#Covid-19 News: Live Updates

[thelocalreport8]

Covid JN.1 LIVE: 63 cases of new variant reported in 24 hours, Karnataka Cabinet sub-committee meeting today

COVID-19 JN.1 Variant News Live Updates: Amid growing concerns over rising cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1, a total of 63 cases of the sub-variant have been detected in India as of Sunday. Citing Health Ministry sources, ANI on Monday reported that Goa is the biggest contributor to the cases, where 34 cases were reported in a single day. Apart from Goa, nine are from Maharashtra, eight from…

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

At a Glance ~Researchers found that current COVID-19 vaccines fail to generate mature and durable antibody-producing cells in the bone marrow. ~The findings could help explain why protection tends to decline over time. ~Better understanding of long-term immune responses could lead to improved vaccines that provide enduring protection.

Some vaccines offer long-lasting protection. For instance, the tetanus vaccine provides protection for at least 10 years. With other vaccines, protection may begin to decline within a few months. To provide enduring immunity, a vaccine must elicit production of long-lived plasma cells, a type of immune cell that matures over time in the bone marrow and can rapidly trigger production of disease-fighting antibodies.

The mRNA vaccines developed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus have proven effective at preventing severe COVID-19 and reducing hospitalizations. These vaccines trigger production of antibodies that home in on the virus’s spike protein. But protective antibodies can begin to fade as soon as three months later and lead to breakthrough infections. Researchers have been puzzled by this waning protection, since SARS-CoV-2-specific immune cells can often be found in the bone marrow.

To better understand why protection against SARS-CoV-2 dwindles months after vaccination, a research team led by Dr. F. Eun-Hyung Lee of Emory University took a closer look at immune cells in the bone marrow of 19 healthy adults. Participants ranged in age from 20 to 65. All had previously received between two and five doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Samples of their bone marrow were evaluated within 33 months after receiving their initial COVID-19 vaccine shot.

The participants had also received an influenza vaccine within a year of giving their bone marrow samples. And all had previously received tetanus shots and boosters. Their responses to these previous vaccines were used for comparison.

The researchers used a cell-sorting technique called flow cytometry to separate each participant’s bone marrow immune cells into different groupings. These included short-lived antibody-secreting cells and long-lived plasma cells that confer lasting protection. Results appeared in Nature Medicine on September 27, 2024.

The scientists found that they could readily detect long-lived plasma cells that target tetanus and influenza. In contrast, while shorter-lived antibody-secreting cells specific to SARS-CoV-2 were abundant, long-lived ones were mostly absent. Even among five participants who had recent SARS-CoV-2 infections and vaccinations, long-lived plasma cells against the virus were scarce in the bone marrow samples.

The findings hint that newly created antibody-secreting cells against SARS-CoV-2 are unable to become fully mature and long-lasting once they reach and settle into the bone marrow. In contrast, vaccines against tetanus and influenza prompt antibody-producing cells to mature within bone marrow and become long-lived plasma cells. Future studies will need to investigate how to generate long-lived plasma cells against SARS-CoV-2.

“The holy grail of vaccine researchers is the generation of long-lived plasma cells,” Lee says. “Our findings demonstrate that current SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines do not provide such long-lasting protection within bone marrow. Further research is needed to determine if updated vaccines, new delivery schedules, or other factors might provide such protection.”

—by Vicki Contie

[thebookishwallflower]

I want to make a post to inform people about the current situation with the bird flu (/avian flu/H5N1) outbreaks.

I don't want to cause panic but do want to spread information.

This is especially important if you live in an area that has a news system you don't trust to give accurate, timely, or honest news about something like a possible new pandemic, use your own judgement.

If that applies it is going to be very important to make sure you stay informed and follow these H5N1 outbreaks yourself and know how to best protect yourself.

I am no expert, but I do know a good bit about disease and influenza in particular, and have been following the H5N1 outbreaks as they've been happening, so under the cut I'm going to do my best to inform everyone I can.

Please stay safe, stay informed, and spread information, not germs.

What's bird flu and why do I care? (What's bird flu and why do I care?)

Avian flu and bird flu mean the same thing, an influenza virus that (primarily) infects birds. H5N1 denotes a specific strain of avian influenza. H5N1 can spillover (when a pathogen spreads from it's normal host organism to a new host organism) from animals to humans.

How could I get H5N1? (How could I get H5N1?)

Human to human transmission has not been observed yet (12/1/24) during this current outbreak. You can get this from contact with wild birds, especially water fowl, domestic birds, cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, and bats. It is also possible to get from raw (unpasteurized) milk and undercooked meat from infected animals.

What's the big deal then? (What's the big deal then?)

The common flu is not very pathogenic. How pathogenic something is determines how sick something makes the host, something that is highly pathogenic can cause severe disease. H5N1 is considered a HPAI, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

H5N1 is also a Type A influenza virus, most known Type A influenza viruses can infect birds. There is one Type A human flu in circulation at the moment, however it isn't very prevalent.

"IAV poses a significant risk of zoonotic infection, host switch, and the generation of pandemic viruses. IAVs can infect humans and a variety of animals, such as pigs, horses, marine mammals, cats, dogs, and birds (S1)."

IAV - Influenza A Viruses | Zoonotic infection - when an infectious disease of a non-human host infects a human host | Host switch - when a cross-species transmission of a pathogen can lead to successful, stable, and continuous infections

Every species the flu infects, the more strains that pop up under a sub-type IAV, the possibility for recombination increases. "Recombination occurs when at least two viral genomes [or strains] co-infect the same host cell and exchange genetic segments (S2)."

The flu is pretty good at recombination, when given the chance. It is also really good at mutating, and fast. If there were to be a recombination event and a new strain evolved (this would be called an antigenic shift) that was highly pathogenic, highly infectious (good at spreading, which H5N1 is), that could then infect humans and cause human-to-human transmission we might have a pandemic on our hands. This has not shown signs of happening during this outbreak*, this is what to look out for.

This (a recombination event) is what caused the 1918 pandemic during WW1. This pandemic killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people in 1918, in a world with a population of around 2 billion. 7.1 million died of COVID 19, as of 11/9/24 (S3), from a population of around 8 billion.

We know more, we are prepared, it's not guaranteed to happen, and it's not guaranteed to be as bad. But the possibilities are endless and it's extremely important to be prepared and stay informed.

So what do I do? (So what do I do?)

Again, stay informed, and that might mean checking independent news sources, the CDC website, and more, to keep yourself updated, especially if you know your local news won't do it for you. You should also familiarize yourself with the symptoms of influenza, if you have it, stay home.

Keep yourself safe, we had a pandemic already, you know the drill. Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing/coughing, wash your hands, sanitize your hands, and get your flu shot. And, in addition, avoid contact with wild birds, poultry, pigs, and cattle if you can.

In the event that this gets worse, social distancing is very important, being outdoors, wearing a mask, and all the stuff above, you can shed the virus for around a week before you start feeling bad. Keep yourself safe and don't infect anyone else.

If that doesn't sound like it'll do much, I promise you it does. Those are all classified NPI's (non-pharmaceutical interventions) and even epidemiologists were shocked at their impact and importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. They did work, and they were incredibly effective—as long as they were carried out.

I don't want to cause panic or worry anyone, but that is how information ends of suppressed. I want to make everyone aware of what we might face so that we can fight it and be strong and stay safe.

If anyone has any questions, wants any clarification, any corrections, or wants to know some good places to learn more about this stuff please don't hesitate to contact me (@'s, dm's, or asks), I will answer as best I can.

Here's the CDC's page covering the H5 bird flu current situation.

S1 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5578040/

S2 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7106159/

S3 - https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=c

*with the exception of this coverage (as a possibility): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/19/bird-flu-cases-mutation-canada

[scopophobia-polaris]

Time to ruin the ocarina of time shipping scene, because in an interview with Nintendo power, Fujibayashi confirmed that he will be the scenario writer for the remake of OoT and confirmed that they will be adding new areas and scenes that were originally planned for the game in 1996. Like that there is a way to fail the Lon Lon side quest and have the ranch catch on fire like Miyamoto planned to do originally.

On top of that, Fujibayashi as scenario writer wanted to "Update the game in a new and exciting way" by "making the world feel more lived in" when asked to elaborate he said " the software for the N64 couldn't allow for more towns and villages besides Kakariko, so it was being added in for the remake along with advanced NPC scheduling, new sidequests and chracters." they will also be adding "Familiar faces from the Zelda series" apprently to end up tying it into the new lore, I'm assuming this is about Hylia since she was not an established God in the original games.

Chris Hoffman was then shown new character art for, and I quote "a fun little guy with an in depth side quest" who apprently is gonna "rectify the fact that nintendo didn't add any young men around Link's age originally" because they were afraid what the fujoshis would do to this man on pixiv " yeah so this fruitcake is named Arnold and we wanted the player to realize link was a queer" when forced to talk further Aonuma confirmed he made Link's appreance the way that it is because " he's one of the el gee bee tees"

Here is the new art for said npc

" so we made him wear purple because it's on the bisexual pride flag, and Link is also bisexual, their sidequest is a romance and will be the first time in Nintendo history that Link canonically kisses a man on the mouth freak style"

Apprently Link will also be kissing Sheik on the mouth too, but because of covid 19 restrictions it cannot be done freak style like Arnold, since Sheik will be wearing a mask. Fujibayashi profusely apologized for this

There also is no way to Romance Sheik after he turns back into Zelda because girls have cooties

[tigerandbunnyftw]

An update on the live action adaptation project for TIGER & BUNNY, which is currently on hold. This has been confirmed by series’ producer, Masayuki Ozaki (who is no longer with Bandai Namco Pictures as of the end of August 2024 and has established his own original animation company, Creadom8), as he explains that previously established negotiations had expired after the global COVID-19 pandemic.

He hopes to push the project forward and establish new partnerships.

Sources:

[darkmaga-returns]

Dear readers: Please welcome this sponsored educational piece from Above Phone. This company is at the forefront of the fight against constant surveillance, empowering individuals to “take back our tech” and reclaim control over their digital lives.

“As we embrace our new normal, MassNotify is a voluntary, free tool to provide additional peace of mind to residents as they return to doing the things they love.”

—MA Governor Charlie Baker

In the summer of 2021, Massachusetts residents saw a notification on their phones prompting them to update a COVID-19 contact tracing application. Only one problem - they had never installed one. How did the app get on their phone without them knowing and without their consent?

[counterintuitivecomics]

"Wear it and stay healthy," a comic about masking in solidarity with Palestinians. I made it for Steel Transplant's digital release COVID CAUTIOUS QUEERS ZINE 2 ($0+).

It's a collage of transparent printed text from news/science articles, magazine scraps, & marker drawings of posts by Muhammad Smiry & Omar Hamad. Title is a quote from Hala, a Palestinian girl who sold masks in Gaza until she was killed by Israel last June.

Support Muhammad, Omar, Care for Gaza, and Needle of Hope, and always MASK UP!

(Alt text in post, all sources under the cut:)

PAGE 1

White graph paper: "Her name is Ghazal, she sells masks everyday to make a living | Gaza" - Orig @MuhammadSmiry post (2/28/24):

Transparent text:

"white phosphorous" - Youmina Boukara et al, Gaza, armed conflict and child health, BMJ Pediatrics Open (2/12/24)

"two million Palestine refugees" - Masako Horino et al, Understanding coverage of antenatal care in Palestine: Cross-sectional analysis of Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2019–2020, PLOS ONE (2/2/24)

"severe COVID" - Hatem A Hejaz, Palestinian strategies, guidelines, and challenges in the treatment and management of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), Avicenna J Med, (10/13/2020)

"60 times more likely" - “In Israel, you’re 60 times more likely to have a COVID vaccine than in Palestine” - Matthias Kennes for MFS (2/22/24)

PAGE 2:

White graph paper: "A little girl named Hala stopped me today and gave me this mask." - Post by @OmarHamadD (5/21/2024)

Transparent text:

"In this necroeconomy, lives are rendered and disposed of" - Nadia Naser-Najjab's book, "Covid-19 In Palestine: The Settler Colonial Context" (1/11/24)

Asma'a Adjerid's summary of the same book, MEDIA WATCH: BOOK (May 2024)

PAGE 3

White graph paper: "Didn't you know? She went to heaven three days ago." - Omar Hamad's 6/4/24 thread updating his post about Hala.

Transparent text:

"abduction of children" - Youmina Boukara et al, Gaza, armed conflict and child health, BMJ Pediatrics Open (2/12/24)

"long list of banned items" - ‘Long List of Banned Items’ – From Maternity Kits to Wheelchairs, Israel Blocks Gaza Aid (4/12/24)

"the implications are excruciating" - Tamara Qiblawi et al, Anesthetics, crutches, dates: Inside Israel's ghost list of items arbitrarily denied entry into Gaza, CNN (3/2/24)

PAGE 4

@OmarHamadD's thread about Rimas (8/12/24): https://x.com/OmarHamadD/status/1792981447889801725

Transparent text:

"US spends a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since last Oct. 7" - Ellen Kickmeyer, CNN, (10/7/24)

The other small scraps are from the previously cited scientific papers & news articles.

PAGE 5

Brown paper:

"Wear it and stay healthy." - Hala, as quoted by @OmarHamadD (5/21/24)

Transparent paper:

Map of Palestine, with 2024 borders for Gaza and the West Bank.

"...freedom and justice...my true priority" - quote from Naser-Najjab, "COVID-19 in Palestine" (2024).

[spooniestrong]

Make your voice heard and ask the CDC to:

Recommend updated 2024-2025 COVID vaccines for all ages AND

Strengthen our vaccine drive by recommending more frequent boosting (at least every six months) and more frequent updates to the vaccines, adjusted for the latest variants.

Submit a public comment using our sample language below.

You can also register to give Oral Public Comment at the upcoming June 26-28 online CDC ACIP Meeting at: https://www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/acip_publiccomment.asp 

Submit written comments and/or register to make oral comments at the meeting by Monday, June 17 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time.

It’s important to submit a personalized comment, which can be brief. Ideas for a personalized comment:

How you, your family, or your community would be impacted by fall vaccine eligibility being restricted to only high risk groups (such as older age or immunocompromised status)

Barriers to vaccination your have faced, particularly if your eligibility was questioned or misinterpreted by a vaccine provider

How out-of-pocket costs are a barrier to getting the latest vaccines

Also feel free to take inspiration from or borrow the language in our sample public comment below.

Docket No. CDC–2024–0043

Updated 2024-2025 COVID vaccines must be recommended for people of all ages, regardless of health status. A restrictive approach to eligibility would create undue barriers for vulnerable people and discourage high risk people from getting needed vaccine boosters.

The vaccine schedule should address waning efficacy in the months following vaccination [1-3] as well as emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 strains by recommending updated vaccination for all ages, at least every six months. Recent vaccination is also associated with a lower risk of developing Long COVID following a COVID infection [4] as well as a lower risk of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C) [5]. 

The CDC’s clear and unequivocal recommendation of updated COVID vaccination for all ages will influence what healthcare providers recommend, and what health insurances cover. Moreover, it will improve public awareness regarding the need for updated vaccination.

The CDC must ensure equitable and affordable access to updated vaccines and prevent limited access because of financial constraints or demographics. The CDC’s Bridge vaccine access program is slated to end August 2024 and must be extended to ensure uninsured and underinsured people have access to the updated vaccines this fall [6].

References:

1. Link-Gelles R. Effectiveness of COVID-19 (2023-2024 Formula) vaccines. Presented at: FDA VRBPAC Meeting; June 5, 2024. Accessed June 12, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/media/179140/download

2. Wu N, Joyal-Desmarais K, Vieira AM, et al. COVID-19 boosters versus primary series: update to a living review. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2023;11(10):e87-e88. doi:10.1016/S2213-2600(23)00265-5

3. Menegale F, Manica M, Zardini A, et al. Evaluation of Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immunity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(5):e2310650. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.10650

4. Fang Z, Ahrnsbrak R, Rekito A. Evidence Mounts That About 7% of US Adults Have Had Long COVID. JAMA. Published online June 7, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.11370

5.  Yousaf AR. Notes from the Field: Surveillance for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children — United States, 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2024;73. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7310a2

6. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html 

Full instructions for written and oral comment and meeting information can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/index.html

You can also register to give Oral Public Comment at the upcoming June 26-28 online CDC ACIP Meeting at: https://www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/acip_publiccomment.asp 

You must register by June 17 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time

CDC’s ACIP meeting information on the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/24/2024-11439/meeting-of-the-advisory-committee-on-immunization-practices 

Vaccination with the latest updated vaccines continues to be foundational to a multilayered approach to COVID, providing protection against both acute disease and Long COVID. Far too few Americans have received the latest vaccines. Only approximately 22.6% of adults and 14.8% of children have received the latest 2023-2024 vaccines (as of June 1, 2024), which have been available since Fall 2023. COVID vaccination rates in both groups lags far behind influenza vaccination rates. Only 7.1% of adults aged 65 and older received the recommended two doses of the 2023-2024 vaccine (as of April 27, 2024).

Vaccine efficacy wanes significantly four to six months following vaccination, making updated vaccination important for all people as COVID continues to spread in our communities. Vaccine approaches that restrict access based on age or risk status put all of us at risk and leave those at high risk of severe consequences of COVID infection confused about whether they qualify to receive additional doses. A more frequent vaccination approach providing vaccination at least every six months as well as frequent updates to match current variants is needed to better protect all of us amid year-round COVID spread.

The CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which provides COVID vaccines to uninsured and underinsured adults free of charge, is due to end August 2024. The end of this program will unnecessarily put vulnerable people at risk, and public health officials must advocate for continuation and expansion of this program.

Submitted written comments or registration to make oral comments at the meeting must be received by the CDC no later than June 17 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time

[vintageaustin]

Masterlist

Last Updated: 04.20.2023

Welcome to my main masterlist! It is about time I finally got this up and running... and not broken

Under the cut you will find the links to everything I posted along with prewarning's to the fics themselves. Please pay attention to these warnings as the things I write are not for everyone!

A couple of things to note, descriptions are short little summaries. They may not be the best explained, but I promise the fic themselves are much better then such.

Along with that, keep an eye out for the emojis below for some pre-warnings.

🖤 Dark Themes 🤍 Smut

Elvis Presley

Baby Fever

► You and Elvis have been married for about three years now, and he thinks it's time for a baby

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Jessie's Girl

► You are Elvis' best friend's girlfriend, but little did you know Elvis is head over heels for you.

Part 1, Part 2 🤍

Pretty When You Cry

► Reader finds out that Elvis has to leave for Germany

Fucked My Way Up to The Top 🤍

► Sugar daddy Elvis being jealous after seeing the waiter flirt with the reader at the restaurant

Summer of '55

► The reader goes with Elvis and some friends down to the sunflower fields. Your best friend ends up asking what he's like in bed and Elvis overhears how in love the reader is with Elvis.

Art Deco 🤍

► Reader and Elvis meet at Club Handy after being apart for a short period of time. The both of you knew that you're bad for one another, but can't leave each other alone.

It's Supposed to be Fun Turning 21

► Based off the Presley home video's on Priscilla's 21st birthday. Instead of Priscilla it is the reader.

Fuck it I Love You

► Sugar daddy Elvis starting a relationship between 34-year-old Elvis and 19-year-old reader, who is the Colonel's step daughter... it starts off pretty innocent but soon turns into a lot more.

Part 1, Part 2

Honey, I Belong With You

► Drugged up Elvis begging you to stay by his side forever. You make a promise that you might not be able to keep.

Take Me to Church

► The church and the royal family isn't always the best mix, but when it comes to the newfound king and the presists daughter... they mix perfectly.

Baby Blues

► Reader finds out that Elvis is cheating, and she finds herself with filled with rage.

Until I Found Her

► Formally known as Tredici // cowriter: @asshlyyyy

► You’ve heard of Romeo and Juliet right? Well, imagine that… but remove the violence and death. You’re the rich girl who would never be seen with someone who was poor. Well… that’s what you image was. You didn’t care about the money. Because once you found Elvis… Everything changed.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Sebastian Kydd

Cruel Summer 🤍

► The reader and Sebastian have been friends since forever... well that is until that one collage part...

Austin Butler

Are you Lonesome Tonight......?

► It is 2020 and the Covid pandemic just got worse than it already was... Seeing you are in lockdown and living with your boyfriend who was working on the new Elvis movie and your college being on lock down as well, it could get quite lonesome.

Lotta True Crime

► Serial Killer Austin kidnaps reader who has a podcast about true crime with her friends. She saw something she shouldn't have, and the rest is history.

Part 1 🖤, Part 2 🖤, Part 3 🖤🤍, Part 4 🖤

Say Yes to Heaven, Say Yes to Me

► It is the 1950s, and Austin is on his way to get married to the love of his life.

I've Got My Eye on You

► The reader is getting hated on and becomes depressed... down in the dumps... and even suicidal. Austin helps the reader through this hard time.

Put Me In a Movie

► Both the reader and Austin have an unhealthy obsession with each other and decide to finally make something of it.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also Preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

What if the pandemic safety net cobbled together in 2020 had been a new beginning?

What if when Joe Biden came into office in 2021, the Covid-19 safety net he was handed had become a new floor?

What if that was his baseline—and the newly elected Democratic president, sold by his most ardent supporters as��FDR 2.0, had used our Covid-19 response as the bare minimum of a new social contract with Americans?

What if the caring nature of the best aspects of the US Covid response became the map for international relations—leading not just to international cooperation on infectious disease, but on matters of war, climate and genocide?

What if, instead of dismantling the vaccine-delivery infrastructure—which, at its height, delivered some four million shots in a single day—the Biden administration built upon and made some version of it permanent, so that everyone could easily get annual Covid boosters, annual flu vaccines, or get specialty vaccinations during outbreaks of unusual viruses (such as for mpox during the 2022 summer outbreak among queer men) whenever they needed it?

What if the viral surveillance and communication mechanisms utilized for learning about SARS-CoV-2, treating it and telling the public about it were being used to address H5N1—a virus which has been moving from birds to farm mammals to humans with so little notice that dead cows were killed by the “avian flu” and left on the side of a road in California’s Central Valley, as “Thick swarms of black flies hummed and knocked against the windows of an idling car, while crows and vultures waited nearby—eyeballing the taut and bloated carcasses roasting in the October heat”?What if the leaders of the Democratic party had used Covid as a blueprint to make a national platform based on care?

What if all the ways Covid had made clear how farmers, industrial butchers, kitchen staff and other food workers are the most at risk people amongst us to viral infection led to meaningful, permanent protections, such that they were much less likely to contract not just SARS-CoV-2 but H1N1, H5N1, influenza, or any other existing or novel pathogens?

What if all the all the ways Covid exposed how unsafe industrial food production is (for the workers who make it and the people who eat it alike) had triggered safety reforms, instead of having these warnings ignored and leading towards record numbers of safety recalls for e-coli, Salmonella, and Listeria?

What if an airborne pandemic had led to indoor air being as filtered, treated and regulated as drinking water?

What if everyone with a child was still getting a $300 check from the US treasury, so that having a child was not a gambling-style risk, but a responsibility shared with all of society?

What if the paused-for-years student debts were forgiven, so that young people could actually begin their lives?

What if Biden built on Americans’ experience of just showing up somewhere to get the medical care they needed to create a universal healthcare system?

(What if Kamala Harris built upon Americans’ taste of not getting charged at the point of such service—and campaigned on Medicare for All?)

What if once the link between Covid and homelessness was established, the Democrats had pushed infectious disease as just one reason for an end to evictions and a robust, public-health-backed campaign to end homelessness and stop the United States from having more people living on the streets than any other country?

What if after the link between Covid and incarceration was established, the Democrats had pursued decarceration as a public health measure and—instead of throwing weed and cryptocurrency at us—had made reducing incarceration a centerpiece of the Harris campaign to earn the votes of Black men?

(What if after 100,000 Californians died of Covid and the links between Covid, homelessness and incarceration were clear, residents of the Golden State chose to allow rent control and to abolish legal slavery in prisons—instead of voting to ban rent control and to continue prison slavery?)

What if the leaders of the Democratic party had used Covid as a blueprint to make a national platform based on care?

Would we be in the lethal position we are now—with a genocide raging abroad, Covid deaths in the hundreds every week at home, a poisoned food supply, $17 trillion in household debt, oligarch goons ready to dismantle government regulations, and a sociopath heading back into the White House—if Covid had been the floor?

[womanlifefreedom]

account restored

I'm writing with an update: my account was terminated weeks ago without warning, notice, or reason. My main tumblr was wiped out and because of that, I couldn't log in to update this one. My account appears to have been reinstated (for now). In case I am booted off again, please know that I appreciate everyone sharing information about what is happening in Iran <3

My time away from Tumblr also made me reevaluate my relationship to this platform so to be honest, I am not sure that I will continue this blog. But for now, I do wish to share news that the rapper Toomaj has been sentenced to death. There are ongoing protests worldwide in addition to the celebrity support and I would encourage readers to seek out further actions. On that note, I also have some more personal thoughts under the cut.

As I write, people around the world are mobilizing against a genocide in Gaza and we are witnessing an undeniable sea change in international solidarity. It's a change that may prove to be more disruptive to our current global system of nation states and capitalist exploitation than the covid-19 pandemic. I am seeing a stronger level of rigour and structure from organizers who may be responding to the bitter lessons of the leaderless and spontaneous uprisings of the 2010s - many of which resulted in increasingly authoritarian governments taking power (Egypt, Brazil, etc.).

If the Iranian Revolution of 1979 teaches us anything, it is this: that horrific things can and will take root in the cracks that a revolution causes and that would go against all revolutionary demands. When a power structure topples, there will be power grabs and those who know that the surest and fastest way to seize power from the masses is to sell us seductive fantasies of safety, order, belonging, dignity and everything that capitalism strips from us by alienating us from ourselves. Such groups will leverage everything at their disposal - religions, art, technologies, science, psychology, weaponry - to benefit themselves and those useful to them while exploiting our fear of uncertainty and stoking our distrust of each other. They will come from all directions and we must remain vigilant.

The thing is, the world cannot be made safe. Especially the world we live in today, a world that is convulsing in the grips of a climate catastrophe. The only solid ground we have now is a willingness to acknowledge our radical dependency on each other and to embrace how one's own fate is intimately bound to the fate of others and that of the world...

Thanks for reading and please take care 🙏

[parallelunivrses]

Would love to see more of “Robin the Bard” if you want to share :)

i would LOVE to share :)

The main crack part of this is that Jason was writing a modern coffee shop AU for Pride and Prejudice when he died, and after coming back to Gotham he updates it with the classic ao3 author note thing of "sorry this update is 4 years late, i literally died" and that's how Bruce finds out that Jason is alive because he is still subscribed to Jason's ao3 account. i don't really have plans for the story past that, but it'll cover from when he first started living with Bruce to when he first comes back to Gotham.

So because of formatting, it's a little difficult to share snippets on here, so i'll share a bit about the general timeline for the story! it's a little long, so i'll add it behind the cut. it's all based on Jason's original (post-crisis) robin run, so some of the dates don't totally match with what has been retconned

so the idea is that Jason is born around the year 2000 (shamelessly basing all of this on my own experiences what can i say)

GENERAL TIMELINE: 2008 - Willis loses job in recession and turns to being a goon to support Catherine and Jason. Jason is 7/8 mid/late 2012 - Willis goes to jail while part of Two Face's gang Feb 2013 - Catherine overdoses and Jason has to live on the streets (Batman #409) April 2013 - Jason steels the tires off the Batmobile on the anniversary of Bruce's parents deaths. B buys Jason food, then takes him to Ma Gunn's school for boys (it is said in Batman #409 that Catherine died in Feb of that year, so Jason was homeless for about 2 months, which i know was later retconned but we are going with this timeline) May 2013 - Jason uncovers that Ma Gunn was actually using the boys in her home to commit crimes. he and Batman stop them. Afterward, Bruce takes him home with him **Batman #409 implies that Jason was only at the boys home for a week max but we are elongating that timetable a bit Dec 2013 - Dick drops out of college. he and Bruce have a big fight about it. Dick moves to NYC to be on the Teen Titans full time. we are saying that when Dick was not living in the dorms, he was with the Titans. this is plausible since he and B were fighting so often that Dick did not want to spend time with him. He still does not know that Bruce has taken in Jason, although Jason knows all about Dick Feb 2014 - Jason becomes Robin **Batman #410 says Jason trained for 6 months before becoming Robin but I want it to be 9 months. He becomes Robin around the 1 year anniversary of Catherine's death in this Late March/Early April 2014 - Jason finds out that his dad was killed by Two Face April 2014 - Dick finds out about Jason (Robin) and confronts Bruce and also gives Jason his old Robin costume (Batman #416 my beloved!!!) Aug 2014 - around the time of Jason's 14th bday Bruce officially adopts him (TECHNICALLY Jason's adoption post-crisis is really fuzzy and only mentioned in passing Tales of the New Teen Titans #50 to create tension between Dick and Bruce ONCE AGAIN illustrating how Jason's character is literally only ever about the people around him and not Jason himself. i could write a whole essay on this) Dec 2014 - Jason and Bruce go to London and team up with Elongated Man and another detective to prevent an assassination attempt on the royal family (Detective Comics #572) **technically Jason is supposed to be 12 here (Detective Comics #571) and also they meet Sherlock Holmes but we are ignoring this. I am making Jason older because he was not Robin for that long (they retcon'd his age a bunch) and also I want Sherlock to be fictional for the fic writing purposes Jan 2015-March 2016 - ??? i haven't read that far in the comics yet April 2016 - Jason dies Feb 2020 - Jason returns to Gotham. It is established that Jason is around 19 when he comes back, and the first issue of utrh was published in Feb 2005, so we are saying he comes back around Feb when he is 19 (and conveniently this fic ends before COVID)

I'm pretty much writing this as I read the comics, which is partly why it's been taking me a while. Whenever I read an issue and the themes remind me of a book I've read (which actually happens a lot) I think about whether Jason would have read that book and then come up with a fake fic. I am aware that this is a very nerdy way to go about writing fanfic but this story is first and foremost a story for me haha

[willowreader]

https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/coronavirus/long-covid-is-a-chronic-disease

Yes, Covid is a chronic disease.

NEWSLETTERS

Medically Reviewed

It’s Official: Long COVID Is a Chronic Disease

A new report from the Social Security Administration and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine confirms that COVID can cause long-term illness and, for some, permanent disability. We spoke to one of the report’s leading scientists.

Updated Jun 21, 2024

By

Michele G. Sullivan

Medical ReviewerTabitha Woolpert, M.D., M.P.H.



Getty Images/wildpixel

Editor's note: HealthCentral first asked the question, “What If COVID Is Chronic?“ in early 2021. Millions were living with unusual, life-upending, and sometimes painful post-infection symptoms of COVID-19 that lingered for many weeks or months—even after a negative test suggested they’d cleared the virus. From those early days, we made it our mission to chronicle the emerging science of long COVID, documenting an increasing body of research that suggested long COVID might be a new category of chronic disease. In June 2024, the scientific community announced that for some, COVID can indeed be a chronic disease.

A new 265-page report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, commissioned by the Social Security Administration, confirms what some scientists have long suspected: Infection from COVID can lead to lingering symptoms and long-term, possibly permanent disability. The report officially categorizes long COVID as a chronic condition that requires new and better ways to diagnose it, treat it, and help pay to manage it as we continue to learn to co-exist with the threat that this ever-mutating virus brings to us, now and in the future.

Symptoms of chronic COVID, per the report, include shortness of breath, cough, persistent fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory changes, recurring headache, lightheadedness, fast heart rate, sleep disturbance, problems with taste or smell, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. These symptoms may present as diagnosable conditions including interstitial lung disease and hypoxemia, cardiovascular disease and arrhythmias, cognitive impairment, mood disorders, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and more.

[theculturedmarxist]

Although many Canadians act as though the pandemic has ended, the airborne virus that causes COVID-19 continues to evolve at an amazing pace with devastating consequences for both individuals and the public at large.

The pandemic may no longer be a major conflagration but it still kills about 140 Canadians a week while morphing into a steady viral blaze sustained by dirty air, waning immunity and overt political indifference.

What was once a giant wave of acute illness has become a series of often unpredictable wavelets driven by ever-changing variants that can cause chronic illness. Long COVID, a disabling health event that can affect multiple organs and destabilize the immune system, now affects millions and continues to claim new victims.

A 2023 Danish study recently confirmed that about 50 per cent of those diagnosed with long COVID fail to improve 18 months after infection regardless of the variant.

Long COVID has taken a huge toll among health-care workers. Anywhere from six to 10 per cent of Quebec’s health-care workforce, for example, has been derailed by long COVID.

Seventy-one per cent of health-care workers impaired by long COVID reported that their state of health now interferes with their ability to function. Another 16 per cent said that they are often unable to work. Multiply this data across the country and then ask: How sustainable is this trend?

The cost of living in a ‘viral soup’

While the media focus concern on the potential next big nasty viral wave, evolutionary biologist T. Ryan Gregory says that threat seems less likely than before, but the current reality is nothing like normal.

“We are not dealing with Omicron-like waves but a viral soup,” Gregory told The Tyee. “We are seeing a near-constant high level of hospitalizations that falls just below overwhelming them but is nonetheless unsustainable. More health-care workers are getting sick and that just adds to the strain on the whole system.”

What worries Gregory, an expert on the evolution of COVID variants at the University of Guelph, “are the long-term effects of multiple infections and the sustained pressure on the health-care system and well-being.”

Yet the current impact of COVID — measurably higher than at some previous points during the pandemic — remains largely ignored or poorly reported.

Tara Moriarty, a University of Toronto infectious disease expert and co-founder of COVID 19 Resources Canada, recently tallied the imperfect data, and it is bracing. She calculates that about one in every 23 Canadians is now infected with COVID. We are not at the low point of the pandemic in Canada. To the contrary, compared with a previous time during the pandemic, infections are 25 times higher and the rate of long COVID is 19 times higher. Meanwhile the hospitalization rate is 13 times higher and deaths are 25 times higher.

In the middle of October, Moriarty calculated that COVID patients occupied about nine per cent of intensive care beds and 21 per cent of hospital beds across the country. (The average hospitalization rate during the pandemic has been seven per cent.) The estimated cost of this sustained viral assault is $274 million a week.

Governments peddling denial

Most governments seem intent on diminishing or hiding these realities. They avoid any talk about the effectiveness of masking in public places or the value of improved ventilation and filtration in schools and workplaces. It’s a demonstrated fact that the virus travels through the air in tiny smoke-like aerosols that can infect people at much greater distances than six feet, but the natural responses to this reality are not encouraged by our leaders.

Alberta, for example, now pretends that COVID is just another mild respiratory disease and reports its doings along with influenza and RSV activity.

Despite this push for “normalization,” only one disease stands out as a routine killer and dominant occupant of hospital beds on the province’s “respiratory virus dashboard.” And that’s COVID. COVID also dominates outbreaks in Alberta’s hospitals and long-term care facilities where masking and attention to ventilation have become haphazard practices.

Lumping COVID in with other respiratory diseases is also patently misleading. A recent Swiss study compared hospitalized patients infected with COVID and those infected with the flu. Those with COVID had a 1.5-fold higher risk of dying in hospital up to 30 days after infection than patients infected by influenza A. The death rate was even higher for unvaccinated people.

A 2023 Swedish study also found the death rate from Omicron greatly surpassed that of influenza patients.

And next comes the increased risk of cardiovascular problems. Medical researchers have long observed strokes and acute myocardial infarctions in patients after respiratory infections, such as influenza. But COVID breaks the mould here. Compared with patients with the flu, the risk of stroke is more than sevenfold higher in COVID-19 patients.

This is likely tied to the fact that COVID can inflame the vascular system through which the body’s blood travels. New non-peer-reviewed evidence suggests that even a mild infection can temporarily damage endothelial cells that line the interior of blood vessels.

COVID may begin with the symptoms of a cold or flu for most people, but it often ends as thrombotic or vascular disease in a small percentage for reasons researchers don’t clearly understand. The virus can therefore infect multiple organs from the brain to the kidneys.

Immune systems and long COVID

COVID can also unsettle the immune system by damaging T-cell response, as recent studies have illustrated.

These findings make all the more illogical the current, widespread blasé attitude towards the ever-evolving virus.

Let’s begin with diabetes, which itself stresses the immune system and makes it less effective.

Early in the pandemic, researchers suspected there might be a connection between having COVID and later developing diabetes. Now it’s confirmed. Earlier this year the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai organization in Los Angeles found that a COVID infection dramatically increases the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes and that this risk continues with Omicron variants.

“The trends and patterns that we see in the data suggest that COVID-19 infection could be acting in certain settings like a disease accelerator, amplifying risk for a diagnosis that individuals might have otherwise received later in life,” noted Susan Cheng, a senior author of the study and a professor of cardiology.

Another study found that the incidence of diabetes in Black and Hispanic youth has increased by 62 per cent since the pandemic. The authors noted that COVID can bind to receptors in the pancreas, resulting in damaged cells.

A Canadian study also found steep increases in diabetes after COVID infections. University of British Columbia researchers examined a large population of British Columbians (more than 600,000) and discovered that people infected with COVID had a 17 to 22 per cent higher risk of developing diabetes within a year compared with uninfected people.

Concluded the researchers: “SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with a higher risk of diabetes and may have contributed to a three per cent to five per cent excess burden of diabetes at a population level.”

Related research has also demonstrated that COVID infection can trigger or lead to a variety of autoimmune disorders.

One recent Lancet study that looked at nearly a million people who were unvaccinated between 2020 and 2021 found that COVID cases experienced much higher incidence of autoimmune disease than non-infected people.

These autoimmune conditions included rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis (inflamed and swollen blood vessels), inflammatory bowel disease and Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

A similar German study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, evaluated a cohort of 640,701 unvaccinated individuals with PCR-confirmed COVID infection during 2020 for the risk of autoimmune conditions. The researchers identified “a 42.6 per cent higher likelihood of acquiring an autoimmune condition three to 15 months after infection” compared with a group of 1,560,357 individuals who weren’t infected.

The researchers also found that a COVID infection “increased the risk of developing another autoimmune disease by 23 per cent” in individuals with pre-existing immune conditions.

The autoimmune studies confirm that COVID can be a significant immune deregulator. The Yale University immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, who has dedicated her lab to studying long COVID, notes that “there's misfiring of the immune response happening in the severe COVID patients that lead to pathology and lethality.” Even a mild infection can lead to this misfiring and long COVID, and this group tends to be women between the ages of 30 and 50.

Reinfection is no trifle

The autoimmune studies, of course, don’t tell us anything about the current crop of variants and what autoimmune or cardiovascular diseases they might trigger in the future. But the precautionary principle would suggest avoiding infection.

The highly regarded U.S. epidemiologist Ziyad Al-Aly, who also studies long COVID, has been very clear about the hazardous consequences of reinfection in terms of chronic disease such as diabetes, brain inflammation and heart disease: “Two infections are worse than one and three are worse than two.”

His most recent research shows that people with mild infections are still at risk for chronic disease two years after the fact. Patients who were hospitalized with COVID were at even greater risk for chronic complications.

“The concern here is that this pandemic will generate a wave of chronic disease that we did not have before the pandemic,” Al-Aly, chief of research and development at Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, recently told Euronews Next.

“Even when the pandemic abates and is in the rear-view mirror, we will be left with it after the fact in the form of a chronic disease that for some people may last for a long time or even a lifetime,” added Al-Aly.

The Tyee has repeatedly reported evidence that immunity to COVID from natural infection or vaccination is not long-lasting because of the nature of the virus.

The research now confirms that infections can even leave some people more vulnerable to reinfection. A startling Canadian study published this year looked at 750 vaccinated elders at long-term care facilities where COVID deaths continue to be high. They found infection with Omicron in its first wave actually made these inmates more susceptible to reinfection in subsequent waves. Counterintuitively, these people were more prone to reinfection than patients who had never experienced COVID.

“Our current vaccine schedules are based on the assumption that having had an infection provides some level of protection to future infections, but our study shows that may not be true for all variants in all people,” noted Dawn Bowdish, an immunologist and one of the study’s authors.

What our health leaders should be saying

The implications of these findings are plain enough. The pandemic has a long tail, and it can be found in a growing population of people experiencing chronic disease. Therefore, limiting transmission is still the most important public health goal.

We know how to do that but are reluctant to employ the tools. Masking in crowded public spaces or poorly ventilated buildings during periods of high infection is a proven viral risk reducer. Cleaning dirty air in workplaces and schools removes the virus and other pollutants such as wildfire smoke and should be an urgent public health crusade.

We might all take inspiration from what happened at one Australian school. Concerned parents studied airflow and then installed HEPA filters with the result that improved air circulation stopped COVID transmission dead.

Rigorous surveillance testing is also essential to inform citizens of the advancing or retreating COVID risks.

Vaccinations play a role because they can significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization, death and long COVID. But current vaccines will not stop transmission. Or end the pandemic.

In a recent study a group of U.S. researchers modelled a variety of paths that COVID might take in the future.

If repeat infections and vaccinations actually work to improve immunity and dent the pandemic over time, then models suggest infections and the incidence of long COVID should decline too.

But as Omicron demonstrated, community immunity is unlikely to be achieved via existing vaccines and especially at a time when vaccine hesitancy is rising.

In one pessimistic scenario the researchers posited that “a first infection may provide partial protection against a second infection” but the combination of new variants and complexities surrounding immune responses “could then increase the susceptibility to tertiary and quaternary infections.”

That means a good proportion of the population could end up with long COVID in the absence of effective public health measures and the development of a durable, transmission-blocking vaccine.

“More pessimistic assumptions on host adaptive immune responses illustrate that the longer-term burden of COVID-19 may be elevated for years to come,” added the researchers.

[darkmaga-returns]

Are Particulates to Blame?

Washed Up Pharmacist Nov 08, 2024

Update Eagle-eyed Jessica Rose noted that the Moderna batch 052D22A is NOT included in the batches identified by the FDA and released. However, batches 050D22A and 051D22A are mentioned so it is possible 052D22A wasn’t actually tested but I would expect to have the same issues as the other batches.

This also gives background as to these early booster bivalent doses Moderna's new booster launch tripped up by production issues at Catalent plant: reports

Evidence supporting early lots of the Pfizer vaccine were toxic than later lots. Dr Peter McCullough just recently summarized the data supporting the increased toxicity of the early lots in the US.

I have noticed in my practice that nearly all of those with serious COVID-19 vaccine syndromes including myocarditis, blood clots, and other live-threatening problems received their first shots either in December 2020 or early 2021. Pfizer’s lots or batches have been evaluated and studied for variation in risk by Schmeling, Manniche, and Jablonowski. All three studies have concluded the earlier batches were more lethal and the variation in risk was considerable from lot to lot. Now Jablonowski and Hooker report:

Here is the paper. Batch-dependent safety of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. The conclusion states:

So batches allocated in the first 2 months, sent out to hospitals and universities first. Here are the batches mention in the Jablonowski and Hooker report:

Death: EL0140, EL9261, EL3248, EN9581, EJ1686

Serious AEs: EC4176, EK5730, EH9899, EJ1685

All AE’s: EK5730, EH9888, EK9231, EJ1685

All of these are the purple topped vials formulated in the PBS buffer.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading update: august 2023

wow what a month!!! I turned 27, I got to do so much work on a documentary on queer style, and most importantly I read a batch of really cool books that I'm so excited to ramble about. so let's cut the bullshit, here's what I've been reading!

Condomnauts (Yoss, 2013; trans. David Frye, 2018) - thank you to, who else, tumblr user @condomnauts for the recommendation! the premise of this book is so sensational: humankind has taken to the stars and become part of a bustling galactic community, with a catch: politeness demands that when different species get together to trade, they open negotiations by sending members from each crew to have sex with each other. these "condomnauts" are highly in demand among humans, since it takes a very particular kind of person to figure out how to bone down with someone who isn't even remotely human. but it's not all fun or free-wheeling space orgies; our protagonist, Josue, is up to his eyes in unresolved trauma from the miserable violence and poverty of his upbringing (seriously, look up those trigger warnings; it gets pretty yucky out there) and has definitely never been to space therapy. ultimately this book isn't as much of a romp as I might have hoped and does fall a bit more into "let's explain at length how the sci-fi tech works" than I usually like, but. BUT. I have to say, the payoff at the (deep sigh) climax of the book (and it is, in fact, a climax) took me totally by surprise and made me SHRIEK with delight when I realized what was about to happen; huge props to Yoss for bringing that particular plot point so perfectly full circle.

Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs (Jamie Loftus, 2023) - I'm a huge fan of all of Jamie Loftus' nonfiction podcast series (go listen to Ghost Church, like, immediately. stop reading this an go do it) so I was naturally pretty fucking stoked for her first foray into nonfiction books. the premise is simple enough: driven by a need to consume a truly terrifying amount of hot dogs for research, Loftus and her boyfriend set off on a cross-country road trip, sampling hot dogs across America so that Loftus can alternate descriptions of the most iconic contemporary hot dogs with an investigation of the hot dog's sordid past. as is pretty much the signature of Jamie Loftus' work, to me, the end result is much funnier, weirder, and sadder than the innocuous-sounding premise would suggest; in addition to the perils of colonialism, capitalism, COVID-19, and factory farming, Loftus does a remarkably tactful job documenting the the downfall of her own relationship as she searches for the perfect dog. cannot recommend enough, an incredible debut.

Yellowface (R.F. Kuang, 2023) - a couple of months ago I read my first R.F. Kuang book, Babel, and thought that it couldn't possibly live up to the amount of hype that it was getting at the time. and I was wrong! Babel was tremendous! but surely R.F. Kuang, that crazy son of a gun, couldn't pull it off twice in one year. and yet! Yellowface was a book I found hard to put down, because with each chapter came some fresh new BUGFUCK CRAZY BULLSHIT from our terrible, terrible protagonist. maybe the plot hinging so much on extremely online book discourse will make it inaccessible for some readers, but as someone who used to spend a lot of time on lit twitter I got it and felt seen. honestly, if this kind of discourse broke loose on twitter tomorrow - a white author stealing the work of her Chinese-American friend? publishing it after her friend's tragic premature death?? changing her name to sound more racially ambiguous??? - I might go crawling back to X dot com just to gawk. this is a satirical thriller of the highest order, and if you love mess as much as me you will gobble this shit up.

The Prisoner's Wife (asha bandele, 1999) - and now for a totally different vibe than I've been bringing you so far! bandele's memoir is an absolutely wrenching account of falling in love with Rashid, a man incarcerated for murder and the ensuing fight to build a life together. bandele is a poet and it shows; her words flow beautifully even in the ugliest of circumstances. this is no suffering porn but a nakedly honest account, all of the good and all of the bad in her relationship. the struggles are never limited to the inhumanity of American carceral system, and the reader is also witness to the usual growing pains of two people learning how to love each other heightened by the enormous obstacles of stolen autonomy. but for every moment of difficulty there is love, such an enormity of love that you at time feel the need to look away from someone being so vulnerable. but I'm so grateful bandele shared the way she did. even reading the book two decades after its publication, with the knowledge that she and her husband Rashid would ultimately divorce, did nothing to dull the love. the love was real, and bandele captured it with devastating precision.

Clay's Ark (Octavia E. Butler, 1984) - god, I love Octavia. just when you think you know where she's going with a story of a creepy codependent psychic cult she zags on you and introduces a SECOND creepy codependent cult, this time in the form of a bunch of HORNY PARASITIC SPACE WEREWOLVES hiding out in the desert! there was no mention of Mary and the Pattern! where are they, Octavia? why are they sending people into space? what does it mean that aliens are in play now? are they going to fight in the next book? god, I hope they fight. there was some gruesome shit in Clay's Ark, but man was I compelled.

My Wandering Warrior Existence (Nagata Kabi, 2020; trans. Jocelyne Allen, 2022) - this was a really exciting new turn for Nagata's graphic memoirs! this one is a great reflection on ✨romance✨ as Nagata begins the arduous work of trying to figure out what romance means to them and what she'd actually want out of a relationship. there was a lot that I related to immensely, although our outcomes may be different - in my case, I realized that building so many mental hurdles for myself because I didn't want to be in a relationship at all. watching someone else navigate that journey at a later age than people are usually expected to is so cool, especially doing it so thoughtfully and with such candor and coming from a place of queerness. I don't know where things are going for Nagata Kabi, but I'm excited for the next translation of her work to be released in November. and I really recommend this graphic memoir to anyone trying to figure out their own romance situation, whether or not you're read the preceding volumes; it can stand quite well on its own!

Love, Hate & Clickbait (Liz Bowery, 2022) - guys. listen. I was so prepared to hate this romance novel, but "a governor forces two of her male staffers to fake date each other to win #woke points" is pretty heinous premise! and it SUPER doesn't help that one of these guys, Thom, is a stone cold manipulative bastard who's chronically online and obsessed with his job to a generally terrifying degree. (the other guy, Clay, is just kind of a doofus who's been, I think, accidentally autism-coded.) but by the end [SPOILERS] Thom has uuuuuh suffered complete and total ego death and renounced his entire life, and it kind of rules? idk, the fake dating might be kind of long and tedious if you're not into fake dating, by which I mean it was tedious for me, but the climax really catapulted it up the list of romance novels I've read this year. also I regret to say the sex is pretty good.

Docile (K.M. Szpara, 2020) - god almighty I put off actually getting to this book for YEARS but I'm glad I did, because I don't know if I would have had the range to appreciate her back in 2020. the basic bones premise - a slightly future dystopia in which those in extreme debt can take a drug called Dociline to become a passive blank slate and sell themselves as servants for the ultrawealthy - barely scratches the surface; it's an intoxicating story about power, control, cobsession, consent, vulnerability, exploitation, capitalism, and loss of self in so many different ways. also I once again regret to say that the sex is pretty good. I completely understand why this book wouldn't be someone's cup of tea - jesus CHRIST read those content warnings - but I couldn't read it fast enough.

Carnal Knowledge: Sex Education You Didn't Get in School (Zoë Ligon and Elizabeth Renstrom, 2020) - what a fun book! for those of y'all who don't know Ligon's work, she's the owner of Spectrum Boutique, a Detroit-based sex toy store that I endorse wholeheartedly and as often as possible! Ligon has put together a great little book of beginner's sexual affirmations, covering everything from body image to pubic hair to relationship styles as well as, naturally, sex toys. it's a great read for anybody, and Renstrom's whimsical, vibrant photos make it a delight to flip through. I'd recommend it for anyone, especially my many anons over the years who have asked how to start getting more comfortable thinking and talking about sexuality. it's a great place to start, a gorgeous little safe space of a book that welcomes everyone to think more widely about pleasure and how to find it.