It's a formal letter of support for a grant continuation, so he is committing in the sense of agreeing to--stating that he absolutely will continue in this role if the grant is renewed (as far as I can tell from past letters, "I am pleased" is polite-speak for "This will help my patients and also generate a few more publications for my CV so I'm for it").

Yikes, lisah. What the hell happened?

Just talked to doctor friend. She said the shooter was in a patient's room, his mother was the patient. His mother had spinal surgery and the doctor was in there explaining to the family about some complications from the surgery. The guy just whips out a gun and shoots the surgeon in the stomach point blank. Doctor taken to ED right away and into surgery, bullet didn't hit his spine. He's in ICU but it's looking pretty good considering.

They have the shooter secured in the room but there still may be a hospital employee in there with him? Not sure if he still has gun.

You don't have to go through any security to go into the hospital but I bet that's going to change.

Vibing for a peaceful resolution at Hopkins.

Sparky, that is totally freaky.

‘Batman’ Prepares To Join The Air Force

Grappling hooks attached to siphon electricity from low-hanging power lines. Computers mounted onto a commando’s chest plate. Communications gadgets small enough to fit into gear pouches worn around the waist. The Air Force is actually preparing its special operators to act (and outfit themselves) more like the Batman.

Since 2004, the Air Force has worked to reduce the physical load of gear carried by its Special Operations Forces — the superheroes who seize hostile airfields and rescue captured troops behind enemy lines. Those airmen are often weighed down on these missions, lugging as much as 160 pounds worth of stuff. Since much of the bulk comes from their communications gear, the Air Force opted to cut out heavy batteries to power it, fueling the gear through methanol fuel cells that get lighter as the charge dies. That allows elite airmen to essentially wear their gear like a scaffold, a concept the Air Force calls a “Human Chassis.”

Except a human chassis isn’t a cool enough name.* So the program, pursued at Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, bears a moniker that strikes fear into the heart of villains everywhere. It’s the Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge (just go with it). Yes: the BATMAN.

Are You a Fan of Ceiling Fans? You’re About to Be

Lots of cool, bizarre and/or vintage ceiling fans. Including one that looks to be inspired by Batman.

Guest artist at Dino comics discusses continuity, fanfic and Batman (not in that order): [link]

Guest artist at Dino comics discusses continuity, fanfic and Batman (not in that order): [link]

That is awesome.

Lisah, that is *totally* breaking the Sunday truce. "Shit ain't seemly, man."

How horrible and scary, lisah. Who brings a gun into a hospital? Oh yeah, wait...

msbelle's missed anxiety meds reminds me of the question I was going to put to Natter. This occurred to me when I was driving across the bridge yesterday; our car needs a transmission fix. We're planning ahead to pay for it but don't have the money now and the car is mostly fine, but it will get progressively worse.

And I remembered all the other times we tried to squeeze by and avoid maintenance until it was more convenient.

So my question is: How are you currently pushing your luck?

Could be anything, big or small. Are you trying to taper off your ADs without medical guidance? Has that favorite shirt gotten a little too worn to wear? Can you really squeek through the rest of the season without cleaning those gutters? Is that manicure really good enough for the big meeting, or does it need touchup? Is that edit really final or could it use another go over?