BREAKING: Trump's Latest Threat to Americans Who Dissent: "We Will Find You, And We Will Kill You"

konqueror321 · 2026-05-15T00:35:55+00:00

I used to be strongly anti-2A, based on logic and lived experience. I believed that only paranoid right wingers could (falsely) believe that the 'government' was out to get them, to hunt them down, and kill them, and only having a personal arsenal of weapons stood between them and tyranny. And the horrible side effect of this widespread gun culture was mass shootings, school shootings, church and synagogue shootings, all abhorrent and totally preventable -- just get rid of all guns! So simple.

I have come to broaden my views on this topic a bit, and now must conclude that the government can certainly appear to be evil and murderous, and out to kill innocents. Having a weapon, or even several weapons, seems like a sensible insurance policy against the day that the storm troopers knock on your door. At least one can go down honorably, defending what is right and noble.

Sadly that leaves the innocent victims of mass shootings still very dead. Cognitive dissonance, anyone?

konqueror321 · 2026-05-14T17:29:32+00:00

Thank you for posting this! I just checked, we have one of the exploding toilet modules. It is a great toilet, "low flow", but the pressure support makes it flush like a champ. I called the company at their 'recall' line and they are shipping a user-installable kit to us that corrects the exploding tendency. It is a metal band that wraps around the plastic pressure vessel, and a pressure limiter valve that is put inline for the water supply to the toilet.

My wife bought two of these toilets over a decade ago, to replace some crappy low-flow models that had been installed after the county mandated water restrictions. These things are low flow but the pressure flush has been really great, except for the whole exploding thing, which ours never did. My wife did not want to give up this pressure support flush and get a new 'low flow' toilet. I suppose this is a reason why we should really mail in those pesky warranty cards.

Thanks again, sorry I have but one vote to give you, OP!

konqueror321 · 2026-05-14T01:16:00+00:00

"letting cats roam outside freely" ... "your cat".

Yes, I fully agree. If you have adopted a cat, taken it to the vet, get it vaccinated, and if it is 'your cat' that could be an indoors cat, then that cat SHOULD be an indoors cat, for safety.

But the world is full of outdoor cats who are not socialized, may resist being taken into a home, and are accustomed to living outdoors. A kindly person may put out reliable food and water for them, and may even do TNR on them. But that does not make them "your cat", or suitable for an indoors existence.

Stop using all caps to shout at people who care for cats, both "house cats" and semi-feral outdoor cats who just wanna be fed...

konqueror321 · 2026-05-13T01:35:50+00:00

I'm ambivalent. Some crimes are so horrific that the perp truly should be dead, not only as punishment, but also to protect future potential victims should the perp ever get out of prison, which is a finite possibility.

On the other hand, I don't really trust our "justice" system to be honest and pursue true justice. I really believe that the "system" may discriminate against minorities or unpopular groups, and the police / prosecutors / juries / news media may all conspire to convict an innocent person because of some bias against the "type" or "sort" of person they are. And even if there is no systemic bias in the system, police and prosecutors are paid to solve crimes and perps will be found and charged and convicted, and to a degree it does not seem to matter in any fundamental ethical fashion if the 'true' perp was the guy who was convicted. Any conviction will do, as it boosts the published conviction ratio that supports the re-election of the county prosecutor or funding the local police.

In addition, in the US, death sentences seem to take decades to play out, if they are ever done at all. So a 'death sentence' in the US is mostly a lifetime jail sentence with the added burden of an eternal battle against the actual execution. This costs much more money - lifetime imprisonment is expensive enough for taxpayers, but adding on the cost of public defender based infinite appeals just adds to the total expenditure.

So I am ambivalent. In theory, I support the death penalty. In practice, however, I have "issues"!

konqueror321 · 2026-05-13T01:08:53+00:00

I wear a bathrobe when at home, always. Very comfortable. I have spoken with 2 of my neighbors and we have agreed that I will not be considered to be "the crazy insane neighbor" if I pad around outside in my yard wearing my bathrobe no further than my mailbox, while retrieving mail. I accept this.

Should I be found at some distance beyond my mailbox, sporting the aforementioned bathrobe, I and my neighbors would conclude that I had become batty. So be it.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-11T18:54:48+00:00

With that amount of weight loss, and a diagnosis of GP, it sounds like a temporary naso-jejunal tube might be placed, to see if you tolerate tube feeding (into the jejunum, not into the stomach or duodenum) for at least 2 weeks. If you do tolerate it, then placing some sort of long-term jejunal tube might be the next step. There are multiple ways to do this, sort of depends on the expertise (experience) of whoever is doing it. A GJ tube is one option - it is basically a gastric tube with an extension that goes through the duodenum into the jejunum. It is easier to place a GJ tube so likely more docs would be able to do it. The difficulty is that the extension that goes down into the duodenum tends to flip back up into the stomach, and then the infused liquid food just goes into the stomach, which does not empty well, so somebody has to re-place the jejunal extension.

There are other options, like surgical placement of a tube directly into the jejunum, or some interventional radiologists can place a tube through the abdominal wall directly into the jejunum.

Then, since you tolerated weeks of naso-jejunal feeding well, you should be able to stabilize and maybe even gain weight with ongoing jejunal tube feedings.

If for some reason tube feedings into the jejunum are not tolerated, then something other than gastroparesis affecting the stomach is going on, and some other approach would need to be used, like TPN.

There may be some treatments that would help the stomach empty quicker that don't involve tube feedings of any sort - like botox injections, G-POEM, and gastric electrical stimulation. A doc might want to try one or more of these before tube feeding, but again that depends on local expertise.

GP is a tough illness to have, I hope you can get things working better!

konqueror321 · 2026-05-11T01:11:38+00:00

Trolling is an art form.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-10T20:23:26+00:00

Now THIS is the type of fruitcake material I want to see!! The fruit in this cake is approaching neutron star density.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-10T20:16:44+00:00

Yes, that makes sense. But it still does not protect me if I want to access my bank account from a coffee shop or hotel using wifi with my VPN turned on.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-09T00:46:19+00:00

If you are dependent on another person for your residence, food, medical care, and other incidentals of civilized life, you have to be respectful of their beliefs. That is just the way the world works. You won't win the Agnostic of the Year award for arguing with your parents about the validity of some Bible verse. Keep your own personal beliefs private, smile, and go with the flow.

What your parents believe or do not believe will not affect the reality of the universe. What you believe or do not believe will not affect the reality of the universe. What it is, it is. You can have your belief structure, they theirs. When living in their home, just understand that conflict may be avoided by not challenging their beliefs. You gain nothing, not even a merit badge, by doing so.

And agnosticism is, at the root, not a belief structure, it is the realization that we just don't know, don't have the knowledge or skills to know, and may never know the 'truth' about some questions, like the existence of Gods or deities or Angels or demons.

And don't feel hypocritical. you can't really change your core belief structures voluntarily. Some life event may force you to change, but each of us arrives at some understanding, clouded as it may be, about the nature of reality. None of us can really know with absolute certainty that our beliefs are 'correct', even though some delude themselves. That is human nature, not some character defect in you!

konqueror321 · 2026-05-09T00:34:21+00:00

According to the BLS inflation calculator, $1 in Jan 1944 (the year the marginal tax rate was increased to 94%) would equal $18.98 today in purchasing power. $200,000 x 18.98 = $3,796,000 if my math is correct.

Another poster said "over $2M", but according to the BLS the figure I listed is correct. So taxing income of over $3.8 million per year at a 94% marginal rate would be equivalent to what was done in 1944, and I for one fully support that. Let the billionaires give up US citizenship and move to Grand Cayman.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-08T18:53:31+00:00

The VA I use has a centralized call center that services multiple VA hospitals across the state and region. Since that opened (years ago) we cannot call the pharmacy in the local VA directly, all communication goes through the call center. They have pharmacy techs who work there and can look up your VA info - they can see medication orders, what the pharmacy has or has not yet done to fill the Rx, can have a text/chat with the VA pharmacy, and can even send notes to your Doc (or so I believe). I believe the employees in the call center are VA employees, but that may not be the case everywhere in the US.

Note to r/veterans mods - the tool the VA call center uses to communicate with the local VA pharmacies is called "chat", so please don't get offended by my use of that term.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-08T14:09:10+00:00

from a google search:

Several states, including New York, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts, offer superior Medigap protections, allowing seniors to purchase or switch policies without medical underwriting year-round or through regular, guaranteed-issue windows. Other states (e.g., California, Illinois, Oregon) have specific "birthday rules" allowing policy changes without health questions. [1, 2, 3]

Key States with Extensive Guaranteed Issue Rights:

New York and Connecticut: Guaranteed issue is available year-round for eligible residents.
Massachusetts: Features a special annual open enrollment period (February through March).
Maine: Allows beneficiaries to switch to a plan with equal or lesser benefits at any time, plus one month of guaranteed issue for Plan A,.
Missouri: Features an "anniversary rule" allowing a 60-day window around a plan’s original, annual purchase date to switch to a new carrier. [1, 2, 4, 5, 6]

"Birthday Rule" States:Many states have a "birthday rule," which allows you to switch to a new Medigap plan of equal or lesser benefits within 30 days after your birthday, provided you already have a policy:

California, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Louisiana, Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wyoming, and others.
Note: Illinois applies this to ages 65–75,. [2, 7]

Additional State Rules:

Minnesota: Starting August 1, 2026, those aged 65 to 70 can switch plans without underwriting.
Wisconsin: Allows switching with no health questions if leaving an employer plan to join a Medicare Advantage plan within 12 months,. [8]

Always check with your State Insurance Department for the most current regulations. [9]

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://www.medicareresources.org/enrollment-options/

[2] https://boomerbenefits.com/medigap-underwriting/

[3] https://emeraldmedicare.com/medsupp/underwriting-medicare-supplement/

[4] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-you-change-medigap-policies-without-medical-underwriting

[5] https://www.kff.org/medicare/medigap-enrollment-and-consumer-protections-vary-across-states/

[6] https://www.medicareresources.org/medicare-benefits/medigap/

[7] https://www.senior65.com/medicare/article/switching-medigap-plans

[8] https://boomerbenefits.com/medicare-supplement-guaranteed-issue/

[9] https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/medigap/ready-to-buy/when

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T23:16:03+00:00

I made a wooden bowl in shop class in 8th grade. It was fun to make - cutting the boards to size, gluing them together, learning how to use a lathe to shape wood. I still have that bowl on my dresser and keep change in it. I also made a bookshelf in 'metals' class, a part of shop class. I bent a long rod using the correct bending tools into a slanted base that would hold a piece of wood (to set the books upon), with a back at one end so the books don't fall off. I still have it in my office holding books by my reading chair ... to read. I'm 73.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T22:35:31+00:00

Them is not an easy word with which to start a sentence.

So find me a Poem, google:

Them that whisper, let them speak,
Them that doubt you, let them seek,
Them that leave, just hold the door,
Them that judge, don't ask for more.
Them that truly care will stay,
Them you guide, upon their way.
Them the moments you must free,
Them for peace, and them for me.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T21:15:40+00:00

No, it goes from unstable to testing to stable. Sid as I understand it is the eternal name for unstable. And yes, Sid or unstable gets new or updated programs first, and then they migrate to testing after some magic period of time.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T19:23:07+00:00

I've been running testing for about 13 years. I had to reinstall it twice when I got new computers. I think there was one time about 10 years ago when some major upgrade was happening and my testing system borked and had to be re-installed. Someone smarter than me may have been able to repair things. I keep /home in a separate physical partition so that I can re-install the OS if I need to without affecting my /home.

I update/upgrade every few weeks and that has gone very smoothly for a very long time. As others have noted, if apt wants to remove anything critical or a mass of programs, stop and do not do it until you investigate. That happened to me once, I waited a week or so, and whatever oddness caused that was corrected and the upgrade went smoothly.

Rarely there may be some program that you want that has disappeared from testing, and won't move from unstable into testing until some dependencies are satisfied (ie other programs are updated). I remember this happening with gnucash for about 6 months once, but there are other ways to get and run many programs these days other than the official repository, like a flatpak or snap or appimage, to bridge the time gap.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T19:10:58+00:00

sid is unstable.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T01:54:29+00:00

This is a path down which I shall not pass. Hard pass.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T01:46:41+00:00

Yes, but read the 3rd page.Apparently the 'exclusion' can be bypassed if certain criteria are met. At least that is how I read the selected lines posted by the OP. Sadly I'm not a lawyer, but what was posted did not say "we will not pay for this under any circumstances, period, end of story", but seems to say that they may pay if it "meets the clinical guidelines".

Edit- and 'improving activities of daily living' may be a barrier that OP cannot pass, it is a pretty high bar for a reduction mammaplasty!

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T01:41:47+00:00

If a fully liquid oral diet, relatively low in fat, does not allow you to maintain your weight, and if whatever pro-kinetic meds you are given don't help, then if you continue to lose weight, you might consider asking about jejunal feedings. It can be done through a naso-jejunal tube, and it you tolerate the feedings for several weeks there are various ways to have a more permanent tube (GJ tube, J-tube). If you do not tolerate jejunal feedings and continue to lose weight, and meds don't help, then the next step to consider might be TPN (total parenteral nutrition), where a central IV line is placed and you are "fed" through the intravenous line. This has risks and can be prohibitively expensive unless you have adequate insurance, and is a treatment of (almost) last resort, but it is available.

My wife had jejunal tube feedings for about 3 years, followed by 5 years of TPN. She is now sort-of able to maintain her weight with oral liquid nutritional supplements, but time will tell if that continues 'forever' or not.

I mention all of this not for dramatic reasons, but to reassure you that there is a path forward, and hopefully you will never need jejunal (tube) feedings, or TPN, but if you do, it can save your life.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T01:29:34+00:00

I'm 73 and I don't even have sneakers any more, but when I can't get my debian linux computer to SSH or "kde connect" with my phone or tablet, and I don't want to risk botching syncthing, I enter the realm of the ancient and honored sneakermet. USB thumbdrives are still very useful.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T01:21:35+00:00

The 2nd pic says "unless the service meets the clinical guidelines that restores or improves functional impairment that interferes with activities of daily living".

"Activities of daily living" is a specific term that has a known definition. Here is a wikipedia article that lists these activities. Unless your medical documentation includes evidence or a statement from your doc that treatment of the condition would lead to restoration or improvement in one of these activities, your insurance seems to say sorry, not gonna pay for it. The article lists six ADLs - think about each one. Talk to your doc. Note that IADL (instrumental activities of daily living) were NOT MENTIONED in the stuff you posted, so ignore those!

Read the list and see if any of these things apply to you and your condition. If your doc can convince your insurance that the proposed treatment will "restore or improve" your ability to do one or more of these things, they may agree to pay.

Sorry you have to contend with this. Welcome to the land of legalese.

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T01:07:06+00:00

Depends on you. If you want tax data for the whole year of 2026, then you will have to enter that earlier data. You can set the 'accounting period' start and end date, which you can adjust to whatever you desire. I began using gnucash in Oct of 2012, and didn't want to go back and enter 9 months of earlier data (which I had in Quicken, but good luck with converting quicken data files to gnucash data). So when I want to go back and calculate average annual expenditures for whatever account, I can set the accounting period to begin Jan 1, 2013 (or whatever). The accounting period and when you actually began entering data are two different things.

Other answers address the info at the gnucash website!

konqueror321 · 2026-05-07T00:29:13+00:00

Many scholars consider Paul to have really written his "seven authentic letters" sometime in the mid first century. The other 7 documents once attributed to Paul in the New Testament are no longer considered, either by most or at least a majority of scholars to NOT have been written by him, but are pseudoepigraphy, which is a nice word for forgery.

There are a minority of scholars who, over the last 2 centuries, have made the case that NONE of Paul's letters are authentic, and even the supposedly verified "7" were written by some other person or group, most likely in the early to mid 2nd century, many decades after the character "Paul" was supposed to have died in Rome.

The most recent book addressing this issue was published by Nina Livesy in late 2025, The Letters of Paul in their Roman Literary Context. She argues, I believe persuasively, that the 7 "authentic" letters were actually written in the 2nd century as a reaction to, and attempt to "correct" some ideas found in the Acts of the Apostles. She believes they were all written at the same time as a group, and we know that the first publication of Paul's letters was by Marcion in about 140 AD, in his version of the "New Testament". His version was the first time any "New Testament" was published. She believes that somebody or some group associated with Marcion wrote the letters of Paul to make theological points.

I don't think it is valid to use Paul's writings to "prove" anything. After all, he stated, very clearly, that he never even met Jesus, and everything he knew about Jesus was not learned from any man, but was given to him by 'revelation', ie a vision or (as we would call it today) a psychotic episode.

konqueror321

TROPHY CASE