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I have two cartons of cigarettes that I had bought at duty-free before the lockdown. Each has about 20 packets. So clearly, I can smoke whenever I want to, despite the lockdown, says Arnab Mitra. Yet, the Delhi-based advertising professional, in his 30s, has not had one for over 70 days now. I decided to quit, and have so far just never felt the urge to smoke.

With the lockdowns restricted supply of cigarettes, smokers went into withdrawal. In many families, people would not smoke at home out of a sense of respect for their elders, or because of the absence of social cues of parties and post-lunch tea breaks with colleagues.

Arnab is hoping to turn this period of temporary abstinence into something permanent. So far, so good. I have been meaning to quit smoking for quite some time now. It was always one of those stop and start affairs. What the lockdown did was to bring things into perspective for him: a moment of quiet reflection in the middle of a pandemic, on how much he prioritises his health. I had never spent so much time at home. It gave me enough time to think: if not now, then when?

Arnab picked up smoking like any rebellious, curious teenager. You are always attracted to the things you are forbidden to do, you know? he says, laughing. But I am not a chain smoker. Until March, Arnab was smoking 10 cigarettes a day. You have to understand, people around me knock off two or three packets a day, he explains.

It is not the normal 9-to-5 job in the creative industry; you always have to be ideating. After crazy meetings and brainstorming, you could leave all of it aside for a little while, to have a smoke.

It is a sentiment that Delhi-bred, now Nigeria-based Louv Kumar can relate to. After moving to Asaba for a job as regional sales manager, his stress levels increased, as did his smoking. On an average, I would smoke four-five a day. My job is a high-stress one, and the month-closing is especially stressful. In that last week, 14-15 cigarettes a day was not that uncommon.

Yet, he has been completely clean for the past month. It was a more gradual curve; the lockdown in his city started only on April 1, but his attempts to give up smoking lasted through March. At first, I tried smoking only when I would drink. But since May, I gave it up entirely.

Full length profile shot of a young man running on a treadmill at home

This is not his first attempt at quitting; he tried during his MBA days as well. The lockdown did help in the sense that the brands I like were not available easily, and so I was less likely to buy smokes. That may have changed with the restrictions being lifted now, but the wish to quit remains.

I am at the other end of my 20s now, and cigarettes do contribute to a lot of things that you would not want to happen to you. Bad skin, hairfall, testosterone (levels fall in the long-term). I wanted to avoid these instant shots of dopamine, and a little control over these impulsive desires will go a long way, he says. Now, whenever the urge strikes, he instead works out, or speaks to his friends and watches movies (online) with them.

In Bengaluru, psychiatrist Dr Venkatesh Babu, who consults for Fortis Hospital, has been speaking with people who have been looking to quit during lockdown. For the first week, the questions were mostly around dealing with withdrawal symptoms and sourcing nicotine patches. Eight weeks down the line, a couple of them tell him they have not relapsed.

The reason you quit is very important. If it is just because cigarettes are not available at this point of time, or there is a compulsion to be at home, it is never going to last. But if they were meaning to quit before this, and see the lockdown as an opportunity, then giving up will be easier, he says.

The thing with smoking is that you either have an excuse to smoke or you dont. That is not really dependent on whether there is a lockdown, says Mitali. The Delhi-based columnist quit on January 28. Soon after, the stressors of the pandemic and lockdown hit. She got over them by giving herself the option of an out. I told myself that if I really, really want one, I can have one. Saying that to myself actually made it easier to not have one at that point.

She will apply the same philosophy once life returns to normal. There are a lot of social cues that are bound to change once physical distancing ends. You go looking for a lighter, and the first person to offer you one will be a smoker and the two of you bond over a smoke, explains Arnab, adding, But really, if people want to smoke, they will smoke anyway.

Dr Babu adds that the reasons for relapsing remain the same irrespective of circumstances: relationship issues, lack of a work-life balance and new challenges or fears. You have to dig further to understand the factors causing you stress. Smoking is a poor coping mechanism, because over the long term, it will just become another stressor.

Instead, he says, try to appreciate the positive changes you have brought on. Focus on the ease with which you are able to breathe in, every morning, he says. Not just improved health, there will be other positive reinforcements, like improved relationships that will make sure your decision to quit stays.

If alcohol is a cue for you, Dr Babu suggests partying over video-conferencing, and chilling with friends online, without cigarettes. It will remind you that you can still connect socially, and will ease you into readapting to those settings.

In the absence of smoking, Mitali has taken to snacking like a machine. But breathing better is worth putting on weight (temporarily, I hope), she says. Ultimately, the biggest motivating factor, Dr Babu says, is the confidence you get after abstaining for this long a period of time.

I will tell you a strange thing that happened to me, says Arnab. The other day, I was coming back from a grocery run, and somebody was smoking outside the building. The smell of cigarettes actually repulsed me. And Ive been a smoker for 15 years.

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Why people are giving up smoking during the COVID-19 lockdown - The Hindu

The airborne toxic event in Don DeLillos 1985 postmodern novel White Noise, from which the band TheAirborne Toxic Event derives its name, involves a chemical spill that forces the books characters to grapple with their own mortalitywhile enjoying unnaturally beautiful sunsets. So while the timing of the release of the bands sixth studio album,Hollywood Park, is not optimal, it does seem appropriate.

Hollywood ParkAirborne Toxic EventRounder Records, May 22

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the band has been forced to reschedule its 2020 tour. Yet it is fitting in the sense that the L.A. quartet was born in the crucible of personal adversity, and the bands brand of literary pop rock feels momentous. Its as if the music is witnessing a profound and sweeping set of changes.

The self-titled opener on Hollywood Parkbegins with a sprawling squawk of feedback and what sounds like bagpipes, before launching into a galloping anthem. Frontman Mikel Jollets gravelly and commanding voice evokes a sense of power, control and drama as he delivers the albums first lyrics, 873581 was the number/ They burned it in my brain/ I could feel it in my veins/ We could run/ We could run/ We were running away.

Fans may get some help deciphering the cryptic lyrics from Jollets latest book, titled Hollywood Park: A Memoir, set to be published by Celadon Books on May 26. It chronicles Jolletts upbringing in an infamous cult, as well as his struggles with poverty and illness. His focus has been divided between literature and music for the bands nearly 15-year career. The frontman published a story titled The Crack in literary journal McSweeneys in 2008 and worked as a freelance contributor to NPR, Los Angeles Times, Filterand Mens Health.

The album is dynamic, moving between careening, uptempo anthems and delicate, evocative piano ballads. Brother, How Was The War? features all the drama and tension of a good Pink Floyd song before the electric guitar kicks in. The sparse piano, random sounds of children playing, along with Jolletts passionate and pleading vocals evoke a sense of high drama.

Brother how was the war?/ I heard you met a woman there/ I hope she makes you smile/ All the shots they show of Vietnam/ I swear I see your face once in awhile, Jollett sings.

Come On Out begins with a simple drumbeat augmented by a growling bass, etherial synths and palm-muted guitar. Jolletts voice is deep and resonant, imbuing the song with both gothic and new wave seriousness. It sounds a bit like the Pet Shop Boys after a series of testosterone injections.

The second half of the album feels stripped down and intimate. The Common Touch features just Jollett and a jangly acoustic guitar. The songs freewheeling verses feature some of his sweetest lyrical gems including: Ive been 58 since I was 23/ I got 69 problems but one aint me/ And seriously I dont give a fuck if my answer isnt good enough/ Hey there tumor man, whats the answer to this riddle then/ Is it heroin or Jesus Christ, big-ass books or sleepless nights?

The finale, True, continues the minimalist acoustic vibe, filling it out with washes of unidentifiable yet melodic sounds. Jolletts voice, which was so commanding and powerful at the albums outset, feels resigned and a little downtrodden by the albums close.

Hollywood Park feels almost cinematic in terms of its dynamic arc. Some of the songs seem destined to be sung along to by tens of thousands in huge amphitheaters someday, while others feel like a guy with a guitar right there in your living room. Jolletts literary background serves him well as a musical storyteller.

To celebrate the release of Hollywood Park, The Airborne Toxic Event will livestream a concert on May 22 at 7 p.m. PST. The band will commence its rescheduled tour in support of the new album in February 2021.

Follow writer David Gill atTwitter.com/songotakuandInstagram/songotaku.

See the original post here:
The Airborne Toxic Event gets literary on Hollywood Park | Album Review - RIFF

Definite Wellness is bringing a whole new meaning of health to residents of Tullahoma and surrounding areas. Owner Candi Kinney has been a nurse practitioner for three years. She graduated from MTSU and was previously an RN for 3 years.

When I was a nurse, I worked at a hospital. I did not like the concept that patients would come in really sick and all we would do was put a Band-Aid on them and send them home fast. I did not like the fact that some patients were so chronically ill, so I decided wellness care was a better fit for me, Kinney said. I want to make it to where patients can come in here, address the issues they have going on and we stop it from getting to that point where it becomes chronic.

The office, located inside of the Coker building, houses two exam rooms, an office, and a main room with a front desk and chair where intravenous (IV) therapy is administered.

Kinney offers eight total signature IVs including the energizer, the glow, the fighter, the quencher, the athlete, the classic, the Candi cocktail and the morning after.

People can also come in and create their own IV by looking at the menu and all that I have to offer, she said. IV add-ons include B12, Calcium, Zinc, Mag-nesium, Vitamin C, B-Complex and Glutathione for an extra charge.

She also offers injections including B-12, lipo shots, Toradol, Vitamin D and Zofran.

Benefits of wellness care

I am all about things that make and keep you well. When you come in and get a B-12 or Vitamin D shot, that is going to keep you well because when either one of those is low, it can cause a lot of problems. That is what got me started with wellness care, Kinney said.

What got me started in IVs was the interest that people have in them today. This trend is huge out west. There are IV bars everywhere and I thought This is really good for recovery, athletes, dehydration and more. It is so interesting that this is something I can do, Kinney said. I signed up for an IV hydration class and decided to start offering it.

I had a man call me the other day who was so sick and asked if I could come to his house and give him an IV. I went to his house and gave him two bags of IV fluids and he texted me the next day telling me how much better he felt, Kinney said. It is also good for athletes, especially those who are into CrossFit or running marathons. Coming here is a good way to prepare your body for that and it is also a great way to recover from them. It is replenishing.

One of my friends came in and told me that she was so stressed out and wiped and needed some help, so I gave her an IV. A few hours ago, she said she felt fantastic, she added.

These IVs are not just for running marathons. There are a lot of benefits if you are big on working out. I am a former football player, so every spring I start working out again. I was very skeptical of the IV trend, Kinneys husband and business partner Eugene said. I was telling Candi how sore I was from a workout and asked her if she had anything to help me. She gave me an IV called the athlete. After I got it, I felt okay but was not that impressed. However, the next morning I was so surprised to be up and ready to go workout again.

Athlete Jordan Sheffield receiving intravenous (IV) therapy to feel replenished.

As a person who has struggled with weight my whole life, I do not believe in easy, quick fast out there diets. I can put anyone on a low-calorie diet and give them HCG shots and they will lose weight, but it will not be sustainable, Kinney said. My patients need to have a sustainable lifestyle. I advocate a whole food diet, 30 minutes of exercise and 60 ounces of water per day. If you do that in conjunction with what I offer, it is going to get you to your goal weight. However, it is up to you to maintain it.

With weight loss, I do a couple of different things. I offer three different weight loss programs, Kinney said. I distribute phentermine here in the clinic so it is like a one-stop shop.

The first option, Tier 1, is a 12-week program that includes one visit each month with Kinney, a 30-day supply of phentermine if qualified, six bi-weekly fat-burning lipo shots and one Slim IV each month, totaling at $600.

Tier 2 is a 12-week program that includes one visit each month with Kinney, a 30-day supply of phentermine if qualified and six bi-weekly fat-burning lipo shots, totaling at $285.

Tier 3 is an a la carte program that includes monthly visits with Kinney as well as a 30-day supply of phentermine if qualified, totaling at $50.

I have had four patients now that have hit their goal weight, Kinney said. One reached hers in only four months and another met her goal weight in two to three months.

You are allowed to take phentermine for six months and then you are required to take a break. I have other medications such as Topamax because it is an appetite suppressant that you can take that for a whole year, she said.

I usually do not treat patients under the age of 18, Kinney said. If you are 16 or older and you come in with a parent, I can treat you.

Kinney has a large menu of signature IVs, wellness shots and injections.

When a customer comes in, they are instructed to fill out paperwork and Kinney reviews the forms with them. If there is no conflicting medical history or a contraindication, Kinney administers the IV the same day. There is no additional charge for coming in to receive an IV. A customer will only be charged for how much the IV costs. She also does sport, D.O.T. physicals and walk-in sick visits that do require a $75 fee.

I treat simple things like ear infections, UTIs, sore throat, flu and strep for much cheaper than an urgent care visit would be, she said.

Kinney also offers bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. This is typically for middle-aged people for replacements of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, she said.

This is one of those shops where people need this, they just do not know that the services are here, she said.

For more information about Definite Wellness, visit http://www.definitewellness.net, their Facebook page Definite Wellness, their Instagram @definitewellness, or call 434-0439.

Definite Wellness is located at 401 Wilson Ave. in the Coker building.

Link:
Definite Wellness brings definite results | Local News - Tullahoma News and Guardian

As the backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty gets another coat of paint, the majority of the Super Bowls advertisers relinquished their obsession with purposeful advertising in favor of pure, often familiar entertainment. But the problem with nostalgia is the past tends to skew male.

Every client is putting out briefs about saving the world right now, one agency chief told me early last week, as we were predicted what last nights commercial breaks would look like.

Wed already had a peek at spots from Audi (saving the climate), Google, (saving memories) and the NFL (saving lives) and it looked like we were in for another night of somberly purposeful marketing, complete with slow-motion shots, violin-heavy orchestration and home movie archive footage.

But as the ads rolled out in order last night, we were proven wrong. Its advertisers appeared to have realized they might have an easier job of cheering up the world rather than saving it.

Whats the surest way of raising a smile? Bill Murray. Jeep waited until the last minute to throw down its A-list ace a genius 1994 Groundhog Day throwback predicated on casting one of Hollywoods most irreverent stars.

But the 20th century nostalgia kicked off well before the fourth quarter break.

Cheetos had resurrected MC Hammer in the form of an anthropomorphic picnic blanket, Snickers had (kind of) modernized Cokes Hilltop for the era of the deathly selfie and Mountain Dew recreated The Shining with an aspartame-laden substitute for blood.

Squaresquare inexplicably had poor Winona Ryder lying prostrate in the Minnesota snow.

But Ryder, who played the absurd weirdo against her spots reliable cop antagonist, was an anomaly of solo female talent in a year dominated by throwbacks. Sure, 90% of ads included women up from 74% last year but the problem with throwing back to the past is the past tended to relegate women to supporting parts.

So, when the industry compiles its top 10 creative, it shines a spotlight on the joy brought by Bill Murray and Bryan Cranston and MC Hammer and Martin Scorsese and Sam Elliott and and Jimmy Fallon and Sly Stallone.

And because the power of memory is a shortcut to emotion, we hold those stars and their ads in higher esteem to the modern ubiquity of Chrissy Teigen, Maisie Williams, Sofia Vergara and Busy Phillips.

There were exceptions, of course. Ellen DeGeneres, who effortlessly blurs the lines of throwback and contemporary female talent, added star quality to an already well-scripted, well-conceived and well-produced Amazon Alexa ad. Rachel Dratch was arguably the secret comic weapon in Hyundais much-praised Smaht Pahk.

And then there was Microsoft, an advertiser that stuck with sincerity and won. It wrote its entire commercial around Katie Sowers, the NFL's first female and first openly gay coach who spoke straightforwardly about her dreams and challenges.

In a sea of funny testosterone, the authentic story stood out of the pack to be named the most emotionally effective ad of last nights commercialpalooza, according to System1. It was complete with slow-motion shots, violin-heavy orchestration and home movie archive footage, and proved that in harder times, audiences do not want to merely be entertained.

Go here to read the rest:
Nostalgia and its male icons overpower purpose and sadvertising at the Super Bowl - The Drum

Getting puberty blockers wasnt easy for Quinncy Parke. After first coming out to their parents as gay before they came to terms with being nonbinary, Parkea high school student in Sioux Falls, South Dakotahad to see a specialized psychiatrist in order to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It took at least five long visits before Parke received a referral to an endocrinologist.

Parke and their family met with the endocrinologist several times to discuss treatment options for gender dysphoria, including whether puberty blockers were appropriate. Puberty blockers are a medication that delays the onset of puberty until a young transgender or nonbinary person is old enough to make their own decisions about their lived gender. The drug suppresses the flow of hormones that aid in sex development, and it allows more time for transgender youth to consult with doctors and medical experts about who they are, without permanent changes to their bodies.

Parke was certain that puberty blockers were what they wanted, which meant they had to undergo all these tests to move forward with the medication. I think I got blood drawn, like, three times, Parke recalled. This may seem like a small thing, but for Parke, this was huge. According to their mother Kim, Parke has absolutely hated needles ever since they were very young. Quinncy used to hide under the chair when we would go to the doctor to get your normal shots, Kim said.

A mishap with insurance created yet another roadblock, but finally Parke got their medication after six months of constant hoop-jumping. Every step was drawn out, and every time it seemed like we had to go through somebody else, Parke said.

A new bill in South Dakota is poised to make that ordeal even more difficult. Introduced in the legislature on January 14, House Bill 1057 would make it illegal for licensed physicians in the state to provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth; this includes including prescribing puberty blockers or performing medically necessary surgeries in consultation with the patients parents and in accordance with existing best standards of care. The charge would be classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor which could result in a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison and a fine of $2,000.

The South Dakota House of Representatives approved the legislation last Thursday, and H.B. 1057 is expected to receive a hearing in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. It could end up being voted on by the full Senate as soon as next week. Should the GOP-controlled Senate approve the bill, its headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who has not said whether or not she would sign the bill.

If H.B. 1057 passes, South Dakota would be the first state to restrict the type of medical care to trans and nonbinary youth. But South Dakota is not an outlier: According to the LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans, at least seven other states have introduced legislation that would either criminalize medical providers or subject them to loss of licensure for providing medication or surgery to treat gender dysphoria for minors. These include Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. Proposed bills in Missouri and New Hampshire go so far as to classify gender-affirming care as child abuse.

Supporters of the legislation say these proposals are necessary to ensure that young people do not make decisions that are too big for them to comprehend. Republican Fred Deutsch, the author of South Dakotas bill, characterized his legislation as protection from criminal acts against vulnerable children who are too young to understand the impact. He also compared gender-affirming surgeries on trans kids to Nazi experiments.

Im the son of a Holocaust survivor, he told the anti-LGBTQ advocacy group Family Research Council in a radio interview. Ive had family killed in Auschwitz, and Ive seen the pictures of the bizarre medical experiments. I dont want that to happen to our kids. And thats whats going on right now.

Deutsch later apologized for the comments, but opponents of the bill say his remarks exemplify the disinformation being spread about medical care for transgender and nonbinary youth. Research shows trans children know their gender from a very young age, typically between 18 months and three years, said Dr. Colt Meier St. Amand, a licensed psychologist and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Houston. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics and several other medical groups support gender-affirming care for trans kids as a safe, effective method of treatment.

This is a very core, early developmental piece of a person, St. Amand said. This is not like when people say, Oh, this is a teenager and everything's a phase.

While conducting the research for his 2013 dissertation at the University of Houston, St. Amand surveyed more than 100 people between the ages of 16 and 54 who had recently started taking testosterone and asked if they had any regrets related to their transition. Nearly every single respondent told him there wasnt anything they would have done differently, except for a small handful who expressed some remorse. When St. Amand followed up to ask the outliers why they felt that way, they said they wished they knew that gender-affirming care was an option for them earlier. One called it the best decision of his life, St. Amand said.

Parents with trans and nonbinary kids say having access to medical treatments like puberty blockers is critical for their childrens wellbeing. Debi Jackson, a mother in Kansas City, Missouri, said that her 12-year-old daughter, Avery, cried tears of joy the day she was able to begin taking the medication. I'm so relieved that I don't have to be afraid to look in the mirror every single day to see if I'm growing facial hair, Jackson remembered her daughter saying. I don't have to see if my Adam's apple is growing.

Jackson said the difference in her daughter was like night and day. The emotional trauma she was going through just in anticipation of puberty and what her body might do was so overwhelming that getting the blockers lifted that weight off her, she recalled. The release was beautiful to see.

Avery has since started hormone therapy to go through puberty with her female peers, and Jackson said she has only continued to blossom. It's just this confidence about her, Jackson said. I know a lot of people are afraid. They think kids at this age aren't mature enough to make these decisions for the rest of their lives, but it really did make her a stronger and more proud person.

In addition to being a lifeline for kids like Avery, medications like puberty blockers have been used for decades to treat gender dysphoria with extremely few side effects, said Dr. Jack Turban, a resident physician in psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Among the most common is loss of some bone density, which is why he says that doctors usually recommend after a few years that patients begin medically transitioning by taking prescribed estrogen or testosterone so that the bones can develop further. If a young person decides that option isnt right for them, the blockers can be stopped, and the adolescent would continue developing in accordance with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Turbanwho studies the mental health of transgender youthsaid studies overwhelmingly indicate the benefits of affirming the gender identity of trans adolescents. In a groundbreaking report published in the journal Pediatrics last month, his team surveyed 20,619 people and found that access to treatment options like puberty blockers greatly reduced an individuals risk of suicidal ideation.

In medicine, there is broad consensus that affirming transgender youth results in good mental health and trying to force children to be cisgender results in bad mental health, Turban said. Unfortunately, this message doesnt seem to have made it to all of the state legislators in our country.

So while Deutsch insists that his bill intends to protect young people from harm, parents and LGBTQ+ advocates worry these bills would have the opposite effect. Susan Williams, executive director of the youth advocacy group Transformation Project, commissioned a survey earlier this year on the rate of suicidal ideation among trans and nonbinary young people in South Dakota. Nationally, around 40 percent of this population say they have attempted to take their own lives, and in South Dakota, it was even higher: 50 percent. If [Gov. Roem] signs this bill, its pretty obvious that rate will go up, Williams said .

Even if the bill fails in the Senate, Williams said the legislatures perennial obsession with trans bodies is still damaging. Last year, South Dakota came perilously close to passing a bill to force transgender student-athletes to play on sports teams in accordance with the gender they were assigned at birth, rather than their lived identity. The legislation died by just one vote in the state Senate. In 2016, former Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed an anti-trans bathroom bill after it passed both the state House and Senate.

Williams says these close calls weigh heavily on the young people she works withincluding her son, who is 13. I run the support group for these trans youth and their families, she said. We see higher depression and anxiety [during the winter legislative session]. Even my own son, I thought he was holding it together OK, and a few days into [the session], he just broke down sobbing and saying, Why? Why does this happen every year?

Jackson said the impact of a bill like South Dakotas in her home state of Missouri would be devastating. She predicted that preventing doctors from treating trans young people is going to cause a black market and an underground system for parents desperate to make sure their children get the care they need. Jackson and her husband have already discussed getting an apartment over state lines in Kansas to avoid being labeled child abusers under Missouris version of the bill. A charge of child abuse or neglect is a class D felony in her state, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Were really worried about depression kicking in again, as she was so relieved to be able to have puberty blockers and to know that she would be able to have hormone therapy, Jackson said. Now all of that is in question again and she almost feels powerless to stop it.

Its unclear, for now, what will happen next, but its telling that Noem, who said she would have signed the bathroom bill that Daugaard vetoed, has expressed a few concerns about HB 1057. When you take public policy and try to fill parenting gaps with more government, you have to be very careful about the precedent youre setting, she told the Argus Leader, a Sioux Falls newspaper, on Friday. Thats really the viewpoint Im looking at it through.

Although Parke wont be directly affected by the fate of South Dakotas bill because hes over the age cutoff, they testified last week before lawmakers to help demystify the fear and misinformation surrounding puberty blockers. If theres one drawback about the medication, aside from the occasional hot flash, its that Parke has to continually confront that nagging fear of needles. Because its an injection, not a pill, Parke has to go to the doctor every month to get a shot. The first time Parke received the injection, they recalled full-on [passing] out on the floor, but its gotten better over time.

During the last doctors visit, Parke admitted they jumped a little bit when the needle was being injected, though. It's not as bad once you get used to it, Parke said. I knew it was going to be unpleasant because I hate needles so much. It still is unpleasant, but its a second of discomfort for a months worth of happiness.

Parke has been taking the medication for just nearly four months but said theyre already feeling so much better. Before beginning treatment, Parke could only go an hour, or maybe two, without experiencing the anxiety and stress that commonly accompany gender dysphoria; now Parke can go days at a time without old feelings resurfacing.

The emotional change has been noticeableit's hard to describe, they said. My body finally feels like my body.

Read the rest here:
8 States Are Trying to Make the Medical Treatment of Trans Kids a Crime - VICE

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A movie like Birds of Prey is no longer a novelty. Female-fronted action films have been par for the course for years now, with more on the way: Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, even a lady James Bond movie. Finding a way to market each installment as a historic "first" has, consequently, meant getting creative: Birds of Prey, for example, is described as "[DC's] first live-action and R-rated female-driven team-up title."

But even if it's safe to say that female superheroes have arrived, it's been a clumsy landing. Both DC and Marvel have fallen into the trap of presuming that a movie is feminist just by virtue of having a woman superhero's name in the title, failing to put in the work that takes a movie beyond mere pandering. Studios shouldn't get brownie points just because they're finally realizing that women can be comic book fans, too. That's why Birds of Prey, out Friday, is different than the rest of the crop: Unlike the movies that paved its way, it doesn't pander or condescend. It simply performs.

Functioning as a loose sequel to 2016's notoriously bad Suicide Squad (you don't need to have watched it first), Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn is the pet project of actress Margot Robbie, who also produced the film and has said in interviews that she kickstarted the movie because the franchise's initial film failed to give her character, Harley, her due. With only the briefest of references to the first film, Birds of Prey begins with Harley torn up over her breakup with the Joker and suddenly vulnerable as his protection over her lifts. At once, all the baddies in Gotham have a bone to pick with Harley, who manages to save her neck from the wrath of one, the Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), only by promising to retrieve a diamond that serves as a key to an offshore fortune. There's just one problem: The diamond has been ingested by a 13-year-old master pickpocket named Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco).

Harley may only be the latest in a long line of female superheroes and villains to grace the big screen, but Birds of Prey feels like the first of these films to truly respect its audience. Historically, these women tended to be written and portrayed in all their impossible proportions and impractical outfits for male eyes. More recent "badass" protagonists, like Lara Croft or Catwoman, still relied on appealing to men: "Calling a woman ... 'badass' is a way to signify that she's cool or relevant because she's acting like a man (specifically, an aggressive, swaggering one)," journalist Charlotte Druckman once put it to NPR. For decades, this has been the case; female superheroes have been "super" because they're "not like other girls." But why can't they be?

Today's female-fronted action movies have attempted to distance themselves from the decades that were spent sexualizing the characters: Wonder Woman's Diana is a somewhat nerdy girl-next-door, and the lady Avengers are hyper-competent. But gestures toward "feminism" usually run out there, even in films like Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, which are celebrated as the standard-bearers of the genre. As Thrillest's Emma Stefansky writes in her essential piece on the topic: "It's not that Captain Marvel presents itself as such an inexorably, overwhelmingly female experience, but the 'female' experiences it addresses are little more than #MeToo buzzwords." At worst, such attempts to pander to women become downright insulting; of Captain Marvel, Vulture wrote "when it comes to gender politics, the film doesn't say much that couldn't fit in a shoe commercial." But when critics have dared to point out that such movies are simplistic and not very good, they've been accused of being bad allies, or worse, lumped in with the sexist fanboys who decry anything that doesn't meet their testosterone threshold.

Truth be told, Birds of Prey would have been the last movie I'd expect to get female-fronted action right, in part because Harley Quinn was initially the epitome of male fantasy. In Suicide Squad, director David Ayer leaned into using Robbie as a hyper-sexualized version of the Batman universe villainess, replete with shots of her bending over in bikini bottoms or shimmying out of a T-shirt. "She oozed sex, fully embodying a disturbing trope the crazy hot chick," wrote Syfy Wire. Birds of Prey reels back that image. Harley still has zany outfits and mismatched shoes, but one needs to look no further than the promotional images to see the difference; most often she is shown in a gold romper that goes down to her ankles, with a hot pink crop top beneath. The rest of her squad are also basically fully clothed; the Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) even wears what looks like a practical sports bra (notice that only one character in the promotional picture used at the top of this article even has cleavage). To explain this dramatic departure from Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey's costume designer, Erin Benach, simply told Vogue: "That's what happens when you have a female producer, director, writer."

Additionally, while many superhero movies still ground their female protagonists in romantic partnerships, Birds of Prey is all the more radical because Harley Quinn doesn't end up with a lover. In fact, she isn't romantically involved with anyone in the entire 109-minute runtime. Also unusual, Birds of Prey is "the only female-led superhero film [in the modern era] that isn't a prequel or a period piece," notes Polygon, suggesting that part of the reason might be because movies about characters like Captain Marvel and Black Widow "are still an afterthought. Their movies don't push the overall storyline forward, but instead are made to fit into gaps [in male characters' sagas] where they won't affect anyone else." On the contrary, Birds of Prey lives up to the emancipation suggested in its full title by going so far as to definitively establish that the Joker isn't needed for the franchise to continue (somewhere, Jared Leto is weeping).

The movie instead centers on Harley's relationship both with the women around her she isn't a woman on a team of men, like so many of her forebears, but a woman on a team of women as well as her relationship with the women in the audience. Birds of Prey is narrated in a direct address, and while it never singles out who it's talking to, it has a chatty, confessional tone that assumes female camaraderie. And in other ways, the writing and directing is regularly on a frequency that excludes male viewers. That can be subtle, like the way Dinah (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) watches out of the corner of her eye as a man takes interest in an inebriated Harley. Other times it's explicit: Harley, when pondering what the Black Mask's grievance with her might be, wonders if it's simply because she has a "vagina." Harley's team also pointedly looks nothing like, say, the women Avengers or Charlie's Angels; one actress is 13, while Rosie Perez, who plays Gotham City Police Detective Renee Montoya, is 55. Still, even Renee gets an equal standing on the team, complete with a sexy bulletproof corset obviously a rarity for a woman in an action movie who is any older than about 35.

Birds of Prey isn't perfect. At times, it still falls into the trap of confusing "badass" with "feminist." Harley still fights in a very traditionally "macho" way, even if the canisters she fires from her gun are loaded with glitter. And despite the female director, screenwriter, and producer, Harley can on occasion be brushed by the male gaze, including the way a running motif of her eating a ham and cheese breakfast sandwich plays into the "fetishization of thin women eating total garbage food."

What Birds of Prey is, though, is the only time I've not felt talked down to by a comic book movie that purports to be feminist.

That's a big first. And it won't be the last.

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Birds of Prey is the first good female superhero movie - The Week Magazine

Theres something amiss with The Lion King aside from talking, singing animals. Disneys smash hit of stage and screen tells the tale of young male lion Simbas rise to power. But, in the real circle of life, lionesses lead.

Related females band together for life, as the primary hunters and warriors. Transient males join to mate but contribute little else to a prides success.

The lion queens, however, are an exception. Among mammal species that live in social groups, only about 10 percent have strong female leaders. They include another fierce predator, killer whales, as well as bonobos, famous for their peaceful promiscuity.

Humans, on the other hand, are part of the mammal majority: Our leaders are mostly male. Less than 7 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are female. Worldwide, fewer than two dozen women are heads of state or government, including Germanys Angela Merkel and New Zealands Jacinda Ardern. In about 90 percent of nonindustrial societies studied by anthropologists, only men hold political posts.

Its undeniable that males have more sway across institutions, societies and mammal species. But what explains those lionesses, literal and figurative the females who lead? A multidisciplinary movement to study these outliers is gaining momentum. From hyena clans to corporate hiring culture, researchers are charting the pathways and barriers to female power among mammals, including our own species.

Bullies, warriors and wise matriarchsIn the dry, thorny forests of Madagascar, Verreauxs sifaka lemurs leap between trees with gravity-defying ease. For these primates, theres no question which sex is dominant.

Females beat up the males, says anthropologist Rebecca Lewis of the University of Texas at Austin. To avoid smacks to the face and bites, males call out submissively when females approach a chattering chi chi chi chi, which is the equivalent of bowing down, says Lewis. At trees laden with edible fruit, its ladies first: If a male climbs up, the feasting female may aggressively lunge or glare, and hell often retreat to the ground.

(Credit: Monika Hrdinova/Shutterstock)

But tensions escalate during the dry season, when food is so scarce the animals lose up to 20 percent of their weight. Theyre just really suffering during this time, says Lewis, who leads a wildlife research station in Madagascar.

One source of sustenance is the fatty baobab fruit. Its thick shell takes sifakas a half-hour to gouge open with their teeth. As a female works to free her own meal, she keeps an eye on nearby males. When one of them breaks open the shell, she claims the fruit like a schoolyard bully, slapping him to surrender.

He might even hold onto the fruit while shes eating just crying the whole time because he doesnt want to lose it, says Lewis.

Eventually he goes on to crack another. She takes that one, too.

During the dry season in Madagascar, baobab trees provide a crucial source of sustenance for Verreauxs sifaka lemurs: thick-shelled fruit. (Credit: Maxwell De Araujo Rodrigues/Dreamstime)

Few mammal females attain this degree of dominance defined by biologists as an animals ability to subordinate another through force or threat. Among the roughly 5,400 mammal species, in just a couple of dozen do females routinely outrank males during dominance contests. These include spotted hyenas and two types of naked mole rat, but lemur species make up the bulk of the list. For more than 20 species of lemurs, including Verreauxs sifaka, female rule is the rule, not the exception.

The fact that females are socially so powerful in [lemur] societies shows us that more traditional division of sex roles is not some inevitable destiny of mammalian biology, says Peter Kappeler, a zoologist at the University of Gttingen in Germany. That gives rise to all kinds of questions, why that might be the case, why lemurs are so different.

One obvious consideration is what Kappeler and others call the lemur syndrome: Females have traits that are typical of males in other mammal species. Their external genitalia are elongated, appearing more penislike, and their bodies are the same size or slightly larger than a males. With a mass difference of less than 10 percent, both sexes would belong to the same weight class in boxing. Lady lemurs also display so-called masculine behaviors: play tussling, marking territory with scent glands and intimidating subordinates with feigned or real cuffs and bites.

A similar pattern is found in African spotted hyenas: Females are larger and stronger, with masculinized vaginas and clitorises that resemble scrotums and penises. High-ranking females keep order in clans of up to 130 members, and comprise the front lines during wars against rival hyena clans or lions.

Not every social mammal species led by females has the same structure. For spotted hyenas, females are warriors that take on rival clans and lions. (Credit: S100apm/Dreamstime)

But body size and pseudo-penises arent enough to explain power dynamics in these species. Nor are hormones: Although pregnant hyenas and lemurs show elevated testosterone levels, most of the time adult females have lower concentrations than males a puzzling finding scientists are investigating.

A 2019 Nature Ecology and Evolution paper on spotted hyenas suggests that disproportionate social clout, rather than physical strength, fuels female dominance. Its authors analyzed 4,133 encounters between mixed or same-sex hyenas, which ended with one animal exerting dominance and the other retreating, cowering or otherwise signaling defeat. Over 75 percent of the time in all matchups, victory went to whichever animal had more potential allies close enough to call for backup. And, in spotted hyena society, high-ranking females have the most allies.

Another 2019 study, published in the International Journal of Primatology, looked at several hundred dominance contests between sifaka lemurs of varying ages. Although adult males bow down with the deferential chi chi chi chi to adult females, males of all ages get into conflicts with juvenile females. The researchers found juvenile females won about a quarter of the bouts and adolescents about half, regardless of body size. Adult females who had offspring past weaning age triumphed nearly 100 percent of the time. Sexual maturity and successful motherhood give these females status.

The findings challenge the idea that malelike traits gave rise to female dominance in these species. Perhaps female power, attained through social support or reproductive outcomes, led to lemur syndrome and its hyena equivalent.

Female orcas are among the few mammals that live decades past menopause, often leading their pods, especially in times of scarcity. (Credit: Ivkovich/Dreamstime)

Lewis, a co-author of the 2019 lemur study, has pushed researchers to look beyond physical dominance when investigating power relations. In her other articles, she contends that power ones ability to make another creature do something can be reached by alternate means or expressed in other ways.

Leadership is a special kind of power: influence over the entire group. Dominant animals can be leaders, capable of directing collective action. Or they may just be lone bullies at the baobab tree.

Strong female leadership is even more rare than female dominance among mammals. A 2018 study in Leadership Quarterly reviewed 76 social species in four decision-making contexts: collective travel, foraging and conflicts within or between groups. Defining leaders as individuals that routinely called the shots in at least two of these realms, the researchers identified eight species run by females: ruffed and ring-tailed lemurs, spotted hyenas, killer whales, African lions, bonobos and two types of elephant.

It looks like there are these independent evolutionary events where the set of circumstances gave rise to strong female leaders, says lead author Jennifer Smith, a biologist at Mills College.

For spotted hyenas and two lemur species, dominance certainly plays a role. But the other five species took different pathways to leadership. Female elephants and killer whales can live into their 80s in matrilineal societies, comprising up to four generations of mothers and offspring. With the most accumulated wisdom about local resources and dangers, female elders lead group movement and food pursuits. It makes so much incredible sense, says Smith. These long-lived females with great knowledge of course they should be the leaders.

In contrast to some species where physical dominance is the rule, peaceful bonobos form alliances. (Credit: Andrey Gudkov/Dreamstime)

Killer whales, or orcas, are also one of the few species in which females live decades past menopause. Orca communities especially follow these grandmothers (or great-grandmothers) during hard times, like when salmon prey are scarce, according to a 2015 study in Current Biology.

Meanwhile, female lions and bonobos derive strength from numbers. In both species, allied females fend off bigger, stronger males. Kinship unites the lionesses, but bonobos form coalitions of nonrelatives, which groom and fondle each other. Females of this chimpanzee species, through their cooperative social alliances, are in a way civically larger and more influential than one male, Smith explains.

Bias, biology and breaking through

Inthe 1970s, a review of historical descriptions of 93 nonindustrial societies found only about 10 percent permitted women to hold political posts and women were generally less powerful than male counterparts. Contemporary scholars attribute this in part to the mentality of past researchers: Ethnographers predominately men from Western patriarchies documented leadership in male-dominated domains like war, and overlooked female authority in economic, domestic and other spheres.

But even in more recent, less-biased research, it hits you in the face how disparately represented men and women are in positions of leadership, particularly more overt political leadership, says Christopher von Rueden, an anthropologist at the University of Richmonds Jepson School of Leadership Studies.

Consider the Tsimane, indigenous people of the Bolivian Amazon, who subsist on wild foods and garden-scale farming. Although Tsimane lack formal leaders, certain individuals have a greater voice in village affairs. In a 2018 Evolution and Human Behavior paper, von Rueden and colleagues found that, at community meetings, less than 10 percent of comments came from women. And when Tsimane ranked fellow villagers based on their ability to influence debates and manage projects, the average male score was higher than the scores of 89 percent of the women.

Among the Tsimane people of the Bolivian Amazon, political leadership is predominately, but not exclusively, male. Physical size, level of education and number of allies are factors in predicting political sway, and women do occasionally emerge as leaders in this nonindustrial society. (Credit: National Geographic Image Collection/Alamy)

And yet, consistent with global surveys, Tsimane political leadership is predominately but not exclusively male. Some women leaders exist among them.

Probing the data further, von Ruedens team found factors beyond a Y chromosome that predicted political sway, including a persons size, education and number of allies. The authors concluded that these qualities, rather than gender per se, elevated individuals to become leaders. It just so happens that Tsimane men generally place higher on those metrics than do women. For example, the female participants received, on average, 3.9 years of formal schooling, compared with 5.8 years for men. While physical differences are essentially set, gaps in education and social capital are not. Indeed, in another study of a more remote Tsimane village, the third-highest leader was a well-educated woman who had studied in a larger town.

Through his research, von Rueden seeks to explain how the evolution of sex differences affect access to leadership across human societies a topic fraught with potential land mines, he admits. Evolutionary anthropologists, including von Rueden, think the answer lies at the intersection of biological sex differences and the particular history, customs and environment of any given society.

Thanks to our mammalian roots, women bear and nurse babies. Men are generally larger and stronger just considering upper-body strength, 99 percent of women have less arm muscle mass than the average man. These biological realities set the stage for sexual division of labor, common across cultures. Men tended to take on riskier endeavors, like battles and big-game hunts, which require coalitions and hierarchical coordination. Tethered to children and homes, women assumed a greater share of domestic responsibilities, forming fewer but more intimate social ties.

From this evolutionary background, sex-based stereotypes emerged, which then became amplified or dampened by the particularities of a given society. For example, its been proposed that the invention of the plow deepened gender divisions because its use requires substantially more upper-body strength than hoe or stick tilling. This relegated men to fields and women to household labor. According to a 2013 Quarterly Journal of Economics study, the plows effects persist. The authors compared farming styles of more than 1,200 nonindustrial societies with gender beliefs of their modern descendants. The analysis found that descendants of plow-farmers have fewer women in the workforce and politics, and less-favorable views about gender equality. For example, in Pakistan, where earlier societies relied on the plow, only 16 percent of agricultural workers are women, compared with 90 percent in Burundi, which had traditional hoe tilling.

Understanding the evolution of male-skewed leadership, says von Rueden, puts us in a better position to act on behalf of putting more women in positions of power.

Theres a lot of catching up to do. In the U.S., while women make up half the entry-level workforce, their presence dwindles on each step of the corporate ladder, comprising just a quarter of senior managers, 11 percent of top earners and 5 percent of CEOs in S&P 500 companies, according to a 2019 report by Catalyst, a womens leadership nonprofit.

Based on metrics like wage gap, share of labor force and percentage of women working, gender equality rose beginning in the 1960s, peaked in the 90s and then stagnated for the past two decades.

Siri Chilazi, a fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University, says company policies and structures are part of the problem as are individual biases. For example, results of an experiment published in 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that investors preferred entrepreneurial pitches from men, rating their presentations as more persuasive, logical, and fact-based than those from women. The catch: The content was identical, word for word.

Decades ago, major American symphonies changed their systems to blind auditions and saw significant increases in the number of women hired. (Credit: Stokkete/Dreamstime)

A now-classic analysis, published in 2000, underscores such biases. In the 1970s and 80s, major U.S. symphonies changed their auditions so musicians played behind a curtain that concealed their identity. Prior to the policy shift, less than 10 percent of new hires were women. Afterward, the number of female musicians in all orchestras increased exponentially most drastically for the New York Philharmonic, where, following the change, about 50 percent of new hires were women.

As Chilazi sees it, research has a clear message for organizations trying to level out gender ratios in leadership: Company policies are much easier to change and much easier to de-bias than our human brains.

Research runs thin when it comes to what is arguably the ultimate glass ceiling: elected national leadership. Starting in 1960 with Sri Lankas Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, 115 women have served as president, prime minister or chancellor of 75 countries, from Brazil to Bangladesh. But, as in the business world, gender gains rose steeply through the 1990s and then recently reversed course.

The small number of women who have led their nations include Sri Lankas Sirimavo Bandaranaike (left) and Germanys Angela Merkel (right). (Credit: Elpisterra/Shutterstock; Everett Collection Historical/Alamy)

Oklahoma State University political scientist Farida Jalalzais research shows female executives tend to serve in systems with both a president and prime minister, often holding the weaker of the posts. Rather than popular vote, most are appointed by legislatures or winning parties, and into unstable posts that can be challenged. (Recall the no-confidence votes Theresa May faced in the U.K. Parliament.) Another factor: The majority hail from political families often the wives or daughters of former leaders.

Jalalzai notes that, while 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the wife of a former president, fit this profile, the U.S.s presidency is a single, powerful head of state, rather than part of a power-sharing dual leadership system. The Oval Office is a tough glass ceiling to crack.

According to Jalalzai, although Clinton failed to win the presidency, the campaign may have shifted perceptions about who can assume the office. A record number of women entered the 2020 Democratic primary, for example. People didnt take her loss as the lesson that women shouldnt be competing for this, she says. It showed us, really, the opposite.

Jalalzai found similar effects globally, looking at public opinion surveys taken by 62,000 individuals from over 40 countries. In the 11 nations with female executives during the 2018 studys time frame, people were more accepting of female leaders, interested in politics and likely to vote, especially female respondents.

Other researchers have focused on local elections with corroborating results. In a 2018 Leadership Quarterly paper, researchers found that after the election of female mayors, those municipalities saw more women assuming top- and middle-management positions in public organizations. A study published in 2012 in Science considered the consequences of a 1993 Indian law that mandated that a random third of West Bengal villages reserve their chief councilor seat for an elected woman. Based on more than 8,400 surveys conducted in 495 villages, the researchers found that having a woman councilor for two election cycles improved aspirations for girls to pursue higher education and politics. The girls also spent more years in school and fewer minutes per day on domestic chores.

The studies suggest that, while gender equality does not beget female leaders, the reverse may be true: Women in high offices promote gender equality, either directly through policies and appointments, or indirectly by acting as a prominent reminder that women can lead.

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From Animals to Human Society: What We Learn When Women Lead - Discover Magazine

Tyson Fury has revealed a bizarre new part of his training regime based on advice from the bare-knuckle boxing community.

'T'he Gypsy King', 31, is challenging for the WBC title for a second time against Deontay Wilder on February 22 after a controversial draw in the first bout between the pair.

Now, Fury has turned to his roots in the travelling community for advice to give him an edge in the next scheduled bout.

He told journalistGareth A Davies: I was speaking to an old legendary bare-knuckle fighter from the travelling community, hes called Big Joe Joyce.

He told me about dipping his hands in petrol, to toughen them up.

"So for this fight Ill be dipping my hands in petrol for five minutes a day during the last three or four weeks of the training camp to really toughen them up.

It worked for him, so Im going to give it a try.

This latest reveal comes a month after Fury admitted he would be masturbating seven times a dayahead of the fight to keep the testosterone pumping.

As far as training camps go, Fury's definitely sounds like one of the most unusual.

Fury largely out-boxed his opponent last time around, but it was 'The Bronze Bomber' who landed the power shots to put 'The Gypsy King' on the canvas twice during the fight.

It's pretty clear that Fury is looking for something to help him overcome the power of Wilder, who has won 41 of his 43 fights via knockout.

He'll be hoping that the combination of petrol soaked hands and masturbation helps him to victory later this month and sets up a potential unificationbout with Anthony Joshua in the near future.

Only time will tell if the unusual rituals work for Fury.

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Tyson Fury is dipping his hands in petrol every day ahead of bout with Deontay Wilder - GIVEMESPORT

TYSON FURY has revealed he is masturbating SEVEN times a day ahead of his big rematch against Deontay Wilder.

And the Gypsy King hopes it will give him the 'upper hand' as he bids to become WBC world heavyweight champ.

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The two boxers will go 'at it' for Part II in Las Vegas after their controversial draw in December 2018.

And in a bid to keep his "testosterone flowing" Fury has admitted to one special way to release energy.

Speaking after the first press conference concluded ahead of the big fight, the 31-year-old said: "I'm doing a lot of things I didn't before.

"I'm eating five/six meals a day, drinking eight litres of water. If it's gonna give me an edge, I'm willing to try it.

"I'm masturbating seven times a day to keep my testosterone pumping."

Fury, married to wife Paris since 2008 with the couple having five children, then quoted lines from the 2004 hit song by Danzel, titled Pump It Up.

He added: "Pump it, pump it, pump it, pump it up! Dontcha know!

"I gotta to keep active and the testosterone flowing for the fight. Don't want the levels to go down."

It's not the first time sport stars might have resorted to solo tactics to improve 'performance'.

SunSport reported how sexologist and wife of Wolves keeper Rui Patricio advised the Portugal squad to masturbate at the World Cup.

And Albanian model Erjona Sulejmani, wife of Serie A star Blerim Dzemaili, has claimed many footballers turn down sex before games - and instead do it themselves.

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DOES SEX BEFORE SPORT BOOST PERFORMANCE?

THERE has been numerous studies into how sex could affect athletic performance.

And unfortunately the waters are pretty murky as far as this is concerned.

An expert writing for The Conversation on the topic concludes that "there is no detrimental or beneficial effect of sexual activity before competition on subsequent athletic performance".

However, 'chasing sex' could indeed be detrimental, as it could come with 'sleep deprivation and alcohol/drug consumption' that could affect athletic performance.

Curfews are often placed on athletes to ensure the mind and body is well rested before competition.

One study reports that the effects of sex on athletic performance only come to light when the element of 'time' is considered.

Laura Stefani, an assistant professor of sports medicine at the University of Florence, Italy, said: 'We show no robust scientific evidence to indicate that sexual activity has a negative effect upon athletic results.

'In fact, unless it takes place less than two hours before, the evidence actually suggests sexual activity may have a beneficial effect on sports performance.'

Fury will be hoping to 'shake' things up come February 22 and hand Wilder his first ever defeat as a pro boxer.

SunSport reported howFury claims he will have one of the easiest nights of his career by knocking Wilder out in ROUND TWO of their rematch.

The 31-year-old Gypsy King is famous for his fabulous footwork and point scoring shots and claims he will be slippery like a goldfish on fight night.

Before his round-two win against tune-up opponent Tom Schwarz last June, the 6ft 9in ace had not won inside the opening six minutes since a 2010 walkover at Huddersfield Sports Centre.

But the superstitious former unified champ has been getting signs that the second stanza will be the deciding one on February 22.

Fury said: I am going to win the fight,Deontaycan make up all the excuses he wants, he lost the first fair and square and the same will happen in the second.

I have never been of sure of anything in my whole life, I am going to kick that mother f*****s arse all over the ring.

I have not had to lose any weight.

Pictured

'LEAN' Fury spars ten rounds with four boxers and shows off dad bod ahead of Wilder fight

NO TRAIN NO GAIN AJ shows off explosive power in training ahead of Pulev bout after holiday

LOAD OF ISTANBUL? Joshua vs Pulev fight to take place in Istanbul in May, claims challenger

'PACKING TIMBER' Fury piles on pounds to KO Wilder after grim injury vs Wallin at just 18st

PRICE IS RIGHT BT KO Sky to land UK TV rights for Fury vs Wilder 2 despite '10m bid'

'YOU LITTLE BITCH' Watch Fury taunt Wilder over nose piercing in behind-the-scenes footage

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He has had to get out of jail a few times with his right hand but it will not be there this time, I will be super slippery, like a goldfish in a bowl.

Fury is well known for creating a stir before his fights, and he chose the first press conference to slam Wilder's nose piercing.

After the American said he will "baptise" Fury, the Brit called Wilder a "little b****" for having the facial jewellery.

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Originally posted here:
Tyson Fury claims he is masturbating SEVEN TIMES A DAY to keep testosterone pumping ahead of huge Deontay - The Sun

The time has come for the annual rite of passage of improving oneself, setting goals, and ultimately forgetting all about the resolutions within like a couple weeks.

Cmon, you are definitely going to use that Peloton to stack clothes on instead of getting in shape, just be honest with yourself.

But if you are thinking of a New Years resolution, what better place to find inspiration than the hyper-competitive world of SEC coaching? I mean, these men are the 100-hour work week, seven or eight figure making, kings of this part of the country.

What could they possibly be thinking as the clock strikes midnight and we roll into 2020?

The reason why I have a process is so I can keep doing the process until the process is so simple I can process every minute of every day, so quit asking me about my resolution alright?!?! I mean, yeah, ok, Ive got plenty of time right now to think since were not in the playoff, but its all fine, ITS FINE, because theres a process. Im not going anywhere, right?!

[finally opens the Coke on his podium and chugs it all]

Ditto to whatever Coach Saban does, but Im definitely my own man for sure.

Grow out his big toes or shrink a couple toes to not have yeti feet, and if theres time, take up boxing .

[tweets picture of his boat with Ole Miss flag]

Winky emoji, gif of dolphin jumping through a fiery hoop fans debate the meaning of this resolution for the next three months.

(record retracted due to private schools being private and stuff) Lets just assume its wearing vests everywhere at all times forever.

Eat less red meat...doctors orders! BUT pork is a white meat so YESSSSIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Quit smoking (does he smoke? you ask, I say its doesnt matter)

Buy a new pair of glasses for the first time since 2009 .

Totally not going to bring up my accomplishments at family gatherings any more, I dont need to do it, honestly, really its really fine that Bob is retired and did so well, and everyone says Im doing a great job. Im good enough! AND BY GOD PEOPLE LIKE ME!

Try to look like a head football coach instead of like a Mizzou fan who won a head coach for the day contest.

Get a Twittbook or Myface account, whatever these millennials are doing nowadays, continue being a dumb neanderthal.

Buy some oversized belt buckles, bolo ties, and chew hay more often.

Start every day with a shot of tabasco and douse skin liberally with Tony Chacheres (this has been his same resolution 20 years running); also cut down on sodium (also same resolution annually).

Gotta be #PoweredbytheT so Im getting testosterone shots every day until the National Championship 2021! Not that I need them, I DEFINITELY DONT NEED THEM BALD MEN ARE USUALLY WAY MORE VIRILE.

What are your Ole Miss resolutions for this next year? Will you stay for the second half of every football game? Comment or tweet @redcuprebellion with your 2020 plans.

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We reveal the New Years resolutions of every SEC football coach, what is on Coach Kiffins mind for 2020? - Red Cup Rebellion