2023-10-27

canyonwalker: Sullivan, a male golden eagle at UC Davis Raptor Center (Golden Eagle)
2023-10-27 08:53 am

Oops, It Happened Again. 18 Dead in Maine.

Oops, it happened again. Another nut with easy access to military style weapons walked into a business, school, or house of worship and shot people indiscriminately. A shooter in Lewiston, Maine entered a bowling alley and a bar and killed 18 people and wounded at least 13 more on Wednesday night. Police quickly identified a local man as the suspect, but 36 hours later he is still at large. Residents across Maine have been under shelter-in-place orders and many schools are closed for a second day as heavily armed authorities continue their manhunt.

Meanwhile our politicians remain ideologically deadlocked. "The problem is the human heart. It's not guns, it's not the weapons," new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told the media. (Yes, the House managed to elect a new Speaker after 3 weeks of Republican caused chaos. Blog coming on that soon.)

Here's the problem with that "It's not guns, it's people" argument.... Every nation on earth has people with hearts. Yet the US is alone in having a civilian mass shooting practically every day. What's the difference between the US and every other developed nation— all of whom have 100% humans with hearts? It's the guns, stupid.


canyonwalker: coronavirus (coronavirus)
2023-10-27 05:17 pm

We've Got Our Shots

I got my vaccine booster shots today, both the recently reformulated Covid booster and the flu shot.

Hawk got hers last weekend. I planned to get mine last weekend but CVS screwed around with canceling our appointments. Hawk was able to rebook hers to the same day, but by the time they canceled mine all the appointments for last weekend anywhere nearby were taken. So I booked it two weeks out, for today.

We'll see how much of a reaction I have to the shots. Flu shots are usually a nonevent in terms of side effects, but the Covid shot is another matter. Last year I had body aches a day after the shot. Hawk had body aches last weekend after her shot. I've kept my plans for this weekend light assuming I'll want to take it easy and either go to bed early tomorrow night or sleep in one or both mornings.

Updateside effects hit harder this time.