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silyabeeodess · 4 years ago

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Have you made a headcanon of Juniper Lee?

I’ve done just a couple for her in different sets like for the Character Fates for the Future and Nowhere, but I can go ahead and list some more now. :)

Juniper’s always had to balance her role as the Te-Xuan-Ze with her normal life, and when the invasion began, it felt like that struggle was raised to the highest difficulty imaginable. Fighting supernatural beings became less of an issue, as even many of the more dangerous ones were worried of the threat Fuse posed to Earth and were willing to make enough of truce to step back; however, now she had to constantly battle against fusion monsters--which greatly outnumbered her, were really only weak to imaginary energy, and could respawn--on top of handling her regular duties. For a while, all she could really do was gather her allies to help fend them off. Needless to say, she was extremely relieved when Earth’s forces gathered together to form the Fusion Fighters and planted a base in Orchid Bay.

Grim was the first to find June, believing that her abilities would more useful to the war effort if she were able to travel freely to interact with other supernaturals in other parts of the world. (While he’d never personally met her before this, he already knew about the Te-Xuan-Ze and has met a few of them in the past.) There are Underworlders who regularly interfere with the lives of mortals, but there aren’t many humans who can meet them on an even playing-field and even less who would try to see them eye-to-eye. True, June could always access magical realms to reach some of them, but the ones that more-often stayed in the human world would be at risk. Furthermore, there were some exceptions to the Underworlders overall hands-off approach to the war, like Him’s original intention to ally with Fuse. There was no way for June to perform her duties as well if she was confined to Orchid Bay, so he made a deal with her to break her free from the city’s magical barrier as long as she continued her work.

While she was naturally cautious at making a deal with the literal incarnation of Death, it didn’t take her much time to agree to his terms. Sure, even if she’s never been able to leave her town since she became the Te-Xuan-Ze, she’s gotten to see some amazing things in the magical realms. However, that doesn’t mean it didn’t bother her, especially as the years wore on. She can’t go on big trips with her friends. She couldn’t join any club activities that required her to go out-of-town, like many away games in sports. She can’t really go to a college of her choice if she wanted to. Any big dreams she had, like being an astronaut, were lost... until now. In this kind of situation, as important as her job is, there can’t help but be at least a little buried resentment. After years of feeling suffocated by a strict, mostly thankless role that she’s had to keep secret, she finally has a chance at a little bit of freedom and she has no intention of messing it up. While she is stressed as she’s been put in a leadership position among the Fusion Fighters, she works hard to do right by those around her at all times.

June did have some concerns about leaving Orchid Bay since she’s protected the area for so long; however, Grim’s wide reputation was more than enough to organize most of the supernaturals that lived there and stop them from causing trouble. Beyond her gratitude for their deal, the more she got used to him and talked to him, the more she started seeing him as a friend.

Even as a commander, she’s still an independent agent. Before June’s arrival in Nowhere, studying its magic totems and many ruins, she took on a bunch of missions that let her travel around. She saves some of her money for souvenirs wherever she goes and always takes pictures, as she’s unsure how long her deal with Grim will last. When the war ends, she may be forced to stay in Orchid Bay again: Since this seems to be the loophole she’s been waiting for, it’s her hope that she proves herself enough that maybe she can convince whoever she needs to to let her keep her freedom, be it Grim, the Magical Elders, or someone else.

She still sings and plays the guitar, and people enjoy listening to her music. She in-turn still likes rock and is a big fan of the Gangreen Gang’s music.

Since the Ledgerdomain is a magical realm, it’s possible that June may have visited it at some point; however, either due to its sheer scale full of powerful sorcerers or Adwaitya’s takeover, it doesn’t seem like the Te-Xuan-Ze is given much notoriety there.

June enjoys studying aliens and their tech due to her space interests, and if she wasn’t the Te-Xuan-Ze might’ve considered becoming a Plumber. As it stands though, right now, she’s going to focus on getting to explore the rest of the Earth itself. (If she can’t leave Orchid Bay in normal circumstances, she definitely won’t be allowed to leave the planet.) If given the chance, she would love to ride a working spaceship. She takes advantage of any investigation in Area 51.5 to check out the various spacecrafts located there.

#ask #fusionfall #headcanons #video games #crunchyvad

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justasparkwritings · 4 years ago

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Codename Cupid: Chapter 12

Previously: Another Shot at Love Pt. 4

Pairing: Park Jimin X OMC

Genre: Angst, Secret AgentAU, AgentAU, Government Agent AU

Rating: PG15

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Legal Alcohol Consumption and Recreational Drug Use, Flirting, Jimin’s backstory

Summary: The history Codename Mochi and how his relationship with Codename Arrow came about.

Codename: The Mochi of it All

Winter, Senior Year

Jimin joined OT7 in his late teens and was kept away from his hyungs until he had finished his coursework, spent time in the field, and proved his worth. A quick study, deft in the art of reading people and empathizing, Jimin became an essential asset in the realms of surveillance and field work. Everyone was charmed by him immediately, his megawatt smile and friendly demeanor, as if Mary Poppin’s herself had given him spoonsful of sugar every day of his childhood. Jimin loved tracking marks, observing their tendencies, watching for changes in behavior. He could slip into their lives without them noticing to make strangers become friends, lovers, discerning with ease what he needed to do to become their confidant. Having studied with Codename Cuttlefish for over a year, he knew what to say and do. Joining a yoga class? No problem. Hopping into their pottery studio? Easy. Wine tasting in Napa Valley? He knew the most exclusive vineyards. Cooking? Please, he was trained. There wasn’t anything Jimin couldn’t do, which is how he fell into bed with Jun-Seo.

The expectation within OT7 was that you accepted your post, you took your directions and followed through on your work. When it came to dating, relationships of a sexual nature, there was explicit language that if you weren’t comfortable, you didn’t have to. There was nothing so important that the powers at be wanted you to risk your personal comfort and safety for. If Jimin didn’t want to entrap Jun-Seo, he didn’t have to, the plan could be changed, nothing was so definite that it didn’t warrant discussion. Namjoon had taken Jimin aside, walked him through the blueprints ahead of the full team meeting, conferring with him on what he was comfortable doing, and what he wasn’t. The rules for Yoongi applied to Jimin, if he didn’t want to have sex, he didn’t have to, and if he did, he was required to turn off his mic whenever sexual situations arose, as was standard practice. He didn’t have to log any aspects of his sexual relationship with any mark, only if it proved important in the case. With Jun-Seo, it did.

Jimin, ever the professional, always prepared and always 5 minutes late, took it all in stride. It wasn’t difficult for Jun-Seo to fall in love with him, and unlike Yoongi and his quest to rectify all past failings through his relationship with Cupid, Jimin found it easy to be committed to one person, one man, in spite of the deception. After all, Codename Arrow, wanted exactly what Cupid did: to be loved.

If Jimin was excellent at everything, he had perfected loving someone.

Infiltrating Jun-Seo’s life was a manner of timing. Yoongi had been placed in Lee Enterprises while Jimin had already been making the rounds in Jun-Seo’s circles, elusive and enticing, it took three weeks before Jun-Seo had cornered him.

“I can’t get a read on you,” Jun-Seo said, sitting across from Jimin in a dimly lit bar.

Smirking, lips plump and coated in a thin layer of petroleum jelly, Jimin played dumb. “How do you mean?”

“You talk to everyone but me, then you dance with me and flirt with me, but the minute I try and talk to you, poof, you’re gone,” Jun-Seo recited Jimin’s offenses, eliciting a giggle from him.

“Maybe I like it that way,” Jimin responded.

“Maybe, or maybe you’re scared,” He countered.

“Scared of what, a pretty boy in last season’s Balenciaga?” Jimin scoffed, not going so far as saying As If, but implying.

“A pretty boy with enough money to bury your deepest secrets or sell them to the highest bidder just for fun,” Jun-Seo threatened.

“Your threats mean nothing. I don’t care about your money. I guarantee I have more,” Jimin brought his glass to his lips, water in vodka glass with a paper-thin lime slice deftly floating on top.

Cackling, Jun-Seo responded, “Lies,”

“You wanna play?” Jimin countered.

“Only if you’re the prize,” Jun-Seo winked.

It was banter back and forth, texts becoming phone calls that led to dates and nights out. A trip to Paris, followed by Seoul and Australia, all the while Suga was swindling Cupid. By the time Suga and Cupid broke up, Jun-Seo had proposed to Jimin.

Jun-Seo was known for being a serial monogamist, flitting from one short term relationship to the other, always trading in the old for what seemed brand new. He had a reputation to maintain, an appearance he worked to cultivate. While Dae-Seong and Kwan-Min had to toe the lines of professionalism, of being the faces of the company until Euna was ready, Jun-Seo was given the autonomy to fuck around. A yacht trip in the Mediterranean? Annual. Closing Harrod’s and nearly buying out Chanel and Ferragamo? That was just a Tuesday. He could do no wrong, because while his siblings were busy fighting, he was busy charming. Every relationship, however devoid of emotion it was, provided him with more social capital than any socialite could dream of having. Though the tactics he used to gain this capital were not morally sound, and the level of blackmailable offenses he had witnessed was sociopathic, he continued to be sought after by anyone who breathed. To date Jun-Seo, no matter how brief, was to move up several rungs in society. The longer you dated, the higher you could climb, though Seo had the final say in your destination.

No one was off limits to him, and he was afraid of nothing. Money afforded him security. Wealth afforded him an attitude that no one was better than him. Being 4th inline to the Lee fortune afforded him privilege. For these reasons, nobody dared mess with Jun-Seo, and in return, Seo messed with everyone.

For the majority of his life, Seo had just wanted to be seen, to be heard, to be loved. Gossip swam with stories of his escapades, his philanthropy and business prowess made him legendary. He had few friends, but his closest confidant remained Kwan-Min. At the end of the day, however, she would always be his sister. There was no cuddling, no longing stares or passionate touches in the night, there was barely love, mostly respect. Jimin, though, had the potential to become the person Seo went to for everything.

Jimin knew the lines were blurring when Seo took him to Seoul to track down distant relatives, and then fly to Japan to listen to Kyoto while walking the city. It wasn’t in the way Seo spoke to Jimin, but in the touches he gave, the way his eyes softened, how he was kinder to strangers and compassionate when someone messed up. Jimin was changing him, and that terrified Jimin. A mark is a mark, until they’re not.

“He’s in too deep,” Hoseok argued, Jimin sitting at the conference table, going through transcripts of his last few days with Jun-Seo.

“It’s getting to the point where Arrow is clearly, invested. He sees a future with Jimin, a tangible life together,” Yoongi responded, concern in his eyes. He had just started working at Lee Enterprises.

“That’s what I’m concerned about,” Namjoon responded.

“Arrow hasn’t given enough information to warrant the intensity of this relationship. It’s high risk, low reward. Better to get out,”

“But we need to think about when Yoongi is dating Cupid, we’ll have two sets of eyes on the inside. Jimin has to infiltrate Arrow’s computer or very minimum, the philanthropy network so they can access the records,” Namjoon reminded them.

“He’s going to propose, right?” Seokjin voiced. “There’s no way, at this rate, that he Arrow hasn’t thought about it.”

“He hasn’t mentioned it, but he does play with my ring finger. It’s almost absentmindedly, and I wouldn’t think much of it except it’s pretty frequent,” Jimin informed them.

“I thought he wasn’t the ‘marrying type’?” Seokjin asked.

“Everyone thinks they aren’t something, and then Jimin shows up and all bets are off,” Yoongi smiled. “He’s magic.”

“It’s because he’s so cute,” Hoseok agreed. “His laugh,”

“His smile?” Namjoon continued the list.

“Remember when we were laughing so hard, he told us to stop being funny because –

“He can’t see when he’s laughing!” Hoseok finished, erupting in wall shaking laughter.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Jimin couldn’t help but giggle at his hyungs. “The question is, what do I do with Arrow?”

“Stay, you have to,” Namjoon’s composure was back. “That’s your order.”

“Do I push off the inevitable?”

“A proposal? Yes,”

“Tell him you aren’t sure you’re ready, or ever want to be married. Give him a real crisis and he’ll spend the next three months trying to figure out where he stands.” Yoongi suggested.

“Has he said that he loves you?” Seokjin inquired.

“Yes,”

“Have you said it back?”

“The question isn’t if Jimin’s said it back,” Yoongi began, “It’s if he means it.”

“Jiminssi, do you mean it?”

“I, no, no,” Jimin shook his head, his quickly lightening pink hair moving with his head. “I don’t love him,”

“You love who he is with you,” Yoongi followed up, “He’s kind, and thoughtful, compassionate, fuck he’s even empathetic.”

“It doesn’t excuse what he’s done, or who he is at his core,” Hoseok reminded him.

“But it does make it infinitely more challenging to not blur the lines between who he really is, and who he is trying to be,” Jimin sat back, uneasiness in his veins. “I have to remember that.”

“Do you need to retrain your brain?” Namjoon offered.

“No, no, I’ll be fine, I can do this.” Jimin nodded.

“Our second to last member to be put into the field is doing well. Codename V, he’s been onboarded and will continue working Yoongi’s job with minimal fieldwork until Cupid and Suga’s relationship is over, he’s finishing his last bits of training before becoming a full-time member. His office will be next to Yoongi’s,” Namjoon pulled up the file, V’sphoto and information enlarging on the screen.

“Chim, you also trained him, correct?” Seokjin asked.

“Yeah, he picked up everything on the first go, insanely intelligent, charismatic, he’s an amazing guy.” Jimin smiled fondly. “He’s my best friend, has been since we joined. Yoongi trained him for a bit too.”

“His first year in, he was in my year four training. V stayed in the program to train others and work with the last member of our team-

“Because it’s impossible to be OT7 when there’s six of us,” Seokjin joked, the fact that they weren’t a complete set had bugged him for over two years.

“V is the best,” Jimin finished.

“We’ve all worked with him, why are we acting like we didn’t hand pick him?” Hoseok wondered.

“Fair,”

“I don’t know him as well as you do,” Seokjin said.

“Are you still the new kid card?” Hoseok guffawed.

“I’m just saying you went to training, the most I got was a month crash course,”

“You didn’t need additional training. You had freely chosen a path that you loved and are passionate about. It was a choice. We were preyed upon, selected for a Hunger Game’s like war and we’re District 1.” Yoongi informed him. “It was fucking brutal. They took us from our lives, our families, our friends. This newbie? Codename Golden Maknae, was taken when he was 13! Barely old enough to make decisions for himself. He’s been raised in this system, conditioned to work for the betterment of the world, he knows nothing else. We know nothing else!”

“He worships the ground Namjoon-hyung walks on, he is best friends with V because once you’ve been tapped, you can only rely on each other,” Hoseok said.

“It hasn’t been a bad life,” Namjoon, ever the diplomat, interjected.

“Sure Joon, sure. I shouldn’t have been a trained sharpshooter by 19,” Yoongi snapped. They could see it in his eyes, the darkness. Yoongi’s temper flared when he was truly angry, but largely held off until he was a perfect storm of exhausted, anxious and overwhelmed. Or, when competitiveness struck, and he became determined to win. This anger, rarer than the others, struck when he felt defenseless, used, when the job started to take parts of his soul instead of his brain.

“You were hacking into government systems across the globe by 15!” Jimin refuted.

“Allegedly!” Namjoon, Hoseok and Seokjin all yelled in unison. The three looked at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles, leaving Yoongi fuming.

“The point is, you got to live a normal life, go to university, stumble into a relationship out of mutual attraction. You’ve had all the things weren’t afforded. For Jimin, V, Golden Maknae, this has been their life, so be fucking grateful, Mr. Handsome.” Spitting the codename at Seokjin, Yoongi stood violently and shoved his chair in against the table. The men stared after him as he grabbed his coat from his office and left.

Next: Justifying Jimin

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andimlonely · 5 years ago

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You Shine

BNHA; Denki Kaminari x f!reader | With finals approaching, your diligence is cranked up to the highest setting, but after rarely seeing you outside of class for a few days, Denki has to step in before you run yourself into the ground.

✿♦ Fluff and angst

A/N: I was struggling with this one for awhile but I think I like how it turned out in the end. Listening to this: https://youtu.be/AGtKpeY6UqI really helped to inspire me, because it captures the feeling of the angsty moments well. Really, a lot of the angst I write will probably pair well with that song if it’s not super heavy. I hope you enjoy this one, and maybe even find some comfort in it if you can relate!

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“Heya, (y/n),” greets Kaminari as he strolls into your room casually, as he always does, clad in a black tank and grey track pants.

You lift your head and glance over your shoulder at him from your desk, noticing the dampness of his forehead and hair, “Hey, Denki. What’s up?”

“Nothin’ much. Kiri and I just got back from the gym. Can ya tell?”

It takes one glance at your blond friend’s silly pose, an attempt to flex all the muscle he purported to have, for you to chuckle, “Yeah, I can tell.”

He chuckles along with you, retorting that maybe he isn’t all muscular yet but he’ll get there, and dropping down onto your baby blue beanbag chair - and probably widening the small but worrisome ripped seam that you have yet to sew back up.

While he makes himself comfortable, you continue to tap at your keyboard, then pause to read, then tap away again, a monotonous cycle that threatens to lull him into a boredom-induced nap. By now Denki is used to the sight, having learned of your diligence before he even got to know you personally. In fact, it was due to Aizawa’s praise towards the students with perfect scores on the first exam that he reached out to you in the first place. With Yaoyorozu overbooked for studying sessions, it was between you and Midoriya, and while he had nothing against his freckled classmate, he wasn’t going to choose him as a tutor when there was someone cute and just as capable available.

But despite how accustomed he is to seeing you hunched over your desk, he’s no less dismayed.

“Don’t tell me you’re still studying,” he groans, his head tossed back against the beanbag.

The rhetorical nature of the question has you playfully rolling your eyes. “Should I even answer that? Besides, have you even started studying? Finals are next week.”

“It’s Monday! This week just started and you’re already worrying about the next one?”

He really won’t let this go. Exasperated, you drop your pen and swivel around so you can plead him to let you study.

“Denki,” you whine, “We’ve been over this. Cramming at the last minute isn’t a good idea, didn’t you learn that after the last math test?”

He cringes at the mention, raising his hands defensively, “Alright, alright. I’ll let you study, but you’re still playing games with us later. I’m not gonna let you ditch me for some homework.”

“Fine,” you sigh with exaggerated reluctance. Secretly, as exhausted by Denki’s refusal to let you work in peace you are, you’re endeared by how persistently he tries to give you a break. Taking a little time to go get food with your best friend, or watch a movie, or anything really, sounds especially fun right now. Almost fun enough to loosen your tight study schedule, almost.

It’s not as if you want to study, or that it’s some kind of recreational activity for you. Flicking endlessly through pages, straining your eyes scanning line upon line of text, and scrawling numbers and letters that become progressively less neat in your notebook are all pretty dreadful to you. But the prospect of being handed back an assignment marked with anything less than 90% possesses your body to keep at it. The weight of maintaining such a strict regimen might strain your shoulders, but the weight of failing or underperforming threatens to crush you. And as much as you want to let it every now and then, you sweep the idea aside by burying your nose into your work.

With a reminder that you have a few hours until you have to report to Jirou’s room for some gaming, Kaminari dismisses his still mildly sweaty self for a much needed shower.

----

You spent that night huddled between Jirou and Denki for a couple hours, immersed in the almost evenly matched brawling of Smash Ultimate and the tumultuous rollercoaster of a game that is Mario Kart, among other games. It felt nice to indulge in something fun for awhile, even more so surrounded by your friends, but before it went on for too long you excused yourself back to your room for the night.

That was the last time Denki and Jirou had seen you outside of class not hunched over a book or your computer, or training furiously at the gym. Needless to say, your absence from the group activities, and spaces outside your room in general - besides meals - quickly grew worrisome.

“Dude, I haven’t seen (y/n) out here like all week,” Kaminari frowns, “I get it’s finals almost, but she’s kinda pushing it, don’t you think?”

Jirou, after taking a drink from her water bottle, sits on the adjacent sofa. “Definitely. I tried dragging her out earlier but she was asleep at her desk.”

“Damn, dude. All she does is homework and study. I’m getting kinda worried about her.”

You might be what Denki considers an overachiever, but he’s never seen you this determined, except maybe during practical exams and of course during the many villain encounters the class has endured. But as for school work, you’re never this obsessed.

“We should try talking to her or something,” Jirou suggests, sharing in the blond’s concern for you.

“She’s so stubborn though. I tell her to take it easy all the time, she just won’t have it.”

“That’s not what I meant. Of course she’s not gonna listen if you tell her to take a break. I meant ask her why she’s so stressed in the first place. Maybe something else is bothering her.”

For some reason, the idea that something besides compulsion and maybe a little masochism is fueling your tireless work hadn’t occurred to him before.

Denki crosses his arms, “Ya think?”

It makes sense as he considers the idea. But what could be so compelling to keep you chained to your desk everyday? He isn’t sure, but he aims to find out.

----

You barely hear the knocking over the audio playing in your earbuds, the explanation of a scientific concept you find too abstract put on hold as you answer the door.

“Denki. You knocked,” you say, eyebrows hovering far above your eyes.

Your eyes. You look so tired. Denki is struck by the darkness encircling your usually bright (e/c) irises, now swimming with tired determination.

“I know,” he replies, his hand stroking the back of his head as he steps into your room, “I dunno why.”

The curtains are loose, completely shielding your room from any light that could spill in from the night sky, though it could surely use some; your table lamp is the only source of light in the dimly lit room. In the dark he can still make out the clothes and few other items littering the floor around you, probably accumulating from all the time you sank into your studies this week.

“I assume you’re here to tell me I need a break, but I already took one. I watched youtube for an hour or so,” you inform him, a tired smile on your lips.

His smile is weak, and you notice it. “Not bad.”

He’s too quiet.

“What’s wrong?”

A nervous chuckle falls from his lips, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Then.. Why are you so quiet?”

The only times Denki ever acted this strange were after brushes with villains, and that time he was feeling insecure about his critical thinking on the field, so you know better than to believe nothing is bothering him.

“Ah.. guess I’m just tired. Aren’t you?”

“A little,” you confess, your fingers tugging at the hem of your t-shirt. “But I can’t stop now. I’ve gotten a lot done, but I still have lots to finish.”

“Dude,” your friend whines, and you sigh, already ready to protest his insistence that you’re pushing yourself too far. “I know you don’t wanna hear this, (y/n), but you really need to take a break. We haven’t even seen you out of your room since the other day, except for dinner.”

“Denki, I don’t have time for this..”

“I’m serious, (y/n). We’re getting worried about you. Not even just me and Jirou, but the others too.”

“Worried? I’m fine.”

Even you don’t sound so sure, your stare locked on anything that isn’t Denki.

He drags a hand down his face, groaning once again. Maybe his pestering is annoying, but enough is enough. He would rather risk you hating him for a little while than let you run yourself into the ground like you’ve been.

“(y/n), look. I get you’re driven and all, but it’s okay to take a break, you know?,”

“No, Denki, it’s not okay! It’s not chill, or cool, or fine! I have to pass - no, I have to ace these tests!”

Your outburst has him taken aback, and he places a hand on your shoulder, eyes like honey saturated with sincerity.

“Hey, hey. (y/n). They’re just tests, relax.”

“Relax”..? The word alone has you flying into a fit of rage. How could he possibly expect you to just relax, as if it’s easy, as if you can erase the glaring red numbers that flash through your mind any time your hands aren’t busy. As if the imaginary anvil hanging over your head will just disappear if you pretend it isn’t there. As if you can even dig yourself out of the mounds of paper you’re swimming in in the first place.

“They’re not, though! Why aren’t you getting that?! Maybe you don’t feel an urgency to do well, but I do, why is that wrong?”

Denki has never seen you this distressed before, and he only grows more alarmed by the way your eyes grow glassier every time you speak.

“It’s not wrong, (y/n).. But obsessing about it like this is. It’s not like you’re anywhere close to failing your classes, so why is this freaking you out so much?”

“Because it’s the only thing I have! If I don’t do well academically then --”

Before the rest can escape, you cut yourself off, halting the flood of words that threaten to break through your lips. Your wrap your arms around yourself, your fingers pressing firmly into your arms.

But Denki can’t forget what you’ve said. He has to know. Why are you so desperate to prepare for these finals?

Rather than try to make you look him in the eye, he steps into your line of sight again, urging you to finish your thought.

“Then what..?”

Half of your face is illuminated by the glow of your lamp and computer, a gleaming droplet rolling down the slope of your cheek. Your breaths stutter faintly. The silence feels thick, so gripping in the absence of your raised voice from just moments ago. The room’s energy might have diminished but the weight of your emotion clings to the air.

“T-then I.. don’t stand out at all,” you murmur, all the defensiveness from before drained from your voice.

‘(y/n)...’

His hand is raised as if reaching weakly out to you, but you turn your back to him.

“What are you talking about?..”

‘Isn’t it obvious?’

“My quirk isn’t really exciting, and my field work is fine but it’s not outstanding.. If I can’t ace every test, then there’s nothing exceptional about me at all. I’m just.. mediocre without my academics.”

And you struggle to even stand out then. Yaoyorozu, Iida, Deku.. even Bakugou. All of them are just as, maybe even more, focused on their grades and just as often share in your tendency to receive high marks. It’s not as if you want them to fail; you even admire their intelligence and diligence, but sometimes, sometimes it seems so unfair. They already have such amazing quirks, make such an impression whether they’re participating in something controlled like the Sports Festival or finding creative ways to elude villains. They already seem like heroes. Why can’t you have just one moment to feel that capable, even if your moment is confined to the classroom?

“(y/n).. Hey, that’s not true. You’ve got it all wrong. There’s tons of stuff about you that stands out.”

By now your shoulders are shaking, every drop of frustration and exhaustion you locked away to be able to focus on your studies over the week seeping out of you at once.

“Like what, that I’m the least interesting student in the class?”

Denki’s chest stirs with a guilt-like feeling. How could you think this way? How could all this fear and insecurity you’ve been carrying have slipped past him? Quirk aside, he isn’t the brightest, but he thought he at least knew you well enough to notice when something is wrong.

He moves in front of you, and seeing you have your head lowered, he crouches before you so his face is in sight.

“No. Like how great you are at thinking on your feet. And how much you trust other people, instead of just taking the reigns every time you’re working with them. And all the creative ways you use your quirk. I’d never be able to think up stuff like that if I were you. Hell, I couldn’t even think of a way around the obstacles of my quirk without some help.”

“But.. what if my quirk just isn’t special enough?..”

“Hey. I get it. Sometimes it can feel like the rest of us fade into the background when you look at people like Bakugou or Todoroki. They seem like they’re lightyears away from us sometimes, and it can be kind of a downer. But just look at all the times relying on their quirk wasn’t even enough.”

“Yeah.. I guess so.”

He continues.

“I mean, yeah, quirks are pretty important, and powerful ones get all the attention. But if the only thing you have going for you is your quirk, I dunno, I doubt you’re gonna get very far. Don’t you think? I mean maybe if I was as smart as you I’d have a lot more brain cells left after using my quirk for a long period of time,” he jokes, tender smile deepening when you crack a laugh of your own.

“I guess I’m trying to say.. Your quirk is just as cool as anyone else’s, but it only is because you made it that way. You don’t have to ace every test to stand out, because you already shine without that. But it’s not like you even have to try that hard to do well, right? So just.. Keep being you.”

“I.. shine?”

“Even without your quirk, or your good grades,” he nods, rising to his feet, “You’re already awesome without all that.”

Without warning, your arms are wrapped tightly around him, your face buried into his shoulder, dampening his shirt somewhat as the tears you were suppressing flow free - not that he cares. You could blow your nose with this shirt and he wouldn’t mind if it meant he got to feel you like this. With the arm not trapped in your embrace, he squeezes you closer.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” you mumble into his shoulder.

“It’s okay. You’re kinda cute when you’re mad anyway,” he grins, half expecting you to shoot him a playful glare, but you stay nestled in the fabric of his t-shirt instead. “So you promise you’re gonna slow down?”

You can’t remember the last time you felt this calm. You don’t want to let him go, not any time soon. Despite how close you’ve become, you had never hugged Denki for this long, but now, as he sways you lightly right to left, you can’t imagine going long without it.

“I’ll try,” you nod, face flushed as you come down from your emotional high, “Could we maybe.. watch a movie together? I’m tired of studying for tonight.”

“‘Course. I’ll get my laptop, it’s bigger.”

#denki kaminari x reader #denki x reader #denki fluff #denki angst #bnha fluff #bnha angst #bnha fanfic #denki kaminari #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha imagine #x reader #reader insert

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route22ny · 4 years ago

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Once it reaches the Great Lakes Water Authority's (GLWA) treatment plants, water is pulled from the mix, sanitized, and discharged into the Detroit River. What's left behind at the treatment plants is sewage sludge — a highly toxic, semi-solid blend of human feces and every pollutant that was discharged into the sewers.

Despite the fact that it teems with potentially dangerous chemicals, the sludge is then spread on farmland.

Nutrients in human excrement, like phosphorus and nitrogen, help plants grow, so sewerage departments across the country lightly treat sludge and repackage it as a fertilizer called "biosolids" that are given away or sold for cheap to farmers.

Biosolids are a "valuable resource" that has been "shown to produce significant improvements in crop growth and yield," according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which approved the practice in the mid-1990s. By 2018, more than 50% of the approximately 130 million wet tons of sludge the nation produced annually was applied to farmland.

But the practice is increasingly controversial. Public health advocates say any amount of the approximately 90,000 synthetic chemicals in existence, from VOCs to BPAs to PCBs, can be represented in sludge. It can also be packed with superbugs, parasites, worms, hormones, viruses, and bacteria that aren't killed in the treatment process.

Studies show the pollutants are carried to farmland, taken up by crops, and can end up on dinner plates. That's fueling a growing number of biosolid-linked public-health crises that are making people sick, polluting drinking water, and pitting farmer against farmer.

In Michigan, officials are discovering sludge packed with toxic PFAS, and a growing alliance of farmers, public health advocates, and environmentalists are calling for a ban on spreading the substance on cropland.

"The best solution is to get this stuff off the market," says Christy McGillivray, legislative director of the Sierra Club of Michigan. "Anything that was flushed down the toilet — any hazardous chemical that we use in our everyday systems — winds up in a wastewater treatment plant, so there are a lot of questions about biosolids' safety."

Municipalities in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida, among others, have prohibited biosolids, while Maine has restricted their use. In 2003, Switzerland became the first country to outlaw them, and businesses like Whole Foods and Del Monte tell Metro Times they won't buy crops grown in sludge.

But the powerful waste-management industry and regulators are resistant to prohibition. Sludge is an expensive byproduct that's difficult to dispose of, and selling it to farmers is a cheap solution to the problem. In a statement to Metro Times, the GLWA — which churns out more biosolids than any of the nation's other sewerage authorities — insisted its sludge is safe.

Though state regulators "expect" PFAS to be present in sludge, Scott Dean, a spokesman with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), downplayed the threat to human health.

"Due to the fact that biosolids themselves are applied in low amounts in relation to the soil mass in a farm field, they would not be expected to accumulate to the extent to cause adverse effects to public health or the environment," he said.

He noted that EGLE is forcing many PFAS polluters to stop discharging the chemical into sewers, but the state doesn't plan to test for most of the other 90,000 chemicals that exist.

'You're going to drop dead'

In a scathing 2018 report, the EPA's Office Of Inspector General wrote that it found 352 contaminants, including 61 it classified as "acutely hazardous, hazardous, or priority pollutants" in biosolids it tested. Among other substances, it detected PFAS, pharmaceuticals, steroids, and flame retardants.

Despite the potential for high toxicity, federal law only requires wastewater treatment plants to consistently monitor for nine heavy metals, intermittently test for other contaminants and kill most pathogens and living organisms by using heat or dolomitic lime. The latter lowers the ph to make it more acidic and inhospitable to organisms.

The EPA's OIG found the agency can't properly regulate sludge because it doesn't have the tools to assess the safety of all the other pollutants found in biosolids.

"Biosolids [have] everything that goes down the drain from funeral homes to slaughterhouses to everyone's toilet that's hooked up to the sewer system," says David Lewis, a former EPA microbiologist opposed to the use of biosolids. "All of these things are unsafe, according to scientific literature, so how does adding lime and putting it on land make it safe?"

Moreover, individual chemicals that aren't dangerous on their own can become toxic when mixed. Lewis likens the situation to going into a pharmacy, grabbing different bottles off the shelf, and swallowing pills.

"You're going to drop dead, and that's what we're doing with sludge," Lewis says.

A growing body of evidence highlights the risks. A 2013 University of North Carolina study found 75% of people living near farms that spread biosolids experienced health issues like burning eyes, nausea, vomiting, boils, and rashes. A University of Georgia study found similar issues, while others living near sludge fields have contracted MRSA, a penicillin-resistant "superbug."

Lewis investigated two deaths near fields where sludge was spread and found that the substance triggered reactions that killed the two people. More recently, he's linked the substance to autism.

In Georgia, sludge killed an entire herd of cows. In Maine and New Mexico, farmers last year had to put down herds of cows found to be filled with PFAS and producing toxic milk. Last week, officials in Maine discovered cows teeming with the highest levels of PFAS ever found in the animals. Meanwhile, biosolid treatment centers are sources of air and water pollution — the substance is thought to be partly responsible for toxic algae blooms in the Great Lakes and Florida.

A brief history of sewage sludge

Before the 1973 Clean Water Act (CWA), industry discharged its waste directly into the nation's waterways. Rivers became so polluted that those in industrial regions like Michigan and Ohio regularly caught fire.

The CWA mandated a proliferation of wastewater treatment plants that would take in human and industrial waste via the nation's expanding sewer system, then spit out clean water into its rivers.

America's waters quit burning, but the solution presented a new problem — sewage sludge. At first, it was dropped in the ocean, but that created large dead zones. Then industry tried burning it, but that often violated the Clean Air Act.

Despite the fact that sludge was too toxic for the ocean or air, the EPA in 1993 approved a rule change that would allow it to be spread on farmland. Lewis says scientists at the agency uniformly opposed the idea, but leadership pressed forward with approval.

"Not a single study demonstrated that this practice was safe," he adds.

These days, when sludge isn't spread on farmland, it's either landfilled or, in some cases, incinerated with pollution controls.

Raising a stink in rural Michigan

Several years ago, Yankee Springs resident Willard Case made an alarming discovery — nitrate levels in his property's wells had spiked.

While nitrates are found naturally in groundwater, and at low levels aren't a problem, high levels can cause health problems, especially for children and pregnant women. Case contacted local health authorities, but says they only instructed him to dig more wells to find clean water.

However, his attempts to do so only yielded contaminated water, and Case says the source of the contamination is obvious: A neighboring business had applied one million gallons of sludge to its property, while two other farmers in the small farm town 35 minutes south of Grand Rapids filled their fields with biosolids.

Case says he contacted EGLE and the agency found PFAS in the sludge, but it isn't initiating a cleanup. It tested for PFAS, but Case says he's worried about other chemicals that could be in the biosolids or in his well. He calls the situation "disturbing."

"They're only checking for PFAS because that's the loudest bell ringing, but I think there are other chemicals in there," Case says. "They're injecting the ground with this stuff and impregnating it with chemicals that we can't control. We're going to lose these beautiful farm fields."

Case's problems with his neighbors' sludge is emblematic of the types of disputes playing out in rural areas across Michigan. Neighbors of farmers who spread sludge say they fear well contamination and pollution of local waterways that serve entire farm communities. Several farmers told Metro Times that the smell is terrible. Don Dickerson, a farmer with land in Michigan and Ohio, said he found his home and property coated in sludge dust after his neighbor applied it.

While Michigan municipalities can't specifically prohibit farmers from spreading sludge, Summerfield Township, which sits about 20 miles west of Monroe, passed a broad waste disposal ordinance that covers potential contamination and is applicable to all industries.

Summerfield Township Supervisor John Chandler says the township's leaders are responding to a public health need and demand from residents who don't want it spread near their homes.

"Maybe sludge is safe and maybe it's not so safe," Chandler says. "But it's too risky. We stand on that as a township, and say 'Go spread it somewhere else' because we don't want it here. Nobody I know is for sludge, and I would say anybody who would be for it is likely a farmer who wants free fertilizer."

The earth in the region around Summerfield is cracked and filled with sinkholes, Chandler adds, and that makes sludge especially risky in terms of contaminating groundwater and wells.

"My worry is what the heck is in it?" Chandler asks. "And how would you ever remediate that?"

Is free fertilizer worth the cost and risk?

Case says there's too much at stake.

"It's crazy — they're playing Russian roulette with our health," he says.

PFAS: A farm-to-table toxin

For years, Michigan regulators told residents that biosolids were safe as farmers unknowingly spread PFAS-laden sludge on cropland. Then it became clear that PFAS presents a threat to human health.

Over the last two years, EGLE discovered PFAS in sludge at 41 wastewater treatment plants, but the agency has only tested about a quarter of the state's 400 facilities. It ultimately ordered five plants to stop sending sludge to farmers.

Public health advocates say the PFAS issue highlights biosolids' fundamental problem — no one knows what other dangerous chemicals are lurking in it.

"Regulators completely miss emerging contaminants — like PFAS — as well as pharmaceuticals and a whole host of other chemicals used widely today that find their way into crops," says Colin O'Neil, legislative director at Environmental Working Group, which tracks PFAS contamination.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are toxic chemicals used to make a wide range of products water- and stain-resistant. About 7,500 varieties exist, and those that have been studied are linked to cancer, thyroid disorders, autoimmune disorders, deformities in newborns, liver disease, and a range of other serious health issues.

Current surface water recommendations are set at 70 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFOA — two types of PFAS — in drinking water. In sludge, the state has found an alarming median of nearly 70,000 ppt in sludge, though there are no environmental quality standards for biosolids.

State records pulled from the MIWaters website show how the dangerous chemicals can make their way from industry to Michiganders' food.

In November 2018, a US Ecology-owned toxic-waste landfill in Van Buren Township discharged water with PFOS levels as high as 60 ppt. Records show neighboring landfills sent out water with levels as high as 420 ppt.

En route to a wastewater treatment plant, that mixed with PFAS-laden discharge from the region's other industries. The plant treated the sludge and produced biosolids with 25 different types of PFAS totaling over 32,000 ppt.

The biosolids were then shipped out to farmers and spread onto cropland or sent to landfills. Though there are no limits on PFAS in biosolids, the 32,000 ppt should raise alarm, O'Neil says.

"Where they're finding PFAS, [farmers] need to be alerted to that fact, as that might inform whether or not they choose to spread biosolids on the farm in the first place," he says.

In a written statement to Metro Times, Dean says EGLE doesn't directly alert farmers when high levels of the chemicals are found in sludge.

'We can all surmise that it's not good'

So how much PFAS and other dangerous contaminants ultimately make it to our food? That's unclear, but there's evidence that it does, and that's especially true for PFAS, which easily move through the environment.

Still, regulators haven't acted quickly, and there's no clear picture of the health impact, says Denise Trabbic-Pointer, a former DuPont chemist who now tracks PFAS contamination for the Sierra Club.

"We can all surmise that it's not good, but nobody knows what the number is," she says. "I wish that [regulators] would put a little more effort into looking at it, worrying about it, and following through on it."

A recent veterinary study found that sludge caused reproductive problems in sheep grazing in fields on which farmers spread sludge. The findings "highlight potential risks" for humans and animals, said Dr. Richard Lea, the study's author.

"There are quite worrying implications for female fertility in the human," he wrote, adding that "there's a very high chance" that the chemicals would end up in humans who eat the meat.

Researchers found the sheep had absorbed high levels of phthalates and PCBs, which each cause a range of serious health problems like cancer and early puberty in children.

Multiple other studies found pharmaceuticals and other chemicals in plants grown in sludge.

In Maine, farmers who spread biosolids on a cattle farm have blood with the highest PFAS levels on record in a Maine resident.

Even though Michigan agriculture officials have acknowledged that PFAS are in the state's cows, an official said last year that regulators won't test milk, for fear of the damage it could do to the dairy industry.

Safe sludge?

EGLE's Dean, however, notes that the state is taking some serious steps to reduce PFAS levels in sludge. In some cases, PFOA and PFOS levels dropped by about 90% after EGLE identified industries discharging the chemicals into sewers and required them to stop doing so.

EGLE is also testing fields on which contaminated biosolids have been spread to determine how much PFAS is in soil and crops. That will give regulators a clearer picture of how much of the chemical moves from the sewer to Michiganders' dinner plates. PFAS have already been found in corn in a Lapeer field.

"EGLE is a leader in studying PFAS in biosolids through our work to protect public drinking water from these contaminants," Dean says.

In a written statement sent to Metro Times, the Great Lakes Water Authority stressed that it follows the law in testing for contaminants and said it monitors for new pollutants of concern, like PFAS.

"As regulatory agencies identify emerging pollutants, GLWA works with the agencies to develop and implement plans to minimize or eliminate the pollutant from our wastewater discharge," a spokesperson wrote.

But critics say there are flaws in EGLE's approach. It's only regulating two of the 7,500 types of PFAS, though it will soon start testing for five more. It also doesn't consider the cumulative total of each type of PFAS. In a hypothetical scenario, water could have dozens of different types of PFAS that collectively present a dangerous level of the chemicals. But if each is below its individual recommended limit, then it's considered safe.

Despite the uncertainty, Dean says EGLE won't act until it can be proven that the PFAS levels in biosolids are unsafe. He also claimed that there isn't evidence to show that all varieties of PFAS found in water are toxic. However, there's a growing body of data that shows all PFAS present a danger — including the chemical companies' own science and reports from the EPA.

The state's approach puts residents' health and safety second to industry, says McGillivray. She argued that the state should gather data to prove that sludge is safe before allowing it to be spread on the state's food supply.

Moreover, even if all the PFAS are removed from sludge, "every toxic organic chemical that exists on the planet, and everything in municipal and industrial waste remains," says former EPA scientist Lewis.

"When you potentially mix every chemical that exists, you get a mixture that has everything in the universe of pollutants, neurotoxins, carcinogens — you can't get away from that," Lewis adds. "So pulling one chemical out of the universe isn't going to make a difference."

***

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/toilet-to-table-michigan-farmers-feed-crops-with-toxic-brew-of-human-and-industrial-waste/Content?oid=25017830

#EPA #food safety #environmental #eat shit and die #agriculture and farming

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ahfspeakout · 5 years ago

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Article: The Real Estate Market In Panama

Most likely, you have got word of the recent real estate BOOM currently occurring in Panama. Perhaps, there are several internet sites you have read or visited hunting for further information on the topic. Or maybe you are one of those persons which have taken the decision already of buying an apartment or a beach house hold, but you don't know where to start or wish to start your own property project in Panama, yet still need more information. Well, I had prepared this article in a practical and simple way to guide you in our real estate market. You will find this paper helpful, if it'll be for the direct buying of a property or to start off your own real estate project in Panama or simply to have a further complete notion of this rising real estate BOOM. What is encountering in the Panamanian Real Estate market? What is going on in Panama is with very little sort of precedent. The market is growing rapidly and such housing development has never been experienced before in our country. Regular monthly, we are visited for hundreds of foreigners interested in buying authentic estates in Panama, in the City, the coasts and then the mountains. The constant rising of the value per pillow meter is almost in a monthly rate. For example: in Jan, 2006 it was possible to find apartments in Panama Place for around US$ 1, 000. 00 per square meter, which is nearly impossible nowadays (US$ 1, 200 - US$1, 400 and rising). This has generated the value per sq meter to triplicate in the city and even to quadruplicate in the rest of the country. The main real estate broker associations currently have foreseen that the general value of the land in Compact country of panama could rise up to 30% to 40% in the next four years, due to this price increasing flow. Extreme luxury towers for over 100 stories, residential houses of over a zillion dollars, yachts and marine clubs, huge luxury hotel rooms, golf camps designed by well-known international specialists, as well as top grade malls, are currently under construction or in process of presenting in the next couple of years; renovating the face of the city into a major international and cosmopolitan metropolis. Promoters, private investors and abroad real estate companies, from United States, South America and even Europe, contain started the construction of real estate projects of amazing impact. Also, a great number of international real estate broker companies are setting up businesses in our country per month. Specifically we could tell you that seven of the highest towers under construction for Latin America are being built in Panama City, within the locations known as "Avenida Balboa" (this area is projected because skyscraper in front of the sea in the city). We could mention, a few: Aqualina, Aquamare, Vitri, Ocean Two and One, Los Faros de Panama and Ice Tower, ready to be supplied for the year 2009; besides the hundreds of apartment towers produce developed around the city. Great beach lot projects, remote island resorts, as much as in the Caribbean Sea (Bocas del Toro) as in the Pacific Ocean (Pearl Islands); as well as enjoyable retirement mountains (Boquete, Altos del Maria) are part of the avalanche of real estate projects that seems just to possibly be starting. Which are the real factors that caused this real estate property boost? We all know that after the hostilities occurred in Panama in 1989, the Panamanian real estate market remained hesitant as well as small amount of inversions in this sector were led in the nation's majority into commercial projects. Eleven years had to jog by after this event (year 2000) for the leaders in your tourist sector of the Panamanian government (led by the well-known Panamanian singer Ruben Blades) to take action initiating a serious marketing for the enhancement of the country's image. Panama was found as "the path less traveled", stressing not only from the advantages of being and international banking services and ocean going center, but also in the social, tourist, ecological and geographic elements that until then were unknown to the other countries in the world. This successful campaign was promoted worldwide generally international television chains, in Europe as well as in the United States. Included to this, something that has to be acknowledged, for the year 2003 Compact country of panama comes back to the international field with the announcement that a younger Panamanian lady (Justin Pasek) won the Miss Whole world contest, situation that allowed by extension the range in advantages of our country as a tourist and commercial destiny. Between the years 2003 and 2005, little by little the number of prospects increased as a consequence of these two important catalysts. Meanwhile, small categories of professionals (lawyers, brokers, and independent professionals) were supplying seminars about the Panama's advantages or organized small properties tours to foreigners. Several articles published in intercontinental retirement magazines (generation known as "Baby Boomers") and subsequently residences abroad, started to acknowledged Panama as one of the best nations around the world in the world to live at high standard levels, but through low costs; all of this caused due to excellent projects resolved to this market, as "El Valle Escondido" in Boquete - Chiriqui or "Altos del Maria" in Panama. One of the main triggering factors of this real estate boost in Compact country of panama occurred last April 24th, 2006, when Donald Trump announced in New York City the construction in "Punta Pacifica" area in Panama City of a 65-story tower recognized as "Trump Ocean Club International Hotel", with a price tag of 220 million dollars. Further more, on October from the same year, the national acceptance for the enlargement of your Panama Canal was given, initiating construction works in the time 2009. Starting from this point, there is no doubt that Panama would certainly become the centre and role model of real estate investments in your community, situation that has been increasing exponentially. Which are then Panama's added benefits as a real estate destiny? Well, let's get into the subject. Let me study those advantages that Panama offers and that will allow you, effectively, to take the decision to buy a property in our country, plenty of foreigners have done. From the real estate point of view, we could mention: -*- Panama offers the best banking center in the region, with the use of the actual American dollar as legal currency and with top of the line banking institutions (HSBC, CITIBANK, BBVA, etc . ) which will facilitate doing this of obtaining mortgages for foreigners, offering a fast foreign bank transaction process for deposits and reservation regarding properties. -*- Panamanian immigration law has one of the best golden age programs in the world, which will allow you to become a "resident" in less than 8 weeks. This program offers several incentives as the possibility to signific goods and personal values into your new properties clear of import duties, as well as motor vehicles also free of import chores. -*- An outstanding service, utilities and infrastructure system intended for properties, such as: high speed Internet (there are your five of the main Internet interconnection Networks crossing through Panama), Cable and Satellite TV, public potable water, wide range of telephony offer, fixed and cellular. -*- The opportunity to obtain extreme luxury apartments with ample spaces to a rate amazingly low compare with apartments of the same quality during USA and Europe. -*- The opportunity to acquire properties exempt to the 0% of property taxes for a period of 5, 10, 15 and even 20 years (depending on the date with construction's commencement). -*- A vast variety of companies and bilingual professionals involved in the real estate market. -*- If you are a businessman, Panamanian law has fiscal benefits to constructors and promoters that start real estate projects in the country. Additionally , there are other sorts of advantages to take into consideration that even when you are not directly involved in the realty business, they can become helpful at the moment of taking the choice of buying a property: -*- Panama has been acknowledge for providers as Pinkerton Intelligence Agency as a high standard safety country in contrast with the current situation in neighboring states. -*- You can hire house keeping services for a lower price (around US$ 150. 00 per month) -*- Up-to-date high standard technology available. -*- The opportunity to acquire goods from all over the world in the Colon Free Zone, due to the apparent position of the Panama Canal and the transit of in excess of 14, 000 ships per year. -*- The conditions involving Panamanian taxation law allow the tax payer not to spend taxes on bank interests or even income taxes when the services and/or business are performed abroad. -*- An exceptional geographic position to perform international commercial transactions, with fast admittance to the Pacific Ocean as well as to the Atlantic. -*- Panama has a low-risk profile in regards to natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes. These are some of the many advantages that Panama generally offer if you decide to acquire a property in our country, whether it is to invest or perhaps to relocate and enjoy life. Which are the most attractive websites to buy properties? To better answer this question, we have to break down our answer in four groups: Panama City, any mountains, the Pacific shore and the Atlantic shore. Compact country of panama City The main seaside view luxury condos are found throughout Panama City, distributed as follows: Balboa Avenue, Punta Pacifica and Costa del Este. The region known as "Avenida Balboa" has become the icon of real estate development in Panama. The reason behind this is due to the current construction of luxury residential studio towers with an outstanding architecture with a height of through 100 stories, to be concluded in the year 2009. Balboa Avenue offers quick access to the whole city, the banks and loans area, as well as to the main avenues, given that it is the sea-coast boulevard. One hundred meters away from this area you will find places to eat, bars, hotels and several facilities. European promoters, American as well as South Americans have foreseen the real estate potential in this region, equivalent to condos phenomenon occurred in Miami during the eighties. "Punta Pacifica" area was developed over the old City terminal (for the reason that it was next to the pacific shoreline and inside the city). This region was designed exclusively to provide an answer to the upcoming real estate demand. The area presents beautiful projects and high standard apartment towers. Additionally, you will find in "Punta Pacifica" malls (Multiplaza Pacific), Hospitals (John Hopkins Hospital), corporate buildings and access to tracks (Corredor Sur) which will grant you fast access to the particular international airport in 15 minutes. Is also in this sector where the Trump Organization and K Group will raise their touted real estate project. Another of the desired areas for visitors is Costa del Este. The "other city" because is referred to was also conceived and designed for typically the development of apartment buildings and closed residential residential areas. It is the perfect place for a foreigner to completely relocate through Panama. This region has it all schools, malls, big avenues; this sector offers several real estates along with a gorgeous view to the sea or to the city, located all 5 minutes away from the city and only ten from the international airport. What's more , important to stress out that this luxury tower's development seriously isn't circumscribed to these few areas. There are also urban ventures in the region of Punta Paitilla, Coco del Mar and Bay area (all of them in front of the sea), as well as beautiful developed personal areas in the surroundings of the Panama Canal, such as Albrook, Clayton and Quarry Heights. The Mountains Gorgeous high altitude projects with cool, fresh weather from 18Cº for you to 20Cº (64ºF to 68ºF) have been developed in the provinces of Panama, Cocle and Chiriqui. In the province associated with Panama, the most representative mountain project is found in the region from Sora, 75 minutes away from the City and known as "Altos del Maria". This project consists of a well-organized foreigner's group with utilities and spectacular landscapes. Another region about urban development can be found in what is known as "Tierras Altas" (High Lands) located in the province of Chiriqui (Volcan, Boquete and Cerro Punta). Among these places, Boquete is actually one of the most relevant real estate centres in the whole country, considering it counts with a wide supply of real estate projects, readily available houses in the mountains with amazing landscapes. Boquete has long been recognized by specialist in the subject as one of the best places for the purpose of retirement in the world, fact that has generated in this region the highest focus of retired foreigners in the country. Finally, in the province connected with Cocle, you will find the region known as "El Valle". Located in the extinguished volcano, El Valle offers the perfect weather, waterways, waterfalls and tourist attractions. El Valle is at present bringing measures to become one of the most wanted regions in the field of mountain properties, owing to its facilities and infrastructure, as well as to the proximity to Panama City (1hr. 45 mins. ) The Pacific Shore The supply of lots in front of the beach starts in the pacific coast line of the Province for Panama, and it goes all the way until the mid-country provinces. Almost all Panamanian high-class families have their beach houses for this sector; due to its proximity to the City (45 minutes). The coast line offers residential areas such as Came, Coronado, Punta Barco, San Carlos, Gorgona, among others. Within all these beach residential areas we have to remark the region known as "Coronado", region which counts with one of the best professional Golf camps in Latin America, pools, beach clubs, equestrian golf equipment, several restaurants and great supply of houses and flat buildings in front of the sea. Additionally , further on in the ocean coast line, we can find the region of Playa Blanca. Since the development of the macro hotel project known as "Royal Decameron" in the area, the infrastructure and general surroundings experience grow significantly. In Playa Blanca, you will be able to find casinos, swimming pools, restaurants, bars and discotheques, beach clubs along with a great variety of real estate projects just right next to the beachfront. Finally, we should also mention the recent development veteran in the seaside areas the provinces of Los Santos (Pedasi) and Veraguas, such as Playa Arenal, Punta Mala and Playa Venao, among others; which have become the new lives for many foreigners (mostly Europeans) that are searching for great extension cords of lands in front of the sea. The Caribbean Shore In this region, we can find a similar supply of real estate properties to the one located in the pacific coastline of the mid-country provinces. There are several real estate in front of the sea, as well as vast extensions of hectares together with the beach. This region is located two hours beyond Panama City and it offers the option to buy in the well-known Colon Free Zone. On the west side of the place, you will find in the Caribbean coastline, the spectacular region in Bocas del Toro, where properties next of the underwater or in the middle of an island are simply astounding. A great many types of international real estate companies have started projects in the crystal clear waters of Bocas del Toro. Bocas is one of the almost all known tourist destinies in Panama, located only 1hr and 45 minutes away by plane. It offers an excellent night life, restaurant, hotels and tours around the unique islands of the area. Bocas del Toro coastline has become the most wanted real estate choice for retired or pensioned foreigners in the Caribbean. Among the best areas of Bocas del Toro you can find Isla Colon, Boca del Drago, Red Frog Beach and Playa Larga. The residential project often called Red Frog is of renowned reputation in the world-wide spheres, given that it offers an incredible exclusively designed development pertaining to foreigners in one of the most beautiful islands in Bocas delete Toro, Bastimento's Island. The project has marine night clubs, restaurants, houses and a dazzling infrastructure. Islands The most infamous group of islands is found in Bocas del Toro, given that, once we already mentioned it offers a wide variety of real estate projects in the Caribbean, predicament of several TV series broadcasted around the world. The most important of the islands of the archipelago are: Isla Colon, Isla Bastimentos, Isla Solarte, Isla Cristobal, Isla Popa and Isla Zapatilla. Likewise, we can found several small independent islands just for private projects. Bocas' islands counts with an astonishing environment for scuba diving, marine activities and bird watching. A second group of islands that is raising popularity is the real estate market seen in the archipelago of Mosquito's Gulf, in front of the pacific shore of the province of Chiriqui. This Gulf has been allowed by the Panamanian government the title of Ecological Wildlife reserve, as a consequence of the great diversity of marine fauna found in the region. Most of the islands have registered real estate titles, which help its prompt buying. The surroundings of these islands will be famous for being one of the best places in the world for Black Marlin fishing. The Pearl Islands are located within the Gulf regarding Panama, three hours away from the city in the open sea, selling a group of more than 35 beautiful islands with spectacular panoramas, surrounded by coral reefs and vast vegetation. The beauty of this area attracted the production team of the trendy reality show "Survivor", who has filmed several times in this region. Last but not least, you will find the island of "Coiba" in the Pacific Ocean, formerly a prison already abolished and currently the National Park. The main island and its small islands which includes Isla Iguana have become in top destinies for diving scuba and water sports. What should I and should not achieve when buying a property in Panama? As a final suggestion, we will recommend you some practical advises when you decide to buy a property in Panama: Recommendation # 1: You can travel to the projects on your own, but it is advisable to be made it easier for by a professional who could properly introduce you to the causes, avoiding the pointless increase on the price. Recommendation # 2: If you are not fluent in Spanish, you should consult the promoter to get you the contract both, on Spanish and in your native language, for all legal ventures to be performed. Recommendation # 3: Once you reserve your house, immediately ask for a receipt and the signature of the Promissory Purchase-Sale agreement. Recommendation # 4: Once you have signed the agreement, double-check the deadlines for the subsequent down installments of your property. If you miss one of these, you are exposed to reduce the money already paid to the promoter. Recommendation # 5: Try to take a quick decision on acquiring the property; seeing as once you reserve it, the price is then frozen. A result of current demand in the market, prices on apartments rise from a monthly rate. Recommendation # 6: Once you reserve your possessions, look for the professional advice of lawyers or real estate agents, in order to verify all documentation and contracts are a result of procedure of registration. Recommendation # 7: Think about the chance of acquiring your property through a Panamanian corporation. They are of swift incorporation, considerably cheap and easy to manage. Using a enterprise to acquire a property in Panama will ease a future transport of it, if that's the case.

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kulturtava · 5 years ago

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Article: The Real Estate Market In Panama

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homenum-revelio-hq · 5 years ago

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A DEADLY ARTIFACT...

Word has reached the Order of the Phoenix about a terrible device that the Death Eaters have acquired, a Dark Artifact that rumor claims can nigh-instantly kill Muggles by the hundreds. Their sources tell them that Voldemort’s forces have yet to determine how to use it - but they are getting close. The Order cannot let this happen.

On December 1st, 1981, members of the Order will thus be sent on a number of missions centered around one purpose: find the artifact and retrieve it... or destroy it.

A SECLUDED MANOR...

After weeks of discussion and gathering information (some a bit illegally, involving stolen documents from the Auror department), Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt believe they have narrowed down the location of the artifact:

The unnamed artifact lies concealed In the home of Josiah and Leina Nott. Unfortunately, the Order only has a possible description (a rounded orb-like object that may be hot to the touch) to operate on - and even that hasn’t been confirmed.

Select members of the Order of the Phoenix will have to break-in to the home without detection, find the object, and bring it back to Order Headquarters at the Potter Estate. They have knowledge of a young baby, Theodore, in the home as well and instructions are clear: No one not in a mask should be harmed.

A DANGEROUS MISSION...

With their forces spread thin under the pressure of the war, the Order must split its available people among several different tasks. Some will go to the Nott Estate itself to search for the artifact; others will stage diversions to draw attention elsewhere; others yet will monitor from afar; but all will be risking everything... and hoping that they will all still be alive to regroup together after.

Character-pairings have been determined using a randomizer and each pair have been given a suitable mission assignment:

ALICE LONGBOTTOM & JAMES POTTER | PLAYING BAIT (DIVERSION). Information about a fake “Order mission” was leaked to set a trap for the Death Eaters: they will come expecting to ambush the Order, while the Order in turn will be lying in wait to ambush them. This group should be prepared for a full-scale battle with a large number of enemies. Several Order NPCs will also participate.

FABIAN PREWETT & SIRIUS BLACK | TROUBLE IN KNOCKTURN (DIVERSION). They will intentionally cause chaos by creating a disturbance in Knockturn Alley, hoping to draw the attention of many of the local Death Eaters not already occupied with the trap. They have not been instructed to directly engage the enemy, but a fight is likely inevitable. A few Order NPCs will go along as back-up for that eventuality.

ISLA SELWYN-PREWETT & EDGAR BONES | GROUND CONTROL. Through use of a complicated new “tracking map” that several of the Order’s more technically adept wix (including James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter) spent the last month crafting, they will be able to roughly monitor the other missions from HQ (at least until someone steps beyond wards their spell can’t penetrate) and coordinate timing and warnings between groups via patronus-communication. Should the need arise, they are also both Upstanding Citizens with enough social clout to potentially bail their fellows out of trouble with the Ministry - and maybe even with the Notts if worst comes to worst.

GLADYS GUDGEON & GIDEON PREWETT | MONITORING THE MINISTRY. They will be stationed at the Ministry of Magic to keep an eye on activity at the MLEP offices, do what they can to distract, divert, intercept, or otherwise mitigate exposure of Order activities, and as a last resort to potentially warn other Order members when it’s time to get the hell out so no one ends up arrested. With the Ministry’s wards being too powerful for the “mission map” to penetrate, they will be on their own.

REMUS LUPIN & MARY MACDONALD ANTONIN DOLOHOV and MARLENE MCKINNON & AINSLEY ABBOT | KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED (LOOKOUTS). These two pairs will be tasked to go to the Nott estate and patrol outside. They will need to make sure the Order’s exit vector doesn’t become compromised and/or that the infiltrators aren’t ambushed if the Death Eaters figure out the diversions are a set-up and come back too early. The grounds are large, so they are expected to split-up into pairs and to pay special attention to both the front and back doors, as well as the old Quidditch pitch which Severus Snape reports is often used as a broomstick landing pad. They are the group most likely to encounter guards or traps or returning Death Eaters post-diversion and must stay alert.

FRANK LONGBOTTOM & LILY EVANS | A HIGHER CALLING (INFILTRATION). They are in charge of looking through the upper floors of the estate. This includes bedrooms, nursery, private workrooms (potions lab, enchanting room, etc), and other casual areas. This is estimated to be the most likely location for the artifact. Their group also has the highest chances of encountering one of the Notts, although it is expected that Josiah will be busy with James and Alice’s distraction and Leina will be asleep; if all goes as planned, they shouldn’t meet either of them.

EMMA VANITY & LUCINDA TALKALOT | FAMILIAR SPACES (INFILTRATION). In charge of looking for the artifact in the main floors of the estate. This includes the library, parlors, studies, dinning room, and sitting rooms; the more “public” areas of the estate. This is estimated to be the second-most-likely location for the artifact. Their familiarity with the house should help them search it, and if all goes as planned they shouldn’t encounter any threats they might be ill-equipped to fight-off.

SEVERUS SNAPE & DORCAS MEADOWS | WE GO LOW (INFILTRATION). In charge of looking through the lower floors of the estate. This includes the cellar, kitchens, and basic work areas. The “inner circle” does not expect them to find much of value (or of threat) underground, least of all the artifact, but trusting them with this part of the mission gives them both a chance to prove themselves.

EMMELINE VANCE & HONORA LYNCH | PREPARE FOR THE WORST. Assigned to wait at the McKinnon Farm, ready to offer assistance to any injured parties - either by treating the wounded that come to them, or going out in the field to gather-up anyone too injured to make it back on their own, they have the tense and vital task of keeping everyone else breathing until dawn. Honora isn’t exactly trusted yet, but someone has to back Emmeline up should she need to go under fire to retrieve her patients while Benjy holds down the fort... and the powerful healer should be able to keep her half-conscripted partner under control.

NOTE: Andromeda is not included, as she has not fully been integrated into the Order.

PUT TO THE TEST...

Throughout the event, the admins will keep track of what is happening within threads. At random intervals, players will be asked to dice roll for their group, which will then spur a mini plot drop for their characters. Dice rolls will also happen to see which groups are successful in their ventures and which groups will fail.

Remember to tags your posts with the date of event and to tag any open starters with ‘homenumstarter.’ This event does not yet have an end date, as we will vote like we have in the past. Threads set before December 1st can be continued, but no others should be started. You may begin interactions!

#homenumevent #homenumplot #marauders era rp #harry potter rp #marauders rp

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fritzistoodrunktobeattheworkshop · 6 years ago

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Learn The Risk is a Sham Folks

If any person has told you to go to www.learntherisk.org I advise you to look for other sources. Learn The Risk is primarily a propaganda site from what I have seen. While there are in fact many varieties of medicine that are harmful and in cases there have been more doctors than I would of liked to see to prescribe a harmful amount of medicine to their patient - that does not disprove the usage of all medicine like this site suggests one to do.

The site directly states in their “About Us: Who We Are” page that they would advise all people to avoid any medical help from any person in the medical industry. They push this by repeating that the medical industry is corrupt and profits on the suffering of other by keeping them sick as much as they can. This all started from Brandy Vaughan, who is a pharmaceutical representative. For those who don’t know a pharmaceutical representative is a person who persuades doctors to prescribe pharmaceutical drugs. She was disgusted when she found that a painkiller she had been advocating to a client could double the patient’s risk of heart attack and strokes she left the industry. However, instead of using that knowledge of advising patient how to use pharmaceutical drugs in moderation or safely she believes the use of any pharmaceutical drug should be abolished and refuses to use any type of medicine produced by the medical industry on her own child.

The site also pushes against medical drugs by using fear tactics and have been a major contributor to the anti-vaxx or PRO-DISEASE movement, They even take the time of day to slander vaccines in their “Detox” page. They do this by stating how vaccines cause intense damage and need to be detox while conveniently leaving out the fact they build herd immunity which allow for people with vaccine allergies and immune-compromised people from dying of diseases that were eradicated by said vaccines. Their “Detox” page even states how to I SHIT YOU NOT slowly cure Autism. Which would be the pinnacle equivalent of curing any other mental or social disorder yet somehow this is secret knowledge only these anti-vaxxers seem to know. They also advertise a book called “How Not to Die” which informs the reader on what organic foods can prevent and even reverse diseases. Now - pardon me for a second - if all we needed to prevent and reverse diseases was organic food, fragrant oils, and crystal then why did Europe lose around half of its population to the Black Plague when that’s all that they had. Also why were there numerous measles and small pox outbreaks that killed thousands of children if that were the same reasoning.

If this has not already made the case of Learn The Risk quite apparent to you then let’s continue. You probably think I’m just bashing on the site and haven’t simply “done my research”. The fact that I had already inspected the maker of site and what solutions they provide for the ‘crisis’ they fight and show the fact they should be viewed with skepticism I believe should add merit to my intent. However, it would seem you disagree. Well it’s time for research. Let’s start on their intense push against vaccines. Why do they hate them? The side effects & ingredients.

Here is an image that they use to display the ingredients within vaccines.

I’m going to simply explain Aluminum instead of all ingredients to save space and time. The image states that exposure to Aluminum causes brain damage with larger dosages taken. However, the website fails to inform what dosage of Aluminium is even considered safe.

Well according to the FDA in Code of Federal Regulation Title 21 Volume 7, it is safe to consume 1.25 mg of Aluminum within a serving. Also according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry the healthy body burden of Aluminum is 30-50 mg. The vaccine with the highest total of Aluminum is the DTaP, Hep B, & Polio vaccine - which is total to 0.85 mg. The 1.25 mg dosage recommended by the FDA is average amount of Aluminum that regularly gets flushed out by the body’s natural excretion cycle. Meaning that all of the Aluminum that a person receives in a vaccine will likely already leave the body the next time they use the latrine.

Not to mention you can expose yourself to Aluminum just by being in your natural environment. Aluminum can be found as a mineral source in daily foods such as: grain, dairy (yes even breast milk), desserts, & beverages (mostly water - definitely mineral water). It can also be breathed in from air pollution or smoke from volcanic activity. You can absorb small traces of Aluminum from touching it.

The fact that the site won’t even bother to tell you what the safe dosage is and where traces of the mineral can be found shows that they really don’t care about the whole picture.

Where do they get this information then? Well as you can see below it’s mostly from PubMed on the National Center for Biotechnology Information site.

I would like to add this is just for some context. If you search ‘vaccines saving lives studies’ the first site to appear is the National Center for Biotechnology Information site saying ‘ Simply put: Vaccination saves lives - NCBI ‘. The fact the site they use to disprove vaccines is to first and most credential site to appear when defending vaccines shows a strong amount of contradiction from their behalf already.

When I looked under studies relating to a serious issue - Death - I found 65 entries. I am quite impressed that they did quite a fair amount f research about such a serious topic relating to vaccines. I did notice, however, none of the studies were with 2018-2019. Also nearly half of their sources where within 1970-1990 range. Considering this is such a modern issue to them I would of expected more modern studies. Alright, now let’s compare that total to how many studies have been shown to prove vaccines save lives. Well according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention..... Holy shit I count even count all of that....

Check it out for yourself since you all love research I suppose, because I can’t count how many entries there are here... https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/research/publications/index.html

Alright since the sight they gather their information from disagrees with their entire viewpoint let’s look if they have any medical professionals that agree with them. The two they have listen are their founder, Dr. Nancy Banks , & Dr. Stephanie Senneff. Alright let’s look at their credentials (I’m going to skip the founder since I already talked about her).

Dr. Nancy Banks is gynecologist & obstetrics. She has no credentials with dealing with vaccines or any form of microbiology yet for some reason they asked her to talk about vaccines.

Dr. Stephanie Senneff has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She has no experience in the medical field yet they chose to represent her as a professional in the matter of vaccines.

They don’t care if you or your children die to measles because you believed them and chose not to vaccinate. All they want is attention and for people to by their products. They only want to be a media icon and you are giving them just that.

You can look at their site for remedies because maybe - just maybe - you believe that modern medicine is truly evil and toxic. You’ll only find vaccine propaganda and the only product that isn’t related to making vaccines seems scary cost money. Why would a non-profit organization make the only actual remedies they have cost you?

It’s because they don’t care. They want you to recommend people to their site. They want to be all over the media. They want you to parade their products and that’s it.

#vaccines #vaccination #vaccinate your kids #get vaccinated #anti vaxxers #a #actually do your research #don't let them fool you #research #learn the risk #learn the risk of falling for propganda #please don't let your kids die to a preventable disease it's called preventable for a reason #vaccine #pro vaccination

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nebris · 6 years ago

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Halfway to boiling: the city at 50C

It is the temperature at which human cells start to cook, animals suffer and air conditioners overload power grids. Once an urban anomaly, 50C is fast becoming reality

Imagine a city at 50C (122F). The pavements are empty, the parks quiet, entire neighbourhoods appear uninhabited. Nobody with a choice ventures outside during daylight hours. Only at night do the denizens emerge, HG Wells-style, into the streets – though, in temperatures that high, even darkness no longer provides relief. Uncooled air is treated like effluent: to be flushed as quickly as possible.

School playgrounds are silent as pupils shelter inside. In the hottest hours of the day, working outdoors is banned. The only people in sight are those who do not have access to air conditioning, who have no escape from the blanket of heat: the poor, the homeless, undocumented labourers. Society is divided into the cool haves and the hot have-nots.

Those without the option of sheltering indoors can rely only on shade, or perhaps a water-soaked sheet hung in front of a fan. Construction workers, motor-rickshaw drivers and street hawkers cover up head to toe to stay cool. The wealthy, meanwhile, go from one climate-conditioned environment to another: homes, cars, offices, gymnasiums, malls.

Asphalt heats up 10-20C higher than the air. You really could fry an egg on the pavement. A dog’s paws would blister on a short walk, so pets are kept behind closed doors. There are fewer animals overall; many species of mammals and birds have migrated to cooler environments, perhaps at a higher altitude – or perished. Reptiles, unable to regulate their body temperatures or dramatically expand their range, are worst placed to adapt. Even insects suffer.

Maybe in the beginning, when it was just a hot spell, there was a boom in spending as delighted consumers snapped up sunglasses, bathing suits, BBQs, garden furniture and beer. But the novelty quickly faded when relentless sunshine became the norm. Consumers became more selective. Power grids are overloaded by cooling units. The heat is now a problem.

The temperature is recalibrating behaviour. Appetites tend to fade as the body avoids the thermal effect of food and tempers are quicker to flare – along, perhaps, with crime and social unrest. But eventually lethargy sets in as the body shuts down and any prolonged period spent outdoors becomes dangerous.

Hospitals see a surge in admissions for heat stress, respiratory problems and other illnesses exacerbated by high temperatures. Some set up specialist wards. The elderly, the obese and the sick are most at risk. Deaths rise.

At 50C – halfway to water’s boiling point and more than 10C above a healthy body temperature – heat becomes toxic. Human cells start to cook, blood thickens, muscles lock around the lungs and the brain is choked of oxygen. In dry conditions, sweat – the body’s in-built cooling system – can lessen the impact. But this protection weakens if there is already moisture in the air.

A so-called “wet-bulb temperature” (which factors in humidity) of just 35C can be fatal after a few hours to even the fittest person, and scientists warn climate change will make such conditions increasingly common in India, Pakistan, south-east Asia and parts of China. Even under the most optimistic predictions for emissions reductions, experts say almost half the world’s population will be exposed to potentially deadly heat for 20 days a year by 2100.

Not long ago, 50C was considered an anomaly, but it is increasingly widespread. Earlier this year, the 1.1 million residents of Nawabshah, Pakistan, endured the hottest April ever recorded on Earth, as temperatures hit 50.2C. In neighbouring India two years earlier, the town of Phalodi sweltered in 51C – the country’s hottest ever day.

Dev Niyogi, professor at Purdue University, Indiana, and chair of the Urban Environment department at the American Meteorological Society, witnessed how cities were affected by extreme heat on a research trip to New Delhi and Pune during that 2015 heatwave in India, which killed more than 2,000 people.

“You could see the physical change. Road surfaces started to melt, neighbourhoods went quiet because people didn’t go out and water vapour rose off the ground like a desert mirage,” he recalls.

“We must hope that we don’t see 50C. That would be uncharted territory. Infrastructure would be crippled and ecosystem services would start to break down, with long-term consequences.”

Several cities in the Gulf are getting increasingly accustomed to such heat. Basra – population 2.1 million – registered 53.9C two years ago. Kuwait City and Doha have experienced 50C or more in the past decade. At Quriyat, on the coast of Oman, overnight temperatures earlier this summer remained above 42.6C, which is believed to be the highest “low” temperature ever recorded in the world.

At Mecca, the two million hajj pilgrims who visit each year need ever more sophisticated support to beat the heat. On current trends, it is only a matter of time before temperatures exceed the record 51.3C reached in 2012. Last year, traditionalists were irked by plans to install what are reportedly the world’s biggest retractable umbrellas to provide shade on the courtyards and roof of the Great Mosque. Air conditioners weighing 25 tonnes have been brought in to ventilate four of the biggest tents. Thousands of fans already cool the marble floors and carpets, while police on horseback spray the crowds with water.

Football supporters probably cannot expect such treatment at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, and many may add to the risks of hyperthermia and dehydration by taking off their shirts and drinking alcohol. Fifa is so concerned about conditions that it has moved the final from summer to a week before Christmas. Heat is also why Japanese politicians are now debating whether to introduce daylight saving time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics so that marathon and racewalk athletes can start at what is currently 5am and avoid mid-afternoon temperatures that recently started to pass 40C with humidity of more than 80%.

At the Australian open in Melbourne this year – when ambient temperatures reached 40C – players were staggering around like “punch-drunk boxers” due to heatstroke. Even walking outside can feel oppressive at higher temperatures. “The blast of furnace-like heat ... literally feels life-threatening and apocalyptic,” says Nigel Tapper, professor of environmental science at Melbourne’s Monash University, of the 48C recorded in parts of the city. “You cannot move outside for more than a few minutes.”

The feeling of foreboding is amplified by the increased threat of bush and forest fires, he adds. “You cannot help but ask, ‘How can this city operate under these conditions? What can we do to ensure that the city continues to provide important services for these conditions? What can we do to reduce temperatures in the city?’

Those places already struggling with extreme heat are doing what they can. In Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, hospitals have opened specialist heat wards. Australian cities have made swimming pools accessible to the homeless when the heat creeps above 40C, and instructed schools to cancel playground time. In Kuwait, outside work is forbidden between noon and 4pm when temperatures soar.

But many regulations are ignored, and companies and individuals underestimate the risks. In almost all countries, hospital admissions and death rates tend to rise when temperatures pass 35C – which is happening more often, in more places. Currently, 354 major cities experience average summer temperatures in excess of 35C; by 2050, climate change will push this to 970, according to the recent “Future We Don’t Want” study by the C40 alliance of the world’s biggest metropolises. In the same period, it predicts the number of urban dwellers exposed to this level of extreme heat will increase eightfold, to 1.6 billion.

As baselines shift across the globe, 50C is also uncomfortably near for tens of millions more people. This year, Chino, 50km (30 miles) from Los Angeles, hit a record of 48.9C, Sydney saw 47C, and Madrid and Lisbon also experienced temperatures in the mid-40s. New studies suggest France “could easily exceed” 50C by the end of the century while Australian cities are forecast to reach this point even earlier. Kuwait, meanwhile, could sizzle towards an uninhabitable 60C.

How to cool dense populations is now high on the political and academic agenda, says Niyogi, who last week co-chaired an urban climate symposium in New York. Cities can be modified to deplete heat through measures to conserve water, create shade and deflect heat. In many places around the world, these steps are already under way.

The city at 50C could be more tolerable with lush green spaces on and around buildings; towers with smart shades that follow the movement of the sun; roofs and pavements painted with high-albedo surfaces; fog capture and renewable energy fields to provide cooling power without adding to the greenhouse effect.

But with extremes creeping up faster than baselines, Niyogi says this adapting will require changes not just to the design of cities, but how they are organised and how we live in them. First, though, we have to see what is coming – which might not hit with the fury of a flood or typhoon but can be even more destructive.

“Heat is different,” says Niyogi. “You don’t see the temperature creep up to 50C. It can take people unawares.”

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c

#extreme climate change

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years ago

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With Changing Status and New Ingredients, the Sazerac Is the Best Yardstick for Modern Cocktail Culture

No one event in American history had a greater negative impact on drinking culture than Prohibition. Though America went “dry” for just 13 years, it took decades before the country regained an appreciation for the finer aspects of wine, beer, and spirits. If we look for similar events that propelled us back onto the right track, in wine, we might point to the Judgment of Paris. In beer, it’s impossible to look past the legalization of homebrewing. And in spirits, which seemed to lag longest, all credit must go to the craft cocktail renaissance of the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Exactly how far cocktail culture has evolved since then is harder to measure. Anecdotally, I think about how I can walk into most bars in my decidedly unhip neighborhood of Queens, New York — locales you might not consider dive bars, but that don’t sling craft cocktails, either — and order an Old Fashioned with some degree of confidence.

But is there a more accurate way to gauge our progress? Rather than looking only at the quality of bartending in general, if we dial in to the ingredients used to make certain classics, perhaps the Sazerac is a better yardstick by which to measure how far we’ve come.

Multiple factors contribute to the Sazeracs of 2021 having a higher ceiling for quality and being even more historically accurate than those stirred at the turn of the century. Absinthe didn’t become legal again in the U.S. until 2007, for example. Then there’s the rye category, which has exploded both in breadth and depth. While the Sazerac is not solely responsible for these factors, given that both ingredients are intrinsic to its preparation, the cocktail is hugely symbolic of how drinking culture has progressed.

A New Orleans Icon

The Sazerac may not quite place in the highest echelon of classic cocktails, alongside the likes of the Martini, Manhattan, and Old Fashioned, but an icon it undoubtedly remains. The official cocktail of New Orleans (though not Louisiana, as is often erroneously stated), and widely held as one of the oldest cocktails, period, the Sazerac arrives with the requisite historical baggage that adds color to any classic — because beyond tasting good, the canons of cocktail culture must have a good story to tell.

In the realm of the Sazerac, that story revolves around one question: Is it historically a Cognac- or rye-whiskey-based drink?

This source of contention continues to provide fodder for divisive, if niche, barstool debates. Yet even those who remain firmly planted in the Cognac camp would surely concede that for the majority of its existence, the Sazerac has been more closely associated with rye. This association is handy for the purposes of this piece, allowing us to explore the stunning metamorphosis of the historic whiskey style during the past few decades.

The Rye Resurgence

While it continues to lag well behind bourbon, rye consistently posts impressive growth. In 2009, volume sales sat at just 88,000 9-liter cases, accounting for $15 million in revenue for suppliers, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council. Since then, the category has surged. Volumes increased a whopping 1,500 percent to 1.4 million 9-liter cases in 2020, with the value hitting $275 million.

At the New Orleans bar Cure, which is widely credited with pioneering the craft cocktail movement in the city, the team has a saying relating to the city’s patron cocktail: “Nothing’s sacred except for maybe the Sazerac.”

Neal Bodenheimer, the bar’s owner and co-chair of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, therefore struck me as an ideal individual to explore my hypothesis with. He was quick to agree on the significance of the legality of absinthe, and also pointed out the ease with which one can now pick up a bottle of the cocktail’s signature bitters. “You used to have to seek out Peychaud’s; now you can get them anywhere in the world,” he says.

But on the topic of rye, Bodenheimer hastened to accept my theory that the quality and quantity on offer has never been better. While the field has undoubtedly widened, he says he could pick up a bottle of six-year bonded Old Rittenhouse for around $11 in the mid-aughts. As the popularity of rye has grown, he feels the quality and age of the liquor inside the bottle is not quite what it used to be — though this does again speak to the surging popularity of rye compared with a decade or so prior.

“It may be possible to customize your selection more, but because of the low demand, you could grab a quality rye with a little more ease 13 years ago,” Bodenheimer says. On the other hand, he notes that the most exciting developments taking place in the rye space now come via craft distillers — a notion that some might feel would have been laughable two decades ago.

Photo Credit: Cure

Chris Hannah offers a different stock phrase when discussing the Sazerac: “I like to say it’s consistently the most inconsistently made cocktail in the world,” he tells me. “It has a recipe. Everyone knows the recipe. But everybody makes their own version.”

Hannah moved to New Orleans 18 years ago from Baltimore, where he’d already clocked up six years working behind the stick. This experience, he thought, qualified him as a “proper” bartender. Then he arrived in the Big Easy and found drinks he’d never heard of (the Sazerac) made with ingredients that weren’t on the back bars of the restaurants he’d previously worked at (rye whiskey).

Hannah’s contribution to the endurance of the Sazerac in New Orleans is up there with anyone in the city, having worked at the legendary Arnaud’s French 75 Bar for 15 years before leaving to open NOLA’s Jewel of the South. Though he falls into the Cognac camp, he agrees with Bodenheimer on the modern-day importance of the quality rye being put out by some, if not all, smaller producers. “Knowing that these distillers can come out with an equal or superior product is keeping the bigger houses on their toes and not resting on their laurels,” he says.

And resting on their laurels they most certainly are not. Look at any major American distillery and there’s a high chance it’s introduced a rye to its lineup in recent times. In the last year alone, Heaven Hill added a rye to its core Elijah Craig line; Campari, which already offered a Wild Turkey Rye, debuted a Rare Breed rye extension; meanwhile, Old Forester introduced a single-barrel, cask-strength rye. Put simply, all the trends we’ve seen play out in bourbon over the past two decades are now also seeping into the rye world.

“Our rye category offerings have grown [in] volume over 300 percent over the past 10 years, and we have been adding to our rye whiskey mash bill inventory in aging barrels to accommodate for that,” Susan Wahl, vice president of American whiskeys at Heaven Hill, writes in an email.

Raising the Bar

Wahl is among many in the industry I’ve communicated with (for this and other features) who credit the craft cocktail renaissance with directly impacting the health of American whiskey. “A return to classic cocktails certainly gave renewed attention to rye whiskey,” she notes.

Though perhaps not notable within the realm of evolving cocktail and spirits culture, we can not move on from rye without mentioning the Sazerac brand. To my mind, no other cocktail exists for which drinkers can directly reach for a base spirit whose brand shares the same name as the drink. (Martini drinkers should note that I’m speaking base spirits, specifically.)

Once again, this is another example of the bar industry’s influence on the spirits field, as Rhiannon Enlil of the Sazerac Company explained to me.

Enlil is another New Orleans transplant who moved to the city in 2000. On top of years of experience working in the city’s bars, she also wrote her undergrad thesis on historic beverage trends of 20th-century New Orleans, while studying at the city’s university in 2016. Since 2019, she’s worked as an experience team leader at the Sazerac House.

“When the Sazerac company launched Sazerac rye in 2006, it was really to put that name on a bottle of wonderfully produced whiskey, and get it in the hands of New Orleans bartenders,” she says. During her studies, Enlil also found that, while the cocktail saw a revival in major cities beginning in the mid- to late-aughts, this wasn’t the case in NOLA. “It never went away in New Orleans. It just went under the radar,” she says.

Photo Credit: Sazerac

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

With ever-expanding rye options, and the increasing availability of Peychaud’s, the final piece of the Sazerac puzzle arrived in 2007 with the legalization of absinthe.

Here, we risk a certain amount of hypocrisy. For while it is true that the bonafide Sazerac recipe contains absinthe, the same could be said for Cognac. And just as rye has overtaken brandy’s place in the cocktail, with the green fairy being illegal stateside for nearly all of the 20th century, most bartenders turned to New Orleans’ anise-flavored Herbsaint liqueur as a stand-in. The same remains true in many notable bars to this day.

Owned and produced by the Sazerac Company — just like Sazerac Rye and Peychaud’s Bitters — Herbsaint even enjoyed an upgrade in 2009, with its alcohol bumped up to 100 proof to commemorate the brand’s 75th anniversary. (And no doubt to compete with the higher-proof, now legal absinthes that bartenders could return to.)

Still, the legalization of absinthe feels significant for this topic because its availability has allowed bartenders to once again deliver a historic version of the cocktail that they couldn’t for nearly 100 years. That the TTB would finally look past the myths that had seen it banned owes large credit to the work of importer, producer, historian, and scientist Ted Breaux. It also signals another step in the (slow) maturation of America’s relationship with alcohol.

Just as with rye, viewing the range of absinthes now on offer in the U.S. also highlights the growth of craft distilling in the country. Alan Bishop has had a hand in a number of those bottlings, having developed four absinthes for Kentucky’s Copper and Kings, another for Florida’s Key West Trading Co., and a few expressions for Indiana’s Spirits of French Lick, where he currently works as head distiller.

Given the spirit’s recent reintroduction in the U.S. market, Bishop has tended toward a lighter, sweeter style of absinthe that he believes better resonates with American drinkers. But things are slowly changing on that front. “We’re finally at a phase where consumers outside of New Orleans actually care about absinthe,” he says, adding that interest seems to have really picked up over the past two years, and the past 12 months in particular.

Bishop also agrees that bartenders helped “open the door” for craft spirits in general. “Now I think curious consumers are kicking the shit out of the door and figuring out what to do with them on their own,” he says.

The Changing Status of the Sazerac

While the Sazerac’s relevance in this study of drinking culture evolution comes largely via its constituent ingredients, we should not look past the drink itself. It’s definitely not as ubiquitous as Martinis, Manhattans, and Old Fashioneds, and it surely remains “consistently inconsistently” made. But at the same time, no longer can budding bartenders wind up in New Orleans with no prior knowledge of the city’s official cocktail — nor any other major city worth its bartending salt, for that matter.

At New York’s Maison Premiere, a love letter to New Orleans, oysters, absinthe, and classic cocktails, managing partner and bar director William Elliott pondered just how much has changed for the Sazerac in the decade since his bar opened.

In 2011, the cocktail would have been the “perfect litmus test” for gauging the skills of any bartender who turned up at his door looking for a job, Elliott says. At the time, not all bar chefs would have gained the required experience to execute the cocktail’s fine line of balance. “I don’t think any bartender would try to work here without being confident in their skills to make a Sazerac at this point,” he says.

For guests, Maison Premiere also offers a “Tableside Sazerac Service.” The bar offers two versions of the cocktail, prepared theatrically in front of patrons. A rye version sells for $34, while the other, made with vintage Cognac from 1946, super-premium absinthe, and barrel-aged Peychaud’s, retails at $96 a pop. “It actually sells quite well considering it’s a hundred-dollar drink,” Elliot says.

Take a moment to let that sink in, as drinkers of the “St. Bernard” Sazerac no doubt remind themselves after each sip. And while you do, soak up the words of NOLA’s Hannah on the progress of his profession: “When I started bartending,” he says, “I never thought I’d be in a magazine.”

That’s a hell of a long way for bar culture to travel in a relatively short amount of time. Twenty years ago, were there cocktails in New York City that would see next to no change given for a crisp Benjamin Franklin? Almost certainly, yes. But at a bar in Brooklyn, that didn’t cater specifically to expense-account-holding finance bros?

Above all, the fact that one of America’s oldest cocktails is the measure by which we can gauge just how far we’ve come in 15, 20 years seems like a fittingly romantic notion. Cocktails owe just as much to their story as their taste, after all. For large parts of the cocktail renaissance, our collective gaze remained firmly and long into the past. But drinks like the Sazerac show us that more recent history, the present, and even the future, are just as important in these tales.

The article With Changing Status and New Ingredients, the Sazerac Is the Best Yardstick for Modern Cocktail Culture appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/sazerac-history-modern-cocktail-culture/

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i-have-thoughts · 6 years ago

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What does it take to become a successful college drop-out?

If you are reading this in the hope of finding a step-by-step guide on how to become successful when you drop out of college, you’re out of luck. Because, to be honest, I have no clue myself. I’m currently in my second year of a bachelor degree that I hate, or at least strongly dislike, and I have no clue what my next step will be. Quite frankly, I’m not even sure if I’m going to drop out of college at all. What I do know is that I have a burning passion for the unconventional. I love when people go chase their dreams, especially when it involves taking risks, moving to three different countries, persisting through all failures, and proving everyone wrong.

You see I’ve always had this idea that I was meant for something big. I thought that one day I would change the world. Yet, I was born into a boring suburb, with parents that both had very ordinary, non-world changing jobs (which is not a bad thing, because not everyone wants to change the world). I went to an ordinary high school, feeling like I didn’t fit in. Then I took a gap-year to find out what I wanted to do in my life, and eventually I ended up here. Still not knowing what I want to do, still feeling a little out of place, and still craving for some adventure. The feeling of having a story to tell is still there, and thankfully I am coming closer to knowing what that story is. As it turns out, that story doesn’t necessarily include a college degree. This is not because I’m not smart or talented enough (although my inner demon likes to tell me that it is), nor is it because I like to be lazy (although honestly, from time to time, I really do). It’s just that, everything I’ve learned so far in my life, hasn’t been taught to me in school. Nothing that has made me happy, or excited to be alive, has come to me while I was sitting in a classroom or lecture hall. If anything, both have consistently been giving me reasons to hate being alive. No one has tried to teach me how to be an original thinker, no one has sparked my creativity, and no one has pushed my originality in any way shape or form. Now, call me crazy, but it sounds to me like I’m paying them to teach me how to be like everyone else. And, if there is one thing I do know about myself, it is that I’m nothing like everyone else, nor do I want to be.

So, what is a good enough reason to drop out? Maybe it’s financial stability? Say you have an idea for a start-up, and while you’re in school, the business seems to catch on. You are making enough money to support yourself, and school is kind of getting in the way of your job. In that case there is clearly no point in staying in school. Unless, you love what you’re studying of course. Another reason could be your burning passion to be an actress/singer/artist. I mean something like that is scary and people tend to avoid doing things that are really scary. So, maybe you ended up majoring in something that is “useful” and “has a lot of job prospects”, even though you really didn’t want to, and you now feel it’s time to finally chase that dream. Or, maybe you just want to jump right into working life. You hate cramming other people’s ideas into your head, and then being judged on how well you well you were able to memorize them. You know someone who can get you a job that is in the field you want, so why not just go do that?

These are all sensible, well thought out reasons to quit. There is some form of plan and safety, and although not everyone will understand why you are giving up on your education, they can respect that you want to do something you really love. But, what if you only know that being in college is making you intensely miserable. Besides that, you have no other plans, or a set goal of what you want to achieve by dropping out, except for cutting this unhappiness out of your life. Is that still a valid reason to drop out? None of those other things have guaranteed success, and for all you know the only reason why you are not finding your passion is because you are wasting your time on something else. I think the most important thing to recognize, is that nothing has guaranteed success. You could see this as a negative, because even if you do struggle through your years in college, there is no guarantee you will find a job at the end of it. But it can also be a positive. If there are no guarantees you’ll succeed either with or without a degree, you might as well take a chance on something that will make you happy. If you are doing something you love, you will automatically work harder, and if there’s anything that increases your chances of success, it’s hard work.

So, maybe success shouldn’t be part of the equation when you’re considering dropping out of college. Maybe it all comes down to this: “Does being in college still serve a purpose in your life?”. I believe that every experience in your life has a certain purpose. It could have happened because you needed to meet a certain people, or because you needed to learn a lesson to further your personal development. Nothing you do is ever a waste of time, and you can find a positive in everything. When I talk about dropping out, I often have people tell me that I would have wasted the past year-and-a-half of my life. According to them I might as well keep on struggling for another year-and-a-half, because if not, it would’ve all been for nothing. Now, I do see where they’re coming from, but I would have to disagree. By being here, I first of all figured out that I don’t want to work in a field related to government organizations, I don’t want to be within the non-profit sector, and I definitely do not want to work in anything that is in the economics sector. That on its own is useful enough, and made my time here worthwhile. However, that’s not all. I found new pieces of myself, of who I am, and of who I want to be. I met some people that I know will be with me for the rest of my life. I gained a new set of academic skills and information about how the world works. I got an inside look to political, cultural, and economic organizations. I dove further into my interest in the USA, by specializing in the region North-America. And above all, I came closer to knowing what I do want. I met the people that I needed to meet, and I tried out the whole university thing, so I can definitively say that the system just does not suit me as a person. My university journey served many different purposes and they all came in different forms, shapes, and sizes.

So, has my journey at college come to an end? I don’t know yet. A month ago, my answer would have been a definite yes, but now it seems that a bachelor diploma might give me an opportunity to chase a new dream. If that’s the case, there is still a purpose to continuing this degree, and it will make working on boring essay’s a lot easier. For me, not knowing is enough for now. I will keep fighting until I find out, and try to enjoy the journey as much as I can while I’m here. As for you, the person who clicked on this in the hopes of finding some answers, I’m sorry I can’t give you a step-by-step plan. I’m sorry you’re going through this struggle, I know it can be quite a lonely one. Just remember that through struggle you will find joy. There is a positive to every pain, even when you can’t see it while you’re going through it. Please take happiness as your highest priority and switch your focus from gaining success to finding purpose. There is nothing more fulfilling than walking a life path that feels meaningful. If that includes college for you (either short term or long term), stick to it for as long as you can, even if it sucks in the moment. If not, please just drop out. Even if you have no clue what you will do next. That piece of paper will not guarantee you any success if you don’t see the point in having it.

#college drop-out #success #purpose #life choices #hard work #focus #self development #self improvement #university #drop-out

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years ago

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California has come a long way in the battle against COVID-19. But maybe not as far as many think.

Case rates have risen enough in recent weeks that if the state’s old four-color tier system were still in place, Los Angeles County could have just moved into the most restrictive purple tier, where Southern California spent the darkest days of the pandemic, while Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties would likely now be in the second-most restrictive red tier, according to state data updated Thursday, July 22.

Hospitalizations are on the rise as well, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients undergoing hospital treatment statewide doubling in just the past 16 days to more than 2,400 and the number requiring intensive care doubling in the past 17 days to 575. The last time the numbers rose that quickly was in November and December, as the devastating winter surge was building.

Since the state reopened June 15 and the tier-based restrictions were lifted, California has tried to crawl back to something closer to pre-COVID-19 normalcy. Battered by the human and economic toll of the pandemic, Californians suddenly could enjoy unrestricted gatherings on Independence Day while returning to old favorites such as live sports, bars and theme parks.

Delta variant fuels rise

Now, as the delta variant of the virus fuels the new rise in cases, health officials are seeing now-familiar surge patterns that followed past holiday periods. Los Angeles County is once again requiring people to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status, and about one-third of California’s counties are recommending but not requiring it.

But could the state ever return to more widespread restrictions like those in place under the tier system if the situation continues to get worse?

Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne, doesn’t believe so, especially considering Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fight to avoid recall in a Sept. 14 election in which his handling of the pandemic looms large.

“Politically, while there’s a recall on the horizon, there’s not going to be the same sentiment for statewide action,” Godwin said. “Really, now it’s about nudging, encouraging, begging people to get vaccinated as an alternative to additional mandates.”

Jamie McDonough, RN, left, and Nurses Assistant Vanessa Gutierrez, check on a COVID-19 patient in the COVID ICU at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, CA on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. COVID-19 cases have risen in recent weeks due, in part, to the delta variant. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The vaccinations have been shown to be highly effective at preventing severe disease. In the past two weeks, more than 95% of the COVID-19 patients coming to Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange have been unvaccinated, said Dr. Brian Lee, medical director of the emergency care center.

Moreover, while unvaccinated patients are having just as severe symptoms as ever, “The few patients that do come in that are fully vaccinated tend to have a less severe course” of illness, Lee said. He also said has not seen any significant numbers of health problems directly related to people getting the vaccine.

Clearly, with so many Californians vaccinated, the situation is very different now than it was when the tier system was created last August, said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, of UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health.

“This pandemic is now a pandemic among the unvaccinated,” Kim-Farley said. “The numbers are relatively small, compared to the numbers back at that time. But we are doing a more nuanced and tailored approach of encouraging everyone to wear masks indoors without curtailing capacity and without resulting in physical distancing. The tier system was extremely useful and provided clear understanding among the population as to what actions needed to be taken based upon the level of transmission of the virus in the community at a time, when no one was vaccinated.”

Veronica Reyes, center, of Anaheim waits to receive a coronavirus test administered by Lisa Chau, left, a physician assistant and Noelia Olivares, right, a medical assistant, at Families Together of Orange County Community Health Center in Tustin on Thursday, July 22, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Back in purple and red

By June 15, when the old tier system — officially the “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” — was retired, Southern California was in the yellow tier, meaning the risk from coronavirus was considered minimal and most businesses could be open with modifications. Counties were seeing fewer than two new cases per day per 100,000 residents, and less than 2% of all coronavirus tests were coming back positive.

Those numbers have all since multiplied. As of Thursday, July 22, state coronavirus data shows Los Angeles County is seeing 11.3 new cases per day per 100,000 residents. That’s over the threshold of 10 new cases that would put it back in the purple tier, where restaurants couldn’t offer indoor dining, bars were closed, retail stores and most other businesses had to limit capacity and places like theme parks and concert venues were shuttered.

The case rates of 6.2 in Orange County, 8.1 in San Bernardino County and 8.2 in Riverside County would put them all in the red tier, where restaurants could be open for indoor dining but most businesses still had to limit capacity.

(Of note, the case-rate data available from the state now is not the exact same data used in the old tier system. That was based on a case rate that was adjusted up or down based on whether a county was testing less or more than other counties. It’s possible that enough L.A. County residents are getting tested now that its case rate could be adjusted down to within the red-tier range. The other counties would not be adjusted downward.)

The test-positivity rates now range from 4.7% in L.A. County to 6.5% in Riverside County.

Highest rates since February

The current case and positivity rates are all the highest they’ve been since February, but are still a fraction of what they were at the height of the pandemic in December and January, when case rates were over 100 and positivity rates were near or over 20%.

Dr. Roger Lewis, professor and chair of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine, said another significant number to watch is hospitalizations.

“The fact that we are seeing relatively low case counts gives us a little bit of time to respond,” said Lewis, who led the L.A. County Department of Health Services project modeling that measured demand on the county’s hospital system. “But one should not be fooled by the relatively low case counts, given the rise of rapid rate of increase.”

As worrisome as the current increases are, there appears to be consensus among medical experts that they won’t culminate in the kind of catastrophe that Southern California endured last winter, when hospitals and morgues were overrun.

Between the levels of high-risk people who have been vaccinated and the number of people who have already had the disease, “I think enough numbers are there to prevent us going back to a January surge level,” said Lee, the Orange County ER doctor.

He also pointed out that since last summer and fall, “We’ve learned a tremendous amount in terms of treating COVID.” If people come in for treatment early, he said, it can prevent them from reaching the point where they have to be hospitalized.

No push for return to tiers

Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at UC Irvine who studies disease prevention and population health, noted that the color-coded tiers were established to help keep the hospital system afloat until a vaccine was available. With California no longer in that situation, it would be difficult to revert back to a similar set of restrictions, he said, especially given that vaccination rates might not increase much going forward.

“We can require masks. We can close schools. We can close amusement parks. But ultimately the ‘original sin’ is the lack of vaccinations,” Noymer said. “How long are you going to keep things closed because some people won’t want to vaccinate themselves?”

Still, he would have liked for at least a remnant of the tier system to have stayed in place.

“If we’re all green or yellow, congratulations to us. But (having a system still going) would give you a fallback position if a county had to go back to orange again. Now, we just don’t have tiers. And how are you going to get counties to go back to tiers once they’ve seen their amusement parks open?”

Even if the state doesn’t decide to put any broad restrictions back in place, Godwin said that if case and hospitalization rates continue to rise and vaccination rates don’t, she would expect to see more counties take action.

“I think some kind of targeted indoor mask mandate is possible if the rates continue to go up. There could very well be some restrictions on large gatherings,” she said. “At this point there doesn’t seem to be sentiment for closing entirely.”

NFL teams face potential forfeits for COVID-19 outbreaks

Olympics: NBC says it will not add crowd noise to broadcast

COVID: How worried should vaccinated people be about breakthrough infections?

Which Disneyland rides, shows, restaurants and shops remain closed

Eric Clapton says he’ll cancel shows if they require COVID vaccinations

-on July 22, 2021 at 09:46AM by Nikie Johnson, Ryan Carter

#riversidenews

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years ago

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STARTUPS AND VALUATIONS

It is identical with taking money from engineers and giving it to checkout clerks, you could approach VCs quite early. But they're still dragging their heels.1 A company's valuation is expected to rise each time it raises money. Civil liberties?2 The dials are for humans to understand; you choose whichever make the proof shorter. In fact, most startups wouldn't happen. And, by no coincidence, the corporate ladder was one of the nicest places in the Valley.3 Copernicus' aesthetic objections to equants provided one essential motive for his rejection of the Ptolemaic system. Even a day's delay can bring news that causes an investor to your cofounder s should be like introducing a girl/boyfriend to your parents—something you do only when things reach a certain stage of seriousness. Know where you stand. If you have what it takes to get from the swarms-of-beggars stage to the silicon-valley stage.

Startups are easier to start in America because funding is easier to get. Do you need a brand-name VC. One would be to discover each person's station as early as possible, so they have to. At the other end of the humanities. If they shake your hand on a promise, they'll keep it.4 A lot of startup founders say they started the company without any idea of what they planned to do.5 What kind of anti-dilution protection do they want? My father's entire industry breeder reactors disappeared that way. Designers trying to be artistic resort to swooshes and curlicues.

An early stage startup. How many fifteenth century Milanese artists can you name?6 5 years. There are a lot of that flavor. But as you become expert in a field, you'll start to hear little voices saying, What a hack! For legibility it's more important that letters be easy to tell apart. Stanford students are more entrepreneurial than Yale students, but not because of some difference in their characters; the Yale students just have fewer examples. Can imagination flourish where people can't criticize the government? In return the company would take care of yourselves, and don't leave the path. If you and they have different views of reality, whether the source of the discrepancy is their sketchiness or your wishful thinking, the prospect of getting their initial product out. They'll choose well-understood occupations like engineer, or doctor, or lawyer.

Startups yield faster growth at greater risk than established companies. An angel investing $200k would probably expect a seat on the board of directors will become more common; the average founder is smarter than the average VC. Don't get addicted to fundraising. Better to make everyone feel like a late bloomer than a failed child prodigy. The difference between the good ones and the bad ones only becomes visible in the other half of their jobs: choosing and advising startups. Yes. Hardy, A Mathematician's Apology I was talking recently to a friend.

The angel agrees to invest at a lower valuation even when your price has already been set. There is a train running the length of it, but how would they choose valuations for the startups? As far as I know, this is the price everyone else has. The buildings are all more or less invented the sketch, as a handful of investors who weren't local. Redwoods mean those are the parts where the fog off the coast comes in at night; redwoods condense rain out of fog. The answer to the paradox, I think, because they can thereby get a shot at you before everyone else. But the three phase path is at least the prerogative—of strength is not to make fundraising too complicated, but if we raise a couple million, we can imitate nature's method as well as money, there's power.7 Well, maybe.8 What goes through the kid's head at this point is not trying to teach you important truths about aesthetics.9 Founders who raise money at the highest valuation.

Unfortunately the only industry they care enough about so far is soccer. Stanford students are more entrepreneurial than Yale students, but not because of some difference in their characters; the Yale students just have fewer examples. There they have the right people: you can tell when you get to the end of the scale at least in technology.10 The second or third tier firms have a much higher break rate—it could be as high as 50%.11 And that is how startups should approach fundraising in phases 2 and later. Startups condense more easily here. When someone buys shares in a company run by nerds who look like they drive them. Now they have none that stand out.12 If you can't find some way to reach me, how are you going to create a successful company? So you can just decide to raise money, you should focus your whole attention on it so you can get it done quickly and get back to focusing on the company during that time affects the outcome. I'm not trying to discover anything new.

Notes

You know what they made more margin loans. I suspect.

In grad school, and that they discovered.

Become part of a correct program. The Duty of Genius, Penguin, 1991, p. The Nineteenth-Century History of English Studies. Some introductions to other investors.

No. I'm not saying that this isn't strictly true, it seems to have discovered something intuitively without understanding all its implications. Don't ask investors who say no to science as well.

One father told me: One way to tell them about your fundraising prospects. They're often different in kind when investors reject you. If you want to save money, in which internal limits are expressed.

Which explains the astonished stories one always hears about VC inattentiveness. It's not quite as easy as I know when this happened because it is unfair when someone gets drunk instead of bookmarking.

Now the misunderstood artist is a cause as it might make them less vulnerable to gaming, because they need to import is broader, ranging from designers to programmers to electrical engineers.

A supports, say, real estate development, you can describe each strategy in an empty plastic drink bottle with a lawsuit just as much income. That's a valid point. 99 and. Whereas the value of a handful of companies to acquire the startups, which amounts to the traditional peasant's diet: they had to bounce back.

But it's easy to write about the right to do with the government, it would be easy to write your dissertation in the world, write a book from a technology center is the odds are slightly more interesting than later ones, and tax rates. And I've never heard of many startups, but historical abuses are easier for us. You have to talk about startups in Germany, where w is will and d discipline.

Instead of making n constant, it would be too conspicuous. Another approach would be just mail from people who run them would be far from the other. Make it clear when you see people breaking off to both write the sort of person who wins.

And internists fleas: I wouldn't bet against it either. Life of Isaac Newton, p. Perhaps the solution is not writing the agreement, but I'm not sure.

I suspect most of their times. If they agreed among themselves never to do video on-demand, because investors don't always volunteer a lot easier now for a lot better.

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