Category: Information

Frieda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Hey, kids, it looks like the flu and other diseases are rising throughout the U.S. I think it should be named the Trump Flu. Could become part of the worst epidemic in history, cuz Trump is trying to shut down healthcare systems because of Woke! DEI! Democrats. Shooting the nation in the foot as he does, of course.

Without doing intense searching, we’re talking Texas, Iowa, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Dakota, Missouri, and Kentucky.

Flu outbreak closes several North Texas schools for the week

Flu season hits hard, causing school closures and crowded ERs (Iowa)

Georgia school district closes all schools due to flu, norovirus outbreak

Flu is rising nationwide, CDC reports, with spikes in ER visits

Several Oklahoma school districts closed, move to virtual learning Friday due to sickness

Florida faces surge in severe flu, COVID-19, and RSV cases, concerning doctors

Multiple Southwest Virginia Schools closed due to flu outbreaks and lack of staff

Absences surge in Adams County schools as peak cold and flu season arrives (Ohio)

Decatur City Schools address rising flu cases (Alabama)

Flu and norovirus are going around: Here’s what you can do

School Districts dealing with significant absences due to illnesses

Flu cases in North Dakota continue to rise

Seven kids hospitalized, Louisville area schools see high absences amid rising flu cases

Going Public: Flu, RSV, Norovirus Drive School Closures in Southeast Missouri

This is happening just as the bird flu shit grows worse.

Bird flu detected at Pennsylvania poultry farm

USDA Reported H5N1 Bird Flu Detections in Poultry

Bonus update: Federal employees report that Musk aides have taken over the OPM personnel database and computer systems.

Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say

Doing the same with the Treasury pay systems. Looks like Musk is going to raid that data and enshittify that system. Suggested new word: Musktrash. It’s almost like enshittification but it’s done in the name of wanton greed and right-wing ideology.

Yes, it is a billionaire oligarchy takeover of the government. Too many fools voted for that Trump. Now Musk is moving in to make a grab on Trump’s behalf.

What can go wrong? Well, I’m sure we’ll see more FAFO stories emerging fast next week after more ICE raids, more executive orders, more flu news, higher inflation as his tariffs land, and another attempt by Trump’s government to cut off funding.

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Frieda’s Wandering Thoughts

As with many humans, I’m a fan of the look back. That’s the manuever engaged as you walk away from a chair or table: you look back to ensure you haven’t forgotten or dropped something.

I watch people conduct their look back and happen to see three women leave their table without doing the look back. As I thought that through, I saw a purse hanging over the back of a chair. As I rose to cross to get it and chase them down, the woman hustled back in with an alarmed expression. Hope she’s learned and plans to look back in the future.

BTW, would the look back be a good dance move? I could see it. You might be doing it on the dance floor.

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Frieda’s Theme Music

And on the last day of January of 2025, rain fell on Ashlandia.

Yes, it’s Frieda, January 31, 2025, and rain is peppering Ashlandia. 41 F outside, ‘they’ inform us that it’ll edge close to 50 F before day surrenders to night. Visibility is limited by low, white clouds. Can’t look across the valley to see what’s happening there, or further up the southern range, to see if this precipitation has cast its lot with snow anywhere.

I’m happy with the rain, but not all in the household share the pleasure. Papi has traveled in and out in search of better weather. My wife said that at one point, she opened the door for him to come back in, but he acted like he wanted her to come outside. “I think he was saying, it’s raining, come out here and change the weather,” she related.

Alas, we don’t have the weather change app yet so we couldn’t help him. That forces him to go out and in and forces us to open and close doors for his travels. It’s become stale after ten rounds. We might be starkers by mid-afternoon.

Spending of starkers — no, I’m not going into politics yet. Too damn early to burst my spirit with tales from the dark side. I will say that I read that one Trump supporter, a Muslim, approves of Trump’s first days of activity. I’m waiting for the other shoe on that FAFO situation to drop. Like that man who wholly supported Trump’s actions until they came and took his wife away. Then, suddenly, he is crying, woe is me, and personally begging Trump himself to not take his wife away. They just don’t get it, do they? Trump and his minions care for no one but themselves. For that matter, Trump only cares about Trump. And he’ll lie in a breath without a thought. He’ll also speak without a thought, too, as he keeps proving. On further evidence, Trump supporters are like Trump in many ways, unaffected by these policies until it hits them, thinking only of themselves until it hits them, blissfully oblivious to what they say and do until it comes back and bites them in the ass.

The Neurons have brought up a 1993 Billy Joel tune. “The River of Dreams” is playing in the morning mental music stream. It has a sort of Gospel/spiritual flavor infusing it. The Neurons offered it to the stream after I’d gotten up in the middle of the night. Yes, a cat was involved. After taking care of the cat need, I had several needs, involving trips to the kitchen and the bathroom. I hadn’t turned on any lights, but we have several recessed night lights installed. Anyway, I also wandered to the window to check on the rain. That’s when the song came in. Joel sings, “In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep.” Seemed kinda apt at the time, in The Neurons’ opinion. Yes, although there are millions of them, the usually speak with one collective opinion.

Coffee is making its way through my systems, delivering whatever help it can. Time to fly. Hope your day is up to your hopes and aspirations wherever you might travel or whatever you do.* Here we go. Cheers

*Certain restrictions may apply.

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Flooftwin

Flooftwin (floofinition) – Person and animal who bear startling resemblance to each other. Origins: 1960s United States.

In Use: “Among some of the stereofloofs that exist is the meme that bulldogs and their male owners are frequently flooftwins.”

In Use: “Sometimes, in response to a perception that a person and their pet are flooftwins, the human will start dressing the animal in the same style of clothes that they wear.”

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Thursda’s Wandering Thoughts

It’s a potpourri of offerings and updates. Nothing important. Just sharing.

Tucker (pronounced Tuck-ah), my black and white wonder floof, had some issues this morning. I heard him in the litter box at a quarter to daylight this morning. The familar tones of him puking followed. I rose to check it out and soon learned that he was constipated. After comforting him, I warmed water and gave him a few CCs of that via syringe. Next, warmed water and made a slurry out of his kibble, which he eagerly took in. Finally, warmed water, mixed it with a Churro bisque and fed him a few CCs of that. Meanwhile, in his wanderings, three small, hard stools were released. After these treatments, he retired to his litter box and had a large bowel movement. Then he acted normal. But this is a warning shot; I need to shift his diet and ensure he’s eating more wet food. I’d noticed that since his teeth have been removed, that’s been a problem for him. I’m also picking up some cat laxative to keep on hand, just in case.

My healing continues, and my edema issues are improving. I’ve been experiencing bi-lateral edema. Started a few years ago, in conjunction with an obstructed bladder caused by an enlarged prostat. Ankle surgery last fall made it worse on my right leg and foot. I focus on reducing the swelling by day’s end every day. Here in general is what I’ve done.

  1. Increased hydration. I’m drinking a ton of water a day. Peeing a lot, too.
  2. Reduced alcohol and coffee.
  3. Reduced my sodium intake. Banished any lunch meat from my lips. Bacon and sausage, which I never consumed much in the first place. Breads were cut back. Swore off most sauces and all salad dressings. Almost completely cut out butter. Eating more raw fruits and veggies. I consult labels for sodium content before buying or consuming.
  4. Massage a CBD lotion into my legs, ankles, and feet each morning and evening. I follow the contours of my muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones. This seems to help my blood and lymph flow.
  5. Wear compression socks during the day. I typically have them on for about ten hours.
  6. Elevate my feet. Each night I lie on my back with my feet up on the wall for 30 to 40 minutes. I exercise my legs, feet, and toes during this time. I then also elevate my right ankle further during the night.
  7. Exercise several times a day to raise my heartbeat. Significant emphasis is given to moving my legs and feet. Besides brisk walking, I stretch and flex, plank for a minute, wallsit three times a day for a minute at a time, run in place, and do some light free weights.
  8. Bought and wear orthopedic footwear.

This all seems to be paying off. My left limb and foot doesn’t swell much during the day at all. The swelling on my right foot, ankle, and leg is completely gone by each morning. Although it slowly swells during the day, the swelling isn’t as heavy. My mobility, strength, and flexibility have all improved, IMO, based on the exercises and my observations. I commence my lymph-edema massage therapy next week.

My wife and I both like to do word games like Connections, Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Hurdle. Each day, we talk about how easy or hard the games were for us. We also laugh about how we sometimes screw up. For example, with Wordle and Hurdle, you’re guessing a five letter word. You have six guesses. Correct letters show up in green. Letters which are in the word but in the wrong location are in gold or yellow. It’s humorous but irritating to realize after making some guesses that we’ve overlooked or have forgotten to use a letter in yellow in our guesses. It’s like, “OMG, I had a N in yellow that I forgot! What is wrong with me?”

It’s all fun and games.

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Thursda’s Theme Music

We’re rocking toward the month’s end. I suspect the political chaos unleashed on us is likely to last beyond this month… Hope it doesn’t to too much to our spirits and sanity.

Last night’s sky was super clear. Man, the stars out there were awe-inspiring. To wonder about the distance, the worlds, the science…all subjects capable of reminding me how small and temporary we are.

This is Thursda, January 30, 2025. Sunshine slathers us under a sky that doesn’t seem like it can be any bluer. Temperatures dropped to 25 F around my place last night. Now it’s 47 F. Yesterday’s high achieved 56 F and we think today will visit 57 F. Thing about it is, walking along in 56 F temperature yesterday, I found that winter still skulked in the shadows. Felt like the temperature dropped by ten degrees and acquired a moody chill when I went through shadow.

Bad news was received yesterday. Part of the reason that I was outside last night, considering the sky and reflecting on existence. One of our beer group’s members passed away. Now, with people going through health issues and aging, you’d properly think it was one of them. But no, it was one of the youngest and newest members, Pete. Just 63 years old, he’d only joined us two plus years ago. He immediately revealed himself to be charming and intelligent, with a good sense of humor. Plugged right into group. He didn’t show signs of ill health or problems…but appearances can deceive.

One of our other members has known Pete since their third grade year. That amazes me. That friend joined us again last night and told us more about Pete. One of the revealations was that Pete had survived Hodgin Lymphoma. Beat it with a combination of radiation therapy and drugs. While he beat that disease, it left him with a weakened system and no spleen. Pete contracted a blood infection. Within a day of falling sick, spinal menningitis killed him. He leaves behind a wife, children, grandchildren, brothers and sister, parents. He also leaves a lasting impression. He’s another person I will deeply miss.

On to the music, which arrived by way of dream. After reflecting on the dream after I awoke, I saw that the dream image of me was like I appeared in the mid-1990s. That makes sense; I ranged from my late 30s into my mid 40s during that time, and that’s the mental version of myself who I carry forward. It’s always a surprise to find that I am no longer that age. You’d think that I would learn by now.

Anyway, by-product from the dream was the song “Shine” by Collective Soul. It was one of several songs I caught snatches of during the dream. Or was it? As I strained my brain to recall details, I was moved to wonder, did I dream those song snatches, or was I now just filling the void with falsehoods? Honestly don’t know.

As I popped through that mystery, The Neurons dusted off the song and slotted it into my morning mental music stream. It’s another tune, as with yesterday’s theme music, which gave a sound track to my life as I navigated existence around the San Francisco-San Jose Bay Area Peninsula region. And it’s more of that quasi grunge solid rock guitar ladened sound which I like. Hope you enjoy it and it coaxes memories of your own out of your cells.

Coffee is dazzling me with its caffeine once again. I’m bracing for another day of political chaos. Hope worse news doesn’t darken our existence but in this era, it pays to stay prepared for such. Here’s the music. Have the best day you can. I’m planning to do the same. Cheers

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More FAFO News

The “Letter from God” website has some deets about Trump’s Federal freezes and the MAGAs. Here are some insightful excerpts.

1. Conservative Churches Hit By Freeze

Trump, in his infinite idiocy and corruption, decided to freeze ALL federal grants and loans. This includes SNAP/EBT, TANF, WIC, federal student loans, and other critical programs. In addition, “Mr. Drain-The-Swamp” just fired 15 Inspectors General, the watchdogs responsible for rooting out corruption and ensuring funds are properly used. It’s looting in broad daylight.

But while liberals have been warning about Trump’s cruelty for years, MAGA supporters are only now realizing—too late—that they’ve been played.

2. MAGA Tears Are Delicious

Whether it be freezing funding, deportations, tarrifs, or ending DEI programs, Trump’s voters thought they were electing a savior to punish everyone they hate. Instead, they’re the ones bearing the brunt of his policies.

Did you know that white women were the prime beneficiaries of DEI programs, by far? Lots of Trump supporters in that group.

Get thee on over there. It’s worth the click to read.

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Wezda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

As Google goes along with the GOTP to switch the names of places on maps, it’s important to remember not to get caught up in the wash. What Google is doing is enabling and aiding Trump by encouraging him but also by trying to distract us, the Constitutional opposition.

Trump and his Project 2025 cohorts are blitzing the federal government and U.S. Constitution. They are working hard to dismember and rewrite hundreds of years of history. Our system of checks and balances, already debilitated by the GOP’s craven lust to remain in power, are under attack through a barrage of illegal activities.

Not surprising. If there’s one thing that Trump understands through his years of cheating others to make money and advance himself, it’s how to work the legal system.

He knows now, yes, legal counters will steadily amass about what he’s doing. But just like the deny and delay tactics employed by insurance companies, Trump and the GOTP will deny and delay, willfully tearing down our society and government in the name of power and greed. Sure, it will be challenged in court, and will ssslllooowwwllly work its way to the Roberts Supreme Court. What will happen there? Pretty unpredictable. Roberts worries more about his legacy than anything else. There’s a strong chance that he’ll convince himself that democracy in the United States has gone to shit — thanks to several previous rulings made by his court, BTW. Once he decides that, he’ll cynically conclude, it’s the ones in power will write his legacy, and will back the GOTP’s bullshit moves.

Craven. Calculating. Cunning. Cruel. Greedy. Unprincipled. Selfish.

That’s the Trump administration. That’s the GOP, now fully transformed into the Grand Old Trump Party, an arm of the Heritage Foundation, supported by MAGAs.

George Conway recently said it well: “Because they are evil, we must stand up to them. But because they are also stupid, we needn’t be afraid to.”

So stand up. Fight. Don’t let them overwhelm you. Resist. Persist.

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WTF, America

It’s another WTF, America, January morning in 2025. Google brings us this one. Bending their knee to power, as greedy corporations do, they have decided to rename things in accordance with the wishes of the First Peckerhead. In case you’re unaware, I’m referring to the first felon elected as POTUS in the history of the United States, aka #47.

Tell you what. I’m not caterng to this damn whim. It’s still the Gulf of Mexica and Denali to me. I’m not going to help the right-wing machine rewrite history, culture, or facts.

End of.

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Wezda’s Theme Music

Here we go. It’s 2025’s first month’s final Wezda. Yes, 29 Jan. 2025. What a month it’s been. Nine days of assault on the U.S. Constitution, human rights, and common decency. Meanwhile, Ashlandia still has had no snow or rain. We’re bathing in another day of blue sky, sunshine, and stagnant air. Yowza. 33 now, up from the 26 F overnight low, we’re expecting to visit 56 F by the time the sun’s regional visit end. That’s exactly how it went yestiday, too.

Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the Year of the Snake. I don’t know what merits and deficiencies are presented by the snake in Chinese culture or elsewhere, but here in ‘Merica, snakes are deadly and are not to be trusted. So the Year of the Snake is apropros for the sick actors now occupying positions of authority in Wash., DC and the halls of power, starting with that head snake, DJ Trump and his henchmen, the GOTP.

I’m not gonna visit that shitshow yet. Not ready. Coffee and I made a handshake agreement but I’m just indulging in my first cuppa. I need more than that before approaching the news in this age. So it’s on to music.

I don’t know why Der Neurons dug up today’s song. But they have dragged “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart” by Stone Temple Pilots into the morning mental music stream. I have part of the song’s 1996 chorus popping through my mouth: “I am I am I said, I’m not myself, I’m not dead and I’m not for sale.” Is it grunge or just modern rock? The labels are useful for many to decide before they consume it. It’s not soul, R&B, or bubblegum. I can tell you that it’s upbeat and guitar driven with solid bass lines and masterful drum work.

This is another song that I got to know while working traffic in the SF-SJ Bay Area, on my way to and from places like shopping and employment. Our main artery was Highway 101. Wherever and whenever between six AM and like 9 PM, traffic was heavy and a challenge to your sanity. Plenty of sudden, rarely explained stops, with waits to move again. So having the radio there for news and music helped.

Hope you enjoy the music and find a way through the day, whatever it brings you, whatever it brings us. Courage, as the man said to himself as the firing squad lined up. Courage.

Cheers

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