#but if you were prescribed it in ie the US and moved here you could continue getting it prescribed

[somecunttookmyurl]

It's also reflective of what you can get within Japan. afaik lisdexamfetamine and methylphenidate (vyvanse/elvanse and ritalin/concerta) are the only adhd medications you can be prescribed in japan

your posts today are how i found out if i ever went to japan i wouldn't be able to take my medication even with a letter (adderall)

the controlled substances list for japan is hysterical and bizarre and only gets funnier the longer you look at it

-there are only FOUR substances on planet earth that are straight up prohibited like cannot bring them in legally even with the correct paperwork

-they are heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine (adderall).... and cannabis

-there are 3 laws that collectively deal with substances. the narcotics & psychotropics law, the stimulants & stimulants raw materials law.... and the cannabis law

-the latter 2 were clearly drafted later because the only things defined as "stimulants" are methamphetamine, amphetamine, and lisdexamphetamine. that's not a stimulants law that's an amphetamine law

-this means cocaine and MDMA are classed as narcotics not stimulants

-this means that technically, hypothetically, you could import cocaine easier than adderall

-THC is not defined as a cannabis product

-You can bring in THC as long as it is not derived from cannabis. Unsure how you prove that

-cannabidiol (CBD) is not on there at all

-so you can bring in CBD and THC but not cannabis

-flatpack cannabis. some assembly required.

-the result of this list is that cannabis is more illegal than cocaine, morphine, barbituates, MDMA, LSD, GHB, and fentanyl

-adderall is also more illegal than any of those

-dexamfetamine, which is the same drug as lisdexamfetamine but shorter acting (the body converts lisdexamfetamine into dexamfetamine that's why it's slower release) is not on the list at all

-on a legal technicality i will not be arguing at the border i could bring in dexamfetamine without any paperwork at all because they forgot it existed

-levoamphetamine also is not on the list

-lisdexamfetamine is the only thing labelled as a "stimulants raw material" the two actual stimulants raw materials (ie, component parts of amphetamine) are not on the list. lisdexamfetamine is not a component part of adderall, it's an altered version of a component part.

-technically you can make DIY adderall on the other side of the gate

-it would still be easier to get in with cocaine

[nolanscheeks]

Non-Covid Illness (BB)

So I was supposed to go to the Canucks game against the Jets with my boyfriend but instead he decided it would be more fun to get BODIED by the flu. While he spent the day on the couch in a fever haze I saw that Brock and Petey are also getting bodied by the flu so I thought up this. Its extremely loosely based on real life (ie Brock being out sick) and very heavily based on the past few days with my boyfriend. Needless to say I am manifesting health for my love, Brock, Petey and the rest of us. So wash your hands, (wear a mask if thats your vibe, get your flu shot (if that’s your vibe), sleep, and take your vitamins because OH MY GAWD you do not want this flu, it is awful. 

Enjoy:)

-

To say it had been a rough season for the Canucks so far would be an understatement. The highs had been essentially non-existent and the lows had been pretty low. The whole team was suffering but the player who seemed to be getting the brunt of it was your boyfriend. Brock had been absent to start the season due to injury, then missed another chunk of time when he re-injured himself, and through it all had been bombarded with trade speculations and even an attempted healthy scratch. Worst of all, here he was finally uninjured and getting his groove back and now he was sick. Not the ‘feeling rundown, got a cold in’ kind of sick everyone gets this time of year. He was the ‘fever, can’t move, want to curl up and die’ kind of sick. 

Brock had left for Calgary on Wednesday morning in a great mood, excited for the one game trip against the Flames and then a few days off to start the Christmas festivities with you and your family. You’d actually been on FaceTime with your mom and brother, figuring out a time everyone could go to the Christmas market, when Brock’s call came through.

 The moment you accepted his call and his face filled the screen, you could tell he was off. He told you that he’d felt off since he’d woken up, not hungry and slow during morning skate, and then it was downhill from there. Brock said he’d gone down for his pre-game nap and then couldn’t will himself to get out of bed after it. He texted the trainer who came and took a look at him, told him he had a fever, gave him Tylenol and left him with instructions to ‘sleep it off’. You sympathized as needed and stayed on the call with him until he inevitably nodded off again. Elias delivered Brock to you later that night and the sight of your boyfriend visibly shivering, despite his jacket and hat, broke your heart. He didn’t  kiss you ‘hello’, like he always did, or even greet the dogs. He just pushed past you and beelined it for bed, shoes and all. You’d looked at Elias, concern written all over your face. “He’s doing bad” was all he said, giving you Brock’s bag. You thanked him and went to the bedroom to help Brock undress, or at least take his shoes off which was all he was willing to do. You’d gone to bed hoping he was going through the worst of it now and would feel better in the morning but the next few days showed you that was wishful thinking. 

The doctor had come to see him Thursday evening and tested him for a bunch of things, hoping they could prescribe something to get him back on his feet but Brock was shit out of luck. The only test that came back positive was the flu so there was nothing to do but wait for his body to fight it. Of course, he could go to the hospital if he got too ill but so far you’d been able to keep his fever down and he was taking in fluids so the doctor didn’t think it was necessary. 

So here you were, Friday midday and the big event for the day was Brock moving from the bed to the couch. He was on his side somewhere between asleep and awake, unconscious but not alert either, when you kneeled in front of him. 

“Hey” you breathed out, bringing your hand up to touch his cheek. You really didn’t want to disturb him but it was time for more Advil and he needed to drink something.

“Hi” he whispered back, opening his eyes to look at you. The look in his eyes physically hurt you. They were usually so bright and lit up when he saw you, but now they looked glazed over. Glassy with fever and dull with exhaustion.

“Time to do drugs” you joked trying to lighten the mood, as you rattled the pill bottle in front of him. 

“I hope you got the good kind” he chuckled weakly, pushing himself into a seated position. 

“Only the bed for you baby” you said, giving him the 2 pills and following it up with a Gatorade. “Got these bad boys from the best dealer in town.”

“Whole Foods?” he guessed, taking them and continuing to sip the Gatorade after you motioned for it.

“Shoppers” you corrected. 

“Cheapo” he teased, laying back down. Now it was your turn to let out a small chuckle. If anyone was cheap, it was Brock. You transferred from the floor so you were sitting next to him on the edge of the couch. You brushed his hair out of his face, twisting some of it around your fingers. He was still warm and kind of clammy like he’d been since Elias had dropped him off. You sighed, pissed at whatever monster strain of Influenza was absolutely kicking your professional athlete boyfriend’s ass and a little disappointed you guys had missed out on the Christmas market with your family.

“What?” he asked, turning his head to look up at you. 

“I’m just so sorry you’re sick like this.” 

“Believe me, I don’t like it either but it was my turn” he grabbed your hand from his hair and kissed it sweetly. Brock held your hand for another minute before letting go and letting his eyes close once again. 

You stood up, collecting the bottle of Advil you’d put on the ground and went to make your way back to the kitchen when you heard Brock say something muffled.

“What was that, B?” you asked.

“Make sure you wash your hand” he repeated, shoving his face back in the blanket. You cracked a smile, he’d been so cute reminding you to wash your hands, like that was going to make the difference when you guys were sleeping in the same bed and the night before he’d literally been laying on you.  

You made your way to the kitchen looking for something to occupy yourself with while Brock slept. You decided you may as well start making dinner, maybe you could bully Brock into eating something more substantial than the third of a smoothie he’d managed today. The doctor had emphasized the importance of nutrition to your guys during his visit but Brock was struggling to eat much of anything right now. You’d even offered to get him sushi or pizza but he’d had no interest. He was drinking at least.

An hour or so later, you had the chicken noodle soup you’d prepped simmering on the stove when you heard Brock’s phone start to buzz. 

“Sup Petey” Brock answered, clicking ‘speaker’ on the call.

“Boes” came Elias’ voice, rougher than normal, “I am ill.”

“Fuck,” Brock slapped his hand over his face; “I’m sorry man. Didn’t mean to get you sick.”

“Not your fault” Elias conceded. You heard him sigh into the phone. “I should’ve been nicer to you after the Flames. This is terrible. I might die.”

“When did you start feeling sick?” Brock asked.

“Yesterday” Elias answered, “today is so much worse.”

“Yeah. I got bad news for you, I’m still dead so you’ve got a bit to go.”

You giggled, of course they were still joking with each other despite feeling so bad. 

“Keep your flu to yourself next time” Elias scolded. 

“I’ll try” Brock said, and then “seriously though, I’m sorry I got you sick bro, it really sucks.”

“You better be. Bruce and all of Vancouver are going to be mad at you if I am not healed by tomorrow.” Elias teased good naturedly. Brock sighed audibly and then they bid each other goodbye. You returned to the spot on the couch where you had been before, cupping his cheek with your hand. His skin still felt too warm and you were beginning to worry about his ability to play in the next night’s game, as well as Elias’. 

Brock must have read your mind because he spoke softly; “I hope I feel better tomorrow.”

“Me too,” you agreed. “But if you don’t you don’t and you take another day.” 

He nodded at that, letting you continue to caress his cheek. 

“Are you hungry? I made soup and it should be ready soon?” you asked.

“Not really,” he said, rubbing his eyes with his hand. “I should probably eat though.”

“Definitely a good idea. Maybe some water or Gato too.”

“Oh my god, Y/N. You did not just call it Gato” Brock laughed, sounding exasperated. You returned the giggle and then stood up, reaching a hand out to help him up. As you walked with him to the kitchen you thought he might be starting to turn the corner towards wellness. He had been joking with you earlier about the Advil, was joking with you now, and he did look steadier on his feet. Plus he was willingly making his way to the kitchen for food. You decided to take this all as a good sign that your boyfriend was finally starting to feel better. Maybe tomorrow’s game wasn’t such a long shot. 

After dinner Brock continued to improve, even wanting to take the dogs out for their evening walk with you but you insisted he get ready for bed instead. The next morning his fever was virtually gone so he decided to go to morning skate and you took the opportunity to sanitize the entire apartment glad to have the whole flu situation behind you. You had even gone as far as picking an o​utfit to wear to the game when Brock came home and you realized it had definitely jumped the gun. 

“That was a mistake,” Brock grumbled, flopping onto the couch. “I feel like shit again.”

“Too much too soon?” you proposed, unfolding a freshly washed throw blanket to place over him again. 

He hummed a yes in response and then “I wanted to play tonight but I don’t think I have the energy.”

“I know you did,” you acknowledged, feeling his forehead with your hand. He was maybe a little warm but nowhere near what he had been. “Get some sleep. Your body is still recovering from being so sick. It might take a few days”

“Such BS,”  Brock mumbled. He has already closed his eyes, seemingly getting ready for yet another nap. You leaned down and kissed his cheek before returning to your closet to put your outfit away. You could go to the game without him but you also didn’t hate the idea of watching it cuddled up on the couch with Brock. 

Brock woke up from his nap feeling much better again but you guys decided that it was probably best he didn’t play. After a call with the trainer, you guys set up on the couch with the dogs and take out sushi.

“Thanks for taking care of me babe” he said, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you in tight. “I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

You laughed tilting your head up so you guys could make eye contact. “Absolutely, anything for you.” You puckered your lips for him to kiss and your heart filled with warmth as you felt his lips make contact with yours. 

-

Hope you liked it. No shade to Shoppers drug mart. There's one in my building and it was been my best friend the last few days. Stay healthy!

[vousmontournesol]

Re Nolan Patrick: Robin Lehner didn't address him by name though there was a tweet which stated sources revealed that he was medicated on highly addictive sedative drugs by nonmedical staff. I wonder also if Robin was also addressing Carter Hart (he said he didn't really know Nolan that well), who floundered last season and was very anxious about his performance. Robin was very vocal about AV throwing the young goalie under the bus. Regardless, this seems to be a systemic issue according to Robin and interestingly enough, Dale Weise, a former teammate of Nolan's voiced his support for Robin. Chuck Fletcher's statement was essentially a non-answer, basically summarized as "Yeah, I don't think we do that around here". I think for Nolan, if he truly was treated inappropriately for his migraines or TBI, he may feel that he cannot blow the whistle at this time. If he confirms or denies this claim, the flames may be stoked even more, so he may choose to wait it out. The vitriol towards him on twitter is brutal - he's not only a bust, but he's "ungrateful" and a "crybaby" and worse insults that are misogynistic and homophobic. The discourse around him has always been exceedingly negative, albeit if not more now. He may just want his fresh start in Vegas and to put it all behind him. Perhaps, he worries he will be blackballed for speaking out, and there goes his dream of playing in the NHL which he worked so hard for. This is a young man who was once almost the #1 pick for his year. I think the NHL will try to suppress this - ie the opiate dependency among players, rampant harrassment as in the recent Blackhawks case. It's in their best interest to let this die - everyone has to move on at some point, right? As you can see, there are already people on twitter dismissing Robin as a raving lunatic. But Robin is right and this is not an outlandish scenario. Scheduled drugs are diverted all the time despite good checks in place. They could have been prescribed for someone else and given to players. What really terrifies me about Nolan's case allegedly is 1) he didn't know what he was taking which took away his free will and 2) if he was being dosed inappropriately for a long period of time since this was allegedly done with out doctor supervision. They could have OD'd him! I really worry about these players and how they break their bodies and minds for this sport that they love, but in a league that considers them chattel and where money always rules the day. Sorry for the essay.

Don’t apologize dude, this is a good take, and exactly what I was thinking too. Thank you for this.

The bullying that Nolan’s received since he arrived in Philly has always put me off. Of course I think he’s adorable and I do love his chipped tooth, but at the end of the day, I value him as a player and a as a human and as a contributor to a sport I love to watch. So reading all of this shut over the last 24 hours is nauseating.

I think RL’s tweets were a little hard to read through just because I know English is not his first language, but I think you’re right. He may have been alluding to another player he knew about, possibly carter (although I don’t know if they know each other either). Regardless, now RL is being cast as some idiot who has lost his mind because of his mental illness, which is just wrong. To see people tweet at him using his mental illness like that against him makes me sick. These toxic fans are fine with things like this happening.

Tbh, I don’t think Nolan owes anyone anything. It’s allegations at this point, and the sources are a little sketch, but I swear to god if I ever find out to be true, I will come unhinged. Something awful could have happened to him if he was on these drugs. You’re right: he could have OD’d, he could have long term problems, etc. It’s hard to think about that. Especially when the league is already so content to not deal with shit that’s already happening (Eichel and the Blackhawks bullshit).

It’s sad. Really is. Whatever happens, I hope Nolan is okay, and I hope he does what’s best for him. And I’ll be interested to see how this shakes out and whether or not we hear anymore from anyone.

Thanks for writing in!

[stevenbasic]

I’m usually not late for things but I was wayyyy late getting to our plane. Almost missed it, in fact. They were just about to close up the gate when I rushed in, jogged through the jetway and hurried down the aisle. Melissa was already in the seat next to mine…

“Welcome to your vacaaaation!” she sang to me in greeting, eyes twinkling with enthusiasm.

“It’s not...<mmmnf!>” I grunted, doing my best to lift my too-heavy carry-on into the overhead bin. Melissa watched me with careful concern. Jesus what did I pack? Rocks?? I noticed a strikingly tall, blonde stewardess headed my way, but luckily I was just able to manage it up and into the bin before she arrived. “Thanks, I got it…” I told her. That would have been humiliating. 

“It’s not...a vacation,” I huffed, dropping into my seat, finally able to stop moving after a frantic two hours of car trouble, early morning traffic and long security lines. My breathing was labored. “We’re going…<huff, puff>...to a conference...”

“At the beach!” she sang, tossing the in-flight magazine aside, smile going wide in eager zeal, “Aren’t you excited??? You get to be with me all week!!” Her eyes glimmered in merriment. 

“Great…” I mock-groaned, smiling despite myself. I had been anticipating this trip for weeks, but ‘excited’ might not be the right word...

At that, at my joke, she giggled and leaned into me, scooching down and laying her head affectionately onto my shoulder. Already, I noticed, her perfume had filled the air around us, and as I breathed it in I felt myself gently relaxing, calming me from my hectic journey in. It was making our little space here on the plane immediately more intimate. I felt it cocooning us pleasantly in her scent and - crap - beginning to stir my loins. It was then that I took the moment to glance down, really notice what my travel partner was wearing, and try not to goggle at the size of the bosom that stretched her long-sleeved white tee and the tanktop below it so tautly. Though her top did not show much cleavage, the shirt was thin and I could clearly see though it, see the bulge of her big breasts squeezed up over the top of her too-tight tank. “Seriously, I’m so  happy you asked me to come with you,” she said, grabbing my hand to hold it, “thank you so much.”

“Oh, uh, yes, sure, of course,” I answered, as Melissa gave my hand and upper arm a squeeze. Gurk...boob.  “I’m…excited too. Happy you could come.”

Now with its final, errant passenger on board (ie: me), the plane began to roll, engines coming to life to start us down towards the runway. Normally this is where I’d feel my pulse begin to quicken.

”Sheryl’s going to miss you?” she asked, brow furrowing. 

”Oh, uh, I dunno…” I responded, feeling a twinge of disloyalty to my wife already, seated here with a young, beautiful woman on my arm - even if she was my Office Manager, and we were headed to a professional event. Nothing, of course, had happened between Melissa and I - and nothing was going to - but my thoughts about her being on this trip with me were certainly less than innocent. And talking about Sheryl now seemed like just more betrayal. “She has so much stuff going on, she’s so busy,” I continued, thinking about the final, chilly words my wife had for me this morning as I left, “I don’t think it’ll bother her…”

“Oh I’m sure she’ll be thinking about you being so far away,” Melissa assured me, squeezing my arm again into a breast which felt as big as a melon, ”but she has nothing to worry about...I’ll take good care of you…” Another breathful of her perfume and I settled back into my seat, hearing the engines gearing up again, preparing us for takeoff. Breathe, dude, breathe... 

Ahhhh….

“Yeah I’ve been looking forward to this, getting away for a bit. We’re going to have fun,” I found myself saying, and immediately knowing I’d said more than I should; maybe the adrenaline had loosened my tongue, “I mean - I w-wish Sheryl could have come, but she’s...well…”

She’s been such a bitch recently.

“...she’s maybe, uh, happier doing the stuff she has to do,” I conceded. I watched Melissa cross her left leg over her right, towards me. 

“Well, I’m so excited to be doing this,” Melissa clucked, “and...to have you all to myself!” With that, she released my arm, and reached over towards me, leaning over my lap. “Here, let’s get your seatbelt fastened,” she said, as already she had both straps in hand. Dutifully, like a mother hen, she <clicked> my buckle into place and pulled the belt taut over my hips. “Ooo you’re skinny!” she cooed, her face now so close to mine, her smile wide and big and toothy and white, eyes sparkling, “But there you go...all set, Mr Skinnie-Minnie.”

I felt myself shiver.

“Not me, though,” she continued, sitting back now, “Here…” At that, she raised the armrest between us, eliminating the separator, the one border between her space and mine.  “...you don’t mind if we share, do you? I should have bought two seats for my hips.” 

I looked down and, indeed, Melissa’s wide hips - swathed into tight grey travelling pants - overflowed into my seat. My hips, in comparison, looked meager and thin, my legs like two sticks next to her healthy thighs.

“Ah haha yeah…” I agreed, as the plane pulled onto the runway and prepared for what I knew would be its acceleration. I wanted to try to stay calm. “B-Business class, hm? Nice.” I had tasked Melissa with buying out tickets, several weeks ago. “Was that in our budget?”

”Oooo you’d be so proud of me..!” she laughed, as the engines all began to roar, “I was able to get us nice seats...Evolution Pharmasoo-...y’know, the company my friend Abby works for? -  chipped in for an upgrade. Paid for our tickets, in fact!”

”Wait what?” I asked. That’s weird. I mean, I was used to getting swag, kickbacks, little favors from some of the drug companies I worked with. But this company, Evolution...I’d never even met with a rep yet, this girl Abby. Never prescribed their...whatever it was they made. A couple of my new employees were previous employees there, but that certainly didn’t warrant a set of free plane tickets. The thought that I was already in bed with a pharm company and didn’t even really know their products made me suddenly a little uneasy. That, and the roar of engines as we gained more and more speed...

“Oh don’t worry…” Melissa offered, as if feeling my distress shivering through me into the press of her chest, “they just really want to play nice. Promise me you’ll meet with Abby…?”

“Uhhh...oh….uhhh…” I felt myself stiffen, grasping my armrest with my free right hand. 

”Dr. J?” Melissa asked, with sudden concern, “are you ok?”

“Yeah…” I answered, closing my eyes as the plane had almost reached speed, ”not always a...big fan of flying.”

“Awww are you nervous?” she asked, like she was speaking to an anxious child, “here you can hold my hand.” I felt her take my left hand in hers and hold it onto her firm lap, onto her right thigh. I felt her squeeze it, and I squeezed back. The plane was nearly in the air, and a fresh waft of her perfume found me. 

“Take a deep breath,” she instructed me, which I did, “you’re going to be fine…”

I really, really, really didn’t like flying, and takeoff was one of the worst parts. But the comfort of her hand, the scent of her perfume, her soft warmth next to me...I had to admit, it was making me feel better, taking my mind to a different place. 

“Just relax,” she said, her voice deepening, serene, like liquid tranquility, “I’m here, you’re here, it’s just us…”

Liftoff...

======================

Alright I have to thank TopographicSociety for the Chloe Vevrier x Denise Milani fake, and my editing team - CaptainAmbiguous, Doubleburger, FantasticMrMoose, Ankle4u, among others - for their ideas and input. Thanks again also to everyone for keeping up with the story!

[purplesurveys]

1198

Have you ever bought a YouTuber’s merch?  No. Most of the merch that had been put out when I was still into YouTubers were always underwhelming and overpriced, anyway.

Do you think oatmeal tastes better when made with water or milk?  Eugh, I don’t like oatmeal. Ate it everyday for breakfast as a kid and I just want nothing to do with anymore.

Have you ever left a note in a library book?  No. I’m pretty sure that counted as vandalism or at least under some kind of violation, so I never did anything to my borrowed books beyond reading them.

What time of day do you prefer to wash your hair?  There’s no time of day for me; I just wash it whenever I feel like showering.

Has anyone ever spread lies about you?  Just a couple times when I was in like middle school but it was all very superficial stuff that I never think about.

Have you ever taken a photograph with a celebrity? If so, did it turn out the way you wanted, or do you wish you could retake it?  Nah. I freak out about the idea of meeting celebrities and always turn down or pass up any opportunity I get lmao. I don’t handle nervousness well so I don’t trust myself to be able to behave or speak properly.

If you could move out of your home country permanently, would you? If so, where would you go?  Yeah, anything to get out of this shithole. I’d love to move to Canada.

Is there a celebrity that everyone else seems to love, but you find totally overrated? Why is it that you don’t like them?  Taylor Swift. Her music’s just never fallen under my personal preferences, but I don’t actively hate on her or bash her when there’s been no reason to.

If you could volunteer for any charity, which one would you choose? Do you think it’s more important to help humans, or are animal and environmental charities equally important?  I don’t think acts of charity should be compared. Personally though, I tend to lean towards causes for animals.

Do you prefer holidays where you relax, or actually do things? My family alwaysssssss makes sure our itineraries are absolutely packed when we go on vacations. Seems like a waste of money to travel to a new place just to stay holed up in our hotel room.

Do you think that after we die our spirit is still alive?  No, I don’t believe in those to begin with.

Has anybody ever told you that you could be a model? Yeah, usually because of my build. I hate posing and being in front of a camera, though.

Do you use different kinds of moisturizer for different body parts? ie. hand lotion for your hands, face cream for your face. Or do you just use one moisturizer for all body parts?  I don’t use skincare products, though I should probably start because my skin is finally biting me in the ass and giving me breakouts 23 years later lol.

Have you ever felt like you were someone’s rebound? Nope.

Has anybody ever broken up with you over something really pathetic? What was it? Have you ever been dumped in a disrespectful way? (eg. through text, through a friend..)  I wouldn’t say it was over something pathetic. She had her reasons and I respect that. Doesn’t mean I can’t resent her.

Did you have a lot of role models as a kid?  Not really.

Do you feel like anyone looks up to you? Why or why not? I don’t know, but this isn’t a compliment I get a lot either. I don’t actively try to be a role model, so I don’t care about maintaining such an image.

What was the last thing you found offensive? My mom often throws around subtle homophobic remarks in passing. She knows I hate them because I shoot her a glare every time she does it, but for some reason she never learns...

Who is the nicest person you know?  Angela.

Do you feel safe in your country?  In a country where the president is a blatant liar, misogynist, has anger and cursing issues, and enables extrajudicial killings? Safety is a dream here.

Do you feel safe where you live?  Very technically speaking, yeah I do since it’s a gated village so nothing ever happens here.

Have you been falsely diagnosed with something by a bad doctor?  Not necessarily misdiagnosed, but I’m pretty sure I was prescribed the wrong set of medicines for my UTI last year...nothing came out of taking those pills and I felt just as sick (and dead) as I was after a couple of days. The only reason I got better was Angels’s mom is a doctor and gave me the right meds to take, which worked on me within a couple of hours.

Have you ever had a doctor refuse to treat you?  No.

Name the strangest game you’ve ever played (video game or real game): WarioWare is suuuuuuuch a weird game haha. Doesn’t stop me from enjoying it, though.

Do you know anyone who has been struck by lightning before?  Not that I know of.

Which cartoon character would you want to keep as a pet? Gary from Spongebob.

Do you like marshmallows?  Haaaaaaaate them. I never got used to its weird, sticky texture so I always take them out when they’re included in like drinks and desserts.

What is your favorite flavor of candy cane?  I don’t consume candy canes much. Too sweet.

Have you ever fostered an animal?  Nope.

Do you still take hot showers when it’s hot out?  No, I want the water to be as cold as possible.

When writing $ sign, do you draw one line through the S or two?  I do two, though I rarely have any reason to write down the dollar sign in general.

What animal have you always wanted as a pet but couldn’t have?  We weren’t allowed to have dogs as kids because we “wouldn’t be able to take care of them” – which they were right about, anyway. But we have two now, so it all worked out in the end.

List three people you’ve had crushes on:  Gabie, Andi...and that’s it, really.

Have you ever thrown up from cramps?  No. Fortunately my period cramps have never been that bad, and the only time they can be a headache is if they’re the leg crampjp that sends me waking up in the middle of the night.

List three people you had a hard time forgiving.  I don’t really forgive. If someone fucks up badly enough that I feel the need to cut them off, that’s pretty much it for me.

Who is the most spiritual person you know?  I don’t know.

Would you ever start a vlog?  Sure. I’ve always wanted to try it, but I don’t have a decent vlogging camera and am not invested enough in the venture to spend on one. In general I’m also not comfortable being in front of the camera, as I’ve already shared several times here. Vlogging does look fun though, and I definitely would’ve already given it a shot if only I felt more comfortable.

Are your dreams coming true yet?  Some of the short-term ones, sure.

Do you struggle with depression?  I go through phases of it, but I’ve never been formally diagnosed just because I’ve never booked a trip to the psychiatrist.

Are you haunted by your past?  No

What medical conditions do you have?  Do scoliosis and lactose intolerance count? Those are the main issues I have.

Do you use a Magic Bullet?  Why did I think this was a vibrator...? Anyway, I looked it up and no, I’ve never used one.

What does your apron look like?  I’ve never had to use one regularly.

What are your favorite spicy foods?  Curry, tteokbokki, ramen, samgyeopsal with ssamjang, spicy fried chicken.

Which do you like better: being an adult or being a kid?  Being an adult has a lot more freedom to it even though I have to go through heavier and deeper shit, so it’s still more worth it to me.

Were you excited to be a teenager on your thirteenth birthday?  I was heavily depressed back then, and was for a while, so I didn’t have any feelings about turning 13. I don’t even remember my birthdays up until the 15th.

Did you feel insecure in high school?  In the first half, yeah. But I started opening up more and gaining friends by junior year, so at that point I wasn’t feeling too shy anymore.

Would you ever be friends with someone who was suicidal?  I hate this question that I am simply ignoring it.

Who was the biggest bully in high school?  My school didn’t tolerate bullies so no one ever dared to be one, in the grand scheme of things. But back in kindergarten Kaira used to love targeting me - she was my big bully before she became my friend, lol.

What was your favorite class in high school? History, of course. I personally didn’t like literature but I enjoyed English classes, just because it was easy and was a guaranteed A+ in my report card.

Would you rather have a daughter or a son?  Daughter. 

Have you ever written to an advice columnist? Nope.

Have you ever had a doctor not believe what you told him?  Not really, but I’ve had a doctor be a total asshole towards me before.

If you’re female, would you feel uncomfortable having a male gynecologist?  No.

Do you like Lisa Frank?  No.

What gives you nightmares?  I don’t really get nightmares.

Were you ever hospitalized as a child?  Nope. I was hospitalized one time, and I had been 11 then.

Did you get senior pictures taken?  Yeah, for both high school and college.

What color is your bicycle? The family bike is blue and silver. Not that I could ride it, lol.

Did you ever have to take home a fake baby in health class?  No...is that a practice in other schools? That’s so weird if it was.

Would you rather wear ivory or white on your wedding day? What color will your bridesmaids wear?  White. Ivory can be for the bridesmaids, actually.

Would you rather have a swimming pool or trampoline?  Swimming pool. Trampolines are neat, but I would get bored of them so quickly.

Do you think babies are cute? For the most part yes, the only exception being if I have to be exposed with a baby/toddler that is prone to screech-crying. My patience is an extremely thin line when it comes to children like that lol and I FEEL BAD for feeling like so... but I just can’t deal with harsh sounds like that one.

Do you dream about the future a lot?  I guess I daydream sometimes but it’s nothing obsessive.

Do you think about your past a lot?  I’ll daydream or feel resentful sometimes, depending on what or who I’m thinking about lol. But I don’t stay in the past for too long.

How good are you at living in the moment?  I’m a lot better at it. It’s nice to be in the now.

Have you ever questioned God’s existence?  I did starting when I was 10, and I also disowned my religion by that time.

Vanilla frosting or chocolate? Chocolate foreverrrrr.

What’s your favorite foreign cuisine?  It’s always a three-way tie among Indian, Malaysian, and Thai.

Have you ever moved to another state?  No. We don’t even live in states.

Did you do anything productive today?  Well I had work today, so yeah I’d say I was. I had two meetings and worked on a bunch of spreadsheets and decks, so it was a pretty productive day.

Can you say the alphabet backwards?  Nope.

Do you like flowers?  Sure, but I’m not obsessed. It always feels nice to receive them, though.

Have you ever thought you were gonna die?  Every single time I get catcalled by men I always have the fear that they’d go all the way and drag me away to my death. That’s why I’m usually in shock whenever it happens and I’m never able to retort.

What kind of mood are you in today?  Super relieved because it’s Friday. A bit guilty because I had Starbucks delivered when I had already spent a lot this week, but I keep telling myself I deserve it after working all week haha. I just wanna enjoy my coffee and salmon dill sandwich in peace lmaooooo

What are you craving right now?  This salmon sandwich I ordered, so I’m hella glad I got it.

Is there anyone you would seriously punch right now if you had the chance?  Maybe shove, but not punch.

What is worse, physical or emotional pain?  Physical. My pain tolerance is extremely low, lol.

Have you ever walked in on somebody doing something… questionable? I don’t think I have.

If you were to make videos on YouTube, what would they be of?  I think just doing the trendy games like the Lie Detector game would be fun haha. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.

Posting pictures of yourself in a bathing suit on the internet - ok or not? ...It’s 2021.

Do you typically laugh when somebody falls down?  If it’s a close friend or a relative I’m close with, yeah. Anyone else I would immediately try to help.

What is the most disturbing movie you’ve ever watched?  Eraserhead or Under the Skin, which I didn’t even bother finishing.

Your opinion of Katy Perry, please?  I like her older songs.

If you could say anything to your Mom right now… what would it be?  Stop acting like a brat when you don’t get your way. You’re literally reaching 50.

[aplaceforthesoul]

I’m having a really, really hard time emotionally and mentally. It’s getting to the point to where I want to commit su*cide. I’ve lost all my motivation for school and I’m failing and I don’t even care. I gave up going to nyc to an acting school cause I can’t afford it. I don’t have any friends left because they say I’m too much for them. I was told by my “friend”s boss that I was making her uncomfortable. I never meant to do that, I’m just so so lonely and I just got excited by thinking I made a new friend. Every girl I fall for either is straight or already is in a relationship. There’s barely any Lgbt people here let alone a community. My parents don’t accept me and I can’t move out due to money issues. I stopped taking all my meds because I want to die. I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t take this loneliness and pain.

this is awful, I’m really sorry to hear this ): there’s a lot of layers to consider here, I don’t think I can get into all of them without writing an essay hehe. if you’re wanting specific advice on how to make/keep friends, or on money and and how to get extra financial support, more specific advice on how to go about accessing different kinds of therapy then you’re welcome to write a message on that. speaking a little more generally though? talk talk and talk some more, reach out for as much help as you possibly can.

one of the first things I would suggest is that you definitely should start taking your meds again, it’s never a good idea to stop taking medication without first talking to your doctor. stopping medication can lead to pretty negative side-effects (most doctors would opt to slowly ween you off something to counter-act that), all this pain you’re feeling at the moment could be exacerbated by that. 

it sounds like you don’t have a lot of support from ‘friends’ or loved ones at the moment? so that means professionals (ie. counsellors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers) and mental health organisations are your next option to look into.

if you were taking medication, I’m making the assumption they were prescribed by a doctor? if that’s the case, then talk to your doctor about things, about everything that’s going on at the moment. or maybe make an appointment to see your local doctor if it’s someone different to who gave you medication and someone you feel more comfy with, or reach out to your neighbour if they’re someone you like and get along with, or maybe teachers at acting school if you haven’t yet fully deferred / withdrawn from classes yet, or even reach out to helplines for your town or city? but the key is to talk to someone. 

none of this is your fault, nothing of what you’re going through is something you’ve chosen or something you want. I would never blame anyone at all for how they feel at the moment, I know that it’s very much not possible to just “stop feeling this way”. what I can say though is talking helps, it might sound cliché but a problem shared truly is a problem halved. the more you talk to people and let them know what’s going on? the more people can help you and support you and be there for you. 

I know it might feel like the world is against you at the moment! ): but I promise you that there’s still people out there who care, who truly want to help and support you. you’re not alone -- it might feel like a bit of an empty statement right in this moment, but it’s true. 

you’re always welcome to message us as much as you want to - I swear that you won’t be bothering us, we’re happy to listen :* all of us here on this blog really do care (even if we haven’t met you before), you are worth helping. keep us updated on things friend, take care <33

- tash

[scripttorture]

Your National Styles post is very helpful! I was wondering though if you could talk about what kinds of torture were common in pre-modern India? I don't have a specific time period in mind, I'm just after inspiration for a fantasy setting that's loosely inspired by India. Thanks.

This made me smile. Thank you Anon, any excuse to read more Indian history is a gift.

 I don’t have good sources for the entire sub-continent. Most of what I have focuses on the north. I’m also not 100% sure what you mean by pre-modern so I’m going to try to describe as much as I can, adding rough areas and time periods. That way you can pick and choose things that suit what you’re going for in your story. :)

 I’m not going to try with the Harappans. Partly because their writing system still hasn’t been deciphered but mostly because I intend to continue imagining they created an egalitarian utopia. Until such a time as some one finds proof of kingship or other crimes. We all have our stories we like to cling to.

 I actually started out with Keay’s India: A History (imaginative title isn’t it?) because the local library had it. It actually turned out to be a pretty good sign post for other sources.

 India has an incredibly rich history, but much of that history wasn’t written down until hundreds of years after the events took place. Which is something it has in common with most northern European countries, although most European countries have less thorough oral histories.

 India is quite interesting as a case study in the depth and accuracy of oral history. The presence of separate oral records for the same events and separate strands of written records- well it builds up an interesting picture. Apart from pure historical interest it’s also interesting to see what people remember, attempts to change records and how (with the right systems in place) oral history can be remarkably resistant to change.

 I digress.

 The point is Arthashastra is available in full online here. It’s a kind of guide to the organisation of a state. We don’t have exact dates for it (it was probably written by several people complied over quite a long period) but it’s probably mostly from roughly 200 AD. It is focused on the Mauryan empire dated as beginning in roughly 320 BC.

 It was pretty damned big. Conservative estimates have the empire stretching across the north of the Indian peninsula from ocean to ocean, from Pakistan, Punjab and Nepal all the way across into Bangladesh and south into Orissa and Maharashtra. Just looking at a global map, we’re talking conservatively of an area the size of France, Germany, Poland and Italy.

 The translation I’ve linked to has some issues that I can see from a casual read. For instance the references to ‘eunuchs’ were probably rendered in the original as a domination of tritiya-prakriti; literally ‘third kind’. The closest English translation is probably ‘queer’ as the term encompasses homosexual, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming and intersex people as well as people who can’t naturally conceive. Some of the subtleties in the original are probably lost in translation and there may well be references I’m missing.

 Now like most historical cultures the Mauryans tortured and tried to impose legal limits on torture. We know from modern analysis that legal restrictions on torture don’t work: torturers will always ignore them.

 So it’s highly unlikely that the tortures the Mauryans allowed by law were the only tortures that happened in the Mauryan empire. But we can be pretty confident that the tortures they listed as legal were used through their empire.

 Arthashastra describes torture as a punishment and torture as an attempt to force a suspect to confess. At the same time the text acknowledges that torture can force false confessions and appears to cite a named legal case where this happened.

 I feel it’s also worth stressing that the vast majority of punishments the text suggests are fines. Apparently in ancient India you could get fined for almost anything.

 Arthashastra’s description of tortures starts with a list of people who can not legally be tortured. Now torturers will generally ignore this but I feel it’s worth including for some cultural context:

 ‘Ignoramuses, youngsters, the aged, the afflicted, persons under intoxication, lunatics, persons suffering from hunger, thirst, or fatigue from journey, persons who have just taken more than enough of meal, persons who have confessed of their own accord (átmakásitam), and persons who are very weak,--none of these shall be subjected to torture.’

 ‘Those whose guilt is believed to be true shall be subjected to torture (áptadosham karma kárayet). But not women who are carrying or who have not passed a month after delivery.

 Torture of women shall be half of the prescribed standard. Or women with no exception may be subjected to the trial of cross-examination (vákyanuyogo vá).

 Those of Bráhman caste and learned in the Vedas as well as asceties shall only be subjected to espionage.

 Those who violate or cause to violate the above rules shall be punished with the first amercement. The same punishment shall be imposed in case of causing death to any one by torture.’

 Now I know this is a little dense so in case that’s not clear the second passage is saying that women should be tortured less then men and pregnant women or women who recently gave birth shouldn’t be tortured at all.

 The last paragraph states that the punishment for a torturer for violating the rules, or for killing someone while torturing them is a fine. And not a particularly steep one. (Based on modern research I’d say it’s unlikely these limits were enforced, consistently or at all).

 The text describes whipping, beating with canes, suspension and ‘water-tube’.

 It particularly talks about beating the thighs, palms of the hands, soles of the feet (I refer to this as falaka) and the knuckles.

 It states there are two kinds of suspension but doesn’t describe them. Most suspension tortures involve hanging a person by their arms in some manner, but not all. I honestly can’t tell from the text what sort of suspensions were used.

 ‘Water tube’ could mean- well a lot of things. It could mean pumping, which is forcing someone to swallow liquid until their internal organs are painfully swollen (often causing vomiting and diarrhoea). It could mean waterboarding. It could mean the ‘Chinese water torture’ (incredibly misleading name), continual dripping of water on to someone’s eyes, which is actually a form of sleep deprivation.

 There’s also this ‘the hands being joined so as to appear like a scorpion’ which sounds like a form of finger milking. That’s bindings around the hands or arms restricting circulation and causing the hands to swell painfully.

 The last three things acknowledged as torture in the text are these ‘burning one of the joints of a finger after the accused has been made to drink rice gruel; heating his body for a day after be has been made to drink oil; causing him to lie on coarse green grass for a night in winter.’

 I honestly haven’t a clue what the significance of the rice gruel might be in this context.

 The combination of drinking oil and heat sounds like a strange combination of tortures. Drinking oils can uh- basically give someone diarrhoea. Oil can also be flammable but I don’t think this is implying immolation. I think it might be indicating a combination of pumping, dehydration, starvation and a temperature torture.

 Because forcing a prisoner to drink something that would make them sick would quickly make them dehydrated. Subjecting them to extremely hot temperatures would then be even more painful and dangerous.

 The final description seems to a straightforward form of exposure. It’s exposing a victim to cold winter temperatures. The implication is that this also involves sleep deprivation. The ‘grass’ may or may not be significant. There are plenty of plants you wouldn’t want to lie down on for a night but I’m unsure whether the ‘coarse’ description indicates something that could cause pain.

 The text also describes beatings, branding the face (of Brahmans specifically) and amputation as punishments. It describes death by ‘torture’ but the particular torture is not specified. It describes capital punishment in general terms ie ‘those who commit this offence shall be put to death’. A few offences called for beheading specifically. It also describes the use of jails.

 The amputations I could find listed were: a finger, a hand, a nose, a leg, ears, male genitalia. There’s also a description of blinding by the application of chemicals.

 As a final note before we move on there’s an interesting passage on sudden death and signs to look for on a corpse that could indicate the cause of death. It’s pretty interesting as an example of how people conducted investigations into murders before we had forensic labs.

 You can probably assume Ashoka is broadly covered by what I’ve described. His ethical pronouncements including prohibits on torture but nothing suggests a complete and enforced ban on the practice so it’s likely to have continued under his rule.

 Now I tried to find some sources on the southern Indian empires, like the Chola but I couldn’t find anything I felt was a clear description of the criminal justice system. Similarly I didn’t find anything clear on the Sangam period.

 I’m honestly not sure if this is because sources don’t exist or because there are less translations from Tamil.

 There is a lot of Tamil poetry from the Sangam period that’s available in translation and touches on Tamil history and wars. These might well serve as a good source of inspiration but I don’t think they’re necessarily a good indication of common practice.

 I am, admittedly, making assumptions based on epic poetry from other countries. My impression though is that these kinds of literary pieces tend to record unusual practices rather than common ones. When they mention common ones they don’t always give the full context of what terms mean. So for instance the Norse Eddas describe several unusual (for the culture) methods of execution and torture, but references to more common ones are usually a word or two without explanation. The Eddas mention blood eagles but don’t actually tell us what they were. This kind of description seems common in the epic poetry I’ve read and as a result I’m assuming the Tamil poetry will be similar.

 The next thing I went to was a couple of Chinese sources recounting travels to India. These were from Buddhist pilgrims so remember that bias while readings their accounts.

 Faxian (Fa Hian) wrote an account that’s available in translation here. I only had a quick flick through but from what I can see it’s more useful for establishing the wider historical context of the countries and the religious climate at the time then it is figuring out ideas about justice and torture.

 The next thing that really stood out is the famous Record of Western Lands, the inspiration for The Journey West by a monk whose name is Romanised in about half a dozen different ways. Hsuan Tsang and Xuanzang seem to be the most popular renderings with the former used predominantly in Indian studies.

 Now the first volume is relatively easy to find but I’ve had difficulty getting access to the other 11.

 Hsuan Tsang periodically recounts stories of Indian history, some involving ideas of punishment, justice and torture. Now a lot of these probably don’t show common practice and some of them seem to have been misinterpreted by Hsuan Tsang (I think the account of voluntary castration is more likely to be describing a queer Indian identity then a punishment) but they’re useful nonetheless.

 Generally Hsuan Tsang seems to be confirming that the practices described in the Arthashastra were still in use while he was travelling. As well as fines he describes imprisonment and social shunning of criminals which may amount to isolation/solitary confinement.

 He describes amputations as punishment, of the nose, ear, hand or foot. He doesn’t describe castration as a punishment per say but it seems likely this continued even if it was rare.

 Hsuan Tsang claims that torture wasn’t used to force confessions but then describes torture being used to force people to plead when they ‘refuse to admit their unlawful activities ashamed of their faults’. Which sounds to me like torture used to force confessions and/or something analogous to the historical English custom of being ‘pressed to plead’ (ie people who refused to plead guilty or innocent were tortured until they pleaded one way or the other).

 The tortures described are a form of near (or likely actual) drowning by putting a person in a weighted sack and throwing them in a river. He also describes a burning torture using hot iron. The other descriptions in this section sound more like ways of divining a person’s alleged guilt and I’m going to ignore them.

 He describes blinding as a punishment. And also a vampire story that I wasn’t expecting.

 As we get into the 700s there’s increasing Arab contact, which at this point is mostly via traders and pirates. My initial notes include some questions about whether this is when falaka was introduced to India but going by the Arthashastra it seems likely falaka was in use long before the Arabs arrived. In fact the spread may have gone the other way.

 It’s also possible that Ancient India and Ancient Egypt both hit upon similar practices separately due to the simple nature of torture. I digress-

 Writings by Arab scholars and travellers about India start becoming more prominent from the 900s onwards. Most of these recount hostile encounters between Muslim forces and Hindu or Buddhist groups. The accounts are a lot less interested in the history and politics of the region then the Chinese travellers three or four hundred years earlier.

 The most easily available one is probably Chach Nama which was written in the 1200s-1300s and claims to be a translation of an earlier work on Arab conquests of Pakistan and north western India during the 800s. However- it’s accuracy on several points is disputed. A lot of people don’t think it’s a translation but an original work combining and re-imagining earlier historical documents. Some of the older accounts, such as those of Al Baladhuri and Al Biruni, contradict it.

 Personally I have slightly more faith in the accuracy of the Chinese accounts then the Chach Nama. I think it’s likely it was constructed to justify conflicts of the 1200s by creating a supposed historical basis for those conflicts. I think it also displays a vested interest in making conquered people appear uncivilised, a pattern that’s common in a lot of historical accounts of foreign countries by the people who conquered them.

 In light of that- I think Al Biruni’s A Critical Study of What India Says, Whether Accepted by Reason or Refused, a better bet. Especially since he seems to have been more interested in Indian society then Indian rulers. (Though take into account my personal biases here; I think Al Biruni is a nice example of how Islamic scholars influenced scientific and historical thought. I think our modern philosophy of science owes a lot to the ideas of truthfulness (al-haqq) Al Biruni and people like him championed. I’m going to own my academic admiration.)

 This looks like your best bet for an easily accessible copy.

 I feel like I should stress, having recommended a bunch of foreign scholars as sources on Indian history, that throughout this period we’re pretty sure Indians were writing their own histories. However not many of them have survived. That’s thought to be because of a combination of the climate and the way things were commonly recorded. The theory I see repeated is that Indians were commonly recording things by carving on wood. This almost invariably rotted away. Similar things have occurred in other countries as well: much of England’s early history literally went up in flames during the Great Fire of London when one of the principal libraries burned and Alexandria’s destruction is generally cited as the reason we don’t have a lot of important classical Greek works, like first hand accounts of Alexander’s conquests or say more Sappho.

 Aaaaand that was the point where my friends staged an intervention and the library demanded financial restitution for my kidnapping of their books.

 Spoil sports. The rest of this is from my general knowledge.

 European forces and settlements in India would probably have introduced more tortures. The Dutch regularly used waterboarding, but I can’t find any indication that this became common practice in India.

 However the British army’s combination of stress positions and exposure did. A punishment the British called ‘crucifixion’ was used throughout India. It involved tying the victim standing with their arms outstretched in a T shape in full sun.

 The stress position itself is incredibly painful, combined with the climate it was likely to cause dehydration and possibly heat stroke as well.

 I couldn’t find any other instances where it seemed like part of a European National Style had been adopted by Indians.

 I found historical references to murgha stress position in India, including an illustration from the early 1800s. I’m not sure how far back the usage goes but that could be because it was generally used against children. Punishments towards children are not generally recorded as torture historically and it can be difficult to trace their usage.

 I couldn’t find any historical references to pepper (putting irritating substances such as pepper or chilli into mucous membranes, eyes, nose, genitals etc). That doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t practiced historically. Again, this is a form of torture that seems to have been associated with abuse of women and children in the home, rather than legislative punishments.

 I think you could use both in a story set in historical India without it appearing out of place. It might not strictly be historically accurate but both would have been possible.

 Judging by the Arthashastra falaka has been in India for a very long time indeed. I couldn’t find enough sources to confidently state it was in continuous from the late BC until today- but virtually every period I could find records of torture in India for included falaka. I think it’s likely that it was used continuously; I can’t prove it.

 Blinding turns up continuously throughout India history as a punishment aimed at people of high social rank or power.

 I’ve read some accounts of burning people alive as a punishment, but these are from later on in Indian history; the 1700s and 1800s. The particular account that springs to mind is Farzana’s ordering a group of arsonists to be burnt alive. The context for this is that they set fire to a group of buildings housing women who lived in purdah and that if the fire hadn’t been put out these women would have burnt alive rather then leave the building. Farzana’s punishment was interpreted as ‘an eye for an eye’.

 I feel like I should probably also briefly mention ritual suicide. There are a lot of historical Indian accounts of people killing themselves rather then renouncing a particular principal. One of the things that shows up repeatedly is women killing themselves when their husbands die. Sometimes this appears to have been voluntary. In other cases it seems as though the women were given no reasonable choice.

 I don’t think this fits the modern legal definition of torture, but it’s certainly an abuse of human rights aimed particularly at women. Starvation, burning on the husband’s funeral pyre and being thrown off tall buildings are the methods I see cited most commonly.

 The position of women in India is- well it’s a couple of books worth of material in itself. And I’d like to stress going in to this that there are very few countries/cultures that treated women well historically. Keep in mind when I describe the position of women and Dalits that the position of women and slaves or ‘barbarians’ in Greece and Rome was not any better.

 There’s a long history in India of confining women and limiting who they can interact with. The Arthashastra describes curfews inflicted on women and recommends barring women from leaving the home without an escort. It also legally limits the people women can invite to their homes.

 In historical Indian society it seems as though- it looks to me as if it would have been very easy for family members to isolate individual women in conditions akin to solitary confinement. This would probably have been unusual but from what I can see of the law and custom it wouldn’t have been seen as illegal or immoral.

 I’ve seen recent pieces claiming that the caste system is a recent invention. But I find this difficult to believe when the caste system is repeatedly cited in historical sources before European colonialism reached India. It’s cited by Al Biruni, Hsuan Tsang and in the Arthashastra.

 Yes there are historical incidences of people taking up occupations that were associated with different castes. Indian farmers and merchants did become Kings. But showing there was some social mobility and that caste was more (or less) flexible at different periods of time isn’t the same as showing that people were in no way limited by their parentage.

 Al Biruni describes the treatment of Dalits as ‘untouchable’ and describes different castes eating and washing separately as well as society relegating Dalits to work that was deemed dirty or unsafe.

 The Arthashastra describes different punishments for different castes (analogous to Old English law ascribing different punishments to different social classes). Unsurprisingly the rulers and ‘pious’ men are usually let off with a fine, while the poorest and the Dalits are supposed to be maimed, tortured or killed for the same transgression.

 It’s more then possible that living conditions and treatment of people at different levels of society was- perhaps not legally torture but certainly inhumane. I can’t find any clear indication that Dalits were made to live separately in the past. But if they were, judging by how the sources say they were treated by law, it seems likely their living conditions would have been worse. They may have had poor access to water, food and adequate shelter.

 I feel it’s also worth noting that Rejali talks about law enforcement targeting these kinds of minority groups for torture as a punishment for social transgressions. Things like- homeless people daring to walk down the streets of a ‘good’ neighbourhood.

 This sort of behaviour is typical of torturers, even when it’s not supported by the law. It occurs today, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t happen in a hierarchical historical society.

 Slavery was present in India. I can’t say for certain that it was present throughout all of Indian history, and it certainly does not seem to be as prevalent as it was in Greece or Rome but it occurred. I’ve seen more accounts of it in the Mughal period then prior to that but this might be due to better record keeping.

 Many of the Black Indian groups around today are descended from freed or escaped slaves brought to India by Arab traders. Beyond that I don’t know much about slavery in historical India. I’m unaware of any one particular industry slaves were funnelled into or of particular punishments (alla the bleeding Romans-).

 If you’re thinking of using slavery in your story I’d suggest sticking to the most common global tortures used against enslaved people: starvation, exposure, lack of medical treatment, beatings, dehydration and over work.

 From what I’ve read I’d say that India generally fits in with my pet theory about changing torture practices over time. I think that it’s only relatively recently that people have thought of torture as primarily a way to ‘get the truth’ (see here for why this idea is bullshit).

 What I’m interpreting from these sources is that in India, like most of the world, torture was used as a punishment, people were sentenced to it. It was also used to force confessions. And although there was an idea that torture could be used to find the truth, this was not seen as it’s primary purpose.

 And I think that’s probably where I’m going to have to leave this. At four thousand words it’s actually shorter/less detailed then I’d hoped. I blame my mates for insisting I have a social life.

 I think it should be enough to get you started though. :)

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[superaakash24]

Top 9 Applications of Machine Learning in Real World

uture of Machine Learning “ A Learning Machine is any device Whose actions are influenced by past experience.”      - N.Jhon.Nilsson

Machine Learning is a science to make the machine capable of taking the decision itself. These systems also have the ability to learn from past experience or analyze historical data. It provides results according to its experience.

Here, we will explore Machine Learning Applications. These Applications of Machine Learning shows the area or scope of Machine Learning.

So, let’s start Machine learning Applications.

Machine Learning Applications

As we move forward into the digital age, One of the modern innovations we’ve seen is the creation of Machine Learning. This incredible form of artificial intelligence is already being used in various industries and professions. For Example, Image and Speech Recognition, Medical Diagnosis, Prediction, Classification, Learning Associations, Statistical Arbitrage, Extraction, Regression. Today we’re looking at all these Machine Learning Applications in today’s modern world.

These are the real world Machine Learning Applications, let’s see them one by one-

1. Image Recognition

It is one of the most common machine learning applications. There are many situations where you can classify the object as a digital image. For digital images, the measurements describe the outputs of each pixel in the image.

In the case of a black and white image, the intensity of each pixel serves as one measurement. So if a black and white image has N*N pixels, the total number of pixels and hence measurement is N2.

Let’s discuss ANN in Machine Learning

In the coloured image, each pixel considered as providing 3 measurements of the intensities of 3 main colour components ie RGB. So N*N coloured image there are 3 N2 measurements.

For face detection – The categories might be face versus no face present. There might be a separate category for each person in a database of several individuals.

For character recognition – We can segment a piece of writing into smaller images, each containing a single character.  The categories might consist of the 26 letters of the English alphabet, the 10 digits, and some special characters.

2. Speech Recognition

Speech recognition (SR) is the translation of spoken words into text. It is also known as “automatic speech recognition” (ASR), “computer speech recognition”, or “speech to text” (STT).

In speech recognition, a software application recognizes spoken words. The measurements in this Machine Learning application might be a set of numbers that represent the speech signal. We can segment the signal into portions that contain distinct words or phonemes. In each segment, we can represent the speech signal by the intensities or energy in different time-frequency bands.

Although the details of signal representation are outside the scope of this program, we can represent the signal by a set of real values.

Do you know about Artificial Neural Network Model

Speech recognition, Machine Learning applications include voice user interfaces. Voice user interfaces are such as voice dialing, call routing, domotic appliance control. It can also use as simple data entry, preparation of structured documents, speech-to-text processing, and plane.

3. Medical Diagnosis

ML provides methods, techniques, and tools that can help in solving diagnostic and prognostic problems in a variety of medical domains. It is being used for the analysis of the importance of clinical parameters and of their combinations for prognosis, e.g. prediction of disease progression, for the extraction of medical knowledge for outcomes research, for therapy planning and support, and for overall patient management. ML is also being used for data analysis, such as detection of regularities in the data by appropriately dealing with imperfect data, interpretation of continuous data used in the Intensive Care Unit, and for intelligent alarming resulting in effective and efficient monitoring.

It is argued that the successful implementation of ML methods can help the integration of computer-based systems in the healthcare environment providing opportunities to facilitate and enhance the work of medical experts and ultimately to improve the efficiency and quality of medical care.

Let’s take a tour of Neural Network Algorithms

In medical diagnosis, the main interest is in establishing the existence of a disease followed by its accurate identification. There is a separate category for each disease under consideration and one category for cases where no disease is present. Here, machine learning improves the accuracy of medical diagnosis by analyzing data of patients.

The measurements in this Machine Learning applications are typically the results of certain medical tests (example blood pressure, temperature and various blood tests) or medical diagnostics (such as medical images), presence/absence/intensity of various symptoms and basic physical information about the patient(age, sex, weight etc). On the basis of the results of these measurements, the doctors narrow down on the disease inflicting the patient.

4. Statistical Arbitrage

In finance, statistical arbitrage refers to automated trading strategies that are typical of a short-term and involve a large number of securities. In such strategies, the user tries to implement a trading algorithm for a set of securities on the basis of quantities such as historical correlations and general economic variables. These measurements can be cast as a classification or estimation problem. The basic assumption is that prices will move towards a historical average.

Do you know about Kernel Functions

We apply machine learning methods to obtain an index arbitrage strategy. In particular, we employ linear regression and support vector regression (SVR)onto the prices of an exchange-traded fund and a stream of stocks. By using principal component analysis (PCA) in reducing the dimension of feature space, we observe the benefit and note the issues in the application of SVR. To generate trading signals, we model the residuals from the previous regression as a mean reverting process.

In the case of classification, the categories might be sold, buy or do nothing for each security. I the case of estimation one might try to predict the expected return of each security over a future time horizon. In this case, one typically needs to use the estimates of the expected return to make a trading decision(buy, sell, etc.)

5. Learning Associations

Learning association is the process of developing insights into various associations between products. A good example is how seemingly unrelated products may reveal an association to one another. When analyzed in relation to buying behaviors of customers.

Let’s discuss Deep learning and Neural Networks in Machine Learning

One application of machine learning- Often studying the association between the products people buy, which is also known as basket analysis. If a buyer buys ‘X’, would he or she force to buy ‘Y’ because of a relationship that can identify between them?  This leads to the relationship that exists between fish and chips etc.  when new products launch in the market a Knowing these relationships it develops a new relationship.  Knowing these relationships could help in suggesting the associated product to the customer. For a higher likelihood of the customer buying it, It can also help in bundling products for a better package.

This learning of associations between products by a machine is learning associations. Once we found an association by examining a large amount of sales data, Big Data analysts. It can develop a rule to derive a probability test in learning a conditional probability.

6. Classification

Classification is a process of placing each individual from the population under study in many classes. This is identified as independent variables.

Have a look at Convolutional Neural Networks Architecture

Classification helps analysts to use measurements of an object to identify the category to which that object belongs. To establish an efficient rule, analysts use data. Data consists of many examples of objects with their correct classification.

For example, before a bank decides to disburse a loan, it assesses customers on their ability to repay the loan. By considering factors such as customer’s earning, age, savings and financial history we can do it. This information is taken from the past data of the loan. Hence, Seeker uses to create a relationship between customer attributes and related risks.

7. Prediction

Consider the example of a bank computing the probability of any of loan applicants faulting the loan repayment. To compute the probability of the fault, the system will first need to classify the available data in certain groups. It is described by a set of rules prescribed by the analysts.

Let’s  revise Recurrent Neural Networks

Once we do the classification, as per need we can compute the probability. These probability computations can compute across all sectors for varied purposes

The current prediction is one of the hottest machine learning algorithms. Let’s take an example of retail, earlier we were able to get insights like sales report last month / year / 5-years / Diwali / Christmas. These type of reporting is called as historical reporting. But currently business is more interested in finding out what will be my sales next month / year / Diwali, etc. So that business can take a required decision (related to procurement, stocks, etc.) on time.

8. Extraction

Information Extraction (IE) is another application of machine learning. It is the process of extracting structured information from unstructured data. For example web pages, articles, blogs, business reports, and e-mails. The relational database maintains the output produced by the information extraction.

The process of extraction takes input as a set of documents and produces a structured data. This output is in a summarized form such as an excel sheet and table in a relational database.

Nowadays extraction is becoming a key in the big data industry.

As we know that the huge volume of data is getting generated out of which most of the data is unstructured. The first key challenge is handling unstructured data. Now conversion of unstructured data to structured form based on some pattern so that the same can stored in RDBMS.

Apart from this in current days data collection mechanism is also getting change. Earlier we collected data in batches like End-of-Day (EOD), but now business wants the data as soon as it is getting generated, i.e. in real time.

9. Regression

We can apply Machine learning to regression as well.

Assume that x= x1, x2, x3, … xn are the input variables and y is the outcome variable. In this case, we can use machine learning technology to produce the output (y) on the basis of the input variables (x). You can use a model to express the relationship between various parameters as below:

Have a look at Advantages and Disadvantages of Machine Learning

Y=g(x) where g is a function that depends on specific characteristics of the model. In regression, we can use the principle of machine learning to optimize the parameters. To cut the approximation error and calculate the closest possible outcome.

We can also use Machine learning for function optimization. We can choose to alter the inputs to get a better model. This gives a new and improved model to work with. This is known as response surface design.

So, this was all about Machine Learning Applications. Hope you like our explanation.

3. Conclusion

In conclusion, Machine learning is an incredible breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence. While it does have some frightening implications when you think about it, these Machine Learning Applications are several of the many ways this technology can improve our lives. In the next few years Future of Machine Learning will be very bright.

If you found any other Machine Learning applications, So, please let us know in the comments!

[idtugere1972-blog]

But I wish you had left word where you had really gone to. I passed a dreadful evening, half afraid that one tragedy might be followed by another. I think you might have telegraphed for me when you heard of it first. 6 points submitted 5 months agoNot sure what HG means but I've been using Neutrogena "Hydo Boost: Extra Dry Skin" per recommendation of my dermatologist and r/skincareaddiction since I began actives in March '18.It is incredible. The hydraulic acid plumps your skin. The consistency is thick but not too thick. Right now I have them hooked up to some ADS L470 and I think it a great fit. It plenty of power. Before this, I had it with some Cerwin Vega D 1 I ended up selling those speakers, but I definitely regret it: they were awesome. Ok guy, you got lots of good advice here in this thread. Something is wrong with this girl if after three years it was not already a prom commitment with the two of you. This date would just simply be understood. They near identical in colour the finish/texture is the difference here. CP Mama does dry down on me but. It looks shiny? and is very uncomfortable and flakes very early on. I think the hair section was very accurate to how I feel about my hair. I wouldn be caught dead with a "bronde lob" and in my adult life I had a single "normal" haircut, which I promptly added 22" extensions to til it grew out. The spreadsheet suggests boyish hair over long hair, but I wonder if due to being a metalhead and associating unstyled long hair with men, if I am, effectively, wearing a boyish hairstyle?.. I helped her run a credit check on herself last night, then we tore through the house taking photos of every piece of paper we could find. She divorcing him Monday. I so, so proud of her and so, so angry. Just to clarify, the 5 year old transitioning is only transitioning socially; ie going by their chosen gender pronouns, dressing as their chosen gender, going by their new name. Pediatricians in conjunction with a child mental health specialist do not prescribe hormone replacement until at least the age of puberty. As of now there are no longitudinal studies that indicate negative outcomes for their children as they grow into adulthood. DIY Pubic Hair Styles For The LadyGardening EnthusiastFirstly, you are not alone, even if you choose not to visit a salon that does pubic hair work. You too can have whichever of the current popular pubic hair styles you choose. You can buy your own wax, shavers and even stencil kits for the DIY enthusiastic among you (or the terminally embarrassed).. It's hard to see it from the vantage point of today, when all such cars are so immensely valuable, but at the time, the D Type was an aging athlete. 전주출장마사지 It still had some good runs 전주출장마사지 left in it including another Le Mans victory and was more widely honored than ever, but retirement was looming. Faster racers were springing up all over.. Concealer. Less than perfect skin is one problem every woman face. Blemishes and dark spots on your face should not diminish your confidence. There is literally not enough time left in the universe existence for a team of people to do all of that animation. So it less that "the Team can bother" to make all of those animations, and more "you don fucking understand" what even a thousandth of that work would look like. The Pokemon company could enslave all of humanity forcing everyone to work at animating or support the work of animating all these moves, and by the time the sun explodes in a few billion years destroying the Earth, we would not be even 1% done.

[e-wills-afterhours]

Things Your Gyno Probably Wishes they Could Tell You

In a previous post, I reviewed the common questions I get asked on a near-daily basis. This post will be the companion piece to “Questions You’ve Always Wanted To Ask Your Gyno...” In this post, I will lay out a few Things Your Gyno Wishes They Could Tell You. These are things I wish I could say to a patient’s face in the moment, but no matter how kind and non-judgmental I would present these issues, it would be difficult for any patient not to feel defensive. In this format, these issues are hardly criticisms and more the helpful hints I truly intend them to be, so patients can the the most out of their visits and relationship with their provider.

1. Know what medications and supplements you are taking and WHY you are taking them.

I need to know this information so I am not unintentionally setting you up for a bad drug interaction. Also, please don’t pop any pills or put any medications or supplements in your body that you aren’t sure how it’s supposed to benefit you. Please know why you’re taking that antibiotic or the cardiac medication. If you can’t answer that, then there’s a huge part of your medical history I’m missing--and THAT makes me hella anxious. If you can’t remember that hard-to-pronounce name on the bottle, write it down somewhere: on your phone, for example. Have that list easily accessible for any healthcare visit--knowing your medications is part of every healthcare visit for every subspecialty of medicine. We don’t just prescribe birth control and hormone replacement therapy in Women’s Health and the potential for drug interactions is very real. Even so, hormonal medication carries plenty of potential drug interactions of its own as well as potentially causing serious side effects with certain medical conditions, which brings me to...

2. Know your medical history and share it with me.

Even if you are a minor, take control of your health from the get-go. Overbearing mothers drive me nuts (even though I can be a bit of a Mama Bear myself), answering all my questions on behalf of their daughter while the young lady just stares at her feet. What happens when mama’s not there and you need to go to urgent care and suddenly you can’t answer questions about your medical history or your family history because mama’s always done it for you? What if you can’t reach her by phone when you need to? This can be a big, BIG problem--for you and your provider. Know your medical history inside and out, it will make you a better healthcare consumer and advocate for yourself. It helps me know what medications and therapies may or may not be a good fit. Don’t ever withhold information about a medical condition (ie. high blood pressure) because you want me to prescribe you something that would be contraindicated for you. I don’t want to cause you a stroke because you either didn’t know or purposefully provided me with an incomplete history so you can get the birth control pill your bestie likes so much. Accurate. History. Is. Everything. It is the bedrock upon which all your personalized and safest, most effective care will be based.

3. No question is too embarrassing or awkward for me; don’t let it be that way for you.

Ask me anything. I mean it: anything. I’d rather you get accurate, scientifically sound information from me than some clueless social media influencer or Cosmo magazine. What is out there about Women’s Health and sexuality--on social media and pop culture--is rife with misinformation and half-truths. You may feel awkward putting your question into words; you may feel embarrassed because you never had anyone in your life you felt you could ask these deeply personal and intimate questions to. That’s why I here. That’s why I do this; why I felt called to do this. Women’s Health is still so private and elusive for many women. We still carry that socially-imposed shame about our own bodies and sexuality that we seem to carry from a young age. I’m here to dismantle that. You may feel awkward asking me that burning, secret question you always wanted to know, but I promise that it’s self-imposed. I will answer your questions in a compassionate, non-judgmental way because that is the very heart and soul of what I do. Every single patient who has ever opened up to me with that “weird” or “embarrassing” question always feels tremendously better after they do.

4. Please get STD tested between each sexual partner. Please. Please! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!

Most STDs will either present sub-clinically or with no symptoms at all. It most likely won’t be like the horrifying pictures from your high school health class. People can and do walk around with chlamydia for months, not knowing there’s anything wrong. That increases the risks of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease--an excruciatingly painful pelvic infection. PID can lead to infertility by scarring up the fallopian tubes. Chlamydia-induced scarring of the tubes and infertility can occur even without PID, or any notable symptoms at all. Meanwhile those unknowingly infected with chlamydia have now passed it on to any one night stands or have brought it into any new relationships with them. Without STD testing, I have no idea how long you’ve had it and if your current partner was unfaithful or brought it with them from a previous relationship. What I do know is if you were negative after one sexual partner, then positive with the next...weeeeeellll...now we have a better idea who gave it to you. As for any infidelity? Well, it would help if they had up-to-date STD testing, wouldn’t it?

5. Pull out method is a terrible form of birth control. Stop using it unless an unintended pregnancy is okay with you.

Really. I can’t tell you how many women refuse birth control right after having a baby and decide to use the pull out method, only to come back to me 3-6 months after they gave birth, pregnant again and upset about it. If you don’t want hormonal birth control, make him use condoms. If he won’t wear condoms, then no sex for him. Yes, it really is that simple. Stop letting men be selfish about contraception. Last I checked, it’s your uterus and your vagina.

6. Don’t be ugly to me if I give you test results or information you don’t like.

If I tell you a certain type of birth control would not be safe for you or that your lab work indicates you are not pregnant despite your pregnancy-like symptoms, please don’t get angry at me and proceed to argue with me. If I tell you that you have an STD, get angry about it all you want. I get it. Just don’t curse me out. I was not the person who gave you herpes.

7. Be. On. Time.

Yes. You may have to wait for me anyway. But you know why? The pregnant women two people before you failed her test and now we are concerned about her baby’s well-being and impromptu trip to Labor & Delivery. The work-in before her just found out her baby has no heartbeat on her dating ultrasound, and we have to discuss her options on how this miscarriage will pass. The pt right before you was a nexplanon removal slotted for 15 minutes but it ended up taking 30 because it was encapsulated in scar tissue and her previous provider at another clinic who put it in did it wrong. Every potential visit has the capacity to run over time, and I give each patient of mine the care and consideration that makes them feel they are my only concern that day. Isn’t that how you want me to treat you? So don’t huff if you have to wait on me. Don’t throw a fit about “I usually have to wait around anyway!” when you are 20 minutes late for your appointment and we have to reschedule. I like to go home and see my family at some point, and you being late would push me even further behind, which is not fair to me or to the on-time patients after you.

8. Patients lie.

Yes, House, MD was right. Patients lie. Probably not you. And the patients who lie to us have their reasons. But the pregnant woman who swore she is not on drugs despite the obvious track marks on her arm, the positive urine drug screen, and the higher-than-a-kite demeanor is lying. The young lady who swears she’s not sexually active because of her overbearing, super-religious mother in the room, but whose wet prep shows trichomoniasis not a yeast infection, is lying. The young lady who says she doesn’t need a pap smear because she’s in a same-sex relationship and has never had sex with a man has a history of a high-grade abnormal HPV+ pap smear pre-dating her current relationship, is lying. So when we ask you for a urine sample for a pregnancy test or STI urine screening, please don’t be offended. You’re probably being honest that you have never had sex or only have sex with other women, and thus could not be pregnant. But I can’t know that for sure. Patient’s lie. For whatever reason, they lie. Please just pee in the cup so we can run our tests and move on.

[thegaitguys]

Do you really understand a runner's hips ? Coaching out things you don't like to see doesn't make it a "fix".

"All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice"- Elliott Erwitt

Excerpt: "So if your remedy for this runner is to just add a "loaded Farmer's carry" on the opposite side, your thinking is right if it is a strength issue in the contralateral hip. IF it is an endurance issue you need a lighter weight and more unilateral Farmer's carrying. If it is a weight management issue, you may be poking the bear. Maybe it is a multitude of issues. "

There are loads of folks taking 'this' seminar series, or 'that' one, striving for 'this' certification or 'that' one. This is trememdous, it keeps the professions moving. But, all the technique in the world doesn't mean a thing if one cannot see, feel, test, or most importantly comprehend and express a client's primary flaw(s) in mobility and stability. The right tools in unskilled hands are useless, and arguably present risks for clients.

We have said this many times, too many for certain, that what you see in your client is not their problem, it is their means of moving within their present abilities and dysfunctions for whatever reason (ie. lack of skill, endurance, strength, power etc). We have also said that a mere exercise, test or screen doesn't take one to the end zone either, they are also a mere piece of the bigger puzzle. An exercise or test also may only tell you what they are capable (or incapable of), but not why their pain or challenges exist. Thus, taking a failed test, and making it your client's new exercise does not necessarily create an environment for a remedy, it can in fact create one of a more durable compensation. And that is ok, if that is what you are searching for, if that is the emergency bandaid you need before the marathon in 3 weeks, but if you are swinging for the remedy, you may have to trudge the extra yard.

Last week we taught about some basic hip principles during our online class. Take this runner photo for example, below is a basic principle you must glean from the photo. It is a principle based off of remedial joint biomechanics, as incomplete as it is, the thought process should be one you consider and certainly comprehend. In this photo, this runner appears to have insufficient stance phase hip abductor (HAM) strength or endurance. This is in part notable because of the adduction of the contralateral thigh (this is a faulty swing leg pendulum mechanical event, and will undoubtedly lead to a cross over gait and a plethora of other gait problems).

Here is one question that should always come to mind: Are the stance phase hip abductors strong enough, or have enough endurance, to offset the body mass ? (see the line diagrams). Look at the diagram formula, and let us discuss. If the pelvis is to remain level (mostly), the D1 and D2 lever arms do not change, the D1 lever arm is always shorter and thus the HAM (Hip abductor muscle strength) will always have to be a large number to offset the BQ (body weight). If BW gets too large, there will be no HAM large enough to offset BW and the pelvis will dip, as in this runner's photo. So, it can be a weight issue, a HAM strength issue, a HAM endurance issue or both. Someone is going to win, and someone is going to pay if the system is not balances and durable. We see this in the failed frontal plane running mechanics all the time in our offices, this is a plague in runners. It is a major source of the spine, pelvis, hip knee and foot issues we see in runners. To fix these clients, you have to understand their mechanics. The latest rehab toy that you bought at after a jazzy seminar pitch doesn't replace the requisite knowledge one needs to have to understand a clients problem. Screens won't get you all the way, tests and pattern assessments won't get you all the way either. You have to do your learning part, the knowledge must precede your interventions.

So if your remedy for this runner is to just add a "loaded Farmer's carry" on the opposite side, your thinking is right if it is a strength issue in the contralateral hip. IF it is an endurance issue you need a lighter weight and more unilateral Farmer's carrying. If it is a weight management issue, you may be poking the bear. Maybe it is a multitude of issues. But, if it is a mobility issue, adding your Farmer's carry doesn't guarantee you will get the client to the promised land, and if it is a stability issue, perhaps you get close. * This article does not chase down deeper evaluation concepts such as narrow step width, femoral torsions, tibial torsions, swing phase gait mechanic failures, sagittal plane (A-P pelvis control) or rotational plane challenges to the system (failure to control limb rotation at the hip or at the foot) just to name a few. This article ONLY looked at the frontal plane concept, so hopefully one is gleaning how complex these biomechanics are. Hopefully one is gleaning at this point that this is not a spot corrective exercise prescription game, "here is the visually disturbing pattern, here is the exercise to eclipse that pattern". There does need to be some brain engagement in the process to do this right, and this means education and hands on clinical examination.

The Farmer's carry is a beautiful exercise when placed correctly in a client's regimen. There are many who say we take this game too completely, too precisely, too far, that we make this too complex and if one listens to us that one might develop stage fright to execute any intervention. Well, sorry, but we stand our ground. This is not an easy game. Too many people come to see us after intermediate regimens of training and lifting develop problems, problems that were not present at the initiation of their attempts to better they body. If one is being honest with themselves, they should ask themselves, could this have been prevented? Was the work prescribed part of the eventual deliverance? Injuries occur when loads exceed durability, skill, endurance, strength, power etc. One could make the case that if the prescriptions are correct, if the progressions are correct, that injury should be a rare thing. But injuries are not uncommon and those of us who are prescribing corrective exercises and workout regimens have to take self accountability if we are being honest with ourselves. Don't get us wrong, we are just as much a pupil on this bus as anyone else, we make mistakes all the time. But everyday we force ourselves to pause, consider, double check, reassess, to make sure that the developing patterns are sound, strong, durable and progressive, and ready for more. And when we get it wrong, we reexamine, and try again. It is all one can do.

Stir about your own clinical world with a jaundiced, questioning eye, and you should do just fine. And if you cannot get it right, get it close, prescribe something safe and watch and test for clues of developing problems in the near future. This we all call . . . . learning/ practice.

"All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice"- Elliott Erwitt

Shawn Allen, one of the gait guys

[cdrforea]

Can Chloroquine Cure Coronavirus? | Digital Trends

New Post has been published on https://bestedevices.com/can-chloroquine-cure-coronavirus-digital-trends.html

Can Chloroquine Cure Coronavirus? | Digital Trends

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a controversial decision earlier this week when it approved the inclusion of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine drugs in the Strategic National Stockpile so doctors can prescribe them to patients with COVID-19, generally known as the corona virus. The move came a week after President Donald Trump tweeted that "HYDROXYCHLOROQUIN & AZITHROMYCIN put together have a real chance of being one of the greatest game changers in medical history."

HYDROXYCHLOROQUIN & AZITHROMYCIN together have a real chance to be one of the greatest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – thanks! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)… ..

– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), March 21, 2020

The FDA's decision sparked controversy and, in the meantime, a lack of chloroquine. What exactly do these drugs do and can they actually treat coronavirus? Or is this another case of coronavirus misinformation? Here's what you need to know:

What is chloroquine?

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are medications commonly used to treat malaria, a common and dangerous disease that affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. Malaria is not caused by a virus, but by a completely different source: Plasmodium parasites, which are transmitted by mosquitoes and which transmit the parasites to humans when they bite.

These drugs also inhibit the immune system, making them useful for treating autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, in which a person's immune system registers a part of the body as foreign and attacks it.

Why is it on the news now?

When the President of the United States whirls up a drug in the middle of a global pandemic, it becomes aware. Trump's enthusiasm for chloroquine followed a French study by Didier Raoult, a microbiologist with a history of controversial advertising. Raoult and his colleagues published a paper in which they found that coronavirus patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin showed a reduction in the virus.

Given the desperation for a cure and the fact that a vaccine is unlikely to hit the market until 2021 at the earliest, the hype about chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine is understandable, but is it justified?

We asked Professor Art Reingold, an epidemiology expert at the University of California at Berkeley, for his thoughts on the subject. Reingold reiterated that viruses are very different from parasites, so chloroquin's ability to deal with one has nothing to do with the other.

"The theory behind why chloroquine could help in COVID-19 cases is mainly based on laboratory studies and uncontrolled case series in which some patients who were given the drug performed well," he said, adding, "she said might just as well have done without it. " For this reason, properly designed clinical studies that compare how patients who have been given the drug are essential compared to patients who have been given a placebo. "

It is important to remember that the studies on chloroquin / hydroxychloroquine and coronavirus patients, including the French study that pushed this into the mainstream, involved only a few subjects.

Chloroquine has shown some antiviral properties in the past. As a recent study published in Nature explains, "chloroquine is known to block viral infection by increasing the endosomal pH required for virus / cell fusion and disrupting glycosylation of SARS-CoV cellular receptors."

The same study showed that chloroquine can affect COVID-19 in vitro, ie outside the human body. It is too early to conclude whether or how these drugs could be a useful treatment for the coronavirus.

Although research on these drugs could be valuable, the hype could be problematic. As already mentioned, these drugs are already facing bottlenecks. Because of their use in other conditions, such as malaria and rheumatoid arthritis, people who have been shown to work can have problems.

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[heavenfemale07-blog]

The Dirt on Cleansing

Please note: I provide this material for informational purposes only. I am not a doctor, naturopath, or other medical professional and cannot tell you what to do with your health; please always consult with your own healthcare practitioner before embarking on anything like a cleanse or detox, and before making any changes to your health routine, medication or supplements. It is purely my own perspective on the topic and is by no means intended as any kind of medical or professional advice.

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that I regularly undergo cleanses (ie, I “detox”). Since I’ve received quite a few questions about why I cleanse and how it works, I thought it might be useful to share a bit about cleansing in general and my own choices over the past.

Q: Why Detox at All?

Whether you use the term “fast,” “cleanse” or “detox diet,” the process focuses on a single goal: detoxifying and rebalancing the body’s internal operating systems, primarily the digestive tract (but also the liver, respiratory system, urinary system and lymphatic system).  Given the environmental factors, lifestyle, and eating habits of most of us in the modern world, I believe that everyone, no matter how thin, active or deemed “healthy,” could benefit from a cleanse once in a while. 

In fact, many of my teachers over the years, despite ultra-healthy eating coupled with cardiovascular exercise, strength training exercise, yoga, dance, nia, sports, or daily spiritual practices, nevertheless undergo their own cleanses on a regular basis.

As denizens of the modern, industrial world, we are exposed to myriad toxins daily, both from within and without.  Just by virtue of living near the great and wonderful metropolis of Toronto, I have the pleasure of inhaling highly polluted air most days of the week.  For the first two months that we lived in this house, I could smell the distinct aroma of fresh paint gases (courtesy of the landlord, who was actually attempting to do us a favor) every time I entered the house.  I ingest all kinds of unsavory substances that leach through plastic water bottles, plastic containers, the dyed and/or bleached clothing,  or the cleansers I use (though I’ve tried to eliminate as many of these as I can over the years).

And that’s only the exogenous (ie, from outside of our bodies) toxins.  We also take in toxins from the food we eat, whether unhealthy oils from junk food, artificial colors or flavors, or “milk” shakes at McDonald’s or Burger King, and so on. Because these substances are not made in nature and our bodies weren’t designed to process them, the liver works overtime to detoxify them out of the body (as much as possible) to keep us healthy. 

When your liver is on overdrive neutralizing toxins that you take in, free radicals are formed.  Free radicals are basically cell-killers, and they can result in cancer and chronic diseases that are often connected to inflammation (such as arthritis, heart disease, etc.).

Those of us with weak immunity due to candida or other conditions, or those of us with overworked filtering systems (such as myself) suffer the consequences and may very well wander around with stuffed noses, digestive distress, joint inflammation, or other chronic conditions that are so often attributed to “aging” or simply “life in general.”

One of my natural health practitioners put it this way:  imagine a pile of bricks that’s being built into a little tower, one brick at a time. Each brick is a different toxin that your body has to deal with and try to eliminate.  As with a pile of bricks, you can add quite a few to the pile without any dire consequences at all; in fact, observed from the outside, everything appears hunky-dory, stable and unchanged. One would even infer that the extra weight being piled on top is doing no harm, making no difference whatsoever.

But then you reach the point where the pile can no longer support even one more brick.  You place that last brick at the top of the pile and–BAM! (not to quote Emeril in such grave matters, or anything)–the pile completely collapses.  Your body works the same way.  When you were younger (or healthier), you may have been able to tolerate a huge number of toxic “bricks” in your system. But tax the system long enough and then, suddenly, it appears as if everything breaks down at once.

That’s what happened to me several decades ago.  After assuming all was well for years (even though I drank up to a liter (quart) of aspartame-sweetened pop a day, had 3-5 coffees a day, imbibed wine and spirits on weekends and consumed whatever junk food, candy, cookies, cakes, or other garbage I desired on a regular basis), everything came crashing down.  I spent about a year suffering from symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, endured multiple recurrent sinus infections (one so serious that it required four–FOUR!–courses of antibiotics to eradicate), and suffered almost continuous yeast infections, coupled with fatigue, depression, and general feelings of “lousy.” At that point, I really needed a cleanse.

All this to say, if there’ are any actions we can regularly take to diminish our load of toxic “bricks,” we should do so.

Q: What Is a Cleansing or Detox Diet?

Basically, cleansing means “cleaning up the diet (and, ideally, environment) to allow the body to rest from fighting off and eliminating toxins for a while, so that it can repair and rejuvenate.”

There are many levels of detox, depending on where you find yourself to begin with. It’s recommended that people start at a level just one echelon away from (less toxic than) where they are now, because detoxing encourages the toxins to exit the body quickly (through elimination and sweating, primarily), and if too many to escape too fast, you’ll end up feeling sort of like a deflated baloon in a mud puddle–or one really sick puppy (this effect is called a “healing crisis“).

The very first time I went on a detox diet, my naturopath–only two months into her practice–didn’t think to warn me what could happen if I changed my eating habits too drastically. She prescribed what is essentially a NAG diet, but without any animal products. After one day of the diet, I was felled by my body’s extreme healing crisis (I describe the event here).  Luckily, it passed in a couple of days.

By starting “slowly”–that is, without altering too many aspects of your diet or life at once–you avoid a severe healing crisis.  Most people feel a little bit tired or sleepy; some experience mild flu-like symptoms such as a sore throat, but these ususally disappear in a day or two.

Q: How Do You Know What to Eat and What to Eliminate on a Cleanse?

The diet you choose should depend on the diet you eat regularly before the cleanse.  If someone enjoying a SAD (Standard American Diet) decided to embark on a water fast, it would likely spark a full-scale healing crisis and the person would feel rather sick. So decide where you are now, then move in baby steps toward a full-scale cleanse.

There are basically five or six levels of cleansing diet.  Ideally, you would work your way up to the most challenging level as you clean up your diet over the years.

Level One: Basic non-toxic diet for everyone. (from Elson Haas, The Detox Diet)

Level one is what I often refer to as the NAG diet, the diet that, if followed regularly, should allow your body to exist with minimum toxic intake and to keep you pretty healthy. (Other versions are Dr. Joseph Pizzorno’s in The Toxin Solution, Anne Marie Colbin’s diet in Food and Healing or Elson Haas’ diet in The Detox Diet).  If you’re not already on this type of diet, it would be the first step.  Try this for a week and see how you feel. You could theoretically stay on this diet for the rest of your life.

Level One: The NonToxic Diet (from Elson Haas, The Detox Diet):

Eat organic foods whenever possible.

Drink filtered water.

Rotate foods [ie, eat each of these no more than once every four days or so], especially common allergens such as milk products, eggs, wheat, and yeasted foods.

Practice food combining.

Eat a natural, seasonal cuisine.

Include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and, for omnivarians, some low or non-fat dairy products, fresh fish (not shellfish) and organic poultry.

Cook in iron, stainless steel, glass, or porcelain cookware.

Avoid or minimize red meats, cured meats, organ meats, refined foods, canned foods, sugar, salt, saturated fats, coffee, alcohol, and nicotine.

And while it’s not stated in this list, Haas also prohibits anything processed or made with chemicals or artificial colorings–this should go without saying.

[“Sounds good, Mum, but do we have to do the part about avoiding meat?”]

Level Two: (this and later levels from Caroline Dupont, Enlightened Eating).

Level two is a step beyond level one, as “it eliminates all animal products and glutenous grains.”  As Dupont points out, this can be a lifelong diet rather than a detox diet if mostly organic foods are eaten and sources of protein and vitamin B12 (which can only be acquired naturally through animal products) are carefully monitored.

For those who already eat a Level One diet as their regular fare, Level Two would be considered a mild cleanse.

Level Three: Living Foods Only

This level kicks it up a notch (seriously, WHAT is Emeril doing in this discussion?) by allowing only raw foods, effectively eliminating grains (except for sprouted grains). People at this level eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, freshly pressed juices, sprouts, and possibly raw dairy.

Q: Why Is Raw Supposedly Better?  Why Are There No Grains? Isn’t That a Lot of Fruit–Why is All That Sugar in the Fruit Acceptable?

RAW: 

A raw diet provides the body with readily available digestive enzymes in raw, but not cooked, foods; these would otherwise need to be generated courtesy of your saliva, stomach, and pancreas.  For that reason, it is much easier to digest raw versus cooked food; raw foods give the body a bit of a break so it can concentrate on other functions, such as detoxifying, maintaining, and repairing.  People on all-raw diets have experienced incredible boosts in energy as well as healing effects.

GRAINS:

Unsprouted grains (the kind we normally eat) are more difficult to digest than raw foods.  There is nothing inherently wrong with eating grains, especially if your digestive system is in tip-top condition; but for those of us with digestive issues, or when cleansing the system, grains are just a bit too challenging.

FRUIT SUGARS: 

It’s true that a raw diet provides a large number of fruits, and fruits do contain natural sugars.  But please don’t confuse naturally-occurring sugars with refined white sugar (or even honey or maple syrup, which are both concentrated sugars).  When you eat something refined, the sugar is converted to glucose (a monosaccharide–the smallest sugar molecule, as it’s broken down by the body and passed into the bloodstream) extremely quickly, because it’s already practically in the form of glucose when you eat it.

With fruits, the sugars are bound up with fiber and other nutrients, and the body must work to extract the different elements in the fruit and to convert the sugars to glucose in the body.  This means you won’t get the same kind of spike in blood sugar levels from eating a fresh fruit as you will from eating a piece of cake or even cup of coffee with sugar in it.  Sugar in fruits is healthy and doesn’t generate toxins in the body. (Think of diabetics, for instance–they’re allowed most fruits).

That said, if you’re dealing with early stages of candida overgrowth, you want to avoid a lot of fruit and all very sweet fruits in particular. For people with healthy digestive tracts, fruits with extremely high sugar levels could be eaten in smaller quantities.  And fruits are the easiest foods for your body to break down, so they don’t tax the system.

[“Give us more fruits is what I say, Mum!’]

Level Four: Blended Foods, Smoothies and Soups

By blending foods, you render them yet more easily digestible.  Dupont suggests incorporating some of these foods into a raw foods diet; furthermore, this level is presented as an excellent “introduction to fasting for people with hypoglycemia, bowel disorders [or] constipation.”

Level Five: Juice Fast And/Or Master Cleanse

At this level, you’re basically removing the need for your bowel to process any fiber and are providing very nutrient-rich clear liquids that are processed very easily by the digestive tract. At level five, a person consumes only freshly squeezed or pressed fruit and vegetable juices, or the Master Cleanse, a mixture of filtered water, lemon juice, maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Level Six: Water Fast

At this point, only those who have already gone through the other five phases should attempt a water fast; drinking only pure filtered water gives the body’s internal organs the ultimate work break. According to Dupont, no one should even attempt a water fast who has not first “established a consistently healthy diet for at least 6 months first.”

[“Yes, pure water is definitely good, Mum.  Especially in summer.”]

Q:Why Did You Choose the Cleanse You Did?

When I was in nutrition school, after spending a full year following the NAG diet and trying out most of the other diets we learned about, I felt ready to complete a Level Five (Master Cleanse) diet for almost a full week.  At that point, my “regular” diet was so non-toxic that the Master Cleanse was a good step.  I felt great while on it and did reap the benefits of better digestion and more energy.

These days, however, my regular diet is more like Level Two, above.  I already don’t eat meat; I already don’t eat refined foods; I already don’t eat most gluten grains on a daily basis; I don’t eat dairy.

Over the years, I’ve tried all-raw cleanses, the Metagenix 10-Day cleanse and juice-only cleanses. I’ve had good results with all of them; but more recently have come to believe that there is no need for truly restrictive cleanses that eliminate solid foods (more on that in another article!).

Q: Readers: What Do You Think?

If you’ve made it this far, I’d love to know: how many of you have tried detox diets or cleanses?  What was your experience?  What worked, and what would you warn against?

[Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links. If you buy using these links, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission from the sale.]

Source: https://www.rickiheller.com/2019/05/the-dirt-on-cleansing-2/

[clamjumper5-blog]

The Dirt on Cleansing

Please note: I provide this material for informational purposes only. I am not a doctor, naturopath, or other medical professional and cannot tell you what to do with your health; please always consult with your own healthcare practitioner before embarking on anything like a cleanse or detox, and before making any changes to your health routine, medication or supplements. It is purely my own perspective on the topic and is by no means intended as any kind of medical or professional advice.

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that I regularly undergo cleanses (ie, I “detox”). Since I’ve received quite a few questions about why I cleanse and how it works, I thought it might be useful to share a bit about cleansing in general and my own choices over the past.

Q: Why Detox at All?

Whether you use the term “fast,” “cleanse” or “detox diet,” the process focuses on a single goal: detoxifying and rebalancing the body’s internal operating systems, primarily the digestive tract (but also the liver, respiratory system, urinary system and lymphatic system).  Given the environmental factors, lifestyle, and eating habits of most of us in the modern world, I believe that everyone, no matter how thin, active or deemed “healthy,” could benefit from a cleanse once in a while. 

In fact, many of my teachers over the years, despite ultra-healthy eating coupled with cardiovascular exercise, strength training exercise, yoga, dance, nia, sports, or daily spiritual practices, nevertheless undergo their own cleanses on a regular basis.

As denizens of the modern, industrial world, we are exposed to myriad toxins daily, both from within and without.  Just by virtue of living near the great and wonderful metropolis of Toronto, I have the pleasure of inhaling highly polluted air most days of the week.  For the first two months that we lived in this house, I could smell the distinct aroma of fresh paint gases (courtesy of the landlord, who was actually attempting to do us a favor) every time I entered the house.  I ingest all kinds of unsavory substances that leach through plastic water bottles, plastic containers, the dyed and/or bleached clothing,  or the cleansers I use (though I’ve tried to eliminate as many of these as I can over the years).

And that’s only the exogenous (ie, from outside of our bodies) toxins.  We also take in toxins from the food we eat, whether unhealthy oils from junk food, artificial colors or flavors, or “milk” shakes at McDonald’s or Burger King, and so on. Because these substances are not made in nature and our bodies weren’t designed to process them, the liver works overtime to detoxify them out of the body (as much as possible) to keep us healthy. 

When your liver is on overdrive neutralizing toxins that you take in, free radicals are formed.  Free radicals are basically cell-killers, and they can result in cancer and chronic diseases that are often connected to inflammation (such as arthritis, heart disease, etc.).

Those of us with weak immunity due to candida or other conditions, or those of us with overworked filtering systems (such as myself) suffer the consequences and may very well wander around with stuffed noses, digestive distress, joint inflammation, or other chronic conditions that are so often attributed to “aging” or simply “life in general.”

One of my natural health practitioners put it this way:  imagine a pile of bricks that’s being built into a little tower, one brick at a time. Each brick is a different toxin that your body has to deal with and try to eliminate.  As with a pile of bricks, you can add quite a few to the pile without any dire consequences at all; in fact, observed from the outside, everything appears hunky-dory, stable and unchanged. One would even infer that the extra weight being piled on top is doing no harm, making no difference whatsoever.

But then you reach the point where the pile can no longer support even one more brick.  You place that last brick at the top of the pile and–BAM! (not to quote Emeril in such grave matters, or anything)–the pile completely collapses.  Your body works the same way.  When you were younger (or healthier), you may have been able to tolerate a huge number of toxic “bricks” in your system. But tax the system long enough and then, suddenly, it appears as if everything breaks down at once.

That’s what happened to me several decades ago.  After assuming all was well for years (even though I drank up to a liter (quart) of aspartame-sweetened pop a day, had 3-5 coffees a day, imbibed wine and spirits on weekends and consumed whatever junk food, candy, cookies, cakes, or other garbage I desired on a regular basis), everything came crashing down.  I spent about a year suffering from symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, endured multiple recurrent sinus infections (one so serious that it required four–FOUR!–courses of antibiotics to eradicate), and suffered almost continuous yeast infections, coupled with fatigue, depression, and general feelings of “lousy.” At that point, I really needed a cleanse.

All this to say, if there’ are any actions we can regularly take to diminish our load of toxic “bricks,” we should do so.

Q: What Is a Cleansing or Detox Diet?

Basically, cleansing means “cleaning up the diet (and, ideally, environment) to allow the body to rest from fighting off and eliminating toxins for a while, so that it can repair and rejuvenate.”

There are many levels of detox, depending on where you find yourself to begin with. It’s recommended that people start at a level just one echelon away from (less toxic than) where they are now, because detoxing encourages the toxins to exit the body quickly (through elimination and sweating, primarily), and if too many to escape too fast, you’ll end up feeling sort of like a deflated baloon in a mud puddle–or one really sick puppy (this effect is called a “healing crisis“).

The very first time I went on a detox diet, my naturopath–only two months into her practice–didn’t think to warn me what could happen if I changed my eating habits too drastically. She prescribed what is essentially a NAG diet, but without any animal products. After one day of the diet, I was felled by my body’s extreme healing crisis (I describe the event here).  Luckily, it passed in a couple of days.

By starting “slowly”–that is, without altering too many aspects of your diet or life at once–you avoid a severe healing crisis.  Most people feel a little bit tired or sleepy; some experience mild flu-like symptoms such as a sore throat, but these ususally disappear in a day or two.

Q: How Do You Know What to Eat and What to Eliminate on a Cleanse?

The diet you choose should depend on the diet you eat regularly before the cleanse.  If someone enjoying a SAD (Standard American Diet) decided to embark on a water fast, it would likely spark a full-scale healing crisis and the person would feel rather sick. So decide where you are now, then move in baby steps toward a full-scale cleanse.

There are basically five or six levels of cleansing diet.  Ideally, you would work your way up to the most challenging level as you clean up your diet over the years.

Level One: Basic non-toxic diet for everyone. (from Elson Haas, The Detox Diet)

Level one is what I often refer to as the NAG diet, the diet that, if followed regularly, should allow your body to exist with minimum toxic intake and to keep you pretty healthy. (Other versions are Dr. Joseph Pizzorno’s in The Toxin Solution, Anne Marie Colbin’s diet in Food and Healing or Elson Haas’ diet in The Detox Diet).  If you’re not already on this type of diet, it would be the first step.  Try this for a week and see how you feel. You could theoretically stay on this diet for the rest of your life.

Level One: The NonToxic Diet (from Elson Haas, The Detox Diet):

Eat organic foods whenever possible.

Drink filtered water.

Rotate foods [ie, eat each of these no more than once every four days or so], especially common allergens such as milk products, eggs, wheat, and yeasted foods.

Practice food combining.

Eat a natural, seasonal cuisine.

Include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and, for omnivarians, some low or non-fat dairy products, fresh fish (not shellfish) and organic poultry.

Cook in iron, stainless steel, glass, or porcelain cookware.

Avoid or minimize red meats, cured meats, organ meats, refined foods, canned foods, sugar, salt, saturated fats, coffee, alcohol, and nicotine.

And while it’s not stated in this list, Haas also prohibits anything processed or made with chemicals or artificial colorings–this should go without saying.

[“Sounds good, Mum, but do we have to do the part about avoiding meat?”]

Level Two: (this and later levels from Caroline Dupont, Enlightened Eating).

Level two is a step beyond level one, as “it eliminates all animal products and glutenous grains.”  As Dupont points out, this can be a lifelong diet rather than a detox diet if mostly organic foods are eaten and sources of protein and vitamin B12 (which can only be acquired naturally through animal products) are carefully monitored.

For those who already eat a Level One diet as their regular fare, Level Two would be considered a mild cleanse.

Level Three: Living Foods Only

This level kicks it up a notch (seriously, WHAT is Emeril doing in this discussion?) by allowing only raw foods, effectively eliminating grains (except for sprouted grains). People at this level eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, freshly pressed juices, sprouts, and possibly raw dairy.

Q: Why Is Raw Supposedly Better?  Why Are There No Grains? Isn’t That a Lot of Fruit–Why is All That Sugar in the Fruit Acceptable?

RAW: 

A raw diet provides the body with readily available digestive enzymes in raw, but not cooked, foods; these would otherwise need to be generated courtesy of your saliva, stomach, and pancreas.  For that reason, it is much easier to digest raw versus cooked food; raw foods give the body a bit of a break so it can concentrate on other functions, such as detoxifying, maintaining, and repairing.  People on all-raw diets have experienced incredible boosts in energy as well as healing effects.

GRAINS:

Unsprouted grains (the kind we normally eat) are more difficult to digest than raw foods.  There is nothing inherently wrong with eating grains, especially if your digestive system is in tip-top condition; but for those of us with digestive issues, or when cleansing the system, grains are just a bit too challenging.

FRUIT SUGARS: 

It’s true that a raw diet provides a large number of fruits, and fruits do contain natural sugars.  But please don’t confuse naturally-occurring sugars with refined white sugar (or even honey or maple syrup, which are both concentrated sugars).  When you eat something refined, the sugar is converted to glucose (a monosaccharide–the smallest sugar molecule, as it’s broken down by the body and passed into the bloodstream) extremely quickly, because it’s already practically in the form of glucose when you eat it.

With fruits, the sugars are bound up with fiber and other nutrients, and the body must work to extract the different elements in the fruit and to convert the sugars to glucose in the body.  This means you won’t get the same kind of spike in blood sugar levels from eating a fresh fruit as you will from eating a piece of cake or even cup of coffee with sugar in it.  Sugar in fruits is healthy and doesn’t generate toxins in the body. (Think of diabetics, for instance–they’re allowed most fruits).

That said, if you’re dealing with early stages of candida overgrowth, you want to avoid a lot of fruit and all very sweet fruits in particular. For people with healthy digestive tracts, fruits with extremely high sugar levels could be eaten in smaller quantities.  And fruits are the easiest foods for your body to break down, so they don’t tax the system.

[“Give us more fruits is what I say, Mum!’]

Level Four: Blended Foods, Smoothies and Soups

By blending foods, you render them yet more easily digestible.  Dupont suggests incorporating some of these foods into a raw foods diet; furthermore, this level is presented as an excellent “introduction to fasting for people with hypoglycemia, bowel disorders [or] constipation.”

Level Five: Juice Fast And/Or Master Cleanse

At this level, you’re basically removing the need for your bowel to process any fiber and are providing very nutrient-rich clear liquids that are processed very easily by the digestive tract. At level five, a person consumes only freshly squeezed or pressed fruit and vegetable juices, or the Master Cleanse, a mixture of filtered water, lemon juice, maple syrup and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Level Six: Water Fast

At this point, only those who have already gone through the other five phases should attempt a water fast; drinking only pure filtered water gives the body’s internal organs the ultimate work break. According to Dupont, no one should even attempt a water fast who has not first “established a consistently healthy diet for at least 6 months first.”

[“Yes, pure water is definitely good, Mum.  Especially in summer.”]

Q:Why Did You Choose the Cleanse You Did?

When I was in nutrition school, after spending a full year following the NAG diet and trying out most of the other diets we learned about, I felt ready to complete a Level Five (Master Cleanse) diet for almost a full week.  At that point, my “regular” diet was so non-toxic that the Master Cleanse was a good step.  I felt great while on it and did reap the benefits of better digestion and more energy.

These days, however, my regular diet is more like Level Two, above.  I already don’t eat meat; I already don’t eat refined foods; I already don’t eat most gluten grains on a daily basis; I don’t eat dairy.

Over the years, I’ve tried all-raw cleanses, the Metagenix 10-Day cleanse and juice-only cleanses. I’ve had good results with all of them; but more recently have come to believe that there is no need for truly restrictive cleanses that eliminate solid foods (more on that in another article!).

Q: Readers: What Do You Think?

If you’ve made it this far, I’d love to know: how many of you have tried detox diets or cleanses?  What was your experience?  What worked, and what would you warn against?

[Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links. If you buy using these links, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission from the sale.]

Source: https://www.rickiheller.com/2019/05/the-dirt-on-cleansing-2/

[datingadviceonreddit]

Hey guys!I recently got out of a 2 year relationship and I almost immediately got back on tinder and all of the other apps.​Prior to my two year relationship I had absolutely NO luck at all on Tinder. I had a decent amount of matches from all of my time on it but I could never get dates and when I did I bombed completely.​Being fresh out of a relationship gave me a new perspective on dating which is why I want to share my experience.​MY APPROACH BACK THEN (FOR CONTEXT)​I would view online dating with a sense of scarcity. I put too much pressure on every interaction because I was lonely and I really wanted to make something work. I'd send too many messages, over too long of a period and things would eventually fizzle out. I never matched the girls pace or style of messaging, often responding much faster than she did etc. In a few instances I managed to get a date but the girls would never want to meet up again after that. I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong but now after my new experiences it all makes sense. I put WAY too much pressure on these interactions. I treated them too much like DATES, like the shit you see in the movies. I tried some of the less intense stuff I'd see pick up artists doing on YouTube, I'd try to initiate touch to build rapport but it all felt forced. It probably didn't help that I was nervous too... I'm sure they could pick up on it regardless of how hard I tired to hide it.​I eventually got into a relationship with someone I met through a friend. I chalk it up to luck.​MY APPROACH NOW​I got back on tinder pretty quick but the idea of dating someone new sickened me a little. I approached it with the idea of just wanting to make new friends (I didn't say this to the girls though). I approached it with a sense of abundance. If one girl doesn't work out, another one will.​I'd start by sending some of my matches a casual opener. Some would respond and we'd end up having a simple conversation about about our day or plans for the week etc. I'm not trying to get to know anyone deeply over tinder, it's boring in my opinion. The important thing here was to match the girls responsiveness and frequency of response. If she responds with one line after an hour, I'd do the same. That being said, if she responds pretty quickly, I still usually let it sit for a little while so I don't appear too eager.​After about 10 exchanges or so, I'd super casually throw out the question of whether they'd be down to meet up for a quick coffee in the following week. 6 of the 7 girls I tried this on said yes pretty much immediately. I think it's the idea of it being a casual "quick" meet up that makes it so appealing. At this point we exchange numbers and few more texts locking in the details. Between now and the date I make an effort to only text them if they text me first, and I won't usually continue the conversation if it isn't that interesting.​DAY OF THE DATE​IMPORTANT NOTE: I had to do public speaking for my job one time and I am an absolute nervous wreck so I got my doctor to prescribe me this drug called propranolol. I can't stress enough how amazing it is, especially for dates. It effectively gets rid of all side effects of being nervous (sweaty hands, tremors, shaky feeling, fast heart rate, dry mouth etc). It really lets you be in the moment, and truly allows you to be yourself. If you're like me I'd seriously considering getting this.​The intent of this date is to meet face to face and get a scope on the person in a short amount of time. I'm talking like 30 - 60 minutes max. Keep things casual, don't try to hug her or initiate any touch, don't try to be flirty. Just talk to her like she's your friend. After you've had a chance to get to know her a little, tell her that you have to be somewhere at X time, that it was nice meeting her and that you need to head out. Do not say anything at all that implies a future with the girl, and by that I mean making plans for the next date etc. She should leave the interaction not being sure of how you felt about it.​POST DATE​At this point she might be waiting for you to text her. Just don't. Give it a few days and then send her an innocuous message to spark conversation again. It's best if it can be about something you guys talked about during the first date... ie. "I tried that other coffee shop you mentioned, it's actually super dope."​At this point you guys may have another short conversation. Here's where you make plans for date 2. Ask her what she's up to next week. After her response you might say something like, "Cool, let's do something on Wednesday if you're free". If she agrees, good job! I'll usually leave it at that and then message her the day before the date with the details.​That being said, if you weren't feeling the first date you can just end thing's here. Be courteous and let her know that you enjoyed your time but didn't feel a spark etc.​DATE 2​It's essentially a rinse and repeat process with the main difference being the amount of time you spend with her. For date 2 I'd recommend 1.5 - 3 hours. Of course it all depends on how smoothly it's going. You should always be the one to end the date. Just like before, make an excuse for why you have to head out. Don't try to hug her or kiss her unless she's the one initiating it. If you've played it cool until now she'll likely be wondering why you're not trying to make a move, she'll be intrigued. Again, don't give her any idea of how the date went from your perspective.​Here's what a girl had to say about all of this:That’s a really good approach!! Allows the woman to feel safe and you guys can build a genuine connection. And honestly it’s way sexier when a guy doesn’t implicitly say he wants to hook up, it makes it almost a challenge to get in his pants. Could just be reverse psychology but it’s definitely effective (for me at least).​DATE 3​We're in a pattern now. She might be texting you more at this point but don't overdo it from your end. Using the same style as before set up date 3. I feel that the anticipation adds a lot so setting them up a week in advance can actually work to your benefit.​Date 3/4 is where things can get interesting. Go out for drinks if possible. Don't try to leave this date early. I usually go to this lounge that has these nice couches. We might start the night sitting across from each other but by the end of it we'll usually be sitting super close side by side on the couch. You're still not making a move at this point. Let her feel comfortable around you. Let things develop naturally. If this was just a platonic female friend of yours, what would the physical interaction look like? Just do that. Pretend you're a mirror and reflect her body language back at her.​The night will wrap up naturally. Have no expectations but pay attention to what she's saying and doing. If she's getting closer to you, reciprocate. If she says something that implies that she may want to keep hanging out, here's your chance to keep hanging out at one of your places. The crucial thing in all of these situations is to keep things ambiguous.​At the end of the night one girl said. "I'm surprisingly not even that tired yet (it was 2am)". I was like, "yeah neither am I, I wish places were still open this late". She straight up said "I think I have some drinks at my place, we could just hang out there?"​And the rest is history.​CONCLUSION​My 2 year relationship left me feeling numb. Fortunately dating in this state was the most eye opening thing. I didn't want anything physical, but I DID want someone to connect with emotionally. The biggest take away is to just be a friend first. Show her you truly care about her and who she is as a person. Play it cool and let her do most of the talking. Be aloof but caring and sincere. Let things progress naturally and don't rush it.​It helps a lot if you keep yourself busy with work, friends and other dates. It'll appear to her that you a high value man with many other priorities. It's sexy. Having multiple dates set up with various girls also helps by distributing the pressure of going on dates. It's the theory of not keeping all your eggs in one basket.Best case scenario; you find someone to love. Worst case; you make a great friend who you may end up having for life. Winning either way.​I'm not one to boost, but I want to give some credibility to what I'm sharing here; I've only been out of my relationship for 35 days but I've already built great relationships with 4 girls and have already slept with 3 of them. Going on two more first dates in the next few weeks. All just doing what I described above. I honestly don't recognize myself from who I used to be. It's a good feeling to feel like I understand dating for once. If anyone has questions I'm happy to answer them below or over PM.​​ via /r/dating_advice

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Strategies of DDP Shipping

Sending out to nations outside the European Community (EC) can be overwhelming so an arranged, organized fitting is basics. Solid and Herd LLP are distributing some key focuses to help in the handy development of merchandise, to guarantee you are consistent and, additionally, to guarantee key components of the worldwide exchange understanding are not overlooked.

Sending out doesn’t end with the request being gotten, down to earth issues must be tended to, for example, which archives do we require: what data must go on the structures, do we require anything uncommon, have we composed the vehicle in a savvy way, would we say we are utilizing an Incoterm that encourages us instead of causing us issues? These issues are canvassed in our Export Training courses.

Here are a couple of tips:

1. Check the exchange connection between the EU and your customers’ nations. The EU has arranged special exchange concurrences with loads of abroad nations which permit products made in the EU (which meet the capability rules) to enter these nations at a diminished — frequently zero — the rate of traditions obligation. This gives EU/UK makers favorable position over non-EU organizations. The new Free Trade Agreement coming into for on 1 July 2011 is the EU-S.Korea FTA.

2. Ensure the Incoterms manages in the agreement, eg FCA, FOB, CIF, DDU, DAP, are unmistakably comprehended and that you don’t accomplish more than you are lawfully obliged to do. Likewise, ensures you comprehend the full ramifications of what your organization has concurred as well — ie DDP shipping to the UK expects you to be enlisted in your clients’ nations so you can compose the import traditions freedom and pay significant obligations and expenses.

3. Clear depiction of merchandise on the printed material is fundamental. Most shipments move universally under the front of a receipt, and this record is essential since it will be seen by all gatherings in the inventory network. Simply having part numbers or abridged depictions isn’t useful — at any rate there ought to be a plain dialect general portrayal.

4. A ton of organizations utilizes framework created solicitations which incorporates pre-stacked product codes (otherwise known as duty numbers). EU Customs requires an 8-digit ware code (called the Combined Nomenclature — CN) to be made on the fare affirmation. A few organizations demonstrate the 10-digit EU import item code (TARIC) on fare printed material. Keep in mind just the initial 4 or 6 numbers will coordinate the code numbers relevant in different nations. This is under the Harmonized System (HS) Codes. Know that on the off chance that you demonstrate full UK/EU ware codes on the receipt you may get inquiries from the client’s nation.

5. Estimation of products — you should dependably demonstrate the genuine estimation of the exchange on a fare receipt. Try not to be enticed to under pronounce an esteem on the grounds that an abroad client says “it will enable the products to traverse traditions snappier”. There is some disarray when products are sans sent of charge; following the WTO/GATT valuation rules for imports if there is no charge you should even now value the merchandise at a genuine costs, following the standards of an) identical estimating (not being sold this time); b) comparative products; c) cost of materials/overheads and benefit.

6. Proof of fare. Under UK VAT rules you are permitted to VAT zero-rate a fare, yet you should have the capacity to give proof that the products have left the UK. This proof must be in the trading organizations name (or cross-reference to them as the provider) and demonstrate that the merchandise left the UK inside 3 months of despatch or installment has gotten (whichever is first). This can make issues exporters in the event that they offer ExWorks as the abroad purchaser is then responsible for the fare.

7. In the UK HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) utilize an electronic fare traditions introduction framework called NES (the National Export System) in view of EU SAD Form which supplanted the paper C88 Form. NES connects to the traditions PC CHIEF and records all fares. It is prescribed that exporters get a duplicate of this assertion from cargo organizations.

8. Aberrant fares from the UK, by means of other EU part, states, to non-EU nations must be followed on the electronic framework with a Movement Reference Number (MRN) issued on the Export Accompanying Document (EAD). Exporters who deliver merchandise, for instance, by street to Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, and so forth should guarantee they get the MRN. This can mind the Europa Database under Export.

9. Try not to befuddle “birthplace” of merchandise with “inclination” — however, inclination rules utilize root as a beginning stage the capability controls under inclination are something other than that the products were made in the EU. Extra principles of inclination incorporate a level of EU parts, materials required in the making, a named procedure to happen in the UK/EU, a difference in product code among materials and completed merchandise or a blend of each of the three. The inclination rules rely upon the client nation and the product code of the merchandise.

10. Fare permitting controls to influence the supply of specific merchandise — however, just about 5% of fares from the UK are controlled there are embargoes and endorses to check. In the event that your merchandise is of a high ability or innovation level that could be utilized in a military, atomic, space condition or have been extraordinarily planned, changed or reconfigured for military/guard utilize then you should check the fare permitting controls. Furthermore, if your innovation or products start from the USA you may likewise require US Department of Commerce or Department of Defense endorsement to re-trade.