In case anyone hasn't heard, the cyclospora outbreak affecting tons of people in the US right now is coming from Taylor Farms produce. Best to stay away from bagged lettuce and prepared salads completely right now, but especially the ones mentioned in the screenshot:
Taylor Farms
Earthbound Farms
Little Salad Bar (Aldi)
Marketside (Walmart)
Kroger House Brand
Target private label greens
Costco salads and greens etc
Trader Joe's chopped salad kits and fresh produce
Fast food: McDonalds, Taco Bell, (Yum! Brands), Chipotle, Subway, Pizza Hut, KFC, Olive Garden, Top Golf, Red Lobster, Burger King, etc.
This is not the first time I've heard about a Taylor Farms foodborne illness outbreak. I stopped eating their salads after reading a description of the conditions in their facilities. Doesn't sound like they've improved anything.
We need a fully funded and staffed FDA, and regulations with teeth - and that's exactly what we don't have under Trump. To make things worse, the CDC is no longer tracking these outbreaks. We're on our own.
here's two articles about how JK Rowling just posted on X an upskirt photo of Freda Wallace, a transgender woman, after deadnaming her and misgendering her repeatedly online.
The wealthy author escalated a social media spat that resulted in posting a photo from a 2023 event at the Institute of Economic Affairs in
Rowling posted the picture taken from below because the trans woman, she said, was "refusing to debate me."
A crew in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland spotted a pigeon âin distressâ after a vehicle fire
Heartwarming footage of California firefighters treating perhaps their smallest patient on record has captivated the internet.
A crew in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Oakland spotted a pigeon âin distressâ earlier this week after a vehicle fire, and jumped into action to assist.
âThe crew reported the pigeon came up to them seeking help. The pigeon seemed to have suffered some smoke inhalation from the vehicle fire,â said Oakland Firefighters Local 55 union in a post on social media.
As captured in footage posted online, a firefighter administered oxygen with a mask placed over the small birdâs face as it stood in the road. It flew away after âclearing out its lungsâ.
Dammit, I was precipitate. I opened up the bedroom window, but now I have horrifying reflux. So now back to recycling and 'purifying' the bedroom air, but I'm too tired to do anything with the kitchen.
something i actually just realized on call w some friends recently is how crazey it is that your online friends are as many as thousands of feet above or below u right now. like if you teleported to their location without changing your height above sea level, well your fucked in some way basically
All three local monitors are now at 'poor' -- which is usual around here for the past 5-10 years, albeit not with PM2.5 -- and there was a little blue sky after the last (brief) downpour, so I took the plunge and opened the kitchen and bathroom windows and moved the kitchen plants back. Waiting to see the orange-radar parts of Jersey and Pennsylvania go past before daring the bedroom.
I thought I'd have to wait 'til tomorrow! There'd been improvement over the course of the day, but one monitor was at 'poor', another at 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' (I'm sensitive groups), and a third at 'unhealthy', so I wasn't feeling so secure.
I've been bitching about how too many cool pieces from the Fascinating Egypt collection are being shown only as drawings, but I don't know now, maybe there's a good reason.
Based on the drawing of the Danseuse au Tambourin Brooch, I thought it would have a detailed, realistic (maybe even real!) tambourine:
Alas, it's just a barely-identifiable slab of gold. VCA can do much better than that!
Two days this week I've fucked up Spelling Bee by having a pangram they don't count, but not realizing they don't count it until I can't get the word totals to work out right :/
an explanation of why he did thisâŠitâs uh. not great
Since it was placed earlier this week, community members have expressed anger about the Lake Theater and Cafeâs marquee advertising screenin
Since it was placed earlier this week, community members have expressed anger about the Lake Theater and Cafeâs marquee advertising screenings of Christopher Nolanâs new film âThe Odyssey.â
The south-facing marquee reads âBefore there were the Jews, there was⊠The Odyssey.â
The reference has concerned many in the local Jewish community, specifically because of the current political environment in which the Jewish community faces heightened criticism â and bigotry â following escalating violence in occupied Gaza, and many feel that the marquee is antisemetic and ahistorical.
Bob Horenstein, The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland chief community relations and public affairs officer, said the federation has received dozens of messages from concerned community members. The Review also received many emails expressing concerns and many people have posted on social media about it.
âThereâs drawing attention, and then thereâs being offensive ⊠What I wrote to (Lake Theater) yesterday was, weâd received over three dozen (email and calls) at least that members of our community feel very unsettled by the sign and I said we do not know the reason behind the choice of language, nor are we suggesting that there is necessarily any ill intent,â he said. âBut to understand that, given the current climate of rising anti-Semitism, any reference to âthe Jewsâ is immediately suspected, rightly or wrongly, of having nefarious intentions, and that we would respectfully urge you to remove the current language and simply promote the movie.â
Jordan Perry, the general manager of the Lake Theater, said the marquee text would be taken down.
In a text message, he said the point of the remark was to push back on what is constituted as antisemitism and said he was surprised by the negative reaction it has received.
âMy intention is never to influence opinion or fan flames, but to say: itâs okay to raise eyebrows, though I hope my messages reflect a depth of understanding others find in themselves but not always in the world around them,â said Perry by text message. âThrough the media I consume, I believe modern-day antisemitism is exaggerated, mostly as a defense for Israelâs actions in the Middle East and its involvement in our politics, and my intention in referencing Jewish people on the marquee was to prod at everything being seemingly antisemitic with a statement that couldnât possibly be construed as antisemitic.â
He added: âMy intention was not to offend anyone, but rather to push back culturally back on what constitutes antisemitism, to signal, in solidarity, that itâs not about âthe Jews,â that itâs about Israel, and Palestine, and Lebanon, and Iran, and AIPAC. This is my âhumor,â this was the point, intentionally subtle, of what I put on the marquee.â
Perry added that the marquees reflect his personal views, not those of the business, and are âmeant to connect with open-minded members of the community on a personal level, not as a business, and anyone coming to the business should only expect good food and drink, a relaxing environment, friendly staff, with a sort-of cynical guy sometimes behind the register who also runs food and cleans toilets.â
Rabbi Eve Posen, of Congregation Nevah Shalom, connected the marquee with accusations by members of the U.S. Congress that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine and said that a member of the communityâs car was recently vandalized with swastikas.
âNone of the individual moments, taken on their own, would necessarily warrant a public reflection. We live in a world where people disagree. We debate policy. We challenge history. We confront acts of hatred. But when these moments come one after another, layering upon one another in the span of a single day, they tell a story that is impossible to ignore,â Posen wrote via social media.
She also felt that there was no good reason for the Lake Theater to bring up the Jewish community while advertising the new film.
âThe statement is historically false. More importantly, it raises a painful question: why invoke Jews at all? A clever movie promotion could have celebrated one of the oldest stories ever told without unnecessarily positioning Judaism as an afterthought or a comparison. In a moment when antisemitism is already at historic levels, casually inserting Jews into a narrative where we do not belong doesnât feel harmless. It feels like another reminder that our story is somehow expendable, that our history can be rewritten or diminished for the sake of a punchline,â she wrote.
The north-facing marquee also referenced the new movie with the message, âDo you watch TV w/ subtitles? Weâve got The Odyssey w/ subtitles! (Not always, but sometimes).â
Many people commented that the story of The Odyssey â Homerâs original Greek epic passed down through an oral tradition â isnât definitively older than evidence of Israelite tribes in ancient Canaan.
âitâs not about the Jews,â says absolute jerk who put âthe Jewsâ on his marquee. âIâm not antisemiticâ says the fool denying modern antisemitism.
When I was gone I had one plant in the kitchen instead since it's usually on the windowsill in the bedroom and that's now occupied with AC stuff. It looked pretty sick when I got back and I couldn't understand why! WELL, this morning it suddenly looked bad again, and also my kitchen smells like bacon. So it was reacting to smoke, which was obviously not getting filtered out there.
The air purifier cannot do both rooms, so even though the AC can help with both, so I've closed the bedroom door and have the purifier on high too. The bedroom smells a little, but not as bad, and hopefully it will clear without too much trouble. Much worse out today then yesterday (although the three monitors near me range over 90 points, so who knows what to believe exactly); hopefully the predicted rain happens and ultimately helps clear stuff up.
I'm out of whack with the time of week! Therapy Tuesday instead of Thursday, away from home Thursday, I keep thinking today's Sunday, or at least Saturday.
The AQI stuff is frustrating now because it's listed as "poor," but it's almost always poor here -- just usually from not from PM2.5. I should go out and take a sniff of the air, but I don't want to put on clothes again, etc. I'm sick of AC now!
Ah well. I should make a to-do list for next week, there were several things I outright decided to leave for after the surgery (largely because I didn't know how recovery would go and couldn't schedule anything but the first follow-up appointment). I'm definitely still over-tired -- or maybe just weak? Honestly, the stress was a lot -- and I'm prepared to have another night of waking up a couple times to ice (although I'll take some extra advil right before bed to help). But I think I'm fine to do whatever things for the week after next, and should be fine for neighborhood stuff in another day or so.
OH, and my elbows are finally fully better! The left's been fine for weeks, but the right really stayed iffy even to the beginning of this week. But Monday I did (light) arm stuff in pilates for the first time in six weeks, and now it's back to cracking and double-joint motions as usual. Which means I can *finally* take out the massive box of paper recycling that I've been dancing around in the kitchen.
I want more more more entertainment (music) but my head keeps making me take long breaks. I tried Laura Nyro but it wasn't right; Depeche Mode was better, but still a bit much. One Wagner song worked, but then I needed a break. Then a Sibelius movement, a break, and the Bolero, but now I need another break. I think it's silly that having a tooth bored open and cleaned out 48 hours ago is still making me tired!
I'm learning that ice cubes are superior to various ice packs for what I'm dealing with now. Most packs (intended for body use) aren't cold for very long; ice cubes melt over time, but as long as they last, they never aren't cold! Two cubes are the perfect size to cover the area I want to target. Packs are more flexible, but it's like seven minutes tops of real cold.
The tooth itself is now feeling a little less than great, which I'm assuming is because I need a crown. I don't really want to do it until the gum has fully healed, but I'll probably have to do it sooner (like, week after next, in between the long-delayed gyno checkup and last therapy session before she goes on vacation). I don't want to put off going to D.C. too long, 'cause my nieces are both going to school I think the third week of August?
Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.
Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.
All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.
After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.
It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of yearsâfar longer than settlers have been in Canadaâand made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotÄn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.
And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racismâlike Kashechewanâbecause it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.
The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.
Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.
ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.
Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.
*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.
If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.
Seeing mixed messages in re: aqi about whether I can open my windows now. I guess I'll hold off 'til tomorrow.
I'm very comfy at my aunt and uncle's, but it's still kind of nice to be home. I was anxious when I was getting ready to leave though, I guess because I now need to schedule a bunch of stuff/plan the rest of the summer/whatever. I feel slightly unmoored!
ask me about the other six karats! @18kgold - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
