And lived to tell the tale! I just returned home from a wild 27 hour journey to San Francisco and back (14 hours of driving total) in order to attend Rachel Maddow's book release event at the City Arts & Lectures theater. The ticket included a copy of the book Blowout and I am excited to read it. The event was completely sold out on the night she announced it. I was very lucky to buy my tickets immediately so I only had to pay $59. The guys sitting behind me paid $400 each!

Anyway, she spoke for a few minutes and then read an exerpt from the book. The crowd was enthusiastic (massive understatement!) and then she was interviewed by Dan Pfeiffer (President Obama's Communications Director). It was all so funny and fabulous - like having my own personal Rachel Maddow Show without any commercials. It was ALL A-block! And she left us (as she always does) laughing, better educated, and hopeful.

The audio of the event will be posted on the City Arts & Lectures podcast at some point in the near future, and it will be offered on KQED 88.5 FM soon. The website is cityarts.net. I will post again when I see that it is available. Be sure to listen!

He had surgery three weeks ago to remove his spleen. Turns out it was cancerous. He started going down hill this morning and we knew there was nothing more we could do.

He was a beautiful, smart, sweet German Shepherd Dog and we loved him immensely. If I knew how to post a photograph of him (neither click-and-drag, nor copy-paste works), I would.

Our fur babies help to make the world a kinder place. If you are fortunate to have one in your life, please give it a hug from me because I can't do that at my house any more.

Rachel just played a portion of the hearings from last fall. I had almost forgotten how vile he was and how sick I felt at the time. How far out standards have fallen that this hideous man is a Supreme Court Justice.

I purchased two tickets (which include copies of her new book) for the book tour event in San Francisco on Sunday, October 6 at 7 pm and I won't be able to go

My husband's surgeon had a cancellation and he had his back surgery a month early. So I can't go see my HERO, Rachel Maddow.

The event is totally sold out. If any DUers would like to purchase the tickets from me, I will be happy to sell them. They are $59 each (again, it includes a copy of her book).

You can PM me or just respond to this post.

Did I say already??

This will not be a long term issue, but my husband just came home from the hospital after back surgery. I'm massively apprehensive about this and not entirely sure how I will manage. I just rented a walker for him, but his mobility is fragile. I'm not sure how to deal with bathroom issues and sleeping. He tends to need to use the toilet in the middle of the night, so I don't know how to deal with that either. Fortunately, while he was in the hospital I got two good nights of sleep. Figure I won't have another one of those for a while.

I'm just so worried about his falling and how to cope with all of this. We are lucky that this will be a short term problem, but today has me freaked out!

Anybody on DU dealt with this kind of thing?

Thank you friends.

We just returned from Cambridge, MA where we witnessed our daughter give her PhD Thesis Defense in Physical Chemistry at MIT.

Lots of happy smiles and tears from Mom (but of course I cried!)

And yes, we DO have a doctor in the house!

Side note: she is like her mother - very progressive and politically active!

And not political?

Go see "Maiden". It's an incredible film documentary about the first all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread around-the-world sailing race in 1989-90. It was inspiring and thrilling.

This is a very interesting read - all the way to the end.

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/07/why-pelosis-right-delay-impeachment

Mike Broihier. He has a powerful introductory ad. Here's the Huffpost article. The ad is embedded.

This makes the second Democrat in the race. I hope it's a respectful and positive campaign. Both candidates so far are ex military and both have a good message.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mitch-mcconnell-democratic-challenger-mike-broihier_n_5d30e2fae4b004b6adad3e02

Source: Huffington Post

Jeffrey Epstein has been denied bail pending federal sexual abuse charges, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman announced Thursday morning.

Prosecutors labeled Epstein an “extraordinary” flight risk ― he owns several properties and a private plane ― as they urged the judge on Monday to keep him behind bars. Epstein was arrested July 6 on sex trafficking underaged girls and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeffrey-epstein-bail-denied_n_5d2df396e4b0a873f64263d6

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Jeffrey Epstein was denied bail today. He is deemed to be an extreme flight risk!

Let's see what he does now.