#this job is. Not Well for my health methinks...

[dragonji]

apparently I cant go 2 days without a moderate-to-severe injury now huh :|

[baileyvolt04]

Final State of Sacred Bolts

So I've been doing a lot of thinking. When I first created the series, it was actually a story-format because methinks would be a much easier process than just drawing the comics itself. I've been writing the same process for almost a couple years ever since I started doing something PMD related thanks to a couple mutuals I was friends with on my former Deviantart account, and I thought to myself, what if I make a comic just to explain the lore once more?

Well I thought it would be a more easier process than just writing just to figure out what was happening, but I was wrong. I was so wrong.

Being an autistic 20-year old with two jobs (used to have one but now I'm gonna have two) is a much more harder process due to how burnt out I get, and it takes away my will of continuing the Sacred Bolts comic.

With Renegades still being my latest project, it's also taking half of my will away in continuing my PMD comic. Alongside irl issues and dealing with a transphobic family alongside work stuff, I honestly feel like my mental health is taking away my will in making the next page of Sacred Bolts.

I know a whole bunch of people who read the series and are looking forward to the next page, but don't worry. My PMD OC's are still going to be around, but they're just going to be in simple drawings instead of in comic-forms. And speaking of which, I know it's going to upset people but without further ado, I'm gonna go ahead and say it.

Sacred Bolts is officially cancelled. I know a whole lot of people are very upset with this decision, but keep in mind that adulting and irl issues took away my will in just making the series; alongside art block.

"So no more content about Oakley and Vivian!?" Well, not exactly. The reason why I said this is because I'm actually going to just make the entirety of Sacred Bolts into a story-format, but it may or may not have drawn scenes depending on how art block takes away my will in doing so.

The whole plot to this comic was supposed to have Oakley praying for Zeraora to keep the world in peace and let the entire clan get Vivian to be with her, and have her friends embark on a journey to keep Vivian safe from Griff's laws.

I was going to do that but sadly art block just took away my will in keeping the comic series going. My PMD oc's will still be in the series, but they're just going to be in both the story I'm planning on reworking and just in simple drawings.

I really hope you'll understand my reasoning, but begging me to bring back the series isn't going to make the story reboot happen faster. It's just going to take longer.

Adulting and irl issues are what killed the Sacred Bolts comic, and I'm deeply afraid Renegades is gonna suffer the same fate, but I can't be doing two comics in just one year. It's repetitive and exhausting and it takes away my will in keeping two comics going. As a result, I'm only going to be doing one comic this year, and that's the end of it.

[thisfanisgonesorry]

Marrying medic fic?🥺 wedding night mayhap s?? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

hehe this tickles my brain methinks , rlly hope u enjoy this anon <3 [part 2] cw // pure fluff man, ive never been to a wedding before lol, i did so much research for it, i decided to keep it sfw bc it was just too cute to make sexy :) + miss pauling is the only reason the event didnt fall apart, reference to the comic lore.

<3 I stood at the end of the aisle as I watched Ludwig stand in the middle waiting for me, he was anxiously looking around to see the other mercs with a few other friends and family though it was kept scarce. Travish sat on the piano, playing a majestic soft song as I slowly began to walk down towards the man I love, the one I’m about to marry. It’s nerve wracking, really. Sure, without a doubt, we both knew we’d spend the rest of our lives together with or without a wedding but it was still terrifying. Slowly getting pulled away from my thoughts as Ludwig, unsurprisingly but also as a failed surprise, had his doves make the scenery look like it was unreal, which meant a lot since this was a small wedding with nothing over the top. Given his job, it’s not like we had much of a choice; though there weren’t many complaints to be had. The location was nice and the thought put into it made up for it, though I’m sure just going down to sign the papers and leave married would have worked just as well. Since it was a little under planned, there was no seating arrangement, no bridesmaids (unless you count Miss Pauling) or best men (and unless you count Misha), but it was representative of our friends and lives. Reaching the middle of the aisle with a harsh stop as I turned to look at Ludwig, standing in a black suit with a team coloured tie. “You look beautiful.” He whispered, hooking our arms and continuing to walk down the aisle. “The doves were a little cliche.” I smiled. He looked back at me, pretending to be offended. “What? Everyone always wants doves at their wedding. Didn’t think you would too.” “Took me a week to teach them that!” He quietly joked, before reaching the minister, who has his book ready to read from. Miss Pauling organised most of the wedding, including hiring the said minister, who looked young and spoke professionally. He welcomed everyone as he read out slowly, stating the purpose of the ceremony though it was more than obvious, before turning to me, “Your vows?” I pulled out a small slip of paper, glancing over the traditional vows. “I take you, Ludwig, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health;” I cleared my throat, “Especially if for any reason you want to dismember me for your science—” Ludwig glared at me with a soft smile, “Continue the vows.” “But I also take you to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” I snickered at the ‘death’, given the incident with Mundy, death would not be what parted us. Ludwig smiled adoringly, before pulling out his own ‘traditional’ vows from his front pocket, adding his own snarky comment about promising to always reattach my limbs, unless he doesn’t want to. He also struggled to keep a straight face while saying ‘till death do us part.' Before the minister could ask for the rings, Miss Pauling rushed up with them both, stunning him before he began his speech about how significant the rings are as Ludwig took my hand as he began reciting the words that the minister told him to. “I give you this ring, as a symbol of our love, for today and tomorrow,” He spoke through his thick accent, though it seemed to roll off his tongue as if he wasn’t being told what to say, “and know that my love is present, even when I am not.” Once the ring was placed on my hand, the minister glanced towards me as I repeated the actions, taking his hand, reciting the words and placing his respective ring on his hand. The minister gestured towards the both of us once again, “Do you, Ludwig, take y/n to be your lawfully wedded wife?” He tried to contain a wide smile, “I do.” “And do you, y/n, take Ludwig to be your lawfully wedded husband?” This is it, this is the moment that defines the rest of our semi-immortal lives. “Yes, I do.” “By the authority vested in me by the state of New Mexico, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He spoke, giving a soft smile to Ludwig; “You may kiss the bride.” He was giddy and full of energy, he pulled me into an excited hug while

kissing me, spinning us around in his childlike energy as his large body engulfed me wholly into the embrace.

“Ich liebe dich, meine frau.” He smiled; I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this happy, his words barely audible over the sound of everyone’s applause and cheers. “Thank you.” “I love you too.” I said, slightly struggling against his grip. “Can you please let me go, seriously, I want to get out of this dress, it’s very uncomfortable.” He let out a slight chuckle as he unwrapped his arms from the tight embrace, as we walked into the building and began the recessional.

[ganymedesclock]

Compiling for the meme. Also I want to say as an aro/ace person, for “hotness level” I will merely be evaluating character aesthetics and how appealing I find them, since otherwise everyone would be solidly reading “meh”.

Since these got super long, I’m splitting these up and doing all Voltrons, and then all TFA asks.

@a-trolli​ said:  for the character ask, lotor of course!

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

Me, Clockie Radioactivesupersonic, loving Lotor as a character???? The very idea. 

In less mocking news I’ve been pretty much consistently excited about Lotor since pre-s2. I kid you not- my earliest meta on the subject was analyzing the “Weblum Galra” (Acxa’s s2e9 appearance) from the s2 trailer and speculating that was either Lotor or an agent thereof. I did a comic about it. 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

Whether or not you agree with every decision of VLD’s writing, it’s visually gorgeous and Lotor is no exception. VLD’s offering of Lotor is easily one of my aesthetic favorites- the DDP design is a good contender and the classic poncho is an interesting statement, but, ultimately, the sleek blue-black armor, the added volume to his hair, even personalizing touches like those electric blues and the curl of hair next to his face are very nice touches. The “Mulan” strand in particular does a nice job adding a sense of youthfulness to his design, and AJ LoCascio does such a good job giving him this rolling, statesman’s eloquence. 

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

Lotor’s a raven who makes occasional passes at imitating a snake, methinks. He values power and loyalty, can be brash in certain situations, and is quite diligent, but, ultimately what Lotor respects the most is the pursuit of knowledge. Basically every time Lotor’s overcome a wall, it’s because when the going got hard, he hit the books. Given he started studying Altea towards his exile, it raises the clear implication that he responded to feeling bereaved and alone by seeking more information, and used that information to build a sense of belonging.

best quality:

Probably his sense of strategic observation, opportunism, and ambush tactics. It’s just a real delight to watch an effective strategist, especially one like Lotor where he’s not quite a villain so you can actually root for his plans to succeed.

worst quality: 

I mean, the part where he keeps ending up alone after his interpersonal connections spectacularly self-destruct and he cuts them off out of fear, but that’s not exactly mostly on him, now is it HAGGAR.

ship them with: 

Primarily Allura.

brotp them with: 

Did you know that before s4 I had a pet theory that Lotor had met the Generals when they all were children and they’d grown up together. I still think about that. 

needs to stay away from:

beep beep, Honerva it’s child protection services and they’re not impressed with your bullshit excuses about the rift.

misc. thoughts:

I don’t have a lot since I tend to just aggressively pour my Lotor thoughts right into the tag but just once I want to see Lotor get frustrated by something and have a frustrated huff that flutters his single forelock.

@thenorthernphoenix​ said:  For that character thing you're doing: Lance

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

MY BOY.

I genuinely deeply love Lance. And not just because I genuinely deeply love Heart aspect characters in general. He totally blindsided me as far as VLD characters- I latched hard onto Keith and Pidge first, then Shiro. Lance took a long, hard time growing on me! (I love Hunk and Allura too, they just didn’t do time as my Reigning Fave before Lotor stole that particular crown)

Which I think is kinda hilarious, since, uh, well, Lance is probably the character out of VLD I think I have the most in common with, and I think leaping to the notion that the rest of the cast is just a little more interesting than Lance is a very Lance thing to do.

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

I stand by what I said with Lotor, VLD is a nicely designed show, and Lance is cute. You wanna ruffle his hair. I’d say he doesn’t have any particularly striking or eye-catching features. A lot of his appeal as a character is less his physical features or clothing and more the body language with which he wears those things.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

Of the Hogwarts headcanons I’ve posted this is one people often fight me on and I think this is because of a differentiation- I think people often sort characters based on who’s good at the particular House’s virtue, and not what they value. Knowledge takes many forms, and Ravenclaw isn’t obligatorily the domain of the most erudite- that would be pursuing a single, narrow facet of knowledge which doesn’t exactly speak to the wisest.

To me, Lance is a Ravenclaw because he’s motivated heavily by curiosity. He’s earnestly fascinated by people, by the world, by situations. We can tell a lot from the characters by how they respond to their Lion first meeting them- and Lance’s reaction to Blue is basically to just stroll right in and make himself at home. As soon as Blue seems like someone who has something to say, Lance is all ears. 

best quality:

Empathy and compassion

worst quality: 

I mean, it’s not exactly unforgivable but definitely the one that tends to bite him the most often is his tendency to just wildly try things when he’s got no expertise in a given area/ isn’t sure.

ship them with: 

Mostly Keith, but I’m decently amenable to him with Hunk or Allura. 

brotp them with: 

The whole team tbh but I think him and Shiro and him and Pidge are both underrated dynamics. Also, my undying esteem to the first person who writes him and Lotor getting stranded on a planet and having to work their way out with the power of emotional bonding and a lot of sarcasm.

needs to stay away from:

The Langst crowd. In seriousness, can’t think of anybody that’s a Lance-specific hazard and not generally bad for everyone else’s health.

misc. thoughts:

the Lance face from the WINNER flag is still my favicon. as it should be.

@oxfordmodernfairytales asked:  For the character ask thing, Shiro?

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

Shiro’s come through a lot, and, while I think there are some ways he could have been fleshed out more, it’s really good to see him back on his feet again and I’m optimistic about this thing with the IGF Atlas. He really lights up when he’s on the bridge, and it’s nice to see. 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

Given the amount of thirst art I see about him, it’s fair to say the fan consensus of Shiro is he’s way hot, and I do think he looks very handsome and charming but I don’t quite find him an Unstoppable Stud of a man. Being fair to Shiro this is probably a lot more to do with my sexuality than anything about his looks.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

Josh Keaton aired this as his personal headcanon and, honestly, I’d see it. While Shiro is brave, and can and will challenge things directly that he sees as wrong, his greatest successes as a character are games of endurance. Both of his dry, sarcastic comments- one in s2e2 and one in s7e6- involve a cheerfully recited Long List of things that have failed to kill him so far. And what stands out about him to Keith in s7e1, their first meeting, isn’t the charismatic foot Shiro puts forwards- it’s his refusal to give up on Keith.

best quality:

All of the paladins get angry at cruelty, but Shiro has this particular eviscerating fury that really only comes from someone who passionately, earnestly believes in a good world and cannot tolerate the idea that you’re breaking from it.

worst quality: 

His tendency to put himself second and suffer in silence for long periods. He’s the biggest advocate of teamwork and the last one to open up about drowning, even when the water’s up to his chin.

ship them with: 

Adam, in that... as much as we saw him at a chapter of conflict, I’m a little frustrated at the note it ended on. I think it’d be really interesting to see more out of these guys- their stubbornness, strength of will, and, also, their connection and how much they care about each other.

brotp them with: 

His team, of course, but, honestly, he and Allura make a darn good platonic power couple. Let’s see more situations like s1e10.

needs to stay away from:

HAGGAR...

misc. thoughts:

his monolids... are not eyeliner.

[garimadutt]

It has been a tough start to the month. An ankle twist while on a walk/run resulting in a bad ligament burst and my left leg 🦵 is in a cast until the end of the month. I have been told this type of injury may take a year or two to heal but am not thinking about it now and stressing myself more. Wallowing in self-pity (yes I am prone to doing that as well) - its terribly tough to take bath, manage groceries, pains and itches - was not an option. Today was the day to get up, dress up, show up. For the real good news along with the not-so-good news health-wise is that I begin teaching after a year. Such is life as they say! I join Delh School of Journalism - Delhi University as a visiting faculty where I will be teaching the course 'Media, Industry and Governance' for now to third year students of Journalism. Teaching is a space I have held along with my regular jobs and work since 2008. It helps me read and learn, interact and engage with minds from across the country. I thoroughly enjoy it and I hope the students feel and say the same. While I could not have been happier driving down to DU if physical classes were happening, am thankful for once that I could begin right away online in this condition. PS: Grateful for the opportunity for work and more new work is a good distraction for an overthinking head that needs to be silenced. Second, I keep pushing myself with this line that plays like a constant refrain in my head #LangdaTyagiBahubali Which means I ain't getting over Bollywood ever!😂 Third, methinks, whether an almost broken leg, messy mood, head or heart style mein kami nahi aani chahiye, could have been another short caption for this post. #photodump from #wednesday morning before I began the class. Wore this over a decade old shirt after ages. ❤️🙌🌻 . . . #love #work #manageyourmind #teach #grow #learn #journalism #media #teaching #ootd #oldshirt #shirtandshorts #whiteshirt #coach #academia #newbeginnings #delhiuniversity #DU #delhischoolofjournalism #delhieyes (at Delhi School of Journalism) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSce7I_BwPB/?utm_medium=tumblr

[just-stopandthinkaminute]

24 April 2021

Dear Diary, 

Here we are again: it’s been nine months since I wrote here last. A little context: we’re in lockdown again, people are dropping like flies without medical care and attention, there’s no oxygen at the hospitals, every third person in Delhi has covid (including my father). You either have covid or you’re related to someone who has covid. I’m currently working at PR Pundit as an intern and I’m hoping I can convert that into a full-time gig. The HR Lady, Shreya (whom I really like), has informed me about a position available at my level (or, rather, what would be my level) and also told me that she needs to evaluate me and can’t make any promises. I’ve been here a month-and-a-half, and I’ve got two weeks to go. 

Now, a recap: Since I was here last, after a year or spotty memory and heartbreak and way more drinking that necessary, I started therapy. My therapist, Nishtha, is lovely. She’s young and funny, laughs at my jokes, and helps me constantly. My mental health and eating disorder have improved by leaps and bounds in these nine months. There’s still a long, long way to go and there are ups and downs and progress isn’t linear, but I’m hopeful. I’m not used to feeling hopeful; it’s to feel something other than a sense of impending doom. It’s nice to be able to look forward to something. 

This internship has gone well for me, methinks. I’ve worked hard, which is more than I can say for what I’ve done for years). I have given it my all thus far. Shreya and Abhilasha are going to give me a project to work on over the next couple of weeks, over and above the work I’m already doing, to gauge my potential, and then there’s going to be an interview and performance analysis. I’m feeling a very strange mix of emotions--I’m frightened about what will happen if I’m not hired, to be out of a job in this economy with a limited skill set. But I am confident that I am liked, that my work has been decent (with obvious room for improvement) and that I have a bit of knack for what I’m doing. I’m hopeful. Cautiously optimistic is the term, I believe. I will work my ass off for the project, do it the best I can. The rest is up to fate the universe. 

I’m also feeling overwhelmed by what’s going on. I don’t know how to help. I could donate money but to whom and how much and what good would that even do when there’s no air to breathe. I’m appalled that I’m thinking about which serums to start using for my skin in the thick of the pandemic. My problems seem so minuscule when people are dying for no fault of their own. I’ve just found out about Aditi’s mum who’s in the garden and likely has covid and the doctors aren’t taking her calls. And I’m sat here complaining that I might not have a job or that I might be fat. Isn’t that so fucked up? Everything is fucked up. 

I’m worried about my grandparents. I’m worried about my job. I’m constantly worried. 

But, just the other day, I felt the brain fog lift a bit. Here’s what happened: I had this really intense Chris Evans phase this time last year. He’d tweeted an NY Times article on consciousness and the voice inside one’s head and where+how it originates. I remember reading it this time last year and sharing it because that’s what you do. Sid read it and commented on it, and I remember saying, “I don’t get it” and he asked what specifically I didn’t understand, but fact is, I didn’t understand anything. But I did on Tuesday. It’s these small victories that tell me I’m going to be alright. Because I am. I’m going to be alright. 

Love always,  Ankita

[sweetwatersound-blog1]

Riverdale S2E7 Review

So sorry this is late. And for the length. And for the way I flip out near the end.

CHAPTER TWENTY: TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE

 Well, well. Look who’s trying something new. Riverdale experimented with tone and style in the seventh episode of this season. As a storyteller in my own right, I appreciate the effort for variety. Of course, there were things about it that worked for me and things that didn’t, but let’s get to that in a minute.

What exactly were we all watching Wednesday night? A young adult anthology penned by Stephen King? Or was the dark, tingling quality in the show’s atmosphere a byproduct of fanfiction fumed with Queen hits?

Huh, you say? Let’s break down that observation, in order.

 Bert and Ernie Archie and Jughead

Lawyers in general earn a mixed reputation for their practice. I grew up hearing of comparisons to sharks and parasites. But Penny Peabody has carved herself a special box of awfulness here. After all, every snake is a serpent but not all of Riverdale’s Serpents are snakes.

After Riverdale received a message from the Black Hood (his basic blah, “sin and die” stuff) the whole town reacts by…ahem, business as usual?

Betty, evidently distressed by her failure to keep Jughead’s drug-dealing English teacher alive, spent the night in her boyfriend’s arms. He did his best to console, and I could have gone for more than that, but then his phone sang the song of eternal damnation, and he had to run off to appease the Snakecharmer.

Penny, using Jughead’s concern for his father’s welfare in prison to her advantage, promised she can get FP out if Jughead did one little job for her.

Which led to him making a midnight drug run, with Archie as his co-pilot, his conscience torn between his determination to support Jughead and his passive desire to stop him.

Overall, the night was full-moon freak worthy. Jughead and Archie met a man on the road whose interest in the Black Hood suggests that the masked killer has been sending fan mail in the wrong direction. The boys also randomly encountered a set of deer, one bloody and the other bloody-dead. Poor Jug had so many jumpscares, I was surprised that it didn’t end with Archie checking him into a mental health clinic.

But they were in a hurry, after all, and like the song Headlong says

It ain’t no time to figure wrong from right, cause reason’s out the window, better hold on tight – you’re rushin’

  Josie

 Oh, good, a character who deserves more attention has finally got some! I always loved Josie’s friendship with Cheryl before, and now there are layers to go with that slice of cake. Granted, when you go a’ explorin’ the foundations of friendship, you might not always like what turns up from the dirt. But even if I don’t have quite the same love for Josie/Cheryl anymore, I am definitely more intrigued by them.

So, this is the (long overdue) spotlight on Josie McCoy. Pussycat by day, the next Whitney Houston by night. Might I add Ashleigh Murray’s pipes are fabulous, and I could fall asleep listening to Josie play the piano. No one knew she was composing alone except for her bff Cheryl, who is paying for studio time. Because the beginning of their story intersects with Jughead and Archie’s, we get the pleasure of hearing Cheryl snap at them as “Bert and Ernie” TWICE while chatting with Josie. Then Josie opened her locker to find a stuffed animal with a stalker-note attached. She rolled her eyes and tossed it, assuming it was from a secret admirer. Because it wasn’t like there was a Ra’s al Ghul wannabe ready to waste a town that day. At least Cheryl was wary, but her devotion to Josie seemed more intense here than it had been in previous episodes.

Then Josie encountered Chuck Clayton. Instead of skirt-chasing for the sake of humiliating his dates, Chuck goes to church. Chuck takes art classes. Chuck is ready to start going by Charles now.

There was in fact something softer about him in this episode, enough to leave both me and Josie hoping he’d changed. That dance between them at the diner was so cute.

But whether this was a one-shot tale or a to-be-continued setup, we’ll have to wait and see. Because while Josie did have a stalker in this episode, it wasn’t the Black Hood. It wasn’t Chuck.

Cheryl, you break my heart.

In honor of Josie’s rollercoaster of a trip, I give you The Invisible Man.

 When you hear a sound that you just can’t place, feel somethin’ move that you just can’t trace, when something sits on the end of your bed. Don’t turn around when you hear me tread/

I’m your meanest thought, I’m your darkest fear

But I’ll never get caught, you can’t shake me, shake me dear

 Veronica & Betty

 The last story goes back to what Betty did after saying goodbye to Jughead. While talking to him about the teacher murdered in Sheriff Keller’s station, a lightbulb sparked in her brain – who could find it easier to get into the cell than Keller himself? Not one of her better ideas, I feel, but she ran ahead with it. She told Veronica, who insisted the Sheriff was just exhibiting the signs of practicing infidelity. Still, the girls agreed for Kevin’s sake they would have to be careful. While Betty worked her Veronica Mars magic at the department, Veronica invited herself to a sleepover at Kevin’s house. Being the warm treasured heart he is, he taught her how to dominate his favorite fantasy board game. Taking a break, Veronica took a call from Betty. (virtually the only time I’ve ever been truly disappointed in my girl – more on that later.)

Betty learned from V that a bunch of doors were locked at the Keller house. She bobby-pinned them open until she found Sheriff Keller’s evidence office. Crime scene pictures here, letters from the Black Hood there. Betty was just picking up the black mask that Keller had confiscated from Archie earlier this season, when the Sheriff showed up.

However, when the scene bounced to Betty and her father sitting, facing Keller, he wasn’t enraged. He seemed quite understanding of her suspicions, and downright sad she had them. He promised her he wouldn’t tell Kevin, because she and his son were so important to one another, and knowledge of this incident would break his heart.

But for relentless Betty, it wasn’t over. She wanted to know where Keller was sneaking off to at night. Tailing him alongside a reluctant Veronica led them to a motel. Keller knocked on one of the doors, and out stepped Mayor McCoy – Josie’s mom – into his arms.

The girls swore a pact they’d never reveal the truth to Kevin. I felt like they also should have promised each other to never investigate with Veronica’s Cheat-Buster’s intuition. This was one secret that would have been better left uncovered.

 Because Kevin remarked upon “the pressure” his dad was facing so much, here’s Under Pressure.

Pressure pushing down on you, no man ask for

Under pressure that burns a building down

Splits a family in two

Puts people on the streets

  Odds and Ends

 These are a few of my other Darkside observations, pros and cons:

We had a break from Toni. Yes I know some still like her, and yes I know she’s not a bug mucking up Bughead’s windshield. For the record, though? I wanted to like Toni Topaz. Really. I was so hoping she’d be the Toni from my South Side Story fic. That Toni took a stand, had integrity, and had a kind-of-crush on Betty. She was interesting, and I was hoping Vanessa Morgan’s version would at least have some interesting lines. Sadly, something fell flat for me along the way, and with this absence I hope the writers have thought of a new way to make her more appealing as a person.

 Bert and Ernie. BERT AND ERNIE. Though I see Jughead as more the cynical-ish Bert, and Archie is more the rubber ducky type methinks. Still, never getting old.

 But unfortunately, I have some nitpicks now.

 Archie owes Jughead? You know, I’m not entirely certain Jughead would have won that race with the Ghoulies. And if it had been a clear loss...Jughead clearly needs glasses if he’s that shortsighted. Archie bailed him out of a high-risk situation. If it had been me in that fix I daresay I would be treating Archie Andrews to burgers and milkshakes for a month.

Even worse friends are the Pussycats. Setup or no, I just wanted someone to point out to High and Mighty Valerie that cutting Josie out for working on songs by herself when just a few months ago she was crushed for writing songs with Archie seems either very petty (if revenge) or hypocritical.

I hate to bring up hypocrisy now, but let’s examine Betty’s actions when her boyfriend’s father was under suspicion for murder. She. Would. Not. Have. It. Everyone, from Archie and Veronica to her own damn mother wanted her to look a bit more closely beyond Jughead’s words that FP was innocent.

Cut to today, when she doggedly pursued the father of one of her closest friends, and someone she’s been quite frankly more familiar with over the years than FP Jones, for his potential ability to walk into a jail cell and shoot someone. And for Veronica to remind Betty that investigating Kevin’s dad would hurt their friend, only for Betty to keep gunning for him like the Kellers meant so little to her.

*I’d like to think I know what this is about. Betty has been traumatized by the Black Hood. She’s so freaked Dark Betty has had to come out of the woodwork. Dark Betty is colder, a bit more obsessive than the Girl Next Door version. She’s probably determined not to rest until the culprit can’t hurt her or her friends anymore.

I see this possibility. Of course, I could be dead wrong.

 But now that I’ve mentioned the Black Hood, I’m going to say what I should have said the last time:

Where tf is the FBI?

I mean, there’s a psychopath in a mask that has declared war on an entire town. When he starts sending encrypted messages vowing to erase all sin from Riverdale, Jesus sorry but that’s when you send in the Feds.

 Riverdale has forty-eight hours to stop sinning or he’ll kill again. Doesn’t anyone take this threat seriously?

Obviously not, including the very people he’s threatening. WTF kind of a test is that anyways? A town without sin, wow, really? He might as well come for all of us.

  With this theme song:  Innuendo

 show yourself, destroy our fears – release your masks

[fuck-customers]

Extra money

So as someone who's worked retail pretty much every job he's had and am lucky enough to have a job at my university's library now. I know how it sucks. I have a lot of mental health problems and am trying to help my ld fiancé who is also disabled best I can until I get there and can do more. So those survey apps are nice they take time but an extra 10$ here or there is nice. But big thing I've gotten to using is those rebate apps. You scan your receipts and scan stuff in store with some for points. Basically you're getting paid to do normal shopping. Another big one (I use an iPhone so idk about android) but an app called methinks. You do "gigs" and they pay pretty well. First one I got was 100$ for play by a game for an hour or two and talking to an interviewer about it. If you do that you'll make an extra 10$ on your first gig if you use a promo code! So here's mine to help you out : Steven Renatus Sauerwein has shared a methinks referral code with you. Redeem the code below in the methinks app to receive up to $10 bonus when you have your first interview. Code: steven0061 So check it out. It might help you and the money goes right to PayPal!

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Stars Align 2 - 3 | BnHA 65 - 66 | Iruma-kun 3 - 4 | Shinchou Yuusha 3 | Dr Stone 16 | No Guns Life 3

Stars Align 2

The first episode I saw at the anime club, so I’ve skipped straight to ep 2 for the coverage.

Hmm? I thought this would cut to the OP…it didn’t.

Oh, poor Maki! He has a slap mark on his face!

Why is it uniforms are so gendered anyway? Not just sports ones. (It might be because I’m so used to wearing other people’s hand me downs, regardless of their gender, but…yeah.)

The real tennis-playing dude is Kei Nishikori…LOL.

That’s the 3rd Ishigami for this season, methinks. (The others hail from Dr Stone.)

Come to think of it, the most I’ve ever done in one shot is 10 laps of a court (and that was with lots of practice). 20 would be torture…

The animation…where it goes black and white…that’s awesomeeeeeeeeeeeee, y’know???

I like how Maki’s just splat on the ground without his hands to support him.

Windows tablet with stand. I’ve seen those in stores and catalogues before…they should run Windows 7 at the bare minimum, 8 or 10 if they’re newer.

Maki’s top says “continue” on it. It’s a good shirt for a boy that really does continue, despite his hardships.

I-Is Maki’s mother having an affair…? With Shou? Or is Shou a good friend of hers who happens to be male?

The way Toma wears his jacket…it reminds me of Chuuya (BSD). Pretty badass for a middle school kid, don’tcha think?

Kenkou = health, so a squishy ball is a health ball…makes sense. It’s good for the circulation and all that.

When Toma started explaining the grips…I realised I’d fallen into what I just called the Tsuritama trap…that is, when I watch a show for entertainment and end up learning about skills I’ll never need in the process.

Both boys are righthanded, I noticed.

Didn’t notice at first, but Toma put the ball in his pocket.

Is it just me or is there CGI in this show…? (That’s a feeling I’ve had since ep 1, but haven’t been able to confirm since it’s so well integrated.)

Hmm…I heard there was plagiarism going around with this show’s choreography…I didn’t see the Chika dance in context, so I wouldn’t know if it was copied from there. Still, it’s interesting how the guy on the left (if there is one) generally does better than the one on the right. Some of them just give up in the end, LOL.

Hmm…Hoshiai no Sora means “The Sky where Stars Line Up” or something of the sort…hence, “Stars Align”.

“Even in an ever-changing world, the starlit sky will not change.” – That’s the words that sometimes accompany the title.

BnHA 65

Yeah, how are the League any different to the yakuza anyway?

The interesting thing is that Deku also has “power he can’t control”, but we see more of that narrative.

I love how Mic’s words were put into the visuals too, culminating in the “HA!”.

Okay, so Togata’s pun is that he’ll ittemirio, a pun on his name (obviously) and ittemiro (let’s go see). The English says I Togata see, which keeps his name in there and keeps the level of cheesiness to boot! Good job subbers! (By the way, that pun’s not in the manga.)

I already know what happens in this arc (thank you, free Viz chapters!), so now I have this sinking feeling when it comes to talking about Nighteye…

Apparently Bubble Girl was a winning design from a competition. Sorta like how Horikoshi appeared in One Piece one time and that, you could say, was the start of his career in print (so it’s a legacy in a sense).

Iruma-kun 3

Oh hey, I just realised Asmodeus’s nails are bright red…that’s kinda cute, actually. (In that “boys are hot” kinda “cute” sense, people.)

I have no idea what the lyrics to Clara’s song are meant to be in Japanese…not that I could track down whatever the heck she’s singing anyway.

Okay, so “play house” appears to be mamagoto (literally “mother’s thing[s]” (in a metaphorical sense, playing house is replicating mothers’ chores, so…yeah, mothers’ things), but it’s got the character for “demon” twice instead of what it should have. Hence “murder house”.

Hey, couldn’t you at least make Azz-Azz (as you call him) your husband?(!) (small LOL)

Demonathon = marathon, but with the character for “demon”. That’s actually straightforward in both languages…for once.

The alarm clock is a cute bird with horns!!! So cute!!!

I feel sorry for Opera. Which reminds me, why would Sullivan need a butler if he was living alone?

Whoa! Iruma actually refused before Clara said “please”! He’s growing a spine! So early…(whispers “My boy is growing up so fast…” as a joke)

Clara’s nails are a bright pink…a few shades off from Asmodeus’s red, but still really bright.

*vending machine appears* - Now that’s what I call “getting Yocchan some cold drinks”!

Azz isn’t dressed in white, he’s in pink! Dang colour palette, going against what Clara says!

I just realised Asmodeus wears two jackets…or is that a jacket and a long shirt?

There’s no pun in that segment title…it’s just “Akuma no Otomodachi”.

Poor Opera…it looks like he’s wearing two pairs of pants…or maybe that’s his shirt? Or his boxers? Who knows?...Actually, when I think about it, that might just be his shirt. Sorry, Opera.

Wait…so if most of the demons fly to school, why do Asmodeus, Clara and Iruma walk…? (Well, Iruma can’t fly, but the other two might be able to…) Update: We do kind of address this in the next ep, but that doesn’t answer why Clara hasn’t shown she can fly in that ep.

Oh, if it isn’t Sna-er, Kalego…(LOL) But seriously, Kalego’s hairdo is actually kinda nice for a guy. Then again, I’m the one who likes dudes with long hair, so…eh. I can take it or leave it.

Did Kalego never meet Clara…?

Eggie-sensei…no kidding, that’s what she says. It’s from the –ego in “Kalego”, of course. (But I have no idea if “Azz-Azz” is what Clara actually says for Asmodeus…) Similarly, the school store guy is called Kamukamu-san, so it’s literally “Comecome”...as in “come and buy from me”. Update: Yes, Azz-Azz is what she calls him.

There aren’t a lot of girls in that crowd, Eggie-sensei and Clara…

Eggie-sensei really is shaped like an egg! So fluffy! I wanna plushie of him in that form!

Wait, the sticker costs 333 bills? Iruma’s gonna have to pay for it later…Update: 2 stickers = 666 bills.

“Pay me.” – LOLLLLLLLLLLL! I’m so sorry, Fluffy Snape, but you were hilarious in that scene!!!

Demons don’t even have the concept of “friends”…? That’s…cute! Way too cute!

The mochi Clara refers to is because tomodachi is the word for friend (it has “mochi” in it, see?).

There’s Sullivan’s face on his stamp, LOL.

See? Asmodeus does have black wings like the demons you see in all those morning shots of this show!!!

Dr Stone 16

Byakuya (Senku’s dad)…his face keeps getting censored, even though it’s right there on the spinoff promo material…! *points to the spinoff page on Viz*

The piano music in this scene is nice…I heard the OST is on Spotify too, so I’ll chase it up later.

“Senku, the science guy” doesn’t have as much of a ring to it as Bill Nye does.

Taiju’s just got this proud face, like he didn’t really know what he was doing but he claimed the credit anyway…the big oaf. (LOL)

There’s a banana on Senku’s phone, LOL.

Hmm…where’s Senku’s mum? Did he ever have one?

Shamil’s face looks like Tsukasa’s so much, it almost unnerves me…

[TMS Football Stadium] - TMS is responsible for this anime adaption, I’m pretty sure…LOL.

A Byakuya reboot just started in manga form. I wonder if the Dr Stone anime will cover any of it…?

BnHA 66

Notably, “hero work studies” = hero internships. Those two translations seem to be interchangeable.

Normally, the end of the phrase would be “Boy Meets Girl”, right? There’s an important girl in this arc, y’know?

The contract is kind of hard to read, but I did make out the word “Nighteye” in katakana.

Technically, Midoriya should be in possession of a funny bone - the humerus, y’know??? (<- comically missing the point)

Mirio kinda reminds me of Araki (Area no Kishi), for some reason…it must be because they both like comedy. Then again, Midoriya at the moment is reminding me of Bakugo, because of all the mouth shapes being similar…

This is interesting. In the manga, the scene pointing out Ochako and Tsuyu weren’t going to be at their original internship places wasn’t at the dorms.

Ooh! They’re even foreshadowing Hawks, which wasn’t even in the manga at this stage!!

I do believe this “Hado and Amajiki talking to the students who’ll be relevant to this arc” is also anime-original. Todoroki’s joke was definitely AO (anime original).

Shinchou Yuusha 3

…can we not with the boob jokes??? Rista doesn’t have a flat board, people. Update: She also acknowledges this…we don’t know Aria’s size, but Rista is a D cup.

Oooh, oooooooooooh! I spy a ponytail boy in the back there and me likey! (I guess I’m still feeling a bit bummed out because I attended a wedding yesterday and ended up crushing on a cousin’s younger brother-in-law – precisely because he had long hair, but then he put it up into a man bun and I went, “Nope, I can’t have him,” not to mention he’s married already. Plus the Area no Kishi episode I found today – ep. 30 – had a kinda chubby Araki, so I noped out of it and as a result, I need me some bishonen to appease the eyes. Good thing Seiya does the trick.)

Marth, eh? *thinks about the blogger* Then again, there’s my reaction when it comes to Ariadoa…

Oh, this is like a PreCure dance ED. I see…then it turns out to be Rista’s figure alarm. The logic checks out.

Iruma-kun 4

Seriously, Azz doesn’t sound like he should be Iruma’s age…but that’s part of the joke, I guess. *gets pelted with tomatoes for revealing said joke*

So “The Misfit Class” is technically the “Problem Child Class” (Mondaiji Kurasu), but the alternative reading given to mondaiji says “Abnormal”.

It seems “devi” is an alternative way to say “very” in this show, hence the ED being “Debikyu” (Devi Cute).

I…think these demon ranks may actually be Phonecian letters (which I learnt about from Star Driver)…

That “thinking reed” business I knew from somewhere, but…turns out it’s just a person called Blaise Pascal.

A “heugh”? Wassat? (It just sounds like some noise you’d make when you barf…) Okay, I’m joking, here’s the real meaning: “a steep crag or cliff” or “a ravine or glen with overhanging sides.”

Clara, stop fiddling with Sabrock’s tail…!

Oh, demon birds are cute! Like regular sparrows, only with a different colour scheme! The demonitors are cute too!

So many cute birds~. I’m so spoilt~!

Hmm…if humans cause demons to heal…no wonder they’re delicacies.

Hmm…I suspected this episode would end with a cliffhanger. The plotline was running far too long for just 23 mins.

Stars Align 3

Geesh, Toma’s got a huge bag…Update: (They all have huge bags, what are you saying???)

Lemme guess – I know nothing about tennis, but the best tennis doubles need good communication. I learnt that sort of thing from the Amazing Race, to be real with you.

Come to think of it…it’s always the mother with her unconditional love, huh? Any single fathers in anime? (No, I don’t mean like Father Fujimoto in Blue Exorcist – he’s an adoptive father.)

Judging from the cacti and fossils, Toma likes paleontology and biology. Or maybe that was from Ryoma…who knows?

Toma appears to have green frames for his glasses and then standard black frames.

Dang, it cut in the middle of that revelation! If this were a manga, I would’ve been chomping at the bit for the next chapter! However, it does get finished at the very end, so keep watching.

Update: There’s not a lot of music to this show…not that that’s a bad thing. It’s good for tense moments, in fact.

No Guns Life 3

This OP rocks, man!

Ayatsuri Ningyo = Manipulated Puppet. Or Puppet for Manipulation.

That thing on the door says “best luck” (daikichi). It’s a very Chinese thing to do.

His apron says “meat”. He’s probably a butcher or something.

How does a guy with a gun for a head drink coffee? (small LOL)

I remember someone called Juzo with Basket “a Nezuko cosplay”.

Does Tetsuro’s voice change for the Extended he affects with Harmony?

I noticed in the ED Juzo has an arm missing…must be important later.

I believe Mary’s shirt in the ED says “skill” or “technique” (read as “gi” or “waza”).

[titheguerrero]

More Than Just Dander

First, a sort of meta-comment in the form of a shout-out to HCRenewal's intrepid editor, Dr. Roy Poses, for his just-published analysis of what we might call "blogging: rise and fall." He sees decline reflected in publications long  devoted to health and health policy, yet now flaking off. Methinks, however, despite the usefulness of his overview of recent decades, Dr. P need not fret excessively. Water spilling out of the barrel's lip will slow down once folks come along and punch a whole bunch of little mid-section tweet-holes in it. Information still flows. (Sort of.)  In any case, surely there's overlap between blogs' and tweets' readerships. Surely well-researched and -reasoned long form still has its place. Unfortunately, hard to know for sure: it's hard to measure. Nobody's polling these folks and to my knowledge information scientists haven't published much--a quick search inside Google Scholar bears this out--that's of a quantitative nature. So we're left with admittedly rather unsatisfactory anecdotal reports on people who need blogs like ours and find their way to it. Congressional staffers you know who you are. Rightly or wrongly, I'm hopeful. Maybe we shade this a little by the suspicion that many younger social media users share with me a short attention span. Hence they come to rely more and more on quick hits. In any case, let's hope this is evolution and diversification, not just entropy and a race to the bottom. Now to my theme of the day. Yet again the dander hath risen for I've lost count how many times around what ails our health delivery systems. And so is my lunch: the gorge, too, hath risen. The miscreants' very relentlessness is nauseating. More, then, on two of them that keep cropping up here like those small burrowing insectivores in this tedious yet oddly riveting game of Whack-A-Mole. A. Chicanery at the VA: looking back and looking forward. On balance, and despite its many flaws, VA health's operation in all its enormity is not itself a miscreant. Different story for those folks trying to destroy it from within, on the dubious premise that lest we privatize it it's irredeemable. Search this blog on "VA Cetona" for detail on such matters. Why does this even happen? We've described the VA's Shadow Rulers (search here on that as well) in these pages. The SR's fall in the 0.1%. Why do they need or want the headache of trying, in what's fated to be a futile effort, to upend and hollow out the health lifeline extended for nearly a century to patriots returning from the military? When the left gets power it tries to expand and improve government. (Of course the efforts can unfortunately go awry, viz. Hillarycare in the 1990s, and cast shade on future attempts.) When the right gets power, at least in the two generations since an actor became president in 1980, government is seen as "not the solution but the problem." The response may be to try to rejigger and downsize. "Drown the baby in the bath." Or, perhaps far more likely, something else now happening in the VA and throughout the Trump kakistocracy. Namely, don't seize power to return it to the people. Seize it in order to use it in a third-dimensional play to drain resources. As for the first two dimensions, don't even try to improve--David Shulkin's mistake (see below)--or eliminate (despite Mick Mulvaney's baby drowning proclivities, hugely unpopular) care provided by the VA. Not when there's a third way: divert those resources. In fact, from the earliest instances of frontier exploitation to the newest frontier we have--our heretofore private personal information--despoliation has been the watchword, the core motive, the secret sauce: don't ameliorate. Don't eliminate. (Honestly: viz., Shrub's expansion of guvmint.) Despoliate. It is, as Shrub used to say (maybe), one of our country's most basic pieces of strategery. Such a strategy was discussed (and surely it's as old as the hills) by Times tech reporter Steve Lohr in a recent piece on, of all things, artificial intelligence. ("Elixir of prosperity [or] job killer"?) Lohr makes clear that what's old is new again, linking the asset of private data to all the other assets that've been strip-mined. "In the American model," notes Lohr, "coming from Silicon Valley in California, a handful of Internet companies become big winners and society is treated as a data-generating resource to be strip mined." As Buffy the Vampire Slayer once said, "can you spell 'duh'?" Strip mining started with the earliest settlers, and now ... data, the final frontier. Same deal, though. The American model, and economic maldistribution, and so much of our plight is bound up with this baked-in trait, which seems to've seeped into society's DNA. Or else originated there. Find a mine. Strip it. Let others pick up the pieces. But let's go back to that last credible VA Secretary. How do we know that Shulkin pissed off the strip-miners? Why, just read what he himself wrote in a scholarly publication just a few months ago in the prestigious New England Journal. In a piece entitled "why the VA needs more competition," he and closely-associated Michigan colleague Kyle Sheetz first declared, unequivocally and repetitiously, competition: good!!! Emphasis in the original through repetition. Clever. After reassuring their audience how much they liked competition they let the cat out of the bag in the final paragraph of a long-ish article: "Privatizing the VA by offering unregulated access to private-sector providers is probably not feasible, necessary, or the best way to care for veterans." That's exactly what the quietly-undermining, unelected Trumpsters pushing for strip-mining veterans' health care didn't want to hear. We know (see below) how that came out. Similar in emphasis is a piece just out (January 2019) in the equally prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine, by (no pun intended) veteran federal health official Carolyn Clancy and her own VA/AHRQ colleagues. I'm perplexed at the way Clancy herself has hung in there (and yet she persisted) at the federal agencies to which she's contributed greatly over recent decades. I'm perplexed about how, within these agencies,she's been bounced around, most recently landing as the VA's "Deputy Under Secretary for Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks." (That top's spinning so fast what I just wrote may already be superannuated news.) In any case Clancy et al. put their shoulders to Shulkin's wheel extolling the May 2018 federal MISSION legislation streamlining VA and non-VA care, and the ostensible role their new Center for Innovation might play in such an effort. They pointed out all the right innovation-cum-research caveats about the need for adequate data: "paying for value could backfire without accurate measurement of costs and outcomes." In this case they were certainly correct: privatizers in this particular world aren't interested in evidence-based anything. They're profiteers. (See: "Department of Education." See: "Department of the Interior." See: Environmental Protection Agency.) Shulkin's words saw the light of day about a month after the MISSION legislation, in the final days of June, 2018. But here's why I put Shulkin having "liked competition" in the past tense. By the time his NEJM piece appeared Shulkin, also accused of what I still deem to've been truly flimsy ethics violations, was already gone from his organization. By the end of March the Orange Man had already fired him. As a personal fiasco this was unseemly, since the VA secretary was a rare bird who both consented to be a hold-over from early administrations, yet managed early on to be a current POTUS favorite. Surprising? In this White House? In none of these events was there ever put forward any really compelling justification either for privatizing VA care or for starting with the assumptions that outside "leaders" and outside doctors could do a better job than--what with all their flaws--VA medical staff. Suzanne Gordon, a distinguished journalist and author, admittedly parti pris as a fellow of the Oakland-based 501(c)3 Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute, has just published an American Prospect piece on "Trump’s under-the-radar push to dismantle veterans' health care." Her central thesis is worth quoting in extenso.

[The Republican] strategy will not only erase what has been the most successful American experiment in government-delivered health care, but will also send veterans out into a private system that is more expensive, less accountable, and unable to meet their particular needs. The key notion underpinning the Mission Act, that the private sector can offer comparable care to the VHA, is deeply flawed. Study after study (after study) has found that the VHA generally outperforms the private sector on key quality metrics, and that private providers are woefully unprepared to treat the often unique and difficult veteran patient population. The most recent evidence came in a Dartmouth College study published in December, which compared performance between VHA and private hospitals in 121 regions across the country. The results: In 14 out of 15 measures, government care fared “significantly better” than private hospitals.

Gordon also has a new book out on this subject, as most supporters of the traditional VA system already know. Worth a look. Meanwhile the Senate and White House and those advising them clearly never really cared about quaint ideas such as "studies," "evidence," or "data." They cherry-pick a few quotes about the brusqueness of some VA care, which often is admittedly more bureaucratic than today's "consumer-facing" and endlessly-polling private-care organizations. You can find those quotes as well as I can--any search engine known to man will do the trick. Recent events on the larger political canvas make it abundantly clear, in the meantime. It's not about quality. It never was. It's about callously starting with a dismissive attitude toward government workers, then back-solving from there. Having worked for years at the VA, I can vouch for its quality as well as its struggle to assist the really needy patients who depend upon it. In fact, this new study shows quite rigorously that the VA was already dramatically reducing wait-times within multiple VA installations, right down to private-sector levels. So this branch of government has listened and successfully striven to achieve a performance level that's not just high-science but also high-touch, as medicine's "customers" (yechhh) have come to expect. The present furlough of federal employees proves the point. If you can dismiss someone as human collateral-damage, you don't start first by examining the good things they've done for you. You're an elephant poacher. Take the spoils and leave the carcass to rot. B. More on the Opiate Eaters Who Eat Very Well. Speaking of despoliators, Dr. Poses and I both wrote here recently on how, in the world of dangerous narcotics, this single family of mostly physicians, the Sacklers, garnered a much more grand market share than they like to let on. Time to add to that and earlier reporting with a few updates. When, in a different venue than the VA I was providing front line medical care to privately-insured patients, I noticed an arresting change. I saw more and more folks arrive in my office in shop-till-you-drop mode seeing opiate renewals. Always OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin. If I didn't provide the "fill" they'd go next door. The demand built and built. The drug makers kept assuring they were safe and effective. At free dinners they paid an army of fellow physicians to regale us with the same message. Then those patients started to die on me. OD courtesy of "safe" Purdue (and others') product. Then in the past very few years, and I honestly should've seen it coming but didn't, the crisis spilled over from doctors' exam rooms into the political arena. It's actually something, unlike the VA, that's garnering a certain timid degree of nonpartisan interest in finding practical solutions, call it consensus even, starting with decriminalizing measures. But I find it gorge-raising to see the usual suspects continuously fighting the notion that as a society, we blew it with opiates. We blew it. With their help. I've spent a fair amount of time looking at similar medico-legal crises, including the far-reaching tobacco and environmental lead poisoning matters, as well as narrower ones such as evolving surgical and pharmacological approaches to certain diseases. In every case our tort system, combined with the deep pockets of those who are (allegedly) truly guilty, conspire to perpetuate Bleak House-style court battles over culpability. Strip miners seem to believe--or want us to swallow whole the absurdist notion--that they leave the world a better place. In the case of Purdue, this false consciousness is undoubtedly propped up by the Sacklers' prowess as culturati: one can hardly turn around, as I recently did at the Met in New York, without finding their name plastered on this gallery or that institution of higher learning. But the motive, be it within the strip miners' organization or that of a cultural organization, comes down to the same thing: "we need the money." Allegedly. Recent disclosures from "sources," including internal Purdue emails, clarify all this. Fortunately for us it turns out the founder's (Raymond's) son Richard was an early adopter--relatively so--of email. Both were physicians, but Richard was of the first generation to be granted an American MD. Email was barely used at all in 1995 when Microsoft first added a TCP/IP stack to its operating system, with the introduction of Windows 95. Then email really took off, by 2001 having a fair amount of penetration in the business world. So maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that Purdue Pharma was squirreling away some of Richard's pronouncements in an archival time capsule for our delectation nearly a generation later. According to a new court filing recently revealed in the NY Times, Richard Sackler said some, um, fairly incriminating things to say in these internal emails. Still earning his spurs as head of daddy's (and Uncle Mortimer's) company after a couple of years or so in the saddle, and undoubtedly aware of the dramatic uptick in addiction issues that I saw in my own clinic in those turn-of-the-century years, he allegedly blasted everyone else in sight--except, of course, his own ever-so-cultured family. "[T]he launch of OxyContin tablets will be followed by a blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition. The prescription blizzard will be so deep, dense, and white...." said Sackler fils. Based on no evidence reps were told to claim a “less than one percent" risk of addiction. As for that small subset of patients who did find themselves hopelessly addicted, the claim was to be made that “We have to hammer on abusers in every way possible.... They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.” Now, hot off the press in 2019, the Guardian reports how this overall attitude has been replicated within the lobbyist-influenced government of Messrs. Trump and Azar. Since 2015 (pre-Trump! pre-Azar!) chair of the FDA's own Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee, Kentucky anesthesiology professor Raeford Brown has bravely characterized the rift that now mires down the FDA in tackling this crisis seriously. Admittedly with cover from many in Congress, Brown said this to interviewers.

I think that the FDA has learned nothing. The modus operandi of the agency is that they talk a good game and then nothing happens. Working directly with the agency for the last five years, as I sit and listen to them in meetings, all I can think about is the clock ticking and how many people are dying every moment that they’re not doing anything. The lack of insight that continues to be exhibited by the agency is in many ways a willful blindness that borders on the criminal.

Scott Gottlieb, who's tying your hands? Is it this guy? The FDA seems to be replete with such interlocking-directorate staff, all trying to assure  the "level playing field." And what is that playing field? Who are the players? We can answer this. Talk to the drug reps (I have). Except of course those who wake up and see what they're really doing, burn out and bail out. Talk to the lobbyists and the investors (I have). The watchword is not "safe and effective." It's blame-the-victim and lucrative. Let's get our motives straight here. You can do that just fine without listening to us at Health Care Renewal. Just listen to Richard Sackler in a time capsule from 2001. Ever wonder why the strip-miners need so much of our patients' loot? Well, take a little trip to Davos, Switzerland, where the rich and rich go to rub shoulders and tell each other how smart they are: YouTube offers a hint here. B'bye--too much dander, got to go take a bath. Article source:Health Care Renewal

[ask-dsminecraft]

Ashton Stone Alpacas

Maree Sol and the cria rest after a protracted day. Maree Sol is a superb mama with lots of milk. After the cria dried, we put iodine on his umbilical stump and weighed him. He was 20.Zero lbs at delivery; the largest cria we have now had born on our farm thus far. Notice proud papa Smokey in the background. We're so excited to have a full Peruvian Rose Grey male! Neither Noah or I predicted that Sol and Smokey would produce rose grey. Though Smokey is darkish silver gray and has a lot of grey in his background, Maree Sol has all white as far back and you may see. I was thinking white or fawn girl and Noah was considering brown lady. We could not be extra pleased with our new little guy! We will certainly be repeating this breeding! We hope he matures and shows properly as we might love so as to add him to our herdsire line-up some day. Particularly since we now have two full pervian gray females who could be nice matches for him! We just love greys! Already huge plans for such slightly guy. Stayed tuned for extra pictures of him as he grows.

They're being changed by what the Finns call “phenomenon” educating – or teaching by subject. As an example, a teenager finding out a vocational course may take “cafeteria services” lessons, which would include parts of maths, languages (to assist serve international prospects), writing abilities and communication skills. Extra tutorial pupils can be taught cross-topic subjects such because the European Union - which would merge components of economics, historical past (of the international locations involved), languages and geography. There are other modifications too, not least to the standard format that sees rows of pupils sitting passively in front of their trainer, listening to lessons or waiting to be questioned. Instead there can be a extra collaborative approach, with pupils working in smaller teams to resolve problems whereas improving their communication skills. Marjo Kyllonen, Helsinki’s education manager – who might be presenting her blueprint for change to the council at the end of this month, stated: “It shouldn't be only Helsinki but the entire of Finland who might be embracing change. In another occasion, if a photographer wants to depict a farmhouse space surrounded by greenery then he should use inexperienced coloration as the background display screen. There needs to be enough mild to illuminate the subject to stop undesirable shades on the face or clothes. Being too near the background screen can cause shadows that disturb the uniform colour of the background. After taking the photograph, you may choose the specified picture as a background and merge it with the assistance of the chroma key know-how. You may place your subject anywhere you need. Angel Wood is webmaster of 123videomagic.com providing video green screen software, inexperienced screen video editing software, chroma key software program helps in customizing video / pictures for replacing background, giving special results as per your needs. Log in or Create Account to put up a comment. Writer: Angel It is rather like a magical wand that the expertise, Chroma Key, works. Ever come throughout a scene in a film the place the protagonist within the film vanishes in a matter of few seconds? This invisibility is worked up with sheer magic of the know-how but in reality it isn't that difficult to understand how the approach works.

Whereas it goes without saying that farm stuffed animals make terrific companions, they're also great instruments for instructing a baby all about the animal in which they characterize. Angeline Hope is a collector of big stuffed animals. You can view a choice of large stuffed animals together with farm stuffed animals at MyBigPlush. Log in or Create Account to post a remark. Writer: Angeline Hope Among all kinds of toys, big stuffed animals are appropriate for teenagers of all ages. As a matter of reality, huge stuffed animals, additionally, make nice gifts for adults since these may express completely different affections that embody warmth, friendship, love and admiration. Writer: Angeline Hope Cows are one farm animal that kids most simply acknowledge. It's certainly one of the first animals they each learn to establish on sight as well as how you can make its signature 'moo' sound. Is it no surprise then, that a cow stuffed animal (or two) is among a few of their most cherished plush toys? Writer: Angeline Hope The tiger is the most important cat on the earth and is well acknowledged by its orange coloring and black stripes, although no two tigers ever have the identical stripe patterns.

The alpaca lifespan is 15 to 20 years, producing elite, luxurious fleece that can be sheared and processed into textiles 12 months after 12 months. Alpaca fiber is hypoallergenic. Many peolple, who are allergic to sheep's wool, can comfortably put on alpaca subsequent to their pores and skin. As well as, alpaca is an elite fiber that in demand by trend houses worldwide. A uncooked, unprocessed alpaca fleece often brings in sufficient cash to pay for an alpaca's feed and upkeep. Promoting alpaca fleece offers the alpaca rancher another income stream for his operation. Processing uncooked fleece into yarn after which into finished apparel provides worth that results in higher earnings. One feminine emu can lay 30 to 50 eggs each year. Which means that an emu rancher should find patrons for the eggs and/or hatched offspring of every hen. Thus the U.S. emu flock grew too quickly to permit for stable market values. The demand for emus could not sustain with the provision. Since there was no emu meat processing infrastructure, emu ranchers ran out of emu-shopping for clients. She has change into a favourite of Angus and follows him and Sue around all day. She has now been ousted into the garden and we've got to keep the botom half of the front door closed in any other case she's up the step into the house and moving into trouble. The dogs have adapted shortly and decided that she isn't meals due to this fact she is to be ignored. The alpacas alternatively don't know what to make of her and appear slightly bit terrified. How can she return to the flock now? Methinks we may have an addition to the mighty Patou? Yesterday we took a visit to the Bath and West present. Now we have taken alpacas the final two years but as a consequence of my stupid, get out of the best way, yes I do know you pay the payments, day job we might only pay a quick visit. Clearly I wanted to get to the alpaca tent and breathe all of it in and was delighted when I used to be asked by the Lord Lieutenant of Inca to guide a lovely black intermediate female into the ring.

Writer: Peter Kitt Yard rooster raising is less complicated than you may think about. As a first step, you might want to know the way to build a chicken coop. Once the building is over the fun begins, and elevating child chickens can be a number of fun. Moreover it is academic for teenagers and has the added bonus of producing farm recent eggs right from your yard. Publisher: Bob Pearson How to lift chickens in your yard? If you're asking this query, then most likely, you're a newbie. And since you might be nonetheless new with elevating chickens, it's important for you to know all the necessities and needs that come with the breeding of chickens. Due to this fact, you could read the information beneath so that you won't encounter issues when starting to raise your individual flock of chickens. Writer: Randy Rhoads If you're excited by raising chickens backyard hen farming might be for you. As you can see, you do not want an entire lot of room or cash to get began. Perhaps you may be so inclined to give it a whirl. You may even sell the extra eggs you don't use your self. It's a win, win situation all the way round. Charlotte Winslow enjoys outdoor sports and most recreational activities. A few of her pursuits include her love of animals, on-line auctions, baking, creating art from nature, hand-made crafts, researching health issues, and spending time with her family & friends. Charlotte has labored with pharmaceuticals, with a giftware import company and in the housing industry. She needs to share and impart her broad array of experiences and data with you. Log in or Create Account to put up a remark. Writer: Paul Vincent Chickens are usually not that hard to maintain. In fact, raising chickens at residence may be very simple and a rewarding interest to have.

[greenscenegal]

You Haven’t Switched to Organic Makeup?!

Why Goodness Yes Dear! Please Use Organic Makeup.

If you’re reading my site right now, chances are pretty good you eat organic foods.  Maybe you – like me – will pay a little more for brands certified-free from toxic chemicals and GMOs. and I’m also guessing you understand than organic products contain way more nutrients than the non-organic alternatives.

So, with all of this focus on eating organically, why in the world would someone use makeup on their beautiful face that doesn’t meet the same standards?

As you may have guessed I’m a big proponent of buying products as close to the natural source as possible.  Ideally that means products that are plucked straight from the vine.  Unfortunately I’ve yet to find a plant that makes eyeliner, so when it comes to cover-up I look for brands that produce all-natural makeup.

Organic foods, sure, but Makeup?

Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies.  It does a pretty good job of keeping the bad stuff out and our body in.  The outermost layer, the epidermis, is a waterproof barrier that keeps most harmful chemicals from reaching the secondary layer – the dermis – where our blood vessels and fatty tissue reside.   Any toxins that make past our epidermis and enter our blood stream can normally be broken down into non-volatile components that our body’s filters (our kidney and liver for example) can process.

There are chemicals however that can bypass this membrane and are difficult for our bodies to process.  Worse yet, many have been proven to cause issues over long-term use.  Unfortunately cosmetic companies continue to use some of these ingredients in the production of their makeup including nasty-sounding ingredient like Coal Tar, Triclosan and Phthalates among others.

Inorganic Dies

Coal tar is a petroleum-based additive used to color cosmetics including hair dye, lipstick and makeup.  Often listed as the ingredient P-phenylenediamine, this nasty sounding ingredient is considered a pollutant by the European Union, and listed as extremely toxic to aquatic organisms.

Additionally sythetic dies like Coal Tar often contain heavy metals and aluminum substrate, which are known toxins which can affect the brain and nervous system.

Triclosan

Considered a pesticide by the EPA, Triclosan has been used for years in liquid anti-bacterial soaps and body washes to prevent contamination.  While it’s great for killing bacteria and bugs on plants, it has long been suspected as to disrupt hormone production in pregnant women and children and has been cited as one of the reasons for increase bacterial resistance.

Earlier this year the FDA banned triclosan from anit-bacterial soaps, however it is still being used in conventional cosmetics.  So you have to keep an eye out for it.  Luckily, if a cosmetic product in the United States contains triclosan, it is required to be listed as an ingredient on the product label.

Phthalates

Phthalates are another group of chemicals that have raised major concern, especially over the past few years as research has linked phthalates to an wide number of conditions, such as birth defects, breast cancer, ADHD and asthma.

As of 2016 Phthalates have been banned in the European Union, but unfortunately remain a consistant ingredient in makeup products in the US.

U.S. manufacturers have gotten pretty good about hiding the use of Phthalates  in their products often hiding them under terms such as “fragrance”, phthalate, DEP, DBP or DEHP

Resorcinol

A popular ingredient in many of the hair dyes and body-bleaches on the market today, the government has prohibited the use of resorcinol on the premises of any government building.  Studies have shown  Resorcinol to be a known skin irritant as well as a disrupt healthy thyroid function in animals.

Bottom line: Does it make sense that use Green Gals would use this chemical on our hair or bodies?  Methinks not!

Reap the Benefits from Natural Ingredients

If you’re one of those consumer that’s a bit skeptical of the effectiveness  of Organic Makeup, I can personally attest to their benefits.  Quite simply:  they work!  Extremely well too.  And while I do find organic makeup cost a bit more upfront, I find they last a lot longer since I really don’t have to use as much as I did before to get the same effect.

Also, I do have somewhat sensitive skin and I need makeup that allows my skin to breathe. With traditional makeup I could literally feel the makeup sitting on the surface of my skin, while most organic brands feel like a much lighter application.  In fact, I hardly notice it at all!  And because it blends so well with my skin tone, I’m more confident others have a hard time detecting it as well.

In addition to a better product, good organic makeups can actually improve the health of your skin.  How?  By using all-natural ingredients that you’re skin and body need including essential oils, natural moisturizers such as shea butter, and vegetable-derived coloring as main ingredients.

The Affordability of Organic Makeup

Many individuals dismiss organic makeup because they assume the cost will be too high. Even if someone wants to make the switch, the idea of buying premium makeup products can be intimidating. Thankfully, affordable options have become available within the last few years at health food stores and superstores alike. Just as with conventional options, there are high-end organic cosmetic brands that do come with a sizable price tag. There are also many incredibly affordable choices that are widely available.

Protect the Environment

When you shift your spending habits to buying organic makeup, you tell companies that you want more of it. As more individuals do the same thing, more options for quality makeup will become available.

Encourages Brands to Move to Organic Ingredients Companies in all industries constantly monitor market trends. To stay competitive in a given industry, brands must know what works and what doesn’t. This is exactly why organizations dedicate a budget to market research, and why they fiercely analyze the data of consumer buying habits.

The use of organic ingredients (as opposed to harsh chemicals) in makeup has obvious benefits for the environment. When you choose eco-friendly cosmetics, you pose no risk to the environment when you use these products.

Additionally, most brands of organic makeup have eco-friendly values. As a result of these core company values, they have environmentally-friendly practices. Buying organic cosmetics both directly and indirectly has a positive impact on the environment.

Make the Switch to Organic Today!

Hopefully I’ve convinced any makeup user how crucial it is to make the switch to the organic label if possible. Reducing your exposure to harsh chemicals, protecting the environment, and improving the quality of your skin can now be done at a similar cost to that of conventional makeup.

Part of a good self-care routine is using wholesome products in all areas of your life. Do something that your body will love you for tomorrow. Feed your skin and look your best with the purity of organic makeup.

from Green Scene Gal http://www.greenscenegal.com/switch-to-organic-makeup/

[prkick]

5 Reasons to Switch to Organic Makeup

Why Goodness Yes Dear! Please Use Organic Makeup.

If you’re reading my site right now, chances are pretty good you eat organic foods.  Maybe you – like me – will pay a little more for brands certified-free from toxic chemicals and GMOs. and I’m also guessing you understand than organic products contain way more nutrients than the non-organic alternatives.

So, with all of this focus on eating organically, why in the world would someone use makeup on their beautiful face that doesn’t meet the same standards?

As you may have guessed I’m a big proponent of buying products as close to the natural source as possible.  Ideally that means products that are plucked straight from the vine.  Unfortunately I’ve yet to find a plant that makes eyeliner, so when it comes to cover-up I look for brands that produce all-natural makeup.

Organic foods, sure, but Makeup?

Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies.  It does a pretty good job of keeping the bad stuff out and our body in.  The outermost layer, the epidermis, is a waterproof barrier that keeps most harmful chemicals from reaching the secondary layer – the dermis – where our blood vessels and fatty tissue reside.   Any toxins that make past our epidermis and enter our blood stream can normally be broken down into non-volatile components that our body’s filters (our kidney and liver for example) can process.

There are chemicals however that can bypass this membrane and are difficult for our bodies to process.  Worse yet, many have been proven to cause issues over long-term use.  Unfortunately cosmetic companies continue to use some of these ingredients in the production of their makeup including nasty-sounding ingredient like Coal Tar, Triclosan and Phthalates among others.

Inorganic Dies

Coal tar is a petroleum-based additive used to color cosmetics including hair dye, lipstick and makeup.  Often listed as the ingredient P-phenylenediamine, this nasty sounding ingredient is considered a pollutant by the European Union, and listed as extremely toxic to aquatic organisms.

Additionally sythetic dies like Coal Tar often contain heavy metals and aluminum substrate, which are known toxins which can affect the brain and nervous system.

Triclosan

Considered a pesticide by the EPA, Triclosan has been used for years in liquid anti-bacterial soaps and body washes to prevent contamination.  While it’s great for killing bacteria and bugs on plants, it has long been suspected as to disrupt hormone production in pregnant women and children and has been cited as one of the reasons for increase bacterial resistance.

Earlier this year the FDA banned triclosan from anit-bacterial soaps, however it is still being used in conventional cosmetics.  So you have to keep an eye out for it.  Luckily, if a cosmetic product in the United States contains triclosan, it is required to be listed as an ingredient on the product label.

Phthalates

Phthalates are another group of chemicals that have raised major concern, especially over the past few years as research has linked phthalates to an wide number of conditions, such as birth defects, breast cancer, ADHD and asthma.

As of 2016 Phthalates have been banned in the European Union, but unfortunately remain a consistant ingredient in makeup products in the US.

U.S. manufacturers have gotten pretty good about hiding the use of Phthalates  in their products often hiding them under terms such as “fragrance”, phthalate, DEP, DBP or DEHP

Resorcinol

A popular ingredient in many of the hair dyes and body-bleaches on the market today, the government has prohibited the use of resorcinol on the premises of any government building.  Studies have shown  Resorcinol to be a known skin irritant as well as a disrupt healthy thyroid function in animals.

Bottom line: Does it make sense that use Green Gals would use this chemical on our hair or bodies?  Methinks not!

Reap the Benefits from Natural Ingredients

If you’re one of those consumer that’s a bit skeptical of the effectiveness  of Organic Makeup, I can personally attest to their benefits.  Quite simply:  they work!  Extremely well too.  And while I do find organic makeup cost a bit more upfront, I find they last a lot longer since I really don’t have to use as much as I did before to get the same effect.

Also, I do have somewhat sensitive skin and I need makeup that allows my skin to breathe. With traditional makeup I could literally feel the makeup sitting on the surface of my skin, while most organic brands feel like a much lighter application.  In fact, I hardly notice it at all!  And because it blends so well with my skin tone, I’m more confident others have a hard time detecting it as well.

In addition to a better product, good organic makeups can actually improve the health of your skin.  How?  By using all-natural ingredients that you’re skin and body need including essential oils, natural moisturizers such as shea butter, and vegetable-derived coloring as main ingredients.

The Affordability of Organic Makeup

Many individuals dismiss organic makeup because they assume the cost will be too high. Even if someone wants to make the switch, the idea of buying premium makeup products can be intimidating. Thankfully, affordable options have become available within the last few years at health food stores and superstores alike. Just as with conventional options, there are high-end organic cosmetic brands that do come with a sizable price tag. There are also many incredibly affordable choices that are widely available.

Protect the Environment

When you shift your spending habits to buying organic makeup, you tell companies that you want more of it. As more individuals do the same thing, more options for quality makeup will become available.

Encourages Brands to Move to Organic Ingredients Companies in all industries constantly monitor market trends. To stay competitive in a given industry, brands must know what works and what doesn’t. This is exactly why organizations dedicate a budget to market research, and why they fiercely analyze the data of consumer buying habits.

The use of organic ingredients (as opposed to harsh chemicals) in makeup has obvious benefits for the environment. When you choose eco-friendly cosmetics, you pose no risk to the environment when you use these products.

Additionally, most brands of organic makeup have eco-friendly values. As a result of these core company values, they have environmentally-friendly practices. Buying organic cosmetics both directly and indirectly has a positive impact on the environment.

Make the Switch to Organic Today!

Hopefully I’ve convinced any makeup user how crucial it is to make the switch to the organic label if possible. Reducing your exposure to harsh chemicals, protecting the environment, and improving the quality of your skin can now be done at a similar cost to that of conventional makeup.

Part of a good self-care routine is using wholesome products in all areas of your life. Do something that your body will love you for tomorrow. Feed your skin and look your best with the purity of organic makeup.

from Green Scene Gal http://www.greenscenegal.com/5-reasons-to-switch-to-organic-makeup/