Humanity

When extremists take over Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

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Marriage should be about love and a permanent commitment between two individuals for purposes of raising a family and sharing assets and resources. Gender shouldn’t matter, it should be about commitment not what you do in the privacy of the bathroom or your bedroom.

People should be able to choose how they want to express their gender and their career. Many careers can benefit from people of varied genders in them. Females as police officers and construction workers, men as nurses and secretaries bring valuable perspectives to their respective careers of choice. Women should be free to wear blue jeans or suits and ties, men can wear certainly wear pink or even a dress, though outside of the Mennonites I don’t know of many people who wear dresses anymore.

Private, intimate behavior should remain private and respectful. Likewise, people should choose the gender they are most comfortable with and dress respectfully as that gender and retreat to the privacy of the restroom when needing to relieve themselves based on what their dressed to be in. Intimate behavior in the privacy of one’s own house should be careful and respectful, noting the life-altering consequences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases especially as norms and laws around abortion are changing in America.

It’s true in politics you can’t be still on a moving platform and that stand still you fall behind. But the stakes are high when you take life altering decisions like the choice of intimate behavior and marriage. People in protest often don colorful clothing and signs to be noticed by the cameras, but caution should be taken not to offend or be trapped and injured by risky and bad behavior.

 

At the end of the day, pride should be about loving and respect, mutual commitment.

Why New York Has Such Strange Rules About Alcohol – The New York Times

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Why New York Has Such Strange Rules About Alcohol – The New York Times

The supermarket chain Wegmans is lobbying New York State for permission to sell wine. It is just one moment in New York City’s long, tumultuous, love/hate relationship with alcohol.

Despite the city’s reputation for booze-soaked debauchery, its liquor laws can seem puritanical: Until last year, liquor stores were barred from opening on Christmas Day. The so-called boozy-brunch bill didn’t pass until 2016; before that, restaurants were not supposed to serve alcohol before noon on Sunday.

NY Medicaid Patients Win Dental Settlement, Expanding Coverage for 5 Million – The New York Times

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NY Medicaid Patients Win Dental Settlement, Expanding Coverage for 5 Million – The New York Times

Medicaid programs, which vary from state to state, are not required to cover dental care; several states do not. But under federal law, if a state Medicaid program does cover an optional category of care — such as dentistry, prescription drugs or optometry — it must cover all medically necessary care in that category.

The suit argued that dental health was essential not just to overall physical health but also to psychological well-being and the ability to find or keep a job.

“You need to have teeth to function in our society,” said Belkys Garcia, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, which filed the suit. “It impacts everything in your life — your relationships, how people see themselves, how others see you.” Sign up for the New York Today Newsletter Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Get it sent to your inbox.

For decades, Ms. Garcia said, New York’s coverage rules for Medicaid were “structured to pull your teeth rather than save them.” And because one of the main jobs of a tooth is to hold its neighbors in place, an extraction often has a domino effect: Losing teeth leads to losing more teeth.

5 ways to avoid sitting too much – Mayo Clinic

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5 ways to avoid sitting too much – Mayo Clinic

What can you do to minimize your sitting time? Here are a few ideas:

Take a break from sitting every 30 minutes. Get up to get a glass of water, take out the trash, or do some squats or simple stretches. These breaks are also important during long car rides and plane trips. Set an alarm if this helps you stay aware of the time.
Stand during routine tasks. Take a walk while talking on the phone or stand during your favorite television show. Try a standing desk.
If you use a desk at home or work, consider switching to a version that allows you to change between standing and sitting. You can also improvise with a high table or counter. Treadmill desks, which add in physical activity, are another option.
Take your meetings on the go. Whether chatting with co-workers or meeting friends for a coffee date, suggest taking a walk while you talk.
Invest in a fitness monitor. These devices can alert you when you've spent too much time without moving. Setting a daily step count goal can also motivate you to get up and move.