https://notalwaysright.com/potatoes-have-eyes-and-apparently-ears/329082/ The above story reminded me of a customer we once had. (Note: I am not medically or psychologically trained, so this is no diagnosis, just observation.) A few years ago I worked in a video rental store, and there was a customer who apparently had a multiple/split personality. He would come in after he […]
Halloween is right around the corner, and that means one thing: it's time for cats to get their claws into costume season. From tiny pumpkins to pint-sized vampires, our feline friends are proving that spooky can also be absolutely adorable. Sure, most cats might prefer fur over fabric, but some are surprisingly purrfessional models, strutting around like they're auditioning for Purranormal Cativity.
A cat in costume is a perfect blend of sass and spook, equal parts adorable and dramatic. Whether they're glaring from under a witch hat or reluctantly flaunting their taco outfit, the attitude is unmatched. Getting them to stay still for a photo can feel like herding ghosts, but one snapshot of a bat-wing stretch or a pumpkin prance makes the effort worth every treat.
And of course, no Halloween is complete without the classic black cat. The ultimate icon of the season. Whether they're rocking a costume or just their natural sleek fur, these kitties remind everyone that Halloween magic is best enjoyed with a little purr and a lot of treats.
It's no secret that once a person adopts a cat, they become more and more cat-like as time passes. Suddenly, after a while of having a floofy feline friend inside your house, you discover you want to nap with them - the weirder the napping position, the cattier. And then, unexplainably, you want to have more snacks than actual food - all regular food starts tasting like simple brown pebbles to you. Finally, you feel a burning desire to run around the house and scream your lungs out at random furniture while doing parkour, at 4 AM - the zoomies have now taken over you. And that's just the beginning of a cat pawrent becoming more cat-like.
But there's one thing, and one thing only, that cats don't do - but cat people do all the time. Even if they're already a Crazy Cat Lady with 30 cats, and honestly acting like the entire feral colony, this is a thing reserved for hoomans only. And that is, of course, looking through the endless amount of cat memes the internet has to offer. The sheer amount of online feline funnies all around is a direct result of cat people putting in the work - and that's something cats can't do, because they don't have thumbs and can't read.
There is never any way of knowing where the cat distribution system might catch you. Some of us spend years waiting, hoping and praying that we will walk into a shelter and be chosen by our future cat, that we will be worthy of it, while some of us… just have it happen on a random weekday afternoon. We have seen people adopt cats while on a walk. We have seen kittens walk onto people's porches, just like that, on a random day, and get adopted. We have seen people get adopted while on a midnight picnic.
It just happens sometimes, and once it happens, you simply cannot argue with it. We know that this man only went to Starbucks to get a coffee, and it is not his fault that his future kitten was lying there, in the drive-through, meowing for help, but it happened, and there he was, his cat waiting for him, and he did the only thing that he could have and should have - he took the cat, nursed it back to health, and adopted it. And all is right with the world.
(My step-dad seems to think he has a great sense of humour, and while normally his jokes fall flat, he sometimes has some great ones that others don’t seem to understand. Like this incident while he was at work. Football Season is coming up so the store sets out a couple of chairs and other […]
I’m out in the garden area of the store when I find myself facing a Situation. I do my best to handle it on my own, but can’t quite be sure it’s been taken care of properly. Unfortunately, none of my coworkers are around, so I approach a customer. Me: “Excuse me, ma’am?” Customer: “Yes?” […]
On a road trip, travelers come back with all sorts of souvenirs. A long with the thousands of miles on your car and a bad case of windswept hair, you might return with a few fridge magnets and t-shirts, but if you're anything like this cat lover who went viral, you're going home with a trio of countryside kittens!
At the start of a long journey on the road, a woman was surprised by a family of kitties following her along a dirt road. With no home in sight, no food to behold, and only their kitty mama to keep them warm at night, she knew these kittens had a slim chance—but not on her watch! These kittens were too sweet to be left behind, and instead of enjoying the rest of her road trip, this woman decided to save the lives of 4 stray cats, scooping them up in her travel bag like an old pair of socks. They were happy to go with her. Off to a new adventure, little floofs! The world awaits.
Explaining the Rightis a weekly series that looks at what the right wing is currently obsessing over, how it influences politics—and why you need to know.
In response to Democrats highlighting GOP opposition to Affordable Care Act subsidies on which millions of Americans rely, Republicans have once again been forced to revisit their approach to health care.
The current crisis
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin argued that losing critical health care subsidies is not a serious issue, even as families have been experiencing sticker shock as their premiums increase.
“I don't think this is going to be any kind of gut-wrenching problem if these enhanced subsidies just go away. We'll probably have the weather the lies told by the Democrats. Democrats say all sorts of things that are untrue,”he told CNBC.
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Meanwhile, failed presidential candidate and current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisquestioned whether people even need comprehensive coverage.
“Most people, particularly under 50, what they really need is a catastrophic plan that’s affordable, where then they can pay whatever they’re doing out of a health savings account,” he argued.
DeSantis is a Navy veteran and has access to comprehensive coverage for himself and his family, by the way.
In Congress, the subsidies have become a pivotal issue in the ongoing government shutdown. Republicanshave refused to pass legislation that would fund the vital program, forcing a shutdown that has rippled through the economy.
The right always hated health care
Opposition to health care legislation runs deep within the Republican Party, which has opposed efforts to help families for decades.
Back in the early 1960s, when he was transitioning from actor to politician, Ronald Reagan made a recording that was sent out across the country warning about the dangers of “socialized medicine.”
Before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed popular programs like Medicaid and Medicare into law as part of his “Great Society” policies, Reagan and company said that health care would be used to open the door to communism.
Of course, that never happened.
A little more than 30 years later, the Clinton administration made a push for health care reform. The rightrailed against the plan, which was shepherded by first lady Hillary Clinton, ultimately killing reform for more than a decade.
Still fighting in the 21st century
It took the crisis of the Great Recession and the overwhelming victory of President Barack Obama to make health care reform a possibility in 2009. The right mounted what was arguably its biggest smear campaign to frame the plan—which was modeled after Republican ideas executed in Massachusetts—as a socialist takeover of the health care system.
People supporting the Affordable Care Act hold signs that read, “We [love] Obamacare,” and, “Protect the law.”
The right-wing talking point that the legislation would create “death panels” of bureaucrats cutting off health carewas dubbed “lie of the year” by PolitiFact that year. Ultimately, the campaign was unsuccessful, and Obama signed the Affordable Care Act—which the right mocked as “Obamacare,” in 2010.
After that, the right failed to challenge the legislation all the way to the Supreme Court, spending many of the following years voting over and over again in Congress to repeal the bill.
In the heat of the fight over the ACA, conservative voters showed where they stood. In a 2011 Tea Party debate with presidential candidates,audience members cheered on the notion that, instead of providing government-funded health care to a sick patient, it would be preferable to just “let him die.”
But when the right wasn’t fighting against insurance reform and comprehensive coverage, they were attacking health care in other venues.
For example, the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona slammed Democrats for supporting abortion care when the “life of the mother” is at risk, using air quotes to sarcastically repeat the phrase during a debate against Obama in 2008.
More recently, the Trump administration haspursued numerous cuts and changes to health care for veterans. And ahead of the passage of health care cuts in the GOP’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowaargued in May that it didn’t matter if people lose their health care because “we all are going to die.”
Conservatives have no health care plans
Right-wing figures like Trump have spent nearly a decade promising a policy solution to health care issues. Trump first promised a health care plan that would provide “insurance for everybody” back in January 2017. It still hasn’t happened.
What the right refuses to acknowledge is that the public—including many Republicans—backs government-supported health care. Programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and now Obamacare have significant support.
It turns out that people would prefer to see doctors and have access to medicationinstead of relying on the “free” market and the profit-driven whims of the insurance industry.
Conservatives have devoted themselves to destroying and undermining government assistance on health care while failing to provide any real alternative.
The right supports a world where health care is so nonexistent that the alternative is sickness, suffering, and death—and the quicker the better.
Cashier: "Ma'am, it's fifteen items or less. This is the express lane."
Customer: *Scoffs angrily.* "Then you need to have a sign!"
The cashier looks at the massive sign we all had to walk past.
Sometimes the Cat Distribution System works faster than Amazon Prime. One quiet evening walk to the mailbox turned into an unexpected adoption story when a tiny meow echoed through the night. A small, scruffy cat appeared out of nowhere, locking eyes with two unsuspecting hoomans and instantly deciding they were her people. A few gentle pspspsps later, she was trotting after them as if she had always belonged.
The original plan was simple: leave out food, water, and a soft bed on the porch while searching for someone to take her in. Hubby was firm that they did not need another cat, but Daisy Bloom had already written her own story. By morning, she had waltzed straight into their hearts, purring like a tiny engine and curling up as if she had lived there forever.
What began as a short errand ended in fate. The porch setup became a guest room, the guest room became a home, and the home became hers. That is how the Cat Distribution System delivers love in its purest, furriest form.
It is often remarked that the most wholesome and heartwarming way to have a cat child enter your life is by having them choose you. For some people, this means going to their local shelter and seeing which feline fur baby favors them. For others, it means hanging around garbage bins where cats are often dropped off. But for the kind couple of rescuers in this story, it meant sitting at home, likely watching television. As the catto that chose them burst into their home one unsuspecting evening and unceremoniously vomited all over the floor.
And while this might seem like a rather wrong way to begin a lifelong relationship, this was actually little more than a cry for help. Which thankfully the hoomans whose home it was understood and jumped into action. This is the story of what you have to do when the Cat Distribution System calls out for you.
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notalwaysright_feed) wrote2025-10-26 10:00 am
