Disqus - Latest Comments for sthomson

Re: Surprise! 70% of babies referred for tongue-tie surgery DON’T need it!

Sarah T. — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 00:25:42 -0000

My baby had a tongue tie clipped at abt 2 weeks old, after consulting with LC and a pediatrician at my practice. I was pumping more than enough milk but baby was not transferring more than half an ounce per feed. Well I don't think the frenotomy did anything, really. My baby did eventually learn to breastfeed by around 3 months. I don't recommend "triple feeding" for three months to anyone. I was saved by the pandemic and having to stay home all day anyway.

Re: Fight climate change: get an epidural instead of gas and air

Sarah T. — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 15:49:53 -0000

I believe it is becoming a more prevalent option. I know it is offered at a few hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Re: GOP pessimism rising on ObamaCare repeal

Sarah T. — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 15:19:24 -0000

It's not belief, it's fact. Just like it's a fact that the hospital where Gard is under care just asked the court to reconsider their order that Gard not receive new treatment based on new *medical* evidence.

Re: GOP pessimism rising on ObamaCare repeal

Sarah T. — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 12:30:15 -0000

Charlie Gard, the "baby in England" has nothing to do with Single Payer Healthcare. This issue in his case is whether there is any benefit to further treatment and who gets to make that decision. Private-payment for treatment is still legal in single-payer countries.

The court ruling in Gards case can be troubling without shoehorning in your pet issue.

Re: On April Fools' Day

Sarah T. — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 14:11:47 -0000

I've changed the name of this holiday to National Shitpost Day, because it's the one day on the internet it's acceptable to write a post like, "Something vaguely plausible but unlikely happened! Haha just kidding! Got you!"

Re: Question of the Day

Sarah T. — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 21:30:48 -0000

Definitely unicorns, and their even more fabulous relative, unicorn-pegasus hybrids.

Re: NOPE

Sarah T. — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 16:49:04 -0000

I think her apology is OK, in the context of giving it after the funeral of her friend whom she does not want to speak ill of.

Re: Anger over 'add-on' black character in new Ghostbusters film

Sarah T. — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 16:03:37 -0000

I'm an engineer, and I know an engineer EXACTLY like Leslie Jones, so I vaguely imagined that she would be the engineer and Melissa McCartney would be the street-smart New Yorker. :(

Re: What Is the Sanders Campaign Even Doing?

Sarah T. — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 11:13:38 -0000

It is very possible to have a socialist democracy of the kind that Sanders advocates for where abortion is still highly restricted. Many Western Countries that Americans admire for their economic and social equality still have paternalistic abortion laws, such as waiting periods and restrictions on who can get an abortion when.

It's part and parcel of this fallacy that if we cure income inequality across classes, we'll cure every other problem plaguing this country. It's patently not factual and actually quite insulting because it implies that the only reason I care about reproductive justice, or racism, or whatever is because of "identity politics" and not because they're really, tangible issues that negatively impact people's lives.

Re: Wowwwwwwwwwwww

Sarah T. — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 10:58:39 -0000

Love it! Watching them feed off each other's creative and physical energy is a bit tear-inducing.

Re: Supermoon!

Sarah T. — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 10:02:50 -0000

Gorgeous pic! I'm so bummed - in my neck of the woods the clouds moved in early and we had 100% cloud coverage plus some rain by the beginning of the full eclipse. I did catch a bit of the partial eclipse

Re: Just Tell Me I'm Fat and Relieve Us Both of This Obnoxious Charade

Sarah T. — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 17:16:43 -0000

OH MY LORD this happened to me once, and I was so amused and confused that I told everyone the story without really understanding what was going on.

So I was at a meeting with a client and another vendor - we were interfacing between vendors on something or another. I had never met this particular vendor rep before so prior to the meeting we had some chit-chat - where are you from and the like. I was living in Texas at time and said that I was born and raised in California. The vendor replied, "I would have pegged you for a Texas girl!" I figured he meant because I had picked up some accent, or some of the Texas easy charm, or the like. He went on to say, "You know, I went to Los Angeles a few months ago. Those California girls sure are skinny."

I love telling this anecdote, but as I said I was also confused by it, because it didn't seem like he was trying to insult me or anything like that. But I think you're right, Melissa. I think he just wanted me to get my size out in the open, like it needed to be commented on.

Re: “The X-Files” Conspiracy Theory That Will BLOW YOUR MIND

Sarah T. — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 17:55:18 -0000

In my mind, they only hooked up while on the road, thus avoid all the "office romance" messiness.

Re: In the News

Sarah T. — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 13:10:42 -0000

Oooh, Pinburgh was part of the first ever ReplayFX Gaming Festival, which also had a bunch of retro console games and tabletop games. I didn't make it over there this year, but hopefully I have time to go next year! Skimming their facebook page makes me regret missing it - a pinball playing robot! Trivia night! Magic shows! Cosplay!

Re: What Are We Doing About Our Facial Hair?

Sarah T. — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 16:24:20 -0000

I'm supposed to be plucking/shaving/waxing/nairing my peach fuzz?? FFS, no. No no no. Like, I do not judge women who get rid of their facial hair no matter the color, texture or density, but I like downy hair! I don't shave my legs because my leg hair is soft and feels good to me.

I dunno, I always thought my mind would change as I got older and started to develop a moustache similar to my mom's, but damn, I think she looks fine in her 'stache when she doesn't pluck it right away! If I look that good on me I might keep it.

Re: He's So Sorry (Not Sorry at All)

Sarah T. — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 15:58:31 -0000

To me, this is like, especially gross coming from a biologist, one of the only STEM fields that successfully attracts and retains female scientists. My husband is a biologist and has worked in mixed-gender or predominantly-female labs for his entire career. But since he's a professional and a decent human being, he's managed to go 10 years without being disrupted by a lab relationship or by another lab member crying, or by any other supposedly gendered behavior.

Re: Primarily Speaking

Sarah T. — Mon, 11 May 2015 14:06:38 -0000

The NY Times story on the Chris Christi expense account is a little more factual. Basically, as governor he gets $95k per year "to be used for entertaining and hosting official receptions." Although Christie has never spent all that money in a year, he does spend quite a bit of it (again, is he different from past governors? not mentioned). There were concerns that some of that money in 2010 and 2011 was used for political entertaining, so the state republican party reimbursed the money. Why is this now a story? Because it's that time of year.

Edited to add: I mean, if I were a citizen of the state of New Jersey I might question whether $95k was necessary for entertaining and receptions; if perhaps the governor should submit receipts, or if there were some other funding mechanism that would allow oversight if there were questions as to how the money was used (such as having an official entertainment office or something), but on the face of it this story does not seem scandalous.

Re: Question of the Day

Sarah T. — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 21:09:13 -0000

@SphinxEmmaShade re: my friend - haha, I honestly never thought of it that way, but on reflection, I don't think he intended it as either a come-on or an indictment. I don't think he even realized how hypocritical it was to espouse the Ladder Theory to a woman who he was 100% not sexually attracted to at all (after all, I think that theory is equally wrong about men as it is about women). Thankfully my friend wasn't stubborn and close-minded, merely ignorant and privileged, and he's improved greatly over the past 10 years.

Re: Question of the Day

Sarah T. — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 20:09:54 -0000

I remember away back in the mid-aughts, a good friend of mine sent me a link to the "Ladder Theory" of (heterosexual) relationships. He seemed genuinely shocked when I found its regressive and insulting stereotypes to be not at all reflective of my life as a woman.

Re: Question of the Day

Sarah T. — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 10:53:22 -0000

"Pyramid Song" - Radiohead. "There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt." Really, the whole Amnesiac album.

I've always thought I would want "Who Wants to Live Forever?" by Queen, but it's almost too cruel, even if I think it's the most beautiful and saddest song in the world.

Love so many of the suggestions in this thread!

Re: THE BEST

Sarah T. — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 14:07:38 -0000

This seems like such a little thing, but I love how respectful he is! He puts his arm around her chair, but doesn't touch her shoulder until she leans in. Then, at the end, he doesn't look like he's going to kiss her cheek *until* she turns towards him and makes a kiss-face.

There are a lot of male performers who would not respect her body language. It made me tear up a bit.

Re: Question of the Day

Sarah T. — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 21:54:09 -0000

Kathryn Calder - The funny thing is that I've heard her stuff all the time as a member of the Canadian pop supergroup The New Pornographers, but her solo stuff is soooo good! And I only started listening to it this year.

Re: And Again

Sarah T. — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:21:08 -0000

Cops should not carry guns. They are putting black citizen's lives at risk. Petty crimes don't warrant the death penalty.

Re: Tasers. One thing I was thinking about last weekend, about the death of Walter Scott. The cop who killed him, and the police department this cop worked for, initially claimed that the shooting was done in self-defense as Scott had grabbed his taser. But I thought that, according to the police, tasers are NOT deadly weapons. According to the police, at best they incapacitate the victim so temporarily that it is justified force to taser someone repeatedly. It's interesting that this narrative changes when the cops see it as a justification for further force.

Re: Quote of the Day

Sarah T. — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:46:27 -0000

This disheartening thing for me is that this keeps happening, over and over. And nothing concrete ever seems to be done about it.

"The FBI also created a database to contain detailed case descriptions to help police capture serial rapists who operate across state lines. But it is seldom used. Of 79,770 rapes reported to police in 2013, only 240 cases were entered into the database — 0.3 percent."

Of course.

Re: All you butt lovers are creating a disaster for NYC sewage workers

Sarah T. — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 18:09:44 -0000

I totally understand the desire to get squeaky clean back there, BUT BELIEVE ME wet wipes are not the way to go. Wet wipes cause rashes in, like, a lot of people. And in my experience, it gets worse the more you use them. I'm not usually an anti-chemicals kind of person but I guess my ass is just a delicate flower.