Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Liberal Snowflakes Want Trump to Be Sick

I've been reading and watching recently about Dr. Ronny Jackson's report and press conference. Let me get this out of the way-- I agree that it wouldn't make sense for a military officer to openly discuss the President's physical shortcomings. In terms of political strategy, I get that.

I've also been reading the comments on these articles and videos. A common theme from the right is that liberal people are malicious or spiteful in not believing Dr. Jackson because it means that they want him to be sick. Yes, there are plenty of people who *want* him to be sick. I'm not one of them. I would love for our President to be healthy. My concern is that 1. most people have at least some health issues, and 2. it is patently clear that he is one of them.

oh, and by the way, Hillary Clinton isn't our President, so stop commenting on her health, okay? She's a retired grandmother. Leave her alone.

NO HEALTH ISSUES
Mr. Donald Trump is in his 70s. Age is the leading cause of health problems. How is he unique in this respect? He has had health problems in the past.

Here are some somatic health issues young and otherwise healthy people have: allergies, old sports injuries, headaches, lactose intolerance, anemia, gingivitis, and eczema. Psychologically, depression and anxiety are extremely common in mild forms.

Fully functional young people may have these chronic illnesses: type i diabetes, lupus, hyper- or hypothyroid, asthma, migraines, psoriasis, celiac disease, and high cholesterol. A lot of people who prosthetics. More severe forms of depression and anxiety are common, and people can function pretty well with those as well as obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder.

These lists are not all-inclusive.

You probably wouldn't even know about people in your life having these health issues. They exist and will not improve with age. It is statistically very unlikely that an otherwise healthy and active person who has previously suffered from a documented disability experiences no health issues.

But we know that our President is not otherwise healthy and active. Both my husband and brother are close to 6'3" and 240 pounds. My brother runs marathons and is extremely physically dense. My husband has very broad shoulders and a bit of a dad-bod. They both have perfectly reasonably-sized asses and are able to go about their lives without impediment from their weight.

We have seen our President winded from short walks, and he uses a cart while golfing. Here we add the health issues of a sedentary lifestyle: cardiovascular disease, type ii diabetes, colon cancer, and osteoporosis. In fact, the WHO has stated the physical inactivity is the leading cause of disease and disability.

We also know that our President consumes a diet high in simple sugars and sodium because of the amount of McDonald's food he eats. There are plenty of "liberal" articles on it, but go ahead and check out the source: McDonald's nutrition facts. The average amount of sugar per item menu is 25 grams, and the highest is 128 grams!

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 36 grams of sugar per day for an adult male. Consuming too much sugar leads to obesity, heart and liver disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, cancer, and cavities.

"But he drinks DIET Coke," you protest. Great segue! Thank you!

DENTAL HEALTH
Diet Coke contains phosphoric acid. It's added for tartness. It also is, you know, an acid, and is not good for your teeth. I'm not going to get too deep into this argument primarily because I don't care exactly how much phosphoric acid you need to damage your teeth. What I do know is that most dentists say that, if you're going to drink colas, use a straw and brush your teeth afterwards because allowing the soda to hang out on your teeth leads to cavities and decalcification.

Our President's teeth are regularly bathed in sugar and phosphoric acid. For most people, that would lead to dental issues. Apparently for him, though, his teeth are great. No problems, and certainly no dentures, says the man who is not a dentist.

Let's be really honest with ourselves here: when's the last time your dentist told you that you have no dental issues?

On a personal note, I found it very offensive that having dentures seemed to be a problem. The fact that dentures exist is awesome. My mother-in-law lost her eight front teeth in a car accident, and the implants failed. She doesn't like her bridge because it's, you know, not her real teeth, but she certainly likes being able to eat apples. I also lost a tooth from a car accident, but I was fortunate enough that a root canal and crown allowed me to keep a tooth in my head.

And here's the really weird part: Why was the sentiment, "no dentures, no dementia," repeated so often? Are those two on even remotely similar planes of importance? One is medical technology that makes the world better for a lot of people, and the other can prevent a person from functioning on a basic level. Let's talk more about that.

MENTAL HEALTH
Dr. Jackson does not work in mental health. An ethical psychiatrist or psychologist will not diagnose a patient they have not personally examined. That said, 1. an ethical psychiatrist or psychologist still knows when a person *should* be evaluated, and 2., I'm neither a psychiatrist or psychologist. I'm a lay person who was frightened by a tweet ended with gibberish, mid-sentence for hours from someone who is supposed to be in charge of really important things. I'm a regular ol' Jane who listened to the man say that news agencies wrote him letters of congratulations and that they probably wish they hadn't written those letters... and then he seemed to forget what he was talking about, and I think of my grandfather who died of alzheimer's disease. Setting aside everything else, I have serious doubts about his cognitive abilities because of incidences like these. Whether he has a mental illness or is just mean isn't what I'm concerned about right at this moment.

WHAT QUALIFIES ME AS A SNOWFLAKE
Here are the "snowflake" things I believe:

  • What other people do with their genitals is none of my business.
  • Two adults capable of entering into legal contracts should be able to get married.
  • Clothing and toys are inanimate objects that don't have gender.
  • All humans should be afforded the basic dignity of safety and autonomy. 
  • People who are unable to work, especially children, should not suffer and die from illnesses and injuries that are preventable or treatable with reasonable medical care.
  • No one should starve in this country. Seriously there is plenty of food to go around.
  • It's unfair to deny women to birth control and then vilify them when they have children they can't provide for financially.
  • Mass shootings shouldn't inspire loosened gun regulations.
  • If we can trust the science that gives us cell phones, GPS, and airplanes, we should take that science seriously in other respects, too.
  • A really awesome thing about our country is that we can't be punished by our government for criticizing it.
  • Non-Christians don't want to take Christmas away, but instead would like to be able to celebrate our own holidays and rituals without harassment.
  • In general, people believe that they're doing what's right. Most of us are doing the best we can with the resources available to us. 
Bonus: I'm disabled from a stroke I had in law school. Not only am I a drain on the system for collecting social security and Medicare, but my student loan debt was discharged because of my disability. It SUCKS when the speaker of the House says that the $906 per month I receive from the government is me being paid to be unhealthy. I promise you that I would prefer to be able to work. I would totally trade with you. You can have my tremor, aphasia, narcolepsy, and seizure disorder, as well as the major depression they carry with them. I'll take your job.

SO WHAT?
We snowflakes aren't trying to change your lifestyle. (Except maybe that you don't need anymore combat-worthy weapons) We aren't trying to change who you are. All we want is for you to let us participate in the world as equals, as we are. It is deeply hurtful when simply asking to be allowed to exist is treated like an attack. Our current President is enthusiastically stirring up "defence," which is terrifying. He is actively stripping our rights away. He doesn't behave like most people of sound mind and body do, and it is concerning to us that he is in charge of our country. Hearing blatant lies from a person in a position of authority, like Dr. Jackson, is terrifying.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Regeneration

I'll be posting again soon. I've been wandering metaphorical caverns at the base of canyons of depression, and I have something to say about that.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Feminist Media for Toddlers

My family actually groaned when I told them that I wanted to find feminist movies and TV shows for my two year-old daughter.

Woman's touch.
Makes the public feel more comfortable.

Lucia’s favorite movie at the time was Chicken Run. Chicken Run is commonly cited as a good example of a strong female lead in children’s media. While it is true that the protagonist is an intelligent and resourceful hen, her ultimate success is the happy relationship with the rooster. Finding a guy isn’t bad in itself, and if the rooster were actually a worthwhile partner, I wouldn’t object. However, this particular rooster, Rocky, is not at all desirable. He lies constantly. He is selfish, egotistical, and demeaning to the hens. Ginger apparently falls for him because he’s the only man she hasn’t met who didn’t fight in World War II.

The other pitfall of this movie is the villain. Mrs. Tweedy is evil. She abuses her spouse and loves eating roasted chicken. Plus she is both ugly and vain, archetypical villainess characteristics. What makes her the bad guy? She figures out a way to make the farm more profitable and bring her family out of poverty.

At this point you might assume that I have a battle-axe tattoo. I don't. Moving on.

The movie I consider most woman positive that is also appropriate for young children is Porco Rosso. The main character is male, which isn’t usually a good start for feminist media. However, in this case, Marco would be lost without his two female cohorts—as well as a horde of industrious women who build his plane.
The party's over.
The Italian Air Force will be here soon.
Everybody get away quickly, please.
Come to my restaurant. It's on the house.

Let’s start with Gina. Gina owns a hotel and nightclub, and her calm but firm warning will hush gangs of pirates. Gina is bad.ass. Men fall at her feet even though she is middle aged. She doesn’t brush them off out of spite or disgust, but because she is too busy running her business well. She’s also politically savvy, which is neat. Gina doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but the time she does get is golden.

O.K.  But if Porco wins, you pay these bills.


Fio is arguably the protagonist in her own right. She is a college student, an aviary engineer, and very good with money. The first plane she designs professionally impresses universally. She is confident and well spoken. Unsurprisingly, she and Gina become good friends.

My daughter now points to airplanes and says, “Fio! Airplane!”


All of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies are woman positive, but Porco Rosso is near the top of the list.

What if a miracle like the Virgin Mary getting pregnant... was to happen to a homo? 
While researching, I also found the question of a good portrayal of a transgender person in media accessible to young people. An undeniable answer is Tokyo Godfathers. Miss Hana is simply a beautifully developed character. The only concern that I have with this movie is the violence—two characters are nearly beaten to death. However, unlike many kids’ media that glorify violence, Tokyo Godfathers shows it as the ugly and cruel thing violence truly is.


The next time you find your toddler watching the father dinosaur find a diamond for the mother dinosaur (who, of course, has dramatic eyelashes), remember that there is good media out there. And if you know of something wonderful, please let me know.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Political


I feel like I've been screaming at the top of my lungs, but no one is hearing me.

Why haven't we acknowledged that Republicans stopped talking about abortion a long time ago, escaping the tricky question of the relationship of rights between a *zygote* and the woman in whose body it resides. That's what people actually disagree on.

We aren't even talking about when the "baby" has full personhood. The sanctity of life act makes it very clear that a zygote has as many rights as a child, so there is no need to discuss blastocysts or embryos or fetuses.

Abortion is what happens, either spontaneously or medically, to terminate a pregnancy. The term's definition hasn't changed.

Why are we now talking about criminal law? Why are we getting distracted with how much at fault a person has to be in order to have a crime perpetrated against her?

Why are we talking about how, as is quite strongly insinuated, that most women lie about enduring this particular crime?

Why are we arguing points of medicine and biology? When someone uses a clause like "shuts that whole thing down," why don't we just let it stand in its own stupidity.

Instead, we are talking about when a person has the right to *withdraw* consent. We presume that she has given consent by having two X chromosomes.

(Let's not get caught up in whether she has breasts. Or ovaries. Or a uterus. Or a vagina. Or even just a vulva. We're not going to get in to a woman's medical history here. And anyway-- can't boys or men be raped?)

Hypothetically, we have to start this dissection presuming that the person in question is not lying. Let's all take a moment to let that sink in.The first step in defining rape is determining whether the survivor is capable of telling the truth.

The term made popular recently is "legitimate," which is described more precisely as "forcibly." Now we have to define force, which means we have to decide on questions of law regarding violence, intimidation, intoxication (college girls better not take any roofies!), age, mental capacity-- all in light of how much the victim did to bring this crime upon herself.

Let's break this down.
The zygote indelibly has full rights of personhood that should never be compromised.

Some politicians are willing to sacrifice those rights ONLY IF the woman in question:
1. is not lying;
2  did nothing to invite the assault (e.g.:was wearing appropriate clothing, sober, walking in a well-lighted area or during the day, sound of mind and body, adult, etc.);
3. refused allowing a man to have sex with her for good reason;
4. and could not physically prevent the act from happening.

The only reason I can think of that people are getting distracted by how much we are giving the zygote without question is because we are so insanely incredulous that anyone could believe these things.



Ten years ago we were talking about heartbeats and brainwaves and first breath. The question used to be at what point is that collection of cells turns into an individual capable of living on its own. Now the question is whether the hunk of meat holding it should breastfeed.



Thursday, July 19, 2012

Time and Temperature

I unloaded a glaze fire this morning.

IMAG0285
yarn holder bobbin bowls

IMAG0286
mason stain and new glazes

IMAG0287
credit card acceptance signs that I never actually intended to sell

IMAG0288
tiles and a plate

IMAG0289
mugs and another yarn holder bobbin bowl

In talking with other ceramists both locally and on-line (the people at Election Cone 6 & Other Ways with Clay are great), I've heard that my process is anywhere between unusual and wrong. Looking at the glazes in this firing, I can see quite clearly that my glazes sit on top of the clay and are not absorbed.  In the coming weeks, I plan to run a low-fire bisque for my stoneware to see how I feel about the difference. My kiln is small enough that I've had to extend to two bisque and two glaze firings each month, and it is easy enough to make those separate stoneware and porcelain batches.

Always learning and growing!

my shop: The Delicion

Saturday, February 11, 2012

adventures in making wood out of mud

It was an accident. I wanted to make pinwheel buttons. I make pinwheel cookies-- my favorite ever.



I made some changes for reasons that were quite stupid-- largely because I apparently have to make things more complicated than previously considered possible. ANYWAY

Cutting vertically like you would for pinwheels made a gross mess. The lines were not even and pinwheely. The lines looked more like the inside of a tree. Hm.... so how about cutting horizontally?

an experiment_2012 01 24_0055_edited-1.jpg

an experiment_2012 01 24_0056_edited-1.jpg

How would it look fired?

glaze_2012 02 08_0050_edited-1.png

AWESOME.

so the next project is a bit of a tower

glaze_2012 02 08_0051.ARW

fun!