#and ones that belong in a triple max security prison

[moonandris]

Does anyone else look at the characters they’ve made and are like... shook cuz of how fucked up some of them are? lolololol

me: i like to put a little bit of myself in each of my characters, tee hee! So relatable like wooow oh my goshhhh. 💕✨💕✨💕

also me: creates the shittiest, most horrifically fucked up, morally deficient, literal ‘garbage personified as human’ antagonists who would delight in gaslighting you and manipulating you into selling your ailing grandmother for a half-eaten tuna sandwich.

my brain: 👀

[newstfionline]

Friday, October 1, 2021

Federal agencies are still dealing with pandemic backlogs. A shutdown could make delays worse. (Washington Post) The threat of a partial government shutdown this week comes as several federal agencies are still battling to dig out from pandemic backlogs. The Internal Revenue Service is struggling to serve taxpayers 18 months after the pandemic sidelined thousands of employees. Close to a half-million immigrants are on a State Department list to schedule interviews for their visa applications—and the wait for a passport is now as long as 16 weeks. Thousands of documents for Social Security benefits lay unprocessed this summer in field offices where in-person service has been suspended since March 2020, the agency’s watchdog recently found. A shutdown would magnify these delays and further weaken services that the pandemic has hobbled while many federal offices have remained closed or with limited operations during the public health crisis, employees and experts on the federal government said Tuesday—even if the closure were brief. “It’s burning down the house in the middle of a blizzard,” said Max Stier, president and chief executive of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. “It’s going to make what’s hard even harder.” / Later: With only hours to spare, Congress passed legislation that would avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3, and sent the bill to President Joe Biden.

Health workers once saluted as heroes now get threats (AP) More than a year after U.S. health care workers on the front lines against COVID-19 were saluted as heroes with nightly clapping from windows and balconies, some are being issued panic buttons in case of assault and ditching their scrubs before going out in public for fear of harassment. Across the country, doctors and nurses are dealing with hostility, threats and violence from patients angry over safety rules designed to keep the scourge from spreading. Cox Medical Center Branson in Missouri started giving panic buttons to up to 400 nurses and other employees after assaults per year tripled between 2019 and 2020 to 123, a spokeswoman said. One nurse had to get her shoulder X-rayed after an attack. In Idaho, nurses said they are scared to go to the grocery store unless they have changed out of their scrubs so they aren’t accosted by angry residents. Doctors and nurses at a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, hospital have been accused of killing patients by grieving family members who don’t believe COVID-19 is real, said hospital spokeswoman Caiti Bobbitt. Others have been the subject of hurtful rumors spread by people angry about the pandemic. Across the U.S., the COVID-19 crisis has caused people to behave badly toward one another in a multitude of ways. Several people have been shot to death in disputes over masks in stores and other public places. Shouting matches and scuffles have broken out at school board meetings. A brawl erupted earlier this month at a New York City restaurant over its requirement that customers show proof of vaccination.

Los Angeles moves toward barring the unvaccinated from most businesses (Reuters) Los Angeles officials on Wednesday signaled they would vote next week to prohibit unvaccinated people from entering most businesses in the United States’ second-largest city, one of the nation’s most severe crackdowns so far of the COVID-19 pandemic. All but one of the City Council members present on Wednesday said they supported the proposed “emergency” ordinance, which would require proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, shopping centers, gyms and other indoor spaces. If the proposal is approved next week, as expected, Los Angeles would join San Francisco and New York among major U.S. cities requiring proof of vaccination for indoor businesses. The new rule would take effect in November. Political leaders across the United States, led by Democratic President Joe Biden, have ratcheted up pressure on the unvaccinated in recent weeks. Laws requiring proof of vaccinations are deeply controversial in the United States, with many Americans criticizing them as unconstitutional and authoritarian.

From paints to plastics, a chemical shortage ignites prices (AP) In an economy upended by the coronavirus, shortages and price spikes have hit everything from lumber to computer chips. Not even toilet paper escaped. Now, they’re cutting into one of the humblest yet most vital links in the global manufacturing supply chain: The plastic pellets that go into a vast universe of products ranging from cereal bags to medical devices, automotive interiors to bicycle helmets. Like other manufacturers, petrochemical companies have been shaken by the pandemic and by how consumers and businesses responded to it. Yet petrochemicals, which are made from oil, have also run into problems all their own, one after another: A freak winter freeze in Texas. A lightning strike in Louisiana. Hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. All have conspired to disrupt production and raise prices. The price of polyvinyl chloride or PVC, used for pipes, medical devices, credit cards, vinyl records and more, has rocketed 70%. The price of epoxy resins, used for coatings, adhesives and paints, has soared 170%. Ethylene—arguably the world’s most important chemical, used in everything from food packaging to antifreeze to polyester—has surged 43%.

Hurricane Ida devastation lingers in Louisiana a month later (AP) The land on which Audrey Trufant Salvant’s home sits in the small Louisiana town of Ironton has become an island in a sea of mud and snake-infested marsh grass. Nearby houses are disconnected from their foundations, a refrigerator is lodged sideways in a tree, and dozens of caskets and tombs from two nearby cemeteries are strewn across lawns for blocks. The entire town is without power and running water. A month after Hurricane Ida roared ashore with 150-mph (241-kph) winds, communities all along the state’s southeastern coast—Ironton, Grand Isle, Houma, Lafitte and Barataria—are still suffering from the devastating effects of the Category 4 storm. Many, like Trufant Salvant, are bunking with relatives until they can get back into their homes. Others are staying in hotels or have left the state, she said. Some residents have returned to pick up what few belongings may have survived the flood, but she says they aren’t finding much to salvage—the storm surge generated by Ida rose as high as some homes’ rooftops. “The day that they allowed folks to come back in here, it was like a funeral,” she said. “Everybody was just heartbroken, because we had seen devastation before ... but we had never seen anything like this.”

More than 100 killed in Ecuadoran prison riot as gangs fight for control (Washington Post) More than 100 prison inmates have been killed and dozens more injured this week in one of the deadliest prison riots in Ecuador’s history amid a turf war between gangs. The violence erupted around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday as gangs exchanged gunfire and explosives in their battle for control of one of the units in the main prison in Guayaquil, police said. At least five of the slain inmates were decapitated, Gen. Fausto Buenaño, a regional police commander, said Tuesday night. At least 52 others were injured. On Wednesday afternoon, the country’s director of prisons said that 40 people had been confirmed dead but that authorities had discovered dozens more bodies in one of the prison units. Tuesday’s riot came two months after a similar wave of violence broke out in two of the country’s prisons, including the same Guayaquil penitentiary, killing 22 inmates and prompting Ecuador’s president to declare a state of emergency in the prison system. With the more than 100 deaths in this week’s riots, the death toll in Ecuador’s prisons has surpassed 221 this year, violence that has been growing steadily since 2018, according to the country’s Ombudsman’s Office. More than 103 inmates were killed in 2020.

Lava from La Palma eruption finally reaches the Atlantic (AP) A bright red river of lava from the volcano on Spain’s La Palma island finally tumbled over a cliff and into the Atlantic Ocean, setting off huge plumes of steam and possibly toxic gases that forced local residents outside the evacuation zone to remain indoors on Wednesday. The immediate area had been evacuated for several days as authorities waited for the lava that began erupting Sept. 19 to traverse the 6½ kilometers (four miles) to the island’s edge. On the way down from the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge, the lava flows have engulfed at least 656 buildings, mostly homes and farm buildings, in its unstoppable march to the sea. The meeting of molten rock and sea water finally came at 11 p.m. on Tuesday. By daybreak, a widening promontory of newborn land could be seen forming under plumes of steam rising high into the area. Even though initial air quality reading showed no danger in the area, experts had warned that the arrival of the lava at the ocean would likely produce small explosions and release toxic gases that could damage lungs.

France’s Sarkozy found guilty of illegally financing 2012 election bid (Reuters) Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid by a Paris court on Thursday. It was the second guilty verdict this year for Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 and retains influence among conservatives despite falling from grace over his legal woes. The court was yet to say what sentence he would receive. Prosecutors were seeking a one-year prison sentence, half of it suspended, for the 66-year old former president. He is in any case unlikely to go to jail immediately as he would be expected to appeal the sentence. Sarkozy was found guilty in a separate trial in March of trying to bribe a judge and peddle influence in order to obtain confidential information on a judicial inquiry. The former president was sentenced to three years in jail in that trial—two of which were suspended—but has not actually spent time in prison yet, while his appeal is pending.

Talibanning Women From Rights (ABC News/NPR) Afghan women and girls are nearly half the country’s 40 million population, and Western nations have been clear in calling on the Taliban to respect women’s rights. But in just over a month, the policies being implemented are becoming ever more repressive. The group named an all-male Cabinet and prohibited women from returning to work, claiming security concerns. A handful of women-led protests against Taliban rules faced violent crackdowns in Kabul and other cities. Some 120,000 female educators and nearly 14,000 female health care workers haven’t been paid their salaries for the past two to three months, and 16,000 female teachers have been prohibited from teaching high school. Earlier this month, women were told they could continue their studies in universities; however, certain subjects were off limits, classrooms would be gender-segregated, and Islamic dress was compulsory. Then, on Tuesday, the Taliban-appointed 34-year-old chancellor of Kabul University started a fresh firestorm when he tweeted that until there is a safe Islamic environment, “women will not be allowed to come to universities or work.”

Ethiopia expels UN officials amid Tigray blockade pressure (AP) Ethiopia said Thursday it is kicking out seven United Nations officials whom it accused of “meddling” in the country’s internal affairs, as pressure grows on the government over its deadly blockade of the Tigray region. The expulsions are the government’s most dramatic move yet to restrict humanitarian access to the region of 6 million people after nearly a year of war. The U.N. has become increasingly outspoken as the flow of medical supplies, food and fuel has been brought to a near-halt. Ethiopia’s government has accused humanitarian workers of supporting the Tigray forces who have been fighting its soldiers and allied forces since November. Aid workers have denied it. Thousands of people have died in the conflict marked by gang rapes, mass expulsions and the destruction of health centers, with witnesses often blaming Ethiopian soldiers and those of neighboring Eritrea. The U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, this week told The Associated Press that the crisis in Ethiopia is a “stain on our conscience” as children and others starve to death in Tigray under what the U.N. calls a de facto government blockade. Just 10% of needed humanitarian supplies have been reaching Tigray in recent weeks, he said.