#CDC Eclipse

[rhonuscorner]

Circus Theater AU!!! Inspired by Cirque du Soleil, featuring Sun and Moon as the main performers and Eclipse as the ringmaster and on-stage storyteller. All bow down to our jester king. _o_

This will be a y/n reader story, already got a few chapters drafted.

This started out as just a first design concept for Eclipse's costume and then it turned into a whole goddamn poster I spent way too much time on lol. I still have to design the back of Eclipse's cape as well as their off-duty non-costume outfits.

I want that cape in real life TvT y/n is gonna find themselves wrapped in it one day, calling it now.

Originally this also came with two more characters, one inspired by the Eclipse face as seen in the Balloon Boy arcade game, the other a moon inspired counterpart, but I ended up removing them for now. I might find a use for them later, who knows.

For now, Imma go doodle the celestial boys some more \o/

Non shaded no background version of all three under the cut.

[letsoulswander]

The CDC says you can look at the sun without eclipse glasses

[littlegodzilla]

Hii!! Next chapter here!!

Things are moving a little faster, we are getting closer to the end, our protagonists seem to be getting to know each other better, but things can always get complicated, can't they? We'll see.

Enjoy!!

Your name Masterlist.

**

Your Name.

Daryl Dixon x Reader.

Mini series chapter 7.

Warnings: TWD gore. Angst. Fluff.

Words: 3400.

Summary: The things start to change a little.

Taglist: @phoenixblack89 @browneyes528 @lilythemadqueen @darylsgarden @thefemininemystiquee @green-eyedladywrites @hail-yourselves @ruinedbythehobbit @xxtinasxxblog @ravenwingsandfoxpaws @spenciepoo338 @b-tchyouainthiphop @minervadashwood @darylssluttt

≈≈≈

Ignore Andrea, but the gif is perfect for this chapter.

≈≈≈

Part 7.

The next day you aren't the only one who wakes up with a hangover, which comforts you as you are unable to walk in a straight line. No one has a good face when you enter the room to have some breakfast, the atmosphere is strange and some look uncomfortable. You greet them all with a small smile and sit down in a free chair. Your gaze connects with Daryl but he quickly averts it. You frown as you don't understand what's wrong with him, you don't have time to ask either, right away you notice Lori is uncomfortable, Shane brusque, and Andrea directly asks the questions no one wants to hear or Jenner to answer.

The CDC is not safe, the air is running out and the place is closing in on itself, it won't let you out if Jenner doesn't give the order. Everyone is getting nervous and aggressive, Daryl has picked up an axe and is angrily unloading it at the door.

"You won't get it open with that." Jenner tells him, Daryl turns furiously towards him.

"But yer head will!" he goes straight for him, but you get in the way.

"Daryl get a hold of yourself!" you ask him with a look full of fear and anguish.

He stops in his tracks, it's not the first time he's raised an axe at someone's head, but this time Rick isn't pointing his gun at him, you're in the way and that's now much worse, because he remembers the night before and that makes him take a step back and snap like a cat.

"Ain't tell me what to do." He growls and goes back to the door to try to open it again.

On another occasion you would have insulted him and told him to fuck off, but now is not the time to worry about Daryl Dixon's tantrums so you return to the group trying to reassure the women in the group, to no avail. They finally manage to talk some sense into the man, but he doesn't want to go anywhere and apparently neither do Jacqui and Andrea. You stay behind too trying to convince them, Dale also stays with Andrea because he's not going to let any of them stay, but you don't want anyone to die. It's not fair.

"What yer doin' here?" you feel a tug on your arm and see that Daryl is still holding the axe in his hand. "Wanna die?"

"N-No, but I don't want you to..."

"They've decided!" he shushes you and pulls you again. "I've lost Merle, yer ain't gettin' rid of me that easily."

You know he's reminding you to hurt you, but his hand gripping you so tightly, as if he really fears losing you, eclipses any other thoughts. Rick uses a grenade to get out of the building and you all run at high speed to your cars. At the last moment you see that Dale and Andrea are behind you. But Jacqui not. The building explodes as tears stream down your face, Daryl uses his body to shield you from the shockwave and the two of you crash into the door of the van. It's not a violent impact as you're already leaning against it, but feeling Daryl's body pressed against yours makes you remember something that the alcohol had erased from your head. You remember the kiss you gave him last night and your heart freezes. Your face turns cherry red feeling the warmth of Daryl's body grab you. His hand holds your head against his shoulder, covering your ears from the shockwave, your hands close tightly over his plaid shirt as you feel his breath on your neck.

When everything seems to calm down, you break the embrace slowly, again your gazes connect for a few seconds. His blue eyes roam your face at full speed, for a few seconds they fix on your lips and Daryl rises like a spring. Your heart beats so hard that your chest aches.

You don't have time to process what is happening, the explosion and fire is drawing the dead still lurking in the city and those that are charred move crawling on the ground. You pick up and get into the cars and drive away, looking for a safe place to make a new plan, think about where to go, plan how to conserve your remaining stock and especially your fuel.

While the men deliberate what might be best for everything, you watch as Daryl slowly makes his way among them. Although his relationship has not gotten off to a good start with Rick, whatever happened when they went to Atlanta together has changed his perspective towards the sheriff, he is still wary of him, instinctively, but also curious and takes orders from him.

You like the new personality you are discovering about him.

You turn your attention back to the girls, Andrea is still a little shaken by everything that is going on, but you focus on Lori and Carol. Both women have nearly lost their children and although they haven't said anything, they look upset.

"Are you guys okay?" you walk over to them. "How are Sophia and Carl?"

"Scared, like everyone else." Carol whispers, smiling very slowly. "But it's a miracle we got out of there."

"Jenner couldn't hold us back, he knew it wasn't fair..." You try to cheer them up a little.

"Are you okay?" Lori asks you suddenly and you don't understand what she means. "Daryl came in looking for you when he realized you weren't coming with us... Is everything okay?" Then she gives you that look you understand and again your cheeks take on a cherry color. How many of them think you guys are a couple? Since when?

"Oh no, I mean, yeah, but it's not that, Daryl... we're just friends, I got him into all this, so keeping me alive is my punishment, I guess..." You explain to them and again tug hard on the sleeves of your t-shirt.

I've lost Merle, yer ain't gonna get rid of me that easily.

His words are still in your head, you sigh and hear the women start talking to Carl and Sophia so you decide to join the conversation to clear your mind.

They finally agree to go to Fort Benning as Shane had suggested from the beginning, by getting rid of several cars you have enough fuel to get there, plus Daryl takes the motorcycle to save a little more, Rick along with Lori, Carol and the kids ride in the first car, then the caravan with Dale, Andrea, Shane and Glenn and T Dog takes Daryl's van. Your first reaction is to talk to Daryl to find out what he wants to do, but you remember again that you kissed him and he's been on the run ever since, so you make the decision to ride in the RV so as not to bother him.

The trip is quiet and boring, everything is silent, tense, you only hear the rattle of the old caravan and Glenn's thoughts out loud looking for the best route to get to the military base as soon as possible and not waste fuel. Andrea is deep in thought and Shane does not look good. He has a nasty cut on his neck, but when you ask him about it, he grunts and goes back to focusing on disassembling and assembling his weapon capturing your attention and Andrea's.

That and all of a sudden the trailer starts making a strange noise until it finally comes to a complete stop. Dale curses under his breath.

"I warned Rick it wouldn't last!" he snorts once again getting out of the vehicle.

Rick has stopped a little further ahead, even if the trailer was in full condition, in front of you a graveyard of cars opens up blocking your way. You need to fix it and at the same time another road to continue the journey. Daryl appears between the cars with his motorcycle and shakes his head.

"The traffic jam stretches all over the road, even if we move the cars out of the way we will lose a lot of time and I doubt we will make any progress."

"Well, thanks Daryl..." Rick tells him sincerely.

Daryl nods and pulls away a bit to park so as not to disturb. Again there's that complicity between the two men that makes you smile. Somehow Daryl is detoxing from the shitty character Merle had that he emulated.

"We'll look for a spare for the caravan, plus I'm sure in these cars we can find some things we can use for the trip besides fuel. We'll stock up and be on our way." Rick proposed to which you all agreed.

Actually rummaging through the lost items of other people who might be dead or trying to survive is a bit violent at first, but then you try to get that idea out of your head and grab some bags with clothes and other things that might be useful to you. Everyone has scattered down the road on their own quest. Leaving the clothes inside the caravan you approach Daryl. It's possible that you made a mistake the night before, but you need to talk it over with him, you don't want tension to build up between you.

Not like this.

"Daryl..." You call out to him as he pokes his head out from inside a car.

"What?" He looks at you with eyes dwarfed by the sun.

"Can we talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about." He's blunt and you can sense he's frustrated, you sigh and clench your hands nervously.

"I'm sorry about the kiss last night." You whisper, but he's heard you perfectly, his body tensing like a rope. "I-I was drunk... I guess I got carried away feeling safe after everything that had happened and..."

"So what, ya go around making out with all the guys around ya?"

"No! I-I'm just saying that I didn't... I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable..."

"I'm not."

"Then why are you ignoring me?"

"Y'ain't the fuckin' center of the fuckin' world, y'know?" He walks slowly towards you. "Ain't think yer so important, not to me or anyone else. No one is important in the world. Not anymore." He growls again and shoves you away with a shove with his shoulder as he walks past you.

You try to calm down, you know that when you try to confront Daryl, he always lashes out like a wounded animal. You've apologized, you think you've done the right thing. Just because Daryl is an attractive man and cares for you makes you feel good, it doesn't give you the right to kiss him like you did. You return to the group when you see Dale make a frightened gesture on the roof of the caravan, suddenly you see a huge group of infected appear along the road and you quickly hide to go unnoticed. Your goal is to get back to the caravan to be safe, Daryl pulls you to dodge one of the infected by sticking an arrow in his head and throwing him to the ground carefully not to make noise, he gestures for you to be quiet and gives you his knife. You tremble at the weight of the weapon in your hand, but nod as he walks away. Everything is chaotic for a few seconds and things don't get any better when you see Sophia running off being chased by several of those infected.

The image of Noah appears in your mind and your heart skips a beat before you realize what you're doing; you jump the guardrail with Daryl's knife still in your hand and run after the girl wanting to help her. You're not the only one, Rick and Daryl have also gone looking for her, but after Grimes has pulled her to safety, Sophia has disappeared. Agitation overcomes you. She's just a little girl, scared and lost, Rick has given her directions on how to get back on the road with the others, but she hasn't returned.

"My little girl is out there, all alone." Carol whimpers and it breaks your heart.

"We'll go out and look for her, follow her tracks." You try to comfort her, Rick, Daryl nods adjusting his crossbow against his chest.

"Gimme the knife." He tells you and you shake your head. "...Gimme." He uses your name and that makes you shudder, it sounds strange and at the same time good in his mouth.

"No, we need to know how to defend ourselves and..."

"Now is not the time, that girl is lost." He shushes you.

"We'll look for her between all of us. Look around here in case she comes back, Daryl come with me." Rick asks you and the two men leave without adding anything else.

The knife is still in your hands but you feel as if you have lost the argument with him. Shane walks up to you, since Lori ignores him his mood has changed.

"You won't kill any zombies with that." He tells you and pulls out a gun. "This is more effective."

"With this you avoid the noise and the zombies don't pick up our movements."

"If you're lucky to get close enough to stab it."

"They're slow and clumsy, there's an advantage when they only come one at a time." You insist, but he mumbles away.

"Let's check the whole road, maybe he's lost with all these cars out here cutting through." Dale decides.

"We need to fix that arm of T-Dog's first" You say seeing him bleeding. "Let's go to the trailer."

It's getting dark when Rick and Daryl get back on the road, but Sophia is still not with them. Carol can't stop crying, Lori is anxious and Carl is also nervous because he wants his friend back, but there's no sign of the little girl. Daryl gives some pills from Merle's arsenal on the bike to T Dog and the man seems to recover a bit, but he needs rest.

***

At night you can't sleep, too many things are still on your mind and it takes your sleep away again and again. Hearing Carol crying doesn't help you at all either. You sit on the hood of one of the abandoned cars while looking up at the sky. You have to admit that now without all the road lights and big cities, everything is so much more pure and beautiful, even though death is walking the Earth.

"What yer doin' out here?" Daryl's voice startles you for a moment, but soon you calm down.

"I couldn't sleep..." You mumble with a shrug, Daryl watches you and hums nodding his head. "And you?"

"Same thing, hearing that woman cry doesn't help me relax." He shrugs. "I'm gonna explore the place a bit, maybe we missed something..."

"Now? At night?" You look at him worriedly.

"Wanna join me?"

The first word that comes to your mind is no, that it would be too dangerous and you should stay with the others, but you know that no matter how much you tell him that, Daryl is going out anyway and for once since you've known each other, he's proposing that you accompany him. You nod, getting out of the car to follow in his footsteps and pull off the road to the side.

The night is completely quiet, you can barely hear Daryl's soft and light footsteps followed by your awkward movements, try to keep quiet, walking beside him, he seems very calm but his eyes don't stop observing everything around him.

"Do you think Sophia is okay?" you dare to ask after a few minutes of walking.

"I'm sure she got scared and looked for somewhere to hide." He shrugs.

"H-how can you be so calm?"

"Because they're kids." He pauses turning to look at you. "Kids disappear and appear constantly. I was much younger than her when I got lost in the woods."

"You got lost? Merle didn't..."

"Merle wasn't home, like so many other times and my father...well, he was never available." He sighs and you look at him curiously. "I was bored at home and decided to go out into the woods to explore on my own. I got lost. I was gone almost a full day and when I came back I made myself a sandwich and went into my room. No one noticed I was gone."

"Oh God...I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't that big of a deal, except for the itchy butt from wiping myself with a nettle." You can't help but laugh at that and watch as he smiles a little too. "Anyway, with Sophia it's different. She does have people looking for her."

You look at him again and your smile gets bigger, you don't know how Daryl works exactly, but you like how he's being with you now, you know that smile you got out of him, you're not going to forget it easily.

"What?" he asks you when you can't stop looking at him.

"Nothing..." You shrug your shoulders without breaking your smile.

"Yer fuckin' weird, woman." He snorts looking away, feels the tips of his ears burning and at the same time regrets how he talked to you that morning. Sometimes he is unable to stop before blurting out the first thing that pops into his head.

You arrive at a small camp, a tent with an unlit fire, there are some objects scattered everywhere. A few gasps and hisses put you on alert, Daryl pulls you behind his body and you gasp in fright as you discover a man hanging from a tree. You stifle a retch when you discover that some infected has tried to eat him from his feet.

"My God..." You whisper in horror.

"Looks to me like he didn't make it to safety."

"That's not funny, Daryl..." You scold him, looking for Sophia with your eyes, but it seems that no one has been there for days.

"Ya wanted me to show ya, didn't ya?" his voice grabs your attention again.

"Now? I don't think it's..."

"I dunno it cares." He gestures for you to come closer and you obey.

Daryl wraps his arms around your body to give you the crossbow and get you into the right position, you feel his body pressed against yours, his chest against your back. You feel your pulse racing and you find it hard to breathe as your face turns red. Having the hunter so close makes you nervous. You feel his hands place yours on the crossbow, his fingers brushing your skin, placing your hand on the trigger.

"Both eyes open." He speaks in your ear and you get goosebumps. "Ya need to time the distance right." You feel Daryl guide your body to aim correctly at the infected that won't stop writhing in the tree. "When yer ready, just shoot." He tells you again, your body trembles as you feel his lips brush against your ear.

You try to concentrate on what you are doing, on the important part which is learning how to use a gun, not being afraid to defend yourself against these things, because they are no longer people. You take a deep breath and your finger hesitates for a second on the trigger before you close your eyes and fire. You hear another gasp, louder this time, and all is silent afterwards. You open your eyes to discover that the arrow has pierced the skull of the infected with the first shot. You know it's not your doing, Daryl has calculated the distance and put your body in the right position so you couldn't miss, yet you feel a certain pride bubbling inside you. Daryl's body moves away from yours picking up the crossbow again and placing it on his shoulder.

"Next time don't close yer eyes when ya shoot." He tells you with a smirk. "That way ya'll avoid shooting someone by accident."

"Y-yes..." You nod sheepishly, but you can't hide your smile.

"C'mon, it's time to go back. Sophia's not here." Daryl sets off again and you follow a few steps behind him.

"Daryl, wait." You call out to him. Daryl stops to turn and look at you. You bite your lip nervously and reach his position to hold out his knife. "Here, I didn't give it to you in the end..."

"Keep it." He says shaking his shoulders. "Ya need practice, but ya've got guts." He encourages you. "Ya'll need a weapon to practice with."

"Thanks..." You gasp and press the gun against your chest. "I promise I'll stop being a nuisance."

"I'll settle for ya not killing yerself by mistake." He jokes pulling the knife away from your body. "Let's go back."

"Yes..."

You don't know if it's too risky a step, but you're happy and somewhat excited, so you can't help yourself. You move closer to Daryl and grab him by the bottom of his shirt, the hunter turns his head to look at you, you stare at each other for a few seconds, you're about to let go, but then Daryl grabs your wrist and keeps walking. It's not an abrupt gesture, nor a dominating one, he simply keeps you by his side as you walk back to the road, you know that if he had held your hand it would have been more uncomfortable for both of you.

**

To be continued...

***

I hope you all liked it.

See you in the next story!

[pcttrailsidereader]

10 Things Scarier Than Bears

This is an excerpt from the Halfway Anywhere website, a wonderful resource on hiking the PCT and other trails around the world. See www.halfwayanywhere.com. I have my own list which differs from the one below. "Humans on roads near the PCT" would top my list. Some might add 'Poodle Dog Bush'. Others would include 'running out of water' or 'lightning above treeline.'

1) BITING FLIES

Yes, flies that bite you. They are awful. In the desert I dealt with flies of the non-biting variety, but once I reached the Kennedy Meadows, everything changed. You will come to know (and loathe) one particular species of biting fly in particular. They are known simply as: “those stupid fucking huge golden flies”. These bastards will bite you, and it will hurt, and you will whine, and nobody will care (didn’t anyone tell you that the Pacific Crest Trail sucks?). And for those of you who enjoy cowboy camping, prepare for some rude awakenings.

Improvised headnet

2) GNATS

Mosquitos are pesky at camp and whilst resting, but the good thing about mosquitos is that you can hike more quickly than they can fly. Gnats are another story. For some reason they enjoy flying directly in front of your face, and no matter what you do (even if you run – trust me, I tried – multiple times) they will catch up to you. Not only do they pester you when hiking, but they will fly into your nose, eyes, ears, and mouth (basically any moist, accessible orifice). If you haven’t already, I highly recommend investing in a bug net for your head (and I suggest keeping it handy for the entirety of the trail (at least post-Kennedy Meadows)).“They will harm you and everyone you care about.”

3) THE PLAGUE (AND HANTAVIRUS)

Yes, both hantavirus the horrific bubonic plague await hikers out in the wilds on the PCT. Those “cute” little animals that rob your unattended food are carriers hantavirus and of fleas which are in turn carriers of and the plague. Should one of these critters get into your food, I would suggest (based on zero medical background or experience whatsoever) that you avoid eating it (kill and eat that little bastard instead). Symptoms of plague include, “swollen, tender lymph glands (called buboes) and fever, headache, chills, and weakness,” and hantavirus, “has a mortality rate of 38%” (CDC). But hey, at least it’s not giardia.

4) THE PCT MIDPOINT

Before reaching the PCT Midpoint, you may imagine it as a place of celebration and much rejoicing. However, in reality the halfway point of the 2,600 mile long trail is simply a reminder of how far you still need to go before reaching your destination. Located in a not-too-interesting section of trail, hikers who make it this far into the hike are greeted by a simple concrete post (and then the town of Chester, California). The idea that you still need to go as far as you have already come is too much for some hikers as the mental struggle eclipses its physical counterpart (luckily, there is a nearby cliff for you to throw yourself off of).

5) SCREAMING ANIMALS IN THE NIGHT

Here is something else to frighten you in the night: screaming animals (at least I hope they’re animals). Now you may say, “Hey! Don’t bears fall into this category?” No, you’re wrong, bears are stealthy and silent. The animals that make these noises are nothing short of pure evil. They produce noises that you never knew existed and that you’ll never want to hear again whilst trying to sleep.

6) BLISTERS

You know ahead of time that blisters will be an issue on the trail, but it is easy to underestimate just how great a threat they are. I knew many hikers who abandoned the PCT as a result of their feet falling apart. I knew none who did the same as a result of bears (likely because they were eaten and I never saw them again). Blisters are frightening. That hot spot in your shoe quickly translates to pain and (juicy) popping at the end of the day (and many subsequent days). My advice for blisters? Carry a safety-pin and get yourself some Darn Toughs.

7) EMPTY CACHES

Many a kind trail angel maintains many a water cache along the Pacific Crest Trail. Hikers can go for as long as 30 mi (48 km) without encountering a natural water source (sometimes longer, depending on the year), and so these caches of life’s elixir become incredibly important. Despite every hiker being told to never rely on a water cache, some choose to ignore this advice and end up in serious (sometimes life-threatening) trouble. Less serious, but just as demoralizing, is the empty trail magic cache. This is when you show up at a cooler on the trail, knowing it to be filled with goodies, and open it to find only trash and melted ice. It is as sad as seeing a puppy drown (I know, I’ve witnessed both).

8) BISPHENOL A (BPA)

Speaking of caches, do you know what 90% of the water caches are composed of? Plastic bottles baking in the sun (if you’re lucky you will find a cooler or nicely shaded trove of water). The FDA is currently reviewing the potential for BPA to cause harm in humans, and the CDC states, “[m]ore research is needed to understand the human health effects of exposure to BPA.” Yet, as per usual, many of you tree-hugging, soy-eating, animal-loving, liberal-do-good hippies out there have already drawn your own conclusions and have somehow convinced the world that BPA is evil and that it should be banned. Why can’t you just allow our corporations, who hold consumer health and opinion in the highest regard, to do as they wish and put whatever chemicals they desire into their products?

9) HUNTERS

At some point whilst hiking through Oregon, (northbound) thru-hikers will observe the beginning of hunting season. First it’s the bow hunters, and then a (few) week(s?) later it’s time to bring out the big guns (literally). In certain areas, the sound of gunshots ringing through the mountains can be heard throughout the day. Hunters are fond of telling hikers to wear blaze orange, and I am fond of telling hunters to just not shoot people. In retaliation for the gunshot threats, I frequently found myself hiking up behind and scaring the daylights out of hunters as they slowly stalked invisible prey through the bush (walking up on someone sneaking is quite amusing).

10) POOPING

Yes, the act of pooping in the woods can be an incredibly frightening prospect at times, but when nature calls, you have to answer. Sometimes this call comes in the midst of a swarm of mosquitoes s or pack of biting flies; sometimes it comes in the middle of a long, flat, open stretch of trail. Whether you are fighting to keep bugs out of your ass, or attempting to complete your bowel movement in record time to avoid being seen by another hiker, pooping can be a terrifying time a day. If you simply accept that you will get bitten on your genitals by insects and that you will be seen squatting over a hole by your fellow hikers, then it will make your hike far more enjoyable.

[theculturedmarxist]

[...]

Cases aren't the only thing dropping either — so is surveillance of the virus. We're doing less testing and less sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genetics.

Given all this, the question begs to be asked: Are we letting our guard down while waving the Mission Accomplished flag?

When asked if there is adequate surveillance for new variants happening, Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), flatly said no.

"Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases are underestimates of the true number of global infections and reinfections as shown by prevalence surveys," Harris told Salon in an email. "This is partly due to the reduction in testing and delays in reporting in many countries. Reduction in testing means a reduction in genetic sequencing, as you need to find the virus first in order to sequence it."

"We continually call on member states to maintain strong testing and sequencing in order to identify new variants but also to understand the level of SARS-CoV-2 transmission going on in their populations," Harris continued. "This virus remains unstable — it has not settled into a predictable pattern, which means surveillance systems need to be sensitive to pick up the early signs of another surge."

XBB.1.5, nicknamed by some as "Kraken," is thus far the dominant variant for most of 2023, with estimated cases of Kraken exceeding 70 percent since the week of Feb 11. It has far eclipsed the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants. Meanwhile BA.2 and BA.5, the two variants that dominated case counts for most of 2022, have all but disappeared.

According to the latest CDC variant tracking data, the only other variants really circulating in the U.S. are XBB.1.5's offspring: XBB.1.9 and XBB.1.5.1. Meanwhile, XBB.1.16 is spreading rapidly in India and could eventually make its way to North America. Notably, XBB was first detected in Singapore before its offspring made the jump across the Pacific, though XBB.1.5 was first detected in the U.S. and likely originated in the Northeast.

All these names may sound like gobbledygook to most non-experts — and there is a reason it's so confusing. When variants of the virus mutated and evolved into new strains with significant advantages over old lineages, the WHO began giving these "variants of concern" names from the Greek alphabet. Hence, variants like delta and gamma made headlines when they emerged and began to spread — but the WHO has yet to assign any variants a new Greek name since omicron surged in late 2021. Instead, we have this alphabet soup of named variants, all of which are technically different sub-strains of omicron.

Even a minor variation in a virus' genetics can equate to a huge difference in how well immunity from vaccines and previous infections can stop them. If the virus evolves some kind of advantage — as viruses are prone to do and just as SARS-CoV-2 has done many times throughout the pandemic — another surge is not out of the question.

In mid-March, the WHO updated their definition of what makes COVID variants threatening and currently classifies XBB.1.5 as a "variant of interest," which means it is seen as less threatening than previous variants of concern.

Nonetheless, some virologists have argued that XBB and its close relatives are so genetically different from the very first strain of SARS-CoV-2 that it should technically be renamed a new virus, SARS-CoV-3.

"XBB.1.5 does show a growth advantage and a higher immune escape capacity, but evidence from multiple countries does not suggest that XBB and XBB.1.5 are associated with increased severity or mortality," Harris said. "In countries where the variant has driven an increase in cases, the waves are significantly smaller in scale compared to previous waves."

That's good news, but as the virus bounces between hemispheres, it may gain new mutations that allow it to infect more effectively or evade immunity. Some of our treatments, but not all, have stopped working against XBB strains. Monoclonal antibodies don't stop it, but antiviral drugs like Paxlovid and bivalent booster vaccines are still very effective.

But the combined lack of public interest in the pandemic, exemplified in victory marches from political leadership, has led to a shrinking pool of data on COVID as there is less funding afforded to tracking and research. As we've seen in previous surges, the situation can change without warning. The situation is made worse by wild animals that harbor COVID, a viral reservoir that could spill back to humanity if given the opportunity.

"The level of genomic surveillance has been dropping off, and there are also indications that funding for wastewater monitoring will be ending in some places," Dr. T. Ryan Gregory, an evolutionary and genome biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, told Salon in an email. "We have far less information than we used to, which hampers the ability to detect and track new variants. It's also worth noting that India and China include about one-third of the world's population, and we have very little information on variants there."

While overall trends are down, many people would be especially vulnerable to a COVID infection right now, according to Dr. Rajendram Rajnarayanan, an assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

"Very few of us have had the bivalent booster, so in terms of protection, we are kind of vulnerable," Rajnarayanan told Salon. He noted that COVID is still a serious, life-threatening disease for immunocompromised people and those over 70. Most people who got bivalent booster shots — if they did so at all — received the jab in the fall. By now, that immunity has likely waned and there hasn't been much communication about when or if a new booster will come out later this year. According to NPR, the Food and Drug Administration has said it will allow some people over the age of 65 to get a second bivalent booster, but it hasn't been officially announced yet.

So while infections are trending downward, immunity is as well. In the past, major gaps in immunity have been followed by major surges, such as with delta and omicron.

"When there is a big pause, and some new variant comes, we are not really protected. But when there are repeated waves, the previous wave usually protects the next wave." Rajnarayanan said. "Every time the variant goes down, something goes up later on. Just the gap between the two peaks has changed."

Despite the unpredictability of SARS-CoV-2, the strategy for fighting it hasn't changed. Masking in public, improving indoor ventilation, testing when appropriate, staying home when sick and keeping up with vaccines when possible are good strategies for keeping the virus at bay. But overall, it's not enough to say the emergency is over. We need to be strategic and keep a close eye on the evolution of COVID as well.

"People have changed, our approaches have changed, and we don't need any modern approaches to defeat this virus," Rajnarayanan said. "We know how to do this . . .  we have to do it collectively. That's all there is to it."

[naturalrights-retard]

In Pfizer’s data one of the listed DEATHVAX™ side effects was suicide. During the first year of the “pandemic,” The Center for Disease Crimes (CDC) claimed that suicides decreased:

According to an article by AP, around 49,500 people committed suicide last year in the U.S. That is the highest number ever, according to the latest government data.

The theory as to why there was a drop in suicides in 2020 was presented by the AP in their 2021 article, US suicides dropped last year, defying pandemic expectations:”

It is hard to say exactly why suicide deaths dropped so much, but one factor may be a phenomenon seen in the early stages of wars and national disasters, some experts suggested. “There’s a heroism phase in every disaster period, where we’re banding together and expressing lots of messages of support that we’re in this together,” said Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “You saw that, at least in the early months of the pandemic.”

The other component of said “heroism” was that it was far easier to generate fraudulent datasets by officials that were classifying all mortalities, not limited to suicide, as COVID-19 deaths so long as their fraudulent PCR tests (set at greater than 35 cycles) were “detecting” viral presence.

And now, just like all cause mortality post the slow kill bioweapon rollout has exploded, so too have suicides:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. than at any time since the dawn of World War II.

As per life insurance actuaries, all cause mortality has eclipsed death rates of WW2 and Vietnam combined…

[petnews2day]

Health weekend roundup: Bird flu, stroke risks, a mother's heartbreak and more

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/qzGdn

Health weekend roundup: Bird flu, stroke risks, a mother's heartbreak and more

CDC issues alert over bird flu case Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel on what to know about bird flu and why it is important to not look directly at the solar eclipse without proper glasses Fox News Digital publishes health pieces all week long to keep you in the know on a range […]

See full article at https://petn.ws/qzGdn #BirdNews

[pipelinelaserraygun]

MUST 👁️👁️ ⬆️ SEE tiktok‼️

God Almighty will do "what 🐳 needs MUST be done".

In unorthodox ways, God 📬 sends unfiltered messages.

🌒🌑🌘 Will the 4/8/24 solar eclipse OBSCURE the sun for 8 North American towns, ALL named Nineveh, as claimed in a video on TikTok? --YES.

Two of the eight places named Nineveh mentioned in the video -- Nineveh, Indiana, and Nineveh, Ohio -- will experience a TOTAL solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The other six places called Nineveh listed in the video are located outside the projected 115-mile-wide path of the moon's shadow, but WILL experience a PARTIAL solar eclipse like every other town in the contiguous 🇺🇸 United States.

Don't count on full disclosure by evildoers, 👺👺 servants of the devil 🎯, who target conservatives and Christians.

Don't count on full disclosure by evildoers, 👺👺 servants of the devil 🎯, who target conservatives and Christians.

It's about losing control of "📴-icial NARRATIVES".

demo-🐀 RATS create a distraction, to steer FOCUS away FROM developments that hurt THEIR chances.

⏩ lines of communication vary WIDELY, when sent by God Almighty. There are NO limits.

Beloved John Paul Salazar went to Heaven, in Feb '24.

Our Dad Arturo wrote 📜 me on 3/19: "This afternoon, a beautiful 🦋 (rare) butterfly came flying in our backyard, went around the house, and settled on a tree for over three hours. JP loved butterflies. We believe it was HIM reassuring us, 'DON'T worry about me, I am ok in the arms of ✝️ Jesus. Isn't it comforting?

THIS type of butterfly had become on the endangered spicies, in of ALL years 1976, when your Brother was born.

It's called a giant buttertail.

JP came to 🦋 visit us."

THIS photo is 📸 the specific butterfly that hung around for hours, at our home. It's a species MORE commonly found on the East Coast.

JP was ALSO fond of whales.

[justiceheartwatcher]

☕️ DISTRACTING BEASTS ☙ Saturday, June 24, 2023 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠

Good morning, C&C, and welcome to the Weekend Edition! Your roundup this morning includes: gigantic distracting Russia coup story eclipses Biden Bribery story, again; White House officials shilly-shally and refuse to answer questions about Hunter’s WhatsApp shakedown texts; Hunter dines well; White House finally delivers declassified covid origins “report”; SADS MMA heart attack; celebrity dancer turbo breast cancer; new anchor SADSly dies from brief illness; SADS teen idol turbo brain cancer; CDC cartoon advises more jabs; monkeypox jabs prevent serious illness; and a beast lumbers out of the sea in Destin.

[rhonuscorner]

It’s Eclipse hug time!

A doodle I started last night because I had a sudden need for wholesome Eclipse while I struggle my way through writing the first chapter of my AU. Figuring out how to draw his faceplate from the side was a pain but I’m happy with it. Y/N’s design is still a WIP, I haven’t decided on an outfit yet (hence the boring purple sweater) but the beanie will probably stay because it’s based on one I own and love. I’ll work on a proper ref for Y/N soon… ish. For now I wish I were them because I wanna hug Eclipse too TvT

(also yes I really love galaxy patterns lmao)

[your-dietician]

New York City announces its largest fentanyl seizure in history, eclipsing record bust from last month

New Post has been published on https://medianwire.com/new-york-city-announces-its-largest-fentanyl-seizure-in-history-eclipsing-record-bust-from-last-month/

New York City announces its largest fentanyl seizure in history, eclipsing record bust from last month

CNN  — 

Days after federal officials announced the largest fentanyl seizure in New York City history, an even greater quantity of the highly addictive substance has been found, authorities say.

Two people have been arrested and charged with multiple drug and firearm charges in connection to the seizure on October 7 at a Bronx apartment building, prosecutors said in a news release.

Authorities found roughly 300,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills inside two closets in the apartment, and more than 22 pounds of the drug in powdered form were wrapped in clear plastic packaging in multiple rooms, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. The total sum of the drugs is worth about $9 million in street value, officials said.

The historic seizure saved lives, according to DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino.

“Hundreds of thousands of lethal pills were lying in wait in a Bronx apartment to be unleashed onto our streets. In today’s world, the potential to overdose is dangerously high,” Tarentino said. “There is no quality control in these fake pills and it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to be lethal.”

The seizure comes after federal officials announced last week that a woman has been charged with concealing about 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills in a Lego box as part of a drug trafficking scheme in September. That seizure at the time was also deemed the largest of fentanyl in New York City’s history.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s highly addictive. It can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said.

Rainbow fentanyl comes in bright colors and can be used in pill form or powder.

“Rainbow fentanyl is the latest threat we face in our fight against the opioid epidemic that sadly continues to ravage our communities – a multi-colored poison specifically designed to attract younger users,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said.

And as Halloween nears, officials have been warning families to be especially vigilant regarding their children’s candy before they consume it.

The dangerous drug has been a major driver of fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US as well as the opioid epidemic.

Although there has been a slight decrease in recent months in drug overdose deaths, the numbers remain high. About 108,000 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending May 2022 – which is down from the record high of more than 110,000 deaths reported in the 12-month period that ended March 2022, CDC provisional data published Wednesday shows.

The latest overdose death figure remains 32% than it was two years earlier and higher than any other period before November 2021, according to the CDC data. Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, were involved in more than two-thirds of deaths in the 12-month period ending May 2022, and psychostimulants were involved in nearly a third.

Read full article here

[bna1333]

New COVID-19 cases in US soar to highest levels on record

 CHICAGO (AP) — More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.

 New cases per day have more than doubled over the past two weeks, eclipsing the old mark of 250,000, set in mid-January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.

 The fast-spreading mutant version of the virus has cast a pall over Christmas and New Year’s, forcing communities to scale back or call off their festivities just weeks after it seemed as if Americans were about to enjoy an almost normal holiday season. Thousands of flights have been canceled amid staffing shortages blamed on the virus.

 Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert, said Wednesday that there is no need to cancel small home gatherings among vaccinated and boosted family and friends.

But “if your plans are to go to a 40- to 50-person New Year’s Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, I would strongly recommend that this year we not do that,” he said.

 The threat of omicron and the desire to spend the holidays with friends and loved ones have spurred many Americans to get tested for COVID-19.

 Aravindh Shankar, 24, flew to San Jose, California, on Christmas from West Lafayette, Indiana, to be with family. Though he felt fine, he decided to get tested Wednesday just to play it safe, since he had been on an airplane.

 He and his family spent almost an entire day searching for a testing appointment for him before he went to a site in a parking lot next to the San Jose airport.

 “It was actually surprisingly hard,” Shankar said about trying to find a test. “Some people have it harder for sure.”

 The picture is grim elsewhere around the world, especially in Europe, with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying he is worried about omicron combining with the delta variant to produce a “tsunami” of cases. That, he said, will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse.”

 The number of Americans now in the hospital with COVID-19 is running at around 60,000, or about half the figure seen in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

 While hospitalizations sometimes lag behind cases, the hospital figures may reflect both the protection conferred by the vaccine and the possibility that omicron is not making people as sick as previous versions.

 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed over the past two weeks from an average of 1,200 per day to around 1,500.

 Public health experts will be closely watching the numbers in the coming week for indications of the vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing serious illness, keeping people out of the hospital and relieving strain on exhausted health care workers, said Bob Bednarczyk, a professor of global health and epidemiology at Emory University.

 CDC data already suggests that the unvaccinated are hospitalized at much higher rates than those who have gotten inoculated, even if the effectiveness of the shots decreases over time, he said.

 “If we’re able to weather this surge with hopefully minimal disruptions to the overall health care system, that is a place where vaccines are really showing their worth,” Bednarczyk said.

 It’s highly unlikely that hospitalization numbers will ever rise to their previous peak, said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School Public Health. Vaccines and treatments developed since last year have made it easier to curb the spread of the virus and minimize serious effects among people with breakthrough infections.

 “Its going to take some time for people to get attuned to the fact that cases don’t matter the same way they did in the past,” Adalja said. “We have a lot of defense against it.”

 But even with fewer people hospitalized compared with past surges, the virus can wreak havoc on hospitals and health care workers, he added.

 “In a way, those hospitalizations are worse because they’re all preventable,” he said.

 Several European countries, including France, Greece, Britain and Spain, also reported record case counts this week, prompting a ban on music at New Year’s celebrations in Greece and a renewed push to encourage vaccination by French authorities.

 WHO reported that new COVID-19 cases worldwide increased 11% last week from the week before, with nearly 4.99 million recorded Dec. 20-26. But the U.N. health agency also noted a decline in cases in South Africa, where omicron was first detected just over a month ago.

 ___ Associated Press writer Terry Tang in San Jose, California, contributed to this report.

[originalistideas]

Senator Johnson Sends Muscular Letter to FDA Questioning Hasty ‘Political’ Vaccine Approval

In a hard-hitting letter to the CDC, NIH, and FDA, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said the fast-track vaccine approval decision appeared more political than scientific since it skipped the usual formal advisory committee meeting and did not fully account for the reports of deaths and disabilities suffered by people after being vaccinated.

“I see no need to rush the FDA approval process for any of the three COVID-19 vaccines. Expediting the process appears to only serve the political purpose of imposing and enforcing vaccine mandates,” Mr. Johnson wrote.

The senator went on to outline some of the data from VAERS, which tallies adverse effects in people who get shots:

• As of Aug. 20, 12,791 worldwide deaths over an eight-month period have been associated with the three COVID-19 vaccines.

• Of the deaths, 4,632, or 36.2%, occurred within two days of the vaccination.

• A total of 571,831 adverse effects were reported, including 51,242 hospitalizations and 16,044 permanent disabilities.

Mr. Johnson noted that the 12,791 deaths eclipse the 8,966 deaths related to all other vaccines reported on VAERS since its creation 31 years ago.

“I am receiving a growing number of letters from doctors and nurses detailing the vaccine injuries they are witnessing and treating, together with the suppression and censoring of this information they are experiencing,” the senator said in the letter.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/aug/22/ron-johnson-warns-fda-covid-19-vaccine-approval-sh/

[feifiefofum]

So you really think that the central villain of a subplot that was at the core of one of the title characters’ personal arc, serving as her antithesis in every way, was just an “afterthought”? Just because RT abruptly threw out the White Fang subplot doesn’t mean it, and by extension it’s major characters, were pointless (or at least it SHOULDN’T have been pointless)

did i say pointless??? i said he wasn’t that interesting. was he central? sure. that still doesn’t make him interesting.

for example, would you call emperor palpatine interesting, just going by the original trilogy (for the sake of everyone’s well being we’ll completely ignore the travesty of the sequel trilogy and prequel trilogy). technically, he’s the main antagonist. but would you call him interesting? he’s little more than a cackling, evil space wizard that has thundaga for a main spell.

but he ain’t that interesting though.

let’s also take a look at firelord/phoenix king ozai. technically, he’s the main antagonist of atla. technically, he’s also the main antagonist of everybody’s boy zuko. on paper, he should be extraordinary. in reality, he’s eclipsed by azula by a long mile. he also had to be overcome by zuko, but he’s not interesting. much like our pal palpatine, he’s just not that interesting. he’s reduced to a 2d cardboard cutout of a ultra fascist. and i hate to say it, but adam falls into that category.

was adam central to blake’s character? sure. but when you boil him down to his core essentials, that blake, who’s pretty close to word of crwby, explicitly tells us that the word to describe him is spite, that his motivation is usually, mostly spite? well, i don’t have to deduce his character motivations for you, crwby pretty explicitly told you.

and the evidence bears it out.

he hates people and the cdc because of past cruelties dealt to him. but he’s violent and what’s to be violent, mostly to spite the one’s who wronged him. he has no long term goals, he doesn’t take the long view. there’s no conflict of goals for him- the boy threw a tantrum when he heard that blake was in menagerie. like a baby. like an irate two year old that didn’t get his way.

his downfall was all but inevitable at that point. if he had survived and avoided his vendetta with blake or even, i dunno, retreated, got good (as in improved himself not realigned) he might have demonstrated an ability to set goals and work to improve himself. but no, he’s short sighted and all but threw himself over the cliff. he could’ve avoided his confrontation with blake and yang, but the difference between adam and our protagonists is that he could not overcome his flaw.

and it’s such a petty flaw- being petty and spiteful. that’s all he’s got. dress up his motivation all you want, but he is motivated by that and any hint of his altruism will find a kernel of his spite there. his hate, his cruelty is nested in there.

and that’s just not that interesting. you see it in the black trailer, his spite towards the sdc leads to cruelty towards their workers. but where blake is interesting, she has conflicting morals (valuing life vs making a social statement that allows her to do a train heist) he’s very cavalier. from then on, blake has personally wronged him and he’s pretty obsessed with making her pay. because of, you guessed it, spite.

is he menacing? sure. is he fun to look at? won’t deny that. but he’s not that interesting. he’s a one trick pony- rather he’s a one motivation pony.

and that motivation has very little to do with the faunus/white fang’s motivations.

why are you trying to tie the struggle of the faunus to adam of all people? there’s sienna khan, the belladonnas, the happy huntresses, hell blake herself, who all deal with the white fang’s agenda in a nuanced and well thought out way. who put in the work, who work to change hearts and minds- hell yang did more to fight for faunus equality by calling out the old woman in vol 8 than adam ever did.

i get it, you subscribe to the idea that racism or whatever needs a head to be cut off and all problems solved. well, guess what, it’s more complicated than that and adam never picked up on that. the white fang’s still going on in the background, i’m pretty sure they’re seeds planted that will shape the coming narrative.

fiona thyme had to deal with leadership and the complexity of having to deal with passive aggressive people are on paper not racist but totally are. there’s nuance there, parallels to real life, of the oft-persecuted(faunus/poc) extending a hand to the oft-ignored(poor people) and dealing with the racism therein.

like that’s interesting. that’s complex and compelling. but she don’t got that katana or overtly violent demeanor. so she’s not interesting.

oh well.

we all like to subscribe to the idea that evil is this great and terrible thing. but it’s not, it’s pedantic, it’s even boring, and it sucks you into it’s pace. and a lot of our media teaches us not to recognize the mechanisms that put the nazi regime in place. you have to fight the mechanisms that put that kind of evil in place and guess what that mechanism was? can you guess it???

it’s fucking democracy!!!

americans experienced that shit for four years (explicitly in recent memory, but let’s not get into that) and democracy is usually the tool of the good. but then you look at the outcome of it all and you wonder- maybe not good??? and that’s complex and interesting.

everyone loves a dragon slaying, dark lord overthrowing romp. it’s simple and there’s no complexity there. and if you pluck a character like adam out of rwby and put him into one of those, you’ll get that. a main that doesn’t question his own motivations and cuts down his enemies- that’s a fun time all around. but you won’t get the faramir(movie)/samwise(book) moment of wondering if the enemy soldier wasn’t just a peace preferring peasant that would’ve preferred not to be going around killing people for the pleasure of some dark overlord.

that makes him uninteresting.

[petnews2day]

Amid bird flu concerns, is it safe to drink milk? Experts weigh in on the issue

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/news/pet-news/bird-news/amid-bird-flu-concerns-is-it-safe-to-drink-milk-experts-weigh-in-on-the-issue/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230&utm_campaign=social

Amid bird flu concerns, is it safe to drink milk? Experts weigh in on the issue

CDC issues alert over bird flu case Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel on what to know about bird flu and why it is important to not look directly at the solar eclipse without proper glasses Traces of bird flu have been detected in pasteurized milk — leaving many people wondering if it’s safe […]

See full article at https://petnews2day.com/news/pet-news/bird-news/amid-bird-flu-concerns-is-it-safe-to-drink-milk-experts-weigh-in-on-the-issue/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230&utm_campaign=social #BirdNews

[mswyrr]

The Trump administration on Monday pushed back against an internal government report, obtained by the New York Times, that predicts the daily coronavirus death toll could nearly double in the United States by early June.

The Times story cites an internal CDC update, acquired from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that predicts the number of deaths per day from COVID-19 will reach about 3,000 by June 1.

More than 68,000 people in the United States have already died from the coronavirus pandemic, summarily eclipsing an earlier estimate of a total U.S. death toll of 60,000 lives lost from the virus.

"This is not a White House document nor has it been presented to the coronavirus task force or gone through interagency vetting," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

The internal document obtained by the Times also suggests that by the end of the month, the country would likely experience 200,000 new cases a day, up from a current rate of about 25,000 a day.

They’re making a mass human sacrifice to free market capitalism, willfully and knowingly. They’re grinding our bodies up in the gears of the machine.