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lcacommunuty · 1 month

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Understanding Microclots: The Importance of Microclots Testing in the U.S.

In recent years, microclots have garnered significant attention within the medical community, particularly regarding their role in various health conditions. Microclots testing is becoming an essential tool for healthcare professionals, providing insights that were previously overlooked in traditional blood tests. This post will delve deeply into the Microclots Test, its implications, and why it matters for your health and wellness.

What Are Microclots?

Microclots are small, microscopic clots that form in the blood vessels. Unlike larger clots, which can obstruct major blood flow and lead to severe health issues like strokes or heart attacks, microclots can pass unnoticed and potentially contribute to chronic inflammation and other long-term health problems. The formation of microclots can disrupt normal blood flow, leading to various symptoms, including fatigue, headaches, and unexplained pain.

Recent studies suggest that microclots may play a significant role in conditions such as Long COVID, autoimmune diseases, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Understanding their presence in the bloodstream is crucial for diagnosing these conditions effectively.

The Need for Microclot Testing

Traditional blood tests may not detect the presence of microclots, leading to misdiagnosis or overlooked health issues. Microclot testing is a revolutionary approach that helps identify these clots with precision. This testing method analyzes blood samples to provide healthcare providers with comprehensive data regarding clot formation and their potential implications for a patient’s overall health.

Benefits of Microclot Testing

Early Detection: By identifying microclots early, healthcare providers can intervene before complications arise. This proactive approach can significantly enhance patient outcomes, particularly in chronic conditions where microclots play a role.

Personalized Treatment Plans: Results from microclot testing can inform personalized treatment strategies. By understanding the specific microclot formation and its implications for an individual, providers can tailor therapies that address the root cause of the problem.

Improved Understanding of Symptoms: Many patients experience unexplained symptoms that may be attributed to microclots. Testing provides clarity, allowing patients to work with their healthcare providers on a targeted approach to treatment.

How is Microclot Testing Conducted?

The Microclot Test typically involves the following steps:

Blood Sample Collection: A small sample of blood is drawn from the patient, similar to standard blood tests.

Laboratory Analysis: The blood sample is then sent to a specialized laboratory where advanced techniques are employed to identify and quantify microclots.

Results Interpretation: The laboratory provides a detailed report, highlighting the presence and extent of microclots. Healthcare providers analyze these results in the context of the patient’s overall health.

LCA Community: Your Partner in Microclot Testing

The LCA Community is at the forefront of advancing knowledge and understanding of microclots and their impact on health. As a resource for both patients and healthcare professionals, the LCA Community promotes awareness and education regarding Microclots Testing in the U.S.

Why Choose the LCA Community?

Expert Insights: The LCA Community brings together a network of experts in hematology and related fields to share the latest research, insights, and best practices in microclot testing.

Support Network: Patients navigating the complexities of conditions related to microclots can find support and shared experiences within the LCA Community, helping to demystify the testing process and treatment options.

Educational Resources: The community provides a wealth of information, from research articles to patient guides, ensuring that individuals are well-informed about the implications of microclots and the importance of testing.

Implications of Microclot Presence in Health Conditions

Research continues to uncover the various health conditions linked to microclots. Here are a few key areas where microclots testing has shown promise:

Long COVID

Patients suffering from Long COVID often report symptoms that can be linked to microclot formation. Studies suggest that microclots can lead to reduced blood flow and oxygen delivery, exacerbating fatigue, brain fog, and other debilitating symptoms.

Autoimmune Disorders

Microclots may also play a role in autoimmune conditions, where the immune system attacks healthy cells. By understanding microclot presence, healthcare providers can better manage these diseases and tailor treatments accordingly.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Microclots testing is emerging as a critical component in diagnosing and managing chronic fatigue syndrome. The presence of microclots could help explain the persistent fatigue and pain experienced by many individuals.

Conclusion: The Future of Microclots Testing in Healthcare

As awareness of microclots and their implications grows, the demand for Microclots Testing will likely increase. This testing offers a new lens through which healthcare providers can assess patient health, leading to more accurate diagnoses and effective treatment strategies.

The LCA Community stands ready to lead the charge in educating both patients and professionals about the significance of microclots. By prioritizing microclot testing in healthcare, we can pave the way for better understanding and improved outcomes for countless individuals affected by conditions related to microclots.

In conclusion, understanding the complexities of microclots and the importance of effective testing can significantly enhance healthcare outcomes. Stay informed and consider engaging with the LCA Community to learn more about how microclot testing could benefit you or someone you know. The future of health is intertwined with the knowledge of microclots, and together, we can navigate this vital aspect of medical science.

#covid microclot testing #apheresis treatment #long covid apheresis #long covid apheresis community #microclot testing

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patentideauk · 3 years

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How to Protect Your Business from Patent Infringement

Patents are a highly effective tool in the arsenal of most companies. They can act as an offensive and defensive weapon, allowing you to protect your innovative products and market yourself as a leader in your industry, while also preventing those who have stolen your technology from profiting off of it. But patents can also be costly. How do you make sure you're using them effectively? Here are a few tips that will help you keep your business safe from patent infringement.

1. What are patents, and why do you need them?

Patents are a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling the patented invention for a limited period of time. The purpose of the patent system is to encourage inventors to disclose their inventions and to create a marketable product. A patented invention — or many inventions — becomes available for general consumption when a company decides to license the patent so that others may build upon it. This process is called reusing an existing technology. For Apple and Google this practice is built into the terms of service of each app. Users can download a foreign app and view the relevant terms of use agreement to determine what they can do, rather than being required to agree to Apple or Google’s terms. At this point, the recipient of the invented technology has no legal rights against others using it in their own commercial projects, and may distribute, sell, or reuse the invention to others without paying a royalty to the original inventor. Technology is subject to numerous complex regulations in terms of copyright, trademark, patent, industrial design, and trade secret laws. While these laws are designed to foster innovation, patent laws can sometimes have unintended consequences that diminish an invention’s value. In short, when certain laws operate in a way that impedes inventions from entering into the marketplace as broadly or as quickly as they might, impacts upon the price of technology and innovation are both magnified (or, in the case of patents, statistically possible) and can have a negative consumer impact on a very real level. Many patent holders fail to fulfill their legal obligations in this regard, which can ultimately make their patents, and those inventions they claim as infringements, invalid. Occasionally, patents cannot even file for infringement — these are known as non-implementation patents. Patent litigation costs a tremendous amount of money to both the plaintiff and the defense, and the result can be that a patent becomes effectively worthless.

2. How to protect your business from patent infringement

You can protect your innovations by filing a patent for them. The patent gives you the right to prevent others from making, using, selling or importing your invention without your permission. Patents last for 20 years and are granted by the government. They can be expensive and complicated to obtain, so it’s important to make sure you’re protecting your inventions. Protecting your invention from patent infringement can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions of dollars. The best way to ensure the patent stays in your control is to ensure you properly assign responsibility for it. First, pay close attention to what steps are required because a patent may need to be renewed. If your invention has a marketable product, you should protect your invention with a patent yourself. Because patents tend to be implemented by large companies, it’s important to determine who will pay for them, before you implement them. This will ensure you’re not financially at the mercy of ‘patents trolls.’ Before assigning responsibility for a patent, analyze projects where someone is likely to infringe the patent. Enterprise, technology negotiations, or open source projects may pose problems. Large companies may be reluctant to make a financial investment without thorough investigation that could reveal weaknesses in your technology or a weakness in their patent portfolio. In these cases, work with patent attorneys to determine who will pay for a patent. Where you assign responsibility for a patent depends on your organization. For example, you may decide to have your engineering organization pay for all necessary patent applications and to pay for any renewal or modification of patents. Consult your legal department for legal guidance in your country. If your invention has a practical application, legal expertise will help you determine who must pay for patent applications and renewals. In applying for a patent yourself, you will generate evidence of its practical usefulness. In the United States, the “patentable subject matter” requirement determines who must pay for the patent application. This places the onus on the inventor to prove his invention is patentable.

3. What you must do to prepare for patent litigation

If you are sued for patent infringement, it is important that you test the validity of the patent. There are two main ways to do this: 1) you can challenge the validity of the patent prior to a lawsuit. This can be done by filing a patent re-examination request with the USPTO. 2) you can challenge the validity of the patent during litigation. Litigation can be challenging, which is why it’s a good idea to seek the court’s guidance before taking the first step. Patents can be an unreliable barometer of innovation, particularly in emerging technologies like biotechnology and computer security. Therefore, before you decide whether or not to file for a patent, make sure to advocate for its validity through third-party research, invest in appropriate patent counsel, and consider external expert witness statements. Protecting your company from patent litigation isn’t just about intellectual property. It’s also about protecting your reputation. Before suing a competitor for infringing on a patent, conduct your own internal research. Challenge the validity of patents in court, and speak with patent counsel to determine whether any patents may be infringing. Non-practicing entities (NPEs) are businesses that aren’t making a profit but are licensed to practice their technology. You have probably heard of such entities by their common trade names: a patent licensing company, a company that provides consulting services to biotech innovators, a company that provides x-ray machines to health institutions, or so on. Of course, this doesn’t mean these types of organizations have to be nefarious! Don’t make the mistake of labeling all NPEs “bad actors.” If you identify problems with patents, the company may develop proprietary or anti-competitive strategies to protect its business model. However, remember that other actors in the patent ecosystem are also trying to innovate and protect their intellectual property. Before taking on the role of steward of your business’ patent portfolio, you need to look first for problems that may be arising in the use of your intellectual property. When evaluating whether an NPE has infringed on your patents, consider identifying common grounds for disagreement.

4. How a patent attorney can help you win your case

If you’re in the midst of a lawsuit, it can be confusing to figure out how to proceed. To help you win your case, it’s important to get the right legal help. A patent attorney can help you win because they have the education and experience to evaluate your case and help you choose the best course of action. Technology is inherently dynamic and constantly evolving. Also, patents are one of the few types of intellectual property that is constantly subject to change, meaning that any issued patents can be revoked or modified by later patent applications, thus affecting the validity and enforceability of your patent. If your company is developing a technological innovation, having an expert such as a patent attorney on your side ensures that the patent process goes smoothly. The best way to determine the size of your patent portfolio and work toward securing those valuable patents is to communicate directly with the Patent Office. This can be accomplished by: Patents are granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to inventors who can show that their invention relates to something of existing importance. To file a patent — and receive an exclusive license to use and sell the patent — inventors must demonstrate the following three things: You may be able to save some money by licensing a patent instead of purchasing it. The process of applying for a patent can be time-consuming and costly, so it’s best to analyze whether it’s a good fit for your company and its products. Before you go to court, you should determine the value of your invention by comparing it to similar products. This process is known as comparing the patented invention with competing products. You’ll need to compile a list of the existing, similar products in the marketplace. Then devise a business model that would allow you to profit from these similar products. Patents can be very valuable, especially if you incorporate some of the technologies patented into your products. Check out the January Pro Patent Buying Guide to see how to determine the value of a patent.

#patent #patent uk #patent idea #patent idea uk #patent infringement #patent invention #albright i #albright ip uk #albright ip ltd #patent opposition #patents

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a-woman-apart · 4 years

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Separating the Boys from the Men

Yes, that title is click bait, and if you keep reading, you’ve been warned. I’ve got a lot to get off my chest, and it’s going to involve defending masculinity, femininity, and our right to BEHAVE LIKE CHILDREN FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES because in many ways, we already do.

Let’s get straight to the point. As Millennials, regardless of our age, financial status, or level of “success” (air quotes 100% intentional) we have been accused of being lazy, entitled, and way too enthusiastic about avocado toast. At the same time, we have been described as having enough power to decimate the napkin industry, the diamond industry, and the concept of traditional marriage. We have been accused of a collective “Peter Pan” syndrome, because we “refuse” to cut off papa’s apron strings and get off the proverbial mama’s teats.

Wonderful to know.

Let’s unpack the “lazy” bit. Supposedly, this is tied to the fact that we have access to higher education, we [often, not always] have parents who financially support or house us well into adulthood.

So now, my question is, Gen X (the entitled ones, ironically) and Salty Boomers, YOU DIDN’T?

What do you call that “inheritance” you received? What do you call that education your parents paid for that was less than 1/3 what we have to pay? For Boomers, how do you explain the lavish weddings, cheap [and apparently nuke proof] home appliances, and “nights out on the town” that you were able to afford by working at whatever passed for a McDonald’s back in the day? Working on a farm, at a grocery store, or in retail used to ACTUALLY provide a livable wage; for us, those are a “side hustle” and we still have to get a “big boy job” that usually requires an education that can put us over $100,000 in debt by age 30.

Hate to say it, but if you hadn’t made most of your income “during the War” or in the absolute economic boom that followed it, you wouldn’t survive 24 hours in our shoes before having an emotional collapse.

Despite the disastrous living conditions of the U.S. in the 21st Century, not much has changed in how men define their level of “manliness.”

Financial gains (stocks, bonds, portfolio, bank account)

Bro “gains” (a.k.a. “gym gains”, how “Gaston” they are, including whether they want to go for the Adonis, Apollo, or Brawny boi look, or just how far they can throw something or how “boyish” they look if strength isn’t an option and they suffer from femme-levels of body dysmorphia)

Body count (since we’re in a time of peace and not literally war, this is LITERALLY a modern term describing how many people you’ve slept with, and I have never heard an adult man, regardless of sexual orientation, who isn’t a little concerned about putting those notches in the bed post, and if not that, VERY concerned about his bedroom performance: it’s quality vs. quantity)

Kill death Ratio (I know this is a video game term now, but did you know that before video games, men in England used to regularly get on horseback, get a bunch of hounds together, and chase down tiny foxes and rabbits? FOR FUN?!?!? Did you know, that before modern sports ((including Esports)), men used to just fight to the death, regularly, even if an official war wasn’t going on? It was known as “dueling”, and in less socially developed societies, men still behave like this. So the next time you complain about “male rage” and how heartless it is to make live chickens fight, note that even though we’ve quelled male anger and hostility on some level, you will NEVER be able to take away man’s urge to destroy. Boys and men will always like knocking things over, building things from the rubble, and ruling shit. It’s what they do-- and we women can and do, too, but we have a LOT more risk-aversion and self-preservation, which is a blessing and a curse for our species-- but we just need to make sure humanity as a whole stays...chill)

So what, say ye, has changed about how WOMEN define themselves now vs. in the past. I would say that very little has changed, but the level of internalized misogyny, insecurity, and good-old fashioned denial has SKYROCKETED.

Let’s look at some terms of how the majority of women value themselves.

Financial Security (few women will admit to “wanting to be rich”, because that sounds kind of “Trump”, but plenty will talk about having minimum income requirements for their partner(s), wanting to retire at a young age so they can “travel the world”, wanting to eliminate their debts, etc. It’s different language but essentially it translates to: I want to work so hard or marry into so much wealth that I never want to worry about money after age 35. #Hustle)

Looks (it doesn’t matter if you want a Kardashian butt, you’re in the body positivity movement, or you just want to “dress like a bawse” women are just as obsessed with clothes, image, and body weight/shape/size as they ever were, it is just that now that we’ve “slain the patriarchy” we have more fashion options than ever before, because “boy clothes” are just as “in” as femme ones)

Ability to attract a partner (some women, like me, “chase”, but thanks to biology, most women, regardless of sexual orientation, seem to enjoy being pursued more than being Artemis-style hunters. This is evidenced by the fact that when the feminist owner of Bumble changed the rules of the dating website to where women had to start conversations with men rather than vice versa ((a move that had ostensibly zero effect on lesbian matching)) 72% of women that she later surveyed stated that they liked it better when men were approaching them rather than the other way around. I am sure Bumble’s female CEO was shook ((as was I)), especially because she made the change to empower women, and apparently 72% of women didn’t want the power because it meant they now had the power to face rejection, and it made them uncomfortable. Big yikes. So much for #EndPatriarchy and #ChivalryisDead ?)

Playing house (this is probably going to get me some unfollows, but I’ll take my chances. Women, regardless of sexual orientation, often seem to be REALLY into having babies or just “playing house.” There’s also men like this, too, “Family men” as they’re aptly called, men in love with fatherhood ((or just being called “daddy”, and that will never not be weird)). So many women who never want to pop out a baby describe being taken by an OVERWHELMING urge to fuck during their “fertile window” ((or is that just me?)) and seeing every baby alive as the cutest human being ever once we pass the tender age of 25. The biological clock is REAL, and I learned the hard way that being bisexual and having immense fear of pregnancy and childbirth didn’t spare me from the awful truth of my biology.

I really don’t want to keep making references to modern video games, but they seem to serve the dual purpose of being deeply satisfying and helping us to quell “problematic” urges, including that one to dominate and destroy the world. For a lot of women gamers, though, our choices ((on a broad scale, every #girlgamer is different)) deviate from men’s in some interesting ways.

#1: We still love The Sims Franchise way more than guys do

Not only do we love it, but while a lot of men (again, #notallmen) tend to build elaborate neighborhoods to extensively mod and destroy them in terrifying ways, I still see women gamers taking obscene amounts of time to design homes, raise happy little families, and cause TERRIFYING blood feuds by having Sims marry Sims from rival families ((I guess we’re more Shakespeare than we thought, eh ladies?))

#2: We make up most of mobile gaming

Most male gamers think mobile games “aren’t real” and I tend to agree, but a mobile game is invaluable for when I, a woman, have time to kill between the 3 jobs I hypothetically have and I and don’t want to whip out something like a Nintendo 2DS that is both unwieldly and attracts the eyes of every impoverished, thieving human being in a .5 mile radius. #RiskAversion. These games are often low-quality, mindless, and insanely easy, but that is WHY WE LIKE THEM. Our entire life is a job. #Hustle

#3 We also love farming sims and RPGs

While we-- and most male Millennials-- beg god to not have to birth calves, milk cows, or labor in the tomato fields under the hot sun, most of us have no objection to having our virtual avatars perform the same back-breaking tasks to the tune of cheerful chiptune music. Also, even though men definitely enjoy them, too, I have never met a woman gamer who didn’t enjoy a nice RPG; why do you think we’re such avid readers of fantasy/romance YA?

We want to be transported to a different world, and if you won’t take us there, we’re happy to go there virtually ((because we probably can’t afford travel; we’re still millennials)).

Ability to murder people who threaten our young or our partner(s) (Okay this one is a bit more complicated, but I’m just going to tell you a bit about female animals. DON’T MESS WITH THEIR BABIES IF YOU WANT TO LIVE. Human females, are, in that regard, just as savage, if not more so, than our male counterparts.

I’ve never heard of any woman ((outside of prison, maybe)) who killed another woman for “looking at her weird” or saying “your mama” too many times. I’ve heard plenty of women threaten literal murder because another woman ((or man, we’re #progressive)) came too close to her romantic/sexual partner, or another human being threatened harm on our kids or our “squad.”

I don’t know where the meme truly originated from, but “Don’t talk to me or my son ever again” is SUCH a Mom thing to say. So much misandry is wrapped up in the idea that men are predators, and that is true, but not in the excessively sexually deviant ways you think ((that’s only sometimes true)). They just like hunting things, including people, but if you give them a toy to play with ((I MEAN ACTUAL TOY OMG)) they seem alright. Let them go play with their cars, Xbox, [insert whatever] or something. They’re men, okay, they’re easily distracted/impressed/occupied.

Women, on the other hand, have seemed to be having an EXTREME amount of trouble curbing that baby-making urge, or the Excessive Nurturing Urge, that one that makes you ask your grown husband if he’s remembered to pack lunch for work or if he remembered to pack money for his playdate with his bros, because he’s gonna need money at Six Flags and you aren’t going to bring it to him because he should’ve remembered, you reminded him 30093390 times.

THAT’S NOT HIS FAULT. HE HAS MANAGED BY SOME MIRACLE TO STAY ALIVE FOR 33 YEARS. THAT’S YOU, SWEETIE. STOP BEING SUCH A MOM. GO BE A NURSE, DOCTOR, OR SOCIAL WORKER OR SOMETHING OMG.

In summary...

What separates the “men from the boys” or the “women from the girls” isn’t the era that we were born in to, our economic status, or whether we’ve been able to “conquer” our biology. That’s definitely not possible yet, chiefly because transhumanism involves a lengthy, ethics-guided process, and even if we all turn into cyborgs, the goal is to become BETTER humans, not LESS humane. Societal advancements have done more in terms of making us healthier, less destructive citizens of planet earth than raw technology ever can and ever will. Rapid technological advancement, when not combined with respect for morality, ethical standards of living for humans and all other life forms, almost always leads to human slavery, widespread abuse of animals, sex trafficking, and environmental destruction, because the “rules of supply and demand”, when not governed by strong international trade laws, dictate that consumers should be supplied with whatever they demand, because the suppliers can profit, and their right to profit should be defended at any cost.

So, in summary, I believe that “adulting” involves giving up on entitlement. What separates a truly childish human being-- regardless of their actual age-- from someone who is, in essence, “adulting” is experience, and how much those experiences serve to broaden that person’s perspective. It is an extremely childish, self-centered view, to think that you “deserve” anything for being “a good person” or, in the case of many a “woman child” or “man child” in media and in real life, just being “not so bad.”

Grown-ups are able and willing to do something that is known as “delaying gratification” which is the simple ability to delay a temporary pleasure for a long-term gain. Grown-ups are also able to perform true “cost-benefit analyses” to determine if a course of action, business deal, or even relationship is worth their time and effort. Finally, grown-ups are able and willing and able to make an informed choice and stick to it; in essence, we don’t try to “have our cake and eat it too” we understand that once we’ve eaten that cake, the cake is gone, but we also realize that if we are willing to work hard and make sacrifices, we can earn the ingredients to make ourselves another cake to eat, even if we might need a lot of help from other adults in getting those ingredients (we call this teamwork and cooperation).

Children, on the other hand (in literal and metaphorical terms), are very impatient. They get angry when things don’t go their way, and instead of taking the steps needed to improve their situation, they storm off and return home. It doesn’t matter if their home is with their parents, with their 3 roommates, or with their husband or wife, these people throw tantrums, refuse to communicate/cooperate, and stew in their displeasure until someone feels sorry for them and fixes their problem for them. They lack the ability to work through daily life problems and refuse to take any responsibility for how their actions or inaction contributed to their dilemma.

There is one difference with an actual human child or teen, though, is that they have an excuse. Their brains are still developing, and they haven’t had the chance to live through these situations yet; these are new challenges to them. Even if they do have a “bad attitude”, with help from peers and patients, principled adult mentors and teachers, these cantankerous kids can grow into well-adjusted, able adults. The high levels of neuroplasticity in their brains actually make it so that it is easier for them to accept large amounts of sensory data and to learn from processing and practicing using it.

An “adult child” is someone who, more often than not, has been coddled instead of challenged. These people have often faced no significant hardships in life. There is a reason why, even after we have recognized the immense downsides of authoritarian parenting and have demonstrated psychological harms of corporal punishment for kids, we still call “bad kids” and “irresponsible adults” spoiled.

Authoritarianism produces rigid, scared people who often struggle with critical thinking and self-esteem or end up being authoritarian parents themselves, but that last one is actually one of the less likely options. Children of authoritarian parents often develop Borderline Personality Disorder or become defiant against authority (shocker). Overly permissive or overly neglectful parenting, though, are parental styles most associated with producing narcissists, who often become authoritarian parents, because when their kids challenge them, they completely lack the patience or emotional capacity to deal with it and resort to “because I said so”, stonewalling and/or physical abuse as forms of “character-building.”

The reason why overly permissive parents spoil their kids is because kids actually do need discipline and guidance, and so these kinds of parents produce kids who are outwardly capable and confident but completely lack any of the life skills to justify it, and when they ask their parents for advice they are just met with a bunch of hippie mumbo jumbo or told to just avoid the conflict rather than resolve it. These kids grow into adults who are still sad little kids inside, because they never grew up, but now they’re sad little kids who are articulate and well-spoken and now can-- and often have no choice-- but to con their way through adult life because they’ve maxed out Charisma and they have almost no points in Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Dexterity.

The only parenting style worse than Authoritarian and Neglectful/Permissive is Mixed, in which a child grows up in a COMPLETELY unpredictable environment where the rules of the game change from day to day, and parents either give their children no attention at all, or they practically lock them up and throw away the key. Being raised like this is associated with the worse outcomes for the child throughout life.

So, why am I now talking about parenting styles? Because, for all that we love to trash Boomers and large swaths of Gen X on this page, we can’t forget where they came from, so we cannot allow them to forget WHO THEY MADE. It isn’t an accident that even though we live in the times of incredible economic hardship, WE are the generation (and Gen Z, to some extent) that got hooked on reality TV, video games, and social media in incredibly unhealthy ways. A lot of us 30+ millennials are growing out of it, and a lot of us have realized that it is an invaluable (and damn near unavoidable) way of marketing our products and talents. We’re often self-employed because that’s our only option in most cases.

The issue with Gen Z (who, while we called “Zoomers” now just all themselves “Doomers” and I think we should be a bit concerned about that) is that unlike us, they have no memory of “Before the Internet.” We remember dial up, we remember before that when you played outside untl the sun went down. They don’t have the privilege of being linked to that history.

Now, we have to be the Bigger Person. It’s our time to be Grown-Ups. Gen Z feels really fucking lost right now, and hearing us whine about our parents probably makes them pretty pissed off, when some of us older millennials are the parents, aunts/uncles, and older siblings to Gen Z kids. Even if we can’t be mentors, we have to lead by example, because we have a responsibility to these kids. A lot of them aren’t stupid, they see exactly what’s happening and they feel incredibly hopeless about it. Greta Thunberg is still 16 years old. She shouldn’t be out there doing that; I mean seriously, climate change is accelerating, but it isn’t even as bad as Al Gore said, it’s still reversible, but the fact that SHE FELT SHE HAD TO makes us shitty people. ALL OF US.

So you know, we all need to stop being hypocrites. We need to stop being entitled. We need to stop thinking this is about us. It isn’t. Not even close. We’re not important, even if our videos go viral or if we’re swimming in cash next to hot models by a huge swimming pool. America’s fucked up. I hate to sound Republican, but it’s because of our values. We suck at valuing what’s important, and if we don’t change that soon, it’s really going to suck to live in America.

It already does.

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bopinion · 4 years

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2020 / 53

Aperçu of the week:

You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,

Love like you'll never be hurt,

Sing like there's nobody listening,

And live like it's heaven on earth.

(William W. Purkey)

Wraping up 2020:

The year that is coming to an end has been so defined by Corona, Donald Trump, climate change and Brexit that this media oligopoly has also dominated my weekly self-reflection. Of course, as a self-confessed news junkie, my thoughts often revolve around sociopolitical aspects.

Numerous other topics fell by the wayside, which would have been worth mentioning, but could not assert themselves in my frontal lobe. Therefore, here and now a top ten compilation of my notes over the year (I jot down thoughts during the week, which I then process on the weekend to my blog), which I would like to get rid of on the last meters.

Other bad news of the year:

CIA and Mossad kill people on foreign soil. Even if you can't like terrorists and nuclear weapons scientists in principle, this clearly doesn't meet the criteria of the rule of law that they like to claim from third parties.

Black U.S. parents still have to teach their children special preemptive defensive behavior toward white police. Still way to go for "Black lifes matter"....

Corona complicates the fight against Ebola, HIV, etc. - especially in the third world. Vaccination initiatives are also set way back.

Spree killings and terrorist attacks everywhere - in France, Vienna, Trier, etc. - not only out of religious fanaticism, but also out of the blue. And there are still fellow citizens living in European societies who believe that defenders of freedom of expression, which also applies to images of the Prophet Mohammed, should be beheaded.

The extinction of species continues. Not only in the tropical forests of Asia and South America, where nature is being pushed back more and more by ruthless man. But e.g. also on the Russian peninsula Kamchatka, where unbelievably large populations were obviously poisoned insidiously - thus died due to environmental pollution. For comparison: that would be as if all wild animals of Germany were murdered within two years.

Political organizations (OpenPetition, Campact, etc.) in Germany are in danger of losing their non-profit status regarding taxes. This probably means the financial end for most of them, because they are usually overlooked when it comes to donations. Yet political education fulfills an essential social task, especially in the age of fake news.

Racism does not only exist in former slaveholding countries like the USA. In Ghana, for example, there is a frightening trend toward skin bleaching with extremely harmful agents, because lighter-skinned people have better chances in society - from dating to the job market.

QAnon - as probably the most frightening example of strange conspiracy theories.

Even if the whole world would take all possible measures to stop climate change from now on, the summer ice in the Arctic is already lost. And nobody knows what that means for the world's climate. It is dramatic how ignorant we all apparently still are.

According to the WHO, there was 60% more domestic violence in Europe in April 2020 than in April 2019 - an unexpected negative consequence of the quarantine and home office era.

Other good news of the year:

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, says she has donated $4.2 billion to charities in the past four months. Thanks to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates for "The Giving Pledge" initiative!

My favorite weekly newspaper "Die ZEIT" has again been awarded the honorary title of "European Newspaper of the Year." Good choice!

The EU strengthens the Convention on Protection for Endangered Species and enables global prosecution of human rights offenders.

Vatican puts itself at the service of the global education pact. Which primarily benefits girls in the Third World.

More and more Republicans in the Senate battleground state of Georgia are distancing themselves from Trump. So there's hope for a tolerable GOP future. And for political balance in the Senate.

Joe Biden can make a difference even against a Republican Senate majority: Strengthen Medicare, suspend student loan repayment, launch green infrastructure project, etc. - all important issues for the younger generations. For that, however, he would have to play "hardball." In doing so, he would save American democracy by renouncing his own ideals of political style.

The job market in many nations remains relatively stable despite Corona. This also reduces the likelihood of a new wave of poverty with loss of residency, etc.

A so-called "supply chain law" in Germany is intended to oblige or hold companies liable for tracing intermediate goods or finished products procured abroad at all stages of their supply chain for any production processes that are harmful to the environment or violate working conditions. "Fair trade" is in vogue.

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser emphasizes the importance of human rights and environmental standards in trade issues with China and intends to increasingly align the global company's future actions with compliance.

The 40% drop in burglaries in Germany shows an unexpected positive consequence of the quarantine and home office era.

Wish you a happy new year and all the best for a better 2021!

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jewish-privilege · 5 years

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The note jammed onto a windshield in Sweden in March last year was designed to terrify. WE ARE WATCHING YOU, YOU JEWISH SWINE, read the message to a retired professor, written on paper with the logo of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a Swedish neo-Nazi organization.

In the bucolic university town of Lund, with its cobblestone streets and medieval buildings, the threat seemed jarringly out of place. More notes followed. “I was really scared,” says the professor, a small woman of 70, who is too fearful about a further attack to reveal her name in print.

Finally in October, an attacker broke into the professor’s home before dawn and set it alight. By a stroke of luck, the professor was not there. But her living and dining rooms were reduced to ash. So too were the writings of her late mother, detailing her internment in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. “For the first time in my life I have needed therapy,” she says, over tea in a sunlit café in Lund. “I have not known what to do with my life.”

The professor was targeted because she is Jewish, and in that she is not alone. Anti-Semitism is flourishing worldwide. Attacks on Jews doubled in the U.S. from 2017 to 2018, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York City. That included the shooting in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue last October, which killed 11 worshippers.

But the trend is especially pronounced in Europe, the continent where 75 years ago hatred of Jews led to their attempted extermination. The numbers speak plainly in country after country. For each of the past three years, the U.K. has reported the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents ever recorded. In France, with the world’s third biggest Jewish population, government records showed a 74% spike in anti-Semitic acts between 2017 and 2018. And in Germany, anti-Semitic incidents rose more than 19% last year. The findings prompted Germany’s first anti-Semitism commissioner to caution Jews in May about the dangers of wearing kippahs, the traditional skullcaps, in public.

Unsurprisingly, many Jews in Europe feel under assault. In an E.U. poll of European Jews across the Continent, published in January, a full 89% of those surveyed said anti-Semitism had significantly increased over five years. After polling 16,395 Jews in 12 E.U. countries, in a separate survey, the E.U.’s Fundamental Rights Agency concluded that Europe’s Jews were subjected to “a sustained stream of abuse.” With the decade drawing to a close, 38% of those surveyed said they were thinking about emigrating “because they no longer feel safe as Jews,” says the E.U. report.

European officials were stunned at the findings, but perhaps they ought not to have been. A complex web of factors have combined to create this moment in time for one of Europe’s oldest communities. Anti-Semitism has found oxygen among white supremacists on the far right and Israel bashers on the far left. Millions of new immigrants are settling in Europe, many from Muslim countries deeply hostile to Israel and sometimes also Jews. Exacerbated by the Internet’s ability to spread hatred, anti-Jewish feeling is surging in way that experts fear could result in a conflagration, if governments and communities fail effectively to tackle its causes.

...Not waiting for their leaders, communities across Europe have begun to take action themselves. Raised learning about Nazism, many fear what might happen if anti-Semitism is left unchallenged. In recent years, teachers, imams, rabbis and local activists have launched countless initiatives to break stereotypes, educate youth and forge links across religions. In several interviews with TIME, those fighting anti-Semitism caution that it is likely to take many years for their efforts to succeed. Still, they have begun. In Paris, Delphine Horvilleur, a rabbi and author of a recent book on anti-Semitism, says a young Muslim worshipper approached her in her synagogue after she presided over a joint Muslim-Jewish prayer service.

“He told me, ‘I grew up in a family where anti-Semitism was the music in the background,’” she says. Now, she says, “We have to ask ourselves, How can we make sure they have the ability to lower the volume?”

The horrors of World War II shamed the world into acknowledging the evils of anti-Semitism. But exposure did not cure it. Instead, say experts, the hatred simmered for years. “There was a consensus that anti-Semitism should not be voiced openly after World War II,” says Günther Jikeli, a specialist in European anti-Semitism at Indiana University, who is German. “This has gone away with time.”

The growth of the Internet provided new platforms for conspiracy theorists to circulate racist fantasies more broadly. After the financial crisis of 2008, for example, the ADL warned that anti-Semites were spreading lies on message boards that Jews were somehow to blame for the crash. One rumor went that Lehman Brothers, the vaunted U.S. investment bank founded by Jewish immigrants from Europe, had transferred $400 billion to Israeli banks prior to its collapse.

A decade on, those who monitor anti-Semitism believe each attack or conspiracy theory posted online, no matter how small, sets off others. As social media has become an ever greater and yet more unregulated part of our lives, hatred has proliferated. “It used to be that anti-Semitism peaked during times of conflict in the Middle East,” says Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s first-ever coordinator for combatting anti-Semitism. “Now the incidents remain at their highest level ever recorded.”

...Tensions sporadically erupt in violence. In Sarcelles, a French commune where Jews and Arab immigrants have lived alongside each other for decades, violence erupted during a pro-Palestinian march in 2014. Jewish businesses came under attack by demonstrators, many of them Muslim. Five years on, the Jewish residents of Sarcelles live with armed French soldiers on permanent patrol on their streets, in a measure of the government’s concern about further race riots. “We live with a sense of anxiety,” says René Taïeb, a Jewish community leader, sitting in a kosher café in Sarcelles. “We have a bag packed, ready to go, in the closet.”

But Europe’s most hardcore anti-Semites are arguably on the far right, and they are slowly joining the mainstream, as Europe’s political loyalties have fractured and polarized. In Hungary, the far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s campaign against Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros is regarded as thinly veiled anti-Semitism. And here in Sweden, ostensibly the most liberal country in Europe, a group of far-right extremists has achieved something close to political legitimacy.

...On the opposite end of the political spectrum, anti-Semitism has also flared up. During months of the so-called Yellow Vest protests in France, a handful of demonstrators in the crowd resurrected the stereotype of Jews controlling the levers of power. In February, a group of protesters accosted renowned French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut on a Paris street, screaming, “You are going to hell!” and “Go back to Tel Aviv!”

The problem is not always so overt, however. In the U.K., the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has faced fury among some members over his alleged tolerance for anti-Semitism, especially regarding criticism of the Israeli government. The veteran leftist has said the party’s problem stems from a “small number of members and supporters,” and has pledged to stamp it out. But his defense has rung hollow to some. “The party is institutionally anti-Semitic,” says Luciana Berger, a Jewish member of Parliament who quit Labour this year over the issue. Under Corbyn, she tells TIME, “there is more of a permission for it to happen now.”

...Many Jews in Europe say it is not the major incidents but the minor ones that prove how widespread this problem is. They describe anti-Semitism as having seeped into quotidian life, in some ways complicating the effort to tackle the problem. “Unless it is very serious and you are physically attacked, there is a tendency not to call the police,” says Fredrik Sieradzki, spokesman for the Jewish community in Malmo, on Sweden’s southern border with Denmark.

...The more insidious effect is not at all visible: the choice by many Jews to remain discreet about their religious background. In numerous interviews, European Jews tell TIME that they avoid wearing a Star of David, and if they do, they tuck it under their shirts. Many also forgo affixing the traditional miniature prayer scrolls, called mezuzahs, to their doorposts, as many American Jews do, choosing instead to hang them inside. “Parents say to their kids, ‘Don’t tell your friends you are Jewish.’ Jewish teachers are afraid to tell kids they are Jewish,” says Shneur Kesselman, the Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi of Malmo, who moved from his native Detroit in 2004.

Kesselman recently installed bulletproof glass on his office window in Malmo’s synagogue, which dates from 1903. He says Jews have steadily adapted to low-level hostility. “We feel so long as our names are not on a list, we are O.K.,” he says. “There is a danger that we are accepting much too much.”

...Taïeb, the community leader in Sarcelles, says the best form of resistance might be to remind anti-Semites who Jews really are — their neighbors, and fellow citizens. He recalls watching the protest in 2014 spiral into violence and deciding to gather about 100 men to surround the synagogue. Instead of chanting Jewish prayers, as one might have expected, they decided instead to sing “La Marseillaise,” France’s national anthem. “We wanted to make the point that we are French, really French, who happen to be Jewish.”

...Yet, after a long period of feeling paralyzed by fear, the professor says she is finally venturing out. “Every day, I wake up and tell myself to go out and repair myself,” she says. Her home, rebuilt, now has security glass and alarms, far different from before the attack. “My house was wonderful, totally open, with big magnolia trees in the garden. The magnolia trees survived.”

[Read Vivienne Walt’s full piece in Time.]

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tessaroselove · 4 years

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A Shattered Dream: The Importance of Intersectionality in the U.S. Education System

I’ve been told that as a child my parents insisted that my older brothers didn’t dote on me excessively because they never wanted me to feel like the world owed me anything. I used to think that it was cruel of them, but as I grew up I learned that it was their way of ensuring that I knew just how hard I would have to work to be given equal educational opportunities in life as a young intellectual chicanx woman. I (like every student) have a uniquely intersectional identity that the world may not necessarily value. In the past few years the U.S. education system has been changing and expanding to involve the incorporation of intersectional identities in the private and public school systems but is absolutely failing to do so in other non-traditional educational environments such as the education centers in the juvenile justice system. This lack of ethnic studies and intersectionality within the learning environment of the juvenile justice system smashes the identity of youth by essentially imparting the idea that they must assimilate to the structured norms set forth by any certain center whether or not it contradicts their cultural or gender identity.

There is hope for true change in some sense because as I have stated above there has been movement made toward the incorporation of literature and discourse about the importance of recognizing and acknowledging intersectional identities. In colleges we can now take classes in subjects such as ethnic studies, gender/sexuality studies, culture studies, etc. and even choose to apply these lenses to common core subject discourse. Furthermore, there has been a steady increase in these studies in regards to grade school education even so far as in elementary school classrooms. In her article “Subverting Scripted Language Arts Curriculum: Ethnic Studies Literature in the Elementary Classroom,” Carolina Valdez gives a snapshot of a possible lesson plan that helps to integrate the concepts of a non-Eurocentric education by showing students the differences in perspectives via popular television shows. Valdez maintains that, “To sustain an ethnic studies pedagogy, educators must reflect on Eurocentric curriculum across subject matter and identify ways to complicate and disrupt it” (p.187). This narrative is one that vastly differs from the education that was in place at the beginning of the century and brings forth the notion that educators have the power to revamp and repair the broken discourses of the U.S. by merely answering questions and acknowledging the existence of these discourses.

So if these concepts are being introduced in elementary education and being fully embraced in higher education, why are such components of learning being vilified in rehabilitation education systems? After encountering the article “Disabling Juvenile Justice: Engaging the Stories of Incarcerated Young Women of Color With Disabilities” I might also argue that there also be a “gendered” aspect to the absence of these subjects in juvenile justice classrooms and discourse for young women. In this piece, Dr. Subini Annamma studied the lives of 10 different young women of color in juvenile incarceration. While her article is based on examining the overrepresentation of students of color in special education in this setting, I would argue that this article more accurately depicts the injustices of the system’s complete disregard for these young women’s intersectional identities, which Annamma analyzes via Critical Race Theory. These young women spoke about their educational journeys in the system and all of them were vocal about the fact that there was often much less emphasis on actual education and more on the subjugation of their bodies and mannerisms toward the feminine ideal. While everyone of the girls in the study identified as female, a participant known as Veronica was constantly caught breaking small rules such as not keeping her feet and knees together under the table during classes. Annamma goes on to explain that the “requirement of how to sit properly (e.g., feet and knees together) seemed at times to force normative femininity upon her” (p.319). This is especially troubling coupled alongside the institution of social time that is mandatory for these young women which is often a triggering experience for people who are diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders.

All of these findings in Annamma’s research point toward the complete lack of intersectional acknowledgement in juvenile incarceration education. These youth with EBDs are literally being forced to socialize and young women who have not been given the means to express their sexuality or gender identities are being compelled to adhere to society's ideal of femininity in order to gain reentry into society. Finally alongside these injustices there is the matter of the lack of information and discourse in these environments surrounding the matter of race and ethnicity, in a place where there is a staggering overrepresentation of young people of color. This communicates the idea that their intersectional identity means nothing to the society that they are trying so hard to reenter. Following the precedent of Valdez’s incorporation of intersectional identity in K-12 education and the boom in these practices in higher education there is more than enough evidence to insist that this education is standard across the board. Incarcerated or not, these young people are more likely to reform if given the opportunity to become cognizant of their worth on a personal level by examining the layers of factors that influence their intersectional identities. Therefore it stands to reason that this country can be a fair and honest place where differences make you unique in the best way possible; they increase the value that you can bring to a conversation and to reconfiguring a better way of life, if we might only bring full attention to the intersectional nature of all people. In the same way my parents told me that the world didn’t own me anything, in honoring intersectionality we as people prove that the only thing we might owe the world is respect toward everyone we meet.

References

Annamma, S.A. (2014). Disabling Juvenile Justice: Engaging the Stories of Incarcerated Young Women of Color with Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 35(5)., 313-324.

Valdez, C. (2017). Subverting Scripted Language Arts Curriculum: Ethnic Studies Literature in the Elementary Classroom.Kappa Delta Pi Record,53(4), 184-187.

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julietakesoncomm380-blog · 5 years

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*February 13*

In this essay, I will examine the critical questions: What is a narrative that is important to me or U.S. culture? What truths does it promote? What truths does it limit or ignore? What are the societal/ethical advantages and the disadvantages of this narrative?

To investigate these questions, I analyzed season 5 episode 9 (“99”) and 10 (“Game Night”) of Brooklyn 99. By combining tone with word choice, as well as chronicling the events following Rosa’s coming out, the two episodes of Brooklyn 99 share a narrative that coming out with regard to sexuality can be scary. Overall, this narrative is productive for society because it shows the complication of the process and does not paint a potentially harmful and inaccurate picture by showing either all acceptance or all rejection.

Brooklyn 99 is a comedy about a fictional New York City police precinct. It follows the work of the precinct, as well as the relationships between the detectives themselves as well as with their captain inside and outside of work. Jake is the funny one, Amy is the nerdy one, Charles is the pathetically adorable friend to all, Terry is the big teddy bear who can also lift a thousand pounds, Rosa is a private, tough, Latina, and Captain Holt is the all business, homosexual, African American captain. In “99”, the squad attempts to get Captain Holt back to New York from LA in time for a job with the commissioner. Charles gets a little nosy and Rosa ultimately comes out to him. In “Game Night”, Rosa Diaz comes outs to the rest of the squad and her family, which is the storyline I have chosen to follow.

Palczewski explains that narratives are everywhere, and often times, they do a lot of things. Narratives often teach cultural values or lessons that are widely accepted in that culture. This idea goes hand in hand with the concept of social truth. Social truth is “beliefs and values that do not refer to some objective reality, but to social reality – those beliefs about what is right that people have arrived at together,” (133). Narratives are also interesting and enjoyable to the audience, but while being that, they can educate their audience and allow for new perspectives to be seen. Narratives include events that then in turn cause other events, or at the very least are related to one another.

One of the narratives evident in these episodes of Brooklyn 99 is that coming out can be scary. When Rosa actually comes out, her word choice and tone tell us this narrative. When Rosa hesitantly comes out to Charles, she tells him quietly and almost ashamedly, “I didn’t say anything about being bi because I didn’t think it was anyone’s business and I also didn’t want anything to change,” and in that case, she had nothing to be scared of, as Charles was supportive. Her word choice tells us she was hiding this part of herself and not necessarily looking forward to any consequences that came with telling people. Another instance in which these episodes promotes the truth that coming out is frightening using word choice and tone is when Rosa comes out to her parents. She takes Jake out to dinner and invites her parents without telling him, hurriedly and panickily insisting to Jake that “This is happening and I need you to be here with me and maybe just step in and do it for me,” which is later followed up by a defeated “I thought I was ready to do this but I’m not.” Rosa’s word choice clearly shows that she is uncomfortable and anxious about coming out to her parents, and though a friend’s support would help, it ultimately does not end up making it any easier. Her tone reflects her uneasiness and eventual change of mind in regard to her coming out. Combined, her word choice and tone make it clear that she is not having an easy time doing this and she is concerned about the consequences.

In “Game Night”, the events following Rosa coming out to the squad are shown and these events continue the narrative that coming out can be terrifying. After coming out to her coworkers, Rosa fields numerous questions, including: How long have you known? What made you decide to tell us now? Are you seeing anyone now? And one so “not tasteful” it was not even asked. Questioning Rosa’s personal life is something the squad somehow feels entitled to despite Rosa never being a very open person before. Becoming more open and vulnerable to people whom were usually left in the dark can be terrifying. Rosa responds with short answers and still tries to keep as much private as possible. There is also the possibility that things would not have gone as smoothly as they did for Rosa. Captain Holt says, “I must say, this is going considerably better than when I came out to my colleagues.” This instance also shows the truth that coming out can be scary. Captain Holt’s coworkers were “not, as the kids say, awake” and it showed, because they seemingly did not accept him. The portrayal of both stories here is important and both still continue the narrative that coming out can be scary. Coming out, you kind of never know how people are going to react. There will likely be a barrage of questions that you really do not feel like answering, and then there is also the fact that people could act negatively, sometimes to the point of violence, and you do not know if that is going to happen.

While showing the squad’s reaction, “Game Night” also show Rosa’s family’s reaction to her coming out and follow the events that come afterwards, again continuing the narrative that coming out can be scary. At Rosa’s following family game night, her father tells her “no matter what you call yourself, you still like men. So, you can still get married and have a child.” When Rosa replies she can do that with either a man or a woman, he replies “Yes, but it will be a man because this is just a phase,” and later tells her “There’s no such thing as being bisexual.” This narrative that coming out can be scary continues because Rosa’s parents, the people who created her, are denying that a part of their child exists. And while a person’s sexuality is not all they are, it is still a part of them and for Rosa’s parents to tell her that she is wrong in that or deny that part of her exists proves how scary coming out can be. It is just one more part of your identity, but it is a part of your identity that can completely change how people feel about you. This event has shown things changing, and change is always frightening. Another event that perpetrates this truth is when Rosa’s father comes to talk with her after she has come out to her parents. While her father accepts her, “Mom needs a little more time,” and he feels it would be best to “put game night on hold for a little while.” Rosa revealing a part of her identity has changed her family drastically. Coming out also means facing those changes that you cannot control, yet still happen. This ties into the idea of social truths. For some, especially more recently, it has become a social truth that being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is normal and acceptable. For others, such as Rosa’s traditional and conservative parents, it is a social truth that being a part of that community is wrong. Social truths depend on your audience. Rosa knows this, and that is in part why she is a little less anxious to come out to her coworkers than she is coming out to her parents.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to this narrative that coming out is scary. It is beneficial to those who may not be out to see the reality of what could happen. After Rosa’s family cancels family game night, the squad stands in, creates a comforting community for Rosa, and has their own family game night. I think it is really important to show that some people could need some time and may not react as well as you would like, while others will act as if nothing has changed. Portraying an audience that all received the news well could be creating a false image for viewers of the show which could then lead to a harsh reality shock, so it is beneficial that there is some negative response to Rosa’s coming out. It is also helpful to those who are already out to possibly see their story portrayed in a television show to create a sense of validation. A possible disadvantage is that it does not show what happens if neither your friends nor family accept you, although many people who can control their coming out chose to do so when they feel safe. I do think overall, its largely beneficial to society because it does show both extremes of reality and shows that while some may not accept you, there are many who will. Besides all of this, it is showing that being LGBTQ+ is real and okay. For some reason, having an LGBTQ+ character on a show is still rare, so any normalization of being part of that community is a great thing for the community. There is a community of people that have both accepted and chosen to love Rosa the way she is. Rosa is not portrayed as a bad character or by using stereotypes. They have added another identity to her character, but she is the same Rosa as she was in season one.

Valentine further explains how narratives, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community, work in practice. For a community that has been so excluded and marginalized, a collection of public narratives is so important. Before LGBTQ+ people were telling their stories, there were people who did not know how to tell their stories because they did not have the correct language for it, they did not have the community. That has changed through the production of narratives in the LGBTQ+ community. There are new stories, and new ways of telling those stories. Most basic is the oral history, but it ranges from dramatic monologues to comics to portraits to music. But the presence of all these other types of storytelling is all thanks to the oral history. It created a community that developed in so many ways. Rosa is contributing her story to this community. She is making LGBTQ+ storytelling for other a little bit easier by telling her own story. Captain Holt tells Rosa, “Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place. So, thank you.” Telling her story not only makes the world a better place, but it allows for that to continue. Her story will help others express their stories, continuously making the world a better and more interesting place. It is thanks to people before Rosa coming out that she had the ability to tell and share her story, so it will be thanks to Rosa, as well as people before her, that people will continue to do so. These narratives, especially on television, allow for these stories to not only be given and listened to within the LGBTQ+ community, but with the world. The values and ideas these stories portray are becoming more and more wide-reaching and more and more accepted.

In summary, the two episodes of Brooklyn 99 following Rosa’s coming out share a narrative that coming out can be frightening. Word choice and tone make this obvious in her actual coming out, while the events following make it clear later on. They show both realities of the consequences to coming out while creating a strong sense of community and overall benefit the audience in this way.

“Game Night.” Brooklyn 99: Season 5, written by Justin Noble and Carly Hallam Tosh, directed by Tristram Shapeero, FOX, 2017.

Palczewski, Catherine Helen, et al. Rhetoric in Civic Life. Strata Publishing, 2012.

Valentine, James. “Narrative Acts: Telling Tales of Life and Love with the Wrong Gender.” Forum Qualitative Social Research, vol. 9, no. 2, 2008, http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewFile/412/896

“99.” Brooklyn 99: Season 5, written by Andy Bobrow, directed by Payman Benz, FOX, 2017.

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sarahsblessingcbdoil-blog · 5 years

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Occupational Probiotic T-50 Health - What Is The Big Picture Of Oh?

Why are americans so worked up about fitness care reform? Statements which includes "don't contact my Medicare" or "all people have to have get right of entry to to nation of the artwork fitness care no matter cost" are in my opinion uninformed and visceral responses that suggest a bad know-how of our fitness care system's history, its modern-day and future resources and the investment demanding situations Probiotic T-50 the usa faces going ahead. whilst all of us marvel how the fitness care system has reached what some talk over with as a disaster level. permit's attempt to take a number of the emotion out of the controversy via in brief examining how fitness care in this usa emerged and the way that has shaped our questioning and lifestyle approximately fitness care. With that as a foundation allow's study the pros and cons of the Obama administration fitness care reform proposals and allow's examine the principles placed forth by the Republicans?

get entry to to state of the art fitness care offerings is some thing we are able to all agree might be a good component for this united states. Experiencing a extreme illness is one in every of existence's principal demanding situations and to face it with out the approach to pay for it's far positively scary. however as we will see, as soon as we understand the data, we will locate that accomplishing this purpose will now not be clean without our character contribution.

those are the topics i can touch directly to try to make a few experience out of what's happening to American health care and the steps we can personally take to make things better.

A recent records of american fitness care - what has driven the charges so excessive?

Key elements of the Obama fitness care plan

The Republican view of health care - loose market opposition

conventional access to state of the art health care - a worthy goal but now not clean to gain

what are we able to do?

First, allow's get a touch historic attitude on American fitness care. Probiotic T-50 Review is not supposed to be an exhausted check out that records however it'll deliver us an appreciation of how the health care device and our expectancies for it developed. What drove charges better and better?

to begin, permit's turn to the yank civil war. In that war, dated processes and the carnage inflicted by way of modern-day guns of the era blended to cause ghastly consequences. no longer usually regarded is that most of the deaths on each aspects of that warfare have been now not the result of real fight however to what happened after a battlefield wound became inflicted. initially, evacuation of the wounded moved at a snail's pace and this induced severe delays in treating the wounded. Secondly, many wounds have been subjected to wound care, associated surgical procedures and/or amputations of the affected limbs and this often resulted in the onset of massive infection. so you might survive a warfare wound most effective to die on the hands of hospital therapy companies who although well-intentioned, their interventions have been often pretty lethal. high dying tolls can also be ascribed to everyday illnesses and illnesses in a time whilst no antibiotics existed. In general some thing like 600,000 deaths happened from all reasons, over 2% of the U.S. population on the time!

permit's bypass to the first half of of the 20th century for a few extra attitude and to carry us as much as extra modern times. After the civil battle there have been consistent improvements in American medicinal drug in both the understanding and treatment of positive diseases, new surgical strategies and in medical doctor education and schooling. however for the maximum part the satisfactory that docs should provide their sufferers changed into a "wait and see" method. medicinal drug may want to manage bone fractures and increasingly try volatile surgeries (now in large part accomplished in sterile surgical environments) but drugs were no longer but available to address serious illnesses. most of the people of deaths remained the result of untreatable conditions which include tuberculosis, pneumonia, scarlet fever and measles and/or associated complications. medical doctors have been increasingly aware of heart and vascular situations, and most cancers however they had nearly nothing with which to treat these conditions.

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#Probiotic T-50

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honeylikewords · 5 years

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How about just he's protective cause his past and he wants to make sure she's safe? Is that ok?

Sure, I don’t see anything objectionable there!

I should specify that for this one, I wrote it in the vein of dealing with Santi’s very definite PTSD following the events that transpired in the film. In my headcanon, Santi lives somewhere in the U.S., now, and has lived there for a few years, and none of Lorea’s men have ever figured out anything about what took place, much less been able to find him, but Santi still experiences bouts of paranoia, increased tension, and anxiety about his worst-case-scenario fears and the guilt he has regarding Redfly’s passing.

As such, this piece does deal with some of the pieces of the PTSD puzzle in Santi’s life, and I wanted to include that as a potential content warning for anyone who might get a little stressed about it. There are also mentions of guns and weapons, just as a follow-up warning about the content.

So, TL;DR: Content Warning: Discussions of PTSD, mentions of paranoia, anxiety, violence, guns, and weapons. Nothing explicit or detailed, but mentioned in passing in regards to the concerns of a veteran adjusting to civilian life.

It’s going to be okay, I promise! (Since we all know I don’t do dreadful angst). While it does center on the difficult topic of love and relationships with a partner who is dealing with trauma and the associated stress, there is hope, love, and compassion at the heart of it. So, in the end, it will be alright!

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Santi’s worked in a difficult, frightening field since he was a young man. Well over a decade spent in the service of the U.S. Army and then three years deep in the Colombian police has taught him to be tense, cautious, vigilant. He sleeps with one eye open, as the saying goes, long after he’s left the live fire behind, and there’s only so much he can do to curb that natural inclination towards tension. But things only get more complicated once he’s no longer alone in his life, and he has to factor in a whole new set of variables; namely, his beloved.

Santi is naturally a caring, protective person, wanting to keep those he loves safe, and keep even those he hardly knows as safe from harm as he can. He believes it’s his duty to serve others in that capacity. He wants to keep the goodness of the world protected, and is willing to put himself on the front lines, quite literally, for that reason. But now that he has her– this precious, singular life, delicate and so unlike himself– he becomes even more careful, more protective, determined to keep her and her, in particular, the safest of all.

He hovers around her more than he does anyone else, more than perhaps is usual for a common man commonly in love. He stands close and watchful, his body a shield against the world, sometimes hunching his shoulders so that he covers her and diminishes the visibility of either of their faces, thus warding off wandering eyes. Santi keeps his head ducked low in public as his eyes scan around, watching the bodies and posture of the people around them, anxiously awaiting the attack he’s so paranoid will take her from him. He paces around his bedroom at night, thinking every rustle in the bushes outside his apartment is some assailant in the dark, ready to pull her from his hands.

Santi checks and double checks the locks on the front door. He specifically bought a car with a key fob that could start the ignition from a distance so that he can stand a safe ways away, start the car, and see if someone put in a bomb. At every place they go, Santi needs a seat where he has eyes on the exits and entrances: he needs to be able to see a door, or he cannot relax. Santi sometimes, on his worst days, won’t feel comfortable with either of them eating food he hasn’t seen be prepared or prepared himself, and therefore just outright cannot do restaurants without getting panicky.

He doesn’t like taking Ubers or Lyfts, and specifically asks his sweetheart to not use those systems because he worries so much about what might happen. “If you need a ride, you can always call me,” he reminds her. It’s not that he wants to control where she goes– far from it– but rather that he has horrible visions in his head of her being kidnapped by some hypothetical hitman sent by the last vestiges of Lorea’s army, sent in disguise as her driver in order to destroy Santi’s life by targeting the one thing that has come to matter most to him: her.

Even then, when he does drive her, he drives defensively, sometimes putting his hand out towards the passenger side car door and using his arm as a shield over her chest when he stops short, or if a car comes speeding out of nowhere. He refuses to let anyone else take the wheel– never does he snap at her about it, but always firmly, politely, sweetly, but strongly decline her offer to drive him– because he just can’t, can’t, can’t feel safe unless he knows he’s controlling the vehicle.

Santi still owns guns, and he hates that. He hates that he has a gun safe in his apartment. He despises the two guns in there (a handgun and pistol), and wishes beyond all other wishes that he could finally let himself get rid of them. But he can’t: he’s still, even now, a soldier, needing to always be prepared for when the shit hits the fan.

Naturally, he’s licensed and safe to have them, educated and instructed and well-versed in the safe use and maintenance of them, but knowing they’re there makes him feel like more of a secret monster than he knows how to express.

He tells his sweetheart about them so that she isn’t horrified or surprised– better to meet it up front, he tells himself– but does not take them out of the safe, nor show them to her. Instead, he shows her his certifications and training documentation, his legal permissions to own, carry, and use them. He shows her the registration on each weapon and carefully explains that he has never, ever drawn his weapon unnecessarily, and never will.

“I promise you,” he tells her, holding her hands tight, “That those… things will not come out of that safe unless it is the direst, absolutely necessitated situation on earth. I swear on everything that I am. You don’t have to be scared.”

He does the same thing with the combat knives he still keeps around. He doesn’t draw them from their protective sheath, doesn’t flash them at her, but merely informs her where they are, shows her that he is safe to use them, and reassures her that they will never, ever be used unless there is an actual, dangerous, life-or-death scenario playing out.

But for him, the fact that he keeps the knives is damning, in some capacity. He thinks about it every time he drives himself to and from work; he’ll cast a glance at the glovebox on his right side and think about the bowie knife inside, think about how it sits mere inches of reinforced plastic away from his sweetheart every time she rides shotgun with him, think about how he wishes he wasn’t still only able to sleep if he knows he has an accessible means of self-defense nearby.

And oh, god, his sleep. He’s better, now, after a few years, but he still has trouble, and he can’t sleep with his back to the door or window. He specifically chose his apartment because the bedroom had no windows, and he could face the door easily with his back to the wall. At night, when she sleeps over, Santi silently guides her into the one of the only two positions he feels safe in: either her pressed between his back and the wall, with his front facing the door, or his back pressed to the wall as he cradles her and faces the door. He needs to be the first line of defense if anything comes through that door, needs to be able to wake up, jump to the ready, and cover his sweetheart from whatever could be lurking out there.

Sometimes, when he dreams, she can see his face screwing up as if in pain, his breathing coming in too short, too hard, too shallow, and his arms will clench around her, cleaving her close. He clings onto her as he buries his face into her skin and grips her too tight to be mistaken for a simple hug: he’s having those dreams again. The ones where she’s being taken from him. All she can do is rub at his shoulders and whisper in his ear, tell him she’s here, she loves him, she’s safe.

Of course, she notices this overflow of fear in Santi’s life. It’s not something anyone could miss; the way he seems to clench up any time someone stands too close to them in public, the way his arm always presses her close and his hand grips into her side, as if he’s going to yank her down into a bomb-cover pose at any moment. He feels, at times, to be more like a bodyguard than a boyfriend. And it worries her.

She talks to him about it at length. Anyone in a committed relationship would have to talk about this at some point, but especially for her, there’s this need to comfort him, help him, be present with him. There is a real need to have frank and earnest discussions about what he needs and what they have to do for each other if they want this to work, and, by God, do they both want it to work.

By now, she knows about his previous work– no solid details, of course, because so much of it is still considered sensitive information under Federal protection– but she doesn’t really know about those tragic final days in Colombia. She doesn’t know about what really happened, just bits and pieces: it was his last mission, he tells her, and he lost a good friend because of a bad, bad mistake he, himself, made.

“I don’t think I could let myself do that again,” he tells her one night as he sits on the end of the bed and holds her hand after a long, exhausting talk about this particular beast of a burden he carries.

He feels so big, but yet so small, far away from her even as she feels his skin against hers.

“I couldn’t let myself be the reason someone else I love gets hurt. I can’t be selfish like that again.”

“Santi–”

“A-and I’ve done everything I can,” he interjects, his eyes focused on the carpet, brows furrowing, “To ensure nothing else happens. I know they haven’t followed me here. I know they can’t find me. I know none of them know about me, or about you, or–”

“Santiago Garcia.”

Santi looks up from the floor and meets her gaze, part steel, part sheepishness.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”

Her hand rises and she cups his cheek, fingers grazing over the protrusion of his strong cheekbone. He watches her face as her eyes follow the path of her fingers over his sunlit skin, over his grey-black beard, over his bitten and chapped lips, over the bridge of his proud, broad nose. She’s stroking his face, just the way he’s fallen in love with, trying to calm him, and he’s hardly even paying attention to the actual sensation of her fingers, but rather watching her face as she touches him.

He watches her explore him, watches her sensate with him. He studies the little flickers of her eyes, the tide-like motion of her lips, the alternation of her breaths between her mouth and her nose. He watches the woman he loves reach out and love him back, and everything else fades away to background noise, just for a minute.

When she’s done mapping that familiar route over the expanse of his face, her eyes come back to his, and he feels her intentions as clearly as if she’d spoken them. He leans forward and puts his forehead to hers, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.

“I love you,” he says, the words clean-cut, clear, chosen.

“I love you,” she replies.

It is not an echo. It is a response. Chosen, just as his words were.

“And I want to keep you safe.”

“I know that.”

“So… please let me, you know, at least do some of my things. If just for my own peace of mind. It doesn’t have to be everything. And I don’t want to control you. But I just breathe a little easier when I feel like I know what’s going on.”

“Okay,” she whispers, putting a hand on his face and rubbing her nails at the thickest part of his short sideburns, grazing the silver hairs that mingle with his dark curls. “It’s okay to do some of it– the driving, the door-watching, if that’s what you need– but… safely. Just remember that it’s my job to help you as much as it is yours to help me, right?”

“Yeah,” chuckles Santi, brushing the tip of his nose against hers, butting their heads softly. “You keep me safe, too, you know. You do.”

She kisses his jaw as he says that and nods, smiling against his skin.

“It’s not going to be easy,” she mumbles into his cheek, “But I’ll be here. We’ll be safe, we’ll go slow. I’ll protect you and you protect me, and we can work on making that a less scary thing for you.”

“I just… don’t want to lose you,” he breathes.

“You won’t. You can’t. I’m stuck on you, whether you like it or not; I’m going to be here to help you, okay?”

“Like it or not,” Santi mimes back, rolling his eyes playfully. “As if I don’t like having this beautiful–”

He takes a moment to peck her cheek.

“–Sweet–”

Another peck, on her other cheek.

“–Very, very kind girl–”

A last, warm, long peck on the lips.

“–Doting on my nervous old ass.”

She smiles at him and kisses the creases around his eyes, hands passing through his dark, salt-and-pepper curls. They hold each other close in tight hugs, squeezing hard, as if each squeeze is a beat of morse code to tell the other the unspoken depths of their love. I am here, the squeezes seem to spell. I am still here.

It’s a long journey ahead of them. There is no need to describe how hard it will be. It will not be a journey that ends with a magical cure and a happily ever after with no caveats, no mistakes, no difficulties. But it’s still a journey that is worth it. They’re worth it.

They keep each other safe in all the ways those who truly love each other do; physically guarding one another, emotionally protecting the other from pain, soothing what aches come with the nature of being human, supporting each other in their mental strife. And it’s all worth it.

Love is worth that effort.

#messages #long post #original #santiago garcia #this got...long #anyway im. v tired so im going to bed now bye #Anonymous

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underwoodlawsociety · 5 years

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“Walk a Mile” Series Article 4: Transit Countries and Future Recommendations

- Jen Kim, Tabitha Kwon, Hayoung Lee

So far, this series has closely examined the laws of major actors in the issues of North Korean defectors—the international society, the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter, China), and the Republic of Korea (hereinafter, ROK)—surrounding their identification and treatments. This final article will take a look at the legislation relating to North Korean defectors in countries that temporarily harbour them in their route in finding a permanent home—which we refer to as transit countries, analyze the complications North Korean defectors face in finding a legally legitimate place in the world comprehensively, and finally provide possible future plans of actions in dealing with these issues.

Roles of Transit Countries

Let’s first follow some common routes of defection and put ourselves in the shoes of NK defectors. North Korean defectors usually take either one of two routes: the Thailand route or the Vietnam route. The Thailand route refers to route from North Korea - China - Thailand - 3rd countries like ROK or the United States, and the Vietnam route refers to the route from North Korea - China - Vietnam - Cambodia - Thailand or directly to ROK or the United States. In the past, China - Mongolia - ROK route has been taken by some defectors but stopped due to political disturbances. Recently, the Thailand route has been rising in popularity due to the political changes and increased crack downs in Vietnam and Cambodia. As of now, Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has not repatriated the defectors.

Thailand is not a signatory state of the Refugee Convention of 1951. However, Thailand adheres to the non-refoulement principles. North Korean defectors, therefore, are subject to Thai Immigration Law article 11 section 1, under which they are considered illegal immigrants. However, the Thai government does not repatriate them back to North Korea considering the threat of persecution in case of their return and also their ties with the government of ROK. When North Koreans arrive in Thailand, they try to get caught by the Thai police and try to get sent to the illegal immigration detention center where South Korean embassy can assist the defectors to escape to ROK. Such unofficial cooperation between ROK and Thailand is called “silent diplomacy” regarding North Korean defectors. Thailand’s policy towards North Korean defectors is largely based on their state interest, rather than adherence to the obligation as a member of the international community. The Thai constitution emphasizes sovereignty and national interest while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggests that they uphold the international human rights principles. Thai government’s cooperation with the South Korean government and adherence to the non- refoulement principles are influenced by the political ties between the two countries. ROK and Thailand formed diplomatic relations in 1958 along with numerous bilateral agreements since then while Thailand and North Korea formed diplomatic relations in 1975. Moreover Thailand shares democratic ideology with South Korea. South Korea is 5th largest trading partner of Thailand and has economic leverage over Thailand. All in all, Thailand’s political and economic interest allows easier facilitation of the defectors to South Korea. Not much concrete data exists on Vietnam’s treatment of NK defectors, but there are a few things to note. Vietnam is also not a member of the 1951 Refugee Convention and subsequently, does not adhere to the principle of non-refoulement. Up to 2004, Vietnam was cooperative with the South Korean government but since then, has been repatriating the defectors to NK.

Mongolia and Cambodia are two actors in the defection routes that are greatly sensitive to diplomatic relations in their handling of NK defectors. Mongolia, not a party to the 1951 Convention, still claims to pursue humanitarian policy for refugees. In 2006, it was estimated that about 500 North Koreans were passing through Mongolia each month. In 2003, the then Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar publicly showed sympathy towards North Korean defectors and stated that it will treat them humanely. However, this became unclear when Mongolia and North Korea formed economic agreements in which many North Koreans were sent to Mongolia as laborers. Nevertheless, the Mongolian-North Korean relations are not independent from the regional and international diplomatic dynamics, for Mongolia is an ally of the U.S. and the recent international sanctions against North Korea resulted in the withdrawal of all laborers from Mongolia back to North Korea in 2018. In many testimonies, the main problem with the route including a transition in Mongolia is not the matter of repatriation, but rather the geographical risks the North Korean refugees face, such as the vast deserts and grasslands.

Cambodia is, in fact, a member state of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Thus, it has obligations to forbid forcible repatriation of North Korean asylum seekers whose lives may be threatened when they are sent back to their homeland. However, Cambodia’s response to North Korean refugees greatly varied due to its political stance and ties with North Korea, South Korea, and China. Although Cambodia is one of the five Southeast Asian countries that maintains an embassy in Pyongyang, the bilateral relationship between Cambodia and North Korea fluctuated over time. Today, their relationship changed from a mutually warm one to a more uncertain one which is sensitive to China’s “tacit approval.” In terms of economic ties, that of Cambodia and North Korea are loosened due to the international sanctions while Cambodia is increasingly depending on South Korea for more gains. While it is unguaranteed that North Korean refugees will not be repatriated due to political circumstances, Cambodia tends to show passive responses towards issues regarding North Korean refugees.

The Future for North Korean Defectors

The legal dilemma presented throughout this series demonstrates the need for change in the international system in order to protect the lives of those unable to protect themselves.

The first legalistic step the international society should take in order to start building a protective system wherein NK defectors could safely exist is to unify the international identification of them as refugees sur place. One of the main issues that this series has presented is the fact that various actors discussed all define the defectors differently, thus forcing them into a vulnerable position unprotected by the law. Once a person is given the refugee sur place status, there is a codified and universal way in which they should be treated as outlined in the 1951 Refugee Convention. This in turn provides all parties involved in the defection route a clear cut method of dealing with the NK defectors.

So far, there have been few cases wherein expatriates were granted refugee sur place status, such as a Syrian expatriate who was unable to return to his home country following the Syrian uprising[1], and a white South African man in Canada who claimed he experienced “persecution from African South Africans,”[2] There have been some publicized cases of applications and reviews of making someone a refugee sur place, as with a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo who applied for an asylum claim in Ireland as she had Rwandan heritage and was at risk of serious violations of human rights if she repatriated due to allegations made against her that she was a spy.[3]

Unfortunately, this action does not necessarily guarantee a safe future for NK defectors as it faces the same issue as all international legislation: it is not binding as there is no entity higher than national sovereignty. Although giving the defectors a unified identification would the first legal approach to a guideline under which they should be treated, this does not mean that all party states to the 1951 Refugee Convention would follow it. As seen in the case of China, states with a certain level of political or economic leverage may diverge from the treaty and handle the NK defectors according to their own political or diplomatic alignments.[4] Nevertheless, labelling NK defectors as refugees sur place within the international system would at least offer some states with either directions in managing the issue or a legal ground to grant them sanctuary—regardless of it being temporary or permanent.

Moreover, identification of NK defectors as refugees sur place should not be used against them when they are finding a place in SK. As mentioned, NK defectors are automatically taken in and given refuge once they enter SK as they are considered to be citizens. Although SK is a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, its treatment of asylum seekers is abysmal. In 2015, SK was 119th in the ranking of states’ ratio of the number of refugees hosted to gross domestic production per capita.[5] Even those granted asylum are not well-supported by the public system; public opinion towards refugees is not kind and institutional support is given is in the bare minimum forms of medical care and education. Therefore, taking away the current acceptance of NK defectors as citizens and making their status one of refugees sur place even in SK would be against the principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention and international law.

Final Remarks

This series has investigated the legal treatment of NK defectors throughout different actors in known defection routes such as China, South Korea, transit countries like Thailand, Mongolia, and Cambodia, and the international legal system. The overarching issue that we presented stems from the fact that there is no unified term of address of NK defectors. After a comprehensive examination, our recommendation for future action is to first agree upon the classification of NK defectors as refugees sur place thereby ensuring their protection within the legal system in relevant states. Our main objective in this recommendation is to prevent NK defectors from being exploited as diplomatic tools for varying interests.

—————————————————————————————–

[1] Irina Ungureanu, “Syrian Refugee Jumps for Joy After Finding Asylum in Moldova,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, published on November 19, 2012, https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2012/11/50a9f6f56/syrian-refugee-jumps-joy-finding-asylum-moldova.html.

[2] Adrian Humphreys, “White South African’s Battle for Refugee Status in Canada Ended by Appeals Court,” National Post, published on June 19, 2014, https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/white-south-africans-battle-for-refugee-status-in-canada-ended-by-appeals-court.

[3] Róise Connolly, “Court of Appeal: Judicial Review is an Effective Remedy in Accordance with EU Directive on Refugee Status,” Irish Legal News, published on July 25, 2016, https://www.irishlegal.com/article/court-of-appeal-judicial-review-is-an-effective-remedy-in-accordance-with-eu-directive-on-refugee-status.

[4] Hayoung Lee et al, “’Walk a Mile” Article 2: The Legality, Politics, and Controversies in China,” Underwood Law Society Journal (2019 Spring)

[5] Se Jin Kim, “Failing to Protect Refugees: South Korea’s Dismal Global Ranking,” East Asia Foundation Policy Debates 112 (January 29, 2019): 2.

#Yonsei University #yonsei #uls #underwood law society #legal writing #north korea #north korean defectors #refugees sur place #refugees #international law #international society #2019-1

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mawalters08-blog · 5 years

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Annotated Bibliography: Implicit Bias in Healthcare

Annotated Bibliography

By implementing training to inform and give scenarios to healthcare providers can reduce implicit bias and racism in the medical field. Experimental data, health complications, and patient experience display our current day healthcare inequality. Raising awareness of implicit bias nationwide will allow women of color to feel more comfortable, and their concerns will be validated.

Allan S. Noonan, et al. “Improving the Health of African Americans in the USA: an Overdue Opportunity for Social Justice.” Public Health Reviews, BioMed Central, 3 Oct. 2016, publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-016-0025-4.

African Americans are the most unhealthy ethnic group in the United States. Racial and social injustice has led to this statistic as well as the overall health care of Black people. The author breaks down African American health into three categories: Social determinants and health inequalities, morbidity, and mortality and lastly risk factors. Racism has led to many social determinants, housing, education, health care access, and income. These stressful life events are detrimental to a person’s overall well being as well as his or her genetic makeup. The article examines the health disparities African American people face and the statistics that support the author’s claim. Although Black’s overall health is lesser than other races the care they are provided is also worse due to racial bias, stereotyping and clinical uncertainty. The underlying issue to African American health disparity is racism by addressing the issue at the individual level can potentially benefit the overall Black population. The article will be beneficial in my research about disparities in healthcare regarding African American women because it provides data and reasoning as to why African American’s health and the care they receive is less than White’s.

“How Training Doctors in Implicit Bias Could Save Black Mothers’ Lives.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-training-doctors-implicit-bias-could-save-lives-black-mothers-n873036.

The intersectionality of being Black and a woman in the United States seems to harm these women’s overall health. Researchers are unsure why however they can use data to hypothesize and it is often concluded that it is due to the color of their skin. Alia McCants is one of many African American women who had a postpartum health complication, she was thankful the doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital saved her life but how could her near-death experience be avoided? McCants recalls vague information given by her healthcare providers, and little empathy for the pain she was experiencing. Micro-aggressions add up, making Black women feel devalued by their subtle remarks and institutional racism. Implicit- bias training is on the rise, however, in the medical fields, it’s a new concept. African American women feel like a burden when it comes to seeking medical condition, many feel it’s because “bias is in the air.” An implicit- bias, also known as unconscious bias is related to patient-provider interactions, treatment decisions, and the patient’s overall health outcome. Implicit bias can be unintentional, however, that does not mean that it can’t be reduced or even removed. After review, within my research, I can develop the idea of how racial/ implicit- bias can be removed by providing doctors and other healthcare professionals with the right technique and information.

“Racism in Health Care – For Black Women Who Become Pregnant, It’s a Matter of Life and Death.” NWLC, 13 Apr. 2018, nwlc.org/blog/racism-in-health-care-for-black-women-who-become-pregnant-its-a-matter-of-life-and-death/.

The editorial from the National Women Law Center explains the bias and discrimination Black women face when seeking attention from health care professionals. Socioeconomics, age, and educational status are not accounted for when it comes to the consistently low quality of care these women receive. The author develops her argument for African American women based on statistics that prove Black women are three to four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than white women. The author provides individual cases in which health care providers did not attend to their patients properly leading to further health complications. She tries to develop ideas as to why these women are given less attention besides the color of their skin. Lack of health insurance, chronic health conditions, and unhealthy living environments are possible contributing factors to increased mortality among pregnant African American women.

Randall, Vernella, and Tshaka Randall. “Cutting across the Bias: Teaching Implicit Bias in a Healthcare Law Course.” Saint Louis University Law Journal, no. Issue 3, 2016, p. 511. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edshol&AN=edshol.hein.journals.stlulj61.28&site=eds-live&scope=site.

The author’s break apart explicit and implicit biases. Explicit can be explained as being aware of your intentions and implicit being unaware, which can make implicit dangerous. Implicit biases tend to lead to discrimination. Understanding the two types of biases and how they can be prevented needs to be studied in healthcare systems. Teaching implicit bias can be done in a class- like structure, allowing students to become comfortable where implicit bias is more prominent can help reduce the bias. Students need to be able to differentiate between race and racism, to avoid the different types of bias. They delve into the inner workings of implicit bias classwork. Assignments to identify stereotypes, race, and racism and overall learning objectives are covered. This kind of work can be useful for my research to develop a hypothesis in ways implicit bias can be resolved. If the course is successful it can correlate with data from other sources.

Kimble, Lindsay, and Lindsay Kimble. “Serena Williams Eyes 24th Grand Slam Title as She Makes It to U.S. Open Finals.” PEOPLE.com, 5 Sept. 2019, https://people.com/sports/serena-williams-beats-elina-svitolina-us-open-womens-singles-semifinals-winner/.

Williams, Serena. “Serena Williams: What My Life-Threatening Experience Taught Me About Giving Birth.” CNN, Cable News Network, 20 Feb. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/02/20/opinions/protect-mother-pregnancy-williams-opinion/index.html.

Serena Williams went into labor with an emergency C- section which went smoothly. It wasn’t until her shortness of breath post-operation that she alerted the nurses. Due to her family medical history of pulmonary embolism, she did not take the signs lightly. Williams had many complications post-delivery, thankfully she was assertive and made sure she was given the medical attention needed under the circumstances. Her healthcare providers knew exactly how to handle the situation and had the equipment to do so, however not all women are this fortunate. William’s goes on to discuss health complications of infants and how over 80% of infant deaths are preventable yet the medical industry doesn’t have the resources they need to save the lives of the infants. Demanding care for healthy pregnancies and newborns will help ensure fewer infant mortalities and well as health complications for the mothers. Even when accounting for risk factors Black mothers still face a greater risk of harm. Doctors and nurses continually disregard the patient’s needs and concerns. It does not go unnoticed by those being treated, they begin to feel devalued. Not even their voices are enough to gain healthcare providers’ attention, their lives flash before their eyes. Black mothers need to be protected, as seen in William’s case, or the numbers of maternal deaths will continue to rise. William’s own story is important in understanding racial bias in healthcare and provides a personalized story. The use of William’s experience in my research paper is to personalize the paper to the audience. Displaying William’s effect of racial bias will hopefully reduce racial bias for future African American women. If doctors are willing to unconsciously risk tennis star, Serena William’s life, why wouldn’t they do it to the average person?

Reflection: The purpose of the project I created was to inform and summarize websites and articles that correlate with my topic. All of my sources are academic and informative. They all relate to implicit bias in healthcare, whether it be describing a real-life situation or statistics regarding health complications. My project achieves this based on my reviews and summaries of the websites. They are informative and describe the importance of implicit bias in healthcare. The audience of my project is the general public, I think it is important if everyone is aware of this issue in our healthcare. My medium allows for all ages to access my annotated bibliography by being posted on the blog. The purpose of the blog was to allow for all to read it. Tumblr has a variety of topics, and I felt health-related topics fit the website well. I chose to use a blog, pictures, and a GIF from Tumblr. I enjoyed using these forms of multimodality because it was unique but also enhanced my project. My final choice for choosing a blog was that a variety of people will have the ability to read it. My post can also be shared and liked which can popularize and gain importance to the subject. I enjoyed choosing Tumblr because it was relatable to other social media websites that I use, overall it is very user-friendly. I enjoyed that they create their own GIFS that all users can incorporate into their own posts. The most difficult aspect of Tumblr was trying to keep the format the same as my word document. I enjoyed writing the annotated bibliography because I was familiar with the format. I felt like the readings helped with the final project and the peer review helped me prioritize my sources.

#annotated bibliography#racial bias

#annotated bibliography #racial bias

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Thursday, July 22, 2021

U.S. and E.U. security officials wary of NSO links to Israeli intelligence (Washington Post) The Israeli company NSO Group has earned a reputation among national security experts around the world as a best-in-class manufacturer of surveillance technology capable of secretly gathering information from a target’s phone. But U.S. and European security officials regard the company with a degree of suspicion despite the ability of its technology to help combat terrorists and violent criminals. In interviews, several current and former officials said they presumed that the company, which was founded by former Israeli intelligence officers, provides at least some information to the government in Jerusalem about who is using its spying products and what information they’re collecting. “It’s crazy to think that NSO wouldn’t share sensitive national security information with the government of Israel,” said one former senior U.S. national security official who has worked closely with the Israeli security services and, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe intelligence operations. The founders of NSO are former members of Israel’s elite Unit 8200, which conducts electronic surveillance and is analogous to the U.S. National Security Agency. The company’s Pegasus surveillance tool can penetrate cellphones and steal emails, call records, social media posts, user passwords, contact information, pictures, videos, sound recordings and browsing histories. All of this can happen without a user even touching her phone or knowing that she has received a mysterious message from an unfamiliar person.

Schools confront more polarization with mask rules for fall (AP) Students in Wichita, Kansas, public schools can ditch the masks when classes begin. Detroit public schools will probably require them unless everyone in a room is vaccinated. In Pittsburgh, masks will likely be required regardless of vaccination status. And in some states, schools cannot mandate face coverings under any circumstances. With COVID-19 cases soaring nationwide, school districts across the U.S. are yet again confronting the realities of a polarized country and the lingering pandemic as they navigate mask requirements, vaccine rules and social distancing requirements for the fast-approaching new school year. The spread of the delta variant and the deep political divisions over the outbreak have complicated decisions in districts from coast to coast. Schools are weighing a variety of plans to manage junior high and middle school classrooms filled with both vaccinated and unvaccinated students.

US life expectancy in 2020 saw biggest drop since WWII (AP) U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II, public health officials said Wednesday. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years. The drop spelled out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which health officials said is responsible for close to 74% of the overall life expectancy decline. More than 3.3 million Americans died last year, far more than any other year in U.S. history, with COVID-19 accounting for about 11% of those deaths. Black life expectancy has not fallen so much in one year since the mid-1930s, during the Great Depression. Health officials have not tracked Hispanic life expectancy for nearly as long, but the 2020 decline was the largest recorded one-year drop. Killers other than COVID-19 played a role. Drug overdoses pushed life expectancy down, particularly for whites. And rising homicides were a small but significant reason for the decline for Black Americans, said Elizabeth Arias, the report’s lead author.

Massive wildfires in US West bring haze to East Coast (AP) Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to six miles high. Skies over New York City were hazy Tuesday as strong winds blew smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana and other states. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 606 square miles (1,569 square kilometers)—half the size of Rhode Island. Fires also grew on both sides of California’s Sierra Nevada. In Alpine County, the so-called California Alps, the Tamarack Fire caused evacuations of several communities and grew to 61 square miles (158 square kilometers) with no containment. The Dixie Fire, near the site of 2018′s deadly Paradise Fire, was more than 90 square miles (163 square kilometers) and threatened tiny communities in the Feather River Valley region.

In Peru, a rural schoolteacher rises from obscurity to the presidency (Washington Post) The rise of Pedro Castillo, a previously obscure leader of a rural teachers union, to Peru’s highest office is the most glaring example yet of the power of the pandemic to upend politics in Latin America. The ravages of the coronavirus, and the surges in poverty and inequality it has caused, have provoked nearly 1 million people to protest in Colombia and saw a communist elected mayor of Santiago, the capital of Chile, the region’s free-market model. Here in Peru, a what-more-have-we-got-to-lose mentality helped propel one of the most unusual candidates ever to win a Latin American presidency. A 51-year-old, straw-hat-wearing schoolteacher and farmer who reported an income last year of $16,600, Castillo has never held public office. After finally being declared the winner of the June 6 runoff election on Monday evening, he will now trade his adobe abode in the Andean highlands for the grandeur of the Presidential Palace, going from nurturing poor children in a multi-grade classroom to handling the weightiest matters of state. In a race that pitted Peru’s elites against a man they derided as a country bumpkin unfit to rule, Castillo edged out the right-wing political veteran Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori. After losing a six-week effort to challenge the results, the Peruvian right is now gnashing its collective teeth.

UK’s swan-uppers take to the Thames to check on queen’s birds (Reuters) Royal officials took to the River Thames on Tuesday to count the swans that belong to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth at the start of the “Swan Upping” ceremony which dates back to the 12th Century. “Swans were a very, very important food, and they were served up at banquets and feasts,” David Barber, the queen’s Swan Marker, said. “Of course today swan upping is all about conservation and education.” The ceremony dates back 800 years to when the English crown first claimed ownership of all mute swans, which have long curved necks, orange beaks and white feathers. Barber and his team lift up the swans—which can weigh as much as 15 kg—to check for any injuries, typically caused by fishing tackle. Young cygnets are taken ashore to be weighed and measured.

Pegasus Highlights New World of Espionage (Foreign Policy) French authorities have vowed to investigate after it emerged that President Emmanuel Macron’s phone was recorded on a list of possible targets of government-led phone hacking using software, called Pegasus, licensed by a private Israeli spyware firm. According to an investigation by a global media consortium which includes the Washington Post, Le Monde, and the Guardian, ten prime ministers, three presidents, and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI were all potential targets. It’s not the first time world leaders have been targeted by spy agencies—the U.S. National Security Agency’s targeting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one high profile instance—but the Pegasus revelations highlight how sophisticated espionage programs are no longer limited to wealthy states, and can be purchased on the open market. In India, the investigation has caused a political scandal. The Indian National Congress—the largest opposition party—has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of spying on its leader Rahul Gandhi after his number appeared on NSO’s list. It would not be the Modi government’s first alleged offense: It was accused of using NSO software to hack 1,400 phones before India’s 2019 elections.

US and Germany compromise on natural gas pipeline (WSJ) The U.S. and Germany have reached an agreement allowing the completion of a controversial Russian natural-gas pipeline, according to officials from Berlin and Washington, who expect to announce the deal as soon as Wednesday, bringing an end to years of tension between the two allies. The Biden administration will effectively waive Washington’s longstanding opposition to the pipeline, Nord Stream 2, a change in the U.S. stance, ending years of speculation over the fate of the project, which has come to dominate European energy-sector forecasts. Germany under the agreement will agree to assist Ukraine in energy-related projects and diplomacy.

India’s true COVID-19 death toll has likely surpassed 3 million, study finds (The Week) Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, official death tolls in many places have likely fallen short of the true figures, but a new study from the Center for Global Development suggests that the undercount in India may be particularly drastic, The New York Times reports. The Indian government’s official fatality count currently sits at more than 400,000, a grim figure in its own right. However, researchers estimate that between 3.4 million and 4.7 million more people than would normally be expected died between January 2020 and June 2021 in India. While the precise number of excess deaths that can be attributed to COVID-19 may never be known, the authors of the study believe it’s higher than 3 million. “True deaths are likely to be in the several millions not hundreds of thousands, making this arguably India’s worst human tragedy,” the authors said.

Severe floods inundate parts of central China (Washington Post/Foreign Policy) Powerful floods in central China’s Henan province have submerged streets and prompted harrowing rescues amid what Chinese media called the region’s heaviest rainfall in decades. Precipitation in Zhengzhou, a city in the province, reached a high of roughly eight inches per hour Tuesday, breaking a 1975 record. At least 25 people have died and the number is likely to grow, and more than 100,000 people have been relocated. Clips shared widely on social media show cars floating on the surface of a street that resembles a river. In another, rescuers pull a woman from a torrent of water rushing down what looks like a staircase. Other videos show inundated subway stations and commuters on a Zhengzhou subway car who were up to their shoulders in water. Flights and trains have been cancelled throughout cities in the region. Damage from the floods is likely to run into the billions of dollars. Power is out in much of the city, and key components of supply chains, including Apple and Nissan factories, have been wrecked. Tens of thousands of cars were washed away by the flooding. Local dams are threatened by the waters: At least one has been deliberately breached as part of flood control, while others are in danger of collapse.

North Korea food shortage (Nikkei Asian Review) North Korea’s food shortages have reached crisis levels, and inequalities have sharply widened ever since the Covid-19 pandemic forced the country to close its borders in January last year. The reclusive nation will be short by about 860,000 tons of food this year, or about two months of normal demand, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated in a recent report. The government has been trying to get the population to supply their own food but with little success. News agencies with sources inside the country are reporting starvation deaths as well as an increase in the number of children and elderly who have resorted to begging. Jiro Ishimaru of AsiaPress said North Korea’s current food shortage is quickly shaping up to be the worst humanitarian crisis in Asia.

Police in Nigeria secure release of 100 kidnapping victims (Reuters) Police and government authorities have secured the release of 100 people, including women, children and nursing mothers, who were kidnapped from their village in northwestern Nigeria over a month ago, a local police spokesperson said. Nigeria is battling an increase in armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, mainly in northwestern states, where thinly deployed security forces have struggled to contain the rise of armed gangs, commonly referred to as bandits. While northeastern Nigeria has faced a decade of insecurity, including attacks by Islamist militants including Islamic State-allied Boko Haram, the current wave of kidnappings is primarily financially motivated.

Teens around the world are lonelier than a decade ago (Washington Post) Loneliness among adolescents around the globe has skyrocketed since a decade ago—and it may be tied to smartphone use, a new study finds. In 36 out of 37 countries, feelings of loneliness among teenagers rose sharply between 2012 and 2018, with higher increases among girls, according to a report released Tuesday in the Journal of Adolescence. Researchers used data from the Programme for International Student Assessment, a survey of over 1 million 15- and 16-year-old students. In the worldwide study, school loneliness was not correlated with factors such as income inequality, gross domestic product and family size, but it did correlate with increases in smartphone and Internet use. By 2012, most of the countries in the study had reached a point where at least half of teens had access to smartphones, and that is when teen loneliness levels began to rise, said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and the study’s lead author. Social media can create an exclusionary environment that increases school loneliness, especially for girls, the paper said; it can also enable cyberbullying. And even if an adolescent does not personally use social media and smartphones, they are so ubiquitous that they can have a negative effect regardless.

#headlines #news

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ericvick · 3 years

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Should Biden’s Tax Plan Lead to Investment Sell-Offs?

Capital gains are the profits made from selling assets. President Joe Biden wants to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate for the wealthiest Americans.

Seismic changes could be coming to the way America’s wealthiest investors are taxed. Under President Joe Biden’s $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, taxpayers whose incomes exceed $1 million would pay nearly twice the current long-term capital gains tax rate. While Biden’s tax proposal may have you looking to sell positions to stave off a hefty tax bill, a financial advisor can help you make sense of the potential changes and preserve your capital.

How Long-Term Capital Gains Would Be Taxed

A long-term capital gain is the profit you make from selling an asset that you’ve held for more than a year. While short-term capital gains — the money made from the sale of an asset held for less than a year — are taxed as ordinary income, long-term gains have traditionally been subject to lower tax rates.

For instance, single filers who make between $40,401 and $445,850 will pay a 15% tax on long-term capital gains in 2021. The wealthiest Americans — single filers earning $445,851 or more — are subject to a 20% long-term capital gains tax.

Here are the long-term capital gains tax rates for 2021:

Rate Single Married Filing Jointly Married Filing Separately Head of Household 0% $0 – $40,400 $0 – $80,800 $0 – $40,400 $0 – $54,100 15% $40,401 – $445,850 $80,801 – $501,600 $40,401 – $250,800 $54,101 – $473,750 20% $445,851+ $501,601+ $250,801+ $473,051+

But Biden’s proposal, which needs Congressional approval, would shake things up. His plan hikes the long-term capital gains tax rate from 20% to 39.6% for households that make over $1 million per year. The proposed change would impact a sliver of Americans, about a third of the top 1% of American households, but help offset the cost of Biden’s $1.8 plan. High-income investors would also continue paying an additional 3.8% Medicare surcharge, effectively raising the top rate to 43.4%.

Announced on April 28, 2021, the American Families Plan includes $800 billion in tax credits and $1 trillion in new spending on childcare, paid family leave and education initiatives, like free community college.

Story continues

To help fund the ambitious plan, the Biden Administration also wants to restore the top marginal income tax bracket to its pre-2017 level, raising income taxes from 37% to 39.6% for the wealthiest Americans.

What Financial Advisors Are Saying About Possible Changes

A couple speaks with their financial advisors. President Joe Biden wants to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate for the wealthiest Americans.

The American Families Plan could spell major changes for high-income earners, but some financial advisors are preaching patience to their clients. While Democrats control both chambers of Congress, their advantage in the Senate is razor thin with Vice President Kamala Harris representing the potential tie-breaking vote. Michael Collins, a financial advisor at CAPTRUST in Boston, says a “more moderate compromise” is likely to emerge given the makeup of Congress.

“While we believe capital gains tax rates are likely to go higher from here, the legislation hasn’t been finalized,” said Collins, a chartered financial analyst (CFA). “None of my clients have wanted to sell anything as a result of potential tax reform, but they are more open to realizing gains this year.”

As a result, Collins said he plans to use tax-loss harvesting to help offset potential gains. But the U.S. Department of the Treasury said the capital gains tax increase would be retroactive to the date it was announced, potentially complicating matters high-income investors.

Jim Shagawat, a certified financial planner (CFP) and partner advisor at AdvicePeriod in Paramus, New Jersey, said his clients have adapted to major shifts in tax policy over the years, but remain concerned about how the Biden plan will impact their accounts.

“High-income households, in particular, have been targeted for tax increases under Biden’s tax plan,” Shagawat said. “While recommendations may be premature, I proactively engage with my clients regarding potential future tax law changes. By being familiar with President Biden’s tax plan now, me and my clients will be positioned to take action and seize planning opportunities when changes are implemented.”

Top Tax-Efficient Investment Strategies

If you’re a high-income earner potentially impacted by the long-term capital gains tax hike, there are several strategies for minimizing your tax liability.

First, you may consider moving capital from actively managed mutual funds to exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Because ETFs track the market passively, they typically generate fewer capital gains than mutual funds and can reduce your potential tax liability.

Second, you may benefit from increasing your contributions to retirement accounts, including your 401(k) and/or individual retirement account (IRA). While these tax-advantaged accounts are subject to normal income tax rates — not capital gains taxes — contributions to traditional 401(k)s and IRAs reduce your taxable income.

Collins told SmartAsset that in light of the potential tax changes he is encouraging clients to max out IRA contributions, increase their 401(k) contributions and explore Roth IRA conversions to take advantage of tax-free growth that Roth accounts provide.

Bottom Line

A woman looks over a graph on her computer. President Joe Biden wants to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate for the wealthiest Americans.

Biden’s proposed tax plan could mean much larger tax bills for the wealthiest Americans when they sell long-term investments. Under the American Families Plan, households with incomes exceeding $1 million would see their long-term capital gains tax rate jump from 20% to 39.6%. Financial advisors say that could prompt a selloff, but are reminding clients that the plan is not yet law. Changes will likely be made to the proposal before it’s put to a vote on Capitol Hill. Then again, high-income investors can mitigate their potential tax liability by moving capital to more tax-efficient investments, like ETFs and retirement accounts.

Investing Tips

There are many benefits to working with a financial advisor, who can provide asset management and financial planning, including answering questions about long-term capital gains. SmartAsset’s free matching tool can pair you with up to three local advisors in as few as five minutes. If you’re ready to find a professional, get started now.

Are you thinking about selling stock? Consider using our capital gains tax calculator to find out how much your tax bill will be from the sale. Knowing your tax liability can help you make an informed decision about selling.

The post Should Biden’s Tax Plan Lead to Investment Sell-Offs? appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.

#Bidens #investment #lead #plan #SellOffs #Tax

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garage-door-repair-canoga-p-blog · 6 years

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Garage Door Repair Service: Springs, Openers, & Cables

Garage Door Repair Fast Facts

Everyday, numerous folks pick LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park to get their garage door repairs and replacements.

Our company can repair or replace the following Garage Door Parts: Garage Door Springs Rollers Cables Hinges Track Adjustment & Replacement Door Weather Seals Torsion Spring Conversions Garage Door Openers Emergency Repair Services

Experienced Garage Door Repair by LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park

A damaged garage door can be the result of many years of wear on your door mechanisms or the unexpected break of your door or door opener devices. No matter what the reason, a defective garage door could significantly affect your schedule and your home's security.

LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park garage repair professionals, are quick, having same-day, emergency repair work available in many regions. Our company can removed and replace garage door broken springs, rollers, cables, hinges, sensors and weather seals. Our company can also calibrate garage door tracks and springs to ensure sure your door works perfectly. Do you desire assistance with your garage door opener? Our staff can repair or replace that too. Have a look at our line of Garage Door Openers.

Our specialists are specially taught to handle a variety of garage brands, designs, and configurations. After arriving at your property, an LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park service technician will pinpoint the issue and guide you through the options for taking care of it. Then, the technician will make any necessary adjustments or substitute broken parts to make sure the door can be functional once again. Our experts constantly seek to complete repairs the same day of service, and your complete satisfaction is guaranteed. Our contractors are waiting for your phone call and are more than happy discuss pricing possibilities.

Don't allow an unpredicted garage door problem prevent you from performing the activities you want to do. Call an LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park professional immediately, and we'll have your garage door working again in a snap.

Garage Door Repairs And Maintenance and Basic Safety Check

For LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Door Installation and Repair Services, making your garage door secure is as vital as making it work satisfactorily. For this reason, each of our repair services and tune-ups feature a 20-point safety check. Our service tech will carefully inspect your garage door panels, springs, sensors, safety release, components, track, and even more. This ensures that not only has our job been done properly, but that your garage door presents absolutely no threat to your car or trucks or family. As a result of the complexity of garage door systems, only garage service experts should try to readjust, repair, or service garage door hardware.

When our service providers check your garage door, either for regular maintenance or a specified repair problem, they'll carry out a 20-point safety examination as part of their service call. A LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park associate will meticulously examine your garage's door panels, springs, sensors, safety release, hardware, track, and other necessary parts. Our professionals perform this inspection to ensure they've accomplished their repair work accurately, and to recognize any possibly frustrating garage door devices that might end up being substantial issues. In the event that our professional locates a concern, he'll counsel you regarding the options to fix it.

Because garage door systems are complicated and complicated, they can be dangerous to people who do not have expertise servicing them. Therefore, we stress that home owners refrain from attempting to service their garage doors themselves.

Garage Door Repair: Garage Door Tune Up & Maintenance

Garage Door Tune Up & Maintenance Easy Info

On a daily basis numerous families choose LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park for their garage door repair work and installations Annual tune-ups really help prevent emergencies 20 Point Pro Safety Check Track Lubrication Track Adjustments as required Service warranties Emergency Repair Provider

The Importance Of Standard Garage Door Care

Just like some other pieces of complicated devices, your garage door calls for occasional upkeep to ensure it continues to run as it should. Your garage door and its opener are made up of over 300 moving components which need to work in synchronization to raise and lower the garage door adequately. With a maintenance from LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park, our garage door specialist would examine your garage door mechanisms in order to guarantee that every thing is functioning as it needs to. That way, you'll be more likely to prevent a garage door emergency when you least expect it.

Garage Door Tune-Up Pointers

The LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Door Tune-Up consists of:

An analysis inspection - concentrating on the door sections, track, counterbalance system, hinges, rollers, and weather seals. Assess and tighten all bolts and screws Rebalance door whenever necessary Take a look at and adjust garage door travel and safety settings where required Lube garage door opener chains and sprocket Test downforce pressure of garage door opener Check for electric sights are in line

Not included:

Repair components-- service fee does not pay for the price of needed components Labour for part repair-- costs will resemble the effort required to change out parts

Garage Door Spring Repair

Garage Door Busted Spring Repair Work Easy Facts

Every day, numerous families choose LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park to get their garage door repair services and installations Trained and background-checked garage door experts Service areas EPA verified, licensed and insured. Quality replacement parts 20 Point Safety Check Warranties offered for all services Complete satisfaction Guaranteed Emergency Repair Services

Busted Garage Door Spring?

Garage door springs can get damaged for a range of reasons. Excessive warmth or freezing, for instance, can strain the springs to the point of bursting, or maybe that ordinary wear on older springs could cause them to bust. Whatever the situation, a faulty spring can make your garage door dead. Your garage door will not have the ability to raise or close when a spring is busted, and one ought to stand clear of your door before a professional can examine the case and deal with it.

What You Should Do If Your Garage Door Spring Breaks

Generally, whenever a garage door spring breaks the door has already shut or lowered. In a few cases, however, a spring can break while the door is closing or in motion, causing the door to fall dramatically. In these circumstances, the door can become a safety issue for you and your family, so you ought to try to keep your distance and call a garage door specialist asap. Garage doors are sizable and can cause personal injury if not handled correctly. When a garage door issue occurs, call an LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Door expert to aid.

Garage Door Off Track? Call LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Services

Garage Door Faulty Spring Repair Simple Details

Day-to-day, numerous households choose LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park for their garage door maintenance and repairs and installations Expertly educated and background-checked professionals EPA licensed, licensed, bonded and insured company Reliable replacement parts 20 Point Safety And Security Check Warranties readily available on all product or services Satisfaction Guaranteed Emergency Repair Services

Garage Door Off Track?

Garage doors slip off their track for a variety of factors: sometimes a person mistakenly runs into the garage door and dislodges it, and on other occasions, time and wear have worn out cables and other mechanisms beyond their use. In the event that your garage door has leapt its track, do not attempt to move the door or reset it by yourself. Doing so can be unsafe.

Just what One Ought to Do If Your Garage Door Is Off Track

A garage door off its track makes your whole entire garage unfunctional. Not just this, but a downed garage door can additionally snare your car or possessions in your garage area and become a safety risk to you and your family members. Garage doors usually come off their track while opening.

Sometimes this takes place because of a damaged cable, and at other times a vehicle has run into a garage door, or the door itself has shut on an obstruction.

No matter the cause, a downed garage door triggers not only a hassle to you and your family but additionally a danger. When your door is down, do not attempt to move it. The weight of a garage door makes the door unsteady, and trying to move it by yourself can entirely separate the door and lead to injury. Rather than attempting to repair the garage door on your own, rely upon an LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Door professional. Our experts repeatedly run into malfunctioning garage doors and know exactly how to take care of them correctly. Once on duty, an LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park expert will best determine effective ways to deal with the issue and realign the door to its track.

Garage & Garage Door Safety

The garage area could get numerous usages including storage space, workshop, bicycle shop; you name it. Nevertheless, the garage and the garage door can also be quite the safety hazard when you are not cautious.

Your garage door is the largest sized entrance door to your property, and for lots of households at present it is the primary entrance. Did you know that your garage door weighs several hundred pounds and possesses numerous moving components? The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission mentions that every year since 1990 a median of 20,000 folks see the emergency room every year for garage door-related injuries. Being aware of garage safety can help protect you and your household. Listed below you will find a checklist of safety and security policies you can go over with your household as well as put up in your garage to assist advise everyone.

Always keep your garage room nice and put together. A smart and organized garage can stop stumbling or falling. The cement garage flooring could be really painful and damaging in a slip. Mark all poisons and flammables and place outside of kids's reach. Kids are inquisitive. Make certain that all spray paints, chemicals, oils, gas, etc., are marked and in a place in which a young child could not get to them or even spilled by mistake.

Ensure tools and step ladders are properly stored. A step ladder ought to never be left in an upright setting. Fold up the step ladder and hang or put along the side wall of your garage to ensure that it would not fall on someone, children will not be tempted to get on it, and it will not cause someone to fall. Additionally, ensure all sharp-edged and sharp things are carefully secured out of grasp.

A garage door is not a plaything. While numerous youngsters find it enjoyable to run underneath the door while moving, this is very unsafe and children could very quickly become entraped under the garage door. Let your family members recognize that they need to maintain a clear distance away from the garage door while it is in motion.

Check your garage door for the security "electric lasers" or sensors. The safety sensors ought to be properly linked and aligned. If your garage door is older, or if it has not been correctly maintained or installed, you may not get functional safety sensing units on your garage door. These are located near the bottom, left and right sides, of the garage door and should be around 4-6 inches off the garage floor.

Call an LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Solutions specialist for garage door routine maintenance, tune-ups, and spring replacement. Garage Doors which are not correctly taken care of can be not only a headache but also a safety and security hazard. The torsion springs (positioned at the top center of the garage door) are under intense strain and could result in serious damage if they should bust. A broken spring can also result in the sudden fall of a garage door. If your garage door spring breaks, contact a competent LA Garage Door Repair - Canoga Park Garage Solutions expert for spring repair.

Keep garage door opener remotes and transmitters out of little ones's grasp. Ensure that nobody is nearby, or touching, the garage door while it is in motion. Never put your door down when not in location or without more safety features or precautions. Apart from the overall size and weight of the garage door squishing an individual, there are lots of hinges and folds in a garage door, of which hands and fingers are often the subjects of damages.

Enact Emergency Release - Be sure everyone understands the significance of the Garage Door Opener Emergency Release cord and ways to utilize it appropriately. Explain to little ones that this is definitely not a plaything and it is very a that it is only used for emergency situations. Explain those scenarios wherein it might be required to use this appropriately.

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