WTF-Beta

So true.

BTW, Isaac Saul's Tangle had a piece about how crazy the polls are right now. I don't think it's behind a paywall.

https://www.readtangle.com/2026-midterm-polls-blue-wave/

We've been having phenomenally lovely fall weather, much warmer than usual. This morning started out sunny but the clouds rolled in. A few minutes ago we heard a rumbling noise. Thought it was the neighbor moving her garbage toter around, but the noise lasted for a long time. Checked local radar and see this:

Pop-up showers!

edit: The sun is out again....

It involves a kitten and a kind-hearted air traveler.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/cat-distribution-system-strikes-at-ohare-airport-leading-man-to-fly-home-with-kitten/4008312/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon's top military planner, several sources confirmed to CBS News late Wednesday.

Sylvia's firing comes as President Trump weighs resuming strikes against Iran after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Sylvia was removed as head of strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Staff, and was coordinating the Iran battle plan. Sylvia is the second general during Hegseth's tenure to be removed from what is known as a "J5" post, which is the lead on how the Iran war affects long-term planning.

Sylvia's predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, was forced to retire in October 2025.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth-fires-pentagons-top-military-planner/

I'm a bit nervous myself but am trying to stay hopeful. The GOP and Trump have had a bunch of judges push back on the carp. And states aren't going to roll over and give in to them.

@jon-nyc said:

Haven’t seen the new evidence that the candidate was behind it.

Peltola's campaign manager told the NYT that it happened. Times says they saw emails and texts. Then she told the Times she didn't want the story she told them to be published.

The NYT article, free to read if you sign in:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/28/us/politics/alaska-dan-sullivan-conspiracy-peltola.html

I’m not a fan of this shit.

Me neither.

chat

They bought cabins to live on a luxury cruise ship. High fuel costs got them kicked off in Cambodia.
Florida-based Villa Vie Residences said it was working to identify “temporary living arrangements” for people aboard The Odyssey, a 642-foot cruise ship..

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/luxury-cruise-ship-high-fuel-costs-got-kicked-cambodia-rcna606031

But ice cream has no bones.

Onions are on the trigger list, but they don’t bother me at all as long as they are cooked. Raw onions don’t agree with me, but I don’t like them, so no loss there.

You just kind of have to experiment and see what does and doesn’t agree with you. The list in the link I provided in the earlier post is a good starting point.

@RealPlayer Yup, each person has to figure out their triggers. Like you, I can do some coffee and spicy foods are fine. Green tea is a no, but one cup of black tea in the afternoon is ok. Tomatoes and vinegar are fine in moderation. Chocolate is a trigger for me but I do eat it occasionally.

My reflux kicked after I had my gallbladder surgery. I just cut out all the possible culprits and then added things back in one at a time. If my tummy gets grouchy I just avoid all the bad stuff till things settle down.

And I do sleep with my shoulders and head elevated a bit.

The Bermuda Triangle phenomenon continues...last Friday the car wouldn't start. I thought I had noticed beginning a month or so ago that the battery didn't have as much "oomph" when I started the car, but shrugged it off. It was installed last December. I jumped it with the little portable jumper (those things are cool) and took it over to the mechanic. He checked it out and said it was fine, and that we need to take it out for longer drives occasionally to charge it up. He charged the battery, but didn't charge us. These independent guys are the best.

And this morning, our vintage Melitta electric drip coffee maker that we got from Gevalia in 1990 (remember those deals?) gave up the ghost. You can still buy these units NIB on ebay. People must have gotten tons of them and stashed them away. Thing is, they last forever so they sat unused in someone's basement and now they are getting rid of them. The weird thing is that earlier this week I commented to Mr wtg that the Melitta electric was pretty amazing, but that I was going to keep one of the three Chemex pots that we have, just in case the Melitta crapped out. Prescient, I am.

Inc

Then the NYT has gone pretty far out on a limb....

A new report confirms Democrats were behind the Dan Sullivan spoiler candidacy. Will it matter?

https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/28/politics/dan-sullivan-alaska-senate-democrats

Here's the GERD diet. Should also limit fats and sweets.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/gerd-diet

Sorry to be a killjoy....I have a form of reflux, so I'm up to speed on this carp.

off the top of my head....Coffee....common trigger for reflux. So is chocolate. And acidic things - orange juice, a lot of sodas, carbonated beverages in general...you might want to look up a complete list so you don't add to the reflux problem, esp since you stopped omeprazole

Quick observation re: stopping omeprazole...I think it's fairly common for people to have a rebound effect when they stop taking it. The drug has been suppressing acid production and now that suppression is lifted, and some folks get worse reflux when they stop. You may need to look up how to taper off of it so your reflux doesn't get bad.

wind

“The interpretation of Chicago was at stake at this moment.”

That’s Northwestern University professor Michael Metzger talking about the 1961 made-for-TV documentary “Chicago: First Impressions of a Great American City,” which would ultimately be suppressed and virtually unseen — until now — because of its warts-and-all portrayal of the city.

Mayor Richard J. Daley called it a “monstrosity” and threatened to punch whoever was responsible for it. One newspaper report described it as a “libel on the metropolis of the Midwest” and ABC President of News James Hagerty recommended that it be “filed and forgotten,” despite acknowledging that “I have not seen the film,” basing his opinion on “the report of men whose judgement I trust in such matters.”

“Seamy” is a word that comes up in multiple articles about the film from 1961, including one from the Tribune that describes its focus on “skid row, a narcotics raid, honkey-tonks, cheap rooming houses and the slaughter of animals in the stock yards.”

For Metzger, this was a jackpot.

“Rarely do I encounter documentaries that generate that kind of visceral and vituperative response. This is doing the things I really want to see documentaries do, which is pushing people’s buttons and putting forward a personal view that might ruffle feathers.”

Made by a British filmmaker named Denis Mitchell, it was a co-production of the BBC and Chicago’s local ABC affiliate (then operating under the call letters WBKB), but it became a cinematic obscurity before it could be broadcast stateside.

Now, more than half a century later, the film has been unearthed and will screen at Northwestern’s Block Cinema on Nov. 5.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/28/suppressed-chicago-documentary-1961-unearthed/