They’re still active. They’re organizing a “Good Trouble” protest (as a nod to John Lewis) on July 17 across the country. I think what’s happening is that the media has stopped talking about 50501 (gee, I wonder why they would do that?), but the protests are definitely still happening.

I’m glad to know that show wasn’t just some sort of fever dream I had at 5 years old. No one I know remembers it.

My state decided it was a great idea to switch from allowing you to go to your local county clerk’s office for licensing to requiring you to go to a regional driver’s licensing office, which there aren’t enough of in the state. They make you schedule appointments at least a month or two in advance, and when you show up for your appointment, you still have to wait in a long line. It can take hours, and of course they’re only open at inconvenient times for anyone who works a full-time job. They also accept walk-ins, but the line for that is even longer, and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to be seen that day. Top it all off with the extra documents you’re required to bring with you (birth certificate, etc), and a lot of people I know just haven’t bothered with it yet. I don’t blame them.

I don’t know why I’m still surprised by the hypocrisy at this point.

TIL Mocha and I both enjoy the Dark Tower series. Great taste, Mocha.

I don’t know, I’ve been assured by plenty of members of the government that’s supposed to represent me that these sorts of dangerous people must be immigrants. Or drag queens. Or those evil, conniving socialists who want to take all our guns away and force our children to have sex changes or something. I’m not sure, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the crazy bullshit.

My dog howls whenever she hears Piano Man by Billy Joel. That’s the only song she’s ever reacted to, and she does it every time. Her ears perk up as soon as she hears the piano in the intro, and she starts howling when the harmonica starts. She doesn’t stop until the song ends. I have no idea why she does this, and when I told her vet about it, the vet just shrugged and said, “I’ve always liked Billy Joel, too.”

I donated a kidney to a friend earlier this year. The reason his kidneys failed wasn’t anything he was at fault for, but even if it had been because of poor decisions he’d made in the past, I still would have given him one of mine. Because people deserve second chances. I can understand not wanting to give a recovering alcoholic a deceased donor’s liver, when someone else could receive that liver, instead. But this woman’s partner was a match and was willing to donate to her. What’s the harm in that? That isn’t a liver that could have gone to someone else who needed it. It’s a donation that would have either gone to her or no one else. No one could have lost out of the donation had been carried out. This was just cruelty, and now someone is dead. And for what? Because there’s a 15% chance (according to studies the article mentioned) that she might have started drinking again???

To make things even harder, a lot of people don’t really have much of a choice which insurance provider to use because of cost. I can’t afford insurance outside of what my employer offers.

I hope you’re wrong and you have a lot more time than that left

Man, I hope you’re right, but that’s not how it seems in my state. Trump is guaranteed to win here (I’m still going to vote, no matter how hopeless it feels), and all I see are Tump flags and Let’s Go Brandon stickers. The self-destructionnis real. I hope people on the right in other states are sick of him enough to swing places like PA, MI, etc. But it gets pretty lonely as a progressive down here in the south.

Congrats, Panthers! Had me worried there for a little while

I love Robert Browning. Love Among the Ruins has always been my favorite, although I’m not sure why. I honestly don’t think it’s his best work.

I’m sorry for your loss. My dog is getting older and I don’t know what my family will do without her when she passes away.

I emailed my representative here in KY about this and his response was, “I don’t get lunch most days during Session.” JFC How about writing a bill to ensure representatives are allowed to take a lunch break, instead of supporting one that takes away everyone else’s right to one? What an asshole. By the way, his name is Daniel Fister, in case any other people stuck in this hellhole state want to look up his email address and let him know how you feel about how much of a twat he is.

I work for a company that helps people with developmental disabilities (autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc) become more independent in their daily lives. Recently, one of our clients successfully earned her vet tech certification. She wants to help sick animals, especially cats. This is a girl who could barely write her own name when we started working with her. Now, she’s going places. Makes all the hard work worth it.