#the one i ordered off amazon got cancelled but i found one on ebay for 3 times cheaper so we win

[iridescentis]

my ii dvd arrived like 2 weeks ago and i still haven't gotten around to watching it it's just been sadly neglected on my bookshelf :'(

i need to sort out some form of dvd player which requires effort because i do have one but that means unplugging one of my monitors from my pc and putting it into the dvd player which frightens me

[rosecorcoranwrites]

Censorship and Banning Books

As I mentioned in my last Rant Rave Review, as of last Monday, six books by Dr. Seuss are now officially out-of-print, and they are out of print due to supposedly racist, offensive, and/or stereotypical images. The company that owns the rights to these books is no longer publishing them and some websites are no longer selling them. People who do own the books, or who swooped into stores and bought them the day of the announcement, are now selling them for hundreds or thousands of dollars. So, what are we to make of all this?

Is Dr. Seuss Racist?

There are actually three questions here: is the man racist, are his books racist, and are those images racist? The answer to the first is, he kinda was, and then he got over it. During the war, he was openly against the Japanese, and in favor of the internment camps, then went to Japan during the occupation and realized, hey, maybe these are just people. Apparently, he wrote Horton Hears a Who in response to the US occupation and dedicated it to a Japanese friend. People can change, if you let them.

Okay, well, what about his books? This is an obvious "no". Race basically doesn't come up in Dr. Seuss stories, except "The Sneetches", which is actively against racism. Which, in some people's fevered imaginations, makes it racist. Yes, in some Olympic-level mental gymnastics, saying that whatever race you are isn't important, ie being against "racial essentialism" means that you are a racist. Such people think that the story doesn't address "structures of power" and "systemic oppression". This is true. It's instead a story about a sleazy businessman who goes in and preys on existing racial biases in order to make a buck, constantly telling people to think of their identities in terms of their outward appearance. You'd think the racial essentialists would appreciate the representation.

But I digress.

What about the images themselves? Are they racist? Not having seen all of them, I can't say for sure, but some are definitely cringy. Take the yellow skinned "Chinaman who eats with sticks" in And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Though one could argue that the entire book uses only five colors: yellow, red, blue, and touches of purple and green, this man is the only human whose skin is colored at all. Later editions of this book have actually changed the image and text:

Honestly, I think this is fine. The meter still scans, and the image isn't straight-up removed. I mean, we could maybe discuss whether it's okay to alter an author's work, but he was alive when at least one of these these changes was made, so I think he allowed it.

Next we have some from If I Ran the Zoo, like this one, of some Asian dudes who "all wear their eyes at a slant":

I think, in this case, the text is the problem, but not the picture. Though some describe this image as "exotified", I think it's more just exaggerated, as are most of Dr. Seuss's characters. He doesn't do things half way. Aside from that, the picture is kind of cute and silly; nothing in it is derogatory or mean to the helpers. The text on the other hand... oof. Yeah, I would say this is a true example of something "offensive". I could see changing that (as long as the meter still scans!).

And then there are the fellows holding the tufted mazurka:

That's pretty bad. So bad that as a child, I don't think I actually registered that those were supposed to be humans, but rather other Seussian creatures. It doesn't help, again, that in his color pallet, people that would ordinarily be brown are now black-black, not unlike the most racist images of yesteryear. But the fact that their lips are left uncolored, I think, is what gets me. It's a little too close to black-face for comfort. Again, I think it would be okay to alter the image: color in their lips, change the shading. I know some people quibble with their costume, but some peoples do wear little amounts of clothing, so I don't think thats the issue here.

I can't speak to the other books, because I haven't seen those pictures, but I would say, yeah, some of the images and phrasing are problematic. I don't think that means the books are racist. Seuss isn't saying the Asian helpers or the African mazurka wranglers are less than the white child running the zoo. He is exotifying them to some degree, but the degree to which that is being done can, I believe, be fixed with very minor alterations.

Should the Books Be Banned?

Again, I think there are a couple questions here: are these books being banned, and should they be banned?

In our increasingly-willing-to-cancel culture, people like to talk about the difference between government censorship vs. corporate censorship, which is a valid topic. But when it comes to huge corporations like Amazon banning books from their website for hate speech or Ebay halting the ability of vendors to sell certain titles on their platform, to say "it’s a private corporation, so it's not censorship" is disingenuous. Maybe it doesn't violate the First Amendment, but it is censorship. A single bookstore refusing to sell a book, a single library refusing to carry a book, is censorship.

A single company that owns the rights to a book refusing to sell it is 100% censorship. I'm personally offended by the idea of any book being out-of-print in the day and age of print-on-demand, but I'm especially sickened when companies pull this nonsense. This is similar to foreign companies who refuse to publish novels, games, and videos in English copyright striking fanlations; they are not losing money, so why do they care?

In the case of the Seuss estate, or whoever owns the rights, all that they are doing is denying poor people access to books. That's right, if you can shell out $786 for a children's book, you can read these delightful stories. What's that? You're a single mom who works two jobs? Well, sucks to be you.

What's really vile is that people are saying, "It's only six books. You still have the others." First off, this is admitting that those six books are now censored and unavailable. Secondly, this is a stupid argument. It's like saying, "Well, the Nazi's didn't burn every book in Germany. There were plenty of others." What if I wanted to read the ones that were burned?

And that brings us to the question of whether or not those books ought to be banned. Heck, should they even be altered? Some of you might have balked at my saying I was fine with the images being changed; isn't that censorship? I think that would take it's own blog post, but here I'll just say that I don't think the changes I discussed would really alter the content, message, or meaning of the work. That being said, I don't think you have to change the images either.

That is, I think it's okay to publish, purchase, own, and read problematic material. As many commentators have pointed out, no child is going to be made into a racist by reading these books or seeing these images. Any racist or even iffy overtones are going to go right over their heads unless parents point them out. If, in the one in a million chance, your child actually notices anything wrong with the images, like "why is his skin yellow?" or something, then you can have a conversation about how sometimes, back in the day, people drew some not-so-nice pictures of Asian people and thought their skin should be painted as yellow, but we don't do that anymore, but this book was written a long time ago, etc etc. If they ask about what a Chinaman is, say it's an old word for a Chinese person, but you should never say it, because it can hurt people's feelings. Talk to your children; it isn't hard.

Should Any Books Be Banned

If you've been paying attention to what's been happening in book land lately, you'll know that Dr. Seuss's books are not the first to be put on the chopping block. Last year, Abigail Shrier's book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, was removed from Target due to requests of trans activists. It was returned after backlash. Now I think it might be banned again? Who can even keep up anymore. Similarly, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, by Ryan T. Anderson, has now been removed from Amazon for being "hate speech".

In the microcosm of the library world, I've had some people take issue with certain controversial books. When processing our new books, my part-timer picked up Irreversible Damage and asked, "Did someone request this?" as if we shouldn't have ordered it if they didn't. Both that book, and White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo, were face out in our new book area, since they were the newest books. The former was turned backwards or put spine out with the older books multiple time by patrons, the latter turned backwards once. During the election, I found books for and against Trump hidden behind other books.

My question for people who do this in the library, and for corporations who do essentially the same thing on a massive scale, is who exactly do you think you are helping? Do you think anyone's mind is going to be changed on Trump? Or transgenderism, or white fragility, just by reading a book?

If the answer is "no", then why bother banning or hiding them? If the answer is yes, then that means you think books have the power to change minds, but you want to deny that opportunity to people. Rather than debating ideas, or writing a better book, or showing people why they shouldn't think a certain way, people are increasingly trying to banish certain ideas entirely. How dare an author question X, Y, or Z idea? How dare people be allowed to have an opinion different from the one we say they should!

What's so frustrating about cancel culture and censorship is that people think they really are trying to do the right thing. What they don't realize is, the people they cancel also think they are doing the right thing.

Take Irreversible Damage: obviously, those that want it banned think that trans kids will be hurt by the ideas expressed in the book, that they will be denied hormones and surgeries and so forth. I'm sure Abigail Shrier believes that trans kids would be hurt by no one examining the idea of wether or not they should be given hormones and surgeries as minors. Both sides care about kids. Both sides are trying to figure out how to help people. If you think that Shrier is wrong and her book is dangerous, then write a more compelling argument explaining why she's wrong.

An example of the right way to go about this is with White Fragility, a book that some people see as problematic, if not racist against white people or black people or both. People have written books specifically refuting the ideas in the book. Others have compiled titles that handle race more tactfully and that can be read instead. And that's the thing; you can choose what to read. You can choose never to read a book deemed problematic, but you have no right to take that choice away from other people.

Where Do Libraries Fall Into All This?

That "right to read" is one of the pillars or librarianship. The reason libraries exist is so that all people, regardless of money, have equal access to books, movies, and other aspects of our shared culture. We librarians understand that books are important not just for education, but also entertainment and escape. Stories are how we as humans process ideas, and everyone has a right to expose themselves to ideas--even controversial or dangerous or flat out wrong ones. They have the right to examine different sides of an issue and form their own conclusions. To try and control what a person reads is to try and control what they think, and no government or corporation has that right.

Thus, libraries don't ban books, wether those books are literary classics, modern treatises on current events and ideologies, or silly picture books by Dr. Seuss.

So it was with some concern that I got an email saying that our county library district would be taking the six Seuss books in question out of circulation. The rationale was that, given that a single book was selling for hundreds or thousands of dollars, some sticky-fingered patrons might steal then from the shelves or "lose" them after checking them out.

Though this logic was sound, I still had misgivings, especially because of incidences of library censorship in the past. Yes, even libraries have not been immune to the scourge. During the Cold War, some libraries would keep books about communism behind the reference desk so that people would have to ask to read them in the library. Not only did this potentially help identify commies, it also discouraged people from reading the books.

Thus, when our new policy is to keep the Seuss books "at the desk" and only let them be read in the library, is that not censorship? Is this accidental censorship, or perhaps intended by the very cancel culturists who want all problematic books to be sent down the memory hole?

No, I don't think it is, because--despite what the very mob who’s in favor of all of this would have you believe--intention matters. Reasons matter. We are not trying to make the books harder to read; we're trying to keep the books from becoming impossible to read. By protecting the books from theft, we're ensuring that the poor as well as the rich can enjoy Dr. Seuss's stories. This, in my mind, is similar to chained up bibles: it looks bad, until you remember that books were rare and expensive, and illuminated manuscripts even more so. If someone steals a book, no one gets to read it, but if a book is under lock and key, some people still can.

Of course, everyone could, if companies would simply stop censoring books, if stores would stop banning them, and if well-intentioned but short-sighted activists would stop digitally burning them. But maybe that's too much to hope for at present. For now, we librarians will have the books safe and sound for when you want to read them. You have only to ask.

[sakyou]

Supporting Rejet & Where to Shop

Watching the Rejet live stream was a real eye opener to see the extent of piracy and illegal uploads and how badly it is effecting Rejet as a company.

For those who didn’t or couldn’t watch just to put it in perspective;

Rejet get on average 200 copyright infringement notices a month

Most of these are from Youtube with Iwasaki-san pointing out that on one particular day in June alone they had received over 100 of these just on Diabolik Lovers content. Iwasaki-san sees them all and it’s really disheartening (he has also tweeted about this in the past).

Some of you may be thinking so what? Well to put it simply it eats into the company’s profits and makes some things no longer viable to produce. For example, the Rejet Fes DVDs that comes out each year. As a result of pirating producing these DVDs is no longer viable and they have ceased production of future Rejet Fes DVDs for the time being. 

But what about games? Rejet doesn’t make as many as they would like is because frankly it would run the company into the ground. Iwasaki-san went into greater detail in the livestream breaking down costs and reasons, but to summarize they cost more than CDs to make and take a long time to get a return on. Plus there’s production numbers to consider and the movement of people to mobile gaming.

So what can we do? I know Piracy is always going to happen and not everyone can afford to buy everything, but at least try not to post download links, CDs, videos, etc somewhere 1000+ people are gonna see and use it as oppose to just you and a few friends. 

Rejet is not as big as the international fandom seems to think it is.

(Ive included some links and tips when it comes to shopping around for goods under the cut.)

Where to Shop: 

AmazonJP (Click globe at top to change site to English) - Ships worldwide

I recommend this site if you’re from a country that gets charged customs tax alot. Amazon will charge you money in advance to cover customs taxes which can save you money having to deal with shipping and handling. Any money not used will then be refunded to you a couple of months later

Only DHL shipping for international customers (can be pricey)

Points on certain goods which can be used as money off future orders

Payment is taken upon shipping, you can cancel your order any time before then

Does not accept Paypal(?)

CDJapan (English)  - Ships worldwide

Multiple shipping options from SAL to Fedex

More likely to have preorder bonuses

Points system 

Amiami (English) - Ships worldwide

Order now pay later system

Multiple shipping options

Tends to have store exclusive preorder bonuses

Prices usually cheaper

Points system

Mandarake (English) - Ships worldwide

I have not personally used their global site myself but good place to look for harder to find goods

Proxy Service (Various) - Ships worldwide

If you want to buy from Skit Dolce, Stellaworth, Animate, Etc for store exclusive bonuses and goods you’ll need a proxy. They can vary from simple forwarding in which you make the purchase and send it to them for shipping to you or they can order it for you. 

Fees can be expensive

If you’re going down the forwarding route a lot of JP stores only accept credit cards

Animate International (English) - Ships worldwide [added 08/29]

The international branch of Animate

Buy directly from Animate 

Listings tend to include preorder bonuses also found on their JP site (Please check each listing before ordering)

Selection not as large as their JP site but they’re constantly adding to it

Shipping can in some cases work out to be more expensive than using a proxy but it’s a lot less of a hassle to buy direct

I have not bought from them personally but quite a few people have suggested them

Tips:

Avoid Ebay

Unless the seller is local to you goods tend to be extremely overpriced

For me personally using any other site but Ebay for the same goods tends to work out way cheaper

Look for sellers on Myfigurecollection and SNS sites

These can often end up being cheaper than Ebay (I got an original release Kanato plushie in near mint condition for under RRP a while back whereas it was 4 times the price on ebay)

Remember to do your research and ask plenty of questions if you aren’t sure. Better to be safe than scammed

Join box splits

These days a lot of people here on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter host box splits for goods. It can be a cheaper way to get your favourite without having to buy a whole box or paying an arm and a leg on ebay

Myfigurecollection is a great place to look for box splits 

Please be sure to check the legitimacy of the host before partaking or sending any money

Also make sure you’ve taken all the listed costs into consideration and are 100% certain before joining a split

Bundle your order

Bit of an obvious one but if you plan to buy 1 item that comes out this month and 1 next month bundle them into one order to save on shipping

If you have local friends you can even bundle your orders together and split the shipping

Ask for CDs/Games/Merch for your Birthday/Christmas

If you can’t afford to buy goods yourself maybe ask family or friends to get you something instead only if they can though

[whyinever-blog-blog]

Monday, WEEK 16, July 13, COVID-19 ramping up in most states, Phase 2 Reopening delayed until July 17, Living in MASK MAYHEM

We have a few orders to ship today. We don’t have to water this morning since we had a big storm overnight. It’d be great if it rained every night honestly!

I have my month later checkup with Orthopedic doc. Things are fine, but particular movements slower to recover. So he recommends I get a contraption that will help hold difficult positions (that frickin hurt) because the “time holding” that position is what makes the wrist loosen up. I also have PT today. She helps me simulate things I would do at work next month and it’s REALLY helpful. Like really helpful. I think I can do my work, with modified use of my wrist. And hoping the wrist improves in the next couple of weeks too.

I ordered a box full of used books from EBay for us to read. A grab bag. 20 books for $20. It was a box of “thriller/mystery” genre books. I will pass them on after we read them!

My friend Carla posted this and I’m sharing. No one knows who wrote it so far but it’s hilarious!

😂 Dear Diary 2020 Edition,

In ❄️ January, 🔥 Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran 🇮🇷 . We might actually still be almost at war with them 🤔. I don’t know, because 👩 Jen Aniston and 👨🏻 Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards 🏆 show and everyone flipped the crap out 😲, but then there was this thing happening in 🦇 🇨🇳 China, then 👑 Prince Harry and Megan ✌🏼 peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial 👩‍⚖️ , and then corona virus 🦠 showed up in the US ✔️“officially,” but then 🏀 Kobe died 😭and UK 🇬🇧 peaced out of the European Union.

In February, 🌽 Iowa crapped 💩 itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the 👩🏼‍💼Speaker of the House took ten. Whole. years. to rip up a speech , but then The👨‍🔬 🌎WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused 🤔some really important people 👔 in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty👨🏻‍⚖️, and 🇺🇸 Americans started asking if Corona beer 🍺 was safe to drink🤦🏻‍♀️, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor 👨‍⚕️ who just knew the 🤒flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, stuff hit the fan👿. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust 💥, but then Italy 🇮🇹 shut its whole country down 🚷, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a 😱pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency 🆘was declared in US 🇺🇸 , but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu 💁🏻‍♀️, but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? 💡 I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks👨🏻, get y’all to close all of the schools so y’all can 🙏🏼 appreciate teachers 👩‍🏫 for once (because you can’t teach them anything other than how to use a touch screen🤦🏻‍♀️ ) close down all of salons so you can’t get your 💇‍♂️ hair or your nails done💅 , everyone had to work from home and attend Zoom meetings in their underwear. The 📉 DOW took a crap 💩 on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing 🤔 (I still don’t), We were then all introduced to 🐅 Tiger King and the ONE thing we can all agree on this year , 👍🏼Carol totally killed her husband⚰️ ..... whacked him! And then Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross and were all searching for lotion now. Oh and during all this there was an earthquake with multiple after shocks.

In 🌧 April, Bernie finally busted✌🏼 himself out of the presidential race 🏃 , but then NYC 🗽became the set of The Walking Dead 💀 and we learned that no one has face masks 😷, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID , and by now our 🦁outgrowth is showing, so there’s a shortage on 📦 box hair dye and all of our hair dressers are like , 😱 NO DONT DO IT!!! But, then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life … or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released 🎥 videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In 💐 May, the biblical end times kicked off , historical locust swarms, we learned of murder hornets 🐝 and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games🙈 however people forgot to let us know. people legit started to protest lockdown measures with 🔫 AR-15s, 🏀⚾️sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were 🗣protests in every city🌃 ,which was confusing to some of us because people were definitely gathering in 👫crowds of more than 🖐🏼🤚🏼10 and for sure closer than 6 foot away ⬅️➡️from each other . Those people must have forgotten about the 😖pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media 📺 🗞 struggled with how to 🤬focus on two important things at once, people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing. A dead whale 🐋 was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest 🌳 after monkeys 🐒 stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab 🔬 and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid ☄️ narrowly missed the Earth🌍.

In ☀️ June, science and common sense just got thrown 🤾🏼 straight out the window and somehow 😷 wearing masks became a 🏛political thing, but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a ✝️God given right (still haven't found that part in the bible or even in the constitution). then 👨‍🔬scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like 🙅🏽‍♂️🙅🏻‍♀️🚧DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind 💨 was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange 🛰radio signal coming from somewhere in the universe 🌌 that repeats itself every so many days 🗓 , and everyone was like 👽 DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT‼️🚫 but then America reopened 🙌🏼from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly .... not that great 👎🏼. All of the Karen’s came out at once, and people started tearing down 🔨 statues. Everyone is on Facebook arguing 🤼‍♀️ that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works 👃🏼, but then Florida 🏖 was like hold my beer 🍺 and let me show you how we’re number one 🥇 in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Coronavirus. Trump 👱🏻‍♂️decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court 🏛 to shut down ❌Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic 💁🏻‍♀️ , but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud ☁️ coming straight at us 📍from the Sahara Desert 🐫 , which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the 👻 ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud. We then 📚 learned of meth-gators 🐊 , and I'm like that is so not on my flipping 2020 Bingo card 😡 can we use it as the free space?? 🤷🏻 Then we learned that the Congo's worst ever Ebola 🚨 outbreak is over 😓, and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worse ever? 👀 ....... and don’t forget we just discovered FLYING SNAKES! 🐍, seriously! FLYING SNAKES!!!

——————————————-

I get home late from PT, so we have happy hour outside. We’ve figured out why we had soooo many mosquitos this past week. When they say go check your yard for water holes, standing water, etc. you have to look further than those regular things you see everyday. We discovered I had a big vase full of water on the front porch with cut shrubbery in it, which we loved and have had there since winter actually. Well guess what...a breeding ground. We dumped it. Then we discovered our driveway, where we keep the extra garden soil was totally saturated and a pool was sitting in the dirt. We dumped it. Wow what a difference. 2 days with no swarms and bites. Whew. We were about to get the sprayers out here thinking...this is the worst. We have to do something. We don’t want to do that because of expense and it kills all the good bugs and bees.

Dinner: leftover pasta casserole

Watch: Yellowstone s3 ep3

[fierceautie]

It took moms to hack the COVID quacksDate: September 1, 2020 Author: Anne Borden King “I am a Bishop of the Genesis II Church and you are harassing me. This is a sovereign church right here. … We’ve written the President. Jesus Christ is Lord and he is going to come back and he is going to save us from this evil empire!” So shouted Jonathan Grenon to the U.S. federal agents serving papers demanding his company cease and desist from selling MMS, a bleach product that Genesis II had been promoting as a phony COVID-19 treatment. Operation Quack Hack, a project of U.S. government regulators and law enforcement, continues to crack down on Genesis II and others selling phony COVID-19 treatments. The raids on the Grenon compound were the first major U.S. federal action against the Genesis II Church that has for years been peddling bleach as a cure for everything from autism to cancer. The pandemic accelerated the church’s profits; while the Grenon family earned $500,000 in all of 2019, it earned $123,000 in March 2020 alone. As the coronavirus pandemic spread, so grew the hubris of the scammers that profit from pseudoscience. The Grenons’ ongoing defiance of court orders and the entire premise of their “church” may seem shocking and bizarre. But none of it is a surprise to the group of mothers who have been fighting tirelessly to stop Genesis II and other MMS sellers for years. The only surprise to them was why it took so long to arrest the Grenons. The Genesis II Church and Kerri Rivera, among others, have been selling chlorine dioxide (marketed as “Miracle Mineral Solution or MMS) for more than a decade, with claims it can cure autism, cancer, diabetes and more. They not only profit from selling MMS but from seminars that they conduct worldwide. As Melissa Eaton, who has been closely monitoring Genesis II for years, notes: “It only takes 30 people to attend a seminar and that’s $15,000 in the Grenons’ pockets.” Genesis II sometimes refers to the bleach as “sacraments,” selling $600 church memberships and promoting MMS directly within 139 countries. In July, the Bolivian Senate designated MMS as a treatment for COVID-19, authorizing its sale in pharmacies. This market penetration fits with the Grenons’ marketing goals as for years they have applied a missionary style to their salesmanship. The Grenons even claimed to have reached out to U.S. President Donald Trump, who enigmatically announced at an April press conference that an “injection“ of disinfectant into the human body may be the answer to COVID-19. Although Trump walked back his comments in the following days, COVID-19 pseudoscience had penetrated public life in a new way. Poison control centres received hundreds of calls about using bleach as a COVID-19 treatment. Public Health officials scrambled to clear up communications. “I can’t believe I have to say this,” tweeted former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden “but please don’t drink bleach.” The Grenons and other MMS sellers also have had prime promotional space on Facebook and other social media. For years, they have sold and promoted their products on public Facebook pages, in advertisements and in private social media “support groups” as well as YouTube channels. They also have cross-promotion with others such as Joseph Mercola’s “Natural News” website. As Eaton notes, “A lot of their success is also from their multi-level marketing style: moms pulling other moms in. Some of these moms even run autism support group pages (on Facebook) and companies then give them a discount code for free product or income. So, they heavily promote these products with testimonies of ‘great’ results because they are generating an income from these followers. And there is a huge intersection of anti-vax pages where we see grifters … who have a huge following from promoting anti-vax misinformation. They are able to market the products that they sell as their pages grow, their followers grow and so do their customers.” For pseudoscience sellers, Facebook support groups are a form of stealth marketing, designed to encourage people to buy more and more of the product through a comfortable in-group environment. “It’s an unchallenged echo chamber,” says Eaton, who has worked with other advocates to infiltrate “MMS for autism” support groups. “It’s like a cult,” agrees Amanda Seigler, another mom who has been monitoring and reporting the groups for years. Health Canada was a leader in early action against MMS peddlers, issuing warnings for years prior to a series of legal actions that resulted in the arrests of Sarah Nowak of Alberta and Stanley Nowak of British Columbia on charges related to marketing and selling MMS bleach as a tonic for a broad range of health conditions. In the U.S., efforts to combat MMS were scattershot. In 2010, the FDA issued a warning letter on its website. Then in 2015, Daniel Smith was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison after a woman died from consuming MMS. Three years later, however, the FDA warning was inexplicably removed. Autistic activist Robert Gehrman organized a campaign to get the warning re-instated, which it was in August 2019. “The MMS problem hadn’t gone away in that time,” says Eaton. “It had grown.” In Europe, while Genesis II and other sellers were being identified by activist moms Emma Dalmayne (United Kingdom) and Fiona O’Leary (Ireland) in 2014, few in the media or regulatory communities focused on the need for action. Dalmayne faced disbelief when she reported to regulators and the media in 2015: “It was terrible,” says Dalmayne. “I’d phone newspapers up (about MMS) and they’d laugh, like ‘What?’ They didn’t believe it. It was too unbelievable. I actually got hung up on.” Dalmayne created a petition to make phony autism cures illegal in the U.K. It garnered more than 60,000 signatures. Her early advocacy on autism pseudoscience established the groundwork for the government to work toward regulation and enforcement. The Westminster Commission on Autism’s report established that weakness in regulatory enforcement meant there was little recourse against MMS marketing: “Healthcare fraud is big business and autism is one of its many targets,” the report concluded. Dalmayne’s campaign built on a broader movement in the autistic rights community and caught the attention of American moms Seigler and Eaton. The three organized and volunteered with other advocates, mainly from the autistic community, to document and report activities to local law enforcement agencies. (Disclosure: I have been involved in flagging and reporting in Canada since 2018). Advocates volunteered their time and kept watch on other social media sites, convincing eBay and Amazon to ban MMS sales and encouraging PayPal to close the accounts of MMS sellers (PayPal cancelled MMS seller Rivera’s account, for example). But new sellers would reappear on eBay, requiring renewed efforts. YouTube took action to remove MMS from its site in 2019 with an explicit ban on MMS-related content. In April 2020, the FDA issued warning letter against MMS sellers, including Rivera and the Grenons, as well as letters regarding off-label chelation, camels’ milk and other phony autism treatments. But moving beyond warning letters to enforcement was a big challenge. Regulatory frameworks can be confusing to an expert, let alone to a layperson. In Canada, individuals can make complaints about “natural health products” such as supplements directly to Health Canada regulators through an online form. However, as Ryan Armstrong of Bad Science Watch notes: “Health Canada does not appear to have the capacity to monitor” as much as it needs to. The agency is also challenged by the saturation of the market with health misinformation and false product claims. As Eaton says, “The dietary supplement industry is so big. Many of the products are not in stores. They’re promoted in places (regulators do) not expect.” Unlike radio and television that have significant oversight into content and advertising claims, social media remains a largely self-regulating platform. As one study noted: “Each social media platform is effectively its own universe … a commercially independent entity (that) can at best only control content in its universe.” One platform may have a commitment to reviewing and removing content (e.g., YouTube), another may arguably be a complete free-for-all (e.g., Brighteon). Research conducted by Press Gazette in July 2020 found that 4,094 of 7,295 misleading claims about the coronavirus originated on Facebook. In comparison, 1,066 false claims were traced to Twitter, 999 on WhatsApp, 265 on YouTube and 90 on Instagram. Relying on self-regulation means we are relying on the good intentions of the platforms themselves. Brighteon, Telegram and other platforms have made clear they have no intention of censoring content — and despite its promises, Facebook is not adequately filtering out misinformation. The other choice is to push for legislation to regulate social media in ways similar to radio and television marketing and advertising. In that, we will need political will from our policymakers. Weeks after he screamed at federal agents, Jonathan Grenon was jailed and charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and distribute mislabelled drugs. Then on Aug. 11, Mark and Joseph Grenon were apprehended by military police while in hiding in Colombia. They are being extradited to the U.S. to face a host of conspiracy-related charges. “Now that we have some action against Genesis II,” says Eaton, “what we need to move toward is getting legislative and systemic change in place.” It’s going to take time, resources and immense creativity to combat this problem. But it’s not too late. Advocates like Eaton and her community, the original quack hacks, exemplify why it’s important to have many hands on deck when identifying and confronting pseudoscience.https://healthydebate.ca/2020/09/topic/moms-hack-the-covid-quacks?fbclid=IwAR2H84tuZONiHDAyXqcNRNkOhr1XkHPbSxWKrn7yjNfjo8SI5dn14abp8KM

http://www.fierceautie.com/2020/09/it-took-moms-to-hack-covid-quacks.html

[blockheadbrands]

Buying CBD Online? Here’s How to Find the Right Site

Alaina Dorsey of Leafly Reports:

This summer, I was a hot mess with my mental health. Though I was finally off a 3-month waiting list for therapy, anxiety and depression had consumed me and I wasn’t sure of a solution. Though I’ve dabbled with cannabis, it was for pleasure purposes only (and I was prone to collapsing into an ill-placed nap after imbibing).

I had never heard of CBD by itself, but as my mental state gradually destabilized and my therapist kept pushing me to get on medication, I figured Google could help. Truthfully, I was searching for a black-market online site to get weed since I didn’t have a medical card in Maryland, but instead I ended up finding CBD retailer sites with tons of different brands and forms, and the rest is history.

If you’re in a similar place, you’ve likely stumbled upon CBD as a potential supplement, but as with most things in a consumerist world, the options are somewhat stupefying. And if you’re an anxiety-prone type like me, you’re not sure about what you’re looking for.

Fear not! Below, check out my clarifying tips for finding high-quality and truthful CBD products.

Where to Begin? CBD Exclusive Websites

CBD can get quite expensive over time, and who has all the time in the world to figure out which brand site to order directly? Sure, you’ll come across lists like these that give you a breakdown of the best CBD oils—or others—for your ailment, but each of those sites are devoted to their brands exclusively.

How can you compare? What if you want to try multiple brands at once?

If you already have a favorite brand, but they don’t offer vape oil or starter sets with vaporizers, large sites enable you to combine all your needs and experiment with new brands and CBD forms (edibles, wax, for example).

Check out the CBD dedicated sites below for a variety of offerings:

HH Outlet

The CBD Store

Pure CBD Vapors

Discover CBD

CBD Outlet Online

Healthy Hemp Oil

Should You Trust Large Consumer Marketplaces?

But what about larger sites like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy? The truth is that yes, you can get CBD on some of these sites. In the case of Amazon and Etsy, it may be listed under “hemp extract” or “hemp oil.” There are CBD sellers on eBay, but overall, I wouldn’t bother ordering from these sites. They can simply get away with too much—including claims that could be hard to fact check.

Who wants to put in all the work of determining that you’re getting what you’re paying for? Only consider CBD items that have enough positive reviews or ratings that you can trust.

Reliable Companies Build Bonds

Educating consumers is a sure-fire way of knowing how to trust a company. Especially if they are willingly giving in-depth information to ensure the best experience—instead of prattling on about their brand or shoving a product down your throat.

A helpful site usually always answers specific questions, be it about dosage, how much you should order, or suggestions on how to use multiple forms of the products in your daily routine. You are always a priority, and this proves you matter more than quick profits. So keep an eye on blog pages, FAQs, and other informative sections of CBD websites.

A low-key way in which companies instill trust is by allowing a variety of reviews and responding to them. Again, access to information is important for navigating a CBD eCommerce page, so being able to read reviews gives you a window into what your experiences may be like.

For example, when my mental state was completely out of whack because of anxiety, the quickest choice for me about buying a vaporizer was a kit with the highest rating. I knew absolutely nothing about vaporizers or how much CBD content I needed in cartridges. I just knew I needed something fast and effective for relief.

I am prone to trusting the experiences of customers. If you take the time to write a review (other than the company offering you discounts), it shows how positive or negative the product truly is.

Quick and Discreet Delivery

What may be majorly important to you is that they stated the packages were discreet. Though I have yet to see an offer for free or discounted shipping, the assurance that I would receive my CBD vaporizer kit in 2-3 days in a discreet and unassuming package was exceptional. I got that confirmation from the customer reviews.

Thus, when your life feels like it’s teetering on the edge, assurance of quick shipping and handling is a dream come true.

Receiving Care From Customer Service

Before I had a successful ordered from Pure CBD Vapors, I stumbled across a separate site where I had put in an immediate order without researching the brand. Once I found out more, I was appalled.

The quality of CBD from this site wasn’t great, and the company had a questionable reputation, so I hopped back online to cancel my order—and couldn’t figure out how the hell to do it.

This whole fiasco turned into a quick, confusing skirmish email confirmations and spam folder adventures—which is telling in itself. I gave their customer service a call, and though they picked up quick, the drone-like voice of their rep solidified my desire to cancel.

I didn’t run into any special trouble with the cancellation and subsequent refund, but it drove home the need for great customer service.

Needless to say, trust the reviews folks make about customer service. If the company is responding to complaints or questions about products, understand that’s going to be your treatment as well. You want to feel a warm welcome in your time of need.

Looks Really Do Matter

I am a shallow woman and also an artist, so site layout and design is vital to my making a purchase. Effective layout includes clear search options—other than categorizing products according to consumption preference, I want to be able to organize my options according to pricing, popularity, rating, and ailment.

I encountered the ailment search option on just one site. This is important if you’re looking for CBD that addresses chronic pain as opposed to insomnia.

Offering Assistance Can Show Quality

If you’re a veteran, long-term disability recipient, low-income consumer, and/or senior citizen, sites that offer discounts are a godsend. You want a site that offers regular sale discounts and puts your email address to use with that information.

If a multi-seller platform doesn’t overtly have an assistance program, I highly recommend that you contact them directly to see what you can get. There are many CBD brands that offer discounts via their direct sites which you can find here.

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON LEAFLY, CLICK HERE.

https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/how-to-find-right-site-to-buy-cbd-online

[swimmingsheepcollector-me-blog]

CB2 626 Car To Manual Gearbox Conversion

Yes, we possess created Opencart AliExpress Dropship Administration Module which enables you import products from AliExpress market place to your OpenCart list and after that sell those items through your store. Reward price is certainly centered on your turnover and authorized product sales, and it applies to all the groups of items, including non-affiliated products. I experienced Oberlo but cancelled it because it did not really do a couple of things that it was intended to. It don't display me which products experienced epackage with the label on top. It did not really import all the photos from the roduct, so I terminated it. My approach with Facebook Advertisements was to make use of them to get visitors, not sales. My approach was to send simply because very much targeted traffic to my website as feasible, and allow my website do the rest of the work, transforming visitors into sales. 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[easyweight101]

Renaderm Eye Cream Review (UPDATED 2017): Don’t Buy Before You Read This!

Renaderm Eye Cream is an eye cream that was created to improve the tone and texture of the skin around the eyes. This product achieves this effect by stimulating collagen production.

Renaderm Eye Cream is made from an unknown blend of ingredients but claims to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, age spots, dark circles, and puffiness. Additionally, users can expect relief from dry skin and a youthful glow.

Kremovage is our top pick in an ever-expanding sea of eye creams and gels. Rich in antioxidants, this formula repairs damaged skin, while hydrating with the addition of hyaluronic acid and squalane. Retinol and peptides boost cell turnover and stimulate collagen production–bringing the youthful results users are looking for. Shop Kremovage today – click here for pricing and product details.

Do You Know the Best Eye Creams of 2017 ?

Renaderm Eye Cream Ingredients and Side Effects

Renaderm Eye Cream does not come with a clear picture of what is inside this product. One website promoting this product claims the cream gets its benefits from the use wheat protein, peptides, and antioxidants.

Another site says the product features corn oil and shea butter. And then, there’s the Amazon listing—which claims the main ingredients are vitamins and hyaluronic acid.

Unfortunately, there is no official website for this product, and the information we were able to find is inconclusive. We don’t really have a good idea as to what the benefits of using this cream are, or if there are any risks associated with application.

With that in mind, we believe there are countless options available—at every price point—that show more promise than this product.

Learn how you can look younger — with the right tools. Click here to see what our experts are saying.

Renaderm Eye Cream Quality of Ingredients

This product is something of a mystery. Since the official website has been removed, we’re forced to look at the Amazon listing for answers. Amazon’s description says this product is made from hyaluronic acid and an infusion of vitamins. If this is true, it’s strange that there’s no further detail laying out which vitamins were used in the blend.

Also, hyaluronic acid as a standalone ingredient leaves much to be desired. It provides moisture and won’t irritate the skin, but doesn’t do much else. For this to be an effective formula, users are better off with something that includes retinol, peptides, ceramides, antioxidants, in any combination.

Renaderm Eye Cream does not come with the requisite amount of information for a product that goes on one’s skin. In fact, we can’t even find an official website, a landing page, anything that discusses the use of this product and what it’s made from. There are a handful of YouTube videos that still advertise this item, but they only highlight the benefits of the product, not how the cream stands to provide those benefits.

Unfortunately, we have reason to believe that this product could pose a risk to consumers who are unaware of whether this product contains any allergens or otherwise harmful ingredients.

Learn about the eye serums that really boost collagen — details on our website.

EDITOR’S TIP: Combine this product with a proven eye cream such as Kremovage for better results.

The Price and Quality of Renaderm Eye Cream

Renaderm Eye Cream is available only through a confusing free trial offer. There’s no advertised pricing on this item on the part of the manufacturer. There are a few eBay listings, and the product is currently available on Amazon for $28 per 0.5 ounces of cream.

What’s also worth pointing out is, Renaderm’s free trial sites appear to have been taken down. When searching for this product, another item, Rejuvaderm pops up, as well as several listings from Scambook, RipOff Report, and other consumer complaint hubs.

How this works is, there is fine print that pops up after placing an order, explaining to consumers that placing an order takes the place of a contract. This contract is an ongoing arrangement in which consumers receive a monthly shipment of Renaderm Eye Cream, costing approximately $89 per order.

Sadly, this payment arrangement is all too common these days. Renaderm Eye Cream and other products that are sold through similar YouTube videos and landing pages are designed to deceive consumers. The actual contents of the product don’t matter. The promise of a 30-day supply for free is enough to get people to share their billing information.

Unfortunately, these scams are legal to some extent. Whoever is behind this product is protected by fine print loopholes–meaning, shoppers, perhaps unwittingly, waive their right to sue this company.

Because the product is available through Amazon, users have the opportunity to sidestep any significant issues with the payment arrangement—but these companies avoid selling their wares on Amazon and elsewhere since it’s out of sync with their marketing scheme.

Check out our comprehensive guide to the best eye serums on the market today.

Business of Renaderm Eye Cream

It’s not clear who is responsible for making Renaderm Eye Cream. The product appears on Amazon, a handful of unauthorized eBay listings, and in a few commercials posted on YouTube. There’s nothing posted anywhere (at least that we could find) that offers any contact information, company history, or anything else potential shoppers might find helpful.

While there’s not much on the Renaderm front when it comes to details about the product or manufacturer, there are several listings on sites like Scambook and RipOff Report, citing the all-too-common free trial scam.

Here’s a look at some of the comments we found during our research:

“This cream was reportedly endorsed by celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Angelina Jolie, and Christie Brinkley. The company sucks you in with a $5 trial, and then charges $90 a month for this terrible cream.”

“I racked up about $400 in charges after paying $3.99 for a “free” trial. After several attempts at canceling this arrangement, I finally canceled my card.”

Most of the comments are of this same nature. Users unknowingly got looped into a free trial scheme and were frustrated with their attempts to cancel.

Customer Opinions of Renaderm Eye Cream

Unlike most of the products that fall under the free trial umbrella, Renaderm Eye Cream does have Amazon reviews listed. Unfortunately, most sound as if they were fabricated by someone working for the Renaderm company—the grammar seems a bit off and the comments were vague.

Here are some of the comments we found posted online:

“Decent moisturizer, but haven’t seen any changes thus far. Probably won’t continue use after I run out.”

“It seems okay. The formula is really watery—it’s not really a cream, as one might expect with this consistency. I don’t think I’d ever buy this again.”

“Skin looked better after using this product twice a day—not sure if it works for wrinkles and fine lines, but it seems pretty good for moisturizing.”

Five-star reviews were almost incoherent, so we did not include those. Based on the comments we found, it seems that Renaderm Eye Cream could simply contain hyaluronic acid as its sole active ingredient, rather than a whole line up of vitamins.

Unfortunately, it seems that many of the more positive reviews were paid—they made little sense but were profusely thanking this company for providing antioxidant benefits with use.

With that in mind, we believe there are better options on the market for users looking for meaningful antiaging benefits. It sounds as though this formula is made exclusively with water and hyaluronic acid—which won’t bring the dramatic changes advertised in the Renaderm advertisements.

Overwhelmed by the countless eye creams on the market? Click here to view our short list of the best options for your skin concerns.

Conclusion – Does Renaderm Eye Cream Work?

Renaderm Eye Cream appears to be a low-quality product designed to get people to sign up for an ongoing payment arrangement. We have no reason to believe this product contains anything but some sort of moisturizer, despite claims it has been infused with vitamins.

According to the Amazon listing. This product relies primarily on hyaluronic acid to stimulate collagen production. That’s not really the point of hyaluronic acid. This ingredient hydrates dry skin cells and helps the skin retain moisture with use—it might have some anti-aging benefits, but the main purpose is moisture. Users will need a product containing a more potent mix of ingredients if they wish to see any meaningful results.

In the end, Renaderm Eye Cream has a number of strikes against it. The product is essentially a watery moisturizer, that even seems overvalued at the lowered price point of $28 per unit.

Additionally, it’s not clear how old the product sold on Amazon is—the official Renaderm landing pages are nowhere in sight, so these listings could be an attempt to unload old (and potentially expired) stock.

Kremovage is the ideal solution for users looking for a meaningful solution to problems like crepey eyelids, crow’s feet, age spots, and loose skin. This eye cream works to hydrate dry skin, boost collagen production and protect against free radical damage with use.

Kremovage is made with a potent blend of botanicals, retinol, and peptides. The formula has been subject to several rounds of testing, so consumers can count on a product that is both gentle and effective. Get started today! Details for purchasing Kremovage right here.

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