This article originally appeared on VICE Mexico

Every year, tens of thousands of people are murdered in Venezuela, while Caracas is not only the country's capital but also the murder capital of the world. In 2015, there were almost 4,000 murders in a city of about 3 million people. According to official government numbers, 18,000 people were murdered that same year in the entire country, while the independent Venezuelan Violence Observatory claims it was closer to 28,000.

Many of those deaths are the result of robberies, kidnappings, gang disputes, and sometimes police violence. Since 2014, Venezuelans have regularly taken to the streets to protest the violence (among other things that plague the country, like hyperinflation and corruption) – protests that sometimes also end in violence.

Thinking about Venezuela's murder rates is harrowing but mostly abstract, so I decided to visit some Venezuelan women whose children have been murdered. They talked to me about their loss, while I photographed them in their homes.

ALBIS

Albis Hernández is the mother of Esteban, a 17-year-old student who was shot and killed by a police officer. Esteban was riding on the back of a moped with a friend, they were coming back from school and were both in their school uniforms.

While they were riding home, news broke that a neighbourhood bakery had been robbed and the owner told police that the thieves had been two young boys. When the police officers shouted at their moped to stop, Esteban's friend got scared and rode on. One of the police officers fired a shot and hit Esteban in the back. He died on the spot. The owner of the bakery later confirmed that Esteban and his friend weren't the ones who had robbed him.

CONSUELO

Richard Alexander died from a gunshot to the head while on his way to the supermarket. His mother Consuelo Palacios has no idea why her son was killed.

All she knows is that a couple of men attacked him with baseball bats and that the fight ended with a gunshot – or maybe two, she's not sure. His body was found two days later, on a bit of wasteland near that supermarket.

GLORIA

When he was nine, Omar got caught in the middle of a shootout on his way home from school. His family lives in one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods of the city of Petare, where gangs of heavily armed boys aged 15 to 20 make the rules.

Omar and his mother were just getting off the school minibus at the moment a territorial shootout between rival gangs started. Gloria was holding Omar's hand and felt the weight of her son's body fall. He was hit in the head by a stray bullet.

MARÍA DEL CARMEN

María del Carmen's sons Ronnie and Jorge were murdered by a gang in the neighbourhood, where they used to live with their mother. Their pictures now hang on the wall in her new house – she moved away from her old neighbourhood, after gangsters threatened to kill her third son.

She says that her sons weren't involved in anything illegal – that they just wanted to leave the area, but they were stopped. She is now responsible for bringing up the daughter of one of her murdered sons.

MARÍA HELENA

Three of María Helena's children and one of her nephews were murdered. Her son Wilmer was shot in the face at 39, while getting off a bus. He was caught in the middle of a shootout between rival gangs. The same happened to her 20-year-old son Yender – he was shot three times and died in hospital three days later.

When her daughter Eliana was 12, she was shot in the head and died on the doorstep of her house. María Helena's nephew, Erasmus, died from a stray bullet, aged 20.

OLGA

Julián Julián, nickname JJ, was killed when his car was stolen. His mother Olga says JJ was "one of the good ones" – a busy veterinarian from Barquisimeto, who died at 29.

One day at lunchtime, he went out to buy a roast chicken. On the way back to his car, he saw a man approaching with a gun in his hand. The man tried to take his car, but JJ apparently made a gesture that he didn't like, so JJ was shot five times. His murderer fled the scene, but did not take the car.

YNGRIS

Yngris' son William was murdered at a street party, by someone who Yngris is sure was the boyfriend of a famous Venezuelan model.

William tried to break up a fight between the murderer and one of his friends and was killed for it. His suspected murderer fled the country and was never caught.

JENETH

Jeneth's son Bassil became an icon of Venezulela's 2014 protests, against the government's lack of action against violence and hyperinflation. During one of those protests, on the 12th of February, Bassil was hit by a police bullet and went down in the centre of Caracas.

Jenet had no idea her son had died until hours after his death, which made international headlines.

CARMEN

During anti-government and anti-violence protests in San Christóbal in February 2014, Carmen's son Jimmi Vargas was hit with rubber bullets and tear gas, which made him fall off the roof of the building he was standing on. The blow to the head he suffered turned out to be fatal, but while he was lying there, still alive, the National Guard allegedly kept shooting rubber bullets at him.

The last thing Carmen heard from her son was a text message that read: "Could you make me a snack? I'm on my way home."

More on VICE:

Venezuela Rising: Dispatch One

Venezuela's 'Youth Day' Was Spoiled by Deadly Riots

I Lived Like a Baller for a Month in Venezuela on Just £75

If it's still strange to imagine Donald Trump—tabloid-verified sex-haver, unverified billionaire, Black Mirror character come to life—as president of the United States, think about how Melania Trump feels. As the third wife to a real estate mogul (or at least a guy who plays one on TV), she had some separation from her husband's larger-than-life persona, some semblance of a private life. Now she's set to become first lady—a full-time-plus job that's neither elected nor appointed, has no real clear-cut description of duties, pays nothing, and that she can't quit unless she gets a divorce.

It's not totally clear what Melania plans to do as first lady, other than installing the White House's first-ever "glam room" where she can do the complex work of making herself camera-ready. She's made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the political machine, to the extent that she'll continue to live in New York with the couple's son Barron rather than moving into the White House. She was barely involved in her husband's campaign (when she was,she proved to be more of a liability than an asset), and her one moment of public independence, when she announced that she would spearhead a campaign against cyberbullying as first lady cause, was met with deserved mockery.

No one, including Melania herself, seems to know what kind of first lady she'll be. A few women who have occupied that role, most famously Hillary Clinton, have taken on meaty, policy-focused roles. More commonly, first ladies pursue one or two causes that no one can really object to (think Michelle Obama and childhood obesity). It's unclear if Melania will take on even that much responsibility, especially with Donald's daughter Ivanka set to serve as her father's close, if unofficial, advisor—unlike Melania, she's moving to DC.

So I put the question to Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies, which includes dozens of interviews with first ladies and their staffs about what it takes to do the job. In an updated edition of her book, which came out this week, Brower looked at how Melania Trump stacks up to the women who came before her and what she might hope to accomplish—or avoid—once Donald is officially president.

VICE: First of all, what's the point of having a first lady?
Kate Andersen Brower: It's really a symbolic position. It can be incredibly daunting, the task of being first lady, because there is no job description. You're in charge of the residence—doing things like approving the menu for the week. You are doing things that are very 1950s housewife requirements. It can be frustrating for someone like Michelle Obama, who made more money than her husband before he became president. She'd worked her entire adult life, and then she was expected to no longer work or get paid [when she became first lady]. It's hard to feel sorry for her, of course, but I think giving up that part of your life for eight years is a lot to ask of somebody.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, [former and current first ladies] do help each other. If you look at the transition from Laura Bush to Michele Obama, it was a very smooth transition, because Laura Bush's staff sat down with Michelle Obama's staff and said, "Here are the events you need to do—the Easter egg roll, Christmas parties—and here are the things you can skip." I think they do that because they know how hard it is and the expectations that you face.

In Trump's case, there's been some dispute about who's going to take on those responsibilities. Melania doesn't seem too jazzed about it, but she did meet with Michelle Obama shortly after the election.
Right. That normally happens a couple weeks after the election, but in this case, it happened within 48 hours. I think the reason it happened so fast was because the Obamas wanted to send a signal that things are going to be OK and this will be a transition like any other and they support the new president. There's something very important about continuing American democracy and passing the torch. But I thought it was unusually fast, and unusual that there were no photos that day. You can go back and see these great photos of Barbara Bush and Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, Jackie Kennedy and Mamie Eisenhower. It struck me that there wasn't even video of the Trumps coming in [to the White House] that day. We've seen Michelle Obama talk about Melania plagiarizing her speech, so she's not necessarily going to come out and be a cheerleader for Melania. It's going to be interesting to watch.

Related: Watch Michelle Obama Deliver Her Final Speech as First Lady

But Melania doesn't seem to even want to do it—I mean, she's said she's staying in New York, not moving into the White House.
Well, she can't get rid of the title. She is first lady. There's nothing she can do about that. But because the role is undefined, she could go to Ivanka and say, "I want you to do everything. I don't want to do this." Ivanka's going to be incredibly involved, and her influence on this administration cannot be overstated. She is the phone call that Donald Trump always takes, and we're seeing her husband, Jared Kushner, become a senior advisor. The fact that she's actually moving to DC and divesting herself from the business is a sign that she's going to be a big player.

That said, I think people would raise their eyebrows if Ivanka was her father's date at every state dinner. But she could absolutely do it. Look at Hillary Clinton with her West Wing office [during Bill Clinton's presidency]. She didn't want to be first lady; she wanted to be co-president. Because there's no blueprint, you can really do what you want. You don't have to be a traditional Laura or Barbara Bush.

That seems like a good branding opportunity for Ivanka.
How cynical of you! But I think you're right. I mean, look at that $10,000 bracelet she wore on the 60 Minutes interview. I think it's a smart move for her. I feel like Ivanka Trump is kind of like [first daughter] Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who was really excited about her father Teddy Roosevelt being president. When McKinley was assassinated and her father took over, she couldn't hide her excitement. It's that kind of unbridled ambition—and she is very ambitious. She wants to be an advisor to her father. That's not a bad thing. If she wants to weigh in on childcare and working moms, that might be good.

Is there precedent for someone other than a wife to take on first lady duties?
If you go back to the 19th century, this happened with Thomas Jefferson's daughter, who was the de facto first lady. Grover Cleveland's sister was first lady until he got married—so, you do see this in history, especially when people were routinely dying at 40 or 50 years old and sometimes wives weren't alive [by the time their husbands became president]. But to have a first lady who is alive and well not move to the White House is unprecedented. Even if you're a reluctant first lady, as many have been—it's not a job that everyone really relishes—you can still move into the White House and just not be there all the time. Beth Truman would leave to go to Missouri all the time; she was barely in DC. Jackie Kennedy left a lot to go horseback riding in Virginia. The fact that Melania isn't even moving is interesting to me.

Do you think Melania will still champion a cause, as previous First Ladies have done?
It's all speculation, but Melania has come out and said cyberbullying would be her cause. Of course, she came under fire for that because of her husband's tweeting. It's interesting, because if any other first lady had said cyberbullying was her cause, no one would bat an eyelash. A perfect first lady cause is non-controversial, like what Michelle Obama has done with military families, or Laura Bush's cause of promoting literacy. You can't get more non-controversial than literacy. Maybe Melania Trump will get involved in something if something happens in the world, like a natural disaster or something, but I think the cyberbullying thing is kind of fraught.

Given that the position is pretty old-fashioned, why do we still have it? Wouldn't it make sense to create a separate position rather than thrusting the president's spouse into this role?
I do think Melania's reluctance will make people question how much do we really need this, and if Ivanka really is filling in, then it becomes kind of complicated. But I do think it's something we'll always have. There are so many antiquated parts of the White House—like, there are chiefs of protocol who are there to monitor how many inches knives and forks should be away from each other at state dinners—but it's a necessity. I don't think it has to be a negative thing. I'd like to see a first lady be able to continue their carer, like the way Jill Biden was still teaching as a Second Lady. But I think getting rid of the position would be sad. There's something important about the tradition. The responsibilities might shift, but I don't think the title is going anywhere.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Follow Arielle Pardes on Twitter.

The family sitcom is one of TV's oldest chestnuts. It's a format that has been around for nearly as long as TV itself. For many years, it had a strict formula that went nearly unchanged. Whether it revolved around a typical nuclear TV family or a "non-traditional" family arrangement like Full House or The Brady Bunch, the format remained mostly the same: there would be two (sometimes more!) strong parental figures and their well-meaning (if occasionally rebellious) children. Episodes would often revolve around those parental figures having to teach their children some kind of "lesson" about life that would be quickly resolved by the end of the episode. It was a time-tested format that rarely made for great TV but provided a certain warm comfort that remained appealing for many decades.

The current crop of family sitcoms, though, has largely flipped that format on its head. Sure, they still retain the basic format, but they change it enough that they don't feel like the kind of shows we've seen time after time, over and over again. Much has been written about these shows' incredibly diverse viewpoints, giving them the ability to discuss issues that have rarely been covered on TV before—but one aspect of these sitcoms that's received less attention is their treatment of their younger characters. While the kids and teenagers of past family sitcoms spent most of their time being lectured to, the youth of today's family sitcoms are strong-willed, independent thinkers who often teach their parents lessons rather than the other way around.

The most prominent example of this trend is Elena Alvarez of One Day at a Time, a 15-year-old feminist who is dedicated to fighting misogyny, protecting the environment, and standing up for human rights. Elena's progressive politics do cause her to butt heads with her parental figures quite often – her interactions with Lydia (her traditionally-minded grandmother) and Penelope (her more understanding but often exhausted mother) become one of the main driving forces of conflict throughout the series. However, Elena's strong-willed political views aren't seen as something that need to be "fixed" and the show never condescends to her or forces her to change. Rather, it often presents Elena as the one in the right, and finds her elders picking up lessons from her. In the "Bobos and Mamitas" episode, Elena's rallying against misogyny and mansplaining inspires Penelope to ask her boss to be paid and respected the same as her male co-worker. Meanwhile, Lydia forces Elena to wear more makeup and dress more "ladylike" only to come to the realization that Elena feels as uncomfortable in make-up as Lydia does without make-up, and forcing her granddaughter to be uncomfortable isn't right.

In "Sex Talk," Elena comes out to both Penelope and Lydia – and while both maternal figures have to come to grasp with the revelation, they ultimately love and accept her for who she is, and learn to question their own pre-conceived biases while doing so. The season ends with Elena's quinceañera which winds up being a celebration of who Elena is rather than who her elders want her to be, complete with Lydia putting together a pantsuit and Doc Martens for her rather than a dress and high heels. It sends the message that, even if Penelope and Lydia don't agree with every single choice Elena makes, Elena is the one in charge of who she is, and she doesn't need to be taught otherwise.

While Elena is perhaps the best example of how family sitcoms improved treatment of their young characters, it's also on display on plenty of other shows. On Black-ish, the Johnson kids are consistently bringing a modern, level-headed perspective to the various issues the show tackles, particularly in Zoey, who often feels like the show's "voice of reason." In the recent "Nothing But Nepotism" episode, Dre bemoans Zoey for taking advantage of nepotism after he pulls strings to get her an internship at Teen Vogue and she winds up easily getting a promotion. But the lesson is turned on its head when it turns out Zoey only got the promotion due to her hard work and Dre's "star power" had nothing do with it. "I'm going to work just as hard to get where I want to be as you did to get where you are. Just let me do my thing. I'll figure it out," she explains to him, in a scene that feels a lot like a reversed version of the many "lessons" scenes you might find on an episode of Full House or Family Matters.

A similar dynamic provides the backbone of the show's acclaimed "Lemons" episode—Bow spends much of the episode worried that Zoey isn't taking the results of the election seriously enough and finds Zoey's decision to bring lemonade to her school's healing rally to be an insufficient method of letting her voice be heard. But at the end of the episode, Zoey fights back: "You don't want me to have a voice. You want me to have your voice." Zoey explains making lemonade was her way of coping with the election results—she made it with love, for everyone, and it's how she responded to the chaos and uncertainty of the results. She's able to comfort her distraught mother with some of the wisest words spoken in the episode: "Our values don't disappear because our side lost one election. And in the next one, me and my friends will be voting. We're going to pick up right where you left off."

That line itself encapsulates the approach that so many of these family sitcoms are taking with their younger characters. Elena and Zoey stand out as the most prominent examples, but they can be found in nearly any great family comedy right now. From the way the Hecks embraced Sue's teenage quirks on The Middle to the way the entire Belcher family is constantly willing to go to bat for Tina on Bob's Burgers, these shows understand that their teenage characters aren't dumb or oblivious or wrong about everything just because they're young. They're self-assured, confident, and the future of the country. They don't need end-of-episode lectures about underage drinking or skipping school or cutting your uncle's hair without his permission (yes, that was a real Full House lecture)—they're smart, they'll do their thing, just let them figure it out. And that's partly why these shows feel more relevant and more forward-thinking than any family sitcom has in a long time.

Follow Vincent Crincoli on Twitter.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Obama administration announced that the president was commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence to time served. After seven years of brutal imprisonment, in which the Army only allowed the transgender inmate to better align her appearance with her gender identity after lawsuits and a hunger strike, she will finally be free in May.

Though it is impossible to know President Barack Obama's true reasons for granting her commutation, the decision cements his and his administration's legacy as an unlikely champion for the rights of transgender Americans. It's hard to forget that Obama failed to support marriage equality during his 2008 campaign (what some say was a calculated political maneuver). But while his "evolution" on that issue synched up with an increasingly tolerant view of gays and lesbians among the American people, few expected his administration to institute an even more aggressive platform for transgender rights later in his presidency.

The first—and perhaps most significant—pro-trans policy put into place by the Obama administration came in 2010, when the State Department changed their rules about changing one's gender marker on US passports. Previously, genital reassignment surgery was required in order to make that change, but new language on the rule eased that restriction, simply stating that a doctor's letter alleging one had undergone "appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition" was now necessary. This opened the door for thousands of trans people to obtain proper legal identification that represented their gender identity, even in states with more restrictive gender change rules.

While Time may have declared 2014 to be the "transgender tipping point," it's really taken until the last year for trans rights to come into sharp political debate. In his 2015 State of the Union address, Obama became the first president ever to mention transgender people, a milestone that represented the beginning of what's become a far-reaching legal and political fight.

For example, the American healthcare system is often a nightmare for trans people seeking the medical treatment they need; in the 2015 US Transgender Survey, a national poll of transgender Americans conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, one in four respondents reported being denied hormone replacement therapy by their insurance providers while 55 percent were denied coverage for transition-related surgery.

In response to such rampant discrimination, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized wording on the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities section of the Affordable Care Act in May, banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity. As a result, insurance companies are now unable to deny coverage to trans beneficiaries—for example, as a trans woman, my insurance provider can't stop me from seeking a prostate exam on the basis that I am a woman. Previously, they would have been allowed to decide they weren't required to cover the exam, because women don't have prostates. A federal judge issued an injunction against the regulation on New Year's Eve, a move that's now being appealed. (In all likelihood, such insidious attempts to discriminate against transgender Americans will only ramp up under Donald Trump.)

Genital reassignment surgery has been covered under Medicare since 2014—a decision that amplified access to such surgery across the board, because many private insurers model their coverage after Medicare standards. Simultaneously, that coverage expands the marketplace for such surgery, increasing the need for surgeons and facilities offering these lifesaving operations.

But despite all this progress, the past year has marked a bitter political fight for the rights of transgender Americans; in 2015 and 2016, right-wing politicians put forth "bathroom bills" in over 23 states nationwide. The bills have found little legislative traction thus far, with the very notable exception of North Carolina's HB2. The Department of Justice filed suit in response, taking the state of North Carolina to court over the law; that lawsuit is currently pending, but Attorney General Loretta Lynch gave a moving speech in defense of the rights of transgender Americans in May, an unforgettable moment for those who lobby on behalf of their community.

There have been other reasons for hope. Obama himself appointed the first trans White House LGBT Liason last March, and in May, the Department of Education issued non-binding guidance for the accommodation of trans schoolchildren.

Throughout this, Chelsea Manning was always the thorn stuck in Obama's side. Every time this administration forged a new victory for trans Americans, Manning's name would inevitably come up as a sticking point; her sentence was outlandish relative to the crime committed, and her treatment at Fort Leavenworth was especially cruel. Not only was she housed in a men's prison, but she was forced to fight fierce legal battles throughout her seven years of time served to earn the right to express her gender. She was made to follow male military grooming standards and denied permission to grow out her hair, denied transition healthcare, and held in solitary confinement for attempting suicide as a result (a practice the UN classifies as torture). She became America's highest-profile transgender inmate, and her treatment was a perfect example of the ways the US prison system abuses trans inmates. While the progressive victories for trans rights made by Obama's administration are highly commendable, the treatment of Manning stood in stark contrast.

One can only hope that future reforms will prevent such cruel treatment of incarcerated trans people, but that's putting a lot of faith in the new Republican administration. What is more likely, is that trans people are about to play legal and political defense for many years to come.

There remain many legitimate criticisms for how Obama's administration has handled trans rights. Obama himself famously dismissed a Latina trans woman protester from a White House press event who was calling attention to the practice of deporting undocumented trans people back to hostile foreign countries. It's also important to note that the progress made under Obama has come in the form of executive action, which Trump can now undo, rather than laws passed by Congress. If Obama had made trans rights a priority before the Democrats lost their control of Congress in 2010, maybe trans-friendly legislation could have been enacted. Instead, beginning next week, Obama's entire trans legacy is now under threat of vanishing.

While Obama may have been the first presidential champion of trans rights, his legacy on these issues, like the rest of his accomplishments, may soon be wiped out. At least we'll always have Chelsea. I hope she has a long and happy life as a free woman ahead.

Follow Katelyn Burns on Twitter.

This story was published in collaboration with the Marshall Project.

Machias, Maine, is remote, quaint America.


Growing up, everyone knew everyone and no one locked their doors. My parents worked hard at their jobs in local grocery stores. We went on weekend fishing trips to the lake. But what I didn't realize was that somewhere within all of that—as has become increasingly true in communities like mine across America—were the seeds of addiction.

I'd always struggled to find where I fit: I had friends, but wasn't the most popular. I worked hard at school, but wasn't the smartest in my class. I played sports, but was never the MVP. I grew tired of mediocrity.

In 1993, when I was 12 years old, a new kid moved to our town. He was 16, and seemed rough, which was attractive. One day, I was looking out his window, watching the beautiful waterfalls that rushed in a nearby stream, when I turned around to see one of my friends sniffing something white off the coffee table.

I loved it immediately. While most girls my age were experimenting with makeup, I was rummaging in my dad's tool bin for a razor blade.

By 17, I was drinking, smoking weed, and snorting pills, plus experimenting with coke and hallucinogens. The addiction that haunted my father, whom I remembered constantly having a beer in his hand, had begun to sink its teeth into me.

I began selling drugs to support my own habit, and selling became an addiction unto itself. I thrived on the attention. As a kid, I had always been jealous of others. Now, finally, others wanted what I had.

Even an unexpected pregnancy didn't curb my use. My son was born in the summer of 2004 with neonatal abstinence syndrome. They took him out of my arms and carried him into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to ride out torturous withdrawal symptoms. I remember watching his tiny body tremble; I can still hear his small cries of pain. That's when I did the only thing I knew to do when feeling out of control and overwhelmed by emotions: I went to the NICU bathroom and got high on Oxycontin.

I loved my son, but my addiction made me completely oblivious to how I could be dangerous to him. I counted Oxycontin pills on his changing table; I took him with me to the places I bought and sold drugs. And he was in my arms the day I looked out my kitchen window and saw two officers from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency pulling into my driveway.

Still carrying my baby, I went into my living room and swallowed all the pills I had left. Minutes later, they arrested me for drug trafficking. I felt a strange sense of relief: My place in the world is finally clear, I thought to myself. I'm an addict. I'm an offender.

Over the next year, I cycled in and out of court, waiting to be sentenced. On June 15, 2005, I was arrested again, this time for violating my bail with continued drug use.

I had never actually been held in jail before.

I was caged in a tiny cell with bright fluorescent lights, with nothing to do but think about all the pain. I felt trapped and panicky. When I looked into the scratched mirror above the toilet, I thought, for the first time, of drug use as a problem, not a solution.

I spent the next three weeks in jail, forced to be sober for the first time in a decade. Then, to my surprise, the court offered me the opportunity to enter the Washington County Adult Drug Treatment Program, commonly known as drug court or treatment court. It required participants to undergo substance use treatment as well as individual and group therapy sessions; submit to frequent, random drug tests; appear before the judge on a regular basis; and get a job or perform community service.

My lawyer actually advised me against it. He doubted that I could make it through such a demanding program, which would last at least a year. He told me he thought I should just serve my 30-month sentence.

But I didn't want to miss the next two-and-a-half years of my son's life. So I opted in.

It was clear from Day One that treatment court would be nothing like what I was used to in the justice system. The courtroom no longer felt adversarial, and I didn't feel like just another number on a docket. The judge, lawyers, and law enforcement officers knew my name and cared about my status. Treatment providers were core members of the court team, making sure that each participant in the program received an individual assessment.

Perhaps I was a human being who had the potential to change, not just another lost cause in an epidemic.

Soon, I was attending treatment twice a week, traveling up to 90 miles round-trip to get there. I also attended support meetings every night, often missing out on tucking my son into bed. I faced the judge every week. The program engulfed my life, which was exactly what I needed.

Paradoxically, my recovery gave me the same feeling that I had been searching for those many years before, when I first picked up drugs. I had finally found a place in the world: showing others what is possible when we become willing, patient, and committed.

I successfully completed the program in 2006, intent on maintaining my sobriety. Back in the world and no longer under court supervision, I began working in a local medical center and obtained my state license as a substance use and addiction counselor. To do so, I had to disclose my record to the state licensing board.

In 2011, I met my husband, Brian. Our passion for recovery attracted us to one another. He too was free from the grip that addiction once held on him. We encouraged one another, not allowing ourselves to be fearful of sobriety.

Eventually, in 2012, I was asked to serve as the treatment provider for the very court program from which I had graduated. I had stood behind the podium as an addict, and now I was working alongside the same judge who presided over my own case.

On my eight-year sober anniversary, I approached him in his chambers. "Your Honor," I asked, "Do you remember where you were on this day eight years ago?"

He chuckled and said of course he didn't.

"I do," I said. "I was standing before you as a criminal defendant."

But there was one final hurdle: getting my felony charge pardoned. I knew it would be an uphill battle; pardons are rarely granted, and the probation officer who interviewed me said my case was unlikely to be selected by the governor's council to be heard.

In 2014, I traveled to the state Capitol, in Augusta. In front of an intimidating committee, I defended my application by bearing my soul. I refused to minimize the severity of my crimes, but I also refused to be ashamed of my recovery.

Several nerve-wracking weeks later, an official-looking letter arrived in the mail. Thanks to a treatment court program that allowed me and others in rural America to walk away from the justice system and into a life of health and recovery that I love, I no longer have a criminal record.

Abby Frutchey is the primary treatment provider for the Washington County Adult Drug Treatment Program in Maine. She is a certified clinical supervisor and speaks on recovery at conferences and college courses.

(Top photo: Jake Lewis)

Do you drink too much? I do. Not quite enough to convince me to quit, but enough to treat the recommended weekly unit allowance – 14 units, AKA seven pints, AKA "Thursday" – with a sense of contempt. I have also taken drugs recreationally for a decade. Never the big kahunas – no heroin or crack, and I'm scared of acid – but everything else in peaks and troughs.

I never dwelt on it much until last year, when most of my favourite celebrities started dying. A thread that ran through many of the deaths was periods of substance use or abuse; from Bowie snorting so much coke he'd only consume red peppers and milk for sustenance, to Carrie Fisher's "coke nail" on the set of Return of the Jedi.

So seeing as it's January and there's nothing better than fear of an early grave to scare you into changing your habits, I called up a couple of experts to find out just what all the shit we put into our bodies is doing to our life expectancy.

SMOKING

(Photo: Pixabay)

"Of everything we're going to talk about, the single most significant thing that people could do is quit smoking," says Dr Adam Winstock, a consultant psychiatrist, addiction medicine specialist and founder of the Global Drug Survey, who seems seems to have a more intuitive grasp of my drinking and drug-taking than I do. "All the other health risks you have from the other substances increase by 50 percent if you smoke."

But let's say you don't smoke – according to Adam, 85 percent of us now don't – but you like a joint on those nights you aren't drinking. "One spliff rolled with tobacco is two-and-a-half to three cigarettes," says Adam. "I'd say the best thing that people who smoke weed can do is to get yourself a vape. Enjoy the weed without tobacco – that would be a huge thing to do."

ALCOHOL

"From a purely physiological point of view, alcohol is really linked to a lot of problems," says Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use at the Public Health Institute. "The majority of deaths due to alcohol are due to alcohol-related cancers, and of course the risks will be increased with length of exposure."

"If I was in my early thirties and I was drinking 30 units a week," adds Adam, "I'd be thinking, 'If I continue, is this likely to significantly impact my health and well-being?' As a doctor, I would say yes. It will have quite possibly impacted on things like increased cholesterol, increased risk of a fatty liver, accelerating heart disease. For women, one in ten cases of breast cancer is alcohol-related."

So that's cleared that up then.

"Then loop in other risk factors," he continues. "If you're overweight and you smoke and you've got a poor diet, you whack all of those problems up hugely. If your mum or dad has had high blood pressure or a heart attack or strokes, then yes, you were born with it, you are more vulnerable to it and need to be careful."

But what about Dry January? I did ten days this year! I got a new perspective on life! I joined a reading club! I followed Joe Weeks on Instagram!

"The issue with Dry January is that most of the data suggests that the people who benefit most from it are low risk drinkers anyway," says Harry Sumnall. "It's not going to make much difference if, from February onwards, you fall back into your chronic patterns of alcohol use. I think the advice should be, 'Well, you don't really need to have a month off, though if you do, that's good. But have two or three days off throughout the year – spread your Dry January days out."

"Another uncomfortable truth is that it also depends on your economic status," says Adam. "If you are middle class, you've got a roof over your head, you've got support, you've got a job, you've got other connections, you've got access to a GP if you feel unwell or feel shit about your health, you're going to be much more resilient to the negative effects of heavy drinking than if you were an unemployed 32-year-old."

COCAINE AND MDMA

(Photo: Jake Lewis)

"I would be much more worried about coke than MDMA," says Adam. "That's because most people use MDMA less than ten times a year and don't generally end up developing a dependence. Some of the risks that people aren't aware of with cocaine is that it can accelerate the development of the hardening and ageing of the arteries in your heart and in your brain, so, basically, that accelerates the risk of heart disease at an earlier age and increases the risk of strokes. This increases in your forties and fifties. But if you're someone who does half a gram of coke once a month and you do that for three years of your life, is that likely to have a long-term effect? Probably not."

What about the prodigious level of drinking that tends to go hand-in-hand with taking coke?

"Well, of you take too much coke you're probably drinking too much as well," says Adam. "The postmortems on someone like George Michael aren't out yet, but I think a lot of people who are dying in their fifties who aren't opiate users – they've just done coke for 20 years, there's increased risk of heart attack, you drink a lot, your heart packs out. Honestly and truly, the general rule is: everything in moderation. Move a bit more and eat a bit less. Don't inject or smoke anything, because that is way more risky. If you want to play with excess, fine, but do that in moderation as well."

@Gobshout

If you do want to get a handle on your drinking, the Drinks Meter app might be a good place to start.

(Photos: Chris Bethell)

Congratulations! You've probably reached this page because it's 3AM and you're googling self-help advice and some variation on the words: Am I dead? Has this broken heart stopped my blood from working?

Good news: you are not dead. Bad news: you are very much going through a break-up, which means the next week to a month is going to be quite unpleasant. You'll struggle to engage on any meaningful level with other human beings; you'll need to see an actual doctor for a second opinion on that mole; you will believe, with absolute conviction, that this is it now: that your Saga Cruise years will just be you, alone, throwing Hovis at birds.

But don't fret: there's a template for you misery. When we lose someone close to us we go through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Anger, in this realm, is where you unfollow your ex on every social media platform and then immediately regret it because you now can't refresh their Snapchat story every half hour. Depression is the mould on those six ketchupy plates by your door becoming sentient. Acceptance is finally washing those plates.

It's a rocky road to happiness, but get over yourself – it's a road that's been traversed before. Here is some tried and tested advice to help you along the way.

HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE IN THE MORNING

This sounds simple, but when you're truly hurting it's very easy to wake up, think, 'Fuck all of today,' go back to sleep, wake up again, call in sick, scroll through your ex's Instagram, willing ten new photos to suddenly appear, cry for a bit when they don't, go back to sleep, wake up again, have a deeply, deeply sad wank to whatever PornHub URL your browser auto-fills, put a hoody on, go to the pub and spend the rest of the day drinking vodka-mixers out of a pint glass.

This, clearly, is no way to live. Carry on like this and you'll get bed sores and cirrhosis. You need to get out. Rent a bike, swim in a pond, borrow a dog, talk to your mum – anything that will put some wind in your sails. If the only interactions you're having are with Domino's delivery guys you're going to feel this way for a long, long time.

GET A FRIEND TO CLEAR OUT YOUR PHONE

After one week – One Week, that is; not "when I'm ready" – ask a friend to wipe your phone clean of any emotionally-loaded photos, messages and videos. This must be a friend you trust, because they are going to see some blindingly close-up photos of your genitals and have to read the 100-text-long threads that descend into language so saccharine it could give you diabetes. It all has to go. All of it. And physical keepsakes, too; this isn't a Netflix documentary where forensically combing over old evidence might reverse the course of justice or bring to light something new. This is reality, where looking through an iCloud full of memories and clumsy iPhone sex videos just makes you feel empty inside.

DON'T FUCK THE FIRST PERSON WHO TRIES TO FUCK YOU

It's the first weekend of "freedom", the reality of your break-up hasn't hit home yet and an acquaintance catches wind of your singledom, sliding into your DMs the way Russia slid into Ukraine: aggressively. You're vaguely flattered. Best way to get over someone is to get under someone, right? It'll be like shaking an Etch-a-Sketch into a hard reset, only with slapping sounds. Go on then... just one drink…

This is a mistake. You do not know true sadness until you've gone home with a man because "it might be a good idea", realised they wear a kimono around the house, woken up to their snoring dad-bod and cried silently while trying to slip out from under their arm. By the time he's offered to make you "shakshuka" you will be shaking uncontrollably.

DO, HOWEVER, MAKE A 'BANG LIST'

Here's what you need to do: split the paper into three columns – "past fucks I might be able to revisit", "new people I vaguely know and might plausibly end up sleeping with" and then what we call "prestige pulls", AKA everyone you fancy who is famous but not famous enough to only sleep with other famous people: your Rita Oras, your Richard Bacons, that guy who was a love interest in a Rihanna video. The bang list is an abstract concept; you don't actually have to bang anyone on it, but it is a great way to remind yourself that other, hot, people are out there, whether or not they know you exist.

IGNORE 90 PERCENT OF YOUR FRIENDS' ADVICE

It turns out that your mates – your hilarious, smart, dragged you three miles to your bed that time you passed out in Lola Lo mates – are actually terrible at relationship advice. Mostly they just want to tell you what wrong about their relationship – "If he's already going out with his mates it means he's probably been gay all along" – or give you the platitudes normally reserved for fridge magnets and nans: "The fact he cheated means he's not ready for a relationship;" "If it's meant to be you'll get back together in the future;" "It's important to learn how to be on your own," etc, etc.

It's good to talk to people about how you're feeling, but it's also good to ignore everything they say.

DO NOT SPEAK TO YOUR EX

Would you eat a perfectly raw chicken breast? Would you have a bath with a hairdryer? Before going into major surgery would you say, "Oh no, thanks, I think I'll waive the anaesthetic today because I'm feeling quite brave!"? No? Then why would you phone your ex at 10.38PM and cross question them about everyone they've slept with in the two weeks since you broke up, and was the sex better, and did they do the thing you know they like? When it comes to break-ups, it's not true that knowledge is power. Knowledge is misery. Knowledge is the thought of your ex climaxing in the loving embrace of Steve from her work. You really don't want knowledge.

BE PREPARED FOR THEIR PHONE CALL

Without fail, three weeks after the break-up, the former love of your life – who, at this point, is coming down and so is more pathetic than usual – will call you early on a Sunday morning and say they've made a terrible mistake. All you'll want to do, of course, is go round, wash their hair for them, make them pasta and watch Netflix until that little note pops up asking you if you're still alive.

But remember this: you know when you're quitting smoking they say three weeks is the point at which it starts to get easier – the point at which you've coughed up all the tar and are once again able to jog short distances without very nearly dying? Same rule applies to break-ups. Generally, it's around the three-week mark that life starts to get better, so don't get pulled back in. Stay at home and do whatever boring stay-at-home activities you do now you're single. Make your brown rice lunches and read The Week. And if you ever feel tempted, just think about your friend who's stuck in Groundhog Day break-up limbo with their awful, awful ex, and thank the moon and the skies that you are not them.

KEEP CRAZY BEHAVIOUR TO A MINIMUM

After all the "acting like the bigger person" and "taking the high road" it can be incredibly cathartic to give in to how you're feeling, screengrab your ex's most recent Instagram of them with some random and send it to them with caption: "WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?" Let me tell you from experience that they're only going to reply with something like: "It's my friend Ben… who you would have met if you came to his birthday instead of cancelling last minute because you were 'bloated'." Then they'll probably block you. So try to exercise some self restraint when you feel jealous. Hashtagging "micropenis" under all of your ex's photos or calling their mum for a "chat" is at best going to make you look childish, and at worst earn you a court order.

BUT IF YOU HAVE TO ENGAGE IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE, WIN

If you really do want make your ex as miserable as you are, instead of out and out harassment like the above, it's more effective – and, importantly, less traceable – to stir up a constant sense of dread deep within them through calculated socialising and social media manipulation. Post an Instagram of you and another one of their exes going for a drink with the caption "catching up". Change your Facebook profile picture to something a bit booby that is going to get 4 million likes (which your ex will interpret as 4 million people wanting to sleep with you). Take a photo of a tree and location tag it in the hometown of the childhood sweetheart your ex was always jealous of. Be smart. Be a winner.

DON'T PRETEND YOU 'NEED TO DO A STUFF SWAP'

There is absolutely no circumstance under which "a stuff swap" is anything other than an excuse to see one another. On neutral ground, where no one fancies welling up publicly, it's just a perverse reenactment of the break-up you literally just had. If you really, truly need that cheese plant back, consider sending an Uber and an invoice, or setting up a PO box.

IF YOU RUN INTO YOUR EX, TRY TO KEEP CALM

For incredibly obvious reasons. But in case it needs explaining: screaming and crying and hiding is Not a Cool Vibe.

BEWARE OF USING THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DATE 'NEW KINDS OF PEOPLE'

Slowly and surely you'll find yourself ready to move on, and it's only natural that you'll want to steer clear of people who look like your ex's doppelganger; no one wants to have relationship PTSD on a Monday night B@1 date. But be warned that drastically changing your "type" isn't necessarily a good idea, either. You might think you want a change, but when you starting meeting up with men who are pointing at the camera in their Tinder profile picture, or wild-eyed girls who describe themselves as a "free spirit", you will quickly discover that "not-awful" and "vaguely self-aware" were your dating criteria for a reason.

@MillyAbraham

Hello and welcome to Inauguration Day, the day Donald actual Trump gets sworn-in as President of the United States. Sometimes I sit and marvel that the events of 2016 actually happened – can you believe, truly, that Leicester City won the Premier League? That we voted out of the EU for no good reason whatsoever? Sometimes the information just hits me all over again out of nowhere and I am stunned into shock – and Donald Trump winning the US Election is, I'm afraid, still one of them. Donald Trump! President! There was a literal tape of him ho-hoing about sexual assault! He's essentially a very rich reality TV star with a deep fake tan, and that's it! This is like if we elected Gaz Beadle from Geordie Shore to be PM! And no disrespect to Gaz! But I wouldn't trust him with foreign policy!

Anyway, it's happening now. We need to face our mistakes. You know when you wake up, on a Sunday morning-cum-afternoon, and you know – you just know – that you made some embarrassing mistakes last night; you got too drunk, you did an appalling dance move in front of all your friends, you really publicly got off with someone, you sent those texts, oh god: but for one perfect little minute before the bomb explodes and you open your eyes and behold what you have done, there is this near-zen moment of peace? Your eyes are closed and you are cosy in bed and your senses haven't caught up enough to tell your brain what your mouth tastes like yet. And you know it's bad – you know it's going to be bad – when you open your eyes, but not yet, not yet. You know you're going to have to stare into the light and the abyss, too, but not yet. Not yet. This one's going to hurt. Not yet. But for now… just for now, just for a calm little minute. Just for now: enjoy the peace.

Your minute's up now, losers. Open your eyes. It's Donald J Trump inauguration day. Here's a drinking game to get you thru:

RULES:

1. Pour a drink

2. Drink from it when something detailed below happens???

3. Obviously????

4. Top the drink up when it's empty???

TAKE A SHOT: TRUMP WEARS A MASSIVE BLACK OVERCOAT WITH A FUR-LINED COLLAR

Just an easy one to start us off. Just an easy little starter shot, loosen the pipes. D.C. in January is cold, man. Every President since time went back opted for a slightly overlarge black wool overcoat. That's almost certainly what Trump is going to wear. But… but. I just can't help but feel he's going to try and defy convention with a slight flourish on it. A little black fur collar, a little wink to Putin. A little extra laughing-insane-millionaire gloss on an otherwise functional coat. If he does: shot. If he doesn't: still shot.

SHOT(S): THE CAMERA WHIRLS TO MELANIA AND SHE JUST FREEZES UP AND LOOKS BOTH WILD-EYED AND SERENE IN THAT WAY ONLY SHE CAN

Melania's sort of placid-terror compound facial expression is actually iconic, imo – the perfect emotion for 2k17 – and I won't hear anything otherwise. (You can downgrade this one to half a shot per instance if you like, because it's going to happen a lot and it's going to be a long day / evening).

SHOT: EVERY TIME HE DOES THAT DELICATE, LITTLE FINGER-UP HAND GESTURE WHILE MAKING A SPEECH

Been staring at that hand gesture he does for months now and I still can't quite figure out what it looks like. It's… it's like he's trying to dip fondue while getting as little cheese on his shirt cuff as humanly possible. Trying to pull a length of floss that is inexplicably lodged in a distant wall. What's he doing with those hands? Like he's unfolded a coat hanger and he's trying to hook his keys up from a coffee table a few feet away. Draw a circle on a whiteboard with a slightly-too-long pen. I don't know. I don't know what the hand gestures are about – light as air, delicate, like an orchestra composer plunged into a swimming pool – but he does them a lot and you're going to need to sink a shot for each. You might want to go get a glass of water for when he starts his speech.

SINK YOUR DRINK: DONALD TRUMP SOMEHOW CROWBARS THE WORD 'TERRIFIC' INTO THE CONSTITUTIONAL OATH

These ancient words, these words chanted and repeated by the most powerful men in history, dotted now with three "terrifics" and one "amazing". If they make him start again and do it properly then you have to sink the bottle.

SHOT: THE WEIRD CULT STAND-UP AND CHANT SEGMENT THAT WILL INEVITABLY HAPPEN

Minutes after DJT gets sworn in I just feel like loads of blue-eyed people will stand, stare to the heavens and chant wicked words in support of Trump – eerie, the words, in unison – while a strange glowing light envelopes their heads. Hundreds of them, the people, thousands. Don't ask me why! I just feel like a devil-powered army of Trump supporters will make themselves known at this one. Don't ask me why! "HAIL CHIEF TRUMP," they are saying, "GREAT AND HONOURABLE RULER!" Don't ask me why! Just take a shot when it happens!

SHOT: A FREAK GUST OF WIND PEELS TRUMP'S COMPLEX HAIR LAYERS ENTIRELY BACK IN ONE FELL SWOOP, REVEALING HIS HAIRLINE – STRONGER THAN IMAGINED – AND THE TRUE STATE OF HIS SCALP – A HELLSHOW – ALL AT ONCE. IMMEDIATE IMPEACHMENT.

Take a shot for this one!

SINK YER GUINNESS! MICHAEL FLATLEY DANCES HIS FEET OFF THEN TAPS ON THE STUMPS

I am just fascinated by the idea that – after searching the globe, after being turned down by every legitimate artist and some illegitimate ones too (I mean, Rebecca Ferguson off The X Factor said no, like, a Bruce Springsteen covers band said no) – that whoever was in charge of entertainment plumped for this really enthusiastic drummer guy and Michael Flatley, wizened old Lord of the Dance. And Flatley is going to tap. Oh Lord, Michael Flatley is going to tap for you. He will move his feet so fast it will click your head off. He will tap so hard he will injure himself. He'll tap through the injury. Bits of Flatley breaking off in clumps. Still he taps on. Still he taps on. Take a shot.

SHOT: LONE EAGLE FALLS OUT OF THE SKY, DEAD

How did it die? Scientists can't explain. How come it's curiously unbloodied corpse landed so close to Trump? Statisticians running data models cannot figure it out. Did any of the FBI gunmen on the roofs of D.C. see it coming? They did not. Listen: all we know is the eagle fell out of the sky – enormous, the eagle, and dead – and now you have to do a shot.

SHOT(S): WHEN BARRON LOOKS REALLY FUCKING PISSED OFF

I can't quite decide if Barron Trump is a Damien-from- The-Omen type haunted child dead set on killing us all or just some smooth-faced kid who is really, really freaked out by this whole thing, essentially the only voice of reason left within the confines of the White House. It's really hard to tell just by looking at him. Evil or innocent? Innocent or evil? Right now I'm leaning towards innocent, you know. I am surprised too.

But then, it's early days. He is ten. You think in half a decade Barron Trump won't be the most evil Yung Conservative in the world? Come on. He's called Barron Trump, for Christ's sake. He's going to spend the next four formative years living in the White House with Donald Trump. If you think he won't come out of this experience as a cold-eyed frog killer, his school's greatest rich bully, then you are wrong. Barron Trump – the Barron Trump of 2020, the year of our eventual demise – is the real threat to this planet and the shaky peace we have across it. He's the one we have to watch out for. He's the one who's going to learn all the secret corridors and backrooms of the White House and smoke weed in them.

Anyway, for now, as mentioned, he is ten. And I remember being a ten-year-old boy, and anything that isn't a Gameboy is boring. Standing (standing!) through an endless, four-odd hour ceremony where a load of people tell your dad how good he is? No. Watch for Barron. There is no doubt that an NBC camera will grab a shot of him looking entirely, entirely pissed off and bored, and a photo of this will be the emerging meme of this inauguration. Take one shot for the first burst of Barron pictures on the timeline, and an additional shot each time you see a tweet you first saw three hours ago reposted by a meme account on Instagram.

FREESTYLE ROUND: YOUR BOYFRIEND DOES A 'MISSING OBAMA ALREADY' TWEET, 1 RT 6 FAVS

Take two shots then dump him by text!

FREESTYLE ROUND: YOUR GIRLFRIEND SAYS 'OBAMA IS BAE' AND TRUMP IS 'PROBLEMATIC'

Just distract her by saying there's a new Sherlock fan-theory on Tumblr she should check out, pour three beers directly into your body and do not pass go.

FREESTYLE ROUND: TRUMP USES EXACTLY ONE WORD THAT HITLER USED ONCE IN A SPEECH AND TWITTER ERUPTS

Oh, he's said "power", and Hitler said that once in 1939. Some nerd has already got 1K+ RTs from pointing it out. Close your laptop lid and go crack a beer.

FREESTYLE ROUND: ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THESE THINGS HAPPEN AND I AM FULLY EMBARRASSED AS A RESULT

Sink two shots then come find me at my office and fight me, you fraud! Bring your friends! I'll fuck you all up!

@joelgolby

More stuff about the US politics:

A Look Back at the Memes of the Obama Administration

Judging Obama's Progressive, Flawed, Conflicting Legacy

Read Obama's Thank You Note to America

Adulthood. Your parents warned you about it and your studies tried to prepare you for it, and yet, it wasn't really enough was it?

That's the impression I get. And by impression, I mean, "that's exactly what I established when I asked other adults the most pathetic, immature thing they've done." Because everyone has a story. No one properly shakes off the last dregs of childhood and at heart, we are all spiteful little, tiny children. Here are a few people around Melbourne to back up that claim.

Eloise, 21

VICE: What's the most immature thing you've done recently?
Eloise: I have a knack for taking things that are not mine, especially taking things from my housemates when I could just go buy things myself or use my own things.

You're the worst kind of housemate.
Oh my god, I know. I think they hate me. It's January, but I only met them at the start of the year.

So what do you take?
I take everything from shampoo to conditioner, and any kinds of food. I can be very petty as well. If one day they're like "hey mate, I'm getting pretty sick of you not cleaning down the stove after you cook," I'll intentionally not do it. It's not that often and I am getting better, but yeah I can be a bit immature at times. I always say to myself I'll replace things next week, but next week never really comes.

Are you proud of your pettiness? You sound proud.
Yeah. A little bit. Sometimes pettiness gets you where you want to go and sometimes people hate it. A lot of people hate it. Being petty to me is intentionally doing stuff that is going to bother other people but really, in the end, it's going to bite you in the ass. Realistically, it's what I'm doing—it has no benefit for me, I'm just doing it because it feels good.

Joey, 27

What's something you have done recently that made you think "wow, that was pretty immature."?
The most immature thing I've done recently was making an argument with my girlfriend out of nothing. I mean, I just wanted her to see if she actually cared about me or not.

So it was a test of... love?
We haven't been together for long, like a month or some shit. But still, I had to know. It wasn't fabricated or anything—I made something small into something big. I wish it was something like not washing the dishes, but I'm too embarrassed to say what it was.

What was it?
No, I can't.

Did it make you feel better or worse?
I don't know, I'm still trying to work that out. We'll figure it out, I'm sure. It was just something small and you know relationships, we do little things to each other to get attention and affection.

So it's still going on? Man, you're 27. Just send her a text and make up.
Oh yeah, I mean, I could. I could do that. Or not.

Anna, 28

Has there been a moment this year that you have acted like a child?
Like a child? I am like a child in almost everything I do. Look at my art! I always get into the imagination of myself as a child. feel I must always remain childish to be inspired, to be creating.

Totally. Your work is very playful.
Like my housemate says, "babe, it's all good!"

Sophie, 30

The year is still young, but have you done anything immature lately?
It was probably over New Year's. I spent it in a karaoke den dressed up as a Power Ranger. I was the yellow ranger. The costumes were provided, which was great. I was in Japan and all the karaoke places have costumes, so you just let it all out.

Why do you think karaoke is immature?
I guess it's just not something you're necessarily not expected to do in your day-to-day life. So dressing up all night was great: a good kind of immaturity. We had the room for a couple of hours and I got to hit up Spice Girls. My standout performance was "Wannabe."

June, 19

Has there been a moment lately when your judgement has lapsed as an adult?
Oh yeah, I did something immature the other night. My friend and I went out and we were trying to find caps. The guy was quite suss-looking and I will say, they were not what we were hoping for.

What were they?
When we looked at the caps, we were pretty sure they were synthetic. I should have been more conscious of that, but I took one. The high was good, but the comedown was horrible. I mean it was nothing like I've experienced before. I got incredibly moody, just all over the shop.

Did you know there's a bad batch of drugs going around Melbourne right now?
We saw Revolver Upstairs post about the poor drug quality over the weekend, with a lot of people going to hospital. Yep, taking that cap was immature.

Lead image via Flickr.

Follow @kethakim on Twitter.

Public school teachers, welders, roofers, boy scouts, entrepreneurs, and zealous conservatives streamed into Washington, D.C. from around the country this week in hopes of catching a glimpse of the swearing-in of the 45th president.

Trump's America, or "real America" as many of them called it, came to the much-derided swamp wearing bright red "Make America Great Again" hats to celebrate "real change" for ordinary people.

Trump echoed those same words Thursday evening in brief remarks at his Make America Great Again concert at the Lincoln Memorial. "We all got tired of seeing what was happening," he said. "And we wanted change, but we wanted real change"

In two dozen interviews with Trump supporters visiting the nation's capital for the inauguration, a consistent vision of that change began to take shape. More than any other issue, these die-hard supporters expressed their hope that Trump would follow through on his promise to impose term limits on members of Congress. "A lot of politicians come here meager and leave millionaires," said Jamey O'Donnell, a 59-year old roofer from the Denver-area.

That money and power has created a government with an attitude of "you take what we give you," said Darryl Mitchell, a state tax auditor from North Carolina.

In Trump's America, such elite technocracy does not sit well. "The concept that there are only 535 people smart enough to run the federal government is abhorrent," said Danny Shields, a 63-year-old public elementary school teacher from Bloomington, Indiana.

Read more on VICE News

"This is a world that is run mostly by HIV-negative people, and they're focused on protecting their own interests," Bruce Richman tells me. He's the executive director of Prevention Access Campaign, a multi-agency initiative working to end HIV and HIV-related stigma, and he's referring to the world of HIV prevention and treatment, where for the last few years, public attention has been fixed on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

PrEP is an HIV prevention method where high risk, HIV-negative people take virus-fighting antiretroviral drugs and see up to a 99 percent decrease in their chances of getting HIV. It's an exciting innovation, especially for the HIV-negative; CDC researchers have predicted that expanding the use of PrEP could prevent 17,000 new infections by 2020. As a result, HIV prevention programs across the country have gone all-in on pervasive public awareness campaigns and treatment access programs over the past few years. Which is fantastic, but as Richman warns, "I think it's short sighted to think that PrEP is the best way to protect their own interests."

Another treatment strategy exists that's potentially ten times as effective as PrEP, but it's getting much less of the limelight. Known as treatment as prevention (TasP), it involves HIV-positive patients getting their viral load (or the number of copies of HIV measurable in their blood) below levels detectable via testing. When that's achieved, multiple studies have shown that it's almost impossible to transmit HIV to uninfected sexual partners. The CDC predicts that if 80 percent of people living with HIV were to achieve an undetectable viral load through antiretroviral therapy (ART), it could prevent about 168,000 infections by 2020.

The message that Richman and the Prevention Access Campaign have been trying to promote is that HIV-positive people who have been undetectable for at least six months and adhere to treatment pose negligible to non-existent risk in transmitting the virus to others. That's why TasP is so effective. And for the last year and a half, they've been behind a public awareness campaign promoting TasP called "Undetectable = Untransmittable."

The principles behind TasP have been proven with two studies: The HPTN 052 trial and the PARTNER study. The final results of HPTN 052 were reported in 2015, showing that ART was 93 percent effective in preventing the transmission of HIV. Although that's not 100 percent, the eight cases where participants had contracted the virus happened in instances where the infecting partner wasn't undetectable. In the PARTNER study, which enrolled 548 straight and 340 gay male serodiscordant couples (with one undetectable HIV-positive and one HIV-negative partner) who had penetrative sex 58,000 times without a condom, not a single negative partner contracted the virus from their partner.

In 2011, the last year a nationally-representative sample was surveyed, the CDC reported that 30 percent of people living with HIV under medical care had achieved viral suppression. That's 50 percent shy of what's required to potentially prevent 168,000 new infections by 2020. here are many reasons why less than half are virally suppressed: Some people develop drug resistance that prevents them from achieving viral suppression, or experience unbearable side effects that prevent them from adhering to medication. Treatment barriers related to racism, discrimination and criminalization prevent others from receiving adequate care.

Sometimes, it's just a choice, too. Richman, who has been living with HIV since 2003, didn't go on treatment when first diagnosed; he waited until he got sick in 2010 because he didn't want to take the medicines and was in denial about having the disease. "[TasP] is an important incentive," he explains. "I absolutely would've started therapy back in 2003 if I'd known that I could not transmit the virus if I was undetectable."

Richman says there are only three major awareness campaigns promoting TasP: One from the homelessness and HIV/AIDS-advocacy organization Housing Works called The Undetectables, one from the NYC Health Department called Stay Sure, and the Prevention Access Campaign. A number of other organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and others, have also signed on to spread the gospel about undetectability and TasP. But the number of campaigns with TasP messaging is eclipsed by the sheer number of PrEP-focused campaigns nationwide.

"I've seen funding go towards PrEP, and reluctance to fund programs that promote the full benefits of viral suppression," Richman tells me. "Funders don't want to do something that's risky. We were told by one foundation they wouldn't fund us because they were concerned about being sued."

Indeed, TasP is a hard pill for many to swallow. For those who saw the emotional scars left by the AIDS crisis and taught the necessity of condom usage for years, adjusting to the idea that it's okay to have condomless sex with virally suppressed HIV-positive people will be hard. Even though the science is there and sound, it's clear from the disparity in awareness programs that, at least for now, people prefer to fund and pursue PrEP over TasP at the public level. But the reluctance to promote TasP betrays the larger social stigma we still carry about HIV—a stigma that TasP programs themselves work to undo.

Richman says that a major goal of undetectability awareness campaigns is to educate healthcare professionals, many of whom he says will only tell their patients about TasP on a case-by-case basis, based on factors such as their sexual identity, relationship status, level of promiscuity, and whether they believe they're capable of adhering to treatment. Some doctors may cite the theoretical risk as their justification or claim that they fear such information will discourage condom use and drive up STD transmission rates, fears some doctors also cite about promoting PrEP.

"They're hindering prevention efforts, because when you continue to promote stigma, you continue to promote that people with HIV are dangerous," Richman said. "People are less likely to disclose, people are less likely to get tested, less likely to go on treatment."

All that said, people living with HIV are not a prevention tool, nor should they be treated as such—ART is the tool, and TasP is the strategy. Their benefits are in everybody's best interest, not just those who are HIV-negative.

"The understanding that treatment is prevention, and that treatment stops the transmission of HIV is an incredibly important prevention tool," he said. "The most effective prevention tool we've ever had."

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When all of us were smoking dime bags from our high school dealers in our best friend's basement, we probably never thought the weed industry would get to where it is today—and where it's headed. Cannabis broke the Canadian stock market last year. We're living in a time where there can be a recall on weed by Canada's health ministry. And now, a new report has shown that the legal weed market could reach US$21 billion by 2021.

A report by ArcView Market Research, "The State Of Legal Marijuana Markets," which studied medicinal, legal, and illicit weed markets, showed that in 2016, Americans and Canadians spent a combined US$56.4 billion ($72 billion in Canadian dollars) on weed. However, only US$6.9 billion of that total was legal spending—meaning 88 percent was illegal—showing how much money the black market still has a hold on.

That projected $21 billion over the next few years is based on what growth the Canadian weed market, as well as those in Massachusetts and California, is expected to see pending legalization. However, the report notes this is assuming the US "does not return to waging all-out war on the cannabis industry" under its new presidency.

While Canada is on the verge of legalization country-wide within the next two years, the US is continuing to resist legal weed at a federal level, allowing states to decide on the matter instead. In 2016, seven more American states voted to legalize marijuana. Mexico has also started a process to legalize medical marijuana.

The ArcView report also laid out how illegality has held the weed market back from reaching its true potential.

"In contrast to comparable markets which quickly grew from zero to tens of billions of dollars, such as organic foods, home video, cell phone, or the internet, the cannabis industry doesn't need to create demand for a new product or innovation—it just needs to move demand for an already widely popular product into legal channels."

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Well, like it or not, Donald Trump—real estate developer, reality TV show host, and Playboy video star—will be sworn in today as the 45th president. And, like the long line of presidents before him, Trump will take the oath of office on the steps of the US capitol building. The ceremony is slated to begin around 11:30 AM EST, after Trump and Melania meet with the Obamas at the White House.

Trump will enter office with an abysmal approval rating, sitting at just around 40 percent, which is lower than any incoming president in decades. He'll also be sworn in amid numerous anti-Trump protests in the DC area, followed by Saturday's historic Women's March on Washington.

If you feel like taking part in watching history go down, check out the livestream below. If you're not interested in giving Trump the ratings he so clearly cares about, then just go outside or some shit.

Everything you need to know about the world this morning, curated by VICE.

US News

Trump Prepares to Take Office, Pledges to Unify Nation
The real estate developer and reality TV host Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States today. He will take the oath of office at midday, and has reportedly arranged for 20-plane military flyover to take place during the inauguration parade. Speaking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Thursday night, Trump said: "We're going to unify our country. We're going to make America great for all of our people…That includes the inner cities."—BBC News / The Huffington Post

Police Use Pepper Spray at Anti-Trump Protest
Police used pepper spray on anti-Trump protesters demonstrating outside the pro-Trump "DeploraBall" event in Washington, DC, Thursday night. Some protestors had set off smoke devices. Others rallied outside Trump International hotel in New York City, where Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, and NYC mayor Bill de Blasio all spoke against Trump.—NBC News

El Chapo Extradited to the US and Jailed in New York
Mexico extradited Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to the US on Thursday night to face drug trafficking and other charges, and he was taken to Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center. One US official said the timing of the extradition was accelerated to precede Trump's inauguration.—VICE News/CNN

Obama Grants Record Number of Commutations on Final Day
President Obama commuted the sentences of 330 drug offenders in federal prisons on Thursday, the largest number of clemency grants ever made in a single day. "Proud to make this one of my final actions as President," he tweeted. Obama granted 1,715 people clemency during his time in office, more than any president in history.—USA Today

International News

West African Military Intervention Hones in on Gambia
A coalition of West African nations has given Yahya Jammeh one last chance to step down in Gambia or face violent removal. Adama Barrow, who beat Jammeh in the presidential election in December, was sworn in as the new Gambian president in Senegal on Thursday. Troops from Senegal and neighboring countries crossed into Gambia and gave Jammeh until noon Friday to leave or be ousted, a deadline he asked to be extended.—BBC News

ISIS Destroys Part of Palmyra's Ancient Amphitheater
ISIS has destroyed part of a Roman amphitheater in the Syrian city of Palmyra, according to the country's director of antiquities. Maamoun Abdulkarim said militants had destroyed the tetrapylon, a collection of pillars at the entrance, as well as part of the amphitheater's façade. ISIS recaptured Palmyra from government forces in December.—The Guardian

Thousands of Child Soldiers Recruited in Somalian Conflict, Says UN
A UN report states that more than 6,000 children, some as young as nine, have been recruited and exploited in Somalia since 2010, mostly by the al Shabab militant group. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said he was "deeply troubled" by reports children had been taught to use weapons, carry ammunition, and act as spies.—Al Jazeera

Chinese Economy Grows at Slowest Rate in Quarter-Century
Official GDP figures show China's economy has grown at its slowest rate since 1990. The Chinese economy grew by 6.7 percent in 2016, down from 6.9 percent the previous year. The country's national statistics bureau insisted it was "good start" in meeting the government's target of 6.5 percent annual growth between now and 2020.—AFP

Everything Else

Kanye West Gets (Another) College Course
Washington University in St. Louis has launched a new course devoted entirely to the politics and artistry of Kanye West. Professor Jeffrey McCune is teaching the course, entitled "Politics of Kanye West: Black Genius and Sonic Aesthetics," to 75 students.—Billboard

New York Jets Owner to be US Ambassador to UK
New York Jets owner Robert "Woody" Johnson will be America's next ambassador to the UK, President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday. Johnson, 69, is a big Republican campaign fundraiser and donor.—The New York Times

Anonymous Promises to Make Trump 'Regret' Presidency
Hacking collective Anonymous has issued a warning to incoming president Donald Trump: "You are going to regret the next 4 years." A series of tweets from the group alleged Trump was "implicated in some really heavy shit."—Mic

Gorillaz Drop New Track, First in Six Years
Gorillaz have released its first new material in six years. The track, "Hallelujah Money," featuring London poet and pianist Benjamin Clementine, is described by the band's bassist Murdoc as "a lightning bolt of truth in a black night."—Noisey

Tesla Cleared of Fault After Fatal Autopilot Accident
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has cleared Tesla of any fault after an investigation into a fatal accident involving a vehicle in autopilot. NHTSA concluded the system still required a driver to "take action to avoid crashes."—Motherboard

CNN to Hire Fake News Investigator
CNN Media is hiring a reporter to investigate the origin of fake news stories spreading online. "We're going to be examining the wave of 'fake news' stories and the people behind them," the job ad states.—VICE

It looks like Kid Mero's hatred towards Ray Romano wasn't just a fleeting emotion. Just a few days ago on Desus & Mero, the host revealed his unbridled anger towards the sitcom star. While it seemed like just another joke, apparently Mero was dead serious. So serious, in fact, that he brought on UFC Bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes—who famously took down Ronda Rousey—to show him how to bring Romano to his knees like a pro.

Will Ray accept Mero's challenge to duke it out? Will this be the next Chris Brown and Soulja Boy brawl? If this fight does happen, who will be the Amanda Nunes and who will be Ronda Rousey? All these questions and more might (but probably won't) be answered on next week's Desus & Mero.

Be sure to catch new episodes weeknights at 11:30 PM ET/PT on VICELAND.

In Washington, DC, protests are routine as press conferences. This is where the government does its business, and opposition to that business is both inevitable and expected—so much so that the DC's Metropolitan Police Department is known for being a well-oiled protest control machine. Presidential inaugurations, of course, have seen their share of demonstrations: George W. Bush and Richard Nixon's ceremonies were both met with massive, though controlled, protests.

But DC has never seen anything quite like Donald Trump.

Not only is Trump the most unpopular incoming president in modern American history, not only did he win office while trailing in the national popular vote by nearly 3 million, he has also sparked a feeling of dread among some DC natives that the end is nigh. Since I arrived in the city earlier this week, several residents of the predominantly Democratic city told me that they fear the worst ever from the incoming administration—for their country, and their city. As the New York Times documented in the week after the election, many Washingtonians are apprehensive about what will happen to their town's culture under Trump. Signs of discontent are everywhere, from a poster in an office window reading "Thanks FBI" to scribbles of "Fuck Trump" on every Pret a Manger in a five-mile radius.

It's no surprise then that, based on the plans for protest during Friday's ceremony, inauguration is shaping up to be a shitshow on the streets of DC.

By Thursday afternoon, Trump supporters from all over the nation had descended upon the capital, on motorcycles, trucks, and Christian tour buses. Even in the sea of red baseball caps, there were the first glimmers of protest—in the span of a single block, I saw a man holding an umbrella that read "Dictator" in front of the new Trump International Hotel, a woman carrying a sign that read "Back in the USSA," and a handful of people wearing pro-Obama stickers. Then I came to McPherson Square.

Tagged with "I"'s for "Illegitimate," a group called Refuse Fascism has held daily protests at the public space, which is just north of the White House, since Saturday. They gathered in a circle, chanting "In the name of humanity, we refuse!" and calling Trump the "American Hitler." The group was small—no more than 50 people—and barely met with any resistance, either from cops or Trump supporters.

A stage at an anti-nuke protest on Thursday

Carl Dix, one of the main voices for the group and a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, told me that organizers had come from as far as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York for the inauguration on Friday. "We're gonna be out in the streets, and make the business in usual in this town stop," he said.

The group is protesting under the banner of Occupy Inauguration, a coalition of leftists that, one member said, was a "continuation of the Occupy movement." I was told by some organizers that the Women's March on Saturday, which is expected to be the largest inaugural weekend demonstration ever, was an afterthought to these protesters—one described the march to me as no more than "colorful."

In conjunction with a number of other activist organizations—many of which will be marching down towards the National Mall on Friday, or as far as they can get—Refuse Fascism was focusing its attention on the Inaugural parade, Dix said, when Trump will ride up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, his new home. From the Navy Memorial and Freedom Plaza, the group hopes to disrupt the procession, Dix said, or at least get Trump's attention. Several protesters mentioned plans to block entrances to the inauguration, and possibly even the DC metro—plans that seemed to be being carried out as of Friday:

From what I was told, protesters appear to be more concerned with confrontation from Trump voters than the police. But Dix seemed unfazed. "We're not going to interact with those fools," he told me. "If he gets you a job, then you like the rest of his agenda? That's like when Hitler gave some Germans jobs, and they were fine with the Holocaust."

"But," he added, "I can't say how it's gonna go."

The Resist Fascism crew later headed down the street to the Deploraball, a gathering of alt-right types who were the most flamboyant, nationalistic, and sometimes outright racist of Trump's supporters. There, protesters struggled with the police, who deployed pepper spray against them.

Jill Stein speaks to her supporters at a rally on Thursday.

Down the block from McPherson, at Franklin Square, an even smaller group, this one organized against nuclear arms, gathered to hear Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, who delivered her familiar talking points. She assailed the vast wealth of Trump's cabinet appointees, and promised firm opposition. "If there's a registry [of Muslims]," she told the audience of 20 or so, "I don't know about you, but I'm putting my name on it." One man started yelling profanities at her for reason that were unclear, but was soon surrounded by audience members and silenced.

A few blocks north, we met a handful of organizers from the Progressive Independent Party, which was started by "Bernie-crats," in a room at the Luther Place Memorial Church. One organizer, Pete Perry, told me that the group had just wrapped up "peacekeeper training," which involved de-escalation tactics along the parade route, specifically with Trump voters.

"We'd say, 'I hear that you're frustrated. I am, too,'" he said. "And then, we'd try to engage and de-escalate from there." Perry, who is originally from DC, said other inaugurations have been "intense," but Trump's is likely to be unprecedented in its tumult. "We're trying to keep it as nonviolent as possible," he affirmed.

These groups may have all been anti-Trump, but they were not united. Refuse Fascism seemed interested in confrontation, the Progressive Independent Party seemed prepared to make sure that no conflicts broke out, and some leftists—like Stein—are simply continuing their usual activism and agitation on behalf of their chosen causes. We'll find out how that will play out on the ground as Trump's inauguration festivities continue. But this division and anger will set the stage for four years of agitation in DC.

On the night before Trump's inauguration, the "Resistance" didn't seem strong; it seemed confused. What that'll mean for DC will ultimately be decided in a few hours—but it could set the stage for how the city handles the next four years.

Follow John Surico on Twitter.

Follow Jason Bergman on Instagram.

Last year, Wendy Carrillo drove from California to Standing Rock to help oppose the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. For two months, the longtime labor activist and former journalist camped out alongside the Sioux tribe and thousands of other people who were mobilized to fight for the environment and for indigenous rights.

As the local police assaulted the encampment and arrested protestors en masse—reportedly shooting them with rubber bullets, mace, and grenades—she couldn't stop thinking about why no one in power was paying attention: Where's Congress? Where's the President? Where are the elected officials who are supposed to stand up for the will of the people?

Despite every effort to suppress them, the protesters finally won a victory when the Army Corps of Engineers denied Dakota Access an easement to drill underneath the reservation's main source of water right before 2016 came to a close. It was then that Carrillo, 36, realized she no longer wanted to be on the defensive: She had just witnessed how police brutality goes completely unchecked, Donald Trump was officially on his way to becoming the president of the United States, and it was clear that the Democratic Party was imploding in the wake of its defeat. As she headed back home, she made the decision to run for US Congress as representative from California's 34th district, Los Angeles County.

"I saw some of the most egregious violations against native people and Americans and people around the world by a militarized police state. As a human rights journalist who has been covering movements and global conflict and human rights violations in other places in the world, to see them and experience them in America created an incredible radical shift in my thinking about the political process," she told me over phone. "The continued politics-as-usual in Congress and the fact that we put pipelines and profits over people is just disturbing and not the country that I want."

Read more on Broadly

The Discovery
Charlie McDowell's becoming a master existentialist, pulling from our collective loneliness to weave together stories about life after death and love through despair. His latest for Netflix stars Rooney Mara and Jason Segel as two lovers struggling to stay alive after the discovery of an afterlife. Robert Redford and Jesse Plemons co-star. Also, if you haven't seen Plemons in Other People, please stop reading this and go watch it!

Girlfriends Day
This Bob Odenkirk co-written movie is full of literally all the best people. From Odenkirk himself to Andy Richter, Amber Tamblyn, and Alex Karpovsky, this black comedy explores one man's redemption as he tries to get his life right by writing the best greeting card for a new holiday. Somehow he gets entangled in murder, espionage and corruption along the way. Obviously, it looks amazing.

Colossal
Oh Annie Hathaway you sweet, annoying soul. Why do people hate you so much? Why do I hate you so much? Well here she is again playing an oddly grating alcoholic looking to start her life again in her hometown. Jason Sudeikis costars in the Canadian co-pro directed by Nacho Vigalondo ( Timecrimes) that is a unique window into addiction. Oh yeah and there's a giant monster destroying everything in its path.

Santa Clarita Diet
Wow I honestly don't work for Netflix, but damn they seem to have a lot of good shit coming out in the next couple of months so here we are. I know Drew Barrymore is kind of love/hate; her acting can be like watching a toothless baby slurp on a bowl of mashed bananas but also look how cute she is! Victor Fresco ( Better Off Ted) helms this suburban mom take on the classic zombie movie. A housewife turned cannibal with an underappreciated Timothy Olyphant as her reluctant sidekick? Hell yes.

Follow Amil  on Twitter.

Al Gore might have lost the presidency in 2000, but he wound up taking home an Oscar for the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth. That's some consolation prize, but the 2006 film—which was a recorded version of a slide show about climate change Gore had been giving around the world for years—didn't have the sort of impact it needed to save the planet.

Ten years after An Inconvenient Truth premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Gore and Robert Redford, the festival's creator, were on hand to premiere An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power on Sundance's opening night this year (and, not coincidentally, the evening before a known climate change denier is set to take the Oval Office). Once again, the film shows Gore crusading to save the planet, but this time, he doesn't have to show animation of rising seas flooding the site of the World Trade Center in New York; he can show actual footage of that happening during Superstorm Sandy.

With 14 of the Earth's 15 hottest years happening since 2001, so much that Gore predicted in that original film has come true, and still not much has changed. He also addresses other atrocities that have happened because of climate change: the deadly heat wave in India, the rapidly melting glaciers in Greenland, and the Syrian civil war, which research shows was partially caused by global warming.

The follow-up is directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (who take over from David Guggenheim, who directed the original), and they show Gore worrying that his failure to take the White House was a failure to the environment. He also discusses trying to "fix the democracy crisis" so that the government can take proper steps to address the changing climate. Sadly, with the incoming administration, that seems less and less likely.

Still, Gore had a message of hope from the festival crowd, who gave him and the film a standing ovation. "We're going to win this," Gore told the crowd, according to Vulture. "The reality has been that the maximum that's politically feasible has fallen short of the minimum the scientists tell us is necessary to save the planet balance, according to what the laws of physics dictate."

"If anybody doubts that we have the capacity and the will to act," he said, "just remember that the will to act is itself a renewable resource."

So the least popular new president in the history of new presidents just got himself inaugurated, after losing the popular election by three million votes. Hail to the Chief! As our new Russian besties would say, Prisyagat' na vernost' nashemu rukovoditelyu! ("Swear fealty to our leader!")

Or maybe you're not feeling fealty. Maybe you admitted to a relative or a social medium that it's hard to see a science-doubting, journalism-bashing, civil-rights-hero dissing fop as your president?

Which inspires the inevitable response from a Trump supporter: "Get over it." What exactly are we supposed to be getting over? The fact that we have a billionaire-cabinetted tweet clown as president?

That's not for me to say. I'm here to offer a less obnoxious suggestion: Protest all you want, but when you're talking to a Trump supporter, first decide exactly what you want. If you're the kind of decent American I think you are, I'm guessing you want at least one of these things:

1. Pleasant conversations without walking on eggshells.

2. Making Trump supporters begin to doubt their choice. (The less popular the president, the less evil he can do.)

3. Not getting shot.

And, best of all, 4. More love, less hate.

Read more on Tonic