#also you won't get/spread covid

[liminalweirdo]

[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.

[victusinveritas]

There are people who have been doing this shit for decades. Take advice from them. The people at CrimethInc are great.

If you wear contact lenses, skip em and wear regular glasses. Tear gas and pepper spray can get trapped by the contacts and that's a bad time. In the milk/water vs tear gas debate: water for tear gas, milk for pepper spray if I recall the old maxim.

More below the cut.

A friend and long-time protester posted this in a comment:

"From my experiences I can tell you a few things

Keep all your info related to the protest offline

Don’t even say you are going

Don’t tell anyone personal info

Not even you’re real name

There will be cops among you

Don’t wear anything identifying

Wear Covid masks and a hat or hoodie to avoid ID and kinda loose but not too loose dark clothing with no logos or anything identifying

If you wanna bring something to record

Bring a USB spy gadget camera that does not have WIFI connectivity

Don’t bring your phone

If you absolutely need a phone

Get a disposable flip phone that has no Wi-Fi connectivity

And destroy it after being in one location

Other organizing tips

Avoid “free speech zones”

Those are areas that cops plan to box ppl in to crack down on everyone

It’s best to divide larger groups up into smaller groups all over the city

It’s easy for cops to surround everyone in one place

They don’t have the resources to handle it when protests break out all over the city

Also bring a few leaf blowers as they can blow the tear gas back on the cops pretty effectively

It’s also hilarious

Beware of ppl doing stupid shit

They are usually infiltrators

Do not ask anyone their name

Don’t ask for personal info, phone numbers etc

Anyone asking questions

Avoid them

Beware of anyone trying to get too friendly with you

If you are a medic

Don’t wear anything to indicate you are a medic

They target medics

Y’all will need lots of milk to flush out tear gas outta your eyes and nose

Carry a backpack with supplies and first aid, tear gas, food, milk

Etc

Don’t use your debit or credit card while you are on location

Cash only

But like I said

The protest is much more effective if it’s spread out over many locations

Than centralized in one place

Being in one place gives them all the advantage

There are much more of you than them so spreading out strips their defenses and are much easier to overwhelm a small group of cops than literally going against all the cops

Study OpSec

*Be sure to take the milk out of your backpack when you get home.*

This won't help with protest safety, but it will prevent a disgusting backpack disaster in your closet a week later."

[thebookishwallflower]

I want to make a post to inform people about the current situation with the bird flu (/avian flu/H5N1) outbreaks.

I don't want to cause panic but do want to spread information.

This is especially important if you live in an area that has a news system you don't trust to give accurate, timely, or honest news about something like a possible new pandemic, use your own judgement.

If that applies it is going to be very important to make sure you stay informed and follow these H5N1 outbreaks yourself and know how to best protect yourself.

I am no expert, but I do know a good bit about disease and influenza in particular, and have been following the H5N1 outbreaks as they've been happening, so under the cut I'm going to do my best to inform everyone I can.

Please stay safe, stay informed, and spread information, not germs.

What's bird flu and why do I care? (What's bird flu and why do I care?)

Avian flu and bird flu mean the same thing, an influenza virus that (primarily) infects birds. H5N1 denotes a specific strain of avian influenza. H5N1 can spillover (when a pathogen spreads from it's normal host organism to a new host organism) from animals to humans.

How could I get H5N1? (How could I get H5N1?)

Human to human transmission has not been observed yet (12/1/24) during this current outbreak. You can get this from contact with wild birds, especially water fowl, domestic birds, cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, and bats. It is also possible to get from raw (unpasteurized) milk and undercooked meat from infected animals.

What's the big deal then? (What's the big deal then?)

The common flu is not very pathogenic. How pathogenic something is determines how sick something makes the host, something that is highly pathogenic can cause severe disease. H5N1 is considered a HPAI, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

H5N1 is also a Type A influenza virus, most known Type A influenza viruses can infect birds. There is one Type A human flu in circulation at the moment, however it isn't very prevalent.

"IAV poses a significant risk of zoonotic infection, host switch, and the generation of pandemic viruses. IAVs can infect humans and a variety of animals, such as pigs, horses, marine mammals, cats, dogs, and birds (S1)."

IAV - Influenza A Viruses | Zoonotic infection - when an infectious disease of a non-human host infects a human host | Host switch - when a cross-species transmission of a pathogen can lead to successful, stable, and continuous infections

Every species the flu infects, the more strains that pop up under a sub-type IAV, the possibility for recombination increases. "Recombination occurs when at least two viral genomes [or strains] co-infect the same host cell and exchange genetic segments (S2)."

The flu is pretty good at recombination, when given the chance. It is also really good at mutating, and fast. If there were to be a recombination event and a new strain evolved (this would be called an antigenic shift) that was highly pathogenic, highly infectious (good at spreading, which H5N1 is), that could then infect humans and cause human-to-human transmission we might have a pandemic on our hands. This has not shown signs of happening during this outbreak*, this is what to look out for.

This (a recombination event) is what caused the 1918 pandemic during WW1. This pandemic killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people in 1918, in a world with a population of around 2 billion. 7.1 million died of COVID 19, as of 11/9/24 (S3), from a population of around 8 billion.

We know more, we are prepared, it's not guaranteed to happen, and it's not guaranteed to be as bad. But the possibilities are endless and it's extremely important to be prepared and stay informed.

So what do I do? (So what do I do?)

Again, stay informed, and that might mean checking independent news sources, the CDC website, and more, to keep yourself updated, especially if you know your local news won't do it for you. You should also familiarize yourself with the symptoms of influenza, if you have it, stay home.

Keep yourself safe, we had a pandemic already, you know the drill. Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing/coughing, wash your hands, sanitize your hands, and get your flu shot. And, in addition, avoid contact with wild birds, poultry, pigs, and cattle if you can.

In the event that this gets worse, social distancing is very important, being outdoors, wearing a mask, and all the stuff above, you can shed the virus for around a week before you start feeling bad. Keep yourself safe and don't infect anyone else.

If that doesn't sound like it'll do much, I promise you it does. Those are all classified NPI's (non-pharmaceutical interventions) and even epidemiologists were shocked at their impact and importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. They did work, and they were incredibly effective—as long as they were carried out.

I don't want to cause panic or worry anyone, but that is how information ends of suppressed. I want to make everyone aware of what we might face so that we can fight it and be strong and stay safe.

If anyone has any questions, wants any clarification, any corrections, or wants to know some good places to learn more about this stuff please don't hesitate to contact me (@'s, dm's, or asks), I will answer as best I can.

Here's the CDC's page covering the H5 bird flu current situation.

S1 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5578040/

S2 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7106159/

S3 - https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=c

*with the exception of this coverage (as a possibility): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/19/bird-flu-cases-mutation-canada

[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!)

[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.

[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.

[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)!

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Katie Camero

When the COVID pandemic began, there was lots of chatter about the possibility of being simultaneously infected with other common viruses like the flu and RSV. We quickly learned that, yes, it’s absolutely possible for viruses to circulate at the same time—remember the tripledemic? But can you actually get more than one infection, say, COVID and RSV, at the same time?

The short answer is…yes. However, experts still don’t fully understand what happens when you have a couple viruses at once. Fortunately, they have some ideas in mind, but before we get into it, know this: On their own, each virus can wreak havoc on a person’s health, and that’s especially true for babies, older adults, or immunocompromised folks. And so it goes without saying that together, they can, at the very least, be pretty unpleasant to deal with.

Below, you’ll find everything there is to know about COVID and RSV co-infections and how to avoid experiencing this double whammy.

What happens if you get COVID and RSV at the same time? In a 2020 meta-analysis of 30 studies, researchers found that RSV was the most common viral co-infection among hospitalized COVID patients. What does this mean for you in practice? Well, “you’re probably not going to feel so great,” Sabrina Assoumou, MD, MPH, an infectious disease doctor at Boston Medical Center, tells SELF. But how this co-infection affects you really depends on your age and health status, she adds. For example, research shows that children under five were more likely to be admitted to the ICU when they dealt with COVID and RSV at the same time. Older people and those with weakened immune systems also have greater odds of severe outcomes like this, Dr. Assoumou says, but like we mentioned, it’s not totally clear whether a co-infection is guaranteed to make everyone feel twice as bad. “The answer is we don’t know,” Pablo Murcia, a virologist and professor with the University of Glasgow in Scotland, tells SELF. “But I assume that in certain cases they will cause more disease severity. And in others they won't.”

In fact, it’s probably more likely that you’ll feel the wrath of one virus more than the other thanks to a phenomenon called viral interference. When your cells are occupied by two viruses, one of them initiates a response that essentially weakens the other and blocks it from making copies of itself, Dr. Murcia explains. When he analyzed this in a lab, he found that RSV’s immune response is actually pretty good at overpowering that of SARS-CoV-2.

In theory, that might sound like the better option, but RSV should not be underestimated. A 2023 CDC study found that older adults were worse off (that is, more likely to go to the intensive care unit or need ventilation) when hospitalized for RSV than if they were admitted for COVID or influenza. RSV can feel like a typical cold for relatively healthy people—think stuffy nose, cough, and sneezing—but it can cause serious issues like pneumonia in others, particularly babies and older adults. Plus, RSV doesn’t have specific treatments like the flu or COVID. Instead, you generally have to ride your symptoms out with the help of some over-the-counter meds or, if you’re in the hospital, supportive care like oxygen or IV fluids for hydration.

Of course, SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread and change, so it could evolve into a version that’s capable of overcoming RSV’s competitive advantage, Dr. Murcia says. And this could be all kinds of bad. Although both viruses share many symptoms, COVID can leave you with a laundry list of complications, including long COVID, that you don’t get with RSV. Experts don’t yet know whether co-infections increase your chances of getting long COVID, but it’s well-documented that repeat exposures to COVID certainly can.

How to avoid getting COVID and RSV at the same time There’s no surefire way to prevent getting any illness, let alone two at once. But there are a handful of things you can do to lower your chances of infection—and we’re starting off strong with vaccines. Yes, both of these viruses have their own highly effective shots that can reduce the likelihood of you getting sick, and, more importantly, chip away at your odds of hospitalization and death.

Everyone 75 years and older who hasn’t already been vaccinated should get the RSV vaccine (which the FDA approved in 2023), according to the CDC, as well as people ages 60 to 74 with health issues like lung or heart problems that increase their risk of severe disease. Pregnant folks should also get this shot during their third trimester, which will protect their baby from severe RSV for the first six months after they’re born. “This is a good time for RSV in terms of things we can actually do to improve outcomes,” Dr. Assoumou says.

And of course, we have the COVID vaccines, which were recently updated to target some of the newer SARS-CoV-2 strains floating around. Everyone six months of age and older should get any of the two mRNA shots (Pfizer or Moderna), while those ages 12 and up can get either of those or the protein-based vaccine, Novavax. And remember: You should receive your updated shot even if you’ve been vaccinated or had COVID before. “The goal of vaccination is to decrease the chances of severe disease, hospitalization, and death,” Dr. Assoumou says. “If today someone gets COVID and they’re at home with the sniffles, that’s a victory for me.”

Some other classic infection prevention to keep in mind:

Stay home when you’re sick, and encourage others in your life to do the same. Wear a well-fitting mask in public, especially in crowded indoor settings like the subway or in holiday crowds. Prioritize clean air by running purifiers indoors or opening windows. Or better yet, gather outside if that’s possible. Wash your hands often, please. If you’re not wearing a mask, cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue (or your elbow—not your hand! —if you can’t reach one fast enough). Take an at-home COVID test when you feel sick, or go to an urgent care where you can be tested for COVID, RSV, and influenza at the same time.

“Do your part. Get your vaccine—it’s not too late,” Dr. Assoumou says.

[littlebitofeverythingsblog]

You are your own God.

Please hear me out and it's gonna be controversial and I'll probably get nasty comments but this nagged at me for so long thinking about treatment of the Chantry in Dragon Age Veilguard.

Chantry has been a huge deal in all 3 Dragon Age games. Andrastian faith (Christianity in our world) is what followed us in Ferelden,Orlais and Free Marches. Quest with Sacred Ashes being one of the main quests in DAO and also lore behind Tevinter Magisters raiding the Black city and The Maker turning them into Darkspawn.

Treatment of Andraste and her betrayal is great storytelling.

It's worth mentioning DA games are heavily inspired by the Bible.

DAO is Genesis,how it all started...sin (darkspawn) entering our world etc.

DA2 was supposed to be called Exodus but in last minute change it became DA2 as we know it.

Veilguard was supposed to be about the book of Numbers.

In Mass Effect which -as we all know- is even more inspired by The New Testament and specifically Jesus as we go through the Lazarus project,coming back to life,having 12 companions,places such as Eden club,Afterlife etc...

However.

I think it's safe to assume a lot of people are bitter about Christianity and I won't argue that,but the fact is..."the message" of gender ideology goes strictly against God and Bible teachings of gender (He created them male and female) which automatically contradicts the writer's own personal beliefs that we can be whoever we want no matter the logical facts and Truth (Yes there is only one objective Truth which is above all subjective ones) They had to self insert and put their own bitterness against the religion in the game and project it onto the Chantry and Andrastian faith because they are in their core deeply against everything Christianity stands for.

Next point is that,it's deeply narcissistic. Even if the writer's of DAO,DA2,DAI and ME weren't Christians they still used the themes of the Bible and every companion had other religions. It was done well. It wasn't about them and their personal biases to such radical extents (not to mention gender ideology started harshly appearing in 2020 during Covid) and I-and a lot of other people- can see a shift in gaming. Veilguard won't do good because it's not good. Nobody wants to be manipulated into being educated by having these things shoved down everyone's throats. It's not how that works- that's how religion works and the movement I'm seeing is a religious one. You're not one of us? OUT. You have different opinion? You're this,that and the other and it's "hate" speech. Hm. But everyone loves to say love is at the core of things.

People say "I'll believe it when I see it" but all I'm seeing are men and women. No in-between and normal,day to day people see that as well. So when they're being told that what they're seeing is wrong-even though it's rooted in facts- they get upset when a codex entry "Transwoman IS a woman" appears on their screens in a fantasy medieval game.

The entire talk about Maker not being real is what these writers ultimately wanted to say.

No God. No Jesus. No one having a say against it. No annoying Christians who will stand on their way, backtalk, spreading faith and speaking about the Truth...

That's heaven for these people. Because others,silent majority,keeps to themselves and let's a small group of people make the rules,oh but it's democracy. The only ones who speak against lies and lawlessness are true Bible believing Christians who stand on the Word and personal relationship with Jesus.

So that's why the Chantry wasn't mentioned. It is hated. Not because of the facts learned in the game- but because of the real life Christianity and people who rebel and hate it- and God (Maker) Himself.

Sidenote: many games promote rebelling against their gods...and they're all made into tyrants,obviously dislikeable characters.

It's through gaming that satan works also.

[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.