#OVER 120 YEARS AGO

[tame-a-messenger]

Hi there :) I just wanted to appreciate you for creating this blog, I adore Damien & Angela’s dynamic so much :D

Smoshtwt isn’t too fond of Damangela, ’cause a lot of them seem to think all of us ship them romantically (it seems like most of us just enjoy their fun & teasing dynamic!), so being over here is just a lot more fun with less drama!

Anyway, it looks like today’s Games video is gonna be a TNTL Trivial Pursuit - hoping for Damangela!!

- 🐦‍🔥

Thanks💖 I'm happy you like my blog! :D

Smoshtwt can be something else I tell ya. If it was all shipping they are still so aggressive for no reason. I try to stay out of it as much as I can.

(I'm a longtime fandoms lurker. There's a lot of new blood all the sudden trying to change things up, I will not sway and buckle because they think it's 'cringe'. Like I know it's cringe?? I just don't care. It brings me joy)(the word "fan" literally comes from "fanatic" and you're telling me I shouldn't be excited about my cuties™?? be quiet.)

TNTL TRIVIAL PURSUIT!!!! I wonder who it will be today!! (as always, hoping for 🕯️🕯️🕯️Damangela🕯️🕯️🕯️)

[diioonysus]

People love putting passive aggressive things in the tags like damn just say you hate me

[elizabeth-mitchells]

but! on the bright side... Juliet <3

[rivaiin]

why didnt i buy a 3ds when they were cheap second hand GODDD theyve literally doubled in price in the last 5 years

[dugaodna]

i want the tory party to rip its own dick off over the next 48 hours and it will happen. it will happen trust me

[emi1y]

self titled album original release cd please...

[glimmwood]

tears of the kingdom OC 💧

[salty-dracon]

EVERYTHING IS SO NOISY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[nexus-nebulae]

wow i WILDLY miscalculated the difference between kilograms and pounds

[reasonsforhope]

Article

"Every year, over 350,000 women die from cervical cancer and another 660,000 are diagnosed. [Note: Plus trans men and other trans people with a cervix.] As a consequence, children are orphaned, families impoverished and communities diminished by the loss of mothers, wives, daughters and sisters. 

And yet, unlike most other cancers, almost all these cases and deaths can be averted. We have powerful vaccines that can prevent infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer; we have diagnostics to detect it early; and we have treatments for those it strikes. With these tools, cervical cancer can not only be stopped; it could become the first cancer to be eliminated. Some high-income countries are already close to elimination, meaning fewer than four cases per 100,000 women.

But in many low- and middle-income countries, these tools are still not available, which is why 94% of cervical cancer deaths occur in those countries. 

In 2018, WHO launched a global call to action to eliminate cervical cancer, which was followed in 2020 by the adoption by all 194 WHO Member States of a Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a Public Health Problem. The strategy calls for countries to achieve three targets by 2030: 90% of girls fully immunised against HPV; 70% of women receiving timely screening; and 90% of those found with precancer or cancer accessing treatment.

These targets are not just aspirational, they are achievable, even in low- and middle-income countries.  Bhutan has already reached the targets, the first to do so in the South-East Asia region. 

Since introducing the HPV vaccine in 2011, Rwanda has reached vaccine coverage of 90%, and today announced its national goal to reach the 90-70-90 targets three years ahead of schedule, by 2027. Already, in two districts – Gicumbi and Karongi – Rwanda is meeting those goals. Nigeria, which introduced the HPV vaccine in October last year [2023], has already vaccinated 12.3 million girls.  

We have the tools and the opportunity to eliminate cervical cancer. 

Since WHO issued the global call to action in 2018, more than 60 countries have introduced the HPV vaccine into their immunisation programmes, bringing the total to 144 countries that are routinely protecting girls from cervical cancer in later life. With scientific advances, we can now prevent cervical cancer with just a single dose, which 60 countries are now doing.  

The largest provider of HPV vaccines to low- and middle-income countries is Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which plans to vaccinate 120 million children between now and 2030. But this plan requires that investments in health are sustained. We are also counting on manufacturers to confirm and honour their commitments to provide HPV vaccines to low- and middle-income countries in the coming years, to avoid the supply constraints that held back progress in the past.

But we cannot rely on vaccines alone. The impact of the rapid scale-up in vaccinating girls now will not be seen for decades, when they reach the adult years when cervical cancer typically appears. To save lives now, we must match the increase  in vaccination with increases in screening and treatment. 

Decades ago, as more women gained access to pap smears in developed countries, the mortality associated with cervical cancer dropped rapidly. Today, even better tests are available. Over 60 countries now include high-performance HPV tests as part of their screening programs. Women can even collect their own samples for HPV testing, removing more barriers to life-saving services. In Australia – which is on track to become one of the first countries in the world to achieve elimination – more than a quarter of all screening tests are now done this way...

Several countries are also investigating the use of artificial intelligence to enhance the accuracy of screening in resource-limited settings. When women are found with precancerous lesions, many are now treated with portable battery-powered devices, which can be operated in remote locations."

-via The Telegraph, November 18, 2024. Article written by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

[bettergeology]

See that white layer in this hillside? That's an extremely important white layer. 680,000 years ago (give or take), a large volcanic system in what is now Wyoming erupted catastrophically, spewing ash and debris across the North American continent. You might have heard of it, it's called Yellowstone Caldera. You may notice that these pictures in no way resemble the verdant forests of the Rocky Mountains and that is because they are from Death Valley, California, located more than 620 miles (1000 km) away from the Yellowstone Caldera!

But... it gets cooler.

The hills this ash layer is exposed in, the Kit Fox Hills, have been uplifted. The mudstone and sediments here are ancient valley fill, meaning that they used to be the bottom of the valley and are now about 400'/120 m above the current valley floor. This is the action of the Northern Death Valley fault zone, one of California's longest active faults. In this area, that fault has some excellent outcrops as seen below.

Next door to Death Valley to the west is Panamint Valley. It's not quite as big or dramatic as Death Valley but it has many of the same sorts of geologic features which have formed over a shorter geologic timeframe, interestingly. The faults in Panamint Valley just move faster than those in Death Valley so things are a little more youthful over there. In the middle of Panamint Valley, we see this same Yellowstone ash layer but with a caveat - instead of a mere 400 feet, in Panamint Valley that ash is more than 500 feet above the valley floor! That suggests that the valley subsidence of Panamint Valley is about 20% faster than Death Valley. The true story is more complex than that, but it's good as a reference point. Let's see what that looks like.

It's hard to see in this aerial imagery, but near the top of this steep escarpment is that same volcanic ash layer. It's a bit thicker here because this big pile of material I've outlined is an ancient delta. Panamint and Death Valleys have repeatedly hosted large lakes during cooler and wetter times. This huge delta deposit is over 1.2 million years old at the base, and about 600,000 years old at the top (above the Yellowstone ash). As the Panamint Mountains (background) rose and the valley subsided, huge amounts of eroded rock and gravel were dumped on this delta. So what you're looking at is a 1 million year-long record of the floor of Panamint Valley! How cool is that?

[a1exkra1ie]

That post about ww1 enthusiasts getting distracted by sad gay poets has never been more true (I'm captivated by this autobiography I'm reading)

[thebibliosphere]

im glad you've figured out the boob situationTM, but i must say that i was stopped in my fucking tracks when you mentioned both that you're 135 pounds and that youve had doctors say you need to loose weight. 135 pounds?!? if one ever needed a clearer example of how america's medical institutions are obsessed with weight over the actual health and vital signs of the patient, that'd be the perfect case, because what person weighing 135 pounds needs to LOSE WEIGHT? no one needs to loose weight as much as they just need to exercise for general health, but people at that weight especially don't need to. they fucking shouldn't.

what, are they working under the assumption that your muscles can't fuck you up further if you're just skin and bones instead? some goddamn doctors, man.

Mmm. It's unfortuantely not limited to the US healthcare system. I grew up in the UK, and I've got pretty strong memories of always being told to lose weight even when I was at my absolute lightest so I'd be at the "better" end of the BMI scale.

Because of this, back when I first moved to the US 10 years ago, I weighed about 120-ish lbs soaking wet, and the first doctor I saw looked at me over the top of her glasses, tsked, and told me that based on my BMI I should aim to be 5lbs lighter for optimal health and that "extra" 5lbs was why I had acid reflux.

(Spoiler alert: even when I rapidly dropped 30lbs last year due to a medical complication, I still had acid fucking reflux.)

I'm so, so thankful now that core providers of my healthcare team think BMI is bullshit because, holy fuck, it it bullshit.

[lowkeyrobin]

TREVOR SPENGLER ; you make loving fun

summary ; you, Trevor's first proper non-toxic partner shows him true love, and how great it really is when you find your person

warnings ; language, mentions of making out, talk about toxic people/exes, verbal abuse, and emotional neglect

disclaimers ; Trevor is described as bisexual, reader is a garbage fan (green flag)

word count ; 1k

I'm working on reqs rn dw guys 🙏

masterlist

Trevor knew that the second he'd met you, he'd fallen head over heels.

The only thing he was worried about, after being reassured by both his mom and Pheobe, was how you'd treat him. His last ex was terrible to him, and by that point, he felt like he was an abuse magnet.

Thankfully, nothing was ever physical, he thanked whoever or whatever was looking over him for that, even fate itself.

Talking about past exes, his last ex-boyfriend first, he'd essentially treat him like shit and try to hide their relationship. He'd use him for pleasure and attention and then ignore him and act like he didn't know him. Trevor was always there for him, but he was never once available for Trevor. That shit ended quickly thanks to his mom convincing him to end things, plus moving away again made it easy.

His ex-girlfriend was slightly the same way.

For context, Trevor was never popular, but he wasn't ignored or bullied in school either. He was attractive enough to be boasted about, I guess, but he wasn't gathering hoards of girls to swoon over him either.

She used him as popularity points, as she was one of the half-popular girls who wanted brownie points for dating someone on a lower social level than herself. Trevor never saw it and had to deal with the consequences. The fighting, the way she'd scream and yell and argue with him over the simplest things. She treated him like a charity case.

So, he was fairly afraid to hurt himself again. He wanted to pursue you, he did. He was just fucking scared.

But, with enough pressure and reassurance from Pheobe, his mom, and new friend Lucky, he gathered the courage to ask you out. During that process, he rambled about how smitten he was for you and had to genuinely stop himself as he realized he'd never felt like this for anyone before. You weren't someone he just wanted to occasionally hold hands with and kiss. He wanted a genuine, healthy relationship with you. He wanted to be treated right, just this once.

But you, knowing about his past relationships, knew what he needed. And you were dedicated to showing him what actual loved looked like, what a real relationship felt like.

From dates at the roller-rink, to movie nights inside, you showed him that you could love him like how he needed to be loved. He needed to be shown that what he went through before wasn't normal and that you would never think to hurt him like people in his past did.

You made loving fun for him, he'd never smiled and had so much fun with someone, ever.

He loved making out with you in his new bedroom at the firehouse, and your soft kisses of reassurance when he was upset or stressed. He'd always find his stomach and lungs genuinely in pain from how much he laughed with you. He was infatuated with you, with holding your hand and caressing said hand with his thumb, with wrapping his arms around you to just hold you like that in silence.

His photos app is filled with pictures of you, over 500 through the past year. His lockscreen? A picture of you two at the county fair under dark blue neon lights.

He watches you sitting in the window, your body barely fitting onto the ledge. Thank God for bay windows, but christ, the people who made this building over 120 years ago needed some better architectural design here. What was the bay window for if not to sit in it?

He'd only woken up a bit ago, having been in the shower as you entered his room, awaiting his arrival. His family thankfully loved you, and would let you in no matter what.

"You look nice today," He comments, running a hand through his hair.

You turn to face him, raising an eyebrow. "Do I not usually look nice?"

"No, no, I mean, yeah! You always look nice!" He quickly sputters, "I-I like your shirt. Garbage, they're cool"

You lightly smile, reassured in his loyalty and kind-heartedness by his answer. "You're fine, Trev, I'm playing" You chuckle, "You've never even listened to Garbage"

You pull the sleeves of your undershirt down, feeling a cool wave hit your body like the wave of water at the beach. Your baggy jeans cover you perfectly as the sun peaks out from the clouds.

"You don't know that!" He exclaims, crossing his arms, "All your Spotify playlists are public, I can listen to whatever you are with a couple clicks"

"Okay, bud" You throw your hands up in a sarcastic annoyance. "Whatever you say, pal. I guess we gotta break u-" You quickly stop yourself, looking up at Trevor with slightly widened eyes. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry"

You quickly hop off the ledge of the window, your hands clenched into fists as you stand in front of him awkwardly, awaiting his reaction.

"I'm so sorry, that was uncalled for, I didn't mean to say that-"

"It's fine, Y/n/n" Trevor looks at you with a confused yet laid back expression. "Why are you apologizing?" He catches himself, finding the answer on his own, "Oh, well... it's not that big of a deal, it's okay" He shrugs, "It's fine"

"Sorry, uhm-"

Trevor quickly wraps you in a hug, resting his arms over your shoulders. "I love you, okay? I've never loved anyone so fun and amazing to me, joking about shit is fine"

You nod into his shoulder, "Sorry"

"It's okay" He chuckles, rubbing a hand over your back. "You're fine, it's alright"

"You're the fun one, by the way" You mumble.

"Hm?"

"You're the one who makes loving fun, Trev"

He silently smiles, his face flushing as he holds you a little tighter.

[thesimsresourceofficial]

Addressing the Recent Changes to TSR's Artist Program

Hi everyone,

I’m writing today to address the recent changes to TSR's Artist Program and the concerns that have been raised by members of our community. We understand that these changes have caused a lot of frustration, confusion, and disappointment. We want to provide full transparency about why these decisions were made, how they affect our current and future artists, and what this means for the TSR community moving forward.

Firstly, I want to apologise for the way the restructuring of the Artist Program was handled. I acknowledge that the communication our artists initially received could have been better. It was always our intention to follow up with support, feedback, and advice, which we are doing now. The communications for a loss of badge at TSR is structured, and I understand how this has created confusion and hurt. Please know that we are committed to maintaining an open line of communication with these former artists, we have been following up with all artists affected, and we will continue to support them in any way we can.

Why These Changes Were Necessary

TSR’s Artist Program, which has been home to nearly 200 talented paid artists, had not undergone a thorough evaluation in years. This lack of oversight led to a situation where the program became financially unstable and exposed to significant risk. Without proper management and planning in previous years, the program was not sustainable. If we hadn’t addressed these risks, it would have jeopardised the long-term viability of the program, threatening our ability to fairly compensate artists and sustain the community that depends on their creativity.

It’s also important to highlight that these financial constraints had prevented us from inviting new artists, promoting Select Artists or increasing pay for current artists, leaving over 100 talented creators waiting for up to 3 years for an opportunity to advance. 120 Artists have now finally been promoted, rewarded and acknowledged for their outstanding contribution to TSR, but unfortunately their achievements have been overshadowed by information spreading online.

Why This Was Done

The changes we implemented were not easy, nor were they taken lightly. The difficult decision to let some artists go was made to ensure that the program could continue to operate sustainably and support the 120+ artists who remain with us. Many of these artists rely on TSR for their livelihood, with some coming from countries where the additional support they receive from TSR is vital.

As part of our thorough evaluation process, we assessed the performance of each artist by analysing the value they brought to the platform relative to the investment made in their work. This included reviewing metrics such as engagement with their content per dollar spent. We deeply appreciate the work of our artists, but the financial outcomes unfortunately did not align with the investments that were being made, and we had to make difficult decisions based on these findings to ensure the overall sustainability of the program. In doing so, we were able to fairly compensate all remaining Artists.

Addressing Misinformation

We want to address the misinformation that has been spreading online. Some are claiming that more artists were let go than actually were. In reality, a number of the artists included in these rumors were not let go—they left on their own terms a few months ago. Furthermore, several of the artists who were let go had been inactive for longer than the agreed period and were fully aware of the terms they had agreed to. Some of the named Artists are actually still with us, and have been caught up in this for no reason at all other than by assumptions or a lack of research. It’s important to clarify that this is not a traditional job where someone is “fired.” TSR is a user-generated content platform that compensates artists generously based on their performance on our site.

Spreading incorrect information hurts the 120+ artists who are still part of our community. These creators have continued to pour their time, talent, and passion into their work, and they deserve your support too.

The communications with the former artists ensured they would still be paid for all remaining works they have done with us. It also included that if circumstances ever change, they would always be welcome back as an artist. We do not forget the hard work that has been done, and we do care.

Looking to the Future

Our evaluation process was thorough and took into account numerous factors, including each artist's contribution, consistency, quality of work, and the community's engagement with their creations. We are committed to maintaining a program that is fair, transparent, and supportive of our artists.

Moving forward, we will continue to refine the program to ensure it remains financially viable while fostering the incredible creativity of our artists, to prevent situations like this from happening again. We are also dedicated to providing a community where artists can thrive, receive the recognition they deserve, and be part of a vibrant, supportive environment.

Conclusion

This has been a challenging period for everyone involved, but we believe these changes were necessary to secure the future of TSR’s Artist Program. We remain committed to our artists, our community, and the values that TSR stands for. We hope you will continue to support our artists as we work to build a sustainable and thriving platform for creators.

Thank you for your understanding, your support, and your dedication to the TSR community.

Sincerely, Queenie, Creative Ops Manager, The Sims Resource

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #9

March 9-15 2024

The IRS launched its direct file pilot program. Tax payers in 12 states, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, Massachusetts, California and New York, can now file their federal income taxes for free on-line directly with the IRS. The IRS plans on taking direct file nation wide for next year's tax season. Tax Day is April 15th so if you're in one of those states you have a month to check it out.

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into the death of Nex Benedict. the OCR is investigating if Benedict's school district violated his civil rights by failing to protect him from bullying. President Biden expressed support for trans and non-binary youth in the aftermath of the ruling that Benedict's death was a suicide and encouraged people to seek help in crisis

Vice President Kamala Harris became the first sitting Vice-President (or President) to visit an abortion provider. Harris' historic visit was to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul Minnesota. This is the last stop on the Vice-President's Reproductive Rights Tour that has taken her across the country highlighting the need for reproductive health care.

President Biden announced 3.3 billion dollars worth of infrastructure projects across 40 states designed to reconnect communities divided by transportation infrastructure. Communities often split decades ago by highways build in the 1960s and 70s. These splits very often affect communities of color splitting them off from the wider cities and making daily life far more difficult. These reconnection projects will help remedy decades of economic racism.

The Biden-Harris administration is taking steps to eliminate junk fees for college students. These are hidden fees students pay to get loans or special fees banks charged to students with bank accounts. Also the administration plans to eliminate automatic billing for textbooks and ban schools from pocketing leftover money on student's meal plans.

The Department of Interior announced $120 million in investments to help boost Climate Resilience in Tribal Communities. The money will support 146 projects effecting over 100 tribes. This comes on top of $440 million already spent on tribal climate resilience by the administration so far

The Department of Energy announced $750 million dollars in investment in clean hydrogen power. This will go to 52 projects across 24 states. As part of the administration's climate goals the DoE plans to bring low to zero carbon hydrogen production to 10 million metric tons by 2030, and the cost of hydrogen to $1 per kilogram of hydrogen produced by 2031.

The Department of Energy has offered a 2.3 billion dollar loan to build a lithium processing plant in Nevada. Lithium is the key component in rechargeable batteries used it electric vehicles. Currently 95% of the world's lithium comes from just 4 countries, Australia, Chile, China and Argentina. Only about 1% of the US' lithium needs are met by domestic production. When completed the processing plant in Thacker Pass Nevada will produce enough lithium for 800,000 electric vehicle batteries a year.

The Department of Transportation is making available $1.2 billion in funds to reduce decrease pollution in transportation. Available in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico the funds will support projects by transportation authorities to lower their carbon emissions.

The Geothermal Energy Optimization Act was introduced in the US Senate. If passed the act will streamline the permitting process and help expand geothermal projects on public lands. This totally green energy currently accounts for just 0.4% of the US' engird usage but the Department of Energy estimates the potential geothermal energy supply is large enough to power the entire U.S. five times over.

The Justice for Breonna Taylor Act was introduced in the Senate banning No Knock Warrants nationwide

A bill was introduced in the House requiring the US Postal Service to cover the costs of any laid fees on bills the USPS failed to deliver on time

The Senate Confirmed 3 more Biden nominees to be life time federal Judges, Jasmine Yoon the first Asian-America federal judge in Virginia, Sunil Harjani in Illinois, and Melissa DuBose the first LGBTQ and first person of color to serve as a federal judge in Rhode Island. This brings the total number of Biden judges to 185