Forgot to upload these last week. 10 November is the Marine Corps Birthday and 11 November is Veteran’s Day in the USA. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

About the Halloween Crowd Crush in the Itaewon District of Seoul, South Korea

The information here is to provide some clarification on crowd crushes, and some specific information on what happened in Itaewon. First, some general information:

The circled parts are very important: uneven ground + narrow passageway.

Let’s compare this to another crowd crush that happened in April of 2021 in Israel:

Again, we have a situation with a narrow passageway and a sloping floor (a staircase, in this case).

There is an idea that people will file through an area without much incident, it’s crowded and slow but it’s otherwise not going to be a problem. After all, if I fall down, I can just stand up again. But in reality, it is a matter of physics…at this density, we almost behave as a liquid. You fall down, and suddenly there are people on top of you.

Being on top of the pile, you cannot easily push yourself off. You can roll, but you’re only rolling across the pile, not off. You’re too high/far for any of the rescue people on the ground to pull you off (to reduce the pressure on lower layers). And you can’t easily push yourself up because people are squishy and squirming, there’s no way to get firm enough “ground” to push off. So you’re stuck trying to rock yourself off of the pile, putting additional pressure and taking more time. This is why rescue workers began pulling at the bottom layers rather than trying to pull/push off the top layers.

My students have been haunted by the images (not shown here, but shared on social media). Those images may haunt them for years, maybe forever. What we can do is use those bad images to remind us to be safe. It’s not their fault, of course. The victims had no idea this would happen…most people don’t understand crowd crushes. I know about them because of my fields of study. So it’s not to say it was their fault. But from this lesson, we can stop others from being in this situation. We can pause and go the long way, or wait a few more minutes to let the crowd dissipate, and we will be safer and the crowd will also be safer.

Unfortunately, VERY unfortunately, safety lessons are “hard learned”. It means that we only pay attention after a tragedy. THEN we think about safety.

It’s hard to deal with because this was something no one expected. It was an accident. And I think people are upset because they “should have” expected it. But really, only people like me who had to study this stuff, we know it’s a reasonable expectation but most people don’t. It’s not their fault; but now we are all very aware of it at the same time. Maybe now politicians can understand this risk better.

We have to remember there is no one to blame. Some people want to place blame; I think it helps them feel safe. If they can blame X, then avoid X, they believe they are safe from this type of harm. They blame “being drunk” or they blame “pushing”, or “they were too young to know better.” But really, it is not that. It was pure physics. A lot of people in a narrow alley + uneven/sloping ground + one or two people tripping and falling = a “wave” of people falling, too. It’s not about age, drunkenness, etc.

And that’s hardest for people to accept. We want to think we have control over our lives, over our safety. We want to think we can be safe if only we do XYZ. But a lot of life is just luck. And this makes people feel really uncomfortable, so they get upset and try to blame someone or something.

I think that’s why these tragedies are burned into our memories so hard, because not only are they devastating and tragic as a human loss, but they are also a very horrifying reminder that any of us or our loved ones can just…not be here tomorrow.

We do the most we can, and have to accept that it’s the most we can do.

If you need someone to talk to, my inbox is always open.

I don’t usually post this stuff but my friend is awesome and is going through a rough time; I want to help so I am posting this.

Her IG link: https://instagram.com/momcat_rescue

She works hard doing low-paying work and all her money goes to helping stray cats. She has saved so many cats, and has dealt with the emotional trials of losing some, too. Not only is she busy with this and work, she recently was in the hospital for a life-saving operation. All she thought about were how many cats still needed help.

With the rainy season, she is unable to work and still has her own hospital bills. She houses many former strays and they have run out of food. She is trying to sell her cellphone just to afford food for them for a while.

Currently, she still needs US $140 to cover their food. Her donation links are here: https://linktr.ee/momcats

She appreciates all donations and posts updates on the condition of the kitties. Donations are great, and so are reblogs 😻

As much as we can talk about how HAES/Obesity is unhealthy, we should also talk about how Bodybuilders have a 30%+ higher mortality rate.

I'm not here to just dismantle HAES/Fat Activism. I'm also here to talk about the other dangerous parts in the Health world. Whether it be 'detox' and 'cleanse' bullshit products/scams, shady diet plans, dodgy nutritionists, or in this case, bodybuilding. In a recent study from a Urologist conference found that male bodybuilders had a 34% higher mortality rate than their non-bodybuilder counterparts. In part due to what they put their bodies through and potentially what they put in their bodies. **OF COURSE, the sample size is only 500 or so and they can't directly say its because of Bodybuilding that they died. But, it is currently hypothesized that the Bodybuilding routines (Supplements, steroids, etc.) are likely to cause the higher mortality rates** (Mortality Rate Higher Among Bodybuilders - Renal and Urology News) Now, this small sample size isn't concrete evidence that bodybuilding is dangerous, but it does seem to be a figurative Canary-in-the-mine. Having followed bodybuilders before, idolized and aimed to attain their physiques at one point, Seeing their routines and what they put themselves through...I honestly believe that the current common Bodybuilding practices are indeed unhealthy. I'm all for going for a physical aesthetic goal. I have my own, so I'd be a hypocrite if I said otherwise. But, your goals shouldn't negatively affect your health. If you disagree, that is a-okay.

FAs like to point to body builders as "proof" that BMI is bullshit. After all, they look healthy therefore they are right? (Rich coming from the side that constantly says you can't tell if someone is healthy by looking at them). But BMI makes no exceptions. Sure body builders are far more fit and likely suffer from less health conditions, but they do in fact suffer due to their weight. Stressed and damaged joints, high blood pressure, the list goes on, especially since most have an extremely low body fat percentage (induced by a terrible diet).

Talk to any professional body builder or body building contest goer. They will tell you this. The judges in such competitions themselves say that it is by no means a healthy lifestyle and you will feel sick.

This isn't to say that it's impossible to be a healthy body builder if you have a healthy body fat percentage, are in the healthy BMI range, and follow a balanced diet. However, just because someone is shredded and stacked doesn't mean they're the epitome of health (far from it).

As someone who was training for competitive bodybuilding, I will say that no one does bodybuilding “for health reasons”. We all know how dangerous it is, and honestly there are a lot of eating disorders in that group, not to mention unsustainable exercise and eating plans. No one thinks this is healthy.

And also, a bodybuilder’s health (or lack thereof) in no way absolves obesity’s health risks. I’m tired of the “well, bodybuilders are technically obese” argument, as if it somehow means that your excess adipose tissue no longer can hurt you. Additionally, not all bodybuilders even fall into the obese category. The most decorated bodybuilder, Iris Kyle, is at the cut-off for healthy BMI during contest season:

Kyle would barely fall into “overweight”, and definitely not “obese”. Again, she is the most decorated bodybuilder in terms of wins, so her weight and size are high quality muscle for a still-healthy-BMI. 

"Heart attacks and cardiac arrest aren't fat-caused, that's just medical fatphobia."

BABE. THIS IS WHAT PERICARDIAL FAT LOOKS LIKE.

THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO YOUR HEART.

It's not fat phobia. Organs cannot function whe covered in stuff like fat. It blocks the ventricles, presses down on your chambers and overall makes your heart work harder to do the same function as someone elses. You are literally crushing yourself to death from the inside.

Visceral fats cannot develope without a source of energy, the laws of thermodynamics apply to the human body, it's not your genetics, and I dont want you to die. Wake up.

@houstonreader​ The white is fat, and let's say that they did deliberately discolor the image to “make it look gross” (as opposed to some other reason that the fat looks white vs yellow). 

Would that mean that you would prefer to have a heart burdened by excess adipose tissue? Let’s not go fishing for red herrings, let’s talk about what is.

Me doing my abs in the yard: ugh I am actually dying, where are my endorphins?

*The cute girl I am in love with texts saying she would love to work out together sometime*

Me, immediately:

Images like this confuse me. Is the point that we all know it’s fake but some prefer the fake? Do some people know it isn’t fake and they’re genuinely convinced by the edited pic? I can appreciate wanting to edit an image but I’m confused by people who seem unaware that this is edited.

Using the same tags to see if I can get an answer. Just genuinely curious, not judging anyone. Someone told me that the people who adore the clearly-edited photos know the photos are edited, but I wasn’t sure if that was true.

What do you wish you were taught in school?

I’ll be making a “Transition Club” (name pending) as an after school program this year. The idea is to prepare students for adult life, such as:

Please let me know what else I should include!

Guys, I'm in love and it's with FITNESS!! EEEEP!! My old obese self would be absolutely shocked that I'm saying these words. She thought fitness was too hard and not worth it but it turns out that fitness is for every fitness level and it absolutely IS worth it! I know that now for sure!

LUPITA NYONG'O ━ The World Premiere of Universal Pictures’ “NOPE” (July 18, 2022)

LUPITA NYONG’O 2022 | “NOPE” World Premiere, Los Angeles (July 18)

A message from the legend

Decided to read the Queer Chick Tracts for Pride Month.

https://youtu.be/xJQqTlU8X5U

Second Chick Tract, hope you like Sodom and Gomorrah!

https://youtu.be/ScX90b8_6l0

I thought this would be way worse than it was, but the first Chick Tract in this little series still holds that dubious title.

https://youtu.be/_WknvwqZx2Q

If you like listening to stuff while you work out, these are some videos I’m doing for June. They are long (45min or longer) and there are NO ADS to interrupt your workout.