#When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus

[zealousideal-date698]

[ruth-cabbeen511]

[rogers-stevens-5555]

[berbsesolmer]

[pancakesfor2]

And They Were Roommates (1)

Summary: Unforeseen circumstances lead to you needing a roommate; when Bucky steps up, old feelings come back to light. The only problem is that he has a girlfriend.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader, Background Stevetony

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of racism.

Words: 1266

Written for @babylevines ‘s writing challenge!  My prompt will be in a later chapter!

Note: Here it is! This is my first series, and I’m really excited to share it with you! The taglist is open, just send an ask or reply to this post! Feedback is much appreciated!

Masterlist and Series Masterlist are in my bio!

“I hate everyone and everything,” you said, sinking down into the old couch and dumping your bag on the floor next to you. You picked at the flaking pieces of leather, always needing to do something with your hands. 

“Nice to know how much you love us,” laughed Natasha, gesturing to the rest of your friends, all perched on various pieces of furniture in her apartment. 

“My roommate’s moving to California, which means unless I can find some other sucker to live with me, I have to find a new apartment,” you said, explaining the reason for your bad mood. Everyone knew how much you loved your apartment, it was the perfect distance from campus while not actually being part of the school. You couldn’t afford the rent on your own, which is why you had a roommate, but now that she was moving away, you had to find someone new to pay half of the rent.

“Shit, that blows,” said Sam, with the others making various sounds of sympathy in response. 

“Yeah, Jess and I weren’t friends or anything, but she was reliable you know? She always had the rent on time, and she wasn’t a serial killer or a drug addict which was always nice.” 

“Really high standards there,” teased Tony, joining the conversation. Out of the whole group, you were probably closest to him, especially since you had the most classes together due to both of you studying engineering. Tony could joke around a lot, but he was always the person you went to for advice, and you were the same for him. 

“Who has high standards?” Steve asked, walking to the room with Bucky behind him. While Bucky came over and sat down next to you, Steve went to where Tony was sitting and plopped himself in the other man’s lap, pecking him on the lips. 

“Y/N’s looking for a new roommate, and her only two criteria are that they not be a serial killer or a drug addict,” Tony explained, shifting so that he was on top of Steve instead. 

They turned to you and all you offered was a shrug in response, you couldn’t afford to be picky with how desperate you were. And then Steve piped up with the answer to all your prayers, “Hey Buck, haven’t you been looking for somewhere new to live?”  

“Yeah, actually! Brock’s been making me pretty uncomfortable lately so I’ve been crashing at Dot’s, but it’d be nice to have my own space again. If that’s cool with you?”

You’d heard stories about Bucky’s infamous roommate Brock. His original housing plan had gotten messed up, so he had to find somewhere to live before the semester started and ended up with Brock. 

Having Bucky as your new roommate would be great. You’d known him for years, so you didn’t have to worry about that awkward period of getting to know someone while you lived with them. You also didn’t have to worry about him being a serial killer or a rapist which gave you peace of mind.  

“That would be perfect! You’d save me the headache of interviewing people for the spot. You’ve seen the apartment, so if you’re interested I can text you the details?” You and Bucky had fallen into your own side conversation, the rest of the room having moved on to talking about Tony’s newest robot. 

“I’m definitely interested. I love Dot, but not enough to live with her full time you know?” 

You nodded in response, not really wanting to get involved with his relationship, especially since you didn’t really know Dot, only having met her a couple of times. “I have the contract I used with Jessica on my phone, so if you wanna read through that we can see if anything needs to be changed,” you suggested, changing the subject to try and make things less awkward for yourself. 

Bucky accepted your phone and read through the document, nodding every few seconds. You didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by watching him read, so you turned to Tony and began to talk about what you were planning to work on the next time you’d be in his lab. Just as you’d decided that you’d meet next week, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You could tell by the cool temperature of the metal, that it was Bucky trying to get your attention because he’d finished reading the contract, “Everything looks good to me, when can I move in?” 

“Jess’s transfer came through really last minute, so she’ll actually be gone by the end of the week, that gives you like four days to get all your stuff together so you can move in at any point after Friday.” 

“You don’t even know how glad I am to get away from Brock,” he laughed, “If I have to hear him explain why Trump is exactly what this country needs one more fucking time I’m going to kill myself.”  

“Sounds like a great guy.”

“Oh yeah he’s the best. I actually think he’s single, want me to set you two up?” 

“Oh please Bucky!” You fluttered your eyelashes, playing up the desperate girl look. “Please set me up with him! I’ve always wanted to date sometime as charming and respectful as he is!” 

You tried to hold it together, but as soon as you saw the look on Bucky’s face you both burst out laughing. Your bodies were shaking, and there were tears streaming down both of your faces. The rest of your friends turned to look at you, and all it did was make you laugh harder. 

With your mind at ease about your housing situation, you were finally able to relax and enjoy a movie night with your friends. Carol and Rhodey were the last two to straggle in, signaling that you could finally start the movie. Just like every other week, an argument broke out between the group over what to watch; in the end, Natasha took charge and grabbed the remote from where Sam and Bucky were wrestling for it on the floor. 

Neither of you are picking the movie because you both have fucking awful taste,” she announced, pulling up Netflix and putting on the new Jake Gyllenhaal movie that you’d been talking about over lunch the other day. You smiled at her choice, knowing that if one of the two men had ended up with the remote you’d be stuck watching Shrek or Mean Girls again, the movies being their go to’s on movie nights. 

Before you knew it, the movie was over and it was time for you to go home. You and Bucky left at the same time and ended up sharing the elevator to the ground floor. “I’m glad you’re moving in,” you said, smiling up at the taller man. 

“Me too, doll,” he replied, squeezing your arm. You felt a flutter in your stomach at the action, and had to remind yourself that Bucky was just your friend and he had a girlfriend. 

Walking out into the street, you bid each other goodnight. Just as you were about to turn to go towards your car, Bucky pulled you into a hug, thanking you once again for letting him be your roommate. You told him it was no big deal, that really he was doing you more of a favor than you were to him, but he still insisted that you were really saving him with this opportunity. Climbing into your car, you let your head fall against the steering wheel, realizing how you were absolutely fucked.  

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

The first time Bob Duffy entered the world of epidemiology, he was an amateur scientist. It was 2003. He had retired from the New York City Fire Department and taken a sabbatical from his normal life in suburban Long Island to help his daughter Meghan earn her Ph.D. in Michigan. She was studying the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, using tiny lake crustaceans as a model organism.

Together, Meghan and Bob would go out in a truck, towing a little, flat-bottomed rowboat. They were studying how epidemics begin and spread under a variety of conditions. They’d unhitch at one lake, and then another, working their way across the countryside as they collected and counted diseased crustaceans and the fish that preyed on them. “Over the course of a few months, you can go through a whole epidemic,” Meghan Duffy told me. Her father was her paid research assistant, and one of his jobs was to catch the fish. After 30 years of running into burning buildings, he couldn’t believe his luck, she said.

The last time Bob Duffy entered the world of epidemiology, he was a statistic.

Bob Duffy was a father, grandfather, retired firefighter, and longtime volunteer in his Long Island community. He died on March 29.

COURTESY OF MEGHAN DUFFY

He died, at home, on March 29, 2020. Officially, the cause of death was chronic lung disease. But there was more going on than just that. A sudden illness had left him too fatigued to leave the house, and he had had contact with multiple people who later tested positive for COVID-19. Yet Bob’s death certificate doesn’t list that disease as a cause or even a probable cause of his death. He never got tested — he didn’t want to enter a hospital and be separated from Fran, his wife of 48 years.

Instead, because he didn’t die at a hospital and because this was at the beginning of the pandemic, when guidelines were rapidly changing and testing was hard to come by, Bob Duffy became one of the people who fell through the statistical cracks. As of this writing,1 22,843 New Yorkers have officially died from COVID-19. Bob Duffy is not counted among them.

More than a month later, the question of who counts as a COVID-19 fatality has become political. In Florida, the Medical Examiners Commission accused state officials of suppressing their state death count. Pennsylvania’s death tally bounced up and down, enough to prompt the state senate to discuss giving coroners a bigger role in investigating COVID-19 deaths. And President Trump has questioned the official national death count of 90,340 as of May 19,2 reportedly wondering whether it was exaggerated.

The experts who are involved in counting novel coronavirus deaths at all levels — from local hospitals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — disagree with the president. If anything, they say, these deaths are undercounted. And with a death like Bob Duffy’s, you can begin to see why.

Bob was a person, beloved by his family and his community. Ever since he died, Bob has also become a number — data entered into a spreadsheet, just like the tiny shellfish he and his daughter once pulled from cold Michigan lakes. His death might never end up being attributed to SARS-CoV-2, but his death matters to the way we understand it.

There was never a cough. Instead, the first sign of illness Fran Duffy remembers was when she and Bob tried to go for a walk and he couldn’t make it to the end of the block. “We got three houses down, and he said, ‘I can’t walk today. I’m too tired.’ I thought maybe he’s getting a bug. Maybe he’s just tired. So we came back. That was Wednesday,” she said.

He died four days later.

It was a very fast decline. But in other ways, Bob’s final illness was just part of a long string of sicknesses. Over the two decades since his retirement, he had had a stroke. He also had had cancer in his mouth, colon and liver. There was scarring — fibrosis — that had damaged his lungs and forced him onto supplemental oxygen. The radiation treatments that had cured his cancers years ago had also left him with nerve damage in his legs and a slowly eroding jawbone. Bob was not the picture of health. We are, after all, talking about a guy who worked for the NYFD during a time when firefighters did not routinely wear the ventilators and masks they had been issued. It was a macho thing, Fran said. You couldn’t be the one guy who put on the mask if nobody else did.

So when Bob got sick in late March this year, whatever it was was not the only thing he was sick with. He was also so sick of being sick that he wasn’t interested in going to the hospital. Even as his temperature soared to 103 degrees, Bob chose to do a video chat with his family doctor, Ihor Magun, rather than leave the house. Fran remembers the doctor suggesting they treat Bob as if he was positive for COVID-19, in terms of isolation from friends and family. He could have gotten a test — but the nearest testing center at Jones Beach was 30 minutes away, and then there were the long lines besides. Fran thought about driving him out there, but he was already sick enough that that option seemed worse for him than not knowing what it was that he had contracted.

All those small decisions, made in the moment because of what was best for Bob, ended up determining how his death was recorded.

The way deaths are counted, like so much else in the U.S., differs among (and even within) states. There’s a lot of variation in this process, even on a good day — a fact that stretches all the way back to the beginning of mortality records in this country. While the census began counting living people nationwide in 1790, recording deaths was left up to state and local governments. The first state to fully document its deaths was Massachusetts, in 1842. It wasn’t until 1933 that all states were turning in death counts to federal authorities.

Even today, now that the death certificate itself is fairly standardized, who first records your death and decides what you died of varies by where you live and where you die. And that variation is only likely to increase when people begin dying of a new disease that we still don’t understand. In Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, for example, medical examiners — medical doctors who investigate deaths and perform autopsies — must provide official certification for every COVID-19 or COVID-19-related death in the county, said Dr. Sally Aiken, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners. But that’s not true everywhere. In New York State, medical examiners get involved only in cases that seem strange or suspicious, like when an otherwise healthy young person dies with no prior warning, said Richard Sullivan, president of the New York State Funeral Directors Association. Otherwise, the decision is left up to health care workers.

Bob’s death certificate was filled out by his family doctor and did not mention COVID-19. The county medical examiner called Fran but asked only about Bob’s preexisting conditions. He had had enough of them that there was no reason to suspect foul play, and that was all the medical examiner needed to know.

If Bob had died in a nearby hospital, such as one of the ones in Nassau County owned by Northwell Health, he would have been tested for COVID-19, either before or after his death. Whether he’d been there for five minutes or a month, hospital staff would have been in charge of filling out the part of his electronic death record that pertains to cause of death, a representative from Northwell told me. This process can look deceptively simple — just write a cause of death on the line — but there’s more to it than you’d think.

A standard certificate of death provided by the National Center for Health Statistics leaves room for the chain of events that led to someone’s death.

The New York electronic death records form provides three lines for cause of death, which are supposed to be filled out in a way that tells a story. The idea is that nobody ever really dies of just one thing, Aiken told me. Even if you die in a traffic accident, the death record might read something like “Blunt force trauma … as a consequence of a car crash.” This is the information that helps people further up the data chain classify a death accurately. Leaving any part of the story out means a gap in the data later.

Not everyone fills out these records completely, though. And early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of confusion happening, said Shawna Webster, executive director of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, which represents vital registrars nationwide. “It might just say ‘coronavirus,’ which I’m sure you know is not as descriptive as it needs to be,” she said. There are, after all, multiple ways COVID-19 might kill a person. On the other end of the spectrum are people who fill out the forms completely wrong. “Please do not put ‘COVID-19 test negative,'” Webster said. “Do not do that. There were several.”

In the days after his first symptoms, Bob’s condition worsened. He’d become so tired he couldn’t leave the house — then so tired that walking anywhere by himself was impossible. He had a massively high fever. But even Saturday, the night before he died, he was still talking, Fran said, and so she asked him what he wanted for dinner. She expected something light. Bob said, “Corned beef hash.”

“I said, ‘Bob, corned beef hash?'” But he was sure. So Fran put it together for him, the man she loved. She had to move him to a wheelchair and bring him to the kitchen to eat. He could no longer walk without falling. “I bring him to the kitchen and I’m just turning to the sink to wash my hands and I hear plop,” she said. He had fallen asleep at the table. “His head went right down in the plate. And I just said, ‘Bob. What about the corned beef hash!’ So it just … he thought about it and he wanted it, but he just couldn’t get it, you know?”

Doctors say this kind of oxygen depletion and exhaustion — coupled with an ability to still communicate — is a common feature of COVID-19. Even after he collapsed at the table, Bob was lucid enough to talk to the priest who gave him his last rites later that night. He died the next day.

Over the next few weeks, it would become clear that Bob had been in contact with a number of potential sources of COVID-19 — or maybe he’d been a source that passed it to them. It’s impossible to know. His son-in-law was later diagnosed with the disease, and his wife — one of Bob’s three daughters — tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. One day Fran would open the newspaper to find that the woman who had cut her and Bob’s hair for three decades — and who had come to their house just before Bob got sick — had died of COVID-19.

But Bob’s death certificate makes no mention of the novel coronavirus. Bob’s doctor did not return requests for an interview, so we don’t know why he made the choices he did when completing the certificate. But Bob’s immediate cause of death is listed as “cardiopulmonary arrest” — his heart stopped — as a consequence of “chronic obstructive lung disease,” as a consequence of “fibrosis.”

Bob is a prime example of why doctors and other experts think that COVID-19 deaths are probably being undercounted — not overcounted, as some COVID-19 skeptics have alleged. In fact, if Bob had died today, there’s a decent chance that he’d have been labeled a “probable” COVID death, based on current CDC guidelines, which, among other things, advise doctors to include “probable COVID-19” on death certificates when a patient has had symptoms of the disease and been in contact with people who tested positive. Originally, only people who themselves had tested positive for the virus were being counted. Like Bob, a lot of people were probably left out. But even as the guidelines were revised and the national death count — which includes probable as well as confirmed cases — shot upward, experts said that undercounting was still more likely than overcounting.

COVID-19’s death toll has been so overwhelming that officials have had to resort to makeshift morgues in trailers.

TAYFUN COSKUN / ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

Some of this reasoning is based on logic. We know that we had a widespread shortage of tests when people were already dying of COVID-19, so it makes sense that these two problems would overlap at times.

Other reasoning is based on data. In a lot of states the number of pneumonia deaths in March was higher than what you’d expect for that time of year, or for the level of influenza active during that time — an important detail, given that pneumonia can often be a complication of that disease as well. These increases were particularly noticeable in New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, Washington and New York, according to research led by Dan Weinberger, a professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. But pneumonia isn’t the only way COVID-19 kills. All deaths in the state of New York went up in March, and these excess deaths — deaths above the usual rate for that place and time of year — outstrip diagnosed COVID-19 cases statewide by nearly three times. Data collected by The New York Times suggests that the high number of “excess” deaths in New York continued through April.

Yet another reason why experts say we’re not overcounting COVID-19 deaths is that we’re now counting them in much the same way as we have always counted deaths from infectious disease. The methodology is longstanding and is used for all sorts of diseases — and there’s never been cause to think that the methodology made us overcount the deaths from those other diseases.

In the bureaucracy of death everything happens fast, fast, fast, and then, after a while, things just grind on.

If you look at the CDC’s annual report of flu deaths, for example, you’ll see that it’s “estimated,” modeled on official flu deaths reported, deaths from flu-like causes reported, and what we know about flu epidemiology. The calculation is done this way precisely because public health officials know that a straight count of formally diagnosed flu deaths would be an undercount of actual flu deaths.

While flu tests aren’t in short supply and essentially anyone who wants to be tested for the flu can be, not everyone who catches it gets tested. Plenty of people get sick with the flu and never go to a doctor, said Alberto Marino, a research officer at the London School of Economics who has studied disease case and death counts for both LSE and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. If they die — especially if they are also old or have some underlying condition — the role the flu played in their deaths can easily go unnoticed and unrecorded. We don’t record “probable” flu deaths (again, the tests aren’t rationed), but we do record deaths due to “flu-like illnesses” — and plenty of people who die from the flu don’t have that listed as the cause on their death certificates.

Likewise, when a doctor lists COVID-19 as a condition that led to someone’s death — even if it was just the last in a series of illnesses — they’re not doing anything different from what’s been done with the flu for years, Aiken told me.

Basically, if you think COVID-19 deaths are being inflated, then you shouldn’t trust annual flu death counts, either. Or a whole host of other death counts. The only reason to really think that COVID-19 death counts are less trustworthy at this point is that the flu is politically neutral while the new coronavirus is not.

If there’s any major difference between the way we count flu deaths and the way we count COVID-19 deaths, it’s that nobody is trying to publish flu deaths daily, in real time. And that’s where death counting for COVID-19 gets complicated.

When Bob Duffy died, his community responded immediately. Fran found her mailbox filled with cards; flowers and baked goods piled up on the porch. At one point, there were so many tulips, hydrangeas and pansies that the Amazon delivery guy started to make comments, so Fran decided to plant the flowers around the yard. “There’s not one card that doesn’t have a separate letter in it,” she said. And many were from people she didn’t even know.

Besides being a firefighter and Ph.D. assistant, Bob spent many years working with the local Catholic parish’s social ministry. Essentially, he was a volunteer social worker. He made sure people who were hungry found meals. He helped strangers pay their utility bills, and he coordinated a Long Island-wide food bank. “Most people volunteer one day a week. Bob officially volunteered five days a week,” Fran told me. “He ended up with the keys to the parish. He was up there seven days a week, and he couldn’t be stopped.”

So when he did stop, people cared. And they cared for his widow.

Bob Duffy’s family will never know for sure whether he died of COVID-19.

COURTESY OF MEGHAN DUFFY

Death happens suddenly, abruptly. At first, family, friends and, sometimes, if we’re lucky, strangers burst into action like Roman candles, sending out showers of casseroles and condolences like sparks. For a short period of time, there is a lot to do, decisions to be made, love to be accepted. But then there is quiet. And then there is the rest of your life. The absence that death leaves behind lasts far longer than the initial flurry of condolences.

The bureaucracy of death has a similar dynamic — first, everything happens fast, fast, fast, and then, after a while, things just grind on.

In New York, in the heady first day or two after a person dies, the doctor or hospital enters the cause of death on an electronic death record, the funeral home fills out demographic data on the same form, and the state registrar of vital statistics logs the data. But from there things slow down considerably.

Usually, that’s fine — death statistics aren’t so volatile that we need them to be updated as quickly as, say, election returns or live sports scores. But the pandemic has changed our relationship with these stats. Now they’re how we know whether we’re stopping the spread of COVID-19, and just how big that spread is. The problem is that the system isn’t designed to do that work.

Normally, if a death is uncomplicated and requires no investigation or autopsy or debate, death records are transferred to the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the CDC that organizes and analyzes the data of life and death in this country. It’s here that a death is categorized and tabulated. And this process is happening now, with COVID-19 deaths as well.

It takes time to investigate some of the deaths and get them to NCHS — the frequency of investigations varies widely, but state-level emergency operations teams work with medical personnel and state epidemiology surveillance to review COVID-19 deaths and possible COVID-19 deaths, Webster said. So the records can be in the state databases for a while before they’re solid enough that they go to NCHS. Then, someone at the NCHS is reading each of these death records to make sure that, say, a car crash victim who happened to have a COVID-19 diagnosis is logged in a database differently from a COVID-19-positive patient who died on a ventilator. The result of all this is that, even though public counts include confirmed COVID-19 deaths and probable ones, the deaths aren’t just being recorded willy-nilly. And it will be possible, in the future, to go back and look at the records and see which cases were confirmed by testing and which weren’t.

But these are slow stats. And they’re slowed down even further by the confusion caused by a novel virus pandemic. Currently, the count of COVID-19 deaths produced this way is at least two weeks behind, said Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch of the NCHS. The counts in some states, including New York, might be lagging even more. This system is the gold standard, Webster said, but it’s designed to produce accurate statistics — not monitor a pandemic in real time.

Death is hard — hard to count, hard to experience.

And so the CDC also has fast stats on COVID-19 deaths. Besides going to the NCHS, the data from the New York State vital records office is also gathered directly from that agency’s database and into one maintained by USAFacts, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization charged with collecting daily death reports from the state and county registrars that first record them. The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker comes directly from the USAFacts count.

That means there are two distinct death counts being published by the CDC — one slow, one fast. (That’s in addition to counts being kept by Johns Hopkins University, The New York Times, and other entities.) As of May 19, the CDC’s slow count was 67,008, and its fast count was 90,340. You’ll find both counts in various sections of the CDC’s website, and when you look at those pages, it’s not always clear what these separate counts do and don’t represent. It’s easy to get confused and assume that the death count you’ve just seen in the newspaper has suddenly been cut in half. On May 2, conservative firebrand Dinesh D’Souza falsely claimed exactly that, linking his followers to the CDC’s slow count.

The smaller, slow count is more accurate, but it doesn’t reflect how many people have died as of today. It’s weeks behind. The fast count does a better job of portraying the real-time situation, but the exact number will shift as state and local counts fluctuate. Some of that change is due to confusion between state and local entities. New York City, for example, has its own vital records office — almost as though it’s an independent state — and the fast-count numbers it produces for itself don’t usually match the fast-count numbers produced for it by the State of New York, said Tanveer Ali, a data visualization analyst for USAFacts.

And while Bob Duffy will not be counted in either the slow or the fast counts happening now, he will likely end up included in the data — if only by algorithmic proxy. Eventually, experts said, the CDC will come back and do an estimated burden of death counts for COVID-19, just as it does for the flu every year.

All of this is why we won’t know the exact number of people who died of COVID-19 for years, Aiken said. Again, that’s nothing new. Final estimates for the number of people who died in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic weren’t published until 2011. Getting the slow count right, sorting through differences between disparate and nonstandardized state reporting systems, correcting errors and categorizing probable cases, finding ways to understand how many Bob Duffys we’re missing — it all takes time. This is, experts emphasized again and again, something nobody has ever done before. But the precedent that does exist suggests we shouldn’t expect to get a “right” answer soon. “If you look at opioid mortality, they’re two and a half years behind on compiling that,” Aiken said.

Death is hard — hard to count, hard to experience. The personal and the statistical both reside in a space where the question of “what happened” can be answered as an absolute — as certain as we can ever be about a thing — while simultaneously remaining painfully inexact and mysterious.

We will almost certainly never know exactly how many Americans died of COVID-19. But any count we get by leaving out deaths probably related to the virus — and, ultimately, leaving out Bob and a lot of people like him — will be less accurate than a count that includes them.

“We like to have answers. We like to have a yes, a no, a definite answer,” Fran said. Bob had been dead for about a month when Fran spoke to me from her kitchen. Just that day, someone she didn’t know had sympathetically left a loaf of banana bread in her mailbox. He was still so close. He was so far away. “But we certainly don’t always get what we like,” she said. “That’s really the truth, you know?”

Additional reporting by Kaleigh Rogers.

[sataniccapitalist]

The True State of the Union

“All the pomp and circumstance of the State of the Union speech was present last night — the introductions, the stage-managed applause, the honored guests — and this: Donald Trump giving the crowd his profile like Nero, sneering and gesticulating at the Democrats, clapping and clapping and clapping into his own microphone to keep the applause lines going like some starving seal in a two-bit circus. Standing under the lights last night, he looked like a new penny at the bottom of a truck stop toilet bowl, all copper sheen and the stink of ammonia.”

I wrote that a year ago about the last State of the Union address, and I have no reason to doubt tonight will prove to be any different. These addresses have been, by and large, wildly overwrought exercises in fiction, ego-inflation and ersatz patriotism since Ronald Reagan decided to go big with them four decades ago. Now that Donald Trump has lumbered onto the scene, however, the charade has become quite completely surreal, a festival of lies, bombast and full-throated nonsense that beggars likeness.

They will stand, they will sit, they will clap, they will leave, and nothing of substance or import will have been imparted to the people. Therefore, my colleagues and I at Truthout have endeavored to compile a collection of facts about the actual state of the union, and indeed the world, as a companion piece to the speech.

What follows does not cover every topic and crisis worthy of attention. The ongoing calamity of for-profit health care, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, racist police violence, Yemen, the Forever Wars and other vital subjects will be discussed in a variety of articles to come. Here is an incomplete yet all-too-necessary look at a few of the most pressing concerns we face. Here is the truth, as best as we can state it, about the state of things. It is not pretty, not without hope, and exactly what you deserve to hear.

— William Rivers Pitt

The Climate Crisis Grinds On

Since the Trump administration began, it has launched a wholesale war against any legislation, laws, or other actions aimed at regulating, mitigating or stemming the tide of runaway climate disruption. At a time when governments around the world should be making managing the impacts of climate change their highest priority, given that the very survival of the human species could well depend upon it, they have instead:

Withdrawn the United States from the Paris climate accord;

Waged a war against climate science by cutting budgets for data and analysis on the subject;

Eased carbon emission rules for new coal plants;

Issued an executive order calling for a sharp increase in logging on public lands;

Nominated coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

Rolled back Obama-era coal rules that served to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants;

Delayed a climate change lawsuit brought forward by 21 youths;

Approved the first offshore oil wells for the Arctic, and so much more.

All this, despite the fact that the Trump administration has also predicted a seven degree increase in global temperatures by 2100.

— Dahr Jamail

The Racist Underbelly of Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has continued its campaign of anti-migrant violence unabated, deporting record numbers of people in 2018. In only the past week, we’ve learned that the agency created a fake university in order to incarcerate over 100 immigrants. ICE has confirmed that it is force-feeding at least nine detainees.

We’ve also recently observed the second anniversary of the shameful executive order known as the “Muslim ban.” Meanwhile, the administration’s assault on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which protects approximately 700,000 immigrants from deportation, is momentarily halted by various court orders.

Although Trump has not deported nearly as many people as did Obama — the deporter-in-chief — the current administration has laid bare the depths of racism that underpin our immigration system.

The US tortures migrants. It traumatizes children and their families. It allows private prisons to exploit them as slave labor. It lets them die in detention.

Our nation’s immigration policy will not attend to what matters most — human lives — until it starts from the roots of the crisis: decades of US invasions and interventions throughout the Middle East and Latin America, including the 2009 US-backed coup in Honduras; and a neoliberal trade policy that displaces, dispossesses and immiserates workers and Indigenous communities. We must also ask what another US-backed coup, such as the ongoing attempt in Venezuela, would do to deepen the crisis.

The two parties continue to approach immigration from the point of view of security, but fail to address the far greater threats — or actual threats — posed to our lives, such as fossil fuel executives, white supremacists,nuclear weapons and Wall Street.

Our nation’s immigration policy will not attend to what matters most — human lives — until it starts from the roots of the crisis.

The truth is that caravans will continue to come to our borders for years to come. The construction of walls, whether in the form of Trump’s “vision” of actual barriers, or the Democrats’ Silicon Valley wet dream, will not address the crisis. The movement of peoples spawned by capitalism and empire will not end with a fence or “comprehensive immigration reform.”

This past month, the Trump administration used federal workers as a bargaining chip in its quest to fund a racist border wall, which is nothing more than a monument to anti-immigrant racism. Millions of workers have suffered, and millions more might not be paid for their labor. But when workers threatened to withdraw their labor, they shut down the shutdown.

As we’re likely very soon to hear about a “state of emergency” at the border that once again renews the attacks on immigrants, herein lies the real power to fight back — the organized masses of workers and oppressed communities. Only together can we demand the most humane immigration policy: Let them all in!

— Anton Woronczuk

The State of the Prison Nation

This past year, the state of prison reform reached peak hypocrisy. Donald Trump signed the First Step Act — a much-celebrated bill that offers meager reforms and an expansion of mass surveillance — the day after implementing a draconian new anti-refugee policy and affirming he wouldn’t sign a budget bill without wall funding. Congress rallied around the First Step Act with bipartisan cheer. Trump is likely to mention it in tonight’s State of the Union address.

Meanwhile, it will do practically nothing to alleviate mass incarceration, and will deepen the reach of racist, insidious prison-like mechanisms like electronic monitoring. This type of tinkering around the edges does not address our shameful reality: The state of our “union” is a state of pervasive imprisonment, both inside and outside the walls and bars. Almost 2.3 million people are trapped in prisons, jails (including immigration jails, Indian Country jails and youth jails), military prisons, civil commitment centers and psychiatric hospitals.

At least 80,000 of them are held in solitary confinement — a practice widely recognized to be torture. Immigrant jails saw a record highpopulation this year. The impact of incarcerative punishment reaches far past the prison walls: More than half of the people in the United States have a family member who is or has been incarcerated.

Meanwhile, about 4.5 million people are under “correctional control”: parole or probation. About 438,000 children (and increasing) are ensnared in the foster care system — another branch of the prison nation, as criminology scholar Beth Richie has pointed out. And 3.2 million children have been caught up in often invasive, and even abusive,child “protective” services investigations.

The prison, policing and surveillance systems are not only a feature of our society, they saturate it.

Police are nearly everywhere in our society. Approximately 10.6 million arrests take place each year, and last year, cops killed 1,166 people. More than 40 percent of schools have police on site. Moreover, an increasing number of people are being placed on surveillance devices, such as electronic shackles,that stretch the reach of the prison nation even further.

The prison, policing and surveillance systems are not only a feature of our society, they saturate it.

Black and Brown people, as well as other marginalized groups, are overwhelmingly impacted by these systems. The relevance of race and marginalization is not just a question of disproportions. The prison and punishment systems are built on a foundation of white supremacy, born out of slavery and colonialism, fueled by anti-Blackness and racism. These are systems that punish people for their poverty, their disabilities, their addictions. These are systems that persecute and torture trans, nonbinary and queer people.

Even as Donald Trump endorses (extremely limited) reforms, he’s enthusiastically supporting the capture, confinement and punishment — in one form or another — of many millions of oppressed people. Regardless of what Trump says tonight during his speech, he is presiding over a “union” whose veins pulse with torturous punishment, whose lifeblood is oppression, and whose bones are bars of steel.

— Maya Schenwar

Strange Days on the Media Front

It’s been something of a best of times/worst of times situation on the media front. The media landscape has never been so vast and infested with landmines. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has killed net neutrality for the moment. The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) and the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) are hurting more people than helping. Corporate media continue to revel in corporate-media-ness (the wall-to-wall coverage of a coffee chain billionaire taking his ego for a walk serving as a sample platter). Journalists are losing jobs left and right — Buzzfeed reminded everybody on hard news shortly before laying off 200 employees in the name of profits.

Even when it’s good — even when it’s great! — much of blockbuster cinema perpetuates authoritarian, reactionary and monarchical narratives. The threat of a certain kind of magical thinking spilling over from pop entertainment into real-life decision-making can be overblown in many arenas, but it can be unnerving to consider wealthy tech brosmistaking themselves for Tony Stark and mistaking that for a good thing. It’s not reassuring that our most popular narratives extol the message that “only a handful of ‘better’ people can save us, if only we didn’t hold them back with pesky rules.”

One could feast exclusively on free (often donation-funded) video essay content endlessly on YouTube. The rise of BreadTube and the like has led to massively entertaining and educational content receiving a larger audience and support. Just a tiny sample from this past year: Shannon Strucci’s illuminating work on parasocial relationships; Lindsey Ellis’sdocumentary-length treatise on The Hobbit films making a surprising pivot toward labor concerns; Donoteat explaining why highways never solve the problems they’re prescribed for; Contrapoints, raising the aesthetic bar for the rest of YouTube with her videos, including those on incels, Jordan Peterson and capitalism… the list of amazing essays released in the past year is intimidating.

A downside: it’s become impossible to spend any amount of time on YouTube without having “alt-right”/anti-feminist/white supremacist/conspiracy garbage force-fed to your stream. Let one slip through on an auto-play and all of a sudden, the algorithm’s decided it’s true love and opened the sluice gates.

The networks we build offline and online between each other remain essential.

It’s another sign of the undeniably strange times we’re living in. While many are trapped in information bubbles formed by culture as well as by algorithms, the possibilities of media have reached weird and inspiring heights. For instance: H. Bomberguy’s Donkey Kong 64 stream in support of Mermaids, a group that helps out trans youth, was both heartwarming and surreal. Who could have expected to see some of the most entertaining, left-leaning YouTubers on the same stream as Chelsie Manning, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the guy who made DOOM, all cheering on trans rights and a sleep-deprived YouTuber playing a 90s video game?

The messages that support progressive causes and human empathy may win out in value, but if they are not communicated well enough, far enough and often enough, they will lose out to messaging that preys on fear, hatred and greed bankrolled by billionaires. It is both a thrill and a relief to see more effective progressive messaging reach larger audiences through a growing, more diverse and more empowered chorus of voices. However, platforms are not our friends, and we need to be prepared when the ground beneath us shifts. From platforms to platform games, there are helping hands there for the taking. The networks we build offline and online between each other remain essential.

— Jared Rodriguez

The State of the Unions Is (Surprisingly) Strong

While Trump touts the economy, the most recent jobs report reveals that the new jobs being created under his administration pay much less than existing ones and are less likely to be unionized. Wage growth has just barely ticked up to 3.2 percent over the last year — remaining lower than where it was before the Great Recession. Further, many of the 800,000 federal workers who spent more than a month locked out of their workplaces during the longest partial government shutdown in history have yet to fully recover, with the recent rise in unemployment being attributed to furloughed workers who reported being unemployed in January.

It’s clear workers still aren’t reaping the rewards of their labor since Trump took the White House, and these conditions are increasingly driving worker militancy under an administration determined to crush organized labor. In fact, labor has seen a stunning resurgence under Trump even after the passage of Janus v. AFSCME, which gutted unions of their ability to collect “fair share fees.”

Teachers are on the front lines of this labor resurgence.

Teachers are on the front lines of this labor resurgence. Building on the momentum of historic teacher strikes last year, teachers are wasting no time in 2019. Educators in Los Angeles launched a successful six-day strike in January, as teachers in Denver and Oakland are now gearing up to follow their lead with strikes of their own in the coming weeks. These “Red for Ed” educators are leading the labor movement, showing unions how to push back against tax cuts for corporations and privatization efforts that hurt communities. The state of the unions looks strong, despite the administration’s tremendous efforts to quell worker dissent.

— Candice Bernd

The State of the Fascist State

Disturbingly, the psychological impacts of the Trump administration’s more fascistic policies seem to have diminished in the last year. One need only examine the difference between the public upheaval over child separations in 2018 and the far more subdued condemnations we witnessed over the weekend, as word broke that the Trump administration has disclosed that there are thousands more separated children than was previously acknowledged, and argued that locating the children may not be “within the realm of the possible,” since authorities did not track where the separated children were being placed.

A similarly subdued public reaction was on display during the government shutdown, when Trump threatened to circumvent Congress by declaring a state of emergency in order to build the wall. While furloughed federal workers protested the shutdown, and grassroots efforts opposing the violence of the immigration system have been ongoing, these efforts were not met with the high level of public participation we saw in earlier protests of the Trump administration’s policies. Even as some warned that an emergency declaration could have major authoritarian consequences, the country did not erupt in the kind of protests we witnessed earlier in the administration. This process of normalization is symptomatic of fascistic politics, and should be viewed as an alarming symptom of the United States’ social and political decline.

Our success or failure in proclaiming that right and wrong exist may be the defining struggle not simply of our times, but of all of human history.

The Democrats’ newfound dominance in the House, coupled with a focus on 2020 Democratic candidates, has fueled complacency, with many liberals viewing Trump’s agenda being hampered by Democratic gains. While some Democrats believe Trump is on the ropes, with the Mueller investigation, yet again, supposedly nearing its end, we would be remiss to see the threat Trump poses as diminished by Mueller or recent Democratic gains. As Trump has repeatedly established, he is willing to act unilaterally in his attacks on the environment, civil liberties and the social safety net — and the cultural impact of his racist, xenophobic rhetoric has not been lessened by the trials he has faced.

If anything, attacks on Trump appear to rally his base. The valorization of white rage continues unabated by his followers, and escalations should be expected from Trump’s supporters as Democratic attacks on Trump’s presidency and agenda continue. While the House may be able to push back against Trump’s legislative impacts, the culture war between white supremacy and those who oppose it has been accelerated past the point of legislative interruption.

While some continue to speak to a need for unity, the need for further polarization in response to the global rise of fascism continues, and with climate change on the table, our success or failure in proclaiming that right and wrong exist, and that evil must be opposed, may be the defining struggle not simply of our times, but of all of human history.

— Kelly Hayes

[pinkdeerbeard]

"So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn't been checked. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that, too."

 "I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

 When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..." 

[david-909]

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..." 

[mugaisjoke]

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

Writing about a meeting with American COVID-19 testing manufacturers early in her tenure, Birx said that learning that the White House had dragged its feet on meeting with manufacturers, on top of limited tests and slow test processing, represented a "worst-case scenario."

Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

“Try disinfectant injections”

Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

At a White House press conference on April 23, 2020, DHS officials said that Novel Coronavirus survival rates are significantly lower in high-light, high-temperature conditions;   Some disinfectant components have a noticeable effect on killing Novel Coronavirus.

Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

"So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn't been checked. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that, too."

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..." 

Recalling the day, Deborah said she wanted to disappear.

Birx froze, hands clenched on her lap. “I looked down at my feet and wished for two things: something to kick and for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.”

Since the pandemic began, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States has repeatedly exceeded worst-case predictions.

On May 21, Popular Science reported that the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States in a single day is now around 300, which is three times the daily death toll from car accidents in the United States.

[relationshipidiot]

King Push v. 6ixGod

OCTOBER 12, 2016

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H.G.T.V. FREESTYLE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half a year later, still ain't heard an album greater The natives want me out of the office, back on the pavement Jokers at the top know the king is nothin' to play with 9 to 5 money is just as sweet as the grave shift El presidenté, Blowbama, blow by ya Chopper next to me in every picture, Osama Oh mama, they question my starting line up You only find a diamond from diggin' like coal miners Don't listen to 'em, Desiigner The same rappers talkin' next year will be Uber drivers (Fuck 'em) Chanel dad hats, but you don't know that they got 'em Trap door shopper, they rotate the wall So you will never see me as you rotate the mall 330 spin, cook a steak up on this grill Me myself and I, we like a hamster in the wheel Rolls emblem, Black Virginia Pull in a neighborhood I don't blend in Album of the year contender every year The kitchen's full of work, it's blenders everywhere Blended bitches everywhere that do the most They never seen with him so they fuck his ghost Invisible man, timepiece with the invisible hands MJ, remember the time they counted in sand hourglass But mine come with purse and heels And the DIY Gucci with the crest and shields 

TO DRAKE 

It's too far gone when the realest ain't real I walk amongst the clouds so your ceilings ain't real These niggas Call of Duty cause their killings ain't real With a questionable pen so the feelin' ain't real Rap's John Grisham I can paint the picture with the words if you listen (shh) The bar's been lowered, the well's run dry They beefin' over melodies, but no, not I (yugh) See I'm so top 5 If they factor in the truth I just might blow by Blowbama

~~~~~~~~~~~TWO BIRDS W ONE STONE by DRAKE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OCTOBER 29, 2016

More time with family and friends, more life
More time to get it right
It's only me, but I'm seeing four shadows in the light
My demons visit me every night
To the most high, I'm forever indebted
I know I gotta pay somethin', I know that day's comin'
I put it all in the music
Because if I don't say it here, then I won't say nothin'
Could feel my hand getting tired from holding the grudges
Two birds, one stone, my aim is amazin'
I need to start losing my shit on you niggas that's hatin'
Too reserved, like I called ahead for me and my lady
Free C5, how the fuck we got the boss waiting?
Ever since the blue basement, I found God and I lost patience
Between rocks and hard places of all places
Spotted everywhere, like Dalmatian
Cops snoop around now, 'cause all of my dogs famous
Please welcome the October fall baby
Vaughan Road Academy, star player—my mind's not all there
Used to carry a lot of dead weight like a pallbearer
People too scared to tell the truth, so it's all dares
Count it, it's all there, and we all square
Quick money, I'm in and out
My dad used to use a soap bar 'til it's thinnin' out
But, shit, look at Dennis now
All Stacy Adams and linnen'd out
More blessings for Sandy and him, more life
My parents never got it right
But God bless 'em both, I think we all alike
We all wide awake late at night, thinking on what to change
If we do get to do it twice in another life
Scared to go to sleep now
'Cause being awake is what all my dreams were like
Back when the bar that I had set for myself was out of sight
Tell me how I went and did chin-ups
On this shit when I can't see it
Pin-ups of Meagan Good and Pam Grier
Soul sisters inspired my old scriptures
Now that feeling's gone like them old pictures
Mixin' liquor got us both twisted, words get so vicious
You just stare at me while you roll Swishers
Girl, I love you, but I don't miss ya
And no matter what year it is, I'm a 06er
Go figure, cold nigga, stay in school, man
Fuck the rap game, it's all lies and it's all filthy
Two percent of us rich and the rest of these niggas all milk it
Got two of my niggas off with a "not guilty"
Gave back to the city and never said it if I didn't live it
But still they try and tell you I'm not the realest. 
Like I'm some privileged kid
That never sat through a prison visit
Or like it was just handed to me tied with a ribbon. 
I never worked to get it

TO PUSHA


But really it's you with all the drug dealer stories
That's gotta stop, though
You made a couple chops and now you think you Chapo
If you ask me though, you ain't lining the trunk with kilos
You bagging weed watching Pacino with all your niggas
Like, "This what we need to be on," but you never went live
You middle-man in this shit, boy, you was never them guys
I can tell, 'cause I look most of you dead in your eyes
And you'll be tryna sell that story for the rest of your lives
Can't show us where the cash is
Me, I don't judge, I'm just going off what the math is
Numbers inflated
They all look at me, like, "What have you done for me lately?"
"I like your older shit but wasn't in love with the latest."
Aw, baby, stop debatin', I'm just a creative
My numbers out of this world
No wonder they got me feeling so alienated

TO CUDI


You were the man on the moon
Now you just go through your phases
Life of the angry and famous
Rap like I know I'm the greatest
Then give you tropical flavours
Still never been on hiatus
You stay xann'd and perk'd up
So when reality set in, you don't gotta face it
I'm down 200 in Vegas but winning life on a daily basis
It seems like nobody wants to stay in my good graces
I'm like a real estate agent, putting you all in your places
Look what happens soon as you talk to me crazy
Is you crazy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~INFARED~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[on the album]

TO DRAKE

The game's fucked up Niggas beats is bangin’, nigga, ya hooks did it The lyric pennin' equal the Trumps winnin' The bigger question is how the Russians did it It was written like Nas but it came from Quentin At the mercy of a game where the culture’s missing When the CEO's blinded by the glow, it's different Believe in myself and the Coles and Kendricks Let the sock puppets play in their roles and gimmicks, shit Remember Will Smith won the first Grammy? And they ain't even recognize Hov until "Annie" So I don't tap dance for the crackers and sing Mammy 'Cause I'm posed to juggle these flows and nose candy (yugh) Ferrari, my 40th, blew the candles out Tom Brady'ed you niggas, I had to scramble out They be ridin’ these waves, I pulled my sandals out Jefe Latin my Grammy, I went the Spanish route

REFERENCING BACKLASH FOR DISSING BIRDMAN & CASHMONEY

Oh now it’s okay to kill Baby Niggas looked at me crazy like I really killed a baby Salute Ross 'cause the message was pure He see what I see when you see Wayne on tour Flash without the fire Another multi-platinum rapper trapped and can’t retire Niggas get exposed, I see the cracks and I'm the liar? Shit I've been exposed, I took the crack and built the wire

BACK TO DRAKE

Now who do you admire? Your rap songs is all tryin' my patience Them prices ain’t real without inflation I done flew it, I done grew it, been a conduit Moynat bags on my bitches, I done blew it See through it, neck, igloo it Habla en español, I y tu it Let Steven talk streamin' and Shazam numbers I'll ensure you gettin' every gram from us Let's cram numbers, easily The only rapper sold more dope than me was Eazy-E How could you ever right these wrongs When you don't even write your songs? But let us all play along We all know what niggas for real been waitin' on, Push

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DUPPY FREESTYLE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAY 25 

{ALL TO PUSHA}

So if you rebuke me for working with someone else on a couple of Vs What do you really think of the nigga that's making your beats? I've done things for him I thought that he never would need Father had to stretch his hands out and get it from me I pop style for 30 hours, then let him repeat Now, you popping up with the jokes, I'm dead, I'm asleep I just left from over by y'all putting pen to the sheets Tired of sitting quiet, and helping my enemies eat Keep getting temperature checks They know that my head overheats Don't know why the fuck you niggas listen to Denim or Steve Must've had your Infrared wrong, now your head on the beam Ya'll are the spitting image of whatever jealousy breeds Don’t push me when I’m in album mode You not even top 5 as far as your label talent goes You send shots, well, I got to challenge those But I bring Calicos to the Alamo I could never have a Virgil in my circle and hold him back 'cause he makes me nervous I wanna see my brothers flourish to their higher purpose You niggas leeches and serpents I think it's good that now the teachers are learning, yeah Your brother said, it was your cousin then him, then you So, you don't rap what you did, you just rap what you knew Don't be ashamed, it's plenty niggas that do what you do There's no malice in your heart, you're an approachable dude Man, you might've sold the college kids for Nikes and Mercedes But, you act like you sold drugs for Escobar in the 80's I had a microphone of yours, but then the signature faded I think that pretty much resembles what's been happening lately Please believe your demise will be televised, yeah And as for Q, man I changed his life a couple times Nigga was at Kroger working double time Ya'll acting like he made the boy when I was trying to help the guy Yeah, who gassed you to play with me? Man, you made this shit easy as ABCs Whoever supposedly making me hits, but then got no hits sound like they need me My hooks did it, my lyrics did it, my spirit did it I'm fearless with it, yeah I really shouldn't have given you none of my time 'Cause you older than the nigga you running behind Look, holla at me when you multi-million I told you keep playing with my name and I'ma let it ring on you Like Virginia Williams I'm too resilient, get out your feelings It's gonna be a cruel summer for you I told Weezy and Baby "I'ma done him for you" Tell 'Ye we got a invoice coming to you Considering that we just sold another 20 for you

[villainousfics-blog]

Trick Up My Sleeve (Part 1) Joker x Reader

“Your eyes betray you, love,”  said the madman sitting across the table.

“You know my eyes like to play tricks.”

“Yes,” he glanced up from the cards in his hands, smirking. “Almost as much as I do.”

You stare straight into his eyes as you flip the trump card and close the talon.  The next turns proceed rapidly, you both are seasoned pros at Schnapsen.

Many people came to question who the strange little lady playing the strange little card game with the Clown Prince of Crime in his infamous booth was.  You didn't blame them, it was a rather odd series of events that lead to your meetings.  There was a monthly card game for the employees of the upscale casino you worked in.  You had enjoyed card games since you were a little girl, you had been swindling the kids in high school since fifth grade.  Thanks to this, you often left these monthly tournaments with a nice little pay bonus.  One day, the Joker had a conversation with some poor sap that ran long, and no one dared to ask him to leave once the casino closed.  The staff poker game went on as usual, even with the formidable presence looming nearby.  You had done especially well that day, quickly counting the bills you had won before sticking them in your purse and walking towards the back exit.  Suddenly,  you felt a touch on your elbow and were yanked behind a pillar just as soon as you had noticed the hand.  Your mind reeled as you found yourself staring death in the face.  Taking a deep breath, you put yourself back in server mode: “Can we do anything else for you before you take your leave, sir,” you squeaked.  He struck your face.

“Quit with the formalities,” he snapped at you.   You brought your hand up to your stinging cheek.  He leaned in, until you were practically nose to nose.  He gripped your right hand in his and placed a card in your palm with his left.  “You seem pretty skilled with cards,” he said, his eyes scrolling your face.  “If you have to work, just show that card to your boss, and he shouldn't give you any trouble.” He stood there a few seconds longer, inhaling deeply the smell of your perfume as it mingled with the tinge of alcohol that stained the casino, then walked around the corner of the pillar and out of the gambling hall.  You looked at the card in your hand.  It was a joker, with a message scrawled across it in pen.  Friday. My Booth. Midnight.  “Shit,” you exhaled.  “Boss man won't be happy about this.”

Now here you are.  Your had been having these Friday night meetings for a little over two months now.  You weren't as good as him, the win record was about two to four in any given game, and there were a lot of them.  Both of you had a thing for obscure card games, like the one you were playing currently.  “I'm going out,” you said, handing him your deck.

He perused your cards, “That's 66, you were really on your game tonight, (y/n).”

“What can I say,” you said, stretching your back, “I guess I've just been having a good week.”

“That puts the score at... 15 to 34 now,” he set his elbows on the table in front of him, and interlaced his fingers in front of his chin.  He admired you in silence for a few moments.

“(Y/n)... there's something I'd like to show you tonight.  The location is secret, so I'd have to blindfold you in order for us to get there. You'll have to trust me, completely.”

You sat in shock for a moment.  You knew not to trust anything the Joker said, but this was the most sincerely you had ever heard him speak. You still didn't trust him, but some part of you knew that he wouldn't kill you at the very least, that is, unless you said “no” here and now.

“Okay, I'll trust you,” you said, feigning confidence as fear boiled in the pit of your stomach.

“Atta' girl,” he grinned, “I knew you were special.”

You both stood up from the booth.  He casually draped a hand around your waist as the two of you walked towards the back door.  It was strange, you realized, that this was the first time he had actually touched you for an extended period of time since he first handed you the joker card.  He was respectful, in his own way.  Maybe this was where the inkling of trust you felt came from.  Two of his security guards walked behind you.  He holds the door open for you and you exit to find a limousine waiting.  The guards get into the driver and passenger seats and the Joker holds the door to the limo seating open for you to get in.  You take a seat and he follows suit.

“Are you ready,” he asks.

You take a deep breath, “Okay.”

You lean forward off the seat and he situates a rolled black cloth over your eyes, tying it tight behind your head, but not uncomfortably so.  His hands leave your face and you lean back in the seat once again.  He knocks on the glass separating the driver's side from the passengers' side twice and the limo begins to move.  Everything is silent for the first few minutes of the drive.  You listen to the sounds of traffic and the soft rain that has begun to patter on the vehicle.

“Tell me your story (y/n), what are you all about,” he inquires.

“Hmm... where should I start?”

“Anywhere you like, (y/n)...  When did you start playing cards?”

“Okay, well, I suppose I was in kindergarten.  My parents wer- Aah...” your train of thought is cut short by the feeling of fingers tracing along the outside of your thigh.

“Go on, hon, just continue your story,” he purrs.

“Well, I, uh... m-my parents played poker with th-the neighbors  pretty often,” you feel your cheeks burning red at the feather light touch on your quads.  Focus on your words, “My dad taught me one day so I could follow along when they played, and I just took it and ran with it.”

His fingertips move across your hip and run up your sides.  You tense from the tickling sensation and sit up straight.  He continues to play your skin like a piano for a few moments more, then ceases suddenly.  You hear the leather seat whine as he slouches back into it.

“There's something to be said for consistent practice, but innate talent is something else,” he muses towards no one in particular.

The car is quiet again for a time, perhaps while he considers his own words. You use the opportunity to consider your escape options, should it become necessary.  The leather shifts again.  You feel a new sensation on your neck just below your ear and every muscle in your possession freezes.  “Why am I so interested in you,” you both hear and feel him say against your skin.  You realize you were holding your breath and slowly, deeply exhale.  He smiles softly against your skin, likely amused by your fear.  He drags his lips across the side of your neck before slowly receding back into the seat next to you.  All of your nerves are ablaze with fear and irritation with his audacity.  Fortunately, the vehicle grows quiet again and you calm yourself by listening to the rain on the windows.

The sound of the engine finally cuts out and you can only assume you've arrived at your mystery destination.  You hear the door opposite you open and the seat shifts as he exits the limo.  The door on your side opens shortly after.  You stick out your right hand and attempt to feel for the door frame but your hand is clasped and pulled before you can make much progress.  You swing yourself through the frame and manage stumble only a little bit with the force.  You put your left hand on the Joker's hand that is holding your own to steady yourself, but quickly recoil and place it at your side, afraid your gesture would be considered rude in some way.

“Just a little farther, princess,” he says softly.

You can hear the two men from before walking in front of you.  The cool, light rain feels good after the tension in the limousine.  You hadn't been walking long when you heard a door open, the feeling of rain halting and the temperature shifting to become much more mild.  He comes to a stop, not letting go of your hand.  You hear a click and a ding, most likely from an elevator.  He turns the hand that is gripping yours to interlace your fingers.

“Are you scared, (y/n),” he asks you.

You think for a moment, “No.” You want to believe he wouldn't hurt you just because he can.   You hear a door slide open and he takes you a few more steps forward.  The door slides shut.  He steps in front of you and places his free hand on your hip.  He brings his forehead to yours and urges you backwards, until your back hits a wall.

“What about now,” he sneers.

You tell him what you feel, “I want to believe in you.”

He steps back abruptly, still keeping your hand in his as the elevator slowly ascends.  The lift lurches before coming to a stop and pinging to signal your arrival.  The two of you continue out of the elevator, your head beginning to swim from the torrent of emotions you've experienced throughout the day.  He stops, and you stop next to him.

“We're here,” he says, strolling behind you.

He tugs at the knot at the back of your head and your vision is restored.  In front of you lay black marble floors and windows that span the entire wall.  A starry night shimmers above the Gotham skyline.  It was the perfect view of the city.

“This is...” you stammer.

“I thought you might like it.” He sets his hands on your shoulders.

“What do you want out of life, (y/n)?”  His arms wrap around you and he rests his cheek against your hair.  You can feel his firm chest pressed flush your back.

“I... want to go to school.”

“And why haven't you?”

“I don't think I can afford it, and I'm afraid I'm not good enough.” You feel your doubt melting away as you are embraced by someone who believes in you.  Emboldened, you grab his hands that are clasped in front of you with your own.  Your eyes flutter shut,  overwhelmed by the beauty of the night and the warmth in your chest.

“Fear is the ultimate inhibitor of personal growth.  (Y/n), tomorrow you're quitting your job and I'm enrolling you in whatever school you like. In return, you will work as my personal assistant until the semester starts, and part time afterwards.  I promise, you won't have to fear anything anymore.”

You begin to tear up, “Okay.”  You believe it, you'll learn to let your fears go.

He whispers in your ear, “And now... if you'll let me... I'd like to make you a little bit more than my assistant.”  He then begins to softly nibble on your earlobe.

Hope you enjoyed my first post! Drop by to leave a request and follow for part two soon!

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Listening During a Pandemic (NYT) Crises have a way of shining a klieg light on the quality and depth of one’s relationships. Following major hurricanes, severe winter storms, electrical outages and terrorist attacks such as 9/11, there tends to be an uptick in divorces and breakups, as well as marriages and pregnancies. Lawyers and demographers are already predicting a wave of Covid-divorces and coronababies as the pandemic has the potential to both bring us together and drive us apart. Relationships, romantic and otherwise, are rewarding and resilient when both parties feel heard and understood. The trouble is that listening is a skill few diligently practice even in the best of times, and it can really fall by the wayside during periods of uncertainty, hardship and stress. With the world effectively on pause, now is a unique opportunity to listen to those close to you, or to those you wish were closer to you. Whether in-person or on the phone, listening is how you develop understanding, strengthen ties and show you care. And it’s also how you know when you’ve heard enough and it’s time to give each other some space.

Houses of worship gain audience by going online during virus (AP) On a rainy evening in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis delivered a special blessing, asking God for help against the coronavirus. The square in Vatican City would normally be packed with onlookers, but no one was standing on the glistening cobblestones in March as he implored God to “not leave us at the mercy of the storm.” Millions were watching on TV and online, however. From the Vatican, to the village church, to mosques and temples, shuttered places of worship are streaming religious services for a global audience seeking spiritual help and connections with others during the pandemic. Online viewership of Francis “has grown significantly,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told The Associated Press by email. “The numbers indicate that even people who would not have participated in religious services on a daily basis in the past are attending a Mass every morning and listening to the pope’s daily reflection on the gospel,” Bruni said.

Americans head back to shops and restaurants amid early signs of recovery (Washington Post) Americans on Saturday headed back to shops and restaurants trying to recapture routines the coronavirus pandemic had forced them to abandon two months ago, a sign that the U.S. economy may have hit bottom and is beginning the long climb back. The staggered commercial reopening is playing out amid hopes that warmer weather will contribute to a further easing in the spread of the sometimes-fatal respiratory illness. Though states accounting for roughly one-third of the $21 trillion U.S. economy remain largely closed, according to Goldman Sachs, real-time indicators of business activity show the first stirrings of a recovery.

TSA Preparing to Check Passenger Temperatures at Airports Amid Coronavirus Concerns (WSJ) U.S. officials are preparing to begin checking passengers’ temperatures at roughly a dozen airports as soon as next week, as the coronavirus pandemic has heightened travel anxieties, according to people familiar with the matter. Details of the plan are under review by the White House and are subject to change, the people said. It couldn’t be determined which airports will initially have the new scanning procedures. A senior Trump administration official said the initial rollout is expected to cost less than $20 million, and that passengers won’t be charged an additional fee. Airlines have been pushing for the Transportation Security Administration to start taking passengers’ temperatures as part of a multifaceted effort to keep potentially sick people from boarding planes and to make passengers feel more comfortable taking trips again. Demand for air travel has dropped more than 90% amid transport restrictions and stay-at-home orders.

Class of 2020 enters a world in crisis (AP) Mere months ago, the graduates of the Class of 2020 seemed all but assured of success. The economy was booming. The stock market had closed the year strong. The unemployment rate, on the decline for years, had dropped to a 50-year low of 3.5 percent in February. Jobs outnumbered applicants, and fears of a recession had faded. Then came the pandemic, shattering the economy. Last month, more than 20.5 million jobs vanished as the unemployment rate soared to 14.7 percent—the worst since the Great Depression. The high hopes of graduates crashed as corporations slashed budgets and rescinded offers of jobs and internships. For working-class students who defied the odds to get a college education, it’s hard to be optimistic about the future. There’s a sense of an unending crisis, with loans due and family members laid off. These graduates will be competing not just with experienced workers but with those in another Class of 2020—high school graduates who aren’t college-bound or have put their dreams on hold to join the job hunt, in some cases to help newly unemployed parents.

Adopt a grandparent: Young help the old in Bolivian pandemic (AP) Sergio Royela lived far from his parents in Bolivia and was concerned how they were faring in the quarantine imposed by interim President Jeanine Áñez to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “So, I looked for a neighbor to help me and I did the same in my condominium and adopted another grandfather,” Royuela said. Thus, a volunteer campaign was born. “Adopt a Grandparent” urges volunteers to help senior citizens if they need safe support. So far, about 20 young people have volunteered to help, said Royuela, who serves as the campaign coordinator. For most people, the global pandemic causes mild or moderate symptoms but older adults and people with existing health problems have been particularly vulnerable. In Bolivia, more than half of the 76 people confirmed to have been killed by the virus as of May 3 were elderly, according to health ministry data. For many elderly Bolivians, particularly those who are ill, it is difficult to shop for the basics and they are often far from their families.

Chile capital silenced amid lockdown over COVID-19 surge (AFP) With near-deserted streets and police checks, the seven million people of Chile’s capital, Santiago, began a strict quarantine Saturday after a sharp resurgence of coronavirus cases. Normal activity in the capital was down 85 percent, the government said, as people were only allowed to leave their homes for essential food and medicine and a short period of exercise. The lockdown order, announced by Health Minister Jaime Manalich and due to last at least a week, dealt a blow to earlier hopes the South American country could reopen its economy following evidence it had flattened the curve.

Europe bids adieu to cheek kiss in coronavirus era (Washington Post) Manon Fily took advantage of France’s eased coronavirus lockdown this week to see some old high school friends after two months shut away in her home in Brittany. But there was one big thing missing from her gathering: a peck on the right cheek, then a second on the left. The cheek kiss is fundamental to greetings among friends, colleagues and even national leaders in many countries in Europe. It is also exceedingly ill-suited during the coronavirus pandemic. As Europeans start meeting again with family and friends this month for the first time since the virus swept the world, they are discovering a need to suppress a seemingly inherent reflex. “We had the instinct to do the peck on the cheek,” said Fily, 30, a civil servant, of the visit at a friend’s house. “But we stopped ourselves. It’s tough.”

Thailand opens malls after nearly two months amid coronavirus outbreak (Reuters) Thailand on Sunday opened malls and department stores for the first time since March in its second phase of relaxing measures as the number of new coronavirus cases slowed. Scores of shoppers were seen queuing before entering the Iconsiam mall in central Bangkok. Customers are asked to scan a QR code and register on a government website before entering. A machine sprayed disinfectant at shoppers’ feet as they entered Iconsiam and another dispensed hand sanitizer.

Shanghai to restart classes (AP) China’s commercial hub of Shanghai announced the restart of classes for younger students amid falling virus cases. China’s airline regulator also reported numbers of flights had returned to 60% of pre-outbreak levels, exceeding 10,000 per day for the first time since Feb. 1. No new deaths have been reported in a month in the world’s second-largest economy where the coronavirus was first detected late last year. China reported just five new cases on Sunday, while South Korea recorded 13, raising hopes that a new outbreak linked to nightclubs in Seoul may be waning.

Stuck at Home, Men in Japan Learn to Help. Will It Last? (NYT) Susumu Kataoka was just looking for a diversion from long days sheltering at home with his family during the coronavirus outbreak. He grabbed his drone and took it for a spin around their Tokyo house, snapping some pictures and posting them on Facebook. His wife, Aki, was not amused. If he had time to play around like that—revealing their household clutter, no less—shouldn’t he have time to take on more domestic chores and child care? Mr. Kataoka, a marketing web consultant, believed he was already doing his share. He gave his wife a list of tasks he regularly performs: bathing their two pre-school-age children, washing dishes, overseeing tooth brushing. How little he knew. In a meticulous spreadsheet, Ms. Kataoka, a nursing student, enumerated her 210 tasks to his 21. For working couples, Japan’s efforts to combat the spread of the virus—encouraging teleworking and asking residents to stay inside—have highlighted disparities in the division of domestic work that shape households across the globe but are especially pronounced in Japanese society. Men who usually see their families only briefly in the morning and at night have been spending weekdays at home during Japan’s coronavirus state of emergency, allowing them to witness just how many chores must be done. Women who toil invisibly doing laundry, dealing with finances and cooking meals are now asking their husbands to pitch in. The results can be combustible.

Lebanese are despairing over their next meal as the economic crisis worsens (Washington Post) The Lebanese love their food. Their elaborate spreads of grilled and sauteed meats, colorful salads and various vegetable dips, usually garnished with pine nuts, are a source of pride and the shared meals a symbol of generosity. Today, more than ever, food is on everyone’s mind—because there is so little to be had. From the butchers and taxi drivers of Beirut to the aficionados of Tripoli’s famed sweets to the anti-government protesters in the streets, hunger is on everyone’s tongue. Lebanon’s escalating economic crisis and its collapsing currency are putting the price of many foodstuffs beyond the reach of the Lebanese. The price of meat, for example, has doubled since March, with ground beef now running at about $9 a pound. Decades of fiscal mismanagement and corruption have deepened Lebanon’s economic troubles. The value of the Lebanese pound has collapsed, dollars are nearly impossible to find, and unemployment is soaring. Protests that erupted in October, demanding an end to corruption and nepotism, quieted down for a time but have returned on a smaller scale in the past few weeks as the local currency’s value fell below 4,000 pounds to the dollar, after being pegged for decades at 1,500 to the dollar.

[pinkdeerbeard]

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

 At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

 Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

 Writing about a meeting with American COVID-19 testing manufacturers early in her tenure, Birx said that learning that the White House had dragged its feet on meeting with manufacturers, on top of limited tests and slow test processing, represented a "worst-case scenario."

 Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

 “Try disinfectant injections”

 Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

 At a White House press conference on April 23, 2020, DHS officials said that Novel Coronavirus survival rates are significantly lower in high-light, high-temperature conditions;   Some disinfectant components have a noticeable effect on killing Novel Coronavirus.

 Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

 "So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn't been checked. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that, too."

 "I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

 When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..." 

 Deborah's face as Trump talked about his treatment advice

Recalling the day, Deborah said she wanted to disappear.

 Birx froze, hands clenched on her lap. “I looked down at my feet and wished for two things: something to kick and for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.”

 Since the pandemic began, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States has repeatedly exceeded worst-case predictions.

 On May 21, Popular Science reported that the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States in a single day is now around 300, which is three times the daily death toll from car accidents in the United States.

[victoriajohnson-posts-blog]

Let’s get real.

Long (1)

“  Her life took a shocking turn on the afternoon of Feb. 14, when 17 students and teachers died in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. González was in the auditorium attending a class when the fire alarm went off. Students spilled onto the campus to find SWAT teams swarming and authorities screaming, “Code Red!” González and her classmates were rushed back into the auditorium, where they took cover on the floor between the folding seats. Holding the hands of friends on either side of her, González focused on keeping those around her calm as many began frantically searching the internet for any news that could explain what was unfolding on their campus.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” recalls González. “I didn’t want to go on my phone to check and see if anything was real because I was in a complete state of denial,” she tells me in her first-ever solo magazine interview. It wasn’t until days later that she would learn the full extent of the tragedy, when she read a story in the Miami Herald and saw the names of all the students and faculty members who had died.

Just three days after the massacre, González mustered remarkable resilience and courage when she transformed her anguish and heartbreak into unabashed activism. She delivered an impassioned speech at a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale, calling “B.S.” on President Trump, other politicians and the NRA for not tightening gun laws that could prevent “the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred.” Her speech was broadcast nationally, and her name began trending on Twitter that afternoon. She created the @Emma4Change handle to promote stricter gun laws, and along with other Parkland survivors she founded March for Our Lives, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization pushing for stricter gun laws and registering young voters.  “  https://variety.com/2018/politics/features/emma-gonzalez-parkland-interview-1202972485/

Long (2)

   “My father was a teacher and ran a girls’ school in our village. I loved school. But everything changed when the Taliban took control of our town in Swat Valley. The extremists banned many things — like owning a television and playing music — and enforced harsh punishments for those who defied their orders. And they said girls could no longer go to school.

In January 2008 when I was just 11 years old, I said goodbye to my classmates, not knowing when — if ever — I would see them again. I spoke out publicly on behalf of girls and our right to learn. And this made me a target. In October 2012, on my way home from school, a masked gunman boarded my school bus and asked, “Who is Malala?” He shot me on the left side of my head.I woke up 10 days later in a hospital in Birmingham, England. The doctors and nurses told me about the attack — and that people around the world were praying for my recovery.   “  https://malala.org/malalas-story

Long (3)

“   So what are animal rights activists – and should you maybe be one, too? Let’s dive deep into this subject and figure out what animal activism really means for people who love animals.What Are Animal Rights Activists?An animal rights activist is someone who believes in justice for all animals. They don’t condone animal testing, factory farming, and other systemic mistreatment of animals, nor do they believe in using harsh animal training methods or other pursuits that cause animals pain or discomfort. A key concept is in the name – rights. Animal rights activists recognize much higher rights for animals to exists and live than the current society in general does, and they work to change this.Most animal rights activists are either vegetarian or vegan, and many consider themselves environmental activists, as well. Their primary goal is to end speciesism and create a world in which humans and other animals can live with one another in peace and without one species dominating another.   “  https://sentientmedia.org/animal-rights-activists/

Short (1)

      “   The current political climate has provided Martinez with an ample number of causes to protest and reasons to fight. The Earth Guardians represent a mindset not reflected or supported by the current executive branch, making their representation crucial for environmental well-being, as well as the future of tomorrow’s youths. While their actions will not replace those in executive positions, it requires the work of relentless non governmental organizations to demand and incite change. In recent months, Martinez has been vocal about a number of issues such as the fight in Standing Rock, North Dakota. Not only has Donald Trump pushed forward with plans to finish the pipeline while ruining sacred lands but he also made clear his intentions to rid of eco-driven legislation such as Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan.   “   https://www.scu.edu/environmental-ethics/environmental-activists-heroes-and-martyrs/xiuhtezcatl-martinez.html

Short (2)

“  Since September, blazes have killed at least 30 people, destroyed over 2,000 homes and burnt through 10 million hectares of land - an area almost the size of England.

The crisis has been exacerbated by record temperatures, a severe drought and climate change.

'Need to remain vigilant' On Monday, Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews said recent rain had proved "very helpful" to bushfire-affected communities.

But he added that storms had also hindered some fire- fighting efforts, and caused a landslide on a highway.

"Ultimately, we need to remain vigilant. It's 20 January - the fire season is far from over," Mr Andrews told reporters.

Mr Andrews said there was still a "massive fire edge" of more than 1.5 million hectares from blazes which had flared up in the state's east on New Year's Eve.”   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51170994

Short (3)

“   In 2010, Mougin enlisted a French computer-aided design (CAD) company, Dassault Systèmes, to use the latest satellite tracking and computer modelling to test the idea of a trans-Atlantic tow: a 3D-scan of a real seven-million-tonne iceberg, and the previous year’s weather data and sea currents, produced a computer model of a theoretical tow from Newfoundland to Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. “The model was using one very powerful oil rig towing tug, about 6,000 horsepower, far more powerful than the tugs available in the 1970s and 80s”, says Wadhams. Other technological upgrades in the intervening years included live satellite tracking, and an insulating fabric mesh or “geo-textile skirt” – all 3km of it – designed by Mougin to wrap around the iceberg to reduce the melt-rate. The same material is used on ski slopes in the Alps to stop snow from melting. After fitting the ‘skirt’, the tug would tow the iceberg using a large fishing trawl net.  “  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180918-the-outrageous-plan-to-haul-icebergs-to-africa

Short (4)

“   US President Donald Trump has decried climate "prophets of doom" in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where sustainability is the main theme.He called for a rejection of "predictions of the apocalypse" and said America would defend its economy.Mr Trump did not directly name the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was in the audience.Later, she excoriated political leaders, saying the world "in case you hadn't noticed, is currently on fire".Environmental destruction is at the top of the agenda at the annual summit of the world's decision-makers, which takes place at a Swiss ski resort. In his keynote speech, Mr Trump said that it was a time for optimism, not pessimism, in a speech that touted his administration's economic achievements and America's energy boom.Speaking of climate activists, he said: "These alarmists always demand the same thing - absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives."   “  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51189430

Small (1)

“   Ayakha Melithafa, 17

Ayakha lives in the village of Eerste River on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. Her mother works as a farmer in the Western Cape, where droughts and severe water shortages have threatened her livelihood. These changes prompted Ayakha to act. As part of the African Climate Alliance and the Project 90 by 2030 initiative, Ayakha is mobilizing support for low-carbon development and a just energy transition in her country. In 2019, Ayakha and 15 other children around the world submitted a petition to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to hold five of the world’s leading economic powers accountable for inaction on the climate crisis.   “  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/the-teenage-change-makers-at-davos-2020/

Small (2)

“   Fionn Ferreira, 18

Fionn grew up on a remote island in West Cork, a seaside region in southern Ireland. Fionn spent his childhood creating science projects and paddling around the coasts of Ireland with his kayak. Through his passion for the outdoors, he witnessed the effects of microplastic pollution on the environment. When Fionn was in high school, he invented a new method of extracting microplastics from the water using his own version of ferrofluid, a liquid developed by NASA. Fionn introduced the concept at the 2019 Google Science Fair, where he won the competition for his methodology to remove microplastics from water.  “  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/the-teenage-change-makers-at-davos-2020/

Small (3)

“  Salvador Gómez-Colón, 17

Salvador Gómez-Colón When Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, Salvador was told his community faced the prospect of no power or electricity for at least a year. In response, he created the “Light and Hope for Puerto Rico” campaign to distribute solar-powered lamps, hand-powered washing machines and other supplies to more than 3,100 families on the island. Salvador continues to support the implementation of smart energy systems in Puerto Rico and has launched the “Light and Hope for the Bahamas” humanitarian initiative. Salvador was named one of TIME Magazine’s 30 Most Influential Teens of 2017 and received the President’s Environmental Youth Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Diana Award for social humanitarian work in 2019.  “  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/the-teenage-change-makers-at-davos-2020/

[nancygduarteus]

74 Things That Blew Our Minds in 2017

This past year, reporters on The Atlantic’s science, technology, and health desks worked tirelessly, writing hundreds of stories. Each of those stories is packed with facts that surprised us, delighted us, and in some cases, unsettled us. Instead of picking our favorite stories, we decided to round up a small selection of the most astonishing things we learned in 2017. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did, and we hope you’ll be back for more in 2018:

The record for the longest top spin is over 51 minutes. Your fidget spinner probably won’t make it past 60 seconds.

Flamingos have self-locking legs, which makes them more stable on one leg than on two.

If your home furnace emits some methane pollution on the last day of 2017, it’ll almost certainly leave the atmosphere by 2030—but it could still be raising global sea levels in 2817.

By analyzing enough Facebook likes, an algorithm can predict someone’s personality better than their friends and family can.

There are cliff-hanging nests in northern Greenland that have been used continuously for 2,500 years by families of the largest falcons in the world. Researchers read the layers of bird poop in the nests like tree rings.

Hippos can’t swim.

Six-month-old babies can understand basic words like mouth and nose. They even know that concepts like mouth and nose are more related than nose and bottle.

Most common eastern North American tree species have been mysteriously shifting west since 1980.

In 2016, Waymo’s virtual cars logged 2.5 billion miles in simulated versions of California, Texas, and Arizona.

America’s emergency 9-1-1 calling infrastructure is so old that there are some parts you can’t even replace anymore when they break.

The transmitters on the Voyager spacecraft have as much power as refrigerator light bulbs, but they still ping Earth every day from billions of miles away.

By one estimate, one-third of Americans currently in their early 20s will never get married.

Donald Trump has a long and gif-heavy presence on the early web.

Somewhere around 10,000 U.S. companies—including the majority of the Fortune 500—still assess employees based on the Myers-Briggs test.

Humans have inadvertently created an artificial bubble around Earth, formed when radio communications from the ground interact with high-energy particles in space. This bubble is capable of shielding the planet from potentially dangerous space weather like solar flares.

Climate-change-linked heat waves are already making tens of thousands of Americans sleep worse.

China poured more concrete from 2011 to 2013 than America did during the entire 20th century.

A lay minister and math Ph.D. was the best checkers player in the world for 40 years, spawning a computer scientist’s obsessive quest to solve the entire game to prove the man could be beaten.

There is a huge waterfall in Antarctica, where the Nansen Ice Shelf meets the sea.

On Facebook, Russian trolls created and promoted dual events on May 21, 2016, bringing Muslim and anti-Muslim Americans into real-world conflict at an Islamic center in Houston.

Boxer crabs wield sea anemones like boxing gloves, and if they lose one of these allies, they can make another by ripping the remaining one in half and cloning it.

Cocktail napkins on airplanes may be essentially useless to travelers, but to airlines they are valuable space for advertising.

Scientists can figure out the storm tracks of 250-year-old winter squalls by reading a map hidden in tree rings across the Pacific Northwest.

On islands, deer are occasionally spotted licking small animals, like cats and foxes—possibly because the ocean breeze makes everything salty.

People complained of an “epidemic of fake news” in 1896.

Languages worldwide have more words for describing warm colors than cool colors.

Turkeys are twice as big as they were in 1960, and most of that change is genetic.

Two Chinese organizations control over half of the global Bitcoin-mining operations—and by now, they might control more. If they collaborate (or collude), the blockchain technology that supposedly secures Bitcoin could be compromised.

U.S. physicians prescribe 3,150 percent of the necessary amount of opioids.

Physicists discovered a new “void” in the Great Pyramid of Giza using cosmic rays.

Daily and seasonal temperature variations can trigger rockfalls, even if the temperature is always above freezing, by expanding and contracting rocks until they crack.

The eight counties with the largest declines in life expectancy since 1980 are all in the state of Kentucky.

The decline of sales in luxury timepieces has less to do with the rise of smartwatches and more to do with the rising cost of gold, the decline of the British pound, and a crackdown on Chinese corruption.

Spider silk is self-strengthening; it can suck up chemicals from the insects it touches to make itself stronger.

Intelligence doesn’t make someone more likely to change their mind. People with higher IQs are better at crafting arguments to support a position—but only if they already agree with it.

Among the strangest and yet least-questioned design choices of internet services is that every service must be a global service.

Steven Gundry, one of the main doctors who has contributed to Goop, believes Mercola.com, a prominent anti-vaccine site, is a site that gives “very useful health advice.”

At many pumpkin- and squash-growing competitions, entries are categorized by color: Any specimen that’s at least 80 percent orange is a pumpkin, and everything else is a squash.

Only 2 percent of all U.S. Google employees are black, and only 4 percent are Hispanic. In tech-oriented positions, the numbers fall to 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

The weight of the huge amount of water Hurricane Harvey dumped on Texas pushed the earth’s crust down 2 centimeters.

Russian scientists plan to re-wild the Arctic with bioengineered woolly mammoths.

The NASA spacecraft orbiting Jupiter can never take the same picture of the gas planet because the clouds of its atmosphere are always moving, swirling into new shapes and patterns.

During sex, male cabbage white butterflies inject females with packets of nutrients. The females chew their way into these with a literal vagina dentata, and genitals that double as a souped-up stomach.

If all people want from apps is to see new stuff scroll onto the screen, it might not matter if that content is real or fake.

Cardiac stents are extremely expensive and popular, and yet they don’t appear to have any definite benefits outside of acute heart attacks.

Animal-tracking technology is just showing off at this point: Researchers can glue tiny barcodes to the backs of carpenter ants in a lab and scan them repeatedly to study the insects’ movements.

One recommendation from a happiness expert is to build a “pride shrine,” which is a place in your house that you pass a lot where you put pictures that trigger pleasant memories, or diplomas or awards that remind you of accomplishments.

Some ancient rulers, including Alexander the Great, executed a substitute king after an eclipse, as a kind of sacrificial hedge.

A colon-cancer gene found in Utah can be traced back to a single Mormon pioneer couple from the 1840s.

In November and December 2016, 92,635 people called the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line to ask for turkey-cooking advice. That’s an average of over 1,500 calls per day.

In the United States as a whole, less than 1 percent of the land is hardscape. In cities, up to 40 percent is impervious.

​Half of murdered women are killed by their romantic partners.​

Among the Agta hunter-gatherers of the Philippines, storytelling is valued more than hunting, fishing, or basically any other skill.

The familiar metal tokens in the board game Monopoly didn’t originally come with the game, to save costs. Popular bracelet charms of the Great Depression were only added to the box later.

Thanks to the internet, American parents are seeking out more unique names for their children, trying to keep them from fading into the noise of Google. The median boy’s name in 2015 (Luca) was given to one out of every 782 babies, whereas the median boy’s name in 1955 (Edward) was given to one out of every 100 babies.

America’s five most valuable companies are all located on the Pacific Coast between Northern California and Seattle.

President Kennedy secretly had Addison’s disease, a hormonal disorder, which he treated with injections of amphetamines and steroids from Max Jacobson, a doctor whose nickname was “Dr. Feelgood.”

Some of the most distant stars in the Milky Way were actually “stolen” from a nearby galaxy as the two passed near each other.

Hummingbirds drink in an unexpected way: Their tongues bloom open like a flower when they hit nectar, and close on the way out to grab some of the sweet liquid.

New York City has genetically distinct uptown and downtown rats.

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 created one of the most detailed maps of the deep ocean ever.

People who can’t find opioids are taking an over-the-counter diarrhea drug. Some are consuming as many as 400 to 500 pills a day.

It used to take 10,000 pounds of pork pancreas to make one pound of insulin. (Insulin is now made by genetically engineered microbes.)

Astronauts on the International Space Station can’t enjoy the yummy aromas of hot meals like we can on Earth because heat dissipates in all different directions in microgravity.

“Sex addiction” isn’t recognized by the psychiatric community in any official capacity, and it’s actually a deeply problematic concept that risks absolving men of agency in sexual violence.

The peculiar (and previously unidentified) laughter that was recorded for the Golden Record was—well, we won’t spoil it for you until you read the story.

The oldest rocks on Earth, which are 4 billion years old, have signs of life in them, which suggests that the planet was biological from its very infancy.

Fire ants form giant floating rafts during floods. But you can break up the rafts with dish soap.

Until this year, no one knew about a whole elaborate system of lymphatic vessels in our brains.

People are worse storytellers when their listeners don’t vocally indicate they’re paying attention by saying things like “uh-huh” and “mm-hmm.”

China’s new radio telescope is large enough to hold two bowls of rice for every human being on the planet.

Scientists calculated that if everyone in the United States switched from eating beef to eating beans, we could still get around halfway to President Obama’s 2020 climate goals.

The reason that dentistry is a separate discipline from medicine can be traced back to an event in 1840 known as the “historic rebuff”—when two self-trained dentists asked the University of Maryland at Baltimore if they could add dental training to the curriculum at the college of medicine. The physicians said no.

Naked mole rats can survive for 18 minutes without any oxygen at all.

from Health News And Updates https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/the-science-facts-that-blew-our-minds-in-2017/549122/?utm_source=feed