This year is half over. I thought sure the world would be in better shape by now. I hope you like most of the links. One isn’t good, but it was something I hadn’t seen before.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
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Repeating this about the vagus nerve because I put it in a comment last week. It can’t hurt, and might help.
The US is finally officially admitting that kids taken from the Native American families and put in “residential schools” were mistreated at best, seriously abused and let die (or possibly flat-out murdered) at worst.
This is from May, but it did amuse me. Pi won a North Carolina man a fair chunk of a large lottery prize.
I’ve seen many articles about ancient losses of population affecting us, their descendents. This one is fascinating.
A fairly comprehensive, if basic, article on how exercise improves your mood. From The Guardian.
Homo heidelbergensis was living in what is now Britain 600,000 years ago.
There’s this fence in Montana. Bad news.
Ancient Roman temple found in the Netherlands.
I pulled this out of a comment for Friday’s GNR. Can’t hurt, might help.
Archaeological evidence of ancient zoos.
Physicists in the Netherlands have shown for the first time that quantum information can be reliably teleported between network nodes that are not directly connected to each other.
First Australians ate the giant eggs of now extinct flightless ‘Thunder bird’. Tests of proteins in egg shell remnants confirm they were cooked.
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I took something down to put in my storage locker last Tuesday and found that somebody had tried to break into it. Fortunately, they didn’t realize they’d actually succeeded, and I didn’t lose anything this time; but I really hope the hasp gets replaced really soon.
My grandson helped me with some decluttering last Monday. Trash and recycling and clearing off one of my tables that I really need to get out of the habit of leaving junk on.
My granddaughter helped with the kitchen on Tuesday. Clearing out and reorganizing my lower cupboards and mopping the kitchen floor. I have to do the floor again, but I’m the one who let it get into that state, so this is not a complaint.
The Goddess Anoia heard my plea. I decided to put my meat grinder in one of the drawers rather than back in the cupboard. My granddaughter put it in wrong way around, but Anoia was in a good mood and accepted my prayer, so I got the drawer open and turned it so it would fit.
My grandson returned on Wednesday and helped me do another table’s worth of decluttering.
My granddaughter helped me repot my baby lilacs on Thursday. So did a friend who was visiting. It took maybe ten minutes. The friend’s father tested positive for COVID the next day. Whoopee.
Next project: stove, frying pans, sink, reorganize upper cupboards. Or maybe before that, rearrange my dresser so there’s room for the new stuff and I should probably get rid of what I never wear.
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How many of you are also sick of the begging emails from political campaigns? I have a certain amount of money I can afford to donate, so the campaigns I think are really important have been getting a little money at the beginning of the month when I get one deposit, and a little more in the middle of the month when I get the other. I am thoroughly sick of these emails trying to make me feel guilty about not doing enough when I don’t give them money before midnight on the final day of the month!
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Love you guys!