dendroica:

Mayflower Oil Spill: Exxon Doesn’t Want You to Know People Are Getting Very, Very Sick

The oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas has left residents outside the evacuation zone complaining of illness. Exxon says the air is safe, but new documentation shows they lied and attempted to cover up the extent of the oil spill. We should trust residents who are suffering from spill-induced illness, not Exxon.

“I could smell that horrible smell. I got really scared,”says Sherry Appleman, who awoke to a nightmare on March 29. As the Exxon Tar Sands oil flowed through their town, residents of Mayflower reported strong odors that lead to headaches and vomiting in areas that Exxon deemed safe and not in need of evacuation. Some of residents, like Scott Crowe, were deemed safe to remain in their homes where a mere 300 yards from the rupture site. They say they haven’t heard from city officials or Exxon, but have experienced headaches, stomach pains, nausea, fainting, and have been prescribed inhalers for the first time.

Ann Jarrell reports that she stayed at home with her daughter and a 3 month old grandchild despite the smells because they were told they didn’t need to evacuate and were safe. Ann Jarrell is a beekeeper and found dead, oil-soaked bees on her porch. The state plant board agreed to evacuate her bees to a safe location, but deemed the situation safe enough for Jarell’s family. They later learned it was likely they’d been exposed to toxic chemical fumes, and are now suffering from breathing problems and have been placed on inhalers.

A local elementary school outside the evacuation zone had to send home eight students who became ill after breathing petrochemical fumes. Although Exxon had determined the air around the school safe, residents, including school officials, reported strong odors of oil in and around the building. These are just a handful of disturbing examples of illness in Mayflower after the oil spill. One Mayflower resident, despite being able to see the leak from her home, was told by Exxon that residents were merely suffering allergies. Some of the residents affected by the spill have filed a class action lawsuit.

(via sinidentidades)

ever since I was a kid, I remember certain things inciting this strange tingling feeling in my head (very specifically on the left side). I spent a long time searching out things that triggered the feeling and exposing myself to them as often as possible—having other people draw pictures of me was one, or hearing them whisper to me, or speaking in accents… most of the triggers were soft sounds piercing silence, like turning the pages of a book, or typing on a keyboard. 

finally, a few months ago, I discovered that this was not a unique phenomena! it’s apparently called ASMR… and there’s not a whole lot currently known about it, but I find it so, so interesting.

ANYWAY. I’ve been pretty sick lately, and for some reason I’ve had this ASMR feeling a lot today even without normal triggers. it’s really strange and I can’t quite figure out whether this is a health problem or not…

can someone please make me all of these things

(Source: garden-of-vegan, via freedomandjesus)

sinidentidades:

Study: The ‘gateway drug’ is alcohol, not marijuana

A study in the August edition of The Journal of School Health finds that the generations old theory of a “gateway drug” effect is in fact accurate for some drug users, but shifts the blame for those addicts’ escalating substance abuse away from marijuana and onto the most pervasive and socially accepted drug in American life: alcohol.

Using a nationally representative sample from the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future survey, the study blasts holes in drug war orthodoxy wide enough to drive a truck through, definitively proving that marijuana use is not the primary indicator of whether a person will move on to more dangerous substances.

“By delaying the onset of alcohol initiation, rates of both licit substance abuse like tobacco and illicit substance use like marijuana and other drugs will be positively affected, and they’ll hopefully go down,” study co-author Adam E. Barry, an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Health Education & Behavior, said in an exclusive interview.

While Barry’s study shows evidence that substance abuse behaviors can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy by examining a subject’s drug history, he believes that the persistent and misguided notion of marijuana as the primary gateway to more harmful substances went awry because its creators — who called it the “Stepping Stone Hypothesis” in the “Reefer Madness” era of the 1930s – fundamentally misread the data and failed to conduct an adequate follow-up.

“Some of these earlier iterations needed to be fleshed out,” Barry said. “That’s why we wanted to study this. The latest form of the gateway theory is that it begins with [marijuana] and moves on finally to what laypeople often call ‘harder drugs.’ As you can see from the findings of our study, it confirmed this gateway hypothesis, but it follows progression from licit substances, specifically alcohol, and moves on to illicit substances.”

(Source: eathealthybeskinny, via maaaaaaaaaaack)

went to the gym for over an hour. I’ve been eating much better, without really trying—I have to admit that I really, really love health food. I guess I got pretty lucky there. 

this is about losing weight, yes (I want to be back in the 120s), but it’s more so about being happier and healthier in general. perhaps the reason my antidepressants aren’t helping is because I’m relying on them too much, rather than taking initiative to make my life what I want it to be.

we’ll see how this goes. so far, I’m feeling great.

I’m eliminating soda and unhealthy foods from my diet, as well as exercising more. I can already feel myself getting happier. hopefully I can stay motivated, because I really need this.

I don’t really do “meals”, I sort of just eat whatever the fuck I feel like.

for example, today: I had “breakfast” at 2:30, which was a tuna sandwich, and now I’m having “lunch” which is cake and coffee.

this probably isn’t healthy but WHATEVER I’m 19 I do what I want.

But whatever, there’s been a lot going on in my life lately. I’ll get back to talking about other things eventually, but for now this is what’s on my mind.

seriously, fuck my lungs.

not only am I severely asthmatic, but my lungs are underdeveloped and constantly giving me problems. everyone jokes about how I have baby lungs, but it’s not even funny because I really fucking do.

right now all I want to do is sleep, but I’m hacking and wheezing and all of my inhalers are out THIS SUCKS.

swallowingmatches replied to your post: swallowingmatches replied to your post: I…

yeah, i most likely have a type of that. and your symptoms sound a lot like another type of it.

)): well I’m going to the doctor soonish anyway, so I suppose I’ll bring it up. I’m kind of hoping it’s nothing serious… if I can’t drink juice or tea I think I might explode.

all I’ve had today is:

• coffee
• water
• a small cup of hummus and a piece of pita bread (lol peeta)
• a few crackers to finish off the hummus
• spaghetti with “heart smart” sauce
• sunflower seeds
• celery

and yet I’m super bloated and nauseous and I’ve had heartburn for the last two hours. shit like this is always happening. what the fuck?

I feel empty

I am in an incredible amount of pain, and I won’t know why until tomorrow. whatever it is though, I don’t think it’s good. 

I cried my eyes out today and now I barely feel anything

I just want to sleep until this is over