«“Why are you looking at me?” Dirk said. “Are you saying—”

“He’s not saying anything to you, Navy. Relax,” Ana said, spooning the last of his tray into his mouth. “He’s not saying you can’t do two things at once.”

“Okay,” Dirk said.

“Watching your landings, you can’t even do one thing at once. We’d all be happy if you could get that worked out.”

“My landings are—”

“Horrifying,” Lee said.

“Unskilled,” Gavin said.

“Sickening,” Dena said.

“Great fun. Exciting,” Scruggs said.»

😀

*”Imperial Mercenary: Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire Book 3″* by Andrew Moriarty.

https://wapo.st/4c8CGcZ (gift)

Here we go. Direct assault.

Where are the Republicans decrying “imperial presidency”?

https://viewfromthewing.com/everyone-saw-the-headline-u-s-canada-airline-bookings-down-70-its-wrong-heres-what-the-real-data-shows/

https://www.newsweek.com/leonel-moreno-migrant-influencer-squatting-arrested-gun-charges-tiktok-1886919

This article is a year old, but according to Red State and the right-wing mediasphere, this person has been sent back to Venezuela and they’re very happy about it.

I was absolutely not kidding about museums:

«The order he signed behind closed doors puts Vice President JD Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents, in charge of overseeing efforts to “remove improper ideology” from all areas of the institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.»

https://apnews.com/article/trump-smithsonian-executive-order-improper-ideology-558ebfab722f603e94e02a1a4b06ed4d

https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/

😳

60 million lines of COBOL.

Perfect. Big Balls and AI. What could go wrong?

«They once again were making it clear they were going to send us home with no help – so my boyfriend blocked the door and said he was NOT taking me home until they ran additional tests. He had to use his large physical presence to get attention – he got loud and said “if I take her home she’s going to die.” They threatened to call security but he held his ground and said they could call whoever they wanted – we weren’t leaving without tests.

This tactic may not be safe for everyone. We were fortunate that this occurred in Canada and that he was white… the situation never escalated to physical violence. It absolutely could have and I’m grateful every day that it didn’t. They did threaten to call the police for ‘trespassing’ but he sternly told them that if they did that he would tell the police that they had been refusing me even the most basic of tests.

Thankfully – a doctor overheard the exchange and finally came to see me. At this point we had only seen nurses and security guards. This doctor took one look at me – pale, sweaty, breathless and curled up in the fetal position – and immediately ordered an ultrasound and extensive lab work.

As soon as the ultrasound and blood work came back I was being injected with high doses of IV antibiotics, pain medication and rushed for a CT scan. I had a flurry of doctors and nurses around me and most looked panicked. It turns out they saw a large shadow on the scan that indicated either a perforated bowel or abscess and my blood work showed I had a life threatening infection and needed another round of blood transfusions.

It had become so serious that the hospital we were at couldn’t even treat me – and I had to be transported to a larger hospital nearby.»

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/my-most-dangerous-er-experience-and

I just kind of skimmed until I got to that part. 😮

So, this was years ago, but even so: you’d think if somebody had been to the ER four times after surgery with complaints but no tests, they’d run a test. Patients need advocates, I guess.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/billionaires-need-tax-cut-so-food

«Martha Ross, 78, a nice lady having a meal at a community center in Charleston, noticed the tiny donations and joked, “I guess we’ll get real skinny.”

Reuters very inconsiderately didn’t ask Ms. Ross how (or whether) she voted, denying us the chance to declare whether she deserves to suffer or not. How about nobody deserves to go hungry except the evil deceitful fuckers who are directly responsible for this?»

«“The president is a true mercantilist [, a man of the land, the common clay of the new West,] and just isn’t going to believe forecasts about how bad this can get,” said Michael Strain, head of economic-policy studies at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “He needs to put his hand to the hot stove and leave it there until he can’t bear it. The question is how long will that take?”»

https://www.wsj.com/economy/wall-street-trump-golden-age-distress-28a1dfcc?st=jLnPZQ&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink (gift)