#Donor eligibility

[ezrazone]

EXTREMELY TIME-SENSITIVE: i'm offering FOUR highly detailed traditional character commissions to be sent to donors via mail through this direct aid market on behalf of the al manasra family currently fundraising to evacuate the beseiged gaza strip and pay for medical treatment in egypt. MARKET CLOSES DECEMBER 14th! this is a critical fundraising time, so please check out what we're offering ASAP! browse the market and donate, or donate now and see what last-minute gifts you might be eligible to receive as a thank-you! we've also re-opened artist submissions as of dec 10th, so if you'd like to help this family that is so dear to my heart by offering something you've made or can make, please fill out this easy form!

the Al Manasra family is vetted #192 here by El-Shab Hussein and Nablusi.

read some of my posts and comics about the Al Manasra family here.

you can alternatively donate to Mohamed’s still-active GOFUNDME page if you have an issue with Chuffed.

mohamed’s Tumblr page is @save-mohamed-family here is a post about their current goal that links to an additional FAQ!

[queerandprochoice]

So I’m about three weeks post-op for my hysterectomy and I’ve been thinking about something a lot lately.

I have O- type blood, meaning I’m a universal blood donor. Anyone can receive my blood, and O- is in constant demand because of this. If there’s no time to blood test in an emergency situation, O- is essential.

I’m nearly 26, and I’ve never donated blood. Why? Because I’ve never been eligible. The guidelines for donation are extremely strict in order to protect both donors and recipients. You have to meet age requirements, weight requirements, sexuality requirements, and can be ineligible because of a host of health conditions, because of certain medications, having new tattoos or piercings, travel to certain areas, etc. You can get turned away for being even slightly anemic.

Blood donations save lives; just one donation can save three people’s lives. It’s relatively quick, mostly painless, and extremely low-risk. But we don’t force anyone to donate; it’s entirely voluntary. If I was required to donate blood as frequently as possible, I theoretically could save a dozen or so people a year, but we don’t do that because that would be a violation of my rights. We don’t force people who are ineligible to donate anyway because it still might save a life. We don’t try and pressure people into donation if they don’t want to. Nobody says “well if you didn’t want to donate blood, you shouldn’t have gotten your blood typed.” There are no fake blood donation clinics that coerce you into donating if you’re ineligible or uninterested. There are no incentives or bribes or remuneration to convince people to donate blood, aside from a juice box and maybe some cookies. We don’t make cis men donate every 56 days, or cis women every 84 days. We don’t let underweight or underage people donate. We don’t deny people certain medications because they might want/have to donate blood. We protect the privacy of blood donors.

Blood donations save lives, but we only allow people to donate under extremely safe and 100% voluntary conditions. Are there some legitimate problems with some of the requirements, especially those related to gender and sexuality? Yeah absolutely, a lot of them are super outdated and homophobic. But the point is that our society values personal choice and bodily autonomy, as well as the health and safety of the donors, over potential lives saved. The same principles of consent and bodily autonomy apply to organ donation. You can’t even remove organs from a corpse to use for transplants unless that person had consented while they were alive.

Before I went into surgery, I also had to sign a consent form that would allow me to receive a blood transfusion if it was necessary.

We don’t allow forced blood or organ donations, and we have pretty stringent requirements for blood donors, because we value safety, consent, and bodily autonomy over quantity of life. And yet, anti-choicers want to force people to undergo pregnancy and birth—a far more dangerous, lengthy, and painful ordeal—because “it’s a life.” A ten year old isn’t old enough to donate blood, but is apparently old enough to carry a pregnancy to term.

It’s pretty fucked up how when it comes to abortion rights, it seems like health and safety, consent, and bodily autonomy suddenly don’t matter anymore.

Also, please consider donating blood if you can.

[pathetic-gamer]

fellow Americans, there is a MASSIVE blood shortage right now.

If you're able, please consider donating blood, especially if you have type-O. Supply is low and there are so few donors right now, even compared to typical summer dips. Your community almost definitely has a local blood bank that you can go through, just search for a blood drive in your area.

If you choose to go through the Red Cross, they're giving a (digital) $20 Amazon gift card to anyone who makes a donation appointment in the month of August (extremely rare to get any kind of monetary incentive for giving whole blood!!!)

this link has extra info on eligibility for queer donors (HRT is usually fine, PEP/PrEP requires a waiting period, etc)

you just have to weigh at least 110 lbs and be in "generally good health" (as in like, you don't actively have the flu). but even with chronic conditions, medications, etc., as long as you're managing them and feel well, you can probably donate!!

so in conclusion, for the love of all that you hold dear, consider donating blood in the next few weeks 🙏

[pixelpastry]

🕊️im participating in Artists 4 Gaza! i am offering two tiers for this initiative — please donate to families GFM efforts in the spotlight campaigns and get an art request from our artist team!

For instructions and fundraisers, see artaction4gaza.carrd.co

image descriptions below

image 1: graphic pertaining to Artists 4 Gaza, an art action to provide art for donating to fundraisers for families in palestine. 4 pieces of artwork are displayed - two halfbodies, two busts, and two chibi-style drawings. the two halfbodies are horned humanoids/tieflings with various expressions,.the two headshots/busts feature a tiefling and an elf, both are smiling at the viewer. Lastly, the chibis show a star-themed tiefling and a human rockstar in a jumping pose with her guitar. the text reads: donation tiers: 5-70 USD for tiers 1-4. to find more information, follow artaction4gaza.carrd.co for donations and art request form.

image 2: a "how it works" graphic, with text that reads:

donate to our spotlight fundraisers or other eligible fundraisers for art

click on "art request form" under artaction4gaza.carrd.co

take a screenshot of your GFM receipt as proof of donation

our volunteer art team accepts art requests based on their own preference

when your artist is finished with your request, they will email your completed work

request that dont get matched will be put on a waitlist pending future artist availability.

image 3: a "proof of donation" how-to graphic. shows a screenshot of a gofundme receipt where the donor's name is redacted. the text reads as follows: Find the receipt email GFM sends you after you donate. click on the arrow after "to me"on mobile to display the email and timestamp. three things must be visible for your donation: your payment email, donation date, and donation amount. all payment emails will be kept confidential.

image 4: graphic for artists 4 gaza that displays a dove on the left side of the image with a hat and poppy flower in its beak. the text reads: Art Requests Open! Donate and receive an art request at artaction4gaza.carrd.co.

Donation tiers include: tier 1 - 5 USD. tier 2- 20 USD. tier 3 - 35 USD. tier 4 - 70 USD.

Artists 4 Gaza is an independent art fundraising project raising evacuation & relief funds for families in Gaza. This intiative is spotlighting campaigns highlighted by the Dallas chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, but we accept all donations to Palestinian fundraisers seeking relief and/or evacuation funds.

[canisalbus]

I hope this isn’t unwelcome but here are a few of my personal Vascete modern AU headcanons:

As a child, Vasco was usually voted as a team captain when playing sports with other kids. Not necessarily because of his sporting ability, but rather because of his leadership qualities and general agreeableness and ease with others.

Machete always uses perfect grammar when he texts, but can take a while to respond. Vasco often responds instantly but with less attention to grammar. Machete texts in unbroken paragraphs (when he has a lot to say) but Vasco’s texts come through in small, sporadic flurries.

Machete is very familiar with hospitals, particularly so in his childhood due to his various medical issues. As a result he actually finds their cleanliness, and the politeness of the doctors, comforting. These experiences also made him more patient than he might otherwise have been.

Vasco donates blood and is on an organ donor registry.

Machete always carries hand sanitiser around and is constantly offering it to Vasco, who always carries hand cream around, and is constantly offering it to Machete.

Both are well-versed in music and have refined musical tastes.

Vasco hums wholeheartedly whilst doing the dishes - a chore Machete likes to avoid where possible. Vasco knows this, so he pretends he doesn’t mind doing them.

Machete often has a headache and Vasco’s usual first response to this is to ask Machete if he’s had enough water today. He’s often right.

Vasco scarcely thinks of the other paths his life could have taken. Though he knows pain, he feels very fortunate for all the good he’s been dealt in life, and attributes his good luck mostly to happy accidents. Machete on the other hand has unexpected moments of stark awareness of all the possible forks in his road. It’s a sudden deja vu that creeps up on him when he’s alone, almost as if he can remember all of his and Vasco’s past/ potential lives together. The feeling vanishes just as soon as it arrives.

Hot dang anon I LOVE these. Unwelcome UNWELCOME? You come to my house and present me with thoughtful interpretations of my characters, I feel nourished.

I can definitely see Vasco being a popular choice for a team captain. He's physically active but not ultra sporty, and even though he can get excited and carried away, he's never been that competitive (he's got that 'I just hope both teams have fun' sort of vibe that people tend to like).

The texting bit is terribly cute. Vasco rapid firing message after message vs Machete intermittently slapping half an essay in the chat.

Machete is hypochondriac and his threshold for seeking threatment is low, especially if he's experiencing anything he's not already familiar with. To my understanding Italy has a good quality universal public healthcare, but he typically chooses to go with private sector anyway and has been investing in pricey health insurance for years (probably way more extensive than what is necessary or reasonable).

I also thought of Vasco as a habitual blood donor. He wouldn't like it per se (medical surroundings unnerve him), but I think he might just get a kick out of being a good boy and potentially helping people. (I know gay, bi and msm men used to be banned from donating (or at least severely restricted) but it looks like many countries have revised their criteria significantly in recent years and there's a good chance he'd be eligible these days.)

The hand sanitizer/hand cream combo is so good. It made me chuckle. (Are you a hand sanitizer person or a hand cream person?)

Their respective tastes in music and cinema have more overlap than you might initially think, and they keep aligning closer and closer over time.

Machete wouldn't like doing dishes. Having to touch wet food (weird texture + unhygienic) is bad times all around. But he genuinely enjoys a little bit of vacuuming, dusting, laundry and general tidying and organizing. He doesn't leave that much for Vasco to do, just the occasional visibly messy jobs that squick him out more than he cares to admit.

That's very considerate of him. That's a very considerate thing to do to anyone in general. Dehydration and low blood sugar can really sour your mood and you wouldn't even notice they were the reason you're feeling so bad all of a sudden. (When I'm having a difficult day I try to remember to ask myself whether things are truly collapsing or am I potentially just a little too thirsty and hungry and unaware of it. Usually it's the latter).

Ah yes, Machete and the horrors. Vasco might be aware of the horrors as well, but perhaps he possesses the specific kind of galaxy brain that is near immune to this particular flavor of existential dread.

[fans4wga]

August 4 - Hollywood Food Insecurity Spikes Amid Strikes

The entertainment industry’s most vulnerable workers are increasingly unable to feed themselves amid a historic double strike with no clear end in sight, according to non-profits tasked with addressing the food insecurity crisis. They describe Hollywood’s ongoing work stoppage — prompted by the contractual impasse between the writing and acting guilds on one side and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on the other — as a humanitarian emergency broadly affecting the community, not just striking union members.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which runs pantries for those in need throughout the county, attributes a meaningful portion of its nine percent uptick in year-over-year distribution to the strikes’ impact. “When income stops immediately, the demand rises very rapidly,” explains chief development officer Roger Castle.

“This is happening right after the pandemic, which drained a lot of people’s savings,” observes Keith McNutt, executive director at the Entertainment Community Fund, which has distributed $3 million to more than 1,500 workers as of Aug. 1. “So, you have the financial burden on people who’ve already been depleted.” As a result, his organization — whose donors include Seth McFarlane, Steven Spielberg, and Greg Berlanti — has seen an unprecedented wave of immediate requests for basic living expenses, including groceries. “Before this started, we would do about 50 grants out of the L.A. office a week. Now we’re getting 50 applications a day.”

On July 28, below-the-line unions IATSE and the Teamsters Local 399 held a drive-through food drive for industry members affected by the strikes at IATSE’s West Coast headquarters in Burbank. It drew about a thousand vehicles throughout the day.

According to the relief nonprofit Labor Community Services, which helped to organize the event and is planning another in August, the organization distributed 1,740 food boxes, feeding an estimated 8,700 people, that day.

In California, striking workers are ineligible to receive unemployment assistance, while nationally, they cannot receive SNAP food benefits unless they qualified pre-strike — something Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is aiming to change with a new bill, introduced July 27. One place that striking actors in particular can turn to for help during the work stoppage is the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which offers emergency financial assistance and other resources, including grocery store gift cards, to union members. SAG-AFTRA made a seven-figure donation to the Foundation early in its strike to assist these efforts. (The WGA West does provide its own members with emergency financial loans from its strike fund and Good and Welfare fund.)

Cyd Wilson, its executive director, has seen an explosion in demand for the organization’s help. “People are making these decisions: Should pay my rent, or should I put food on the table? Should I put food on the table, or should I pay my utilities?” she explains. “There’s a great deal of suffering that’s happening.” By Wilson’s estimate, the foundation is now handling 40 times its typical number of applications per week, and it has already distributed as much in grants since the beginning of the WGA’s strike three months ago as it typically would in the span of a given year.

Meanwhile, Groceries for Writers, a direct aid project administered by Humanitas, a non-profit focused on film and television writers, has distributed more than 1,100 gift cards to WGA members since the onset of its work stoppage in early May. Humanitas executive director Michelle Franke says that “many of these writers have left notes indicating they’re in very urgent financial situations. Writers describe struggling with student debt, falling into eligibility gaps with CalFresh and EDD [state unemployment assistance], eviction notices, writing teams splitting low pay, having only just moved to Los Angeles and not having a large local support network as a consequence, dwindling savings.”

Groceries for Writers is hardly alone in addressing the growing need. In July, L.A.’s World Harvest Food Bank founder and CEO Glen Curado estimated to The Hollywood Reporter that his organization, which is offering free food to striking writers and actors, was serving an average of 150-200 members of this group per day. That effort was inspired by The Price Is Right host Drew Carey’s gesture of paying for all striking writers dining at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank and L.A.’s Swingers Diner for the duration of the work stoppage.

THR asked both the AMPTP and the talent unions whether they bear any responsibility for the worsening situation. In a statement, a spokesperson for the AMPTP said: “Like those negotiating on behalf of the guilds, representatives from the AMPTP and its member companies came to the table in good faith, wanting to reach an agreement that would keep the industry working and prevent the hardships caused by labor strikes.” SAG-AFTRA didn’t respond to a request for comment, while a WGA spokesperson said in a statement: “The public knows that working people are putting everything on the line in order to negotiate a fair deal with the studios who have caused this strike and the resultant suffering by refusing to address the reasonable proposals that writers brought to the table over 90 days ago.” Neither the AMPTP itself nor any of its major studio and streamer members responded when THR asked if the companies or their philanthropic arms had made any contributions specifically to address the industry’s food insecurity crisis since May.

Support staffers — early-career workers who fill roles such as assistants and coordinators and tend to be low-paid — are especially at risk at this time. “So much of the compensation that they receive is, no one’s going to say it, but it’s implied to be food-based,” notes Liz Hsiao Lan Alper, the co-founder of advocacy group Pay Up Hollywood and a WGA West board member. Alper says that support staffers are often paid the “bare minimum” but access complimentary food through writers’ rooms, craft services on sets or in agency kitchens and conference rooms. And so, when the strikes occurred, the need was “overwhelming,” she explains: “It’s invisible compensation that just went away when the work stoppages happened.”

For that reason, on June 7 Pay Up Hollywood relaunched its COVID-19-era Hollywood Support Staff Relief Fund. So far, the fund has distributed around $45,000 in one-time financial need grants up to $1,000 apiece, according to organizer and support staffer Alex Rubin, who says she’s encouraged support staffers to obtain free food distributed on picket lines. “I think that there is a little bit of embarrassment and insecurity about not being able to feed yourself,” she says. “It is the reason why we give our grants as just like, ‘Here’s a one-time grant. You don’t have to tell us how you want to use this.’”

Helping people in entertainment with food during work stoppages is a “tangible message,” says James Costello, a Teamsters Local 399 driver and an IATSE Local 44 prop master, who was volunteering at IATSE’s July 28 food drive. A second-generation Teamster, Costello still remembers a union strike in the 1980s that prompted his parents to warn their children that their Christmas holiday would be affected that year, and the Teamsters emergency relief that arrived in the fall, offering groceries and a Christmas tree.

As the strikes drag on and both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have yet to formally reprise negotiations with the AMPTP (although the Writers Guild is set to have a preliminary meeting with the studios’ organization on Aug. 4), the non-profits on the front lines of the industry’s food-insecurity crisis are girding themselves for a long period of need. SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Wilson says it’s pursuing a “very aggressive fundraising strategy” to meet the demand. (Already, it’s netted over $15 million in emergency assistance from stars like George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Matt Damon and Dwayne Johnson, who are donating $1 million or more apiece.)

The Entertainment Community Fund’s McNutt notes that pocketbook pain will outlast the current conflict. “Just because the strike ends, it doesn’t mean the need will end. Everyone doesn’t go back to work the next week. We’re going to be looking at this [elevated] level of need for months afterward.”

Give to the Entertainment Community Fund

Give to Humanitas' Groceries for Writers

Give to the Green Envelope Grocery Aid mutual aid fund

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

So how do you think Harry's kids got here? Do you think a surrogate was used? Do you think a donor egg and/or sperm was used?

I'm of the opinion a surrogate was used for both kids and that they might not be 100% their biological children. I know some people say Archie looks like August and Lili from her photo when she was one years old is supposed resemble the late Queen at that age. But people often see what they want when deciding who kids look like and kids can look like different people as their faces change.

You could go to any school in multiple countries and find a kid who looks just like Archie and we don't know what Lili looks like because whenever she's been "papped" the person apparently used the worse camera ever and their specially is blurry photos.

More importantly for me the question is why the BRF have played along is it just because they were afraid of being called racist if they said Archie isn't eligible to be in the line of succession? Do they not actually know whether a surrogate was used or do they simply not care?

For Harry and Meghan they should have been open about using a surrogate. They would have received so much support, there would be the conversation about whether people should use surrogates but the majority of the UK would've supported their decision to have a family. Funny thing is it would've made their kids special and got them the attention they wanted. Hiding all the details about the kids has resulted in no one caring about them or having any connection to them.

I would like the truth to be publicly known even it causes problems for the BRF. You won't generally find me defending members of the British aristocracy but if they have to adhere to the succession laws then so should members of the BRF.

I shared my thoughts on this several months ago (sometime between February - May 2024) but I haven't been able to dig that post up. I'll repeat what I said here but I will not be discussing this topic any futher after this gets posted.

What I said several months ago still remains true: Sometimes I think it was a gestational surrogate. Other times I think she really did carry Archie.

On the gestational surrogacy: Their story of Archie's birth, as told via Spare, gives me extraordinary pause because medically, none of what Harry says happened is/was possible. The lack of detail and/or sob story from Meghan also gives me pause. Consider the way she shouted from the mountaintops about her miscarriage in the New York Times. Now consider how silent she's been about her traumatic birth with Archie (according to Harry) or about how California's COVID protocols during her pregnancy with Lili may have affected her mental health. I specifically point out the latter because most of the women I know who were pregnant and/or gave birth between March 2020 - Summer 2021 talked a whole [fork] ton about the COVID protocols in place that made pregnancy an awfully lonely experience. Additionally, Meghan's desire for privacy on these experiences contradict her usual preference to compete with and/or one-up Kate. Since we know Kate had difficult pregnancies, we expect Meghan to either claim she had it worse (which Archie's traumatic birth as described by Harry in Spare definitely is, since KP's reports of the three Cambridge births were "textbook and uneventful") or her pregnancy was so easy, so straightforward, so textbook, so uneventful that she was literally a goddess of pregnancy. But yet Meghan has remained suspiciously silent, even when she's doing her "as the momest mom to ever mom" PR.

On the "Meghan really carried Archie" side: I have a cousin who's as thin as Meghan was pre-Archie, right down to the ankles that could snap. Like Meghan, my cousin's only weight gain during both of her pregnancies was in her belly/baby bump. So I know it's possible for some women to gain no weight but the baby bump. And second, Meghan did gain weight during her third trimester - she was noticeably fuller in her face at the Windsor presentation and had a noticeably fuller body at Trooping and Wimbledon and appeared to struggle losing the weight until spring 2022/Platinum Jubilee. We know that Meghan is incredibly vain to where she wouldn't have gained all that extra weight without good reason - after all, she made Trevor sign a pre-pregnancy contract listing her demands / requirements to get her body back should they have a baby.

Now to your questions:

is why the BRF have played along is it just because they were afraid of being called racist if they said Archie isn't eligible to be in the line of succession? Do they not actually know whether a surrogate was used or do they simply not care?

I've already covered this here. I think you can find it under the surrogacy tag. So I won't go into too much here.

My theory for why the BRF played along is because they didn't know there was a surrogate until it was too late and by then, they were already trapped in the scheme so they had no choice but to go along. Presenting their schemes as faint accompli has been Sussex MO for a very long time, with no one developing a spine until they demanded to commercialize the monarchy.

My theory for why the BRF continues to play along is because Charles is somehow involved and/or implicated and that truth coming out would lead to a scandalously huge lapse in confidence that could only be reconciled by his abdication to William. Charles has waited too long to be top dog to let anything get in his way and I suspect that we'll only find out the truth (or even a partial truth) if Clarence House finds a way to untangle Charles from it.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I won't be discussing this anymore and will not be posting any asks resulting from this. You're free to discuss in comments or reblogs, though.

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

Having completed her Angling Ace aspiration, Marin got cake-d up and sent on a vacation to Granite Falls and try and complete her fish collection. This gen's quirk is that they have to flirt with everyone who they encounter at a fishing spot, until they find their long-term partner.

Yeah, I'm thrilled about it too, Marin.

The rant follows. It was going to be a longer rant but then I got tired. You need energy to rant - who would have thought it? (Turns out I lied. It was still pretty long.)

Also anyone who isn't a Simmer will likely think that I need to touch grass after this (which, fair tbh). But then if you weren't a Simmer, you likely wouldn't be here in the first place 😉

(And yeah, it's all tongue-in-cheek/not to be taken seriously. Well, mostly lol.)

I know that the term 'long-term partner' is deliberately vague and leaves room for an aro-ace relationship (orrrr even a bff who you live with and raise a kid together?) which I appreciate. I know that she doesn't have to find her partner from this selection - the wording is that she just has to keep on flirting until she does.

But even of the premade townies, no one is sparking joy? I could default to Nalani, who you'd think would be perfect (I mean, gorgeous merperson and actually interesting in spite of her blah occult) and yet for some reason I'm just not feeling the two of them together.

So then the Watcher, in all her benevolence (aaaannd admittedly her cheapness for waiting on a sale to buy Lovestruck) set up a club for Marin. It was to be a club for young adults. It was to be a club for unmarried Sims. Which - I wish there was a finer means of classification, because I know damn well the two of you are engaged, Darrel Charm and Mateo Markovic from My Wedding Stories (whose name I had to look up, that's how little you inspire me). Bland as forbidden word townie from a pack so broke that it may as well be a millennial. Aaaand also it was to be a club for people with Level 2 Fishing and above.

Thus: young adults, unmarried, some skill (and therefore, hopefully interest) in fishing. Cute, cool. Hopefully we've weeded the catfish out of the pond.

Then we pulled up the tab of potential candidates and guess which forbidden word comes up.

Lou. Fucking. Howell.

For context, I have history with Lou Howell. I have beef with Lou Howell. Nothing particularly wrong with the guy, apart from a certain lightfingeredness (klepto trait) and a slight body hair problem around particular times of the month. But this motherfucker is like an universal adapter when it comes to all my Sims and I have to consciously make a decision to stay away from him in saves. In other words, Lou Howell is unwelcome here.

(I also don't really know yet what I'm doing with the fourth/next gen. Yeah, the rules say using music to make money. This Watcher however is this forbidden word tired of celebrity Sims popping up around the most random and out-of-way places that she's about to eject Get Famous into the sun, however, and it's taking every last once of willpower not to deactivate it right now. Sooo if I had an idea of what the fourth gen looked like, then I may have a less vague idea of what the baby daddy/mommy/gender neutral genetic donor should look like.)

Wait - what's happening now? Who moved my cursor?

NO, LOU. NO. IT IS NOT YOUR TIME. GO AWAY.

So I don't know what to do! Lou Howell Does anyone have gallery Sims to donate to this cause? Lou Howell Are there previously untapped mines of eligible townies who I haven't thought of? Lou Howell For the record, Akira Kibo and Paolo Rocca are granddad and dad respectively. In spite of the incest glitch making a comeback elsewhere (maybe it's heard the Targaryens have returned to the telly?), they are therefore out of the picture.

Play the Sims, they said. It will be fun, they said. A casual game, they said...

I need a lie down.

odd money legacy rules here. come join me. it will be fun...

[wakingfromthewater]

Fuck yes! This is great news!

I can't tell you how excited and happy this makes me. Blood and platelet donation are really important and only a fraction of eligible donors do it. The policy WAS discriminatory (no thanks for the hedging, NYT), and although it was cut down from a lifetime ban to a year ban and then in 2020 down to three months, gay men who were eligible were still sometimes subjected to extra questioning essentially asking if they were telling the truth. Furthermore, because the policy was based around crude birth-assignment ideas of "men" and "women" I've heard stories form both binary and nonbinary trans people about blood bank staff treating them with hostility and suspicion. This is a massive step towards making sure that queer and trans donors get treated with dignity and respect.

I have talked on here about being a regular donor and my delicious AB+ blood but I may not have mentioned that, although I am a cis woman, I had a lifetime ban on donating for years because the policy covered not only men who have had sex with other men but also anyone else who had ever had a male partner that had ever had sex with another man. I actually go to the place I do because the place I initially asked at still adhered to the lifetime ban.

Donated blood and platelets are really important for treating cancer, blood disorders like sickle cell anemia, surgery, burns, childbirth, and more. If you don't know whether you're eligible to donate or if you were banned in the past, check! There have been a number of reforms to the guidelines in the last few years.

[bioethicists]

i give blood a lot (not a flex; i have polycythemia) + ngl, the red cross is a BIT vampiric with their pursuit me. i have o+ which is for some reason in extremely high demand (it's not universal donor- that's o-) + they call me, no joke, 4-5x per week, email at least once a week, text probably 1-2x per week, starting the DAY i become eligible again. they're real people on the phone, too!!! they're like... we know you have blood. why are you keeping it from us charlie??? we have your records. we know you've got enough in there.

[mariacallous]

It is urgent that the leaders of colleges and universities stand up in defense of their interests and the values of higher education. American schools have long trumpeted their contribution to promoting an educated citizenry. Now, as one of the most consequential elections in American history approaches, we must do everything we can to help students work on campaigns and facilitate voting. And we must call out the threats to higher education.

This may seem straightforward, but in the wake of Oct. 7 and controversies over statements (or the lack of statements) concerning the atrocities, many academic leaders have embraced a doctrine of “institutional neutrality.” Recalling the bruising hearings with lawmakers in December 2023 and the campus protests of last spring, it seemed to many safer to celebrate a doctrine that called for silence. Few people, of course, want corporate-sounding university statements that say next to nothing while trying to please everyone, but now presidents, deans, and others are being told not to participate in debates about the issues of the day. After years of encouraging “more speech” as a sign of a school’s commitment to freedom of expression, the fear of offending students, faculty, and, especially, lawmakers and donors has led many academic leaders to retreat from the public sphere.

This is exactly the wrong time for such a retreat. Although academic leaders usually stay neutral about a candidate’s political statements, today’s campaign rhetoric is not politics as usual. The threats to higher education made by former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance are not subtle. Although for decades schools have interacted well with Republican and Democratic representatives, the brazen VP candidate has declared that “universities are the enemy.” The Trump agenda promises to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion departments and to punish those schools who do not live up to a right-wing version of civil rights standards. Trump has promised to close down the Department of Education and fire the accreditors who now certify which schools are eligible for governmental support. The folks who brought us the fraudulent Trump University now threaten to dismantle a higher-education ecosystem that is still (for now) the envy of the rest of the world. We must not be neutral about this.

External controlling of the curriculum, monitoring entrance exams, and policing faculty are direct threats to our educational missions, and these are not the only ones. Institutional leaders should also be speaking out against the mass deportation the Republican nominees threaten. So many of our schools have made a place for Dreamers, those students who were brought to the United States as children, and whose status in a second Trump administration is uncertain. Now Trump has promised to deport legal immigrants as well. His nasty nativism is antithetical to the recruitment of international students, a practice that has been a boon to higher education and to the world. We must not be neutral about this.

Educators should give up the popular pastime of criticizing the woke and call out instead the overt racism that has rippled through the Trump campaign over the past few months. The rhetoric about pet-eating Haitians is the most sensational example, but when a presidential candidate speculates about immigrants’ genetic disposition to commit crimes while also calling minorities “vermin,” we are fully in the zone of racist hate. How can we stay silent when a presidential candidate suggests that because of immigration, “we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now”? We must not be neutral about this.

It’s no secret that colleges and universities suffer from a lack of political and intellectual diversity. I’ve long argued that we should have an affirmative action program for conservatives, especially at highly selective schools and especially in the humanities and social sciences. But wanting more conservatives on campus is perfectly compatible with opposing the direct threats to education that we have heard over the past several months. We should not be silenced because of fears of appearing partisan. Anticipatory obedience is a form of cowardice, especially given the promise of Trump and Vance to punish those who oppose them. This week, the candidates spoke of using the military against those who don’t share their views, referring to Democrats as “the enemy within.” As Ian Bassin has noted, “There is not a case in American history where a presidential candidate has run for office on a promise that they would exact retribution against anyone they perceive as not supporting them in the campaign.” We must not be neutral about this.

I am sure there are some university leaders who hope that if they keep their heads down, their institutions will be spared the worst in the event of a Trump victory. Like the German philosopher Martin Heidegger after the Nazis came to power, they may rely on hopeful assertions of the greatness and autonomy of the academic enterprise. But the academic enterprise demands that we defend our students, our faculty, and the freedom that makes educational work possible.

Many fans of institutional neutrality today reverentially cite the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report to legitimate the silence of educational leaders. But even that report noted that “from time to time, instances will arise in which the society, or segments of it, threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry. In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values.” This is such a time. We must not be neutral.

[organizedtrex]

Yes, a lot of us -- including me! -- are angry at Biden for materially supporting genocide. And I hope all of you (that is, all of you who are legally eligible to vote in the US) will join me in collectively gritting our teeth and voting for him anyway. Because *not voting* is functionally a vote for this:

Trump told donors he will crush pro-Palestinian protests, deport demonstrators

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/27/trump-israel-gaza-policy-donors/

[coffinup]

Some things to keep in mind if you are thinking about donating your body to science!

-most places call it a “deeded body program”. Usually a university with an accredited medical program will have a program you can donate your body to.

-there are ever changing limits to whose body will be accepted. Many programs have a weight limit (that can change year by year) and will not accept people with certain medical conditions (HIV positive, Addison’s disease, etc).

-Have a plan if your body isn’t accepted! In my experience it’s 50/50 whether a body is accepted. Direct cremation and immediate burial are the least expensive options if your body isn’t accepted.

-Deeded body programs are often a great way to save money because cremation (at the conclusion of a body’s tenure at a research center) is often very low cost or free.

-Understand that bodies donated to science can be used in a variety of ways and body parts may be separated for different uses. Some heads can go to training for plastic surgeon students, separated limbs can go to general surgery students, eyes can go to optometry students, etc. Your body MAY OR MAY NOT be intact, but at the end of usefulness, your body parts will be reunited for cremation. I know my language here is a bit harsh and gruesome, but I think everyone is entitled to be informed about this because MANY people do not know that their body parts can be separated!

-Bodies are usually used for 1-2 years, after which cremation is offered (as stated above).

-if you are unsure if you’ll be eligible for body donation, consider being an organ donor! Even if you do not consider yourself “healthy” often times there is SOMETHING that can be used, including skin, eyes/corneas, hair, and teeth. The only reasons your organs or tissue would be rejected is if you have a bloodborne disease at time of death. Even your skin, eyes, and hair can be used to save or vastly improve someone’s life.

-if you want to donate your body, have a clear plan and research a place you want to go. If you have a unique, congenital, pituitary condition or “deformity” consider looking into academic and research facilities that specialize in pathology or the study of unique conditions.

-if you deed your body, NO ONE can take back your decision, not even your next of kin. Make sure you sign up for a program before your death so your wishes are respected when your time comes. Again, a program may refuse your body for whatever reason, but your family members can not stop your body from going through the donation procedure. (Check your state/country laws)

Good luck in your personal death decision journey, and as always,

Memento Mori

[tiellaekitsune]

It's that time of year again!

Starting at 3PM PST (2300 GMT), Desert Bus for Hope rides again, raising money for Childs Play Charity.

It's a week of fun, positive vibes, being happy and generally having a good time. Come along to where it's streamed!

Things to remember for the year:

The run will carry on while you sleep, so make sure you do those selfcare things!

The VST puts up clips of the funny moments onto the youtube - enjoyment far after the end of the run!

Don't forget to eat and drink!

Sign up for/update your donor account on the website! Without a donor account you are not eligible for giveaways or auctions!

Be good to yourselves and each other!

And finally, enjoy it and have a good year!

[ntrlily]

H

Hey so the only thing i can get from this is that one episode of New Amsterdam (I THINK?????????) Where someone cant get a life saving blood transfusion because of their religion

Like h

I mean good for you ig??? (Donating blood is important)

(Also if anybody gets at you for the "atheist" part: some people wanna float in the void from Some Are Born To Endless Night after they die and honestly thats fine really. You do you gorl)

I am regularly encouraging people to Donate Blood because there's often shortages in a lot of the world. I have been posting less about it lately cuz I've been temporarily holding off after some health stuff and half my blood donation posting happens while I am in the middle of a blood donation appointment, but I still encourage eligible donors to Consider Donating Blood!

Somehow the only part of my bio that has ever invited discourse is the "webp defender" part!