#Winning Numbers 19/2/2020

[fandomtrumpshate]

Listed fandom fun

A bit of random data before we jump into the rankings for listed fandoms …

Since the numbers post yesterday we've had signups for nearly 60 new auctions, bringing the current total to 779. That beats the number of signups for 2016/7, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and puts us withing spitting distance of our record last year of 819. Can we do it? Will we do it? Signal boost FTH posts and encourage others to participate. More money raised for good causes, more fanworks in the world — it's a win/win!

We posted yesterday about the state of our unlisted write-in fandoms (we've had nine new ones since then!). Time to check in with the rankings for the listed fandoms.

At the top of the pack we have:

87 K-Pop * 66 Good Omens 50 Sherlock Holmes * 44 Harry Potter * 37 Marvel * 32 DC * 31 Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Untamed 27 Red, White, & Royal Blue 25 Star Wars * 23 Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Our first tie is for 11th place -

22 Avatar The Last Airbender 22 Teen Wolf

And after that, nearly every other place is a tie. And which ones are ties for which places can be shifted slightly with just one signup. Or completely upended with two. Where will your fandom land?

Remember that if your fandom isn't here (or in the rest of the list below the cut), you can write it in. Signups are OPEN through Monday!

19 Supernatural 18 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star 18 Locked Tomb Trilogy 18 Stranger Things 17 All for the Game 16 Our Flag Means Death 16 Tolkien * 16 The Witcher 15 Boku no Hiro Akademia (My Hero Academia) 15 Original Work 15 Percy Jackson and the Olympians 14 Baldur's Gate 3 14 Hockey RPF 12 The Old Guard 12 Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official's Blessing) 11 The Magnus Archives 11 Star Trek * 10 Check Please! 10 Dungeons & Dragons 10 Haikyuu!!! 10 Hazbin Hotel 10 Jujutsu Kaisen 9 A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon 9 One PIece 8 Doctor Who * 8 Hades (video game) 8 Heartstopper 8 James Bond 8 Kingsman 8 Merlin 8 Naruto 8 Suits 7 Dragon Age * 7 Justified 7 Raven Cycle 7 Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast 7 The Sandman 7 Shadowhunters 7 SK8 the Infinity 6 Captive Prince 6 Critical Role 6 Final Fantasy * 6 Fullmetal Alchemist 6 Hannibal 6 Kinnporsche 6 The Maze Runner 6 Queen's Thief 6 Stargate 6 Steven Universe 6 Top Gun Movies 6 Yuri!!! On Ice 5 Alex Rider 5 Grishaverse 5 Interview With The Vampire 5 Malevolent (Podcast) 5 The Murderbot Diaries 5 Nirvana in Fire 5 The Owl House 5 RWBY 4 Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (The Husky & His White Cat Shizun) 4 Genshin Impact 4 Les Misérables 4 The Magicians 4 Pokemon 4 Witch Hat Atelier 3 Arcane 3 Disney's Descendants 3 Elder Scrolls 3 Hetalia 3 Hunger Games 3 Legend of Zelda 3 Spy x Family 3 Tian Ya Ke / Word of Honor 3 Trigun 3 Welcome to Night Vale 3 Wheel of Time 3 Young Royals 2 Benoit Blanc Mysteries (Knives Out, Glass Onion) 2 Disco Elysium 2 Encanto 2 Gundam Wing 2 The Last of Us 2 Leverage 2 Miraculous Ladybug 2 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries 2 Mysterious Lotus Casebook 2 Schitt's Creek 2 Super Mario Bros. 1 Assassin's Creed 1 Attack on Titan 1 Diamond no Ace 1 Fire Emblem Three Houses 1 Homestuck 1 Stellar Firma 1 Wednesday / The Addams Family

[wintfleur]

⚘ ˖˙𓈒ִֶָ☾.˙ ᰋ ── WHERE’D ALL THE TIME GO?

aka ophelia’s timeline

━━━ ❛ it’s starting to fly

ᯓᡣ𐭩 EARLY LIFE & SCHOOLING !

april 11th, 2002: ophelia is born on a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon in Vernon, British Columbia.

may 9th, 2006: ophelia (4) takes her first ballet class

2008 - 2013: early childhood / elementary school

august 2010: ophelia (8) joined the soccer team and met her now best friend Amber Jameson; they have been inseparable since.

october 2013: ophelia (11) got an ankle injury during a soccer game and sadly had to quit the sport. Her love for ballet was stronger and she didn't want to risk not being able to dance again.

She had to stop dancing for the rest of the year so her ankle could heal, it was miserable for her.

2013 - 2016: start of her teenage years / middle school

march 2015: ophelia (12) joined the theater club and helped make the costumes for their play, in turn finding her love for fashion designing.

april 2016: ophelia (13) went to get her photos taken for her ballet portfolio and was approached by a teen modeling agency.

summer 2016: ophelia (14) went to south korea for a ballet summer intensive program.

She was housed by a sweet family, where she met one of her bestest friends seunghan and his younger brother park sunghoon who is her age. Seunghan is a fellow ballet dancer and went to the training camp with her.

Ophelia became very close with the family, only becoming closer with them as the years go by, she's an honorary park! Seunghan’s parents think of her as their own child and his little sister thinks of her as her big sis!

2016 - 2020: teen years / high school / start of her modeling career

december 2016: Ophelia (14) was on the cover of pointe magazine.

june 2017: ophelia (15) won first place in the Helsinki international ballet competition, in juniors for women.

august 2017: ophelia finished her first wedding dress that she made for her cousin's wedding.

may 2018: ophelia (16) won first place in the american ballet competition

july 2018: ophelia won first place in the varna international ballet competition

was invited to be on jimmy fallon after her win.

february 2019: ophelia (17) made her debut by walking the catwalk and attending the New York fashion week.

may 29th - june 2, 2019: ophelia walked and attended the miami fashion week

september 2019: ophelia walked and attended the paris fashion week

october 9th 2019: the creation of ophelia's youtube channel

Ophelia created her youtube channel so she could have another way to communicate and become closer with her fans.

She mainly posted vlogs of her days as a model and a ballet dancer, and her just traveling and doing random activities with her friends.

december 2019: ophelia walked and attended the NYFW: December pre-fall and fall-winter, fashion week.

february 2020: ophelia walked and attended london's fashion week, fall-winter.

Ophelia meets Ryan James, a fellow model, they exchanged numbers and Ophelia then got in a relationship with him in may.

June 2020: Ophelia (18) graduated highschool with honors.

july 2020: ophelia moved into her apartment/loft in manhattan, New York. With her best friend seunghan.

Throughout 2016 - 2020 ophelia modeled for many different high end brands, her favorites being Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, and GQ.

She was given the nickname “the next model it girl” for her sudden dominating presence in the modeling world.

ᯓᡣ𐭩 JUILLIARD & JACK !

september 2020: ophelia (18) starts her first year at juilliard

february 23 - march 1st 2020: ophelia walked and attended milan’s fashion week

march 2 - 9th 2020: ophelia walked and attend paris fashion week

Throughout the rest of the year ophelia really focused on her ballet career, putting modeling to the side, and focusing on her studies.

march 2021: ophelia (19) won the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP)

may 2021: ophelia won first place in the american ballet competition

july 2021: ophelia won first place in the varna international ballet competition

for the rest of the year, Ophelia modeled for many different brands, but she really just focused on her ballet career and getting more known in the fashion design world.

2022 : breakup era

april 11th 2022: Ophelia (20) broke up with Ryan after finding out he has been cheating on her for many months.

april, may, june, july 2022: ophelia took a break from anything that evolved with modeling during those months, trying to heal from her breakup. Throwing herself into training, practices, and her studies.

august 2022: ophelia modeled for celine as her comeback into modeling

was invited back on the jimmy fallon show where they talked about what she's been up to, the celine shoot, and her comeback to modeling

october 6-9th 2022: ophelia walked and attended los angeles fashion week

november 2022: ophelia was interviewed by WIRED where she talked about ballet and modeling and her love for fashion design

2023: meeting jack

march 3rd 2023: curtis gets traded to the new jersey devils

march 28th 2023: ophelia and Jack meet for the first time at a club and share a kiss.

april 18th 2023: ophelia joins curtis out at a bar to meet some of his teammates, and she sees jack for the first time since the club.

they keep what happened at the bar to themselves (besides Jack freaking out about it to Luke), and pretend to just meet each other for the first time.

april 25th 2023: ophelia and jack run into each other at a bar, things escalate and jack ends up bringing her back to his place where they hook up for the first time.

the next morning they talk about what happened, and how they need to keep what happened between them a secret. They want to keep seeing each other, so they decide to become friends with benefits.

july 2023: ophelia models for calvin klein

july 17th 2023: jack confesses his feelings to ophelia after 3 months of being friends with benefits.

Ophelia didn't take it well and left his apartment in haste (girly was afraid of her feelings and commitment) and they didn't talk for two weeks.

july 31st 2023: ophelia goes to jack’s apartment where she apologizes and asks him on a date.

august 1st 2023: jack and ophelia have there first date and officially start dating (secretly)

november 6th 2023: curtis holds a dinner at his home for his teammates, curtis finds jack and ophelia kissing in the garage and did not take it well.

curtis gives her an ultimatum ‘him or me’ in a moment of anger and that leads to ophelia not talking to either of them for a week, locking herself in her apartment.

november 14th 2023: curtis comes to see her early in the day to apologize for his reaction and what he said, later in the day jack comes to see her and they have a sweet moment, happy that everything is now okay between them.

january 12th 2024: ophelia and jack said i love you for the first time

january 24-28 2024: ophelia walked and attended miami fashion week

february 9-14th 2024: ophelia attended new york fashion week fall-winter

february 16th 2024: ophelia and jack's relationship is exposed to the media when videos and pictures of them at the njd’s family skate go viral.

february 26th - march 5th 2024: ophelia walked and attended paris fashion week

may 2024: ophelia did the 73 questions with vogue

june 2024: ophelia did the “10 things I can't live without’ with GQ

may 6th 2024: ophelia (22) attended the met gala for the first time

ophelia did a get ready with me / last looks with vogue for the met

june 2024: ophelia did diary of a model with vogue

july 2024: ophelia and jack do a couple quiz with GQ

may 2025: ophelia (23) graduates at juilliard

ᯓᡣ𐭩 WHAT'S TO COME !

aka phia and jacks future

. . . to be added

ᝰ.ᐟ 𝓇oro's note. I didn’t add every detail about her modeling and dance career in the ‘julliard and jack’ section, it would have taken forever for me to do that 😭 I will update the timeline as time goes! I hope this helps give you a better understanding about the AU >.<

au masterlist

˖ ་ feel free to send in any thoughts/requests you have !! And please let me know if you want to be added to the taglist mwah

˖ ་ taglist : @yoontwin @toasttt11 @winterbarnesblog @iceflwers @cixrosie @bunbunbl0gs

[toasttt11]

grey thompson

Grey Olive Elizabeth Thompson

Number: 6

Season: Second

Height: 5”6

Hometown: New Jersey

Team: Red Bull Racing

Prev Team: Prema

Formula One

Second Season

2023

Red Bull Racing

19 wins

12 Poles

21 Podiums

Winner of WDC

First Woman to win the WDC

Rookie Year

2022

Red Bull Racing

3 Wins

5 Poles

15 podiums

Rookie of the year award

Third in the Drivers standings

First Woman to win a Formula one race

FIA Formula 2

2021

Prema

8 Wins

9 Poles

13 Podiums

Formula 2 Championship Winner

FIA Formula 3

2020

Prema

5 Wins

5 Poles

9 Podiums

Formula 3 Championship Winner

FIA Formula 4

2019

Prema

4 Wins

9 Poles

8 Podiums

Formula 4 Championship Winner

Signed with Red Bull Junior Team and Prema Racing

Personal

• Born September 6, 2004

• Daughter of Carter Thompson

• Has a brother Elijah Thompson

[batsplat]

number of sunday race wins per title winner this century (wins/number of races)

2001: 11/16

2002: 11/16

2003: 9/16

2004: 9/16

2005: 11/17

2006: 2/17

2007: 10/18

2008: 9/18

2009: 6/17

2010: 9/18

2011: 10/17

2012: 6/18

2013: 6/18

2014: 13/18

2015: 7/18

2016: 5/18

2017: 6/18

2018: 9/18

2019: 12/19

2020: 1/14

2021: 5/18

2022: 7/20

2023: 7/20

current wins of title contenders this season (out of 9 races, another 10-11 to go): bagnaia - 6; martin - 2

[futfemfantasies]

Prompt List:

Hey everyone! 

I have some ideas and who they are for but I want to see which ones you all want. If you want to suggest anyone else or make a change to the prompt, I’m happy for that! Or even if you have a prompt not on the list, send it through :)

Request the number and player and I’ll write it as soon as I can :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. “I see us in front of an altar one day”  Lucy Bronze

2. Y/N dedicates a song to _______ at her concert after just coming out  Sam Kerr

3. Asking for permission to kiss Alex Morgan

4. Casual intimacy - baths, washing each others hair, soft kisses Leah Williamson

5. Prohibited kisses - hands in hair and others on waist, lower bodies pressing into each other Patri Guijarro

6. “Can you repeat that? My brain hasn’t woken up yet”

7. “They’re just a friend, I swear”

8. “You’re my best friend! We shouldn’t, I shouldn’t be feeling like this. Fuck!” Alanna Kennedy

9. “Come to bed”

10. “Go home _____” “I’m already home”

11. Flower crown making on a picnic date Christen Press

12. World Cup proposal. Reader plays for England or USA and is dating _____ Sam Kerr

13. “I didn’t know who to call” Reader gets broken up with and seeks comfort in _______

14. Reader not healing from her mother’s death (Christen Press’ younger sister). ________

15. Barcelona team go to a Chinese restaurant and readers fortune cookie reads ‘Don’t let the one good thing in your life slip away’. _______ reads ‘your true love is around you’. At the hotel, reader and ______ link pinkies behind the group and share a kiss when they wait for a new elevator since the team filled them all up.

16. Reader joined Barca in 2017 and grew close to ________. Ended up being together for lockdown. Reader goes to Australia for national team camp and gets teased by Sam, Macca, Caitlin and Steph etc. Reader and ______ talk about coming out / what photos to use. _____ posts first then reader follows. Teasing by the team starts again after photos are posted. Mapi Leon

17. Reader is injured and she knows __________ wants to surf when she’s home so she re-waxes her surfboard as a surprise

18. Reader is quarantining with _________ when Australia wins the World Cup in 2020. It’s early in the morning and reader yells and screams, waking up ______.

19. Reader is going on a ‘date’ but knows _______ is in love with them. ________ helps pick out an outfit for the ‘date’ but reader wears it on their first date.

20. Alex Morgan little sister (5 years younger) - dating ________. Alex finds you two making out after a national team friendly - USA vs _________. Alex ‘threatens’ _________.

21. Reader singing One Less Lonely Girl to _________ on the bus on a long trip from a game to announce their relationship. Lucy Bronze

22. _________ surprising reader (Leah’s older sister) at Arsenal. Reader scores in the 90+5 minute, sending Arsenal to the Champions league final.

23. I Wish - One direction (sad fic) Leah Williamson

24. All Of The Girls You’ve Loved Before - Taylor Swift (reader dedicates this to __________ at their concert) - reader’s first time saying they’ve fallen for _______. 

25. Reader cooking for _______ for the first time and it’s really good.

26. “I could kiss you right now” “You’re very welcome to do it”  Reader scores an important goal in an important game.

27. “I haven’t felt like this in a long time and I’m scared”

28. “I think you’re parents may like me even more than you”  _________ meets readers parents for the first time due to covid.

29. “I didn’t want to tell you like this, but I have no choice”

30. “I miss you” “It’s just temporary” 

31. “They all reminded me of different parts of you so I got one of each” Reader can’t decide on one type of flower so the florist makes a bouquet with all different flowers from around the shop.

32. “Was that your way of asking me to marry you?” Reader is a singer and writes ‘That Part by Lauren Spencer Smith’.  Leah Williamson // Millie Bright

[heejinkwan]

FALLEN ANGEL is the second mini album by ASTELLA, a South Korean soloist. It was released on February 23, 2024 by StarShip Entertainment. The album consists of seven tracks, one including title track NOBODY KNOWS. It is available both physically and digitally.

ASTELLA promoted the album for 4 weeks total, promoting NOBDODY KNOWS and b-side MANIAC for 2 weeks each. NOBODY KNOWS peaked at 2 on the gaon charts while MANIAC peaked at 11. although unpromoted, Kingdom Come and Lucid Dream also charted, peaking at 19 and 25 the week after the album's release. The album received global attention as well, peaking at 10 on the US Billboard 200, also charting in 20 other countries including Japan, Brazil, FinLand, Thailand, and the UK. ASTELLA won a total of 9 music show awards for this album, NOBDOY KNOWS winning 7 with MANIAC earning 3.

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ i. the tracklist !

i. ✭ .   nobody knows ( title track )

ii. ✭ . maniac

iii. ✭ . rewind

iv. ✭ . lucid dream

v. ✭ . kingdom come

vi. ✭ . automatic

vii. ✭ . thirsty

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ get your photocards here !

*ੈ♡⸝⸝ ii. the styling !

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ iii. the reception !

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ iv. the notes !

₊˚ෆ the concept of this album was basically an omen to her performance on fictitouscore, her being a fallen angel, like the title of the album says.

₊˚ෆ the album was automatically a banger, earning a 7.2 score on pitchfork, astella garnered many new fans off of the release of nobody knows itself.

₊˚ෆ a lot of stellars believe that they should’ve made kingdom come be the title track, seeing that it’s gone so viral, but others understand why nobody knows was chosen for the title track.

₊˚ෆ astella blew up on tik tok! people already saying that nobody knows is soty and that it was the best release so far!

₊˚ෆ she did many challenges with julie and hanuel of kiss of life, karina of aespa, joy of red velvet, and yeji of itzy.

₊˚ෆ she made many new friends including yeji, who she met from being friends with karina.

₊˚ෆ and all the rumors are true! the album may or may not be about yeonjun, who she has been rumored to be dating ever since 2020 west they had a minor acquaintance.

₊˚ෆ she began being close to him while being in promise, but after leaving he was one of the only people she talked to all the time, the rest being her family, the promise members, and karina.

₊˚ෆ they began officially dating in 2022 but never actually confirms it so nobody knows is like her saying it but not actually saying it.

₊˚ෆ when it peaked number two on billboard, heejin’s family called her and they celebrated with a cake, congratulating her on her success.

₊˚ෆ she literally did a live at like 1am happy, which turned into her crying because of how overwhelmed and happy she was that the song was doing well, the comments were congratulating her and telling her not to cry.

₊˚ෆ during maniac promotions, a lot of people felt like the song did not fit the album and complained that it was being promoted and not kingdom come, which was gaining more streams than maniac.

₊˚ෆ starship released two videos of the recording process of both nobody knows and maniac, which gained so much traction on twitter and tik tok with videos with over 1m+ likes and views.

₊˚ෆ even though she hadn’t planned it, heejin ended up finding out that she will be performing at coachella 2024 in california alongside other kpop artists such as lesserafim and ateez.

₊˚ෆ even though no one expected it, rewind also ended up getting popular! after many stellars posted the song in a sped up version, making people who did even stan heejin wonder what the song was, it even got non kpop fans bopping to it!

₊˚ෆ after catching onto it, heejjn ended up posting a lyric video of rewind on her channel, and after a week it charted at number 8 on top 100: south korea on apple music, youtube music charts at number 1, and gaon chart at number 5.

₊˚ෆ stellars can really say this is their favorite era of astella so far, when the music is good how can you not stan?

₊˚ෆ very much inspired by this by @dr3amluc1d

[julianalvarez9]

(1) Zona de promesas, song by Mercedes Sosa. (trans: "mom knows well, i've lost a battle) / (2) Copa América Final: Lionel Messi Tries to Slay His Ghosts - The New York Times / (3) Clarice Lispector, from the complete stories: 'one day less' / (4) Lionel Messi of Argentina closes his eyes during the national anthem prior to a match between Argentina and Paraguay as part of South American Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 at Estadio Alberto J. Armando on November 12, 2020 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Juan I. Roncoroni) / (5) Against Silence, Frank Bidart / (6) Lionel Messi of Argentina lifts the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Winner's Trophy during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Julian Finney) / (7) Zona de promesas, song by Mercedes Sosa. (trans: it takes time to arrive and in the end, in the end there is a reward) / (8) Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Winner's Trophy after the team's victory during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Lars Baron) / (9) Lionel Messi speech after winning the 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. / (10) Lionel Messi of Argentina kisses the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Winner's Trophy while holding the adidas Golden Boot award after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Julian Finney) / (11) Tumblr textpost. / (12) Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates with teammates after their fourth and winning penalty by Gonzalo Montiel in the penalty shootout during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Maddie Meyer) / (13) Lionel Messi speech after winning the 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. / (14) Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammates after scoring his team's fourth goal during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC at Camp Nou on November 22, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. Lionel Messi beat the number of goal in the Spanish La Liga of Telmo Zarra scoring his 252nd goal. (Photo by David Ramos) / (15) Lionel Messi is offered a hand by teammate Ezequiel Lavezzi of Argentina after the finial whistle and defeat at the World Cup Final match between Germany (1) and Argentina (0) at the Maracana Stadium on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Photo by Simon Bruty) / (16) Lionel Messi speech after winning the 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. / (17) Lionel Messi greet fans during a victory parade of the Argentina men's national football team after winning the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on December 20, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Gustavo Pagano) / (18) Lionel Messi of Argentina holds the FIFA World Cup trophy during World Champions' celebrations after an international friendly between Argentina and Panama at Estadio Mas Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti on March 23, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Marcelo Endelli) / (19) Zona de promesas, song by Mercedes Sosa. (trans: in the zone of promises) / (20)  Lionel Messi of Argentina shoots the ball during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C match between Argentina and Mexico at Lusail Stadium on November 26, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Fu Tian).

[sataniccapitalist]

#thewaronyou

Another winter of death is now unfolding in the United States and across the Northern Hemisphere as the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus continues to surge globally. Wastewater data from the United States released Tuesday indicate that upwards of 2 million people are now being infected with COVID-19 each day, amid the second-biggest wave of mass infection since the pandemic began, eclipsed only by the initial wave of the Omicron variant during the winter of 2021-22.

There are now reports on social media of hospitals being slammed with COVID patients across the US, Canada and Europe. At a growing number of hospitals, waiting rooms are overflowing, emergency rooms and ICUs are at or near capacity, and ambulances are being turned away or forced to wait for hours to drop off their patients.

According to official figures, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Charlotte, North Carolina are now at their highest levels of the entire pandemic. In Toronto, Dr. Michael Howlett, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, told City News, “I’ve worked in emergency departments since 1987, and it’s by far the worst it’s ever been. It’s not even close.” He added, “We’ve got people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them. People being resuscitated on an ambulance stretcher or a floor.”

Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, told the Today Show website: “The current strain right now seems to be packing a meaner punch than the prior strains. Some features of the current circulating strain probably (make it) a little bit more virulent and pathogenic, making people sicker than prior (variants).”

Indeed, two recent studies indicate that JN.1 more efficiently infects cells in the lower lung, a trait that existed in pre-Omicron strains which were considered more deadly. One study from researchers in Germany and France noted that BA.2.86, the variant nicknamed “Pirola” from which JN.1 evolved, “has regained a trait characteristic of early SARS-CoV-2 lineages: robust lung cell entry. The variant might constitute an elevated health threat as compared to previous Omicron sublineages.”https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/1MGIQxPf0Ig?rel=0An appeal from David North: Donate to the WSWS todayWatch the video message from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North.DONATE TODAY

The toll on human life from the ongoing wave of mass infection is enormous. It is estimated that one-third of the American population, or over 100 million human beings, will contract COVID-19 during just the current wave. This will likely result in tens of thousands of deaths, many of which will not be properly logged due to the dismantling of COVID-19 testing and data reporting systems in the US. When The Economist last updated its tracker of excess deaths on November 18—before the JN.1 wave began—the cumulative death toll stood at 27.4 million, and nearly 5,000 people were continuing to die each day worldwide.

The current wave will also induce further mass suffering from Long COVID, which has been well known since 2020 to cause a multitude of lingering and often debilitating effects. Just last week, a pre-print study was published in Nature Portfolio showing that COVID-19 infection can cause brain damage akin to aging 20 years. The consequences are mental deficits that induce depression, reduced ability to handle intense emotions, lowered attention span, and impaired ability to retain information.

Other research indicates that the virus can attack the heart, the immune system, digestion and essentially every other critical bodily function. The initial symptoms of COVID-19 might resemble those of the flu, but the reality is that the virus can affect nearly every organ in the body and can do so for years after the initial infection. While vaccination slightly reduces the risks of Long COVID, the full impact of the virus will be felt for generations.

The latest winter wave of infections and hospitalizations takes place just eight months after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Biden administration ended their COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declarations without any scientific justification. This initiated the wholesale scrapping of all official response to the pandemic, giving the virus free rein to infect the entire global population ad infinitum.

A virtual blackout of any mention of the coronavirus in the corporate media accompanied the swan song of official reporting. From then on, if��illnesses at hospitals or among public figures were referenced at all, it was always with the euphemism “respiratory illness.” The words COVID, coronavirus and pandemic have been all but blacklisted, and the facts about the dangers of the disease have been actively suppressed.

Summarizing the cumulative results of this global assault on public health, the WSWS International Editorial Board wrote in its New Year 2024 statement:

All facts and data surrounding the present state of the pandemic are concealed from the global population, which has instead been subjected to unending lies, gaslighting and propaganda, now shrouded in a veil of silence. There is a systematic cover-up of the real gravity of the crisis, enforced by the government, the corporations, the media and the trade union bureaucracies. Official policy has devolved into simply ignoring, denying and falsifying the reality of the pandemic, no matter what the consequences, as millions are sickened and thousands die globally every day.

In response to the latest wastewater data, there have only been a handful of news articles, most of which have sought to downplay the severity of the current wave and largely ignored the deepening crisis in hospitals.

The official blackout has given rise to an extraordinary contradiction in social life. The reality of mass infection means that everyone knows a friend, neighbor, family member or coworker who is currently or was recently sick, or even hospitalized or killed, by COVID-19. Yet the unrelenting pressure to dismiss the danger of the pandemic means that shopping centers, supermarkets, workplaces and even doctor’s offices and hospitals are full of people not taking the basic and simple precaution of masking to protect themselves. Every visit outside one’s home carries the risk of being infected, with unknown long-term consequences.

As the pandemic enters its fifth year, it is critical to draw the lessons of this world historical experience. The past four years have demonstrated unequivocally that capitalist governments are both unwilling and incapable of fighting this disease. Their primary concern has always been to ensure the unabated accumulation of profits by corporations, no matter the cost in human lives and health.

The real solution to the coronavirus is not to ignore it, but to develop a campaign of elimination and eradication of the virus worldwide. To do so requires the implementation of mask mandates, mass testing and contact tracing, as well as the installation of updated ventilation systems and the safe deployment of Far-UVC technology to halt the spread of the virus. The resources for this global public health program must be expropriated from the banks and financial institutions, which are responsible for the mass suffering wrought by the pandemic.

All of these measures cut directly across the profit motive and the real disease of society: capitalism. As such, the struggle against the coronavirus is not primarily medical or scientific, but political and social. The international working class must be educated on the real dangers of the pandemic and mobilized to simultaneously stop the spread of the disease and put an end to the underlying social order that propagates mass death. This must be developed as a revolutionary struggle to establish world socialism.

[excusethequality]

My 2023 in Film

Part 1: 1-50

I went a bit overboard with my movie watching this year. Although in my defense I was working at a movie theater for most of the year.

I'll just put a brief plot description for each one, but if you're curious about my thoughts on anything specific, just ask. ^__^

* = rewatched

[++] = I loved it [+] = I liked it [=] = I am indifferent about it [-] = Not my thing [--] = I hate it

Click on the list number to get a trailer for it.

1.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) * ---Animated Superhero Noir Crime Drama From the team behind Batman: The Animated Series. Bruce Wayne's life is about to get a lot more complicated when a former lover, the Joker, and a mysterious and deadly vigilante come into town at the same time. [+]

2.

Demons (1985) ---Horror A group of strangers try and survive when people at a special movie screening start turning into demons. [+]

3.

Near Dark (1987) ---Horror A young man is bitten by a cute vampire drifter and is offered a chance to give up his old life to join her roving band of vampires. [+]

4.

Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) ---Creature Feature Comedy Years after the events of the first movie Earl and Burt decide to take a job helping an oil company in Mexico who are having an issue with graboids. [=]

5.

Get Duked! (2019) ---Dark Comedy A group of young delinquents try and win an award by navigating the Scottish highlands by themselves with only a map to aide them. But things get much more challenging when a rich man begins to hunt them for sport. [+]

6.

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) ---Creature Feature Comedy Burt returns back where everything began: Perfection, Nevada. Unfortunately he soon learns he isn't the only one to return when a pack of graboids shows up. [=]

7.

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) ---Creature Feature Comedy It's 1889 and the inhabitants of the nascent Perfection are about to have their first encounter with the graboids. [=]

8.

Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015) ---Creature Feature Comedy Burt heads to Africa on a graboid-hunting job and winds up playing a father-figure to his new cameraman Travis. [-]

9.

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018) ---Creature Feature Comedy Burt and Travis head to Northern Canada to investigate reports of graboid activity in the glaciers. [-]

10.

Holy Spider (2022) ---Crime Thriller A female journalist in Iran heads further and further into the dark criminal underworld as she attempts to track down a serial killer who has been targeting sex workers. [=]

11.

Fire of Love (2022) ---Biographical Documentary Volcano Romance The story of volcanologist couple Katia and Maurice Krafft. [++]

12.

Dinner in America (2020) ---Punkl Rock Comedic Rom-Dram

In the Midwestern suburbs, a punk rocker on the lam from the police decides to hole up with a strange fan. [+]

13.

May (2002) ---Horror/Drama

An unusual and sheltered young woman tries to broaden her horizons, but winds up going down a dark path. [+]

14.

Sightseers (2012) ---Comedic Crime Adventure

A man and his girlfriend desperately want to have romantic road trip, but they are gonna have to fight for it when the fates are determined to derail them. [=]

15.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020) ---Sci-fi Comedy

The owner of a cafe discovers that his security camera gives him a 2 minute peak into the future. [+]

16.

Pride & Prejudice (2005) * ---Period Romance

Elizabeth Bennett is one of five sisters and her mother wants nothing more than to get her daughters married off. But when two eligible bachelors come to town things are about to get complicated. [++]

17.

Broker (2022) ---Drama Crime Road Trip

A pair of well-meaning baby traffickers team up with a new mother to find a good home for her newborn child. [=]

18.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) ---Comedy Crime

Two con men make a bet to see who can swindle a rich woman first. [-]

19.

Coherence (2013) ---Sci-Fi

A group of friends are having a dinner party, but things are about to get strange and dangerous when a passing comet gives them a brush with another world. [-]

20.

The Company of Wolves (1984) ---Fantasy

Dreams interweave with reality as a young girl's fears and aspirations mix together into different stories. [+]

21.

Starfish (2018) * ---Sci-Fi Drama

A strange event leaves a young woman alone in the world. In order to set things right she'll have to confront her grief and decipher the messages her best friend left for her to find. [++]

22.

The Girl From the Other Side (2022) ---Animated Fantasy Adventure

A curse haunts the land and anyone infected by it will slowly lose their humanity. In response humans have retreated into the cities, leaving the creatures to lurk in the surrounding wilderness. But when one of the creatures comes across a child sleeping in the woods he finds himself compelled to protect her. [++]

23.

Turning Red (2022) ---Comedy Coming-of-Age

A 13-year-old girl has to deal with her changing body when her body starts turning into a giant red panda without warning. [=]

24.

Streets of Fire (1984) ---Rock 'n Roll Action Adventure

A wandering badass has to rescue his old flame when a gang of bikers kidnap her in the middle of her rock show. [+]

25.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) ---Super-hero Shitshow

Ant-Man and company go adventuring in the Quantum Realm because of reasons. [--]

26.

Begin Again (2013) ---Music Drama

A down on his luck music executive is inspired by a chance encounter with a young singer songwriter and together they seek to find the creative voice they thought they had lost. [+]

27.

An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It (2022) ---Animated Short

A stop-motion doll begins to see that his world is a lie. [=]

28.

The Flying Soldier (2022) ---Animated Short

A sailor is caught in an explosion. [=]

29.

Ice Merchants (2022) ---Animated Short

A father and son have created a simple life based around routine together. But the only constant in life is change. [+]

30.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse (2022) ---Animated Short

A boy, a mole, a fox, and a horse say motivational-poster style platitudes out loud to each other 32 long-ass minutes. [--]

31.

My Year of Dicks (2022) ---Animated Short

A young woman is on a mission to lose her virginity, and maybe, just maybe, learn a little bit about herself along the way. [+]

32.

Sunshine (2007) * ---Sci-Fi

The sun is dying. In a last ditch attempt to save humanity the crew of the Icarus II must journey to the sun and attempt to restart it. But everything is called into question when the crew discovers a chance to learn what happened to the Icarus I. [++]

33.

Enough Said (2013) ---Dramatic Rom-com

Two divorcees start a new relationship. But their mistakes in past relationships might cause issues in this new one. [=]

34.

Cocaine Bear (2023) ---Animal Attack Crime Comedy

A daring drug heist leaves packages of cocaine all over the woods. And the motley crew of characters in the woods that day are about to meet a bear who was recently developed a nasty drug habit. [=]

35.

Collapse ---Drama Short Film

One night a couple's strained relationship begins to reach its limit. [=]

36.

Jigoku (1960) ---Crime Horror Drama

After a terrible accident a man must deal with the overwhelming guilt and face the consequences for the actions that have set him on a path to hell. [=]

37.

Adult Life Skills (2016) ---Drama Comedy

A woman has been stuck in a depressed rut ever since her twin brother died. But when the young boy next door encounters a loss of his own the two discover that they might be the person each other needs to help deal with their grief. [+]

38.

Desert Hearts (1985) ---Queer Drama Romance

A literature professor goes to a ranch in Nevada while waiting for her divorce to go through. But while there she begins to develop feelings for the woman next door. [+]

39.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) * ---Sci-fi Action Adventure Drama

A woman finds the life she has built for herself is falling apart around her. And if that wasn't enough she has just received a message from a parallel world informing her that she's the only one who can stop an inter-dimensional being set on the destruction of the multi-verse. [++]

40.

Prospect (2018) ---Sci-Fi Adventure Drama

A teenage girl and her father are on a mission to gather rare resources from an alien moon. But they soon learn they aren't the only ones there looking to get rich. [=]

41.

Prospect (2014) ---Sci-Fi Short Film

The short film that the above was expanded from. [+]

42.

Guns Akimbo (2019) ---Action Adventure

A loser wakes up to find guns nailed to his hands and a group of underground assassins are after the bounty on his head. [=]

43.

Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) ---Zombie Sequel

A group of kids come across one of the misplaced army canisters containing the dead-reviving gas from the first movie and trouble is soon to follow. [-]

44.

Strawberry Mansion (2021) ---Fantastical Sci-fi Adventure

In the future people's dreams are recorded, taxed, and commercialized. A dream auditor is sent to perform an audit on an eccentric older woman. However, her dreams are about to change his mind. [+]

45.

Jojo Rabbit (2019) * ---Comedy Drama

During WWII a young German boy dreams of being best friends with Hitler. But when he discovers his mother has been hiding a Jewish girl in their house he is forced to reevaluate what he has been taught. [+]

46.

Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) ---Coming-of-age Crime Drama

A native girl in Canada in 1976 is selling drugs to get the money to bribe her way out of being sent to a residential school. But when she concocts a dangerous plan to fight back against a world set on her destruction she quickly discovers she might have gotten in over her head. [+]

47.

Creed III (2023) ---Sports Drama

Adonis Creed has quit while he was on top. But an encounter with a figure from his past forces him to get back into the ring. [=]

48.

Cooley High (1975) ---Coming-of-age Comedic Drama

A group of high school seniors in Chicago try to live life to its fullest, but soon realize that life has more to offer than they expected. [+]

49.

Muriel's Wedding (1994) ---Dark Comedy Drama

An ABBA loving social outcast dreams of being married, but an encounter with an old friend from high school has her reconsider what it is she really wants out of her life. [++]

50.

Catch the Fair One (2021) ---Thriller

A boxer prepares for a real fight as she tries to learn what happened to her missing sister. [+]

[itsalliebitheway]

20 questions game

Thank you @nottawriter and @snowydragonscave the tag! I'm never on tumblr so I'm late but here we are

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Individual stories: 28 (a good number is unfinished cuz the sparkle ran out and never came back).

2. What’s your total AO3 words count?

Individual stories: 282,760

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly for Supercorp (supergirl), but i've written for Avalance ( LoT) and Gretson (ALOTO) before, and I'll be writing for Avartice (WN) soon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Our Souls in Our Voices (Kara is blind, Lena is a Scientist with a sexy voice, Hospital Meet Cute); Touch Me (just smut whoopsi); Terms of Love (A deep dive about platonic and romantic love that ends with two happy endings ;) ); Lena's Last Secret (Lena's a boob girl and has the time of her life when Kara is pregnant... for reasons); Solar Powered Always Wins (Kara knows that her tongue can do more for Lena than a vibrator with a faulty battery).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to get to every last one but rn my inbox has 130 unread messages so don't take my word for it.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's all because of you (I've got a list of songs I can't listen to)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

don't be afraid to jump (then fall)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do but i think it's very vanilla (strap-ons and vibrators are the most advancement they got from using their hands so far lol).

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't published one yet but a Supergirl/Glee (I know help me) has been in the works for probably 3 years now.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

People asked before if they could translate one or two stories of mine but i have no idea if that happened or not.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Sadly no, at least not officially. Most of my works have other people's influences in them tho.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Supercorp has taken possession of me since 2020 now but I've loved other ships as well!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My folklore AU probably. it exists in my heart and this will be the end of it

16. What are your writing strengths?

My hyperfocus comes in handy when i need to get a lot of words on the page, otherwise no idea.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

time management, too many commas everywhere,,,

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I find it very curious as a tool to convey a more rounded world, but i don't know enough languages to do it well; and the kryptonian Dictionary will always be our friend :D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Avalance from Legends of Tomorrow.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I love Lena's Last Secret because it's just so stupid! i had a lot of fun writing it. Everyone I know on tumblr has probably already done this so I won't tag anyone else :)

[notebooknebula]

From Veteran To Real Estate Millionaire: Gervon Simon with Jay Conner

https://www.jayconner.com/podcast/episode-73-from-veteran-to-real-estate-millionaire-gervon-simon-with-jay-conner-the-private-money-authority/

Key Takeaways:

Funding your deals without using your own money

How to Become a Millionaire in three years

Perfecting the BRRR method: Buy, Rehab, Renovate, Refinance

How to find real estate deals before your competition does: be a realtor

Veterans can get multiple VA loans,

Lessons learned: Have a margin and learn to say no—nothing ever goes according to your budget plan.

Don’t let your emotions decide—the math should make the decision.

Advice for new investors: partner in some way or form, especially with someone who knows what they’re doing.

Don’t wait to buy real estate. The number way to be on the winning side is by owning properties.

Gervon Simon is the founder of GQ Home Team, a real estate company that buys/sells homes.

Within just 12 months in business, in 2021, they sold 61 homes worth over $30M.

On the side, he has also stepped into real estate development, and since 2020, he has flipped 10 properties.

Gervon is a military veteran who attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, from 2013 to 2017, where he played football and graduated with a degree in business management.

During Gervon's time serving as an officer in the Army, he had to gain the trust of many different kinds of individuals to be effective at his job.

Today, he draws upon this experience when he works with his real estate clients, and he is dedicated to being transparent, honest, and encouraging each step of the way.

Gervon has had the opportunity to work with several clients in a variety of circumstances, whether the clients were purchasing their first home, selling their home due to hard times, or relocating from across the country for a military move.

He faced many different situations and challenges, and each time he’s been able to empower his clients to accomplish their goals. In addition to helping his clients with their real estate endeavors,

Gervon also invests in real estate on his own, and in 2018 he purchased his first 2 rental properties.

Timestamps:

0:01 – Get Ready To Be Plugged Into The Money

0:17 – Today’s guests: Gervon Simon

2:13 – How Gervon Simon Gets Started In The Real Estate Business

5:51 – How Do You Fund Your Deals Without Using Your Own Money

7:10 – Jay’s Free Private Money Guide: https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide

8:31 – How To Become A Millionaire In A Span Of 3 Years

11:37 – Perfecting the BRRRR Method

14:06 – How To Find the Best Real Estate Deals Before Your Competition Does

16:25 – Veterans Can Get Multiple VA Loans

19:03 – Gervon Simon’s Early Struggles And Lessons Learned On His Real Estate Business

21:53 – Best Advice For Brand New Real Estate Investors

25:47 – Connect with Gervon Simon: https://www.TheGQHomeTeam.com

26:01 – Team Website – https://www.GQHomeTeamWA.com

26:29 – Parting Comments from Gervon Simon: Don’t Wait To Buy Real Estate. The Number One Way Of Being A Part Of The Winning Side Is Own Real Estate And Collect Assets.

Private Money Academy Conference:

https://www.JaysLiveEvent.com

Free Report:

Join the Private Money Academy: 

Have you read Jay’s new book: Where to Get The Money Now?

It is available FREE (all you pay is the shipping and handling) at

What is Private Money? Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner

Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. He maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $67,000 per deal without using his own money or credit.

What is Real Estate Investing? Live Private Money Academy Conference

YouTube Channel

Apple Podcasts:

Facebook:

Listen to our Podcast:

[malaysiankpopfans]

The Much-Anticipated NCT DREAM Pop-up Store: Get Ready Dream to Debut in Kuala Lumpur this May 2023

NCT Dream Pop-up Store: Get Ready Dream in Kuala Lumpur will be opened on 17th May 2023 and be held in the heart of Kuala Lumpur shopping mall at Orange Zone, Level 2, Pavilion Bukit Jalil for a period of five days until 21st May 2023.

The pop-up store is based on NCT DREAM’s concert: The Dream Show 2 and NCTzens can look forward to Get Ready Dream, Candy and Glitch Mode exclusive merchandise.

About NCT DREAM Flash Pop-up Store in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is one of three cities where this pop-up store will be located and is the third city to debut, after Singapore.

The Pop-up store will be around for only five days and there are fourty exclusive merchandise items up for grabs.

To find out more about this pop-up store and its upcoming releases, visit or follow KONSHOP KOREA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Operation schedule

Date: 17th May 2023 – 21st May 2023

Operating Hours: 10AM – 10PM

Location: Orange Zone, Level 2, Pavilion Bukit Jalil, 2, Persiaran Jalil 8, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur.

ABOUT NCT DREAM

NCT Dream is South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. They debuted on August 25, 2016, with the single "Chewing Gum" and a lineup of seven members - Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung.

NCT DREAM recorded more than 5.61 million album sales with the 2nd regular album and repackage, winter special album 'Candy' released in 2022, the 32nd Seoul Music Awards Grand Prize, 2022 Genie Music Awards Singer of the Year Award, Album of the Year Award, etc. They swept the grand prizes at various awards ceremonies, such as winning two crowns and the Hanteo Music Awards 2022 Best Album, realizing their status as a representative K-pop group.

Since their debut, NCT Dream have released four EPs, six singles and two studio albums and headlined one tour in Asia. Known for music reflecting youth and adolescence, growth, and the transition from innocence to rebellion, the sub-unit has been recognized internationally as one of the most notable teenaged artists of their time. They are the first and only Asian artist to appear three consecutive times on Billboard "21 Under 21" list for their industry impact on sales, streaming and social media, placing at numbers 20, 13 and 19 from 2018 to 2020. NCT Dream were also included on Time's list of the "25 Most Influential Teens" of 2018.

About SM ENTERTAINMENT

SM Entertainment strive for the world's best entertainment lifestyle platform company based on music. It provides business solutions to its labels and drives business initiatives based on music including performances, multimedia content and IP.

[f1]

F1 newbie Oscar Piastri believes he can beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris in his debut season

F1 newbie Oscar Piastri believes he can beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris in his debut season…as the Aussie star prepares for a ‘special’ home Grand Prix in Melbourne Oscar Piastri will make his Formula 1 debut with McLaren next month The 21-year-old replaced fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the team Norris outperformed Ricciardo in 16 out of 22 races last season  By Dan Cancian For Daily Mail Australia Published: 16:40 GMT, 19 February 2023 | Updated: 16:41 GMT, 19 February 2023 Oscar Piastri believes he can outperform teammate Lando Norris in his debut season in Formula 1, but conceded it will keep expectations in check ahead of his first campaign on the grid. The 21-year-old has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren after spending last season as the reserve driver for Alpine and will make his Formula 1 debut next month when the season gets underway in Bahrain. Norris outperformed Ricciardo in 16 out of 22 races last season, finishing with 122 points to his teammate's 37 and claiming McLaren's only podium of 2022. But Piastri said he relishes the opportunity of challenging the Briton in his first season in Formula 1.  'I think so,' he told ABC when asked whether he believed he could finish ahead of his teammate.  Oscar Piastri believes he can beat teammate Lando Norris in his debut season in F1 Norris claimed McLaren's only podium of 2022 and finished with 122 points to Daniel Ricciardo's 37, as he outperformed his teammate in 16 out of 22 races 'I think everyone has to have that self-belief that they can win, or if they’re not in a position to win to do the best that they can with what they have.' A world champion in Formula 2 and Formula 3 in 2020 and 2021, Piastri has long been considered one of Formula 1's rising stars.  And with Ricciardo no longer on the grid after returning to Red Bull as reserve driver, Norris will the only home driver at the Australian Grand Prix in April. Not that the 21-year-old appears fazed by the prospect of flying the Australian flag on his own.   'I grew up 10-15 minutes down the road from Albert Park,' he said. 'I was there last year as a reserve driver and it was a pretty electric atmosphere. So knowing that the crowd is going to be there, with me as the home driver now. It’s going to be a very special event.' Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast last month, Ricciardo urged Piastri to absorb as much information as he can but warned him to keep expectations in check in his rookie season. Piastri and Norris launched the McLaren MCL60 last week in Woking And Piastri acknowledged there were no set targets ahead of his debut campaign in Formula 1. 'Putting [points and wins] numbers on my expectations is pretty difficult, especially in F1, I think it will depend where we are as a team, where the car is at,' he said. “For me, a successful year would be me setting the foundations for later in the year and the years to come, hopefully, and doing everything the right way from the beginning [...] starting good habits. 'If there’s any results that come out of that, then that’s a bonus.' Share or comment on this article: F1 newbie Oscar Piastri believes he can beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris in his debut season via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[amynchan]

According to Wikipedia's List of giant pandas (just the ones who are alive), there are 19 Great Pandas born after June 6, 2008. Here are the names and birth dates I found of the ones still living (they're not in chronological order):

Bao Bao (born 2013)

Bei Bei (born 2015)

He Hua (born 2020)

Jia Panpan (born 2015)

Jia Yueyue (born 2015)

Jiao Qing (born 2010)

Lin Bing (born 2009)

Meng Lan (born 2015)

Po (born 2010) [lol]

Qi Zai (born 2009)

Rou Rou (born 2016)

Xiao Liwu (born 2012)

Xiang Xiang (born 2017)

Xiao Qi Ji (born 2020)

Yuan Zai (born 2013)

Yun Zi (born 2009)

Fubao (2020)

Da Mao (September 1, 2008)

Xi Lan (August 30, 2008)

And now because I'm curious (and rolling with it at this point), I'm gonna count how many giant pandas were born after 2008 but who may have, unfortunately, passed away. [one brief overview later] The good news is that there are none! (at least, no famous ones. Still, a win is a win!)

So, yeah. This is only a list of giant pandas (so we're not getting red pandas or literally any other species here), but for giant pandas, an average birth rate of less than two new pandas a year with the spike of panda births being 2 in 2008 and no new giant pandas since 2020 (4 years ago now) means that the original thought was straight up feasible to someone who's not bored enough to comb through wikipedia and its resources to figure it out. XD I thought it was real for a hot second until I wanted to figure out the numbers. XD

[listen: I know I only counted the pandas that have been born since KFP came out. There are an additional 7 pandas who have been born between 2004-2008 as well (marking an actual 20 year number), but I thought it'd be funnier just to pit the movie franchise against the real-time population rate . XD List here:

Er Shun (2007)

Mei Lan (2006)

Su Lin (2005)

Tai Shan (2005)

Yuan Yuan (2004)

Wang Wang (2005)

Zhen Zhen (2007)

This leaves the final score at 4 movies over 16 years v 26 itty bitty giant panda babies over 20 years. Though, at a quick glance, the rate of pandas (1.58 births per year with a maximum of 2/year over a 12 year period v. 2.33 births per year with a maximum of 3/year over a 4 year period) seems to be going down. That or giant pandas fucked relatively hard in 2004-2005.)]

[darkmaga-returns]

As The Epoch Times' John Haughey reports, Trump’s Arizona victory follows candidate Joe Biden’s upset win in the state in 2020, a 0.3-percent squeaker that marked the first time since Bill Clinton’s 1996 win that The Grand Canyon State had voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. In 2016, Trump won Arizona by 3.5 percentage points.

Polls presaged the former president’s Arizona win. The FiveThirtyEight poll aggregate had Trump leading by 2.2 percentage points on Nov. 4.

Maricopa County, where 62 percent of the state’s 7.4 million residents, and more than half its 4.367 million voters, live, proved pivotal. Trump won the Phoenix-area vote CC to CC percent, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department.

Trump fared better in the key county than in 2016 when he won it with less than 48 percent and in 2020 when he lost it with 47.65 percent, becoming the first GOP presidential candidate to lose Maricopa County in 72 years.

As in Nevada, winning the Latino vote drives Arizona campaigns, especially in Maricopa County where one-third of voters are Hispanic, compared to less than 19 percent nationally.

While many media declared Trump the winner of Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes in the preceding days, the AP withheld doing so until all mail-in ballots had been counted. Reported results had not changed much for more than a day by late-afternoon Nov. 8.

On Nov. 7, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office added tens of thousands of votes to the tally, but said there were hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count, including nearly 500,000 in Maricopa County. Therefore, the presidential race and the U.S. Senate contest between Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Kari Lake remained too close to call by late afternoon Nov. 8.

At 5 p.m. EST—2 p.m. PST—on Nov. 8, those numbers, largely frozen for more than a day, had Trump with 1.4 million votes, 52.5 percent of the total tally, to Harris’s 1.2 million votes, or 46.5 percent.

Despite the president-elect’s 161,000 vote lead, a significant 6 percentage point advantage, since most Arizona voters cast ballots by mail, and counting typically takes days. the AP withheld the call until it was mathematically impossible for Harris to overcome Trump’s lead.

Trump also dominated Harris in the popular vote with the vice president receiving around 10 million less votes than Biden did in 2020...

[wausaupilot]

The Capitol Report: Activists focus on early voting

What if the secret to winning Wisconsin isn’t on Election Day? How early voting strategies are shaping this high-stakes battle and why every early ballot counts:

By WisPolitics.com Wisconsin is not going to vote the way it did in 2020, when some 2 million absentee ballots were cast during COVID-19.  But absentee and early in-person voting will still be an important piece of the puzzle. Activists on both sides are working furiously to get their voters to complete ballots before Nov. 5, Election Day. Recent absentee ballot numbers from the Elections…