Thank you!

Do I just take an iron supplement like Slow Fe to get the iron up? I will definitely ask to be put on an rx thyroid replacement and hopefully I won't need to find a new doctor. Thanks for the tip re: vitamin D!

Thank you for taking the time to respond. The standard range for Free T3 is 2.3 - 4.2 pg/mL and 0.89 - 1.76 ng/dL for Free T4. I purchased Thyroid Plus produced by Priority One today. I only took half the dose today but I don't feel any better. I'm not sure if my doctor will write me a script for rx strength since he is largely concerned with the Vitamin D deficiency. I will see him on Thursday. Do you have links to info I should take with me to the appointment? Thanks again!

Thanks for the chart. I'll ask about cortisol. My doctor has me on 50,000 IUs of Vitamin D2. Should I see if he will change it to D3? What's the difference?

I have seen a number of thyroid threads posted lately and it got me thinking about my health which lead me to ask my dr. for a thyroid panel. I was once treated by a integrative health md for underactive thyroid about 10 years ago. I was placed on low dosage Armour thyroid and took it for about two years before I decided that I didn't want to rely on a hormone replacement because I was worried that maybe my thyroid was really fine (I dunno :huh: ). Fast forward to now. I just got my results back and they are within normal (other than Vitamin D which is super low) but they are all low and not optimal: TSH (0.76 uIU/mL), Free T4 (0.95 ng/dL), Free T3 (2.9 pg/mL), Ferritin (45 ng/mL), and Vitamin D (15.0 ng/mL). For those of you who know a lot about thyroid issues, is there anything I should be concerned about other than the Vitamin D? My doctor placed me on 50,000 IUs (once a week) of Vit D2 today which I am to take for 8 weeks. Is it strange to have low tsh and low free t3 and free t4? Could these figures explain why I feel so awful and cannot lose weight despite serious effort? Thank you!

Prayers for your son. I hope you get some clarity about his health condition. It's so terrible to not know what you're dealing with. Please keep us posted.

Congratulations! What a joy!

Just checking to see if you went. Update us if you feel inclined. :)

I agree with you about the cop's attitude. He is jaded. He has been doing this for a long time. I guess his voice sounds so familiar, having been raised by LEO'S, that is easier for me to take with a grain of salt. Honestly, he sounds tame compared to my mother and unpolished compared to my late father. You can't spend a lifetime on the force and come away sounding very optimistic about society...truthfully. I do see where you are coming from in regards to stereotyping. It's difficult to draw connections with crimes to the prevalence of certain behaviors without the risk of stereotyping as a result.

Prayers for everything to go on without a hitch for the rest of the day! Congratulations to you and to your daughter!

I was under the impression all along that topic has been binge drinking and hookup culture among college students and how these factors influence and affect sexual assaults among college women. The title of the thread is "Say it isn't So! Cop Writes about Extent of Hook-Up Culture on Campus" and the title of the opinion piece under scrutiny is "Campus Drunk Confidential." I think most people have been sticking to the topic. In my opinion, some people have read into the discussion details and opinions about rape as a whole that are simply not part of the topic which has been specifically geared toward the social norms that exist among adults in institutions of higher learning.

The claim was made that there was no evidence of a majority of sexual assaults being linked to alcohol. There is plenty. I was using the article to illustrate that the cop isn't the only one talking about the strong connection between alcohol consumption and sexual assault. There are plenty of others making similar statements as the cop. Please consider the following: "Research suggests that about 40% of college students binge drink (i.e., consuming 5 or more drinks in a short amount of time) and that the vast majority of campus sexual assaults are fueled by alcohol... ...If students could only limit themselves to no more than 1 or 2 servings of alcohol per day or per social event following Center for Disease Prevention (CDC) guidelines we would be sure to see incidents of sexual assault on campus drop dramatically." http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8668364.html And then this: "Findings from this report include: In one study, one in 20 (4.7%) women reported being raped in college since the beginning of the year – a period of approximately 7 months – and nearly three quarters of those rapes (72%) happened with the victims were so intoxicated they were unable to consent or refuse.One study found that students living in sorority houses (3 times at risk) and on-campus dormitories (1.4 times at risk) were more likely to be raped than students living off-campus.Women from colleges with medium and high binge-drinking rates had more than a 1.5-fold increased chance of being raped while intoxicated than those from schools with low binge-drinking rates. Women who had practiced binge-drinking in high school had an increased likelihood of rape while intoxicated." http://www.nsvrc.org/saam/campus-resource-list Why is there so much denial going on here? Is it preferable that college women and men continue to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol and be met with the horrors that can result from incapacitation and inebriation? It seems the better alternative is to educate people about responsible drinking rather than deny there is a problem. It doesn't mean the victim is being blamed. While people still die in car accidents each year, the numbers have decreased dramatically with the enforcement of seat belt laws. Educating drivers about the dangers of driving without a seat belt isn't victim blaming anymore than warning students about the perils of binge drinking is.

I posted the USA Today article to provide an alternative view on how closely related alcohol and sexual assaults are. Yes the topic is about incapacitated adults and sexual assault which is what the cop in the opinion piece posted by the OP is addressing. There's tons of evidence that supports the correlation between excessive (as in too much) alcohol consumption and sexual assault. If you are dissatisfied by the article I shared I could share 10 more, but you can Google just as well as I can.

No one is saying that anyone should be raped when they are drinking. Nobody has made that statement on this thread. Not once. I believe the officer, like many, has seen a lot of evidence that links alcohol consumption to sexual assaults. His figures may not be exact, but he is illustrating accounts from his own experience on the force, he is not coming out as a department of justice spokesperson. Consider this information that was taken from a USA Today article, "Police, experts: Alcohol most common in sexual assaults"

I don't think that's what people want to believe at all. I think people want to have discourse around the subject of rape and address all the factors that simply cannot be ignored in any meaningful or thoughtful dialogue. We can't ignore the fact that so many reported sexual assaults and rapes are taking place under circumstances where alcohol, particularly binge drinking were factors leading up to the assault. We also cannot discount the fact that many rapes occur within domestic partnerships (many of which go unreported) and these often occur in homes where the perpetrator is an alcoholic. Alcohol and inebriation are significant social issues that go hand in hand with many felony crimes, not just sexual assaults and rapes. Homelessness is a huge problem where I come from and alcohol and drug abuse along with mental illness are factors that cannot be ignored when discussing that issue. I would assume that people who bring up alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness in a discussion about the homeless want to address the broad topic from many angles because it is a very complex subject. I wouldn't assume that they have it out for homeless people and think of them as nothing more than worthless drunks and druggies or weirdos. Rape is a complex subject and there are a lot of factors that are part and parcel of any discussion on the topic. Simply stating these factors as such does not mean that the issue is being swept under the rug.

How exciting to have so many choices! I know PJ will have a good idea about the potential differences among the parishes you have to choose from if you take her up on her offer. Wishing you a lovely first encounter with the Divine Liturgy. This Sunday is Pentecost which is a wonderful feast day for a first visit! May your journey be blessed!

That is true. States will vary on how expansive the definition for rape is. Statutory rape and rape by force are both technically rape, but are very different in action. Thankfully statutory rape is not reported the same way as forced rape which usually is reported by degrees. As to your opinion regarding the officers anecdotal depiction, you are entitled to your doubts, but the fact is he was citing 90%+ of "sexual assaults" in his writing and not 90%+ of "rapes" which is what many of the people on this thread seem to believe. The difference between these terms is very important for statistical referencing.

I think you might be mixing statistics and attributing statements to the officer that he never made by reading into his words. Cops compartmentalize by chargeable offense. The words "sexual assault" include many types of sexual assaults from groping to attempted rape. Actual rape is legally referred to as rape. If you read the sex offender databases, you will notice range of terminology used. When you look up rape statistics, you are getting results for convicted rape, not lesser charges for other sexual assaults. Many times rape charges get reduced to "unlawful sexual penetration" or "sodomy" or "sexual abuse" or "sexual assault" which will not be reported as rape in the statistics we can access, even when what the victim experienced was actual rape.

Where does he say that? He does say "Here is the down and dirty bottom line regarding 90%+ of reported adult sexual assaults: It’s the alcohol. Period. Full stop." He goes on to describe the fact that many women choose to drop charges and describes what a purgatory it is to try and make these kinds of assault cases stick. He acknowledges that he blames the victim to some degree for the circumstances they create through their actions of binge drinking and casual sexual encounters. It's not the victim's fault that the perp takes advantage of the fact that she's made herself vulnerable by forfeiting her ability to be aware and on guard. Sexual Assault is always wrong. Always. Wrong. I hold myself and my children accountable for operating under a certain amount of wisdom. If I leave my laptop sitting on the passenger seat of my car with the windows down and the door unlocked while I go into the bank for 30 minutes, there's a good chance someone may take advantage of the opportunity that's been created for them through my lack of vigilance. It doesn't mean that stealing the laptop is morally correct or that it's my fault that it got stolen, but it does mean that I literally left the door open to someone looking for an opprtunity to take advantage of.

Coming from a family of cops (parents worked for Los Angeles Sheriff Dept and sister works vice in LAPD), this sounds pretty typical and was true enough when I was in college in the 90s. It doesn't seem like much has changed. ETA: sister works for pd not county. Also to clarify, it's the binge drinking that seems pretty typical. Hook up culture is definitely more extreme than I can remember it being. I think social media and dating apps that make hook ups easier have a lot to do with this, in addition to the substance abuse that passes for fun in our society.

I am a fan of Diana Gabaldon's and started reading the Outlander series about 20 years ago. I just started watching the STARZ tv series on Amazon. I'm impressed with what they've done. It's not completely true to the books but it stands well on its own. The costumes and wardrobe are absolutely stellar. The rape scenes are easy enough to mute/fast forward. I'm very averse to blood and violence but i can handle this series, so far. I give it two thumbs up!

Costco sells our favorite hypoallergenic sunscreen made by the Honest Company. It works really well and no allergic reactions for any of us. Hope you find something that works!

First of all, I would look for a traditional martial art and avoid anything that is mixed or a "new style" made up by the instructor. Traditional schools will have a real name for their style that one can research and learn the history of. There is no plain "Karate," "Jujitsu," or "Kungfu." There are styles within these types of martial arts. Traditional schools are usually very faithful to philosophy, meaning, ethics, and esoteric principles ; all of which often get lost in the mixed martial arts arena. I would look for attitude. How does the head teacher (sensei, master, sifu, etc.) treat the students? Is it clear s/he is building a culture of mutual and shared respect or does respect only flow one direction--to the teacher? Warm ups are extremely important. I would walk out of any school that gave less than 30 minutes to warming up and stretches. In the tradition I have studied the longest, there are lots of joint locks, take downs, and throws. It is simply unsafe to practice such techniques without properly warming up. What is the pedigree of the teacher? How long has s/he studied and what is the larger organization that the school is affiliated with? Does this affiliation have national or international recognition and is it in good standing? For example, my jujitsu dojo is affiliated with the American Judo and Jujitsu Federation. Do not chose a school that lacks affiliation and an additional tier of accountability. Is the school clean and odor free? Is all the equipment (mats, weapons, dummies, etc.) in good working order and well-maintained? Are the students required to participate in clean up before and after class? This is a good sign. What is the ranks and promotions structure? Do children receive black belts? That is a serious no-no for me. If I see children wearing black belts, I won't even stay long enough to ask questions. How long does it take for an adult (usually age 16 +) to achieve a black belt? One needs a good deal of time and practice to achieve black belt, so I wouldn't bother with a school that gives them out in less than 2 years but preferably no less than 3 years. Is there additional cost for promotions and grading? This is not traditional and a common practice among McDojos. Does the head teacher provide instruction or does s/he delegate the majority of teaching to senior students? If there are a number of black belts teaching, that is fine, as long as the head teacher is also frequently on the mat with all levels of instruction. Watch out for schools that rely a lot on younger brown belts for teaching. The cost should be reasonable and there should be a family discounts. There should also be scholarship or sliding scale fee options for people of lesser means. Beware of any school that is only accessible to people of wealth. Martial arts should never be elitist. That's it in a nutshell. :)

Oooh. I love hearing about good traditional martial arts schools. Which form/style of karate are you doing? We will be starting Shindo Jinen Ryu after many years of Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu. I'm excited to get into karate!

What a relief!