Category Archives: Health
Run My Mood Away
Being optimistic and happy are two mottos that I usually attempt to live by. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the reality. Without sadness, depression, feelings of worthlessness, etc., one wouldn’t grasp how great the rest of life truly is. Like I said, I try my hardest to be positive and not stress the small stuff, but some days that is harder than others.
I have a good job, I’m engaged and planning a wedding, I own my home, I have 3 awesome dogs, my friends and family are amazing, we’re keeping up with our bills (the most stressful thing ever ha), yet, I’m having difficulty shaking this crappy ass mood of mine. I feel unfulfilled and can’t pin down what it is that’s making me feel this way. Regardless, I wouldn’t want to be around me like this (that’s a lie, I’m still awesome), and therefore, I must do something.
Instead of letting this mood take me over, and just accepting that this is how I feel, I WILL do something about it. No, I’m not going to cry in the bathroom stall (again) or anything absolutely fucking insane, but maybe something as simple as working out? Granted, I should be doing this anyway, but it might be a nice idea to get my mind focused on something else. I might also be in a better mood if I were smoking hot. So, yes, this definitely needs to happen.
GETTING INTO SHAPE, GETTING SMOKING HOT AND KILLING THIS DEPRESSION STARTS… NOW!
Tomas Young: The Dying War Veteran’s Last Letter to Mr. George W. Bush and Mr. Dick Cheney
Chris Hedges wrote a great article about Tomas Young, a paralyzed war veteran that is currently on his death bed. Hedges flew to Kansas City, MO, to interview Young who was paralyzed in Iraq in 2004. Unfortunately, this brave man is on hospice in his home, and isn’t expected to live much longer. Before Young passed away, he took the time to tell his story in a direct letter to former President, George W. Bush and former Vice President, Dick Cheney:
To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
From: Tomas Young
I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care.
I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all—the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.
I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole.
Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. I did not join the Army to “liberate” Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called “democracy” in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq’s oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes. The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every level—moral, strategic, military and economic—Iraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the consequences.
I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire.
I have, like many other disabled veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned. You, Mr. Bush, make much pretense of being a Christian. But isn’t lying a sin? Isn’t murder a sin? Aren’t theft and selfish ambition sins? I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that what you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own soul.
My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness
For more on Young and his heroic journey, please CLICK HERE
The Puzzle Piece That Doesn’t Yet Fit
One of my favorite things in life is discovering new things about myself; It’s as if you’ve found a little piece to a puzzle… and it’s incredibly fucking gratifying. Sometimes you look for the puzzle pieces, but other times, they just happen to come into your mind because circumstances have forced you to think about things differently. Well, this is exactly what happened to me the other day while watching trash tv.
And before I tell you what show I was watching and you begin to judge me and my addiction to mindless drama, please know that I also enjoy intelligent shows. I love tv and will watch everything from Real Housewives to The Newsroom. I admit when shows are awful and staged, but I’m only human and find it incredibly addicting. Anyway, I was watching ‘Dance Moms’ on Lifetime and found out something that led me to, well, writing this article I suppose. One of the girls on this show revealed she had a neurological disorder, RND (reflex neurovascular dystrophy), and as her mother described her pain and symptoms, it started to sound nearly identical to my neurological disorder, RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy). The only differences were that all the people with RND were children, while those with RSD were old (I was told I was very young to be diagnosed with such a disease). Along with that, a high percentage of children with RND were high achievers, or “perfectionists”. That last bit of news was shocking to me, mainly due to the fact that no one really made that connection with RSD, until the two disorders started being compared.
As I began looking into the connection between the two, people have now started thinking that these are the exact same disorder, only pediatricians have coined another term for children who seemingly have RSD, which is RND. So, RSD or RND, they both are the same. After realizing this, it seemed to me that I should start looking into RND to gain more information on what I believe I have (because like I said, they seem like one in the same). But now, I can’t help but feel that somehow I created this disorder and inflicted it upon myself. Many people believe that it’s as much psychological as it is real. Clearly, the pain I feel, the swelling and discoloring that can occur, those ARE real; but what if the onset of RSD was actually a consequence of something internally that I couldn’t handle? What if I never felt capable of succeeding 100% and in turn created something that I could use as a crutch, my psychological mind forced to not feel like it couldn’t achieve something because I wasn’t good enough, but because I couldn’t? Or what if I have some mismatched wires that led me to believe I was trying to fulfill perfection, but then turned into this, RSD?
Obviously, my discovery isn’t really a puzzle piece that fits perfectly…yet, but, I’ve found the piece. I haven’t yet fit it into my puzzle, but it’s opened my mind up to trying to make sense of something that seemingly came from nowhere.
[VIDEO] Magic Flight Launch Box Product Review
After coming across the Magic Flight Launch Box, I was incredibly thrilled to try this product out and see what it could do. At home, I have a clunky (off brand) vaporizer that is usually more difficult to assemble than I’m interested in; So more often than not, I settle on the water pipe. I have a neurological disorder (CRPS) and it weakens my immune system, which in turn means I get sick more often. Smoking as much as I have been is not good for me, and I have been searching for a small, easy to assemble vaporizer that didn’t take forever to get going. The Magic Flight is exactly what I was looking for.
The device itself is tiny and can take some getting use to, that is, if you have larger hands than I. For me, the size was just perfect and made it easy to handle with just one hand. The dimensions are 2.5” x 1.25” x 0.9” and easy to keep hidden, if being discreet is something that appeals to you. Again, it heats up so quickly and makes it easier to use than your average pipe. Vapor formed rather quickly and I was able to take a hit after just 3 seconds, sometimes 4 seconds.
The design is also appealing to me. Lets be honest, people are interested in buying things not only because of what they can do, but also because of how they look. In a way, it seems like a very well made DIY project, and this is something I really like. The wood finish is rather awesome and unique, considering most other vaporizers on the market.
But what really sold me was the price! To get such a reliable vaporizer for only $129 was well worth it. I would suggest anyone get this if you’re looking for something that will get the job done. Yes, it doesn’t have the space to really do the job of a Volcano or other, more large vaporizers, but who wants to heat it up, put it together, and deal with the clean up? Just pack another bowl in the Magic Flight and you’re good to go!
The only thing that I didn’t like so much was the battery life. They seem to die rather quickly (around 5 bowls on average), but luckily they give you two rechargeable batteries, which charge up pretty quickly. If you’re going on the road, you’ll just want to be sure you keep these batteries ready to go. So, while it is a con, it’s really the only one and not enough of one to make me not use this product every day. In fact, I have used it everyday since I’ve gotten it. My throat is not hurting quite so much, the vapor tastes much better, and I can use the remnants to cook with. Love it.
The lifetime warranty is also a great selling point 
For more information and to get your very own, please visit Magic Flight’s site HERE
Also, here is an instructional video that is also posted on their website:
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Mitt Romney: Hospital Visitation For Gay Couples Are ‘Benefits’ Not Rights
I am getting really sick and tired of this conservative Mormon telling me what I can and cannot do with, or for, the one I love. My relationship, whether deemed appropriate or not in his mind, is MINE to handle as I please. If my fiancée (soon to be wife) is in the hospital, there is not one person who will be able to keep me from visiting. Why would anyone want someone who is ill to not have the support of those who love them by their side? It’s an unnecessary way of torturing gay individuals who don’t live up to the religious standards of some Americans. I don’t know when we decided that separation of church and state was no longer working, but I can reassure you that I most certainly wasn’t involved in that vote. Oh wait, nothing of the sort ever took place, yet we still manage to create laws based upon religious beliefs.
Two years ago, the current President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, required all hospitals to treat same-sex couples with the same rights as married heterosexual couples, which includes visitation rights. This is also included in Obamacare, for those who were wondering.
Unfortunately, the presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, feels that is no longer necessary. In fact, he believes that allowing same-sex couples to visit each other in the hospital is not a civil right, but rather, a “benefit” that states can take away if they choose. While this is disgusting, there is also the matter of gay adoption on the table. This too, is something Romney feels the states should be deciding. Instead of allowing some good-hearted, loving couples or individuals to adopt children in need, the state will decide if that isn’t in the best interest of the child. Let me remind you, there have been numerous cases of children who have been adopted to heterosexual couples and are found to be abused physically, sexually and emotionally. I can see how that could be a better upbringing than a non abusive gay household.
“Governor Romney supports a federal marriage amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as an institution between a man and a woman,” Romney advisor Bay Buchanan toldBuzzfeed today. “Governor Romney also believes, consistent with the 10th Amendment, that it should be left to states to decide whether to grant same-sex couples certain benefits, such as hospital visitation rights and the ability to adopt children. I referred to the Tenth Amendment only when speaking about these kinds of benefits – not marriage.”
A President that only supports a percentage of his country, will most certainly not be a great President historically. The gay rights movement will one day be a thing of the past, just like the civil rights movement. I’m not saying that people no longer face discrimination based on skin color, but the laws have most certainly come to their aid in since the 1950′s/1960′s and I am positive the same will happen for those fighting for gay rights.
I am a liberal, but I do not vote based solely on my political party, I vote with the individuals political policies in mind as well as their plans for America’s future. I am disgusted with the fact that people are still willing to vote for a man who does not respect a good percentage of Americans, simply because they do not want to vote for Obama. Think before you recklessly vote for someone based on ridiculous matters. This is our country, our freedom and our way of life. Vote smart.
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[VIDEO] Warning: Graphic! New Chinese Zombie Attack on Bus
It’s so nice to see people in China coming together to save a man from being eaten alive. Oh wait, that doesn’t happen? Anyway…
This incident took place in Guangzhou, China, when a retired teacher attacked a younger man after getting into a disagreement about a seat on the subway. A female passenger took the video and uploaded it to a Chinese website, Sina Weibo.
The older man, a 67-year-old who has been identified only as “Chen,” boarded the subway at around 8:30 a.m., according to Sina.com. The younger man, a 28-year-old identified as “Wu,” reportedly shoved Chen out of the way as he scrambled to get a seat.
Chen was apparently upset that Wu wasn’t respecting his elders and resulted to punching the young man as the fight got heated. The witness said that people tried to break it up at first, but it soon got so violent that many people were too afraid to intervene.
Both men suffered minor injuries and apologized for their actions. It seems as though no illegal drugs were involved during this attack.
If for any reason, the video below doesn’t work or was removed, please click here: NEW ZOMBIE ATTACK ON SUBWAY [Warning Graphic] (Low)
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Jason Russell, KONY 2012 Filmmaker, Addresses Naked Meltdown and Gay Rumors With Oprah Winfrey
NY Daily News - SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO BELOW
Seven months after he became a household name, Jason Russell is hoping to be a viral sensation once again – preferably with his clothes on this time.
After shooting to fame with the release of his film “Kony 2012” in March, which racked up 100 million YouTube views in less than a week, Russell eclipsed his own project just 10 days later when a video of his naked meltdown on a San Diego street corner exploded online. (Click here to see that video)
Now the controversial filmmaker is back with a new movie about the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, and he wants to set the record straight about his former flameout.
“It’s hard to explain if people have never had an out of body experience, but it really wasn’t me,” he told Oprah of his meltdown, in an interview for “Oprah’s Next Chapter” that aired on Sunday. “That wasn’t me, that person on the street corner ranting and raving and naked, is not me. That’s not who I am.”
Russell says the wild success of the video led him to feel intense pressure that caused him to break down.
“My mind couldn’t stop thinking about the future. I literally thought I was responsible for the future of humanity,” he told the “Today” show on Monday. “It started to go into a point where my mind finally turned against me and there was a moment where, click, I was not in control of my mind or my body.”
Though he says he only remembers a few details of his dramatic public episode, Russell believes he was trying to hitch a ride.
“I thought, ‘I have to get to New York in the next 12 hours.’ That’s what I thought,” he told Oprah. “’Because I have to stop the war.’ So I ran out to the front and I think I was trying to ask cars to take me to the airport. In my underwear.”
Russell says he has no idea why he was naked.
“It was just very out of control,” he told Oprah, showing her that he pounded his hands on the street so hard he actually dented his wedding ring. “I look at that video and I think, how sad for him.”
When asked if he was gay, he said he was simply “theatrical” and denied rumors that he had performed a lewd act during his meltdown.
“There were rumors of masturbation, but no one who was there ever said that that was happening,” he told Oprah, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m naked so it’s not a far extension of imagination that that would be happening but, no, I don’t remember any of that, and no one we knew there said that I was. I don’t remember anything except like a half-second. I don’t.”
Russell was later diagnosed as having a psychotic breakdown that caused temporary insanity, and says he has been doing yoga and therapy to recover.
“It’s hard for my wife to even talk about it still because it was so scary and traumatizing,”he told the Today show.
He says he’s going to be more watchful of his health this time around, as he promotes Invisible Children’s new film “Move,” which made its YouTube debut on Sunday. The film, which promises a behind-the-scenes look at KONY 2012, asks supporters to march against Joseph Kony on Washington on November 17.
“I don’t think anything can compete with the perfect storm of KONY 2012,” he said, “but we do hope that millions of people do see this next film and know that we’re still committed.”
What do you think? Is he being honest or doing his best to cover up a completely embarrassing story that may have impacted his KONY 2012 campaign of sorts. It’s hard to know because, as he said himself, he’s “theatrical”:
Hollywood Reporter - When Winfrey asked the married filmmaker about rumors he’s gay (“that you were running in the streets nude because you were gay”), he laughed, saying: “I grew up in theater, my parents started a large children’s theater organization, so I am animated, I am … theatrical. That’s me by nature. So when you take me, times it by ten … .”
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Great News SoCal: Pot Ban Lifted After Impassioned Plea From Cancer Patient, Councilman Bill Rosendahl
Obviously, this doesn’t help the federal crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries, but it does show that Californians are willing to work at a state level and attempt to keep the dispensaries open and the regulations more clear.
In a faint and gravelly voice, Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl delivered an impassioned plea Tuesday asking his colleagues to lift the ban on pot dispensaries, asking them: “Where does anybody go, even a councilman go, to get his medical marijuana?”
Minutes before the council voted 11-2 to rescind its recently passed ban on storefront pot shops, Rosendahl said the council’s decision had created “a very emotional moment” for him. Rosendahl has been battling cancer for the past three months and relying on medical marijuana during that time.
“On the 20th of July, I had an MRI that was very, very serious. And the bottom line on that was, they didn’t give me much time to live. And I said, ‘No, no no no, I’m not ready to go. I certainly want to live a long time,’” said Rosendahl, who has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments and relying on a walker to move around in recent days.
Rosendahl, 67, said he began taking medical marijuana a decade ago to manage his neuropathy, a stinging pain in his feet, taking it “occasionally at night.” But on Tuesday, he put the issue in the context of his battle with cancer, which has made it difficult for him to speak above a whisper.
“If I can’t get marijuana, and it’s medically prescribed, what do I do?” he asked his colleagues.
Rosendahl criticized President Obama’s handling of the issue and spoke against some of the recent federal raids of dispensaries. And he said Los Angeles should work with state lawmakers to make California law regulating medical marijuana clearer.
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[PHOTO] Hey Mitt Romney: I Am ONE of the 47% Who Will NOT Vote For You
UPDATE: MONDAY, September 24th at 12:05 PM – This photo is getting A LOT of attention on FaceBook. If you’d like to read comments or join in on the debate, please visit here!
The remarks that were made by Mitt Romney the other day have made quite an impact, especially in regards to his campaign. Unfortunately, he managed to infuriate the 47% that he was speaking about, considering that most everything that came out of his mouth was a fabrication. As stated above in the photo, many people who work and pay their taxes are still voting for Obama due to his stance on strengthening the middle class and giving every hard-working American an opportunity to succeed in this country and make a name for themselves. Mr. Romney is too far detached from the middle class to even know anything about what kind of work we do or how little we use the government, despite our need to do so.
The American Dream is slowly growing from beyond our grasp, because it’s financially impossible for us to make the necessary moves to get ourselves ahead. Luckily, we don’t take for granted what we do have and continue fighting for our dream no matter what bigoted politician gets in our way and tries to inhibit us. Obama has my vote and hopefully the majority of this country’s as well!
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[VIDEO] 17-Year-Old Girl Arrested For Swearing Over 911 Call While Her Father Had Seizure
This story is shocking and downright insane. Although it is around 3 years old, it is necessary to spread this video and share this officer’s arrogance. Swearing is a moral issue, NOT a legal matter. While I do not condone swearing for young people, I also don’t feel its something that should be taken too seriously, seeing as they really are just words. I would also like to know how he knew how old the girl was? And if Sgt. Robert McFarlan didn’t, would he still have treated her just as poorly, even if she was over the age of 18? The full story is below:
Many people have been known to act out, especially when their lives and the lives of those they loved are in danger. This young girl’s father was dying for all she knew, and she was counting on 911 to provide her with that. Instead, 17-year-old Adrianne Ledesma was scolded for being foul-mouthed and hung up on by this officer who refused to even ask her what the emergency had been. THEN, the officer LIES about what had transpired during their “conversation”. Absolutely disgusting display of how those in power use it as they please, regardless of the lives that it may affect.
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