I would love to not dwell on all the time that I miss when I'm in tremendous pain, so if obligations would stop piling up while I'm down and out that would be much appreciated. Also, obligations cause stress which causes migraines, so the avalanche of misery just keeps gaining momentum. Is this dialectics?

Anyone have any good readings on alleviating the mental health consequences of chronic pain / disability?

Aw, shucks. Kind of you to say.

Iron Lady Rusty Conscience

More and more people are saying this

About three in ten adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost. This includes about one in five who say they have not filled a prescription (21%) or took an over-the counter drug instead (21%), and 12% who say they have cut pills in half or skipped a dose because of the cost.

https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-opinion-on-prescription-drugs-and-their-prices/

I think it’s the combo of colder temps, financial stress, and the political situation here in the US.

My migraines have been unstoppable for weeks, too, and probably from the same causes. It's bad out here, folks.

And their maternal mortality rate is lower than it is in many U.S. states (Georgia, Texas, etc.)

NYT has an interview with María Corina Machado. The main photo is her staring wistfully through a window:

Venezuela’s ‘Iron Lady’ Pleads With Trump to Save Her Country’s Democracy

Now, with President Nicolás Maduro accused of stealing the election and his government threatening her capture, María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s wildly popular opposition leader, has gone into hiding — alone.

In a series of rare, in-depth virtual interviews since she mobilized millions to vote against Mr. Maduro in July, Ms. Machado said she was holed up in a secret location somewhere inside her country. Because anyone who helps her could be detained — or might lead government agents to her — she said she has not had a visitor in months.

Nicknamed the country’s “Iron Lady” for her conservative politics and steely resolve, Ms. Machado is, she admitted, “longing for a hug.”

Her mother has urged her to meditate. She has not.

The rest of the article is her begging Trump and the "international community" to coup her country, concluding with “But I am willing to do what has to be done,” she said, “for as long as it takes to assert the truth and popular sovereignty," and then somehow you can hear "SPEAK ABOUT DESTRUCTION" fade in.

Taking "There is no life east of the 5" to its logical extreme

deleted by creator

What's a topic where you know how to spot the propaganda at first glance? (Whether it's because you're personally involved in the issue, have done previous research, or have merely listened to a :citations-needed: episode.) Take that, and then use a recently published example of the propaganda in action to demonstrate to a general reader how to recognize the same techniques. If there isn't a recently published example, you can probably just wait and pounce when one inevitably arrives.

Or maybe just have some questions in mind whenever you read mainstream news, and then pick a topic based on whichever article makes you angriest -

• Who benefits from the issue being framed this way?
• Who isn't being quoted here? (And what false binary are they introducing by making so-and-so the voice of the opposition on this topic?)
• What obvious liar are they taking at their word here? What conflict of interest are they sweeping under the rug?

We need a but . A Cassandra emoji?

Show

Benjamin Britten

John Adams

Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, libretto co-written by W.H. Auden

And in another confusing twist, the author of that article is named Stephen Miller.

They've got one hand in your pocket and the other is giving themselves a high five

Oh, damn, cluster headaches? Those are the only ones I haven't tried. I've heard those are up there with kidney stones as "the worst pain that doesn't kill you."

All Mods are Bastards

Sounds like we've had similar off-label antidepressant journeys.

They've just prescribed me a new antidepressant - in the same family as another one that didn't help with my migraines or cervicogenic headaches - and I have been leaning toward not taking it. Life is bad enough without side effects or withdrawal symptoms brought about from being too sick to make it to the pharmacy.

Please, ramble all you'd like!

and this is all such a shock to me. i've had terrible care all my life and while i simply cannot trust doctors anymore i feel like they are actually helping me a bit now.

This is really encouraging to hear. I also have an earned distrust of doctors and the people I know who say "just keep trying" usually have no experience of how bad things can get for those of us in chronic pain or with chronic conditions that don't respond to textbook treatments. That you've found a change of fortune in a rural area is wonderful.

And to anyone who shares medication with those without healthcare access.