this is a blug

They can be both a help or hinderance but that is down to who has them.

As someone who has both thrown and taken punches from both humans and birds (Swans wont actually break your arm with their wing if they hit you, but they can crack your skull if they knock you over), having a wing punch you would shatter at a minimum a few ribs.

Then you have the alternate scenario of winged person hitting you at speed from height. The results of this would require either the assistance of a chiropractor or a undertaker to fix.

Me: that wringing technique is really clever. I've got to try that with my sheets

Me: WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS IT BLUE?!?

The ocean molded this clump of bricks into a rock shape

I am reading Tim Curry’s 2025 memoir, Vagabond

and in it, he not only devotes a chapter to Muppet Treasure Island, but also references this very post

so, to recap

no, Tim Curry is absolutely NOT a Muppet; however

“I have to ask this, and this is a difficult question to ask and I hope it’s not intruding too much on your personal life. If it is, forgive me in advance. So. Was there ever one great love of your life that got away? That you regret.”

“Sure. There always is.”

“Who is-”

“Miss Piggy.”

in 2019 the FDA approved a drug called trikafta (which is really three drugs in one) for cystic fibrosis treatment. what it essentially does is patch up the malfunctioning proteins that cause the extra sticky mucus. trikafta is effective on about 90% of cystic fibrosis patients.

people who had spent their entire lives in and out of hospitals, on and off of ventilators, suffering from pneumonia and sometimes treated through painful procedures like intubation took this drug, got out of bed, coughed up an entire lifetimes worth of mucus out of their lungs over the course of a few hours, breathed clearly for perhaps the first time in their lives, and now go on to live well into their seventies.

My ward is the respiratory ward - CF is one of the things we specialize in.

Since this med came out we haven't had a SINGLE CF admission to the ward

There used to always be a CF patient spending a couple of months with us at a time

There's a man who is 23 years old who I was sure would not survive his next admission (aim saturations 85% is end stage lung disease)

There's a set of the local frequent flyers that we all know so well

Except

No we don't

On the CF specialist ward (with reasonable staff turnover)

Half the staff have probably never even seen a CF patient

Additionally, it should be noted that metrics like life expectancy are in no way a guarantee of... Anything. There are significant outlier CF patients who are at an advanced age now despite the odds due to a variety of different factors, having lived the majority of their lives before the development of modulators.

That is per month with the most common coupon people are likely to use.

But don't worry, there's grants and patient assistance programs you can apply for. 🤞🫠 Most people in high income countries like the USA can get it "covered" through insurance for fewer thousands of dollars. Or even less if your insurance is good or the manufacturer likes how poor and/or on Medicaid you are! A good social worker will help you with the process, and make sure your yearly reapplications and PAs are done a little early so they have time to think about it before you run out. Jesus Christ.

I am not uptight about privacy because I'm hiding something. I'm uptight about it because the people who dismiss my right to privacy are dangerous to you and me and our families, personally, all the time.

I don’t even mean this in a “let people enjoy things” way—more than any other author I see Tolkien idolized not just as a talented world builder but as a profound social commentator. To a degree… sure. For some things, sometimes. But for many other things he was regressive and reactionary even for his time and there is an extreme cultural reluctance to engage with that even among people in the Critiquing Reactionary Themes in Media subculture.