Axelia's recent activity

  1. Comment on Weighing in on "Man or Bear" - from a woman that left society to the Alaskan wilderness in ~life.women

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    I'm so sorry that happened to you and shame on any doctor that treats patients with disdain and judgment. It's bad enough to go through trauma, but to have that abuse extended by the people who...

    I'm so sorry that happened to you and shame on any doctor that treats patients with disdain and judgment. It's bad enough to go through trauma, but to have that abuse extended by the people who are supposed to help you heal is sickening.

    10 votes

  2. Comment on Weighing in on "Man or Bear" - from a woman that left society to the Alaskan wilderness in ~life.women

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    At least if you were mauled people would immediately believe and sympathize with you. You wouldn't have people arguing that "aw, c'mon, he's a really good bear, he'd never do that" or "look at the...

    At least if you were mauled people would immediately believe and sympathize with you. You wouldn't have people arguing that "aw, c'mon, he's a really good bear, he'd never do that" or "look at the way you were dressed, you clearly wanted it." There might be more physical damage to heal (though it depends on the severity of the sexual assault I guess) but I imagine it'd be easier to recover emotionally.

    13 votes

  3. Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    It also seems that many of these studies were based in cities. It's unclear where exactly they were conducted (inside the city or the surrounding area), so it's possible that the effects of adding...

    It also seems that many of these studies were based in cities. It's unclear where exactly they were conducted (inside the city or the surrounding area), so it's possible that the effects of adding beehives are amplified in urban areas where pollen sources are already scarce.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro

    Axelia
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    To be clear, I don't think you personally are trying to scold beekeepers. I don't disagree that not everyone should be a beekeeper and we don't need tons of hives out there. That being said, are...

    To be clear, I don't think you personally are trying to scold beekeepers.

    I don't disagree that not everyone should be a beekeeper and we don't need tons of hives out there. That being said, are there really too many out there in the first place? That's my main point: if your goal is to help native bees, is reducing the number of beekeepers the best way to do that, or are there other things people can do that would have a greater impact? It's possible I'm wrong and there's a beekeeping craze sweeping the world that I'm unaware of, but my hunch is that encouraging people to improve their local ecosystem would be more effective.

    ETA: after re-reviewing the article, the author does make an argument (based on extrapolation/estimates, but not entirely unsupported) that there are too many beekeepers in and around London. It's possible this is a more localized issue.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro

    Axelia
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Yes, they mention at the end that you should cultivate flowers. I just think writing an article about cultivating specific flowers and other steps to help as well as highlighting challenges native...

    They mention that to support native pollinators you should cultivate wildflowers in your area which will flower seasonally, but they also mention the evidence that honey bees outcompete native pollinators - this is becoming more and more evident with the data we're collecting.

    Yes, they mention at the end that you should cultivate flowers. I just think writing an article about cultivating specific flowers and other steps to help as well as highlighting challenges native bees face (including competition from honeybees!) would be a more effective article if your goal is to save native bees.

    8 votes

  6. Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro

    Axelia
    Link
    I'm a beekeeper, so I recognize I'm a bit biased here, but I have a few issues with this article. It seems to me that the author's aim is to promote the welfare of native bees. I feel that this...
    • Exemplary

    I'm a beekeeper, so I recognize I'm a bit biased here, but I have a few issues with this article.

    It seems to me that the author's aim is to promote the welfare of native bees. I feel that this article does disservice to that goal by narrowly focusing on discouraging the activity of a small population of people (beekeepers and the beekeep-curious) rather than highlighting the systemic challenges facing native bees and steps everyone can take to help them. Even though their efforts benefit honeybees more directly than native bees and introduce competition, beekeepers are more likely to take actions that benefit native bees: planting native pollen sources, avoiding pesticides, hanging bee houses, etc.

    If everyone was keeping bees, we'd have a better environment for native bees, but have too much competition from the honeybees. In that case, this article would be highly relevant. But really, there aren't an extreme number of beekeepers. Instead, I fear that many people will just read the headline and say "oh, I don't keep honeybees so I'm already helping the bees" rather than learning about how they could actually be proactive and help. Rather than too many honeybees, we likely have too few pollen sources, something anyone could help fix if they had the knowledge and willpower. I suspect our monoculture lawns in America are a bigger contributor to native bee decline here than hobbyist beekeepers. If we had more diverse green spaces, I don't think the presence of beehives would have as much of an impact on native populations.

    Overall, I dislike this trend of articles that tell people to change hobbies or habits because they aren't perfectly environmentally friendly. It seems like it would be more productive to give examples of how to help provide habitat for native bees rather than discourage the practice of a niche hobby that arguably still helps native bees to some degree despite the added competition. Beekeeping isn't perfectly green, but there are ways to mitigate your impact on native populations and be mindful of the local ecosystem

    19 votes

  7. Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro

    Axelia
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Africanized bees are honeybees that are highly defensive of their territory. Unless you are near their hives or actively swatting at a forager, you should be fine. In fact, most bees/wasps are not...

    Africanized bees are honeybees that are highly defensive of their territory. Unless you are near their hives or actively swatting at a forager, you should be fine. In fact, most bees/wasps are not looking to sting you, they just want to go about their business unless you're threatening them or their home. The native bees referred to in the article, especially solitary bees, are even less aggressive. Solitary bees have no nest to defend, so they would prefer to flee rather than fight. Even "scary" insects like wasps have a role to play by pollinating and eating pest insects.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on The best way to help bees? Don’t become a beekeeper like I did. in ~enviro

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    I'd argue having hives helps educate people about bees in general and can help all species. If someone has the opportunity to see how the beehives function, learn to care about them, and enjoy the...

    I'd argue having hives helps educate people about bees in general and can help all species. If someone has the opportunity to see how the beehives function, learn to care about them, and enjoy the honey, they will be more likely to plant more native flowering plants that then help honeybees and native bees alike. If they were never exposed to bees, they may never have cared enough to take action, similar to how zoos expose people to wildlife and help them care about the environment.

    As an anecdote, I have beehives. There are huge flowering bushes right outside the hives. The honeybees don't touch them, they're flying off in the opposite direction heading for some other nectar source. Instead, the bushes are covered with native bees, as are the dandelions and other wildflowers growing throughout the property. I don't think it's a binary of "honeybees bad, native bees good", I think there's a lot of nuance as there is in everything. Having beehives isn't going to outcompete the native bees unless you either have 1) a shitton of hives/too many for the land to support or 2) you're in an area with barely any nectar sources to begin with. It's possible for both honeybees and native bees to coexist, the key is planting enough native food sources for all of them. Rather than scold beekeepers, encourage gardening.

    15 votes

  9. Comment on Feeling lost with mental health treatment in ~health.mental

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    Seconding this. I have struggled from severe treatment resistant depression since I was about 14. I tried the spectrum of antidepressants and even stimulants to combat the fatigue. Nothing worked....

    Seconding this. I have struggled from severe treatment resistant depression since I was about 14. I tried the spectrum of antidepressants and even stimulants to combat the fatigue. Nothing worked.

    My most recent episode lasted from 2018-2022. I had to quit my job and try to focus on my health. I tried transcranial magnetic stimulation and later combined it with ketamine therapy. Both of these got me to a place where I was stable, but not thriving. It had a huge impact on my schedule: I was going in for TMS weekly and basically losing a whole day once a month for my ketamine therapy. The ketamine made me incredibly nauseous, even with the medication they gave me to combat it I would often throw up in the car or as soon as I arrived home. I was dependent on my partner to be able to take time from work to drive me to and from ketamine sessions. I was no longer suicidally depressed, but I was stuck in this empty life revolving around my health care without any real sense of progression.

    I followed psilocybin research for years, and finally decided I needed to try it. I lived near a place where mushrooms were decriminalized, so we went and got some. With mushrooms, I honestly got more out of an afternoon sitting on my porch drinking tea than I did out of over 15 years of therapy and all of the other drugs and treatments combined. It allowed me to rewire my brain and realize that all of the things weighing me down didn't matter. It allowed me to actually love myself and stop being as hypercritical and self destructive.

    I don't know that it's right for everyone and I don't know that it will cure all ills, but I strongly believe it's a tool that should be available to everyone. It completely changed my life and gave me a chance to live as the person I really am rather than the shell that depression made of me.

    6 votes

  10. Comment on Whats a drug that you would never try? in ~talk

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    Odds are you know some alcoholics but they aren't struggling enough yet/you're not close enough that you would know.

    Odds are you know some alcoholics but they aren't struggling enough yet/you're not close enough that you would know.

    15 votes

  11. Comment on Ahsoka doesn't really work in ~tv

    Axelia
    Link
    I finally watched the first episode last night and have to agree: for non-Clone Wars watchers it's pretty boring. I know enough about Clone Wars to have heard the names Thrawn and Ezra, but...

    I finally watched the first episode last night and have to agree: for non-Clone Wars watchers it's pretty boring. I know enough about Clone Wars to have heard the names Thrawn and Ezra, but nothing else about them. The whole episode, they keep name dropping people and establishing that characters have past relationships, but they never ever elaborate on what those relationships are or why Ezra is so important. Sabine and Ahsoka clearly have a strained relationship, what's their history? Who are they to each other?

    Maybe instead of doing a gratuitous intro scene for Sabine with a police/speeder chase that looks straight out of the first Star Trek remake, give us a scene that explains who she is and why she's so angsty and makes bad decisions. They have a scene about the commemoration of some important holiday involving our heroes, but never stop to explain who was involved, what they did, or why I should care.

    So after being left in the dark for the whole episode, I really don't care. Nobody took the time to string me along and give me a reason to care and I'm not going to watch hundreds of hours of other content as homework for a series that failed to grab my interest.

    6 votes

  12. Comment on Cities: Skylines II | Official release trailer in ~games

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    This is the Paradox formula, I've found people either love them or hate them. Personally I've never found the need to have all of the DLC they release to feel like I'm having a complete experience...

    This is the Paradox formula, I've found people either love them or hate them. Personally I've never found the need to have all of the DLC they release to feel like I'm having a complete experience and only purchase packs that have content that interests me. They usually release free updates alongside paid DLC, so even if you aren't buying new content the game is constantly being worked on and improved. You can spend hundreds on Paradox games, but I'd argue you really don't need to.

    26 votes

  13. Comment on Woman denied medication for being of childbearing age in ~life.women

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    Why are you unable to take the article seriously without knowing the specific medication? I'm not sure that it matters, considering she's not planning on getting pregnant and even if there were...

    Why are you unable to take the article seriously without knowing the specific medication? I'm not sure that it matters, considering she's not planning on getting pregnant and even if there were severe risks, there should simply be extra hoops to jump through like those described in other comments for prescribing Accutane. It just seems like an odd sticking point to me.

    13 votes

  14. Comment on Woman denied medication for being of childbearing age in ~life.women

    Axelia
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I don't know, this has shades of "I would support their cause if only they would protest the way I want them to protest." If the cause is just, that should be enough. Anything else seems like a...

    I don't know, this has shades of "I would support their cause if only they would protest the way I want them to protest." If the cause is just, that should be enough. Anything else seems like a convenient excuse to continue ignoring the issue by criticizing the marginalized group.

    Also, I'd like to point out that you're pretty quick to defend Costco man but critical of a woman for wearing what's probably an equally offensive shirt (the one in the original article, not the innocuous political statement the other commenter was harassed for). What's the difference in conduct here? Why is there no defense for her via role models or like minded peers? Why is her attitude in need of adjustment if she wants her issues taken seriously, yet he's allowed to be publicly vulgar and society shrugs and moves on?

    21 votes

  15. Comment on Woman denied medication for being of childbearing age in ~life.women

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    I'd go further than that and call it misogyny. "This woman isn't presenting herself the way I think she should/in a traditional way, therefore there's clearly something wrong with her and the...

    I generally just think that focusing on possible rudeness and a curse word on a shirt in the face of discrimination is so unevenly weighted as to be a complete red herring.

    I'd go further than that and call it misogyny. "This woman isn't presenting herself the way I think she should/in a traditional way, therefore there's clearly something wrong with her and the system probably treated her accordingly."

    13 votes

  16. Comment on Woman denied medication for being of childbearing age in ~life.women

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    Why does a woman have to fit a perfect mold to be believed? If she was wearing a traditional sundress and spoke with calm deference in the face of clear discrimination, would you then scold her...

    Why does a woman have to fit a perfect mold to be believed? If she was wearing a traditional sundress and spoke with calm deference in the face of clear discrimination, would you then scold her for not being assertive enough or some other imagined shortcoming?

    This happens all the time to women across America, to the point that several commenters have expressed a complete lack of surprise at this headline. It's not a far fetched claim and I could understand not being a "model patient" if I were suffering from pain severe enough to make me lose consciousness and being told I couldn't receive medication because of a hypothetical fetus. Who cares what she's wearing? She should be treated with dignity just the same.

    24 votes

  17. Comment on Art restoration fail in ~arts

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    I couldn't get over the fact that she seems to be missing an ear. Her hair and clothing don't seem to cover where it should be and it throws off the shape of her face.

    I couldn't get over the fact that she seems to be missing an ear. Her hair and clothing don't seem to cover where it should be and it throws off the shape of her face.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on The misogyny myth in ~life

    Axelia
    Link
    This article honestly unsettles me, and I admit I did not finish it as it was far too long for me to stomach. In the past decade, I've lost the right to my bodily autonomy and witnessed the incel...
    • Exemplary

    This article honestly unsettles me, and I admit I did not finish it as it was far too long for me to stomach.

    In the past decade, I've lost the right to my bodily autonomy and witnessed the incel movement emerge and murder women for being women. I've seen the rhetoric on my favorite sites slowly become peppered with unchallenged misogynistic rhetoric and had to question if I'm truly welcome on the web. I've struggled to be taken seriously in "male" hobbies such as video and card games and felt unwelcome and objectified staring at my opponent's softcore porn playmat and card sleeves while playing at tournaments. I've been catcalled, stalked, and even had one harasser attempt to run me over as I walked home along the road.

    How many movements are out to kill men for being men? How many laws are on the books that regulate men's bodies? How dangerous does it feel, as a man, to go out on a date with a stranger? How often do you read messages online from women saying they would like to do abusive and horrible things to men for pleasure?

    And why can we not address men's issues (which yes, absolutely do exist!) without complaining about women's progress? This article reeks of "I haven't experienced discrimination so it doesn't exist," akin to white blindness of racism in America. It's like an article from a white guy complaining that white people are the true underclass because minorities get access to more scholarships. I wouldn't be comfortable spreading that kind of article and I'm hesitating to give more attention to this one, but as this site is heavily skewed towards men (as many are), I feel I need to give an alternative perspective. I fear that this type of article normalizes the idea that gender equality has been "achieved" and therefore women are full of it when they're complaining about discrimination and harassment.

    Men have important issues that need solving. Men need to lead the way on solving those issues (just as women have toiled to bring the progress for women we have today) and the solutions need to lift men up without pushing women down.

    62 votes

  19. Comment on ‘Rebel canning’ is having a moment, whether or not it should in ~food

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    At least where I live, you have to have an inspected kitchen to sell prepared foods at a farmer's market. Even simple things that you couldn't possibly screw up like honey need an inspection if...

    At least where I live, you have to have an inspected kitchen to sell prepared foods at a farmer's market. Even simple things that you couldn't possibly screw up like honey need an inspection if sold anywhere other than on your property. It's possible that the canned food at the farmer's market where you are is the same and just putting a warning on the label to be safe or possibly as a requirement. Granted I don't know if inspections also check the preparation of the food since I haven't gone through it myself, they may just check the kitchen itself.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - new ways to play in ~games

    Axelia
    Link Parent
    You must not have been in the crowd that was burned by Spore. Now there was a true betrayal. Cyberpunk was at least a pretty decent game with some launch issues, Spore was nothing like what was...

    You must not have been in the crowd that was burned by Spore. Now there was a true betrayal. Cyberpunk was at least a pretty decent game with some launch issues, Spore was nothing like what was promised.

    9 votes