#the most recent numbers I can find are from 2014

[perfectlyvalid49]

I have a problem with Ilhan Omar’s antisemitism more than others because she has a significant number of Jewish constituents. She represents Minnesota’s 5th, which contains the heaviest concentration of Jews in Minnesota. I can’t find actual numbers that are recent, but to give an idea, her district contains the Minneapolis JCC, and her district is where you go to find the grocery stores that carry kosher meat.

I have a problem with Ilhan Omar as a person because when she was campaigning in 2018 she had several events at local synagogues, where her left leaning platform got tons of support and she came in and said how she loved Jews and loved Israel and never once mentioned that she supported BDS (a fact which she kept off of her website until AFTER the election,) and I don’t like liars. I know several people who voted for her who would not have done so if she had been honest about her platform, and that really bugs me.

“…….we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

- Sitting Congressperson Ilhan Omar

Next time anyone insists “the protests can’t be antisemitic, there are Jews involved,” remember that we have a sitting congressperson putting a target on the backs of all Jewish students who aren’t. A full grown adult member of congress is putting a target on the backs of young people her daughter’s age.

I really shouldn’t have to be explaining why it’s antisemitic to say that any Jew who doesn’t identify themselves as part of one particular group is “pro-genocide.” I really shouldn’t have to explain why it’s so insidious to say “antisemitism is wrong, no matter how genocidal so many Jews are 🥰” She knows exactly what she’s doing. The only question is, do they?

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[pyrrhiccomedy]

What sort of proof would you need to believe that a fundraiser was real?

I actually put in the legwork to verify one of these fundraisers today (I wanted to see how hard it was to actually vet one of these posts). It took about an hour, but I was satisfied by the end of it that the person in question exists, is who they are claiming to be, has a GoFundMe, and that the GoFundMe being spread around is probably the same one being linked to (I wasn't 100% satisfied by what I could find on that count? but I ended up in a place where I was reasonably confident). I'm happy to share my work, and have added it below.

I've gotten a lot of nasty messages since making that post accusing me of being anti-Palestine. My heart and money is 100% with Palestine, and I've given as much as I can afford, to reputable aid organizations. I believe both in a free Palestine, and doing your own research on the recipients of your money when you decide to financially contribute to a cause.

Anyway, this is the GoFundMe that I think is legit, and below is the legwork I did to reach that conclusion. While I still think it is better to give to a relief organization if your goal is improving the lot of the people in Gaza, I don't think this one is a scam.

This is the fundraiser for Eman Zaqout, who - first of all - is a real person! This is very easy to verify: Googling her name returns a LinkedIn with a complete work history (she is a molecular biologist), her profile with Unesco, and her profile with the Palestine Academy for Science & Technology. You know, the kind of stuff you'd expect to see when you Google someone. Great start.

Next step: Is the person running this GoFundMe the real Dr. Zaqout? (While I have some sources which say she is in a PhD fellowship and does not yet have her doctorate, she is listed as Dr. Zaqout at the Palestine Academy for Science & Technology, and I'd prefer to use the honorific in case it may in fact be more appropriate.)

So. Dr. Zaqout joined LinkedIn in 2014. And she does link to her Instagram from her LinkedIn, and her Instagram links to the GoFundMe. That's a great start!

However, it's worth mentioning that her contact information on LinkedIn was updated less than 3 months ago (which includes the link to her Instagram). Given the number of Palestinians whose accounts have been hacked or spoofed by scammers in order to lend their scams legitimacy, I don't love that change. That coincides with the surge in scam activity following the All Eyes on Rafah movement gaining momentum. Plenty of Palestinians have had their entire social media presences stolen by scammers.

However again - her LinkedIn (which, as established, may be compromised) also links to a TikTok account! And the TikTok account has video! And that sure looks to me like Dr. Zaqout in the video! While the photo of her on LinkedIn is no longer trustworthy since we know her account has been updated in the past 3 months, there is also a photo of her here at Palast.ps, which is a legitimate scientific organization. And yeah, sure, a dedicated scammer could have hacked that too, but there are also photos of her on LinkedIn that look like this:

It's not the best photo in the world, but it's identifiably her. Fabricating this kind of ephemera is more than I would expect of your typical charity scammer.

And in the most recent TikTok video of her, she's even talking about a GoFundMe, on 7/17! And she posted another video on 7/21 in which she is not seen, but you can hear her voice, and it does sound like her.

Today is August 2nd. The last two videos uploaded to Dr. Zaqout's TikTok are just photo collages, so they can't be used to verify that she still has control of her social media accounts. But for now, I'm prepared to say with some confidence that that woman is Dr. Eman Zaqout, that Dr. Zaqout is legitimately a Palestinian scientist, she did actually start a GoFundMe, and that she was posting about it as recently as 12 days ago.

All right all right, we are cooking folks. The last questions we need to answer: is this actually Dr. Zaqout's GoFundMe? The last scenario we need to rule out is that her social media presence was stolen in the last 12 days.

Let's start with that GoFundMe.

First of all, it's not being run by Dr. Zaqout. That's normal: GoFundMe isn't supported in Palestine, and all Palestinians will have to rely on friends or family abroad to set up their campaigns and collect donations on their behalf. This campaign is being run by a Mazin Fakak. I think that's supposed to be this Mazin Fakak, which makes sense; he is based in Quebec, and Dr. Zaqout either studied at or is in close affiliation with McGill University, which is in Quebec. He also lists Arabic as one of his spoken languages. So far this is a plausible connection for Dr. Zaqout to have. His LinkedIn profile also hasn't been updated in over a year, which makes me disinclined to think this is a recently-stolen scam account.

My one issue here is that when I Google Fakak, this is all that comes up. A LinkedIn profile created in 2014 that hasn't been touched in over a year, and two GoFundMe fundraisers for Palestinian families. And Dr. Zaqout never mentions Fakak anywhere. I would feel 100% confident of this fundraiser if she did.

But while my investigation into Fakak didn't turn up anything that confirms the connection to Zaqout, it also does nothing to disprove it, and the circumstantial evidence available to me lends credibility to the claim. So while I land somewhere around 80% on the verifiable credibility of this GoFundMe, please balance that against my 95%+ confidence in Zaqout's legitimacy, and the fact that she appears to still have control of her socials as of 12 days ago. If she posts on TikTok with another live video again (and not a photo slideshow, which can't be considered verification of anything), then I'd say this one is completely safe.

[univac1219]

Does your 1219 have a nickname?

Also, I was wondering if you have any fun stories surrounding it! Strange quirks it has or anything like that.

I'd love to see more photos if you're allowed to post them!

Thanks for the question! These are my favorite part about my blog by far.

Not exactly, the UNIVAC 1219 doesn’t have a nickname. I did realize recently that I should specify the pronunciation (Twelve-Nineteen), but it doesn’t have any nicknames. Apart from ‘the 1219’, it’s also regularly referred to as the CPU or just ‘the computer’.

Fun stories or weird quirks? Boy, I could fill a book with this machine’s weird quirks (or as we say, intermittent issues), but I’ll try to blitz through the most common ones:

Sometimes the computer will stop running and enter a WAIT mode. No reason, it just needs a break. We can’t fix it, it just has to decide to go back into operating mode.

The computer will often start attempting to communicate on IO channel 13. We’re not telling it to talk to anything, it just decides to try to.

One of our teletypes (the Kleinshmidt) stamps ink splotches into the paper rather than characters most of the time. However, this weekend it worked for the first time in 10 months! We didn’t change anything, it just had an extra cup of coffee or something.

The Digital Data Recorder, or the tape drive, has the most gremlins out of any of our units. The top handler works fairly well, but the bottom handler won’t properly read data, write data, move the tape forward, initialize the tape, or any number of other issues.

There’s more but hopefully this satisfies your curiosity.

Fun stories? Well, I can’t name any specific ones, but I can say it’s a very endearing machine. It’s the very last of its kind and being one of three individuals in the world responsible for it makes every issue that more frustrating. There is no real forum for it, the subject matter experts sit next to me and are often just as exasperated as I am.

But the unique nature of this situation make every successful diagnostic test that much sweeter. Every new addition (5.25” floppy drive via serial) that much cooler. I have an IBM PC-XT clone at home, but I thank my lucky stars every day that this big iron is what I get to specialize in.

As for more photos, I have none that are as grandiose as you would probably expect. I do have my working photos though. I took all my photos when I first started working on it and now I am more dedicated to fixes than photo-ops.

This is a photo of our finicky Kleinshmidt teletype. Still has blotches but it actually printed!

This is the back of the bottom handler. Pictured is the vacuum pump in the bottom left (so sudden stops just yank magnetic tape slack rather than ripping tape). The big cylinder in the center is a motor for running the magnetic tape handler itself. The big black ‘hose’ of wires coming out of the steel plate contains all the cables that come right off the handler’s head for reading and writing data!

This is the forward pinch roller of the bottom handler. It was replaced after this photo was taken as you can see the rubber has deteriorated in the 55 years this machine has been operating.

As for being allowed to post photos, that’s not an issue. The last 1219 was decommissioned in 2014 and now you can find all of its documentation online at http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/military/1219/

[bluelocksource]

Ego Jinpachi’s trivia (src: EGOIST BIBLE)

"You can't be the best striker in the world unless you're the world's most egotistical person."

☆ Character's color: White.

☆ Birthday: 31st March.

☆ Current age: 30.

☆ Zodiac: Aries.

☆ Current height: 189 cm.

☆ Foot size: 28.5cm.

☆ Blood type: AB.

☆ Hobby: Watching soccer, mainly European League.

☆ Favorite food: Cup yakisoba, cup noodle. "I banned them during my active days. These monster junk foods make you gain weight."

☆ Dislike/hated food: Protein. "There's no such thing as tasty protein."

☆ What goes best with rice: "Furikake made from crushed cup yakisoba."

☆ Favorite animal: Bell crickets. "Beautiful chirping sound but a bit gross in appearance."

☆ Favorite season: Other than summer. "You can't play soccer when it's too hot."

☆ Favorite manga: Magical☆Taruruuto-kun. "The work that fried my brain as a kid."

☆ Favorite movie: セッション (Session) "This is what chemical reaction is."

The original movie is called Whiplash (2014). In Japan, it released under the name セッション (Session).

☆ Favorite music: Nighttime background music of a babbling brook and the chirping of insects.

☆ Frequently read magazine: CHICHI (he's a subscriber).

It's a monthly magazine for learning about humanities.

☆ Favorite person: Hiromitsu Ochiai. "I think he's a rational genius."

☆ Favorite subject: P.E. and Psychology.

☆ Weak subject: Art. "I don't want to create art."

☆ Favorite place: Blue Lock Merchandise Sales Department. "They're selling a variety of items."

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: Mushroom shoots. "I feel a certain affinity with them."

☆ Ideal type: "Someone who does everything for me."

☆ Fixation: Physiognomy. "I find the faces of people who look hopeless to be irresistibly amusing."

☆ What would make him happy: Japan winning the World Cup.

☆ What would make him upset: "Someone taking football away from me."

☆ What he thinks his strength is: “I have no interest in anything other than soccer.”

☆ What he thinks his weakness is: “I have no interest in anything other than soccer.”

☆ What made him cry recently: “I haven't cried in a while.”

☆ Usual sleeping hour: 4 - 4 -2 (split sleeping style).

☆ Number of chocolates received from previous Valentine: 0 (it's futile).

☆ What he usually ends up buying from convenience store: Check out the new cup yakisoba and cup noodles.

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Pouring hot water onto the crown of his head.

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: Strengthening Blue Lock facilities.

☆ How he spent his holiday: Thinking about how Japanese soccer can become the best in the world.

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: "Watching what I consider the best game of the Japan national soccer team. Currently, it's the 2005 Confederation Cup against Brazil."

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

[valyrfia]

RE: This ask on fanfic, fandom, and lestappen

(preface with, I love fanfic and fandom, and I've written for very big and small)

I have never experienced such bad fandom etiquette as I have with 1633. I wrote one multi chapter fic for the ship and 99% of ao3 comments I got were people asking when I'd publish the next chapter, which has always been a big no no in fandom. I deleted the fic because it felt bad that people didn't want to engage with what I had written, but, just ask about my update schedule. Also, people changing the date of their published fic to be more recent, so, it appears at the top of the 'recently updated page'! I have never seen this in any fandom before now! AO3 isn't Instagram! If you tag correctly, people will find your fic if they want to read it.

People are pushing 1633 constantly in very public spaces like Twitter, Insta and TikToK, where we know these drivers have accounts and look at comments/posts about them or on their own posts. Just today on Twitter I see Dan Howell (which what a fucking weird intersection of my past and current interests) being asked at a public panel about lestappen, just because he's mentioned liking F1 in the past. I know it gets easy clicks and engagement because it is popular. But, it's so far removed from behaviour that was ever considered acceptable in fandom.

I remember, back in 2013/14 there was a huge backlash to people bringing up fictional ships to actors/writers. There was discourse after every Supernatural or Teen Wolf fan forum/con panel when someone would inevitably ask about Destiel or Sterek. People would argue whether fanon and ships were appropriate to ask the real people behind the show about.

RPF is fine, I have written, currently write and will continue to engage in RPF spaces. But, there are boundaries that you must keep if you are going to engage with it. Tumblr and AO3 have always been considered locked fandom spaces. If a person goes onto these sites and searches themselves out, that's on them. But, it's implied in fandom that you keep to just these spaces or private chats

(personally, I'm sad I just missed out on the livejournal days... I got into fandom when everything was being moved over from there and fanfic.net onto ao3)

I understand younger social media users are used to an algorithm finding content for them. And on sites like Tumblr where the algorithm sucks or ao3, which doesn't have one. You have to search out the content you want yourself. Liking and kudos isn't enough, you actually have to engage in meaningly conversations and comments if you want to make friends. That can be scary! But, it's a soft skill that is slowly getting lost and with it fandom etiquette is going down the drain.

This is like...one of the last big serious ask I want to reply to on this topic because not everyone agrees with me (which, fine), but OP you put a lot of time into typing this up so I will honour that.

I think fandom, much like a lot of other things nowadays, have become less about fun and more about hitting a certain number of likes and interactions. That's why people push Lestappen on other social media even though most of us have explicitly said "can you not, thanks". The changing the date of the fic to push to an 'algorithm' infuriates me and is a personal pet peeve of mine. There's one that's doing that now on the Lestappen tag and I've point-blanked refused to read it literally BECAUSE of the date changing. People will read your fic if they want to, constantly pushing it to the top of the 'Date Updated' list does nothing except piss people off.

I will say I think the fictional ship discourse of 2014 was maybe driven in part by the fact that being gay was still seen as something much more 'novel' than even now. If we think about when marriage became legal in the US and all that...I still think though that it shows a level of self-awareness and self-regulation that we've lost in fandom. As my partner and I often to lament to each other, we've become so individualistic that people have lost the concept of shame. It's an idea that YOU are the exception and something should cater to YOU, instead of the other way round. In the case of fandom, this comes out as people acknowledging fandom etiquette in an abstract way, but still logging into their twitter account (WITH THEIR FACES ATTACHED! WHICH! THIS IS A TANGENT BUT IT BAFFLES ME! WHAT HAPPENED TO DIGITAL FOOTPRINT!) and posting about RPF. Fandom is not an abstract entity, fandom IS the people that interact with it–from authors to artists all the way to those who consume the content.

Also, I also JUST missed out on the lj days–the great migration was happening just when I was getting involved in fandom and I can't help but feel like I missed out on something special.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Douglas Murray

Published: Feb 24, 2024

Like a number of ‘anti-colonialists’, William Dalrymple lives in colonial splendour on the outskirts of Delhi. The writer often opens the doors of his estate to slavering architectural magazines. A few years ago, one described his pool, pool house, vast family rooms, animals, cockatoo ‘and the usual entourage of servants that attends any successful man in India’s capital city’.

I only mention Dalrymple because he is one of a large number of people who have lost their senses by going rampaging online about the alleged genocide in Gaza. He recently tweeted at a young Jewish woman who said she was afraid to travel into London during the Palestinian protests: ‘Forget 30,000 dead in Gaza, tens of thousands more in prison without charge, five MILLION in stateless serfdom, forget 75 years of torture, rape, dispossession, humiliation and occupation, IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU.’ It is one thing when a street rabble loses their minds. But when people who had minds start to lose them, that is another thing altogether.

I find it curious. By every measure, what is happening in Gaza is not genocide. More than that – it’s not even regionally remarkable.

Hamas’s own figures – not to be relied upon – suggest that around 28,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October. Most of the international media likes to claim these people are all innocent civilians. In fact, many of the dead will have been killed by the quarter or so Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets that fall short and land inside Gaza.

Then there are the more than 9,000 Hamas terrorists who have been killed by the Israel Defence Forces. As Lord Roberts of Belgravia recently pointed out, that means there is fewer than a two to one ratio of civilians to terrorists killed: ‘An astonishingly low ratio for modern urban warfare where the terrorists routinely use civilians as human shields.’ Most western armies would dream of such a low civilian casualty count. But because Israel is involved (‘Jews are news’) the libellous hyperbole is everywhere.

For almost 20 years since Israel withdrew from Gaza, we have heard the same allegations. Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza during exchanges with Hamas in 2009, 2012 and 2014. As a claim it is demonstrably, obviously false. When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the population of the Strip was around 1.3 million. Today it is more than two million, with a male life expectancy higher than in parts of Scotland. During the same period, the Palestinian population in the West Bank grew by a million. Either the Israelis weren’t committing genocide, or they tried to commit genocide but are uniquely bad at it. Which is it? Well, when it comes to Israel it seems people don’t have to choose. Everything and anything can be true at once.

Here is a figure I’ve never seen anyone raise. It’s an ugly little bit of maths, but stay with me. If you wish, you might add together all the people killed in every conflict involving Israel since its foundation.

In 1948, after the UN announced the state, all of Israel’s Arab neighbours invaded to try to wipe it out. They failed. But the upper estimate of the casualties on all sides came to some 20,000 people. The upper estimates of the wars of 1967 and 1973, when Israel’s neighbours once again attempted to annihilate it, are very similar (some 20,000 and 15,000 respectively). Subsequent wars in Lebanon and Gaza add several thousands more to that figure. It means that up to the present war, some 60,000 people had died on every side in all wars involving Israel.

Over the past decade of civil war in Syria, Bashar al-Assad has managed to kill more than ten times that number. Although precise figures are hard to come by, Assad is reckoned to have murdered some 600,000 Arab Muslims in his country. Meaning that every six to 12 months he manages to kill the same number as died in every war involving Israel ever.

There are lots of reasons you might give to explain this: that people don’t care when Muslims kill Muslims; that people don’t care when Arabs kill Arabs; that they only care if Israel is involved. Allow me to give another example that is suggestive.

No one knows how many people have been killed in the war in Yemen in recent years. From 2015-2021 the UN estimated perhaps 377,000 – ten times the highest estimate of the recent death toll in Gaza. The only time I’ve heard people scream on British streets about Yemen has been after the Houthis started attacking British and American ships in the Red Sea and the deadbeat idiots on the streets of London started chanting: ‘Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around.’ Because like all leftists and Islamists there is no terrorist group these people can’t get a pash on, so long as that terrorist group is against us.

I often wonder why this obsession arises when the war involves Israel. Why don’t people trawl along our streets and scream by their thousands about Syria, Yemen, China’s Uighurs or a hundred other terrible things? There are only two possible conclusions.

The first is a journalistic one. Ever since Marie Colvin was killed it became plain that western journalists were a target in Syria. Not eager to be the target, most journalists hotfooted it out of the country. Some who didn’t fell into the hands of Isis. Israel-Gaza wars by contrast do not have the same dynamic and on a technical level the media can applaud itself for reporting from a warzone where they are not the target.

But I suspect it is a moral explanation which explains the situation so many people find themselves in. They simply enjoy being able to accuse the world’s only Jewish state of ‘genocide’ and ‘Nazi-like behaviour’. They enjoy the opportunity to wound Jews as deeply as possible. Many find it satisfies the intense fury they feel when Israel is winning.

Like being fanned on your veranda while lambasting the evils of Empire, it is a paradox, to be sure. But it is also a perversity. And it doesn’t come from nowhere.

==

"From the water to the water, Palestine is Arab."

This is the actual genocide.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

A recent study (sorry, some stuff I can only find in Hebrew, this is one of those articles) shows 83% of Israeli kids are experiencing psychological distress since Oct 7. Among the kids of the south, (the area which was hit the worst, and where even communities that were not massacred by Hamas, were evacuated following this massive invasion), the percentage is even higher, 93%. An important note is that the study sampled both Jewish and Arab kids based on the size of these populations (Arabs make up 21% of Israeli citizens).

The IDF published aerial footage of Hamas stealing humanitarian aid from regular Gazans, and beating them up. If there's a blog that claims to be sharing pro-Palestinian info, but doesn't share this kind of news, they're not really pro-Palestinian, they're just exploiting Palestinians as an excuse to be anti-Israel.

The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is believed to have escaped from the northern Gaza City to the south, to Khan Younis, in a medical convoy. Just take in the cynical use of medical and humanitarian protections, to do anything which would prolong the fighting, no matter how many Palestinian lives it would cost. I'm trying hard to remember any other (real) liberation movement that was directly responsible for the deaths of so many of the people it seeked to liberate...

Five Israeli soldiers were pronounced dead yesterday, four were killed in Gaza, while one was badly wounded on Oct 7, and after over two months in hospital, passed away. The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting in Gaza so far is 97. Up until number, the bloodiest battle Israel has had to wage in Gaza since withdrawing from it, was operation Protective Edge in 2014, with 70 Israeli soldiers killed.

The Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister said, when discussing plans for Gaza after the end of the war, that Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian mosaic, and that dismantling Hamas is unacceptable to the Palestinian Authority.

Yesterday, an American base in Iraq was attacked by Hezbollah forces. You absolutely should ask yourself why the terrorist organization calling itself the "defender of Lebanon" has units in Iraq, and how is attacking American forces there helping Lebanon. Just a side note, Iran funds Hezbollah.

Also yesterday, the Yemenite terrorist group known as the Houthis announced that instead of going after Israeli ships only, they will target any ship that is headed for Israel through one of the most important naval routes in the world, and which is Israel's only connection to the far east. Essentially, it means they're placing Israel under a naval blockade. I'm looking forward to people condemning Yemen for occupying Israel. Just a side note, Iran funds the Houthis.

Today, it was published that in Cyprus, two Iranian political refugees, who entered the country with a fake passport, were arrested for collecting intel to carry out a terrorist attack against Israelis there. Just a side note, these refugees were in touch with Iran's political militarized force, IRGC. Stop me when you notice a theme here...

On the first even of Hanukkah, 138 hanukkiot were lit at the Kotel (the Western wall), one for each hostage. Since then, two of the hostages have been confirmed as murdered.

Following the Congress hearing where three presidents of prestigious universities couldn't explicitly say that a call for the genocide of the Jewish people constitutes bullying and harassment, UPenn's president resigned. That's good, but I wanna point out that, as their answers were obviously coordinated, down to repeating the exact same terms, there is no difference between UPenn's president and the ones of Harvard and MIT. They all need to go home. And the universities still have the burden of proof that this will be more than a cosmetic change in leadership.

I watched a TV interview with two married Israeli Harvard professors, who recounted how they went out and celebrated when Claudine Gay was elected as their university's president, and now they've chosen to leave Harvard and the US, to return to Israel, because the campus has become an environment that's just too toxic. I think if the amount of Jews who are moving to Israel, while the country is in a state of war, isn't a wake up call for the west, then nothing will be.

On the left is 25 years old Gal Eizenkott, the son of Israel's former Chief of Staff, and current minister, who is a part of the war cabinet, Gadi Eizenkott. I wrote about Gal in previous daily updates. Something I can add is that his father happened to be in an IDF command center, when they got the news of the incident in which Gal was killed. It took several minutes for the info to arrive at the command center, that one of those soldiers injured mortally was Gadi's son.

On the right is 19 years old Maor Cohen Eizenkott. Maor is Gal's cousin, and was a soccer player. He was killed a day after Gal, when an explosive device planted in a Gaza mosque blew up. Maor was buried today. May his memory be a blessing.

This is 53 years old Eitan Levi.

He was a taxi driver, who on Oct 7 took a lady to one of the kibbutzim on the border of Gaza. On his way back, he called his sister, telling her about the rocket barrages into Israel, and that he was scared. She stayed with him on the line as he was driving back from the south of Israel, but then he was stopped, his sister heard Arabic, shouts of "Allahu Akbar" and shots. Later, his phone was detected in Gaza, and he was considered kidnapped. Then Hamas released a video of its terrorists abusing a body. It was beyond recognition, but based on some accessories, the army finally determined it was Eitan, that he had been murdered on Oct 7, and it was his body that was kidnapped to Gaza. His sister watched the vid, but as the body is unrecognizable, she said in an interview, "He's the only family I have in this world. We don't even have a body to sit Shiva for. Until such time, I'm going to keep hoping he's alive, kidnapped and just injured."

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[necrotic-nephilim]

thank you for the tag, @sasheneskywalker!!!

rules: answer and tag nine people you want to get to know better and catch up with.

favorite color: it changes regularly, but currently, a dusty/greyish purple

last song: Maps by The Front Bottoms

currently reading:

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver is my current fiction read and i *hate* it with my entire being. don't read it.

Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Labor, & Power by Alice Sparkly Kat is my current non-fiction read and so far, it's very good

i'm reading a lot of comics at the moment, but my main read is Manhunter (2004) which so far, is very good, i highly recommend. i'm also planning to read Midnighter (2007) and Black Widow (2014).

currently watching:

The Acolyte has been my most recent fixation so that's just on loop rewatching over and over in the background. a lot

i've been watching Pennyworth which is far better than i expected it to be, i'm really enjoying it

i also started Invincible, which i've been enjoying

idk if it counts but i've rewatched Madame Web a concerning number of times in the past few days.

currently craving: i'd kill for an Italian Cream Soda from tea2go rn

coffee or tea: tea. i used to be a big coffee person in my teens but my chronic illness doesn't like caffeine and it *really* doesn't like coffee so i just drink tea now, but i do love tea

hobby to try: the unrealistic hobby i'd like to get into a fanfiction binding, but that takes materials and resources i do *not* currently have. i think a more realistic answer is i've been meaning to get into marvel comics more.

current au: tbh the main AU i'm working on is a Lance Brunner-centric Post-Crisis fic where i'm completely rewriting his origins to make his death as Robin more significant but still something no one talks about, leading to the ressurection of Jason also reviving Lance and Jason going on his little spree, having no idea he's not the only dead Robin. i've figured out all of the backstory and how i want to characterize Lance, but the actual plot of the fic i'm still working out. i'm leaning toward Lance/Dick as a ship, but i haven't decided. i have so many notes and ideas though and i think it's funny to take a random one-off character from a random 60s comic and actually turn him into something substantial and how he'd shape the Batfamily. trust me i'm so close to infodumping about it here everyday.

i'm also working on a *really* messed up unhealthy Damian/Tim fic, where Damian purposefully breaks the timeline so Tim was never Robin and Damian was the third Robin instead. but when Bruce "dies" Damian realizes he has no idea where to start with finding Bruce so he has to go to a civilian!Tim for help, who has no idea the timeline was changed or that he was ever Robin in a different world. it's gonna be fun and fucked up and full of Damian's jealousy complex over Tim.

i don't know if i can come up with nine whole people to tag for this since i'm still new here but i can try: @searchforahero @divine-dominion @kevin-day-is-bi @kerakeriza @deepwithintheabyss

@maryshellyswife @alicemaem @justmyshittyspace @sandmanwhore and yeah that's all i got.just tagging some mutuals/ppl i see on my posts a lot!!!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Okay, everyone, let’s talk Taskmaster speculation. I hate how stuff about the lineup for the following season can overshadow a season before it ends, or sometimes, like in this case, before it starts. It was around this time last year that they announced the Taskmaster season 17 studio filming dates, which perfectly coincided with some live gigs John Robins had canceled, so we all took time to get excited about that s17 lineup spoiler before season 16 had ever begun to air. Now, season 18 hasn’t started yet but we’re already talking about 19.

Spoiler alert, obviously, for vague speculation. I have no inside information or anything, so if you click through, you won’t be party to anything that’s meant to be secret. Just guesses based on publicly available information, which I know some people like to avoid, to preserve the surprise.

First of all, I find this Reddit post from a few weeks ago interesting. That obviously can’t be the exact five person lineup. First of all, Scroobius Pip would be a possible NYT candidate, probably not close enough to comedy for the main show. Secondly, obviously, all-white lineup. Thirdly, there’s no overseas person on the list, and we know from Alex’s recent interview that the season will contain that.

So it won’t be all five, but it could be a few of those. Social media evidence has been surprisingly accurate before, I remember in season 12, people accurately predicted 4/5 names before the studio filming started, just based on who’d recently followed Alex and each other. This may of course be wishful thinking on my part, that such vague social media evidence means anything, because that list contains two people who are on the shortlist of my dream contestants. Josie Long and Chris Addison would both be wonderful on there, particularly if they somehow ended up on the same season as each other.

Josie Long really should be there. She was the only women on the original Edinburgh Taskmaster in 2010, where there were a lot of men. Look at all the men in this video:

The non-Josie Long contestants there were: Dan Atkinson, Jarred Christmas, James Dowdeswell, Tim Fitzhigham, Steve Hall, Tim Key, Lloyd Langford, Mark Watson, Henning Wehn, Joe Wilkinson, Mike Wozniak, and Tom Wrigglesworth. Josie Long spent a lot of years being the "only girl in the lineup" for lots of things, between when she started stand-up in 1997 and when they invented other female comedians in 2014 (I apologize to Jo Brand for that joke, who also spent years holding it down for women on panel shows before they let women on panel shows, no women were allowed to do that stuff in the 00s unless they were named Josephine). I think she should be compensated for that in the 2020s by being allowed to appear on pretty much anything she likes.

More significantly, she was also on the second of the Taskmaster live Edinburgh shows, in 2011. See if you can spot the odd one out in the contestants from The Taskmaster 2011: Bruce Dessau, Dan Atkinson, Henning Wehn, Joe Wilkinson, Josie Long, Lloyd Langford, Mark Watson, Steve Hall, Stuart Goldsmith and Tim Key. Yes, you are right, the odd one out is Bruce Dessau, for not being a comedian. Was he ever a comedian? It did not occur to me to wonder that until right now, did most comedy reviewers start out their careers as comedians, the way most sports commentators started out as athletes in that sport? I don't know. It's not important. But if he was ever a comedian, he sure wasn't one anymore by 2011, and it is notable that when recruiting comedians for his comedy show, Alex Horne brought in the same number of reviewers who don't perform comedy, as he did of women who do perform comedy.

Obviously the odd one out in the above list is actually Josie Long, as the only woman again. And I say this one is more significant because she made the finals, where she faced off against Stuart Goldsmith in a battle of who could fit the most grapes in their mouth, administered by 2010 champion Mike Wozniak:

and she won:

Mike Wozniak won the first live Taskmaster event, and he's been on the TV show. Josie Long, by rights as a live Edinburgh Taskmaster champion, should be. In addition to her being, you know, a very talented comedian and generally funny person who would be absolutely excellent on Taskmaster.

She has now done two full shows in the last five years, and is working on a third, about how she's very very busy these days, creating and then raising two children, and has moved to Glasgow so getting down for London-based comedy shows isn't so easy, so it's possible that she's been offered a spot on previous Taskmaster seasons and turned it down, which would be fair enough. But she should definitely qualify for an offer, for a number of reasons, some of which are real (I do sort of genuinely think that winning one of the original live Taskmaster events should earn someone the chance to be part of it when it becomes a lucrative television show, but obviously far more significant is that she's a very talented comedian and generally funny person who would be absolutely excellent on Taskmaster), and some of which are not (I was joking about the reparations for female comedians who were on panel shows before that 2014 rule, mostly, I mean it does feel like they should get something).

A friend of mine noticed that some gigs she did in London, back in June, had an odd hole in them that could be shaped like the filming of Taskmaster house tasks, for someone who lives in Glasgow and, if she had to go down to London to film a TV show, would want to make the most of the trip and plan some stand-up gigs around it. That, combined with the social media evidence presented on Reddit (and the fact that she surely has more right to a spot than anyone else who's not been on it yet), makes me think there's a reasonable chance of her being on season 19. I may be starting to believe this theory a bit too much, I need to pull back on that so I won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen. It's two pieces of evidence, but they're both fairly flimsy and circumstantial.

Chris Addison was also on that list of people who've moved into Alex Horne's social media orbit, and there is, of course, lots of precedent in his Tweets for making his feelings toward that show clear. First, a couple of Tweets that let us know he's not off in Glasgow doing his own thing; if he's not been on Taskmaster it's because he's not been given the offer:

And he's tried various Twitter tactics to get that offer, including showing off his knowledge of the show:

Flattery:

Selling his potential, and reverse psychology, combined into one Tweet:

And just implying that his casting is inevitable, like that'll manifest it into existence:

Chris Addison has been campaigning for ages to get a Taskmaster spot, and I think he'd make great TV if that happened. God, imagine a team with him and Josie Long together. How excellent would that be? Oh, and if he's on season 19, that's 2/3 of The Department covered in two seasons. Only one more member of that radio show they'd still need, if only Taskmaster would suddenly decide they're interested in casting someone who lives overseas, is a big name there, but maybe still has some connection to British comedy...

No, obviously I know the "overseas contestant" to whom Alex recently referred can't be John Oliver. They'll be filming the studio portions of season 19 during the peak of the American election campaign, John Oliver's a bit busy these days to fly to England and count eggs or whatever. If it was going to happen, it would have been last year during the writer's strike, when John had just done the Horne Section TV show and could surely have fit in an NYT filming. I'd love to get my hopes up, but not this time.

I am interested in the speculation about who the American will be, though. Obviously my first thought was of Paul F. Tompkins, as he's done the Taskmaster podcast twice, both times claiming to be a huge fan of the show, and backing up that claim by frequently beating Ed Gamble at knowing Taskmaster history. He said both times that he'd love to be on it, has even though about things like what his costume would be.

He was my first thought, and then I read that he's performing in the UK in September, so that seems like a pretty strong case for him. I thought I read at some point that he was doing the Comedy Bang Bang tour and then some other gigs with a possible Taskmaster-sized hole in between, and if that were true, it would be very clear evidence, either he's doing Taskmaster or he's pranking the public into thinking he is. But upon further research I don't think that's true, he'd doing the podcast tour and that's it. I still think he's a very likely candidate, just not as clear-cut as if he were doing one thing in Britain, and then another thing with a hole in the middle. If anyone else has also read that thing that I think I read somewhere that says he's doing that, and you know what that is, please let me know because I'd like to know if I've missed something and that's true after all.

My guess for the American contestant is still Paul F. Tompkins, and I think he'd be fun. Admittedly I only know him from Bojack Horseman and those two Taskmaster podcast episodes, but I generally assume anyone who was in Bojack Horseman is probably cool (partly because that show was a masterpiece, but it's not like Paul F. Tompkins wrote it, so I think that view mainly comes from a subconscious assumption I have that anyone who's ever met Kristen Schaal has to be all right), and he was very good on those Taskmaster podcast episodes.

Either way, I think this is a good time for me to jump on the Paul F. Tompkins bandwagon. I've had his stand-up on my list of stuff to get to for ages, and I think I'll watch/listen to that stuff now. If he's on Taskmaster, then great, I've jumped on a bandwagon at the right time and I'll go in knowing more about him. If he's not, I think I'll still have a good time with his comedy, as I keep hearing how great it is. There really is a lot I don't know about American comedy.

Besides Tompkins, from the vague evidence I've seen, I think Hank Green is an outside shot at the overseas Taskmaster contestant. I don't know what Dropout is and I hope Taskmaster doesn't force me to find out.

[mariacallous]

There are more than 114,000 missing persons in Mexico, and that number is continuing to rise. Criminal violence in the country is at a record level, largely driven by gangs and drug cartels. Many of those missing are buried in clandestine graves all across the country.

To contribute to the solution of this complex problem, a group of scientists from the Center for Research in Geospatial Information Sciences (CentroGeo) put technology and data analysis at the service of the searches.

"I never thought I would have to work on this, but if this knowledge is of any use, now is the time to show it," says José Luis Silván, a geographer at CentroGeo. Years ago, as part of his doctoral work, he specialized in measuring forest biomass and human populations through satellite information. At that time, he was far from imagining the scientific work he is doing today: investigating the potential of drones, hyperspectral images, and protocols to detect clandestine graves.

In a recent article published in the International Journal of Forensic Research and Criminology, Jorge Silván and researcher Ana Alegre insist that studying the geographical environment is very important to understand in depth a crime such as disappearance. Thus, “due to its context and diversity of climates, the case of Mexico may represent an opportunity for the development of investigations.”

Finding burials requires hard work. All available information and resources must be optimized. Therefore, scientists have evaluated the use of remote sensing tools and have systematized information from previous findings. They seek to discover patterns in the behavior of the perpetrators and, with this, to find burials.

According to Red Lupa, 88% of the 114,000 cases of disappearances in Mexico occurred between 2000 and May 2024. 10,315 were registered in 2023, the most on record. This represents an average of 29 people per day. Jalisco, Tamaulipas, State of Mexico, Veracruz and Nuevo Leon are the entities with the highest incidences.

Justice is almost non-existent, with 99% impunity for this crime. For this reason, since 2007 alone, civil society has formed more than 300 search groups, mostly made up of family members who scour the land guided by witness statements or organized in general brigades. These groups have detected most of the 5,696 clandestine graves reported on Mexican soil.

The association United for Our Disappeared searches in the north of the country, in Baja California. One of its members, who preferred to remain anonymous, has been searching for his son for 18 years. He says they have been using pointed rods to detect graves for more than 10 years. This is one of the most widely used tools in Mexico for this purpose. "We fit the rod in where we suspect the earth was removed, insert it, pull it out and smell it. If there are bone remains or tissue, you can tell by the smell. It is a strong odor, easy to detect. It smells like organic matter in the process of decomposition."

Before, he says, they used a georadar—a device similar to a pruning shear that detects inconsistencies in the ground—but they abandoned this practice because it was not very useful. The radar responds to almost any kind of object, from chips to boats. The last time they used it, it returned 40 suspicious spots, but none were positive. In Mexicali, another group uses a drone to fly over areas and detect changes in the terrain. Others have used machines to dig holes instead of shovels. Some innovations are abandoned over time, but the use of rods remains.

In 2014, after the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa normalistas in Mexico, Silván and other CentroGeo professionals joined the scientific advisory board on the case. During the search for the students, different civilian groups and government brigades detected dozens of illegal graves. In less than 10 months, the Mexican Attorney General's Office counted 60 sites and 129 bodies in the state of Guerrero. As a result of the raids, 300 illegal graves were revealed. Since then, the number of clandestine graves has only grown.

No one anticipated the size of this horror. The report "Searching between pain and hope: Findings of clandestine graves in Mexico 2020 - 2022", exposes with hemerographic data that in those two years, 1,134 clandestine graves were registered, with 2,314 bodies and 2,242 remains. In proportional terms, Colima reported the highest rate of illegal graves, with 10 per 100,000 inhabitants. It was followed by Sonora, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Sinaloa and Zacatecas.

By number of cases, Guanajuato, Sonora and Guerrero stand out. These three entities account for 42% of the records. By April 2023, a journalistic investigation by Quinto Elemento Lab reported that the number of illegal burials reached 5,696 clandestine graves, and that more than half of them were detected during the current federal administration.

Employing his field of study, remote sensing, José Luis Silván uses images captured with satellites, drones or airplanes, from which he extracts geospatial information using knowledge of the physics of light, mathematics and programming. Multispectral and hyperspectral images capture subsurface information using sensors that record wavelengths of light imperceptible to the human eye, making them useful for searching.

In 2016, during a first study by CentroGeo researchers, they simulated burials with pig carcasses to evaluate the potential of using hyperspectral cameras in searches and learn what information from the sensors was useful to them. The Mexican researchers knew from research in other countries that successful detection with these techniques depends, in part, on being able to recognize how carcasses (and their spectral images) change in different soils and climates.

The experiment was carried out on rented land in the state of Morelos. There they buried seven animals and evaluated the light reflected by the soil at different wavelengths for six months. They concluded that a hyperspectral camera, which provides more than a hundred layers of data, has the potential to detect clandestine burials, although the technique is only effective three months after burial. They tried to arrange for the acquisition of a camera and drone (valued at 5 million pesos) through the National Search Commission, but were unsuccessful.

Faced with this, they began to evaluate more affordable alternatives, such as multispectral devices. Today, despite the fact that spaces such as the Commission for the Search for Disappeared Persons of the State of Jalisco (COBUPEJ—-with which they have a partnership—has acquired this equipment, no national strategy exists to deploy these technologies systematically.

Some time later, the scientists took on a bigger challenge. When they briefed the National Search Commission on the usefulness of remote sensing for locating burials, officials told them that in some regions of the Northwest, the greatest need was to locate substances used to conceal crimes. "They dispose of them in caustic soda or with chemicals, char them and incinerate them in the open air or in crematoria; they throw the remains away or bury them," the researcher says.

So, in 2021, Silván's group did another experiment, this time in Hidalgo and with a spectroradiometer, which measures how different substances reflect light. For that study, they tested the trace of substances used in crimes. They found that diesel, muriatic acid and blood treated with anticoagulants require more precise imaging to be located, but that most substances, such as caustic soda, lime, blood and those resulting from open burning could be detected with multispectral sensors, which are less expensive.

CentroGeo has also participated in the development of complementary strategies to identify areas with a high probability of harboring clandestine graves. One example is the training of mathematical models with the coordinates of previous findings and the characteristics of the sites preferred by criminals, which they call clandestine spaces and which define as those which are easy to access for perpetrators and of low visibility to the population.

In addition, they have been using the signs that decomposing bodies leave on the vegetation for years. As a corpse decomposes, it releases nutrients into the soil, in particular increasing the concentration of nitrogen. In plants, this element is linked to chlorophyll, which gives them their greenness. In experiments with buried pigs, they have observed that a chlorophyll indicator can be quantified through satellite images. They measure how fast this index grows to detect sites with anomalies. This tool is available on the "Clandestine Space" platform.

Silván says that to interpret the nitrogen signal, they must consider that the gas signal can also vary due to the use of fertilizers or rains that carry nutrients. The presence of nitrogen, then, is not definitive proof of the existence of trenches, but it provides indications that justify paying attention in certain regions. The National Search Commission has been trained to use this indicator.

In Baja California, a northern state with 17,306 missing persons cases, these strategies have already been used. They first analyzed 52 locations of known graves and deduced that, because of the way they were distributed, there was a high probability of finding more graves at a distance of between 18 and 28 kilometers from those already known. They also looked for possible "clandestine spaces" and identified that 32% of the territory of Baja California had the potential to be used for that purpose. Finally, they reviewed the concentration of chlorophyll in satellite images. The result was a useful accompaniment for some family brigades.

Recently, Ana Alegre and José Silván analyzed geospatial models that could explain the distribution of graves in 10 states. They found that the travel time it would take an offender to get from urban streets to the grave is the factor that most influences the location of graves. "The secrecy sought by perpetrators seemed less important than reducing the effort they invest in creating the grave," their article says.

In addition to collaborating with the government, CentroGeo researchers work with civil associations such as Regresando a casa Morelos and Fuerzas unidas por nuestros desaparecidos en Nuevo León (FUNDENL). Some time ago, the former asked them to survey a site. "We collected thermal images and three-dimensional models to provide information," says Silván. In addition, they gave a workshop for visual interpretation. Silván describes the members of "Returning Home Morelos" as dedicated people. "They want to find their loved ones, they are willing to learn anything, to analyze an image or fly a drone. To everything."

With information from the FUNDENL collective and support from the American Jewish World Service, CentroGeo created "Huellas de vida", a platform that crosses the information of unfound persons and unidentified bodies with data from objects found in clandestine burial sites in Nuevo León. The intention is to detect coincidences that will help solve cases.

The geographer points out that the investigation is advancing, while the forms and numbers of disappearances are multiplying. Other countries, he says, are installing ground penetration radars on drones, or are planning to use electronic noses as indicators of methane, an element that corpses release at a certain stage of decomposition. To search for missing persons from the Spanish Civil War, for example, patterns in geographic data were tracked to narrow down search sites.

The big pending issue is to evaluate the real contribution that geographic information has had in uncovering crime scenes. "It is complicated to have feedback, even with the National Commission, because they are not obliged to tell us where they have findings." It will be until they have the new reports when they will be able to collate the results and measure the impact of their contributions. For now, "it is complicated to attribute the findings to our tools and information".

For his part, the member of United for our Disappeared assures that the search groups are the ones who have found most of the clandestine graves currently located. The usual thing, he says, is that the governments do not have departments for this work and only search when they have declarations that oblige them to do so. With the collectives it is different, because "we receive anonymous information, and even if we have no information, we still schedule searches and go out".

Finding graves is the beginning of another loss. When they have reason to excavate, they use picks and shovels and, if they find human remains, the authorities (who usually accompany them) cordon off the area and proceed with their work. If they are not present, they call them. "From there, many times we don't know what's going on, we don't get feedback from the authorities. We say that the person we found is lost again." The problem is general, "the collectives complain that people get lost in the bureaucratic process". In few cases, they say, the Prosecutor's Office restores the identity of the disappeared.

While technology is integrated into the systematic searches, collectives such as United for our Disappeared ask society to share the information they have on missing persons. "We only want to find them, all the information that reaches the collectives is anonymous," says the interviewee whose identity we reserve. The authorities have accepted this, he assures.

For his part, José Silván comments that, as a result of the collaboration with COBUPEJ and other institutions, they are about to publish a book to disseminate techniques for the detection of graves that they tested during their work.n de fosas que probaron durante un año en dos sitios de inhumación controlados en Jalisco, así como otras experiencias recogidas a nivel nacional a través de la ciencia ciudadana que hacen las madres buscadoras. The book is entitled Interpreting Nature to Find Them and is coordinated by Tunuari Chavez, head of the COBUPEJ context unit, and Jose Silvan under the direction of commissioner Victor Avila.

[itstokkii]

A question about your two homelands: South Korea and Uzbekistan

How do you imagine their relationship? Do they know each other? What's others from central asian family relationship with Yong Soo?

teehee(ugly giggling noise)

their relationship is pretty good! recently uzb ordered a railroad system from korea, which is the first time a country purchased a railroad system from korea !! she's truly a trailblazer... mostly, given the economic status of uzb and korea, uzb benefits most from korea rather than the other way around.

the first step in uzbek-korean relations was from the late 90s to the 2000s. during this time, k-dramas first aired in uzbekistan, and the first uzbeks moved to korea mainly in the form of university students studying tech and science(and of which my dad was one of the first to do so lol). so the community was small, but tight.

some of these students would go back to uzbekistan and talk about how developed and nice it was, fueling more interest in korea. some would bring their families/spouses to korea(my dad brought my mom to korea lol), and some would even begin to export uzbek goods to korea(a family friend of ours did this with uzbek melons!! I miss them they were so delish..).

nowadays, the community is gigantic, and uzbeks are the 5th most biggest foreigner group in korea as of 2023. more korean restaurants and products are being introduced in uzbekistan(halal 신라면...what a dream...), though mainly in tashkent.

speaking of tashkent, there's a seoul park since tashkent and seoul are sister cities!! it was made in 2014. however, i don't live in tashkent nor do I have immediate family that does, so i've literally never been around tashkent except for the airport...

another big factor in uzbek-korean relations are the ethnic Koreans(고려사람) that live in uzbekistan. after china and america, uzbekistan has the 3rd largest ethnic korean population at approximately 174000. this was because koreans that immigrated to russia from the late 19th century to early 20th century were forcefully deported to central asia by stalin, accusing them of being japanese spies. since uzbekistan's landlocked with a slightly different climate and crops, they tried their best to mimic korean foods such as kimchi and japchae. uzbeks took note of this and began to eat it as well, as salads called morkovcha and funchoza. morkovcha's actually a popular topping on hotdogs in uzbekistan, which is kinda funny lol

I can see yongsoo taking her around korea to see all sorts of things. they rent hanbok and toured around gyeongbokgung, have a picnic at the han river, and when she feels homesick he takes her to an uzbek restaurant. the first time this happened she probably cried.

they also go cafe hopping, and it's one of her favorite things to do in seoul because of the diverse cafe scene in hongdae and seongsu.

he's one of the people she trusts with taking photos of her the most. he knows what kinds of poses fit the ambiance and vibe, and always angles the camera right. she proudly posts those photos on social media.

watching kdramas is a must!! she probably swoons for a lot of the male love interests lol, and fangirled a bit too hard at gong yoo when she watched goblin. she's glad there's less...intimate scenes compared to a certain other person's dramas...

due to frequent exchange and the sheer number of uzbeks in korea, uzbekistan knows more than enough korean to get around.

yongsoo always takes her to clothing stores and tries finding her pieces that would match her style. she trusts him immensely with this.

bro also gives her love advice lol. what can I say, he's a 2000 year old man trapped in a 20 year old's body. he's got both experience and charm! whether she takes his advice or disregards it is up to her...

he also has other advice regarding an outlook on life, and staying optimistic. he reminds her never to give up on her country and people, since even his war-torn country rose with the power of its people working hard in order to become the success it was today.

other casian countries' relationships speed round!!

kazakhstan: kazakhstan has CU stores, a korean convenience store chain. my kazakh friend showed me how the kazakh chains even have vanilla flavored milk, which is something we don't have here. however as far as im aware, the CU stores are mostly in metropolitan areas. kazakhstan also has an ethnic korean population! there's also more korean companies investing in kazakhstan since they're more developed.

Kyrgyzstan: I couldn't find much, but Kyrgyzstan does have a sizable ethnic korean population also

Tajikistan and turkmenistan: nothing really notable...T^T

in short, korea's known uzbekistan for longer and equally interacts with uzbekistan and kazakhstan!

[1863-project]

Hi!! I’ve followed u for a while and only noticed recently that your desc says you’re an archivist! Im also a history nerd and trying to go for archives as a job in the future, especially in NY which would be really fun. If it’s alright to ask, do you have any general advice/tips for future archivists, and what’s your favorite part ab the archiving job you do, or the archive itself (that you work with)? No worries if not, either way congrats on having the coolest job ever >:D!! - Fellow autistic archive enthusiast

Hello, future fellow archivist!

The most important thing is that if this is the career you want to pursue, you're going to have to go to library school and get a degree in archives and records management. I know it's a lot of work and gets expensive (I'm still in debt), but most big archivist jobs won't even look your way without that Master's degree, which does suck.

It also took me an extremely long time to land my current position. I finished grad school in December 2014, and I finally ended up here, in a proper archival job, in February 2024. That's nearly ten years of working temp positions and at reference desks at public libraries as I searched. Archival jobs can be few and far between, because once an archivist settles in, they're going to become the one who knows the collection best and stay for a long time, so stay sharp and apply to every opening you find! Don't be afraid to take on temp jobs and processing archivist projects because that experience goes a long way on both your resume and for you personally. It can be discouraging, but if you really want this, don't give up - it's an extremely fulfilling career path if you're passionate about history.

My current position is essentially a dream job for me because of the subject matter I'm archiving. If you're lucky, you'll hopefully have that experience too, working at a place where you have a lot of subject expertise and passion.

I cannot suggest volunteering enough, though. Even before I went to grad school, I was volunteering at historical societies, libraries, and museums to help out where I could and get my foot in the door. Those connections are important - you'll need references to tell the jobs you apply to how good you are at the work - but it's also a really good way to make sure you actually like the work in the first place! Archiving can be a lot of drudgery and repetitive cataloguing, and that's not for everyone. (As an autistic person it suits me just fine, but that won't be the case for every single autistic person, and certainly not every single person!)

The best thing about working where I do now is the relative safety compared to my previous job. I was at a public library for 5 and a half years before this as their local history librarian/a reference librarian, and it felt more and more unsafe for me, especially mentally, because I couldn't use certain accommodations on the reference desk and I was constantly doing emotional labor for patrons who saw the reference librarians more like social workers (even though the library had an actual social worker). I got to a point where I was non-functional at home when I wasn't working there, and it scared me. I was deeply burnt out by the time I managed to get my current position, and I'm still recovering now. I was actually assaulted at my former job - a patron put his hand on the back of my leg above my knee and started to move it up towards my ass, but he didn't get there because I hit him (the staff defended me on that one; we had video footage, too). That was in November 2021, and from that point on I felt actively unsafe at that job and less and less like I would be protected if things happened because of a number of changes that occurred afterwards.

But now I'm behind a door that locks. Patrons can't come directly up to me. Researchers have to make an appointment in advance or email or call me if they need information. I'm archiving. I'm not constantly doing reference work, not being thrown around at random to different branches because there aren't branches, just storage locations, not having accommodations like noise-cancelling headphones or my sketchbook taken away from me. I'm so much safer here, and it's a place I can start to heal from everything in.

I hope this answers your initial questions, and if you want details on anything, hit me up - I'm so glad to help people get started in archiving and figure out their next steps!

[absolutebl]

Please help me find that one bl I watched but can't remember the name of it, I want to find and rewatch it do bad! So that's what I remember about the movie:

I watched this movie on YouTube and it was not Thai or Korean. There are two guys who are not brothers, the one with the parents adopted the other one. Gave him many things, like money and house. So they're basically step brothers. The adopted one is in love with the main boy, after some struggles that I don't actually remember, the main boy falls in love with him too. But his father doesn't allow them to be together. With this being the reason, adopted one faked his own death and the main boy was in pain for a couple of years (I think it was like two years? But I'm not sure tho) After some time, the main boy coincidentally sees his lover working at a cafe. And they have a happy ending.

I've been looking for it for a really long timeeee 😭😭😭

This sounds right up my alley so I should know of it. It's stepbrother trope which is one of my all time favorites. (After comment consults I think this must be Irresistible Love - see notes at end)

My guess is something early from China, pre 2018? It could also be from the Philippines or one of the other BL producing countries that I don't track carefully. I think... not Japan, that doesn't seem like the right tropes or narrative bent for them.

It's possible, if you saw it on YT it was a fan rip with an alter end (like it really ends sadly but the fan decided to not include that?)

But you said specifically not Korea so Diary of Heong Yeong Dang (Drama Festival 2014) is out, and that was my first guess.

My second best guess is Thai, My Bromance the movie (2014) or (more likely) My Bromance the series (2016)? But you said: NOT Thai.

So my final pull is...

Find You In The Crowd (China 2017) but this is a microfilm and it's sad. At last check it was on Gaga.

You're not thinking of The Promise (Vietnam 2022) are you? No, that doesn't have the parental stuff and it's very recent.

That's the best I can do. Sorry, the spreadsheet and my brain failed you.

Here is some homework:

There is a 3 Part series from Ellene Noire II of YT round-up videos highlighting VERY obscure queer, LGBTQ+ and BL content (they named title and country in the cards), perhaps it's one of those? It has clips so that might trigger your brain better.

I've had these videos saved to process into my spreadsheet for ages but haven't gotten around to it since they really are some of the MOST obscure and I know it just throws off my numbers with "can't be found" columns.

If you figure it out, will you PLEASE let me know the name and country? It really does sound like my kind of BL. And if possible I'd love to try tracking it down.

Meanwhile here's my stepbrother trope round up post.

Notes

movie on YouTube

not Thai or Korean

2 guys who are not brothers

parents of one adopted the other one (stepbrother trope)

parents give adoptee many things, like money and house

adopted one is in love with the main boy

main boy falls eventually falls in love back

father doesn't allow them to be together

adopted one fakes his own death and the main boy was in pain for a couple of years

after some time, the main boy coincidentally sees his lover working at a cafe

Okay after consult with comments (with the exception of the bold bits I think this really has to be Irresistible Love).

Irresistible Love China 2026 - 2 Parts! 2 Endings!

Irresistible Love: Secrets of the Valet

YouTube

Irresistible Love 2 AKA Uncontrolled Love

YouTube

I not-so-secretly love this BL: Kidnapping, whipping boy, obsession, mutilation, very hard fought happy ending (in one version). Absolutely classic Chinese BL pre-censorship. It's a wild melodramatic ride.

This 2nd movie installment has 2 endings, one unhappy and censored and one basically happy. This series is quite violent, lots of tiggers, whipping boy chassis.

[chibivesicle]

The Ranma 1/2 remake is giving me feelings

That's right. In this era of anime remakes, Ranma 1/2 is stepping up to the plate and will be animated by Studio Mappa! I do like me some works by Mappa. I just saw the new OP for it and so much of it refers directly back to the original OP, including keeping a few key animation sequences! I dunno - I don't want to be disappointed by it but at the same time I want to watch it.

Out of all of the remakes bouncing around this one pulls at me the most. Sure, I was all on board with Sailor Moon Crystal ten years ago but Ranma 1/2 was the first manga I ever bought! The nostalgia and continued love of the series is strong within me.

It is definitely hitting different seeing that this was my first manga series ever. I put a Shampoo sticker in my Ti-34 calculator which only recently went on the fritz at the ripe old age of twenty-eight and is still in my desk at work. I have a Ranma 1/2 poster still in my old closet at my parents' house (someday I should actually, you know, grab it), I bought fan art at Anime Expo in 2022 and even this summer I got a Ranma double sided charm from a local artist at an Asian food festival who also tables at local cons/art markets. I have to admit, I got all excited for the Trigun reboot and if you've been reading along you know I was incredibly disappointed. And you also have a rough estimate of my age based on when I watched it originally as a fan sub. Yet if there is any series that can be used to date me it is Ranma 1/2 since I bought all of my manga before university. I oddly kept telling myself I'd round out the collection when I got older and had more money to complete it. I never did and it has remained a mess of the original Viz editions. Behold! The first English edition of Ranma 1/2 in the left-to-right, hand lettered, and redrawn sound effects all in English.

Volume 1 cost $16.95 when I bought it which would have worked out to a whopping $33 adjusted for inflation, with a publication date of May 1993. Purchasing those early volumes from Viz was not for the faint of heart or those with shallow pockets. This is reminding me why I never back filled volumes 5-7 within my own collection, coming in at $15.95 each. I'm pretty sure that a few of them were likely Christmas presents as well . . .

These editions are what eventually came to match the size of the Viz Signature versions like Maison Ikkoku and Gokinjo Monogatari. These are hefty books and have held up pretty well over the years.

So I now find myself in the exact same position I was in before Trigun Stampede - do I reread the manga and finish it off since I likely only read the first third of it? And then do I take the time to review the new anime from Mappa?

Unlike Trigun which required me to start from scratch having only watched the anime, I've read up to volume 12 of the original manga and filled in the gaps by watching the original anime back in 2014/2015 to around where I'd read it - I think.

One of the issues is that I have the old format for it where there are no chapter numbers like it would have run in the weekly magazine to directly compare with. Viz did a really weird format since it started out as a comic with different arcs and parts and all mine have part 1-13/14 per volume. If I'm not mistaken, there were two subsequent editions of Ranma 1/2 in English; a right-to-left reprint of the original Japanese tankobon with the sequential chapter numbers from the magazine which then was later bundled into a 2 in 1 edition also in the right-to-left format.

Going by chapter names, I'm going to check out various volumes of the 2 in 1 edition from my local library and hope they line up to cover my gaps and then continue onward from chapter 142, The Mark of the Gods.

I also read the edition which really struggled to describe okonomiyaki to a non-Japanese reader. For several years, my young mind tried to square how they were like pizza when they were made on a griddle but had lots of toppings?!?!

I still don't know why the translators chose to localize it this way. They could have simply called it a savory pancake and it would have solved a lot of reader confusion.

It wasn't until university when I was hanging out with friends that I had the chance to make real okonomiyaki (a friend's roommate was Japanese) and the first thing I blurted out was something along the lines of "Like Ukyo from Ranma!" Granted, Ukyo was one of my fav characters at the time. Anyhoo, perhaps I'll do some meta posts as I read the manga and build up to watching the new anime. I don't think I'll have it in me to compare to the original anime since I read the manga long before watching the anime here in there for about fifteen years. I'm also curious to compare the later English editions with mine to see if there are some minor differences or not. I haven't seen the solid colored books like mine since I bought them in the first place.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Barbie (2023)

2023’s Barbie turned out to be a pretty big deal. Not only is it Warner Bros. Studios’ highest-grossing film ever, it also received rave reviews and was directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote it with Noah Baumbach. Some say it proves that art is dead, that the bad guys have won, that even the artists with the most pristine integrity can be bought and sold like plastic dolls by soulless corporations. I say it proves there are no bad premises, only bad executions. When someone talented really cares about a project, they can turn even what some might call a commercial into a great, memorable, stylish and surprisingly thoughtful piece of art.

In Barbieland, all of the Barbies, Kens, and other Mattel dolls live in harmony - playing at the beach, working at their prestigious jobs and doing everything the children in the real world have them do. When Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie as “Barbie”) suddenly develops bad breath, and flat feet, then begins thinking about death, she travels to the real world to confront the child who’s been playing with her. Along for the ride is Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling as “Ken”). While Barbie is horrified to discover that the real world is not the ideal matriarchy she imagined, Ken is fascinated.

The movie Barbie most resembles is 2014’s The Lego Movie. Like it, Barbie is a frequently goofy and surreal comedy featuring a beloved children’s brand. It is also colorful, with many stylish visual flares that prove the people in charge have a deep and loving appreciation for the property. When Barbie leaves her bedroom to eat breakfast, she doesn’t take the stairs; she floats down to the ground floor. It’s because that's the way the dolls move when little girls play with them. If you look at the movie, you’ll see many of the various Barbies Mattel has sold over the years appear in cameo roles or roles you think are cameos (but turn out to be much more). Some of the Kens and Barbies we see aren’t even official Barbies but are part of the doll’s history, such as Kate McKinnon's “Weird Barbie” - the Barbie whose hair got cut up, has broken hips and weird “makeup” applied all over her face. Like The Lego Movie, Barbie has the occasional musical number and eventually leaves the made-up play world to visit the real world - a way for it to become more than just an ultra-colorful, super stylish adventure with costumes that are sure to win it awards.

There’s a lot to unpack in this film. Some of it you might anticipate from Barbie's trip to our world. Every 10 years or so, a mob with torches and pitchforks rises up to condemn Barbie for projecting unrealistic beauty standards upon little girls but never before has the character of Barbie actually been confronted with those criticisms; it’s always been the people at Mattel who’ve been on the receiving end. Obviously, in reality, it’s because Barbie isn’t real, but this movie asks “What if she WAS real? How would she take these criticisms? What would she say about them?” I don’t know how Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach did it but they convinced Mattel to all sorts of things I would’ve never expected. The movie also makes some strong points - all while being funny and going in unexpected directions.

Barbie is one of the most memorable movies in recent years. Even if you don’t remember the exact song that played during the Beach Battle, you’ll remember what the choreography was like while it played. You’ll remember Margot Robbie’s outfits, the visuals showing how her and Ryan Gosling’s characters travel from Barbieworld to our world, what the offices at Mattel look like, the wonderfully bizarre interpretation of its board of directors, the sets, Barbie's interactions with Gloria (America Ferrera) & her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and the way it made you laugh. It’s got so much going on you could rewatch it several times and find something new in the visuals or the dialogue. There’s a point made about what role the Kens have in society, particularly at the end regarding how much Mattel/the rest of the world cares about them that still has me smiling long after the movie is over.

My only criticisms towards Barbie are that a) it probably could’ve been slimmed by about 10 minutes and b) it’s so successful that we’re all but guaranteed to have a sequel and I can’t imagine a follow-up being as fresh and satisfying as this original. I know there are people who will not be interested despite all the positive word of mouth. To them, I say you’re missing out. This is a great film that just happens to be about a plastic doll made by a giant corporation. It does so much with its premise, that I'm still in shock. (Theatrical version on the big screen, August 11, 2023)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Lucy Bannerman, James Beal, Eleanor Hayward

Published: Apr 10, 2024

The report should be the final nail in the coffin of Gids, the clinic that told thousands of children they were transgender

In 2009 the NHS’s gender identity ­development service (Gids) saw fewer than 50 children a year. Since then ­demand has increased a hundredfold, with more than 5,000 seeking help in 2021-22.

The sudden increase has gone hand in hand with the adoption of a model of “gender-affirming” care, which puts children on a life-altering path of hormone treatment. Services have been left overwhelmed, with vulnerable young people clamouring for medical interventions to help them change gender — despite a lack of evidence over the long-term effects.

It was against this backdrop that Dr Hilary Cass was commissioned in 2020 to examine the state of NHS services for children identifying as trans. Her final report, published on Wednesday, delivers a damning verdict on the medical path thousands of children have been sent down. It marks a turning point in years of bitter debate over how to help this distressed group of young people, confirming a shift towards a holistic model that takes into account the wider social and mental health problems driving the rise in demand.

Gen Z and online porn

The Cass report shines a light on the biggest unanswered question over transgender healthcare: why are so many Gen Z women suddenly wanting to change gender?

Cass paints an alarming picture of an anxious and distressed generation of digitally savvy young women and girls, who not only are more exposed to online pornography and the wider problems of the world than any previous generation but also consume more social media and have lower self-esteem and more body hang-ups than their male peers.

When Gids opened in 1989, it treated fewer than ten people each year, mostly males with a long history of gender ­distress. In 2009 it treated 15 adolescent girls. By 2016 that figure had shot up to 1,071.

Cass concludes that such a sudden rise in such a short time cannot be explained alone by greater acceptance of trans identities, which “does not adequately explain” the switch in patient profiles from predominantly male to female. She also says greater investigation of the “consumption of online pornography and gender dysphoria is needed”, pointing to youngsters’ increasingly early exposure to “frequently violent” online material that can have a harmful impact on their self- esteem and body image.

Gen Z is defined as those born between 1995 and 2009. Rather than focusing on the issue of gender in isolation, Cass looked at the context in which adolescents today, who have “grown up with unprecedented online access”, are experiencing such a disproportionate crisis over their gender.

“Generation Z is the generation in which the numbers seeking support from the NHS around their gender identity have increased, so it is important to have some understanding of their experiences and influences,” she writes. “In terms of broader context, Generation Z and Generation Alpha (those born since 2010) have grown up through a global recession, concerns about climate change and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic. Global connectivity has meant that as well as the advantages of international peer networks, they are much more exposed to worries about global threats.”

The report also focuses on 2014, when female referrals to Gids accelerated. Although this is not mentioned, 2014 was the year that CBBC, for example, broadcast I Am Leo, a video-diary-style documentary, to an audience of to 6 to 12-year-olds, showing the positive personal journey of a child who transitioned from female to male.

Throughout almost 400 pages, Cass argues that the gender-related issues of young patients should be treated in the same context as the wider mental health issues facing their entire generation. “The striking increase in young people presenting with gender incongruence/dysphoria needs to be considered within the context of poor mental health and emotional distress among the broader adolescent population, particularly given their high rates of co-existing mental health problems and neurodiversity.” Cass calls for more research into the “complex interplay” between these issues and a teenager’s sudden desire to change gender.

Lack of evidence for medical pathway

Rather than affirming children’s gender identity with medical treatment, the report calls for a holistic approach that examines the causes of their distress. It finds that, despite being incorporated into medical guidelines around the world, the use of “gender-affirming” medical treatment such as puberty blockers is based on “wholly inadequate” evidence. Doctors are cautious when adopting new treatments, but Cass says “quite the reverse happened in the field of gender care for children”, with thousands of children put on an unproven medical pathway.

Cass says gender care is “an area of remarkably weak evidence” and that results of studies “are exaggerated or misrepresented by people on all sides of the debate”. She adds: “The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.”

The report finds that treatment on the NHS since 2011 has largely been informed by two sets of international guidelines, drawn up by the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH), but that these lack scientific rigour. The WPATH has been “highly influential in directing international practice, although its guidelines were found by the University of York’s appraisal to lack developmental rigour and transparency”, Cass says.

The report says the NHS must work to improve the evidence base.

Mental health

Mental health issues could be presenting as gender-related distress. Children and young people referred to specialist gender services have higher rates of mental health difficulties than the general population. This includes rates of depression, anxiety and eating dis­orders. Some research studies have suggested transgender people are three to six times more likely to be autistic than the general population, with age and educational attainment taken into account.

Therefore, the report says that the striking increase in young people ­presenting with gender dysphoria needs to be considered within the context of rising levels of poor mental health.

The increase in gender clinic patients “has to some degree paralleled” the deterioration in child and adolescent mental health, it finds. Mental distress, the report says, can present through physical manifestations, such as eating disorders or body dysmorphic disorders. Clinicians were often reluctant to explore or address co-occurring mental health issues in those presenting with gender distress, the report finds. This was because gender dysphoria was not considered to be a mental health ­condition.

The report finds that, compared with the general population, young people referred to gender services had higher rates of neglect; physical, sexual or emotional abuse; parental mental illness or substance abuse; exposure to domestic violence; and loss of a parent through death or abandonment.

Puberty blockers

The report says there was “no evidence” puberty blockers allowed young people “time to think” by delaying the onset of puberty — which was the original rationale for their use. It finds the vast majority of those who start puberty suppression continued on to cross-sex hormones, particularly if they started earlier in puberty.

There was insufficient and inconsistent evidence about the effects of puberty suppression on psychological or psychosocial health, it says, and some young females had a worsening of problems like depression and anxiety.

Cass says there is “some concern” that puberty blockers may actually change “the trajectory of psychosexual and gender identity development”.

Her report warns that blocking the chronological age and sex hormones released during puberty “could have a range of unintended and as yet unidentified consequences”.

It describes adolescence as a time of “identity development, sexual development, sexual fluidity and experimentation”. The report says “blocking” this meant young people had to understand identity and sexuality based only on their discomfort about puberty and an early sense of their gender. Therefore, it adds, there is “no way of knowing” whether the normal trajectory of someone’s sexual and gender identity “may be permanently altered”.

Brain maturation may also be “temporarily or permanently disrupted” by the use of puberty blockers, it says. This could have a significant impact on a young person’s ability to make “complex risk-laden decisions”, as well as possible long-term neuropsychological consequences.

The report highlights the “concern” of young people remaining on puberty blockers into adulthood — sometimes into their mid-twenties. This is partly because some “wish to continue as non-binary” and partly because of ongoing gender indecision, the report says.

Cass adds: “Puberty suppression was never intended to continue for extended periods.”

The report finds young adults who had been discharged from Gids ­“remained on puberty blockers into their early to mid twenties”. A review of audit data suggested 177 patients were discharged while on puberty blockers.

Cass says the review “raised this with NHS England and Gids”, citing the unknown impact of use over an extended period. “The detrimental impact to bone density alone makes this concerning”, the report adds.

A Dutch study originally suggested that puberty blockers might improve psychological wellbeing for a narrow group of children with gender issues.

Following this, the practice “spread at pace to other countries” and in 2011 the UK trialled the use of puberty blockers in an early intervention study.

The results were not formally published until 2020, at which time it showed there was a lack of any positive measurable outcomes. It also found that 98 per cent of people had proceeded to take cross-sex hormones.

Despite this, from 2014 puberty blockers moved from a research-only protocol to being available in routine clinical practice. “The rationale for this is unclear,” the report says.

Puberty blockers were then given to a wider range of adolescents, it says, including patients with no history of gender issues before puberty and those with neurodiversity and complex mental health issues. Clinical practice, Cass found, appeared to have “deviated” from the parameters originally set.

Overall, the report concludes there was a “very narrow ­indication” for the use of puberty blockers in males to stop irreversible ­pubertal changes, while other benefits remained unproven.

It says there were “clearly lessons to be learnt by everyone”.

Social transition

The report concludes it was “possible” that social transition, including the changing of a child’s name and pronouns, may change the trajectory of their gender development. It finds “no clear evidence” social transitioning in childhood has any positive or negative mental health effects, but that children who socially transitioned at an earlier age were more likely to proceed to medical treatment. A more cautious approach to social transition needs to be taken for children than for adolescents, it concludes.

The review also heard concerns from “many parents” about their child being socially transitioned and affirmed in their expressed gender without their involvement. Draft government guidance, published in ­December, stated that schools should not accept all requests for social transition and should involve parents in any decision that is made.

Despite this, there has been evidence of schools ignoring ministers and ­allowing children to change gender ­behind their parents’ backs.

The report makes clear that “parents should be actively involved in decision making” unless there are strong grounds to believe that it may put the child at risk.

It also finds that social debates on trans issues led to fear among doctors and parents, with some concerned about being accused of transphobia.

The interim report, from 2022, had classed social transition as “not a neutral act”. The full report explains that it is an “active intervention”, because it may have significant effects on a young person’s psychological functioning and longer-term outcomes.

In a strong warning to schools, the report describes the need for “clinical involvement” in the decision-making process on social transitioning. It adds: “This is not a role that can be taken by staff without appropriate clinical ­training.”

The report concludes that maintaining flexibility is key among those going down a social transition route and says a “partial transition”, rather than a full one, could help.

In decisions about whether to transition prepubescent children, families should be seen “as early as possible by a clinical professional”.

Rogue private clinics

Long waiting lists for NHS care mean distressed children are turning to private clinics or resorting to “obtaining unregulated and potentially dangerous hormone supplies over the internet”, the report says.

Some NHS GPs have then felt “pressurised to prescribe hormones after these have been initiated by private providers”, and Cass says this should not happen.

The report also urges the Department of Health to consider new legislation to “prevent inappropriate overseas prescribing”. This is intended to tackle a loophole which means that, ­despite the NHS banning the use of ­puberty blockers last month, children can still access them from online clinics such as GenderGP, which is registered in Singapore.

Detransitioning

Cass says some of those who have been through medical transitions “deeply ­regret their earlier decisions”. Her report says the NHS should consider a new specialist service for people who wish to “detransition” and come off hormone treatments. She says people who are detransitioning may be reluctant to return to the service they had previously used.

NHS numbers

The report recommends that the NHS and Department of Health review current practice of issuing new NHS numbers to people who change gender.

Cass suggests that handing out new NHS numbers to trans people means they risk getting lost in the system — making it harder to track their health histories and long-term outcomes.

The review says that this has had “implications for safeguarding and clinical management of these children”, — for example, the type of screening that they are offered.

Toxic debate

Cass has called for an end to the “exceptionally toxic” debates over transgender healthcare after she was vilified online while compiling her review. In a foreword to her 388-page report, the paediatrician said that navigating a culture war over trans rights has made her task over the past four years significantly harder.

She warned that the “stormy social discourse” does little to help young people, who are being let down by a lack of research and evidence. Cass added: “There are few other areas of healthcare where professionals are so afraid to openly discuss their views, where people are vilified on social media, and where name-calling echoes the worst bullying behaviour. This must stop.

“Polarisation and stifling of debate do nothing to help the young people caught in the middle of a stormy social discourse, and in the long run will also hamper the research that is essential to finding the best way of supporting them to thrive.”

Cass said: “Finally, I am aware that this report will generate much discussion and that strongly held views will be expressed. While open and constructive debate is needed, I would urge everybody to remember the children and young people trying to live their lives and the families/ carers and clinicians doing their best to support them. All should be treated with compassion and respect.”

The recommendations

Data collection

Gender identity clinics should offer their data to NHS England for review, and more research should be conducted on the impact of psychosocial intervention — such as therapy — and the use of masculinising and feminising hormones, such as testosterone and oestrogen. Cass recommended that the NHS should also consider data from private clinics.

Puberty blockers and hormone treatment

Cass recommended research to establish the long-term impact of puberty blockers, which is expected to start by December.

Assessment of other conditions

Cass said that children arriving at gender identity services should be screened for conditions such as autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Criteria for medical treatment

When treating children with gender dysphoria, only those who have experienced “longstanding gender incongruence” will be able to get medical treatment. Even then, this will only be available — with “extreme caution” — for over 16s.

A holistic approach

Before any medical intervention, Cass recommends that children should be offered fertility counselling and “preservation” by specialist services. This formed part of a more “holistic” approach to gender identity services. Cass suggested the creation and implementation of a national framework and infrastructure for gender-related care.

Growing into adulthood

The review advised that follow-through services for 17 to 25-year-olds should be established to ensure a continuity of care and support when children grow into adulthood.

Detransitioners

The report proposed that NHS England should “ensure there is provision for people considering detransition”, while recognising that they may not wish to attend services that assisted in their initial gender transition.

[ Via: https://archive.today/7GxDe ]