#doctors without education debt

[ranthaven]

The US is the most productive economy for the success of the middleman in the history of the world. Buy my new book: How to Get Rich Without Offering Anything of Value!! Yours now for the low, low price of whatever I feel like charging for it! Come on, you know you want it.

[avelera]

Ugh, sorry, one last political point because it’s the day for it and this is bugging me.

Democrats and people on the left in the US have got to knock it off with this whole, “All Trump voters are obviously stupid” thing.

I’m sure it’s satisfying to believe, but it is simply not true, and making assumptions about your opponents that aren’t true is how you lose elections.

Half of the voting population of this country is not stupid and it is ludicrous to insist on believing that. Trump voters include doctors, lawyers, business owners, people with PhDs and graduate degrees, and people who attend college courses for fun. They are, unfortunately for many of us including yours truly, our parents and relatives and I at least know for a fact in those cases that they are well educated, well traveled people.

Assuming these people are just stupid and uninformed is, in fact, stupid. It a simplistic view of the world that is going to make your platforms lose if you embrace it and refuse to look deeper.

In practice, people engage in politics because they want the greatest happiness and prosperity for the largest number of people that they care about.

Everything after that is just haggling over price.

For example, the Left/Democrats might believe that the great amount of happiness and prosperity is brought to the largest number of people they care about when an advanced degree is available to everyone without leaving them in crippling debt, when people can age with social services that allow them dignity, when billionaires and companies cannot exploit their workers, and when peace and just causes are allowed to flourish around the world, including the education and enfranchisement of women, and the long term health of our planet. I personally believe that brings long term prosperity to us all.

Left and Right wing voters right now both probably agree that everyone is happier and more prosperous if they can afford a house and have a job that covers their needs and then some. How to get to that is the sticking point that they disagree on.

Right wing voters also want prosperity for themselves and those they care for and what they disagree on with the Left is how to achieve that. I’m not going to go into their platforms here because the whole point of this post is not assuming things about your opponents.

Now in order to persuade people to hold more Left leaning views, you need to make the case for why what you care about is a thing that they should care about and, more importantly, how it enhances the happiness and prosperity of them and those they care about.

Otherwise, you are asking them to vote against their own interests, which no one engages in politics to do, at least not on purpose (even if it is the ultimate outcome in many cases).

If you don’t care about making this argument to opposite side, then fine, you’ve already lost and you deserve to keep losing elections.

You deserve to lose because you’re not making a case for why anyone should support your causes in order to gain happiness and prosperity for themselves and those they care about, including expanding the field of people they care about, and it is ludicrous to expect people to do that without being persuaded either intellectually or emotionally.

This is what finding common ground and building coalitions is about, even if you don’t agree on every point. And if you self isolate and stick to your purity, you deserve to lose because politics is about how we govern large groups of people towards a common goal that, ultimately, is best simplified as the goal of their greatest happiness and prosperity.

Good faith politics is negotiating over what that means. Because resources are finite we can’t all get everything we want all at once. And not everyone agrees on everything so you need to prioritize the best possible allotment of happiness and prosperity for the short and long term, and that’s when we get into the nitty gritty of all the horse trading that happens in politics etc etc.

And you get into things like billionaires having outsized ability to enact their own happiness and prosperity but here’s the thing, many people especially on the right go along with those views because they believe (rightfully or not) that those goals will increase their own happiness and prosperity as well and if you don’t agree you’ve got to explain to them intellectually or emotionally why that is and provide and alternate platform or path for them to gain it that is more effective by at least some measure of that value.

Anyway, at the risk of this becoming a political science thesis from someone who isn’t a political scientist, just an amateur academic, tl;dr please knock it off with assuming everyone who disagrees with you is stupid, it is a losing proposition and it doesn’t get us anywhere near the goals we want to achieve politically, ie, the greatest happiness and long term prosperity of the people we care about.

[girlactionfigure]

No, the Jews were not expelled from 109 countries.

109 countries lost their Jews.

There’s a difference, and it matters.

Because we hear this line a lot — usually said with a certain smugness, like its case closed:

“If Jews were expelled from 109 countries, maybe the problem was the Jews.”

But that’s not really an argument. It’s barely even a thought. It’s just a number thrown like a grenade, with zero curiosity about what happened next.

Alright then. Let’s talk about what happened next.

How did those 109 countries do afterwards?

And how are those 109 countries doing now?

Spain expelled its Jews in 1492. They lost their financiers, their traders, their doctors, their translators — and within decades, the empire that ruled the seas was drowning in debt and decay.

England expelled its Jews in 1290. It took them 350 years to realize their economy didn’t quite function without them.

Much of the Arab world forced out nearly a million Jews after 1948. Today, many of those same places — once rich, cosmopolitan centers of trade and culture — are uneducated, behind, primitive, and stuck in cycles of poverty and stagnation.

We could keep going.

Germany. Poland. Russia. Yemen. Libya. Iraq.

For some, it took decades to recover, while others never did.

History has a pattern. And it’s not subtle.

Jews arrive → things get built → resentment builds faster → Jews get blamed → Jews get expelled → decline follows.

You’d think after the first few dozen times, people might’ve noticed (talk about beneficial 'noticing').

But here we are.

And what’s always left out of this little “109 countries” line is the simplest truth of all: those expulsions were never about Jewish failure. They were about Jewish success, about being too visible, too different, too educated, too useful — right up until usefulness became threatening.

Every time a society thought its problems would vanish if only its Jews did — those societies ended up learning the hard way that their problems had never really been about the Jews at all.

And the Jews, however.

We moved on.

We survived.

We built new worlds somewhere else.

As for those 109 countries?

Most of them never recovered.

They might’ve thought expelling us would make them stronger, purer, more unified. But the truth is, they only destroyed themselves by losing their very oxygen. Without us, they turned in on themselves, stagnant and decayed, holding onto a broken idea that never really existed in the first place. They never grasped that it was not us that was the problem. It was them.

Funny how nobody ever seems to mention that part — the part where the cost of expelling us was a price they could never afford to pay.

[wrathkitty]

Short Debts just hit 2k kudos 😱

You guys are awesome. Here’s a snippet.

Dr. Forrester is a grizzled older fellow with the bedside manner of a physician far enough in his career to be perpetually irritated by everything, but still have a twinkle in his eye. You like him immediately.

“Len Forrester,” he announces without preamble as he approaches Din and you in the waiting room. “First…” He reaches into his pocket and removes a small, rectangular bar of silver – the beskar ingot.

“I can fit new patients in any time I damn well please,” he testily informs Din, handing it over. “I’m a doctor, not a delinquent.” Without missing a beat, he turns his attention to you, and warmly extends his hand to shake yours. “Eleanor, I presume?”

The gesture is so reminiscent of home that you assume he has you mixed up with another patient. You look back at him, confused. Eleanor who?

“Yes, this is Eleanor,” Din awkwardly volunteers on your behalf when you don’t answer. 

“Oh! Hi!” You seize Dr. Forrester’s hand in a too-eager grip, hoping to compensate for your blunder. “Sorry, I zoned out for a minute. I was admiring your, uh, art.” 

You weren't, but it's an easy excuse, and you point to the swirled, abstract sculpture hung up the wall. 

“That damned thing?” Dr. Forrester grumbles. “An old colleague gave it to me as a retirement gift, just to annoy me. Only reason I keep it on display is to prove a point, but the green-blooded bastard is too busy being an ambassador to ever pay me a visit. Now,” his bright blue eyes flicker to Din, “Will your friend be joining us, or are we leaving him to pace a trench in the floor?”

Short Debts Make Long Friends - An over-educated, underpaid millennial finally gets to go on her first adventure.

@last-of-cheese

@ababysupernova

@onlydrawnbad

@myswficlist

@mariwinns16

@mandindjarin

@coffeebeforewater

@terecord

@leithatnight

@lokiofstoriesalwaysthemselves

@djarins-cyare

@shsoba05

@sleepingghoule444

@sjdraws-00

@dontletyourchildrenwatchthis

@moondirti

@teehee-47

@jbarness

@reileth

@mareebird

@essence-stealer

@itchyfly

@stagerightlauren

@jackieblogsstuff

@camishadjarin

@ellenmunn

@xoxo-lyss

@princessofclovers

@ezrasleftarm

@onlydrawnbadreads

@brighterthanlonelywords

@caffiend-queen

@dindenimchicken

@harriedandharassed

@everythingiwanttoread

@nightlore106

@senassn

@greensabereyesforcevictim

@chickenshit03

@anniet852

@dinnerisserveddjarin

@sixhours

@littlemisspascal

@din-djarins-spouse

@thedoctorknits

@smollucy18

@roughdaysandart

@breniii

@epple-benene

@feral-ferrule

@lindsaychops

@dear-ickis

@tobethlehem

@newpathwrites

@cas-readsandwrites

@littleredpandanaps

@cheekychaos28

@oscarissac2099

@purrpledesblog

@aegocrazy

@purrpledesblog

@dotyoureyez

[gaienleftyuy]

(based of real life experiences)

(Dot is any pronouns is chaos :D)

Dot the clown of the group, (as the human called him when Dot left his work expression) an alien from planet xB70 was surprised as on a trip to earth to gather information, he found his human friend Roberto holding his obviously broken arm with a piece of cardboard and duct tape.

-Human, I didn't know they were so far behind in medicine. Do you need help?-

The human shifted uncomfortably and looked at his arm. -It's no big deal… or so the doctors said, I don't really know, they weren't available to do x-rays until after 4pm,’ he sighed, and sat down as best he could in his garden on the outskirts of the city, one of the reasons why Dot chose him to study the Latin American country called “Uruguay”. -And I told you I'm Roberto, don't just call me human. Individualism remember? -

Dot kept looking at the arm, questioning whether it would be worth calling the Knua't doctor to check the break, in her human biological disguise the sweat was noticeable, and the discomfort in body language, but if she removed her disguise her slimy mass that the hum- Roberto called slime would be twitching, shaking and releasing juice. While his species has no bones, or vital organs dangerously exposed, it was well known that the Klont-S1M allowed all aliens whether from the universal galactic stellar union of zone 0-b1 or any other sector, so they knew very well the dangers of the ruptures of the internal forms that allow the union of being. Whether calcium, magnesium, diamond, or stellar, they were almost all the same. They were difficult to heal properly without the right support, and some did not heal at all. Making a decision, because this great human had helped the crew a lot with his research, he decided to call Knua't. V-3 objective accomplished, but requested immediate medical union. - He ignored as Roberto startled, only to curse when one of the adhesive tapes broke and moved his arm.

On the other side the head guard answered - Azlp here, what's the problem. -

-Roberto is injured, apparently he doesn't have the means to… repair a broken bone, a body builder for us. - he said as he slurred the word ‘bone’.

The boy tried to stop him when he wanted to take the communicator from him -Wait friend, I'll be fine, it's 1pm, only 3 hours left, well, maybe they'll take longer to attend me, but come on, it's not serious. -

Dot looked at him, and dropped his disguise. -Human, Roberto. Aren't we friends? You invited us to a… barbecue on Sunday, you offered us your drink called mate, and you accepted us into your space. Even if you don't want to be healed for some reason, consider that this is paying a debt.

A tear fell from the human's eye, and he sat back down, muttering things that even Dot did not know the meaning of. He returned to his disguise, and adjusted his communicator. -Are you still there?

-I am, the doctor's on his way, he'll be here soon.

Two minutes later Knua't arrived in his ship disguised as an ASSE ambulance. As he looked at his arm he was horrified, not because it was so badly broken, but because of the poor job of keeping it immobilised.

-But, it's not possible, we thought humans were more advanced than this. - She said as she gave the human anaesthesia, ‘Haven't you talked to the human about his medicine?

Dot paused from her work as a medical assistant, and simply looked up at the sky. -I tried, but he always evades the subject, several subjects in fact, basic things like education, medicine, water and food. - He shook his head, and handed Knua't an analyser. -The truth is, he looked down, though thinking about what his jobs are like, you'd think they'd be better than this. -

-Yeah, you're right. Well, it's just a tear, though because of the bad support we'll have to make a sharp movement to align it, and then heal it. - Knua't parted the human's wavy black hair, and noted his features. Dark circles under his tanned skin, signs of nutrient malnutrition, and some mild dehydration. He could work with this. -He's going to wake up soon, bring me some water. The human has a duct that flushes it out. -

Dot simply walked out almost running, after a few minutes he returned with a confused look on his face. -There's a problem.’ She handed the glass of water to the doctor. - It contains Ca, and a dangerous degree of NaCIO.

-There is nothing drinkable?

-There are plastic bottles, but they were all contaminated with microplastics from the same bottle. He seems to have refused many times.

-Hm, well, we'll see what we can do. What about food? Taking advantage of the fact that the anaesthetic was still working, he carried the human and laid him down on the couch. - There must be something rich in water.

After some searching they found an electric freezer full of pre-prepared food, frozen meat, and some processed foods, and a cooler with only a yellow citrus fruit, some tubers, which Dot recognized as ‘potato’ and ‘carrot dwarf’ and about 100grs (0.22lb) of what looked like low quality beef because of the level of fat in it. Nothing very nutritious, or anything to add hydration.

-This is bad,’ said the doctor as he closed the electrical device.

A murmur filled the air. ‘What's bad? -

The human sat up confused and uncomprehending, waking up suddenly when he noticed that his arm didn't hurt. - What the hell,’ he raised his arm in confusion.

Knua't stepped forward before he could move it any further. -It's still healing, the process seems to be slow since we did it at the level of your biology, we weren't sure if your species had the physiological pattern to remake parts of you,’ he said.

Roberto tried to get up -Eh, yes. no, wait. - He touched his head, and sat back down. He felt dizzy.

-Are you all right?

Knua't looked at Dot as he attended to the human, then looked around again. -You do not feed well,’ he said at last. -That must change.

It began slowly, a repetitive motion, and light chuckles as the human tried not to laugh, then broke loose and laughed loudly. A loud, bitter, desperate sound echoed through the small empty house. -Oh dear. Funny, I don't mean to not eat well, trust me, but nourishment costs. -

-But, with what you've told us about your job, you should be able to live well. A job with so much physical exhaustion should be rewarded. -

-I'm a garbage man, I work for the city administration. -Believe me, they don't care about me. Believe me, they don't care about me. Besides, everything is shit here. If I work overtime and the government decides I'm earning too much they take more than 50% of my salary, and tell you to deal with it, in turn paying too much for a house that is missing the roof of the room and was replaced with just a sheet of metal. Of course I could live in a flat, as I did in my youth, but that is no longer an option. -

Dot analysed everything, but Knua't didn't keep quiet. -Is it expensive?

-Oh no, well yes, one way or the other, the pay would still be barely enough, but nobody wants a worker like me around, even if you clean yourself up, have good hygiene, everyone recognises you as the one who collects rubbish and gets scared off. Something happens, a bad smell, a mess and everyone blames you, or expects you to fix it because ‘you live collecting rubbish, which is a bit more’ - but… the collection of rubbish is not enough.

-But… litter picking is essential for the cleanliness and harmony of the city.

-They don't care, man. Everything in this country is horrible when it comes to quality of life, and harmony between jobs. - He left the room in frustration, going to his room to lie down on the bed. Recognising what it took to leave his previous flat, what led him to this dilapidated place full of leaks, and other ills put a bad taste in his mouth. He heard a noise, and looked at Dot who stood against the door, unsure.

-Come in if you like.

Dot did, all right.

-That… rejection is often? -No, well, I don't know. It's the fault of several factors, many can't, or don't want to change on the way out, smelling of filth all the way. Others don't even have hygiene, they're drunk, and they just don't care. We're not all like that, we're just people who want to work, but even the cleaning staff take a large percentage of our salary.

-Dot finally sat up in bed, and looked at Roberto.

-It's not that bad, but they take a lot more than 20,000 pesos from us. It's something nobody recognises because they don't want to fight for it, but it's still shit. Food is expensive, rent is expensive, people reject us because of how we dress, where we work. For them we are just a… oh I won't even say it, it's an insult to poor people, but it's still indecent for those people. -

-Remember how old you are? -

-23, I've been working as a rubbish collector for two years. You get in by contacts under the table, or competitions. I got in through competitions, out of 5 qualified I came in 4th.

Dot blinked and wrote down the answer, Roberto didn't care if the aliens knew how bad the world was.

-And studies?

-And studies? -Well, it's funny, to study you have to go to the capital if you want to go to university. You know, we don't all have the money to go there, the trip, the tickets, the materials, the time, even though there is a public university, the expenses are horrible. Not everyone can afford it. On the other hand, I went to technical school, I did mechanics, thinking that I would have a quick job, but in itself, we only have four places to repair motorbikes and cars, plus one or two rubber shops. We are a small town 2km x 2km (1.24 mi x 1.24 mi) We don't have much to offer, you would think I should have studied gastronomy, but my friends who did that still can't get jobs, we are small, there are places where 2 or 3 people in charge are already full and they don't want anyone else, and even the family restaurants have queues full of people. - He paused, not noticing how short of breath he was, he had anxiety, he knew it, but he still couldn't get the right medicine… it wasn't in stock. - We have no tourism, no high season, it's always the same. Everything is concentrated in the capital, we don't even have a Mcdonalds and the traffic lights are less than 5 years old here, and only in the two main streets of the town a few blocks from the main square. We don't have a cinema, let alone something as lively as an amusement park, the other nearby towns are not much better off, maybe they have tourism but to go to the doctor they come to this town to get fixed up. Haya doesn't usually have something as basic as a dentist, but here we went without a paediatrician for more than a year, and I've even heard how they operate on people without anaesthesia - He covered his face, wanting to stop the screams that came to his mind. He could no longer, he could not breathe. He felt a pinch.

-It's all right, you're all right. When the Galactic Union arrives, everything will be all right, we came here to see what we can offer humanity. -

Roberto laughed in tears, ‘Probably most of the world will let them rule the earth.

-Sleep, we'll take care of the food and water. I'll be here when you wake up. -

Roberto felt heavy, had he been drugged again? He barely felt it in his panic?

Dot brought her hand to the communicator, and called not her shift leader, but KOplt, the leader of this main mission. He spoke only a code, to let him know that at least in this section of the world, quick action and improvements were required. -Code break. The answer was clear: ‘Understood, you are not the only one of the investigators to ask us for progress, a large percentage of the rest have analysed that quick action is needed in most of the world, we will do something soon. The earth will not go on like this for much longer.

-Good…

[petercapaldi-press]

INTERVIEW

Peter Capaldi: ‘My closest brush with the law? I was arrested in connection with a bomb explosion’

Sat 19 Jun 2021

Rosanna Greenstreet

The actor on bringing back grants for further education and being kept awake by the cat

Born in Glasgow, Peter Capaldi, 63, was the 12th incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who. In 2010, he won a Bafta for his portrayal of Malcolm Tucker, the prime minister’s political enforcer, in The Thick Of It. From 23 June, he stars in Constellations at the Vaudeville theatre in London. He is married to the actor Elaine Collins; they have a daughter and live in London.

What is your earliest memory? I can vividly recall being in an old-fashioned pram with a hood and seeing sunshine and what was, I realise now, the grey stone of a Glasgow tenement.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself I was brought up to be very polite, so that becomes quite tiring, particularly if you are off the telly. I do like people, but I am often exhausted by this overwhelming need to make it all right for them to meet me.

What makes you unhappy? The spreading and celebration of wilful ignorance by people who should know better.

What do you most dislike about your appearance? The daily vanishing of the young bits.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose? The grant system. It allowed people like me, from modest backgrounds, to go into further education without being saddled with debt.

What is your most unappealing habit? I can’t settle on a table at a restaurant or a cafe. I’ll pick one, move to another, then feel that I’ve made a mistake and go back to my original table. I can bounce around for 15 minutes.

If you could go back in time, where would you go? Because of Doctor Who, I’ve had to make up so many bogus answers to this question, so I never want to answer it again.

What is the worst job you’ve done? I have been pretty terrible in quite a lot of terrible things.

What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? In volleyball, my PE teacher would say: “The most important thing is to find the fault in the other team.” And then he would throw the ball at me – I was the fault. That was teaching in the west of Scotland in the 1970s.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? My wife.

What does love feel like? Us.

What was the best kiss of your life? 12 September 1985, under a street lamp in Glasgow with Elaine.

What has been your biggest disappointment? I am always disappointed when I see myself on the screen.

What is the closest you’ve come to death? Death is always close.

What has been your closest brush with the law? In 1975, in York (I must have been 17): there was a bomb explosion. It was 3am, I was with some pals and we were picked up by the police who, hearing our Scottish accents, seemed to connect us to the explosion. We were taken in for questioning, which was scary, but it didn’t take them long to suss out these fey youngsters were incapable of a bomb plot.

What keeps you awake at night? Our ancient cat miaowing, because it’s got dementia.

What song would you like played at your funeral? Johnny Cash’s version of Danny Boy.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you? It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.

[theposhsworld]

The modern housewife is not someone 100% completely dependent on her husband. She has an education and a business or part time job that should she get divorced she has an exit strategy and can go full time. When I advise against doing a large debt on medieval dance theory in university- I advise you to get a degree where they have a high job placement rate.

I advise picking a profession you can work part time if you have kids. Yes in some countries lawyer, IT, doctor. You should have a back up plan.

Also don’t get married and become a housewife without financial compensation and some kind of money that if he is a jerk you can move out for a month or your marriage will be garbage. I can go to my parents if we argue so we don’t argue. We use I statements.

If you are career woman you are expected to do the feminine on top of masculine labour. If you are only a housewife you can be taken advantage of too.

It’s the mix, financial literacy, watching out for your money that works. Yes be a housewife but have a financial back up plan

Credit Maria Al Massani

[copperbadge]

Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways to Give:

dancing-thru-clouds was recently hit with a surprise tax bill (she didn't realize her town had local income tax, and didn't receive the previous year's notice); she's adjusted her withholding to account for this, but still owes the balance from the past two years and is fundraising to cover the balance. You can give via paypal here.

stemmonade is a disabled Black trans person who relies on crowdfunding for survival since they can't work and their wife is currently unemployed; they are raising a little over $700 to cover rent and essentials in the meantime. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

themerrymutants is a disabled queer man currently living on social security aid; he has recently had to travel to the emergency room several times for possible complications from a recent surgery, and is now short on rent because of the cost of transit. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for prototrans, a disabled artist who needs help with rent money; he is also offering commissions. You can read more, reblog, and find giving and commission information here.

Recurring Needs:

Anon linked to a fundraiser for a friend whose family has not had a working furnace since November; they've been using space heaters to keep warm but January in Chicago has been brutal and the space heaters aren't sufficient. With vulnerable family members including elderly relatives and children in the home, they need to raise $6K to get the furnace replaced. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

thelastpyler is raising funds for food and to purchase medication for their family; you can read more and find giving information here.

Eli is a disabled Michigander who cares for their elderly grandmother; they are applying for SSDI, but their car was damaged recently and is undrivable, with estimated $8K-$12K in repairs to make it drivable. They need transportation for doctor's visits and legal consultations for their SSDI appeal, and have no way to get around without the car. You can read more and reblog here or give at the gofundme here.

loversdoom is a college student from the Philippines, studying away from her family, and her parents are unexpectedly unable to support her education; she is in mounting debt and facing eviction from her dorm in her last semester of college. She's raising funds to repair her laptop so she can do her schoolwork and find a remote job that will help her pay rent, and to fund the remainder of her schooling. You can read more and reblog here and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to karla-hoshi or Hoshi on TikTok, who is raising funds for cancer treatment for her cat Naku; they caught the cancer early and hope that he can survive it, but can't continue treatment without funding. You can read more and support the fundraiser here, as well as find links to her updates on tiktok.

chingaderita's partner recently lost their job due to a house fire that also destroyed the house; they're raising funds to keep food on the table, to try and get a supply of water to keep clean and do laundry, and for various bills until they can find new work. You can read more, reblog, and support the fundraiser here.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

[mana-jjk]

thinking really hard about a college au because i enjoy them a lot more than high school aus.

yuuta - pre-med, in school to become a doctor

toge - divided between computer science and dropping out of college to pursue opening his own café with a garden.

maki - pre-law, in school to become a lawyer

panda - zoology

yuuji - business degree that he’s just doing for his grandfather, will graduate but goes on to be a firefighter.

megumi - animal sciences, going on to enter veterinarian school to become a vet.

nobara - fashion design/marketing degree

gojo - a sadistic physics professor with multiple degrees, both through education and honorary, because he got bored. sometimes he picks students out to give full-ride scholarships, because he self-proclaims having too much money.

getou - philosophy professor that enjoys playing the devils advocate and watching his students squirm.

shoko - oversees the university hospital and occasionally recruits for the pre-med program

nanami - graduated with a business degree, agreed to give yuuji an internship

ijichi - gojo’s overworked TA

i just think maki and yuuta would struggle through graduate school together. their cabinets would be full of instant ramen, cabbage, junk food, and ungodly amounts of coffee. the only real food they get is because toge cooks for them and gives them the stink eye every time he opens their cabinet.

toge doesn’t really have room to talk though, he overworks himself and ends up going far too long without sleep. hours on assignments that make him miserable, burned out from the moment every semester starts. too often does yuuta find him dissociating, something he’s all too familiar with. yuuta himself suffers from insomnia, so it’s not uncommon for him to settle on the couch and run his fingers through toge’s hair until his eyes close.

toge probably had a really difficult time getting the courage to either drop out or just really not use his degree as intended. i can’t picture him genuinely enjoying higher education. even in this happy, no one dies world, his family is with the second years for a reason. computer science was appeasing enough, but the unhappiness is so draining that everyday getting up and going to class feels so impossible. he feels his happiest at the gardening club, cooking for his friends, not sitting in a lecture hall with a preview to what awaits him. but ultimately, i think the independence and knowledge that he wasn’t alone or abandoned was enough to push him into the decision. luckily enough he was a scholarship winner (gojo lol) so he wasn’t in debt, and gojo even offered to fund him through culinary school with the promise of free sweets forever.

with yuuta, i think his history of being hospitalized and the accident with rika (who is not dead here !! but she was paralyzed and had to move with a different family member who was able to support her) definitely pushed him to medical degrees. he was probably stuck between being a physical therapist, nurse, and full-fledged doctor. he still keeps in contact with rika, who is one of his biggest supporters when it comes to his goal, but he has a mental breakdown every week thinking about getting a medical degree. shoko definitely takes notice of his talent, and has extended opportunities to intern with her. gojo also found that they were distantly related, and not only paid for his entire education, but also the apartment he rents with maki and toge. he tried refuting, but gojo kept insisting that he was tapping into the family inheritance that technically belonged to both of them.

toge is more than a little devastated when yuuta decides to study abroad in their undergraduate, i actually think that’s when the fully misery of college hits him. not having an unhealthy classmate and friend to look after forced him to focus on himself, his least favorite pastime. having the first years helped, but it also forces him to reflect how much he cared about yuuta past being a friend too.

anyway, i have so many ideas for this au so um please ask me so i can word vomit everywhere. also normalize more college aus so people like me can still relate lol <3

[caitrol]

EHLERS DANLOS SYNDROME DIAGNOSIS HELP

Hello! Some background I’m a current college student and have hEDS. I’ve started showing concerning symptoms at 16, and was diagnosed last year at 20.

I did not get genetic testing. Genetic testing is relatively new and many insurances won’t cover it. For the hypermobile type, it’s not as strict since research has not discovered the specific genetic mutation. For the other types, it’s more important to have genetic testing. Please look into payment plans and student/AARP/military discounts. No one should ever go into medical debt for proper testing.

Ask around! I called multiple doctors’ offices to ask if they were knowledgeable on the condition. I actually planned on going back to a pain clinic and simply went to a primary care provider to get a referral and found the best doctor. Don’t only look at specialists, PCP and other family doctors might be able to help you. (Plus depending on insurance, it’s cheaper to go to a PCP than a specialist).

Join facebook groups! (Though I wish I could avoid anything and everything owned by Meta.) I’ve found multiple EDS support groups in my area to ask about doctors, tricks/tips, and questions. Not all of them are great and not all of them are factually correct, but it can be really helpful to find a good provider that is educated on EDS.

Have all your symptoms written out. Maybe it’s just me, but the brain fog is so real. I tend to forget all what I want to say if I don’t make a note of it. I have all of my symptoms on paper along with family history. I think it was helpful to split it into childhood, symptoms started, and current symptoms. Depending on your family history, if you can identify who might have EDS, write out their symptoms too. It’ll only help to prove a family history.

Get a second opinion. I saw two doctors that said I had hEDS but refused to diagnose me without expensive genetic testing until my third doctor ruled everything out again and took months to make sure the diagnosis fit.

In the end, a diagnosis isn’t everything and EDS may not be your diagnosis. Please still advocate for yourself and your health. You’re allowed to celebrate being diagnosed, just like you’re allowed to be upset. Everyone will feel different about it.

[trooper1023]

A friend of mine just posted this, and I agree wholeheartedly.

It's disputed attribution, and is titled "I am a liberal." Very wise words .

"I'm a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

"1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.

"2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as 'I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all.' This is not the case. I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes 'let people die because they can't afford healthcare' a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

"3. I believe education should be affordable. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.

"4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

"5. I don't throw around 'I'm willing to pay higher taxes' lightly. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.

"6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

"7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not 'offended by Christianity' -- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it on me or mine.

"8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

"9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're 'stealing' your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

"10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

"11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

"12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.

"13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.

"14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

"15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

"16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?"

"I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved."

Copy & paste if you want. I did.

[eternal-echoes]

“A friend of mine is a well-known economist at a leading American university. He's also the gatekeeper for an elite doctoral program in his field. Asked once what he valued most in candidates for his program, he said, "an undergraduate degree in Classics." Homer and Virgil, of course, have very little to do with things like debt-deflation theory. But my friend's reasoning is, in fact, quite shrewd.

Since economics is a human (i.e., social) science, its practitioners should first know how to be actual human beings before learning their specialized skills. A formation in the classics or any of the other humanities is an immersion in beauty and knowledge. It has no utility other than enlarging the soul. But that achievement-the ennobling of a soul, the enlarging of the human spirit to revere the heritage of human excellence and to love things outside itself-is something no technical skill can accomplish.

As Leo Strauss once wrote, "liberal education is concerned with the souls of men, and therefore has little or no use for machines ... [it] consists in learning to listen to still and small voices and therefore in becoming deaf to loudspeakers."(18) A liberal education—a balanced experience of the humanities, art, music, mathematics, and the natural sciences—is designed to form a mature "liberal" adult; liberal in the original sense, meaning free as opposed to slave. Thus for Strauss, "liberal education is the counter-poison ... to the corroding effects of mass culture, to its inherent tendency to produce nothing" but specialists without vision or heart.(19)

Scholars like Anthony Esolen, Allan Bloom, Neil Postman, Matthew Crawford, and Alasdair MacIntyre, each in his own way and for different reasons, have all said similar things. For all of them, the point of a truly good education, from pre-K to graduate school, is to form students to think and act as fully rounded, mature, and engaged human beings. In other words, as adult persons of character.

As Matthew Crawford puts it, "Education requires a certain capacity for asceticism, but more fundamentally it is erotic. Only beautiful things lead us out of our addictive self-focus to join the world beyond our heads."(20) But the dilemma of postmodern life is that we can't agree on what a fully rounded, mature "human being" is—or should be. The fragmentation in American culture runs too deep. Recent battles over imposing gender ideology in school curricula and rewriting and politicizing civics and American history textbooks simply prove the point. So does the "progressive" intellectual conformism in so many of our university faculties.

Meanwhile, as American student skills decline in global comparisons, more and more stress is placed on developing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) competence at earlier student ages. There's nothing wrong with this in principle. Technical skills are an important part of modern life. But as we've already seen, American trust in the promise of technology is robust and naive to the point of being a character flaw. And a real education involves more profound life lessons than training workers and managers to be cogs in an advanced economy.”

-Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World

—

(18) & (19) Leo Strauss, "Liberal Education and Mass Democracy," in Robert Goldwin, editor, Higher Education and Modern Democracy: The Crisis of the Few and Many (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1967), 73-96.

(20) Matthew Crawford, The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015), 257.

[musingsofminerva]

Sorry if you have been asked this already - why are you interested in Neuroscience?

When I was small, I dreamt to become a Neurosurgeon. Then when I realised how much hours they are required at their hospitals, I turned to become a Neuroscientist.

However, I never became one. Just life (plus I failed secondary school lol)

But for you, why did you get the interest of Neuroscience?

(⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆

Hi!

Thanks for asking first of all. It actually took me a while to decide what I wanted to study, even as I was doing my bachelors in biology. Many wanted me to take a full ride in music prior.

I did work in various healthcare settings such as being a drug collection specialist which had me dealing with patients very often and it was tense environment. I also worked the opposite end with no patient interaction at all in central processing. I always had a restaurant job too.

Although I took a pre-med path, I knew that I didn’t want to go to med school. I absolutely respect doctors as surgeons that dedicate that time. I would always ask “why do ppl act like that” (especially as a server lol) , be fascinated by behavioral topics and how they differ among different cultures.

When I was taking psychology I wished that there was more information regarding POC or just more non-white studies. Neuroscience allows me to do those studies myself.

I took a break from school after burning out during the pandemic. My family encouraged me to follow them & go into the Air Force so that I can finish my education without racking up more debt. I’m leaning towards social or behavioral neuroscience, but clinical also sticks out to me as there are many aspects of autism presents in different backgrounds. I’m sure I’ll decide when the time comes lol. 🤍

Xoxo,

мιηєяνα

[boimgfrog]

what grade level do you want to teach? if i decide to go into education it will be college level full stop

High school and eventually college!! Most colleges won't hire you without a doctorate, though, and most public schools will pay for your master's degree if you promise to teach at their school for a certain number of years, so I'm choosing kindness and less debt. Also I don't mind teenagers that much and think teaching high school for a bit will be fulfilling and a good stepping stone. Plus with the teaching shortage a lot of places are ditching the praxis exam and opting for an optional exam that if you take, increases ur starting salary by a lot, and I need money for my eventual PhD soooo

[mistprints]

9 to 5 is an insane amount of the day spent working. We just aren’t being paid enough to work fewer hours because we aren’t paid what our work is worth. Bigger companies hide behind small ones with the “we can’t all afford to pay workers fairly” excuse. Well then the business fails at being profitable because workers’ wages are not margins you can cut to be profitable.

And then the big corporations spend obscene amount of money bribing politicians to make sure things stay this way: that minimum wage stays below cost of living so people are forced to work often multiple jobs just to survive, keeping them desperate and forced to work jobs with poor wages.

Education advancement is a potential major debt that many people cannot afford or risk even to get into the highest paying industries. Not all school systems are created equal due to budget cuts and poor, outdated standards, putting many students at a disadvantage for college already. People who would be amazing teachers are dissuaded by the state of these schools and the lack of support they get. It is one of the most important jobs of society and much like many vital services, is taken for granted.

We pretend the threat of homelessness is only for people who are “undesirable” and just didn’t want to work when in reality, many people are one missed paycheck away from being out on the street due to predatory housing situations and unchecked landlords that can give as little as a week’s notice for eviction if not less in some places.

“Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is an old saying that’s been twisted. It’s an impossible task. That’s what it means. It’s a tongue in cheek saying that’s been mockingly turned into a political statement and I think the people using it know that people aren’t going to look it up or know this. You cannot pull yourself up by them, you need help.

Society works when we rely on the group. That’s how all civilizations have worked. Others have fallen for not doing this or for doing so poorly with too many people at the bottom of the ladder holding it up (capitalism relies on this to function). Social programs have always been a facet of this and grouping it all into one big negative buzzword drives me insane.

The fire department is a social program. It’s free to call them and it’s paid for by the city because the rich decided that a poorer neighbor’s house fire was a risk to their property and so there should be someone that handles that without costs to an individual that would deter them calling for help. Same with 9-1-1 (unless of course if the person is in the US and needs a personal ambulance ride. Then they’ll charge thousands).

All I’m saying is with the state of the majority of people in the U.S., we could stand to have more support beams to help out before it collapses around us.

People are reaching a breaking point and this stress test of how much they’ll take (costs rising while what you get decreases and wages remaining stagnant; the growing population of homelessness and their solutions being to make homelessness illegal; cuts to people’s rights to their own body by people who are not doctors and should not have anything do to with it but want political points to remain in power by voters who are too uneducated to know better—again, keeping the populous too tired and poorly educated to realize the branching issues with this outside of their narrow-minded ideals they want to force on everyone else) won’t end well.

These problems all branch from a source. That source is always, ultimately, corrupted people in power, driven by money. They are shortsighted and only care about their own benefits. And by letting them, believing their lies and keeping them in power blinded by promises that are at best empty and at worst detrimental, it’s making this world a lot worse to live in for the rest of us. Even if the consequences haven’t reached you directly yet, we are already seeing what happens in this Tragedy of the Commons situation with the greed of a few.

We have to stop people from being able to exploit it. There needs to be laws in place that even the rich are subject to for this to ever work.

[purplebass]

Lila's Backstory Theory

As I talked about Lila with @bluecichlid, they raised a good point about her backstory. Lila was first introduced to us as a thief, but she seemed educated and even well-read.

So this theory deals with the possibility that Lila's mother might've been an aristocrat or had a title and Lila doesn't even know about that or has completely concealed this bit from her past and V wanted to use it in the future and that's why it never came up.

@my-ruthless-zoyalai I'm tagging you too because you asked about this theory!

This isn't something to take from granted in XIX London, because we know that around that time, if you were a peasant, you either worked in a factory as a child or you were a thief. You can take a look at Dicken's Oliver Twist to see how orphaned children lived in London (it is set 30 years after Lila was a child, but things hadn't changed much for kids). If you were a poor kid, you didn't have many options to survive. Surely, school and education was the last thing on Georgian kids' minds. There were exceptions, of course, but I don't think that's the case with Lila.

Lila often says that her mother read William Blake's poems to her before bed. This is so specific, and while Blake had published his poems before Lila was even born and he was pretty known, would a peasant appreciate him? No offence to Georgian London peasants, but I doubt it. A lot of peasants didn't even know how to read, and poetry is harder to understand.

Lila's mother might've been an estimator of literature, but my idea is that she might've come from a rich family and that is why she was familiar with Blake. I'm not saying a filthy rich family, but modest enough for Lila's mother to be educated and pass a little of that culture down to her daughter. She might've even been an aristocrat with a title in decline, for all we know. Because aristocrats didn't work. They only inherited a fortune and if they weren't careful with their money and didn't make any investments, the money would end. So Lila's mother might've had a dowry/small fortune when she married Lila's father, but he squandered all their funds on alcohol and possibly other things and they had probably a lot of debts. Maybe Lila's father was not an aristocrat and by marrying him, her mom lost her dowry. I don't know. Lila's mother might've also died because they didn't have the money to pay for a doctor or medicine.

ETA to add: Lila's parents might've had a reversed "Persuasion" by Jane Austen situation. Her parents might've opposed their marriage because they came from different classes, but they got married anyway. In Persuasion, the fmc wants to marry the mc, who is a naval officer, but her father opposes because they come from different social classes. Seven years later, the situation is reversed because the fmc's family is in debt and they need money and the mc became a rich and respectable captain. In the end they get married and the fmc joins the mc on his voyages on his ship. Maybe something like that happened to Lila's parents as well. Have you ever thought that Lila might've wanted to become a captain because her father was tied to the naval world? Also, this "Persuasion" situation also reminds me of Kell and Lila's seven years after situation. He is also a prince who decided to travel aboard a ship to be with the person he loves, who is a captain. Lila stayed with her father because he was the only one left, but without her mother's protection (because it's clear Lila remembers her mother fondly and still grieves her) she was left at the mercy of her absent father until he literally sold her to pay a tab. After then, she began her thief life/identity.

So what I think is that Lila might be an aristocrat and have a title, but maybe she 1) doesn't even know 2) she knows but she never told this to anyone because it's a part of her Grey London life and from a past she chose to leave behind. When Lila meets Kell, he also hides that he is a prince until they are in Red London.

Parallels that seem to sustain this theory

Lila has parallels with other characters. Not just Kell, but also Alucard. Parallels might be a clue about personal stories.

Lila the hypothetical "poor aristocrat" was sold by her father to pay a tab and this event marks the official beginning of her "thief/commoner" identity.

Kell the hypothetical "poor commoner" was sold by his parents because he was Antari and this event marks the official beginning of his "prince/magician" identity.

When we meet Alucard, Lila also believes he's just a privateer, but then we find out that he is a royal and he was falsely accused of being a pirate because of his father and brother.

You can see how the stories of these three characters seem to mirror each other in different ways.

In Threads, there were two moments that stuck with me that also reinforced this "Lila is an aristocrat" theory.

In this book, Lila "took on" Alucard's previous identity of a privateer. But she's also an Antari like Kell. She is also an aristocrat by association with an acquired title because at the palace everyone knows that she is Kell's partner. They call her "lady" and she hates that and the palace life. On another post I wrote how she might hate this because she doesn't like labels nor wants to just be "Kell's lady", which is true. But what if Lila used to live in a pretty house with servants doing things for her until her father brought their family to ruins? So maybe that's why Lila finds the palace so triggering and runs out of it most of the time. Does it remind her of her lost childhood?

This last bit is totally mere speculation. Lila might not even know about her heritage, and maybe she will meet her father again in future Threads, and that's how we will know.

The second bit that might've hinted (or maybe I saw too much into it) is a line Ned tells Tes when she's about to leave. He asks her to say hi to Kell and Lila, and says something like "Kell is a prince, but Lila is not a princess." I don't believe she is a princess but this is a title, and it may be a hint: 1) she has a title she doesn't know about 2) she will become a princess if she marries Kell? Because the title of princess can be acquired by marriage. The title Alucard has in Threads, "consort," is also a title used to refer to the partner of a royal who isn't a monarch in his own right.

This is mere speculation for now, but I hope we do get answers in future Threads, it would be amazing to know more of Lila's backstory!