Sorry, all, I did not mean to say "square miles" when I said 200 square miles; rather I meant the entire radius of the circle which brings it a lot closer to over 125, 000+ miles.
A close friend of my youngest son figured out the 9 TRILLION feet of rain water thus far, that if laid out "flat', would cover the entire US at a depth of 1.7" of water.

These critters are affected by this terrible flooding from Hurricane Harvey also. I've heard on the news that Alligators, snakes and other bayou critters have been flooded out of their normal haunts and are swimming around in the city STREETS. Yet another danger to those attempting to help and those fleeing from the floodwaters. I did hear that an alligator preserve was nearly flooded out and workers there were very much concerned that the flood waters would breach the wire fences that keep the gators penned in. Just one more reason not to drive or walk in flooded areas.

...is nowhere near as mad as this one.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-41078876

With the current administration’s aggressive anti-trans activities is it time for BC to reconsider its ban on political discussion?

https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/20170825_tra...

Today, at the very last minute I noticed how dark it was outside, so grabbing my ISO Eclipse glasses went outside, but had to return back inside to grab my tablet. Back outside again, I noticed a girl in a cute dress, with very nice hair that was slightly longer than a pixie a few of us were talking about it when I stepped over to the girl I had noticed and asked her if she had Eclipse glasses. She turned to me, responding with a baritone voice that she did and said, "now go harass someone else woman".

...then media manipulation in the US is worse than I thought.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/17/sinclair-news-...

Article from the Guardian with photo by Annie Liebovitz.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/aug/11/chelsea-mann...

An excellent read about following your dreams and working hard to be you. "A five-time amateur boxing champion whose biggest tournament ended in surrender, Manuel is just months away from his pro debut. - “I still have split seconds of not recognizing myself. But for the most part, I feel more comfortable than I ever have in my body,” says Manuel, who underwent gender-reassignment surgery, becoming the first boxer in U.S. history to fight first as a woman and later as a man.

"Dear Diary:

I was sitting next to a middle-aged man wearing a skirt in the waiting area at the doctor’s office.

June Foray, the voice of many cartoon characters including The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, has passed away at the age of 99, just two months short of her 100th Birthday.

She brought a lot of laughs and fun to a lot of people, adults and kids alike and will truly be missed.

God Bless and keep you, June Foray. You will be missed and thank you for all you gave us.

Catherine Linda Michel

Anyone living in the UK who wishes to take part in the UK government survey on LGBT issues and attitudes can use the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/national-lgbt-su...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/1...

Pretty and Smart!!

:)

Chester Bennington, lead singer of the group Lincon park, has died.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/20/entertainment/chester-benningt...

Excuse me while I cry ...

For any Whovians here, the announcement has been made. The next Doctor will be a woman:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/16/doctor-...

It's always a question of suspending disbelief when a story's young heroine leaps into heels for the first time and performs flawlessly.

However I bet they've never tried to walk up a boulder strewn mountain. Even an idiot Brit wouldn't try that... right?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/must_see/40519195/why-a-man-tried-to-climb-ben-nevis-in-five-inch-heels

:)

Persephone

The cycling afficionados amongst you might well already know but history was made today in Düsseldorf.

In a totally unexpected result nearly man Geraint (G) Thomas won the opening TT stage of the TdeF by a hefty 5 seconds! The first Welsh rider to wear the Yellow Jersey he had to beat several TT world champions and indeed the recently crowned UK champion to get his Lion!

Whether by chance or design Team Sky placed 4 riders in the first ten ahead of all the other GC contenders some of whom lost more time today than Froomies winning margin last year!

My first blog entry on Top Hat.

I have posted the first chapter of Volume 3 of Footprints in the Sea on here and the full Volume will be on Amazon Kindle later in the week. I won't be posting the entire work here but I will post further sample chapters in sequence, probably as far as chapter 6.
I have continued the chapter numbers from where volume 2 ended which means chapter 1 of Vol 3 appears as Chapter 46.

Two stories from the Guardian about boys or men wearing skirts to school or work when their dress code prohibited shorts.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jun/22/teenage-bo...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/22/french-bus-dri...

To everyone who have offered their condolences and support over the last day.

A whole day, I'm sure it will get better but not quickly.

Mum was heading towards 80 in October, she has had health issues for 20 years however this was totally unexpected. A heart attack due to clots on her lungs - they fought for 4 hours but in the end there was nothing more to do.

She died without ever regaining consciousness @ 1.30 after a final heart failure.

BBC is carrying Chelsea Manning's first interview, and in my opinion she is one of the most credible sounding trans folk I have ever seen. Some of us have issue with her because of her actions in the Military, and I won't argue with you because I was not there. She seems intellectually astute, and absolutely female.

I wish her the best.

Ahabidah

Seems at about 5 PM CDT there was a two part strike in the heart of London - the Tower Bridge and a nearby pub district. People in the pubs were attacked by knife-wielding people. On the Tower Bridge a van veered off the road and struck some pedestrians then several people jumped out if the van and attacked people with knives. Further details will surely follow, but know that we Americans stand with our English cousins in this time of terrible tragedy.

This is a quite moving piece on the BBC about someone who is transitioning MtoF. The come from a farming family in Wales and the piece is told by the family of Llyr.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-40111723/watching-my-s...

I found it quite moving how accepting they were even though the father is obviously having a hard time calling his son 'she'. I expect that will come over time.

I have been fighting depression for weeks now - just the usual things, still not settled on a new job (the problem with being senior management is that finding an appropriate position takes time - especially as this is the first time I have interviewed since transitioning), and of course there is the never ending issues with family. I'm not saying that my spouse and children are not supportive - they have in fact been very supportive this past year, but life for them has been impacted by my transition. And of course, what hurts them hurts me - deeply.

If any Australian member of this website knows about Prisoner and it's remake Wentworth then the news and magazine Women's Day has revealed that in an interview, Danielle Alexis who plays one the inmates, was born male and spends her time between Melbourne acting and Northern Western Australia managing a gym