#this goes for other nonessential uses of drinking water

[thesocklesswonder]

Arizona is being forced to cut nearly 25% of its water sourced from the Colorado River. We're in an extreme drought. Drinking water is essential for human and animal life.

While the golf course industry uses graphs and charts to show that they don't use that much water and they bring in big bucks to the economy, I propose they try upping their game instead.

Rather than using up our precious drinking water (every drop counts) on grass for playing golf, why don't they go hard core and learn to play on hard pan dirt. I mean, it's a sport and sport is about challenges, right?

Golfers, challenge yourself and leave the water for drinking!

[hermannsthumb]

Hermann preparing for date night with Newt by selecting where to eat solely by what he has a coupon for. Or, ya know, frugal connoisseur Hermann. <3 ksci

inspired by a convo re: the fact that ksci @k-sci-janitor likes to make fun of me for never letting a coupon go to waste even if it means walking like 2 miles in the cold to use it :/ like im gonna NOT get a free Baja blast. (there is one small little allusion to some M rated stuff towards the end in this)

-------------------

It’s not a rare occurrence that Hermann will treat Newt to dinner when the mood of dining out strikes them, but the point is that he’s doing it in a way that’s supremely…shifty tonight. Well, maybe not shifty. Weird? For one thing, he didn’t tell Newt where they were going until they were already on the bus headed there, for another, it’s their sharing-a-lab-anniversary, which tradition dictates they evenly split a bill (even if the origins have more to do with both trying to show up the other and take advantage and order the most expensive shit on the menu). The weirdest thing is definitely that, when Hermann got up to pay the bill five minutes ago—a small, folded piece of paper clutched in his hand—he left his wallet laying next to his wine glass on the table.

Newt stirs his straw around in his cup of soda, clinking ice cubes against the sides, and squints at the wallet. Did Hermann bring cash to pay with? He could’ve stuck some in his pockets without Newt seeing, or his bank card, even, which would explain the forlorn wallet. Or maybe forgetting the wallet was totally an accident, and he’ll be back in a few seconds to pick it up and pay for real when he realizes. That’s probably it.

When Hermann comes back to their table, though, he doesn’t bother with his wallet—he takes his seat, picks up his wine glass, and tips it at Newt. “That was quite lovely, wasn’t it?”

Newt hums. “It was.”

“I quite liked the fish I got,” Hermann says.

“I loved my noodles,” Newt says. “We should try to copy the recipe back at the base.” He sets his straw delicately on the table. “How’d you pay without your wallet?”

“My wallet?” Hermann says. He makes a show of catching sight of the wallet, arches his eyebrows in mock surprise, and picks it up. Here we go. “Oh, goodness. Did I forget this? Well—it’s not as if I needed it…” He tucks it neatly into his inner jacket pocket.

“Hermann,” Newt says, rolling his eyes. “What’d you do, get a hundred-percent discount by reminding them we saved the world a few months ago?” Hermann shakes his head, and takes a long sip of his wine. “Did you write a check? Did you pretend we got food poisoning or something?” Hermann shakes his head again, and this time, his mouth begins to creep up into a smug smile. Newt remembers the piece of paper. “Dude. You got us a fucking Groupon. No wonder you were being so weird about what I was ordering!”

(“I think we ought to stick with the entrees labelled B, Newton,” Hermann had said, flipping a page forward in Newt’s menu. “They look—er—far better.”

“More expensive,” Newt had said.

“What’s it matter? I’m paying.” Hermann had pointed at the noodle dish Newt had ended up getting. “Look, I reckon you’d like that.”)

Hermann finally grins triumphantly. “I did—and saved us quite a decent from our ‘date night’ fund. Pity it didn’t extend to dessert, I suppose, but we could always find some ice cream at the commissary later.”

Newt can’t even pretend to be exasperated. The noodles rocked. And they would’ve rocked even more if he knew that Hermann was saving them a few bucks. “You’re such a weirdo,” Newt says, shaking his head, though he’s mirroring Hermann’s grin. “Is that why you picked this place?”

“Not entirely,” Hermann says. He takes a long, slow sip of his wine. “Mostly I picked it to make a point.”

“About?”

“About my being right.”

Newt sighs. Only Hermann would dredge up old arguments on Lab Anniversary Night. It wasn’t even an argument, really—all that happened was that Hermann asked Newt to hand him his glasses cleaning cloth from his parka, and it took Newt almost ten minutes because Hermann’s pockets were so jam-packed with a million little coupons for everything from granola bars (which they can get from the mess hall for free) to mouthwash (which Newt can snag from the commissary, also for free, whenever they need it) that he couldn’t find anything but. A majority of them were expired. Then Newt remarked on how Hermann was nuts, and Hermann remarked on how Newt didn’t understand the value of making smart financial decisions, and they went back and forth for a bit like that. This was a whole week ago, too. In terms of Newt and Hermann arguments, that’s more than ancient history. “Are we really talking about the fucking coupons now?” Newt says.

“Frugality pays off,” Hermann says, cryptically. “Now we really ought to head out. The forecast is calling for rain, and I don’t fancy getting caught in it.”

They get caught in the rain anyway. Newt invites himself over to Hermann’s bunk to dry off, because Hermann bought a space heater back when they were stationed in Russia, and it travelled with him here to aid through the long nights of overpowering A/C. Right now, it’s aiding Newt through stripping out of his wet clothes. When he’s down to just his boxers, he snags the quilt from Hermann’s bed, and waits for him to finish up in his little en suite bathroom to hopefully catch a hot shower. One of the unexpected side effects of the world not ending and most nonessential personnel leaving the ‘dome in doves is that they almost never run out of hot water anymore. Newt can take a shower at midnight and not freeze his ass off. It’s awesome, really.

Hermann emerges from the bathroom in a dorky little pair of pajamas, a dressing gown knotted at his waist. “Oh, Newton,” he sighs, and prods at Newt’s blanket cocoon with his cane, “not my grandmother’s quilt.”

“I’m dry!” Newt says. “Mostly!”

He gives up the quilt to Hermann and ducks into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He stuck a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet at some point, for when he was too sleepy and lazy after makeout sessions to go back to his bunk, and sure enough he finds it alongside a suspiciously generic-looking tube of toothpaste. It doesn’t even have a label. He doesn’t think much of it until he starts to use it, which is when he immediately gags and begins to rinse his mouth out with hot water. “What the hell is this toothpaste?” he chokes out. “It tastes—awful.”

“Ah,” Hermann says. He ducks his head into the bathroom, looking a bit sheepish. “Well. I found a coupon for that brand, and I know it’s not very, er, pleasant, but—I saved forty percent, Newton.” Newt continues to rinse his mouth out, this time adding some mouthwash into the mix. “Oh, really, now you’re just being dramatic. It’s only toothpaste.”

“Dude,” Newt says. “I feel like I just rubbed, like, acid cement all over my gums.”

“Ah,” Hermann repeats, guiltily.

A bit later, Newt goes in to kiss Hermann goodnight as they settle into Hermann’s bed together, but pulls back with a sad little pout when Hermann merely flinches away from him. “Oh, Newton, I’m sorry,” Hermann says, quickly wrapping his arms around Newt and kissing his neck. It softens the blow somewhat. “It’s that bloody toothpaste. You still smell like it. You’re right, it’s rubbish.”

“Tell you what,” Newt says, grumpily. “I’ll buy you a brand new tube tomorrow. My treat.”

Newt mostly forgets about the coupon thing for a bit. The odd little item crops up in the lab that makes him roll his eyes fondly at Hermann, but nothing as major as the Groupon or toothpaste. Hermann’s preferred tea brand swapped out for something Newt’s never heard of in a flavor that Hermann clearly detests, if his face when he drinks it is anything to go by, for example, the chocolate digestives Hermann keeps in his desk replaced with plain ones, his new box of chalk all in a salmony shade of pink and weak enough to snap apart under his fingers if he presses down too hard on his chalkboard. When Newt asks about the changes, the answer’s always the same: Hermann had a coupon for them, or they were less expensive than his usual. Newt just wishes he could understand where this sudden bought of thriftiness came from. It’s not like it was back during the war, where they had to pinch pennies and save in every area they could if they wanted to supplement their nonexistent funding. They’re actually getting paychecks now, on behalf of the UN’s guilty conscience! They have free room and board! They even put a few neat bucks away from some (heavily-redacted) interviews they did back in late January.

What Newt’s getting at is Hermann doesn’t have to limit them ordering out sushi to only places with free delivery on date nights, or skimp on his pizza toppings (four-topping down to two) so they can use a better coupon, or buy any of those subpar teabags or digestives or toothpaste tubes. But he just…is.

The tipping point occurs on a Saturday night about a month after the Groupon incident.

“Nn. Hermann. Do that again.”

“Do—?"

“Yeah.” Newt groans, turning his head to the side. “Oh, shit.”

“Newton—” Hermann kisses his throat. “Newton, you’re—”

“Wait.” Newt pauses. “What is that?”

“Oh, er.” Hermann pulls his hand away. “You mean the—the—?”

“Yeah. It feels…weird.” He frowns. “That is not what we used last time.”

“Oh. No. It isn’t.” Hermann clears his throat. “Well, Newton—see—we were out, so I thought I’d—I’d buy a larger bottle, to last us longer, and I happened to find a coupon for this lovely—er—gallon-sized—”

“You’re kidding,” Newt says.

“Only I thought it was a very frugal purchase,” Hermann says. “We do tend to, er, burn through it rather quickly.”

Newt rolls away from him. “Dude. We need to have a talk.”

Some brief amount of time later, they sit together on the end of Hermann’s bed, clad in their pajama bottoms and, in Hermann’s case, one of Newt’s sweatshirts. Newt waits until Hermann meets his eyes blushingly before he proceeds. “What is up with you lately?” he says. “You’ve been acting so—weird. Weirder than usual,” he amends. “Since when have you cared about saving a couple bucks on random shit like pizza?”

Hermann fidgets, and sighs, and finally reaches to pull open the drawer of his nightstand. He retrieves a piece of paper folded into quadrants, and for a wild moment Newt thinks it might be another Groupon. “Oh, I wanted it to be a surprise,” Hermann says. “I was going to wait until it was all finalized—but it’s close enough now, so I suppose there’s no harm in it.” He thrusts the paper out at Newt, and Newt—still wondering if it’s not another Groupon—unfolds it with surprise to find what looks like a flight itinerary. Two tickets for Hong Kong to Boston, with a short layover; then two more tickets a week after they land for a short trip from Boston to some town in Maine Newt recognizes as being seaside. They’re made out to Hermann Gottlieb and Newton Geiszler and purchased a little over a week ago.

“You kept telling me you wanted me to meet your father,” Hermann says, and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “And—I thought it might be nice, to have an—er—vacation, for a few days. We’ve certainly earned one. And it’s not as if we have any truly pressing obligations at the moment that can’t be put on hold for a week or two. I was planning on booking us a little cottage up in Maine—or maybe just a hotel room, I hadn’t decided—but we don’t have to if you don’t—”

“And you’ve been saving up for it?” Newt interrupts.

“For a few months now,” Hermann says. “Since February, in fact.”

“And that’s why…?”

The tips of Hermann’s ears turn red. “Every penny helped,” he says.

Newt carefully re-folds the itinerary, sets it aside, and then kisses Hermann soundly. It would be safe to say that Hermann’s thoughtful, romantic moods tend to be on the spontaneous side, probably as spontaneous as they are in Newt, so when one strikes Hermann (and in such a perfectly Hermann way as this one) Newt doesn’t like to take it for granted. “Of course I wanna go on vacation with you,” Newt says. “You rock. Seriously.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Hermann says, looking pleased.

[ask-purpled-and-blued]

Blued

This was not how he expected his afternoon to go.

It started out normal enough. With him making sure the caves around Area 51 were mob-proofed so he could start planning out some expansions.

He didn’t have a lot planned and wasn’t aware of any ongoing conflicts. So it came as a total surprise when he looked down at chat as saw the string of death messages.

(—This one’s got some heavy injuries and claustrophobic stuff. It’s got some L’Manberg war events. Mind the post’s tags and reply if it needs more.—)

Poor Tubbo. He was getting wrecked by like half the people on-world.

Purpled knew that conflicts on the SMP got a little too heated at times, to the point where items despawned because they’d been ripped from inventories and left ungathered.

So he shot Tubbo a whisper asking if there was anything Tubbo was missing. He’d check his chests and give Tubbo some armor and tools, least he can do.

Tubbo_: YES PLEASE FOOD AND HARMING

He could do that. He respected Tubbo’s apparent need to avenge himself.

He had plenty of stacks of baked potatoes and he’d done a few fortress runs for blaze rods. He brewed two sets of splash Harming II before he whispered again.

Purpled: just harm II?

Tubbo_: whatever you can spare us big man.

Us? Purpled checked the tab list again and sure enough, four people had crossed back into the SMP.

He felt like he was starting to piece things together.

Purpled: is something going down today?

Tubbo_: yeah! Eret, Tommy, Fundy, Wilbur and I are fighting for our independance

Tubbo_: :D

Purpled: ...

Alright he knew for a fact that everyone in that group except Eret was broke as hell. His friends were about to get fucking obliterated.

...

Fuck it.

Purpled: I‘ll throw in some heal II and gapples if you can wait for them.

Tubbo_: I’ll come by through the sewers when they’re ready

—

If Purpled was being honest, he didn’t know if helping his friends oppose Dream was the best idea.

That being said, he did not move from where he sat perched on a chest in his section of the sewers.

Said chest was filled with food, healing II and harming II pots, blocks, enderpearls, clean bows and every other thing that Tubbo texted him frantically that they were running low on.

At the moment they were apparently being fired on and were taking cover in Tommy’s- in the Embassy.

When Purpled saw that message he offered to take the sewers to the Embassy and do a drop-off. Tubbo agreed.

So now Purpled’s running through the sewers with a bunch of items and clad in full enchanted netherite. Having left his pets sealed in Area 51 with his valuables and nonessential tools.

He’s climbing up the ladder and pulling the chest up behind him, only to almost get shot in the face by Eret.

“No no no no no! Purpled’s with us and he’s got us stuff!”

Tubbo’s pulls Eret back and helps Purpled pull the chest up.

“What a way to welcome an ally.”

“You’re helping us?” Wilbur asks with a reasonable amount of suspicion.

“Won’t pretend that I believe in whatever you’re fighting for but at least trust that I’m here for Tubbo.”

“I’m vouching for him. He’s trustworthy!”

There’s still mistrust but he didn’t expect them to clap him on the back and ask for his input. The nod he gets from Wilbur and the acceptance from Tommy are better than nothing.

—

He’s with Tommy and Tubbo as they try to snipe Dream’s forces from Punz’s tower. He’d been hesitant to follow Tommy’s lead but it was the right call. They were untouchable at this height.

Seeing Dream, George, Punz, and Sapnap all retreat was a hell of a boost to moral.

—

He wanted to ask why the fuck Eret hadn’t just given them the gear up front instead of equipping it mid-war, but benefit of the doubt. Maybe he thought they’d be better equipped.

Though if they had then Purpled might not be here crouching down these stairs behind Tommy.

It was a bit of a squeeze to get down there and the room itself a was bit crowded.

Purpled took a couple steps back when he didn’t see his name on a chest to give everyone else some room-

“What’s this button do?”

And was slammed between a block and the wall as a piston extended

There’s a moment where it’s just pain, his friends shouting, and his communicator ringing out what can only be death messages.

Then the piston retracts, Purpled splashes himself with Heal II, and he slams his netherite pick through the blocks behind him.

Eret’s speaking, everyone’s shouting through an open VC. He can hear Tommy’s words over the whoops of victory.

And as he splashes down a second Heal II and a Speed II, he hears the exact moment of silence when they realize he survived.

He doesn’t stick around to let them be five for five.

He tears up the stairs and drops a water bucket behind him.

He needs to get to the surface. He needs to stop tripping on the steps. He needs to stop shaking.

He needs fresh air he needs space he needs to breathe.

And he manages to claw his way out of the staircase, slams blocks down behind him even if he can’t tell if they’re following.

He lays there with his back on the grass and his aching chest to the sky. The healing has mended him enough to function but he takes out a third bottle. Rolls over onto his stomach so that he can try and sit up enough to drink this one and heal his insides some more.

Then there’s someone standing over him pointing a stone axe in his face.

“Did you know?”

He knows it’s Tommy before he even sees it’s Tommy.

“Are you another fucking traitor?”

Purpled doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he ignores the axe in his face and starts swallowing as much of the potion as he can.

“Tommy, Tommy for Christ’s sake look at him and tell me you think he’s a traitor. He looks like he got ran over by the camarvan.”

He’s well enough to actually sit up and look at himself.

His armor’s majorly cracked all over, some bits he can feel poking against his skin. His hands are all sorts of fucked up from how he pulled himself along.

His potions are top notch though, because he feels almost good as new.

“You shoulda seen the wall, it ended up worse off than I did after that.” Is the best he can come up with at the moment.

Tubbo helps him up and Tommy goes to shout at Eret and Dream who rang a VC.

—

It’s all so quick after that.

An ultimatum, explosions, confusion.

Purpled trying not to stumble as Tubbo pulls him along a narrow hallway to Tommy’s bunker.

Purpled trying to breathe normally as Tommy plays a music disk in the tiny bunker and Wilbur talks about surrender. He’s not sure if he’s winded or if there really just isn’t enough air in the room.

Negotiations, a duel, Tommy’s loss.

Being led back to the walls as Wilbur mourned and Eret got insulted. Fundy reading poetry.

—

His heart’s not in it when Tommy reveals what he did. When they’re scrambling for a book and quill and Wilbur’s elects himself.

But he laughs with the rest as Wilbur dunks on Dream in an official document.

As he gets promised a medal and a title of honor for his efforts during the war and is passed the book to sign.

It doesn’t feel like a victory, both because it technically isn’t and because he’s not sure what he’s won.

He has a heart to heart with Tommy before he walks off with Tubbo. Picks himself up, salutes his president and goes to bring DogChamp back up to the UFO and seal it so he can sleep for twelve hours.

—

Life is good, after that.

He works on his base, hangs out with the other L’Manberg people, starts a potion stockpile.

Oh, there’s that.

He makes it a habit to keep himself armed and prepared even if he doesn’t look it. People are constantly provoking each other even if it’s technically a time of peace, and he’d prefer not to be caught off guard ever again.

And he also ended up getting that medal Wilbur promised him. A “Purpled Heart” given for his material contributions to the war efforts and for being heavily wounded in battle.

He’d rather be able to strip mine again, but he accepted the medal anyways.

—

There’s no way he could’ve known what this country would do to itself in the coming months.

A couple acts of kindness and a show of loyalty did not sign him up for that, and yet he’d face it anyways.

They all would.

He doesn’t know if it was meant to be, but some nights he sure as fuck wishes it never was.

He doesn’t dramatically declare that in a room with a button, though. At least he’s got that on them.

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Global defense spending (Foreign Policy) Global defense spending increased in 2020, despite a sharp downturn in the global economy, according to an annual report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Overall spending reached nearly $2 trillion, a 2.6 percent increase from the 2019 figure. Defense budgets in the Middle East fell by 6.5 percent, helped by a 10 percent cut by Saudi Arabia. The five biggest spenders—the United States, China, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom—all increased their defense spending in 2020.

Canadians avoiding hotel quarantines for air travellers fuel taxi boom on U.S. border (Reuters) U.S. taxi and limousine services are seeing a boom in business from customers seeking to enter Canada by land to avoid a restriction on international travel that applies only to air traffic. While both Canadian land and air travellers are required to take a test within three days of departure, and again on arrival, only those flying to Canada must spend up to three days of the country’s 14-day required quarantine period in a hotel. That has led to a surge of calls for taxi and limousine services from Canadians who fly through U.S. airports in states like New York and then cross over the land border. A taxi trip across the border can cost around $200 or $250 compared with a three-day hotel stay of more than C$1,200 ($961), Canadian travel insurance broker Martin Firestone said. With the Canada-U.S. land border mostly closed for more than a year due to the pandemic, and overall tourism down, the recent surge in business has come as a relief to some struggling taxi operators. Some Canadians ask to be driven home, while others take rides to the border, cross on foot and get another ride in Canada, drivers said.

Armed Groups Step Into Venezuela as Lawlessness Grows (NYT) They bring drinking water to residents in the arid scrublands, teach farming workshops and offer medical checkups. They mediate land disputes, fine cattle rustlers, settle divorces, investigate crimes and punish thieves. They’re not police officers, civil servants or members of the Venezuela government, which has all but disappeared from this impoverished part of the country. Quite the opposite: They belong to one of Latin America’s most notorious rebel groups, considered terrorists by the United States and the European Union for carrying out bombings and kidnappings over decades of violence. Venezuela’s economic collapse has so thoroughly gutted the country that insurgents have embedded themselves across large stretches of its territory, seizing upon the nation’s undoing to establish mini-states of their own. And far from fleeing in fear or demanding to be rescued by the authorities, many residents here in Venezuela’s borderlands—hungry, hunted by local drug gangs and long complaining of being abandoned by their government—have welcomed the terrorist group for the kind of protection and basic services the state is failing to provide. The insurgents “are the ones who brought stability here,” said Ober Hernández, an Indigenous leader on the Guajira peninsula next to Colombia. “They brought peace.”

Peru’s election (Foreign Policy) Left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo is heavily favored by Peru’s electorate ahead of the country’s June 6 presidential runoff, according to a recent poll; 41.5 percent of respondents backed Castillo in the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos survey, with his challenger Keiko Fujimori receiving only 21.5 percent support. Decisions surrounding the economy seemed to drive support for Castillo, with more than half of those expressing support for him saying they would support a total change to the country’s economic system. There is still a chance that the vote could be competitive: 34.7 percent of those surveyed wanted neither candidate or were undecided.

E.U. Set to Let Vaccinated U.S. Tourists Visit This Summer (NYT) American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to visit the European Union over the summer, the head of the bloc’s executive body said in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, more than a year after shutting down nonessential travel from most countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The fast pace of vaccination in the United States, and advanced talks between authorities there and the European Union over how to make vaccine certificates acceptable as proof of immunity for visitors, will enable the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to recommend a switch in policy that could see trans-Atlantic leisure travel restored. “The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Sunday in an interview with The Times in Brussels. “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union. She added that resumption of travel would depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union.”

Italy’s Problem With School Dropouts Goes From Bad to Worse in Pandemic (NYT) Even before the pandemic, Italy had among the worst dropout rates in the European Union, and the southern city of Naples was particularly troubled by high numbers. When the coronavirus hit, Italy shuttered its schools more than just about all the other European Union member states, with especially long closures in the Naples region, pushing students out in even higher numbers. While it is too early for reliable statistics, principals, advocates and social workers say they have seen a sharp increase in the number of students falling out of the system. The impact on an entire generation may be one of the pandemic’s lasting tolls. Italy closed its schools—fully or in part—for 35 weeks in the first year of the pandemic—three times longer than France, and more than Spain or Germany. And experts say that by doing so, the country, which has Europe’s oldest population and was already lagging behind in critical educational indicators, has risked leaving behind its youth, its greatest and rarest resource for a strong post-pandemic recovery.

Virus ‘swallowing’ people in India; crematoriums overwhelmed (AP) With life-saving oxygen in short supply, families are left on their own to ferry people sick with COVID-19 from hospital to hospital in search of treatment as India is engulfed in a devastating surge of infections. Too often, their efforts end in mourning. On social media and in television footage, desperate relatives plead for oxygen outside hospitals or weep in the street for loved ones who died waiting for treatment. For the fourth straight day, India on Sunday set a global daily record of new coronavirus infections, spurred by an insidious new variant that emerged here. The surge has undermined the government’s premature claims of victory over the pandemic. The unfolding crisis is most visceral in India’s overwhelmed graveyards and crematoriums, and in heartbreaking images of gasping patients dying on their way to hospitals due to lack of oxygen. Burial grounds in the capital New Delhi are running out of space. Bright, glowing funeral pyres light up the night sky in other badly hit cities.

In leaked audio, Iran’s foreign minister laments interference by Revolutionary Guards (Washington Post) In leaked audio recordings made public Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister complained about interference by the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran’s diplomatic affairs, including efforts to undermine the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The audio, which was released by the London-based Iran International news channel, came from a three-hour interview with the foreign minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, that the channel said was conducted in March. Taken together, Zarif’s unvarnished comments and the fact the audio had leaked, highlighted the sharpening public rivalries within Iran’s political circles, as Tehran engages with global powers in a fresh attempt to revive the nuclear deal, and as Iranian elections approach. The leaked conversation was the latest salvo in what has become an increasingly caustic domestic Iranian debate over the nuclear deal, pitting “pragmatists” represented by Rouhani against a conservative camp wary of any engagement with the West. The factional fights are not a secret in Iran, which hosts political debates that are more expansive and vigorous than most countries in the Middle East.

[theunprovabletruth]

It begins with the birth of a baby, though not a healthy baby. Born with holes in its brain and “showing an absence of grey/white differentiation”-as Doc put it. So bad that when the child first emerges into this world, he’s not even breathing.

“Kid’s cyanotic,” Dr. Nowell shouts and everywhere heart rates leap. The baby goes onto the Ohio, a small 2 x 2 foot bed, about chest high, with a heater and examination lights mounted above.

Dr. Nowell tracks the pulse on the umbilical cord while using a bulb syringe at the same time to suck out the mouth, trying to stimulate breath.

“Dry, dry, dry. Suck, suck, suck. Stim, stim, stim.”

He’s not always successful. There are times when these measures fail. This, however, is not one of those times.

Dr. Nowell’s team immediately follows up, intubating the baby and providing bag mask ventilation, all of it coming together in under a minute as they rush him to an ICU where he’s plugged into life support, in this case a Siemens Servo 300, loaded with red lights and green lights and plenty of bells and whistles.

Life it seems will continue but it’s no easy march. Monitors record EKG activity, respiratory functions, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, as well as end tidal CO2. There’s a ventilator. There are also IV pumps and miles of IV lines.

As expected, nurses, a respiratory therapist and a multitude of doctors crowd the room, all of them there simply because they are the ones able to read the situation.

The red and green lights follow the baby’s every breath. Red numbers display the exact amount of pressure needed to fill his fragile lungs. A few minutes pass and the SAT (oxygen saturation) monitor, running off the SAT probe, begins to register a decline. Dr. Nowell quickly responds by turning the infant’s PEEP (Positive End Expiratory Pressure) up by 10 to compensate for the failing oxygenation, this happening while the EKG faithfully tracks every heartbeat, the curve of each P wave or in this case normal QRS, while also on the monitor, the central line and art line, drawn straight from the very source, a catheter placed in the bellybutton, records continuous blood pressure as well as blood gasses.

The mother, of course, sees none of this. She sees only her baby boy, barely breathing, his tiny fingers curled like sea shells still daring to clutch a world.

Later, Dr. Nowell and other experts will explain to her that her son has holes in his brain. He will not make it. He can only survive on machines. She will have to let him go.

But the mother resists. She sits with him all day. And then she sits with him through the night. She never sleeps. The nurses hear her whispering to him. They hear her sing to him. A second day passes. A second night. Still she doesn’t sleep, words pouring out of her, melodies caressing him, tending her little boy.

The charge nurse starts to believe they are witnessing a miracle. When her shift ends, she refuses to leave. Word spreads. More and more people start drifting by the ICU. Is this remarkable mother still awake? Is she still talking to him? What is she singing?

One doctor swears he heart her murmur “Etch a Poor air” which everyone translates quickly enough into something about an etching of Pooh Bear.

When the third day passes without the mother even closing her eyes, more than a handful of people openly suggest the baby will heal. The baby will grow up, grow old, grow wise. Attendants bring the mother food and drink. except for a few sips of water, she touches none of it.

Soon even Dr. Nowell finds himself caught up in this whispered hysteria. He has his own family, his own children, he should go home but he can’t. Perhaps something about this scene stings his own memories. All night long he works with the other preemies, keeping a distant eye on mother and child caught in a tangle of cable and tubing, sharing a private language he can hear but never quite make out.

Finally on the morning of the fourth day, the mother rises and walks over to Dr. Nowell.

“I think it’s time to unplug him,” she says quietly, never lifting her gaze from the floor.

Dr. Nowell is completely unprepared for this and has absolutely no idea how to respond.

“Of course,” he eventually stammers.

More than the normal number of doctors and nurses assemble around the boy, and though they are careful to guard their feelings, quite a few believe this child will live.

Dr. Nowell gently explains the procedure to the mother. First he will disconnect all the nonessential IV’s and remove the nasogastric tube. Then even though her son’s brain is badly damaged, he will administer a little medicine to ensure that there is no pain. Lastly, he and his team will cap the IV, turn off the monitors, the ventilator and remove the endotracheal tube.

“We’ll leave the rest up to …” Dr. Nowell doesn’t know how to finish the sentence, so he just says “Well.”

The mother nods and requests one more moment with her child.

“Please,” Dr. Nowell says as kindly as he can.

“The staff takes a step back. The mother returns to her boy, gently drawing her fingers over the top of his head. For a moment everyone there swears she has stopped breathing, her eyes no longer blinking, focusing deeply within him. Then she leans forward and kisses him on the forehead.

“You can go now,” she says tenderly.

And right before everyone’s eyes, long before Dr. Nowell or anyone else can turn a dial or touch a switch, the EKG flatlines. Asystole.

The child is gone.

House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski) P. 518-520:

[englishinyourface]

The Comma Crisis (ep.12)

Follow along on my podcast:

English in Your Face Ep. 12

Introduction

Hello and welcome to English in Your Face, a podcast for the intermediate and advanced English student. My name is Peter Mangiaracina and today’s podcast is about commas — the comma crisis.

I have just finished correcting about eight medical articles. I do medical translations from time to time and also check the English before publication in American and European journals in English. The two most common mistakes when I do corrections are the misuse of the definite article and the overuse of commas. Last time we talked about articles and how to use them, so today I’m going to talk about when you should use a comma.

Okay

Rule number one

Everyone should know this one, and I don’t really see many problems with it. You use a comma to separate items in a list.

For example: I bought milk, eggs, and cheese at the supermarket Saturday morning.

The last comma before "and" is called the Oxford comma. Although most people believe that this comma is optional, I prefer to use it because it can make a sentence unclear if you don't.

For example:

"They invited two prostitutes, Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway to the bachelor party."

If you write it that way without the Oxford comma, the reader think might think the names of the two prostitutes are Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway.

But if you write the sentence like this:

They invited two prostitutes, Winston Churchill, and Ernest Hemingway to the bachelor party,

then there is no confusion that they invited four people not two prostitutes with wildly unsexy names. Get into the habit of using that Oxford comma and avoid embarrassment.

Rule Number 2

Use a comma when you are beginning another independent clause beginning with a coordinating conjunction such as and, but for, or nor, so, and yet.

For example:

I woke up too early today, and I don’t know why. Another

The museum was closed, so we couldn’t get in.

We talked about independent clauses in an earlier podcast. An independent clause has a subject and a conjugated verb and it stands alone as a sentence:

I woke up too early is an independent clause (and therefore a sentence). I don’t know why is an independent clause and therefore a sentence.

So, we need the commas to separate these two clauses when we use a coordinating conjunction to make it clear they are two separate ideas. But if we take away the second subject in I woke up early today, and I don’t know why and make it I woke up early and don’t know why, you don’t need the comma.

I woke up early and don’t know why.

Rule Number 3

Use a comma when you introduce a sentence with a dependent clause.

Remember that a dependent clause needs to be attached to an independent clause because it doesn’t make sense on its own. A dependent clause would be something like:

When I get home.

That needs to be attached to an independent clause, also called a main clause.

I drink a beer when I get home.

If written like that, you don’t need the comma. But if you put the dependent clause first you need the comma:

When I get home, I drink a beer.

Rule Number 4

Use commas after introductory words, adverbs, and phrases such as unfortunately, finally, however, nevertheless, at first, surprisingly or unsurprisingly:

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money to buy his wife an anniversary gift.

I got the job I wanted. However, the salary is much less than I expected.

Many writers argue against using "however" to begin a sentence, but according to many authorities I trust, it's just fine. The alternative would be to use a semi-colon before however and a comma after it.

I got the job I wanted; however, the salary is a lot less than I expected.

Rule Number 5

Use commas to offset appositives. Appositives are like little definitions or more information about a noun just mentioned in the sentence. For example:

All the soldiers looked up to George Washington, general of the colonial army.

If the appositive comes in the middle of the sentence, you need commas on both sides:

DNA, the master molecule of life, is compsed of two chains forming a double helix.

Nonessential relative clauses also take commas before and after:

Bob, who just got married, is taking his honeymoon in Hawaii.

This piece of information is not essential to a full understanding of the sentence. But in the case of information that is essential, don’t put commas:

The man to whom I spoke yesterday lives somewhere in Valladolid. (formal) OR: The man I spoke to yesterday lives somewhere in Valladolid. (informal) The professor who teaches chemistry at UCLA has published several books. The company that makes those small cars went out of business.

In these cases you need the relative clause to clarify, so no commas. I talked about relative clauses in a previous podcast.

Rule Number 6

Use a comma before you quote someone:

Bob said, "I never go to bed before 1 AM."

Use a comma inside the quotes if you break up what someone said with the attribution:

"One of the most incredible feelings," said Bob, "is jumping out of an airplane."

Rule Number 7

Use a comma to separate the different parts of an address and between the city and the State or province, but no comma before the zip code: I work at 215 Achor Street, Bangor, Maine 04401 Detroit, Michigan became famous as the home of the American automobile.

Rule Number 8

Use a comma to separate the elements of a date and also the date from the rest of the sentence:

Wednesday, March 25, 1976, was the day my son was born.

That comma after the year (1976) seems a little strange to me considering that the entire date is the subject of a sentence and you’re not supposed to separate a subject and a verb with a comma. But that’s what some authorities say to do.

However if it’s just the day or just the month, or the month and the day, or the month and the year,  then there’s no comma:

Wednesday was a day to forget. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. January 23 was supposed to be a boring day. November 2018 started out fine, but then the strangest thing happened.

Rule number 9

Use a comma when you begin a sentence with a freestanding “yes” or “no” Yes, I’ll be there on time. I promise. No, you can’t open another bottle of wine.

Rule number 10

Use a comma when you address someone in a sentence: Peter, would you get the door please? I don’t think you should go outside without an umbrella, Mary. It’s not a good idea, Ellen, to invest all your money in one company.

I hope you can appreciate the difference between: Stop calling Cristina (without the comma) And Stop calling, Cristina

Rule number 11

Use a comma when you are negating something in the same sentence: That’s a baseball, not a softball. That place is a disaster, not somewhere I want to visit.

Rule number 12

Use a comma when you use more than one adjective to describe a noun. There was a big, red heart painted on her bedroom wall. The water park was wet, wild, and loads of fun for the whole family. Be careful with this one. If the last adjective collocates with the following noun, for example April rain, or cell tower, and by collocate  I mean adjectives that normally appear with the nouns that follows them, then don’t put a comma between the adjective that goes with the noun. For example: The truck had a big, diesel engine. It was one of those long, winter nights.

Rule number 13

This is not really about grammar, just a curious difference between how Americans  and some Europeans represent numbers. Okay. I live in Spain, so they write 4 or more digit numbers with a point. One thousand is written in Spain as 1.000. But that’s not the American way, my Spanish friends. We use commas, not points to separate numbers: 1,750,221 is written as... 2, 968 is written as

What is also interesting is the way Spanish people, and I imagine other Europeans, write decimals , you know like 2.5 (two and a half). Spanish people write them with commas. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to clean up this error while correcting the English manuscript of a translation.

[paulbenedictblog]

%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

News So you’ve been asked to self-quarantine. Here’s what you should know. - The Washington Post

News

In complete, coronavirus has infected virtually 100,000 of us around the enviornment and more than 200 within the US.

For that reason, of us have begun prepping in case of a scenario the build doctors whisper them to cease put. Costco, Walmart and Goal customers have cleared shelves of bathroom paper, bagged rice and hand sanitizer.

But as coronavirus concerns spur restricted toddle and quarantine, questions are taking drugs about what it even means to be quarantined. Is all people in quarantine infected? How does it work while you happen to've gotten roommates? Are you going to desire the offers you’re tossing into your having a check up on cart?

What's a quarantine?

When anyone is quarantined, that doesn’t suggest they're infected with the coronavirus.

Quarantines are meant to restrict the motion of these that can perhaps well also had been exposed to the contagious illness however haven’t examined sure.

The Centers for Disease Withhold an eye on and Prevention recommends 14 days to glimpse whether flu-like symptoms carry out. The 14-day incubation length is per what researchers learn about the incubation length of MERS, which is within the identical household as the unconventional coronavirus.

Quarantine also doesn’t suggest you are going to also’t mute reside with your roommates or household. While the CDC recommends you lend a hand to your maintain bedroom, put on a face veil around others, and don’t share dishes, towels or bedding, you don’t need to pass out.

Maintaining your distance and washing your palms are the staunch suggestions to cease the unfold of the virus.

Whenever you produce share one thing while in quarantine, wash it totally with soap and water.

The very most attention-grabbing standard of living change in quarantine is the shortcoming of mobility. The CDC recommends restricting actions start air your situation, moreover when or no longer it is essential to plug to the doctor.

“Affect no longer plug to work, college or public areas,” the CDC advises. “Steer constructive of the utilization of public transportation, trudge-sharing or taxis.”

Dr. Robyn Gershon, an epidemiology professor at New York College, updates a truth sheet day-to-day that she sends to her college students and colleagues with pointers equivalent to ‘don’t trudge the subway while you happen to’re symptomatic.’ She acknowledged she understands it goes to also additionally be complicated to of us, especially when the phrases quarantine and isolation are broken-down interchangeably.

However, she’s optimistic that if attempting out for coronavirus improves, there'll be less of a need to cease secluded for the stout two-week length.

The CDC has considered quarantines earlier than in unique ancient previous. When the H1N1 pandemic broke out in 2009, the agency chose no longer to quarantine. But in this case, public effectively being officials had advance check up on earlier than the virus hit U.S. soil, Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s Nationwide Heart for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, suggested the Los Angeles Times.

“What became once varied about this one is that the outbreak became once caught so early earlier than it in actuality obtained to the US,” she acknowledged. “But here's a scenario the build with any luck attributable to improved international skill and surveillance and lab skill, it became once caught early earlier than it unfold around the enviornment, and we had this window of time in which we would possibly intervene to slack it down. I mediate that is varied from varied situations that we faced.”

What's the variation between quarantine, isolation and social distancing?

Now that you higher realize quarantine, it’s valuable to perceive the design it differs from isolation and social distancing, two phrases being bandied about by consultants within the previous few months.

Isolation is conserving apart these with confirmed infections from the population so that they'll salvage higher without passing on the virus.

Social distancing contains tactics of us employ to separate themselves from others and lower their anxiousness of infection. That can suggest anything else from warding off crowded events to greeting mates with a nod in its build of a smooch or embody.

Cuomo informed New Yorkers on Thursday to trace the recommendation of public effectively being consultants: Don’t shake palms or hug. But he acknowledged that changing your habits would possibly additionally be a scenario.

“I’m of Italian American descent, I’m a hugger,” Cuomo acknowledged. “But precautions all over the flu season, don’t shake palms and don’t hug. All the design by this season with coronavirus, in say for you to take precautions, don’t shake palms, don’t hug.”

When while you happen to self-quarantine?

Companies have also requested their workers to self-quarantine within the occasion that they talk over with affected areas equivalent to northern Italy.

On the total, consultants suggest staying home while you happen to've gotten been in an affirm the build the coronavirus has unfold and you are experiencing symptoms.

Whenever you aren’t obvious whether you should always self-quarantine, quiz a doctor.

How produce you prepare for a quarantine?

First, and sure most important to about a of us, let’s talk food. Groceries that don’t plug execrable — canned soup, rice and pasta — are all without problems accessible and what most of us are stocking their pantries with.

However, Tom Cotter, the director of emergency response and preparedness at Mission Hope, acknowledged of us must in actuality feel free to salvage meals varied than non-perishables.

“The variation between what we're talking about and varied forms of failures like a hurricane or snowstorm is that there’s no indication we’d lose energy,” Cotter acknowledged, adding he recommends frozen meals, as effectively as vegetables and fruit that don’t fracture rapid.

Yet one more false influence is that folks must salvage bottled water prematurely of quarantine, however Cotter acknowledged there might perhaps be not any such thing as a reason to put a question to the water the flows from your sink will be sinister. Whenever you usually drink most attention-grabbing bottled water, in actuality feel free to stock up, however while you happen to are familiar with tap water, there’s no explanation for scenario.

It’s all the time vital to cease hydrated, coronavirus or no longer, Cotter acknowledged.

He acknowledged it’s also key to mediate of what you use on a day-to-day basis: shampoo (with any luck), diapers while you happen to've gotten young of us, canine food on your pet, cleaning offers and bathroom paper.

But there’s this form of component as too important. There’s no need to amass an apocalyptic provide, Cotter cautions.

“Self quarantine isn’t going to last with out a sign of ending,” he acknowledged, “and you’re doubtlessly hurting varied of us while you happen to’re hoarding.”

Mission Hope currently has workers in China, serving to overwhelmed effectively being professionals. Cotter acknowledged the employees largely orders food delivered. Whenever you’re in quarantine, it’s unlikely you’d infect the provision driver, however the most attention-grabbing methodology to deal with far off from contact is to pay online and quiz the driver to leave your package on the doorstep.

Additionally, don’t forget to have one thing to deal with you entertained for these lengthy two weeks. Cotter sold board video games, Scrabble and trivialities.

Affect or no longer it is essential to self-quarantine in case your employer asks you to? What about the government?

The Division of Successfully being and Human Companies, which the CDC falls beneath, has huge authority to quarantine or isolate any individual “moderately believed” to had been exposed to communicable ailments, including cholera, smallpox and infectious tuberculosis.

This unprecedented energy is rooted within the commerce clause of the U.S. Structure, which lets in Congress to lend a hand watch over foreign places and interstate commerce.

Further federal rulemaking has persevered to enhance that authority. For example, a 2017 law says the government can quarantine of us “as lengthy as wanted to offer protection to the public.”

“It’s like a curfew or an evacuation say if a pure catastrophe happens. Perfect like when a hurricane is bearing down, of us are ordered to leave coastal areas because no one can attach them,” Scott Burris, director of the Heart for Public Successfully being Legislation Study at Temple College, suggested The Washington Put up. “If we now have an cheap prospect of forestalling or slowing this virus, although we’re doing it with mittens on, the government can take emergency action.”

As on your firm, while you happen to've gotten an at-will employment settlement and need to protect your job, you should always potentially practice your employer’s toddle restrictions, labor consultants suggest. While you are a member of a union, you might perhaps perhaps even have more protections.

Teresa Bartlett, the senior clinical director at Sedgwick, a claims administration provider, advises firms to practice CDC and World Successfully being Group pointers and to set up both agency’s websites to glimpse if there are unique outbreaks.

The identical goes for workers, who must command their work within the occasion that they are going to a situation with confirmed situations, Bartlett acknowledged.

“It’s vital they self-establish and command their employer, so that they'll design a dwelling from home if at all that you are going to also mediate of,” she acknowledged.

Recently, some firms have restricted nonessential enterprise toddle and situation of work guests, Bartlett acknowledged.

Even while you happen to toddle to a nation without an epidemic, it doesn’t suggest it won’t occur all over your poke, meaning there’s of project you are going to also doubtless be quarantined in a foreign places nation.

For that reason, Bartlett recommends packing additional dresses and toddle-measurement hand sanitizer and wipes.

[mothernatureheals]

The power of bone broths

Bone broths have been used for thousands of years by traditional cultures as a way to nourish the kidneys, tonify the blood, support digestion and replenish the body of much needed minerals and nutrients. Not only are they warming, but they are beneficial for numerous health complaints such as leaky gut (causing complaints such as allergies), irritable bowel syndrome, coeliac disease, malnutrition, malabsorption, connective tissue repair, post-surgery, to boost the immune system, autoimunity, and to promote healthy skin, hair and nails (the list continues).

So, why are bone broths so good for you?

Gelatin (a hydrolysed form of collagen) plays an important role in inhibiting specific cytokines, which are involved in many inflammatory disorders and therefore exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on the intestinal lining. It also enhances digestion, assisting the secretion of gastric acid (digestive juices) to help absorption, while healing the gut. Not to mention the minerals ingested from the broth promote healing throughout the body.

Gelatin also helps to form strong cartilage and connective tissue, containing 18 amino acids including glycine. Glycine protects the stomach lining, is anti-inflammatory, supports the liver and is required for the mother antioxidant (glutathione) production, it helps sleep quality and mood by increasing hormones such as norepinephrine and GABA (altered levels are strongly linked with anxiety and depression). A typical Western diet does not eat the gelatinous parts of animals, such as the skin, marrow and tendons so we are missing out on a whole heap of goodness that has been traditionally consumed to maintain health.

As gelatin is rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur and silicon, it helps to maintain strong bones and to replenish minerals after depletion in situations such as breastfeeding. It also promotes healing after childbirth, most importantly consumed in the mother’s rest period after the birth. Together with collagen, the anti-inflammatory and therapeutic effects reduce joint pain and promote healing in bone related conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, arthritis etc). Similarly, collagen is released from bones in the broths, which is a key builder in tendons, bones, joints, skin and other tissue. Collagen promotes skin elasticity helping with cellulite, anti-ageing and to improve connective tissue.

Drinking broths can be helpful to prevent the cold and flu, while protecting and treating upper respiratory tract infections. Broths contain so many minerals and vitamins and in addition to what’s already been mentioned, they contain zinc, vitamin A, vitamin C, B vitamins and protein (and more) which are essential for maintaining health. It is so important to eat nutrient dense meals, as we are so easily depleted of vitamins and minerals in today’s world due to stress, toxins, alcohol, lack of sleep, poor food choices, and the list continues....

Hopefully you are now convinced that broths are important for health. So let me tell you how I’ve been able to make the perfect broth - after numerous trial and error attempts (and one completely burnt attempt). Not a lot can go wrong - just don’t let it run out of water and over-cook it ;)

As a summary, you will need:

Grass fed meat, or free range chicken bones (Beef - marrow bones. Chicken - bones and feet (a lot of butchers need to order the feet in). 

Gravy beef x2, or chicken wings x2 (optional)

Apple cider vinegar

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

2/3 onions

Parsley

Garlic and other fresh herbs 

Firstly, I use grass fed beef only. Or free range chicken. Get your bones from a reliable butcher. Go easy on the bigger animals too, as bigger means more toxins, chemicals - and smaller is always more environmentally friendly!

I get the butcher to cut the bones into thirds. This will mean it’s easier to leach the minerals out and more will fit in the pot! I then put about 5 or 6 pieces of bone in.

Sit the bones in a pot semi-covered in apple cider vinegar for 30 minutes - 1 hour which will help to draw the minerals out of the bones.

Fill up the pot with water.

Cut up carrots, celery and onions into thirds or quarters. Then add them to the water that also has the bones and water in it.

If you want some extra protein and nutrients, add in two pieces of gravy beef, or chicken wings for a chicken broth. It will add more flavour, and cooking it over hours makes it easier to digest.

Bring everything to boil, scrape off any fuzzy looking bits that float on top of the water, then simmer (see simmer times below).

Either strain the broth or scoop out the soup for each meal. Let it cool first, place in glass jars or leave it in the pot with the bones to reheat on the stove the next day with some freshly chopped vegetables if you wish (keep in the fridge). The bones continue to give for up to 3 days.

It takes at least 2 hours for the gelatin and minerals to begin to leach, so here are some recommended simmer times:

Beef marrow bones: 8 hours (gas), 24 hours (slow cooker).

Chicken: 4 hours (gas), 12 hours (slow cooker).

Fish: 1-2 hours - the longer it’s cooked, the more bitter it goes.

Always eat the vegetables that have been simmering - they also soak up the goodness! You can mash them, or use them in a soup.

Some things to note:

Broths are fairly high in histamine. So care if you have a histamine intolerance. The longer you cook = the higher the histamine.

Don’t be alarmed if a thick white-ish layer of fat appears on top of the liquid the next morning, it means it will keep longer with that on it! (And once you reheat it, the HEALTHY fat will just blend in to the liquid once more - ensure you only consume the fat if the animals were grass fed just to reduce toxins). You can also use the fat to cook with, as an alternative to oil.

As you are cooking, a sign of jelly means you haven’t over-cooked the bones and have not used too much water - this means you are on track!

Enjoy the beautiful, nourishing feeling after your broth - happy healing to you my friend x

References from:

Asserin, J., Lati, E., Shioya, T., & Prawitt, J. (2015). The effect of oral collagen peptide supplementation on skin moisture and the dermal collagen network: evidence from an ex vivo model and reandomised, placebo controlled clinical trials. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 14(4), 291-301.

Frasca, G., Cardile, V., Puglia, C., Bonina, C., & Bonina, F. (2012). Gelatin tannate reduces the proinflammatory effects of lipopolysaccharide in human intestinal epithelial cells. Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology, 5, 61–67.

Moskowitz, R. W. (2000). Role of collagen hydrolysate in bone and joint disease. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, 30(2), 87-99.

Razak, M. A., Begum, P. S., Viswanath, B., & Rajagopal, S. (2017). Multifarious Beneficial Effect of Nonessential Amino Acid, Glycine: A Review. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2017, 1716701.

Rennard, B. O., Ertl, R. F., Gossman, G. L., Robbins, R. A., & Rennard, S. I. (2000). Chicken soup inhibits neutraphil chemotaxis in vitro. Chest, 118(4), 1150-1157.

Schauss, A. G., Stenehjem, J., Park, J., Endres, J. R., & Clewell, A. (2012). Effect of the novel low molecular weight hydrolysed chicken sternal cartilage extract BioCell Collagen, on improving osteoarthritis-related symptoms: a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 60(16), 4096-4101.

Oesser, S., Adam, M., Babel, W., & Seifert, J. (1999). Oral administration of (14)C labeled gelatin hydrosate leads to an accumulation of radioactivity in cartilage of mice (C57/BL). The Journal of Nutrition, 129(10), 1891-1895.

[marafisher]

Moving Forward

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” Albert Einstein.

For most of us, the onset of a new year brings a renewed sense of starting over, clearing the slate, recommitting to change. You may revel in the accomplishments of the bygone year while lamenting over losses or achievements left unfulfilled. Perhaps you are experiencing a lingering weariness from the holidays and getting back on track seems a bit arduous. How do we find that balance of relishing what has passed while keeping the faith for what is yet to come? In other words, how can we refuel our ability to move forward?

Take an honest look at all the challenges you have faced thus far and give yourself an enormous pat on the back. We do this for others with ease, but when it comes to acknowledging our own successes, the list is often skimpy. Recall the days you were tired but cared for your family despite the fatigue or the extra efforts you made for a friend or a colleague. Remember your new habit of drinking more water or eating less sugar or breathing before reacting. Success is the sum of all the small steps you take along the way. Honor yourself for the courage it took to overcome life’s hurdles. When we remind ourselves of our unique victories, no matter how large or small, we renew our conviction to infinite potential and possibility.

Evaluate your definition of what constitutes being a successful person. Are integrity and kindness factored in? Moving forward sometimes means taking some time to examine your values and goals. Do you yearn for more meditative time or a less hectic lifestyle? Then moving forward may mean subtracting; and taking out the tedious nonessentials that keep you from achieving that goal. As the saying goes, less is more. Substituting the urge to acquire more things for the desire to simplify or de-clutter may free up time for creative endeavors. Perhaps moving forward means loosening the reins of controlling a loved one. The side effect is more time to be present in your own life to be free from judgements and expectations that don’t belong to you.

Believe that change can happen. Human beings are dynamic, our cells are continually rejuvenating themselves. If you took a MRI of your body today and another in a few months, they would look different. A close friend of mine has a favored quote “the one thing we can rely on is change.” It happens whether we want it or not. Choose to be an active participant in the kind of change that shapes your life in the way you envision it.

Moving forward means developing patience and steadfastness. When you read about a writer celebrating their award winning novel or a teacher being rewarded for their contributions, what lies under the surface is the years of plodding ahead with no reward in sight. There is no such thing as an overnight sensation, despite what the tabloids may have us believe. Every stride towards being a whole individual is a step towards creating a meaningful life.

Remember, it is never too late to hop on the train and travel to your next destination. No matter your age or circumstance, you have the innate ability to change, to move forward. Each day we are given a new opportunity to start again. And although you may have setbacks, perhaps they are simply necessary rest stops to peer back over the terrain you’ve crossed until that next whistle blows and onward you go.

Moving Forward was originally published on Bridge of Life