Saving lives and saving money are of no concern for pro-life fiscal conservatives.
Their beliefs are horseshit distractions. They only exist to support white supremacy.
Important to note that ALL trans people are targeted by this ruling. Trans men will be stripped of all chess titles won, which can only be returned to them by “changing the gender back to a woman” (a direct quote from the ICF’s ruling). ALL transgender chess players will be marked as trans in their files.
Not trying to deflect from the blatant and virulent transmisogyny present here. Just giving a bit more info.
Erin Reed did a good breakdown of the ruling here:
the state of tiktok skits about having a rude customer is getting out of control i just saw one from a pharmacist and the whole skit was like someone comes in and goes “you shorted me on pills” and the pharmacist goes “no we didn’t you can see on the prescription it said to give you this many” and the patient goes “well i usually get more so i’m gonna call my doctor about this” like how is that customer being unreasonable or a karen or whatever
but the whole skit was about pain meds and we all know if someone wants more pain meds it’s bc they’re a lying addict trying to scam you and not just someone who’s confused bc their doctor made a mistake so it’s ok to post skits on tiktok portraying them as a villain for wanting the medication that was prescribed to them
Karen is quickly becoming one of those terms that's lost all meaning, like so many before it.
Like. You ask me to define "Karen" and I'd say it's the lady today who said she wanted a chicken sandwich then threw a fit when I told her we've never served chicken but could do a turkey burger, calling me stupid, insisting we've always given her chicken before, then insisting she speak with the manager (which is me).
Meanwhile, my 16 year old sister was telling me about a Karen at her work (she works in a really nice retirement home) who was a lady who asked for no sugar in her tea, was given sweet tea, and then explained she couldn't drink it because she was diabetic and it might kill her. "Like, she was such a bitch," my sister said, "She wouldn't even drink it! Told me to send it back and get her a new one!" Which, like, maybe it's because I'm old now, but if I messed up someone's drink and they had a medical condition that kept them from drinking that drink, they're not the bad guy in that situation. The proper response is to fix it, but my sister's been raised by her phone and is on TikTok all the time and thinks that "Karen" and "mild inconvenience" are the same thing.
keep seeing Temu ads on here so just to share cause idk if people are widely aware
“We certainly could do with [a loan],” said Lord Vetinari. “We need the money. I was about to say that we cannot afford mercenaries.”
“How can this be?” said Lord Downey. “Don’t we pay our taxes?”
“Ah, I thought it might come to that,” said Lord Vetinari. He raised his hand and on cue again, his clerk placed a piece of paper in it. “Let me see now…ah yes. Guild of Assassins…gross earnings in the last year: AM$13,207,408. Taxes paid in the last year: forty-seven dollars, twenty-two pence and what on examination turned out to be a Hershebian half-dong, worth one-eighth of a penny.”
“That’s all perfectly legal! The Guild of Accountants-”
“Ah, yes. Guild of Accountants: gross earnings: AM$7,999,011. Taxes paid: nil. But, ah yes, I see they applied for a rebate of AM$200,000.”
“And what we received, I may say, included a Hershebian half-dong,” said Mr. Frostrip of the Guild of Accountants.
“What goes around comes around,“ said Vetinari calmly. He tossed the paper aside. "Taxation, gentlemen, is very much like dairy farming. The task is to extract the maximum amount of milk with the minimum amount of moo. And I am afraid to say that these days all I get is moo."
"Are you telling us that Ankh-Morpork is bankrupt?” said Downey.
"Of course. While, at the same time, full of rich people. I trust they have been spending their good fortune on swords.“
- ‘Jingo’ by Sir Terry Pratchett
brooooooooo i hate when ppl get like insanely weirdly anxious Abt interacting w other cultures Problematically and it ends up being just like "actually let's go for progressive ethnocentrism". it is literally always better to clumsily interact with ppl and culture different than you than to stay closed to the world and others
When I'm in charge of the planet, it will be illegal to make a job posting unless you are actively searching for a candidate.
Lean staffing will also be illegal. If you need three people to do a job, you're hiring four.
You are also either earning an amount or you are not earning that amount. 'Earn up to 21.50/hr' no. Either you're paying 21.50 or you are not paying 21.50. Tell the truth or jail for employer for 1000 years.
If someone asks for 2 years experience for an entry level job paying just above minimum wage, you should be legally permitted to launch them into the fucking sun.
I would just like to make it so it is ALWAYS more expensive to hire two part-time people than one full-time. No exceptions.
My chronic pain doctor suggested I exercise more
I asked him “how?”
He looked confused. Said I should try a bit every day
I said “not when, how?” I asked what exercises I should do
He suggested half a dozen options that had all been explicitly banned by other doctors. I’m not allowed to run. I’m not allowed to bike. I’m not allowed to use my rowing machine or my punching bag.
I walk my dog whenever I have the energy and when it doesn’t hurt too much
What else can I do?
He told me I should exercise more
And then he changed the subject.
Next time a doctor tells me that, I'm asking "how?"
the first thing I did in my journey out of bed was kind of an accidental win. I bought a weighted blanket when I didn’t even have a gp because my other one left the area just before the pandemic hit, and didn’t give me any suggestions where to go when I was struggling a lot with brain fog; so I was without support or painkillers for a year.
it’s pale pink and fluffy. lighter than the one the company recommended for my age and size, and it’s still very heavy for me. the way all of the beads pull in such an unwieldy fashion can make it difficult to pull onto the bed. I could only handle half an hour at a time at the beginning.
but slowly, completely by accident, it actually helped. especially my core muscles and thighs from turning over in bed. I was just feeling anxious. I had no room in my head for thoughts of exercise. but I actually put on a scant bit of muscle. it was crazy
the second bit of exercise I started doing was to get out of bed and sit in a chair by the window instead of laying in bed.
the third, wearing clothes. showering a little more often. putting two braids in my hair instead of one.
then doing laundry
then learning to cook again, because brain fog had robbed me of most of what I knew.
and of course cooking meant more and better food, which gave me more energy and helped my body get a bit stronger
in there were stretches. I had no room in my head for videos or books so I did the three I could still remember from back when I saw a good physio years ago. I could only do three repeats at first, not even the five that was a recommended set.
all of that helped me get strong enough to make it to sit through a two day course at the pain clinic, and thankfully they weren’t like OP’s doctor, they were adamant that pacing is vital to any improvement if you have chronic pain. pushing too far too fast is the enemy. low and slow. persistence. is key
it was crazy to sit in that chair with my blanket and a pillow to hold onto so I could lean on it, and prop myself up, because a lot of what they said I’d kind of worked out. but they were scientists and doctors who had all experienced chronic pain and so they had the terminology and were able to piece it together
and most of all they vindicated my own course that I’d stepped on by accident.
and finally when my new gp asked me every month whether I’d thought about taking some walks I was able to say ‘I believe I’ll get there, but not yet. and the pain climic agree with me.’
and I did get there. I don’t walk as much as she would like but honestly I don’t think she’ll ever be happy lmao
the thing most doctors, even many chronic illness specialists and chronic pain specialists fail to account for is that the activity you’re already doing is important (vital, even, because personal maintenance and living life is very important!) and it’s already exercise and strain and very energy consumptive. it counts! and also they greatly underestimate the incredible value of seriously seriously small, tiny, incremental steps that can actually account for massive improvement over time for the chronically ill—if we’re allowed to pace ourselves properly, for, like…ever and not just a certain period of time
I don’t know your pain, I don’t know your body. but I recommend that you sit down and think about—or perhaps actually just take note over the course of your days and weeks, what activity you’re already doing. maybe at first you’ll only notice when something makes you hurt, but take note of it. because that matters*. and you can build off of that. slowly slowly slowly.
you’re a persistence predator. we walk slower, we do everything slower; and many of us will never get to a place where the average physio will approve of our condition.
but fuck them. we can build muscle; I’ve seen it. we can gain small amounts of improvement without undoing all of the good work we put in. but we have to be patient, and persistent, and we have to be cautious and we have to be brave
*I do feel the need to add that I also learned how to arrange my day so that some activities hurt less. and I learned over the course of a year —and really i’m still learning—to see my days in fifteen minute to half hour increments because I have to consider PEM as well. stretches have to happen if I sit in the chair too long. especially if I’m on my computer. a very short walk is best if I’ve been out and sitting at tables because that puts so much strain on my back. it takes spoons and it’s really tempting to think it’s too much but I generally find the pain the next day if I don’t takes more spoons than if I do. most activities at home are done in fifteen minute on thirty minute off shifts. when I say slow I mean slow
that’s not always possible. I don’t have kids, and just sent the cat I was living with to another home with someone who could bend without crying all the time. I have time and space to set that pace and not everyone can. life can be complicated.
but
you can exercise. you just need to vastly vastly change what the word exercise movement activity mean for you.
anyway I hope that helps
big pain day today so I’m feeling very bitey esp about doctors
I graduated high school in 99.
There was a student at our school named Wayne.
Wayne was gay. It was obvious. He was unable to stay in the closet even if he wanted to. To make matters worse, he was also Black. From a bullying standpoint, that was not a great combo. Both Black and white students made fun of him relentlessly. He was ostracized from the only community that may have given him protection. Only us theater kids stuck up for him, but not to significant effect.
Wayne was bullied so much that at one point he finally snapped and attacked his bullies with a lunch tray. I was actually seated in perfect line of sight and just sat there chewing my soggy fries in stunned silence. It didn't even seem real as I was witnessing it. The image of him wailing on his main bully as the food on his tray flew off is permanently logged into my long term memory.
The bully he attacked had blood all over his face and went straight to the nurse. Other than superficial cuts, he was not injured.
Before the attack, Wayne went to teachers for help. He went to guidance counselors for help. He went to the principals for help.
He did all of the things you were supposed to do. No one helped him. They wagged a finger at the bullies and warned them to stop.
Wayne's lunch tray melee was the only thing that worked. His bullies stayed far away from him. But a week later Wayne was expelled and the bullies were given no punishment.
So... no.
No one in my school talked about being trans.
Because the only way to survive being openly queer was to bash people with a lunch tray.
Under the new rules, homes that are not occupied for at least six months of the year are subject to a tax of one per cent of the property’s assessed value. The deadline to rent out empty dwellings was July 1.
Fazli said many of the people he has talked to are thinking of renting or selling their properties. He recently met with a woman who owns three empty properties in Vancouver — and says one of them is now listed for rent, another will be listed shortly and she is thinking of selling the third.
“This is a scenario of someone who is kind of in a panic now and needs to rent them out,” he said. […]
amazing
Why were they empty?
they’re meant to be investment properties, bought, left empty, and then sold a year or few later for huge profit as housing values continue to rise. it’s a massive part of the bc housing bubble, and why despite so much new construction it’s still so difficult to find rental housing
the fact that these landlords are panicking because they might have to actually use their housing properties as housing rather than finance capital is deeply funny
It should be more than a 1% tax rate though. I want it to be 100%. Torture them.
One very important note on the immense value of the Internet Archive that I haven't seen mentioned yet:
It crawls major newspapers like the New York Times multiple times per day.
For anything other than one of those scrolling updates breaking news pages, you can access it from the Archive usually within an hour or two of it being published. No paywall. You want international news? You got it. Opinion? That too. Recipes? It's all here. Page not yet archived? There's a button for that and now you got it.
There are various paywall-evading extensions and tricks out there, but they don't always work. This does.
Go forth and read the newspaper.
you can seriously tell a motherfucker we should have more buses, more disability accessible buses, more bikes and disability accessible bike-like vehicles, more bike lanes, more pedestrian-friendly streets, and more trains and they'll say "no." like dude your car is not freedom. freedom is options. you don't have to do an oil change on a bicycle. you don't have to worry about oil changes on well funded and well managed bus networks. cars fucking suck. but you tell a motherfucker that and they'll say "but fReEdOm" freedom from what? oxygen? plastic-free environments?
The fucking audacity of capitalists to lie on camera right in front of evidence of their failure is blood boiling. How the fuck do they not get the shit kicked out of them daily is fucking amazing.