2015 U.S. Transgender Survey Report

In 2011, a report Injustice at Every Turn was produced, detailing in bald terms just exactly what the situation was for Trans people in the US.
A follow up report, with an even larger sample size, has now been written.

 One in ten  (10%)  respondents who were out to their immediate family reported that  a family member was violent towards them  because they were transgender.

One in twelve(8%)respondents who were out to their immediate family  were kicked out of the house, and one in ten (10%) ran away from home.

Nineteen percent(19%) of respondents who had ever been part of a spiritual or religious community left due to rejection

One-third(33%) of those who saw a healthcare provider in the past year reported having at least one negative experience related to being transgender, such as being refused treatment, verbally harassed, or physically or sexually assaulted, or having to teach the provider about transgender people in order to get appropriate care, with higher rates for people of color and people with disabilities.

In the past year, 23% of respondents did not see a doctor when they needed to because of fear of being mistreated as a transgender person, and 33% did not see a doctor when needed because they could not afford it.

(16%)  respondents who have ever been employed—or 13% of all respondents in the sample—reported losing a job because of their gender identity or expression  in their lifetime.

In the past year, 27%  of those who held or applied for a job during that year—19% of all respondents—reported being fired, denied a promotion, or not being hired for a job they applied for because of their gender identity or expression.

Fifteen percent(15%) of respondents who had a job in the past year were verbally harassed, physically attacked, and/or sexually assaulted  at work because of their gender identity or expression.

...and so on. Similar to 2011, but this report is in more detail and with greater confidence levels. Improvements over that period have been made... But you need a microscope to see them.

Six weeks De-stressing

Four weeks de-stressing

Some people knit. Some meditate. Some gafiate. Some crochet.

I take 3D printed nylon models of WWI aircraft in 1/144 scale, white and somewhat rough textured blanks, and transform them into fairly accurate representations of the originals. I say "fairly accurate" because some compromises have to be made regarding thickness of struts and so on to allow these to be printed. 0.1mm instead of 0.05mm etc.

Similarly, the paint schemes are often informed guesswork. We have, if we're lucky, one or perhaps two photos in black and white of the originals, taken from one or two angles. We also have descriptions in letters and diaries of those that flew them, perhaps some swatches of the fabric, formal specifications from military authorities of colours and patterns to be used  - often these were ignored - and in general much ambiguous and contradictory data. We know the dope they were covered with discoloured over time too, the same aircraft in June 1915 could look quite different in November, even it it hadn't been repainted or reconstructed after a heavy landing. As almost all were, at least once.

There are many published profiles, colour paintings and drawings, of many of these aircraft. All guesses based upon different subsets of data, some more accurate than others.

Anyway, here is the result of 4 weeks destressing. Surface preparation, sanding, smoothing, undercoating, then putting on layer after layer of colour, designing and printing decals, then coating with a protective finish.

An Issue Whose Time Has Come: Sex/Gender Influences on Nervous System Function

An Issue Whose Time Has Come: Sex/Gender Influences on Nervous System Function
Journal of Neuroscience Research, vol 95 1-2, Jan/Feb 2017

"Be careful, it's the third rail.” I received this strong advice to steer clear of studying sex differences from a senior colleague around the year 2000 when my research into brain mechanisms of emotional memory began drawing me into the issue of sex differences—or better yet, sex influences—on brain function. And in a way, he was right. For the vast majority of his long and distinguished neuroscience career, exploring sex influences was indeed a terrific way for a brain scientist not studying reproductive functions to lose credibility at best, and at worst, become a pariah in the eyes of the neuroscience mainstream......

Yup.