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its-love-u-asshole · 7 years ago

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Fic Writers Week Day 3: Small But Mighty

Shine a spotlight on the new/underrated fics you’ve read or written.

Yeeessss it’s rec time! I know there’s also the last day to rec fics in general, but I love the idea behind this day a lot too! There’s so many beautiful fics that I’ve read which don’t receive the amount of recognition/kudos that they deserve! I can’t wait to spread the word about them! Since this might be a longer post, I’m putting it under a read more! Enjoy <3

Also, I want to encourage people to try reading new fics as much as possible! While fic rec lists are a good source to start and get ideas about what to read, often times people rely on them too much, and then overlook newer fics which are just as amazing! So every once in a while, remember to check the ship tags on ao3 for newly posted works, that way you don’t miss any hidden gems!

Alright, let’s get into it!

in a flash (ao3) -- Kurotsuki, G

He sees a red beanie covering messy black hair, a soft and boyish smile lit up by the sunlight, and a gray cat.

Click.

Okay so this kurotsuki fic definitely needs twice as many kudos/comments, because the writing was downright phenomenal! It was so beautiful and made me feel warm inside all throughout reading it, I couldn’t get enough! The characterizations are excellent, and the whole mood of the fic is so cozy and wonderful. Please check it out if you love kurotsuki! Also make sure to follow @cawnvictofmurder on tumblr!

a haunting in tokyo (ao3) -- Daisuga, G

This wasn’t the first time Suga had claimed their apartment had been haunted. However, it was the first time he tried to do something about it. Daichi, as always, is nothing but supportive.

This fic was short, but unbelievably sweet! I loved the mix of domestic daisuga fluff with paranormal shenanigans lmao, it was just a super enjoyable fic which had me giggling constantly. I don’t read much daisuga, but it was definitely a treat, and I’d recommend the fic to all! Please also make sure to follow @bishounen-curious <3

Starved (ao3) -- Kurotsuki, T

Kei can’t make it this week. Next week, maybe, he’ll be here but Tetsurou is all out of patience.

Prompt: “I’m tired of being your secret.”

@ivyfics has too many amazing fics which deserve more attention, but this one I feel especially needs to be read. The writing and emotions are just...incredible, I reread this fic so much because I’m in awe of how well it’s written. It’s the perfect mix of angst and relationship development, and I super appreciate that it’s from Kuroo’s POV! Please check it out if you love kurotsuki! It’s worth the read (and reread lol) ^^

Where to Start (ao3) -- TeruShira, G

It's the second date Kenjirou has been on and he can feel Yuuji already figuring him out. He wants to be the boyfriend he wants Yuuji to have, but he doesn't know where to start.

Alright so this author in general just needs more love, yeah TeruShira (or any Shirabu ship really lol) is a rarepair, but gah trust me, after you read this fic you’ll be hopping onto the shipping train so damn fast. The characterizations are so realistic and interesting, and the interactions between the pair are so fun and touching. Please check this fic out, as well as all of SilverAmoebasquid‘s other works!

A God for Every Season (ao3) -- Matsuhana, T

Mortals have all kinds of foolish tales, like how Hades and Persephone's annual reunion causes the seasons. Matsukawa knows better.

Alright, I don’t have time to get into this because for this fic, I can honestly write a 10 page essay about how much I love it. So lemme just say, the writing and the romance is top notch, like...wow, words cannot describe how beautiful the writing is. You seriously need to read it in order to understand. I also love mythology aus, and this delivered! The retelling of Hades/Persephone reuniting was so creative and enjoyable, I want to reread it all again just from typing this lol. @90stimkon did an incredible job with this fic and all their fics, so please check them all out! <3

Waiting for Spring (ao3) -- Kurotsuki, NR

Kuroo had only ever been enamored with a person in his lifetime once. And then "The Dream" happened. Everyday, he dreamt of the neighborhood where he lived, and he always saw a stranger with short blond hair, a tall stature, and black-framed glasses in his dreams. He didn't know who he was, but he was determined to find out.

Kuroo had only ever been enamored with a person in his lifetime once. And then "The Dream" happened. That was the second time.

This fic isn’t exactly recent but I’ll never stop reccing it until it’s been read by everyone lmao I swear! It’s a bit on the angstier side, and there’s a warning for mental illness mentions, but it’s a gorgeous fic. It explores Tsukishima’s emotions and character so well, Kuroo’s too! The details about mental health and Kuroo’s feelings/situation are great, it’s definitely a dream fic which flows into reality so well! I loved the ending, I loved the whole fic, so please give it a shot!

24 Hours (ao3) -- Iwaoi, E

Iwaizumi, a special investigations agent, finds himself falling in love with someone who may already be dead.

@serviceace is an amazing writer, and this crime au has got me so hooked! If you like crime mysteries and detective!Iwaizumi, this is the fic for you! It’s ongoing, but each chapter is so interesting and fun to read, and the questions keep me on the edge of my seat! Please go read this fic if you’re a sucker for iwaoi and police aus, as I am ;)

To The Skies (ao3) -- Kacchako, M

It was supposed to be a typical evening for Bakugou Katsuki. A masquerade ball, a night of serving the royal family as he always did. But when the party goes horribly wrong it's up to servant boy Bakugou to rescue the princess, Uraraka Ochako. His rescue mission is about to change both of their lives completely, and eventually Uraraka will want to reclaim her throne.

Now, older, the two reunite, realizing their lives have gone in very different directions. Ochako, part of the Resistance against the horrible Academy, and Bakugou, a famed sky pirate, traveling the island clusters to find various bounties. Together, they fight to take back the home they once knew and loved.

Okay y’all, lemme tell you, if you love Kacchako, you need to read this! The idea is so damn original, and Rache’s writing is A++ as always. The world she builds and the character relationships that she crafts are so well done. This fic seriously deserves more attention, so please go read! <3 Also follow her writing blog on tumblr @emeraldwaves ! You won’t be disappointed!

Tacky Shoes and Movie Tickets (ao3) -- Bokuaka, T

Akaashi deals with a lot of stupid people.

He isn't yet certain if Bokuto falls into that category.

In which Akaashi is the manager of a movie theater, Bokuto is the new hire at the shoe store downstairs, and the two of them get along much better than Akaashi could have anticipated.

Okay so I was super surprised that this fic didn’t have more kudos! It’s so light hearted and funny, not to mention perfectly sweet! It’s ongoing, but I can’t wait for more. @worthlesspride writes some of the best bokuaka out there, it’s so fluffy and heartwarming, not to mention the writing flows so well! Please read and support it!

Alright, so I’m going to do some self promo because why not? This day is for fic writers too after all lmao.

Perfectly Aligned (ao3) -- Kurotsuki, T

Kuroo didn’t know how he’d made it back here, standing beneath the glistening war machines known as Jaegers. He was the definite outsider, not just at the Shatterdome, but in this world. The world of Jaeger pilots had long since closed its door on him, and now here he was, knocking once again. However, maybe this time, he wouldn’t be alone.

Just a good ol’ Pacific Rim AU. I really loved playing with this universe, and tbh it’s probably some of my best writing?? It didn’t get much attention because I posted it during a busy exchange week, but I’m definitely proud of it and hope more people can read it!

Ceaseless (ao3) -- Kiyoyachi, E

The life of an assassin isn't an easy one. Devoid of morals and full of the criminal underworld's grime , it's a job Kiyoko has always been weirdly perfect at. She's long stopped thinking about why, but just because she kills without remorse, doesn't mean she doesn't have her own attachments.

I’m including this one because f/f ships do not get nearly enough attention as they should. I live for f/f content, and I hope I can read a lot more in the future and introduce ppl to it through fics like this! This fic did not get many kudos, but I think it was actually pretty good writing/smut, so please give it a try if you like kiyoyachi!

Let My Love (ao3) -- Kurotsuki, T

For Kuroo, finding love was all about patience. He had no problem with waiting for the right person to come along, no matter how many awkward dinners or weddings he had to endure as a single man until they did. Regardless, meeting Tsukishima was something he’d never been prepared for. The feelings were overwhelming and intoxicating, ones he was sure he’d do anything for. However, it seemed his endless waiting wasn’t over.

While this fic isn’t short on kudos, I feel like it gets overlooked when compared to my siren au for kurotsuki. While this fic is a bit angstier than Slipping Underneath, it’s one of my most favorite that I’ve ever written. Writing slow burn is a challenge, but I think so far I’m doing well lol?? I love writing this fic, so if you want, I hope you can also enjoy reading it! <3

I Search Through the Crowd (ao3) -- Iwaoi, T

It wasn't uncommon to believe in reincarnation, most people did, but it wasn't some flippant thing. Only people with the strongest of bonds were reincarnated, or so legend put it. Hajime could be dense sometimes, but he didn't miss the meaning Tooru was trying to convey.

"I'll find you."

Lastly, this was my first iwaoi fic, and I was really proud of it even though it didn’t get much attention. It was a struggle to write, but overall, I’m super happy with the result, so I hope you guys can get the chance to read it! I hope I get to write even more iwaoi in the future too!

#ficwritersweek #haikyuu!!#reccing stuff is so fun lol #fic recs #kurotsuki #kacchako

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libertariantaoist · 7 years ago

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The latest attack in London – the third to hit Britain within seventy-five days – is once again provoking a debate about the relationship between Islam and terrorism. On one side we have those who say Islam is inherently violent, and is incompatible with the basic canons of Western civilization. On the other side, we have liberals who say that this is a libel on an entire religion, and that advocates of religious violence are a distinct minority within the Muslim faith.

These two views have distinct policy implications: the former would impose what amounts to a Muslim ban on travel to Western countries, and would furthermore mandate State surveillance of mosques and other religious institutions of that faith. The latter stance would oppose these measures, and proceed as if Muslims posed the same danger to us as, say, Presbyterians, i.e. none at all.

Both views are simplistic nonsense. Furthermore, neither offers an effective policy to deal with the problem as defined.

The origins of Islamic terrorism are not in dispute: the idea that “they hate us because we’re free,” i.e. because of our secular values and Western lifestyle, was not even worth considering, at least initially. After all, Japan, for example, which is not exactly an exemplar of Islamic values, has never been attacked by Islamic extremists. South America has proved similarly immune. The focus of the Islamists’ wrath has been on the United States and Western Europe – not coincidentally, those countries which have a long history of intervention in the Muslim world.

Which brings us to the theory of “blowback,” the idea that the root cause of radical Islamic terrorism is simple retaliation. Here the writings of Chalmers Johnson, whose book, entitled Blowback; The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, was published before 9/11, and also of Robert Pape, who has done yeomen’s work on this issue, are very useful. Johnson put the concept in its historical context, and Pape shows, with extensive detailed evidence, that occupied peoples routinely adopt such tactics as suicide bombings to fight the overwhelming presence of occupiers. And this is not limited to Islamists, by any means: the Tamil Tigers, fighting for the “liberation” of Sri Lanka, for example, employed these same tactics.

And so the “blowback” concept, in its pure form, avers that this isn’t about religion, but about resistance: the resistance of a militarily weak insurgency against an occupying power that exerts overwhelming force. Adherents of this theory point to the statements of the terrorists themselves, principally al-Qaeda, which declared that the presence of US troops on the “sacred” soil of Saudi Arabia motivated – and justified – the 9/11 attacks. Aside from that, they point to other examples of Western imperialism – the invasion and occupation of Iraq, US support to Muslim despots, and the ongoing “war on terrorism” that, from their perspective, is a war on Islam.

So it’s all very cut and dried, simple really – but is it?

It’s been sixteen years since the 9/11 attacks, long enough for a strand of Islam to emerge that views terrorism against Western targets as a religious duty. Furthermore, the radical Islamist critique of Western values and lifestyle as morally corrupt has been integrated into the purely consequentialist idea of “blowback” as retaliation for specific actions. Because it can surely be argued – especially by religious ideologues – that a society capable of killing hundreds of thousands in, say, Iraq, is inherently depraved. Given the theory of “blowback,” this merging of a typically anti-colonialist narrative with a moral critique was inevitable. And to give it a religious angle wasn’t difficult. After all, in the years since September 11, 2001, have the US and its allies attacked any non-Muslim countries?

And it’s not as if there aren’t elements within orthodox Islam that need only elaboration to legitimize this mutant variation. The very concept of jihad, and the storied history of Islamic conquerors who “converted” new adherents by force, feed into this frenzied fundamentalism, which seeks to return to a “purer” form of Mohammed’s creed. Of course, one could point to similarly aggressive tendencies in Christianity, as well as other faiths, and yet the missing element here is a history of military occupation and conflict.

Religious belief, like all human concepts, isn’t static: it undergoes changes in response to events. It adapts, it mutates, it evolves. Christianity changed in response to the advance of science: Galileo is no longer considered a heretic. Judaism was transformed by the Holocaust: Zionism, yesterday embraced by a tiny minority of Jews, is dominant today. Islam is not immune to the tides of history.

Western liberals downplay this uncomfortable truth because they generally disdain religion and fail to appreciate its power. They cannot understand how a person could drive a truck into a crowd of pedestrians, and go on a stabbing spree, while shouting “This is for Allah!” Allah, for them, is a delusion: religion is a primitive throwback, a reactionary atavism that is on its way out. Yet this is hardly true in most areas of the world outside of the Global Metropolis.

The failure of Western liberal elites to acknowledge this reality – the reality of a newly militant strand of Islam that upholds terror as a sacred duty – is linked to their appeasement of the Saudis. For years the Kingdom has exported its austere version of Islam, Wahabism, which serves as the theological foundations of the very terrorist movement we are supposedly pledged to fight.

A few days before the attack on London Bridge, the news broke that an investigation into the sources of terrorist funding commissioned by the government of former Prime Minister David Cameron would probably not be published due to its “sensitive” nature: there’s too much evidence that the Saudis are the principal financiers of terrorist organizations.

Britain recently signed off on a series of multi-billion dollar arms deals with the Saudis: the US has done the same, in a deal brokered by none other than the President’s son-in-law. Meanwhile, Donald Trump travels to the Kingdom where an “anti-terrorist center” is inaugurated – by the very folks who are funding radical Islamic terrorism worldwide.

The West has done everything possible to encourage the growth and development of radical Islamic terrorism, from invading the Muslim world to succoring and supporting the state sponsors of terrorist organizations. We armed and funded Islamic extremists in Syria in a bid to overthrow the secular despotism of Bashar al-Assad – and then wondered how and why returnees from that conflict took their holy war to the streets of Europe’s cities. One wouldn’t have acted any differently if the goal had been to deliberately create a terrorist menace.

And what is the solution offered by our rulers? British Prime Minister Theresa May says we must regulate the Internet, which is now supposedly a “safe space” for terrorists:

"We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed – yet that is precisely what the Internet, and the big companies that provide Internet-based services provide. We need to work with allies democratic governments to reach international agreements to regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist and terrorism planning.”

The British government already regulates the Internet and its powers have been used primarily to quash alleged anti-Muslim sentiment: you can be arrested and charged with a “hate crime” for saying the wrong thing about Islam on Twitter or in a blog post. The “Investigatory Powers Act” was passed by Parliament in November: it requires Internet providers to maintain a list of web sites visited by all Internet users for up to a year, and also gives the government broad powers to intercept communications. May wants to internationalize this regulation.

It’s hard to believe that May and her cohorts really think this will have the least effect on terrorist activities. It’s clearly just a pretext to regulate a phenomenon that threatens the powers-that-be. Rather than combat terrorism, the idea is to extend the authority of government as far as they can get away with – and, as the terrorist wave rises, there’s no telling how far they will go.

Not only are Western governments uninterested in actually stopping terrorism, but the terrible truth is that there is no stopping it. Some problems have no solution, and this is one of them. We can wipe out ISIS in Syria, but they will scatter worldwide, returning as “refugees” to the cities of their enemies. We can restrict travel, reject Muslim immigrants: and yet the second and third generations, already embedded in Western societies, will take up their cause. We can spy on our own citizens, regulate the Internet within an inch of its life, restrict “hate speech,” bomb more Muslim countries – and still the monster’s tentacles will wriggle through the interstices and grasp at our throats.

This is what we have unleashed on ourselves: a monster that won’t be killed. The idea that we cannot live with this is akin to the idea that we cannot live with our own history: it is an idea without meaning. The past is prologue: it won’t be repealed or denied. We invaded Iraq. We invaded Afghanistan. We funded and armed al-Qaeda during the cold war, in league with our Saudi allies, while Riyadh spread its ideology of hate on a global scale.

In Greek mythology, the figure of Nemesis dramatizes our current predicament: she is the goddess of retribution, whose name is “derived from the Greek words nemêsis and nemô, meaning ‘dispenser of dues.’” She pursues her quarry relentlessly, visiting on them the consequences of their deeds.

Her pursuit can be ameliorated, albeit not finally and immediately ended, by reversing our course of futile wars – in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. – and ending our alliance with the mandarins of terror in Riyadh and the sheikdoms of the Gulf. Yet still the monster will live: it cannot be slain by conventional means – it will have to die a natural death. The best we can do is to stop prolonging its life.

#justin raimondo #antiwar.com #the war on terror #the war on islam #islam and terror #blowback

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ellymackay · 5 years ago

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Sleep as a Vital Sign: Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT

Sleep as a Vital Sign: Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT was originally published to EllyMackay.com

Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT, ensures medical center colleagues across all specialties play the sleep advocate.

By Greg Thompson | Photography by Dani Nichol Photography

Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT, cares deeply about her patients, but she’d rather not see them back at Parrish Healthcare. As director of Care Navigation for the Sleep Navigator/Educator Program at the Titusville, Fla, health system, Weaver has managed a 30% reduction in readmissions for newly identified sleep apnea patients over the last four years,1 a result of healthier patients with positive outcomes.

The improvement comes courtesy of what Weaver calls a more person-centered approach, with screening and education throughout the continuum of care. A person-centered approach gets patients actively involved in their own care, helping them take ownership of their treatment.

“If you have sleep apnea, you cannot effectively treat other comorbid conditions,” Weaver explains. “Take heart failure as an example. When a patient comes into the hospital with left ventricular heart failure and [has] untreated sleep apnea, that left ventricle has to work even harder because it lacks oxygen due to the sleep apnea. Getting that patient to understand how those things work together, and want to fix the problem for themselves, is vital.”

Before Parrish Healthcare started its Sleep Navigator program, many colleagues in the hospital did not even know an on-site sleep center existed. But now, according to Weaver, the mindset throughout the various subspecialties has dramatically changed. “Now when a heart attack patient comes into the [emergency room] who complains of chest pain, or complains of fatigue and poor sleep, they immediately think of sleep medicine,” she says. “In the past, the two and two may not have been put together. No matter if it’s in our diabetes support group, pulmonary rehab, physician practice—anywhere in our network—we treat sleep as a vital sign.”

Sleep Support Group

Once patients get treatment for their sleep apnea, they are often referred to the sleep support group, dubbed “Brevard A.W.A.K.E (Alert, Well and Keeping Energetic).” Of course, in this context, Weaver wants to see her patients again.

The group often attracts 40 to 50 people each month, a large number for Titusville, where the total population is less than 50,000. The annual holiday meeting routinely brings out a whopping 150 patients. It’s a legitimate community centered on a subspecialty that is relatively young within the medical world.

“Kristina helps with leading Parrish’s A.W.A.K.E. group every month,” says Michele Roberge, neurodiagnostics lead technologist at Parrish Medical Center. “She is just as eager to see the members as they are to see her. The relationships that she has built with these patients over the years is an awesome thing to see. What makes her a great leader is the combination of passion, compassion, dedication, determination, knowledge, and stewardship that she portrays daily.”

With A.W.A.K.E. meetings and ongoing sleep support calls, CPAP adherence has not dropped below 82% in five years. The number—a testament to the program’s effectiveness—is a quality measure that the sleep center reports monthly, based on online monitoring of patients’ device usage. It’s a large commitment, made possible, at least in part, by Weaver’s experiences with her own father.

She remembers: “Years ago, I did a sleep study on my dad. He had sleep apnea. He had resistant hypertension and snored horribly. On his study, he had an eight-beat run of ventricular tachycardia, and then later in the night a seven-second sinus pause—all related to apnea. He refused treatment. At 23 years old, I lost my 54-year-old dad to a heart attack in his sleep. That’s when I realized we could have done more. If he had support like an A.W.A.K.E. group to know he wasn’t alone and to learn from others like him, he might have been more successful.”

“Kristina developed the A.W.A.K.E. support group for our sleep apnea patients in the community many years ago,” adds Laurel Ivy, RPSGT, cardiac and sleep navigator at Parrish Medical Center. “These patients have watched Kristina grow in her career and personal life with the arrival of her children and the passing of her father. When A.W.A.K.E. members call the sleep lab, they only want to talk to Kristina, despite knowing she mainly works at the hospital now. She has a very special relationship with these patients and they absolutely love and trust her with their care.”

The culture change at Parrish Healthcare continues with additional features such as partnering with durable medical equipment companies and physicians. The sleep center monitors all patient CPAP modems. “Our goal is for 100% of our patients to receive a support follow-up call within their first week of using CPAP,” Weaver says. “By doing this we can help patients find solutions for better comfort early on. We can also identify any pressure adjustments earlier. If you create a habit within the first week, the likelihood of CPAP adherence within the first 30 days drastically increases.”

A Vital Sign

All too often, sleep medicine professionals see the consequences of their institutions failing to “get it.” With the creation of the Sleep Navigator program in 2014, Parrish Healthcare went that extra step, essentially viewing sleep as another “vital sign,” implementing sleep screenings in its cardiac cath lab, diabetes education forums, operating rooms, physician practices, cardiopulmonary rehab sectors—and in the acute care setting. Weaver speaks with confidence when she declares: “I know without a doubt we have saved many lives.”

The team at Parrish Healthcare justifiably takes pride in its many victories, but Weaver does not shy away from stories that do not have such happy endings. She recalls the case of a 53-year-old patient who received a lot of CPAP education. He was an elementary school teacher admitted for chest pain. Upon admission, the care team consulted a sleep navigator, and the patient eventually admitted that he had stopped wearing his CPAP a month ago.

Weaver continues the story: “I went up to his room. He had his 3-year-old granddaughter on his lap and his wife by his side. He had a number of excuses why he didn’t want to wear his CPAP machine. I educated him about the consequences of not wearing CPAP. He had an [apnea hypopnea index] of 88 with oxygen that dropped into the 60s. Multiple team members tried to convince him to wear his CPAP, but he refused. His nurse, nursing assistants, and doctors all warned him. He continued to refuse. Unfortunately, at 53 years old, he died of a heart attack at 3 am.

“This was a very unfortunate event, but I was proud of our care team for identifying the risk of this patient not wearing his CPAP. Years ago, many here would have never even thought to talk to him about his sleep apnea.”

The anecdote demonstrates the importance of the “vital sign” that is proper sleep, and the vital sign concept has indeed gained traction in recent years. Weaver believes the trend will only continue. “Sleep is one of our most basic human needs, but it’s rarely discussed by clinicians or providers,” she says. “When sleep is poor, chances are extremely good it’s due to an undetected or untreated health problem. It might be an undiagnosed medical condition, an underlying sleep disorder, medication problems, or even mental health concerns.

“Most doctors talk to you about your medications, diet, exercise. How many talk to you about sleep? Not many, but it’s obviously a question that should be asked,” Weaver continues. “I do think sleep techs understand and wish more doctors asked about sleep. However, it’s hard to get others outside of our sleep world to put two and two together. As sleep technologists, we need to advance our field and get sleep on the forefront. We need to be better advocates.”

Another example is atrial fibrillation, a condition in which patients with untreated sleep apnea routinely have a 70% reoccurrence rate. “When you treat sleep apnea, that brings risk down to 40%,”2 Weaver says. “By identifying and treating sleep apnea in patients with comorbid diseases, we are potentially treating the original underlying root cause of their illness.”

The sleep center at Parrish Healthcare is fully integrated with its physician practices and hospital. Integrating all providers with the “closed loop” sleep center bolsters communication and increases the sense of urgency to identify and treat underlying disorders. Weaver contends that screening for sleep apnea within the “inpatient acute care setting” is also crucial.

Early identification of sleep problems is a key component of care throughout the entire Parrish health network. Like many health concerns, the best time to identify sleep problems is “as early as possible,” but all too often Weaver finds patients in the sleep center with severe pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, arrhythmias, or worse. If these patients were identified years before, Weaver says it’s at least possible they may not have developed the conditions in the first place.

It’s a forward-thinking point of view that began in earnest five years ago when Sleep Navigator emerged within the context of a new way to look at health care. “Health care used to be a fee-for-service type of industry,” Weaver says. “Hospitals now are being held responsible for how well they can treat patients with the lowest costs possible. This means lower length of stay, fewer readmissions, fewer complications, and best short- and long-term outcomes.”

Weaver points out that sleep apnea is much more prevalent among hospitalized patients than in the general population—more complications, higher risk for mortality, and a high use of rapid response interventions. Done properly, sleep medicine brings all the roles into the fold, with “nurses, certified nursing assistants, patient care safety ‘sitters,’ ER techs, physicians, and even cardiac monitoring techs”—all of whom need to be educated in an effort to bring awareness to patients’ sleep needs.

“Many times the nurse may walk in the patient’s room and not think twice about their snoring,” Weaver says. “They may give the patient sleeping aids or pain medications and potentially make their patient’s undiagnosed sleep apnea worse. In our organization, any department from surgery, cath lab, to the physician practices can speak up and be an advocate for sleep apnea and understand the risks. The goal with the sleep navigator is to identify our sleep apnea patients earlier before they end up with multiple comorbid conditions.”

Ultimately, Weaver’s goals are accomplished through a day-to-day focus that transcends raw statistics. Patients are not numbers but recognized as human beings who benefit from education, attention, and expertise.

Inspiration Comes From Many Sources

Weaver credits a certified nursing assistant (CNA) named Patience Hall as a main source of inspiration. “I started my career in health as a CNA in an operating room with Patience,” says Weaver, who remains Facebook friends with Hall (who continues to work as a CNA). “She taught me to care with passion and to treat every individual as a person, not a patient. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your day and your work. I am motivated by patient success stories and the lessons from those that maybe weren’t so successful. Patience instilled in me that passion for every patient, every time.”

Greg Thompson is a Loveland, Colo-based freelance writer.

References 1. Weaver K. In-hospital sleep apnea screening decreases readmissions and improves quality of life. Poster presented at the AAST 2018 Annual Meeting, Indianapolis. 2. Kanagala R, Murali NS, Friedman PA, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea and the recurrence of atrial fibrillation. Circulation. 2003;107:2589–94.

from Sleep Review http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2019/09/vital-sign-kristina-weaver/

from Elly Mackay - Feed https://www.ellymackay.com/2019/09/25/sleep-as-a-vital-sign-kristina-weaver-emt-p-rpsgt/

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perspectief1 · 5 years ago

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Sleep as a Vital Sign: Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT

The following article Sleep as a Vital Sign: Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT Find more on: Perspectief

Kristina Weaver, EMT-P, RPSGT, ensures medical center colleagues across all specialties play the sleep advocate.

By Greg Thompson | Photography by Dani Nichol Photography

Sleep Support Group

A Vital Sign

Inspiration Comes From Many Sources

Greg Thompson is a Loveland, Colo-based freelance writer.

from Sleep Review http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2019/09/vital-sign-kristina-weaver/

from https://www.perspectief.org/sleep-as-a-vital-sign-kristina-weaver-emt-p-rpsgt/

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herrgarman · 5 years ago

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Book 1 - Chapter 1

“First day”

It’s been a while since I last posted. Or rather ‘first’ posted maybe? I think both are correct as I write this, so I don’t really care which one I go with. Regardless it’s been a while and I didn’t bring any real substance to the table last time. Only in the form of an empty apology, aimed at no-one, for myself. But as I sit here at my table, which has been slightly drawn out from the wall to accommodate the comically short length of my computers’ power-cord, I reflect upon my day. And I realise that I have a chance today, to start something new. A story going forward, ready to be built upon.

Today was my first day of college. It’s been five years since I graduated highschool and barring a few failed attempts of further education since then, I’ve only been working. It’s been an ongoing problem for me, to not know what I want to do with my life, and it’s been causing me issues. After highschool I thought I wanted to be a film director. So I started an education in film science, to get the basics down. One semester later, I was out. It wasn’t that I tried my best and eventually quit, but rather that I slowly, over time, just sort of stopped caring. It ran out like sand betwixt my fingers. I found no reason for this. I thought the course was somewhat interesting and I bet any other person would at least be able to power through the boring classes for the greater good. For the grade.

But not me. It just sort of died.

Half a year later I enrolled in a program for music production. I was stoked, as I thought it had ticked all my boxes. Apparently not though, as here to I would find myself in the wretched abyss that is procrastination and non-interest. Yet again I thought I wanted something only to have me be proven wrong by none other than myself. From them I did not even receive a passive aggressive email stating that I had been terminated due to increased absence, as I had the other program. It was just silence at the end.

By this point I had a job as a mailman at my local post office. It was not contracted and I had no intention of staying for long. It was just money for a newly born adult, which at the time I felt was par for the course for normal people my age. I did not expect, nor want, to stay for four years. Alas that was the grim truth I would face. Those four years were filled to the brim with mental unhealth due to working at such a place. To combat this I switched offices a few times, which helped in the short run but would offer no real solution to my issues. I got therapeutical help but I felt that they too had flaws and were not my way of solving my life.

(side note: if I had not been such a stubborn bitch at this time, it absolutely WOULD have been the best possible help, but hey ho there I went)

In early 2018 I temporarily quit my job to go travelling with my then-girlfriend. It was an incredible experience, and it taught me a lot. The most important lesson of all of course, was that I really shouldn’t be with a girl like her. It was all a mess, and so was I, but out of the primordial ooze that was that relationship came a new me. Born again, to put it omnisciently. Right after we had broken up somewhere in the woods of a far-away land, I travelled on, destined to make the journey my own. And what a journey it was. I came back home confidently telling everyone I met that it had been the greatest month of my life. And that was no lie. Every lick of truth was spoken to those whom I told that.

As I returned home due to financial limitations (read; I was broke as fuck) I found myself back to where I started. My shit job, my shit apartment, in this relatively shit country. Since then I’ve grown to love it again, but right as I had returned it was all a grim reminder that I wasn’t living my best travellers life any more. Safe to say I was a bit bummed out, and looked for solace wherever I could find. Almost instantly I went to the other side of the country to visit some friends. I had absolutely NO money for this, but I had to do what I had to do. It felt like shit.

But I wasn’t all lost. I still had my lessons. The wisdom I had gotten from being with my ex. That is wisdom that once gained is not easily lost. The biggest takeaway from it all was this; that I would stop grabbing the low-hanging fruit of the trees just because they were the easiest to get, but rather go for the top branches, even if I have to work hard to get up there. The pain of labour is always worth it when reaching for the top.

This was put into action quite quick as when I returned home I met someone. A summers fling turned into a relationship and I was quite the happy man. Except I wasn’t. Something felt wrong. I was happy with her, at least that’s what I thought, but there definitely was something off about it. I didn’t want to second-guess myself or second-guess those second-guesses so I did what I felt like I had to. I broke up with her. Was this the right thing to do? Maybe, maybe not. Did it feel good to do it, specially to someone who was so nice and caring and whom had given me her all? Absolutely not. Was it an extreme benefit to my confidence to have made a tough decision for myself, even if I didn’t know if it was the right one? Most definitely yes.

Up until that point I had wailed on and about if every single thing I did was the right thing. It would come to the point where in most of my relationships I would be the dumped. I never wanted to be alone. Who would? So I always waited everything out. Once, one of my exes broke up with me because she knew I wanted to do it while I was lacking the courage to do so. She did it for me, kind of. Which was to me a tiny bit short of pathetic. That was a long time ago but I still cringe at the thought of myself.

But back to last summer as no matter what, there I was again. By myself. I had left a shattered heart behind me but it felt good to have made that decision. To not wonder about it all, to second-guess, but to make a stance and stand by it. It felt great. This newfound energy of life got a hold of me tight around my soul, and I welcomed it. A week later I put in my notice with the post office, that I would be terminating my full time contract at the end of the month.

With all things in my life, I was always afraid of uncertainty; the unknown, in which absolutely anything can happen. I was basically too scared to hope for the 50% of good that might happen, assuming I’d get the 50% of bad. This has hopefully been made very clear in the previous paragraphs regarding my heartbreaks. This is why I never quit my god-awful job as a mailman, and why I never could make the scary decision to end a relationship. The future was scary if it wasn’t known, and I would not be an adventurer in those caves.

One month later I would be standing there outside the office garage gate, jobless, prospectless, and happy as a dog. I still had an open contract to come in when they or I needed, but that was not certain. Anything could happen from this point on and thanks to having been at the very bottom of shitsville on the other side of the world, and learning from mistakes made and experiences had, I could look upon the road ahead with joy and hope rather than with angst and fright, as I probably would have just a year earlier. It felt amazing. The coming months I would search for jobs at different places while working at the post office for just the needed amount of time to pay rent, bills, and maybe for some food. All the rest of my time would go to looking for jobs.

And to remind you I still did not know a single squat about what I wanted to do with my life. I had always thought that like a sign from heaven it would be shown to me in due time. Life-long dreams are not made by you, but rather for you. Ironically by yourself I think. So I wasn’t really stressed about finding a particular job. Anything to introduce to my life the thing I needed the most. Variety. Just any job.

But then around the corner of life comes my mother with a gosh darn blessing from the skies. She works at the workshops for the opera house in my city, and has done for some time. She knows everybody. Thus when the stage manager let the word out that they needed stagehands, my mother found out and she would then pass that information along to me. Now working at the opera house as a stage worker was never anything I had thought of. I knew where my mother worked of course but for some reason I never thought of myself being there as well. It was always her job, and as I still had the mindset of my 9-year old self I still thought it was ‘out of reach’. I decided to give it a go.

For some strange reason I absolutely cannot fathom, they hired me. Not full time, no, but as a what-we-in-sweden-call a necessity worker. I come in when they ask for me, if I’m available. As I had no steady gig of course, this was always. And I must’ve gotten lucky at that time of my life because a lot of people had either quit or had gotten sick at that time, so necessity was quite high. As such I got to work quite a lot. And the more I worked the more I learnt. And the more I learnt the better I got. And the better I got the more attractive I became in the industry. Slowly my contacts in the business grew and I started getting gigs outside of the opera house. Mostly quick shows and gigs but to a hungry necessity worker, it was like candy.

During all of this I realised the biggest thing I would ever come to realise. This was my shit, nay, this IS my shit. I would no longer wake up and face the colossal demon that is “YOU NEED TO GO TO WORK” but rather I’d wake up and long for the day ahead. I’d treasure every moment. I would fuck up a lot, but learn from those mistakes. I’d come to love it. There was no need for a need to go to work, as now there was a want.

This spring, about 8 months after I started working in the business, my stage manager told me of this program that a friend of his had started. It was quite new but was good, according to him. Stage- Event- and Theatre Technician was the title at the top of the webpage he told me to visit. Scrolling through the course itinerary I had only one thought, which for each entry in the list would only grow larger and larger. As would my smile.

This was perfect.

This was it. This was all I ever wanted. Just a year prior I had had no idea about any wants or aspirations in my life at all. And here I was today, reading this list, and thinking to myself that this would be me. A defensive thought in my mind reminded me of all the other times I had thought this only to have those dreams fail on me, but this was different. I had already worked in the business for almost a year at this point and had still not grown tired. I had still not thought it was boring. But most importantly I had not found a single doubt in my mind regarding my future, as I was pondering the various titles and jobs that would be available to me, if only I had some more education and working experience. Simply imagining myself in those specific roles I would be overcome with joy. This had not happened before with the others. This was new. This was me, I would be sure of it.

I applied for the course. I did the pre-test. I did the applications-test. And lo and behold, in the woods just outside my city as I was playing frisbee-golf with my nearest and dearest, I received an email. In big, green, emboldened letters it had one key word outlined, shining like a beautiful golden star in my face.

“ACCEPTED”

It was glorious. Never had I been so happy to be ‘accepted’ anywhere. My previous aspirations, if even I had any, would not be the kind that would allow for a sudden ‘wow’ moment like this. No need to say, I was quite happy. I think my friends must’ve broken a few ribs from me hugging them.

The summer after was filled with work and possibilities to learn new things, from wildly different places. I got a summer job at a theatre. The oldest in my part of the world. That was, as the kids would say, enriching as fuck. Ending the season would be a short trip away to a much warmer place where adventures would be had, memories made, and new friends met. A perfect way to book-end the summer.

And this leads me to the sub-title of this post, as today was my first day in school. All of my shitty struggles with a job I had, only to magically get a job at a place where I would find the starting point to the path in my life which I hope becomes my longest. My most iconic and grandiose. My Route 66. All of it has led me here. To today.

As I sat there in the hall with all the other students, taking it all in, I could think of only one thing.

I can’t wait to see what’s up ahead.

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keeganswenson · 7 years ago

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A Background In Major Issues For Iso Xp Whey Protein

A Closer Look At Easy Tactics For New Zealand Grass Fed Whey Protein Canada

Flocchini said. In 1965, the family purchased the bison ranch in Wyoming and renamed it Durham Ranch. “Some of the original breeding stock traces its roots back to Yellowstone Park and the bison were set aside by Teddy Roosevelt,” Mr. Flocchini said. “That’s where the original herd came from. The previous owner knew one of the state senators from Wyoming who allocated 100 or 200 head off of Yellowstone, and the gentleman was able to buy them and put them on the ranch. So, some of our original stock comes from the last remaining head saved from extinction.” In 1965, the Flocchini family purchased the bison ranch in Wyoming and renamed it Durham Ranch. In the years that followed, the meat company moved from San Francisco to San Jose, and Mr. Flocchini’s father bought a number of meat businesses, including Sierra Meat & Seafood in Reno. “Sierra was started in 1948 by a family and sold to another gentleman, and when he decided to get out of the business he sold it to my father,” Mr. Flocchini said. “We ended up with three locations — Reno, San Jose, and Monterrey.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/8471-specialty-meat-distributor-carving-niche-in-retail

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Make Fitness A Way Of Life: Tips To Get You Started

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A Quick A-z On Useful Canada Solutions

With this decision, Canada is moving from a rule of law approach to natural resource governance to a behind-closed-doors, let’s make a deal, approach. Let’s consider carefully this shift in governance. In response to legal and political efforts by a legitimately elected government (British Columbia), Indigenous Peoples with constitutionally protected legal rights, and other stakeholders exercising rights to protest and undertake legal action, the Government of Canada is teaming up with another provincial government and a foreign investor to circumvent the legal process applicable across the country by creating a private contractual basis for resource infrastructure development. This is a model frequently seen in developing countries, but that was long ago abandoned in developed ones. First, these two governments are trying to replace the rule of law with the rule of negotiation. By sending Finance Minister Morneau to negotiate with Kinder Morgan on a new deal that gives this company special financial benefits, the governments are moving from a consistent permit process that is known to all actors, to a privately negotiated deal. Second, in replacing standardized permitting processes with privately negotiated deals, the governments risk creating a demand for this from all major investors. The lesson is easily learned: just threaten to pull out and the government will negotiate a special deal with you, on the law and the economic risks. This, in turn, puts at risk the very stability and consistency a rule of law process is meant to provide. Third, the governments are promising to alter existing legal rights of other stakeholders in order to do the deal. Teaming up in order to tilt the legal field towards one side in any debate is a high-risk venture. Tilting it towards foreign investors on one side of the debate at the expense of domestic stakeholders is simply a recipe for ongoing disturbance. Fourth, changing the law to make natural resource investments easier is a policy followed by the Harper government, to the decry of the then Liberal opposition. That policy has failed, as the current legal battles clearly demonstrate. Trying to do it again will generate the same result: many years of legal battles over any newly enacted laws. The only way to avoid this is to bar any legal challenges to a new law, something that would have broader implications for any notion of democracy in Canada. Fifth, the government and Kinder Morgan are setting aside the very need of a project proponent in the natural resource sector to achieve a social license to operate from key stakeholders. In doing so, the government is overriding the very training it promotes for even the most undeveloped economies to ensure proponents obtain their social licence to operate. It is doing this by creating an investor-government coalition in which the government will make its economic interests synonymous with those of the investor it is supposed to regulate. These types of coalitions rarely succeed.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit https://ipolitics.ca/article/canada-moves-to-third-world-natural-resource-governance-with-trans-mountain/

Things You Need To Know About Vitamins And Minerals

Are you aware of which vitamins you need for the best health? Are you informed about supplements and the healthy things you need to buy when shopping? If you're new to this topic, you may need to learn all you can. Read on to learn more about Whey Protein what supplements are for best for you. Eat a healthy diet to make sure you're getting the nutrients you need. Try to eat 5 to 7 portions of both fruits and veggies daily along with small portions of protein. When you cannot achieve this, look to supplements for the missing vitamins and minerals. Sunlight and milk can get you the vitamin D you need. If you do not drink milk or spend time outdoors, you may need to take a vitamin D supplement. Vitamin D is vital for bone protection and prevents them from becoming brittle. A lot of people notice body aches without knowing why they are occurring. Before you call the doctor for an appointment, take some vitamins or supplements each day. Fish oil and vitamin E both have the ability to help muscles feel better. Get more red blood cells through iron. The red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen through the body. It is necessary for women to maintain a higher level than men, and there are supplements designed specifically for women. If you are very tired, or your breathing is labored, you may need more iron. Vitamin B2 is an important part of your daily diet, and you can get this essential vitamin by eating bananas, dairy products, popcorn, green beans and more. Symptoms of a B2 deficiency can come about in the way of scaly skin and a demonstrable decrease in red blood cells. This nutrient has been proven as helpful with cancer prevention, anemia, cataracts and carpal tunnel syndrome. Vitamin A is an antioxidant, and it helps to boost your immune system, which decreases your risk for heart disease, slows skin aging, and improves vision. However, if taken in huge amounts, it can be very harmful. It is important that you stay with the recommended dosage each day of 2300 IU. Carrots, squash and dark, leafy greens are the best source this vitamin. Supplements are very important in today's world. Many foodstuffs are prepared in a way that depletes nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Taking a good, natural multivitamin will replace what your food might be lacking. You can find a large amount of vitamin C in many different fruits and vegetables too. There are supplements for people who are not getting their daily requirements of vitamin C, as well. Vitamin C can help with skin infections, stomach ulcers, acne, colds, and gum disease. Studies also show that vitamin C might help people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, dementia and ADHD. Go to your doctor to see if you're deficient in any nutrients. If so, that is the best place to begin your supplement program. Do your research when learning about supplements. The point is to sell you product, not help you feel healthy. Question all material you review regarding your health. Ask a doctor if you're unsure. Often, vitamin B12 is not absorbed by the body. This is particularly true of older adults. You can try taking a lot of it, but this doesn't mean all of it will get absorbed. Your doctor needs to check vitamin B12 levels at least once every year. If you are lacking this vitamin, you may want to receive a shot. As you can see, there is no overstating the importance of vitamins and minerals. Your health might be in danger if you don't get enough vitamins and minerals. Selecting quality vitamins can fill in dietary gaps, so consider these tips as part of your own nutritional strategy.

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booksontheshelf · 7 years ago

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Scallywag Reading 2017

I‘m surprised that a book was opened at all this year. So much of my time is reading online, so it seems a triumph of sorts that I am still managing to read books at all. It is not possible to do justice for all books mentioned here individually. They all add up to the string of pearls that sustains me in some sort of equilibrium and continues to provide threads to places that only a particular book can reveal, at the particular time you are reading.

Some of the books here were chanced on in bookshops. You never regret time spent in bookshops. There didn’t seem enough time this year though to enjoy this gentle past time. Which is probably a good thing for me, as I truly have enough books at home to read already. My daughter tries to stop me adding to my collection all the time. Can you imagine taking off one day, just to visit all the bookshops in the world?

One day this winter, heading down Bourke St after a meeting, I stepped into The Paperback Bookshop. There I chanced on a book of poetry by anthony lawrence called headwaters.

It has the lines

‘Her dreams have night vision, and in her sight Our bodies leave a ghostprint where we’ve laid. My darling turns to poetry at night Between abstract expression and first light.’

I’ve just finished You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me - A MEMOIR by Sherman Alexie. Hard not to proclaim this book loudly enough. Strangely the book’s poetic, diaristic chapters look superficially like the incredible work of American fiction I read this year called Lincoln in the Bardo. Perhaps the Trump-dark atmosphere of 2017 made George Saunder’s romp with the ghost of Lincoln’s past presidential time and place so strangely alluring. (The book was purchased with intelligent guidance from Readings’ Acland St staff.)

The year began with the death of one of my favourite artists/writerJohn Berger. I remember we thought 2016 was bad for the death of larger than life artists. John Berger was such a great humanist. But I love that I can still read him and hear his fabulous voice in my head. I did order his last work of essays Confabulations and made a concerted effort to gather all the books I had by him in one place. They are now housed in my studio. Vale John Berger. I return to you all the time. Thinking of artists, I loved reading the The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington by Joanna Moorhead.

You might gather by the next titles we have Alzheimer’s in the family - my Dad has had the disease (as far as we know) the last 10 years. Books that have helped me try to understand what is happening for him and helping me deal with it this year have been: Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s- A Groundbreaking Approach for Everyone Dealing with the Disease by Joanne Koenig Coste. The Forgetting Alzheimer’s: Portrait of an Epidemic by David Shenk. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. And In Pursuit of Memory- The Fight Against Alzheimers by Joseph Jebelli I am rereading Missing Out by Adam Phillips with newly minted insights from thinking about memory and who we are without it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Geoff Dwyer’s book on Tarkovsky’s film Stalker called Zona. I need to see Stalker again but as Geoff Dwyer says- it has to be cinematic not at home! The ignition of crazy nuclear war thinking by America’s President Trump, who thinks he’s eviscerating ‘Rocket Man’ with a tweet, sets a dé ja vu tone reading about the haunted nuclear-strange Beckettian terrain of the film Stalker.

I love a good graphic novel and I have thoroughly enjoyed two by Riad Sattouf - THE ARAB OF THE FUTURE A Childhood in the Middle East 1) 178-1984 and 2) 1984-1985. I also enjoyed the short graphic novel by Jason Lutes called Jar of fools. One for the young at heart to the very young is by my friend Trace Balla- who wrote the book RiverTime. This year I read her book Rockhopping, taking me all the way to the source of the Glenelg River in Gariwerd (the Grampians).

Feeding into my marine thinking for projects, I am still working my way through The Sounding of the Whale Science and Cetaceans in the 20th Century by D.Graham Burnett. I am also in the midst of The Reef A Passionate history by Iain McCalman. Hoping that Pelican1 will be on her way North to the Reef next year too. As we have worked on the Cape a lot in the last 15 years, I have also been reading the story of the explorer Edmund Kennedy in a book I found second-hand (Daylesford) called Kennedy of Cape York- Edmund Beale. Trying to get some insight into the newly colonial world and the exploration of the Eastern Cape (before the impact of the gold rush). The book tells the story from a very colonial perspective. Larissa Beherendt’s book FINDING ELIZA Power and Colonial Storytelling was a good follow on read.

I then found myself rereading gularabulu - Stories from the West Kimberley by Paddy Roe edited by Stephen Muecke.

'This is all public, You know (it) is for everybody: Children, women, everybody. See, this is the thing they used to tell us: Story, and we know.

Paddy Roe

Back to the science books, I learnt a lot from Where The River Flows, Scientific Reflections on Earth’s Waterways by Sean W.Fleming. Had me looking at graphs of sine waves (there was a reason to learn about them in maths after all!), thinking about ‘Digital Rainbows’ and diving deeper into scientific connections between rivers, land and ocean and understanding that the physics of rivers and the quantum leap in understanding being made about their dynamics is one of the many tools that will be needed to help care for this crowded planet. The Ocean Of Life-The Fate of Man and the Sea by Callum Roberts was another regular dip in as I gather ideas to try to incorporate plans for sea projects and understand our oceans more deeply (haha). A new writer for me this year was Yi-Fu Tuan with his book ROMANTIC GEOGRAPHY in search of the sublime landscape- A geographer’s meditation on place and human emotions. I found two new wonderful reference books, the first second hand from South Melbourne Market -The Seabirds of AUSTRALIA by Terence R. Lindsey. And SEAHORSES- A Life-Sized Guide to Every Species by Sara Lourie.

Looking at the politics and economics of our times I managed to read The Secret World of Oil by Ken Silverstein- an enlightening exposé of the behind the scenes snake-oil salesmen. The old rule of following the money results in a thorough investigation of oil’s all too human underbelly. I am still reading Kate Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics. 7 Ways to Think like a 21st Century Economist. A complete creative overhaul of economics, pulling it out of our old ways of understanding the world to make ideas for a better future world possible. Highly recommend.

It’s been another tough year for journalists and the book of writings by Anna Politikovskaya Is Journalism Worth Dying For? reported from Russian frontline and includes the piece that she was working on at the time of her murder. ‘What am I guilty of? I have merely reported what I witnessed, nothing but the truth.’ It was a journalist who wrote a difficult and intense book about the 2011 tsunami in Japan that I’ve just finished. GHOSTS of the TSUNAMI by Richard Lloyd Parry. I have not stopped thinking about that wave and our visit to Japan’s Irate prefecture 3 years post the event left an indelible memory and deep affection for all the people we met still picking up and recovering after the trauma and destruction from that most unsea-like wave.

Back to Oz I loved reading Sophie Cunningham’s book Warning: The Story of Cyclone Tracy. I was very fortunate to take part in one of Sophie’s walks, following the footsteps of William Buckley from Sorrento to Dromana. Though footsore, it was a terrific way to connect with the Bay, while thinking of this man’s path and how different, perhaps, Australia could have been if his attitude to the First People of this Country was shared across the country. I reread much of the fictionalised account again by Craig Robertson (Buckley’s Hope -The Real Story of Australia’s Robinson Crusoe) to get me in the frame of mind for the 20k meditative walk. It was on a recommendation that Sophie shared on Facebook that I now have Phillip Pullman’s latest book The Book of Dust by my bed.

The year has been a terrible one for our ongoing torture of refugees who are STILL languishing in our offshore prisons. I heard that New Zealand had offered to take ALL the men on Manus and that offer has been refused by Dutton and MT. I went to the launch of a book that was trying to navigate the extremely polarised political territory around asylum seekers and I highly recommend it. Bridging Troubled Waters Australia and Asylum Seekers by Tony Ward. During the year I went to a wonderful event organised by Behind the Wire (http://behindthewire.org.au) and came away with their incredible book of first-person narratives called They Cannot Take The Sky- Stories from detention. I reckon our pollies should be sat in a room and this is read aloud to them.

A book that has been a good one to read this year was Hope in the Dark Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit which I read with the new foreword and afterword.

From the gifts of Christmas I have a pile that includes John Clarke- A pleasure to be here. A very sad loss to the Australian landscape, he will be missed for a very long time. The Man who Climbs by James Aldred and looking forward to A.S. Patrić’s new book Atlantic Black. Also on the pile is Robert Mafarlane’s The Old Ways- A Journey on Foot.

And looking back out to sea with a beautiful book I have just started. The Seabird’s Cry - The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers by Adam Nicolson.

Might have to do a separate post on the poetry that is always by my bedside but all I can say is as I get older, reading poetry becomes more and more pleasurable.

If you have got this far in my rambling through my ambling reading, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year, illuminated by many, many fine reading adventures….

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radthursdays · 8 years ago

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#RadThursdays Roundup 01/26/2017

A hundred people on a bridge shoot off chalk rockets to form a rainbow, while a large, clear banner with the words "QUEER SOLIDARITY SMASHES BORDERS" in bright fluorescent yellow is displayed. It was one of many banners dropped across the Thames as part of UK's #bridgesnotwalls campaign. Source.

#J20

Strike, Walk-Out, Mobilize: #DisruptJ20 Across the World: Collection of tweets from protests around the world.

A Tableau Of Resistance: Scenes From San Francisco’s Trump Protest: "Seasoned activists and newly engaged citizens alike, of course, stepped out en masse in San Francisco to join in today’s nationwide #J20 protests. Demonstrators congregated at the Justin Herman Plaza downtown at 9am, marching to the offices of Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Peter Thiel, Uber, ICE, among others."

A photo of two people in all black holding up a large, black banner with "no." plainly painted in white. Source.

Black Bloc Reflections

Reflection on the Tactics of the Portland J20 Black Bloc: "It has been a little bit since I have seen a good anarchist bloc at a march in Portland, so I was happy to see the call that Black Rose put out for an anarchist bloc at the J20 march. I think however it is important to look at what went right and wrong for this bloc, so we can do more next time."

#DisruptJ20 Report Back: The Logan Circle Black Bloc: "The first scene I came across was the woman who I meekly tried to drag to safety earlier, only now she had changed her appearance and was suffering immensely from a blast a pepper spray. Two others were pouring milk in her eyes but her suffering was persistent. 'These medics suck. Where the hell are they?!' She declared. We were all catching our breath and taking in a moment of respite. 'This is private property.' a resident warned us for our sin of sitting on her curb. 'Fuck private property.' a passerby retorted. 'I can’t believe it gotten broken up so quickly.' I said. The pepper-sprayed woman replied 'Really? It was better than I thought it was going to be.' Ha!"

Photo of people building a tiny home at The Village, reclaimed public land in Oakland. Overlaid on the top right corner is a graphic that says "Homelessness Is Not A Crime", with the "C" in "Crime" formed by broken handcuffs. On the bottom is information that says "text HOMESNOW to 797979 to get down" and the following hashtags: #FeedThePeople #HomesForAll #Ungovernable #J21 #PeoplesInauguration. Source.

Ungovernable

Public Land in Oakland Reclaimed For Community Housing and Services by Homeless Residents, Activists: "At 4 AM on the morning of Saturday, January 21, 2017, a network of Oakland community members took over Marcus Garvey Park, a public plot of land at 36th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in West Oakland, moving in small homes, a hot shower, a healing clinic, and other services—declaring it a people’s encampment for those who need housing and basic needs and services. The group which includes folks living on Oakland streets, activists from #FeedthePeople and #Asians4BlackLives, and various individuals from the community, said that the move-in demonstrates their ability to provide what the City of Oakland cannot to its most vulnerable residents."

Screenshot of a Reddit post titled, "Some asshole driving in the bike lane". Below is an image of the Trump motorcade in the inaugural parade, with the car driving directly in the middle of the bike lane. Source.

Violence

As Everyone Watches the Inauguration, Violence Returns to Standing Rock: "[…] while the nation is distracted by the selection of the latest puppet-in-chief, violence has returned to North Dakota in the ongoing fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. After a relatively quiet December and early January, tensions are running high at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannonball, North Dakota. Over the weekend, water protectors with the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies once again clashed with the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and the National Guard."

What Counts as Violence? Why the Right Can Shoot Us Now: "A long-time anti-fascist was shot Friday night during a protest of alt-right racist and troll Milo Yiannopoulos, in the middle of a crowded square. The shooter, who later turned himself in, claiming self-defense, was released by UW police early Saturday morning. Somehow, this is barely newsworthy. Meanwhile, local news outlets condemn the violent protesters for throwing “potentially lethal” balloons filled with paint. This is our new reality." Read more about the shooting in J20 Seattle: Full Report Back from Milo Event Disruption.

When You Brag That The Women’s Marches Were Nonviolent: "When you say that your protests were nonviolent, I wonder, how do you define violence? Is it a brick? Is it a rock? Is it a baton? Is it pepper spray? Is it a firehose? Is it a police dog? Or is it poisoned water? Is it a school suspension? Is it mass incarceration? Is it grinding poverty? Is it that “random” airport security check? Is it yet another traffic stop? Is it the toy gun in that kid’s hand? Is it that stop and frisk? Or is it the thought that you could march a million white women down the street without fear — and high five the same cops who wouldn’t hesitate to pepper spray black and brown faces begging for nothing less than their lives — and then call it progress?"

A blurry screencap of white nationalist neo-Nazi Richard Spencer getting punched in the face by a hooded figure at Trumps inauguration. He was punched twice on January 20. This is a picture of the first punch.

The Punch Heard Around the World

White Nationalist Richard Spencer Sucker-Punched in the Face During Trump Inauguration: "The alt-right founder had been waxing about Pepe the Frog when he was clocked by a masked protester."

Top ten Richard Spencer punch remix videos: "Feels like it's been a long time since we've done any top tens but if anything needed it, it's this: here's our top ten Richard Spencer getting punched in the face remix videos, in no particular order."

Nazis, It’s Time For A Common Sense Approach To Not Getting Punched In The Face: "Yes, this is satire."

A photo of white supremacist neo-Nazi Richard Spencer looking worried as a masked figure's fist comes toward his face. In the background is a "White Lives Matter" sign, along with a bright yellow sign that says "Goodbye Cruel World". This is a picture of the second time he was punched. Source.

Well…Fuck

A Breakdown of Trump’s Executive Actions on Immigration: "Less than a week into his presidency, Donald Trump has signed executive orders jumpstarting a wall along the Mexico – U.S. border and upping federal immigration enforcement efforts. More immigration updates are expected later this week, and while we don’t know exactly what these executive actions will entail, one thing is certain: Trump is wasting no time fulfilling his promise to make life hell for immigrants and refugees."

Trump’s Muslim Immigration Executive Order: If We Bombed You, We Ban You: "An executive order that President Trump is expected to sign shortly restricts visits and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. […] What all seven countries also have in common is that the United States government has violently intervened in them. The U.S. is currently bombing—or has bombed in the recent past—six of them. The U.S. has not bombed Iran, but has a long history of intervention including a recent cyberattack. It’s like a twisted version of the you-break-it-you-buy-it Pottery Barn rule: If we bomb a country or help destabilize its society, we will then ban its citizens from being able to seek refuge in the United States."

Trump Didn’t Just Reinstate the Global Gag Rule. He Massively Expanded It: "In the past, the global gag rule meant that foreign NGOs must disavow any involvement with abortion in order to receive U.S. family planning funding. Trump’s version of the global gag rule expands the policy to all global health funding. According to Ehlers, the new rule means that rather than impacting $600 million in U.S. foreign aid, the global gag rule will affect $9.5 billion. Organizations working on AIDS, malaria, or maternal and child health will have to make sure that none of their programs involves so much as an abortion referral. Geeta Rao Gupta, a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation who previously served as deputy executive director of UNICEF, gives the example of HIV/AIDS clinics that get U.S. funding to provide antiretrovirals: 'If they’re giving advice to women on what to do if they’re pregnant and HIV positive, giving them all the options that exist, they cannot now receive money from the U.S.'"

Trump Pushes Forward DAPL & KXL Pipeline Approvals; Resistance Continues: "On January 24th, 2017, President Donald Trump signed two memorandum in hopes of pushing forward the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline & the Keystone XL Pipeline. […] The full language of the memorandum pushes forward the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project, but does not eliminate the intent of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by the Army Corp, and does not grant the final easement necessary for the pipeline to cross the Missouri River. The memo asks the head of the Army to tell the Army Corps that they should look to see if it is legal for them to cancel their intent to do an EIS. […] The Keystone XL memo asks TransCanada to reapply for a permit to build the Keystone XL Pipeline with a promise of presidential approval, and demands that the federal institutions involved expedite the permitting process, even promising TransCanada a turnaround of 60 days once the application is resubmitted."

Photo of an older Asian woman in a bright purple rain jacket with both hands raised, giving Trump the middle finger during his inaugural speech. People on Twitter have dubbed her "Resistance Auntie". Source.

Activism

The Spirit of Standing Rock on the Move: "People from more than 300 tribes traveled to the North Dakota plains to pray and march in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux. Back home, each tribe faces its own version of the 'black snake' and a centuries-old struggle to survive."

“Until We Are All Free” Art Kit: "Art has the power to move our imaginations and bodies, transforming the emotional and physical spaces we share. It has the power to build and transform social relations and to bring about equity and justice. In collaboration with Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV), CultureStrike has created an easy guide to help you with making stencils, banners and other art projects for your future events, marches and actions. From workers’ rights to migrant rights, the art kit includes over a dozen free stencil templates and three large banner templates by artists: Favianna Rodriguez, Julio Salgado, Rommy Torrico, Olivia Hernandez, Roberto Trujillo, Micah Bazant, and Oree Originol. It also includes two short videos (below) that take you step-by-step through stencil and banner making."

Direct Action Item

The Army Corps of Engineers initiated its Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate the Dakota Access Pipeline on January 18. The public has until February 20 to comment about the environmental impacts of the pipeline. The more comments, the more time it will take to go through them, and the more information the ACOE will have at its disposal in order to make an assessment! The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has set up an easy-to-use page for submitting comments.

GIF of anarchists in a black bloc running up to a metal trash can and recycling bin, knocking them over and then rolling them away, while the words "ANARCHY ACHIEVED" displays below. Source.

If there’s something you’d like to see in next week’s #RT, please send us a message.

In solidarity!

What is direct action? Direct action means doing things yourself instead of petitioning authorities or relying on external institutions. It means taking matters into your own hands and not waiting to be empowered, because you are already powerful. A “direct action item” is a way to put your beliefs into practice every week.

#radthursdays

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