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It would NOT help to consume B12-rich foods. I've been doing just that for months.

This afternoon at just my first consultation with what I regard as an uncommonly astute Neurologist, she ordered a blood test for a Vitamin B12 metabolite. I'll have to ask again what its name was, then write it down.

To more-concisely state my own HYPOTHETICAL addition to my exceedingly astute Neurologist's HYPOTHESIS. That is, I am not _yet_ cured of Broca's Aphasia, Short-Term Memory Loss, Long-Term Memory Loss, Brain Seizures and Dissociative Fugues:

I am genetically predisposed to Pernicious Anemia, a once-fatal genetic inability to metabolize Vitamin B12. It was ultimately cured by daily Vitamin B12 Injections. The original cure to Pernicious Anemia was to eat vast quantities of raw liver every single day! :-0

If I _do_ have Pernicious Anemia, it hasn't killed me because only my Great-Grandfather had it - but he _died_ of it. His DNA's contribution to my genome would be no more than one-eighth, because I had eight grandparents. But _chronic_ B12 deficiency is _quite_ certain to lead to bizarre, unexplainable brain disorders. Just eating such B12-rich foods as beef or yogurt is insufficient.

We know that chronic B12 Deficiency 707a11ee FUX0R5 the brain because from time to time, a Vegan doesn't clue in to that B12 is _only_ found in animal products, and doesn't know to eat Nutritional Yeast.

It's widely - and yes I Am Absolutely Serious - that fungus makes B12, but it does not. Rather, Nutritional Yeast is nutritious in other ways, and _quite_ tasty so it's common for people whose feet don't reach all the way down to the ground to season their food with it.

If your a Vegan, you don't eat _fortified_ Nutritional Yeast and you don't take B12 supplements then your entire brain will go totally on the fritz; it could even kill you.

If I understand correctly, while natural B12 is Methylcobalamin, it works just fine to take Cyanocobalamin supplements, which in my understanding can be economically synthesized whereas industrial production of Methylcobalamin cannot. But that's OK because it's the Cobalamin group that's the actual nutrient as employed by the body after being absorbed by the intestine.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Anemia - in addition to Pernicious there are some other types - can cause "numbness in the hands and feet". I got a Code 3 ride in an ambulance Saturday evening: Lights And Sirens, but I'm afraid I didn't get to enjoy the ride. Among some other bizarre symptoms, I had numbness in my lips and the soles of my feet.

ALL the ER docs and EMTs are by now completely convinced that this is purely psychiatric. I made plain that I regarded its being due to My Sparky Brain as eminently reasonable, but pointed out that "Just knowing that won't make it go away".

They are all convinced that It's All In My Head because _all_ my symptoms are perfectly symmetric between the right and left sides of my body; Dr. Hamburg gave me a far more extensive neurological exam today, but _every_ component of that exam was intended to detect neural asymmetries. It Found None.

BUT!

Systemic brain disease in the case of B12 deficiency is actually a _blood_ disorder. Again my previous understanding was incomplete, in that I've read repeatedly that B12 is "required to make red blood cells". While strictly speaking true, B12 is required to make _every_ kind of human bodily cell.

That it's so crucial to Red Blood Cells is due to their average lifetime of forty days. That means our Red Blood Cells consume B12 far out of proportion to all our other cells.

Cobalamin is a key part of the process that transcribes DNA into Amino Acid Chains.

It happens that I'm quite certain that I have - or perhaps "had" by now - an l-Tryptophan deficiency. I'll explain this in more detail late tomorrow night, but my self-diagnosis I'm quite certain is correct due to my diet having been exceedingly poor since my divorce with Bonita.

Simply Put: cooking for one makes me miserable, I far prefer to each cold chili directly from the can with a spoon.

I've been working around my I Hate Cooking blockage by carefully and methodically selecting then eating vast quantities Of Truly Fat-Ass Lazy Yet Nutritionally Balanced Foods.

In the specific case, that's Chickpeas and Sesame Seeds - Hummus - Soy Beans - Tofu - and Sardines.

I've had a problem with my sardines so far, the ones I've got were cured with salt; I cannot tolerate eating a sardine all by itself. Just now I found it minimally acceptable to eat sardines on bread, but tomorrow I'll chop some up then stir them into Spaghetti Sauces.

This Time For Sure:

Nighty-Night! Don't Let The Code Bugs Byte. ZZZzzz...

Chihuahuas aren't really dogs, of course. Dogs are pretty smart in general, and chihuahuas are just plain stupid.

Anyway, after reading that chihuahuas are good for people with asthma, I decided to get one for the wife, many years ago. The creatures aren't very durable, and the wife wore that one out. But, the presence of the chihuahua really does seem to help with her asthma. The always present inhaler has pretty much disappeared from her life. There's one laying around, but she almost never needs it, and when she does need it, she has to search for it.

But, back the the stupid creatures - I usually address the chihuahuas as "Stupid". "You want out, Stupid?" A normal dog will spring into springy mode immediately, bouncing up and down in front of the door, waiting for you to catch up to him. The chihuahua, instead, looks at you blankly, mulling the concept of "outside" for awhile. Sometime later, sometimes even on the same day, the creature decides, "Yes, outside!" then starts jumping up and down.

So, the wife heard me telling her pet, one more time, that he was dumb as a rock. "Why do you say he's stupid?" "Because he's dumber than a rock, of course." "Well, you're going to give the dog a complex!" "He already has a complexion - kinda black with a red tint, which is why you named him Cocoa." "Well, stop calling him stupid!"

Hmmmm. I snatched the animal up, walked through the door, attached his tie-out lead, and put him down. Then, I walked around the yard picking up several rocks. I didn't even pick and choose for smart looking rocks, I did my best to just pick them at random. I carried the rocks inside, and arranged them on the floor. The wife is looking at me weird, but she often does that, I paid her no mind. After awhile, I brought the animal back inside, and carried him to where the rocks sat in a semicircle. The wife followed me into the living room, and watched while I administered an intelligence test to the animal and the minerals.

Sample question found on Youtube for intelligence tests for rocks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH2P3qQYUFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw1BmB5ALHo

The chihuahua scored behind six rocks, and ahead of four other rocks, "proving" that a chihuahua is truly "dumb as a box of rocks".

Be warned - testing the IQ's of rocks can be time consuming, and tedious. You must be prepared to wait for the rocks, and you must be able to "interpret" the rock's answers. Which is only fair, because you also have to "interpret" the chihuahua's answers. If you've ever been employed as an historical site "interpreter", you'll be well prepared for this endeavor.

I wish there were a real dog that were purported to be "good for asthma". Why not a border collie? Or, and Irish setter? *sigh*

Recall that I'm endlessly going on about Vitamin B12. Methylcobalamin is the natural form, in supplements and fortified foods it's Cyanocobalamin. My understanding is that it's the Cobalamin which is a key component of our metabolism.

I read somewhere that B12 is only found in meat and fungus. That article was quite specific that it was found in _all_ fungus. A Soylentil whose nick just now escapes me pointed out that it's _not_ found in fungus, rather that the nutritional yeast that the Vegans are so heavily into is fortified with the stuff.

My cousin is a Vegan; he went totally bananas when I spammed my entire family with the news that I'd be focussing on steaks so as to treat my Anemia, that at the time I figured was due to blood loss from my Kidney Surgery. He gave me some eminently reasonable advice to transition gradually to become at first the Vegetarian, then later a Vegan.

But he also specifically pointed out that he takes B12 tablets.

While some say I'm a Rocket Scientist, Glenn really _is_ a Rocket Scientist. The _only_ thing he's ever told me about his work is that "It has to do with GPS". That he's never said more than that, and that there's nowhere to stand let alone sit in his apartment due to the giant stacks of Physics and Electrical Engineering texts in his apartment and all the way up the walls to his ceiling - every last one of them in Russian, "So as to keep my Russian up"! - lead me to regard it as impolite to ask my favorite cousin to blow his clearance.

Just now I had an office visit with a Neurologist; Dr. Hamburg struck me as quite knowledgeable.

She suggested my Aphasia and Short Term Memory Loss could be a Vitamin B12 deficiency. That's well known to cause really serious brain disorders in vegans who don't take B12 supplements.

She ordered a certain blood test for a chemical that is a metabolite of B12.

I'm not a vegan or vegetarian but I eat very little meat. But I've suspected I'm deficient in the stuff because I also have Anemia; B12 is required to make Red Blood Cells.

More specifically, it's a key component of the process of transcribing DNA into the chains of Amino Acids of which Protein is composed. There are many non-Protein chemicals in our bodies; some of them are compounds of protein and something else, some are nutrients such as Lorenzo's Oil, some are other compounds whose synthesis is catalyzed by Enzymes, which are particularly reactive Proteins.

That name-unrecalled Soylentil also pointed out that B12 doesn't come directly from animals, rather it's made by bacteria. That beef is rich in it is due to soil bacteria colonizing one of a cow's four stomachs. But I expect that corn fed beef could be deficient as well. I don't know yet whether cows actually _require_ B12 but if so, then their feed corn would be fortified with it. Again I don't know about meat from other species of animals.

That our name-unrecalled Soylentil clued me in about the soil bacteria, and that a fellow NedSpace member does marketing for a Portland Kombucha brewer led me to speculate about making a variety of Kombucha with B12 bacteria in it. But that natural - not fortified or supplemented - is found only in animal meat and cultured animal products leads me to expect you can't brew B12 Kombucha.

That's just as well: while I greatly enjoy taking a break by drinking a bottle of the vast quantities of Kombucha that my marketing colleague keeps our fridge stocked with, despite that Kombucha has very little alcohol in it, because as my ex Bonita was wont to say, "Mike drinks like a girl", just one bottle of that fizzy, refreshing beverage puts me under the table.

(By contrast, being from a sea-faring culture, Bonita drinks like a fish.)

My Facebook Friend Chiraag Nataraj - also a vegan - gets his B12 from Kefir, a cultured milk beverage. That led me to look for a list of foods that are high in B12, resulting in my reading The A list of B12 foods at the Harvard Medical School website.

Clams have vast quantities of B12. I really enjoy all manner of clams and other shellfish, but around here - Vancouver Washington and Portland Oregon - they are somewhat expensive. For me to adopt clams as a staple food in my diet might be a problem due to absorption of such ocean pollutants as the Mercury that is thrown high into the air by burning coal, a far more short-term problem than climate change. But really I don't know so I'll research that further, as well as shop around for clams as well as - possibly - other B12-rich seafoods.

Yogurt has lots of B12 so just a couple weeks ago I started eating vast quantities of the stuff so as to treat my Anemia.

Maybe I'll have to remain a coder rather than making it as a Rock Star. ;-D

I do find great inspiration from Brian May, a guitarist and founding member of Queen. Despite being a Rock Star he is _also_ an Astronomer. Not just a hobbyist: one of his experiments is in _orbit_.

But Brian still has Big Hair, whereas I'm doing pretty good when I manage to sprout any hair at all. ;-(

PS: It won't be long at all before I make more money as a Singer than I can make writing code for clients. More about that in a subsequent Wall Of Text.

I've got an appointment with a neurologist in 2 1/2 hours. Usually such specialist appointments take three months to obtain but my recent visits to the ER led to this one getting expedited.

I had this grand plan that I would turn in early, so I would be fresh as a daisy, if not actually able to speak coherently.

Instead I was up until 1:30 AM, set my alarm for 9:30, then got a call at 8:30 from one of my neurologists staff with a question about my insurance.

Perhaps I'd feel better if I ran myself through with my father's ceremonial sword.

Festive Satanic statue added to Illinois statehouse

A satanic group has added its own statue to a series of displays in the government building of the US state of Illinois to mark the festive season.

Placed between a Christmas tree and a menorah, the four-foot sculpture depicts a snake coiled around an outstretched arm holding an apple.

It's the first display sponsored by the Chicago chapter of the Temple of Satan.

The state government said the temple had the same right as other religious groups to have a display.

"Under the Constitution, the First Amendment, people have a right to express their feelings, their thoughts," Dave Druker, spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state, told the State Journal-Register. "This recognises that."

The move has been criticised on social media by Illinois Family Action, an anti-abortion pressure group.

Thank you Satan, very cool.

See also: Netflix and Satanic Temple settle £38m lawsuit over Sabrina remake

(I'm logged in with Tor Browser so as to ensure my privacy and anonymity.)

To Wit:

He at first tried to snatch a five-spot from someone's
hand, but that quick-thinking fellow shoved his hand - and his five -
in his pocket.

I grabbed that Enterprising Young Man around his neck while he was
still leaning down then patiently and lucidly explained that "I'm
calling the cops unless you give that _back_!"

I once studied Judo, a purely _defensive_ martial art, which even when
used in Production only rarely injures one's attacker.

He dropped my Samoleons, I let him go then he belted me right in the
head, so hard that I saw the world spin round. I was dizzy for several
minutes after.

Get This:

"I was doing you a favor! I could have traded that money for _more_ money."

Yet I remain skeptical.

He claimed that he acted in his own self-defense despite my not having
injured him in any way, and despite my having let go of him before he
punched me. In the direct presence of a whole bunch of witnesses, he
repeatedly and asserted that I'd punched him first.

He Damn near got Tazered by a helpful bystander who was just on his
way to collect donations for The Salvation Army.

ProTip: Don't Mess With The Salvation Army.

I called 9-1-1 while he and I were still arguing but realized the
Dispatcher was losing precious time so I gave my report, my name and
my number.

By the time I got off the phone he'd walked out of sight but I gave
the Dispatcher quite a good visual description. It was not long at all
before a Prowler drove expeditiously past, it's driver and and I
exchanging smiles and thumbs up.

Officer Hubbard of the Portland Police Bureau turned up next. He asked
Mr. Salvation Army for a quick witness report then the Officer had him
write down his name and number in his notebook.

And yes, Portland's new Police Chief really _is_ named Chief Outlaw. :-0

After I gave him a more detailed report, Officer Hubbard took my name,
number and home address.

"If you capture him, I will enthusiastically press charges because..."

"I know. These guys even hit Nordstrom sometimes" - I was singing
right in front of its main entrance in Downtown Portland - "and the
cafes".

I told all the witnesses that "After I chill for a bit I'll resume
singing" but was still so shaken after Portland's Finest department
that I walked back to work. I just ate lunch back at work, and I
really _will_ go back out then sing in front of Nordstrom again.

Made eight clams by doing so.

As of late I've been opening with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" but for
the foreseeable future I'll open instead with "Battle Hymn Of The
Republic".

That particular song works _quite_ well for me.

Defiantly,

Michael David Crawford, Baritone

Yes, I just assumed your species. Suck it, furries.

Look, guys, I know everyone likes telling me off but there's only so much time in the day and believe it or not I do have things I enjoy doing that don't involve schooling noobs. When you dump dozens of replies on me while I'm out, the chances of me reading them, much less replying to them all before bedtime, drastically decrease. Y'all do what you gotta do but don't go expecting me to spend my whiskey in front of the TV time explaining why you're a dumbass.

The CBC has grabbed a brain and got it moving again!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cbc-baby-its-cold-reinstate-1.4941087

So the loud minority is starting to be drowned out by the usually silent majority: good for all those who have brains.

Original:

So radio stations are banning "Baby, it's cold outside" because there are too many losers in the world.

My. God., People. Are. Stupid.

It's a really nice Christmas song about a girl wanting to stay with her man for....'cuddles', but she can't because society would call her a 'whore/slut' if she did.
She is wrestling with WANTING to stay but 'having' to leave because society is filled with losers.

Look:
"I really can't stay - Baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away - Baby it's cold outside
This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry
Well Maybe just a half a drink more - Put some records on while I pour

The neighbors might think - Baby, it's bad out there
Say, what's in this drink - No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir - Mind if I move a little closer
At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride
I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out
Ahh, but it's cold outside

C'mon baby

I simply must go - Baby, it's cold outside
The answer is no - Ooh baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been - I'm lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm -- Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious - Man, your lips look so delicious
My brother will be there at the door - Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious - Gosh your lips look delicious
Well maybe just a cigarette more - Never such a blizzard before

I've got to get home - Oh, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat - It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand - Your eyes are like starlight now
But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me
There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Making my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay - Get over that old out
Ahh, but it's cold outside

Baby it's cold outside"

Read it!
There are no rape drugs in her drink: she's making an excuse for not leaving, just like in the lines:
"But don't you see
There's bound to be talk tomorrow
At least there will be plenty implied
I really can't stay"

She wants to stay, but feels she can't.

Only stupid people could object to this song.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid people.

My. God.

For a while now there's been a Truly Righteous Donut Shop just one block from my home. "Righteous" in that they serve espresso drinks and ice cream as well, and have free WiFi.

But I'm their _only_ regular.

I'd go every morning but I've been busted because I've had no clients for several months. But whenever I sing on the street I make a point of spending some of my tips there, usually a medium coffee but sometimes a scoop of ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over it - try that yourself, it's Truly Righteous as well.

They've had quite a lot of trouble finding enough employees. Their location behind a large bus shelter makes them difficult to see from the street, and their sign does not light up at night. They sadly told me they'd be closing soon. Their saving grace is that their other location sells donuts like hotcakes.

I'm friends with most of the people who work there. Most weekends I'll take the bus to that other location, when Spring comes I'll ride my bike.

One Monday I clued in to that I have a clear path to earning more money by singing on the street than by contract programming. That's not at all because I'm such a bad coder but because I've gotten to be a Truly Righteous singer - my best song is Somewhere Over The Rainbow followed closely by The Start Spangled Banner.

All but a very few of the clients I've ever signed have taken at least a month to close, quite commonly three months. I have not the first clue as to how to estimate software cost and time, so throughout this whole time I've commonly underbid jobs.

What's the very most Righteous about busking is that I get paid on the spot.

The gating factors to my singing full-time are that a congenital deformity in my hips leads it to being painful to stand in one place for an extended period of time, however I'm hopeful that having a Podiatrist make me a custom pair of Shoe Orthotics would fix that - my insurance will cover it if I'm referred by my Primary Care Physician.

Also an obstacle is my small set list. I don't sing it repeatedly at any one venue so as to avoid driving my neighbors bananas while they're at their places of employment in Downtown Portland. I have a really, really hard time with memorizing new lyrics; the only way I can do so is to read from printed lyrics that I hold in my hand as I sing. Strangely no one objects to this aside from one Useless Bint who pointed out that if I can afford an iPad to read lyrics from, then surely I don't really need my tips.

Strangely she would not have objected to my $1,500 Fatar MIDI Controller - no sound, I use an Emu sound module for that - nor my $250 Busker's Roland Busker's Amp, so-called because it can run off batteries.

But I don't want to catch crap like that so always I read from hardcopies. But that leads to my plan to license in-copyright song lyrics and sheet music - ORLY? RLY! - then sell songbooks as I sing.

Finally, there remain some serious problems with my voice, most serious that that singing high notes often make me cough uncontrollably. But I've had enough professional Voice Lessons that I know how to fix that problem all on my own:

Sing Vocal Exercises accompanied by my keyboard, mostly successively higher scales - I can play all twelve Western music Major Scales as well as all three variations of the Minor Scales with both hands in parallel motion, up and down.

Mick Jagger is well into his eighties, even _he_ still singles scales every single day. I'll go do so right now.

Politically connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein settles suit, averting victim testimony

A last-minute settlement has been reached in Florida in a long-running lawsuit involving a politically connected financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls.

The deal came Tuesday just before jury selection was to begin, and for now, it means none of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein will be able to testify.

Article text replaced:

A last-minute settlement was reached Tuesday in a long-running Florida lawsuit involving a politically connected financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls, clearing the way for the victims’ lawyers to try to unravel a once-secret agreement that prevented federal criminal prosecution of the financier.

[...] Epstein could have faced a possible life sentence if federal prosecutors had pursued a draft 57-page indictment that was never filed. Now, Scarola and Edwards say that possibility still exists, and the victims — some of whom were only 13 or 14 when they were molested — may yet get their day in federal court amid a national #metoo movement that seeks to hold sexual harassers and abusers to account.

[...] The settlement reached Tuesday involved a lawsuit Epstein filed against Edwards almost a decade ago. Edwards filed a counterclaim, contending that Epstein sued him maliciously, trying to harm Edwards’ reputation and derail his work with Epstein’s own abuse victims.

Jeffrey Epstein apology deprives accusers of day in court

Until his disgrace, Epstein rubbed shoulders with the likes of former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew.

The money manager - the subject of a bombshell Miami Herald investigation last week - was accused of trafficking some 40 teenage girls.

Epstein eventually agreed a plea deal widely seen as extraordinarily lenient. His accusers never got the chance to testify.

The prosecutor criticised for letting Epstein off the hook was Alexander Acosta, who is now labour secretary in the Trump administration.

Lawmakers call for investigation into Labor Secretary Acosta for sex offender plea deal

The lawmakers, which include 10 representatives from Florida, are asking the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General to investigate the "circumstances" surrounding the nonprosecution agreement Acosta entered into with Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy Florida investor who was convicted on two counts of prostitution in 2007.

A new Miami Herald investigation provides details into the deal Acosta and Epstein struck after Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of young girls, many of whom were minors. Epstein was facing a life sentence in federal prison but only served 13 months in county jail as a result of the plea deal with Acosta.