Doctors that accept medicaid in fort wayne

I work in two offices and accepted both position at the same time. I work at my first office full time and my second office part time. For my second office I just started working with them today and it turns out I’m the only assistant? I only had temped with them one day before and that was doing sterilization. But after I returned after getting hired with them, turns out the doctors lead and only assistant was fired, the hygiene assistant left, and they were still in the process of finding and hiring a sterilization technician. And they were with her for years.
When doing chairside with the doctor I could not find anything placed to where it made sense for procedures. As everything in both rooms were placed in odd places, with both me and the doctor scrambling to find things and hurrying up with procedures. Since we had two columns of patients to work on. As the only person who really knew her set ups and where everything was place was her main assistant.
The office and the doctor for the most part is old school, so I’m getting use to how they do their procedures. But I’m probably gonna have to reorganize everything to where they make sense in sterilization, labeling make OS Kits, try to get front desk to at least start staggering patients, and probably a set up book just to make my job easier.
Has anyone else been the only assistant? Or have to clean up the mess the previous assistant left behind?

To start I’m a petite 24y/o woman that’s been pretty healthy internally/ physically. A few years ago I felt a small lump in my right breast, did some Google research and told myself not to worry about it. Around this time last year (May ‘23) I was referred to an internal medicine specialist for swollen lymph nodes. June comes and the initial appointment went great; as I showed the doctor my concerns. (Which were only the lymph nodes because I had no knowledge it can run with breast cancer) July I had an appointment scheduled for testing, just for me to check in and the receptionist tells me they no longer accept my health insurance :’( September comes and it’s time for my general well check. I had been experiencing light breast pain so I told my pcp, and she examined my breasts. She scheduled me for a sonogram/us towards the end of October. Well I would end up missing the sono appt due to car troubles. I pretty much ended up putting my health on the back burner as I was having to work for car repairs and apply for new healthcare. I noticed tho around Nov the lump felt at least 2cm. Now as of May this year, it feels to have grown at least 4cm long.. I’m waiting to get in with my new pcp but I’ve had to note down my symptoms, as I came to the realization I’ve just generally felt unwell in the past year or so. Here they go, Past 12 Months Symptoms: sharp chest pain, pain below rib cage, sharp headaches only on right side, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, sinus pains/ swollen lymphs on right side of head Symptoms Since Jan 2024: sudden tightness around ribs/ lower back, numbness of limbs, muscle spasms/ loss of control of limbs, cold sweats, swelling all over, hot red itchy skin, swelling/ dimpling of skin, hotness/ pain in right armpit right breast right arm, headaches brain fog memory loss dizziness, high blood pressure fast heart rate chest tightening, changes in vision/ blurry vision

For starters, I usually say I’m “libertarian leaning” as opposed to libertarian. I do believe the health insurance industry needs some sort of regulation & oversight. Obviously the one we have in place now is not free market, but arguably monopoly, manipulation, & a system that nobody truly understands. Many say these companies basically wrote the ACA. Many fearmongerers said these companies would go out of business when ACA was passed but their stocks went through the roof. It also didn’t seem to be successful in many areas other than keeping you on your parents plan until 26 & eliminating the ability to deny based on pre-existing conditions. Alternatives, like the EU system, seems to work for smaller countries, but comes with a lot flaws, especially in larger ones. For starters, choosing your own doctor may not be possible, and if you don’t like your assigned doctor it may be a hassle to get a new one. Complex health issues seem harder to solve in public health systems, and procedures seem to have long waiting lists depending on what it is. I do believe in Medicaid for those in need and Medicare for the elderly.
My overall view is corporations are greedy & government is cheap. What’s the answer here? Anyone think of anything or read/hear any ideas that would be better than the complex system we have now?

I know my husband for around 10 years and got married an year back. No finance issue ever came up because I was not interested in checking how he spends his money. Because of naturally moving in and having more interaction with his family I got to know about the financial equation he has with his family.
Context : Both his parents are government doctors in India and earn well enough. FIL is retired and MIL is still working. They have good investments in 3 properties ( or more maybe I dont know fully of ) including their current home and a renting business income. Both me and my husband earn equally and more than his or my parents and we live in the US.
Wedding context : My husband’s parents contributed minimal in the wedding costs ( 5% of entire cost ). Wedding was split equally between me and my husband. There was an extra Reception at his home for which only he paid. They paid some to arrange for people at their house etc.
To start the ranting, I was gifted jewelry worth 20Lakhs INR( 25000$ )on my wedding by my husband’s relatives out of which half I brought to my and my husband’s home just after marriage. The next time when I went back to collect the rest of the gifts my MIL told me that that is all her wealth and she wants to keep it at her house if I ever need it I can take from her. I was pissed that she didn’t even consider discussing it or asking me and kept it. If she doesn’t have the money they shouldnt even give it in the first place than showing it to everyone and giving me and then taking it back. Also confirmed with my husband after this incident that her primary motive to keep the gift was to regift the same jewelry to other people when she goes to their wedding and that she will be retiring soon and does not wants to spend her money ( or does not have money as she says it )
Not just this, during our wedding ceremony the MIL took away my solid cash gift 30000 INR ( 375$ ) from a relative to me to pay to a vendor without asking me. When I raised my voice and said it to my husband and her out loud, she gave it back to me the next day.
Also, during the wedding she also asked my younger sister to pay for an extra cost 40000 INR ( 500$ ) to a service she used from a vendor never mentioning anything about returning to her or telling my husband to return her the cost. I had to eventually give it to her ( my sister) from my pocket.
These are all incidents with me and my family.
With my husband, last year she asked to pay half of the surgery cost of her sister’s husband. Around 3000000 INR ( 37000$ ) This is half the cost ). The sister’s husband is a senior professor in one of India’s best engineering college and the sister is also a teacher. The reason was nobody has loose cash. To this request he agreed instantly as it was a medical use.
Knowing her nature, I am very skeptical that she and her sister and her sister’s husband’s family actually need the money, they just want to take it from him as he earns more. Though clearly they all have enough money to pay for this than asking their kid. Note that MIL has numerous brothers and sisters who are well paid doctors and engineers like her. And my parents earn the same as them and have never asked me for anything only given.
He also keeps regularly giving money to cousins from his father’s brother and some amount to his mother yearly ( which is okay by me given its small. If its big there has to be a need which she cant fulfill on her own )
I feel like he is getting exploited as we earn more than them but he is not ready to accept it. Aitah for judging his family as greedy and for getting offended when he gives money for one or the other reason. If they are greedy, what is the way out to make him understand he is getting exploited

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/2Lyqfap
TL;DR: Just discovered that a thing I’ve had on my eyelid for at least 11 years is probably a filiform wart. It has always been the same color and size, never grown or spread. How careful should I be with it now if I’ve never been careful before and in 11 years it’s never been a problem? Yes, I will go to a dermatologist, but it could be a while before I can afford to, so I'm seeking advice here in the interim.
Full story: I’m 41/m and have had this little “spot” on my left eyelid for years, right in the middle of my lash line. It’s about 2mm in diameter and 1mm or less in “height” (i.e., protruding from the skin). I always figured it was just a minor skin tag, no big deal, normal to get a few of those as you age. Never worried about it because it never grew any bigger, didn’t cause any pain or irritation, and it’s not even visible in most situations. I even had to specifically point it out to my partner who I’ve lived with for 6 years because they had no idea what I was talking about when I brought it up!
A couple weeks ago, while cleaning off some eyeliner, I suddenly decided to find out what it looked like up close, and took a few pictures I could zoom in on. The resulting image of what looked like a little sea anemone hiding in plain sight on my face was not what I was expecting, and after researching several possibilities online, I can’t find anything that it might be except a filiform wart — though I'm still not 100% sure.
I searched through older photos of myself to see if I could figure out how long it’s actually been there, and determined that it probably first showed up in early 2013 — I did a series of self portraits then and it's faintly visible in a few of them (though you wouldn't notice or guess what it was if you weren't specifically looking for it).
I'm eager to see a dermatologist (or ophthalmologist) when I can, but it might be a while. I was kicked off Medicaid in April because I got a small raise at work and I’m now just *barely* above the income cutoff. My new insurance has very high copays for seeing any kind of specialist, and since I'm already doing a sleep study this month to test for possible sleep apnea, it’ll probably be at least another month from now before I can find room in my budget to address this. I also don't have a new primary care doctor yet (the one I had been using doesn't take my new insurance).
Due to its location, I am NOT going to attempt any DIY removals!
Here's the part I'm a little confused about and looking for advice/reassurance while I wait to see a derm:
When researching filiform warts, I see two big warnings repeated over and over again. (1) They grow really fast; and (2) they spread very easily. So the advice is always something like: don’t touch it, don’t let anything else touch it, don’t share towels, throw away your makeup brushes, you might even have to wash your pillowcase every day so it doesn’t spread to other parts of your face, etc, etc.
The thing is, I’ve already spent 11 years treating it like a harmless skin tag (i.e., basically not thinking about it at all). I wash my face regularly and use the same towel for about a week before switching to a new one. When I wear occasionally wear makeup, I almost always use eyeliner pencils, and I never do anything to clean or disinfect them other than wiping them with a dry paper towel. My partner and I have even shared eyeliner! And while I can’t say I’ve ever intentionally picked at it, I have definitely done more than my fair share of scratching and aggressively rubbing my eyes over the years due to some pretty intense seasonal allergies.
But despite that total absence of caution, it’s never grown or spread at all or caused any problem or irritation of any kind!
Have I just been playing dice this whole time with an incredible streak of luck? Or is the internet just exaggerating how cautious you need to be? Is this a sign that this isn’t a wart at all? Or is it possible for the “remnants” of a wart to stick around even after the virus is gone, and that’s why I’ve been so lucky?
I’m also wondering if it’s normal for a filiform wart to change its “look” as much as mine does (without actually growing or dying). In the photos I’ve included, you can see how it sort of changes its shape (i.e., whether the “fronds” are stretched out or contracted) depending on conditions like how dry or wet my skin is, whether I’m stretching my eyelid, or even whether my eyes are irritated from allergies. I can’t find any mention of this in other discussions and articles of filiform warts, so I have no idea whether this is expected behavior, or what it means if it’s not.
Thoughts, opinions? If I can't see a doc until late June or July, how much should I change my behavior about it until then?

The comic series is wholesome as hell, and I'm such a sucker for stories with assassins, especially young ones, being softened up by bundles of joy and energy. And from what I understand, people HATE Jon being older after his time travel adventure, effectively ending the amazing dynamic between the Boy of Steel and the Demon's Grandson.
So why the hell have we not gotten an animated series with these two?! There's so much gold to be had with a story like this that could be brought more to life with OSTs, voice acting, all the great animation treats! The movie was good, but it was........too short for a premise with this much gold!
What we need is a seasonal animated series like the DCAU shows and YJ.
Season 1 could go something like this: Jon discovers powers, Damian sneaks out again, their dads come to an agreement: PARTNERSHIP TIME, BITCHES! Figured it'd be mutually beneficial. Thus, great contrast of their personalities! A few episodes in, they're in the same school, neither student nor faculty are prepared for Damian Wayne, and neither are the criminals they face when they finish their homework. The season would be about Damian accepting this partnership while Jon tries to get a handle on the whole superhero thing. Season finale? Damian calls Jon his friend for the first time.
Future seasons, with a definitive ending planned so it doesn't suffer from seasonal rot, could explore Damian's dark past and how it could haunt him, Jon seeing some harsh realities of being a hero, and that's after a mere 2 minutes of thinking!
DC has a gold mine here, and I think not going for it would be a huge mistake. What do y'all think?

16-minute read.

pro-West party leader says they met PM Pashinyan and discussed a referendum to solidify Armenia's shift to EU

KHZMALYAN (European Party of Armenia): The referendum is our suggestion and demand. We presented it to Pashinyan and expect a response within a reasonable timeframe. We advised making a public statement soon. A referendum would also make Pashinyan's job easier by allowing the people's will to decide Armenia's direction.
REPORTER: How did Pashinyan respond?
KHZMALYAN: He suggested the meeting be held in a closed format so I can't reveal all details. We hope that our voice, our offer, our demand, was heard. If we do not receive a positive response, we will take measures by employing the same methods currently used by anti-European forces [the ongoing protests led by pro-Russian ex-regime]. We will take to the streets and demand a referendum for Eurointegration if necessary.
REPORTER: How long are you ready to wait before taking action?
KHZMALYAN: A few months. Georgia will hold parliamentary elections in October, and Moldova will hold a similar Eurointegration referendum - also in October. The U.S. will hold presidential elections in November which will be important for Armenia's future. Even if the worst scenario unfolds in all three countries, Armenia must stand firm and not take a step back. Armenia could become the leader in democracy in all of Eastern Europe if you consider the situation in Georgia, Hungary, and Slovakia [pro-Russia populist leader]. Armenia could receive an unprecedented level of assistance from Europe under those circumstances.
REPORTER: Did Pashinyan say he plans to leave CSTO?
KHZMALYAN: We did not demand specific dates but we urged him to complete all these processes this year, preferably by November.
REPORTER: Did Pashinyan agree?
KHZMALYAN: The participants of the meeting are under the impression that we were able to present convincing arguments but time will show what actions he takes. The government functions very poorly but nevertheless, they are doing something, they are taking steps.
REPORTER: On May 9, Bagrat Galstanyan gave Pashinyan 1 hour to resign but it's May 21 and he is still here. Why wasn't the opposition able to remove him?
KHZMALYAN: The 3 former presidents and their surrogate forces, backed by 30 years of power, were unable to bring forward a figurehead, a single ideology, that could win the hearts of the people. They used various political technologies, they switched between black and white robes, and they extended the 1 hour to 7 days, but none of that helped because the Armenian people hate them more than they hate Nikol Pashinyan.
REPORTER: You used to be a lot harsher on Pashinyan but something appears to have changed in your tone after your recent meeting with him. What is the reason?
KHZMALYAN: We were able to present our demands and the timelines to accomplish them. Unlike the archbishop and the former regimes surrounding him, we did not give "one hour" for Pashinyan to accept our demands; we did not make ultimatums. We believe the current government is carrying out and will carry out the will of the people to overcome the status of a Russian colony and join the ranks of free nations. We did and do see steps [taken by the government] towards this; we cannot ignore this. We saw the Strassbourg, but also Moscow. We saw the [April 5 meeting in] Brussels, but also [the recent meeting between FMs in] Almaty. We are told this is an attempt to "balance" and we understand where they are coming from, but our factions speak on behalf of over 60% of Armenians who view Russia's policies as deadly for Armenia. We expect concrete actions and we have formed a platform to continue this work; there will be petitions and other actions from us. We are ready to assist Pashinyan, who may be constrained due to ongoing negotiations, by being the public voice and saying the things he cannot say. We will continue to work, to pressure, to influence, to demand. Our meetings also continue abroad. We will press on until we reach our goal - the Eurointegration of Armenia. //
Several prominent Western-oriented political parties recently formed an alliance to promote Armenia's Eurointegration.
video,

Pashinyan appoints a ruling party member as a deputy head of the newly formed Foreign Intelligence Service - the Armenian "CIA"

After the 2020 war, Pashinyan said Armenia will need a modern intel agency to gather information and analyze foreign threats, while the NSS -- described as historically a "pro-Russian" agency by many -- will focus on internal matters.
source,

Pashinyan met the deputy head of the United States CIA to discuss bilateral, international, and regional issues

A delegation led by David Cohen is in Yerevan. Cohen also met NatSec Armen Grigoryan.
source, source,

Armenia's Investigative Committee chief hosted U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Qyaramyan and Yoder discussed bilateral cooperation, the recent retraining for Armenian agents and technical assistance, cooperation between law enforcement agencies of Armenia and the United States, anti-narcotrafficking, and the fight against gender-based violence.
Yoder also met Armenia's Interior Minister Ghazaryan to discuss the ongoing police reforms and formation of new divisions, the fight against narco-trafficking, technical assistance for rescuers, and retraining courses. Yoder emphasized effective cooperation, noting that the achievements within the framework of sectorial reforms are exceptional. The US wants to expand the agenda of cooperation.
source, source,

Armenian army officers continue to take part in NATO exercises titled Regex 2024 held in Moldova

GOOGLE TRANSLATE: The exercise is organized with the support of the NATO Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy, and aims to train the military according to Western standards for planning and conducting exercises, crisis management, strengthening and assessing the level of interoperability of forces in a multinational environment.
We remind you that the exercise "Regex 2024" consists of several workshops during the current year. The first workshop took place between February 16 and March 1, and the second between 22 − April 26, 2024. //
source, source,

NATO and Armenia strengthen cooperation in defense education

Armenia's defense ministry representatives recently visited NATO headquarters to discuss NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) for Armenia.
NATO: The DEEP programme is an excellent tool to support Armenian military education system reforms and strengthen the country’s cooperation with NATO.
ARMENIA: With the support of DEEP experts we implemented major changes in all levels of our educational curriculum at Military Academy, starting from cadets up to the most senior levels. It helped us to establish cooperation with many international partner institutions.
source,

Armenia is an emerging destination for UK and global investors: Armenia's Ambassador to London Business Matters

👔 Armenia is committed to building a knowledge-based, export-oriented, and inclusive economy.
👔 Armenia is diversifying its growing economy with pioneering sectors, creating ample investment opportunities.
👔 Armenia’s investment legislation grants equal treatment to foreign investors
👔 There are no restrictions on remittances and repatriation of profits, free exchange of foreign currencies and no limitations on staff recruitment
👔 The country’s favorable business climate and ‘open-door’ policy is also reflected in international reputable rankings where Armenia is ranked one of the highest in the region.
👔 Although Armenia has a relatively modest internal market, it offers different models of economic cooperation and serves as a gateway to major world markets
👔 Armenia has maintained a high level of cooperation with the EU through CEPA
👔 Armenia and UK will soon have a CEPA-like agreement
full article, source,

Turkey modernizes an Azerbaijani Su-25ML jet with guided bombs and Teber missiles

It uses KGK laser guidance for missiles and increases the reach to 110 km.
source,

Pashinyan's Chief of Staff hosted the French Ambassador to discuss defense, economy, infrastructure, and humanitarian topics

... also the upcoming events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Charles Aznavour.
source,

Parliament Speakers of Armenia and Ukraine discuss the situation in the South Caucasus and Ukraine

source,

Q&A with ruling party MP Vahagn Alexanyan about the ongoing protests led by pro-Russian opposition

REPORTER: You continue to criticize the "holy movement"...
ALEXANYAN: The what now?
REPORTER: ... the "holy movement", by calling it a "pagan" movement. What is the ruling party's stance and do you discuss this internally?
ALEXANYAN: Of course we do, although I don't think Kocharyan's decision to name this movement "holy" is helping them. It's comical.
REPORTER: Do you have proof that Bagrat srbazan is [tied with Kocharyan]?
ALEXANYAN: Bagrat Galstanyan is surrounded by the entire political team of Robert Koharyan, he was a member of Kocharyan's 2022 protests and gave similar speeches he gives today, he received a praise from Russian propagandists, and he was named by a Russian propagandist Aram Gabrielyanov as a potential candidate for a new protest movement just a few months prior to these events, so it's beyond reasonable doubt that Bagrat Galstanyan is part of Kocharyan's team.
REPORTER: You were earlier accusing Galstanyan of being a Russian agent, and now Kocharyan's agent?
ALEXANYAN: Same thing.
REPORTER: The opposition gathered many thousands of supporters on May 9. What does the size of the crowd indicate?
ALEXANYAN: It was similar to Kocharyan's final rally before the 2021 elections. And?
REPORTER: The opposition created a video of "Pashinyan's lies" and broken promises. Will you respond?
ALEXANYAN: The clip itself is a lie and manipulation. For example, one of the supposed lies was Pashinyan's promise of an amnesty for overdue fines and penalties. You are a journalist, you tell me, was there an amnesty or not?
REPORTER: Pashinyan had also said that POWs could wait "just a few more months" and that he wouldn't "sacrifice Armenia's sovereignty" in exchange for bringing them back sooner. Why aren't they back?
ALEXANYAN: Dozens of POWs returned home in December, and efforts continue to bring back the rest. Literally 1-2 days before the POWs' return, the opposition claimed that the POWs were "forgotten" by the government. "Ոչ մի բան չեք անում:"
REPORTER: What about the Nagorno-Karabakh leadership?
ALEXANYAN: There are efforts to return them as well.
REPORTER: Why did the police form a wall to block entry to village Kirants [for nonresidents]?
ALEXANYAN: I think the NSS said they had to take action to prevent interference with the border work. From what I can tell, the protest leader himself went there yesterday and returned only 15 minutes later so there wasn't a big desire to stay there apparently.
REPORTER: They plan to hold a big rally on May 26 where they might nominate Bagrat srbazan as the PM's candidate to replace Pashinyan.
ALEXANYAN: Why not go straight for [alleged narco baron] Mihran Poghosyan [who publicly praised the protests]?
REPORTER: There appears to be a consensus around Bagrat srbazan after a meeting between several forces.
ALEXANYAN: Consensus minus one, where "minus one" is the people. Or to be more precise, "minus two", because the Constitution also prohibits Bagrat from serving as a prime minister. Congratulations on an initiative that's dead on arrival. It's absurd. They suggested replacing the Constitution to allow a dual citizen to serve as PM. Okay... To get Canadian citizenship you have to take an oath to serve the best interests of Canada. To allow dual citizens to serve as PM in Armenia we have to accept for the PM to have loyalty towards another state. The alternative is for the candidate [Bagrat] to admit that his word [oath to Canada] wasn't worth a dime. Երևի մատերը խաչ արած ա երդվել։
REPORTER: But don't you think you are manipulating because Galstanyan received Canadian citizenship just to be able to serve in the church in Canada? He didn't go there to live or conduct business.
ALEXANYAN: It doesn't matter why he went to Canada. He is a citizen of Canada and took an oath. Even religious leaders with dual citizenship cannot become prime ministers. I don't have an issue with him being a dual citizen, but it limits his office options. He still hasn't renounced his Canadian citizenship even after all these talks about a possible nomination.
REPORTER: Galstanyan said he is ready to renounce it as soon as there is a need for it.
ALEXANYAN: In other words, he seeks "guarantees" that he will be the candidate in order to renounce it?
full,source, source,

opposition churchman Bagrat Galstanyan demands the Armenian government compensate the damage done to the church during USSR and "return" the properties "legally belonging" to the church

This was said as a response to the critics of the church leadership who accused the church of turning into a political party and suggested taxing the church like a business.
BAGRAT: We have 19th-century churches that were forcefully confiscated and turned into ruins. The properties of the Armenian church must be returned to the church. The area of Moscow Cinema belongs to the church, half of the Katoghike Church was demolished and belongs to the church, and part of the items in Matenadaran were taken away from the church. Instead of threatening us with taxes, they must think about how they plan to return our properties, fully renovated and ready for service.
source,

the church is actually paying taxes but they do have some exemptions

The church paid $1 million in income taxes last year.
There are tax exemptions to import certain goods deemed for charity. They also don't pay property tax, and taxes on income generated from the sales of ceremonial accessories. The latter two are the frequent targets of church critics.
source,

Armenia's Constitutional Court has a vacant seat. Pro-Russian opposition criticizes Pashinyan's ruling party for favoring a "George Soros-linked" judge who worked for U.S. State Department.

A Serj-era judge is leaving the Constitutional Court after receiving a job offer elsewhere so one seat is vacant. It is the judiciary's turn to nominate a CC judge, so hundreds of judges recently held a meeting and voted for Judge Balayan as their candidate. Balayan's father was a CC judge during Kocharyan's tenure. He was accused in the Wikileaks report of having inappropriate deals with President Kocharyan. Pashinyan's ruling party did not vote to approve Balayan. This led to a second gathering of hundreds of judges where they voted to nominate Judge Khachaturyan as their candidate. The parliament summoned him for Q&A on Tuesday.
SPEAKER: We invite the representative of the judiciary to present their nominee for CC.
JUDICIARY REP: 267 judges voted. Judge Davit Khachaturyan, a member of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, won the majority votes.
2000-2005: [blah blah blah]
2003-2006: Legislative Assistance Project Manager at Southern Caucasus Anti-Drug (SCAD) Program, sponsored by European Union and implemented by United Nations Development Program
2006: Program Assistant at U.S. Embassy in Armenia, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)
2007-2013: U.S. Embassy in Armenia, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Legal Specialist
2014: Academy of Justice of the Republic of Armenian-Russian, Vice-Rector and Lecturer
2015-2016: Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Program “Strengthening Health Care and Human Rights Protection in Prisons in Armenia”, Legal Expert
2016: EU project “Development and Strategic Studies”, Expert on Judiciary and Human Rights field reforms
2015-2017: EU project “ENP Progress Reports and Assessment Reports on Armenia´s Compliance with GSP+ obligations”. Expert on Rule of Law/Justice.
2013–2020: Law Faculty of Yerevan State University. Lecturer. Development and teaching of courses for the Master Program: “European Standards for the human rights protection in criminal proceedings”, and “Professional Skills of a Lawyer”
etc.
OPPOSITION MP: The ruling faction earlier chose not to confirm the appointment of Judge Davit Balayan; they obviously prefer Davit Khachaturyan. Can you explain why you didn't mention that Khachaturyan served on the board of directors and later as the president of the board at George Soros's Armenia-based Open Society Foundations? How will this record impact his work at CC?
JUDICIARY REP: I presented parts of his professional activities available on the court's public platforms. You can ask the candidate directly.
OPPOSITION MP: The Soros Foundation publicly listed him as a member so I don't understand why it's being hidden now. In your opinion, how will his work at the Soros Foundation affect his impartiality?
JUDICIARY REP: The majority of judges chose him and it's up to Parliament whether to confirm or reject.
RULING MP: Was the voting held in a closed session or can you see how each judge voted?
JUDICIARY REP: It's a closed format. My duty here is to present the candidate. [basically, leave me alone I'm just doing my job]
RULING MP: Why not make the court voting and internal discussions more transparent for the public to see so we will have fewer conspiracy theories on why one judge was preferred over the other?
JUDICIARY REP: I share the view that it needs to be as public as possible but the majority of judges voted to keep the session closed to the press.
RULING MP: Just because the discussions and the vote were behind closed doors that doesn't mean it was anti-democratic, but still, it's better to publicize the process. We hope to see a change in this approach.
JUDICIARY REP: The ballot casting will always be secret and I think that's the right approach in order to allow judges to express themselves without constraints, but I agree that the discussions and speeches should be public. Either way whatever we discuss behind closed doors always reaches the press so in practice there isn't really a major transparency issue there.
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: First, every part of my biography has always been public and part of public discussions. Second, I have always voted in favor of making internal discussions open to the press; it's the best way to avoid incorrect assumptions. Full speech here.
OPPOSITION MP: Congratulations. The ruling party intends to approve your candidacy just as they voted for you in the past for other positions. In all of those instances, you didn't mention your work at the Сорос Foundation. Now, a very interesting coincidence [drumroll... are you guys ready for this bombshell?], during the same time while you worked at Сорос foundation, in 2006-2013, you were also a U.S. Embassy employee [got 'em]. //
Nikol Pashinyan has resigned.
Tavush stretches all the way to Russia.
Bagrat srbazan becomes the Supreme Leader of Historical Soil & Water and the Generalissimos of Slow-Melting Candles... and of course removes the speed cameras from highways.
OPPOSITION MP (continues): With this biography, how do we know you are not an agent of foreign influence?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: I was not an "employee" at the Soros Foundations. Other famous figures have served on the Board [mentions a famous doctor]. Everyone who was part of the Board had duties but it was not really an "employment". As for my simultaneous work with the U.S. Justice Department, there was no conflict with my membership or presidency at the Board because the latter was fully a public activity and we were only given a symbolic sum to compensate for our expenses; we are talking about less than $100/mo. I will let you be the judge regarding an agent of influence. There is a lot that's missing from my biography that was read here [lists some boring constitutional research work, etc.].
OPPOSITION MP: You keep being "promoted" by the ruling party without having the chance to finish your terms. The longest job you've ever held was at the Сорос Foundation - 8 years. The brother of the head of the Anti-Corruption Committee, who is about to join the CC, cannot be impartial. Again, what guarantees can you present that you are not a [Western] agent?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: Your expectation for guarantees stems from the assumption that the [Open Society Foundations] were engaged in activities other than the ones they were actually engaged in. I won't present any "guarantees" because there is no "threat" to begin with. As I've said, that part of my biography has always been discussed publicly and the activities were public and covered by the press.
RULING MP: In your speech you spoke about the judiciary in the U.S. and brought examples. The U.S. doesn't have a Constitutional Court. Don't you think we should also merge the Constitutional and [Cassations Court] with the upcoming referendum to have one Supreme Court with corresponding chambers?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: I support having one unified body like in the U.S., or clarifying the duties to prevent each body from interfering with the other. Lengthy answer.
OPPOSITION MP: A person [in Kirants] received permission [from USSR] to build a house and live in it. Then the [Armenian] government told him there was a mistake [after the clarification of borders]. Some 50 years after this incident, what would your verdict be in this case?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: I understand the context. This issue is the task of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and we cannot interfere in each other's institutions. I assume there will be a peace agreement eventually that will be sent to the Constitutional Court for examination, therefore I will refrain from making prejudgments now in order to be allowed to take part in future processes.
full video, source, source,

anti-corruption: Armenian authorities conclude that luxury Dubai property belonging to former regime MP's relative was not obtained illegally by him therefore will not be seized as part of an asset forfeiture case

Mher Sedrakyan (Tokhmakhi Mher) is a Serj-era MP whose family is going through an asset forfeiture case worth ֏7.5 billion ($19.3 million) that includes 22 real estate properties, cars, and company shares registered under his name and the names of immediate family members.
Additionally, investigative journalists recently found a luxury property in Dubai registered under the ex-MP's relative. Authorities have concluded that he is not the true ownebeneficiary of this Dubai apartment, therefore it won't be seized.
source,

the army concludes exercises for commanders

Context in May 14 news digest. The defense ministry says they have noted improvements and deficiencies and will take steps to correct them.
source,

Defense Minister Papikyan visited the frontlines and the newly built fortifications: PHOTO

The army continues to dig, asphalt, and build.
source,

Armenia's Foreign Minister met the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency during an international forum

ROSSI: Effective cooperation has been established between Armenia and the IAEA. We discussed several issues on the bilateral agenda, oncology and radiation medicine, safety, and reliable operation of the Armenian NPP.
MIRZOYAN: We plan to extend the lifespan of Metsamor NPP until 2036 while exploring new opportunities.
source,

Armenian lawyers went on strike on Tuesday to protest a bill that would move them from a turnover tax-based system to a VAT-based taxation

Context on the gray economy and why the government wants to gradually abolish the turnover tax system in May 2 news digest.
A group of lawyers said on Tuesday that their 5% turnover tax [for annual turnover under ֏119M] will become 10% this year, and in 2025 they will be required to switch to a 20% VAT/18% profit tax. The cost of legal services for many clients could increase by over 38%, they warned.
The Ombudsman and the Justice Ministry reportedly oppose this bill by the Finance Ministry.
source, source, source, source,

video shows the new payment terminals in Yerevan subway station

They plan to replace all gates next month. The Soviet-era tokens (zheton) are being replaced with QR codes, an app, and later - bank cards.
All stations will have payment terminals to purchase QR tickets. It prints out a paper with QR. Telcell's app lets you buy a ticket and instantly get a QR on the phone's screen.
Seniors who can't use "high-tech" can approach the token sellers and get a QR paper instead of a token.
video,

Yerevan will host an exhibition on Charles Aznavour’s 100th anniversary

Hundreds of rare artifacts will present the life and legacy of the legendary artist.
Location: National Museum-Institute of Architecture
Date: May 22-July 22
source,

Germany wants to purchase an Armenian man

Dortmund Borussia is interested in the services of Armenian national Edward Spertsyan as a replacement for departing Marco Reus.
During this season, midfielder Spertsyan has played 32 matches, scored 11 goals, and made 7 assists. His ass is worth €18 million.
source,

22M. No medications and generally healthy. About three weeks ago, I developed an infection from a wound I had on my heel from new shoes that were nagging my heel when walking, and I probably wasn't quite quick to disinfect the wound I got from that afterwards. Tissue around it started swelling up (also on the side of my foot) and it was quite painful so about 5 days after I first got the wound I went to the ER to get it checked. The doctor did offer me antibiotics but I wanted to wait it out and see if it would get better over the next coming days since I had about 6 months prior been on antiobiotics for 11 days and I didn't want to go on them again if it could be avoided. The doctor accepted my suggestion and said I should call again over the next few days if it got worse.
Over the next few days the swelling started to slowly go down and became less painful without antiobiotics, so I thought I was good. However, the wound was still sore for quite a while. I had actually forgotten all about it, but then today I noticed that when I strectch my heel where the wound was located, it looks inflamed/swelled where the wound was still now. There is no limited range of motion and no pain involved. And when I touch the area, it feels like the bone sticks more out on that heel than the other, which makes me wonder. Is it the skin that is still swelled up or has the infection caused some kind of inflammation in the bone on that heal? And should I be concerned about any of this and see a doctor about it?

this is the first time I've ever had to do one of these, in fact thanks to waiting for doctors paperwork I still haven't gotten the thing fully filled out, but here's the deal
two weeks ago Sunday I suffered burns on my hands. I lost the first week of that period to one day in the hospital and the rest of the week trying to get in touch with my stores HR person or the closest we have to one to figure out to do
Once I started the paperwork I filled in my expected return date as the day after my doctor's appointment to check my progress. I'm a loader but I used to be a CSA so I thought maybe I could do light duty playing cashier. Doctor said no, for my work and it being hands I needed to stay off.
Next appointment is two weeks after, one week from today and based on her progress report I expect to be able to go back after it. So doing a bit more paperwork I set the return day my next appointment
Then I see the thing about setting up for return at leasst two days before. Which means, should I actually call up and set up my return, the day before I'm actually cleared, which is also Memorial Day, so should I do it Friday? Should I accept my return date is going to be wrong twice

I scheduled an appointment about 3 months ago with one of the doctors from the list and she immediately accepted me for surgery and got me booked for just 3 weeks after our first appointment. I’m beyond relieved. I just got home maybe 10 minutes ago and feel great. I’ve got pain in my shoulder and under my ribs from the gas but other than that I’m on cloud 9 because of how happy I am.
I was so thankful that she listened to me and that it was a trans friendly experience. Her team all made sure to use my chosen name and only referred to me as he even though my mother didn’t and it felt great to be respected by medical professionals (doesn’t happen often here in the south).
Thank you all for making this community and for sharing these resources I would have never found her without y’all. I also now have a new HRT doc thanks to her which has also been impossible to find where I live! Cheers to bodily autonomy! :)

Hi everyone. My cat Lucy is about 5 and a half years old and was diagnosed with a pulmonary mass on May 2nd. About a week before then, I had noticed she was limping and brought her to her regular vet. Our vet thought it was a broken toe at most, or maybe a twisted claw. I was thankful that it was just something small that would heal on its own with time. Then, the next day, May 2nd, she had a sudden onset of neurological symptoms - circling, head tilt, right limbs collapsing - started breathing very quickly, and was crying in distress. I freaked out and went to the ER. The doctors were going to do an MRI to try to figure out the neurological symptom cause, but in the process of prepping her for that, some chest imaging showed a mass near her lungs, which they sampled and confirmed to be cancer.
She seemed stable aside from the neurological symptoms, so they sent her home with me with the plan to follow up with either neuro or oncology depending on how her symptoms progressed. A vet tech told me at one point that she had had a cat with neurological issues too, and it was a long, slow healing process. That's what I was hoping for, and for the first few days, Lucy seemed to get better. I had to give her meds for dizziness, pain, and yeast in her ears (she's a chronically waxy girl), but she made such good progress with the neurological stuff. She wasn't purring and laid down most of the time, but she laid in the sun and in her cat beds. She ate less, but enthusiastically. After a few days, she finally groomed herself again. I thought this all meant her main problem right now was this neurological thing - we just happened to find cancer in the process. They felt separate to me. She wasn't having breathing issues, so the lung cancer must not be affecting her yet - it'll just be something we deal with down the road.
I was wrong. On May 14th, I started noticing bad signs. She was hiding most of the day, eating and drinking much less, not pooping, barely peeing. I thought she was just stressed, maybe mad at me for giving her so many pills and ear liquids. She started crying before going to the litterbox and afterwards, and I still wasn't seeing much in there, so I thought, maybe she's constipated. Her regular vet agreed it could be possible, did an X-ray of her stomach, did an enema to get some hard stool out, and prescribed an appetite stimulant and Miralax. The day after that appointment, Lucy seemed worse. Whenever she wasn't under the couch, she was crying. I took her back to the ER, who told me that she was mildly dehydrated, her behaviors since the initial ER visit were very worrisome, and I should start thinking about her quality of life. I asked how sure they were, how likely it is that we just need to figure out what medicine she needs, or if she's just stressed, and they're very sure. I have accepted that she is dying.
Now, the question I meant to ask before I ended up writing out the tale of Lucy's medical journey: euthanasia. Lucy hides most of the day. She barely eats even with the appetite stimulant. She is starting to walk more slowly. She doesn't play or jump. She is normally the sweetest cat in the world, and now she does not want to be touched. She can go to the bathroom and has normal-looking poop and pee, but still cries in distress before and after, and it seems to take her a long time to poop. Her life is mostly hiding, me taking her out to get her to take meds or subcutaneous fluids, a little eating, and what appear to be distressing trips to the litterbox. But she isn't showing the very bad signs that the vets told me to watch for: no vomiting, no bloody diarrhea, no trouble breathing. Do I need to wait for that? Is it good for her to wait for it to get that bad?
I already feel like I have let her down by not pursuing further diagnostics of her cancer and neurological issues. When she cries in distress, I feel like she's saying "help me," as in, if you just figure out how to help me, I will be okay. Like if we were to do an MRI and CT scan and more bloodwork, we would find the right medication that would get her back to normal. But that's probably not true. Even if the neurological part is unrelated to the cancer and we fix it, she still would have cancer. I think the best thing I can do for her now is keep her comfortable and get the euthanasia timing right, so she doesn't suffer needlessly. But if she isn't responding to medications, hides and cries most of the time, what is the quality of her life? The thought of scheduling the euthanasia soon is horrifying - like I would be killing her early. But I've read about how hard it is when it is done too late. And I look at her now, and she is never happy.
I am going to talk this all over with her vet tomorrow. Just wanted to share it here too since I stumbled across a few posts from this community and saw a lot of caring and supportive people.

Something I was thinking about when I watched the final moments of the most recent EFAP was Mauler’s observation that the internet content creator landscape used to be different when AVGN clones ruled Youtube and his question of how that shifted into video essayists and commentary channels. I thought about that for a while and I thought of some reasons why the landscape changed that I would like to share.
Managers
Something that people might not be aware of is how many Youtubers have people managing their content in the form of things like setting up brand deals and other services that I am not familiar with. Some of them are very public about what they do, some of them are more private. The important thing is how managers worked in the past.
One thing that I liked about Machinima, ScrewAttack, and Channel Awesome that the creators probably didn’t like is that they forced the older creators to stick to a set schedule of uploads and some of them forced creators to follow a set formula. This meant that the manager would make sure that if a creator uploaded a video every Friday at 2pm, they would have an upload every single Friday at 2pm.
How would this work if the creator wanted to take a week off? Well, the creator would have to have a video to upload in advance. What if the creator wanted to spend 3 weeks on a super-duper big video? Well, they could absolutely do that, but it would be a passion project and they’d still have to follow the set schedule for regular uploads.
This created a content landscape that I actually enjoyed a lot as a consumer because it’s probably the way it should be for reviewers. Every week, or every day in rare cases, a movie reviewer would need to review a different movie, which meant that a reviewer might have to force themselves to sit through a movie they don’t want to see like Fifty Shades Of Grey to give it a chance to subvert their expectations and earn a glowing review, or dig deep to find a new indie movie to review to fill that quota if they really didn’t want to sit through Fifty Shades Of Grey.
The promise of Patreon and creators becoming more independent was that creators would exclusively make videos on topics they wanted to do, but I personally think that was the wrong way to go. I’ve maintained a position that I prefer it when content creators are encouraged, or even forced, to talk about things that they don’t want to talk about because oftentimes that’s when reviewers are most interesting. Some of my favorite Roger Ebert reviews were when he reviewed a children’s movie like Space Jam or Pokemon: The First Movie, and some of my favorite Zero Punctuation reviews are when he has to pick out a random indie game and commit to reviewing it regardless of what the indie game turned out to be, like when he reviewed Hell Pie.
What I think has happened is that the lack of managers has encouraged content creators to upload whatever they want, whenever they want, which has usually translated to videos about ‘easy’ topics, like videos about Disney movies, being uploaded weeks, or even months, apart, which has made the content creation landscape, at least for reviewers, a lot less interesting, and a lot less engaging.
It’s actually one of the reasons why EFAP has been losing my interest lately, because although they upload a stream every week the topics they choose are generally ‘easy’ topics because I genuinely think the hosts don’t have the ability to make an EFAP on something more obscure, or even just ‘difficult’ like Baby Reindeer, very interesting, or they just won’t do streams on those topics because, as Rags said: “This is our show, and we can do whatever the fuck we want.”
Honestly, my hot take is that I liked you better when you couldn’t do whatever the fuck you wanted all of the time. In fact, one of my favorite Rags moments on EFAP was when he clearly didn’t want to be involved with the debate with Twin Perfect.
Sponsors
I remember the Adpocalypse and how Youtubers transitioned to sponsors over relying heavily on ad-revenue. What that event transpired into is that audiences were far more accepting of basically any form of making money that Youtubers would use. Patreon became a very dominant part of Youtube, but sponsors also became extremely common and audiences would even cheer in the comment sections when creators would have their first Raid: Shadow Legends sponsorship.
Sponsors are what I want to talk about because I have seen Youtubers show that they have a bunch of videos on their computer that they simply aren’t releasing to the public because they don’t want to upload a single video without a sponsor on their main channel, as well as Youtubers having a second channel where they upload ‘slop’ content without sponsors that most of their audience is usually unaware of or isn’t interested in.
The problem is that the appeal for pretty much all content on Youtube is the personalities of the people creating the content, which is less about the actual personalities and more like “That’s an actual person doing what they actually want to do, that’s so cool,” but that is usually undercut by the presence of sponsors. The fact that Youtubers will sit on a video they made and not upload it unless they can get a sponsor to pay for it always seemed strange to me, especially for Youtubers where the image they present is “I’m just a normal, chill guy who makes Youtube videos for fun,” which needs the caveat of “Uhhhh, I’m actually really poor and if I don’t take this BetterHelp sponsor I can’t afford my rent this month. Please understand, I’m barely making any money on Youtube,” when a sponsor is included in the video.
As weird as this sounds, there are communities of creatives online that don’t expect to ever make any money putting hours, days, weeks, months, and years of work into a project. There are modding communities, bloggers, game developers, fanfiction writers, and artists that only want comments saying “You did a good job,” and Youtubers used to be that way, or they used to present themselves that way before sponsors became as common as they are now.
I don’t say this often enough, but I remember when Youtubers would make videos about not just random pictures on Deviantart, but on fanfictions and pornographic videos. They’d do those videos for things like clout, which is something that I don’t see too often on Youtube.
People might say that there are a bunch of Youtubers that talk about obscure media and Youtubers that make things without any expectation of earning money, which I say “Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” and then I’d point to things like AVGN’s Atari Porn video, and old videos where commentary Youtubers would branch out from their niche to say “Hey, just for fun, we’re going to check out this weird fanfiction story,” or how Yahtzee would include fun projects he created at the end of his Zero Punctuation videos, like how he’d dub over scenes in video games like Half-Life and Painkiller, or how he made a slideshow with Garry’s Mod that depicted a love story between Heavy and Medic.
What I’m saying is that a large part of what made Youtube fun was that not every video from an established creator with 100k subscribers needed to be monetized, or even created with the expectation of being successful or well-received by the community. There was a time when the expectations people had for, say, Jim Sterling was for a high-quality Jimquisition video to be produced and uploaded to the main channel once a week, and for the other days to feature a minimally-edited video where he showed himself trying out a game or reacting to a trailer on his main channel.
In the past I said that I would like it if EFAP would talk about comments and read fanfictions on-stream and I was mocked for it, but I stand by that statement because, although EFAP clearly doesn’t want to do it regularly, when they do read comments on-stream it tends to result in some of the best content because it showcases a side to them that I like. Instead of being totally normal dudes talking to each other about a movie they saw or reacting to a video, they have to use text-to-speech or read the comment using a silly voice or, well, use just a little bit of creativity when reading those comments out-loud.
What I’m kinda saying is that, yes, I think we all like professionally-produced content, and we all accept that sponsors for videos are necessary. But, like, I don’t like how for most successful Youtubers only the monetizable content, often with sponsors, is presented on the main channel, while the other content doesn’t exist, is uploaded to a secondary channel, or is locked behind some kind of paywall.
It just feels strange that these normal, chill, relatable people have gotten themselves into a position where they can earn real money, in some cases a lot of money, to stand in front of a webcam for 10 minutes talking about their favorite movies, chat with a group of friends, or even just play their favorite video game, and in quite a few cases they won’t do any of those things unless there’s a way to monetize it. Imagine how it looks to say “Well, I can’t talk about this cool fanfiction story I read on my main channel to my audience that enjoys my content about that franchise because I can’t get a sponsor for it.”
I wonder if Rags, a regular host of EFAP, appreciates the irony of him criticizing Chris Stuckmann for advocating that filmmakers “Get as much time and money as possible to make their films in the ideal circumstances and for the process to be easy,” when he’s in the position that he’s in where, on EFAP, he has as much freedom as he wants in the ideal circumstances to make money with EFAP, and it’s easy, yet he still will complain if he’s asked to step out of his comfort zone, even a little bit, on stream.
Insecurity
A while ago I had a theory about Cancel Culture which was that usually Cancel Culture is incredibly exaggerated by the audience of the people being canceled, and that most of the people being canceled are perfectly fine. The go-to example is the poor lady who made a joke about AIDS before going to Africa that got off the flight and got fired from her job due to her joke going viral. What people often don’t mention is that she got fired because it’s a terrible look for the company’s PR person to be involved with such a massive PR disaster, and that she got hired at another company a very short time later. Plus, like, she made a racist joke and people were calling her a racist, it wasn’t like she was targeted for absolutely no reason.
My theory is that people think that Cancel Culture absolutely ruins the lives of celebrities and influencers online because of their intense reactions to being canceled. An early example being Seth Macfarlane, who was mocked for his poorly-received hosting of the Oscars and who seemed incredibly bitter about it, making Cancel Culture a plot point in multiple episodes of Family Guy, talking about how bitter he was about it in interviews for years, and even apparently getting emotional support from his friends and family after the ordeal, even going as far as to ask celebrities to say “I liked what he did and I thought he was hilarious, and very handsome.”
What I’m saying is that I think that in the early days of content creation on Youtube the people making videos were more willing to appear on camera and embarrass themselves, like with Spoony screaming at a big gaming event on camera, because even though they were aware of Cancel Culture being a thing they weren’t going to be reduced to tears by someone saying “You’re totally cringe and annoying,” and even went as far as to incorporate those kinds of comments into their video because it was extremely easy content to create. You probably know what I’m talking about, where a creator would read out “This content creator is SOOOOOOO CRINGE,” in a video in a silly voice which you can’t really do as easily with “OMG, I love your content,” and make it entertaining.
That’s changed a lot today with content creators seeming to project an extreme amount of insecurity in every video they’re a part of, which gets even worse in formats like podcasts. It feels like every commentary creator is a chill dude that isn’t offended by anything and only wants to have a good time talking about things they like because, well, that’s what they need to be to avoid being criticized too severely, but they constantly allude to being a very immature and thin-skinned person that is mainly concerned about earning money, to the point where they’ll say “I’m not even having fun producing content at all.”
In college I remember one of my professors saying: “When you were high school kids you were insecure and weren’t confident in your abilities enough to volunteer when you were asked. You’re adults now, and when you graduate you can’t do that at a real job. Part of growing up is being confident in yourself, and if you don’t want to do that, you can always work in fast food where you never need to grow up, while the other adults in your friend group are becoming doctors and construction workers.”
It’s something that I realized with Youtubers which is that a decent amount of them started their careers young and never had to ‘grow up’ the way that my professor said that we needed to. Even with millions of subscribers you still see a lot of Youtubers struggle to commit to any statement they make, and I hear “I’m just a dumb Youtuber who doesn’t know anything and is stupid and socially-awkward and is fat and smells bad,” too many times from rich and successful people.
The thing is, when you’re a teenager, or you’re in your 20s, that insecurity is charming and relatable because you're trying to find a place in the world and discovering the role that you will fill in society. But, when you’re 30 and your role is “I tell people about the latest internet drama and make references to Spongebob,” or “I talk about Star Wars for hours at a time,” even if you make $2 million every day there’s likely a part of you that says: “I don’t like who I am. I don’t like what I do for a living. Yes, I’m rich, but I don’t like why I’m rich, and I don’t like my audience.”
I think that this insecurity leads to people trying to make their content more ‘mature’, but the way they do it isn’t by presenting themselves as a more confident person, or by making a clear separation between the personality in their content and their actual personality so that they can have a good work/life balance, it’s by creating the same content with very superficially mature elements. So, you end up with the video essayists of the past that gained fame by describing the events of a movie and then giving their opinion on whether they liked or disliked it doing the same thing but with quotes from smart people, like Socrates, and making conclusions like “Some people are gonna like this movie, some people are going to hate it. The important thing is that everyone involved with this movie tried really hard and had fun.”
The thing is, teenagers and 20-year-olds get value from a relatable person that comes across as an insecure loser who is too afraid to take a proper stance on anything to commit to a statement. When someone is actually mature they find more value in someone who is willing to do a good job and defend the job that they did, even if they’re like Neil Breen who thinks they did a good job but clearly did a terrible job. A 20-year-old might declare that Twin Perfect’s debate with EFAP wasn’t embarrassing because he was just being himself or something, but a 40-year-old might not tell Twin Perfect that the debate was embarrassing, but they would no longer respect him, and I imagine a lot of 40-year-olds don’t respect a lot of Youtube video essayists because of how eager they seem to be to engage in self-deprecation.
Conclusion
Despite everything that I’ve said, I do think that the content landscape on Youtube is generally ‘better’ than it was in, say, 2010. We weren’t getting a 4+ hour video by The Little Platoon about Rebel Moon, for instance, in 2010.
What I would compare modern Youtube and classic Youtube to is the 1970s movie scene vs. the 1980s movie scene, which Quentin Tarantino has labeled as “The worst period in movie history,” which the EFAP crew have pushed back on.
The thing is, in the early 80s we got Blade Runner, in the same way that nowadays we got the 4+ hour Little Platoon video, but the theatrical release of that film was famously sabotaged by the company that wanted Harrison Ford to provide voiceovers for the film that ‘ruined’ it, or at least, ruined the ending of the movie.
Throughout the 80s films were made which satisfied audiences more than films from the 70s did because Spielberg was producing hugely successful films that are still highly regarded, but there was also a bunch of shady practices going on and a bunch of notoriously poor studio decisions made in order to appeal to a wide demographic, such as the fiasco with Supergirl and Masters Of The Universe, or changing the ending of Brazil.
In the 1970s we not only got more challenging films, but there was also a thriving independent cinema scene that gave us Death Race 2000, Eraserhead, THX-1138, and Duel. There was also Jaws, Star Wars, and A Clockwork Orange, which were big-budget movies that took serious creative risks that paid off immensely which just wouldn’t happen in the 1980s, or would happen very rarely.
I think that I do prefer Youtube back in, say, 2015-2017 when it seemed like we generally got the best of both worlds, challenging content about a diverse range of subjects with production values comparable to what we have now.
To close this, I would like to include a paraphrased interaction I saw on a podcast featuring a pretty big Youtuber that I think illustrates why Youtube has changed in the way that it has.
Youtuber: Look, I don’t need to work as hard on my videos now because not every video needs to be an event. I just want to take it easy now, pump out a video whenever I feel like it, get paid by the sponsors, and then spend time with my family, is that so wrong?
Host: It kind of is. I know your audience of teenagers will be like “He just wants to spend time with his family, dude, have a heart,” but a lot of Youtubers, especially younger Youtubers look up to you for inspiration. If you’re in that position and your attitude is “I’m going to half-ass every video that I make from now on and if anyone calls my content lazy I’ll use my 8-year-old daughter as a shield against criticism,” that’s the attitude that a lot of young Youtubers are going to have. They’re going to half-ass their content and when criticized, they’re going to find their own excuse, like “I have a kid now,” or “I have to eat,” or something.
Youtuber: That’s not my fault, though. I never asked to be a role model.
Host: That’s not how that works. You don’t get to decide whether or not people look up to you, have expectations of you, and emulate your approach to content creation. You only release 2-3 videos a year, and with your status every video should be a major event, but instead every video is half-assed, as you admitted, and then you use your daughter as an excuse for why you don’t put as much effort into your content as you used to. I think you need to have someone in your life, like a friend, that actually makes you feel some shame for your content and encourages you to do better, rather than your social circle being composed of supportive people like your family and the people who pay you through Patreon.
Host 2: He did have that. He fired him two years ago, remember?
Host: Oh, yeah, you fired your friend, or made him quit, whatever the story was. Did that not make you feel bad at all?
Youtuber: Friendships end, that’s just life.
Host: That’s the attitude that I hate that comes across in your content. You can’t just brush aside everything and bumble through life, except if you’re an internet personality, apparently.
Host 2: It worked for the MCU.
Host: It’s not working for the MCU anymore, though, and it isn’t working as well for this Youtuber. It’s probably going to get worse and when he decides to do more work and make better videos, like he used to do, it’s probably going to be too late, or he’ll need to make really good videos to get the views he once did.
Youtuber: My videos are really good, though.
Host: You admitted to half-assing them.

I remember when Uber / Lyft came out years ago, part of the sales pitch was “hey, if you’re already going to work, why not pick someone up on the way and earn a few extra bucks”
When I drive to a town 30 minutes away, I would like there to be a way to find someone that’s roughly near my starting location and wants to go somewhere roughly near my destination (or at least along the way)
The fact that I can’t generally choose my preferred destinations is quite frustrating. I live in Miami and it’s a very active market. At any given moment there is someone who wants to go from Miami to Fort Lauderdale or visa versa, but I have no way to capitalize on this (without risking my acceptance score).
Like on Saturday nights I would love to drive to Fort Lauderdale (with a passenger) and then spend my evening transporting passengers between one strip of bars and one specific area of apartments. And then pick up a passenger on my way home.
But it seems like my only choice is to accept whatever the Uber gods give me, even if they want to pay me $9 to drive 10 miles in the opposite direction of where I want to go.
The app seems to be set up in a way that encourages full time labor with none of the perks.
TLDR: why can’t I choose my destination?

This poll asks ME/CFS patients if they have been tested for chronic coxsackievirus B and/or echovirus infections, using the correct blood test, which is an antibody test that employs the neutralisation method of antibody detection.
Dr John Chia has found that antibody tests using neutralisation method are sensitive enough to detect the chronic low-level coxsackievirus B and echovirus infections often found in ME/CFS patients.
Whereas he found that antibody tests using other methods of antibody detection such as CFT, ELISA and IFA may not be sufficiently sensitivity to detect chronic enterovirus infections (these tests may work fine in acute enterovirus infections, where this is lots of virus in the body, but not for chronic enterovirus infections, where there is much less virus).
​
In the ARUP Lab coxsackievirus B and echovirus neutralisation tests, Dr Chia says antibody levels of 1:160 to 1:320 and higher are good indicators of chronic active infection.
But if you were tested for these two enteroviruses by less sensitive CFT, ELISA or IFA methods, and your results were negative, or showed low antibody levels, you might incorrectly assume you do not have a chronic coxsackievirus B or echovirus infection, even though you may actually have one.
So using the wrong enterovirus test can lead to false conclusions about your infection status.
​
It is worth knowing if you have active enterovirus infections with coxsackievirus B or echovirus, because Dr Chia has a number of treatments for these infections, including oxymatrine, Epivir and tenofovir, which in some patients find can make a major improvement.
Labs which offer the neutralisation tests for enterovirus are rare, and there are only a handful of them in the world. The following labs can test you for coxsackievirus B or echovirus by neutralisation:

• ARUP Lab USA
• Institute of Medical Virology University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Hellenic Pasteur Institute in Greece
• Torlak Institute of Virology in Serbia
• Fleury Lab in Sao Paulo, Brazil

These labs will usually require you to work with a doctor (who will submit your blood serum sample to the labs); they may not accept serum samples directly from patients.
​
Note that if you were tested by the ArminLabs coxsackievirus B test, this is more-or-less useless, as out of the six coxsackievirus B serotypes, B1 to B6, it only tests for Coxsackie B1, and does not test for Coxsackie B2 to B6. This fact is not stated on this test's webpage (but it is stated here under: Virology > Ligand Assays); many ME/CFS patients get the ArminLabs CVB test and think they have tested for Coxsackie, but they have not.
Dr Chia observes that the coxsackievirus B and echovirus serotypes most often found in ME/CFS are:

• CVB3 and CVB4 first and foremost
• Then CVB2, EV6, EV7 and EV9
• And then much less EV11

So the ArminLabs test does not test for the most common coxsackievirus B serotypes found in ME/CFS. It also uses the IFA method, which may be insensitive for chronic coxsackievirus B infections.
References:
Viral Testing in ME/CFS
Enterovirus Foundation: Enterovirus Diagnosis and Testing
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View Poll

After getting alot more experience, I have decided to rerelease my first script, with a few formatting changes. I wanted this and the rest of the ongoing series to match the standards of the other scripts in my library.
Note: Monetization is fine, just credit me, send a link of audios, and ask me before making changes of any kind.
Context: A young woman (listener) goes into the forbidden forest to get healing herbs. Her grandmother has gotten deathly ill and only the herbs in the forest have the power to her ailment. As the woman is picking the herbs, she feels a nearby presence. She brushes it off as being a curious animal, but the presence seems to get closer and closer. Before she knows it, a hand rips away her basket and starts rifling through it. The hand belongs to the elf prince who rules and protects the forbidden forest.
Elf Prince: (Smirk) Ah ha! Look what we have here! A little human trying to steal from my forest. Don’t you know it is not nice to take what is not yours?
…..
Elf Prince: [basket rustling sounds] Fire blossoms, Moon berries, and Golden apples. All of these would fetch a high price on the black market. (Voice lowers, menacing) You’re not planning on selling these, are you?
….
Elf Prince: These are for your sick grandmother? (Voice goes back to normal) That honestly makes more sense. You do not really look like the type to sell stuff on the black market. Let me guess, you are going to make that healing soup, the one that is supposed to heal any illness?
….
Elf Prince: So, since the doctor could not help, you decided to take matters into your own hands? In that case, I guess I will not kill you. However … I do require payment.
[Heartbeat and fleshy sounds]
Elf Prince: (Shocked voice) This heart is nearly spotless! I do not normally see mortals with hearts this clean. Now, do not panic. This heart is not like the one that keeps your blood pumping. Once you stepped into the elven domain, the way your body functions slightly changed. This crystal heart is a physical representation of a person’s intentions, thoughts, feelings, etc. When mortals typically cross the border, their hearts are covered in black spots or are nearly black. They usually come here for fame, money, magic, or even eternal life. You, on the other hand, came here for your sick grandmother, a non-selfish reason.
….
Elf Prince: You do not know how this heart can be payment? You see, a heart of this condition can be used for all sorts of things. Jewelry, elixirs, love potions, amulets of power. And besides, it is the most valuable thing on you. The elves do not accept your human coinage anyway. If it makes you feel any better, I will cut you a deal. In exchange for half of your heart, I will let you leave my forest with everything in your basket. However …. there will be some side effects.
Elf Prince: You will still be able to feel and love, but you will always feel like something is missing. Like your life is not fully complete. But it is all worth it for helping your grandmother, right?
….
Elf Prince: The side effect of losing your whole heart is that you would never be able to love again. Shadows would forever follow you and the world would be tinged with gray. You would still be able to be polite to people but never make deep emotional connections. If you feel like paying with half of your heart is not a good deal for you, I could take you to see my mother, Queen Freyalise. (smirk) I do have to warn you though, she is not always as good-hearted as myself.
….
Elf Prince: Very well! I will take you to Her Majesty’s court in a moment. In the meantime, here is your heart [heartbeat and fleshy sound] and here is your basket. In could keep these, but you would never make it out of the realm alive if you tried to run, so it does not really matter if you hold these or not. Come now little mortal, it is time to pay mother dearest a visit.
(Time Skip: The Elven Prince and Listener have arrived at Queen Freyalise’s court. Word has gotten around that the prince has found a human, who wishes to make a deal with the queen. Her majesty sits upon her throne, waiting for her son with open arms and anticipating Listener’s next move.)
Queen Freyalise: Prince Damar, my son! You have finally decided to pay your dear old mother a visit! Now come here and give me a hug!
….
Queen Freyalise: Oh! I see my son has forgotten to mention his name. He is Prince Damar Aquarius Uriqen. My youngest of four sons and the only one unwed
Damar: Mother, for the thousandth time, I am not interested in having a bride. I am fine being by myself and looking after the forest.
Queen Freyalise: Do not “Mother” me, young man. It is about time you settled down and gave me grandchildren. I am not getting any younger, you know.
Damar: Mother, you are over three thousand years old and immortal. You will always be “Younger.”
Queen Freyalise: That is beside the point. (Talks to Listener) Now, my dear girl, I have gotten word of your virtually unblemished heart. May I see it?
…. [Heartbeat and fleshy sounds]
Queen Freyalise: So, it is true! This heart is almost completely clear! I only see a few flaws here and there, but they are hardly noticeable. As for the deal, unfortunately, I hardly ever offer lower than three-fourths of a heart.
….
Queen Freyalise: However, since your heart is purer than most mortals that come into our lands and your purpose was not for your own gain, I will make you a deal that I have only made one other time. In exchange for you leaving my realm with your heart and the herbs you gathered, you will complete three tasks for me. One, collect a tail feather from the Ruby Thunderbird. Two, collect a scale from the mammoth emerald serpent. Three, gather the tears of a silver unicorn. And since you mortals usually need help on quests like this, I will allow you to pick one companion from my court, not including myself of course.
….
Damar: (surprised) Me?! Mother, you can not allow this! Who will look after the forest?! Why do I have to babysit this human?!
Queen Freyalise: First of all, I said she could pick anyone here besides me. Second, Garolon (second oldest prince) will take over your duties during the tasks. And third, you are not babysitting her, you are making sure she stays on the path and does not get eaten. Besides, you two may even fall in love and give me my grandchildren. Now, my dear girl, you have a long day ahead of you. My maids will show you to your room and will help you settle in for the night. Tomorrow, we will get you two all set for your journey.
(Time Skip, the maids are helping Listener take a bath to try and calm her for bed)
Elven Maid 1: You must excuse the queen, miss. She has been wanting grandchildren for a few hundred years now. For some reason, the three other sons have yet to produce any. She just gets over-excited whenever she finds a potential bride for Prince Damar. [water pouring sound]
Elven Maid 2: You are actually quite lucky to be considered as a potential bride. Her majesty typically does not see humans as worthy of marrying into her family, but your heart proves that you may bring some good things into the court. I honestly find some of the noblewomen quite stuffy. [soap suds sounds?]
Elven Maid 3: Also, you are the second person to ever be offered those three tasks. The first was another mortal woman who wanted some Golden apples for her siblings. Her village’s food supply was running low during a particularly bad winter. She saw those Golden apples on a branch just outside the forest’s entrance and picked some. She was immediately taken to the Queen by some guards and was asked why she dared to do such a thing. After the woman stated her case, Queen Freyalise offered her three tasks in exchange for the apples and food to help her village survive until spring. The woman managed to complete all of the tasks and was sent home with enough food for the winter. [water pouring sounds]
Elven maid 1: If I remember correctly, the human woman looked awfully a lot like you. Who knows, you two may be related and that could be another reason why you were offered the tasks. Now, let us get you into some warm clothes and to bed. You have a long day ahead of you.
(In the Queen Freyalise’s chambers)
Damar: I still do not know why you even considered that girl for the trials. She would be killed the moment the Thunderbird sees her. I can not have her blood on my hands.
Queen Freyalise: I made that deal because she reminded me of that other mortal woman. I even have a feeling that the two of them may be related. As for you, her blood will not be on your hands. She chose this and if she dies, then at least she did for someone else. Life is full of sacrifices and risks. You can not always play it safe when someone else’s life is on the line.
Damar: But mother…
Queen Freyalise: Goodnight Damar. You have a long journey ahead of you and you will need your sleep. I will make sure enough supplies are packed for the two of you. Also, please keep her alive. I have a feeling she will bring a lot of light to this old place.

Looking for some critics of my upcoming med school application. Ill do the numbers first and then the explanation. IP in Ontario + BC.
cGPA OMSAS: 3.44 cGPA School: 3.47
Western: 3.72 Dal: 3.78 uOttawa: 3.40
uSask: 87.55 uManitoba: 3.96 UBC OGPA: 80.22
Hooks: Black, Northern and Rural (for NOSM), Disabled
Education: BA from an Ivy (not that Canada cares :/). Currently doing a course based MSc, completion by June 30th.
MCAT: unwritten but I expect to perform well. Purely on vibes but also I have scored 99% at every standardized test I have taken (ACT, SAT IIs, APs etc.)
Explanation: Basically had the onset of a serious illness (that caused physical disability) at the first part of undergrad. Took a medical leave, got myself sorted and then returned. My pre-LOA GPA is: 3.24 (OMSAS 3.24). post-LOA GPA is 4.01 (OMSAS 3.91). I also technically wasn’t a full-time student for some of this time due to that, so I do have to appeal to a bunch of schools for exceptions to the Sep-June FT rules. post-LOA I completed full-time. I plan on appealing to every school for GPA adjustments/considerations regardless of whether or not they have official mechanisms.
ECs: 1000s of hours of research: panel presenter at major conference, multiple pubs, multiple posters (every year of undergrad + summers + 1 year FT)
1000s of hours of clinical care: tech @ doctor’s office for 2 years FT
almost 500 hours at health tech startups
1000s of other misc. stuff that spans: local policy, school stuff (MUN, campus leadership etc.), DEI stuff
LoRs: 3 strong (1 academic, 1 research, 1 work)
A lot of this depends on what my MCAT score breaks down on being, but just wanted some feedback going into the summer. Also, if anyone has done any of the GPA appeals for disability (or other reasons) at any Ontario school, UBC, uManitoba, uSask, or Dal let me know.
I’m applying widely because cost isn’t a big factor unless my MCAT (once I write)+ GPA are out of the accepted range for previously admitted students.
I know that some schools are a reach, but I’ve a friend with a low GPA (3.5ish) + high MCAT (520+) with a MSc with great ECs (but in a different way) that got into all schools she applied to (5 including uoft). So I know it’s doable.
any tips? advice? constructive feedback?
thanks!

So it's a little jank, but I've been working on this for a while. I'm sure it's not gonna be super powerful, but it will be fun and functional, and if nothing else, it will teach my brother and his friend to run more removal 😆 It's the most fun I've had theorycrafting for EDH, that's for sure!
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/nonfLH1DvEaR32Vk_RVnZw
In the command zone it's basic utility and thematic fun, [[The second doctor]] and [[susan foreman]], group hug card draw and a mana dork. I can just see them preparing for a ritual to summon Cthulhu together 😆
The gimmick is [[dark depths]] and [[solemnity]] is the main cheat. If, for some reason, solemnity can't happen, then [[thespian's stage]] to copy depths is the first cheat, and [[echoing deeps]] to copy thespians stage to copy depths is another.
Along with that is a snow theme, mostly included to search, scry, and draw my way to what I need.
The removal is mostly combat trick stuff to make sure nobody gets wise and starts attacking the group hugger 😂 [[aetherize]], [[settle the wreckage]], and yes, I'm including my [[cyclonic rift]], cause I think this deck is gonna need all the support it can get lol. Noncreature removal is sprinkled in though.
Then there's the pillowfort/stax component. Hitting a couple of pillow fort pieces with [[doppelgang]] sounds delightful 😂 and so does using any of the creature copy spells on [[windborn muse]]. I also included [[kwain]] and [[gluntch]] cause they're pretty inexpensive and who doesn't love group hug? lol
Really though, I want to know, are there any other shenanigans you can think of that you might include? I don't love counterspell style, but I'm not against adding one or two just for protection and I own some good options. This deck isn't trying to take over the world, but I want it to at least work at an average casual table.
Thanks in advance! This is my favorite commander building project I've taken on yet, so I appreciate it! 🙂

I can stretch, I should note. Doctors have said it is not vaginismus.
My hymen is open, and has been as long as I can remember, but the problem is that the area it sits (mostly at back wall of vagin) is still painful when pressure/friction is applied to it and stings for about 10-90 minutes if it is bumped.
Along the front wall, I have a pretty internal urethra that sits about 2-3 centimeters into my vagina. Also painful to hit/rub against, and the tissue separating it from my vagina gets yanked on even with a little speculum. Less of an afterwards pain, but even more painful in the moment.
I am wondering if it is just my anatomy? The only way I could ever insert a tampon painlessly was to evade the hymen remains stuff by angling it forward, then evading the urethra by angling it backward without brushing the front wall. Which only worked for teeny tiny ones.
Now I want penetrative sex. I tried it twice before with no luck, on a pretty average guy. Now my also average boyfriend and I want to try again. I like what penetration I can do! It just is painful to even accept a large finger and no amount of trying to stretch has helped the issue. Even stretched and perfectly capable, with plenty of lube, those two spots cause issues.
Basically, I want advice and also to know if anyone has had this issue because my doctors keep looking puzzledly and saying "more lube" and that "those spots shouldn't be in the way." no matter how much I explain.

I have absolutely no idea what to do. I have nobody to rely on. I don't know what to do. I am 19f. My life is a complete shit show. I was bullied not only emotionally but physically throughout my childhood, primarily due to being neurodivergent, though I didn't know that at the time, just thought I was "weird" and nobody liked me despite being a kind kid. I was obsesssed with early childhood education, reading books by Maria Montessori and writing teaching philosophy statements at the age of 8. I was paralyzed for about a year at the age of 11 and suffered severe medical trauma in the hospital as well. I felt my autonomy was stripped away from me and various professionals there, looking back, were abusive and negligent. There in the hospital I remember wanting to die for the first time. When I got out, the bullying just got worse because now I had the whole being-in-a-wheelchair-thing going against me too. I ended up doing stupid shit to impress my peers and try to make friends, which just meant that I was constantly getting into trouble as a younger teen, which didn't help my mental health. I tried to kill myself at 13. My mom slapped me in the face while I was bleeding from my wrists and told me I was going to ruin her reputation and that I couldn't go to the hospital. I really needed stitches, I still have very visible scars from that day. She sewed holes in some long sleeved shirts for me to put my thumbs through to hide my arms at school and told me not to tell anyone. Things were never the same between me and my parents. I began at 14 seeking validation from adult men online. It was stupid and reckless, but it helped in the moment. I was kidnapped a week before I was supposed to start high school by a 33 year old man. He drove me to a different state 500 miles away, raped me, and tried to strangle me to death before police came. They treated me like a suspect and handcuffed me and made me sit in a cold car for 3 hours in the middle of the night. There was an amber alert sent out all over. I was put in a psych ward for about a week and then began 9th grade at a new school as "the girl from the amber alert" to everyone around me. Everyone was talking about it and asking for specifics and making jokes about what happened to me. It also made me a target for older boys who thought it was evidence that I was easy to manipulate. One of them ended up being the reason I had to leave school a month later. I did online school with my now emotionally abusive parents for several months before starting at a new school. But then, covid shut everything down again, and it was all taken away from me. My mental health was terrible and my parents opted for an unhelpful tough love approach. I became very hypersexual due to my trauma, which ended in me being assaulted more times than one. My parents blamed me and began to resent me, their words not mine. I entered a long term relationship at 16 with a boy I truly loved, we will call him K. K got me pregnant and I wanted to keep it, but my parents forced me to get an abortion with illegal drugs. It was traumatizing and I spiraled. A mentor figure who was a family friend betrayed me horribly. K got me pregnant again. I was on birth control, though everyone believes it was intentional, it was not. My parents said I could either get an abortion or leave home, so I moved out at 17. I got my shit together. For a while, things were good. I got an associates degree incredibly quickly and began a successful career in early childhood education as I had always dreamed. I worked my way up to a lead teacher at 18 and loved it. K and I were so happy. He proposed. The kind of true love most people never get to experience. Most of my peers drifted away during my pregnancy. I didn't care, I had K, my unborn baby, and my job. Then, while in labor, I found out K was cheating on me the entire time. I forgave him and we tried again, though I was postpartum and heartbroken. I stayed home with my newborn son while he worked, or so I thought. Really, he got fired or never went to every job I thought he had. He would drive there and turn his data off so his location was set there all day. He would stage pictures and talk about work. Really he was cheating, doing drugs, and playing video games while I was at home with our baby. His anger issues got worse and he'd get violent but not to the extent that I couldn't justify it to myself. His whole family knew. The cycle of him being caught and apologizing profusely and then doing it again went on for a while before he said that he needed to get out of his house where his cheater DV father was impeding his progress in getting better. I love him. It made sense, his dad was clearly where the behavior stemmed from. I left my housing program to get him out and we all 3 lived in hotels for a few months. I had to sell my body to afford a place for us to live. I was working full time as a lead teacher it just wasn't enough. He still couldn't keep a job but he wasn't lying or cheating. I got us a nice apartment all on my own. Things were good for a while. His anger issues would flair up at times but not as bad, and no lying or infidelity. We had so many heart to hearts. We got married. I did great at my job. He started doordashing for income. Things were going well. Then 6 months into our marriage, about 9 months after we moved out/7 months after we got our apartment, he sprung on me that he wanted a divorce. That was about 7 months ago now. We have been living together and I have been hoping to rebuild. In his vows, he swore so sincerely and in such great heartfelt detail to do better and be better and stand by me. And then he just through it all away. He has been so mean lately. Sometimes things are okay and it's like everything is the same. But he thinks I don't clean enough even though I try and he says I don't support him emotionally even though I really feel like I do. I also pay for everything, I even bought him an 800 dollar PC a couple months ago. I got really sick a month ago. Like vomiting 10+ times a day. I thought I had a stomach bug and didn't have money to go to the doctor over something so trivial that would clear up on its own. I made too much for medicaid but still not a lot. After only 4 days of being gone and feeling like shit, my work fired me. After another week or so of feeling sick and getting so weak I thought I was dying, I went to the hospital. They said all the vomiting had made me very dehydrated and I was lacking in a lot of vitamins. They gave me medicine and an IV. Turns out I'm pregnant and have HG. I'm pretty far along. At first K was supportive but now he acts like I'm trying to "trap" him with a baby, which doesn't even make sense. We were having unprotected sex and the only birth control was that I am breastfeeding, which he knew, so it isn't that crazy of an outcome. He has been so cruel and angry, saying terrible things. He threatens to leave when he gets mad so I beg him to stay because he knows I'd be all alone and I love him a lot. He has said some terribly cruel things and it's like every tiny thing I do wrong makes me the villain. Yesterday he blew up on me and it was scary and terrible. Today, I found out the few friends I thought I had hate me. One of them sent me the most cruel message I have ever received completely unprompted. I have no family support, no friends, my husband hates me, and everyone I've ever cared about except my son (who is different because he's too young to understand and he loves everyone and he is also a responsibility) wants nothing to do with me unless they are using me. I am so suicidal. I know a lot of people are suicidal but I am genuinely at a point where I am close to doing something I can't take back. But I can't because of my kids, both the 1 year old and the unborn one. And as much as I know I should be grateful for that, it feels so unfair. I've been having to do things I don't want to for money again. I have another great teaching job lined up but I don't start for at least a month. I feel like I should go to a hospital but I live in a state with a very high child removal rate even in cases of just mental health. I am a great mom, even though my husband and ex friends do not seem to agree. I can't risk having my fitness as a parent called into question over an unrelated mental health issue, especially since K's family and lots of people in my life would love the chance to lie about me to cps, and since I'm not employed right now, it doesn't look great. I don't know what to do. I feel so alone. I'm so so hurt. It feels like everything is falling apart. Not that long ago, I was a lead teacher, a wife, I felt like a respected and respectable person. Now I just feel like my train wreck of a life full of trauma has taunted me with this perfect picket fence life that I worked so hard for just to rip it away from me and leave me a useless unemployed incubator that everyone hates and is only holding on for her kids sake. The only people who talk to me or "care" just want to fuck me. Even the people interested in a relationship with me and seem like "good Christian men" are still driven by lust even if they disguise it to themselves. I have never felt so hopeless. I feel like I don't deserve this but everyone from my partner to my parents to my ex friends seem to think I do so maybe I'm just fooling myself.

Hi all,
Thank you for reading my post. I’m a recent survivor of domestic violence and due to what happened, I had to move to a new state and find a new psychiatrist to prescribe me meds so I can function.
Unfortunately, I don’t have health insurance at the moment (and my state does not offer Medicaid unless you’re a child, pregnant, or have a disability).
The visit is $200, and I really need to see this doctor so I can get my meds and function. In the meantime, I am researching other ways to get my meds for much cheaper but it’s hard since I’m being prescribed controlled substances.
I am really really trying hard to get back on my feet - but there seems to be some damn obstacle that comes up each time that makes me fall to the ground. I want to survive so badly. I’m trying.
In sum, I would most greatly appreciate your help during this difficult time in my life. 🫶 💜

I've been in OP for ten years in the Northeast. My wife got offered a job in Florida which she has accepted. I've done several interviews and still have more second/third round ones lined up the rest of this week but I feel I've already narrowed it down to two bases on commute times among other things.
My main concern is flexibility as I have two kids (1st grade and pre-K). Needing a schedule where I can get them easily if needed and either get them off the bus or on the bus depending on my wife's schedule is important. Current salary is $100k but that is also in MA compared to FL where there's no income tax.
1) Outpatient, they've said they would be flexible with scheduling. 15 minute commute. Would be close to my kids school. Initial offer of $90k but might be able to get a teeny more and 3 weeks PTO (I currently have 4 weeks where I am in NE) 2) Home Health. Never have done this before but have always heard flexibility is huge. I also hate bringing notes home and they said they try to have their therapist do notes at the same time which is great for me (I know some don't like this). Initial offer of $105 but they are supposed to get back to me tomorrow with a revised, potentially better offer. Unlimited PTO when given 30 days notice which would be good for things like kids dentist/doctors appts etc.
Plzzzhelp

For me, it's:
Year Negative Four

• J'onn J'onzz is accidentally teleported to Earth by Dr. Saul Erdel. He disguises himself as police detective John Jones, using his powers in secret, but never revealing his Martian identity to anyone.

Year Negative Two

• After years of exploring the world, Arthur Curry discovers Atlantis and is imprisoned by its current rulership for three years.

Year One

• Clark Kent debuts as Superman in Metropolis (he was never Superboy)
  • Other than Luthor, Gerald Shugel, Prankster, and Bizarro, Superman's first year is mostly spent intervening in ordinary crimes and crises, as not a lot of supervillains have come out of the woodwork yet.
  • By the end of the year, Clark learns of his Kryptonian heritage.
• Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after training abroad and begins operating as the Batman.
  • Batman has his first encounters with Catwoman, Hugo Strange, the Mad Monk, and Dr. Death. Other than this, Batman is mostly fighting street and organized crime.
  • The Bat-Signal is established by the end of the year.
• Diana leaves Themyscira and begins operating as Wonder Woman.
  • Wonder Woman is mostly working to stop Aries' plot, but she also encounters Paula von Gunther, Angle Man, Dr. Poison, and The Cheetah (Priscilla Rich).
• Hal Jordan encounters Abin Sur and becomes the Green Lantern of Sector 2814.
  • Jordan first encounters Hector Hammond and Legion.
  • Sinestro begins mentoring Hal.
• Barry Allen becomes The Flash.
• Oliver Queen returns to Star City and becomes Green Arrow.

Year Two

• Arthur Curry escapes prison and makes his public debut as Aquaman.
• The wizard Shazam appoints Billy Batson to be Captain Marvel.
• Superman first encounters kryptonite, The Parasite, Metallo, Toyman, and Mister Mxyzptlk.
  • Superman and Batman first meet.
  • Superman later has his first encounters with other superheroes, teaming up with them when their paths cross.
• Batman first encounters The Joker, The Scarecrow, The Penguin, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc.
  • The Holiday murders begin.
  • Batman wrestles with a venom addiction before kicking it.
  • By the end of the year, the Falcone and Maroni gangs are mostly dismantled, and Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face.
• Wonder Woman first encounters Dr. Psycho, Circe, Giganta, and The Cheetah (Barbara Minerva).
• Hal encounters the Puppeteer, Sonar, Black Hand, Evil Star, and the Invisible Destroyer.
  • Sinestro is stripped of his ring and exiled after it is revealed that he is misusing his power to rule Korugar.

Year Three

• Superman first encounters Brainiac, whom he stops from bottling Metropolis.
  • Superman first encounters General Zod and his confederates when they escape from the Phantom Zone.
  • Superman has his first encounters with the machinations of Darkseid, as Intergang begins using mysteriously advanced weaponry and emissaries of Darkseid begin to attack Project Cadmus.
    • Orion and the Forever People come to Earth to work against Darkseid.
    • Superman first encounters a Boom Tube and visits SuperTown, where he meets Lightray and other new Gods for the first time.
• Batman first encounters Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and the Mad Hatter.
  • Batman first encounters Mr. Freeze, Clayface, Deadshot, and Man-Bat.
  • Bruce Wayne adopts Dick Grayson, who starts operating as Robin.
• Roy Harper becomes Speedy.
• Guy Gardner is appointed as a back-up Green Lantern.
• Alec Holland becomes the Swamp Thing.

Year Four

• Wally West becomes Kid Flash.
• Kara Zor-El lands on Earth and becomes Supergirl.
• J'onn J'onzz unites Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and Aquaman to fend off a White Martian invasion. They temporarily operate out of a satellite Batcave in Rhode Island and form The Justice League.
  • No longer keeping his presence hidden, J'onn J'onzz starts operating publicly as "Martian Manhunter" at the encouragement of his teammates.
  • The League builds the Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C., which becomes their stable base of operations.
  • The League later encounters Starro, Kanjar-Ro, Doctor Destiny, the Royal Flush Gang, and other villains.
  • Green Arrow becomes the first League recruit and helps Bruce Wayne finance the Watchtower Satellite.
  • Zatanna discovers her magical powers and enlists various superheroes to help her find her father, reconnecting with Bruce Wayne in the process.
  • The League later recruits Black Lightning, Zatanna, Black Canary, The Atom, Hawkwoman, and Hawkman.
• Aquaman takes the throne as ruler of Atlantis.
  • Garth becomes Aqualad.
• Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl.
• Jack Ryder becomes The Creeper and Boston Brand becomes Deadman.
• Superman first meets Darkseid face-to-face.
  • Superman encounters Mongul and War World.
  • Morgan Edge's WGBS buys out the Daily Planet.

Year Five

• Aquaman meets Mera.
• The League recruits Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Metamorpho, and Firestorm.
• Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash form the Teen Titans.
• Oliver Queen loses his fortune, grows the goatee, and redesigns his costume from the Silver Age green-and-red suit to the Neal Adams suit.
• Batman first encounters Ra's al Ghul.
• Roman Sionis becomes Black Mask.
• Helena Bertinelli becomes The Huntress.

Year Six

• Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen go their road trip across the U.S., going from being mere colleagues to friends.
  • John Stewart is inducted as a Green Lantern.
• Nathaniel Adams returns and General Eilling starts Project Atom, blackmailing Adams to work as a government asset while posing as Captain Atom.

Year Seven

• Dick Grayson starts attending Hudson University, meaning that he and Batman begin to work together less frequently, though they still keep in touch and team up when Dick is on holidays.
  • Bruce Wayne moves from Wayne Manor to his downtown Penthouse.
• Raven unites Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire to form a new version of the Teen Titans.

Year Eight

• Dick Grayson becomes Nightwing.
• Jason Todd becomes Robin.
• Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman visit Superman to celebrate his birthday, only to find that he has been captured by Mongul.
• Barry Allen dies saving the universe from the Anti-Monitor.
  • Wally West becomes The Flash.
• Power Girl from Earth-2 becomes stranded on Earth-0.
• Amanda Waller launches Task Force X.
• While the original Justice League is on hiatus, the U.N. forms the Justice League International.
• Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters stuff starts happening now.
• Swamp Thing, Constantine, Etrigan the Demon, and the Phantom Stranger team up to fight the Great Darkness.

Year Nine

• Deacon Blackfire's cult takes over Gotham, but he is stopped by Batman and Robin.
• Jason Todd is killed by The Joker.
• Barbara Gordon is paralyzed by The Joker.

Year Ten

• Anarky debuts.
• Tim Drake assumes the mantle of Robin.
• Virgil Hawkins becomes Static.

After the first decade or so, time starts being more amorphous and operating on some cross between a timeline that develops and a stationary Simpsons-like timeline where time doesn't really move. Some things progress, some things don't, everything is kept vague, and characters don't notice or call attention to this. Essentially, large amounts of time are zipped into small amounts of time, and both the longer and shorter time intervals between events are "correct" depending on how much we're zooming in on the timeline. For example, Kyle Rayner had a good number of years as a solo Green Lantern and Tim Drake was Robin for a solid amount of time before Hal Jordan returned and Damian Wayne showed up, but somehow, superheroes in general have only been operating for about 10 to 15 years, max. This is really the only way you can keep Batman perpetually in his 30s or 40s without having weird consequences like each Robin only holding the title for a year before he gets a new one.
So after this, I stop having specific "years" and it becomes more like "periods of time in which certain things co-occur." So there might be considerable time intervals between events, yet those events might also paradoxically be squished into some 10-15-year timeline.
The Fall of Heroes Era

• The Death and Return of Superman happen.
  • Superboy and Steel debut.
• Bane debuts and Knightfall happens.
• Diana is replaced by Artemis as Wonder Woman.
• Shortly after Clark and Bruce return, Hal becomes the Parallax.
  • Kyle Rayner becomes Earth's Green Lantern.
• Oliver Queen dies.
  • Connor Hawke becomes Green Arrow.

The Reconstruction Era

• Clark Kent and Lois Lane get married.
• Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Rayner), The Flash (West), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter reform the Justice League.
  • Electric Superman Blue never happened, lol.
• Robin, Superboy, and Impulse form Young Justice.
• Cataclysm, Contagion, and No Man's Land happen (sorry for having so much destruction during the reconstruction era)
• Cassandra Cain becomes Batgirl.

The Millennium Era

• Obviously didn't happen around the turn of the millennium anymore because floating timeline.
• Our Worlds at War and Bruce Wayne: MurdereFugitive happen around here.
• Oliver Queen returns from the dead.

The Infinite Crisis Era

• Hal Jordan and the GLC return.
• Infinite Crisis, 52, and OYL happen.

The Final Crisis Era

• The War of Light (Sinestro Corps War through Blackest Night) stuff happens.
• The Black Glove/Leviathan Saga (Batman & Son through Batman Incorporated) stuff happens.
  • Bruce meets Damian Wayne.
• The New Krypton stuff happens.
• Katherine Kane becomes Batwoman.

There are things I'm on the fence on, such as whether the Golden Age heroes are part of this timeline. On the one hand, I like the idea of Superman being the world's very first superhero and the public never having had encountered anything fantastical until his debut. If the JSA existed before him, then his debut would be met with "hey look, I guess flying men are back" instead of "can you BELIEVE a man can fly?!" Batman's debut also seems more striking if Gotham was never patrolled by a Green Lantern (that guy probably would have single-handedly demolished Gotham's mob in the '40s instead of letting it grow to the size it would later become).
On the other hand, I wouldn't want to jettison the cool relationships that exist between the Golden Age and later characters, like Kyle Rayner knowing Jade. I think I lean toward "keep them on Earth-2, but allow them to have regular meetings and friendships with the Earth-0 guys." But if the walls between universes are that porous, that just raises the question of why Power Girl got stuck on Earth-0 when the rest of the Earth-2 people can go home whenever they want.