While every body is speculating about what Skippy is Ill ...
347085
While every body is speculating about what Skippy is Ill through my two cents in.  I think an alien force came to the galaxy and wiped the Elders out. The sentinels May be them and Skippy is somehow a key to stopping the sentinels and allowing the Elders to come out of hiding.
2812182
Arguably the most foreboding blotch on human history, the Plague is hardly a subject in which to expect humor, humanity, or community. That said, the impression I'm left with after reading this little fugue is a light, optimistic view of human nature.

A spin-off from another project, wherein minor connected vignettes surrounding a stream of preserved official communications allow us a peek into the realities, reactions, etc., of that trying time in an Italian hamlet. How many of us would risk horrible death and serious prosecution to serenade a girl in a neighboring town?
357544
Could it be that all of us are in fact, somewhere on the ADD/ADDH spectrum? How would the world change for the better if as a society, we saw that the label of ADD/ADDH might actually be wrong  and that in fact , theres a magnificent GIFT thats waiting to be managed?  What if we could look through the history books and find inspirational leaders and famous people from whom we can learn a better way of doing things?

In Dr Kevin Ross Emerys book, Famous People with ADHD: Are you one waiting to happen, youll find plenty to bring hope.
3273081
I like weird and off the wall, but, this might be pushing it.  BTW, if Fluffers (the sidekick dog) has radioactive pee, wouldn't that totally mess up his insides?
65451
"All their thoughts are against me for evil." -- Psalm 56:5 (NKJV)

Everyone cares about orphans. If orphans are being treated badly, the sympathy is huge. Consider the Broadway show, Annie!

Tess Gerritsen takes that well-known penchant for a ride in creating a roller coaster of a plot in which youngsters are placed at more risk than anyone can imagine ... including the youngsters themselves. The story unravels a complex set of circumstances in an intriguing way that holds back some essential perspectives long enough to make the twists and turns more than usually surprising and entertaining.

Those who like this series for the interactions of Rizzoli and Isles won't be pleased, however. What goes on could have been conducted by any other pair of fictional characters. It's just that plot-driven. Sorry folks!
2792959
Peter Breggin, Md, and his friends may benefit

from misleading naive and desperate people.

Squiggles
4250677
All of us have fixed ideas floating around in our heads. We learned them from our parents and teachers, we picked them up from friends, acquaintances, TV, newspapers, magazines, books, movies, and so on, and they all have one thing in common: we never pause to examine them. Our usual response when such ideas crop up is to say: "Everybody knows that."
One of the most deep-seated and strongly entrenched ideas of all is the widespread notion that urine is a dirty and disgusting substance. "Everbody knows that urine is a dirty waste product," we say. We can't, of course, be blamed for thinking like this because pretty well everyone thinks the same. And our natural tendency is to automatically reject any view that conflicts with what "Everbody knows."
Most of us, for example, would probably dismiss as crazy someone who came along and said: "No. Your urine is not nasty stuff. In fact it's a precious and nourishing life-enhancing substance and quite pure, and it could be doing all kinds of good things for your mind and body if you knew how to use it wisely."
Until very recently I used to think that urine was nasty stuff too, that is until I read Martha Christy. Maybe I'm foolish but when an articulate, serious, responsible, concerned, mature and obviously intelligent person tells me something new or different, no matter how crazy it may seem, I'm inclined to listen to what they have to say and to give them the benefit of the doubt, particularly if there's some way I can test what they are saying and find out the truth for myself.
If you think about it, only two kinds of people are really qualified to tell us about urine. One is the biochemist who sits down in her lab, analyzes it, and then tells us about its constituents. The other is the therapist or practitioner who uses urine, and who can tell us about its properties or powers. And so far as biochemists are concerned, urine is sterile, harmless, and full of good things.
As for what Martha Christy and other Urine Therapists are telling us about the properties of urine, there are two ways of testing their truth: by either drinking urine or applying it externally. The idea of drinking urine seemed especially revolting to me, as it will to most, but after thinking it over for a few days I firmed myself up, blocked out the part of my mind that was screaming - "YUCK!" - and I did it!
If you top up half a glass of urine with water, hold your breath, and then chug-a-lug, it goes down easily enough. It's a bit like green tea. There's little taste, and only a mildly unpleasant aftertaste which you quickly get used to. And you'll soon find that you can dispense with the water.
But guess what? It actually worked! Within a few days two serious chronic illnesses that have plagued me for many years began to improve. And that's not all. Almost immediately I began to feel better in every way. I had much more energy, a clearer head, more positive moods, easy bowel movements, was enjoying better sleep, became much more cheerful and so on. Yes!
So, folks, if you want to greatly improve the quality of your life, I'd suggest that you silence that screaming "YUCK!" in your head. It's only the product of a fixed idea after all, one of the many ideas you've never bothered to seriously examine. Trash it, and give Martha Christy's advice a chance. Whether you are healthy or ill, your own perfect heaven-sent tonic and medicine may just end up working wonders for you, as it has for me. In fact, I'm pretty sure it will.
I think that Martha Christy deserves a toast!
Kampai!
2576856
With aunt Hildas hiccups changing objects into something else its not hard to guess that it means TROUBLE!!! Refrigerators into cows, sofas into swing sets and school lunches into pheasant under glass. Oh dear! But Sabrina's history books into Benjamin Franklin or 'Ben' for short is going to far. Now Sabrina has to retrieve him back when Salem loses him. It could only happen to Sabrina!!!
4344376
Every one is crazy.  Finding out who done-it will keep you guessing until the end.
523008
The author warns that a thorough medical screening of someone with no serious health problems is bound to find something "wrong," which can lead to a cascade of anxiety, followup tests, biopsies, surgeries and serious, permanent impairment when, in fact, there was nothing wrong with the person in the first place. The problem has two major causes. Doctors fearing lawsuits feel compelled to thoroughly investigate every "abnormality," no matter how minor. And the fee-for-service system incentivises medical practitioners to pile on as many tests and procedures as they can reasonably get away with to maximize their income.

I never would have guessed that "virtually all adults have some evidence of thyroid cancer" (page 31), yet very few American die of thyroid cancer, only around 1,600 a year. Most adults have benign nodules in their thyroid. When a nodule is discovered incidentally, possibly as a result of a CT scan for some other, unrelated condition, the patient is invariably sent to an endocrinologist for evaluation and a needle biopsy. Since some cancer cells are likely to be in this person's -- now patient's -- thyroid, the endocrinologist might recommend the thyroid be surgically removed, which can lead to serious physical impairment as now the patient must take medications for the rest of his life to makeup for the absent thyroid gland.

The author provides evidence that about 80 percent of men over 70 have some cancer cells in their prostate, yet the vast majority will have no symptoms and will ultimately die of some other illness. Perhaps more amazingly, a whopping 8 percent of men in their 20s have cancer cells in their prostate.

The author maintains that hundreds of thousands of people have benign nodules in their lungs that can show up incidentally in x-rays and CT scans when screening for other conditions. The author coined the useful term "incidentalomas" for these and other "abnormalities" that show up in screenings. Since these so-called abnormalities are so common, the question arises whether the physician should inform the person undergoing the screening of the incidentalomas, since they can cause so much anxiety and a lifetime of worry, all for no reason in the vast majority of cases.
2547903
Once again we find our meddling mutt Scooby-Doo in the third volume of his new series.  The four episodes this disc has (and again, not much else) are:

"Battle of the Humungonauts" - A pair of hulking creatures start wrecking places in Crystal Cove.  Mayor Jones asks Fred and the gang to find out what's what.  So they do and with a new look to boot - Fred's idea; no surprise.

"Howl of the Fright Hound" - Scooby is accused of attacking innocent people throughout the town.  Either he's to blame or else Scooby must find the real culprit.

"The Secret Serum" - A vampire runs rampant and starts stealing some unusual items.  The prime suspect for this case, however, is Daphne's mom.

"The Shrieking Madness" - The kids spend the weekend at a campus called Darrow College.  All of a sudden, a monster known as Char Gar Gothakon is terrorizing everyone.

Not to be a spoiler or anything, but I think I heard that the rest of the first season will be coming to a special 2-disc set in the near future with the last 14 episodes on there.  I'm sure it'll be worth waiting for even if the season ended on a sad note.  Perhaps I've said too much....
853835
Continuing his ever-developing promise, Mr. Hill intrigues us with the idea of what might happen if an autistic savant starts building structures full of those special angles that lead us to those Outer Realms. What happens is, of course, unsettling (yet, in the overall context of the tale, strangely sweet).
4897519
Can't help but wonder if just an over-active imagination.
3108345
I enjoyed YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING which was briefly incarnated in a stage play.  No play likely in the offing for BLUE NIGHTS.  In Didion's initial confessional there were many hints about her daughter's sickness, and hence the reader might have expected some pay-off in BLUE NIGHTS.  But this is not forthcoming.  There is not much at all about the medical particulars of Quintana's death.

I have concluded that BLUE NIGHTS is more about Didion than about her daughter's death.  While some may wish to read about Didion's encroaching sense of mortality, I was not much taken by her musings.

Seemed self-indulgent to me.  Possibly narcissistic.

Some of my negative reaction may be due to our own family's struggle with a beautiful blond daughter who is still alive, but very much vacant from us due to a traffic-accident induced traumatic brain injury.  I am not sure our daughter could quite measure up to the splendour of Quintana Roo, but then again BLUE NIGHTS seemed to contain precious little that might be considered "factual" about Didion's daughter.

Every parent mourns in a way appropriate to every parent.  I guess I cannot doubt the sincerity of Didion's mournings for her adopted daughter.  And no one can second guess the depth of my own pain regarding our daughter Rebecca.
4391763
It is humbling to think that the brain might be all that there is to us- no souls or spirits, no life after death! I hope the whole workings of this amazing machine will be deciphered in my life time, so that mankind will finally understand and find a cure for the incomprehensible disease of schizophrenia.
653792
Probably the scariest part of A Taint in the Blood is that it seems plausible. A mix of modern science and superstition, with an up close look at what sort of people human predators would be. And they aren't pretty...
4811675
It was interesting and I assume Jason is still battling on the disease.  It is my hope more people become
aware how disabling MS is and that someone will come up with a cure or a way to stop it in it's tracks.