A student at school had a mother who expatriated to Italy from Chicago to become a marble sculptress. She visited once and told me that Italian men are not very open minded about homosexuality. It's an anecdotal data point but she was a very beautiful, talented, and intelligent woman, and I bet there was some truth in what she said. Their Prime Minister is, of course, right wing, or very right wing. I don't know much about her. I know from the few years I spent researching the legal processes related to the murder of Meredith Kercher by Amanda Knox and others that civil society in Italy functions very well but that the country and especially certain parts of it are very corrupt. This corruption notoriously affects the political and judicial systems. So I'd say this story from what little I know about it doesn't come as a surprise.

@DougG said in Tat Stats: very few white male accountants in their 70s have tattoos.. ...that you know of...

This annual competition always produces a crop of fascinating and beautiful photos. Big Al

Jay Z feels threatened, threatened Piers with legal action resulting in editing, and Jaguar is (probably rightly) in fear of her life. I can't believe they let Sean Combs commit his crime spree for decades, and the fact they haven't taken down Jay Z yet is equally mysterious.

@Rontuner Thanks. Did not consider safety requirements. Doubt China has the requirements.

Love the pause…and the tweak!

@Big_Al said in Are your eyeglasses trying to kill you?: @AdagioM said in Are your eyeglasses trying to kill you?: I could see clearly 4 inches in front of my nose, but no further. I miss that super-power. I was also very nearsighted before my cataract surgery and would resort to removing my glasses to see very small print or details at close distances. That trick doesn't work anymore with my vision corrected to near normal after surgery, but I still find myself trying to use it by reaching for nonexistent glasses. Big Al It was quite an adjustment getting used to having distance vision instead of closeup vision! Everything is backwards.

Glad Chutkan has some character.

Now I see it

At the current rate women will achieve equality in 300 years. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/ What would it take to do it in the US in 10 years?

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/g-s1-28472/maui-wildfire-survivors-housing-fema? Is FEMA doing enough for them? Big Al

@DougG

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago, where a man is asking a plumber about the experience of his assistants and the plumber replies, "the doctor or the lawyer?" Big Al

@Jodi said in Critters in the attic: Yes, we just left it there. Then we moved out a year and a half later… But that was just a coincidence, right?

Use a QR code scanner that can tell you exactly what's encoded in a QR code, examine the link before you click. For iOS, use something like this: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/qr-pro-easy-qr-code-scanner/id1013912824

I used to believe strongly in universal health and know quite a bit about its different models in practice until I realized I wouldn't see anything close to it in my lifetime in the US. Then I kind of stopped caring as much. A person only has so much energy.

Quirt and I live in different universes of perception. Some things never change.