https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/autocracy-in-america/id1763234285

Worth listening

Anne Applebaum has a podcast series that is really good called Autocracy in America:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/autocracy-in-america/id1763234285

I've also been getting random nose bleeds after starting GLP-1

I love this song! Amazing.

They cancelled my return business class ticket NYC - ROME in their online system and I only found out because I couldn't check in. Rude customer service people offering a new flight 3 days later when it was clear there were still seats on the flight I booked. After talking with three different CS people, they just told me to buy a new ticket. I was forced to buy a new ticket on a different airline and still have not gotten any resolution from ITA months after filing compliant. Avoid.

They cancelled my return business class ticket NYC - ROME in their online system and I only found out because I couldn't check in. Rude customer service people offering a new flight 3 days later when it was clear there were still seats on the flight I booked. After talking with three different CS people, they just told me to buy a new ticket. I was forced to buy a new ticket on a different airline and still have not gotten any resolution from ITA months after filing compliant. Avoid.

They cancelled my return business class ticket NYC - ROME in their online system and I only found out because I couldn't check in. Rude customer service people offering a new flight 3 days later when it was clear there were still seats on the flight I booked. After talking with three different CS people, they just told me to buy a new ticket. I was forced to buy a new ticket on a different airline and still have not gotten any resolution from ITA months after filing compliant. Avoid.

David who did you end up using??

Well Charger2950 - I guess your scam is up given that the data is out now about Medicare advantage and 32% denial rate and the murder of UHC CEO.

I've been coming to Italy for over 40 years and I can tell you I used to think you couldn't get a bad meal in Italy - we used to come just for the food and count down how many meals we would have left on our trip (including in Florence where I also spent a year studying). Everything seemed amazing, even the most simple dishes with few ingredients.

Now it's the opposite - most of the meals I've eaten in Italy are bad. I just finished ordering a pasta dish in Rome and it was so salty I couldn't eat it (okay I'm at the airport so my bad, but you used to get amazing food on the train in Italy!) I wonder who is cooking the food now? As another person mentioned, it's not the same old italians who used to be running all the restaurants. And there are so many tourists now that it's hard to get non-touristy food. Having said that (and I am living in Florence now), I spent a week in Umbria with some friends last year and the food was amazing. I spent quite a bit of time in Bologna and you could find great food a lot of the time. In Liguria and Ishcia you can get great seafood pasta and fresh mussels.

One other thing people have mentioned is how much great food you can get in Northern CA where I've lived most of my life - it's not about salt, sugar, or fat - there are some great chefs making some great food there. Maybe that spoiled it for me too and I just developed a more sophisticated palate...not sure.

In Florence, it's been tough to find great food anywhere and I cook a lot for myself and the ingredients are great and what I make tastes great...so not sure what to think. I have found a few places with great schiaccita panini (great bread by the way - kind of crunchy focciaccia). And I have found my favorite gelaterias with incredible gelato, but I can't believe how many dozens of gelaterias are totally for the tourists and total crap. So you really have to know or you will most likely get bad food....in Italy :( I can't even believe I am writing this. And also disappointed.

Same thing happened to me on ITA Airways earlier this year and they never resolved it - it's infuriating! Also out $2K since their system deleted my ticket and they have terrible CS outsourced and they are mean and tell you different things every time you call.

Just had a very similar experience with scammers posing as customer service agents for ITA Airways. ITA outsources its customer service to Albania and Hungary so I thought this was legit for a while....but no. Agree very exhausting when you finally feel like you might get some resolution to your issue...

I read a lot on Reddit, but rarely post. However, I wanted to share my personal experience and opinion on bioidentical compounded hormone therapy. It's a confusing topic, but sharing my personal long-term experience may help someone. I have been taking this prescription compounded hormone cream for 10 years now and honestly it has changed and saved my life. All the terrible menopause symptoms of hot flashes, irritability, dryness, insomnia, etc. are gone when I take this daily dose of cream (applied vaginally). A few times over the years, I haven't refilled my prescription in time and after a few days without the cream, all my menopause symptoms are back. This is when I really realized how effective this treatment was for me. The compounded cream is Estradiol and is a combination of estrogen and progesterone. It is compounded specifically for me and my body, because every body is different and reacts to prescription drugs differently.

I landed on this solution after trying several other things first and struggling with very bad menopause symptoms for years. My ObGYN first prescribed Lexapro and it was terrible for me - and I want to stress this - it was terrible for my body chemistry. I have friends who use this and say that it has been a lifesaver for them, so again it depends on your body. I couldn't function on Lexapro - I was lethargic and had brain fog and it was worse than not taking it so I stopped it because I couldn't work effectively. I also tried low-dose birth control pills, which did not provide much relief and I wasn't thrilled about taking. Then I saw a Dr. who specializes in menopause and finally got this prescription. My OBGYN talked to be about it after I started using it and said she would prescribe it and that I didn't have to go to a special doctor, so that's what happened for me.

This is not covered by insurance so I have to pay out of pocket, but I don't care because it's that effective. Recently my pharmacy told me that there was a push from the big pharma companies to try to ban bio-identical hormone compounding creams and honestly I don't think it's because they aren't safe or FDA approved. Big Pharma hates compounding pharmacies because they don't make money off of those prescriptions. So there are a lot of people that want to say compounded drugs are not safe because they are not FDA approved, but I think that is just about money. Sure there may be cases where compounding pharmacies are not legit, but my experience has been exceptional. I started in California and then moved to Colorado so had to change pharmacies and they were both excellent and both have pharmacists who are well educated and explain or discuss these prescriptions with me.

My new ObGYN in Colorado actually wanted me to switch to the synthetic form of hormones, but I told her after years of trying to find a solution and finding one that works so well for me, I really didn't want to switch. I feel fantastic and hope that this may be helpful for others to know that you need to keep trying to see what works for you. This may or may not be your solution, but I'm so happy to have found something that makes me feel better than normal.