#also you won't get/spread covid

[liminalweirdo]

[cherubfae]

𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢𝔡 || {𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢}

tags: gn!reader, implied ftm!for Angie, established relationship, fluff, comfort, for anyone who has been too stressed or tired lately<3 let them carry you

Alastor

He lets out a deep sigh, staring down at you with slow blinks. "My love, surely that can't be comfortable for you" He has warned you time and time again not to spread yourself too thin with your tasks. Alastor appreciates how much of a good work ethic you have, but what is it worth if you don't have the strength to walk to your room? He picks you up as gently as he can, melding into shadow as he pops into your room. Carefully laying you down, Alastor will cover you up and with a gentle pat on your head before he takes his leave. Perhaps, next time he'll be tempted to rest beside you.

Lucifer

No wonder you hadn't answered him when he called your name. Here you were, fast asleep on his deep red chaise lounge using your folded arms as pillows. Lucifer picks you up bridal-style half-wishing you were awake so that you could see how strong he is! Another time, he thinks. Your rest is much more important than his ego (for now). "Sleep well, honey." He grins, wiggling beneath the sheets like an inch warm, his eyes sparkling with admiration. Placing a kiss to your head, Lucifer is quick to fall asleep.

Charlie

Honestly, she really does try her best not to squeal at the sight of you. You've been working insanely hard for the hotel-- it's no wonder you're so pooped out! She's careful with wiggling one arm beneath your back and hooking the other beneath your knees. She'll carry you to whichever room is closest: yours or hers. Maybe she'll be able to convince you to move into her suite soon. "Oh my gosh, aren't you just the cutest, honey?? I love you so much!"

Angel Dust

"Awww, sweets! Lookit ya! All tuckered out." He cooed in a hushed whisper, lightly booping your nose. His grin widens when it crinkles upwards. His middle set of arms pick you up, preferring to use his gloved ones to stroke back your hair softly. Leaning his cheek against your forehead, Angel carries you off to his room where an excited Fat Nuggets happily circles the bed in preparation for a lovely nap with his two favorite people.

Husk

Putting away the final glass beneath the bar's counter, his yellow eyes drift to your sleeping form at the end of the bar. You'd insisted on waiting for him to finish but all that work promoting the hotel on foot, searching for any sinners ready to be redeemed was a hard task. Husk fought back a smile. "You really do care about this stuff, dont'cha?" He asks despite knowing you won't answer. "Let's get ya to bed." Husk stretches his wings with a sigh before they fall slack. He lifts you into his arms and makes the trek up the stairs.

Blitzø

He'll bitch and groan about it, but he also won't let anyone else touch you when you're sleeping. Blitz will make some claims about how the person trying to touch you probably has cooties or a viral infection or something. Not happening. He's quick to scoop you up into his arms, eyes narrowed slightly, before scampering off to his room with you. "No, you don't get to fuckin' touch them with your gross unwashed hands, Moxxie-- yeah, that's right I saw you! We are living in post-Covid times, mister! Ack, no, leave 'em! I'll carry them just fine thank you!"

Loona

She smirks when she sees you. You look so sweet and cute, curled up into a ball. But that position can't be good on your spine, nor sleeping on Blitz's sad depression sofa. Loona bends down to lift you into her arms, pushing open her bedroom with her elbow and closing it shut with her foot. A nap with you sounded perfect. "You sure do look cute when you're tired, babe." She nuzzles your cheek with her nose.

|| ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ��ᴇᴘᴏꜱᴛ, ʀᴇᴜꜱᴇ, ᴏʀ ᴇᴅɪᴛ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋꜱ ɪɴ ᴀɴʏ ᴡᴀʏ! ɪ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ. ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ꜱɪᴛᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ. ᴀʟʟ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜰᴜʟ ᴏᴡɴᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ © ᴄʜᴇʀᴜʙꜰᴀᴇ 2024 ||

[alex51324]

Now, more than ever, we need to be careful about spreading misinformation and rumors

I can guarantee that over the next few months, we'll be hearing about a lot of alarming things going on here in the US. Some of those things will be true, and some won't. (And some will have both true and false or exaggerated elements.)

It's going to be absolutely vital that important information is not drowned out by misinformation, rumors, and ragebait.

That means, when you see something that would be important if true, before sharing, you check whether it's actually true.

In library world, we use the acronym SIFT:

STOP: Don't spread the information, or get caught up in your emotional reaction to it, before you've checked it out. INVESTIGATE: Who is saying it? How do they know? If there are links or sources in the post, do they actually say what the person is saying they do? FIND other coverage: Do an internet search for key details: quotes, people's names, specific locations. If something major is happening, there will normally be a lot of coverage. TRACE claims, quotes, and media back to their original context.

Usually you don't need to do all four things: just STOP and then pick what makes sense from the other three. If you decide to share the information, you can also say what you did--"This is a firsthand account from XYZ protest; it lines up with what the local TV station is saying, but has a lot more details about what the cops did," or whatever.

The more urgent the information seems, the more important it is to make sure it's reliable.

If we're hearing every other day that this or that vulnerable group is in immediate, life-threatening danger--but 49 times out of 50 it turns out to mean Trump rambled somewhere about something which, if actually implemented, could end up having the described consequences at some point down the line--then people aren't going to know the difference the one time in 50 when the danger really is immediate.

Think, here, things like immigration crackdowns, CPS investigations into parents who affirm a trans child's gender, or demands that health care providers report miscarriages to law enforcement. We all know that these are things Trump World talks about a lot and would like to be able to do, in some form. For the sake of the people affected by these topics, we need different ways of talking about, "Here they are, back on their bullshit," versus, "This is a policy proposal for a real thing that could happen," versus, "Holy shit, grab the kids and run."

We cannot go to "Holy shit, grab the kids and run" every time Trump, or someone in his inner circle, decides to bloviate about something that could disastrously affect people lives. The people who are most in danger can't stay at DefCon 5 every day of their lives, and when they do really have to grab the kids and run, we need that alarm to be heard over the constant background hum of dread.

The same goes for action items--whether protests, ways to help, or little things people can do to stay safe/sane. There's going to be plenty going on, and nobody is going to be able to do everything, so do your part by passing along those things that you can vouch are true and important, and skipping the things you aren't sure about.

I'll leave you with an example. Remember how a few years ago, we were all-in about hand hygiene and disinfecting surfaces? And then it turned out that those were not actually very important in terms of preventing the transmission of COVID-19, and what we really need is better air filtration in public spaces--but, at my work at least, we still have canisters of surface-disinfecting wipes sitting around, and tattered old signs up about hand hygiene, and no air filters.

At the time, early in the pandemic, we were sharing the best information we knew about how to stay safe, but people got a little too fixated on that initial advice--remember how people would wipe down their groceries? And those little sticks for pressing elevator buttons?--and then when the advice changed, they didn't want to hear about it.

Distrust, fatigue, superstitious attachment to the old grocery-wiping ways--there were a lot of reasons, but the key thing to take away is that attention, energy, and goodwill are all finite resources. Try to avoid wasting it with grocery-wiping--or worse, shilling for the guy selling little sticks to press elevator buttons with.

[animentality]

not to be a boomer, but I do worry about the current generation of kids being raised with iPads.

first off. some of them literally can't hold a pencil because their parents never gave them physical toys to grip and play with, developing their fine motor skills.

you might ask why do we even need to learn how to write physically anymore- well, frankly, because if you're stranded on an island somewhere and you need to write HELP, you might not have the strength to hold a pencil, but you can at least hold a stick.

but on a more general note.

writing by hand helps you remember things better. it forces you to focus in a way that typing something word for word does not. a person can transcribe what a professor says without even thinking about it.

someone writing notes has to consider what to write and what to omit. it also activates more parts of your brain, forcing you to flex the parts of your brain related to learning and communicating, while also engaging the part of your brain dedicated to muscle control and precision.

but in general, I think the issue isn't even oh technology is bad and kids are getting dumber.

you can have PowerPoints AND take physical notes. that could help you learn even better than the olden days where you just had to remember everything that was thrown at you. or read very limited, out of date books.

the problem is that the generation that raised/is raising this generation of children just doesn't understand the true impact that all this technology will have on their kids. or they just don't care.

because our generation had the internet yes, but it wasn't widely accessible for most of us, sharing our computers with the entire family in the kitchen. it was also the internet in its infancy, where it wasn't quite so predatory, when it was lawless and disturbing, yes, but it wasn't weaponized by corporations trying to sell you things and steal your data, it wasn't flooded with bots and ai and all sorts of things that the human brain can't even distinguish as real or fake, especially when you're just a little kid.

that generation still played with physical toys. we celebrated when it snowed and we could stay home.

we also came from a gen that still, vaguely, cared about some form of community and had third spaces for kids to hang out.

90s children, who still had some memories of both playing outside on a playground and playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64 with their friends, who both went out to the mall and had a club penguin account.

we grew up with laptops and smart boards. maybe some of us had them in high school or college, but we still physically went to class and developed relationships. learned uncomfortable things about ourselves and others, the way humans do.

met new people and were exposed to new ideas, away from our parents. but not from some fucking influencer trying to sell us Sephora products.

we had to study for things, instead of just being able to Google shit for some bullshit online test.

which is also something that really concerns me. so many kids today can so easily Google answers for every test, and while tests don't ultimately matter in the real world, they still provide some basis for things that do matter.

like I'm just imagining medical students googling how to perform an appendectomy on the day of, and just using a YouTube tutorial to guide them through, and shuddering.

there are some things that the Internet can't teach you.

there always will be.

but I don't think my generation is really helping their kids find the balance that we were given naturally growing up.

the boomers and gen xers had fist fights and we had bullying someone online until they committed suicide.

and now kids use AI to spread fake nudes of girls.

but the laws haven't caught up with a lot of this stuff yet, and certainly won't while we have dinosaurs running our government. and culture takes even longer to change than laws.

I also worry because I know how badly covid affected kids worldwide. how they struggle to read and do math, because remote learning just isn't good for kids.

and I can't even blame them!! I literally teleworked for 4 years and even I can admit that I'm not nearly as good at focusing at home as I am in the office.

it's hard for kids with social anxiety and disabilities, yes I know, I know, trust me, I have social anxiety, and as a hybrid worker ATM, I highly doubt I'd be able to handle 5 days a week in the office.

but it's also not particularly good for kids to stay home ALL the time, entertaining themselves in their room and never being challenged, and never meeting people other than their parents.

the iPad is more of a symbol of that problem than the direct problem.

if your entire... world view is limited to what you can see on your iPad... I mean what a terrible world view you'll have.

you're a 10 year old using TikTok and all you ever see is the same opinion over and over until you can scarcely comprehend people who have an opposing opinion.

you see fake videos that seem so real. that must be real, and so comforting, aren't they, those videos that seem so real?

you let 30 year old influencers who are trying to grift people shape your world view.

and it's not even your fault.

your parents aren't doing anything to help you.

you're young and you're being barraged with entertainment and fake educational videos and how to guides that accidentally create mustard gas in your toilet.

your parents should be teaching you to find a balance between these things. they should be telling you what's real and caution you about the things you see.

they should limit your fucking time on the iPad actually. take you to a fucking park and let you roll in the mud or some shit.

and then when you're a teenager and a young adult, then you can start deciding for yourself what you believe.

but a lot of these weird millennial/gen z parents, man. just let your 1 year old scroll through vids on TikTok while you don't even talk to them or look at them once.

maybe it's because they don't see the harm in it, but I don't get it.

adults can watch TikTok all day and know, ahhh this is bad for me. I'm not doing anything I actually want to be doing.

adults can see other adults doing dumb shit and say ah you're sponsored. someone paid you money to say and do that. silly.

but kids are just kids.

they don't have discipline and frankly, that's not their responsibility. that is yours.

you should be teaching them that they can't have everything in life at their finger tips at all times, actually.

the iPad doesn't solve all of your problems, nor will it think critically for you.

so I worry about if humanity can really keep up with its own technology.

our species is still in its infancy, believe it or not.

so maybe these are just growing pains, and future generations will be able to look back on this era and know the proper balance.

but as someone living in 2024.

I wonder just how much pain is left before we really mature and either make it or break it.

[liminalweirdo]

Hi, sorry to bother you, but I recently came across some of your posts and was curious about the tag "not wearing a mask is eugenics". Can you elaborate on that? I'm genuinely curious, as this isn't a view I've seen before and want to know more about it

Sure! Basically one-way masking (one person wearing a mask in a group of unmasked people) is not nearly as effective at preventing covid spread as universal masking (everyone wears a mask).

Masks are the best way to reduce covid spread and help to keep everybody safe. Basically, masking even if you think you aren't sick -- covid is not always symptomatic and people are still contagious before symptoms show up /source/source/source/source -- is community-oriented. You are invested in protecting other people.

People who choose not to wear a mask and are leaving masking up to the people who "have to mask" or are covid-vulnerable or covid-cautious is a form of practising eugenics; it's the extension of "well only vulnerable and elderly people die from it," which is designating a group of people as "weak" and less deserving of a high quality of life. Or deserving of life at all. Basically, whether you want it to or not, choosing not to mask says. "If I get covid I'll probably make it because I'm able-bodied and have fairly good access to healthcare and medication. And if someone gets covid from me, and they get really sick or they die... oh well! Wearing a mask is such a bother."

It's casual eugenics. It's not caring enough about vulnerable members in your community to go through the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask, including events like Pride, protests, etc., but also just to protect your literal neighbours. The people you share clinics, and grocery stores, and libraries with.

Right now, disabled, immunocompromized, and other covid-vulnerable people have to severely limit their time spent in grocery stores (for example), and are avoiding accessing healthcare, haircuts, the movie theatre, restaurants, pharmacies, in-person jobs, socialization with family and friends, a quick trip out to a café, etc. -- basically all the things that they need, or that make life worth living -- and all because no one is bothering to mask in those public places, and that makes those places too unsafe. I'm one of those people. I haven't been inside a restaurant or a café or a real grocery store in three years. My partner cuts my hair for me because no barbers mask. I have avoided going to the doctor and getting new glasses even though my prescription no longer works for me. I can't go to the dentist because the other patients aren't required to mask in the waiting room, and no one has invested in HEPA filters or good ventilation.

Not wearing a mask says, "I don't care if those people can't access a decent quality of life." It says, "those people might die if they get covid, or become more severely disabled, but I probably won't, so I don't need to bother masking." It's the way no one cares if they can't access public places they should be able to access, and the casual attitude towards the eradication of "those" people if they get covid and suffer severe consequences. That's why it's eugenics.

If you're curious to learn more about this, follow tags like covid vulnerable, covid cautious, long-covid, me-cfs, myalgic encephalomyelitis, or blogs like @i-still-mask-because

[drdemonprince]

Im sure some of them have been way over a line but if you’re feeling petulant at vulnerable disabled people saying fuck yall to society imagine how we feel to see someone “reticent” to talk about covid issues because “people take it too far”. Sorry that’s probably not entirely fair I’m just so fuucking sick of it. Like of course their exceptions to masking. But don’t tell me how to speak after what I’ve been through. The paternalism makes me want to throw up

Yeah, I think a lot of people think this is about tone policing disabled people who are rightly outraged and despairing, and that's really not what it's about.

This is about the Joe Bidens and Lori Lightfoots of the world blaming covid spread on individuals behaving badly, while systematically dismantling the very social programs that would have made it possible for anyone to behave "well."

There are two conversations happening here that keep getting flattened because of context collapse on the internet. There is the conversation about which feelings disabled and high risk people are allowed to voice. there is no virtue in tone policing that. Disabled people need to express their hurt, hopelessness, and outrage, and no one can stop them from doing that. no one should stop them from doing that. It is not an act of shaming for them to say how they feel. it's important.

There is a separate, more tactical conversation to be had about which kinds of messaging are effective in altering behavior. This is the question for the public health researchers and the activists and the people planning outreach. We have to be able to talk about what works and what doesn't and why.

Just as disabled people who are despairing about COVID have the right to express their pain, disabled people also have a right to discuss how to best movement build and influence public behavior.

I am gonna talk about what the research shows about persuasion and why a lot of organizations are utterly fumbling in influencing people's COVID mitigation behaviors, and I do that because I care about those things changing. I have no interest in silencing my comrades who are experiencing deep grief and terror and outrage and wish to express that, and certainly no one will be silencing me. Even if listening to people who do find masking and social distancing hard and trying to meet them where they are at so that we can practice harm reduction does make you want to barf.

It's understandable you feel that way, and you don't have to do that kinda work. it's work I have the bandwidth for though as someone who also finds doing the "right" things hard here. no amount of people being mad about that is gonna change the fact that strict COVID mitigation adherence is difficult for me. if that fact becomes unspeakable, my behavior wont become perfect, it will just become more secretive.

a person can be angry at me for not being perfect and that's their right but it won't "fix" my behavior. it will just make me feel like a murderer for having pressing, life or death needs of my own. conversely, someone listening to me and caring about me and helping me meet my needs while also reducing my risks helps a whole ton. and so I try to extend that to others as best I can.

[tittyinfinity]

i can't shut up i'm sorry I'm ranting about Biden again

I'm starting to think Trump's presidency really wasn't any worse than what we have going on now, he was just targeting different people.

Bear with me.

The thing is, Biden has been the president for most of the pandemic and he hasn't been doing anything to stop the spread of it, so when people say "but Trump would kill US here!!" I wanna mention that Biden is already killing people of all parts of the political spectrum with his passiveness on covid

Biden is smarter than Trump. He's been in politics longer. He has had decades of learning how to maneuver politics. He has agreed with a lot of bad policies, many more than Trump even had the ability to do w his only 4 years of presidency. Trump is more interested in his image than anything else. Which is also dangerous! But it's much easier to convince people that Trump, a guy who is loud about his prejudices and caused a lot of damage because of that, is worse than a guy who pretends to agree with you on issues and then commits literal genocide.

Like I said, it just changes who is targeted instead. But is that really the case? We're already being targeted in different ways. A few good things have passed under Biden! But we also lost more bodily autonomy rights as far as abortion and trans rights go (not everywhere, but many states have become dangerous to live in). "That's not completely his fault" sure! Well then if the president doesn't have the power to change things truly for the better themselves, then worrying about who the president will be doesn't really matter. Also, presidents in the US have the ability to make executive orders.

And maybe he has spoken up on these things more and I just haven't heard about them - but Biden does not take the time to speak out about the anti-abortion, anti-trans, or healthcare related issues, except for the occasional quip here and there before he goes right back to not giving a shit. And I'm only using those as an example because a lot of "vote blue no matter who" people apparently only care about what happens to people here instead of in other countries.

And it's just really shitty to say "well what about the people who COULD die under a republican presidency instead of the real people dying from Biden's incitement of genocide right now!"

Trump incited a LOT of hatred in our country, yes. It pushed people to be more loud and open about their prejudices. But the deaths caused by hate crimes and COVID here in America were not on near of a large and deadly scale as what Biden is doing right now. We didn't watch our entire cities get destroyed and have our entire families wiped out.

So it seems, again, like the "vote blue no matter who" crowd only cares about politics when it comes to how THEY will (or MIGHT) be affected.

Am I saying vote for Trump or DeSantis? Fuck no. I'm saying prevent the next election from happening and burn this imperialistic genocidal government to the ground. The US has caused enough death, well into the millions, ever since it was created, and hasn't ever stopped committing genocide. But it only seems to matter when it (COULD) happen to white Americans.

Mexican people are still being put in cages and having their children stolen, too.

Indigenous people are still being murdered.

Disabled people are still dying from lack of accessible healthcare.

And the prices of everything have SKYROCKETED since Biden became president.

People are already suffering under a democratic president. You just won't care until it happens to you.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Taylyn Washington-Harmon

Wearing a mask has several benefits. It can keep you from inhaling any respiratory hazards, such as particles of dust or smoke, poor air quality, and germs. Masks can also protect others and reduce the spread of infections if you have an illness.

Research has found that wearing masks, along with social distancing, has significantly curbed the spread of SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19.2 KN95 and N95 respirators have been shown to offer strong protection.

1. Keeps You From Spreading Germs Masks can help prevent you from spreading germs if you're already ill. Wearing a mask decreases the likelihood that you will exhale and spread germs into the surrounding air.

2. Prevents You From Getting Sick Infectious diseases can spread from exposure to droplets containing germs that cause diseases. Masks protect you from inhaling droplets when people around you breathe, cough, sneeze, or talk.1

A 2022 study showed that one person wearing a mask is partially protected from infectious droplet exposure from others with SARS-CoV-2. One-way masking is better than not using a mask—in other words, one person wearing a mask is better than no one wearing a mask.

3. Protects People With a Weak Immune System Masks protect people who have a weak immune system. They reduce or prevent exposure to germs that can make you very sick if you are immunocompromised. This means you have an immune system that does not work properly.

Immune system dysfunction may occur due to:

Chronic diseases, such as diabetes or cancer Conditions like HIV Therapies that suppress the immune system, such as radiation therapy

4. Reduces Exposure to Allergens Wearing a mask could decrease allergen exposure, especially if you have pollen allergies. A mask that covers your mouth and nose helps filter out pollen or irritants. Masks also change the moisture and temperature level of the air you breathe in, further reducing allergy symptoms.

5. Shields You From Poor Air Quality Wearing a mask can protect your respiratory system and general health when there is poor air quality because of pollutants.8 Categories of poor air quality range from moderate to hazardous on the Air Quality Index (AQI).

The AQI measures levels of the following pollutants with Clean Air Act regulations:

Carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide: Gases from motor vehicles and industrial processes Ground-level ozone: Gas from the atmosphere referred to as smog when it reaches the ground Particle pollution: Particles made of sulfate, nitrate, carbon, and mineral dust chemicals Who Should Wear a Mask? All healthy children and adults should wear a mask when necessary. Talk to a healthcare provider to determine if and when to wear a mask if you are sick or at risk of getting very sick.

The following people should not or may not be able to wear a mask:

Children under the age of 2 People who cannot remove a mask or put one on without help People who have trouble breathing Those with certain disabilities who have trouble wearing masks (e.g., people who are sensitive to having something on their face) Choosing the Right Mask An effective mask will fit well: It won't be too tight or loose. It will also have high filtration of particles and droplets, measured by a percentage. High filtration means the mask does a good job of protecting you from those particles and droplets.

The most effective masks are ones approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH-approved masks (or respirators) are tight-fitting and have higher filtration rates—usually greater than 95%. These masks also are best at protecting you and others when worn correctly.

The next best option is international filtering respirators such as KN95s. They offer at least 80% filtration and are also tight-fitting. Other masks—including barrier face coverings, disposable masks, and cloth masks—can have variable filtration and fit. While not as effective as N95s or KN95s, disposable masks can be easy to find, comfortable to wear, and better than cloth masks or no mask at all.

Other Considerations Follow this guidance to ensure proper mask wear:

Check the mask for any damage, and use a new one if there are any defects like holes or broken pieces. Choose a mask with multiple layers and, preferably, a nose wire to get a good fit on your face. Make sure your mask covers your mouth and nose once in place. It should also fit comfortably, but snugly, on your face. Wash your hands before putting on your face mask. You can wear a cloth mask on top of a disposable mask or a mask brace over disposable or cloth masks. You can also knot and tuck three-ply mask ear loops.

A Quick Review Masks have been used to protect against COVID and other infectious illnesses. Wearing them has other benefits. Masks may keep your allergy symptoms from getting worse, or they can keep you from pollutant exposure.

NIOSH-approved masks are the most effective, though other masks may be helpful, too, depending on the type of mask. Not everyone can wear a mask, but you should wear one that has a snug, comfortable fit if you can and when necessary.

(Sources for info at original link!)

[sixtynineinchnails]

I've been wanting to make this post for months and in light of the recent ex-presidential ear piercing now seems as good a time as any.

As a non-usamerican, as someone who is pro Palestine, as an anarchist: I am begging you with every fibre of my being to go to the fucking polls this fall and

VOTE.

Disclaimer: I don't live in the united states and I never have and I probably never will. I can never truly understand what it's like to be a usamerican and I'm not going to pretend like i could. I fully expect to get called a fascist or some shit for saying your should exercise your right to vote but at this point I don't care. I'm scared, we're all scared, and news like we've just gotten tonight is only going to compound the fear and chaos and conspiracy thought and fearmongering and hopelesspilled doomerism we’re all dealing with rn. I don’t want to make anyone’s day worse. I'm not looking to debate you. I just want to say some things that i’ve been thinking about for a long time now while a couple people might actually stop to listen.

The united states of america is the most powerful country in the world.

What happens in the united states government this fall will affect every single person on the planet, in some way, for better or worse.

You aren't just voting blue to avoid trump turning the united states into an alt-right theocratic dictatorship (which on its own is bad enough). You're also voting to avoid the right from gaining power (where they haven't already) in of other powerful democratic countries. You're voting to stop Palestine (and let’s be real, probably a handful of other places) from being wiped off the face of the planet with nuclear bombs. You're potentially voting to avoid a third world war. I'm not saying this to spread fear of these things happening. I'm saying this because if you're not already aware of how huge the scope is here: you're not voting to save your country, you're very likely voting to save the entire world.

I can't speak to how people feel everywhere (if you’re also a non-usamerican please feel free to share how this is/has/will affect your country in the notes) but I want to speak to my own for a bit. I can confidently say that what happens in america heavily affects the political and social situation here in canada. We would not have had a convoy of thousands of people drive across the country (which takes days to do) to occupy our capital city for a month and halt almost $4 billion in trade to protest, i kid you not, wearing a mask during covid, if trump supporters hadn't paved the way (and directly influenced canadians to follow in their footsteps). We wouldn't have had "concerned parents" protesting against sex-ed and LGBTQ+ inclusivity in schools (protests full of armed+mounted police which they brought their young children to during school hours) if trump supporters hadn't paved the way. There are people waving flags and signs around on street corners along major roads every single week everywhere from the largest city in our country to small towns of under 5000 people. I’ve heard of people who’ve spiraled into such severe conspiracy rabbitholes that their entire lives and personalities have changed in just a few years. Despite being canadian nationalists, these people and their patterns of behaviour are all a direct result of donald j trump and his followers. And no matter your political leaning, pretty much everyone hates our current prime minister, our economy is bad, even people with decent incomes can’t afford to eat, and everyone is frothing at the mouth for something to happen. If america votes trump this fall, I see very little hope that our country won't vote conservative (our main right-wing party). They will backpedal decades of LGBTQ+ rights and Indigenous peoples' rights and climate action funding and children's education and a whole pile of other important stuff. They have made it very clear that they will follow the exact same path as right wing america and there are a scary amount of people here who want that. And even if canada remains centre/left while sharing the largest land border in the world with a trump dictatorship....well I for one can’t see that going over very well either.

And that's just my country. I know a lot of other countries have been battling a similar spike in alt-right groups and conservative ideologies following the last trump presidency. I don't think any of us are truly prepared for what will happen in the event of another one.

Look. I hate biden too. In general I disagree with the very concept of colonial government and money and the division of countries/states/etc and the legal/carceral system and a whole whack of other shit that we have to live with right now. Someone’s said this before but if any of us thought that telling you guys to blow up a walmart would save your country from a fascist dictatorship I for one would encourage it. But none of us are actually going to blow up a walmart, and it wouldn’t solve anything at this point anyways. We all have to take action in whatever ways we actually can and will. Voting is one of many small, simple steps you can take, should take, fucking better be taking. It’s easy, it’s legal, if you mail in you don’t even have to go to the polling station, and if you really can’t vote for whatever reason, encourage everyone you know who can to do so. Hell, if I could vote on november 5th I would crawl my ass over the border on my hands and knees to do it. I'm sorry that the two options are a fascist police state and an even worse fascist police state run by a man who thinks he's a god, but not voting won't fix that problem. You're not going to establish a revolution by purposefully not taking part in social change, and encouraging others not to either. Not voting against trump = voting for trump. If you don't vote and that orange nukefucker takes over your country it is your fault. And we’re all going to pay for your inaction, especially the people in places like Palestine who will be in significantly more danger than they already are if trump gets his fake tanned hands on the situation.

Anyways. Keep fighting. Stay safe. Do what you can. Don't give up. There is always hope for a better future. And for fucks sake go vote.

Oh and if we do end up in the worst timeline this november and I see you anti-voting fuckers making "lmao time to move to canada" jokes...count your fucking days.

-

TLDR: usamerica is not the only place in the world affected by the actions of usamerica. If you’re still railing against voting at this point you’re pro-trump lmao.

[ask-an-epidemiologist]

The story of Ignaz Semmelweis, or: time is a flat fucking circle

Back in the early 1800s, needless to say, a lot of the precautions physicians take nowadays... weren't a thing. Hospitals kinda did whatever they wanted.

A Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, had noticed some patterns at one clinic in his area, I.E., doctors handling corpses (since, well, medical specialties weren't really much of a thing back then either) and then helping deliver babies. Women would become septic and die at rates estimated to be around 10%. Women were so afraid of this clinic that they would give birth in the streets rather than go there.

Observing the two nearby clinics, Sammelweis eventually developed a theory that some kind of contamination (germ theory wouldn't be accepted until Pasteur and Koch expanded on Sammelweis's work) from the corpses was sickening the women. He suggested doctors wash their hands after handling corpses. He had the doctors at the clinic wash their hands, and maternal mortality rates dropped to be comparable to the other nearby clinic. Surely the man was going to be rewarded for such a breakthrough discovery that was going to save women's lives?

Naturally, the man lost his job instead, because we live on Earth and humans are fucking shitty about 75% of the time. The hospital rolled back the changes he implemented, resulting in Sammelweis becoming increasingly angry in his attempts to make them, you know, stop murdering women through negligence. He also was ridiculed by all his colleagues and so-called friends and family, including his wife. He was forced to move to escape the harassment. The strain of all of this took a toll on him, and then he was committed to an asylum. There, he was beaten by the guards until he died of septic shock, much the same as his obstetrics patients had.

Sammelweis wouldn't be the first or the last person to die being ridiculed by the medical profession, with a vindication that would come far too late.

And now what do we have in the 2020s?

A lot of shit that's more of the exact same, but most notably people who take risks against COVID being told they're "addicted to wearing masks" and "suffering COVID-related anxiety and paranoia" for trying to avoid contracting a potentially lethal and almost certainly disabling virus.

Washing hands after handling a corpse and before helping deliver a baby should be obvious. Wearing a mask to help limit the spread of a debilitating virus should be common sense.

Common sense wasn't common enough to save Ignaz Sammelweis from being murdered in an asylum and his patients from being murdered by negligence, and it won't be enough to save thousands of people, particularly the disabled and chronically ill, from being murdered by negligence either.

Doctors really don't like being told they're wrong, and selfish people really don't like being told they should do literally anything, no matter how trivial, to help others, and when you tell a selfish doctor they're wrong for refusing to take basic precautions for the good of their patients, it's doubly bad. (And that's not even getting into the anti-maskers who aren't physicians).

Anyway, time is a flat circle and as long as this level of institutional power is baked in to quench the spread of new ideas, shit like this is going to keep happening.

[angels-heap]

I would love any advice you have for protecting yourself against covid in a work environment where no one else cares, because I’m in the same boat.

That really, really sucks, friend. As I said, I don't have all the answers, but here's what I've learned over the last few years and what's worked for me and my inner circle so far. Note that much of this advice will be US-centric because that's what I know best.

First, some light reading: This Covid Safety 101 flyer/infographic includes a ton of helpful info, and I've had some success using it as a conversation starter in my workplace. TL;DR: COVID is airborne, it's a SARS virus, its effects can be devastating, and your risk of Long COVID increases with each infection. We should all be taking steps to contract COVID as few times as possible and spread it as little as possible, with or without the support we should be getting from our public health institutions.

As for practical suggestions, many of them unfortunately cost a non-inconsequential amount of money because we live in a capitalist hellscape, but here are some things you can try, roughly ordered from least to most expensive.

Awareness: COVID is airborne!

A lot of folks, including people in the medical field (!!!) seem hesitant to believe/accept that COVID is airborne, even though this has been understood by researchers since fairly early on in the pandemic. Since most lingering "infection prevention" protocols focus on things like handwashing, disinfecting surfaces, and keeping a six foot distance from other people (all good for public health, but not particularly helpful for COVID), you'll need to gauge your own safety and comfort when around others.

As a general rule, if you're close enough to someone that you could smell their vape or cigarette smoke if they were engaging in such an activity, you're probably close enough catch COVID from them. Also, like smoke, COVID can linger in the air for a while after someone leaves a room. Adjust your habits accordingly and keep your mask on as much as possible (see below).

CPC Mouthwash and Nasal Sprays

I haven't had time to do a ton of research on these options, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt, but it sounds like there's some research coming out that suggests certain nasal sprays and mouthwashes containing CPC (Cetylpyridinium Chloride) may help neutralize viruses or block them from entering your body (or, at the very least, they may help reduce your viral load). I've been using Crest Pro-Health Clinical Rinse mouthwash before and after interacting with people for the last few months; I don't know how much of a role it's played in keeping me safe, but it might be helping, and even if it's not, it was cheap and my breath is always minty fresh. Here's some more info about nasal sprays, since I don't know enough about them to make any specific recommendations.

Testing

Keep a few rapid antigen tests on hand, if you can, but know their limits as a diagnostic or preventive measure, especially as new variants continue to evolve. My current understanding is that many new variants won't show up on a home test until day 3-4 of symptoms. What this means for you is:

Testing when you're completely asymptomatic and don't have any known recent exposures is probably not the best use of your resources.

If you have any unusual symptoms that might indicate illness, stay home (or wear a high quality mask, if you must interact with others). A negative test doesn't necessarily mean you're in the clear, and if you're sick, you can transmit COVID for several days before you test positive.

Swabbing your mouth and throat in addition to your nose (in that order, obviously) may increase the sensitivity of home tests.

Any sign of a positive test line counts as a positive! If the test line is very, very faint, that still counts.

If you feel sick, but your first test comes back negative, try again in a few days and keep testing periodically until you feel better and are no longer testing positive.

Vaccines

They're not perfect, and they won't get us out of this mess on their own, but if you have access to vaccines, get them. Any vaccine is better than no vaccine, but FWIW, I personally opted to get Novavax this year, after learning that it was the jab of choice for many COVID safety advocates and researchers. Pros of Novavax, specifically, include lower risk of side effects, possibly more durable immunity, and it's not an mRNA vaccine (great option for the vaccine skeptics in your life). But in the end, get whatever you can get.

Masks

If you're not already wearing an N95 respirator or similar, such as KN95, FFP2, KF94, etc., anytime you're indoors (or outdoors in a crowd), now's the time to start. One-way masking isn't perfect, but it's a lot more effective than no-way masking. As someone with a fairly petite face, I've had a hell of a time finding N95 masks that fit me. Through my many expensive mistakes, I have learned:

Avoid buying masks on Amazon, if at all possible. There are a lot of fakes out there.

If most masks fit you comfortably and you're comfortable wearing masks with headstraps (which tend to have a better seal than earloop masks), the 3M Aura is fantastic.

WellBefore sells masks in a variety of styles, sizes, and colors for affordable-ish prices. If you have a more petite face and have found that blue surgical masks and most N95s are huge on you, try their small or child sized masks.

BreatheTeq makes great masks in 4 sizes, and they sell a sample sizing kit for $7 + shipping to help you avoid wasting money.

Masks with headstraps generally form a better seal than masks with ear loops, but the most effective mask is one that you can/will actually wear semi-comfortably. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. I've been wearing earloop masks for 3.5 years and have made it through multiple known exposures unscathed.

If you can afford to keep a few extra masks on hand to offer to colleages who have to be in your space, people who are coughing in public, or people who seem to be trying but they're still wearing inadequate surgical or cloth masks, do so. More often than not, people will take and wear them when offered!

Air Filtration

If we lived in a society that believed in public health and safety over profits, we'd have spent the last 3 years improving air filtration in public spaces. Alas, most places did not do this, so your next best options are as follows:

Open windows and prop doors whenever you can! Your goal is to keep fresh air moving through your space and minimize the amount of air that will be "re-breathed" by multiple people.

Build a Corsi-Rosenthal box with furnace filters and a box fan. Pros: Fairly cheap and easy to do; Cons: Boxes are large and can be loud. Some sites also provide instructions and/or sell kits to make smaller, more portable C-R boxes out of desktop computer fans.

Buy a HEPA air purifier (or 2, or 3), or try to get your workplace to shell out for one. While many brands sell small, portable purifiers that are around the size of a lunchbox, I would personally recommend that you buy the largest one you can afford. The smaller ones are probably better than nothing, but you really want a more room-scale solution, if possible. I've had good experiences with Medify Air and Coway air purifiers, but I'm sure there are other great brands out there as well.

If you buy an air purifier, you want one with a HEPA filter and without an ionizer, as ionizers aren't as helpful as the advertising would lead you to believe and they can pose health risks (ozone exposure, etc.).

Measuring Air Quality

If you can afford it, buy an Aranet 4 CO2 monitor. Yes, they're expensive, but I haven't heard of any cheaper products that compare in terms of accuracy or portability. (And they do occasionally go on sale on Amazon.) The Aranet 4 measures the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air around you. This reading is a great proxy for how much COVID might be in the air, and it can help you identify which areas of your home or workplace are the safest, and which ones would benefit the most from fresh air, an air purifier, or other safety measures.

[daylillie]

If anyone is tired of hearing me bitch about OCD yet, I don't care because I'm forever wanting to mentally slap the "I'm so OCD" people in the face. Along with anyone who thinks it's fun or trendy to fake a mental illness for views or knowingly spread misinformation. It keeps the real sufferers from seeking help and they truly don't understand what severe OCD looks like.

Example:

I hit my breaking point today. I really don't know how I'll move past this. I have a Body Focused Repetitive Behavior (think hair pulling and skin picking) where I run my tongue on my gums. I guess it softened my gum in that spot. Before anyone thinks "just stop doing it", BFRBs usually don't go away easily.

So, I was eating chips and I thought a chip got lodged into my gum. Not a big deal, but OCD makes it one. Again, "just stop" doesn't work. No matter what I do, I will keep thinking there's a chip in my gum. I flossed the same tooth over and over. I kept going back to brush my teeth. I wasn't terrified yet, mostly extremely annoyed. My gums were irritated by now.

Here's what a lot of people don't understand either. OCD can slowly build. It's not always immediately horrific. It can start off as a normal "a chip stabbed my gum" (most everyone's been stabbed by a chip or had a popcorn kernel in-between their teeth) thought. This was over the course of three days. Sometimes, the person experiencing it won't realize what's happening until they're knee deep (in my case neck deep).

So, two days of this before I had an intrusive thought "If you don't get the chip out it will move further into your gum and you'll get a tooth infection."

I started picking at it. I flossed more aggressively. At this point it's overly obsessive. It's urgent. It's all-consuming. It's the only thing I can think about.

I googled tooth infection and what can happen. Not super distressing until I'm in the rabbit hole of research.

Intrusive thought "What if the chip is already lodged too deep? What if it erodes your tooth?"

There was no stopping it. I cut my gum. I dug inside it with a tool. I stopped the bleeding. It was late. Eventually, I fell asleep from sheer exhaustion and woke up this morning in (shocking) severe pain.

Argued with myself about going to work but I can't take off anymore time for OCD, I've taken too much. Yeah, I know ADA is a thing, but I don't want a lawsuit situation.

We also won't get into how hard it is to make an emergency dentist appointment where I live and not wanting to be at the ER for twelve plus hours. Also, OCD comes with a lot of shame so "I mutilated my mouth because I think a chip is in my gum" is not ER worthy to me. Plus, insurance. No insurance. Money etc.

The pain got worse at work. It spread to my neck. My lymph nodes were swollen. I had a massive headache. I was still doing my BFRB which gets worse with stress. It didn't help that I visited relatives who tested positive for covid. Then I felt like I couldn't breath (cue somatic OCD). I could barely open my mouth or move my tongue without wanting to cry.

I googled tooth abscess from injury.

Intrusive thought "What if you already have an infection? Can it spread to your brain in days? Hours? Is it covid or a tooth infection? You should probably go to the doctor."

Google. Google. Google. Google.

Somehow made it to near the end of my shift. Google again.

Intrusive thought "What if it's really bad? What if you become septic? WHAT IF YOU DIE IN YOUR SLEEP TONIGHT?! GO TO THE DOCTOR."

Made it within ten minutes of closing. Covid negative. Extreme guilt for making the doctors stay late. The damage I did to my gum was bad. I broke down about my OCD. They prescribed me medicine which I hate (iykyk), but I'll take it if it means I get any sort of relief.

Long story short, I was also given antibiotics...to prevent developing a tooth infection...which would have never happened if I didn't obsess over the fear of developing a tooth infection.

Remind me again why anyone wants this? I'm drinking smoothies and soup from a straw until it heals. And when it does heal, I have a fear of anything solid getting into my gum now. I don't want to eat. How is this quirky???

I'm pissed. I'm angry. I want to die (lucky for me I won't because my fear of dying). But you can research the suicide rates. Fuck OCD.

Also, if you do have a certain view, it's not too late to educate yourself about any mental illness, neurodevelopmental disorders, personality disorders. Even if you're already on the band wagon. It's okay to say I was wrong (I've done it before).

[simlicious]

end-of-year musings

Maybe it'll more be feverish writing because I've come down with a cold that gives me brain fog😭(on the upside, it does not seem to be COVID, the test I did today was negative). This month was a lot, creating the calendar kept me pretty busy throughout the month, but at Christmas, I had time for my loved ones and enjoyed having my sister's family over from England. They are currently staying at my parent's house and I came to visit whenever I was up to it. They even did not mind me being sick and invited me today anyway to spend the afternoon with them. My dad had similar cold symptoms as I have since Christmas, and I think I might have gotten it from him, so they said they are not worried about catching it since they resisted for so long already. Being around family definitely made me feel better! I was really touched by all the messages and love spread around for Simblr Gratitude Day, and reactions to messages I wrote, and I try to continue to spread that positivity whenever I can. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my two amazing Patreon supporters who support me—without the promise of monthly downloads—by showing good faith in me and believing that my projects bear fruit. That means a lot, thank you! I also was able to pay for my website for two years with a successful fundraiser early this year. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed! It means a lot to me to keep it up and running! I get nostalgic thinking about how it started and how I made the final design that I have not changed since then (and couldn't with my current skills😆). But I like that it is a piece of history now, dating back to the era of CC creators such as S-Club and the Ace Creators. Now I will take a bit of time to rest and get better, and who knows, if I get too bored I might continue hanging out with y'all, but maybe that's it for this year and you won't hear from me until the new year. If that's the case, I wish you a "guten Rutsch", as we say in Germany ("slide well" into the New Year)!

[hellyeahsickaf]

Mad thinking about the family member that knows I'm chronically ill and have a compromised immune system but didn't want to take a covid test or see a doctor because they didn't want to accept a covid diagnosis which resulted in me becoming very ill back in like September and October?

Multiple times I told them they probably had covid and needed to see a doctor and they got defensive like "why do you want me to have covid so bad?!" Like what are you on about it's also about your health and wanting you to no longer have it if you do? For several weeks it was a back and forth where they were disgustingly ill and refused to get it checked out. Insisted on NyQuil and essential oils. I told them it's people like them out there killing people like me. And they have an immunocompromised boss and coworker? Their coworker was told by her doctor that she won't likely survive getting vaccinated with how severe her lupus is and it's a fucking miracle their stupidity didn't kill her

Told them they'll end up worse the longer they take to get treated with antivirals. Then when they didn't get better and then I got sick and they were just "wah I'm scared what do I do?" And I again was like "go to the fucking doctor???" And finally their stubborn ass did

I was pissed because I did everything right, I masked and cleaned fucking doorknobs and shit before I used them half the time but all it takes is using the same light switch or breathing the same air. Even worse was that they got another family member sick so staying well was that much harder for me. And the worst part was the audacity they had to blame the one family member that didn't get sick because they take public transit. But unlike them they don't go to gatherings and always wear a mask (2 or even 3 actually) and keeping me and others around them alive is one of the reasons why. The sick family member's explanation was that it was spread to me not by them being sick but via touch or clothing when the family member they scapegoated came home which is highly unlikely with the fact that they masked at all times, wash their hands, distanced a lot and even still mask in the house. I've never met someone more careful about it

They never gave me a reason as to why they took so long to see a doctor or why they were still stubborn when I said "please wear a mask and get tested I don't want to die because you're more scared of being told you have covid than killing the people you love with it". That would snap me out of my bullshit- hell even if it wasn't someone I cared about, even if I really disliked them honestly I'd still do the right thing? People are so fucking stupid dude you don't do that to someone you love. It made me worse in ways I haven't gotten better from, including perpetual postnasal drip and congestion but more importantly a fuckton of fatigue.

[speed-metal-punk]

Just some thoughts I've been having while shocked with covid, feel free to breeze past

I'm conflicted about whether punk is dying or not. While there is truth to the fact that social media and just the capitalist system is destroying punk piece by piece, whether it be the shitty DIY, new kids not understanding what makes things punk and refusing to listen to other punks trying to educate, scenes falling apart as venues get closed and bands fall to shambles cause of need to work more to survive, or even as simple as peeps getting disillusioned to punk, something is happening these days that's making things feel shitty. Most of the time, I hate the scene in my state. The music kicks ass, but the people are mostly cunts. The fake PC bullshit front they all have, saying BLM and trans rights to the public and then beating their partner or spreading fake rape allegations to get someone out of of scene behind the curtain is so rampant its insufferable. It's immensely cliquey, no one likes to talk to anyone who isn't already known which makes it hard as fuck for new peeps to get involved. The SLC scene is a mess, but at least there are shows and you won't get beat for being queer.

But, on the flip side, I've never been so invested in punk in my life. I've never been so rabid about the music, never been so excited for shows, never wanted to make more and more friends who are into the same shit as me. And like, what's not punk about that? What's not punk about having the passion for the sound? Sure, most of my punk homies live around the world. Italy, Chile, UK, California, Illinois, Sweden, Canada, Oregon, just cause it's digital don't make it any less a scene. I've got a gaggle of punk lifers who dig me and I dig them back. Most of them make music, a lot of us go to the same tours, just different stops along it. We're all invested, and that's what fucking counts.

So, is punk really dead? Or is it just different from how it was in like the 80s? The world is different than it was in the 80s, fuck even the 90s and early 2000s. So why shouldnt punk also be a little different? Yeah, social media fucking sucks most the time, but without it I probably wouldn't have found dbeat or crust, I wouldn't have made the friends I have now, and I wouldn't be able to share the music I fucking love with the 2k+ of y'all on here who follow me for whatever reason. The world fucking sucks, but at least we've got punk. At least we've got rock n roll. So, I guess I'll ask again, is punk really dead or are we looking for a ghost?

Also, to all my friends on here, whether we talk a lot or not, I love you all a lot and can't say thanks enough for how you've kept the fire burning in me. Keep on keeping on you fuckers

[mitigatedchaos]

General Post for Monday, April 8, 2024

(~1,600 words, 8 mins)

1 - Robot Jobpocalypse Notes: A brief theory that long-term redistribution to manage job losses from automation should consider focusing on inherently more scarce factors of production (land and materials), rather than more dynamic ones (labor and capital).

2 - Niche Smartphone Notes: If the pace of the smartphone industry were slower, niche smartphones might be more feasible.

3 - Coalitional Politics Notes: Many coalition-internal communications take place in public. Possible implications for loyalty vs. truthfulness.

4 - Lab Leak Notes: Separating the "strong" from "weak" lab leak hypothesis for Covid-19.

5 - Property Notes: Not all labor is equally effortful or valuable, so should claims on property be weighted? Entropy implies the gradual degradation of land and products to a "natural condition," which we might expect to either invalidate or weaken a property claim.

-☆☆☆-

1: Robot Jobpocalypse Notes

I've said this before, but I just want to reiterate:

Everyone already knows about the problem where automation can take over a job faster than the economy finds new jobs for those currently employed in that category. (Obviously we could talk about abstract skill capital that they've invested in the job that has now been made less valuable.)

But over the long term, the thing to think about is a bidding up of the prices of land, materials, and energy. For the first two, we can think of this in terms of rents (e.g. "land rents"), as the supply of land is highly inelastic. In theory, the gains from trade should make everyone better off, but that's only if you can bid high enough to get enough resources to survive. If people could always go back to subsistence farming if they had to, the trade would (almost) always make them better off than subsistence farming.

But without land, they can't. It's not just a matter of not selling, as land is taxed, and higher-value uses will bid up the price of the land, and thus the assessed tax.

We want a redistribution that's dynamic and which will respond to changes in market conditions, which won't dampen investment in capital and production, and which is less subject to political capture. Thus the thing to focus on is rent for land and materials, the inherently scarce factors of production, rather than labor (highly responsive to effort) or capital (material configurations).

2: Niche Smartphone Notes

[ @jadagul ]

They're currently putting out a 4.7" rugged phone, which is actually tempting. But if I wanted a keyboard phone from them, the most recent option is the Titan Slim, which came out in 2021 and runs Android 11. (My current phone is on Android 14.)

[...]

They can make some niche phones, but they just can't cover all the niches. There are too many! And because they're a niche producer, they also have lower quality across a variety of metrics: they can't put as many resources into their software stuff because they can't amortize it across nearly as many phones. In order to get the full advantages of a modern industrial toolchain, you need to standardize some stuff so you can spread development work across a ton of devices.

It's interesting to note that the extremely rapid rate of software development, including finding and patching security flaws, is such an obstacle.

In an Elfworld scenario, where some users are buying a phone for 15-25 year use, firms might be able to amortize the costs by updating the model less frequently, and charging more for the base model. They would likely also maintain smaller teams, who would work on the phones for longer.

Smartphones probably won't become such a stable technology for decades, however, and even if they did, we should expect fashion cycles.

3: Coalitional Politics Notes

We've all seen politicians, political operatives, and political party enthusiasts lie a lot. Why don't they lie to (or bullshit (as in speak as though 'indifferent to truth')) outsiders all the time?

There are a number of reasons. One may be that an insider who constantly lies to outsiders all the time could also lie to fellow insiders, and insiders cannot reliably tell whether someone is a general liar or merely a partisan liar.

Since people range in their level of partisanship, this suggests a curve where, from the perspective of someone who is moderately partisan, a speaker can trade some integrity for some partisan loyalty, and vice versa. Someone who has no loyalty and no integrity is of little value. At some point, partisan loyalty will be at odds with the truth due to the inherent contradiction in interests of the coalition members or else just simple imperfection, so someone cannot be both perfectly loyal and perfectly truthful.

For political coalitions, a lot of what is essentially coalition-internal communication takes place in public.

4: Lab Leak Notes

The debate over the potential lab leak origin of Covid-19 has not been settled yet, despite the article on ACX. People are arguing over the individual studies cited in responses to themotte's tracingwoodgrains.

However, we should differentiate between the "strong" lab leak hypothesis and the "weak" lab leak hypothesis.

Strong Hypothesis: Covid-19 was a bioweapon deliberately designed by the government of China and leaked on purpose for some strategic goal.

Weak Hypothesis: Covid-19 was a coronavirus being studied at the lab in Wuhan which studies coronaviruses. This virus may have been the subject of gain-of-function research not intended to create a bioweapon. Subsequently, as the result of an unintentional accident, the virus leaked from the lab, resulting in a global pandemic.

The criticism of the lab leak hypothesis from the more censorious 2020 libs was that, "The lab leak hypothesis is a racist conspiracy theory." The strong hypothesis is a conspiracy theory, but there is no requirement that it is racist - it is sufficient that the government of China openly identify as Communist. The weak hypothesis is neither of these things.

5: Property Notes

There is an Anarcho-Capitalist theory that ownership of unclaimed land is gained by "mixing your labor with it." Many people would ask why this creates a morally-valid indefinite ownership claim.

Alternatively, we could consider a functional decomposition of the operation.

"Mixing your labor" with the land means using [ attention ] to direct [ energy ] to configure [ matter ] according to your intentions. That might mean, for instance, cutting down trees on a lot in order to construct a fence, and then plowing the lot in order to plant a farm for later harvest. However...

Some people may have the intention for the lot, "It should be a wildlife preserve," which looks an awful lot like doing nothing, or perhaps just posting some signs.

Not all labor is of equal intensity. Should someone who uses less labor, or transforms the lot less, have a proportionally lower % claim on the lot? What does a % claim look like as compared to a full claim?

The configuration on the lot will degrade actively with time if it is not maintained. In our example, the wooden fence may break down and rot. Does this degrade the claim on the lot itself?

The metadata about the lot will also be lost, until it may not be feasible to resolve disputing claims of ownership with reasonable certainty.

Back in January, I wrote:

(Side note: The configuration of material inputs, like ore deposits, in the environment, relates to the amount of energy and attention required to recover them. Recycling is mostly about reducing the long-term recovery costs, keeping materials “near the surface.”)

Let's consider an example.

Joe mines a bunch of iron ore beneath a plot of land. The energy and attention required for most desired human uses is reduced.

Joe refines the iron into steel. The energy and attention required for most desired human uses is again reduced. (Did you know 93% of structural steel is recycled?)

Joe shapes the steel into a grill. This reduces the value of the material for other industrial uses, but increases the value for those who want a grill specifically. The steel is now configured as capital equipment.

Joe opens a hamburger shop, and uses the grill to grill hamburgers which he sells to customers.

After deciding to close the hamburger shop, Joe decides to explode the grill for a gender reveal party, scattering pieces all over the lot. The steel has been scattered throughout the environment, increasing the cost in energy and attention to gather it again if someone wants to do something else with it.

The value of the iron is subjective. That's conventional economics. However, there are typical uses that we can say will be common in most near-term human preference environments.

What makes this interesting is that within that common frame, in steps #1 and #2, Joe is pushing the iron up a value gradient. This value addition could then be lost to entropy through abandonment. For instance, in step #1, a landslide could occur, covering the iron back up and requiring it to be mined again. In step #2, the steel could be left out in the rain to rust, requiring it to be refined again.

Preventing this loss to entropy requires active attention and energy. (For instance, securing a nearby hillside to prevent the landslide scenario, or building and maintaining a barn to keep out the rain in the weathering scenario.)

Suppose that Joe abandons the land for 100 years. The steel rusts, and a landslide covers it up. A new prospector, Harold, comes across the land, finds no markings, excavates the rusted iron, refines it to make tools and sells those tools.

Shortly thereafter, Joe returns. Given that the land and materials returned to the natural condition, wouldn't it be strange to invalidate Harold's claim in this scenario?

Supporting a governing system, which could track ownership of the parcel of land and extracted materials, would require ongoing energy and attention on Joe's part. However, the system of deeds and records could be used as an alternative to Joe physically hanging out on the plot of land at all times, which he would have to do anyway to prevent the reversion of the plot of land to the natural condition.

This movement of materials along value and energy gradients is something to consider for a deeper analysis, perhaps oriented towards the development of new ideological principles.