The Importance of Being Shirtless

This never occurred to me. Not once. That Americans are against Health Care because they think it actually costs tens of thousands of dollars for a broken arm, hundreds of thousands for a complicated birth, millions for cancer treatment.

Sorry, that was uncalled for, I just liked the mental image.

So we are actually agreeing with each other, I think you possibly got confused (probably my fault) and took a different angle.

Let’s say that the cost of making a burger is $5, and a restaurant burger costs $15. Everyone says, “hey, that’s pretty fair. Five dollars goes for the burger, five for restaurant overheads - salaries and electricity and decor and so on - and five for the restaurant to make a profit.”

In the UK, they said “okay, we’ve decided that burgers are a human right, not something you should squeeze profit from. We will charge $10 for a burger. That’s the cost of the ingredients, plus the admin fees of making and serving it and so on. It’s a nonprofit, a National Burger Service. but you can still pay $15 for a private one at a premium restaurant if you choose.”

America looked at that and said “burgers are $45.”

“But America,” everyone said, “but …why?”

“Because burgers cost a lot.”

“Er, could you show your math?” Everyone asked, except they probably said “maths.”

“Yes. $5 for the ingredients, $5 for salaries and electricities and the restaurant decor and whatnot. $20 for profit. And another $15 to collect the profit.”

Everyone else says “huh, how … interesting!” And continue to provide their citizens with $10 burgers, which somehow functions.

So then some American citizens say “oh, we like the look of the UK’s National Burger Service. Should we do that too?”

And America goes, “what, suddenly you can afford to hand out $45 burgers to every random fucker you know? Burgers are $45, you fools.”

And the citizens say “oh, you’re right, that sounds expensive, sorry. Let’s not do that.”

And this thread, including Elodie, says, “by the way - burgers themselves, as burgers, are worth more in the $10 range, which is what other countries charge.”

And you’re like “NO ELODIE BURGERS ARE $45 BECAUSE YOU NEED TO PAY FOR THE CARPETS, AND THE BURGER BILLING DEPARTMENT, AND THE COLLECTIONS AGENCIES, OTHERWISE HOW WILL WE PAY THE POOR SERVERS?.”

But that is not QUITE what we are talking about. Healthcare costs in countries with socialised medicine do not include the paying for the cost of the salaries of the billing departments because billing doesn’t work that way under socialised medicine.

Okay! This is what has been working for me. 

1. Notice beauty in others. Not just like…in the way that you already do. But notice what you notice. Make note of the unique things you find beautiful. 

2. Be critical of the conventionally attractive characteristics you see as beautiful. Pay attention to the messages you send to others and yourself when you value certain characteristics over others.

3. Call yourself out when you’re participating in negative self talk. Try your best not to shame yourself for it. Just say to yourself, “oh oops. I’m doing that thing.” 

4. Remember how you started with noticing beauty in others? Turn that same attitude onto yourself. If you can see that others are beautiful, you must be too right? 

5. Know that beauty/attractiveness aren’t everything. You’re allowed to be a mess and not like yourself some days. You still have so much value. Theres something great about radical acceptance. Your purpose in this world is not to simply be a hot mother fucker. Even though you totally are.

6. Surround yourself with body positive people and representation of all kinds of bodies. The more you see diverse bodies the more you’ll value them. You’ll value that diversity more in others and it slowly creeps its way into something you value for yourself.

7. Remind yourself that this is a process. One without an end. The point is not to reach some sort of 100% body posi god that never has a bad day. The point is the journey of it all. Its the practice. Its a way of being. 

Hurricane Harvey Victims Need Diapers, Tampons And Pads Desperately | HuffPost

includes ways to possibly help.

straighten your back

go pee goddAMN IT STOP HOLDING IT

go take your meds if you need to

drink some water

go get a snack if you havent eaten in a while

maybe wander around the house/stretch a little if you’ve been sat at the computer a while (artists especially: sTRETCH THOSE WRISTS)

reply to that text/message from earlier you’d forgotten about

Gentle and Heartwarming Animal Illustrations By Sydney Hanson

Artist Sydney Hanson transforms wild animals into adorable illustrations drawn as gentle and vulnerable creatures with soft fur and endearingly large eyes engaged in tender scenes. Expressions of curiosity, joy, and contentment on Hanson’s characters mirrors the love of animals she embraces.

Guinea pigs, bunny, bats and donkeys, foxes and other wild creatures become heartfelt drawings that portray the tamed and innocent side of the wilderness. Hanson’s illustrative style is remarkably compassionate and draws the familiarity of children’s novels and fairy tale to warm our hearts further to her cute animals. Find them in their Etsy shop.

When I was a child, from the time I was about four and could understand things, my mom told me and my brother that we should have a secret word. That way, if we were ever in trouble or felt unsafe and we didn’t want the people around us to know we needed her to come get us, we could let her know. So she let us pick the word and my brother and I chose the phrase “peanut butter cups.” (I’m happy to share the phrase now since both my brother and I are adults now). 

I used the phrase twice in my life. Once, I was at a friends house when I eight years old. Her dad got really drunk and was throwing things against the wall. I was really scared and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself on the phone when I called my mom to come get me because I didn’t know if he would get more violent if I asked her to come get me. So I called her and was calm and after a couple minutes I asked “Hey mommy, did you get me those peanut butter cups from the store?” And she said “I’ll be right there.” And she came and got me within minutes. 

Second, I was a teenager spending the night at a friends house. Her brother and dad were drinking and they started talking about things that made me uncomfortable - ie: what they liked to do to women. My friend didn’t seem perturbed and said that was normal for them and that I shouldn’t worry. But I was worried because they were really drunk and I was 15 and the only ‘woman’ around that wasn’t related to them. I went in my friends room, told her I needed to call my mom and say goodnight. Before I hung up with her I asked “Next time we go to the store, can we get some peanut butters cups? I’ve been craving them.” And she came and got me, just like that.