Lattesdotter

I am doing as much as possible to be healthy and to stay alive. I am hoping to live for a few more decades. I have a rather long bucket list. Anyway, my tablet has decided that I need a break, so I am logging off from Bluesky for a short period of time (a few hours, possibly a day).

I believe very strongly in the First Amendment and the freedom of religion. I very much dislike people who attend "church" and profess to be Christian and then act in ways that are completely opposite to the teachings of Jesus Christ, which you can read for yourself in the New Testament.

Attending very liberal Christian churches and attending Buddhist meditations has been very helpful for me. I was raised by an atheist, and the granddaughter of a Methodist missionary, and attended Quaker Sunday school as a child. I have found liberal and welcoming Christian churches to be helpful.

I am allergic to paid thugs hired by several pharmaceutical companies to silence me or discredit me. I am allergic to psychopaths and psychopathic companies.

I am allergic to people thinking they have a better understanding of my body than I do. I am allergic to people telling me what I should or should not eat or drink without any understanding of reasonable nutritional expertise, or any understanding of the knowledge I have of myself.

I don't have gluten allergies and I love organic dairy cow's milk and dairy products such as yogurt and cheese. I also take a multivitamin that has some calcium. I am allergic to people thinking they have a better understanding of my health than the many excellent doctors I have seen.

My mother's mother suffered from osteoporosis, partly because she was born in and grew up in some bizarre state west of Maryland that had a lot of dairy farms and she was forced to drink a lot of milk as a child and so she developed an aversion to cow's milk, which is a good source of calcium.

There is no history of alcoholism or drug abuse in my family,going back several generations. Unless you consider reading and an addiction to puns to be drug abuse. In my 20s,I was fortunate to be able to have good conversations with my father's cousin, who was a recovering alcoholic and a therapist.

Despite the many negative and traumatic experiences in my life, I still see the good in humon beings, the good in the people of the United States and the good in people across the planet. I still experience joy and am still able to see the beauty in nature. I still enjoy the laughter of children.

With the help of excellent doctors, therapists and wise people, I have found a combination of medications and strategies that help me deal with an underlying genetic tendency towards depression and a society and culture that can be brutal and traumatic.

I initially took the the non-amphetimine stimulant to counteract the mild drowsiness caused by taking an anti anxiety medication and an antidepressant. Over the last 33 years I have seen quite a few psychiatrists, some were exceptional and some were horrific. I have tried different anti-depressants.

I do take prescription medication. I am extremely critical of about 70% of the global pharmaceutical-industrial complex, but there have many innovations in good and helpful pharmaceutical medications. I take a medication for anxiety and an antidepressant. I also take a non-amphetimine stimulant.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, I read a lot of self-help books, and read many books written by psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists. I learned what helped me and what didn't work for me given my own personal history.

What helps me deal with grief, trauma, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may not help you or other people. People have different family histories and are raised in different societal and cultural surroundings. What helps me may not work for you. It took me a while to figure out what helped.

These days, I enjoy playing mostly peaceful computer games and creating with computer interior design programs. I play a lot of Solitaire and also play Soduku. Sometimes I do crossword puzzles (when my printer isn't on vacation). I print out crossword puzzles or other word puzzles.

I have experienced times of great grief in my life. What helped me was walking, tutoring young children, gardening, volunteering, hiking in the state parks, therapy, writing in my journal, reading poetry and the reading writing that reflected the collective wisdom of thousands of years.

I am doing as much as I can to rest and take care of myself. Sometimes self care is not reading about global or national news for a while. Sometimes it is easier to focus on issues in the town or state where I live - I can make a small difference locally. Those small differences and changes add up.

My tablet decided it needed a vacation for a day or two, so I I didn't do much on the internet for a few days. At the moment, I try to check in every few days and post about how I am doing, but some days I need a break from the constant flood of news and the resulting spin and counterspin.

Airspace clearing after strikes by the United States and Israel in Iran. -Flightradar24

🇺🇸🇺🇦 Joe Biden: Did you see Trump give the State of the Union...? Is he still talking? It's unbelievable, the guy talks almost two hours but never mentions the anniversary of Putin invading Ukraine. Never once."

Thou Shalt Not Start A War Because Everyone Hates You

🇳🇴🇺🇦President Zelenskyy: Norwegian NASAMS systems helped us a lot. I will not share the exact number of NASAMS we have, but it is more than ten and we are still getting them. We have also received missiles for NASAMS made by Norway.

it’s an irony of ironies that a nation demanding Iran not build nuclear weapons or enrich uranium anymore is spending nearly a trillion $ upgrading the world’s 2nd largest nuclear arsenal while Russia, China, France & the UK are all upgrading their own nuclear arsenals at a cost of more trillions.

Have a great #Caturday - from Sandie 😺
#Cats #CatsofBluesky #Catsky

The US Justice Department withheld testimony that Donald Trump sexually abused a girl when she was 13 or 14 - according to a source who viewed unredacted Epstein files.

This is the worst scandal in US history and should be the biggest news story on the planet right now.

Neither, please. I've got a few movies to catch up with.

On top of that, the US can't keep illegally-collected tariffs. Even if Trump can legally impose tariffs using another law, he can't do that retroactively, so the ill-gotten taxes need to be disgorged.

Add another $175 to $200 Billion to the Deficit and Debt as Trump bankrupts the USA!

AI Overview ------------ As of February 18, 2026, the total U.S. national debt is approximately $38.72 trillion. This figure, updated daily by the U.S. Treasury, represents the total money borrowed by the federal government, which has increased by over $2 trillion since the end of 2025. Key details regarding the national debt as of early 2026: Total Debt: ~$38.74 trillion (as of Feb 20, 2026). Per Household: Approximately $286,108. Debt-to-GDP: The debt is roughly 121% of the U.S. GDP. Components: $30.96 trillion is held by the public, while $7.61 trillion is intragovernmental debt. Growth Rate: The debt has been increasing at an average rate of over $6 billion per day. The debt is driven by a consistent mismatch between federal spending and revenue. Links: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt/ https://www.pgpf.org/national-debt-clock/ https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/debt-dashboard

Trump: "We have the greatest economy ever! The country is doing great, and I'm a genius with money!"

Reality:

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SOTU Speech:

Trump: "You're rich! I made you richer! Everything costs less and you're making more money!"

People: "Huh? Why do I owe more, and can't make ends meet?"

Trump: "You're safe now!"

People: "What about all the new prison camps, masked goons killing people and arresting citizens?"
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Hillary Destroys the Republicans They’d soon regret sending her a subpoena.

Please read Mrs. Clinton's entire opening statement to the committee, and share widely. (Kudos to Andy Borowitz for recognizing the power of this statement and publishing it in toto.)
open.substack.com/pub/borowitz...