#you gotta advocate for your own healthcare

[vhsviscera]

Please note that going on Rogaine/Finasteride for people who are taking T will actually block some of T's effects, because they're DHT blockers! (I'll be focusing on individuals transitioning with testosterone in the rest of this post; I'm not sure how it affects cisgender men.)

Using DHT blockers like these will still allow for changes in body composition and fat redistribution, as well as vocal deepening. However, it will prevent or significantly slow body and facial hair growth, as well as clitoral lengthening. [1]

It's also worth mentioning that even if you've already started testosterone, it is still possible to prevent some of these effects. Most of testosterone's effects begin to occur approximately 3 months after starting treatment (with the exception of menstrual cycle cessation, which can start at around 2 months, and muscle mass changes, which can take up to 6 months to start). It's known that some effects of T are permanent, even after stopping T -- including vocal deepening and hair growth. So taking DHT blockers wouldn't change what's already there. Still, taking DHT blockers will slow down these effects even if they've already begun. So there is still a window of time during which these effects can be mitigated. [3]

For those of us who want all of the effects of testosterone, but may be interested in DHT blockers for balding at a later date, it's important to note that there is a point at which testosterone reaches its maximum effect. For example, vocal deepening typically finishes within 1-2 years. (Anecdotally, my voice finished deepening in about a year/year and a half, but it took another 6 months to reach its fullest range.) Body and facial hair growth may take 3-5 years to complete. As always, you can't pick and choose how hormonal changes will occur in your body. It's different for everyone. [2]

(DISCLAIMER: Please note that I am not a medical professional. The information provided here is not intended as real medical advice. This was written in March 2024, so it may be outdated. Please fact-check this yourself and consult with a healthcare provider experienced in transgender care if you have any further questions.)

Sources:

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7356977/ Cocchetti, Carlotta, et al. “Hormonal treatment strategies tailored to non-binary transgender individuals.” Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 9, no. 6, 26 May 2020, p. 1609, https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9061609. 

[2] https://www.livestrong.com/article/13772409-ftm-testosterone-therapy-changes-timeline/ van de Graaff, Mel. “FTM Hormone Therapy: Changes to Expect, Timeline, Side Effects and More.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group. Updated May 16, 2023. Accessed 2024. 

[3] https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/masculinizing-hormone-therapy/about/pac-20385099 “Masculinizing Hormone Therapy.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2 Dec. 2023

Something interesting i spotted on twitter. For anyone interested in going on T!

[neonbuck]

oh also a note for new people, though I have "tormented artist" in my bio, that is intended as a joke at my own expense. i have a tendency to romanticize (in a tongue-in-cheek way) things i'm going through in order to cope, and do not advocate overworking your self as an artist.

also, while I am currently unable to receive mental healthcare (there is a shortage in my area), i do not support avoiding treatment for mental health issues. it will NOT make your art better or more interesting. it will make you less able to create art.

i'm in a place in life where i do not have much support from well-off relatives, and my fiancee has had difficulty job hunting. so there is a degree of overworking i have to do, and don't have a say in the matter, though i am actively trying to improve conditions.

tl;dr I am only having to resort to unhealthy work habits out of temporary necessity. please do not be like me !! do not copy my behaviors or look up to me; i am not a good role model, i am just doing what i've gotta do.

[disaster-vampire]

I think that's a stupid take. Ten, twenty years ago women were talking about the pressures of plastic surgery and how the desire to modify your breasts, bum, nose, lips, and labia were the result of pornified body standards and enforced femininity. We talked about how these surgeries could be life-threatening and cause chronic health issues, and we definitely did not advocate for children and teenagers to be able to access them. Instead, people focused on liberation from these standards, body acceptance, positivity, and focused on what bodies could DO (experience pleasure, be in nature, run, play sports, dance, etc.) rather than what they LOOKED like, and there were projects that sought to show people the vast diversity of average bodies. This was a massive help to me when I was a teenager. So I don't know how anyone can see hypocrisy when we say it's nothing to be joyful about when people with dysphoria (or without!?) take cross-sex hormones or get surgery for "gender affirming" purposes, and that we advocate for better preventative care and psychological treatment. Adults can do what they like, I guess, but like other extreme body mods, it shouldn't be provided by insurance or offered as healthcare.

first of all, i think you either copy-pasted this onto my inbox after sending it as a spam message to every trans blog you could find or you got the wrong person.

second: if you're sure it's me you meant to send the message to, i post about being trans a lot on here but i'm actually mainly a fandom blog, so be specific about what you're referring to. please show me what my stupid take is and where i talk about plastic surgery vs medical transition or advocate for children to take hormones or have surgeries. teenagers are literally already producing hormones and going through irreversible change in the form of puberty. also love how you worded this as if talking to someone who is american, because i'm also very outspoken about being from rural sardinia. i have no control over insurances or anyone else's healthcare.

third: english is my third language and yet i can tell you that it's preventive not preventative. please at least spellcheck the spam mail.

all that out of the way. if you think i'm trans because i have body image issues based on the beauty industry you fundamentally don't undertand what being trans is.

i HAVE had those issues, and then i pinpointed where they came from, understood that THAT is bullshit, and now i am very loud about people irl leaving me the fuck alone about what i chose to do or not to do with my body. please note i am in the closet and living as a gnc woman and very loudly being against the objectification of my body. read that with your own two eyes and get out of the internet bubble for a second. i live as a woman in a rural area and i loudly reject forced beauty standards. i pick what to do with my body, and if someone protests, i kindly remind them that they can kiss my ass about it. also the beauty industry does not have THAT strong of a hold here. most women i know only ever wear make up for events or just if they feel like it and it usually doesn't go further than eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. also i think i've had men comment on my body hair twice in my entire life and i'm pretty damn hairy, women are much more vocal about it and whatever other slights i do to womanhood by simply being naturally butch.

you really gotta understand that trans people are not transitioning out of societal pressure. i know a trans girl irl who had people treathen her to set her on fire and who almost had some fuckers run her over because they saw her cross the street and they knew who she was. do you think i want that for myself? do you think she values "beauty standards" or whatever the fuck you're putting in our mouths over her own damn life and safety? this is not about looks. it IS about liberation, and acceptance, and positivity, and what our bodies can do, you terfs just forgot the part about inclusion. do you think trans people don't like. go for nature walks or experience shit? what the fuck is that part about bestie

i am also getting psychological treatment, thank you very much. i see a neuropsychiatrist who is also a psychotherapist once a week and am considering being evaluated by a team in a mental health center and none of that has to do with me being trans.

anyway. how do you suggest i get rid of my dysphoria, since you know everything about it and how i feel, oh wise one? can you revert time and tell child me that when i hit puberty my voice won't get deeper and i won't get an adam's apple and i will instead get some gorgeous fat tits that i'll be very uncomfortable with despite everyone telling me they're Right and Good? and they're REALLY nice tits bestie. like i actually feel sorry for not wanting them. can you make me not want to open up my belly and rip my own ovaries out? i don't give a fuck about what my pussy looks like. it's fucking normal and it does what it needs to do which is pee and like. just sit there because i'm a virgin so no one's experiencing it other than me. and you're out here implying i'm trans because i'm so wrapped up in beauty standards and porn that i think my pussy is ugly and my tits are not out of this world, you fucking twat. it's fucking insulting and it just goes to show y'all think of all transmascs as lost little girls who haven't seen the truth of feminism yet when i probably do more irl feminism with my entirely biological asshole hairs than you do.

lastly, you don't know anything about me, you don't know anything about the joys of transsexualism, go touch some fucking grass.

[carrotzcake]

reminder to self and anyone else

bipolar just means '2 poles' vs unipolar which means '1 pole' and idk about you but i'm a complex AF individual and the whole damn earth has 2 poles so perhaps this diagnosis shouldn't be as surprising as we're [read: my family] making it out to be (especially after literal 20yrs of engaging in behaviors that depress the central nervous system)

i'm on the right medication now so i just gotta find a lawyer to erase my healthcare debt so i can stop dealing w/ insurance companies but all these hospitalizations and bullshit treatment i've recevieved is hella costly. (i also have several legitimate malpractice cases if i felt like arguing...what're the rules about being your own legal advocate again?)

[gr0veyard]

Ooc.; also other stuff im giving my 2 Cents to, so skip if you dont care

[[MORE]]

Puberty blockers:

PBs are not irreversible lmao. They don't mutilate a minors body. They merely keep puberty on hold long enough for the minor in question to have time to make sure they want to transition. PUBERTY is what is irreversible. Imagine going thru puberty and growing into a body that at worst will make you wanna KYS and at best hate looking at yourself in the mirror. Do you know how expensive transition can be after puberty? PLEASE do more research before making asinine statements like PBs being comparable to mutilation. PBs only hold puberty as long as theyre being taken, meaning that if you stop taking em puberty will set in just as it usually would.

"Even hormone blockers and transitional hormones are largely untested when it comes to long term effects" is a baseless claim which a little googling can be disproven.

"One of my friends in high school medically transitioned, and it did nothing to help their dysphoria. It just made them even more depressed, and they later killed themselves." I'm sorry for your loss, genuinly. That really sucks. But as much it makes me look like an asshole for saying this, this is an appeal to emotion (aka not factually backing your other claims) and also circumstancial. If your friend's suicide was tied to their transition, their case is just that: theirs. One of the biggest contributors to trans suicude rates is the unattainability of affordable transition and dysphoria caused by the changes made by puberty, only topped by abuse from people towards trans people. By advocating for PBs to be prohibited or limited, you don't help. You make the problem worse.

Communism:

"I’m against Communist and Fascism as they’re both extremely Authoritarian systems that give the government complete control over how you live your life." Since I'm a socialist and not a communist I cant speak for communism, but most allegedly communist states today still basically operate on a capitalist core, where they have communist parties etc., but still have a free market for instance. China for example, but Russia too.

Capitalism amasses copious amounts of wealth on the backs of the lower class in a short amount of time but is ultimately unsustainable. Vaush on youtube has a number of videos on this I recommend you to check out.

Healthcare:

"You can’t have a right to the services and labor of another person, their own freedom is taken away by that." No one is saying that should happen. Ideally, the state pays for this healthcare and before you say anything about that: I'm from a country without america's privatized healthcare. It's never been an issue here, people aren't fucking terrified shitless to go to the doctor bc they could go into crippling debt. Sure, you gotta wait a lil longer than someone w a private insurance company (which still exists but isnt necessary to live) in the waitingroom but that's annoying at worst.

I went to america end of 2019 to visit my gf and I fell really ill there. I had to go to the doctor there and I nearly felt my soul leave my body when I had to pay 100 FUCKING DOLLARS HOLY SHIT. thats nearly a fourth of my monthly income bro, how can you claim this to be okay? Ofc medstaff still need to be paid but oh my gods this is not okay. If I had to live with this system for the rest of my life it's fair to say I'd never go to the fucking doctor. And that'd be worse for the docs AND FOR ME.

"If you die or develop incurable illness awaiting treatment for months, there’s nothing anyone can do. If you’re treated right away and unfortunately end up with loads of medial debt, it’s unfortunate, but you’re still alive. You can still try to fundraise money, get donations, or if you’re skilled, work it off. It’s really shitty, but necessary." N- no????? It reaLLY ISNT THOUGH??? As I've stated before, this is not an issue w public healthcare. It's smth that's an issue in general and it DOES happen in america right now. Where I live this doesnt happen to my knowledge. Why should it? The gov is gonna pay anyway so might as well get it done and get the next patient. You shouldnt have to go into debt to live. That's not humane.

"I don’t think the poor should die, I don’t want the suffering to be left to their fate." Contradictory to the part where you think going into debt is necessary. Being in debt IS suffering. *I* am in debt, and I suffer because of it everyday. And it's not because of healthcare.

When going into debt to heal is your only option as an alternative to possibly dying or suffering on, then making that choice is like having to choose between the black plague and cholera.

"Buy a gun, grow a garden, learn to build shelter, and make plans to invade a neighboring territory and become it’s technocratic warlord after your country collapses into an unlivable hellscape." Making a joke like this at the end of a post about serious topics like this is kind of trivializing the entire issue and a little disrespectful. Don't do that please. It's like you're comparing to Fallout 4 and I shouldn't need to point out why that's bad.

At the end of the day, Im not trying to change your mind bc thats futile and not my job. But I do absolutely intend to fact check claims I know for a fact are BS, or educate myself to make my own judgement, and so should you. If you want to know how truthful smth is, listen to multiple scources (centrist AND leftist) and crosscompare wether what you hear abt certain leftist ideas is in fact true or not.

Or dont and continue living in an echochamber. Your call.

Have a nice day.

[salix-triandra]

Thinking about how crazy it is how far we’ve actually come away from a collectivist society and how individualistic we all actually are, even though we don’t want to admit it. 

So much of the "self care" rhetoric that cycles around Instagram and Twitter advocates for “you doing you regardless of what the people around you think or say about it.” And, within reason, that’s fine. 

“You gotta stop doing things that don’t make you happy. Stop doing those things, stop interacting with those people,” and that’s fine…. within reason. You see where it can begin to get dangerous? 

“Happy” is an emotion, not a state of being. You being polite to someone you don’t really like very much is not a thing that inhibits your ✨growth✨, it’s not stifling you in any way. Sure, it’s a social nicety, which is performative, but we need those. Do you not appreciate smiles in a hallway, the holding of the door, a greeting of ‘hi, how are you,’ even if it’s often emotionally empty (we notice the lack of them, don’t pretend you don’t feel a bit offended when someone doesn’t greet you)? 

When we uphold this sanctity of self as the end-all, be-all, taking the “This life is mine and for me alone to enjoy” attitude so far that we don’t go through at least a few motions for the betterment of another person’s day… no wonder we’re so lonely. No wonder. We’ve decided being frank and blunt with those around us is somehow more respectable and good for us than being polite and socially delicate every once in a while.

Don’t let people mistreat you, stand up for yourself when it’s necessary. But this whole thing of bowling people over, making them uncomfortable in the name of “what, I’m just being honest”… You know how we talk about our own boundaries? I think we forget that other people have them too. Respecting those boundaries isn’t being weak-willed, it’s just being empathetic.

(This started when I thought about Victorian mourning practices and how no one is given an opportunity to publicly grieve or be accommodated for their pain nowadays. Then I thought about how we do this thing now where being ‘nice’ or socially performative is demonized as inauthentic, and it sort of spiraled into me realizing how self-absorbed we really are, in western society and online, and lacking in collective empathy. I also believe it’s bled into the privatization of all sorts of services that should be public, like healthcare, and why people are often imprisoned instead of rehabilitated. “Why should you care about these people? It’s their problem, not yours.” Well�� is it so hard to ask that, if it were your problem, wouldn’t you want someone else to care about you?)

[exeggcute]

as a chronically ill person with other mysterious health conditions, do you ever get a sense of fatalism? what do you do during these times? if you don’t feel that way, how do you feel about being sick forever? (I am also sick forever)

absolutely, my friend… when I’m not going back and forth on the “am I really sick or just faking all these things for attention” issue (a worry usually alleviated either by some form of unrelenting pain rearing its ugly head or by one of my doctors giving me That Look and going “uh have you thought about trying the mayo clinic?”), I am super duper susceptible to that sort of fatalism even in the best of times. of course “the best of times” is subjective when the world is objectively hellish and you have all variety of brain sicknesses that make you act irrationally at times (or perhaps THEY are the irrational ones and I am the sane one, I say while evilly stroking a cat which I am mildly allergic to), and then it doesn’t help when we’re in the midst of a global health crisis where people such as yourself are much more susceptible than average and people are willing to treat you as collateral damage—hell, I’m struggling to convince my own girlfriend (who I love more than anything and is my very best friend in the whole world and has taken me to the ER many a time) how serious this could be to someone like me with a compromised immune system, it’s impossible to get anyone else to believe it. you can’t help but feel like an afterthought at best and a liability at worst, you know?

and it’s also hard when, objectively speaking, I know I’m better off than most people in my situation (and maybe even better off than a lot of healthy people) to have a low-level office job with okay benefits and a nice boss who lets me work at home when I’m not feeling great, which is quite often (mostly because she is also chronically ill so she gets it the way most people don’t)… but even “better off” still sucks! it sucks having to pay out the ass for medical expenses (despite your “okay benefits” because american healthcare is a fucking grift) that seem to offer no answers and no cure, it sucks living in fear of losing the safety net you have or a routine that makes life manageable (sort of). and it sucks knowing that you’re not able to do a lot of Normal People Shit that other people take for granted.

so, you know. that’s already grim in the present tense, but then stretching that out for the entirety of your (statistically-shortened) lifespan when you realize you are most likely sick forever (a term which I love by the way, much more fun to say than “chronically ill” and really hammers home the reality of having a mild staph and/or fungal infection somewhere on your skin at any given moment) is exceptionally hard to reckon with. especially when I’m only 23 and have all these damn problems that are likely gonna get worse, not better, compounded by the number of times I’ve gone to see a new specialist and they ask “you’re how old, exactly?” in disbelief after seeing my chart, lol. it’s a very “I’m not like other girls, I have arthritis” moment. and that makes it super easy to fall into a bad line of thinking, either “oh god my life is going to be a miserable expanse of salonpas patches and amox-clav tablets until I die at the age of 61” or “well might as well burn bright and fast by running myself into the ground now until I’m a mere scuff on the pavement following a tragic BMX accident.”

I don’t want to insert some faux feel-good positivity here just for its own sake (and lord knows I am not that kind of person even on the best of days) but I also don’t want to just go on about how depressing and terrible things are for us forever-sicks so let me try to end here on a cautiously optimistic note. all I guess we can really do is treat ourselves kindly and allow ourselves the space to just Be Sick and ask for help and not feel inadequate for something beyond our control. like yeah having a whole host of health issues in my early 20s makes me weird and different, but that’s just one of many things that makes me weird and different, and of those things it’s probably the one that’s least compromising to my reputation, lol. and I don’t even mean that in one of those “don’t let your illness define you!” ways because, honestly, I personally do see illness as something that defines me. but it doesn’t define me any more than eating the exact same thing for lunch every day defines me or being way too into showtunes defines me or playing a lot of puzzle pirates in middle school defines me. the definition of “you” is multifaceted! though at the same time it’s like, yeah no shit that’s a nice thought, but being sick forever permeates nearly every aspect of your life in a very real and tangible way, whether you let that define you in some metaphysical way or not. obviously that’s harder. the best I can offer you here is to not give up (BOO, they say, pelting me with tomatoes and other rotten fruits), surround yourself with people who are there for you and make space for you in their lives—because the people who are worth it always will, I promise—and be your own patient advocate. you know yourself and your own body best and if that means you have to fight like hell to be heard: be that annoying patient! fuck them! and depending on what exactly makes you someone who is sick forever, there may be new treatment options on the horizon—my allergist (who I adore in the way a 23-year-old loves all her old man doctors) is always excitedly telling me about the new biologic injections being developed for people with autoimmune disorders.

it sucks and it’s a long fucking tunnel but there might be a little pinprick of light at the end of it, maybe. or it could just be a flickering dot in your vision about to turn into a migraine aura. but you gotta stick around to find out, right? alright I wrote enough shit already, I hope you’re doing okay friend and I’m rooting for you. sickies unite

[sailolive93-blog]

The best Guide to Reddit Marketing around 2019

"Yep, i do all my modelling in C4D as I just know the tools so well there. I do minimal retopology in Zbrush on organic shapes but any hard surfaces I make in C4D. I'd recommend the "Introduction to Subdivision modelling in C4D" by Shane Benson on Vimeo (he goes by Sheppard O'Neill on YouTube if you prefer that) and it was his tuts that got me into box and subdiv modelling.

I'm also releasing a modelling workshop in C4D and models from the kitchen scene that these belong to will be in there to learn. Just not these two as they belong to marketing for the workshop. very well "Brand new Reddit account with two extensive comments defending Boa Vista Orchards huh...? We joked earlier about spotting the Boa Vista account in here but it looks like we actually have lol! > I just talked to the dude who does the marketing for Apple Hill and he sent me this So you just randomly talked to the guy and he emailed over his entire statement...? " "I too wonder why they didn’t just create a new line and call it the mach-e instead of mustang, I believe it has something to do with the marketing department since they knew it’ll stir a lot of discussion" "Precedent suggests it depends on the marketing around the product being sold and the implied purpose. " "Wow, ha. The fact that you think that it’s ok for the government to strip away my personal health insurance so that I HAVE to be on the same shitty plan on everybody else is crazy. If healthcare is “free” and universal, the quality of healthcare is bound to decrease. I can choose to pay for whatever the fuck I want and whatever healthcare I want. I give to charity and I have plans on giving a lot more to charity as I get further in my career and start making more money. Believe it or not, you aren’t the only one that cares about people just because you want “free” healthcare for everybody. And there is also no such thing as free healthcare. It has to be paid somehow and middle class taxes will go up no matter how complicated you try to make the source of payment sound. And regarding free college, that will also raise middle class taxes. You keep bringing up this. 02% of financial transactions bullshit as if that’s going to cover all costs. Have you done studies on this yourself? Do you even know that? You act like all these things can be magically paid for without anybody in the middle class being negatively affected. I have a bachelor’s degree and I didn’t feel like college was very challenging. It was more like a series of annoying classes I didn’t need when all of college could have been boiled down into one year of the core classes of my major of marketing. College is a fuckin scam and it’s only truly necessary for a very limited amount of majors. You’re just another minion that kisses the feet of big-government Democrats that try to make us feel like horrible people for not allowing them to sucks insane amounts of money��out of the economy and spend it how they would like to. inch "That's including the localization teams for every language though, as well as PR and marketing. >! Some of them might even be legacy accreditation for the Gen 6 models they're *still* using.! < " "Time is a cost and you should track where that cost is going. That said, if you are working on general administrative/nonbillable stuff within your own department, it's pretty easy to have that time automatically go to the right cost bucket, so generic entries for that sort of thing are fine imo. The stuff that really has to be tracked is anything for clients or for departments that are outside your default (e. g. engineer writes a blog post, that's marketing time etc). micron "I believe there are some lessons on Google Academy for Adss (now called Skillshop) but hands-on experience is tricky. Two ways are possible, 1) is for you to have your own website and use Google Ad Sense, but this is more from the advertiser side rather than publisher or technical side 2) ask a digital or marketing agency that is near you if you can shadow/assist/internship/work experience for a week or so. This may be difficult depending on where you live and agency people are always very busy, so if you do ask tell them how you could help THEM not the other way around. To be honest, start with Analytics and Paid Search as they are arguable more accessible and have more out there for you to learn" "We are in the same boat, but different industry. Here's my approach, starting this week: I'm joining business groups that my target clients are a part of, for example, manufacturer groups. Then I'm going to target that organization with our services. I'm then going to offer to speak about the service I offer and how it helps businesses. Not a marketing spiel, an educational talk. Good luck" "One might consider a lawsuit if a car or alcohol company advocated or implied the action of drinking and driving in their marketing" "This post has been removed for breaking Rule 1. No Spammy Titles. Do not mention anything about selling anything in the title. Absolutely ZERO marketing in the title. Do not even ask for people to contact you for more. Be enticing. Post quality pics with quality titles. Read the rules for info on how to market yourself here. If your posts keep getting removed then you will be banned. READ THE RULES! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Remember to[contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/? to=/r/feetpics) if you have any questions or concerns. *" "I came of grew up and came of age in Chicago during Jordan's time with the Bulls and the shortest answer is that it's almost incomparable because the level of fame basketball players before Michael Jordan was laughably lower than now. Even today MJ has a logo that might be more identifiable than the company that created it. I would argue no athlete in any sport has surpassed MJ's level of fame. MJ pioneered so many avenues of endorsements, its like comparing planes in the era of propeller planes with jet planes. Jordan like most greats, stood on the shoulders of giants, specifically Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Those two spent the better part of the late 70's and early to late 80's dominating the sport of basketball. Also add in Isiah Thomas of the Pistons and arguably "Dr. J" Julius Erving of the 76ers and those four were the superstars of the four teams that won EVERY NBA championship of the decade. Before Michael Jordan won his FIRST NBA Championship in 1991, he was arguably bigger than all of them. Before MJ, being a big name athlete meant getting your name on a breakfast cereal box called Wheaties, and doing the commercial saying the plug line "Gotta eat your Wheaties! " That's not a joke. Check 'em out on youtube, they're cringe worthy. MJ's meteoric rise in my opinion was helped by a few special advertising campaigns. I think first would have been his Nike commercials with Spike Lee, another pioneer. He just made "Do the right thing" at a time when black people making movies with black people in the movies wasn't really a thing. Spike Lee also happens to like playing characters in his own movies and Mars Blackmon was a character in that movie that Spike Lee chose to portray in a series of commericals with Michael Jordan. Again, pardon me for repeating, but I have to say it again for context. You have a supremely talented and charismatic young athlete being marketed by a young shoe company (Converse Chuck Taylors were still THE basketball shoe) hiring a visionary and ground breaking director to do something that had not been done before. And they crushed it. Again, at this time Michael Jordan wasn't winning NBA championships. He was having savant level performances, but get bounced out of the first round by the Celtics, or getting manhandled in the playoffs by the Pistons. By the time he did win it all in 91, MJ was doing things that no one had done in fields well outside basketball. Michael Jordan in Flight is one of the first videogames to have 3D. He had already supplanted Dr J in the one on one basketball video game with Larry Bird. Gatorade put out a marketing campaign with the song "Be Like Mike" and that song was the top song for the summer of 92 in Chicago on most radio stations regardless of genre. You're already familiar with Space Jam, but before Space Jam, the Looney Toons were relegated to afternoon after school syndicated (rerun) television stations. Michael Jordan made Bugs Bunny cool again to a whole new generation that knows of them only through MJ. I hope that helps. inches "Yeah I don't want to turn it around and criticize Musk over this or anything, but Tesla is great at PR and marketing while convincing people they don't actually try to be. inches "No, you dont need more parties, you need to ban all parties and establish government funded elections where everyone with a certain amount of support by the people can run using government money and marketing channels. Equal funding, equal marketing, equal candidacy, by the people, for the people. Sounds too good to be true? Well fuck you, because parties are corrupt barbaric cavemen shit. " " Funny Cartoon Images for website content - Family Funny Images and illustrations, Ultimate single panel funny cartoons used for websites, social media and emails https://www.freecartoonsdaily.com https://www.cartoons.cafe   www.cartoons.cafe www.acmeblanks.com sign up now! Funny Cartoons, Funny family cartoon images, Custom Cartoons, Niche Cartoons, Humorous Illustration Services, Business Cartoons, Medical Cartoons, Custom Comic Strips, Book Illustration Services, Political Cartoons, funny hospital cartoons, cartoons for marketing, corporate cartoons, work cartoons, business cartoons, Computer Cartoons, farmer cartoons, farm cartoons, tractor cartoons, Pig cartoons, pig farmer cartoons, cor farmer cartoons, wheat farmer cartoons, soybean farmer cartoons.... inch "That's including people associated with the marketing and promotion of Sword and Shield, which means people at Nintendo and the Pokemon Company rather than actual programmers at Game Freak working on the game itself. The same article you're looking at gives 200 at Game Freak - which is likely wrong since Game Freak had 143 employees, and Game Freak openly stated most were working on Town. You could include the modelers from Creatures Inc, but given that the models are the same as those developed for X and Y by Creatures Inc years ago, they are likely still being credited for "work" on this game that was actually done quite some time ago. " "Imagine what a lucky break JonTron was for FlexSeal. Their products are actually pretty decent, but their marketing was almost typical infomercial stuff that no-one over fifty would've seen. Next, out of nowhere, some YouTuber makes them famous amongst younger customers. People make "that's a lotta damage, " and "I sawed this boat in half, " memes. Everyone knows who they are. Chances are, when you need some stuff like this you'll at the very least know about their existence and you might buy their stuff because at least you know they're legit. Some people will buy it when they need something like that, literally for the meme. All they have to do is keep the ball rolling with tweets like these (because, of course, people actually follow them on Twitter now). " "That's my point. The pub you linked to is disney land. I'm looking for somewhere that recreates the  a more authentic historical experience. I think these places have got their marketing wrong which is why they are closing. They should be trying to recreate an experience closer to that in the Pathe news reel. If you just sold fresh baked bread, potted Hare, a variety of local ales you could heat with a poker while smoking a hilarious pipe you could capture a huge slice of the real ale / hipster / foodie market. " "No game in the genre had been competition for the Diablo franchise since it's inception. D3 no matter how you look at it was a huge commercial success being in the top 10 video games sold of all time at one point. Diablo now has become what WoW was before, tons of games saying they are a WoW killer and none of them doing it. So now we looming at Diablo killers but they all end up falling off somewhere because they don't get the same $$$ support / marketing. inch "8M opening weekend bad = bad marketing. Bad quality movie would be revealed in the multiplier (word of mouth and no rewatches). In this case I don’t think there was anything compelling from the movie they could focus the marketing around which led to the 8M OW. " "I’m in the same boat. I have to get 14 credits by may2020. In the last 2 weeks I did principle of marketing 3 credits score 66 and principal of management 3 credits score 62. This week I’ll take precalculas which is 5 credits and calculus which is 4 credits. I did not pay the $89 for the test because I did modernstates which pays the testing fee. It also reimburses me for the $20 testing fee" "Marketing. McAf€€ gets money from users, Micro$oft gets money from McAfee. They beget the green, motherfuckers that they are. Sometimes  http://tipofmytongue.topreddit.info  who install 3^^rd party stuff tho, it's not only Microsoft. Anyway, it's a motherfuckery of bloatware if not malware. "McAfee antivirus is one of the worst products on the planet" -John McAfee" "You're arguing entirely from marketing hype instead of actual quality, which is entirely stupid and comes down entirely to Sont having far greater of a userbase and them having less games to pump more money behind. Besides, let's not pretend Sony has an actual library of games here. Both Xbox and Sony have completely shit the bed this console generation in terms of exclusive libraries. Sony has had like, 8 good games this entire generation as exclusives. You have Death Stranding, Uncharted 4, Horizon, Until Dawn, Bloodborne, God of War, MLB The Show... That's about it? I guess you also have Detroit and Last Guardian depending on who you ask, but I defo don't wanna throw Days Gone on that list. But in any case, you could lump all of those games into loke 3-4 genres. Am I missing anything? But yeah, stop saying dumb shit like "Well its not a household name so its irrelevant" because you're entirely missing the point and reducing the entire industry to what can or can't be marketed. As well, its telling that Sony has stated their goal next-gen is to have less games release but have them be bigger, where Microsoft is going the opposite direction. Keep the the big titles, bur also have a little something for everyone. Diversity is important. Your Battletoads reboot might not sell as well, but its important to folks who like it. Games shouldn't be live or die based on how well they fit in established and marketable trends. Its absurdly reductive" "I actually never had injected one, whats the main difference? And is it really a big improvement or rather a marketing bait" "It’s all part of his NYC persona. Marketing. inches

[hachama]

Democratic debate analysis

I’ve read the transcripts.  I read the fact-checkers’ analysis.  I have ranked them. 

Due to the size of the field, I’ll be splitting my analysis into four groups.  This first one will be the Please Do Not Make Me Vote For Them group: 

Ryan, Hickenlooper, Williamson, Bennet, Delaney, O’Rourke, and Biden.

Under the break, I’ll be analyzing their debate performance, how effectively they represented themselves on the issues, and how much I hate them, in reverse order of preference. Let’s begin.

20) Biden

Biden is so… so out of touch.  Even the moderators asked if he was out of touch, and when the moderators of a debate you’re participating in think you don’t know what you’re talking about?  For a career politician, that has got to hurt.  Frankly, they were right.  Biden thinks that the reason people can’t pay their student loans without sacrificing everything else they want to do with their lives is because we’re not earning more than $25k a year, that freezing payments and interest until the graduated student crosses that threshold would magically make everything ok.  If he were right, there’d be no Fight for 15.  A $15 minimum wage, assuming full time hours, is more than $30k per year.  

His response to accusations of racism was to point to his “black friend,” former President Obama, which… dude.  You’ve got to know better than that by now.  Please tell me you know having been the first and only black President’s VP does not immediately absolve you of being an old white guy who worked with Southern Segregationists against integrating schools.  

His entire platform seems to be “remember when I was a senator/the vice president?  Wasn’t I great, back when I had ideas and did things?” and I gotta say, No.  No, you weren’t that great, Joe.  Even his closing comments were lackluster, talking about “restoring the soul of America,” and “restoring the dignity of the middle class,” and “building national unity.”  His answers to simple questions were, frankly, terrible.

Joe, what would you do, day one, if you knew you’d only be able to accomplish one thing with your Presidency?  Thanks for asking, I’d BEAT DONALD TRUMP!  Joe.  Joe, that’s how you get to Day One.  Unless you mean “grab him by the collar, haul him out on the White House lawn, and bludgeon him with heavy objects,” you’re not answering the question.   Joe, which one country do you think we need to repair diplomatic ties with most?  NATO!  Joe.  Joe, NATO is more than one country.  I just… *sigh*

To his credit, Biden trotted out many of the same old campaign promises Democrats have been making for as long as I can remember.  Closing tax loopholes, universal pre-K and increased educational funding, let Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices.  These are tried and true campaign promises because they’re things we can all generally agree we want.  But they’re old, a lot like Biden.  They’re not the bold solutions we need.  His newer ideas all sound pretty moderate and old, too: free community college (not 4 year public university), creating a public option for healthcare so people can choose between insurance companies and Medicare, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, and instituting national gun buybacks.  His suggestion of requiring all guns to have a biometric safety is also a vague gesture in the direction of a solution.

Biden is too old, too timid, and too arrogant to understand that he’s got nothing to offer in an election where Millenials and Gen Z are going to be the largest portion of the electorate.

19) O’Rourke 

Beto, or as I like to call him, Captain Wrongerpants, got off to a roaring start by giving a non-answer in two languages.  This incredible display of pandering, and wasting precious time, made him seem pretentious and obnoxious in twice the number of languages most politicians aspire to.

Possibly more than any other candidate, O’Rourke completely failed to answer any question he was asked.  He presented a few good ideas, saying that he sees climate change as the most pressing threat to America and calling for an end to fossil fuel use.  He supports universal background checks and reinstating the assault weapons ban.  He wants comprehensive immigration reform, to reunite families separated by the Trump administration, and to increase the corporate tax rate.  

Unfortunately, he wants to increase the tax rate from the new-for-2019 level of 21% to a lower-than-2018 28%.  He wants immigration reform to protect asylum seekers, but thinks other immigrants should “follow our laws” and makes no guarantee to decriminalize undocumented border crossings.  Like Biden, he supports healthcare “choice,” meaning that for-profit healthcare would continue in this country until everyone, in every city, state, county, and cave, can be convinced that insurance companies don’t care about them.

In short, O’Rourke reaches for relevance and relatability, and lands in pretension and centrism.  

18) Delaney

John Delaney is the first candidate on my list to have been caught in a bald-faced lie by Politifact. Good job, John.  His lie, by the way, was about Medicare for All.  He claimed that the bill currently before Congress required that Medicare pay rates stay at the current levels, and that if every hospital in America had been paid at Medicare levels for all services, every hospital would have to close.  The truth?  The Medicare for All bill does not require that pay rates stay at current levels, and even if it did no one knows what effect that would have on the country’s hospitals.  There is no data to support his assertion, even if he was right about the terms of the legislation being considered.

Unsurprisingly, John is another healthcare “choice” advocate.  I think I’ve said enough about why this position doesn’t fly for me, so I won’t rehash it again.  

In a discussion of family separation, he interjected that his grandfather was also a victim of family separation, which must make him feel so relevant.  He also referred to company owners as “job creators,” a lovely little conservative talking point, and claimed that America “saved the world,” in some vague appeal to American Exceptionalism.  He also agrees with Nancy Pelosi about not pursuing impeachment proceedings.  

On the “I don’t hate him quite as much as Beto and Biden” front, he’s in favor of tax breaks for the middle class, increasing the minimum wage, funding education, family leave policies, a carbon tax (which he imagines would fund a tax dividend paid to individual citizens, rather than, I don’t know, paying for green infrastructure development?), thinks China is our biggest geopolitical threat, and is scared of nuclear weapons (a very sane, reasonable position, really).

If you want to pick a candidate based on who your moderately conservative uncle will yell about least if they win the White House, Delaney might be your guy.  If you want to pick a candidate based on issues like student loan debt and healthcare, keep looking.

17) Bennet

I had never heard of Michael Bennet before the debates.  In fact, I just Googled him to find out his first name.  After the debates, though?  You guessed it: I hate him.

His closing statement was an appeal to the American Dream.  He thinks there are too many people in America to make a single payer healthcare system work.  Asked to identify one country to prioritize diplomatic repairs with, he named two continents.  And he believes the world is looking to America for leadership.  

However, he did rate higher than three whole candidates, and here’s why: He supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.  He wants to end gerrymandering and overturn Citizens United.  He wants to expand voting rights and electoral accessibility. He considers climate change and Russia to be the biggest threats to America, and he didn’t use any obvious racist dogwhistles.  He’s from Colorado, so he’s kinda proud of the state’s marijuana legalization and reproductive health policies, but he’s way too quick to see partnership with private businesses as the ideal path forward.

16) Williamson

Oh man.  Marianne Williamson.  I almost threw something every time she opened her mouth.  She is like a walking, talking, uninformed Tumblr guilt trip post.  At a nationally televised debate, she asked why no one was talking about… something. I didn’t write it down in my notes because I would have had to gouge out my own eyes if I had.  According to Google, she is a self-help speaker and that explains So Much.

In her closing statement, Williamson claimed that she would be the candidate to beat Trump, not because she has any plans, but because she will harness love to counter the fear that fuels Trump’s campaign.  I am not making this up and I wish I was.  

She claimed that Americans have more chronic health issues than anywhere else in the world, and attributed this to all sorts of factors, starting with diet and chemical contamination and extending, I assume, to solar activity and Bigfoot.  According to Politifact, the only American demographic with a higher incidence of chronic illness than other countries is senior citizens, and I’m going to guess that has a lot more to do with our crappy healthcare system than it does a lack of detox teas.

When asked what policy she would enact if she could only get one, she said that on her first day in the White House she’d call the Prime Minister of New Zealand and tell her that New Zealand is not the best place in the world to raise a child, America is.  

When asked which one country she’d make a diplomatic priority, she said “European leaders.”

By now you must be wondering how she rated higher than the bottom four, and I can sum it up in eight words: She supports reparations and the Green New Deal.

Please, please do not make me vote for Marianne Williamson.

15) Hickenlooper

John Hickenlooper is the former Governor of Colorado, and proudly takes credit for everything good that has ever happened in the state.  He is also proud of being a small business owner, a statement that makes me immediately suspicious of any politician.

To his credit, he supports “police diversity,” a charmingly non-specific term that could mean one gay Latine nonbinary single parent in an otherwise entirely white male department, or could mean he wants the demographics of the police force to match the demographics of the population being policed.  He also considers climate change a serious threat, and China.  The best thing he said all night?  He supports civilian oversight of police, a policy which has improved police relations with citizens.

Sounds pretty good, right? Wrong.

He also supports ICE “reform,” as if there is anything redeemable about that agency, and thinks that the worst thing the eventual Democratic candidate could do is allow their name to be connected to anything socialist.  He said it twice, it wasn’t an accident.  

14) Ryan

That brings us to the last of the worst, Tim Ryan.  Tim here cannot stop using conservative dogwhistles, like talking about “coastal elites,” and saying that acknowledging differences between people is divisive.  He is a basic ass white boy in the worst, most boring sense.

He wants to bring about a green tech boom, supports decriminalizing border crossing, supports gun reform, and thinks China is a serious threat to America.  He also thinks that, in addition to dealing with the issues that allow school shootings to happen, we need to address the trauma kids are growing up with as a result.  Unfortunately, he thinks that school shooters are misunderstood victims of bullying.

His confrontation with Tulsi Gabbard was very instructive and possibly the most damning exchange all night.  He mis-identified the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center as being “the Taliban” (they were Al-Qaeda) and said that our military forces have to “stay engaged” for… stability?  I guess? As a veteran, I’m with Tulsi on this one: that’s not acceptable.

[miyacchis]

Gotta complain about something Covid related

Had a friend with a background in healthcare tell me a couple days ago that doctors are being told to treat Covid similarly to a seasonal flu and that our death/critical case numbers aren’t bad now with the implication that it’s endemic and less severe now so mitigation efforts like masking will be/should be eased and like. In Japan right now we are on the upward trend of deaths with an average of 200+ a day, there are prefectures that are 99% of their hospital bed capacity, and you essentially cannot get an ambulance in Tokyo right now no matter what is wrong with you because they’re all in use, not that they could even transport you to a hospital because it’s taking upwards of 12 hours in some cases to just find an open bed. Does that sound like the impact a seasonal flu would have on medical system? And we’ll do all of this again in another two or three months when we get yet another wave.

Sure. Everyone is tired and depressed of dealing with all of this but no matter people say regarding what they’ve decided Covid is now that doesn’t change the actual material conditions that it is wreaking. Thousands of people around the world dying every day. Even more being disabled. The disabled, immuno-compromised, the elderly, other marginalized groups being abandoned. Define your own levels of risk. Everyone for themselves. Individualized “””””””public””””””” health. Sacrifice your neighbors to the god of capital and if he happens to get you, ah well, too bad, you’ve become a cold meaningless statistic. You probably would have died of something else anyway.

We look out every day on the unimaginable scale of this tragedy and what? We say to ourselves well the cdc has said that Covid can’t disrupt our lives anymore so this is all fine actually and COVID’s just not that big of a deal. Sorry I’m the bummer being paranoid for not being able to accept that and thinking that even now we could choose to do something. At the very least I’m not going to try to advocate for giving up the simplest of mitigation efforts like masking that we are currently doing and it’s incredibly disheartening to hear friends who I consider kind, intelligent people saying otherwise

[illuminatingfear]

trying to get control of my life back

i drank a gallon of water yesterday... and i’ma try to do that in general. it’s gonna fix a bunch of problems even a tiny bit.

such a simple thing. i’m trying to push myself to do a large number of simple things to make me feel happier and more in control. since i’m not going to die, I’ve at least gotta try. i’m in better health mentally, so i CAN try; i’m not dissociating at an intensely high volume anymore, and I’m learning to power through/i’m panicking less when I realize it’s happening... and it’s happening at least once a day, but that’s way better than 24/7. i have some lucidity, even if brain fog is still there. the clearest my mind felt was the week I was off the SSRI i was taking for years (sans withdrawal symptoms)... which was crazy. the depression and panic snuck themselves back in (how kind) and offered cloud cover... so I know that it’s possible to feel... NOT like this, to feel better. Dunno if it will ever happen, but I’m at a place mentally where I can do things I couldn’t before, so I’m chipping away at all sorts of projects,including:

-physical health (taking meds, drinking the gallon of water, trying to be a little more active, eating more aggressively aka more than 0-1 times a day) -organization and mental health (including looking for therapist) -paintings -my music -working on website/self-promotion -recording drums/content for groups -financial stuff/independance stuff in general/credit -digital art -eventually facilitating progress of giving things away -constantly talking to people to advice about the current situation i’m in it’s not perfect and doesn’t list everything I’ve been doing, but it’s more than I was able to do before, and I know this will stack up. Eventually, I’ll have an album out, with a working website, that I can point people to so they can sign up for commissions. by that time, I’ll hopefully have a therapist, have rides to psych doc, have paintings out that I want to get out, have healthcare shit squared away, have learned more cooking, perhaps even a patreon/source of income! perhaps even some happiness/excitement in my life! (don’t get me wrong; music and art are different kinds of happiness than what I mean; more personal and deep, when I’m meaning social/gigs/jams and surface-level stuff)

I also am becoming stacked with coping tools on my phone, making sure I have something for every situation. Here’s what I have: I have the apps Google Keep for notes, Daylio for check-ins re: mood and mental health, Calm for breathing in panic attacks, Sleepio for nature/rain ambient noises where you can listen to 8 different sounds at a time and you can mix them all to your preference which is SUPER great for me. Games help with panic, like I Love Hue which is engaging (esp when combined with Sleepio), Animal Crossing Pocket Camp which is very rewarding and calming and cute, and then one of my all-time favourites, Kingdom Rush, for when I need to be engaged heavily to divert a bad episode and i’m not dissociating. I need to be my own advocate. I’m too passive for my own good, and I know where that comes from and where that bites me in the ass. it was so easy, when I had no control of brain problems (I mean, I still don’t but it’s better), to give up and let the shitty situation I’m in run all over me. Now I’ve taken a lot of steps (that I can) to ensure my privacy in small ways. The small stuff really adds up. I’m trying to charge ahead after a year of giving up due to so much fucking loss and grief and succumbing of abusive situations. But I can do things. I do have power and control - not 100%, yet, but I can do some things.

[fartfuldodger]

A Love Letter to my Trans Men of Color

We gotta have a talk, men. I want you to know that I see you. I see the amazing things that you take upon yourself to accomplish, just because you know that there is someone out there who needs it. Brilliant, powerful trans men like Cris CeeKay (Community Kinship Life - Ck Life), Sean Coleman (Destination Tomorrow), and Jevon Martin (Princess Janae Place), pour their resources and lives every day into making sure that trans people are able to get what they need to survive and thrive.

One thing that kept coming up during the interview portion of the study was this feeling of responsibility towards "the next guy." After each time someone described standing up for himself to a transphobic provider, it was always followed by something like, "It's no big deal to me, I can handle it. I just don't want them to do that to the next guy." So many of us are doing this thing where advocacy for a brother in community comes so naturally, but often to the detriment or neglect of our own self advocacy.

I understand a number of reasons why folks might look out for others before themselves, but my point is this: we can't keep this up forever, guys. You are important. Your life and your experiences and your wisdom and your *needs* are important. And if it helps you to think about it this way - if we don't take care of ourselves, then we won't have anything left for the next guy, much less the next next guy or the guy after him.

The thing about studies like the one we are running is that far more white people are inclined to participate than POC. There are a lot of reasons why, but at the end of the day when only white folks show up to get counted, then any services or programs that get funded through citing these studies will only center the needs of those white people. And you and I both know that there are often other communities that are in the most need of support.

So take the damn survey, would you? When you show up and let us know what you need, you get to do both - advocate for yourself *AND* for the next guy. What Gus and I are trying to do is build a body of data that says that trans men - specifically Black and brown trans men - know what we need to make the healthcare system better for us. But we'll only get there if we show up.

We're closing out on data collection at the end of this week. Please, please take the time and do it. It should only take you around 20-30 minutes. The next guy, and all the guys after him are counting on it.

http://tinyurl.com/TMHealthSurvey

In Community, Charlie

[thebackroadtourist]

Eating Abroad: How To Find Balance On The Road.

Backpacking is hard enough. It tests you in ways you could never imagine. When you take an open-ended backpacking trip you will inevitably navigate foreign land surrounded by strangers who don’t speak a lick of your language. You will feel lost at times, lonely, hungry, thirsty, emotionally pushed to your limits and you will be without your favorite snack.…yeah, hanger is a real thing. So why make it all harder for yourself?

Imagine this: *You get off the bus in a small town in Colombia, it’s a scorching 95 degrees outside and you’re starving, exhausted, and sick of schlepping your 60 liter backpack. The mid afternoon sun is beaming down on you as beads of sweat roll into your eyes. You’re haven’t eaten since the early morning and you don’t know where you’re sleeping that night. You need food in your belly before you search for a hostel. Food is calling your name. But you’re vegan, by choice. You search and search, scanning down street after street with no sign of a vegan option, only cheese empanadas. You’e been living off of exotic Costa Rican fruits for the past month so your’e craving a papaya. You can’t find one. With no tienda’s in sight where you could at least get some pretzels, you finally spot a street vendor in the near distance. You approach the vendor in hopes of sinking your teeth into fresh delicious vegan food, maybe a few ears of corn or some yucca fries. You confidently approach the man behind the steaming cart. As it turns out he is frying up plantains and you order 10 of them, turning down the delicious dairy-based yogurt sauce that accompanies it. You find a small stoop to sit on and munch on the plantains that were just fried in mystery oil. It’s delicious but quite dry because you turned down the sauce. You finish your “meal” but it leaves you feeling parched and for some reason you just aren’t satisfied. The lack of protein and amino acids leave you sluggish as you continue on with your day.*

^That was me 3 years ago on my first ever backpacking trip. This true story along with many situations like that made me one stressed out vegan - more stressed than I should have ever been! During this time I was a new vegan having just watched the horrifying documentaries on Netflix and convinced that plants were sufficient enough for me to sustain life. 

Now don't get me wrong, I admire veganism and I myself eat a diet comprised mainly of vegan food. I buy vegan products and it sickens me how factory farm animals can be mistreated. However during this trip I let my extremism get the best of me despite my opportunity to eat fresh, local, sustainable, delicious (and still healthy) food made from scratch by locals who really know how to cook. Instead, I resorted to fruit and peanut butter, became malnourished, lost weight and eventually became ill.

Food is an important part of travel and I believe it is integral to sink your teeth into the flesh of wherever you are, literally. International travel is an opportunity to open up, expand your horizons and try new things. It’s a chance to step outside of yourself. You may only be there once in your entire, so why create needless boundaries?

Here is another story: *A week prior to my plantain experience I was sitting in the city square of Cartagena on a Friday night with a group of backpackers I befriended on the ferry ride over the day before from Panama. The smell of BBQ filled our nostrils as street vendors began to grill burgers besides us. Of course everyone in the group ordered a fat juicy burger except for me. I was stuck with fries, because that was all I told myself I could eat. They munched and moaned over what they referred to as “the best burger they have ever had” as juice from the patty dripped down their chins. My subconscious jealously skyrocketed as I began to consciously resent every one of them for being “ignorant” and “uneducated” about the impact of meat consumption on themselves, the animals, and the planet, turning over my pent up frustration on to them. But then that anger turned into resentment towards…ME. I felt stupid in that moment for having such a narrow mind regarding food and even more stupid for building a wall around myself during this time of my life where I should be exploring. In that moment my self-pity reached it’s limit and I wanted to break down that wall and end my 8 month vegan streak but I knew that a greasy burger would make me vomit since I hadn’t consumed meat in so long. So I persevered and continued to nibble on my fries.*

^Since this break-through of mine, I began incorporating quality meats and cheeses into my travels, balanced out with the typical vegan food I normally eat at home, such as greens, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds. And because of this, my openness to try new things and my limitless potential to experience foods I have never eaten, have exponentially heightened my overall enjoyment of travel.

A paleo diet is restricting as well, along with other fad diets which are fine when you’re at home however I suggest you drop it when you’re on the road. Why? Because you can always come back home and pick up where you left off. Food is an important element in travel, and can make for the best memories.

Throughout my most recent backpacking trip through the Balkans, I met a few vegans. Two of them were new vegans who reminded me a lot like myself on my first backpacking trip. I could sense their tension. They complained how “hard it was” to travel through the Balkans on a vegan diet (which is nearly impossible). One of them even remarked “That smells SO good,” when my lamb dish came to the table. An extreme (and new) vegan I met in Greece was restricted to only one restaurant throughout her week in the village I stayed in, and honestly her restaurant wasn’t that good. I could tell she wasn’t too happy, plus she got salty towards me when I refused her offer to join her for dinner one night.

That being said, whatever you eat - you must always be careful with the food you eat, anywhere you go. If you’re going to Italy for only a week, go ahead and splurge on all the gelato, pasta and meat you can handle, eat it all -  ALL OF IT! However if you’re in Italy for an entire month, go inevitably crazy for the first week and then slow it down a bit. When you travel you tend to eat foods that are heavier than foods you normally eat. You must find balance. Be mindful of your consumption quantities and try not to over-do it. You eyes are always bigger than your stomach when you travel, at least mine are. When I was in Italy I ate a substantial amount of dairy in literally every meal. In the States I rarely consume dairy. So what happened? Two weeks into dairy-city I got sick!

That is why I have created a set of key points for eating abroad. Think of this as your “10 Conscious Commandments to Keeping a Healthy Body and Mind”:

1. If a healthcare professional has not assigned a specific diet for you to overcome a dis-ease in your body, do NOT create one for yourself. If you find yourself depriving yourself of food that would otherwise be perfectly healthy for you, ask yourself “Why.” *If you are a veteran vegan who will never cheat on your diet and you know ahead of time where to eat or you bring your own food for a trip abroad, then great!* Otherwise, why even bother going to places that you know won’t accommodate you? There are no vegetables in Albania.

2. When you deprive yourself from experiencing foods, you miss out on the true authentic local flavors. There truly are incredible foods out there in this world,

3. When you deprive yourself of certain foods, especially in countries that eat mostly those foods you deprive yourself of, you risk malnourishment and your chance of becoming sick increases. 

4. When you deprive yourself of certain foods you miss out on social memories. Eating is a social experience. If you don’t have an allergy or a sensitivity to something, just eat it. It will bond you closer to people.

5. When you deprive yourself of foods, stress may (and most likely will) accumulate, even on the subconscious level. The stress / resentment towards yourself or others in regards to eating a particular food will bottle up inside you, hence creating a tensified aura around you.

6. Always bring vegan probiotics when traveling abroad. Heavy foods can create mucus in your GI tract and the mucus producing areas in your body will follow suit, including sinuses and ears.

7. Do your best to eat light and clean meals on days in between large and heavy meals. Get a juice. Buy a smoothie. Eat some fruit. Cleanse yourself from time to time on long trips to prevent sickness and built up mucus.

8. Exercise! You gotta do more than just walk. Wake up early and jog around the city center, or find a park to do yoga in. Maybe find a conducive space in your hostel or place of stay to do some push-ups, squats, lunges, and other bodyweight exercises that can get your heart-rate up and your body moving. Swimming is also a great exercise. Your body is your vehicle, take care of it! I am a big advocate for meditation as well.

9. Drink clean water. This may be my most important commandment of all. Water quality varies by country so please do your homework and know when you need to buy bottled water. In Central and South America water it is not advised to drink water straight from the tap. South-Eastern European countries also have sketchy tap water. I got sick in Albania from drinking their tap water. When you brush your teeth rinse your mouth with bottled water. Avoid iced drinks and ice cubes including iced coffee and teas. And beware of people selling bottled water on the streets that were previously opened and filled with tap water (this scam happens more so than one might think), so always check the seal before purchasing.

10. Life with NO REGRETS. Eat with NO GUILT.

In conclusion, balance balance balance. Aim for the middle path. Too much or too little of one thing can create an imbalance in your health. If you are vegan it is possible to life a vegan lifestyle at home and cheat a little on the road to experience a place more fully. There is nothing wrong with some flexibility, even if it’s one or two bites. I just want YOU to experience the most out of life. :)

[carnivaloftherandom]

My birthday is Political: A Note From The Random

It’s my birthday and I’m basically doing nothing. (January birthdays in cold weather Is climes are terrible if you’re not a winter person. Plus: hey football, ‘sup?)

However: my birthday is, was, and until people stop, oh I don’t know, POLITICIZING BODIES and fetishizing fetuses, it always will be a political thing. TW: discussion of reproductive issues.

I’m 44 years old. So is Roe v Wade. That’s right, it’s not dusty history. It’s my lifetime, in quite literal terms. So let’s get a few things out of the way, shall we?

1. First principles: if you don’t believe in having an abortion, by all means don’t have one. If you want children and can safely have them and hopefully never have anything go drastically, horribly awry during a pregnancy, this is simple enough. Your body, your choice. (And guess what, I support that choice even unto it killing you if that is your choice. You have the right to refuse treatment to save your life. Though if you already have kids, I’d hope you wouldn’t choose to take their parent away from them for the sake of an unsustainable pregnancy on principle.)

2. You think it’s wrong that anyone has an abortion, well, we have a problem. See, your right to think that stops at the border of another person’s skin. You are absolutely permitted to believe that anyone who has one will burn in hell, you are absolutely free to pray for abortion to be unnecessary, you are welcome to advocate for things that reduce the need for abortion: comprehensive, accurate sex ED, contraceptive access, a living wage, childcare, universal healthcare, and lower cost/free higher education. You are not permitted to enforce your beliefs in any other way. You are not permitted to abuse and terrorize people to get them to comply. Their body, their choice. End of.

3. If you believe a fetus is more of a person than the person that fetus resides in: you are a creepy human being.

4. Lying about abortion in order to influence politicians and making arguments based on religion, esp ones that rely on human doctrine and not even oppressively skewed biblical text, makes you a creepy liar.

5. We do not yet, live in a THEOCRACY. We don’t even have a state religion. Stop trying to make us one.

6. Reproductive rights and Justice Folx: we gotta do better on our rhetoric and framing thereof. We’re still giving up way too much ground and hurting people with bio-essentialist, TERFy language. So this next bit is critical:

7. If you are constantly relying on terms like, “Vagina,” “Woman,” and, “Uterus,” when referring to repro rights, please expand your vocabulary. Particularly re: gender. Not all people who need abortions or oral bc or IUD’s or maternity care or pap smears are women. 8. Repro justice is way bigger than abortion rights. It’s dealing with fertility issues, the rhetoric around pregnancy being exclusively (incorrectly)gendered to women, it’s the class barriers to parenthood, it’s parents in jail, it’s a whole lot and we have to get way better at controlling this expanded narrative so we stop getting hijacked by anti folk.

(ETA: because I take it as a given and therefore blipped right by it: Race and racism are a freaking huge part of repro justice where the narrative either erases B/NB WoC entirely, or treats them as objects of pity porn for White Women to either save or scorn. Don't.)

9. You don’t know any one person’s story until they tell it to you. Stop assuming you know what repro justice means to an individual. I’m childfree by choice, but those choices were not ideal and I don’t particularly like that I had to eliminate the possibility of bio parenthood because of (in order) money, being a caregiver for adults, potential infertility and high risk of miscarriage and or maternal health crisis, genetic risk to offspring, and physical disability. Or that I’m a bad candidate for foster/adoptive parenthood because of most of those things plus being a single, queer lady. Some people have had to deal with this on an intimate, horrifying basis. You can hurt people without meaning to, so be aware. 9. For our lives to be our own, for repro justice and not just nominal, “Choice,” to be meaningful, we have to be very, very open to internal criticism, within this sphere. Oh, and:

10. You don’t want to pay for abortion or contraception with your tax dollars. A. You don’t. B. See number 1 on the list. C. Tough noogies. You don’t get to select where your tax dollars go and also, unless you already have a lot of money, you might conceivably in a perfect, universal healthcare with full repro coverage, pay for ONE. In your lifetime. But so what. Get over it.

H/T to @amaditalks for reminding me of a couple of salient, persistent points on the language of repro stuff. We need to stop being facile and get real.

So, yes: my birthday is a political thing (and also almost always football if it’s on a Sunday.) I hope to live long enough to see this not be true.

[americashealthcareadvocate]

Reflections On Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, I thought it was appropriate to reflect on the commencement address by Ryan Pitts, a U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient who deployed twice to the war in Afghanistan.  Ryan Pitts’ commencement address held a special meaning for me, a Vietnam veteran who deployed in 1969-70 with the 483rd SPS K-9 division, as a message to young graduates.  Cary Hall, America’s Healthcare Advocate

Medal of Honor Lessons for Graduates

By DANIEL FORD

May 20, 2015 6:36 p.m. ET

Durham, N.H.

On Saturday I attended my first commencement program in 61 years. The speaker drew me there: Ryan Pitts, addressing the University of New Hampshire’s class of 2015.

In an era when speakers are routinely disinvited from American colleges for the sin of challenging academic orthodoxy, I wanted to see how my alma mater would welcome a man who joined the U.S. Army out of high school, who twice deployed to war, and who in July 2008 was the last man alive in an observation post named Topside, above the village of Wanat in the Hindu Kush mountains of northeastern Afghanistan.

Wounded in the forehead, one arm and both legs, Sgt. Pitts defended that outpost with grenades and a machine gun until helicopter gunships could lay down supporting fire to clear the way for his rescue.

On first seeing the extent of his injuries, he told the 2,500 graduates and 20,000 guests on Saturday, “I thought I was out of the fight until I looked around and watched everyone else fighting with everything they had. My brothers were undeterred by the enemy fire raining down on us like the violent summer thunderstorms that come out of nowhere. . . . They would never let me down and I owed them the same. It was at this point that I crawled back to my fighting position and rejoined the fight.

“Standing wasn’t physically possible, but I was able to drag myself around and pull myself into a kneeling position when needed. I fought alongside my brothers like this for a while until our position sounded eerily quiet given the fight raging around us. I crawled around and it was at this point that I discovered that I was the only man left alive at the position.”

Twice, U.S. reinforcements ran from the village to Topside, but all were killed or wounded in the attempt. Sgt. Pitts kept lobbing grenades into a ravine 10 yards away, where the enemy fighters lay concealed—at some points, he said, he could hear them talking—and when the gunships arrived he radioed them to concentrate their fire onto the nearby ravine.

“You gotta be kidding,” a helicopter crewman replied, seeing how short the distance was between the American and his attackers. (The gunship video is on YouTube.) Despite the heroism involved that morning, the Army decided within days that Topside was no longer needed and the outpost was left to the enemy—a taste of what lay ahead for American policy in Afghanistan.

At 29, Mr. Pitts is no older than some of the graduates he addressed Saturday, 44 U.S. military veterans among them. He himself graduated two years ago with highest honors from UNH Manchester. The students, their parents and spectators gave him a standing ovation when his name was first mentioned, again when he was introduced, again when he finished his speech, and yet again when he was draped with the blue and white cape of Doctor of Humane Letters.

In July last year, President Obama draped Mr. Pitts with the Medal of Honor, America’s highest award for valor. The medal, as Mr. Pitts took pains to remind us, is “an individual citation for a collective effort.”

“Valor was everywhere that day,” he said Saturday, before drawing a moral for young people about to embark on their careers: “Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the ability to move forward in the face of it. There is beauty in this definition, because courage can exist in the decisions we make every day. Courage exists in the individual who accepts who they are and openly lives the life they want in the face of rejection. Courage exists in those who challenge their own perceptions in the face of accepting they are not infallible. Be courageous and appreciate courage in others who take action in the face of fear.”

He closed by saying: “The last thought I will leave you with is more a matter of character. Never forget those who helped you reach where you are.”

Then he named the men who died that morning, eight on Topside and one in the village of Wanat: “ Sergio Abad, Jonathan Ayers, Jason Bogar, Jonathan Brostrom, Israel Garcia,Jason Hovater, Matthew Phillips, Pruitt Rainey and Gunnar Zwilling. The advice here is simple: Appreciate the contributions of others and the impacts they make in your life. That’s it.”

[mimiof4grands-blog]

Survivors Teaching Students

I AM A FACE OF OVARIAN CANCER

My name is Carol Rodman and I’m a 69 year old retired nurse, mother of 2 and Mimi of 4. I’m also a survivor of Stage 2B breast cancer in 2003 and Stage 3C ovarian cancer in 2006 and 2010.

My cancer story began in 1977 when my sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She died of ovarian cancer at 37 when her kids were 15, 11 and 6. JoAnn was a wild woman who, on the day I drove her to hospice, plowed through deep snow in her station wagon into town to buy gifts for her family.

Cancer appeared again 20 years later in 1997 when my 80 yo mother had a mastectomy for late stage breast cancer. So 9 years later when my gynecologist found a lump in my right breast I wasn’t too surprised given my family history.

My treatment was a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. Genetic testing showed an “unknown variant” which meant there was a mutation but couldn’t be specifically identified. Options were having bilateral mastectomies and/or a hysterectomy but I was working full-time, had a new granddaughter and frankly it got put on the back burner. If I knew then what I know now .. but we can’t go backwards.

Only 2 years later my routine colonoscopy and gyn exam were due but were postponed because my mother was in failing health. She passed away and the exams were rescheduled.

The gyn exam was negative but just a few weeks later I had belly pain, felt full quickly, was exhausted and had increased waist size. However, I attributed it to stress eating over the holidays and when mom died. A friend told me that her mom was having belly pain and thought it might be colon or ovarian cancer. I did what every good nurse or nursing student or medical student did - I GOOGLED my symptoms. It sure sounded like ovarian cancer given my family history. When I told my husband John, Director of Pharmacy and scientist at a  children’s research hospital in Memphis, he said “you don’t have ovarian cancer” but he didn’t sound very convincing. Later I found mounds of articles proving that he WAS thinking the same thing.

The colonoscopy was scheduled for later in the month but I called and INSISTED on an exam before the procedure. The gastroenterologist came in, felt my belly and left without saying a word. I waited for what seemed like an eternity so I went into the hall, clutching my paper gown and asked to see him. When he returned he said felt a large mass and scheduled a CT scan. Later he said that if the procedure had been done, the bowel could have been perforated.

The phone rang 3 days later and he said the scan showed widespread late stage ovarian cancer. We were stunned, started to cry when my 4 yo granddaughter said “Mimi, come color with me and you’ll feel better.” She remains a champion for me!

We took the CT scan to the clinic where I’d been treated for breast cancer for had lab work and a consult with a gyn-onc surgeon. When I heard her name, Dr. Linda Smiley, I knew I was in good hands. The plan was for chemo to shrink the tumor, followed by a hysterectomy and placement of a catheter to deliver chemo into my belly. By week’s end I’d had needle biopsy showing Stage 3C adenocarcinoma, a portacath inserted and got my first dose of chemo. Because John was a researcher he was able to personalize the dose which I had every 2 weeks rather than every 3 so we could “give it our best shot”. I’m now convinced that he saved my life.

After finishing pre-op chemo, a CT scan showed that the football sized mass had shrunk dramatically. In early April I had a total debulking hysterectomy, removal of the omentum, mesentery and several malignant lesions. During surgery my church group had 40 people that prayed continuously in the hospital chapel. Dr. Smiley was extremely optimistic because she saw very little evidence of disease. The next best news that day was the birth of Abigail Carol, granddaughter of my late sister and named after me! 3 days later when Dr. Smiley walked in I was completely dressed and she said “I guess you’re going home today.”

My recovery went well and 3 weeks later I had the first chemo into my belly and intravenously. It went well but I felt like the Michelin guy with 2 liters of fluid in my abdominal cavity. One night I told John that I wasn’t afraid to die. He said “we all die but living is the hard part.”  

A few days later he was ready to go to work but said he didn’t feel well. He rested for a bit and said “see you later.” About an hour later a nursing supervisor where he worked called to say he’d been found in full cardiac arrest.

They took him to the medical center and I called the kids to say he’d been taken there. When I arrived I could tell by everyone’s  faces that John had died. The hardest thing I’ve ever done was to call the kids while touching his chest that say that their Daddy had died.

Because chemo was time-sensitive and I was determined to “give it our best shot”, I had the second round 2 days later. By week’s end we’d had 2 memorial services, one where I gave the eulogy.

In there next 2 months between chemo I took 2 trips that John and I had been planned. I took my son on the sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands and my daughter on a trip to Barcelona for a conference where John was honored.

After completing 5 of 6 chemo with very few side effects “living the hard part” began. Because I’d lost my husband, my job and my will to live, I contemplated suicide and was hospitalized. With intense therapy, medication and support from my family, friends and faith community I not only survived but thrived!

Two years later I had a more specific genetic test. One night as I was sipping wine with friends, the phone rang and the genetic counselor called to say that I had the BRCA1 mutation. The next call was from the breast surgeon and I asked what was next. He strongly advise bilateral mastectomies. By the way, my brother and my sister’s kids all have the mutation but my kids don’t.

At my pre-exam the mammographer drew happy faces on my boobs. When the surgeon came in he said “I see Mary Ann has been here.” Gotta find laughs where you can!

The day before surgery we had a “Life is Good” party complete with pony rids for the kids, a friend videotaping and a BOOB cake! I left the hospital only 23 hours after surgery and because I was unsure of my prognosis I chose NOT to have reconstruction. Instead I went on a Breast Cancer Survivor cruise where I parasailed and zip-lined instead!

Only a year later a routine CT scan showed a tumor by the aorta. Because of the position of the lesion I was referred to a New York City hospital. Despite it being a metastatic lesion the surgeon was very optimistic and I hugged him for giving me HOPE. He offered surgery by laparoscope or incision and I chose incision so he could “check under the hood”. I heard later at a conference that he has the best hands for finding cancer.

Only 1 of the 9 lesions was malignant and I returned home for chemo. Once more we had a “Life is Good” party and I went skydiving! One of my surgeons said “We’re trying to keep you alive and you jump out of a perfectly good airplane.” My bucket list now includes tandem hang gliding at Torrey Pines!

Because ovarian cancer is a chronic diseases like diabetes, I was followed every 6 months with CA125s and CT scans. Now that I’m 6 years out from my recurrence I’m considered a long term survivor my testing is yearly.

One chemo drug caused hearing loss so I wear hearing aids. Another caused peripheral neuropathy but I soothe the pain with a Snickers Blizzard - eaten, worn. Plus I’ve lost my hair 3 times. Side effects are a nuisance but they mean that the chemo worked! I’m alive and hopeful that I’ll stay in remission of many years to enjoy the kids and their spouses, my grands and friends.

Two more things — please get family histories and be your own best advocate in everything, not just health concerns.  If a doctor won’t listen to you, find one who will. One lady listened to her body and challenged a doctor to “prove to me that I DON”T have ovarian cancer” - guess what? She was right.. she DID have it.

My daughter’s family with 3 grands lives here in San Diego and my son’s family with 1 grand lives in VA. They all make this crazy journey worthwhile!

My hope for you is that we’ve put faces to this disease, that you’ll remember our stories and what you’ve learned today. If that happens, we’ve done our job and feel you’ll be even better healthcare providers.

Thank you.