Tag: fyi

criticalrolo:

this-seamonkeys-gone-to-heaven:

fierceawakening:

rnoonpie:

frontier-heart:

Legitimate *pro bono legal services* don’t exist without a good reason. In a few of the exmormon groups I’m in you’ll see regular posts saying stuff like “Look what my lawyer sent me today!” with a pic of their resignation confirmation letter from the church.

You know. Just stuff that a normal average church that is definitely not actually a cult would do. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

🙄

As an ex-mormon, I’m gonna look the fuck into this. I want nothing to do with the church that shaped so much toxicity about my self image and my sexual orientation.

Not sure if any followers need this but if you do, here you go.

Everyone should be able to choose their religious beliefs and community, and leave any that they find does not work for them.

Ex mormon here – this guy’s legit. The Mormon holds your files for eternity, and when they find out that you’ve moved to a new area, they will send members and missionaries from that region to harass you. I know this sounds like dystopic bullshit, but they followed my father through three moves before he rejoined the church.

Also ex mormon here who used this. It’s a ridiculously helpful service that is incredibly easy to use. They keep you updated throughout the whole process, and it’s totally worth it since the church doesn’t get to keep all your private information and pass it around once you resign 🙂

Best thing I ever did. About fifteen years and counting. Before then, my own mother kept giving church people my address, even when I was sleeping on someone’s floor. It got so bad, I threatened to end all contact with her. Once I successfully resigned my membership using a form letter, I was no longer harrassed by active church members.

The Language of Gluten

(Or, what Do those Words Mean?)

Gluten Free

This is meant to mean absolutely no gluten. It’s been made in a gluten free environment, and tests have proven that there is no detectable gluten in the product. However, a lot of places don’t understand that. You’re generally safe with packaged goods – factories have to pass rigorous tests to be allowed to print it on their packaging – but I’d view that unwrapped pastry in a case with gluten pastries in that cafe with a suspicious eye.

Low Gluten

We’ve done our best, but we can’t guarantee it’s gluten free. We have a kitchen and equipment that is used for both gluten and non gluten products. Also, it may contain a low gluten wheat variant like spelt, which may be fine for the fad dieter, but for the person with a diagnosed allergy or intolerance, is very bad. Ask a lot of questions about the processes involved, and if the people behind the counter seem vague, uninformed or confused about gluten or their handling procedures, avoid.

Gluten Friendly

We’ve produced a product that has no actual gluten ingredients (maybe), but we’re not sure traces of other things haven’t crept in. This is a wishy washy label that’s becoming more common. It’s good for people avoiding grains for diet or fad, but very ambiguous for those looking out for allergens. Because it’s a wishy washy term, uneducated staff may even think it’s gluten free becaue it contains no wheat flour, but might be unsure about ancient or different variants of wheat like spelt or cous cous. May not know about the problems with Oats, Rye and Barley, or with condiments that contain gluten (such as soy sauce or malt vinegar) at all. If they can’t satisfy your questioning, avoid.

May Contain Traces of Gluten

We have a shared facility or kitchen. We wash and/or sterilise it between batches of things, but we can’t 100% guarantee there’s nothing there. We do probably spot test our product and regularly return nil detected results, but we want you to know it’s a possibility. A lot of Coeliacs take a risk and eat ‘May Contain Traces’ food. It’s a gamble, but prepackaged food like crisps are pretty safe because the factory must adhere to food safety guidelines. If they didn’t, then they’d have to recall an entire product rather than just a batch when there was a contamination issue. May contain traces in a restaurant and cafe setting is more of a gamble. Treat it like you’d treat low gluten – ask and decide if it’s worth the risk.

fabbittle:

fabbittle:

Hey y’all the kid I’m going to be nannying starting in August is gluten intolerant. I’d really like to perfect some recipes for her before I start working with that family.

Does anyone have some good gf baking tips?

I’m going to keep reblobbing myself until I know everything about gf baking

Gluten Free Makeovers, Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache*, River Cottage Gluten Free, Gluten-Free Girl for cookbooks. (All of these are actually on my bookshelf.)

I Breathe I’m Hungry, Healthful Pursuit, Smitten Kitchen**, Gluten Free Girl, Gluten Free Goddess, Gluten Free Makeovers for blogs/websites.

*Avoid or modify the scone recipes as these contain spelt, a low gluten but not zero gluten ancient wheat variety. All other recipes gluten free.

**Not completely gluten free but has a good collection of recipes searchable by tags

From people living with Coeliacs for over ten years, The Basics are:

– The four big ‘no’s’ are Wheat, Barley, Rye, and Oats. Wheat is sneaky because it’s in everything, and because you need to avoid ‘ancient’ variants such as spelt and other variations, such as durum, semolina, cous cous and burghul/bulgar. Barley is sneaky because it’s often used as a flavouring agent – avoid things like Malted milk and Worcestershire Sauce unless it’s labelled gluten free. Rye is sneaky beacause people don’t associate it with gluten. Rye bread is very much not gluten free. Oats are sneaky because it’s a grey area. Some people react to them, some don’t. Some say the only problem comes from farming and processing it alongside wheat and other gluten grains. Some say people who have no reaction to it are still reacting to it, they just don’t feel it. There is a market for ‘uncontaminated’ oats that are grown and processed in isolation from other grains. Some Coeliacs eat these. We are one of those families, but every person’s reactions are different, so it’s safer to avoid if you’re not sure, or when it’s a child.

– Look for alternatives. Other grains and gluten free options are your friends. Buckwheat, despite the name, is not a wheat, and is fine. Just look out for additives. Quinoa is fine, rice is great, beans, pulses and seeds and nuts in their natural forms are fantastic. TVP is a good meat alternative, just check the labels for colourings and flavourings. A good GF pasta is gold – we use Buontempo – but don’t overcook it or it turns to inedible glue. Rice noodles are great, just check they’re 100% rice. Chang’s brand does good wok-ready instant noodles you don’t have to rehydrate.

– Read the labels on everything. Wheat and other gluten containing grains like barley can hide in soy sauce, cornflour, iced tea, potato crisps and other snack foods like crackers and nuts, frozen bake at home fries, soba noodles, BBQ sauce, rice bubbles, corn flakes, chocolate, tofu and other vege meats like Quorn, ice cream, flavoured milks and coffees, sausages and burger patties, crumb coats or batter coatings on meat and vegetables, custard, stocks, marinades and gravy. Gluten containing cereals are used as thickeners, flavouring agents, colouring agents, source of maltodextrin, source of glucose syrup, as a booster of protein in breakfast cereals and as a filler in things you’d think would be wheat free (I’m looking at you, soy sauce.)

– Keep your kitchen spotless. That microscopic toast crumb on a chopping board can ruin a Coeliac’s day, or even send them to hospital, depending on how their allergy presents. Have separate working spaces and kitchen utensils if possible, because that takes the stress out of it. If you can’t, then wipe down and clean everything, every time, if you know there’s been gluten in the area. Separate chopping boards are a must. Separate plastic bowls are ideal, or do what I did and switch to stainless steel and pyrex, neither of which scratch up and retain food particles like plastic does. Consider investing in separate cake tins if you’re into baking, since it’s impossible to clean flour out of every crack and crevice, or be absolutely meticulous in lining with baking paper or dedicated GF silicone liners every time.

– Have a separate tub of butter for your GF friend. No matter what, there are always crumbs transferred from knife to tub. I cannot stress this enough.

– Play around with recipes and learn how baking works. Gluten Free Makeovers is amazing for this. Making my own bread using the flours I could get my hands on using Beth’s substitution table was one of the most empowering things I’ve done. Plus it saves you a whack of money. Premade shop bought gluten free bread is hard to find, expensive, and most of the time, underwhelming to say the least.

🌙🤲🏽RAMADAN FOR DUMMIES🌙🤲🏽

qirmezi:

qirmezi:

❌ islamophobes begone❌

Ramadan is super close!!! – and I’m so excited. Every year I get tonnes of questions from my non-muslim friends and even muslim friends who want to know better. So I’m compiling it all here in this post.

~ I’ve been fasting each year for more than ten years and I’ve been a student of Islamic studies more than 13 years. So yeah I know what I’m talking about.~

  • What is Ramadan?

It’s the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and a pillar of Islam. It has extreme significant importance to Muslims as it is the month in which the Quran was first revealed. A very holy month in which Shaytan ( the devil) is said to be locked in chains and each good deed and prayer blesses a Muslim 70 times more than any normal month of the year.

Muslims all around the world spend each day fasting from dawn till dusk. We celebrate the end of this blessed month – the first three day of the next month, Shawal – in a celebration known as Eid-ul-Fitr. It’s a really big deal for us.

  • How do you know when Ramadan is? Does it have a fixed date? When is Ramadan this year?

Ramadan does not have a fixed date! It depends on physical sighting of the moon or the Saudi Arabian declaration of Ramadan ( which is then again, by sighting of the moon but some countries avoid the hassle and follow that. Or if it’s a non-Muslim majority.)

The moon cycle is different for many parts of the world, hence the beginning and end of Ramadan is different – usually no more than one day – for each country.

Ramadan 2k18 is estimated to begin on 15th May! -confetti burst-

  • So all you do is just abstain from food and drink from dawn till dusk in Ramadan?

No! We also abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn till dusk. After breaking fast most Sunni Muslims also attend series of special prayers in congregations called ‘Tarawih’ which are specific to Ramadan only. Some Muslims segregated themselves for a few days in mosques of their homes – not engaging in talking or listening to music etc – and spend the time secluded in prayer. This is not specific to Ramadan but most Muslims prefer it during this Ramadan. This practice is called ‘I’ttekaaf’.

In Ramadan the Muslim community gets together, we break the fast together as family and friends. Some hold feasts at the end of Ramadan. Nearing the end of Ramadan and throughout Ramadan able affording Muslims give money to the poor and destitute from their property, money, jewellery. This practice is called Zakat. It is not an option, every able Muslim must give Zakat in Ramadan.

  • Not even water?

Yes, not even water. Nothing can go into your stomach or out of it during fast. Yes, you read that right. Voluntarily vomiting breaks the fast! ( I take ten minutes brushing my teeth during the fast…careful to not let water into my throat.)

  • If you’re sick, do you still have to fast?

It depends on the sickness itself. You may not fast if your sickness becomes worse with fasting – however if you are a well-off Muslim – you are to feed a poor person three meals for one day for each fast you miss for your sickness/any other reason from which you recover.

If it’s a mild sickness, take a break from fasting until you get better but you are required to complete your fasting after Ramadan.

Children smaller than ages 13-15 are not allowed to fast. If you are travelling a hard and long journey, you are not required to fast. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding – you are not required to fast but you are to make up the days you missed after Ramadan is over. And you can’t fast at all when you’re menstruating. Menstruating breaks your fast.

  • Do medical injections, drips, eye drops, nose drops break a fast?

It’s important not to swallow any of the nose drops etc. Otherwise it’s a-okay to use. Injections and drips as long as they aren’t of glucose/nourishing stuff are permitted during fasting.

  • Fasting is such a good way of losing weight lol. You all must get real skinny after Ramadan!

HAH. Listen, Muslims gain more weight during Ramadan than any other month. That’s because we party after dusk and we eat a lot of fatty stuff to keep us going throughout the day. And a lot of Muslim countries have special non-alcoholic sugary drinks that we drink so. Much. After breaking the fast.

Also that’s really fucking disrespectful, we don’t fast to diet, we fast as a religious duty and to practice patience and steadfastness. The whole Muslim community comes together during this month.

  • How can I be behave as a Non-Muslim during Ramadan?

    • Be respectful!

    Don’t make a big deal out of eating infront of us – most of us have been fasting for ages.

    Tag tumblr content like food, porn etc as #nsfr ( not safe for Ramadan)

    Don’t call Eid, ‘The Muslim Christmas’ just…don’t.

    Remember that Ramadan is for all Muslims. That includes minority Muslim sects ( wahabis don’t interact ), LGBT Muslims, Muslims suffering in war zones, disabled Muslims, new converts. Ramadan is for all of us.

    Please, consider donating to the people of Syria, Palestine and the Rohingya Muslims this Ramadan. They are as much as part of this Ummah as we.

    Ramadan Mubarak everyone. 🌙

    It’s absolutely okay for non-Muslims to reblog!

    biandlesbianliterature:

    diverse-reads:

    Powell’s will always be there to welcome you home. 📚

    (In Powell’s City of Books (( @powells )), Oregon)

    [image description: an endcap at Powell’s. It has a chalkboard sign with LGBTQ+ YA! written in rainbow. Most of the books have signs under them saying “Powell’s Bestseller” or “New”. Some of the (bi or lesbian) books are Dreadnought and Sovereign by April Daniels, Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert, 27 Hours by Tristina Wright, Dress Code for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens, and That Inevitable Victorian Thing by EK Johnston]

    A complete listing:
    Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Carry On, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Unbecoming, History Is All You Left Me, Dreadnought, Sovereign, Queens of Geek, When the Moon Was Ours, Little & Lion, 27 Hours, Vanilla, Grasshopper Jungle, Dress Code for Small Towns, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, Perfect Ten, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, That Inevitable Victorian Thing, Proxy, Mask of Shadows, Ramona Blue, They Both Die at the End, The Love Interest.

    mykidsgay:

    7 Ways To Support Someone Who’s Changing Their Name & Pronouns

    By Jamey Hampton

    So, recently you’ve found out some big news about somebody you care about. Maybe they came out to you as transgender and/or non-binary, maybe they’ve told you that they’re changing their name and/or that they’d like to be referred to by a different set of pronouns. Maybe—hopefully!—you want to be supportive of them but you’re worried you’re going to mess up (which is an understandable fear)!

    Coming out is hard and the fact that they came out to you is a big deal! You should be proud of them for taking this big step and being honest with you about who they are. Changing the way you think about someone is a process, and you will mess up at some point! However, if you really love and respect this person, you will keep trying, and eventually it will become second nature to you.

    As someone who has changed my own name and pronouns, here are some things that I feel are important to keep in mind as you’re getting used to this change.

    1. Use the new, correct name and pronouns all the time—even when they’re not there to hear you, even when you’re just thinking about them in your head. This is because the end goal of this process shouldn’t be to retrain yourself to call them a certain thing, it should be to think of them in a certain way. By coming out to you and asking you to use their new name and pronouns, your loved one has shared with you something very real about who they really are. You should be trying to retrain your brain to know them by this name, because it’s their real name—much realer than the one they were being forced to use before.

    2. Correct yourself when you get it wrong, even if they don’t say anything. It might be tempting to hope that it just slipped through the cracks and they didn’t notice your mistake. But trust me, they noticed. Being called by the wrong name or pronouns is jarring and painful, but sometimes it’s hard to stand up for yourself and say something.

    3. Don’t over-apologize when you mess up! Apologize once, correct yourself, and move on. Apologizing over and over just brings more attention to it than they probably want, and going on and on about how bad you feel for getting it wrong puts pressure on them to comfort you, when this should really be about them and how they feel.

    4. Correct other people too! Like I said, it can be very hard to muster the courage to correct people, especially over and over, so having allies in my life who are willing to do that work for me is a godsend. This is a really simple way to take on a little sliver of your loved one’s burden while they’re transitioning. Even a very simple reminder like, “Please don’t forget, Jamey uses they/them pronouns!” can be super helpful and take a lot of pressure off.

    5. Be sensitive not to “out” them to people they’re not out to! (This is a caveat to #1 and #4, by the way, because you have to ask them if they’re comfortable with you using their new name and pronouns in front of others.) Coming out is a nerve-racking experience and it’s common not to come out to everyone in your life at once. Outing someone before they’re ready is a terrible, stressful, and sometimes dangerous position to put someone in. Ask who they’re comfortable being out to and be very careful to respect that.

    6. Be patient if they change their mind on what they want to be called. It’s really tough to figure out what name and pronouns fit you best and feel the most comfortable without “trying them on” and seeing how it feels when other people use them. Experimentation is an important part of that! If someone changes their name a few times in a row trying to find something that fits, or changes their pronouns but then changes them back, that’s just a natural part of that experimentation.

    7. Remember that they’re going through something very personal. Their transition is all about them and what makes them comfortable—not about you and what you think is best. If you don’t think their new name fits them, or if you don’t think the singular they is grammatically correct, or if you think trying to remember their new name and pronouns is too hard… those are all thoughts you should keep to yourself!

    Again, coming out is really tough! If your loved one has gathered the strength to come out to you, trust that this is important to them. They know best about what they need to be called to be comfortable and happy. Do your best to put their needs first when it comes to this change and before long, hearing their old name and pronouns will sound almost as wrong to you as it does to them!

    ***

    Click through to read about our brilliant contributors!

    starlightomatic:

    For anyone planning any type of school/community/club/activist event or party, the first two nights of Passover this year (2018) are:

    Friday night 3/30

    Saturday night 3/31

    Most Jews won’t be able to attend events on these nights. Passover is one of the most important Jewish holidays, and most Jews will be attending a communal meal with their families or communities on these two nights.

    Please avoid scheduling important events then, just as it would be inappropriate to schedule important events on Christmas Eve.

    In addition, most Jews avoid products containing wheat, barley, etc during Passover, which begins (as mentioned above) on Friday night 3/30 and ends in the evening of Saturday 4/7. While it is okay (though not ideal) to schedule events during that week, if you are and the main food/drink involves cookies, bread, pasta, flour, cake, beer, etc, please provide an alternate food for Jewish participants.

    Please reblog, even if you’re not Jewish yourself! Thank you 💙

    5 Things People Don’t Get About Borderline Personalities

    rebelfeathers:

    The whole article seems a bit all-over-the-place to me, BUT it had one of those sentences in it where as soon as your eyes hit it the penny drops and your heart skips:

    “Harvard professor Judith Herman even believes that BPD may not exist at all, suggesting that it’s actually a form of PTSD that has turned into a label to be slapped on troubled women because it fits so neatly into our ideas about them, conveniently allowing them to dismiss us as “born bad.” Add the fact that most people diagnosed with BPD have experienced severe trauma to the list of things that are probably not coincidences.”

    5 Things People Don’t Get About Borderline Personalities

    Charities/organisations to avoid:

    arch4ngel:

    ayellowbirds:

    thefingerfuckingfemalefury:

    shitpost-senpai:

    prochoice-or-gtfo:

    paintedspectres:

    this-tragic-affair:

    PETA: They’d rather spend their money on publicity campaigns than on the animals in their care. PETA killed 73.8% of the animals in their care in 2015 (x)

    FCKH8: Is a for-profit company that exploits oppressed groups for money. They’re also wildly uninformed, and spread misogyny, cissexism and bi/panphobia, as well as stealing their posts/designs (x)

    Autism Speaks: They spend most of their money on researching a way to eliminate autism, heighten the stigma against autism and don’t have a single autistic person on their board (x)

    Please support other, better charities, and feel free to add any others you can think of to this.

    Susan G. Komen for the Cure: CEO makes insane amounts of money, they deny a lot of requests for wigs/help with treatment/etc., and have attempted to sue other charities that use the color pink as part of their anti-breast cancer campaign. ( x x x )

    The Salvation Army: They promote the hatred of LGBT+ people, work with fundamentalist Christian groups to support conservative politics and rip off and exploit workers. ( x x x )

    Wounded Warrior: They take money that should be spent on veterans and blow it on huge opulent parties for the company bigwigs. 26 million in 2014 alone wasted! ( x x x )

    ^ Important reminder to NOT waste any money donating to these groups

    Reblogging because of the added info about Wounded Warrior.

    A good way to know if a nonprofit you’re donating to is allocating their money in the right way is to check out their Charity Navigator rating: http://www.charitynavigator.org