When President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine visited Capitol Hill less than two years ago, he was feted with standing-room-only crowds, rollicking ovations and an aid package worth nearly $50 billion to help his country fight off a Russian invasion. His reception on Thursday was far more muted, as a few dozen lawmakers huddled with him behind closed doors while the speaker of the House snubbed him.

WASHINGTON—Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told lawmakers his top priority is securing U.S. permission to fire long-range missiles to hit military targets in Russia, as he held a whirlwind set of meetings at the White House and Capitol laying out his plan to turn the tide in the war. The visit provided a forum for Zelensky to thank the U.S. for its continued support and to try to smooth over tensions with Republicans ahead of the November elections, whose outcome could...

President Biden said Thursday while hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House that he’s ordering the Pentagon to spend “all” congressionally approved aid to Ukraine before he leaves office — ahead of former President Donald Trump’s possible return to power. As Zelensky looked on, Biden, 81, told reporters in the Oval Office that his Kyiv counterpart had “shared a preview of [his] plan to win this war” and that the US would bankroll the effort to...

Imagine how different the world would be if cis-gendered men had the ability to give birth? Would the state of Texas attempt to ban abortions after six weeks or would they be available on-demand?Would we live in a country without mandatory paid maternity leave? How much more affordable would childcare be? Would there be a tax on period products? How would we treat people experiencing period pain?A few brave men decided to see what life was like for people who have periods in a funny but enlightening video that's gone viral on TikTok. In a video posted by Benz Trap House that has over 1.4 million views, a group of guys tried a period simulator to experience what menstrual cramps really feel like.Period simulators are essentially the same as labor simulators. They're called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machines that are designed to relieve pain. But when turned up a notch can create intense, debilitating discomfort.The group took a semi-scientific approach to the experiment with a woman acting as a control subject. At the beginning of the video, she attaches the simulator to an area near her ovaries and turns it up to ten, the highest setting. In the clip, the group looks impressed as she endures the extreme setting without showing any discomfort.The men would not do as well. @benztraphouse The boys tried a period simulator #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #funny #periodcramps #periodsimulator #viral When the first guy attempted to wear the period simulator he was shocked by the discomfort. "Is it supposed to hurt like that?" the second guy says before erupting in nervous laughter.The third guy said that he felt the pain all the way down to his knee caps.At one point in the video, the period simulator is attached to a woman and a man at the same time. When the device is turned on, the guy is in extreme pain while the woman stands still, claiming the feelings created by the machine are "not even as bad as a cramp.""Yeah, my cramps hurt worse than this," she added.A lot of people who menstruate felt validated after seeing the guys experience their first period."'You feel that in your back, boi?' every month, friend," a commenter named Crystal said.One of the most popular comments was from Candyce, who said: "I'm convinced if men could get pregnant they'd have abortion clinics on every corner and paid maternity leave the whole pregnancy."Another commenter, S DeMarco, pointed out that women have to go through an entire day in pain without a break."When he said 'it's stabbing me what do I do?' You go to work, clean the house and continue on bb," she wrote.Shellz took reality up a notch. "Let's add headaches. And period poops. And bloating. And the feeling of blood leaving you. And the nausea," she wrote.It's cool that the lighthearted video has gone viral because it'll give some people newfound respect for the pain that people who have periods go through. Some who watched the video thought that period simulators should be mandatory in sex ed classes.Imagine how different the world would be if everyone experienced menstrual pain just once in their life?This article originally appeared on 11.10.21

Just about everyone regularly wakes up at 3 or 4 in the morning, although most of the time, we fall back to sleep without realizing it. However, there are the dreaded nights when, after a few minutes, you can’t get back to sleep and start to get super stressed.After a few wakeful minutes, you begin to fear that you’ll never fall back asleep, and the next day at work will be downright miserable. You’ll walk through the day like a zombie, nodding off at lunchtime and unable to keep your eyes open on the commute home.Once the can’t-sleep stress kicks in, your mind begins to wander back to when you were in high school and you said the wrong thing to someone you had a crush on. Or, you start to ruminate on your last fight with a coworker or freak out about whether you remembered to turn on the dishwasher before bed.Fiona Barwick, PhD, director of the Sleep & Circadian Health Program at Stanford University School of Medicine, says we should stop feeling anxious when we have these 3 am wake-ups because it will only worsen the situation.“What usually happens is that we focus our attention and effort on actively trying to get back to sleep,” Dr. Barwick says. But unfortunately, “That practically guarantees you will stay awake longer,” she told Self. A man sleeping at night.via Shane/UnsplashHow to fall asleep when you wake up at 3 or 4 a.m.Dr. Barwick says that understanding why we are catastrophizing at 3 a.m. can help us fall back asleep more easily. The critical thing to remember is that when we emerge from sleep early in the morning, our frontal lobe is shut off, which plays a big part in regulating emotions. Further, our brains are primarily working out of the amygdala, which produces feelings of fear and anxiety.Therefore, if we wake up at 4 a.m. and start stressing out, we should just say to ourselves, “It’s okay. Your brain isn’t completely turned on, and you’re overreacting." This can help you calm down and let your sleep drive kick in so you can fall back into dreamland.Why do I wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. every morning?If you feel like you wake up every morning at 3 or 4 a.m., you’re not alone. There’s a biological reason why it’s so common. After a good chunk of sleep of 5 hours or so, our body starts to reduce its production of melatonin, the hormone that puts us to sleep. It also begins to ramp up the production of cortisol, the stress hormone that helps wake us up.If you wake up during this process, your body is flooded with stress hormones and the part of your brain that is supposed to regulate your emotions is turned off. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?But now, when you find yourself in that situation, you know to think, “It’s okay. I’m being pumped full of stress hormones, and I don’t have the brainpower to fight it off. It’s no big deal.” Hopefully, at that point, you remain calm and fall back to sleep. A woman waking up.via Kinga Howard/UnsplashIf you still have difficulty calming down and can’t stop stressing out over sleep. In that case, Greg Murray, a psychology researcher with expertise in mood, sleep, and the circadian system, recommends an easy breathing exercise. “I bring my attention to my senses, specifically the sound of my breath. When I notice thoughts arising, I gently bring my attention back to the sound of breathing,” Murray writes in The Conversation.Dr. Debasish Mridha, a physician known for his work in neurology, once said, “The best remedy for fear is to gain knowledge.” Hopefully, now that we know why we feel so stressed when we wake up at 3 am, we can let go of fear and fall back into blissful sleep.

by Michael Snyder, End Of The American Dream: The Biden administration has shifted into panic mode, and there is a good reason for that.  It has become clear that Israel and Hezbollah are on the brink of all-out war, and once that line is crossed there will be no turning back.  Needless to say, an […]

by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project: (The GrayZone) Leaked documents and emails obtained by The Grayzone reveal a seemingly covert effort by American regime change operatives to impose radical leadership on the remnants of Iran’s protest movement against the mandatory hijab, in order to topple the government of Iran. The initiative was spearheaded by Carl Gershman, the […]

from And We Know: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/