#ads securities uk

[x-brik-x]

I'm seeing a lot of people say that punk fashion is expensive and inaccessible, which is very wrong. here is a list of some ways you can make punk fashion easier, cheaper and more accessible for you, since that's... kinda the whole point.

others are encouraged to add onto this!! (just don't recommend corporations like amazon. not cool.)

1. patches!! you don't need to buy them. DIY patches are not ugly or boring. in fact, they are encouraged here!! DIY, in my opinion, is always the best thing to do when it is an option and is safe to do so.

2. speaking of DIY, spikes!! you can make them!!

cut the top and bottom off of an empty can. cut down the middle of the cylinder and flatten it, so it's just a flat rectangle of metal.

cut out a shape that is kind of a third of a circle, but around 3/4 of the curved edge is taken up by triangle shapes. (I'm not very good at describing, so here's a badly drawn picture)

roll it into a cone, leaving the 4 triangles sticking out at the bottom. this bit is optional, but you can fill it with hot glue to make it more sturdy, just be careful touching the hot metal. I tend to hold the cone by one of the triangles with a bit of fabric wrapped around my fingers for this bit. cut 4 small holes in your fabric in this kind of shape:

and put the spiky bits of triangle through the holes. fold the triangles in on themselves to secure the spike in place. boom. spike obtained. this is one I made and attached to a little piece of fabric to test this method out:

3. battle vests!! (like the base jackets). the best places to buy these are charity shops and second hand websites in my opinion, but if anyone else knows any better options, please reblog with those!!

a good trick I find works well on eBay is to filter search results to your country (or state? can you do that in the US? idk) so that a: fast delivery because local, and b: all the sellers of everything that shows up are in YOUR TIME ZONE.

why is this important? when people sell something for really cheap, it goes FAST. check eBay at like, 2am or something. all the scalpers in your area are asleep. grab the cheap stuff while they can't.

4. sewing!! want patches, but can't sew for whatever reason? I've heard of a lot of people with joint conditions like arthritis complain about the inaccessibility of patch stuff, and that does sound extremely annoying, however:

safety pins!! while they are still a little fiddly, they're much less work so you don't have to fiddle about for long. if you can, you could even ask a friend to help, since it doesn't take long at all I'm sure someone will be willing to help out!! (I know I would, but that's just me, and I love this kind of thing). safety pins on clothes are also widely considered to be a symbol of solidarity, so if anything, you're adding some extra love and meaning to your patch pants/battle jacket.

if that's still too fiddly, fabric glue is always an option. unfortunately this means you won't be able to remove/reposition patches, at least without leaving a massive patch of residue, but if you're ok with that then fabric glue is probably your best bet.

for people who prefer sewing: as for where to get the thread, I've heard a lot of people recommending dental floss, as it's apparently much cheaper and works just as well. I haven't tried this myself so can't confirm that, but I thought I'd share it regardless.

5. where to get fabric!! old clothes. rip em up. you don't need any kind of fancy fabric from the craft store. my patches are made of old jeans that I grew out of.

don't have any old clothes and you don't want to waste any good ones? I'm not sure about other countries, but in the UK, as long as you're not on private property (trespassing), dumpster diving is perfectly legal.

I definitely ;) do NOT encourage ;) trespassing rich people's land ;) to steal from their dumpsters ;)

or tbh it doesn't matter too much how rich the person is, since it's all going to landfill anyway. if it's in the bin, it's free game, but you didn't hear that from me. ;)

please add onto this where you can!! and if I missed something or got anything wrong, add that on too!!

[nornities]

How to use DXVK with The Sims 3

Have you seen this post about using DXVK by Criisolate? But felt intimidated by the sheer mass of facts and information?

@desiree-uk and I compiled a guide and the configuration file to make your life easier. It focuses on players not using the EA App, but it might work for those just the same. It’s definitely worth a try.

Adding this to your game installation will result in a better RAM usage. So your game is less likely to give you Error 12 or crash due to RAM issues. It does NOT give a huge performance boost, but more stability and allows for higher graphics settings in game.

The full guide behind the cut. Let me know if you also would like it as PDF.

Happy simming!

Disclaimer and Credits

Desiree and I are no tech experts and just wrote down how we did this. Our ability to help if you run into trouble is limited. So use at your own risk and back up your files!

We both are on Windows 10 and start the game via TS3W.exe, not the EA App. So your experience may differ.

This guide is based on our own experiments and of course criisolate’s post on tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/criisolate/749374223346286592/ill-explain-what-i-did-below-before-making-any

This guide is brought to you by Desiree-UK and Norn.

Compatibility

Note: This will conflict with other programs that “inject” functionality into your game so they may stop working. Notably

Reshade

GShade

Nvidia Experience/Nvidia Inspector/Nvidia Shaders

RivaTuner Statistics Server

It does work seamlessly with LazyDuchess’ Smooth Patch.

LazyDuchess’ Launcher: unknown

Alder Lake patch: does conflict. One user got it working by starting the game by launching TS3.exe (also with admin rights) instead of TS3W.exe. This seemed to create the cache file for DXVK. After that, the game could be started from TS3W.exe again. That might not work for everyone though.

A word on FPS and V-Sync

With such an old game it’s crucial to cap framerate (FPS). This is done in the DXVK.conf file. Same with V-Sync.

You need

a text editor (easiest to use is Windows Notepad)

to download DXVK, version 2.3.1 from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/releases/tag/v2.3.1 Extract the archive, you are going to need the file d3d9.dll from the x32 folder

the configuration file DXVK.conf from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/blob/master/DXVK.conf. Optional: download the edited version with the required changes here.

administrator rights on your PC

to know your game’s installation path (bin folder) and where to find the user folder

a tiny bit of patience :)

First Step: Backup

Backup your original Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path! The DXVK file may overwrite some files! The path should be something like this (for retail): \Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located.)

Backup your options.ini in your game’s user folder! Making the game use the DXVK file will count as a change in GPU driver, so the options.ini will reset once you start your game after installation. The path should be something like this: \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (This is the folder where your Mods folder is located).

Preparations

Make sure you run the game as administrator. You can check that by right-clicking on the icon that starts your game. Go to Properties > Advanced and check the box “Run as administrator”. Note: This will result in a prompt each time you start your game, if you want to allow this application to make modifications to your system. Click “Yes” and the game will load.

2. Make sure you have the DEP settings from Windows applied to your game.

Open the Windows Control Panel.

Click System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings.

On the Advanced tab, next to the Performance heading, click Settings.

Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.

Select 'Turn on DEP for all programs and services except these”:

Click the Add button, a window to the file explorer opens. Navigate to your Sims 3 installation folder (the bin folder once again) and add TS3W.exe and TS3.exe.

Click OK. Then you can close all those dialog windows again.

Setting up the DXVK.conf file

Open the file with a text editor and delete everything in it. Then add these values:

d3d9.textureMemory = 1

d3d9.presentInterval = 1

d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60

d3d9.presentInterval enables V-Sync,d3d9.maxFrameRate sets the FrameRate. You can edit those values, but never change the first line (d3d9.textureMemory)!

The original DXVK.conf contains many more options in case you would like to add more settings.

A. no Reshade/GShade

Setting up DXVK

Copy the two files d3d9.dll and DXVK.conf into the Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path. This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located. If you are prompted to overwrite files, please choose yes (you DID backup your folder, right?)

And that’s basically all that is required to install.

Start your game now and let it run for a short while. Click around, open Buy mode or CAS, move the camera.

Now quit without saving. Once the game is closed fully, open your bin folder again and double check if a file “TS3W.DXVK-cache” was generated. If so – congrats! All done!

Things to note

Heads up, the game options will reset! So it will give you a “vanilla” start screen and options.

Don’t worry if the game seems to be frozen during loading. It may take a few minutes longer to load but it will load eventually.

The TS3W.DXVK-cache file is the actual cache DXVK is using. So don’t delete this! Just ignore it and leave it alone. When someone tells to clear cache files – this is not one of them!

Update Options.ini

Go to your user folder and open the options.ini file with a text editor like Notepad.

Find the line “lastdevice = “. It will have several values, separated by semicolons. Copy the last one, after the last semicolon, the digits only. Close the file.

Now go to your backup version of the Options.ini file, open it and find that line “lastdevice” again. Replace the last value with the one you just copied. Make sure to only replace those digits!

Save and close the file.

Copy this version of the file into your user folder, replacing the one that is there.

Things to note:

If your GPU driver is updated, you might have to do these steps again as it might reset your device ID again. Though it seems that the DXVK ID overrides the GPU ID, so it might not happen.

How do I know it’s working?

Open the task manager and look at RAM usage. Remember the game can only use 4 GB of RAM at maximum and starts crashing when usage goes up to somewhere between 3.2 – 3.8 GB (it’s a bit different for everybody).

So if you see values like 2.1456 for RAM usage in a large world and an ongoing save, it’s working. Generally the lower the value, the better for stability.

Also, DXVK will have generated its cache file called TS3W.DXVK-cache in the bin folder. The file size will grow with time as DXVK is adding stuff to it, e.g. from different worlds or savegames. Initially it might be something like 46 KB or 58 KB, so it’s really small.

Optional: changing MemCacheBudgetValue

MemCacheBudgetValue determines the size of the game's VRAM Cache. You can edit those values but the difference might not be noticeable in game. It also depends on your computer’s hardware how much you can allow here.

The two lines of seti MemCacheBudgetValue correspond to the high RAM level and low RAM level situations. Therefore, theoretically, the first line MemCacheBudgetValue should be set to a larger value, while the second line should be set to a value less than or equal to the first line.

The original values represent 200MB (209715200) and 160MB (167772160) respectively. They are calculated as 200x1024x1024=209175200 and 160x1024x1024=167772160.

Back up your GraphicsRules.sgr file! If you make a mistake here, your game won’t work anymore.

Go to your bin folder and open your GraphicsRules.sgr with a text editor.

Search and find two lines that set the variables for MemCacheBudgetValue.

Modify these two values to larger numbers. Make sure the value in the first line is higher or equals the value in the second line. Examples for values: 1073741824, which means 1GB 2147483648 which means 2 GB. -1 (minus 1) means no limit (but is highly experimental, use at own risk)

Save and close the file. It might prompt you to save the file to a different place and not allow you to save in the Bin folder. Just save it someplace else in this case and copy/paste it to the Bin folder afterwards. If asked to overwrite the existing file, click yes.

Now start your game and see if it makes a difference in smoothness or texture loading. Make sure to check RAM and VRAM usage to see how it works.

You might need to change the values back and forth to find the “sweet spot” for your game. Mine seems to work best with setting the first value to 2147483648 and the second to 1073741824.

Uninstallation

Delete these files from your bin folder (installation path):

d3d9.dll

DXVK.conf

TS3W.DXVK-cache

And if you have it, also TS3W_d3d9.log

if you changed the values in your GraphicsRule.sgr file, too, don’t forget to change them back or to replace the file with your backed up version.

OR

delete the bin folder and add it from your backup again.

B. with Reshade/GShade

Follow the steps from part A. no Reshade/Gshade to set up DXVK.

If you are already using Reshade (RS) or GShade (GS), you will be prompted to overwrite files, so choose YES. RS and GS may stop working, so you will need to reinstall them.

Whatever version you are using, the interface shows similar options of which API you can choose from (these screenshots are from the latest versions of RS and GS).

Please note: 

Each time you install and uninstall DXVK, switching the game between Vulkan and d3d9, is essentially changing the graphics card ID again, which results in the settings in your options.ini file being repeatedly reset.

ReShade interface

Choose – Vulcan

Click next and choose your preferred shaders.

Hopefully this install method works and it won't install its own d3d9.dll file.

If it doesn't work, then choose DirectX9 in RS, but you must make sure to replace the d3d9.dll file with DXVK's d3d9.dll (the one from its 32bit folder, checking its size is 3.86mb.)

GShade interface

Choose –           

Executable Architecture: 32bit

Graphics API: DXVK

Hooking: Normal Mode

GShade is very problematic, it won't work straight out of the box and the overlay doesn't show up, which defeats the purpose of using it if you can't add or edit the shaders you want to use.

Check the game's bin folder, making sure the d3d9.dll is still there and its size is 3.86mb - that is DXVK's dll file.

If installing using the DXVK method doesn't work, you can choose the DirectX method, but there is no guarantee it works either.

The game will not run with these files in the folder:

d3d10core.dll

d3d11.dll

dxgi.dll

If you delete them, the game will start but you can't access GShade! It might be better to use ReShade.

Some Vulcan and DirectX information, if you’re interested:

Vulcan is for rather high end graphic cards but is backward compatible with some older cards. Try this method with ReShade or GShade first.

DirectX is more stable and works best with older cards and systems. Try this method if Vulcan doesn't work with ReShade/GShade in your game – remember to replace the d3d9.dll with DXVK's d3d9.dll.

For more information on the difference between Vulcan and DirectX, see this article:

https://www.howtogeek.com/884042/vulkan-vs-DirectX-12/

[mangocheesecakes]

Donations are still practically stagnant for the following fundraisers:

Youssef Munir's ( @yousefmoner ) fundraiser is only at £4,907 of their £50,000 goal. The last donation before the £7 I was able to give just now was 2 days ago. Please help him get to 5,000 today by donation matching with me.

Youssef's fundraiser is also included in @rafflesforpalestine. If you donate at least £5, you can have 1 entry to win a crocheted market bag.

Muhammad Munir's ( @mohamedmoner1994 ) fundraiser is only at £9,293 of their £45,000 goal. He's only had 1 donation today amounting to £10 and the one before that was 2 days ago. Their priority now is to evacuate and get treatment for Muhammad's wife, Rewaa, a cancer patient whose condition is getting worse because of having no access to treatment for months. Please donate to their gofundme today.

Muhammad's fundraiser is also included in @rafflesforpalestine. A £5 donation will give you one entry to win digital coloring pages.

Karam is Youssef and Muhammad's brother and he is fundraising for his wife Maram and their baby, Anas, who was born during the war. Their fundraiser is new and has only raised £372 of their £25,000 goal. Last donation was 1 day ago and before that was 4 days ago. Please consider donating as Karam and his wife and son are striving to reunite with Muhammad, Youssef, and the rest of their family:

Dina is Youssef, Muhammad, and Karam's sister and she is fundraising for her husband and three children. Dina and her family has been able to evacuate to Egypt but is still badly in need of support, as they used up all their savings to pay the crossing fee and are having difficulty finding jobs in Egypt. Their gofundme is also new and has only raised $715 USD of their $50,000 goal. Their last donation was 8 hours ago and before that was 2 days ago. Please send them what you can today as they are struggling to pay the rent and might be kicked out by their landlord if unable to pay:

I was able to sell some handmade items again and donated all the money earned to Youssef's gfm, but I was only able to earn a very small amount (just Php450 and I added some 50 more pesos to get to £7). All of you first world people with higher currencies than us please consider matching my donations to any one, two, three, or all 4 of these fundraisers.

Proof of donation under the cut, posted twice to cut the length:

[covid-safer-hotties]

NHS warns of potential 'quad-demic' as flu, norovirus, Covid and RSV cases on the rise - published Dec 5, 2024

Last year they feared a "triple-demic." This year they fear a "quad-demic." Do y'all have to face "quint-" or "sept-demic" before you start masking up to keep airborne diseases from spreading in public places?

Fears of a potential "quad-demic" are rising, with a 350% increase in flu cases and an 86% rise in norovirus cases in hospitals compared to the same week last year, the NHS England has said.

The health service has said it is "busier than it has ever been before" this winter, with cases of Covid-19 and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) also increasing in hospital wards.

Those who are eligible, and NHS staff, are being urged to get their vaccinations without delay as virus levels rise, with pressure on hospitals expected to increase further over the coming weeks.

So, how bad are the difficulties faced by the NHS this winter? Here, ITV News takes a look at the latest figures.

What is a quad-demic?

A quad-demic is a way of describing the co-circulation of four "very common viruses" at this time of year – influenza virus, RSV, coronavirus and norovirus.

"The first three are respiratory viruses – they cause colds and more severe diseases of the lung; norovirus causes diarrhoea and vomiting," John Tregoning, a professor in vaccine immunology at Imperial College London, told ITV News.

"They are what are known as endemic viruses – there is low level circulation of them most of the time, as opposed to pandemics which are the massive outbreaks."

"Viral infections are more common in winter. They tend to peak in the last four weeks of one year and the first four weeks of the following one," he added.

How much are cases rising this winter?

New weekly figures, published for the first time this year, show a 350% increase in flu cases, and an 89% rise in norovirus cases in hospitals compared to the same week last year.

Rising Covid-19 and RSV levels are also a concern, with an average of 1,390 patients with Covid in hospital beds each day last week, and 142 children in hospital each day with RSV.

The NHS says the latest data shows it is going into winter under more pressure than ever before, with an average of 1,099 people in hospital with flu every day last week compared to 243 in the same week last year – the highest number of cases heading into winter for at least three years.

"We are still only at the start of December, so we expect pressure to increase and there is a long winter ahead of us," said NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

“For a while there have been warnings of a ‘tripledemic’ of Covid, flu and RSV this winter, but with rising cases of norovirus this could fast become a ‘quad-demic’ so it’s important that if you haven’t had your Covid or flu jab to follow the lead of millions of others and come forward and get protected as soon as possible," he added.

New figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also show tuberculosis (TB) levels in England increased by 11% last year, with 4,855 notifications of the disease in 2023, up from 4,380 in 2022.

How much pressure are ambulance services under?

Pressure on ambulance service is "incredibly high", the NHS said. The service transported 90,514 patients to hospitals in England last week, compared to 83,873 during the same period in 2023.

Meanwhile, 35,022 hours were lost to handover delays, up 87% from 18,703 this time last year. There were 413,426 calls to NHS 111 last week – with 73.1% answered within a minute, up 4.4% up on last year.

How crowded are hospitals?

An average of 96,587 adult general and acute hospital beds in England were occupied each day last week, the NHS has said, which is more than at this point in any other year.

The health service warns this could increase in the coming weeks, with problems discharging patients who no longer need to be in hospital continuing to have an impact on capacity.

An average of 11,969 beds each day last week were occupied by patients who were ready for discharge, taking up one in eight of all occupied adult beds.

Patricia Marquis, executive director for England for the Royal College of Nursing, said: “There is barely a spare bed in our NHS, with sky-high flu admissions and thousands stuck in hospital unable to be discharged due to a lack of capacity in social care.

“Before the cold weather hits, nursing staff and patients are desperately worried about what the coming weeks and months may bring.” Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Services are already feeling the strain from a worrying spike in nasty winter bugs and bad weather.

"Flu, norovirus, RSV and Covid-19 are piling the pressure on already stretched services and staff, and this is likely to get worse as we head into the depths of winter."

In addition to high bed occupancy and a lag in hospital discharges, Ms Cordery warned social care and community services are "also under relentless pressure".

What are the NHS and government doing about this?

The NHS has put measures in place to manage extra demand during winter, including an upgrade of its 24-hour live data centres, strengthening same-day emergency care and offering more fall services for older people.

In September, an independent review by Lord Darzi warned years of underinvestment have left the NHS with an ageing estate and outdated tech, making it harder for staff to deliver the best possible care. The government and NHS are now engaging the public, patients and staff in the biggest-ever conversation about the health service.

More than 1.1 million separate visits have been made to Change.nhs.uk, with almost 9,000 ideas now live as part of the 10 Year Health Plan, which aims to deliver an NHS fit for the future.

Professor Powis said services like urgent treatment centres – an alternative to A&E where people are treated for more minor injuries and illnesses that GPs cannot address – and same-day emergency care will be "important this winter" in order to relieve pressure on hospitals.

“As always, the public have an important part to play in helping NHS staff over winter by, as ever, calling 999 in an emergency and using the NHS 111 service through the NHS App, online or phone, for advice on how to access the right support for non-emergency health needs," he added.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We inherited an NHS that is broken but not beaten, and staff are already working hard to tackle an increase in admissions this winter. “We’re backing them with an extra £26 billion secured in the recent Budget and we’ve already resolved the industrial action to ensure A&Es will be strike-free for the first time in three years. “For too long, an annual winter crisis has become the norm. We will deliver long-term reforms through our 10 Year Health Plan that will create a health service that will be there for all of us all year round."

Streeting also encouraged anyone who is eligible to join the 27 million people who have already come forward to receive their flu, RSV and Covid jabs, claiming this is the "best way to protect yourself this winter".

Why are people at a bigger risk of infection during the winter period?

“Infection is a complex mixture of factors a lot of which is down to good or bad luck," said Professor Tregoning. "There are a mixture of behavioural, immunological and virological reasons.

"The simplest, and probably main reason is that in the winter, people will be closer together in confined spaces – in summer you might meet friends for a picnic in winter its more likely to be in your house. This close proximity accelerates the spread of viruses.

"We also, in the UK, have less exposure to the sun in the winter, and there is some level of protection provided by vitamin D. Infections can also happen more when we are tired or run down, and the winter months being colder may in some way leave our bodies a bit more exhausted tipping the balance in the favour of the virus.

"The winter party season may also contribute some spread if people are more run down and also mixing more closely."

Professor Tregoning added that viruses tend to travel in droplets, which are coughed or sneezed up, which evaporate more quickly during the summer, meaning the virus dries out and becomes less infectious.

However, there is some debate over exactly what makes infections more common at the end of the year, according to Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia.

He expresses doubt over low vitamin D levels being a significant factor, and says research he has been carrying out with colleagues suggests increased contact between people "doesn't have a great impact" on R0 (the basic reproduction number) to make an infection seasonal.

The drying of nasal membranes due to drier winter air can make it "easier for the virus to infect the lining cells", Prof Hunter added.

What precautions can people take?

Professor Tregoning advised people to follow the same guidance as during the Covid-19 pandemic – hands, face, space.

"Hand washing – particularly for norovirus, but also for the respiratory viruses will slow spread. Wearing masks (properly and using a proper mask) can reduce spread of respiratory viruses," he said.

"If you are feeling ill, reduce contact with other people, where possible. But this is not to say don’t mix with people, being sociable is equally important for our health. Meet in well ventilated spaces if possible."

“And if you are at risk get vaccinated. There are vaccines available for three out of four of the quad-demic. “One really exciting new innovation is that mothers can protect their children by getting an RSV vaccine during pregnancy. RSV is a really horrible disease in children, it leads to hospitalisation of tiny babies. You can give your baby the best possible start in life."

Professor Hunter added: “For most people, it would be very difficult to know whether you had flu, Covid or RSV. Norovirus is very distinct.

"In the early stages of illness it may not be clear how severe the illness may become, but it's best to stay at home, drink plenty and rest until you are feeling better. If needed take medicines like paracetamol or ibuprofen or throat lozenges. If I have a bad throat I tend to make a drink with hot water, lemon and honey and sometimes I add whisky."

[vague-humanoid]

A pro-Israel “surveillance network” that has offered bounties for information on pro-Palestinian protesters is establishing a foothold in Australia and claims to have secured meetings with key federal politicians, leaked messages show.

Shirion Collective, which has largely focused on the US and UK, boasts of its ability to scrape digital fingerprints to “aggressively track and expose antisemites”. It is one of a number of groups that have gained prominence on social media during the Israel-Gaza war, publicly naming individuals it accuses of being antisemitic.

Shirion Collective claims it has an AI tool called Maccabee which can identify and track targets.

In one post on X, Shirion outlines a scenario in which the tool creates and releases deepfake videos – falsified content that looks and sounds genuine – to embarrass individuals who take down posters picturing Israeli hostages.

On its X account, Shirion Collective has claimed to offer bounties of US$500 for information on people in videos. In a December post it claimed it would pay up to US$15,000 for “crucial insights” about politicians, US$7,500 for medical doctors and US$250 for students.

Leaked screenshots of Shirion’s Telegram channel, shared with Guardian Australia by the White Rose Society, an anti-fascist researchgroup, show Shirion has become active in Australia, with participants identifying potential targets and boasting of attempts to meet the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, and the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson.

Anonymised Shirion members discussed presenting O’Neil and Paterson with a list of names to ensure they were “brought to justice according to the rule of law”.

“Need help. We managed to get into home affairs calendar, need to come prepared with people with hate speech and names that the government didn’t held [sic] accountable,” one anonymous user said.

“Meeting with Clair [sic] or her stuff [sic] … we also have a meeting with the shadow minister.”

Both O’Neil and Paterson’s offices said they had not met anyone who identified themselves as part of Shirion Collective.

The leaked texts show people on the Shirion channel discussed adding the names of individuals to a “watch list” and mass reporting posts on social media.

Some Australians whose social media accounts were linkedin the channel had shared antisemitic, racist and conspiracy theory content on social media. Others were pro-Palestinian activists who do not appear to have posted or shared antisemitic content.

When contacted via its social media accounts, a Shirion member describing themself as the “social media guy” said the “Ai is a quiet project with an internal team”.

The Shirion member said “bounties were for info and was in the USA not Australia”. The member said Shirion’s Telegram channel was open.

“The telegram [sic] is open and we do a soft verification that people are real. But freedom of speech is welcome there,” the Shirion member said.

The member said they would refer Guardian Australia’s questions to a “commander” but no further response was received.

Shirion Collective is one of several groups that say they track and fight antisemitism, largely through identifying individuals online.

Canary Mission, which has been operating since at least 2015, maintains lists of students, professors and other individuals on its website who it claims “promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews”. Another prominent account on X, StopAntisemitism, shares the names and employers or academic institutions of individuals, and often directs its more than 298,000 followers where to make complaints.

The leaked posts from the Shirion Collective Telegram channel point to some publicly available material its contributors regard as antisemitic, but also discuss creating “infiltrator” accounts to view and share material from private Instagram accounts.

In the leaked posts seen by Guardian Australia, contributors do not reveal personally identifiable information about any individual that is not publicly available.

The Shirion Collective account on X/Twitter has identified people it alleges have posted antisemitic material, or statements in support of Hamas, and tagged in their employer or academic institution in the case of students.

Naming someone online is not necessarily illegal, but Michael Bradley, a managing partner at Marque Lawyers, warned there were potential implications depending on the nature of the claims, such as harassment and intimidation or even racial vilification.

“Using social media as a mechanism for coalescing groups that want to engage in doxing activity, it’s obviously extremely powerful,” he said.

Last month, a Sydney resident named Theo had a picture of his house and his street address posted to a Facebook group.

Theo, who asked that his surname not be used, had raised a Palestinian flag and placed a blackboard with messages critical of Israel in front of his Botany home.

Less than two weeks later, a ​​jerry can with rags stuffed into it, a disposable lighter and large bolts were placed on the bonnet of his car with a message that read: “Enough! Take down flag! One chance!!!!”

The incident prompted the deployment of the bomb squad and local police.

The investigation has not been transferred to the counter-terror investigators and remains with local police.

also

@huzni @el-shab-hussein @dirhwangdaseul

[zvaigzdelasas]

There is an overwhelming case for the UK to intervene to stop a US oil tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for use by Israel in Gaza from docking in Gibraltar, according to a letter from a cross-party group of MPs addressed to David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary.

Protests in Spain led by trade unionists and political activists have already resulted in the owners of the Overseas Santorini abandoning plans to dock in the Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Marine Traffic, the ship is now destined to reach Gibraltar at 3pm UK time on Tuesday.

The Gibraltar government, however, insisted it had received no formal request to dock.[...]

Campaigners said the Overseas Santorini was carrying military-grade JP-8 fuel, delivered as part of a contract with the US government, that powers F-16 fighter jets. According to a UN investigation, it was probably an F-16, which are built using UK parts, that bombed British doctors from Medical Aid for Palestinians at a compound in Gaza in January.

The MPs, including members of the Scottish Nationalists, Labour and Green parties, have urged the government to “prohibit and prevent Gibraltar being used as a haven for the transport of military fuel used in Israel’s assault on Gaza”.

The letter said: “The jet fuel will be unloaded and used to fuel the Israeli air force’s F16 and F35 that drop bombs on the people of Gaza. The 300,000 barrels of fuel are sufficient for around 12,000 F-16 refuellings.”

It added: “The case to prevent Gibraltar’s facilities from being complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law are overwhelming. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault.””[...]

In May, the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said Spain will not authorise ships carrying weapons for Israel to call at its ports after the country refused to let a ship call at the south-eastern port of Cartagena.[...]

The campaigners said the oil is being shipped by the Valero company from Corpus Christi, Texas and is aimed to reach the port of Ashkelon in Israel. For years, these regular shipments have stopped at Algeciras and Limassol, Cyprus.

On Monday, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, announced he was making a free trade agreement with Israel one of his priorities in securing trade deals. But ministers are expected shortly to announce limited restrictions on arms export licences to Israel if the arms are deemed capable of being used in Israeli offensives in Gaza.

29 Jul 24

[probablyasocialecologist]

Insurers are placing restrictions in their war-risk policies so that they don’t have to cover US-, UK- and Israel-linked ships sailing through the Red Sea, according to one of the world’s top insurance brokers. Some are seeking exclusions for vessels with links to the US and UK when issuing cover for trips through the area, according to Marcus Baker, global head of marine and cargo at Marsh, essentially meaning they won’t provide insurance. “Underwriters are adding clauses saying no US, UK or Israeli involvement,” he said. “Just about everybody is putting something like that in, and many include the words ‘ownership’ or ‘interest’.” Last week, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said that UK and US ships were legitimate targets for attack, after the two nations launched a barrage of airstrikes on targets in the country. Those warnings were brought into focus on Monday when a US-owned commodity carrier was attacked while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. The security situation in the waterway has deteriorated in recent days, with key naval forces warning that it’s unsafe for merchant shipping.

(Bloomberg)

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Olivia Reingold

On October 7, 2024—one year after Hamas invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 people—The New York Times published an episode of its flagship podcast, The Daily. It featured two men on opposite sides of the conflict: an Israeli man who’s moved from hotel to hotel after Hamas destroyed his community, and a father trying to survive in Gaza. 

But while the Israeli man was described in full—as a “liberal” 44-year-old father named Golan Abitbul, born and raised on Kibbutz Be’eri, the Palestinian man’s identity was shrouded in secrecy. The New York Times simply referred to him as “Hussein, a Palestinian man living in Gaza.” The host, Sabrina Tavernise, did not ask Hussein any follow-up questions when he revealed that, unlike most Gazans right now, he has “a good income” and is able to pay about $1,000 a month for rent. And she let him explain—uninterrupted—about why, a year later, the war ravages on.

“I’m surprised that there is humans doing this force,” Hussein said of Israeli soldiers, in broken English. “How could human became this evil, killing others, imposing collective punishment on over two million people with no reason? What are they going to gain? Why they are doing this?”

But what Tavernise did not say is that “Hussein” is Hussein Owda, whose name is listed in the show notes on audio platforms that host the podcast, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And what The New York Times does not reveal is that Owda’s background suggests links to Hamas. A simple Google search turns up his LinkedIn page, where he publicly lists an eight-year stretch working for the Municipality of Gaza, which sources told me is controlled by Hamas; a new job at the controversy-riddled United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (also known as UNRWA); and an eight-month stint at Muslim Hands, a nonprofit exposed by the UK’s Telegraph in 2014 for having “close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.” Hamas was originally established in the 1980s as the local Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.Hussein Owda (via LinkedIn)

From September 2015 until August 2023, Owda lists his job as the head of public relations for the Municipality of Gaza. “Every government structure in Gaza was run by Hamas,” Jon Schanzer, a former terrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, told me. “The people that were paying his salary ultimately would’ve gone up the chain to Hamas itself.” Schanzer added that Owda, as the former head of public relations for the Municipality of Gaza, likely was “providing propaganda” to advance the mission of Hamas.

Meanwhile, three on-the-ground sources in Gaza—two of whom were provided through The Center for Peace Communications, which has a network of sources in the region—all confirmed to The Free Press that Owda has links to Hamas. One Gazan man who has met Owda said that “Employment at the municipality requires approval from the internal security, the local mosque’s emir, and Qassam Brigades intelligence,” referring to Al-Qassam Brigades, the militant wing of Hamas behind the group’s October 7 attack. Another Palestinian source in Gaza told The Free Press, “It’s impossible to get a job in the municipality unless you’re with Hamas.” (All sources in Gaza asked to withhold their names to protect them from possible retaliation by the terrorist group.)

[stillnaomi]

remember that one time the security services defanged the the guardian newspaper?

On 20 July 2013, GCHQ officials entered The Guardian’s offices at King’s Cross in London, six weeks after the first Snowden-related article had been published.

At the request of the government and security services, Guardian deputy editor Paul Johnson, along with two others, spent three hours destroying the laptops containing the Snowden documents.

The Guardian staffers, according to one of the newspaper’s reporters, brought “angle-grinders, dremels – drills with revolving bits – and masks”. The reporter added, “The spy agency provided one piece of hi-tech equipment, a ‘degausser’, which destroys magnetic fields and erases data.”

Johnson claims that the destruction of the computers was “purely a symbolic act”, adding that “the government and GCHQ knew, because we had told them, that the material had been taken to the US to be shared with the New York Times. The reporting would go on. The episode hadn’t changed anything.”

Yet the episode did change something. As the D-Notice Committee minutes for November 2013 outlined: “Towards the end of July [as the computers were being destroyed], The Guardian had begun to seek and accept D-Notice advice not to publish certain highly sensitive details and since then the dialogue [with the committee] had been reasonable and improving.”

The British security services had carried out more than a “symbolic act”. It was both a show of strength and a clear threat. The Guardian was then the only major newspaper that could be relied upon by whistleblowers in the US and British security bodies to receive and cover their exposures, a situation which posed a challenge to security agencies.

thank goodness for smaller operations, like Declassified UK, or we'd hear even less of what the state gets up to

[bulldogblues]

Antisemitic hate crimes have MORE THAN DOUBLED in the past year.

This article isn't about that, but Islamophobic hate crimes have also spiked dramatically since last year.

I don't comment on the Israel/Palestine situation, for the simple reason I'm not nearly informed enough about it for my opinions to be worth adding to the conversation.

But Jewish people and Muslims alike (most of whom have precisely nothing to do with the conflict) are facing a culture of increased hate against them for who they are, and that is absolutely unacceptable.

The state of the UK at the moment is honestly making me despair.

[insomniac4000]

ChrisMD and Reader- The Wedding Speech

2084 words.

Ever since you were a little girl you had dreamed of the perfect wedding day. The white dress, all of your family and friends around you, dancing, laughter and of course the husband. You didn’t know who that was going to be at the age of six but at the age of twenty six you met him. He had just gotten out of a long term relationship when the two of you met at a bar so neither of you knew really how far it would go but the pair of you fell incredibly hard incredibly fast.

It was New Years Eve so of course the bar was packed, despite it being a ticket only event it was so full there was hardly space to move. It was ten minutes to midnight so the bar was rammed with people wanting to get their beverages before the clock rang out. You frequented this bar semi often but today the clientele was mixed. There was a couple in front of you who were attached at the lips causing your eyes to roll so you looked elsewhere, noticing an attractive man to the right of you.

“STOP PUSHING ME!” You heard a incredibly gruff and angry voice to the left hand side of you. You looked over to see another man placing his hands up in a sorry mate tone. With the bar being so busy it wasn’t beyond reason that some accidents would happen. The first guy must have been incredibly drunk or worse as out of nowhere he punched the other man in the face and a brawl starting right next to you.

“Oh my God,” you shouted as you tried to avoid any contact with the now fighting men. You felt a strong pair of arms around you and your initial reaction was let out a scream, you calmed down when you felt the arms move you away from the men and to the front of the bar. You looked behind at your saviour and saw the attractive man who caught your eye from earlier. You took the time to really study him, he had blonde hair which was swept over to one side, piercing blue eyes and a strong jawline which was peppered with the lightest stubble.

“The person in front of me was done but I thought you’d be better going first,” he explained and you nodded finally smiling at him as you calmed down.

“Thank you,” you managed to choke out eventually, watching as your knight in shining armour got rocked out by the fracas which was now next to him, it didn’t last too much longer however as security had arrived at this point.

“I’m Chris by the way,” he added placing his hand out, you took it and shook his hand feeling the sparks through your body.

“I’m y/n,” you replied flashing Chris a big genuine smile. You ordered his and yours drinks, he offered to pay and when you reminded him they were free as part of the ticket he said in that case he’d have to take you out for a drink another day and you couldn’t say no.

Chris was involved with the wedding planning but left a lot of the details to you, not because he didn’t care but because he knew you cared more and had a better eye for detail. You still involved him in every decision and he was happy to chip in when he strong opinions and ideas but he told everyone that much of the day was down to you. You chose to get married in Santorini as you both wanted an outdoor ceremony and didn’t want to take the chance on the unpredictable UK weather. You had three bridesmaids, three of your closest friends and after much deliberation Chris had selected Arthur to be his best man. The one part of the wedding you had no idea what was going to happen was Arthur’s speech you did know initially he was really nervous about it but he then apparently had a great idea and was much more chilled about the whole thing.

The ceremony went by without a hitch, both Chris and yourself shed a few tears as you read the vows you wrote to each other.

“Y/N nothing prepared me for when I met you, I never thought I could love someone as much as I do you. Your kind spirit,

your generous nature, your sense of humour and how loving you are to all of the people in your life. I am so incredibly lucky that I’m the person you’ve chosen to love, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve that but I am going to spend the rest of our lives together trying to reciprocate as you deserve the world. I love you so much.” Chris read from his little notes and you couldn’t help but shed a couple of tears, careful not to mess your make up. You manages to compose yourself and read your vows to him. “Chris, you were my knight in shining armour that night, and I don’t care how short you are to me that night you were six foot seven,” you paused a little for some chuckles before continuing. “You didn’t just save me that night but in life. I have loved every single moment we’ve spent together and I can’t wait for all our future adventures together. You’re my everything, I didn’t know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you but you just make it so easy being the wonderful person you are. I am so proud to call myself your wife,” you managed to breathe out before looking in Chris’s eyes and giving him the biggest smile.

You had some photos taken in the winery and in some other places in the venue before walking into your meal. Chris asked Stephen to be master of the ceremonies so he announced you two into the room in his own special way. You sat down to an amazing meal and you and Chris fully relaxed knowing the legal part was over and now you two could just have fun you did notice Arthur starting to fidget a little bit as the meal progressed.

After some more words from Chris and your dad it was finally Arthur’s turn. He stood up, looking at the faces in front of him, he recognised about three quarters of the people in the room just your family and your friends he wasn’t sure on he drew a deep breath and gave a polite smile before grabbing the microphone.

“Hi everyone, my name is Arthur and I’ve known Chris since school. Most of you will know Chris does Youtube for a living and so do I. Now despite that I really struggled with the idea of writing a speech when Chris asked me to be his man and I thought about it for a while and decided to stick with what I know. I grouped together Chris’s closest friends and family and we sat together in front of microphone, now I know every man and his dog has a podcast but Chris, please enjoy this special episode,” Arthur started and could only laugh awkwardly when Chris gave a loud “WHAT?” which echoed throughout the room. The brunette should shrugged and nodded to one of the venue staff who then pressed a button and all of the TV screens which littered the room turned on.

“For fuck sake,” Chris chuckled, you could only laugh as you watched Arthur’s smug face as he sat down and folded his arms in front of him as the screens started to play. The room was the same one he filmed his and Bach’s podcast but this time joining Arthur in the room was Harry, Simon, Will, Stephen and George.

“So to celebrate Chris’s upcoming nuptials I thought we would get together and share some of our favourite memories of the tiny man,” Arthur’s voice flowed through the speakers, Harry popped his hand up quickly.

“I’ll go first,” the Guernsey man offered before sitting forward in his chair.

“So I first met Shannon…” he started causing the room to erupt into laughter.

“I’m kidding I’m kidding. No honestly Y/N is great, no idea how Chris bagged her,” he finished, everyone else in the room nodded and you couldn’t help but giggle a little bit, you were the one who thought Chris didn’t deserve you not the other way around.

“I’ll never forget the day he walked in the flat after their first date, looked and me and Arthur and went yeah this could be it,” George admitted, causing people in the room to aww, including you who place a hand on Chris’s arm.

“I’ve seen him try and chat up women, he’s fucking terrible at it no idea how we’re all sittin’ here now,” Will added his accent shining through.

“The all powerful beard!” Stephen chimed in.

“It’s quite impressive considering he could never grow anything in school, I swear he didn’t hit puberty until he was about twenty two,” Arthur mused. A picture of a sixteen year old Chris then flashed on the screen causing the groom to bash his head on the table a little, you burst out laughing as he was a BABY.

“Do you reckon he brags about other skills as much as he brags about his football ability?” Simon asked rolling his eyes a little.

“Not with his tiny equipment,” Stephen quipped.

“You’ve known him the longest do ya have a favourite memory of him from school like?” Will asked as he picked with his shoelace. Arthur thought for a second before turning his attention back to the guys.

“There’s tons I can’t really think of one but, I don’t think people will know just what a massive nerd he is. People see him as this cool football guy but he used to come into school with his Lord of the Rings books and wearing a scarf his nan knitted for him, with his braces and his fucked up elf ears. Not a cool guy,” Arthur said and everyone nodded in agreement, even in the room Theo gave a very loud acknowledgement of those words being true.

After a couple of stories from drunken nights out and videos, the camera then switched to a different room and this time beside Arthur was Chris’s sister Kelly and cousin Ollie.

“What the fuck!” Chris exclaimed, glaring at his family on their table although he was low key impressed Arthur managed to get the three of them together in a room, it must have taken some planning.

“Was Chris a good brother growing up?” Arthur asked Kelly already knowing the answer.

“He was very annoying but that’s ab big brother’s prerogative, I mean we’re close. I know I can go to him if I have a problem, or need money,” she joked.

“Or more views on your videos,” Ollie added.

“Do you have any favourite memories of him growing up? Arthur asked sitting back on the sofa a little.

“He will deny this to this day but he definitely wet the bed once when he was like six and blamed Ollie’s dog for it,” Kelly revealed, Ollie nodded along also remembering.

“He went on about that for years!”

“IT WAS THE DOG!” Chris protested in the room. You couldn’t help but laugh at the hijinks, Ollie also telling a story about when they were in the early days of the ChrisMD channel and Chris offered to do the laundry for the whole family while on a family holiday so he could earn some more money for FIFA packs but ended up shrinking everything. The screen changed again and this time Arthur was sitting on his own and addressing the camera directly. “Chris, you’re an easy guy to make fun of but I hope you know it’s all done in jest and honestly I wish you and y/n every happiness, so do these guys,” the footage then changed to a montage of everyone who recorded a short good luck message to Chris and yourself all sincere and heartfelt. The screens then went off and Arthur stood up once again holding the champagne flute in his hand as he made his toast to his friend and bride. Chris and yourself clinked your glasses as you stared in each other’s eyes, excited for what the future was going to bring the pair of you.

[phoenixyfriend]

That one post about great domestic policy and HORRIFIC foreign policy just does not stop being true

Domestic Policy Win: The American Museum of Natural History in NYC is closing down two entire exhibits of Native American belongings in order to comply with a federal order that requires museums to obtain the consent of indigenous nations in order to display artifacts of native origin. The linked ProPublica article specifies that the exhibits in question are the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains Halls. To quote:

The new federal regulations, which went into effect this month, prohibit the display of items subject to NAGPRA without tribal consent and ban all research done without tribal consent. In addition, the regulations closed a loophole that had allowed museums such as the American Museum of Natural History to keep ancestral remains and burial items by claiming that they are “culturally unidentifiable” — meaning in their view they could not be connected to present-day Indigenous communities based on available evidence — and therefore could not readily be returned to tribes.

Foreign Policy Fail: The United States, the UK, and several other nations, in response to claims that several members of UNRWA were involved in the Oct. 7th attacks, have cut funding to the relief agency in question. The Al Jazeera article profiles the Palestinian response, and also specifies that this funding was pulled after the UNRWA launched an investigation in response to Israel's allegations that 12 members of the relief agency were involved.

Australia, Canada, Italy and the United States said they would halt funding to the agency, while European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the 27-member bloc would “assess further steps and draw lessons based on the result of the full and comprehensive investigation”. Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom then also joined the list of countries pausing financial aid to the UN agency, whose facilities where displaced Palestinians sought shelter have been repeatedly attacked in Israeli air raids. Ireland and Norway, however, expressed continued support for UNRWA, saying the agency does crucial work to help Palestinians displaced and in desperate need of assistance in Gaza. - Al Jazeera

"One million displaced people are currently taking refuge in and around UNRWA buildings. They are the ones who will suffer as a result of this decision," said Mr Gunness, adding: "The curtailing of UNRWA services will also destabilise the region at a time when Western governments are trying to contain a regional conflagration." [...] The US, Germany and the EU are among some of UNRWA's biggest donors. - BBC

Unfortunately, the WSJ article is paywalled, so I can't access the full thing for a quote.

Anyway. Call your reps. I'm not even talking to just the Americans this time, call your fucking reps. If they aren't donating to UNRWA, then make them do something. Is the organization possibly a security risk, and the concerns legitimate? Maybe! But you cannot cut the funding that is keeping 2.3mill people alive on an already shoestring budget and not immediately put a backup security net in place.

Until then, pick a charity with a good rating, donate and signal boost it, and politely harass your politicians.

Politely as in "don't shout at or cuss out the staffers that man the phone lines," because they are not your reps, but also because your number is going to get blocked and then you won't be able to pressure them in the future. Do be firm, though.

I'm personally picking the PCRF this time, since one of the three remaining hospitals in south Gaza has been evacuated and shut down, and the evacuees reportedly include women who just got C-sections, which means the evacuees also include newborns, and medical care is in high demand. They're also currently focused on providing clean drinking water to the people of Palestine. That said, so is food, and shelter, and winter clothing. Pick a need, find a charity, and toss them some money.

[mariacallous]

Foreign ministers of the five biggest powers in Europe together with the incoming top EU diplomat and host Poland held talks in Warsaw on Tuesday to reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression.

“We were in agreement that imposing on Ukraine peace recipes contrary to its interests or unacceptable socially would have a negative impact on the stability of the country,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said after the meeting of Weimar Triangle foreign ministers (Germany, France and Poland) plus Italy, Spain and the UK.

“Any scenarios for finishing the war and putting an end to Russian aggression must be worked out in close cooperation with the Ukrainian government,” Sikorski added.

The meeting was called to allay fears that Ukraine would be sidelined once the newly elected US president Donald Trump takes office in January. Trump has repeatedly talked about bringing peace “in 24 hours” by imposing a solution that would likely be heavily weighted towards Russia.

Jitters were also caused by the decision of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a one-on-one call last week, the first since the full-scale invasion began. That call has been criticised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, among others.

Sikorski was joined in Warsaw by the foreign ministers of Germany (Annalena Baerbock), France (Jean-Noel Barrot), Italy (Antonio Tajani) as well as Kaja Kallas, the future EU high representative for foreign affairs. The foreign ministers of Spain and the UK took part in the talks remotely.

Explaining the reasons for organising the meeting, Sikorski said it was prompted by the weekend’s major attack on Ukraine, the largest since last year, as well as by the US presidential election.

The meeting in Warsaw also served as an attempt by Poland to preserve its key role in European policymaking on Ukraine after apparently being snubbed last month by Berlin when it held talks on Ukraine with the US, UK and France but not Poland. It was also an opportunity for Sikorski to score a few domestic points ahead of his party’s primary election later this week to choose its presidential candidate for next year.

German Foreign Minister Baerbock spoke about the importance of not “having any breaks in securing the peace in Europe” in the context of uncertainties connected to the election of Trump as the next president of the US. EU countries, she said, “must strengthen the European pillar of NATO” and “invest significantly more than 2 per cent of GDP in defence”.

She also warned against “self-fulfilling prophecies”, implying that it was too early to tell what a future US administration would do in relation to the war and US financial involvement in European defence.

All the foreign ministers were careful to highlight the importance of cooperation with the US for ensuring peace in Europe, regardless of who holds the reins of power in Washington. “It’s only by having strong transatlantic ties that we can counter the rising threats from Russia and other countries,” Sikorski said.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

It's frustrating how this article admits that vaccination does not substantially stop spread, but it give the reader no further information. Mask up. Improve ventilation. Filter the air. Distance when you can. Those are actual, implementable advice that keeps covid from spreading, and it has to be done by the public at large to keep individuals safe. It's much less effective when the nebulous "high risk" are left to fend for themselves while everyone else pretends that it's 2019 forever.

By Kelly Ashmore

The XEC strain is 'just getting started' and is rapidly spreading throughout Europe and the rest of the world, experts have warned

Experts have issued a warning about a new, "stronger" Covid variant that is "just getting started" and spreading rapidly across Europe and the rest of the world. The XEC strain, first identified in Germany in June, has now been linked to 15 countries across three continents. As colder weather approaches, specialists anticipate this strain will become the dominant variant.

In California, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said: "XEC is just getting started now around the world and here. And that's going to take many weeks, a couple of months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave," according to the LA Times. He added, "XEC is definitely taking charge. That does appear to be the next variant. But it's months off from getting into high levels."

Experts have issued a warning about a new, "stronger" Covid variant that is "just getting started" and spreading rapidly across Europe and the rest of the world. The XEC strain, first identified in Germany in June, has now been linked to 15 countries across three continents. As colder weather approaches, specialists anticipate this strain will become the dominant variant.

In California, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said: "XEC is just getting started now around the world and here. And that's going to take many weeks, a couple of months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave," according to the LA Times. He added, "XEC is definitely taking charge. That does appear to be the next variant. But it's months off from getting into high levels."

What is Covid XEC? The Covid XEC is a recombinant variant of Covid-19, resulting from a combination of the BA. 1 and BA.

2 Omicron subvariants. While some Covid strains have proven more severe than others over the past years, it will take additional time for health professionals to determine the severity of symptoms associated with the XEC strain.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not yet provided detailed information on the XEC variant.

However, recent statistics from the UKHSA have shown a 4.3 per cent increase in Covid-19 cases, but a decrease in virus-related deaths. The weekly figures revealed an increase of 1,587 Covid cases as of September 4.

Despite recording 102 deaths in the week ending August 30, this was a decrease of 20.9 per cent (27) from the previous week. Furthermore, hospital admissions due to the virus also fell by six per cent to 1,465, in the week up to August 29.

What are the symptoms of Covid XEC? The strain presents symptoms similar to those of a typical cold and flu. These include shortness of breath, high fever, persistent cough, loss of taste or smell, and feelings of fatigue or exhaustion.

Classic cold symptoms such as headache, sore throat, runny or blocked nose, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and general malaise are also common. While most people will recover within a few weeks, some may require hospitalisation and others may need longer.

How to stay protected As with earlier Covid variants, the same precautions should be taken against the newest variant, including regular booster doses and vaccinations. Vaccines remain the best defence against serious illness, hospitalisation, and even death, even if they may not completely prevent infection.

If you're vulnerable to the virus or share a home with someone who is, donning a face mask can offer some protection, particularly in crowded or poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Boosting indoor ventilation where possible can further reduce the risk of falling ill.

[loadingbones]

Hello!! breakdown of Choir Cosplay!! This is not really gonna be a step by step but a general vibe of what I did to make this cosplay :) To note: I haven’t sewn anything since I was in highschool which was 8 years ago, so a lot of this is like a ‘ya that works’ - make improvements where I could not :p Overall I wanted the cosplay to not be an exact copy of what is in game, personally I prefer more fitted clothing so I went close to my size with the pattern. Fabric: I used an ivory polycotton, ivory satin and black cotton. 1. I started hunting for a pattern that at least captured the vibe of the choir garb. I had split up the garment in my head into 3 separate parts: The base, the capelet, all the extra fancy bits. The big concern when picking fabric is I didn’t want the garment to be translucent, which is a problem for lighter coloured fabric. BUT!! I found that I didn’t have to make a lining and could instead flatline the fabric - where you cut double the piece and stitch them flat against each other - making it both thicker and opaque!  

Flatlining tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N-qdP9tcc4&pp=ygUSZmxhdCBsaW5pbmcgc2V3aW5n

I found this pattern by Gunnar Deatherage on Etsy (as a beginner I loved this pattern, it’s very in depth and easy to follow) 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1270370974/maxi-duster-wrap-pattern-instant?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=gunnar+deatherage&ref=sr_gallery-1-14&pro=1&sts=1&dd=1&content_source=95a164c411331c5aaff8fee029dee1e6377d3f92%253A1270370974&search_preloaded_img=1&organic_search_click=1

I did not use the sleeve pattern from it, instead I made my own to have the right fall and size.

Use the sleeve cap from the pattern so it can attach correctly to the bodice/back pieces - then where the sleeve starts to become longer draw out diagonally on both sides. For length I used the original pattern and went slightly longer! :) I used the same pattern for the peplum sorta top section and again for the skirt on the bottom. It creates a stitch line along the front but it’ll be covered by the belt!

I bought this embroidered ribbon and attached it around the edges of the garment! https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/840215852/35-mm-golden-victorian-jade-jacquard?click_key=2c042e9416627d9bf9d2f1e85385ba93e48ca464%3A840215852&click_sum=1fe453a7&ref=shop_home_active_1&sts=1  Corset/rolled sleeves: I did this last Corset pieces: Cut out 4 pieces (twice) - and attach them together leaving the end open to turn them inside out. Use a grommet tool and punch some holes through your fabric - make sure they line up. Roll the sleeves to roughly where your inner elbow is and attach another piece of fabric around the width of the roll - pin it in place. Hand sew the corset pieces on and the other piece of fabric so it is all secure :) Thread some similar coloured lacing to the fabric through the holes. 

2. The belt! (My mum helped me a lot on this and was my voice of reason) Originally I had bought an elasticated belt with a clasp, but it didn't work at all and ruined the fall of the garment.

I chopped off the end of the belt, leaving me with some elasticated ‘fabric’ and the clasp. Measured my waist and cut out a thick piece of fabric twice and one piece of iron on interfacing. The measurement I did with the base on and added slightly more for both seam allowance and so there was breathing room for myself. Put the clasp piece on either end of the fabric and sew it all together! :)  (marks are from the paint of the chain rubbing off onto the fabric :P)

3. The caplet!  For the capelet I used this tutorial                           Easy DIY Capelets | For Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas🎃🍂🎄          (The only issue with this is I couldn’t get my head around how to attach a non circle collar) Ivory polycotton + Ivory satin used. Doing the base of this is pretty straightforward with the tutorial - it’s just a circle skirt but for your neck. If you want to be evil to yourself, you can do what I did and hand sew bridal applique all around the garment. If you can machine sew it please do :p I went for a big swooping shaped applique in ivory - any gaps I had were filled with more applique  ​​https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/628065500/beaded-sequinned-lace-flower-wedding?click_key=d8b4937d8079ab34b301cf2d4dc7fbd0d6ede960%3A628065500&click_sum=81fb49a9&ref=shop_home_recs_1 I used poppers on the base and the cape to attach them together - it kept choking me if i didn’t  4. The collar - made me want to cry ngl I could not figure out for the life of me how to attach a non circle collar to the capelet (which is how I wanted it). Instead we have a removable collar!! I copied the size of collar from one of my own shirts and followed these tutorials                           TWO PIECE COLLAR TUTORIAL | KIM DAVE                                     How to Sew a Collar and Collar Stand Easily by Sew Sew Live     5. Graduation hood???? For some reason you can’t just buy these in the UK without paying £30, so I made my own Cut out double for the pieces around your neck and one for the ‘hood’ part Gather the ends of the rectangular piece and attach them to the other pieces!

6. The Fancy back panel piece Measure from mid shoulder blade to the bottom of the garment for the main rectangular piece. Cut out two other rectangles of the same width coming into an arrow shape. Sew them all together and start sketching on the design. The great thing here is you can make it up, because it’s too complicated and nobody is gonna look at it and be like ‘u did it wrong’ I used a fabric medium and gold metallic acrylic 

Once it’s all done, I machine sewed it to the back of the base garment because it’s hidden by the cape.  7. THE REST Chain: Me and the chain belt had a fight - Originally I used metal chain,, but I’m allergic to some metal and can’t deal with the smell,, I switched to a plastic chain with 2 D Ring clasps - had to sand it down but the gold spray paint loves to flake off. If I knew about it before, I’d use EVA foam chain :) Black pieces underneath: I bought a turtle neck and a long black skirt :P but you could make it as a dress or smth! Purchased long black velvet gloves, a pocket watch and a key necklace (I didn’t want to use a censer - and they are v expensive/idk how to make one) Ribbon + brooch: I bought chunky soft blue ribbon and found a vintage brooch on vinted 

The mask: If you have contacts you’d probably be fine, but I don’t and this mask messed with my depth perception and balance so I had to take it off so I could wear my glasses :( 

Use buckram plastic mesh - the thicker kind, used for fursuit eyes and in black! You can see out but nobody can see in. I made a mock up with paper but sorta looks like this shape :)

Eva foam pieces cut out into swirls and filigree like shapes, glue it onto the buckram I did a base coat in grey over the entire thing and painted it with black, gold and bronze acrylic! I hole punched and put the ribbon through it so the mask could be tied around my head.

If you’re making the mask and hat - I’d attach the mask to the hat so it’s one piece :)  Where I went wrong/what I’d improve I wish I had been able to attach the collar to the rest of the garment. There is a gap that appears between the collar and the caplet/base at the back (mainly due to gravity and it moving) that can be annoying, since my hair is on the longer side it was covered but still I wish it wasn’t there. I’d also want a bigger collar! I’d not use satin as a lining for the skirt and capelet - it’s so annoying to use and it’s so slippery Maybe would not hand sew all that applique because it took me over a week :P  BUT OVERALL for a first cosplay, it’s pretty good! I’m mostly happy with the outcome and it was one of my dream ones to do! :) I hope this helps, I didn’t take photos of all the steps unfortunately but hopefully it makes sense :) 

[zvaigzdelasas]

The US and the UK will reject the international court of justice order directing Israel to end its offensive on Rafah after slowly blurring their red lines that once stated that they could not support a military offensive in Rafah.

The line was first adapted by saying they could not support a major ground offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians, but since then the definition of what constitutes a major offensive has become more flexible.

The deputy foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, told MPs on Monday “the UK could only support a constructive plan for Rafah that complies with international humanitarian law on all counts”.

On Tuesday he told the UK business select committee that “the significant operation in Rafah, it appears, has not yet started”, even though 800,000 people had fled the area, including 400,000 who had been warned to do so by the Israel Defense Forces. [...]

The select committee chair, Liam Byrne, cited the movement of 800,000 people: “If that is not significant, then what is?”

Mitchell replied that the UK was doing what it could do to help with aid, adding the fact “800,000 had chosen to go of itself would not lead us to make a change in the assessment” of whether a serious breach of IHL had occurred.

The Labour MP Andy McDonald, previewing the line taken by the ICJ, asked the minister: “What choice did they have to move? Was this just: ‘I think I want to go and live somewhere else’? Is that not a preposterous suggestion to make – that this is a matter of free will?”

Mitchell replied: “They have moved as a result of the circumstances.”

Byrne asked the minister directly: “Do you believe, Mr Mitchell, as the minister, that Israel currently has the intent to comply with international humanitarian law in Rafah?”

Mitchell replied: “It does not matter, chair, what I believe. What is important is the legal process that informs that decision.

He later admitted that the last released assessment of Israel’s compliance rested on evidence that ended in January.

The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, took a different line in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, indicating that he had been briefed by Israeli officials and by Israeli professionals on refinements to the Rafah plan that would achieve its military objectives while taking account of civilian harm.

He said there was no mathematical formula to decide if a plan was acceptable. “What we’re going to be looking at is whether there is a lot of death and destruction from this operation or if it is more precise and proportional,” he said.

He made no reference to the conditions in which Palestinians forced to flee were living.

It seems, according to interpretation, that the US either feels it has persuaded Israel to adjust its plans to make them acceptable or, faced with an Israeli fait accompli that the invasion would proceed regardless of Washington’s objections, the US has effectively backed down.

24 May 24