Good Evening,
I recently graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science from the University of South Florida (plus a minor in Biology). I’m currently relocating to Atlanta with my mother to save up for a little bit (1 or 2 years), then I plan on getting a Master’s of Science in Environmental Science or Ecology somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve currently been on the job hunt looking for opportunities in the Environmental Science field in the Atlanta, GA area, which has been a little bit tough breaking into the job market.
I’ve applied to a fair bit of public sector positions, got one interview to be a water quality technician (but rejected it because it would require me to commute 1.5 hours with traffic everyday). I’ve been referred to a few hiring managers, got rejected two times, but most of them are still “under review” or “referred to hiring manager” and have been that way for months. I would prefer to work in the public sector because I prefer the style of working there and it feels more meaningful, but at this point I am also considering private sector / Environmental Consulting because I just need to get a job and make some money to live. I’ve also applied to a few lab technician jobs and public health related jobs because of a fairly decent biology background and lab work background, but so far no luck with these (though I’ve applied more recently with these so I just need to be patient).
I’m just seeking advice/guidance on whether or not I should give up on public sector jobs due to their low pay in the Atlanta area, and just go with something like Environmental Consulting, or if I should just keep trying for a public sector job and do something like Doordash, etc until I can get hired. I’m definitely going to get a masters degree in a couple years, but as just a post-bachelor’s person, getting into the Environmental Science workforce is quite difficult.
As far as experience goes, I have worked on two paid ecology based undergraduate research projects, and was a NSF REU internship participant, on an evolutionary-biology based project. I’m proficient in environmental related laboratory work, along with being proficient in a few areas of biology laboratory work (mostly within ecology, but also evolutionary-biology and genetics). I’m also proficient in ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap, ENVI (Remote Sensing), and RStudio, and currently trying to self-teach Python for GIS applications.

I've commented a few times in a few posts about my family's experience going through the F-1 to H-1B to GC route to migrate to the US and I've received a lot of questions over the DM, many of which I thought were pretty basic. I thought it might be helpful to put this primer together so folks know the right questions to ask and approach their planning more strategically.
This post is going to be very candid. I've noticed that the questions I've received come from misconceptions about higher education, F-1 visa, and what comes after graduation. I want to give folks the right information, but also temper expectations and give a realistic portrait of what it means and takes to use the student pathway to legally and permanently reside in the US. It is not a stroll in the park, and I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea.

BACKGROUND

Two of my siblings plus myself are all here in the US via the student visa route. I received my green card in 2021 after being in the US for nearly 4 years. After receiving my Masters at a prestigious university, I was hired immediately by an organization willing to sponsor my H-1B, which they did so after two years of employment under STEM-OPT work authorization. My employer started putting together my I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, which is the start of the process for an employment-based green card) shortly after receiving approval of my H-1B. As the paperwork was being put together, my partner and I decided to get married and I switched from employment-based green card to marriage-based green card. The employment-based green card would have added around a 3 year wait if we went through with it, while my marriage-based green card was approved in less than a year.
Both my siblings are currently in the same pathway. One received their Bachelors last year, was hired before graduation and has recently received approval for her H-1B. Their employer has committed to sponsoring their employment-based green card next year. My other sibling received their MFA last year and is now in the process of getting their O-1, which is a different kind of work visa. Like me, they both came to the US with a student visa. We were all very strategic about the programs we chose and how we approached networking within our industries.
We also prepared for years. I knew I wanted to get my Masters and permanently reside in the US even before I finished college in Manila. My siblings also knew that early on. So as a family we planned for years, including preparing financially because we knew that we had a very slim chance of getting free rides for our planned degrees. Our early planning also helped with our professional decision-making, because we became very strategic about what kinds of jobs we took after graduation in Manila (except our youngest sibling, who did her Bachelors in the US, so her planning revolved around her academic career in high school). I would say from start (initial planning) to finish (with the last sibling also now on the way to permanent residency), it took about a decade.

GETTING STARTED

Is the student pathway the right pathway for you?
The first question you should ask yourself: can you afford the student pathway to permanent residency in the US? Higher education in the US is not cheap. Universities very rarely offer full scholarships to Masters programs, and those that do are incredibly competitive. So you cannot depend on scholarships to help you pay for your degree--doing so will likely end in disappointment.
(PhDs are usually free and includes a living stipend, but the application process for PhDs are on a whole other level. I will not cover it here but I can answer any questions related to applying for PhDs.)
Most Masters programs in the US are two-year programs, and the average cost of a Masters degree is around $60,000 per year (source). That's $120,000--almost Php7,000,000--in two years. That is a lot of money. That does not include your cost of living, which depending on the location can vary. I personally spent around $1000 on living expenses every month (housing was through the school, so the cost of that was included in my tuition statement)--and that is living frugally in a very high cost of living city. That's an additional $12,000 per year. Of course, you can lower than number by living with family if that option is available to you.
So on average, you would need around Php4,200,000 per year for your Masters degree. Again, a lot of money. It goes without saying that the student pathway is a very expensive pathway to permanent residency in the US. Can it also be a quicker pathway than, say, being sponsored by a sibling? It can be, but that depends on how long it will take for you to save up for tuition.
What if you can make those numbers work? What else should you know?
I need to put this upfront: the F-1 student visa is a non-immigrant visa. Meaning that it is a visa meant for people who will enter the US on a temporary basis. This is why the student visa has no direct pathway or benefit to permanent residency in the US. You need to change status inside the US to one with immigrant intent or double intent to be able to be on that pathway or receive that benefit. That's where visas like the H-1B visa comes in.
You also cannot work outside of your school on an F-1 visa. During the school year, you are allowed to work part-time on campus, and during the summer you are allowed to work full-time on campus. Work outside of the school is only allowed if it's part of your curriculum (i.e. your program has a class for "onsite internship") and you are allowed to be paid while that opportunity is going on. You can do this part-time, but most legitimate universities will have limited opportunities for this (i.e. under your program you're only allowed to take credit for onsite internships one or two semesters). However, your eligibility to work full-time after getting your degree will be affected if you do this full-time for one year. If you want to jump from F-1 to H-1B, this is not something you want to do.
Your ability to bring dependents to the US on a student visa is also limited. You can only bring your spouse and unmarried children under 21. Dependents of F-1 visa holders are not allowed to work in the US (although children under 21 can go to school full-time). This means your spouse cannot work while in the United States, and that includes working remotely for a company in the Philippines.

APPLYING TO PROGRAMS

The student visa still seems like my best option. What's next?
The next step starts with you. I've received a good number of DMs asking me "Is Master of ABC the right course for me?" or "Will a Master of DEF get me a green card?" These are not the right questions to ask because they're not going to get you any good answers. Yes, we know the ultimate goal for taking your Masters in the US to get permanent residency. But the true purpose of getting a Masters in the US is to make you highly marketable and competitive to US employers that will be willing to sponsor your work visa and petition you for your permanent residency.
So you need to view this degree as a way to level yourself up professionally. I absolutely do not suggest getting a Masters degree in something "you already know"--the objective is not to coast while spending Php4,200,000 a year--but to be so much better at what you're already doing. Here's an example.

Maria Clara graduated from Accounting at a good university in Manila and now has around 2 years of experience as a CPA at the finance and accounting department at a multinational corporation based in Makati. She wants to get her permanent residency to the US via the student pathway and has done a significant amount of research on possible Masters programs and career paths in accounting in the US. She started reading into forensic accounting and realized how interested she is in various aspects of this career path. After looking through universities and programs, she has put SUNY Albany's MS in Forensic Science at the top of her list for a variety of reasons. One, it meets the education requirements for certified public accountant licensure in the state of New York. Two, even without a scholarship of financial aid, the costs for international students is not exorbitant at $23,000/Php1,320,000 for the year-long program--with some frugal living and help from relatives in the US, she can save that amount in 3-4 years. Three, New York is the center of global commerce--all the biggest companies and their accounting firms are either headquartered or have large offices in New York City, so she has a wide swath of employment options. Now she just has to get her ducks in a row and make sure her Bachelors meets the requirements for application, as well as put together a shortlist of other programs she should apply and create a timeline for herself and the milestones that need to be hit to make this dream a reality.

Bottomline is, your starting point in this entire process is reflection and research. You need to reflect on your own professional experience and skills, as well as your interests. You need to figure out which pathway will give you that professional and technical boost and do your research on available programs at reputable universities, what the job market looks like for your target profession, which companies are known to hire in this space.
Of course, you should also take into consideration your limitations. For example, you can only go to school in San Diego because you can stay with relatives while you're studying. That means your research is location-limited to however far you think you can commute.
When this is properly done, it should lead you to a place where you have a shortlist of programs to apply to. Each program will have their own application and testing requirements, as well as their own deadlines, so make sure to keep track of that.
PRO TIP: while grades during college are an important part of your application, many graduate programs put a lot of weight on your personal statement and professional recommendation letters. This is why the first step on reflection is critical--it gives you a good direction from which to build your story, which you will need to convince admissions committees to accept you into their programs.

ACCEPTANCE

I got into one of my top programs and I have my finances in order! What happens now?
Now it's time to apply for your F-1 visa. Your university will provide you with the documentation you need from them (this is mainly the I-20 and your acceptance letter), but the bulk of the documentation you need to present to the visa officer will mostly come from you. Namely, because the F-1 is a non-immigrant visa, you need to show strong ties to the Philippines. This can take a variety of forms, and oftentimes your mileage may vary especially depending on the school you will be attending (i.e. there will be less scrutiny if you're going to Harvard as compared to a university that's not that known).
If you did not receive a scholarship with your acceptance, you also need to show that you are able to afford the first year of matriculation. So bank statements containing the total amount of tuition, as well as room and board, will be important (usually the I-20 that the university will issue you will include this amount).
At the interview, be polite and only answer the questions asked. Do not offer up information not asked by the visa officer. I suggest you have a ready answer if the visa officer asks you why this particular school and program, but you should have this answer already if you followed my advice about reflecting and researching before applying to programs :)
Visa is approved and on hand! What do I do while I wait to leave for the US?
Networking starts the moment you receive your passport with your F-1 visa. You absolutely cannot and should not waste a single minute of your active student visa, so this is the time you start telling people that you're going to be studying in the US. You need to work your current network and find peers and mentors who will be willing to connect you with colleagues they know who work in the US or have ties to the US in your professional field. Let's go back to Maria Clara as an example.

Finally, after years of hard work, Maria Clara has her desired acceptance into SUNY's MS in Forensic Accounting program, and her F-1 visa was approved by the embassy without any issues. After celebrating with her family, she lets her boss know about her visa approval, who has been one of her most ardent cheerleaders during this entire process. Her boss has also offered to introduce her to their counterparts in the US once she got her visa approved, which is really important to Maria Clara--she knows she needs to get ahead of networking professionally since her time in the US is limited. She has also reached out to other people she knows in the company that engage frequently with teams in the US. She's messaged her college professors as well, as she knows that a number of alumni from her college have migrated to the US. Her plan is to get connected with as many professionals in her field as possible, connect with them in person once she's in the US, and build a rapport with as many connections as possible so she can be guided accordingly and stand out when the time to apply for jobs comes.

Remember that unlike US citizens (USC) and legal permanent residents (LPR), your time in the US is limited and bound by the rules set by your visa. So you have to be creative and get ahead in some way. You need to be more prepared and more strategic than USCs and LPRs because you simply do not have the time to dilly dally. Yes, enjoy and savor in the moment of seeing the fruits of your labor, but the hard part begins now. You simply do not have time to waste.

DURING THE PROGRAM

I'm in the US now and working harder than ever! Is there anything more I can do to set myself apart from others?
Other than to make sure you have high grades and you're setting aside time to build professional relationships, it's time to think outside the box. Remember that you are limited by the rules of the F-1 visa, so experiences such as an off-campus summer internship is off limits to you. You will need to find ways to strengthen your resumé that doesn't include working off campus, and that could take many forms. One of the most effective recommendations I've received on this is to do an independent research during the summer--you could do it via a professor whose class you really liked, or if you've made inroads with some of the connections you've been building since getting your visa, have a professor oversee a research project you could do with those connections. (This is still academic work, and many programs will give credit for this, so it is not considered off-campus work under the eyes of USCIS.) You can use your research to really elevate your skills and experiences when applying for jobs.
It's also time to seriously start looking at potential employers. You can use the connections you've built to get a sense of what the professional landscape is for your field, learn about peoples' experiences at various companies and organizations, and get a feel for hiring processes. Remember, you don't have a lot of time to apply for jobs once you near the end of your program, so you have to be armed with the right information to guide your job hunting strategy. You will need to put yourself out there and be the best version of your professional self if you want employers to disregard that they will need to spend more money to hire you rather than a USC or LPR who doesn't need sponsorship.

LAST SEMESTER AND GRADUATION

I'm in my last semester of my program! Any tips?
The last semester is usually job hunting season, so make sure that resumé is polished and your network is activated. By now, if you've done the leg work, you will have a shortlist of potential employers and you will have made connections in most, if not all, of them. Time to check-in and ensure that they know you're interested in joining their company and you'd like their support and guidance in doing so. This is one of the harder parts of this journey, and you have to be relentless. Use all the resources at your disposal to ensure your resumé is seen by as many eyes as possible, and that includes speaking to your professors, especially your favorite ones, so they can also lend a hand.
More importantly: submit your work permit application (more commonly known as OPT) as early as possible to avoid delays and getting stuck in the USCIS backlog. You need this permit to be able to work after graduation for a limited time (one year for graduates of non-STEM programs, with an additional two years for graduates of STEM programs) without needing to immediately require H-1B sponsorship.
Getting employed by a company willing to sponsor you is not the end of the line. All for-profit companies are subject to the H-1B lottery, which means you will be competing with other internationals for the limited number of H-1B visas allotted every year. So even with an employer willing to sponsor, the H-1B visa is still not guaranteed. You can work around this by joining what is a called a cap-exempt organization instead, and USCIS classifies those as institutions of higher education, nonprofit entities related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and governmental research organizations. That means more research, and more targeted strategic networking, given that your employer pool now is limited.

EPILOGUE

The student visa is not an easy or cheap pathway to permanent residency in the US. It is getting harder and harder to beat out USCs and LPRs for great jobs in companies that have the experience and resources to sponsor H-1Bs and GCs. You need to do your research every step of the way and prepare to do some really grueling work in order to be the better investment for these companies. Plus, there is the luck element of the H-1B lottery. But it's not impossible. It can and does happen--my family is a great example of it (we're 3 for 3 in this pathway now). Your preparation and willingness to go the extra mile is critical, and you have to be ready to grind for a while. Rest often only comes when the green card is approved.
For those still considering the student visa pathway to migrate to the US after reading this very long post--good luck, and may the force be with you.

My name is Jessica, and I live in a small central American city of about 80,000 people.Today I'm going to share a story about Korea.First, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my family.When I was born, I already had an older brother.I don't mean just a little sister with an older brother.My brother was adopted from Korea.It's an unusual situation, isn't it? My parents struggled with infertility for several years before I was born, and they ended up adopting my Korean brother.Then, a few years later, they got pregnant with me, and I was born.My brother had different hair color, skin color, and eye color than me, but we got along very well.Even though we knew from a young age that we were adopted because of our differences, we got along well, and we were a family that loved each other deeply.
We played the same games, read books together, and spent a lot of time together. He always took good care of me, and he was a good brother who made me laugh.
I would say, “Brother, let's read this book together!” and he would always smile and read it to me. I think I liked and enjoyed his warmth to me, rather than focusing on the content of the book.
When we left our cozy home environment, it was time to go to school, and during this time, my brother and I were asked a lot of embarrassing questions.One day, while my brother and I were playing together, a friend asked me, “Jessica, why does your brother look different from you?”The question gave me pause, but he smiled and replied, “Because we are a family, looks don't matter. His positive attitude had a good effect on me, and I'm sure he had a good effect on himself, too.Watching him grow up right, and our family became interested in Korea. If he was a troublemaker and always in trouble, he wouldn't have had the time to take the time to learn about his country of origin, Korea, but when he studied well, didn't fight with his friends, and was a good person who always loved and cared for his brother, we couldn't help but wonder about his roots.
I think my parents also had the will to share Korean culture with my brother and me, to learn what they could, to broaden our horizons and deepen our family's understanding.Many years ago, when I was in middle school, my family visited Korea for the first time, and the experience left a great impression on me.
We visited many tourist spots in Seoul and saw the harmonious combination of Korean tradition and modernity.And Korea, with its many dark-haired, dark-eyed people like my brother, was somehow not foreign to me.For Americans traveling to Asia for the first time, this could have been difficult because people look different and give off different vibes, but not for me. My parents, of course, were very excited to revisit Korea, the country of my brother's birth, and spoke so many blessings about the land of my brother's birth.Of course, there were many good things to see and many fun things to do in Korea, but the most memorable moment was when I suddenly developed a high fever.
It was a quiet night in Korea at the time, and I suddenly developed a high fever.This change was so sudden that my parents panicked.Eventually, with the help of the hotel we were staying at, they were able to get me to the emergency room in Korea, where I was quickly treated.Upon arrival, the medical staff quickly assessed my condition and ran the necessary tests.The whole process was organized, and thanks to the professionalism and quick response of the medical staff, I was able to get comfortable quickly. My situation was so serious that my head hurt like a rock and I could barely understand what was being said around me, but thanks to their quick response, my fever started to come down and I was able to return to my senses.The tests showed that I had a severe flu, which had been contracted in the United States and had incubated in Korea.I had to stop traveling in Korea and be admitted to the hospital for treatment, but thanks to the fast and efficient healthcare system in Korea, this was not a problem.
My parents breathed a sigh of relief and expressed their deep gratitude to the Korean healthcare system.“If it wasn't for Korea, I would have been in trouble,” my father said.Although my family had to stop our trip to Korea and spend the rest of my stay in a Korean hospital, looking back, it was also a unique experience abroad.
Many years later, as an adult, my relationship with my brother was still good. We enjoyed Korean dramas, movies, and music together, cooked Korean food together, and learned Korean together.
However, there was a clear difference between me and him: he seemed to be better at learning, even if he spent the same amount of time studying, and he went to a prestigious university, while I failed to get into college and became depressed.
He helped me with my studies every vacation, taught me how to study, and helped me to get into a prestigious university, but the results were not good. I was rejected by all the universities I applied to, and I was going through a very difficult time. After he graduated from college, he moved back home from the East Coast of the United States and helped me study for the college entrance exam, and with his help, I was able to get into college, albeit late.
Although I didn't get into a prestigious university like my brother, I still had a satisfying college experience and broadened my horizons.Naturally, I discovered that Korea has been on the global radar lately, which was very exciting.Korea may be the latest trend for Americans these days, but for me and my brother, it's like going back to our roots.I've always loved Korea, and it was very interesting and fond to reminisce about my trip to Korea when I was in middle school and look through my photo albums, even though half the time I was sick. So, my brother and I decided to visit Korea again, and this time, we had several goals for the trip: we wanted to make sure that we got it right this time, because we didn't get it right the first time, and my brother wanted to get to know his Korean roots better, even though he is now an adult, working as an American and living as an American, and I wanted to get to know my Korean roots better in relation to my major in college, and this time, I wanted to research more about the Korean healthcare system that I had experienced as a child.
Of course, I also wanted to have fun in Korea and enjoy the freedom to roam around the country unlike when I was a student, but I didn't take it too seriously.
Korea was so different from the U.S. It had the look of a big city in the U.S., but it had its own unique vibe. It was much more developed than the neighborhoods we live in in the U.S., and everywhere you looked was filled with people, and there were hundreds or thousands of stores selling a variety of things. If you were walking around and traveling, and you got thirsty and needed a break, there were cafes all around you that you could just pop into and take a break, and you didn't have to go far to find a restaurant that had one Korean food and sold it, because all the infrastructure was there.
Everything is around you, and everything you want or need is always right around the corner, which is why people call city life so convenient and love it.The public transportation system in Korea, which is light years better than the big cities in the U.S., helped us get around without any difficulty.It was also so much fun to get a T-money card, carry it around, and use it to get around Korea for a very low cost.
And when my brother and I would walk around, going to cafes, restaurants, and other places where there was something to do, many Koreans would tell us that we made a good looking couple.When I would tell them, in a pleasant and complimentary way, that we were actually brother and sister, they would look surprised and apologize.
But it's completely understandable, because even in the U.S., more people think of us as a couple or friends than they do as siblings, and there's not much of an adoption culture in Korea, and no one adopts and brings European or American children to Korea, so it's no wonder we get these funny misunderstandings.
To be honest, even in the U.S. nowadays, you can still encounter people who ask my brother and I questions about our relationship with unpleasant intentions to hurt us, assuming that we are not a couple or friends, but maybe even a man.A recent memory is of an American grandfather in his 70s who made a very rude remark to us, asking us what kind of father our father was to have two women give birth at the same time.
In the U.S., most people are friendly and kind to me, but the problem is that some people sometimes make fun of my brother because he looks Asian, but this was not the case in Korea at all.No one discriminated against me because of my different appearance.
And there's actually a story I wasn't going to tell in this article, but I'm writing it down because I had my brother's permission to do so.After arriving in Korea, we decided to search for my adopted brother's birth parents in order to trace his roots.My parents and I respected his decision to pursue this endeavor in Korea, and of course, we decided to support it. We visited the Korean adoption agency and requested my brother's adoption records.The representative provided us with all the information possible and was eager to help us, saying that efforts to find one's roots are ongoing every day.Together, we were able to find some important clues in the records.
My brother decided to visit his birthplace based on those clues, and of course, I joined him on the journey.We were always laughing since we came to Korea, but at this moment, there was more seriousness than laughter.We visited my brother's birthplace together and talked to the local people.
At the time, there was only a vague record of my brother's father and mother, but no proper records, so we only knew where he was born, and we had to go there and find someone who had lived there for a long time.But Korea is a very fast-developing country, and the sad thing is that the area where my brother was born and spent the first few months of his life was already torn down and replaced by a huge apartment complex. We felt that if we had come sooner, at least before these new apartments were built, things would have been at least better than they were, but there was no point in regretting what had passed.We visited the social welfare center and police station in the area, explained our situation, and asked for help.The Korean people were very kind, listening to my brother's story and letting us know what we could do.
We were told that when a new apartment building is built in Korea, new people who have no connection to the area move into the apartment, but that some of the people who live in these new apartments have been living here for a long time, most likely elderly people, and that the best thing to do is to find them and ask them about their past.We felt that this information would be very useful to us, as we were very confused and frustrated.
So my brother and I, along with a Korean lady who felt sorry for us and wanted to help, approached the elderly people who came in and out of the apartment and asked them questions.But despite all our efforts, we were unsuccessful in finding my brother's biological parents.We had many clues and information, but we were unable to find any conclusive evidence.My brother was disappointed, but we were comforted by the fact that we had done our best. Maybe if we could have spent a few weeks, maybe even a few months here to find and talk to an elderly person with memories of the past, we could have found a clue to the solution, but we couldn't stay in Korea, so in the end, we had to give up without proceeding any further.When I saw the look on my brother's face as he said that if he had the chance, he would visit Korea next time for this sole purpose, I felt a great sense of disappointment.“It's a shame that we couldn't find them, but thank you for trying,” he said to me.I couldn't say it anymore.
It would have been great if he could have completed his homework, but he didn't.Contrary to my initial expectations, the Korean adoption agency tried to be as helpful as possible, and I was very grateful to the government officials in the place of my brother's supposed birth, who were very sympathetic to his situation and actively tried to help him, and to the Korean lady who passed by.
Having been treated by the Korean healthcare system in the past, I took this level of care for granted and thought that it was something that everyone could enjoy, but then, when I was a high school student in the U.S., I was seriously ill and did not receive the same care as I did in Korea, so I remember suffering terribly and tried to understand why this difference occurred.
Before I came to Korea, I had already arranged to meet with someone, and although I didn't get to visit any specialized institutions, I was able to meet with Korean college students, and I learned a lot of information from them: medical students, pharmacy students, and I was able to get a lot of information from them.
The Korean healthcare system was different from the U.S. in many ways: it was fast, efficient, and provided a high level of care at a relatively low cost.The quick response and organized system for emergencies was especially impressive.The emergency rooms in Korea were very reasonably priced, allowing people to go to them for minor and mild symptoms.At this point, I thought that if there were a lot of people going to the emergency room for minor symptoms, it would be a problem if someone came in who needed emergency care, but the hospitals in Korea made it very easy to answer that question. I also learned that when a really urgent patient comes in, the emergency room prioritizes the emergency patients and treats them first, ignoring the minor ones. It's so simple and obvious: the doctors have the skills to determine the severity of the patient's condition, and they can prioritize the treatment accordingly.
Not only that, but it was very easy to get an appointment in Korea and the wait time was short. The Korean medical staff emphasized patient care and prompt treatment, and they utilized the latest medical technology and equipment to provide the best possible medical care.
In the U.S., medical care is often very expensive, complicated, and difficult to access quickly, and many people are unable to get proper treatment due to insurance issues.I also received prompt treatment in Korea when I was in middle school without insurance and had to pay a reasonable price, but the experience was a nightmare as I remember being very sick in middle school and high school, and I felt that the Korean system was far superior.I felt that the Korean healthcare system is not for profit, but is dedicated to protecting the health of the people.
Through my experiences in Korea, I learned about a much broader world than what my brother and I knew before.There are many factors that make Korea such a great country, but the culture and system that my brother and I experienced firsthand helped us understand why.And most of all, Korea is the country that made my brother.I have grateful feelings for Korea, which is also my brother's roots.
My brother and I could tell without speaking to each other that through this visit, we saw in each other a willingness to continue to love Korea more and more, and to strive to learn and understand Korean culture.
Korea is now a country that has special meaning to me as an adult, and I think it will be a great pleasure for me to honor my brother's roots and watch Korea develop and grow.I will continue to connect with Korea and try to help more people discover its charms.
And next year, he plans to visit Korea to find his roots once again. He plans to stay in Korea for more than a month, and he will continue his best efforts during that period.

Let's analyze an article that's not written from an employee's perspective and pushes the RTO narrative.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2024/05/27/less-high-paying-work-from-home-jobs/73838325007/

Analysis

TLDR
The article from USA Today (what about Tomorrow?) argues that high-paying remote and hybrid jobs have drastically decreased, suggesting a return-to-office trend. It uses scare tactics like highlighting a significant drop in $250,000 remote jobs, low percentages of remote work, relentless return-to-office mandates, and potential regulatory changes. Other tactics include framing remote work as a mere temporary pandemic solution, emphasizing managerial preferences for in-person supervision (without exceptions), and implying job insecurity for those resisting return-to-office mandates. Quoting influential CEOs like Jamie Dimon reinforces the narrative. The article appears biased, potentially driven by media sensationalism and sponsorship influences.

A few considerations

• Using the term Rude Awakening: The term "rude awakening" frames the entire article within the optics of inevitability (despite nothing is inevitable in this world), and I see it used in many other publications, always when speaking about RTO.
  
• Regulatory Changes: It mentions that FINRA could be reinstating rules making remote work more challenging - but then it also mentions FINRA denied that its rule requires people to work in the office five days a week (hilarious to see claim and related disproof appear a few words away from each other!).
  
• Managerial Preferences: The article states that managers prefer in-person supervision and visibility (it doesn't mention that most managers are stuck between a rock and a hard place, in the uncomfortable position of having to enforce rules dictated by higher-ups).
  
• Resistance to Change: It suggests some managers are attached to past ways of working, making remote work seem more unsustainable across the board than it potentially is.
  
• Conflict and Tension: The mention of control and supervision introduces a narrative of conflict between employees' desire for flexibility and managers' need for control, as if all the managers actually belonged to the controlling type.
  
• Questioning Effectiveness: By highlighting managerial preferences for in-person supervision, the article indirectly questions remote work's effectiveness.
  
• Temporary Solution: It implies that remote work was a necessary but temporary solution during the pandemic and that resistance to RTO would be futile (and I say nope: advocacy for remote work is what will change things faster for the better).
  
• Subtle Threats: The narrative implies that failure to comply with return-to-office mandates could result in job loss or reduced opportunities.
  
• Inevitability: Presenting Dimon's perspective fosters a sense of inevitability about returning to the office.
  

Conclusion

Long live remote work, the best innovation of the century in the work world along with the ban on non-compete agreements.

Hi all,
I am looking for some suggestions or insights on how to navigate (and advance) my career as a career-changer and mature-age student. Any contribution or perspectives welcome. Questions can be as useful as comments.

Why I am asking

I watched this Ted Talk recently and it prompted me to ask. I recommend it if you haven't seen it.
I have spent the last 4 years working hard in isolation to try and build my skills and break into the industry, but I have completely neglected to build a network, as well as ask for help and advice.
I'm trying to break that habit now. To be clear, I am not looking for anyone to solve my problems. But insights or thought-provoking questions to help me, help myself would be invaluable.

Context

I'm 31, live in Geelong Victoria, am a part-time CS student (half-way through, studying remotely) and have been working full-time as a junior web developer for the last 12 months. I was working part-time prior to that for another 6 months so I could make financial ends meet by working splitting my time with my other, higher-paying job.
As such, I have half a degree and 12-18 months-ish of experience. And I acknowledge this very fortunate as securing that first job can very difficult.
However, I am looking for guidance on how to maximise my trajectory from this position given that I have dedicated a lot of time and effort towards breaking into tech and took a rather sizeable pay cut.
I would also add the company is small and there's only a few devs, with the one senior making all the decisions, meaning I get little mentoring and there's no strong engineering-based conversations. We use Laravel and are just trying to get products out the door and get paid, very digital agency style.
There is nothing wrong with this, it's just not where I ultimately want to be or the technologies I want to use (and build skill with).
None of this is to say "poor me", just set some context for why I am trying to recover lost time and finances as much as possible.

Goals

Generally speaking, I'd like to find a role where I: - Use CS fundamentals more. I'm thinking backend work, building proficiency with a statically typed language, etc. rather than doing more plug-and-play web development using a batteries-included framework. - Am part of a bigger team, so I can learn from those around me and have discussions about tech. - Increase my earning potential and move beyond an entry-level salary (given I don't feel entry-level age) and have taken "backwards" financial steps in the hope of taking bigger strides forward.
I know everyone wants the perfect job and they aren't just handed out on platters. I am realistic. I'm just trying to learn how I can open up better opportunities, and do it sooner rather than later.
##### Advice that exists The top comment on this post about how to make good use of your time while studying CS suggests:

While in course:

• Secure an internship/placement ASAP
• Network, join relevant clubs, meet people in industry, make connections
• Build a portfolio outside of course work
• Find out what you really need to know for your planned career
• Learn practical concepts beyond the course like Git, containers
• Figure out a course plan well in advance

bold = Do these 2, if absolutely nothing else. They will take your career further more than anything.

I think this is excellent advice and would echo its importance.
And while it is still relevant to me, I also tend to think it's more applicable to younger, entering-the-work-force-for-the-first-time students. But I could be wrong!

What I think my problems are

I feel like I am a little stuck -- or moving slowly -- due to the following broad problems: - Opportunities for promotion and growth in my current role are very limited (not just financial, but skills and experience-wise). - I'm not yet academically credentialed nor oozing with industry experience, either. - Non-existent network, a factor of both being a remote student and having only been at a single, small company.

My questions

All of this leads me to the following questions: - Do I simply need to stay the course? I am trying to be proactive, rather than complacent, but it is possible I'm only achieving impatience. - Are university organised networking events and internship opportunities likely to be useful for me or are they distractions at this point? - Is there better advice for someone in my position than what I highlighted above? And if so, what are the high-impact activities someone in this position should be focusing on? - Is there any obvious truths or ideas that I am missing?

Conclusion and connect if you like

Thanks so much for reading this far. Also, to help me build that network, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. Also, if you're interested, I recently built my portfolio, and I would be open to any feedback you have on that.
I'm also open to collaborating on projects or trying to help you in any way that you think I might be able to.
Thanks again. Any contribution, big or small, is greatly appreciated.
Have a great day, Redditors.
(This is my first ever post, if I unknowingly committed any sins, please feel free to draw my attention to them.)

Hello everyone,
While I was assigned male at birth, I have recently found myself deeply interested in feminism. Maximizing freedom and human dignity is one of my key values, and these conditions cannot be realized if they do not first and foremost apply to women. Therefore, during my current time in college, I decided to educate myself further and take more courses on women's history. For a course in Women and Gender in U.S. History, I wrote the piece I am sharing today.
I am posting it here because I don't know where else to post and am planning to publish this work as a zine and am seeking any preliminary feedback, constructive criticism, or thoughts and suggestions on rewriting the piece to communicate more effectively. I hope you enjoy the read and find it interesting.
Thank you!
A Grand Domestic Revolution.
The American Material Feminist Movement of 1860s – 1930s and Their Strategy to Abolish the Second Burden.
Introduction.
In her 1981 book 'Grand Domestic Revolution', Dolores Hayden coined the term 'material feminism' to describe a branch of feminist thought and practice that emerged within the first wave of feminism in the United States. Material feminists were activist women who were the first to articulate the dependence of the society on unpaid women’s reproductive labor, in turn demanding economic and social justice for their sex. Their ideas and practice centered around a call to women that to become truly equal and thriving members of society, they must work together to alter their material conditions through creation of feminist cooperative economic institutions, homes, neighborhoods and cities that are designed to socialize housework, eliminating the ‘double burden’.
Despite being overlooked by the public and even contemporary feminist scholarship, the material feminist movement played a crucial role and influenced not only feminism but also other progressive and egalitarian movements of its time, lasted between 1860s and 1930s. Although the material feminists movement ceased to exist over a century ago, the social critiques and proposed solutions it put forth remain more than relevant to this day. This essay aims to provide an overview of some of the participants of the movement, their theory and practice as well as influence on the feminist and other movements.
Context of the time.
Although the practice of the movement can be formally seen to have begun with the founding of the Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society by Melusina Fay Peirce in 1869 (to be discussed in detail below) the critique of the traditional domestic life in America traces to the beginning of the century with the utopian socialist movement. Members and practitioners of the movement engaged in construction of ideal communities, “building new world in the shell of the old” as a saying of the time went, believing that the power of example would lead to larger transformation of society. Emancipation of women being one of the goals of the movement, Charles Fourier, French philosopher and socialist thinker, argued that “the degree of emancipation of women is the natural measure of general emancipation” and that a society where women enjoyed economic independence was superior to one where they were condemned to domestic drudgery[[1]](#_ftn1). Followers of the movement thus worked to build close knit communities with socialized childcare, laundry and cooking.
Religious communities too contributed to the rise of the movement. Between 1774 and 1826 the Shakers, an offshoot of The Society of Friends, built over 19 settlements in northeastern US, [[SK1]](#_msocom_1) although utopian communities would thrive well until the Civil War[[2]](#_ftn2). In her Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism, 1790 – 1975, Dolores Hayden counted over 130 separate communities, most of them situated in the New England and Midwest regions[[3]](#_ftn3). In such communities’ domestic work was treated equally as important as agriculture or production, with men and women equally being required to participate in agriculture as well as social reproduction. Domestic chores became social labor, with the people singing songs while they worked. Communal kitchens were the “dynamic centers of the village”[[4]](#_ftn4).
It was such communities that Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an aspiring suffragette, came to encounter in 1847 when she moved to Seneca Falls, New York. At the time, the community housed two Shaker villages and at least eight Fourierist Phalanxes[[5]](#_ftn5). The following year at the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention she would give a rousing speech in support of co-operative living and against isolated home:[[6]](#_ftn6)
“my duties were too numerous and varied, and none sufficiently exhilarating or intellectual to bring into play my higher faculties. I suffered with mental hunger. . . . I now fully understood the practical difficulties most women had to contend with in the isolated household, and the impossibility of woman’s best development if in contact, the chief part of her life, with servants and children. Fourier’s Phalansterie community life and co-operative households had new significance for me.”
Some 50 years later in 1899 at the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association, she would urge Susan B. Anthony to add cooperative [[SK2]](#_msocom_2) housekeeping to the organization’s agenda[[7]](#_ftn7).
After conclusion of the civil war, Americans were witnessing a drastic change of their nation as industrialization was picking up steam. More and more people were moving into ever denser towns and cities, where row houses gave way to apartment hotels and horses beginning to give way to street cars and trains. Alongside industrial factories, commercial laundries and large-scale restaurants were mushrooming. In such context, housework began to change as well.
First Practical Experiments.
In 1864, Melusina Fay Peirce (1836-1923), published an article in The World magazine, where she first imagined housekeeping cooperatives – women’s associations where housewives and former servants would work together to produce clean laundry, mended clothing and cooked food which would be delivered to husbands for cash on delivery[[8]](#_ftn8).
Melusina Fay Peirce was one of nine children, born in 1836 to a Vermont clergyman father and a severely overworked housewife mother, Emily Hopkins Fray (1817-1856). Emily died at the age of 39, and the toil that plagued and cut short her life instilled in Peirce an ardent desire to improve the lives of housewives. Despite coming down in the annals of herstory as originating the theory of co-operative housekeeping, she must have gotten inspiration from her great aunt Caroline Howard Gilman (1794-1888), who advocated for creation of municipal cooked food services, and professionalization of housekeeping services in her 1834 book Recollections of a Housekeeper[[9]](#_ftn9). Majority of Melusina’s cooperative theorizing would come out in a series of articles published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1868 and 1869 where she developed her critique of women’s economic position in industrial society[[10]](#_ftn10):
“It is one of the cherished dogmas of the modem lady, that she must not do anything for pay; and this miserable prejudice of senseless conventionality is at this moment the worst obstacle in the way of feminine talent and energy. Let the cooperative housekeepers demolish it forever, by declaring that it is just as necessary and just as honorable for a wife to earn money as it is for her husband”.
Peirce preceded many feminists who viewed unpaid domestic labor as the source of women’s oppression, both economic and intellectual. She argued that women’s intellectual talents suffer a “costly and unnatural sacrifice” to “the dusty drudgery of house ordering” [[11]](#_ftn11). Since women's economic dependency on men was identified as the root cause of their inequality, she and other reformers aimed to create new women's public institutions and professions to foster women's economic independence. The professionalization of women’s household chores was to be done with scientifically planned equipment, built environments, and training by professional female teachers. She aimed to transform household chores into public businesses and in turn create female professions of equivalent status to that of men[[12]](#_ftn12). Even if not explicitly organized under cooperative structures, this ethos would be central to the material feminist movement. However, cooperative form of organizing became the dominant model of organization for in cooperation these women were able to carve out oases of female-dominated and -controlled space, resisting male dominated, hierarchically organized, household and the firm[[13]](#_ftn13) – in other words:
“Cooperatives were the material embodiments of changes the reformers created in gender and class power dynamics involved in the performance of household chores.[[14]](#_ftn14)”
For domestic servants turned employees, cooperative environments offered a more pleasant working experience compared to individual households. The collaborative nature of cooperative labor made tasks lighter and more manageable. Cooperatives often had access to more modern equipment, which facilitated easier completion of tasks. By working in cooperatives rather than individual households, servants were freed from the vulnerabilities associated with being employed in private residences, such as the risk of sexual assault or social isolation. Moreover, participation in cooperatives elevated the status of servants to that of higher-status and higher paid wage laborers, allowing them the opportunity to marry and establish their own independent households. From the perspective of housewives, joining cooperative environments provided a reprieve from the constant supervision of servants. Many housewives utilized this newfound free time to engage in domestic reform organizations or self actualization[[15]](#_ftn15).
On May 6^th, 1896 Peirce’s famous Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society (CCHS) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts would hold its first meeting. The experiment was partially successful but would last only until 1872. Since women had to have permission of their husbands to participate in the co-operative, Melusina decided that the board of CCHS would be overseen by a Council of Gentlemen, a board made of husbands of the members. Although praising Peirce’s scheme overall, a feminist paper The Revolution run by the Elizabeth Cady Stanton, labelled establishing the Council of Gentlemen as “licking of the male boot”[[16]](#_ftn16). Indeed, the Council of Gentlemen would be its downfall. At the beginning of the experiment, the Council consciously altered the original constitution developed by the women to hinder the experiment and restrict their wives’ labor to the household[[17]](#_ftn17). In the original constitution, each department—a grocery store, a bakery, a kitchen, and a laundry—was to be directed by four directresses answerable to a thirteen-member executive committee. This structure ensured that “the responsibility would have been so shared that it would not have fallen too heavily upon any, and the decisions arrived at in a number of cases would have been wiser”[[18]](#_ftn18). However, the new structure made Peirce an "active and responsible agent for the whole [enterprise], as in a manufacturing company," quickly overwhelming her with all the supervisory work and eventually leading to her complete burnout.
The society first opened a laundry since it was needed the most by the community. Women working in the laundry were paid higher wages than at any other industrial laundries[[19]](#_ftn19). However, despite collective efforts, the laundry could not turn a profit since the volume of the laundry being processed was a quarter of the size for which machinery had been installed[[20]](#_ftn20). On July 1870 the society opened a cooperative grocery store which Melusina expected to manage, something she could not meaningfully do due to her involvement with the laundry. Because of what Melusina would label Husband – Power, only 10-12 members patronized the society, not nearly enough for the society to break even. Indeed, many board members, managers and the president would avoid the CCHS due to opposition of their husbands. To cite one example among many, the president was made to resign because her husband expressed dissatisfaction with the frequent visits of the directors to their home for meetings. He was particularly furious when he had to wait for his wife to finish a meeting before she could sew a button for him[[21]](#_ftn21). As Peirce describes him, a famous Cambridge abolitionist would exclaim “What! My wife cooperate to make other men comfortable? No indeed![[22]](#_ftn22)” The Council of Gentlemen would vote to close the operation on April 1^st, 1871[[23]](#_ftn23).
Despite failure of the experiment, Peirce remained a respected theoretician. Her articles would remain in global print from Colorado to London UK[[24]](#_ftn24). Peirce would go on long traveling tours, first domestically then abroad to Europe where the cooperative movement was much more developed. Many of her ideas and practices would ultimately manifest themselves in those regions[[25]](#_ftn25). In 1884 she would publish her famous book Co-Operative Housekeeping; How Not to Do It and How to Do It. A Study in Sociology which summarizes and organized all her experiences so far. In the work, her feminism was sharp. She wrote that:
“No despotism of man over man that was ever recorded was at once so absolute as the despotism — the dominion of men over women. It covers not only the political area. It owns not only the bodies of its subjects. Its hand lies heavily on their inner most personality, and its power is so tremendous that whatever they are, it is because these absolute lords have willed it.” [[26]](#_ftn26)
Although brief, Perice’s experiment would ripple through the ages and continents, sparking constant attempts at the Grand Domestic Revolution.

Growth of a Movement
The movement was diverse in both class and political ideology. In 1880s Kate Field, a New York socialite, started a Cooperative Dress Association which only hired women and specialised in “healthful clothing for women”. A neat feature of the operation was that all the employees, whether seamstresses or clerks, all were provided with comfortable seating[[27]](#_ftn27). In 1885, Marie Howland (1836-1921), a New York editor and writer, fierce advocate of free love, anarchism and trade unionism, would publish extensive plans for co-operative housekeeping. Howland came to the movement when in the 1860s she lived for a year at the at the Familistere or Social Palace established by Fourierists in Guise, France. It was a vast complex of buildings which contained centrally heated apartments, day care facilities and cooked food service for 350 iron foundry workers and their families[[28]](#_ftn28). Howland would later expand the agenda of cooperative housekeeping to include collective childcare. As an urban planner, she designed and built neighborhoods with central kitchens and kitchenless houses, catering to socialists who established communities in California and Louisiana.[[29]](#_ftn29).
In 1874 Marie Howland wrote Papa’s Own Girl, a utopian novel inspired by her experience in France. The material feminist movement would inspire a whole genre of utopian literature[[30]](#_ftn30). 1887 Edward Bellamy published Looking Backwards, a utopian socialist novel set in Boston in the year 2000. In the city of the future all the cooking is done in public kitchens while washing is done at public laundries. This work became an instant success and only accelerated the movement, spreading the ideas of material feminism to the larger socialist movement.
In 1873, Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) achieved the milestone of becoming the first woman to receive a Bachelor of Science from MIT. Two years later, she made history once again by becoming the first woman appointed to its faculty. In her role, she headed a "Woman's Laboratory," which was the world's first laboratory dedicated to teaching science specifically to women.[[31]](#_ftn31) In 1892 she coins the term “oekology” as a science of consumption and social reproduction, in the future the science would lose its political rigor and would come to be known as ‘home economics’. In 1890, she established a New England Kitchen, a community kitchen that provided affordable, ready-cooked, and nutritious meals. The Kitchen was particularly geared for working classes who had to summon the energy to prepare meals at home after spending ten or more hours each day laboring in factories and mills. Her first Boston location was country's first health food restaurant, as well as its first large-scale nutrition laboratory or a “household experiment station”[[32]](#_ftn32). These Kitchens were established in cities across New York, Rhode Island, Boston, Chicago, and Hull House, and were run by well-paid women scientists nutritionists[[33]](#_ftn33).
In 1898 Charlotte Perkins Gilman(1860-1935), daughter of an impoverished single mother, published her seminal work Women and Economics: The Economic Factor Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution. In the work Gilman asserted that patriarchy was impeding human evolution by confining women to the domestic sphere. She believed that human progress could be accelerated by relieving women of domestic duties and childcare responsibilities, enabling them to pursue both motherhood and paid employment, thus granting women economic independence from men. It was her original contribution that the advancement of socialism would be facilitated by the establishment of socialized domestic work and the creation of new domestic environments, not the other way round as was traditionally thought[[34]](#_ftn34). Thus, Hayden suggests that Gilman effectively developed “a solution with-out a name to what Betty Friedan was later to call 'the problem with no name'.[[35]](#_ftn35)” Harriet Stanton Blatch, suffragist and member of the Socialist Party, saw Gilman’s work as her “Bible”, while NAWSA’s[[36]](#_ftn36) leader, Carrie Chapman Catt considered Gilman to be the greatest living American feminist [[37]](#_ftn37).
By the turn of the 20^th century collective housekeeping became a recognizable solution by the feminist movement to the problem of domestic drudgery. To some examples of many, in 1907 Carthage Missouri, local suffrage group organized a community kitchen and dinning hall to furnish which all the members of the community brought their dinner tables. Having freed themselves from constant need to cook, the suffragists converted their old dinning rooms into offices for their cause[[38]](#_ftn38). Along side Carthage, countless other community kitchens, dinning halls and cooked food delivery services would be organized across the country[[39]](#_ftn39). In 1915 Henrietta Rodman and her Radical Feminist Alliance in NYC organized a feminist apartment house in Greenwich Village[[40]](#_ftn40). In September 1918 Zona Gale published an article in the Ladies’ Home Journal, stating that “The private kitchen must go the way of the spinning wheel, of which it is the contemporary.[[41]](#_ftn41)”

Reaction and redbaiting.
Despite all this context, a pertinent question arises: what happened to this movement, and why does the second burden persist over a century later, despite attempts to address it? The answer to that question can be summarized as follows: forces of reaction. Not just the Material Feminist, but the larger feminist activist movement fell under heavy and sustained attack that came with the Red Scare starting in the 1919. Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent represented countless women’s civic organizations as being part of a “red web” answerable to Alexandra Kollontai, the head of Zhenotdel (Women’s Department) in the nascent Soviet Union[[42]](#_ftn42). Adjacent organizations were set up like the Woman Patriot which was “dedicated to the Defense of the Family and the State AGAINST Feminism and Socialism”[[43]](#_ftn43). Fears ignited by waves of labor strikes and demonstrations domestically, coupled with revolutions abroad, prompted captains of industry in the US to contemplate a variety of strategies to mitigate conflict between labor and capital. One of the results was the 1919 campaign by the Industrial Housing Associates, stating that – “Good Homes Make Contented Workers”[[44]](#_ftn44). This would be the root of the famous Levitt Towns and the modern suburbia. As Levitt himself would say in 1948: "No man who owns his house and lot can be a Communist. He has too much to do"[[45]](#_ftn45).
Among countless other contributors, in 1928 American anti-feminist Christine Frederick, would publish a book that still defines the consumer economy to this day: Selling Mrs. Consumer. She dedicated the book to Herbert Hoover, American industry, and advertising executives. In her words, advertising was to be aimed at women’s “inferiority complexes”[[46]](#_ftn46), while the industry was to flood the market with labor saving devices but implement “progressive obsolescence”[[47]](#_ftn47) to insure steady consumption.[[SK3]](#_msocom_3)

Conclusion.
Even though the American material feminist movement was not led by Alexander Kalantai, it held significant potential for sparking a genuine domestic revolution. By establishing economic institutions rooted in feminist and mutual aid principles, reformers were effectively engaging in economic direct action. They were, as the saying of the time went, "building a new world in the shell of the old," one neighborhood, town, or city at a time.
Despite losing to the forces of reaction, the movement can never completely die because the fundamental critique of the Material Feminist movement remains valid: social reproductive labor is still predominantly performed by women, unpaid, which keeps them economically dependent on men.
The hegemonic consumerist ethos made the home nothing more than a box to be filled with commodities. Incapable of addressing the multitude of crises that such an ethos created, its only response is to silence and medicate dissent. In a true capitalist realist fashion, a 1978 advertisement for Valium and Librium—drugs mass-prescribed to housewives suffering from myriad mental health problems caused by this ethos—read, "You can't change her environment, but you can change her mood."
This is the central insight of the Material Feminist School of Thought: the material environment can be changed through reason and collective action, leading to an improvement in women's lives and a deeper independence, both personal and economic. In the current crisis of imagination regarding a meaningful future, bold experiments like those undertaken by activists in previous centuries are essential to demonstrate that a better order is not only possible but preferable. As David Graeber points out, "revolution happens when there is a change in common sense of what is possible." By projecting their imagination and reason into the polit–economic realm, material feminists provided working examples of a better order, offering hope and instructions of a liberated future. Hence, the movement faced such strong opposition, because it presented a viable alternative to the hegemonic patriarchal order.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Frederick, Christine.1929. Selling Mrs. Consumer.
Peirce, Melusina. 1884. Co-Operative Housekeeping; How Not to Do It and How to Do It. A Study in Sociology.
Peirce, "Cooperative Housekeeping II,” Atlantic Monthly 22 (December 1868)
Zona Gale, “Shall the Kitchen in Our Home Go?,” Ladies' Home Journal, 36 (March 1919).
Secondary Sources
Albinski, Nan B. 1988. “Utopia Reconsidered: Women Novelists and Nineteenth-Century Utopian Visions.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 13 (4): 830–41.
Hayden, Dolores. 1979. Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism, 1790 – 1975. MIT Press.
Hayden, Dolores. “Melusina Fay Peirce and Cooperative Housekeeping*.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 2, no. 1–3 (March 12, 1978):
Hayden, Dolores. 1981. The Grand Domestic Revolution: a History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities. MIT Press.
Hayden, Dolores. 1984. Redesigning the American Dream: the Future of Housing, Work, and Family Life. W.W. Norton.
Spencer-Wood, Suzanne. 2004. A historic pay-for-housework community household: The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society.
Stanley, Autumn. “Scribbling Women as Entrepreneurs: Kate Field (1838-96) and Charlotte Smith (1840-1917).” Business and Economic History 21 (1992)
Swallow, Pamela Curtis. The remarkable life and career of Ellen Swallow Richards: Pioneer in science and Technology. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2014.
End-notes.
[[1]](#_ftnref1) Hayden, Dolores. 1981. The Grand Domestic Revolution: a History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities. MIT Press. p. 35.
[[2]](#_ftnref2) Ibid, p. 39.
[[3]](#_ftnref3) Hayden, Dolores. 1979. Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism, 1790 – 1975. MIT Press. p. 362-366.
[[4]](#_ftnref4) Ibid.
[[5]](#_ftnref5) Ibid, p.51.
[[6]](#_ftnref6) Ibid.
[[7]](#_ftnref7) Ibid.
[[8]](#_ftnref8) Spencer-Wood, Suzanne. 2004. A historic pay-for-housework community household: The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. P. 142.
[[9]](#_ftnref9) Ibid; Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 78.
[[10]](#_ftnref10) Peirce, "Cooperative Housekeeping II,” Atlantic Monthly 22 (December 1868), p. 684.
[[11]](#_ftnref11) Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping; How Not to Do It and How to Do It. A Study in Sociology. Massachusetts: J. R. Osgood and company, 1884. p. 181
[[12]](#_ftnref12) Spencer-Wood. The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. p.138.
[[13]](#_ftnref13) Peirce, "Cooperative Housekeeping II,” Atlantic Monthly 22 (December 1868), p. 691.
[[14]](#_ftnref14) Ibid, p. 142.
[[15]](#_ftnref15) Ibid.
[[16]](#_ftnref16) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 79.
[[17]](#_ftnref17) Ibid.
[[18]](#_ftnref18)Spencer-Wood. The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. p.150.
[[19]](#_ftnref19) Ibid. p.147.
[[20]](#_ftnref20) Ibid.
[[21]](#_ftnref21) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 81: Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping. p. 107-109.
[[22]](#_ftnref22) Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping. p. 108.
[[23]](#_ftnref23) Spencer-Wood. The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. p.150.
[[24]](#_ftnref24) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 82.
[[25]](#_ftnref25) Pearson, Lynn. The architectural and social history of Cooperative Living. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988.
[[26]](#_ftnref26) Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping. p. 184.
[[27]](#_ftnref27) Stanley, Autumn. “Scribbling Women as Entrepreneurs: Kate Field (1838-96) and Charlotte Smith (1840-1917).” Business and Economic History 21 (1992): 76.
[[28]](#_ftnref28) Hayden, Dolores. 1978. “Two Utopian Feminists and Their Campaigns for Kitchenless Houses.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 4 (2): p. 277.
[[29]](#_ftnref29) Ibid. Architectural & social history of cooperative living. 242
[[30]](#_ftnref30) Albinski, Nan B. 1988. “Utopia Reconsidered: Women Novelists and Nineteenth-Century Utopian Visions.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 13 (4): 830–41. Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 137-147.
[[31]](#_ftnref31) Swallow, Pamela Curtis. The remarkable life and career of Ellen Swallow Richards: Pioneer in science and Technology. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2014. c.12.
[[32]](#_ftnref32) Ibid. p.103.
[[33]](#_ftnref33) Ibid. c.19.
[[34]](#_ftnref34) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 184.
[[35]](#_ftnref35) Hayden, Dolores. “Melusina Fay Peirce and Cooperative Housekeeping*.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 2, no. 1–3 (March 12, 1978): p. 415.
[[36]](#_ftnref36) National American Woman Suffrage Association – One of the main women’s suffrage organizations in United States. Existed from 1890 to 1920.
[[37]](#_ftnref37) Ibid, p. 5.
[[38]](#_ftnref38) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 207-208.
[[39]](#_ftnref39) Ibid. Chapter 10.
[[40]](#_ftnref40) Hayden. Utopian Feminists. p. 282.
[[41]](#_ftnref41) Zona Gale, “Shall the Kitchen in Our Home Go?,” Ladies' Home Journal, 36 (March 1919).
[[42]](#_ftnref42) Such organizations included General Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Young Women’s Christian Association, the American Home Economics Association, the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters. Dolores. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 281-282.
[[43]](#_ftnref43) Ibid.
[[44]](#_ftnref44) Ibid. p. 283.
[[45]](#_ftnref45) Hayden, Dolores. 1984. Redesigning the American Dream: the Future of Housing, Work, and Family Life. W.W. Norton. p. 8.
[[46]](#_ftnref46) Frederick, Christine.1929. Selling Mrs. Consumer. p. 43-54.
[[47]](#_ftnref47) Ibid. p. 245-255.

In 1982, I and six buddies went bear hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were staying at some cabins near Twin Lakes at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula. When you hunt most critters you go out before dawn and sit until an hour or two after the sun comes up and late afternoon until dark. Most bigger game animals hunker down during daylight hours, so it doesn't pay to sit all day. This means you have a lot of time between hunts. This part of the UP has some remote areas; it is also where a lot of copper mining went on in the old days; the mines are all closed now and mostly full of water. There are a lot of big paper mill holdings there also that are still being logged, so there are a lot of logging roads built by the paper mills; they are good enough roads for large double-trailer logs trucks filled with many tons of logs to travel on. One thing you learn quickly when you use these roads is to get the hell off the road when a truck is coming because they take up the whole road and they don't even slow down for civilians because the mill owns the roads, not the state or county and you are on their land, but as long as you don't get in the way they don't care. Most of the bridges across streams or rivers just consist of huge piles of large rocks with smaller gravel on top of the road. These things look like dams, but because of the large bottom rocks, the water can flow through the "bridge." It's a pretty cool thing to see. We spent a lot of time driving and exploring these logging roads. On one particular day, we went down a new road that led to an actual state park at the bottom of Misery Bay on Lake Superior. It's a park maintained by the state on paper mill property, there are several very rusitc camp sites at that park. We spent some time at the park and messing around on the beach. About noon we headed back down a different road, you see a lot of small shacks that usually have smoke coming out of the chimneys, they are apparently used by the loggers. We eventually ended up way out in the wilderness with no signs of logging or logging trucks, it's usually like driving in a tunnel because the trees come together over the road. After a long while, we came into a clear area, and around a bend there was we came upon what we thought was a small town. The road basically went right down "main street," and as we drove through the place, it became apparent there were no people to be seen. We came to a building that was a kind of store, so we stopped there. The "store" was completly empty, looking in the dusty windows you could see it had been empty for a long time. We walked around "main street" checking out the houses, a lot of them were in pretty good repair but they were completely deserted, dust on all the floors had been undisturbed for many years and there were no signs of foot traffic anywhere. We eventually got back in the trucks and moved on we were all pretty intrigued by the town, we didn't go in any of the houses because it just looked like the owners might actually come back. The "main street" went up a pretty big hill, at the top of the hill was a large building that was obviously some kind of industrial use building covered in that old galvanized corrugated metal sheeting. We stopped at the building and found an opening in the siding. The inside of the building was wide open, and it was very tall, like 30-40 feet tall, with a lot of supporting steelwork; everything was very rusty and obviously hadn't been touched in many years. There were large windows with no glass, just open to the outside high up in the walls that allowed the sun to light it up pretty well inside. At the center of the place, there was a large hole in the floor, like 15-20 feet square. We peered down into the opening, and it was a deep dark hole. Somebody dropped a stone down the hole, and it was a long time before you could hear a faint splash of water so we dropped a stone and we had a couple of those old Casio watches with a stopwatch function so we dropped a rock and timed it to the splash, it took almost exactly ten seconds. There were no guard rails or safety measures of any kind, it was really scary thinking about falling into that deep black hole. There was some old equipment left that looked to be like turn of the century type stuff, we assumed it was a closed copper mine.The whole time we were exploring we had two 35mm film cameras taking a lot of pictures, this was 30 years before cell phones and 35-40 before smart phones. After exploring the place for a while, we decided it was time to get going because we had only a few hours before dark. After miles of running down those unmarked roads, we eventually made it back to the cabins, and we all went out to our hunting spots. After it got dark, we all headed to the local bar where we usually went to get something to eat. One of the guys asked the lady bartender if she knew anything about that shut-down mine and abandoned the town; she got kind of a funny look on her face and went to the kitchen pass-through window and said, "hey Dave, these guys went and visited Peterson. We all looked at each other like WTF is she talking about, the kitchen door opened up and the a the cook apparently called Dave came out dressed in typical bar cook clothes. Dave came over and said what did you see in Peterson we said first of all, we never saw a sign with a name on it, but it was just an abandoned town with pretty decent-looking buildings and a closed-down copper mine up on the hill. Dave said yep that's Peterson some people see the signs going into town and some don't, the thing is there never was a Peterson it never existed. Whh......What the fuck are you talking about? We were there, looked into the buildings, dropped rocks down the empty mine shaft, and took many pictures. Dave said yep, you and many other people, but if you try to return, you won't find it. What? We know the road we took. We can get back there, he said go ahead and try. You won't find it. Dave asked did you, by any chance, drop a rock in the hole and time it to the bottom? Yes, actually, we did it took almost exactly ten seconds. Dave said yep, I did, too, and I looked it up. A falling rock or anything falls about four hundred feet in ten seconds; he said Peterson is a real ghost town the whole place is a real ghost town; he said I was there and saw the same things years ago, but I've tried many times to go back and I've never been able to find it, me and a lot of other people who live in this area and know it like the backs of our hands have seen it once and once only. Dave said to go to Houghton Hancock and get your film developed, and let's see the pictures. The next day, we decided to take off from hunting and go up to town and get the film developed. Houghton Hancock is home to Michigan Tech so it's a college town with all the amenities it had a quick film developer place so we dropped the film off and went to see the sights, it's a really picturesque place. About an hour north east of HH is Copper harbor at the very top of Michigan were it ends into Lake Superior, it to is a really cool place. When we got back to HH, we were dying to see the pictures, so we went and got the film and tore open the envelopes. There were lots of pictures, beautiful pictures, but not a single picture of "Peterson"..........Now just a goddamned minute, this is not fucking possible a couple of the guys went back to the film place and asked where are the other pictures that were on those rolls? There were no other pictures. You have all the negatives. We don't keep other people's pictures. We see thousands every month. There's a park in town, and we stopped there, and all sat at a table, just kind of in shock, not saying much for quite a while. In 1982, I was 23 years old. At 23, you think you know it all when you are hit square in the face by something like that; it shakes you to the core; everything you think you know is now suspect because you were in that abandoned town; it was just a cool old abandoned town, you saw it with your own eyes in the wide open sunny broad daylight, not on some dark foggy creepy night and nothing creepy happened, we took pictures that don't exist. That changed my life from that point forward. After that, we went back to see Dave and gave him the stack of pictures of the woods, the Big Mac bridge, Misery Bay, the park on the bay, logging trucks, the rock bridges, some of the shacks, one of which was just about two miles from "Peterson." Dave just kind of chuckled and said yep, that's our "Peterson" alright. For the next two days we totally forgot about hunting, we split up in two trucks and drove those roads over and over and over and never re-found "Peterson." That is my high strangeness story, we found a town that never existed, that other people have also see but only once. As I look back on what we are now hearing stories about, stuff like different timelines like this fucked up one we are in now compared to the real one we branched off from on January 20, 2016. Is Peterson a place close to a spot where two different timelines come very close together? Is it possible that when all the conditions in the universe are just right, and you happen to be in the right place when all those conditions are right, you can visit Peterson? What would happen if you were in Peterson and the universal conditions changed? I wonder if we will ever find out. If you can only go there once, how will it be studied? The mind-warping question is, who keeps track of who has been to Peterson only once and who hasn't?

It's been ... 9 months since my mom got into life altering car accident . And we all lost our only car forever. I have no means of reliable public transportation near me anymore as I used to (I live in Puerto Rico) and getting a job near me is nearly impossible to do. My neighborhood is not walkable and most of the hiring places are near the metropolitan areas far far away from where I currently live in. Applying to remote jobs is also a dead end. I don't wanna be in anymore debt with school so I'm trying to avoid studying another things that I hate so I don't feel the need to pressure myself to like it. I just wanna have a car to move around and get a job and move out of my abusive grandmothers house for once. I'm sick and tired of living like this. I also stopped talking to my fp due to him being flaky and unwilling to let me go since he didn't want anything to do with me romantically anymore but sometimes we'd both still be sexually attracted to one another. I can't just be friends with someone who doesn't love me anymore, I told him this a thousand times and he didn't want to listen to me and leave me alone until another huge argument about an offensive racist joke he made just because I sent him a song to listen to and it was made by a South Korean dj on YouTube and I just split on him again. And even tho my anger was justified I still feel like crap. I still love him. I know he doesn't deserve me. But I feel like I'm not an easy person to love either. I don't know what to do. I feel like I keep trying to have friends and new love interests but I'm not made for casual ones nowadays. I'm intense. I love love and I love caring about others and helping people and being of service to anybody because if I don't feel like I'm helping anyone I feel I have no purpose in my life and I hate that because I know I'm just as important to look after myself but I wanna be part of caring community for once in my life, I want it to be permanent. I'm tired of temporary people and things. I have a big mouth. I don't just stay quiet and pretty for everyone to look at only. I'm not just a doll everyone can use and abuse. I'm a real person. I have feelings. I have every given right to live my life as unapologetically me. But I'm so tired of being alone and misunderstood unprovoked. I have no close friends anymore and the only person I had considered close revealed they were a pedo preying on a child years ago. I feel so angry cuz it doesn't matter how much time I spent with people they will somehow always disappoint me and boy do I have such simple boundaries with friendships (such as not being an awful person to me and others) which is incredibly hard for many to do. I can't stand living on my own anymore. Just the other day my mom and brother ganged up verbally on me and I just had a brief flashback on how they did the same when my moms ex did that to me with him putting my own family against me. All because he hated me standing up for myself against his racist behavior. I've had enough of this. I'm trying and trying to find a job a solution to get myself out of this and to make sure my family are safe and healthy. But when everyone and everythings against me it's when I don't even feel safe in my own room. There's always something. Don't even get me started with the state of the world right now. I'm already depressed as is due to COVID/Birdflu/etccxx spreading around and about Palestine, Sudan, DRC and many other nations are in a crisis right now and we're just supposed to keep living like this forever? I don't WANT THIS ANYMORE. Why do any of us have to deal with this? Jesus Christ I just wanna live normally. I don't ask for much and yet that's apparently a lot to ask for. I'm tired. I'm restless. Everyday !!!! ITS EVERYDAY!!!!! I don't feel safe in my own home, neighborhood, town, island or anywhere actually!!!! I don't wanna be a doomer. I want good things. I want a good life, and I want to be happy. But there's so much misery. I'm trying so hard to look at the bigger picture but I cannot ignore myself and others dismay over everything that's been happening over the last 5 years. How do I even do this without losing myself and my love for life? I've done everything and yet I'm still horrified I may not be able to live long enough to enjoy the seeds I've planted and have plans to plant more. This is unfair.
I’m deleting this soon but for now I feel way better letting this out of my system after a culmination of 5+ years of this ruminating in me.

I wanted this to be a discussion thread for anecdotes but it turned into a very long rant instead, oops.
I'll start off with saying that something I've observed through years of navigating The System™ as a former CPS kid, is that:

1. Therapists all seem to operate from a baseline wherein all your problems exist in a perfectly compartmentalized vacuum. A lot of what is practiced in the majority of psychotherapy modalities (the only ones I haven't done are ECT/TMS because I draw a hard line at lobotomy-once-removed. I was also greenlit for ketamine infusions but I'm fucking sick of drugs robbing me of my senses.) can only work for extremely specific problems on extremely specific types of people.
2. It is up to the therapist to decide what your "big T" and "small T" traumas are, and all interactions will be structured off their perception and therefore biases. They often dismiss their clients' concerns, and always deflect with varying degrees of hostility when confronted.
3. They can't actually help you in any material capacity and may even be detrimental when you already have adequate insight into your issues and viable solutions in your own best interest.
4. The profession in itself is a neoliberalist non-solution to societal ills. They are always most preoccupied with getting you to Do The Work™ (i.e. societal assimilation), and any ideologies or personalities that deviate from their dominant cultural accepted narrative is vilified. Per bread and circuses, it will always be in the best interest of the ruling class to do whatever will keep the masses zombified into subservience and thus only ever manufacture problems and sell partial solutions that cause more problems. Something, something, imagine Sisyphus happy...
5. To quote Jenny Holzer, "Abuse of power comes as no surprise." The nature of vulnerable sector professions is that they unfortunately will draw in high achievers who (sub)consciously live for power dynamics. Those who are able to remain in the profession long term and not burn out, anyway. Some of the worst people I've personally met have been varying flavors of medical professionals, and that says a lot given that I was physically/psychologically tortured and sexually abused by my father for most of my life.

But yeah anyway, some of the shit that therapists have said with me still haunts me but in a "hahaha what the fuck" kind of way lmao.
There was one who said to me in earnest that I need to "stop listening to Coldplay and reading about climate change" when I expressed I don't see any reasons that I should participate in a collapsing society.
Another suggested that "it might help to get a grocery buggy" after disclosing that I hate being reliant on my abusive relatives for most of my essential needs because of lack of money/physical & mental capacity, in full view of her Burberry coat and BMW parked outside the window.
A few not worth mentioning would always either project their own relationship with ethnic immigrant parents onto me with bullshit like "our parents raised us the best they could" (OMG I didn't know I had a long lost sibling that they raised in secret!!! /s), or they would get obnoxiously fixated on some aspect that doesn't impact me the way they almost wanted it to? As if I would be easier for them to deal with if I was their uni textbook case study, rather than a real person with a messy background.
Most infuriatingly, my autism specialist, with a PhD in social work, kept insisting that I "belong in a university setting". She is a uni lecturer herself, and it was mostly because she personally found me "the most intruiging client [she's] had", on top of my full psych eval reporting an approximate IQ of 136.
I literally failed certain portions when it came to visual-spatial, motor, and interpersonal attributes. IQ is so bullshit anyway because it doesn't take into account how someone was raised whatsoever. Fucking duh you're going to have a "vastly superior" verbal quotient if your parents never socialized with you, left you with books as company while expecting you to be their translator.
No matter how hard I tried to drill home that I have irreparable academic trauma, never done well in any sort of academic setting in the first place, and knowing what my own limitations are, the autism specialist would chalk it up to "learned helplessness, because clearly [I] have sooo much untapped potential".
And it's not like I haven't tried everything everyone's suggested on my own terms, and came to the conclusions I have? Why the fuck would I want to embody society's idea of a failure and make my own life harder??? I am the least masochistic person I know lol, it's like none of them ever understood anything I had to say. They'll just say these things like there's a magic formula that will somehow guarantee a good life for everyone, when the reality is that not even people who don't have significant impairments, can't all "make it".
The most fucked part is that for all they bellow about Theory of Mind™ til their face turns blue, they are hilariously self-unaware that they can preach these things because every damn person I've known who's been able to achieve a MSW is naturally "high octane" and/or lives an immensely privileged life in some way or another. And it just so happens that everyone in their immediate circle is just like that, too. So from a physiological standpoint, they are ironically incapable of understanding why their clients are seemingly "helpless", which...well, kind of proves point 5 of my therapy theories lol. If they really wanted to make the world a better place, they would start by, IDK, radical reform of societal structure to render their profession obsolete--just saying ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, if you've tried everything under the sun and none of it has worked out, it's because we live in a philosophical hell simulation, not because there is anything inherently wrong with you. You are the highest authority on your own experiences, and literally everything is normal. All the physics and philosophy throughout history can't reach consensus whether or not "objective reality" exists, so all that really matters is whatever matters most to you.
I wish these were affirmations I came across long before I was spiritually declawed for being an "unsympathetic" traumatized kid. Thank you for reading if you've made it this far, and I hope you've made some of your own peace wherever you are.

First Previous Wiki
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.

*Disclaimer* - this role best suits someone who:
-Is living in a relatively cheap region of the world e.g. Asia, Africa or Latin America
-Lives in a Western country but only wants a side hustle to supplement their main income
-Values flexibility/freedom e.g. digital nomads, college students or stay-at-home moms etc.
No problem if you're not in those categories, this likely isn't for you and we wish you all the best with your search :)
🔔 Job Overview:
Hello, thanks for looking at my post - we're looking for high-quality, reliable and responsive video editors who'd be interested in working in a fully remote social media management agency.
Priority will also be given to candidates who implement social media video best practices, such as attention-grabbing thumbnails and transitions that match audio and/or use trending sounds.
Don't worry if you don't know that yet because full training will also be provided.
🔔 Requirements:
✅Be able to write at a professional English level
✅Work for yourself and not a company or agency
✅Comfortable using Adobe Premier Pro or similar
✅Coachable and willing to learn and improve
✅Creative and able to think of solutions independently
🔔 Compensation:
💰Compensation ranges from $10 - $20 per video depending on the complexity/length.
💰We will also provide a one-off bonus of $100 if you provide a great service and our client stays beyond 6 months 😎 (which happens quite often!)
💰There are also ad-hoc opportunities for one-off bonuses I.E $10-20 to create a sample post for a potential new client
🔔 Benefits for you:
🚀100% remote working, we don't care where you're as long as you get the work done :)
🚀An experienced line manager who'll be on hand to support you in delivering results for your client
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🚀Career growth opportunities, several people we've hired have been with us for nearly 2 years and have received promotions. Others have also happily referred their friends to us too.
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We have a very varied portfolio of existing clients ranging from Real Estate, Apps, E-commerce, Professional services and Personal Brands who we provide social media management services to.
🔔 To Apply:
1/2 Fill in this form
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🔔 Deadline:
Thursday, May 30, 2024, is the deadline for submissions and we operate on a first come first served basis so the quicker you do this the better for you :)

Realistically the majority of young brothers today are not getting married, that means from around 15 - 30 years old, give or take, they have no halal outlet for their sexual desires.
And before suggesting they fast for 15 years straight, actually think about this. Women are not going to marry young men because of their age, let alone their lack of financial ability, and still being in school/university.
The only situations where they do get married early is if it started as a semi haram relationship and the parents know and are willing to get them married, so these young couples get married as teens. Other than that, it doesn't happen.
Theres lots of talk about haram relationships and zina, but undoubtedly the biggest plague is pr0n, majority of brothers are not falling into zina, but they are being consumed by pr0n, theres more steps to zina and more chances to stop, but pr0n is in the palm of your hands, on your phone.
Its really depressing because for men testosterone peaks in late teens early 20s, so instead of spending that time under the pleasure of a woman, they are spending their most virile years sedated by a screen. No wonder so many are addicts by the time they are married, and then would rather look at the screen than enjoy their wife.
Every short term solution has always been rejected and vilified by the community, whether it be for young couples to get misyar married and live like GF/BF, or for young men to get no strings nikkah with older women, or for men to look for marriage abroad. Neither is there a short term solution for brothers today, nor a long term movement to fix our communities.
So what is the solution for our young brothers?

Hi,
I am British and my partner is French. We live in the UK currently but we want to move to France in the next five years when we have children. I have Irish citizenship and she is obviously a French native so legally speaking we are completely free to move to France whenever we want.
My question is more in regards to jobs and finances. Obviously she will be able to get a job easily as a native however, I do not speak French at all and I am concerned that even if I learn French very well and am fluent I will never speak it well enough to have a proper career or well paying job there.
Does anyone have any advice on the best way to earn money as a British person while living in France? Should I be looking into freelancing or working as a contractor for British companies remotely to give me the freedom to live abroad. I would really appreciate any advice you can give me.
I have a university degree and we are aiming to live in Bordeaux or potentially Normandy, Brittany or Lille but definitely not Paris. In case that makes a difference.
Thank you in advance!

DAY: May 27 2024
5-27-2024

THE CASE FOR OMEGA-3 SUPPLEMENTATION TO LOWER AGGRESSION

People who regularly eat fish or take fish oil supplements are getting omega-3 fatty acids, which play a critical role in brain function. Research has long shown a basis in the brain for aggressive and violent behavior, and that poor nutrition is a risk factor for behavior problems. Penn neurocriminologist Adrian Raine has for years been studying whether omega-3 supplementation could therefore reduce aggressive behavior, publishing five randomized controlled trials from different countries. He found significant effects but wanted to know whether these findings extended beyond his laboratory.
5-27-2024

WHAT ARE ALTERNATIVES TO OZEMPIC AND WEGOVY AND ARE THEY SAFE?

With summer around the corner, telehealth outlets and medical spas are going into hyperdrive advertising the sale of semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Recent shortages of the brand-name drugs have opened the door to copycat versions that, while legal, also raise some concerns for consumers, says Kelly Ann Barnes, Northeastern professor of pharmacy law. The copycat drugs are made by specialized pharmacies known as compounding pharmacies, which are allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make off-label
5-27-2024

FIVE BASIC HABITS MAY HOLD THE KEY TO GOOD MENTAL HEALTH

Professor Nick Titov’s professional goal is to make himself redundant. he wants to empower more people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression to understand what they can do each day to care for their mental health. As part of this mission, Professor Titov and his team developed The Big 5, an evidence-based program encouraging five broad types of activities that are strongly linked with good mental health when performed regularly. Everyone’s
5-27-2024

COVID-19 FORECASTING TOOL ALLOWED HOSPITAL TO MANAGE PATIENT CAPACITY, RESOURCES AMID PANDEMIC’S THIRD WAVE

During the peak of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the health-care system’s capacity was stretched and hospitals across Canada relied on each other to share resources and provide care. Experts from
5-27-2024

RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION AS A POSSIBLE ASPECT OF POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME PATHOLOGY

The peripubertal DHT-induced mouse model is a non-obese but insulin-resistant model of PCOS. a) Experimental design. b) Fat mass. c) Insulin levels at baseline and 15 min following glucose administration. d) Blood glucose levels during oGTT. e) HOMA-IR, calculated from fasted glucose and insulin levels. f) Glycosylated hemoglobin levels (HbA1c). A new study shows that hyperandrogenism—a key characteristic of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)—affects immune cell populations in reproductive, metabolic and immunological tissues in a PCOS-like mouse model. These findings are of great importance as
5-27-2024

RESEARCH IDENTIFIES BRAIN NETWORK LINK TO STUTTERING

Common acquired neurogenic stuttering network. Common areas that were sensitive and specific across both neurogenic stuttering cohorts. Amy = amygdala; ASt = amygdalostriatal transition area; Cl = claustrum; Pall = Pallidum; Put = putamen. A new study published in the journal Brain has identified a specific brain network hub that plays a key role in stuttering. The research, by Te Whare W?nanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury (UC) Associate Professor Catherine Theys, examines two different types of stuttering—developmental and acquired—to show a clear neural
5-27-2024

THYROID DISEASE ISN’T THE END FOR YOUR CAREER PROSPECTS, REPORT FINDS

How employers behave toward workers experiencing thyroid dysfunction could play a critical part in addressing the UK’s labor market challenges. With long-term sickness on the rise in the UK, researchers at the University of Aberdeen Business School have marked World Thyroid Day (May 25) by releasing new findings which, for the first time, explore the relationship between employer sympathy and the labor market prospects of people with thyroid conditions. One in 20 people in the UK have a thyroid problem, with a significant majority of sufferers being women. Posing serious
5-27-2024

STUDY FINDS HIGH-INCOME EARNERS AT LOWER RISK OF DYING FROM STROKE

High-income earners have a 32% lower risk of dying after a stroke compared to low-income earners. The equivalent for high education is 26% lower risk. The differences in stroke survival linked to socioeconomics are striking, according to a study at the University of Gothenburg.
5-27-2024

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD ALLEVIATE LONELINESS, SAYS EXPERT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology could offer companionship to lonely people amid an international epidemic of loneliness, says a robotics expert. Tony Prescott, a professor of cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, argues in his new book “The Psychology of Artificial Intelligence” that “relationships with AIs could support people” with forms of social interaction. Loneliness has been found to seriously impair human health, and Professor Prescott makes a case that advances in AI technology could offer a partial solution. He argues that people can spiral into loneliness, becoming
5-27-2024

ALZHEIMER’S REPORT HIGHLIGHTS IMMENSE CAREGIVER BURDEN—AND POTENTIAL WAYS FORWARD

Some 7 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, and about 11 million provide unpaid care for them. Dementia caregiving can present unique challenges, including financial burdens and time constraints, as well as health complications. A report this year from the Alzheimer’s Association demonstrates the true cost of caregiving for those with the disease and calls to establish dementia care navigation throughout the U.S. to lift this burden. Not only is the estimated value of unpaid care near $14 billion in Pennsylvania alone, the report also revealed emotional and physical tolls. Nearly
5-27-2024

US FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION APPROVES ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS SYSTEM

An artificial pancreas developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge has been granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use by individuals with type 1 diabetes aged 2 and older, including during pregnancy. This means that even more people living with the disease will be able to use this life-changing app. For the first time, the FDA authorized the use of the artificial pancreas system in pregnancy. CamAPS FX, produced by Cambridge spinout company CamDiab, is an Android app that can
5-27-2024

RESEARCH SAYS POMEGRANATES COULD OFFER A SOLUTION TO FATTY LIVER DISEASE

Researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) are investigating the effects ellagic acid, an antioxidant found in some fruits and vegetables, could have on halting and potentially reversing the damage caused by fatty liver disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the physiological manifestation of obesity in the liver. The prevalence of NAFLD has increased from 25.24% in 2015 to 29.38% in 2021, and this condition now accounts for 45.8% of all cases of chronic-liver-disease-related deaths worldwide. There currently exists no treatment for the long-term management of NAFLD; however, dietary interventions
5-27-2024

MAGIC MUSHROOMS MAY ONE DAY TREAT ANOREXIA, BUT NOT JUST YET

Anorexia nervosa is a severe mental health disorder where people fear weight gain. Those with the disorder have distorted body image and hold rigid beliefs their body is too big. They typically manage this through restricted eating, leading to the serious medical consequences of malnutrition. Anorexia has one of the highest death rates of any mental illness. Yet there are currently no effective drug treatments and the outcomes of psychotherapy (talk therapy) are poor. So we’re desperately in need of new and improved treatments. Psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms,
5-27-2024

STUDY FINDS FEEDING INFANTS PEANUT PRODUCTS PROTECTS AGAINST ALLERGY INTO ADOLESCENCE

Feeding children peanuts regularly from infancy to age five reduced the rate of peanut allergy in adolescence by 71%, even after many years when the children ate or avoided peanut as desired. The new findings provide conclusive evidence that introducing peanuts into babies’ diets early will achieve long-term prevention of peanut allergy. Lead investigator Professor Gideon Lack from King’s College London said, “Decades of advice to avoid peanuts has made parents fearful of introducing peanuts at an early age. The evidence is clear that early introduction of peanut in infancy
5-27-2024

EATING MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MAY LEAD TO OPTIMAL SLEEP DURATION

Good health depends on a healthy diet and sufficient exercise and sleep. There are clear associations among these components; for example, good nutrition provides energy for exercise, and many people report that getting enough exercise is important to their ability to get enough sleep. So how might nutrition affect sleep? A new study looks at the connection between fruit and vegetable intake and sleep duration.
5-27-2024

MONITORING THE H5N1 AVIAN INFLUENZA, BIRD FLU, OUTBREAK

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to actively monitor the ongoing outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza, also known as bird flu, and says that the public health risk remains low. Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, says scientists and public health officials have known about avian influenza for decades. “What’s different today is that since 2020, we’re seeing the largest outbreak of avian influenza among wild birds, poultry and backyard bird flocks,” he says. “The virus has also been found in certain
5-27-2024

INTERNATIONAL STUDY REVEALS SURPRISING TWIST IN HOW DIABETES DRUGS HELP THE HEART

A randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial has revealed surprising new insights into how SGLT2 inhibitor drugs, originally developed for diabetes, benefit patients with heart failure. Contrary to common assumptions, these drugs may improve cardiac outcomes and heart health without acting as diuretics. Heart failure is a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands, often leading to fluid
5-27-2024

FIRST SEIZURE CLINICS REDUCE THE NEED FOR FUTURE HEALTH CARE, RESEARCHERS FIND

Clinics specializing in first seizures reduce the need for patients to present at emergency departments or be admitted to hospital later, Monash University-led research has found. Timely attendance, particularly within 14 days of the seizure, was associated with reduced subsequent all-cause emergency presentations and all-cause hospital admission. Later hospital admissions were reduced by about 25%. First author Dr. Yingtong Li, an adjunct
5-27-2024

CELL-TARGETING TECHNOLOGY CAN ISOLATE NEURONAL SUBPOPULATIONS AND LINK THEM TO BEHAVIORAL STATES

As gene sequencing technologies become more powerful, our understanding of cellular diversity has grown in parallel. This led scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to
5-27-2024

WATCH OUT FOR THESE HIGH HEAT DANGER SIGNS

Climate change is pushing daytime summer temperatures higher for longer periods of time, and that can spell real danger for folks who work outside, like gardeners and landscapers. Protecting yourself in the heat and knowing the warning signs of heat-related illness is crucial, said Chris Enroth, horticulture educator at University of Illinois Extension. He should know: It happened to him. “When I was working as a landscaper, we had to sod a large backyard during a day when the temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit,” Enroth said. “We were hustling
5-27-2024

STAY SAFE FROM THE SUN AND THAT BACKYARD GRILL THIS MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day means firing up that backyard grill for the season, hopefully under warm, sunny skies. You can be sure to enjoy the day without hazards by taking a few simple precautions, said Dr. Mike Ren, an associate professor of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Watch out for rising heat and humidity If Memorial day is a scorcher, hydration is key, Ren said. “A good rule of thumb is to drink water regularly throughout the day, aiming for 12 or more cups; when in
5-27-2024

HAD A JOINT REPLACED? STUDY SUGGESTS INFECTION RISK MAY RISE AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY

If you’re one of the millions of Americans walking around with a new knee or hip, your odds for an infection in that joint rise if you ever have to undergo cancer chemotherapy, researchers report. “Given the number of people of receiving total joint replacements each year, as well as the cost both physically, emotionally and financially for those who develop an infection and may need subsequent treatment, we need to understand what factors may increase the risk for postoperative infections,” said study author Dr. Janet Conway. She’s an orthopedic
5-27-2024

ANTIHYPERTENSIVES LINKED TO ECZEMATOUS DERMATITIS IN SENIORS, STUDY FINDS

Antihypertensive drugs are associated with an increased risk for eczematous dermatitis in older adults, and the effect sizes are largest for diuretics and calcium channel blockers, whether antihypertensive drug use is associated with eczematous dermatitis in a longitudinal cohort study of individuals aged 60 years and older without eczematous dermatitis at baseline. The researchers found that the overall prevalence of eczematous dermatitis was 6.7% among 1,561,358
5-27-2024

RESEARCH INDICATES KIDNEYS FROM DECEASED DONORS WHO WERE ON DIALYSIS ARE SUBOPTIMAL

Receipt of a kidney from a deceased donor who underwent dialysis is associated with an increased incidence of delayed graft function, compared outcomes of transplant recipients who received kidneys from deceased donors who underwent dialysis prior to kidney donation versus recipients of kidneys from deceased donors who did not undergo dialysis in a retrospective cohort study using data from 58 U.S. organ procurement organizations. Among the donors with
5-27-2024

NEW THERAPY PROVEN EFFECTIVE AGAINST REJECTION IN KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION

Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is one of the most common causes of kidney transplant failure. To date, however, no treatment has proven effective in combating this complication in the long term. As part of an international and multidisciplinary clinical study led by Georg Böhmig and Katharina Mayer, Clinical Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Department of Medicine III at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna, a new therapeutic principle in transplant medicine has been found to be both safe and highly effective. The results were recently published in the New England Journal
5-27-2024

SHARJAH UNIVERSITY PATENTS APPLICATION FOR DISTANCE COVID-19 DIAGNOSIS

Smart Identification of Health Status based on QR Code and User Health Data. Credit: author’s own creation The University of Sharjah has been granted a patent for inventing a smart gadget with the ability to filter user information that will allow doctors to diagnose COVID-19 and other ailments from a distance. The patent, granted by United States Patent and Trademark Office on 1 August 2023, comprises “a display unit, a color code detection unit, an image filter, an optical character recognition unit, a code detection unit and an elimination unit,”
5-27-2024

STUDY REVEALS WHERE DELAYS ARE WORST

When it comes to responding to a stroke, speed is a crucial factor; the longer it takes for someone experiencing a stroke to get to a hospital, the worse the outcome will be. Yet across the United States, delays to treatment can be significant. A Yale study uncovers new insights into factors associated with treatment delays and where in the United States patients are more likely to experience slower responses. The findings, which were published May 24 in the journal Stroke, highlight where interventions should

NEW STUDY SHOWS HEAT WAVES INCREASE RISK OF PRETERM, EARLY-TERM BIRTH

The increased frequency and intensity of heat waves due to climate change puts women at a higher risk of experiencing preterm and early-term labor—jeopardizing the health and well-being of their babies. An analysis of 53 million births that occurred in the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas during the 25-year period 1993–2017, showed
5-27-2024

NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES, EARPLUGS AND EARMUFFS—DO THEY REALLY HELP NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE?

Noise can make it hard to concentrate, especially for people who are extra sensitive to it. Neurodivergent people (such as those who are autistic or have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—ADHD) can experience different sensory sensitivities. Their nervous system may process information differently when they are exposed to sensory experiences such as bright lights, loud noise, strong smells or busy environments. Decreased sound tolerance is estimated to affect up to 70% of autistic people and is described in three ways: hyperacusis (perceiving everyday sounds as loud or painful), misophonia (an aversion to
5-27-2024

MASSACHUSETTS SHELLS OUT NEARLY $400,000 FOR VACCINE RECORD CHECKS IN STATE-RUN SHELTERS

State officials have pumped nearly $400,000 into a program to review the vaccine records of families entering the emergency shelter system, including migrants from other countries who may have foreign documentation, according to the Healey administration. Officials at Boston-based John Snow, Inc., which has long worked with the state, have been contracted to review immunization documents. Since January, more than 1,200 children in state-run shelters have had their records checked, according to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, or HHS. Vaccine record checks have occurred since September 2023
5-27-2024

LAWSUIT ACCUSES FLORIDA’S PALM BEACH COUNTY HOSPITAL NETWORK OF SHARING PATIENTS’ PRIVATE DATA

The Palm Beach Health Network has become the latest health provider accused of illegally sharing identities and private health information of its patients with the social media company Meta, owner of Facebook. A lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach says the health network’s websites share code with Meta that enables patients to be targeted with advertising on Facebook based on “highly sensitive personal information” they share. It names as defendants the Palm Beach Health Network Physicians Group, doing business as Palm Beach Health Network, and
5-27-2024

CAN THE PLACEMENT OF DENTAL IMPLANTS IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER PATIENTS BE DONE BEFORE RADIATION THERAPY?

Globally, head and neck cancer accounts for 5% of all cancer types, with a mortality rate of 50%. However, in the Nordic countries, head and neck cancer accounts for only 2.6% of all cancers, with a mortality rate of just 30%. But more survivors mean that many must live with extensive damage and side effects
5-27-2024

STUDY FINDS CLIMATE CHANGE INCREASES RISK OF CRYPTOSPORIDIOSIS OUTBREAKS IN NEW ZEALAND

More cryptosporidiosis outbreaks could be on the cards for Aotearoa New Zealand as extreme rainfall events become more frequent, causing higher levels of the diarrhea-causing parasite to be washed into waterways, public health researchers warn. The researchers studied clusters of cryptosporidium outbreaks around the country between 1997 and 2015 and found 13 coincided with severe weather events. Their research is published in the journal Epidemiology & Infection. It is the first study to compare clusters of outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis to severe weather events in Aotearoa.
5-27-2024

RESEARCHERS EVALUATE IMPACT OF NEW FILM’S MESSAGE ON CHILDREN’S AND ADULTS’ BODY IMAGE, SELF-COMPASSION

Unrealistic expectations about what our bodies should look like—whether from the media, friends or family—make adults and children of all ages more vulnerable to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and other mental health challenges. In a new study published in Body Image, Flinders University experts assessing the program’s usefulness in classrooms highlight the potential for the film “Embrace Kids,” directed by 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt, to achieve large-scale improvements in body image
5-27-2024

STUDY FINDS INCREASED SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, SUICIDE ATTEMPTS AMONG ADOLESCENTS EXPOSED TO EARLY PHASE OF WAR IN UKRAINE

Data Collection in the War-Affected Donetsk Region and Non-War Kirovograd Region. A new study carried out by a multinational research group showed high levels of suicidal thoughts and attempts in adolescents, which were strongly associated with wartime traumatic experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Dr. Sanju Silwal from the Research Center for Child Psychiatry in the University of Turku, Finland, one of the lead authors, says that the study was conducted in two regions that
5-27-2024

STUDY FINDS SIGNIFICANT DISPARITIES IN THE DELIVERY OF CANCER-RELATED CARE

It’s important to ensure that care provided at US hospitals that predominantly serve Black and Hispanic populations is as high-quality as the care provided at other US hospitals. New research reveals significant disparities in the delivery of cancer-related care at minority serving hospitals (MSHs) compared with non-MSHs, however. The findings are published in Cancer. For the study, investigators analyzed information from the National Cancer Database (which accrues approximately 70% of US cancer diagnoses) to identify patients eligible for definitive treatment for breast, prostate, non-small cell lung, and colon cancers between
5-27-2024

WHO SEEKS $7 BN WITH FUND-RAISING REVAMP

The World Health Organization launched Sunday a new financing mechanism that aims to raise $7 billion of funds that can be deployed more quickly and flexibly. The UN agency has traditionally relied on commitments from its 194 member states, but often these are apportioned to specific projects with several conditions attached, including deadlines that can prove too short. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said commitment increases would contribute $4 billion to the agency’s budget of $11.1 billion over the four years through 2028. “The Investment Round aims to mobilize the
5-27-2024

SECOND PERSON DIES OF CHOLERA ON FRENCH ISLAND OF MAYOTTE

Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae. Credit: Wikipedia A 62-year-old woman has died of cholera in Mayotte, bringing to two the death toll from the epidemic on the French island in the Indian Ocean, health authorities said on Sunday. The woman died on Saturday at her home in Mamoudzou, the capital, the ARS health authority said in a statement. “Response teams went to the scene to disinfect the home and take care of the deceased’s family and friends”, the statement added. In May, the disease claimed its first life
5-27-2024

ALTERING CELLULAR INTERACTIONS AROUND AMYLOID PLAQUES MAY OFFER NOVEL ALZHEIMER’S TREATMENT STRATEGIES

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have made a significant breakthrough in Alzheimer’s disease research by identifying a novel way to potentially slow down or even halt disease progression. The study, which focuses on the role of reactive astrocytes and the plexin-B1 protein in Alzheimer’s pathophysiology, provides crucial insights into brain
5-27-2024

BRAIN DAMAGE STUDY REVEALS PART OF THE BRAIN NECESSARY FOR HELPING OTHERS

Our willingness to help others is governed by a specific brain region pinpointed by researchers in a study of patients with brain damage to that region. Learning about where in the brain “helping” decisions are made is important for understanding how people might be motivated to tackle large global challenges, such as climate change, infectious disease and international conflict. It is also essential for finding new approaches to treating disorders of social interactions. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, was carried out by researchers at the University of Birmingham
5-27-2024

IMPROVING AI LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS HELPS THEM BETTER ALIGN WITH HUMAN BRAIN ACTIVITY

NSP as a computational account of discourse comprehension. (A) Humans integrate words and sentences to achieve a full understanding of discourse. In LLMs, the NSP task proposed by BERT can serve as a computational account of human discourse comprehension. (B) Illustration of the MLM task. (C) Illustration of the NSP task and its relevance to the Mason and Just model. (D) Illustration of Mason and Just’s neurocognitive model of discourse processing. Credit: Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn7744 With generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) transforming the social interaction landscape in recent years,
5-27-2024

STUDY EXAMINES METABOLIC REPROGRAMMING OF BREAST CANCER TUMORS DURING NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY

In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists have made significant strides in understanding the complex interplay between the immune system and cancer metabolism in breast cancer treatment. The research
5-27-2024

RESEARCHERS EXAMINE EVIDENCE FOR A NOVEL NEURONAL MECHANISM DRIVING ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

An international team of clinicians and neuroscientists have published a new perspective on the process of neurodegeneration. Their findings review evidence for a mechanism upstream of amyloid including the key neurochemical driving this process. The paper, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, focuses on a selective group of neurons (“the isodendritic core”). These cells have a different provenance from neurons in the rest of the brain and have previously been identified as primarily
The research, by a team from Finland’s University of Helsinki, National Institute for Health and Welfare, and Turku University of Applied Sciences, is published in
5-27-2024

WHO CHIEF URGES COUNTRIES TO QUICKLY SEAL PANDEMIC DEAL

WHO countries have spent two years seeking an agreement on tackling pandemics. The World Health Organization chief on Monday urged countries to nail down a landmark global agreement on handling of future pandemics after they missed a hard deadline. Scarred by COVID-19—which killed millions, shredded economies and crippled health systems—nations have spent two years trying to forge binding commitments on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Negotiators failed to clinch a deal ahead of this week’s World Health Assembly—the annual gathering of WHO’s 194 member states—the deadline for concluding the talks.
5-27-2024

STUDY DEMONSTRATES HOW GUT MICROBES PROCESS STEROIDS—USING FLATULENCE

It turns out flatulence can serve a purpose beyond being uncomfortable or funny: Gas released by some gut bacteria stimulates other gut bacteria to produce a hormone involved in pregnancy and in an FDA-approved treatment for postpartum depression, according to new research led by Harvard Medical School scientists. The work shows how gut bacteria can produce new hormones from steroids in bile and, in doing so, act like an endocrine organ. This research adds to the growing list of ways gut microbiota may influence human
5-27-2024

PHYSICAL FRAILTY MAY PUT PEOPLE AT GREATER RISK OF DEPRESSION, STUDY FINDS

Individuals who meet at least one of the criteria for physical frailty are at higher risk of also developing depression, a new Yale study finds. The findings—which also include insights into the specific inflammatory molecules and changes in brain structure that could underlie this association between frailty and depression—point to a need for routine assessment of physical frailty in clinical practice, researchers said. The study was published May 23 in Nature Communications. In clinical settings, physical
5-27-2024

RESEARCH TEAM RESOLVES STRUCTURE OF CRUCIAL ENZYME FOR THE FIRST TIME

For the first time, a team co-led by CHU Sainte-Justine researcher and professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal, Alexey Pshezhetsky has succeeded in resolving the unique structure of the HGSNAT enzyme, a deficiency of which causes Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare pediatric disease affecting the central nervous system. Through collaboration with a team from Shanghai University, the structure of this enzyme and the mechanism of its function were revealed using high-performance

Hi everyone,
I need help deciding between two law master's programs, and I'm really torn. Here are the details:

Option 1: New University

Pros:

• Covers more relevant subjects for the judicial exam i want to take later on.
• New experience at a different university.
• i can afford to live in a studio apartment.
• Lower cost of living.
• Easier tests and better grades.
• Support network available.
• Opportunity to meet new people.
• Quick thesis correction, allowing for two judicial applications.
• Shorter thesis.

Cons:

• No career or internship opportunities.
• Less time to complete the thesis.
• More far from family and everything since it is a remote city

Option 2: Current University that i took my law degree from

Pros:

• Opportunity to be a tutor.
• Familiar environment (where I got my undergraduate degree).
• Saves time and 600 euros on moving costs.
• Internship opportunities in specialized courts over the summer.
• Living close to home.
• Covers interesting and relevant topics.
• Rigorous preparation for the judicial exam.
• Plenty of time to complete the thesis and study for exams.

Cons:

• 4 out of 8 professors are ones I had issues with during undergrad and are not grading fairly or explaining clearly. i predict this will be an huge problem.
• Less opportunity for networking
• i only get one time to try the judicial exam

Additional Context:

• I'll have two professional experiences this summer, reducing the need for additional internships.

My Dilemma:

• Should I see the challenges in Option 2 as an opportunity for growth and resilience or should I seek a fresh start with Option 1?
• Considering my past issues with professors in Option 2, would a new environment be better for my academic and personal growth?

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated!
View Poll

F20 I’m writing this for anybody who may b experiencing anything remotely similar to what I did because these last few months have been extremely fucking rough for me, and if I can help one person feel less alone it’s worth it.
I started fearing I had herpes Dec 2023. I was raped by a now ex boyfriend and he’s the only “sexual partner” whose status I was unaware of.
This scared me because he didn’t use a condom and I’m very diligent when it comes to my health, regular condom use, and I’ve always made my exes show me their results as it’s very typical that men will never get tested unless they experience SEVERE symptoms.
I never planned to have intercourse with him at that time, so this just threw me for a loop as everything was very unplanned. No knowledge of his status, no condom, no consent.
I experienced immediate issues during the act, I’ve never had lubrication issues EVER, quite the opposite (tmi ik but I want to give perspective of the immediate sexual changes that followed) but this time I was DRY like sandpaper rubbing inside me ugh I was so uncomfortable, and I’m really sorry and I want to hug anyone who knows exactly what I’m talking about. I had never experienced pain like that from intercourse before this, he refused to stop till I was actually screaming and writhing in pain and clawing at him.
I planned to never talk to him again, but not knowing his status was rlly eating at me, I asked him if he had ever got tested before and he told me no.
INSTANT PANIC
My vagina did not feel the same from that point onward. I was sore and swollen for a few days after, I later went to a clinic to get an STI full panel test (ik that’s too soon, but understand I was in a haze of confusion I was trying to do damage control) The results for that initial test came back completely negative.
I had a crawling sensation on my mons pubis and labia area as if something was moving through the hairs, I also felt like the hairs were moving themselves. I started being itchy all the fucking time, it was all I could think about, I didn’t get a break from it, my lower region was so uncomfortable and all these sensations were so foreign to me. I also would get very dry, like uncomfortable as fuck, this was also new, I couldn’t stand my panties rubbing against me, or even the skin touching itself or AIR. I would literally have to put a wad of wet toilet paper for a tiny bit of relief but nothing could relieve me mentally. I also would slather Vaseline all over my lower region for the tiniest bit of relief. At this point I was waiting for the 6 week mark so I couldn’t get retested literally counting down the days. One night I went out for drinks w my friends ( I don’t drink normally) and my vagina was on FIRE like itching burning all of it, not the lil scratchy dry I was feeling before. I was starting considering maybe I had a yeast infection, I had only ever had one before this (not diagnosed by a doctor) and I treated it w canesten so I ran to Walmart to get a tube and didn’t even wait till I got home, I used their washroom and slathered it all over me. I remembered the first time I had done this for my previous presumed yeast infection I felt some sort of immediate relief, but this time I did not. On my way home I was antsy and squirming in my seat, nothing was comfortable, sitting, standing, lying down.
I tried using the canesten for a couple days following but it just seemed useless, crawling sensation was still there and now I was feeling this popping sensation. Like the skin of my labia were sticking together cause of moisture then spreading apart and creating kind of like a pop, that’s the best way I can describe it idk. I hated leaving the house because I felt like I constantly had my hands down my pants to scratch or literally cupping my vagina, adding pressure, applying Vaseline, whatever I thought could bring relief. I started to notice bumps. This is when my STI research rabbit hole really took off. Initially they started on my pubic area, I assumed they were pimples or even boils but I have had pimples in my pubic area before and they either had a yellow top or a white head, these were shiny hard bumps that definitely looked like blisters. They would come and go…in the same spots. Some of them I would squeeze out of frustration and thick blood OR white or clear fluid would run out. Of course there were concerns coupled with the sensations but initially I wasn’t assuming these bumps were coming from any STIs (specifically herpes) because they were on my mons pubis and my research told me me that herpes likes to live in most areas although it was possible. I wanted to book with my family doctor, but honestly I was so scared because I was ashamed plus my doctor is a male and the icing on the cake was the receptionist are fucking rude pricks, one of them I knew their daughter (I hate that bitch) and I wasn’t willing to willingly open a potentially awkward ass situation like that.
Now I had sores to add to my symptoms, like raw skin on my labia, the hood of my clit and yes they burned and hurt but mostly when touched faintly when left alone. I was so sure I had herpes, I would be only every subreddit related to herpes, reading my exact symptoms, seeing outbreaks that strongly resembled what I had. I even a few times would post the pics of the sores and would always get a handful of comments telling me that they looked concerning and I should get them swabbed ASAP and a few saying they were nothing concerning. A couple times I had burning pee, but I honestly can’t remember if this was before or after the sores started to appear. I’m a working student who has no car so it’s not rlly the easiest thing for me to find time to go to a walk in and get swabbed and honestly the sores wouldn’t last longer than a week and they mostly seemed to occur right before my period, clear up with it only to appear a few days after. The itching and tingling were almost always there with maybe an occasional day of relief. I would take pics of almost every numb and sore that was irritating so I could bring to my appointments, at the 6 week mark, I tested again at the same walk in and everything was negative, I showed the doctor the pics I took and she said they don’t look like anything concerning as in herpes. Every time I got a chance to go to the doctor it would always be when I didn’t have a sore which was really unfortunate
Doctors rlly operate off their OPINIONS so I booked an appt w my university clinic and unfortunately, again, I had no sores to swab and I just had my red sores and bump pictures to show and my symptoms. This doctor was male so I won’t necessarily say I held him opinion in low regard but he almost seemed like uncomfortable? Idk
When I say I convinced myself I had herpes in telling u I was doing everything, lysine, diet changes, all of it. My symptoms and sores/bumps were soooooo fucking similar to everything I was seeing. Nothing rlly was alleviating my turmoil long term so I rlly thought I was one of those ppl who just had a bad case.
At this point I had sworn off sex, I was going to go celibate and never date for the rest of my life and was rlly working towards just making myself as comfortable as possible, scanning subreddits for advice, literally doing everything ever recommended with rlly not much luck. I was rlly hanging on to the “it gets better” that everyone was swearing by.
Over the months I’ve debated texting him and asking him to actually get tested just so I’m aware of his status but I literally can’t because there’s a no contact order unless there’s a lawyer involved, although this order applies to him, I believe I can’t initiate contact because him responding would equal him breaking the order (I reported the rape).
I spent my birthday crying and scratching and sleeping cause that was the only time I wasn’t thinking about it.
I tried everything, no underwear, loose clothing, changing soaps, more water, more exercise, more sleep, no stress (lol this was impossible), no certain foods, EVRYTHINGGGG, by now I had the nerve pain, the shocks, the zap, I had it all over my lower body sometimes upper. Numbness was there, as well as the static ans pins and needles
I had no idea what the “normal” state of my vagina was like. It was like my memory b4 December of that area was wiped. Discomfort was my new normal. I also couldn’t rmr what my discharge was like, during this time I experienced diff types, thick white discharge, watery, it was hard to track. My vaginal smell also got stronger, not a bad smell but the smell was STRONGER. Like immediately I took of my panties I could smell my vagina another symptom I had read about
Last week, I had sores and bumps that itched and burned outside of the “prodrome symptoms” I reg experienced and begged my boss to let me leave work early to go to the same walk in clinic I needed her to say yes bc I FINALLY had sores to swab.
I once again did a full panel STI test (this was my third time, I went again at the 3 month mark before this) blood, urine, and this time, a swab.
She said for sure there were bumps but she didn’t see any ulcers but she’d swab for both yeast and HSV. She asked me if I wanted to b on anti virals while waiting for the results and immediately I said yes (I had basically accepted it at this point and was working on just coping and I was looking at this appointment being final confirmation for me) and she advised me to drink lots of water and gave me the valacyclivir prescription.
Taking the prescription brought zero relief to my symptoms. Again, I thought I was one of those w people who had a bad case and was gonna finish the 10 days and wait till I got the results back before taking any other action.
Finally, this week I was called in bc my results came in. I came to the appt w the mindset that was finally gonna get the type of HSV and was gonna let her know that I wanted to try gabapentin and a diff antiviral.
GUYS. It was negative. BUT YEAST WAS DETECTED. My jaw DROPPED. I was so floored. I was prescribed clotrimazole but I haven’t even bought it yet cause I’m broke tn lol. But listen, when I say my symptoms basically disappeared overnight without it… I’m not kidding. Everything suddenly HALTED like EVERYTHING. All of it was psychological, and yeast (I’m still picking up the script when I get paid)
This experience did also educated me on HSV, the stigma, the experiences others have had, those who had it transmitted to them intentionally or carelessly, the immune system, healthy lifestyles, so in a way…I’m kinda grateful? HSV stigma needs to end. More ppl need to b educated on this it’s honestly disheartening knowing I knew virtually nothing about an infection as common as herpes. I used to think oral was the least riskiest sexual act but now idk if I could ever again knowing what I know now, and most people will never know their status if they’re carriers of the virus. Even now I’m not sure if I can ever have sex or date ever again but that’s not bc of the HSV. My point? Don’t assume, get swabbed, no matter what anybody says or what you think, looking back the alcohol probably flared up the yeast.