Priscilla's Zine & Bookstore: October 27 Link Log

Trying to read even the good stuff is still a bit overwhelming, due to Niume, but I'm getting there...mainly by working overtime offline. Today's Categories: Animal, Armed Citizen Fights Crime, Book, Christian, Crafts, Etiquette, Food, Health, Pictures, Poem, Politics, Psychology, Television, Travel, Writing, Zazzle. (Lots of Zazzle, courtesy of Google + .)

Animals

Dog people may not believe this, but...I don't perceive dogs as more loving than cats. Needy, yes. Bossy, in some cases. Clingy, in some cases. Dogs Never Lie About Love is a Fair Trade Book you can buy here but I'm not entirely convinced by its thesis that love is "the master emotion" for dogs...well, maybe it depends on how we define love. Most dogs I know are friendly and probably do feel something in the "love" category toward their friends, but I don't see most dogs express love-in-the-sense-of-good-will, as my cats do.

Some dogs, yes. Dogs with whom we've bonded, yes. The dog who rescued me from harassment when I was eighteen, yes. The boardinghouse dogs who were that dog's friends, yes. Sydney, yes. But what I perceive coming from a lot of dogs, including a couple of Lhasa Apsos with whom I once lived for eighteen months without ever really bonding, is just yap-yap-yap, me-me-me, no capacity for real awareness of others...sort of like humans with extroversion.

Mine are outdoor cats who don't really need me for survival, so if they show affection to me they really mean affection, not just neediness. Mine are also social cats, capable of (some degree of) teamwork, empathy, gratitude, compassion, loyalty, protectiveness.

(Then again...animals are as individual as humans are; the ones that don't seem to have distinct personalities, to humans, are the ones with whom humans are completely unable to communicate. The cat I call Barnie is not loving, and not going to stay at the Cat Sanctuary or be adopted by anyone living within ten miles or anyone who can't promise to keep Barnie indoors. Barnie is antisocial. It's not just that Barnie hates my cats; it's that Barnie sneaks away from my three stronger cats, even though Barnie is insulated even from their teeth and claws with all that fur, and then attacks my two weaker cats, seriously attacks, leaves bleeding wounds on a spring kitten...and then tries to kiss up to me. Barnie is so dastardly as to deserve the lifestyle the Humane Society of the United States recommend for all cats...but I never thought I'd live to meet a cat of whom I could say that. Barnie is one in a thousand, if that.)

http://howtounderstandpeople.blogspot.com/2016/04/why-cats-are-better-than-dogs.html

Armed Citizen Fights Crime

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/10/26/carjacker-repeatedly-punches-71-year-old-driver-in-the-head-right-up-until-the-victim-pulls-out-his-concealed-handgun/

Warning: both of these Blaze pages are under attack, but it's worth documenting...the more noise the gun grabbers make, the more Americans check the facts and realize that "gun control" does not reduce violence.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/10/26/gallup-poll-u-s-support-for-assault-weapons-ban-reaches-all-time-low/

Book

Recommended by a correspondent, not yet read by me:

Christian

Short and to the point:

https://niume.com/pages/post/?postID=103392

This was the Concerned Women of America prayer over the weekend, but it's worth sharing:

"
Pray for peace in Israel.

God, we know that Israel is close to Your heart.
Please grant the people of Israel safety,
And create peace among the nations in conflict.
May our nation wake up to the fact that You bless
Those who bless our strongest ally in the Middle East.

Psalm 122:6-7 – “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’”
"

Crafts

Quilt pictures…colors may inspire non-quilters:

http://marshasspot.blogspot.com/2016/10/wip-wednesday-two-tops-worked-on.html

Etiquette

No, men, women who don’t know you personally probably don’t want to hear what you think of the way we look. (We can see that, after all.) Yes, part of what Kelly Fox is expressing here is her own problem. Most of the time when men stare at women or make personal remarks, they don’t intend to do anything worse than just be rude,pushy, intrusive, which some people don’t even recognize as a bad thing. If someone tells me I’m beautiful, depending on my own rating of how I look that day I may think “Well, his eyes work, but what about his brain?” or “In this? He’s joking” or “Oh nooo...it’s not bad enough merely having [some sort of minor health problem], now total strangers are feeling sorry for me”; I do not think “He’s going to follow me home and kill me.” Most of us have observed a lot more admirers, jokers, and strangers-trying-to-be-helpful than murderers in the course of our lives. I don’t know what KF has observed but I’m sure it has something to do with her self-identification with the homosexual lobby.

"You look beautiful" is of course a good thing for men to say to their dates, their wives, their relatives, and the sort of car-pool buddies who delay everyone by peering at themselves in the mirror and saying "I want to go back and fix my hair." Only as an effort to make conversation with a stranger does it suggest that there's something wrong with the man saying it.

Still…if you want to talk to someone who has a life and therefore doesn't try to talk to strangers, it's a good idea to try to make as good an impression as possible. At least say something that's not a personal remark, to show that you’re intelligent enough to notice things beyond the end of your nose. Talking about the weather, asking for directions, or not wearing a watch so you can ask someone who has a watch for the time, are traditional.

http://www.adiosbarbie.com/2016/10/men-stop-telling-im-beautiful-kelly-fox/

Signs of life--that is, a life of your own--are also desirable on social media:

http://www.lifesuccessfully.com/mouthy-momtrepreneur/creepy-sh-people-do-to-me-on-facebook

Food (Yuck)

I might eat venison, but er um, not this rare!

https://lyfstyles.com/2016/10/26/would-you-eat-venison-from-arbys/

Food (Yum)

Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-optional. (The pumpkin butter, anyway. The biscuits? Up to you.)

http://rusty2rustyschatter.blogspot.com/2016/10/pumpkin-butter-biscuits.html

Not gluten-free, but interesting. Would it work with gluten-free flour?

https://foodwithaplan.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/crockpot-apple-and-pumpkin-dump-cake/

I'm one of those people who eat the raw kale "garnish" in restaurants. Some find it hard to digest. I never have...but then I also munch on raw peas, raw green beans, and raw wild garlic. It's wheat (and things genetically modified to resemble wheat, and the poison they were modified that way to survive) that make me sick. Kale is fine.

http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/health-benefits-of-kale-nutritious-sustainable.php

Health

John McDougall's diabetes "webinar," which will take place while I'm writing, is not news to me (I read McDougall's Medicine: A Challenging Second Opinion twenty-some years ago). Nor is it especially relevant to me. It is relevant to a lot of people who weren't diabetic, or employed by diabetic patients, twenty or thirty years ago and so may not know how a diet plan based on limiting fats and sticking to complex carbs can reverse adult-onset diabetes. I posted Dr. McDougall's announcement earlier today, separately, so people could catch the webinar. If you know someone who is diabetic you might want to review the webinar after it happens; it'll go in the McDougall Archives. It could save a patient's life.

Meanwhile, more breaking news: study quantifies the extent to which the current birth control pills are contributing to young women's depression. Not very different from my generation's experience, really. There is one form of birth control that's safe for every couple. All this web site will say about it, per contract, is: safe s

https://lyfstyles.com/2016/10/26/is-the-pill-making-you-depressed/

Here's a tip for beating depressive tendencies, and more:

https://lyfstyles.com/2016/10/26/to-save-your-relationship-play-an-instrument/

Basic, but useful information:

https://niume.com/pages/post/?postID=140499

Pictures

From Idaho:

http://itsjustlife.me/stroll-road-victor-idaho/

Thanks to the +Allen West Republic for sharing this photo essay. The site that shared it with them commented, "Is this the coolest Dad in America?" He certainly put a lot of ingenuity into building a costume around a kid's wheelchair:

http://imgur.com/a/6xsZg

Tiny paintings on feathers:

https://niume.com/pages/post/?postID=138885

Chinese monks work out...some of the photos look like tricks, but they're interesting tricks to study.

https://niume.com/pages/post/?postID=61422

Poems

Light verse for Halloween:

https://david-latkinson.blogspot.com/2016/10/poetry-thursday-235-things-that-go-bump.html

More serious:

http://www.lifesuccessfully.com/creative-writing/good-book-poetry

Politics (Election 2016)

Just a few quick dog pictures from +Ruth Cox . No, dogs and cats can’t vote, but what’s to stop them wearing campaign gear, if you want to support a candidate?

http://www.dogpawsitivetidbits.com/2016/10/presidential-dog-teamtrump-tee.html

Democrats think they're leading in the polls, yet some report them still showing insecurity. (Yes, I think #Hillbullies is a catchy neologism for supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton who act like bullies. If they're supporters of Bernie Sanders, they're still merely Illiberal Left.)

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/152379707591/a-lesson-in-cognitive-dissonance

Democrat admits that stealing Trump lawn signs was the wrong thing to do, although the signs still make her feel angry:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/10/25/how-angry-does-donald-trump-make-me-angry-enough-to-steal-40-trump-signs/

Rachel Sklar says she believes the women who've accused Trump of sexual assault and harassment, and "knows why they've stayed silent so long." I'm not sure. Sklar is a Democrat. I wouldn't trust Trump as far as I could throw him lefthanded, but neither would I trust unverified accusations made long after the alleged fact in the heat of an election.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/10/18/women-know-why-donald-trumps-accusers-stayed-silent-for-so-long/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.79e4c8d782b4

Psychology

Did I ever need to be reminded…

[title containing offensive word, above article reminding us that Different Is Good]

Is "fear of missing out" (FOMO) "replacing" stress, or is it just the trendiest source of stress for young people? This article describes FOMO as basically a new trigger for the classic stress reactions. Anyway, Young Readers (The Nephews, including nieces), there's a simple cure for it. Unplug. Tell yourself, "Whatever is going on in cyberspace will go on without me."

(I think about this blog on weekends--sometimes dream about it at night--and wonder whether I could make more money blogging six days a week instead of four, but I don't sweat it. Whatever is going on in cyberspace does go on without me. Even if it takes me half of Thursday to get back to the last e-mail left over from the previous Friday.)

https://lyfstyles.com/2016/10/19/featured-content-4/

Television

In case anyone was wondering what CRTV is and why Michelle Malkin is going there:

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2016/10/26/conservatives-look-for-a-new-network/

Travel

Why are people from out of state coming to the Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap, he asks? Two words: leaf peeping. That's the traditional cute name for tourists who come to the Blue Ridge Mountains in October (and November) just to admire, and photograph, mountain slopes covered with different shades of foliage. Apparently more of them know to go into town and look for the bookstore this year. Great news!

https://wendywelchbigstonegap.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/strangers-in-the-day/

If they keep driving long enough they'll be in North Carolina.

https://niume.com/pages/post/?postID=139307

I've never thought of Lynchburg as much of a tourist attraction, unless you attend or know someone who attends Liberty University...but then again perhaps you do.

http://howtounderstandpeople.blogspot.com/2016/03/lynchburg-virginia.html

Since the main attraction of Montpelier, further east in Virginia, is the historic house rather than the scenery, it doesn't really matter what time of year you visit...

http://howtounderstandpeople.blogspot.com/2016/03/montpelier-james-madison.html

Writing

No, I don’t think Scott Adams is insane. I think it’s possible that he’s been blocked or banned from Twitter briefly, possibly as a result as a glitch, or blocked or “muted” by some people who don’t appreciate his Tweets…either way, the banning he notes was limited in extent because he was still showing up in my Twitter feed. (Some idjit really did manage to block Governor Pence...Twitter needs to address this kind of abuse of the system.) So, I think he wants more people to follow @ScottAdamsSays on Twitter, so that he’ll always have enough faithful Tweeps out there to show that he is or is not being banned at any given time. That’s something a lot of Real Twits want, and SA deserves.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/152337049156/watch-the-persuasion-battle

What do you think, Gentle Readers? Would you like to see more quotes here? I know that HTML "blockquote" formatting shows up in strange, confusing ways at many web sites, so I don't use it. I've tried different ways to make it obvious when I've posted a long quote here. Since traditional paragraph formatting tends to be messed up by HTML, what reads most easily, for me, is a quotation mark on a line all by itself above and below the quoted text.

http://www.problogger.net/the-why-how-and-when-of-using-quotations-on-your-blog/

What works at Niume…which does not work too well with me…One tip: If you must use pictures, a good pixel count is 200. Pictures that measure no more than 200 pixels in either direction usually don't interfere with the use of a web site. But please resist the urge to put a big splashy centerfold-type picture on the computer screen. It’ll foul up older, slower browsers. And if it “breaks up the text” it will annoy me. (I put pictures in these Link Logs, yes…notice that each picture appears as an illustration or reference below a bit of text that’s about what’s in the picture, and although Blogspot has "small, medium, large" sizes rather than pixel counts their "medium" size is close to that 200-pixel maximum.)

https://niume.com/pages/post/?postID=138829

Zazzle

Business cards for writers? Why not?

Writer Defined [as You] Business Card
by TerryBain

Needless to say, Zazzle is there to put your name in place of "Terry Bain," or put your contact information in the middle of the new official Fix Facts First business card. (The site may show that I "designed" another version that doesn't show up on the screen...no accident, that; at the time I didn't know how to make those customizable fields show up on the screen, and even now I'm finding it easier to design a new card than to edit the old one. The old one is, however, a plain white card Zazzle will let you customize.)