How Many Days?

February 14, 2012

• 

  (via awayfromjays)

February 11, 2012

• 

  (Source: hannahsuzanna)

• 

  archiemcphee:

  How pencils are sharpened at the pencil factory.

  For those of us who grew up watching Mister Rogers‘ Neighborhood, this hypnotic gif is reminiscent of the “Picture Picture” films that showed how various things were made. Somehow that makes this gif even more awesome.

  [via Reddit]

February 7, 2012

• awayfromjays:

  What Dr. Seuss Books Were Really About // Chris Menning →

  
  Holy fuck, this is so good

  On the spot.

  Link

February 5, 2012

• 

  winged:

  watchmerain:

  juliyeti:

  So, studies have proven that rats laugh when you tickle them. And now they cuddle tiny teddy bears. Rats, you are wonderful.

  no stop it

  ALGERNON

  I would be cranky at someone for yelling “algernon!” and making me sad, but then it occurs to me that they might have a rat named Algernon, since I named one of my rats Nico after Nicodemus. (She was a girl, I’ve only HAD girls).

• 

  winged:

  angel-cake:

  prolongedeyecontact:

  Inconvenience? You hear that people capable of getting pregnant? This is all merely an inconvenience:

  Normal, frequent or expectable temporary side effects of pregnancy:

  • exhaustion (weariness common from first weeks)
  • altered appetite and senses of taste and smell
  • nausea and vomiting (50% of women, first trimester)
  • heartburn and indigestion
  • constipation
  • weight gain
  • dizziness and light-headedness
  • bloating, swelling, fluid retention
  • hemmorhoids
  • abdominal cramps
  • yeast infections
  • congested, bloody nose
  • acne and mild skin disorders
  • skin discoloration (chloasma, face and abdomen)
  • mild to severe backache and strain
  • increased headaches
  • difficulty sleeping, and discomfort while sleeping
  • increased urination and incontinence
  • bleeding gums
  • pica
  • breast pain and discharge
  • swelling of joints, leg cramps, joint pain
  • difficulty sitting, standing in later pregnancy
  • inability to take regular medications
  • shortness of breath
  • higher blood pressure
  • hair loss
  • tendency to anemia
  • curtailment of ability to participate in some sports and activities
  • infection including from serious and potentially fatal disease
    (pregnant women are immune suppressed compared with non-pregnant women, and
    are more susceptible to fungal and certain other diseases)
  • extreme pain on delivery
  • hormonal mood changes, including normal post-partum depression
  • continued post-partum exhaustion and recovery period (exacerbated if a c-section — major surgery — is required, sometimes taking up to a full year to fully recover)

  Normal, expectable, or frequent PERMANENT side effects of pregnancy:

  • stretch marks (worse in younger women)
  • loose skin
  • permanent weight gain or redistribution
  • abdominal and vaginal muscle weakness
  • pelvic floor disorder (occurring in as many as 35% of middle-aged former child-bearers and 50% of elderly former child-bearers, associated with urinary and rectal incontinence, discomfort and reduced quality of life)
  • changes to breasts
  • varicose veins
  • scarring from episiotomy or c-section
  • other permanent aesthetic changes to the body (all of these are downplayed by women, because the culture values youth and beauty)
  • increased proclivity for hemmorhoids
  • loss of dental and bone calcium (cavities and osteoporosis)

  Occasional complications and side effects:

  • spousal/partner abuse
  • hyperemesis gravidarum
  • temporary and permanent injury to back
  • severe scarring requiring later surgery (especially after additional pregnancies)
  • dropped (prolapsed) uterus (especially after additional pregnancies, and other pelvic floor weaknesses — 11% of women, including cystocele, rectocele, and enterocele)
  • pre-eclampsia (edema and hypertension, the most common complication of pregnancy, associated with eclampsia, and affecting 7 - 10% of pregnancies)
  • eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
  • gestational diabetes
  • placenta previa
  • anemia (which can be life-threatening)
  • thrombocytopenic purpura
  • severe cramping
  • embolism (blood clots)
  • medical disability requiring full bed rest (frequently ordered during part of many pregnancies varying from days to months for health of either mother or baby)
  • diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
  • mitral valve stenosis (most common cardiac complication)
  • serious infection and disease (e.g. increased risk of tuberculosis)
  • hormonal imbalance
  • ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
  • broken bones (ribcage, “tail bone”)
  • hemorrhage and
  • numerous other complications of delivery
  • refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • aggravation of pre-pregnancy diseases and conditions (e.g. epilepsy is present in .5% of pregnant women, and the pregnancy alters drug metabolism and treatment prospects all the while it increases the number and frequency of seizures)
  • severe post-partum depression and psychosis
  • research now indicates a possible link between ovarian cancer and female fertility treatments, including “egg harvesting” from infertile women and donors
  • research also now indicates correlations between lower breast cancer survival rates and proximity in time to onset of cancer of last pregnancy
  • research also indicates a correlation between having six or more pregnancies and a risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease

  Less common (but serious) complications:

  • peripartum cardiomyopathy
  • cardiopulmonary arrest
  • magnesium toxicity
  • severe hypoxemia/acidosis
  • massive embolism
  • increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
  • molar pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease (like a pregnancy-induced cancer)
  • malignant arrhythmia
  • circulatory collapse
  • placental abruption
  • obstetric fistula

  More permanent side effects:

  • future infertility
  • permanent disability
  • death.

  In addition, there’s the risk of losing one’s job and, by extension, home; pregnancy/childbirth triggering traumatic experiences due to rape, molestation, or partner/spousal abuse; body or gender dysphoria; missing or dropping out of school; the potential trauma of choosing adoption; suffering from pregnancy related job discrimination; the economic toll of pregnancy and raising a child; and not being able to continue taking important medications or exacerbating pre-existing conditions.

  Here’s some statistics:

  • 358,000 people die annually from pregnancy related complications.
  • 20% of people who die during pregnancy are murder victims.
  • The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescents under 15 years old.
  • Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescents in most developing countries.
  • A person’s lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15-year-old will eventually die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 4300 in developed countries, versus 1 in 120 in developing countries.
  • A pregnant person has a 35.6% greater risk of being a victim of violence than a non-pregnant person. The estimated prevalence of violence against people during pregnancy ranges from four percent to eight percent.
  • 40% of all pregnant people have some complications during pregnancy or childbirth. About 15% have complications that are potentially life-threatening.

  Tl;dr So in case that wasn’t clear: pregnancy is always life threatening and never merely an “inconvenience”.

  [ETA: I wish beyond all belief this edit wasn’t necessary, but I guess it is. This post isn’t meant to vilify pregnancy or the people who choose it. As I’ve said in a reply and an ask, pregnancy is always a valid reproductive choice for those who choose it. As a prochoicer, I support all reproductive choices including birthing ones like advocating for the choice to have VBACs, home births, and the right to say no to unwanted c-sections. I will fight as hard for those rights as I do for the right to an abortion. I don’t think birth is bad for those that want to do it, but some of us would literally rather die. This isn’t meant as a scare tactic against fellow people who can get pregnant. This is about the flippant manner in which cis men like to dismiss people’s concerns that pregnancy is more than an “inconvenience.” The last time I checked people don’t regularly die from inconveniences. For more see: this reply and this ask, which I also made rebloggable on request.]

  people like joe, who are never going to carry a baby, do not get to talk about ‘inconvenience’ to uteruses. YOU carry it.

  Yeah, check out the #9months tag at stfuconservatives for more personal anecdotes. If someone chooses and tries to become pregnant, they may be willing to take on these enormous risks — if they’re even aware of them — but someone who doesn’t want to become pregnant in the first place shouldn’t be forced to. 

February 3, 2012

• 

  archiemcphee:

  There’s nothing like a nutritious and exceptionally alert Googly Eye Breakfast to get your day off to an awesome start. Thanks goodness Angie Naron had the presence of mind to photograph hers before diving in. 

• archiemcphee:

  For her Tissue Series, artist Lisa Nilsson constructs anatomical cross sections of the human body using rolled pieces of Japanese mulberry paper, a technique known as quilling or paper filigree. Each piece takes several weeks to assemble and begins with an actual photograph of a lateral or mid-sagittal cross section to which she begins pinning small rolls of paper. Depending on its function she rolls the paper on almost anything small and cylindrical including pins, needles, dowels, and drill bits (she even attempted using some of her husband’s 8mm film editing equipment but to no avail). Lastly she even builds the wooden boxes containing the cross-sections by hand. A graduate of RISD, Nilsson now lives and works in Massachusetts and you can learn more about her process in this pair of interviews on All Things Paper and ArtSake.

  Be sure to visit Colossal to see more images from this awesome series.

  Link

February 2, 2012

• fastcodesign:

  Feathers flow out of stoves and fireplaces in Kate MccGwire’s surreal sculptures

  (via sosuperawesome)

  Link

February 1, 2012

• So guess who was banned from posting on the Facebook page “Pro-Lifers Thanking Susan G. Komen”?

  winged:

  stfuconservatives:

  prolongedeyecontact:

  Apparently I’m quite the threat. All my truthiness was a little too much for them to handle. Honestly #FetusLobby, I’m flattered.

  Here’s a link to the page.

  And thankfully I got screenshots of all my major comments in the event something like this happened. [I’m going to try to come back later and add image descriptions to all these. I just wanted to get this out asap. I apologize.]

  First there was this thread:

  

  In which I posted the following comments (now gone):

  

  A link to the pdf in that comment.

  Then there was this thread:

  

  In which I posted the following comments (now gone). Note, I neglected to say people instead of women, I’m sorry:

  

  Then there was this thread which was trying to peddle the erroneous link between abortion and breast cancer:

  

  

  I didn’t screenshot my comment but I provided a link to my blog post thoroughly refuting this claim. My comment was between Elida Mulford and Kate Anderson at the bottom. Note how ridiculous Kate’s comment is in response to a slew of scientific proof they’re lying: “I think women often lie about their past sins. Theirs no way to be sure their breast cancer isn’t due to their promiscous behavior.” Uh-huh.

  Next was this thread:

  

  Obviously my comments are now gone.

  Then there was this comment:

  

  I don’t have a screenshot, but I again posted the link to my blog refuting this erroneous claim. It’s gone.

  And best of all guyz, was this post: 

  

  Here is a link to the video.

  Now here is a shot of my comment they deleted:

  

  How nice of you antis for erasing the truth from your page in favor of keeping your supporters clueless and misinformed. Ask yourselves why you have to blatantly lie to make this politically motivated decision palatable.

  By far, my favorite comment was “women wouldn’t need mammograms if we got rid of abortion.” JUST. WOW.

  -Jess

  Whoa. Are we really implying that breast cancer survivors who claim to have never taken birth control or had an abortion ARE PROMISCUOUS LIARS? Fuck you. Just…fuck you. I am so glad I’m not in the same room as that person.

  Also the conflation of mammograms with breast exams here makes me think everyone here has never been to a gynecologist. But of course since they’re not promiscuous, they wouldn’t need to have ever seen a medical professional.

  This country is so goddamn STUPID.

  RAAAGGGGEEEE D:«« People are so fucking stupid it makes me want to break things. Planned Parenthood has been such an incredible resource for me since high school, and when people pull bullshit like this I just want to… ugh. Seriously, fuck this. Fuck these people. Fuck anyone who would even think this is an okay thing to do. I’m gonna go fume…

  Link

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