#covid-19 registration

[carlocarrasco]

Bivalent vaccines for COVID-19 now available in Las Piñas City for qualified patients

Recently in the City of Las Piñas, the City Government officially launched the administering of bivalent vaccines for COVID-19 specifically starting with the health workers, the senior citizens and other qualified patients, according to a Manila Bulletin news report. As of this writing, there are three sites in the city where qualified patients can visit to avail of the bivalent vaccines.    To…

[covid-safer-hotties]

Long COVID symptom severity varies widely by age, gender, and socioeconomic status - Published Sept 2, 2024

By Dr. Sushama R. Chaphalkar, PhD.

In a recent study published in the journal JRSM Open, researchers analyze self-reported symptoms of long coronavirus disease 2019 (LC) from individuals using a healthcare app to examine the potential impact of demographic factors on the severity of symptoms. The researchers found that LC symptom severity varied significantly by age, gender, race, education, and socioeconomic status.

Research highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions as age, gender, and social factors play a crucial role in the intensity of long COVID symptoms. What factors increase the risk of long COVID? Several months after recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), patients with LC may continue to suffer from numerous symptoms, some of which include fatigue, brain fog, and chest pain. The prevalence of LC varies, with estimates ranging from 10-30% in non-hospitalized cases to 50-70% in hospitalized patients.

Although several digital health interventions (DHIs) and applications have been developed to monitor acute symptoms of COVID-19, few have been designed to track long-term symptoms of the disease. One DHI called "Living With COVID Recovery" (LWCR) was initiated to help individuals manage LC by self-reporting symptoms and tracking their intensity. However, there remains a lack of evidence on the risk factors, characteristics, and predictors of LC, thereby limiting the accurate identification of high-risk patients to target preventive strategies.

About the study In the present study, researchers investigate the prevalence and intensity of self-reported LC symptoms to analyze their potential relationship with demographic factors to inform targeted interventions and management strategies. To this end, LWCR was used to monitor and analyze self-reported LC symptoms from individuals in 31 LC clinics throughout England and Wales.

The study included 1,008 participants who reported 1,604 unique symptoms. All patients provided informed consent for the use of their anonymized data for research.

Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between symptom intensity and factors such as time since registration, age, ethnicity, education, gender, and socioeconomic status through indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) on a scale of one to 10.

Education was classified into four levels denoted as NVQ 1-2, NVQ 3, NVQ 4, and NVQ 5, which reflected those who were least educated at A level, degree level, and postgraduate level, respectively. The intensity of symptoms was measured on a scale from zero to 10, with zero being the lowest and 10 the highest intensity. Descriptive statistics identified variations in symptom intensity across different demographic groups.

Study findings Although 23% of patients experienced symptoms only once, 77% experienced symptoms multiple times. Corroborating with existing literature, the most prevalent symptoms included pain, neuropsychological issues, fatigue, and dyspnea, which affected 26.5%, 18.4%, 14.3%, and 7.4% of the cohort, respectively. Symptoms such as palpitations, light-headedness, insomnia, cough, diarrhea, and tinnitus were less prevalent.

Fifteen most prevalent LC symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that symptom intensity was significantly associated with age, gender, ethnicity, education, and IMD decile. More specifically, individuals 68 years of age and older reported higher symptom intensity by 32.5% and 86%, respectively. These findings align with existing literature that highlights the increased risk of LC symptoms with age, which may be due to weakened immunity or the presence of comorbidities. Thus, they emphasize the need for targeted interventions for this population.

Females also reported higher symptom intensity than males, by 9.2%. Non-White individuals experienced higher symptom intensity by 23.5% as compared to White individuals.

Individuals with higher education levels reported up to 47% reduced symptom intensity as compared to those with lower education levels. Higher IMD deciles, which reflect less deprived areas, were associated with lower symptom intensity; however, no significant association was observed between the number of symptoms reported and the IMD decile.

Regression results with 95% confidence interval. Note: For age, the base group is people in the age category 18–27. For IMD, the base group is people from IMD decile 1. For education, the base group is people who left school before A-level (NVQ 1–2). A significant positive association was observed between symptom intensity and the duration between registration on the app and initial symptom reporting. This finding suggests individuals may become more aware of their symptoms or that worsening symptoms prompt reporting.

Some limitations of the current study include the lack of data on comorbidities, hospitalization, and vaccine status. There is also a potential for bias against individuals lacking technological proficiency or access, which may affect the sample's representativeness, particularly for older, socioeconomically disadvantaged, or non-English-speaking individuals. Excluding patients with severe symptoms or those who were ineligible for the app may also skew the findings.

Conclusions There remains an urgent need to develop targeted interventions to address the severity of LC in relation to age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors. LC treatment should prioritize prevalent symptoms like pain, neuropsychological issues, fatigue, and dyspnea while also considering other possible symptoms. Furthermore, sustained support for LC clinics is essential to effectively manage the wide range of symptoms and complexities associated with LC and improve public health outcomes in the post-pandemic era.

Journal reference:

Sunkersing, D., Goodfellow, H., Mu, Y., et al. (2024). Long COVID symptoms and demographic associations: A retrospective case series study using healthcare application data. JRSM Open 15(7). doi:10.1177/20542704241274292.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20542704241274292

[thorraborinn]

I want to explain how religious organizations in Iceland work because I keep seeing some incorrect information about Ásatrúarfélagið having a policy of prohibiting Americans from joining. I'm American and I have been a member before, so that obviously can't be true.

In Iceland, religious organizations (and "life-view" organizations) are regulated by the government to a degree that the American mind cannot comprehend. Even the Catholic church is subject to the state's bureaucracy if it wants to operate within Iceland. When a church wants to know who its members are, it needs to get that information from the government. There's a link on Ásatrúarfélag's website that says "Want to join Ásatrúarfélagið? Click here." and it's a link to the same government website you use to register a change of address. If you want to join, take it up with the government.

Ásatrúarfélagið does not and can not set policies about who can join. It has no ability to regulate its membership. The real thing that membership in a religious organization actually is, that everything else is an extension of, is checking a box on a government form which tells the government where to dedicate a portion of the money you pay in taxes. How they feel about this is irrelevant and I doubt they've said much if anything about it.

Obviously, the state can't regulate people's actual beliefs and there's nothing stopping you from finding a bunch of friends and participating in your own customs without integrating into the state bureaucracy, but Ásatrúarfélagið sought recognition and therefore integration into this system half a century ago.

This is the same for Catholics in Iceland, Muslims in Iceland, secular humanists in Iceland, dialectical materialists in Iceland, etc.

What the Icelandic mind is correspondingly unable to comprehend is why an American would want to join. What do you think you get out of membership? Ability to attend rituals? As long as you can get to Iceland, you already have that, because their rituals are already open to everyone (sometimes requiring pre-registration if there's a limited number of seats, and sometimes there's a cover charge, but there are also many free outdoor public events). For the vast majority of members, the only difference between being a member and a non-member is that you get a calendar and newsletter in the mail periodically, which is in Icelandic. I can't pretend to speak for org members but my impression is that many think the only reason non-locals would want to join is the weird idealization that people subject Icelanders to, this kind of second-hand nationalism common to heathens that strips Icelanders of their actual humanity and turns them into a novelty.

What I think people might be thinking of is that years ago when the hof (temple) was in the news a lot, they were getting threatening messages from international heathens, mostly folkish ones objecting to their stances on issues like gay marriage and racial non-discrimination; and some from heathens who think Ásatrúarfélagið should have to conduct animal sacrifice (not sure what the overlap is between them and folkish but I imagine it's substantial). There were discussions about how to protect the hof when it was complete. But it's still not complete (though yeah, parts of it are usable now) and Covid-19 both delayed its completion and just otherwise made that discussion less urgent. I'm not sure where they landed on that or if they did come to a conclusion. But it's weird that international people would feel entitled to it anyway. The Icelanders didn't ask to be the custodians of an international pilgrimage site and they shouldn't be obligated to provide one.

[mariacallous]

Since entering Georgia politics in 2020, state Rep. Michelle Au has been called every name in the book: Chinese spy, foreign plant, “agent of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Au recalled this experience in March as she pushed back against a bill to ban “agents“ of China and other “foreign adversaries“ from purchasing farmland in the state, as well as property near military installations. The bill’s mostly Republican backers argued that it would defend against national security threats; Au and other critics warned that the measure would fuel xenophobia.

“It stokes this suspicion and this sensibility that many of us face in our everyday lives—even before this type of bill was being passed—that Asian Americans and Chinese Americans in particular are perpetually foreign,” said Au, a 46-year-old anesthesiologist and a Democrat in Georgia’s House of Representatives. “We are cast under a light of suspicion that other immigrants are not.”

The bill, which was signed into law in April, reflects how concerns about China’s influence loom large in Georgia, a swing state that proved key in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and that both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are desperate to win on Nov. 5. It’s not just land ownership that has raised national security concerns in the state. Georgia Tech, a top public university, recently severed a long-standing partnership with a Chinese university.

At the same time, Chinese American communities are intimately familiar with how rocky U.S.-China relations and inflammatory rhetoric can stoke hostility against Asian Americans, which surged nationwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, during Trump’s presidency. In Georgia, fears about hate crimes intensified after a gunman stormed three spas in Atlanta in 2021 and killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.

“While attention may have moved from [the 2021 shootings], the fear that Asian Americans, Chinese Americans [feel] is still very much there,” said Marvin Lim, another Democratic state representative in Georgia. He added that these communities have long grappled with the question of where they fit in.

Georgia’s Chinese American community, which today consists of more than 80,000 people, accounts for just a slice of the state’s electorate. But it offers a window into how geopolitical pressures weigh on Chinese American voters ahead of an election partly defined by a U.S. hawkishness toward Beijing.

“Asian American voters in Georgia are the fastest-growing voting demographic and voting bloc,” said Murtaza Khwaja, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, a legal advocacy group. It’s, he said, “an electorate that wants to see themselves represented and see candidates emerge from those communities.”

Georgia’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population has grown by more than 50 percent since 2010, with many people settling in the Atlanta-area counties of Forsyth and Gwinnett. In 2020, they made their electoral power clear. Voter turnout among the group surged by a staggering 84 percent compared to the 2016 election—an increase that helped Biden win the battleground state and the Democrats take the Senate.

Those trends were also visible nationally, as Asian Americans—a group long overlooked by both politicians and pollsters—increased their turnout by 40 percent, with most of those ballots cast for Biden. The bloc could be even more decisive this time around. Between January and June, Asian Americans logged the sharpest increase in voter registration of any racial group in the United States, compared to the same period in 2020.

“As the fastest-growing racial group in the country and also the fastest-growing electorate in this country, we are stating very clearly that elected officials can no longer take us for granted,” said Cynthia Choi, the co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, a U.S.-based coalition. “We deserve to have our rights protected. We deserve to feel that we can establish roots in this country. We deserve to have protections and to feel safe.”

This political evolution is underway as competition with China has become one of the rare areas of bipartisan agreement in Washington. Trump spent his four years in the White House waging a trade war with China and using inflammatory language that deepened concerns about xenophobia against Chinese and Asian Americans. After taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden expanded on many of Trump’s policies with his own campaign of tariffs and tough restrictions; Harris is expected to take a similarly hawkish approach.

Chinese Americans’ voting preferences remain somewhat hazy, in part because the community is not monolithic, with deep political divisions across generations, professions, proximity to immigration, gender, and education level. Like other Asian American demographic groups, many Chinese Americans also do not have long familial traditions of voting for Republicans or Democrats, resulting in weaker party affiliation.

The AAPI community has “a lot of new American voters. We have a lot of naturalized citizens, people who maybe haven’t voted in the past,” said Au. “If you’re thinking about just the math of it, these are voters who are up for grabs.”

There are some overarching trends. Nationally, the majority of Chinese American voters lean Democratic, according to the Pew Research Center. They also largely favor Harris over Trump; A 2024 voter survey by AAPI Data found that 65 percent of Chinese American respondents backed Harris, compared to 24 percent who preferred Trump. Forty-five percent of respondents believed that Harris would do a better job dealing with China—more than double the percent that supported Trump’s approach.

The outlook is more complicated along individual issue areas. Take economic policy, which remains a top concern for Georgia’s Chinese Americans, according to Khwaja. “Many in the Chinese American community here in Georgia are small-business owners or physicians who own their practice or of the like,” he said. “The economy is an incredibly important issue for them.”

Yet Chinese American voters overall are divided on which party does a better job when it comes to economic policy. According to one survey by AAPI Data, one-third of Chinese American respondents believed Republicans had a better approach to jobs and the economy, which only slightly edged out the 31 percent who favored the Democrats and the 29 percent who felt there was no difference between the parties. One-third of Chinese American respondents also favored Republicans’ record on inflation, compared to the 26 percent who preferred that of the Democrats.

It’s also difficult to tell how U.S.-China relations will sway the vote among the demographic. Among Asian Americans, Chinese Americans are the only group in which the majority does not view their ancestral homeland favorably, according to Pew, underscoring how some voters may prefer a tough-on-China approach in this year’s election.

Fei-Ling Wang, a professor of international affairs at Georgia Tech, said that some Chinese Americans in Georgia may favor Trump because his rhetoric makes him seem tougher on Beijing than Harris—even if that’s not necessarily true in practice. “Many Chinese Americans, in my opinion, they sort of read the rhetoric more than [the] substance,” he said.

On the other hand, some voters may worry about what that kind of tough talk means for them. Nearly two-thirds of Chinese Americans believe that the current U.S.-China relationship negatively affects how they are treated, according to a recent study by the nonprofit Committee of 100 and NORC at the University of Chicago. More than 80 percent of respondents expressed concern about how both presidential candidates’ rhetoric toward China could fuel discrimination in the United States.

“The majority of domestic xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment is driven by American foreign policy,” Khwaja said. “I think even those that would be supportive of legislation or … rhetoric critical of the Chinese government, there’s a reservation and caution of the form that it’s taken and how they themselves and their families would be targeted.”

These issues could prove pivotal on Nov. 5 in the battleground of Georgia, where polls are pointing to a thin margin between Harris and Trump; as of Oct. 16, polling averages showed Trump in the lead by around one point. Four years after Asian Americans in Georgia showed up at the polls in record numbers, those same voters may now be gearing up for another round.

“I was told as a first-time candidate, ‘Don’t bother talking to Asian voters because Asian people don’t vote,’” Au said. “I think we’re realizing that that is wrong, and people are now actively like, ‘Oh, we were sleeping on the Asian Americans. We’ve got to get them to vote for us.’”

[vidukon]

FAQ & Covid-19 Policy

VidUKon 2025 is taking place in Bristol from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June. Before we share more about registration and put out the call for programming, we thought we'd share FAQ about the con as well as our COVID-19 policy. Expect to hear more from us over the coming weeks!

Info under the cut.

About the Con

What is VidUKon?

VidUKon is a fan-run vidding convention based both physically in Bristol, UK, and virtually. It's a weekend for vid watchers and vidders to gather together, in person and online, and watch vids, talk about vids, and have fun.

The physical portion of the con takes place in the Future Inn hotel, Bristol, where we have one large room with a balcony set aside for watching vids together and other activities.

The online portion of the con is based on the VidUKon website, and also uses a Discord server so that attendees can talk to each other, and video conferencing software for things like panels and workshops.

What is vidding, and what is a vid?

A vid is a fan-made music video that takes visuals from one source and audio from another and puts them together in a new way. You might also see them called fanvids, edits, tributes, fancams, MVs, etc. Vidding is the art of making these videos.

Do I need to have made vids to attend the convention?

Not at all! Most of the programming is accessible to anyone who enjoys watching vids. The most common programme items are vidshows - that is, curated playlists of vids. Depending on the year, there may also be panels or roundtables that explore vids from a viewer's perspective.

The occasional programme item might be more technical and geared to vidders in particular, but non-vidders are welcome to attend and listen in if they're curious, or spend those timeslots relaxing elsewhere.

There are also lots of opportunities to socialise with other fans between programme items.

Be warned though, plenty of people come to the con as non-vidders and come back next year having made their first vid! VidUKon is a great way to learn more about vidding in a low-pressure way, if it's something you think you might be interested to try.

What happens at VidUKon?

A ton of things! The con begins on Friday afternoon. We usually break the ice with a quiz, followed by a couple of vidshows. For the rest of the weekend, programming is a mix of vidshows, discussion, talks, workshops and social time.

There’s only one stream of programming, so attendees can attend every programme item if they choose to (and if they have the stamina!).

What are vidshows like?

Each vidshow is a playlist (usually about 45-60 minutes long) of vids on a particular theme. If you're in Bristol, you can watch the vidshow together with the other Bristol Attendees in the designated space at the hotel (usually a cinema-style set-up with a big projector). All registered attendees (Bristol or Virtual) can also watch each vidshow through the website.

What vids are shown?

All fannish vids are fair game – in all genres and styles. Which means that some panels and shows may not be suitable for people under 18.  

We prefer to have the vidders' permission to show vids, but the transitory nature of the internet means that can be difficult sometimes. If we are contacted by a vidder and asked not to show a vid, we will not show it.  

Registration

What is my display name?

Your display name is the name that you will be known by at the con. You can amend this in your account details after you register if needed, but once that's done you should use the same name in all virtual con spaces, including on the website and the con Discord server.

I have a question about my registration. Who should I contact?

For any questions, please email vidukon@gmail.com

Vid Shows and Uploading Vids

What is a premiere?

A premiere is a vid that hasn't been shown in any previous convention or event and has not been released online prior the con. It will be shown for the first time ever at the Premieres show on Saturday night at the con, and will also be included on the Premieres physical media that some attendees receive after the con. Anyone is welcome to submit a premiere as long as you are registered as either a Virtual or a Bristol attendee. Vids can be any fandom, theme, or style, and there is no minimum level of experience required.

What is Vidder's Choice?

Vidder's Choice is a show where con attendees can choose an existing vid from their back catalogue to be shown. This can be absolutely any vid as long as it won't be showing for the first time at VidUKon. You might want to submit a crowd-pleasing favourite, or highlight a deep cut that you wish got more love! What is the themed submission vidshow?

The themed submission vidshow is a show with a specific theme that changes each year, for which con attendees can submit a premiere or a vid from their back catalogue. The theme for 2025 has not been decided yet and will be announced in due time.

What is the deadline to submit a vid?

All deadlines for VidUKon 2025 are on 6 April. This includes Premieres; Vidder's Choice; the themed vidshow (theme TBA); premieres that will be shown in curated vidshows (i.e. not Premieres, Vidders Choice, or the themed vidshow).

Should I inform you about the premiere I'm doing?

No, you don't have to. We might poll about it just to get a rough idea of how many vids we'll have and to check if we can fill them all in, but you don't have to inform us, just submit your vid on time for it to be included in the show.

If I'm submitting a vid, how do I get it to you and what format should it be in?

Video submissions are not open yet. We will share more information on the submission process closer to the date. Please get in touch if you ever have any questions.

Convention

What is your Refund Policy?

We offer full refunds until the close of registration of your tier (please note that some tiers close earlier than others). After that date, all refunds are discretionary. We do not want to be jerks about this, so please do contact us, and we may be able to assist, however, after the close of registration, our financial commitments are firm and we have bills to pay. As a non-profit voluntary association with very little surplus cash, we may not have the luxury of refunding tickets at that late stage.  

What is your Accessibility Policy?

Vidukon is committed to making the con environment an accessible and enjoyable place for all attendees. If you have specific access needs that you'd like to discuss with us, please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com, and we'll do our best to help.

For in-person attendees, the con rooms are on the top floor, accessible by lift or by stairs. Hotel rooms on higher floors are also accessible by lift or by stairs.

The con programme has regular breaks scheduled into the main programming.

We are going to be asking VJs, panelists, and vidders submitting premieres to include content information about their vids. We ask to warn for the following:

Animal Harm; Auditory Triggers; Blackface/Brownface/Redface; Blood/Gore [significant amounts]; Depictions of Colonialism/Imperialism; Depictions of Police; Holocaust and/or Nazi Imagery; Fast cuts (more frequent than about 8 frames); Flashing/Flickering lights; Incest; Queerphobia; Racism; Physical Triggers [in addition to fast cuts or flashing lights], Self-harm; Sexual violence; Suicide; Transphobia.

We ask to warn for depictions of things even if the vid is critical of them, e.g. a vid that is critical of racism and includes depictions of racist violence will be expected to warn for racism.

If any attendee would like further detail about the content of vids being shown at the con (eg you have a specific trigger that is not included in that standardised list), please get in touch with the ConCom and we'll do our best to help. Anonymous queries welcome. The more notice we have the more thorough we can be in getting content information for you, so ideally email us at least a couple of weeks before the con, but if we get less notice than that we'll do our best to accommodate you. 

The content information we collate will be available in the Conbook and on the website for ease of reference of attendees.

COVID-19 Guidelines

Vaccines

In-person VidUKon will require all in-person attendees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 without exception. Proof of vaccination will be required upon arrival. To avoid disappointment, please make very sure to bring your vaccination documents with you to Bristol! We accept photographed documents, so a picture on your phone will suffice. For more information on accepted forms of proof, see below.

Note for regular in-person attendees: please bring your vaccination documents even if you provided them at the 2023 or 2024 event. We're a small crowd and we do remember you, but in the name of fairness, transparency, and security, we ask all in-person attendees to provide vaccination proof regardless of previous attendance record. If this creates any difficulties for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch at vidukon@gmail.com.

Which vaccines are acceptable?

Any vaccine authorized in the country in which the vaccine was received, including authorization for emergency use, for human use as a COVID vaccine is acceptable. The World Health Organization maintains information on the status of vaccine trials and approvals.

I was a participant in a vaccine trial; is this acceptable?

Please contact us directly at vidukon@gmail.com so we can evaluate your situation on a case-by-case basis.

What does “fully vaccinated” mean?

“Fully vaccinated” means you must have received all required COVID-19 vaccination doses no later than 14 days prior to the day you arrive at VidUKon to allow them to reach full efficacy before arrival. For people arriving on 30 May that would be no later than 16 May. The date of vaccination will be confirmed as part of the registration check. Boosters are not required, but strongly encouraged if you're eligible.

What forms of proof of vaccination are accepted?

We will accept original vaccination cards, digital or physical photographs or photocopies of vaccination cards (front and back, all details readable), or electronic documentation provided by your country of origin, including print-outs of such documentation. This documentation should be provided in person at the registration desk on site. It needs to contain information about the date of vaccination and the type of vaccine, and needs to be identifiable as belonging to you (i.e. be in your name).

If your documentation is not in English or if you are worried about any other issues regarding the acceptability of your documentation, please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com to discuss details.

What if the name on my ID and the name on my vaccination card don’t match?

We will accommodate this on a case-by-case basis; please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com.

I can’t be vaccinated for a medical reason. What should I do?

At this time, VidUKon requires all in-person members to be vaccinated without exception. If you cannot be vaccinated, please consider attending virtually, which does not require you to be vaccinated or show proof of vaccination.

I'm vaccinated, but my child/friend/partner/family member that I'm bringing along isn't. What should I do?

If you are planning to bring along friends or family to enter con spaces, please make sure to provide proof of vaccination for all people present, including children. Children who are too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will unfortunately not be allowed to enter con spaces at the 2025 event. They may enter the hotel lobby or other spaces in the Future Inn that are not con spaces, though.

Testing

If you attend VidUKon in person, you are required to test yourself once a day before you enter con spaces, using a rapid test. VidUKon 2025 encourages in-person attendees to bring their own rapid tests if possible. The con will also provide rapid tests on site.

Please also test before beginning your journey to Bristol. If PCR tests are easy and affordable to come by where you live, we encourage you to get a PCR test done before you travel. If you cannot easily get a PCR test, a rapid test will suffice.

If you have any questions or doubts about the testing requirements, please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com

Can I get rapid tests for free?

Not anymore :(

Do I need to provide proof of my daily rapid test result?

No, we may give reminders about testing but we will be trusting everyone to test appropriately over the weekend.

What do I do if my rapid test result is positive?

If your rapid test shows a positive result, you will unfortunately be unable to continue participating in VidUKon 2025 in person. You are encouraged to switch to virtual participation. Possibility of refunds in a case like this will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

What should I do if I'm having symptoms?

If you experience symptoms that might be a sign of a COVID-19 infection, please test yourself using a rapid test. If the test result is positive, you will unfortunately be unable to continue participating in VidUKon 2025 in person (see above). If the test result is negative, please use your best judgment to decide whether or not to continue participating in person, keeping in mind that depending on viral load, rapid tests may not be 100% accurate. You always have the option to switch to virtual participation, and also switch back whenever you feel safe participating in person again. Possibility of refunds will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Do I need a PCR test to attend the con in person?

No, a rapid test is sufficient. However, if you can easily get a PCR test done, we encourage you to take one before you travel to Cardiff.

Masks

VidUKon 2025 continues to require all in-person attendees to be wearing a mask in con spaces at all times, except while actively eating or drinking.

What counts as a mask?

A mask should completely cover your nose and mouth with material that can effectively filter droplets and aerosolized particles. It should fit snugly against the sides of your face without gaps. Nose wires are recommended to improve fit, and multiple layers are generally more effective. Face shields are not an acceptable alternative to masks, although they can be worn in addition to masks if you desire.

I can’t wear a mask for a medical reason. What should I do?

We generally accommodate medical exemptions to masks but would like to evaluate on a case-by-case basis, so please contact us at vidukon@gmail.com

What counts as a con space?

A con space is any area reserved for con attendees, such as the conference rooms reserved for VidUKon. The hotel lobby is not a con space, neither is the hotel restaurant.

What are the rules in spaces that are not con spaces?

There are no specific masking rules in place anymore in spaces that are not con spaces. We encourage you to use your best judgment regarding masking in those spaces.

Are there going to be designated areas for eating and drinking or is it allowed anywhere?

At this time, VidUKon is not planning to set up designated areas for eating and drinking. We ask attendees to try to keep their masks on at all times and be courteous and considerate regarding the exception for eating and drinking.

Local Regulations and Travel

The above-described guidelines reflect the level of safety VidUKon will aim to provide for in-person attendees. Select guidelines may change or additional ones may be added as the con approaches. In the unlikely case of significant changes, you will hear about them in the regular pre-con communications we send out.

If you are attending the con from abroad, please make sure to check all applicable regulations for your travel route.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Paul Blumenthal at HuffPost:

With a month and change to go before the election, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies are already laying the groundwork to contest the results of the 2024 election if he loses by engaging in a false campaign around the threat of noncitizen voting.

Trump and Republican leaders, from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to GOP secretaries of state who oversee elections, have pushed the narrative that the 2024 elections are being intentionally corrupted by mass noncitizen voting. Noncitizen voting is “a clear and present danger,” Johnson claimed at a May press conference announcing federal legislation mandating proof of citizenship to register to vote. In his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month, Trump took things further, falsely claiming that Democrats allow immigrants into the country to get them to vote illegally. “They can’t even speak English. They don’t even know what country they’re in, practically. And these people are trying to get them to vote, and that’s why they’re allowing them into our country,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, GOP secretaries of state, including Ohio’s Frank LaRose and Alabama’s Wes Allen, and Texas’ GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, made headlines announcing purges of supposed noncitizens from their voter rolls. Texas has also mobilized law enforcement to crack down on voter registration activities by Latino activist groups, raiding their homes and intimidating them from engaging in politics. This strategy has been led by Trump and his allies in Congress and around his campaign. It has been joined by high-profile conservative voices like billionaire Elon Musk and former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. And it has been organized by election deniers through the conservative election denial group Election Integrity Network, run by Cleta Mitchell, a conservative lawyer who backed Trump’s effort in 2020 to steal the election.

Now, with just weeks to go in the election, the noncitizen voting allegations have entered the courts. Beginning in August, the Republican Party, a Trump-allied legal nonprofit run by his adviser, Stephen Miller, and a grassroots election denial group filed a string of lawsuits seeking massive purges of voters they claim to be either noncitizens or otherwise illegitimately registered to vote while suggesting that elections cannot be certified if they don’t get their way. These lawsuits are not only riddled with unsubstantiated claims of noncitizen voting and faulty data analysis claiming mass voter fraud — they all seek a remedy that is illegal. Federal law prohibits election officials from removing registered voters from the rolls within a 90-day blackout period prior to an election, a period that began on Aug. 7. Courts cannot order voter purges after that date. These lawsuits could have been filed earlier in 2024, when a court could order officials to review voters’ citizenship status or other potential registration errors and remove them from the rolls. But the groups filing these suits all waited until this remedy was impossible. Instead, these lawsuits appear to be part of a concerted public relations campaign to cast doubt on the outcome of the election if Trump loses again, as well as provide a post-election justification to local officials to refuse to certify the vote.

[...]

The Lie

In 2020, Trump and the Republican Party pointed to election law changes enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic that made it easier for voters to cast their ballots without appearing in person to claim President Joe Biden’s win was fraudulent. Trump’s “big lie” caused a chaotic rush following the election as he sought to toss out the valid votes of millions of Americans, culminating in the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump’s second impeachment and his indictment on multiple felony counts. Trump continues to embrace the lies about 2020, and Republicans have largely followed suit. More of them trust Trump’s word over government certification of election results, according to an Associated Press poll conducted this year. With no pandemic voting changes to rely on, Republicans are now hanging their hat on the issue of noncitizen voting to provide the narrative structure for false post-election fraud claims. Of course, like the lies around voting in 2020, Republicans’ claims of mass noncitizen voting are entirely made up. Noncitizen voting is already illegal in all federal and state elections under multiple laws. It is also vanishingly rare. A database maintained by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has been promoting falsehoods about noncitizen voting, lists just 68 legal actions taken against noncitizens for voting in federal elections going back to the 1980s. Meanwhile, a study by the progressive Brennan Center found that election officials across 42 jurisdictions in 12 states found just 30 cases of suspected noncitizen voting following the 2016 election. For perspective, that accounts for 0.0001% of the votes cast in those jurisdictions. Even Trump’s own election fraud task force failed to find any evidence of systematic or widespread fraud, including involving noncitizens in elections.

[...] County clerks provided the board with lists of registered voters who claimed to be noncitizens to be excused from jury duty in August, according to Gannon. The board then compared those lists with state voter registration records and found a total of nine voters who matched. Those nine people will be checked against state and federal databases to see whether they are citizens. If they are indeed noncitizens, the board will send them letters inviting them to cancel their registrations. This is the process the board must follow because of the 90-day blackout period prohibiting voter purges so close to an election. [...] United Sovereign Americans is a grassroots group promoting the idea that every election across the country is effectively illegitimate due to its claims of corrupted voter rolls. It was founded in 2023 by election denial activist Marly Hornik, whose canvassing effort aimed at proving election fraud in the 2022 New York state elections led the state’s attorney general to issue a cease-and-desist letter. The group now claims that upward of 10 million votes cast in the 2022 elections across 20 states were illegitimate and should not have been counted. Its lawsuits in Colorado, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas all make similar claims that the states’ voter rolls contain error rates that exceed the level allowed by federal law and that they should therefore not be certified. The group explicitly states that the number of lawsuits it has filed is in an effort to get their claim before the Supreme Court before the 2024 election.

[...]

A New Road To The Same Goal

When Trump lied about election fraud in 2020, it was only the first part of his push to overturn the election. He also sought to exploit the process for counting electoral votes, first by producing alternate slates of electors from key swing states, then by pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence to use those alternate slates to deny Biden the vote in states he won. Finally, when none of that worked, Trump incited a violent mob on Congress to derail the counting of those votes. This half-baked plan did not work — and it would be impossible to do again in 2024. Harris, not Pence or another GOP official, will preside over the counting of the electoral votes. Meanwhile, Congress has since reformed the Electoral Count Act to make it impossible for states to submit alternate electors. It’s also unlikely that any GOP electors would want to follow Trump’s plans after 35 of his fraudulent electors were indicted for their actions in 2020.

Instead, as the United Sovereign Americans lawsuits make plain, any effort to contest the outcome of the election this year would run through efforts by local GOP election officials refusing to certify the election. “[Certification] is the lever that election conspiracy theorists see as the best opportunity if they don’t like the choice the voters have made,” said Ben Berwick, head of litigation for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit that counters election denial. Election deniers first took aim at the certification process in 2020, when two Republican members of the four-member canvassing board in Wayne County, Michigan (which includes Detroit), initially decided on their own to refuse to certify the county’s election amid a flurry of false claims of voter fraud fueled by Trump.

[...]

First, it’s illegal for local officials to refuse to certify election results. In each previous case, courts have stepped in to force wayward officials to certify in no uncertain terms. And if those local officials still refuse, they can be indicted and prosecuted, as happened to two officials in Cochise County, Arizona. “We’ve got a little bit of a hammer here in Arizona in that we’re kind of operating under the FAFO rule — mess around and find out,” Fontes said, using an acronym for the phrase “fuck around and find out.” Second, county-level certification refusals do not impact state executive decisions to certify the statewide results, meaning states could go ahead and confirm their electoral votes no matter what the county officials choose to do. Third, the Electoral Count Reform Act details instructions for courts to hear cases involving certification that occur after the Dec. 11 deadline on an extremely expedited basis, giving officials yet another path to confirm the results despite opposition stalling. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Trump-backed election deniers who ran for key offices overseeing elections in swing states in 2022 all lost.

Democratic and Republican officials across the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin adamantly assert that they will fight certification refusals in the courts, seize the power to certify county election results if necessary and honor the actual winner of their states. Of course, Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election were laughable at the time — until they weren’t. Any attempt to illegally overturn the 2024 election could yet again cause chaos and violence where unlikely things can transpire. Still, election experts expect the dam to hold. “While their strategy will fail, there’s no line they won’t cross,” Becker said. “The period after the election could be very volatile, but I’m 100% confident the winner will have their hand on the Bible on Jan. 20.”

HuffPost’s Paul Blumenthal has an excellent report on how Donald Trump is pushing the bogus “noncitizen voting” issue to set up challenges to the 2024 election results if he loses in a redux of 2020.

See Also:

The Guardian: Republicans’ non-citizen voting myth sets stage to claim stolen election

Read the full story at HuffPost.

[beardedmrbean]

RIGA - More than 40,000 participants are preparing for XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival, according to the organizers' estimates after the first round of registration of participants.

The largest part of the total number of participants are folk dancers and choir singers - 20,774 and 12,426 participants respectively. Other participants include 3,245 modern dancers, 1,520 folklore groups, 1,315 brass band musicians, 1,018 symphony orchestra musicians, 468 kokle players and 245 accordionists.

Instrumental ensembles, vocal ensembles, theatres, chapels, professional education groups, special education groups and visual and plastic arts groups will also take part.

The largest number of registered groups is from Vidzeme - 872 groups. Riga will be represented by 663 groups, Kurzeme by 457 groups, Latgale by 368 groups, Zemgale by 186 groups and Selija by 80 groups. Also 18 groups are preparing for the festival from abroad.

The second round of registration is planned for the spring, after the selection competitions and auditions, when each participant will be registered for the festival.

The XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival will take place in 2025 on July 5-13.

The main venues in Riga have traditionally been the Mezaparks Grand Stage, where the gala concert will take place, and the Daugava Stadium, where a grand folk dance concert is planned.

Various concerts and events will also take place elsewhere in Riga - at Arena Riga, Brivibas Square, Dailes Theatre, Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia, the University of Latvia, the Riga Circus, Dome Church, the Latvian Society House, Kipsala International Exhibition Centre, VEF Culture Palace, Vermane Garden and Viesturdarzs.

It will be ten years since the previous one in 2015. Due to the pandemic conditions caused by Covid-19 and national restrictions, the festival could not take place in July 2020. ________________

HYPE

[charmedhypno]

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR CHARMED!2025

Register HERE for our 10th Anniversary Convention!

Prices for Charmed!2025 remain the same as for the 2024 event.

For the Hybrid Convention (in-person and online) Early Bird: $95 (July 10th through October 31st) Regular: $105 (November 1st through December 20th) Late: $115 (December 21st through January 17th)

For the Online Only Convention Early Bird: $30 (July 10th through December 20th) Regular: $35 (December 21st through January 17th)

What is a “Hybrid” Convention? Starting in 2021, Charmed! has offered an online version of our convention. That year, due to the national lockdown for Covid-19, we were online only, which allowed people who had never before been able to attend, the opportunity to experience Charmed!. When in-person events resumed in 2022, the decision was made to continue making Charmed! accessible to everyone by offering an online version of the event, and for 2023 and onwards we have officially been a hybrid convention, with many of the in-person classes being broadcast in real time as they happen for online attendees, as well as there being online-only classes and social events. When you register to attend Charmed!2025 in person, you will be registering for the Hybrid Convention by default.

In addition to some classes being broadcast, we will also offer recordings of some classes for a limited time during the Convention.

All online content will be available for any attendee of Charmed!2025, regardless of registration type.

Volunteers and Presenters for Charmed!2025 will receive discounted registration, and for some volunteers, free room space.

If you are a volunteer, please wait to register until you have received your promo code! Kitty Sylvie, your volunteer coordinator, will be getting your codes out to you very soon so you should be able to register by the end of the summer (at the latest.) If you are a volunteer getting free room space, you do not need to make a hotel reservation - Kitty Sylvie will be coordinating that for you.

If you are a presenter (or think you will be a presenter), we highly recommend paying the early bird rate and registering as soon as you can, in order to make sure that you secure your hotel reservation. Registered attendees who end up receiving complementary registration will be able to have their registration costs refunded. The application period for class proposals ends very close to the time when we sold out of rooms last year, so be prepared for something similar to happen this year!

[christian-dubuis-santini]

Covid-19: le nom de code de la plus monstrueuse psy-op de tous les temps, la plus juteuse et la plus criminelle, qui sera passée par tous les registres du marketing publicitaire possibles, jusqu’à offrir une fellation contre l’inoculation du produit génique expérimental…

🤡🫶👹

[aviaposter]

Airbus A380 Malaysia Airlines

Registration: 9M-MNC Type: A380-841 Engines: 4 × RR Trent 972-84 Serial Number: 084 First flight: 14 Mar 2012

Malaysia Airlines Berhad, branded and operating as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier of Malaysia. The airline is headquartered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysia Airlines flies to destinations across Europe, Oceania and Asia from its main hub at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysia Airlines traces its history to Malayan Airways Limited, which was founded in Singapore in the 1930s and flew its first commercial flight in 1947. In 2011, Malaysia Airlines proceeded with its order of 6 Airbus A380 aircraft to envision a solution for the slot constraints the airline faced with few European routes. Nine years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline decided to retire and return all 6 of its grounded Airbus A380 aircraft.

Poster for Aviators. aviaposter.com

[darkmaga-returns]

Using 2019 as the last “typical year,” Super Sally compares the Vital Statistics data for births and deaths during 2023 for the Philippines.

“New readers may be shocked at the excess mortality in 2021, which started only in March of that year,” she writes.  However, “I believe that the 2021 mortality and birth data was throttled in early 2022, and the devastation of 2021 will likely be hidden forever.”

Adding the number of fewer births and the number of excess deaths for the years 4 years 2020 to 2023, Super Sally calculates that there is an “unrealized population” of 1.285 million; people who likely should have been living and contributing to the population, but are not.

The Philippines Civil Registration System is responsible for collecting and maintaining vital statistics, including births, marriages, and deaths. The data is obtained from vital events registered at the appropriate Office of the City/Municipal Civil Registrar throughout the country and subsequently submitted for encoding to the Office of the Civil Registrar General through the Provincial Statistical Offices of the Philippine Statistics Authority (“PSA”).

On a yearly basis, the PSA publishes a report on these vital statistics called the Vital Statistics Report (“VSR”).  The VSR relating to the year 2023 was published on 7 November 2024.

The Philippines’ mass COVID-19 vaccination program was initiated in March 2021. While there were a few COVID “vaccine” brands used in the Philippines, it is the Jannsen injection supplied by COVAX that seems to have been the most deadly.

“This is not to say other injectables were not deadly and causative of excess deaths, just that Janssen drove those excess deaths to a new devastating high!” Super Sally writes.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Novavax has faced a lot of financial losses this year. Hopefully PR stunts and vaccine drives like this will help. They have a good product. I'd hate to see it disappear.

Useful for those in and around Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA – Novavax, a global company advancing protein-based vaccines with its Matrix-M™ adjuvant, is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with the Los Angeles Rams aimed at "Protecting the Rams House" this respiratory virus season. The partners will hold a Vaccine Drive at the Hollywood Park Farmers' Market in Inglewood on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

With respiratory disease season underway and rates of infection expected to rise during the winter, Novavax and the Rams are committed to safeguarding the health and well-being of fans and the broader Los Angeles community. Together, they are bringing convenient vaccination options to the public, starting with this engaging, family-friendly event at Hollywood Park.

The Vaccine Drive at the Hollywood Park Farmers' Market in Inglewood will provide COVID-19, flu and other vaccinations for all eligible individuals, along with educational resources and giveaways. Los Angeles Rams Cheerleaders and mascot Rampage will join the event to rally fans and locals, raising awareness about the importance of vaccination in keeping Los Angeles communities safe.

"At Novavax, we believe that protecting public health means engaging in partnerships that put people first," said John Trizzino, President and Chief Operating Officer, Novavax. "By teaming up with the Los Angeles Rams, we are excited to offer accessible vaccination opportunities, including our COVID-19 vaccine as an option, ensuring Rams fans and the surrounding community can stay protected this respiratory disease season."

"We're thrilled to partner with Novavax to 'Protect the Rams House' this season," said Molly Higgins, EVP Community Impact & Engagements, Los Angeles Rams. "This initiative not only emphasizes the importance of immunization, but also brings our fans together for a cause that supports the health and safety of our community."

The Vaccine Drive will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PST at the Hollywood Park Farmers' Market on November 16. No pre-registration is necessary, but insurance cards are required, and vaccinations will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

For more information about the Vaccine Drive, please visit: www.farmhabit.com/hollywoodpark.

[mightyflamethrower]

The Truth About the COVID Vaccine Is Finally Becoming Known

Our understanding of COVID-19 vaccinations and their impact on health and mortality has evolved substantially since the first vaccine rollouts. Published reports from the original randomized phase 3 trials concluded that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could greatly reduce COVID-19 symptoms. In the interim, problems with the methods, execution, and reporting of these pivotal trials have emerged. Re-analysis of the Pfizer trial data identified statistically significant increases in serious adverse events (SAEs) in the vaccine group. Numerous SAEs were identified following the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), including death, cancer, cardiac events, and various autoimmune, hematological, reproductive, and neurological disorders. Furthermore, these products never underwent adequate safety and toxicological testing in accordance with previously established scientific standards. Among the other major topics addressed in this narrative review are the published analyses of serious harms to humans, quality control issues and process-related impurities, mechanisms underlying adverse events (AEs), the immunologic basis for vaccine inefficacy, and concerning mortality trends based on the registrational trial data. The risk-benefit imbalance substantiated by the evidence to date contraindicates further booster injections and suggests that, at a minimum, the mRNA injections should be removed from the childhood immunization program until proper safety and toxicological studies are conducted.

The vaccine destroyed my life. I haven't felt OK ever since I got the JAB three years ago. Since that day I've needed open heart surgery, a radical appendectomy, kidney failure (stage 3) and every joint in my body hurts. Over the last two months I've begun coughing up blood. When my lungs go it won't just be game over....it will be lights out.

[newstfionline]

Friday, October 18, 2024

Big Tech Goes Nuclear (1440) Amazon is investing $500M toward nuclear power to meet the rising energy demands of its data centers and artificial intelligence initiatives. Yesterday’s announcement comes two days after Google unveiled plans to purchase nuclear power and less than a month after Microsoft said it would reopen the Three Mile Island plant—home to the worst nuclear accident in US history—to fuel its AI efforts. Nuclear power accounts for 19% of US electricity generation and comes from energy released when the nucleus of a heavy atom splits into lighter atoms. While expensive and potentially hazardous, proponents pitch nuclear power as a clean alternative to greenhouse gas-emitting energy sources like coal, oil, and gas. Energy-intensive generative AI applications and data centers are expected to account for roughly 9% of total US power consumption by 2030.

Many schools are still closed weeks after Hurricane Helene. Teachers worry about long-term impact (AP) Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe—on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems—that some districts have no idea when they will reopen. While virtual learning helped during the COVID-19 school closures, that has not been an option for this crisis because internet and cellphone service has remained spotty since the storm struck in late September. In hard-hit western North Carolina, some districts warn students will miss up to a month of school, and others say they can’t yet determine a timeline for returning to classrooms. “I feel like a month is a lot, but it’s not something that can’t be overcome,” said Marissa Coleman, who has sent her four children to stay with grandparents in Texas because their home in North Carolina’s Buncombe County has no running water. “But if we get further into Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s like, how are they actually going to make this up?”

Anguilla has turned the AI boom into a digital gold mine (AP) The artificial intelligence boom has benefited chatbot makers, computer scientists and Nvidia investors. It’s also providing an unusual windfall for Anguilla, a tiny island in the Caribbean. The British territory was allotted control of the .ai internet address in the 1990s. It was one of hundreds of obscure top-level domains assigned to individual countries and territories based on their names. While the domains are supposed to indicate a website has a link to a particular region or language, it’s not always a requirement. Google uses google.ai to showcase its artificial intelligence services while Elon Musk uses x.ai as the homepage for his Grok AI chatbot. Startups like AI search engine Perplexity have also snapped up .ai web addresses. Anguilla’s earnings from web domain registration fees quadrupled last year to $32 million, fueled by the surging interest in AI. The income now accounts for about 20% of Anguilla’s total government revenue.

Is Brazil’s Supreme Court Saving Democracy or Threatening It? (NYT) Daniel Silveira, a policeman turned far-right Brazilian congressman, was furious. He believed Brazil’s Supreme Court was persecuting conservatives and silencing them on social media, and he wanted to do something about it. So he sat on his couch and began recording. “How many times have I imagined you getting beat up on the street,” he said in a 19-minute diatribe against the court’s justices. He posted the video on YouTube in February 2021, adding, “I’ll say what I want on here.” A Brazilian Supreme Court justice immediately ordered his arrest. A year later, 10 of the court’s 11 justices convicted and sentenced him to nearly nine years in prison for threatening them. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president at the time, pardoned Mr. Silveira, but the Supreme Court overruled him. Today, Mr. Silveira remains in prison. There is no room for appeal past the Supreme Court. Mr. Silveira’s case is part of a creeping institutional crisis for Brazil. For the past five years, the nation’s Supreme Court has expanded its power to carry out a sweeping campaign to protect Brazilian institutions from attacks, many of them online. To the Brazilian left, the offensive has helped rescue Brazil’s democracy. To the right, it has made the court a threat to democracy itself.

France's Macron calls for an end to arms exports used in Gaza and Lebanon (Reuters) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron are getting into a mud-slinging fight for all the world to see. Last week, Macron called for an arms embargo on Israel, saying that the country needed to find a political solution to its issues in Gaza and Lebanon. Netanyahu responded with an angry video posted on X, calling Macron (and others calling for an arms embargo on Israel) a “disgrace.” On Tuesday (this week), Macron reportedly made statements during a closed-door meeting with French ministers, saying that Netanyahu should not “ignore United Nations decisions” because “his country was created by a U.N. decision.” Israel has repeatedly called for the dismantling of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides aid for Palestinian refugees, and is looking to pass legislation barring the organization from operating in Israeli territory—a decision the UNRWA warns will essentially “disintegrate” its services in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli soldiers have also targeted U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon on multiple occasions since the IDF’s ground invasion of the country began earlier this month. Netanyahu clapped back at Macron soon after his statements, saying, “It was not the U.N. resolution that established the State of Israel, but rather the victory achieved in the War of Independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors—including from the Vichy regime in France.”

Zelenskyy outlines his ‘victory plan’ to Ukraine’s lawmakers (Politico) Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unveiled his grand “victory plan” to Ukraine’s parliament. It’s made up of five main points and three secret annexes—we’re not privy to the annexes, but here are the five main points: an invitation to join NATO, a larger and faster supply of Western weapons with no restrictions on their use, a non-nuclear strategic deterrence package, deals which would trade Ukraine’s energy resources for money up front, and the possibility of U.S. forces training with battle-hardened Ukrainian forces after the war. Kyiv’s Western allies have not met the plan with the enthusiasm Ukraine might have been expecting. Meanwhile, Russia is getting a new infusion of troops. According to a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official, Russia has gathered over 3,000 North Koreans to fight in Ukraine. Russia disputes this and it’s unconfirmed.

Monsoon flooding closes schools and offices in India’s southern IT hubs (AP) Schools, colleges and government offices were shut Wednesday in parts of southern India as heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding. The worst-hit cities included Chennai and Bengaluru, the country’s industrial and information technology hubs. Power cuts and flight cancellations caused disruption, and thousands of residents prepared for more downpours over the next 48 hours. The June-September monsoon season has receded in northern parts of the country. However, the northeast monsoon has brought heavy rains to coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and southern Karnataka state. At least 33 people died last month in rains and floods.

For Working Women in India, Staying Safe Can Feel Like a Full-Time Job (WSJ) When Ajita Topo, a cook in an affluent neighborhood in Delhi, leaves work in the evening, she holds her bag like a shield against her chest, keeps her fists clenched and carries a black umbrella with a very sharp end to ward off a possible attack. She makes sure to wear lots of layers—no matter how hot it is—to deter someone from trying to grope her chest, and secures her bun with a sharp metal stick as an additional weapon. Topo isn’t being paranoid. Last year, she was followed by two men when she left work after 10 p.m. She managed to scare them away by shouting as she passed homes with guards outside. “Workplace, public transport, public places, we feel safe nowhere,” said Topo, the sole breadwinner for her two children. “The only solution is to stay alert at all times.” For many women in India, taking steps to ward off a violent attack—and reassuring their families they are safe while at work and on their commutes—is an invisible form of labor that is a central element of their work life. The killing and rape of a trainee doctor in the city of Kolkata in August was a fresh reminder for Indian women who work of the dangers lurking in public spaces where women are far less visible than men.

Where a Million Desperate People Are Finding Shelter in Lebanon (NYT) At dusk, the parking lot of Tripoli’s Quality Inn is packed with cars and families milling about. Children’s shouts fill the air, reminding some of better times, when the hotel hosted weddings and birthdays parties. Now, though, the cars in the lot are dusty and battered, the families sit on patches of grass, their faces worn with worry, and the children play in a drained swimming pool. That is because the Quality Inn has been transformed into one of the biggest shelters in Tripoli for displaced Lebanese fleeing Israeli bombing in the country’s south. In Lebanon, the displaced are practically everywhere. In Beirut, the capital, where many are staying, they have set up makeshift tents on the corniche by the sea, crafting shelters out of stray metal poles, bits of awnings and blankets. In the city’s parks and squares, some families have placed floor coverings on the ground, anchoring them with cases of water and folded blankets. Others are taking shelter anywhere that they can, mostly in schools but also in unfinished buildings. Of a population of around six million, including about two million Syrian refugees, just over one million people have been forced from their homes by the bombings, the United Nations and the Lebanese authorities say.

IDF says it killed top Hamas leader (Politico) The Israel Defense Force confirmed it has killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the lead architect of the Oct. 7 attack and the No. 1 target of its yearlong campaign in Gaza. Details of Sinwar’s death remain sketchy, but he appears to have been killed in an operation in southern Gaza that was not specifically targeting him. It is unclear what effect, if any, Sinwar’s death will have on the future of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, let alone on the newly emerging front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israeli attacks on aid convoys in Gaza persist, U.N. says (Washington Post) Israeli troops have opened fire on U.N. aid convoys to northern Gaza at least four times in three months, according to U.N. and other humanitarian officials, damaging the vehicles and narrowly missing staff members inside. On Sept. 9, the officials said, the Israeli army held a convoy involved in the United Nations’ polio response at gunpoint for 7½ hours, claiming that several people in the vehicles were wanted men. They were questioned and eventually allowed to proceed. “They basically surrounded our vehicles, pointing assault rifles at our cars, and they were shouting that we’re terrorists,” said one U.N. staffer. U.N. officials describe the Sept. 9 incident as emblematic of an environment of mistrust, in which Israeli soldiers, many of them reservists, command significant power at the checkpoints that humanitarian workers must cross to enter northern Gaza and face few consequences for their actions.

Why Big Pharma refuses to take on the threat of antibiotic-resistant germs (Die Zeit/Germany) Some 40 million people will die from antibiotic-resistant germs in the next 25 years, according to the latest estimate. All reasonable experts agree: New medicines must be developed urgently, otherwise we will face the threat of living in a post-antibiotic era, an era in which people die from simple infections because doctors can no longer treat them. Yet although the problem and solutions are obvious, there are very few new antibiotics in the research pipelines of the big pharmaceutical companies. More and more companies are even closing down their antibiotics divisions. The reason? Antibiotics are not profitable. Poor countries are not lucrative sales markets. Companies would rather focus on another cancer drug that marginally improves the prognosis for lung cancer; another cholesterol-lowering drug that is slightly more effective than its predecessor and is so inexpensive to develop that it brings in billions without any major risks; or yet another anticoagulant. And so billions of dollars in development costs are spent on drugs that have little impact on people’s health, while virtually nothing is spent on developing drugs that could save millions of lives.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alice Herman at The Guardian:

By 9am on Monday, hundreds of worshipers who had gathered under a tent in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, were already on their feet. Praiseful music bumped from enormous speakers. The temperature was pushing 90F (32C). The congregants had gathered in north-western Wisconsin for the Courage Tour, a travelling tent revival featuring a lineup of charismatic preachers and self-styled prophets promising healing, and delivering a political message: register to vote. Watch, or work, the polls. And help deliver the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Serving as a voter registration drive and hub for recruiting poll workers, it was no mistake that the Courage Tour came to Wisconsin just three months ahead of the presidential election in November. The tour had already visited three other swing states: Georgia, Michigan and Arizona. Heavy-hitting Maga organizations – including America First Policy Institute, TPUSA Faith and America First Works – had a presence outside the tent. Inside, headlining the event was Lance Wallnau, a prominent figure in the New Apostolic Reformation – a movement on the right that embraces modern-day apostles, aims to establish Christian dominion over society and politics and has grown in influence since Trump was elected president in 2016.

“‘Pray for your rulers,’ that’s about as far as we got in the Bible,” said Wallnau, setting the tone for the day, which would feature a series of sermons focused on the ideal role of Christians in government and society. “I think what’s happened is over time, we began to realize you cannot trust that government like you thought you could trust, and you can’t trust the media to tell you what’s really happening,” he exclaimed. What followed in Wallnau’s morning sermon were a series of greatest hits of the Maga right: January 6 (not an insurrection), the 2020 election (marred by fraud) and Covid-19 (a Chinese bioweapon). Many of the attendees had learned of the event from Eau Claire’s Oasis church – a Pentecostal church whose congregants were already familiar with the movement’s goal to turn believers into activists with a religious mission. “This is wonderful,” said Cyndi Lund, an Oasis churchgoer who attended the four-day event. “I teach a class on biblical citizenship – the Lord put in my heart that we have to be voting biblically, and if nothing else, we have a duty in America to vote.”

According to the preachers who sermonized on Monday, the correct biblical worldview is a deeply conservative one. The speakers repeatedly stated their opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion, ideas that were elaborated on in pamphlets passed around the crowd and on three large screens facing the audience. (“Tolerance IS NOT A commandment,” read one poster, propped up in front of the pro-Trump Turning Point USA stall outside the tent.) After Wallnau spoke, Bill Federer, an evangelist who has written more than thirty books weighing in on US history from an anti-communist and rightwing perspective, offered a brief and often intensely inaccurate, intellectual history of the US and Europe. During his talk, Federer dropped references to the villains of his historiography – among them Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, the German philosopher Hegel and, “a little closer to home”, the political theorist of the New Left, Saul Alinsky. The crowd, apparently already versed in Federer’s intellectual universe, groaned and booed when Federer mentioned Alinsky.

The Courage Tour led by Christian Nationalists and 7MD advocates Lance Wallnau and Mario Murillo serve one purpose: to elect Donald Trump and other Republicans into office.