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the-beskar-alchemist · 5 years

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All you Billy haters preaching about toxicity, yet you conveniently leave out the part where you more than likely participated in other fandoms featuring "toxic" characters that were given ample redeeming arcs and eventually became better people.

Daryl Dixon? From the very beginning he was established as a racist bully who seemed like he was not above getting violent with a woman. He and his brother were planning on robbing the other survivors, he defended his racist brother who beat the shit out of a minority character, and he came close to hitting Carol. Now he's a beloved character who people obsessively hope will get together with Carol.

Dean Winchester? I love my dorky hunter, but let's be real, he was initially prejudiced towards ANYTHING supernatural (usually prior to any incriminating evidence, or lack thereof), and he had absolutely NO PROBLEM punching his brother when he was upset. Now he's a hero with sentimental relationships with various supernatural entities, and he's learned to use his words more than his fists when it comes to a disagreement between himself and his family.

Sherlock Holmes? You can argue that his social handicap was to blame, but let's be real.....half the time he knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he made snide comments or put his friend's personal lives on blast. He was smart enough to know that his words could be hurtful, it was just easier to hide behind his status as a "fully functioning sociopath". Let's also not forget that he committed treason against his own country (and his brother) because he was too wrapped up in his own selfish goal. Granted he eventually learned how to balance empiricism with sentiment, but not before he caused a number of problems.

Tony Stark? Love my sassy tech geek, but he was definitely a work in progress. Narcissistic, no regard for the role he played in another person's personal life, self-absorbed, and often callus. It took being held prisoner and tortured before he finally saw the truth about his role in the world, and how much influence he had in other people's lives. Now he's a beloved hero who sacrificed himself to save the universe.

My main point? Each of these characters were given a genuine opportunity to learn how to be better people. Sometimes it's trial and error, but the bottom line is someone was showing them a better way.

The song "Jim's Theme" from Treasure Planet sums it up perfectly:

And how can you learn what's never shown?

Yeah you stand here on your own

They don't know me

Cause I'm not here

Until Billy is given a proper chance to LEARN, until someone steps in and teaches him to be better, and shows him that he has value outside of his degree of usefulness to others, he's not going to be redeemed. But if no one steps up to take on that responsibility, then what? Should he be left to his fate because it's more convenient?

Billy grew up in a violent household, he's been conditioned into thinking that aggressive behavior is normal and that obedience is mandatory. His only parental influence for so many years was an abusive father. He's become an extension of his father's personality, and he hates himself for continuing the cycle, but he has no idea how to break it.

Let us also keep in mind that his attempt at getting any level of maternal affection involves some Freudian bullshit where a middle-aged woman only shows interest because she's a bored housewife who is excited about the possibility of riding a teenager's dick. Billy's been led to think this shit is normal and Karen Wheeler gets off scott-free because she's a woman and women can't be sexual predators right? If she was half as smart as she thinks she would've seen right through that facade.

But if the genders were reversed, and it was Mr. Wheeler and his buddies checking out Heather......you all would've lost your goddamn minds. But since Billy is a boy than it's not that bad.

Also.....she fucking enabled her middle-aged friends to ogle a teenage boy.....just let that sink in for a moment.

We stans are not romanticizing abusive behavior, we're looking past the exterior to get to the root of the problem. We see Billy for what he truly is: scared and in constant pain.

Side note: Hes not a goddamn racist, the evidence does not support, and no I will not take constructive criticism because most of you are just fixated on a hollow argument because that is your ONLY argument.

#billy hargrove #dacre montgomery #stranger things #stranger things 3 #st3 #neil hargrove

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jess-rewatches-prodigalson · 4 years

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Episode 7: Q&A

Let’s just dive right into this. Spoilers are heading your way.

1:00 - Malcolm why did you try to talk to the strange man in the dark?!?! It’s not safe you giant doofus.

1:33 - Gil looks very annoyed and concerned here. This is a man who would ground Malcolm’s ass if he could.

1:51 - See how Gil’s hands are on his hips? That’s exactly the position Malcolm was in when he was talking to Dani when he was high. Coincidence? I think not. Pretty sure Malcolm is subconsciously trying to imitate Gil whenever he can because Gil is Malcolm’s definition of a good man.

2:24 - Another instance when Dani directly asks Malcolm if he’s okay.

2:35 - Edrisa is one strange lady. She doesn’t even look mildly grossed out by the state of those bodies.

3:53 - Check out JT’s face here. He looks somewhere halfway between annoyed with and concerned for Malcolm. Gil on the other hand is too busy trying to keep Malcolm from jumping off the deep end to be annoyed with him.

4:25 - Does anyone else find it odd that mother and daughter are sitting so far apart on this bench? I mean, I know they’re fighting right now but still.

5:00 - “I am far more worried now.” She should be. Ainsley is trying to out manipulate Martin. That’s concerning because a) Martin is a dangerous psychopath and b) Ainsley, to a certain degree, is exhibiting behaviour that probably reminds Jessica of Martin.

7:00 - I’m starting to believe that Edrisa might be on the autism spectrum. She seems to have trouble reading the mood of a room. She often rambles. She is socially awkward. She talks with her hands a lot. She is very intelligent. She’s a functioning adult but many people with autism are functioning adults if they had proper support as children. Then again, it’s possible she grew up in a home with stereotypical Asian parents who forced her to study most of the day and severely limited her opportunities to socialize in a non-academic setting.

7:11 - hahaha Gil’s face here. He’s like “Why do I like these two freaks? Why do they look borderline excited in the middle of this morbid situation?”

7:46 - I love the moment when Gil and Malcolm realize that they’re looking for a serial killer. Gil looks guilty. Like he’s blaming himself for not noticing that this murderer was loose sooner. Malcolm looks upset too but it looks like he’s more upset about the effect this is having on Gil than he is about the fact that there’s a serial killer on the loose. Both of my boys need a hug.

8:23 - They are waaayyy too lovey-dovey inside of Ainsley’s serial killer father’s prison cell. Like did they forget that they’re inside of a psychiatric facility for murderers?!?

9:00 - The fact that this interaction between Tevin and Ainsley is possible annoys me. I know it was necessary to forward the plot BUT why would two different secure doors be randomly wide open when a guard is moving a dangerous prisoner through the halls? I’m sure those doors are legally required to be heavy enough to close by themselves if no one props them open for safety reasons. (Just my small annoyance. Carry on.)

10:00 - hahaha I love JT. He clearly cares about Malcolm but he also doesn’t know what to say to a dude who is so manic and troubled.

10:22 - I love Dani going on a rant. It’s really sweet. It’s almost as if she knew that if she went on a rant Malcolm would be able to calm down and focus. Look at Malcolm’s reaction to her rant. He immediately calms down and tries to comfort Dani. He refocuses on the case. They are really good for each other’s mental health. They ground each other and I’m so grateful that they’re in each other’s lives.

11:05 - If Edrisa is technically part of the team - why doesn’t she just walk into the room? Why does she wave through the window to get Malcolm’s attention?

11:51 - We have reached a tipping point in Malcolm’s mental health. He just willingly admitted that he’s not okay. Someone sound the alarms. This will not end well. Our boy is going off the deep end....but at least he’s self aware?

12:00 - The first part of this interview (before Malcolm shows up) is hard to watch. It hurts to watch Martin twist everything into a positive about himself. It hurts to watch Ainsley try to twist everything in the opposite direction. These characters are more similar than I’d like to admit. They’re both obsessed with their outward appearance to the world. They’re obsessed with their own success. They’re driven by ambition. Sure, Ainsley is capable of empathy, and I don’t think she’d ever kill anyone but she’s definitely narcissistic. More so than Malcolm, whose isn’t narcissistic so much as he is obsessed with finding out the truth. More so than Jessica, who really just wants to be less lonely since the world abandoned her twenty years ago.

13:20 - This is a really interesting point that Martin brings up. He’s technically mentally ill. Does he deserve sympathy for it? I mean, he killed people. I have anxiety disorders and chronic depression. I have a bipolar uncle. A narcissistic grandmother diagnosed with manic depression with psychotic elements (actually, in a lot of ways my grandmother is like Martin Whitly). I understand mental illness. But the second that someone kills another person...that’s where my sympathy ends. At that point I don’t care if you’re mentally ill - you took someone else’s life for pleasure. You shouldn’t be getting fancy therapy and an all-expenses paid trip to a psychiatric hospital. You should be getting the electric chair. (Sorry if this is getting political - I’m generally against the death penalty but psychopathic serial killers and child abusers are the exception to my stance).

13:38 - The darkest of nights?!?! Martin you are making me so angry right now. You sleep like a baby. You have no conscience. That’s literally the definition of a psychopath. You have no dark nights. Your son on the other hand. UGH.

14:10 - *sigh* look at this. He’s making everything about him. In doing so he’s actually belittling his daughter and her career choice. What kind of a loving father does that?

15:44 - This little moment when Ainsley tells Malcolm that she’s staying is concerning to me. She is so desperate to find her father’s affectionate side that she watches her brother interact with him. She genuinely believes that she is the least favourite child.

16:30 - In this scene Martin says he’s never been to the Bronx. But by the end of this episode we find out that Martin briefly worked at St. Edwards Hospital in the Bronx. Just more proof that Martin is a liar. I don’t know what else to tell you.

17:10 - Look at that face. That is a man who doesn’t care about his son. That is a man who will say anything to keep Malcolm in the room. To play with Malcolm’s head. That is not a father. That is a monster. Look at how sad Malcolm looks by the end of this interaction. How upset. How scared. He is genuinely starting to believe that he might’ve helped his Dad hurt someone.

18:56 - Ainsley’s excitement to walk back into that room is concerning. There is ambition and there is obsession. She is obsessed. It isn’t healthy.

19:25 - “I’d like to discuss one more. Malcolm.” This scene absolutely shatters my heart. For multiple reasons. a) Ainsley just put her career before her brother. She is intentionally starting a conversation that she knows will upset her brother (in front of her brother) because she believes that it will get the results she needs. This is one of the reasons I believe Ainsley is the Whitly child most similar to Martin. AND b) look at Malcolm’s reactions. He is utterly heartbroken. He feels betrayed by his sister. Embarrassed that his father knows about his diagnoses. Embarrassed that this discussion about his mental health is being filmed for television. He looks so sad and defeated here. I just want to hug him. AND FINALLY c) Martin is incapable of even acknowledging that his action have had any sort of negative impact on Malcolm.

20:15 - And there he is. The most honest form of Martin Whitly. Angry. Explosive. Violent. Things aren’t going his way and that’s unacceptable to him.

20:53 - Another moment that annoys me about this episode. How convenient is it that the alarm starts going off JUST as Martin finishes his little outburst? It’s just timed a little too coincidentally. I know I know. It’s necessary for the plot and the time constraint of the episode.

21:24 - Look at that. Three people concerned about your shaky handed boy. My heart is full.

22:18 - Ainsley and Malcolm laughing over their Mom’s phone calls is cute. BUT I feel like Malcolm should be a little more upset with Ainsley right now. I know they’re in a lockdown situation and he probably doesn’t want to fight with her in case that something bad happens to one of them but still. Siblings fight. She treated him poorly. He should be mad at her right now. Malcolm’s acting like nothing happened.

23:55 - Martin is the worst. He really refuses to answer his children’s relevant questions until the camera is rolling. Ugh. Mr. David is not getting paid enough to deal with this family.

25:40 - It’s absolutely disgusting that Martin is so unconcerned when both of this children are in danger, in his presence. Also can someone please explain to me why there was a crow bar in the camera equipment bag? Like for real? That’s not a thing I can see Claremont security approving to enter a serial killer’s cell.

27:00 - It’s not often that I believe that Malcolm is the most rational person in the room (excluding Mr. David of course) but Ainsley and Martin are positively crazy in this scene. Ainsley is desperate and scared but Martin is manipulating her. At least Malcolm has enough common sense to keep a knife away from a serial killer.

28:34 - The flashback. Martin is holding Malcolm’s hands, guiding the knife. Did Malcolm fight his father before this moment? Was Malcolm drugged into submission? I really need to know more about this. Malcolm looks terrified in the flashback though - he definitely didn’t take the knife willingly.

29:00 - Look at Malcolm’s face. That is pure terror. That is internal conflict. He wants to help his sister. He would do anything for her because he’s her big brother and big brothers are protective. BUT he’s also terrified of giving his father a knife. AND he’s terrified of the flashback that he just had. Look at Malcolm’s face when Martin takes the scalpel. Holy crap. That boy is not sleeping tonight.

31:02 - Another instance where I really don’t support Ainsley. Video tapping the un-consented surgery (yes it was an emergency, I know) performed by a serial killer on her boyfriend. Like. Dude. No. So not appropriate. But she’s doing it a) to try and earn her father’s love and attention and b) she thinks the story will help her career. It’s all about her. And that scares me.

32:45 - JT and Dani look concerned again. They’re like “What’s the dumbass going to do now?”

33:00 - I love this scene. Gil and Jessica. This conversation is sweet, and intimate in a way that only people with a shared concern can be. How many conversations do you think they’ve had over the years about Malcolm and Ainsley? They’re both worried about their kids. It’s precious and I love it. Also - another example of how Jessica’s heart is in the right place. She really does love her children.

35:15 - New York Direct News?!? I thought Ainsley worked for American Direct News? Did Malcolm purposely use a different network name?

35:55 - Is Malcolm giving that look to Ainsley or Martin? I can’t tell.

37:40 - I feel you Jessica. I feel you girl. He’s playing with both of your children’s hearts now. You are justified in being livid.

38:18 - Concerned Papa Gil for the win! :) <3

39:24 - I’m really glad that Malcolm is at least aware that his father is playing with he and Ainsley.

40:55 - I love how this episode ends. A rare, intimate moment between Malcolm and his mother. A softer side of Jessica we rarely see, comforting her upset son. Followed by a confused, terrified and equally vulnerable side of Jessica going to the basement.

Dang. This one got long. Sorry. Thanks for hanging out. I’ll post again soon.

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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valisi-clark · 7 years

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Hi there, I just want to thank you for writing Smack. It's such a powerful story and I was wondering what inspired you to tell it. Also, my heart jumps to my mouth every time I think about the latest chapter; poor Levi and Erwin.

Thank you so much, anon! I’m glad that you’re enjoying the story in a way even if it’s painful.

A lot of things inspired me to tell it. Explanation under the cut with the same warnings as the fic plus a warning for mention of suicide.

When I was a teenager, one of my cousins shot himself. I didn’t know him. It was one of those situations where I didn’t know half of the people at the funeral, but my mom went because she knew everyone there. I don’t know why she took me, except for convenience. Babysitting wasn’t something that happened in my rural town. You were either old enough to stay home by yourself, or you went with your parents wherever they needed to go.

I was prepubescent at that time, and I asked why someone would commit suicide. And my mom said something that I’ll never forget. She said:

You come from a long line of people who are looking for relief.

My mom was acknowledging that my family has a very extensive past of mental illness, drug abuse, and severe alcoholism.

When my depression and anxiety began developing as a teenager, I started to understand what she meant almost immediately. At 13, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

My teenage years were a wreck. Not only were the chemicals in my own brain completely fucked, and constantly being fucked with due to medication, but I started dating a boy in high school who was extremely unhealthy. He made me feel like complete shit. His pattern was for us to become exclusive, we were madly in love for six months, and then he would begin to lose interest. I wasn’t a challenge anymore. He would talk to me about how great another girl was, and within a month, he would end the relationship and pursue her. I was devastated every single time. I loved him so much.

When it didn’t work out with whoever he had decided to pursue, he would come back to me. That worked about three times over a period of four years before I decided to stop being a fucking idiot and move on. But he was so fucking charming. You wouldn’t believe the lengths he went to for my attention. Gifts sent to my house, letters, cards, a ridiculous amount of work and effort. I had to ignore him completely which absolutely is the worst thing he could imagine. And he’s been trying to find a way to continue to be part of my life since then. He’s a narcissist. Possibly a dangerous narcissist now that he’s been arrested for gun violence. In January 2017, my grandfather died, and I had to go back to my hometown for the funeral. My ex showed up to the funeral. I thought maybe he just wanted to support my family, but then I found out that he called my sister yesterday and told her that he was in a crisis. All of it is to get back into my head again. If I attempt to support him at all, even with a brief message of: “I hope it gets better” on Facebook, then he’ll pull harder. I have to ignore him no matter what.

There were a few times in high school that I wasn’t with this guy, and when that happened I tried to date around. One time, I dated a guy who was really decent. He was kind, but we just weren’t compatible (mainly because I bit his lip when we kissed once, and I thought he was going to cry). But one night, we were driving through one of the towns near where I lived at the time, and we drove through one neighborhood that was known to be pretty rough. He told me: “The guy who lives there?” He pointed at a house. “That guy can get you any kind of drug you want. He’s great.”

“Mushrooms?” I asked.

“Yeah. Of course,” he said.

“Heroin?” I asked.

“Heroin. What the fuck? Don’t try that. Stick with mushrooms,” he said. I wanted to try heroin more than anything. But I wanted to do it with someone that I thought that I could trust because I knew that it would just knock me out. So I told myself that I would wait until I found someone who would take care of me while I was high before I tried it.

Let me tell you the reason that I thought of heroin. In 2007, when I was a sophomore in high school, Sixx AM came out with an album that was written by Nikki Sixx called The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack. That album came out two years before I graduated, and I listened to it a lot with my on-and-off boyfriend. Nikki Sixx wrote The Heroin Diaries and the Soundtrack that accompanies it to explain why heroin had ruined his life. But I wanted to try it so badly. Thankfully, I never got the opportunity.

Since then, I’ve tried spice, which is officially called synthetic cannabinoids. It’s a designer drug. You can put a lot of different stuff in it. The main danger of spice is that it fucks up the heart’s rhythm, and it definitely did that for me. I would’ve called 911 or my uncle (who is a first responder) if I hadn’t been completely paralyzed. I lived. That’s all that matters. I’ve tried pot too, but that wasn’t any fun. It just made me dumb and sleepy.

But one time, I was able to try Percocet, which is a synthetic opioid that’s a mixture of Acetamenophen and Oxycodone. That was the best, most satisfying high, that I have ever experienced in my life. I felt warm all over, I felt comfortable and euphoric. I even felt tingly, and that was so good. Everything was wonderful. Nothing hurt. Eventually I fell into a very deep, absolutely dreamless, no nightmares, perfect sleep. The only reason that I didn’t begin a Percocet addiction was because it was in limited supply, and someone else was monitoring it for me. But I miss it. A lot. If anyone ever offered it to me again, I would take it without reservation.

That’s what inspired Smack. I’ve wanted to try heroin since I was a teenager because I thought it would give me relief. And one day last year, I realized that Levi would never look at syringes the same way again after the serum bowl. So I could write a Reincarnation Fic where he used heroin not only because he wants relief but because he’s going to think of Erwin every time he sees a syringe now.

I thought: “Oh. This would be the perfect way for me to experience that heroin addiction that I never started. It would probably remove the desire completely.”

It hasn’t. I’ve triggered myself more times than I can count with this piece of fiction. But it’s worth it.

I’m too old and responsible to try heroin now. I have a job, and bills to pay, and people who care about me who deserve love and attention. I missed my chance to ruin my life while it was still shitty. I know that the phrase “It Gets Better” has been popular recently, and on some level that’s true. For me, things got better because I allowed them to get better. I taught myself how to be good to people and how to let people be good to me. I take responsibility for my mental illness and what it can do to me or the people I love. My relationship with my family has improved. My partner and I are in a very healthy and loving relationship. I have people who want to support me. All I have to do is ask for my needs to be fulfilled. Gaining relief from heroin would be too expensive.

Getting high is still really tempting. It’s especially tempting when I write about Levi using absolutely anything. But I have a job to do. If I decide to chase down drugs instead of finishing this fic, I know a few people who are going to track me down, show up on my doorstep, and probably kick my ass. Not just for dropping out of the marathon of chapter writing, but for being a dumbass.

You find a reason to stay healthy, and if there isn’t a real reason to stay healthy, you create one.

All of these things have helped inspire Smack. It’s a collection of little moments throughout my life. I’m so thankful to Isayama for creating a series with characters that I am capable of loving. And I’m so appreciative that I’ve been able to write for Erwin and Levi. I’m so fucking grateful for the people who have supported this piece. I cannot believe that this wonderful thing has happened to me, of all people. I don’t know if I deserve this joy, but I want it. I want to feel satisfied and appreciated this way more than I want relief from being inside of my own head for too long.

Thank you all so much. This has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I love you all for it.

Thank you, anon, for giving me the opportunity to discuss this.

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justsimplylovely · 5 years

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Greenland didn’t just bubble into Trump’s mind randomly – it’s very much on Russia’s radar for its unknown supply of oil, gas and rare metalsIcebergs float behind the town of Kulusuk in Greenland on 16 August 2019. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty ImagesThe last time Americans felt hostility to anything remotely Danish was when the pompous old Duke of Weselton launched a trade-war-turned-palace-coup against the warm-hearted ice queen known as Elsa. Even the prepubescent fans of Frozen know that trade wars are doomed and that strong female leaders are unstoppable.It’s tempting to look at Donald Trump’s ludicrous desire to buy Greenland – and the Danish spat that followed – as just another sick joke of the Trump presidency: an aberration that the world will forget with tomorrow’s distracting tweets on some other outrage.But after two and half years of this corrosive nonsense, it’s time to admit some unpleasant truths. The madness of Donald Trump is getting worse, not better. The presidency has not normalized him, it has only normalized our numbed reaction to his excesses. We cannot see through the fog of disinformation and distraction how much of the world’s instability is directly linked to his abject failure as a president.Let’s just pause to look at Greenland, shall we? On the face of it, the notion of buying the Arctic autonomous territory seems like just another brain fart from the cavities inside Trump’s cranium: “an absurd discussion”, as the new Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, put it on her trip to Greenland on Monday. “Thankfully the time where you buy and sell countries and populations is over. Let’s leave it there. Jokes aside, we will of course love to have an even closer strategic relationship with the United States.”Sadly, the days of buying and selling other countries are far from over because Trump himself seems to be easily bought by his Russian and Saudi friends. He’s so cheap you only have to dangle the idea of a Trump Tower in Moscow to win his undying support for lifting sanctions imposed after Russia invaded and annexed part of Ukraine.Greenland doesn’t just bubble into Trump’s mind randomly, unless Fox News is airing obscure weekend segments on Arctic politics. But it is very much on Russia’s radar. Earlier this year, Russia revamped its Arctic circle military base on the tiny Kotelny Island, which sits close to the shipping routes that are opening up as the polar region warms catastrophically.There are unknown quantities of oil, gas and rare earth metals in the arctic, and the region’s powers – Denmark among them – can either green light a global free-for-all or restrain the usual human plunder of one of the last pristine frontiers on the planet. You can guess where Russia sits on this spectrum of environmental concerns in the middle of our climate crisis.It is one of the sickest Trump jokes that his half-baked idea of buying Greenland should be seen as American machismo when it is yet another sign of Putin’s puppet American presidency at work.Denmark is a loyal ally within the organization that Russia loathes: Nato. So the downside to trashing a state visit, complete with a royal dinner, is not what it normally would be for an American president who supposedly leads the greatest global alliance in military history. He did, after all, suggest withdrawing US troops from Nato just last year.One of the many gobsmacking cons of our current crop of so-called nationalist leaders is how happy they are to surrender their national interest in subordination to any foreign strongman who offers to grease their personal interest. It’s almost like they’re not serious about America First or Global Britain at all.It is too much to expect rational public thought from the 45th president of the United States. But you have to wonder if he ever admits to himself that the only reason the Arctic is opening up is because of the climate crisis he used to call a Chinese hoax.More recently he told CBS News that “something’s happening” to the climate that probably isn’t a hoax but definitely has nothing to do with human actions.“I wish you could go to Greenland, watch these huge chunks of ice just falling into the ocean, raising the sea levels,” Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes told him. Maybe Trump just wanted to buy Greenland to make sure nobody could there to see the ice melting.“You’d have to show me the scientists because they have a very big political agenda, Lesley,” Trump said, fabricating yet more lies to cover up his own political agenda. In other words, another day in the Oval Office.As the world knows full well with each passing day of this presidency, Trump cannot project national strength because he is so chronically, personally weak. He told reporters on Wednesday that he dropped out of his Denmark state visit because its prime minister was “nasty” and “not nice” in rejecting his advances on Greenland.On a playground full of pre-schoolers, this language might make sense. On the world stage, as the Danish would say, it’s absurd.Like so many weak souls who never grew out of the playground chapter of their lives, Trump tries to pick on other weak souls to demonstrate the strength he so clearly lacks.The weakest of those victims are the children fleeing for their lives from Central America.Trump is not content with ripping them from their parents, orphaning some of them by losing track of their parents forever, and exposing others to unspeakable abuse in so-called shelters. He now wants to ignore the courts and detain them indefinitely in private for-profit prisons with or without their families.His administration claims the old court-ordered Flores agreement is “outdated and fails to account for the massive shift in illegal immigration to families and minors from Central America”, according to a written White House statement.That conveniently ignores the fact that the “outdated” court agreement is named after Jenny Lisette Flores, who was a 15-year-old fleeing El Salvador in the 1980s when she was arrested by US officials, handcuffed and strip-searched and placed in a for-profit prison for two months. The US refused to release her to family members, claiming they were protecting her, but the ACLU said the Reagan administration was just trying to arrest parents and punish children.So obviously there are no similarities to Trump’s policies at all.From the self-inflicted crisis at the border to the self-inflicted spat with Denmark, so much of the global chaos that numbs us all is the product of this mindless and malignant American leader.The world is staring at a global recession triggered in large part by Trump’s pointless trade wars. It’s watching mini-Trumps grasp for power in Britain and Italy, inspired by his own undemocratic example, including all his trademark incompetence and ignorance.Without Trump, how much of the stupefying sense of chaos would evaporate?Perhaps not all of it, but enough for Scandinavia to return to sleeping soundly. Villy Søvndal, a former Danish foreign minister, said that Trump was “a narcissistic fool” because of his decision to cancel his trip. But he explained that this clown wasn’t funny. “The problem is that he is the president of the most powerful nation in the world,” he said.That’s a problem for the whole world to suffer. But it’s a problem that only American voters can solve.

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courtneytincher · 5 years

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Trump wanting to buy Greenland is yet another sign of Putin’s puppetry

Greenland didn’t just bubble into Trump’s mind randomly – it’s very much on Russia’s radar for its unknown supply of oil, gas and rare metalsIcebergs float behind the town of Kulusuk in Greenland on 16 August 2019. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty ImagesThe last time Americans felt hostility to anything remotely Danish was when the pompous old Duke of Weselton launched a trade-war-turned-palace-coup against the warm-hearted ice queen known as Elsa. Even the pre-pubescent fans of Frozen know that trade wars are doomed and that strong female leaders are unstoppable.It’s tempting to look at Donald Trump’s ludicrous desire to buy Greenland – and the Danish spat that followed – as just another sick joke of the Trump presidency: an aberration that the world will forget with tomorrow’s distracting tweets on some other outrage.But after two and half years of this corrosive nonsense, it’s time to admit some unpleasant truths. The madness of Donald Trump is getting worse, not better. The presidency has not normalized him, it has only normalized our numbed reaction to his excesses. We cannot see through the fog of disinformation and distraction how much of the world’s instability is directly linked to his abject failure as a president.Let’s just pause to look at Greenland, shall we? On the face of it, the notion of buying the arctic autonomous territory seems like just another brain fart from the cavities inside Trump’s cranium: “an absurd discussion,” as the new Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen put it on her trip to Greenland on Monday. “Thankfully the time where you buy and sell countries and populations is over. Let’s leave it there. Jokes aside, we will of course love to have an even closer strategic relationship with the United States.”Sadly, the days of buying and selling other countries are far from over because Trump himself seems to be easily bought by his Russian and Saudi friends. He’s so cheap you only have to dangle the idea of a Trump Tower in Moscow to win his undying support for lifting sanctions imposed after Russia invaded and annexed part of Ukraine.Greenland doesn’t just bubble into Trump’s mind randomly, unless Fox News is airing obscure weekend segments on arctic politics. But it is very much on Russia’s radar. Earlier this year, Russia revamped its arctic circle military base on the tiny Kotelny Island, which sits close to the shipping routes that are opening up as the polar region warms catastrophically.There are unknown quantities of oil, gas and rare earth metals in the arctic, and the region’s powers – Denmark among them – can either green light a global free-for-all or restrain the usual human plunder of one of the last pristine frontiers on the planet. You can guess where Russia sits on this spectrum of environmental concerns in the middle of our climate crisis.It is one of the sickest Trump jokes that his half-baked idea of buying Greenland should be seen as American machismo when it is yet another sign of Putin’s puppet American presidency at work.Denmark is a loyal ally within the organization that Russia loathes: Nato. So the downside to trashing a state visit, complete with a royal dinner, is not what it normally would be for an American president who supposedly leads the greatest global alliance in military history. He did, after all, suggest withdrawing US troops from Nato just last year.One of the many gob-smacking cons of our current crop of so-called nationalist leaders is how happy they are to surrender their national interest in subordination to any foreign strongman who offers to grease their personal interest. It’s almost like they’re not serious about America First or Global Britain at all.It is too much to expect rational public thought from the 45th president of the United States. But you have to wonder if he ever admits to himself that the only reason the arctic is opening up is because of the climate crisis he used to call a Chinese hoax.More recently he told CBS News that “something’s happening” to the climate that probably isn’t a hoax but definitely has nothing to do with human actions.“I wish you could go to Greenland, watch these huge chunks of ice just falling into the ocean, raising the sea levels,” Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes told him. Maybe Trump just wanted to buy Greenland to make sure nobody could there to see the ice melting.“You’d have to show me the scientists because they have a very big political agenda, Lesley,” Trump said, fabricating yet more lies to cover up his own political agenda. In other words, another day in the Oval Office.As the world knows full well with each passing day of this presidency, Trump cannot project national strength because he is so chronically, personally weak. He told reporters on Wednesday that he dropped out of his Denmark state visit because its prime minister was “nasty” and “not nice” in rejecting his advances on Greenland.On a playground full of pre-schoolers, this language might make sense. On the world stage, as the Danish would say, it’s absurd.Like so many weak souls who never grew out of the playground chapter of their lives, Trump tries to pick on other weak souls to demonstrate the strength he so clearly lacks.The weakest of those victims are the children fleeing for their lives from central America.Trump is not content with ripping them from their parents, orphaning some of them by losing track of their parents forever, and exposing others to unspeakable abuse in so-called shelters. He now wants to ignore the courts and detain them indefinitely in private for-profit prisons with or without their families.His administration claims the old court-ordered Flores agreement is “outdated and fails to account for the massive shift in illegal immigration to families and minors from Central America,” according to a written White House statement.That conveniently ignores the fact that the “outdated” court agreement is named after Jenny Lisette Flores, who was a 15-year-old fleeing El Salvador in the 1980s when she was arrested by US officials, handcuffed and strip-searched and placed in a for-profit prison for two months. The US refused to release her to family members claiming they were protecting her, but the ACLU said the Reagan administration was just trying to arrest parents and punish children.So obviously there are no similarities to Trump’s policies at all.From the self-inflicted crisis at the border to the self-inflicted spat with Denmark, so much of the global chaos that numbs us all is the product of this mindless and malignant American leader.The world is staring at a global recession triggered in large part by Trump’s pointless trade wars. It’s watching mini-Trumps grasp for power in Britain and Italy, inspired by his own undemocratic example, including all his trademark incompetence and ignorance.Without Trump, how much of the stupefying sense of chaos would evaporate?Perhaps not all of it, but enough for Scandinavia to return to sleeping soundly. Villy Søvndal, a former Danish foreign minister, said that Trump was “a narcissistic fool” because of his decision to cancel his trip. But he explained that this clown wasn’t funny. “The problem is that he is the president of the most powerful nation in the world,” he said.That’s a problem for the whole world to suffer. But it’s a problem that only American voters can solve.

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Greenland didn’t just bubble into Trump’s mind randomly – it’s very much on Russia’s radar for its unknown supply of oil, gas and rare metalsIcebergs float behind the town of Kulusuk in Greenland on 16 August 2019. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty ImagesThe last time Americans felt hostility to anything remotely Danish was when the pompous old Duke of Weselton launched a trade-war-turned-palace-coup against the warm-hearted ice queen known as Elsa. Even the pre-pubescent fans of Frozen know that trade wars are doomed and that strong female leaders are unstoppable.It’s tempting to look at Donald Trump’s ludicrous desire to buy Greenland – and the Danish spat that followed – as just another sick joke of the Trump presidency: an aberration that the world will forget with tomorrow’s distracting tweets on some other outrage.But after two and half years of this corrosive nonsense, it’s time to admit some unpleasant truths. The madness of Donald Trump is getting worse, not better. The presidency has not normalized him, it has only normalized our numbed reaction to his excesses. We cannot see through the fog of disinformation and distraction how much of the world’s instability is directly linked to his abject failure as a president.Let’s just pause to look at Greenland, shall we? On the face of it, the notion of buying the arctic autonomous territory seems like just another brain fart from the cavities inside Trump’s cranium: “an absurd discussion,” as the new Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen put it on her trip to Greenland on Monday. “Thankfully the time where you buy and sell countries and populations is over. Let’s leave it there. Jokes aside, we will of course love to have an even closer strategic relationship with the United States.”Sadly, the days of buying and selling other countries are far from over because Trump himself seems to be easily bought by his Russian and Saudi friends. He’s so cheap you only have to dangle the idea of a Trump Tower in Moscow to win his undying support for lifting sanctions imposed after Russia invaded and annexed part of Ukraine.Greenland doesn’t just bubble into Trump’s mind randomly, unless Fox News is airing obscure weekend segments on arctic politics. But it is very much on Russia’s radar. Earlier this year, Russia revamped its arctic circle military base on the tiny Kotelny Island, which sits close to the shipping routes that are opening up as the polar region warms catastrophically.There are unknown quantities of oil, gas and rare earth metals in the arctic, and the region’s powers – Denmark among them – can either green light a global free-for-all or restrain the usual human plunder of one of the last pristine frontiers on the planet. You can guess where Russia sits on this spectrum of environmental concerns in the middle of our climate crisis.It is one of the sickest Trump jokes that his half-baked idea of buying Greenland should be seen as American machismo when it is yet another sign of Putin’s puppet American presidency at work.Denmark is a loyal ally within the organization that Russia loathes: Nato. So the downside to trashing a state visit, complete with a royal dinner, is not what it normally would be for an American president who supposedly leads the greatest global alliance in military history. He did, after all, suggest withdrawing US troops from Nato just last year.One of the many gob-smacking cons of our current crop of so-called nationalist leaders is how happy they are to surrender their national interest in subordination to any foreign strongman who offers to grease their personal interest. It’s almost like they’re not serious about America First or Global Britain at all.It is too much to expect rational public thought from the 45th president of the United States. But you have to wonder if he ever admits to himself that the only reason the arctic is opening up is because of the climate crisis he used to call a Chinese hoax.More recently he told CBS News that “something’s happening” to the climate that probably isn’t a hoax but definitely has nothing to do with human actions.“I wish you could go to Greenland, watch these huge chunks of ice just falling into the ocean, raising the sea levels,” Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes told him. Maybe Trump just wanted to buy Greenland to make sure nobody could there to see the ice melting.“You’d have to show me the scientists because they have a very big political agenda, Lesley,” Trump said, fabricating yet more lies to cover up his own political agenda. In other words, another day in the Oval Office.As the world knows full well with each passing day of this presidency, Trump cannot project national strength because he is so chronically, personally weak. He told reporters on Wednesday that he dropped out of his Denmark state visit because its prime minister was “nasty” and “not nice” in rejecting his advances on Greenland.On a playground full of pre-schoolers, this language might make sense. On the world stage, as the Danish would say, it’s absurd.Like so many weak souls who never grew out of the playground chapter of their lives, Trump tries to pick on other weak souls to demonstrate the strength he so clearly lacks.The weakest of those victims are the children fleeing for their lives from central America.Trump is not content with ripping them from their parents, orphaning some of them by losing track of their parents forever, and exposing others to unspeakable abuse in so-called shelters. He now wants to ignore the courts and detain them indefinitely in private for-profit prisons with or without their families.His administration claims the old court-ordered Flores agreement is “outdated and fails to account for the massive shift in illegal immigration to families and minors from Central America,” according to a written White House statement.That conveniently ignores the fact that the “outdated” court agreement is named after Jenny Lisette Flores, who was a 15-year-old fleeing El Salvador in the 1980s when she was arrested by US officials, handcuffed and strip-searched and placed in a for-profit prison for two months. The US refused to release her to family members claiming they were protecting her, but the ACLU said the Reagan administration was just trying to arrest parents and punish children.So obviously there are no similarities to Trump’s policies at all.From the self-inflicted crisis at the border to the self-inflicted spat with Denmark, so much of the global chaos that numbs us all is the product of this mindless and malignant American leader.The world is staring at a global recession triggered in large part by Trump’s pointless trade wars. It’s watching mini-Trumps grasp for power in Britain and Italy, inspired by his own undemocratic example, including all his trademark incompetence and ignorance.Without Trump, how much of the stupefying sense of chaos would evaporate?Perhaps not all of it, but enough for Scandinavia to return to sleeping soundly. Villy Søvndal, a former Danish foreign minister, said that Trump was “a narcissistic fool” because of his decision to cancel his trip. But he explained that this clown wasn’t funny. “The problem is that he is the president of the most powerful nation in the world,” he said.That’s a problem for the whole world to suffer. But it’s a problem that only American voters can solve.

August 21, 2019 at 07:42PM via IFTTT

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hcouperus-blog · 7 years

Text

SUSAN LUNDIN AND CAROLYN

In the March of 2015, I accompanied my mother to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she went through 5 days of painfully invasive testing that confirmed her diagnosis of ALS. I can remember sitting in the neurologist’s office on a Friday afternoon hopeful that “they” would include her in a clinical study that had a promising treatment that deferred her terminal illness and/or symptoms…but my optimism was met with reality – the reality that there is no known cure and only an experimental drug that may prolong her life 3 months. “They” also kindly refused to include her in any clinical studies whatsoever. I now know that it was because her symptoms were too far advanced. At that time she could walk slowly on her own with help of a cane, but her speech was extremely altered. I was her best interpreter because I could best understand her slurred words and sentences.

My mother and I walked out of that clinic pissed off at the whole establishment. We criticized them for absolutely everything from the way they talked to us, to the ridiculous needles they stuck in all over my mom’s body to gage her muscle atrophy because we were still in denial. We were going to find some rare herb or homeopathic drug that would show those narcissistic doctors at Mayo Clinic that “they” were wrong!

That was the end of March. I spent almost every single day with my mom the summer of 2015 helping her to get in and out of the car, on and off the toilet, cutting up her food, so it was more manageable for her as she slowly lost her dexterity in her hands, and dressing and bathing her. By the end of August, she was completely dependent upon her electric wheelchair and her voice was but a memory. Her infectious giggle was only heard in my and her dreams. The disease had stolen it from us.

Watching the disease take away all of my mom’s physical dignity was the hardest experience I have yet faced in my life. Compounding that horrible reality was the stress it had on my father and his inability to gracefully take care of her. His stress was demonstrated through his vicious mouth and his lack of patience. At night when I cried myself to bed in the bedroom I once claimed as my own when I grew up in their house, I often questioned if the tears were because I was watching my mother slowly die or because I couldn’t handle the emotional trauma my father put me and my mom through.

Even though I feel blessed that I was able to spend most of the summer with my mom because of my teaching schedule, I would cringe every Friday morning during the fall of the 2015/2016 school year because I knew I would go to my parents’ house that evening or the next morning to help my dad take care of my mom. I cringed not because I would see significant deterioration of my mom’s physical body, but because I feared my father’s temper and vicious tongue. He dealt with the stress via verbal abuse. He had every right to be stressed, after all, he was her main caregiver and he was in remission from his colon cancer. However, watching my mom take his swearing and temper tantrums as if they were the norm, seemed harder than the continuous, unrelenting tasks that were required to take care of her at this point because of the disease. I would have gladly taken her to the bathroom without the “goddamits,” “jesuschrists,” and “what the #ucks” that were part of the normal atmosphere in their home.

After several months of driving 3.5 hours North every weekend to help with my mom’s care, we all decided (her included) that her care needs had outgrown anything that we were capable of providing as her family, so she was admitted to a nursing home that was conveniently 2 miles down the road from my parents’ home, and she actually used to work there as a social worker. It was an ideal situation geographically, but also broke the heart of every single one of us because we felt we were failures – we had full use of our bodies, but we couldn’t meet the needs the disease had created of her body.

Because she was now in a nursing home, I had to take time to give back to my family of, so I would go visit her only every other weekend. I had not spent a weekend with my family since June, and it was now December. My house was a mess, my kids were a bit resentful, and my husband was completely neglected. Not one of them ever complained, but there were obvious signs of discontent, and I knew that my absence was the culprit. I felt guilty, but I had to give back to my own family for my and their mental health.

The weekends that I did go to the nursing home, I wanted to scream. I hated going into my mom’s tiny little room and just sit around. It was the dead of winter, so taking her out was a risk we were afraid to take because we did not want her to catch a cold. To us, a cold was the albatross around our necks because she would more than likely end up with pneumonia that would lead to her death. We did everything we could to prevent a cold – we washed our hands incessantly, we made sure she took vitamins, we made sure she did not interact with anyone who was sicks, and we made sure her room was bleached down regularly.

My mom never got a cold and she never died of pneumonia. She just died one day.

It started on a Sunday afternoon. I hadn’t seen her in a week and a half because I had planned on taking a couple days off of school and spend a 4-day weekend with her. My dad called on a Sunday evening and said she was agitated, and he couldn’t figure out why. This was April 10, 2016. She had lost the ability to type on her iPad’s text to speak app the day before, so she couldn’t communicate why she was agitated. I asked my dad if he wanted me to come. but he said that my Thursday plan was good enough. I could hear her voice in the background, which was just a grunt at that point – almost like a wild animal grunting to warn off a near danger. I’ll never forget the sound because it would be the last time I ever heard my mom make any noise.

The next morning as I got to work and turned on my computer, I noticed a text from my older brother. It read: “You need to come now. Mom got really bad overnight.” I ran to the office, told my boss I had to go, went back to my room, and threw together lesson plans for a few days, and then left to say goodbye to my mom.

When I got to her bedside, she was already in an unconscious state from the morphine. Apparently, she was in excruciating pain that night, and morphine was her only comfort. When I said her name, she rolled her eyes and focused on me for a second or two and then let her eyes roll back up into her head. That was the last interaction I ever had with my mom.

She passed away the next day at 8:45pm.

I watched her take her last breath.

I watched the life escape her body.

It started with her left ear. As I watched her breathing become more and more labored, I, all of a sudden, noticed her left ear had turned ghostly white. I stared at it for what seemed like hours, but it was only moments when I noticed the rest of her color throughout her body was also turning the palest white I had ever seen. Then someone came from behind, rubbed my shoulders, and turned off her breathing machine. It was the nurse. My mother had passed.

The room was engulfed in the saddest and loudest silence – a silence that screamed: “MY MOM’S DEAD!”

I never wanted to hear that sound of silence again.

Minutes later, reality took over my dad and my two brothers as their saddest whimpering and cries filled the tiny nursing-home room. It was a private room, but my family did not keep their grief private. Even though we had almost a year to prepare for what the terminal disease had blatantly promised us, we were not prepared. I was not prepared.

I truly thought my mom would make it through the summer. “They” said pneumonia would ultimately take her. She didn’t have pneumonia. She didn’t even have a cold. “They” said her body would become immune to antibiotics. She wasn’t even on antibiotics. “They” said she would live 2 to 3 years. She didn’t survive even a year.

My mom has been gone just over a month now. I have forgotten the stresses of taking care of her. I have forgiven my father for his lack of grace. But I have not forgotten the horrid thief known as ALS.

It stole my mother.

I hate it for that.

I want to kill it.

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