@jolly said in Masks: @taiwan_girl said in Masks: Seen on Twitter: "A man who wears a gun at church told me I was living in fear because I wear a mask!!" 555 I don't remember saying that... 555 Jolly!

Wow!!! Amazing that he was able to function for so long with that in (or near) his eyeball! Quite lucky, I think. (But even luckier if it never got in his eye, I guess LOL)

Very cool!

@horace said in Laughably Bad and Potentially Dangerous: FSD will never be a thing, from Tesla or anybody else. Obviously, not enough people are clicking through the "I'm a human" captchas.

@bachophile there's little doubt that for some procedures, like a radical prostatectomy, the robot is the way to go. I used to HATE that operation. Surgeon goes in, roots his index finger behind the prostate, tearing whatever vasculature is back there, and I have to play catch-up. Then, he'd pack it with laps while, hopefully, things clotted off enough that he could see what the FUCK is bleeding. It always took about 3 hours, and even the fastest urologists were at 2 hours. With the robot, it can take longer, of course. 4-5 hours was typical at our place. But, I never had to transfuse any of those patients. When it's time for my prostatectomy, I want Dr. DaVinci across the table from the urologist. But... When general surgeons started using the robot for gallbladders (taking a 1 hour case and making a 4 hour case out of it - not to mention standing the patient up in steep reverse Trendelenburg) that's just silly. Even sillier is when they used it for inguinal hernias. For hysterectomies, a talented gynecologist (I know, oxymoron) could do a vag hyst in about 90 minutes. An untalented one, in about 3 hours. I fail to see how it's better than a laparoscopic assisted approach, but I guess the gynes and the general surgeons need their toys. I understand that now the ortho guys are using robots for total joints. Never seen one, never hope to. I'm so glad I'm retired.

Yes, it's gonna be a mite more expensive with the current lumber prices.

Not a football fa, but I love animals ...

Gone with the wine.

Cities will survive. There will always be a group of people that enjoys the things that cities can do, and always a group of people that enjoy the things a rural place can do. Some people like to be able to walk out their door and have 10 restaurants available without having to drive. Other people like being by themself on a few hectares of a land

Belichick on the Pats' free agency spending spree: "We are excited about the additions to our roster so far this year. Whether by trade, free agency or re-signings, the group brings a good mix of offense, defense and special teams. It was great to see them in the building, including some familiar faces, and we are all looking forward to continue building toward the upcoming season." Pure poetry, eh? Hope he coaches better than he talks. He went on, "And it has nothing to do with destroying defeating Tom Brady any Super Bowl challengers we may face. Nothing at all." Okay, I made that last part up.

I wondered what the conductor was listening to while conducting. He just imagined the sound in his head? Or listened to some other recording?

Or a clip for my hair. Is there a story behind that picture?

@horace I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. I will lift an Ave for your father, and especially for your mother's consolation and for the rest of the family.

That is awesome!!

Yes, Jodi! Love this type of cooking when I have a busy work schedule, or when I have a big project going at home. Thank you!

@george-k said in Fired for smoking weed: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/544039-white-house-defends-marijuana-policy-after-report-of-staffers White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday defended the administration’s policy on marijuana use by employees after a report said dozens of young staffers were suspended or asked to resign because of past use of the drug. Psaki wrote in a series of tweets that only five people who had started working at the White House had lost their jobs because of the administration’s policy on past marijuana use. She did not indicate how many had been suspended or turned away before starting work, but she pointed to the administration relaxing rules around past marijuana use earlier this year. “We announced a few weeks ago that the White House had worked with the security service to update the policies to ensure that past marijuana use wouldn’t automatically disqualify staff from serving in the White House,” she tweeted. From the RWEC the following questions: Only 5 people were "fired," How many were suspended? How many who were scheduled to work were not hired? As long as marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug, Biden has two choices. One is that he can continue to give pink slips to people he specifically told to be honest about their past marijuana use and not worry about it. The other is to override the background check system and order them to receive security clearances anyway. The latter would be in his power to do, but after all the griping that was done over Donald Trump using the same method to get a clearance for Jared Kushner, the hypocrisy might have been too much for even Biden to bear. Certainly many people in high government places would lose their jobs. That is axiomatic. There is something else going on here. I could venture a guess or two but since the media doesn’t know or doesn’t want to say I wonder what others think.