#all about vaccine

[oifaaa]

I have a fun new game I'm playing where anytime I find out something good a vaccine has done I share that news with my deeply anti vax mother I know it won't change her mind but it makes me happy anyway today I learned that the HPV vaccination programme the UK started in 2008 has managed to cut down the amount of cervical cancer cases by 90% in England

[mellosdrawings]

I'm feeling like rambling about AI on main, ignore me if it's not your cup of tea.

So a while ago, I did check out those art prompts AI, because when I pester about something, I like to know what I'm rambling about. I like to do a minimum of research and, if possible, try the thing out before making my opinion. For AI art, my opinion was already pretty solid, but I still wanted to check it out.

I found a free prompt stuff online, asked it a super easy prompt, and asked for a handful of different images. Just to see.

The prompt was [character tripping]. Really. Super easy, right? I wanted the thing to have as much liberty as possible.

It's not just that though. I chose this prompt because it is something I did in art school. Our teacher would give us simple prompts, and we would have to draw doodles in 5 minutes or less. Imagine a class of 15 exhausted art students full of caffeine being told to draw someone tripping.

The 15 art students' results? Little boys tripping over tree roots, teenage girls falling while rollskating, business men tripping on their papers and burning themselves with coffee, old ladies cracking a hip, comical falls backwards with a leg up, realistic falls forward with pained expressions, etc etc.

See, our fast doodles weren't any better than AI anatomically speaking. We were missing hands and our faces were distorted and a foot was bigger than another, things that are also common with AI. But the DIVERSITY. I remember being flabbergasted by it. We all had the same prompt, but none of us drew the same thing. I remember drawing the good old banana peel slip from the old comics I read when I was a kid. My best friend drew a kid falling in mud.

We did several prompts like that as training, and I always loved to see what everybody was doing, because it was always so different.

Now, here was the AI result: 5 anime girls in a running position at an angle, making shocked pikachu faces. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. The angle and the running poses were the only things that changed, and even then just slightly.

The AI only did 5 times the same stuff. Art style changed a bit from one to the other, but always the same vibe, always the same composition, and always that godsdamned shocked pikachu face. It was very underwhelming.

I don't care about perfect anatomy and lighting. But I care about creativity. I love seeing things that I would never have thought to do myself. And the AI didn't provide that at all. Coz AI has no creativity whatsoever. If you don't further your prompt to be very specific, it will just reheat the same bland stuff again and again. It's just boring.

I have a lot of grievances about AI. Art theft, environmental blunder, artists being paid even less than they already were (as if people and companies suggesting to pay us in visibility wasn't bad enough). But even on an emotional level there's nothing. Yes, it's great to see one's character/idea brought to life when one cannot draw. But it'll be the blandest stuff ever. That's just a shame.

[milkweedman]

It is interesting how much math comes into even the most basic of like. Making things. Making almost anything. And often not numbers necessarily but proportions and geometry. I think all the time about how castles were built with geometry at the heart of it. And I use the same kind of proportional math to make socks fit. And none of my pieces are ever knit with a prime number of stitches--because you use factors to make neat colorwork and ribbing and different stitches. Idk ! I remember constantly thinking 'how the hell is THIS gonna come in useful ?' But it always does. Math is at the heart of everything, and knowing how to apply it is a tool of critical importance to Thinking Up A Shape And Making It.

[redtail-lol]

What's the difference between a trypanophobe choosing not to get vaccinated and an antivaxxer?

Trypanophobes have to struggle with a lot more distress getting a shot than the general population, making it a mentally taxing and emotionally painful ordeal. This is not the lived experience of normal people above the age of 12. There is possibly some nervousness but it is not the same.

Trypanophobes don't spread misinformation and fearmongering about vaccines to convince others not to get vaccinated. We want herd immunity.

Trypanophobes don't treat being autistic like it's the worst thing that could ever happen to someone. Trypanophobes aren't ableist by being trypanophobic

Trypanophobes are a small number of people and we aren't actively recruiting more because we know our fear is irrational.

And sometimes trypanophobes will get vaccinated and get through their fear, even when its hard, because antivaxxers have made herd immunity less achievable. Antivaxxers have a belief and don't believe their fear is irrational so they won't ever get vaccinated until they change their beliefs.

Trypanophobes and antivaxxers will be enemies forever

[mod2amaryllis]

how it feels to get my child vaccinated

[vice-president-galade]

The push to move oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act out of the Education Department is now prompting legal questions and other concerns from special education and disability advocates. “This is not a change that can be made by executive order — it would require Congress to amend the law to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to move the Office of Special Education Programs from ED to HHS,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Education Department’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush. The IDEA specifies that “there shall be, within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education, an Office of Special Education Programs, which shall be the principal agency in the department for administering and carrying out this title and other programs and activities concerning the education of children with disabilities.” Even if the president could move IDEA oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services, doing so would be “a step back 50 years,” said Michael Yudin who served as assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under the Obama administration. Most children with disabilities are educated in general education classrooms alongside their typically developing peers, so breaking off special education is illogical, he said. “This is not a health issue, this is not a medical issue, this is about educating kids with disabilities,” Yudin said. “We’re talking about making sure kids get a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. What about health does that?” Disability advocates are also raising concerns about how prepared the Department of Health and Human Services would be to oversee special education and what message it would send to house special education inside a health agency. “Moving IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services would promote a medical model of disability that could only lead to stigmatizing, segregating, and ‘othering’ children with disabilities,” said Robyn Linscott, director of education and family policy at The Arc. “HHS is not equipped to work directly with state education agencies who are delegated the responsibility to oversee local implementation of IDEA in school districts; nor is HHS able to provide essential technical assistance to parents as is currently conducted.”

[menlove]

I love when people are like shocked and horrified about the latine vote always going red like. every latine in this country is gonna go "yeah?" like it's not surprising. those of us that are leftists agree that it's fucking stupid and I promise you we're more frustrated than you are, but like. never a shocking event.

[gummybearsings]

The entire plague problem could have been avoided if the Regalians would have just let Gregor go back upstairs to buy some flea and tick meds ngl

[transgender-chiroptera]

Can you share some of your favorite bat facts? I wanna add more to my lil arsenal of cool random facts. :]

Of course! Apologies for the late response, I saw this at like 1am four days ago, forgot everything I knew about bats, and then fell asleep and only remembered I even got this ask today. Anyways! Some bat facts :)

Common Vampire bats are some of my absolute favourites, mostly because of their ability to run on the ground! They can gallop with their forelimbs and take off from the ground by leaping into the air and catapulting themselves with their wings, which is speculated to be how Pterodactyls took off as well! Most bats cannot take off from the ground, and must be elevated to take flight, so this is pretty cool. Makes sense too, since they mostly feed from the ankles of large mammals and so need ground maneuverability!

Here's a video of a vamp taking off, and here's a video of one walking around! I think their skittery movements and lil' faces are just the CUTEST, but I know I'm probably in the minority there. Also there's a large dish of blood in the second video, so fair warning there!

All three true Vampire bats have evolved special grooves in their mouths in order to act as a gutter of sorts to funnel the blood into their mouths, but the exact arrangement differs between them. The Hairy-Legged Vampire bat has a groove along the roof of the mouth, whereas the White-Winged and Common Vampire bats have lingual grooves under the tounge! Speaking of White-Winged Vampire bats, they're the only bats in the world with 22 teeth, for some reason (likely no reason since the molars are vestigial), AND they have scent glands in their mouths that might be used to deter predators. Pretty cool stuff!

Finally, all three species of true Vampire Bats are cute as hell. Look at these lil' guys!!

(left to right- White-winged, Hairy-legged, and Common Vampire bats!)

[omg-snakes]

Chammers was named as a joke about a joke about a fulfillment platform software product that no longer exists.

Now I'm going to rehome him, and his new family will probably rename him. They won't know why he was ever called Chammers.

Will they even wonder?

[fallow-grove]

"autism will ruin your marriage" but taken to a different conclusion. autism so sexy ur spouse cant stop makin eyes at me. autism so charming bitches cant resist the way i posture like a wild animal

[lloydfrontera]

i think rakiel reinvents vaccines after dealing with one chicken pox patient too many. slapping some pus into that open wound babeeey

[princessnijireiki]

The notes on that Henson post are all either like, "oh it was the cult he was raised in" (he seems to have left it decades prior but, yk, stuff lingers), "he just like me fr" (??? don't do that), or "if only he knew and went to the doctor sooner :("

But truly, if anything, the commentary I added is UNDERSTATING how streptococcus operates— like unless some other grievous torso injury had happened to Henson early on in the illness that required BOTH blood cultures AND X-rays, AND the infection and lung abscesses had been caught, AND they proceeded with heavy medication AND likely surgical intervention, AND the timing and execution of all that were perfect + he didn't pick up any additional bugs at the hospital... there was & even nowadays would be no other route to survival. It would have taken extreme & sheer dumb luck, it would have been excruciating, and it still would have only been a "maybe."

And any bacteria that escaped purging could still "detonate" and kill him decades later.

All after, by medical standards of the time, not doing anything "wrong."

Like, follow medical recommendations re: antibiotic usage to the letter with "regular" strep because otherwise, you may die, AND you will make new germs that are harder to kill so OTHER people will also die. But Henson did not have "regular" strep— and my point is, regular strep bacteria FROM 1990 could tear you apart brutally, and the strep of the 2020s is already stronger, faster, and scarier.

I'm not saying, "save yourself the way Henson should have," he was already doomed before ever flying back to NYC, which is tragic, but that was not an issue in his or your or any of our control— I'm saying we're in a losing war against bacteria, so save yourself if and when you can, AND don't give the germ another fucking gun, because it's already strong enough that there are ways you can get sick and no one can save you, and we haven't medically been able to move the needle on that, but the germ sure has.

Same as polio vaccination. The herd immunity and the armor needs to be strong, because if enough people get sick enough for it or one of its cousin viruses to MUTATE and then spread again, we cannot save you. The vaccines of the past will not protect you. There is no "if only." There are not enough iron lungs left in the world. Get vaccinated and follow medical best practices so you don't fill a graveyard.

We live in a scary world where we are not the determinors of our own health and safety. And sometimes there are no life jackets.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Not that we need to bring back shitty zombie media for like a 4th time but I am a little surprised we haven't had a Renaissance of post-covid zombie stories all about how the zombie apocalypse wasn't actually an apocalypse at all and everything kept going there just sometimes are dozens or even 100+ flesh eating shambling corpses that have to be dealt with, but otherwise people keep having to go to their shitty jobs and pay their rent, and people try to act like it's not still happening, or deny it happened at all, or say it happened but it wasn't so bad, or is still happening but isntsobad, or all of the above at the same time... And just the long cumulative effect of living with the ongoing not-quite-cataclysmic zombie plague

[lalalychee]

i'm gonna give away where i work with this status lol but i feel like way more people need to be aware of what the national immunization survey is.

the national immunization survey is a survey conducted on behalf of the CDC via phone. it's the CDC's primary source of immunization data in the country, and it's been going on since 1994. random phone numbers are called to make sure that people from all backgrounds are being fairly represented, so it's a totally random deal if you're selected to participate. i know there's a ton of weird scam calls out there, but if you get a call from someone about an immunization survey and the caller ID says CDC NATL IMMUN, it's 100% legitimate.

you can read more information about it on the CDC's website.

even if you have never been vaccinated, are against vaccinations, etc, your response is important so the survey results aren't biased and so your voice is also heard. the survey is not trying to convince anyone to get vaccinated; it's just collecting numbers. it's also about more than just covid vaccinations. (like i said, the survey has been conducted since 1994, so it far predates covid.)

even if you don't want to participate, please don't be mean to the interviewer who called you. we're just trying to make a living. you would not believe the things we get called, and it's so beyond unacceptable. literally all you have to do is ask the interviewer to remove you from the list. you have to say those exact words and then we'll leave you alone. please for the love of god stop cussing us out. just say take me off the list. it's that easy.

tl;dr if you get a call from the CDC about a survey, it's NOT a spam call. be nice. we're tired.

[sickfreaksirkay]

got a vaccine today and the nurse hit me with the 'talk about something random so they don't notice the massive needle going into their arm' technique and i fell for it hook line and sinker. the oldest trick in the book. humiliating