#the healthcare quality book

[rippleofchange]

The Secrets to Exceptional Healthcare Quality: A Must-Read Book for Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare quality is not just a goal—it’s a commitment to ensuring every patient receives the best care possible. Ripple of Change is a comprehensive guide that dives deep into what it takes to deliver truly exceptional healthcare. From strategies to reduce healthcare costs to calls for systemic reform, this healthcare quality book provides the tools and knowledge needed to make a real difference.

[nevermind-i-forgot-whats-that]

Sometimes, as much as I love internet communities and spaces, I really think a lot of people have spent so much time in sanitized, morally pure echo chambers that they lose sight of realism and life outside the internet.

I live in Alabama. My fiancée and I cannot hold hands down the street without fear of homophobic assholes. We have an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. We are one of the poorest states in the US with some of the lowest scores on metrics related to quality of life, including maternal mortality, healthcare, education, and violence. It’s not a coincidence that we are also one of the most red, one of the most Republican states in the Union. In 2017 the UN said the conditions in Alabama are similar to those in a third-world country.

Trump gave a voice to the most violently racist, sexist, xenophobic groups of people who, unfortunately for most of us in the Southern U.S., run our states and have only grown more powerful since his rise to power. The Deep South powers MAGA, and we all suffer for it.

We have no protections if they don’t come from the federal government.

I know people are suffering internationally and my heart is with them. However, this election is not just about foreign policy - we have millions of Americans right here at home living in danger, living in areas where they have been completely abandoned by their local leaders. We need this win.

No candidate is perfect, but for the first time in my voting lifetime I’m excited to vote. I’m excited for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket because they are addressing the issues close to home. They’re advocating for education as the ticket to a better life, but without the crippling student debt. They’re advocating for the right to love who you love without fear and with pride. Kamala has always been pro-LGBT+ and so has Tim. Again, if you’re queer in the South, we don’t have support unless it comes from the federal government, and we absolutely will not have support if the Republicans regain the White House.

Kamala speaks in length about re-entry programs to reduce recidivism and help people who have been arrested and imprisoned regain their lives. Tim Walz supported restoring voting rights to felons. In the South, you know who comprise the majority of felons? Members of minorities. It’s one of the major tools of systemic racism and mass disenfranchisement, and arguably the modern face of slavery (there are some fantastic documentaries and books that explain the connection between the post-Reconstruction South and the disproportionate rates of imprisonment for BIPOC). Having candidates who recognize this and want to restore the freedom and rights to people who have come into contact with the criminal justice system? And keep them from having to go to prison in the first place? That’s refreshing. That’s exciting.

I would *love* to live in a country where women’s rights are respected, where LGBT+ rights and protections are a given, where we treat former criminals and individuals experiencing mental health crises with respect and dignity. I would *love* to live in a country where education is free of religious interference and each and every citizen is entitled to a fair start and equal opportunities.

But I don’t live in that country. Millions and millions of Americans find their rights and freedoms up for debate and on the ballot.

Project 2025 poses the largest threat to the future of our democracy as we know it. We are being called to fight for the future of our country.

We have to put on our oxygen masks first before we can help others.

You don’t have moral purity when you wash your hands of the millions of us who are still fighting for own freedoms right here.

The reality is that a presidential candidate is a best fit, and not a perfect fit. But comparatively speaking? Kamala is pretty damn close.

[tenth-sentence]

The committee's report was hedged with cautions: the increase in the number of mental defectives did not necessarily result from proportionately more unfortunates being born; it no doubt expressed, among other things, that more were surviving into adulthood because of improved public-health services.

"In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity" - Daniel J. Kevles

[financeprincess]

Just know that the work you put into yourself will always compound and pay you back 100x. And there’s no rush to a finish line, everything is always a work in progress. I will never regret going to college, buying books, courses, classes, investing in hobbies, traveling, the gym and workout classes, high quality organic food, good healthcare, high quality clothing, taking care of my skin/hair/nails/teeth/brows/lashes/etc. because it all snowballs into the larger picture. No one can take your education from you. No one can take your fit body and healthy, glowing appearance from you. It takes real work day in and day out to have it all together. I’ve invested thousands of dollars and countless hours into myself and I would do it all again and then some. There is no easy fix and there is no get rich quick scheme. You know what you have to do, it just takes the courage to do it.

[ayeforscotland]

Review of Ted Kaczynski’s book, Industrial Society, by Luigi Mangione - alleged United Healthcare shooter.

———————————————————————

“Clearly written by a mathematics prodigy. Reads like a series of lemmas on the question of 21st century quality of life.

It's easy to quickly and thoughtless write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it's simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.

He was a violent individual - rightfully imprisoned - who maimed innocent people. While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary.

A take I found online that I think is interesting:

"Had the balls to recognize that peaceful protest has gotten us absolutely nowhere and at the end of the day, he's probably right. Oil barons haven't listened to any environmentalists, but they feared him.

When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it's not terrorism, it's war and revolution. Fossil fuel companies actively suppress anything that stands in their way and within a generation or two, it will begin costing human lives by greater and greater magnitudes until the earth is just a flaming ball orbiting third from the sun. Peaceful protest is outright ignored, economic protest isn't possible in the current system, so how long until we recognize that violence against those who lead us to such destruction is justified as self-defense.

These companies don't care about you, or your kids, or your grandkids. They have zero qualms about burning down the planet for a buck, so why should we have any qualms about burning them down to survive?

We're animals just like everything else on this planet, except we've forgotten the law of the jungle and bend over for our overlords when any other animal would recognize the threat and fight to the death for their survival. "Violence never solved anything" is a statement uttered by cowards and predators."

[hyggetrait]

🚑 Welcome to the White Willow Memorial Hospital 🏥

Functioning Hours:

Open 24 hours a day, 7 days week. 

White Willow Memorial is an integrated healthcare system providing quality care to local and global communities of the Sims world. Located in the central point of Magnolia Promenade, White Willow Memorial is acclaimed for its excellent care teams and specialist. With around the clock emergency room, two state of the art surgery room, a pediatric office, and a birthing suite for any expecting patient, White Willow Memorial staff is prepared to take the best care of you and your loved ones.

Gallery Id: NicoleSimblr (check the ‘include custom content’ or it won’t show up). Click here for the lite cc version.

Finally able to share the long-awaited hospital build. I hope you all love it and it lives up to your expectations! 

Floor plan and additional information, including CC list and how to set up birth suite below. 

Floor Plan

Important Information

Enable bb.moveobjects when placing down

I tried to playtest as much as I could for birthing experience but did not have time to try out with the doctor career, so I apologize in advance for any hiccups.

I used gshade preset spring bubbles by jayica, so colors might look different for you

Please tag me if you use this build, it makes me so happy to see my lots be part of your sims stories! 

This built was primarily made to be used with pandasama’s birthing mod. I recommend potentially removing the door (or locking access) to the pediatric room and the doctors office in the second floor to ensure your sim sticks to the birthing suite. 

Speaking of the birthing suite, if I want my sim to have a regular birth using the pandasama birth mod, then I start off with the default hospital bed already in the room and when the time comes to deliver I go into build mode (bb.enablefreebuild) and switch the hospital bed for the surgery machine. If you want to go c-section route then use the birthing suite up until its time and then go into the surgery room (I recommend the one at the very end of the hallway which has the baby decor)

CC Information 

Note the “*” denotes the costom content that is not required for functional gameplay but just simply decor to add more realism. Essentially, House of Harlix, Pierisims, and Tud’s CC are must.

Tuds - 2nd Wave Set (Couches all over the hospital)

Pierisims - The Office, MCM (for offices)

Harrie - Octave, Brownstone, spoons (windows, bookshelves, clutter)

Harlix - Livin Rum' (table), Tiny Twavellers (wallpaper)

PandaSama  - Birth Mod (for sonogram machine)

CharlyPancakes - The Lighthouse Collection (books in offices)

Awingedllama* - All sets (used plants for clutter)

Brazen Lotus - Party Poppers (balloons in maternity suite)

Aeonpixels *- Medicare Ads (not necessary but recommend for posters around hospital & meternity suite)

RVSN* - Skewl is Kewl (school board, not really needed just a detail)

Syboulette -Hippocrate Set (simlish service navigation sign in hallway and ambulance (note this is very high poly, you could just get a makeshift one from the gallery like I did for the cc lite version!)

[orcboxer]

listen 20 years ago i was happy and now i'm not so as far as i'm concerned yeah the world is getting worse

I grew up in a hyperreligious, hyperconservative family and church that was constantly convinced that we were living in The End Times and the future always looked bleak and every new problem was The Worst Things Have Ever Been and we were all miserable all the time. And when you believe without question that Things Are Always Getting Worse, that implies Things Were Better In The Past. And that's like, a cornerstone of right wing ideology. On the big picture, if you can't conceive of a better future, you won't bother trying to make one, and that makes you easier to control.

Now I can't speak to your personal life, of course, and I'll admit my life is better now than it was 20 years ago (I left the church, came out as gay, started treatment for my mental health, all that jazz). But I can tell you that the quality of life of the average human has improved, and things are, overall, largely improving on many different levels globally.

Over the past century, globally speaking, the average lifespan has increased, infant mortality has decreased, poverty has greatly decreased, education has become way more accessible, voter inequality has decreased, water quality has increased, food availability has greatly increased, access to healthcare has increased -- I could go on. You'd actually be really surprised how much better things have gotten. Every person I've "quizzed" on it has greatly underestimated the quantity of statistical improvement. It's like we're all conditioned to assume the worst.

It's easy to fixate on all the problems, and it doesn't help when that's all anyone ever talks about. But that's why it's so important to keep things in perspective. If a headline is like "525 billion tons of pollution is in the ocean" you just see a big number and assume it's bad, but you have no frame of reference for it so you're really just going on vibes. You gotta ask like. How much pollution was there last year? What is being counted as pollution? How did they arrive at this number? What initiatives are being taken to remove pollution? So on and so forth.

We are constantly flooded with hyperbolic doomerism and while there absolutely are very real problems that need urgent action (like climate change), it is also completely unhelpful to anyone for us to burn ourselves out trying to be The Correct Amount Of Upset about all the problems in the world all the time. You can't fix everything, you have limits, but there are things you can help with. Do those things and let yourself feel good about it. And let yourself actually appreciate the work that other people have done to make the world a better place. So many people whose names will never grace history books have paved the way for you to do your thing, and it's a damn shame all that work goes underappreciated by most folks.

Learn to question negative statements. If someone says "The world is getting worse" you should be asking, "By what metric?" And then you should be asking, "How can we improve those numbers?" I swear to god it makes a huge difference for your mental health.

[astroismypassion]

✨PART OF FORTUNE IN SIGNS AND HOUSES SERIES: 10TH HOUSE✨

Credit: Tumblr blog @astroismypassion

ARIES PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Aries and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via marketing or work in dynamic and fast-paced industries, via coaching, sports management, fitness entrepreneurship, coaching and mentoring services in connection with career development, leadership skills, personal empowerment, via work in innovation management, technology development, product development, especially emerging industries. You find abundance when you are bold, take risks, focus on ambitious goals, cultivate independence, build a strong public image and when you embrace leadership qualities.

TAURUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Taurus and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via work in finance, banking, investment, wealth management. Or via working as a realtor, property manager, real estate developer, via curating, selling or managing art collections, working as a chef, restaurateur or food critic. You find abundance in work in hospitality (managing hotels, resorts, spas), via work in landscape architecture or gardening, interior design, or as a performer, producer or manager, through farming, agricultural management or sustainable food production or creating an eco-friendly business. You feel abundant when you are focused on stability, value quality, when you are patient and persistent.

GEMINI PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Gemini and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via work as a journalist, writer, editor, public relations, marketing, working as PR specialist, brand manager, social media strategist, work as a teacher, lecturer, educational content creator, via writing content for blogs, websites or online platforms connected with technology, lifestyle, business. You find abundance when you write books (fiction or non-fiction), via work in technology sector, via technical writing, UX writing or product management, via event planning and work as a sales representative, account manager or business strategist. You feel abundant when you network actively, when you keep learning and embrace versatility.

CANCER PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Cancer and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via work in healthcare as a nurse, doctor or therapist, work in interior design or home décor, helping others create comfortable and nurturing spaces, work as a chef, baker or food critic, via handmade furniture, textiles or pottery, engaging in childcare, daycare management or family support services, via work in real estate, helping families find their ideal home. You feel abundant when you use emotional intelligence, emphasize nurturing and care.

LEO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Leo and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via pursuing a career in acting on stage, in film or on television, working as a musician, singer or performer, via directing or producing theatrical productions, films or TV shows, work in television, radio or digital broadcasting, you could work as a host, anchor or presenter, designer, stylist, model, painter, sculptor or graphic designer.

VIRGO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Virgo and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via offering personalized health and wellness service. You can offer remote fitness coaching, such as offering personalized fitness plans and virtual training sessions. You could work in mental health professions, like counselling or psychology, work as a nutritionist, dietitian, work as a proofreader or editor, work with biology, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics or with language or having an IT role (system analysis, IT support or cybersecurity). You feel abundant when you develop organizational skills, use analytical skills and when you seek structured environments.

LIBRA PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Libra and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via offering dance classes, via work in art curation, gallery management or the fines arts, helping to showcase and promote artists and their work, via a career in human resources, focusing on employee relations, conflict resolution, via talent management, recruitment or career coaching. You feel abundant when you work in fashion design, graphic design, visual arts, brand management and marketing. You feel abundant when you aim for balance and harmony, emphasize fairness and justice.

SCORPIO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Scorpio and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via forensic accounting, crisis counselling or support services, via a career in scientific research, forensic science, medical research, psychology, surgery, oncology, energy healing, finance, technology or wellness, via art therapy and filmmaking. You feel abundant when you embrace transformation, healing, use psychological insight, when you pursue authority and expertise.

SAGITTARIUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Sagittarius and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via travel blogging, vlogging or becoming a travel consultant. You find abundance via academic research, publishing, by becoming a travel consultant, tour guide, work in the tourism industry, work connected with educational, human rights and cultural exchange, via career as a spiritual teacher, counsellor, life coach, via theological or philosophical work, writing or teaching. You feel abundant when you cultivate optimism or enthusiasm, seek global or cultural perspectives, pursue knowledge or education and embrace exploration and travel.

CAPRICORN PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Capricorn Sun people in your life. You find abundance via work as a financial advisor or analyst, accounting, as a property developer, manager or investor, via work in property management, overseeing rental properties, commercial spaces or large residential complexes, via civil engineering, work in educational administration (school or college management). You feel abundant when you focus on long-term goals and value pragmatism and responsibility.

AQUARIUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Aquarius and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via buying and selling collectibles (stamps, coins, vintage items), creating eco-friendly products or services (zero-waste goods, sustainable fashion). You may also find abundance in esports coaching by offering coaching services for aspiring professional gamers. You feel abundant via work in scientific research, in fields like physics, astronomy, biotechnology and environmental science, work in roles focused on research and development, via digital marketing. You feel abundant when you are pursuing unconventional paths, via networking with like-minded individuals and align with social causes.

PISCES PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 10TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Pisces and Capricorn Sun people in your life. You can earn money via work in music as a composer, musician or performer, via a career in painting, illustration, sculpture or other visual arts, via hospice work, via work in non-profit sector, focusing on causes related to humanitarian aid, environmental conservation or social justice, work in hospitality, such as hotel management or event planning, via cultural exchange, guided tours or spiritual retreats. You feel abundant when you embrace your creative talents, cultivate compassion and empathy, when you explore spiritual and esoteric interests and when you focus on meaningful impact.

Credit: Tumblr blog @astroismypassion

[status-quo-book]

10 Fun Facts About My Book That Are Just *chefs kiss*

1) My main characters are autism coded, but aren’t 5 year old white boys! A black biologist boy and a South American forest girl with a hyper fixation on wildlife, what more could you want?

2) Due to living in an underground bunker for many generations, a lot of my characters have qualities that stem from a lack of genetic diversity. (Blindness, heterochromia, albinism, etc)

3) Every name is either from mythology, latin, biology words or the names of real scientists.

4) My forest girl isn’t from a primitive tribe that went feral after the apocalypse. Humanity wouldn’t just forget what democracy and healthcare are, so after a few years of anarchy, people slipped back into a functioning society. Though it's not a flawless system.

5) Catalyst (the substance that mutated everything and caused the apocalypse) is a water-soluble crystal. Each morning, the bark of the trees shimmers with a fine crystallised coating that crumbles away throughout the day.

6) Likewise, the morning fog is toxic and will crystallise your lungs!

7) Mutated animals and humans have no scars because their bodies can regenerate any lost cells (even whole limbs)

8) Even within one species, no two organisms evolve the same. Some humans adapt to live on the forest floor, or near the coast, while others are designed for mountains or desserts. Even within the same biomes, they adapt in a variety of ways.

9) Despite their animalistic traits, they have no relation to the animals they resemble. Canopy (female MC) resembles a monkey (as well as a cat and an African genet- an animal she’s never seen before) purely because she needed those traits to thrive in the treetops. She’s not part monkey. It’s all convergent and divergent evolution.

10) The capacity of the bunker is 500 people (the minimum the restart a species without genetic drift) but due to several incredibly corrupt place-holding practices, only 299 people made it in before the doors were finally sealed. This is the same survivor percentage as the titanic (59.9%).

[mr-laveau]

I told I would show up eventually and here I am (even tho i should be asleep)

for the design lab: Sweetheart oc

1. What's your listener's name and nickname?

Cassiel (chosen name), commonly referred to as Sneaks or Cass (still called Sweetheart by Milo)

2. What's their backstory?

Cassiel comes from a family of five, having one older and one younger brother (Jonah and Raphael respectively). He comes from a well-off family, high middle class, both parents work in healthcare. Their older brother is studying to become a surgeon, and their younger brother wants to become a sculptor but is being pressured to pursue a science instead. Typically Cass doesn’t get as much feedback about their carer from their parents. A few times it was suggested they should become a teacher or a lawyer, but Cass never liked the idea of those. He never considered going into medicine, since they knew how much it strained their family, and they wanted to do something outside of the beaten path. Make a name for themselves as *Cassiel* not as a Grandwood (family name). Because their parents worked such hectic hours, Cass was often the one to watch their little brother in the evenings/weekends, and did not have free time for themselves because of this. They were not a very social child either, obsessed with books—mystery books in particular—and pouring themselves into their studies so they don’t get chewed out for their grades. When they found out that they were empowered, being the only one in their family to be empowered, they were very freaked out. They were only 13, and had no one to turn to. One of his teachers, also empowered, alerts Mazeed al-Masih (goes by Maze generally) who is a department worker, and he teaches Cass everything they need to know. They find out the opportunities they now have because they are empowered, things he didn’t even dream about, and he sets off for DAMN university as soon as he’s graduated high school. DAMN is in a different state than Cass, despite being the closest, so this does separate them from their family, and they don’t make a habit of keeping in contact with anyone but their little brother. They make it their mission to become an Investigator, and the best one around at that.

3. What's the desired aesthetic of your listener character (punk, greaser, bimbo, scene kid, schoolgirl)?

Kinda thinking punk meets 1920’s investigator. If that makes sense. idk if it does.

4. What's your listener's gender presentation like?

Trans-masc, usually says that they’re non-binary. (they/he pronouns)

5. What's your listener's ethnicity?

Irish

6. What's your listener's age?

33

7. What's your listener's body type/build?

I’m not sure any official words for it, but like a volleyball/swimmer build (they played volleyball since middle school)

8. What's your listener's star sign?

Sagittarius

9. What are your listener's most important relationships and who are they connected to?

Familial (both found and blood): The pack, Mazeed, Raphael (little brother), their friends from DAMN, the rest of their family to an extent

10. What's your listener's hobbies/interests?

Reading, puzzles (both jigsaw and things like crosswords/sudoku/etc), walks/cafe visits to people watch, volleyball

11. If your listener was a deity from a known mythology, what deity would they be?

Athena

12. What Audio RP series are they from?

Redacted Audio (if you couldn’t tell)

13. What kind of lover are they to their partner/what kind of friend are they?

They’re pretty attentive to the ones they love. If there’s the tiniest thing that they notice they’re going to attempt to fix it. Very much a quality time/acts of service guy. Some would think that because of the effort they put into their work, they wouldn’t be a very good lover and those people are very very wrong. They will make time for everything (even if it nearly kills them)

14. What is something/are some things that your listener values?

Family, justice, quality time (if that counts??)

15. Pick a song that you think represents your listener.

Second Child, Restless Child by The Oh Hellos

16. What's the inspiration behind your listener's design?

Honestly a lot of Cass’ design/vibe is just a mash of a bunch of things I enjoy in a character, but the main thing i think of when i think of him is “tasks themselves with fixing the world” and a lot of 1920’s snuff films. Cass is definitely my most chaotic oc so far.

17. Could you give me a vague concept of what your listener's visual vibe is?

Fashionable when trying, very cozy when they’re not. They’re very intimidating when they dress up, usually has rings and the like on. If it’s for work, it’s very much business attire with a few personal touches that won’t get them in trouble (their rings, for example). If it’s a casual day in with Milo/the pack they let themselves dress cozier with over sized sweaters and such.

18. What are some extra tidbits you wanna tell me about your listener?

This kinda goes with the program but i kinda wanna stress how stubborn (maybe headstrong is a better word idk) they are. They will do something the hardest way because that’s how they started it and they don’t want to change plans now. They also have a necklace that their little brother gave them that they won’t take off. I think that’s all I wanna mention.

LaVeau-gue - design #004 - Sweetheart - Cassiel - Pluto

I haven't touched this series in a while but I'm back at it and starting it up slowly with Pluto's Sweetheart, Cassiel!

Design Notes

I would say this was difficult to design but that would be a lie. Instead I will say that it was fun to mess with this design.

First off, my major considerations were that this was a design for sweetheart, it was supposed to be inspired by Athena, it was noir punk and that you're a Percy Jackson fan (debatable since you like the movies but oookaaayyy/j).

So for this, I wanted to lean into different things; Cassiel should look put together but similalry uncooperative-you mention that growing up, they got good grades but did so for the sake of earning them to pass off as a good student rather than having a love for it. Additionally, the mention of their love of puzzles as well as their meticulous attention to detail concerning their loved ones gave me a good idea of what their shape language should be.

Cassiel reads someone who is somewhat athletic, attentive and keen to question things so while their hair might be slicked back, their posture upright and their attire somewhat kept, they do not concede to the complete idea of being wholely tidy by appearance. Following old british punk influence, I loosened Cassiel's tie, gave him a blue patch in their nice dress pants, added a blue studded belt and choker while also giving them a fishnet top which is more emo than punk but the addition of it feels it's anti-DUMP dresscode so I ran with that.

I did take note of Cassiel's penchant for dressing up and rings but elected that such a look would not be regular enough to make up for a complete design so I leaned away from that and into something that Cassiel would wear while in the field.

Finally, after those aspects, I then leaned into their athena inspiration and DUG for some inspiration from Epic The Musical-that led me to using blues and grays within the design BUT the majority of the influence came from the concept of barn owls. This shaped out with their hair being slicked back, their colour pallette mimicking the same distribution of colour across a barn owl's feathers as well as the framing of his face. As a smaller note, I gave them blonde hair and a grey streak as a callback to annabeth who sports that kind of hair in the PJO books if I'm not mistaken.

I hope I did you concept some justice with this design @agentplutonium!

[rippleofchange]

Healthcare Heroes: Inspiring Tales of Compassion and Courage

Discover inspirational stories for healthcare workers of healthcare professionals who go above and beyond to make a difference in their patients' lives. From selfless acts of kindness to extraordinary feats of bravery, these inspiring tales will uplift your spirits and remind you of the incredible work being done in the healthcare field.

[possessesnightshift]

I also think in all of these conversations the conversation about the "motive" is missing. The guy has an x-ray of his fucked up spinal fusion on his Twitter, people have researched everything about it but not talking about books he had listed talking about dealing with chronic pains and then some about depression and death. Accounts of his friends talking about him being bed ridden for days after bad flare ups. His reddit footprint being almost entirely about his health and problems with getting a suitable treatment.

This guy also seems like someone who was failed by the the healthcare system, lashing out at the system. Like yeah he is hot and all but he clearly didn't up and decide to kill someone just because. He had a clear motive because he was a victim of a system most people in this country are and people in charge don't gaf. People should be talking about that, about how insurance companies deny people their right to live a good quality of life or sometimes their right to live at all for profit.

Ah that's another really good point that I forgot about!

yeah seeing all the media pretend like the motive for this is some profound mystery when the bullets had the words "deny. defend. depose" etched onto them is quite evil on behalf of these news stations.

and i didn't mean to imply this guy's motive is entirely irrelevant to the narrative and class warfare. i was more just responding to the increasingly jokey and meme-oriented posts i kept seeing that were more subdued before we got flooded with all this info about the suspect.

but im just one guy after all, so im not gonna be preachy and pretend to have all the answers. we just gotta not let this important conversation die. ANY distractions are going to benefit the ceo class if we let them...

[kustas]

I'd love to hear your hashtag wha critical thoughts about recent developments if you feel like sharing them :)

I'll preface this with saying that for this answer I will not be making a distinction between my personal tastes and what is "objectively worst". The TLDR is I have felt like WHA's been dipping in quality since book 8 approximately.

One of WHA's strong points is its ongoing theme of accessibility, via its premise of how magic is purposefully restricted from people, and via its characters, mostly the kids, who showcase various life issues and allow the story to talk about how to solve them. Disability is an important one and was at the center of book 8, which is one of my favorites. You get to see Tartah and Coco work together for a goal (=making their friend a better mobility aid), and by doing so they brainstorm the why and then how which allows for complex notions to be carried out and explained to the reader. Cute story with touching implications that flows well. This quote in particular sums up so well what WHA is "about"

After this we transition rather brutally to the latest ongoing arc of the Silver Eve. This arc has been ongoing for years now, and three volumes, making it the longest so far, I'll come back to that, putting a star on it [*]. It delves further into aspects of accessibility the series had talked about before - access to magic, access to healthcare, and poverty. This is where this blog's namesake gets relevant. Custas is a kid who was already poor, who got badly wounded ending up disabled, and who because of that was stuck in a situation with no good endings: he can't make money in his state and needs money to get out of his state. On top of this gets added magic, and comes back the question at the center of WHA: Is it wrong to restrict the use of magic, and how?

After the arc is kickstarted by Custas getting his share of spilled beans of magical secrets revealed, enter immediatly strong players via ch.48's introduction of the Wise Ones and the king himself. The political aspect of how the world works was not mentioned before. Great chapter, interesting stuff all around, personally answered much of my questions. Immediatly after this chapter the focus in 49 fully switches to the Knights and their job, and the rest of the chapter is dedicated to a story of a sexual assault survivor and how she made it. It's a surprising topic to see pop up and it's handled with the respect it deserves. Chapter 50 goes back to Coco and her troubles. This concludes book 9 and...it makes for a Lot of stuff to deal with. Put a Second star on that. [**]

Addressing those stars before we move on:

[*] This arc is taking forever. WHA's arcs in earlier volumes only took a few chapters. This arc has taken three books thus far and I doubt we have reach its climax yet. I personally don't like it and it raises an issue the series did not have before: Will the payoff be worth it? Where it is worrying for the future of the series is that manga serialized regularly tend to up the stakes progressively until the end and it might...not work out.

[**] Too many things at once unresolved. This has already had consequences with the progressive vanishing of something WHA was once excellent at: sneakily introducing elements that get used a few arcs later in important ways. The manga has been, for a while now, accumulating unfinished plot threads via not answering the questions it opens and instead adding more and more characters. Jumping from a group of characters to another was not an issue beforehand because unlike this arc's, chapters took place at different times and/or in totally different places. The Silver Eve is both set in time AND place, making it hard to follow because all sideplot happen at once.

Book 10 continues to accumulate ongoing unresolved plots with: the royal family being shady, Agott's struggles irt. her mother, Dagda running around confused and tracked by the Knights, Custas and Ininia jumping Tartah and Coco, and Galga's accident + relationship.

Book 11 does the same adding Agott's crush on Coco, the actual festival, Jujy's inner troubles...Funnily enough, this page is a good summary of the ongoing mess.

Instead of solving all of this stuff we instead get stakes ramped up to 100 with the introduction of what I can only describe as a kaiju attack. As much as I love the horror and drama element, given what was already going on, this does NOT strike me as a good decision.

Now, we go back to the three latest chapters. These follow the same subplot: Custas' faction change and Coco's attempts to save him. This subplot has, to me, a whole lot of issues. Way earlier on in the story, even before Dagda's ambush, I had issues with how Custas was portrayed in relation to his anger, being drawn weirdly spooky for...a frustrated poor kid? Others have also pointed out it wasn't great to have one of your only dark skinned characters be a slum kid. Obviously given my handle on here, I am still a huge fan of the character. After chapter 45 (included), I already found it a bit tasteless to have so much horrors piled on him. WHA is a rather unsubtle series at time which I really, really dislike. Sure, makes it hard to miss the point, but when you're dealing with sensitive topics it can fall into touchy territory fast...

In the latest chapters, Coco appears to save Custas, the "how" part of her plan still being a mystery. Meanwhile, a timelooped and very confused Dagda looks for him, accompanied by Lulucy, who knows them both and is unaware of their ties with forbidden magic. She ends up telling him to abandon the faction he sided with by literally ripping off the brim of his hat with her magic. Meanwhile, Lulucy starts attacking him on sight. I have so, so so many issues with all of this.

Coco's story is about knowing the system in place sucks. Custas' story is about being screwed over by the same system. The story explicitly points those two out as mirrors: Custas is what would have happened to Coco without the right support. Coco's unique POV on the pointed hat witches shows us many prior times they are not the good guys. Hell, Custas himself talks about how the pointed hat's magical gatekeeping prevented him from living a better life.

To me, the point was supposed to be: the system in place doesn't work, which results in people in need not getting help. We loop back to the accessibility I started off mentioning. Yes, before the current system, bad things happened - but the current system is still allowing other bad things to happen now. So...why is Coco pushing Custas to join the pointed hats and abandon the faction he sided with? If a character who was upholding the status quo was doing so it would make sense (like Beldaruit) but Coco as a main character exists partially to point out why the pointed hats are not good. She demonstrates it to the reader via what happens to her AND knows it as a character. It comes off as inconsistent and frankly makes little sense.

Speaking of inconsistencies...why does Lulucy not recognize Custas, a child she's known for a while? Why does the young prince, introduced as a suspicious character on behalf of his family's unknown goals, become a helpful selfless little guy? Why are the Knights, originally introduced as an antagonistic faction because they are a milita enforcing the status quo, suddenly portrayed as fighting for good as a bunch of remarkable individuals?

Ah yes, the cops. I'm going to address something really fast about them. It makes me frankly uncomfortable the author chose their faction to evoke the two very sensitive topics of sexual assault and homophobia. I think the way those topics themselves were handled without greater context was surprisingly good, and it's touching in the first place to see an author who not only cares, but uses her series, destined partially for younger readers, to explain why she cares. However, Witch Hat is a very black and white series: the bad guys are bad and ugly and you should dislike them, the good guys are good and you should like them. There are some exceptions but who have been losing steam as of late. While originally introduced as a group of individuals who act in problematic ways for their day job, the Knights have slowly lost that bad guy flavor to become a fun band of colleagues/friends. They are law enforcers who enforce unjust laws, but it seems that the author's not on board with people hating them because this is the second time she gave a Knight a tragic backstory that makes them more sympathetic to the reader. First of: I do not see what's to redeem about them if the story's about changing an unjust system, so I don't get the necessity to make them nicer. Secondly: at least in my country (which has legal gay marriage and notably less sexist than Japan) law enforcement is renowned to not help sexual assault victims or gay people. The Knights Moralis are fantasy cops and cops, in real life, tend to abandon people who need their help regarding those two issues - if not worsen them, and count a majority of sexists/homophobes among their ranks. Making your unsubtly cop stand-in faction have both characters with those issues comes off as at least a poor decision if not bad taste.

(big words from the guys introduced in the story by arresting a bunch of children who were on a rescue mission for a misunderstanding they would not have cared about. Die idgaf)

Some more surface level things:

The art. The first books of WHA are noticeably more complex in their style featuring more reaslistic proportions for the characters. Latest arc has seen art lose some of the decorative "classic" flair in the linework and characters looking simpler and stylized to look way...Younger? In a way I do not like. Yes, it's expected for manga series to see their style evolve. I also want to make this clear: I consider the pace imposed on manga artists to be inhumane and if Shirahama had decided to draw her manga as stick figures to work less I'd be down for it.

The dialog. While WHA is very in your face (you may call it preachy) the dialog in the latest chapters especially Coco's feels off. A 12yo wouldn't give off speeches about the world in the heat of battle. When it's a calm scene between two characters discussing a deep thing, sure. When it's an epic public adult figure (see: Dean), sure. I'd prefer having the kids talk like kids.

Goddamn the story has become less nuanced and subtle over the time. Scenes like Qifrey getting confronted by Tartah post mindwiping his grandpa owned. The story's current "morally grey" moments just don't do it for me anymore. No, I don't want the witch politicians of the faction you established as a mistake beforehand to continue. I don't care if the fantasy cops are offended by a grieving husband pointing out they suck. I kinda wish he'd thrown hands actually

So...yeah, that's about it. While WHA's plot beats has always been impossible for me to predict, I don't know if I can trust where the story is going anymore. The fans eating it up confuse me and I might even get hate for posting this. Truth is, while some aspects have always been more or less present in the series since the start, I've felt like the really good bits that balanced it out have been going extinct. I don't know why and it's none of my business to. Some friends have pointed out we might be reaching a point where the author ran out of pre-written story and is now improvising. What's a bit concerning to me is I've also noticed she's way less active on social media, where she used to post regular bonus material for the series, this has stopped and I hope it's not because she lost her interest for the series or way worst, is overworked. Given the conditions for mangaka it wouldn't be impossible and like previously stated, I am of the opinion that no comic book series is worth putting their author's life, health and free time down. It's more important than me disliking the comic.

And regarding Custas - him joining the atelier to study with Qifrey would not be a good ending, no matter what the fandom says. It won't be cute found family. Custas has a family who's unique member wouldn't be able to follow him as a witch. That ending would separate a very traumatized child from the only adult he has in his life that gives him unconditional love and support. Custas needs to not be seen as a criminal so the rest of his life won't be over, and also a whole bunch of cash.

I'm not excited for the anime.

[financeprincess]

I spent, at a minimum, at least $500-$1,000 a month exclusively on my self improvement. Here is most of what I spend on, in no particular order:

Education (classes, books, courses, certifications, college tuition, seminars, etc.)

Private lessons for languages, musical instruments, sports, etc.

Personal hobbies and passion projects

Crest whitening strips (great when in a pinch), Invisalign, professional whitening, preventative dental care, prescription whitening products from my dentist

Investments such as index funds, REITs, ETFs, CDs, individual stocks, commodities, appreciative luxury items, precious metals & gems, etc.

Organic food, vitamins, supplements, high quality healthcare, therapy, massages, prescriptions (Rx skincare, etc.)

New glasses & contacts (getting some bayonetta glasses from Burberry soon, very excited)

Sports, gym membership + sauna, hot yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, tennis, skiing, dance, etc.

Personal care such as bath/shower products, body care, haircare, skincare, makeup, brightening eye drops, perfume, etc.

Travel, events, concerts, festivals, etc.

Shopping (clothes, accessories, home goods, etc.)

Eating out at restaurants and going to coffee shops

Beauty treatments such as manicures, pedicures, waxes, brow tint & threading, salon blowouts, hair cuts & colors, facials, lash lift & tints, vitamin IVs, etc.

Regular visits to my dermatologist, dentist, psychiatrist, eye doctor, primary care physician, gynecologist, and any other specialists

Semi-regular appointments with a personal trainer, holistic nutritionist, and dietitian

I don't do all of these every single month, but most of these are recurring throughout the year and budgeted accordingly. Eventually I might add in more intense cosmetic work like medspa services, Botox, etc. If you can find a workplace with a great benefits package such as high quality healthcare, an HSA/FSA, health & wellness reimbursements for the gym, disability & life insurance, etc. I would highly recommend it and max out all the benefits you can.

[hellyeahscarleteen]

"The places where having disability can make sex different or more difficult often aren't so much about having bodies that might work or not in different ways than for others, but about lack of access to sexual partners and partnerships (both in terms of attitudes, but also per literal accessibility, like wheelchair access), lack of access to sex education, birth control⁠ or sexual healthcare that others are provided, and social issues, like finding partners who are evolved or open-minded enough in their own sexuality to accept that bodies are unique and that there are far more than just one or a few ways to be sexual.

That last bit can be and often is a problem for everyone who wants a quality sexual life, not just for disabled people. If you or a partner have ever asked yourself, each other or someone else (like us!) why you or someone else can't do something sexual you "should" be able to, why you or someone else don't like something they or you "should," or you or a partner have struggled with trying to make something work or feel good that just will not work or feel good, then it's been or is a problem for you. If you've driven yourself to tears to try and make something feel good for yourself that didn't but that a partner wants to do, if you've kept trying to do something with a partner that clearly doesn't work for them, then it's been or is a problem for you. If you've worked to try and resemble someone else's fantasy instead of being your own reality, then it's been a problem for you. If you've used a term like "real sex" to describe one given activity or way of having sex, then it's been a problem for you.

The problem isn't your body or mind or someone else's body or mind not doing what they are supposed to, because when we're doing it right, there just isn't a supposed-to in sex. I know, I know: you can pick up a ton of magazines or books that tell you there is. But they only keep saying that because they both make gobloads of money on all the folks who want to badly to believe it's all that simple and homogeneous, and because most of the folks who write that stuff themselves haven't outgrown that way of thinking, which is a pity for everyone. The problem is staying stuck in ideas about or definitions of sex that might be someone else's that work for them (or don't, but they still cling to them all the same), but which won't or don't work for you, and not recognizing that the aim is to explore and find what works for you, uniquely, rather than reading from someone else's script based in fantasy or in someone else's body or sexuality."

Heather Corrina, Disability Dharma: What Including & Learning From Disability Can Teach (Everyone) About Sex

[ohsalome]

(story taken and machine-translated from the official twitter account of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea)

Today's story is about a woman who was detained by the occupiers in the spring of 2022 and illegally sentenced to almost 7 years in prison. Iryna Danylovych is a nurse and citizen journalist.

She was threatened, blackmailed and forced to confess to things she did not do. Now Irina is in a Russian colony, her health is deteriorating due to the lack of quality and timely medical care.

Iryna Danylovych worked as a nurse at the Malachite rehabilitation center in Koktebel, maintained a social media page and several blog columns on the rights of healthcare workers and healthcare issues in the occupied Crimea.

The occupation forces abducted Iryna Danylovych in April 2022. She was returning from a night shift at the hospital when the occupiers searched her house and seized all her appliances, several books and documents.

There was no contact with Irina for more than a week. She was illegally detained by the FSB: she was subjected to psychological pressure, beaten, threatened with death, interrogated on a polygraph, threatened to be "taken to the forest" (ed. - meaning killed and buried in the forest) or "to Mariupol" (once again, killed), fed once a day, and not allowed to go to the restroom.

Eventually, the occupiers informed her relatives that a decision had been made to place her under "administrative arrest", allegedly because "she had transferred unclassified materials to another country". Later, they fabricated a "case" against Irina accusing her of "illegal actions with explosives."

The "proof" was the "discovery" of 200 grams of explosives in Irina's bag. And only on May 11, the lawyer managed to establish that she was in the occupation pre-trial detention center in Simferopol.

The "arrest warrant" was issued by the occupation "court" during a closed court session - without the participation of listeners, journalists, or Irina's relatives.

But the real reason for the detention is different. For covering the problems of the healthcare system, the crimes of the occupiers, as well as for protecting and promoting the rights of healthcare workers in the occupied Crimea.

Iryna was one of the first correspondents of the Crimean Process; she supported Crimean Tatar activists in the "courts"; prepared materials for the editorial office of Inzhyr Media; supported medical activists, recorded violations of rights under occupation.

According to Irina, she was kidnapped, taken to Simferopol and illegally detained in a basement, tortured and starved, and forced to sign a confession under threat of death, having been viciously planted with explosives after the "confession" had been forcibly extracted.

Complete hearing loss in the left ear, deprivation of necessary medications, suffering from headaches and earaches. This is what Iryna is going through now.

Irina was transferred to the Krasnodar Women's Correctional Colony No. 7 in Zelenokumsk. Every day, Irina's health condition deteriorated: in the occupation prisons, she gradually lost hearing in her left ear, developed otitis media, constant headaches and dizziness.

Back in July 2022, the political prisoner reported being beaten by an FSB convoy and psychological pressure exerted on her by Russian security forces. The occupiers also took away the opportunity to read, not returning the collection of poems.

To get medical help, she went on a hunger strike, but stopped it after 10 days, believing the promises of the SIZO administration, but no one has treated her and is not going to, watching the prisoner's health deteriorate.

According to her father, the colony allocates 90 minutes for the distribution of medicines twice a week: on Tuesday and Thursday. During this time, only 20-30 people out of a queue of several hundred prisoners manage to receive them.

"There are periodic fights among the patients for the opportunity to be in the front of the line and receive medicines. Iryna does not participate in this and has been deprived of access to the medicines prescribed by doctors, which we regularly send in parcels, for several months now," her father said.

Despite the illegal actions, torture and pressure, the occupiers failed to break the Ukrainian journalist, she continues to support Ukraine and believe that she will soon return home. "Only in such a strong Ukraine could such a strong you be born," said Iryna's father Bronislav.

Even behind bars, Iryna Danylovych continues to resist the occupiers and support Ukraine. The song "I am free!" performed by her is a symbol of disobedience and struggle, which the occupiers do not like, and the tattoo on her body that reads "Freedom is our religion" is her life's credo.