby Bakalar. 
• Stuff That Needs to be Said: The personal blog of Pastor John Pavlovitz. 
• WhiteHouse.gov: The official website of the President of the United States. 
• The New York Times: Mainstream Media source with minimal partisan bias and a high degree of factual reporting.

Link Me Up, Scotty - Something Everyone Can Believe In Edition

Healthcare policy experts from every political spectrum think the new Republican healthcare bill is a big, stinking, pile of poo. I don't think this is what was promised when we were told the new plan would be "the best plan."
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Governor Jon Huntsman has been tapped to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Thank Christ - finally an adult in the room.
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One Hot Mess announces the appointment of Andres Dice Clay as the new Poet Laureate of the United States. Hey - stranger things have happened.
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My friend David, a professional historian, has started documenting his thoughts on the current Administration. Angels and Ministers of Grace, defend us.
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The WaPo's editorial board makes a pretty convincing case to confirm Rod J. Rosenstein as the Deputy Attorney General. People either have professional ethics, or they don't.
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I feel like a broken record here, but it behooves us to prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally for the inevitable death of our elders. I don't want the elders in my life whom I love to suffer because I can't get my emotional act together as they approach the end of of their lives.

H/T Laura
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From the Might Girls files: All female Royal Brunei flight crew lands their plane in...Saudi Arabia.
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And from the Don't Tell Me Rape Culture Doesn't Exist files: Canadian Judge resigns after asking a female rape victim, "Why didn't you just keep your knees together?" My mind is literally blown. Blood coming out of my ears blown. 
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50 things nurses wish they could tell you. I consider most of these to be common sense and common courtesy, but there were a few I hadn't thought about.
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Video of my Heart: Dobie Gray singing "Drift Away."

H/T Alice
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Today's sources:

• NBC News: Mainstream media news source with minimal partisan bias and a high degree of factual reporting. 
• Politico: Left-center bias with a high degree of factual reporting.
• One Hot Mess: The personal blog of Libby Bakalar 
• 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: The personal blog of David, a professional historian who chooses not to use his last name on-line. 
• The Washington Post: Mainstream media source with minimal partisan bias and a high degree of factual reporting. 
• Daily Mail: Right bias with a mixed degree of factual reporting. 
• The Independent: Left-center bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
• Reader's Digest: A synopsis of articles compiled into a magazine. 

Link Me Up, Scotty - The Past as Prologue Edition

Professional historian David with some additional thoughts on the current political climate. 45 and his Russian-puppet, White Nationalist Administration are such easy targets, finding reprehensible behavior is like shooting fish in a barrel.
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My favorite Christian Pastor takes on the utter hypocrisy of a Christian Disney boycott. Remember back in November when I said this group had entered into the "no room for redemption" category? This is a fine example of what I was talking about. Like so:

The Christians who are weeping and gnashing their teeth right now aren’t winning any converts, they’re doing nothing to damage Disney, and everything to damage the image of the Church in the eyes of the world, as an out-of-touch, hateful, inconsistent horde—who apparently find gay people “icky” but misogyny perfectly Presidential.

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This is the subject of yesterday's missives to my Congressmen. Because who doesn't want to replace something that sorta kinda works with something that's more expensive, with less coverage, that doesn't protect the most vulnerable among us? Aside from the Party of Reprobates, that is.
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The 2017 Sony World Photography Awards. 
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Meet Friar Bigotón, a stray dog who joined the Franciscan Order in a monastery in Bolivia. This was a great pick-me-up this morning.

H/T Frankie
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For International Women's Day, the world's third largest asset manager placed a statue of a fearless girl on Wall Street to symbolize the problem of most Boards having an abysmal number of women. Mighty girls!
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The Chicago Field Museum's famous T-Rex Skeleton known as "Sue" is now running a D&D game. Because of course she is.
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Video of my Heart: FINALLY, someone who speaks for me, a white cisgender woman, on the subject of bathroom laws.

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Today's sources:

• 4 Quarters, 2 Dimes: The personal blog of professional historian David. 
• Stuff That Needs to be Said: The personal blog of Pastor John Pavlovitz.
• The Washington Post: Mainstream media source with minimal partisan bias and highly factual reporting. 
• The Atlantic: Skews left but still a reliable source of in-depth news. 
• The DoDo: Digital media website for animal people.
• Business Insider: Left-center bias and high degree of factual reporting.
• Chicagoist: A website about Chicago.

Link Me Up, Scotty - Fact Check Edition

Guess what? 45's first address to the Congress is packed to the rim with half-truths and utter falsehoods. This would be my shocked face.
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Finalists from Smithsonian Magazine's 2016 photo contest.
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Four mosques have been burned in the last seven weeks, an unprecedented string of hate crimes in the wake of 45's inauguration. But it's not his fault! He's NOT a bigot, he's not, he's not, he's not! (Insert eyeroll here).
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Tree Lobsters takes on the idea of regressing to the mean in light of 45's unprecedented behavior.
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A Benedictine Monk is making every effort to save both Christian and Islamic manuscripts from destruction by ISIS. Father Columba Stewart heads the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) based out of St. John's Abbey and University, and has made significant inroads in his mission. Defending intellectual freedom is one of the core values of true librarians, regardless of their faith tradition. Get on with your bad self, Father Stewart.

H/T Sister Carolyn
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Another shocking turn of events from the Putin Puppet White Nationalist Administration: Jeff Sessions, our Attorney General, had contact with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S., and then failed to mention it during his Senate confirmation hearings. He claims he didn't mention it because he was meeting with Ambassador Kislyak in his role as a Senator, rather than as a Trump advisor. Wink, wink. Nod, nod.
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An African-American boy is found hanged in the woods near Seattle, and his parents want some answers. Oh, and they're a Muslim family. I can't tell you how much my heart aches for this family. I hope they find the answers they seek and also some peace. Yes, that too.
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Turns out Orcas are not mono-cultural, but instead have region-specific differences. This surprises me not at all. Sentience comes in many forms, and assuming a highly intelligent sea mammal such as Orcas should only have one social structure would be as absurd as assuming all people, everyone, have the same social norms.

H/T Steve
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Texas sportscaster Dale Hansen has something to say about the brou-ha-ha surrounding Mack Beggs, a transgender teen who competes in high school wrestling.  I love this effin guy.
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Rep. Kevin Cramer (ND-R) had this to say about the female members of Congress who chose to wear white to 45's address to the Joint Congress:

“But by the way, did you notice how poorly several of them were dressed as well?” he asked. “It is a syndrome. There is no question, there is a disease associated with the notion that a bunch of women would wear bad-looking white pantsuits in solidarity with Hillary Clinton to celebrate her loss. You cannot get that weird.”

I don't even know what to say about this comment from a sitting Representative. Other than Susan B. Anthony is probably spinning in grave due to your total ignorance of history.
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Video of my Heart: Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris with a live rendition of Hallelujah. 

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Today's Sources:

• The Washington Post: Mainstream media source with minimal bias and highly factual reporting. 
• The Atlantic: Skews left but still a reliable source of in-depth, highly factual reporting.
• Buzzfeed News: Left-center bias with mixed factual reporting. 
• Tree Lobsters: A webcomic.
• KUOW: Local NPR affiliate with minimal partisan bias and highly factual reporting.
• Hakai Magazine: Magazine of the Hakai Institute, dedicated to long-term research at remote locations on the coastal margin of British Columbia, Canada
• The Huffington Post: Left bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
• Politico: Left-center bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 

Link Me Up, Scotty - Let Them Pee Edition

Turns out most Texans don't give a good goddamn about bathroom legislation. Even more Republicans don't give a shit than think it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Can you say "pandering?" I knew you could. 
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In a secretive, opaque White House run by White Nationalists and thin skinned megalomaniacs, it's important for people of good conscience to have an avenue to whistle-blow without losing their jobs. Since 45 won't tolerate people who disagree with him, that avenue has become the press, and they're trying to make it as easy as possible for those people to contact them.

H/T Steve
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The New Yorker with some extremely in-depth reporting on Russian interference in U.S. elections and the new Cold War. This is a long piece, and well worth your time. TL:DR: It's both better and worse than you've been led to believe.
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What the hell is wrong with people? No, really - what? At least the family's neighbors stepped up and did the right thing.
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An interesting point of view about how white men who are celebrities can get away with pretty much any damn thing they want.
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The subject of yesterday's missive to my Senators and Representative: 45 intends to increase the military budget by ~10%. This, of course, is the stupidest thing I heard all day. The United States Armed Forces are absolutely ready and capable of responding to an act of aggression by a foreign state. With extreme prejudice. Over and over and over. Our military is the strongest, best equipped, best funded military organization in the world. Why increase their budget other than to show that you equate your penis size with the size of our Armed Forces?
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45 now believes that President Obama is behind the leaks and protests that have plagued his White Nationalist Administration. So glad our former President has been able to find a second career as an agent provocateur and closet leader of the The Resistance. In fact, here he is, coordinating protest efforts and secret White House leaks with the aplomb that characterized his entire presidency:

Sneaky bastard.  
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Charles Pierce of Esquire tells us why he'll never sympathize with regretful Trump supporters. This. As I said in November to the 47% of Americans who voted for 45, this is your dumpster fire. If it turns out that your lives are worse under 45's White Nationalist Administration rather than better, then you've only yourselves to blame and I don't want to hear you crying about it.

H/T Brother Matt
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I am firm believer in the "Your childhood may have been awful, but it's over" train of thought. There comes a time in every individual's life where they have to take responsibility for their own problems, their own feelings, their own future, without blaming their childhood circumstances. But there are certain things that can plague adults their entire lives due to the environment in which they come of age. These characteristics aren't an excuse to behave badly, but research on these environments does provide a useful rubric for examining our own behavior and making meaningful change. Here's one that examines my own personal history, 10 Things to Know About Children of Alcoholics.
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Video of my Heart: 4 year old Claire Ryann sings "How Far I'll Go" with none other than Moana herself, Auli'i Cravalho.




Today's sources:

• The Texas Politics Project: A project of the University of Texas at Austin providing political data, events, and research materials to students and faculty. 
• NPR: Mainstream media source with minimal partisan bias and highly factual reporting. 
• The New Yorker: Left bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
• DenverCBSLocal: Local CBS affiliate with minimal partisan bias and basic reporting. 
• Esquire: Left bias with a high degree of factual reporting. 
• Reach Out Recovery: A nonprofit dedicated to addition education, prevention, and recovery.
• Elle: A magazine dedicated to fashion, culture, and beauty.