Are you having trouble sleeping? If so, look no further for the perfect solution. We know that he quality of your sleep plays a major role in determining your state of health. If you are having difficulties with sleep, there are chances that you are suffering from insomnia. With this condition, you might find it hard to attain relaxing sleep. In addition, insomnia causes short spells of sleep; meaning that the quality and quantity of your sleep are compromised.
Insomnia is not a simple condition because it triggers serious effects to the body. To this end, finding help is paramount to maintaining good health. Good quality sleep enables your body to do several things. First, muscle repair is promoted. The immune system as well as your cognitive abilities are boosted, thanks to good quality sleep. Therefore, high quality sleep which amounts to a natural sleep cycle is a must for good health. If you suffer from insomnia, finding the right remedy is in order. There are countless solutions to insomnia, but one effective remedy is Relaxium Sleep. Relaxium reviews have attested to the effectiveness of this product. So, let’s look at what it is.
What is Relaxium Sleep?
It is a solution to insomnia or sleeping difficulties. It is a supplement that is made with an assortment of rich ingredients to reduce anxiety and stress for better sleep. It’s a fact that some of the leading causes of insomnia are depression, stress, and anxiety. Relaxium Sleep, just as the name suggests, will enable the patient to achieve a high level of relaxation for more potent sleep. Studies have shown that this remedy works on the nervous system to provide that calmness, and therefore is responsible for improved sleep.
Manufacturer
Relaxium Sleep is manufactured by the American Behavioral Research Institute. This is a company that was founded by Dr. Eric Ciliberti, who developed the supplement. Dr. Ciliberti was looking to create a remedy for insomnia that would not have harmful side effects while promoting sleep naturally. Through extensive research, he came up with this groundbreaking product. To this effect, Relaxium works naturally to improve sleep patterns.
Ingredients
As alluded to above, this product is made from natural ingredients. In fact, these natural ingredients are pure. It is for this reason that the supplement will not cause any major side effects compared to other sleeping pills. The constituents are extracts from plants and they include; melatonin, Magnesium Citrate, Sensorilashwagandha extract, Passion Flower and Chamomile extract. All these ingredients have excellent qualities that go into inducing quality sleep, naturally. Relaxium reviews reveal how effective this formulation is.
How does it work?
Relaxium works in a very simple manner. It goes to the core problem to address the cause of insomnia. The formulation is able to tackle anxiety, stress and depression. This way, the body and mind are able to relax; inducing natural sleep to the delight of the user. Releasing tension and relaxing muscles is how the supplement is able to address anxiety and stress. In the end, neurotransmitters are able to work effectively in the brain to trigger normal and healthy sleep cycles. This is how sleep is restored and patients are able to find relief from insomnia.
No Need to Worry!
Relaxium Sleep, just like all other things in life, comes with a set of pros and cons. It is worth noting that the merits outweigh the flaws. However, we consider it important to look at all aspects when trying something new. The following is a look at the pros of using this supplement.
Merits
— This supplement is highly effective. This means that it enhances quality and quantity of sleep. — The ingredients used to formulate this product are natural and safe. They have been tried and tested. — The product is not addictive unlike many sleeping pills in the market. — This supplement can be used without any severe side effects. — This product has been developed by a reputable neurologist. To this end, it is endorsed by industry professionals who matter.
Demerits
— This supplement can get a little pricey, but what is good sleep worth to you? — Melatonin can have various effects on people. Always use the recommended dosage!. — It’s important to note that since the purpose of this supplement is to help you sleep, you might have other medications that also do that. Please consult a doctor before mixing any medications.
Should you use Relaxium Sleep?
It’s a pretty simple formula. If you have trouble sleeping, what better to help you sleep than using something with all-natural ingredients? The only question that remains is how to take it, not should you take it. To begin with, the dosage of this supplement is key. You must use it as recommended for it to work effectively. Please see the instructions for optimal results. In addition, the remedy should be taken at bedtime only. This supplement is highly recommended mainly because it is effective. The formulation does not cause adverse side effects and is not addictive. All these elements make it a winner when it comes to solving your sleeping problems. Many user reviews confirm that this product is indeed worthwhile.
Anime DanganRonpa and My Hero Academia have shown us that not all anime girls are made to be cute. Some of them are more creepy than cute. There is a very specific image that comes to mind when thinking of “anime girls.” Often cutesy with impossibly fluorescent hair, typical anime girls are feisty while still being naive and innocent enough to need the protagonist’s protection. Then there are the anime girls who flip that script entirely, becoming the kind of monsters that make Freddy Krueger afraid to fall asleep at night.
By being delightfully, horrifyingly creepy, these anime girls terrorize both fictional characters and audiences alike. Here are the 10 best creepy anime girls who are legally required to stay 30 feet away at all times.
10. Himiko Toga (My Hero Academia)
This villain from My Hero Academia possesses a shape-shifting ability, which she can trigger by ingesting another person’s blood. Already, the creep factor is high with Himiko.
Himiko looks like a typical cheerful anime school girl but is quick to fly into a murderous rage at the first inconvenience. She has a twisted view of interpersonal relationships. Himiko once attempted to befriend two teenage girls while simultaneously trying to kill them. Even those she admires aren’t immune to her murderous tendencies. Himiko has expressed a desire to kill and “become” her role model, Stain.
9. Road Kamelot (D.Gray-Man)
Road Kamelot is another anime girl villain with a childish nature. But considering the fact that she’s at least 35 years old, this personality trait adds to how creepy she is. She can also disguise herself as a talking doll, and dolls are always creepy.
In a show where the heroes have to destroy the corrupted souls of resurrected loved ones, Road’s creepy nature fits right in. She’s sadistic and will kill her own subordinates just to upset Allen Walker, the protagonist of D.Gray-man. Additionally, despite claiming to be in love with Walker, Road once stabbed him in the eye with a candlestick—a classic creepy anime girl move.
8. Hana Midorikawa (Prison School)
Prison School is an extremely bizarre anime about an underground school prison. Any of the sadist female student council members could qualify as creepy anime girls. But Hana Midorikawa truly takes the cake with the file baked inside.
Upon first impression, Hana seems like a cheerful witchy neighbor. She loves four-leaf clovers and brewing dandelion tea. Upon second impression, Hana is actually a violent sociopath with a urination fetish. That’s not even the end of her creep factor.
7. Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)
When most teenage girls want to shake things up, they get a new hair cut. Junko Enoshima, shakes things up by getting her classmates to kill a fellow student. She does this by using robotic teddy bear to hound her victims and murdering her own twin sister.
Obsessed with despair, Junko is the villain of Danganronpa. Her ultimate goal is to inflict despair onto others by pressuring them into making terrible decisions. When she’s ultimately unmasked and backed into a corner, Junko gleefully executes herself with maniacal laughter.
6. Shiro (Deadman Wonderland)
Adopted for the sole purpose of being used for human experimentation, Shiro had no choice but to become a creepy anime girl. The painful experiments caused Shiro’s body to fall apart and she developed a second personality, “The Wretched Egg”,” to cope. Technically, it’s the Wretched Egg who’s the real creepy anime girl.
The experiments also led Shiro to develop supernatural abilities. The Wretched Egg uses these powers to murder all of her adopted brother’s classmates and frame him for the crime. And that’s just episode one.
5. Ai Enma (Hell Girl)
Buried alive by her own village at the age of seven, Ai Enma crawled out of her grave as a spirit of vengeance. She burned the entire village to the ground, killing all the inhabitants.
In punishment for the horrific (albeit justified) act, Ai was sentenced to spend her afterlife as “Hell Girl.” Frozen as a child, Ai drags souls to hell, regardless as to whether or not the victims deserve their fate. The cold, unfeeling manner in which Ai goes about her work is what makes her truly creepy.
Image if Casper the Friendly Ghost ripped out Chirstina Ricci’s tongue in the second act of the 1995 Casper film. That’s basically Sachiko.
An antagonist from the Corpse Party video game series, Sachiko unleashes a host of horrors in the OVA series Corpse Party: Tortured Souls. In the anime, Sachiko is the ghost of an elementary school student who cut out her classmate’s tongues shortly before her death. In the afterlife, Sachiko continues her reign of terror by torturing children in a living hell called Heavenly Host Elementary School.
3. Sekai Saionji And Kotonoha Katsura (School Days)
Sekai and Kotonoha are the ultimate frenemies, so they share a spot on this list. Sekai sets Kotonoaha up with Makoto, a boy from school. Not long after, Sekai has an affair with Makoto, and things escalate. Someone is stabbed to death with a kitchen knife, someone has their stomach cut open, and someone sails away with a severed head.
There’s an argument to be made for both girls, as both were driven to madness due to Makoto being an awful person.
2. Yuno Gasai (Future Diary)
While many creepy anime girls don the disguise of an innocent schoolgirl, no one pulls it off quite as well as Yuno. Sweet and innocent on the surface, Yuno quickly reveals herself to be a cold, obsessive psychopath.
Stalking a crush on social media is bad enough. In Future Diary, Yuno has a supernatural journal that shows her everything that will happen in her crush’s life. She gladly uses this to kill anyone who could harm him. Granted, having watched the love of one’s life die in an alternate reality could drive anyone to drastic measures.
1. Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill!)
The Ice Queen of the Empire, Esdeath from Akame Ga Kill! is a manipulative sadist. She justifies torturing her enemies and killing innocents by following her father’s creed: The strong survive and the weak die. As a general in her Empire’s army, Esdeath once forced the prince of a failed rebellion to strip naked and lick her boots before she killed him.
Most creepy anime girls let their unhinged nature turn them into outcasts with no real power in the social structure. What makes Esdeath so terrifying is the fact that she keeps her sadistic impulses in check just enough to remain in a position of authority. This empowers Esdeath to unleash her cruelty on even more defenseless people. That said, she has no loyalty for the empire she serves. Esdeath once stated that should the Empire fall, she would start another war herself so she could keep killing.
Alternative ‘Alt’ Culture is the umbrella term for the communities that exist outside of the mainstream. I personally divide ‘Alt’ culture into two categories: Lifestyle/Fashion and Hobbies/Interest. Of course, these at times overlap. While derived directly from the music genre, it’s also a fashion statement as well — hence making it both lifestyle and interest.
I’ll focus on the Hobbies/Interest aspect of the Black ‘Alt’ community. Funnily enough though, a lot of communities — to Black people — are technically ‘Alt’. Take Musical Theatre for example— the significant lack of Black people within this industry makes being a Black Musical Theatre fan relatively ‘Alt’, while this wouldn’t be the case for our white counterparts. To narrow down this broad category, for the general sake of your sanity and mine, my focus will be on Anime/Cosplay and Comic Books, however, I do intend to touch upon other communities briefly and in later articles.
As an avid member of the ‘Alt’ community and a self-acclaimed Geek, I jumped at the chance to write about, and for, these communities, and the spaces we as Black members have created for ourselves within them. I decided to interview some members of these communities, who’s different stories showcase what it’s like to be a Black ‘Alt’.
Anime and Cosplay Community
The Anime and Cosplay communities, despite many assumptions, aren’t necessarily interchangeable — despite that, most of the time people are members of both. Some Cosplayers focus on Cosplaying characters from ‘western’ shows, books, and movies. Likewise, some Anime fans don’t Cosplay and just indulge in watching the shows and reading the manga.
Black Anime Fans/Cosplayers have created communities for themselves within these communities — becoming a minority within a minority of such. Luckily there is this increasing popularity of these communities, with figures such a King Vader, Caleb City, and Mark Phillips, who have paved the way for a lot Black Anime fans by making such big names for themselves. And more recently, celebrities such as Megan The Stallion and Micheal B. Jordan have discussed the topic of anime on a more mainstream level.
Despite this, however, there are a lot of issues Black people face in these communities. Our identities as Black people seem to always be up for discussion, even at times by fellow members of the Black community.
Common Misconception of the Community — ‘No, we don’t want to be Asian!’
One big issue we as Anime/Cosplay fans face is this common assumption that we want to be Asian — or at the very least, don’t want to be Black. This mentality not only polices Blackness but creates a monolithic sense of what it means to be Black — which is very dangerous rhetoric to have.
EXTRACT FROM SAILOR GOON’S INTERVIEW
TikTok star, Keondra Kelly, even stated that even her mother thought that “[she]…truly wanted to be Japanese”. Our ‘Blackness’ seems to cause conflict as members of these communities — it always becomes an object for discussion. We never get to be ‘Black enough’…
EXTRACT FROM FAITH’S INTERVIEW
“You can’t cosplay them, they’re not BLACK”
A big issue Black cosplayers have been facing within the Cosplay community is the whole ‘you can’t cosplay white characters’. This often is paired with the ‘well how would you feel if I cosplayed a black character’. The two main issues with these trains of thought are: firstly, these characters aren’t white — Tsukino Usagi, despite her blonde hair and blue eyes, isn’t white. Judging by their names, most of these characters are Japanese. So with that, the policing of cosplayers should extend to other non-Asian cosplayers too right? Not to mention, it’s often white people policing this community despite not fitting the race of the characters they’re cosplaying. Secondly, if you really want to cosplay the small minority of Black characters (as long as you kindly refrain from blackface, or the promotion of blatantly racist caricatures) then please go ahead. You may, however, find that there aren’t a lot of them.
EXTRACT FROM KEONDRA’S INTERVIEW
The issue at hand is there aren’t a lot of Black characters to cosplay (especially Black LGBTQ+ Women, but I digress), as long as you’re respectful you can cosplay anyone! Kelly stated that:
“limiting cosplayers like that causes nothing but insecurity and many new and young cosplayers have come to [her] saying that [she] helped them break that stigma for themselves due to [her] cosplaying who [she] want[s] whether the character be white, black, asian, etc”.
This is so important. Within the anime and cosplay community, we need to be better at acknowledging the fact the Black people are held to a much higher standard when they cosplay. We have to be better because our skin itself is already a reason why the cosplay will ‘not look authentic’ to people.
EXTRACT FOR SAILOR GOON’S INTERVIEW
Cosplay allows people to immerse themselves with characters who inspire, thrill them and make their journey through a story enjoyable. Cosplayers are artists, actors, and world-builders. Black people deserve to be a part of that and treated fairly with respect.
EXTRACT FROM FAITH’S INTERVIEW
The spaces we’ve created within these communities produce BIG trends, period. Like ‘cultural reset’ level trend. Take the TikTok trend to the song ‘JoJo Pose’, made by Apollo Fresh (a Black artist) — which orignally showcases people posing to different anime characters frame by frame. (The song has gone on to even be used further beyond the anime community too). The song takes inspiration from the anime JoJo’s Bizare Adventure.
Likewise you have Kamil’s song, ‘Bakugo’ — based off of the My Hero Academia character, of the same name.This barely scratches the surface of our contribution to these communities. We produce trends, yet somehow our presence is overlooked and undermined — by both members of the communities, and our fellow black people, who view our interests as ‘not black’, hence not valid.
Comic Book Community — From Marvel to DC, and all In-between
With the growth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being Black and a comic book fan has become a lot more mainstream — with this comes a higher demand for diversity, which is nice. But this demand has highlighted a clear lack of Black voices within the industry. This means the stories we’re getting either doesn’t properly encapsulate the Black experience, or the character is written as a stereotypical ‘strong black woman’ or a Black man with ‘loose morals’. Take, for example, Miles Morales. The Afro-Latino protagonist of Spiderman:Into The Spiderverse — written by Brian Michael Bendis (a white man) and Sara Pichelli (a white woman). Miles’ popularity in the comics was dwindling until the movie’s release (thank you Peter Ramsey!). Prior to the movie, his character was bland and boring, evidenced by the low sales of the comic book.
The Black Geek
Being Black and a Geek/Nerd (especially if you’re a girl too), you often have to deal with a lot of bull from the creators of the things you love. I, for one, remember when I first got into Dungeons and Dragons. The Drow (otherwise known as dark elves) have black skin and are deemed as chaotic/neutral evil in comparison to their white Elven counterparts. Yet, because D&D wasn’t mainstream, no one really talked about these issues or called it out — and like everything you had the surge of non-Black people justifying these racist elements of the game. The Wizards of the Coast (the publishing company for D&D) have recently called themselves out and apologized about these racist elements of the game, yet that doesn’t take away from the fact that a lot of Black Geeks had to put up with this for a long while.
Without a doubt, I know Sci-Fi and Fantasy are the perfect genres to discuss issues of racism and discrimination — yet white people profit off of creating their own made-up suffering as elves, or wizards, yet, can’t fathom the existent of Black people (or any other race at that) in these stories.
EXTRACT FROM ANDRE’S INTERVIEW
Our representation shouldn’t stop with Black Panther
In Civil War 2 (comic spoiler, oops..), Captain Marvel gets ready to arrest Miles after seeing a vision of him killing Captain America. This vision goes against everyone’s understanding of Miles and who he is. Literally everyone — including Captain America, can’t even fathom that scenario ever even happening. Yet, Captain Marvel still decides to proceed to arrest Miles, while Black characters, such as Storm and T’challa watch passively. You expect me, a Black woman, to assume fellow Black people would watch the arrest of a young Black boy, over a vision heavily unlikely to happen (literally near impossible), and not see parallels with the endless black boys arrested under false pretenses in America and across the world? In reading the comic this parallel was immediately obvious to me, and it confused me how the Black characters sat back and watched (in fact Storm even continues to support Captain Marvel after the event). Black writers would have realised this, and seen the parallels. Again, this is an example of how there are not a lot of Black writers or people behind the scene, so these things slip by — irregardless of non-Black writers’ attempt to include diversity.
EXTRACT FROM ANDRE’S INTERVIEW
Essentially, we need more Black characters in these Universes, and more Black voices to tell the nuanced, important stories of these Black characters. What makes me Black isn’t just my skin but also my learned mannerisms — a white writer won’t know how to have a Black character react to her hair being randomly touched, or a response to a microaggression, which may not even register as racism to such a writer. Let us tell our stories, because the fact that they’re only valuable in the hand of a white man, is an issue!
[Note: If you’re a non-Black creator and want to include Black characters in your story — That’s fine! But try to have someone on your team, even just a friend, who’s Black to proofread it. Or, if you can’t do that, Google. Google is your best friend.]
Conclusion — And Advice to any new Black ‘Alt’s?
Overall, we need to be better and do better in supporting these communities. Anime and Comic Books have become more mainstream, yet these issues are still present, so imagine the Alt communities which aren’t as mainstream, or which have negative connotations to people…
There is such a powerful beauty in being Black. We always seem to make a culture and community from nothing, because a lot of us across the diaspora have had to do that, and it’s a shame we don’t acknowledge that more widely. Literally, we now have the first Black-owned anime studio— D’ART Shtajio (like, what! If this isn’t Black excellence I don’t know what is!). Likewise, the anime ‘Fire Fore’ has a Nigerian character, Ogun. We, as members of these communities, need to be proud of the progress we’ve made, especially under the circumstances we’ve been dealt.
We are making improvements and big strides as Black Alts, but there’s still work to be done. Netflix’s The Witcher showcased a lot of diversity — likewise Cursed seems to be promising with the diversity it has. But it’s not enough. We need more Black MAIN characters, more Black ‘chosen ones’, more Black heroes to save the day!
And, I’d like to thank Keondra, Andre, Sailor Goon, and Faith Gardener for allowing me to interview them for this. All of their full interviews are on separate pages (under this Medium account), I suggest you check them out!
Recommendations (compiled by Keondra, Andre and I):
Animes
Eureka 7
Michiko & Hatchin (Black main character — always a win. Amazing plot with lots of twists! Heavily underrated, but great starter)
Detective Conan (ICONIC)
Kamisama Kiss (romance/just cute vibes tbh)
Inuyasha (very long, but worth it. Action with romance)
It was the bang heard around the world. On this day 20 years ago, Ricky Martin released “She Bangs,” the first single from his album “Sound Loaded.” Written by Desmond Child, Walter Afanasieff, Robi Draco Rosa, and Glenn Monroig, the infectious dance hit peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Martin his second-most successful single behind “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and earning the Puerto Rican star a Grammy nomination in 2001.
The song was an extension of the Latin explosion which arrived on the eve of the millenium but it would return four years later when an impressionable 20-year-old civil engineering student auditioned with “She Bangs” on “American Idol” and truly made it his own. In that one moment, with then-judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson looking on bewildered, William Hung became an instant phenomenon.
Hung asserted his desire to make a living in the music industry, bravely performing the song to an unimpressed Cowell, who snarled, “You can’t dance; you can’t sing; what do you want me to say?”
Responded Hung: “I already gave my best, and I have no regrets at all.”
With that, Hung became a household name and a go-to punchline, like in “The Office” in 2005 when BJ Novak’s character Ryan remarks to Todd Packer (David Koechner), whose license plate reads “WLHUNG,” “You a big William Hung fan?
Hung went on to release three albums, including “Inspiration” and “Hung for the Holidays,” and even his own movie, “Where is Mama’s Boy?” While he eventually retired from music, his “Idol” experience allowed him to book gigs as a motivational speaker while working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a crime analyst and later for the Department of Health. Today, he continues to appear in public and is now working on teaching online gamers how to play Mahjong.
Today, Hung still has no regrets. “It’s all about continuing to reinvent yourself, and figure out what makes you happy,” he tells Variety in a new interview.
“She Bangs” turns 20 this month. What does it mean to you?
First of all, I’m grateful to have that song, “She Bangs,” by Ricky Martin because otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today. I just enjoyed the song right from the beginning. I thought it sounded cool and very upbeat. It was unique compared to everything else I was hearing back in the early two thousands. I heard on the radio and I was attracted to it right away.
So then you decided to audition with it. Was it just because it was your favorite song? Were there other choices?
What happened was that I won the talent show in school singing that same song. So that’s what gave me the confidence to audition.
Looking back on your audition day, did the producers prepare you to go in with the judges? What were you expectations?
Not too much. I was just waiting, visualizing in my head how I wanted my audition to go. I didn’t expect anything, and that’s really why I was able to stay positive despite the harsh criticism of Simon Cowell.
And when you smiled and said you did your best, the judges kind of fell in love with you anyway.
The way I saw the judges, I felt like they were just playing their roles. So that’s why I didn’t feel the need to be angry or upset.
That was a great precedent that you set for future auditioners, and then it set you on this whole other path in life…
Yeah, I didn’t expect that. I just thought, well, the audition didn’t work out, I’ll go back to being a normal student, but instead I somehow became an overnight celebrity.
What was it like finally coming face to face with Ricky Martin?
I finally got to perform with him in 2018. So that’s like two years ago. And then my audition was in 2004. So that’s 14 years later. He said, “Thank you, and it was great meeting you.” I don’t know. It sounds so surreal. He’s a really nice guy. My friend and I, we were very impressed.
You are now a motivational speaker. How did that come about and what do you focus on in your talks?
I decided to get into motivational speaking about three or four years ago, because I feel that I can make it a bigger impact through speaking, compared to just entertainment alone. I could still be entertaining, but I want to have a message to inspire people to keep chasing their dreams. And now more than ever, we need that inspiration, because it is a tough world to survive in, with the coronavirus pandemic. I’m also very interested in gaming because that’s my passion right now. I am looking to teach people how to play Japanese Mahjong for the English audiences.
Your Twitter handle is @SheBangsGuy. Clearly, you’ve come to terms with this moment having a permanent place in your life story?
A lot of people still call me the “She Bangs” guy. They don’t remember my name. It’s part of my identity now. Sometimes in life, you can’t change the past. You don’t have control over the past, but what you can do is make the most out of your situation.
LOS ANGELES — A tattoo artist and his daughter have been charged with kidnapping a 46-year-old woman in Las Vegas and sexually assaulting her in Palmdale.
Stanley Alfred Lawton, 55, of Riverside, and Shaniya Nicole Poche-Lawton, 22, of Palmdale both face one count each of kidnapping to commit robbery, attempted murder, kidnapping from outside the state, and forcible rape as well as three counts of first-degree ATM robbery.
Stanley Lawton has prior convictions for attempted murder and robbery between 1984 and 1988.
The victim, who knew the suspects, was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint in Las Vegas and driven to the Antelope Valley where she was sexually assaulted and forced to withdraw money from several ATMs, the prosecutors said. The defendants reportedly then dumped her in the desert, where she was able to seek help, the prosecutors added.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Captain Eduardo Hernandez said, “It’s a vicious case; it’s at gunpoint, by force. That victim is then transported across state lines, held in a house inside a room for at least a week. We don’t know what kind of conditions she was held in. At some point she was sexually assaulted and then left for dead.”
Bail for Stanley Lawton is set at $4.5 million and $3.5 million for Shaniya Poche-Lawton.
If convicted as charged, Stanley Lawton faces a possible maximum sentence of 260 years to life in state prison and Shaniya Poche-Lawton faces more than 71 years to life in prison.
SAN ANTONIO — An Amber Alert was issued Monday for 2-year-old Jaya Trevino, who was abducted by her non-custodial father, Juan Trevino, 33 during a family violence assault Monday.
During a family violence assault, Juan Trevino allegedly kicked down the door to his estranged wife’s residence, threatened her with violence and shortly thereafter proceeded to assault her. Juan then grabbed Jaya and ran out of the residence. As Juan Trevino fled the scene, the victim observed Jaya’s head slam against the door on the way out as he was taking her.
The Bexar county sheriff’s office is searching for the child, who is 3’0, 26 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes, and pink t-shirt with pink and purple lettering “Big sister” and a pamper.
Police are looking for the father, Juan Trevino, 33 years old, 5’7, 180 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes and white cap,black jacket, blue nike t-shirt, blue jeans,and white shoes, in connection with her abduction.
The suspect is driving a black, 2014, Nissan Sentra with a Texas, license plate number of mks1273.
Law enforcement officials believe this child to be in ‘grave or immediate danger.’
If you have any information regarding this abduction, call the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Breonna Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer slammed the Black Lives Matter movement on Wednesday and called the organization a “fraud” in a Facebook post.
Palmer gave credit to friends, family, and local members of the community for supporting her family after 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was killed during a botched police raid in March 2020 in Louisville, KY.
In the post, she criticized the Black Lives Matter Lousiville chapter and called KY state representative Attica Scott a “fraud.” Rep. Scott is a Democrat who has pushed to prohibit no-knock warrants.
“I have never personally dealt with BLM Louisville and personally have found them to be fraud, Attica Scott another fraud,” Palmer said.
She also attacked BLM Louisville for “[raising] money on behalf of Breonna’s family,” and said that they’ve “never done a damn thing for us when we needed it or asked.”
“It’s amazing how many people have lost focus … I’m a say this before I go,” Palmer concluded. “I’m so sick of some of y’all and I was last anybody who needs it.”
ETOH is the chemical title for ethanol alcohol, also called ethyl alcohol or just alcohol. Alcohol is one of the most used substances in the country and is one of the leading causes of death in the country. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, there is an estimated 88,000 people who die from alcohol-related deaths each year, making it the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Learning more about alcohol use disorder and the processes of addiction can help you identify problem behaviors in yourself or your loved ones. But before learning about alcoholism and treatment, it is best to fully understand the effects that alcohol can have on the body.
What Is ETOH?
ETOH is a term that is used to refer to ethanol alcohol. Ethanol alcohol, also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, or just alcohol, is a member of a class of different organic compounds under the name alcohol. Ethanol is used as a solvent, in the production of other chemicals, or as an additive to gasoline.
While these are some of the uses, one of the most popular uses globally of ethanol is as an intoxicating ingredient in many alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits.
Alcohol is classified as a depressant as it slows down the central nervous system and causes a decrease in motor functions, reaction time, and cognitive abilities. As we drink more, the respiratory system slows drastically and can even lead to issues such as memory loss, coma, or even death.
The problem can be even more dangerous when you mix alcohol with other depressants such as Rohypnol, Ketamine, tranquilizers, or sleeping pills. Combining these depressants can multiply and enhance the effects of both drugs leading to an increased likelihood of dealing with those life-threatening problems.
ETOH Abuse
What’s a quick way to both hide and soften an addiction issue? For many people, language is the answer. By swapping out a drug’s formal name with a term that’s playful, they can talk about the addiction openly without the worry of detection. That seemingly playful term can also make a powerful drug seem a little less capable of causing harm.
Consider the term EtOH. This term is derived from the chemical abbreviation for ethyl alcohol, and it’s used as a synonym for alcoholic beverages. Someone who might balk at the idea of drinking a great deal of wine or beer, or who might live with parents or partners who would object to binge drinking, might use this term to make alcohol abuse feel more acceptable.
Regardless of the terminology used to describe it, alcohol abuse is dangerous. But there is a lot of people can do to get better when addiction does take hold.
Ethanol or Alcohol: What’s the Difference?
Ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol, is a pure form of alcohol distilled from grain substances. In its pure form, it can be used as an antiseptic or cleaning agent. For example, Kohl Industries provides medical facilities with a hand sanitizer that contains 70% ethyl alcohol.
Medical professionals can rub a dollop of this substance between their palms to kill bacteria that might move from doctor to patient during an exam. This could be an ideal solution in older facilities that don’t offer enough handwashing options for doctors. They can use this substance instead, and they can keep their patients safer as a result.
This is just one industrial use for ethanol, and it isn’t uncommon to see this substance in offices, medical facilities, and other workplaces. The substance may be useful, but it isn’t completely benign. In fact, in its pure form, ethanol is considered a hazardous substance in the workplace. The New Jersey Department of Health reports, for example, that inhaling ethanol can irritate the nose, throat, and lungs. Also, the department reports that exposure to ethanol can cause headaches, nausea, and drowsiness.
When modern users talk about EtOH, they’re rarely discussing pure ethanol. Instead, they’re discussing drinks that contain a bit of alcohol mixed with other inert substances. This form of alcohol is much more palatable, so it’s easier to drink. This type of alcohol is also slightly less dangerous. The dilution helps to tamp down some of the more serious risks that come with the first sip.
The amount of alcohol in an alcoholic beverage is typically displayed as a percentage (alcohol by volume, or ABV). Bottles of beer and wine typically have this percentage printed right on the label, as do bottles of vodka, whiskey, and other forms of alcohol.
In a study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, various types of alcohol were examined, and the ABV rates between different manufacturers were determined. These are just a few of the average ABVs the researchers discovered by beverage type:
Beer: 5.1%
Wine: 13.3%
Brandy: 37.5%
Gin: 40.8%
Scotch: 41%
Grain alcohol: 91.1%
As this research demonstrates, the amount of alcohol can vary dramatically, depending on the substance the person chooses to drink. People who drink beer or wine are taking in a relatively low amount of ethanol with each sip they take, while those who drink gin are taking in a much bigger amount. People who choose to drink pure grain alcohol are taking in an immense amount with each sip.
These percentages matter, because ABV provides a glimpse into how much ethanol exposure the person is facing during a night of drinking. The more ethanol in each sip, the more damage done. People who want to reduce risk may, in order to stay in control, choose to drink only low-alcohol drinks, but that may not always be easy to do.
People who choose mixed drinks may struggle to understand just how much alcohol they are taking in with each sip. For example, someone who orders a martini made with gin is relying on the person making the drink to supply a specific proportion of gin to ice to mixer.
A heavy hand on the pour could lead to a more potent drink. That could lead to a level of intoxication the person simply did not expect. Similarly, there are variations in ABV from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some forms of wine, for example, may have much higher levels of alcohol than other forms. The only way to know for sure is to read the label, and that’s a step some people choose to skip.
When Drinking ETOH Is Dangerous
Alcohol is built into many aspects of modern life. Families raise glasses of champagne to toast couples after a wedding. Friends meet for a drink during happy hour after work. People crack open bottles of beer to watch sporting events. Celebrations and get-togethers are often fueled by sips of alcohol.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that there is a form of drinking that puts people at low risk for developing an alcohol use disorder. Women who follow this pattern drink no more than three alcoholic beverages in a single day, and they drink no more than seven drinks per week. Men who follow this pattern drink no more than four drinks on a single day, and they take in no more than 14 alcoholic beverages per week.
Women and men metabolize alcohol differently, so the recommendations vary by gender. This is not a cultural difference as much as a physiological difference.
People who drink in this manner may not drink every day, and they may not drink very much when they do engage in drinking. For them, alcohol is an infrequent part of the diet. They may never, at this level, engage in a form of drinking that could be considered abusive.
But there are some people who engage in this low-risk form of drinking on a regular basis who may still engage in drinking patterns that are far from healthy on an occasional basis. Binge drinking, which the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion defines as women drinking four or more alcoholic beverages and men drinking five or more within about two hours, can do intense damage.
EtOH Excess & Binge Drinking
Binge drinking is typically characterized by people who are drinking alcohol with the express purpose of intoxication. These are people who may gather friends and family members with the purpose of abusing EtOH. After a night of binge drinking, someone like this is at a higher risk of:
Physical altercations
Tripping and falling
Wrecking a car
Engaging in unprotected sex
Alcohol can lower the functioning of the portion of the brain responsible for calculating risk and reward. This portion of the brain is like the body’s parent. It keeps people from doing things that just aren’t safe. When this part of the brain is not functioning at an optimal level, people can make terrible decisions without seeing the risks clearly. Their inhibitions drop.
Binge drinking is almost always considered dangerous, just because it can cause so many difficulties in such a short period of time. As a result, binge drinking is considered a symptom of an alcohol use disorder. Other symptoms, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, include:
An inability to stop drinking for even a few days
A need to keep drinking once an episode of drinking begins
A need for a morning drink to start the day
Friends and family members suggesting alcoholism could be at play
Annoyance at criticism of drinking patterns
Memory loss after drinking
Someone like this may start an abusive drinking pattern and not realize how dangerous it is. Understanding the damage alcohol can cause could, in some cases, help people to take control of the way they drink.
The Real Risk of EtOH Addiction
Alcohol can impact the cells of the brain, lowering inhibitions and increasing the chance that someone will take dangerous risks. This isn’t the only damage alcohol can cause.
NIAAA reports that alcohol can also cause damage to:
The heart. Binge drinking or long-term alcohol abuse can lead to irregular heartbeat, stroke, high blood pressure, or stretching of heart muscle tissue.
The liver. Alcohol is processed by the liver, and heavy drinking can cause liver cell death or stiffening.
The pancreas. Alcohol can cause inflammation of this organ, which can lead to poor digestion.
The immune system. Binge drinking or chronic drinking can slow down the function of the immune system, raising the risk for disease.
Alcohol abuse has also been associated with an increased risk of certain types of cancer. The body parts that touch alcohol, including the mouth, esophagus, and throat are at unique risk.
Alcohol abuse can also lead to alcohol dependence. People who experience dependence may feel a very strong urge to drink, even if they know drinking isn’t right for them. People like this may also experience symptoms of withdrawal, like shaking, if they don’t drink alcohol.
American About 18 million adults have an alcohol use disorder, says the U.S. National Library of Medicine. For people like this, their use and abuse of alcohol cause real harm. People like this may struggle to stop consuming alcohol without help from a treatment program.
Recovery from Alcohol Addiction
The impact of alcohol can be persistent. Long-term abuse of alcohol can change electrical circuitry in the brain, amending the signals the brain cells use in order to communicate. These cells may rely on the new signals, and they may malfunction when no alcohol is present. That can lead to alcohol withdrawal, and Mayo Clinic reports that it can cause hallucinations, restlessness, and even seizures.
Given that these symptoms can be severe and even life-threatening, it’s not wise for people with an alcohol abuse problem to quit cold turkey. Instead, people with an alcohol addiction should enroll in a medical detox program.
During alcohol medical detox, people are offered medications to soothe the damage alcohol can cause. People are also provided with medical monitoring, so doctors can step in if withdrawal symptoms begin to grow severe. That can allow people to achieve sobriety without running the risk of experiencing very difficult side effects.
In therapy, the person might come to understand that social anxiety can be addressed without alcohol. When asked to mingle with a crowd of people, the person might learn to:
Talk to just one person at a time.
Use positive self-talk, to remind them that the interactions are going well.
Use breathing exercises if anxiety begins to rise.
Leave the interaction for frequent rest breaks, either in the restroom or in a hallway.
This is the kind of therapy that can help people change the way they think about themselves and the world around them. It can lead to very remarkable changes.
Methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant that is highly addictive. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), methamphetamine is derived from amphetamine and has similar effects on the body; however, methamphetamine is far more potent than amphetamine.
How Long Does Meth Stay in Your Urine?
Meth will first appear in urine 2-5 hours after using it. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the body excretes up to 54 percent of the methamphetamine unchanged when it is taken orally, and it can show up in a urine test up to four days later. With heavy use, a urinalysis test may appear positive as much as one week after the last dose.
A variety of factors affect how long an individual might test positive for meth. These include frequency of use, size of dose, metabolic rate, age, overall health, body mass, extent of physical activity, drug tolerance, and urine pH. According to The New York Times, there has been an increase in the demand for urine testing in recent years, but that is not the only way to test for meth.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information reports that meth will show up in a blood test within two hours after taking the drug, and such a test will typically provide positive results up to three days later. A saliva test can identify meth within 10 minutes after use, and it will produce positive results up to four days later. Meth can be detected in hair up to 90 days after use in most cases or, in some instances, even longer.
The Alcohol, Drug, Addiction & Mental Health Services reports that these meth side effects can last for anywhere from eight to 24 hours, and the body typically eliminates 50 percent of the drug from its system within 12 hours.Have you lost control of your meth use?We remain open and committed to supporting your recovery journey. Oxford is taking every precaution to ensure patient and staff safety.
Determining exactly how long methamphetamine is detectable in the body depends on many variables, including the type of test used, the method of use, and a person’s unique physical characteristics. Methamphetamine can be detected for a shorter period of time with some tests but can be visible for up to three months in others.
The effects of methamphetamine begin rapidly after intravenous use or when it is smoked. The primary effects last from four to eight hours, with residual effects lasting up to 12 hours. Amphetamine (a methamphetamine metabolite) is detectable in drug tests long after the person feels back to normal.
The effects of methamphetamine vary widely between prescribed therapeutic doses compared to dosages usually used by people who misuse meth. Prescription doses of 10mg to 30mg can improve reaction time, relieve fatigue, improve cognitive function testing, increase subjective feelings of alertness, increase time estimation, and increase euphoria.
However, a larger dose of meth can cause the following effects:
Agitation
Depressed reflexes
Inability to focus attention on divided attention tasks
Inability to follow directions
Inattention
Increased reaction time
Motor excitation
Poor balance and coordination
Restlessness
Time distortion
Side Effects of Meth Use
There are three main types of methamphetamine, and each affects the central nervous system in its own way. Levomethamphetamine, or l-methamphetamine, increases heart rate and blood pressure, but it does not affect attentiveness to a noticeable degree. L-methamphetamine is the active ingredient in some over-the-counter nasal decongestants.
Dextromethamphetamine, or d-methamphetamine, affects both the central nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system. It is the most common form of meth and it is produced during the ephedrine reduction process, which creates the substance more commonly known as crystal meth. Because it floods the brain with dopamine, d-methamphetamine is more addictive than L-methamphetamine.
Dextro-levomethamphetamine is made up of both d-methamphetamine and l-methamphetamine. It has similar effects on the body as d-methamphetamine but to a lesser degree, since it is diluted with l-methamphetamine.
Increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure
Nausea
Erratic and sometimes violent behavior
Panic
Psychosis
Irritability
Convulsions
Seizures
Long-term side effects of meth abuse include:
Liver, kidney, and lung damage
Malnutrition
Depression
Psychosis
Brain damage that is similar to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease
Stroke
Epilepsy
Tooth decay
Family and friends who suspect loved ones are using meth should step in and offer their support and encouragement as soon as possible. Ultimately, it is this unwavering love and support that will guide those suffering from addiction on the path to recovery.
How to Get Methamphetamine Out of Your System
There are plenty of false claims and myths when it comes to how to pass a drug test.
For example, there are false that “baking soda bombs,” which is a mixture of water, bleach, and baking soda, mask the presence of methamphetamine in urine. There is no proven research that this works, and further, you take an enormous health risk when you ingest any amount of bleach.
The only way to get meth out of your system is to stop using the drug and allowing your body time to metabolize and eliminate it. Staying healthy by getting regular exercise and drinking plenty of water may also help you metabolize the substance more quickly.
Getting Help
If you’re concerned about having too much meth in your system or testing positive for the drug, it’s likely time to seek help or consult your doctor. If you use meth heavily and/or regularly, it’s best to detox from the drug under the guidance of a medical professional who can guide you safely through the withdrawal and treatment process.
Twenty four hours after you stop using meth, you can expect to experience symptoms of withdrawal, which can range from mild to severe, depending on the frequency of use and dependency. Some common signs and symptoms of meth withdrawal include:
Meth, or methamphetamine (N-methyl-1-phenylpropan-2-amine), is a very potent central nervous system stimulant substance that was originally developed in the 1800s. The medicinal uses of the drug were related to its very strong stimulant effects, but with the advent of the Controlled Substances Act passed in 1970, its medicinal use has been significantly reduced and the drug is now better recognized as a significant drug of abuse.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) still recognizes that methamphetamine has medicinal value, although it is an extremely dangerous drug of abuse. It is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance, indicating that methamphetamine has medical utility, but also has a significant potential for abuse and is very likely to produce physical dependence in people who use it over time. Many people are more familiar with the street names of the drug such as crystal meth, meth, and glass.
Although methamphetamine is a legitimate medicinal product and manufactured professionally, most people are more familiar with the notion that the drug is manufactured by private individuals to be abused. The DEA recognizes that methamphetamine abuse has declined, but the drug remains a significant concern, and there are still regular news reports of meth labs being discovered by authorities.
Although private manufacture of the drug is illegal, there are numerous recipes for the drug available to nearly anyone. One can do an Internet search and find several potential methods of producing the drug. Methamphetamine is so easy to produce that there have been regulations on the purchase of some over-the-counter ingredients, particularly over-the-counter medicines, that are crucial to the production of the drug. The primary meth ingredients, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, come from over-the-counter medications like cold medications and weight loss products.
Additional meth ingredients include:
Acetone, from paint thinner or nail polish remover
Anhydrous ammonia, found in various household cleaners
Sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid, which is typically extracted from over-the-counter drain cleaners
Toluene from brake fluid
Phosphorous, extracted from flares, matches, and other substances
Ether or chloroform
Freon from air-conditioning units
Energy drink instead of using over-the-counter medications
Alcohol
Benzene and gasoline
Lithium, which is removed from car batteries
The drug is most often abused by heating it and smoking the vapors, or by grinding it up and snorting it, or mixing it with water and injecting it. Meth labs can produce very large amounts of the drug if the individuals making the drug can get enough of the needed meth ingredients.
How is Meth Made?
It is typically a four-step process to make the drug:
Ephedrine or pseudoephedrine is combined with ammonia and lithium or iodine and phosphorus.
Mixed in with water.
A solvent like gasoline is added, and the person extracts the methamphetamine.
The mixture is heated by using the acid or some other substance (e.g., gasoline) to crystallize the product.
The heating process is quite dangerous because many of the substances use are flammable or corrosive. The methamphetamine is separated from the waste, and the process results in significant waste materials, particularly with the use of phosphorus. These waste materials are also highly unstable and combustible.
Because methamphetamine production by private individuals is not regulated or supervised, there can be numerous substitutes for some of the core substances. Some of these are mentioned above, such as alcohol, energy drinks, etc. In addition, other stimulants may be involved in the production of drugs sold as methamphetamine, such as caffeine or even cocaine.
There is no quality control process associated with the private production of methamphetamine, and any number of cutting agents could conceivably be added to the process to dilute the drug.
Because the substance is also manufactured with the use of phosphorus and other potentially toxic materials like acid, there are many detrimental effects associated with the use of methamphetamine aside from the central nervous system effects the drug produces. The substance is quite corrosive, and individuals experience major issues with their skin and dentition after using the drug for even a short period of time. Inhaling privately made methamphetamine can cause significant lung damage and respiratory issues.
The potent central nervous system effects of methamphetamine can also produce significant neurological issues as well as cardiovascular issues and potential liver and kidney damage.
Cutting Meth and ‘Instant Meth’
The standard process for producing methamphetamine requires space in order to develop a “meth lab.” Meth labs produce quite a bit of waste products and involve the use of numerous appliances, such as pots and pans for heating, stoves or burners, hoses for ventilation, curtains or other blockages so individuals from the outside cannot see what is going on inside, etc. This process can be quite expensive and difficult to maintain. In addition, these sophisticated laboratories can often be spotted quite easily by legal authorities who are on the lookout for them and present a serious danger for the individuals who work in them due to the highly unstable process of making methamphetamine and the combustible materials and wastes that are used in result from the process. Most readers are aware of numerous instances where “meth labs” have exploded.
Some users and manufacturers have used a “shake and bake” method to make meth where the ingredients are combined in a plastic or glass container and then shaken and heated. The meth is then extracted. This “instant meth” approach can also be dangerous as the substance in the containers are very volatile and can explode, particularly when being removed from the container.
Although a great deal of methamphetamine sold on the street is most likely not significantly diluted or cut like other street drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, there are products that can be added to any drug to increase the volume of the drug and reduce the actual psychoactive substance.
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM is a powder that is used for strengthening cartilage in people or animals, and it is virtually undetectable in meth. Amphetamines or other stimulants may be used as cutting agents. In some forms of methamphetamine where pseudoephedrine is used and the red dye in the tablets has not been washed away, the meth may appear reddish or brown. When phosphorus is used in the process and not fully washed out (a very common result of making meth), the meth may have a purplish look to it. Phosphorous is extremely toxic. Sulfur that comes from ephedrine sulfate and has not been removed may make the meth orange in color. Copper salts in the mixture may result in a greenish color.
