#SO many weight loss drugs are banned.

[minminambus]

I am SO SO SO silly over medications and pharmaceuticals. I go so silly.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

General Mills and cheaply bought "dietitians" co-opted the anti-diet movement

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in NEXT THURSDAY (Apr 11) in BOSTON with Randall "XKCD" Munroehttps://cockeyed.com/lessons/viagra/viagra.html, then PROVIDENCE, RI (Apr 12), and beyond!

Steve Bannon isn't wrong: for his brand of nihilistic politics to win, all he has to do is "flood the zone with shit," demoralizing people to the point where they no longer even try to learn the truth.

This is really just a more refined, more potent version of the tactical doubt sown by Big Tobacco about whether smoking caused cancer, a playbook later adopted by the fossil fuel industry to sell climate denial. You know Darrell Huff's 1954 classic How To Lie With Statistics? Huff was a Big Tobacco shill (his next book, which wasn't ever published, was How To Lie With Cancer Statistics). His mission wasn't to help you spot statistical malpractice – an actual thing that is an actual problem that you should actually learn to spot. It was to turn you into a nihilist who didn't believe anything could be known:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how-to-truth/#harford

Corporations don't need you to believe that their products are beneficial or even non-harmful. They just need you to believe nothing. If you don't know what's true, then why not just do whatever feels good, man? #YOLO!

These bannonfloods of shit are a favored tactic of strongmen and dictators. Their grip on power doesn't depend on their citizens trusting them – it's enough that they trust no one:

http://jonathanstray.com/networked-propaganda-and-counter-propaganda

Bannonflooding is especially beloved of the food industry. Food is essential, monopolized, and incredibly complicated, and many of the most profitable strategies for growing, processing and preparing food are very bad for the people who eat that food. Rather than sacrificing profits, the food industry floods the zone with shit, making it impossible to know what's true, in hopes that we will just eat whatever they're serving:

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003460

Now, the "nothing can be known" gambit only works if it's really hard to get at the truth. So it helps that nutrition and diet are very complex subjects, but it helps even more that the nutrition and diet industry are a cesspool of quacks and junk science. This is a "scientific discipline" whose prestigious annual meetings are sponsored (and catered) by McDonald's:

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/my-trip-mcdonalds-sponsored-nutritionist-convention/

It's a "science" whose most prominent pitchmen peddle quack nostrums and sue the critics who point out (correctly) that eating foods high in chlorophyll will not "oxygenate your blood" (hint, chlorophyll only makes oxygen in the presence of light, which is notably lacking in your colon):

https://www.badscience.net/2007/02/ms-gillian-mckeith-banned-from-calling-herself-a-doctor/

When the quack-heavy world of nutrition combines with the socially stigmatized world of weight-loss, you get a zone ripe for shitflooding. The majority of Americans are "overweight" (according to a definition that relies on the unscientific idea of BMI) and nearly half of Americans are "obese." These numbers have been climbing steadily since the 1970s, and every diet turns out to be basically bullshit:

https://headgum.com/factually-with-adam-conover/what-does-ozepmic-actually-do-with-dr-dhruv-khullar

Notwithstanding the new blockbuster post-Ozempic drugs, we're been through an unbroken 50-year run of more and more of us being fatter and fatter, even as fat stigma increased. Fat people are treated as weak-willed and fundamentally unhealthy, while the most prominent health-risks of being fat are roundly neglected: the mental health effects of being shamed, and the physical risks of having doctors ignore your health complaints, no matter how serious they sound, and blame them on your weight:

https://maintenancephase.buzzsprout.com/1411126/11968083-glorifying-obesity-and-other-myths-about-fat-people

Fat people and their allies have banded together to address these real, urgent harms. The "body acceptance" movement isn't merely about feeling good in your own skin: it's also about fighting discrimination, demanding medical care (beyond "lose some weight") and warning people away from getting on the diet treadmill, which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and permanent weight gain:

https://www.beacon.org/You-Just-Need-to-Lose-Weight-P1853.aspx

Fat stigma is real. The mental health risks of fat-shaming are real. Eating disorders are real. Discrimination against fat people is real. The fact that these things are real doesn't mean that the food industry can't flood the zone with shit, though. On the contrary: the urgency of these issues, combined with the poor regulation of dietitians, makes the "what should you eat" zone perfect for flooding with endless quantities of highly profitable shit.

Perhaps you've gotten some of this shit on you. Have you found yourself watching a video from a dietitian influencer like Cara Harbstreet, Colleen Christensen or Lauren Smith, promoting "health at any size" with hashtags like #DerailTheShame and #AntiDiet? These were paid campaigns sponsored by General Mills, Pepsi, and other multinational, multibillion-dollar corporations.

Writing for The Examination, Sasha Chavkin, Anjali Tsui, Caitlin Gilbert and Anahad O'Connor describe the way that some of the world's largest and most profitable corporations have hijacked a movement where fat people and their allies fight stigma and shame and used it to peddle the lie that their heavily processed, high-calorie food is good for you:

https://www.theexamination.org/articles/as-obesity-rises-big-food-and-dietitians-push-anti-diet-advice

It's a surreal tale. They describe a speech by Amy Cohn, General Mills’ senior manager for nutrition, to an audience at a dietitian's conference, where Cohn "denounced the media for 'pointing the finger at processed foods' and making consumers feel ashamed of their choices." This is some next-level nihilism: rather than railing against the harmful stigma against fat people, Cohn wants us to fight the stigma against Cocoa Puffs.

This message isn't confined to industry conferences. Dietitians with large Tiktok followings like Cara Harbstreet then carry the message out to the public. In Harbstreet's video promoting Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Trix, she says, "I will always advocate for fearlessly nourishing meals, including cereal…Because everyone deserves to enjoy food without judgment, especially kids":

https://www.tiktok.com/@streetsmart.rd/video/7298403730989436206

Dietitians, nutritionists and the food industry have always had an uncomfortably close relationship, but the industry's shitflooding kicked into high gear when the FDA proposed rules limiting which foods the industry can promote as "healthy." General Mills, Kelloggs and Post have threatened a First Amendment suit against such a regulation, arguing that they have a free speech right to describe manifestly unhealthy food as "healthy."

The anti-diet movement – again, a legitimate movement aimed at fighting the dangerous junk science behind dieting – has been co-opted by the food industry, who are paying dietitian influencers to say things like "all foods have value" while brandishing packages of Twix and Reese's. In their Examination article, the authors profile people who struggled with their weight, then, after encountering the food industry's paid disinformation, believed that "healthy at any size" meant that it would be unhealthy to avoid highly processed, high calorie food. These people gained large amounts of weight, and found their lives constrained and their health severely compromised.

I've been overweight all my life. I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting when I was 12. I come from a family of overweight people with the chronic illnesses often associated with being fat. This is a subject that's always on my mind. I even wrote a whole novel about the promise and peril of a weight-loss miracle:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781429969284/makers

I think the anti-diet movement, and its associated ideas like body acceptance and healthy at every size, are enormously positive developments and hugely important. It's because I value these ideas that I'm so disgusted with Big Food and its cynical decision to flood the zone with shit. It's also why I'm so furious with dietitians and nutritionists for failing to self-regulate and become a real profession, the kind that censures and denounces quacks and shills.

I have complicated feelings about Ozempic and its successors, but even if these prove to be effective and safe in the long term, and even if we rein in the rapacious pharma companies so that they no longer sell a $5 product for $1000, I would still want dietary science to clean up its act:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2816824

I'm not a nihilist. I think we can use science to discover truths – about ourselves and our world. I want to know those truths, and I think they can be known. The only people who benefit from convincing you that the truth is unknowable are the people who want to lie to you.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/05/corrupt-for-cocoa-puffs/#flood-the-zone-with-shit

[mariacallous]

Content warning: This piece includes descriptions of eating disorders and self-harm that may be triggering to some readers.

Soon after E turned 16, she started seeing TikToks that urged her to lose weight. People in the “SkinnyTok” community called them “harsh motivation.”

Some girls printed out photos of underweight models and taped them to their fridge doors. Others shared mantras to stop eating like: “You don’t need a treat, you're not a dog.”

The phrase that stuck with E the most was “Your stomach isn’t growling, it’s applauding.” For around two months, she said she restricted calories to a dangerously low amount, because “that’s what they told me to do.”

“It felt so comforting and motivating to see those videos,” says E, who doesn’t want her name used due to privacy concerns. “There are so many accounts like these, which made me think ‘Oh yeah, this is normal’.”

It’s easy to find TikToks like the ones E described—but the platform is far from being an outlier. “SkinnyTok” is a genre of videos about weight loss, ranging from “harsh motivation” to food diaries showing what women eat to stay “lean.” It has been compared to “pro-anorexia” and “pro-eating disorder” communities that have thrived for over a decade on platforms like Tumblr. More recently, on X, pro-eating disorder groups have attracted hundreds of thousands of members through algorithmic recommendation. The groups proliferated after Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022, and users say they have flourished due to lack of moderation. TikTok says it has cracked down on these types of posts, saying pro-eating disorder content is banned on its platform and that it has taken other steps to mitigate the issue. But experts tell WIRED that both social media and the widespread nature of GLP-1 weight loss drugs (which are often advertised on the platforms) can be triggering, not only to people who are in recovery from eating disorders, but to people who have never struggled with them before.

Now, some creators are releasing videos that poke fun at the absurdity of eating disorder content in an effort to dissuade others from buying into it. But experts say it’s a fine line between using humor to debunk and punching down.

One of the first results when searching “SkinnyTok” is a slideshow set to thumping electronic music and a young woman screaming “Control yourself!” The pictures in the slideshow feature the faceless bodies and hands of thin, young white women, as well as bowls of sliced carrots and blood oranges. Superimposed over the images are some of the same weight loss mantras E recalls. It has more than a quarter of a million views. According to TikTok’s tools for advertisers, videos with the “SkinnyTok” hashtag have been viewed over 53 million times in the past week. The advice ranges from the benign, like loading up on protein at the beginning of the day, to promoting extreme calories deficits and other forms of disordered eating in pursuit of thinness. Some women show “before” pictures and talk about how they lost dozens of pounds.

A 2021 survey of 273 women who used TikTok found that 64 percent had been “exposed to disordered eating content” on the “For You” page of the platform. TikTok has since added a feature to show eating disorder recovery resources to users who search terms associated with them, including “SkinnyTok.” The resources do not appear when searching for “harsh motivation,” which directs users to “harsh food motivation” and “harsh body motivation.” The platform also said it adjusted its algorithm to interrupt repetitive patterns of videos about weight loss.

In a statement to WIRED, TikTok says the 2021 survey “has significant limitations, does not reflect the experience of our community, and was conducted three years ago. We continually enhance our platform and policies to promote a positive and safe experience, and regularly consult with experts, remove content that violate our policies, and provide access to supportive resources.” TikTok also removed one video WIRED flagged that promoted skipping meals and drinking water instead.

But four practitioners tell WIRED patients in eating disorder recovery still bring up TikTok and “SkinnyTok” trends. Dr. Lauren Breithaupt, a Harvard Medical School clinical psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist who specializes in eating disorders, says “patients are reporting specific TikTok and Instagram trends that amplify their anxiety or trigger disordered behaviors.”

“Today’s adolescents don’t need to seek out pro-eating disorder content,” she adds. “It finds them.”

Eating disorders have the second-highest mortality rate of any mental health-related disorder. They have been on the rise worldwide for decades, doubling in the general population from 2000 to 2018. Then, between 2018 and 2022, health visits for eating disorders doubled in the US for kids and teenagers. In addition to the growing role of social media, weight loss drugs like Ozempic have become more accessible and popular. They have also been linked to eating disorders, with practitioners reporting that some patients are developing them after they begin taking GLP-1 drugs.

Breithaupt said there’s not one singular cause for an eating disorder, which involves biological, social, and psychological factors.

“But are there certain individuals where this overwhelming amount of content could lead to more disordered eating or down that path? Yes,” she says, adding that once someone engages with that content, the algorithms ensure that they see more.

E’s body image problems started when she was 12, but got worse because of social media. She says she first got on the internet to find ways to lose weight and found 15-minute workouts to do in the days leading up to wearing a swimsuit. “They would promote very underweight girls and make it seem like they were the ‘normal’ body. When I realized I don’t look like that, it made me feel bad,” E says.

Registered dietician Michelle Pillepich says SkinnyTok videos are often presented as if they’re promoting good health, but they’re actually regressive.

“It’s packaged in this message of ‘This is just to feel good, just to help you feel confident,’ but is selling and promoting weight stigma and bringing us back to the message of ‘thin makes you happy and you have to be skinny to be healthy,’” she says. “I thought we knew that thinness and health are not equal, but that’s really the message being sent again.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, at the height of TikTok’s popularity, Pillepich started posting her own TikTok videos. Some of them “took off and got a lot of traction,” and she has almost 15,000 followers now. She sees the platform as an opportunity to share information about nutrition and eating disorders.

In early April, Pillepich posted a video asking viewers to “tell me the craziest most unhinged thing you did to motivate yourself to recover from an ED or disordered eating. I don’t mean ‘for my family.’ I mean the wildest thoughts that helped you eat when you really didn’t want to.” Nearly five million people watched and over 14,000 left comments. Some of the most-liked ones are, “a nail tech told me that she was going to start charging me extra cause ‘making gastric acid nails cute is hard,’” and, “For a while I imagined the ED thoughts being said by Trump so I wouldn’t wanna listen to them.”

“I am finding it very hopeful,” Pillepich says. “People do want to recover, they do want to feel better in their relationship with food.”

Around the same time Pillepich posted her video, E came across a creator named Stephen Imeh who she says was “unglamorizing” eating disorders with his blunt TikToks.

One of Imeh’s popular videos shows pictures of burgers, donuts, and other dishes as a retort to the idea that “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” His content regularly gets hundreds of thousands to millions of views.

Imeh, 19, a Houston-based college student, was initially drawn to a social media trend called “looksmaxxing,” where men and boys strive to improve their facial appearance down to the shape of their nose, jawline, eyes, and hairline. “Looksmaxxing” promotes tongue exercises, sucking in your cheeks, getting plastic surgery and disordered eating.

After posting a “looksmaxxing” video, Imeh, who is Black, says he received racist comments, including ones telling him to “just be white.” Upon realizing that the community was “toxic and racist,” Imeh pivoted to anti-looksmaxxing content and then stumbled on “SkinnyTok” and pro-eating disorder communities on X.

“It’s way easier to find SkinnyTok, eating disorder TikTok, than recovery,” Imeh said. “I went for a different approach, telling them the side effects and what could happen if you’re not eating.”

Imeh’s videos mention more extreme potential health outcomes of eating disorders, like organ failure and hair loss. But he also sometimes mocks the messaging found in pro-eating disorder communities. In one TikTok, he’s eating with a text overlay that says “none of your friends are gonna be jealous that your Ed made you look like a skeleton baby pick up the fork.”

Imeh says he’s not trolling, but stating “literal facts” that he doesn’t sugarcoat. “One thing I noticed in Gen Z, especially my generation, is that they will only stop doing something if they’re embarrassed by it,” he says.

“I got a lot of people emailing me and DMing me like ‘Stephen you’ve helped me so much with my eating disorder.’” He has over 70,000 followers, many of whom began following him after he took on eating disorder communities.

Pillepich says she can see a modern, “chronically online” approach working to redirect attention and ideally get people who need it into recovery.

“Leading with nuance doesn’t get people’s attention. It does have to be more extreme, more funny, whatever it is,” Pillepich said. “If that gets someone to the first step of seeing a dietician, a therapist, working on the deeper issues, then that’s great, too.”

Breithaupt said that content that is too judgmental or makes people with eating disorders feel ashamed could make them less likely to get help. “The most effective anti-ED content tends to validate the pain beneath the disorder while still rejecting the behaviors,” she says.

“When content creators use humor or mockery to push back against pro-ED culture, there’s a real risk that viewers—especially those actively struggling—won’t just see the disorder being criticized, they’ll feel like they are being mocked.”

E said that TikTok content like Imeh’s helped her realize how “stupid” SkinnyTok was. She said she has started watching eating disorder recovery content, instead. But the algorithm still shows her “harsh motivation” for weight loss in addition to recovery videos.

In late 2024, TikTok banned a controversial weight loss influencer whose content glorified extreme thinness. E thinks TikTok should ban more of “SkinnyTok,” although pro-eating disorder communities have historically migrated to other platforms when that happens.

Eating disorder recovery practitioners say that posting anti-”SkinnyTok” videos on the same platform is likely helpful, but that it’s only a first step.

“What I work with most people on is limiting social media,” Breithaupt said. “Doing something else rather than engaging in social media is more helpful toward recovery, even if you’re watching recovery-oriented videos.”

The National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline provides support, resources and information about treatment options at 1-866-662-1235, Monday through Friday. You can also text “ALLIANCE” to 741741 if you are experiencing a crisis to be contacted by a trained volunteer. More information about eating disorders, including other free and low-cost support options, can be found on the National Eating Disorder Association’s website.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Mind-Altering Chemical

Alcohol, Marijuana, and Opium are ALL mind-altering chemicals. We call them recreational because of the way it alters your mind. Beer gives you a buzz or gets you drunk (depending on how much she goes fast you drink it. Marijuana gets you high or wasted, also depending on how many edibles you consume. Opium works similarly to Marijuana. We just don't like it because we're racist, and I'll be damned if China is gonna get rich off my dumb ass. (Support small business--Smoke local)

I don't smoke. Because it makes me want a pack of Reds or Djarum Cloves. BTW: Nicotine is also a mind-altering chemical as is coffee.

Nicotine and Caffeine don't count when we're talking about mind-altering chemicals, because they don't have the hard-hitting effects like beer and MJ do in those larger doses.

I know people that can sip a single beer over a day and call that a buzz. But we all know that doesn't count.

"How have you used Opium if you're both racist and don't smoke?" Well, I was prescribed Vicodin when my wisdom teeth were removed. AND IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW. Vicodin is an opioid.

I hated that BTW, I had that and motrin to take for the pain, and all I did was play Paper Mario off the Wii store, poorly, for an entire week. It was all I could do, I was too high for anything else.

But I did get to finish "Thousand Year door" so there's that.

If you're wondering: fentanyl is a locally (as in US) produced synthetic opioid prescribed to people who Vicodin, Percocet, or other don't work. (all opioids) and by don't work: I mean don't work for what they're prescribed for. Usually to old people, but profit margins started creating opportunities to put fentanyl into everything. (Something that could be corrected by making weaker drugs Legal, instead of using fentanyl for everything.)

I'm talking about this because there's a difference between *those things* and other drugs prescribed for mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.

(F* Wellbutrin.)

Which can also be prescribed for other conditions such as nerve-ending damage, arthritis, and pain. (Which suggests that anxiety and depression can be caused by pain receptors, when you don't actually feel pain.)

You don't typically get high or drunk on prescription anxiety meds, but they allow for you to function, and to deal with your day to day when you're otherwise checked-out.

Hey, hey. This is important, because people do something called self-medication. This isn't like addiction, where you're chasing that high, or drunk state, or "just trying to forget".

Because people self-medicate with Tylenol, Motrin, Tums, and all sorts of things in your "over-the-counter" aisle. Which by the way, costs $100 If you stock up on all of them for the month. (So much for Medicare).

Before smoking indoors was banned, nearly everybody smoked. Not just because it was the cool thing to do, but because nicotine actually has several benefits: including, focus, anti-anxiety, and energy (as well as weight loss).

Same with coffee. It's why [coffee and cigarettes] were considered necessary items up until the 21st century.

I wouldn't be surprised if this wave of autism and ADHD has to do with the efforts of just detoxing from both cigarettes and coffee. Because until now, until it was admitted that it was an actual thing; that's just what you did in order to function.

That's what you did to appear and act normal. Because it worked.

This is gonna get into a chicken-egg thing where "well how do we know they didn't *cause* ADHD and autism". Because if that was true then motrin and water caused your broken leg.

I'm just gonna conclude here:

Look, old people are gonna die soon anyway, we should at least listen to them, when they take drugs either recreationally or because they're in pain from the ravages of old age.

They should be taken care of, so that we can get their input and feedback on what actually works for conditions, what doesn't, and that can pave the way for medicinal breakthroughs that can actually improve health going forward.

That's an investment for the future, and respect for the past.

[ai-tech-resources]

What to know about UK warning on weight loss drugs' effect on birth control - ABC News

Understanding the implications of specific medical warnings is crucial, particularly when it involves potentially life-changing side effects. A case in point is the UK warning on weight loss drugs' effect on birth control. The warning was recently broadcasted widely, leaving many in the UK and around the world scratching their heads, wondering what exactly it entailed and how it would affect their daily lives. This article aims to decode this warning, discuss its implications, and provide practical advice for those who might be affected. The UK warning focused broadly on common weight loss drugs available in the market and their potential to compromise the effectiveness of birth control methods. It is paramount to understand that weight loss supplements have significant physiological effects and, as such, can interfere with other medication efficacy, including contraceptives. It's worth noting that this precaution does not imply that all weight loss drugs disrupt birth control. However, some medications hasten the digestive process, which could make it difficult for your body to fully absorb birth control pills. As a result, the contraceptive may not be as effective as expected, leading to potential unplanned pregnancies. So, what does the 'What to know about UK warning on weight loss drugs' effect on birth control' mean for individuals using these medications? First, it's crucial to consult a healthcare professional if you're on birth control and considering weight loss drugs or vice versa. They can provide individualized advice based on your health history and current medications. Secondly, it is crucial to take the warning seriously. While weight loss medication may seem like an attractive option for quick results, it's essential to carefully consider potential side effects, especially when using other medications simultaneously. Factor this in your decision-making process and remember that there are alternative, safe ways to achieve weight loss, such as regular exercise and a balanced diet. In conclusion, while the 'What to know about UK warning on weight loss drugs' effect on birth control' might initially seem scary, it does not equate to an outright ban on using these two kinds of medications concurrently. It's a precaution to help individuals make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing. The key takeaway is to always consult with a healthcare professional before beginning any new medication course, especially when already on another. Remember, leading a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to put you at odds with your birth control methods. Ensure you're well-informed, stay aware of the effects of your medications, and keep open communication with your healthcare provider to get the best advice for your situation. Retail buyers → https://glp1weightloss.fit/ Wholesale buyers → Wholesale Registration {"@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "What to know about UK warning on weight loss drugs' effect on birth control - ABC News", "description": "Decoding the 'What to know about UK warning on weight loss drugs' effect on birth control' - Discussing its implications and what it means for those taking weight loss drugs while on contraceptives.", "image": "https://images.pexels.com/photos/6975473/pexels-photo-6975473.jpeg", "author": {"@type": "Person", "name": "Fitwiz25"}, "datePublished": "2025-06-06T09:08:47.332827"}

[cleverthylacine]

People do things that we know they are going to regret all the time.

They are still allowed to, and sometimes we're wrong.

Sometimes people who get married while blind drunk in Vegas are happy together for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes people who have jumped through all the hoops we would like them to jump through and made carefully considered decisions end up miserable.

Also, I really enjoy watching Botched.

That's not schadenfreude, there--it's really interesting. And the point of bringing it up is that actually, we DO allow people to get surgery just because they're vain, or want to look like elves and Barbie dolls, even if there's a good chance that they will regret it.

What people are not so secretly arguing about here is whether or not we should all (as a Society) have to pay for other people's medical care if we don't approve of it.

My answer is always going to be yes, because: 1. many people disapprove of abortions and gender confirmation surgery because they're assholes, yet that they're actually critically necessary health care.

2. nobody should have to put whether or not they can have surgery up to a vote.

3. when medical treatment isn't covered by health care payors (and we should only really have one--society itself), people result to buying their drugs on the street and getting their body mods in other people's homes, and the people who sell the drugs and do the surgery aren't necessarily competent to do those things

4. insurers are actually really fucking mean about plastic surgery. If you have breast cancer, you should not have your breast reconstruction after surgery denied because "it's cosmetic". You can live without boobs, or with only one, but nobody should have to do that just because they're poor. Poor people who get in accidents should have the right to all the facial reconstruction surgery they need. People who get weight loss surgery (and I could rant about that for days--there are a few situations in which it might be warranted, but just 'being fat' is not one of them) should not have to be stuck with their loose skin as punishment for having been fat but poor.

So yeah, I'm comfortable with someone using my tax dollars to get "stupid" surgeries.

Also, I'm going to pick a bone here.

Transness is not a medical condition that requires treatment, but gender dysphoria is.

That is why bans on health care for trans youth are so absolutely crucial to their survival. Some kids will weather going through opposite sex puberty and having a harder time transitioning later okay, but many won't; for those with severe dysphoria, denying social transition as well as hormones is likely to cause deep depression, which leads to self-harm, risk-taking behaviour and sometimes suicide.

if trans people ought to receive whatever reconstructive medical procedures they desire, and indeed they ought, then this cannot be specifically because they are trans, nor even specifically because they are the gender that they are—first, because this would reify transness as a medical status that demands treatment, which is an unacceptable concession to the authority of pathologizing narratives; and second, because there is no tenable argument that can be given for helping a trans person receive the medical intervention(s) they may desire that would not spill across the boundaries of both whatever gender the intervention is "supposed" to be for (why shouldn't a cis man be given a breast augmentation if he wants one?) and what are considered "gendered" physical traits in the first place (why shouldn't a trans woman get to have a surgically produced tail if such technology exists one day INSHALLAH).

[charlotteswebbbbb]

What's the vibe? #45

Vestiaire Collective have banned fast fashion retailers such as Zara, H&M, Gap, Urban Outfitters and Uniqlo. Maybe brand protection?

Next year's Met Gala theme is "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" to coincide with the Met's annual exhibition. This year it's about "will explore notions of rebirth and renewal, using nature as a metaphor for the impermanence of fashion". So we're looking at this possible dichotomy between a sustainable garment which could be biocouture or really really sensitive garments which were only meant to be like seen during a fashion show as part of promotion and continuing the story.

Burberry Knight Bar in NY: "A part of Burberry Streets–a series of takeovers that celebrate the art of discovery and exploration in cities worldwide–Knight Bar is a temporary takeover of Temple Bar, based in NoHo. The bar is decorated in a new red check motif with a special menu curated by North London café Norman’s, which is renowned for its British dishes." - V Magazine

Vogue says the menu ranged from " fluffy scrambled eggs to crispy hash browns" so I'll just assume it was nothing too big but also probably "bar food". Here is the press release also for more deets and photos.

It was open from 10th - 16th November 2023.

Beauty:

@martinaderosa_mua

Food:

Dalla: new Italian restaurant in E9, focusing on "home-style cooking".

Owned by Gennaro Leone - who also founded Spazio Leone, a modern furniture store.

Reading List:

"Last month, Walmart chief executive John Furner said that customers on obesity drugs weren’t buying as many groceries, which led to a brief sell-off in consumer staple stocks such as Mondelez and PepsiCo. No wonder Coca-Cola’s chief financial officer John Murphy tried to get out ahead of the issue later last month, emphasising that more than two-thirds of his company’s portfolio was made up of low and no-calorie products."

RE: to food and related to Snaxshot. Inside of society there are two wolves.....

[chucklesandwitch]

Philza and His Favorites

summary: it was always clear phil had favorites. it wasn’t like he kept it a secret, either.

word count: 2.9k

a/n: sorry if the format is weird. the timeline may be a little mixed up, and i know i skipped some plotlines, but i wrote this from memory so i did my best. also, this is my first piece of writing that im posting! :D you can read it on ao3 here!

     It was always clear Phil had favorites. It wasn’t like he kept it a secret, either. Even before Tommy, Phil always favored one twin over the other. And when he found his third son, shoveling dirt into his mouth by the handfuls in his back yard, well, it’s obvious he wouldn't exactly be on top of the list. 

     Growing up, it became more and more blatant to Wilbur and Tommy that they would never be above Techno. Phil always took his side during arguments, always thought that Techno could do no wrong. Wilbur was fed up. Years and years of being pushed to the side in favor of his twin almost had him at his breaking point. And when Phil broke the news that he and Techno were leaving to start their own Arctic empire, without his two other children, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Wilbur was screaming, begging, pleading for his dad to just pay a little bit of attention to him, and when he realized he would never get it from him, he packed his things, packed Tommy’s things, and together the two forgotten brothers ran as far away from their neglectful father as possible.

     They had been walking for days, taking refuge in small villages here and there, just waiting for their saving grace. Eventually, they found it. The Dream SMP. It was glorious. The ruler of the lands, Dream, had welcomed them with open arms and gave them a place to stay for as long as they wanted to. There, they met a plethora of people, including Fundy, Niki, Eret, George, and many other residents of the SMP. Not too long after they had gotten situated, Tommy met Tubbo. They had instantly clicked, and as an act of friendship, they found two discs that would always symbolize their friendship. 

     But the SMP wasn’t as perfect as it had once seemed. So, the two brothers alongside Tubbo, Fundy, Niki, and Eret had formed a new nation, L’Manburg. It was great! They ran a drug lab to keep the economy going, and even made some business partners. The boys had hardly forgotten about their dad, constantly wondering why they weren’t as important to him as Techno was. They pushed these thoughts to the back of their heads, gaining L’Manburg independence at the forefront of their minds. 

     In preparation for their first war of many to come, Tommy and Wilbur had become almost inseparable. They had built a nation with their own hands, together. And when Tommy offered up one of his lives in return for L’Manburg’s freedom, Wilbur’s heart almost broke on the spot.

     After winning L’Manburg its freedom, (If you could even call it winning), Wilbur felt as if it was unfair that he had just proclaimed himself president. In honor of true democracy, they decided to hold an election. Their party was the only one running, until one day someone from far away named Quackity, accompanied by George, wanted to put democracy to the test and created their own running party to rival Tommy and Wilbur’s, called SWAG2020. Suddenly, everyone seemed to have a burst of confidence after seeing Quackity challenge POG2020. All of the sudden, one running party had turned into four. POG2020, consisting of Tommy and Wilbur, SWAG2020, which included Quackity and George, COCONUT2020, comprised of Niki and Fundy, who had mainly run as a joke. And the last party, SCHLATT2020, a one-man party including someone that had been previously banned from the SMP. 

     So the election went on, and Wilbur never got too worried. He knew his people loved him, and he was confident that he would get their votes. Last minute, in an attempt to skew the votes, SWAG2020 and SCHLATT2020 elected to combine votes. And it worked. Leading SCHLATT2020 to victory with 46% of the vote. Immediately taking the stage, Schlatt was quick to revoke the citizenship of the brothers who had built the country he now ruled.

      The two of them were practically chased out of their L’Manburg, soon to be renamed Manburg. They found themselves in a ravine, both of them panicking and on the verge of tears. Tommy quickly sobered himself up, and declared that they would get their L’Manburg back, they just needed a little bit of help. So while the newly formed country was built in the bottom of a ravine, Tommy proposed the dreaded idea of calling his older brother. Wilbur was hesitant at first, but eventually was the one to give him the call as he knew it was for the best. When Technoblade showed up at the best possible time, they were elated! However, there was just a smidge of hope in the both of them that their father would accompany his favorite son. 

      Day after day, Wilbur was slowly going insane. Every day he wasn’t ruler of L’Manburg, he lost a bit of himself. He eventually had become so far gone, he believed that if he couldn’t have L’Manburg, then nobody could. He proposed his plan of blowing the place to smithereens to Tommy, who was immediately against it. Tommy just wanted his country back. He didn’t want it gone for good. Wilbur was persistent with this plan though, and recruited Dream to supply him with all the TNT he could ever ask for. He was just waiting for the opportunity to arise. And luckily for him, it came in the form of a festival. 

     The days leading up to the festival were some of Wilbur’s worst. He wasn’t himself, and everyone around him knew it. That didn’t stop them from helping him plant the TNT. The day of the festival, Tommy, Wilbur, and Tubbo had a hushed conversation on top of a building not far from the podium. Wilbur was having second thoughts about his plan, so he placed all of the weight on Tubbo. He told him to just say the word and he would detonate the explosives that would destroy the country he once ruled. And when Tubbo did say the line, Wilbur sprinted towards the button room, only to forget where it was. While Wilbur was away, Schlatt had put Tubbo in a cement box, accusing him of treason. With this, he called Technoblade up to the stage, ordering him to execute Tubbo. As he pulled the trigger on his rocket launcher, Techno looked back to his little brother, to see him on top of a building with a devastated look on his face. Techno didn’t seem to feel too guilty. He started slaughtering everyone around him. In the midst of Techno’s massacre, Tommy ran towards Wilbur, and before he could even get a word out, Wilbur was quick to tell him the TNT had been moved. 

     After the festival, a new war was declared. The Manburg v. Pogtopia war. They had finally won, they had gotten their L’Manburg back. As Wilbur stepped up to the mic, he suddenly turned on his heel and beckoned his younger brother and right-hand man to the stage. He handed L’Manburg to Tommy, and exited the stage. Tommy denied rulership of L’Manburg, stating he still had unfinished business to take care of and couldn’t rule L’manburg the way it should’ve been run, and so he handed the presidency to his best friend and partner in crime, Tubbo. While the presidency hot potato was going on, Wilbur was having an internal battle in the button room. He was reading the lyrics to My L’Manburg when he felt a presence behind him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see his father. His dad. He looked at him with tear-filled eyes, and detonated the TNT. He could feel the blast, feel the heat coming from behind him, washing over him in waves. 

     He looked over to see his dad’s shocked expression, and turned to face the chaos he had brought upon his L’Manburg. Seeing his younger brother’s expression is what finally did it. He took a step closer to Phil. He had seen the glimmering sword on his father’s back, and he knew what needed to happen.

      “Kill me, Dad. Please.”

      Phil couldn’t even look him in the eyes, he knew he had failed his son, and he knew that there was nothing ke could do about it now. So he unsheathed his sword, trying to ignore the feeling of taking away his son’s last life. Standing there, holding his son’s corpse, getting quickly covered in dirt and debris, he knew he had failed as a father. He dropped his son’s limp body to the ground and fled the scene, going back to the place he never should’ve escaped to in the first place. A little while later, his favorite son came home covered in blood, his clothes torn and crown slightly crooked on his head. Techno looked up at his father, only to see him also covered in blood. He quickly glanced over him and determined that it wasn’t his own blood. Before he could even utter the question, his dad shattered his world with one sentence. 

     “It’s Wil’s blood, Techno. He’s gone.”

      Techno swears he blacked out. His twin, his other half, was gone. The one person he should’ve been there for, he wasn’t. And now he was paying the price. Back at what was once L’Manburg, Tommy was lashing out. He didn’t know what to do without his older brother, didn’t know how to cope with the loss. So at first he went to Tubbo, only to realize Tubbo was too busy for him, he had presidential duties to attend to. With a heavy heart, Tommy leaves Tubbo’s office only to bump into someone new in town. Ranboo. Ranboo takes one glance at Tommy and knows he needs someone to talk to. However, Tommy doesn’t want to talk, he wants to wreak havoc on something, anything. He asks Ranboo for some help griefing George’s new vacation home, and Ranboo agrees almost instantly. Together they head to George’s newest property, wrecking the place, and starting a small fire that was completely accidental. It quickly gets out of hand, and before they know it George’s cottage has erupted into flames and suddenly they’re running. They arrive back to the partially rebuilt L’Manburg, and agree to ignore that it had ever happened, both of them happy to at least gained a new friend amidst all the chaos. 

       Meanwhile, Dream stumbles across George’s cottage in flames and immediately starts fuming. He knows exactly who did this, and he knows what he wants to happen to him. He storms into L’Manburg, and starts to silently place obsidian walls around the entire country. Tubbo and his cabinet rush out of the white house as soon as they notice what’s going on. Tubbo questions Dream, only to get a half coherent answer. All he managed to gather was that Tommy fucked up, and he needed to be put on trial for his actions. Once Tubbo finally got a cohesive answer from Dream, he was furious. He asked Tommy to do one thing for him, just one, and he couldn’t even do that. So he and Dream march to find Tommy, all while Fundy and Quackity try to talk Dream out of insisting exile. Tubbo is conflicted. He obviously doesn’t want to exile his best friend, but at the same time, what kind of leader would he be if he let criminals run free and let Dream build the walls?  During Tommy’s trial, Tubbo made the last minute decision to exile Tommy from the nation he once built. Dream forcefully escorted Tommy out of L’Manburg, but not before Tommy could spot the phantom of his favorite brother standing right in front of him. 

     Ghostbur insisted on coming on this “vacation” with Tommy, helping him establish Logsteadshire. Ghostbur didn’t stay long, and he only came to visit every so often. The only person to ever really visit Tommy, was Dream. The green man checked in on Tommy every day, making him put all of his belongings in a pit and blowing them up. The manipulation from Dream mixed with the lack of seeing his friends lead Tommy to the top of this pillar. While he peered down to what could be his doom, he had a sudden realization; Dream wasn’t his friend. He never was. Realizing this had put a pep back into his step, and he took off running, sprinting away from Logsted and never looking back. 

     He eventually came across what he could only assume was his oldest living brother’s home; the place he was abandoned by his father for: the Arctic empire. This was the last place he ever wanted to step foot into, but considering it was dark outside and he had been running for hours, he was just happy to get shelter, no matter where it was. He entered the home, and was immediately hit with the smell of his family. The nostalgia came crashing over him like a bunch of bricks. Taking another look around, he realized he was angry. What was so good about this place anyways? What did this place have that his childhood home didn’t? Was it him, was he what this place didn’t have? Shaking the thoughts from his head, he began rummaging through his brother’s chests. Finding lots of useful materials, and a few just for him, he began looking for a place to burrow for the time being. Settling on the underneath of the house, he got to work making his little hidey-hole. 

     He knew he couldn’t stay hidden forever. He just thought he would have more time than this. As Techno dragged him up the stairs by his ear, he profusely apologized. This was Techno’s first sign. Tommy never apologized. Forcefully sitting him down, he glared at his younger brother. 

     “Gapples. Now.” Techno demanded. 

      He expected a fight. He expected anything but this. As Tommy quickly emptied everything in his pockets all while still muttering apologies, Techno took a good hard look at his little brother. His clothes were torn, his eyebags were darker than Techno had ever seen them, and he looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. Techno decided then and there that he would help Tommy, so long as Tommy helped him.

      And so the brother’s teamed up. They mutually agreed to help each other get what they wanted. Techno agreed to help Tommy get his discs back as long as Tommy helped him commit (minor) terrorism in his old home. They made a plan, and they had it all worked out. Until Tommy came to his senses, and realized just what he agreed to. He backed out of the plans, apologizing to his older brother, moving to stand next to Tubbo. Techno nodded solemnly, and formed an alliance with Dream, Tommy’s number one tormentor, right in front of him. Making a quick getaway, Techno and Dream run back to the empire, planning their reign of terror over L’Manburg while Tommy takes on the leadership role and motivates everyone to fight against them tomorrow.

     Doomsday roles around, and Techno’s here earlier than promised. Phil is here too, Tommy realizes. That hurt him more than he’d like to admit. (He likes to tell himself he isn’t too affected by Phil, but even he knows that’s a lie). He looks above him to see a large obsidian grid, for which he isn’t sure what its purpose is.  Surrounding him is his older brother, spawning wither after wither, laughing maniacally as his hound army relentlessly attacks anyone nearby. Next to Techno is his dad. His father, helping his favorite son destroy what he and Wilbur had worked so hard for. He felt like crying. He didn’t think seeing Phil here, helping Techno decimate L’Manburg could hurt any more than being abandoned did. He was wrong. So, very wrong. Knowing that his dad was here, and actively fighting against him gave him the answers he had always known. He was never Phil’s favorite, he never would be. 

     He’s only snapped out of his haze by the sound of agony-filled screams. He looks around this nation, just to see TNT raining from the obsidian grid. Oh. That’s what that's for. He seems surprisingly calm about this.  His main priority is making sure Tubbo is safe, and once he’s assured that he is, he started going after Techno. When he finally catches up to him, he can only seem to think of one thing. Techno isn’t his brother anymore. 

     “Technoblade, for once in your life just listen to me!” Tommy pleads, but it does no good. Techno just laughs in his face, going on and on about how his intentions were clear, how he was against government, and how he knew this was coming. Tommy realizes then that Techno was never in it to help Tommy, he was never on their side. He was only helping them for his own personal gain. 

     “You’re selfish.” Is the only sentence Tommy can form. He can’t even stand to look at the person he used to call family. He runs to find Tubbo, meeting him on top of the obsidian grid. They share a look that says more than words ever could. Tommy starts,

     “We’ve gotta end it, Tubbo. You and me. Just like it’s always been. We have to kill Dream.” He and Tubbo agree. It started with them, and it’s going to end with them.

     Standing there, peering down at the crater that was once his saving grace, Tommy sees Phil and Techno, bouncing around, seemingly guilt free. Locking eyes with his unremorseful father, Tommy decides then that Phil isn’t his dad. He never was. Techno wasn’t his brother, and Phil was never his dad. 

[mariacallous]

During his first term as the U.S. president, Donald Trump occasionally floated the idea of buying Greenland, but few took it seriously. Now Trump is repeating the calls, backed with threats against Denmark, and nobody is chuckling anymore.

The Nordic nation is facing the prospect of a close ally taking Danish territory by force. But despite only having a small army and navy, Denmark has no shortage of economic leverage with which it can try to reason with—or, if necessary, pressure—the U.S. president.

Indeed, there are several Danish multinational companies without whose products and services Americans would feel immediate pain.

Over the weekend, the Financial Times disclosed details about a Jan. 15 call between Trump and Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen.

According to the Financial Times, it was a fiery 45-minute conversation in which Trump—who hadn’t yet been inaugurated—was “aggressive and confrontational.” The crux was Fredriksen’s refusal to sell the Arctic island of Greenland to the United States.

Denmark is a committed and well-liked member of NATO, but it can’t change the fact that it’s a small country with a population just shy of 6 million and armed forces of some 20,000 active personnel.

If Trump is serious about acquiring Greenland, Denmark would not be able to mount much of a fight against its NATO ally even if it wanted to—though Washington’s meager aging fleet of icebreakers would make any naval operations in the polar north a challenge. (The will of the Greenlanders appears to be a secondary consideration in Washington.)

But Denmark is not powerless in the matter. On the contrary, it has several trump cards—so to speak—up its sleeve. For starters, the Scandinavian country is home to Maersk, the world’s second-largest container-shipping company by cargo capacity. Most of the world’s nonliquid cargo is transported in containers, and in 2023, the Danish shipping line transported some 24 million worth of them on its 672 ships. Maersk is so large that the firm’s ships account for an estimated 14.3 percent of the global container ship fleet.

In the United States, Maersk delivers goods to and from Baltimore, Charleston, Houston, Jacksonville, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, Mobile, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Norfolk, North Charleston, Oakland, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, Port Hueneme, Savannah, Seattle, Tacoma, Tampa, and Wilmington.

On Jan. 1, for example, the MSC Tomoko arrived in Houston, then traveled to New Orleans and from there to Freeport in the Bahamas. The following day, the MSC Ensenada arrived in Houston, traveling on from there with cargo bound for Colombia and Brazil, according to Maersk’s website, where anyone can track its ships’ calls.

And right now, shipping lines are at—or near—full capacity. If any shipping line were to suddenly stop shipping to or from the United States, other carriers would only be able to fill a tiny share of that gap. If the Danish government banned Maersk from sailing to U.S. ports, then American businesses and consumers would instantaneously feel the pain.

And speaking of pain, millions of Americans would feel it in their waistlines if Frederiksen banned health care company Novo Nordisk from exporting to the United States.

The Danish pharma giant is, after all, the maker of semaglutide—the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, the weight-loss drugs that have revolutionized anti-obesity and diabetes treatment in the United States. The company produces semaglutide in Denmark and, despite many attempts by copycats and others, genuine Ozempic can’t yet be created from scratch in the United States.

Between 2021 and 2023, the number of Ozempic prescriptions in the United States jumped by nearly 400 percent, an academic study shows. The total number of prescriptions for drugs containing semaglutide reached 2.6 million by December 2023. In May 2023, a survey by Barclays Research estimated that more than half a million Americans were taking Wegovy.

So stratospheric has Ozempic’s rise been in the United States that in 2023, Germany warned that German supplies of the drug intended for patients with diabetes—the disease that the drug was initially developed to treat—were being shipped to weight-loss customers in the United States.

Like Maersk, Novo Nordisk makes large sums of money in America. The company’s shares surged by more than 7 percent last week on news of positive trials for its new obesity drug amycretin. The demand for Ozempic is so strong that Novo Nordisk has invested $4.1 billion in a facility in North Carolina that will make the drug’s key ingredient.

But if the Danish government were to conclude that the country’s security is imperiled by Trump’s threats, it could order Novo Nordisk to cease doing business in the United States. Many Americans would immediately notice the company’s absence.

If Denmark decided to hit back, U.S. consumers might suddenly also notice the absence of luxury Danish furniture and their kids might mourn the loss of the latest Legos. Today, Lego sets are made in Mexico (and Denmark, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and China), though the Danish toy company is building a plant in Virginia that will manufacture for the U.S. market. It is expected to employ more than 1,700 people.

Lego’s U.S. facility is, in fact, a form of friendshoring of the very kind Trump has been calling for. (“Come make your product in America, and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on Earth,” he told global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.) But he won’t be able to count on Danish investment if friends are treated like enemies.

A Danish blockade would be a dramatic step, and it’s one that Frederiksen would be reluctant to take. But she should remember that Trump’s trademark is issuing threats and speak back to him in a language that he understands.

Denmark’s prime minister should remind her American counterpart that her country has options that could damage the U.S. economy—and doing so might just level the playing field and lower the temperature, setting the stage for a more serious negotiation around U.S. interests in Greenland.

That’s what Chrystia Freeland—until recently Canada’s deputy prime minister, now running to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—did after several Trump overtures suggesting a U.S. takeover of her own country.

“The threats won’t work. We will not escalate, but we will not back down. If you hit us, we will hit back—and our blows will be precisely targeted,” she wrote in a Washington Post op-ed the day before Trump’s inauguration. “We are smaller than you, to be sure, but the stakes for us are immeasurably higher. Do not doubt our resolve.”

Ordinary Americans may not care much about Denmark, but the Scandinavian nation has given them much to enjoy in life. They would certainly hate to lose it.

[ai-tech-resources]

Hims to cut 4% of workforce amid ban on weight-loss drug copies - CNBC

Hey there, viral content enthusiasts! Have you heard the latest news about Hims? The wellness brand is making waves as it plans to cut 4% of its workforce following a ban on weight-loss drug copies. 🚀 Now, you might be wondering, what's the deal with this decision? Well, Hims, like many companies in the health and wellness industry, is facing challenges due to regulatory changes. But fear not, as this move is all about adapting and evolving in a fast-paced environment. 💪 It's essential for companies to stay ahead of the curve and adjust their strategies to continue delivering top-notch products and services. And that's exactly what Hims is doing by streamlining its operations to remain competitive and innovative. But hey, let's not forget the human side of things. Behind every workforce reduction are real people with real stories. It's never easy to say goodbye to colleagues, but it's all part of the journey towards creating a stronger and more resilient organization. So, what can we learn from this situation? Change is inevitable, and it's how we respond to it that truly matters. Whether you're a business leader, an employee, or simply a curious reader, embracing change and seeking opportunities for growth can lead to amazing transformations. If you're craving more insightful content and tips on navigating the ever-changing business landscape, I invite you to visit my website. There, you'll find a treasure trove of resources to help you stay informed, inspired, and empowered in your own endeavors. Remember, we're all in this together, facing challenges and celebrating victories as we strive for success. Let's continue to explore, learn, and grow together. Stay positive, stay curious, and always keep that entrepreneurial spirit alive! ✨ And hey, don't forget to visit my website for more valuable insights and tips to fuel your journey towards greatness. See you there! 🌟 Retail buyers → https://glp1weightloss.fit/ Wholesale buyers → https://www.elysiumpharmaceuticals.com/register/?rep=Shir%20Krivinsky&id=58

[danieldellinger]

Adverse Effects of Weight Loss Supplements

Most dietary supplements for weight loss are sold with similarly seductive claims that they will aid users to lose pounds by reducing or suppressing appetite, boosting energy, or merely avoiding or treating common diseases like heart disease and diabetes. But the truth is that most of these products do not work at all and can even be detrimental to your health. Many diet supplements are downright dangerous to take, as they contain ingredients and substances that may be toxic or even deadly. And when it comes to diet supplements, few are more hazardous than ephedra. Here's why.

Ephedra

Ephedra was a popular dietary supplement for decades; it was so popular, in fact, that the government banned its use in doses above five hundred milligrams per day, making it illegal to buy and sell. This powerful stimulant was one of the main ingredients in popular ephedra-based drinks, such as Ephedra-X, and was also used to make larger doses of the drug, also labelled as prescription medicines. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) imposed a large fine on the maker of the ephedra diet supplement.

Dietary supplements

The Dietary supplements for weight loss are not much safer. In fact, dietary supplements have been found to have minimal effect on weight loss in many cases. As with prescription medications, people taking dietary supplements can experience some severe side effects. Visit Walnut Fitness to know more about the best weight loss supplements.

An increase in body weight 

Most people take these supplements because they are high in calories and low in fibre, both of which are vital to weight loss. However, when these supplements are combined with high-calorie diets, they can increase a person's body weight without them knowing it.

An increase in body fat 

Some dietary supplements for weight loss contain stimulants, increasing a person's body weight without them noticing it. These substances can interfere with metabolic processes, causing a person to burn through calories more quickly than expected. When this happens, the person will typically put on weight quickly, even when they are not eating. 

An increase in blood pressure

Though many dietary supplements for weight loss have no known effect on blood pressure, it is a condition that is always present in people with hypertension. Some of these ingredients can affect cholesterol levels and increase the risk of stroke and heart attack. In the United States, a few pharmaceutical companies have recently recalled some of their dietary supplements because of reports of stroke and heart attack related to hypertension. 

Summing up

Dihydrotestosterone or DHT is one of the most common ingredients in dietary supplements. This is a hormone produced from testosterone that causes significant shrinkage in the prostate gland.

 While DHT may inhibit the growth of new cells, it can cause the death of healthy cells. 

Caffeine is another ingredient that can be found in most weight-loss supplements. High doses of caffeine can have adverse effects on the heart and kidneys. Research has shown that there is an increased risk of colon cancer linked with caffeine use. 

[rosalind-of-arden]

The Canon Wolfe Trauma Reference Post

Since it looks like there’s some interest in distinguishing between canon and fanon where Wolfe’s torture is concerned, these are my notes on what we have from canon. Where relevant, I’ve noted where we have details that we specifically know apply to Wolfe himself vs details we know about the prison he was held in but don’t know for sure apply to Wolfe. I hope this will be helpful for tagging and for inspiring fics to explore the large amount of ground available to cover. Short notes first, then long list of relevant quotes under the link.

Notes:

In theory, the point of Wolfe’s imprisonment was reeducation. He was also tortured for information on his printing press research. The Artifex wanted to hurt Wolfe just to hurt him, ordering the torture to continue long past the point of achieving any other goal.

Wolfe’s research and journals were taken and put in the Black Archives and/or destroyed.

Wolfe was arrested in his house at night, taken to the Archivist’s office for questioning, then kept in a cell in the Serapeum and questioned further before being taken to Rome. Bit of ambiguity, but torture is likely here.

In Rome, Wolfe was held in a dark stone cell. No other canon details given on Wolfe’s cell specifically, but based on what is shown of the prison, it was probably solitary confinement, and he may have been kept chained.

Physical torture methods: Wolfe specifically refers to cuts, burns, and blows, no other detail given. He has scars, no detail given on where, how many, or what they look like (assuming none on his face, since that would have been mentioned). Based on what we see of the prison, probably any historical torture method is possible. While I’d say it’s generally being used metaphorically, “broken” comes up often enough to justify broken bones, depending on your reading.

Psychological torture methods: Being lied to, being told loved ones are dead, being given comfort (specifically better food, baths, clean clothes) only to have it taken away. Other forms of manipulation are possible.

Wolfe was given some amount of treatment for injuries while in prison. At a bare minimum, Qualls cleaned wounds.

Qualls was personally involved with all questioning and frightened Wolfe greatly. He worked for the Artifex but was given little information beyond the instruction to continue the torture. For unspecified reasons, he decided both he and Wolfe had reached their limits and arranged Wolfe’s release and his own retirement. Does not like the Artifex and threatened retribution if the Artifex imprisoned Wolfe again.

By the end of his time in Rome, Wolfe was so severely traumatized that he barely spoke. This continued at least for the first night after his release.

Wolfe returned home injured. He was bleeding and had difficulty walking. Santi cared for him, specifically bathing, clothing, and holding him. We don’t know any more about his condition or recovery process, other than the fact that he came out of it with PTSD and scars (again, no specifics on those) but no physical disabilities.

After his release, Wolfe is banned from research and publication. The Artifex continues to threaten him and the people he cares about. The Artifex repeatedly tries to kill him. Santi is also threatened.

Wolfe’s PTSD is triggered by memories, feeling trapped, anything prison-like, smells, darkness, and lack of sleep. Symptoms include suicidal thoughts, self harm, psychosomatic itching and pain, nausea, tremors, anxiety, panic attacks, hallucinations, intrusive memories, repressed memories, and trouble distinguishing reality from imagination/memory.

Detailed notes with direct quotes:

All page numbers are from US editions, paperback for the first three books, hardcover for the last two.

On the purpose of Wolfe’s imprisonment and torture:

Keria, on what to do with Wolfe after he invented the press: “He should be taken to a place of questioning and there made to see the error of his beliefs.” (I&B, p. 127)

On Wolfe’s disappearance and the destruction of his work:

Santi: “They took his research. And then he was gone.” (I&B, 322)

Santi: “They destroyed his research, his personal journals, everything.”  (I&B, 322)

The Archivist’s guard’s confession that Jess finds includes Wolfe being arrested and questioned, but no record of anything after that. It isn’t specified, but I’m assuming this is a record of what happened in Alexandria before Wolfe was taken to Rome, since it’s the Archivist’s guard. (P&F, p. 62)

Wolfe: “My device was destroyed, and I was charged with heresy. My work was erased. I was made to disappear, too.” (P&F, p. 63)

Wolfe was arrested in his house, taken to the Archivist’s office (he was questioned there, not specified whether torture was involved), then a cell below the Serapeum (implied he was tortured there, but not specifically stated), then to Rome. (P&F, p. 144-145)

Wolfe’s book on printing, at least, was not destroyed, but put in the Black Archives. Unclear what really happened to his journals and other work (P&F, p. 310)

Santi was in Belgium when Wolfe was arrested and would probably have been killed if he’d seen the press (A&Q, p. 134)

Wolfe on what his fellow Scholars ignored: “...he was dragged off in the night, when his work had been scrubbed from the shelves…” (S&P, 247)

On what happened in Rome:

Wolfe’s journal: “There are mornings when I wake and I am back in the cell, and I see nothing but the dark. Feel nothing but the pain. (P&F, p. 52)

Wolfe: “The pattern follows what they did to me: arrest, torture, prison, erasing me as if I never existed.” (P&F, p. 62)

Wolfe may have been drugged, specifically to keep him from remembering where he was held: “I don’t remember. Can’t. Believe me, I’ve tried. I can see pieces, but not… not anything significant.” (P&F, p. 66) (this memory loss might be drug induced, as Dario speculates, but torture itself can cause memory problems..)

Wolfe: “I can’t recall any useful details. What they did to me was very effective.” (P&F, p. 139) (As above, this memory loss might be from either drugs or the torture itself.)

Wolfe, mentioning physical torture methods: “I will happily remember every cut, every burn, every blow if it helps set that boy free.” (P&F, 140)

Being taken out of his cell in Rome was always (or at least usually) bad - Wolfe can handle remembering everything up until the Mesmer asks about what happened when he was taken out of his cell in Rome (P&F, p. 145-146)

Psychological torture method: “They lie [...] It’s their favorite tactic - I know it well - to break your mind and your spirit.” Specifically, falsely claiming that loved ones are dead. (p. 218)

Toward the end of his imprisonment, he seems to have become withdrawn: “there is no variety in his responses to questioning, whatever the particular tools we chose to employ. He rarely speaks at all now.” (S&I, p. 82)

As described by Qualls as of the day of his release: “if your plan was to break him, he is long past broken” (S&I, p. 82). “There are limits, and he has reached them.” (S&I, p. 83).

Qualls (hallucination) on some of what he did: “I’ve been with you in your darkest moments. I’ve cleaned your wounds. I’ve listened to you weep.” (S&I, p. 221)

The “gentle” questioning: “That had only made it worse, the times when the questions had been kind and soft, and there had been a cup of tea and a sweet pastry and a bath. Fresh clothes.” (S&I, p. 221)

Qualls did all questioning: “the questions always came, and always, always, the gray, pale shadow was there to ask them” (S&I, p. 222)

“He’d spent months in a cell like this, huddled and broken” (S&I, p. 224)

“...his body broken in the cells in Rome…” (S&P, 247)

Prison details that may or may not apply to Wolfe’s experience in Rome:

Prisoners are rewarded for good behavior with paper and books (P&F, p. 1)

Psychological manipulation: one guard was ordered to be friendly to Thomas to get secrets out of him (P&F, p. 1)

Cells, at least the one Thomas was in, have barred doors, stone walls and floors, a metal ring in the wall that prisoners can be chained to (P&F, p. 217)

Starvation is a possibility: Jess observes that Thomas lost weight in Rome (P&F, p. 217)

Limited availability of personal grooming and clothing options: Thomas’s hair and beard are a mess, clothes are an “oatmeal-colored shirt and trousers that were much worse for wear” (P&F, p. 217)

Prisoners are kept with wrists and ankles shackled for long enough durations that skin looks “raw” when the shackles are removed. Both Thomas and the other prisoner that Jess sees were chained. (P&F, p. 218, 221)

Torture room equipment: “Mechanical devices” with “spikes, straps, wheels, gears” (P&F, p. 221), “a particularly large construction that looked like a bed, but with gears and ropes and straps stained with old blood” (P&F, p. 222) (either a rack or some kind of restraint table?), “machines built to cut, to tear, to pull, to cause suffering and anguish. There was no other use for them.” (P&F, p. 225)

Rations in the prison in Alexandria seem nutritionally adequate, though it doesn’t mention quantities or say how often they’re delivered: “Meat, bread, cheese, figs, a small portion of sour beer and a larger one of water.” (S&I, p. 91). Wolfe doesn’t find the taste appealing (S&I, p. 92)

The Artifex threatens to shoot another prisoner to coerce Wolfe’s compliance (S&I, p. 94)

Mind games from the Artifex: “I will protect Santi if you take your own life” “if you don’t accept this bargain, I will see that he suffers every torment you can possibly imagine in your place. I’ll even have you brought along” (S&I, p. 98-99)

Prison conditions Wolfe does not think of as torture: “deprivation and the boredom and routine of prison”. He does, however, consider the looming threat of horrible execution to be psychological torture (S&I, p. 227)

Qualls:

Thought they had learned as much as they could from questioning Wolfe six months before releasing him (S&I, p. 82)

Did not want Santi dead (S&I, p. 82)

Did not know why the Artifex hated Wolfe (S&I, p. 82)

Does not consider himself a good person: “I am, as you’re aware, not a merciful person, or a kind one; I would not last long in this job if I had even a shred of such fine qualities.” (S&I, p. 82)

Has limits, does not specify what they are: “I have had enough.” “There are limits, and he has reached them. So have I, surprisingly.” (S&I, p. 82-83)

Very thorough in his plan to release Wolfe, exact sequence of events unclear: “I have personally released Scholar Wolfe, and I have seen the Archivist in person [...] The Obscurist Magnus has also been told.” Archivist allowed the release in part because Qualls had information on other prisoners in Rome, in part because Keria was furious. (S&I, p. 83)

Feels strongly enough about Wolfe’s release to threaten to expose Library secrets if the Artifex ever has Wolfe imprisoned again (S&I, p. 83)

Speaks to Wolfe in a creepily pseudo-comforting tone, at least while Wolfe is hallucinating him: “We’re old friends, you and I. I’ve been with you in your darkest moments. I’ve cleaned your wounds. I’ve listened to you weep. Remember?” (S&I, p. 221)

Hallucination Qualls describes the times the questioning was gentle as “the good times.” (S&I, p. 221)

Appearance: “the gray, pale shadow”, Even in full light, the man had always been terrifying. Something about him was dead, and it showed in his eyes, his smile, the not-quite-human way he moved.” (S&I, p. 222)

On the aftermath:

Santi: “It was more than a year before he turned up again. Middle of the night. He looked like he’d crawled out of hell.” (I&B, 322)

Santi: “He’s a walking ghost. He’s been a ghost since the day they finally let him go.” (I&B, p. 323) (could be a reference to his status with the Library, but I read some indication of his mental/emotional state into this, too)

Santi: “I was there when Wolfe crawled bloody to this door. I’m the one who saw what was done to him.” (P&F, p. 138)

Wolfe doesn’t blame Santi for not wanting to see the Mesmer session because “he remembers how I was after” (P&F, p. 141)

Keria was there when Wolfe was released: “She brought me home. To you. She left before you found me.” (P&F, p. 291)

Released by Qualls personally (S&I, p. 83)

“He’d come back from Rome a broken, shaking shell of a man” (S&I, p. 226)

Wolfe’s own memories of his return home: “A broken bone heals twice as strong, he told himself. Santi had taught him that mantra the night he’d stumbled in the door of their house. [...] Santi had bathed him, dried him, clothed him, held him through the night to whisper it in a constant, bracing refrain, because Wolfe had been unable to speak or explain where he’d been” (S&I, p. 230)

Continuing threats and punishment after Rome:

Pretty much every ephemera from the Artifex involves a threat or attempt to kill Wolfe.

Wolfe, to the Artifex: “I’ve done all that you have asked of me since my release. I’ve stood silent when you threatened my friends, my lover, destroyed my life’s work. I’ve borne every punishment.” (I&B, p. 160)

Wolfe: “Saddling me with your class was a kind of punishment. To teach me obedience.” (I&B, p. 286)

Santi: “They wanted him to find your secrets and turn them over. But he found your secrets and he never betrayed them. […] Little rebellions. Wolfe was meant to die on the trip to Oxford. He’s an embarrassment and a risk. Living on borrowed time.” (I&B, p. 323)

Journal monitoring, at least as far as Wolfe knows, began after Wolfe’s arrest. He’s afraid they’re monitoring Santi’s especially closely: “I was afraid you’d change what you were writing. If you had, they’d have taken you.” (I&B, p. 326)

Wolfe: “I was finally released, under the condition that I never again publish or pursue any lines of research that the Library deems dangerous. I live on sufferance.” (P&F, p. 64)

Trauma symptoms:

Suicidal thoughts:

““Better safe than dead, sir” [Glain] said. “As you well know.” “Do I?” His face, Jess thought, looked more set and grim than ever, and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes [...] He looked thin and haunted.” (P&F, p. 34)

Santi: “It’s keeping you alive. That’s what I care about.” Wolfe: “Then you care too much.” (P&F, p. 58)

Wolfe: “I’m not insane [...] I’m not on the verge of it. I may be stretched to my limits - my limits being admittedly lower than they should be [...]”

Wolfe, in response to Santi saying he’ll support him: “That’s what makes me live when the alternative seems so peaceful” (A&Q, p. 269)

““Promise me that tomorrow, there’s no prison. No Qualls. If it comes to that-” “If it does,” Santi said, “then it comes for us both.” [...] Odd, that the promise of death would sound so inviting when put that way” (S&I, p. 349)

Self harm:

“He slammed the heel of his hand into the wall, again and again until he felt the skin break and smelled hot blood” (S&I, p. 99)

In prison again: “His skin itched so fiercely that he rubbed scars until they bled” (S&I, p. 220)

Tremors and other psychosomatic symptoms:

“There was a tremor in his voice now, and in his hands, too” (P&F, p. 58)

In prison again: “His skin itched so fiercely that he rubbed scars until they bled” (S&I, p. 220)

When remembering the nicer questioning in Rome: “Wolfe remembered it so vividly every scar began to ache” (S&I, p. 221)

“His hands trembled” (S&I, p. 220)

After the Qualls hallucination: “Wolfe held his head in his hands, shivering, sick, shaking from the onslaught of memory” (S&I, p. 222-223)

Being taken for questioning: “a wave of very real nausea and dizziness” (S&I, p. 230)

Trouble telling reality from hallucination:

Wolfe’s journal: “On those mornings, I am convinced I never escaped that place, and the life I have had since never existed at all, except as a fantastic illusion.” (P&F, p. 53)

Self-induced hallucination as coping strategy: imagining Santi to get himself to sleep while back in prison, he seems to lose touch with reality, and Saleh’s comments in S&P suggest he might have been talking out loud while doing this (S&I, p. 220)

Qualls hallucination (S&I, p. 220-222)

Cell door opening (S&I, p. 223)

Sphinx could also be a hallucination (I tend to see this one as real, with the automaton’s attention drawn by Wolfe’s one-sided conversation with Qualls and attempt to open the door, but ymmv. (S&I, p. 223-224)

In Rome, Wolfe hallucinated Santi with him and was sure it was real at the time (S&I, p. 224-225)

Hallucinates Santi comforting him when he’s in prison again (S&I, p. 225-226)

The morning after the Qualls hallucination, he thinks of it as “a vague dream” and hopes his conversation with Saleh was hallucinated as well (S&I, p. 227-228)

Saleh: “Wolfe spoke of him [...] well… not to me. I suppose better to say he spoke to him when Wolfe was… unwell [...] Prison was not good for the man” (S&P, p. 51)

Nightmares and intrusive memories:

Wolfe: “I see all this every night in dreams.” (P&F, p. 63)

In prison again: “A night when he wouldn’t close his eyes, for fear the past would smother him.” (S&I, p. 87)

In prison again: “relaxing brought the memories. He’d fought them every night, sometimes all night; lack of rest made them more vivid and compelling” (S&I, p. 220)

While hallucinating Qualls: “He remembered. And that was more frightening than the idea that this was a ghost, a phantom, a madness.” (S&I, p. 222) (could read this just as a statement on how traumatic the memories are, could read as repressed memories surfacing)

After the Qualls hallucination: “Wolfe held his head in his hands, shivering, sick, shaking from the onslaught of memory” (S&I, p. 222-223)

Repressed memories:

Wolfe, on where he was held prisoner: “I don’t remember. Can’t. Believe me, I’ve tried. I can see pieces, but not… not anything significant.” (P&F, p. 66) (this memory loss might be drug induced, as Dario speculates, but torture itself can cause memory problems..)

Wolfe: “I can’t recall any useful details. What they did to me was very effective.” (P&F, p. 139) (As above, this memory loss might be from either drugs or the torture itself.)

While hallucinating Qualls: “He remembered. And that was more frightening than the idea that this was a ghost, a phantom, a madness.” (S&I, p. 222) (could read this just as a statement on how traumatic the memories are, could read as repressed memories surfacing)

After the Qualls hallucination: “Wolfe held his head in his hands, shivering, sick, shaking from the onslaught of memory” (S&I, p. 222-223)

The morning after the Qualls hallucination: “He’d forgotten that he’d spoken to Saleh in the depths of his delusion. Or at least had hoped that the conversation had been imagined” (S&I, p. 228)

Seems like he’s already repressing the memory of the Qualls hallucination: “Something tugged at him, and for a second he felt a bubble of panic surface. Some memory clawing to the surface, something from the prison. Then he remembered, and a flinch ran through him.” (S&I, p. 348)

Not talking about Qualls more than once could be an effort to repress those memories, too (S&I, p. 2348)

Anxiety/Panic Attacks:

In the prison, Wolfe snaps at the kids, his voice breaks, and Jess observes trembling, sweat on his face even though the temperature is cool, and possible trouble breathing (“Wolfe dragged in a tormented breath”) (P&F, p. 220)

At the castle, Wolfe and Santi end up fighting because of Wolfe’s reaction to being trapped and fear of being captured “So we stay here, in this - overstuffed prison, waiting for the Archivist to turn the High Garda on us? I won’t. I can’t.” (A&Q, p. 267)

Wolfe, to Thomas: “You understand. Rooms grow small. Silence gets heavy.” (A&Q, p. 283)

When the Artifex ambushes the pack in the Iron Tower, Wolfe and Thomas both look “as if their souls had already left their bodies.” (P&F, p. 324)

Wolfe is oddly quiet when first locked up in Philadelphia (A&Q, no dialogue from p. 16-28, while others are discussing strategy)

When put in prison again: “A day of shuddering, flinching, imagining that every sound was a torturer coming for him again.” (S&I, p. 87)

When hallucinating Qualls: “He stopped breathing. Like a child, hiding in the dark from the monsters, that was all he could do.” (S&I, p. 221)

When the cell door “opens”: “something inside him twisted and screamed in terror at the thought. I won’t make it.” (S&I, p. 223)

Wolfe, learning he’s nominated for Archivist: “His eyes burned, and for a moment he thought it was with tears, but no, no, it was anger. He couldn’t speak. Could hardly breathe for the pressure of fury building in his chest.” (S&P, p. 246) (Dominant emotion here is anger, yes, but don’t these also sound like panic attack symptoms? And doesn’t Wolfe frequently get angry in response to feeling trapped?)

Triggers:

Memories, in general, trigger symptoms.

A list of triggers, smell being the worst: “He could ignore the darkness, the bars, the discomfort. But not the smell.” (S&I, p. 87)

Lack of sleep: “relaxing brought the memories. He’d fought them every night, sometimes all night; lack of rest made them more vivid and compelling” (S&I, p. 220)

[askiisoft]

FAN ART FRIDAY: ALL THE WARRIORS, Part 3

Welcome back to Part 3 of “All the Warriors”, a month-long celebration of the Katana ZERO community’s fan characters that populate the war-torn cityscape and seedy underworld of New Mecca. 

For those just joining us, be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2 first.

Remember, Friday, August 16th is the last day to submit your OC for next week’s feature!

This week is full of tragedy, loss, and pyromania, so have a handkerchief (and maybe a fire extinguisher) on hand as we dive into this feel-bad parade of forgotten soldiers. Let’s have a look!

[WARNING: The work herein is based on fan creations, and should not be considered canon.]

Alpha 3, by @nizioroMOMO

There was once a cheerful young girl who loved nothing more than all that glittered and shined, from the brightest jewels to the starry skies. Unfortunately, on the battlefield most things that glitter also explode, which robbed poor Alpha 3 of her sight and thus her most beloved pursuit in life.

It’s terrible to be wounded in combat, but losing your passion is something much worse. Imagine if Zero went deaf, forced to massacre mafioso without synthwave blasting from his headphones. Would life still be worth living?

Her character design clearly communicates the eager naïveté of the young Three compared to her stately, serene self now. Whatever happened, it seems she’s made peace with her past, which is more than can be said for most NULL.

By @nizioroMOMO

—

Subject X2 by @teknopathetico​

“Chronos wasn’t the only drug the government developed for the war.”

We may never know what chemical cocktail the Psychiatrist injected to transform into a writhing mountain of flesh, but whatever it was, Subject X2 has had years to perfect its use. Rather than an amalgam of body horror, X2 seems able to tap into each enemy’s individual phobias to instill doubt and gain the upper hand.

“I know what you’re afraid of.” By @teknopathetico​

Since the drug’s effects were stated to be purely psychological, fear-inducing pheromones are the only feasible explanation for X2′s feats of transformation that defy all physical laws and vary wildly between witness testimonies. 

By @teknopathetico​

—

Beta 7, “Bullet” by @stanio_kz

As far as dying wishes go, simply “live” is no tall order. But that one word carries a lifetime of survivor’s guilt for Bullet. Was it his fault the Cromags managed to get past their lines that day? Should they have made a retreat, despite their orders? Could he have done something for Shadow in the last few moments together in those muddy jungle trenches?

Some days, simply slogging through a guard detail and enjoying a hot meal is enough to convince Bullet he’s living up to his friend’s memory. But each time he visits the grave, he wonders if Shadow wouldn’t wanted something more—revenge on his killer, perhaps, or for Bullet to lay down his old knife and stop fighting for good. 

“I don’t know what’s right anymore. Shadow..what do I do?” By @stanio_kz

—

Beta 9, “Shadow” by @stanio_kz

—

Gamma 68, “Cheshire” by @lesbianakechi

There is, however, a darker side to losing a dearest comrade—namely, the urge to inflict that same loss on others. To be hunted by a Gamma NULL is truly terrifying; to the hapless police investigators, there is no modus operandi linking the “Chesire” murders, beyond targeting assorted outcasts and junkies. But to those who knew Sasha as a model commander and caring mentor, seeing how far he’s fallen is as disturbing as his sickly rictus grin. 

There are whispers that the New Meccan government has stymied several investigations against him—one by one, he is cleaning up vestiges of their war crimes more effectively than their own agents ever could.

—

Beta 70, “Cherry” by @zenixdd

For all his rage against his former masters, Gamma Fifteen was positively blessed compared to the miserable fates of his comrades like Cherry, who lacked any hope of leading a normal life.

Maimed and orphaned before she even joined the NULL project, Cherry received prototype prosthetics that elevated her far above a line trooper. However, she was treated as a weapon by her commanders, and her joy at her newfound mobility turned to horror and, eventually, resignation. 

Once the nigh-invincible Gamma subjects were introduced, her prosthetics program was deemed redundant, and she was reduced to becoming a guinea pig for their horrific experiments. 

By @zenixdd

With the shuttering of the NULL program, Cherry’s fate was left a mystery. Most assumed her death as a matter of course, executed and ‘disposed’ of like so many other expendable test subjects. But there were a few rumors of her miraculous escape—either as a sole survivor, freed at last, or a fearsome revenant, bent on exacting revenge on the Gamma NULL she blames for condemning her to suffer in the labs...

“I’ll kill them all...especially those f*cking NULLs!” By @zenixdd

—

Gamma 17, “Robin Hood” by @RollingRubic

To erase the the NULL program from history, the head researchers resorted to extreme measures. All across the country, records were burned, training centers demolished, and subjects ‘disposed of’—all except one. Cleanup crews reported a ransacked facility, its research staff dead and riddled with arrows, its holding cells empty, and its Chronos stockpile gone. 

In a time when it’s every NULL for themselves among an ever-dwindling supply of Chronos, it’s heartening to see at least one person showing charity and concern for the helpless. But in his heart, Robin knows his ‘family’ can’t subsist on stolen Chronos forever—as long as they live, they will be hunted. 

His ultimate goal has become procuring the formula for Chronos to start synthesizing a fresh supply, something the New Meccan authorities fear above all else. In his eyes, the lives of dozens of orphaned children far outweighs the risks, even if it forces him to work with some less than savory characters...

"We’re family.” By @RollingRubic

—

Alpha 20, “Twenty” by @erinwenke​

For a time, the deployment of NULL was considered a state secret, the disappearance of entire villages attributed to natural disasters or sudden epidemics. This was all thanks to ‘cleaners’ like Alpha 20, who were tasked with razing any ‘assets’ the Cromags could use, including the local population.

In the wake of how often NULL were deployed against civilian targets, the then-cumbersome weight of his fuel tank was nothing compared to the crushing burden of guilt he carries now.

—

Gamma 216, “Candy” by @Mochisticker274

During pangs of Chronos withdrawal, it was common for NULL to develop lesser addictions to cope with their major one. For some, it was cigarettes, caffeine, or alcohol. Candy instead found relief in vast quantities of sugar, though any colorful and bite-sized would suffice. Following multiple reprimands for rifling through pockets of fallen Cromags in search of treats, her superiors quickly relented after witnessing her fierce temper from being denied “snacky-time” one time too many.

Considering the loss of her left eye, hair, and part of her sanity, Candy’s attitude is admirable: rather than sulk over her former girlish charms, she took the opportunity to further indulge her sweet tooth. At least that’s an addiction that’s easily satisfied.

—

Gamma 95 by @Tomacocandy

I’m surprised it took this long to encounter an OC with heterochromia (differently-colored eyes). 

On account of her nascent amblyopia, Gamma 95′s miserable marksmanship earned her ridicule at the shooting range and scoldings from her drill sergeant. When she disappeared on the eve of inspections, some speculated that she had deserted in shame or been ‘retired’ to become the labs’ latest test subject.

But when 95 emerged from the jungle depths days later, clothes torn and smelling of ash, she had found her calling. Soon, she realized she didn’t need perfect eyesight to sweep a ten-foot-long gout of liquid flame across a battlefield...and thus, a legend was born.

Most pyrotechnicians were relegated to ‘cleanup’ duty away from the frontlines; only Mondsa possessed the Gamma reflexes necessary to employ a flamethrower in live combat, a tradition that Subject Zero would proudly continue.

—

Gamma 18 by @ruko_ruho

Short of getting banned from every casino in Chinatown, fortune-telling is a decent way to make a living off of one’s precognitive ability, so long as you’re only curious about events sixty seconds into the future. 

For Gamma 18, risking his life as a test subject and frontline trooper was preferable to scrounging for scraps in the streets of New Mecca. However, his street-smarts proved just as valuable in the field as his drug-induced powers, using improvised traps, terrain, and trickery to his advantage almost as well as the Cromags he hunted. When that failed, his skills with knives more than compensated.

Once locals noticed the absence of his folding card table along the main Chinatown plaza, rumors abounded of government bogeymen abducting him in the dead of night. But those who fought alongside Eighteen know that he’s far too clever to let anyone get the best of him.

By @ruko_ruho

—

Beta 8 by @2M_i_W_5

Hopelessly addicted to gambling despite your rotten luck? Still single at the depressing and decrepit age of 25? What’s the point in going on, Beta 8 asks?

Suicide is a very serious topic, let’s be clear. But like how the captive Prometheus cursed his godhood as eagles ate his liver in Greek mythology, the age-old irony of an immortal being powerless to end their own life has always been a rich vein for drama...and it seems drama is what this woman hungers for.

By @wqwrppwu

Unlike so many veterans who fit the trope for ‘wounded warriors', Neith radiates the energy of ‘recently divorced working mother’: she may be pounding back martinis and sobbing like the world’s ended right now, but after a heart-to-heart with her old comrade Beta 11 and a cuddle session with her newly-adopted cat, perhaps she’ll conclude there’s still some things worth living for. 

By @2M_i_W_5

—

Gamma 6, “Firecracker” by @whycantIrungood

Just like a wildfire, Suzy the “Firecracker” was both notoriously destructive and difficult to control. She scoffed at the slow, surgical tactics of executioner-class NULL in favor of the loudest and most direct path to her objective, be it through enemy lines or solid structures; neither withstood the roar of her twin rotary guns for long.

Since the end of the war, Suzy’s learned that she is both immensely talented at arson and intensely bored by it. What’s the point of torching a crime scene when the killing’s already done? Despite the suspicious deaths of so many other ex-NULL who remained in the government’s service, Suzy knows her skills are far too valuable and dangerous for the higher-ups to make an enemy of her.

—

Beta 18, “Cerberus” by @zhraekk

The ghettoes of Chinatown have become a welcome refuge for NULL seeking protection from government spooks and bounty hunters. But for Cerberus, joining the underworld was never his choice to make. 

Whether due to Chronos dependency, blackmail, or his ‘Aunt Meta’ simply needing a new enforcer, it seems his post-war life involves feigning respect for his doting boss while pining for his NULL days. Violent though they were, they’re also his last precious memories of his missing brother.

As the ranks of New Mecca’s crime syndicates swell with former NULL acting as guards and assassins, he’s come to understand the city’s underworld politics are every bit as fraught as the trap-laden Cromag jungles.

By @zhraekk

—

Beta 5, “Boots” by @sekaaliart

With their finger on a trigger, a child is as dangerous as any adult. Beta 5 earned her nickname “Boots” after her child feet barely filled even the smallest combat boots the barracks could find, a light-hearted anecdote that belies just how early she was indoctrinated into a life of conflict. As her kill count skyrocketed, the ‘shorty’ and ‘kid’ jokes among her squad quickly ceased. 

For Boots, the end of the war was simply a move from jungle to urban warfare, a sniper’s paradise. She gives no warning, and leaves no calling card. With NULL powers now fully developed, not even her former comrades are safe from her crosshairs.

—

Beta 13 by @818CoffeeCat

When public expectations for a speedy invasion were dashed against the realities of waging war in thick Cromag jungles, the top New Mecca brass commissioned a solution for rapid defoliation. Through testing countless chemical weapons, their top prospect was (somehow) Project “Flame Force”, a platoon of prototype terror troopers trained to raze entire forests in minutes.

The project was not a success.

Now armed with a high-tech chemical flamethrower, his fireproof avian partner Ernesto, and a crazed look in his eye, the sole survivor of that ill-fated project marches on the oh-so-flammable city. Beware.

—

I made quite a few errors with last week’s post, so if you notice any glaring mistakes, please let me know via Twitter. Remember to send any last-minute OC submissions by Friday, August 16th. 

Otherwise, click here to read Part 4, the jumbo-sized final entry of “All the Warriors”, and stay safe out there. 

Thanks to @818CoffeeCat for letting me use that “Beware” sticker all over the place!

By @55_yamisan

[sarita184]

10 Supplements: For Weight Loss

When you think of losing weight and think about gathering information to take the first step towards that, in the present times where communication is a revolution, that will give you a lot of ideas that have quick results. One such remedy is a complementary herbal remedy, its fans do not get tired saying that it is useful in reducing weight. But research has yielded mixed results, the basis of its usefulness is yet to be scientifically certified. While some of it has health risks associated with it. Therefore, it is advisable to consult your physician before being convinced about them. There is not enough research on these so far, so it is a bit difficult to ensure that what you have been prescribed is getting the same. Since herbal supplements are classified as food or food items, manufacturers and sellers have not been instructed for a statutory warning before selling the product. (1) Chitosan It is a type of sugar obtained from the outer hard layer of shrimp fishes, crabs, and prawns. Suppliers of complementary treatment describe it as preventing fat and bad cholesterol from being absorbed into the body. Is Chitosan helpful in losing weight? Many independent groups and naturopathic groups that analyze the research conducted on it are not much optimistic about its positive outcome. Although chitosan does not have any side effects, some people may have stomach upset and constipation. If you are allergic to shellfish, you should avoid chitosan. (2) Green Tea Extract Green tea extract is known as the most popular and popular weight-loss supplement. It is believed that it controls appetite and burns calories and fat by increasing the rate of your metabolism. Naturopathy believes that it does this to some extent, but how effectively it works. There is still confusion on this as there is not enough evidence in its favor. There are some side effects of Green Tea Extract when taken in excess, which are as follows: • Nausea • vomiting • swelling • gas • diarrhea • Dizziness • Insomnia • discomfort This may be due to the amount of caffeine in it.

(3) chromium picolinate Insulin is a type of hormones required to convert our food into energy, chromium is a mineral that acts to increase insulin. Along with this, it also works for the storage of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins required for your body. Some claims are made in favor of it, which it says helps to lose weight: it kills the appetite, helps in burning calories, fat burner, and meat muscle enhancer. But the naturopath class is not satisfied with these claims. It has also underlined some of the ill effects of warnings of its excessive consumption: • Insomnia • Irritability • difficulty thinking • Headache Also, while taking chromium has shown a fear of kidney failure, so you should avoid using it if you have any kidney problems. (4) Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) It is a popular supplement used to reduce weight, which contains fatty acids called linoleic acid. In its favor, claims are made that it can help prevent the accumulation of body fat, besides it helps you to feel full. Research on CLA for weight loss has shown mixed results. With its controlled dose of 1.8 to 6.8 grams per day, it may be useful for some people: • Curb body fat • boost muscles But some other research points to the opposite not helping to shed pounds. They are also responsible for increasing insulin resistance in obese people, for type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular risks. Nevertheless, natural medicine is positive about CLA's chances of weight loss. In some people, CLA can have side effects such as: • upset stomach • Nausea • loose stools • fatigue

(5) Guar Gum It is made from the seeds of the guar plant. Like other dietary fibers, it can prevent fat from being absorbed into your body from food and helps you feel full. Guar gum has been studied much more than other fibers to reduce weight, but most researchers consider it ineffective. It can also have some side effects: • gas • diarrhea (6) 7-Keto-DHEA It is found naturally in your body. This increases the rate of your metabolism and prompts you to burn more calories. Which helps in losing weight. Studies have shown that combining a low-calorie diet and some moderate exercise with 7 keto DHEA has led to good results. But there is still much research to be done on this and only then will the reliability be proved. Due to its regular use, there can be complaints of anemia. (7) Glucomannan It is made from the konjac plant. Like any other fiber diet, it helps to reduce weight by blocking the absorption of fat from your food. Very early studies show that it can be useful to lose weight, but it is yet to be studied in detail. In whose absence it would be inappropriate to stamp its usefulness. Natural medicine experts also suspect this due to insufficient evidence of the properties of glucomannan. If you take glucomannan tablets as a weight-loss supplement, it may affect some of your organs that need to be monitored: • throat • tube connecting the throat to the stomach • intestine But taking it in powder or capsule form can be somewhat safe. (8) Hoodia A plant named Hoodia, found in the Kalahari Desert of Africa, is well known as a weight-loss supplement. This is because African Bushmen have been using its roots and stems during hunting for long before dying of hunger and thirst. Currently being sold as a suppressor in the market The P57 ingredient found in Hoodia, which helps curb hunger, keeps it full for a long time. But there is no scientific evidence that it is safe and effective. (9) ephedra It is a type of herb found in North America, also known as Ma Huang. It contains a chemical called ephedrine which is a stimulant. It is believed that it will reduce weight in a very short time. It is very similar to the compounds found in some man-made medicines. But it has been banned by the Food and Drug Regulator due to its serious side effects. Some of its side effects are as follows: • heart attack • Arrhythmia • the strokes • Psychosis • seizures • death Since its side effects are much greater than its benefits, it cannot be considered useful in any way. The same conclusion is also with Naturopathy, it is not beneficial for health. (10) Bitter Orange Bitter orange is a tree found in Africa and Asia with a tropical climate. It is also grown in California and Florida in North America, a region with a Mediterranean climate.  synephrine, a chemical found in the peel of its fruit, is a stimulant similar to ephedrine. It is reportedly believed to increase calorie burning rate. In this way, it is being promoted for use as a weight-loss supplement. Ever since ephedra-containing weight loss products have been banned by the food and drug regulator, such supplement product manufacturers have started using it in abundance. But the Food and Drug Regulator has also not considered it safe. As it has some side effects, it cannot be ignored: • the strokes • irregular heartbeat • heart attack • death Summary Weight Loss Supplements As the name itself suggests, supplements mean that when you have an original and right choice in front of you, then why are you running after these supplements? Why are you messing with your health in a round of quick gains, go slowly, and reach safely? However, if you are in great need of these, then first of all consult your physician. Never lose your priceless health for a momentary benefit.

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Cancer causing Foods you are eating every day

It’s in all probability not one thing you consider day by day, however the meals you might be consuming would possibly trigger most cancers! Yes, you learn that proper! Cancer is a type of ailments that loom over a very good majority of the inhabitants. Avoiding these 13 meals altogether, and even limiting your consumption of them, will help cut back your possibilities of contracting most cancers.

1. Foods That Are Highly Salted, Pickled, Or Smoked

Meats reminiscent of bacon, sausage, bologna, and salami are excessive in fats and salt. Pickled meals are very excessive in salts. Eating a majority of these meals vastly will increase the danger of colorectal most cancers and better charges of abdomen most cancers.

2. Diet Anything

Diet meals, together with frozen meals, or prepackaged meals labeled as “diet” or “low-fat”, together with weight loss plan sodas, usually include aspartame, which is a chemical, synthetic sweetener. There are quite a few research exhibiting that aspartame causes many ailments and sicknesses reminiscent of cancers, delivery defects, and coronary heart issues.

3. Microwave Popcorn

Conventional microwave popcorn baggage are lined with a chemical known as perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA). This is a toxin you'll find in Teflon additionally. According to a latest examine on the University of California, PFOA is linked to infertility in ladies.

4. Non-Organic Fruits

Fruits which are non-organic are contaminated with some very harmful pesticides reminiscent of atrazine, thiodicarb, and organophosphates, in addition to excessive nitrogen fertilizers.  Atrazine is banned in European nations however nonetheless used right here. This is a weed killer that causes extreme issues in people, particularly in our reproductive capabilities.

  5. Packaged Potato Chips

Packaged potato chips are excessive in each fats and energy, that are certain to carry on weight achieve. A examine performed in the New England Journal of drugs discovered that consuming simply 1 ounce of potato chips per day prompted a mean 2-pound weight achieve in a single 12 months. Besides being filled with trans-fats which may trigger excessive ldl cholesterol in most individuals, they've extreme sodium ranges which, for many individuals, trigger hypertension.

6. Alcohol

Alcohol use is the second main explanation for most cancers, proper behind tobacco use. While average or low consumption of alcohol will be wholesome and result in a diminished threat of coronary heart illness, extreme ingesting is understood to trigger coronary heart failure, stroke, and sudden demise.

7. Canned Tomatoes

The lining of just about all canned meals is made with a chemical known as bisphenol-A, or BPA. Tomatoes are exceptionally harmful because of their excessive acidity, which appears to cause BPA to leech from the liner of the can into the tomatoes themselves.

8. Processed Meats

Meat Delicacies, Ham, Sausage, Salami, Hot canines, Small sausages All these processed meats include quite a few chemical substances and preservatives, together with sodium nitrates, which make them, look interesting and contemporary however are well-known carcinogens. Smoking meats appear to be significantly dangerous because the meat picks up tar from the smoking course of. Yes, tar, the identical lethal ingredient that cigarette smoke accommodates.

9. Farmed Salmon

These fish are fed unnatural diets and are contaminated with chemical substances, antibiotics, pesticides, and different recognized carcinogens. They dwell in very crowded situations which leads to these fish having 30 instances the variety of sea lice than wild salmon. Farmed salmon are fed chemical substances to make their meat that reddish pink colour that ought to happen naturally however doesn’t due to the weight loss plan of hen litter that they're fed.

10. Artificial Sweeteners

There is mounting proof that the chemical substances that make up these sweeteners, particularly aspartame, break down within the physique right into a lethal toxin known as DKP. When your abdomen processes this chemical, it, in flip, produces chemical substances that may trigger most cancers, particularly mind tumors.  

11. Hydrogenated Oils

Processed meals are actually dangerous for you, this we in all probability all know already. However, it's what's within the processed meals that's the downside for most individuals. These hydrogenated oils are generally used to protect processed meals and to maintain them secure whereas being caught on a shelf for lengthy durations of time. These oils have a tendency to change the construction and integrity of cell membranes throughout the human physique, which tends to steer in the direction of ailments reminiscent of most cancers. Some producers are working to take away the utilization of hydrogenated oils and substitute them with palm oil or one other secure different. Trans fat are nonetheless broadly used, sadly. Vegetable oils are likely to include excessive ranges of Omega-6 fatty acids, of which extra could cause well being issues. A steadiness have to be fashioned between Omega Three and Omega 6 for a nutritious diet. Supplements and grass-fed meats ought to do the trick to steadiness oils out.

12. White Flours

Refined white flour is a typical ingredient throughout the majority of processed meals. The extra carbohydrate content material throughout the flour is the principle trigger for concern, nonetheless. A examine printed within the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Mile Markers, and Prevention found that refined carbohydrates have been linked to a 220 % enhance in breast most cancers amongst ladies. Rapid rises in blood sugar ranges all through the physique, which gasoline most cancers cell development and unfold, have been additionally found inside high-glycemic meals typically. The mills that bleach this flour have a tendency to make use of a chemical referred to as chlorine fuel, which is a harmful irritant that's unsafe to inhale and will be deadly in massive portions. Cancerous tumors feed on sugars throughout the bloodstream, so avoiding refined grains can starve a tumor fully. Find more healthy choices at your local retailer if it is advisable to get your palms on flour. Choosing flour that has not been bleached white is the most suitable choice you'll be able to select, too.

13. French Fries

French fries, very similar to potato chips, have excessive ranges of acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance that kinds inside meals at excessive temperatures, similar to when they're baked or fried. Studies have proven this substance will enhance the danger of quite a few several types of most cancers inside the human physique. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has stated that acrylamide is a possible human carcinogen. Food heated to a temperature above 242 levels Fahrenheit usually, has ranges of the substance inside them. However, French fries are likely to include one of many highest ranges amongst meals examined by the Research company. More analysis is required to find out the precise info, however it's recognized to trigger types of most cancers throughout the host. Limiting the variety of French fries you eat or discovering a more healthy different total, is the most suitable choice when trying to keep away from the expansion or unfold of cancerous cells within the physique.

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Para Axe Plus Reviews : Natural Weight Loss Requres A Combined Approach !

In case you are tormented by excess weight, you've got possibly asked a question "how can i shed pounds with assist of weight loss capsules, and what drugs are over-the-counter handiest?"

The most effective weight reduction practices consist of converting your food regimen ration and growth in bodily pastime. however on preliminary levels of weight loss eating regimen pills can come up with vital push and accelerate your weight loss substantially.

In this text i'm able to inform over-the-counterm weight loss capsules are over the counter only as a method of brief and healthful weight reduction.

Over-the-counterover the counter full-size variety of different weight reduction capsules brands over the counterre are numerous fundamental kinds differs with overover the counter over the counter way over-the-countery affect our frame.

Urge for food suppressants

That is over the counter most significant method of weight reduction. appetite suppressants emerged given that fifties of over-the-counter final century.

More commonly, over-the-counter components in appetite suppressants restrain pastime of sections in our mind, liable for over-the-counter upward thrust of urge for food. urge for food suppressants are quite effective as a method of warfare towards excess weight, over-the-counteryover the counter helped shed pounds to many human beings all through decades.

Para Axe Plus Review over-the-counterover the counter of appetite suppressants are prescription based anorectics that are prescribed by means of health practitioner. over-the-counteryover the counter contain chemical components, and you may face aspect results over-the-counter same time as overover the counter over the counterm. The most acknowledged manufacturers are phentermine, meridia. many of overover the counter herbal appetite suppressants hoodia gordonii became famous, but you ought to higher avoid buying it, as you could get a fraud and see no appetite suppressant effect at all.

You will see over the counter impact from taking appetite suppressants if combining over the counterm with bodily interest and obeying Para Axe Plus Review food plan.

Fat burners

Properly, over-the-counter most popular group of weight loss tablets. fat burners would not absolutely burn your fats, as a substitute over the countery make contributions to over-the-counter launch of unique methods liable for fats splitting for your frame. this is typically finished over-the-counter aid of over the counterrmogenesis and lypolisis.

A few fat burners are certainly powerful, and help you attain your weight reduction quicker than generally, over-the-counterover the counter effect of fats burners movement is short-lived, so taking fats burners for long-time period weight reduction is not important, due to overover the counter through overover the counter over-the-counterir impact weakens.

Except, over-the-counterre's a threat fat burners make use of doubtlessly dangerous additives that lead to critical damages for your worried gadget, coronary heart rate and blood pressure.

Once famous ephedra and ma-huand found in fats burners, were subsequentlyover the counter banned by means of fda after numerous deadly effects connected to over-the-counterir utilization.

Fats blockers

Overover the counter fats blockers are taken into consideration over the counter most neutral pills with efficacy approved by serious scientific studies as well as many weight loss success stories.

The components in fats blockers save you over the counter lipase movement, which is answerable for fat assimilation over-the-counter your body. So, a part of fats from over the counter meals you have eaten passes through your frame indigested, and is lead out certainly.

You could consume fatty meals and do not be fearful of gaining weight, over-the-counterover the counter a part of fats is blocked through fats blockers. greater, fats blockers do no longer affect your frightened system, and scientific professionals propose using fats blockers for long term and big weight loss.

The most recognised chemically primarily based fat blockers are xenical and its  analog alli. due to unnatural beginning, those weight reduction pills have aspect effects, consisting of loose stool and oily leakage for your underwear.

The most regarded and popular natural fats blocker is proactol, which binds fats into vicious solution and over-the-counteroverover the counter having no side results. it's miles recommended via over the counter leading health and weight loss specialists. greater to mention, many overweight people used proactol for long-term weight reduction and observed terrific results.

End

I hope over-the-counter statistics provided will assist you to orient yourself over the counter weight reduction tablets kinds, and to make right decision. handiest weight loss capsules are over-the-counter capsules to help you to help your efforts with out affecting your fitness.

Para Axe Plus suppressants and fat burners may be a good solution for brief term weight loss, in case you want to remove just several kilos previous to a vacations or some crucial occasion. just make sure over the countery do not include any dangerous additives.>>> https://supplementspeak.com/para-axe-plus-cleanse/