#since its the most clealry different

[ganondoodle]

(wip)

another screenshot practice for totk rewritten, this time in the underground, as requested (will do more of the interior of a "shrine" later on (its a lab really) )

(armor set: head and middle piece = shiekah research/tech set -still in development-, legs = ghirahim set, based on his clothing from my comic) (ability selected = power injection)

[aspoonofsugar]

The Maidens: The Cycle of Life and Death

This post is inspired by @hamliet’s alchemy metas... I know nothing about alchemy, but after discussing it with her, this idea came up and I am sharing it on her behalf too.

In short, in alchemical stories (which RWBY apparently is) there are 3/4 phases. Each phase is linked to a specific color:

1) Nigredo (black)

2) Albedo (white)

3) Citrinitas (yellow)

4) Rubedo (red)

That said, often the yellow phase ends up being fused with the red one, so in most alchemical stories there are only three phases. Now, for each phase there is a major death, so there are usually 3/4 key deaths, each one linked to a specific phase.

For example, in Harry Potter there is

a) Sirius BLACK dying

b) ALBUS Dumbledore dying

c) Harry dying and being carried by RUBEUS Hagrid

Let’s highlight that each one of these deaths is especially resonant and important for the story. Sirius dies when Harry discovers about the prophecy. Dumbledore’s death leads to Harry leaving Hogwarts to look for the Horcruxes and finally Harry’s own death leads to Voldemort’s defeat.

What I mean is that the deaths linked to each phase must be resonant and meaningful either in terms of plot or in terms of themes. They must have weight and be felt both by the audience and by the characters.

So far, in RWBY we have had two such deaths:

Pyrrha’s death is linked to Nigredo, while Penny’s to Albedo. Interestingly, both deaths happened to two (supposed to be) Maidens.

This is interesting on multiple levels.

First of all, I have been asked about the Maidens in RWBY here and here. However, Penny’s death helped me gain a new perspective of their overall meaning.

In the first meta I have written this:

In a sense, the story keeps repeating. Salem kills Ozpin, he is reborn and his daughters are victims of the conflict between them.

Because of this, the four Maidens have become one of the many symbols of this endless cycle, which is clealry breaking its protagonists more and more.

This is well conveyed by the Maidens having a season theme. Seasons are in fact linked to the repetition of time aka one of Ozpin’s motifs.

I still think it is a part of the truth, but as for now I think the framing of the series over the cycle is more nuanced. It is a cycle of death and rebirth:

Goodwitch: The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost, and that no individual can hold on to that power forever.

Seasons live and die, but new ones are born. It is a death that leads to a new life and that protects life itself since the Seasons are supposed to be Guardians.

This fits with the actual cycle of seasons where “no two summers are alike”, but that also accompanies humans’ lives and makes many human activities possible.

Secondly, both Pyrrha and Penny’s deaths have to do with the theme of choice, which is central to the series:

Ozpin: Maidens choose themselves.

In particular, Pyrrha and Penny’s final choices are two different declination of this idea. At the same time, they are linked to the theme explored by their respective relic as well (in Pyrrha’s case it means that her link to choice is twofold).

1) As the (supposed to be) Maiden of Choice, Pyrrha is given a choice in the Vault of Choice:

Ozpin: You, Miss Nikos... have a choice to make.

(...)

Ozpin: Are you ready? I... I need to hear you say it.

Pyrrha: Yes.

Ozpin: Thank you, Miss Nikos.

She is given some time to think about it and in the end she chooses to accept her new duty. Still, the power is stolen from her and the choice she was given is negated to her:

Pyrrha: But I can help.

Ozpin: You'll only get in the way.

However, this does not stop her:

Red-Haired Woman: She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.

Pyrrha’s death is about doing the right thing even if it comes with a high personal cost. She is able to make the choice to keep fighting against an enemy impossible to defeat an arc before our protagonists are strong enough to make it.

This is why... even if she never receives the powers.. Pyrrha is the true Maiden of Choice of the Vale arc. She does not need the powers because deep down being a Maiden is something deeper than that.

Pyrrha embodies the idea that Maidens choose themselves because she chooses to be a Maiden at Heart and dies true to her choice:

Pyrrha: Do you believe in destiny?

2) As the Maiden of Creation, Penny is created anew in the Vault of Creation:

As I have stated in previous metas Creation as a concept is linked to free will. Creations are free to develop and to change independently from their “creators”. This fits Penny’s transformation, who ultimately gives her back the free will that the virus had stolen:

Penny: I...I must...open the Vault. I, I do not want...Ah!

And in the end she uses her free will to make a specific choice:

Penny: Let me choose this one thing.

I have actually a lot more to say about Penny’s death and final choice, but I will write a longer meta about it, so for now let’s just say it has to do with self-actualization.

Penny embodies the idea that Maidens choose themselves because she chooses who she wants to be and how she wants to live.

What is more, her choice has to do with Creation because she saves Winter’s life and also (symbolically) makes her a whole person as well:

Winter: No, Penny, you were always the real Maiden at heart. I was just a machine. Just... following orders.

Penny: You’re my friend.

Winter: Perhaps, but I’m choosing it now. I’ve made it my own. And I take great pride in it.

Winter: You chose nothing. This was a gift.

At the same time, Penny’s sacrifice also saves the people of Atlas and Mantle who are stranded in Vacuo. If Cinder had stolen the power, they would have all died.

As a final note, we are directly told the themes linked to both Pyrrha and Penny’s death back in volume 5:

Ruby: When Beacon fell, I lost two of my friends: Penny Polendina and Pyrrha Nikos. I didn't know them for very long, but that doesn't change the fact that they were two of the most kind-hearted people I have ever met. But that didn't save them. Pyrrha thought that if there was even the smallest chance of helping someone, then it was a chance worth taking. And because of that, she died fighting a battle she knew she couldn't win. And Penny... was killed... just to make a statement.

Pyrrha died to make the right thing.

Penny died the first time as a result of her being objectified, so the second time she herself chose how to end her life in a way she found meaningful.

In short, Pyrrha and Penny’s deaths can be read as the two deaths linked respectively to Nigredo and Albedo. What is sure is that they are meant to be compared and foiled.

All this leads to a question... will we have other two (or one) major death(s) that will be linked to (the yellow and) red phase(s)? Will they be other Maidens?

As for now, I think it is possible, even if not sure obviously.

First of all, I do not know if we are gonna have a death for Citrinitas since from what I understood usually the yellow phase gets conveyed as a part of the Rubedo one. Moreover, if we have it, it might not be linked to a Maiden. After all, another pattern one could find is that both Pyrrha and Penny died at Beacon and so did Ozpin, so maybe he will be the one to die (once and for all?) in the yellow/red phase. However, as for now, I don’t think so and I am gonna theorize that the yellow and red deaths, if they happen, will have to do with the Maidens and will be other declinations of the themes explored above.

As for now, we know nothing of the Maiden of Destruction, so I am not considering her.

Still, there is another Maiden whose arc was left unsolved and who needs to come back in the story:

3) As the Maiden of Knowledge, Raven is told the truth about herself in the Vault of Knowledge:

Yang: Oh, shut up!! You don't know the first thing about strength! You turn your back on people, you run away when things get too hard, you put others in harm's way instead of yourself!! You might be powerful, but that doesn't make you strong.

And it is possible that this self-knowledge will eventually lead her to make a choice, which is what she has failed to do up until now.

If she chooses to sacrifice herself, her death will be a redemptive one and it might come to embody that Maidens choose themselves because they can always change and become true Maidens.

Finally, there is the Rubedo phase, which is the last phase. If we are gonna have a red death, it should be a key one for the whole series and one which leads to its resolution. As for now, I think there is only one character who can pull it off:

4) Cinder is a key character for the whole story. Personally, I think this volume was a turning point for her, but she failed to learn the lessons she needed to learn. What she did was to take these lessons and to twist them in a hypocritical way:

Cinder: I suppose I have only you to thank for one last lesson… Sometimes, if you want to win…you simply can’t do it alone.

And this has made her even more similar to Salem:

Salem: Why....do...you...keep...coming...back?!

Yang: Why do you?!

Penny: Why did you come back?! Why couldn’t you just learn your lesson?!

I would also like to highlight that so far Cinder has failed to learn the lesson of each relic.

In the Vale Arc, it is implied her concept of Destiny and Choice is different from Pyrrha’s. She wants to be “worthy” and to be chosen. Moreover, her idea of agency is linked to stealing others’, just like she stole the Maiden’s power and Pyrrha’s destiny.

In the Mistral Arc, she receives a warning about her Shadow Hand:

Raven: Aura can't protect your arm, it's Grimm. You turned yourself into a monster just for power.

But she chooses to ignore it.

Finally, in the Atlas Arc she manages to make herself anew. She recreates herself, but fails to truly change.

I am expecting all these failures to come back at her with the Vacuo Arc, which is about Destruction and will probably lead to everything coming together to crush Cinder (the people she used, the Shadow Hand, Salem’s true plan).

Once this happens, I think Ruby will save her with her eyes and will offer her that pity she was never shown as a child. This will lead to Cinder’s final choice which might be a synthesis of all the choices made by the Maidens she killed.

It will be a selfless choice, like Pyrrha’s, in contrast to the selfishness she displayed throughout the series.

It will be a self-actualizing choice, like Penny’s, which will free her from Salem’s shadow and influence

It will also be a redemptive choice, where Cinder finally lives up to her name and becomes the true Fall Maiden.

I am also expecting this choice to somehow solve the conflict or to be a part of the reason why the conflict is solved.

It would also be interesting if the Maidens’ sacrifices become progressively more effective in solving the conflict.

Pyrrha’s death is the most pyrric (obviously). She did not manage to stop Cinder, but barely gained enough time for Ruby to arrive and wound the villain. Still, it is a choice who clearly inspired her friends and I think that in the end it will inspire Cinder as well:

Cinder: You know, Neo, someone once asked me if I believed in destiny. And I'm happy to say I still do.

Penny’s death is framed as a sad, but powerful conclusion to her arc and saved both Winter and the people of Atlas and Mantel. It still did not prevent Salem from taking the relics and did not save the Kingdom.

So, maybe Cinder’s death, if it happens, will be key in saving the world.

This would also fit with the idea that we are going through a journey where we are getting to know the four gifts the Gods gave humanity.

Pyrrha sacrificed herself even before our protagonists received Knowledge, Penny did so after both Knowledge and Creation, while Cinder perhaps will do so after the characters have aquired all the four gifts.

[yungwhalejbg]

(Me)dium is the (me)ssage

Back in 2005 I discovered the now ridiculed and heavily shamed website, 4chan.org. 4chan was relatively new at this point, only being founded in 2003, I was a relatively new “lurker” of the website.  4chan.org in its most basic description is a messaging board. Used to share and discuss topics, images, and other internet nonsense.

As the messaging board grew, the content took a sharp turn towards the last descriptor. Internet nonsense, these macro images were beggining to be shared over and over again. These images became known as rage comics, and more often than not forced liquid out of my nose as the creativity behind each one became more and more hilarious and relatable. 

The image above follows the more popular flow of rage comics back then, where three panels consisted of any given stick figure scenario, ending with a the “rage face” screaming “FUUUUUUU”. The key being the template in the image being recycled and only the content, or context of the image being changed to convey a different message, meaning, or silly joke. This was the first occurrence of whats now more popularly known as a “meme”.

The term “meme” stems from these recycled rage comics and have developed into the current internet sharing trends of today. Back when Messaging baords were the go-to place for all things nonsense, there was a key understanding that memes were meant for those all too familiar with the darker parts of the web. 

Bigotry, racism, homophobia were all commonplace on 4chan, and still to this day are the driving force behind the users content. Although many who use 4chan would defend themselves as not truly believing in the content or beliefs shared on the website, they would only consider them as a necessary part of the website in itself. These radical ideas served as a filter for those who werent totally in tune with the point of 4chan, and those who enjoyed testing the limits of what they could get away with sharing or posting on the boards. The only reason this was, and still is a key facet to the websites function is due totally to the anonymity behind these posts.

“Anonymous” is what every post reads as users scroll through different threads and read up on different takes on topics worldwide. The anonymity of the website provided the user to take up any radical thought, idea, belief, or moral they had and allowed them to share them without consequence of being ridiculed or attacked. This changed the way the message board was seen, and changed the way it would be sued from its inception to where we are today. The medium shifted its method into total user influence and sharing. This changed the message meant to be conveyed through the medium, into one that was far different than anything else shared on the web. 

This section of the medium that was the internet, was now its own medium in a way, for users to shift, alter and change the message as they saw fit. This was done through image sharing, recycling of old post templates (copypasta) and development of new content, thus returning the content and ideas into an endless cycle of internet nonsense.

Today, memes are as close as ever to being a household name in terms of popular internet terms. Companies are taking advantage of these “internet inside jokes” and using them to attract their younger demos into buying their products and relating to the companies message. The common ublic is taking advantage of this medium to again shift, and alter the way that the message it understood.

One of my favorite examples of this method going completely wrong is this anti-tobacco campaign commercial that used a variety of then-popular meme formats in order to convey its message that smoking isnt “as cool as memes”. 

Yikes.

That thing almost makes me want to suck down a pack of cigarettes. 

The commercial was met with a ton of backlash due to its bastardization of plenty of examples of memes throughout the video. The intent to relate to kids was there, but the execution was that of an out of touch advertising board filled with adults ranging from 30-40 years old. 

Memes are considered to only be understood by younger groups who spend most of their time browsing the messaging boards on the internet and contributing to these messaging boards their own hot takes to further catalyze and mix up the conversations. These message boards consider memes to be their own and those who use them outside of the medium are only using them for their own selfish message.

Elsewhere

The company that I have just recently begun my career working for is called Advance Digital. 

Advance Digital is a sub division of Advance publications, which is also part of an overarchign ownership which connects us to larger more notorious media entities such as Reddit.com, rollingstone.com, and other print media. The company’s goal, and reason for its massive success in the digital age is because it was one of the first companies to make the transition to digital media a priority over its print. It stayed afloat durng the massive web 2.0 craze due to this goal and continues to grow today largely in part to this.

Advance Publications understood that the medium of print media could still exist alongside the medium of digital, internet based media, but knew it had to find a way to split its message in both forms in order to continue its growth upwards. Its method of going headstrong into the digital age was to allow those more familiar with the digital medium to take the reigns. I.e. Reddit. 

The investment portion of the company, Conde Nast, had complete ownership of reddit when it was first founded, and as it grew over time, handed over the reigns to Alexander Ohanian and the original founders to have complete autonomy over the website, while also cutting its ownership to half of the intellectual property. From this understanding of the medium that was Reddit, the website has now grown to one of the largest sites on the web and has singlehandedly boosted Advance’s net worth to close to 10 billion dollars.

Advance has taken the same approach to a majority of its other digitally present properties and has seen success in close to all of their endeavours. Thats where my team comes in. The team I work for is called “Alpha Group” which is a group of twenty or so people all working under the advance digital umbrella. This group is considered to be Advance’s “Research and Development” division, where we research popular methods of digital media, sharing and content creation, and develop these projects into substantiated items online.  One of the more recent successes is the tylt. the tylt gained notoriety recently thanks to the behemoth that was the 2016 election. Its stripped down description is a voting website. Users who follow the tylt on twitter can go online and vote which side of a certain issue they agree on. The ease of use, and clear cut result system permitted users to see flat out whats the popular consensus on nearly any issue. The tylt is a great example of teh medium is the message, since the medium being an online voting system, clealry gives you the message in which its users decide is the popular one.

Elsewhere, is the iOS based application that i currently have the unique opportunity to work on with the rest of the alpha group team. Largely inspired by the rage comic, meme recycling format, Elsewhere aims to create a community of users who can use our app as a tool for sharing and publishing their own unique internet nonsense inspired videos over and over with a different meaning to each one. The stripped down version ( i like this phrase way too much) of the application is a text editing tool. The user can go into the app, select any video they like, and then customize each text moment to whatever they may think is best or would make the most sense, least sense, most funny, least funny, etc. The function of the app encourages users to go in and take whatever content they like and to shift, alter, change the message through the given medium, being the app platform. 

Ive made 8 videos so far for the app, and am closing in on a month working for the team. my method of creating these videos is simple, I compile more recent news and hot subjects or topics and frame them into a meme inspired nonsensical internet video. Take this one for example, I created shortly after Joel Osteen had his church closed during the hurricane.

The videos allow for users to put their own thoughts, takes and descriptions of whats going on, and convey those messages in video form.

The room for growth for this app is almost limitless and I cant begin to describe the excitement I have for the eventual growth we will experience once the rest of the team for the app is brought on board. Currently, im the first hire for it, so Im acting as a swiss army knife for content creation, marketing, and development of our algorithm developed by a 3rd party for the app to totally encompass the end goal of complete user customization. As of now however, my aim is to create content thats current, and keeps in line with the internet nonsense Ive described to exist within 4chan, and reddit.

[sherristockman]

Ancient Formula May Be the Ultimate Antibiotic Solution Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Every year, 700,000 people worldwide die from drug-resistant illnesses like bacterial infections, malaria, HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis.1 It's estimated that by 2050 antibiotic resistance will have killed 300 million people, with the annual global death toll reaching 10 million. The cost for treatment, meanwhile, is estimated to hit $100 trillion by 2050. Clearly, alternatives to antibiotics are needed — and fast. It's been estimated that the pharmaceutical industry will need upwards of $37 billion over the next decade to replace antibiotics that no longer work.2 But drug companies have little financial incentive to innovate new antibiotics, so unless taxpayers end up footing the bill, it's unlikely that such products will enter the market anytime soon. Perhaps looking to create new drugs isn't where all of our hopes should lie, however. Medievalists are now working alongside microbiologists, chemists, pharmacists and others to determine whether "ancientbiotics" — natural formulas used to treat ills during the so-called "Dark Ages" of medicine — may still hold promise of cure today. The "Ancientbiotics team" is compiling a database of ancient medicinal recipes from a 15th century text known as "The Lily of Medicines."3 They've even tested some of them for efficacy, with striking results. Erin Connelly, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania libraries, explained:4 "In response to this threat [of antimicrobial resistance] to global health, the Ancientbiotics team was formed. Originally based at the University of Nottingham, the team is an interdisciplinary group from the Arts and Sciences [comprising] microbiologists, medievalists, parasitologists, wound specialists and pharmacists, who are united by the belief that novel avenues of antibiotic discovery are crucial, along with the shared conviction that the past can inform the future." Ancient Eye Infection Salve Kills MRSA About 1,000 years ago, if you had an infection of your eyelash follicle (then known as a wen), you might have been treated with a potion called Bald's eyesalve, which is made from wine, garlic, leek, onion or another Allium species and ox gall (bile from a cow's stomach). The mixture was to be stored in a brass vessel for at least nine days prior to use. Individually, many of these ingredients, including not only garlic but also copper and bile salts, are known to have antibacterial activity, which led the researchers to suspect the mixture would have a small amount of antibiotic activity.5 Researcher Freya Harrison, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Nottingham, said in a press release, however, that "we were absolutely blown away by just how effective the combination of ingredients was."6 They tested the salve on Staphylococcus aureus in synthetic wounds as well as on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in mice wounds, with results showing it killed up to 90 percent of the resistant bugs. It was the combination of the ingredients that proved to be so effective. According to the researchers:7 "While the antibiotic potential of some materials used in historical medicine has been demonstrated, empirical tests of entire remedies are scarce. This is an important omission, because the efficacy of 'ancientbiotics' could rely on the combined activity of their various ingredients. This would lead us to underestimate their efficacy and, by extension, the scholarship of premodern doctors. It could also help us to understand why some natural compounds that show antibacterial promise in the laboratory fail to yield positive results in clinical trials. We have reconstructed a 1,000-year-old remedy which kills the bacteria it was designed to treat and have shown that this activity relies on the combined activity of several antimicrobial ingredients. Our results highlight (i) the scholarship and rational methodology of premodern medical professionals and (ii) the untapped potential of premodern remedies for yielding novel therapeutics at a time when new antibiotics are desperately needed." The Disease-Fighting Properties of Garlic and Leeks It's impressive that the disease-fighting properties of the allium family of vegetables were known long before it was possible to identify their exact antibacterial properties. The recipe for Bald's eyesalve came from "Bald's Leechbook," which is considered to be one of the earliest known medical textbooks. Today we know that garlic has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antiparasitic properties. The combination of biochemicals in garlic, including tannins, saponins, phenols, flavonoids, and essential oils, has clealry been found to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some of the superbugs killed by garlic were resistant to more than 10 different antibiotics. Researchers wrote in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, "Natural spices of garlic … possess effective anti-bacterial activity against multi-drug clinical pathogens and can be used for prevention of drug resistant microbial diseases."8 Like garlic, leeks also have sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin, which are responsible for many of their health benefits. Allicin is antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal, for instance, and in addition to warding off antibiotic-resistant superbugs, this compound may also neutralize dangerous free radicals faster than any other known compound.9 Colloidal Silver: Another Ancient Antibiotic Alternative Silver has been used medicinally since ancient times, including in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. It's often referred to as the world's oldest antibiotic for this reason. Hippocrates was actually one of the first to describe its antimicrobial properties in 400 B.C. Long ago, people would store their food in silver vessels to prevent contamination, and during the Middle Ages wealthy people would eat with silver utensils to reduce the risk of illness (this is why eating utensils are often referred to as silverware).10 Over the past few years, several studies have demonstrated the fact that silver is indeed one of the most effective agents in the battle against antibiotic-resistant superbugs. In 2013, a study even found that low doses of silver can make antibiotics up to 1,000 times more effective and may even allow an antibiotic to successfully combat otherwise antibiotic-resistant bacteria.11 By adding a small amount of silver to an antibiotic, a powerful synergism occurred, and a urinary tract infection caused by tetracycline-resistant E. coli was successfully eradicated. Silver also helped save the lives of 90 percent of mice suffering with a life-threatening abdominal inflammation by adding it to the antibiotic vancomycin. Why Silver May Work Against Antibiotic-Resistant Disease Silver interferes with bacteria's metabolism, increasing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are products of normal metabolic processes in your body that, in excess, can damage cell membranes and DNA.12 Many antibiotics are believed to kill bacteria by producing ROS compounds, and researchers found that adding a small amount of silver boosted the antibiotic's ability to kill anywhere from 10 to 1,000 times more bacteria. In addition, silver makes the bacteria's cell membrane more permeable. This may explain the beneficial effect of silver on gram-negative bacteria, the cells of which are often impenetrable to antibiotics due to the molecular size of the drugs. Quality Matters When Using Colloidal Silver As for toxicity, the researchers of the 2013 Science Translational Medicine study found that the doses of silver required were far smaller than the dose needed to harm either mice or cultured human cells, suggesting that oral and injectable silver should be quite safe. That said, quality is extremely important, as misrepresentation of colloidal silver by less scrupulous manufacturers has in the past led to some of its more negative connotations. According to a commercial product report by silver-colloids.com, a site that provides detailed laboratory analyses of colloidal silver products, there are three distinctly different types of silver products on the market that are all labeled and sold as "colloidal" silver:13 True colloidal silver Ionic silver Silver protein: Due to the high concentration of large silver particles, silver protein products are known to cause argyria, which turns your skin blue-gray in color When purchasing colloidal silver, it's very important to avoid silver protein formulas. True colloidal silver seems to be the most recommended, but ionic silver could probably also be used. In the aforementioned study, they used ionic silver (Ag) in a silver nitrate salt (AgNO3) which, again, was found to be quite non-toxic in animals and human cell cultures. Substantial antimicrobial activity was found at 30 microns (μM) against E. coli. If you take ionic silver products according to the manufacturer's recommended dosage, ionic silver will not cause argyria. Keep in mind that since there are potential health risks involved, if you select the wrong formula, I recommend you use colloidal silver only under the guidance of a qualified holistic health practitioner. How to Stay Safe as Drug Resistance Spreads High-quality colloidal silver may be a valuable addition to your medicine cabinet, as may be many other ancient remedies that researchers are beginning to rediscover. On a broader scale, however, the problem of antibiotic resistance really needs to be stemmed through public policy on a global level, including improving sanitation and eliminating the unnecessary use of antibiotics in agriculture and human medicine. That being said, the more people who get involved on a personal level, the better. Such strategies include: ✓ Using antibiotics only when absolutely necessary Antibiotics are typically unnecessary for most ear infections, and they do NOT work on viruses. They only work on bacterial infections and, even then, they're best reserved for more serious infections. Taking an antibiotic unnecessarily will kill off your beneficial gut bacteria for no reason at all, which could actually make it more difficult for you to recover from your illness. If you do take a course of antibiotics, be sure to reseed your gut with healthy bacteria by eating fermented foods or taking a supplement. As an all-around preventive measure, make sure your vitamin D level is optimized year-round, especially during pregnancy, along with vitamin K2. A number of other natural compounds can also help boost your immune system function to help rid you of an infection, including vitamin C, oil of oregano, garlic, Echinacea and tea tree oil. Manuka honey can also be used for topical applications, as it's effective against many bacteria, including some resistant varieties, such as MRSA. ✓ Avoiding all antibacterial household products This includes items such as antibacterial hand sanitizers and wipes, toothpaste, deodorants and detergents, as these too promote antibiotic resistance. ✓ Properly washing your hands with warm water and plain soap, to prevent the spreading of bacteria Be particularly mindful of washing your hands and kitchen surfaces after handling raw meats from CAFOs, as about half of all meat sold in grocery stores around the U.S. is likely to be contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria. ✓ Purchasing organic, antibiotic-free meats and other foods Reducing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a significant reason for making sure you're eating only grass fed, organically raised meats and animal products. Besides growing and raising your own, which may not be an alternative for most people, buying your food from responsible, high-quality and sustainable sources is your best bet, and I strongly encourage you to support the small family farms in your area.