still kickin

They introduced a bill to repeal the entire Inflation Reduction Act.

Which, among other things, means they want to get rid of:

the $35 insulin cap.

And a yearly cap of $2,000 for medications in Medicare Part D.

And allowing Medicare to negotiate for drug prices.

And requiring pharma companies to issue refunds to Medicare if the costs of their drugs rises faster than inflation

And an elimination of copays in Medicare Part D for vaccines like tetanus and rabies

And an expansion of eligibility for low-income subsidies for Medicare

Some of my clients use a sign language (Auslan) interpreter when they bring their pets into the clinic, usually on a video call, but sometimes in person. So we then have this three way conversation where they sign, the interpreter translates verbally for me, I talk, and the translator signs back to the client.

But we are actually having a four way conversation because I am also talking to the pet.

I will be telling the cat that it’s time to come out of the box, that he’s the bravest most handsome little man. I will thank him for letting me touch his very private tummy and tell him he’s a pretty little gentleman.

Does… does the Auslan translator tell the pet owner what I am saying? Do they use a different facial expression to convey that I am baby taking their pet? Or do they just say ‘the vet is cooing over your cat’?

But do I need to watch what I say? Specifically if I have said “Well aren’t you the most handsome little man in the world” does the interpreter make it clear that I was speaking to the cat and not his human?

watching gen z and millennials make fun of gen alpha has been torturous. "But they're actually stupid" 1. theyre middle schoolers 2. isn't that what older gens said about us? don't you remember being 11?

it truly is just "impulse reaction to cringe <- has not yet unlearned shame"

the cycle continues let me out of here

They grew up with the most rigidly binary models of childhood that have existed in my lifetime (girl-glue, anyone?) and been viewed as their earning potential since before they could walk. They have been exploited and abandoned on the internet by their parents, have been exploited on the internet by the algorithm when they were too young to understand it. They are the first large generation of the children of Mommy bloggers, anti-vaxxers, trad wives, and quiverful types.

They’ve survived a pandemic, and had it cut through their schooling in a way that has been enormously traumatic. They have the smallest outdoor range of any generation to date. In their lifetime, climate change has become violently real, socioeconomic disparity has only increased, reactionary movements have increased, and rights that we’ve taken for granted have been rolled back. They are the generation of British trans kids taking their lives on the now-static youth GIC waiting lists. The American trans kids who are watching their very existence become illegal. They are the generation of creative kids whose arts and humanities funding has been cut to the bone. A generation who have grown up watching soft-lit, queer friendly cartoons, walking out in to a world of violent trans and homophobia.

They are depressed, anxious, afraid. Their aspirations are low, their hopes for the future fragile.

They are clever, and creative, and charming, and brave. And they are KIDS.

Every week I come home from grocery shopping and say two things to my wife:

"L and I were super normal and appropriate at the grocery store this week! Everybody noticed and commented on how normal and appropriate we were!" AND

"If I live one hundred thousand years, I will never understand the mind of a supermarket bagger."

The first one is self-explanatory; the second is because the baggers at our grocery store invariably pack our bags in ways that defy all logic.

...my logic, at least. But life is a rich tapestry! Maybe I'm an outlier in my preferences! Thus: a poll.

CAVEATS:

You are buying enough groceries that they won't all fit in a single bag; you must use multiple bags.

You have enough bags of the type you prefer (paper, plastic, reusable), so 'not having enough bags' is not a concern.

Bags will be packed with reasonable consideration for keeping everything functional (e.g. nobody is packing a bag of chips at the bottom of a bag of canned goods.)