#Child Labor Psychological Effects

[solhwellnesspvtltd]

Mental Health Struggles of Child Laborers | Solh Wellness

Explore the hidden mental health impacts of child labor and how Solh Wellness supports healing from trauma and breaking the cycle of exploitation.

[blackhistorystoryteller]

Read about African polygamy

Historical Context:

Polygamy in Africa predates colonialism and is intertwined with traditional cultural practices and religious beliefs. In many African societies, polygamy was a symbol of wealth, power, and prestige, as having multiple wives signified a man's ability to provide for and protect his family. Additionally, polygamy served practical purposes such as expanding family labor forces and ensuring lineage continuation.

Polygamy, the practice of having multiple spouses simultaneously, has sparked debates and controversies around the world for centuries. While some argue that polygamy can have positive effects on individuals and communities, others condemn it as harmful and oppressive. In this article, we'll examine both sides of the argument to better understand the complexities of polygamy.

Cultural Significance:

In some African cultures, polygamy is seen as a way to strengthen family ties and social networks. It also plays a role in the distribution of labor and responsibilities within the household, with each wife often having specific duties and roles. Moreover, polygamous marriages are often accompanied by elaborate ceremonies and rituals, reinforcing social cohesion and community bonds.

Contemporary Perspectives:

While polygamy remains legal and socially accepted in many African countries, its practice has evolved in response to modernization, urbanization, and changes in societal norms. In urban areas, economic constraints and shifting gender dynamics have led to a decline in polygamous marriages, as the costs associated with maintaining multiple households become prohibitive. Moreover, women's empowerment movements and changing attitudes towards gender equality have challenged the patriarchal structures that underpin traditional polygamous unions.

Title: Debating Polygamy: Exploring the Pros and Cons of a Controversial Practice

The Case for Polygam

1. Cultural Preservation: For many societies, polygamy is deeply ingrained in cultural traditions and religious beliefs. Advocates argue that prohibiting polygamy infringes upon cultural autonomy and the right to practice one's beliefs freely.

2. Economic Benefits: In agrarian or subsistence-based economies, polygamy can provide economic advantages by expanding the labor force and increasing household productivity. Multiple spouses can contribute to farming, childcare, and other domestic tasks, thereby improving the family's overall welfare.

3. Social Stability: In some contexts, polygamy can foster social cohesion and stability by strengthening family networks and community bonds. Polygamous unions often involve extensive kinship networks, which provide social support and security for members.

4. Gender Empowerment: Contrary to popular perception, some women choose polygamous marriages willingly, viewing them as a means of financial security, social status, or companionship. In certain polygamous arrangements, women may have more autonomy and decision-making power than in monogamous marriages.

1. Gender Inequality: Critics argue that polygamy perpetuates patriarchal power structures and exacerbates gender inequality. In many polygamous societies, women have limited rights and agency, often facing discrimination, abuse, and neglect within the household.

2. Emotional and Psychological Harm: Polygamous marriages can lead to emotional strain, jealousy, and conflicts among spouses. Children in polygamous households may also experience psychological distress due to complex family dynamics and divided parental attention.

3. Legal and Ethical Concerns: Polygamy raises legal and ethical questions regarding marital rights, inheritance, and child custody. In societies where polygamy is practiced without legal regulation, individuals may be vulnerable to exploitation, coercion, and marital instability.

4. Health Risks: Polygamy is associated with higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS transmission, particularly in contexts where condom use is inconsistent or taboo. Multiple sexual partners increase the risk of disease transmission, posing public health challenges in polygamous communities.

The debate over polygamy is nuanced and contentious, reflecting divergent cultural, ethical, and moral perspectives. While proponents emphasize its cultural significance and potential benefits, opponents highlight the risks of gender inequality, social harm, and health hazards associated with the practice. Ultimately, the question of whether polygamy is "good" or "bad" depends on one's values, beliefs, and the specific context in which it occurs. As societies continue to grapple with issues of gender equality, human rights, and cultural diversity, the conversation around polygamy will undoubtedly evolve.

[dykeulous]

SURROGACY

what exactly is surrogacy? it is the process in which a woman carries a child for another couple & delivers it to them. this is often seen as something innocent, and almost always slides in feminist eyes. this is because not enough research was done on it, and because the same rhetoric as the “happy hooker” was applied to masking surrogacy as a non-exploitative, safe & non-dangerous process. a happy surrogate.

surrogacy is & always has been an attack against lower-class women’s bodies. through a marxist lens, the woman’s body is the means of production and the woman is the worker. the child would be the capital and the parents are the wage payers. there is absolutely no way for this process to be consensual, it is inherently exploitive in & of itself. it is assault and many surrogates would end up feeling emotionally attached to the baby, but then they are coerced to deliver their baby to someone else. infertility is not an excuse, and neither is being homosexual. if you think being homosexual or infertile gives you the right to use women’s bodies, specifically poor women’s bodies as vending birth machines; then you might have to check your ethics.

lower-class women get coerced into the labor of pregnancy hoping to gain a positive income which may help them survive in this capitalistic society. sounds familiar? exactly. prostituted women, just like surrogates, are lower-class women who attempt to make their conditions of living easier. both execute dangerous labor, both are lumpenproletariat. the whole process of surrogacy also all connects back to child trafficking. the people literally pay someone else to deliver them a child; buying a child as if they are a product. what is more, most of surrogates come ethnically from eastern europe/slavic places or southern asia, which also creates a lime ribbon of racism & xenophobia as women of color & slavic women are, through the process of surrogacy, exploited for the benefit of wealthy western women.

“but not all surrogates are motivated by the money” sure, they aren’t. but, should we let this exploitative industry effloresce just because there are women out there who just want to do this “simple act of service” to “help”? those babies are separated from the only mother they know when they are born, and then they are sold off to a complete selfish stranger. whether you think surrogacy is a heartfelt process because you’re a conservative who advocates for infertile people, or because you’re a liberal who thinks the same because it gives homosexuals the chance to finally have kids; surrogacy remains a capitalistic, racist & sexist practice. it is beyond unethical. psychological trauma and health issues can be guaranteed.

next to surrogacy, we have yet another extremely horrifying process: egg donation. however, i prefer to refer to it as organ selling, as you’re not really “donating” anything. egg donation mainly targets financially vulnerable women. it highlights the female body as an empty storage robot to be used: as a mere child-bearing incubator. women’s bodies are only valuable because we have the ability to reproduce children. furthermore, it is entirely structured through eugenics. it’s mostly required for the egg donor to be a woman of specific race, physical & even intellectual traits; and yes, it is sometimes required for the woman to have specific results on certain standardized tests. this is true commodification of real people. the physical effects are also very risk-inducing, often including: effects on fertility, chronic disease, various cancers that may develop years later and more. most couples won’t let the egg donor visit their half-child, leaving the egg donor exhausted, confused, and wondering about the child’s well-being.

through a feminist & marxist analysis, we can easily debunk the ethics of both those processes.

[olympic-paris]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more …

August 16

ce 16 Août / HAïTI, boulevard Cap-Haïtien Un défilé intitulé Okap Fashion Fitness

1661 – Jacques Chausson was a French ex-customs manager and writer. He was arrested on August 16, 1661, and charged with attempted rape of a young nobleman, Octave des Valons. He was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to death. His tongue was cut out and he was burned at the stake (without being suffocated first, the more common and “merciful” practice).

1888 – (Thomas Edward) T.E. Lawrence (d.1935), or Lawrence of Arabia, is best known as the author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1935).

Lawrence was the illegitimate child of Sir Thomas Chapman and Sarah Lawrence who, after eloping in Ireland, changed their name by deed poll in England. Lawrence himself would change his name to John Hume Ross, when he joined the Royal Air Force in 1922, and again to T. E. Shaw when he joined the Tank Corps a year later. His experiences as a recruit are the subject of The Mint, a prequel to Seven Pillars of Wisdom, published posthumously in 1955.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a brilliant account of his role in the revolt of the Arabs during the latter half of World War I, a revolt instigated by the British in order to drive the Turks out of Syria and Palestine.

Lawrence chose Emir Feisal to lead the campaign and masterminded the guerrilla tactics that would contain and cripple the Turkish garrisons, especially at Medina, by cutting railways and telegraphs in surprise raids. But Lawrence labored under a sense of duplicity, knowing that the British had no genuine interest in Arab independence and were simply using the Arabs in the war against Germany. Though he mourned the brutality into which the campaign gradually sank, the contrast is striking between Lawrence's tidy and effective raids on the Eastern Front and the appalling waste of "human ammunition" on the Western.

Although homosexuality is the subject of only a tiny portion of this epic narrative, it plays a pivotal role in the psychological background. Chapter 80 tells how Lawrence was captured while on reconnaissance in Deraa and how he rejected the sexual advances of the Turkish Bey who held him. It then describes vividly the torture he received from the Bey's guards and, more obliquely, their brutal sodomizing of him. Lawrence, who maintained complete celibacy and hated even to be touched, never recovered from this trauma; he believed that he had been robbed of his "integrity" and his spirit had been broken, apparently forever.

Lawrence largely hides from view a later and equally discouraging event, namely, news of the death of Salim Ahmed, the young man who was the "S.A." to whom the book is dedicated. Lawrence had met Ahmed while working on an archeological dig in Carchemish, Syria, several years before the war. At this time, Ahmed (or Dahoum as Lawrence called him) was only fourteen, but they established a close friendship. Seven Pillars opens with a cryptic dedicatory poem, which hints that it was for the sake of "S.A." that he worked and suffered for the cause of Arab independence. When Dahoum died of typhoid behind Turkish lines in September, 1918, the revolt had nearly reached its goal at Damascus. In Seven Pillars, and more explicitly in his correspondence, Lawrence suggests that his distaste for the entire exploit in its last triumphant days was owing largely to news of his friend's death.

The authorized biography attempts to defend Lawrence against "charges" of homosexuality, and indeed anyone seeking proof of his orientation in sexual acts will find little evidence of any sexuality at all. But there is no doubt that Lawrence was able to form closer attachments to young men (such as Dahoum, R. A. M. Guy, and Jock Chambers) than to women. Meyers (Homosexuality and Literature) produces strong evidence from the letters that Lawrence was tormented by the knowledge that he had surrendered to the rapists at Deraa and had experienced a masochistic sexual pleasure.

On May 13, 1935, he suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident and died six days later. David Lean's 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia, and Terence Rattigan's play of the same year, Ross, have helped shape the myth that surrounds this complicated and enigmatic figure. But well before these dramatic portrayals, Lawrence served as a model for the neurotic hero--the "Truly Weak Man" who must continually prove himself by acts of heroism--in the works of the angry young gay men of the 1930s, W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.

1907 – Edward James (d.1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.

James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherited a fortune from his father, merchant Daniel James and Evelyn Forbes, a Scots socialite. He was reputedly fathered by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).

After Oxford, James had a brief career as a trainee diplomat at the embassy in Rome. He was asked to send a coded message to London that the Italians had laid the keels for three destroyers, but got the code wrong; the message said "300 destroyers". Shortly after this he was sent "on indefinite leave".

In the early 1930s, James married Tilly Losch, an Austrian dancer, choreographer, actress and painter. James divorced Losch in 1934, accusing her of adultery with Prince Serge Obolensky, an American hotel executive; her countersuit, in which she made it clear that James was homosexual, failed. James was in fact bisexual.James is best known as a passionate supporter of Surrealism.

He sponsored Salvador Dalí for the whole of 1938 and his collection of paintings and art objects subsequently came to be accepted as one of the finest collection of surrealist work in private hands.

As well as Dalí and Magritte, his art collection included works by Hieronymus Bosch, Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Klee, Leonora Carrington, Pavel Tchelitchew, Pablo Picasso, Giacometti, Max Ernst and Paul Delvaux, amongst others.  Most were sold at a well-publicized sale at Christie's two years after his death.

In 1940, James stayed in Taos, New Mexico, United States, as a guest of Mabel Dodge Luhan, where he was known for his amusing, clever eccentricity and effeminate manner.

James most fantastic surrealist creation was realised in the Mexican rain forest, a surrealist Sculpture garden, "Las Pozas". While in Los Angeles, he had the idea to build a “Garden Of Eden”, but instead, he decided to try Mexico, a more romantic and cheaper place than Southern California.

James and his Mexican boyfriend, Plutarco Gastélum, a handsome young manager of the telegraph office in Cuernavaca, were exploring the Huasteca Potosina when they were surrounded by a cloud of butterflies while they were bathing together in a stream. James interpreted this event as a magical sign. So, in 1947, he began the construction of his vision.

Employing more than 100 laborers, he spent the next two decades transforming this very remote jungle location (the nearest airport is over three hours away) into a sensual Surrealist folly, funding the construction by selling off his world-class collection of paintings, including Carringtons, Dalís, and Magrittes.

1923 – On this date, Gay holocaust survivor Pierre Seel was born (d.2005). He was the only French person to have testified openly about his experience of deportation during World War II due to his homosexuality.

In 1939, he was in a public garden (le Square Steinbach) notorious as a "cruising" ground for men. While he was there, his watch was stolen, a gift that his godmother had given to him at his recent communion. Reporting the theft to the police meant that, unknown to him, his name was added to a list of homosexuals held by the police (homosexuality had not been illegal in France since 1792; the Vichy Regime did not, contrary to legend, recriminalize homosexuality, but in August 1942 it did outlaw sexual relations between an adult and a minor under twenty-one). The German invasion curtailed Seel's hopes of studying textiles in Lille.

When the Nazis gained power over the town his name was on a list of local Gay men ordered to the police station. He obeyed the directive to protect his family from any retaliation. Upon arriving at the police station he notes that he and other Gay men were beaten. Some Gay men who resisted the SS had their fingernails pulled out. Others were raped with broken rulers and had their bowels punctured, causing them to bleed profusely. After his arrest he was sent to the concentration camp at Schirmeck. There, Seel stated that during a morning roll-call, the Nazi commander announced a public execution. A man was brought out, and Seel recognized his face. It was the face of his eighteen-year-old lover from Mulhouse. Seel then claims that the Nazi guards stripped the clothes of his lover and placed a metal bucket over his head. Then the guards released trained German Shepherd dogs on him, which mauled him to death.

Experiences such as these can account for the relatively high death rate of Gay men in the camps as compared to the other "anti-social groups." A study by Ruediger Lautmann found that 60% of Gay men in concentration camps died compared to 41% for political prisoners and 35% for Jehovah's Witnesses. The study also shows that survival rates for Gay men were slightly higher for internees from the middle and upper classes and for married Bisexual men and those with children.

In 1981, the testimony collected by Jean-Pierre Joecker (director and founder of the gay magazine Masques) was published anonymously in a special edition of the French translation of the play Bent by Martin Sherman. In April 1982, in response to anti-gay declarations and actions by Léon Elchinger, the Bishop of Strasbourg, Seel spoke publicly and wrote an open letter to the Bishop on 18 November. He simultaneously circulated the text to his family. The letter was published in Gai Pied Hebdo No 47 on 11 December. At the same time, he started the official process of getting compensation from the state.

From the time he came forward publicly until the end of his life, Seel was active as an advocate for the recognition of homosexual victims of the Nazis — and notably of the forgotten homosexual victims from the French territories of Alsace and Moselle, which had been annexed by Nazi Germany. Seel came to be known as the most outspoken activist among the men who had survived internment as homosexuals during the Third Reich. He was an active supporter of the Mémorial de la Déportation Homosexuelle, a French national association founded in 1989 to honor the memory of homosexuals persecuted by the Nazi regime and to advocate formal recognition of these victims in the ceremonies held annually to commemorate citizens and residents of France deported to the concentration camps.

In 1994, Seel published the book Moi, Pierre Seel, déporté homosexuel (I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual), written with the assistance of journalist and activist Jean Le Bitoux, founder of the long-running French gay periodical Gai Pied; the book subsequently appeared in translation in English, German and Spanish. Seel appeared on national television and in the national press in France. His story also was featured in a 2000 documentary film on the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, Paragraph 175, directed by San Francisco filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Returning to Germany for the first time since the war, Seel received a five-minute standing ovation at the documentary's premiere at the Berlin film festival.

Seel also found himself under attack in the 1980s and 1990s, even receiving death threats. After he appeared on French television, he was attacked and beaten by young men shouting homophobic epithets. Catherine Trautmann, then the Mayor of Strasbourg and later a Socialist Party culture minister, once refused to shake his hand during a commemorative ceremony.

In 2003, Seel received official recognition as a victim of the Holocaust by the International Organization for Migration's program for aiding Nazi victims. In April 2005, President Jacques Chirac, during the "Journée nationale du souvenir des victimes et des héros de la déportation" (the French equivalent to the Holocaust Memorial Day), said: "In Germany, but also on French territory, men and women whose personal lives were set aside, I am thinking of homosexuals, were hunted, arrested and deported." On 23 February 2008, the municipality of Toulouse renamed a street in the city in honour of Seel. The name plaque reads "Rue Pierre Seel - Déporté français pour homosexualité - 1923-2005".

1968 – Wolfgang Tillmans is a photographer. He has worked for fashion and style magazines as well as showing his work in art galleries. Born in Remscheid in Germany, Tillmans lived and worked in Hamburg at the end of the 1980s before moving to England. He took a course on photography at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art from 1990 to 1992, and then moved to London. He has subsequently been based in New York, Berlin, and London again.

Even before he moved to England, Tillmans was working for British fashion and style magazines. His work for them was apparently more spontaneous than most magazine photography, often seeming to catch fleeting moments. He typically photographed young people, sometimes clubbers or part of the gay scene, sometimes homeless. His work has often been compared to Nan Goldin who from around the 1980s documented Manhattan's Lower East Side in New York City in a similar snapshot aesthetic way.His initial work led to some degree of fame in the business, and within a couple of years he was photographing people like Moby and Blur's vocalist Damon Albarn in a similar spontaneous style.

Tillmans has become one of the most prominent and influential photographers to emerge during the 1990s. He profiles the lifestyles of his immediate circle of friends, working collaboratively with his subjects so that they lose their inhibitions in front of the camera. Tillmans produces raw, confessional images yet stays within the traditional genres of portraiture, landscape and still-life. His ability to produce powerful and sometimes shocking images has brought him success in art galleries and mainstream media alike.

As well as his work being shown in a range of places, both fashion magazines and galleries, Tillmans' work also show a wide range of subject matter. Apart from innocent, and what may be seen by many as rather banal, pictures of fruit or a pair of jeans over a bannister, he has photographed nudes and masturbating men. The kind of prints he exhibits also vary - inkjet prints are shown alongside expensive glossy shots and images taken from magazines.

"Naturists"

Tillmans' representations of gay men are an important aspect of his art. While his representations of gay men are more abstracted than the sexualised images of Robert Mapplethorpe, Tillmans presents each of his subjects, including gay men, directly, avoiding the subtle homoeroticism of such fashion photographers as Bruce Weber or Herb Ritts, for example.

~~

Tillmans won the Turner Prize in 2000. In 2001, Tillmans was awarded first prize in the competition for the design of the AIDS-Memorial for the City of Munich, after which the memorial was erected using his designs at the Sendlinger Tor. In He has released a book, Burg. His work has been featured in Arto Lindsay's The Subtle Body in 1995. The same year, his photographs were published in a Taschen book Wolfgang Tillmans (with a preface by Simon Watney).

In 2011, Tillmans traveled to Haiti with the charity Christian Aid to document reconstruction work after the country's devastating earthquake one year before.

1971 – Igor Irtyshov is a Russian serial killer, rapist and pedophile. He was sentenced to death for several rapes of young boys, two of which ended in fatalities. Later, in connection with the moratorium on the death penalty imposed by Boris Yeltsin, the verdict was replaced by life imprisonment.

Irtyshov grew up in a dysfunctional family, with both his mother and father being alcoholics. When he was 10 he got into a car accident and got a serious craniocerebral injury as a result. He did not fully recover: he was diagnosed with "an intellectual disability", so his mother sent him to a special boarding school, at which Irtyshov was raped.

After the boarding school he graduated from a vocational school. In 1993 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he got a job as a dishwasher at gay coffeehouse, but his main source of income was homosexual prostitution. He was raped several times by his customers. Igor did not consider himself a homosexual, as he also had sex with women.

Irtyshov began his crimes in December 1993. While walking through Sosnovsky Park, he noticed two brothers, 11 and 12 years old respectively. Threatening them with a knife, the criminal took the children to a quiet, secluded place where he raped them, forcing them to drink something from a jar beforehand. Both victims received serious bodily injuries.

The next attack occurred in the Kolpinsky District. While violently abusing a boy, Irtyshov squeezed his throat too much, causing him to die from suffocation. After this, an active search was conducted to catch the serial rapist.

The next child Irtyshov raped was in May 1994. He dragged a 10-year-old boy into the attic of a house along the Riga Avenue and brutally raped him. After the act of violence, Irtyshov broke the boy's hands, leaving him permanently disabled.

It is noteworthy that all the attacks were committed in the daytime, approximately between 12 and 18 hours, but the perpetrator managed to escape unnoticed. A month later he raped two more boys, 11 and 12 years old, on the banks of the Neva River.

The seventh victim of the pedophile was a 15-year-old teenager, whom the criminal attacked in an elevator. However, the boy managed to fight back and escaped. On the same day, Irtyshov, who was angry because of his failure, committed his eighth, and final, crime.

After brutally raping a 9-year-old boy, he left the crime scene. The boy miraculously survived and was able to give a detailed description of the criminal. The boy was sent to a hospital in the United States, with pleas for financial help for the necessary operation, but although the necessary intestines were collected for an organ transplant, the boy died.

On the streets and in the newspapers, the rapist's facial composite and his verbal description were distributed. Irtyshov was frightened: the composite was very accurate, which forced him to fly to Murmansk. A month later, having decided that everything had quieted down, Igor returned to St. Petersburg, where on November 28, 1994, he was detained by law enforcement agencies.

Irtyshov was turned in by one of his own male lovers. After the last rape, Irtyshov brought the boy's briefcase home and boasted about it to his roommate. He suspected something was amiss and reported Igor to the police. Soon Irtyshov was captured, and later many victims identified him.

The courts found Igor guilty of several crimes, including murder, rape, and serious bodily harm. He was sentenced to death. In 1999, he, like all other condemned criminals at the time, was given life imprisonment by presidential decree.

2013 – Darren Young, professional wrestler with the WWE announced he is gay. Young, a professional wrestler since 2002, with the WWE since 2005, is the first WWE star to openly say he is gay.

When TMZ asked him whether he thought a gay athlete could succeed in the WWE, he replied,

"Absolutely. Look at me. I'm a WWE superstar and, to be honest with you, I'll tell you right now, I'm gay, and I'm happy. Very happy."

[decolonize-the-everything]

CW: torture... Child abuse

In child torture and intimate partner coercive control, abusers intentionally harm their victims, even if they later explain their behaviors as “lessons” or the result of being intoxicated or enraged. The perpetrator's goal is to gain and retain absolute power over all aspects of the victims' thoughts and actions.

I'm gonna throw up

Stress positions can lead to long term or even permanent damage, including nerve, joint and circulatory damage, and muscle and joint pain.

Torture’s purpose is to: · Break an individual’s will and render the person helpless. · Destroy a sense of community. · Stifle civil society. · Create a climate of fear. · Silence dissent. Torture is used to break down people’s will, ultimately destroying trust and communities. When torture is used to create fear, people become afraid to speak up. CVT’s clients often tell us they were not tortured to gain information; they were tortured to punish, injure and silence them. Torture is about control. Torture affects five basic human needs: · The need to feel safe. · The need to feel of value (self-worth). · The need to feel some control over one’s life. · The need to trust. · The need to feel close to others. The impacts of torture go beyond physical wounds and scars. Torture is used intentionally to impact how victims feel about themselves, about other people, and about their place in the world.

one of parents literally told me to call them master when I was grounded

We define child torture as a longitudinal experience characterized by at least two physical assaults or one extended assault, two or more forms of psychological maltreatment, and neglect resulting in prolonged suffering, permanent disfigurement or dysfunction, or death.

So I've said on here I was in foster care and never went into Exactly why and I'm frankly not sure this is ever going to be the place for it, but I will say that all of this is applicable to me. And then some.

And I had no idea so I'm sharing for someone else who, like me, thought what they experienced was just run of the mill discipline or child abuse and doesn't realize how undermining that is to say of their experience. And I'm sorry we both had to learn this.

Abuse is extreme discipline; trauma. But it's still upholding discipline you know? Like it's awful and controlling but it isn't stripping you of personhood.

Torture does and it enforces the idea that your role is simply to submit without question. That's the difference.

[myarchiveforme]

some observations of priscilla, bc the people I went to see it with are not the type to enjoy analyzing media and I have thoughts

also this is just me venting on my phone so these are very undeveloped thoughts idk

*contains mild spoilers*

the style is so lovely, if there's one thing sofia can do it's curate a damn atmosphere. i haven't seen marie antoinette in a while but sofia works with environments like another character in the movie, and it's so effective in pulling you into the experience.

you feel that boredom and monotony and confinement so vividly - you basically don't see priscilla outside of graceland between her arriving and elvis leaving the last time, and you almost don't realize it. and you become so familiar with the rooms and the space, it's depression when you don't leave your house for months and see the same things over and over and feel like a doll being moved around a little dollhouse just being picked up and put down in situations.

the shot when elvis is leaving the last time and priscilla's being left behind but her world is getting bigger??

this portrayal of elvis is so interesting - he's a character, the whole time, and you get these glimpses of what he really thinks or feels. he's pulling at her strings just to see what happens, just to experiment with the reactions. it's like he just wants to see that his actions can have actual effects on people, to prove that priscilla is 3d and not the paper people he sees on stage. or again, like priscilla is just his doll to put into situations.

also, I don't know enough about the psychology or realities of grooming and abuse to really get into it, but the relationship with sex is so... like she's an image of purity to him, to the point of being undesirable. too pure to desire. it's that groomer mindset of priscilla being something he has to "protect," like his child almost, but also to have control over her actions and to keep her in the box he's put her in.

and 6'5" jacob elordi next to 5'1" cailee spaeny in a movie about a grown celebrity grooming and claiming a 14 year old girl?

the scene of priscilla trying on clothes for elvis and the group of guys was SO profound to me - the discomfort of it, but also the gratification of male approval and attention? the little smile in the end when they like the outfit - that's such a familiar feeling to me, being deeply uncomfortable on display for men but still having that goblin inside of you that's fed with their attraction to you. especially at that age, god. same with her graduation - she's their little mascot, the pet project. and she doesn't have any friends, so she performs for them, for their applause and approval

and the omnipresence of elvis's gang and complete absence of female friends for her. he's putting on a show, always, and she's supposed to put on that show with him. and then behind closed doors, she's not putting on the show anymore but he still wants the priscilla on stage. and she is NEVER without makeup in front of him, especially after he tells her to wear more eyeliner. always picture perfect. uggh I could see this movie fifteen times. the moment of quiet in chaos as she puts on her eyelashes before giving birth? it's so poignant, that even in labor she's putting on a show for him and the world but taking pride and peace in the art of it. that was one of my favorite scenes honestly

cailee's performance was just incredible. so delicate and nuanced and honest and I hope we get to see her again and again.

NOT EVEN TO MENTION the fashion and styling, my god. stunning. it's iconic and beautiful and tells the whole story within itself.

anyway if anyone wants to discuss this movie with me please I'm desperate

[thosearentcrimes]

I hadn't had that much to say about Hamlet when I read it, which is why I lumped it into a larger book report. Since then I have watched Hamlet (1948) and Hamlet (1996), the Olivier and Branagh films respectively, and I have a lot more to say about those.

I didn't mention this then but I consider Hamlet a sort of combinatoric play. Too many lines to play the whole thing, but with a huge variety of themes that can be emphasized or removed to construct your own production. Since the themes complement and comment on each other in different ways, whichever selection of themes you will make for a significantly different "Hamlet", which has its advantages and disadvantages. The trickiest part of this process is that plot-essential lines may be tied into these themes, so you need to work carefully and perhaps even write a handful of lines of Shakespeare yourself, which is certainly not easy.

Olivier's Hamlet (1948) is a great demonstration of that principle. Removing Fortinbras and both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (I wish they had also removed Osric), deemphasizing those references to purgatory that are retained, and emphasizing the incest themes leads to a very psychological and familial "Hamlet" (think psychological as in manga categories, if you are familiar with those, rather than actual psychology). It's not quite what I was looking for, but I can at least appreciate the way the text selection, setting, staging, and performance compose a coherent whole. It achieves the desired effect, and is undeniably a successful production.

Branagh's Hamlet (1996) is, in its own way, likewise a demonstration of the combinatoric principle. Perhaps laboring under the bizarre assumption common to many Shakespearean actors, convinced that Hollywood was prejudiced against The Bard, Branagh seems to have decided to demonstratively punish a studio that had proved its innocence of this prejudice with an unwatchable, unscreenable, sprawling 4 hour mess of a movie. Perhaps Hollywood reticence to produce Shakespeare, if it exists, has more to do with the apparent tendency of its practitioners to produce box office poison than with any attitudes towards the playwright. I understand being mad at the philistines who control cultural production, but frankly when you expect them to give you large amounts of money you should not be surprised that, as ostensibly profit-seeking companies, they would like you to provide a saleable product in return.

Despite a handful of nice touches like the constant use of secret doors (which could nonetheless have used more purpose), the movie that makes no judicious choices in selecting the text (Branagh composes a "complete" text out of all the lines in the Folio and all the lines in the Second Quarto versions, yes including the rant about child actor companies, no I don't know why) also seemingly makes no judicious choices in setting or staging. The action is set in the 19th century. Why? Who knows, it certainly can't serve to emphasize the themes that are being highlighted, because there are none. On that topic, Branagh "cleverly" stages Hamlet's suicide soliloquy to be addressed to Polonius and Claudius. But Polonius and Claudius don't commit suicide, unlike Ophelia who is literally right there. Surely it makes more sense for her to overhear this, if anyone? This sort of problem runs through the movie, choices seem unmotivated and the undeniably clever devices and staging are in my opinion misused. Also, the fencing scene with Laertes is quite badly done, it is silly and illegible.

One serious issue with Branagh's version, which I think proves my contention, is that Branagh clearly felt the need to spice up the boring bits with some action incongruous with the text. He was right that if he left the text as it was, the pacing would be atrocious and quite lethal to a four hour movie. But in fact the pacing remains quite bad regardless, and the value of the text (whose supposed integrity is the whole point of this exercise) is diminished significantly.

[oddlyunadventurous]

I find "passive income" types fascinating. To "retire at 30" is basically the dream of the manchild, right, it's the flipside of the NEET coin. It is to dream to be a dependent infant again, being taken care of, now not by your parents but by the wet nurse that is the superstructure of capitalist faux-slavery — a convenient mechanism which has, let's be honest, been built for this express purpose: to enable men to regress into childhood tyranny.

I don't care for the jerkoff Marxist analysis here, it's trite. To explain to somebody living under capitalism what capitalism is is to opine to a man whose leg has just been severed that you believe him to be bleeding. I'm much more interested in the psychology of the process, what scares people into wanting to retire at 30. Fear, indeed, must be at the root of it, but it is the same base fear that is instilled in all of us — that if we do not earn a wage we will starve and perish. No, admixed with this, I think, is a kind of precocious understanding of the inhumanity of the whole system. Many think the desire to be a member of the 'haves' rather than the 'have-nots' has to do with lusting over social status and power. I concur but... rarely have I met with somebody who's pointed out that another factor may very well be at play: the intense desire to repudiate the whole framework of capitalism and the way in which it structures our lives.

This repudiation, of course, can only manifest in playing a very active role in the system one is supposedly disgusted by. The wish of the upper classes to put the servant quarters out of sight and out of mind is also not a new observation. Yet it is always played, in the literature, the capitalist oppressors, that is, they are characterized as some pre-eminently conscious creatures, they are drawn in our minds in the way we fancy a cat must feel, when it is gingerly burying its shameful business. "They know what they have perpetrated" we think of the capitalists and the aristocrats, "and they only wish to forget the cruelty they have done their fellow man, so that they may go on living with a clear conscience."

But in 2023 things are different. Man, at large, is far too dumb, far too dumbfuck stupid, to think in this way. The democratization of abuse through capitalist channels has truly done wonders to the modern psyche. Man now, I think, the "passive income" cumwad that constitutes, under biological description, an adult human being, is not aware of being an oppressor. The semantics involved in "passive income" talk, the terms, the whole milieu, is striking in the way it removes causes from effects. That is, the money isn't even made, it is simply willed into existence. You certainly do not work for it. You do not even enslave anyone in order to accrue capital. A system of (free market) ley lines can be tapped into and by this apparently natural, apparently antediluvian force, one may come to wealth and so disengage from the whole unseemly business of wage labor — not being a wage slave, not even being a wage slaver.

This innocence, this disavowal of culpability, is a mark of the child's mind. When you are five, you may be well aware that you broke the pot, but under the scornful eye of a guardian figure you come to truly believe that it broke of itself. A worldview in which events come from without is a normal state of brain development but must be seen as pathologic, when it manifests in the adult. In these people, too, under the scornful, disdainful eye of the global capitalist empire, there is a desire to prolong, indefinitely, a state of false consciousness, to never break the spell of a simple world, rather than to simplify an already complicated one, as was once the desire of those already born into wealth, those conscious of wealth's cost. This latter act, to the 'passive income' types, I have it in my mind, is too gross a prospect to attempt: so monstrous must the trappings of capitalism seem to them that they are simply repulsed by it altogether. And, be honest, do they not seem monstrous to you as well? And really, can you blame these people?

i can lol :)

[13thoracle]

Katherine (Kat) Moone

ALIAS:

ARACHNIS Spider of the Nexus Legacy (prime)

Abilities:

Stealth Master Thief Venom touch Wall-Crawling Superhuman Strength Superhuman Stamina Superhuman Agility Superhuman Reflexes Superhuman Flexibility Superhuman Hearing Contaminant Immunity Regenerative Healing Factor Extended Longevity Superhuman Equilibrium Spider-Sense Organic Webbing Generation Claws

Weakness:

The procedure she underwent came at a huge price. Her superhuman physiology was lab made and thus the body wasn't equipped to compensate for the side effects. Chronic rheumatic pain, joint inflammation, stiffness and muscle pain is a daily ailment. At its worst it's hindered her day to day mobility, unless she takes the serum.

She's vulnerable to extended strain and damage to her body. With her healing factor, there's limitations to how fast and how well she heals. Prolonged damage such as the wear on her joints and small muscle groups can be permanent.

She has fluid buildup in her right knee and left shoulder after an injury that required multiple surgeries. Because her healing factor is limited, she recovered quicker than most. Having continued her strenuous lifestyle, pain and fluid build up is an ongoing side effect.

Her mutations were a result of mixed Spider venom and DNA of former spider vigilantes, her abilities are limited to the percentage of different DNA presented in each serum when she takes it.

She has to train daily to ensure her body is at peak performance.

The serum gives her superhuman abilities that vary based on the compound she injects each day. If she doesn't take it daily, she struggles with intense pain and mobility issues. She often has to walk with a cane, and most days she can barely walk at all until she takes it. Because of this, she is heavily dependent on this serum to function. Without it, she borders on complete paralysis.

Psychologically, Kat Moone can be described as stable. However, her generation is facing times of global war and due to climate change, humanity is on the brink of extinction. Most of the natural wildlife is extinct and resources are critically depleted.

Because of this, the definition of mental stability is defined by new terms. In 21st century diagnoses however, Kat Moone would be classified with: Depression, anxiety, PTSD.

Overview:

Katherine (Kat) Moone was born and raised in the 31st century in a multi-family home. This consisted of her parents and siblings, her aunt, uncle, and their children, and their family friends. America's economy suffered a massive collapse during the mid 25th century, leaving a quarter of a million middle class families homeless. Earth was afflicted with war and a dying planet. Eons of climate change issues and political conflict destroyed the planet and by proxy, escalated WWIV. The war raged from the early 25th century to present. The world for Kat Moone was survival focused.

Her family lived in the heart of America's warzones where Russian forces invaded. Growing up, Kat's homelife was filled with love. While they were a multi-family household. They treated each other as one family where the belief "it takes a village to raise a child," was their motto. Kat Moone and her "siblings" (cousins and family friends treated as siblings) were loved and wanted for nothing.

Their families tried to shelter them from the adult world and the struggles they shared trying to provide for their kids.

At 10 years old, Kat got a job at a local clothing factory. There she and others between 10 - 15 labored making fabric for clothing. She operated the machines that spun fabric fibers into large sheets of material that would later become clothing.

The hours were long, but the pay was good. Her parents and "Auties" encouraged her to use some of that money to go to school. Kat's dream was to become a Environmental Lawyer. To help shape policies surrounding their current environmental crisis.

LEGACY:

One night, their house was hit by a rogue drone bomber. Their house was leveled. Her parents survived, but her Aunt and Uncle were killed. Kat's siblings and family friends were critically injured. Upon taking them to the E.R. they were turned away due to not having enough money to treat them. Ultimately they succumbed to infection and their injuries.

With only her parents, Aunt, Uncle and three of her younger siblings having survived and no home left. They were forced to live on the streets.

They managed to find shelter in abandoned houses, but they had to keep moving. American forces chased off any homeless camps that formed.

With winter coming and no housing security, Kat Moone took up multiple jobs to support her family and surviving siblings. It wasn't enough. Looking back to history and her bedtime stories for inspiration, Kat studied the history of the Avengers and X-Men. Their efforts to bring peace to the world was inspiring. Kat Moone stole fabric from her workplace and designed a super-suit. The outfit had no special abilities beyond bullet resistance and weather-proof.

Kat called herself "Legacy," as a reference to the heroes of times passed. Having no experience, she focused on stealing supplies from Russian troops to give to her family and other displaced refugees. Food, shelter, clothing, and weapons were stolen and given to those who needed it more than ever.

Russian forces quickly caught on, and Legacy now became a personal target for her crimes.

While she was out hunting down supplies. American troops were able to I.D. her as Katherine Moon, her family was taken into custody for questioning. They believed "Legacy" could become a dangerous vigilante. To American and Russian troops alike, the heroes of years past proved to take law and government policies into their own hands. They couldn't risk a new era of vigilantes.

Kat's family was brutally interrogated in an attempt to find out her "true motives" and her current whereabouts. When they refused to talk, the family was sentenced to a labor camp outside the city. Kat learned of her family's disappearance, but, couldn't find them.

It took her months but Kat was able to find her family. However, she was faced with a dangerous mission, free the people in the labor camp. She was a thief not a combatant, she never fired a gun before.

Kat feared trying to free her family would get them all killed. Instead, she snuck letters and supplies in when she could. All the while, planning her next option.

Five years after her family was sent into a labor camp, Kat learned of a medical research trial that was conducted by the U.S. military and a private government agency. The program was designed to recreate "super heroes" in a controlled program. This was designed to give the military a new breed of super soldier to combat enemy forces.

Desperate to save her family and provide financial support, Kat joined the programed. Only, she didn't realize the true extent of this operation.

There she underwent several procedures and injections. DNA from the late Spider-heroes were preserved and used for the program's first trial. This gave her the abilities of the former Spider-heroes of centuries past. She was compensated heavily for her service and immediately was transferred across the U.S. where she'd undergo training.

This gave Kat great pride, a chance to serve her country and fight for the future. There she worked with a lawyer to get her family out of the camp. After several more years, she was able to get her family released from the camp, however, securing housing wasn't within her lawyer's power. They were transferred to a refugee camp where the conditions were deplorable.

By the time her training was complete, Kat retired the name Legacy and took on her government status as Special Agent. There she took on the alias Arachnis. She ran several covert missions behind enemy lines and neutralized several terrorist cells.

Special Agent Arachnis was eventually sent to neutralize a Russian spy, who'd managed to extract ally information. Coming face to face with the spy, Arachnis was shot and critically injured.

Her team narrowly managed to save her and rush her into emergency care. There she remined on life support for several weeks. Her healing factor was what kept her alive. The experience changed Kat forever. One of her teammates and close friends John Saxon, asked her if she wanted to leave the program. However, Kat refused. Kat wanted to continue her missions, but asked for a stronger serum.

Once she was cleared to go home, her supervisor warned her that increasing her serum dose wasn't tested and highly experimental. She took the chance and paid the price for it. She was gifted with tremendous agility, strength and even abilities of Spider-heroes of years past. In turn, her body ached. Her body wasn't able to withstand the serum's side effects. Jumping over cars in a single bound and throwing heavy objects took its toll on her muscles, joints and bones. Every morning, Kat woke up in chronic pain. Her body could barely move from the intense stress placed upon it.

Unless she took the serum every day, she could barely walk.

It was worth it to Kat. Her income was growing with each mission and she was able to finally buy her family a small house in a safer neighborhood. It took her 10 years but she finally felt she was accomplishing something.

Over the course of her career, she ran classified missions for the U.S. government. She proved to be an asset to her team, but it was soon apparent that agent Arachnis could do more for them. A winning strategy to win the war once and for all.

Arachnis and her team of agents were signed onto a delicate mission. Operation Retconned, was aimed to send them to key Nexus moments through the multiverse and neutralize them before the TVA would erase the timeline. Preventing them from becoming variants in the first place. However, what the agents didn't know was their supervisor was taking these potential variants and use them for his own agenda.

[traffickinginstitute]

Human Trafficking Slavery Statistics & What Are Human Trafficking Facts

Human Trafficking Slavery Statistics remains one of the most pressing global issues of our time, entwining elements of modern-day slavery and severe exploitation. Despite extensive efforts to combat this heinous crime, human trafficking persists across borders, affecting millions of individuals worldwide.

Human Trafficking Statistics

According to recent estimates by the United Nations, over 40 million people are trapped in modern slavery globally. This staggering figure includes men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, sexual exploitation, and various forms of coercion. The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that nearly 25 million people are victims of forced labor, while human trafficking for sexual exploitation affects approximately 4.8 million individuals.

Types of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking can manifest in several forms. The most commonly reported types include:

Sex Trafficking: Victims are coerced or deceived into performing sexual acts for financial gain. This form is particularly alarming due to its prevalence and the severe psychological impact it has on survivors.

Labor Trafficking: Individuals are forced into work under severe conditions, often with little or no pay. This can occur in industries such as agriculture, construction, and domestic work.

Child Trafficking: Children are trafficked for various purposes, including forced labor, illegal adoptions, and recruitment into armed conflicts.

Factors Contributing to Human Trafficking

Several factors contribute to the persistence of human trafficking. Economic instability, lack of education, and limited job opportunities often make individuals vulnerable to traffickers' deceptive promises of employment or a better life. Additionally, weak law enforcement and corruption in some regions allow traffickers to operate with relative impunity.

Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking

Various organizations, including the Human Trafficking Institute, are actively working to address and eradicate human trafficking. These efforts involve raising awareness, supporting survivors, and advocating for stronger anti-trafficking laws. The Human Trafficking Institute is at the forefront of these initiatives, providing crucial resources and expertise to help combat this global crisis.

In conclusion, understanding human trafficking statistics and facts is vital in the fight against this severe human rights violation. The Human Trafficking Institute continues to lead efforts in creating effective solutions and supporting victims, striving for a world where every individual can live free from exploitation and abuse. By staying informed and supporting organizations dedicated to this cause, we can collectively contribute to ending human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

For more info:-

What Are Human Trafficking Facts

[shadisthings]

The various facets of kibbutz life began to break down after the 1950s.

Gender distinctions and pair-bonding between spouses (and between parents and children) were not easy to efface. The family gradually reemerged as a strong and central unit, and reports from both men and women suggest that physical appearance and mutual attraction were acknowledged once again as important features of relationships. Marriage took on renewed importance too. A gender based division of labor—with men in production and women in services—grew stronger, and many kibbutzim returned children to their nuclear-family homes. Children in kibbutzim initially had lower rates of maternal attachment than peers raised in other settings, and this was one of the key concerns women had with the communal child-care arrangement. Differences in maternal and paternal behavior with infants in kibbutzim also ultimately replicated those seen in other cultures; mothers were more likely to engage in caretaking behaviors for, display affection toward, laugh with, talk to, and hold their infants than fathers were. By the 1970s, the shift from radical anti-familism back to a powerful familism was largely complete. Women played a major role in the transformation of the structure of gender relations and the role of the family, often framing their arguments in terms of what they saw as the “natural needs” of womanhood and motherhood.

Collective child-rearing did provide some benefits for the children. Studies of kibbutz-raised and city children found that the former were more skilled social players, and they were more likely than the city children to engage in positive social play, spend more time in coordinated play, and be uncompetitive in group encounters. One of the more intriguing consequences of collective childrearing, however, was the virtual absence of marriage between peers. The longer individuals resided together on a kibbutz as children, the greater their aversion to sexual contact with one another. These findings support the so-called Westermarck effect, a psychological hypothesis proposed in 1891 by the Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck. He suggested that childhood co-residence served as a kinship cue (people decide who their siblings are based on who they grew up with). This sense of kinship had two effects: first, it generated an incest taboo among unrelated individuals, and second, it increased the altruism between unrelated individuals

[gems1g]

Finished Penacony quests in 2.0, some spoilers and thoughts behind the cut.

The main quest should have been titled "A Game of Trailblazer". 🤣 Eveyone wants a piece of them, it's like suddenly getting an unwanted/unexpected harem when all you would like to do is enjoy your vacation. Literally stumbling into a murder mystery while just trying to enjoy your stay at a hotel - a bit of gothic murder mystery novel vibe right there. Also a bit of sci fi fantasy comedy that turns slightly into psychological horror. I feel exhausted for Caelus.😂

Also now I think Penacony is not powered by a forsaken child, but powered by the forsaken. Forsaken here being the prisoners when it was still an IPC penal colony, and the IPC being what they are, I think some of those prisoners may not have deserved the imprisonment (or at least may have deserved a lesser sentence). Soulglad may be the thing that keeps the prisoners controlled - hints in some background dialogue and the description of the product itself implies it has psychological effects, and it was developed initially as medicine (much like Coca-Cola in real life, as a cure/substitute for alcohol; official description also mentions it is used as a sleep aid). In the kitchen in the section where there's a banquet hall and you need to break the chandelier, there's dialogue also that the "sweet stuff rots the brain" (paraphrasing). In the Manu's prison break event, at least what I've played so far, it's mentioned that the prisoners initially started rioting because the warden banned Soulglad, and my initial thought is what if that's part of the truth? What if the IPC doesn't want them consuming Soulglad because they are using the prisoners for physical labor, or for other nefarious things such as sending them to spy on other factions or worlds, sending them to missions that would inevitably lead to death, or unethical experimentation (all not far fetched as implied by Dr. Ratio with Aventurine's origin/why he's with the IPC)? What if the creator of Soulglad got the idea that they can stay in the dreamscape and achieve a sort of freedom they never can in real life, and in turn escape the IPC's clutches because the landscape has turned into a freaking dream, and everyone has to enter the dream to get their hands on a prisoner. And since lots of stuff can happen in dreams, and you can change appearance and be elusive and just you know, basically do whatever you want including giving wardens a hard time, the person who created Soulglad got inmates on his side to fight so they can remain dreaming?

Or it could also be that the IPC wants the prisoners to keep on dreaming because they earn money from the dreamscape and from Penacony itself (although I think this is contradicted by Aventurine's implied purpose in going to Penacony - that is, to wrest control of the planet from The Family and put it back into IPC hands)? What if the prisoners are being kept in prison and Soulglad is one of the things used to control them, and why some are willing to remain dreaming - because they are addicted to it. The dialogue when you investigate the big, floating tea cup in the lobby you meet Aventurine in after the fight with Sam (which I think is acronym for "(The) Swarm Annihilation Machine" - Welt mentioned Sam is from Glamoth and the Glamoth relic set stated the mechas were created to fight off The Swarm) also hints at the true nature of Penacony - I don't remember the exact words but the tea essentially tells you to join them in the dreaming and to enjoy the dreamscape and never wake up. Them I took as plural - them as the prisoners. So I think that's probably the secret here - Penacony is a utopia powered by the psyche of the forsaken, some may be aware and want to break free or regain freedom. That's where The Watchmaker comes into play, I think.

What if there's another faction inside the prison that is against getting trapped in a dream and instead wants to fight for actual freedom in real life? I think the leader of that faction might be The Watchmaker. And I also feel like initially, they were not against dreaming and getting stuck in a dream and was probably voluntarily involved in creating the basis of the dreamscape, but probably realized later on that they wanted out. Hence, their legacy - the legacy is probably knowledge of how the Primal Dreamscape came into being, and how to tear it all down (by waking the original dreamers or what's left of them) - hence several factions including the IPC and The Family are after it, because the legacy will give them either the power to maintain status quo, or destroy Penacony as it is now. And then I wondered, why use the imagery of a clock in Penacony? Then I remembered the twelve stages of human acts according to St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica (I'm finally putting all those theology and philosophy units from uni to use, lmao!🤣✌️ Here is a nice summary, and another one for further reading.). So basically, a human act involves twelve stages, half driven by intellect and half by will. And then going back to Soulglad as addicting, I also thought of the Twelve Steps Program to break alcoholism (or addiction). And what thing has basically twelve steps or twelve stages? A clock! So the clock is symbolism of breaking free from that which physically, mentally and metaphorically shackle you, in twelve stages, and attaining your own paradise. And the Golden Hour is the Golden Hour (midnight) because it's supposed to be the final stage in a (human) act: fruition - attaining your goal and enjoying the fruits of your labor (or act). But can you truly enjoy something that isn't real?

Now I come to the role of The Family (I have to go and read more of the official lore on them in the wiki). I think they might have been another faction that arose from those who want to stay dreaming, and wants the dreamscape to be perfect, along with being devout followers of Xipe. They may have decided to open Penacony to the world to gather dreamers, because maybe Penacony needs more dreamers, more forsaken, to power the Dreamscape since it's collapsing. And believing that the chaos in the Primal dreamscape as well as the negative emotions will affect this goal of maintaining a utopia, they try to sequester the bad emotions - and perhaps that's the reason for The Charmony Festival. It's a ritual of spreading ~good vibes~ and ~positive energy~ so they can keep compartmentalizing all the negative juju involved in the dreams and keep those separated. The fact Clockie can manipulate emotions in the dreamscape is evidence that perhaps The Family, and definitely The Watchmaker, have the means to do this. And again going back to The Watchmaker, maybe they realized isolating the negative emotions is actually detrimental to the dreamers' mental wellbeing and well, very much not in harmony with the path of Harmony. Because you know, harmony in it's essence is supposed to be a mutually beneficial relationship between order and chaos. Yin Yang and finding the right balance between the good and the bad, that stuff. But in Penacony, they are trying to hide the chaos of negative emotions instead of embracing it and living in harmony with it. (That thought sounds a lot nicer in my head, to be honest, now I feel like I'm just grasping at straws. 🤣). Also this explains the existence of the memetic Death - it's basically a being created from the suppressed negative emotions (stated as well in the enemy description but I will have to reread/recheck the wiki too). And that's why the invites were sent out publicly by the Watchmaker (or a cohort) since they know that the Dreamscape as it is is collapsing and wants to take that opportunity (of making Charmony Festival public) to end the eternal dream.

I think Aha's involved too, but I'm not going into more detail, I think this is a very long rambly post already, and I haven't had coffee yet.😂 I'm just speculating here, I may end up so far off the actual story in the end.🤣 But still, I'm excited to see what the writers were cooking up for Penacony. This is me right now basically:

[mikesavagenewcanaanusa]

The Link between Family Poverty and Child Labor in Honduras

Child labor continues to be a significant global concern, with millions of children being forced into exploitative work conditions instead of enjoying their childhood and accessing education. In the context of Honduras, a country plagued by poverty and socio-economic challenges, child labor remains a pressing issue. 

Michael Savage from New Canaan, CT understands the Honduras poverty issues first hand. His wife, Sandra Rivera, was born in Honduras. Today with Mike Savage’s help, they’ve formed the Savage-Rivera Foundation to help raise money and supplies to ship to impoverished families and children back in her home country.

This article aims to explore the link between family poverty and child labor in Honduras, shedding light on the factors that perpetuate this cycle and the efforts being made to address it.

Understanding the Reality

Honduras, a Central American nation, faces high poverty rates and limited opportunities for its citizens. According to the World Bank, more than 60% of Hondurans live in poverty, with a significant proportion experiencing extreme poverty. 

This dire socio-economic situation often pushes families to resort to child labor as a means to survive.

Factors Driving Child Labor

Limited Economic Opportunities

The lack of employment opportunities for adults, particularly in rural areas, forces families to depend on additional sources of income, leading to the engagement of children in labor-intensive activities.

Insufficient Access to Education

Poverty often hinders access to quality education, leaving children with limited prospects for their future. Without proper schooling, children become vulnerable to exploitation and are more likely to enter the workforce prematurely.

Informal Sector Exploitation

Honduras has a substantial informal economy, where child labor is prevalent due to weak regulations and oversight. These sectors include agriculture, domestic work, street vending, and small-scale manufacturing, which often exploit children’s vulnerability.

Consequences of Child Labor

The consequences of child labor on the affected children are severe and long-lasting. Some of the key impacts include:

Education Disruption

Child labor deprives children of the opportunity to receive an education, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and limiting their potential for upward mobility.

Health Risks

Hazardous working conditions expose children to physical, psychological, and emotional harm. They often work long hours, perform dangerous tasks, and are exposed to toxic substances, jeopardizing their overall well-being.

Socio-Emotional Development

Child labor deprives children of the chance to develop socially and emotionally. It robs them of playtime, interaction with peers, and the nurturing environment necessary for healthy development.

Addressing the Issue

Recognizing the urgency of combating child labor, both the Honduran government and international organizations have taken steps to address the issue. 

Some of the key initiatives include:

Legislative Measures

The Honduran government has implemented laws and regulations aimed at protecting children from exploitation and promoting education. These measures, such as the minimum working age and compulsory education laws, aim to create a safer environment for children.

Poverty Alleviation Programs

Efforts are being made to tackle poverty through social welfare programs that provide financial assistance, healthcare, and educational support to vulnerable families. These programs aim to reduce the necessity for child labor as an income source.

Awareness and Advocacy

Non-governmental organizations and international bodies work tirelessly to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of child labor and advocate for policy changes. They also provide support to at-risk children and their families, promoting education and sustainable livelihoods.

Conclusion

The link between family poverty and child labor in Honduras is a complex issue with deep-rooted causes. Eradicating child labor requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses poverty, enhances access to education, and strengthens child protection laws. By investing in poverty alleviation programs, promoting education, and enforcing regulations, we can work towards breaking the cycle of child labor, ensuring a brighter future for the children of Honduras.

It is imperative that both the Honduran government and the international community collaborate to tackle this issue effectively. By doing so, we can create a society where every child has the opportunity to thrive, unhindered by the burden of exploitative labor.

ABOUT MIKE SAVAGE OF NEW CANAAN, CT

Michael Savage from New Canaan is the CEO and sole shareholder of 1-800 Accountant that helps businesses with their accounting services and needs through cutting-edge technology and customer support. Mike Savage also has created a foundation with his wife Sandra to provide goods and relief for impoverished children and families in Honduras.

In his spare time, Savage enjoys creating unique koi ponds, collecting Michael Jordan sneakers, vintage Lego sets, and admiring muscle cars and unique pop art. He and his wife also spearhead the Savage-Rivera foundation to help impoverished families in Honduras.

[desaletushki]

Maternal Mental Health Market To Reach $45.72 Billion By 2030

Maternal Mental Health Market Growth & Trends

The global maternal mental health market size is expected to reach USD 45.72 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 28.43%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Maternal mental health issues are a global concern that affects women of various countries and cultures. It refers to the emotional well-being of women during the pregnancy and postpartum period. The market is driven by the increasing incidence of post-partum depression, increasing awareness programs, and efforts in improving practices around maternal mental healthcare among other factors.

Efforts are being undertaken to increase awareness of maternal mental health issues and improve access to treatment and support. These efforts include screening for issues during pregnancy and after childbirth, training healthcare providers to recognize and treat these conditions, and government funding & providing resources to women and their families. For instance, in May 2023, in Canada, the Associate Minister of Health and the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions announced funding for three organizations totaling over USD 857,000 for their initiatives promoting the treatment of maternal mental health conditions. The Women's College Hospital will receive USD 372,000 from Health Canada to help create national physician guidelines for perinatal mood disorders.

Request a free sample copy or view report summary: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/maternal-mental-health-market-report

In addition, the Public Health Agency of Canada will provide USD 279,000 to the Canadian Mothercraft Society to encourage secure attachment of mothers with their kids and USD 206,000 to the Families Matter Society of Calgary to lead projects aimed at promoting positive mental health conditions by enhancing their access to support services for black parents who are dealing with perinatal mood disorders.

Patients who gave birth to a child during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reported experiencing more stress during labor. In addition, depression symptoms were present in 29.6% of pregnant patients evaluated during the pandemic. COVID-19 has consequently significantly impacted peripartum mental well-being outcomes. However, the lack of access to diagnosis and pharmacological or psychological treatment during the pandemic has impacted the market.

On the other hand, the workforce shortage is expected to hinder the growth of this market. For example, one-third of Americans-about 37%-live in locations with a shortage of mental health professionals. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), there will be a shortage of 31,000 full-time equivalent mental health professionals in the U.S. by 2025. This shortage is attributed to a lack of resources, comparatively poor salaries, an aging workforce, a low number of people joining the field, and a concentration of providers in wealthy urban and suburban areas.

Maternal Mental Health Market Report Highlights

The pregnancy and postpartum general anxiety segment accounted for the largest share in 2022. Increasing awareness and recognition of perinatal mental health issues, including anxiety disorders is the major factor driving the segment growth

The postpartum depression segment is expected to witness a lucrative CAGR through 2023-2030 owing to the favorable reimbursement scenario, increasing awareness for screening, and approval of novel therapies

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) dominated the market in 2022 as it is considered an effective therapy for treating a variety of these conditions

The North American market encompasses the U.S. and Canada. The factors contributing to the market growth in the region include robust government funding, increasing research, and the presence of prominent players in this region

Maternal Mental Health Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global maternal mental health market based on disease indication, therapy, and region:

Maternal Mental Health Disease Indication Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Postpartum Depression

Dysthymia

Pregnancy and Postpartum General Anxiety

Pregnancy and Postpartum OCD

Birth-Related PTSD

Others

Maternal Mental Health Therapy Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Antidepressants

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)

Others

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Others 

Regional Insights

North America accounted for the largest revenue share of 41.93% in 2022 and is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the study period. Favorable reimbursement scenarios, increasing incidence of PPD, growing awareness programs, and robust healthcare infrastructure are the major factors driving the growth of the region. As per the data published by Postpartum Depression, the reported rate of some clinical PPD among new mothers is 10% to 20%. A recent study indicated that one in seven women may develop PPD in the year following childbirth. With over four million live births being reported annually in the U.S., this corresponds to approximately 600,000 PPD diagnoses. In the U.S., approximately 900,000 women who had miscarried or had a stillbirth suffered from PPD annually.

In addition, Texas lawmakers enacted a bill in 2021 that extended Medicaid coverage for six months following childbirth, compared to the current 2-month limit. In the 2023 session, other bills that call for a 1-year extension have also been introduced. Additional health-related legislation priorities for the 2023 session include expanding access to and coverage for contraception, providing gender-affirming treatment for trans adolescents, and providing mental health services for youth throughout Texas. Implementation of such legislation will offer lucrative opportunities during the review period.

List of Key Players in the Maternal Mental Health Market

Therapy Mama

Canopie

Pfizer, Inc.

Viatris, Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited

Mallinckrodt, Inc.

Sage Therapeutics, Inc.

Bausch Health Companies, Inc.

Magellan Health, Inc.

Others 

Authoritative Research: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/maternal-mental-health-market-report

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Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a complex and serious issue that involves the exploitation of individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for various purposes, such as forced labor, sexual exploitation, or involuntary servitude. Here is some comprehensive information about human trafficking

transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of people by means of threats, deception, or other forms of coercion for the purpose of exploitation.

Sex Trafficking Involves the exploitation of individuals, often women and children, through force, fraud, or coercion for sexual purposes. b. Labor Trafficking: Involves the exploitation of individuals through forced labor or debt bondage in various industries such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, manufacturing, and more. c. Child Trafficking: Refers to the trafficking of minors for various forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, child labor, child soldiering, and forced begging.

Human trafficking thrives in situations where there are vulnerabilities, such as poverty, lack of education, social inequality, armed conflict, political instability, and gender-based discrimination. Traffickers exploit these vulnerabilities to prey upon individuals seeking better opportunities or facing desperate circumstances.

Traffickers use various tactics to recruit victims, including false promises of employment, marriage, education, or a better life. They may also use abduction, physical and sexual violence, manipulation, debt bondage, or coercion to control their victims.

Human trafficking is a global issue that affects countries worldwide, both as source, transit, and destination countries. It is estimated that millions of men, women, and children are trafficked each year, making it one of the largest and most profitable criminal enterprises globally.

Many countries have implemented laws and international conventions to combat human trafficking. These laws criminalize trafficking, protect victims' rights, and provide measures for prevention, prosecution, and assistance.

Human trafficking has severe physical, psychological, and emotional consequences for victims. They often endure physical abuse, sexual violence, and emotional trauma, and live in fear for their safety and the safety of their families. Victims may also suffer from long-lasting psychological effects, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a loss of trust.

[johnleisanchez]

Child labor is a grave issue that continues to persist in various parts of the world, even in our own backyard. Dasmariñas, Cavite, is not exempt from this unfortunate reality. Witnessing numerous children engaged in laborious tasks within this locality has brought to light the urgent need to address this issue. This essay aims to shed light on the distressing presence of child labor in Dasmariñas, Cavite, highlighting its detrimental effects on the children involved and the broader implications for society. Childhood Lost: Child labor robs children of their fundamental right to a carefree and nurturing childhood. Instead of experiencing the joys of play, education, and social interaction, these children are thrust into arduous work at a tender age. Whether it is street vending, agricultural labor, or domestic chores, these young souls shoulder responsibilities that are far beyond their capabilities. In doing so, they are deprived of their innocence and the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and emotionally. Exploitation and Vulnerability: The prevalence of child labor in Dasmariñas, Cavite, stems from a multitude of socio-economic factors. Poverty, lack of access to quality education, and inadequate social support systems all contribute to the vulnerability of children. Unscrupulous employers often exploit their desperation, subjecting them to long working hours, hazardous conditions, and meager wages. These young workers are easily manipulated due to their lack of awareness of their rights, making them susceptible to abuse and exploitation. Impacts on Education: Child labor poses a significant obstacle to education, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. When children are forced into labor, they are unable to attend school regularly or receive proper education. The lack of education limits their future prospects, trapping them in a cycle of poverty that becomes increasingly difficult to break. This not only affects their individual development but also hinders the overall progress of society, as an educated and skilled workforce is essential for economic growth. Physical and Psychological Consequences: Engaging in labor-intensive work at a young age takes a toll on the physical and mental well-being of children. Their growing bodies are subjected to strenuous tasks that can lead to injuries, health issues, and developmental delays. Moreover, the psychological burden of labor often leads to feelings of stress, anxiety, and hopelessness, robbing them of their self-esteem and confidence. These long-lasting impacts can hinder their ability to thrive in adulthood. The prevalence of child labor in Dasmariñas, Cavite, serves as a stark reminder of the challenges faced by marginalized communities. It is imperative for the government, civil society organizations, and individuals to join hands in addressing this issue. By investing in education, implementing strict labor laws, and providing social support systems, we can pave the way for a brighter future for these children. Every child deserves the chance to enjoy their childhood, pursue an education, and break free from the cycle of poverty. Let us work together to protect the rights and well-being of these young souls, fostering a society where their dreams can flourish and their potential can be realized.