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janni's comments:
on The Rise in Domestic Violence
There are abusers who control their victim without using physical violence. I lived in such a relationship for 10 years, and he often made me thank him for not hitting me. As in almost all cases of domestic violence, the abuse fell into a predictable cycle of escalation and crisis and "honeymoon." Some of the things he did to me were unbelievably cruel, but he didn't hit me so it must not be domestic violence, right? I felt unworthy of domestic violence services because he did not use physical violence.
He told me that if I ever tried to leave him he would "become one of those crazy people" who would pursue me and / or take away my child. I did eventually leave, and he used the full force of his economic resources to perpetrate 10 years of a legal custody harangue against me, and to use the full force of his coercion to influence my child's thinking and life.
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on The Rise in Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is related to women's status in society, and unfortunately the USA continues to be a culture of misogyny.
posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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on Missoula Floods Revisited
I think I recall reading that the Missoula Floods actually happened several times over geologic history. If yes, that just shows that the history of the Earth is so much bigger than we usually think about.
posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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on Farmers Market Economy
Stuff White People Like: Farmer's Markets
I once took a low-income client with me to a Farmer's Market in Portland, and she was completely out of her comfort zone with all the rich white people willing to pay $5 for a small bag of peas.
posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on When Unemployment Benefits Run Out
I'm yet another 60 year old who was recently laid off, with not many prospects in sight. It seems to me that job hunting is more and more specialized, that employers are seeking people with finely-tuned experience and training. When I was younger it seemed that employers were more willing to hire someone based on general exeprience and wits.
posted 3 years ago
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on Internships 101
I obseved a few years ago when my daughter was a college student that the "trust fund babies" whose parents were funding their college experience were much more likely to have the ability to particpate in internship opportunities and therefore to pad their resumes to be more ready and desirable when they fledged into the working world or vying to get into graduate schools. The "poor" students who had to get real jobs and earn income during summer break could not consider an unpaid internship.
posted 3 years ago
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on Breast Cancer Screening
I m a 60 year old woman and I started having mammograms around age 40. Getting a mammogram is a very difficult experience for me because I have very large breasts. I usually have a high tolerance for pain, but the mammogram seems like pure torture to me. Mammograms are so painful that I have put off getting a mammogram as frequently as recommended.
One time I had a false positive, and was sent for a breast ultrasound and I was amazed that it was completely pain-free. Ever since then I feel angry that I can't be screened with an ultrasound instead of the painful mammogram. I was told the cost would be prohibitive. But for people like me, couldn't they make an exception?
Yes this is a women's issue. Mammograms are primitive and brutal! Would there ever have been developed a screening for testicular cancer that involves compressing the scrotum as tightly and flat as possible between two heavy plates?
posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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on Fall of the Berlin Wall
My mother's family was orginally from Dresden Germany, and my Aunt had gone there to visit a few years before the Wall came down. As a result of that visit, a cousin from Dresden was permitted to visit our family in the summer of 1989. She was completely mind-blown by the culture shock of visiting the USA. We took her to a supermarket and she couldn't believe we could just buy olives and oranges every day. When she was walking down streets with us she was worried that we might walk into a forbidden area. We told her there was no forbidden area. A few months after her visit, when we heard that the Wall came down, we celebrated by going out into the street and lighting sparklers and banging pots and pans to celebrate the freedom our relatives were now gaining.
posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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