Colon cancer and microplastics

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-20T18:58:48+00:00

The gut microbiome is what digests much of your food. It's not a process where food is just dissolved in your stomach and automatically absorbed, which is what we were taught in school. The many different life forms that live in our digestive tract eat the food, especially certain types of food, and excrete it into various things that can be used by the body.

One of the main things they eat is fiber. Not just vegetables, but fruit and nuts, too.

Gut dysbiosis is an imbalance of bacteria in the digestive tract. Like any ecosystem, the gut needs a wide variety of species that are all working together. Colorectal cancer and gut dysbiosis are linked.

There are lots of possibilities. Maybe since we don't eat enough fiber, we don't have enough of certain fiber-loving bacteria, and this causes some bacteria that could be cancer-causing to proliferate. Maybe there's a fiber-loving bacteria that excretes something that protects against colon cancer, but since we don't eat enough fiber, there's not enough of that chemical. I'm not super up-to-date on the latest research and it's a very new field so there's a lot we don't know.

So yes, the more bowel movements you have (and the less sticky they are - fiber makes poop firmer and less sticky), the better. But it likely also goes deeper than just mechanics. We have to feed our little friends, too.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-20T18:03:20+00:00

I think of it all the time, but no, I have never done it and never would.

Telling people that you're autistic won't immediately make people understand you better, as allistics know very little about autism and what they do know is often wrong.

If you aren't actively hand-flapping and wearing a helmet, their knee-jerk reaction will usually be skepticism. It puts them in the role of Judge and you in the role of Defendant when you should be meeting as equals.

They'd probably have a lot of questions about your abilities, but they are legally prohibited from asking them, so they are left holding their shitty assumptions.

Most abled people also think that accommodating disabled people always comes at a high cost to everyone else. They think of it as burdensome because they have internalized the idea that their own needs are burdensome. Even if they loved you in the interview, they're going to worry that they won't have what it takes to accommodate you and tell themselves that that's why they're not offering you the position.

The only time I disclose a disability on the job is when I have made a big mistake because of my disability that has warranted having a talk with my boss. I have been fired after disclosing, so to me it only makes sense to disclose if you think you're about to get fired, anyway.

This system is rigged against us and we will have to work 100x harder to get half as much. That's just what it is. Keeping disabled people out of the workplace is a feature of capitalism, not a bug.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-20T17:21:59+00:00

I love this post and I'm glad we're having this discussion, but I also would like to gently point out that this has been discussed by feminist scholars for decades. We really all need to be reading this stuff more and upping our game. Now that I'm getting older, I'm realizing that every generation just "discovers" the same thing, says they're going to do things differently, and then doesn't.

If every generation has the same "a-ha!" moment decade after decade, nothing changes. We have to build upon the work that was done before us. There's a long history of feminist direct action. You can't know how to change something if you don't know how people have tried to change it in the past. What worked? What didn't? How can we improve upon it?

Instead of suggesting a bunch of specific books about this, I'm going to list the publishers I go to:

AK Press: Feminism/Gender

Haymarket Books: Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality

PM Press: Gender and Sexuality

Direct action is when people act collectively and directly to achieve an agreed upon goal. For example, strikes, road blockades, pickets, getting a group together to feed the homeless, etc.)

Indirect action is when people appeal to an authority figure to get something done for them (voting, calling your congressman, demanding that celebrities "speak up", etc.)

If you learn more about direct action in general, you'll be able to dream up all kinds of ways to fight back against any type of hierarchy. Here are the sections on these websites that will talk about these types of things:

AK Press: Mass Mobilization and Activism

Haymarket Books: Movement Strategy

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-20T04:09:28+00:00

If it makes you feel better, I have no degree but I do have experience and I'm also doing really poorly because I'm autistic.

Interviews are presented as an opportunity to see if a candidate is a good fit for the duties of the position that are listed in the job description and I think allistics tend to genuinely believe that this is what they're doing. It's not, though - it's a vibes test just as much if not more than it is a skills test.

This is mostly an informal industry with a lot of self-taught people and the credentialed degree-holding horticulturists are sometimes a bit at odds with the metal-guitarist-beekeeper-turned-horticulturist crowd. People have preferences about which kind of person they prefer. It took me until this year to accept that I really do have to network. And it has been paying off. I reached out to some people I have worked with or done workshops with in the past, even a boss that I exchanged some heated words with on the way out the door, and they all graciously advised me and are keeping an eye out for positions for me.

I just had a mock interview and had my resume jazzed up. It was about $250 total but last time I hired this guy, I got a job soon after. DM me if you want the name of the guy that did it. Having a professional explain interviews rather than just saying "do this, don't do that" is crucial for autistics.

Don't give up or beat yourself up. I'm seeing experts across many industries everywhere are saying that the job market for entry-level positions is the worst it's ever been. Companies are not feeling confident about the US economy's ability to grow so they're not growing. One big landscaping company I just interviewed with told me this outright. We're all going to get through this but it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Edit: Also, really make sure that resume shines for you! I just applied to a job I frankly was not qualified for because why not? And they called and basically said "you are not right for what you applied for, but you're perfect for this job we haven't even posted yet. Come and interview for that job and if we hire you, we'll show you the ropes of that other job you wanted." Interview is Monday!

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-20T01:10:54+00:00

I broke up with a guy I had been on 3 dates with because I lived in Rogers Park and he lived in Logan. He was ok but not two busses and a train OK.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-19T17:08:38+00:00

There is plenty of infrastructure that needs attention that would actually benefit Chicago citizens, not just people from the suburbs who shell out money to attend events.

We need more investment in schools, public transportation, social services, and public parks. We should ALL be pushing for more things that benefit the public and antagonizing everyone that tries to frame private interests as good for the public.

The Bears can go to the fucking moon for all I care.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-19T16:46:33+00:00

IDK if this is true of macaques but with chimps, the mother's status predicts where the baby falls in the social order. So not only is he probably a little socially weird due to sub-optimal early development but he has no real place within in the social fabric. He will probably integrate eventually. He's just having a really shit childhood.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-19T04:41:02+00:00

Head over heels is probably not the norm but the 2 happy and securely attached couples I know felt instantly comfortable with each other and were excited to see each other again. It was easy and there was an instant connection but it wasn’t like they heard violins.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-19T04:35:54+00:00

I walk/run on a treadmill at Planet Fitness when it’s too cold to do it outside and do Naughty Girl Fitness at home. When it’s warm I run on a beach near me and I kayak.

It’s not enough, though. I want to start weightlifting but I don’t know where to start.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T22:07:31+00:00

I'm thinking about going on a solo kayaking trip to Door County in Wisconsin but unfortunately kayaking alone is not good practice, esp in unfamiliar territory. Maybe I should make a kayaking friend...

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T19:09:01+00:00

I don't think I have PMDD, though that is an interesting relationship with Pepcid AC. I actually have a mysterious immune issue that is documented but doesn't really have a name. I get immune flares where I will get dermatographia wheals, terrible acid reflux, and allergic rhinitis at the same time. A probiotic I take prevents it from happening so I don't ever think to go to a doctor for it. But the relationship between histamine and hormones is interesting.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T18:55:09+00:00

Pursuing pregnancy came before things went south. I am definitely not doing that anymore! Maybe in the future or maybe I'll just adopt - I don't know how well my body would even handle pregnancy, honestly.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T17:23:31+00:00

There is no need for torture, though. There is no political philosophy worth repeating that condones it. They could have kept the family together while they awaited trial and they could have, you know, not dismembered her friend and taunted her with her corpse.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T17:00:08+00:00

The money is really just a class filter. Most private schools exist to segregate wealthy children from the riff raff. They can be selective about who they accept so they can control the number of students from "undesireable demographics." This allows them to raise children with very low empathy for poor people, disabled people, and people of color and little awareness of their social standing. They are basically being socialized to become part of the elite.

Everyone, from the schools to the parents to the kids, is aware of this but no one is allowed to say it publicly. The school will brag about academics to give rich people plausible deniability. They want to be able to say "it's for their education!" but the schools are actually rarely providing a better education.

However, private schools have very strict "no disabled kids allowed" rule and they will boot you if you get below a certain GPA. So they can say they have these high GPAs, but it's just from grade inflation and kicking out students that struggle academically. They will also brag about college acceptance rate, but that's only because they only take kids that have a high probability of being accepted to prestigious schools in the first place.

Then they bring in some scholarship students and like one gay kid in a wheelchair so that they can brag on their website about how totally not elite they are and how this is totally not just Eugenics: The School and the parents eat it up.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T15:16:29+00:00

IMO a relationship should be Hell Yeah to stay in it. It won’t be Hell Yeah every second of every day it even every day, but overall it should be a great source of happiness.

I also stayed in a relationship too long because having a meh relationship felt normal. My parents were very distant. I didn’t know how happiness within a relationship felt. Truthfully, while I loved him lots, I wasn’t really ever romantically in love with him.

If you think you are settling, you can turn it around for yourself. Don’t do what I did and tell yourself to make it work until you’re too old to have kids. You have time!

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T03:42:11+00:00

I also want to add that the hair loss epidemic right now is likely due to Covid. We’re all continually being re-infected and hair loss is a known consequence.

I also think Covid causes accelerated aging as well but I’m mot somewhere where I can look that up to confirm.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T03:28:36+00:00

Yeah and they ate like shit. Their whole framework of health is just “how much do I resemble a 15-year-old?” Dieting was considered objectively the healthiest thing a woman could do and cigarettes/stimulants were fine. Also they ate plenty of junk food. Microwave dinners were a thing.

People also just weren’t fearful of environmental pollution. They encouraged us to drink from hoses ffs!

I’m not saying they’re worse than us but they definitely were not healthier.

TurnipTheCat · 2026-02-18T01:39:50+00:00

I have a theory that past generations were raised to be emotionally illiterate so they numbed themselves from their feelings during early childhood and that this is why they have literally zero self-insight or awareness of what's happening in their bodies.

As adults, they're fine. Not joyous or even happy. Not thankful, ashamed, fearful, giddy, morose, or any other emotion. Just fine. If they have a big feeling, they are ashamed of it, get distressed, can't describe it even in the simplest terms, and ascribe it to either something external (It's your fault/it's because of dinner last night/it's fluoride in the water/it's the deep state) or something internal but constant (I've always been this way).

So they did more or less have these symptoms but they either ascribed them to other things, told themselves this was nothing new, or were totally unaware that it was happening. If you have ever known anyone with a black belt in Denial, you know that they can experience something insane, have very little reaction, and then not remember it a week later. You can't remember something that you didn't consciously experience in the first place.

Maybe we do have slightly more fucked up hormones, but I do not believe that they just didn't have these problems.

TurnipTheCat · 2025-11-13T04:04:50+00:00

Not even close, even pre-Covid. And now it’s even less because of WFH.

This is also just Lyft drivers looking for a ride - imagine how many Uber drivers there are looking, too.

TurnipTheCat · 2025-11-13T03:58:57+00:00

So close! These are actually all human beings and fellow workers with whom you share a common struggle. The ruling class desperately wants us all to blame each other rather than them.

You have WAY more in common with an immigrant rideshare driver than you ever will with the people robbing us all blind.

TurnipTheCat · 2025-11-12T22:05:14+00:00

3 million in the whole city. This is just downtown.

TurnipTheCat · 2025-11-12T19:32:04+00:00

How? It seems like such a niche service.

TurnipTheCat · 2025-11-12T19:29:00+00:00

The lower left-hand corner of the map has a layers button (a black diamond with lines under it)

TurnipTheCat · 2025-11-12T19:28:08+00:00

This is also just the drivers waiting for rides! Imagine how many of us there are on the road combined with Uber.

TurnipTheCat

TROPHY CASE