I was curious what the arguments against mass chicken pox vaccination are, and it seems the thinking is changing, at least in the UK.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240229-why-dont-some-countries-vaccinate-against-chickenpox

What I still don't understand though is if the argument against mass vaccinating children is that sick children may effectively act as a booster for adults, why not just recommend an actual booster for adults?

There's a link at the bottom labeled, "Our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Program", and it was exactly what I expected.

Looks like it may be in Japan? The link in the article is not in English:

The team is recruiting for this Phase IIa trial now.

Pretty sure Venmo is owned by PayPal.

What about a mixture of butter and oil? There seems to be mixed information as to whether this actually yields a higher smoke point, but even if it doesn't, it will effectively dilute the burnt flavors.

A brand new account doesn't necessarily mean the user hasn't been lurking for a while. I lurked on Reddit without an account for years before creating an account there, and during the Reddit drama last year, I lurked here and a few other places, but didn't create an account anywhere until I actually wanted to participate.

Any idea how things might be handled when things get crossposted? Will replies on the crossposted threads also become comments on their sites? Or only replies to the original post?

I was roofied on a Sunday morning once. I went out on my own for a Sunday Funday, and a random couple at the bar invited me to go to a baseball game with them. We stopped at their place for another drink on the way, and the next thing I (very vaguely) remember is wobbling down the stairs near the stadium and telling a security guard I was trying to get to the baseball game. He told me the game was over, so I checked my watch, and decided he was right. From there, I have a very vague memory of walking down the road to my regular watering hole, and eventually got myself home.

I was wearing a baseball jersey instead of whatever shirt I had started the day in, plus my location history said I spent a few hours at the stadium, so I'm pretty sure we actually went to the game.

It was years ago, so my memory might not be perfect, but I had something that kinda did that. I think it was an Xposed module called GravityBox, and there was an option to limit repeat notifications. I had set a cool down period of probably 1 minute, meaning if I received multiple messages within 60 seconds, it would only notify once, but if I received another message 60+ seconds after the first, it would ding again. I'm pretty sure that the cool down period was customizable per app too. Damn, I miss that.

That I really have absolutely zero interest in smelling their buttholes. Also, I sometimes eat plants.

Yeah, I guess I just might be a crazy cat person.

Their menus will be required to list comprehensive prices for each item, with all mandatory charges baked into one figure. Only fees that are entirely optional — like leaving a tip for staff — can be left out of the posted price.

In its new guidelines, the state says it won't focus initial enforcement efforts on "fees that are paid directly and entirely by a restaurant to its workers, such as an automatic gratuity. However, businesses may be liable in private actions."

If I'm reading all that correctly, they're saying that automatic gratuities that are paid in full to staff are supposed to be included in the listed menu price, but they won't actually be enforcing that initially? That's odd and bound to cause some confusion for people when some restaurants choose to take advantage of this loophole.

Overall, this is quite exciting, but I'm still disappointed that sales tax seems to be exempt from this new law.

Glad to hear things have settled down a bit! Feel free to ping me or PM me if you need to bounce any plans off a real person, particularly when it comes to modifying things to work with your situation and/or gauge when to move on to the next steps. I'll be keeping an eye out for your updates either way.

I understand that air conditioning removes some moisture from the air, but just how much of an effect does it actually have on oral moisture? I was hoping to find some sort of studies with actual measurements of some sort.

Be mindful that ... air conditioning nullifies the effects for cavities.

Got any sources for that? My admittedly very brief search just turned up a bunch of stuff about ventilation and COVID/aerosols.

And I thought I was crazy when I paid $10 for a 6oz tube! Hahah. I do need a new dentist though, so I might just try one of the dentists near me that carries their stuff so I can grab a tube.

Yeah, Crest used to sell an orange flavored toothpaste that wasn't a kid's product, and when it got discontinued, I paid about $30 for 3 tubes, so I was super excited to find another orange toothpaste. The only challenge is that very few stores carry the orange one, so I think I ended up buying it directly from the manufacturer website.

OMG, both "extreme" and "blast" in combination with the word "mint" make me feel very strongly that I'll hate it! Haha. That whole "icy fresh" breath thing is so uncomfortable to me. When I'm done brushing my teeth, I just want my mouth to feel neutral.

I foster and have 2 resident cats, so I do introductions a few times per year. I highly recommend Jackson Galaxy's guide. I've linked part 1, but there's 5 parts, the rest are linked within. It's worth reading the entire thing, because he does a great job of explaining why he recommends each step, which is helpful if you need to modify things a bit.

You need to figure out a room in your house that can be The Boy's basecamp. This is where The Boy is going to spend most of his time until Anya can tolerate him, and hopefully isn't a "high value" space for Anya. Without knowing either cat, I'd say you should plan for a minimum of 2 weeks of very carefully managing the process of introducing them to each other, and probably at least a month before things really settle in.

Also, make sure The Boy gets neutered ASAP, if he isn't already!

I haven't tried it, but will keep it in mind. I'm currently using the Hello brand toothpastes. They seem to be a little less sweet than most other kids toothpastes, which is a big plus for me. I like their bubblegum and orange flavors best, and the blue raspberry isn't bad either. They have some other flavors without fluoride, so you have to pay attention though.

Huh. I see quite a few cinnamon options online, but I wouldn't be surprised that it's harder to find in physical stores. They really seem to be cutting back on options everywhere lately. I found a brand that I like, so I just order a few tubes at a time from their website.