#obtaining travel insurance

[aces-and-angels]

there is no denying the power the english language holds over the western world-- or rather the world itself. time has shown me how limiting it really is. how many words are lost in translation? how many people are shunned because their tongue has been deemed inferior?

i'd like to shine a spotlight on hossam's campaign (verified/vetted; no. 251 on el-shab-hussein/nabulsi's sheet) his ability to campaign for himself is hampered by the imperfection of google translate and the volatility and precariousness of the ongoing genocide he suffers through. hossam writes:

"i have not lost anything material. i have only lost my entire family, except for the wives of my young brothers and their children. therefore, i am responsible for taking care of them."

my heart aches for hossam. he is waylaid by a lack of internet, but begs you to please consider his campaign/donate to his family so that they can have safety and survival. they deserve that and more. again in hossam's words:

"i created this campaign, hoping for all of you to succeed and obtain the money for their travel and private life insurance for a short period of time, so that we can at least feel safe from traveling and sitting. in a relatively quiet place, away from the machine of death, then thank you to those who stood by me, and thank you to all the donors, and thank you to all who will donate after this post. thank you all, from my broken heart, thank you."

as of posting, hossam has raised $4,510 CAD / $20,000 CAD. do not be a bystander- share where you can, donate if you have the means to.

[paper-mario-wiki]

hi, i'm not the person who asked you about the life update, but could you elaborate on how being a creator means to live in a world of ideas instead of the real world? i'm just really curious about your reasons for quitting, specially because i want to create things in the future (not necessarily streaming, but anyways), hope you have a good day!

i'll be talking mostly about streaming for the sake of this answer, but this is similarly applicable across a wide range of platforms:

the job of the streamer is, effectively, to be the life of the party every single day. your goal is to be the person that has something interesting to talk about, and is quick with a joke, and has nuanced understandings of certain things, without actually obtaining any sort of "expertise" in anything lest you alienate viewers. short of having a stated goal for a stream, the only goal of the streamer is to let people relax with a voice they enjoy, saying things they like hearing. you can become very strong in different aspects of streaming, like in the production, or as someone who focuses more on a skill they've honed like art or speedrunning, but the demographic of streamers which pulls, by far, the most significant viewership, is personality based streamers.

this becomes more complicated when, for example, you are very interactive with chat, or you stream with multiple people at once. now, to maintain this charismatic sway you have (the one that got you the job in the first place), you must be able to adapt to and bounce off of other people, as you are now no longer performing alone. naturally, there's a need to not only manage your own flow of consciousness, but also to be at least partially in sync with someone else's.

beyond these complications, you must also consider drawing in new viewership. when i was a streamer, i was quite successful, relatively speaking. pulling 300 viewers consistently is something a very slim amount of streamers can actually do, and even then i was still making under 50k a year, which is not bad, but also not good. in paying for my apartment, my insurance, my travel fare, and all the other stuff that living independently draws money out of you with, i was more often in the red than i was in the green. hence, the need to draw in new viewers, which cannot be done without something eye-catching.

think about this: there are, at any given time, TENS OF THOUSANDS of streamers live in your native language on twitch, and they are all FREE TO WATCH. the attention market is sparse because the streamer market is oversaturated. and considering all of THEM want new viewers too, everyone is constantly refining and improving their craft, which requires everyone to move creatively in tandem with each other lest they get left behind.

if you are a streamer making ass-dollars and ass-cents, it becomes easy to begin resenting people like jerma, solely because everything he touches seems to turn to gold. i personally found it easy to feel very disappointed in myself when peoples projects that seemed so simple would take off. it was a constant "why didn't i think of that!" situation, at least for me. and when you don't have the energy to keep that up, or the social stamina necessary to figure that all out while also being upbeat and happy in front of people near daily, it can become very draining.

what i mean specifically when i say the "world of ideas", is like. there would be times where i could schedule out my failures weeks in advance. i'd be so in my own head about the process, i could see the exact path i could see myself taking that would lead me directly to ruin. how playing games i actually enjoyed would steadily drop viewership, or how focusing on my studies would make people forget about me. and of course this is augmented by my anxiety, i know this is absolutely not the case for every streamer, but that overwhelming feeling of needing to find a new game to play, or a new gimmick to use, or a new ploy to get money that doesn't make you feel guilty even though your source of income is mostly queer and mostly poor young adults and your rent is coming up and you're $200 short but you also just had a fundraiser last month about a DIFFERENT emergency but you cant make it a bummer or else people wont want to tune in so you have to make it something fun like "you laugh you lose!" or "$1 art request streams!" while feeling nothing but anxiety while youre trying to sound like youre enjoying yourself even when youre asking 250 people to donate every 30 minutes or so and nobody seems to want to and chat is moving slowly and. and and.

well, it starts to eat away at you.

[catboybiologist]

Hey, I'm a lawyer and transmasc, and I wanted to give a thought on your stockpile posts.

You're right in that they're not going to outlaw HRT - more cis people take HRT than trans people by far. What the feds are going to do under the new administration is roll back federal protections against discirimination for sexuality/gender, which won't change much for most of us - when the feds roll back those protections, that leaves room for states to fill those gaps. So I encourage young trans people to become involved in local politics, that will have the greatest impact on quality of life.

I don't think it's worth telling people to stockpile something like HRT when nothing has happened yet. It scares people, and honestly, there isn't much to be scared about. In the grand scheme of things, life is not going to change much for a lot of us.

I both agree and disagree with this.

Yeah, it's not gonna change for a lot of us. There will be little to no permanent bans or consequences.

But you should know better than me that this wasn't because the admin didn't try. It was because people fought. And oftentimes, whole those fights were being won, there were a whole lot of confused government agencies that didn't quite know what to do.

Remember the travel bans? Overturned in the end because of the work of the ACLU, of course. But people were still illegally detained in airports in the meantime.

What happens in between the times those federal protections for trans people are rolled back, and state regulations take over? Where's the guarantee of state regulations taking over? What happens if the FDA is gutted, or insurance loses oversight, or the supply side of medication is restricted?

None of these situations result in a complete loss in HRT access. But they do result in more logistical complications obtaining it. I have ADHD, this has already happened before with stimulants- political and logistical whims causing shortages.

The biggest thing that Trump round 1 left behind wasn't specific bans, laws or persecution. It was disorganized chaos. Federal organizations gutted, regulatory agencies that received

As I've stated many, many times. I'm not telling people to prep the rest of their lives on HRT via doomsday level stockpiling. I'm telling them to have a couple extra doses to smoothen things out if something in the short term happens.

As for scaring people... They're already scared. I hope what I'm doing is telling people that they can do something about it.

[mariacallous]

At 8:22 am on December 4 last year, a car traveling down a small residential road in Alabama used its license-plate-reading cameras to take photos of vehicles it passed. One image, which does not contain a vehicle or a license plate, shows a bright red “Trump” campaign sign placed in front of someone’s garage. In the background is a banner referencing Israel, a holly wreath, and a festive inflatable snowman.

Another image taken on a different day by a different vehicle shows a “Steelworkers for Harris-Walz” sign stuck in the lawn in front of someone’s home. A construction worker, with his face unblurred, is pictured near another Harris sign. Other photos show Trump and Biden (including “Fuck Biden”) bumper stickers on the back of trucks and cars across America. One photo, taken in November 2023, shows a partially torn bumper sticker supporting the Obama-Biden lineup.

These images were generated by AI-powered cameras mounted on cars and trucks, initially designed to capture license plates, but which are now photographing political lawn signs outside private homes, individuals wearing T-shirts with text, and vehicles displaying pro-abortion bumper stickers—all while recording the precise locations of these observations. Newly obtained data reviewed by WIRED shows how a tool originally intended for traffic enforcement has evolved into a system capable of monitoring speech protected by the US Constitution.

The detailed photographs all surfaced in search results produced by the systems of DRN Data, a license-plate-recognition (LPR) company owned by Motorola Solutions. The LPR system can be used by private investigators, repossession agents, and insurance companies; a related Motorola business, called Vigilant, gives cops access to the same LPR data.

However, files shared with WIRED by artist Julia Weist, who is documenting restricted datasets as part of her work, show how those with access to the LPR system can search for common phrases or names, such as those of politicians, and be served with photographs where the search term is present, even if it is not displayed on license plates.

A search result for the license plates from Delaware vehicles with the text “Trump” returned more than 150 images showing people’s homes and bumper stickers. Each search result includes the date, time, and exact location of where a photograph was taken.

“I searched for the word ‘believe,’ and that is all lawn signs. There’s things just painted on planters on the side of the road, and then someone wearing a sweatshirt that says ‘Believe.’” Weist says. “I did a search for the word ‘lost,’ and it found the flyers that people put up for lost dogs and cats.”

Beyond highlighting the far-reaching nature of LPR technology, which has collected billions of images of license plates, the research also shows how people’s personal political views and their homes can be recorded into vast databases that can be queried.

“It really reveals the extent to which surveillance is happening on a mass scale in the quiet streets of America,” says Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union. “That surveillance is not limited just to license plates, but also to a lot of other potentially very revealing information about people.”

DRN, in a statement issued to WIRED, said it complies with “all applicable laws and regulations.”

Billions of Photos

License-plate-recognition systems, broadly, work by first capturing an image of a vehicle; then they use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to identify and extract the text from the vehicle's license plate within the captured image. Motorola-owned DRN sells multiple license-plate-recognition cameras: a fixed camera that can be placed near roads, identify a vehicle’s make and model, and capture images of vehicles traveling up to 150 mph; a “quick deploy” camera that can be attached to buildings and monitor vehicles at properties; and mobile cameras that can be placed on dashboards or be mounted to vehicles and capture images when they are driven around.

Over more than a decade, DRN has amassed more than 15 billion “vehicle sightings” across the United States, and it claims in its marketing materials that it amasses more than 250 million sightings per month. Images in DRN’s commercial database are shared with police using its Vigilant system, but images captured by law enforcement are not shared back into the wider database.

The system is partly fueled by DRN “affiliates” who install cameras in their vehicles, such as repossession trucks, and capture license plates as they drive around. Each vehicle can have up to four cameras attached to it, capturing images in all angles. These affiliates earn monthly bonuses and can also receive free cameras and search credits.

In 2022, Weist became a certified private investigator in New York State. In doing so, she unlocked the ability to access the vast array of surveillance software accessible to PIs. Weist could access DRN’s analytics system, DRNsights, as part of a package through investigations company IRBsearch. (After Weist published an op-ed detailing her work, IRBsearch conducted an audit of her account and discontinued it. The company did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.)

“There is a difference between tools that are publicly accessible, like Google Street View, and things that are searchable,” Weist says. While conducting her work, Weist ran multiple searches for words and popular terms, which found results far beyond license plates. In data she shared with WIRED, a search for “Planned Parenthood,” for instance, returned stickers on cars, on bumpers, and in windows, both for and against the reproductive health services organization. Civil liberties groups have already raised concerns about how license-plate-reader data could be weaponized against those seeking abortion.

Weist says she is concerned with how the search tools could be misused when there is increasing political violence and divisiveness in society. While not linked to license plate data, one law enforcement official in Ohio recently said people should “write down” the addresses of people who display yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, exemplifying how a searchable database of citizens’ political affiliations could be abused.

A 2016 report by the Associated Press revealed widespread misuse of confidential law enforcement databases by police officers nationwide. In 2022, WIRED revealed that hundreds of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors were investigated for abusing similar databases, including LPR systems. The alleged misconduct in both reports ranged from stalking and harassment to sharing information with criminals.

While people place signs in their lawns or bumper stickers on their cars to inform people of their views and potentially to influence those around them, the ACLU’s Stanley says it is intended for “human-scale visibility,” not that of machines. “Perhaps they want to express themselves in their communities, to their neighbors, but they don't necessarily want to be logged into a nationwide database that’s accessible to police authorities,” Stanley says.

Weist says the system, at the very least, should be able to filter out images that do not contain license plate data and not make mistakes. “Any number of times is too many times, especially when it's finding stuff like what people are wearing or lawn signs,” Weist says.

“License plate recognition (LPR) technology supports public safety and community services, from helping to find abducted children and stolen vehicles to automating toll collection and lowering insurance premiums by mitigating insurance fraud,” Jeremiah Wheeler, the president of DRN, says in a statement.

Weist believes that, given the relatively small number of images showing bumper stickers compared to the large number of vehicles with them, Motorola Solutions may be attempting to filter out images containing bumper stickers or other text.

Wheeler did not respond to WIRED's questions about whether there are limits on what can be searched in license plate databases, why images of homes with lawn signs but no vehicles in sight appeared in search results, or if filters are used to reduce such images.

“DRNsights complies with all applicable laws and regulations,” Wheeler says. “The DRNsights tool allows authorized parties to access license plate information and associated vehicle information that is captured in public locations and visible to all. Access is restricted to customers with certain permissible purposes under the law, and those in breach have their access revoked.”

AI Everywhere

License-plate-recognition systems have flourished in recent years as cameras have become smaller and machine-learning algorithms have improved. These systems, such as DRN and rival Flock, mark part of a change in the way people are surveilled as they move around cities and neighborhoods.

Increasingly, CCTV cameras are being equipped with AI to monitor people’s movements and even detect their emotions. The systems have the potential to alert officials, who may not be able to constantly monitor CCTV footage, to real-world events. However, whether license plate recognition can reduce crime has been questioned.

“When government or private companies promote license plate readers, they make it sound like the technology is only looking for lawbreakers or people suspected of stealing a car or involved in an amber alert, but that’s just not how the technology works,” says Dave Maass, the director of investigations at civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “The technology collects everyone's data and stores that data often for immense periods of time.”

Over time, the technology may become more capable, too. Maass, who has long researched license-plate-recognition systems, says companies are now trying to do “vehicle fingerprinting,” where they determine the make, model, and year of the vehicle based on its shape and also determine if there’s damage to the vehicle. DRN’s product pages say one upcoming update will allow insurance companies to see if a car is being used for ride-sharing.

“The way that the country is set up was to protect citizens from government overreach, but there’s not a lot put in place to protect us from private actors who are engaged in business meant to make money,” Nicole McConlogue, an associate professor of law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, who has researched license-plate-surveillance systems and their potential for discrimination.

“The volume that they’re able to do this in is what makes it really troubling,” McConlogue says of vehicles moving around streets collecting images. “When you do that, you're carrying the incentives of the people that are collecting the data. But also, in the United States, you’re carrying with it the legacy of segregation and redlining, because that left a mark on the composition of neighborhoods.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

On Tuesday, Gov. Janet Mills of Maine signed LD 227, a sanctuary bill that protects transgender and abortion providers and patients from out-of-state prosecution, into law. With this action, Maine becomes the 16th state to explicitly protect transgender and abortion care in state law from prosecution. This follows several bomb threats targeting state legislators after social media attacks from far-right anti-trans influencers such as Riley Gaines and Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok. An earlier version of the bill failed in committee after similar attacks in January. Undeterred, Democrats reconvened and added additional protections to the bill before it was passed into law.

The law is extensive. It asserts that gender-affirming care and reproductive health care are "legal rights" in Maine. It states that criminal and civil actions against providers and patients are not enforceable if the provision or access to that care occurred within Maine’s borders, asserting jurisdiction over those matters. It bars cooperation with out-of-state subpoenas and arrest warrants for gender-affirming care and abortion that happen within the state. It even protects doctors who provide gender-affirming care and abortion from certain adverse actions by medical boards, malpractice insurance, and other regulating entities, shielding those providers from attempts to economically harm them through out-of-state legislation designed to dissuade them from providing care.

The bill also explicitly enshrines the World Professional Association of Transgender Health’s Standards of Care, which have been the target of right-wing disinformation campaigns, into state law for the coverage of transgender healthcare.

The bill is said to be necessary due to attempts to prosecute doctors and seek information from patients across state lines. In recent months, attorneys general in other states have attempted to obtain health care data on transgender patients who traveled to obtain care. According to the United States Senate Finance Committee, attorneys general in Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, and Texas attempted to obtain detailed medical records "to terrorize transgender teens in their states… opening the door to criminalizing women’s private reproductive health care choices." The most blatant of these attempts was from the Attorney General of Texas, who, according to the Senate Finance Committee, "sent demands to at least two non-Texas entities." 

[...] Despite these threats, legislators strengthened both the abortion and gender-affirming care provisions and pressed forward, passing the bill into law. Provisions found in the new bill include protecting people who "aid and assist" gender-affirming care and abortion, protections against court orders from other states for care obtained in Maine, and even protections against adverse actions by health insurance and malpractice insurance providers, which have been recent targets of out-of-state legislation aimed at financially discouraging doctors from providing gender-affirming care and abortion care even in states where it is legal.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signs gender-affirming care and abortion sanctuary state bill LD227 into law despite the best efforts of right-wing anti-trans extremists such as Riley Gaines, Courage Is A Habit, and Libs of TikTok who sought to thwart its passage and signature into law.

[handeaux]

A Secret Organization Scoured Cincinnati For Bolsheviks But Found Only A Schoolgirl

It is inevitable, once you have created an organization to snitch on your neighbors, that you will find neighbors to snitch on. So it was with the American Protective League.

The American Protective League emerged from the jingoistic fervor that gripped America during the First World War. According to Steven L. Wright [Queen City Heritage, Winter 1988]:

“The American Protective League (APL) organized in Chicago in March 1917, had units in 600 cities and a membership roster of nearly 100,000. And by 1918 membership had grown to 250,000. Its membership consisted of bankers, businessmen, attorneys, chamber of commerce leaders and insurance company executives. Because of their ‘high’ position, they easily obtained information concerning ‘troublesome’ citizens, especially those who opposed the draft.”

Nationally, the APL received quasi-legal status as an affiliate of the federal Department of Justice. Locally, the Cincinnati branch of the APL was instrumental in arresting thirteen socialists who were charged with treason for circulating literature opposed to the military draft. Those charges would eventually be dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1924.

With the conclusion of hostilities, the APL technically disbanded on 31 January 1919 when Gerson J. Brown, the wholesale tobacconist who led the Cincinnati chapter, turned over all League records to Calvin S. Weakley, special agent of the Department of Justice. Even though the organization ceased to exist, however, some members insisted on carrying on the work of the League. Germany’s surrender had revealed, according to these men, a new and even more sinister enemy working to conquer America – Bolshevism. John L. Richey, head of the Cincinnati Association of Credit Men, announced through several very public speeches that his position as chief investigator of the American Protective League had revealed to him that Bolshevism was alive and well in Cincinnati. According to the Enquirer [9 January 1919]:

“Mr. Richey declared speakers at recent meetings in Cincinnati had advocated immediate revolution and deliberate assassination of public officials who could not be influenced as part of the Bolshevist doctrine. There has been an increase, Mr. Richey said, in the Bolshevist movement in Cincinnati from 500 members 60 days ago, to a membership of a few more than 3,000 today.”

Not quite a week later, the Cincinnati Post [14 January 1919] announced that Richey now estimated a Cincinnati cabal of Bolshevists, International Workers of the World, and various other radical fellow travelers had more than 7,000 members. Richey pledged to continue his investigative work in Cincinnati despite the dissolution of the American Protective League through a new “secret patriotic organization.” According to Richey:

“Members of these groups of radicals, or revolutionists, are guided by a national head, who directs from New York and Philadelphia. Cincinnatians in the organizations principally are foreign born. There are Germans, Italians, Russians, and Hungarians, with some malcontent Americans.”

In a statement that foreshadowed the Red-baiting tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy thirty years later, Richey predicted that eight to ten Cincinnati officials would soon resign once the Justice Department digested the reports submitted by the American Protective League. By February 1919, Richey’s estimate of Cincinnati radicals had reached 10,000, holding regular meetings to urge the “seizure of banks, manufacturing plants, and private property.”

Richey repeatedly asserted that the Cincinnati Board of Education fanned the flames of Bolshevism here by allowing teachers to spread radical propaganda. After all his stomping and fuming, Richey had trouble producing a single Bolshevik. Nevertheless, he told the Cincinnati Post [3 February 1919], he knew exactly where to find one:

“The home of a Cincinnati school girl, the alleged meeting place of supporters of Bolshevism, is being watched by the secret patriotic organization of which John L. Richey is head, he said Monday. Richey told of existence of a Bolshevik school where students are taught principles of Bolshevism and urged to spread them in educational institutions. A Woodward High School pupil is leader in the movement, according to Richey.”

The moment Richey made that accusation, the city turned against him and his “secret patriotic organization.” The pupil in question was Rose Simkin, aged 19, who had immigrated from Russia six years earlier. Since that time, she had been employed at the Cross Overall Company while studying in the morning before work and in the evening after work at Woodward High School, hoping to earn citizenship. She told the Post [7 February 1919]:

“I hardly know what Bolshevism means. I am an American. I didn’t even know it was I who was being talked about until told so by the school authorities. Ever since I have been in America and lived in this free country I have thought of nothing except what a wonderful land this is.”

Miss Simkin pointed to her bookshelves, filled with volumes by Poe, Shakespeare and other classic authors and defied Richey to find any hint of subversive literature.

Helen T. Wooley of the Cincinnati School Board was outraged by Richey’s accusations against Rose Simkin.

“There has been excessive zeal in trying to uncover un-American plots and in this case they have hit an innocent girl.”

The American Israelite pointed out that Rose Simkin’s brothers were serving in Palestine as part of the British army there and that Richey may not have known the difference between Zionism and Bolshevism – a not-so-subtle accusation of anti-Semitism. Mainline organizations such as the City Club and the Women’s City Club passed resolutions condemning Richey’s accusations.

As the Simkin debacle faded, so did Richey’s “secret patriotic organization.” When Richey died in 1962, his obituary made no mention of the American Protective League or his secret organization.

In 1920, Rose Simkin married Edward Trieman, her father’s partner in a Race Street haberdashery. She lived to be 70 and gave birth to a son who became a doctor. Her tombstone identifies her as “A Devoted Daughter In Israel.”

[sneezest]

WMF Wisconsin's Fund-a-thon ends May 31st, 2024

Founded in 1972 as Women's Medical Fund, Inc., WMF Wisconsin has supported Wisconsin residents in paying for abortion care for over 50 years. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, WMF Wisconsin also educates and organizes for abortion access.

The Center for Reproductive Rights currently lists Wisconsin as Hostile towards abortion rights.

Wisconsin law generally prohibits abortion at twenty weeks post-fertilization and post-viability. The state has not repealed its unconstitutional ban on D&X procedures. Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period, biased counseling, and an ultrasound. Wisconsin also limits public funding for, and private insurance coverage of, abortion. Wisconsin law generally requires that a parent, legal guardian, adult family member, foster parent, or judge consent to a minor’s abortion.

Wisconsin’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities, permanently enjoined admitting privileges, transfer agreements, and reporting. Wisconsin law restricts the provision of abortion care to physicians and restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care. Providers who violate Wisconsin’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.

With just four abortion clinics in Madison, Milwaukee, and Sheboygan servicing the entire state, the demand is too high to keep up with.

For those who are able to travel in the state, they face long (and potentially snowy) drives, expensive gas bills, and hotel stays. Others may have to leave the state entirely.

Though the Sheboygan, our northernmost clinic, re-opened in December 2023, many in our state are forced to travel long distance. Here’s how far our community members need to drive to their closest Wisconsin clinic:

Hayward, Wisconsin �� 5 hours to Sheboygan

Rhinelander, Wisconsin - 3 hours to Sheboygan

Holmen, Wisconsin – 2 hours to Madison

Nekoosa, Wisconsin – 1hr 45 min to Madison

Green Bay, Wisconsin – 1 hour to Sheboygan

Your donation to WMF Wisconsin helps ensure not only that the cost of an abortion is covered, but the costs of child support, gas, and lodging are paid, too.

Donate directly to the Fund-a-thon here

Buy WMF Wisconsin's official merch here

Your tax-deductible contribution helps Wisconsin residents exercise their legal right to obtain safe and affordable abortion care. Donating to WMF Wisconsin is a generous act of community care, meeting the needs of our neighbors with love and compassion. WMF is a volunteer-led organization, and every dollar makes a difference.

[luciferlaughs]

Chandler Halderson, 23, seemed to have a bright future ahead of him. At such a young age, he had already accomplished tremendous milestones. A recent college graduate in IT, he worked remotely from home for a local insurance company. He was also on the police suba diving team and, even more impressively, recently landed a job at Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX. Suffice to say--Chandler’s parents, Bart and Krista Halderson, were exceptionally proud of their son.

As of June 2021, Chandler was still living at his parents’ home in Windsor, Wisconsin. He planned to move to Florida with his girlfriend soon in order to accept the job at SpaceX, but something hindered that monumental move--a nasty fall down the stairs, in which he sustained a concussion and neck injury which required him to wear a neckbrace. The doctors warned Chandler that he may need brain surgery if his symptoms worsened and discouraged him from long-distance travel until he fully recovered. Due to this, he had to cancel his move to Florida, and tragically lost his position at SpaceX as a result.

But Chandler’s parents began having suspicions. Their son worked long, hard hours at his online insurance company job, yet he never seemed to have money. Chandler always had an excuse as to why he wasn’t being paid--once claiming there was a glitch with the payroll software. He showed his father email exchanges with his employer as proof. Chandler was also exchanging emails with his school’s administrators,  Alyssa Brandt and Daniel Speith, regarding his diploma and transcripts he was trying to obtain.��

Bart’s suspicions only began growing from these emails. He took it upon himself to call Madison College, where his son graduated. Speaking directly with the enrollment coordinator, he identified himself as Chandler Halderson and explained he was trying to request his diploma and transcripts. He told the coordinator he previously exchanged emails with Alyssa Brandt and Daniel Speith regarding the issue. The coordinator did not recognize either of those names. To add to the confusion, he was told that he never graduated and had flunked out of college in the fall of 2020, still owing $2000 in tuition. 

After the phone call, Bart told Chandler he set up an appointment with school officials on July 1st to get to the bottom of everything, not telling him what he had just discovered over the phone.

Chandler knew his web of lies were about to be unraveled. Because it was true--he never completed his degree. Nor did he have a job lined up for him at SpaceX. Nor was he a volunteer for the police scuba diving team--such a thing didn’t even exist! Nor did he have an online job with an insurance company--that was just an excuse for him to stay at home playing video games all day. Those email exchanges with school officials and his employers were all fake. And his head injury? Also a sham.

When July 1st rolled around, Bart sent Chandler a text right before the appointment reading, I’m ready when you are. But this would be the last anyone’s ever heard from Bart. Chandler ended up shooting his father. When his mother returned home from work a few hours later, she met the same fate (it is not exactly known how she was killed). He then dismembered his parents’ bodies and attempted to burn their remains in the home fireplace. He then scattered his father’s remains around the property of a farm owned by his girlfriend’s family. He disposed of his mother’s remains in the forest by the Wisconsin River. 

Chandler reported his parents missing on July 7th, telling police they went up north to their cabin for the Fourth of July and never returned. Chandler was eventually caught in his lies and arrested for the murder of his parents and was sentenced to life in prison.

[disturbingstar]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨

Plot summary

A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.

Trigger warnings

• Cannibalism

• Self harm

• Blood

• Violence

Trivia

• In real life, the actress that plays Justine in the movie is married to the films director Eli Roth

• When Eli Roth and his crew approached villagers to be extras in the film, he soon realized that they had never seen a movie and had no concept of what one was. To demonstrate what a movie was, Eli brought a TV and a copy of Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and had a screening for everyone. The villagers loved it and thought it was a comedy. They gladly acted in the film.

• Eli Roth disclosed that the tribe offered a two-year-old child to the production designer as a "thank you" for including them in the film. The production designer politely declined the offer.

• Eli Roth would only audition actors who agreed to be vaccinated for yellow fever and to film deep in the Amazonian jungle with no bathrooms, surrounded by tarantulas, snakes and poisonous frogs that could kill you on contact. After filming was completed, the cast and crew were treated for parasites.

• The green inferno is one of the few cannibal horror films to not feature any depiction of violence against animals.

• Lorenza Izzo nearly drowned while filming the escape attempt sequence, where her character runs into the river near the village and is pushed downstream before being recaptured. It wasn't until one of the crew realized that her screams for help were real, where she was then rescued. Some of the footage was kept in the film.

• After credits audio: Alejandro's sister Lucia calls Justine to talk after having received a satellite image of her missing brother, he is almost naked painted in black and free in the Amazon rainforest.

• The captivity and horrors of the film take place over two nights and three days.

• The film received a glowing response from horror novelist Stephen King, who tweeted that the film is “like a glorious throwback to the drive-in movies of my youth: bloody, gripping, hard to watch, but you can't look away.”

Breakdown

In the opening shot, a tribesman walks through a rain forest with a child from the same tribe. They hear a loud rumbling noise. It's a bulldozer ploughing through the forest.

In the United States at Columbia University in New York City, we meet Justine, a college student. With her roommate Kaycee, they sit through a lecture on the cruel traditions placed on women in African tribes, which horrifies Justine. Later, the two notice a group of janitors sitting for a hunger strike in order to obtain health insurance. The girls think these types of groups are stupid.

After classes, Justine is invited by another student, named Jonah, to check out an activist group led by Alejandro. His cause is for the tribe in the Peruvian jungle. Justine makes a comment about the group starving themselves through the jungle for their cause, which Alejandro takes offence to. He orders Justine to leave.

A few days later, Justine approaches Alejandro to apologise and decides she wants to join the cause. Another few days later, the two of them, plus a full group of activists, including Jonah, Alejandro's girlfriend Kara, Amy, Amy's girlfriend Samantha, Lars, and Daniel head off on a flight, partially funded by Justine's dad, to Peru. Because the plane is small, it makes Amy anxious.

Once the group arrives in Peru, they take a boat through the jungle toward their destination. They stop so Justine and Lars can use the bathroom. Lars almost gets his penis bitten by a tarantula, and he runs back to the boat.

When the group finds the bulldozers, they set off an explosive to stop their acts. As Alejandro records the militia in their act against the jungle, one of the men holds Justine at gunpoint. Alejandro gets it on video to show off to the internet what kind of actions these people are willing to take against others, all while Justine cries. The man takes the gun away, and he and his men arrest the group.

The group is being sent home in their plane. They celebrate their victory while Justine is traumatised from the incident and angry that the others were ready to let her get shot for their cause. Jonah announces that their video has been blowing up all over social media. All of a sudden, the plane's engine blows out, causing the pilots to lose control and head for a crash landing. The plane comes apart, sending at least two other people flying out. The plane crashes, killing both pilots. The man that flew out got impaled, and the woman that fell out landed in a tree, badly injured and nearly dying. The rest of the group tries to move somewhere safe until they see some of the villagers in the forest. Kara asks them for help, but she gets an arrow in her neck. The others make a run for it, but they get hit by tranquillizing darts by unseen natives. Alejandro tries to remove the arrow out of Kara's neck, only for her to get another one in her head.

When the group wakes up, they are being taken across the river by a Cannibal Headhunter to the village where the rest of the tribe resides. They're all put in wooden cages, except for Jonah. He gets fed some kind of liquid before being laid down and having his limbs held down by some villagers. The Village Elder (Antonieta Pari) walks over to Jonah and holds a spike over his face. She digs the spike into his right eye and gouges it out before eating it in front of the villagers and Jonah's friends. The Elder proceeds to take his other eye, his tongue, and then has Jonah's limbs hacked off before he is finally decapitated. The others are horrified and cover their eyes.

Jonah's remains are later cooked and soon eaten by the rest of the villagers. Alejandro determines that the villagers think they are the enemy. Lars mentions he can smell Jonah being cooked, making Amy sick. She first throws up and then has a massive bowel movement in the cage, which makes the others sick while the village children laugh and mock Amy.

Justine tries to appease one of the children by playing her flute necklace that belonged to her mother. The child likes the music, but the Cannibal Headhunter and other native warriors arrive and pull Justine, Amy, and Samantha out of the cages. They take the ladies's pants off, and the Elder takes a spike similar to what she used on Jonah. She puts it up Amy and Samantha's vaginas, then up Justine's. The Elder breaks Justine's hymen, proving to the tribe that she is a virgin. They take Justine into a hut and cover her in some kind of white powder before returning her to the cage.

The next day, Alejandro mentions that the whole trip was just a PR stunt and that he doesn't actually give a shit about the tribe or the cause. He makes a crude comment on how it's good that Jonah was eaten first since he'd fed the tribe for a week, angering Daniel and Justine.

Any attempt at escaping the cages leads to the group getting shot with darts by the watchers. They create a distraction that allows Samantha to climb out and look for help. Hours later, the villagers bring the group bowls with liquid and meat scraps. Amy drinks from the bowl and sees a biohazard symbol, which she recognises as one of Samantha's tattoos. Then she sees the children wearing patches of flesh with the rest of Samantha's tattoos. Amy then smashes the bowl and slits her throat with a jagged piece.

Knowing the villagers will get Amy next, Lars and Daniel stuff a bag of weed down her throat. The village headhunter enters the cage and hacks Amy's corpse to pieces. After she is cooked and consumed, the villagers all get stoned. This allows Justine and Daniel to escape from their cage. Lars tries to follow, but the cynical Alejandro gets him with a dart so he doesn't die alone.

When Lars awakens, he sees two villagers sitting over him with the giggles. He tries to appease them with silly hand gestures until they start to get the munchies. One villager bites into Lars's arm, but he shoves him away and runs for it. Unfortunately, a large group of villagers attacks him and eats him alive.

Justine and Daniel manage to get to a river and find some wreckage of the plane. Justine falls into the water and gets swept downstream. When Justine grabs a rock to hold onto, Daniel manages to rescue her by extending a tree branch and bringing her ashore. That evening, they follow the trail of wreckage and finally arrive at the crash site of their plane. They find their GPS, but the battery's dead. They then hear a ringtone coming from the pocket of Kara, whose corpse is hung up alongside the other dead activists. Justine gets Kara's phone out of her pocket, but the villagers show up and dart her and Daniel.

Justine awakens the next morning back in the village to find the medicine woman covering her nude body in white powder and paint. She is trying to sew Justine's vagina shut as part of a customary ritual. Daniel is tied up to a pole and covered from head to toe in a green mould by the village eadhunter. A colony of big ants starts climbing up his body and biting into him. Before anything else happens to Justine, a child runs and brings the villagers the severed head of a man wearing a hard hat. The other villagers run out to see what other remains are available for consumption. The child that Justine played the flute necklace for shows up and unties Justine's hands. She unties her feet before the medicine woman returns. When she gets a good opportunity, she blows a special powder into the medicine woman's face and rips the bone out of her nose, allowing her to run. She tries to get Daniel, but he's in so much pain that he prefers to die. The child blows the powder in Daniel's face to make him pass out before he cuts Daniel's throat.

The child leads Justine deep into the forest to escape. Alejandro begs Justine to save him, but she leaves him to the villagers. She lets the child keep the flute necklace and thanks him for helping her. Justine then runs and finds the militia shooting and killing the villagers. Justine finds the village headhunter laying in the grass after being shot. With the local mercenaries approaching, Justine holds her hands up and states that she's American. She takes out Kara's phone and pretends to record the mercs in their acts before smashing the phone. The leader orders his men to take Justine away. She is boarded on a helicopter to fly home, where she sees the bodies of the villagers sprawled everywhere and the soldiers burning the huts.

Upon returning home, Justine testifies as the sole survivor from the crash. She denies witnessing any cannibalism.

Justine then dreams that Alejandro made it home and that she has monster teeth that she uses to rip out his throat. When she wakes up, she looks out her window and sees activists outside protesting for Alejandro to be returned home.

During the closing credits, we hear a phone call between Justine and a woman claiming to be Alejandro's sister. She mentions seeing a surveillance photo (which we see) of Alejandro still in the jungle. His sister tells Justine that they need to talk.

[beta-lactam-allergic]

So here is Part 1 of me summarising the issues in the QLD state election that's literally tomorrow. In Part 1 we rank where the parties stand on Abortion rights.

First the status quo. Abortion is legal in Queensland & is treated as a medical issue rather than a criminal issue. It can be acquired, no questions asked, up to 22 weeks into a pregnancy. After 22 weeks, you need the approval of two licensed medical practitioners. Safe zones of 150 metres exist around providers to prevent protesters from hassling staff, clients or families of clients.

However, despite this legal right, in practice, it's difficult to obtain an abortion in rural/regional areas. Pregnant individuals often need to travel great distances & spend money they may not have on accommodation & fuel, to get access to the nearest provider. Someone in Mt. Isa might need to travel to either Emerald (a 12 hour car trip or 4 & a half hour plane trip) or Cairns (12 & a half hour car ride or 2 hour plane trip) to get access to a provider. A person in Charleville would need to travel over 5 & a half hours to Emerald or 8 hours to Gladstone/Rockhampton. If you live in Weipa, hope you can afford the 9 & a half hour car ride or 1 & a half hour plane trip to Cairns. Mt Isa should be big enough for it's own clinic. Charleville is smaller, but you could place a provider in Roma, which is only 3 hours away rather than 8 hours. Note that I only listed one-way trips, so realistically, you need to double all travel times listed as people need to get back home.

For anyone amazed by the time listed to travel places. This is normal in QLD. Everything is far away. Our state is big. A person travelling from Weipa to Cairns is going southeast while someone going from Mt Isa to Cairns is going north-east.

A trip from Weipa to Brisbane is 29 hours driving assuming no breaks (please don't try that). There's a train connecting Mt Isa to Brisbane that takes 28 hours for those unwilling to drive a bit over 20 hours (assuming no breaks). Realistically, almost everyone travelling from Weipa, Cairns, Mt Isa, Birdsville or even Mackay to Brisbane is taking a plane unless they're a Gray nomad.

Part 1 - Abortion

So this is ranked from worse to best

Worse = KAP (Katter's Australia Party), Family First.

These two parties both openly want to recriminalise abortion. Yes, that "r" isn't a typo. The KAP & Family First have it in their party platforms that they both seek to wind back the clock & make it a crime again.

I assume they aren't thinking of merely winding back to 2017, when abortion was technically in the criminal code, but it wasn't enforced. More likely they want to turn back to the 1970s-1980s where under Joh Bjelke-Petersen the criminal provisions that were only technically repealed in 2018 were actually enforced.

Of these two, the KAP are by far the bigger threat. They have 4 MPs, none of whom are likely to lose their seats, with an outside chance of gaining a fifth seat. Meanwhile, Family First only matter for preference flows (we have preferential voting here, so voting for parties that can't win a seat in their own right isn't the waste of time it would be in the USA).

Moreover, the KAP have announced that they will put up a private member's bill to recriminalise abortion immediately after the new parliament is sworn in. Have I mentioned all the KAP MPs are cisgender men. I should mention that.

Team Sneaky = LNP

The likely victors of tomorrow's election. The talk is about if the ALP can ring-fence Brisbane or not. No one is pretending that the towns of Cairns (3 seats) , Townsville (4 seats), Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton or Harvey Bay (each of these is 1 seat) are staying in the ALP fold. As the LNP are the likely victors of all but Rockhampton (where Independent Margaret Strelow has a good shot), they will form government. Therefore, the LNP will likely decide abortion access insurance state for the next 4 years.

The LNP have gone for plausible deniability by stating that they won't introduce a bill to recriminalise abortion. However, that doesn't matter as we know the KAP is introducing that bill instead. What they have is a so-called "conscious vote" on abortion.

It's a fact that 93% of LNP members voted against legalisation in 2018. That 93% includes the current Opposition Leader, David Crisafulli. We also know that quite a few of the new candidates in winnable seats are anti-choice. A conscious vote in an LNP majority government means that even if 1-3 members vote to keep the existing laws, the 4 KAP members will be enough to counter that & guarantee that abortion is recriminalised.

The only reason Crisafulli is even trying for plausible deniability is because he knows most voters are pro-choice. Support for abortion rights has remained stable at 75-80% of the population for my entire lifetime. There's a reason enforcement ended well before the official decriminalisation in 2018. It would be difficult to find a jury

Status Quo = ALP

So this is where our miracle shot happens & somehow the polls are wrong & the current government is maintained.

Now the status quo is still flawed. I want better. Abortion accessibility shouldn't depend on where in the state you live. A poor person in the regions shouldn't have fewer options than someone in the SEQ or Townsville (even Mackay doesn't have an abortion clinic). But when compared to a prospective recriminalisation, it's necessary to defend what we got now & ask for better afterwards.

Improved Access = AJP & Greens

Both of them promise to expand access. That's the optimal outcome, so we list it here.

I will probably not get around to releasing Parts 2 & 3 before the vote counting begins, so let's say this now. I was an overall ALP/AJP voter. But we have to number all the options in our system so the rest of the ticket was harm minimising. Cannabis Party don't particularly appeal to me, but it's also not crossing any of my political boundaries, so they got 3rd. Then came the jerk parties. As disgusting as the Greens antisemitism is, the LNP are a threat to both abortion rights & trans rights, so I prioritised my own survival (I'm a transwoman) & the survival of my cis female friends & cousins in this state. That puts Greens 4th & LNP 5th. The KAP don't have a candidate where I live, so I didn't have to rate them. Family First are Christian extremists who hate trans people & abortion rights & want to make the place go under fundamentalist Christian leadership. They got 6th, because somehow, One Nation still exists, which is even worse. One Nation is a cesspool of racism & manosphere garbage & are the biggest threat to my Mum's entire side of the family.

[chiangmailawyer]

One-Year Multiple Entry Visa

Thailand's One-Year Multiple Entry Visa offers a fantastic opportunity for those seeking extended stays or frequent travels within Southeast Asia. This visa allows you to enter and exit Thailand multiple times within a year, making it ideal for digital nomads, business travelers, and adventurers who want to explore the region at their own pace.

Key Benefits of the One-Year Multiple Entry Visa:

Extended Stay: Enjoy up to a year of uninterrupted travel and exploration in Thailand.

Multiple Entries: Enter and exit Thailand as often as needed within the visa validity period.

Flexibility: Plan your trips without the constraints of short-term visas.

Southeast Asian Hub: Use Thailand as a base to explore neighboring countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Malaysia.

Eligibility Requirements:

To qualify for the One-Year Multiple Entry Visa, you typically need to meet the following criteria:

Valid Passport: Ensure your passport has a validity of at least six months beyond your intended stay.

Sufficient Funds: Demonstrate financial capability to support your stay in Thailand.

No Criminal Record: Provide proof of a clean criminal record.

Health Insurance: Have valid health insurance coverage that includes medical expenses in Thailand.

Application Form: Complete the required visa application form accurately and truthfully.

Application Process:

The application process for the One-Year Multiple Entry Visa can be completed through various channels, including:

Thai Embassy or Consulate: Submit your application in person at the nearest Thai embassy or consulate.

Online Application: Some embassies or consulates offer online application options.

Visa Agent: Consider using a reputable visa agent for assistance with the application process.

Note: Specific requirements and procedures may vary depending on your nationality and the embassy or consulate you're applying to. It's essential to check the official website of the Thai embassy or consulate in your country for the most up-to-date information.

Tips for a Successful Application:

Plan Ahead: Apply for your visa well in advance of your planned trip to avoid delays.

Gather Required Documents: Ensure you have all the necessary documents ready before submitting your application.

Be Prepared for Interviews: If required, be prepared to answer questions about your travel plans and reasons for seeking a long-term visa.

Follow Instructions Carefully: Adhere to the specific instructions provided by the embassy or consulate.

By obtaining a One-Year Multiple Entry Visa, you can embark on a memorable journey through Thailand and explore the diverse wonders of Southeast Asia. With its flexibility and convenience, this visa offers a passport to endless adventures and unforgettable experiences.

[maettymae]

1a Privately insured patients in Germany receive a treatment appointment within one week.

The treatment time for each privately insured patient is a maximum of 15 minutes.

All dermatologists in Germany can bill every single handshake for every privately insured patient.

The privately insured patient must first pay the doctor's bill themselves.

Once the doctor's bill has been paid in full, the private patient can submit this doctor's bill to their private insurance company and hope for full reimbursement.

However, private insurance companies do not pay 100% of all treatment costs,

The privately insured patient must therefore pay the remaining costs with their own money. And this can become quite expensive over time.

TREATMENT TIME

2 In Germany, every patient with statutory health insurance receives a maximum of 5 minutes of treatment time from every dermatologist. A patient with statutory health insurance does not receive more treatment time.

TREATMENT ITSELF

3 A thorough medical history is essential for every skin problem so that the correct diagnosis can be made and the right treatment can begin.

However, dermatologists in Germany generally refuse to take a very thorough medical history and do not do so.

Dermatologists also do not ask the patient about their living conditions, diet, recent travels or the causes of the skin problem so that they can obtain an approach for the correct diagnosis and treatment.

They also do not ask about existing medication for other diseases.

Dermatologists also do not listen to patients and do not take the time to treat them. Patients are also not allowed to ask questions because the dermatologist loses time and money with every question he answers.

Many dermatologists simply throw around several diagnoses for one skin problem without thinking, which is simply insane.

[dr-davis-mde]

both my personal blog and my work blog. blanket trigger warning for potential gore, medical distress, drugs, and sex (discussed but not depicted)

keep the parahuman politics to a minimum, im trying to stay as out of that shit as i can

DNI if you are anti-Amy Dallon/Panacea, pro-Cauldron, or a Slaughterhouse Nine fanboy/wannabe

FAQ and commission info under the cut.

FAQ

Q: Wait, so your name is Riley Grace Davis?

A: yes my name is Riley Grace Davis. yes I used to go by Bonesaw. yes I used to be a member of the slaughterhouse nine.

Q: Are you the serial killer that (insert crime against nature here)?

A: probably. i did a lot of those. i dont really REGRET them but i wont do it again i prommy

Q: Are you still a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine?

A: its been 25 years and i legit still get this question like every week. NO!!!!!!! we disbanded when Jack died and I was captured and the apocalypse started. im not involved with any of the copycat killer groups either, they all suck :/

Q: You're a monster, you should be behind bars, you should be dead, you tortured/traumatized/murdered my family/friend/loved one, you were part of the chain of events that started the end of the world, its unthinkable that people like you get to walk free just because you're a parahuman while unpowered people are imprisoned for petty larceny, etc.

A: L+ratio+direct all questions about the amnesty to your local PRT chapter

Q: What's an MDE?

A: medical diploma equivalency, established by the PRT of Earth Bet in 2002 AD. allows Thinker-class capes whose powers give them medical knowledge to obtain licensure to practice medicine without needing to attend medical school. after two decades of pestering the PRT nonstop it was expanded in 24 GM to also include Tinker-class capes with medical specialties in what historians call the "for fucks sake riley shut up, fine" amendment.

Q: What sort of surgeries do you do?

A: i am capable of performing almost any medical intervention, though these days i mostly limit myself to cosmetic body modifications

Q: How do you cope with the unbearable trauma of having had your childhood ripped away from you by a serial killer, your mind filled with unending horrors by a fragment of a cosmic being, and trying to find out who you were and atone for the sins of your past while in the middle of a world-reshaping calamity?

hard drugs, amazing yet potentially unethical and illegal sex with my beautiful perfect wife, and staying silly :3

COMMISSION INFO

i AM open to taking clients currently but i live in New Brockton on Earth Gimel and have heavy travel restrictions as a result of my parole so you'll have to come to me. payment in cash preferred but i also take valuable gemstones or drugs, if they are at equivalent value to the price. (for legal reasons the drug part is a joke.) no cards. or well, no credit/debit. i guess if you gave me a giftcard to somewhere that the food doesnt suck id accept it. unfortunately no insurance plan recognizes me but my rates are very affordable ($50-200 for most standard procedures, up to $400 if unexpected complications arise, esoteric procedure price uncapped and depends on cost of materials, legality, ease of operation, and how interested in the operation i am.)

operations i will do include but are not limited to:

gender-affirming surgeries

therian-affirming surgeries

phantom limb replacement surgery

turning you into your fursona

kemonomimi-fication

tentacle prosthesis

non-lethal flaying

genital enhancement

most body plan restructurings (additional limbs, fewer limbs, wings, organs that you carry in a bag outside your body and are connected to your torso via strange fleshy tubes, etc.)

multi-person conjoinment

hard nos:

creation of any virus, plague, biological weapon, etc.

natural weapons - claws/teeth are okay but no ranged weapons, venom, acid, prehensile bladed spines, etc.

ANY operation on another parahuman - too many chances to accidentally become an accomplice to something

anything capable of reproducing. THIS IS A CONDITION OF MY PAROLE. i am allowed to give functioning reproductive organs but any resulting offspring will be baseline human regardless of the state the parent or parents is in

ANY operation without the consent of ALL parties being operated on. this includes if the party is incapable of giving consent and you are their power of attorney (pets, minors, mentally disabled, intoxicated, etc.)

i reserve the right to refuse any procedure for any non-discriminatory reason or for no stated reason.

if you're still interested let me know and we can work out an appointment. i do not use general anaesthesia so if youre coming over for your surgery i recommend you bring a book or game or something. or we can talk, but for some reason usually people dont want to talk to me while im rearranging their limbs

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

I know, I know—I don’t want to think about it either. But if the worst happens, we need to be prepared. So let’s talk about what would happen to abortion rights if Donald Trump wins the presidency.  Despite Trump trying to appear moderate on abortion rights over the last few months, conservatives’ plan for reproductive rights should he win is about as extreme as it gets—from the Comstock Act and reversing approval of abortion medication to appointing two new Supreme Court justices.  To start, let’s be clear that if Trump had the votes, he would absolutely sign a national abortion ban. Despite the disgraced former president’s promises to veto a ban, Republicans simply wouldn’t call it that. Instead, they’d say that they’re passing a ‘minimum national standard’ on abortion. Because remember, the only thing that they consider an abortion ban these days is total prohibition—no exceptions, even to save a woman’s life. They’d push for something like the 15-week abortion ban Sen. Lindsay Graham has been proposing and insist it’s merely a restriction. 

Then there’s abortion medication, which is a primary target for conservatives, who know that many patients in anti-choice states have been obtaining the pills via telehealth and mail. To stop that from happening, Trump would replace the head of the FDA in order to repeal approval of abortion medication or seriously restrict it. (Three Republican Attorneys General have already brought a lawsuit to try to rollback access to the drug.)  Trump would also replace the head of the Department of Justice, who would in turn start to enforce the Comstock Act. This 150-year old obscenity law doesn’t just ban the mailing of abortion medication, but of any tools used in abortion; it could also prohibit the shipping of birth control that Republicans claim aren’t contraception, but abortions. Since 63% of abortions are done using abortion medication, these attacks on the pills would amount to a national backdoor ban impacting the entire country, not just anti-abortion states.

A Trump administration could also make it easier for states to deny women emergency, life-saving abortions. Conservatives have already been attacking the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), with Republican state leaders arguing that the federal law doesn’t trump their abortion bans and that EMTALA doesn’t require emergency abortions at all. With Trump at the helm of the federal government, that bogus interpretation of the law could become standard. What’s more, a Trump administration could decline to enforce EMTALA, allowing states with extreme abortion bans to deny women life-saving care. (States like Idaho and Texas are already fighting for that right in the courts.)

Some of the names being thrown around for DOJ appointments should send a chill down your spine. Abortion, Every Day sources tell us that Erin Hawley—the high-profile anti-abortion lawyer from Alliance Defending Freedom, involved in the Dobbs case, the mifepristone lawsuit, and EMTALA cases before the Supreme Court—is on a shortlist. Also being considered is Jonathan Mitchell, the anti-abortion lawyer behind Texas’ “bounty hunter” law and the “Sanctuary City of the Unborn” travel ban ordinances. These are the worst of the worst when it comes to abortion rights—giving them the reins of any federal agency (or even access to it!) would be a full nightmare.  Then there’s Project 2025. In addition to all of the attacks listed above, this conservative roadmap for forcing women back into the home calls for expanded ‘conscience laws’ to allow doctors, pharmacists, insurance companies, and employers to refuse to dispense or cover not just abortion—but birth control.

The plan also details how a Trump administration would gut Title X funding for contraception and use the program to focus on “fertility awareness and holistic family planning,” and to “provide educational information on healthy marriage and relationships.” In other words, they’d advocate for the rhythm method and push women into marriage. How would they do that? By directing that funding to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers—religious groups that oppose birth control.  The last thing Project 2025 would direct a Trump administration to do is collect massive amounts of data on abortion, support bad science and attack patient privacy—from laws forcing doctors to ask women invasive questions and report their answers to the state to the fabrication of abortion ‘complication’ data. In other words, a pregnancy surveillance system.

A Trump 2nd term would be a giant disaster for abortion access and reproductive health more broadly.

Vote Harris to protect abortion, birth control, IVF, and contraception.

[applythaivisa]

Thailand Education Visa

Thailand, a Southeast Asian gem renowned for its vibrant culture, stunning beaches, and delicious cuisine, is also gaining popularity as a destination for international students seeking quality education. To facilitate academic pursuits in the country, the Thai government offers a specific visa category: the Education Visa.

Eligibility for the Thailand Education Visa

To qualify for the Education Visa, you must meet the following criteria:

Admission Letter: You must have a confirmed admission letter from a recognized Thai educational institution.

Valid Passport: Your passport should be valid for at least six months beyond your intended stay in Thailand.

Financial Proof: You will need to provide evidence of sufficient funds to support your studies and living expenses in Thailand. This typically involves bank statements or proof of financial sponsorship.

Health Insurance: A valid health insurance policy that covers your entire stay in Thailand is required.

Applying for the Thailand Education Visa

The application process for the Education Visa can be completed at a Thai embassy or consulate in your home country. Here are the general steps involved:

Gather Required Documents: Collect all the necessary documents, including your admission letter, passport, financial proof, health insurance, and visa application form.

Submit Application: Visit the Thai embassy or consulate and submit your application along with the required documents and fees.

Interview (if necessary): In some cases, you may be required to attend an interview with a visa officer.

Wait for Approval: The processing time for the Education Visa can vary, so it's essential to apply well in advance of your intended arrival date.

Visa Extensions and Multiple Entries

If you plan to stay in Thailand for an extended period or need to travel outside the country during your studies, you may need to apply for a visa extension or multiple-entry visa. These applications can typically be made within Thailand.

Cost of Living and Accommodation

While the cost of living in Thailand is generally lower than in many Western countries, it's important to budget carefully. Accommodation costs can vary depending on the city and your preferred living arrangements.

Why Choose Thailand for Your Education?

Thailand offers a unique blend of academic opportunities and cultural experiences. Here are some reasons why international students choose to study in the country:

Affordable Education: Tuition fees at Thai universities are often more affordable compared to many Western countries.

Diverse Programs: Thailand offers a wide range of academic programs, from engineering and business to arts and humanities.

Cultural Immersion: Living in Thailand provides a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in a rich and diverse culture.

Beautiful Country: Thailand is known for its stunning landscapes, beaches, and friendly people.

If you're considering studying abroad, Thailand could be the perfect destination for you. By understanding the requirements for the Education Visa and planning ahead, you can make your academic journey in Thailand a rewarding and memorable experience.

[southeastasianists]

Malaysia is the 18th most dangerous travel destination in the world: report

Country rankings are fun when it makes your country superior to others, they can also be something you brag about, but not when it ranks your country as the 18th most dangerous travel destination in the world.

Malaysia had a depressing total score of -176.17, which translates to a D+, in a Travel Safety Index (TSI) assessment from the US insurance firm The Swiftest.

Fifty of the world’s most visited nations were ranked using information from recognized international organizations in accordance with seven categories.

The categories included in the list were: fatalities from homicide, fatalities from traffic accidents, fatalities from poisoning, fatalities from poor hygienic conditions, fatalities from communicable diseases, fatalities from injuries, and natural disaster risk index.

According to the chart, all 50 nations received grades ranging from A+ to F.

The results for Malaysia in each category are listed below, from highest to lowest:

Death from poor hygiene conditions: B+

Homicide deaths: B

Poisoning deaths: C

Injury life years lost: C-

Natural disaster risk index: D+

Road traffic deaths: F

Communicable disease life years lost: F

And of course, across the causeway, Singapore, was named the world’s safest travel destination.

With the exception of one category, communicable illness life years, the nation obtained A+ scores overall.

Singapore had a final grade of -43.43, or A+.