Selamat Jalan Bunda Dorce - Transgender Melegenda Yg Heboh Sepanjang Hidupnya

Selebritas dan seniman Dorce Gamalama meninggal dunia pada Rabu (16/2) pada usia 58 tahun. Kabar ini datang setelah seleb senior serba bisa itu dikabarkan sakit selama beberapa waktu terakhir.

"Iya (meninggal) jam 7 lewat tadi pagi di RS Pertamina," kata Hetty Soendjaya selaku kerabat mengonfirmasi kabar tersebut seperti kepada CNNIndonesia.com, Rabu (16/2).

Terpisah, Hetty mengatakan Dorce Gamalama meninggal dunia akibat terpapar virus corona. Sehingga, sang pembawa acara itu akan dikuburkan sesuai protokol Covid-19.

"Jadi meninggalnya karena COVID. Jadi enggak dibawa pulang. Jadi dikemasnya di rumah sakit," ungkap Hetty seperti diberitakan detikhot. 

"Belum tahu pemakamannya di mana. Mungkin hari ini, mohon doanya dan maaf atas kesalahan beliau," tuturnya.

Artis senior Dorce Gamalama dikenal multitalenta. Selain menjadi aktris, Dorce juga mampu menjadi pelawak, penyanyi hingga presenter. Tidak heran jika kehidupan pribadi Dorce pun kerap disorot.

Termasuk soal keputusan Dorce mengubah jenis kelaminnya menjadi perempuan. Seperti diketahui, Dorce cukup lama menjadi transgender. Hingga akhirnya ia dinyatakan sah sebagai seorang perempuan di mata hukum.

Kendati demikian, tidak sedikit orang yang masih menyapa Dorce dengan sapaan pria seperti bapak, mas, om hingga tuan. Menanggapi hal ini, Dorce pun angkat bicara. Diakui Dorce, ia santai saja meski masih dipanggil dengan sapaan pria.

"Orang kan suka bingung," ujar Dorce saat ditemui di kawasan Tendean pada Rabu (23/12). "Saya mau dipanggil om kek, tuan, mas, enggak masalah, yang penting saya punya kelamin perempuan."

Soal julukan bunda, Dorce pun menanggapinya santai. Ia mengaku bahwa julukan bunda merupakan pemberian, bukan ia yang menyematkan sendiri

"Saya enggak pusing-pusing lagi orang manggil apa, 'laki-laki kok dipanggil bunda' atau apa," lanjut Dorce. "Saya menjelaskan saya tidak pernah minta dipanggil bunda, tidak minta dipanggil princess.

Kasus ganti status kelamin di Indonesia memang jarang terjadi. Pasalnya, permohonan ganti kelamin ternyata tidak mudah.

Berdasarkan informasi Program Karakterisasi Putusan Komisi Yudisial (KY), jika ada proses permohonan ganti kelamin maka Pemohon harus bisa meyakinkan hakim bahwa memang dirinya layak untuk diubah kelaminnya. Tidak sedikit yang ditolak karena tidak bisa meyakinkan hakim.

Terbaru, kasus ganti kelamin baru saja terjadi di Kabupaten Kediri. Seorang perempuan akhirnya sah menjadi laki-laki setelah permohonan ganti status kelaminnya dikabulkan oleh Pengadilan Negeri Kabupaten Kediri.

Tak hanya itu, ternyata ada beberapa kasus ganti status kelamin yang pernah terjadi di Jawa Timur. Berikut ulasannya.

Ani Khasanah (Kediri)

Pengadilan Negeri (PN) Kabupaten Kediri baru saja memutuskan Ani Khasanah (21) perempuan asal Desa Selopanggung, Kecamatan Semen, menjadi laki-laki.

Ani yang berusia 21 tahun tersebut mengajukan permohonan ganti status kelamin bukan karena transgender namun karena ketidak sempurnaan alat genital yang dimilikinya. Ani memiliki alat kelamin laki laki yang terlihat tidak sempurna. Orang tua Ani menganggap jika Ani adalah perempuan.

Pada saat lahir, genital bayi ini tidak sempurna. Penis yang terlihat tidak seperti pada umumnya. Akhirnya orang tua menjadikan si anak ini sebagai perempuan. Namun hingga seiring waktu, Ani tidak mengalami hal seperti wanita umumnya. Dia tidak mengalami menstruasi dan lebih senang bergaul dengan laki-laki dibanding perempuan.

Orang tua Ani mendapat kabar dari pihak sekolah bahwa Ani sering bercerita kepada guru pengajar atas kondisi dirinya. Sehingga pihak sekolah membawa Ani ke pihak medis, dengan hasil pemeriksaan kromosom, Ani memiliki kromosom 46, XY.

Artinya, 46 itu adalah kromosom jumlah utuhnya dan XY menyatakan kromosom itu adalah laki-laki. Diketahuinya kromosom tersebut, pihak medis kemudian menyatakan jika Anik adalah seorang laki-laki, namun memiliki kelamin yang tumbuh kurang sempurna.

Putri Natasiya (Surabaya)

Putri Natasiya sejak lahir memang sudah berkelamin laki-laki. Namun karena ada kelainan medis, dirinya dianggap dan dicatatkan di kantor Dispendukcapil sebagai perempuan.

Putri Natasiya kemudian mengajukan permohonan ganti kelamin ke Pengadilan Negeri Surabaya. Tak berjalan mulus, usaha Putri Natasiya sempat terhambat karena permohonannya sempat dicabut karena bukti-bukti permohonannya masih belum lengkap.

Namun, setelah menjalani proses panjang, akhirnya dia resmi menjadi laki-laki. Hal itu setelah hakim Pengadilan Negeri Surabaya mengabulkan permohonan ganti kelamin yang diajukan Putri dari perempuan menjadi laki-laki.

Avika Warisman (Surabaya)

Pengadilan Negeri Surabaya mengabulkan permohonan Avika Warisman untuk berganti identitas kelamin dari laki-laki menjadi perempuan. Hakim yang mengabulkan permohonan itu adalah Pujo Saksono.

Dorce Gamalama (Surabaya)

Dedi Yuliardi Ashadi lahir di Solok, 21 Juli 1963. Menurut guru besar ilmu hukum Unair, Peter Mahmud Marzuki, Dedi terinspirasi oleh keberhasilan Vivian, lelaki pertama di Indonesia yang berhasil berubah menjadi perempuan.

Pada 3 Mei 1988, Dedi menjalani operasi pengubahan kelamin di Rumah Sakit Dr Soetomo Surabaya. Dedi mengajukan permohonan pergantian status kelamin ke Pengadilan Negeri Surabaya. Pada 24 Oktober 1988, dengan merujuk ke kasus Vivian, Pengadilan menyatakan Dedi sebagai seorang wanita.

Dedi Yuliardi Ashadi berubah nama menjadi Dorce Ashadi. Dia punya nama panggung Dorce Gamalama karena ayahnya berasal dari kawasan sekitar Gunung Gamalama, Ternate.

Hidilyn Diaz : Terjebak PPKM di Malaysia Hingga Dapat Emas Olimpiade

Atlet angkat besi Filipina Hidilyn Diaz mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Malaysia setelah meraih medali emas di nomor 55 kilogram putri di Olimpiade Tokyo 2020 kemarin.

Juara dunia berusia 30 tahun itu melakukan angkatan seberat 224 kilogram untuk menyalip atlet China Liao Qiuyin dan atlet Kazakhstan Zulfiya Chinshanlo untuk menjadi juara dengan memecahkan rekor Olimpiade.

Itu juga merupakan medali emas Filipina pertama dalam sejarah Olimpiade.

Namun, kesuksesan itu tidak datang dengan mudah, karena ia melalui berbagai cobaan jelang Tokyo 2020

Diaz dan timnya terdampar di Malaysia tahun lalu menyusul Perintah Pengendalian Gerakan (PKP) yang diterapkan Pemerintah Malaysia untuk menekan penyebaran wabah COVID-19.

Untungnya, ia mendapat bantuan dari komunitas angkat besi di Jasin, Melaka, yang memungkinkannya untuk melanjutkan latihannya jelang perhelatan olahraga terbesar dunia itu.

"Perjalanan saya ke Tokyo 2020 sangat menantang. Saya sangat bersyukur kepada Tuhan yang telah mengirim saya ke Malaysia untuk berlatih dengan baik," katanya dalam konferensi pers.

“Dia mengirimi saya banyak orang seperti komunitas angkat besi di Filipina dan Malaysia, yang banyak membantu saya dalam perjalanan ini.

“Saya berterima kasih kepada orang-orang di Jasin, Melaka, yang memberi saya tempat tinggal dan gym ketika saya dalam pergolakan tidak tahu ke mana harus pergi. Saya mungkin tidak di rumah tetapi saya merasa seperti berada di rumah saat berada di rumah. Malaysia.

“Untuk semua teman-teman saya di Melaka dan semua orang Malaysia yang membantu saya, terima kasih banyak telah membantu kami. Saya mungkin tidak bisa melewatinya atau memenangkan medali emas ini tanpa kalian.

"Terima kasih, Malaysia Boleh," katanya.

Diaz pun mengaku siap kembali ke Melaka untuk melanjutkan latihannya.

“Saya akan kembali ke Melaka. Bagi saya, saya masih perlu melanjutkan latihan untuk mempertahankan status saya.

“Kami tidak selalu akan menjadi juara dan masih harus berlatih dan bekerja keras.

“Saya pikir Melaka adalah tempat terbaik untuk pelatihan saya selama pandemi ini,” tambahnya.

Terjebak PPKM (PKP istilah malaysianya) di Melaka

Diaz dan timnya tiba di Malaka 10 bulan lalu untuk mendirikan kamp pelatihan bagi upaya Zamboanguena untuk lolos ke Tokyo 2020 untuk apa yang bisa menjadi Olimpiade keempat berturut-turut sejak Beijing 2008 ketika dia masih berusia 18 tahun.

Tetapi pandemi Covid-19 melanda dan dunia terdiam dan Tim Diaz menemukan diri mereka terdampar di Malaysia.

Jangan khawatir untuk Diaz, pelatih kekuatan dan pengkondisiannya Julius Naranjo dan Pelatih Cina Kaiwan Gao meskipun karena pemerintah Malaysia menyambut tim dengan tangan terbuka dan memberi mereka visa selama setahun yang berakhir, ya, pada hari ulang tahun Olimpiade.

“Mereka [pemerintah Malaysia] memberi kami visa selama satu tahun dan mereka memperlakukan kami seperti keluarga di sini,” kata Diaz kepada BusinessMirror pada hari Jumat. "Mereka memperlakukan kami seperti mereka sendiri dan mereka membiarkan kami berlatih di pusat pelatihan mereka ketika saya tidak punya tempat untuk berlatih."

Diaz akan secara resmi mengklaim tiketnya ke Tokyo di kejuaraan dunia yang diselenggarakan Tashkent dari 15 hingga 25 April. Yang dia butuhkan hanyalah melangkah di jalur kompetisi, mengangkat barbel, dan secara resmi mengklaim slot ke Olimpiade.

Dunia Tashkent akan menjadi turnamen yang disetujui oleh Federasi Angkat Berat Internasional keenam Diaz, persyaratan minimum bagi seorang atlet angkat besi untuk lolos ke Tokyo — selama Anda berada di 8 besar dunia di kelas berat Anda.

“Mereka [pemerintah Malaysia] menemukan cara untuk membantu saya dan pelatih saya,” katanya. "Tidak ada persaingan di sini, kami adalah keluarga di sini."

Diaz mengatakan bahwa dia telah menikmati Malaka sejak itu.

"Seharusnya itu hanya pelatihan isolasi di sini di Malaysia," katanya. "Kami tidak pernah berharap untuk tinggal di sini terlalu lama."

Naranjo mengatakan mereka telah belajar untuk menikmati komunitas Malaysia.

"Kami diperlakukan seperti anggota keluarga mereka yang sebenarnya," katanya. "Kami menyesuaikan dengan apa pun yang terjadi dan itu yang terbaik untuk Hidilyn dan tim intinya."

Jika dia tidak mengangkat baja, Diaz memasak masakan Filipina seperti adobo dan tinolang manok. Mereka belajar untuk menyukai makanan halal tetapi mereka berhasil menikmati daging babi setidaknya sekali seminggu.

“Seminggu sekali, kami makan babi di restoran Cina,” kata Diaz, yang menjalani delapan hingga sembilan sesi pelatihan seminggu dan juga menghadiri kelas online.

Ben Johnson - The Great Seoul Olympic Scandals

Ben Johnson was the last man to settle into his blocks at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

It was September 24, 1988, a heartbeat before the start of the 100 meters final and what was to become the most infamous sporting moment in Olympic history.

Johnson, like the rest of an-all star field that included then Olympic champion and fierce rival Carl Lewis, former world record holder Calvin Smith and future gold medalist Linford Christie, paced back and forth like caged panthers seeking the psychological advantage of settling last.

The field stretched, hopped and feinted as they pretended not to look at each other. Johnson merely stared straight ahead, unblinking. Inevitably it was he who won the first battle.

The gun fired and the Canadian leaped -- literally leaped -- from his starting position into a lead he would never lose.

Just 9.79 seconds later he had smashed the world record in a display of power and awe never before seen in track and field, against the greatest field of sprinters ever collected.

"Nobody," Johnson recalls in an interview with CNN, laughing in deep, long chugs, "nobody could touch my start."

What happened next has been seared into the collective memory of the Olympics ever since.

The image of a medal ceremony, more than 24 hours later where Carl Lewis still can't come to terms with where Johnson had found his extra power; the incredulity on the faces of the journalists present; the press conference afterward where a triumphant Johnson eulogized.

"I'd like to say my name is Benjamin Sinclair Johnson Jr, and this world record will last 50 years, maybe 100," he had told the room. Later he said: "A gold medal -- that's something no one can take away from you."

But they could take it away from him.

And they did.

Just 24 hours later Johnson had failed a drugs test when traces of the banned steroid stanozolol were found in his urine. And after delegation arrived at his room. Johnson handed the medal back to the IOC, much to the consternation of his mother. One of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials present described the scene as like a "wake."

"It is something that I can't watch because of what happened to me, you know?" says Johnson now of his emotions ahead of the 100m race in London, which will feature Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and will once again be most watched event at the games.

"It is a sad note how they left me, wringing me out. I don't really watch it. I just move on with my life."

The race was just one moment in a two-decade-long story that began with Johnson as a Jamaican immigrant in Canada. His rise to prominence on the track for his newly adopted country would end with a descent into sport drug use and finally disgrace.

Yet he wouldn't be the only one. Doping was so prevalent in the sport that six of the eight finalists that lined up on that September day in Seoul would fail drugs tests themselves or implicated in their use during their careers, including Lewis and Christie. As the writer Richard Moore describes in his new book on the 100m final in Seoul, it was the "Dirtiest Race in History."

The fight against drugs

"There was a huge problem with the fight against drugs," says Moore of attitudes against doping before the Seoul Olympics.

"Clearly it wasn't in the sport's interest to have the exposure for cheats so it was very much the fox guarding the hen house...It was a surprise to uncover how primitive that fight was back in those days. (Then head of the IOC Juan Antonio) Samaranch couldn't care one way or the other. He was ambivalent on the whole subject.

"There were one or two individuals in the IOC who were keen to fight it. But it was very limited."

Johnson began his career at a time of rudimentary doping controls that Moore dubs "the wild west." Born in Jamaica in 1961 into a working-class family in Falmouth, Johnson moved to Canada with his mother aged 15.

He found solace on the track and soon found his calling in sprinting. It was in Toronto's Scarborough district that Johnson would meet the man who would change his life forever: the trainer Charlie Francis.

South Sudan marathoner is an Olympian without a country

Francis was a former Canadian national sprinter who took Johnson under his wing and began a course of steroids for him in 1981 believing that it was the only way to compete in a sport riddled with drug use.

"The question is, why would you not if you know your competitors are getting away with it?" asks Moore.

"As Charlie Francis said: 'You can set your blocks up a meter behind the starting line or you could be equal.' And I think he was right. If you speak to anyone from that era they said he was right."

Francis' techniques helped Johnson find a new level. As Moore points out, Johnson "went from a scrawny guy to a muscle-bound freak" within a few years. He won bronze in the 100m final at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, as well as bronze in the 4x100m relay. But he was still way off the pace of Lewis, the golden boy of American track and field whose performances defined the L.A. Games.

A loaded field?

In the period between Los Angeles and Seoul, Johnson's work on and off the track was bearing fruit. He rose to be Canada's best sprinter and began to challenge Lewis, with whom he enjoyed a cantankerous rivalry. But for Johnson it was clear that he was not the only sprinter who was doping.

"It was something that I saw myself; people's profiles were changing very, very fast," Johnson says of how he viewed other athletes on the track at that time.

"Usually you don't ask what they were taking because you mind your own business and concentrate on yourself."

A harbinger of the Seoul Olympic scandal was the 1987 World Championships in Rome where, according to Moore, the catacombs that surrounded the practice arena next to the Colosseum were "a drugs den, full of needles and syringes." By now Johnson had established himself as world number one and set a new world record there. It was the fifth time in a row he had beaten Lewis.

The dirtiest race in history

The scene was set for the greatest 100m final of all time at Seoul. In many respects it still is, despite the taint of drugs. Only two of the eight runners remained clean throughout their careers: American sprinter Calvin Smith and the Brazilian Robson da Silva. But the race, even today, has an explosive power that makes it impossible to ignore, with four of the field breaking the 10-second barrier. Johnson, perhaps unsurprisingly, believes it is still the greatest race of all time.

"Regardless what the IOC think, it's definitely the best race ever run even though I hadn't run my best race yet and you can tell that I have more fuel left in the tank," he explains before claiming that drugs don't actually make you run faster.

"You only cheat if no one else was not doing it. I was aware of what other people were doing in the field. I just did it better than anyone else. It doesn't make you a fast runner ... It was my training regime that was better than the rest of the world. My training was tailored for Ben Johnson and my coach was a genius. Now the whole world is using my program."

The Jamaica-born Johnson

The rest of the world sees Johnson's legacy slightly differently. He was sent back in disgrace to an angry Canada that had embraced its adopted son only to feel humiliated in the eyes of the world. Johnson left for Seoul as a Canadian and returned Jamaica-born.

"I think it was racist the way it was spoken back then. It kind of hurts a little bit," he says of his return.

"They didn't give me the benefit of the doubt. They didn't protect me. If this was any other country in the world the government would have come in and protected the athletes."

Instead Johnson and his coach were called to the Dubin Inquiry, set up by the Canadian government to uncover the extent of drug use in sport. After initially denying he had taken steroids, Johnson admitted doping there for the first time. But it was the testimony of Francis, who died in 2010, that lifted the lid of the extent and scope of drug use in sport.

Unbelievably little was learned from the scandal.

"Absolutely nothing changed after 1988, nothing," says Moore. It would be, after all, a full 12 years before the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) would be formed. What was the reason for the wait?

"They (the IOC) were very blasé about it. It wasn't a fight they wanted. It wasn't exactly great news for athletics or the Olympics, was it?" says Moore.

It wasn't until the Festina doping scandal broke at the 1998 Tour de France that things started to change, but only after IOC president Samaranch had made controversial comments to Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the number of banned drugs be slashed.

"He betrayed what he really thought and undermined their anti-doping efforts. They had to do something dramatic and set up WADA ... If those words hadn't been reported it might not have happened. That's what (former head of WADA) Dick Pound thinks."

A life less ordinary

But it was all too late for Johnson. A comeback was stillborn after he again failed a drugs test in 1993 and was banned for life. He spent the next few years drifting from job to job, at one point even working as a personal trainer in Libya for Colonel Gaddafi's son Saadi, who had pretensions of becoming a professional soccer player.

Today Johnson appears to have found a home and some stability. He now coaches aspiring soccer stars at the Genova International Soccer School in Italy. He still burns with what he sees as the unfairness of his treatment by the IOC, making conspiratorial claims that he was sacrificed while others were "protected who were taking the same thing."

Implausibly his latest theory is that he was sacrificed because of a dispute between rival shoe sponsors. Although in his book "Speed Trap" the late Francis -- who had been painfully honest about how he gave drugs to his athletes -- claimed there was no way Johnson could have failed a drugs test for stanozolol. The reason? He'd been giving him a different steroid altogether.

Johnson will always be a pariah, synonymous with those blistering few seconds when he flew too close to the sun before crashing back to earth. Yet the experience hasn't diminished his belief that he still deserves a place among the pantheon of greats.

"The runners today can't compare to what I was running 25 years ago," he claims, citing better, harder tracks more suited to the modern generation of sprinters. He believes he would break the 9.5 second barrier if running today.

"No sprinter today could bench-press 395 pounds. In 1987 to '88, I won 25 finals against the best sprinters and that never happened today. Unbeatable."

Even if today's sprinters couldn't possibly get away with taking drugs?

"I mean the doctors back then and now there's no difference. If you know what you are doing, these athletes can bypass the detecting at the front gate," he again claims conspiratorially.

"I know people are taking a lot of different drugs at the same time."

He again breaks into his deep, chugging laugh for the second, and last, time.

"And they're still running slower than me."

Torch starts final leg before London Olympics open

source: CNN

Be wary of schemes that promise unrealistic and abnormally high returns

 Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

There are many scams related to money game schemes, also known as 'Skim Cepat Kaya', targeting members of the public.

Always be reminded that you should only place deposits and invest with parties licensed by the authorities so that you are protected under the banking and securities laws. When in doubt, check with Bank Negara Malaysia, the Securities Commission or other relevant authorities on the licensing status of the local and foreign company before depositing money or making any investment decision.

Be ALERT and look out for the following common features
	The scam is always the same, that is, to take money from victim for goods or services that they have no intention to provide.
	Often, these schemes falsely promise interest rates, returns or profits that are much higher than the returns offered by licensed financial institutions for their deposits to attract potential victims.
	Most schemes have no intention to uphold their promises. They seek to lure new victims, so they are able to use the ‘new’ money received to repay the earlier depositors.

 

Eventually, these schemes will fall when there are no new deposits being continually received by the operators. When this happens, the money game schemes will collapse and the depositors or investors will lose their investments.

The Pyramid Game: It's a Lie, It's a Scam, and It Won't Work

It started among my friends in April, by July, it should mostly be over--for a while. My friend told me about a "financial opportunity." I was invited to invest $250, and in a few days I'd stand to get back $2000. I only had to get two other women to invest too. This would be easy, because they could make so much money.

A few years ago, I remember many women playing The Airplane Game, and they were all waiting to get $15,000. What happened? Why did that game stop? Did everyone eventually become a "pilot"and "bail out" with their $15,000?

The "airplane game," "financial networking" "golden circle" "Friends Network," "pyramid games": they're all the same. They're also called "ponzi schemes," named after Charles Ponzi, a man who perfected the game in 1919. No matter what they"re called, pyramids are a lie, a scam, and they won't work.

The lie

All ponzi schemes work the same way, regardless of the particular details of any one game: they pay off old investors with the money from new investors. Paying off old investors with the money from new investors is a dishonest way to make money, because no money actually gets "made."

There are two ways to make money. To sell money, or sell stuff.

Selling money:

Banks and other usurers who sell money pay depositors a fee, called interest, which is much, much, less than the fee they charge other people who buy money (take out loans). For example, saving accounts currently pay 2% while personal unsecured loans cost 10%. This difference between 2 and 10 percent is the profit the bank makes after it pays off your investment. You are at the top of this "pyramid,"but the amount you take out of the bank is four times less than the amount that stays in and makes the bank directors rich. "New money" comes into this "pyramid"from people who eventually pay much more back on their loans than they take out.

Gambling casinos make money the same way, paying out much less to winners than they keep from losers.

Selling stuff:

The other way to make money is to invest with a company that sells something: a service, information, or objects. If your investment is successful, then the company has found consumers for its things, and received more money than it must pay back to you. New money comes from consumers who are willing to pay a marked-up price. As an investor you take a risk that the company will be able to pay you interest with its profits from the added value consumers create.

With a ponzi scheme, there is no earned interest or added value. The only profit comes from having an ever-increasing number of players. New money to pay off old investors comes from new investors. No degree of wishful thinking will make money out of no money. If anyone tells you different, they are lying. New investors must be found, or the game collapses.

The Scam

Oh, but there will always be new women, I'm told. In fact, I'm told many things:

This game is different. Women are responsible to those below them, they're re-investing their money; they buy the slots of the women below them; they're helping their friends take advantage of this great opportunity.

This doesn't change the fact that new money comes from new investors. This practice will prolong the game, because there are more "slots" on the pyramids than women playing, but reality still holds. Unless the "winners" are reinvesting every dollar of what they "win," (which they don't) someone is going to eventually lose.

Because money is always being taken out of the game by winners, the winners can't help everybody. So who gets helped? The people who are liked, the people who have friends. Who gets left out? The very people who get screwed in most social groups: the misfits, the difficult people, the people with few friends. And this is supposed to help our diverse community?

If women work hard at getting more investors, they will get their money; if women don't work hard, then they deserve to lose what they invested.

This sounds familar, like those other scams that put women into a situation where they might fail, and certainly many women will fail, and when women do fail, they are told it is their fault. This is a common political tool to make women feel worthless. The tool is only more insidious when it's wielded by women we trust.

These are women we know. They have gotten their money. They're helping other women get theirs.

The trust part, I hate that. Pyramids are a con game and that means confidence. Ponzi schemes thrive in homogeneous communities of people who trust and care about each other. In fact, the tighter the community, the better it works, and therefore the more damage it does when it collapses. I've seen specialized ponzis first-hand as a lesbian and a woman. I've read articles about how they run through the African-American communities, and I'm sure every group has its own con artists. Ponzi schemes wouldn't work if people didn't trust each other. Would you give $250 to some stranger on the corner who said she would pay you back $2000 in three days?

If women don't play the game early, then it's their fault, they just didn't luck out like we did.

The odds of winning get worse and worse the longer the game is played. Some people think this recent pyramid is just a form of gambling, but no. It's a game for suckers and crooks. Encouraging your friends to gamble in a game where their odds of winning their money is worse than yours were, because you got in the game first, should make you feel uncomfortable. Oh, but that must be why winners "help" those on the pyramid below them.

Well, I signed something when I put in my money, saying it was a gift, and I didn't expect anything back in return.

This is a new twist, to protect the people already in the game from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. Early ponzis had one person at the top who raked in the cash. These "new age"pyramids turn our friends into criminals who must be protected by lies on paper. If this game is so good for communication in our community, why must we lie to our friends immediately upon entering the game?

This is a great opportunity to talk about our money stuff.

If you want to deal with "money stuff,"try buying a house with your friends. Or loan someone a large sum of money. Or borrow a large sum. Co-sign a loan. Start a business with a friend. These are real opportunities to learn what patriarchy taught you about money, and discover how you can do it differently. Scamming your friends is diminishing, not revolutionary.

It won't work.

If the ethical reasons don't appeal to you, let's do the math.

In these examples, I'm using the pyramid that was pitched to me. The dollars needed to invest, and the levels between payoff vary from game to game. But the examples can be extrapolated to your favorite version.

Let's suppose I put my $250 in at the bottom of a pyramid and so do seven other women. At that moment, there is one person at the top (I'll call that Level 1) , getting $2000, and fourteen women below her, for a total of 15 people in the game. Me and my seven buddies are at Level 4.

             A

            B B

        C C C C

D D D D D D D Me

At this point, the lucky woman at the top of the pyramid gets her money, the pyramid splits into two new pyramids, and I move up one level:

B          C C     D D D Me E E E E E E E E

B         C C     D D D D E E E E E E E E

When more people are found to play, the two lucky women at the "B" level get their money, the pyramid splits again into four pyramids, and I move up another level.

C D Me E E E E F F F F F F F F

C D D E E E E F F F F F F F F

C D D E E E E F F F F F F F F

C D D E E E E F F F F F F F F

Fourteen more players need to be recruited in my branch of the pyramid before I get paid. But each woman who began the game with me needs 14 players to "win" her money. (In the recent games, people are encouraged to play more than once, but you still need to find 14 X $250 worth of players to get paid off.)

Finding these 14 people gets tougher as the pyramids age. If you joined at Level 4, there are eight of us looking for, on an average, 2 more players each. At the next level, 16 players are looking for 2 recruits. At the next round of winners, if the recent 32 players are looking for 64 new players, and if they collect all 64 players for Level 7, those 64 are looking for 128 more players, in a town where 127 people are already involved. Here's how it grows:

Players in the game                 Level #                                           Players needed to pay off

already                                  1                                           

                                              2                                           

                                              3                                           

        15                                  4                                           8

        31                                  5                                           16

        63                                  6                                           32

        127                                7                                           64

        255                                8                                           128

        511                                9                                           256

        1023                              10                                         512

        2047                              11                                         1,024

        4,095                             12                                         2,048

        8,191                             13                                         4,096

        16,383                           14                                         8,192

        32,767                           15                                         16,384

        65,537                           16                                         32,768

        131,971                         17                                         65,536

        263,943                         18                                         131,9726

The first payoff happens at level 4. In the particular pyramid that I am describing, the money each player is waiting for is concentrated in the hands of the person three levels up the pyramid from each player. As you enter the game, people at your level must recruit two times as many players as themselves, who must in their turn recruit two times as many players as themselves, who must recruit two times as many players again before you and all the other players of your level get paid off.

What happens if one of the various branches of the pyramid dies out? The people in the last three levels lose their money. Suppose the 512 players needed at Level 10 fail to recruit 1024 more. Level 11 fails to complete. Therefore levels 8, (128 people) Level 9 (256 more people ) and Level 10 (512 people still more) lose all their money. That's 896 people who just lost $250. And this is assuming that all the Levels before Level 11 survived, and no one had lost money yet.

And eventually, the game will fail. Theoretically, there won't be anyone left to put in money at the bottom of the pyramid. There aren't enough women in the world.

But that won't happen until the game has gone through our town and is in some other place.

Yes, theoretically. Pyramids fail long before the theoretical limit is reached precisely for the same reason that they live as long as they do: trust. After a while, no town's or group's collective address book is big enough to dupe 16- or 65- thousand more people to play their round of the game. In a few years, a new game will start, and swindle a couple of thousand more people. Maybe the new game will have a slightly different structure, or a different philosophy, but it will won't work the way they promise.

But let's say everyone in Santa Cruz county wins their pot of money, and only people somewhere else lose. Isn't this just the kind of colonial situation many of us in various social justice movements work to end?

But I'm broke, and I'm going to use this money for so many good things, the world needs the good use I'm going to put this money to.

The people who will be paying for your philanthropy are the very people who, just like you, can?t afford to lose the $250 or $1500, or whatever the amount. When they lose their money, they will be hurt as much as you would be if you lost.

In my experience with chain letters and pyramid games, the losers are the same women who asked me to participate. Except that--and this shouldn't surprise anyone--no one calls up their friends and talks for hours, excited that their money didn'tcome in. The whole aweful thing just fades away. Perhaps a few friendships are ended or damaged. I know of an astrologer and a massage therapist who pitched pyramid games to their clients; they'll probably lose more business from this breach of ethics than they would have gained from the game. And they deserve to.

If you don't mind ripping off your friends, study the diagrams above and start your own pyramid game. Stay in for the first three cycles. You can't lose. On the other hand, you might just break into your friends' houses, steal quarters off their dressers, loot jewelry from their boxes, and sell their VCRs at the flea market. Financially, odds are you'll make money. Ethically, you'll break even.

Ronapreve : Japan becomes first country to approve Ronapreve COVID-19 treatment

GENEVA: Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said on Tuesday (Jul 20) that Japan had become the first country to fully approve its Ronapreve antibody treatment for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.

The approval was based on phase 3 trials finding that the antibody cocktail dramatically reduced the likelihood that mild or moderate COVID-19 patients would develop into serious illness causing hospitalisation or death.

Roche said the phase 3 trials of Ronapreve had shown that high-risk non-hospitalised patients treated with the drug had a 70 percent reduction in subsequent hospitalisation and death.

It also shorted the period of symptomatic illness by four days, Roche said, adding that the phase 1 trials had showed the safety and tolerability of the drug among the Japanese population.

Outside Japan, the antibody combination has been authorised for emergency or temporary pandemic use in a number of countries and regions, including the European Union, United States, India, Switzerland and Canada, Roche said.

The blend is currently undergoing a rolling review by the European Medicines Agency, which has granted its use as a treatment option for COVID-19 patients who do not require oxygen, but who are at high risk of developing severe disease.

Ronapreve, developed in cooperation with US biotech firm Regeneron, was approved by Japan's ministry of health, labour and welfare, Roche said in a statement, confirming it was the "first country" to do so.

"Ronapreve has been shown to improve survival in high-risk, non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients by reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death," Roche chief medical officer and product development chief Levi Garraway said in a statement.

"Its ability to retain activity against emerging variants, including the Delta variant, has been demonstrated in preclinical studies," he said.

Roche Holding AG on Tuesday said that Japan has approved ronapreve for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company ROG, -0.67% said the approval is based on results from the global Phase 3 REGN-COV 2067 study, which found the antibody combination of casirivimab and imdevimab reduced hospitalization or death by 70% in high-risk, nonhospitalized patients.

“Ronapreve has been shown to improve survival in high-risk, non-hospitalized Covid-19 patients by reducing the risk of hospitalization and death,” said Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer and head of global product development.

“In addition, its ability to retain activity against emerging variants, including the Delta variant, has been demonstrated in preclinical studies,” Mr. Garraway said.

Outside Japan, the antibody combination has been authorized for emergency use or temporary pandemic use in regions including in the European Union, the U.S., India, Switzerland and Canada.

It is currently undergoing rolling review by the European Medicines Agency.

Ronapreve is being jointly developed by Roche and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

It's Coming To Rome - Italia Juara Euro 2020 Lewat Drama Adu Penalti

Tim nasional Italia menjuarai Euro 2020 seusai menundukkan Inggris lewat adu penalti yang berkedudukan 3-2 dalam partai final di Stadion Wembley, London, Minggu (11/7/2021) waktu setempat (Senin WIB).

Hasil itu jadi antiklimaks bagi penampilan Inggris yang sempat unggul lewat rekor gol tercepat final Euro yang disarangkan Luke Shaw, tetapi Italia menyamakan kedudukan saat kerja keras mereka berbuah gol Leonardo Bonucci menit ke-67.

Skor 1-1 bertahan hingga waktu normal dan babak tambahan 2×15 menit. Seperti yang dilansir Antara, Inggris kembali mendapat keunggulan setelah algojo kedua Italia Andrea Belotti eksekusinya digagalkan oleh kiper Jordan Pickford.

Namun peruntungan Inggris berubah lantaran Marcus Rashford dan Jadon Sancho yang baru masuk di pengujung babak tambahan khusus untuk adu penalti malah gagal melakoni tugasnya, tendangan Rashford membentur tiang dan Sancho dimentahkan oleh Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Pickford sempat menghidupkan asa Inggris sejenak ketika menggagalkan tendangan penentu kemenangan Jorginho, tapi beban besar sebagai algojo kelima The Three Lions tak mampu dipikul oleh talenta muda Bukayo Saka yang mendapati tendangannya dimentahkan oleh Donnarumma, demikian catatan laman resmi UEFA.

Dengan kemenangan adu penalti ini, Italia menambah daftar koleksi mereka menjadi dua trofi Henri Delauney setelah pertama kali menjuarai Euro pada 1968.

Sementara Inggris dan Gareth Southgate seolah mengulangi kenangan buruk kekalahan adu penalti di Wembley seperti semifinal Euro 1996.

Inggris mengawali pertandingan dengan baik saat Shaw menciptakan gol tercepat final Euro pada menit pertama dan 57 detik untuk menaklukkan kiper Gianluigi Donnarumma demi membawa tuan rumah memimpin.

Selepas gol itu pertandingan didominasi Italia, yang sayangnya tak kunjung menemukan penyelesaian bagus di sepertiga akhir mereka.

Sebuah eksekusi tendangan bebas Lorenzo Insigne pada menit keenam masih melambung, sedangkan tembakan Ciro Immobile bisa dihadang John Stones dan sambaran bola muntah bisa mudah dijinakkan kiper Jordan Pickford saat injury time.

Keunggulan dipertahankan Inggris hingga turun minum, tapi dominasi masih menjadi milik Italia yang diperkuat dengan keputusan krusial Roberto Mancini memasukkan Domenico Berardi menggantikan Ciro Immobile, membuat Federico Chiesa leluasa menebar ancaman selepas berpindah ke sektor sayap kiri Gli Azzurri.

Akumulasi perubahan itu berbuah pada menit ke-67 saat Bonucci mencetak gol penyama kedudukan, memanfaatkan bola muntah hasil sundulan Marco Verratti yang tak diamankan sempurna oleh Pickford dalam situasi sepak pojok.

Gareth Southgate merespon keadaan dengan menanggalkan skema tiga bek dan menarik keluar Kieran Trippier digantikan Bukayo Saka disusul masuknya Jordan Henderson menggantikan Declan Rice demi melapisi bek sayap Inggris yang mungkin menimbulkan celah dalam formasi 4-2-3-1.

Sayang keadaan tak banyak berubah bagi Inggris yang hingga waktu normal berakhir gagal menambah catatan tembakan tepat sasaran tunggal dari gol Shaw, demikian juga Italia tak mampu serta merta membalikkan keadaan sepenuhnya sehingga laga dilanjutkan ke babak tambahan 2×15 menit.

Di babak tambahan waktu pertama, kedua tim berusaha mengubah keadaan dengan Mancini mengutus Manuel Locatelli menggantikan Verratti dan Southgate menarik Mason Mount digantikan Jack Grealish.

Inggris beroleh peluang bagus pada menit ke-97 saat sapuan sepak pojok mereka jatuh di luar kotak penalti Italia, sayang tembakan spekulasi Kalvin Phillips masih melenceng tipis dari sasaran.

Enam menit berselang di ujung lapangan yang berbeda, Pickford kembali dipaksa melakukan penyelamatan untuk menyergap sontekan Bernadeschi menyambut umpan tarik Insigne.

Di babak tambahan kedua, Italia berusaha menyuntik tenaga di lini belakang dengan menarik keluar Emerson digantikan Alessandro Florenzi, sedangkan Inggris melakukan pergantian ganda dengan Marcus Rashford dan Jadon Sancho untuk Henderson dan Kyle Walker.

Namun situasi tak berubah dan pemenang harus ditentukan lewat adu penalti.

Ketika eksekusi penalti Saka selaku algojo kelima Inggris dimentahkan oleh Donnarumma, Italia mengunci gelar juara Euro kedua mereka setelah 1968.