Stop the Spread

Texas makes me crazy. Just out here trying to make life harder for people every single day. Gotta love scrappy upstarts fighting back… LINK IN BIO

33 thoughts on “Stop the Spread

  1. My Civil Service brain has gone into overdrive.
    How in the many of all that is rational will these fundamentalists be able to determine whether a woman is driving along these roads with intention to seek a state where the abortion laws are more flexible.
    What about the case in which she is visiting a relative in that state simply to say ‘hi’. How can they prove intent?
    GEEZZZ-LOUIEEEEZ!!!!!
    And that’s the first one I came up with while having sitting down having our traditional UK tea-time ‘cuppa’, not even having to draw breath to think.
    It is time for everyone on the liberal / democrat / moderate conservative wings to settle their differences or put them aside until not only is the presidency safely and inarguably back in the hands of Biden but every fundamentalist is cast out of office.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I think that LEOs are allowed by those laws to ask women and girls if they’re pregnant, after asking what brings them to a given place that also leads out of state. No doubt those laws will be amended to allow roadside pregnancy tests, much as there are breathalyzers now.

      It is TX, after all. They’re in a rivalry with FL for fascism, it seems.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. And then the officer has to prove intent….
        How will that work?
        I envisage lawyers patrolling the roads the the look-out for a an official car parked by the car with a woman inside, screeching to a halt and leaping out to engage in protecting the woman’s rights for a ‘small fee’
        It’s like the American contact with Islamic fundamentalists in the early years of the 21st century turned into a transferable disease which was brough back into the USA

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Well, it’s TX. What else would a pregnant woman be doing on a road that could take her out of the state? The intent is inferred by law enforcement all the way up, same as when someone’s got drugs in their vehicle. Obviously they’re going to deal it.
          I am sarcastic, of course, but it is like that in many places. It’s also why people, especially those of color, tend to be killed for existing in certain areas.
          That would be awesome to have enough lawyers who cared that they’d patrol! 🙂

          Liked by 2 people

          1. The deconstruction of true freedom in some states is fearsome in its intent and hypocrisy since the same folk babble on about Deep States and Central Government conspiracies.

            Either lawyers or Women’s Rights groups. The situation could get quite chaotic. How about a column of women drivers on a said road. How do the authorities cope with that?

            These fundamentalists on The Right are just not ready for the potential trouble they are likely to cause for themselves.

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Indeed fearsome, and many of us called it out early on, but many others thought, “oh, just FL.” And then it kept going, and TX, and other states are following suit. TX seems to be racing with FL, even. An organized line of women in many places would make the point without confrontation. In TX, I would worry that that line would be target practice.
              I keep thinking that a general strike, by all who oppose this, would be a good thing, and it would hit many who support the fascists presuming they aren’t that fascist. I just don’t know how to get a thing like that done; it would involve some mighty networking to keep strikers organized, fed, and sheltered, too. I dream, I guess!

              We can hope the right isn’t ready, though they are armed, and many of us on the other side don’t go for violence. Maybe there is enough law left somewhere here to get the right back into the mores the majority of us carry. Some days, it looks good, and we work harder. Other days, might be rest days.
              It’s just hard to say. It even brings in the income inequality, in that our side is most subsisting, or flat broke. Their side isn’t much more well off, but more wealthy lean their side than ours.
              We’ll have to work it out.

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              1. Good for you Ali to be thinking this way. It is essential that the cooler heads prevail and use non-violent means of protest.
                We in the UK witnessed at close hand what happened in Northern Ireland when the folk of violence on both sides take control.
                The US extremists on the Right think they might have the monopoly on intimidation. That might not be so.
                And I want to be proven wrong in my gloomy thoughts as to what could happen if Trump got back into the Whitehouse,

                Liked by 2 people

                1. Well, let’s say, the gloomy thoughts are that tfg is going back to the White House. I believe we’re going to legally and soundly defeat him in that race.

                  If he should get there, those aren’t gloomy thoughts; he’s already told us his plans.

                  Liked by 2 people

                2. Also I hope I’m not taking up too much of your time with chatting here; I remember you’re writing, working on a project or two! ⭐🖖

                  Liked by 2 people

                  1. No Ali, not all all. It’s good to be able to exchange views. (Time difference to take in account 😀)
                    I usually have a handful of projects going on in my head. Either posts on WP, Blog Battle, or my ‘Book’ – the latter being prone to several re-starts. Since most of the processes are going on in my head while I’m doing other things- there’s no distraction in replying to anyone on WP. In fact swapping views tends to help me form ideas 😀

                    Liked by 2 people

                3. Hi Roger. I don’t know about all people on the left, but the LGBTQ+ people already showed what happens when you push us too far. Stonewall riots. We fought back, and are ready to do so again if need be. Plus the right is wrong to take our willingness to discuss and work through differences as a weakness not understanding that as many on our side served in the military as theirs did maybe a lot more, and we also own guns. We don’t wish to start violence and be the aggressors, but we will act to save our selves, our loved ones, and others when needed. These 6 year old school playground bullies need to understand they do not represent the majority of the country, even though they claim to. If republicans represented a majority of the country why do they have to severally gerrymander swing states and lies, cheat, and voter suppress every election? I was listening to an Al Franklen YouTube this morning where they talked about Wisconsin being so badly gerrymandered by republicans that have 3/4 of the seats despite representing only a 1/3 of the state. Luckily the people were able to override this by voting in state Supreme Court justices who overturned the maps. Now the playing field will be level again in that state, which it has been since the republican took over.
                  The funny thing if the republicans had not acted as ruthless rulers passing laws that were clearly super unpopular this wouldn’t have happened. Federal legislators might want to pay attention. The people are tired of ruler. Hugs. Scottie

                  Liked by 1 person

                  1. I can feel and applaud the anger and determination here Scottie. And am with you all the way.
                    What these folk on the Far Right seem to be ignorant about is their own Nation’s history of independence and determination.
                    As you know my views on governance tend to drift towards a strictness which is not that far from authoritarian.
                    Now firstly that’s not my head working. Experience and History shows that responsible Democracy with all its flaws is the best way.
                    However, even if I did get my emotional way on running a nation, the last place I would choose to try and rule would be the USA. Overall, in the long run, basically you can’t get Americans to do as they are told. Their political and cultural elders The Europeans are bad enough! You just can’t rule Americans as a dictatorship, they do have the concept in their mindset.
                    Thanks to the Right’s blunderings, they are already facing The Bible being possibly banned in public libraries; they are to confront a very angry Woman’s Rights lobby which in turn is impacting on how families view the over turning of abortion rights. And now they are trying to stem the LGBT movements. The first nation to truly pioneer this advance.
                    Also do they really think they can get away with the ramifications of gerrymandering? That was tried in Northern Ireland for some time, and look where that ended up.
                    They are completely blinded by their own half-baked ideas cooked in a Conspiracy Micro-Wave.
                    They don’t know The American. The American is not who they think The American is. They cannot control the American.
                    Some folk are worried that there will be some sort of dictatorship. There will be Republicans who might try that.
                    Well I have a biblical quote for them, to keep them up at night:
                    Hosea :8 verse 7:
                    “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:
                    it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up”
                    Darned right The People are tired of rules
                    Take care you guys.

                    Roger & Sheila

                    Liked by 1 person

              2. Hi Ali. I suggest you google “women’s sex strike” for a suggestion. Sadly it won’t work in the US as far too many MAGA women would make up for any lacking of MAGA males. I seriously wonder why the incel movement has not tried that tactic to get their idea of a female sex robot women? I guess because the incel boys lack any more imagination or knowledge about girls than that understood by the SDA high schooler boys that made a cult out of reading and worshiping the Gor book series. Google it if you want to get angry, but it is a newly awaked into puberty and frustrated teen boy’s *** made even worse by religion *** ideas of what women should be for them. I refused because unlike all of them I knew about sex, sexual abuse, and was the object of the very treatment the book glorified. I couldn’t tell them of course why I refused and lost some kids I really wanted to be my friends, but I couldn’t stomach the abuse of anyone including girls. I had only one boy reach out to me and try hinting he was gay and wanted to experiment but I knew that would get me kicked out which would put me back in my abusive old home which I couldn’t risk, even though he hinted that he and his roommate that was not part of our weekend sleep together club. Which was a shame as he was cute and nicely hung, which teenage Scottie was very attracted too. That boy was the one during our weekends when we all gathered in one room would sleep next to me and give me long body massages long after everyone else had gone to sleep. I wish I knew then what I know now, and had not been so terrified of getting sent back to the hell I came from. Maybe I could have helped a young gay kid trapped in a homophobic church to see he was not alone or damaged. Hugs. Scottie

                Liked by 1 person

                1. Well, we pulled a Lysistrata a couple of times during the runup to the US invasion of Iraq, but most people are together with people they love, and those people tend to feel the same way about things, so why deprive each other? I get what you’re writing about, but:

                  What I mean is a general strike. We the people are who keep the world running. Women are 51% of the population, others the rest, but all of us need to strike. Then we have to work together, bartering, what-have-you, to get along until those who think they’re in power realize they need us more than we need them. But it’s a massive undertaking, requiring about everyone to participate for it to work. So many people live paycheck to paycheck and in fear because of that, so it’d need to be well-planned to make sure everyone is secure when they strike. As you can see, a big deal. But until everyone who doesn’t like the way democracy-not only women’s rights, but democracy-is endangered states their position vehemently, little will change; only enough to mollify people so they’ll go back to work and buy more crap.

                  That’s my idea for it, anyway. Others likely have better ideas, but it can’t be only certain segments of people, it needs to be numbers of all people united to stop the fascism.

                  Liked by 1 person

                  1. Hello Ali. Well Ali, I don’t understand the people living paycheck to pay check have to do with a sex strike … unless they are sex workers of course. But sex strikes have a 50% success rate and violent / men who feel entitled to a wife’s body wouldn’t respect a no answer any way. Here is an interesting article on it. Oh the book series I mentioned was named Gor, I put an e in it by reflex and did not catch it when I reread it. Hugs. Scottie

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            2. Hi Roger. Texas was the state that got same sex people from having sex. The narrowed the law to specifically prohibit oral or anal sex … only if done by two males. They did not even try to make females included as that would interfere with their sexual excitements. Because they specified that it had to be two males doing it exempting a male / female, which would have made it illegal for a woman to give a blow job or anal sex to her male partner, the SCOTUS struck the law down. The current court wants to have another crack at that as Justices Alito and Thomas both have signaled in their writings. I think you all know why. But Thomas seems clueless that his own marriage to a white woman is in jeopardy if the courts keep undoing civil rights laws. Hugs. Scottie

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              1. Scottie, it is difficult to know where to start when viewing this through the spectrum of the 21st Century. Actually through the whole history of sexual relations.
                In addition to making a lot of people very unhappy, if not frightened and vilified. Just what purpose is this going to serve? By regulating what takes place between two adults do they really think they are going to create some mythically, impossible ‘healthy’ ‘happy’ society.
                The mentality is comparable to ‘arm our teachers and that will stop killings in schools.’

                This highlights what I have been going on about for some time to those not intending to vote, and quite a few of those thinking about voting for trump. Trump will be gone at some stage, it is what that lurks behind him you should worry about non-voters. One day, ‘they’ will come for you.
                The sooner folk realise that the better.

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                1. Hi Roger. But that is exactly what they think. They think if they force everyone to live just as they prefer everyone to that it will be a glorious paradise blessed by their version of god. The fundamentalist think that if they make everyone live by their church doctrines, by what they believe, then god will be pleased with them so reward them and the country with all the best things in the world. They just have to get rid of the abominations that god hates, those LGBTQ+, stop the abortions that they think god calls murder, and force every kid to believe in Jesus and bow their head in prayer often during the day, strict discipline to make every child dress in good taste, force everyone to listen to only godly good music, force everyone to watch / read only godly good material, force everyone to attend church once a week at least, and act like it is 1950 in America.

                  Their goal is a total return to 1950. Why because then republicans out numbered democrats, republicans controlled the White House and had more power than today, whites far out numbered other races, Black people understood their place and stayed there, women were forced to obey their husband and he had the right to physically discipline her, and the LGBTQ+ were hidden from society terrified to be outed.

                  That was their ideal world and the big money religious groups have worked for decades to work back to that time and society. To roll back civil rights laws. They got so lucky with tRump who was a puppet for them. People don’t realize how badly tRump was used by the Opus Dei members like Bill Barr and Leonard Leo to pack both the judiciary in almost all courts with religious ideologue bigots, and hard line republicans stacked every federal office with hard right radical republicans who seriously want to end to the US democracy and install a right wing extreme Russian type government.

                  They want to use government to force the public to do as they demand while they use their positions to gain money for themselves. Again the object is to make the country like Russia, white majority, people of color are second class lessor people, Christianity is the country’s religion no question, only the upper ruling class has power and rights. The police would work for government as private enforcers of government whims, and all detractors fall out of tall buildings windows.

                  We are in a desperate place right now Roger. If the people don’t turn out and give the democrats a large win in all branches then these people are incredibly close to getting what they want. Remember the only reason that tRump was able to pack the court with corporate church approved judges is Mitch McConnell broke law and precedent and refused Obama the right of the president to fill a vacant SCOTUS seat. For almost a year McConnell blocked the black man from putting a rather conservative judge on the court for the purpose of shoving an unqualified extreme right wing ideologue judges on the court. He got luckier than he could imagine with tRump who only wanted from the job the pomp / circumstance, adoration, and the chance to enrich himself by the US treasury. So many nefarious people ran things like white supremacist Stephen Miller who went to war on brown and Muslim people especially at the southern border. Like I said we are in very dangerous territory. Plus I have never seen so many US people, the public so gullible to disinformation and conspiracies. Hugs. Scottie

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                  1. Butbutbut … sex *is* one of the best things in the world! Lack of it is why these rightwingers are so danged mean.

                    IMO. And no worries; I’m not arguing with the point, just felt like tossing it in. It’s stormy here, and humor is good.

                    Liked by 1 person

                    1. Hi Ali. I love your humor, and I love sex. I hope the storm leaves you soon and causes no harm. Ron is out in the sun running 4 inch support posts on the inner roof of the carport. He has already shored the ground supports up with 4×4 posts. The house may be torn away in the next bad hurricane but that carport will remain for the next couple centuries. He is driven to never have the damage we suffered again.

                      But more seriously Ali. I was only in a religious setting a couple of years. What is the absolute fear of sex and the enjoyment of sex that some religious sects have about sex. While medical professionals recommend young people masturbate to relieve tension and feel better as does many non-hyper religious countries like in Europe / Scandinavian countries, in the US they are banning books that might help kids be OK with understanding their feelings and needs better.

                      I don’t want to get graphic, I respect you. I also don’t know much about girls and their needs. Not really my thing if you get my drift. But I know most boys are driven to almost insanity unless they … take matters into their own hands. Yet the Christian religions especially the fundamentalist ones make the kids fear eternal damnation for doing so. Mormons make kids entering puberty until adult age sit alone with adult males of authority in the church, their bishops, and they have to answer very detailed sexual questions including about if they “touch” themselves, if so, how. Do they have dreams with sexual content? It is totally grooming behavior and I hate it. Sadly I have read in my support forum that a lot of Mormon boys get abused that way, by feeling they have to tell the truth and admit it and then the “Elder” abuses them.

                      I don’t understand the hate to the very enjoyable thing that would seem to be god given if you believe in a deity creating us. Why make us that way if not to enjoy it? To suffer … Really is that a good god. I will leave out the parts of the bible where god tried to make Adam into bestiality … can’t you find a helpmate amongst all I created? Anyway I really don’t expect an answer I am just frustrated with the self-hatred of some religious leaders on this subject, one the most famous of them have found to have violated themselves. But maybe in the biblical writing times when kids were married very, very young, it was to force them to get married and have kids, which is what happens in a lot of fundamentalists / Mormon religions. Boys and girls desperate to have relief and feel better get married very young and find out they really were not in love… they were in rut / lust. Then regret it or do another sin of divorce. Seems to me a needless tragedy of lifetime guilt. Hugs. Scottie

                      Liked by 1 person

                    2. Yeah, and that’s the thing. The church in which I was raised stressed only that going-all-the-way is reserved for marriage, and that’s just good behavior and respect for your spouse. The rest of the guidance on sexual behavior was left to parents/families, rather than micromanaging people’s puberty and urges. It was acknowledged as a fact that sexual urges are part of being human, and again, the teaching of behavior was left to parents, other than no doing the deed before marriage. Also, the church in which I was raised did not have “mortal sins,” or some sort of hierarchy of sin. Every sin is equal to every other sin. So, worry about our own sins, and mind our own business about other people’s sins; get busy doing your best to follow the 2 greatest commandments and repent/ask forgiveness from God (privately!)
                      But anyway, the church in which I was raised has changed; I left it in the late 80s when it started strongly leaning toward teaching that being a good (denomination) was more important than trying to be like Jesus. When my grandmother passed away in 1994, (she was still a member,) I saw some stuff around the church and the ed. building, and they kept going rightward on policies. But I am thankful for the spiritual education I received when I was young, and the love one another has stuck with me all this time. I am always so sorry when others have bad experiences with church; my belief got me through some very hard times.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    3. Hi Ali. Thank you for sharing. That was the common sense of religion in the former years. Once the Moral Majority took hold in the 1980s all the fundamentalist religious groups seemed to need to out do each other in anti sex rhetoric. I love that your church had common sense. I wish the newer ones did.

                      And Ali, I want to be very clear on this. I am glad you had your faith to help you in those times, and still do. I do not have any issue with faith that helps and does no harm. You and your belief fits that. You have a personal faith, a belief in your god that gives you guidance in your life.

                      Would it surprise you to learn me, an atheist who believes if science can not show it exists it doesn’t, who is anti- supernatural for the same reason, I also have a personal code of conduct that I follow? A code of ways to act, to treat others, to exist as a human in a world with other beings both human and not, I try to do no harm and the most good.

                      My way has cost me greatly in my life. Sometimes financially and when my adoptive parents begged me, first the male and then later the female as they were dying, to bring them here and take the abuse of their hell spawn for removing them from the control of their own children to give them a peaceful end. To do physical hands on care of the very parts of their body’s that were used to hurt me … I did what they asked because my personal code required it. Do not harm and do the most good I can as I understand it.

                      Some have told me my code of behavior is the same as the Christian god. Great, I have no problem with that. The correct thing to do, the right way to treat others, the way to live is not the property of one god or religion.

                      What I have against the sect of Christians that violate that principle is they use their god, their faith to harm others. They then take great joy in it. That seems to me the very opposite of what the Jesus in the bible taught.

                      Sorry Ali, this got long as I was stuck wondering down memories and dealing with them as I wrote. As I told you before never shy from your faith here, I respect all who respect others and work for a better world of equality, diversity, and inclusion of all. If we can bring the haters around, OK, but if not, then we will just have to leave them behind. Their loss. Hugs. Scottie

                      Liked by 1 person

                  2. This is a very grim picture Scottie.
                    The forces at work within Humanity as a whole do not deal kindly with those who feel they can dominate and impose their will.
                    In ages gone by opposition would be often low-key but persistent and would take many forms. It was always there.
                    In these days of swift communication, of common access to examples of extreme resistance a disgruntled portion of population is not something which can be supressed. Partly in a nation in the majority which has taken liberties for granted. One with an adult population into the two hundred and fifty millions over five time zones.

                    Once more, I’ll cite a maths of possibility.
                    Let us assume 60,000,000 people do not vote for Trump yet Trump wins. That will leave a level of anger, and in a small number quite strong. Let’s say 10%. That is 6,000,000. Now we have to assume there will be various triggers to their opposition, so there is not one central point state observation can be centred on. Let us then say that of those 6,000,000 10% are ready to demonstrate or protest in some disruptive way. That put 600,000 out there ‘doing something’. Assume 10% of that figure organise to take action to target Right Wing organisations and figures in some way that means 60,000 working aggressively.
                    It in turn raises sympathisers and opposition which fractures the USA further.

                    When turning to the word ‘aggressive’ and looking to that 60,000,000 let’s look into a grimmer scenario. 1% are experiencing violent feelings born out of frustration, fear and it has to be said hate. 600,000. Many of course will fume and vent on social media. But assume 10% do not. 60,000 very angry people willing to take the Violent option. It is unlikely such a turbulence will be united in one front, yet it would take only 20-30 folk to form an active dangerous cell. So how many violence-driven cells are we talking about. Do the Right think they have the monopoly?
                    The problem a Right wing administration would face is one of perception by the opposition. They would see themselves as the freedom fighters and would as with the more civil groups target organisations and individuals. Security services would be stretched even ones as resourced as if the USA. And of course they would have to contend with the Right-Wing versions. Then there would be the resulting civil discord between communities. With an escalation built in.
                    To add to this you have consider the disturbed individuals or pairs, even trios who will see Mass Killing as a warped solution, targeting areas and communities they hate.

                    The Right Wing is simply not ready for this. And if they think they can rely on the whole security apparatus from the cop on the beat to the high ranking officer somewhere in the Pentagon or senior staffer in any of the security agencies. Forget it, those are humans with all the same emotions as us. There will be divides.

                    Like I have said before and will say again. They are not ready. Not ready for the firestorm they started playing with matches in a forest in high summer.

                    Take care you guys.
                    Roger

                    Liked by 2 people

                    1. Hi Roger. Thank you for the assessment. I always appreciate the careful thought you put into your comments and replies.

                      You do ask one question I want to expand on. You asked, “Do the Right think they have the monopoly?” Yes they do. If you listen to them they talk about their country, my county, or if a group of them they call it our country. They talk like the country is their personal possession. To them they believe wrongly that their small subset of the right or their religion owns the country, that most of the public agrees with them, that it is theirs that others are trying to take.

                      They think only they have guns, that only they should make the laws, and that only they care about the country. That last one is a favorite of the republicans and the right. They are the patriots while democrats are not, instead the democrats / left are the enemy of the US. The republicans / right claim they love the US / the country, implying that only they do and the left or democrats don’t. The fundamentalist religious ones are a minority even in Christianity yet they think they should get to be the only office holders, that they should be the only ones saying what is taught in public schools (public ones that everyone’s kids go to not just their church schools), that they alone should decide what clothing is worn, what movies are allowed, what books can be in Libraries and schools.

                      So yes Roger they do think they have a monopoly. A monopoly of guns. A monopoly on love, a monopoly on rights, a monopoly on morals. Just to name a few of their misconceptions. Hugs. Scottie

                      Liked by 2 people

                    2. Yes, they do. Don’t they Scottie?
                      They made the same mistake as the followers of the Confederacy did in the 1850s that Northerners were all weak and not noble folk of the soil. Didn’t work out so well did it?
                      Then there were even more extreme examples such as the Nazis who thought the Americans were decadent and weak. They got that wrong in 1944-45.

                      Look to the Civil Rights Movement. Look to the Stonewall reaction. These were supposed to be lesser folk, and yet?
                      The ones who use brute force, never seem to expect to get a reaction that throws them off balance.

                      There is a another aspect. The basic foundation, the grass roots of actual Democracy can be fearfully tough once it gets going in defence of its true rights.

                      I’ve said it before. Even those who yearn for a ‘Race War’; they are just not ready for the consequences. As for those who are trying to relying on manipulations and lies to get back in; they are definitely not ready for the consequences.
                      It only needs 10% of those who do not want Trump and those who feed his action figure ego to kick back, and the Right will be in all sorts of trouble.
                      They run the fisk of finding a five time zone 300 million population ungovernable, as they would want it.

                      Take care you guys.

                      Liked by 2 people

  2. Risking prolonging this thread, I mainly want to say that while my religion reinforced me trying to mind my manners and my business and just try to help people or leave them alone, I got more of that when I was young, just being taught to behave myself. It’s all the same. I’m never surprised that some good people don’t, and even never did believe; that’s not my business. Religion isn’t a thing to make us good people, though there is guidance, definitely. And lack of religious guidance doesn’t make a bad person bad, or a good person good.

    I have talked more about this here this time, than ever before; I’m really one of those in the closet religion people. Whew! Now we need some humor! https://youtube.com/shorts/k_kvTL2TiyY?si=J9sVDfpiKHsOESFi

    (That one looks like our Chrissy, who crossed the bridge almost 5 yrs. ago. She hated baths, too. She did like swimming in the river if it was calm.)

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