#LA County Board of Supervisors

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

A lot of good sources linked in the original article!

By Bruce Mirken

As the dangers of Long COVID become more recognized, the country's going backwards on preventing new infections.

While I’m far from the only person worried about Long COVID and our society’s general inclination to look away and pretend it’s not there, people like me certainly feel badly outnumbered. It’s beginning to feel reminiscent of how people with AIDS and their loved ones felt circa 1986—and maybe it’s time for the same kind of response.

For those of you lucky enough not to have lived through that era, by the end of 1986, AIDS had killed nearly 25,000 Americans, but president Ronald Reagan had yet to speak the word “AIDS.” His press secretary had joked about it and the White House press corps laughed. While individual scientists were doing important work, the bureaucracies running the NIH and FDA seemed very much to be in business-as-usual mode. Because the casualties had largely been gay men and injection drug users, it seemed like no one with any power cared whether we lived or died.

So, a group of New Yorkers – mostly gay men – decided it was time to start raising hell. Calling themselves ACT UP, they disrupted the New York Stock Exchange and, as chapters sprang up nationwide, they staged protests that shut down the FDA and NIH. Eventually, people like Anthony Fauci began to see they had a point. I joined the Los Angeles ACT UP chapter in 1988 and ended up getting arrested half a dozen times in protests at the LA federal building, the County Board of Supervisors and the U.S. Capitol, among others. We won major improvements in HIV/AIDS care in the Los Angeles County health system, which cared for thousands of people with AIDS who had no health insurance. When I landed in San Francisco in 1993, I connected with ACT UP Golden Gate.

Here I am (with my late boyfriend Tim at the left) at one of the protests in that L.A County healthcare campaign. Most of my closest friends from that era have been dead for decades.

I get that COVID has played out very differently than HIV/AIDS. AIDS ramped up slowly and seemed not to affect “normal” people until it killed closeted gay movie and TV star Rock Hudson in 1985, and even then officials largely looked the other way. Only scientific breakthroughs in the 1990s finally stemmed the tide of death. In contrast, the much more highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus came on fast and furious, turning Americans’ lives upside-down almost immediately.

But now, we’ve arrived at what seems in some ways like an eerily similar place. When needed precautions to curb a highly infectious airborne virus spurred frustration and political pushback, officials largely threw up their hands and gave up. Even measures that don’t involve mandates or restrictions on behavior have mostly either been dropped or never happened in the first place.

LONG COVID’S GROWING TOLL

Unfortunately, the virus hasn’t gone away, even if the initial wave of mass death has receded. In August, as a summer surge peaked, US COVID-19 deaths exceeded 1,000 per week, though the latest September data suggests the numbers have begun declining toward pre-surge levels, when deaths were generally in the 300-400 per week range. That’s still equal to a 9/11 every eight to 10 days. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracking of SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater—probably the best data on US viral prevalence now that cases aren’t being reliably tracked—showed 15 states with “very high” levels and another 19 rated as “high” as of Sept. 19.

But COVID is not just a matter of cases and deaths. The disease’s long-term effects have disabled millions of Americans, and the numbers keep growing with each new wave of infection. An updated review published in Nature Medicine puts the current global number of Long COVID sufferers at 400 million and estimates the worldwide economic impact at a staggering $1 trillion.

We now have plenty of people experiencing repeated SARS-CoV-2 infections. The good news, if you can call it that, is that these reinfections may produce fewer new cases of Long Covid than a person’s first infection – but they absolutely produce some, and the Omicron variants circulating in the last year or two seem to produce more Long Covid than earlier viral varieties. Every time you get COVID, you roll the dice with your health – maybe for the rest of your life.

If I sound alarmed, well, I am. As longtime readers may know, I have some first-hand experience with Long COVID, though in milder form than many experience. My January 2022 infection left me with peripheral neuropathy—painful nerve damage—in my legs and feet. It’s incurable and nearly impossible to treat, as conventional pain drugs don’t help. I will likely never live another day without pain and walking more than six or seven blocks at a stretch is a struggle. I used to enjoy hiking, but will probably never do it again. Still, I don’t have the more debilitating symptoms like crushing fatigue or dysautonomia—disruption of the part of the nervous system that controls automatic functions like heartbeat, blood pressure, digestion and breathing—that afflict some Long COVID sufferers. Lots of people have it way worse than I do.

We know that COVID can have lasting impacts on many parts of the body, including the brain. A recent study of 52 COVID survivors—about half with mild to moderate initial illness and half with more severe disease—found that compared to healthy controls, both groups “had a significantly higher score of cognitive complaints involving cognitive failure and mental fatigue” 27 months after their original illness, with no significant difference based on the severity of that initial illness. On a series of tests, researchers found “changes in brain function” that may explain the reported problems.

Just as scary, a study of people aged 65 and up just published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reports that “people with COVID were at significantly increased risk for new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease within 360 days after the initial COVID diagnosis.” This review of the medical records of over six million patients found that the risk escalated with advancing age. As with many of these long-term impacts, the mechanisms involved remain unclear.

Survivors of an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection also have increased rates of high blood pressure, now documented in multiple studies. High blood pressure increases your risk of deadly cardiovascular complications like heart attack and stroke.

I can’t help but wonder whether these issues have affected me, but there’s no way to be sure. My blood pressure, well-controlled for a dozen years with a very low dose of medication, began ratcheting upward about a year and a half ago, necessitating three medication adjustments since then. I’m also definitely more forgetful than I was, mostly little things like walking into a room and forgetting why I went there. But those things can happen to older people with or without COVID, and it’s hard to know cause-and-effect in a given individual.

But I sure as hell know I don’t want to get this virus again and risk these and other issues getting worse. Unfortunately, avoiding it is getting harder by the day, and neither government at any level nor public health authorities seem to care.

PREVENTION? WHAT PREVENTION?

While there’s some evidence that the antiviral drug Paxlovid can reduce the likelihood of Long COVID if administered early enough, the results so far are mixed and not overwhelming. The best way to avoid Long COVID is to not get infected in the first place. As a society, we’ve pretty much stopped trying.

The government is still encouraging vaccination, as it should. But it’s been clear for some time that while the vaccines are very good at reducing the chance of severe illness and death if you get infected, they offer only limited protection against getting infected in the first place. “Vax and relax” can prevent mass death, but it can’t prevent mass infection and an ever-growing number of cases of Long COVID, even if most people get vaccinated. And vaccination rates have been declining for a while, with a new Ohio State University survey reporting that only 43% of U.S. adults have gotten or plan to get the new COVID-19 shot.

And in a bit of absolute madness, Florida’s Ron DeSantis-appointed Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has actually advised against use of the newly updated mRNA vaccines. In a post on Mastodon, Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves called this “beyond irresponsible. It is malpractice.”

Ladapo is an outlier, but even his saner colleagues around the country downplay the fact that we don’t have to limit ourselves to vaccination. It’s an airborne virus, so there are two main ways to stop it from spreading: 1) Get the virus out of the air, or at least reduce its concentration to a very low level, and 2) Protect yourself from breathing in any virus that’s in the air around you. We know how to do both.

Masking works, but the type of mask matters. As the Mayo Clinic notes, “Respirators such as nonsurgical N95s give the most protection. KN95s and medical masks provide the next highest level of protection. Cloth masks provide less protection.” Two and a half years ago, a CDC study found that those who reported regularly wearing an N95 or KN95 respirator in indoor public settings had an 86% lower risk of catching COVID-19.

Recently, during my first return visit to San Francisco after moving in early 2022, I met my nieces for lunch at the Ferry Plaza. It was a Saturday, Farmers Market day, and the place was jammed. In three-plus hours I saw no more than half a dozen people wearing any sort of mask, and only a couple were N95s. In my new hometown of Hilo, masking is only slightly more common. At the supermarket, I see barely 10% of customers and staff in some sort of mask. In some venues, it’s less.

A recent Ipsos survey found that half of Americans believe they’ll never get COVID again. Only 20% described themselves as “trying to stay as safe as possible.”

None of this is a surprise—people are simply responding to the messages they get from the people supposedly leading on health issues. The CDC promotes vaccination but barely talks about masking anymore; it acknowledges the value of indoor air quality but doesn’t seem to be doing much about it. In interviews, CDC Director Mandy Cohen regularly urges vaccination but almost never brings up masking or air quality and says little about Long Covid. Political leaders mostly talk about COVID in the past tense and pat themselves on the back for a job well done in prior years. The result is what you’d expect: Most Americans now treat COVID like a common cold, disregarding most precautions and not bothering to test when they get sick.

Back in 2022, when public policy on COVID was still relatively sane, the Biden administration published indoor air quality guidance and made congressionally-approved funds available that “that can be used in schools, public buildings, and other settings to improve indoor air quality.” It’s unclear exactly how much of that money has been used and for what, although some school systems have definitely made HVAC upgrades. But we’ve never had either enforceable indoor air standards or a coordinated plan to implement them. As Science noted in July, “The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown the vulnerability of society to the spread of infectious diseases. At the same time, with frequent outbreaks in elder care facilities and school classrooms, it became clear that it was a fatal mistake to largely neglect the recommendations of scientists and engineers regarding minimum standards for ventilation and indoor air quality.”

In any case, those federal dollars were aimed at schools and public buildings. It’s been left entirely to the private sector to do, or not do, anything to reduce airborne pathogens in supermarkets, theaters, clubs, malls and other privately owned spaces. Local groups like Chicago’s Clean Air Club and Austin’s Clear the Air ATX have tried to fill the gap by lending HEPA filters and other clean air equipment to arts and performance venues and other gathering places.

A RADICAL IDEA: DO WHAT WORKS

We know what to do. As Clean Air Club founder Emily Dupree and co-author Shelby Speier wrote in Sick Times in May, “We possess the technology to make public spaces safer. Studies show HEPA air purification and far-UVC lamps drastically reduce the number of airborne pathogens in a room and therefore lessen the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission. When combined with other layers of protection, these tools have the potential to finally make our shared spaces more accessible during an airborne pandemic.”

A key word here is accessible. Failure to address indoor air quality and other prevention measures makes public spaces seriously dangerous for those at highest risk, including the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with long-term health issues, including Long Covid.

Such simple, factual messages are rarely heard in official statements about COVID. “What I find the most frustrating about official handling of COVID and prevention is the lack of care, education, and honoring the science around COVID,” comments Clear the Air ATX founder and Long Covid activist Katie Drackert. “Telling people to ‘stay home when they feel sick’ for a virus that spreads asymptomatically? Well, they are just straight up ignoring science.”

Admirable as they are, the small, volunteer-driven efforts of groups like Drackert’s and Dupree’s are not remotely comparable to the scale of the problem. For now, people must take matters into their own hands. “In the year 2024, people still need to be wearing a well fitted KN95 or above for optimal communal and individual protection,” Drackert says. In the absence of reliable information about air quality in indoor spaces, she suggests getting a portable air quality monitor, which can be reasonably affordable. “High CO₂ levels indicate poor ventilation, which may lead to higher concentrations of aerosols that could contain the virus,” she explains. “Some air quality monitors track particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), which are small airborne particles. While COVID is smaller than these particles, high PM levels may indicate poor indoor air quality.”

Most of us can’t entirely avoid being in spaces with poor air quality, and that leaves us with masking, which the country has largely abandoned. Worse, we’re starting to see bans on face coverings in public spaces being enacted—for example, in Nassau County, New York, and North Carolina.

These laws typically contain exceptions for people masking for health reasons, but, as New Jersey’s Star-Ledger noted in a recent editorial opposing a proposed mask ban, “t leaves it up to the cops to decide whether someone has a legitimate medical reason for wearing a mask at a public gathering. “How will they know that? It’s subjective. And based on past experience, we know what that means: Police will disproportionately stop and question Black and brown people, who have also been the most likely to continue wearing masks to protect against COVID-19.” It’s hard to imagine a more demented public policy than making disease prevention illegal. And it’s not hard at all to imagine a COVID-19 prevention framework that would make a meaningful difference without causing a nationwide freakout: Encourage masking. Even if mask mandates are a political non-starter, there’s still plenty we can do. First, officials can talk about it and actively encourage people to wear high-quality protection like N-95s when in busy, indoor spaces. They can remind people of its importance—that COVID is not over, not just a cold, and that even a “mild” case can change your life forever. Federal, state and local governments could distribute N-95s or KN-95s free or at minimal cost. Get serious about indoor air purification. Build on what the Biden administration started a few years ago: Develop medically informed, enforceable indoor air quality standards and create a verification system so that people know when a building they enter meets them. Start with public buildings and the largest, busiest private venues, like sports arenas, concert halls and theaters, and move on from there. Give business owners generous technical and financial support in meeting those standards, and a reasonable amount of time in which to do it. While this program is ramping up, fund the local organizations now struggling with limited resources to fill the gap. None of this is that difficult. It’s not even that expensive when you consider that the federal government is in the process of spending $634 billion to upgrade nuclear weapons that with any luck will never be used. What’s missing is political will, and that won’t be there until people scream bloody murder. That’s why I think it may be time for a new version of ACT UP focused on COVID-19. The issues are somewhat different, but less so than you might think. While the original ACT UP focused a lot on research, treatment and care, it also addressed prevention. ACT UP chapters around the country started syringe exchange programs, handed out condoms at high schools, and sometimes succeeded in shaming the system into doing the right thing. And of course, there are issues to tackle around Long Covid research that I haven’t addressed here, but which I will try to cover in a future piece. The fundamental problem is much the same as people with AIDS faced in 1986: a system stuck in neutral, politicians stuck in denial, and a public closing their eyes, covering their ears and shouting, “I don’t hear you!” The first task must be to break the system–and the broader population, as much as possible–out of its present inertia, complacency and denial. I honestly don’t know whether ACT UP tactics like occupying the CDC and disrupting state and local health commission meetings will have the same effect they did decades ago, but at this point I don’t know what else to try. Nothing good lies at the end of our current path.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

A Christian lifeguard is suing the city of Los Angeles for "severe emotional distress" after he was stationed near a Pride flag last year. Jeffery Little, who has worked for the city for 22 years, filed a lawsuit on Friday claiming he is being discriminated against for his evangelical faith by being made to stand in the same vicinity as the Progress Pride flag. Little alleges he was suspended from his role with the department’s background investigation unit last year after he took down three LGBTQ+ flags during Pride month. The Los Angeles county board of supervisors voted last year to require the rainbow banner be flown during the month of June at government buildings, which includes lifeguard stands. Little, who claimed the flags present a “direct conflict” with his religious beliefs, fought to be placed at stations that would not fly the flag, as they did not have the right flag poles to fly any banner.

Little arrived to his station at Dockweiler Beach on June 21, 2023 and found three nearby facilities displaying the flag, ordered by the lifeguard division's chief, according to the complaint. After he removed them, Little said he was given a "direct order" from the chief to ensure the flag was displayed throughout the month.

Little is accusing the department of “religious discrimination” and “retaliation," alleging that officials did not “substantively engage" with his objections and instead threatened "discipline and eventual termination for failure to raise the Progress Pride flag.” He is asking for damages based on "severe emotional distress" and a “standing exemption” from raising the flag. The lifeguard seemed particularly triggered by the turquoise and pink stripes on the original Pride flag designed by Gilbert Baker, which represent magic and sex, respectively. Those two stripes are, notably, not on the Progress Pride flag, the subject of Little's suit. Still, Little claimed that queer identity goes against the "purpose of the human person."

Evangelical Christian lifeguard Jeffrey Little got triggered by a Progress Pride Flag while being a lifeguard on at Will Rogers State Beach near LA. Cry me a river and boo freakin' hoo! Little is suing the city of Los Angeles, California as a result.🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Lifeguard sues city because flying Pride flags violates his Christianity

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the LA Times:

There’s a lithium bonanza happening at the Salton Sea.

The boom started when one of the world’s largest supplies of lithium was discovered one mile below the dying lake. The metal is required to produce electric car batteries and is essential to reducing carbon emissions.

Yet lost in the excitement about the money and new jobs that the mining projects could bring are the concerns of the people who live there.

The impoverished area — which is more than 80% Latino — already has a childhood asthma rate that is more than twice the national average.

The asthma cases have been tied to the toxic dust created as the Salton Sea recedes from lack of water. And some local residents fear that the number of respiratory cases could soar even higher as the lithium mining projects drink up more of the area’s much fought over allocation from the Colorado River.

Residents also worry about the hazardous waste that the mining projects could create. And the area’s Indigenous tribes are concerned that sites they consider sacred, including Obsidian Butte, a volcanic outcropping on the Salton Sea’s shore, could be disturbed.

In March, a local community group called Comite Civico del Valle, along with Earthworks, a national nonprofit, filed a legal petition to stop the first of the planned lithium mining projects, which is known as Hell’s Kitchen.

The groups say the potential hazards of the project by Controlled Thermal Resources, a privately held company, were not properly studied before the Imperial County Board of Superiors unanimously approved it in January.

“Controlled Thermal Resources boasts about the sustainability attributes of direct lithium extraction, yet public health, hazardous waste, and water concerns remain unresolved,” said Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comite Civico del Valle.

The two groups want the project halted until the risks are studied and measures are taken to mitigate any harm that could happen to the communities or environment.

The county and company disagree and say that the project’s potential risks were properly considered in the environmental impact statement that California law requires.

“The County believes that the concerns were adequately addressed during the initial stages of the project development,” said Eddie Lopez, a county spokesperson.

Jim Turner, Controlled Thermal Resources’ president, said the company spent two years performing studies to ensure that the lithium could be extracted safely. The board of supervisors agreed that the company had completed that work, he said. “The official opinion is that the job was done very well,” he said.

Government officials are among those who want to move quickly. They say the Salton Sea could be the cleanest major source of lithium in the world and make the U.S. a major player in production.

Controlled Thermal Resources and two other companies with mining projects in the works use a process in which the metal is extracted from the hot, steaming brine that geothermal power plants bring up from the depths to produce electricity.

Lithium is removed from the brine before it is reinjected back into the geothermal reservoir deep underground.

The process, known as direct lithium extraction, is said to be far less damaging to the environment than hard rock mining or by pumping brine into large evaporation ponds.

The U.S. produces very little lithium even though the demand is great and growing fast with the rising purchases of electric vehicles.

Already 11 geothermal plants have been built around the lake. Controlled Thermal Resources’ project would be the first to combine electricity generation with lithium extraction.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

An Evangelical Christian lifeguard is suing the Los Angeles County Fire Department, claiming religious discrimination after he was allegedly punished for refusing to fly an LGBT pride flag at his beachside lifeguard facility last summer.

Jeffrey Little, who has served Los Angeles County for 22 years, declined to hoist the Progress Pride flag at his lifeguard facility in Pacific Palisades at Will Rogers Beach, which includes a stretch called Ginger Rogers Beach that is frequented by the gay community.

In March 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution mandating that all county-operated facilities fly the Progress Pride flag during...

[socialismforall]

Free advice to anyone running for POTUS: When they ask you about the $50K you owe in child support & the $500K you owe the IRS, don't dodge the questions. It makes you look ridiculous.

The Green Party US has 10 months to come up w/a better candidate, maybe a labor leader?*

source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/green-party-candidate-cornel-west-owes-half-million/story?id=102293692

Additionally, West was spotted this week at the sentencing hearing of Mark Ridley-Thomas, convicted of "seven felonies — bribery, conspiracy, four counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of honest services mail fraud — in a scheme in which he extracted benefits from USC for himself and his son while on L.A. County’s powerful Board of Supervisors," according to the LA Times, as one of Ridley-Thomas's supporters.

source: https://twitter.com/JonnyPeltz/status/1696245729273254380

source: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-28/ridley-thomas-sentencing

For background on Mark Ridley-Thomas, see this article from Knock LA, a grassroots homeless advocacy and support organization featured in our most recent reading, "Infrastructures of Community": https://knock-la.com/mark-ridley-thomas-anti-homeless-camping-laws/ Knock LA reports that, "rather than acting as “champion of the homeless population,” [Ridley-Thomas] acted as champion of homeless policy," and that "Ridley-Thomas introduced legislation for LA Municipal Code 41.18 on June 30, 2021, which bans “sitting, lying, or sleeping or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property in the public right-of-way” around transportation structures (everything from driveways to freeway underpasses) [...]. So far, the measure has been used to effectively ban homeless people from taking up space at over 140 sites across the city, with $2 million allotted by the council for the signage alone."

After leaving the courthouse, West was asked why he was supporting an LA politics insider convicted of bribery when his companion shooed the interviewer away, saying they were "putting West's life in danger": https://twitter.com/theveganforest/status/1696290380361162759

As one commenter put it, "Starting to think this Harvard professor-turned-TV gadfly might not be on the level regarding his commitment to left-wing politics."

*There are nine other candidates in the GPUS primaries already: https://www.fec.gov/data/candidates/president/?election_year=2024&cycle=2024&election_full=true&party=GRE

[jdpink]

“There are no deputy gangs in his department, Villanueva insisted. “A gang is three or more people united with a common name or tattoo or any kind of thing who engage in criminal acts,” he said. According to him, the Banditos are not a gang, because it has not been demonstrated in court that they have engaged in criminal activity on the group’s behalf. “You can allege all you want, but we operate in the world of what you can prove or not prove,” he said. There is no correlation between wearing a deputy tattoo and bad behavior, he argued: “People engage in misconduct without the tattoo, and people have the tattoo and they walk on water. Because they have the tattoo, are they a gang member?��”

A few weeks earlier, Villanueva had sent the county Board of Supervisors, five elected officials who control the county budget, a “cease and desist” letter, demanding that they stop using the term “deputy gangs.” “As the first fluently Spanish speaking Latino Sheriff in over a hundred years, who supervises a majority Latino workforce, I hope you can see the blatant racial inferences your conscious bias displays every time you choose to attack our Department with this derogatory term,” he wrote. On Facebook Live, a forum he uses regularly to address the public, he compared the inked deputies to a group of Covid nurses who got tattoos to commemorate their efforts to save lives.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy-Gang Crisis

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/06/the-la-county-sheriffs-deputy-gang-crisis

[rodspurethoughts]

Los Angeles County’s Strategic Acquisition: The Gas Company Tower

LA County aims to purchase the Gas Company Tower for $215M in a foreclosure sale, capitalizing on falling downtown office values. #RealEstate #LosAngeles

Aerial view of a Downtown Los Angeles at sunset Los Angeles County has recently made headlines with its strategic move to purchase the Gas Company Tower, one of downtown LA’s most notable skyscrapers, for $215 million in a foreclosure sale. This acquisition, still pending approval from the Board of Supervisors, marks a significant moment in the county’s real estate strategy amidst fluctuating…

[loscerritoscommunitynews]

Support Grows for Expanding Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Seats

@frank_yokoyama @theChrisApodaca @supjanicehahn @NishiiAbc @HildaSolis @LindseyPHorvath @HollyJMitchell @kathrynbarger @alisajjadtaj @officialcityofartesia @melissaramoso

LA County Supervisor-Chair Lindsey Horvath, Supervisor Janet Hahn and Artesia Councilwoman Melissa Ramoso, 7th from right. Ramoso and others spoke in favor of expanding the Board of Supervisor seats from five to nine. July 20, 2024 LCCN Staff Report LA County’s government has remained unchanged since 1912, before women had the right to vote and the population was under 500,000. Today, five…

[usalatestwebstories]

Violet Affleck, 18, Speaks Out Against Mask Bans In LA County

Violet Affleck is raising awareness about a topic that’s close to her heart. The daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck appeared at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Meeting on July 9 and urged local officials to oppose mask bans and ensure availability of masks for vulnerable groups. In a clip from the meeting, the 18-year-old addressed the board of supervisors and introduced…

[influencermagazineuk]

Why Violet Affleck Wears a Face Mask in Public

Violet Affleck, daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, has always been seen wearing a face mask in public, even in the scorching heat of California. Many believed it was her way of maintaining privacy due to her famous parents, but she recently disclosed the real reason during a speech at a meeting of the LA County Board of Supervisors. Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons The 18-year-old revealed that she had contracted a "post-viral condition" in 2019, which gave her a first-hand experience of how even minor viruses can have serious, lingering effects. As a result, she chooses to wear a mask to protect herself. During her passionate speech, Violet explained her health struggles and emphasized the importance of preventative measures like mask availability, air filtration, and Far-UVC light in government facilities. She also made a strong case against mask bans, advocating for the expansion of high-quality free tests and treatment, stressing that bans make vulnerable community members less safe. Violet highlighted the severe impact of long COVID, a condition that affects one in ten infections and can cause debilitating neurological and cardiovascular issues, impacting a person's ability to work, move, see, and think. Read the full article

[whitepolaris]

Crazy bitch. Stop forcing things on people!

[nuttyblizzardflower]

Büroessen, Das Ihr Team Lieben Wird

Inhaltverzeichnis

F: Welche Gesunden Snacks Gibt Es Für Die Arbeit?

Wählen Sie Aus Unserer Sorgfältig Zusammengestellten Liste Von Anbietern, Die Unsere Leidenschaft Für Lebensmittel Teilen

Proteinshake Aus Gnarly Vanilla Whey, Sonnenblumenkernbutter Und 1/2 Banane

Kostenlose Dolmetscherdienste, übersetzte Materialien oder andere Unterstützung sind auf Anfrage verfügbar. SNAP-Vorteile werden auf einem elektronischen Konto hinterlegt, das nur der Empfänger nutzen kann. Dieses System wird als elektronischer Leistungstransfer oder EBT bezeichnet.

Avocado auf Sauerteigtoast ist ein gesunder Snack, den Sie bei der Arbeit zubereiten können.

Dies ist eine großartige Möglichkeit, Ihre Wertschätzung zu zeigen, und es gibt ihnen einen zusätzlichen Antrieb, ihren Arbeitstag zufrieden und zufrieden zu beenden.

Die Website stellt einen Index der Gefährdung durch Ernährungsunsicherheit auf nationaler Ebene dar.

Informationen zu Ressourcen in Ihrer Gemeinde und zur Rekrutierung und Schulung von Freiwilligen sowie zu den in den örtlichen DHS-Büros angebotenen Dienstleistungen. Die Dynamik und die Unterstützung der Bürger für langfristige Lösungen für die chronische Ernährungsunsicherheit im Großraum L.A., die fast jedem vierten Haushalt im County schadet, nehmen weiter zu. Das Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors stimmte im Februar dafür, den strategischen Plan als Fahrplan zur Verbesserung des Nahrungsmittelzugangs für die am stärksten gefährdeten Gemeinden des Countys zu nutzen. Nutzen Sie die Simple SNAP-Anwendung, wenn alle im Haushalt 60 Jahre oder älter sind oder eine Behinderung haben, gemeinsam Essen einkaufen und zubereiten und kein Einkommen aus Arbeit beziehen.

60 % der Menschen auf der Welt, die unter Ernährungsunsicherheit leiden, leben in Ländern mit aktiven Konflikten. Unsere Mission ist es, die Gesundheit der Bürger zu schützen und ihre Lebensmittel zu überwachen, um sicherzustellen, dass sie sicher sind. Der Verkauf von Snacks und Getränken à la carte wird in allen Schulen gemäß den Smart Snack Standards des Maryland State Department of Education wieder aufgenommen. Als Heimat des vielgepriesenen „Office Burger“ vereint unsere Speisekarte großartiges Craft-Bier mit exzellentem Essen für ein unvergleichliches ungezwungenes Speiseerlebnis. Das Restaurant spiegelt eine Gegenüberstellung rustikaler, strukturierter Kulissen wider, die geschickt inmitten einer modernen, zeitgenössischen Umgebung mit atemberaubenden Innendesignelementen platziert sind. Jeder Teilnehmer erhält drei individuelle Mentorensitzungen mit einem erfahrenen Food

Sorgen Sie dafür, dass Ihre Mitarbeiter den ganzen Tag über mit Energie versorgt und produktiv sind – mit unserer Büro-Mikroküche, die mit erstklassigen Bio-Snacks ohne Gentechnik ausgestattet ist, die ihre Produktivität steigern. Genießen Sie eine Vielzahl an Snacks, darunter abgepackte Riegel, Trockenfleisch und Chips, Getränke, Käse, Gewürze, Brot, Milch, Kaffee und Nüsse. Auch wenn Sie Lebensmittel anbieten möchten, die die meisten Menschen lieben, müssen Sie auch Allergien und Lebensmittelreaktionen im Team berücksichtigen. Was auf dem Papier wie eine clevere Idee aussieht, kann schrecklich sein, wenn Sie Mitarbeiter haben, die sich glutenfrei, vegan usw.

Natürlich ist es in Ordnung, Backwaren zu haben, wenn ein Kunde oder ich sie wirklich wollen, aber es ist auch gut, sich nur dann etwas zu gönnen, wenn sich diese Dinge wirklich lohnen. Zuckerarme saure Apfelringe sind eine ketofreundliche Antwort auf den Heißhunger auf Süßes! Mit nur 3 Gramm Zucker pro Beutel und dem Sechsfachen der Ballaststoffe sind diese pflanzlichen Leckereien ebenso gut für Ihr Verdauungssystem wie köstlich. Wenn jemand beschäftigt ist, bringen Sie ihm auch das Mittagessen mit.

Wir alle wissen, wie schwierig es sein kann, sich am Arbeitsplatz gesund zu ernähren. Die ständige Versorgung mit zuckerhaltigen, mit Transfetten beladenen, gesunden Snacks für die Arbeit am Pausentisch erfordert zu viel Willenskraft, um sie zu vermeiden. Wenn Sie in einem Großraumbüro oder auch nur in einer Innenstadtwohnung voller Leute und Computer arbeiten, sitzen Sie manchmal beim Mittagessen am Schreibtisch oder rennen zum örtlichen McDonalds, um etwas zu essen zu holen. Es ist sicherlich Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit zeitsparend, aber ich frage mich, ob es Ihnen die gleiche Befriedigung verschafft wie eine gemeinsame Mahlzeit. Wenn Sie bei der Arbeit gesunde Snacks zur Hand haben, bleiben Sie energiegeladen und produktiv. Erfahren Sie mehr über die Wissenschaft hinter dem Klima- und Ernährungsunsicherheitsindex, das Met Office und das Welternährungsprogramm (WFP).

F: Welche Gesunden Snacks Gibt Es Für Die Arbeit?

Ich würde vorschlagen, nur auf Kaufpreisbasis zu arbeiten, um einen kühlen Kopf zu bewahren. Unsere Experten überwachen kontinuierlich den Gesundheits- und Wellnessbereich und wir aktualisieren unsere Artikel, sobald neue Informationen verfügbar sind. Um Chia-Pudding zuzubereiten, vermischen Sie 3 Esslöffel (40 g) Chiasamen mit 1 Tasse (240 ml) Milch in einem Glas. Fügen Sie geschnittenes Obst, Kürbiskerne, etwas Ahornsirup und Vanilleextrakt hinzu. Lassen Sie es über Nacht im Kühlschrank stehen und nehmen Sie es morgens auf dem Weg zur Arbeit mit. Chia-Pudding wird normalerweise aus Chiasamen, Milch, Vanille, Obst und einem Süßstoff zubereitet.

Mit nahezu endlosen Geschmackskombinationen sind sie auch eine großartige Möglichkeit, Ihr Menü unter der Woche abzuwechseln und alles aufzubrauchen, was Sie zu Hause haben. Hier haben wir uns für fertig gekochte Puy-Linsen mit Thunfischkonserven, Kirschtomaten, Petersilie und einem pikanten Senfdressing entschieden. Fooda bietet Ihren Mitarbeitern eine virtuelle Food Hall mit täglich wechselnden Restaurantoptionen. Das Mischen und Kombinieren ist erwünscht und kostet nicht extra – bestellen Sie einen Grünkohl-Caesar-Salat im italienischen Restaurant des Tages, einen Taco in einem authentischen mexikanischen Streetfood-Laden und ein Dessert in einem lokalen französischen Bistro.

Wählen Sie Aus Unserer Sorgfältig Zusammengestellten Liste Von Anbietern, Die Unsere Leidenschaft Für Lebensmittel Teilen

Nein, wenn Sie oder Ihr Haushalt eine oder mehrere der auf der Webseite aufgeführten Bedingungen erfüllen, kann Ihre EBT-Karte in teilnehmenden Restaurants verwendet werden. Das Office of Food Security (OFS) wird vom Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) über die Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) mit Unterstützung des Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDPHP) verwaltet. Das Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) ist für die Verwaltung der Funds for Healthy Nevada (FHN) verantwortlich, um bestehende Mittel zu ergänzen und nicht zu ersetzen.

Ein gut ernährter Mitarbeiter kann sich besser konzentrieren und es fällt ihm leichter, engagiert zu bleiben. Warum versorgen Sie Ihre Crew nicht ab und zu mit einem Mittagessen? Dies ist eine großartige Möglichkeit, Ihre Wertschätzung zu zeigen, und es gibt ihnen einen zusätzlichen Antrieb, ihren Arbeitstag zufrieden und zufrieden zu beenden. Wir möchten Ihnen einige beliebte Ideen für Mitarbeitermittagessen vorstellen, um Ihren Kollegen am Nachmittag eine schöne Runde beruflicher Erfüllung zu ermöglichen. Caroo ist Ihr persönlicher Snack-Concierge für die Zusammenstellung und Lieferung einzigartiger Snacks und Produkte!

Bevor Sie vertrauliche Informationen weitergeben, stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie sich auf einer Website der Bundesregierung befinden. Erreichen Sie neue Kunden und steigern Sie Ihr Geschäft außerhalb der Spitzenzeiten. Restaurants bereiten einzelne Mahlzeiten in großen Mengen zu und liefern sie aus, Foodsby kümmert sich um den Rest. Sorgen Sie dafür, dass Ihre Mitarbeiter zufrieden und produktiv sind, indem Sie eine bequeme, zuverlässige und erschwingliche Mittagslieferung anbieten. Kochen Sie am Wochenende eine große Menge, damit Sie die ganze Woche über durchhalten können.

Proteinshake Aus Gnarly Vanilla Whey, Sonnenblumenkernbutter Und 1/2 Banane

Es ist eine gute Praxis, jedes Lebensmittel auf der Speisekarte mit den Zutaten zu kennzeichnen, aus denen es hergestellt wurde. Eine Mittagsveranstaltung wie diese bietet eine vielseitige Auswahl an Speisen – von alten Familienrezepten bis hin zu traditionellen Gerichten aus dem nationalen Erbe der Menschen. Geben Sie denjenigen, die kein Rezept haben, die Möglichkeit, abgepackte Lebensmittel, Gewürze, Servietten oder eine andere Möglichkeit mitzubringen, einen Beitrag zu leisten. Wenn Ihr Tam Fleisch liebt, wird ihn das Brathähnchen-Abendessen zum Mittagessen überzeugen. Wenn Sie sich Sorgen um die Gesundheit einer solchen Mahlzeit machen, ist gegrilltes Hähnchen eine praktikable und gesundheitsbewusstere Option. Manche Lokale bieten sogar einen panierten Hühnchenauflauf an, bei dem die besten Zutaten eines Hühnchenessens zum Einsatz kommen, ohne dass das Essen in Speiseöl getaucht wird.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

Following several months of long and heavy rain, officials in Los Angeles have announced that the amount of stormwater captured from October 2023 through April 2024 is an estimated 96.3 billion gallons.

As the Los Angeles Times reported, the amount of stormwater captured in late 2023 through spring 2024 is enough to meet water demands of about 2.4 million people, about 25% of the county.

In February 2024 alone, the city captured 5 billion more gallons of stormwater compared to the previous year, according to Mayor Karen Bass. The total captured stormwater for that month reached 13.5 billion gallons. 

In a regular year, the city captures an average of 8.8 billion gallons of stormwater, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power reported. In the past year, stormwater capture has reached about 204 billion gallons, enough to supply water to about 5 million people, according to Water for LA, a county program.

The county had a particularly rainy winter and early spring, reaching the wettest day in over 20 years on Feb. 4, 2024, and February was the seventh-wettest month for Los Angeles in its recorded history, The New York Times reported. By April, Los Angeles had experienced more rainfall than infamously rainy Seattle.

Without proper stormwater management infrastructure, rainfall flows into storm drains, carrying pollution from the city with it, where it eventually is released into local waterways and the Pacific Ocean untreated.

The recent increase in stormwater capture can be linked to infrastructure projects designed to save more stormwater during the region’s recent wet winters. The county has put about $1 billion in investments into stormwater capture and storage projects since 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported. As of December 2023, Los Angeles county had established 126 stormwater management infrastructure projects, NBC4 reported.

Los Angeles recently established the L.A. County Water Plan, adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in December 2023. This plan is set to increase the local water supply by 162 billion gallons by 2045 and ultimately meet 80% of the county’s water demand. Currently, about two-thirds of the area’s water is imported from areas like Northern California or the Colorado River.

[petnews2day]

LA County puts temporary pause on dog breeding

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/YCAYO

LA County puts temporary pause on dog breeding

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a temporary moratorium on dog breeding permits. The move is meant to help control the population at county animal shelters, which are currently at capacity. Posted April 9, 2024 5:24pm PDT Share Copy Link Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit Show more

See full article at https://petn.ws/YCAYO #DogNews

[tittyfuneral]

LA county buds this one is for you! please write your reps to reinstate masking protocols in healthcare settings to protect healthcare workers and patients ❤️ LA county is one of a few in california who have not reintroduced them amidst the winter surge this year and they need to get on that ASAP 

You ca also call the LA County Board of Supervisors or go in person to their meeting on the topic on Thursday, Dec 5 to voice your support :)

[graymanbriefing]

Civil Unrest / Societal Collapse / Citizen Actions Brief: National Summary In CA on October 25th; at the San Fernando Public Library - protestors with Gays Against Groomers California, CA State Coalition, Leave Our Kids Alone, and Saticoy Elementary Parents rallied against a "Drag Queen Story Hour featuring Pickle". The LA County Supervisor who assisted in planning the LGBT indoctrina... In Chicago, IL; 1,000 pro-Israeli and 400 pro-Palestinian activists protested. The two sides incurred multiple disturbances, including at least one shot being fired (reportedly into the air), and claims of pepper spray being used, and a box cutter displayed. U.S. Palestinian Community Network and Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression attended in support of Hamas' efforts. Police charged one man with a "hate crime" for using pepper-spray against Hamas supporters and declined to charge the man who fire... Also, nationwide protests related to the Israel/Hamas war continue. In Minneapolis, roads in Hennepin were blocked for 4+ hours by protestors. In NYC, Grand Central Station was disrupted by 3,000+ pro-Palestinian protestors. 4,000+ pro-Palestinian protestors scaled the Brooklyn Bridge with New York City Emergency Management Department advising "all lanes on the Brooklyn Bridge are closed in both directions". In San Francisco, Market Street and Central Freeway were blocked for 3+ hours after 15,000+ pro-Palestinian protestors gathered on roadways. In Chicago, pro-Palestinian protestors had multiple physical confrontations with Black Hebrew Israelites w... In Ottawa, Canada; a Freedom Convoy protestor (Evan Blackman), who was arrested in 2022 for obstructing police and mischief (participating in an anti-mandate rally and kneeling in front of a line of police), has had all charges dropp... In CO; a January 6th "rioter" was found guilty of felony obstructing an official proceeding and 5 misdemeanor charges after participating in the rally in Washington DC. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison for trespassing into the U.S. Capitol Building and striking a police officer with a board. In OR; a sep...(CLASSIFIED, see full brief at www.graymanbriefing.com)