PodcastsLittle Black Dress – Episode 050July 12, 2019Podcasts / Words of JenIn this episode, I read a piece of my writing that was inspired by something that was going around on Twitter. People were asked to share their worst first dates. Here’s mine! I read “Little Black Dress” on episode 050 of Words of Jen. If you enjoyed this episode please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you! https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/woj050.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS... Little Black DressJuly 12, 2019Podcasts / Words of JenMy inspiration to write this piece came from a writing prompt that was going around Twitter. People were asked to describe their worst first date. Here’s my story about that. I read “Little Black Dress” on Episode 050 of Words of Jen. I had absolutely no intention of going to my Senior Prom. My reasons for holding this unpopular opinion were valid (at least, to me). I wasn’t dating anyone at the time, and the financial cost of going to prom was way out of my reach. Most of the Senior boys, who I’d gone to school with since kindergarten, pretty much considered me to be “one of the guys.” I was entirely comfortable with that. It meant they weren’t going to hit on me, not even when I went drinking with them. They remembered me getting into fights with boys who harassed me in elementary school. There was a day where I beat up the school bully (who they were all afraid of). That year in high school, I nearly broke a boy’s fingers after he decided to shove his hand up my skirt. He ended up wearing a finger splint. It is the kind of story that high school gossip mongers love to spread around. The Senior boys were asking girls who were Sophomores to prom. One of them sought my permission for him to ask my younger sister to be his prom date. He was one of very few boys that was genuinely nice, so permission was granted. “Tell her I approve,” I told him. My sister did not go to prom with this boy. A close friend of mine, Beth (which is not her real name), felt bad for me because I wasn’t going to prom. She decided to set me up with a friend who did not go to his Senior prom last year – and regretted not going. Victor (not his real name) was someone I’d met before. The three of us were in a school theater group together. He and I barely knew each other. Beth told me that Victor had joined the National Guard after he graduated. We weren’t sure if he had been deployed oversees as part of Operation Desert Storm, which started in January of that year. It was the first time that the National Guard had been sent oversees that I knew of. Already, I felt very unprepared for this date. Victor was in the military – he was an actual adult. And here I was, an emotional wreck who had not yet begun to unpack all the baggage I was carrying due to trauma. There was a good chance I wouldn’t graduate high school – based on my very low attendance rate. I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t say any of this to Beth, though. Instead, I attempted to slightly change the subject – and maybe talk my way out of this impending date. “Wait, I thought Victor had gotten engaged to Melody?,” I said. (Melody is not her real name). “He did… but, they broke up. He’s single now,” Beth said, nodding her head emphatically. She explained that the two of them both joined the National Guard, and then broke up. “Victor told me he likes you. He just wants to take you to the mall,” Beth explained. I started breathing a little easier. The mall was always super busy. We would be surrounded by people and have no opportunity to be alone together. It was a place I knew well and felt somewhat comfortable in. After taking a moment to convince myself I could do this, I agreed to go out with Victor. Doing so would, at the very least, make Beth stop asking me to go out with him. On the evening of the date, Victor drove to my house to pick me up. I remember flying out the door and jumping into his car as fast as I could move. “I’m going to the mall,” I yelled over my shoulder at my parents. My father was racist, and so was my grandmother (who lived with us). They absolutely hated when I dated boys who weren’t white. Victor was Asian, maybe Vietnamese, I wasn’t sure. My goal was to avoid subjecting Victor to my mean-spirited family members. We made small talk as he drove to the mall. The weather was nice, and the parking lot was packed. I started to relax. Maybe this date would be fun after all. Victor and I walked around the mall, stopping in music stores to browse cassettes and CDs. There was a pet store in one wing of the mall, and a toy store somewhere else. Eventually, we went to the food court. It wasn’t overly crowded, and there were some empty tables to sit at. I remember that Victor insisted on paying for the food, but can’t recall what food he selected, because I didn’t eat. The reason was simple. I had been diagnosed with multiple food allergies, but not given clear enough information about what was safe for me to eat. The best way to avoid getting sick was to not eat anything. Victor bought me a Pepsi, the beverage I got the majority of my sustenance from back then. We talked some more while he ate and I picked at a few fries. Beth was right, Victor was nice. He was also funny. I could see us being friends, but wasn’t feeling like this date was going to turn into a boyfriend-girlfriend kind of thing. After eating, we wandered around the mall some more. “Let’s go in here,” Victor said. He pointed at a clothing store that was more expensive than I could afford. I hesitated, and gave him a questionable look. He smiled at me, and I figured that this big store was just another place to walk around in. Eventually, we ended up in the women’s section, where Victor pointed at a dress. “What do you think of this one?” he asked. I took a look at the price tag and winced. “It is too expensive.” This went on for a while as he kept suggesting other dresses. They were fancy dresses that one might wear to prom. Dresses that he asked me to try on, just to see if they fit. Strapless dresses that was I not wearing the right kind of bra for. Spaghetti strap dresses that were long, and made for women much taller than I was. I was getting more and more uncomfortable. Eventually, Victor suggested a little black dress. It had short sleeves, and a round edged collar that fit sort of like a t-shirt would. He held the dress up to me, and I could see that the skirt would go down almost to my knees. The entire dress was covered in a delicate black lace. “I don’t have the money for this,” I explained. “That’s ok. Just try it on and see if it fits. It doesn’t cost anything to try it on,” he responded. Seeing no other option, I took the dress into the changing room and tried it on. At the very least, doing so would stop the dress suggestions routine that I desperately wanted to end. The little black dress fit like it was made for me. I wasn’t sure what to do next, and hesitated before coming out of the changing room in the dress. Something felt very weird and wrong. Victor smiled when he saw me. He walked over and put his hands on my shoulders. “You look beautiful,” he said. I had very low self-esteem, and wasn’t at all used to receiving compliments. Anxiety surged through me. “…Thanks…” I said. Did I look as terrified as I felt? We stood there a moment, staring at each other. My heart was pounding, and I didn’t know what to do. “I want to buy you this dress,” Victor said. I took a look at the price tag, and shook my head. “Really, I want to,” he insisted. “You look so pretty in it.” It was then that I realized that the little black dress wasn’t the only thing that Victor wanted to buy tonight. Back to the changing room I went. Getting back into my regular clothes provided some comfort. I took some time to slow my breathing, to calm down, and to put a smile back on my face. Victor seemed nice – but I barely knew him. Some guys get mean when they feel rejected. There weren’t any other people in this store at the moment. Carrying the dress, I exited the changing room. Victor took the dress from me. “Just think about letting me buy it for you,” he said. I nodded. The dress went back on a rack, and we exited the store. I started trying to walk us back to more populated areas of the mall, as we made small talk. He was still very polite, and I started to feel less afraid. “VICTOR!!” a woman yelled across the mall. We stopped, and I turned around to see a woman rushing towards us. It was Melody, the woman Victor was reportedly not engaged to anymore. Melody glared at him, then at me, and then started yelling at Victor. Her friend, a girl I didn’t recognize, caught up and also started yelling. They all got very loud, and yelled over each other, and I did not need this. I slipped away and found a bench out of range of whatever was going to happen with them. No one noticed. Victor was my ride home, so I was stuck here until the screaming stopped. It ended when Melody’s friend started dragging her away, as Melody walked backwards and continued yelling insults at Victor. He stood there, looking drained and sad. I felt bad for him. The mall was starting to clear out, as it was near closing time. Victor looked around and eventually saw me on the bench. He came over to me, sat down, and was quiet. “We should go,” Victor said. I agreed. He didn’t explain what the very loud argument was about, and I didn’t want to ask. Clearly, whatever was happening between him and Melody wasn’t quite over yet. Victor found some nice music to listen to as he drove me home. We didn’t talk. What was there to say? It dawned on me that Victor never so much as mentioned prom before suggesting dresses. Tonight was exhausting, and confusing. He stopped the car in front of my house. When I turned to say goodbye, Victor leaned over and kissed me. I froze. The kiss was so unexpected that I simply didn’t know how to react to it. To his credit, Victor realized I wasn’t responding to his kiss. He moved away from me. “I guess you’re not that experienced….” he quietly said. “….Yeah…” I said, very softly. This was a lie. I frequently made out with the boys I was dating in the hallways at high school. Things never went beyond that, but I was far from being inexperienced at kissing. It seemed kinder to lie, though. We sort of said goodbye, and I think he mentioned seeing me again, but I was super unfocused by then. I got out of the car, and the worst first date I’d ever been on finally came to an end. Little Black Dress is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Why Nothing Got Done Today – Episode 049June 26, 2019Podcasts / Words of JenIn this episode, I read a piece of my writing that I wrote on November 23, 2018, on a Tumblr blog that no longer exists. It is about what happens when I’m hit with multiple allergens in the same day. I read “Why Nothing Got Done Today” on episode 049 of Words of Jen. If you enjoyed this episode please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you! https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/woj049.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS... Jen’s Lore Corner – Anu and the Dragon – Episode 014June 22, 2019Jen's Lore Corner / PodcastsWelcome to Jen’s Lore Corner, a podcast about the lore of the Diablo video game series. This podcast started as a segment on the Shattered Soulstone podcast. I decided to re-release those segments in their own podcast. New content started with Episode 010. In this episode, I talk about one of the oldest creation myths in Sanctuary – the story of Anu and the Dragon. Before I started recording this episode, I wrote a blog post about Anu and the Dragon. You can listen to me read it to you in this episode. Or, if you prefer, you can read along with me. This is only the first part of Sanctuary’s creation myths. In upcoming episodes, I will talk about how the angels got there, how the demons got there, and why Sanctuary was created. Jen’s Lore Corner – Anu and the Dragon – Episode 014 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/JLC014.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS... Why I Started Using CBD – Episode 048May 23, 2019Podcasts / Words of JenIn this episode, I read a piece of my writing that I wrote on May 3, 2019. It was posted both on the Book of Jen website, and also on Medium. In this piece, I explain what CBD is and why I am using it for pain relief. I read “Why I Started Using CBD” on episode 048 of Words of Jen. If you enjoyed this episode please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you! https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/woj048.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS... Diablo IIISeason 17 (Season of Nightmares) – Chapter IV CompletedJuly 11, 2019Diablo III / Diablo SeasonsI decided to play a Hardcore Barbarian in Season 17, and felt like my progress was moving very slowly. Things sped up dramatically after I acquired more Ancient items. The special thing about Season 17 is the Community buff: While you have no Set bonuses equipped every Ancient item you have equipped increases your damage dealt by 750% and reduces your damage taken by half. By the time I was done with Chapter III, I had completed some of the objectives in Chapter IV. Season 17 is the first one where players can scroll through the entire Season Journey and see what objectives upcoming parts require. Chapter IV has twelve objectives. I had already completed: Let’s Get Started: Learn 5 Blacksmith Recipes.Exquisiteness: Reforge a weapon property to a socket at the Mystic.…Is Another Man’s Treasure: Use Kanai’s Cube to upgrade a rare item to legendary quality.Just Look at You!: Learn 5 Jewelcrafting recipes. The buff for Season 17 gave players a significant damage boost for every Ancient item they have equipped. Unfortunately for me, I had only found one Ancient item. The only way to get more was to keep grinding or to spend Blood Shards and hope that Kadala gave me some Ancients. As such, I hit a point where it felt like my progress was going super slowly. I decided to focus on doing Nephalem Rifts, and then using Rift Keys to do Greater Rifts. My goal was to get more Paragon Points for my Barbarian, and also to try and level up some Legendary Gems. Rift And Roll: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment I difficulty or higher. Stonesmith: Level three Legendary Gems to level 5. Kadala finally took pity on me and gave me an Ancient Messerschmidt’s Reaver. I now had a total of two Ancients to work with. That wasn’t quite enough for me to be able to remove the set pieces my Barbarian was wearing yet. The flavor text on this item says: This mighty weapon once hewed its way through the demon-infested catacombs beneath the old Zakarum cathedral in Tristram. Could it be the weapon the warrior Aidan used to defeat Diablo all those years ago? Rift Raft: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment II difficulty or higher. Eventually, I was able to obtain several more Ancients. They were exactly what I needed to speed up the process of completing the Season Journey. I didn’t have enough of them to replace all of the non-ancients that my Barbarian was wearing. But, I had enough to replace the set pieces. Zoltun Schooled: Kill Zoltun Kulle at max level in under 30 seconds on Torment difficulty or higher in Hardcore mode. Zoltun Schooled is not a seasonal achievement. It is a non-season Hardcore achievement. I just happened to earn it during Season 17. Mercy: Kill Zoltun Kulle at level 70 on Torment II difficulty or higher. Gemming Up the Works: Level one Legendary Gem to level 15. Riftacular: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment III difficulty or higher. Romancing the Stone: Level three Legendary Gems to level 15. Death, Death, And More Death: Kill 750,000 monsters while in Nephalem Rifts. That one is also not a seasonal achievement. It is a “regular” achievement. Soloing In Style: Reach a Greater Rift Level 20 Solo. Completing Greater Rift 20 was incredibly easy while wearing several Ancient items during Season 17. I had no trouble at all with it. Great Expectations: Reach Greater Rift Level 20 Solo. Greater Rift Keystones drop from Rift Guardians in Nephalem Rifts. Stay Classy: Complete one of the following Class Sets at level 70. I happened to find the last few pieces of the Might of the Earth set before I finished Chapter IV. This meant that the last two pieces from Haedrig’s Gift would be duplicates of what I now had. A Rifting Yarn: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment IV difficulty or higher. Key Decisions: Slay Odeg the Keywarden at level 70 on Torment IV or higher. Odeg the Keywarden can be found in Act I in the Fields of Misery. Key Wee: Slay Sokahr the Keywarden at level 70 on Torment IV difficulty or higher. Sokahr the Keywarden can be found in Act II in the Dahlgur Oasis. Keeping It Low Key: Slay Xah’Rith the Keywarden at level 70 on Torment IV difficulty or higher. Xah’Rith the Keywarden can be found in Act III in Stonefort. The Key to Success: Slay Nekerat the Keywarden at level 70 on Torment IV difficulty or higher. Nekarat the Keywarden can be found in Act IV in the Gardens of Hope 2nd Tier. Seeya: Kill the Siegebreaker Assault Beast at level 70 on Torment IV difficulty or higher. SEASON JOURNEY (CHAPTER IV) COMPLETE! Players who completed Chapter IV of the Season Journey in Season 17 got the rest of the “freebie” set they had been collecting. They also receive a Portrait Frame and a Pet. I already had the pet from a previous season when it was first offered. It’s nice that Blizzard is making it possible for more players, who may have joined the game more recently, to earn that pet. The Greyhollow Portrait Frame is lovely! I’m fairly certain that I already earned this one last time it was offered (but I think I did that on Softcore last time). The flavor text for this Portrait says: You braved the depths of the Season, and this is what you found. The Season 17 pet is called Old Growth. The flavor text on this pet says: He emerged from the darkest forest, carrying many secrets. But he will not speak. Athena the Hardcore Barbarian lived long enough to complete Chapter IV. Here she is, wearing the full Might of the Earth Set, and carrying an Ancient weapon. My next goal is to finish Slayer. Ideally, I’d like Athena to stay alive long enough for me to complete – and master – the Might of the Earth Set Dungeon. Season 17 (Season of Nightmares) – Chapter IV Completed is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) – Done With Chapter IIIJune 24, 2019Diablo III / Diablo SeasonsI’ve been working my way through the Season Journey in Season 17 – The Season of Nightmares. One cool thing about this Season is that players could scroll through the entire Season Journey and see every objective. By the time I completed Chapter I and Chapter II, I had finished a big part of Chapter III. Having a clear idea of the progress I made, and what I still needed to do, really made a difference in my outlook. Chapter III has a total of 12 objectives. I had already completed: Tristram’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act I bounty cache.Caldeum’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act II bounty cache.Hey There Kadala: Spend Blood Shards at Kadala. Kadala has a 10% chance to give you a Legendary.Arreat’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act III bounty cache.Heaven’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act IV bounty cache.Westmarch’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act V bounty cache.The Rock: Craft a Gem of Imperial or greater quality at the Jeweler. Socketing an Emerald into your increases your Critical Hit Damage, and is a big damage boost.Level 1 Seasonal Cubist: Extract a Legendary power using Kanai’s Cube.Master: Complete a Nephalem Rift on Master difficulty or higher. I’m playing a Hardcore Barbarian in Season 17, and this requires making good choices about things like difficulty levels. I’m hoping to get through at least Chapter IV before my Barbarian dies and I have to level up a new one. The next thing I did was complete a Slayer objective. Someone posted a question on my blog post about How to Extract Legendary Powers with Kanai’s Cube. I decided the best way to answer that question was to go do the objective and take note of when the “Achievement Toast” popped up. Third Power Cubed: Equip Kanai’s Cube with armor, weapon, and a ring of Legendary power. You cannot stick anything into Kanai’s Cube and expect that will be enough for you to complete that objective. It has to be one piece of armor, one weapon, and one ring. Three pieces of armor, for example, won’t do. After you get the right type of stuff into Kanai’s Cube, you must equip one weapon, one piece of armor, and one ring. To do that, you click the boxes on the front of Kanai’s Cube, and use them to select one of each of those items. Click on the item inside the Cube, and you have equipped it. Athena the Barbarian had two pieces of the Might of the Earth set (the helm and the gloves). To test out the effectiveness of those two pieces, I started running Greater Rifts on Hard difficulty. I started with Greater Rift 1, figuring that starting low would give me the most opportunity to level up Legendary Gems. I completed Greater Rift Level 1 at 8:29.250. It’s nothing to brag about. The reason I put this screenshot into the blog is to show a quality of life change that started in Season 17. Previously, the Greater Rift Complete notification would take over the whole screen. Now, it is much smaller. I like this change! Exquisiteness: Reforge a weapon property to a socket at the Mystic. My first Ancient item this Season was Tyrael’s Might. I got it from Kadala. The flavor text on Tyrael’s Might says: “And lo, the Angel of Justice did cast his judgement in favor of the Nephalem.” – The Books of Jarl, Volume III. The reason I posted an Ancient Tyrael’s Might into this blog is because Ancient items really matter in Season 17. There is a Community Event Buff that will last the entire Season: While you have no Set bonuses equipped every Ancient item you have equipped increases your damage dealt by 750% and reduces your damage taken by half. What I should have done was remove the two set pieces my Barbarian was wearing and replace those with non-set items. Doing so would have made the most of the Ancient item I was using. Now that I realize this, I can use it to my Barbarian’s benefit. Kadala gave me the Immortal King’s Stride set piece. The flavor text it says: The king of the barbarians strode the world like a god. It is not part of the Might of the Earth set my Barbarian was using. But, it is still useful, if I want to complete more than one Set Dungeon this Season. Right after that, Kadala gave me Foundation of the Earth. It is part of the set my Barbarian is using. The flavor text says: Even the grandest structure will fall if it is built on sand. Athena the Barbarian now had three pieces of the Might of the Earth set, and an Ancient Tyrael’s Might. Kick Out The Gems: Level one Legendary Gem to level 5. Kick Out the Gems is a Seasonal Achievement. …Is Another Man’s Treasure: Use Kanai’s Cube to upgrade a rare item to a legendary quality. I moved the difficulty to Master for the first time this Season. There was a moment when I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Watch Me Araneae-Neae: Kill Queen Araneae at level 70 on Master difficulty or higher. Just Look At You!: Learn 5 Jewelcrafting Recipes. Penetrate & Defenestrate: Kill Urzael at level 70 on Master difficulty or higher. Greater Rift Level 7 is the highest Greater Rift I’ve completed in Season 17 (so far). I finished it at 9.09.016 and hit Paragon 27. Season Journey (Chapter III) COMPLETE! Players who complete Chapter III of the Season Journey receive two more pieces of the “freebie” set. For me, this meant I was getting two more pieces of the Might of the Earth set. One of the set pieces was Foundation of the Earth, which I already had equipped (thanks to Kadala). I picked the one that I thought was best and put the other into my Stash. The other set piece was Spires of the Earth. The flavor text says: Travelers speak of a stone arch in the desert, where mystics seek wisdom from supernatural visions, or strength from the ground. Some claim to have received both. Athena the Hardcore Barbarian now has four pieces of the Might of the Earth Set. She should get the rest after completing Chapter IV (some of which is already done). If I complete the set, the first thing I’m going to do is the corresponding set dungeon. I hope to not only complete it but also master it. Players cannot die in a set dungeon, so I don’t have to worry about losing my Hardcore Barbarian in it. If I get more Ancients before that point, then I will put the Might of the Earth Set pieces in my Stash and see how high a Greater Rift I can do. Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) – Done With Chapter III is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Anu and The DragonJune 21, 2019Diablo III / Diablo LoreArt from The Book of Cain Most cultures, if not all of them, have their own creation myth. These myths are symbolic, and told in a narrative form. Often, the story connects to a group’s religious beliefs. The story is about the creation of the world, and it explains how the people got there. Creation myths cannot be proven, because there are no artifacts, written history, or first-hand observers of the events in the story. When it comes to the Diablo “universe”, however, some parts of their creation myths still linger. The first part of the story is about Anu and the Dragon. Information about the creation myths of the Diablo “universe” can be found in The Book of Cain. I haven’t seen any of it pop up in the journals that are scattered across Diablo III. In The Book of Cain, Deckard Cain wrote that many mystics and tribal storytellers tell somewhat different versions of Anu and the Dragon. He chose to go with the version written by Lam Esen. Deckard Cain describes him as “as skilled sage renowned for his knowledge of Skatsimi mysticism and folklore.” Diablo Wiki posted that Skatism is also called “The Old Religion”. It was practiced in Kehjistan. The religion pre-dates the rise of the Zakarum religion. Lam Esen wrote his findings in Lam Esen’s Tome. Diablo Wiki states that it is a quest in Diablo II. The tome is described as “magical”. It was lost when the Zakarum took over, found the tome, decided it was full of blasphemy, and hid it away somewhere. Rumors suggest that Lam Esen’s Tome was hidden inside one of the temples in Kurast. Deckard Cain definitely did a lot of research before deciding which version of the Anu and the Dragon creation myth to inscribe in his book. He picked the one that was written down by a scholar of one of the oldest religions in Sanctuary. So, what did Lam Esen write about Anu and the Dragon? It starts with this: Before the beginning, there was no void. Nothing. No flesh. No rock.No air. No heat. No light. No dark.Nothing, save a single, perfect pearl. The spirit was “The One” – Anu. They were genderless and made of shining diamond. Anu was all things – good and evil, light and dark, physical and mystical, joy and sadness, in one being. All of these things were reflected across their crystalline facets. At some point, while Anu was dreaming inside the pearl, they started considering themself. Anu desired a state of purity and perfection. They attempted to achieve that goal by casting out all of their negative qualities. In short, Anu ripped the evil out of themself. Doing so worked. Anu noticed that the “dissonance was gone.” One would assume that this experience would have made Anu feel at peace. There was no more potential for an internal struggle between light and dark, good and evil, joy and sadness. Before moving on to the next part of the story, I want to point out a few things. So far, we’ve learned that the oldest creation myth known to Sanctuary emphasizes precious gems. All of creation started inside a pearl. “The One”, Anu, the first “god”, for lack of a better term, was literally a diamond. Knowing this explains why the people of Sanctuary found ways to use precious gems to fortify their armor and weapons. Part of why that works might be due to the skill of the artisans who fashioned the jewels. The rest might be little more than the power of believing that a shiny rock helps you hit monsters harder. Either way… it seems to work. The connection between a god, and precious gems, also provides a subtle hint towards Covetous Shen the Jeweler’s past. (But, that’s a story for another time). The concept of Anu removing the evil parts of themself, in an effort to be pure, reminds me of Malthael. After Malthael decided that the people of Sanctuary were dangerous because they were made of both angels and demons – he decided to rip the evil out of them. I cannot help but wonder if Malthael was inspired by what Anu did. (And, that’s also a story for another time). Ok, so… what happened to the evil that Anu removed from themself? Well, it didn’t disappear. All that darkness, sadness, hate, pridefulness, and other negative stuff was suddenly on its own. All these pieces – of what once was Anu – squished together and formed a new being. This is how an entity called “The Beast” or “The Dragon” came to be. His name was Tathamet. He was a dragon with seven heads, which breathed unending death and darkness. Tathamet was the first Prime Evil. He is the source of all the evilness that would eventually spread through existence. There were now two beings inside the pearl. Polar opposites in every way. Of course, they started fighting with each other. It is described in The Book of Cain (taken from Lam Esen’s writing) as: “There they warred against each other in an unending clash of light and shadow for ages uncounted.” There’s a lesson here. One cannot simply toss out all the imperfections, character flaws, bad takes, horrible moods, and evilness inside themselves and expect it to simply disappear. Doing so may bring a moment of peace. But eventually, the darkness returns and wants to pick a fight. And then, you have some work to do. It’s too bad that Anu wasn’t very enlightened when he made that choice. Even “gods” make mistakes. Anu the diamond warrior, and Tathamet the seven headed dragon, fought against each other for “countless millennia”. The two used to be one spirit. Now, they were perfectly matched opponents. Neither side won, or lost, and the battle continued. Eventually, the two slayed each other. It happened at the exact same time, and their energies ignited in an explosion and matter so vast that it birthed the universe. Lam Esen described it this way: All the stars above and the darkness that binds them.All that we touch. All that we feel. All that we know.All that is unknown.All of it continues through the night and the day in the ebbing and flowing of the ocean tides and in the destruction of fire and the creation of seed.Everything of which we are aware, and that of which we are utterly unaware, was created with the deaths of Anu and the Dragon, Tathamet. Anu and Tathamet died. But, this isn’t entirely the end of their influence. Most of the people in Sanctuary would know a version of the story of Anu and the Dragon. It is the sort of that parents might tell to their children, who will grow up and tell it to their own children. Along the way, small pieces of the story will change. That’s how creation myths go. The original version gets altered as it spreads from one person to another. Eventually, someone (in this case Lam Esen) writes it down. Deckard Cain finds it, writes it down in his own book, (making sure to give credit to the source as all good scholars do), and the creation myth lives on. This is not, however, entirely the end of Anu or Tathamet. Their spirits moved on, but their bodies remained. (But, that’s a story for another time). Anu and The Dragon is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) – to Level 70June 10, 2019Diablo III / Diablo SeasonsThis season, I decided to play a Hardcore Barbarian. In general, I find that leveling up while playing solo can be tedious. It can get pretty intense in Hardcore if you aren’t careful. I completed my first goal – to hit Level 50. My next goal was to get my Barbarian to Level 70. One of the cool new changes in Season 17 was that players could now flip through the Season Journey. It was now a lot easier to see what objectives I completed in the parts of the Season Journey ahead of where I was at. The result was I was able to find objectives that were in upcoming chapters that I believed my Barbarian was ready to do right now. I made a lot of progress while working through Chapter I. Here is the Season Journey progress I made while I was in Chapter II: Expert: Complete a Nephalem Rift on Expert difficulty or higher. There wasn’t a whole lot of options for me to choose from as I worked on leveling my Barbarian from 50 to 70. The most effective option seemed to be Nephalem Rifts. I was playing on Expert difficulty. In the video above, my Barbarian randomly ended up in what looks a whole lot like Whimsydale as a level in a Nephalem Rift. It was fun to run through! Ghom Nom Nom: Kill Ghom at level 60 or higher on Hard difficulty or higher. Fresh Static Snow: Kill Izual at level 60 or higher on Hard difficulty or higher. Maximum Efficiency: Raise the Blacksmith, Jeweler and Mystic to level 12. Hot Anvil, Strong Steel & The Real Deal: Craft a level 70 Weapon or Armor piece. The Rock: Craft a Gem of Imperial or greater quality at the Jeweler. Socketing an Emerald into your weapon increases your Critical Hit Damage, and is a big damage boost. Level I Seasonal Cubist: Extract a Legendary power using Kanai’s Cube. Master: Complete a Nephalem Rift on Master difficulty or higher. The Little Things That Count: Craft a level 70 Ring or Amulet. I ran a bunch of Nephalem Rifts until my Barbarian to hit Level 70. Riftomania: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift. Above & Beyond: Reach level 70. Season Journey (Chapter II) COMPLETE! Players who completed Chapter II of the Season Journey received two pieces of the “freebie” set. In Season 17, the Barbarian set is Might of the Earth. Eyes of the Earth is a helm. The flavor text says: Mountains crumble. Cliffs fall. Canyons rip asunder. The forces that shape the land are a mystery to most. But not to you. Not anymore. Pull of the Earth is the gloves for this set. The flavor text says: No mortal can escape the grasp of the earth. No matter how high something jumps or flies, it inevitably plummets back to the ground. Imagine having that power in your hands. Barbarians who wear two pieces of the Might of the Earth set get a bonus: Reduce the cool down of Earthquake, Avalanche, Leap and Ground Stomp by 1 second for every 30 Fury you spend with an attack. Athena the Barbarian is wearing two pieces of the Might of the Earth Set. The next thing I need to do is complete Chapter III. I’ve already finished several of the objectives. The hard part will be getting my Barbarian strong enough to complete the rest on higher difficulties than I’ve been playing so far this season. Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) – to Level 70 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares)May 31, 2019Diablo III / Diablo SeasonsSeason 17 of Diablo III is called “The Season of the Nightmares” because Seasonal players will benefit from the Set bonus provided by the Legacy of Nightmares. Blizzard describes it as the “no Set” set. Any Ancient Legendary that players find will be much more valuable this Season. I decided to start Season 17 as a Hardcore Barbarian. This blog is about my progress so far. My main goal for this season is: Don’t die! One of the “quality of life” changes that was implemented in Season 17 allows players to click through the entire Season Journey. This means, for the first time, players could skim it to see what they’ve already completed before they unlocked the next part. For me, this change slightly altered how I worked through the Season Journey. In the past, I focused on Chapter I and ignored the Achievement Toast for objectives that belonged to a different part of the Season Journey. This Season, I started looking ahead and trying to figure out what I might be able to complete right now. I no longer feel “stuck” in specific part of the Season Journey. Here is what I completed up through when my Barbarian hit Level 50: I started off on Normal difficulty because this is Hardcore. A New Start: Complete 5 Bounties. Open up the Waypoint Map in Adventure Mode to see what Bounties are available. Tristram’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act I bounty cache. This bounty cache included three Blacksmith recipes. Begin Again: Complete a Nephalem Rift. Use the Nephalem Obelisk in town while in Adventure Mode to start a Nephalem Rift. The rewards for completing this Nephalem Rift include one Blacksmith recipe. I now had a total of four. Fly to New Tristram: Kill the Skeleton King. Automatic: Kill Maghda. Caldeum’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act II bounty cache. This bounty cache included three Blacksmith recipes – for a total of seven. Let’s Get Started: Learn 5 Blacksmith Recipes. Kanai’s Excellent Adventure: Find Kanai’s Cube. Kanai’s Cube can be found in Act III in The Ruins of Sescheron. Kanai’s Cube can be used for very powerful things such as extracting Legendary Powers and upgrading Rare items into Legendary items. Athena the Hardcore Barbarian was now at Level 23. Seasonal Socketing: Socket 5 gems into your gear. Friends With Benefits: Fully equip one of your followers. No, You Can’t Have It Back: Obtain a Legendary item by spending Blood Shards with Kadala. Sometime earlier, I must have earned the other Kadala Achievement. For some reason, I didn’t get a screenshot of the “Achievement Toast” for that one. Hey There Kadala: Spend Blood Shards at Kadala. Kadala has a 10% chance to give you a Legendary. A Life With Meaning: Raise the Blacksmith to level 10. Leveling up the Blacksmith unlocks access to higher level weapon and armor recipes. Watch Yourself: Raise the Mystic to level 10. Leveling up the Mystic enables her to enchant more items types and unlocks new Transmogrify looks. Just A Hobby: Raise the Jeweler to level 10. Leveling up the Jeweler unlocks access to higher level gem recipes. Athena the Hardcore Barbarian was now at Level 39. Arreat’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act III bounty cache. Heaven’s Most Wanted: Obtain a Act IV bounty cache. Athena the Hardcore Barbarian was now at Level 45. Westmarch’s Most Wanted: Obtain an Act V bounty cache. Change Clothes: Transmogrify an item at the Mystic. Penchant for Enchants: Replace a property on an item with Enchanting at the Mystic. Enchanting is very useful for replacing an unwanted primary affix on a near-perfect item. Season Journey (Chapter I) COMPLETE! Forged in Fire: Reach level 50. I finished Chapter I of the Season Journey in Season 17. The next blog post in this series will pick up where this one left off. Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Book ReviewsConfessions of an Economic Hit Man – by John PerkinsJune 11, 2019Book Reviews / non fictionConfessions of an Economic Hit Man is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. What was holding me back? I had the feeling that this book would make me very angry. What little I knew about it could be summarized as: corporations and corrupt government doing bad things in secret. It is the kind of book that will make you into a pessimist (if you aren’t already one). I read the version that was published in 2004. I hear there is a newer one out now. I’ve no idea how the two compare. The book is written by John Perkins, who was an economic hit man. In short, he was one of the people who went to foreign countries and mucked about with their resources – for the financial benefit of corporations (and, sometimes, the United States government). His job was to convince foreign governments that he was offering something that would not only increase that government’s economy, but also to improve the lives of their people. But, that’s not how things went. One of the goals of the economic hit men is to trick foreign governments to accepting financial and infrastructural help from them. The country would then have things built such as dams or utilities. The foreign governments were convinced this was a good idea because people like John Perkins fed them misinformation. They fudged the numbers and made projects look affordable. What was really happening, though, was the country was being put into debt that they were entirely unaware of. It is a very complex situation, and I’m simplifying it in this book review. What I learned from this book is that there were (and probably still are) a group of rich, selfish, powerful people who have absolutely no conscience and who think it’s perfectly fine to cheat and lie to get what they want. Somewhere in the book, there is an example of greed resulting in great harm to people who are the least able to defend themselves against it. There’s a group of indigenous people who live in a forest/jungle area. Their land is being forcibly taken from them. The people get murdered when they try and defend their land, and the press spins it into a story where the indigenous people are at fault. Meanwhile, the rich get richer. Early on in the book, John Perkins shares moments where he questioned himself. Maybe, just maybe… he wasn’t the “good guy” after all. But, then he would go ahead and do his job anyway. There is an example where he spent time with a group of local people, who were nice to him and whom he liked. Perkins knew full well that what he was doing was going to cause economic havoc in their country. He had drinks with these people, who treated him like a friend – and didn’t even warn them about what was to come. Economic hit men are assholes. But, there are worse people. John Perkins mentions that when the economic hit men fail to convince a government to do their bidding, the “jackals” come in. The leader of the stubborn country winds up dead. Eventually, toward the end of the book, John Perkins has an epiphany. By this point, he had what he thought could be a romance with a co-worker abruptly end. He’d gotten divorced and lost contact with his child. He was no longer convinced that what he was doing was right. But he’d gotten rich from his work, so he continued doing it. A woman he met was able to open his eyes to the damage he’d been doing to people. Perkins started to see who he had become. This change inspired him to quit his job, and start writing this book. Of course, by then, the damage he helped to cause had been done. Nothing could fix it. I’ve left a whole lot of detail out of this book review because there’s just too much to adequately cover. It is a non-fiction book that will destroy whatever optimism you had in corporations and governments. It have no idea if this sort of thing is still going on today… but sometimes, I wonder. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... On Black Winds We Rise (No Gods Before Us) – by Tom McNellisMarch 18, 2019Book Reviews / fantasyOn Black Winds We Rise is the first book in the No Gods Before Us series. It is a fantasy series with a very rich world filled with a wide variety of peoples. The story is set in 1000 BC on an alternate Earth. It starts in Aegyptus, and later moves to Hibernia. Things are not always what they seem to be in this world, and there are some extremely creepy parts in this book. Faleesa the Luminous is the high priestess in the Temple of Ra. She is strong, and smart, and the only female priestess. She is the one who trains the new initiates to fight. I liked her immediately. Some things never change, though. Falessa has to put up with older, less strong, stubborn, male priests, many of whom seem to resent her presence. Most of them fail to take her seriously, and some appear to wish there were no priestesses in the Temple of Ra. Without giving too much away, Falessa is assigned to find out why a notorious thief has returned. Todark has suddenly started handing out money and precious jewels to random people. The thief had been taken as a prisoner at the Pharaoh’s royal palace. Faleesa travels there with Ishi, a slave who had been sent from the palace to find her. A priest named Usada, who is not from the Temple of Ra, decides to join them. They run into an exceptionally annoying bureaucrat named Areshi, who is the type of person who makes you want to throw something at him. There is a power struggle going on between the Temple of Ra and the Pharoah. I’m leaving out a lot of details here, so as not to spoil the story. In short, Faleesa, Ishi, and Usada listen to Todark’s explanation of why he became so generous with the money and treasure he had stolen. They embark on a journey to a cave, not knowing exactly what to expect. This is where things go wrong very quickly. Something happens that enables some terrifying, creepy, entities to enter the world. Meanwhile, another group of travelers are crossing through Hibernia, in the hopes of making a trade deal with a clan of dwarves. The Celtic travelers are led by Faelan, who is next in line to be chieftain. He is accompanied by his brother Cath, who is a troubled soul, and a handful of men who function like a family. It seemed to me that they have been in battles together before. Cath is, by far, the most interesting of the group. He has been through some tough times, and cannot seem to move on. The reader views this part of the story through Cath’s viewpoint. It becomes clear he is suffering with some kind of depression, as well as what might be “imposter syndrome”. The dwarves Warlord, Thordroli Longbane, meets with the group and offers them a deal. It is debatable if the offer will truly benefit both sides equally. Faelan doesn’t have the power to make a decision about it, and so the group must travel back and speak with Faelan and Cath’s father. They are accompanied by a dwarven mystic named Ceana, who is to find out if the Celtic people accept or reject the deal – and then return. Early on, Cath and Ceana start to form a tentative friendship. He’s able to open up to her, and I’d like to see where their story goes. Again, without giving away any spoilers, the road home is dangerous and a battle ensues. The attacking party is powerful and something the group had not seen before. And, somewhere in the story, there is an epic battle between orcs and humans. It moves pretty fast and was exciting to read. There’s this orc named Ratbreath that I feel like I’ve met somewhere before. On Black Winds We Rise provides a detailed world that the reader can fall right into. The characters feel very real and I am looking forward to finding out what happens next. The “big bad” is uniquely creepy and mysterious, and I’m interested in seeing what it will do. On Black Winds We Rise (No Gods Before Us) – by Tom McNellis is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Familiar – by J. Robert LennonFebruary 2, 2019Book Reviews / fictionElisa Brown is driving home after visiting the grave of her eldest son. Her car is old, and there is a crack in the windshield that she never got fixed. Suddenly, the crack disappears. Elisa finds herself driving a much newer car, wearing clothing she never would have chosen for herself, in a body that is hers… but different. These are not the only things that have changed. She has absolutely no idea what happened or how to fix it. The main character in this book is an unreliable narrator. She doesn’t know what happened to her, or how it happened, or what caused it. This leaves the reader to try and fit together a puzzle without being given all of the pieces. This is not a complaint. One of the things I enjoyed about this book is that it provided a curious mystery for me to ponder. Has Elisa fallen into an alternate universe? Did she suffer a nervous breakdown and lose track of reality? Is it all a dream? At first, Elisa is very confused as she notices that many things have changed. She has a different job than before – one that appears to involve going to conferences. She figures out that she and her husband had been – and are still going – to marriage counseling. Elisa cannot remember the reasons why they are doing that. Obviously, that gets in the way of whatever progress they may have made. The most shocking change between the world she remembered and the world she found herself in is that her deceased son is still alive. Elisa decides to try and find the missing pieces that would help her understand what happened. She goes online and searches for information about parallel universes. Her desperation to make sense out of things eventually causes her to behave in ways that make it clear she has lost her grip on reality. The story presents unstated questions to the reader. What would you do if you suddenly found that the world was much different than you remembered it being? How would you react to familiar people who behave differently towards you than you have come to expect them to? How do you talk with a stranger who believes she is your best friend? How do you save a troubled marriage when your spouse looks (mostly) the same but exhibits a somewhat different personality? Do you even want to try? How do you cope with a deceased loved one who is now very much alive – and who wants nothing to do with you? I’m leaving a lot of the details out in order not to spoil things. This is a story with no clear solutions or answers. It is largely up to the reader to figure out for themselves what happened to Elisa. The ending provides readers with more questions than answers. Something significant happens, but the reader is not given the results. Readers may come away from this story with an uncomfortable question about how much of their reality is real. Familiar – by J. Robert Lennon is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Nocturne – by Syrie JamesJanuary 1, 2019Book Reviews / romanceNocturne is “a haunting story of forbidden love”. It says so right on the cover. The entire story takes place in just a few days, which is more than enough time for the main characters to fall madly in love with each other. Michael is a vampire (and Nicole is not). Michael’s secret is revealed to the reader early on in the story. Nicole misses every clue until something bloody obvious finally opens her eyes. Can a relationship between a human, and a vampire, work out? This is the question that Nicole and Michael must find an answer to. I tend to find books that include vampire characters to be intriguing. It takes what could be a rather ordinary story and opens it up to possibilities that are unlikely to happen if all the characters are regular humans. Nicole was driving home from a “ski-wedding”, hoping to get to the airport before the blizzard arrives. Unfortunately, the storm hit earlier than expected. She had a car accident, slid off the road, and passed out. She probably would had frozen to death if it wasn’t for Michael. He watched the accident happen from his truck, which he was using as a snow plow to clear the road that led to his chalet. Michael rescues Nicole and takes her home with him. This immediately causes problems. Michael, who has been alone for a very long time, is struggling to cope with the smell of Nicole’s blood. He managed to treat her wounds, and put her on the couch under a blanket. When she wakes up, Michael appears very standoffish and unwelcoming. The two quickly become attracted to each other. It turns out that they have some things in common. Both enjoy classical music and love playing the piano. Both are big readers, and Nicole learns that Michael’s bookshelves include several books by her favorite author. Unfortunately, Nicole learns that Michael has some… quirks… that she finds frustrating and confusing. He runs hot and cold. One moment, he would be engaging her in conversation. The next, he would become angry and shut himself in another room behind a locked door. Nicole found that the kitchen had almost no food, except for something that Michael said his housekeeper made for him. They were snowed in, so she made do with the apples, carrots, and oats that were in the kitchen. Michael never joined her for meals, and she found this strange. Almost instantly, Michael and Nicole become deeply attracted to each other. He starts to open up to her, and tells her a few of his secrets. There is an intense moment when Michael is teaching Nicole how to make a part of a music box – a hobby of his. The two smolder, and embrace… and then Michael stops it. The entire story takes place within just a few days. Without giving away any “spoilers”, Nicole eventually figures out that Michael is a vampire. It takes a little while for them both to adjust to this revelation. The two become closer after that secret is out. In general, I would be skeptical about a story where two strangers, who are essentially snowed in for a few days, fall madly in love. Is that really enough time for that to happen? Syrie James made the evolution of Nicole and Michael’s relationship seem natural and uncontrived. There is a strong chemistry between Michael and Nicole, and this leads to some passionate sex scenes that give the reader just enough details without becoming too graphic. By the end, Michael and Nicole have to decide what to do. The blizzard has passed by, the roads are clear, and Nicole can go home. Neither of them want to separate, but there are some good reasons to do so. I’ll leave the reader to discover what they decided to do. Overall, I found Nocturne to be entertaining. It is a quick read that takes place in a cold and snowy environment. This is a very sweet story with a few scary moments here and there. What makes this story work so well is that Nicole and Michael are well matched for each other (despite him being a vampire.) Book Review – Nocturne by Syrie James is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Spook – by Mary RoachDecember 26, 2018Book Reviews / non fictionMary Roach is the author of Stiff – the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. After writing about what happens to the human body after the person dies, it seems appropriate to write a book about what happens to the human soul after the body dies. Spook – Science Tackles the Afterlife was written in 2005. In my opinion, the best way to read Spook is to set aside whatever religious ideas you may have about the afterlife. Go into this book with an open mind and you will definitely learn something about human nature. This is not the book for people who have strong religious beliefs about the afterlife and who are looking for something that confirms what their religion tells them. It is the book for people who wonder what science can tell us about the soul, where it lives, and where it might go. In Spook, Mary Roach asks plenty of interesting questions, and follows up by finding out what science had to say regarding the afterlife. She does not provide the reader with a definitive answer about what, exactly, one should expect from the afterlife. Readers are free to take in whatever they find to be thought-provoking. The very first chapter delves into reincarnation. Mary Roach traveled through India with Dr. Kurti S, Rawat, director of the International Centre for Survival. He seeks out children who claim to have been reincarnated and gathers up as much information as he can from the child and the child’s family. Mary Roach appears to have experienced culture shock while in India, and I found her observations to be fascinating. There are parts of India where people believe in reincarnation. As such, when a very young child starts talking about people that the child’s parents do not know – the assumption is that reincarnation has occurred. The parents will ask the child questions, in an effort to learn more about who they were in a past life. In the United States, claims of reincarnation are very rare. The process Dr. Rawat uses goes like this: he learns of a child who claims to have been reincarnated. He travels to where that child lives and interviews the child and their family members. Dr. Rawat writes down all the details and studies it later. The best data comes from parents who immediately started writing down what the child told them about his or her former self, the names of that person’s loved ones, and the manner in which the person died. For some reason, people who have been reincarnated tend to have died a quick, unexpected, and very violent death. In short, the best outcome is when the child’s family, and the living relatives of the person who has been reincarnated into the child, meet and become like extended family. The worst outcome is when a scammer picks a target (usually someone rich), learns about their deceased relative, and coaches the child to pretend to be that person. Part of Spook includes details about a variety of ideas regarding where in the human body the soul “lives”. The specific part of the body that was believed to house the soul changed over time. Potential parts have included: sperm, ova, the pineal gland, the nerves (and/or the nervous system), a bone on the end of the spine called the luz, the coccyx, and one of the four chambers of the brain. A controversial study (which had many ethical issues) was done in an effort to find out how much the soul weighs. It was done in 1854 at a Consumptives Home, a charity that cared for people who were slowly dying of tuberculosis. A surgeon and physician named Duncan Macdougall placed a bed on a large, industrial, scale. A person who appeared to be about to die of consumption was placed on the bed. Macdougall, and other doctors, watched and waited for the person to die. At that moment, they checked the scale to see if the total weight had changed. The scale often showed that the person (and the bed they were lying on) weighed a tiny bit less immediately after the person died. The study was controversial for many reasons, the biggest of which was the question of whether a person who was about to die of consumption could truly give consent to being in the study. Despite this, other doctors attempted to replicate the study (using animals instead of people). The animals were not dying of consumption. They were euthanized after being placed on the industrial scale. The results of these studies contradicted each other and were inconclusive. From here, things move away from the realm of science (wonky and questionable as it was) and into the realm of seances (which were run by women who intended to scam people). I found this part of the book to be extremely entertaining, and I’ll leave you to read it for yourself. In short, seances became a popular thing for people to experience. Many people came to the seance already believing that they would encounter a spirit. They were easy marks. Another interesting thing I learned from Spook is that people have been using whatever the most modern technology was at the time to attempt to record the voices of spirits (or ghosts). Some of the earliest recordings were of mediums who claimed to be channeling a spirit – who had a lot of things to say. Sometimes, people heard crackles over the radio and interpreted them to be voices from the beyond. It often turned out to be the person’s imagination – with the exception of a situation where the people lived really close to where the radio waves were being transmitted. Those people were actually hearing radio transmissions from local stations that were somehow picked up by things like – for example – their oven. More recently, people began using tape recorders to capture the voices of the spirits. I presume people have started using there smartphones for this purpose. The common theme here is that people have a tendency to want to believe that the newest, hottest, piece of technology that can record something is definitely going to pick up the voices of spirits. Spook is a truly bizarre book that mixes scientific study (such as it was) with religion and the cultural beliefs of a population in a specific location at different points in history. When it comes to the afterlife, these concepts blend together and influence not only what a person believes about the human soul, but also what the afterlife is like. Spook – by Mary Roach is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... World of WarcraftSylverian DreamerJune 29, 2019World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft Pets and MountsThis gorgeous mount is the Sylverian Dreamer. You can get it for free with a six-month subscription to World of Warcraft. This offer is valid through July 29, 2019. I accidentally obtained this mount without realizing I had done so. Let me explain. I have been doing a monthly World of Warcraft subscription for quite some time now. I don’t remember when I started doing that. The game is still fun for me. My main is a Gnome Death Knight who is just past Level 100 and working towards Level 101. I’m enjoying messing around with the Garrison and attempting to turn in the multitude of finished quests that are scattered all across Draenor. I’m also leveling up a little Gnome Mage, with intent to start playing with a friend who is also leveling up a Gnome. I’m enjoying the really old, low-level questing (even though I’ve done it before – more than once.) My husband wanted me to switch to an annual World of Warcraft subscription, because I guess it comes out cheaper overall. For whatever reason, we never got around to doing that. Sometime in the past week or so, I started noticing what I call “Twitter drama” regarding World of Warcraft. People were angry about something, but I couldn’t figure out they were upset about. It didn’t appear to have anything to do with the upcoming release of World of Warcraft Classic (which I’m looking forward to). So, I ignored the drama. A few days ago, my husband and I remembered that we were going to move my WoW subscription from monthly to annual. I remember him mentioning that the annual option wasn’t available anymore, but they did have a six-month subscription. We switched my account to that. Later, I saw a tweet from Blizzard’s World of Warcraft account with an image of a blue dragon. It seemed to be a mount. The tweet mentioned something about a six-month subscription. ….Wait, a minute! Did I just accidentally unlock a mount? Sure enough, when I logged into World of Warcraft, the lovely Sylverian Dreamer mount was waiting for me. Thanks, Blizzard, for giving me a beautiful dragon for moving my three-month subscription to a six-month subscription. I was aiming for an annual subscription, but this will do! The description of the Sylverian Dreamer says: An artist in the magical city of Dalaran fell asleep on her brush, and dreamed of painting a beautiful feathered dragon. Her artwork lept from the page, and when she awoke, she found it sleeping gently beside her. This amuses me because I am an artist with chronic illnesses that cause me to sleep for longer than most people need to. I accidentally found myself with a dragon mount, much like the artist in Dalaran who awoke to find that the drawing she dreamed about had come to life. The Sylverian Dreamer is absolutely gorgeous! I love the shiny wings that have various shades of blue on them. Like many other World of Warcraft mounts, this one can be used by all of your characters. It scales to each character’s riding skill. This means my little bitty Mage can use it, even though she doesn’t have any of the flying skills yet. This dragon is able to run across the ground, too. Why are people so upset about a beautiful, blue, dragon mount that they can get for free with a six-month subscription? I have no idea. Players who missed the deadline for the bundle can buy the Sylverian Dreamer mount on the Blizzard Store for $25 if they want to. As for me, I’m a very casual WoW player who feels like I got a glorious blue dragon mount as a “freebie” just because I happened to upgrade to a six-month subscription at just the right time. Sylverian Dreamer is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Experience in the WoW Classic BetaJune 25, 2019World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft BetasThis is Moosarella. (My husband came up with the name, and I thought it was amusing). It was exactly the type of name that would be good for a temporary character that would disappear when the beta ended. I chose to play a Tauren Warrior, mostly because I spent “Vanilla” playing a Night Elf Hunter. At BlizzCon 2018, and afterward, I also played a Night Elf Hunter. It was time for some variety! The screenshots in this blog are from June 19, 2019. I think I played the Classic WoW Beta for about two hours without taking a break. There were two server options, and both were PVP. I’m not a huge fan of PVP, but was willing to accept a PVP server for the beta. (There wasn’t any other options available.) It turned out I had nothing to worry about. The majority of players I saw were all Taurens. There was one random Forsaken who made it to one of the smaller Tauren towns. I never saw any Alliance players. Here is what the loading screen in the beta looked like. It didn’t take long for me to file a bug report. I could “left-click” on the NPC (non-player character) quest givers, and the NPC vendors. They would greet my character. But, they weren’t giving out any quests, or letting me see what they were selling. I reported it as a bug, logged out, and logged right back in. When it doubt, turn it off and turn it back on again. Right? The problem continued. “Left-clicking” did not open quests. So, I tried “right-clicking” – and it worked! I immediately filed a bug report letting Blizzard know, in short, that my previous bug report was “user error”. I didn’t remember having to right-click to get the NPCs to open quests. Either that isn’t something you have to do in “live” WoW, or I’d simply forgotten because I spend way more time on Diablo III than World of Warcraft. The first quest I picked up required me to kill Plainstriders and collect a certain number of their parts. This is a typical quest for low-level players. There were a lot of people playing Taurens, and we all were picking up the same quests. The cool thing was that players were being really nice to each other. Druids were casting beneficial buffs (Mark of the Wild) on other players. Some people joined a party and quested together. Plenty of people who had played “Vanilla” were in chat, explaining to newer WoW players how the game functioned back then. There were plenty of Plainstriders to go around. Players automatically spread themselves out and moved around so that everyone had access to them. No one was camping Plainstrider corpses, waiting for the respawn. No one was pushy about getting to that one Plainstrider, over there, that someone else already targeted. One time, I was fighting a Plainstrider another Tauren Warrior ran by. As he passed me, he took a swing at the Plainstrider I was fighting – offering a little help – and continued on his way. This kind of “we’re all in this together” behavior happened the whole time I played the beta. Maybe people were just really happy to be in the beta. Maybe the players who had played “Vanilla” were indirectly teaching newer players how to be a good neighbor in Classic WoW. Or, maybe the majority of people who choose to play a Tauren are the kind of people who intrinsically want to help others. Either way, it made for a very pleasant experience. The first useful piece of loot I got was Painted Chain Gloves. It is one of two reward options for players who turn in the Plainstrider parts they collected. I went from using Frayed Gloves (4 armor) to using Painted Chain Gloves (42 armor). These gloves turned out to be the best ones I found in the beta. The Warrior Trainer was willing to train Moosarella, but she didn’t have enough currency to buy that training yet. She was Level 2, and had only done a few quests. The way to solve this problem is to do more quests, or to kill a bunch of stuff and sell the useless items. Mozzarella hit Level 3 while working on a quest the required her to collect Mountain Cougar pelts. As before, there were many other players working on the same quest. People spread out to different areas that had Mountain Cougars, and there was plenty for everyone. Eventually, I gathered up enough currency to buy Battle Shout. I continued to buy more from the Warrior Trainer whenever I had the money. The main purpose of a beta is to try things and make sure they work. While the vast majority of players in the WoW Classic beta were nice, not all of them were. There’s always going to be some jerks who try and ruin the fun. Five jerks, with incredibly similar names, decided to spam the chat. All the names started with “Sewin” The ending of those names were: life, earth, air, water, fire. It was obviously a coordinated group of players. The jerks yelled: “All Hail the Master Race!” in all caps. Maybe that was considered to be funny back when “Vanilla” launched. But, in today’s world. that phrase feels a whole lot like Nazi propaganda. It probably did back then, too. But, today, we literally have the federal government putting brown people in concentration camps. I think most players were a little bit stunned to see that pop up in chat. One could make the argument that they meant the Tauren were the master race. Still doesn’t make it an acceptable thing to yell. Shortly afterwards, a helpful player posted in chat. “Good news, the ignore feature works!” Now was a great time to test the ignore feature. It worked quite well on all five of those jerks. I assume they got reported by several players, too. Moosarella hit Level 4 in the entrance to the Brambleblade Ravine. This area turned out to be the most lucrative area in the game. The Plainstalkers and Mountain Cougars, and Battleboars dropped parts. The enemies in here were dropping copper currency. I had to go back to town more than once while fighting enemies in the Brambleblade Ravine because my bag got full. This is exactly what happened in “Vanilla”. The only way to travel was to “hoof it”. Moosarella hit Level 5 while I was running around in the cave. I figured that was good enough for now, and needed to go back to town anyway to turn in a quest. Here is a look a the Skills Moosarella had leveled (so far). As you can see, players could raise their skills in a variety of different types of weapons (as well as “unarmed”). “Vanilla” had this. I cannot remember when it was removed from the game and replaced by something else. What I do remember is that my Draenei Shaman has built up an impressive Unarmed skill. That must have happened while The Burning Crusade was “live”. Here is what Moosarella was wearing when I decided to take a break from the WoW Classic beta. Her gloves, belt, bracers, and the wrap on her weapons actually match each other. That was entirely by accident. The other parts of her armor mostly go together, with the exception of the chain mail chest piece. None of it goes very well with the green colored pieces. But, it could have been much worse! My intent was to return to the WoW Classic beta and continue leveling my Tauren Warrior. As far as I can tell, it ended before I had the time and energy to get back in there. Overall, I had a lot of fun! The pace is much slower than “live” WoW, and that provided a very relaxed and peaceful experience. The slow pace works well for me, a person who has chronic illnesses and chronic pain. Bag space is very limited, which forces players to make calculated decisions about what to sell (or drop) and what to keep. There is an Auction House, but I didn’t try it out. Money making is very slow in Classic WoW compared to “live” WoW, and this may frustrate some players. My Experience in the WoW Classic Beta is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... What the WoW Classic Stress Test was LikeMay 24, 2019World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft ClassicTo my surprise, I got invited to join the WoW Class Stress Test. The goal of stress tests are to break the server. Blizzard wanted as many people as possible to try to log into the game at the same time. I am interested in playing WoW Classic when it launches. I started playing World of Warcraft back in “Vanilla”, and about a month or so before The Burning Crusade expansion launched. So, I remember all kinds of wonkiness that happened back then. My hope was to get into the game and test out some actual bugs (instead of “not a bug” features). The email I got about the WoW Classic Stress Test said it was ok for players to post screenshots and/or stream the Stress Test. I showed up about 20 minutes before the Stress Test would start so I had time to set up for streaming. When 4:00 hit, everyone who was there to participate in the Stress Test got their first opportunity to login. Players had to put in their email that is connected to Blizzard’s games and their password. I did not want to stream until after I’d actually gotten into the Stress Test. The reason was that disconnections were likely to happen. It didn’t seem like a good idea to be typing in my email, and my password, while streaming. The screenshot above shows that I got as far as getting the game to understand that I had logged in. So far, so good! The Realm Selection screen had only one option: “Classic Stress Test”. It was a PVP realm. I haven’t done much PVP in World of Warcraft, but was willing to give it a try on a Stress Test. My plan was to roll a Tauren Warrior and hope for the best. “Realm is Full.” My position in the queue (this time) was 871. The server was trying to estimate how much time it would take before I could expect to get into the game. “You have been disconnected from the server.” I was expecting this to happen, especially at the start of the Stress Test. Too many people, all trying to login at the same time, makes the server unhappy. It happens in alphas and betas, too. The thing is, getting disconnected from WoW while trying to log into the game is something I remember happening in “Vanilla”. Players just put up with it and logged in again, assuming that they would get into the game eventually. After getting disconnected over and over and over again, I decided to talk about it a bit on social media. There must be other people who were playing “login roulette”, just like I was. I posted a link to my Twitch stream on Mastodon, with the explanation that I’d been disconnected from the Stress Test several times and would start streaming if/when I got into the game. On Twitter, I simply noted that I was getting disconnected a lot. “Login Servers are Full” My position in the queue (this time) was 2811. This number turned out to be one of the highest queue numbers I’d see during the Stress Test. My estimated time to wait was 4 minutes. I could do 4 minutes. Again, this was something I remember happening during “Vanilla” WoW. I mean, the login problem didn’t happen every time, but it happened often enough that it wasn’t a surprise. Players knew that they would probably be able to access the server their characters were on…. eventually. About 45 minutes of the Stress Test had passed by, and I was still hadn’t been able to “beat the login boss”. I’d lost count of how many times I’d gotten disconnected. On social media, I posted: “Starting to wonder if the login – select server – get into game – process is the thing Blizzard is doing a stress test on.” I wasn’t kidding. To me, it seemed like a good idea for them to get a bunch of people to all login at the same time to see what happens. Ideally, Blizzard would learn something from the Stress Test that would enable them to make the launch of WoW Classic go smoothly. Or, as smooth as possible. The queue numbers were getting lower and lower as people gave up and stopped trying to log into the Stress Test. Maybe they got frustrated. I decided to stick around as long as I could just to see what happened. The screenshot above shows that the Classic Stress Test server is “Locked”. This, too, is something that actually would happen during “Vanilla”. It wasn’t super common (at least, not in my experience). From what I remember, “Locked” meant that the server had reached the maximum number of players and would not allow anyone else in. When this happened, a player had two choices. Wait around until somebody logged out and hope that you got their spot. Or, start an alt on a realm that wasn’t locked right now. Eventually, the Realm Selection screen showed that the Classic Stress Test realm was “Offline”. It was greyed out, and it was not possible to select it by clicking on it. On Mastodon, I posted: “Have reached the realm selection part of the login process (yet again). It is greyed out. What once said “low” population… now says “Offline”. We broke the WoW Classic Stress Test?” We were still within the timeframe for the WoW Classic Stress Test. I wasn’t sure if the realm would come back online, or if we broke it beyond repair. The only thing to do was to keep trying to login and see what happened. Round and round I go! On social media, I wrote: “One hour into the Classic WoW Stress Test, and still haven’t beaten the ‘login boss’. Starting to think Blizzard’s stress test is specifically designed to test the login/disconnect issue. If so, then we broke it. Good job, us!” It was around dinner time, and my husband, Shawn, ordered food. I decided that I would keep trying to get into the Stress Test until the food arrived. If I hadn’t gotten in by then, I would give up and go eat. The food arrived before the WoW Classic Stress Test ended. I never did manage to get in to the game. I am not disappointed. The game will launch in August, and I’ll be able to play it all I want. Overall, Blizzard provided those who participated in the Stress Test with a rather accurate experience of what it was like to login to “Vanilla” WoW back in the day. This example was more extreme than typical, but definitely has the right flavor.... Darkmoon Faire AchievementsMay 15, 2019Holiday Events / World of WarcraftThe Darkmoon Faire is fun, but I rarely have found time to play in it. So, I made an effort to bring Meipo, my little Gnome Mage, to the Faire. In this blog post, I have screenshots of all the Darkmoon Faire Achievements that she was able to earn. (Some will be added later as Meipo levels up and gains opportunity to earn more of them.) Come One, Come All!: Attend the Darkmoon Faire. I had to crop the Achievement Toast screenshot because another player, on a huge, flying mount, appeared and entirely blocked Meipo out of the screenshot. Quick Shot: Score a Quick Shot at the Shooting Gallery. Blast Off!: Complete The Real Race with the Rocketeer within 25 tolls. Rocketeer: Bronze: Complete The Real Race with the Rocketeer within 20 tolls. I Was Promised a Pony: Ride a Darkmoon Pony. Meipo got to ride a pony! Blastenheimer Bullseye: Score a bullseye when launched from the Darkmoon Cannon. Step Right Up: Play five different Darkmoon games: Cannon Blast, Shooting Gallery, Ring Toss, Tonk Battle, Whack-A-Gnoll Darkmoon Racer Novice: Complete The Real Race with the Racing Strider within 25 tolls. Darkmoon Racer Jockey: Complete The Real Race with the Racing Strider within 20 tolls. Darkmoon Racer Leadfoot: Complete The Real Race with the Racing Strider within 15 tolls. There are many more Darkmoon Faire Achievements. This blog is about the ones that Meipo the Mage got the first time she went to the Darkmoon Faire. I will update this blog post if and when Meipo returns to the Darkmoon Faire and completes more Achievements. Darkmoon Faire Achievements is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Thoughts About World of Warcraft ClassicDecember 23, 2018World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft ClassicI was fortunate enough to attend Blizzcon 2018. One of the (many) demo games that was available for people to try was World of Warcraft Classic. I wanted to share my thoughts about it before I forgot what I intended to say. The screenshots you see in this blog were obviously NOT taken while I was at BlizzCon. I had time to play the World of Warcraft Classic demo after returning home from BlizzCon. These screenshots were taken on my computer after BlizzCon 2018 was over. I decided to get in line for the World of Warcraft Classic demo at BlizzCon to kill some time. My husband needed to go all over the conference in order to do some shopping for someone who was unable to attend BlizzCon. It was the second day of BlizzCon, and I was exhausted. I have several chronic illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. There was no way I was going to summon the energy that shopping trip required. Instead, I took the opportunity to try some game demos. There were two guys ahead of me in the long and winding line. It turned out all three of us played Vanilla WoW back in the day, and all as Alliance characters. We reminisced about how long it took to run around without a mount, and wondered about how much of that old world would remain the same in WoW Classic. My first character was a Night Elf Hunter, and I shared my story about running out of arrows and not having any idea of how or where to get more. We laughed about Hunter pets that had moods that the player had to manage. Failure meant the Hunter pet would run away, leaving the Hunter to try and tame another one. Actually sitting down at a computer at BlizzCon to play WoW Classic was exciting. There is something about hands-on video game experience that makes the things that had been announced seem real. I rolled a Night Elf Hunter, and received a boar as a pet. So did all the other Hunters. Blizzard planned ahead and gave all Hunters plenty of ammo to start with. I didn’t have to worry about running out. I found it amusing that my pet started to get unhappy if I was standing around for too long – but quickly became super happy again when I sent it into battle. I had forgotten that Hunters needed to feed their pet to keep it happy. When I tried to give my boar some food, I was reminded that it was a picky eater. If I remember correctly, text popped up that said something like “Your pet doesn’t like that food.” It made me laugh! Those who tried the WoW Classic demo at BlizzCon found themselves in a server filled with other, very excited, players. Someone invited me into a group right away, and I accepted the invitation. There was a brief moment when four Night Elf Hunters were running around together, trying to slay bandits that were a higher level than we were. Speaking of levels, Blizzard made a very good decision and started players off at Level 15. This happened in both the demo at BlizzCon and the one people could try at home. It made things move a lot faster than if we all had to start at Level 1 and grind our way upward. Starting at Level 15 allowed players to actually survive some of their encounters with enemies! A group of players on the BlizzCon server had a fun idea. They urged everyone to go to Deadmines, in as large a group as possible, and kill Elites together. This was manageable because all Alliance players started in Westfall. It was so much fun slaying Elite enemies in the hallway that leads to Deadmines! We outnumbered them, and the quick respawns weren’t a match for the sheer number of overexcited players who were having a great time. It turned out we couldn’t access the actual Deadmines dungeon, so we stayed in the hallway, battled to our death, and made multiple corpse runs right back in. It was announced at BlizzCon that World of Warcraft Classic would not require a separate subscription. It will come with a regular World of Warcraft subscription. Personally, I think this was another great decision by Blizzard. It enables people who want to play WoW Classic to be able to afford it. Those who were not initially interested in WoW Classic, but who have a “regular” WoW subscription, will have the opportunity to try Classic at any time without having to pay extra money to do so. Maybe the nostalgia of it will bring in some hesitant players. Or, it could bring in players who were too young to have played in Vanilla WoW, and who are curious about what it was like. The “Con Crud” caught up to me shortly after I returned home from BlizzCon. I expected this – my immune system sucks and I get sick all the time. Later, I learned that plenty of typically healthy people who went to BlizzCon were also afflicted with bad “Con Crud”. As such, I was at home playing WoW Classic on my computer while exhausted. The hyped-up energy of BlizzCon had disappeared; there was no crowd of players to interact with in person; and the server I was on felt very empty. It probably didn’t help that I was playing at weird hours when most other people were probably sleeping. The first thing I did was roll another Night Elf Hunter – who started at Level 15 with a boar pet and more ammo than I was likely to use up before the demo ended. The whole atmosphere had changed. I was fighting enemies by myself, dying more than I did at BlizzCon, and making really dumb decisions because I was playing while sick. This slowed-down experience was not actually a disappointment. It reminded me very much of what it was like when I played Vanilla WoW. Long story short, I didn’t have anyone to play with back then, and did not join a guild until after The Burning Crusade had launched. It was quiet, with long stretches of calm as I slowly walked around Westfall. I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out where I was supposed to go to complete the quests that I had accepted. In “live” WoW, my Death Knight has an easy time killing all who cross her path. In WoW Classic, I had to return to using strategy, thinking hard before sending my pet to attack an enemy, and running away when I accidentally pulled the whole mob at once. Overall, I’m looking forward to playing WoW Classic. I want the opportunity to level up a brand new character (with the old skills and talent tree) and exploring an Azeroth that has changed so much between then and now. I want to visit the less traveled areas of Azeroth once again. My Thoughts About World of Warcraft Classic is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Out of Spoons (Chronic Illness)A Timeline of the GOP’s Attempts to Destroy Obamacare – Part Three – ContinuedJuly 3, 2019health insurance / Out of SpoonsThis blog post is a continuation of everything significant that happened with Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid, and access to reproductive health care in the United States in 2019. Part Three left off at the end of June of 2019. This blog picks up in July of 2019. You may want to go back and take a look at the efforts that the Trump administration and the GOP made to destroy people’s access to health care in 2017 and in 2018. The purpose of this series of blog posts is to make it incredibly easy find information about what happened to health care access during the Trump administration. July 1, 2019: The Hill posted an article titled: “Overnight Health Care: Panel of judges set for ObamaCare case | Trump officials delay ‘ conscience protection’ rule | Theranos founder to go on trial for fraud next summer”. It was written by Peter Sullivan. From the article: Panel of judges set for big ObamaCare court case next weekThe three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that will hear the lawsuit seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act was revealed on Monday.The judges for the July 9 arguments are Carolyn King, Jennifer Elrod and Kurt Englehardt. King was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, while Elrod and Englehardt were appointed by President George W. Bush. That means there are two Republican-appointed judges to one Democratic-appointed judge.Most legal experts in both parties view the lawsuit’s legal argument challenging the health care law as extremely weak and think that eventually ObamaCare will be upheld. But there are still a lot of question marks around the case, especially after the court last week asked whether the blue states arguing to uphold the health law even have the legal standing to be involved……Trump administration delays implementation of ‘conscience protection’ ruleThe Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is delaying the implementation of its “conscience protection” rule until November to give the administration more time to deal with a lawsuit over the policy.HHS announced in a court filing Saturday that the rule, which was originally scheduled to take effect July 22, would not be implemented until Nov. 22 at the earliest.A coalition of Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit against the administration in May saying the policy, which would allow health care providers to refuse to provide services on the basis of their religious beliefs, is unconstitutional……Background: President Trump announced the policy in May, which proponents say would protect health care workers and institutions from having to violate their religious or moral beliefs by participating in abortions, providing contraception sterilization, or performing other procedures… July 1, 2019: NPR posted an article titled: “Court Order Delay Of Trump Administration’s Health Care ‘Conscience Rights’ Rule”. It was written by Selena Simmons-Duffin. From the article: The federal government’s rule designed to support health workers who opt out of providing care that violates their moral or religious beliefs will not go into effect in July as scheduled. The effective date has been delayed by four months, according to court orders.The “Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care” rule was originally issued in May by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. It aligns with that office’s religious freedom priorities and would put new emphasis on existing laws that give health care workers the ability to file a complaint with that office if they are forced to participate in medical care that violates their conscience – such as abortion, gender confirmation surgery, and assisted suicide.As NPR reported, the rule also expands the type of workers who are able to file this kind of complaint to billing staff and receptionists and anyone else who in any way “assist[s] in the performance” of a procedure……Several groups sued the federal government over the rule immediately after it was issued. New York state led a coalition of 23 cities and states in one suit, and three jurisdictions in California also sued, including California state and San Francisco. Yet another plaintiff, Santa Clara County in California’s Bay Area, made the case that the rule put patient safety at risk, since it gave health workers the right to opt out of providing care without prior notice – potentially even in an emergency……Santa Clara and several other plaintiffs had filed for a preliminary injunction to prevent the rule from going into effect while the legal process played out……The new effective date is Nov. 22 – the federal judge in the California cases make that official over the weekend, and in the New York case, the federal judge certified the change on Monday… July 1, 2019: CNBC posted an article titled: “Nancy Pelosi’s latest Medicare proposal would pass drug discounts to all consumers”. It was written by Berkeley Lovelace, Jr. From the article: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s latest draft of legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices would also apply those discounts to private health plans across the U.S., according to a senior Democratic aide.The Department of Health and Human Services is currently prohibited from negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare – the federal government’s health insurance plan for the elderly. Pelosi has been working for months on a plan that would give HHS that power, which private health insurers already have. The most recent draft of the legislation proposes to extend those cost savings to private insurance plans, the aide said, asking not to be identified because the legislation is still being drafted and could change.Kaiser Health News first reported the news……It’s unknown if Pelosi’s plan would apply to all drugs. But according to Kaiser, it would authorize HHS to negotiate the prices of the 250 most expensive drugs. July 1, 2019: The American Medical Association (AMA) posted news titled: “Supreme Court to Medicare: Seek feedback before changing rules”. It was written by Contributing News Writer American Medical Association Tanya Albert Henry. From the news: A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling ensures that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) officials must tell the public about proposed changes to Medicare benefits – even if they seem minor – and give physicians and other stakeholders a chance to comment on modifications’ potential impact.Physicians are cheering the ruling, as the outcome is one the Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies advocated for in a friend of the court brief filed in the case before the high court on behalf of the AMA and the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. Physicians told justices that “even ‘seemingly minor’ modifications in reimbursement determinations give rise to extreme financial consequences for providers and ultimately their patients.”The majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, opens by saying that in “one way or another, Medicare touches the lives of nearly all Americans,” noting that it provides health insurance for nearly one-fifth of the nation’s population. In explaining its reasoning for requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to seek input, the court echoes arguments that the Litigation Center brief made about the importance of a notice-and-comment period for physicians, patients, and other stakeholders… July 1, 2019: University of Wisconsin-Madison News posted an article titled: “Wisconsin Medicaid expansion lowered antidiabetic drug costs 70%”. It was written by Katie Gerhards. From the article: …A new study by a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers shows that Wisconsin Medicaid’s 2004 coverage expansion had a tremendous impact on making antidiabetic drugs more affordable for one of the state’s populations that needs them the most: childless adults with low income.Although Wisconsin did not participate in the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion, legislators approved a limited expansion through a Section 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waiver. Effective 2014, this waiver expands coverage for childless adults earning up to 100% of the federal poverty level.Previously, this group had been covered by the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan, with covered fewer medications and had higher copays for generic and brand-name drugs. Transitioning from the Core Plan to the more comprehensive Standard Plan dropped out-of-pocket costs for antidiabetic medication by an average of 70 percent per childless adult, or $36.59 per year.The expanded coverage also correlated with a 4 percent increase in childless adults using antidiabetic medications, such as insulin and oral medications like metformin. That increase is largely driven by a growing number of people using medication, suggesting affordability might have been an obstacle before the coverage expansion… July 1, 2019: IndyStar posted an article titled: “State calls new rules ‘Gateway to Work.’ Activists call them a ‘poverty trap.'” It was written by Shari Rudavsky. From the article: …The requirements began Monday. People covered under the Healthy Indiana Plan are expected to work at least 20 hours per month. That number will slowly climb until July 2020, when Medicaid recipients will need to show that they have worked, volunteered, studied, or acted as a caregiver for 80 hours each month.State officials have said the Gateway to Work program will encourage low-income Hoosiers to find employment and improve lives. They said the program will support Hoosiers as they transition to employment at the same time it requires them to have “some skin in the game.”Those who oppose the work requirements point to Arkansas, where an estimated 17,000 people have lost health insurance since work requirements went int effect in June 2018.But officials for the Family and Social Services Administration have said the road map for Indiana looks nothing like the one overseen in Little Rock. They have estimated that about 20 percent of those currently on the Healthy Indiana Plan, or about 85,000 people, will be affected by the work requirement.At the start, FSSA officials have said they will operate under “an economy of trust” and allow HIP recipients to log their work hours without requiring outside documentation.Still, activists say they fear the new requirements will lead those in need to lose precious coverage, coverage that many value……Even if the system works as well as it can be expected, some recipients could still find it challenging to meet the requirement that they log on monthly to prove their eligibility, said Donna Neidnagel, a Brown County resident who spoke Monday.Only about a third of people who are full-time residents in Brown County have access to the internet. Many people live in areas where cellphones have no reception… July 1, 2019: Crain’s Chicago Business posted an article titled: “Illinois hiring hundreds to reduce Medicaid backlogs”. It was written by Stephanie Goldberg. From the article: Illinois is hiring hundreds of frontline workers to resolve major delays of its Medicaid application and renewal process.The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which oversee Medicaid, and the Illinois Department of Human Services are working together to fill the vacancies, the departments said in a statement today. The first positions are expected to be filled this week.The Medicaid redetermination process, which reviews eligibility for the state’s nearly 3 million Medicaid beneficiaries, can lead to lapses in coverage. Such gaps are hard on patients, especially those managing chronic conditions, and health systems that don’t get reimbursed for medical services when claims are denied by health plans.Backlogs, which have increased in recent years, are considered delays of 45 days or more for initial applications and 60 days or more for renewals, the statement says……A recently passed a bipartisan Medicaid reform package also aims to reduce the backlogs. July 1, 2019: The Independent posted an article titled: “Iowa sued for blocking Medicaid from funding reassignment surgery”. It was written by Lily Puckett. From the article: The ACLU of Iowa has filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery.Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill on 3 May that included language amending the Iowa’s Civil Rights Act so that the state is not required to pay for gender reassignment surgery. On Friday, The ACLU sued Mr Reynolds, the state and the Iowa Department of Human Services on behalf of One Iowa, a group that advocates for transgender rights, and two transgender Iowans who qualify for Medicaid and whose doctors say they need the surgery to treat gender dysphoria.The lawsuit filed in the state court asks a judge to declare the measure invalid because it’s unconstitutional and order the state to halt enforcement. It claims the law violates inalienable rights to liberty, safety and happiness and equal protection sections of article 1 of the Iowa Constitution……In March, the Supreme Court ruled that the Iowa Department of Human Services cannot block Medicaid from paying for gender reassignment surgery for two transgender women whose doctors recommended the procedure.Republicans in the Iowa Legislature passed the law being challenged as part of a last minute addition to a human services budget bill responding to that ruling… July 2, 2019: Politico posted an article titled: “GOP states seek delay in Obamacare case”. It was written by Dan Diamond. From the article: REPUBLICAN STATES REQUEST OBAMACARE TRIAL DELAYThe GOP-led states seeking to overturn Obamacare requested on Monday that they get an additional 20 days to file a supplemental brief and that the opening argument set for next week to be delayed to “a date of the Court’s choosing” after the filing.In a letter to the clerk of the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals, attorney Kyle Hawkins said these “important” questions “merit a thorough response” that represents the views of all the states. “As of today, it appears unlikely that any such response will be completed by the Court’s July 3 deadline.”……ORAL ARGUMENTS SET IN CONSCIENCE-RULE LAWSUITPlaintiffs suing to stop HHS’s rule to strengthen conscience rights will have their day in court on Oct. 30, a federal judge in California ordered on Monday.The Trump administration’s rule, which would expand protections for religious-workers to deny health services, was to take effect on July 22, but U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup this weekend postponed the rule’s effect until Nov. 22. HHS was sued by San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the Democratic-led states……REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS GROUPS PUSH BACK ON FDAA coalition of 75 reproductive rights organizations and physicians sent an open letter to FDA calling for the agency and other government officials to remove barriers for patients to access abortion pills. The pills are supplied by a Dutch pharmacist through the website AidAccess.Org, but in March the FDA ordered the site in a warning letter to stop selling unapproved versions of two drugs – mifepristone and misoprostol – to U.S. consumers.The groups, including Planned Parenthood and National Organization for Women, argued that the medicines have been proven safe and effective and if laws and regulations “were based on science – not politics” they would be readily available… July 2, 2019: Aid Access.org posted “Open Letter – Medication Abortion Access Should Be Based on Science Not Politics”. From the open letter: In October of 2018, the international group AidAccess.org, led by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, began offering mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly known as medication abortion pills, by mail, to patients in the United States. After an online medical consultation with a patient, Dr. Gomperts writes a prescription and a pharmacy fills the prescription and ships pills to the patient. According to analysis conducted by a research team at the University of Texas at Austin, in its first year of operation, AidAccess.org received over 21,000 requests for abortion pills, without any advertising or outreach.The two-medication combination that AidAccess.org is providing has been demonstrated to be safe and effective in extensive research and is the same combination approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Yet, despite the strong safety record of medication abortion, in March 2019 the FDA sent warning letters to AidAccess.org and Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, stating that they are violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by offering mifepristone and misoprostol directly to U.S. consumers seeking to end a pregnancy. The agency demanded that AidAccess.org immediately cease offering these medications to people in the United States.If the laws and regulations that determine the terms of abortion access in the United States were based on science – not politics – medication abortion would be widely available in the United States without medically unnecessary restrictions on distribution. Abortion with quality pills delivered by mail directly to one’s home with instructions for use in multiple languages and access to medical counseling and back-up, if needed, should be one of an array of abortion options available, ensuring everyone who needs to end a pregnancy has the freedom and control to do so in a way that best fits their lives. However, due to the politics of abortion, medication abortion has been over-regulated by the FDA, and pushed further out of reach for many by state restrictions.The high demand for medication abortion by mail should come as no surprise. Access to abortion is under direct threat today, with near-total bans on abortion care recently signed into law in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio. This is happening in a context in which abortion is already inaccessible for many: 90% of U.S. counties have no abortion clinic. In addition to having to travel a long distance to the nearest abortion clinic, many people have to endure legally-mandated waiting periods. These medically unnecessary waiting periods create further challenges for people who have to take time away from work or school or arrange for childcare. These hurdles may increase the cost of an abortion, which averages $500 in the first trimester and only becomes more expensive as pregnancy progresses. In 35 states and the District of Columbia, Medicaid does not cover abortion care except in rare cases, making abortion financially inaccessible for low-income people. These restrictions are about control and limiting options, not safety or health……The risk for a person self-managing an abortion with pills in the United States today is not medical but legal. Since the year 2000, there have been at least 21 known arrests in the United States of people for ending their own pregnancy or helping someone who has made the decision to do so. Some have gone to jail, but even those who have not have had their lives turned upside down by investigations and in some cases have suffered economic and social harm caused by negative media exposure. The threat of investigation, arrest, or punishment is particularly of concern for those who live under heightened government surveillance, including many in immigrant communities. Five states currently have laws on the books that criminalizes self-managed abortion. The fact that these laws are generally outdated and likely unconstitutional does not mean they are inert: they have been used in the last decade to arrest, investigate, and prosecute people who ended or who were suspected of ending their own pregnancies. And in states without such laws, prosecutors who wish to punish people for abortion have used laws that were never intended to apply to self-managed abortion to target people who have ended, or are suspected of ending, their own pregnancies.The anti-abortion politicians and activists who propose restrictions are attempting to legislate legal abortion out of existence. They are well aware that the FDA’s restrictions and actions are a key element in the success of their own efforts to make abortion inaccessible… The letter included a list of organizations who signed on to the letter, as well as a list of individual medical professionals. Here are the organizations: Abortion Access FrontAbortion Care NetworkACCESS Women’s Health JusticeAdvocates for YouthAll-OptionsCarolina Abortion FundCatholics for ChoiceChicago Abortion FundCivil Liberties and Public Policy ProgramClarinda Regional Health CenterFeminist Women’s Health CenterForward TogetherGateway Women’s Access FundIf/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive JusticeIn Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice AgendaIpasLegal VoiceMaine Family PlanningMariposa FundMedical Students for ChoiceMidwest Access CoalitionNARAL Pro-Choice ArizonaNARAL Pro-Choice ColoradoNational Abortion FederationNational Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)National Latina Institute for Reproductive HealthNational Institute for Reproductive HealthNew Voices for Reproductive JusticeNurses for Sexual and Reproductive HealthPendergrast ConsultingPhysicians for Reproductive HealthPlan CPlanned Parenthood Federation of AmericaProgress FloridaPublic Leadership InstituteReligious Coalition for Reproductive ChoiceSisterLove, Inc.SisterReachSurge Reproductive JusticeURGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender EqualityWest Virginia FreeWhole Woman’s Health / Whole Woman’s Health AllianceWomen on Web July 2, 2019: Statesman posted an article titled: “Court denies Texas bid to delay Affordable Care Act arguments”. It was written by Chuck Lindell. From the article: Keeping a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act on a fast track, a federal appeals court Tuesday rejected a request to delay next week’s oral arguments made by Texas and 19 the states seeking to overturn the law.The Republican attorneys general, including Ken Paxton of Texas, said they needed more time to research and respond to questions – recently posed by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ three-judge panel – that could end the appeal and provide a victory for opponents of the law.With that response due Wednesday, Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins, the top appellate lawyer in Paxton’s agency, asked for 20 additional days to submit the brief, with oral arguments to be reset for sometime afterward.The appeals court rejected the request but pushed the deadline back two days, giving all sides until 5 p.m. Friday to submit the requested briefs.The delay was opposed by Democratic-led states and the U.S. House, which are fighting to preserve the Affordable Care Act after a federal judge in Texas – based on a lawsuit filed by Paxton – ruled in 2018 that the law was unconstitutional……The law, sometimes known as Obamacare, remains in effect during the appeal… July 2, 2019: WITF posted an article titled: “Pennsylvania’s own insurance exchange coming next year”. It was written by Marc Levy. From the article: Pennsylvania is moving to replace the federally operated Healthcare.gov with its own website to sell Affordable Care Act-compliant policies in a bid to get more people into it and lower their costs.Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation Tuesday after it passed the Legislature unanimously last week. The administration unveiled the legislation in June after lining up support from a wide range of business and consumer advocacy groups, as well as leadership in the Republican-controlled Legislature.Pennsylvania let the federal government know of its intent and is preparing to submit its plans, called a “blueprint,” in the coming weeks.Wolf’s administration expects to take over some of the marketing and outreach efforts for Healthcare.gov next year before it unveils its new website next year for enrollment in the 2021 insurance year.It says it expects it can lower premiums by 5% to 10% for the 400,000 people who buy policies in the marketplace. Wolf’s insurance commissioner, Jessica Altman, said the savings can especially help the roughly 80,000 people who buy policies through Healthcare.gov, but whose incomes are too high to qualify for a federal tax subsidy… July 2, 2019: KTVA The Voice of Alaska posted an article titled: “Alaskans lose Medicaid dental benefits after Dunleavy budget cuts”. It was written by Lauren Maxwell. From the article: After Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $50 million from the state’s Medicaid budget last week, some Alaskans are already starting to feel the effects.A large chunk of those cuts – $27 million – eliminates dental benefits for adults on Medicaid that in 2018 included approximately 30,000 Alaskans.On Monday, Anchorage Dental Group began calling its Medicaid patients to tell them their dental benefits were gone. Office Manager Candace Fleming said that included some patients whose treatment wasn’t finished yet……The cuts eliminate all services including preventive care like cleanings and fillings – the kind of things that Dr. James Hyer said can keep small problems from getting worse……The State said services to children on Medicaid are not impacted by the budget cuts and that adults who need emergency care for immediate relief of pain or acute infection will still be covered. July 2, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “Ninth Circus Provides Emergency Relief for Millions of Title X Patients”. From the press release: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has blocked the Trump-Pence administration’s dangerous Title X gag rule. The court’s order provides much-needed emergency relief to millions of people who access birth control and other reproductive health services through the program.Title X is the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, which serves four million people each year. Trump’s gag rule makes it illegal for health care providers in the Title X program to refer patients for abortion, and also blocks access to care at Planned Parenthood by imposing cost-prohibitive and unnecessary “physical separation” requirements. Title X helps millions of people struggling to make ends meet – the majority of whom are people of color, Hispanic, or Latino – access birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing, and other essential reproductive health care. Providers who serve nearly half of the patients who get care through Title X have made it clear that the rule would force them out of the program – the administration is putting health care at risk for patients across the country by pushing this rule to go into effect… July 2, 2019: Center for Reproductive Rights posted a press release titled: “Trump Administration Postpones Denial of Care Rule”. From the press release: In response to the Trump administration’s announcement that the Denial of Care Rule will no longer go into effect on July 22, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Lambda Legal, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the County of Santa Clara issued the following statement:“As we know from the firsthand accounts of our plaintiffs – health care providers who are on the front lines every day caring for patients – discrimination in health care is dangerous and lives are truly at stake. Confronted with these facts and the flurry of lawsuits showing how the Denial of Care Rule would irreparably harm health care providers and patients across the country, the Trump administration agreed to delay implementation. The Rule invites health care workers to discriminate based on religious or moral objections, targeting LGBTQ people and women seeking reproductive health care. The Rule is unconstitutional and we are ready to take on the Trump administration in this fight.”On Saturday, June 29, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stipulated that it will delay the implementation of Denial of Care Rule. A court order put the delay of the rule into effect yesterday. The rule will no longer take effect on July 22 as originally planned; instead the rule will be delayed at least until November 22……The new regulation, issued in May by HHS, invites anyone employed by a health care provider – including doctors, nurses, EMTs, administrators, janitors, and clerical staff – to deny medical treatment and services to patients because of personal religious or moral beliefs. Health care facilities that do not comply risk losing federal funding. If allowed to go into effect, the Rule will cause mass confusion among health care providers and is completely infeasible to implement. As a result, some health care facilities – most of which receive federal funding through HHS – may do away with reproductive and LGBTQ services altogether, leaving millions without access to health care.In the lawsuit, the civil rights organizations argue that the rule is unconstitutional because it advances specific beliefs in violation of the First Amendment; violates patients’ rights to privacy, liberty, and equal dignity as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment; and chills patients’ speech and expression in violation of the First Amendment, all to the detriment of patients’ health and well-being. The lawsuit also asserts that HHS violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act in creating the rule by arbitrarily and capriciously failing to consider the impact on patients and the health care system. July 3, 2019: The Hill posted an article titled: “Judge blocks Ohio’s ‘heartbeat’ abortion law”. It was written by Jessie Hellmann. From the article: A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked an Ohio law that would have banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.The law, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, was signed earlier this year by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood.It was slated to take effect this month, but U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the law from taking effect while it is challenged in court……Barrett wrote in his ruling that the law places an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to obtain an abortion before the fetus is viable, violating Supreme Court precedent.The law would have been one of the strictest in the nation with no exemptions for cases of rape or incest… The case is called Preterm-Cleveland, et. al. vs. David Yost, et. al. It is available online. Here are some parts of U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett’s ruling: …In a nutshell, S.B. 23 bans abortion care at and after approximately six weeks in pregnancy. And, in so doing, according to Plaintiffs – a collection of reproductive clinics and physicians providing abortion care – violates women’s right to privacy as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment……At six weeks LMP, many women are unaware that they are pregnant… Typically the menstrual cycle is approximately four weeks long, but varies based on the individual. Assuming a woman has consistently regular periods, she would be considered four weeks pregnant as measured from her LMP when her missed period occurs. Those who have irregular periods – caused by common medical conditions, contraceptive use, age or breastfeeding – or those who experience bleeding during early pregnancy that could be mistaken for a period may not realize that they missed a period…. But assuming a patient does know she is pregnant, there are certain logistical obstacles to obtaining abortion care before six weeks in pregnancy… She will need to schedule an appointment, make sure of payment, arrange for transportation, time off of work and possibly childcare during appointments… A minor patient, unless emancipated, also must obtain written parental consent or a court order… And all patients, regardless of age, must make two in-person trips – at least 24 hours apart – to the clinic before they can obtain an abortion… These reasons explain why the majority of abortions in Ohio – approximately 90% – take place at or after six weeks LMP. … S.B. 23, therefore, will prohibit almost all abortion care in Ohio……The Court concludes, based on current United States Supreme Court precedent, that Plaintiffs are certain to succeed on the merits of their claim that S.B. 23 is unconstitutional on its face……Plaintiffs argue that their patients will suffer serious and irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction, because allowing the Act to take effect will prevent Ohio women from exercising their constitutional right to reproductive freedom as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment… Inasmuch as this Court has determined that S.B. 23 places an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to choose a pre-viability abortion, and thus violates her right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, we further determine that its enforcement would, per se, inflect irreparable harm……[Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v] Casey acknowledged the State’s “legitimate interest from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the … life of the fetus that may become a child.”… But that acknowledgement was preceded with the recognition that “[b]efore viability, the State’s interests are not strong enough to support a prohibition of abortion or the imposition of a substantial obstacle to the woman’s effective right to elect the procedure”…. An injunction will preserve the status quo that has been in place for more than 40 years since Roe was decided, and some 25 years since Casey followed… CONCLUSIONFor the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction … is GRANTED. Specifically, all Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of this Order, are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing or complying with S.B. 23 pending further Order of this Court… July 3, 2019: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) posted a press release titled: “Judge Blocks Ohio’s Near Total Abortion Ban in ACLU Case”. From the press release: A federal judge temporarily blocked an Ohio law that would have banned abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Ohio, and Planned Parenthood brought the lawsuit on behalf of Preterm-Cleveland and other abortion clinics in the state. Senate Bill 23 was signed by Governor DeWine and was scheduled take effect this month.Ohio is one of more than seven states that have considered similar legislation so far this year. In addition to Ohio, the ACLU has challenged similar abortion bans in Kentucky and Georgia, a near total ban in Alabama, and an 18-week ban in Arkansas, among other litigation. Courts have already blocked identical measures in Kentucky and Mississippi. None of the bans are in effect, and abortion remains legal in all 50 states… July 3, 2019: Politico posted an article titled: “Appeals court takes up fresh challenge to Trump abortion ‘gag rule'”. It was written by Rachel Roubein and Renuka Rayasam. From the article: The full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday said it would take up a fresh challenge to the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal family planning program just weeks after three of its Republican-appointed judges said the policy change can take effect nationwide while several legal challenges play out.The appeals court froze the administration’s rule revamping the Title X program while it hears the case, according to Brigitte Amiri, deputy director at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project.The court’s order marks the latest turn in a battle over the administration’s changes to the program, which seek to steer federal dollars away from providers such as Planned Parenthood that offer abortions and abortion referrals. Critics have dubbed the Trump policy a “gag rule”.The order covers several challenges to the rules, but it’s unclear whether they will be heard together or separately… July 3, 2019: The American Civil Liberties Union posted a press release titled: “Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Attempt to Gut Family Planning Program in Response to ACLU Lawsuit”. From the press release: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals restored a preliminary injunction today in the ACLU’s case against the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back Title X, the nation’s family planning program. The decision blocks the implementation of the rule, which would have undermined the health care needs of four million low-income people each year, while the cases argued… July 3, 2019: Center for Reproductive Rights posted a press release titled: “Judge refuses to block Title X Rule in Maine, jeopardizing healthcare access for thousands of Mainers”. From the press release: U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker today denied the Center for Reproductive Rights’ request to block the Trump Administration’s Domestic Gag Rule from going into effect in the state of Maine, jeopardizing the future of Maine Family Planning’s clinics across the state.In June 2019, on behalf of Maine Family Planning (MFP), the Center for Reproductive Rights made an emergency request to re-block the rule after a federal appeals court overrode lower court decisions that had previously blocked the rule from going into effect nationwide.Maine Family Planning is the state’s sole Title X grantee and the largest reproductive health care organization in Maine. With this ruling, 85% of abortion clinics in the state of Maine are in jeopardy…The Domestic Gag Rule Will:Force healthcare providers that receive federal funding like MFP to stop performing abortions, even though no federal funds are used to finance abortion.Prohibit doctors at these facilities from making referrals to abortion providers, even when the patient has already decided to have an abortion and directly asks for a referral.Force doctors to give all pregnant patients prenatal referrals, even when the patient doesn’t want one.Give Title X funding to non-medical organizations known as “crisis pregnancy centers,” which are designed to look like medical clinics but aim to deter women from getting abortions… July 3, 2019: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit posted its order on the case called State of California v. Alex M. Azar. It was written by Chief Justice Sidney R. Thomas. Upon the vote of a majority of nonrecused active judges, it is ordered that these cases be reheard en banc pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 35 (a) and Circuit Rule 35-3. The three-judge panel Order on Motions for Stay Pending Appeal in these cases shall not be cited as precedent by or to any court of the Ninth Circuit. Judges Graber, Christen, and Owens did not participate in the deliberations or vote in these cases. July 3, 2019: Delaware Online posted an article titled: “For the first time, Highmark looks to lower its Obamacare marketplace rates”. It was written by Meredith Newman. From the article: For the first time, Highmark BlueCross Blue Shield of Delaware is asking the state to decrease its Obamacare marketplace rates.Highmark, the only insurer on the Delaware Affordable Care Act marketplace, has proposed decreasing rates by 5.8 percent in 2020, officials said. This is expected affect about 20,000 residents.Previously, the insurer has increased rates in the double digits. Last year, rates increased by 3 percent, This decrease would only apply to Delawareans who are enrolled on the ACA marketplace, not those who have Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance… July 3, 2019: Oklahoma’s News 4 posted an article titled: “Oklahoma Medicaid Office: Update address or lose benefits”. From the article: Oklahoma’s Medicaid agency is warning its SoonerCare members to keep their current address on file with the agency or risk losing their health care benefits.The Oklahoma Health Care Authority sent out a public reminder Wednesday of the new rule that was signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt last week. The agency says it intends to launch outreach efforts through social media and through outbound phone calls to SoonerCare recipients after hours and on weekends.Agency officials say the rule is needed to comply with federal guidelines. But advocates for the poor have criticized the policy, saying low-income people move more frequently and that many members will be wrongfully cut from the programs… July 3, 2019: RappNews posted an article titled: “Free Clinic changes business model to accommodate expanded Medicaid program”. From the article: As of January 1, an additional 400,000 Virginians gained access to quality, low-cost health insurance through the state’s expanded Medicaid program.The enduring mission of the Fauquier Free Clinic (FFC) is to provide eligible residents of Fauqier and Rappahannock counties with access to comprehensive medical, dental and mental health care. This year, the clinic’s business model underwent extensive changes to accommodate new and existing patients when Medicaid expanded its services for low-income adults throughout Virginia……In Fauquier County alone, 1,700 to 1,800 people have become eligible for Medicaid insurance benefits. In Rappahannock County, 300 to 400 people are now eligible. Throughout the state of Virginia, eligibility has been granted to around 400,000 people.“Medicaid expansion was a great opportunity for the Commonwealth and Fauquier County to provide health insurance coverage for those most in need,” said FFC board member Gregory Bengston. “Changing our business model to ensure that clinic patients who were now Medicaid-eligible had continued access to health care services was a huge accomplishment”… July 3, 2019: The Middletown Press posted an article titled: “Appeals court puts Trump abortion restrictions on hold again”. It was written by Gene Johnson. From the article: Trump administration rules that impose additional hurdles for low-income women seeking abortions are on hold once again.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday vacated a unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel and said a slate of 11 judges will reconsider lawsuits brought by more than 20 states and several civil rights and health organizations challenging the rules.Critics say the rules would force many clinics to find new locations, undergo expensive remodels or shut down……With [the three-judge panel’s decision] vacated, the injunction issued by the lower court judges are once again in effect. It’s not clear when new court arguments will be held.“We are profoundly grateful the preliminary injunction is back in place,” said Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which is involved in the cases… July 3, 2019: Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat – Illinois) posted a press release on his official website titled: “Durbin Calls On Congress To Protect And Strengthen The ACA, Not Undermine It”. From the press release: With health care advocates once again under attack, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today stood with advocates and individuals who have been helped by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to address the Trump Administration’s latest lawsuit seeking to dismantle the health law and call on Congress to strengthen the ACA, not undermine it. Next week, oral arguments will be head on Texas v United States – a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the entire ACA. If the Trump Administration and 20 Republican state Attorneys General (AGs) succeed, the ACA could be struck down, leaving tens of millions of Americans without health care or protections for pre-existing conditions.“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 20 million Americans gained health insurance, including more than one million people in Illinois,” said Durbin. “All of its important and life-saving protections will be gone if President Trump gets his way starting next week in court. I stand ready to work with my colleagues in Congress to protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act.”After President Trump’s failed attempt to repeal the ACA two years ago, he turned to the courts to sabotage the health law. Last February, 20 Republican AGs filed a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the ACA – arguing that because the individual mandate penalty was zeroed out in the 2017 Republican tax law, the rest of the ACA should also be struck down.In December, a District Court judge in Texas sided with the Republican plaintiffs, and the case will go to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans next week. If the Trump Administration and Republican AGs succeed, the entirety of the ACA could be struck down, meaning: Protections for people with pre-existing conditions would be eliminatedMillions would be kicked off MedicaidIndividual insurance markets and premium assistance would be eliminatedSeniors on Medicare would face increased prescription drug costsWomen could be charged more than men for health careYoung people would no longer have access to their parents’ insurance plan up to age 26Annual and lifetime caps on benefits could returnThere would no longer be guaranteed coverage for preventative screening and contraception services without deductibles or copaymentsThere would no longer be guaranteed coverage for mental health or addiction treatment services Since the ACA was signed into law in 2010, the uninsured rate in Illinois has fallen by 49 percent. More than one million uninsured Illinoisans now have health insurance thanks to Medicaid expansion and tax credits to purchase Exchange plans, and 90,000 young adults have health insurance by staying on their parents’ plans until age 26. Further, the approximately 5 million Illinois residents with pre-existing conditions now have protections against discrimination from insurance companies, and Illinois seniors have saved an average of more than $1,000 on their prescription drugs due to the ACA’s closing of the Medicare “donut hole” coverage gap.Last month the House of Representatives passed bi-partisan legislation, Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act, to prevent President Trump from allowing health insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, yet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to call up this legislation for a vote. The House has also advanced legislation to crack down on junk health plans and restore funding for insurance sign-ups and outreach. July 3, 2019: Kaiser Family Foundation posted information titled: “Explaining Texas v. U.S: A Guide to the 5th Circuit Appeal in the Case Challenging the ACA”. It was written by MaryBeth Musumeci. I highly recommend you read it want to understand more about that case. In this blog post, I will include only the “Looking Ahead” portion of the information. Oral argument is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on July 9th, with 45 minutes to be shard among the state intervener-defendants and the House, and 45 minutes to be shared among the state plaintiffs, individual plaintiffs, and federal government. The case will be heard by a panel of three judges, including Judge Carolyn Dineen King (appointed by President Carter), Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod (appointed by President George W. Bush), and Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt (appointed by President Trump). There is no deadline by which the court must issue a decision, but it could come as early as fall 2019.If the court finds that the individual mandate is unconstitutional and invalidates only that provision, the practical result will be essential the same as the ACA exists today, as amended by the TCJA, without an enforceable mandate. If the court adopts the position that the federal government took during the trial court proceedings and invalidates the individual mandate as well as the protections for people with pre-existing conditions, then the federal funding for premium subsidies and the Medicaid expansion would stand, and it would be up to the states whether to reinstate the insurance programs.The most far-reaching consequences, affecting nearly every American in some way, will occur if the court decides that the entire ACA must be overturned. The number of non-elderly individuals who are uninsured decreased by 19.1 million from 2010 to 2017, as the ACA went into effect. The ACA made significant changes to the individual market, including requiring protections for people with pre-existing conditions, creating insurance marketplaces, and authorizing premium subsidies for people with low and modest incomes. The ACA also made other sweeping changes throughout the health care system including expanding Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults; requiring private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid expansion coverage of preventative services with no cost sharing; phasing out the Medicare prescription drug “doughnut hole” coverage gap’ reducing the growth of Medicare payments to health care providers and insurers; establishing new national initiatives to promote public health, care quality, and delivery system reforms; and authorizing a variety of tax increases to finance these changes. All of these provisions could be overturned if the trial court’s decision is upheld, and it would be enormously complex to disentangle them from the overall health care system… July 5, 2019: The Jamestown Sun posted an article titled: “Number of abortions continues to slide in North Dakota”. It was written by John Hageman. From the article: The number of induced abortions performed in North Dakota slid for the fourth straight year in 2018, marking the lowest figure since recordkeeping began almost four decades ago, according to new state data.There were 1,141 induced abortions recorded in North Dakota last year, down slightly from 1,155 in 2017, according to state Department of Health reports. The agency began tracking abortion statistics in 1981.The state hit a record number of abortions in 1982 with 3,076.Tammi Kromenaker, the director of the state’s sole abortion clinic, the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, cited Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, which the Trump administration has tried to roll back.“The (ACA) continuing to cover birth control, with no deductible and no co-pay, that is huge for so many families,” Kromenaker said Friday, July 5, noting that North Dakota is following a national trend in seeing abortion decline……The Red River Women’s Clinic recently joined the American Medical Association in filing a federal lawsuit against two North Dakota abortion laws they say will force doctors to misinform their patients and violate their medical ethics. That includes requiring physicians to inform patients it may be possible to revers a drug-induced abortion… July 5, 2019: San Francisco Chronicle posted an article titled: “California offers doctors student-loan help to treat underserved patients”. It was written by Elizabeth Aguilera. From the article: It’s a trade aimed at getting more doctors to treat poorer patients: California says it will help repay the student loans of 247 selected doctors in exchange for their promise that at least 30% of their caseload will be people enrolled in Medi-Cal.The $60 million student loan repayment, CalHealthCares, is funded by the state tobacco tax that voters increased three years ago.It’s all a part of California’s effort to increase the number of doctors who accept Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid health insurer of low-income residents, which has been plagued by shortages – due both to the state’s paltry rates for doctors in its provider network and to the substantial increase in the number of residents on Medi-Cal. California has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates in the country, and patients wait months, or longer, to see specialists.More than 1,300 doctors and medical residents applied for the benefit which provides up to $300,000 over five years, and those selected were chosen based on their commitment to treat the underserved, their geographic location and their specialities……Research indicates that debt is a major concern for physicians nationwide: a 2017 server by an affiliate of the American Medical Association found that half owed $200,000 or more in medical school loans……This is the first doctor group to receive funding from the $340 million fund created by Prop. 56 tobacco tax revenue. The state expects there will be at least five more rounds of awards.Later this summer, the state will announce awards for dentists who applied to participate in the loan repayment program for serving Denti-Cal patients. Information about that lawsuit can be found on the American Medical Association website. July 5, 2019: Idaho Press posted an article titled: Idaho seeks public comment on 2nd Medicaid waiver, for same purpose as 1st. It was written by Betsy Z. Russell. From the article: The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is taking public comment on a new Medicaid expansion waiver, less than a week after the comment period on a related waiver closed.Both applications deal with people who earn between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The intent is to give them the option to buy subsidized private health insurance through the state exchange, rather than shift to Medicaid. The agency announced the new waiver Wednesday, saying the move stems from conversations with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services……The move stems from actions taken by the Idaho Legislature during the 2019 session. Rather than implement straight Medicaid expansion, as approved by voters, Republican lawmakers adopted a series of conditions and restrictions on the program. One of the conditions was that people in the 100 percent to 138 percent income category be given the choice to remain in the state exchange.Under current federal rules, people who qualify for Medicaid aren’t eligible for the tax credits that will help lower the cost of private insurance through the state exchange. Consequently, Idaho will need federal approval to enact the Legislature’s will… July 5, 2019: The Philadelphia Inquirer posted an article titled: “Medicaid enrollment growth driven by families working for large employers, CHOP study finds.” It was written by Sarah Gantz. From the article: Enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, among children whose parents work full time and earn more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level grew significantly between 2008 and 2016, according to a new study by researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia published this month in Health Affairs.Researchers found the growth was largely driven by families working for large private employers, where health insurance is a standard benefit – but an increasingly unaffordable one.Employer-sponsored health insurance is still the most common type of health plan for adults under 65 and their children. But employees are spending more and more out of pocket as their wages remain stagnant.As companies are strained by rising health-care costs, they are shifting more of the burden to their employees. Across the country, employees’ average share of a premium for family coverage increased 57 percent between 2008 and 2016, to $5,277, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Deductibles rose from $1,344 to $2,147 for a family during that period.A study by the Commonwealth Fund found that nearly 24 million people with employer health plans spend at least 10 percent of their income on premiums, out-of-pocket costs, or both.Meanwhile, Medicaid offers low-cost coverage and possibly more comprehensive benefits for eligible families who are finding that they can’t afford their employer health coverage, said David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a co-author of the Health Affairs study… July 8, 2019: The Texas Tribune posted an article titled: “Texas is going to court to end Obamacare. It hasn’t produced a plan to replace it.” It was written by Emma Platoff and Edgar Walters. From the article: Last year, after a federal judge in Texas declared the entirety of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, throwing into question millions of Americans’ health coverage, the state’s Republican leaders promised they would come up with a plan to replace it.But on Tuesday, a legislative session that seemed to have no room for issues other than property tax reform and school finance, Texas will ask a federal appeals court in New Orleans to end the law in its entirety – without offering a replacement plan.The conservative crusade against portions of the act, known as Obamacare, has spanned a decade. But Texas’ latest lawsuit, filed in February 2018, became an existential threat to the law after U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled in December that it is unconstitutional in its entirety. At stake: subsidized health coverage of roughly 1 million Texans, sweeping protections for patients with preexisting conditions, young adults staying on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26, and a host of low-cost benefits available to all people with health insurance, including those covered through their employers. Texas already has the highest uninsured rate in the nation……Attorneys for the state of Texas argue the health law cannot stand since the Republican-led Congress in 2017 zeroed out Obamacare’s individual mandate – a penalty imposed on people who choose to remain uninsured. Democrats had favored the penalty as a way to induce more people to purchase health insurance, with the goal of reaching near-universal coverage. Without it, Texas argues, the whole law must fall.But the state’s Republican leaders have offered few ideas about what should replace Obamacare, a law that touches practically every aspect of health care regulations and includes several popular protections for patients. Gov. Greg Abbott – a vocal critic of the law – pledged in December that if the law remained struck down on appeal, “Texas will be ready with replacement health care insurance that includes coverage for pre-existing conditions.”Since then, he’s been quiet on the issue, including during this year’s 140-day Texas legislative session… July 8, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “Congress Blocks D.C. Abortion Ban in Spending Bill”. From the press release: The House of Representatives voted 224-196 to pass a spending bill that survived Republican efforts to include a provision to block District of Columbia residents with low incomes from accessing safe, legal abortion. The provision has been included in previous spending bills and in current law, and the fact that the House FY 2020 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill expands access to safe, legal abortion is in part due to the historic number of reproductive health champions in Congress. Unfortunately, the bill retains language in current law that prohibits federal employees and their dependents from purchasing insurance plans that cover abortion… July 8, 2019: Center for Reproductive Rights posted a press release titled: “Statement on Commission of Unalienable Rights”. From the press release: On Monday, July 8, Secretary Pompeo announced the creation of a Commission on Unalienable Rights, chaired by Professor Mary Ann Glendon, to advice on “human rights grounded in our nation’s founding principles” based on documents like the Declaration of Independence and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), for a term of two years.The following is a statement by Stephanie Schmid, U.S. Foreign Policy Council at the Center for Reproductive Rights, about the Commission:“The Commission is nothing less than a subterfuge for undermining reproductive rights and the rights of marginalized communities including LGBTQ persons.“Contrary to its asserted purpose, there is no need to redefine or develop foundational principles on human rights. There is a clear and unequivocal consensus by U.N. human rights treaty bodies and independent experts that reproductive rights are human rights, grounded in the right to life, health, equality, non-discrimination and freedom from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, among other rights.“This new Commission is part of a comprehensive effort by this Administration to erase sexual and reproductive health and rights from global discourse. The State Department has deleted reporting on reproductive rights from its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and the Center for Reproductive Rights currently has two lawsuits pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging these cuts. In addition, this Administration has insisted on the elimination of sexual and reproductive health and rights protections from U.N. resolutions, sending a clear message that the United States does not care about the plight of women and girls, nor established international law.“We are also alarmed by reports that the State Department has not engaged in Congressional consultation in advance of creating this Commission and similar reports that there was no consultation or input from career human rights experts working in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). Indeed, this Commission appears to be an attempt to circumvent the State Department’s foreign policy and human rights experts in an effort to pick and choose which rights the United States will respect and promote. This redundant and duplicative Commission is a waste of tax-payer resources, which the House of Representatives recognized when it passed H.R. 2740 which included a provision explicitly prohibiting funds being allocated to this Commission.“This unnecessary Commission will further compound the Administration’s disengagement, deprioritization, and rollback of human rights and further cede the United States’ leadership in advancing the full spectrum of human rights protections within the United States and globally.” July 8, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “State Department Attempts to Redefine Human Rights In Order to Violate Them”. From the press release: Today, the U.S. Department of State rolled out the Commission on Unalienable Rights, with the stated objective of “promotion of individual liberty, human equality, and democracy through foreign policy.” As outlined by Secretary Pompeo, the intent of the commission is to redefine human rights according to what he calls “America’s founding principles.” The commission is stacked with advisors who have long records arguing against reproductive rights – including access to safe, legal abortion – and against rights for LGBTQ communities, including Chair Mary Ann Glendon, a prominent anti-abortion activist.Statement from Dr. Leana Wen, President, Planned Parenthood Global:“The Trump-Pence administration’s new sham commission should be seen for what it really is: an attempt to narrowly redefine human rights in order to violate them. At at time when this administration is attacking reproductive rights, rolling back LGBTQ rights, and detaining children and families under horrific conditions, this commission is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to unconscionably exclude specific groups from legal protections. The U.S. should be leading the charge to protect and defend human rights, not undermining them for political gain.” July 8, 2019: Xavier Becerra tweeted: “The entire #ACA is at risk. In less than 24 hours, my team will be in court defending healthcare for millions of Americans just like Anna and her family. #ProtectOurCare”. The tweet includes a thread of tweets by Anna. July 9, 2019: New York Attorney General Letitia James tweeted: “!! Today we’re in court to defend the #ACA & #ProtectOurCare because the health & safety of millions of Americans is at risk. Access to quality & affordable healthcare is a basic right. Rolling back the clock is dangerous & irresponsible. We’re ready to fight.” July 9, 2019: CNBC posted an article titled: “Health-care stocks fall ahead of court arguments over constitutionality of Obamacare”. It was written by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. From the article: Health-care stocks fell Tuesday ahead of a legal showdown between the Trump administration, a group of Republican-led states and more than a dozen Democratic state attorneys generals over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans……Shares of insurers UnitedHealth, Cigna and Humana were down more than 1% in early afternoon trading. Shares of HCA Healthcare, the largest for-profit U.S. hospital operator, and Tenet Healthcare were down 2% and 3%, respectively. Community Health Systems was falling by more than 7%… July 9, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: Court Hears Challenge to Affordable Care Act, Risking Health Care for Millions”. From the press release: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit will hear oral arguments in Texas v. U.S., a case that seeks to strike the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in its entirety, putting access to health care for millions at risk. Under the ACA, 20 million people gained health care coverage and more than 62 million women have gained coverage for preventable services with no out-of-pocket costs, including birth control, STI screenings, breast cancer screenings, and Pap tests……Gutting the ACA would threaten the health and financial security of millions of people:More than 62 million women now have access to no-copay preventative services, including birth control, STI screenings, and life-saving preventative services such as breast cancer screenings and Pap tests.Under the ACA, women of color are able to access better preventative care, a step forward in leveling the playing field for communities the have faced years of discriminatory policies that result in poor health outcomes.Financial assistance to purchase health insurance could be eliminated, threatening millions’ access to private insurance coverage, and coverage for the 12 million people who receive coverage under the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid is also threatened.Prior to the ACA, routine women’s health conditions were considered pre-existing conditions, including pregnancy.The Affordable Care Act eliminate “gender rating,” ensuring women do not pay an estimated $1 billion more annually than men for the same health care. July 9, 2019: Representative Joe Kennedy III tweeted: “This is what the Trump Admin is arguing in court today: – Health care is a privilege – Preexisting conditions can be disqualifying – Low-income patients can’t be treated – Addiction treatment can’t be covered – This nation is too weak to care for all its citizens #ProtectOurCare.” July 9, 2019: CBS News posted an article titled: “Judges have tough questions for Obamacare backers”. From the article: The fate of former President Obama’s signature health care law, and its coverage and insurance protections for millions of Americans, was again being argued before a panel of judges – this time a federal appeals court in New Orleans.Attorneys for states hoping to save President Obama’s health care law were hit with some intense and occasionally skeptical questioning from appellate judges in a New Orleans federal court.The main issue in Tuesday’s hearing was whether Congress rendered the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional when it zeroed out the tax imposed people who don’t buy health insurance.The law’s supporters say Congress clearly didn’t want “Obamacare” dismantled when it eliminated the tax in 2017. And they said the tax elimination doesn’t destroy the whole law.But appellate judges Kurt Engelhardt and Jennifer Walker Elrod both noted the law still says people must buy insurance. They questioned whether that command now violates the Constitution. Engelhardt also suggested Congress, not the courts, should choose which parts of the law should be salvaged… July 9, 2019: Senator Patty Murray tweeted: “ICYMI: Here’s what is at risk today because of the lawsuit being brought by Representatives to undermine families’ health care:” The tweet includes a link to a Seattle Times opinion piece from June of 2019. July 9, 2019: Politico posted an article titled: “Appeals court skeptical Obamacare can survive”. It was written by Paul Demko. From the article: A panel of federal appeals judges aggressively questioned whether Obamacare can survive during Tuesday afternoon oral arguments in a case that could upend the 2010 health care law.Two Republican appointees on the three-judge panel frequently interrupted attorneys to question whether the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is unconstitutional and if not whether the entire law could stand without it. The ACA’s future appeared murky after two hours of oral arguments at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but it’s not clear if the judges were ready to uphold a federal judge’s earlier decision invalidating the law……Appellate Judge Jennifer Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, on Tuesday posited that lawmakers – who failed to agree on an Obamacare replacement plan two years ago – deliberately eliminated the mandate penalty because they knew the rest of the law would have to fall. She said perhaps lawmakers thought, “Aha, this is the silver bullet that’s going to undo Obamacare.”Attorneys for the 20 Democratic-led states that are defending the law, as well as the Democratic-controlled House, countered that Congress clearly intended for the rest of the law to survive when it eliminated the mandate penalty.“All the court has to do is lookout the text,” said Samuel Siegel, the attorney representing the Democratic-led states.The three-judge appellate panel is expected to rule in the coming months. They could back the lower court ruling invalidating all of Obamacare or overturn it entirely. The judges may also determine that the elimination of the individual mandate penalty only renders certain parts of the ACA unconstitutional, such as its protections for individuals with preexisting medical conditions. That was the Trump administration’s original stance on the lawsuit before recently embracing the lower court ruling against the entire ACA… June 9, 2019: California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted: “The Trump administration is going to court today to try and overturn the ENTIRE Affordable Care Act. – 133 MILLION with pre-existing conditions could lose coverage. – 23 MILLION could lose their health insurance – 12 MILLION could lose Medicaid coverage” The tweet included a link to The New York Times from March of 2019. June 9, 2019: Former Vice-President Joe Biden tweeted: “Today, the Affordable Care Act is back in the courts – putting the health care of millions of Americans at risk. It’s clear some will stop at nothing to sabotage Obamacare and roll back the progress we’ve made.” The tweet included a link to The New York Times. July 9, 2019: The New York Times posted an article titled: “Appeals Court Seems Skeptical About Constitutionality of Obamacare Mandate”. It was written by Abby Goodnough. From the article: …In 90 minutes of oral arguments on whether a federal district judge in Texas was correct in striking down the Affordable Care Act in December, two appellate judges appointed by Republican presidents peppered lawyers with blunt questions while the third judge, appointed by President Jimmy Carter, remained silent.The two Republican appointees, Jennifer Walker Elrod, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007, and Kurt Engelhardt, appointed by President Trump in 2018, seemed particularly skeptical of the Democratic defendants’ argument that Congress had fully intended to keep the rest of the law when it eliminated the penalty for going without insurance as part of its 2017 tax overhaul……The case, which could make its way to the Supreme Court ahead of those elections, threatens insurance protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions and many other sweeping changes the 2010 law has made throughout the health care system……The arguments did reveal some tensions between the Republican states that brought the case, led by Texas, and Mr. Trump’s Justice Department. For example, a lawyer for Texas took issue with a puzzling new Justice Department position – revealed in a May brief – that the ruling should apply to only the 18 plaintiff states, not nationwide. The Republican states would need to evaluate if they had “been the victims of a bait and switch,” said the Texas lawyer, Kyle D. Hawkins.In another wrinkle, August E. Flentje, a lawyer for the Justice Department, appeared reluctant to answer questions from Judge Elrod about how applying the ruling only to the plaintiff states would work. He was also vague about another new and surprising position the administration mentioned almost in passing in its May brief: that some pieces of the health law, though not its insurance provisions, should be preserved….…Over all, though, the panel spent the most time on the question of whether the rest of the law should fail if Judge O’Connor was correct in scrapping the insurance mandate – and Judge Elrod and Judge Engelhardt, based on their questioning, seemed to firmly believe he was. Judge Engelhardt asked Mr. Letter, the House lawyer, why Congress could not remedy the situation by writing a new health law or set of laws.“The could do this tomorrow, ” Judge Engelhardt said, leading Mr. Letter to dryly point out that Mr. Trump would need to sign off on new laws, too.“And obviously the president would sign this, right?” he asked sardonically. “No, obviously not.”..…Judge Engelhardt twice asked Mr. Letter why, if Congress fully intended to keep the rest of the health law when it eliminated the penalty for going without insurance in 2017, the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, had not also sent a lawyer to make that case.“Why would the Senate not be here to say, ‘Oh, this is what we meant when we wrote this?” he asked. “They’re sort of the 800-pound gorilla that’s not in the room.”..…The appeals panel also spent a good chunk of the allotted 90 minutes asking questions on a third topic: whether the Democratic states and House of Representatives even have standing to appeal Judge O’Connor’s ruling……If the appeals court ultimately decides that neither the House nor the intervening Democratic states have standing, it could either let Judge O’Connor’s ruling stand or vacate it. In any event, the losing party will almost certainly appeal to the Supreme Court… July 9, 2019: Julián Castro tweeted: “The Trump administration is actively working to undermine our health care system and jeopardize the coverage of 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions. We must #ProtectOurCare and work to expand, not restrict, access to quality health care.” The tweet included a link to The New York Times article above. July 9, 2019: Beto O’Rourke tweeted: “We will defend the ACA. We will protect the care of those whose lives depend on it. And we will fight for universal, guaranteed, high-quality health care so every person can see a doctor, afford their prescriptions, and to live to their full potential.” The tweet included a link to The New York Times article above. July 9, 2019: Governor Jay Inslee tweeted: “800,000 people who have healthcare coverage in WA state are at risk if the Affordable Care Act is struck down. The #ACA has saved lives, strengthened consumer and patient protections for everyone, and is keeping costs from growing unabated. #ProtectOurCare”. The tweet included a link to The New York Times article above. July 9, 2019: Pete Buttigieg tweeted: “Republicans are putting health care for over 20 million Americans in jeopardy with their latest attack on the Affordable Care Act. Instead of restricting access, we should be expanding health care with Medicare for All Who Want It.” The tweet includes a link to an NPR article. July 9, 2019: Elizabeth Warren tweeted: “The Trump administration is in court today in their never-ending crusade to destroy health care for millions of Americans. If they succeed, families like Chantel’s would go bankrupt. People would die. #ProtectOurCare.” The tweet includes a video featuring Chantel and her family. July 9, 2019: Nancy Pelosi tweeted: “Under the ACA, the 130 million Americans w/ pre-existing conditions cannot be discriminated against y their insurer. Their health care costs could skyrocket if the GOP’s Texas v. US lawsuit succeeds in throwing out years of progress on health care. #ProtectOurCare”. July 9, 2019: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi posted remarks on the official Speaker of the House website titled: “Pelosi Remarks at Press Conference on Day of Oral Arguments in GOP’s Texas v. U.S. Lawsuit to Destroy Health Care”. From the remarks: …Today, the Trump Administration is demanding that the court strike down every last provision of the ACA. Protecting protections for the over 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and their families, bans on lifetime and annual limits, as the Leader mentioned, that can have a very devastating impact financially, as well as health-wise, for a family. The Medicaid expansion in the ACA, very important to people born with a pre-existing condition, babies born with a pre-existing condition and families otherwise, savings for seniors on prescription drug cost, the premium assistance that makes health coverage affordable for millions of American families.As you all know, the Affordable Care Act extended benefits to 20 million people who did not have health care before and that was very important – a major achievement in itself, but that was not the full extent of the bill.130 million Americans have pre-existing conditions and they are affected by this law case. And, what’s interesting about it is during the campaign, across the country, Republicans were saying, “We’re for preserving the pre-existing medical conditions [protections]” and yet they vote over and over again to prevent it and now they’re taking it to court.And, the reason they think they have a chance in court is because of what they did on the horrible GOP Tax Scam bill, where they undermined the Affordable Care Act there. Every chance they get, they try to undermine the health and financial security of America’s working families.The ACA is a pillar of health and economic security, standing alongside Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. But the GOP is showing that they want to destroy the Affordable Care Act for America’s families……But more than 190 Republicans that day voted to be fully complicit in the Administration’s attempt to tear away health care protections. Families across the nation have called on Congress to ‘Protect Our Care’ and House Democrats are fighting for them……Democrats will continue to fight For The People to lower health care costs and the cost of prescription drugs and to protect people with pre-existing conditions… July 9, 2019: Representative Jerry Nadler tweeted: “Today the Trump Admin is arguing to strike down the entire ACA, turning their back on millions with preexisting conditions. @HouseJudiciary is committed to fighting this GOP assault, and will hold a hearing on the DOJ’s refusal to defend the ACA this month #ProtectOurCare”. The tweet included a link to an NPR tweet. July 9, 2019: Covered California posted a news release titled: “California’s Initiatives Will Lead to Hundreds of Thousands Gaining Health Care Coverage With Lower Premiums and New Financial Help”. From the news release: California’s individual market will see a preliminary rate change of 0.8 percent in 2020, which is the lowest change since Covered California’s launch, due to new state affordability initiatives designed to lower costs and encourage enrollment.An estimate 922,000 people – including many middle-income Californians – will be eligible from a first-in-the-nation expansion of financial help that builds on the Affordable Care Act and lowers the costs of their health care coverage.Covered California projects that lowering health care costs and reinstating the penalty on individuals who can afford coverage, yet choose to go without insurance, will result in 229,000 people becoming newly covered.All 11 health insurance companies return to the market in 2020, and a major national plan, Anthem Blue Cross, with expand – giving nearly all Californians a choice of two carriers, and 87 percent able to choose from three carriers or more.A Covered California analysis projects that an estimated 922,000 will be eligible for the new state subsidy program that will help lower the cost of their coverage in 2020. The consumers who are projected to benefit from the new state subsidies are:An estimated 235,000 middle-income Californians who previously did not qualify for financial help because they exceeded federal income requirements. They will be eligible to receive an average of $172 per household per month, which will help them save an average of 23 percent off their current premiums. Many of these consumers, particularly those who live in high-cost regions, will see significant savings and annual reductions in their health care premiums in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars.An estimated 663,000 Covered California enrollees who currently receive federal financial help. They will be eligible to receive an average of an additional $15 per household per month which will help them save an average of 5 percent on their current premiums.An estimated 23,000 Covered California enrollees whose annual household income falls below 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), which is less than $17,237 for an individual and $35,535 for a family of four. They will see their premiums for the benchmark plan lowered to $1 per member, per month. July 9, 2019: Los Angeles Times posted an article titled: “With Obamacare in peril, California reins in rising health insurance premiums”. It was written by Barbara Feder Ostrov and Ana B. Ibarra. From the article: Premiums on California’s health insurance exchange will rise by an average of 0.8% next year, the lowest increase in the agency’s history, state officials announced Tuesday.Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee credited two new statewide initiatives for keeping the proposed rate hikes low: Next year, California will be the first state in the country to offer state-funded tax credits to middle-class enrollees, which will be paid for in part by a new tax penalty on Californians who don’t have health insurance……Covered California estimates that the state-based tax credits, in conjunction with the new state tax penalty, will result in 229,000 newly insured Californians.The average rate hike for 2020 is far lower than this year’s average increase of nearly 9% and the five-year average increase of 8.4%. Covered California began offering health plans in 2014 to individuals and families who purchase their own insurance as part of the state’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare……The new individual mandate for Californians starts in 2020. The penalty for not having insurance will mirror the one under the Affordable Care Act, which as $695 per adult (and $347.50 per child under 18) or 2.5% of annual household income, whichever is greater. That can amount to thousands of dollars a year.The revenue from the penalty, plus other state funds, will help pay for state-based tax credits for roughly 922,000 people who purchase insurance through Covered California. As part of the 2019-20 state budget signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, the state will pledge $1.45 billion over the next three years for this effort.Under the deal, California will become the first state to offer financial aid to middle-income enrollees who make between 400% and 600% of the federal poverty level – many of whom have been struggling to pay their premiums. That’s between about $50,000 and $75,000 a year for an individual and between about $103,000 and $154,500 for a family of four.Under the Affordable Care Act, people who purchase plans through Covered California and other health insurance exchanges are eligible for federal tax credits only if they make between 138% and 400% of the federal poverty level. People who earn more than 400% of the federal poverty level get no federal aid… July 9, 2019: Concord Monitor posted an article titled: “Sununu to sign Democrat-backed safeguards to Obamacare provisions”. It was written by Ethan DeWitt. From the article: Gov. Chris Sununu is poised to sign a Democratic bill that would protect certain portions of the Affordable Care Act by codifying them into state law, his office said.On Tuesday, Democratic legislative leaders in Concord sent a bill to Sununu that would add a range of provisions into state statute, including a requirement that health insurance plans cover those with pre-existing conditions.The move comes as a New Orleans federal court takes up oral arguments over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act – a high stakes case that threatens funding as well as regulations within the law……Senate Bill 4 would add to state law a mandate that insurance plans also cover a range of “essential health benefits” such as coverage for emergency services, maternity care, and rehabilitative services. And it would prevent the re-emergence of lifetime caps on age or expenses for those on certain insurance plans.Those protections were introduced into federal law by the ACA in 2010 – also known as “Obamacare” – which has faced opposition and legal challenges by several Republican attorneys general and supported by the U.S. Department of Justice……For Sununu, support for the bill puts him odds with some in his party. While SB 4 passed the Senate nearly unanimously, it left the House on party lines, after House Republicans argued it would tie the state’s hands in the event the ACA did fall and big decisions needed to be made… July 9, 2019: The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) posted a news release titled: “CHA Strongly Urges Upholding The ACA In Texas v. United States”. From the news release: CHA Strongly Urges Upholding the ACA in Texas v. United StatesStatement by Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, President and Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Health Association of the United StatesAs the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit considers the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) stands firmly with those defending the law. CHA joined with four hospital organizations earlier this year in filing a brief as amici curiae in support of the Intervenor-Defendants-Appellants in Texas v. United States.“We believe health care is a basic human right and the effort to eliminate access to affordable health care coverage for millions of Americans is unconscionable,” stated Sr. Mary Haddad. The consequence of being uninsured are significant. Since uninsured patients are often forced to delay receiving necessary care, they are up to four times more likely than insured patients to require affordable hospitalization and emergency care. In addition to being harmful to patients’ health, the lack of coverage adds unnecessary expense to our nation’s health care system and deprives patients with an equitable opportunity for a healthy, productive life.Under the ACA, we as a nation have taken significant steps toward expanding health care access and coverage, as well as improving our nation’s health care delivery system. Nearly 20 million Americans have gained affordable insurance coverage, including 12 million low-income individuals who have gained coverage through state Medicaid program expansions under the ACA. The law also provides protections for 130 million people with pre-existing health conditions – including 17 million children – all of whom no longer need to worry that they will be denied insurance coverage.CHA believes that a decision by the Fifth Circuit to strike down the ACA as unconstitutional, if upheld, would reverse the progress we have made, adversely impacting the health of millions of Americans. We believe, as a matter of human dignity, everyone is entitled to health care. Like any basic element of life, health care sustains us and should always be accessible and affordable for everyone – where they need it, when they need it, no exceptions and no interruptions. CHA will continue to work with policy makers to advance the goal of ensuring everyone has access to affordable health coverage and high-quality health care. July 9, 2019: Daily Memphian posted an article titled: “Pastors urge Lee to request Tennessee drop from Affordable Care Act lawsuit”. It was written by Sam Stockard. From the article: With arguments set Tuesday in a lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, a network of pastors is urging Gov. Bill Lee to request Tennessee drop out of the federal case.The Southern Christian Coalition made a public appeal for the governor to call on Attorney General Herbert Slatery to remove the state from Texas v. United States. The case is to be argued in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and its next stop would be the U.S. Supreme Court.“I appeal to Gov Lee, as a man of faith and a man of Christian values, to then live up to his values, to care for the least of these, to be compassionate… and to ask Slatery to remove the state of Tennessee from this lawsuit,” said Kelli X, minister of Village Church in Madison.She argued dismantling the Affordable Care Act would take health care coverage from more than a million Tennesseans, decreasing the number of people able to seek mental health care, possibly causing them to wind up in prison and limiting access to health care for babies born with health problems such as asthma……The group points out no plan is in place to provide health care for Tennesseans with preexisting conditions if the law is overturned… July 9, 2019: Roll Call posted an article titled: “States grapple with Medicaid work requirements”. It was written by Sandhya Raman. From the article: State action to implement work requirements into their Medicaid programs is heating up, as some states roll out their programs while others are fighting in court to keep them alive.New Hampshire announced Monday it would delay suspending any Medicaid coverage until September because of consumers’ noncompliance with the work requirements. Meanwhile, Indiana on July 1 began the first steps of implementing its work requirements. Court action in three other states is expected in the coming months,The path to implementing requirements for work or other forms of community service through Medicaid, the health program that covers some of the nation’s poorest individuals, has been tricky and controversial.MaryBeth Musumeci, associate director at the program on Medicaid and the uninsured at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said the overarching issue is whether requiring work is a permissible objective of Medicaid coverage……A June study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that work requirements are not increasing employment and private insurance coverage……Arkansas was the first state to incorporate 80 hour per month work requirements in 2018 for some enrollees, but these are no longer in effect due to a circuit court ruling this year.New Hampshire became the second state to start phasing in slightly stricter requirements but recently changes them. Starting in June, individuals were supposed to work 100 hours per month, and enrollees would have had until July 7 to report their June hours or risk suspension later this year. Pregnant women and people who are medically frail or have a disability were exempted.But in late June, New Hampshire’s Democratic-controlled legislature passed a compromise scaling back the work requirements and expanding the exemptions. The legislation allowed the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to delay implementation……Indiana rolled out its 20 hours per month requirements on July 1, with stricter requirements being phased in over time. Unlike in Arkansas, compliance is evaluated yearly rather than monthly.Last year, Arkansas terminated consumers’ coverage after three months of noncompliance, resulting in almost 17,000 individuals being dropped from the program……Wisconsin and Michigan are the next states slated to roll out work requirements in late October and January, respectively. Both states also have New Democratic governors.Maine, which also has a New Democratic governor this year, will not implement its work requirements, but it may not be as simple for Wisconsin and Michigan to reverse course……The next legal action expected is for New Hampshire’s program, which will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee who previously ruled that both Arkansas and Kentucky’s programs were invalid, is scheduled for the case……Both the Kentucky and Arkansas cases are set to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The states’ briefings end Aug. 1, and oral arguments are expected by October… July 9, 2019: Deseret News posted an article titled: “Utah leaders react to the uncertain fate of the Affordable Care Act”. It was written by Kim Bojouquez. From the article: Utahs are watching closely as the future of the Affordable Care Act is considered by three judges on the other side of the country.A three-judge panel, two Republican-appointed and one Democrat-appointed, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, on Tuesday.In February 2018, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined a 20-state coalition lawsuit against the federal government challenging the lawfulness of the health care law and calling it unconstitutional, after Congress repealed a provision that people without health insurance had to pay a fine……Lauren Simpson, policy director for Alliance for a Better Utah, a government advocacy and watchdog organization, said it’s too soon to tell where the judges will lean.“This is something that’s going to have really serious consequences for Utah. It directly contradicts what we know Utahs want,” Simpson said.Last November, Utahns voted in support of Proposition 3 to expand Medicaid coverage in the state. But in February, Gov. Gary Herbert signed a replacement to limit Medicaid expansion… July 10, 2019: Des Moines Iowa Register posted an article titled: “Iowa agrees to give Medicaid management companies 8.6% raises”. It was written by Tony Leys and Stephen Gruber-Miller. From the article: Iowa’s controversial use of private insurers to run its Medicaid program just got $386 million more expensive.That’s how much more state and federal money Iowa officials have agreed to pay through this fiscal year for two national companies to manage the giant health care program.The 8.6% raises will go to Amerigroup and Iowa Total Care, which Iowa hired to insure about 575,000 poor or disabled Iowans whose health care is covered by Medicaid……The Medicaid program is jointly financed by federal and state tax dollars, with rates set in closed-door negotiations between the companies and the Iowa Department of Human Services. The increased costs announced Wednesday include a 6.5% boost in state financing, which translates to $115 million, according to a summary posted by Iowa DHS.The new terms come a year after DHS officials agreed to give Amerigroup and UnitedHealthcare, then the state’s Medicaid managers, a raise of 8.4% in state and federal money for fiscal year 2019. That year’s raise amounted to $344 million, including $103 million more in state money. As a result, legislators had to come up with more money last spring, in the middle of the budget year… July 10, 2019: The Salt Lake Tribune posted an article titled: “Utah health care panel objects to state’s partial Medicaid expansion plan”. It was written by Benjamin Wood. From the article: Most members of Utah’s Medical Care Advisory Committee oppose the state’s plan to partially expand Medicaid through the imposition of service reductions, spending and enrollment caps, and patient work requirements.Ten of the advisory committee’s 19 members – who are appointed by Utah health care entities – signed on to a June 30 letter addressed to the state Department of Health asking local and national administrators to reject proposed changes to Utah’s Medicaid program, which “could risk the health and security of many Utah beneficiaries.”……The advisory committee’s objections were made as part of the public comment for a waiver that Utah is seeking from the federal government to implement a scaled-back version of Medicaid expansion approved by lawmakers earlier this year. The Legislature’s plan, SB96, replaced Proposition 3, a full Medicaid expansion initiative approved by voters last year that would have extended Medicaid services to tens of thousands of additional low-income Utahns.In its letter, the advisory committee highlights four areas of concern with Utah’s waiver request: a per-capita funding scheme that could leave the state liable for increased health care costs without matching federal funds; enrollment caps that could exclude otherwise eligible patients from Medicaid if funding runs dry; a requirement that patients prove they are working, looking for work or engaged in other qualifying activities to participate in Medicaid; and the elimination of some Medicaid benefits for 19- and 20-year-old patients……Last month, the Utah Health Policy Project released a report suggesting that per-capita funding could cause Utah’s Medicaid program to face a $39 million budget shortfall by 2024. Budget constraints were among the primary motivations cited by lawmakers in repealing and replacing Proposition 3 with the scaled-back expansion of SB96 intended to control costs……Utah’s Medicaid program currently is operating under a temporary waiver, often referred to as the “bridge” plan, which includes a limited expansion population and approval for work requirements, but those work requirements have not yet been implemented… July 11, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “Ninth Circuit Denies Emergency Relief From Domestic Gag Rule”. From the press release: An en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused to block the Trump-Pence administration from enforcing the dangerous Title X gage rule. Title X is the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, which serves 4 million people each year. Trump’s gag rule makes it illegal for health care providers in the Title X program to refer patients for abortion, and also blocks access to care through the program at Planned Parenthood by imposing cost-prohibitive and unnecessary “physical separation” requirements. Planned Parenthood will continue its effort to restore the nationwide preliminary injunction and fight to protect health care for millions across the country.Providers that serve nearly half of the patients who get care through Title X have made it clear that the rule would force them out of the program – the administration is putting health care at risk for millions of patients across the country. Title X helps millions of patients struggling to make ends meet – the majority of whom are people of color, Hispanic, or Latino – access birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing, and other essential reproductive health care……Four district court judges had previously blocked the rule, with two judges blocking it nationwide. On June 20, 2019, the 9th Circuit granted the request from the Trump-Pence administration to stay the preliminary injunctions in California, Oregon, and Washington, which allowed the gag rule to be enforced. The 9th Circuit agreed to re-hear the administration’s request for a stay on July 3, 2019. Today’s order makes it clear that while the court is rehearing the request for the stay, the stay remains in place, jeopardizing the care of millions of people who access birth control and other reproductive health services through Title X.In June, the House of Representatives passed a spending package including strong language blocking the Trump-Pence administration’s Title X gag rule from being implemented. Now, the Senate must push for a spending bill that includes protective language to make sure millions of people can continue to access health care through Title X… July 11, 2019: Rewire News posted an article titled: “Republicans Get Another Win in Their Fight to Gut Title X”. It was written by Jessica Mason Pieklo. From the article: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled the Trump administration’s domestic “gag rule” which bans family planning dollars from going to health-care providers who perform abortions or refer patients for abortion services, can take effect everywhere but the state of Maryland.The ruling jeopardizes comprehensive reproductive health-care for nearly 4 million people……The Trump administration’s changes to the Title X program also mandate a new “physical and financial separation” between a Title X-funded program and a facility that engages in “abortion activities.” This separation must include separate waiting, consulting, examination, and treatment rooms, as well as office entrances and exists. Title X grantees would have to provide different phone numbers and email addresses for those staff members and facilities involved in abortion services. These separation requirements apply to all Title-X funded projects that give referrals to patients who wish to obtain an abortion, as well as any that engage in separately funded advocacy or public education activities that “promote” abortion as determined by the Trump administration.To obtain Title X funding, providers would have to open and operate an entirely independent facility to merely provide a referral for abortion care……First proposed in May of 2018, the administration’s changes had been blocked by the courts from taking effect while lawsuits challenging them proceed. Thursday’s order, however, allows those changes to take effect immediately, except for the separation requirements: Title X grantees will have until March 4, 2020, to comply with those requirements… July 11, 2019: Los Angeles Times posted an article titled: “Trump’s vaunted kidney initiative depends on Obamacare, which he’s trying to kill”. It was written by Michael Hiltzik. From the article: President Trump was showered with praise Wednesday when he unveiled an initiative to fix the country’s wretched and ridiculously expensive system for dealing with kidney disease.Only one problem. Trump’s plan depends on the Affordable Care Act, which he is trying to kill……He has eviscerated effective programs at the Department of Health and Human Services and replaced professional policy officials with ideology-driven hacks. His appointees at HHS have routinely approved state-level changes to Medicaid, the nation’s most important healthcare program for low-income Americans, that deprive enrollees of coverage by thousands at a time……There’s no question that the nation’s existing method of dealing with end-stage kidney disease is a mess. The most common treatment, dialysis, is so expensive – running an average of $90,000 per year per patient – that Congress in 1973 allowed advanced renal patients to enroll in Medicare at any age. The act effectively made end-stage renal disease the only condition subject to a single-payer program.That helped turn dialysis into a hugely profitable business. About 10,000 patients were covered in 1973; today more than 750,000 are. Federal spending through Medicare has soared to more than $34 billion a year from $1.1 billion (in current dollars) in 1973……Two remedies for this situation have long been obvious. One is to increase the rate of kidney transplants, which sharply reduce the cost of treating kidney disease. But kidneys are hard to come by. More than 100,000 patients in the U.S. are on the waiting list, with only about 21,000 donor organs available per year. Kidney transplants cost an average of about $32,000 and annual post-surgical care only about $25,000.The other remedy is to preform more dialysis at home, where it’s cheaper than at the dialysis centers operated by DaVita, Fresenius, and other companies, and certainly more convenient for patients. But only about 12% of U.S. patients receive dialysis at home, far less than in most other developed countries.Trump’s proposal, embodied in an executive order signed Wednesday, aims to increase transplants by covering more of the costs for donors, including lost work time and child care expenses. The White House says that, along with other changes in the transplant system, would double the number of kidneys available for transplant by 2030.The plan aims to increase the share of patients reviving dialysis at home to 80%. This would be done in part by changing the incentives for providers so they steer more patients to home dialysis (assuming that’s the right choice for them).The rub is that such changes would require congressional authorization – if it wasn’t for the Affordable Care Act. The act established the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which allow the changes to be made administratively… July 11, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “New Multi-State Study Shows Telemedicine Abortion Is as Safe and Effective as In-Person Care”. From the press release: A new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that medication abortion via telemedicine is just as safe and effective as when the health care provider is in the same health center as the patient. The study was conducted by Planned Parenthood Federation of America – with researchers from Ibis Reproductive Health and University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Advancing New Standers in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) – and supports existing evidence that outcomes for medication abortion via telemedicine are comparable with medication abortion provided in person.The study is the nation’s largest multi-state study of medication abortion via telemedicine to date, with researchers analyzing records from nearly 6,000 patients receiving medication abortion either through telemedicine or in person at 26 Planned Parenthood health centers in Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington…Medication abortion has been safe and legal in the U.S. since the FDA approved of its use nearly 20 years ago. It helped ensure that patients are able to make their own private medical decisions, and it has expanded access to reproductive health care.In a health-center-to-health center model of providing abortion via telemedicine, a patient has an ultrasound scan, laboratory testing, and counseling with health center staff. Telemedicine patients then meet with a provider in another health center through a secure videoconferencing platform, while standard medication abortion patients meet with a provider in person. During the study period, researchers compared rates of ongoing pregnancy, the need for a subsequent in-clinic abortion, and any significant adverse effects between the two groups. Researchers concluded that medication abortion provided remotely offers patients the same effective, high-quality care that they would receive if they were in the same room with the same trained providers. The study also found that complications are very rare for medication abortion via telemedicine, which is consistent with findings from previously published research.Restrictions and political attacks on access to abortion have left entire swaths of the country without access to safe, legal abortion, disproportionately affecting people with low incomes, people of color, and people living in rural communities. Right now, anti-abortion politicians are pushing burdensome and medically unnecessary bans that effectively prohibit access to medication abortion via telemedicine. Leading medical associations, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), agree that these bans are not based in evidence… July 11, 2019: The Tennessean posted an article titled: “Blue Cross plans to return to Obamacare marketplace in Nashville, Memphis”. It was written by Brett Kelman. From the article: …The state’s largest insurance company, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, plans to reenter the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Nashville, Memphis and surrounding counties next year, providing another option for residents on Obamacare in these cities. Cigna and Oscar Health, are planning to significantly reduce the cost of their coverage plans.Although the proposals are not final, it appears Tennesseans will have more options and competitive prices in the coming year, said Kevin Walters, a spokesman for the Department of Commerce and Insurance…Five insurance companies that currently offer Obamacare coverage plan to continue to do so next year, according to the department. The companies have submitted the following proposals to state regulators for approval:.. Those companies are BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Bright Health, Celtic/Ambetter Insurance, Cigna, and Oscar Health. July 11, 2019: West Dakota FOX posted an article titled: “North Dakota argues Affordable Care Act’s validity”. From the article: …North Dakota’s Democratic Party says if the Affordable Care Act is overturned, there would no longer be penalties.“The penalty for those who don’t carry health insurance, they just reduced that penalty to zero, which essentially means there is no longer a tax,” said Kylie Oversen, Chairwoman of the Dem NPL.House Dem-NPL legislators proposed an amendment to the insurance commissioner’s budget this past session, in case the ACA would be found unconstitutional. It would require health insurance companies in North Dakota to cover people with pre-existing conditions……Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread says the language on the amendment was unworkable… July 11, 2019: Military Times posted an article titled: “Yearlong birth control supply for female vets could cut costs and unplanned pregnancies”. It was written by Ariana Puzzo. From the article: The Department of Veterans Affairs could save about $2 million a year in prenatal, birth and newborn care costs by offering female veterans a year’s supply of birth control pills, researchers say.The VA does not currently offer an upfront 12-month supply option. Approximately 24,000 women receive oral contraceptives and a policy change could prevent an estimated 583 unintended pregnancies, found Colleen Judge-Golden, an MD, Ph.D. student the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine…Judge-Golden, the lead author of the paper published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, analyzed the expense of the proposed program with senior author Sonya Borrero, M.D., M.S., the associate director of the VA’s Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. Research found that money saved on health care costs would exceed the cost of providing larger upfront quantities of birth control pills to women.Forty-three percent of women receiving three-month increments of birth control will encounter at least one refill gap over a 12-month period that increases the risk of unintended pregnancies, VA data showed. Women outside of the VA who receive one year’s worth of birth control pills were alternatively found to experience fewer refill gaps and less pregnancies… July 11, 2019: Reuters posted an article titled: “U.S. lawmakers advance bill to boost Puerto Rico Medicaid funding”. From the article: A bill that would substantially boost federal Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico advanced out of a U.S. House subcommittee on Thursday after lawmakers agreed to work on stricter safeguards in the wake of a government corruption scandal in the territory.The Health Subcommittee sent the legislation, which would give the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth an additional $12 billion over four years, to the full House Committee on Energy and Commerce.On Wednesday, U.S. law enforcement officials announced a 32-count indictment and arrests of six people, including two former high-ranking Puerto Rico government officials, who were charged with conspiracy and other crimes in connection with millions of dollars in federal Medicaid and education funds……Federal funding to the five U.S. territories to support the healthcare program for low-income residents is capped, often leading to shortfalls during economic downturns or natural disasters like the devastating hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in 2017 just months after it filed a form of bankruptcy in U.S. District Court… July 11, 2019: NPR posted an article titled: “Young Undocumented Californians Cheer Promise of Health Benefits”. It was written by Sammy Caiola. From the article: …California’s governor signed a law Tuesday that approved $98 million to expand Medi-Cal to income-eligible undocumented adults from age 19 until they turn 26, making it the first state in the United States to cover this group. California estimates 138,000 young adults will become insured under the new policy.While the state has expanded options for children and young adults, most undocumented people in California still have limited access to health care. They can sign up for “restricted” MediCal, but it only covers emergencies and pregnancy-related care. Many people on this plan end ip putting off treatment or turning to county clinics for help.Supporters who want to further expand Medi-Cal to all residents say that move would boost public health and bring down emergency room costs. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to make everyone eligible……But after months of debate at the California State Capitol, proposals to offer Medi-Cal to all undocumented adults, as well as a push to cover undocumented seniors, were deemed too costly……President Donald Trump has also criticized California for offering health insurance to undocumented people… July 11. 2019: The Hill posted an article titled: “Nearly half of voters less likely to support lawmakers who back ObamaCare repeal.” From the article: Almost half of Americans say they are less likely to support lawmakers who are in favor of repealing Obamacare, according to a new Hill-HarrisX poll.The survey, released on Thursday, found that 47 percent of registered voters said they were less likely to cast a ballot for members of Congress who backed a lawsuit that aims to eliminate ObamaCare, compared to 28 percent of respondents who were more likely to support those lawmakers.Twenty-six percent of voters said it doesn’t matter either way.Older Americans and minorities were least likely to support lawmakers who favored the ObamaCare lawsuit. The poll found that 58 percent of respondents age 65 and older and 68 percent of African Americans were less inclined to back lawmakers who are opposed to ObamaCare……The survey of 1,001 voters was conducted online July 5-6. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. July 12, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “Congress Expands Birth Control Access for Service Members”. From the press release: The House of Representatives approved two amendments to the Fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would expand contraception and reproductive health care access for service members. Most service members receive health insurance coverage through TRICARE, which currently does not offer comprehensive contraception coverage and reproductive health care resources for service members and their families……The amendments were offered by Reps. Jackie Speier (CA-14), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Katie Hill (CA-25), Deb Haaland (NM-01), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Judy Chu (CA-27), and Barbara Lee (CA-13). One amendment adopted into the underlying bill clarifies that all FDA-approved contraceptive methods are covered by TRICARE without a copay, and brings TRICARE in line with the ACA’s birth control benefits. The second amendment passed by a vote of 231-199 establishes a standard family planning education program across all branches of the military, increasing services members’ ability to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. July 12, 2019: Fauquier Times posted an article titled: “Fauquier Free Clinic changes business model to include additional Medicaid patients”. From the article: This year the Fauquier Free Clinic, which has a mission to provide eligible residents of Fauquier and Rappahannock counties with access to comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health care, underwent “extensive changes” to accommodate new and existing patients when Medicaid expanded its services for low-income adults throughout Virginia, the clinic said in a news release.“In the past, our medical patients were not eligible for services if they had any type of medical insurance,” John McMahon, FFC board secretary said in the news release, “Now, approximately 60 percent are Medicaid eligible.”In Fauquier County, between 1,700 and 1,800 more people are now eligible for Medicaid, according to the clinic news release. In Rappahannock County, 300 to 400 people are now eligible. Throughout the state of Virginia, eligibility has been granted to around additional 400,000 people… July 12, 2019: Planned Parenthood posted a press release titled: “Planned Parenthood’s Clergy Advocacy Board Condemns the Trump-Pence Administration’s Gage Rule”. From the press release: An en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused to block the Trump-Pence administration from enforcing the dangerous Title X gag rule. Title X is the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, which serves 4 million people each year. The Clergy Advocacy Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America condemns the Trump-Pence Administration’s dangerous Title X gag rule that makes it illegal for doctors, nurses, hospitals, community health centers, and any other provider in the Title X program to tell patients how they can safely and legally access abortion.The gag rule also makes it impossible for millions of patients to access birth control at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country.“We, the Clergy Advocacy Board condemn this gag rule. It brings politicians into the exam room, impairing access to accurate and complete medical information, undermining the patient’s moral agency, harming the poor and those in need, and for blocking access to preventative health care, including contraception.“We are called as clergy and faith leaders to provide pastoral care to people facing medical decisions. Day in and out, we witness the importance of how our congressional members get or don’t get the help they need, the medical information they need, the benefit of the doctor-patient relationship, and access to the care that arises from these personal, private deliberations.“Our faiths and pastoral experience also bear witness to the urgency and moral good in available access to all forms of contraception, and in keeping abortion safe and legal.” July 13, 2019: Reuters posted an article titled: “Democrats take aim as Trump abandons drug pricing plan”. It was written by Ginger Gibson. From the article: …Trump talked regularly about drug prices during his 2016 campaign, but has failed so far to deliver the changes he promised.On Thursday, his administration scrapped one of its most ambitious proposals for lowering prescription medicine prices, backing down from a policy aimed at health insurers and raising the possibility of new measures focused on drugmakers.The abandoned proposal would have required health insurers to pass billions of dollars in rebates from drugmakers to Medicare patients……[Robert] Blendon [a political scientist at Harvard University] said Trump, having failed to broker any deals in Congress, made his drug price plan to complicated, and voters are unlikely to see him as having made any strides. That is an opportunity for Democrats to offer their own effort at messaging……On Thursday, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand unveiled a plan to lower drug prices. On Friday, Democrat Amy Klobuchar announced a plan to help lower the cost of pharmaceuticals purchased by seniors. Warren also has a Medicare pricing plan.Sanders is heading to Canada later this month for an event to highlight the difference in the price of insulin……Klobuchar’s proposal, which includes investing in research for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and improving the stability of Social Security, would allow the government to negotiate Medicare Part D costs, which cover prescriptions for seniors.Klobuchar, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, would also let people order prescription drugs from countries like Canada, a proposal proponents say would Lowe drug costs… July 12, 2019: The Rolla Daily News posted an article titled: “Governor Parson signs “Nathan’s Law,” fixes glitch in Affordable Care Act”. It was written by Ron Reports. From the article: Governor Mike Parson signed House Bill 397 and Senate Bill 514 on Thursday. Both bills fixed an oversight in the Affordable Care Act related to youth formerly in foster care. One of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act is the ability for children to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26…The ACA allows children that aged out of the foster care system at 18 to remain on Medicaid until they are 26 years old. However, the language passed in the ACA only required a state to provide Medicaid to that individual if they aged out of that specific foster system. Currently, if a youth aged out of Illinois’s foster system, but moved to Missouri to work, they are not allowed to maintain their public insurance in Missouri……Research has shown that access to health care for youth previously in foster care is important because they are more likely to have health complications. Ensuring these youth remain insured helps the broader community by keeping them out of crisis that could lead to emergency room visits or hospitalizations……In the fall of 2018, Congress passed and President Trump signed into law a federal fix to this provision within the ACA, but it will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2023. These former foster youth in Missouri will be able to access Medicaid beginning August 28, 2019, when the bill takes effect, according to the nonprofit Kids Win Missouri, whose mission it is to further child well-being… July 15, 2019: Former Vice President Joe Biden (who is running for President) revealed information about his Health Care Plan. Here is some of the key parts of Joe Biden’s Health Care Plan: Giving Americans a new choice, a public health insurance option like Medicare. If your insurance company isn’t doing right by you, you should have another, better choice. Whether you’re covered through your employer, buying you insurance on your own, or going without coverage altogether, the Biden Plan will give you the choice to purchase a public health insurance option like Medicare. As in Medicare, the Biden public option will reduce costs for patients by negotiating lower prices from hospitals and other health care providers. It also will better coordinate among all of a patient’s doctors to improve the efficacy and quality of their care, and cover primary care without any co-payments. And it will bring relief to small businesses struggling to afford coverage for their employees. Increasing the value of tax credits to lower premiums and extend coverage to more working Americans. …The Biden Plan will help middle class families by eliminating the 400% income cap on tax credit eligibility and lowering the limit on the cost of coverage from 9.86% of income to 8.5%. This means that no family buying insurance on the individual marketplace, regardless of income, will have to spend more than 8.5% of their income on health insurance. Additionally, the Biden Plan will increase the size of tax credits by calculating them based on the cost of a more generous gold plan, rather than a silver plan. This will give more families the ability to afford more generous coverage, with lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs…. Expanding coverage to low-income Americans. …The Biden Plan will ensure these individuals get covered by offering premium-free access to the public option for those 4.9 million individuals who would be eligible for Medicaid but for their state’s inaction, and making sure their public option covers the full scope of Medicaid benefits. States that have already expanded Medicaid will have the choice of moving the expansion population to the premium-free public option as long as the states continue to pay their current share of the cost of covering those individuals. Additional, Biden will ensure people making below 138% of the federal poverty level get covered. He’ll do this by automatically enrolling these individuals when they interact with certain institutions (such as public schools) or other programs for low-income populations (such as SNAP)…. …The Biden Plan has several additional proposals aimed directly at cutting the cost of health care and making the health care system less complex to navigate. The Biden Plan will: Stop “surprise billing”… The Biden Plan will bar health care providers from charging patients out-of-network rates when the patient doesn’t have control over which provider the patient sees (for example, during a hospitalization). Tackle market concentration across our health care system… The Biden Administration will aggressively use its existing antitrust laws to address this problem… Lower costs and improve health outcomes by partnering with the health care workforce. The Biden Administration will partner with health care workers and accelerate the testing and deployment of innovative solutions that improve quality of care and increase wages for low-wage health car workers, like home care workers… Repealing the outrageous exception allowing drug corporations to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices… The Biden Plan will repeal the existing law explicitly barring Medicare from negotiating lower prices with drug corporations. Limiting launch prices for drugs that face no competition and are being abusively priced by manufacturers… For these cases where new speciality drugs without competition are being launched, under the Biden Plan the Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish an independent review board to assess their value. The board will recommend a reasonable price, based the average price in the countries (a process called external reference pricing) or, if the drug is entering the U.S. market first, based on an evaluation by independent board members. This reasonable price will be the rate Medicare and the public option will pay. In addition, the Biden Plan will allow private plans participating in the individual marketplace to access a similar rate. Limiting price increases for all brand, biotech, and abusively priced generic drugs to inflation… The Biden Plan will also impose a tax penalty on drug manufacturers that increase the costs of their brand, biotech, or abusively priced generic over the general inflation rate. Allowing consumer to buy prescription drugs from other countries… The Biden Plan will allow consumers to import prescription drugs from other countries, as long as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has certified that those drugs are safe. Terminating pharmaceutical corporations’ tax break for advertisement spending. … As president, Joe Biden will end this tax deduction for all prescription drug ads, as proposed by Senator Jeanne Shaheen. Improving the quality of generics… The Biden Plan supports numerous proposals to accelerate the development of safe generics, such as Senator Patrick Leahy’s proposal too make sure generic manufacturers have access to a sample. Ensure Health Care Is A Right For All, Not A Privilege For Just A Few Expanding access to contraception and protect the constitutional right to an abortion… The Biden Plan supports repealing the Hyde Amendment because health care is a right that should not be dependent on one’s zip code or income. And the public option will cover contraception and a woman’s constitutional right to choose. In addition, the Biden Plan will: Restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood… As president, Biden will reissue guidance specifying that states cannot refuse Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers the refer for abortions or provide related information and reverse the Trump administration’s rule preventing Planned Parenthood and certain other family planning programs from obtaining Title X funds. …President Biden will rescind the Mexico City Policy (also referred to as the global gag rule) that President Trump reinstated and expanded… Reducing our unacceptably high maternal mortally rate, which especially impacts people of color…California came up with a strategy that halved the state’s maternal death rate. As president, Biden will take this strategy nationwide… Defending health care protections for all, regardless of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation… President Biden will defend the rights of all people – regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity – to have access to quality, affordable health care free from discrimination. Doubling America’s investment in community health centers… The Biden Plan will double the federal investment in these centers, expanding access to high quality health care for the populations that need it most… Achieving mental health parity and expanding access to mental health care. As Vice President, Biden was a champion for efforts to implement the federal mental health parity law, improve access to mental health care, and eliminate the stigma around mental health. As President, he will redouble these efforts to ensure enforcement of mental health parity laws and expand funding for mental health services… THIS BLOG WILL BE UPDATES WHENEVER ADDITIONAL RELEVANT INFORMATION IS FOUND A Timeline of the GOP’s Attempts to Destroy Obamacare – Part Three – Continued is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Health Care is a Human RightJune 28, 2019Out of Spoons / Public HealthImage by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay We live in a world that can feel very divided. There are things that all humans have in common, though. We all get sick. Sometimes, the cure is bed rest, other times it might be antibiotics. Most, if not all of us, have gotten injured badly enough to require medical care. Some people require surgery – to remove impacted wisdom teeth, set a broken leg, remove a rupturing appendix, or to give birth via caesarian section. Health care is a human right. Every human has the right to have all of their physical and mental health care needs taken care of. This isn’t just my opinion. It is a concept that has been around for a very long time. Merriam-Webster defines human right as: a basic right (such as the right to be treated well or the right to vote) that many societies believe every person should have. Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relative. A study titled: “Calculated or Caring? Neanderthal healthcare in social context” was published in The Archaeology of Medicine and Healthcare Journal in 2018. In short, there was evidence that some Neanderthals suffered from serious injuries and illnesses, but survived because they received help from others in their group. …Where pathology affects the the essential activities of daily living… such as when individuals are incapacitated for several days or more (as in the case of major breaks to lower limbs, severe systemic infections, inflammation with fever, and so on) survival more clearly implicates extended healthcare from others, however. This help may have taken various forms, such as extended food and water provisioning, or in more severe cases the facilitation of an extended period or rest and immobilization, or perhaps even active nursing… The study mentions an individual whom archeologists called “Shanidar 1”, a Neanderthal who was found in Shanidar Cave in Iraq. He was between age 35 and 50 when he died, but had suffered a range of debilitating impairments. Those impairments included: “a violent blow to the face, possibly as a young adult, leaving him with blindness or only partial sight in the left eye, a withered right arm which had been fractured and healed resulting in the loss of his lower arm and hand and possible paralysis, deformities in his leg and foot leading to a painful limp and a hearing impairment.” Those injuries occurred “long before his death and showed signs of healing, with curvature of his right leg compensating for injuries to the left.” “Shanidar 1” also suffered from advanced degenerative joint disease. “Shanidar 1” would had limited mobility, and would not have been much (if any) help with manual tasks or perceptual abilities. He had partial sight, a hearing impairment, and certainly would not have been able to hunt. Someone so badly injured would not have survived without a daily provision of food and assistance. Interestingly, “Shandiar 1” wasn’t the only example of Neanderthals who had become disabled and who had lived to an old age, thanks to the help from others in their group. The study points out “…Neanderthals had achieved a level of societal development in which disabled individuals were well cared for by other members of the social groups.” The Neanderthals knew that health care was a human right. The Biblical Archeology website states that it was mostly likely that Jesus was born in 4. B.C. That probably sounds a bit strange, because B.C. stands for “Before Christ”. (The Biblical Archaeology blog has more explanation about that.) Dr. Simon Gathercole, a Reader in New Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge, posted an article on The Guardian in 2017 titled: “What is the historical evidence that Jesus Christ lived and died?” According to Dr. Simon Gathercole, the first Christian writings to talk about Jesus are the epistles of St. Paul, “and scholars agree that the earliest of these letters were written within 25 years of Jesus’s death at the very latest.” He also mentions writings by Flavius Josephus, who was a Jewish priest, scholar, and historian. Encyclopedia Britannica says that Flavius Josephus wrote history books. One was called Antiquitates Judaicae, which was completed in 20 books in A.D. 93. It contains two references to Jesus Christ. In Book XX, Flavius Josephus calls Jesus “the so-called Christ”. Dr. Simon Gathercole notes that later in the book, there is a reference to James, the brother of “Jesus, the so-called Christ”. About 20 years after Flavius Josephus’s writings, there are some written mentions of Jesus by two Roman politicians: Pliny and Tacitus. They held some of the highest offices in the state at the beginning of the second century A.D. Tacitus wrote Jesus was executed while Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect in charge of Judea (A.D. 26-36) and while Tiberius was emperor (A.D. 14-37). Pliny was a governor in northern Turkey, and he wrote that Christians worshiped Christ as a god. Neither Pliny, nor Tiberius, were Christians. St. Paul, Flavius Josephus, Pliny, and Tacitus all wrote about Jesus. Some were fans, others were not. It sure sounds like they were all writing about the same person. One of the things Jesus was known for was healing the sick. He didn’t ask for money first. He didn’t deny healing to those who couldn’t pay for it. He didn’t turn people away who were poor, or outcasts, or of low-status. He didn’t demand that they follow him. He just healed them. Here are a few examples: Matthew 14:14: When he went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them and healed their sick. Mathew 15:30: And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute and many others, and they laid him down at His feet; and he healed them. Matthew 21:14: And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. Luke 4:40: While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. Mark 6:56: Whenever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured. Mark 7:37: They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” Luke 7:21: At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. There is no evidence that Jesus ever said “health care is a human right”. But, his actions show that is what he believed. If you call yourself a Christian, and think that health care is NOT a human right – you’re not really a Christian. The University of Virginia website has information about Theodore Roosevelt’s campaigns and elections. It includes the election of 1912. In this one, Theodore Roosevelt decided to throw “his hat into the ring” against incumbent President William Howard Taft. In June of 1912, the Republican Party met in Chicago to determine who their official nominee would be. Roosevelt had won a series of preferential primaries, but Taft controlled the convention floor. Taft’s backers excluded most of Roosevelt’s delegates by not recognizing their credentials. Theodore Roosevelt was enraged by that, and refused himself to be nominated. Taft won the first ballot and became the official Republican Party candidate. Roosevelt and his supporters formed the Progressive Party, and gathered in Chicago two weeks later. They nominated Theodore Roosevelt as their presidential candidate and Governor Hiram Johnson of California as his running mate. Roosevelt made a speech calling their party “as strong as a Bull Moose”, and “The Bull Moose Party” became the popular name. Its tenants included political justice and economic opportunity, and it sought a minimum wage for women; an eight-hour workday; a social security system; a national health service; a federal securities commission; and direct election of US. Senators… Theodore Roosevelt, and the supporters of The Bull Moose Party, recognized that health care is a human right. The Democratic Party nominated governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson for President and Thomas R. Marshall, the governor of Indiana, as Vice President. Wilson captured 41.9 percent of the vote to Roosevelt’s 27.4 percent and Taft’s 23.1 percent. Socialist Party candidate Eugene Debs won 6 percent of the vote. Wilson got 435 electoral college votes, Roosevelt got 88, and Taft got 8. If Theodore Roosevelt had won the 1912 election, it is possible that the result would have been a national health care system for America. Clearly, Theodore Roosevelt and his supporters believed that health care is a human right. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum website has a transcript of FDR’s State of the Union Message to Congress. It was delivered on January 11, 1944. Part of it said: …We have come to the clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed. Among these are:The right to a useful and remunerative job in shops or farms or mines of the Nation;The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an autonomous atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;The right of every family to a decent home;The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment; The right to a good education.All these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being… President Franklin Delano Roosevelt recognized that “the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health” is a human right. Mary Gerich wrote an article titled: “Health Care As a Human Right” on the American Bar Association website. It includes the following paragraph: …The right to health care has long been recognized internationally. Ironically, the origins of this right are here in the United States. Health care was listed in the Second Bill of Rights drafted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). Sadly, FDR’s death kept this Second Bill of Rights from being implemented. Eleanor Roosevelt, however, took his work to the United Nations (UN), where it was expanded and clarified. She became the drafting chairperson for the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). That committee codified our human rights, including, at Article 25, the essential right to health. The United States, together with all other nations of the UN, adopted these international standards… The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that was founded in 1945. At the time I’m writing this blog, it has 193 Member States. The UN signed The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1945. It is a milestone document of the history of human rights. It was drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Article 25 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. Article 28 says: Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. To be clear, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes “medical care and necessary social service” as a human right. The United States is among the nations that adopted The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum has information about Truman’s proposed health program. The program was proposed on November 19, 1945, about seven months after Truman’s presidency began. …Harry S. Truman sent a Presidential message to the United States Congress, proposing a new national health care program. In his message, Truman argued that the federal government should play a role in health care, saying “The health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility”. One of the chief aims of President Truman’s plan was to insure that all communities, regardless of their size or income level, had access to doctors and hospitals. President Truman emphasized the urgent need for such measures, asserting that “About 1,200 counties, 40 percent of the total in the country, with some 15,000,000 people, either have no local hospital, or none that meets even the minimum standards of national professional associations… President Truman’s plan was to improve the health care of the United States by addressing five separate issues: Construction of Hospitals and Related Facilities The Federal Government should provide financial and other assistance for the construction of needed hospitals, health centers, and other medical, health, and rehabilitation facilities. With the help of Federal funds, it should be possible to meet the deficiencies in hospital and health facilities so that modern services – for both prevention and cure – can be accessible to all the people. Federal financial aid should be available to build facilities where needed, but also to enlarge or modernize those we now have. Truman called for the federal government to create minimum standards for the hospitals and health facilities, and to allocate federal funding to the areas that needed it the most. The concept was likened to the State-Federal partnership in the construction of highways. Expansion of Public Health, Maternal and Child Health Services Previous to the war, the United States embarked upon Federal-State cooperative health programs to deal with general public health, tuberculosis venereal disease control, maternal and child health, and services for crippled children. The project was not completed before the war began. The Federal Government should cooperate by more generous grants to the States than are provided under present laws for public health services and for maternal and child health care. The program should continue to be partly financed by the States themselves, and should be administered by the States. Federal grants should be in proportion to State and local expenditures, and should also vary in accordance with the financial ability of the respective States.The health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility. Medical Education and Research Truman called for the Federal Government to undertake a broad program to strengthen professional education in medical and related fields, and to encourage and support medical research. Professional education should be strengthened where necessary through Federal grants-in-aid to public and non-public institutions. Medical research, also should be encouraged and supported in the Federal agencies and by grants-in-aid to public and non-profit private agencies. Truman stated that federal aid for medical research and education is an essential part of any national health program, if it is to meet its responsibilities for high grade medical services and for continuing progress. Coordinating the research program and the funding program was necessary to assure efficient use of Federal funds. Truman called for legislation to to make that happen. Prepayment of Medical Costs Everyone should have ready access to all necessary medical, hospital and related services. I recommend solving the basic problem by distributing the costs through expansion of our existing compulsory social insurance system. This is not socialized medicine. Truman compared this to fire insurance. Everyone who carries fire insurance knows how the law of averages is made to work so as to spread the risk, and to benefit the insured who actually suffers the loss. If instead of the costs of sickness being paid only by those who get sick, all the people – sick and well – were required to pay premiums to an insurance fund, the pool of funds thus created would enable all who do fall sick to be adequately served without overburdening anyone. That is the principle on which all forms of insurance are based..…A system of prepayment should cover medical, hospital, nursing and laboratory services. It should also cover dental care – as fully and for as many of the population as the available professional personnel and the financial resources of the system permit… Truman called for the creation of advisory committees in which the public and the medical professionals are represented. It required that methods and rates of paying doctors and hospitals should be adjusted locally. All such rates for doctors should be adequate, and appropriately adjusted upward for those who are qualified specialists. People would remain free to choose their own physicians and hospitals. People would remain free to obtain and pay for medical service outside the health insurance system if they desire, even though they are members of the system. Truman said physicians would remain free to accept or reject patients, and to decided for themselves whether they wish to participate in the health insurance system full time, part time, or not at all. Physicians must be permitted to be represented through organizations of their own choosing, and to decide whether to carry on in individual practice or to join with other doctors in group practice in hospitals or clinics. Truman emphasized that this is not socialized medicine. Socialized medicine means that all doctors work as employees of government. The American people want no such system. No such system is here proposed. He continued, Under the plan I suggest, our people would continue to get medical and hospital services just as they do now – on the basis of their own voluntary decisions and choices. Our doctors and hospitals would continue to deal with disease with the same professional freedom as now. There would, however, be this all-important difference: whether or not patients get the services they need would not depend on how much they can afford to pay at the time. Truman’s plan would be for people who work for a living (and their dependents) – no matter where these people worked. It was also for “needy persons and other groups”. Truman called for increased Federal funds to be made available by the Congress under the public assistance programs to reimburse the States for part of such premiums, as well as for direct expenditures made by the States in paying for medical services provided by doctors, hospitals, and other agencies to needy persons. Protection against loss of wages from sickness and disability Truman wrote that a comprehensive health program must include the payment of benefits to replace at least part of the earnings that are lost during the period of sickness and long-term disability. He said this can be readily and conveniently provided through expansion of our present insurance system, with appropriate adjustment of premiums. Truman strongly urged Congress to give careful consideration to this program of health legislation now. Read the details of Truman’s plan, and it is clear that President Truman knew that health care is a human right. Truman’s plan went to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill co-sponsored by Senators Robert Wagner (D-NY) and James Murray (D-MT), with Representative John Dingell (D-MI). The bill was opposed by the American Medical Association (AMA) that capitalized on fears of Communism in the public mind. The main public advocate of the bill was organized labor, which had lost its goodwill from the American people due to a series of unpopular strikes. President Truman was forced to abandon the bill. If the AMA had backed the bill, instead of trying to scare Americans into thinking that Truman’s plan to improve American health care was “Communism” it probably would have been signed into law. It would have given Americans a nationalized health care system. On February 6, 1974, President Richard Nixon delivered a Special Message to Congress Proposing a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan. Here are some key points from that plan: Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) This plan was organized around seven principles: First, if offers every American an opportunity to obtain a balanced, comprehensive range of health insurance benefits;Second, it will cost no American more than he can afford to pay; Third, it builds on the strength and diversity of our existing public and private systems of health funding and harmonizes them into an overall system;Fourth, it uses public funds only where needed and requires no new Federal taxes;Fifth, it would maintain freedom of choice by patients and ensure that doctors work for their patient, not for the Federal Government.Sixth, it encourages more effective use of our health care resources;And finally, it is organized so that all parties would have a direct stake in making the system work-consumer, provider, insurer, State governments and the Federal Government. Nixon’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan would offer every American the same broad and balanced health protection through one of three major programs: Employee Health Insurance, covering most Americans and offered at their place of employment, with the cost to be shared by the employer and employee on a basis which would prevent excessive burdens on either;Assisted Health Insurance, covering low-income persons, and persons who would be ineligible for the other two programs, with Federal and State government paying those costs beyond the means of the individual who is insured; and,An improved Medicare Plan, covering those 65 and over and offered through a Medicare system that is modified to include additional, needed benefits. One of these three plans would be available to every American, but for everyone, participation in the program would be voluntary.The benefits offered by the three plans would be identical for all Americans, regardless of age or income. Benefits would be provided for: hospital care; physicians’ care in and out of the hospital; prescription and life-saving drugs; laboratory tests and X-rays; medical devices; ambulance services; and other ancillary health care. More details include: No exclusions of coverage based on the nature of the illness. Nixon explains “a person with heart disease would qualify for benefits as would a person with kidney disease”.It would cover treatment for mental illness, alcoholism and drug addiction, whether that treatment were provided in hospitals and physicians’ offices or in community based settings.Certain nursing homes services and other convalescent services would be covered. Home health services would be covered so that long and costly stays in nursing homes could be averted where possible.Children would receive preventative care up to age six; eye examinations; hearing examinations; and regular dental care up to age 13.A doctor’s decisions could be based on the health care needs of his patients, not on health insurance coverage.There was a cap on how much a family would have to pay out-of-pocket for covered health services. Low-income people would face substantially smaller expenses.Every American in the program would get a Health-card when the plan goes into effect in their state. It would be honored by hospitals, nursing homes, emergency rooms, doctors, and clinics across the country. The card could be used to identify blood type and sensitivity to particular drugs.Bills for services paid for with the Health-card would be sent to the insurance carrier who would reimburse the provider of the care for covered services, and then bill the patient for his share, if any. Nixon intended the program to become effective in 1976, assuming that the plan was promptly enacted by Congress. The plan provided an explanation of how employee health insurance would work and ideas to improve Medicare. The plan also provided an explanation of how assisted health insurance would work: The program of Assisted Health Insurance is designed to cover everyone not offered coverage under Employee Health Insurance or Medicare, including the unemployed, the disabled, the self-employed, and those with low incomes. In addition, persons with higher incomes could also obtain Assisted Health Insurance if they cannot otherwise get coverage at reasonable rates. Included in this latter group might be persons whose health status or type of work puts them at high-risk insurance categories.Assisted Health Insurance would thus fill many of the gaps in our present health insurance system and would ensure that for the first time in our Nation’s history, all Americans would have financial access to health protection regardless of income or circumstances……Assisted Health Insurance would replace State-run Medicaid for most services. Unlike Medicaid, where benefits vary in each State, this plan would establish uniform benefit and eligibility standards for all low-income persons. It would also eliminate artificial barriers to enrollment or access to health care… Richard Nixon had a mild case of tuberculosis when he was a child. His brothers died of tuberculosis. That awful experience could be why Nixon created a health plan that could only be created by someone who believed health care was a human right. What happened to Nixon’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan? Commonwealth Fund provides the answer to that question: …Nixon’s proposal eventually failed, in large part because Watergate destroyed his presidency. But elements of the plan’s innovative design have continued to emerge in many subsequent proposals by Democrats and Republicans, including in the ACA… The United Nations (UN) adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on January 3, 1976. Article 12 stated: The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;(b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;(c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational, and other diseases;(d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness. This is basically a reiteration that the United Nations recognized that health care is a human right. On November 20, 1993, the Health Security Act was introduced to the U.S. Senate. It was a health reform bill that was created while President Bill Clinton was in office. Mistakes were made. The bill is described as: A bill to ensure individual and family security through health care coverage for all Americans in a manner that contains the rate of growth in health care costs and promotes responsible health insurance practices, to promote choice in health care, and to ensure and protect the health care of all Americans. The University of Virginia Miller Center has information about President Bill Clinton’s effort to enact what was intended to become an a national health care package. It has also been referred to as a single-payer proposal. …Along with the political scandals that plagued his presidency, Clinton failed to realize a major goal of his administration: affordable health care insurance for every American. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a universal health care system, and Clinton felt passionately about the fact that 60 million Americans did not have adequate health insurance. In addition, health-care costs had skyrocketed since the 1970s, consuming, according to some estimates, one seventh of the nation’s goods and services – a greater proportion than that of any other industrialized country in the world. Winning a national health package would have provided Clinton with a lasting historical legacy, much as Franklin D. Roosevelt had achieved with Social Security. In the minds of some, Clinton’s health care program – if realized – would have constituted the most important piece of social legislation in American history… There were benefits to passing health care reform. According to the Miller Center, controlling health care costs could remove a major drag on the economy. From a political standpoint, universal health care would link the middle-class and the working-class to the Democratic Party for at least another generation. There were also obstacles. The Republican party (with a few exceptions) united in their determination to prevent President Clinton’s health care bill from passing. In addition, some Americans were worried that national health insurance was “socialistic”. They worried it would deny Americans the right to see a doctor of their choice, while placing physicians in the service of a government bureaucracy. Are you seeing the pattern here? Those opposed to a health care bill, once again, tried to terrify Americans by calling it “socialism”. This prevented Americans from having universal health care. It is the same old story that was pushed when President Harry Truman tried to enact a national health care plan. It is the same story that was pushed when President Barack Obama was working on “Obamacare”. (More on that in a bit.) President Clinton created a task force to develop the health care program. He selected his wife, First Lady Hillary Clinton, to head the task force, and Ira Magaziner as its director. …The appointment of Hillary was a serious mistake. It immediately placed the First Lady in a position of being a major policy and political power – an appointment that deviated significantly form precedent, allowing critics to attack her as well as the program. Moreover, her unique relationship with the President meant that other advisers reacted to her differently than they would to any other task-force head, not wanting to alienate the President’s wife with difficult but well-intentioned criticism. Hillary also blundered in several important ways. Her decision to recruit a task-force network of experts to work in secret on complex issues – such as health-care premiums, managed competition, and health-care alliances – looked too much like policy by cabal and fiat. A federal court forced her to make records publicly available of some of the proceedings, after some in the health-care industry sued for open access. Most importantly, the process largely left Congress out of the picture as the task force drafted the particulars of the plan, thus reducing the plan’s chance for legislative success; Clinton had wanted to present to Congress a finished package, which meant that key participants in the congressional lawmaking were not involved in its drafting. Moreover, there was significant internal disagreement within the administration about the costs of the plan, its scope, and its political marketability… The New England Journal of Medicine posted a article titled “The American Health Security Act — A Single Payer Proposal”. It was written by Senator Paul D. Wellstone (D-Minn) and Ellen R. Shaffrer. The report was published on May 20, 1993. Here’s how the basic operation of the system was described: …A single public entity, the federal government, would be responsible for collecting and distributing to all the states all funds needed to pay for covered health care services in the United States. The annual health care budget could increase only as much as the gross domestic product. Each state would receive allocations based on the size and geographic distribution of its population, and on any special health needs. To allow for flexibility, states would administer the program. The state budgets would be divided into operating and capital expenses, with the share consumed by administration capped at 3 percent. Measures to improve the quality of care, as described below, would reduce unneeded services and encourage the provision of more cost-efficient primary and preventative services. The General Accounting Office has estimated that by eliminating administrative waste and shifting the system’s priorities, such a program would be well able to extend care to uninsured and underserved groups without additional expense… The American Health Security Act was intended as a universal health care program. The report explained: “ …everyone would be covered under the same health insurance system with the same benefits, and there would be no duplicative insurance outside the system for covered benefits. Additional insurance would be permitted only for services that were not covered, such as elective cosmetic surgery. Reciprocity among states would be ensured. The link between employment and coverage would be broken. This is a critical feature of any reform — to ensure security of coverage as our mobile population moves form job to job, to ensure that everyone received the same quality of care, and to hold down administrative costs…. H.R. 3600 – Health Security Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on November 20, 1993. It was considered by a wide variety of Committees and Subcommittees between then and October 7, 1994. As far as I can tell, the bill was never voted on in the House. S. 1757 Health Security Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate on November 20, 1993. It was read for the second time in the Senate on November 22, 1993. The Senate Committee on Finance held hearings on provisions of the bill on April 26, 1994. As far as I can tell, the bill was never voted on in the Senate. On March 23, 2019, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). It has also been called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and “Obamacare”. President Barack Obama said: “Today, I’m signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days.” Here are some key points of the ACA: Improved Access to Care Prohibited coverage denials and reduced benefits due to pre-existing conditionsEliminated lifetime and annual limits on insurance coverage and established annual limits on out-of-pocket spending on essential health benefitsRequired health plans to cover dependent children up to age 26Prohibited retroactive cancellation of policies, except in the case of fraud, eliminating the practice of people developing costly illnesses and then losing their coverage.Expanded Medicaid to all previously ineligible adults with incomes under 133 percent of the federal poverty level with unprecedented federal support (the Supreme Court directed that this expansion be at the discretion of states.)Established a system of state and federal health insurance exchanges or marketplaces to make it easier for individuals and small-businesses’ employees to purchase health care plans at affordable pricesSimplified health choices by requiring individual and small business plans to offer four standard categories at various costs, plus a catastrophic option for people under age 30 and people who cannot otherwise afford coverageEstablished individual responsibility by requiring all Americans who can afford insurance coverage to purchase it or pay a feeEstablished employer responsibility under which mid-size and large companies provide health coverage to their workers or contribute to their coverage through a feeEnsured individual and small business health plans include essential health benefits, covering emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, preventative care such as annual physicals, and moreSimplified eligibility and enrollment requirements in Medicaid and the Children’s Heath Insurance Program (CHIP)Expanded Community Health Centers and incentives for primary care providers to practice in the communities that need them mostCreate a new FDA approval pathway to advance biosimilars, which offer the potential to lower treatment costs for patients on high-cost biologicsProvided new home- and community-based options for elderly and disabled Americans who require long-term care servicesIntroduced new coverage options and other improvements for Native Americans through an improved Indian Health ServiceCreated a temporary reinsurance program to sustain group coverage for early retirees prior to 2014 reformsCreated a temporary high-risk pool program to cover uninsured people with preexisting conditions prior to 2014 reformsCreated health plan disclosure requirements and simple, standardized summaries so consumers can evaluate coverage information and compare benefitsProvided funding for a voluntary home-visiting program to support mothers and young children in underserved communitiesCovered HIV screening for millions without additional cost and prohibited discrimination due to pre-existing conditions like HIVCreated a new funding pool for Community Health Centers to build, expand, and operate health-care facilities in underserved communitiesExpanded health provider training opportunities, with an emphasis on primary care, including a significant expansion of the National Health Service CorpsImproved policy and extended funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage for millions of low-income children, in 2009, and extended those policies in 2015 Made Health Care and Coverage More Affordable Established financial assistance to help individuals and families who otherwise cannot afford coverage purchase it through state and federal marketplacesCreated a tax credit for small businesses that provide health coverage to their employeesProhibited charging more for women to receive coverageRequired health insurers to provide consumers with rebates if the amount they spend on health benefits and quality of care, as opposed to advertising and marketing, is too lowAllow employer health plans to provide incentives for workers related to wellness programsPhases out the “donut hole” coverage gap for Medicare prescription drug coverage to save Medicare beneficiaries moneyExpanded competitive bidding in Medicare to lower costs for durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs and hospital bedsCreated new Medicare payment and delivery models to pay for the value rather than the volume of service provided, as well as the new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to promote improvement in health care quality and costs through the development and testing of innovative health care payment and service modelsEnsured Medicare Advantage plans are paid accurately and required plans to spend at least 85 percent of Medicare revenue on patient care, while enrollment has grown by over 60 percent and average premiums have dropped by 13 percent since the passage of the Affordable Care ActReduced drug costs through increased Medicaid rebates, expanded discount programs, and established a new system for approval of more affordable versions of biologic drugs Increased Access to Mental Health Services Eliminated out-of-pocket costs for recommended preventative services, including depression screenings for adults and adolescents, through the Affordable Care ActFormed the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force to work together to ensure that Americans are benefiting from the mental health and substance use disorder parity protections under the Affordable Care ActSigned the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act, to improve mental health care and suicide prevention programs for veteransIssued an Executive Order to improve mental health services for veterans, service members, and military familiesInvested $100 million to improve access to mental health services At the time I am writing this blog post, it appears that much of the information about the Affordable Care Act has been removed from the official government websites by the Trump Administration. Fortunately, I was writing about the ACA as it was being rolled out. I wrote a blog post on Families.com titled: “Final Rules About What Health Plans Must Cover”. The 10 Essential Health Benefits Are: Ambulatory patient servicesEmergency servicesHospitalizationMaternity and newborn careMental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatmentPrescription drugsRehabilitative and rehabilitative services and devicesLaboratory servicesPreventative and wellness services and chronic disease managementPediatric services, including oral and vision care On August 1, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services added additional guidelines for women’s preventative care to the previous list of preventative care. This includes well-woman visits, contraception and contraceptive counseling, screening for STDs, breastfeeding support, and domestic violence screening and counseling. All health plans were required to offer all forms of women’s preventative care to consumers without cost sharing. This rule took affect on August 1, 2012. Of all the attempts at reforming the health care system in the United States – the Affordable Care Act has come the closest to recognizing that health care is a human right. Kaiser Family Foundation reported, on December 7, 2018, “Key Facts about the Uninsured Population”. It starts with this: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to historic gains in health insurance coverage by extending Medicaid coverage to many low-income individuals and providing Marketplace subsidies for individuals below 400% of poverty. The number of uninsured nonelderly Americans decreased from over 44 million in 2013 (the year before the major coverage provisions went into effect) to just below 27 million in 2016. However, in 2017, the number of uninsured people increased by nearly 700,000 people, the first increase since the implementation of the ACA…. President Barack Obama was started first term on January 20, 2009. He won his second term, which ended on January 20, 2017. President Donald Trump assumed office on January 20, 2017. The number of uninsured people increased by 700,000 people in 2017. On October 2015, the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics posted a report titled: “Promoting Health as a Human Right in the Post-ACA United States”. It was written by Andrea S. Christopher, MD, and Dominic Caruso. From the report: …Although the ethical basis of the right to health has received acceptance internationally, it is often avoided in discussions about federal provision of health care in the US. Instead, the economic and political perspectives on health care as a human right predominate, and discussion centers on the tension between the financial burden of providing universal heath care and the primacy of the free market in the US. Mainstream political ideologies agree that the disadvantaged in society require assistance to level the playing field. However, the political parties differ on how much social service to provide. Conservatives generally argue that medical care is a commodity and therefore “able-bodied individuals” should earn the right to afford it. In contrast, liberals frequently view health insurance and access to care as basic entitlements that should be available to all.We should also consider the powerful influence of health care stakeholders in the national dialogue about a right to health. Health care lobbyists spent an estimated $380 million dollars during the drafting of ACA legislation, with six registered health industry lobbyists for every member of Congress. Despite a lack of transparency with regard to the specific legislation promoted by this health industry spending, we can infer that most lobbyists probably did not advocate for health care as a human right. Additionally, we must acknowledge the role that physician groups have historically played in petitioning against expanding coverage. For example, the American Medical Association sponsored “Operation Coffee Cup,” in which a recording of Ronald Reagan introduced the term “socialized medicine” into our public lexicon during congressional debate about expanding health insurance coverage for the elderly in 1961……The focus in the US on health care financing and insurance is reflected in the ACA’s silence on a human right to health and health care. Although the ACA makes strides in reducing the number of uninsured people, it was never designed to guarantee access to health care for everyone in the US – thus neglecting a basic premise of the right to health movement……We must acknowledge that the movement promoting the right to health in the United States is actually a movement for universal health care, which is not an unreasonable or even particularly remarkable goal. Nearly all other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provide for the health of all citizens as a fundamental responsibility, not as a condition of employment, income, disability status, or some other criterion. The upcoming UN agreement represents both an opportunity and an imperative for the US to provide health care that is truly universally acceptable to all Americans……As current and future US clinicians, we share the professional responsibility to advocate for the health and well-being of our patients. Thus, we find the lack of universal health care in the world’s wealthiest country to be both an embarrassment and a touchstone for action among medical and public health practitioners. While we acknowledge the achievements of the ACA in improving health insurance coverage, we advocate for universal health coverage as a necessary component in the drive toward broad recognition of the right to health… On December 29, 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted information titled: “Human rights and health”. Key facts: The WHO Constitution (1946) envisages “…the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right of every human being.”Understanding health as a human right creates a legal obligation on states to ensure access to timely, acceptable, and affordable health care of appropriate quality as well as to providing for the underlying determinants of health, such as safe and potable water, sanitation, food, housing, health-related information and education, and gender equality.A rights-based approach to health requires that health policy and programs must prioritize the needs of those furthest behind first towards greater equity, a principal that has been echoed in the recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Universal Health Coverage.The right to health must be enjoyed without discrimination on the grounds of race, age, ethnicity or any other status. Non-discrimination and equality requires states to take steps to redress any discriminatory law, practice or policy. …”The right to the highest attainable standard of health” implies a clear set of legal obligations on states to ensure appropriate conditions for the enjoyment of health for all people without discrimination.The right to health is one of a set of internationally agreed human rights standards, and is inseparable or ‘indivisible’ from these other rights. This means achieving the right to health is both central to, and dependent upon, the realization of other human rights, to food, housing, work, education, information, and participation.The right to health, as with other rights, includes both freedoms and entitlements:Freedoms include the right to control one’s health and body (for example, sexual and reproductive rights) and to be free from interference (for example, free from torture and non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation).Entitlements include the right to a system of health protection that gives everyone an equal opportunity to enjoy the highest attainable level of health. The WHO included details about Core components of the right to health. AvailabilityRefers to the need for a sufficient quantity of functioning public health and health care facilities, goods and services, as well as programs for all. Availability can be measured through the analysis of disaggregated data to different and multiple stratifiers including by age, sex, location and socio-economic status and qualitative surveys to understand coverage gaps and health workforce coverage.AccessibilityRequires that health facilities, goods, and services must be accessible to everyone. Accessibility has four overlapping dimensions: non-discrimination, physical accessibility, economical accessibility (affordability), information accessibility.Accessing accessibility may require analysis of barriers – physical financial or otherwise – that exist, and how they may affect the most vulnerable, and call for the establishment or application of clear norms and standards in both law and policy to address these barriers, as well as robust monitoring systems of health-related information and whether this information is reaching all populations.AcceptabilityRelated to respect for medical ethics, culturally appropriate, and sensitivity to gender. Acceptability requires that health facilities, goods, services, and programs are people-centered and cater to the specific needs of diverse population groups and in accordance with international standards of medical ethics for confidentiality and informed consent.QualityFacilities, goods, and services must be scientifically and medically approved. Quality is a key component of Universal Health Coverage, and includes the experience as well as the perception of health care. Quality health services should be: Safe – avoiding injuries to people for whom the care is intended:Effective – providing evidence-based healthcare services to those who need them;People-centered – providing care that responds to individual preferences, needs and values;Timely – reducing waiting times and sometimes harmful delaysEquitable – providing care that does not vary in quality on account of gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socio-economic status;Integrated – providing care that makes available the full range of health services throughout the life course;Efficient – maximizing the benefit of available resources and avoiding waste On May 4, 2018, the “Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his mission to the United States of America” was presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations. It was presented in the thirty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council, which took place between June 18, 2018, and July 6, 2018. It is the report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston. It is about his mission to the United States of America from December 1, 2017, through December 15, 2017. The purpose of the visit was to evaluate, and report to the Human Rights Council on, the extent to which the United States Government’s policies and programs aimed at addressing extreme poverty are consistent with its human rights obligations and to offer constructive recommendations to the Government and other stakeholders. Philip Alston met with U.S. government officials at the federal, state, county, and city levels, members of Congress, representatives of civil society, academics and people living in poverty. He received more than 40 written submissions in advance of his visit. He visited California (Los Angles and San Francisco), Alabama (Lowndes County and Montgomery), Georgia (Atlanta), Puerto Rico (San Juan, Gyayama and Salinas), West Virginia (Charleston) and Washington D.C. The report is well worth reading and is filled with plenty of details. Philip Alston was required to stay under a certain word count. He wrote: “The strict word limit for this report makes it impossible to delve deeply into even the key issues. Fortunately, there is already much excellent scholarship and many civil society analyses of the challenges of poverty in the United States.” For the purpose of this blog, I’m going to pull out some portions of the report that focus on health care. …The visit of the Special Rapporteur coincided with the dramatic change of direction in relevant United States policies. The new policies: (a) provide unprecedentedly high tax breaks and financial windfalls to the very wealthy and the largest corporations; (b) pay for these partly by reducing welfare benefits for the poor; (c) undertake a radical program of financial, environmental, health and safety deregulation that eliminates protections mainly benefitting middle classes and the poor; (d) seek to add over 20 million poor and middle class persons to the ranks of those without health insurance; (e) restrict eligibility for many welfare benefits while increasing the obstacles required to be overcome by those eligible; (f) dramatically increase spending on defense, while rejecting requested improvements in key veterans’ benefits; (g) do not provide adequate additional funding to address an opioid crisis that is decimating parts of the county; and (h) make no effort to tackle the structural racism that keeps a large percentage of non-Whites in poverty and near poverty…. …Successive administrations, including the current one, have determinedly rejected the idea that economic and social rights are full-fledged human rights, despite their clear recognition not only in key treaties that the United States has ratified, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, but also in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States has long insisted other countries must respect. But denial does not eliminate responsibility, nor does it negate obligations. International human rights law recognizes a right to education, a right to health care, a right to social protection for those in need and a right to an adequate standard of living. In practice, the United States is alone among developed countries in insisting that, while human rights are of fundamental importance, they do not include rights that guard against dying of hunger, dying from a lack of access to affordable health care or growing up in a context of total deprivation… …Proposals to slash the meagre welfare arrangements that currently exist are now sought to be justified primarily on the basis that the poor need to leave welfare and go to work. The assumption, especially in a thriving economy, is that there are a great many jobs out there waiting to be filled by individuals with low educational qualifications, often with disabilities of one kind or another, sometimes burdened with a criminal record (often poverty related), without meaningful access to health care, and with no training or effective assistance to obtain employment. It also assumes that the jobs they could get will make them independent of state assistance.In reality, the job market for such people is extraordinarily limited, and even more so for those without basic forms of social protection and support. The case of Walmart, the largest employer in the United States, is instructive. Many of its workers cannot survive on a full-time wage in the absence of food stamps… There is a section about Adult dental care: The Affordable Care Act greatly expanded the availability of dental care to children, but not for adults. Some 49 million Americans live in federally designated “dental professional shortage areas” and Medicare (the program for the aged and those with disabilities) does not cover routine dental care. The only access to dental care for the uninsured is through the emergency room, where excruciating pain can lead to an extraction. Even for those with coverage, access is not guaranteed, as only a minority of dentists see Medicaid patients. Poor oral hygiene and disfiguring dental profiles lead to unemployability in many jobs, being shunned in the community and being left unable to function effectively. Yet there is no universal program to address those issues, which fundamentally affect the human dignity and ultimately the civil fights of the persons concerned… There is a section about Persistent discrimination and poverty. It includes a section on gender: Women often experience the burdens of poverty in particularly harsh ways. Poor pregnant women who seek Medicaid prenatal care are subjected to interrogations of a highly sensitive and personal nature, effectively surrendering their privacy rights. Low-income women who would like to exercise their constitutional, privacy-derived right to access abortion services face legal and practical obstacles, such as mandatory waiting periods and long driving distances to clinics. This lack of access to abortion services traps many women in cycles of poverty. When a child is born to a woman living in poverty, that woman is more likely to be investigated by the child welfare system and have her child taken away from her. Poverty is frequently treated as a form of “child neglect” and thus case to remove a child from the home, a risk exacerbated by the fact that some states do not provide legal aid in child welfare proceedings.Racial discrimination makes matters worse for many poor women. Black women with cervical cancer – a disease that can easily be prevented or cured – have lower rates than White women, due to later diagnosis and treatment difference, owing to a lack of health insurance and regular access to health care. The United States has the highest maternal mortality ratio among wealthy countries, and black women are three to four times more likely to die than White women. In one city, the rate for Blacks was 12 times higher than that for Whites… There is a section on “Confused and counterproductive drug policies”: The opioid crisis has devastated many communities, and the addiction to pain-control opioids often leads to heroin, methamphetamine and other substance abuse. Instead of responding with increased funding and improved access to vital care and support, the federal Government and many state governments have instead mounted concerted campaigns to reduce and restrict access to health care by the poorer members of the population… The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, provided conclusions and recommendations. The one related to health care says: Recognize a right to health care Health care is, in fact, a human right. The civil and political rights of the middle class and the poor are fundamentally undermined if they are unable to function effectively, which includes working, because of a lack of the access to health care that every human being needs. The Affordable Care Act was a good start, although it was limited and flawed from the outset. Undermining it by stealth is not just inhumane and a violation of human rights, but an economically and socially destructive policy aimed at the poor and the middle class. The World Population Review posted information about “Countries With Universal Healthcare 2019”. The following countries have universal health care policies in place: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antiqua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brasil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgari, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cypres, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Eritrea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Gurnsey, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lativa, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niue, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Somoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia Does this mean that all of these countries are shining examples of protectors of human rights in every way? Not necessarily. Some come much closer to that ideal than others do. The understanding that health care is a human right is one thing they all have in common. You may have noticed that the United States is not on the list of countries that have universal health care. This is a huge problem, and needs to change as quickly as possible. Health care is a human right. The Neanderthals knew it. People who follow Christianity should know it (and many do). Every person who has gotten seriously ill or injured, or who has a loved one in that situation, knows intrinsically that health care is a human right. Many United States presidents knew that health care is a human right and tried their best to enact policies that would make that right a reality. The human right to health care includes all forms of physical health care (including eye care, dental care, addiction care and reproductive health care). It includes mental health care – everything. All humans have a right to health care no matter how much money the person makes, their race, their gender, where they live, where they work, their economic background, who they voted for in previous United States elections, or anything else. The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. There is no valid reason why this country has failed to live up to its responsibility to ensure that everyone gets all of the health care that they need. Health care is a human right. It always has been. It always will be. Health Care is a Human Right is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Always at the Doctor’s OfficeMay 28, 2019Doctor Appointments / Out of SpoonsImage by Negative Space on Pexels The majority of the time I have gone outside in 2019 were in order to do two things. I was either going to get groceries, or I was headed for the doctor’s office. To me, it feels like I’ve needed more trips to the doctor this year than typical. I haven’t had the energy to keep up with writing about it, so I’m just going to put the whole story into this blog post. January In early January, I tried to get an appointment with my newly assigned doctor. (The previous one had left what I call “the clinic for the poor people). The earliest appointment they could give me would be… three months later. The reason I was trying to get an appointment was because I was fairly certain I had a sinus infection. I get them often, and it felt like this one as at the point where I needed treatment. I grumpily told the person on the phone, who was assigned the task of dolling out doctor appointments, that I couldn’t wait three months to see a doctor for a sinus infection. The person suggested I go to a MedStop. There was a chance that it wasn’t a sinus infection. Spring pollen season was waging war against me. The pollen was winning. Having no other choice, I called the MedStop. They don’t assign appointments. People have to wait around until a doctor can see them. I was not looking forward to having to sit around in the MedStop, surrounded by sick people, while experiencing intense sinus pain. My immune system sucks, and I was concerned that I’d catch something while waiting to see the doctor. The most interesting thing about this MedStop visit was that everyone working there was completely aware that the people coming in would rather be seen by their regular doctor. The receptionist took my ID and health insurance card, and looked me up in their system. “Congratulations,” she said, “You’ve managed to avoid us for three years.” The co-pay cost $75. That charge took into account that I have health insurance coverage. I thought it would be lower. To my surprise, it didn’t take very long to see the doctor. After about 30 minutes of waiting, a nurse came and got me. She took my vitals (all good) and put me in a room to wait for the doctor. The doctor appeared in less than 15 minutes. She checked my sinuses. She diagnosed me with a sinus infection, prescribed an antibiotic. The doctor actually listened to me. I complained that I was here because my doctor’s first available appointment was three months from now. She nodded her head. I bet she hears that often. She said, “That’s why we’re here. We are filling a need.” My prescription for antibiotics was sent to my preferred pharmacy. It only cost about $3.50 – thanks to my health insurance coverage. The pharmacist had no idea whether or not the antibiotics were gluten-free. I had a bad experience with medication that turned out to have gluten in it, and really didn’t want to go through that hell again. After that happened, I did my research and figured out that the gluten was in the pregelatinized starch (or pregelatinized modified starch) that is an inactive ingredient in medications. It could be made from corn or potato – which are gluten-free. Or, it might be full of wheat or barley malt – which absolutely NOT gluten-free. I become unnerved when I learn that I know more about how to determine whether or not a medication is gluten-free than the pharmacist does. He handed me a bottle of the antibiotic, told me to peel off the folded paper of information that was adhered to it, and… figure it out. Fortunately, I knew what to look for. This particular antibiotic was gluten-free. Someone else like me may not know that. This careless lack of labeling is going to eventually hospitalize or kill someone. I tried my best to educate the pharmacist about how to avoid getting people like me sick from the medicine that was supposed to make them better. It’s no fun being on antibiotics, due to the side effects. But, it was better than dealing with the intense pain of a sinus infection. The worst side effect was exhaustion – to add to my usual level of exhaustion. I work as a freelance writer, and the more I can get done in a month the more pay I can get. On January 11, I realized that a huge project from one of my regular clients resulted in almost enough money for me to get some needed dental work done. My dental insurance covers regular check-ups. It does not cover the cost of removing a failing metal filling and replacing it with a brand new (non-metallic) cap. All of that would be paid for out-of-pocket. I was quoted a price of about $1,000. This was the second out-of-pocket filling I needed to have replaced. My husband and I paid for the first one by taking out a loan. It feels like we paid it off in time for my metal filling to start breaking down. Lucky me. Neither one of us wanted to take another loan for this filling replacement. February In February, after I got paid, I made an appointment with my dentist. This time, they quoted me a price of about $800. I have no idea what made the price come down, but I’m very glad it did. I spent Valentine’s Day – February 14 – at the dentist getting a metal filling removed. I’ll spare you the details other than to say it was not a pleasant experience. The dentist numbed me up real good, and I didn’t feel any pain while he was working. This was a longer procedure than I was expecting. The metal filling was huge, and what remained was a small bit of tooth and a non-metal filling. While working, the dentist said he found a cavity and would take care of it while I was there. (A few months later, a bill arrived from the dentist’s office. It was for $45. I’m assuming that was what it cost to have a cavity filled?) Getting a temporary cap, after what felt like a long time in the dentist chair, was uncomfortable. The numbing was starting to wear off, and the process takes a while as things set. To me, one of the worst parts of filling replacement is having a temporary cap to protect until the real cap is ready. The receptionist told me we needed to pay “thirteen fifty-eight”. Dazed, exhausted, and starting to feel pain, I interpreted that to be $13.58. When my husband went to pay, I noticed the screen said $1,358. I quickly pointed that out to the receptionist, and remind her the price I had been quoted. Financial crisis averted. Unfortunately, the lengthy stay in the dentist chair fucked up my fibromyalgia. Having my upper jaw poked and pounded on for… I’m going to figure close to an hour… made my fibromyalgia angry. I have never in my life had so much jaw pain – not even after I had all four wisdom teeth removed at the same time. The pain came and went, and nothing took it away. I was miserable. March The permanent cap was going to be ready on March 4. Meanwhile, I was struggling to eat and was extra exhausted. On March 3, I went outside on what was yet another high pollen day. As I write this blog post, I cannot recall why I did that. It wasn’t to go to the doctor, so it must have been to get groceries. When I got back, I took a nap and was woken up by an excruciating muscle cramp in my leg that quickly became a fierce leg spasm. I screamed for my husband to bring me a heating pad (which helped lessen the pain the previous time this happened). The heating pad takes a long time before it starts to lessen this kind of pain. I went through hell, and was left sweating and with my whole body shaking by the time the muscle spasm passed. It was this particular flavor of hell that helped me decide that I was going to seek out CBD the next time I was well enough to go outside and get it. March 4, I was back at the dentist. The dental technician (if that is the right job title) took some x-rays and then tried to remove my temporary cap. It was supposed to be quick, but she was struggling to do it. My best guess is that she was new, and that the temporary cap was trying to make itself a permanent one. She also seemed terrified that she was going to cause me pain. The cap removal did not require numbing. My leg had not fully recovered from the day before, and when she stopped to get additional tools, I sat up and tried to move my legs around a bit. She seemed confused by this. I explained that I had a muscle spasm in my leg yesterday, hadn’t fully recovered from it. Long story short, the dental technician kept asking me if I was feeling pain, and seemed hesitant to just get the job done. I told her to just do it, that I was not in pain, and would be fine. Honestly, the leg spasm from the day before was way more painful then anything she was going to do to me. I wanted to go home and take a nap, and hoped I could speed her up by insisting that I wasn’t feeling the pain she expected me to feel. The dentist kept checking on her, and eventually was able to come by and take over. He did a cleaning, and it was clear that I was “guinea pig” for this new dental technician. Not a problem. Better me than someone with a severe dentist phobia and a low pain tolerance. My chronic illnesses mean that I’m often in pain. I’ve learned how to cope with it because there often is no other option. That done, the permanent cap was placed and I was free. The bill for this had already been paid when the filling was removed. All that was left now was for me to slowly regain the ability to eat “normally”. Or, as close as all my food allergies will let me get to “normal”. March 9, the CBD my husband ordered for me arrived. The shop in town stopped selling the kind I wanted, and the ones they had included some things that I am allergic to. Long story short, I learned that the CBD works really quickly (for me), even though I’m taking way less than the suggested dose. This is great, because it is kind of expensive, and I can make it last longer this way. March 15, everything caught up to me. I am borderline anemic, and my body crossed the border while I was asleep. Trying to make tea was a challenge. I selected what kind of tea I wanted, put it next to the coffee maker, and… forgot all about it. March 25 found me at my acupuncturist’s office, hoping to heal and regain energy. It was only the second time this year that I’ve been able to go. It really helps me to regain energy, reduce stress, lessen pain and more. My health insurance doesn’t cover my acupuncture or the supplements that I need to take. All of this is entirely out-of-pocket, so I have to ration care until there is money for it. April April 2 was “exciting” because I finally got to see my new doctor for the first time! Doctor Z was smart, attentive, and had some good ideas. After I educated him about all my chronic illnesses, he asked if I wanted a referral for my rheumatologist. Unsure if my health insurance required that – I said “Yes!”. Doctor Z said he would send a referral over for me. He also assigned me to get some blood work done. My rheumatologist would call me after he got the results of the blood work. I’m going to spare you the details about the amount of blood that was wanted. The purpose was to check my cholesterol, my liver, and to give my rheumatologist information that he would need. The blood work required fasting. My period started before I could go get the blood work done. I’m borderline anemic, and that plus fasting, would literally knock me out. It was going to have to wait. In other words, one of my chronic illnesses was preventing me from getting the testing that would check on the progression of some of my other chronic illnesses. Only “spoonies” have this particular problem! On April 11, my sinuses were causing me a ton of pain. Spring pollen season was still in full swing, the plants were happily spewing pollen, and I was slowly losing my ability to function. Once again, “the clinic for the poor people” told me that Doctor Z didn’t have any appointments open. The person on the phone suggested I come in today and see someone else – Doctor H. Sure. The receptionist looked me up on their computer and said, “Oh. You were just here!” “Yep,” I responded. “There’s a bill from your previous visit. Want to pay that now?” I was not coherent enough to deal with numbers, what with all the sinus pain. My husband paid it. I found a chair to sit in, troubled that I’d needed to return to “the clinic for the poor people” BEFORE the previous bill had time to arrive. The bill was $75 (I think). My best guess is that this is my co-pay now. My health insurance premium tripled in cost at the start of this year. The co-pay got higher. A big chunk of my monthly income goes to healthcare. Health insurance isn’t covering everything I need. Doctor H. was extremely pleasant and exuberant. She was more than willing to listen to me explain all my chronic illnesses to her, to catch her up on how long Spring pollen season, and to describe how all that fit together to destroy me. There were several days in a row where the pollen count hit nine. There was one day where it was at 10, and two days where it was past eleven, but not yet at 12. “Sorry for all the frantic typing,” Doctor H said. “This is fascinating! I want to get it all into the computer.” Doctor H. went through the usual allergy suffer checklist. The process involves what I tend to think of as “call and response”. “What antihistamine are you using?” – “Zyrtec”“Do you want a prescription for it?” – “No, the generic version is cheaper.”“Have you tried [this antihistamine that’s newer than Zyrtec?]” -“Yes, years ago. It made my heart feel weird.”“What about HEPA filters?” – “Just got a new one.”“You need more than one. Put it in the bedroom and close the door and it will really help clean the air.” – “It is in the main room.”“No, really, you need to put it in the bedroom and close the door for best results.” – “I live in a mobile home. It’s tiny.” – “Oh. Then one will do.”“Air conditioner?” – “There’s one in the bedroom.”“Want a prescription for Flonase?” – “Um, I’ve used it before… but I think mine’s expired. So, yeah, let’s do that.” Doctor H. sent a prescription for Flonase to my pharmacy of choice. The pharmacist gave me the generic. It only cost about $3.50. April 15 was the day I was able to go get the blood work done. My rheumatologist’s office had called twice asking if I’d gotten it done yet. From this, I figured that Doctor Z’s referral had gotten there. Instead of calling back, I decided to send my answer in the form of blood test results. My period had finally stopped. I accidentally fasted for longer than necessary (because I fell asleep early). I was anemic as hell, and about to lose some more blood. Neither my husband, nor I, drive. Our chronic illnesses prevent us from doing so. He convinced a very kind friend of his to drive us to “the clinic for the poor people” early in the morning. (Doctor Z. suggested I use this lab, which is in the same building as his office.) I was starving, so I brought an entire bag of zebra kettle corn with me. Goal for today was: don’t pass out! It was a gamble. If I lost, I’d pass out inside a building full of doctors that was located right next to a hospital. What’s the worst that could happen? Oh, and the pollen count that day was 9.1, which is too high for me. My chronic illnesses make life incredibly difficult to navigate. My other concern was that I would not quite clot after the blood was taken. Last time, I sat in the waiting room, hoping not to pass out, when I realized I’d bled through the bandage. Freaked out the receptionist who promptly got the phlebotomist to fix the problem. Today, it was a new phlebotomist. I had to do my “educate the doctor” spiel again, letting her know that I’m allergic to latex, am borderline anemic and might pass out, and that I don’t always clot after the blood is taken. Long story short, things went well. There was no one else in the waiting room except my husband and his friend. I was able to sit there until I knew I had clotted. We left, and I ate half the bag of zebra kettle corn on the way home. Didn’t pass out from blood loss. Fell asleep from anemia after I got home. April 17, I finally won the “phone tag” game the lab insisted I play with them. The person informed me that I still had the RH factor. This was not a surprise – it doesn’t go away. So, I probably still had rheumatoid arthritis and undoubtedly still had fibromyalgia. April 23, I returned to my acupuncturist. I told her that my blood test results were “normal”, and that it said I still had the Rh factor. She asked me to get a copy of the results for her. She approved of my use of CBD. May May 7, I was able to see my rheumatologist for the first time in years. I stopped going because we had reached an impasse. He had gone back and forth on whether or not I had rheumatoid arthritis, but was certain I had fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to help me. My rheumatologist is a lovely man who is probably old enough to retire. He is gentle – which important when working with patients who have chronic pain. He came into the room, sat down, and said something like: “Lets go through what we know and see if we come up with anything new.” He also approved of my use of CBD. To summarize, he is certain that I don’t actually have rheumatoid arthritis. He is certain I have fibromyalgia. He assigned me to go do more blood work. It turns out that my rheumatologist never got the results of my other blood test. This is confusing because my rheumatologist, Doctor Z., and the lab, are all in the same building. He suggested a different lab. That one sends my rheumatologist the results of the blood tests he orders. The new round of blood tests is to help him figure out what kind of arthritis I might have. I didn’t have to fast before getting this blood work done. It would have been possible to get it done that day, but I was menstruating, and had no idea how much blood was required for these tests. Before leaving, I went to Doctor Z’s office, asked for a copy of my blood work. Once obtained, I walked it into my rheumatologist’s office and allowed the receptionist to make a copy for him. I now have a copy to take with me whenever I go back to accupuncture. May 14, I was able to get the blood work done. It would make me anemic, because it was happening not long after my period stopped. This time, I forgot to bring food with me to eat after the blood draw. The lab I went to this time was one I had actually been to before. The woman behind the desk was extremely nice. She pointed me towards a memo that, in short, stated that patients could tell her what pronouns they wanted to use, and if they wanted to be called by a name that isn’t on their ID or paperwork. The goal for today, as before, was: don’t pass out! The phlebotomist asked me what I like to do for fun right as she started to take blood. I said, “Video games and Dungeons & Dragons”. She had played once, a long time ago, and we had a nice discussion about that. After I was done, my husband and I went to get food from one of the many restaurants that were nearby. Food was obtained, and I did not pass out. The man behind the counter understood what gluten-free meant. He even brought out packaging so I could read the ingredients and see if there was anything in there I was allergic to. The food tasted fantastic! My next rheumatology appointment is in August. I suppose I will have to wait until then to find out the results of the blood work. May 15, I got a letter from “the clinic for the poor people”. It informed me that Doctor H. had decided to leave the clinic. Her last day will be in June. I doubt there are any open appointments left. May 19, I woke up with a leg cramp. I’ve taken to sleeping with my CBD on a step stool near the bed. The CBD stopped the cramp from turning into a spasm seconds before it would have started. I was left exhausted and limping, which I could deal with. The main reason why I got the leg cramp was because I’d been overdoing things for months. I’ve been pushing myself to get more writing work done, even when I’m very tired. My husband and I have also gotten new desks, and this required a lot of moving furniture, building, and cleaning away dust and debris. I helped out when needed, and went beyond that in order to do additional cleaning. On Mastodon right now, people are playing around with the “there are two wolves inside you” thing. I find it fun to watch them create various iterations. Mine would be this: “There are two wolves inside you. One wants you to do all the things. The other just wants you both to get more sleep.” Always at the Doctor’s Office is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Digital CleansingMay 27, 2019Out of Spoons / Spoonie Poetry and ProseDrawing by Jen Thorpe Earth, air, fire, water Internet, a form of spirit Help me cleanse this blog of mine So the spammers won’t go near it My energy is limited Chronic illness, chronic pain Allergies and muscle aches Make me both irate and drained Zealots posting bible spam Dealers posting links to drugs Bitcoin spammers posting threats Because they are a bunch of thugs Earth, air, fire, water Cleanse the evil from my site Help me save my energy For the things I want to write... Why I Started Using CBDMay 3, 2019Out of Spoons / Spoonie WritingPhoto by Jen Thorpe Those who know me well are aware that I have several chronic illnesses. Most of those illnesses cause pain, which can sometimes be unbearable. There is no cure for any of my chronic illnesses, and I don’t want to take opioids for pain relief. After doing some research, I determined that CBD oil was a good choice for me. Before I go any farther, a disclaimer: I am not a doctor. There is absolutely no way I could possibly predict whether or not CBD would be the right choice for you. I highly recommend that you speak with a medical professional before taking CBD. My purpose for writing this blog post is to share my own, personal, experiences with CBD. Your experience will vary from mine, primarily because it is extremely unlikely that you have all of the same chronic illnesses that I do. What is CBD oil? Reader’s Digest has an article that provides some information about it. CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is a type of cannabinoid, a family of molecules typically associated with marijuana. CBD is non-psychoactive and non-addictive. Reader’s Digest points out that CBD can come from either marijuana or hemp. (The kind I’m taking comes from hemp). CBD does not get people high. Tetrahydrocannibinol, also called THC, is the chemical in marijuana that gets people high. Hemp lacks that chemical. No one is getting high from CBD, no matter if they are consuming it from edibles, oil, or topical applications. Is It Legal? The answer to that question depends on two things: where you live, and whether you are asking about marijuana or hemp. In the United States, federal law says that marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. In short, this means that anyone in the United States who uses marijuana can run the risk of facing legal consequences for doing so. Some states, like Washington, Colorado and California, have passed ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana. By 2019, more than 30 states have permitted some marijuana use (including for medical marijuana). The federal government, however, still considers marijuana to be illegal, no matter what state a person happens to be in while using or carrying it. One should never assume that they can safely use it without risking legal consequences for doing so. Hemp, on the other hand, is legal. Vox reported in December of 2018 that hemp was legalized when President Trump signed the Farm Bill into law. The Farm Bill contained a provision legalizing hemp, which is a species of cannabis that CBD can be extracted from. The thing to be aware of is that the Drug Enforcement Administration still classifies CBD as illegal (even though it is made from hemp and does not contain THC). The Food and Drug Administration says CBD companies must obtain approval from the FDA. In short, don’t be dumb. Figure out what the laws are regarding CBD where you live. Use your best judgement. Never assume that it is safe to bring pot or CBD with you while traveling from one state to another. Personally, I’m in a good place. California legalized recreational marijuana sales as of January 1, 2018, thanks to how the people of California voted on Proposition 64. The county I live in is, as I write this blog post, actively in the process of issuing permits to a small number of marijuana businesses. Those business are likely to have CBD – without any THC in it – alongside products that have marijuana. (Or, at least, I hope they will). Do Some Research There are a multitude of companies that sell products that contain CBD. My local CVS drug store has a display of topical creams and lotions that contain CBD – and I wasn’t expecting to see it in a big chain store. After doing some research, I decided that it would be best for me to obtain CBD oil. This was harder for me to track down than you might think because I have a ton of food allergies. Many CBD oils are taken sublingual, and include coconut oil (which I am allergic to). It took a while to find one that was allergy-friendly for me. The brand of CBD that I am using came from outside of California (but within the United States). The company is on Instagram, and I was able to ask them if this product contained coconut. I was assured that it does not, and that they use vegetable glycerine instead. The CBD oil I am taking was specifically designed for pain relief. The price of CBD oil can vary (as can the price of other CBD-containing products). You might want to shop around and compare prices. Personally, I’m very happy with what I’m using. Why I Started Using CBD I have four chronic illness. Three of them have no cure (and will get worse as time goes by). The other one is borderline anemia, and I’m hoping it will resolve itself after I am in menopause. My severe allergies (to so many things that I could fill a blog post just listing them) can be very painful, especially during Spring or Fall pollen season. There are days when it feels like I’ve been hit in the face with something really heavy and solid. While I do take over the counter allergy medications (and one prescription allergy medication), they don’t always take away the pain my allergies cause me. When the pollen count has been high for a seven or more days in a row – I am in constant pain that simply does not go away until after the pollen calms down. Accupuncture can help ease the pain for a little while – but it is not a cure. I have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which can cause my joints to become stiff, sore, and at times very painful. I am taking some supplements that help reduce inflammation. But, there are many times when the weather is cold (or the air conditioning at the grocery store is up too high for me) and my joints start screaming. I’ve also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. No one seems to have any idea what to do with this, and I’ve never heard anyone so much as mention the hope of a cure. I’ve stumped a specialist who honestly told me he wished he knew how to help me. Fibromyalgia causes muscle aches that can be extraordinarily painful. For me, this happens when I overdue things physically. Sometimes, that means I went outside for a short walk and my fibromyalgia didn’t want me to do that. Other times, stress (both physical and emotional) can result in horrible pain. When I started getting muscle spasms, that were so bad that I was screaming for my husband to bring me a heating pad, I knew I needed to find something that would reliably take away pain. CBD turned out to be the answer (for me). A few drops of CBD stopped the muscle spasms within a very short span of time. I was impressed by how effective it was! The first time I used it was after a really bad muscle spasm started. The pain immediately went away. I was left sweating and with my entire body shaking from the pain – even after the pain subsided. If I had no pain relief, I believe I would have eventually passed out from the pain. Obviously, I don’t want to have that horrifically painful experience happen over and over again without access to effective pain relief. Now, I take CBD at the first sign of pain. It has helped me to be able to have more time where I can be functional and do things like shop for groceries with my husband, do some cleaning at home, or work as a freelance writer. I’m able to get more restful sleep because I don’t wake up with muscle cramps in my legs if I take CBD before bedtime. Again, I am not a doctor, and your experience is very likely to vary from mine. Talk to your health practitioner(s) before taking CBD. I have absolutely no idea how it might affect you. One of the best things about CBD, in my opinion, is that it can reduce pain. This gives people like me an option that is much safer than opioids for pain relief. CBD is non-addictive; opioids are incredibly addictive and the United States has a opioid epidemic. For me, the choice was obvious. Why I Started Using CBD is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Other Video GamesPokémon GO: MedalsJuly 13, 2019Other Video Games / Pokémon GOThere are a lot of medals that players can earn in Pokémon GO. It is possible to earn all of them simply by playing the game as you typically would. There are three versions of each medal: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Some medals offer special bonuses to players, or unlock in-game items. Here are the medals that I have earned all three versions of in Pokémon GO (so far). This blog post will be updated when I earn more. The notifications pop-ups in this blog post were current when I earned a medal. Some have changed since then. The medals, and the information attached to them, are current as of the date I put together this blog post. Kanto Bronze medal notification Registered 5 Kanto region Pokémon in the Pokédex. Kanto Bronze medal Rewards: LeafGreen BagLeafGreen WristbandsLeafGreen HatLeafGreen SkirtLeafGreen TopLeafGreen Shoes Kanto Silver medal notification Registered 50 Pokémon in the Pokédex. Kanto Silver medal Kanto Silver medal notification Register 100 Kanto region Pokémon in the Pokédex. Kanto Gold medal Collector Bronze medal notification Captured 30 Pokémon. Collector Silver medal notification Captured 500 Pokémon. Collector Gold medal notification Catch 2000 Pokémon. Collector Gold medal Scientist Bronze medal notification Evolve 3 Pokémon. Bronze Scientist medal Silver Scientist medal Gold Scientist medal notification Evolve 200 Pokémon. Gold Scientist medal Backpacker Bronze medal notification Visit 100 PokéStops. Backpacker Bronze medal Backpacker Silver medal Visit 1000 PokéStops. Backpacker Gold medal notification Visit 2000 PokéStops. Backpacker Gold medal Johto Bronze notification Register 5 Pokémon first discovered in the Johto region to the Pokédex. Bronze Johto medal Rewards: Johto BagJohto CapJohto PantsJohto TopJohto ShoesJohto Socks Gold Johto notification Register 70 Pokémon first discovered in the Johto region to the Pokédex. Gold Johto medal Schoolkid Bronze notification Caught 10 Normal-type Pokémon. Reward: +1 Normal-type catch bonus Schoolkid Silver notification Caught 50 Normal-type Pokémon. Bronze Schoolkid medal Reward: +2 Normal-type catch bonus Gold Schoolkid notification Caught 200 Normal-type Pokémon. Gold Schoolkid medal Reward: +3 Normal-type catch bonus Bird Keeper Bronze notification Caught 10 Flying-type Pokémon. Bronze Bird Keeper medal Reward: +1 Flying-type catch bonus. Silver Bird Keeper medal Caught 50 Flying-type Pokémon. Bird Keeper Silver medal Reward: +2 Flying-type catch bonus Gold Bird Keeper notification Catch 200 Flying-type Pokémon. Bird Keeper Gold medal Reward: +3 Flying-type catch bonus. Punk Girl Bronze medal Catch 10 Poison-type Pokémon. Reward: +1 Poison-type catch bonus. Silver Punk Girl notification Caught 50 Poison-type Pokémon. Silver Punk Girl medal Reward: +2 Poison-type catch bonus Gold Punk Girl notification Catch 200 Poison-type Pokémon. Gold Punk Girl medal Reward: +3 Poison-type catch bonus. Bronze Ruin Maniac notification Caught 10 Ground-type Pokémon. Bronze Ruin Manic medal Reward: +1 Ground-type catch bonus. Silver Ruin Maniac notification Catch 50 Ground-type Pokémon. Silver Ruin Maniac medal Reward: +2 Ground-type catch bonus Gold Ruin Maniac notification Catch 200 Ground-type Pokémon. Bronze Hiker notification Caught 10 Rock-type Pokémon. Bronze Hiker medal Reward: +1 Rock-type catch bonus Bronze Hiker notification Catch 50 Rock-type Pokémon. Bronze Hiker medal Reward: +2 Rock-type catch bonus Gold Hiker notification Catch 200 Rock-type Pokémon. Hiker Gold medal Reward: +3 Rock-type catch bonus Bronze Bug Catcher notification Caught 10 Bug-type Pokémon. Bronze Bug Catcher medal Reward: +1 Bug-type catch bonus Silver Bug Catcher notification Caught 50 Bug-type Pokémon. Silver Bug Catcher medal Reward: +2 Bug-type catch bonus Gold Bug Catcher notification Gold Bug Catcher medal Reward: +3 Bug-type catch bonus Kindler Bronze medal Caught 10 Fire-type Pokémon. Bronze Kindler medal Rewards: +1 Fire-type catch bonus Silver Kindler medal notification Catch 50 Fire-type Pokémon Silver Kindler medal Reward: +2 Fire-type catch bonus Gold Kindler medal Catch 200 Fire-type Pokémon. Gold Kindler medal Reward: +3 Fire-type catch bonus Bronze Swimmer notification Caught 10 Water-type Pokémon. Swimmer Bronze medal Reward: +1 Water-type catch bonus Bronze Swimmer notification Catch 50 Water-type Pokémon. Silver Swimmer medal Reward: +2 Water-type catch bonus Gold Swimmer notification Catch 200 Water-type Pokémon. Gold Swimmer medal Reward: +3 Water-type catch bonus Bronze Gardener notification Caught 10 Grass-type Pokémon. Bronze Gardener medal Reward: +1 Grass-type catch bonus Silver Gardener notification Caught 50 Grass-type Pokémon. Silver Gardener medal Reward: +2 Grass-type catch bonus Gold Gardener medal Catch 200 Grass-type Pokémon. Gold Gardener medal Reward: +3 Grass-type catch bonus Bronze Rocker notification Catch 10 Electric-type Pokémon. Bronze Rocker medal Reward: +1 Electric-type catch bonus Silver Rocker notification Catch 50 Electric-type Pokémon. Silver Rocker medal Reward: +2 Electric-type catch bonus Gold Rocker notification Catch 200 Electric-type Pokémon. Gold Rocker medal Reward: +3 Electric-type catch bonus Bronze Psychic notification Catch 10 Psychic-type Pokémon. Bronze Psychic medal Reward: +1 Psychic-type catch bonus Silver Psychic notification Catch 50 Psychic-type Pokémon. Silver Psychic medal Reward: +2 Psychic-type catch bonus Gold Psychic notification Catch 200 Psychic-type Pokémon. Gold Psychic medal Reward: +3 Psychic-type catch bonus Pokémon GO: Medals is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Kitchen Scramble App – CookiehagenJuly 7, 2019Kitchen Scramble / Other Video GamesCookiehagen is the eleventh town in the Kitchen Scramble game. The recipes in this town include a variety of cookies, and some foods and beverages, that seem like things people would consume near Christmas. The cold, snowy, landscape of Cookiehagen seems impossible since it is located right next to warm, sunny, Albuqueso. It turns out that Pepper, the player character, accidentally ended up there. After a player finishes Albuqueso, they must wait until Truck Maintenance is done. It is a 24-hour, real-time roadblock. Those who have 15 Kitchen Cash can spend it if they want to immediately move on to Cookiehagen. Kitchen Cash can be earned in-game. Or, player can pay real world money for it. When I hit the Truck Maintenance roadblock, I stop playing Kitchen Scramble and come back to it at least 24 hours later. Pepper: You wouldn’t believe the snowstorm that I hit after leaving Albuqueso. I could barely see where I was driving. Somehow, I ended up in Cookiehagen! Chef Crisp: Wow, it’s quite a detour from your international cuisine trip! But don’t worry about that… Chef Crisp: Cookiehagen is a delightful place to learn seasonal recipes. You can get back to international cuisine after the holiday season. Pepper is trying to learn more international cuisine recipes so she can take the teaching job at Chef Academy that Chef Crisp offered her. This is not the first time Chef Crisp has offered Pepper a job like this. Last time, they ended up hiring someone else. I feel like there’s going to be some kind of shenanigans that prevent Pepper from getting the promised teaching job. Again. Pepper: This place reminds me of Sweetzerland. You said that they like some of the same recipes here? Chef Crisp: Yes, but there are lots more recipes to learn. Oh, and they LOVE cookies. You’ll be a master cookie cutter before long! The new recipes for Level 240 are: Mulled Cider Peppermint Hot Chocolate Sugar Man Cookies Sugar Star Cookies Sugar Tree Cookies I am not surprised that a town named Cookiehagen includes plenty of cookie recipes that involve cookie cutters. That said, I wasn’t expecting to have to buy a special cookie cutting board in order to begin playing the levels in this town. The Cookie Cutting Board is a required item. It costs 100,000 gold (the in-game currency). Players that don’t have that much gold when they start Cookiehagen can go back to previous towns, play those levels, and gather more gold. I happened to have enough gold to buy the Cookie Cutting Board. Cookiehagen has a new thing going on in the food truck. So far, the player made recipes by putting the right ingredients into the appropriate appliance. In Cookiehagen, there is an extra step if you are making “Christmas cookies”. Chef Crisp: Let’s try out the new cookie cutting board! The customer would like star shaped sugar cookies. Chef Crisp: We’ll start by making a typical cookie base. First grab an egg… Chef Crisp: …and some butter… Chef Crisp: …and drop them into the mixer. Chef Crisp: Now add some sugar. This part of the tutorial is teaching the player the three ingredients that are required to make cookie batter. It is needed for all of the “Christmas cookie” types, as well as two additional “regular” cookie types. By the time you are finished with Cookiehagen, you will have made so many cookies that you will have the cookie batter ingredients memorized. Chef Crisp: Good. Now bring the bowl over to the cookie cutting board. Chef Crisp: Add some flour… Chef Crisp: …and finally some cinnamon. The sugar cookies require flour and cinnamon. Chocolate cookies need flour and chocolate. There are also ginger cookies that need flour and ginger added to them. Chef Crisp: Then choose the star-shaped cookie cutter. The tricky part is remembering which shape of cookie a customer wants. This is especially true when there are multiple customers asking for the same type of cookie – but who want different shapes. Choose wisely! If you pick the wrong shape, and no other customers happen to want that shape of cookie with that type of batter – it is a waste of time. You have to start all over again and hope the customer doesn’t get angry and leave. Chef Crisp: When they’re ready, just pop them in the oven, and you’re done! When I get the cookie shape and necessary ingredients right, I put the cookies into the oven. The cookie cutting board is slow, and it takes a while before the batter can be moved from it. The oven I started with was the lowest-level oven in the game. Eventually, I was able to purchase the double oven (piece by piece). Sometimes, when I get the cookie shape wrong, I put it into the oven anyway. When it gets done, it goes to the holding plate. Maybe another customer will order it? I got three stars in Level 240. It is the first level in Cookiehagen. The new recipes in Level 241 are: Chocolate Man Cookies Chocolate Star Cookies I got three stars on Level 241. The new recipes for Level 242 are: Cranberry Pie Gingerbread Cake I got three stars in Level 242. Grandma: Ah, those cookies make me feel like a kid again! I’ll have to pass along my gingerbread recipe to you. Pepper: I’d love that, thank you! Baking tips and recipes are always welcome. Grandma: Just be sure to take them out of the oven as soon as they’re done. Cookies burn quickly! I like that Grandma is helping Pepper by sharing her very own cookie recipes. It is a nice example of women helping women. The new recipes for Level 243 are: Egg Nog Gingerbread Man Cookies Gingerbread Star Cookies Gingerbread Tree Cookies I got three stars in Level 243. I got three stars in Level 244. Cowboy: That egg nog is top notch! Everyone in town is talking about it. Pepper: The secret is the fresh eggs that I buy from your farm. Cowboy: Say, you should try the ham from the farm too. Your customers would love it, especially me! Early in Kitchen Scramble, the game establishes that Pepper’s customers follow her from one town to the next. She has a core group of dedicated fans, and some additional customers that show up sometimes (but don’t appear in every town). It is an odd coincidence that Chef Crisp just so happened to be in Cookiehagen when Pepper accidentally ended up there. Neither she, nor Pepper, have winter clothing to wear. Maybe the weather caused them both to get diverted to Cookiehagen at the same time? The coolest thing about Cookiehagen is that Pepper’s super-fans show up wearing winter clothing. They are fully prepared to eat at her food truck until she moves on to the next town! I find it amusing to see what these customers wear when it gets cold outside. The new recipe for Level 245 is: Baked Ham I got three stars in Level 245. The new recipe for Level 246 is: Cheesy Ham Soup I got three stars on Level 246. Grandpa: That Cheesy Ham Soup makes all my aches and pains melt away. Grandpa: In fact, I feel good enough to join the Senior Sledders Club! Pepper: Fantastic! Be careful out there! The new recipe for Level 247 is: Ham Quiche I got three stars on Level 247. The new recipes for Level 248 are: Ham Casserole Fruit Cake I got three stars in Level 248. I got three stars in Level 249. I got three stars in Level 250. The new recipe for Level 251 is: Cranberry Sauce There does not appear to be any information online about the name of the character who has a bird on her head. I’m going to call her “Birdwatcher”. Birdwatcher: There’s something special about cranberries. They make any day feel like a holiday. Pepper: Every day feels like a holiday in Cookiehagen. I got three stars in Level 251. It is the last level in the first part of Cookiehagen. Here is what the first part of Cookiehagen looked like when I finished it. There is always a Token Gate in the middle of a town. Players can earn Tokens by getting stars in the levels. The new recipe for Level 252 is: Potato Ham Soup I got three stars on Level 252. I now have purchased both parts of the Premium Double Oven. It cost 39 Kitchen Cash. This is what the inside of the Food Truck looks like in Cookiehagen. You can see the double oven on the wall. It is incredibly useful because there are often several customers who all order cookies at the same time. The new recipe for Level 253 is: Cranberry Bread Student: Have you heard? People are saying they’ve seen a monster rumbling through Cookiehagen! Pepper: A monster? Like an abominable snowman? These two characters might not realize it yet, but they are talking about the Chowder Monster. It is a nuisance that first appears in Chowderville. The Chowder Monster is there to annoy the player. It makes the game more stressful. If the player doesn’t give the Chowder Monster what he ordered fast enough – he throws a fit. The Chowder Monster takes one or two customers with it when it leaves. This is bad because the result is that the player loses the potential coins from up to three customers at once. Why is a Chowder Monster in Cookiehagen? The best explanation I can come up with is that it likes Pepper’s cooking. Many of Pepper’s customers follow her Food Truck from one town to another. I got three stars in Level 253. In the screenshot above, you can see the Chowder Monster. It wants Egg Nog. Several other customers will also order Egg Nog. The player has no choice but to let the Chowder Monster cut the line. The double oven in the screenshot above is the Premium version. Players have to buy each part separately. Each costs 39 Kitchen Cash. The new recipe for Level 254 is: Bread Pudding I got three stars in Level 254. Soccer Player: I have no winter coat, and no place to play soccer, but the smell of warm bread pudding kept me in town! Many of the Kitchen Scramble customers are named after something they do. Soccer Player first appeared in Albuqueso. Pepper: Brrrrr… aren’t you freezing?? It is so cold in Cookiehagen that Pepper’s teeth are chattering. She’s unable to stop herself from adding excessive letter r’s and extra punctuation marks. Soccer Player: Yeah, I got lost in a snowstorm and ended up here. Pepper: Sounds familiar. The new recipes for Level 255 are: Peppermint Chocolate Cake Cranberry Applesauce I got three stars on Level 255. The new recipe for Level 256 is: Cheesecake I got three stars on Level 256. The new recipes for Level 257 are: Chocolate Pie Chocolate Pudding These two recipes may sound familiar. Players had to learn how to make them both back in Dessert Oasis. I got three stars in Level 257. Hipster: Isn’t it sort of inefficient to make 2 cookies at a time? Why not just make a big batch? Pepper: It does take extra effort, but I want every customer to enjoy cookies that are fresh from the oven. Hipster: Nice. Everyone in town says they going to eat as many cookie as possible before you leave town, so get ready for a serious cookie craze! There’s a typo in the Hipster’s statement. It is missing a word. It should say “Everyone in town says they are going to eat…” I got three stars Level 258. The new recipe for Level 259 is: Cranberry Apple Cobbler I got three stars on Level 259. I got three stars on Level 260. I got three stars on Level 261. Pepper: Whew, it’s not easy keeping all these cookies straight! Grandpa: Just wait ’til your my age. I can’t even keep my grandkids’ names straight. That sentence has typos. According to Merriam Webster, ’til is disapproved of in formal writing. A slightly more acceptable version is till, which is also incorrect. The best way to write that sentence is with until. Another error is with the word your – which should have been you’re. It also bothers me that Grandpa did the “wait until you get older” thing to Pepper. She’s confiding that she had difficulty remembering all the differences in the various cookie recipes. He is not providing sympathy. Instead, he makes the conversation all about him. Oh, no… I hope he’s not awkwardly trying to flirt with Pepper! Pepper: I don’t know, you seem younger than ever to me. This place seems to bring out the child in everyone. Of course, the conversation turns to Grandpa, while Pepper’s problem was ignored. She compliments him, saying he looks younger than ever. If Grandpa was trying to flirt, he may now have the impression that she was flirting back. I doubt she is, though. It is not unusual for people who work in jobs like Pepper’s (food service, retail, etc.) to be especially polite and friendly to their customers – even when the customers are saying things that make the worker feel icky. She can’t tell him off because he is one of her most frequent customers. Grandpa: You might be right. Well, see ya soon. I’m going ice skating with my grandkids, whatever their names are! Perhaps I have misinterpreted Grandpa’s intentions. It is possible that he is having trouble remember things – including his grandkids names. He does not seem to be aware that this is not a good sign. Or, maybe Grandpa likes to tell self-deprecating jokes when he is flirting with girls that …could be young enough to be his grandkid? What I do know is that I’ve been through this type if unnerving experience way too many times when I worked retail. There are always older men who think it’s appropriate to bother much younger workers who can neither leave or verbally fight back. I got three stars in Level 262. I got three stars on Level 263. Level 263 is one of those levels where the player must serve a certain amount of a specific recipe in order to complete the level. This time, it was Mulled Cider. The recipe itself is simple. It only requires two ingredients. What makes Level 263 difficult is that the game doesn’t always give players enough customers who want Mulled Cider. Players cannot give a recipe to customer who did not order it. I got three stars on Level 264. Pepper: What a wonderful time I’ve had here in Cookiehagen. Fashionista: It’s amazing how such a cold snowy place can make you feel so warm. Pepper: Warm as a fresh baked cookie, that’s for sure. Well, it’s time to make my way back to the Chef Academy. This is foreshadowing. The next town in Kitchen Scramble is Chef Academy 3. No, there aren’t three entirely separate Chef Academies. The first time Pepper went there, it was called Chef Academy. When she visited the second time, it was called Chef Academy 2. Pepper: I can’t wait to share all my new recipes with everyone there. See you soon! Pepper isn’t offering to write down her recipes and hand them out to people. Instead, she is saying that she is ready to move her Food Truck out of Cookiehagen. Pepper knows that her core group of customers will, eventually, follow her to the next town. Here is what the second half of Cookiehagen looked like when I was done. I finished the Location Goals in Cookiehagen. This took much longer to accomplish than I expected. The one that took the longest was the 500 Cranberry Pies because very few of the levels include that recipe. Kitchen Scramble App – Cookiehagen is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Pokédex – Sinnoh RegionJune 23, 2019Other Video Games / Pokémon GOPokémon GO added Pokémon from the Sinnoh region in January of 2019. The goal of this game is: “Gotta catch ’em all!”. I’ve started working on that, but have a whole lot more Pokémon to collect. I will update this blog post if/when I catch more Sinnoh region Pokémon. The Hoenn region Pokémon ended with number 382. The Sinnoh region begins with number 387. What happened to Pokémon 383 through 386? I have no idea. When I started putting together this blog post, I had collected 21 of The Pokémon from the Sinnoh region. I’m adding those in here, and skipping over the numbers that I have yet to catch. 387 Turtwig 388 Grotle 390 Chimchar 393 Piplup 396 Starly 399 Bidoof 401 Kricketot 415 Combee 418 Buizel 421 Cherrim 422 Shellos 425 Drifloon 427 Buneary 428 Lopunny 431 Glameow 434 Stunky 442 Spiritomb 451 Skorupi 452 Drapion 453 Croagunk 456 Finneon 459 Snover 477 Dusknoir My Pokédex – Sinnoh Region is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Pokédex – Hoenn RegionJune 20, 2019Other Video Games / Pokémon GOPokémon from the Hoenn Region were added to Pokémon GO game in January of 2019. The goal of Pokémon GO is: “Gotta catch ’em all!” I haven’t caught all of the ones from the Hoenn Region yet. I’m working on it. This blog will be updated if/when I catch Hoenn Region Pokémon that are new to me. If you take a look at the in-game Pokédex, it shows that the highest numbered Pokémon in the Johto Region is 248 – Tyranitar. But, the lowest numbered Pokémon in the Hoenn Region is number 252. What happened to numbers 249 – 251? I have no idea. 252 Treecko 253 Groyvyle 254 Sceptile 255 Torchic 256 Combusken 257 Blaziken – I do not have this one yet. 258 Mudkip 259 – I do not have this one yet. 260 Swampert – I do not have this one yet. 261 Poochyena 262 Mightyena 263 Zigzagoon 264 Linoone 265 Wurmple 266 Silcoon 267 Beautifly 268 Cascoon 269 Dustox 270 Lotad 271 – I don’t have this one yet. 272 – I don’t have this one yet. 273 Seedot 274 Nuzleaf 275 Shiftry 276 Taillow 277 Swellow 278 Wingull 279 Pelipper – I do not have this one yet. 280 Ralts 281 Kirlia 282 Gardevoir – I do not have this one yet. 283 Surskit 284 Masquerain 285 Shroomish 286 Breloom 287 Slakoth 288 Vigoroth 289 Slaking – I do not have this one yet. 290 – I do not have this one yet. 291 Ninjask – I do not have this one yet. 292 Shedinja 293 Whismur 294 Loudred 294 Exploud – I do not have this one yet. 296 Makuhita 296 Makuhita 298 Azurill 299 Nosepass 300 Skitty 301 Delcatty 302 Sableye 303 Mawile 304 Aron 305 Lairon 306 Aggron – I do not have this one yet. 307 Meditite 308 – I do not have this one yet. 309 Electrike 310 Manectric 311 Plusle 312 Minun 313 – I do not have this one yet. 314 Illumise 315 Roselia 316 Gulpin 317 Swalot – I do not have this one yet. 318 Carvanha 319 Sharpedo 320 Wailmer 321 Wailord – I do not have this one yet. 322 Numel 323 Camerupt 324 Torkoal – I do not have this one yet. 325 Spoink 326 Grumpig – I do not have this one yet. 327 Spinda – I do not have this one yet. 328 Trapinch 329 Vibrava 330 Flygon – I do not have this one yet. 331 Cacnea 332 Cacturne 333 Swablu 334 Altaria – I do not have this one yet. 335 Zangoose 336 Seviper 337 Lunatone 338 Solrock 339 Barboach 340 Whiscash 341 Corphish 342 – I do not have this one yet. 343 Baltoy 345 Lileep 346 Cradily 347 Anorith 348 Armaldo – I do not have this one yet. 349 Feebas 350 Milotic – I do not have this one yet. 351 Castform 352 – I do not have this one yet. 353 Shuppet 354 Banette 355 Duskull 356 Dusclops 357 Tropus – I do not have this one yet. 358 – I do not have this one yet. 359 Absol – I do not have this one yet. 360 – I do not have this one yet. 361 Snorunt 362 – I do not have this one yet. 363 Spheal 364 Sealeo 345 Walrein 366 – I so not have this one yet. 367 – I do not have this one yet. 368 – I do not have this one yet. 369 – I do not have this one yet. 370 Luvdisc 371 Bagon 372 Shelgon 373 Salamence – I do not have this one yet. 374 Beldum 375 – I do not have this one yet. 376 Metagross – I do not have this one yet. 377 – I do not have this one yet. 378 – I do not have this one yet. 379 Registeel 380 – I do not have this one yet. 381 – I do not have this one yet. 382 Kyogre – I do not have this one yet. My Pokédex – Hoenn Region is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Pokédex – Johto RegionJune 15, 2019Other Video Games / Pokémon GOIn February of 2017, Pokémon from the Johto Region in the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games were added to Pokémon GO. The main goal of Pokémon GO is: “Gotta catch ’em all!” I’m working on it. In this blog post, I have screenshots of all the Pokémon that I have obtained from the Johto Region. This blog will be updated if/when I catch Johto Region Pokémon that are new to me. 152 Chikorita 153 Bayleaf 154 Meganium 155 Cyndaquil 156 Quilava 157 Typhlosion 158 Totodile 159 Croconaw 160 Feraligatr 161 Sentret 162 Furret 163 Hoothoot 164 Noctowl 165 Ledyba 166 Ledian 167 Spinark 168 Ariados 169 Crobat 170 Chinchou 171 Lanturn 172 Pichu 173 Cleffa 174 Igglybuff 175 Togepi – I do not have this one yet. 176 Togetic 177 Natu 178 Xatu 179 Mareep 180 Flaaffy 181 Ampharos 182 Bellossom 183 Marill 184 Azumarill 185 Sudowoodo 186 Politoed 187 Hoppip 188 Skiploom 189 Jumpluff 190 Aipom 191 Sunkern 192 Sunflora 193 Yanma 194 Wooper 195 Quagsire 196 Espeon 197 Umbreon 198 Murkrow 199 Slowking 200 Misdreavus 201 – I do not have this one yet. 202 Wobbuffet 203 Girafarig 204 Pineco 205 – I do not have this one yet. 206 Dunsparce 207 Gilgar 208 Steelix – I do not have this one yet. 209 Snubbull 210 Granbull 211 Quilfish 212 – Scizor – I do not have this one yet. 213 Shuckle 214 – I do not have this one yet. 215 Sneasel 216 Teddiursa 217 Ursaring 218 Slugma 219 Magcargo 220 Swinub 221 Piloswine 222 – I do not have this one yet. 223 Remoraid 224 Octillery 225 Delibird 226 Mantine 227 Skarmory 228 Houndour 229 Houndoom 230 – Kingdra – I do not have this one yet. 231 Phanpy 232 Donphan 233 Porygon2 – I do not have this one yet. 234 Stantler 235 – I do not have this one yet. 236 Tyrogue 237 – Hitmontop – I do not have this one yet. 238 Smoochum 239 Elekid – I do not have this one yet. 240 Magby 241 Miltank 242 Blissey 243 Raikou 244 Entei 245 – I do not have this one yet. 246 Larvitar 247 Pupitar 248 Tyranitar – I do not have this one yet. My Pokédex – Johto Region is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... TV & Movie ReviewsGrace and Frankie – Season OneJune 2, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsGrace and Frankie is a show on Netflix. It is a Netflix Original. Grace (Jane Fonda) is married to Robert (Martin Sheen). Frankie (Lilly Tomlin) is married to Sol (Sam Waterson). In the very first episode, right at the start, the husbands announce they want to divorce their wives. The reasons why the men want divorces is because they have fallen in love… with each other. And they want to get married. Warning: There are tons of spoilers. Episode 1: The husbands announce they want to divorce their wives because they have fallen in love with each other and want to get married. Robert: “We can do that now.” When Robert married Grace, and Sol married Frankie, same-sex marriage wasn’t legal anywhere in the United States. Robert and Sol have been having a secret love affair for the past 20 years. Later, Sol and Frankie are alone back at their home. Frankie asks Sol if that is why he got Cialis. Sol answers: “Everyone gets Cialis at my age.” Robert and Grace are alone at their home. She is sad. Robert tries to console her. “Were you ever really happy with me?” he asks. Grace thinks about it. She says they didn’t have the most romantic life. “But I thought we were normal”. This indicates that Grace and Robert hadn’t had a sex life together in a very long time. Grace thought the end of their sex life was a normal part of being a couple, or maybe because of their age. Now, she discovers that wasn’t so. She DOES NOT say she was happy with Robert. Robert says that he “wanted more.” The implication is that he wasn’t happy in his marriage with Grace, and found what he needed with Sol. * Both couples have children who are now adults. Sol and Frankie’s sons (Coyote and Nwabudike) try and console their mother. They repeat a lot of the positive encouraging phrases she must have told them. She tells them all that is “bullshit”. Grace and Robert’s daughters, (Brianna and Mallory) are angry about what happened. They immediately take their mother’s side, and don’t want to talk to their father right then. Mallory has kids. She asks “How am I going to explain this to my kids?” I don’t think this question is entirely about her father’s relationship with Sol. It’s also about the sudden divorce. * A chair is delivered to Robert and Grace’s house. She opens the box, and finds a chair that has a photo of Ryan Gosling’s face on the seat. Robert is delighted that the chair arrived so quickly and explains it is a joke between him and Sol. * For the first time, Grace notices that Robert’s office has a framed drawing of a nude man. She notices a small frame on the shelf that contains a old photo of two men, one of whom has taken the arm of the other (as a man might do with a woman). She sees books on the shelf, one of which is called “The Male Member”. And suddenly, she realizes she’s missed all these signs. * Grace and Frankie get into an argument over which one of them is more upset. Frankie says “I lost my best friend. You never liked Robert.” * Robert says he can finally breathe again – now that he’s divorcing Grace to be with Sol. Sol says he feels really guilty because he devastated someone he loves very much. It’s clear that Sol and Frankie were not just spouses, but also good friends. Grace and Robert were not friends. * Grace freaks out about the divorce. “I did everything right. I played by the rules.” She is angry. Grace asks Frankie why she isn’t angry. Frankie says she is heartbroken. * Later, Frankie acknowledges that there were times she “knew” but ignored it. She says Sol once asked her to wear a dildo. She and Grace think that could only mean that Sol was gay. Episode 2: * Sol and Robert spent the night together and are still snuggling in bed. Sol says he wants to go up on the roof and shout: “I am a homosexual and I am in love with Robert Hanson, who is also a homosexual.” Robert smiles, and jokingly talks him out of it. * As the men are getting ready to go to work, Robert says “Just because we’re out now doesn’t mean we’re gonna be gay with a vengeance.” * Two of Frankie’s friends come over to console her and take her to lunch. One of the friends is gay. Sol and Robert aren’t the only gay men in Frankie’s life. Sol sent the two friends over because Frankie won’t answer her phone when he calls her and he was worried about her. * Robert cuts off Grace’s credit card (which she discovers while trying to pay for lunch). It turns out Sol cut off Frankie’s credit card, too. Robert feels absolutely nothing about doing this to Grace – citing that he and Sol are divorce lawyers and that’s what people who are divorcing are supposed to do. Sol feels terrible about it and is upset that he knows Frankie will be upset when she finds out. * Robert asks Sol, “Which is better, feeling terrible with me, or without me.” Sal says “with you.” * Grace sends her daughters to her (and Robert’s) home to get some of her things. (She’s staying at the beach house). The daughters notice the remains of breakfast on the table and realize that Sol spent the night there. They look sad. * Frankie has a fight with Sol and kicks him out of their house. She tells him to go live with Robert. Sol says they weren’t ready to move in together yet. * Later, Frankie asks: “Was any of it real?” That’s a normal question people ask after a breakup. But, Frankie is also asking if her marriage to Sol, who had been having an affair with Robert for 20 years, was ever real. Episode 3: * Robert and Sol are having their children over for dinner. Sol is nervous. Robert tries to calm him by saying they’ve already had lots of dinners together. Sol responds: “That was before I became their new stepmother.” * Mallory and Brianna arrive together for dinner. They wait at the door of the house they grew up in. Brianna wants to just walk in. Mallory stops her and says they can’t do that because it’s not their house anymore. Brianna responds “I’ve lost both of my virginities in that house” and proceeds to just walk right in. * During dinner, Robert and Sol hold hands for a brief moment. Robert’s daughters and Sol’s sons stare at them – not really knowing how to feel about that. * Coyote tells Mallory (who is mad at him) “We’re step people now.” * Brianna and Bud have a conversation in the kitchen. Bud is preparing a cake. Brianna mentions something about how Bud seems fine with what their dad’s are doing. She asks “Would you be cool with it if they had cheated with women?” * After returning to the table, after everyone starts eating cake, an argument ensues where the kids let out some of their anger and frustration. Bud says he is “not allowed to be mad”. When Sol asks why not, Bud answers “because you’re gay.” Episode 4: * Someone who worked with Robert and Sol has died. They are going to the funeral. Sol says that this will be the first time people see him without his wife by his side. Robert says the funeral “is not our coming out party.” * Meanwhile, Grace is pushing Frankie to get ready to go to the funeral early – so they can leave before it becomes Robert and Sol’s coming out party. * Grace and Frankie see Robert and Sol – as a couple – for the first time at the funeral reception. It makes Grace and Frankie sad. * Grace notices that Sol is wearing a tie that she gave to Robert as a Father’s Day present. This makes her angry. Frankie is angry too. “They can’t leave us AND share clothes!” * Robert and Sol haven’t decided what to call each other. Robert think’s they’re too old for boyfriend. “Soulmate?” Sol asks. Robert responds, “No! I don’t even like that one with straight people.” At the funeral reception, Sol tries to use the word partner, but then awkwardly explains that they are business partners at the law firm, but also partners with each other. He confuses the people he was speaking to. * A very old man who must have worked at the same company as the deceased tells Robert and Sol that he knows they are a couple – and that they are brave. He then asks: “When did you know you were attracted to men?” He goes on to say that he had “an experience” when he was in Korea. Sol kindly walks away with him and answers the man’s question. * Robert’s sister tells Grace that she had no idea that her brother was gay. * Later, Robert’s sister accidentally mentions that her daughter is having a baby shower. It becomes clear that Grace was not invited. Robert’s sister explains that the aunties would be there (Robert’s family is Irish) and that there would be drama and it was the daughter’s day. She asks if Grace understands. Grace says of course she understands, it’s for family. After Robert’s sister walks away, Grace looks sad. * Robert gets frustrated with Sol and yells at him for talking to the widow for too long. He yells at Sol about his shoes (that Robert doesn’t like). Robert yells “You’re just not doing anything right.” Sol responds: “Oh my god. You’re angry that I’m not Grace.” Robert sits down and starts to sob. It’s probably the first time he’s cried about the divorce. Sol consoles him, saying something like he “has one, too”. Robert apologizes, and they start using the word “boyfriend”. * Frankie speaks with the widow. The widow says to her: “Oh, I think your situation is much worse than mine.” The widow points out that Frankie might live another 20 years. The implication is that Frankie will be spending those 20 years alone. * As they are leaving the funeral reception, Grace tells Robert she is so mad at him. “I’ve lost everything,” she says. She lost her husband, her house, her family… * Frankie, upset by what the widow said, and by an unfortunate comment Grace said to Robert about Frankie when Grace was expressing her anger at Robert, leaves the funeral with Grace trailing behind her. Sol drives up in his car – to pick up Robert. Frankie gets into the passenger seat out of habit. She quickly realizes what she has done, gets out, and tells Robert “I think this is for you.” Episode 5: * Brianna tells her mother, Grace, that Grace needs a boyfriend. Grace tells her daughter, Brianna “I’m sending that sentence right back to you.” Brianna is single. Her sister, Mallory, is married with two kids. * Brianna shows Grace a profile of a handsome doctor on a dating website, in an effort to convince Grace to make a profile there. Brianna says she has used dating websites and has met some “passable” guys. Brianna mentions that one of the guys had a micropenis. Apparently, Brianna still considered him “passable”. * Grace tries to make a profile on the dating site. She struggles to describe herself. Brianna sees that Grace listed her age as 70 – which is her age. Brianna argues that Grace should say she is 65, because she looks 65. Grace says that wouldn’t be honest. Brianna says it is honest because that’s the age Grace looks. * Grace doesn’t know what to put in the section of the profile marked “turn-ons”. Frankie walks past the couch Grace and Brianna are sitting on and suggests: “That he’s NOT gay!” Brianna tells her mother to say she is “open minded”. Grace hesitates, concerned that it might mean some “weird sex thing”. * Later in the episode, Grace apologizes for saying something unkind about Frankie at the funeral. Frankie accepts her apology, but wants Grace to treat her better. Frankie points out that she is Grace’s friend. Frankie also says “I’m the other person this happened to” – meaning both she and Grace are going through divorces because their husbands are gay and their husbands want to marry each other. * Grace eventually finished filling out her dating profile and posting it. * During the episode, Grace drives Brianna and Frankie to the frozen yogurt shop (at their request). Both Brianna and Frankie are high. Brianna notices that the cashier is named Brian, and that he and her have the same name – except for the “na”. Later, Brianna tells Grace and Frankie that Brian sent her friend request on Facebook. She says “That must have taken a lot of stalking,” followed by “That was sweet.” She smiles. Episode 6: * Someone on the dating website wants to have lunch with Grace. The two of them have been briefly talking on the website for a while. The man wants to have lunch with Grace today – and she doesn’t want to go because she thinks she isn’t ready for that yet. She tells Frankie she likes the attention she gets on the dating website – and likes that she can get that attention and stay home. Frankie encourages her to go to lunch with the man from the dating website. Grace says she doesn’t know him. Frankie informs her that this is what going to lunch is for – to get to know him and to get laid. * Grace realizes that this will be her first date in 40 years. * Frankie gives Grace some condoms. Grace says she doesn’t need them because she’s well past being able to get pregnant. Frankie tells Grace that because of the “penis drugs”, older people are having sex and aren’t using condoms – and are spreading STDs. Frankie says she read that in an AARP article. There is, in fact, an AARP article from 2010 that explains why older people should use condoms. The article is written by Dr. Pepper Schwartz. * An earthquake happens, and Frankie freaks out. Robert and Sol had just made plans for dinner. (They plan to order paella from a restaurant). Immediately after the earthquake is over, Sol tells Robert that Frankie is terrified of earthquakes and that he needs to go help her calm down. Sol says: “It’s her first quake alone, and she only has Grace to comfort her.” Robert immediately responds: “Go!” * Coyote rides his bike over to Mallory’s house to deliver a children’s book called And Tango Makes Three. The book was written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and was published in 2005. The story is about three Chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo, and is based on something that really happened. Roy and Silo were two male penguins in the zoo’s penguin exhibit. Roy and Silo liked to do everything together. A zookeeper noticed that they built a nest together, just like the other penguins couples do. But, Roy and Silo could not lay an egg. One day, the zoo had an extra Chinstrap penguin egg that was produced by another penguin couple who could not care for it. The zookeeper gave the egg to Roy and Silo, who took turns keeping it warm until the egg hatched. The zookeeper named the baby penguin Tango because “it takes two to tango”. Tango is a girl. Coyote takes the book to Mallory because he remembered that Mallory said that her kids were having a difficult time understanding what was happening with their grandfather and Sol. Coyote is working as a substitute teacher, so it makes sense that he had heard of this children’s book. * Grace’s date does not go well. After they are seated, she asks Charles if he’s “done it a lot”. He gives her a funny look. She clarifies that she means “this” and gestures at the table. She wanted to know if he goes to lunch with women he met on the dating website a lot. He obviously thought she was asking him if he had a lot of sex. * Charles tells Grace to watch out for liars on the dating website. It’s an odd comment to start out a new (potential) relationship with. He gives the example of someone who said she loved to play tennis – but he later learned that she was in a wheelchair. It’s hard to know if Charles was making up that example, or if he met someone like that. As the lunch date goes on, Charles gets stranger and stranger. He doesn’t seem to understand the subtle social cues Grace gives him indicating she doesn’t think he’s funny. He tells her if he’s too much to say: “Charlie it’s too much.” Grace immediate responds: “Charlie, it’s too much.” Charlie laughs and doesn’t take her seriously. Not long after that, Charlie starts making inappropriate, and gross, comments about Grace’s mouth and the steak she is eating, and this makes Grace so uncomfortable that she quickly ends the lunch date. * After helping Frankie calm down, Sol asks if she would like to get a bite to eat. They go to lunch. Sol texts Robert that he is going to be late (which leads to a misunderstanding – more on that in a bit). During lunch, Frankie asks Sol how it started with Robert. Sol is a bit taken aback. He didn’t expect to be sharing that today. Frankie honestly wants to know, so Sol tells her. Robert and Sol were at a law conference together, and later got drunk together at the hotel bar. They rode the elevator together. Sol says Robert gave him this look that scared him. The look gave him a feeling. Robert kissed Sol. Frankie asked if it was a big kiss. Sol says they kept kissing until the elevator stopped at their floor – the 26th floor. Sol says his whole body became alive. Frankie asks if that’s when their relationship started. Sol says no, that he and Robert didn’t talk about what happened. Frankie asks: “Why not?” Sol says they couldn’t talk about it – they didn’t know how to talk about it. The relationship between Robert and Sol evolved from sex to love. Sol didn’t want to tell Frankie about it because he loved her, and he loved their family, and he didn’t want to hurt them or lose them. * Grace returns home after the awful lunch date and finds one of Frankie’s art students in the kitchen, eating a ham sandwich. Grace has seen all three of Frankie’s students once before, the day she was trying to rush Frankie to get ready for the funeral. Grace knows the men in Frankie’s art class are all “ex-cons.” Grace is surprised and asks how he got in there. She tells him Frankie wasn’t home. The man says he found the studio empty so he went inside the house to make sure Frankie was ok. The man starts flirting with Grace. She is so surprised, she drops her purse. The condoms Frankie gave her fall out, and the man sees them. He makes a comment, and Grace clarifies that Frankie put those into her purse. It is clear that Grace is attracted to the man. She is a bit flustered. He tells her that he knows about her husband and Frankie’s husband. He says: “Please tell me that if he wasn’t fucking you somebody else was.” Another earthquake tremor happens, and Grace and the man end up passionately kissing in the kitchen (which leads to them making out for a little while before Grace stops it). The man leaves. Grace is smiling. * Later, Grace tells Frankie that one of her students was in the kitchen, eating a ham sandwich. Frankie says “That must be Byron. He loves ham.” Grace doesn’t mention the kissing. * Sol comes home to Robert three hours late. Robert invited some friends over (Al and Eddie, who are a couple). They are eating Paella. Robert and Sol start bickering, and Al and Eddie run away. Robert and Sol have an argument. Robert asks “Why did we blow up our lives if you are just going to go running back to her?” Sol said he texted Robert that he would be late, and thought Robert said it was ok. It turned out there was a miscommunication. The two make up. Robert goes to get some food for Sol. While he isn’t looking, Sol texts Frankie “goodnight”. Episode 7: * Grace comes home from an awful date. Grace tells Frankie that she took her anecdote (about saving a little bird). Frankie isn’t thrilled with that. Grace goes on to say that her date’s anecdote was about his fatty lipoma. He had a tumor that he named Farley – and it had teeth. A lipoma is a slow-growing fatty lump that’s most often situated between your skin and the underlying muscle tissue. It can feel doughy. It is not cancer. * Grace says she has another date tomorrow. Frankie points out that would be three dates in one week. * Brianna is cooking because she has a date coming over. She calls Bud to help her. Bud points out that she destroyed the Brisket, so he’s going to help her make stew out if it. Brianna says stew isn’t a second date food. Bud infers her date is with “Racist Dave”. Brianna corrects Bud – “Border Patrol Dave”. Dave sends Brianna a text, in which he cancels the date. Brianna now calls him “Racist Dave”. Brianna says that she doesn’t know what she wants (meaning in a relationship). Bud says she wants what everyone wants “Someone you can come home to at the end of the day who is happy to see you.” Brianna says she is getting a dog. * A big part of this episode focuses on the Spelling Bee, which is televised. Frankie and Sol watch it every year (it’s one of their rituals). Frankie can’t get Grace interested in the Spelling Bee, and Sol can’t get Robert interested in it. Sol unexpectedly brings Frankie a bread maker and some laser discs. Frankie sees that as an excuse to come over. Sol asks her to come over and watch the Spelling Bee with him. Frankie hesitates, unsure if that’s a good idea now that they are getting a divorce. Sol wants to continue their rituals, like watching the Spelling Bee together. Frankie says that she will be strong and say “no”. * Brianna adopts a foster dog she saw on the internet. The man who is fostering the dog brings him over. The man is cute and near Brianna’s age. She flirts with him – badly. He doesn’t appear to be interested in her, but is excited to give this great dog a forever home. Brianna is not so enthused about the dog. The dog is shy, at first. Brianna says the dog is ugly, and asks if it is the dog she saw on the internet. The foster dog “dad” gives Brianna the food the dog has been eating, and his toys. He makes a joke (about the dog leaving his patio furniture and grill so the other dogs could use it) – which Brianna doesn’t get. Foster dog man says she can call him if she has any trouble. Brianna spends hours trying to get the dog to love her. She fails at it. So, she calls the Foster dog guy, who comes over. He doesn’t see any problem with the dog (who is happily waltzing down the hallway and checking out other rooms.). The Foster dog guy makes a comment implying he thinks Brianna called to get HIM to come over. She basically agrees. They have sex. He leaves right after. Brianna is sad – until the dog leaps into her arms and starts loving her. * Frankie ends up going over to Sol and Robert’s to watch the Spelling Bee with Sol. She brought popcorn and tea. He is thrilled! They have a great time until Robert comes home and looks upset. Frankie leaves. Robert is miffed about Sol hanging out with Frankie. Robert admits that he is scared about Sol’s relationship with Frankie. He didn’t like that Sol didn’t tell him Frankie was coming over. Sol said he didn’t know she was coming over. Sol tells Robert that Frankie will always be part of his life, and that Robert has nothing to worry about. Robert agrees to watch the Spelling Bee with Sol – and they both have fun! * Grace goes on date three (of the week). It is with a man who owns a yacht and is an architect. His “name” on the dating website is “yachtcatect”. Grace thinks that is clever. She gets a table where they are supposed to meet. Unexpectedly, she sees a friend whom she hasn’t seen in years. His name is Guy, and he is a world traveler. But now, he wants to settle down. The yacht guy shows up, but hasn’t seen Grace yet. He is dressed like a television captain – hat, coat, and all. Guy asks Grace if she wants to meet that man. She doesn’t. Guy offers to sneak her out of the restaurant if she will have ice cream with him. They have ice cream together. Guy says he thinks there has always been a spark between them. They slowly start a relationship. He takes Grace to her door, and Grace kisses him. Neither expected that. Frankie sees Grace kiss Guy through the window. She leaves the television on – and the Spelling Bee – and goes upstairs. Episode 8: * Grace lets Frankie know that Guy is coming over for dinner (and she wants Frankie to either leave or stay in her room). Frankie says that Grace and Guy are gonna have sex. Frankie asks Grace if she is worried “because it’s the first time a straight man has seen you naked in 40 years.” Grace says she isn’t worried because she will turn the lights out (and he won’t see her naked). Frankie asks Grace if she is worried about vaginal dryness. Grace responds: “I am now.” * Frankie gives Grace something Frankie refers to as her “secret weapon”. It is a jar of “Frankie’s homemade yam lube.” Frankie calls it “Vag-a-kadabra.” She keeps it in the refrigerator. Grace is disturbed because she’s been eating the yam lube on toast. Frankie reassures Grace that that is good, and that her gynecologist says “You shouldn’t put anything in your vagina that you wouldn’t put in your mouth.” Overall, this advice is not a bad idea. * Grace doesn’t want to hear about the yam lube. Frankie says “It’s not a dildo. It’s a facilitator!” Frankie also says that she makes dildos. * Grace tells Frankie that men and women cannot be friends. Frankie disagrees. She is friends with Sol, and several other men, including Jacob (who grows the yams Frankie uses in her lube). Grace later informs Frankie that Jacob was flirting with Frankie. This takes Frankie by surprise. * Guy comes over for dinner with Grace. They sit on the couch afterward making boring small talk. Eventually, Grace asks: “Do you want to have sex?” Guy responds: “Oh boy yes.” Grace does, in fact, keep the lights out and does not let Guy see her naked. * The next day, Frankie asks Grace how the sex was, and wants to hear details. Grace says Guy “was no slouch in the boudoir.” Cut scenes make it clear that Grace and Guy had sex, but it was far from being good sex. Frankie asks if the sex was bad. Grace doesn’t really answer. Frankie asks Grace if she had an orgasm. Grace angrily responds: “You’re a child!” Frankie concludes, “So, that’s a no.” * Later, Frankie tries to encourage Grace to tell Guy what she likes in bed. She asks if he knows that clitoral stimulation is important. Grace is mortified – and it’s only her and Frankie who can hear this conversation. Grace says she has never talked about her clitoris. * The next day, Grace gets off the phone and tells Frankie “Well, Guy and I made plans for him to have another orgasm tonight.” * Frankie realizes that Jacob is flirting with her. She tells Grace, who gives Frankie some advice – but Frankie isn’t skilled at flirting. Eventually, she let’s Jacob know that Grace thought he was flirting with her, and so she tried to flirt with him – but is bad at it. Jacob says he thought Frankie was having a heart attack. The two of them smoke pot together. Right before Jacob leaves, he tells Frankie that he WAS flirting with her. * Guy comes over. He says he brought a flashlight. (He injured himself trying to find the bed in the dark the other night). He wants to take Grace upstairs. She stops, plays some music, and guides Guy through dancing with her. This is the closest Grace has probably ever gotten to telling a sexual partner what she likes. The dance becomes a metaphor for sex. Episode 9: * Grace got an invite to Robert and Sol’s wedding. She and Frankie make fun of the script (which is florid and loopy and overdone). Frankie asks: “I wonder how they decided whose name goes on top.” That conversation quickly ends. Typically, wedding invitations go one of two ways: (1) The parents who are hosting the wedding are listed, followed by the parents who are not hosting the wedding – and then it states that the parents are inviting people to the wedding. (2) If the couple us hosting the wedding themselves, the name of the bride always appears first (or “on top”). Neither Grace nor Frankie want to consider which of their husbands is “on top” in the bedroom, or to wonder if the order of names on the invitation match that situation. * Frankie, after seeing the wedding invitation, asks Grace to pull her finger, which Grace refuses. Frankie was asking for help – because she tried to remove her wedding ring the day of the funeral but it was stuck on her hand. Grace helps Frankie take off the wedding ring. * Frankie is making another batch of her “Vag-a-kadabra” homemade yam lube. Brianna comes over (to pick up her dog that Frankie was babysitting). Brianna asks what Frankie is making, and Frankie tells her. Brianna responds: “Mom, Frankie verbally molested me!” Surprisingly, it is Grace who explains the virtues of the lube that Frankie is making. The reason is because Brianna took over Grace’s company when she retired. Grace thinks Brianna could sell the lube because it works, and cites a statistic of how many women have dry vaginas (especially older women). This, of course, grosses out Brianna. Grace says: “It’s all natural – from farm to vagina.” Frankie says: “Personal lubricant is for everyone.” Grace makes Brianna take a jar of the lube with her to work. * Frankie calls out Grace for lying. Guy likes golf, and hoagies, and Grace is pretending to like those things too – but she really doesn’t like those things. Frankie keeps insisting that Grace needs to tell Guy the truth. Eventually, Grace says that when you are in a new relationship you lie and pretend to like things that you don’t like. Grace is worried that Guy will break up with her if he learns that they don’t like the same things. Grace is afraid of losing Guy if she is honest with him. Frankie encourages her to be honest with Guy, anyway. * Grace takes a small revenge on Robert by asking him to come over while Guy is there. Robert is coming over to borrow Grace’s wedding book – a huge binder that apparently has tons of information that is useful for people who are planning huge weddings. Grace wants Robert to know that she has a boyfriend. Robert comes over to get the wedding book and sees that Guy is there – and is overjoyed! They are friends. They are happy to see one another. Grace makes it clear that she and Guy are in a relationship. Robert is surprised, but seems ok with that. Guy says that he and Robert should get together – and Robert agrees and says he will call Guy. Grace says the she will attend Robert’s wedding – with Guy as her date. Later, Grace goes golfing with Guy, and Robert shows up. Guy says he invited Robert. The three go golfing, with Grace trying to quietly tell Robert that she doesn’t want him there. She accuses him of trying to flirt with Guy. Guy hits the ball very far, and Robert congratulates him. The two men put their arms around each other, and Guy recites part of a poem (written by Rumi) It turns out that Robert said he had no one to officiate the wedding, and Guy, who is an officiant, volunteered. He hoped Robert liked the poem so he could use it at the wedding. Robert later tells Grace that he thought having Guy officiate was perfect because Sol wanted a multicultural wedding and Guy has been around the world. * Brianna takes the yam lube to work and repeats what Grace said about it, and the “personal lubricant is for everyone” statement that Frankie told her. She puts some yam lube into small containers and asks her team to try it for themselves, and then come back the next day to talk about it how it made them feel. Brianna wants to move the company in a new direction with this product. Brianna mentions dry vaginas a lot – grossing out one of her team members. The team is made up of a woman (who just broke up with her boyfriend) a guy who is straight and may or may not be single, and a guy who is gay. The guy who is gay does not want to hear about vaginas. Brianna ends up using the yam lube with a co-worker – Barry, who is an accountant. She has sex with someone she not only works with but also is one of her employees. The next day, when the team is sharing their experiences with the yam lube, Brianna insists she used the lube “with herself”. * Frankie gets upset because Grace got an invitation to Robert and Sol’s wedding, but she did not. She makes an unexpected visit to Sol, who is living with Robert. Frankie brings him a chip and dip plate shaped like a sombrero. She also used the bread maker Sol brought her to make bread – which she brought to Sol – along with “better” (a non-dairy form of butter she hand made.) Sol asks why she brought him those things. She said she was there to remind him to get a flu shot – and that this is the last time she will remind him – because they need to have boundaries. He agrees, and the two try and work on that. Before she leaves, she tells Sol she is upset that Grace got an invite and she did not. Sol insists that Robert mailed Frankie an invite. This leads to a big, confusing, fight between Sol and Robert about why Frankie’s invite didn’t arrive. (Which gets resolved later.) Later, Sol visits Frankie (who is still living at the beach house with Grace). Frankie is in her studio, working on some art. Sol hands Frankie her invitation. She sets it aside – with a pile of mail, which has Frankie’s invitation. She made some art on the envelope, and forgot about it. Sol and Frankie get serious and ask their subconsciouses (which they have given names to) if Frankie really wants to go to Sol’s wedding. She discovers that she doesn’t want to go because it would be too painful. Sol is sad, but understands. They start acknowledging that they need to work on “divorce stuff”. * Frankie got so caught up with Sol that she accidentally blows off Jacob (the yam man). She stands him up on a lunch date, and he sends her a text. They reschedule, and she stands him up again (before rushing over to meet with him.) Jacob gently breaks up with her. She’s not ready to date yet. * Eventually, Grace starts being honest. She tells Guy that she doesn’t like golf, or hoagies (and adds some other things she doesn’t like). He accepts it. She tells him she was afraid that he would walk away if she told him, and that was scary, especially since she really likes him. Being honest solidified their relationship. Grace them goes over to Robert’s to tell him that Guy can’t be his officiant because Guy is her boyfriend. Robert shrugs that off and accepts. He tells Grace that he and Sol are getting into big fights about planning the wedding and maybe they should just elope like Sol wanted. Sol didn’t want a big wedding. Grace asks Robert what he wants. Robert wants the big wedding. He wants to tell the world that he loves Sol. Grace encourages Robert to keep planning the wedding, and points out that wedding planning is stressful. Grace says Robert would know that if he helped plan their wedding or the wedding of his daughter. There is a moment where they wonder if things would have gone differently if they had both been honest with each other about how they were feeling years ago. They decide that things would have gone the way they did anyway, but might have been less bad. Episode 10: * The episode starts with Robert and Sol, and Grace, and Frankie, and Bud in an elevator. They had just signed divorce papers. The elevator gets stuck, and Grace freaks out because she is claustrophobic. The episode is a “flashback” episode to events that took place long before the events in Episode 1 did. * The “flashback” takes place at the beach house where Grace and Robert, and Frankie and Sol, are spending the Labor Day weekend. Bud, Coyote, and Brianna are also there. Robert and Sol planned to tell their wives that they had become a couple and wanted a divorce. * Robert and Sol start trying to tell Grace and Frankie – when Mallory walks in with her husband. Mallory is super pregnant, and therefore, was not expected to arrive at all. This interrupts what Robert and Sol were trying to say – so it doesn’t get said. * Frankie is over the moon about Mallory’s pregnancy. Mallory’s husband says he sees pregnant women at work all the time, but none of them are as excited as Frankie is. Sol explains that Frankie “never got to do it herself.” Both Coyote and Bud are adopted. It has been established before this episode that Sol and Frankie are both Jewish. This makes me wonder if they chose not have biological children because they both carry a recessive gene for Tay-Sachs. * Mallory spends a lot of time in the pool. She asks Coyote to come over so she could talk to him. She asks Coyote how much cocaine he is on. He says he is naturally energetic. (Shortly before that, Coyote and Mallory’s husband smoked pot together, and Coyote snorted cocaine.) They talk a little about her pregnancy. Coyote starts to say something, that Mallory stops him from saying. She says something about “the thing we agreed never to talk about.” Coyote says “Imagine me with a 9 year old.” I think this means that Mallory and Coyote were a couple nine years ago and they either had a pregnancy scare (that turned out not to be a pregnancy) or Mallory had an abortion. Based on the timeline – Coyote and Mallory probably were in high school when the pregnancy (or pregnancy scare) happened. * Grace makes a mean comment about Frankie not knowing anything about pregnancy because she hasn’t been pregnant. Later, after Mallory unexpectedly gives birth at the beach house, fully clothed, while the family watches, Grace apologizes. She tells Frankie something like that she didn’t feel like a mother until she held her baby in her arms. Frankie says “Me too.” * Grace, who has been on the phone handling work related things for most of the day, later tells Robert that she wants to retire and give the business to Brianna. Grace says she hopes that her retiring will rekindle the relationship between her and Robert. * Fast forward to them all stuck in the elevator, and Robert explains why he stayed with Grace. “My heart broke for you, and I had to give you what you wanted.” * Bud reveals something he feels guilty about. That weekend in the beach house, he was sleeping on the couch. Robert and Sol were on the porch outside that room. Bud woke up and saw Robert and Sol kissing. Bud felt guilty about not telling his mom about that. Frankie and Grace reassure Bud that even if he had told – they wouldn’t have believed him. Frankie says “You gave me five more years with your father.” Episode 11: * Guy has been spending a lot of time at the beach house. Today, he admits that he “ambien eats” after Frankie notices more food missing from the refrigerator. Guy goes shopping to replace what he ate while he was asleep. He also says he “ambian orders” on Amazon, and has purchased the same pair of shoes, while sleeping, four times. * Frankie tells Grace she thinks Grace is going too fast with Guy. Grace says she is lucky to have him. She points out most men their age date younger women “who don’t have sagging breasts and chin hair.” * Frankie’s art student, (the one that kissed Grace during the earthquake), comes in the house to say goodbye. He is going to Mexico. (All of Frankie’s art students are ex-cons and all are adults.) Grace is flustered. He kisses her. Frankie comes in with the student’s painting – and sees them kiss. Grace says it was a goodbye kiss, to which Frankie points out that means there was a hello. Grace ends up telling Frankie about the day of the earthquake when the student first kissed Grace. * Robert and Sol are tasting food so they can pick a caterer for their wedding. The caterers have come over and are preparing food. Frankie calls Sol and tells him “Grace kissed a convict”. When Sol gets off the phone, he tells Robert about Grace kissing a convict. Robert smiles and says: “Good. She deserves some fun.” Sol is surprised by that response, and points out “but Grace is dating your friend Guy.” Robert says something like “but they aren’t married”. Long story short, Sol asks Robert if he kissed anyone else while they were together. Robert does not immediately respond – and Sol gets very upset. Later, Robert admits he slept with someone. Sol demands to know who. This conversation is happening while the caterers (who are a gay couple) are there. Sol says “We know five gay people in the world and two are in the kitchen.” It turns out Robert slept with one of the caterers, 12 years ago, when Robert and Sol were broken up. The caterer tries to console Sol by saying that he and Robert were incompatible. This does not make Sol feel any better. The caterer mentions something about how gay couples don’t have to fit into heterosexual norms. Later, Sol asks Robert “Are we doing this wrong?” He is referring to their upcoming wedding. He is worried they are getting out of one box and going into another. Eventually, Robert and Sol make up after talking things out. They end up choosing these caterers because their food is delicious. * Grace discovers that Frankie told Sol about her “kissing a convict” – and that Sol told Robert. She is absolutely livid! She tells Frankie that she is a private person and expected her to keep what she shared a secret. They argue, and Frankie tries to apologize. At this moment, Guy returns with the food he bought for Frankie. He overhears that Grace kissed a convict – that day – shortly after he left. Guy leaves, but comes back hours later. When Guy returns, he tells Grace that he is in love with her. Grace gives him a hug, but doesn’t say anything. She looks troubled by this news. * Later, Frankie tries to make amends by giving Grace one of her most embarrassing secrets. It is a VHS tape. The tape is a sex tape that she and Sol recorded in the 80′s, while wearing gladiator costumes. Frankie tells Grace she can watch it, laugh at it, tell the kids, put it on the six-o’clock news, do whatever she wants with it. Grace asks: “Can I burn it?” Frankie responds: “Please do.” Frankie says that the idea of watching yourself have sex is much better than actually watching yourself have sex. Frankie offers to give Grace $50 and another one of her secrets. Grace accepts. Frankie says: “I once made out with a monkey.” It turns out she made out with Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees. Episode 12: * Frankie makes a video on her phone saying she is moving on from Sol. She takes off her wedding ring (forever) and puts it into a box. * Bud and Coyote are tasked with throwing their father, and Brianna and Mallory’s father, a bachelor party. Bud and Coyote don’t know what to do. Mallory quickly puts together ideas for food and drinks, gets supplies, etc. Brianna thinks the Dads need to have a tacky bachelor party with jokes about balls. Bud and Coyote think the Dads want a classy party. Coyote sent invitations that had a cowboy in “assless chaps” on them. A friend of the Dads, named Nelson, arrives unexpectedly. Nelson is from Utah and doesn’t really approve of same-sex marriage. This makes the Dads feel like they HAVE TO keep the party very classy. The party is boring, so Bud and Coyote call Brianna for help. She orders a huge, pink, penis – that functions like a mechanical bull – and has it placed on the front lawn of the Dad’s home. Robert and Sol freak out. Nelson gets mean – telling Robert and Sol he doesn’t mind that they are homosexuals, but doesn’t want them to “throw it” into his face. Robert nearly punches Nelson, but Sol stops him. Meanwhile, the rest of the guests – all men (most of whom are heterosexual) are lined up around the penis/mechanical bull, waiting for their turn. Brianna’s idea made the party fun. Robert and Sol choose to stay inside – and do not want to ride the mechanical penis that is on their front lawn. * Frankie is sad – and Grace tries to cheer her up. They end up doing a “Say Yes” night. It is something that Frankie and Sol used to do. You have to say “yes” to everything that is offered the whole night – until you go home or get arrested. Frankie and Grace end up having fun. The fun includes accepting whiskey flights from two men at the bar Frankie selected. The two men are around the same age as Frankie and Grace. Frankie and Grace end up dancing on the bar and get kicked out. Meanwhile, Frankie’s car got towed. Frankie decides that, for those reasons, this “Say Yes” night is at least in “the top five”. * Grace admits to Frankie that when Guy told her that he was falling in love with her, Grace didn’t say it back. Episode 13: * Inside Frankie’s studio, near the door, there is a bumper sticker that has been posted sideways. It says “Viva Gore Lieberman 2000”. It is a political bumper sticker that was promoting Al Gore for President and Joe Lieberman for Vice President. The bumper sticker was for the 2000 election. * Grace wants to break up with Guy, but has been avoiding it. She says she is afraid that if she breaks up with him she might be alone forever. Frankie says that Grace needs to vlog about it. That evening, Grace had dinner with Guy and they watched two movies together. Grace didn’t break up with Guy, but still wants to. Guy comes downstairs and starts eating lasagna. Grace breaks up with him, and he takes it quite well. He offers to leave, but Grace insists that he stay because it was the middle of the night. She sleeps on the couch. The next morning, Frankie finds Grace on the couch and asks about Guy. Grace says she broke up with him. Guy comes downstairs and, based on his mood and words, doesn’t seem to be aware that Grace broke up with him. Frankie figures out the problem. “It was an Ambien breakup”. Guy was sleep-eating when Grace broke up with him. Grace eventually takes Frankie’s advice and vlogs (using FaceTime). She mentions Guy, and Robert, and then unexpectedly mentions a man named Phil whom she was in a relationship with. She discovers what she wants in a relationship, and that she isn’t getting it with Guy. Later, Grace tells Frankie that she has broken up with Guy (for real this time). * Robert is trying to write his vows but is having difficulty. It is important to Sol that they both write their own vows. Sol has already written his. Robert’s daughters find them and feel all kinds of emotions – so what Sol wrote must have been really good. Robert eventually writes a ridiculously long thing that was supposed to be vows but sounds like something written for a court case. Brianna asks her dad “Are you suing Sol for his love?” Brianna and Mallory take away the legal brief and edit it into something beautiful (and very appropriate as wedding vows). * Frankie goes to the home she and Sol once shared because it is moving day. They sold the house and need to pack up things and take them away. Frankie, Sol, Coyote, and Bud are going through boxes and sharing memories. They have a big, family hug. Sol says they should light the Shabbat candles one more time. The family agrees. Sol lights the candles and begins a prayer, but then gets too emotional and starts crying. Frankie sends their sons to go do the plans they had that night, and consoles Sol. Sol says “I have so much love for all of you my heart….” Frankie finishes “Hurts?” Sol nods. Frankie and Sol kiss, and they end up having sex. Both of them look quite distressed about that afterwards. * Grace comes home and finds Sol in the beach house. Frankie is not there. Sol looks extremely upset, and he’s not making a lot of sense. He says he wanted to make sure Frankie was ok. Grace eventually figures out that they slept together. She yells at Sol and tells him to go away, and that she will take care of Frankie. Sol is afraid to go home. To summarize, Grace convinces Sol that he has to tell Robert about what happened between him and Frankie, “or live the rest of your life the way you spent the past 20 years.” Sol goes home, still visibly upset. The viewer can hear Robert practicing his vows by reading them out loud as Sol stands at the front door, gathering courage to go inside. It doesn’t appear that Sol can hear Robert. Frankie was out on the beach. Frankie says something about not realizing it was over until now, and that Grace figured out it was over right away. Frankie says that sleeping with Sol “didn’t feel right”. She explains, “It felt like we don’t go together anymore.” This review of Grace and Frankie – Season One is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Notes About Things in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Season 1April 24, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a Netflix Original TV series that is about a woman who is rescued from a doomsday cult. Kimmy is trying to make a new life. The show is goofy and weird. I put together some notes about things that stuck in my mind after watching each episode. Warning: There are spoilers. Episode 1: * Kimmy and her “sisters” were taken into a bunker by the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. He told the girls that the world had ended at Y2K (2000) and that nothing was left outside. People really did believe that something would end at Y2K, but it wasn’t the end of the world – it was the end of computer networks. Computer analysts speculated that the all the computer networks would crash at midnight on January 1, 2000. This would, they said, cause mass dysfunction because of how many things relied on those computer networks (including banking, satellites, etc). Way back in the 1970s, computer programs included a date code that started with 1900. Every year, the computers would automatically go up one year. By 1999, people started realizing that the computers would not be able to go to 2000, because they hadn’t been programmed that way. One speculation was that the computers would just roll the year over to 1900 – which would obviously screw up a lot of things. Of course, the world didn’t end at Y2K, and the computers somehow managed not to revert back to 1900. So, it makes sense that Kimmy and her “sisters” would believe that the world ended at Y2K. * Bunkers exist. President Kennedy urged Americans to build bomb shelters to protect them from nuclear fallout in the event of a nuclear war. A year later, the Cuban Missile Crisis happened, and some people built bomb shelters – just in case. Today, people who call themselves “Preppers” build or purchase bunkers (or bomb shelters) for their families to live in – just in case the world ends or anarchy happens. So, what I’m trying to say is it would be plausible that Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne had a bunker. * Doomsday cults also exist, but I couldn’t find any that held people in an underground bunker. * Kimmy had a Baby-Sitter’s Club book when she was in the bunker. That series was published in 1986. It was a series designed for middle-school aged girls to read. That fits the timeframe of when Kimmy would have been kidnapped and taken to the bunker. * Kimmy and her “sisters” were on TV (as “the mole women”). Her “sister” Gretchen says that she met Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne after he bought some of her hair on Craigslist. Apparently, it is possible to buy human hair on Craigslist. Episode 2: * Titus mentions something about needing to pay Columbia House or his tapes wouldn’t be sent to him. Columbia House would let people buy 11 cassette tapes for a penny. Then, they would sign you up for membership in a club or service, and you would start getting monthly shipments of cassette tapes – which you would be billed for. The process is called “negative billing” and (may not be legal anymore). Columbia House originally sold record albums, and later sold compact discs. * Kimmy realizes that Xanthippe, the bratty stepdaughter of Jacqueline (the woman who hired Kimmy) has been telling her friends a lie. Xanthippe said she had a boyfriend who was a surfer and that they had sex on the beach, and they only meet at night. Kimmy figures out that the story that Xanthippe is telling matches the story in The Baby-Sitter’s club Mystery #12. She threatens to tell Xanthippe’s friends. This would, of course, embarrass the stepdaughter who was trying to look cool to her friends. Those books are made for middle schoolers, and the stepdaughter is a high schooler. * The Baby-Sitter’s Club Mystery #12 includes a surfer named Thrash, who meets Dawn (one of the Baby-Sitters Club girls who has moved to California). Thrash calls Dawn “kelea” (after a Hawaiian goddess). Thrash is about 20, and Dawn thinks he’s too old for her (but she has a crush on him.) Thrash fakes his death and disguises himself, but Dawn figures that out. He then tampers with another surfer’s board (because that guy tampered with his) – and there’s some kind of surfing competition going on. The book does not involve any characters having sex on the beach. Episode 3: * Titus shows Kimmy an old photo of himself. He is wearing a t-shirt that says Dole – Kemp – ‘96. Bob Dole (Republican) was running for president. His running mate was Jack Kemp. They lost to Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore. * In the same photo, Titus had a “flat top” haircut, that was really tall. It was probably inspired by the “flat top” worn by Kid (of Kid ‘n Play). * Kimmy is given a smartphone to use. She flips it over and asks: “Is that a Macintosh?” People used to call computers made by Apple “Macintosh” computers, or “a Macintosh”. That changed to “Mac” later – but Kimmy would have been in the bunker when that happened. Episode 4: * Kimmy drags a huge tube television into the apartment. She says she can’t believe people throw away good TVs. Titus insists the TV must be broken and won’t work. Somehow, when Kimmy plugs it in – the TV works. * Jacqueline (whom Kimmy calls Mrs. Voorhees) tells Kimmy she needs to send a photo of herself to Buckley’s school. One of Kimmy’s jobs is to pick him up from school. Kimmy asks where there is a Sears Portrait Studio. The last of the Sears Portrait Studios closed in 2013. Jacqueline teaches Kimmy how to take a selfie (after explaining what a selfie was.) * Titus and Kimmy go to a video arcade because Titus needs to use the photo booth to make headshots for his audition. Kimmy comes back from the arcade and says she didn’t like how she looked in the selfie, and wants to use a different photo. The photo she wants to use is a “Baby-o-matic” photo that shows what Kimmy and Titus’s baby would look like. It is hideous. Today, there are several apps for that. Episode 5: * Kimmy invites her mole woman “sister” Cyndee to visit her in New York. Cyndee brings with her a boyfriend that Titus is convinced is gay. Later, it turns out that Cyndee knows Brandon is gay, but doesn’t care. He was her middle school crush and after leaving the bunker, she set out to achieve all of the plans she made when she was in the bunker. The reason I put this into this post is because I’m also watching Grace and Frankie (another Netflix original series) at the same time. Two completely different shows that handle the concept of a woman dating/married to a gay man in very different ways. Episode 6: * Kimmy is trying to get her GED. She is attending an adult education class in a public school. The teacher has totally given up and plays VHS movies instead of teaching math. The teacher has tenure, which he believes means he can never be fired no matter what he does. In reality, tenure gives a teacher the right to due process. It means that a tenured teacher cannot be fired without a school presenting evidence that the teacher is incompetent or behaves unprofessionally. Or, they have to prove that there is no funding for whatever class, course, or subject the teacher teaches. In this case, Kimmy’s teacher could be fired because he is clearly incompetent. Kimmy talks to the school secretary, who makes it clear that this teacher has been incompetent for years. Teachers do not automatically get tenure. There is a probationary period of three or four years before a teacher can get tenure. Once they have tenure, it is possible for a teacher to be laid off (which happened to a lot of teachers in 2008-2009 during the recession.). A union cannot prevent an incompetent teacher from being fired or competent one from being laid off. In short, the room that Kimmy’s teacher showed her, that looked like a teacher’s lounge where all the teachers were sitting and reading magazines – and getting paid to do it – doesn’t exist. * Somewhere in this episode, The Expos baseball team is mentioned. This team started as the Montreal Expos. They moved to Washington D.C. in 2005. Kimmy is surprised to hear that the Expos moved. She would have been in the bunker by the time the Expos played their first game as the Washington Nationals. The Washington Nationals used a red cap that had a curly W on it – which was originally used by the Washington Senators. Episode 7: * Jacqueline went to China and returned with her husband. Kimmy asks “Was everything there upside down?” This is an another example of Kimmy’s limited education before she was kidnapped and put in the bunker. In an earlier episode, it is revealed she never finished eight grade. In the previous episode, Kimmy tries to enroll in a Middle School, but is told she cannot do that – and that she should get her GED instead. * Jacqueline tells Kimmy that she thinks her husband is having an affair. She says that he is on the phone, and laughing, and she wants to know who he is talking to. Kimmy suggests “Maybe Gallagher?” Gallagher is a comedian best known for his Sledge-O-Matic sketch (in which he smashes a watermelon with a sledgehammer). He is still touring today. * Jacqueline decides to hold a fancy party and invite the person she thinks her husband is having an affair with. She has a plan to catch him cheating on her. Kimmy is working at the party, and needs to look fancy (which Titus helps her with). Kimmy was able to hire Titus to sing at the party. Before the party starts, Kimmy tells Jacqueline that she feels like she’s on Bravo. “They still show operas, right?”, Kimmy asks. Bravo is an American basic cable and satellite television network and flagship channel. It launched on December 1, 1980. Bravo originally focused on programming related to the fine arts and film. In the early 2000s, Bravo changed its format and started focusing on reality shows, fashion and makeover shows, and celebrities. Kimmy would have been in the bunker when Bravo changed its format. * At the party, an attractive man with an accent starts talking to Kimmy. He is a guest, and he makes an excuse about why he ended up arriving to the party early. The man assumes that Kimmy is also a guest, so she decides to pretend that she is a guest. The man notes that Kimmy has arrived early, too. Kimmy tells him that her assistant put the wrong time into her PalmPilot. The PalmPilot 1000 was introduced by U.S. Robotics in 1996. It cost $299, had 128k of memory and a monochrome, touch-screen display. 3Com acquired U.S. Robotics in 1997. In 1998, 3Com had to stop using the name “Pilot” because of a legal dispute with the Pilot Pen company. The PalmPilot became the Palm. The Palm III organizer was based on the Palm 3.0 OS. It cost $399. By 1999, more than five million PalmPilots had been sold. 3Com started selling the first Palm device with a wireless antenna, the Palm VII, for $599. Today, Palm and the PalmPilot are no longer used because people use smartphones instead. Kimmy has a iPhone (which Jacqueline gave to her earlier in this season). It seems that Kimmy doesn’t quite understand that the status of having an iPhone would be much greater than having a PalmPilot. When Kimmy was a kid, having a PalmPilot meant you were rich and important. This is likely why she told the man that she had a PalmPilot when she was pretending to be a guest. Episode 8: * Kimmy uses Titus’s Walkman. It plays cassette tapes. It runs out of batteries while she was using it. Kimmy was singing “Unbelievable” by EMF. When the batteries die, she says “Unbelievable!” The song topped the Hot 100 Chart in 1991. * Kimmy tried to have her GED classmates meet together as a study group in the library. Almost all of them stopped coming. Kimmy goes down the list of classmates, noting what happened to them. “Fatima got deported,” Kimmy says. * Jacqueline tells Kimmy that she is getting a divorce. She tells Kimmy about friends of hers who got divorced. One friend’s ex-husband “died on top of his girlfriend”. Kimmy asks, “You mean… like bunk beds?” * Titus starts his new job at a themed bar and grill. To make a long story short, he is dressed as a werewolf. Kimmy is excited. “You’re a werewolf! Just like in the Bible!” * Kimmy finally tells Jacqueline that she was a “mole woman”. Kimmy tells her this because she is trying to show Jacqueline that women can be strong (so Jacqueline will go through with her divorce). To paraphrase, Kimmy tells Jacqueline that she and her “sisters” ate bags of dirt and passed it into a kiddy pool to survive. Jacqueline says she hopes that was a metaphor. Kimmy says it wasn’t a metaphor – they needed the iron. Scientific American posted an article in 2012 about geophagia (people and animals eating dirt and/or clay). The article noted that dirt can contain iron. it also noted that dirt can also contain parasites. Episode 9: * Kimmy has turned 30. She says she hit the big 30-oh. She probably meant the big three-oh. * Kimmy throws herself a birthday party and invites friends. Somehow, the detective that found her (when she was in the bunker) arrives at her apartment with his teenage daughter. He wants to give Kimmy her birthday present. Kimmy is not happy to see them. The detective (Randy) married her mother while Kimmy was in the bunker. Her mom and the detective had a baby girl (the teenager that the detective has brought with him). Then, her mom disappeared. Kimmy tells them to leave. (They do, but then appear at the party later.) The daughter (who is named Kymmi “Kee- Me”) is played by Kiernan Shipka – who played Sally Draper on Mad Men. I find this interesting because I finished watching all seven seasons of Mad Men right before I started watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. * Kimmy asks Titus to select the playlist for her birthday party. She says “I haven’t been to a Sam Goody since 1988.” The last Sam Goody store closed in 2012. It was in San Diego. Kimmy is in New York City. * During the party, the detective (Kimmy’s stepfather) gives Kimmy a necklace that has a locket on it. Later, she takes it off and her stepsister, Kymmi, grabs it, saying it is hers and that it belonged to her mother. Kimmy points out that they have the same mother. The heart shaped locket on the necklace holds a photo of Kimmy and a photo of Kymmi. * Kymmi says she wants to go to the Olive Garden in New York City that has three floors. It exists. Episode 10: * Kimmy’s boyfriend, Logan (who she met at Jacqueline’s party) wants Kimmy to stop being friends with Dong (who she met at the GED class). Logan and Dong got into a physical fight at Kimmy’s birthday party. * Logan apologizes to Kimmy for the fight, and says he overreacted because he is not used to obstacles. Kimmy asks “What would the Care Bears say” about how Logan has been acting. He responds: “It would depend on the Care Bear.” Kimmy accepts this response. * Kimmy tells Titus that she decided to stay with Logan, and that she will have to say goodbye to Dong. Titus responds: “Oh no! Am I gonna teach you about birth control?” He seems appalled by the idea. Kimmy says “not yet.” In another scene, it becomes clear that Kimmy understands kissing but doesn’t have a clue what making out or sex is supposed to be like. * Xanthippe calls Kimmy a bitch. Kimmy responds: “You mean, the thing that makes puppies? Thanks!” * Kimmy goes to the restaurant that Dong delivers food from to say she can’t see him anymore. She discovers that immigration came and took almost everyone who worked there away while Dong was out making deliveries. Now, he needs to find someplace else to live because immigration is after him. Season One of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was released in 2015. I’m watching it in 2017. What may have been an uncomfortable joke in 2015 has become reality for undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2017. Kimmy brings Dong to her apartment (which she shares with Titus) and tells Dong he can sleep on her couch. After they get there, she tells Dong that Logan is her boyfriend and she can only be friends with Dong. * Long story short, Xanthippe creates this ridiculous scene in an effort to encourage her mother to decide to let Xanthippe live with her father. Kimmy ends up kissing Dong. He leaves, saying he will find a new place to live. There is chemistry between them. * Logan later tells Kimmy that he was the one that called immigration. He thinks he’s hilarious. Kimmy breaks up with him, and rushes to find Dong before he gets on a bus. They become a couple. Dong says that he is still worried about immigration coming for him – and says it would be safer if he and Kimmy got married. Again, what was a dramatic moment in the 2015 TV show is something that has become reality for some people in the United States in 2017. That being said, the rules have changed, and American citizens who were married to undocumented immigrants have actually had their spouse deported (or prevented from entering the country.) Episode 11: * Kimmy gets summoned to testify at a trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. She doesn’t want to go. * Kimmy talks to Jacqueline about all the things she’s worried about. Kimmy worries about getting Jacqueline through her divorce. She is worried about maybe marrying Dong. And now, she’s worried about the trial. Jacqueline takes Kimmy to a spin class called “Spiritual Spinning.” Jacqueline says it gets her mind off of everything except herself. * This is the episode where it is revealed that Jon Hamm is playing Reverend Wayne Gary Wayne. Jon Hamm played Don Draper on Mad Men. So, that’s two people from Mad Men (which I finished watching before I started watching this) who have appeared in Season 1 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. * The trial is a farce. Kimmy’s “sister” Cyndee keeps calling Kimmy, leaving messages and texts, in the hopes that she will come to the trial. Kimmy and Cyndee have smartphones and know how to use them. Gretchen arrives at the trial still dressed like she was in the bunker. * Titus helps Kimmy see that the Spiritual Spinning class is basically a cult. It’s run by an (apparently) charismatic man, who tells them what to think (and what NOT to think about) and who rewards some of them with extra attention. Kimmy eventually gets what Titus is saying. She agrees it is a cult, and asks “Why does this keep happening?” This realization makes Kimmy decide to go to the trial and testify against the Reverend. But first, Kimmy shows the entire spin class that the guy running it is a fraud. Episode 12: * Kimmy and Titus ride a bus to Indiana so Kimmy can testify at the trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. Titus is reading a magazine called “Land Mall”. It appears to be the bus version of Sky Mall, a magazine that people find on airplanes. Sky Mall is filled with stuff for people to buy (most of which are things that no one really needs). Land Mall doesn’t exist. * Later in the episode, Titus is wearing a t-shirt that has Z 101 FM on it. He got the t-shirt because he was on the air (probably talking about the trial Kimmy is testifying at). The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt aired in 2015. I am watching it in 2017. Right now, Z 101 FM is a Spanish language radio station from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. * This episode reveals what the real purpose of the “Mystery Crank” in the bunker was. Episode 13: * Part of this episode, and the previous one, mentions viral videos. The man who sings in the intro of the show warns Titus that having a video go viral isn’t necessarily a good thing. The viewer can assume that the intro of the show was a remixed viral video that included an interview he gave to a TV crew as the “mole women” were being rescued from the bunker. Titus, who gave a hysterically bad interview on TV in the previous episode, had become the star of a viral video (when someone else remixed it). He is certain that the video will make him famous – and that being famous will solve all his problems. The first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt takes place on 2015. If I remember correctly, at that time, videos that went viral made the news (and made it onto multiple news channels and websites). That doesn’t really happen anymore. * The trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne takes an unexpected turn when Kimmy introduces a video tape that … oddly enough… is sort of a remix of its own. Each clip had the date and time it was taken right there on the screen. * The first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt wraps up the main storyline of the show. It also starts some new storylines that will probably be picked up in the next Season. Notes About Things in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Season 1 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Where did the Children Come From in “The Lobster”?April 13, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsThe Lobster is a bizarre dystopia where everyone must be part of a couple. Those who become single are sent to The Hotel where they have 45 days to “fall in love” with a new partner (who, ideally, also falls in love with them.) Those who do not manage to pair up with someone are turned into animals. It’s a very dark and disturbing film, and you probably shouldn’t watch this one if you have recently had a romantic relationship come to an end. Warning: There are spoilers in this post. I’m not revealing why the movie is called “The Lobster.” And, I’m leaving out a whole lot of things that happen in the movie. The movie focuses on David (played by Colin Farrell), who has come to The Hotel. His wife of 11 years left him, which means he is now single. There is no indication that they had children. The check-in process at The Hotel is depressing. David arrives with his brother, who has been turned into a dog. He is allowed to keep his-brother-the-dog, but must keep him in the hotel room. People who arrive at The Hotel have almost all of their belongings taken from them, including their clothing. The Hotel gives everyone identical outfits to wear. The men are given some slacks (of two different colors) and some shirts. Women are given multiple, identical, blue dresses and multiple flowered dresses. Everyone is given just enough clothes to get through their stay (including socks and underwear.) My guess is the purpose of this is to make everyone look as much like everyone else as possible. There is a moment when the camera focuses on a group of the saddest looking people, most of whom look depressed and unattractive, sitting in their underwear, waiting to be assigned a room. At first glance, I found it difficult to believe that any of these people had a good chance of finding a new partner. David is asked the same question all guests are asked: Are you heterosexual or homosexual? At first, he answers: “heterosexual”. But then, he recalls that there was a man… so he declares himself “bisexual”. The Hotel does not allow that. If I remember correctly, the person checking David in says that he is not allowed to be bisexual. They tried that, and it messed up their system. So, David thinks about it a little while, and decides to declare himself heterosexual. I thought it was interesting that The Hotel placed no stigma at all upon a person’s sexual orientation. Being heterosexual was accepted. Being homosexual was accepted. Being bisexual was acceptable, too (and would still be if The Hotel could work that orientation into their system.) Later, David finds himself as part of a group that includes both men and women. Presumably, there are other groups: one made up entirely of men, and the other made up entirely of women. We never see those groups in the movie. Each person is asked by The Manager what animal they want to be turned into if they are unable to find a partner. The idea is that a person who cannot find a human partner might have better luck finding a partner after they have been turned into an animal. The Hotel doesn’t place any sigma upon a person’s sexual orientation – but they do have some very strange rules regarding sex and masturbation. No one is allowed to masturbate while they are at The Hotel. There is a scene that involves David and The Maid. She is kind of grinding on him, but in a way that seems very mechanical and unappealing. It’s a service that is being provided. The Maid stops before David reaches orgasm. It appears that the purpose of this is to… encourage the male guests to find a woman to become a couple with? There is a severe punishment for the men who masturbate in The Hotel. It is disturbing, but not as disturbing as the punishments that The Loners have for those who kiss or have sex. The Loners are a group of people who escaped from The Hotel and are living in the forest. The point I’m trying to make is that the people who are in The Hotel aren’t allowed to have sex with anyone else – until after they have become a couple. The Loners are not allowed to have sex with anyone, ever (but they are allowed to masturbate – so long as they are doing it alone.) So, where are the children in “The Lobster” coming from? There is a point in the movie where two people have officially declared that they are in love. The new couple is removed from the group and given a hotel room to share. If that works out, the couple will spend some time together on one of the small yachts that is owned by the hotel. The new relationship is closely monitored by the staff of The Hotel, as well as by the Hotel Manager and her husband. They want to make sure the couple is really a couple before releasing them from The Hotel. The Manager tells the new couple that if they have any tensions, any arguing, that they cannot resolve themselves, they will be assigned children. She says that usually helps a lot. People don’t want to argue around children. Things do no go super smoothly with this couple, and we see them later with a daughter that looks to be about eight years old. Where did this child come from? The couple could not be the child’s biological parents because not enough time has passed for them to have an eight-year-old daughter. Without giving too much away, there are scenes from The City. It seems to be the place where couples live. Everyone there is a couple. The police stop a few single people and basically ask for their papers. There aren’t any children present. Now, I suppose it’s possible that The City is a place that is only for adults, and that children aren’t allowed there. Maybe the kids are in school (or daycare) when the parents go to The City. It’s also possible that all of these couples have relationships that are smooth enough that they didn’t end up being assigned children. Later in the movie, there is a part where one of The Loners introduces a few other Loners to her parents. She doesn’t look anything like her parents, so one can assume she was an assigned child. “The Lobster” is a movie that gives the viewer just enough story, and leaves them to imagine the parts that aren’t specifically laid out for them. The movie didn’t give me any answers about where the assigned children come from. Here are my best guesses about that: 1. The children are “orphans”. A couple that has been assigned a child (or more than one child) breaks up. The parents become singles. In this world, people cannot be single. So, someone – maybe The Hotel – takes the children away from both parents. This allows each parent to find a new partner, or to be turned into an animal if they are unable to find a new partner. The former parent can focus all of their attention on finding a new partner without worrying about what happened to their assigned children. There must be a large orphanage somewhere (and it probably isn’t located in The City). The children become “orphans”. They might get assigned to new parents one day. 2. The children are from accidental pregnancies. Two people at The Hotel become a couple. They have lots of sex. They are either not using any kind of birth control, or their birth control of choice fails. The woman gets pregnant. There are no examples in the movie of a couple that is raising their biological child together. Maybe this accidentally produced child is automatically sent to the orphanage after he or she is born. This child would one day be assigned to another couple (who need a child because they cannot resolve their differences and are arguing too much.) It is possible that all of the adults in the movie were raised in an orphanage (until they were assigned parents). If so, then the couple with the accidental pregnancy would consider it quite normal to send their newborn to the orphanage. This society highly values couples, and places a huge stigma on single people. The society doesn’t seem to give much thought to children (or who raises them). 3. The children are “test tube babies” or clones or are produced in some way that doesn’t involve a typical pregnancy. Viewers must accept the premise that The Hotel is quite capable of turning a person into an animal. From there, it doesn’t seem too difficult to imagine that The Hotel collects DNA from the guests, and sends that DNA to a lab for the purpose of making babies. 4. The children are coming from an entirely different society that has an abundance of children and not nearly enough parents to raise them. Maybe the other society doesn’t care if people are single, or part of a couple, and also doesn’t care who decides to have sex with whom. Sometimes, a pregnancy occurs. Parents can decide for themselves if they want to raise the child or send it away for someone else to raise. 5. The children are coming from a situation that I haven’t thought of. Where did the Children Come From in “The Lobster”? is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season SevenApril 8, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsSeason Seven was the final season of Mad Men. I was kind of sad to have reached the end of the story, but I liked how it ended. I can always re-watch it if I want to. My husband and I watched the entire series of Mad Men on Netflix. I took notes on the things in Mad Men that are different from today. Before you read this post, you might want to read what I wrote about previous Seasons: Mad Men Season One Mad Men Season Two Mad Men Season Three Mad Men Season Four Mad Men Season Five Mad Men Season Six Warning: There are spoilers. Episode 1: Don flies to California where his wife, Megan, is living. She has a tiny black and white television. He buys her a huge console television. The thing is so heavy that it requires two big men to carry it inside. It looks like a cabinet with the television embedded in it, and I think it had built in speakers on either side of the TV. This was a top-of-the-line, expensive, color television…. that Megan didn’t want. Episode 2: * Don wakes up to a buzzing noise. It is coming from his alarm clock, which can be described as an analog electric alarm clock. The numbers flip over. * Don and his daughter, Sally, are at a diner. She wants to call her friends. Don put two quarters on the table. Sally takes the quarters, gets up, walks across the diner, and puts the quarters into the payphone that is on the wall. Today, Sally would have picked up her smartphone and made the call (or would have borrowed her dad’s smartphone to make the call). Episode 3: * Harry finally tells one of the other partners that he’s been lying – for a long time – about there being a computer that he uses to figure out the best ad placement for television ads. He’s been lying to the customers about it, too. There is no computer. This revelation sparks a conversation about the company needing to invest in a computer. Today, its hard to imagine an entire office without computers. * Betty goes on a field trip with her son, Bobby. She is a chaperone. Betty and Bobby ride on the school bus with his classmates, teacher, and a few other moms. Betty smokes a cigarette on the way, and ashes out the window. Episode 4: * The creative’s lounge is taken away from them because the office is going to put a computer there. It takes up that entire space. The only thing this computer could do was “crunch numbers” – literally computing. * The computer is an IBM 360. It is a mainframe computer that was accessed by remote terminals. It had 8,000,000 characters in bulk core storage. Monthly rentals ranged from $27,000 for a basic configuration to $115,000 for a typical large multi system configuration. * The “System/360″ became available for delivery in 1965. The office in Mad Men is getting it installed in 1969. Today, most offices do not invest in computers that are four years old. * Harry asks the IBM guy who is overseeing the computer installation to tell him where to find a keypunch service. The IBM 360 ran on punch cards. A keypunch service had people (often women) whose job it was to put a deck of blank cards into a hopper. The worker would type an operator command, and the hopper machine would feed one card at a time into a punch station. A series of dies punched holes into an individual card. Harry needed a service to make those cards for the office’s computer. * In order to operate the mainframe, a person needed to – by hand – put the stack of punchcards, in a specific order, into the mainframe one by one. * I have personally done that a few times when I was a little kid (because my dad sometimes took me to work with him.). Dropping the punch cards on the floor was a complete disaster. It meant you had to stop entering the cards, stop the computer, take the time to put the cards back in order, and start putting them into the computer again. If you accidentally put one card into the computer in the wrong order – the computer wouldn’t work. Once all the punchcards were correctly entered, you had to wait around for the mainframe to process them before you could start working from a terminal. * Don uses a typewriter at his desk to get some work done. He has a piece of white paper, then a sheet of carbon, then another piece of white paper sandwiched together. The purpose of this was so Don could make two copies of what he was typing at the same time. Episode 5: * There is now a secretary who sits at the terminal inside the room the giant computer is in. She appears to be typing something into the terminal. Behind her is a computer with a magnetic reel tape drive. * The giant mainframe computer makes a constant humming noise. The computer room always has the doors closed because it needs to be in an air conditioned room. Episode 6: * Peggy is working on an ad campaign for Burger Chef. She and Don decide to come up with a new idea rather than what they originally planned. Peggy mentions something about the ad including a mother who is picking up Burger Chef for her family on the way home from work. Don says “Mothers who work is too sad for an ad.” Peggy points out that he is surrounded by mothers who work. This doesn’t change Don’s mind. They end up going with a completely different idea. Episode 7: * This episode focuses on the Moon Landing. Everyone watches the rocket lifting off on television. Then, they watched the first space walk on television. * Peggy is in Indiana with Don, Pete, and Harry because they are pitching to Burger Chef the next day. Peggy went out to get alcohol, but Indiana was dry on Sundays – meaning stores could not sell alcohol. She ends up having to buy two cans of beer from the hotel clerk. Indiana was dry on Sundays until July 1, 2016. The laws changed on that date to allow distilleries, breweries, and wineries to sell alcohol on Sundays. The laws still did not allow people to buy alcohol and bring it home with them on a Sunday. Episode 8: * Don has an answering service. He calls and a female worker answers and tells him who called him and when. The service is not work related – it is taking calls from women in Don’s social life. * Joan and Peggy are talking to their client, Topaz pantyhose, about a problem. L’Eggs pantyhose – a competitor – is a lower price and is selling more than Topaz. L’Eggs pantyhose came in a plastic egg shaped container. Episode 9: * I didn’t see anything new in this episode, that you don’t see today (that hadn’t already been mentioned in this post or in posts about previous seasons.) Episode 10: * Sally’s friend Glenn comes to visit. He is now 18 years old. Glenn, and a female friend he brought with, ask Sally to go to Playland with them. Glenn reveals that he has joined the military and will be going to Vietnam. Sally gets very upset about this and rushes to her room. Later, Glenn returns, knowing that Sally is not there. (She was on a class trip.). Glenn came to see Betty. Betty gives Glenn a beer. The legal drinking age in New York was 18 until 1982 – when it went up to 19. On December 1, 1985, the legal drinking age in New York moved up to age 21. * Don was running late for work, so he shaves at his desk in his office while his secretary fills him in about what is scheduled for the day. He uses a battery powered electric razor. Those types of razors increased in popularity in the 1960s. * The office has a darkroom which Stan (one of the creatives) uses to develop film – usually for ad campaigns. People have to knock on the door before coming in because opening the door lets light into the room. Doing that at the wrong time can completely destroy film. Episode 11: * Peggy and Stan are working with children for an ad campaign. There is a table of toys in front of the kids. One of the toys is a metal slinky. Episode 12: * The office gets absorbed by McCann. They lose the computer that took over the creative’s lounge. Harry says that McCann has a team of people who do statistics – so they don’t need the computer. * McCann has an informal “ladies club”. The women who work there get together to complain about work (and drink). * Peggy’s last remaining creative guy chooses not to go to McCann. He is still at the old office. He says he is still being paid, so he thought he’d “make some long distance calls”. Long distance calls were very expensive at the time. Episode 13: * Don has gone on an impromptu road trip. He doesn’t carry luggage. Instead, he has a large paper bag with a change of clothes in it. The bag says Sears. Today, a lot of Sears stores are closing. Episode 14: * Don’s road trip continues. This time he is carrying a bag from Penney’s. The bag probably came from JC Penney’s (which, today, is also closing a lot of stores.) Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season Seven is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season SixApril 7, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsAs my husband and I watched our way through Mad Men, I took notes about things that are in the show that are different from today. This post is about Mad Men Season Six. We watched the entire series on Netflix. Before you read this, you might want to read what I wrote about previous Seasons: Mad Men Season One Mad Men Season Two Mad Men Season Three Mad Men Season Four Mad Men Season Five Warning: There are spoilers. Episode 1: * Megan uses a Kodak Instamatic camera to take a photo of Don while they are on a work/vacation in Hawaii. The Kodak Instamatic was launched in 1963. It used a 126 film cartridge. The Kodak Instamatic 104 was released in 1968. It had a holder for a single flashbulb on the top of the camera. Take a photo with the flashcube, and cock the camera for the next exposure (meaning – roll the film for the next photo). The flashcube would turn 90 degrees to bring the next flashbulb into position automatically. * The maid was vacuuming while Don was watching TV. The television had two squiggly lines of interference across it – one near the top of the screen and one near the bottom. It was not a common problem, and the TV went back to normal when after the vacuum was shut off. Episode 2: I did not see anything in this episode that was different from today (and that wasn’t already mentioned in this list or the lists about previous seasons.) Episode 3: * The news in the background on televisions in various scenes discuss the Vietnam War. It has been said that Vietnam was the first “television war”, or the first “living-room war” (the room people watched television in.) Being able to sit in your home, in front of your TV, and watch what was happening in a war far away had an effect on people. At first, TV stations were trying to be upbeat – providing wire reports or a battlefield roundup. Later, things got darker and some “horror of war” was televised. The ability to watch the war on TV had an effect on people’s opinion about the war. In 1968, the Tet Offensive happened. It appears that this is what the television news is talking about in this episode of Mad Men. Episode 4: * Joan and her friend Kate go to a restaurant where there is a telephone at every table. The name of the restaurant is “Ma Bells”. The name is a play on The Bell Telephone Company. Ma Bells was the creation of Restaurant Associates. The restaurant actually existed. Every table had a telephone on it. People called their order into the kitchen. The telephones could also be used to call someone who was sitting at another table. * Megan and Don go out to dinner with Megan’s coworker and boss (who are a married couple.). During the dinner, it is revealed that the couple are “Swingers” who are interested in swinging with Megan and Don. Swingers were people who had open relationships. Some were heterosexual, and some were bisexual. Being a swinger became popular in the late 1960s, when the “free love” movement was taking place and casual sex was becoming an accepted thing among some people. Swingers felt it was natural to have sexual desires outside of your relationship, and to act on those desires (if the desired person was consenting.) Episode 5: * This episode focused on when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed. * Someone (I forgot who) turns on a black and white television. A bright dot appears in the center of the screen, which becomes a horizontal line, that eventually spread out over the screen. This was how televisions at the time warmed up if they had not been turned on in a while. * Don takes Bobby to watch a movie. They see “The Planet of the Apes.” At the end of the movie, it’s clear that Bobby liked it. Don asked “Do you want to see it again?” Bobby does, so they stay in their seats and watch the movie again. This wasn’t unusual and was allowed at the time. Episode 6: * I didn’t see anything in this episode that hasn’t already been mentioned in this list (or the lists I put together about previous episode) Episode 7: * Pete’s mother comes to his apartment. The handyman calls Pete to let him know she is there. Pete tells the handyman to fix his mother a drink. The ice cube tray is made out of aluminum. It has a quick release handle on it that you pull up to crack the ice cubes. Today, ice cube trays are plastic and you twist them to crack the ice. Episode 8: * The office is visited by a “doctor” (brought in by one of the partners of the company that Don’s company merged with). The man is not really a doctor. He was brought to “fix everyone up.” Don agrees to see the “doctor” because he is suffering from a bad cough. The “doctor” injects several of the men in the office with an unknown concoction. Based on the actions of the men who took this injection – it appears that at least some of it is amphetamine. The “doctor” appears to be somewhat based on a real person named Max Jacobson who was known as “Dr. Feelgood”. Jacobson did have a background as a doctor – but was known for mixing up unknown ingredients (along with amphetamine) and injecting that into the (often famous) people who came to him for help. Jacobson “treated” JFK, Marylin Monroe, Eddie Fisher, and others. Episode 9: * Don stops at a gas station and tries to get the gas station attendant’s attention. It was a full service gas station (which was standard at the time). People did not pump their own gas – the attendant did it for them. The gas station attendant would fill the tank, check the tire pressure, check the oil, and wash the cars windows. People paid for the gas, but the other services were provided for free. Gas stations used to hand out trinkets as well – for travelers to collect. (drinking glasses, key chains, calendars, road maps, etc). There are some places in the United States today where people are required by law to allow a gas station attendant to pump their gas for them. It is no longer a common practice – and does not come with the extra services. Episode 10: * Joan tells a potential client that Harry works on figuring out where to place television ads “with a computer as big as this room”. The first personal computer wasn’t introduced until 1975 – and they were kits that people had to put together themselves. * This episode focused on the 1968 Democratic National Convention that took place in Chicago. * Megan watches the violence that took place outside the DNC. She calls Don, who is watching it, too, (while away on business). Megan says she can’t vote – but still cares about what’s going on. Megan is Canadian. She was from Quebec. * There is a lava lamp on the desk in the Creatives Office. The lava lamp was created by Edward Craven Walker (who was a British accountant). He sold the U.S. manufacturing rights in 1965 to a company named Lava Lite. In 1968, lava lamps were marketed to executives. Episode 11: * The office, which is in New York, receives fresh oranges from California from Sunkist (who is a client). In a previous episode, Roger’s daughter told him that her husband had this great idea about investing in refrigerated trucks that ship produce. This indicates that it was not easy to obtain fresh oranges from California if you lived in New York. Those oranges were a big deal. * Sylvia and Arnold (Don’s neighbors) have a son, Mitchell, who is 18. He returned his draft card as a form of protest of the Vietnam War. After Mitchell dropped out of school, the military re-classified him 1-A. This designation meant that it was extremely likely that Mitchell would be drafted and sent to Vietnam. Mitchell tells his problem to Megan (who relays the problem to Don). Megan said that Mitchell was “going to run”. This meant that Mitchell was going to leave the United States and go to Canada in order to avoid being drafted. Megan considers helping Mitchell because she has family in Canada. Much of this episode is about how to solve Mitchell’s problem. Episode 12: * I didn’t notice anything new in this episode (that wasn’t already mentioned in this post or in posts from previous seasons.) Episode 13: * Sally get suspended from boarding school because she used a fake ID with her mother’s name on it and bought alcohol for herself and the other girls. Betty calls Don, all upset. Betty tells Don that the reason why “nothing is working” and “the bad is beating the good” is because Sally is “from a broken home.” That’s not a phrase people use today in regards to a child from a family where the parents got divorced and remarried. Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season Six is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... CockatielsFluffy CockatielJune 8, 2018CockatielsI was having a really bad physical health day and was exhausted. Morris flew down the hall, perched on my computer monitor, and kept me company. He usually has a short attention span, but today, he stayed put and got fluffy and comfy. Fluffy Cockatiel is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Relaxing Flock of CockatielsJune 10, 2016CockatielsLittle flock of cockatiels, relaxing together as the sun sets Relaxing Flock of Cockatiels is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Throwback Thursday: NapJune 9, 2016CockatielsThrowback Thursday: Max loved to take naps on me (2011) Throwback Thursday: Nap is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Throwback Thursday: ReadingJune 9, 2016CockatielsThrowback Thursday: Max was attempting to read over Shawn’s shoulder. Meanwhile, Gordo was simply getting comfy on the couch. (2011) Throwback Thursday: Reading is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Sort of Sharing a PillowJune 8, 2016CockatielsMorris and Poke can share a pillow together! They aren’t quite ready to share the pillow with Pepper, though. Sort of Sharing a Pillow is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Coloring PagesJohanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – MayJune 27, 2019ColoringI’ve been coloring through the 2019 Johanna Basford coloring calendar. It is fun and relaxing. I fell a little bit behind in May because it was a busy month. Still got it done, though. May 1 May 2 May 3 May 4 and 5 May 6 May 7 May 8 May 9 May 10 May 11 and 12 May 13 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 and 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 and 26 May 27 May 28 May 29 May 30 May 31 Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – May is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – AprilMay 2, 2019ColoringColoring is relaxing, and good for my rheumatoid arthritis (which is in my hands). A friend gave me the Johanna Basford 2019 coloring calendar as a gift. I’ve been having a great time coloring the pages! April 1 April 2 April 3 April 4 April 5 April 6 and 7 April 8 April 9 April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 and 14 April 15 April 16 April 17 April 18 April 19 April 20 and 21 April 22 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 26 April 27 and 28 April 29 April 30 Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – April is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – MayApril 23, 2019ColoringI’ve been slowly working my way through the Johanna Basford 2018 coloring calendar. It has been a very relaxing experience, and good for my rheumatoid arthritis (which is in my hands, among other places). My chronic health issues make it difficult for me to keep up with the “do one of these every day” type of projects. I will be done whenever I get there. In this blog, I have the coloring pages from the May 2018 part of the calendar. May 1 May 2 May 3 May 4 May 5 and 6 May 7 May 8 May 9 May 10 May 11 May 12 and 13 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 and 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 May 26 and 27 May 28 May 29 May 30 May 31 Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – May is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – MarchApril 17, 2019ColoringI’m working my way through the 2019 Johanna Basford coloring calendar. A friend gave it to me as a Christmas gift. My goal is to try not to fall too far behind. Coloring is a good for my health. It reduces stress (which is bad for my fibromyalgia). I also color to keep my hands active, which is good for my rheumatoid arthritis. March 1 March 2 and 3 March 4 March 5 March 6 March 7 March 8 March 9 and 10 March 11 March 12 March 13 March 14 March 15 March 16 and 17 March 18 March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 and 24 March 25 March 26 March 27 March 28 March 29 March 30 and 31 Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – March is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – FebruaryMarch 1, 2019ColoringColoring is relaxing. A friend gave me the Johanna Basford 2019 coloring calendar as a Christmas present. I am really enjoying it! I have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands (among other places). I’ve heard it is good to keep my hands and fingers active. Coloring is a good way to do that. February 1 February 2 and 3 February 4 February 5 February 6 February 7 February 8 February 9 and 10 February 11 February 12 February 13 February 14 February 15 February 16 and 17 February 18 February 19 February 20 February 21 February 22 February 23 and 24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 Johanna Basford 2019 Coloring Calendar – February is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!...
