Adonis Diaries

Archive for April 17th, 2015

 

Getting a Boob Job? Beware.

According to statistics by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast augmentations were the most requested cosmetic surgical procedure in 2014.

Double board certified New York plastic surgeon Adam R. Kolker, M.D. who specializes in breast enhancements, shares his insider tips on what you should know before getting breast surgery.

Brooke Shunatona published in Cosmopolitan this April 16, 2015

1. Your first breast surgery probably won’t be your last.

25% of women will need another surgery after 10 years because implants don’t last forever.

The implant could begin to leak over time or a “scar shell” could develop around it, warping the shape and causing a need for new implants. Weight loss, pregnancy, and change in preference are other factors that could lead the patient having another surgery after a few years.

2. It will cost you around $3,678, based on the surgeon’s fee only.

This average total, according to the 2013 statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, is based on the surgeon’s fee only and does not include the cost of anesthesia, facilities, and materials (stitches, bandages, drapes, etc.). The price will also depend on doctor, patient, and region.

The cost of reduction, though, varies greatly patient to patient. A reduction procedure could take three to four times longer than an augmentation, and the cost would reflect that.

3. Generally, patients will only have to take five to seven days off work for a breast augmentation and about the same for a reduction.

You won’t be feeling 100% after that week, but you’ll be in good-enough shape to head back to the office if your job doesn’t require manual labor.

However, if the implant is placed behind the muscle instead of on top (many women choose to do this for a more realistic look and less chance of a scar shell forming around the implant), recovery will be a little harder and you might be sore longer.

4. Breasts with implants feel different to the touch than real breasts.

Although silicone breasts feel similar to real breasts, they are still manmade and don’t feel like natural breast tissue. You’ll be more likely to notice there’s an implant in a woman who began with little breast tissue than a woman who had more breast tissue to begin with.

Smaller implants and those that are placed below the muscle are harder to detect.

5. You can try on different boob sizes before deciding on one.

Using “sizers,” a bead-filled neoprene sack, you can stuff your bra to give you an idea of the size you might like.

6. You can’t go from small to huge all at once.

If you’re starting with a small A cup, don’t expect to go up to a DD cup in one procedure.

It’s important to set realistic goals. Your body and skin need time to adjust to drastic changes, so a surgeon will likely suggest going up only a couple cup sizes at first, then increasing the implant size over the course of a few years.

7. Breast augmentations and reductions could possibly affect your ability to breastfeed in the future. Women who have implants oftentimes choose not to breastfeed so the data sets on these women are unclear.

However, if you have an areola incision, there’s a small risk you could damage minor ducts and could disconnect the areola complex with the main portion of the gland, hindering your ability to breastfeed.

Women who have underarm incisions or incisions in the crease of the breast should not have a problem.

8. You might lose feeling in your nipples after a breast augmentation or reduction.

Loss of sensation in the nipples can occur whenever there is surgery to the breasts. This depends on a number of factors, including breast shape and surgery type.

Even if you lose sensation in your nipples, they will still respond to cold and stimulation (aka they will still be able to get hard even if you can’t feel it).

9. You’re not a great candidate for a breast augmentation if you have a very strong family history of breast cancer, are obese, or smoke.

All these factors increase risks and complications during and after surgery. If you have any significant medical issues, you need to be evaluated and cleared before surgery.

10. Not all “plastic surgeons” are board certified and trustworthy.

Thoroughly research surgeons that meet certain criteria before settling on one.

1. make sure the surgeon is certified from the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

2. Be wary of other “boards” that are not legitimate.

3. Your doctor should also be a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, both of which have a very high standard of criteria and maintenance.

4. Make sure that surgeon has experience in the type of surgery you’re wanting.

5. Ask to see a body of their work and before-and-after photos.

6. Speak to other patients.

7. Schedule a consultation and get a feel for the surgeon’s approach.

11. You have a choice of two different implants: silicone and saline.

Seventy-seven percent 77% of implants used in 2014 were silicone and the rest were saline.

Both implants have upsides and downsides.

Silicone implants look and feel more realistic, but it’s harder to detect if there are ruptures in the implant due to its gel-like consistency.

Saline implants, on the other hand, will show ripples in certain areas of your breasts, but since they have a water-like filling, they will sooner alert you if there is a leak by visibly decreasing in size over time.

12. You can move fat from elsewhere on your body to your boobs. It’s a new process called autologous fat transfer. Few people are candidates for this procedure.

13. You can get an areola reduction.

This is also called a mastopexy. Oftentimes women who get a reduction will also have an areola reduction so the areola is proportional to the new size of the breast. The area around the nipple is very forgiving when scarring.

14. You can’t walk in to a consultation and say you want X implant type through X incision location. You and your surgeon will together decide which incision choice is best for you: underarm incision, incision in the crease of the breast (inframammary fold), or through removal of the areola.

Your doctor will take into consideration your beginning breast size and shape, breast tissue, and a number of other factors before recommending which options are best for you and your body.

15. Any breast surgery can have a small effect on breast cancer screening in the future.

Breast health is important. Before the surgery, have a proper breast exam with your gynecologist. If you’re of age, get a mammogram.

Most mammographers don’t have an issue if the implant is placed behind the muscle, but it is important to discuss with your surgeon.

16. Exercise, especially cardio that involves bouncing, is restricted after surgery. Although you can start doing light cardio again after a week, most women will need to limit their exercise for up to 12 weeks.

17. Implants are more comfortable if the procedure is done postpartum rather than before the patient has kids. But any implant placed under the muscle will increase the discomfort levels.

18. Augmented breasts will affect your posture just like the weight of natural breasts would. The weight difference between equal volumes of saline, silicone, and breast tissue is slim to none, so a natural C cup and an augmented C cup are very similar in weight. If you choose an implant size proportional to your frame, you will see little effect on your posture. However, if you choose large implants, you will feel the effects.

19. Your boobs do not need to be a minimum size for a reduction.

This is all based on personal preference. Think of boob size in terms of a scale from small to large.

Based on breast size before the procedure and desired breast size afterward, there are a number of incision options for a reduction for a huge range of results. You can even choose to get a reduction and an implant to replace some of the volume that you’ve lost over time.

20. It is possible that your boobs can grow back after a reduction. However, if the procedure is done after pregnancy and your weight stays consistent, your breast size is unlikely to change.

21. Ask yourself the following questions and be comfortable with your answers before going through with the surgery:

  • How much does my current situation bother me?
  • Why do I want this procedure?
  • How excited am I to go through with this?
  • Can I handle the time off from work and exercise?
  • How much am I willing to expose myself to certain risks?
Noor Khalil shared this link on FB

What EVERY woman needs to know before getting a boob job:

Your first breast surgery probably won’t be your last.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com|By Brooke Shunatona

 

Entire Country Behind Bars: New traffic laws

Since the new traffic law has gone into effect, police stations across Beirut have been flooded with citizens arrested for a medley of activities such as breathing, cycling, and crossing streets. The traffic law, which initially resulted in the issuing of two million fines within the first 20 minutes of its inception, has been a controversial topic in the country since its announcement.

Actually, the application of this law has been postponed more than twice because, first in April’s Fool then on April 15 and I didn’t hear another date:

1. The deputies didn’t even deign to read the lengthy law with more than a hundred clauses

2. The particular lines on the roads (White, yellow, dotted…) do not exist

3. Most of the roads terribly need drastic maintenance. There are more dangerous holes in the road than the damages that a speeding driver can do.

4. The government lack the personnel to monitor this extensive law

5. The fines are too exorbitant to be taken seriously by anyone

“I thought it was an April Fool’s Joke at first,” shared Jad Dergham, a local Hamra policeman.

“Do they really expect us to stop every person for speeding and cycling without a helmet? I don’t have time for that, I still haven’t beat level 231 on Candy Crush,” said Dergham as he angrily lit a cigarette and replied to the Whatsapp messages from his mistress.


(GIF via Share Gif)

We spoke to the arresting officer of one of the young men who failed to pay extensive fines for loitering, jaywalking, and not using the pedestrian bridge.

Karim J. was arrested on Jal El Dib highway when he tried to cross over to McDonald’s for what he thought was an innocent upsized Big Mac meal.

Karim put Lebanon’s security in danger,” stated the arresting officer who looked like a douche, as most cops do.

“Karim said there were no pedestrian bridges or sidewalks; but that’s not my problem, he should have waited for us to build some.”

Upon his release from jail, Karim was weary and reportedly walked from Antelias to Jounieh to find a pedestrian bridge to cross, in order to avoid arrest.

I’ll always use the pedestrian bridge from now on, even if it’s not there,” he said.

But Karim is only one out of two million drivers who are currently behind bars for violating the many new sub-categories of the new law.

The new law stipulates that points be deducted from driver’s licenses after each violation, which rendered the Lebanese population license-less within hours.

Security forces confirmed that those driving without a license would not result in any point deduction, a little loophole to keep in mind.

Here at Beirut.com, we are disappointed that the point system does not take other more dire matters into consideration.

For example, we would love it if people abusing their wives or housekeepers would get points deducted from their driver’s licenses. We will settle, however, for fining men who wear flip-flops and skull-themed jewelry.

Disclaimer for the slow and un-funny: This was a satirical blog post.

Jeanine Fakhoury and Patsy Z shared the link of Beirut.com.

“I thought it was an April Fool’s Joke at first,” shared Jad Dergham, a local Hamra policeman.

“Do they really expect us to stop every person for speeding and cycling without a helmet? I don’t have time for that; I still haven’t beat level 231 on Candy Crush,” said Dergham as he angrily lit a cigarette and replied to the Whatsapp messages from his mistress.

The traffic law, which initially resulted in the issuing of two million fines within the first 20 minutes of its inception, has been a controversial topic in the country since its announcement.
beirut.com

No Place to Hide? When investigative journalists are prosecuted for divulging secret government illegal actions

Machiavelli wrote in The Prince:

The character of the common people is mobile and easy to lead to an opinion. The real problem for the power-to-be is how to maintain this character, how to force the common people to believe when they cease to believe in the opinion of the powerful.

Nietzsche wrote in Beyond Good and Evil:

The key word for those keen minds of conscientious people working on secret projects is: How to Trespass morality.

Roland Barthes wrote:

Fascism is to pressure people to express the opinions of the rulers

From a 1975 statement of Senator Frank Church to the committees of the  intelligence agencies:

“The US government has perfected a tech capability that enables us to monitor the messages that go through the air…

That capability could at any time turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left…

Such is the capability to monitor everything, telephone conversations, telegram…it doesn’t matter.

There would be No Place to Hide”

This monitoring capability has extended to internet, social platforms, mobile phones, public and private video cameras, satellite imaging, instant location capturing features…

The US government strategy, backed by Congressmen, Senators and leading journalists… was to mute Glenn Greenwald bold and direct reporting on the widespread surveillance on everyone (collective data gathering). The strategy was to label Glenn as just another blogger and an activist. Why?

Journalists in the US and in many other States have formal and unwritten legal protection that are unavailable to any one else when they reveal secret intelligence pieces through their job of investigative reporting.

Thus, robbing Glenn from this status of journalist was to expose him to legal criminal harassment.

For example, the misleading claims that he is:

1. A co-conspirator working with sources to obtain document

2. Establishing a covert communication plan to speak without being detected with sources

3. Employing flattery and playing to the sources’ vanity and ego to persuade the source to leak secrets documents

are routine tactics within the job description and methods of investigative journalists, but would not cover bloggers and activists.

Leonard Downie Jr. former executive editor of the Wash. Post, wrote in the name of the Committee to protect Journalists:

“The Obama Administration war on leaks and other efforts to control information are the most aggressive since the Nixon Adm.  The 30 experienced Wash Journalists at a variety of news organizations interviewed for the report could not remember any precedent (on this scale)”

“The Obama Adm. had crossed a red line that no other administration has crossed before and blown right past” said Jane Mayer in the New republic. It is a huge impediment to reporting and beyond chilling. It’s more like freezing the whole process into a standstill”

Even the NYTimes reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, who had fought all the way to the US Supreme Court in order to publish the Pentagon Papers, advocated the arrest of Glenn.

No one in the US dared confirm any “informal assurance” that Glenn would not be prosecuted if he lands in the USA.

The US government was ready to concoct a theory that Greenwald’s repeated meetings with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong and in Russia and publishing reports on a “freelance basis” with newspapers around the world do fall under the criminal law of “aided and abetted” Snowden in his leaks and helped a “fugitive” flee justice or that the reports constituted some type of espionage.

It is evident that the security state in the USA is more powerful than the highest elected officials and do boast a wide array of influential loyalists.

So what kinds of reforms are necessary to check this wave of collective meta-data collection surveillance on people and institutions?

1. Targeted surveillance backed with substantial evidence of real wrongdoing

2. This “Collect it all” approach and indiscriminate mass surveillance is constitutionally illegal.

3. Using metadata analysis technique has not produced or disclosed a single terrorist plot: This a terrible burden on the budget dedicated to hiring specialized data analysts who have no clue on how to handle their job.

4. The government must provide some evidence of probable cause of wrongdoing before listening to a person conversations. That’s the job of FISA court.

5. FISA court. must be reformed so that it is not used as a rubber stamp. Converting FISA court into a real judicial system would be a positive first step in the reform

6. This trend of co-opting entities by the national security state badly needs an oversight control system to tame its abuses.

7. Building a new Internet infrastructure so that all the communication traffics have no longer to transit through the US network. European tech companies are spewing alternative special platforms to Google and Facebook intended Not to provide data to the NSA

8. More encryption programs and browsing-anonymity tools are being designed for users working in sensitive jobs such as journalists, lawyers, civil rights advocate organizations…

9. Advancing government transparency reforms

Whistle-blowers have learned that speaking the truth does not necessarily destroy their life: The side of supporters has grown immensely and are promoting the human capacity to reason and make decisions outside the boundaries of government status quo.

Note: Glenn Greenwald published 4 books. Among them:

1. With Liberty and Justice for some

2. A Tragic Legacy

3. No place to hide

He published Edward Snowden secret stories in The Guardian before co-founding the investigative publication The Intercept


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