#World Dairy Month 2024

[dreamsugargumbloggirl]

The Bestest Dairy Month 🧀 Day 3

Banana Split🍨🍌

Challenge made by TheTROCFans

[askamydaily]

FINALLY ...

I don't have to care about gender reveal parties.

(The following column runs in newspapers across the country on May 24th, 2024)

Dear Readers: After 21 years writing the “Ask Amy” column, I’m announcing that I’m leaving this space. My final column will run at the end of June.

I’m healthy, happy, and 64-years-old. This is a decision I’ve been wrestling with for over a year.

When I was first hired by the Chicago Tribune to write an advice column after Ann Landers’ death, I was a middle-aged single mother. My daughter Emily and I moved from our long-time home in Washington DC and relocated to Chicago. 

[Emily and Amy, Freeville, NY. Photo by Chris Walker for the Chicago Tribune]

My welcome to Chicago was to deliver a solo performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in front of 35,000 baseball fans during the 7th inning stretch of a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

This turned out to be a metaphor for my experience writing this column, which has been an exuberant and sometimes nerve-wracking effort of trying to hit the right notes before a huge audience. 

After several great years in Chicago, Emily left for college and I moved back to my tiny hometown of Freeville, NY (pop. 505), to spend time with my sisters, aunts and cousins, and to be with my mother at the end of her life. 

My experiences have mirrored those of many of my readers. For me, these last two decades have been about the intensity and consequences of both love and loss. 

After returning home, I promptly tumbled into a Hallmark Channel plotline, when I fell in love with and quickly married a man I’ve known since childhood (we grew up on neighboring dairy farms). My husband Bruno and I then blundered into the oftentimes awkward blending of our family of five daughters. 

[2008, Freeville, NY]

I became a stepmother, and then a grandmother, all before I believed I was ready. 

My mother and her three wonderful sisters are gone, now. A niece and nephew died, tragically, while in their teens. Much of my recent life has been absorbed by caregiving, mourning, and recovery.

Day in, day out -- over the last two decades – readers have generously shared their own vulnerabilities about many of our common experiences. I’m grateful that we’ve been able to help each other.

I’ve burned through eight laptops, opened bushels of postal mail, written columns in the car, on board planes, in hospital waiting rooms, on my honeymoon, and at my mother’s bedside. During this time, I’ve also written two books, a screenplay, and scores of essays. 

Doing this work has sent me into therapy. It has inspired me to explore the teachings of world religions, and to seek the insight of thinkers like Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. I’ve quoted the wisdom of Maya Angelou, Joni Mitchell and Fred Rogers -- as well as dozens of poets, social scientists and psychologists. 

I’ve made my share of mistakes, been well-pranked – at least twice (that I know of), and learned how to apologize, ask for forgiveness, and to forgive other people for their own mistakes. Inspired by readers’ dilemmas, I’ve also worked hard to mend fractured family relationships and to be a better friend.

My personal experiences are a reminder that we humans can’t really control what happened before or what happens next. Joy, like grief, comes at you in such unexpected ways. That’s why it is so important to pay attention. I’ve learned to do that.

Being an advice-giver has challenged me to be aware of cultural, social, and relationship trends -- and to appreciate the quirks of human behavior.

When readers get frustrated by my lengthy answers to sometimes petty problems, they will often suggest that I should just tell people to “get a life!,” but I think that wrestling with our questions – from the quotidian to the profound – is living.

For the next month, I’ll continue to publish fresh columns and rerun some favorites. After that, my fantasy is to drive an RV across the country, visiting people I’ve met through this work who have challenged me and tantalized readers with their anonymous requests for advice.

In my hometown, I’m opening a little lending library. You can find me on social media, through my Asking Amy newsletter, at amydickinson.com, or at the Freeville Literary Society on Main Street – talking books with kids and offering advice to anyone who asks.

Love,

Amy

[covid-safer-hotties]

Living with Long COVID: What it’s Like to be Diagnosed with the Debilitating Disease - Published Sept 3, 2024

By: Nicole Pajer

Even mild cases of COVID-19 are linked to potential long-term repercussions — some of them deadly serious

Chrissy Bernal has caught COVID-19 three times, most recently in ­October 2023. “My symptoms were always pretty mild,” she says. But after her third round of the virus, she ­developed extreme allergies to foods she used to eat all the time: oats, dairy, gluten, sesame seeds and peanuts.

“I literally have some level of anaphylaxis every single day,” she says. In May, Bernal, 46, a public relations professional in Houston, went into anaphylactic shock during a virtual meeting. “I had to inject myself with an Epi while everyone watched in horror on Zoom,” she says.

Natalie Nichols, 53, has been struggling with debilitating asthma and severe food allergies since she first caught COVID more than three years ago. “Last fall, I spent ­two-and-a-half months confined to bed, ­motionless, because moving, including holding a cellphone, made me too short of breath,” she says.

She’s also experienced brain fog, high blood pressure, hyper­glycemia, fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms. Nichols, the founder of a nonprofit in Nacogdoches, Texas, recently underwent surgery to repair joint damage caused by COVID-induced inflammation.

Lorraine W., of Clarence Center, New York, was looking forward to an active retirement when she was diagnosed with COVID in March 2020. “I’ve never returned to my pre-COVID self,” says Lorraine, 65.

She’s on medication to treat small blood vessel damage to her heart and continues to battle a lingering cough, fatigue and breathlessness, as well as kidney disease. Neurological changes have made her legs unsteady when she walks, requiring her to use balance poles. “None of these conditions were present before COVID,” Lorraine says.

In June, the National Academies of ­Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a comprehensive definition of long COVID: “an infection-­associated chronic condition that occurs after COVID-19 infection and is present for at least three months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems.” According to that definition, 18 million Americans have experienced long COVID; currently, more than 1 in 20 of us are living with its symptoms. Researchers have begun to link long-term COVID with another recent phenomenon: our shrinking life expectancy.

The disease we’re forgetting COVID doesn’t seem that scary anymore. More than 98 percent of the U.S. population has some degree of immunity — from vaccination, prior infection or both — and Paxlovid and other medications are available to counteract acute symptoms. For many of us, contracting COVID is like having a bad ­upper respiratory infection.

But “COVID isn’t gone,” says Ryan Hurt, M.D., director of the Long COVID Research and Clinical Program at the Mayo Clinic. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that COVID still kills at least 1,000 people every week around the globe — but “we only have data from about 40 countries,” says Maria Van Kerkhove, M.D., director of WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention.

Older adults and those with preexisting conditions remain among the most at-risk populations for severe, acute COVID. ­People 65 and older accounted for 63 percent of COVID-related hospitalizations and 88 percent of in-hospital deaths during the first seven months of 2023, according to CDC data.

Although the dangers of acute COVID ­infection may have ebbed for many, the ­reality of long COVID is coming into view. Of those who contracted COVID-19 within the past four years, 10 to 20 percent have experienced long COVID.

“With every new case of acute COVID [the initial phase of infection when diagnosed or symptoms first appear], there is risk for developing long COVID,” says Caitlin McAuley, D.O., a family physician at the Keck COVID Recovery Clinic in Los Angeles. She’s had patients who developed long COVID fully recover, get reinfected several times with no lingering effects, then develop another case that leads to a new bout of long COVID. She’s also seen patients who got COVID twice with no lingering effects, and the third time they ended up with prolonged symptoms.

“We still have a number of individuals who had the first wave of COVID who are suffering from long COVID symptoms now, several of them many years out,” says Jerrold Kaplan, M.D., medical director of the COVID Rehabilitation and Recovery Program at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in New York.

Having escaped long COVID previously doesn’t mean you won’t face it in the future. Indeed, some research has suggested that catching multiple COVID-19 strains puts you at increased risk. A study published in 2022 found that reinfection can increase the risk of complications in major organ systems, and these risks persist at least six months beyond the initial infection.

We don’t yet know the true impact of catching COVID. “Many chronic disease processes, such as cardiovascular disease, dementia and cancer, take years to develop. And whether acute COVID-19 puts people at risk for some of these issues? Time will tell,” Hurt says. What doctors do know is that patients are flocking to their offices complaining of symptoms they never had before COVID.

Is long COVID boosting our death rate? In July, COVID accounted for less than 1 ­percent of all deaths in the U.S. Life expectancy in the U.S. is 77.5 years, reflecting an uptick over the past two years but still lower than prepandemic levels. Many factors contribute to that statistic, but it’s clear that the long-term effects of COVID have played a role.

For example, a study in the journal Nature Medicine found that those hospitalized with COVID had a 29 percent greater risk of death in the three years after their infection.

“But what was also alarming is that in people who weren’t hospitalized, there was also an increased risk of a variety of medical issues,” says John Baratta, founder and codirector of the COVID Recovery Clinic at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Even patients who’d had mild bouts of COVID-19 had an increased risk of respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological issues lingering for three years after the initial infection. Long COVID patients had a significantly increased risk of severe health issues affecting the brain, lungs and heart.

We have long known that an acute case of COVID can compromise heart health: Compared with those who didn’t contract COVID, people who caught the virus were 81 percent more likely to die of a cardiovascular complication in the ensuing three weeks, according to a study of 160,000 patients published by the European Society of Cardiology. But the risk lingers long after the symptoms abate. Those who caught the virus were five times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease as long as 18 months after infection, the same study found. Heart disease deaths, which had been on a downward trend for decades, began to spike in 2020 and remained high through 2022, the last year for which data is available.

Stroke, blood clots in the legs leading to clots in the lungs, abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) and inflammation of the heart are among the challenges COVID poses, says Mohanakrishnan Sathyamoorthy, M.D., professor and chair of internal medicine at the Burnett School of Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. In long COVID, this collection of cardiovascular disruptions can present as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), in which patients’ heart rates increase abnormally when they go from sitting or ­lying down to standing up.

One theory to explain COVID’s long-term effect on the heart — and the body in general — centers on inflammation. “Every time you get infected with COVID, there is a possible increased risk of long COVID, and some cardiac disorders can occur — especially if you have a history of heart disease, including stroke, heart disease and heart attacks,” says Pragna Patel, M.D., senior adviser for long COVID at the CDC. All of these problems can be exacerbated by the virus entering coronary tissue and triggering inflammatory responses that can damage the heart.

Researchers say COVID may also alter the gut microbiome, a primary controller of inflammation, thereby triggering the immune system to rev up the condition. “There is no single agreed-upon mechanism that’s causing the issues,” Baratta says. “An individual may have multiple factors going on in their body, and not everyone will have the same underlying mechanism causing their symptoms,” which increases the complexity of both research and treatment.

One factor that seems to matter: vaccination status. “Several studies show that vaccination can decrease the risk of developing long COVID,” Patel says. Vaccination rates tend to increase with age, with people 75 and older being the most well vaccinated — hence the most well protected from long COVID, Patel theorizes. That may explain why long COVID most commonly affects people ages 35 to 64; the risk seems to drop for those 65-plus, according to CDC data.

From long covid diagnosis to treatment No single test can determine whether a ­person has long COVID. Doctors typically diagnose long COVID by reviewing the ­patient’s health history and current symptoms and trying to rule out other causes. A positive COVID test is not required, as someone could have been infected without knowing it, then experience strange symptoms later, Patel says.

Though there are many ongoing clinical trials on long COVID, there is no umbrella treatment. Primary care physicians address what they can, then call in specialists — such as a cardiologist to handle arrhythmia or a therapist to treat anxiety — for more targeted care. There are long COVID centers around the country where teams of professionals work to help patients through their unique symptoms.

“Because the effects of COVID are so wide throughout the body and mind, there will not be a single treatment for all long COVID issues,” Baratta says. “This is ­going to be treated by many different types of providers and specialists, and it will be treated, often, symptom by symptom.”

Long COVID is recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act if it substantially limits one or more major life activities. About 200 symptoms fall ­under that umbrella, Patel says. Here are some of the conditions we’re learning can linger months and, in some cases, years beyond an acute COVID infection. If these or other health changes seem familiar, consult your primary care physician.

1. Extreme fatigue It’s common to experience fatigue when your body is busy fighting off an illness. But some people still struggle with fatigue long after their initial COVID infection. In fact, a lack of energy is the number one symptom reported by long COVID patients. In some, this can be diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome, which has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic, Baratta says. He defines this as “a disabling level of fatigue that severely limits daily activities.”

This lingering fatigue may be due to limited production of energy within the muscles caused by damage to the mitochondria from a COVID infection. It can happen to anyone — no matter their level of fitness before infection. “I’ve treated patients who have been triathletes and now may only be able to do 15 or 20 minutes of exercise a day, when they’re used to running and swimming miles at a time,” Kaplan says.

He recommends starting slow and pacing yourself with everything you do around the house, “doing shorter intervals several times throughout the day, rather than trying to do everything at once.” Whether it gets better depends on the individual. Some people’s symptoms clear, and some people may battle them indefinitely.

2. Shortness of breath An analysis of chest CT scans from 144 patients ages 27 to 80 found that more than one-third of people hospitalized with a previous COVID infection had lung scarring and thickening two years after coming into contact with the virus. Even patients with milder cases who walked away without scarring can experience changes in their breathing.

“Some research shows that people ­after COVID start to take shorter, shallower breaths,” Baratta says. “This essentially causes a type of hyperventilation they are doing without even recognizing it, not getting good fresh air deep into the lungs, and [this] can lead to shortness of breath.” ​

Doctors have found success using respiratory exercises to help patients relearn slow, deep breathing.

3. Cognitive changes Difficulty concentrating, spaciness and forgetfulness are just a few of the brain challenges COVID can bring on. These can last for weeks or months or — in some with long COVID — become an everyday occurrence that lasts indefinitely. COVID may linger in a person’s gut long after an infection, altering their microbiome and hindering the body’s ability to produce serotonin, leading to cognitive disturbances.

COVID may also disrupt the blood-brain barrier, allowing chemicals or molecules in the rest of the body to enter the brain blood circulation and potentially lead to brain fog, Baratta says.

One study found that 30 days after testing positive for COVID-19, people were at greater risk for cognitive decline, as well as for mental health disorders including anxiety, depression and stress. Another study found inflammation in the brains of people with mild to moderate COVID-19 was similar to the effects of seven years of aging. Doctors are leading neurologically affected patients through cognitive rehabilitation exercises that show promise in reducing symptoms.

4. Depression and anxiety “Mood-related disorders are one of the top five issues that happen to people after COVID,” Baratta says. There may be a direct relationship between the virus’s effect on the brain and mood issues. A 2021 review of eight studies found that 12 weeks after a COVID infection, 11 to 28 ­percent of people had depression symptoms, and 3 to 12 percent of those individuals reported their symptoms as severe. If you’re feeling more stressed or down after catching COVID, tell your primary care physician, who can refer you to a therapist. Or visit the American Psychological Association’s search tool at locator.apa.org to find a qualified therapist in your area.

5. Sleep disturbances Nearly 40 percent of people with long COVID have reported major changes to their sleep patterns. One study looked at 1,056 COVID-19 patients who did not have a severe enough infection to require hospitalization. Of that population, 76.1 percent reported having insomnia and 22.8 percent severe insomnia. Sleep ­apnea may also appear post-COVID, another way the disease affects the respiratory system.

Talk to your doctor if you’re having sleep issues. A CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine can help with sleep ­apnea. Lifestyle habits that prioritize healthy sleep, such as keeping consistent sleep and wake times and avoiding large meals before bed, may also help. “Post-COVID sleep has literally been a nightmare! We saw a 23 percent increase in sleeping-pill prescription during and post-COVID,” says Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and clinical sleep specialist in Los Angeles.

6. Digestive upset Diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, bloating and gas: These symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome can be by-products of an encounter with COVID. A survey of 729 COVID survivors found that 29 percent experienced at least one new chronic GI symptom six months after their infection. “There is evidence that parts of the COVID virus linger in the GI tract for many months after the initial illness, and it’s been suggested that the presence of these ongoing viral fragments causes dysfunction or problems with the GI tract, leading to mostly symptoms of diarrhea and gastric distress and discomfort,” Baratta says.

Talk to your doctor about any new digestive symptoms or seek help from a gastro­enterologist. You can keep a food journal and note if your condition flares after eating certain foods. Try cutting out those foods, then reintroducing them one by one to see what you react to, Kaplan advises.

7. New or worsened allergies Some people who develop COVID experience allergies they never had before. One study found the risk of ­developing allergic diseases, such as asthma and allergic rhinitis, rose significantly within the first 30 days after a COVID diagnosis. This may be because one’s immune system stays hypervigilant after fighting the virus, McAuley says.

In severe cases, like Chrissy Bernal’s, this can lead to mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), a disease that can behave like a series of severe allergies: The body’s cells become hypersensitive, causing strong ­reactions to everything from food and pollen to even a hot shower or exercise. Antihistamines and other medications may help, so talk to your doctor if you experience skin itching, a rapid pulse, wheezing or gastro­intestinal symptoms.

8. Pain Some COVID survivors battle chronic pain, everything from aching joints to testicular pain. There is a higher risk of inflammatory arthritis, and women are at higher risk than men. One review of studies estimated that 10 percent of people who contracted COVID experienced musculo­skeletal pain at some point during the first year after infection.

Reducing stress, eating a healthy diet and exercising may ease some post-COVID ­discomfort. Massage therapy, movement therapy, acupuncture and over-the-counter pain medications may also offer relief. Your doctor can refer you to a specialist, such as a rheumatologist, who can help manage symptoms including joint pain.

Fast-moving research means new hope If your symptoms last after a bout of COVID, start with your primary care physician, who can help treat your symptoms or refer you to a specialist. Despite previous dismissals, long COVID is more recognized these days, Patel says, and the CDC is doing its part to educate both patients and providers. And initiatives such as the National Institutes of Health’s Recover program are researching treatment options.

“In a year, things will look different, because research is moving so quickly,” says Sara F. Martin, M.D., medical director of the Adult Post-Acute COVID Clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The CDC, for instance, is funding a series of clinical trials that the NIH has in the works. This new information, Martin says, may guide doctors, including herself, who treat long COVID ­patients to better ease their symptoms.

[catdotjpeg]

Starvation and hunger are spreading among half a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as they facing rainy, cold weather and insufficient food due to the ongoing Israeli aggression since October.  Some Palestinian families used whatever ingredients they had to feed their children, such as grinding fodder, which is hay or straw normally fed to cattle, to bake bread.

“People need to make bread; sometimes they manage to make it [using fodder] and sometimes not. We are living a famine,” a Palestinian in Gaza told Al-Jazeera Arabic.

“We live in a polluted condition. There is no fresh water, no food, no drink, no flour. This flour you see here was made from livestock fodder,” he said, showing a sack of fodder that contained insects and needed palming before being crushed. UNRWA said on Tuesday that 570,000 Palestinians in Gaza are now facing “catastrophic hunger.”

“Intense fighting, access denials & restrictions + communications blackouts are hampering UNRWA’s ability to safely & effectively deliver aid,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said. “As risk of famine grows, UN calls for a critical increase in humanitarian access,” it added. UNRWA worries were reiterated by the World Food Programme (WFP), which believes that numerous areas of Gaza are on the verge of being plunged into famine pockets as Israeli bombardment and siege never eased for over three months, except for the ten-day truce in November. “This is why we’re seeing people becoming more desperate and being impatient to wait for food distributions, because it’s very sporadic,” the WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa said. Both UNRWA and WFP are struggling to deliver sufficient aid and food supplies inside the Gaza Strip. UNRWA said it managed, alongside its partners, to deliver protein-based, flour, dairy items, and high-energy biscuits to 320,000 families in January, which still leave thousands of other Palestinians without food in Gaza.

Palestinians in Gaza have been blocked by the Israeli military from accessing the agricultural fields to the east of the Gaza Strip since October, a significant portion of which have been leveled and destroyed. This has added to the lack of sufficient food and to starvation in Gaza for 2.3 million Palestinians, the majority of whom are now displaced.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is still catastrophic. As winter sets in, people are struggling without proper shelters, food, water and warm clothes,” ActionAid UK appealed in a petition.

“The health system has collapsed in Gaza and outbreak of disease such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections threatens more lives,” it added.

-- From "‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 110: Israeli forces encircle Khan Younis as Gazans risk famine" by Mustafa Abu Sneineh for Mondoweiss, 24 Jan 2024

[crimsonlyinglilly]

CrimsonlyingLilly's Febuwhump 2024 Masterlist

Thank you Febuwhump, great time for me, not so much Elijah Mikealson and a few others.

Most notable achievements from this month, returning to a few old fics, updating a fic that had been collecting dust, the birth of a new AU, posting a piece from one of my original worlds and killing Elijah Mikealson six times.

Anyway onto the works.

DAY 1: helpless - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Familiar faces- Elias and Tristan

DAY 2: solitary confinement - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Familiar faces- Elias and Tristan

DAYs 3 and 4: "bite down on this" and obedience - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Elias and Tristan

DAY 5: rope burns - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Familiar faces- Elias and Tristan

DAY 6: "you lied to me" - The Originals AU - Stolen Three.

DAY 7: suffering in silence - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Familiar faces- EJ

DAY 8: "why won't it stop?" -The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces-

Day 9 replacement- ALT 1: human shield - The Originals fic -Mikael on the night he really loses his children. (Elijah kill count 1)

Day 10 replacement - ALT 2: "i love you" - The Originals fic

DAY 11: time loop - My Originals characters- a mortal's grief and a god's power is a poor mix.

DAY 12: semi-conscious - The Originals fic - Klaus loses his temper and Elijah loses a few years. (Elijah kill count 2. Kinda)

DAY 13: "you weren't supposed to get hurt" - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces

DAY 14: blood-stained tiles - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces- Elijah Todorov, 'Ellis'.

DAY 15: "who did this to you?" - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Familiar faces- Elijah Todorov, 'Ellis'.

DAYs 16, 18 and 27 : came back wrong, too weak to move and left for dead - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU (Elijah kill count 3)

DAY 17: hostage situation - The Originals AU - Stolen Three.

DAYs 19 and 20: "please don't" and truth serum - The Originals AU - Inner Child

DAY 21: unresponsive - The Originals AU - Inner Child

DAY 21: unresponsive - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU -Familiar faces- Interlude - Tyler.

DAY 22: "you weren't meant to be there" The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces.

DAY 23 replacement - ALT 6: immortality - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU- Familiar faces.

DAY 24: "i'm doing this because i care about you" - A Buddy Daddies fic- A Broken Promise. update.

BONUS - ALT 5: cpr - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces. (Elijah kill count 4)

DAY 25: waterboarding - Stranger Things fic- From the future of  Centre of the Web,

DAY 26: "help them" - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces- Little Marcellus and Finn

BONUS ALT 4: human weapon - The Originals AU - Lady Elijah

DAY 28: "no... not like this" - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces.

BONUS ALT 7: last words - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces. (Elijah kill count 5)

DAY 29: not allowed to die - The Vampire Dairies/ Originals AU - Familiar faces. (Elijah kill count 6)

Thank you again Febuwhump2024.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.11

Holidays

Battle of Tendra Day (Russia)

Benghazi Remembrance Day

Bitter Orange Day (French Republic)

Cerrado Day (Brazil)

Day of Remembrance

Day of Sobriety (Russia)

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 1: Unity

Emergency Number Day

Evening of Destiny (Tunisia)

Fiesta Nacional de Cataluña (Catalonia, Spain)

Gun Cleaning Day

Harley Quinn Day

Hoover Dam Day

I Want to Start My Own Business Day

Jinnah Day (Founder’s Day; Pakistan)

Kababens Day

Liberation Day (Dijon, France)

Liberatrix Asteroid Day

Libraries Remember Day

Make Your Bed Day

Marcos Day (Ilocos Norte, Philippines)

National Day (Belize)

National Day of Catalonia (Spain)

National Day of Service and Remembrance

National Emergency Responders Day

National Forest Martyrs Day (India)

National Hug Your Boss Day [also 4th Friday]

National 911 Emergency Day

National Radio Day (Indonesia)

National Tricky Handshake Day

9/11 Remembrance Day

No News Is Good News Day

Odd Day

Paryushana Parva (Jainism)

Patriot Day

Pohnpei Liberation Day (Micronesia)

Porsche 911 Day

Queen Paola’s Birthday (Belgium)

Remember Freedom Day

Sustainable House Day

Teachers’ Day (Argentina, Latin America)

Texas First Responders Day (Texas)

Whiskey Rebellion Day

Women’s Baseball Day

World Wildlife Fund Day

Wrench in the Works Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Dairy Day (UK)

Hot Cross Buns Day

Kababens Day (Sweden)

Independence & Related Days

Tajikistan (from USSR, 1991) [observed]

New Year’s Days

Coptic New Year

Enkutatash (Ethiopia, Rastafari) [Day of Mäskäräm]

Geez New Year (Keddus Johannes)

New Year’s Day and Anniversary of the Reunion of Eritrea with Ethiopia (Ethiopia)

New Year's Day (a.k.a. Nayrouz; Coptic Ethiopia)

Pohnpei Liberation Day (Micronesia)

2nd Wednesday in September

Hump Day [Every Wednesday]

International Quiet Day [2nd Wednesday]

National Quiet Day (UK) [2nd Wednesday]

Wacky Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Watermelon Wednesday [2nd Wednesday of Each Month]

Website Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Workout Wednesday [2nd Wednesday of Each Month]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 11 (2nd Full Week of September)

Eleven Days of Global Unity begins [thru 21st]

Festivals Beginning September 11, 2024

Bienal de Flamenco (Seville, Spain) [thru 10.5]

CityFolk Festival (Ottawa, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Hancock County Fair (Kiln, Mississippi) [thru 9.14]

Morton Pumpkin Festival (Morton, Illinois) [thru 9.14]

MTV Video Music Awards

Murphysboro Apple Festival (Murphysboro, Illinois) [thru 9.14]

Ocean City Bikefest (Ocean City, Maryland) [thru 9.15]

Oldenburg International Film Festival (Oldenburg, Germany) [thru 9.15]

Oxford County Fair (Oxford, Maine) [thru 9.14]

Feast Days

Andre Dubus III (Writerism)

Casey (Muppetism)

Daphne Odjig (Artology)

Day of Queens (Ancient Egypt Festival celebrating Hatshepsut, Nefertiti & Cleopatra; Everyday Wicca)

Day of Thoth (Ancient Egypt)

Deiniol (Christian; Saint)

D.H. Lawrence (Writerism)

Discontinued Thoughts Exhibition (Shamanism)

Felix, Regula, and Exuperantius (Christian; Saint)

Francesco Bonifacio (Christian; Blessed)

Halegmonath (Anglo Saxon Holy Month; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Harry Burleigh (Episcopal Church)

Jean-Claude Forest (Artology)

John Gabriel Perboyre (Christian; One of Martyr Saints of China)

Leudinus (Bobo; Christian; Saint)

Meditrinalia (Pagan)

Monkey King Festival (Hong Kong) [16th Day of 8th Lunar Month]

Moreto (Positivist; Saint)

O. Henry (Writerism)

Our Lady of Coromoto (Christian; Saint)

Paphnutius of Thebes (Roman Catholic Church)

Patiens of Lyons (Christian; Saint)

Peter of Chavanon (Christian; Saint)

Protus and Hyacinth (Christian; Martyrs)

Sacrifice to Zeus Epoptes (Ancient Greece)

Sperandia (Christian; Saint)

Stephen Etnier (Artology)

Theodora of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Thomas Hill (Artology)

Tinfoil Hat Day (Pastafarian)

Vincent of Leon (Christian; Saint)

Virgin of Coromoto Day (Colombia)

Werewolf Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Historically Bad Day (Massacre of Drogheda, Twin Towers & Pentagon terrorist attack & 10 other tragedies) [9 of 11]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because of something to do with crazy people and planes.)

Premieres

The Adventures of Paddy the Pelican (Animated TV Series; 1950)

Air-Sea Battle (Atari Video Game; 1977)

The American Way of Death, by Jessica Mitford (Science Book; 1963)

Better Bait Than Never (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

Big Bomb at Frostbite Falls or the Exploding Metropolis (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 54; 1960)

Big Sur, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1962)

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Film; 1992)

Brave New World Revisited, by Aldous Huxley (Novel; 1958)

Busy Prepositions (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1993)

The Carol Burnett Show (TV Series; 1967)

Combat (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Contagion (Film; 2011)

Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, by Theodor W. Adorno (Philosophy Book; 1944)

The Farthest Shore, by Ursula Le Guin (Novel; 1972) [Earthsea #3]

Gogo Bordello Non-Stop (Music Documentary Film; 2009)

Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1989) [Discworld #8]

Huey’s Ducky Daddy (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

Indy 500 (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Is This It?, by The Strokes (Album; 2001)

The Jackson 5ive (Animated TV Series; 1971)

Just Desserts or Operator, We’ve Been Cut Off (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 160; 1962)

Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence (Novel; 1928)

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel (Novel; 2001)

Little House on the Prairie (TV Series; 1974)

Love Me Do, recorded by The Beatles (Song; 1962)

Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life, by Theodor W. Adorno (Critical Theory; 1951)

Oh! Susanna, by Stephen Foster (Song; 1848)

Porky’s Garden (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Queens Messenger (TV Series; 1928) [1st TV Drama]

The Rake’s Progress, by Igor Stravinsky (Opera; 1951)

The Saint and the Fiction Makers, by Fleming Lee (Novel; 1968) [Saint #41]

Saint Louis Blues, by W.C. Handy (Song; 1914)

Scooby-Doo! And the Gourmet Ghost (WB Animated Film; 2018)

The Seapreme Court (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares (Novel; 2001)

Slums of Beverly Hills (Film; 1998)

Sneakers (Film; 1992)

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison (Novel; 1977)

Squeeze Play or Glad We Could Get Together (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 159; 1962)

Stagger Lee, recorded by Lloyd Price (Original Uncensored Song; 1958)

Star Ship (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Street Racer (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Surf Bored (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

Surround (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Swiss Tease (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1947)

Swooning in the Swooners, featuring Farmer Al Falfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

The Tale or Mr. Morton (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1993)

Upsidaisium, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 53; 1960)

Video Olympics (Atari Video Game; 1977)

A Wanted Man, 17th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2012)

Wendell & Wild (Animated Film; 2022)

The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, by Bruce Springsteen (Album; 1973)

Today’s Name Days

Felix, Helga, Maternus, Regula (Austria)

Bonaventura, Feliks, Hijacint (Croatia)

Denisa (Czech Republic)

Hillebert (Denmark)

Aalo, Aleks, Aleksander, Sander, Sanno, Sass (Estonia)

Ale, Aleksandra, Aleksanteri, Ali, Sandra, Santeri, Santtu (Finland)

Adelphe, Glenn, Vinciane (France)

Felix, Helga, Louis (Germany)

Efrosynos, Evanthia, Evanthis, Theodora, Theodora (Greece)

Teodóra (Hungary)

Diomede, Fausto, Felice (Italy)

Ģirts, Nansija, Signe, Signija (Latvia)

Augantas, Gytautė, Gytė, Helga (Lithuania)

Dag, Dagny (Norway)

Feliks, Jacek, Jan, Naczesław, Prot (Poland)

Bystrik (Slovakia)

Teodora (Spain)

Dagny, Helny (Sweden)

Fialka, Theodora, Violet (Ukraine)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 255 of 2024; 111 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 9 (Wu-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 8 Elul 5784

Islamic: 7 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 15 Gold; Oneday [15 of 30]

Julian: 29 August 2024

Moon: 54%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Guevara]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 84 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 21 of 32)

[odinspattern]

So apparently the «Nordic Diet» is being promoted now as a new, healthy diet that is supposedly soooo healthy, like lowering Diabetes and heart disease.

I was curious, so I went to check it out, and was lead to a Forbes article which y’all can read here; https://www.forbes.com/health/nutrition/diet/nordic-diet-review/

… the fuck. While some of the things written here is technically true, like limiting processed meats is encouraged, and sweets are discoraged, also we do eat a lot of seafood…

Plant. Based????

The fuck it isn’t! In what world is nordic food plant based? A lot of Norway in particular have very poor soil, meaning that there aren’t a lot of vegetables that grow here, and people had to rely on milk products, potatoes, cheese and meat to get through the winter months.

Legumes? Other than our pea soups, legumes are hardly part of our traditional diets!

Not to mention how in Norway we are big fans of food in tubes, which is a convenient way to take food with you on hikes without making your bread soggy and gross. Things like Caviar, mackerel in tomato sauce, bacon cheese and shrimp cheese to name a few…

Also it is funny how the article talks about low fat dairy, as there is currently a push to use full fat dairy now, because of anxieties around ultra-processed food.

What really gets me though is how it refuses to acknowledge that our healthcare and wealth is one of the deciding factors of the good health in the Nordics. And pretty significant reason why we live so long.

[coloradoron]

The Boy Who Cried Wolf…

Who is still crying wolf…

With MILLIONS of soft-brained people still believing him.

1967: Dire Famine Forecast By 1975

1969: Everyone Will Disappear In a Cloud Of Blue Steam By 1989 (1969)

1970: Ice Age By 2000

1970: America Subject to Water Rationing By 1974 and Food Rationing By 1980

1971: New Ice Age Coming By 2020 or 2030

1972: New Ice Age By 2070

1974: Space Satellites Show New Ice Age Coming Fast

1974: Another Ice Age?

1974: Ozone Depletion a ‘Great Peril to Life

1976: Scientific Consensus Planet Cooling, Famines imminent

1980: Acid Rain Kills Life In Lakes

1978: No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend

1988: Regional Droughts (that never happened) in 1990s

1988: Temperatures in DC Will Hit Record Highs

1988: Maldive Islands will Be Underwater by 2018 (they’re not)

1989: Rising Sea Levels will Obliterate Nations if Nothing Done by 2000

1989: New York City’s West Side Highway Underwater by 2019 (it’s not)

2000: Children Won’t Know what Snow Is

2002: Famine In 10 Years If We Don’t Give Up Eating Fish, Meat, and Dairy

2004: Britain will Be Siberia by 2024

2008: Arctic will Be Ice Free by 2018

2008: Climate Genius Al Gore Predicts Ice-Free Arctic by 2013

2009: Climate Genius Prince Charles Says we Have 96 Months to Save World

2009: UK Prime Minister Says 50 Days to ‘Save The Planet From Catastrophe’

2009: Climate Genius Al Gore Moves 2013 Prediction of Ice-Free Arctic to 2014

2013: Arctic Ice-Free by 2015

2014: Only 500 Days Before ‘Climate Chaos’

1968: Overpopulation Will Spread Worldwide

1970: World Will Use Up All its Natural Resources

1966: Oil Gone in Ten Years

1972: Oil Depleted in 20 Years

1977: Department of Energy Says Oil will Peak in 90s

1980: Peak Oil In 2000

1996: Peak Oil in 2020

2002: Peak Oil in 2010

2006: Super Hurricanes!

2005 : Manhattan Underwater by 2015

1970: Urban Citizens Will Require Gas Masks by 1985

1970: Nitrogen buildup Will Make All Land Unusable

1970: Decaying Pollution Will Kill all the Fish

1970s: Killer Bees!

UPDATE:

42. 1975: The Cooling World and a Drastic Decline in Food Production

43. 1969: Worldwide Plague, Overwhelming Pollution, Ecological Catastrophe, Virtual Collapse of UK by End of 20th Century

44. 1972: Pending Depletion and Shortages of Gold, Tin, Oil, Natural Gas, Copper, Aluminum

45. 1970: Oceans Dead in a Decade, US Water Rationing by 1974, Food Rationing by 1980

46. 1988: World’s Leading Climate Expert Predicts Lower Manhattan Underwater by 2018

47. 2005: Fifty Million Climate Refugees by the Year 2020

48. 2000: Snowfalls Are Now a Thing of the Past

49.1989: UN Warns That Entire Nations Wiped Off the Face of the Earth by 2000 From Global Warming

50. 2011: Washington Post Predicted Cherry Blossoms Blooming in Winter because of global warming

[brookston]

Holidays 4.3

Holidays

American Circus Day

American Creed Day

Armenian Appreciation Day

Corrupt Society Day

Day of the Bride (Argentina)

Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day

A Drop of Water is a Grain of Gold

Fan Dance Day

Find A Rainbow Day

Good Deeds Day

Independent Artist Day

International Day Against Victim Blaming

Jane Goodall Day (Los Angeles)

Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus; Japan)

Love A Muslim Day (UK)

National Chalk Day

National Film Score Day

National Grey Day

National Inspiring Joy Day

National Library Week begins

National Pac-Man Day

National Shoot Your Shot Day

Overcome a Handicap Day

Paraprofessional Appreciation Day

Peace Day (Angola)

Pony Express Day

Second Republic Day (Guinea)

TV Guide Day

Tweed Day

Weed Out Hate: Sow the Seeds of Greatness Day

World Aquatic Animal Day

World Cloud Security Day

World Party Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day

Fish Fingers and Custard Day

National Chocolate Mousse Day

1st Monday in April

National Bake Week begins [1st Monday]

National Fun Day [1st Monday]

Public Library Day [Monday of Library Week]

School Librarian Day [Monday of Library Week]

Sweet Potato Day [1st Monday]

Tater Day (Kentucky) [1st Monday]

Independence Days

Declaration of the Second Republic (Guinea)

Malinovia (Declared 2018) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Agape, Chionia, and Irene (Christian; Martyrs)

Aristæus (Positivist; Saint)

Burgundofara (Christian; Saint)

Captain Cabbage (Muppetism)

Day of Sheela-Na-Gig (Pagan)

Doris Day (Pastafarian)

Feast of Pak Tai (Macau) [3rd Day of 3rd Lunar Month]

Goof Friday (Church of the SubGenius)

Holy Monday [6 Days before Easter]

Luigi Scrosoppi (Christian; Saint)

Nicetias (Christian; Saint)

Plato (Christian; Saint)

Proserpina’s Rise from the Underworld Day (Ancient Greece)

Richard of Chichester (Christian; Saint)

Seize a Sausage Day (Pastafarian)

Ulpin of Tyre (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sizdar-Bedah (Unlucky to stay indoors; Iran)

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Adventureland (Film; 2009)

Beethoven (Film; 1992)

The Druid of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (Novel; 1991)

Fast & Furious (Film; 2009) [F&F #4]

Furious 7 (Film; 2015) [F&F #7]

It Happened at the World’s Fair (Film; 1963)

It’s Now or Never, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1960)

The Long, Hot Summer (Film; 1958)

Louisiana Hayride (Radio Music Series; 1948)

Mercury Rising (Film; 1998)

My Hero Academia (Anime TV Series; 2016)

The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregor (Novel; 2008)

Piano Concerto in A Minor, by Edvard Grieg (Concerto; 1869)

Planet of the Apes (Film; 1968)

Planning for Good Eating (Disney Cartoon; 1946)

Rock-A-Doodle (Animated Film; 1992)

Rumple of the Bailey (UK TV Series; 1978)

The Sea-Wolf (Novel; 1904)

2001: A Space Odyssey (Film; 1968)

Today’s Name Days

Richard, Sixtus (Austria)

Radojko, Ratko, Rikard, Siksto (Croatia)

Richard (Czech Republic)

Nicæas (Denmark)

Uko, Uku (Estonia)

Sampo, Veeti (Finland)

Richard (France)

Irene, Lisa, Richard (Germany)

Illyria’s (Greece)

Buda, Richárd (Hungary)

Riccardo, Sisto (Italy)

Daira, Dairis, Ferdinands (Latvia)

Kristijonas, Ričardas, Rimtautė, Vytenis (Lithuania)

Gunnvald, Gunvor (Norway)

Antoni, Cieszygor, Jakub, Pankracy, Ryszard (Poland)

Nichita (Romania)

Richard (Slovakia)

Ricardo (Spain)

Ferdinand, Nanna (Sweden)

Dick, Dickson, Dix, Dixie, Dixon, Doris, Ricarda, Ricardo, Rich, Richard, Richelle, Richman, Rick, Rickey, Ricky, Rosamond, Rosamund, Ryan (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 93 of 2024; 272 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 14 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 16 of 28]

Chinese: Second Month 2 (Gui-Mao), Day 13 (Xin-Mao)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 12 Nisan 5783

Islamic: 12 Ramadan 1444

J Cal: 2 Aqua; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 21 March 2023

Moon: 93%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 9 Archimedes (4th Month) [Aristæus]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 15 of 90)

Zodiac: Aries (Day 14 of 30)

[dreamsugargumbloggirl]

The Bestest Dairy Month 🧀 Day 4

Cheddar Cheese🧀

Art challenge made by TheTROCFans

[covid-safer-hotties]

In the U.S. Response to Avian Influenza, Echoes of Covid-19 - Published Sept 2, 2024

By Joshua Cohen

It’s been about five months since the Texas Department of State Health Services announced that a worker on a dairy farm had tested positive for avian influenza A (H5N1) virus after being exposed to apparently infected cattle. Since then, the U.S. public health response has been slow and disjointed, bringing back memories of how the federal government responded during the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite having a pandemic playbook in early 2020, the U.S. appeared flat-footed in its response to Covid-19, including inadequate testing and unavailable personal protective equipment. And throughout the pandemic, mixed messaging on masks and later vaccines set back public health efforts.

As H5N1 circulates, it seems that lessons from Covid-19 remain unlearned. It appears that missteps are being made regarding testing, surveillance, transparency, and failure of communication and coordination throughout the health care system, the same kinds of things that hurt the response to Covid-19.

“The World Health Organization,” according to NPR, “considers the virus a public health concern because of its potential to cause a pandemic.” What may be concerning is that the genetic sequence of the Spanish flu that killed between 50 and 100 million people from 1918 to 1919 was later found to be an H1N1 virus that originated in birds and then somehow adapted to humans. And based on confirmed cases, the case fatality rate could be as high as 50 percent, as over the past two decades roughly half of about 900 people around the globe known to have contracted bird flu died from it. (There are two caveats, however: Due to limited testing, there were likely more cases that were undetected which would lower the mortality rate. And in the last two years, the global case fatality rate seems to have decreased.)

As of Aug. 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 196 dairy cow herds in 14 U.S. states have confirmed cases of avian influenza.

There have been 14 reported cases in humans since 2022, all of whom were exposed to cattle or poultry, and reports suggest that there may be even more sick farm workers who haven’t been tested. There’s no evidence the virus has started to spread among people, but that could change as the situation evolves. The possibility of spillover is always of concern to experts. One of two main competing theories of coronavirus origins and how it evolved into a human-to-human transmissible infection is zoonotic transfer from mammals sold at a wet market in Wuhan, China, to humans.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared at a press conference in June that his department “is trying to corner the virus,” while releasing a report that human activity is a conduit to bird flu being transmitted between animals when workers, cows, vehicles and equipment move between farms.

But experts have voiced sharp criticism of the U.S. government’s response, especially around the lack of comprehensive surveillance efforts to ascertain the extent of the outbreak. When interviewed by KFF Health News, Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health said, “We’re flying blind.” Without sufficient testing, it’s impossible to know how many animals and humans have been infected or whether the virus has begun to spread between people.

As could have been learned from the Covid-19 experience, integral to conventional approaches to curbing transmission of infectious diseases is a comprehensive set of track, isolate, and contact trace policies. These have not been systematically implemented.

"Without a collective effort across all states, there’s nothing to stop avian flu from spreading around the country."

Michigan stands out as a state with a robust policy to track human and animal infections and investigate which activities pose the most risk. First, the state’s chief medical executive told STAT, Michigan tested more individuals this spring than any other state. And then the Department of Health and Human Services in Michigan launched a pioneering effort to detect asymptomatic (silent) bird flu infections among farmworkers. Furthermore, a press release from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development notes that under state rules dairy and commercial poultry producers must implement biosecurity practices, which include establishing cleaning and disinfection protocols at access points for individuals and vehicles.

Investigators believe the virus may have begun to spread in Michigan when workers operating multiple dairy and poultry operations came in close contact with infected cows and moved from one farm to another.

In April, the USDA issued a federal order requiring testing before lactating dairy cattle can be moved across state lines. Michigan, along with nearly two dozen other states, has also issued its own restrictions. But without a collective effort across all states, there’s nothing to stop avian flu from spreading around the country.

Furthermore, how effective can containment be when the USDA’s order only requires testing for bird flu in lactating cows prior to interstate movement, and no other types of animals?

One of the challenges in managing any major outbreak is the question of who’s in charge to coordinate across departments, such as Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and Commerce. For the purpose of inter-department coordination, the Biden administration launched an Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy in 2023.

Among federal agencies, the CDC (housed within the Department of Health and Human Services) appears to be the most actively involved in coordinating state efforts. It has provided assistance for a seroprevalence study in Michigan, to assess whether asymptomatic infections are present in people, for example.

But despite these efforts, there’s lack of clarity around who has jurisdictional authority over what and where. Rick Bright, a virologist and immunologist and former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, explained to CNN why he thinks that a more transparent and comprehensive approach to testing and genetic sequencing is needed. He’s concerned that viral adaptations can occur if there are enough opportunities through uncontrolled spread.

The CDC does now have a roadmap, which it announced for preventing and understanding human infection with bird flu and a plan to develop countermeasures. The roadmap’s main objectives include infection prevention by deploying PPE; examination of primary modes of transmission and estimates of incubation periods, duration of infection and severity; monitoring of genetic changes in the virus; and evaluating vaccines and antivirals. CDC Director Mandy Cohen said lessons from Covid-19 have been learned and that CDC is building upon them, for instance, through its wastewater surveillance efforts.

The CDC’s ability to implement these lofty goals may be hampered, however, by seemingly limited resources. The federal government has pledged only modest new funds this year of approximately $200 million to help track and contain H5N1. Separately, the government is allocating $176 million in Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine against H5N1.

And conspicuously absent are concrete plans, such as how to deploy the stockpile of 10 million doses of avian flu vaccines the federal government currently has as well as the inventory of the antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir). By contrast, Finland is now offering vaccines to farmworkers.

"The CDC’s ability to implement these lofty goals may be hampered, however, by seemingly limited resources."

Aside from inadequate funding and preparation, there’s a problem of overcoming public distrust. A survey published in Health Affairs suggests that about 42 percent of American adult respondents in early 2022 said they had confidence in the CDC to provide quality health information during the Covid-19 pandemic, while about a third said they trusted state and local health departments. This may partly explain why the CDC is now having trouble getting farmers to cooperate with even rudimentary tracking and mitigation efforts regarding H5N1.

Lessons from the history of how Covid-19 unfolded underscore the importance of not being complacent in the face of a potential future bird flu pandemic. It would seem imperative to take proactive measures such as systematic testing of animals and humans exposed to the virus, mitigate transmission risk in the dairy and poultry industries, and coordinate federal and state responses.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.14

Holidays

Are You Okay Day

Armored Troops Day (Ukraine)

Board Game Day

Burning of King Olaf (Elder Scrolls)

Capybara Day

Cochabamba Day (Bolivia)

Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Appreciation Day

Corn Day (French Republic)

Day of Energy Industry Workers (Turkmenistan)

Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Ukraine)

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 4: Economic Justice

Engineer’s Day (Romania)

Erato Asteroid Day

Eurynome Asteroid Day

Find the Good Day

Formation of the Earth Day

Hug A Crabby Stranger Day

International Cross-Culture Day

International Sex Worker Pride Day

Kenny Rogers Day (Los Angeles, California)

Lighthouse Day

Lone Ranger Day

Max Planck Day

Mobilized Servicemen Day (Ukraine)

Music Day (Korea)

National ADHD Day (South Africa)

National Anthem Day

National Career Day

National Cheerleading Day

National Coloring Day

National Field Hockey Day

National Latino Business Day

National Live Creatively Day

National Noel Day

National Parents Day Off

National Peacekeepers Day (Australia)

National Sober Day

National Virginia Day

914 Day

914 mm Day

Nutting Day (UK)

Philip K. Dick Day (California)

Photo Day (South Korea)

Pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Einsiedeln (Switzerland)

Porsche 914 Day

Saboteurs Day (Biafra)

San Jacinto Day (Nicaragua)

Star Spangled Banner Day

Support Latino Business Day

Talk About Cancer Day

Tithi of Sri Sri Madhabdeva (Assam, India)

U.S. Marshall Service Day

World Atopic Eczema Day

World Cleanup Day (Nigeria)

World Hearing Voices Day

World Taste & Smell Day

Wo-Zha-Wa Festival

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cream-Filled Doughnut Day

Eat a Hoagie Day

Gobstopper Day

International Crab Fest Day

National Food is Medicine Day

National Rosa Tequila Day

Pig's Face Feast

Independence & Related Days

Azma-Turkopolis Confederation (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

New Scandinavia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

2nd Saturday in September

Aunt’s Day [Saturday after Labor Day]

Banana Day [2nd Saturday]

Borscht Day (Ukraine) [2nd Saturday]

Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day [Saturday after 1st Monday]

Day of the Workers in the Oil, Gas, Power and Geological Industry [2nd Saturday]

Expectant Mother's Day [2nd Saturday]

Farmers’ Consumer Awareness Day [2nd Saturday]

German Language Day [2nd Saturday]

International Drive Your Studebaker Day [2nd Saturday]

International Forest Bathing Day [2nd Saturday]

International Women’s Fly Fishing Day [2nd Saturday]

Naked Gardening Day [2nd Saturday]

National Black Female Photographers Day [2nd Saturday]

National Clean Out Your Garage Day [Saturday after Labor Day]

National Hollerin’ Day [2nd Saturday]

National Iguana Awareness Day [2nd Saturday]

National Lacemaking Day (UK) [2nd Saturday]

Prairie Day [2nd Saturday]

Public Lands Day [1st Saturday after 1st Monday]

Salad Saturday [2nd Saturday of Each Month]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Satirical Saturday [2nd Saturday of Each Month]

Saturday the 14th Day [Every Saturday the 14th]

Sheriff’s Ride Ceremony (Lichfield, UK) [Saturday nearest 8th]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sour Beer Day [2nd Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

World Arepa Day [2nd Saturday]

World First Aid Day [2nd Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 14 (2nd Full Week of September)

Laura Ingall’s Wilder Days (Pepin, Wisconsin) [2nd Full Weekend] 9thru 9.15)

Festivals Beginning September 14, 2024

All American Dairy Show (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.15]

B'dam Brew JAM (Beaverdam, Virginia)

Biloxi Seafood Festival (Biloxi, Mississippi)

The Bloody Mary Festival (Portland, Oregon)

Bruges Beer Festival (Bruges, Belgium) [thru 9.15]

BugFest (Raleigh, North Carolina)

California Brewers Festival (Santa Barbara, California)

Capitola Art & Wine Festival (Capitola, California)

Charlie Adams Day (Newkirk, Oklahoma)

Community BBQ (Brunswick, Maine)

Dessert Wars (Charlotte, North Carolina)

DSBC Fun Fest (Newark, Delaware)

Great Pumpkin Festival (Vernon, New Jersey) [thru 11.3]

Harvest Festival (Cooperstown, New York) [thru 9.15]

Downbeach Seafood Festival (Ski Beach Ventnor, New Jersey) [thru 9.15]

International Festival of Comics and Games in Lodz (Lodz, Poland) [thru 9.15]

Lake Arrowhead Oktoberfest and German Food Fest (Lake Arrowhead, California) [thru 10.27]

Living History Farms Applefest (Urbandale, Iowa)

Mansfield Village Cornbread Festival (Mansfield, Indiana)

Maple Fall Fest (Marshfield, Wisconsin) [thru 9.15]

Maryland Seafood Festival (Annapolis, Maryland) [thru 9.15]

Maryland Wine Festival (Westminster, Maryland)

Mohawk Valley Garlic and Herb Festival (Little Falls, New York)

Muscadine Jubilee (Pelahatchie, Mississippi)

The Northern California Renaissance Faire (Hollister, California) [thru 10.20]

Northwest Garlic Festival (Ocean Park, Washington) [thru 9.15]

Oz Comic-Con (Brisbane, Australia) [thru 9.15]

Pie Town Pie Festival (Pie Town, New Mexico)

Plate by Plate LA (Los Angeles, California)

Pointe Mouillee Waterfowl Festival (Brownstown, Michigan) [thru 9.15]

Rockin' Taco Street Fest (Chandler, Arizona)

Santa Clara Art & Wine Festival (Santa Clara, California)

Small Press Expo (Bethesda, Maryland) [thru 9.15]

Taste of Fall Experience (Willcox, Arizona) [thru 9.15]

Wine, Chocolate & Romance (Shakopee, Minnesota) [thru 9.15]

Wine on the River (Nashville, Tennessee)

Feast Days

Aelia Flaccilla (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Catherine of Genoa (Christian; Saint)

Charles Dana Gibson (Artology)

Cormac mac Cuilennáin (or of Cashel; Christian; Saint)

Crescentius of Rome (Christian; Saint)

Day of Jupiter and Juno (Pagan)

Death of Prophet Muhammed (Islam)

Despair for the Human Race (Pastafarian)

Elevation of the Holy Cross (Eastern Orthodox)

Embrace the Dark Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Christian)

Feast of Notburga of Eben (Christian; Saint) [Waiters & Farmers]

Feast of the Cross (Christianity)

Feast of Uru-Wadu (the Primal Couple; Kisar Island, Indonesia)

Fido (Muppetism)

Fujio Akatsuka (Artology)

Geraldine Brooks (Writerism)

Hindi Divas (Parts of India; Hinduism)

Holy Cross Day (a.k.a. Holy Rood Day)

John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Christian; Saint)

John Gould (Artology)

Lessing (Positivist; Saint)

Lord of Miracles of Buga (Christian; Saint)

Louis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Christian; One of Martyr Saints of China)

Lucas Samaras (Artology)

Mabsant Festival (Celtic Book of Days)

Maternus of Cologne (Christian; Saint)

Nicholas Georgiadis (Artology)

Notburga (Christian; Saint)

Peter Lely (Artology)

Pig’s Face Feast (Avening, Gloucestershire, UK)

Richard Gerstl (Artology)

Rowena Morrill (Artology)

Triumph of the Cross (Roman Catholic)

Unclear Ideas Display (Imps; Shamanism)

Vaughan Bode Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 257 [55 of 72]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 42 of 60)

Premieres

Across the Universe (Film; 2007)

The Addams Family (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Adventures of the Gummi Bears (Animated TV Series; 1985)

The Archies (Animated TV Series; 1968)

Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, by meatloaf (Album; 1993)

Belle Boys (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1953)

Bumbling Brothers Circus, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 301; 1964)

The Care Bears (Animated TV Series; 1985)

A Cartoonist’s Nightmare (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse (Animated TV Series; 1960)

Crisis? What Crisis?, by Supertramp (Album; 1975)

A Discovery of Witches (TV Series; 2018)

The Dragon Prince (Animated Film; 2018)

Flying Circus (WB LT Cartoon; 1968)

Funeral, by Arcade Fire (Album; 2004)

Genie with the Light Pink Fur (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1966)

Get Born, by Jet (Album; 2003)

The Golden Girls (TV Series; 1985)

Have Gun — Will Travel (Radio Series; 1957)

Hot Feet (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1931)

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (Novel; 2008) [#1]

The Invention of Lying (Film; 2009)

Lion in the Bedroom or The Cat’s Pajamas (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 302; 1964)

The Magnificent Seven (Film; 2016)

Making Plans For Nigel, by XTC (Song; 1979)

The Messiah, finished by George Frederic Handel (Oratorio; 1741)

Monkey Love (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1935)

Mork and Mindy (TV Series; 1978)

The Parrotville Fire Department (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1934)

Partysaurus Rex (Disney Cartoon; 2012)

Quadrophenia (Film; 1979)

Scooby Doo! Camp Scare (WB Animated Film; 2010)

A Simple Favor (Film; 2018)

Some Fantastic Place, by Squeeze (Album; 1993)

The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key (Poem; 1814)

Talking Horse Sense (Modern Madcaps Cartoon; 1959)

Tall in the Trap (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1962)

Tiny Toon Adventures (Animated TV Series; 1990)

Total Request Live (Music TV Series; 1998)

Tutti Frutti recorded, by Little Richard (Song; 1955)

The Waltons (TV Series; 1971)

A Wizard’s Tale (Animated Film; 2018)

Zoom and Bored (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Cornelius, Kreuz-Erhöhung (Austria)

Krustan, Krustina, Krustyo, Stavri (Bulgaria)

Slavko, Višeslav (Croatia)

Radka (Czech Republic)

Raimo, Raimond, Raimu, Raimund, Reimo, Reimu (Estonia)

Iida, Iita, Isla (Finland)

Albert, Irmgard, Jens, Kreuzerhöhung (Germany)

Stavros, Stavroula, Theoklis (Greece)

Roxána, Szeréna (Hungary)

Crocifisso, Elena (Italy)

Koknesis, Norberts, Sanda, Sanita, Santa (Latvia)

Eisvina, Eisvinas, Krescencijus (Lithuania)

Ingebjørg, Ingeborg (Norway)

Bernard, Cyprian, Roksana, Siemomysł, Szymon (Poland)

Ľudomil (Slovakia)

Cruz, Exaltación (Spain)

Ida (Sweden)

Keisha, Lakeisha, Latasha, LaTease, Latisha, Leticia, Letitia, Letty, Tish, Tisha (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 258 of 2024; 108 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 12 (Xin-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 11 Elul 5784

Islamic: 10 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 18 Gold; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 1 September 2024

Moon: 84%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 6 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Goethe]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 87 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 24 of 32)

Calendar Changes

September (Julian Calendar) [Month 9 of 12]

[brookston]

Holidays 9.14

Holidays

Are You Okay Day

Armored Troops Day (Ukraine)

Board Game Day

Burning of King Olaf (Elder Scrolls)

Capybara Day

Cochabamba Day (Bolivia)

Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Appreciation Day

Corn Day (French Republic)

Day of Energy Industry Workers (Turkmenistan)

Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Ukraine)

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 4: Economic Justice

Engineer’s Day (Romania)

Erato Asteroid Day

Eurynome Asteroid Day

Find the Good Day

Formation of the Earth Day

Hug A Crabby Stranger Day

International Cross-Culture Day

International Sex Worker Pride Day

Kenny Rogers Day (Los Angeles, California)

Lighthouse Day

Lone Ranger Day

Max Planck Day

Mobilized Servicemen Day (Ukraine)

Music Day (Korea)

National ADHD Day (South Africa)

National Anthem Day

National Career Day

National Cheerleading Day

National Coloring Day

National Field Hockey Day

National Latino Business Day

National Live Creatively Day

National Noel Day

National Parents Day Off

National Peacekeepers Day (Australia)

National Sober Day

National Virginia Day

914 Day

914 mm Day

Nutting Day (UK)

Philip K. Dick Day (California)

Photo Day (South Korea)

Pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Einsiedeln (Switzerland)

Porsche 914 Day

Saboteurs Day (Biafra)

San Jacinto Day (Nicaragua)

Star Spangled Banner Day

Support Latino Business Day

Talk About Cancer Day

Tithi of Sri Sri Madhabdeva (Assam, India)

U.S. Marshall Service Day

World Atopic Eczema Day

World Cleanup Day (Nigeria)

World Hearing Voices Day

World Taste & Smell Day

Wo-Zha-Wa Festival

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cream-Filled Doughnut Day

Eat a Hoagie Day

Gobstopper Day

International Crab Fest Day

National Food is Medicine Day

National Rosa Tequila Day

Pig's Face Feast

Independence & Related Days

Azma-Turkopolis Confederation (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

New Scandinavia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

2nd Saturday in September

Aunt’s Day [Saturday after Labor Day]

Banana Day [2nd Saturday]

Borscht Day (Ukraine) [2nd Saturday]

Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day [Saturday after 1st Monday]

Day of the Workers in the Oil, Gas, Power and Geological Industry [2nd Saturday]

Expectant Mother's Day [2nd Saturday]

Farmers’ Consumer Awareness Day [2nd Saturday]

German Language Day [2nd Saturday]

International Drive Your Studebaker Day [2nd Saturday]

International Forest Bathing Day [2nd Saturday]

International Women’s Fly Fishing Day [2nd Saturday]

Naked Gardening Day [2nd Saturday]

National Black Female Photographers Day [2nd Saturday]

National Clean Out Your Garage Day [Saturday after Labor Day]

National Hollerin’ Day [2nd Saturday]

National Iguana Awareness Day [2nd Saturday]

National Lacemaking Day (UK) [2nd Saturday]

Prairie Day [2nd Saturday]

Public Lands Day [1st Saturday after 1st Monday]

Salad Saturday [2nd Saturday of Each Month]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Satirical Saturday [2nd Saturday of Each Month]

Saturday the 14th Day [Every Saturday the 14th]

Sheriff’s Ride Ceremony (Lichfield, UK) [Saturday nearest 8th]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sour Beer Day [2nd Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

World Arepa Day [2nd Saturday]

World First Aid Day [2nd Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 14 (2nd Full Week of September)

Laura Ingall’s Wilder Days (Pepin, Wisconsin) [2nd Full Weekend] 9thru 9.15)

Festivals Beginning September 14, 2024

All American Dairy Show (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.15]

B'dam Brew JAM (Beaverdam, Virginia)

Biloxi Seafood Festival (Biloxi, Mississippi)

The Bloody Mary Festival (Portland, Oregon)

Bruges Beer Festival (Bruges, Belgium) [thru 9.15]

BugFest (Raleigh, North Carolina)

California Brewers Festival (Santa Barbara, California)

Capitola Art & Wine Festival (Capitola, California)

Charlie Adams Day (Newkirk, Oklahoma)

Community BBQ (Brunswick, Maine)

Dessert Wars (Charlotte, North Carolina)

DSBC Fun Fest (Newark, Delaware)

Great Pumpkin Festival (Vernon, New Jersey) [thru 11.3]

Harvest Festival (Cooperstown, New York) [thru 9.15]

Downbeach Seafood Festival (Ski Beach Ventnor, New Jersey) [thru 9.15]

International Festival of Comics and Games in Lodz (Lodz, Poland) [thru 9.15]

Lake Arrowhead Oktoberfest and German Food Fest (Lake Arrowhead, California) [thru 10.27]

Living History Farms Applefest (Urbandale, Iowa)

Mansfield Village Cornbread Festival (Mansfield, Indiana)

Maple Fall Fest (Marshfield, Wisconsin) [thru 9.15]

Maryland Seafood Festival (Annapolis, Maryland) [thru 9.15]

Maryland Wine Festival (Westminster, Maryland)

Mohawk Valley Garlic and Herb Festival (Little Falls, New York)

Muscadine Jubilee (Pelahatchie, Mississippi)

The Northern California Renaissance Faire (Hollister, California) [thru 10.20]

Northwest Garlic Festival (Ocean Park, Washington) [thru 9.15]

Oz Comic-Con (Brisbane, Australia) [thru 9.15]

Pie Town Pie Festival (Pie Town, New Mexico)

Plate by Plate LA (Los Angeles, California)

Pointe Mouillee Waterfowl Festival (Brownstown, Michigan) [thru 9.15]

Rockin' Taco Street Fest (Chandler, Arizona)

Santa Clara Art & Wine Festival (Santa Clara, California)

Small Press Expo (Bethesda, Maryland) [thru 9.15]

Taste of Fall Experience (Willcox, Arizona) [thru 9.15]

Wine, Chocolate & Romance (Shakopee, Minnesota) [thru 9.15]

Wine on the River (Nashville, Tennessee)

Feast Days

Aelia Flaccilla (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Catherine of Genoa (Christian; Saint)

Charles Dana Gibson (Artology)

Cormac mac Cuilennáin (or of Cashel; Christian; Saint)

Crescentius of Rome (Christian; Saint)

Day of Jupiter and Juno (Pagan)

Death of Prophet Muhammed (Islam)

Despair for the Human Race (Pastafarian)

Elevation of the Holy Cross (Eastern Orthodox)

Embrace the Dark Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Christian)

Feast of Notburga of Eben (Christian; Saint) [Waiters & Farmers]

Feast of the Cross (Christianity)

Feast of Uru-Wadu (the Primal Couple; Kisar Island, Indonesia)

Fido (Muppetism)

Fujio Akatsuka (Artology)

Geraldine Brooks (Writerism)

Hindi Divas (Parts of India; Hinduism)

Holy Cross Day (a.k.a. Holy Rood Day)

John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Christian; Saint)

John Gould (Artology)

Lessing (Positivist; Saint)

Lord of Miracles of Buga (Christian; Saint)

Louis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Christian; One of Martyr Saints of China)

Lucas Samaras (Artology)

Mabsant Festival (Celtic Book of Days)

Maternus of Cologne (Christian; Saint)

Nicholas Georgiadis (Artology)

Notburga (Christian; Saint)

Peter Lely (Artology)

Pig’s Face Feast (Avening, Gloucestershire, UK)

Richard Gerstl (Artology)

Rowena Morrill (Artology)

Triumph of the Cross (Roman Catholic)

Unclear Ideas Display (Imps; Shamanism)

Vaughan Bode Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 257 [55 of 72]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 42 of 60)

Premieres

Across the Universe (Film; 2007)

The Addams Family (Animated TV Series; 1992)

Adventures of the Gummi Bears (Animated TV Series; 1985)

The Archies (Animated TV Series; 1968)

Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, by meatloaf (Album; 1993)

Belle Boys (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1953)

Bumbling Brothers Circus, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 301; 1964)

The Care Bears (Animated TV Series; 1985)

A Cartoonist’s Nightmare (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse (Animated TV Series; 1960)

Crisis? What Crisis?, by Supertramp (Album; 1975)

A Discovery of Witches (TV Series; 2018)

The Dragon Prince (Animated Film; 2018)

Flying Circus (WB LT Cartoon; 1968)

Funeral, by Arcade Fire (Album; 2004)

Genie with the Light Pink Fur (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1966)

Get Born, by Jet (Album; 2003)

The Golden Girls (TV Series; 1985)

Have Gun — Will Travel (Radio Series; 1957)

Hot Feet (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1931)

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (Novel; 2008) [#1]

The Invention of Lying (Film; 2009)

Lion in the Bedroom or The Cat’s Pajamas (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 302; 1964)

The Magnificent Seven (Film; 2016)

Making Plans For Nigel, by XTC (Song; 1979)

The Messiah, finished by George Frederic Handel (Oratorio; 1741)

Monkey Love (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1935)

Mork and Mindy (TV Series; 1978)

The Parrotville Fire Department (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1934)

Partysaurus Rex (Disney Cartoon; 2012)

Quadrophenia (Film; 1979)

Scooby Doo! Camp Scare (WB Animated Film; 2010)

A Simple Favor (Film; 2018)

Some Fantastic Place, by Squeeze (Album; 1993)

The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key (Poem; 1814)

Talking Horse Sense (Modern Madcaps Cartoon; 1959)

Tall in the Trap (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1962)

Tiny Toon Adventures (Animated TV Series; 1990)

Total Request Live (Music TV Series; 1998)

Tutti Frutti recorded, by Little Richard (Song; 1955)

The Waltons (TV Series; 1971)

A Wizard’s Tale (Animated Film; 2018)

Zoom and Bored (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Today’s Name Days

Albert, Cornelius, Kreuz-Erhöhung (Austria)

Krustan, Krustina, Krustyo, Stavri (Bulgaria)

Slavko, Višeslav (Croatia)

Radka (Czech Republic)

Raimo, Raimond, Raimu, Raimund, Reimo, Reimu (Estonia)

Iida, Iita, Isla (Finland)

Albert, Irmgard, Jens, Kreuzerhöhung (Germany)

Stavros, Stavroula, Theoklis (Greece)

Roxána, Szeréna (Hungary)

Crocifisso, Elena (Italy)

Koknesis, Norberts, Sanda, Sanita, Santa (Latvia)

Eisvina, Eisvinas, Krescencijus (Lithuania)

Ingebjørg, Ingeborg (Norway)

Bernard, Cyprian, Roksana, Siemomysł, Szymon (Poland)

Ľudomil (Slovakia)

Cruz, Exaltación (Spain)

Ida (Sweden)

Keisha, Lakeisha, Latasha, LaTease, Latisha, Leticia, Letitia, Letty, Tish, Tisha (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 258 of 2024; 108 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 12 (Xin-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 11 Elul 5784

Islamic: 10 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 18 Gold; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 1 September 2024

Moon: 84%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 6 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Goethe]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 8 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 87 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 24 of 32)

Calendar Changes

September (Julian Calendar) [Month 9 of 12]

[dreamsugargumbloggirl]

The Bestest Dairy Month 🧀 Day 14

Fondue🧀

Challenge with TheTROCFans

[novumtimes]

Americas Pet Cats Face Bird Flu Threat

Cases of bird flu have been detected in nearly 40 pet cats across several states. Avian Influenza has ravaged poultry stock across the U.S. in recent years, spreading to cows and a small number of humans. According to Reuters, since 2022, bird flu in the U.S. has infected over 100 million chickens, 9,500 wild birds, 168 dairy herds, seven people who were exposed to poultry, and four people who worked with infected cattle. The disease is now spreading much closer to home. According to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 37 cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu have been detected in domestic cats as of August 20. It is also spreading among other species, including red foxes, mountain lions, bobcats, skunks and raccoons. The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association confirmed earlier this month that there have been six cases of felines infected with bird flu in the state. One of the cases was “directly associated with a known infected commercial dairy facility,” while two of the animals were indoor only cats with “no direct exposures to the virus.” Three other cats, while homed, had access to the outside and hunted mice and/or small birds. A file photo of a domestic cat receiving a check up. Numerous cases of HN51 have been detected in cats in several states. A file photo of a domestic cat receiving a check up. Numerous cases of HN51 have been detected in cats in several states. GETTY In April 2024, two farm cats in Texas contracted H5N1 from drinking raw milk from an infected dairy cow. Seven other states have reported cases: Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio and South Dakota. “As companion animals, domestic cats provide a potential pathway for avian influenza viruses to spillover into humans,” Kristen Coleman, an assistant professor in the UMD School of Public Health and an affiliate professor in the University of Maryland Department of Veterinary Medicine, wrote in a report in June. “We looked at the global distribution and spread of bird flu infections in feline species between 2004 and 2024 and found a drastic rise in reports of feline infections starting in 2023, with a spike in infections reported among domestic cats, as opposed to wild or zoo-kept animals. This increase coincides with the rapid spread of the current strain of H5N1 among mammals.” Symptoms of Bird Flu in Cats Symptoms of bird flu in cats range considerably in severity, and often appear just a few days after the animal is infected, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. Signs include listlessness, loss of appetite, severe depression, fever, difficulty breathing, neurological disease, jaundice and sometimes death. According to the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, five of the six cases picked up in the Centennial State have all presented with similar symptoms: “an initial complaint of lethargy and inappetence, followed by progressive respiratory signs in some and fairly consistent progressive neurologic signs in most.” Can Cats Give Humans Bird Flu? It’s very, very unlikely, with the risk being deemed “currently very low or negligible,” according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. “Cats are not significant epidemiological vectors of avian influenza to humans or other animals,” it says. “While it’s unlikely that people would catch avian influenza through contact with an infected wild, stray, feral, or domestic cat, it is possible—especially if there is prolonged and unprotected exposure to an infected animal. Precautions should be taken when handling a sick animal, whether it is a beloved pet or a wild animal.” Source link via The Novum Times

[postiveapp]

Calendar June 2024: List of Festivals & Important Days in India

June is a vibrant month in India, filled with many Festivals & Important Days celebrated with great enthusiasm. This month not only hosts significant festivals but also several international observances that highlight global awareness on various issues. In this blog, we will delve into the key festivals and important days in June 2024, providing a comprehensive guide to this culturally rich and globally conscious month. Additionally, we will introduce you to the Postive Festival Post Maker App, a fantastic app for creating beautiful banners and posters to share your festive wishes with friends and family.

List Of Important Days In June 2024

1 June - World Milk DayWorld Milk Day, established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, celebrates the contributions of the dairy sector to sustainability, economic development, and nutrition. It is a day to appreciate the importance of milk as a global food.

3 June - World Bicycle DayWorld Bicycle Day promotes the use of bicycles as a simple, affordable, reliable, and environmentally friendly mode of transport. This day encourages individuals to incorporate cycling into their daily routines to improve health and reduce environmental impact.

5 June - World Environment DayWorld Environment Day is a global platform for raising awareness and taking action on pressing environmental issues. Each year, it focuses on a specific theme to draw attention to critical aspects of environmental conservation and sustainable living.

7 June - World Food Safety DayWorld Food Safety Day aims to highlight the importance of safe food and its role in ensuring human health. This day emphasizes the need for proper food handling, preparation, and storage practices to prevent foodborne illnesses.

8 June - National Best Friend DayNational Best Friend Day celebrates the special bond between best friends. It's a day to honor and appreciate those friends who stand by you through thick and thin. This day is perfect for sharing memories, expressing gratitude, and spending quality time with your best friend.

8 June - World Brain Tumor DayWorld Brain Tumor Day raises awareness about brain tumours, their impact, and the need for research and support for patients and their families. It is a day dedicated to educating the public and advocating for better healthcare resources.

9 June - Maharana Pratap JayantiMaharana Pratap Jayanti commemorates the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap, the brave and valiant Rajput king of Mewar. He is remembered for his resistance against the Mughal emperor Akbar and his undying spirit for the freedom of his kingdom. This day is celebrated with cultural events, processions, and tributes to his legacy.

14 June - World Blood Donor DayWorld Blood Donor Day is celebrated to thank voluntary blood donors for their life-saving gifts and to raise awareness about the need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety, and availability of blood.

16 June - Father's DayWorld Telecommunication Day focuses on the role of telecommunications in connecting people and advancing communication technologies.

17 June - Eid al-AdhaEid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is an important Islamic festival that commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. It is celebrated with prayers, feasts, and acts of charity.

18 June - International Picnic DayInternational Picnic Day is a day to enjoy the great outdoors with family and friends. It's an opportunity to relax, share food, and engage in recreational activities in nature. This day encourages people to take a break from their busy lives and appreciate the simple joys of picnicking.

21 June - International Day of YogaInternational Day of Yoga celebrates the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of practicing yoga. It is a global event that encourages people to incorporate yoga into their lives for better health and well-being.

21 June - World Music DayWorld Music Day, also known as Fête de la Musique, is a celebration of music in all its forms. This day promotes musical diversity and encourages both amateur and professional musicians to perform in public spaces.

23 June - International Olympic DayInternational Olympic Day commemorates the birth of the modern Olympic Games and promotes the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, and respect. It is a day to engage in sports activities and celebrate the spirit of athletic competition.

28 June - Insurance Awareness DayInsurance Awareness Day aims to educate the public about the importance of insurance in protecting against financial risks. It emphasizes the need for individuals to understand their insurance needs and make informed decisions.

30 June - Social Media DaySocial Media Day recognizes the impact of social media on global communication. It celebrates how social media has connected the world and transformed the way we share information, interact, and build communities.

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