You have been donating blood for the last couple of years. Unfortunately, you were forced to stop temporarily because of low blood pressure. A few months after your last donation a man with strangely sharp teeth stands in front of your door. He tells you that he would like to ask you a few questions, and asks you if he may enter your house.
After four years of Freedom of Information Act litigation, the ACLU has
prevailed and forced the Customs and Border Patrol to release 1,000
pages’ worth of training documents in which new agents learn when they
can stop people and what they can do after they stop them.
The documents are a window into the CBP’s legal gamesmanship, in which
the flimsiest of pretenses are spun into legal excuses to stop, search,
question and detain people within 100 miles of the US border and in any
city with an international airport.
Counsel for CBP has cherry-picked legal precedents to produce a
kafka-esque litany of excuses for stops, including being close to the
border, being on a “known smuggling route,” driving “inconsistent with
local traffic patterns,” being “from out of the area,” having a covered
cargo area; paying “undue attention to the agent’s presence,” avoiding
“looking at the agent,” slowing down on seeing the agent, being dirty,
etc.
The documents also shed light on CBP surveillance activities, though much of this section is redacted.
Of particular interest are the revelations of the CPB’s shadowy “city
patrol,” which does not target people who’ve made illegal border
crossings.
Also interesting is the CBP’s belief that it can force any civilian to
operate on its behalf on penalty of a $1,000 fine (previously the CBP
has used this authority to force doctors to perform medically
unnecessary rectal examinations, a practice now banned by the courts).
Evans suggested that when they bump into each other, they do what friends often do after being apart for a while: assess each other’s haircuts. In some ways, they’ve swapped styles. Thor has gotten a clean-cut trim, while Cap is sporting the ragged locks and beard.
“I’ll be like, ‘Short hair now? Good choice,’” Evans says, while miming a right hook against an invisible Outrider.
“And I’ll go, ‘Yours too. The beard. Very rugged,’” Hemsworth says.
— Behind the scenes of Avengers: Infinity War, EW
I feel like I scream this all the time. Thor speaks Groot. The language Groot. And he introduces his friend as Tree. His name is Tree, he is a Groot. He is a Groot named Tree in the MCU.
I read lots of comics but I haven’t stumbled across this character in my pull list yet, so I have no idea about his in comics.
Oh it’s times like this I miss not having all my certifications on hand, cause this romance book blogger has got enough actual certified science and licensed know how to fill a fairly substantial wall.
Just from what I have handy atm, Robert Tisserand is one of the worlds leading experts on aromatherapy, and he talks extensively about the safe (and unsafe) uses of essential oils, including medical interactions with drugs, and how the base compounds react with basic physiology and the environment.
I’ve taken the liberty of screen shotting the summary on the known effects of essential oils on the olfactory system, and highlighted parts which are relevant to you having breathing issues:
So basically even though it can help some people feel relief with correct use, if you are triggered by scents or suffer from breathing problems, the use of essential oils should be done with extreme caution. And shoving menthol directly under the nose is not even remotely in the same vicinity as using caution.
Essential oils should be used in a well ventilated space and applied to safe spots to the body, away from mucous membranes. Directly under the nose, on the skin, is not one of those safe spots, though I know plenty of people who will tell me they do it all the time and they’re just “fine”. (Nb: if you’re one of those people that’s your choice, but don’t inflict it on anyone else, especially children or people with allergies)
If it’s a diluted mixture (which those rollerball things tend to be) your chances of skin damage are reduced, but you’re still at risk from developing a sensitivity, or from personal irritation due to existing sensitivities.
Also here’s what Poison Control has to say about it:
Some nasal inhalers contain menthol. The menthol makes us feel as though we are breathing easier, but it does not actually help with congestion. In fact, it appears that more inflammation develops.
There’s also an article in the Canadian Respiratory Journal to back this up, which breaks down how menthol works to soothe breathing difficulties with some actual science and figures if you’re interested:
Nasal resistance before testing was similar on both occasions. No differences were found in respiratory frequency (mean ± SEM) (menthol 17.0±1.1 cmH2O/L/s; sham 16.9±0.9 cmH2O/L/s), minute ventilation (menthol 7.7±0.5 cmH2O/L/s; sham 7.9±0.5 cmH2O/L/s) or total inspiratory time/total breath time (menthol 0.4±0.1 cmH2O/L/s; sham 0.4±0.1 cmH2O/L/s). The upper airway resistance was similar during menthol (3.47±0.32 cmH2O/L/s) and sham (3.27±0.28 cmH2O/L/s) (P=0.33) inhalation.
CONCLUSION:
Inhalation of menthol does not alter upper airway resistance in awake human subjects.
Basically, the tl;dr version: menthol doesn’t increase your ability to breathe, it merely cools things down, providing relief from the symptoms of inflammation, while not actually increasing your airflow capacity.
So shoving menthol under your nose, isn’t going to actually help your breathing problems to resolve long term. If anything it may trigger them into being worse if you are sensitive to fragrances, or suffering from some form of inflammation which may be worsened by the use of volatile oils, which is another name for essential oils. Sounds a lot less friendly than “essential” though, doesn’t it.
Anyway, I hope these are useful to you. Good luck with avoiding the rollerball.
The other day I went to McDonald’s with my family and the guy who took my order was really loud and was basically like “HAPPY HOLIDAYS WHAT CAN I GET YOU” and I was like wow I can’t let this guy outmatch me so I yelled “I’LL TAKE A HAPPY MEAL WITH THE NUG NUGS IF I MAY” you know, like a natural well-adjusted epitome of adulthood 19 year old and he was like “CERTAINLY WOULD YOU LIKE THE MIGHTY KIDS MEAL INSTEAD WITH EXTRA FRIES” and I was so sleep deprived I essentially blacked out and apparently leaned over the counter like I was robbing the place, raised my eyebrow like a suave robin hood and said “HECK YES I WOULD GOOD SIR” and then I sat down and he yelled from across the store “WOULD YOU LIKE THE PURPLE OR BLUE SPIDER-MAN” and since purple is the more superior color that’s how I answered and long story short my parents think college changed me and that I’m now the poster child for being social and I’ve only been asked once why I’m not in a relationship yet but I know it’s gonna be brought up again and how do i tell my parents it’s because whenever I eat in the dining hall I spend the entire time playing bumper cars with the wheeley chairs and all I eat is pixie sticks and the last time I was in the library (where I’m supposed to work next semester, deAr GoD) I ripped my leggings in the bathroom pulling up my pants and I walked the entire 20 mins back to my dorm with my neon underwear peeking out from the holes like a 17th century harlot with a cocaine addiction and I’ve essentially been living off jars of peanut butter and the soundtrack to the bee movie for the past year
this thing went on so many different directions I feel like I’m high
interesting observation, tati
Do u want to see what I’m currently making in my laboratory bedroom?
yes, please
Step one of making my dinner: I gather my materials everyone knows u can’t make something out of nothing so u gotta do the thing, pull up your pants, and get your starting items
Here I have lemonade made from real lemons. This is vital because fake lemons (Also known as apples and oranges) throw off the concoction and render ur potion useless. I also have cocaine (the flavored kind)
Step two: do the thing with the other thing to make the better thing my sources tell me this is how u cook
In this case I poured 7 cocaines into my starter nectar
Step three: wiggle wiggle wiggle i do the shake
It fizzes. Chemicals do the chemical thing. Bubbles happen.
Step 4: bask in ur child’s freshly born glow
I have done it, mother. I have darkened the light yellow solution with my magic and I have come out stronger
I have prepared:
Dinner
That would literally kill you but okay.
It didn’t.
DO NOT LET MY GIRLFRIEND SEE THIS. THEY ALREADY SNORT SUGAR AND PIXIE STIX AND I KEEP TELLING THEM TO STOP. THEY WOULD DO THIS IN A HEART BEAT.
But on another note, coolio Tasha. You’re an alchemists now! Or possibly a witch… or both…
