457 Comments

I haven't read it yet (will after this) but I am curious: for those of us in those damned red states who vote deep blue, don't smoke, and believe in science, I wonder what our collective life expectancy is?

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If Trump somehow becomes president again, it will be only one day after he is sworn in.

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Ta, Dok. I work in a FQHC so no one is ever turned away because of an inability to pay. No wonder we live longer here.

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As an Ohioan, it pains me to say the Post report is probably right on the money. Bill Seitz is one of the primary Cro-Magnon Repubs in the Legislature. DeWine is a nice guy who, unfortunately, lets the Legislature walk all over him. However, it's a hopeful sign that cities such as Cincinnati, Columbus and even Dayton are seeing influxes of younger, more progressive people. The key is for the State's citizens to pass the bill that will remove politicians from the redistricting committee so we can possibly have fair, equitable Legislative and Congressional representation.

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DeWine is a nice guy - *for a republican*. He's not nice enough to stand up to the power mad Ohio lege in any significant way. And while I certainly support the proposed redistricting committee, I also know that Ohio repughs have already ignored any attempts at reigning in their power - IE, I'll believe in it when I see it in action.

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Is it harsh of to think that anyone who chooses to not buckle up, or their kids, and is hurt in an accident should be given a couple of aspirins and sent home? I sure would not want to be harsh or anything...

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I am having a moral quandary here. On one hand, this really sucks for individuals and the people that love them. On the other hand, I don't hate it that far right voters are a shrinking demographic

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But are they really? I very much doubt it

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of course, you're also killing of everyone else, but why not, hey? they shoulda moved to a better state

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Right? Even tho I'm in a red state, the politics part of my brain can't help but go to that.

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I wish they'd die faster, tbh. Less of them, less of their votes to fuck shit up for me.

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Ohio. Come for the cheap cigarettes. Stay to watch the locals go through their windscreens.

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Oct 3, 2023·edited Oct 3, 2023

“Crom help us, we believe him. It’s not corruption if you already had terrible ideas”

Think of the poor lobbyists unable to fill their quotas.

Satan:”No! This won’t do! Seitz is already scheduled to fester in the burning pits of Azmagazadon. That’s another seven eons in Foulikia [lake of acid filled with very large thorny intestinal parasites] for You!”

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Are there really adults in the US and A who don't wear their seatbelts? Who get in a car and don't automatically just reach for the belt?

There's a Mr. Darwin on line 2 for you.

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Most modern cars beep at you incessantly until you do it too.

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Not in the rust belt. Many there can't afford fancy new cars with fancy dinging noises. And there are no safety or emissions inspections to force their hand. It's not at all unusual to see more 2005 than 2020 vehicles in any given Wal-Mart parking lot in Michigan/Ohio/Indiana.

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ER Doc here:

Rule #1 of Emergency Medicine: Humans do not make good projectiles.

Seat belts save necks, heads and lives.

Or, why Princess Di died. She would’ve walked away from that accident if she had her seatbelt on.

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Er nurse here. Can confirm. If people started listening to things we said, we would both likely be out of jobs, so good/bad? 🤔

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I've known 2 in my whole life, one younger than me and one older (I'm turning 49 next month). They both thought seat belts trapped you inside the car* after a wreck and you'd burn to death. I did not try to disabuse either of them by citing studies, because frankly neither one of them was anyone I gave a shit about. One of them was married to a parent's cousin whom I heartily disliked, and the other was briefly a co-worker.

*As opposed to flying through the windshield, I guess it's technically true.

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I bet they didn't get vaccinated either.

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Sad. Ohio had so much to live for.

Oberlin, orchestras, the Cincinnati Zoo, all those Amish baked goods...I moved away 36 years ago (lost my job there, got a new one out here in the Blue Zone) but will always miss the heart of The Heart of it All. Of memory, at least.

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Cue Chrissie Hinds

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Live by the derp, die by the derp.

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Ohio University (mentioned in the article) is a small university in Athens, Ohio, not to be confused with The Ohio State University, which is immensely ginormous and in Columbus. I know and like people from both.

Even more O/T anecdote: Ohio State and U Michigan, along with Dartmouth, Columbia, and Ohio U., jointly operate an observatory on Kitt Peak, Arizona. Ohio State built an instrument for the observatory some years ago that required a special prism that passed blue light, which they sourced from an outfit in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan. When they unwrapped the prism, they found a message etched neatly into the end of the prism, out of the optical path: "Go Blue!".

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That observatory burned, naturally.

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Amazingly, it didn't, nor did any other scientific structure on the mountain. I was just there last month. (I'm also director of the observatory in the story.)

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Oh fun. I did a bunch of forest ecology and dendro up on Mt Graham, and was amazed at the astronomers walking around breathing supplemental oxygen. Also the canine cops.

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Supplemental oxygen seems like a stretch at that elevation. Didn't know about canine cops ... ?

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Oct 4, 2023·edited Oct 4, 2023

Oh definitely. They were UArizona canine cops, and the dogs even had trading cards with their facts on them: weight, training language, etc.

I definitely have a few of those in a box somewhere...

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That is amazing

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founding

So, the plan is working... good. Let’s keep it that way [rubs hands malevolently and laughs].

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Other universities, and I'll bet there are lots of them, have a "The" as a part of their official name. I checked out "Penn State Diploma images" on the google and sure enough on that very formal document it's headed "The Pennsylvania State University" in that font that just might even be called "diploma." It's just that only the cement-heads at THE Ohio State are dumb enough to make a big deal out it. Remember Philip Roth's "Goodbye, Columbus" and Brenda's dunderheaded brother Ron?

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