The Life and Lies of Albus Trumpletore

OBGYN: Yeah, you are exhibiting all the signs of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I’m so sorry.

Me: Huh? Oh, yeah. Insulin resistance, impossible weight loss, pre-disposition to type II diabetes, painful AF periods. Likelihood of bleed outs. Crap. That blows.

OBGYN: Yeah, well that too.

Me: *blinks* What?

OBGYN: Well, PCOS makes it very difficult for a woman to conceive and carry.

Me: BWHAHAHAHA. Yeah. No. No babies. Ever. Never wanted them. At all. Maternal instinct is not strong with this one. Only upside today.

OBGYN: Well then. Not exactly problem solved, but we’ll run with it.

Me: So about the MIND-SEARING PAIN and occasional HEAVY AF BLEEDING. When can we deal with that.

OBGYN: Not until you are 35.

Me: Dah fuq?

OBGYN: Not my rules. Hospitalization won’t even consider any treatment unless it’s life or death until you’re 35.

Me: Why?

OBGYN: Because you might want to have a baby.

Me: I’m 31. I didn’t want kids when I was 11, I didn’t want them at 21, and I sure as shit don’t want them now. Can’t I just sign a form that says “I don’t ever want a baby take it out, take it out now”?

OBGYN: Nope.

Me: Why?

OBGYN: Government rules. No removal of baby making parts before 35 unless your life is in immediate jeopardy.

If you’re in the US and your OBGYN says “government says no,” look for a new one because they lied to you. If your OBGYN says that “hospital says no,” look for a new one because this one doesn’t respect your bodily autonomy. It is true that most surgeons don’t like to perform hysterectomies until you’re in your late 30s at the earliest, but a respectful surgeon will listen to their patient and not just write them off. Sexism in hospitals is alive and well- and it’s not just anecdotal evidence. There’s been a history of looking at it academically/professionally since the 70s (look into Mary Halas as a good place to start if you’re curious), and it crops up all the time in articles in the Journal of Women’s Health and Women’s Health Issues, and the International Journal of Women’s Health all of which are peer-reviewed, well-respected medical journals. It’s absolutely a real thing. 

So if your doc feeds you this BS line about not being allowed to, ASK IF IT’S THE HOSPITAL POLICY.  If it is, ask if they are able to perform the procedure elsewhere. If they are not, ASK FOR A REFERRAL.

I was 28 years old when my OBGYN explained that he wasn’t allowed to perform a sterilization procedure onsite, and then he proceeded to tell me what a crock of shit it was and referred me to someone else who was able to. And even though I was under 30, his referral listed me as “an ideal candidate” for the procedure.  

It’s what happened to Jews in Germany in 1938 when their passports were declared invalid. That is what is beginning to happen here, now, to Hispanic citizens along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Oh, is it bad to compare the GOP to Nazis? Well, if members of the GOP do not like being compared to Nazis, they should consider not behaving exactly like Nazis.

Hispanic U.S. citizens, some of whom were in the U.S. military, are not being allowed to renew their passports. This is reportedly happening to “hundreds, even thousands” of Latinos, according to a report in the Washington Post. They’re getting letters from the State Department saying it does not believe they are citizens. The government claims their citizenships are fraudulent. “I’ve had probably 20 people who have been sent to the detention center—U.S. citizens,” Jaime Diez, an attorney in Brownsville, told The Washington Post.

The Washington Post also reports on ICE officials coming to citizens’ homes and taking their passports away. This is an escalation from a few months ago, when Americans were detained by ICE officials just for speaking Spanish to one another.

The administration is currently launching an effort to take citizenship from people who they suspect of fraud in obtaining it. Fraud in these cases is exceedingly rare. The last time the government tried to strip people of their citizenship was, according to Columbia Professor Mae Ngai, during The Red Scare of the 1950s. As Ngai remarks, McCarthyism is not typically remembered as a good period in American history.

Veggie Tales version: a king wants another man’s rubber duck

Bible version: threat of genocide

Veggie Tales version: threat of banishment to the island of perpetual tickling

Bible version: since they won’t bow down before an idol, the king has them burned alive

Secondly, in the finale we learn that Schneider went to rehab like five times before truly getting sober. He was only able to stay clean because Lydia came to visit him.

And I can only imagine how that visit came about.

Just imagine Lydia, sitting alone in her apartment. It’s so empty and quiet. The love of her life has died, her daughter has re-enlisted taking her husband and daughter with her. She’s lonely.

And one day she needs something fixed so she goes to talk to the landlord but he’s not there. All the tenants know about Schneider’s addiction and rehap. The gossip mill is strong and he’s not exactly private about it. This is the fifth time he’s been to rehab since Lydia moved in, but it’s also the first time she feels the need to actually check on him.

So she packs some food and goes down to the rehab.

She’s known Schneider for years now. She knows how big his personality can be and she expects nothing less when she gets there but she’s not prepared for what she sees. Rehab Schneider isn’t the same landlord that she knows. He’s quiet, and sad, and alone… just like she is.

She sees him and she sees herself.

She also sees exactly what she needs at that moment… someone to care for.

It becomes a weekly thing for the two of them. All through his rehab she keeps visiting, bringing him food, delivering gossip about the other tenants and Penelope. For a while there it’s the only thing besides church that gets her out of the house.

And at first Schneider has no idea what to make of this. He’s barely spoken to this woman before that day. And when he learns about Berto and how she lost him, he can only assume that the only reason she’s visiting is because she’s just that lonely.

Funny thing is… her visits help. Seeing this small, Cuban woman walk into this rehab center, bringing him food and promising cures helps him want to stay sober. It’s more than his father - or any of his stepmothers- have done during any of his stays. He grows to care for Lydia like the mother he never had.

Links: first tweet, second tweet, full video (Facebook link)

Why the UK can, and should, make space for our indigenous minority languages.

female awesome meme: [2/5] total geniuses → amy santiago (b99)

fruit dragons !

my poor mother: please dont

me, immediately dancing in the middle of the aisle: