Good marrow, bonelickers!
Early last month I announced the 19th Speedlang Challenge. I broke the mould with it a little bit by confining how the ambitious among you would actually put together your speedlangs rather than defining a number of requisite features. The bulk of this process had speedlangers root all their creative linguistic decisions in a small set of natlangs, and these natlangs specifically had to be native to areas representative of a chosen clade of organisms. To ensure the clade of organisms was well represented, I also asked for a number of lexical items and conceptual metaphors that had to be specifically inspired by the clade in some way, as well as some aspect of the phonology.
Like last time, I'll provide my thoughts about what I think makes each submission special and the features I particularly like. Afterwards, I'll quickly review what was inspired by the chosen clade, in case that has any bearing on what you kind readers might like to check out, and give out brownie points for any easter eggs I spot, whether intended or not.
Overall this has been a deeply creative round of submissions and I learned a lot, both things I set out to achieve when I thought up this particular challenge. I hope it was just as rewarding a challenge for everyone who submitted as it was for me getting to read up on each entry, and I hope it will be the same for anyone who reads up on them, too.
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Seba Bàsa by Miacomet

Gyps (griffon vultures); Chamic, Bengali, Santali & Mundari
With a name including the element Bàsa, I knew this had to have Indic flavours of one sort of another, and indeed it does! This conlang is largely Austronesian in origin with sound changes from Old Cham, but it has a lot of Bengali influence and is well situated in the Indian subcontinent, and I greatly appreciate the nod to Parsi funerary traditions as an inspiring reason for choosing Gyps. Amusingly, this conlang has many features that fit right into the inspiration for the last speedlang challenge, which I find just delightful, with some split-S marking, dative enclitics, and grammaticalised constructions for simultaneous and sequential events, and light pronouns. Therebeside, the historical clipping, CVK syllable structure, postpositional pronouns, and aspectual auxiliaries speak to sensibilities in my own conlanging, and the dissimilation processes in some of the affixes are a nice touch, too. I'm also a big of fan just how the split-S system is implicated in some verbal polysemy, and I really like how the few voices seem kinda muddy but have clear use cases. What really sets this conlang apart, though, is the consideration paid to the effect of prestige languages. Some phonemes are restricted to loanwords from the local prestige language, and one is even only confined to prestige language-educated speakers, which causes some allophony other speakers don't have. Loaning processes are detailed, too, and the number and classifier system also draws nice lines along the prestige axis with a total of 3 parallel number systems, spread out across both divisions of native vs. loaned classifiers, which themselves have specific semantic domains they each classify, and across divisions of prestige language education. The story at the end, too, is a real treat: it's a translation of Hindu vulture myth, perfect for this project.
Seba Bàsa's Gyps-inspired phonology includes the development of creaky voice from the loss of glottals, glottalised consonants, and final /s/ in Old Cham to recall vulture cries. It's inspired lexicon includes some fun polysemy of vulture behaviours like circling = waiting or sheepling = looking for something desirable. I'm also a big fan of kite (the bird) = messy eater. It's inspired conceptual metaphors include dividing the beginning, middle, and end of a process into eating skin, meat, and bones, respectively, and equating head height/position with one's health or comfortableness as inspired by how vultures droop their heads when ill.
We're starting off string with double brownie points for meeting both the space epic easter egg by calquing the Ewokese word for 'outsider' and the empress easter egg by referring to Buddha's Birthday!
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Kogëdek by u/Porpoise_God

Setonix & Macropodidae more generally (quokkas + kangaroos & wallabies); Noongar, Pitjantjatjara, Wajarri, Guugu Yimithirr, Miriwoong, Guniyandi, Dyirbal, Mbabaram
Aside from the one splant you'll soon see, I think this entry gets the prize for the most unique chosen clade by being A) not a bird, and B) not an ungulate. As great as birds are, quokkas are pretty amazing, too. I'm not too familiar with Pama-Nyungan languages but this did a good job of affecting some of the features I've come to know them for, including but not limited to the phonological natural classes of peripheral vs. coronal, coverb constructions, and the word for 'dog' bearing a striking similarity to English. Split-ergativity features across the noun-pronoun axis, and there's a unique set of duals that specifically refer to sibling, parent-child, or spousal pairs of individuals that I might have to steal for myself. The case marking includes a lative case I haven't seen before, and implicates the comitative in a neat way in comparative constructions. I also appreciate the what-looks-to-be resumptive subject pronominal proclitics; very speedlang 18, and a great example of a fossilised mistake, which I always love to see! The verbs also feature multiple conjugations, and the imperative is implicated for its tenselessness in certain subclause constructions, which has a certain type of quirkiness I'd expect out of some past speedlang challenges.
Kogëdek's Setonix-inspired phonology included a /ç/ in the proto-lang, which bears some resemblance to quokka calls, although it was lost to /s/ and /x/ in the modern language. The inspired lexical entries include roots for different kinds of macropods and styles of jumping, and conflates jumping with breathing. Some of the idioms include "pouch-baby" for pejorative "mama's-boy" and using kangaroo badassery as a metaphor for all sorts of less than ideal situations.
Brownie points for a particularly insidious word-form for 'father'.
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Yatakang by Lichen

Bubalus (water buffaloes); Hindi-Urdu, Thai, Vietnamese, Khmer, Burmese, Malay
This one's a little rough around the edges, but it's a good foundation for a nice mix of both SEA features, like the isolating morphosyntax, and unique features, like the class agreement system. It's also got clicks limited to avoidance speech! Diachronics from a proto-lang where considered, and I really like how the typologies of the inspo langs were used as targets for the sound changes. I'll have to keep this workflow in mind! Some of the sound changes include expanding the number of stop contrasts to match the average number of contrasts, or eroding the number of vowels to match that of Malay. Phonotactics were carefully considered with full structures for both mono- and disyllables as well as bare roots vs. compound stems. Grammatically, morphology is mostly limited to a host of different reduplication patterns, which in itself is something I'd really like to see more of! Where this really shines, though, is with its agreement system: nouns are sorted into a 3x2 matrix of 6 classes, portmanteau agreement particles mark for the class of both the subject and the object, the system implicates the social hierarchies common to many SEA languages, and the position of the particle marks modality. Incredibly inspired to pack all that into a set of maybe 36 particles, if you ask me, never mind how it helps to disambiguate fluid word class and how it might be implicated in future plans for Indonesian object-oriented verbs. I'm also a fan of how the temporal question verb patterns like an agreement particle to mark for tense by co-opting the modality marking. We also get some prosody-syntax interfacing with different pitch contours at clause boundaries operating as different sorts of conjunctions.
Yatakang's Bubalus-inspired phonology includes a combination of creaky voice and syllabic nasals to affect a mooing phonaesthetic. The lexical entries exhibit some nice semantic drift from water buffalo activities and behaviours towards more human behaviours, and the planned phrase of hat-hand stroke fur for "suddenly realise a problem, and then pretend there isn't one" just feels exactly like an observation a water buffalo would make observing its human, which I really like. The inspired metaphors are also simple and straightforward, likening roundedness to goodness or knowledge to food, which makes for some brilliantly idiomatic language like "I ate the book" to mean "I read and understood the contents of the book."
Extra brownie points for including both halves of the space epic easter egg to placate both sides of nerddom; the term 'tax-man' is everything it ought to be.
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Kurikiri by Jjommoma

Casuariiformes (cassowaries and emus); Dhuwal, Motu, Tok Pisin
Compared to most other entries, this one's very short and sweet with some Australian sounds and some head-final Papuan grammar (however loose a description that is). That being said, Kurikiri is very inventive in being partially signed with much of its grammatical marking encoded by actions done with the foot, including number, case, definiteness, and some basic TAM.
Aside from the cassowary foot action grammar markers, as well as some lexical entries there-related, Kurikiri also equates flightedness to being ostentatious, disdaining flighted birds out of envy, which I think is a fun thought process for these terrestrially confined birds. There's also some neat phonosemantics in the taboo word for predator being especially difficult to pronounce.
This wasn't the intent, but I'm giving some space epic brownie points for the foot grammar if for nothing else than that it reminds me of Paul Frommer's Thark from John Carter and its telepathic grammatical and verbal lexical expression.
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Whaynisiday by u/Fimii

Spheniscidae (penguins); Māori, Xhosa, Quechua
What do you do when the entire population of penguins achieves human-like levels of intelligence after some gene splicing and they start calling for a language to call their own? Why, you do exactly what the prompt of this challenge asks for and combine the languages native to the homeland of the blue, african, and humboldt penguins! The write up for this conlang does a great job of pointing out what features are from which language exactly, and plays a fun balancing game between some of the phonological and grammatical extremes in its sourcelangs. In so doing it has a few quirks that really tickle the intersection of my linguist and conlanger venn diagram, specifically the presence of what I'd have to interpret as onset morae, as well as semantic noun class marked solely through agreement (which is very Varamm, so I'm not at all biased towards it). There's a handful of fun, rare cases, and the simulative mood fits right into the inspirations for the last challenge to create some vaguely Tupian simultaneous actions. There's a bunch more little grammatical bits that are fun, but impressionistically I appreciate how the more isolating grammar of Māori was incorporated into the synthetic common ground of the other 2 sourcelangs.
Whaynisiday's Spheniscidae-inspired phonology includes a couple syringeal sounds to complement the otherwise human capable inventory. The highlighted lexical entries pay special attention to how penguins locomote with basic stems for different kinds of movement options both on land and in the water, as well as a split in breathing for whether its on land at rest or in the water being active. The conceptual metaphors include a great model of time with the past on land and the future in the inky depths, and the very adorable notion that safety = community, and so naturally a farewell would be a wish of friendship.
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Poro by The Inky Baroness

Rangifer tarandus subsp. (domestic reindeers); Proto-Samic, Komi-Zyrian, Tundra Nenets, Chukchi
Where do I even begin with this one? I was excited to read this one when I first received it, but it was even better than I could have hoped when I got round to reading it! Although, not for any linguistic reasons: the first half of the doc reminds me of Gillian Teft's Anthro-Vision as an anthropological account of reindeers written by a fictitious Finnish researcher rather than any sort of sketched reference grammar, which I love dearly. The latter half, meanwhile, goes into great detail about what went into the first half, including all sorts of motivations or reasons for the decisions made. Some diachrony is detailed, as well as the effects of language contact rooted in actual historical events relevant to the chosen sourcelangs, which is just great to see. I loved the ways in which each of the different sourcelangs were all represented in the final product with it being Samic in origin but including some phonological and grammatical borrowings from Komi and Nenets like the lack of consonant gradation, the verb-final syntax, some vowel changes, and a fantastic predestinative affix that interacts with the conceptualisation of time in some neat ways. All the while, care was taken to do a wealth of research at every step in the process with a fairly extensive bibliography. Hoof clicks all around for this one!
Poro's Rangifer-inspired phonology includes a deer bellow as some sort of epiglottal obstruent that actually patterns with the Nenets glottal stop, as well as some other approximated reindeer vocalisations including what I presume to be grunts or chuffs, both oral and nasal. Care was also taken to think about what a fully reindeerised descendant of Proto-Samic would look like as accords with the included etiological myth for reindeers and reindeer husbandry, but this was well beyond the scope of a speedlang. The lexical entries include all sorts of terms for reindeer physiology, including but not limited to antler velvet, different types of vocalisations, and hoof clicks. These lexical entries feature in some wonderful idioms using antlers to describe social hierarchy, useful- or uselessness, and glibness or malicious intent, as well as an equivalent to "when pigs fly": "to catch a bird between one's hooves."
Extra brownie points both for the nominal hierarchical exaltation of mothers baked into reindeer culture and inclusion of an anti-imperialist message in promoting the research of the under-represented and often stigmatised language and culture of traditionally reindeer herding peoples. Also do keep an eye out for Dr. Dolittle easter eggs: Inky will reward you handsomely if you can spot one!
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Kiwi by NerpNerp

Apteryx & Novaeratitae more broadly (kiwis + cassowaries & emus); English, Māori, Traditional Tiwi, Miriwoong, Bardi
Given the number of bird entries with Indo-Pacific flavours, I'm almost half surprised this was the only kiwi entry: they're such good birbs! As might be expected, this conlang endeared itself to me just as its namesake does. The phonology has all sorts of trills and rhotics, and limits itself to high vowels; it's also got some neat phrase level prosody to mark different sorts of modal information and focus, even including an intrusive glottal stop at the sentence level. Noun incorporation is varied and detailed, and can create some polysynthetic constructions as a consequence of just how exactly the rest of the otherwise fairly analytic morphosyntax works. I'm a particular fan of the deictic categories including 7 different degrees of deixis characterising both distance and motion, and I'm also a fan of of the grammaticalised time of day. Heximal numbers and coverb constructions also feature. There's even a kiwi-capable featural alphabet that each of the examples show off!
Kiwi's Apteryx-inspired phonology includes the trills and high vowels being inspired by kiwi calls and I imagine a little of their anatomy with those long, thin bills. The inspired lexemes include specific types of smells humans can't detect at the expense of any colour terms, reflecting kiwis nocturnal, smell-based lifestyles. The idioms for "a long time ago" or "once upon a time" is absolutely delightful--"when kiwis flew"--and the grammaticalised time of day subdivides the night but not the day, as might be expected from a nocturnal beastie.
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Asamiin by Christian Evans

Asamina (pawpaws); Ottawa, Unami, Tuscarora, Mikasuki, Chitimacha, Timucua
The speech that nourishes! And a splant, too, no less; I was hoping for at least one of these! This one's made all the better by delving into some Eastern North American languages and I really like the flavours this lends itself to. Syncope is abound with all sorts of morphological obfuscation through detailed phonological processes, and animacy plays a key role in the verb complex. Care was also taken to find a phonological common ground between all the sourcelangs, which made for a really interesting set of vowels with a basic 6 vowel inventory, but with 2 nasal vowels that can surface as vocalic allophones to the nasal consonants. The grammar is fairly straightforward but has a few quirks that I really appreciate, including but not limited to the fluid O placement to make for some syntactic focusing strategies I so adore and the optional, enclitic case marking narrowed by various postpositions used as another, separate means of focus. Overall just really well laid out and the formatting is really cute, something I've now come to expect after Yumpịku last time.
Asamiin's Asamina-inspired phonology includes a pharyngeal approximant to recall the really long taproot pawpaws grow, as well as regressive sibilant harmony to recall the mimicry the flowers employ to attract pollinators, both of which are some really inspired departures from the sourcelangs.
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Ekaangäq by Atyx

Haliaeetus pelagicus (Steller's sea eagle); Chukchi, Alyutor, Koryak, Itelmen, Ainu, Nivkh, Evenki, Uilta
A bird that escapes any Indo-Pacific flavours? Well I'll be! Instead of South Pacific this one gives all sorts of North Pacific energy being spoken by a population of eaglefolk native to the Sea of Okhotsk and representative of the languages spoken along its coasts. The Ainu flavours are especially strong with both an Ainu-based consonant inventory and a kana orthography, among others. The vowels also show some interesting lopsidedness with 2 creaky vowels complementing an otherwise fairly straightforward 6 vowel system that feature in a front-back vowel harmony system, though I'm a real fan of the sandhi rules at word boundaries that cause all sorts of fun consonant alternations. Word stress is also detailed and has funky placement rules at odds with my understanding of theoretical prosodic processes! Grammatically there's a few quirks that really stand out to me and tickle my curiosity: a dual distinction on the nouns but not in the pronouns, and polypersonal agreement in a transitive alignment system, the only departure from direct, accusative, and/or ergative alignment in this round of submissions. I also appreciate some of the syncretism in the pronouns!
Ekkangäq's Haliaeetus-inspired phonology includes entirely unrounded vowels and a lack of any labial consonants to reflect the speakers have beaks, as well as the 2 creaky vowels as rooted in their physiology, a common theme for this challenge. The lexicon includes some distinctions between diving and eating as it applies to different kinds of prey. The conceptual metaphor, though, I think is really great equating the passage of time with ice: an iceberg calving off a glacier is birth, melting is ageing, and melting all away is dying. Great stuff!
I think I actually have to give negative brownie points for this one: as much as I appreciate 3 separate orthographies (Kana, Cyrillic, Latin) for some historicity, they are all at odds with the anti-imperialism the brownie criterion requires, and there's no girl power to balance it out.
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Taqồpaq by accruenewblue

Gallus (jungefowl); Hindi-Urdu, Burmese, Thai, Punjabi, Tamil, Indonesian
I'm a little surprised this is, I think, the only truly tonal submission despite all the SEA birds, and it's less synthetic than most in this round of submissions. In either case, this one does a great job of illustrating some tonogenesis and some recent and still very transparent synthetic developments from a formerly isolating language. The tones are simple registers, but they interact with morae in some neat rightwards reassigning sandhi patterns, and they complement a system of 12 vowels in a 3x2x2 matrix of height, frontedness, and roundedness. There's even some vocalic nasal allophones (which is twice now in this round of submissions), and labial consonant-vowel harmony to boot! Grammatically I greatly appreciate all the call-outs for similarities to natural languages, and I wanna shout-out the use of a positive tag question instead of negative. The numbers have this funky sexagesimal base with an octal sub-base and remnants of an old decimal sub-base, which recalls some of the duodecimal remnants in the otherwise decimal system of many European languages.
Taqồpaq's Gallus-inspired phonology includes the tonal system being described as recalling a rooster's crow. The lexicon includes roots for all things chicken, including using the word for 'wattle' as a classifier for hanging things, which is so delightfully what I wanted out of this challenge. The more idiomatic language makes use of chicken behaviours as descriptors: dust baths are metaphors for something useful but not everyone's cup of tea, and continuing to brood after the chicks have hatched is a metaphor for doing a good thing so long it has negative consequences.
Extra brownie points for exalting queen Trưng, first queen of Vietnam, and a nationalist hero who fought against Chinese imperialism. Double whammy right there!
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Ngālin by u/borago_officinalis

Aptenodytes forsteri (emperor penguins); Awabakal, Māori, Norwegian
We already had a penguin splang but this one's a nice twist by focusing on the territorial claims of Antarctica rather than the ranges of more temperate inclined penguins where there are actually native languages. This does a great job of shirking the indigenous implication in the language selection step of the challenge (although I'm very glad to see no English or Spanish), so there's a really neat mix of isolating Māori particles with a fusional Germanic verbal system, and I was able to easily pick up on both reading through the doc. The verb system actually pleases me greatly with a strong/weak contrast and a V2 word order wherein the strong verbs mark tense through stem change and the weak verbs with a tense auxiliary, all whilst maintaining a very Polynesian aesthetic despite the very Germanic number of vowels. The Māori possessive system is also really fun, I think. I can't speak to the Awabakal influences, but I was able to pick up on the one, tiny Mapudungan influence of tone tag particles before it was even explicitly mentioned! Not sure where the negation system came from, but it implicates the weak verbs in a way I so adore. Really sweet, despite the fun grim facts about emperor penguin hatchlings, and I found this one just darling. The myth at the end about how penguins lost their ability to fly is also real treat and is a perfect fit for the project.
Ngālin doesn't have any A. forsteri-inspired phonology, but it makes up for it with the inspired lexicon and idiomatic language. The emperor penguin breeding cycle is detailed with translations for all the important terms along the way, including but not limited to the ritual of transferring egg from mother to father and "motherless" to refer to a newborn, whose mother hasn't yet returned from the sea. There's some great, everyday idioms elided down from full phrases for greeting and consoling another penguin being "which way?" and "next year", and conceptualising a long distance as specifically the distance from colony to see is a nice touch. I also appreciate how the relationship between creche-mates is more important than that between (half-)siblings.
I have to give queen exaltation brownie points purely for the one illustrative example of āmā o pipa "hatchling's mum" grammatically indicating the senior authority of an empress penguin.
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Honourable Mention

I've been kept somewhat apprised of a Urile (North Pacific cormorants) splang by u/PastTheStarryVoids. It's still very much in the works, but it sounds funky with both some polysynthetic flavours, no doubt inspired by some PNW languages, I imagine, and some formorant (cormorant formant) analysis! Keep an eye out for it, I'm sure it'll grace the sub in due time!
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And that's everything I've seen in the time I put together this showcase. I know there were a few among you all who felt inspired but couldn't put anything together during the course of this challenge. I remember mention of a banana and a tree kangaroo splang on the announcement post. If anyone ever uses the challenge to inspire a future project of theirs, please keep me apprised! I'd be interested in seeing them if for nothing else than to see some more projects outside of South Asian and Oceanian birds, as great as those birbs are. I can't believe I didn't see a single monotreme or non-ungulate eutherian, and that there weren't any non-avian reptiles or anything fully aquatic! And no fossil clades, too, for that matter! I'm positive there are the makings of some really funky splangs if the relevant modern continental and climactic boundaries didn't yet exist.
In any case, I hope all parties involved had a great deal of fun through the course of this challenge! I know I did! Until next marrow, bonelickers!

My mom stayed with me a few days (which was way stressful for me due to ocd)
She went to the garage, let the dog out, came back in and scooped her collagen into her coffee.
I said mom! You didn’t wash your hands after going to the garage?
She said for me not to “shame her.”
I said, I’m not at all shaming you. I say these things out of true concern and worry. Because my mind thinks what if she gets this virus or this disease or this bacteria, and dies.
I took the time to explain my irrational fears and worries and helped her understand. I wish I could do that with everybody.

Hi, I'm 25 and have been living on my own for the first time for the last 2 years. i wasnt taught how to clean up or do anything and so im trying to figure everything out on my own, it's tough, very overwhelming and i often just want to give up and not attempt anything.
Anyway today i did and i could use some help/advice... BTW I also have two dogs so let me know if I need to do anything different or extra to stay as dog safe as possible
So I always use the zoflora midnight bloom wipes to wipe down the surfaces and high touch areas in ny house like light switches and door handles but I go through so many wipes.
I Can easily go through a pack in 1 or 2 cleans of the house. Which I thought is very expensive and wasteful so I wanted to find an alternative.
So I bought some microfiber cloths, a small bucket and some of this [Zoflora Concentrated disinfectant liquid](Zoflora Midnight Blooms Concentrated Multipurpose Disinfectant Liquid, Antibacterial Multi-surface Cleaner, Pet-Friendly, Kills 99,9% of Bacteria & Viruses, 1 x 500ml https://amzn.eu/d/5CVYfgk).
I diluted it as it says so i put 1 capful and 400ml of water in the bucket and swished the bucket around to mix it in. I then put on some rubber cleaning gloves as I wasn't sure if even diluted it was safe for my hands (I'm an idiot and know nothing) then i soaked the microfiber cloth in the bucket, wringed it out into the bucket so it was just damp then wiped all my surfaces and etc as I would with the wipes resoaking and rewringing as i went. I was going to dry each room with a tea towe after wiping the room but it was already dry by time I'd wiped the room..
After I was done I wringed out the cloth, poured the bucket down the toilet and then washed my bucket and gloves in the bathtub then put the cloths aside, I think I'm going to wash them in thr washer with my other dirty cloths and mop heads, is this a good way to clean up everything after?
I was trying to achieve the same effect as the wipes. Is this the right way to use it? Right strength and etc? Do I need to wear gloves? Do I need to wipe it off afterwards with water or something?
God I feel so overwhelmed and stupid....
Also I've heard u can use zoflora in other things like washing ur clothes? I love the smell and would be interested in knowing more about that if anyone knows.

Various organisms cause STDs, for example, bacteria, viruses, or parasites. These are passed from one infected person to another, predominately through sexual contact . The type of STD you have depends on the organism you are infected with.

UTI will show up on your STD test, or vice versa. The short answer is, no - each test is looking for a different type of bacteria or virus.
A typical UTI test will involve giving a urine sample at the doctor's office. Your sample is then sent to a lab where it’s tested using either a dipstick or cultures. The dipstick (or UTI test strip) is used to look for signs of infection, whereas a culture looks specifically for e.coli to confirm the presence of a UTI.
The MyUTI test is different: we analyze your sample for the top 12 symptom-causing UTI pathogens, check for antibiotic resistance and provide treatment recommendations. For more on the differences between testing options, download our UTI testing guide.
STD tests can require a urine sample, swab and/or blood sample, depending on what kind of infection you’re testing for. Urine and genital swabs are most often used to detect bacterial infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, bacterial vaginosis and syphilis - whereas blood samples can identify viruses and parasites. Herpes testing also requires a swab of the genital area that has an active lesion or outbreak.
Like a UTI test, your STD sample will be sent to a lab and put through testing to look for specific types of bacteria or viruses that specifically identify different STDs.

Warts are usually raised and rough, but may be flat or smooth. There are several types of warts based on their location. Plantar warts occur on the surface of the feet and may cause pain and discomfort. Warts can spread to other areas of the body and are contagious. They can cause emotional stress and embarrassment.
Recurrence is frequent requiring follow-up treatment because the wart virus can infect the normal surrounding skin while being unapparent to examination. The most common treatments include cryotherapy (freezing), Immunotherapy, acid treatments, surgical excision or topicals such as podophyllin, cantharidin (blister beetle juice), bleomycin or squaric acid.
Also known as Molluscum contagiosum. Molluscum is most common in children who are 1 to 10 years old. As the name suggests, molluscum is contagious..
Molluscum clears over time, but can leave behind scars.
Small, painless, dome-shaped papules. They may appear anywhere on the body except the soles of the feet and palms of the hands.
The papules may occur in lines, where a person has scratched and caused them to spread.
Treatment may be recommended if the bumps are painful, itchy, or infected with bacteria. There are multiple treatment options for Molluscum. Treatment can also be helpful when a child is likely to spread molluscum to other children or has eczema.

An STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) is a communicable infection that is spread through sexual contact with someone who has the disease. STDs are caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. They can be passed from person to person during sex, either through vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral sex, or skin-to-skin contact.
Lets discuss STDs that cause bleeding and see what types of treatment options are available if you find yourself experiencing these symptoms.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are among the most common STDs that can cause vaginal bleeding in women. Chlamydia is often asymptomatic, meaning that many people don’t know they have it. Symptoms of chlamydia can include a pus-like yellow discharge from the vagina, pain or burning sensation when urinating, and pain in the belly or lower back. In addition to these symptoms, chlamydia can cause inflammation, leading to bleeding between periods. This bleeding can range from light to modestly heavy.
Gonorrhea symptoms include thick, cloudy, or bloody discharge from the penis or vagina and pain or burning sensation when urinating. Other signs that you may have an STD include nausea or a low-grade fever and bleeding between your periods or after vaginal sex.
If left untreated, both chlamydia and gonorrhea symptoms can lead to more severe health complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID is an infection of the reproductive organs which can cause abdominal pain, fever, painful intercourse, irregular menstrual cycles, and abnormal vaginal discharge. It can also cause infertility if left untreated for too long.
It’s important to get tested for STDs if you experience any of these symptoms so you can get treated immediately before any further damage is done to your reproductive system.

Sexually transmitted diseases are infections spread mainly by contact with genitals or bodily fluids. Also called STDs, STIs or venereal disease, sexually transmitted infections are caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites.
Sexual activity includes genital touching or sexual intercourse. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STI. You can lower the risk of an STI, and one of the best ways is to talk about STIs with a new partner before sexual activity.
Some STIs cause no symptoms or only mild symptoms. But even with no symptoms, STIs can spread to others. Testing is the only way to be sure if you have an STI.
Some STIs are easy to treat and cure. Others are more complicated. Treatment is important so you don't spread the disease. Treatment also can help prevent fertility trouble, organ damage or some cancers.

It may be a simple equation to think that as soon as a sexually transmitted infection enters the body, you can get tested for it and detect it. But, the truth is that the exact processing route is far more complex.
We get infected when a pathogen enters our system. If the route is sexual (oral, anal or vaginal); then, the infection is called an STD. The pathogen can be a virus, bacteria or other types of microbes. As soon as any of these enter the body, they start reproducing. When the infection is spread in the body and starts damaging our normal cells, disease can happen. However, every infection has its own time-frame and susceptibility.
When the infection multiplies, our immune system will be alert. Its action begins with the white blood cells and antibodies, produced to fight off the infection. Getting tested for an STD means that you are testing for the antibodies that your system has produced as a result of being exposed to an infection.

Sexually transmitted diseases are infections spread mainly by contact with genitals or bodily fluids. Also called STDs, STIs or venereal disease, sexually transmitted infections are caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites.
Sexual activity includes genital touching or sexual intercourse. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STI. You can lower the risk of an STI, and one of the best ways is to talk about STIs with a new partner before sexual activity.
Some STIs cause no symptoms or only mild symptoms. But even with no symptoms, STIs can spread to others. Testing is the only way to be sure if you have an STI.
Some STIs are easy to treat and cure. Others are more complicated. Treatment is important so you don't spread the disease. Treatment also can help prevent fertility trouble, organ damage or some cancers.

Most sexually active people assume that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) only affect the genital area. Well-known symptoms like genital warts or lesions may send you looking for the nearest STD testing location. However, sexually transmitted diseases also have several lesser-known symptoms.
The early signs of an STD may mimic common illnesses such as a cold or the flu. There are even some STDs that cause diarrhea.
You can also visit a conveniently located Rapid STD Testing clinic to determine if your windows 10 symptoms are STD-related. We offer same-day STD testing and counseling to empower you with the knowledge you need to live a happy, healthy life.
Typically, you experience diarrhea due to certain foods, viruses, bacteria, or digestive disorders. Some causes of diarrhea include:

• Viral infections like rotavirus, norovirus, and Hepatitis A
• Bacterial infection
• Food poisoning.

Regardless of its cause, many viral or bacterial diarrhea cases are self-limiting, which means they don’t last for long periods or require medical care.

The urinary tract system consists of the kidneys, the ureter, the bladder, and the urethra. An individual can develop a UTI when bacteria invade and infect any part of the urinary tract system.
The types of UTIs are named according to the part of the urinary tract that has been infected, these are:
Cystitis: UTI that involves an infection of the bladder.
Urethritis: UTI that involves an infection of the urethra which is the connecting passageway between the bladder and the outside body.
Pyelonephritis: UTI that involves an ascending infection to the kidneys.
What are STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases)?
STDs are a constellation of pathogens (bacteria/virus/fungi) that can be passed on during sexual intercourse or sexual contact, leading to an infection of the sexual partner. STDs are usually transmitted from one infected individual to another, thus requiring a source.
Types of STDs
There are various types of STDs, some common STDs include:
Chlamydia
Gonorrhoea
Trichomonas
Mycoplasma genitalium
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Herpes Simplex Virus
Syphilis
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
Hepatitis B/C
Molluscum Contagiosum
Genital warts
Pubic lice
Scabies

Sexually transmitted diseases are infections spread mainly by contact with genitals or bodily fluids. Also called STDs, STIs or venereal disease, sexually transmitted infections are caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites.
Sexual activity includes genital touching or sexual intercourse. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STI. You can lower the risk of an STI, and one of the best ways is to talk about STIs with a new partner before sexual activity.
Some STIs cause no symptoms or only mild symptoms. But even with no symptoms, STIs can spread to others. Testing is the only way to be sure if you have an STI.
Some STIs are easy to treat and cure. Others are more complicated. Treatment is important so you don't spread the disease. Treatment also can help prevent fertility trouble, organ damage or some cancers.

An STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) is a communicable infection that is spread through sexual contact with someone who has the disease. STDs are caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. They can be passed from person to person during sex, either through vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral sex, or skin-to-skin contact.
Lets discuss STDs that cause bleeding and see what types of treatment options are available if you find yourself experiencing these symptoms.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are among the most common STDs that can cause vaginal bleeding in women. Chlamydia is often asymptomatic, meaning that many people don’t know they have it. Symptoms of chlamydia can include a pus-like yellow discharge from the vagina, pain or burning sensation when urinating, and pain in the belly or lower back. In addition to these symptoms, chlamydia can cause inflammation, leading to bleeding between periods. This bleeding can range from light to modestly heavy.
Gonorrhea symptoms include thick, cloudy, or bloody discharge from the penis or vagina and pain or burning sensation when urinating. Other signs that you may have an STD include nausea or a low-grade fever and bleeding between your periods or after vaginal sex.
If left untreated, both chlamydia and gonorrhea symptoms can lead to more severe health complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID is an infection of the reproductive organs which can cause abdominal pain, fever, painful intercourse, irregular menstrual cycles, and abnormal vaginal discharge. It can also cause infertility if left untreated for too long.
It’s important to get tested for STDs if you experience any of these symptoms so you can get treated immediately before any further damage is done to your reproductive system.

When discussing UTI vs STD, it's essential to understand both the similarities and differences. Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are common health concerns, often causing confusion due to overlapping symptoms. We’ll review the difference between the TWO infections below, but it’s important to contact your immediately healthcare provider if you’re dealing with anything unusual so they can determine the cause as well as the treatment.
What is a UTI?
A Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is an infection in any part of the urinary system, including kidneys, bladder, or urethra. Most UTIs involve the lower urinary tract — the bladder and the urethra. Women are at greater risk of developing a UTI than men. Common symptoms include a burning sensation while urinating, frequent urination, and cloudy or strong-smelling urine. UTIs are typically caused by bacteria entering the urinary tract and can be effectively treated with antibiotics.
What is a STD?
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are infections transmitted through sexual contact. They can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Common STDs include chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV. Symptoms vary depending on the disease but may include genital sores, pain during intercourse, and abnormal discharge. It’s crucial to get tested for STDs regularly, as many do not present immediate symptoms but can lead to serious health problems if untreated. The CDC reports that the STD infection rate is continuously growing in the US with over 2 million reported cases in 2018 [source].
UTI vs STD - Differences
While UTIs and STDs can share some symptoms, their causes and treatment differ significantly. UTIs are typically caused by bacteria from the digestive tract entering the urinary system, while STDs are acquired through sexual activities. UTIs are generally not transmitted from person to person, unlike STDs. Accurate diagnosis is crucial, as a UTI is usually treated with antibiotics, while treatment for STDs depends on the specific infection.

An STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) is a communicable infection that is spread through sexual contact with someone who has the disease. STDs are caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. They can be passed from person to person during sex, either through vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral sex, or skin-to-skin contact.
Lets discuss STDs that cause bleeding and see what types of treatment options are available if you find yourself experiencing these symptoms.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) are among the most common STDs that can cause vaginal bleeding in women. Chlamydia is often asymptomatic, meaning that many people don’t know they have it. Symptoms of chlamydia can include a pus-like yellow discharge from the vagina, pain or burning sensation when urinating, and pain in the belly or lower back. In addition to these symptoms, chlamydia can cause inflammation, leading to bleeding between periods. This bleeding can range from light to modestly heavy.
Gonorrhea symptoms include thick, cloudy, or bloody discharge from the penis or vagina and pain or burning sensation when urinating. Other signs that you may have an STD include nausea or a low-grade fever and bleeding between your periods or after vaginal sex.
If left untreated, both chlamydia and gonorrhea symptoms can lead to more severe health complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID is an infection of the reproductive organs which can cause abdominal pain, fever, painful intercourse, irregular menstrual cycles, and abnormal vaginal discharge. It can also cause infertility if left untreated for too long.
It’s important to get tested for STDs if you experience any of these symptoms so you can get treated immediately before any further damage is done to your reproductive system.

Frequent, urgent trips to the washroom along with lower abdominal pressure or pelvic pain and a burning sensation during urination could mean a urinary tract infection (UTI). However, it could also be a sexually transmitted disease (STD) like chlamydia or gonorrhea. Because UTIs share symptoms with some STDs, many people incorrectly assume they have a UTI when they really have an STD, or vice versa.
So, how can you tell what’s causing your symptoms? While UTIs and STDs have some symptoms in common, there are also differences that can give you clues about the most likely cause.
What is a UTI?
In a urinary tract infection, also known as a UTI, bacteria infect any part of the urinary tract, which consists of the urethra, bladder, ureter, and kidneys. The most commonly affected area is the bladder.
Urinary tract infections can be uncomfortable but are usually mild. However, if not treated properly, the infection can spread and cause serious complications, especially if it reaches the kidneys.
What is an STD (STI)?
Sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, are a group of diseases that are most commonly spread through sexual intercourse. The bacteria, viruses, or parasites that cause the STD can be present in semen, vaginal secretions, blood, and saliva. Because of this, other forms of contact, anal and oral sex, or skin contact with an infected area (with genital warts) can also spread the disease.
How can you tell the difference between an STD and a UTI?
Some STDs have several symptoms in common with UTIs. These symptoms can include pain or burning with urination. UTI’s often have a frequent or urgent need to urinate, a feeling of incomplete bladder emptying, and cloudy, dark, or strange-smelling urine. However, STDs can have additional symptoms that are not present with a UTI. These symptoms include:
Pain during intercourse
Genital blisters, sores, or rashes
Sore throat
Nausea
Fever
Spotting between periods

This question is often difficult to answer. There are more than 20 types of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs or STIs), and many do not cause noticeable symptoms. In other cases, symptoms may not develop until several months or even years after exposure.
Instead of asking how long it takes for STD symptoms to show up, the better question may be “how long does it take for antibodies to develop?” When you are exposed to germs, such as the various viruses and bacteria that cause STDs, your body’s immune system produces special antibodies to fight off the specific invader. In fact, many forms of STD testing screen for certain antibodies, not the virus or bacterium itself.
The time between exposure and when a measurable amount of antibodies or symptoms are present is known as an incubation period. The incubation periods for STDs vary significantly; here are just a few examples of STD incubation periods:

• Gonorrhea – One to 28 days
• Genital and oral herpes – Two to 12 days
• Trichomoniasis – Five to 28 days
• Chlamydia – One to three weeks
• HIV – Two to four weeks
• Hepatitis B – Eight to 22 weeks
• HPV – One month to 10 years
• Syphilis – Three weeks to 20 years

[ETA TL;DR: My LT boyfriend consistently placed me in a challenging, pressurized situation while trying to do the work of discussing/considering ENM. Post title is tongue in cheek because I feel like I was set up to fail, but he doesn’t see that his actions aren’t in line with the ethos of the community. I don’t feel appreciated for my efforts or honored by his choices. Although he’s the one who wanted it, I now feel like I understand the tenets of this lifestyle far better than he does.]
My (F) domestic partner (M) of 5 years discovered/decided he was poly and wanted us to try Ethical Non-Monogamy. This was a huge surprise to me and not something I was seeking but I tried to be open-minded about it and take the time to research and discuss together because I respect his personal life journey and we had a really strong relationship with great communication. We tried a couple therapy sessions to talk through everything but the therapist wasn’t the right fit so we went back to talking and reading on our own. While in this process of discussion and fully existing within the agreement of a monogamous relationship still, I noticed him hiding his phone from me one night and upon kindly asking why, he responded truthfully and I discovered that a young beautiful colleague friend of his had been sending him pictures throughout the year (including a thong bikini ass shot) and he had been flirting heavily back with encouragement, suggestive jokes, and sexy emoji reacts. I was obviously incredibly hurt, especially because of my openness and vulnerability (and absolute insecurity) in discussing ENM along with some other recent elements to be insecure about. Worst of all, mixed in with the flirting and even as a direct response to a suggestive joke, they had also talked about requesting their work trips together in their travel industry jobs, in which he goes around the world several times a month and stays in nice hotels with a group of people for several days at a time, sometimes including partying and exploration adventures together. Now, he had never mentioned the possibility to me before that he could make requests with other colleagues, nor that he had already been trying to do that with a friend for several months (an ex-girlfriend and then later a fuck buddy, prior to our relationship). But he hadn’t considered that it would bother me because as he tried to explain, making these requests with people (even ones you just met) is totally normal for them cause you’d rather travel with people you know and like, that they do it all the time, and nothing would have happened between him and the sexy young butt-flashing model, she was just a friend and they just have that kind of energy together. I only ever knew him as having a lot of integrity (even if he lacks forward-thinking consideration of his partner), so I decided to trust him and move forward with “lessons learned” and we tabled the topic of his hurtful texts which he maintained that he didn’t feel were wrong, just how he wanted to live his life being free to flirt. I expressed that I’m not comfortable with the idea of such extreme flirtation because it insinuates an actual possibility of a hookup, that I wouldn’t have expected that from him, and it hurt me to see during a time of insecurity between us, and we agreed to talk about it more in the future to try to get on the same page. I was left very insecure with eroded trust but I had no reason not to give him the benefit of the doubt and challenged myself to conquer my insecurities. So we signed up for couples therapy again with a new awesome therapist to better navigate these conversations since they had stalled and still needed addressing.
Skip ahead one month past my calm but rejected attempts to discuss the matter and come to an understanding together, and I find out about more texts from 2 separate new work colleagues he met, again discussing enjoying meeting each other on their (assigned) trips and wanting to make intentional requests together in the future. One of them was quite insistent over the following days and kept bugging him about his schedule after I had obviously gotten upset/surprised about discovering him making plans with other women again before having discussed it together yet, despite my gentle solution-seeking efforts. [In case you are wondering, all the new friends happen to be young and beautiful women so it plays right into my insecurity (even though I am also considered attractive by many, but I guess I am not quite as young or hardcore fit, more petite and curvy, not at all overweight, but he had recently made me aware that his physical attraction to me had faded, so it was still a raw spot). He also has many female friends and they are all very attractive, and he has had sexual relationships with all of them back before he met me. I was jealous when we first got together but made my peace with it as being both a more casual cultural attitude about sex and a sign of him being a good guy if they all wanted to stay friends. But suffice it to say that the Venn diagram of who he wants to date/fuck and who he wants to be friends with is almost just a circle.]. The subject of his actively building and fostering NEW friendships is tricky though because he is always able to fall back on the fallacy that while he wouldn’t cheat on me, monogamy is not his philosophy now anyway and he ultimately wants to be free to flirt, pursue attractions and interests, etc. Which I feel doesn’t take into proper account that he’s out there building friendships/cultivating attractions in advance of our journey towards common ground/agreements, and I feel he’s pressurizing what should be a neutral work/exploration environment for us. But ultimately, we reiterated that we are in the midst of an open-hearted process and the subject of new friends/work trip requests still needs discussion along with the overall ENM discussion, so he puts off the insistent girl for the time being.
He does then openly share with me that he’s still been trying to make requests with that good friend (former girlfriend and fuck buddy) all this time too, and I’m actually ok with this because I know they are just friends now and I do believe he wouldn’t cheat on me. Later I had even asked to come along with him on one trip (totally normal for us) but then he said that was the one they had finally gotten together after 5 months of trying, so I backed off because he wanted to spend quality time with her to catch up. It stung for a minute but I actually had no problem with it in the end and never protested, complained, or said any damn thing about it. They had their trip together and that was that.
Then fast forward another couple weeks, I’m leaving town for a bit and he’s heading off to another work trip and so I double-check that we are still on the same page about the trip requests subject since that’s not what we had been covering in therapy yet and no resolution had been attempted or reached. He reconfirms to me in the most plain, basic, language with no misunderstandings that no, he will not make any trip requests with new women colleague friends until we have properly discussed it and come to an understanding.
Well, you guessed it, jump ahead another couple weeks and that is once again out the window. Although none of the following information was ever volunteered to me, he thankfully does always tell me the truth when asked the exact right direct/specific questions. So here is what I have pieced together after my many questions and sleuthing:
He recently met a gorgeous young [engaged, mono] woman and had a unique and exciting group travel experience with her on the work trip. They stayed in touch afterward (because he reached out with photos and a romantic message about the “special” time the two of them had shared together amongst the group outing), so they have been texting long detailed messages to each other over the subsequent weeks without my knowledge. And again, talking about specific trips that they would request together. How much they were looking forward to this specific place they would try to get. Asking each other all kinds of life questions, sharing pictures of their days, and some light sexy flirting. Meanwhile I am totally in the dark that they are actively in touch and having all these convos (he stays up late to write the messages instead of coming to bed with me or writes them on his trips, during work time, etc.), and making these plans together. But it comes time for him to make his work requests for the month, so he asks me my schedule. I then directly ask him again, so are you making any trip requests with friends too (like maybe one guy friend he has, for instance)? Ah, yes, he says he is planning to make requests with 2 friends—the former girlfriend/fuck buddy friend AND separately, the new gorgeous young engaged friend that I now get filled in on (upon my surprise and questioning) about how much they’ve been in touch. That’s when it all comes out because obviously this is just completely disrespect at this point to do this to me again, in spite of our well-established and understood agreement that he finally even admits himself he overstepped. To put me under this pressure to basically test my jealousy yet again while we are trying to have open-hearted conversations about insecurity and ENM. He doesn’t understand that this keeps stalling our ENM conversations because it comes down to my trust in his ability to respect and hold up our agreements, a pinnacle of the ENM lifestyle. But he says he didn’t do anything wrong because he told me about it first before actually submitting the request. (Did he honestly think I would be like “Yeah, cool! Have fun!” Who knows.) But now I’m the bad guy because he had to tell her they couldn’t request together after planning it all out and he was embarrassed. In order to tell her this, he said he wanted to call and explain it to her on the phone while I wasn’t home, which I agreed to, grateful for the transparency and signal to her that he puts our relationship first. But I find out later that he talked to her on the phone for 2 hours that night, explaining why he has to back out of the plan for right now (telling her it’s because we are having issues so he has to wait until I’m more comfortable) and then talking about life and getting to know each other even better. He then writes her the next day thanking her again for her understanding and saying it made him want to get to know her even more. She shares that she understands because she has problems with her fiancé too and will be doing a lot of tough thinking in the coming days about life and what she wants. We have therapy the next day and he proceeds to nosedive into a sour place about us, clearly resentful that he had to give that up.
So my question to you wise folks is — is this how one should approach ethical non-monogamy? Is that how that works? Because he considers himself to be of high moral character and not wanting to hurt people, so the “ethical” element of polyamory was genuinely hugely important to him and highly appealing. He seems to think he hasn’t done anything wrong though so… I figure you guys would be the experts on the subject and I’ll let you decide for yourselves if I am overreacting and misunderstanding what open, caring, supportive ENM conversations and behavior should look like.
Thanks as always for sharing your words and wisdom. I have learned so much from all of you that has empowered me to advocate for myself and what I consider to be respectful and loving ways of treating your partner both in and out of a monogamous lifestyle. I admire you for the thoughtfulness, respect, consideration, and understanding of humanity (flaws and all) that you give to the people in your lives.
Oh, by the way, yes, I learned some of these details because I broke his trust yesterday in a moment of weakness and took an opportunity to look at his WhatsApp to confirm if I was really being so unreasonable, maybe it was truly purely innocent. I weirdly didn’t see anything from her in there so I looked at “Archived” and there it all was, deliberately hidden away. But with fresh, sweet and encouraging texts to each other from that day and the day before. And some nice jokes/tornado emojis and a twister gif about how turbulent his and my conversations were this week. (This from the person whose favorite qualities of mine are how rational I am, how self-aware, and how much of a growth mindset I have. We NEVER fight, we just have discourse. I do not hit below the belt, I do not weaponize things, I do not attack, I don’t say things I would want to take back. I am honest, open-hearted and truthful about my feelings. I try my best to be patient and understanding and to give space for alternate views. I treat him with love and care and respect. But I fucked up. I read this text thread between them, breaking his trust.)
So he broke up with me immediately.

7x All-NBA (3/3/1)
‘01 MVP (3x Top-5 voting, 7x Top-10)
11x All-Star (2x ASG MVP)
‘97 Rookie of the Year
1) Memories of Iverson have gotten so simplified so quickly, I’m afraid he’s little more than “an inefficient gunner who was fast and once stepped over Tyronn Lue” to many fans today. Iverson is difficult to summarize or explain with any amount of words, so I’ll start by listing some things he makes me think of: a) playing Ninja Gaiden as Sonic the Hedgehog, b) the intensity of a cornered wolverine on all-fight-no-flight mode, c) the unflinching persistence of Melville’s Bartleby, but at the opposite end of the kinetic energy spectrum, d) Iggy Pop’s early on-stage performances, e) the quick-twitch ballance of a squirrel, f) the numerous Tupac interviews that showed skeptical non-fans that his “thuggishness” belied a deep thoughtfulness, g) a kamikaze pilot, h) the unsettling gaze of a death row inmate on his final walk.
2) Iverson’s cultural significance was bigger and arguably more important than his on-court career. He didn’t “introduce” hip-hop culture and its aesthetic to the NBA, but he became the face of that part of the Venn diagram. AI stood out because of his cornrows, numerous tattoos, extra baggy wardrobe, flashy jewelry, and the “questionable shadiness” of some members of his entourage, plus the raw directness with which he spoke was not what the league higher-ups wanted from its most popular player. It didn’t help that his background was marked by four months in jail while in high school because of a high-profile bowling alley brawl, but any objective person can see in retrospect how racist and pointed the “investigation” into that event was.
Commissioner David Stern put a player dress code into place because of Iverson, and AI was an interesting litmus test of sorts for most of the top voices in the media or authority figures in the NBA (the vast majority of both groups being middle aged or older white guys) to exhibit how rigidly “old school” they really were. As a perpetual target–including by many referees–Iverson’s popularity rose even higher, and he became maybe the most fully embraced sports figure by black America since Muhammad Ali.
3) His desire to win cannot be questioned, as he seemed to be having an existential, life-or-death crisis every game. Iverson played through numerous awful injuries (he popularized the wearing of compression sleeves), and the grit and determination he demonstrated made his teammates try harder, a bigger accomplishment than he usually gets credit for. AI was listed at 6-ft-0 and 165 pounds–he was neither–yet he flew into the lane with reckless abandon, and his body paid the price. He was beloved by teammates and fans for this because his slight stature made him the ultimate underdog (plus for how league higher-ups seemed to despise him). The media got on Iverson for his lax practice habits, but he needed the rest because of his injuries and how hard he played in games; Bill Russell did the same thing, by the way.
The problem was that his desire to win appeared to manifest itself as him wanting to do it all. Iverson rarely trusted his teammates (Philly’s front office certainly didn’t do him any favors), so he saw the path to victory as going directly through himself. It’s like he was thinking, “I’m a great scorer, so I should score as much as possible. I’m a great ball thief, so I should go for every steal.” It was hard for Iverson to see past this mentality, similar to a football defensive end who goes all out to rush the QB every play no matter what the situation or team scheme, so AI’s style of play often didn’t align itself with the best path to team glory, even if he thought it did.
4) Iverson was drafted in 1996 by a horrid Sixers team that hadn't topped 26 wins since the Barkley trade in '92, and hadn't been to the playoffs since '91. The roster was BAAAAAD. They made it into the playoffs in 1999, and Philly was respectable for five straight seasons (‘99-03), finishing over .500 and reaching the playoffs each year, and then usually making noise in the postseason (twice beating a higher seed in Round 1, never losing to a lower seed, and they squeaked into the Finals as the East’s #1 seed in ‘01).
You can think what you want about his awful shooting efficiencies and his often surly connections with his team, but the fact that he made the Sixers as good as they were for those five years was a herculean accomplishment that no other wing of that era could have topped in the same setting (not Carter, not McGrady, not Kobe).
Philly’s front office overreached and overpaid for almost everyone who took the court with Iverson, and it was not a good set of teammates for him. Had he switched places with Kobe in the late-90s and got to spend his prime with a great center like Shaq, Iverson would have had at least those three rings LA won and possibly more because I find it more likely that he would have meshed well with Shaq.
5) As you likely already know, his primary strengths were absurd speed and athleticism (best in NBA history) and his prolific scoring ability (four scoring titles, career 27 ppg, 30 ppg from ‘00-06). Iverson’s incredible shiftiness mixed with his “I’m going to embarrass you” mindset and elite hesitation crossover made him a nightmare to defend 1-on-1, and he attracted so much attention flying into the lane that he was able to create opportunities for his teammates. Iverson hit more tough buckets in traffic than almost any player ever, especially at the ends of games when his confidence and aggression earned a bunch of clutch wins.
His inconsistent shooting was well known (career 42% FG, 31% 3FG), so he was more than capable of shooting his team out of contests as he’d angrily go into “I’ll outscore everyone” mode. AI was regularly top-5 in spg, but he was also regularly top-10 in topg, and it’s been said more than a few times that he often played out of control.
6) Iverson might be more associated with a single season (‘01) than any other star ever. He led the league in scoring (31.1 ppg), steals (2.5 spg), won MVP in a landslide over peak Shaq and Duncan, carried a not-Finals-worthy team to the best record in the East (56-26) and into the Finals, and once there he had his most iconic game (Game 1: unexpected Sixers win in OT in LA over the HEAVILY favored Lakers by racking up 48 pts and 5 steals, plus AI had multiple clutch plays including the Ty Lue step-over bucket in the final minute of OT). It's the season we think of when we think of Iverson.
7) There were persistent discussions by the fans, media, and front office about him being traded away from the Sixers due to some combination of bad fit, bad attitude, crazy lifestyle, and bad shooting efficiencies, especially after the team fell off a cliff following the '03 season (Iverson missed 34 games in '04 as the team went 33-49). He was finally traded to Denver during the ‘07 season, and he was thisclose to being traded to the Pistons in 2000 (a clause in Matt Geiger’s contract stopped the deal), right before his amazing ‘01 season.
8) The pairing of high scorers Iverson and Carmelo Anthony in Denver was a really big deal at the time, seen as a duo who each demanded double teams and would cripple opposing defenses. In an expected-by-many twist, their two best scoring seasons together (‘07 and ‘08) were not the team’s best seasons, and they never won a playoff series together.
9) As fun as it was for fans to watch Vince Carter's post-prime career as he graciously accepted supporting roles on multiple teams, Iverson's post-prime career was really hard to watch as he kept demanding a central role on multiple teams well after his athleticism was no longer next-level. Whether it was his last partial season in Denver, his time in Detroit, his three games in Memphis, his curtain call in Philly, or even his two months on a second-tier Turkish team, Iverson’s days after ‘08 were cringey and unfortunate.