#we are intelligent beings we can do our own research. we are in the age of technology
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You know, if this conflict was a movie you would easily figure out who the protagonist is. These nations slap on a few labels ‘religious conflict’ ‘terror*sm’ ‘antisem*tism’ ‘self defense’ and suddenly we can’t see what’s right in front of us.
Open your eyes people. Do your own personal research. Don’t just believe what you see. This is your chance to actually dig up the issue from both sides and figure out what’s going on.
#don’t judge a book by its cover#friends open the book pls. find out for yourself#if you were a colonizer in this day and age and the people whose resources you control and limit started fighting against you#I guarantee you 3000% you will easily stick a label on them to rationalize your behavior#you will find what scares people the most (barbarians/terrorists/communists)#and you will stick that label on those people fighting your oppression#because people are simple. one label is enough to blind them#don’t be blinded pls open your eyes#and whatever stance you take afterwards is your decision#but seeing people using these labels to defend actions. friend you need to peel back the label and find the truth#it’s there I promise the label has been hastily slapped onto it#we are intelligent beings we can do our own research. we are in the age of technology#please#unrebloggable because it’s just for people who follow me#If you follow me then please do this for me. look up the issue. see both sides. just this once while this conflict is everywhere#do the normal civilians dying in the conflict your due diligence. because we’re just normal people. we can’t put an end to it immediately#but we owe the people. as fellow human beings#to at least learn their story#Palestine genocide
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Tbh, everyone keeps saying they found the chemistry between Matt and Milly very hot but personally, I feel very grossed out every time they were together, even on the bridge of Dragonstone. Idk but knowing the dynamic between them as well as the age gap between the actors, it just grosses me out. As for Emma not having a good chemistry with Matt, I think it was intentional. It was supposed to be wooden and mechanical, because Rhaenyra is no longer a child, therefore an object of fascination to Daemon. Now Rhaenyra is older, a mother of 3. She's much grown but still idolizes him. He uses her again, this time mostly to fulfill his thirst for power for the Iron Throne, whereas he previously desired her for both power and pedophilic attraction. A lot of people ship Daemyra are either unaware or being completely aware that it's a relationship between an abuser and his victim. The power dynamic is off kilter and very skewed. I really hope the scene below in season 2 will open their eyes. Better late than never.
https://www.tumblr.com/softsweetmela/751555613328310272/can-i-just-say-how-refreshing-it-is-to-have-a?source=share
And these people think they are intelligent ? Not only do they sound completely ridiculous, but they also disgust me for being happy to follow and adhere to the showrunners' misguided view of adding physical violence to the Daemyra relationship. And once again, the definition of grooming and pedophilia is available in one click on the internet. It amazes me to see so many of our people use such important and serious big words in a situation that absolutely does not lend itself to it. Also, history books and / or historical research to understand what a historical context is and what it implies are not for dogs.
I would really like to understand what they see as grooming in the show ?
Nothing inappropriate is suggested on Daemon's side as long as Rhaenyra is not of age by the standards of Westeros and our modern standards.
He is literally in a relationship with Mysaria.
He is introduced to us as not often at court and has his own affairs to manage between first his work as leader of the goldcloaks and then his quarrels with Viserys.
The fact that he gives Rhaenyra a simple necklace is not proof of grooming. It mostly seems like a nod to the many gifts mentioned that he always gave Rhaenyra upon returning from his travels, as well as emphasizing their deep connection in comparison to their relationship with Viserys.
Rhaenyra seems to have a crush on Daemon, but Daemon doesn't seem to do anything inappropriate about it.
The only moment where Daemon finally seems to have an real ambiguous interest in Rhaenyra before episode 4 is in episode 2, on the bridge, when he sees 15-year-old Rhaenyra (I remind you that at this age, girls in Westeros are considered marriageable) making her flash and she defeats him.
Then, he found her years later when she was 19 and they spent an evening together where he seduced her and she very willingly let herself be seduced, and in the end, Daemon can't even go through with it his objective which yes, certainly, was not very noble.
But to call it grooming ? WTF ?
Not to mention the fact that Rhaenyra's age, from episode 1, disqualifies her from being able to belong to the definition of pedophilia in the case of Daemon.
As you said, we could talk about ephebophile, but there is in fact no tangible proof, especially because we are in a different historical context compared to the vision of the age, but also because Daemon was in couple with adult women both according to Westeros society and our modern society.
He was in a relationship with Mysaria, an adult, married an adult Rhaenyra, did not seem to be put off by Laena when she was an adult, and in the cut scenes, Daemon literally fucked an adult man.
So no. Even ephebophile doesn't work. Daemon is simply a man who lives in a feudal society where age is not perceived as in ours and overall he has relationships with individuals of any type of age as long as these people are legal according to the standards of his society (book or show) which... is not technically shocking.
Again, the people who are offended have probably never opened a history book, done historical research, or even taken basic history classes.
That or they are stupid or deliberately obtuse.
Again, the definitions of grooming and pedophile are freely available on the internet.
There is no excuse for such a lack of logic / common sense in my eyes.
I would also dare to add that all this is probably also due to an increasingly ridiculous hypocritical purity culture in media analysis... Which for some reason is becoming more and more important.
It's not for nothing that most people giving this kind of speech about Daemyra / Daemon are mainly TG (so Aegon II stans, among other disgusting things...), Team Smalfolk and or Alicent stans after all...
The fact is that I'm tired of seeing these stupid people show off their science with big words to give themselves moral superiority, while the definitions are very easily found... And I don't understand that so many people can adhere to this bullshit.
TG stans really don't like it when you accuse them of their lack of logic and knowledge of the definitions of the words they so eagerly use. Just look:
They will use any argument, even the most absurd and strange, just to justify themselves and make themselves look better. All the time, they create themselves and their favorites as victims of the system, and they strive to show that TB are just as bad or even worse.
Aegon is a rapist? Daemon is a pedophile and rapist!
Aemond is a psychopath, a bully and a murderer? Rhaenyra's children are spoiled bastards who are just like Joffrey, they have no feelings and are completely bully!
Alicent is a lying traitor with no real honor? Rhaenyra is a lying whore!
It gets to a point where they have run out of arguments and the fact that "Daemon had an affair with Nettles" is not enough and can be disproved by "Daemon may be Nettles' father" that now they are creating a theory that… Daemon is her father, he knows it and at the same time has an affair with her :P!
They just want to feel like they're the good guys. That's why they slander TB, compare TG to the Stark family from GoT (and TB to the Lannisters), create their strange theories and cast slander, and then react aggressively when you disagree with them. Because they probably know that TG are the "bad guys" and they don't like it.
I block them, but when I see a real absurdity that got into my searches through the filter, sometimes I can't let it go :P They will still be outraged and portray themselves as persecuted victims, so what? Let them live in their imaginary world, the series will end one day and they will be left with nothing.
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You useless piece of shit. You absolute waste of space and air. You uneducated, ignorant, idiotic dumb swine, you’re an absolute embarrassment to humanity and all life as a whole.
The magnitude of your failure just now is so indescribably massive that one hundred years into the future your name will be used as moniker of evil for heretics. Even if all of humanity put together their collective intelligence there is no conceivable way they could have thought up a way to fuck up on the unimaginable scale you just did.
When Jesus died for our sins, he must not have seen the sacrilegious act we just witnessed you performing, because if he did he would have forsaken humanity long ago so that your birth may have never become reality.
After you die, your skeleton will be displayed in a museum after being scientifically researched so that all future generations may learn not to generate your bone structure, because every tiny detail anyone may have in common with you degrades them to a useless piece of trash and a burden to society.
No wonder your father questioned whether or not your were truly his son, for you'd have to not be a waste of carbon matter for anyone to love you like a family member.
Your birth made it so that mankind is worse off in every way you can possibly imagine, and you have made it so that society can never really recover any state of organization. Everything has forever fallen into a bewildering chaos, through which unrecognizable core, you can only find misfortune.
I would say the apocalypse is upon us but this is merely the closest word humans have for the sheer scale of horror that is now reality. You have forever condemned everyone you love and know into an eternal state of suffering, worse than any human concept of hell.
You are such an unholy being, that if you step within a one hundred foot radius of a holy place or a place that has ever been deemed important by anyone, your distorted religious soul will ruin whatever meaning it ever had beyond repair.
You are an idiotic, shiteating, dumbass ape and no one has ever loved you. You are a lying, backstabbing, cowardly useless piece of shit and I hate you with every single part of my being.
Even this world's finest writers and poets from throughout the ages could never hope to accurately describe the scale on which you just fucked up, and how incredibly idiotic you are.
Anyone that believes in any religion out there should now realize that they have been wrong this entire time, for if divine beings were real, they would never have allowed a being such as you to stain the earth and this universe.
In the future there will be horror stories made about you, with the scariest part of them being that the reader has to realize that such an indescribable monster actually exists, and that the horrific events from the movie have actually taken place in the same world that they live in right now.
You are the absolute embodiment of everything that has ever been wrong on this earth, yet even that would only represent a small part of your evil. Never in the history of mankind has there been anyone that could have predicted such an abomination, but here you are.
It’s hard to believe that I am seeing such an incredible failure with my own eyes, but here I am, so unfortunately I cannot deny your existence. Even if I did my very best, my vocabulary is not able to describe the sheer magnitude of the idiotic mistake that is you.
Even if time travel some day will be invented, there still would not be a single soul willing to go back in time to this moment to fix history, because having to witness such incredible horrors would have too many mental and physical drawbacks that not even the bravest soul in history would be willing to risk it.
I cannot imagine the pure dread your mother must have felt when she had to carry a baby for nine months and then giving birth to such a wretched monster as you. Not a single word of the incoherent, illogical rambling you may be wanting to do to defend yourself or apologize would ever be able to make up for what you just did.
The countries of the world would have wanted to make laws preventing such a terrible event like this from ever happening again, but sadly this is not possible since your horrific actions just now have shattered every form of order this world once had, making concepts such as laws irrelevant.
Right from the moment I first set my eyes on you I knew you were an absolute abomination of everything that is wrong with humanity. I was hoping I would have been able to prevent your evil from being released upon this world by tagging along and keeping my eye on you, but it is clear to me now that not even the greatest efforts would have been able to prevent a terrible event in this scale from occurring.
You are the worst human being, or even just being in general, that I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. Events like the Black Death and the Smallpox pandemic only happened with the goal of preparing humanity to survive such a horrible event as the one you just created, but not even mankind’s greatest trials were able to even slightly prepare anyone for the insufferable evil you have just created.
If you ever had them, your children would be preemptively killed to protect this universe from the possibility of anyone in your bloodline being even half as bad as you are, except you will never be able to have children, because not a single human being will ever want to come within a hundred mile radius of you and anything you have ever touched.
You are a colossal disappointment not only to your parents, but to your ancestors and entire bloodline. The disgusting mistake that you have just made is so incredibly terrible that everyone who would ever be to hear about it would spontaneously feel an indescribable mixture of immense anger, fear and anxiety that emotionally and physically they would never truly be the same ever again.
The sheer scale of your mistake, if ever to be materialized, would not only surpass the size of the world, but it would reach far beyond the edges of the known, and almost certainly the unknown universe.
I could sit here and write paragraphs, nay, books describing your immense failure, yet even if I were to dedicate my life to describing the reality of what has just gone down here, and I would spend every moment of it until my heart stops beating, working as hard and efficiently as possible, there is not even a snowballs chance in hell that I would be able to come close to transcribing the absolute shitshow you have just released upon the world.
When people of Columbia fought to break free from Lungmen, countless soldiers fought and lost their lives in favor of a chance at a better future for their children, they did not give their lives to have you fuck the world up beyond repair to the degree that you are doing right now. Honestly, even when technology advances and studies on the subject become more and more accurate, I do not think humanity will ever truly be able to understand what your failure actually means for the universe.
My hate for you and everything you stand for is so much deeper than the depths of Shambala that you could probably take the entire Lungmen population down there and back up around twenty million times before you would have sunk to the end of my hate, and honestly, I do not want to exaggerate, but I think that that insult was low balling it such a massive amount that all mountains in this world combined would not be able to stack up to this imprecise judgement in light of the fact that, when being honest, my hate is almost certainly bottomless.
Huh?
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Things You Should Never Say To a Chronic Illness Survivor
This is a list of things that are just not cool to say to anybody with a chronic condition. I have fibromyalgia, which is a very complicated way of saying everything hurts, and no one knows why. I've heard most of this crap first hand. Seriously, y'all know this stuff doesn't help, knock it off.
"You don't look sick." Uh, yeah. Invisible illness doesn't outwardly advertise. While we may not look sick, you look like an ass saying that. 0/10, please stop.
"You're too young to be sick." You say that to a pediatric cancer patient? No? Then realize sickness can hit at any age. Another 0/10, stop it.
"It can't be that bad, you're always smiling." Here's the thing... most of us in this hellboat do not, surprisingly, like to be seen when we're not on our game, and we honestly want to just die. Unless you, like a certain very fictional SCP Foundation Doctor, can swap bodies at will, you have no freaking clue how anyone else feels. -10/10, say it again and we can and will find someone to smack the stupid out of you on our behalf.
"Are you still sick/are you better yet/you still haven't recovered yet?" Uh, yeah. Chronic illness doesn't just vanish. Supremely unhelpful, hurtful, and the next person who asks me this personally will find out I can still bitchslap with the best of them. -11/10, delete this query from your vocabulary.
"You can't always be in this much pain." No, some days are even WORSE. And the stress from dealing with unbelievers stings as much as our illnesses. Again, spend an hour in our bodies, you'll sing a new tune. -9/10, if you don't know, don't judge.
"You're just miserable." No shit, asshole. We're in pain all the time. If we complain, 9 times out of 10, we're not bullshitting you. Trust us. If we don't complain, it still hurts. For some of us it even hurts more to complain all the time. -20/10, say this one more time, we dare you.
"Have you tried (insert treatment/supplement/exercise here)?" Uh, probably. But not everything works for everybody. And some exercises just make it worse. 0/10, stop it.
"You just need therapy." While therapy helps deal with the condition, it WILL NOT FIX A GODSDAMNED CHEMICAL IMBALANCE/PHYSICAL DEFORMITY IN YOUR BRAIN BY ITSELF. You wouldn't say this to a person with a brain tumor, quit saying it to us. -11/10, do your research and learn something.
"Try to reduce stress." Uh... my body is the PRIMARY SOURCE of my stress, as it decided it hates me. So, unless you got a spare meatsuit behind your desk, this is just useless. -20/10, quit it.
"I know how you feel." No, no you do not, not unless you're trapped in your own circle of this particular hell. -25/10, this WILL result in me punching the offender if I hear this one more damn time.
"You're faking it/Fibromyalgia doesn't exist/you're just trying to get attention." Yeah, because being in CONSTANT UNBEARABLE AGONY 24/7/365 is just soo much fun. Look, no one really believed in radiation before the Curies, but it exists, and can be proven. Unlike the so-called intelligence of the idiot saying this. -30/10, if you think this, would you kindly stay the fuck away from us, as you're just a fool.
"You'll feel better after a good sleep." Assuming our bodies even let us, which is rare. And for me at least, I think the last good sleep I had was getting my gallbladder out, not that it helped. 0/10, just shove it.
"You'll feel worse in a few years." Really? Cause I legit want to die now. -1000/10, if you get the urge to say this, punch yourself in the eye and save us the trouble.
"Try (insert whatever diet here), it'll help." Not always an option on a fixed income, my dudes.
"There are people worse off than you." This pisses me off on two levels. One, comparing traumas/illnesses doesn't do much. Two, this is true for almost everybody. -250/10, mean, rude, and simply unhelpful.
"Everybody feels like that." ALL THE TIME? No? Then stfu. -1000/10, again, feel the urge to say this, punch yourself in the eye and save us the trouble.
"You're no fun anymore." Neither is our illness. -10/10.
"Why can't you just snap out of it?" DID YOU REALLY FUCKING THINK WE HAVEN'T TRIED THAT, YOU IDIOT? Chronic illness does not work like that AT ALL. -2000/10, never say this.
"Have you tried losing/gaining weight?" It makes very little difference. -10/10, shut up and mind your business instead of our waistlines.
"You're not really trying to get better." Yes, yes we are. And this doesn't do anything but anger us. The very notion we like being this way implies just how dumb people can be. -1000/10, just stop this crap.
#fibromyalgia sucks#chronic illness sucks major rancid donkey dick#and if you dont know now you know
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Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s02ep07 “The Money Tree"
Previous episodes linked here.
In this episode: Everybody is mean to Jules + a "money doesn't buy happiness" plotline.
They really got their money's worth out of the green screen this season, huh? This time, Doc is deep in an unnamed rainforest, researching the deforestation happening (and also eating bananas).
After mentioning how valuable the trees in the rainforest are, he recalls the time his son, Jules, had a tree with a "very different type of value."
We begin with Jules walking home from school. Two kids on bikes come racing by, sending the papers in his briefcase flying. He is quite upset.
Turns out, one of the biking troublemakers is none other than Verne. Jules yells at his younger brother for both his recklessness and the damage he's caused. Verne's reply is awful.
"Good thing you don't got any friends, or we might've hit somebody and done some major damage."
Jail for Verne Brown.
On the other side of the fence, one of Verne's classmates invites him to come swimming, and Verne quickly jumps at the chance. Jules pokes his head into the yard, asking if he can "join in on the frivolity." He's promptly told that he's not allowed, then splashed by a cannonball.
I CRY. Look at him. He is so sad and ostracized. Jail for Verne's classmate.
So far, this episode is no fun at all.
We cut scene to later that afternoon, where Marty is playing some basketball outside the garage while Jules works on his latest project: a genetically modified tree that grows colorful leaves with all different patterns on them. Two thoughts here.
1. This series really pushes the "Marty is a cool, sporty guy" thing. He's played baseball in past episodes, collects baseball cards, helps to coach Verne's soccer team, and is now shooting hoops while excitedly narrating his every move like a sports commentator. And, I mean, I don't really mind it as a whole. It's possible our Trilogy Marty is into sports (though I don't see him as being the sporty type). It just feels kind of forced in the cartoon. As if Marty being his own sweet, goofy self wasn't appealing enough, and they needed to make him into some sort of jock because that's what's expected of a college-aged guy? I don't know. I guess it helps that he isn't particularly good at any of the sports, which feels true to Marty.
2. All of the kids who look down on Jules are wrong. Jules is SO cool. Look at this tree he's created!
When Marty asks Jules why he doesn't have any friends, Jules tells him sadly, "Martin, intelligent children are always outcasts." Marty replies that he's never had that problem, lol.
Verne soon comes running into the yard, upset that Doc won't give him an advance on his allowance. He ends up inadvertently giving Jules the idea to create a money tree.
Some time later, at school, Jules is about to take his turn for show and tell. He's tripped on his way to the front of the class, taunted, and laughed at by all the other children. He remains unfazed and proudly displays his tree, covered in various bills. Naturally, this gains him a sudden influx of new "friends." Unable to see that none of the kind words and attention is sincere, Jules allows himself to be swept up in his newfound popularity.
All the attention soon goes to his head, and Jules soon has Marty and Verne doing all the heavy lifting in an attempt to find the perfect spot for the money tree.
Even though the bills on the tree aren't ready to be picked, Jules decides it's a good idea to start buying things left and right on credit. He gets toys for all his new friends and even has a swimming pool installed in the yard. Though Clara and Doc initially protest all the spending and the attitude change in their son, a trip with him to the mall has them changing their tune when he lavishes expensive gifts upon them.
Doc gets a brand new, giant TV and seven VCRs (one for each day of the week), and Clara gets a diamond necklace.
Jules soon lands himself an interview on the local news, bringing his money tree to the attention of Biff and his son, who catch the broadcast at home. Uh oh...
Meanwhile, Jules hires Marty to guard the money tree, offering him "ten leaves an hour." And since Marty is very rarely at his college attending his classes or ever at home with his family (who may not even exist in this cartoon), it's a good job for him.
I should also mention that the news of the money tree catches the attention of the FBI, who assume Jules is the leader of a counterfeit money ring.
Anyway, Marty is terrible at his tree-guarding job. He stays fast asleep on his lawn chair while Biff sneaks by in the middle of the night to steal it, then continues to sleep through the loud argument Jules has with Verne—accusing his brother of stealing the tree. By the way, this is where things are at in the Brown household...
There's not a single level-headed person in this family anymore.
Desperate to recover the tree, they all pile into the car and take off into town, where a police officer quickly pursues them. This happens.
Doc engages the car's flying mode, and they lose the cop and take off after Biff's tow truck, which has the tree strapped to it. Jules hangs out of the car to try to get it, but his seatbelt rips, and Verne grabs hold of him just in time. Clara then has to catch Verne, who almost falls out of the car, and Doc changes the car's path just before Biff tries to send them crashing into a tunnel.
Relieved that the boys are safe, Clara comes to her senses and realizes that they were all blinded by greed. Doc promptly drives the car to the police station to TURN HIMSELF IN for going over the speed limit and resisting arrest.
Biff takes the tree to a car dealership and buys himself a fancy Winnebago RV. He's immediately surrounded by a group of federal agents, who tackle him and send all the money he's recently picked fluttering around the lot. One by one, the bills all shrivel up and turn brown. So, no money for anyone. Jules's project was doomed from the start.
Things quickly go back to normal around Hill Valley, and Jules returns to being a social outcast. Without the promise of money, almost all of his new friends drop him like a hot potato. Except for Franny—a classmate who reveals to Jules that she likes him for who he is (and has a crush on him!).
The two walk off hand in hand, and we return to Real Doc, who is still hanging out in the rainforest. He shows us the new money tree he had Jules cultivate, explaining that his plan is to allow it to mature and eventually use it so that he and Clara can make their "golden years" comfortable.
And that statement makes me laugh because Doc is already well into his golden years. Sixty-five at the start of the trilogy, then the ten years to build the time train, plus the additional however many years have passed since he and the family moved. (It's 1992 in the series, but I don't think the Browns settled straight into 1985 because Jules and Verne's ages don't line up properly with how old they were at the end of Part III) But anyway! Doc has to be somewhere close to eighty years old. Though, with the medical overhaul he went through in 2015, it did give him an additional thirty or so years, so...I guess it all evens out.
Here he is, sneezing away all the newly-grown money because he discovers he's allergic to the pollen it produces.
Add money-tree pollen to the list of Doc's allergies.
The episode ends with him slipping on the banana peel he had tossed in the beginning of the episode. Silly guy.
Join me next time to see Marty and Verne travel back in time to meet Jules Verne.
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The relative Russian success in the Ukrainian war is revealing how we still fail to find the language to understand the West’s enemies. We accuse the pro-Putin faction in the US and Europe of spreading “fake news” or “lies”. Or, in the case of the admirably robust Senator Thom Tillis, of talking “total and unmitigated bullshit”.
Tillis was responding to J.D. Vance, a Trump-supporting senator (and a Putin-supporting senator, come to that). Vance claimed that “some people in this town are saying we need to cut social security and throw our grandparents into poverty. Why? So that one of Zelenskyy’s ministers can buy a bigger yacht?”
It was fake news, and a lie, and total and unmitigated bullshit, and every other insult you wish to cite. There is no prospect of benefits to elderly Americans being cut to fund aid to Ukraine. And only a malicious fraudster, which is to say a member of the majority faction in the modern US right, would dream of insulting our intelligence by saying so.
And yet if we have learned anything in the past decade it should be that it is not enough to expose news as fake. There is now a substantial body of academic research on the effectiveness of the fact-checking services reputable news and third sector organisations run. It tells us what we ought to know from our own experience: revealing a lie to be a lie has a limited impact on the ideologically committed. (Parisian researchers studied supporters of Marine le Pen. Although they accepted that she dealt in “alternative facts”, to put it gently, the knowledge that she embraced fake news did not weaken their support for her.)
It is the height of liberal naivety to imagine that, if we expose the lies of the far right (or left), all will be well. Life is not an exam. You do not succeed merely by knowing the right answers.
We ought to know by now that demagogic politicians and hucksters do not just lie, They lie with a strategy that tells a kind of truth their supporters want to hear.
I call it “shitty realism” – or if you do not like the coarse language, distorted truth. It’s shitty because unscrupulous operators pile up the lies and hysterical exaggerations. In the case of Vance, he is being a total shit when he pretends that the benefit payments of poor, elderly Americans will go to Ukraine. Quite deliberately and shittily, Vance plays on the fears of the vulnerable and confused that they will face an impoverished old age.
He then appeals to the fears of the paranoid that a clique of politicians is plotting to steal money from Americans to give to foreigners. Vance finally adds that those foreigners are corrupt, and will use US money to buy yachts rather than fight a war of national survival. His ability to invent the rabble-rousing idea that aid for a fellow democracy in its hour of maximum danger is being stolen from the poor and given to the corrupt shows that Vance is an accomplished and instinctive liar, and of course a piece of shit.
But exposing him will do little good. Trump supporters won’t necessarily care for two reasons. First because a few will hope for a Russian victory. I and many others have written about the admiration in a section of Western reactionary thought for Putin’s contempt for human rights, and in particular LGBT+ rights, and the admiration for a strongman leader.
But many more understand that Vance is, despite everything, telling a larger truth that American money given to Ukraine cannot be given to Americans.
Vance understands that shittiness needs to be dressed up to make it more acceptable. And so he pretends that there is a plot to steal money from poor Americans and give to Ukrainian criminals. But the fact remains that Western money and arms have gone to Ukraine and much more must go if we are not to live with an aggressive Russia for the rest of our lives. To win the political argument it is not enough to reveal the lies of Trump and his supporters, you need to take on the truth behind the lies and justify aiding Ukraine openly and proudly, by explaining that the defeat of Russia will be a blessing,
Being realistic about shits, and understanding that even the worst of them may tell a kind of truth on occasion, strikes me as the only sensible political posture. To take another example, it is no good trying to argue for net zero by saying, truthfully, that the UK’s Tory press was engaged in wholesale climate-change denial until as recently as a decade ago. It’s a true and tempting allegation. But the fact remains that when conservative say the transition to net zero is hugely costly and uncertain, they are telling the truth, regardless of their histoires, and unless you take them on, you run the risk of losing the most important argument of our time.
In their contrasting ways both US and UK politicians are hopeless at winning arguments.
Hyper-partisan America makes its politicians lazy. They are not good at winning over potentially biddable voters on the other side of the divide. If you assume your opponents are wicked or demented, the art of persuasion dies. If they could rediscover political skills, pro-Ukraine Democrat politicians could seduce a portion of the currently wavering supporters of Vance and Trump by appealing to their patriotism. (Notice I say a “portion”. Not all or a majority, but enough to hurt the far right.)
As Fiona Hill, a clear-eyed adviser to successive US governments said this week, “Ukraine has become a battlefield now for America and America’s own future — whether we see it or not — for our own defensive posture and preparedness, for our reputation and our leadership. For Putin, Ukraine is a proxy war against the United States, to remove the United States from the world stage.”
Allow Ukraine to lose, and no ally will trust the US again.
In the UK the situation is almost the precise opposite. The problem with our culture is that it is nowhere near partisan enough. With an election coming, neither main party wants to make expensive commitments and so neither dares argue in public that we will have raise substantial amounts of military and financial aid for the struggle against Putin,
You cannot win arguments you duck. The case for saving Ukraine can only be won by fighting the pro-Putin faction point by point, not merely by shouting “you liars”.
“Never wrestle with a pig,” goes the old saying. “You both get dirty and in any case the pig likes it.”
But in the case of Ukraine we must wrestle with the pigs of the far right. For unless we take them on and beat them, we will all be in deep shit.
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For you, I offer, a summary of a paper and some thoughts
Alright everyone. Here I am again, two years later, writing another linguistics post. Except, this one isn’t about a Garfield meme. It’s actually about a paper on language models that are used for AI chatbots, which I think is pretty interesting especially after doing some research and finding that ChatGPT just flat out makes things up sometimes. (That’s not today’s topic, maybe another day). So, quiet up and listen down (outdated, sorry) as I walk through the basic ideas in a paper by Emily Bender and Alexander Koller, called “Climbing towards NLU: On Meaning, Form, and Understanding in the Age of Data.”
Let me start out with a little bit of vocabulary:
Form, according to this paper, is any language that is observable. It might be marks that someone writes on a page, it might be words spoken or signed, it might be pixels. Form is the language that we can perceive.
Meaning is, according to this paper, the relationship between the form and something outside of language. So, if I say “door,” I’m referring to that thing, as in, the idea of a door (as opposed to just saying the word “door” with no representation for what it is).
Okay, vocabulary over. For now.
So, this paper starts out by explaining that language models, specifically large ones that are used in programs such as BERT or GPT, are making a lot of progress, and some people claim that they are doing things like “understanding” and “comprehending.” Basically, there are claims floating around that say AI language systems are learning language meaning, not just forms. Bender and Koller argue that this is not possible; that a system cannot learn meaning from form alone. That essentially means that language produced by something like ChatGPT, is not, and cannot be, entirely like human language.
Bender and Koller explain that humans have what is called communicative intent (sorry more vocab), which is basically something outside of the actual language. So, for example, if I say, “I want to eat some ice cream,” I am referring to actual actions, and actual things, and a want that I have. Bender and Koller also talk about conventional or standing meanings, which is basically, the meaning of some language piece that is consistent. As humans, we choose an expression with a standing meaning, which we feel like fits our intent. Then, a human listener will hear (or see, in the case of sign language or a text) our expression, and use their own knowledge to put together our intent.
So, what does this have to do with AI? Well, AI doesn’t “learn” language like humans do. Humans acquire language by interacting with the physical world, and with speakers of language. Humans have to be aware of what another person is doing, and figure out what that person is trying to communicate in their language, in order to fully acquire and use the language themselves. Language models, on the other hand, are fed a very large amount of language, which allows it to learn how to say words and sentences in ways that we like, but lack the representations that we have, and the interactions that we require in order to make meaning with form.
Bender and Koller argue that, no matter how much language (form) you feed a language model, if it lacks the representations that we have as humans, it won’t be able to create actual meaning, though we might attribute meaning to its utterances because they sound like us. They argue that we can still, of course, be excited about the development and progress of language models, but that we must come at it with a sense of humility and skepticism as to whether the progress is actually going in the direction that we expect or want it to go (in this case, being “intelligence” or “understanding” and creating meaning in a way that humans do with
Essentially, Bender and Koller say within this paper that language models don’t have real-world representations of the things they say, and that they do not acquire language in the way that humans do, and so therefore, can’t do all the things that we do with language, particularly making meaning.
So, this is something to keep in mind when we use AI language models such as ChatGPT. It can do a great job at making conversation and creating passages that sound fairly human, but that does not mean that it is making meaning with what it says. If I were to touch on my mention of ChatGPT “making things up,” I might say that it isn’t really making anything up, it’s just putting words together that sound nice and make sense, and therefore are convincing and make me want to trust it. This isn’t to say it does not get anything right, or that it is not useful. It means more that, as Bender and Koller say in their paper, we should use some precision when we talk about the abilities of language models (so, avoid saying it “understands” without at least defining what we mean by that), and we should form our points of view on it with a dose of skepticism along with the optimism we might already have.
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Chinen Family
The Chinen family is made up of five members, father Takayuki, mother Chiasa, Miya, their son and their two cats, Slime and Kirby. They all live in a small apartment.
Many of the characters are constantly changing, such as hair, eyes, facial features, to make them look more like the canon, but keeping our way of making sims, so the appearance may vary a little over time. We will reblog when some change is made.
Names marked with * are unofficial names, carefully researched and chosen. Names marked with ** are unofficial characters. Characters marked with ✩ are the most common ones to appear in our stories.
~All the family under the cut line~
Disclaimer: English and Japanese is not our native language, so it's possible that we have writed and/or translated some things incorrectly. 🙇💦
知念美也 (Chinen Miya) ✩
First name: 美也 (Miya)
Last name: 知念 (Chinen)
Ocupation: Middle School Student (中学校)
Job: Skateboarding competitions
"S" Name: MIYA
Stance (Skateboard): Regular
Birthday: February, 22nd
Zodiac sign: Piscis
Blood type: A
Weight: 42kg
Height: 154cm
Age: 13
Son of Takayuki and Chiasa Chinen. He loves skateboarding and is a professional junior competitor of skateboard tricks. Miya is a role-playing video game geek, so much so that he even proclaims himself the hero in skateboarding, unlike Shadow who proclaims himself the anti-hero. He calls Reki, Slime but in an affectionate way, since he appreciates him a lot and as is an only son he sees him as an older brother, with whom can mess and joke with him.
He loves to read, especially skateboarding magazines, furry animals magazine (especially about dogs and cats) and RPG dialogues, but of course also loves to read his friends' messages.
He's very intelligent although sometimes seems a bit arrogant and a bit smart but that's his way of being and although sometimes he seems to be arrogant at heart is a nice guy and a friend of his friends.
As a good cat lover and after fighting a lot to be able to have them, he adopted two cats or well, his parents adopted them: Slime (no, he's not Reki although is a calico cat) given by his parents on his birthday (2022) and Kirby (a cute cat that has a little mark under his mouth), this last one because of Miya's insistence of wanting a friend for Slime.
As for his likes or preferences while skateboarding likes to stop and take pictures of his friends and furry animals he finds on the street, play role-playing video games and listen to pre-teen and retro music, the latter listening to it very often in videogames he plays.
He doesn't like gardening, although likes flowers, maybe doesn't like it because no one has taught him? When he looks at Shadow taking care of flowers he can't believe that the big guy has so much patience with them and that with Reki, Langa and him sometimes has so little patience.
The room in the house where he lives with Sk8 crew is green and purple, with some stickers and pictures of puppies and kittens, mostly pictures of his kittens. Apparently he doesn't like the color yellow, so tries to avoid wearing or owning things in that color, although the Reki slime doesn't count.
In S his nickname doesn't change from his real name, it's still Miya, but it's not written in kanji, but in capital letters of alphabet "MIYA" and nothing about him changes, his personality and way of being is still the same as his day to day, except the outfit, since he goes cosplayed as the main character of his favorite game.
美也の父親 (Miya's father)
First name: 鷹行 (Takayuki)*
Last name: 知念 (Chinen)
Job: ???
Age: ???
Chiasa's husband and Miya's father. Takayuki learns quickly what he sets out to do. In his free time he's a great lover of music, likes to listen to it and hum it. He also likes to make jokes, humor which Miya maybe has learned a little.
美也の母親 (Miya's mother)
First name: 千朝 (Chiasa)*
Last name: 知念 (Chinen)
Job: ???
Age: ???
Takayuki's wife and Miya's mother. She's a very good person who always tries to help everyone. She likes to go to the countryside for excursions and long walks, as well as trying to find things to make beautiful objects or decorations for her house. Like her husband, she's a very intelligent woman and learns quickly everything sets her mind to.
When Miya was very little she played role-playing games with him and the little boy had a lot of fun. Chiasa is a great video game player, and her little son learned a lot from his mother. Question we have and you may have too: would she have called herself a Heroine as a teenager?
スライム (Slime)**
Name: スライム (Slime)
Last name: 知念 (Chinen)
Breed: Calico
Slime is a stray cat that Miya's parents adopted for his birthday after spending more than two years weighing up whether or not they could have one.
カービィ (Kirby)**
Name: カービィ (Kirby)
Last name: 知念 (Chinen)
Breed: Persa Tail
Kirby is another stray cat that Miya's parents adopted after he told them he couldn't be left alone on the street being so small.
Next family will be Higa Family. See you on Thursday! 🌷🛹
(To see more families, click on #SK8 FamilyTrees hashtag)
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At this point, we didn't even know what to do. It was all spiraling out of control and we couldn't do a thing about it. It felt so incredible when we downed that first beast, cutting down a creature that would have been considered a god in some primordial age. When we won that day, we thought ourselves invincible, unstoppable. We could take down anything you threw at us, as when mankind united, there was nothing that could stand in our way. But that time feels like ages ago, despite it being a couple months. The time where we stood tall together was fading fast, devolving into blame games and violence. These new titans were destroying us, and not just physically. Governments were pulling out, countries were sealing their borders. The bonds we formed in that dire moment were shattering, and our hopes were breaking along with them. We had already lost so many men and resources to these beasts, wasted with every futile effort. Now we have just a fraction of the power and ability, which is pretty much useless when you realize our full force couldn't even stop a two headed buzzard. All we could really do was hope for a miracle from our research into A.N.A., to find that one weak link that would allow us to finally bring this to an end. However, this hope was fading fast as well. It didn't help that we witnessed the birth of two titans through human meddling, so many wondered if our own efforts would create just another abomination. Work was still being done to track the other monstrosities, but this was more for evacuations than actual action. We monitored them like we did hurricanes, accepting the fact that we could do nothing but run before they made landfall. Sometimes a military or two would attempt to fight back, but these always wound up as failures. So needless to say, when "Minceskro" showed up, they faced little resistance.
Our dwindling intelligence was able to piece together some idea of an origin of this wretched beast. At first, we were ready to chalk it up to another reckless lab creating monsters in the hopes of something, but that was only partly true. From what we gathered, Minceskro was not an intentional creation of some company, they were a scavenger that fed upon a source of A.N.A. However, that source they were exposed to was the sloppy waste of some idiotic corporation who decided that A.N.A. filled samples could just be dumped out like regular trash. This is exactly what we feared when we realized that this dangerous substance was now in so many hands, because sooner or later a moron is going to play around with it and get a whole lot of people killed. This company wasn't thinking about making giant monsters, they were more concerned with crops and pest control. Since they were trying to turn A.N.A. into a potent pesticide, they didn't think it was a danger for mutation. It was meant to kill things, so how could a monster be born from that? Well, it turns out when you kill a bunch of bugs with your experimental poison and then just dump them out, something will come around to munch on them. The lucky scavenger was some kind of beetle, who may have even been one of the initial test subjects for all we know. They got exposed to A.N.A. and the infected corpses, and underwent the horrible mutation. In time, Minceskro was born and a new plague fell upon humanity.
The titans that now haunt us are quite terrible in their own way, but Minceskro is easily one of the worst. Though massive in size and vile in appearance, they themselves are not the reason they are so feared. As one can easily see, this beast has quite the gaping....orifice. We aren't sure if it acts like a mouth or what it does for Minceskro themself, but we do know that a lot of other creatures have a use for it. Closer observation shows that the inner flesh is filled holes and chambers, serving as ready-made hives. Swarms of insects have found these meaty honeycombs to be the perfect house, and they now live within this wretched orifice. Not long after their appearance, the titan was filled to bursting with millions of insects, a walking hive that trampled the countryside with its splayed legs. While these fleshy chambers provide a nice home, it also gives these insects a nice coating of A.N.A. which leaks from its pores and moistens the numerous folds. Those that live in the orifice will be covered in this vile secretion and will be infected with A.N.A.. However, it appears that this version of A.N.A. is different then what is normally found in the other titans. It fits more with the kind that is in the blood of the fallen leviathan, but somehow even more potent and specialized.
While the other types of A.N.A. kill most life it encounters, this secreted version seems compatible with insect life and can modify them without killing them. The bugs that are affected are not blown up to kaiju sizes, but the substance bulks them up and gives them a dangerous edge. Imagine mosquitos the size of your hand, biting flies that can darken the skies with their numbers. They are a host to a multitude of species, and each one is plagued with an endless hunger. Some thirst for blood, others seek flesh and others can strip the land clean of vegetation. With the power of Minceskro flowing within their bodies, they spew forth like raging storm and descend upon the land. Twisters made of ravenous insects swallow man and beast whole, leaving piles of bone and gristle in their wake. Locust-like swarms rip across the countryside, leaving barren waste behind them. It isn't enough to avoid these deadly clouds, as even a single insect can cause serious damage. The blood-drinkers are tainted with A.N.A. and they spread that disease when they feed. While this version of A.N.A. is good for bugs, it is terrible for most other life. It flows into your veins and turns your blood toxic. Death is slow but certain, and these swarms spread this doom with ease. Wherever Minceskro walks, these clouds of death follow, eventually returning to their folds and resting before their next cataclysm.
When the first swarm nearly slaughtered an entire town, there were some feeble attempts to stop them. Forces armed with pesticides and poisons came to kill the bugs, while the crumbs of some military effort pushed to destroy the living hive. Once the first shell hit, Minceskro retaliated immediately. The swarms that would follow the winds and food now suddenly fell into rank and file. As if the titan was a conductor, the insects followed their every move and command, descending upon the attackers and obliterating them with their sheer numbers. Biting insects tore through protective clothing, blood drinkers pierced through hazmat suits. The tiny things squirmed through armor plating and attacked the soldiers that hid within their vehicles. Those who fought from the sky were blinded with blankets of black, buzzing bodies. The clouds kept them disoriented and confused, long enough for an elongated antenna to swat them out the air. Canisters of pesticide were released, hoping to kill the insects and weaken Minceskro, but this gas did little to slow them. Perhaps A.N.A. gave them an immunity, protecting their bodies from this poison. Whatever the reason, the pesticide failed and the opposing force was reduced to scraps.
Once that happened, everyone immediately bailed on the idea of fighting Minceskro. It was now a full on retreat, evacuating towns and cities whenever the titan even looked in that direction. Those who were not fast enough to flee died horrible deaths, and sadly we cannot avenge them. The deadly swarms make it impossible to get close to Minceskro, as they often turn villages into ghost towns long before the massive beetle even gets there. There has been talk of using flame to burn away the insects and turn the titan to ash, but no one has yet to give that a shot. Most likely the great beetle possesses the same regenerative properties as the others, and will easily dispatch their foes before any real damage is done. Even if we did kill the titan, would that stop the swarms? Would they still find the dead husk an appealing home and continue to strip the land clean? And what if there is more than that? What if the blood of this dead titan causes more changes in these symbiotes? If we have learned anything from the leviathan, Minceskro's corpse could be the catalyst for another wave of kaiju. If this is true, than all is truly lost. How can we defeat a foe that comes back in greater numbers each time? What can we do if the death of one disaster gives rise to even more plagues?
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This is one of those designs I am both proud of and somewhat disgusted by. Sometimes you can do your job a bit too well. It took me a bit to come up with an idea of what to do, as the description was pretty straightforward. But then it dawned on me and I had to go forward with actually drawing the horrid thing. Now look at it! LOOK AT IT!
#beetle#bug#insect#bugs#insects#body horror#trypophobia#monster#creature#kaiju#kaijune#art#drawing#children of ana
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Interaction Between Technology and Humankind
Human beings (members of the genus Homo) have existed for about 2.4m years. Homo sapiens, our own wildly egregious species of great apes, has only existed for 6% of that time, about 150,000 years. So a book whose main title is Sapiens should not be subtitled "A Brief History of Humankind". It is easy to see why Yuval Noah Harari devotes 95% of his book to us as a species: self-ignorant as we are, we still know far more about ourselves than about other species of human beings, including several that have become extinct since we first walked the Earth. The fact remains that the history of Sapiens Harari's name for us is only a very small part of the history of humankind.
While technology has allowed humanity to live longer, it has provided us with weapons of mass destruction. It is a fact that technology has improved communication but, on the other hand, has increased the distance in interpersonal relationships. While it's fairly easy nowadays to find evidence to solve previously unsolved problems, we live in a society so inundated by fake news that in some cases, only artificial intelligence (AI) can detect it. Denying technological progress and its importance to our new concept of human society means being thrown into the abyss of failure, the consequence of which for humanity is loss of productive capacity, thus jeopardizing our survival. The puzzle of the 21st century is how can humans evolve using the new and disruptive technologies that emerge every day and still improve their quality of life for the best? How can we, as a race, increase production?
These are some of the questions to which we still have no answers. We live in a period in human history where several disruptive technologies materialized and humanity was not aware of how to understand, absorb, and, most importantly, harness them for our well-being. So far, what we have seen is just the opposite. Many writers say we are in the knowledge age. But are we? If we analyze in cold blood. What we are seeing is a period of uncertainty. In this age of knowledge, we have more questions than answers. Every door opened by science and technology becomes a sea of possible new questions and answers. In aeronautics, drone technology is no longer a trend but a reality. But a question remains unanswered, will advances in drone technology eliminate the need for pilots in the medium and long term?
Meanwhile, in the aerospace sector, there has been a massive proliferation of engineering teams designing and building small satellites and CubeSats capable of acquiring more data. As this technology progresses, could it mean the end of the big satellites? Of all the urgent problems that humanity has to face, one that stands out is global warming. The global climate has changed and we need to do something because doing nothing threatens the very survival of humanity. This editorial does not aim to discuss why global warming is happening or what we can do to stop it, but one thing is for sure, the solution will involve the aerospace sector starting from advanced climate-placed launch vehicles. Automatic observation satellites into orbit to monitor the planet 24 hours a day for new and bold alternatives, such as the colonization of other planets and satellites such as the Moon and Mars.
Finally, I conclude this editorial by inviting the authors to research and publish articles that guide us on how the science, technology, and management of the aerospace sector can contribute effectively to controlling global warming and its effects.
REFERENCES
Bostrom, N. (2009). The Future of Humanity. New Waves in Philosophy of Technology, 186–215. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230227279_10
P. Mbat, J. (2013). Science, Technology and the Future of Man. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 8(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-0820109
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Is it just me or are we heading into an age of writers who seem to not know how to research the topic they’re writing about?
I say that because I look at a lot of writers on official productions nowadays and it’s like they sort of bypass that step.
For example, I discovered (recently) that the writers of She-Hulk didn’t actually research anything regarding what DAs do, nor do they have a legal consultant on staff to advise them about whether or not something makes sense, legally speaking.
And...I don’t know. That kind of rubs me the wrong way.
Maybe it’s just cause I’m old, but I remember back in the day when people used to criticize Stephanie Meyer (among other things) for not doing a lot of research for her Twilight series. And it’s something I took to heart and have tried emulating in my own writing.
I’m not saying you have to do a ton of research, but I do think a little research can go a long way. It can help you expand your world, make your character seems a lot more intelligent (especially if they’re in a specific field), give you ideas for potential storylines or problems our protagonists need to overcome.
And it just seems like a lot of writers, nowadays don’t seem interested in doing the bare minimum of what is even required for research.
And yeah, I know a lot of writers (especially in places like Hollywood) are constantly being forced to write to deadline. But let’s be real here, if you’re getting paid to write freelance or what have you, than you’re probably working on several pieces at a time. So don’t tell me you don’t have time to open a textbook and look up a certain topic because that’s bullshit!
Or maybe I’ve said too much...I don’t know.
Anyway, I’ve made my point so I’ll shut up, now.
#Prettywitch's Writing#prettywitch's philosophies on writing#writing#Good Writing#creative writing#Prettywitch Rants#research
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What We Can Learn from Birthdays
A birthday is like New Year's Eve—deeply polarizing (some people love it, some people hate it), represents a new beginning, is full of pressure, and sometimes ends in disappointment. To some, birthdays are milestones on the journey of life, moments that prompt us to pause, reflect, and celebrate. To others, birthdays are more somber and signify the passing of time or reflect negative cultural perceptions of aging. Regardless of your outlook, birthdays offer valuable insights into our mental health and well-being.
Reflection on Aging
Birthdays naturally invite us to reflect on aging and the passage of time. This reflection can evoke feelings of joy and gratitude for the experiences gained and the wisdom acquired. However, birthdays can also stir up anxiety or apprehension about getting older. According to one study, 87% of American adults fear getting older (Smith, 2023). This statistic reveals a lot about the cultural perception of aging in America and the natural fear many people have toward their own mortality.
We live in a society where youth is valued over old age and where older adults are often mistreated and negatively stereotyped. In America, youth is perceived as more desirable, and elderly folks are often perceived as incompetent or holding diminished status, a recurring motif in media depictions. The elderly are frequently portrayed as frail, unattractive, and mentally declining (Berger, 2017). Of course, these stereotypes are not necessarily valid! In fact, research indicates that many of these aging stereotypes are significantly overplayed (The Good Care Group, 2022).
According to one study, people tend to feel younger as they age. 61% of 65 – 74-year-olds feel younger than they are, as do 57% of people aged 75+. Age can also positively impact and enhance our mood, relationships, overall well-being, knowledge, and certain types of intelligence. This study illustrates that negative stereotypes regarding aging are often inaccurate and harmful to society’s perception of the aging process (The Good Care Group, 2022).
Considering these stereotypes, it is no wonder many people fear the process of aging—more specifically, they fear their own mortality, the loss of social currency, or the loss of what has been deemed valuable to society. Nonetheless, aging is a natural process, and our attitude toward aging can profoundly impact our mental health. Embracing aging positively, focusing on the present moment, and finding meaning in each stage of life can help us navigate the inevitable journey of growing older with resilience and grace. One way to view the aging process more positively is to focus on your accomplishments over the past year instead of fixating on your age. Recognizing achievements can offer a feeling of advancement and satisfaction (Smith, 2023).
Self-Reflection and Personal Growth
Birthdays serve as natural milestones for self-reflection and personal growth. They offer a chance to pause and take stock of our lives, celebrate our accomplishments, and acknowledge areas where we can grow. Setting intentions, nurturing our passions, and prioritizing self-care are essential for personal growth and well-being. Focusing on our journey in life, cultivating self-awareness, and committing to living authentically and intentionally are all ways of using birthdays to enhance self-growth.
Coping with Birthday Blues
Birthdays can also trigger feelings of sadness, anxiety, or loneliness. The pressure to meet societal expectations, memories of past disappointments, or the absence of loved ones can contribute to what's commonly known as the "birthday blues." Birthday depression, or the birthday blues, refers to feeling sad, apathetic, or disinterested in celebrating or thinking about your birthday (Mandriota, 2023). These feelings are entirely normal! If you experience birthday blues, reach out for support, practice self-compassion, and engage in activities that nurture your well-being. Remember, it's okay to feel whatever you're feeling, and it’s okay to celebrate however you feel most comfortable (Mandriota, 2023). Remember to prioritize your mental health, especially during times of heightened emotions.
Social Connection and Support
One of the beautiful aspects of birthdays is the opportunity to connect with loved ones and celebrate together. Social connections are crucial to our mental health, providing support, comfort, and a sense of belonging. Whether a small gathering with family or a virtual party with friends, coming together to honor someone's birthday strengthens bonds and enhances feelings of connection and belonging. Celebrating birthdays invites us to cherish these moments of togetherness and recognize the profound impact of social support on our well-being.
Celebrating Mindfully
As we move throughout the journey of life, birthdays offer moments of celebration, reflection, and connection. By approaching our birthdays mindfully, focusing on self-care, personal growth, and meaningful connections, we can unlock their benefit to our mental health. Whether you're celebrating another trip around the sun or supporting a loved one on their special day, remember the profound impact of birthdays on our well-being and cherish each moment with gratitude and intention.
If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment or you’d like more information, please contact us.
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Revolutionizing Healthcare: The Power of Mobile App Development
Healthcare is changing quickly because of technology with over 350,000 health apps available. Now your phone does more than just let you talk to others. It can help you take charge of your health in the long run. Picture this: you can book appointments, keep tabs on your health stats, and even chat with doctors online, all without leaving your home. That's how much healthcare apps can do for you.
It's really important to put money into making healthcare apps nowadays. These apps help make healthcare more accessible, breaking down barriers like distance and time. They also encourage patients to take a bigger part in looking after their health. Research proves that these apps can help manage long-term conditions better and make sure people stick to their medication, and lead to better health overall. These apps are also changing the way healthcare is managed by saving doctors and other healthcare workers a lot of time and money.
This article will take a closer look at healthcare mobile app development. We'll talk about how these apps change things for both patients and healthcare providers, look at important things to think about when making them and talk about the problems and chances that are on the way. We'll also see how companies like Codeviner are influencing where this exciting field is going.
Benefits of Healthcare Apps
Improved Patient Engagement
Healthcare apps give patients more control over their health. Stuff like being able to book appointments makes them feel more in charge, and reminders to take medicine help them stick to their treatment plans, which leads to better results. Being able to keep an eye on things like heart rate, mood, and other health stuff encourages them to be more involved and stay on top of their conditions.
Enhanced Communication
We don't have to deal with annoying phone calls and waiting forever to talk to our healthcare providers anymore. Healthcare apps make it easier to communicate by letting us send secure messages, have video chats, and even talk at different times. Questions get answered fast, test results are easy to find, and patients feel like their concerns are taken seriously, making the whole healthcare experience better.
Access to Medical Information
Healthcare apps are like a trustworthy library of medical info and learning stuff put together by experts. Patients can look up their conditions, check out different treatment choices, and join communities for support, so they learn more and become their own health champions. This is especially helpful for people who live far away from healthcare centers because telemedicine lets them talk to specialists they couldn't reach before.
Challenges in Healthcare App Development
Regulatory Compliance
The healthcare sector is heavily regulated with strict rules surrounding patient data protection like HIPAA in the US and others globally. Developers need to diligently navigate data encryption, secure storage, and rigorous security protocols. Not following the rules can result in big fines and make patients lose trust.
Integration with Existing Systems
Healthcare places usually have old, complicated computer systems that might not work well with new stuff. Making sure a new app can talk to these old systems smoothly for sharing data is a tricky problem. If they don't do it right, the app won't be able to do what it's supposed to, and important information might get stuck in different places instead of being useful.
User Adoption and Engagement
An app won't be useful if people can't use it easily even if an app is made really well. Apps should be simple for everyone regardless of their age or tech skills. It's also crucial to let people know about the app and why it's helpful so the audience want to use it. Keeping people engaged with the app can be tough, so it has to stay helpful to them over time.
Future Trends in Healthcare App Development
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI and ML are set to change healthcare apps in amazing ways. Picture apps that suggest treatments personalized to each patient's data and health background. With AI analyzing images, diseases could be spotted earlier, and predictive analytics could find people at high risk, so they can get help before they get sick. This could really make things easier for healthcare workers and improve how things are done.
Wearable Devices and IoT Integration
The increase in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and fancy sensors linked through the "Internet of Things" is bringing healthcare to our wrists and beyond. Healthcare apps can use this data in real-time to keep an eye on long-term conditions, send alerts during emergencies, and give tips for staying healthy. This change focuses on stopping problems before they start and might change how doctors and patients talk to each other.
VR and AR
Students can practice tough surgeries in lifelike simulations, patients can deal with pain and stress using VR, and AR can add useful info during procedures. These technologies mix the real world with fancy digital stuff, bringing up interesting ideas for treatment and training.
Blockchain
Healthcare has a problem with scattered data systems. Blockchain might help fix this by offering a secure network for managing medical records that can't be messed with. Patients could decide who sees their info, and doctors would have one reliable place to check medical history. This could make it easier for different places to share data, so patients get better-coordinated care. But there are challenges, like making it work everywhere and fitting it in with the systems we already have.
Voice Technology
Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri are getting smarter. Healthcare apps that use voice tech have big chances to help out. People who can't move around much or see well could use apps more easily, doing stuff like booking appointments or updating medical info just by talking. Doctors could use voice to take notes and write stuff down, saving time. But we've got to be careful about privacy with voice recordings.
Conclusion
Healthcare apps on our phones are definitely changing how we do healthcare. They help us get more involved, talk better with doctors, and find info we need. Even though there are challenges like following rules, making everything work together, and getting people to use the apps, the good stuff they bring is way bigger. The way healthcare is getting better is moving fast, thanks to things like AI, wearables, VR/AR, blockchain, and talking tech.
It's important for healthcare groups to join in on this digital change now. Putting money into mobile healthcare apps that are made well and easy to use is key to staying ahead. This makes things better for patients, improves how care is given, and opens up new chances in healthcare today.
Teaming up with skilled developers like Codeviner is really important for making healthcare apps work well. Codeviner knows a lot about healthcare and cares about doing a good job. Their team understands the rules, how to keep things safe, and all the little details about how healthcare works. They make sure the apps they make are useful and follow the rules.
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Blog Post 5: Generative AI - Existential Threat?
"AI offers a glimpse into one of the biggest and most kind of existential threats to humanity. The question we're all going to be tackling, and the battle that's going to be happening politically and regulatory wise, and perhaps even between nations in the years to come is who owns the AI, who owns the models, what can they do with it and what are we legally going to be allowed to do with it?"
This is a quote from American entrepreneur and businessman David Friedberg and his thoughts on artificial intelligence and where we're headed with it. The reason why I chose this quote is because what stuck with me was the words "who owns the models."
The reason why I became particularly interested with this statement is because when we're discussing AI, at least in this day and age, what you hear a lot of is the topic of regulations. Who owns what and who is granted access.
This reminded me of a podcast I recently watched which included Elon Musk discussing the potential dangers of AI and goes on to talk about regulations, in this podcast he states.
"Regulations are really only put into effect after something terrible has happened, if that's the case for AI. and we only put in regulation after something terrible has happened, it may be too late to actually put the regulations in place as the AI may be in control at that point."
I love AI but don't get me wrong, I'm a bit uneasy. Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, AI is simply the next step in technological advancement. And although I don't think AI will be an existential threat on a physical or apocalyptic level, I think on a philosophical sense it can be.
What worries me the most in regards to AI is the amount of misinformation that can be so easily accessed and passed around. In an article by the Independent, Sankaran writes about how ChatGPT "cooks up fake sexual harassment scandal and names a real law professor." And it actually provided evidence for its claim in the form of a fake Washington Post article that created a citation, too.
Although we know misinformation can be a problem, we don't actually have anyway to measure how much of this misinformation is being accessed and how fast it's growing. Furthermore, how this misinformation is affecting the lives and wellbeing of others.
Going back to my quote regarding regulations, in an article by the Pew Research Centre 51% of the U.S public thinks that tech companies and AI should be more regulated, and it is highly likely that AI will indeed be regulated; the question is though, will it be like Musk had discussed and be too late?
Then it gets into if we did have regulations, would that create more of a divide between those who have greater access to AI versus those who do not? With that, how will people react to the new regulations, will there be backlash? Because AI allows us a quicker, greater search for knowledge, would it be unfair to ban certain things to the general public that was once available? I'm sure this would create some issues.
To end it off though, do I believe AI is an existential threat? I believe it poses its threats, yes. But I don't believe allowing AI into our spaces is going to be the end all be all to our world. I don't believe it's going to be robots taking over the world but rather AI will have such an impact on our souls and minds, that it will alter the way we view ourselves and each other to the point where it can indeed become detrimental to our wellbeing by possibly degrading us of our human experiences and abilities.
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🦎, 🎀 and ♟️ for the OC f/o ask game? :)
hello hi hi hi~ thank you so much for the ask!!! love having an excuse to talk endlessly about my beautiful boy <333 i'm just gonna stream of consciousness ramble about all three rens and hope it all makes sense in the end skdjfkjn ;; 💗
🦎 - does your oc f/o have any pets? if not, what pet(s) would they want? is there a reason why they don't have them?
not directly! ren never had pets growing up (strict family), and both doc! and v!ren are so busy, out of the apartment all of the time, that he knows it wouldn't be responsible to keep a pet, no matter how much he'd like one :(
once i'm in the picture, though, and start living with him... i mean. i spend most of the day at home in bed KJNASKFJN so time for kibby~~ on one of his off-days we go to some cat cafes to see what we're both interested in cat-wise and how both of our energies play off of them. that way, once we decide to get one, we have SOME idea of the kind cat that would enjoy BOTH of our companies!!
r!ren doesn't have pets of his own, but he DOES live with his sister who owns a small coop with a couple of hens! when he wants a quiet moment to think, he'll sit in the backyard and hold a hen and scritch around her wings while he listens to music. one of his niece's chores is to take care of the hens (as much as she can, at least), and he'll sometimes help her out with some of the more difficult things, like cleaning out and replacing the bedding.
🎀 - what aesthetic(s) do you associate with your oc f/o? bonus point if you make an aesthetic board for them!
may have gone... a little overboard with this one... KAJNSDKJN. to my credit, i decided it would be a good opportunity to make some "album covers" for my multiple in-the-works ren playlists teehee (so THANK YOU for choosing this q sjdkjnk i needed the kick in the butt). there's overlap in their aesthetics (especially doc! and v!ren) so i tried to divvy them up as best i could. i'll post these on their own over the next few days, but for now:
[cw food, blood, trypophobia, open water, fungi, iv bags]
1: RenRo
2: General Ren 3: Retail!Ren
4: Doctor!Ren 5: Villain!Ren
♟️- how smart is your oc f/o? is it academic smarts, emotional smarts, etc? where does your oc f/o thrive and where do they lack?
(this is so long. i apologize in advance. o7 )
ough. they're all very smart book-wise. trained from an early age and all that, plus doc! and v!ren went to med school and now work in a specialty unit at a university hospital, performing both as a clinical mycologist and doing research when not tending to patients.
r!ren went no-contact with his parents before he went to college and went straight into the work force. he's just as intelligent, he just hasn't gone through several years of med school on top of what he already knew. (i am debating the possibility of community college for him, though. need to do some research and cost comparisons... so that's still up in the air!! ;;)
emotionally... hmmmmmm. it's complicated. he's VERY observant and people-pleasing, but to a degree that can be off-putting. for doc! and v!ren, this manifests as insecurities due to past failed relationships, which either due to the partner not being Great OR ren over- or under-pleasing them.
tl;dr he puts so much pressure on himself to Mask Perfectly to be the Perfect Partner so as to avoid past mistakes... that he'll end up doing things like over-analyzing small details about whether my facial expression indicates that i liked his silly joke instead of recognizing that like. i might like him back and just enjoy his company? KAJSNdKJn.
so i think he has the POTENTIAL for good emotional intelligence, but he focuses too much on his own behavior in response to other peoples' feelings instead of properly processing what he observes. if that makes sense.
r!ren's a little more realistic about all of this, so his observational skills are more refined, and we start dating MUCH faster because of that lol. he does still have that matching-other-peoples'-energy thing but. yknow. i can make him better LMAO.
street smarts-wise, all three are baseline okay. ren grew up in small-town maine and wasn't really allowed a rich social life, so he wasn't very street smart when he first moved away. doc! and v!ren have lived in a big city for several years since then, and he spends a decent number of free evenings walking around the city, so he can take care of himself.
r!ren's jumped around to different locations before settling with living with his sister and niece in a rural area, so i guess he has a more shallow but wider breadth of different kinds of street smarts. he's spent a decent amount of time out here, so he's probably more rural street smart. again, still bad about picking fights, though. so i've gotta dock points for that.
so uhhhhhhhhhhh in summary doc! and v!ren have higher book smarts, lower emotional smarts. r!ren has higher emotional smarts, lower street smarts.
(ask game)
#massive new collection of moodboards under the cut kJNASKJFN i'm!!!! normal!!!!#📌 [ my posts. ]#[ asks. ]#anonymous#🫧 [ 046 moodboards. ]#🍄 [ lying on the blade of an emotion. ]#🦦 [ can't escape it. ]#🧃 [ who is in control. ]#🐐 [ been up all night. ]#🌱 [ elastic. ]
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Digital Technology
Over the years, technology has advanced significantly. Being born in the late 90’s I have witnessed the transition of technology from Google search to replacing flyers with digital advertisement. Not forgetting the birth of touchscreen phones which are now literally pocket-size laptops. Although I have grown with technological advancements there is still more to learn. The age of tech is alive and breaking through barriers with artificial intelligence and social media.
To begin with, my first experience with technology was a challenge. Unlike most people, we did not own a computer. My cellphone was for emergencies only and growing up I wanted to be outside or read books. Most times I did not desire to browse the web or utilize social media. The only exception was video games. I was intrigued by my cousin’s Play Station. I could play the game for hours and it all made sense. Strangely I could take the game system apart and easily reboot its systems. Technology did not play a major role in my life until high school. I learned the importance of emails and typing. My research skills progressed, and I found a new interest. I utilized my new interest to create flyers for student events and assisted in promoting other functions on our school website. I gained both positive feedback as well as harsh criticism from my peers and teachers. The process was overwhelming, and I questioned if my tech skills would ever be enough. Nonetheless, I persevered. My knowledge only expanded as I continued my education.
During the pandemic I started an online clothing business. Although this was not my first encounter with digital literacy, this was a new experience and venture. I was eager to take on the task, and once again I encountered both positive and negative attributes. I learned how to utilize social media to my advantage as well as promote my brand to consumers. When I accurately described products and they sold out I felt empowered. However, I made many mistakes. I personally criticized my graphics designs skills. I suffered drastically with word play and finding the right word altogether. Most times the tech lingo went over my head. I felt inferior to my laptop and lacked confidence in my work. The once possible seemed impossible daily. Within less than a year, I gave up on my website. I struggled to keep up with the vast changes of technology. Mentally nothing on or about my site was sufficient. If I had gained more experience in my earlier years, I might have avoided certain roadblocks.
Despite my first failed endeavor years ago, I am more eager than ever to give it another try. I believe that I’ve gained first-hand knowledge with the dos and don’ts of an online website. I do not claim to have to all the answers, but I do believe when it comes to being fully equipped in the digital world that I still have more to learn. Technology advances every day and it's more than one person can consume. Yet, it is not impossible to learn and grow with the technical age. Recently, I have attended virtual and in person seminars for online businesses.
Further, I’ve acquired an ample amount of knowledge about where I went wrong and how to rebuild. I have joined a few groups on social media with entrepreneurs who are starting off as well as been running an online business for years. The groups are insightful and beneficial. We share our mistakes and give advice on how to avoid burning out, especially during the first year of start-up. Also, I’ve been introduced to low-cost web designers, new apps made for generating descriptions etc.
In summary, the rise of digital technology is in full effect. The times are changing, and technology is still a growing wave. There is much to learn but it is well worth it. Even with my semi late introduction to tech I have not given up. The digital world is lucrative and everyday is helping establish businesses. The process can seem tedious and exhausting at times. However, like every obstacle in life it comes together, and is beneficial.
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