#Recorded 8 March 2023

[brian-in-finance]

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Podcast • 10:00 a.m. GMT+1 • Tuesday 11 April 2023

Spotify

Apple

Photo: Peter McKenna Instagram

Remember… this time we will be able to hear “Caitríona’s” GrilledLIVE podcast. 🙈

Brian’s 9 March 2023 Post

[brian-in-finance]

Photo: Peter McKenna Instagram

Some of the Highlights (times from Apple podcast)

6:10 Caitríona introduced

15:56 Spin The Wheel game: Caitríona talks about one thing she’s never done and never would do

23:01 Caitríona answers Sophie-from-the-audience’s question

36:32 Caitríona tells the story of the first time she was called a *#$& on a Glasgow street

50:21 Caitríona talks about her go-to place in Glasgow and her signature dish

53:30 Caitríona answers Hailey-from-the-audience’s question

1:00:46 Caitríona tells the story of her weirdest fan encounter

1:08:33 Caitríona talks about Forget Me Not gin

1:20:25 Caitríona talks about negotiating a four-day workweek and how in 2021 becoming a mother for the first time changed everything in her life

Spotify Apple

.

[fatliberation]

they have a point though. you wouldn't need everyone to accommodate you if you just lost weight, but you're too lazy to stick to a healthy diet and exercise. it's that simple. I'd like to see you back up your claims, but you have no proof. you have got to stop lying to yourselves and face the facts

Must I go through this again? Fine. FINE. You guys are working my nerves today. You want to talk about facing the facts? Let's face the fucking facts.

In 2022, the US market cap of the weight loss industry was $75 billion [1, 3]. In 2021, the global market cap of the weight loss industry was estimated at $224.27 billion [2]. 

In 2020, the market shrunk by about 25%, but rebounded and then some since then [1, 3] By 2030, the global weight loss industry is expected to be valued at $405.4 billion [2]. If diets really worked, this industry would fall overnight. 

1. LaRosa, J. March 10, 2022. "U.S. Weight Loss Market Shrinks by 25% in 2020 with Pandemic, but Rebounds in 2021." Market Research Blog. 2. Staff. February 09, 2023. "[Latest] Global Weight Loss and Weight Management Market Size/Share Worth." Facts and Factors Research. 3. LaRosa, J. March 27, 2023. "U.S. Weight Loss Market Partially Recovers from the Pandemic." Market Research Blog.

Over 50 years of research conclusively demonstrates that virtually everyone who intentionally loses weight by manipulating their eating and exercise habits will regain the weight they lost within 3-5 years. And 75% will actually regain more weight than they lost [4].

4. Mann, T., Tomiyama, A.J., Westling, E., Lew, A.M., Samuels, B., Chatman, J. (2007). "Medicare’s Search For Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not The Answer." The American Psychologist, 62, 220-233. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2007.

The annual odds of a fat person attaining a so-called “normal” weight and maintaining that for 5 years is approximately 1 in 1000 [5].

5. Fildes, A., Charlton, J., Rudisill, C., Littlejohns, P., Prevost, A.T., & Gulliford, M.C. (2015). “Probability of an Obese Person Attaining Normal Body Weight: Cohort Study Using Electronic Health Records.” American Journal of Public Health, July 16, 2015: e1–e6.

Doctors became so desperate that they resorted to amputating parts of the digestive tract (bariatric surgery) in the hopes that it might finally result in long-term weight-loss. Except that doesn’t work either. [6] And it turns out it causes death [7],  addiction [8], malnutrition [9], and suicide [7].

6. Magro, Daniéla Oliviera, et al. “Long-Term Weight Regain after Gastric Bypass: A 5-Year Prospective Study - Obesity Surgery.” SpringerLink, 8 Apr. 2008. 7. Omalu, Bennet I, et al. “Death Rates and Causes of Death After Bariatric Surgery for Pennsylvania Residents, 1995 to 2004.” Jama Network, 1 Oct. 2007.  8. King, Wendy C., et al. “Prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorders Before and After Bariatric Surgery.” Jama Network, 20 June 2012.  9. Gletsu-Miller, Nana, and Breanne N. Wright. “Mineral Malnutrition Following Bariatric Surgery.” Advances In Nutrition: An International Review Journal, Sept. 2013.

Evidence suggests that repeatedly losing and gaining weight is linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and altered immune function [10].

10. Tomiyama, A Janet, et al. “Long‐term Effects of Dieting: Is Weight Loss Related to Health?” Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6 July 2017.

Prescribed weight loss is the leading predictor of eating disorders [11].

11. Patton, GC, et al. “Onset of Adolescent Eating Disorders: Population Based Cohort Study over 3 Years.” BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 20 Mar. 1999.

The idea that “obesity” is unhealthy and can cause or exacerbate illnesses is a biased misrepresentation of the scientific literature that is informed more by bigotry than credible science [12]. 

12. Medvedyuk, Stella, et al. “Ideology, Obesity and the Social Determinants of Health: A Critical Analysis of the Obesity and Health Relationship” Taylor & Francis Online, 7 June 2017.

“Obesity” has no proven causative role in the onset of any chronic condition [13, 14] and its appearance may be a protective response to the onset of numerous chronic conditions generated from currently unknown causes [15, 16, 17, 18].

13. Kahn, BB, and JS Flier. “Obesity and Insulin Resistance.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Aug. 2000. 14. Cofield, Stacey S, et al. “Use of Causal Language in Observational Studies of Obesity and Nutrition.” Obesity Facts, 3 Dec. 2010.  15. Lavie, Carl J, et al. “Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: Risk Factor, Paradox, and Impact of Weight Loss.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 26 May 2009.  16. Uretsky, Seth, et al. “Obesity Paradox in Patients with Hypertension and Coronary Artery Disease.” The American Journal of Medicine, Oct. 2007.  17. Mullen, John T, et al. “The Obesity Paradox: Body Mass Index and Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Nonbariatric General Surgery.” Annals of Surgery, July 2005. 18. Tseng, Chin-Hsiao. “Obesity Paradox: Differential Effects on Cancer and Noncancer Mortality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.” Atherosclerosis, Jan. 2013.

Fatness was associated with only 1/3 the associated deaths that previous research estimated and being “overweight” conferred no increased risk at all, and may even be a protective factor against all-causes mortality relative to lower weight categories [19].

19. Flegal, Katherine M. “The Obesity Wars and the Education of a Researcher: A Personal Account.” Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 15 June 2021.

Studies have observed that about 30% of so-called “normal weight” people are “unhealthy” whereas about 50% of so-called “overweight” people are “healthy”. Thus, using the BMI as an indicator of health results in the misclassification of some 75 million people in the United States alone [20]. 

20. Rey-López, JP, et al. “The Prevalence of Metabolically Healthy Obesity: A Systematic Review and Critical Evaluation of the Definitions Used.” Obesity Reviews : An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 15 Oct. 2014.

While epidemiologists use BMI to calculate national obesity rates (nearly 35% for adults and 18% for kids), the distinctions can be arbitrary. In 1998, the National Institutes of Health lowered the overweight threshold from 27.8 to 25—branding roughly 29 million Americans as fat overnight—to match international guidelines. But critics noted that those guidelines were drafted in part by the International Obesity Task Force, whose two principal funders were companies making weight loss drugs [21].

21. Butler, Kiera. “Why BMI Is a Big Fat Scam.” Mother Jones, 25 Aug. 2014. 

Body size is largely determined by genetics [22].

22. Wardle, J. Carnell, C. Haworth, R. Plomin. “Evidence for a strong genetic influence on childhood adiposity despite the force of the obesogenic environment” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 87, No. 2, Pages 398-404, February 2008.

Healthy lifestyle habits are associated with a significant decrease in mortality regardless of baseline body mass index [23].  

23. Matheson, Eric M, et al. “Healthy Lifestyle Habits and Mortality in Overweight and Obese Individuals.” Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 25 Feb. 2012.

Weight stigma itself is deadly. Research shows that weight-based discrimination increases risk of death by 60% [24].

24. Sutin, Angela R., et al. “Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality .” Association for Psychological Science, 25 Sept. 2015.

Fat stigma in the medical establishment [25] and society at large arguably [26] kills more fat people than fat does [27, 28, 29].

25. Puhl, Rebecca, and Kelly D. Bronwell. “Bias, Discrimination, and Obesity.” Obesity Research, 6 Sept. 2012. 26. Engber, Daniel. “Glutton Intolerance: What If a War on Obesity Only Makes the Problem Worse?” Slate, 5 Oct. 2009.  27. Teachman, B. A., Gapinski, K. D., Brownell, K. D., Rawlins, M., & Jeyaram, S. (2003). Demonstrations of implicit anti-fat bias: The impact of providing causal information and evoking empathy. Health Psychology, 22(1), 68–78. 28. Chastain, Ragen. “So My Doctor Tried to Kill Me.” Dances With Fat, 15 Dec. 2009. 29. Sutin, Angelina R, Yannick Stephan, and Antonio Terraciano. “Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality.” Psychological Science, 26 Nov. 2015.

There's my "proof." Where is yours?

[reasonsforhope]

Article

"2023 was a banner year for the Galapagos Islands: that wondrous archipelago so famous for its giant tortoises and other endemic species.

The long-serving conservation organization the Galapagos Conservancy, also endemic to the islands, recently published its annual report featuring standout figures like over 500 giant tortoises of 5 different species reintroduced to their natural habitat.

Additionally, a critically endangered species of albatross was identified to use giant tortoise feeding sites as take-off and landing areas. This key insight into co-dependency has given the Conservancy confidence that they can restore the populations of both animals to stable, flourishing numbers.

It underscores how far a donation to these endemic wildlife organizations really does go, and these two highlights of a successful year were only possible by the over $6 million in charitable contributions from supporters.

30 Chelonoidis chatamensis tortoises endemic to the smaller island of San Cristobal were repatriated to their natural habitat from the stock of a captive breeding program, while 97 native tortoises were returned to the second-largest island of Santa Cruz.

On the largest island of Isabella, 350 tortoises (214 C. guntheri and 136 C. vicina) were successfully reintroduced to their natural habitat after a survey found their numbers were not rising substantially on their own.

In March, the repatriation of 86 juvenile Chelonoidis hoodensis tortoises significantly contributed to enhancing the species’ distribution across their native habitat. They currently number 3,000 today on Española or Hood Island, a miraculous recovery from the 14 found there in the 1960s.

Also on Española, the endemic waved albatross was found to be taking off and landing on 50 additional parts of the island. These large birds, boasting an 8-foot wingspan, need ample space to get a running start before taking off, and this same principle applies when applying the brakes coming down from the sky.

In the survey, the biologists observed that concentrations of giant tortoises were linked with the usage of areas as runways for the albatross. Because the tortoises are the largest herbivores in the ecosystem, they perform the same acts as bison do in North America and Europe, and elephants in Africa—clear space.

With their herbivorous diet and large bulk, the tortoise’s feeding habits produce cleared areas ideal for albatross use.

“This discovery underscores the interconnectedness of the Galápagos ecosystem,” the authors of the report write. “This newly acquired knowledge allows us to strengthen the synergies between our conservation strategies.”

Of the $6.1 million received from donations and through other activities, the Conservancy was able to spend 77% of that on conservation programs, and that included some ambitious plans for this year—now already half done—which included drafting plans for restoration of the Pinta tortoise to the island of the same name, preparing tortoises for imminent reintroduction to the smaller Floreana island, and completely restoring the habitat for the Galapagos petrels on Santa Cruz.

Operating since 1985, the Galapagos Conservancy has a long track record of restoring these islands to their pre-Colombian glory. Let’s hope 2024 is as successful."

-via Good News Network, July 19, 2024

[midnightsslut]

A Guide to Red - The Quintessential Taylor Swift Album

After the release of The Manuscript, the role of Red and Red (Taylor’s Version) in Taylor’s life and discography has been highly discussed. A lot of people have referred to it as her magnum opus and most formative album. I have decided to compile a condensed list of about a dozen key interviews, performances, speeches, posts, and videos from 2011 all the way until 2024 that illustrate the importance of this record for Taylor’s personal life and career. I’m putting the list under a cut because it got pretty long. You don’t have to go through all of these, obviously, but I would suggest at least one per era. The bolded ones are essential in my opinion.

Pre-Red - These interviews hint at Taylor’s emotional state at the time and thus the content that will be explored on the Red album

2011 The New Yorker profile

Taylor Swift reveals new album is all about heartbreak - Extra TV

Bonus: an article going through Taylor’s arm lyrics on the Speak Now World Tour, which she described as mood rings for any particular show

Lover diary entries from the making of Red (credit to @cabincreaking for the scans)

- All Too Well lyrics first draft (February 2011)

- Random bursts of happiness and anxiety during the Speak Now Tour (June 17, 2011)

- Red (September 8, 2011)

- Holy Ground (February 2012)

- Nothing New (March 2, 2012)

- Working with Max Martin (June 10, 2012)

Red era - Listen to the original sixteen songs on the Red album at this point.

Red announcement livestream + Q&A

Red prologue

2012 Rolling Stone interview

2012 The Guardian interview

2012 Billboard interview

2012 Esquire interview

Sirius XM Town Hall - an hourlong interview from the day Red came out

Good Morning America - this is the first mention of the ten-minute version of All Too Well

Red track-by-track descriptions

Random interview where she discusses the connection between writing Speak Now and Red

I Knew You Were Trouble music video

Diary entry about how love is fiction and she might move to New York after all (January 6, 2014)

Diary entry from Grammy night (January 25, 2014)

Red Tour London performance of All Too Well - any performance of this song from 2013-14 will work here, but this one has a pretty comprehensive speech

Final performance of All Too Well on the Red Tour - just listen to the speech here

Post-Red era - Over the course of these interviews, you’ll see her relationship to the album evolve.

Taylor’s description of Clean (skip to 11:18)

2014 BBC Live Lounge interview

1989 World Tour interview where she mentions thinking she’d never sell as many albums as she did with Red before 1989 came out

Clean speech - a lot of these will work, but these two best describe her relationship with the Red era and heartbreak in general

All Too Well (The 1989 World Tour live)

2015 GrammyPro interview

All Too Well Super Saturday Night performance

Reputation Tour All Too Well speech

Red into Daylight performance - 2019 City of Lover concert in Paris

Re-recordings era - at this point, listen to the red vault

2020 Rolling Stone podcast

Red (Taylor’s Version) prologue

2021 Saturday Night Live performance

All Too Well: The Short Film + Behind the Scenes

Seth Meyers interview

2022 Tribeca film talk OR TIFF (both are equally good. I have a slight preference for the former, but there are some interesting new details in the latter). You could also watch directors on directors from the same year as a bonus, but it’s less comprehensive.

2022 Graham Norton - How All Too Well (10 Minute Version) came about + how the re-recordings inspired Midnights

Also listen to Midnights

The Eras Tour

All Too Well speech (Glendale Night 2 & Atlanta Night 1) - any of the speeches from March and April 2023 will work, but these two really illustrate how she feels about this time in her life now and how the fans changed the Red album for her. Obviously credit to @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes for the transcripts!

Maroon first ever live performance (‘This is a song about something that happened a long time ago, but it took place in New York’)

Aaaand finally listen to The Tortured Poets Department, especially The Manuscript

This is a lot, but it’s worth it. Enjoy!

[carriesthewind]

Good evening everyone! As I said in an answer to a previous ask, there wasn't a public call-in line to listen to the Show Cause Hearing in Mata v Avianca (the ChatGBT lawyer case) today.

However, while we are waiting for a transcript of the hearing (because there was a court reporter! yay!) and a written decision by the judge, we did get this absolutely anxiety-inducing live tweet of the hearing:

(Caveat: this thread was not an official transcript of the hearing and should not be taken as such. It is possible the actual events and statements made in the hearing differ significantly from this report - i.e., take this with a grain of salt and reserve final judgement for the actual transcript.)

I'll put the full thread with some (light) commentary below the cut.* But the overall impression I am left with is that the judge seems to feel this pair of attorneys are treating their duty of candor toward the tribunal with the same seriousness with which they are treating their duty of competence to their clients. (And in this case, that's a very bad thing.)

*The full thread except for a soon-to-follow part 2 because I ran out of space for images again.

(All of the following screenshots are from the above tweet thread by Inner City Press @ innercitypress on twitter, made on June 8, 2023.)

Normally I would overlook that "you, personally," but in this case, you really get the feeling that the judge is concerned that LoDuca might just start talking about what Schwartz did again.

Establishing LoDuca's base of knowledge - he should know how to look up cases and check if they are real; he should know what a real case looks like.

The March 1 submission was the plaintiff's opposition to the motion to dismiss, where they first cited the fake cases.

How bad this answer is depends, I think, on LoDuca's wording here. Best case scenario, his statement about Schwartz was a specific statement about what inquiry was reasonable for him to do under the circumstances (which - for that first filing - I think is actually a reasonable argument. You don't expect your colleague to just make up cases). Worst case, this reads like him trying to wiggle out of his obligations. I will withhold judgement until I see the official transcript.

Rule 11, by the way, refers to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 11(b) states:

(If you remember the Order to Show Cause, we are dealing with a Rule 11(b)(2) issue here. Rule 11(c) allows the court to impose sanctions for violations of Rule 11(b))

Oh no, bad answer. (If anyone reading this is good at photoshop, I cannot express how badly I want a version of the "this sign can't stop me because I can't read" meme with the sign being the quote from defendant's reply where they say, "The undersigned has not been able to locate this case by caption or citation, nor any case bearing any resemblance to it.")

Oh that is not a good way of characterizing those orders. (Those were the orders, remember, where the Court said, "By April 18, 2022, Peter LoDuca, counsel of record for plaintiff, shall file an affidavit annexing copies of the following cases cited in his submission to this Court: as set forth herein. Failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action pursuant to Rule 41 (b), Fed. R. Civ. P.")

I would simply perish on the spot.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in my original attempted summary of "Varghese" - the first paragraph states that it is a wrongful death suit by the widow of the passenger. Then the second paragraph states that the passenger was denied boarding on a flight due to overbooking and thus missed his connecting flight and therefore incurred additional expenses. The case was such nonsense that I legitimately forgot about that inconsistency by the time I got to the end.

Your honor I plead "2 stupid 2 sanction."

(I believe the "different fonts" is in reference to the April 25 affidavit, in which the case names - and some of the surrounding text - are in a different font from most of the text in the affidavit. It seems like this is because they may have been copied straight from ChatGPT. See e.g., #3 below. It's hard to tell just based on this twitter thread, though.)

A short and simple answer! You did it!

"I have all the answers I need" is not a good sentence in this context.

Very genuinely: shorter is better here. At least I don't think he hurt himself with that statement.

Judge Castel: How do you conduct legal research?

Schwartz: I research cases.

Judge Castel: Do you read them?

Schwartz: Well, I may have once upon a time, but after hearing you ask that question in this context, I have decided to retire from the practice of law forever and also possibly sink into the ground and die. Also, by answering "yes," here, I just realized that I'm either admitting that I read the cases I submitted and therefore must have known they were fake, or else I just possibly committed perjury. Oh shit oh fuck.

Oh god I'm cringing myself into a pretzel just reading this.

Hey, by the way? You can actually use google (esp. google scholar) to do legal research. (It's not a good tool and you will miss things, but it will do in a pinch.) But. Um. If you know that...why didn't you double check your cases at very least on google when you were told they seemed to be made up?

So, once again, I am going to withhold judgement until I see the actual transcript. That said, if Schwartz did say this, I would like to compare it briefly to a part of the chat transcript he provided to the court. Here is the first question asked about the Montreal Convention in the provided transcript:

"analysis"

Oh god. I can't even provide commentary on this one. I hope this is worse than the actual transcript will prove to be. I'm reading through my fingers like I'm watching a horror movie.

"Misperception" (or "misconception") doesn't work once you have evidence that should cause you to doubt - like not being able to find a case that was supposedly published in the Federal fucking Reporter.

This is overshooting "2 stupid 2 sanction" into "too stupid to function."* You either looked for "Varghese" or you didn't. If you looked for "Varghese," it is not credible that you continued to have a good faith assumption that ChatGPT couldn't lie. If you didn't look up "Varghese," you just lied to the Court under oath.

*Just to be clear: for an ordinary person, this would be a very understandable lack of knowledge issue. A lawyer has no excuse not to know this.

Judge Castel: Mr. Schwartz, I think you have the fucking audacity to try to lie to me to my face in my fucking courtroom.

Honestly at this point I'm surprised he could still talk. I think screaming, "I'm melting, I'm melting!" as he vanished into steam, leaving his crumpled suit behind, would be an appropriate response.

NO.

Oh no, oh honey.

Ok. Two options here (again, assuming he actually fucking said "They said they couldn't find them," in response to the Court asking, "When Avianca said you cited non existent cases?"):

Schwartz is once again trying to purposefully downplay what the defendant's reply brief actually said and dodge responsibility.

Schwartz honestly, truly believes that when the defendant filed a reply containing the line, "The undersigned has not been able to locate this case by caption or citation, nor any case bearing any resemblance to it," they were just asking for assistance with their legal research?!??!

I honestly don't know which is worse.

Oh no....

Oh man, I haven't gone over it here yet, but I think that "I looked up the judge" is a panicked attempt at bringing up a talking point the Professional Responsibility Lawyers raised in their memorandum of law. (Again, I'm giving this reading of his response with the caveat that it is based only on this thread, not the official transcript, which might read very differently and contain different/more info.) The Professional Responsibility attorneys noted in a footnote that two of the judges listed in the "opinion," including the "author," were actual 11th circuit judges, and the other is an actual 5th circuit judge. My read of this footnote was as an extra little detail tossed in by the Professional Responsibility attorneys to try to dress up their argument that the "opinions" had various "indicia of authenticity."

But here's the problem. If Schwartz is telling the truth - if he was reading carefully and critically enough that he bothered to look up the judge (why would you do that if you didn't think the case might be fake?!) there is no way he could have missed that the case was gibberish. Again, if this is really what he said at the hearing, he either lied in the hearing, or he must have know the "opinions" were bogus when he gave them to LoDuca to file.

"Did it cross your mind" - if the court actually said this, oh my god.

Hey, that's the point that I made in my original post(s)!

This whole thing about the "+h" to "th" with the notary date is from the recent affidavits filed on 6/6/23, you can read them about them if you want, I'll be honest, I don't really care as much about the notary stuff so I'm going to skip it for the moment.

....and I've run out of space for images again. Part II to follow shortly!

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - October 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. Arctic ozone reaches record high in positive step for climate

“Above-average ozone levels continued to persist through September 2024. This is significant as, previously, spring has been associated with ozone depletion[….] The March 2024 ozone average peaked at 477 Dobson units (DU), which is 6 DU higher than the previous record in March 1979 and 60 DU higher than the average for the study period (1979 to 2023).”

2. Why Massachusetts loves Nibi the beaver and [won the fight] to keep her out of the wild

“Nibi, now 2 years old, is roughly the age when wild beavers embark on their journey to find a mate and build a home. [… But] if Nibi is released in October, she would be ill-prepared for the winter[…. The governor has] issued a permit for Nibi to remain at a wildlife rescue as an educational beaver and inspire folks to protect our natural world."”

3. In Madagascar, Taniala Regenerative Camp aims to heal deforestation scars

“Residents of the villages around Lambokely manage the nursery and market garden crops. “Local communities receive training in agroecology and agroforestry, benefit from improved soil fertility, and earn additional income from intercropping in the agroforestry plots. In addition, community members are incentivized to participate in tree-planting activities.””

4. Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Breaks Ground on $6.4 Million Affordable Housing Project

“The project’s first phase will create three-bedroom homes designed for multiple purposes, including elderly housing, emergency shelter, and support for displaced and low-income Tribal citizens. These homes will be built to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, ensuring accessibility for all.”

5. Scientists say painting roofs this colour could save lives: How does it keep cities cool?

“[Researchers] found that cool, light-coloured roofs installed across all of London’s roofs could have cooled the city by around 0.8C [in 2018]. [… Solar panels] could have cooled the city by around 0.3C, preventing the deaths of 96 people [… while generating] more than half the energy [used by] London during the entire year of 2018.”

6. Travis County [TX] opens center to help keep people experiencing a mental health crisis out of jail

“The walk-in urgent care facility is open 24/7 and provides immediate support for people experiencing mental health crises. From there, some patients may be referred to a residential facility[… where] patients will be able to stay for up to 90 days[….] Jailed individuals may also work with their legal teams to coordinate admission to the facility.”

7. Spain’s first transgender soccer team makes debut in regional men’s league

“A soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men has[…] become the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe. […] Spain passed a pioneering trans rights bill last year designed to make it easier to change a person’s legal gender identity. […] Players may also choose to use a name that’s different from their legal one[….]”

8. Green Status of Species: Pushing Conservation Ambitions Beyond Preventing Extinction

“[… T]he Green Status of Species [is] a new part of Red List assessments that helps tell “a species’ full conservation story.” […] In addition to quantifying species recovery, the Green Status of Species […] will help to better inform future conservation actions by shedding light on which past actions have contributed most to species recovery.”

9. Hell froze over in Texas – the state will connect to the US grid for the first time via a fed grant

“[The projects will] boost grid reliability, lower energy costs, and support the clean energy transition. […] They’ll also generate nearly 9,000 jobs, supporting local economies[…. In particular, the Texas portion is] designed to prevent outages like the ones during Winter Storm Uri that hit Texas hard in 2021.”

10. Pine martens released to be reintroduced to Devon

“Work to release 15 pine martens into woods across Dartmoor has been completed[….] The eight females and seven males have all been fitted with a radio collars to allow their movements to be tracked. […] They were kept in soft-release pens for three days to get them used to their surroundings before being allowed to run wild, staff said.”

September 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[stormblessed95]

I sent a timeline into the op, I’ve removed the speculations, so hope this helps some

2023

JM dior show Paris 20th  jan 23 with Hobi 

JM album face promo Feb/march 23

JK visits him at dance practice BB probably Feb time 

1/2 jk goes live bam there 

This is the live where Tae makes him do a instagram live 

3/2 JM live from company late evening 

Same night Jk goes live and JM in comments Jk invites him for fried chicken

Same live where he says Jimins name and bam reacts and runs to the door 

10/2 JM live talks about jk, sings euphoria and talks about acting in photo shoots, 

11/2 jk live at boxing JM comments 

18/2 JM joins Hobi on his bday live at company 

Hobi had said he sees Jimin a lot at company and they play cards 

28/2 jk live talks about going to work and JM is in comments 

4/3 jk goes live gets tipsy 

6/3 JM live at company 

9/3 Yoongi bday, JM records himself watching the live, jk comment on Weverse about marry me thing 

13/3 JM flies to nyc 

Films day with vogue and practice for fallon

And fallon 

14/3 jk. X3 part live on white day- JM abroad but comments- leaves spoiler for smfp2 video teaser at midnight 

19/3 Jimin arrives in Korea 

24/3 Face is released 

24/3 JM on jimmy fallon show not live 

Jk goes love cooking 

27/3 JM goes on suchwita 

28/3 JM live jk spams comments- promos for face are done says to jk that it’s finished, jk says time flies 

28/3 writes I miss you on Weverse , jk replies me too, 

After jk goes live and watches Jimin content including suchwita 

Around early hours- JM replies see you soon the live is cute

29/3- Jimin Weverse live for face 

Late march- all member meal 

31/3- JM on music bank 

2/4 JM on ingagayo 

4th April- JM bb hot 100 live- jk is sleeping comment

8/4 Hobi and Tae go to JKs house and go on Weverse live 

8/4 jk flies to USA 

11/4- JM and Yoongi in weird YouTube show

16/4 jk at cochella 

17/4 Jk arrives home 

19th April - Hobi’s enlistment - epic hug moment 

They were together the night before 

Astro member died 19/4 pm

25/4 JM flies to nyc 

25/4 Jk and Tae attend dream premiere jk comes live straight after it late 

25/4 jk live seems sad and tired and says he is both,,cooks on live

JM had flown to NYC that day 

28/4 Jimin at Tiffany event nyc 

29/4 Jimin at d day concert usa

Jk at lv event in Seoul with Mingyu 

30/4 JM live with Yoongi 

During this time recording Who…

6/5 JM arrives in Korea 

23/5 JM goes to London and HP world

24/5 JK went live , sang angel

27/5 JM arrives home -

5th June Jk live talks about rainy day fight 

Watched Jimin on lee mijun show (sings along to like crazy ) 

12/6 jk falls asleep on live 

13/6 JM letter live for festa 

14/6 jk flying to la

15/6 JM live talks about rainy day fight 

Recording Muse that day too 

22/6 jk arrived home 

Late june- yoongis dday tour attendance Seoul 25th JM and jk 

29/6 jk live working out

1/7 JKs brother posts a pic of family game night ft JMs hand

4/7 jk 4am live with Mingyu 

July seven release 

JK flies to NYC -12/13?

JM flies out next day 13th

14/7 seven is released 

Go missing in NY state for 4 days - Ays filming

18/7 JM flies home 

24/7 jk arrived home from London 

25/7 JM posts about jk bb hot 100

27/7 jk goes live sings letter by Jimin at end 

28/7 - July when they come back from NYC- JKs epic in bed begging JM live 

30/7 jk inkagayo music show v visits him 

Celebrate hot 100  

August - jeju island trip ? Spotted by fans 

12th august- JK in Tokyo with Eunwoo??

3rd august JM d day concert 

3/8 jk goes live 

4th august jk d day concert 

5th august Weverse live JK

23rd and 24th august jk spotted in Busan with Eunwoo and Mingyu eating out 

September - 1/9- JM shirtless pic for JKs birthday 

Jk attends Tiffany even in Seoul. Comes live afterwards….. wearing watch set to JKs. Birthday time.

jK must have prepared 3D content in September 

He must have filmed suchwita on 3/9 ish 

5/9 jk flies to la 

9/9 jk arrived home from la 

12/9 jk flies to nyc

15/9 JM supported v at music show 

16/9 jk arrived home 

Jikook meal with Yoongi at some point ? Spotted but Jimin kind of confirmed this in mmm

21/9 jk flies to nyc 

25/9 jk arrived home 

28/9 chusseouk - JM posts pic on Instagram of whale cloud drawing saying jk did it 

29/9 jk releases 3d 

JM posts single cover 😅 with this emoji

4/10 jk live talked about Jeon Jimin 

Played like crazy x2 and smfp2 and other members songs

Had hung out with 97 friends that day

6/10 jk flies to la 

10/10 jk arrived home 

13 October- JM birthday live days Jk busy makes sad face and such concern 

13/10 jk music bank 

Around here JM Weverse interview said he has been spending time alone which if Jk was gone to 3D he would be 

14/10 jk flies to Budapest 

Oct- Tae posts pics of him and Jikook in jeju from?? 

20/10 jk arrived home 

23/10 jk at ck event Japan 

29/10- JMs production diary live- JK comes on for a minute 

Jm has golden hair…

They found out days before this about the enlistment 

Late October- 30/10 JM fan even

Mini moni music filming he has blonde hair 

3/11 jk live talking about Golden

Tae and JM live outside JKs house

November 4th- golden release 

&& Release party we only know bc JM posts photos 

5/11 jk flies to nyc

11/11 jk arrived home 

15/11- mini moni p2 filming 

16/11 JM flies to Budapest to film who mv 

17/11 ish JM stuck with you this is Jimin dance cover 

19/11 JM arrives home 

20/11 golden live in Seoul 

JM commented that hate you is his fave song

Rm attended 

Around here JM was spotted filming at a hot springs which we now know isn’t one and was a location for his jimmy fallon appearance 22/7/24

22/11- JM records sgmb track video 

Possibly fallon performance too given spotting date posts 

23/11 - they go to Japan together for about a week 

28/11 they arrive home from Japan 

29/11 jk flies to la 

2/11 jk arrived home 

5/12 - jk,JM,v,rm last live before enlistment very touchy feely 

JM said he’d been sick after Japan 

12/12- both at v and rms enlistment 

13/12- they enlisted  together in the buddy system

Very watered down, but I *think* (can't be 100% sure without going and looking everything up right now, but it looks good) totally accurate timeline of Jikook activities through 2023

[sister-2-sleep]

The Last Time Every MCR Song Was Played

I saw someone do this for tbp so I'm doing it for all the songs

Bullets

Romance: May 12, 2006

Honey : October 24, 2010

Vampires : March 26, 2023

Drowning lessons : October 17, 2004

Our lady of sorrows : March 25, 2023

Halos : October 11, 2022

Skylines and turnstiles: March 17, 2023

Monroeville : October 29, 2005

Best day ever : October 11, 2022

Cubicles : Never played live (from what i can find)

Demolition Lovers : October 11, 2022

Three cheers

Helena : October 20, 2024

Give em hell kid : March 26, 2023

To the end : May 12, 2006

Prison : March 26, 2023

I'm not ok: October 19, 2024

Ghost of you: March 26, 2023

Jetset life: May 4, 2008

Interlude: May 4, 2008

Venom: March 26, 2023

Hang em high: October 12, 2022

Fashion statement : March 26, 2023

Cemetery drive: March 14, 2023

Ntywidfal: October 12, 2022

Black parade

The end: October 20, 2024

Dead: October 20, 2024

How I disappear: October 20, 2024

Sharpest lives: October 20, 2024

Wttbp: October 20, 2024

I don't love you: October 20, 2024

House of wolves: October 20, 2024

Cancer: October 20, 2024

Mama: October 20, 2024

Sleep: October 20, 2024

Teenagers: October 20, 2024

Disenchanted: October 20, 2024

Last words: October 20, 2024

Blood: Never (only ever audio recordings)

Danger Days

Na na na: October 20, 2024

Bulletproof heart : September 8, 2022

Sing: October 17, 2022

Planetary: March 25, 2023

Only hope: October 15, 2022

Party poison: April 23, 2011

Save yourself: October 15, 2022

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W: October 15, 2022

Summertime : March 20, 2023

Destroya: March 25, 2023

Kids from yesterday: March 25, 2023

Vampire money: March 19, 2023

Conventional Weapons

Boy division : March 26, 2023

Tomorrows money: August 30, 2022

Ambulance : Never been played

Gun: Never been played

World is ugly: March 26, 2023

Light behind your eyes: Never been played

Kiss the ring: August 8, 2009

Make room: September 24, 2022

Surrender the night: September 15, 2022

Burn bright: September 10, 2022

Mad Gear and Missile Kid

F.T.W.W.W. : Never been played

Ravenkroft: October 15, 2022

Black dragon: Never been played

Other

Foundations: March 26, 2023

Sister to sleep: October 17, 2022

all the angels : October 14, 2022

Heavan help us : October 17, 2022

Kill all your friends: March 25, 2023

My way home: May 9, 2008

Eagles : March 26, 2023

Fake your death: October 17, 2022

Desert song: October 12, 2022

Bury me in black: March 26, 2023

Desolation row: October 11, 2022 at

Song 2 (blur cover) : June 18, 2007

Under pressure (queen cover) : March 29, 2005

We will rock you (queen cover) : August 26, 2011

If I missed any lmk lol.

[margareth-lv]

😬🐴🤦🏻‍♀️ My Jamie is a stud 🤦🏻‍♀️🐴😬

Or: Après nous, le déluge [After us, the flood, this French expression is said to have been used by King Louis XV of France to Madame de Pompadour, his favourite. Brewer translates it as "When I'm dead, the deluge may come, and I couldn't care less," and "Ruin, if you like, when we're dead and gone."]

*** *** *** I hope you don't mind me going on a bit at the start. This quote from King Louis XV of France pretty much sums up my thoughts today. But let’s take a step back for a moment. 9 July, 2024: Happy 11th #castaverasary of the wonderful Sam Heughan. Starz posted an oldie but a goodie on social media, an antique video in which the Outlander stars talk about their first scene with the 'birthday boy'.

By the way, I was just wondering, when did we last see Caitríona with such long and damaged or neglected hair? I think it might have been on 8 March 2023 at The Gannet restaurant in Glasgow for the Grilled Live podcast?

Whatever. In an old recording from over a year ago (Caitríona's hair is longer than it was in Glasgow in March 2023), Caitríona shares the very first moments she spent on set with Sam. She's got this weird look on her face, and what she's saying is even weirder.

After weeks of beautiful, sunny weather during filming with Tobias, the first day of shooting with Sam was a real downpour. And it just kept on raining, a real deluge. It just didn’t stop bloody raining.

I have no idea what Caitríona wants to tell, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to say something nice. As if saying something kind is the worst possible thing to do.

And I just can't stand the fact that she's such a coward. And it really bothers me when she makes a public show of cutting herself off from Sam.

I think if they were just 'costars', she'd probably have more 'sympathy' and more 'heart' for him. And it made me think of an interview I saw ages ago that I never quite got. I'm thinking of the one with Sam, Caitriona and others from 13 February 2020 for Entertainment Weekly.

You know: Caitriona doesn’t picture Sam Heughan when reading the Outlander books. You know, her “Jamie” is a stud, as opposed to…

It was pretty awful, to be honest. Just look at Sam's face. He wants to get away from there. To disappear. To evaporate.

Oh my, oh my, oh my. After me, the flood.

[10 July, 2024]

[najaemism]

i think she knows! | karina x fem!oc smau

meet the cast: series regulars!

synopsis. march shim and karina yu had been compared and pitted against each other for years, and the media even dubbed them as rivals simply because their careers were slightly similar. their professional lives cross when they’re both casted as leads in a new series, sparks flying both onscreen and off.

(oh—and march also runs a secret stan account for karina.)

warnings. language

— march shim!

an actress/singer-songwriter.

she starred in her first role in a movie in 2016, and from there she quickly rose to fame after being taken under the wing of famous box office movie actor, wonwoo kim.

she occasionally releases music but has never toured. she had realeased two eps, an album, and a few singles.

she focuses mainly on acting and had become pretty popular despite only being in the industry for seven years.

the media pits her against karina yu, another singer-actress, since they are from different companies and have slightly similar careers. she doesn’t really care about the media creating a rivalry between them because she runs a stan account for karina

read march shim’s wikipedia page here!

wonderstruck (2018) is march shim’s debut ep, released on may 8, 2018. her debut single off the ep was “the way i loved you”.

confessions of a homeschooled girl (2021) is march shim’s first album, released as a surprise for her fans on her birthday, november 17, 2021. included in the album is her single from the previous year, “pretty girls”, and a target exclusive version of the album included her single from the dead girl walking soundtrack, “brutal”.

day off in kyoto (2023) is march shim’s second ep, released on november 23, 2024. the ep consists of four songs she wrote and recorded during her two-week vacation in kyoto. the last track of the ep was a song written for two friends of hers from the industry, who would then create a series with the same title, with shim as one of the principal cast.

the fans: archers 🏹

— karina yu!

an actress/singer-songwriter.

starred in her first acting role in a tv show in 2015 for a minor role. was immediately casted in a lead role later that year for a different tv show of the same creators. her career went off from there.

she started a music career only in 2021, releasing her debut ep, and then a full album in 2023. people say she the potential to become the next "pop princess" but she says she has no plans in doing music full-time since she prefers acting more and music is just a side hobby.

has been pit against march shim since they both rose to fame at the same time, but she doesn’t really care about the supposed rivalry and respects march as an artist.

sue me (2021) is karina yu's debut ep, released on september 8, 2021. her debut single off the ep was the title track, written after her former manager had tried to sue her the year prior.

new romantics (2023) is karina yu's first album, released on november 14, 2023. the album had been critically acclaimed, with all songs debuting at the billboard hot 100 during its first week. while people assumed she'd be focusing on her music career after this album, she had quickly clarified that music was just her hobby and that she intends to still focus on her acting career.

the fans: loveyus 💌

PREV | MASTERLIST | NEXT

notes.

pls read march’s wikipedia page (carrd) i spent a really long time making it and im rlly happy how it turned out HAHAHA

taglist for this au is still open!

reply in the main masterlist or send me a dm if you want me to use your user as a fan account in this smau!

taglist. @archivedmkl @yuyuy90 @linonyang

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from RMI:

1. Batteries Become Everybody’s Best Friend

Battery prices continue to drop and their capacity continues to rise. The cost of electric vehicle (EV) batteries are now about 60 percent what they were just five years ago. And around the world, batteries have become key components in solar-plus-storage microgrids, giving people access to reliable power and saving the day for communities this past hurricane season.

2. Americans Get Cheaper (and Cleaner) Energy

State public utility commissions and rural electric co-operatives around the country are taking steps to deliver better service for their customers that also lowers their rates. At the same time, real momentum is building to prevent vertically integrated utilities from preferencing their coal assets when there are cleaner and cheaper alternatives available.

3. A Sustainable Shipping Future Gets Closer

More than 50 leaders across the marine shipping value chain — from e-fuel producers to vessel and cargo owners, to ports and equipment manufacturers — signed a Call to Action at the UN climate change conference (COP29) to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission fuels. The joint statement calls for faster and bolder action to increase the use of zero and near-zero emissions fuel, investment in zero-emissions vessels, and global development of green hydrogen infrastructure, leaving no country behind.

4. Corporations Fly Cleaner

In April, 20 corporations, including Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, Autodesk, and more, committed to purchase about 50 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), avoiding 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions — equivalent to the emissions of 3,000 fully loaded passenger flights from New York City to London. SAF is made with renewable or waste feedstocks and can be used in today’s aircraft without investments to upgrade existing fleets and infrastructure.

5. More and More Places Go From Coal to Clean

Around the world, coal-fired power plants are closing down as communities switch to clean energy. From Chile to the Philippines to Minnesota coal-to-clean projects are creating new jobs, improving local economic development, and generating clean electricity. In September, Britain became the first G7 nation to stop generating electricity from coal — it’s turning its last coal-fired power plant into a low-carbon energy hub. And in Indonesia, the president vowed to retire all coal plants within 15 years and install 75 gigawatts of renewable energy.

6. Methane Becomes More Visible, and Easier to Mitigate

Methane — a super-potent greenhouse gas — got much easier to track thanks to the launch of new methane tracking satellites over the past year. In March, the Environmental Defense Fund launched MethaneSAT, the first for a non-governmental organization, and the Carbon Mapper Coalition soon followed with the launch of Tanager-1. By scanning the planet many times each day and identifying major methane leaks from orbit, these new satellites will put pressure on big emitters to clean up.

7. EVs Speed By Historic Milestones

This past year was the first time any country had more fully electric cars than gas-powered cars on the roads. It’s no surprise that this happened in Norway where electric cars now make up more than 90 percent of new vehicle sales. And in October, the United States hit a milestone, with over 200,000 electric vehicle charging ports installed nationwide.

8. Consumers Continue to Shift to Energy-Efficient Heat Pumps for Heating and Cooling

Heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces consistently since 2021. And while shipments of heating and cooling equipment fell worldwide in 2023, likely due to broad economic headwinds, heat pumps held on to their market share through. And over the past 12 months, heat pumps outsold conventional furnaces by 27 percent. Shipments are expected to continue increasing as states roll out home efficiency and appliance rebate programs already funded by the Inflation Reduction Act – worth up to $10,000 per household in new incentives for heat pump installations. Link: Tracking the Heat Pump & Water Heater Market in the United States – RMI

9. China Reaches Its Renewable Energy Goal, Six Years Early

China added so much renewable energy capacity this year, that by July it had surpassed its goal of having 1,200 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy installed by 2030. Through September 2024, China installed some 161 GW of new solar capacity and 39 GW of new wind power, according to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA). China is deploying more solar, wind, and EVs than any other country, including the United States, which is — by comparison — projected to deploy a record 50 GW of solar modules by the end of 2024.

10. De-carbonizing Heavy Industry

For steel, cement, chemicals and other heavy industries, low-carbon technologies and climate-friendly solutions are not only increasingly available but growing more affordable. To speed this process, Third Derivative, RMI’s climate tech accelerator, launched the Industrial Innovation Cohorts to accelerate the decarbonization of steel, cement, and chemicals. Also on the rise: clean hydrogen hubs — powered by renewable energy — designed to supply green hydrogen to chemical, steel, and other heavy industries to help them shift to low-carbon production processes.

[bzhitstruth]

About hints and patterns

Throughout the history of GGDD, we have noticed that they sometimes act as messenger birds for each other - one hints at some event, and then it happens to other. This is a direct hint.

But there is another type of hints - when the event that one of them hints at has already happened before, but we don’t know about it yet and don't understand this hint. But then the other person tells us about this event, and only then does it become clear to us that the hint has already been made. If we don't consider this a coincidence, then we will have to admit that such information could have been known to another person only through personal communication, because it was not publicly known about it.

I want to recall a few examples of such cases, they occurred over a not very long period of time - less than a year.

All this is fake, CPN and empty thoughts. Clownery. 🤡

DD's “Water show” — GG's vlog

On July 10, 2023, the event was held in Beijing dedicated to the premiere of One and only. DD participated in it, he danced and splashed water on the audience. While dansing DD made a couple of gestures that the turtles paid attention to - the “figure eight” and the famous “chongya” gesture. Everyone, of course, remembered the meaning of these gestures and was glad that DD made them. But then it turned out that he did them for a reason.

On July 11, GG’s vlog was released, and suddenly both of these gestures appeared in this vlog. Can this be considered two coincidences that occurred within 24 hours?

No one, of course, knew in advance what would be in GG’s vlog, the vlog was filmed a long time ago, but it turns out that DD knew this the day before the vlog was released.

Leica

October 3, 2023 DD, while in Paris, shows off his Leica camera. The turtles remembered that once upon a time GG also had Leica, and assumed that DD probably received the gift from GG.

But the next time a shocking surprise awaits us - at midnight from October 4 to 5, the congratulation to GG appears on his birthday and GG's photos with Leica, and even the camera model is similar. GG’s photos were taken back in the summer, and DD told us that “GG will appear with Leica tomorrow.” In this case, the version of coincidence seems quite weak.

"Do everything for your love"

On November 8, 2023, a new DD endorsement (YaYa) was released. A post appears on the brand’s Weibo account, the text of which contains words spoken about DD: “他为热爱全力以赴” (“he does everything for love”).

On November 9, NARS live stream with GG is released, at the end of which GG gives the wish speech, including saying: “希望大家为自己热爱全力以赴” (“I hope everyone will do everything for their love”).

As you can see, he uses the same phrase almost verbatim. It is not known what of this happened first - the stream was recorded or the advertising text was agreed upon, but if this accordance was intentional, then it was possible to find out the details only through personal communication. It could be a coincidence, but after a few months the following happens:

GG's vlog - Anta advertising

On March 1, 2024, XZS posts Milan vlog, where the viewer is offered the concept of a circle and round objects, the idea of the cycle of life or another interpretation. The image of the moon also runs throughout the vlog.

On March 2, the advertisement for Anta is released, in the video we see a suspiciously similar concept - a round basketball that flashes throughout the entire video and (suddenly!) turns into the moon above building, and the drawing of a lace that resembles the stylized name “border” in GG's vlog. There are even sunset. Even the text for the post uses the same words 边界 (“border”) - 去探索，多元未知的边界 "Go explore diverse and unknown borders” (full video is here).

I don't know what the brand had in mind, unless consider it pure coincidence, but they certainly couldn't make an ad copying GG's vlog concept overnight! Of course, it was known about the “border” and the stylization of the name since the GG's October vlog, but a circle, a setting sun, a ball that turns into the moon? Next day. How?

The Coin

And now, this coin. Five days passed between GG's vlog and the release of Chang Feng Po Lang trailer, but the consistent appearance of the coin that is the "protagonist" of the vlog and the coin that DD rubs his cheek with in the trailer is amazing. If you pay attention, even the sizes of these coins are the same.

I don’t think that the image of the coin in the vlog was subordinated only to the idea of hinting at the imminent release of the series with DD, probably the idea is much deeper, but what do we know about GG’s creative thinking and about his ability to convey a message very subtly?

All this could be considered coincidences if this didn't happen so often and according to the same pattern: event - hint – explanation. I’m sure I haven’t listed everything and there is more, this is just what I noticed.

Perhaps this is one of the things that keeps us firmly in this "rabbit hole" - their connection, which sometimes manifests itself in unexpected ways, their ingenuity to show this connection. I would compare them to the ocean, which always seems to remain the same, but which you never get tired of looking at.

💚❤️.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Vaccine hesitancy driven by covid-19 antivaxxers is also effecting other vaccination, driving down efficacy. Mask up and get vaxed!

By Mary Van Beusekom, MS

The effectiveness of the seasonal flu vaccine against hospitalization among high-risk groups during the 2024 seasonal flu season in five Southern Hemisphere countries was low (35%), down from 50% in 2023 but not outside the expected range, which may portend similar efficacy during the upcoming Northern Hemisphere flu season if similar A(H3N2) viruses predominate, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers report.

The interim estimates, published late last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), come from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, where an average of only 21.3% of patients hospitalized for flu from March to July 2024 (the Southern Hemisphere flu season) had received the flu vaccine.

"While Southern Hemisphere data cannot predict exactly what will happen in the Northern Hemisphere, what we can say is that if we see similar influenza viruses (strains or clades) circulating this season in the Northern Hemisphere, we can expect similar vaccine effectiveness against influenza-related hospitalizations," lead author Erica Zeno, PhD, epidemic intelligence service officer with the CDC’s Influenza Division, told CIDRAP News in an email.

This flu season, the United States is using trivalent (three-strain) vaccines with the same components as those in Southern Hemisphere vaccines, Zeno said.

On August 29, the CDC forecasted that the upcoming flu season "will be similar to or lower than that of the 2023-2024 season rate of 8.9 weekly laboratory-confirmed hospitalizations per 100,000, with moderate confidence," it wrote. "However, past seasons have varied widely in the number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths, depending on the subtypes circulating, population immunity to different subtypes, and vaccine effectiveness against circulating subtypes."

Campaign targeted high-risk groups The researchers used a test-negative, case-control design to analyze data from a multinational surveillance network to generate estimates of interim vaccine effectiveness (VE) against hospitalization with flu-related severe acute respiratory illness (SARI).

The study population was made up of 11,751 SARI patients from three Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) vaccination target groups: young children (58.3%), older children and people with underlying medical conditions (14.5%), and older adults (27.2%). Case-patients had SARI and tested positive for flu, while control patients had SARI and tested negative for flu and COVID-19.

Data were pooled from 30 hospitals in Argentina, 2,477 in Brazil, 13 in Chile, 5 in Paraguay, and 10 in Uruguay beginning 2 weeks after each country's flu vaccination campaign. Vaccination status was confirmed using national electronic vaccination records.

All countries used World Health Organization (WHO)–recommended egg-based Southern Hemisphere formulations. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay used trivalent (three-strain) vaccines containing antigens from A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1)pdm09–like virus, A/Thailand/8/2022 (H3N2)–like virus, and B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)–like virus, while Paraguay used quadrivalent (four-strain) vaccines that also contained the B/Yamagata lineage–like virus.

Vaccination rate lower than prepandemic norms The five countries reported 11,751 flu-related SARI cases and an average low seasonal flu vaccination rate. "The documented influenza vaccination coverage levels (21.3%) were below pre–COVID-19 norms," the researchers wrote. "This finding is consistent with postpandemic declines in vaccination coverage across the Americas associated with vaccine misinformation, hesitancy, and disruptions in routine immunization services, prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic."

The adjusted VE was 34.5% against hospitalization, 36.5% against the predominant A(H3N2) influenza substrain, and 37.1% against the A(H1N1)pdm09 substrain. VE was 58.7% among patients with chronic conditions, 39.0% among young children, and 31.2% among older adults.

"The vaccine effectiveness estimated is within the confidence interval of prior H3N2 (34%–53%) and H1N1 (18%–56%) for this Southern Hemisphere network," Zeno said. "It is lower than what was observed in the United States last season, but that was on the high-end of the historic range."

As of July 19, too few influenza B cases were available to estimate VE, the authors said. Adjusted VE against SARI from any flu virus was 42.2% in Argentina, 30.3% in Brazil, 56.9% in Chile, and 61.0% in Uruguay; VE was not calculated for Paraguay because of insufficient data. A sensitivity analysis excluding Brazil estimated an adjusted VE of 56.5%.

In total, 32.7% of SARI patients tested positive for flu, and 98.6% of identified viruses were influenza A. Only 0.7% of patients were infected with influenza B, all of which were of the B/Victoria lineage. Of 61.9% of subtyped influenza A viruses, 68.3% were A(H3N2), and 31.7% were A(H1N1)pdm09. Most (59.2%) of the case-patients were older adults, followed by people with chronic conditions (50.4%), and the lowest proportion of cases (16.0%) occurred among young children.

Vaccination can reduce illness severity, death "While flu vaccine effectiveness can vary from season to season, we know that influenza vaccination can offer significant protection for people who get vaccinated and is the best protection against influenza," Zeno said. "Importantly, influenza vaccination also can reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick."

Vaccination is one of the most effective interventions to prevent flu-related complications, including death, the authors said. "Annual influenza vaccination should be encouraged for young children, persons with comorbidities, and older adults," the authors wrote. "To enhance this year’s modest influenza vaccine protection against hospitalization, providers should treat patients with suspected or confirmed influenza as soon as possible with antivirals."

"Influenza vaccine postintroduction evaluations and knowledge, attitudes, and practices surveys might identify additional reasons for low coverage and strategies for improved coverage for the next Southern Hemisphere season," they added.

[sin-mido]

🔍8 Interesting Facts About

SIN MIDO 1st Album [Dark Paradise]❗️

1️⃣ [Dark Paradise] was crafted from April 2023 to March 2024, marking SIN MIDO’s longest hiatus since debut.

2️⃣ “Flame” was inspired by Schubert‘s ’Erlkönig‘ and was the first track to be composed, setting the thematic tone for the entire album.

3️⃣ “Swamp” includes a prayer in the middle that echoes Park Chan-wook’s film ‘Thirst.’ SIN MIDO recorded this prayer spontaneously in a single take, without any script.

4️⃣ “Serenata for the Duchess (Slowed&Reverbed)” features ambient sounds absent in the original track.

5️⃣ Marionette (Inst only)“ has an original vocal version, but fewer than five people have ever heard it.

6️⃣ ”Shadow“ is a post-punk track with the fastest BPM of all SIN MIDO’s songs.

7️⃣ ”Life is not easy (2024 remastered)“ is the only track in SIN MIDO’s discography written in a major key.

8️⃣ ”Moth“ inspired the album‘s artwork after the illustrator (@mingkixw) listened to the tracks, leading to the inclusion of a moth in the design.

🥀𝑱𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑!

https://www.instagram.com/sin.mido/

[wielderofmysteries]

It's day 1 of me doing ~whatever this is~, and I do want to put it on the record that as of point in time, July 28th 2023, 8 and a half years after the introduction of the first trans character in Magic, there are now 10+ named canon transgender characters across Magic cards, stories, and other media, and not a single one of them is a trans man. There are ZERO named trans male characters in the Magic IP.

The only canon named trans man across all of Magic is Klement, a character created for the Baldur's Gate Alchemy set on MTG Arena. And he doesn't exist in the Magic Multiverse because he's a D&D franchise character. And he's a digital-only card so his card doesn't really exist either. There's no paper print. You can't own a Klement card. A trans guy who sees himself in Klement and would like to use him as a Commander cannot do that.

The only time a trans man has appeared on a non-Secret Lair Magic card is Death-Greeter's Champion, who got printed earlier this year in a March of the Machine Commander precon deck. He doesn't have a name. In a Commander set, where Legends matter and they can introduce new Legends for alternate Commanders, they wouldn't do it. They wouldn't give a trans man character a name.

Don't get it twisted. There is no grand conspiracy or anything like that. I believe there is only good intention behind the scenes. The people who make Magic are wonderful people and many of them are queer as well. They want to make cards that represent themselves and also for the Magic fanbase, which has such a high proportion of trans fans.

But IDK, like. All this to say that it feels so shitty as a trans man to see Magic broadly embracing trans identities and still denying this entire section of the community. It feels shitty and it just doesn't make any sense to me. Other trans fans of Magic get representation. We don't even get names.