#ronning against cancer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

edelfan · 1 year

Text

Ice could barely feel Slider's hand on his shoulder, but he was very aware of the looks Sarah and his former RIO were giving him. Despite Ice's initial refusal, they had turned up and never left his side since Maverick had been admitted to hospital.

"It's gonna be okay, Tom. You will see."

"How can you say that? Hmm? How do you know..."

Ice's raspy voice didn't let him continue. Sarah was about to hand him a bottle of water, even though they both knew it would barely soothe the damage the cancer had caused in his throat. However he just pushed her arm away as he stumbled up from the couch.

Knowing her brother all too well, she didn't take it personally - especially when she saw him hiding his face in his hands while leaning against the window towards the big garden beyond the porch.

"It's all my fault..." Tom's mumbled words barely made it past his lips, but the house was so silent without Maverick that Sarah and Ron could still hear it.

"That's not true. It's a disease, a world wide pandemic-"

"Shut up! He went to the hangar when he got sick because of me... I should have checked in more... should have called for help earlier-"

Ice's self-hate rant was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. They had waited for this call, but now they feared what news they might get, hesitating to answer it. Finally Slider picked it up, surprised that it was a video call.

"Bradley?"

Hey, uncle Sli.

Ron could barely recognize the young man he considered family. Rooster was wearing heavy medical gear, his face hidden behind a mask and a face shield.

Is Pops with you?

"Yeah, just a second."

Ice rushed back to the couch sitting down between Slider and Sarah. As soon as he saw Bradley, his heart broke.

"Hi, baby goose."

Hey, Pops. Before I get in there, I wanted to ask, if you really want to see this. It's bad...

"Define bad."

Dad's completely sedated. He's on a ventilator and... they also had to put him on ECMO. I can only get into his room for a moment, but uncle Chip pulled every favor for me to be here.

Tears were running down Tom's face. Slider and Sarah had pulled him in from both sides, both not faring any better than him.

"I want to see him..."

Bradley nodded and for a moment the camera went dark on the other side - only to reveal Pete's pale face in the next. Ice knew that the younger man didn't show all the medical equipment on purpose - instead getting the phone as close to Maverick's ear as possible.

Hi, Dad. There's someone here who wants to talk to you...

"Hey...b-babe... Oh my God, Pete... I love you, so much. Come back to me, okay? Be my impossible Maverick again, please... I can't... I just don't know how to live without you..."

#icemav #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #ron slider kerner #bradley rooster bradshaw #top gun maverick #iceman x maverick #top gun angst #top gun drabble

210 notes · View notes

sarahsmi13s · 8 months

Text

Don't Leave Your Wingman

whumptober day 13: grief

pairing: pete 'maverick' mitchell x kazansky!reader (father figure relationship)

characters: pete mitchell, kazansky!reader, sarah kazansky

warnings: 18+ MDNI, language, mentions of cancer, canon death, death, fear of being alone, death of a parent, grief, 5 stages of grief, fear of losing family, loss of appetite, anger, mood swings, broken glass, throwing things, please let me know if I missed any

word count: ~1.8k

a/n: this is for whumptober! please please please proceed with caution and use discretion, protect your peace

also if you are on the whump taglist but are not familiar with a character, you can skip it will not hurt my feelings!

i am so so sorry i got this up late, please forgive me

whumptober 2023 masterlist

summary: you wouldn't leave your wingman in the sky... why should you on the ground?

“It’s come back.”

One sentence. Three words.

That’s all it took for the world to crash down around you.

Your father, your best friend, your wingman, was already dying.

But with three words he was dead and in the ground.

You started the grieving process the moment your mother told you about the results of your father’s tests. His cancer was back and this time he wasn’t fighting it. So, start grieving now so it doesn’t hurt when he passes.

It should cushion the pain right?

No.

It doesn’t.

Because when you watched Pete Mitchell slam his wings into your father’s coffin, it’s like he’s punching them right through your heart.

You thought you prepared yourself better. Thinking ahead to how everything would be different. Going through the motions of him missing so much of your life, everything he wouldn’t be a part of. You were only 21, you had so much left to accomplish and celebrate with him.

He would never walk you down the aisle at your wedding. He would never meet your kids and tell them cool stories about the famous Iceman and show them his collection of medals and patches. He would never tell them the story of how he met his best friend and wingman, the friendship’s birth captured in a photo on his desk.

He would never tell you he loved you again.

You wanted to hear it one last time… even if it was in that broken, raspy tone.

“How is she?”

You could hear your uncle talking to your mom outside in the living room.

It had been a few days since the funeral and you had barely left your father’s office in the living room. You barely ate, your appetite coming in and out as you went through the motions. You just sat in the office, wrapped up in his blanket with his dog tags around your neck or clenched in your hand. You were nearly numb at this point, sitting and staring at the photo of you and him at your graduation.

You had hit the “depression” part of your grieving process. Denial, anger, and bargaining had passed when you learned about the return of your father’s cancer. But you were sure they’d resurface at some point, grieving is never linear and it’s not a short lived thing.

But when it was something that you prepared for, something that you could see coming from miles and miles away? It should be easier right?

“She doesn’t leave that chair often… I don’t blame her. But I’m worried. You and Ron have been a big help with brightening her days,” you mom said, a gentle smile on her face at Mav.

It was true, they both had been a huge help. Just sitting with you so you weren’t alone, that you had someone in the room with you also grieving – even if it was different. Both had lost a best friend, your mom had lost a husband. She sat with you too, holding your hand and making sure you weren’t completely alone. She made sure that even though you were both grieving, that you could talk to her.

Mav looked into the room, seeing you in that position – curled up with your dad’s dog tags in your hand, lips pressed against them as you stared out the window.

He gave Sarah a hug before walking towards the office doors and knocking before opening it.

“Hey kid, how can I help today?”

You shrugged a little bit, not having the energy to do much else. You sniffled and dropped your hand to the desk, pointing to a book that was resting there, “I um… I found that while going through some of his things…”

Sniffling again, you adjusted your blanket, “I can’t bring myself to read it… it’s all in his hand writing…” Mav nodded and came over, “I can read it to you, if you want.” “Please…”

��Would you want to go out on the porch swing? Get some sun, fresh air?” You looked up at him and he could see just how tired you were. You probably got a lot more sleep than you should have, or very little sleep that wasn’t good.

You looked at the photo on your dad’s desk, seeing him smiling down at your 18 year old self in your cap and gown, diploma in your hand.

“Yeah… yeah, that sounds nice,” you said, your voice a little lighter and the ghost of a smile threatened your lips.

Mav smiled and helped you up, grabbing the book and leading you to the swing on the front porch.

You sat down with him, resting your head on his shoulder as he put the book in his lap.

As he began to read, you both began to notice that these were your dad’s stories. Stories you had heard from him, stories you begged him to tell you no matter how many times you had heard them… All there in a book.

You cried at first, so did Mav. But as he continued, reading your dad’s words and the side commentary he never failed to add, you both started to laugh.

It was nice to laugh, it helped you begin to feel like everything was going to be okay.

“Today will be better.”

That’s what you told yourself when you woke up the past few days.

You could never tell yourself that it would be great or amazing. Because you knew you couldn’t make that promise to yourself. But you could always try better, your best would always vary from day to day.

And you were doing okay. You were making it.

Until Maverick showed up in his whites.

Your heart had sunk like a brick in your stomach.

You knew what those meant.

He was going out with them on the carrier.

That’s not so bad right? He would be safe right?

But the look on his face as he stood in front of the office's french doors told you something else.

“I was picked as team leader to fly the mission.”

The brick in your stomach started dissolving, making your stomach acid fizz and bubble up your throat.

You shook your head, the dusting rag and photo clenched in your fist. “No, no you’re not.. You’re not flying this mission, Uncle Mav… You-you were just supposed to teach it.. You’re a teacher!”

He mirrored your movements, “Admiral Simpson-”

“No!”

Your shout had startled him, you hadn’t raised your voice in any capacity for a while so your outburst startled him.

“I’m sorry, kid… There’s a chance someone doesn’t make it back and I would rather it be me–”

“So you have a death wish? Is that it? Can’t go one damn day without risking your life like no one is gonna miss you if you burn in, can you?”

Maverick was unsure how to respond to that, standing there awkwardly as you yelled at him.

“You’re selfish, you know that? The both of you, fucking selfish,” you said, your voice cracking at the end as you poked his chest with the picture frame.

“B-both… Y/N what-”

“You’re never supposed to leave your wingman… ever. So tell me why I’ve been left behind! Why everyone is fucking leaving me?!”

In your anger you threw the photo on the floor, glass shattering and the frame breaking apart.

“He left me and now you’re leaving me too!”

Mav watched the tears streaming down your face as you shoved past him and ran out of the office and out of the house.

Sighing, he looked down and noticed the photo under the shards of glass was the photo of him and Ice shaking hands after saving one another on that mission after graduation.

“You can be my wingman anytime…”

After your blow up at Maverick, you ran straight to the beach.

The second your feet hit the damp sand on the shoreline you were collapsing to your knees.

Clutching your chest, you sobbed.

“Why?! Why couldn’t you have just fought? One more time… for me! I need you Dad! And you’re gone! You left me here! And-and now you want to take Mav with you? It’s not fair!”

You fell forward, clutching at the sand, “It’s not fair!” You sobbed, not caring if anyone around you could hear you. You were in pain, you were now not only grieving your father, but you were now going to be grieving his best friend, your friend.

A pair of gentle hands pulled you back up into a seated position on your knees.

“Sweetheart…”

“It’s not fair, Mom!” You shouted, your voice raw with tears as you looked out on the horizon before looking down at the frothing tide, “It’s not fair…”

Sarah felt tears sting her own eyes at the utter brokenness of your voice, the rawness in it.

She pulled you into her lap, shushing you gently as you sobbed into her neck. She looked up at the sky, “You better bring him home Tommy. Don’t you leave her without a wingman.”

The next week and a half was filled with dread and worry.

Worry that Maverick would make good on that promise of being the one to die on this mission. Worry that it would be Rooster, someone you weren’t as close to but you knew he meant a lot to Mav. Worry that you would be alone, grieving another father figure.

You barely left the office, sat there in that damn chair looking at that damn computer screen. The last words he typed on it were still displayed.

“It’s time to let go.”

The five words felt like mockery as you read them over and over and over.

How could you just “let go”? Did he really think you hadn’t tried that? Or that it was that simple?

Because it wasn’t.

You wish you could have just accepted it, that grieving someone as they sat in front of you breathing would have made it easier. But it didn’t.

You felt like you were on the monkey bars again, the ground miles away from you and you were scared to fall.

“How can I let go when I have no one to catch me?”

As you waited in the silence, for a response that you knew wouldn’t come, a knock sounded through the quiet house.

Your mom had stepped out to go get stuff for dinner. So you were the only one at home.

Sniffling and turning the monitor off, you got up and went to the front door.

When you opened it, you nearly collapsed.

There on your front porch was Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. He was scraped up a little, but he was alive.

“Mav… Mav!”

He smiled as he caught you, keeping you from falling onto the ground and holding you close as you clung onto his bomber jacket, tears staining the vinyl.

“You’re here… you came home.”

He kissed your temple, rubbing your back and cradling the back of your head.

“Of course I did, I couldn’t leave my wingman.”

taglist: @bradleybeachbabe @mayhemmanaged @kmc1989 @lovinglyeternal @horseshoegirl @cassiemitchell @fanboyswhore9 @nightowlalltheway @86laura11 @els-marvelvsp @valmare @startrekfangirl2233

hi, if you're seeing this and are currently not on the taglist and would like to be please fill out the taglist form -> whumptober taglist

i can not stress this enough, but whumptober can have some very serious and heavy topics and i want to make sure i am doing my part as an author to prepare my readers for what they are about to experience and that includes not only warnings above but my taglists as well

so if you want to be added check out the masterlist and read that carefully and fill out the form -> whumptober 2023

#vinny's whumptober #vinny's rainy day records #whumptober day 13 #whumptober #ailesswhumptober2023 #whumptober 2023 #tgm #top gun maverick #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell x kazansky!reader #kazansky!reader #pete maverick mitchell #top gun #whump #angst #tw: death #tw: grief #sarahsmi13s

85 notes · View notes

larsnicklas · 3 months

Text

hockey writing appreciation club part ii (part i here) hi team. let's support good sportswriting, whether with clicks or subscriptions! here are some more of my favorite articles i've read in the past little bit! i'll keep sharing articles every few weeks or so, and i always welcome recommendations if you have them as well!!

A mysterious illness halted his promising NHL career. Eight years later, hope and a comeback 🔒 Hodgson didn’t think about the mysterious illness that caused him to walk away from the game. Or the tests for lung cancer, brain cancer and liver cancer that he’d endured in a fruitless quest to figure out what was making him sick. He wasn’t thinking about the months of on-ice work and yoga and a grueling weight-loss regimen that led him to this point. He wasn’t even feeling the blunt soreness of the broken rib he had sustained in his first professional game after his long layoff. All he was thinking about was the gimme pass he’d just received. “If I hadn’t scored on that one,” Hodgson joked, “I might’ve had to shut it down.”

How the NHL rookie class has handled life on and off the ice Confidence becomes more than just a buzzword: It's a mantra. The rookies, after all, have to believe they belong -- even among the future Hall of Famers. "It's not like the guys you're playing against are not human, you know what I mean?" Carlsson said. "You realize you can be a good player here too, and you don't have to be worried that you're not going to make it. If you have confidence out there, you're going to be fine."

For players on the roster fringe, every day in the NHL is a treasure — and a challenge 🔒 Confidence is a funny thing. Even superstars routinely lose theirs during a stretch of what qualifies as mediocrity by their impossible standards. Hang around the game long enough and you’ll lose track of how many times you hear a player talk about just needing to “see the puck in the back of the net” to get himself going again. Never mind that he’s been the best player on the ice at every level. Never mind that he’s scored hundreds of goals in the NHL. Never mind that he’s been so good for so long that he’s paid massive sums of money and showered with love and affection every night. Even the toughest players can spiral mentally. Hockey’s hard, and the pressure’s high.

Nils Hoglander on growing up in a tiny village, why he stays on the ice after practice and his 'hidden talent' Is it harder to shoot a moose or stay in the NHL? A hint is a never-satisfied 5-foot-9, 185 pounds of bowling ball persistence and last player off the practice ice on Tuesday. “I guess I have to say hockey is the hardest,” said Hoglander. “But if you’ve never been out in the forest or anything, it’s kind of hard to know what to do. If you bring Petey (Elias Pettersson) he would have no idea what to do, he’s a city boy.”

'Open people's eyes': How the NHL's evolved in the decade of data The chemist's cell phone rings. He finds a quiet area of the lab to take the call. Hockey Hall of Fame forward Ron Francis is on the line. It's the 2014-15 season, Francis' first as general manager of the small-market Carolina Hurricanes. Francis asks the chemist - who's assumed a part-time consultant role with the NHL team - about a few players. How would you rank them? The call is short. The chemist slides his phone into his pocket, slips his gloves on, and walks to his work station. Back to the day job for Eric Tulsky.

After 1,400 games and counting, Alex Ovechkin still doesn’t break 🔒 When Alex Ovechkin was a rookie, his teammates were concerned he might have a heart attack. The Washington Capitals forward, who was 20 when he played his first NHL game in 2005, has always done things his own way. Back then, that meant a pregame routine of three Red Bulls. When the rest of his teammates were drinking Gatorade or water between periods, Ovechkin was downing soda.

Why a first-round pick walked away from the NHL — and found peace doing odd jobs 🔒 Over the course of his 10-year career, Koekkoek admits he paid far too much attention to external noise. He read negative articles about his play. He paid attention to critics on social media. And he put too much stock into various coaches who didn’t believe in him. “I lost that self-value that someone believed in me to take me in the first round,” he said. “I wish I could have kept my swagger.”

#you guys liked the last hockey writing recs! i would like to share newer articles periodically in case you were interested.#also i selfishly want to be able to keep track of my own personal favorites as i go along lol #fewer places to find good feature writing these days. it's actually depressing i'm afraid!!#meg.recs #<- new tag. lol #of this bunch my personal favorites are the fifth and last ones!!#but all of these are really good reads.

16 notes · View notes

pollyna · 2 years

Text

Slider is twenty-nine the first time he loses the love of his life and thirty-six the second time that happens. Nick was kissing him sweetly that morning, sharing a cup of coffee, lamenting about its sweetness (forty years later and Ron is still drinking the same coffee) and demanding a rematch for the volleyball-thingy (just-wake-uo Nick wasn't the most awake person) the very next day, and by the afternoon, Ron was crying and screaming against Ice's shoulder, bagging his best friend to tell him it was all a bad dream.

With Carole, it is different. Cancer takes her way a little by little, just like Nick's death did. They aren't together anymore, but he's around because she needs help and Bradley needs someone to focus on him. He takes care of Carole and Ice of Bradley, Maverick too. They share good and bad days, long stretches of chemo treatments, and sweet nightmares when Ron dreams of a third body hugging him during the colder hours of that sad winter. Carole dreams of the same thing too. She dies on a sunny Saturday in a forgettable week of February, kissing him goodbye and reminding him that she loves him, as did Nick. She closes her eyes and Tom's hands are big and warm on his skin when he hugs him so strongly he almost stops breathing.

By the time he's in his sixties, he's sure nothing that big is ever going to touch him again. Then Tom's cancer is back and he's saying goodbye to people like he knows he won't be able to beat this. Ron's heart breaks all over again. It's new and bittersweet in all different ways than it was with Carole because Ice doesn't band, doesn't let the cancer beat him until the very end, and no amount of pleading stops him. They go to movies, eat ice cream in places Ron never knew existed, and Tom lets Ron take him up in the air, flying over Lake Superior, because the Apostole Islands are so beautiful this time of year, aren't they?

One of the last times they see each other, Tom says, signs, I'm glad Mav has Penny back in his life. She is good for him, better than I could ever be. And Ron can't muster the strength to do more than cuddle with him on a couch that's too small for two grown men. He would like to shake his friend and tell him that nobody could have been better than him, not in this or another life.

Ron knows is going to happen soon when Tom texts him you were the best RIO and best friend I could ever ask for. I love you. But he doesn't know when. Two days later, he's standing in front of a granite tombstone, trying to not fall apart in front of the entire Navy and a kid, a grown man, who looks like a carbon copy of Carole and Nick.

They are all dead, and he's walking around with ghosts that used to warm his bed, and his day, and photos of a past that used to have a future.

186 notes · View notes

justinspoliticalcorner · 1 month

Text

Nadra Nittle and Candice Norwood at The 19th:

The murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman led to one of the country’s most watched legal cases: The football superstar O.J. Simpson stood accused of killing his ex-wife and Goldman in a trial that sparked widespread debate about the power of celebrity, the inadequacies of the criminal justice system and the significance of his race. Following news of O.J. Simpson’s death on Wednesday from cancer complications, experts revisited how the murders and subsequent trial reshaped discussions of domestic violence — and the ways racial dynamics complicated them. Some said the country saw a major shift on a subject that had historically been framed as a private matter. “When those murders happened, it really forced folks to take a look at domestic violence, what it really means to families, how dangerous it is,” said Charmine Davis, director of family wellness at the Jenesse Center, a domestic violence prevention and intervention nonprofit in Los Angeles. “It changed the way bills are passed and how politicians, police and the whole system looked at domestic violence.”

Others said the case primarily amplified a harmful reality that continues today in entertainment and beyond. “I don’t think that any inroads have been made in terms of the criminal legal system, because I don’t think it’s possible,” said Myriam Gurba, author of the book “Creep: Accusations and Confessions,” which includes essays about gendered violence. “I know that the criminal legal system does not exist to manufacture justice for battered women. I believe that the purpose of a system is what it does.” The legacy of this case — however inconsistent it may be — advanced national conversations that were rarely visible at such widespread levels.

Just months after the June 12, 1994, murders of Brown Simpson and Goldman, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The law stands out as the first comprehensive federal legislation designed to stop battery, sexual assault and other forms of violence targeting women. For years, advocates had unsuccessfully pushed to get the law enacted. The awareness Brown Simpson’s murder raised about intimate partner violence helped to get VAWA much-needed backing from lawmakers, supporters of the legislation said.

More broadly, advocates reported at the time that the number of donations to battered women’s shelters and other women’s organizations rose nationwide. The number of calls to shelters also increased, indicating that more women were comfortable coming forward about their abuse. After her murder, the public learned the extent of the abuse Brown Simpson endured. She stored items in a safe deposit box at a bank: It included three photos of herself with a bruised, swollen face, apology letters from Simpson admitting the abuse, a journal that tracked Simpson’s stalking, and newspaper clips from a night in 1989 when she was hospitalized and the police were called. It appeared to be a trail of evidence laid out in case she was killed. Prosecutors discovered the box six months after Brown Simpson’s murder.

[...] On October 3, 1995, a Los Angeles jury found him not guilty of murder — a conclusion that outraged Brown Simpson’s supporters due to the evidence pointing at her ex-husband. Fans of Simpson celebrated the verdict. Although he hadn’t played competitive football since 1979 after career highs, including the 1973 Most Valuable Player award as a Buffalo Bill and a 1968 Heisman Trophy as a University of Southern California Trojan, the running back had channeled his fame as an athlete into roles as an actor and sports commentator. This made him relevant to a younger generation. “O.J. Simpson was a character,” said Earl Smith, professor of women and gender studies at the University of Delaware. “He was the first celebrity athlete. Nobody commanded that much attention in terms of getting paid to sell products. Everybody loved him. He had that kind of personality.”

For critics of Simpson and many survivors of gender-based violence, Simpson’s acquittal sent a painful message. Advocates and attorneys have previously said it was clear that some jurors did not understand the connection between domestic violence and Brown Simpson’s murder. Gurba said the outcome of the case and the discussion of the abuse was “instructive” for her as a teenage girl: These taught her that she would not be believed and could also be killed.

Underlying the virality of the case were the inescapable racial dynamics that shape the U.S. court system and the criminalization of Black men. Simpson being a Black man and Brown Simpson being a White woman evokes associations between Black men and danger to women that have repeated throughout the country’s history. Three years before Simpson’s acquittal, a Los Angeles-area jury found a group of White officers not guilty of assaulting Rodney King, a Black motorist they had been videotaped beating during a police stop. In 1991, a Los Angeles judge gave a Korean-American shopkeeper probation instead of prison time for fatally shooting Black teenager Latasha Harlins in her store. Both of these events intensified the racial tensions that ignited in the 1992 Los Angeles rebellion.

The O.J. Simpson criminal and civil trials forced Americans to talk about the specter of domestic violence that led to the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAVA).

#O.J. Simpson Trial #O.J. Simpson #Nicole Brown Simpson #Ron Goldman #Domestic Violence #Domestic Abuse #VAWA #Violence Against Women Act #Violence Against Women

9 notes · View notes

jcmarchi · 2 months

Text

Unlocking mRNA’s cancer-fighting potential

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/unlocking-mrnas-cancer-fighting-potential/

Unlocking mRNA’s cancer-fighting potential

What if training your immune system to attack cancer cells was as easy as training it to fight Covid-19? Many people believe the technology behind some Covid-19 vaccines, messenger RNA, holds great promise for stimulating immune responses to cancer.

But using messenger RNA, or mRNA, to get the immune system to mount a prolonged and aggressive attack on cancer cells — while leaving healthy cells alone — has been a major challenge.

The MIT spinout Strand Therapeutics is attempting to solve that problem with an advanced class of mRNA molecules that are designed to sense what type of cells they encounter in the body and to express therapeutic proteins only once they have entered diseased cells.

“It’s about finding ways to deal with the signal-to-noise ratio, the signal being expression in the target tissue and the noise being expression in the nontarget tissue,” Strand CEO Jacob Becraft PhD ’19 explains. “Our technology amplifies the signal to express more proteins for longer while at the same time effectively eliminating the mRNA’s off-target expression.”

Strand is set to begin its first clinical trial in April, which is testing a proprietary, self-replicating mRNA molecule’s ability to express immune signals directly from a tumor, eliciting the immune system to attack and kill the tumor cells directly. It’s also being tested as a possible improvement for existing treatments to a number of solid tumors.

As they work to commercialize its early innovations, Strand’s team is continuing to add capabilities to what it calls its “programmable medicines,” improving mRNA molecules’ ability to sense their environment and generate potent, targeted responses where they’re needed most.

“Self-replicating mRNA was the first thing that we pioneered when we were at MIT and in the first couple years at Strand,” Becraft says. “Now we’ve also moved into approaches like circular mRNAs, which allow each molecule of mRNA to express more of a protein for longer, potentially for weeks at a time. And the bigger our cell-type specific datasets become, the better we are at differentiating cell types, which makes these molecules so targeted we can have a higher level of safety at higher doses and create stronger treatments.”

Making mRNA smarter

Becraft got his first taste of MIT as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois when he secured a summer internship in the lab of MIT Institute Professor Bob Langer.

“That’s where I learned how lab research could be translated into spinout companies,” Becraft recalls.

The experience left enough of an impression on Becraft that he returned to MIT the next fall to earn his PhD, where he worked in the Synthetic Biology Center under professor of bioengineering and electrical engineering and computer science Ron Weiss. During that time, he collaborated with postdoc Tasuku Kitada to create genetic “switches” that could control protein expression in cells.

Becraft and Kitada realized their research could be the foundation of a company around 2017 and started spending time in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. They also received support from MIT Sandbox and eventually worked with the Technology Licensing Office to establish Strand’s early intellectual property.

“We started by asking, where is the highest unmet need that also allows us to prove out the thesis of this technology? And where will this approach have therapeutic relevance that is a quantum leap forward from what anyone else is doing?” Becraft says. “The first place we looked was oncology.”

People have been working on cancer immunotherapy, which turns a patient’s immune system against cancer cells, for decades. Scientists in the field have developed drugs that produce some remarkable results in patients with aggressive, late-stage cancers. But most next-generation cancer immunotherapies are based on recombinant (lab-made) proteins that are difficult to deliver to specific targets in the body and don’t remain active for long enough to consistently create a durable response.

More recently, companies like Moderna, whose founders also include MIT alumni, have pioneered the use of mRNAs to create proteins in cells. But to date, those mRNA molecules have not been able to change behavior based on the type of cells they enter, and don’t last for very long in the body.

“If you’re trying to engage the immune system with a tumor cell, the mRNA needs to be expressing from the tumor cell itself, and it needs to be expressing over a long period of time,” Becraft says. “Those challenges are hard to overcome with the first generation of mRNA technologies.”

Strand has developed what it calls the world’s first mRNA programming language that allows the company to specify the tissues its mRNAs express proteins in.

“We built a database that says, ‘Here are all of the different cells that the mRNA could be delivered to, and here are all of their microRNA signatures,’ and then we use computational tools and machine learning to differentiate the cells,” Becraft explains. “For instance, I need to make sure that the messenger RNA turns off when it’s in the liver cell, and I need to make sure that it turns on when it’s in a tumor cell or a T-cell.”

Strand also uses techniques like mRNA self-replication to create more durable protein expression and immune responses.

“The first versions of mRNA therapeutics, like the Covid-19 vaccines, just recapitulate how our body’s natural mRNAs work,” Becraft explains. “Natural mRNAs last for a few days, maybe less, and they express a single protein. They have no context-dependent actions. That means wherever the mRNA is delivered, it’s only going to express a molecule for a short period of time. That’s perfect for a vaccine, but it’s much more limiting when you want to create a protein that’s actually engaging in a biological process, like activating an immune response against a tumor that could take many days or weeks.”

Technology with broad potential

Strand’s first clinical trial is targeting solid tumors like melanoma and triple-negative breast cancer. The company is also actively developing mRNA therapies that could be used to treat blood cancers.

“We’ll be expanding into new areas as we continue to de-risk the translation of the science and create new technologies,” Becraft says.

Strand plans to partner with large pharmaceutical companies as well as investors to continue developing drugs. Further down the line, the founders believe future versions of its mRNA therapies could be used to treat a broad range of diseases.

“Our thesis is: amplified expression in specific, programmed target cells for long periods of time,” Becraft says. “That approach can be utilized for [immunotherapies like] CAR T-cell therapy, both in oncology and autoimmune conditions. There are also many diseases that require cell-type specific delivery and expression of proteins in treatment, everything from kidney disease to types of liver disease. We can envision our technology being used for all of that.”

7 notes · View notes

chloe12801 · 10 months

Text

GTA V & IV Zodiac Signs and Your Compatibility

I think I’m going to post stuff from my wattpad onto here just so there’s more content circulating of gta v, here goes the first attempt! Also I did this by googling the characters' signs, if they had one, and assuming what it would be if they didn't. Then I looked up compatibility for the signs and which ones would fit the character best.

Trevor: Scorpio

You: Pisces

Michael: Capricorn

You: Virgo

Franklin: Gemini

You: Aries

Lamar: Sagittarius

You: Aquarius

Tracey: Sagittarius

You: Libra

Jimmy: Pisces

You: Taurus

Amanda: Virgo

You: Capricorn

Niko: Capricorn

You: Taurus

Devin: Leo

You: Sagittarius

Steve: Taurus

You: Cancer

Dave: Pisces

You: Scorpio

Wade: Cancer

You: Cancer

Ron: Aquarius

You: Aries

Lester: Virgo

You: Leo

I made this at least over a year ago, so I couldn’t tell you where I got this information. I know it took a lot of digging and basing it off of forums as well as lore. I would LOVE to hear your arguments for or against these choices!! I already swapped Franklin and the readers, bc I changed my mind that he was an Aries so I’m really not too firm on my standing with these (except for Trevor, most Scorpio mf to exist lmao)

21 notes · View notes

oh-surprise-its-me · 8 months

Note

Said I need more, and i do!!

Ron getting so sick he has tonstau at the hospital for a prolonged time. The fever is a symptom of something else maybe they're not sure what caused it, but he was at home and the fever definitely didn't lower for another week, they had no other choice but.getting him to the hospital.

Ron's soooo out. Absurdly out. But in all the delirium and feverish talks he's weirdly coherent when asking them separately to take care of each other. He has.a.bad feeling or it's just the fever talking but he can't tell the difference. He think he's going to die. He knows Tom would become reckless. Or let grief kill him. He knows his Tommy. And hend9esnt know why He just can't get better as fast as every other time. He's scared. For them, for himself. But tries, this time ,not to let them stay too.much close, just in case it's catchy.

WHOO! I hoped this would be one you wanted to know more about!

Ron had a horrible feeling. He can feel the fever in his bones. He’s coughed for the last 13 hours straight, so hard at one point there was a bit of blood.

He hates hospitals. No good news has ever come from them.

Alright that’s a lie. Tom got cleared for cancer two years ago from a hospital.

Ron can’t honestly feel anything. He knows that Tom is next to him. He tries to flop his hand around to get his attention. “Tommy?”

There’s a shuffling noise. “Baby? You okay? Pain?”

Ron shakes his head, he opens his eyes to catch sight of the blond. “You’ve gotta promise me something. Gotta let me say it all before you interrupt.”

Tom brushes sweaty hair out of Ron’s eyes. Hair so long past regulation. “Okay. You know I’ll do anything for you.”

Ron sighs. He does know that. “Take care of Chris. If I don’t make it you’ve gotta take care of him. He’s so strong but maybe not strong enough for this. You need to stay with him. I know you’ll take care of Jake so I won’t ask. But stay.”

Tom is crying. He can’t help it. “Stop it. You’ll be fine. It’ll all be fine and we’ll all go home together.”

Ron shakes his head, “promise me.”

Tom let’s out a sob. “Of course I promise. If anything happens I’ll take care of him.” Ron smiles at him. “Good. I love you Tommy.” Theres another choked off sob. “Love you too.”

—

The next morning Tom has to leave for some paperwork. Chris comes into the room.

He catches sight of Ron.

Jesus.

Somehow he looks worse.

He slides into the chair next to the bed. “Hey baby?”

Ron rolls his head to look at Chris. He smiles. “Can we talk?” Chris squeezes his hand, “course.”

Ron blinks. “Promise me you’ll take care of Tom. He’s been through so much. This might almost kill him if I don’t make it. He’ll try to push you away. Don’t let him. Hold on. He needs you more then he’ll ever admit. Let Jake remember everything. Good and bad. Let me be the excuse for why he has to eat vegetables.”

Chris can’t speak. How can Ron ask this. “Baby it’ll be fine. You’re okay.”

Ron shakes his head hard, he squeezes Chris’s hand tighter. “We don’t know that. Promise me.”

Chris let’s the tears fall. “Course I’ll take care of Tommy. I love him as much as I love you.”

Ron relaxes back against the pillows. “Good. I’m glad.”

There’s a beat where the only noise is the heart monitor.

“If marriage for us ever becomes legal you marry Tom. It would mean so much to him.”

Chris sobs. He can’t help himself. He presses his head down onto Ron’s arm. “Please stop. You’ll be there. For everything. We’ll figure something out.”

Ron smiles he’s got tears in his eyes. “It’s okay baby. Y’all have each other. It’ll all be fine.”

—

Two weeks later Ron is let out of the hospital on strict bed rest. Tom and Chris never tell each other what the other promised. They both know they were asked things though.

Ron sleeps a lot those first few nights. Tom and Chris hold onto each other so tightly that way they don’t hurt Ron somehow.

They wake up gasping together one night to Ron not in bed. Chris instantly starts searching for him. Tom can only sit there and cry.

He’s not in the bathroom.

Eventually Chris finds Ron in the kitchen drinking some water.

“You’re not allowed to do that. You can’t leave.”

Ron slowly turns to look at him. “What do you mean pretty boy?”

Chris grabs Ron’s wrist and pulls him back to the bedroom. “We both thought you were-”

“Dead. Dead Ron. We thought you were dead.”

Tom looks ice cold.

They both know he’s not mad. Just terrified.

“Sorry. I’m sorry to both of you. Didn’t think anything of it.” He ends up getting pushed into the middle of the bed. “You can have a water bottle that you can drink out of. Jesus.”

Tom shoves his face into Ron’s neck. Doesn’t care if he hurts Ron. Needs to be close. Chris puts his head on the other shoulder.

The don’t really sleep the rest of the night too afraid to wake up and it all be a dream.

Jake finds them in the morning when he asks for papa’s special pancakes.

#ron slider kerner #chris seresin #ron slider kerner x chris seresin #tom iceman kazansky #top gun #ron x chris x tom #tom x ron x chris #tom kazansky x ron kerner #chris seresin x tom iceman kazansky #young jake seresin #mac writes top gun

19 notes · View notes

superprofesseur · 2 years

Link

BAC 2023 - Programme de Management classe de première STMG technologique - Cours de Management - SuperProfesseur.com : spécialiste des cours de Marketing, soutien scolaire, coaching,cours en ligne,Grand oral, SES, STMG,formation professionnelle

Team SuperProfesseur (Ronald Tintin, Ronning Against Cancer)

0 notes

crazybutgood · 2 years

Text

Birthday origami rec (teacup-tai)

(Please click on the image for better quality! Thank you to the lovely @curlyy-hair-dont-care for looking this over)

Image description: A deep purple origami tea bag. The tea bag has ‘tai’s chai’ handwritten on it in cursive in gold ink. The tea label has the Cancer zodiac sign drawn on it in gold ink. I chose purple as it is tai’s favourite colour.

Happy birthday @teacup-tai! 🥳💜 tai, you are such a lovely, talented bean and I’m so glad to call you a friend. Thank you for always being so kind, and all your encouragement for fandom and life things. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you and beta for you❣️

Thank you so much for the ko-fi! I wanted to take the opportunity to fold this origami tea bag for my fellow tea lover friend’s birthday. If I were to choose a tea to match the essence of tai’s writing, I would go with Dilmah’s Pure Ceylon Broken Orange Pekoe. As in the tea’s description, tai’s writing is rich and steeped with strong emotions and thrill, in various genres and tropes, that will keep you immersed from start to end.

Not only does tai pour her heart into her own fics, but also in reccing others’ fics. You can check out her lovingly curated reclists on her masterlist post here. The post also contains three of the fave fics she wrote, and I highly recommend reading them!

Here are some of my own picks of tai’s gorgeous fics. Please leave some love for them and check out more of her fics on her ao3 and tumblr!

A Home by the Sea (E, 10778) (Drarry)

I press my face against your neck, smelling like home and warmth and peace. This is what being with you feels like nowadays: peaceful, certain, like the waves on the sea in a never-ending dance. An ode to falling in love later in life. To this kind of love that is mature, stable and comforting.

All Rivers Merge into the Sea (T, 3450) (Pansy)

Pansy was dragged by the heavy river tide that moved the Parkinsons into the dark belly of war. But all rivers follow their own path before merging into the sea, vast and unknown, and Pansy would similarly find the opportunity to become her own person, not really knowing who she would turn out to be.

Space Bodies (M, 1494) (Drarry) (TW: mention of suicide ideation, mention of transphobia)

She tastes like a love story.

The Truth Runs Wild (E, 3026) (Blairon)

It’s Harry’s fault and his whole ‘gay awakening’ and all the shit he had to hear Harry talk him through, in the name of friendship and supportive brotherhood. But honestly, if Zabini licking his lips can be this sensual, what could he do with a dick in his mouth? Ron flushes, because he cannot be honestly thinking about Blaise Zabini and blowjobs. Like, he’s straight, right. Right?

Only Fools Fall (WIP) (E, 5310) (Blairon)

Blaise planted a kiss against Ron’s temple and moved away to watch him with big black attentive eyes. “I only wanna make you feel good,” he assured him. And Ron felt himself blush, because Zabini was looking soft and warm and it was making things inside Ron’s chest turn and pull. This was getting way too real. Or: Ron wants more, then he gets pretty confused. So Tai decided to write a Blaise/Ron love story out of it. Sequel to The Truth Runs Wild.

Young Love (WIP) (E, 33876) (Drarry, Wolfstar, Snily)

Adolescence is tough for teens and parents alike. Or: Harry has a thing for older guys, Draco has a homophobic pure-blood family, Lily doesn’t have the patience, Sirius needs another drink, Narcissa asks for help, James is a good dad, Snape wishes he wasn’t involved at all, and Remus just really wanted to have a chill Christmas break for a change.

#30 June #birthday #teacup-tai #talented bean #cbg folds #origami #mine #fic rec #reclist #drarry #blairon #wolfstar #snily #pansy parkinson #harry potter

58 notes · View notes

100gayicons · 2 years

Text

The Kray Brothers are not the type of people I typically include in these profiles. My focus is been primarily people who have made a contribution to Gay Rights or Gay History. The Kray brother fall into that latter category - Gay Gangsters.

The Krays owned a West End nightclub and were often photographed with celebrities, including Diana Dors and Judy Garland. Frank Sinatra once hired a security team from the Krays during a visit to London. They were also once photographer by David Bailey.

But their real source of income was an organized crime gang in London's East End during the 1950s and 1960s. They called it “the Firm”. This included armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, violent assaults, torture and murder.

According to reports by other gang members Ronnie Kray was openly gay, refusing to hide his orientation from either them or the police.

Laurie O'Leary who wrote a biography of Ronnie said:

“Ron discussed his homosexuality with very few people, but put simply it was a part of his nature he discovered, explored and enjoyed… It did not seem to conflict with his tough guy. Even if (gang members) objected, Ron just smiled at them and told them they didn't know what they were missing.”

John Pearson who interviewed both brothers, wrote that

“Ronnie Kray admitted that he and Reggie discovered they were both gay in their adolescence and would often have sex together, activity which continued into their later life.”

The secret became public when the Sunday Mirror reported that Ronnie Kray was in a sexual relationship with Lord Boothby, a UK Conservative Party politician. The twins threatened the reporters who wrote the story with physical harm. And Boothby threatened to sue. The newspaper backed down, fired its editor, printed an apology plus paid Boothby £40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. This discourage any other news outlet from pursuing the story.

But police continued investigating and were finally able to get evidence of three murders.

The Krays and 15 other members of the Firm were arrested in May 1968 with the plan to convince gang members to testify against the Krays. It eventually worked and the twins were convicted in 1969. Both were sentenced to life prison.

While in prison Ronnie was eventually certified insane (paranoid schizophrenia) and was transferred to Broadmoor Hospital for the rest of his sentence. He died in March 1995 from a heart attack.

Reggie died 5 years later from cancer (October 2000). He had been released 2 months earlier on compassionate grounds to spend his final time with his wife (who he married 3 years earlier while in prison).

After Reggie’s death, Bradley Allardyce a cell mate of his said to the press:

“I am openly admitting for the very first time that we had a sexual relationship."

Two films have been made about the Krays.

“The Krays” (1990) starring Gary and Martin Kemp (of the band Spandau Ballet).

Legend (2015 film) starring Tom Hardy as both twins.

#gay icons #Ronnie and Reggie Kray #organized crime #gay gangsters #Judy garland #Frank Sinatra #Tom Hardy #Martin Kemp #spandau ballet #murder and armed robbery

40 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

Photo

Science and trust. :: December 15, 2022 :: Robert B. Hubbell

At a moment of scientific triumph for the world, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pinned his presidential ambitions to an anti-science platform that seeks to criminalize the action of scientists who saved tens of millions of lives in the face of a deadly pandemic. As noted briefly in yesterday’s newsletter, DeSantis has petitioned the Florida Supreme Court for the authority to convene a grand jury to investigate “any and all crimes and wrongdoing” relating to the development and distribution of mRNA vaccines in Florida.

DeSantis’s action will kill Americans. Many will view the fake investigation as validation of lies and disinformation spread by depraved politicians, media personalities, and hucksters of every ilk who seek to profit from the ignorance and anger of a populous weary of a pandemic that does not care about their weariness. By convening a grand jury to investigate the heroic men and women whose brilliant work saved millions, DeSantis is following the tired playbook of demagogues and dictators across the ages: Create enemies where none exist, vilify experts whose knowledge threatens their authority, and stigmatize all who dare to dissent by speaking the truth.

At root, DeSantis seeks to undermine trust. He seeks to undermine trust in science, trust in the decency and goodwill of scientists fighting a deadly pandemic, and trust in our fellow citizens. DeSantis seeks division and discord in place of trust because that is the only path to the White House for a small, petty man with limited ability and no conscience.

Katelyn Jetelina published a superb essay on trust and science in her Substack newsletter, Musk, Fauci, trust in science, and how to make it survive. Jetelina is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas. She has a Masters in Public Health and PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. In other words, she is an expert of the type that threatens DeSantis, Musk, and Tucker Carlson.

She starts her essay by noting that Elon Musk’s tweet that said, “My pronouns are Prosecute / Fauci” received 1.17 million “likes,” and 177,000 retweets. She correctly notes that Musk’s tweet is a continuation of the distrust sown by anti-vaxxers who sought to profit off the deaths of gullible Americans during the pandemic. Jetelina cites a PEW research study that shows trust in science declined slightly over the course of the pandemic. Critically,

declines in trust in science were most pronounced among White adults. Americans with higher levels of education expressed more positive views of scientists than those with lower levels of education.

If we compare the responses based on political affiliation, though, the story becomes jarring: confidence in scientists among Republicans dropped significantly. In fact, 1 in 3 Republicans have no confidence at all.

But the political divide in trust in science masks a deeper issue—the lack of interpersonal trust, i.e., “how much people think they can trust another citizen who they don’t already know.” An Oxford University report demonstrates that trust between citizens is the most predictive factor for Covid deaths globally. Sadly, the US ranks low on interpersonal trust and high on Covid death rate (deaths / million). Jetelina concludes,

We cannot have one group trust public health and another not. This is not how viruses work. Infectious diseases violate the assumption of independence—what one person does directly impacts the person next to them. This is unlike cancer or diabetes, for example. Everyone has to be against a virus, or the virus thrives.

In addition to convening a criminal investigation, DeSantis is setting up an “anti-CDC” that will contest the alleged “political narratives” published by the world’s most respected infectious disease institute—the Centers for Disease Control. And DeSantis has already inflicted significant damage by appointing an unqualified “Surgeon General” who has published junk science papers that make unfounded claims about the safety of mRNA vaccines. (I discussed the junk science published by the Florida Surgeon General in an earlier newsletter here, in the article, “Rebutting Covid disinformation being spread by Florida.”

Engendering mistrust between Americans is the platform of the Republican Party. Undermining trust in science is one of the lines of attack in the broader assault on trust, but it is one of the most deadly. Worse, the media’s reporting on DeSantis’s request for a grand jury treats the story as if his actions are within the pale of “politics as usual.” It is not. DeSantis is willing to claw his way over the bodies of his victims to get to the Oval Office. That fact is damning and disqualifying. That is the story that the media is failing to report.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

#science #anti-vaax #DeSantis #Corrupt GOP #anti-Science GOP #Robert B. Hubbel Newsletter #Robert B. Hubbell #Katelyn Jetelina

14 notes · View notes

peculiarxafternoon · 1 year

Note

Heelloo noonie here for the k-pop group game and i choose Seventeen.

My emoji is 🥰. And my big 3 are Aquarius sun, Scorpio moon and Cancer rising. Thankyou for the game❣️

hi there, thak you for participating!

your match: vernon

why: i chose him intuitively immediately after looking at your chart and then i saw that you guys are practically the same person lol. i feel like you would have moments when you would say "hey, does __ happen to you too?" and he would completely understand what you're saying, even if it's the randomest thing ever. sudden thought, but i feel like you guys would also be the best pair during halloween! if there was a competition, you would win best costume (he just gets you like that hehe)

date idea: video game night! it would be so much fun to see you guys play eithe ron the same team or against each other. your commentary would be top tier.

4 notes · View notes

pollyna · 2 years

Text

Whumptober 2022.

Not that i'm ever going to write all of this but eh, one never knows, maybe someone wants some prompts or inspiration will finally struck me once and for all lol

This wasn't supposed to happen: Yale/Harvard, pre-Mission, mechanical faliur, adrife in the sea;

Confrontation: Rooster comes around to talk with Slider about all the photos he found on his mom's bedside table. He just wants to know, things escaldes a litte (past slooserole);

Gun to temple: Mav and Merlin are just coming home after deployment. They end up in the middle of a robbery (Icemav and Merlin/his wife);

Can't pass out: long day at paper work, first diagnosis of cancer, Ice doesn't know his limits, Ron tries to help (Ron is the bestest of best friends);

Blood loss: Mav gets shot during the mission. They realised it when it was almost too late (Maverick);

I've got pulse: Jester has a heart attack (Jester and Viper);

Shaking hands: after the mission, Bob's hands start shaking without a reason (PTSD; Bob & Pheonix);

Beak from the dead: Goose wakes up three and a half hours after they have declared him dead (Goose centric; carolegoose);

Tossin' and turning: sometimes Fritz can't sleep, and Harvard knows how cuddling helps him to calm down (platonic Fritz/Harvard/Yale);

Waterboarding: they can't eject and the jet starts to fill with water (Hollywolf, during the Layton sequence);

Self-done first aid: Omaha bangs his head, by accident, against something and tries to patch it all by himself. Halo discovers him trying to stitch himself (Omaha & Halo);

Mayday! Mayday! : the story of why Phoenix and Halo no longer fly together (Halix);

Fracture: Carole breaks her arm, Goose and Slider take care of her (Slooserole);

I'll be right there with you: they were supposed to be on a simple reconnaissance mission, but they were shot down and are now fleeing for their lives (Hollywolf);

New scars: he stopped counting them when he was ten, but the new ones make him want to check it all over again (Ice centric: 5+1);

No one's coming: they get lost during a training exercise and it takes the others 72 hours to find them. For the longest time, they both believed this was how it would end (Sunchip);

Stress position: being hanged by his hands wasn't in Cyclone's plan for the morning (Cyclone centric);

Take my coat: He's sitting down in the car they sent to pick him up when the realisation of what happened hits him, and he's so fucking cold. Hondo offers him his coat (post-Darkstar crushing, platonic mavhondo);

Head lolling: everything quickly turns from a dream to a nightmare (Warlock/Cyclone, flying together, '90s setting);

Fetal position: Jake doesn't want to go back, but his dad's funeral forces him to do so. Back to Fallon Javy holds him until he's back in himself (catatonic state + dealing with emotions. marcheresin, can be read as romantic or platonic);

Allergic reaction: seafood is great, until Bob doesn't stop breathing (Bob & Phoenix);

Caughing out blood: he can wash that shirt all over again and again, but he won't ever be clean again from Ice's blood. Bradley doesn't know what to do (Icemav + Bradley; pre-first diagnosis);

Forced to kneel: medioeval au! King Caine forces Maverick to kneel in front of everyone as part of his punishment (Mav is the head of the rebellion);

Blood covered hands: Bradley is barely breathing between his arms and his hands are covered in his blood. Jake prays all the way to the hospital that won't be the last time he will hold Bradley (hangstar; can be read as platonic or romantic);

Lost voice: Life takes his voice away too. (Ice centric);

Separeted: there's a storm in the middle of the ocean, and it's fast and brutal. Trying to go up and up makes them lose where the other is. (panick attack; flying together; halix, bob & omaha friendship);

Stumbling: alcohol helps, but Ron can't stop asking himself why he's still there. Tom doesn't have answers but he tries anyway (Slider & Ice, post Carole's funeral);

Anger born of worry: Amelia isn't answering her phone. Her moms are worried and then angry when she comes back smiling and laughing like nothing happend (pennycharlie+amelia);

Better me than you: Mav dies instead of Goose, but it takes time and Mav has time to say sorry (hop 31 if it went down differently);

Please don't touch me: Bill likes to have it all, Tom learns he's the other one (Cougar/Ice; cheating; pre-top gun);

You can rest now: in Ice's den, after the mission, everyone's alive and breathing, but letting go isn't really an option (daggers + icemav).

62 notes · View notes

coochiequeens · 1 year

Text

The last days of 2022 had some good news for women

The U.S. Senate passed two acts that help working moms who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (known as the PUMP Act) were added to the 2023 omnibus spending bill, which now passed the Senate and is headed for a House vote.

The PUMP Act

The PUMP Act for nursing mothers requires organizations to provide time and space for breastfeeding parents. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 already requires that employers provide reasonable time to express breast milk and provide a place for pumping, other than the bathroom, that is shielded from view and private.

But the previous pumping law excluded most salaried employees, and the PUMP Act will extend these rights to all breastfeeding employees for the first year of the baby’s life. In addition, the new bill states, “Further, time spent to express breast milk must be considered hours worked if the employee is also working.”

According to the Surgeon General, breastfeeding can help protect babies from illnesses like ear infections, diarrhea and pneumonia and longer-term conditions such as obesity and asthma. It also lowers mothers’ risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Three out of four mothers in the U.S. start breastfeeding at birth, but only 13% of babies are exclusively breastfed by the end of six months.

One study in the journal Pediatricsestimates that if 90% of U.S. families breastfed for six months, the U.S. would save $13 billion from reduced medical and other costs and prevent over 900 infant deaths. In addition, individual families would save up to $1500 per year in infant formula costs.

The complications involved with pumping at work may contribute to women’s decision to stop breastfeeding. Nearly half of moms have expressed concern that breastfeeding at work could impact their career growth, according to a survey by a breast pump maker. And almost half of these women have considered a job change because of their desire to pump at work. A whopping 62% said there is a stigma attached to moms who breastfeed at work, indicating that workplaces still have much room for improvement.

Even when an organization wants to help women pump, individual managers can make expressing milk at work challenging. In her book Bully Market, Jamie Fiore Higgins describes her experience working at Goldman Sachs after her children were born. “Goldman had a lactation center, an entire floor with hospital-grade pumps, private lockers, a full-size kitchen and lactation consultants available 24/7,” she writes. But when her boss noticed Fiore had signed up for the lactation rooms, he allegedly told her that she needed to be at her desk working, not pumping, if she wanted to be promoted to managing director.

The PUMP Act garnered bipartisan support with some pushback from the airline industry. Given the small space on board flights, airlines had legitimate concerns about finding private areas for breastfeeding employees. The current bill made accommodations for the airline and rail industry and was amended to include a hardship exemption for small businesses. The PUMP Act was approved in a 92-5 Senate vote, with Republican Senators Rand Paul, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and Patrick Toomey voting against it.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The second bill which helps mothers is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for medical conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth. While this bill also had bilateral support, the Senate voted to include it in the spending bill with a vote of 73 to 24. The law states that employers can’t deny employment opportunities based on these pregnancy accommodations, and they can’t “require employees to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided.”

“If a woman requests a stool to sit on or bathroom breaks, or a water bottle, even accommodations that are that simple, that basic and the subject of so much consensus — employers don’t have to provide those right now,” Senator Bob Casey said in an interviewafter the vote.

Although the bill has widespread bipartisan support, not everyone was in favor. Some felt the bill could force employers to make accommodations for abortions. Senator Thom Tillis told the Senate, “the legislation would subject pro-life organizations to potentially crippling lawsuits if they refuse to facilitate abortions in direct violation of their religious beliefs and their moral convictions.”

Tillis’ comments came after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) had endorsed the bill and after the law had been revised to clarify that no employer would have to subsidize “any particular item, procedure or treatment.”

James Rogers, a spokesperson for the USCCB said the bill “helps advance USCCB’s goal of ensuring that no woman ever feels forced to choose between her future and the life of her child.”

This vital act comes at a time when one in five mothers is afraid to tell their employer about their pregnancy. And nearly one in four mothers (23%) have considered leaving their jobs due to a lack of reasonable pregnancy accommodations or fear of discrimination, according to a Morning Consult survey conducted in February 2022.

Working women should be able to choose to procreate and take steps to raise healthy children without jeopardizing their jobs. The PUMP Act and the pregnancy bill are steps in the right direction.

Kim ElsesserFollow

I cover women’s issues at work—including the wage gap, sexual harassment and female leadership. My prior careers include developing a quantitative hedge fund for Morgan Stanley and teaching about gender at UCLA. I hold a Ph.D. in Psychology from UCLA and two graduate degrees (management and operations research) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and an undergrad degree in mathematics and computer science from Vassar College. Follow me on Twitter

#Pregnant Workers Fairness Act #the Pump Act #Women in the workplace

3 notes · View notes