after 9/11, I remember some kids were terrified a plane would crash into their school. I understood that al Qaida had targeted symbols of American power and it wasn't likely they would attack a random school. However, the United States became united in the face of the attacks (at 1st anyway) and al Qaida failed to demoralize the US. I thought, the most effective terror strategy would be to attack random civilian targets. Terrorize the population.

This is what russia is doing now. Deliberately attacking civilians in order to demoralize the country. It is spreading terror in a true terrorist's strategy. We have to recognize this is what russia is doing. It may be a "good" strategy but it is a horrific thing to attack and kill civilians going about their day-- in their homes, train stations, stores, restaurants. Normal people around the world should be more outraged by this.

However, this strategy hasn't worked so far. Ukraine is united against the attacker. Because to give in would only spread more terror and untold horror in the country-- and russia would be emboldened to attack others.

Because Ukrainians

I have a character that is more of an entity than a human being, so he doesn’t have a heart, nor can he sweat or have any organs

It’s hard for me to describe things like “he felt his heart sink” or other expressions like that, since in the back of my mind I’m thinking “he doesn’t have a heart” ya know? Even if it’s figurative speech

My ask is: any tips on how I can describe his feelings in more impactful ways, working around the fact he’s not human? (Detail, he wants to be human)

Human Feelings for the Non-Human Character

So, I take it that you have a character who:

Lacks physiological features usually associated with expressing emotions,

But is overall humanoid, which means he doesn't have other special body features (like a tail that he can wag) that allows him to convey his feelings.

Limit the Range of Emotions

Does the fact that your character lacks organs mean that he cannot feel the full range of human emotions?

If yes, broadly categorize the emotion groups into: (1) Feelings he understands, and (2) Feelings he doesn't understand.

For Feelings Understood by Him:

Use body language

Use quirky habits

Use other body features

For Feelings NOT Understood by Him:

Describing shock, surprise and confusion

Borrow other characters' expressions

Use Body Language

Body language is a great indicator of emotion. Even if your character cannot truly feel the bodily effects of an emotion, he may exhibit the same body language displayed by normal humans. This is especially if he lives around other, "normal" people.

Instead of his "heart sinking", he may "start shaking", "feel his throat clench", "find himself wordless", "go completely still", etc. to express shock.

Use Quirky Habits

Describe a few quirky things that your reader can rely on to see how your character is doing. This is a good place to describe how he's different, or wants to be human, too.

Shredding tissue/paper to bits and eating it (I mean, he doesn't have organs, so I'm supposing he can't get sick from this) when he's nervous.

Listening to heartbeat sounds on YouTube when he's happy, imagining the sound coming from his chest.

Running non-stop for hours and hours when he's worried and want to clear his mind

Use Other Body Features

Even if he doesn't have typical body parts, we must make do with what he does have. Since he has fewer organs, all of his senses would be highly concentrated on those:

Feeling the fluids in his abdominal cavity churning when he's nervous (no organs, but I'm assuming his middle is filled with something?)

Feeling all the specific bones ache/creaking when he is angry

All of his hairs standing up, etc.

Describing shock, surprise and confusion

All other feelings that's not fully understood, or one that is being felt by him for the first time will just be shock and confusion.

In addition to the three strategies above, focus more on the mental panic that he will feel, being confronted with a situation where he doesn't know himself.

If he's in a situation where he desperately wants to feel what the others are feeling, make him try his best to mimic them, observing them in detail.

Borrow other characters' expressions

Just because someone doesn't feel something doesn't mean he cannot understand it logically. We humans "know" that we should be feeling a particular way in given situations even without sympathizing with the other fully.

Thus, let your character use stock phrases like "my heart sank" by borrowing the words of someone he spends a lot of time with. Perhaps his mother, who was afraid he'd get bullied as a child, actually taught him to express himself like others, memorizing the "right" emotional reactions like how you'd learn vocabulary.

Hope this helps! :)

S1E2 Charlie X: "To The Victor"

As her grandfather was often fond of observing, Janice was a go-getter. She had very little trouble deciding what she wanted, how she wanted it, and what she needed to do in order to make it hers. It made her a formidable adversary in most strategy games and team sports, to say nothing of the rare occasions when someone or something tried to interfere with her career goals.

It didn’t do much for her love life, though.

See, Janice was pretty. She didn’t mind that – in fact she worked very hard each morning to apply her makeup and to press and arrange her hair just so to match the latest fashion. She enjoyed looking good, and any extra effort it took was simply worth it.

But looking good meant being chased, being sought, being fawned and fought over. It meant leers and lewd gestures and lewder comments made just within earshot. It made her into a prize to be won.

Well, Janice was no one’s fucking prize, and if anyone was going to be winning anything, it was her.

Enter Lieutenant Nyota Uhura.

When Janice had been assigned to the Enterprise as Captain Kirk’s person yeoman, she was less than thrilled. She’d had her fair share of unwanted suitors of every class and gender, but in her experience, high-ranking men tended to be the worst.

It came as a pleasant surprise, therefore, when Kirk turned out to be friendly, charismatic, and unfailingly professional both on and off the bridge. His gaze and touch were never anything but completely appropriate and respectful. Beyond that, he had a presence about him that could instantly set everyone at ease. Honestly, if he hadn’t been extremely off-limits due to their respective ranks and positions aboard the ship, Janice may have been tempted to test some decidedly less-than-platonic waters with him.

Ah, well. Maybe in another life.

Kirk’s command crew was fairly easy to work with as well. Granted, First Officer Spock could often be blunt to the point of rudeness, and Chief Medical Officer McCoy was something of a serial flirt, but on the whole they were harmless. Janice even found herself becoming fast friends with Lieutenant Sulu, who shared her sardonic sense of humor and took a genuine interest in her painting hobby after catching her hard at work in an empty rec room during her second week. (She did her best to reciprocate by showing interest in his botany projects, though in truth some of the more mobile specimens were…unnerving to her.)

Then, there was Nyota.

If Janice was pretty, Nyota was gorgeous. There was a softness to her features, an almost ethereal kind of beauty that was only enhanced by the gentle grace with which she moved. Her smiles were wide and bright, her voice smooth and musical whenever she spoke. And when she sang…

Well. Janice normally wasn’t one to wax poetic, and maybe that was for the best because Nyota Uhura was certainly not in need of any poetry. She supplied all of it quite skillfully herself.

Perhaps that was what Janice found so intimidating. Nyota was a woman self-possessed; by no means just a beauty, she was also sharp as a tack, fleet of foot and wit, and surprisingly – dangerously – mischievous when the mood struck her.

She was the first person Janice had ever encountered who truly gave her pause. Not because she wasn’t sure what she wanted when it came to Nyota, but because she wasn’t sure what she could have.

Enter Charlie Evans.

What struck Janice the most about Charlie was his sincerity. He was awkward, sure, and clearly a little out of his depth when it came to understanding and adjusting to the culture of the Enterprise, but who could blame him? His life up to that point had been a blank slate – totally unburdened by social rules and customs – and as such his actions and words bore an honesty that was as refreshing as it was unnerving.

He was sweet. Genuine. A good kid. All he really needed was some guidance.

Just not from Janice.

The very moment they met, she could tell she was going to have trouble with him. His eyes – wide and bright and ever so confused – landed on her like the glowing light of a meteorite on a collision course. She knew those eyes. She knew very well what they meant.

She also knew that she was unequivocally the worst possible person for him to hitch his poor naïve adolescent wagon to. Sure, Janice was nice – she was polite and professional and friendly, but she wasn’t…gentle. She wasn’t sweet or tender or patient. Not like Kirk could be.

Not like Nyota was.

She tried, of course. She tried to be soft for Charlie. She tried to ignore the weight of his eyes on her. It didn’t work. The meteorite still came. It still careened right into them with the sharp sound of a palm hitting flesh.

And then, Janice simply wasn’t.

.

.

.

Reenter Yeoman Janice Rand.

She didn’t talk about Charlie after everything was over with. She wrote her report, because that was her job, and she submitted to a brief psych eval, because that was Dr. McCoy’s job, and that was that.

From what she could tell, Kirk and the others who had been present for Charlie’s departure were of a similar mind. Better not to dwell.

And yet…

And yet Janice could not keep the image of Charlie’s wide, earnest eyes out of her head. The simple, terrible truth he spoke so plainly to her.

(“You can understand, can’t you? You know about being with somebody? Wanting to be?”)

Yes, Janice did. She did, and yet for the first time in her life, fear and doubt had kept her frozen in place.

Well, no more of that.

She found Nyota alone on the observation deck, watching the stars and humming softly to herself. Despite her new resolve, Janice hesitated in the doorway.

Charlie had been alone for too long. He didn’t know how to work around the needs of others, how to cope with rejection when it came. Janice – well, she didn’t like rejection, but far better that than this hopeless pining she was doing now. Life was just too damn short to waste time like that.

And so, Janice went to go get her.

New antiques

Susan Stewart’s idea of “distressed genres” makes me wonder if there is any kind of genre that is undistressed. By “distressed genre” she mainly means something fake-old that is implicitly in need of rescue, or at least allows consumers to feel as though their act of consumption is also an act of rescue. (The great seduction of the thrift store is perhaps this fantasy of rescue, a sort of inverse Marie Kondo-ism where soulful goods are saved rather than purged.)

The distressed genres Stewart discusses are various forms of fakery discovered in the 18th century with the commercialization of print and the development of wider reading publics. Texts were presented as discoveries, as aspects of a foreign civilization, or “found manuscripts,” bundles of letters, transcriptions of outmoded oral forms like the ballad, as a way of trying to make them seem less like something someone just made up on the spot — the cult of the author as a genius of invention and imagination had yet to coalesce. 

These gestures — “an attempt to bypass the contingencies of time ... to author a context as well as an artifact,” in Stewart’s formulation — were quickly codified into a set of enabling pretenses that allowed writers and readers both to give themselves permission to suspend disbelief, to consume texts as pleasurable, as commodities. The fake context, the fake historicity works as an alibi for the text’s commodity status (made for the market). As Stewart writes, “The emergence of commercial publishing, of a writing destined for strangers, effects a compensation in the form of the encapsulated sense of ‘community’ implied in the reproduction of folkloric forms.” One example is in how the “bourgeois writer” seeks to “escape the limits of individual expression by creating proverbs.” 

This makes me wonder about what sorts of ritualized pretenses we currently require to indulge in or engage with digital/social media/augmented media practices — how do these get legitimated, and on what terms? Professional writers are no doubt still bourgeois and wrestling with their self-imposed alienation from communal forms of non-attributed expression, but that tension is something social media imposes on all users. “Posting” is a kind of social participation and self-aggrandizement at the same time, and the strategies for resolving that contradiction or making it tolerable are in flux. That tension itself is an old and familiar one (the “self” vs. ”society”), but new forms of media make it appear new; the “new antiques” and impostures that a new form of media generates (the various and ever-changing forms of contrived authenticity) offer outmoded forms of expression as ersatz solutions to an insoluble problem.

Maybe a better way of putting that is that the various means that people employ try to seem spontaneous, natural, and real in posts are all “distressed genres” — they are all old strategies for dealing with crises brought on by the apparent dislocations and instabilities of media (who is speaking, where and when, and to whom, and why? who and what allowed them to do this, and why? etc.)   

“AI”-produced texts and images (including ”deepfakes”) are almost literal “new antiques” in that they are made of probable estimates and statistical distillations of past cultural artifacts. Our engagement with these gimmicks seems akin to 18th century writers’ fascination (which Stewart traces) with “untutored geniuses” — people who created “naturally” from a position outside the compromised conditions of "society.” AI does not appear like a form of “natural” creation, but it seems to operate outside subjective intention in the same way that “untutored geniuses” make things without being able to understand why they are great or what their social implications will be. It is the same fetish of the “subject supposed not to know.”

Stewart likens distressed genres to souvenirs — they are not supposed to be “authentic” but evocative: “Souvenirs must typically be economically worthless in order to serve the narrative of the personal; otherwise, they are a contradiction of the personal.” The fact that they are kitsch aids their purpose. Stewart writes:

As newly minted souvenirs of periodization, "everybody's souvenirs," distressed genres are close to kitsch objects, artifacts of exaggerated surface and collective experience. It is important to note this anti- personal dimension of the distressed genre, a dimension that coincides with its naive voice and forged status as gestures against the limitations of the self and the self's limited access to history. Furthermore, this erasure of the self, in both deferring to and creating a sense of anterior authority, is a movement against self-consciousness. Thus it is a movement against irony and irony's multiple accounts of the origins of history.

The pursuit of the “authentic self” and of sincere presence culminates in pure reaction and the one-sided evocation of a mythic community that is seen as outside history. Trying to move beyond the limits of the individual human subject too and “collaborate” with machinic intelligence seems like an effort to reach the same place.  

Healthy Holidays for Kidney Transplant Recipients

The first year after receiving a kidney transplant is full of changes. As you adjust to medication routines and a life free of dialysis, there are many new experiences to face. One of those is navigating the holiday season with newfound freedom and health. Yet even though you have a new lease on life with your kidney transplant, you will still need to use caution as you enter the holiday season and its many potential health pitfalls. Here are some strategies to help.

Be Considerate of Germs

As a transplant patient, you must remain vigilant about germs. Your immune system is now compromised, and as a result, you need to use caution to avoid unnecessary exposure to illness. Does this mean you can’t enjoy holiday parties and family events? No, but it does mean you should do so carefully.

When you are going to visit family, ask them if anyone has been recently ill. Practice good hand-washing, and make sure you keep up with all of your medications. Consider forgoing handshakes and hugs if someone has been ill recently or you suspect they are not practicing good hand hygiene.

Pay Attention to Nutrition

One of the biggest risks of the holiday season comes not from germs, but rather from the food on your plate. This is the season when people are willing to over-indulge in treats and less-than-healthy food options. As a kidney transplant patient, you do need to be mindful of what you are eating. Healthy choices will support your new kidneys, and allowing yourself to eat too much puts you at risk for obesity, which can put unnecessary strain on your kidneys.

Here are some strategies that will help you enjoy holiday foods without unnecessary risk:

Choose small servings of those items you truly love

Pass on items you don’t care for.

Keep to a regular eating schedule, as skipping meals will cause you to eat more.

Keep holiday goodies out of sight, so they are not constantly on your mind.

Choose a healthy snack before holiday events so you do not eat more than you should of the less healthy options.

In addition to these tips, remember that sodium and potassium can be hard on your body as a transplant patient. If you eat too much sodium, you may retain fluids. If you eat too much potassium, you could strain your heart. Watch for and put limits on foods with these ingredients.

Finally, make sure you are drinking the right amount of water. While it is allowable to have other beverages, too, don’t neglect water, which is essential to your health.

It is unreasonable to think you won’t have some treats this holiday season, but don’t go overboard. Your goal is to come out from the holidays without unnecessary medical intervention, so go into these events with a plan for your health.

Learn More about the Paired Donation Program

If you are not a kidney transplant recipient but are on the waiting list to become one, the kidney exchange program through the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation could help. Reach out to your transplant team to learn more about this program, and see how you can find a kidney match with a living donor through this innovative software program. Perhaps this holiday season could be the season when you receive your life-giving transplant.

Source URL :- https://sites.google.com/view/paireddonation/home

Save Cash With These Stellar Coupon Tips

In tough economic times, everyone is looking for ways to reduce their spending and save money, and you are probably no exception. One way of cutting your expenses is by using coupons. If you need help learning how to find the best coupons, the following article can show you how. Buy more than one Sunday paper so you can get doubles and even triples of your favorite coupon. Some establishments will allow you to use more than one coupon if you are buying more than one item. This will bring your savings to a whole other level than you ever thought. You can find coupons in a variety of places. Often, your local newspaper will contain coupon flyers. These hidden gems are often stuffed in coupon mailers, magazines and local publications. In fact, many websites and apps make it easy to locate, download and print coupons that best fit your needs. Before beginning any coupon strategy find and print a copy of the store's coupon policy. Many stores limit the number of coupons that can be used on each transaction, while other stores may not accept internet coupons. It is therefore, important that you print a copy of your store's coupon policy. Store buy 1cp-lsd in little plastic baggies. This will save you time when you're looking for one in particular, and they keep them looking neat. They won't go flying all around the place, and they won't get wet. Storing coupons in these little bags makes sense and will help you save. The best way to keep all of your coupons in order is to buy some plastic inserts and keep them in a binder. You can buy different sizes of plastic pouches and perhaps keep them in categories this way. You can organize it. However, will be easiest for you to get through. Let your friends and family know you are clipping coupons. What will probably end up happening is that everyone will save their "junk mail" for you. This mail can be a treasure trove of coupons and deals. If they don't want to use them, they miss out--that doesn't mean you have to! A great tip if you're someone who likes to use coupons is to look into whether specific stores have an online coupon that you can use. All you have to do is log onto their web site, and you can usually tell within minutes, whether they're offering their own coupons online. Scan magazines at the doctor's offices if they are new for coupons. Most places will not mind if you tear out a coupon if there is not any publications on the other side. Most of the time a magazine is good about only printing coupons on the other side of ads or using tear outs. Don't buy an item just because you're holding a coupon for it. Many people overspend with coupons because they think they have to buy every item they've got a coupon for. That might be a wonderful deal, but if you fail to get a great deal on something you like, money is lost. If your store has a buy one get one free deal you can look for coupons to use on these and you may end up getting two items for free. It is totally worth it to double check the buy one get one free deals your store has to make sure you aren't missing anything. To have a basic filing system for your coupons, it's a good idea to put them in a shoe box stacked in chronological order or just arrange them by an expiration date. In doing this, you do not have to waste a ton of time organizing. However, you always know which coupons are about to go out of date and become useless. The best coupon websites will give you a list of all of the major stores and tell you where you can find the best coupons to go with their weekly deals. You need to pay attention to these and do not forget about your chain drug stores that always have good coupon deals. Now you should have an idea of just how much money you can save by the intelligent use of coupons. Many people have already greatly slashed their spending by mastering the use of coupons. Just start applying the tips from this article and you will be astonished at how much you can save.

On the internet Fitness Training instructions Is it Best For You?

Virtual Personal Trainer -- Online Fitness Training Want to get fit and even shed weight? Struggling in order to find the moment and inclination in order to get to a health club? If you find this is your enthusiasm for the weekly trudge in order to the gym will be being met together with resistance (from the need to go to the pub) then why not obtain the help of a professional? We all know how that feels to find enthusiastic about getting in shape. A lot of people join typically the gym having a health and fitness training course most laid out but a couple of months down the track and start off to get bored stiff, don't push ourselves around we should ('I'll simply do fifteen mins then since a reward have a very swim and the sauna! ') or perhaps typically just prevent going. Choosing a new Personal Trainer may be expensive If an individual have considered getting the help involving a private trainer yet couldn't afford one there is a solution in order to help you get back on track and reach your goal. And in case time is your problem over the internet avoid even have to physically meet with your fitness coach these days. Yes you can even Yahoo and google the services involving a virtual health and fitness trainer. (but that doesn't mean a person work). There are a range of virtual particular training companies available to offer guidance and assistance all the way. So, wherever do you begin? Carrying out a Google lookup for online fitness training will create a long listing so do some homework and contact a few different styles to be able to find out which usually is best suited for you, it could always be some expertise they will have that takes in you to all of them. The important point is finding an exercise training course that actually works for you. Digital Fitness Trainer : How Does it Job?

Expense is another factor to take into consideration, one upon one sessions may costs up to be able to $100+ an hours choosing a fitness instructor employing the traditional approach. The virtual fitness instructor has less charges to cover and can pass this benefit onto a person. But just remember that , the particular online fitness exercising you receive can certainly still provide you with typically the support and tips you need over the internet and email, which often fits into your busy lifestyle a new lot easier, and can be accessed anytime, anyplace, providing you along with a day after day fitness individual trainer. Online Health and fitness Training Programs An individual can still expect to obtain the same stage of service and you can perform it to suit your schedule. There are in many cases when even typically the best intentions to train have been set on the back again burner if a past minute work dedication arises. Using On the web Fitness Training permits you to get daily/weekly plans, exercise, meal strategies and diet tips all tailored to how and once an individual want to teach. You may contact the particular online virtual coach anytime you need while often as you want, and many will offer to reply to your emails inside a set time time period (check out services levels with the trainer). The reliable online fitness teaching programs may also present you money backside guarantees and cost-free gifts to help you reach the goals. But remember - just mainly because you aren't meeting along with the trainer you still have in order to work hard in the direction of you goals, and they will be checking through to you, for your own good! Request for recommendations through someone you know or check consumer testimonials online. Likewise look for trial offers, some firms will even offer up a free digital personal trainer for a limited period. That way you can become sure you will get value with regard to money. Also can certainly you ask intended for, stop making excuses in addition to check out confer with an online virtual trainer today!

Ask a Health Coach: Primal Dating

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Hey folks, Board-Certified Health Coach Erin Power is here to answer your questions about Primal dating. If you’re wondering when and how to “break the news,” we’ve got strategies, tips, and backup! Have a question you’d like to ask our health coaches? Leave it below in the comments or over in the .

Cara asked: “I’ve been Primal for a year and honestly never felt better! It was hard at first but now comes naturally and makes me feel so much lighter. I also lost 10 pounds, which doesn’t hurt! The problem: I’m newly single and on dating apps. I don’t want to turn guys off by being high maintenance. Do I mention I’m Primal in my profile? Or wait until the first date? Or wait to see how things go? Help!”

First, congrats on your year of , Cara! How wonderful that you feel lighter and better. Huge recognition as well for exploring this question and considering how eating and lifestyle plays a role in dating and relationships. Feeling healthy and more confident and comfortable in one’s body can be so attractive. It creates the sort of compelling radiance that goes beyond “objective” indicators like body weight or beauty.

Not only that, but a little boost of confidence goes a long way as you enter the dating pool. Anyway, onto the matter at hand: how to navigate declaring your Primal status to would-be suitors.

Ask and Tell. Or… Don’t.

These days, it’s far more common for people to ask about and mention their “eating identities” or preferences when sharing a meal with someone for the first time. While we’re focused on dating here, this applies to new friends, acquaintances, and colleagues too. The point is, choosing to eat a particular way is hardly unusual these days. That said, I totally get how navigating conversations around food and lifestyle can be tricky in any relationship—perhaps all the more so when newly dating.

The good news is, you’re arriving with a blank slate and fresh start. As a , I work with many clients who are making changes and struggle to explain their new Primal ways to . If it’s important to you, you’ll want to share this aspect of yourself with acquaintances, new and old.

But there’s another option here: Just don’t say anything at all. At least, not right away. It may not be necessary.

The person you’re out on a date with probably won’t notice anything is amiss with your eating habits. If you order a big ass salad, a delicious steak, or a low-sugar cocktail at a restaurant, it’s not going to raise any red flags. Decide to forgo the bread basket? No problem: avoiding or limiting bread is becoming increasingly common in non-Primal circles too.

Priorities and Values

Beyond that, you likely want to be with someone whose are similar to your own. This doesn’t mean that they have to embrace the (though if they do, what a catch!). It does mean that you may want to consider whether they, like you, are interested in a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating. If they balk at a few healthy food choices, that could be a sign that they aren’t the right match for you.

Whatever you do, don’t enter into a new relationship with expectations of changing how the other person eats. Accept where they are and, if it’s not aligned with a Primal lifestyle, decide whether that’s okay for you or a dealbreaker. Also know that modeling healthy eating without pressure or judgement is probably the best approach to encouraging changes and getting folks to

Eating and living in ways that make you feel your best is NOT high maintenance, by the way. It’s one of the most important, most impactful forms of . Plus, in supporting your own vitality and longevity, you’re better able to show up for others. Primal Eating is obviously working for you. It’d be a shame to let that slide for the sake of seeming “low maintenance.” Don’t waiver on your own values.

Primal Dating Basics and Strategies

To sum up the basics:

Own up to it right away as you would with any other important, telling aspect of your character OR go with the flow and honor your Primal-ness without feeling the need to announce it at all.

Don’t try or expect to change anyone else.

Decide whether your prospect’s priorities and values align closely enough with your own.

I know sometimes it can seem easiest just to “go along” rather than explain what you eat and why. And, to be clear, don’t feel as though you have to explain anything! Still, leaning into the above basics makes for a good policy. It will likely increase your chances of finding a perfect match…and the chances of it lasting.

Along with the above, make it easier on yourself! Try these 3 simple tips:

1. Eat out.

If newly dating means eating out, make sure you have strategies in place. The free is a great start. In addition, suggest restaurants or food trucks that have Primal options you’ll enjoy. Being able to order separately removes the pressure of needing to eat the same thing as your companion.

2. Pack a picnic.

Alternatively, offer to cook dinner at home or pack a picnic! This provides a perfect opportunity to ask about the other person’s preferences and mention your own. It also ensures you’ll have tasty Primal food to enjoy, regardless of how the date turns out.

3. Find a Primal date.

Beyond declaring your nutritional preferences in your online dating profile, also consider places where Paleo and Primal ideologies are more widespread. Seek out groups and events (whether online or in real life) that feature topics such as , , functional medicine, and biohacking.

Conferences like or the are examples of larger scale health conferences where you’re sure to find some Primal-aligned allies. Gyms and are a fantastic starting place, too.

For Primal backup navigating the dating pool while staying true to your wellness goals, I recommend hiring a coach. External accountability truly is a game changer, and we can help you troubleshoot your specific circumstances and tricky social situations. Working with a coach for even a month or two can help you put solid strategies in place for staying Primal while dating or hanging with family and friends. Visit  to learn more and get started!

Do you come out as Primal when first meeting someone? Have any Primal dating tips to share? Let us know and drop other questions for me in the comments!

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Help For Dry Cracked Hands

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There’s this one quote in asoiaf: “She did not come to him, however. She has never come to me, he thought. She has always waited, letting me come to her. She gives, but I must ask.” (it’s from the scene where Jaime meets Cersei at the Sept, if you’re curious.) And, bro. I feel like this is something capricorn and cancer moons, and people with cancer and capricorn on the ic/mc axis can heavily relate to... this feeling of conditional love. This lingering knowing that you always have to give before receiving, that you can’t get anything without having to beg for it. The way we start believing that nothing can ever come easily because we were raised in an environment that taught us that we had to work hard to receive the bare minimum. The way we get so suspicious when things are going smoothly-- which translates into a thinking process of “this is too good to be true, where’s the catch?” when things just aren’t excruciatingly painful for once. 

Conditional/unconditional love is hard to define and explain, but I think this website puts it very simply: "When someone loves us conditionally, it means that they put terms, restrictions, or rules on the giving of their love. While a person can have feelings of deep care or affection for you, their love is conditional if it feels like you have to earn it. Additionally, conditional love often vanishes during difficult times. We can perhaps term this “fairweather love,” meaning that your partner, family member, or friend, emotionally or literally bails when times get tough. Conditional love doesn’t feel good. It’s not a tried-and-true love and often it can cause deep pain to those on the receiving end. If someone is making you feel unworthy of love, even at your darkest times, this person is offering conditional love which, as we will learn, is contrary to the very definition of love." 

Something that I’ve noticed with capricorn moons/capricorn ic people is that there’s always this thing with control in their childhood... either too much or too little of it, always at the end of one of the spectrums. The native either feels too controlled by the parent, like they can’t even breath without feeling restricted and treated with possessiveness by the parent, or having way too much freedom and lack of structure in the household, with parents who were too absent to set rules for the kid, making them feel very neglected. Either way, there’s always this distress when it comes to asking their parents for help because first, they have to mentally prepare themselves for hearing their parents complain about having to help them for hours, “I give you food AND a roof to sleep under, and you still ask me to drive you to your friend’s home?” + the constant manipulation and verbal mistreatment that the native has learned to expect. And like, I know that it’s a common practice on the astro community to complain about capricorn placements and their inability to ask for help, but it’s like... babes, we’re like this for a reason LMFAO. We don’t ever ask for help because it was ingrained in our brains that to ask for help means to be stripped of our dignity, to be insulted and humiliated for wanting more than what our parents feel we deserve (which is the bare minimum, most often). 

With cancer moons/cancer ic people, people always praise them for their insane emotional awareness and the way they intuitively feel what the people around them feel... but we need to acknowledge that they were like that because they had to. They had to develop emotional intelligence and always be in tune with the moods of the people in their household because that’s the strategy they learned to avoid conflict in the household. The family environment tends to be heavily charged with emotional volatility and random bursts of explosive anger, so the native learns to calm down the conflict before it has any chance of escalating. You’ll find these people constantly hyper-aware of the feelings of their loved ones, asking “are you sure you’re okay?” “did I do anything to upset you?” and blaming themselves for the unhappiness of those around them because they’re so used to their role of keeping everyone’s emotions in check (which is toxic, by the way. If this resonates with you, remember that other people's emotions aren't your fault and it's not your job to nurture everyone into a good state of mind at the detriment of your own needs.) 

This quote is the first subtle peek we get into the messy and incredibly toxic dynamic between those two, to how Jaime always has to walk around on eggshells around Cersei to not anger her, how her love is as conditional and manipulative as it gets. She's good to him when it serves her and when she can get something out of the situation-- and degrades him when he's of no use to her anymore. Which is, you know. Oddly relatable. So, if there’s anything I need to make sure you take away from this, it’s that things are supposed to flow smoothly. Especially your bonds with your loved ones, they aren’t supposed to be difficult and filled with sacrifice and the burden of responsibility-- they are supposed to be nice and soft and you shouldn’t limit yourself by the belief that you have to work painfully hard to have your needs met, that nothing ever comes easily. Just because it was like that in your childhood it doesn’t have to keep being that way. Allow yourself to receive love without side-eyeing the situation, expecting something terrible to suddenly happen. Give yourself the unconditional love you deserve, and this starts with allowing yourself to have fun and cozy experiences. 

The Sharing of Demon Cells

Kibutsuji Muzan is the basis upon which all other demons live. They were altered by his cells, having more of his cells makes them more powerful, he can reach into their thoughts and sight whenever he likes, and should they ever slip up and say something that will pose a threat to him, the cells of his that each demon carries will act as a curse and kill them. But each demon is also an individual, and their own cells determine what sort of being they'll become, and how useful they'll be to Muzan in doing what he cannot. To what extent can their own cells be shared and influence others, a reflection of the way Muzan's can be? This will be heavily based on info presented in Fanbook #2, but will also look at cases throughout the manga.

Influence of Muzan's Cells First, let's consider how unique or separate the demons are in the first place. All demons have Muzan's cells, except Yushiro who was created without them, and when Muzan was killed all the demons died too. This dependency, as well as the fact that each demon essentially acts as a long-distance extension of Muzan, might make it seem like they are a hivemind, or like an aspen forest, in which it looks like there are lots of trees but actually they are all one living entity connected by their roots. However, I think it's better to think of Muzan like one core tree, and the other demons like plants that growth on top on him with roots dependent on him, though they use their own leaves to reap... well, sunlight. Maybe this is a bad metaphor. We can still, however, thing of them as intimately intertwined.

Essentially, they are their own unique beings almost like parasites to him, because in most cases we've seen of people turning to demons, there was more or less a death of the human. In the two cases of demons turning human again, with the help of medicine to unweave themselves from Muzan, the mere time spent as a demon which self-repairing cells was what already zapped life back into them. In other cases, while still intimating interwoven with Muzan, that means they'd have been dragging down with him. This means Nezuko got very lucky with her timing that the medicine had an effect on her before Muzan perished; though perhaps she freed herself enough that this would not have had an effect. For those demons that aren't as lucky (Tamayo had a pure stroke of luck being able to break from, as though the thorny vines turned brittle enough for her to break through when Muzan was in pieces after encountering Yoriichi, and then it was impossible to bring her back), this means being vulnerable to Muzan's wishes at any time. While Muzan himself is essentially in pieces at all times, what with being present inside of each of his demons, he is the progenitor of demons, and this doesn't cause him any ill effects (making him more like a host rather than interdependent). However, other demons have also shown this ability to break themselves into multiple pieces.

The Swamp Demon: One demon in three bodies showing different attributes, but all the same being. Notably, this was not it's only Blood Technique, it had also developed a whole sub-dimension. Pretty rough first mission for a newbie, although it's possible it did not yet have mastery of its own rather impressive techniques (like Kaigaku). Hantengu: His self-splitting is more complicated, in that he first gains strength when he is cut, especially in taking on younger forms, until reaching the limits of this. Make enough copies, and his copies will no longer gain extra strength, like how repeated clones will have shorter and shorter DNA code on which to base themselves, or how photocopying copy after copy instead of the original will lead to blurrier copies. While like the Swamp Demon these different bodies show different personalities, it's a more advanced technique because they also show entirely different abilities, and function like multiple demons that happen to share the same basic identity. What gets really interesting is when one of these demons forcefully absorbs the others and grows more powerful.

Demon cannibalism is not an ideal way of gaining strength, but it happens. As mentioned in this post analyzing how demons rely on their human diet, demons at the Final Selection were known to eat each other, but clearly this doesn't make them as formidable as eating humans would, and it may had only been a desperate act to quell their own maddening hunger. However, in cases when demons have challenged each other, the loser may be absorbed. That is precisely what Kokushibou did on two of the three occasions he was challenged for the Upper Moon One rank, according to Fanbook #2 (he decided not to eat Akaza because he liked him). This cannibalism was done with Muzan's permission, and if it's anything like Sekido absorbing the other Hantengu quarters to become Zouhakuten, then we can assume Kokushibou got stronger because of the cells he took from those demons, perhaps similar to how cells from Muzan can make a demon more powerful. While we're on the topic of Upper Moons, Fanbook #2 states that only they have the permission to make other demons, and even so, they must ask Muzan for permission first. I'm assuming they're also the only ones allowed to call Muzan up on the mental telephone line instead of just be on the receiving end. If Muzan agrees, their blood is changed, so essentially what they give the new demon hopeful is not their own blood, but Muzan's. There is only demon we know of who has permission to share his own unique cells, which influence demons in their own unique way, separate from the influence Muzan already has. Lower Moon Five, Rui, simply by virtue of being a favorite. Fanbook #2 tells us:

Although he's only been a demon for less than twenty years, he's especially skilled, and well-favored by Muzan. In terms of absolute abilities he's thought to be more like Lower Moon One or Two, but since he isn't concerned about what number he is he's never applied for change in rank. Muzan anticipated Rui being able to kill Pillars. He probably would had been able to have a good match with a Pillar if he first reabsorbed all the abilities he split up amongst the demons playing the roles of his family (that is, his Blood Techniques which he lent to them by making them drink his blood, which gave them spider appearances), and he probably could had gotten even stronger. However, because he got over-emotional while fighting Tanjiro and the others on Mt. Natagumo, he made some misjudgments. He has a tendency to do simple attacks just throwing his weight around when he gets angry. If Rui were defeated first, his family member demons, who could not originally use Blood Techniques, would lose those abilities.

We can infer a few things from this: --All of those techniques were Rui's in the first place --Rui became weaker by doing this (though his overall strategy in spreading his abilities lead to lots and lots of Demon Slayer Corp deaths, so this is probably part of why Muzan allowed it), so there are limitations in how thinly he can spread himself --If not Rui's personal techniques and instead developed by being in combination with the individual demons' he shared his blood with, that's perhaps part of why he could had gotten more powerful by reabsorbing his own blood/blood techniques. While Rui did have special permission, I think it's also partly because Rui lacked ambition, so he never would had set about to challenge Muzan by spreading his own personal influence. Just think what, say, someone like Gyokko would had done with this permission, and how much he might had abused it in spreading his own taste and influence. Though he's subservient to Muzan, with too much of a taste for power, it's possible he could had tried to overstep his boundaries--not that Muzan would had let that last long the moment he saw it in his thoughts, but keeping tight rules prevents him from ever having to deal with any challenges from among his more powerful demons. If we look at the Rui-Demon Family relationship from the receiving end, though, this is a clear case for how taking cells from other demons can make a demon much stronger, thereby being another option besides eating humans or possible other self-strengthening methods. While they did on the whole become stronger and were newly able to use Blood Techniques with Rui's help, what about other cases of not simply getting stronger, but using each others' techniques as-is? Yahara and Susamaru, perhaps? Not quite, they each used their own Blood Techniques and willingly cooperated with each other, there was no exchange of cells, as far as we know. (That sounds dirty, and we're not going there.) How about when anybody uses Yushirou's papers? First, those abilities were freely lent, and most of the people who used them were human, and there was no ingesting of demon blood required. Perhaps with Nakime, however, forcing his own blood into her may had been how he was able to force her to see illusions. Genya using Kokushibou's techniques? Now we're getting closer. While in his temporary demon state, he was influenced by Kokushibou's cells like Rui's family was influenced by his cells in their appearance. It seems the tree was of his own making instead of being strictly a copy of Kokushibou's techniques, but we can think of this as a crude imitation of the ability to make objects based on demon cells, especially something that requires speedy growth/increase of cells. Later in that fight, Kokushibou displayed the ability to very quickly increase and transform, and the sword which Genya consumed was, essentially, a part of Kokushibou's body. (Still sounding dirty, but nope, we still are not going there.) Very notable is that this is a case of a demon's cells/abilities being absorbed and used against their own will. Even if this did subtract from Kokushibou's abilities like happened with Rui, though, the effect was probably only slight. So then what about when a demon freely wants to lends their own ability to another demon? First of all, Muzan, who will stand for absolutely nothing challenging him, will say no.

Ok. So. What if we can get around that? Answer: Yes, we can. We can totally do this. It's probably just as simple as Rui having other demons drink his blood, and they all probably have some innate ability to influence each other, albeit the more powerful ones having more influence. But, what's super interesting is that their own cells still stay unique to them, even when in another demon's body. Cases in point, Rui's family members periodically changing back to their personal appearance, and Muzan's cells lurking inside of any other demon. And, jumping ahead of ourselves, even when Muzan has absorbed Tamayo, her cells are still so unique that he can even reassemble her. (Worth noting, absorbing one demon probably only had a marginal effect on making him stronger. Also worth noting, at least when inside Muzan's inner space, she's also able to reassemble herself to some extent, and we only see her fade away in peace in a post-chapter sketch once Muzan is dead.)

Speaking of Tamayo, she did freely use a Blood Technique freely given to her by another demon, the man in Asakusa. Once they got him free of Muzan's curse too so he could act on his own will, he could lend the use of his cells and thorny flesh vines to Tamayo, specifically to be used against Muzan in Chapter 138. Muzan's first thought is, "who's Blood Technique is this?" Unsurprising he's long forgotten about the throwaway Asakusa Demon, who has now totally slipped out of his control! But he stays calm, knowing this is like any other demon, and it's not even a huge amount, he can simply absorb this. Which, of course, makes his unwittingly absorb Tamayo's fist, too. Whoops. (Aside: I had initially thought the Blood Technique Muzan uses against Himejima in Chapter 139 was Muzan taking the Asakusa Demon's attack and using it as his own, but Fanbook #2 specifies that this is Muzan's own unique technique.)

Let's back up one more moment. It's one thing to influence each other with your own cells that stay separate and unique, and to lend out Blood Techniques. But what about sharing demon cells in a way that makes it act like like a food, something that can be broken down, totally separated from its former host, and fundamentally transform its new host?

For that, we have medicine.

Yushirou might had been made with Tamayo's cells, or a medicine developed from scratch like the medicine that changed Muzan into a demon, or it could be a combination of both. However, even when Tamayo died, Yushirou could go on living, so he and Tamayo do not have a dependent host/parasite relationship like all the other demons do with Muzan. He certainly felt it with his whole being when he perished, but you could argue that this was the power of love instead of his cells being tied with hers. If her cells were used to create him (which I find likely), being used in a medicinal form severed whatever sort of standard connection there might had been if making demons in Muzan's style, and it also allowed it to fully become a part of Yushirou as an individual, instead of remaining uniquely Tamayo (not that he'd have a problem with that). Getting that process to work took Tamayo over two hundred years. That's probably part of why she could work so much faster with Nezuko's blood, and why she was able to use it as a medicine to help the Asakusa Demon, as stated in Tamayo's letter to Tanjiro in Chapter 127. There's no mention of him picking up traits from Nezuko like Exploding Blood or potential to master the sun, instead, the only effect was helping him break free of Muzan's influence, and perhaps his ability to live on a small amount of blood might also had been influenced by Nezuko's ability to function without it (though I find it more likely Tamayo already had other appetite management methods that helped her and Yushirou which also helped this fellow).

So anyway. While there are demons we don't wish to harm by shedding light on them in a thoughtless metaphor, I hope this was insightful.

Season Two Episode Two

Following a typically chaotic opener, Episode Two of Season Two strikes a far more sombre tone. The arrival of Henry Lang as Robert’s valet brings the first of this episode’s three plot points that address the impact of WW1 on the mental health of its soldiers. There is nothing funny to say about either shell-shock or suicidal ideation both of which are vast, complex issues that, for my money, Downton Abbey isn’t the vehicle explore in (because they require more time and depth than the pace of the plot in Season Two affords) and it certainly isn’t my place to make light of them in this rather irreverent corner of the internet. So I’m going to have a go at treading a fine line here. Forgive me if I stumble. 

Lang is clearly in the grips of something awful and yet in an attempt to avoid the indignity of having maids in the dining room, he is bumped up to footman duty. He struggles throughout, culminating in him depositing his cargo on Edith’s dress. Mrs O’Brein has firmly taken Lang under her wing, recognising that he is struggling and offers him assurance and comfort that she has never gifted to Thomas. 

Across the Village, Lieutenant Edward Courtenay is in the hospital having been blinded by gas. The use of gas (both chlorine and mustard) had a devastating impact on soldiers in WW1 but was also the root of the development of Zyklon B. Frtiz Haber, a German Jewish chemist, enabled chlorine gas to be used a weapon in WW1 and his research was later developed into the Zyklon process which was used by the Nazis to murder millions, including his own family. This is only one of a dizzying number of appalling ironies to be found in the World Wars but as I said last episode, I’m not a military historian so I’m going to leave it there. Edward had plans to return to the country after his graduation from Oxford to pursue the simple life (although one gets the feeling that his idea of the pursuit of a simple life will still be one that is very well upholstered). Thomas has taken it upon himself to read Edward’s letters to him and  together with Sybil is helping him to adjust to living life with a different set of parameters. But growing pressure on the hospital’s limited capacity means that he is to be transferred elsewhere. All three voice their dissent at varying volumes to Major Clarkson who falls back on the very real backlog of wounded men. After Edward has died, Major Clarkson, Isobel and Sybil talk about a renewed need for the Abbey to become a convalescent home, an idea that has been bubbling under the surface for a while now. Meanwhile, Thomas has been left on his own to process both Edward’s death and the implications of witnessing a lack of support given by his own physician to those with depression.  

The usually reliably jovial Mrs Patmore also has a more somber episode with her pursuit for the truth about the death of her nephew Archie. Robert finds that he has been shot for cowardice. Not only does this mean that her family is in mourning but they will now have to navigate the stigma and undue shame that came with having a relative die in this way. So entrenched in British life was the derision levelled at those who were shot for cowardice or desertion that it was only in 2006 that pardons were offered by Britain for 309 of those that were executed by firing squad during WW1. I know I said I’d leave it there with the military history, but that felt like an important bit of context. 

We are now in 1917 and Matthew is still in the same trench that he was in 1916 (a detail I hadn’t actually noticed until I got the screen cap for this) so it looks like his strategy of downing tools mid-fight and continuously popping back to Blighty for important plot developments isn’t really paying dividends. Perhaps the addition of William to the ranks will help him? William certainly seems to think so and if the speed at which he moves through the various stages of his ‘relationship’ with Daisy is any indication of his tactical prowess, the British Front will not only be well within Germany’s borders but will be breathing down Russia’s neck in a fortnight. In any other episode, this would certainly get the award for oddest relationship dynamic but Sir Richard Carlisle exists. 

Sir Richard makes his debut at Downton, having been introduced in name only in the previous episode. He and Mary met at Cliveden which is a regular haunt of mine, giving me hope that one day I too will from a strategic alliance with a newspaper magnate. He may know how to talk his way around a boardroom but he is lacking in the sartorial department. Whilst Sir Richard manages to avoid catching fire in his tweed, Lavinia is not free from the heat as he threatens her with his connection to her uncle. He may not know much about navigating the niceties of Downton, but at least he has cottoned on to the fact that any major disagreement should occur under a specific tree. Whilst Mary’s signature move is weeping into her gloves, Sir Richard’s is grabbing women by the forearm. A female friend of mine told me that one of her favourite things about the pandemic and the compulsion to keep 2m away from anyone (and not just emotionally) is that she has not been ’steered’ by a male hand on her lower back since 2019. It turns out that she can enter and exit rooms just fine on her own and I get the impression that Lavinia could get the gist of Sir Richard’s rage without the vice like grip of a man probably about twice her age. 

Twinned with the ’tree of emotional conflict’, the ‘platform of romantic uncertainty’ provides the backdrop for Sir Richard’s proposal of marriage to Mary which is a declaration that really feels like it should come with a series of well-formatted charts. Mary’s heart, however, is still very much with Cousin Matthew. After being counselled by Carson in a type of conversation I cannot imagine her ever having with her father, she is on the verge of coming clean with Matthew. But in the second round of Lavinia vs. Mary, Lavinia declares that she ‘could not go on living’ without Matthew and Mary winds her neck in. 

Also having a romantic entanglement this episode is Edith. Drake, previously of dropsy fame, has lost his farm hands and Edith turns up to offer her help in a wildly unsuitable trouser and heeled boot combo. But she soon gets down to it by pulling up a tree stump and flirting in a barn whilst a rather lovely border collie looks on (I’m currently trying to talk myself out of getting a border collie and this incident has done nothing to help things). After showing Drake that she can drink from a bottle like literally every single other human on the planet, the two share a kiss and some highly awkward dialogue that only slightly resembles ‘Carry on Downton’. 

Whilst Edith is more than happy to crack on in a barn, Mr Molesley is much more backwards about coming forwards. Apparently having predicted the creation of ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’, he figures that a book is the perfect kindling for romance when you exist in a glossy depiction of the past. Sadly neither Elizabeth nor her German garden can lure Anna from Bates who is fast shaping up to be schrodinger’s boyfriend. Anna proceeds to make some odd analogy where she compares Mr Bates to her moon-based child, revealing a rather unhealthy amount of codependency in that particular relationship. 

Romantic declaration of the moment 

Again, it feels like anyone but Sybil and Branson should get this but I am an agent of chaos and here we are. Branson defends Sybil’s will to work and has ample opportunity to see her shine in her chosen field. The admission that she will not be returning to her old life is a little chink of light that Branson basks in. 

Expressive eyebrow of the week 

I nominate Carson’s entire face when he realises that he has taken on too much and goes an impressive shade of red. As Carson frets about spoons, sauce, and something I can’t quite fathom, he starts to resemble a man who is re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Carson’s battle to get a cork out of a bottle and knocking into chairs is a warm up to his rather dramatic collapse which is accompanied by a pretty disturbing groan. Sybil springs to action and he is soon efficiently ensconced in his own quarters. 

Wait, what? 

“I got a lot done on the train” Clearly Richard was on a train that was unencumbered with the wifi issues that plague the Pendolino.  

“It takes a good deal more than that to shock me.” Mary’s shock-o-meter is a pretty odd instrument. It is unresponsive to corpses of diplomats but goes into absolute meltdown at the notion that she might have to live in a cottage. 

“Let's hope my reputation will survive it.” I’ve not checked (and I categorically never will) but I would put money on the fact that someone has created a rarepair out of this. 

“How can Matthew have chosen that little blonde piece?” Is Lavinia blonde? Women’s hair is not really my forte but I would have thought she was more akin to Tim Minchin than 1998 Justin Timberlake. 

“I believe in this war. I believe in what we are fighting for.” William seems to have a better grip on what all of this is about than I ever did in high school history. The ‘A’ that eluded me is heading his way. 

“I thought he might've died for love of you.” How I love snipey Thomas. It’s good to have him back. To borrow a quote from Bottas (another man who is currently living a life in which his destiny is his own demise) ‘traditions’. 

“Fold it in, don’t slap it” The more season two goes on, the more I think that Moira is just an amalgamation of some choice elements of Julian’s kingdom. 

where is hawai'i? can you point to it on a map?

if someone asks you to point to hawai'i on a map, where would you point?

before colonization, there was (and continues to be) an island called "hawai'i". the entire chain of islands is called "hawaii" and there is a state called "hawaii" made up of a large number of those islands.

now, because there are too many things named "hawaii," the island of hawai'i is often called "the big island", because o'ahu, the island where the city of honolulu is located, is what many people think of when they think of "hawaii". it's a mess.

on top of that, we have the "main hawaiian islands" (aka "southeastern islands" aka "windward islands") vs the "outer islands" (aka "northwestern islands" aka "leeward islands").

most maps of "hawaii" show only the "main" islands. the map above (created by USGS) shows more of the hawaiian islands, but omits the names of two of the islands in the "main" chain: lana'i & kaho'olawe. these are not insignificant omissions. lana'i is 98% owned by larry ellison, founder & chairman of oracle corporation. kaho'olawe has been relentlessly used & abused by the west. it has been used for ranchland, military training, and most notably, as a munitions testing site, resulting in the continued contamination of the island. after many years of protests & lawsuits by native hawaiians, the island is now only accessible by native hawaiians for cultural, spiritual, & subsistence reasons.

meanwhile, this tourist mug with a creepy colonial-style map of hawaii includes both kaho'olawe & lana'i. good job, tourist mug!

there are actually over a hundred islands in the hawaiian archipelago. the state of hawaii includes 137 of them (source). midway atoll (made up of 3 islands) is part of the archipelago, but not part of the state. it is one of america's territories: an unorganized unincorporated territory.

additionally, some of the islands "are too small to appear on maps, and others, such as Maro Reef, only appear above the water's surface during times of low tide. Others, such as Shark and Skate islands, have completely eroded away." [source: wikipedia page "list of islands of hawaii"].

in the course of writing this post, i failed to find a map that shows & names all the hawaiian islands and failed to even find a list of all of them (plus if an island only appears sometimes or has disappeared entirely, what do you even do with that?). if you find either or both of those, let me know in comments.

so where and what "hawaii" is remains a mystery.

but this has not prevented commercial & official interests from using maps of "hawaii" in all kinds of places! here on the islands, hawaii map imagery is all around.

maps are very common on tourist items:

the hawaiian telcom logo uses dots roughly arranged in the pattern of the islands on a map:

but i guess only five islands are worth including (i understand. branding needs come above all else!).

this souvenir cloth item is interesting because it includes all the main islands (including ni'ihau, lana'i, and kaho'olawe - which are often excluded), but smooshes them into the available space without much consideration for where they are in relation to each other:

the postcard above has the main islands in their rough places, but squishes them all together so that they fit in the space. also the islands are made more similar in size to each other so that you can better see the little illustrations.

here's a more "official" map to show where the islands "should be" in relation to each other, and their sizes relative to each other (although both of those can change depending on what projection the map uses):

in my mind, though, the ultimate hawaii map fantasy lives on the ubiquitous reusable walmart cloth bag (available for 50 cents at checkout to all who have forgotten to bring the right number of bags. there's a plastic shopping bag ban in hawaii.):

in the walmart commercial universe (wcu), the only islands that exist are islands that have a walmart. the general outlines of the islands & their general orientation is preserved (along with a rough topology too!), attempting to convey a sense of adhering to a recognizable reality, but islands without a walmart have been not only omitted, but the space where they would be has been eliminated as well - as if they were never there to begin with. in the walmart version of reality, what makes something "hawaii" is whether or not it has a walmart on it.

i've had a lot of time to think about this remarkable image because i have a whole bunch of these bags. this is the bag of the people - everyone uses it for everything. the one in the above photo is in a typical state - pretty rough - because it probably came from the side of the road. you can almost always find one on the side of the road. so wherever you are, you are probably within sight of the walmart version of the islands.

so why does it matter whether or not you can point to "hawaii" on a map? well, maps are political documents, meaning that they reflect the vision of whoever has the power to put the map in front of your eyes. so if you're the one with the power to make some of the most commonly-seen maps of hawaii and you decide to remove a few islands, well that can really shape what people think "hawaii" is! we're a sea of islands - many people here have only ever been to one or two of the islands. if it wasn't on the map, you might not know that it existed at all.

hawaii is incredibly important to the united states, not just for tourism, but in terms of global strategy. it's the largest outpost of american power in the middle of the pacific. it puts america & its troops half an ocean closer to some of america's biggest competitors, most notably, china. it's a springboard to all the other island territories of the pacific (which you maybe haven't heard of because they almost never appear on maps):

once you see a map of all of america's territories in the pacific, along with the exclusive economic zones (eez) that extend out for 200 miles around each island, you start to get a better feel for the extent of america's power in the pacific.

when a place is left off the map, it can be easy to make it (including its people!) invisible. so if you're america, with bases across the islands of the pacific, with a nightmarish history of atomic weapons testing in the pacific (rendering islands uninhabitable and leaving both land and waters too contaminated for people to use), perhaps you might not want some of these places to appear on the map.

in Foreign Policy in Focus, Khury Petersen-Smith writes:

"Many of us living in North America who are concerned about climate change, for example, have a sense that Pacific Islands are facing particularly severe impacts from rising sea levels. But that knowledge tends to be vague and limited, as actual residents of these islands are rarely invited to the table to speak for themselves.

This is not accidental. Commenting during the Nixon administration on U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, which share the same region of the Pacific as Guam, Henry Kissinger said “there are only 90,000 people out there. Who gives a damn?”

The U.S. has long had an interest in Marshallese and other Pacific Islanders remaining “out there” in the American mind. This marginalization helps allow the U.S. to carry out military operations in the region, along with policies that further climate change and other harms, while keeping most Americans unaware of these practices’ impacts in the Pacific." [FPIF]

often hawai'i (and alaska - which is in many ways similar to hawai'i in its relation to the contiguous US) doesn't even appear on national maps of the USA.

here's a screenshot from the new york times homepage on march 21, 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to spread:

there is no alaska and no hawai'i on those maps. so if you were looking for information on the most important issue that was happening at the time, and you live in or are concerned about hawai'i and/or alaska, there would just be nothing. and what does it say about the people who run the top newspaper in america that they decided it was fine to omit these two states? are they not states? do they not matter? do the readers in those states not matter? and this is not an unusual thing at all. it happens all the time.

i'd like to finish by sharing with you a poem by CHamoru poet Craig Santos Perez. CHamoru are the indigenous people of the mariana islands (which include guam, saipan, tinian, rota, and others).

in this poem, Craig Santos Perez writes about not appearing on the map...

“Off-Island CHamorus”

My family migrated to California when I was 15 years old. During the first day at my new high school, the homeroom teacher asked: “Where are you from?” “The Mariana Islands,” I answered. He replied: “I’ve never heard of that place. Prove it exists.” And when I stepped in front of the world map on the wall, it transformed into a mirror: the Pacific Ocean, like my body, was split in two and flayed to the margins. I found Australia, then the Philippines, then Japan. I pointed to an empty space between them and said: “I’m from this invisible archipelago.” Everyone laughed. And even though I descend from oceanic navigators, I felt so lost, shipwrecked

on the coast of a strange continent. “Are you a citizen?” he probed. “Yes. My island, Guam, is a U.S. territory.” We attend American schools, eat American food, listen to American music, watch American movies and television, play American sports, learn American history, dream American dreams, and die in American wars. “You speak English well,” he proclaimed, “with almost no accent.” And isn’t that what it means to be a diasporic CHamoru: to feel foreign in a domestic sense.

Over the last 50 years, CHamorus have migrated to escape the violent memories of war; to seek jobs, schools hospitals, adventure, and love; but most of all, we’ve migrated for military service, deployed and stationed to bases around the world. According to the 2010 census, 44,000 CHamorus live in California, 15,000 in Washington, 10,000 in Texas, 7,000 in Hawaii, and 70,000 more in every other state and even in Puerto Rico. We are the most “geographically dispersed” Pacific Islander population within the United States, and off-island CHamorus now outnumber our on-island kin, with generations having been born away from our ancestral homelands, including my daughters.

Some of us will be able to return home for holidays, weddings, and funerals; others won’t be able to afford the expensive plane ticket to the Western Pacific. Years and even decades might pass between trips, and each visit will feel too short. We’ll lose contact with family and friends, and the island will continue to change until it becomes unfamiliar to us. And isn’t that, too, what it means to be a diasporic CHamoru: to feel foreign in your own homeland.

Even after 25 years, there are still times I feel adrift, without itinerary or destination. When I wonder: What if we stayed? What if we return? When the undertow of these questions begins pulling you out to sea, remember: migration flows through our blood like the aerial roots of the banyan tree. Remember: our ancestors taught us how to carry our culture in the canoes of our bodies. Remember: our people, scattered like stars, form new constellations when we gather. Remember: home is not simply a house, village, or island; home is an archipelago of belonging.

–Craig Santos Perez

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thank you for reading this post! please let me know if you see any errors.

if you'd like to learn more about some important issues in the pacific, here are just a few:

july 2, 2020: "US says leaking nuclear waste dome is safe; Marshall Islands leaders don't believe it" - Los Angeles Times

may 30, 2021: "Pacific Plunder: this is who profits from the mass extraction of the region's natural resources." - The Guardian

april 5, 2021: "75 years after nuclear testing in the Pacific began, the fallout continues to wreak havoc" - The Conversation

june 4, 2021: "Guam won’t give up more land to the U.S. military without a fight" - The World (radio program)

aug. 24, 2021: "The US is building a military base in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Micronesian residents have questions." - The World (radio program)

and if you'd like to learn more about how maps are political, here are a couple articles:

june 5, 2014: "The politics of making maps" by Amanda Ruggeri, for BBC

july 11, 2018: "Politics and Cartography: The Power of Deception through Distortion" by John Erskine, for the Carnegie Ethics Online Monthly Column

My litany thoughts on 1999 cult classic strategy video game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Alpha Centauri is a game of the early Civilization variety from the EA golden age and ranks very highly in my top ten. While you probably heard of it if you were playing video games around the turn of the century, I've found members of my age cohort to be tragically unfamiliar with this masterpiece.

Alpha Centauri is an unofficial sequel to Civilization II, a game where the only way to way to win is either completely eliminate all competitors to the last city or, rather more easily, send a spaceship loaded with colonists to the title star system. Shortly after leaving home, the ship loses contact with Earth, which would make sense to a player of Civilization II where the bonuses to science and trade from democracies evaporate when technology ends, upon which point all the AIs revolt and become militant fundamentalist theocracies and climate change rapidly destroys the planet, leaving the player with an endgame that is literally 1984. Either way, when the already strained ship arrives at the Alpha Centauri system an unknown partisan assassinates the captain of the UNS Unity and the population fractures into seven opposing factions before firing the colony pods and exploring an inconveniently hostile planet.

The player starts here, in typical Civ fashion: a scout, settler, and absolutely no technology to speak of. That isn't to say you are a bunch of primitives, all your units start out with some approximation to modern guns and judging by the amazing quotes and wonder videos your society is well beyond the 21st century--more on the story later. The gameplay is incredibly well-balanced in spite of its age and quirks (with the exception of the freight-train progression of Yang). Rapid early expansion as the bountiful Peacekeepers may leave you at serious risk to the relentlessly martial Spartans, who are in turn threatened by the uber-specialized technocratic University--but be careful to underestimate the backwards Lord's Believers, their probe teams will just as quickly rob you of your gains. The Morganites can afford to sparsely defend their home if they're willing to pay off their aggressors, but they'll struggle expand over great swaths of territory without irking civil unrest drone riots from corruption. Meanwhile the Gaian Acolytes can harness the permanently-dangerous mindworms to great effect from the beginning of the game. Yang just... builds. And keeps building, and next thing you know he's conquered the Peacekeepers and turned Miriam into nothing more than a puppet and where are all these cruise missiles are coming from?

In short, the strategic design of this game is nothing less than a work of art, but that isn't to say it doesn't have its anachronisms. The User Interface has taken its inspiration from early versions of Microsoft Word and it rapidly pays off to know the hotkeys. The wonder videos are resolution locked and can sometimes cause problems depending on your display configuration. The unit creation system is simultaneously wonderful and horrendous. It allows me to create special long-range nerve gas bombers that eradicate cities shortly before orbitally-dropping specially-trained garrisons to quash all resistance. On the other hand, if you do not accept the cumbersome slew of computer-generated options, keeping your new weapons systems up to date with your latest technology (especially when playing as Zakharov) rapidly becomes a chore.

That said, there are a variety of features in the game that I think deserve to make a reappearance in the Civ Games. The pick-your-government system is incredibly balanced and fun to roleplay. You can't get away with crimes against humanity when solar storms hit in Civilization VI, nor can you weaponise climate change to flood your rivals cities, or strategically terraform to alter weather patterns and deny your neighbors arable land. At the bare minimum, we should be given the option to nerve staple rebelling cities when our control runs out!

All that said, there is also the story to contend with. One is at first tempted to think that a 4x strategy game with a marked emphasis on replayability would necessarily have a tacked-on story, if one at all. After all, the point is for the player to create it through their actions, not have it spoonfed to them. The majority of what you learn about your world that isn't printed in numbers and small pictures on the mapscreen is through blurbs that accompany each discovered technology or new building. The aforementioned wonders even have their adorable early-CG renderings, sometimes mixed in with some experimental film footage. There are occasional interludes that describe the mindworms and machinations of Planet, but the bulk of the wordage comes from epigrams of the faction leaders and the occasional bit of Nietzsche or Plato. It's so good that I can't help but stop and listen to CEO Nbwadibuke Morgan ramble on about supply chain economics or Sister Miriam's apocalyptic warnings every single time. Take some examples.

Proper care and education for our children remains a cornerstone of our entire colonization effort. Children not only shape our future; they determine in many ways our present. Men and women work harder knowing their children are safe and close at hand, and never forget that, with children present, parents will defend their home to the death!

--Col. Corazon Santiago, "Planet: A Survivalist's Guide"

Or perhaps, a more on the nose one:

"The Academician's private residences shall remain off-limits to the Genetic Inspectors. We possess no retroviral capability, we are not researching retroviral engineering, and we shall not allow this Council to violate faction privileges in the name of this ridiculous witch hunt!

--Fedor Petrov, Vice Provost for University Affairs Accompanies the Retroviral Engineering technology

The game often doesn't directly tell you what Retroviral engineering is, nor does it labor to explain just what having someone nerve stapled means, or the precise function of the Recycling Tanks, but through its quotation it beautifully circumlocutes the world you are shaping--and being shaped by. It really never pulls any of its punches, even if its just on Organic Superlube--great stuff--and I still catch muself quoting it regularly.

Ursula LeGuin once wrote

"Science fiction is often described, and even defined, as extrapolative. The science fiction writer is supposed to take a trend or phenomenon of the here-and-now, purify and intensify it for dramatic effect, and extend it into the future. 'If this goes on, this is what will happen.' [...] This may explain why many people who read science fiction describe it as 'escapist,' but when questioned further, admit they do not read it because 'it's so depressing.'"

Alpha Centauri is absolutely extrapolative fiction and very firmly rooted in the 1990s and I love it. It was released in the Aaron Sorkin TV, pre-9/11 days where the word Internet was more often than not followed by the words, "is like an information superhighway" and it absolutely no efforts are made to cover it up. The main factions are a cross-section of the New Millenium's hopes and anxieties. A New Russia that went a very different path before Putin took over, a cheerful clan of ruthless Western capitalists hellbent on putting Morganvision on every network set, a group of vaguely Scottish free-love peaceniks hellbent on defending the most-of-the-time incredibly hostile environment. There's the Second-Amendment preaching Spartans or the optimistically-influential UN which, judging by its naming scheme for its bases, seems to dedicate entire cities to bureaucratic agencies. The All-American Christian fundamentalists don't entirely butt heads with the frighteningly powerful Human-Hive (if your country calls their cities names like "Huddling of the People" and "Paradise Swarming" you might not be the good guys). The expansion also brings in more dynamic characters like the Information Wants to be Free! data angels Brian Reynolds very clearly came up with after watching Swordfish and Hackers back to back or the Nautilus Pirates who have no right to be as fun as they are.

The visions of the future are at once both anachronistic and prophetic; while elements may come off as cheese, I see it as a sort of window to the past, a way to examine what was once (and sometimes still is) on our mind. All in all, I give Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri 4 out of 5 stars and a definite all-time favorite, warts and all. You can pick it and its expansion up for $6 on Gog.com and play it through a built-in emulator that works for most systems. If you're willing to brave a dated interface and an older-fashioned gameplay style, I would definitely recommend it.

About crosshair. Again lol

Regardless of his scar not lining up with chip scar or the headaches or “soldiers follow orders” again. Or him without a chip being a liability to the empire. I just don’t buy his personality change in the end. I’m the pilot episode they hammered it over our heads it’s very unlike him to follow orders. He said himself “empire or republic, what’s the difference?” But now in the end he cares about the empire protecting the galaxy? Responds to hunter his choice is “soldiers follow orders”? Wtf, really? So he genuinely believes his only personality is being a soldier now? when it’s been established in both in cw and tbb that cf99, including crosshair only cared about completing the mission. I get that people change but not that abruptly especially if we are to believe techs “unyielding” description of him to be true. Echo is the one true soldier of the group. He keeps repeating to hunter “we are soldiers not smugglers”, “there is no other way than being soldiers” etc. but he is clearly loyal to the republic. And I never saw echo and crosshair to be similar in that

So yeah , I think it’s very out of character for crosshair to just see himself as soldier and being content with following order or being a pawn(which he must realize he is cause he’s not dumb) especially with his mega inflated sense of self importance. Just my two cents

Crosshair is a complicated character! There's a lot to discuss :D

That's a good point though. And yeah, as acknowledged the quick personality change could be chalked up to chip influence if it's still having some kind of impact... but if it's not, then what do we make of that?

Putting aside the "It's just bad writing" possibility, I think there's a key difference between not following orders and not being loyal to the organization giving those orders. They're not necessarily the same thing, though it's easy to lump the two together. Yeah, we see early on that the Bad Batch isn't known for doing things the "right" way. Rex and Jesse are pretty unsure about their methods when the Batch first shows up in TCW. In the pilot Tech has a line about how "We're more deviant than defective" emphasizing that they tend to do things differently. Crosshair's sudden willingness to follow orders to the letter, not just in spirit, is questioned during their time in the cell, etc. So yeah, they don't obey the rules, but I don't think that's because they're not loyal. They're not refusing orders because pff, screw the Republic/Empire, who cares about those guys. They're refusing orders because they recognize that their way of doing things—the unconventional methods that deviate from the standard clone playbook—is more likely to net them, and the Republic, a success. They seem to be against the Republic's rules because they want the Republic to succeed, recognizing that their way is the best way to get that. Wrecker takes great pride in their successful missions, keeping tally marks on their room's wall. Crosshair is constantly pointing out how the higher ups called them in because the Regs couldn't complete a mission, likewise emphasizing his pride in being needed. When Rex and Hunter finally start bonding, it's through Rex's decision to charge the droids head on, precisely like the Batch would, rather than following the "correct" strategy of carefully picking them off from the tree line. They bond over the understanding of, "Yes. This is the best way the Republic wins." Perhaps most significantly, the Batch was still willing to complete missions for the Empire up until they were ordered to kill civilians. Killing Jedi resulted in an acknowledgement of how messed up that was... but no solid intent to leave.

All of the above is important because it establishes the Batch's need to be loyal to something other than themselves. The kind of loyalty that is shown through intense, life-threatening acts of service. Hunter's line about them being loyal to each other rather than some Empire, while true, is a simplification. Their loyalty to the Republic and their loyalty to one another overlap in many, many significant ways, simply because the Batch was created for the Republic. They have literally spent their entire lives living, breathing, fighting, and almost dying for the Republic. Their core identities stem from the Republic's desires: skills they want them to cultivate and even personalities they want to foster, if Tech's theories are to be believed (that conversation with Wrecker in the mess hall). The loyalty the Batch feels, those bonds they formed over the years, stem entirely from completing missions for the Republic. Their love for one another is, at least at the start, a product of the Republic's desire for Good Soldiers. And yeah, they sometimes did things the Republic technically didn't like, but it was always in service of achieving the Republic's end goal, whatever that may have been. They were very good soldiers, just soldiers that understood the value of creative thinking. "You want me to reach this location? Of course! I'll reach it by cutting across the grass, despite you asking me to follow the path already laid out. But our goal and the Regs' goal is exactly the same: fulfill your mission. That's our purpose in this life."

And then the Republic became the Empire.

Every one of these characters has a need to serve some higher purpose, to complete missions for the benefit of another. Overlooking the very literal ways in which they may have been genetically predisposed towards this (like the chip), and the cultural brainwashing that went on the second they were born (this is your duty, this is your purpose, this is all you exist for), this is, simply put, all they've ever known. Though it's possible to walk away from that need, it's by no means easy. So what saves the majority of the Batch from falling into that "Republic, Empire, what's the difference?" thinking out of a need to serve someone?

Omega.

I think it's crucial that the second they abandon one mission—killing civilians for the Empire—there's already new mission waiting for them to focus on instead—rescue and protect Omega, indefinitely. That's Hunter's thinking. We're not going to do A, we're going do B instead. All they did was put that single-minded focus onto a new target, but the focus—the need—still exists. And we see that throughout the first season, where everything the Batch does is in service to Omega. Their life decisions revolve entirely around her, from very small things (here's your own room on the ship) to the much larger (we need to stay on the move to help you avoid bounty hunters, even if we may want to find someplace to stay). The purpose of a soldier has been mapped onto the purpose of a parent, with the new, ongoing goal being "Raise Child" as opposed to "Win War." Putting aside for the moment the fact that this is an action-adventure show and thus exciting plot has to happen, I think it's notable that no one suggests non-soldier-y things to help them make money. Tech isn't offering his intellect as an easy way to make credits, nor Wrecker his strength. No one is seriously thinking of a planet they could hide out on, even from bounty hunters, so as to raise Omega in peace. They are still, fundamentally, the people they were during the time of the Republic, people who need to fight for something. Literally fight. It's just now they're chaotically fulfilling missions for Cid so they can give Omega a halfway decent life, rather than chaotically fulfilling missions for a general so they can give the Republic a chance at winning the war.

Omega is the new focus, the new Republic stand-in, but what happens if she's not an option? (Would have been really interesting to see what the Batch did if she'd actually left with Cut.) Without the chip affecting his thoughts, I fully believe Crosshair would have left with the others. Why wouldn't he? That's his family and, per Hunter's orders, Omega is the new mission. But the chip ensured he missed that chance and by the time he came out of it (if he came out of it), it was too late. His squad was gone, they never came back, and Crosshair needs to find a new place in this galaxy, just like they did. Except his options are far more limited and suck a whole lot more. I can't recall anything that implies Crosshair thinks the Empire will save the galaxy, but he does think it's going to control it and he's looking for his own purpose in this new life. Why not find purpose in the winning side? He can serve the Empire just like they served the Republic. He can serve the Empire just like his squad now serves Omega. The need to belong somewhere, to have that larger goal, outweighs those pesky ethical issues, at least for now. Though to me the "Good soldiers follow orders" really, really still sounds like chip influence, it can also be read as a broader acknowledgment that yes, they are fundamentally soldiers and yes, they do need orders of one kind or another. They need that mission. That goal. That purpose. Someone who helps to guide them in this new, crazy galaxy. Yeah, they've always bent and gotten creative with the orders, but until 4/5ths of them left the Empire, they'd never ignored the orders as a whole. None of the Bad Batch went, "I'm not taking this mission because the Admiral was an asshole to us about it and I don't feel like it :/" They suck up all the hard parts—the awful treatment, the danger, the general difficulty—because they have a goal to fulfill. They live for having a goal, literally in the sense that this is what they were made for. The Bad Batch is still doing that with Cid, putting up with bad treatment, dangerous situations, and general difficulty because they have that larger goal of taking care of Omega. Crosshair missed out on that, so he latched onto the Empire instead. Which circles right back around to previous points that if the Batch had tried to rescue him and/or been more welcoming when offering his return, Crosshair likely would have joined in on the Omega mission too. It's the best new purpose for all of them.

Crosshair sees himself as a soldier because, right now, being a soldier of the Empire is the only way he can find the purpose and belonging that the rest of the Batch maintained with each other and Omega, back when he was left behind. No, he's not dumb, but the logistics of the situation outweigh his knowledge that things are far from perfect. Do we think the Batch doesn't also realize that Cid is continually taking advantage of them with 70/30 splits? Of course not. But they need a way to survive and, right now, this is it. Crosshair likewise recognizes that the Empire is treating him as a pawn—I think he was in denial prior to the bombing, but now he definitely knows—but what other option is there? Not his squad. As discussed, he feels strongly that he's no longer welcome with them, with good reason. The only other option is to go off on his own, something that's incredibly foreign to clones who were bred to serve that higher purpose alongside many, many brothers. Yes, we've seen one or two who manage that—like Cut—but they're the outliers. Rex found his new purpose fighting the Empire with Ahsoka. The Batch found their new purpose taking care of Omega with each other. Crosshair's new purpose is... nothing. Not unless he swallows down his misgivings (and his ego) and keeps serving the Empire until a better purpose comes along.