#coordinating the movements of like 10 people over the course of five days is a pain

[juehs34]

I’ve been making timetables for three hours now and want to pull my hair out

[tinyshe]

Here is a e-newsletter I receive. It is so very important that every one be aware of this. People in USA, this is in your court (literally) since this movement is based in your country. If the hot links don’t work, please follow through by going to their website which is listed in their graphics. Please read:

The abortion industry wants you to believe that abortion survivors don’t exist.

I’ve been the target of those lies more times than I can count. Even as I testified before a Congressional hearing in 2019 on pro-life legislation, members of the abortion industry were LIVE TWEETING from the back of the room that abortions don’t fail, survivors don’t exist and born alive legislation isn’t needed.

Why do they deny our existence? Because our lives dispel their lies and humanize the unborn.

The more they deny us, the more I fight. I fight for survivors to be seen and heard. For their sake, and for the sake of the unborn and our culture, who have all been silenced by abortion. At The Abortion Survivors Network, this fight is made tangible by providing help, hope and humanizing. Our organization is growing rapidly, and our programs that provide help to survivors have expanded to now include a specialized healing curriculum workbook for survivors, that I wrote based on my experience both as an abortion survivor and as a former therapist. In July, our first month with the curriculum published, it made it into the hands of 21 survivors, one therapist, and two abortion healing program coordinators. The more survivors are supported in their healing, the more I know they will find their voice. The more therapists and other healing professionals know how to help survivors, the more whole we will be, and the stronger we will become. Our hope this past month has looked like sending a care package with healing materials, books written by survivors, and words of encouragement from fellow survivors, to a teen survivor who only in recent months was told her story. Our hope has looked like birthday cards being sent out to survivors for whom birthdays are a mixed bag of both joy and sorrow. Our hope has looked like a community of survivors coming together in our monthly Zoom meeting and interacting in our online support group, and even connecting adoptive parents with abortion pill reversal doctors to help them determine the long-term effects of the abortion pill on their surviving child as the questions arise years later after their survival.

We’re grateful to be the choice that adoptive and biological parents turn to for help, information and consultation, for their child, an abortion survivor. We’re grateful that post-abortive women, like one mother we helped this month, turn to us in their place of grief over the loss of their child. We are a reflection of their child’s humanity.

They trust us and come to us for help and hope. The hope comes from our words that speak love and forgiveness to them. The hope comes from seeing that despite our own suffering, we have found healing and a voice. Something they want, too. The help comes as we connect them with abortion healing resources. In the case that they believe their child survived, and was placed for adoption (like the mother who contacted us this month with solid evidence of her abortion failing and her child being alive today), the hope comes from us helping them navigate the adoptee search process, connecting them with individuals who help women obtain their abortion records, and in their knowledge that as voices for all affected by abortion, their surviving child may very well come into contact with us.

We are hope!

Through every post we share on social media, through every speech I record virtually these days for fundraising banquets, through the media interviews I take part in and I’m training survivors to participate in, through my podcast, Life Empowers, and soon to be, my second book, which will include 10-12 stories of abortion survivors, most of whom you’ve never come face to face with yet, The Abortion Survivors Network is humanizing the issue of abortion. Watch for a big announcement soon on the book! I can’t wait for you to hear who the best-selling author is that I’m working with, and who the major publisher is that will make this another best-seller and a WIN for the cause of life. I can tell you it’s the pinnacle of my career thus far to humanize this way! We won’t allow ourselves as survivors, or the unborn, or all impacted by abortion to be silenced anymore. But enough about us, I want to talk about you. First of all, I want to thank all of you for your generous giving over the course of recent months as you learned more about us after our participation in the Faces of Choice ad. Secondly, I want to give you tangible steps you can take to help, to foster hope, and to humanize all who are impacted and silenced by abortion. You, yes, you, can humanize abortion and see change in survivor’s lives, families and our world by joining our transformational movement! 

Here are three steps you can take today to join us:

-Get informed! Download our informational handouts by clicking below and accessing our “Five Things to know about survivors & Five Considerations in telling a survivor their story,” then share this information with others.

The more people get to know about us, the more human we become to them, the more human the unborn become, and abortion becomes unthinkable.

5 Things to know about survivors & 5 Considerations....

Break the cycle of media and cultural silence by sharing survivors’ stories and weekly educational videos from survivors and staff from our website, our social media accounts, newsletters, and our YouTube channel.

The Abortion Survivors Network YouTube Channel

Spread the message of hope and humanity by booking a survivor to speak at your event, lecture or meeting (even virtually).

Our lives dispel the lies that abortion is a choice or a right. Our survival and our journeys in overcoming, loving and forgiving are the hope the world needs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Book a Survivor To Speak

As those directly affected by abortion, we’re deeply committed to humanizing the unborn and abortion survivors, who are often dismissed and attacked in our society. We’re committed to healing the wounds of abortion and shifting our culture.

We’re ordinary people, just like you, who feel called to do extraordinary things.

You can depend upon us to stay the course until change happens. But, we can’t do this alone. And we don’t want to do this alone. We are a community.

A community of survivors and a community of supporters who see the strength that comes not only in humanizing the inhumane issue of abortion, but also the strength that comes through our relationships.

Thanks for being a part of our community!

[msephy]

Upbringing chap 12/13

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11

Cross-posted to AO3

Earth 53 - Jason Todd

The climb to Nanda Parbat was even harder than the one to Ra’s al Ghul’s stronghold and Jason could only feel relief at them being so close. Was it a coincidence or had Ra’s been looking for the place? Coincidences were rare, where he was concerned.

Only a small group accompanied them: five bodyguards and, of course, Bruce. Jason counted on Talia to insure Damian would get back to Gotham or, at least away from the League. The brat himself might be able to elude her if she tried to bring him anywhere else.

Besides, he was wearing his gear from the Cave. Knowing Bruce, several pieces had to be bugged. They’d find him alright – if they managed to get away from Ra’s.

It wouldn’t be long, now.

They reached the top of the crater where the temple laid. It was an ancient construction, looking both immovable and strangely out of place in this landscape of even older mountains. A single monk in orange robes was walking in the green gardens which surrounded the temple and made it even more unseemly in the blinding whiteness.

“The temple of Rama Kushna,” Ra’s breathed out. “I’ve looked for it for so long.”

So even he could still be impressed from time to time. Though Jason guessed he was more interested in his objective than in the place itself. Yet it had its own power, and so did the order within.

Jason let himself drop to the edge of the monkey bridge which connected the temple to the outside world. Good defense, Jason though. Even for him it would be hard to reach it from the other way, the climb being much harder from that side.

He started on the bridge before Ra’s could, unwilling to let him be the first to contact the monks. Jason might be disrespectful most of the time, but he didn’t think himself to be above those people. Ra’s thought himself above everyone.

The others followed, making the bridge swing gently from one side to the other. By the time Jason had reached the end, several monks had gathered, anxious and surprised.

“Welcome to the temple of Rama Kushna, traveler,” one of the said.

Jason bowed politely. “My apologies for interrupting your peace. The man who follows me asked for a guide to the fountain of life and so I brought him here.”

“I’m Ra’s al Ghul,” Ra’s said in an authoritarian tone. The jerk. “Where is the fountain?”

“It’s not hidden,” the monk answered in a moderate tone. “It’s right beyond the temple, in the garden. But you should know… Only the pure of heart can enjoy its blessing. It brings death to those whose spirit is not pure.”

Jason tensed, worried about Ra’s reaction. He’d known, of course, but thought mentioning it to him would be a bad idea.

To his surprise, Ra’s scoffed, sounding rather amused. “Not being straight with me, Shadow of the shadow? Do not worry, I don’t fear the fountain’s judgment. Do you know, I’ve always believed it must be the prototype of the Lazarus pits I myself use.”

“Yeah well, sorry but that’s not exactly good news,” Jason commented.

Ra’s ignored him to follow the monks’ instructions. Bruce joined Jason, looking at him intensely through his white lenses.

“If you expect Ra’s to die…”

“I expect Ra’s to be Ra’s,” Jason interrupted. “Either he’ll die, or he won’t. Either way it will be his choice. You can’t force right decisions out of people, Bruce. You know that.”

But didn’t he still wish to. Yet Bruce didn’t protest further, following Ra’s with a frown. Jason rolled his eyes. Worst-case scenario? Ra’s was hurt without dying and demanded Jason’s body. As far as he was concerned, Ra’s dying was the best­ scenario.

Still, he shadowed them, as did the leaguers.

The fountain was of the purest water, far from the toxin green of the Lazarus pits. Jason swallowed. He’d seen it before, once, yet it was still breathtaking. Not that it looked like much: just a naturally formed rock sprouting water, which was gathered in a round basin dug into the stony ground.

Ra’s removed his tunic while one of his guards unlaced his shoes, leaving him only in his pants. His state was even more visible now: his ribs showing under a fragile, gray skin.

Yet Bruce stepped forward. “Ra’s. You can’t possibly think to go inside. If what the monk said is true…”

The Demon’s Head raised a hand.

“Detective. Do not presume.”

Jason snorted, which removed some of their impact from Ra’s words. Yet, it sufficed. Bruce stepped aside, fists clenched. There would be a backslash if Ra’s did die, Jason suddenly knew. Bruce would blame himself. Didn’t he always?

Well, fuck him. People did have the right to make bad choices. You couldn’t control everybody, or else, you’d be – Brainiac, or something.

Ra’s stepped inside the fountain, sitting down under the gentle stream. He didn’t scream, didn’t start burning or melting. Was he really pure? Jason hadn’t dared to test the fountain, the one time he’d come.

He had come for it specifically, of course, like most people who reached the place. He’d found its coordinate in the Batcomputer and had thought – why not? Maybe if would clean him from the Lazarus pit’s stain, or maybe it would kill him, putting things back how they should have been.

But in the end, he had not dared. Yet here Ra’s was, sitting fearlessly in the inoffensive water.

Inoffensive, but healing. Already Ra’s skin was looking better, his flesh and muscle filling in, youth coming back to his face. He smiled, noticing their surprise.

“Do not confuse purity and morality, Detective,” he told Bruce without heat. “The values you think so highly of are very new to this world. As positive as you might think them, such a stream wouldn’t judge them more worthy than any other.”

“You kill people,” Bruce answered, tense. “Nothing can find that pure. You seek unbalance, in others, by killing them, and in yourself, by staying alive for so long.”

“Maybe it is so, from your point of view. Yet my intention is indeed to cleanse this world.”

Ra’s closed his eyes, breathing in as the fountain kept healing him, a clear dismissal. Jason moved to Bruce’s side, taking his arm to thug him away. “We should leave.”

“The monks…”

“Can defend themselves. They’re blessed by Rama Kushna, you know.”

Jason wasn’t even kidding, and it must have been apparent in his tone because Bruce didn’t resist further. They politely saluted the monks, who escorted them back to the entrance. Maybe Jason would go back, in his world. Not right away but – later. When he would have found his center at last.

They’d left the League’s stronghold at dawn and, even though the return trip was long, they managed to reach the Batplane right before dawn. To their relief, Damian and Talia were waiting for them there.

“Father!” Damian stopped just short from Bruce, clearly unwilling to behave like a child. To Jason’s surprise, Bruce ended the movement by hugging the kid. Damian squealed his protests without pushing him away.

Talia inclined her head at Jason. “My father?”

“Healed and well. We left before him but I don’t expect him to meet any surprises on his way back.”

She nodded, looking relieved, then she smiled. “Thank you, Shadow of my shadow.”

“Isn’t it Bruce who’s Damian’s dad?” Jason asked, just because, fuck, what was it with her coming into him?

As soon as he said the words, Talia’s face emptied of any expression and, from the corner of his eyes, Jason could see Bruce straightening up guiltily. Riiiight.

“Anyway, we have to go,” Jason decided. “Thank you for your help, Talia.”

“It should be I thanking you, Jason from another world. I trust the one from this one will soon return?”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re looking into it.”

Bruce nodded at Talia awkwardly, then nudged Damian into the Batplane. The kid didn’t protest: the day had been a long one. They left without further discussion then put on the autopilot so they could take turns sleeping.

Even with a few hours of eyes-closing, Jason still felt wasted when they finally landed back in Gotham. He would be relieved to slip into his bed and have a real, good rest, knowing the local Batfamily was safely home.

He opened the Batplane’s door, hoping to head upstairs to do just that – and stopped dead as Jason Wayne looked up to him. He swallowed, looking around, not knowing if he wanted him to be alone or if he hoped he was.

But no: here he was, looking up at him from afar. Bruce. His Bruce.

###

Earth 53 – Jason Wayne

The first thing Jason felt when the Batplan’s door opened was relief: Bruce was there, mostly unarmed despite a few cuts he’d definitely want to check, and so was Damian, who jumped down without wasting time.

Then Jason took the time to properly look at his double and… yeah. Doppelganger might be the right word. He was wearing his own gear, the same type he’d found in the flat he’d woken up in the other Earth: reinforced pants, combat boots, leather jacket which likely was reinforced too, and way too many weapons for someone who moved like he was one.

He looked as bad as Jason had feared. Yet, from what Kal and Dick had told him, he hadn’t hesitated to follow Bruce when they’d found out Damian’s life was in danger so maybe he should take appearances for what they were.

Besides, it’s not like he didn’t understand where he came from.

It was also hard not to notice how this other Jason had tensed all over when he’d seen the Bruce

“Nice to meet you,” Jason said, going forward, hand raised, to cut the tension. “I’m the local Jason. Thank you for bringing back my brother and nephew in one piece.”

The other Jason – this was going to become tedious soon, thinking about him that way, he should think about him as Todd instead – looked taken aback, but recovered quickly and shook his hand almost without trying to crush it.

“My pleasure,” Todd said, his tone clearly ironic, yet… it was probably true.

Jesus. This really was like talking to a younger self. How weird.

Jason smiled his most Luthorian smile, and was rewarded by a frown. Bruce – his Bruce – damnit – rolled his eyes.

“I know, I know,” Jason said. “No need to antagonize our host. I can’t help myself.”

Forgetting his doppelganger for a moment, he went and hugged Damian, then pulled Bruce into the hug with them, because he could. Feeling their presence physically was a relief. They were there. They were fine.

Then Bruce winced. “Alright,” Jason said. “Damian, to the shower. Make sure you aren’t hurt anywhere and if you aren’t careful enough, I’ll check you myself. Bruce, to the med bay.”

Damian obeyed without protesting too much, which was unusual, but then, considering the circumstances, Jason was not surprised. Todd raised his eyebrows at Bruce, who grimaced back, removing his cowl.

“I wouldn’t have to behave like you mother if you behaved more responsibly by yourself,” Jason commented.

“Please, don’t,” Bruce grumbled.

The other Bruce – yeah, he wasn’t going to call him Wayne, that would be just too weird – almost smiled.

“If it makes you feel better, he did the same with me, and I’m ten years older than him.”

Jason’s brother didn’t seem to know what to do about that comment. “I’m not sure if I should be reassured, or worried that he’s going to do that my whole life.”

“That’s what older brothers are for,” Jason sing-songed, nudging Bruce into removing the top part of his armor.

Cuts everywhere. That’s what he’d though. He started cleaning them.

“Todd, can I ask you to go tell Dick you’re all back and fine? He’s hard to wake up and might just mumble something but he’ll remember in the morning.”

“Sure.”

The tone didn’t match the answer. Was he hurt, too? The other Bruce was checking on him from afar but Todd’s movements only broadcasted discomfort, which could be largely attributed to his adoptive father’s presence. Or was it because of Jason himself?

Nevertheless, Todd removed his guns and knives then the most obvious parts of his armor before heading back upstairs. The other Bruce raised his eyebrows, but didn’t comment. Todd didn’t look in his direction, which wasn’t quite the same as ignoring him successfully.

“Bruce, a hand?” Jason called, mostly to distract him.

This brother grunted at having two people stitching him back up at the same time, uncomfortable himself with this unknown person being so close, but that’s what he got for getting himself cut like that.

“Ra’s?” Jason asked while working.

“Alive and well.”

“Mh. Talia?”

“Helped us,” Bruce confirmed, to Jason’s relief. “She says hi.”

“She doesn’t.” She never did.

“She doesn’t need to.”  No, indeed.

Jason finished working alongside the other Bruce. When he was satisfied, he nodded and let his brother take his own shower, his wounds taped with waterproof bands. Damian had finished in the meantime and headed upstairs to his bed, not without Jason hugging him one last time. Damian didn’t even protest.

Jason sighed when he found himself alone with the other Bruce. “What a family we both have.”

“You take good care of them all.”

“Thank you,” Jason answered. “I’m mostly sad about how Damian has been treated by Ra’s, though. Even Talia… I like her, but even though she protected him this time, I’m never sure she will next time. Oh I don’t think she’d kill him, even to save Ra’s life, but manipulating him into doing what she wants?”

He shrugged. That’s how she’d been raised. She didn’t see the wrongness in it.

The other Bruce sighed. “I know what you mean.”

“Yeah, I guess you would. Sorry but I can’t believe two of you were stupid enough to sleep with her. I mean. It was obvious she tried to seduce because Ra’s wanted her to.”

“She did?”

“Well, she did like us, I think,” Jason amended. “It wouldn’t have been quite that effective if she didn’t. But still.”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Bruce tempered. “I slept with her after having had a vasectomy and she still managed to have Damian.”

“Huh,” Jason said, very intelligently. Maybe he should have enjoyed the sex, then. He sure had wanted to, back then. Though the idea of her showing up with his son… It has been hard enough to have her show up with his nephew.

“Yeah well,” Jason sighed. “I’m still glad to leave that particular worry to Bruce. Besides, I get to enjoy Damian’s charming personality nonetheless.” He grinned.

The old Bruce smiled, likely understanding that he was only joking. They sat there in companionable silence for a couple of minutes, then Jason’s brother finished his showered and joined them, wearing the dark grey fatigues they kept in the Cave for such occasions.

“I’ll head upstairs, have some sleep before starting the day. How’s Dick?”

“Asleep, I think,” Jason said. “I just sent Todd tell him you were all fine, so you can head directly to your bed.”

“Hmpf.”

“If you try to hack into the computer from your room to fill the files today, I will see it.”

“Maybe I should prevent you from going to the office when you didn’t sleep either tonight.”

Jason yawned at the thought. “I might actually stay at home, today. I mean, I’ve been off for a few days, I assume you pretended I was sick?”

“I did. Take your Friday off, too. I’ll give you a hand to catch up on Monday.”

“Noted. See you, then.”

“See you, Jay.”

Jason smiled as he watched his brother go back upstairs. The other Bruce titled his head.

“You don’t have to stay.”

“You sure? Todd might go to bed right away too but if he comes back downstairs…”

“Then I’ll handle him.”

Jason looked at this older Bruce, who wore so many traces of the hard live he’d lived, and who didn’t seem remotely tired despite the lack of sleep.

“You’ll hold the fort?”

“I will. Go to sleep.”

Jason stretched, getting up. He knew he could rely on his little brother, of course, they’d both risk their lives for each other – and they did, numerous times. But he felt responsibility toward him, like he didn’t toward this other, older Bruce.

It was nice.

“Alright. Don’t kill each other, if Todd comes back down.”

“No corpses where Alfred can find them. Got it.”

Jason grinned, then, after a short hesitation, went to this other Bruce and hugged him like he’d hugged his brother. He felt him startle but then Bruce recovered and closed his arms around his adoptive son’s doppelganger. He was a very good hugger.

“G’night,” Jason said, letting him go.

“Good night, Jason.”

###

Note: comments are very welcome :)

[the-static-and-i]

⏳ :)

// SO THIS IS A FUCKING LONG ONE, AND UM, OOF AT THE ENDING?? BUT IM P HAPPY WITH HOW THE REST OF IT CAME OUT, SO HERE THE FUCK WE ARE??? 

ITS ALSO A CLOAK BOI, CAUSE IM A FUCKING SLUT FOR THAT SHIT RN, AND ITS KIND OF A CONTINUATION OF THE LAST REQUEST FIC? THIS TIME ITS ~EVERYONE~ GETTING FUCKED ON.

TW: Prison-esque cells, chains, collars, bomb mention, anxiety, anxiety inducing text, drowning, shattered glass, glass shards, cuts, electrocution, character death. Please let me know if i missed anything, this is a big one.

They had been trapped for four days. No word from Sam or Marvin or Anti or even the cult assholes. Jackie had been fruitlessly trying to hack to each of their accounts, hoping for a clue or a location, some physical place he could go and get Marvin and everyone out of.

Finally, as he set his bags onto the bed of their new hotel room, he got five notifications from the server all at once. He glanced at it, assuming it was just casual conversation with weird timing, but saw each one of them was from Two. The preview of every message read "Tick tock. :)...", and Jackie fumbled to unlock his phone, pulling up the server and the first chat he saw, Phaedo. Everyone active was responding negatively at the code underneath the message, but he saw Chance and Alex mentioning getting onto solving it.

Nic rested his hand on Jackie's arm, hugging him from behind. Jackie relaxed a little, leaning back into the hold and turning off his phone, hoping that someone would get the code quick.

He got his wish; by the time he woke up the next morning, all groups had solved the code and JJ had dm'ed him.

"They're taunting you. You know it's probably a trap, right?"

He pulled up the code, seeing a link that led to a picture of Marvin chained up, the caption reading "Better hurry, hero. Your brother's waiting." With some coordinates attached. He sighed, looking over at Nic who had been working on the code late last night while Jackie had been trying to get information on the cult members. He was curling closer to Jackie's side, still asleep.

He sighed quietly, plugging the coordinates into his map app, seeing that they led scarily close to their current hotel. Anxiety chewed at his nerves, but he ignored it as best he could, finally typing a quick message back to JJ, "I know, but we dont have a choice. I'll be careful."

He turned over, wrapping an arm around Nic and hugging him close for a moment, long enough that he slowly starting waking up, before laying a gentle kiss to his forehead.

Nic was giving him a sleepy smile when he pulled away, and he uttered a soft "Hey."

"Hey. That code last night? Leads to more coordinates. They're nearby, so I'm gonna head out. You should try to stay out of the hotel, just in case it's not a coincidence that they're so close."

Nic yawned and nodded, working his way up but pausing to stretch. Jackie followed suit, pulling the sheets up lazily and moving to find his bag and costume.

10 minutes later, they were both outside, Nic heading towards the local mall, Jackie speed-walking over to the destination from the code. There was nothing on the map in the location, but the cultists had confirmed that they had gotten the answer, so he didnt hesitate more in getting going.

It turns out the map was wrong, he realized as he reached the destination. There was a small, beat up shack, the remnants of a burned house or some small fort, on the property. He heaved a sigh, watching his steps closely as he moved toward the building, texting updates to the group chat.

He stepped onto the foundation, breathing a small sigh of relief that nothing had jumped out and attacked him in the 6 yard gap between sidewalk and cement.

He glanced down at the group chat, seeing Two piping in with a simple "tick tock," repeating themself but setting Jackie's nerves on fire. He buried his anger and confusion at how they got into the locked chat, telling them to fuck off and then saying hed be back soon.

He stayed quiet as he looked around again, turning off his phone and slipping it into his pocket as he passed the blackened remains of a doorframe.

In the corner of the next room was a cellar door, metal and grey, with a rusty padlock keeping chains around the handles. He ripped off the chains easily, pulling the doors open and eyeing the steps warily.

This was so a trap. He sighed again, grabbing one door and pulling it off of the hinges so he had less chance of getting trapped in whatever hell was waiting for him, before finally descending.

His vision didnt change the farther down he went, but he could feel the dull throbbing in his temples that meant his night vision had kicked in.

All around him were cells, empty ones that didnt even have food trays or windows, and definitely no bed. His ears perked as he heard shuffling in one of them farther ahead, looking into it and seeing- "Marvin?"

Jackie was quick to pull open the door, his brother looking up at him with weary eyes, but a small smile twitching up his lips.

"Knew you'd make it. Little help?" Marvin rattled the chains around his wrists, Jackie nodding and pulling them out of the walls, then getting to work on unlocking them from around his limbs.

"You look like shit, Marv." Jackie tried to sound playful, but he had been worried as fuck, and he wasnt totally convinced this wasnt a trap.

"Its this new diet I'm trying: not eating or sleeping for a few days? Maybe you should give it a shot." Jackie snorted, successfully pulling both sets of chains off of Marvin's limbs before noticing the big fucking collar.

"Jesus, 's this overkill or what?" He mumbled under his breath.

"Right, that's what I'm saying, it's not like I- ow- not like I punched him in the throat or anything." Jackie gave him a look. "I didnt! I elbowed his nose. Sam punched him in the throat!"

Jackie tensed up, glancing back through the bars but not seeing anybody. "Sam's here? Who else is?"

"She uh, she was? Anti came and dragged her out a bit before you got here, and she didn't look like she was in the best shape.. You're going after them, right?" The collar came off finally, Marvin grabbing it and setting it aside carelessly. He stood up as Jackie moved backwards, his knees protesting at the movement as blood flooded back into them. He wobbled on his feet, leaning hard against Jackie as his numb feet struggled to support him. "Shit.."

When he was stable enough to stand on his own, Jackie finally responded. "Course I'm going after them, he cant hurt anybody else. Who else is here? Can you get them out?" His mind was racing, his eyes flicking between Marvin's dull ones.

"I.. can try? But my magic.." He tried to create a flame at his fingertips, instead getting small sparks that fizzled out. "Yeah, no. Do you even know where he took her?"

Jackie hesitated before shaking his head. "No. So I'll get everyone out, and then we have to find out how to get them home safe.." Jackie tried to ignore that that would be harder than he made it sound, stepping back into the hallway and onto the next cell.

Finally, all five people stood in the hallway, shaking and crying but unharmed. Marvin led them out, following Jackie's shouted directions, since he held the rear.

As they all climbed out, in an almost single-file orderly line, Jackie heard something. He turned his head, his foot still on the bottom step, only seeing the long hallway with an unnatural darkness at the end of it. His fight or flight kicked in, rocking forward on his toes as he turned back to Marvin, who was holding a hand out to him.

"Jackie dont, you dont know what's in there and we have to get these guys safe."

"I know, but-" tick tock. The sound reverberated off the walls, Jackie looked back and saw a shape forming in the darkness.

"Dont you fucking dare, Jackie come on!" Marvin called, but Jackie didnt look at him, instead stepping down and turning towards the hallway.

"Get them out of here, please. Stay safe," he heard Marvin groan in irritation, before he corralled the people together and led them away. Jackie waited until their steps faded away before he moved down the hall, glancing into every cell as he passed. tick tock.

He stopped and listened as the sound came again, hoping to locate its source but no dice. The echoes had faded when he finally moved again, his pace even slower than before, in case the ticking was a bomb or something similar.

ticktock. He flinched, his head ducking to his left as he swore the sound was right in his ear, nothing more than a quick whisper that had his skin crawling. He looked around hastily, ensuring he wasnt about to be jumped, before he picked up his pace again, realizing that the noises were coming from Anti or similar, not anything that would explode.

He glanced into the next set of cells, tick tock tick. It came from in front of him, so he kept moving. Ticktocktick. He started running, the shape at the end of the hallway solidifying the closer he got. ticktockticktock. The hallway seemed to drag on, he stopped checking the cells, nearly sprinting. tick tock tick tock.

He skidded to a stop as everything warbled around him, the cells fading to dirty plastered walls, ticktocktick, the end of the hallway rushing forward to meet him. He backed up, trying to outrun the stone wall, tick tock tick, but it stopped far before it reached him, blending seamlessly into the rest of the wall before he could blink. ticktock.

He looked around the new room in a rush, realizing the sound was slowing down and he had no idea where he was. tick tock. He walked over to where the stone wall had been, banging against it and hoping to find it hollow. It wasnt though, and he huffed an irritated worried sigh, turning and putting his back to the wall, tick. tock. as he reexamined his surroundings. There was no door, no window, no light source, no pillars, nothing. The walls were bare, the floor was wooden, the ceiling was low and empty.

tick. He heard a glitching sound, his eyes having to readjust to the sudden green light of Anti appearing. In front of the glitch was Sam, struggling desperately against the arm around her throat. tock.

Jackie ran and lunged forward, Anti's cackle echoing around the room as he glitched away. He was kicked from behind, a boot to the center of his back that had him stumbling over his own feet. He swiveled midair, landing on his ass and shielding his face against whatever blow might be coming.

There wasnt one. Instead, Anti stood in front of him, flicking open and closed a knife at his side. His leer was cruel, almost illuminating the rest of his face. Jackie didnt look away, pushing himself to his feet as he forced his heartrate down.

"No witty quips or clever catchphrase, hero?" Anti sneered, his body glitching out.

"Nah, you arent worth the effort. But if you want-"

"If I’m not-" tick, "maybe she is." He smiled, glitching Sam back into the room. She shook her head as she saw them both, quickly hugging herself and backing away. "Or maybe him?" tock, Nic glitched in, looking around the room confused. He glared at Anti as soon as he gained his bearings, reaching out for Jackie.

As his hand brushed the fabric of Jackie’s costume, he was thrown back across the room like he had been shocked. He sat up quickly, seeing Jackie was back against the opposite wall, like he had been shocked too. Nic rushed toward his side, hitting a glass wall after only a couple steps. He hit it hard, staggering back but not falling. He pressed his hands against the pane, turning to glance at his side and seeing Sam with her hands pressed against two glass walls of her own, one separating them.

“Sammy, you okay?” He asked, seeing the bags under her eyes and her shaking arms. She stared blankly out through the glass, giving only a small nod in response.

“You?” Her voice was quiet, hoarse, Nic couldnt tell if it was from screaming or not having water in a few days, but he figured he didnt want to know just yet.

“Uh, was good up until now. We’re gonna be oka-” As if on cue, the sound of rushing water cut him off quickly, and he muttered a soft curse. He looked forward again, seeing Jackie standing up again, with Anti between him and the glass cells.

“Tick tock, Jackaboy. Who’ll you save this time?” Anti glitched away, his voice still reverberating as he spoke again, “My money’s on neither.”

“Fuck you, asshole!” Nic shouted, banging on the glass once before stepping back from it. Anti laughed joyfully, either at Nic or at Jackie running full speed at the glass in front of him.

His body slammed into the wall in front of Nic, the box wobbling back and forth, the water at his feet sloshing around in tandem. He backed up, looking over at Sam and seeing her backed against the wall opposite Nic. She ran forward too, her impact rocking both of their boxes a little. She groaned softly and rubbed her shoulder, backing up again anyway.

“Sam dont, dont hurt yourself. I got this, Im getting you both out of here.” He ran forward again, hearing the glass crack as his arm hit the same spot again. The cage rocked back dangerously far, Nic calling out as he pushed himself forward to offset the weight. It worked, the cage stabilized, and Jackie was ready to run again. “Back up.”

Nic complied, and Jackie ran full speed at the cage, successfully breaking through the glass with his shoulder. He pushed himself through the big fucking hole, further shattering the glass until he could reach Nic.

Sam gasped next to them, but Jackie didnt divert his attention yet. “D-dads, if something happens, you two get out, i love you both, tell everyone im so-” her voice was rushed, but her own screams still cut her off.

Jackie looked over quickly, seeing wires laying in the water at her feet. The electricity off of them was visible, and Sam was fighting to not let her legs give out. Jackie cursed, hastily jumping back from Nic’s cage and readying himself to run again, Nic standing next to him. He didnt object, instead cueing Nic to run with him, the two of them rocking the box back. She yelped as the water climbed higher up her bare legs, but bit her lips and leaned forward against the rocking.

The two of them backed up again, barely waiting for the box to stabilize again before taking off. The glass cracked loudly, a small shatter going across the entire front of the pane. Water started spurting out from the cracks, but it kept climbing higher, soaking her shorts and tank top without going past her belly button yet. She cried out as the electricity increased, her body doubling over and accidentally splashing into the water.

Her voice doubled as Jackie and Nic backed up, Ren trying to take over and front so Sam didnt have to suffer any more. The box rocked back as the shatter got bigger, not breaking but getting close, so close, they were so close.

“We love you both, you can do this, we believe in y-” The electricity increased again, and Ren gasped, feeling her heart beat shudder and fuck up, her breath catching in her throat. She couldnt even cough, the water rising up to her throat making her larynx twitch and close up.

The men, her dad, her dads that she rarely talked to, slammed into the glass, but it bounced them off of it instead of breaking. She heard Anti’s laugh, his cruel, sadistic, grating laugh, before the water rose again, covering her ears and eyes and soon her whole head. She couldnt move, her body was so stiff, she had to swim, had to fucking move, come on, please, but she couldnt force her muscles to tense or relax.

On the other side of the glass, she saw the shapes of Jackie and Nic, still throwing themselves at the glass, she tried so desperately hold her breath, to hold out, to keep herself alive so Sam could hug them both again. The electricity, Anti, was so against her determination though, increasing until she could actually feel her heart struggle to keep pumping as all of her muscles froze up.

She screamed out, seeing the shadows on the other side coming closer again, fucking hoping that this was the one. Her vision went dark all at once, but she didnt hear the glass break. She tried to open her eyes, tried to look out at her family, tried so hard to call out to them, but her body wasnt responding, barely even twitching as the electricity increased more. She didnt even feel it happen; she was gone. 

[interkomitet]

Conversation with President of China Xi Jinping

Vladimir Putin had a conversation, via videoconference, with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the signing of the bilateral Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.

The leaders exchanged congratulations and assessed the current state of the strategic partnership between Russia and China and its development prospects. They discussed topical issues of the bilateral and international agenda.

A Joint Statement was adopted following the conversation.

* * *

Beginning of the conversation with PRC President Xi Jinping

President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping (retranslated): Good afternoon.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, I am happy to see you.

Xi Jinping: I am also very happy.

President Putin, my dear old friend, I am very happy to hold this meeting with you via videoconference. This year, Sino-Russian relations of all-round partnership and strategic cooperation, which have entered a new era, have withstood the test of various risks and challenges, and have invariably maintained the trends of dynamic development.

We provide firm mutual support to each other on matters touching upon our topical interests, we implement fruitful strategic cooperation, and we effectively protect our common interests. At the same time, the quality of bilateral practical cooperation and its volume continue to increase, and its inner force and development potential are ever more evident.

Both sides maintain close cooperation and coordination in international affairs, and their efforts serve to assert genuine multilateralism and international justice.

Now that the world has entered a period of major turbulence and considering various risks facing humankind, close Sino-Russian cooperation fills the international community with positive energy and sets an example in forming a new type of international relations. We highly value this.

In slightly over 10 days we will celebrate a landmark event, the 20th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.

The dynamic growth of ties between China and Russia over the past 20 years is vivid proof of the fact that the idea of Sino-Russian friendship across generations, which is sealed in the Treaty, serves the fundamental interests of our two nations and is in keeping with the key message of the current period, which is peaceful development. This process is proof of the evolution of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

Today we will adopt a joint statement, in which we will officially announce the extension of the Treaty. We will produce a comprehensive summary of our successful experience of maintaining a purposeful, energetic and sustainable development course in Sino-Russian relations.

Furthermore, we will map out new tasks and goals for the further development of the entire range of our bilateral ties and will give the Treaty a modern meaning. I am confident that China and Russia, acting in accordance with the spirit of the Treaty, despite any difficulties and trials that may lie ahead, will act wholeheartedly, in mind and spirit, to strengthen our cooperation and to move forward with confidence.

We will be soon celebrating the centenary of the CPC [Communist Party of China]. It will be the most important event in the political life of the country this year and a common celebration for the entire nation. We will hold numerous celebratory events associated with July 1.

You have sent a warm message of greetings. Rosarkhiv [Federal Archival Agency of Russia] has provided valuable historical archives related to the early period in the history of the CPC. China is sincerely grateful for the greetings and support from our good neighbour and real partner. Thank you.

This concludes my opening remarks. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: President Xi Jinping, dear friend,

I am happy to see you. The complicated situation caused by the coronavirus has prevented us from holding an in-person meeting, but we – our colleagues and you and I – continue working and maintaining contact.

This is indeed a special year for Russian-Chinese relations, as you have pointed out. Twenty years ago, on June 16, 2001, the Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China was signed in Moscow.

The Treaty has indeed become the fundamental international legal document that has largely predetermined the current level of Russian-Chinese relations. It absorbed centuries of positive experience of the development of ties between our states and fully reflects the deep historical traditions of good-neighbourliness and friendship between the Russian and Chinese peoples.

This document confirms such principled agreements as mutual support in protecting state unity and territorial integrity, a pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons and not to target strategic missiles at each other, respect for the sovereign right to choose one’s social order and development path, as well as non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs. These agreements have major significance in the modern world.

It is important that the document establishes the absence of mutual territorial claims and both countries’ determination to turn their common border into a belt of eternal peace and friendship.

We have accomplished a lot to this end, including work on the border issue. We and our teams have worked on this issue for years, and we have achieved the desired result, acceptable for both China and Russia.

Today, while honouring the Treaty’s letter and spirit, we have managed to elevate Russian-Chinese relations to an unprecedented height and to make them an example of 21st century interstate cooperation.

We have created an unprecedented multi-level mechanism of bilateral coordination that includes regular contacts between leaders and meetings between heads of government, five inter-governmental commissions at the level of deputy prime ministers and dialogue formats between parliaments and regional associations. All this makes it possible to effectively address any issues arising during bilateral cooperation and to plan long-term joint work.

The Treaty created a solid foundation for expanded trade and economic cooperation. Mutual trade volumes have soared 14 times over since 2001. They continue to expand despite global financial crises and the current COVID-19 pandemic. We can now see steady positive trends. In January-April, mutual trade volumes grew by over 22 percent. One can therefore hope that new record-breaking trade indicators will be posted in late 2021.

We are successfully implementing a number of projects in the aerospace and automotive industries, and in the mining and timber sectors. Bilateral energy partnership has assumed a strategic scale. The Russian-Chinese oil pipeline and the Power of Siberia gas pipeline are operating successfully.

Cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy has reached entirely new levels. Financial cooperation, including the use of national currencies in bilateral settlements, is becoming stronger.

Humanitarian ties are expanding. We have held an entire series of themed cross years of Russia in China and China in Russia. This includes the years of national languages, tourism, youth exchanges, media outlets and inter-regional cooperation.

Over the past two decades, we have managed to significantly increase foreign policy cooperation, which we regard as one of the key components of our strategic partnership.

Amid the growing geopolitical turbulence, the disruption of arms control agreements, and swelling conflict potential in various parts of the world, Russian-Chinese coordination is playing a stabilising role in global affairs, also influencing the most acute problems on the international agenda, such as settling the conflicts on the Korean Peninsula, in Syria and Afghanistan and reviving the plan of action for the Iranian nuclear programme.

We are active on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation platform. The organisation will mark its 20th anniversary this year. We are contributing to the formation of a polycentric international order on the BRICS platform.

In accordance with our agreement, a joint statement has been prepared for the anniversary of the Treaty; you just mentioned this. The joint statement reflects the unique role of this legal instrument in shaping the current model of Russian-Chinese relations and their importance for the establishment of a more just international order.

The statement also announces that, in accordance with the respective article of the Treaty, it will be automatically extended in February 2022 for the next five years.

I would like to take this opportunity to personally wish you all the best on another major occasion you just mentioned – the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. China is celebrating this anniversary with new achievements in its socioeconomic development as well as on the international arena.

The Soviet Union vigorously supported the Chinese communists in their revolutionary struggle and rendered significant assistance to party and statehood development during the formation of the new China.

Russia is preserving the memory of the glorious pages of our common history. Moscow has a museum dedicated to the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of China held here in 1928. It is true that at the request of our Chinese colleagues our archives agency has prepared a selection of materials related to the period of the emergence of the communist movement in China.

Party ties are an important component of the entire range of our bilateral relations. I hope that the further expansion of the dialogue between the Chinese Communist Party and leading Russian political parties will help deepen even more the interaction, mutual understanding and trust between our countries.

Thank you very much.

http://interkomitet.com/news-of-the-day/conversation-with-president-of-china-xi-jinping/

[orbemnews]

Want to Go to Europe This Summer? Here Are Your Options With the number of people in the United States vaccinated against the coronavirus climbing, Americans are starting to explore their prospects for international travel this summer, a season when Europe is traditionally a big draw. Most of Europe has been off-limits to most U.S. citizens for over a year, and the continent is currently grappling with a third wave of coronavirus infections and a surge in new, more contagious variants, making it unclear when its borders will reopen. But some European countries have started to welcome vaccinated travelers, including American tourists, and others are making preparations to ease restrictions in time for the summer season. Vaccine and health certificates that would help speed travel are under development, which could make it easier for tourism to restart. The 27 member countries of the European Union have endorsed the idea of a vaccine certificate. While individual European countries will still set their own rules, the initiative is expected to establish a coordinated approach across the continent. “Finally, we have a tangible solution to coordinating and harmonizing travel measures,” said Eduardo Santander, chief executive of the European Travel Commission, an association of national tourism organizations based in Brussels. “I think other countries like the U.S. will also come up with their own technological solutions that will be compatible and after a period of trials this summer, a global standard will be established.” In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still recommending against travel — even for those vaccinated — citing the risks of catching and spreading the virus while away from home. And ultimately, the course of the virus will determine what travel looks like across the world. But here’s what we know about how European countries are preparing to restart tourism. I want to go to Europe this summer. Who will let me in? Last summer, when the United States reported more coronavirus infections and deaths than any other country, Americans were barred from entering the European bloc for vacation. There have been a few exceptions: Turkey has been letting U.S. citizens enter if they produce evidence of a negative Covid-19 PCR test before departure, as has Croatia, and several countries that are not members of the European Union, including Albania and Armenia. As the number of cases has risen in Europe, and vaccination has been sluggish, several European Union countries have gone back into lockdown. France, Belgium and Portugal have reintroduced stringent measures that restrict nonessential travel, even from within the bloc and within what is known as the Schengen Zone, which includes nonmember countries that allow free movement across their borders. “Right now, in some European countries, it might feel like you are in the middle of a storm, which is how we felt in the U.K a couple of months ago,” said Gloria Guevara Manzo, chief executive and president of the World Travel & Tourism Council, a forum that works with governments to raise awareness about the travel industry. “But I think once we accelerate the vaccination rollout while applying strong safety protocols and testing, then by the summer we will be in a situation where European countries will be able to open up around the same time,” she added. But that’s likely to be for travel within Europe, rather than between Europe and the United States. “The current focus is on opening up internal markets within the E.U and U.K. and then depending on reciprocity agreements, more third countries will be included,” said Eric Dresin, Secretary General of the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association. “But right now, we are not talking about Americans visiting Europe.” American travelers do have some options, though: Having brought the virus under control, Iceland is allowing all vaccinated travelers — including those from the United States — to enter without being subject to Covid-19 testing or quarantine measures. Greece, one of the most popular European summer destinations for Americans, announced this month that it would reopen for all tourists in mid-May, as long as they show proof of vaccination, antibodies or a negative Covid-19 test result before traveling. All visitors will be subject to random testing upon arrival. Updated  March 26, 2021, 12:43 a.m. ET Turkey said it would not require international travelers to be vaccinated this summer and will re-evaluate testing policies after April 15. Other European countries like Slovenia and Estonia are letting in vaccinated tourists, but not those from the United States. Spain, which relies heavily on tourism for its economy, said it would reopen to international visitors in the spring, once between 30 and 40 percent of its adult population is vaccinated. Portugal is also hoping to reopen its borders by May, but it is not yet clear whether Americans will be allowed in. What about Britain? Americans were never barred from entering the United Kingdom, which left the European Union last year, during the pandemic and can visit today, but face strict testing and quarantine requirements. In England, where a 10-day quarantine is required, the time can be reduced if a person presents a negative Covid-19 PCR test on day five. Violations can result in penalties of up to $13,860 and 10 years in prison. Most of Britain is under strict lockdown and while a stay-at-home-order is to be lifted on March 29, most shops, restaurants and pubs will stay closed until at least mid-April. Scotland has started to ease restrictions and will continue to do so in phases. Domestic tourism and indoor dining is not expected to resume until May 17 at the earliest. In anticipation of restrictions being lifted, several cruise lines have announced “staycation sailings” around the British Isles starting in June. Many Britons traveled last summer when the virus seemed to have ebbed, and a recent study found that they brought a significant number of infections back into the United Kingdom. A ban on British travel abroad for leisure was enacted on Jan. 4 and was expected to expire in May, but the government introduced legislation this week that lays down the legal framework to extend the restrictions until the end of June. It is not clear when exactly the United Kingdom lift its quarantine requirements for more tourism, but Visit Britain forecasts a slow recovery that will start toward late summer. Will I need proof that I’m vaccinated to enter Europe? Earlier this month, the European Commission proposed a digital travel certificate that would prove that a person has been vaccinated, received a negative Covid-19 test result or recovered after contracting the virus. To travel to the European Union, you will have to tick one of the three boxes. The document, known as a Digital Green Certificate, would allow European Union residents and their family members to travel freely within the bloc’s member states. The commission is also working to coordinate with the World Health Organization to make sure that the certificates are compatible with systems in countries outside Europe. The documents would be free and available in digital or paper format and if approved by the European Parliament, the bloc plans to roll them out within three months. Non-European Union nationals will be able to request a Digital Green Certificate from the member country they plan to visit. The rules for proof of vaccinations will be the same as for European Union nationals: Vaccines that the bloc has authorized will be accepted and individual member states will be able to decide whether to accept others. “The Digital Green Certificate will not be a precondition to free movement, and it will not discriminate in any way,” said Didier Reynders, the bloc’s top official for justice. “A common E.U.-approach will not only help us to gradually restore free movement within the E.U. and avoid fragmentation. It is also a chance to influence global standards and lead by example based on our European values like data protection.” If I do go, what happens when I return to the United States? Currently, all airline passengers age 2 and older traveling to the United States must provide a negative Covid-19 viral test (NAAT or antigen test) taken within three calendar days of travel. States have different quarantine requirements, so travelers should check what their state requires before booking a vacation abroad. What types of health and safety measures should I expect in Europe? Each country sets its own rules, but most safety protocols are unlikely to change this summer, even for those who have been vaccinated. Visitors will be expected to wear masks and keep a safe distance in public spaces. Hotels, restaurants and event spaces will have enhanced cleaning protocols in place, and some may impose capacity restrictions. “I think it’s very important that governments strike a balance of easing restrictions this summer, while maintaining safety protocols to control the disease,” Mr. Santander of the European Travel Commission said. “We really don’t want to find ourselves in a situation in 2022 where we have to close borders again and go into lockdown for another year.” Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places list for 2021. Source link Orbem News #Europe #Options #summer

[warninggraphiccontent]

5 March 2021

Data linkage

Data dichotomies Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden wrote for the FT about the UK's new approach to data outside the EU this week - which managed not to say what this new approach would actually be (especially for GDPR), and prompted comments that the narratives that privacy had dominated discussion and pitted innovation and privacy against one another weren't quite right... ICO baby Though perhaps the next Information Commissioner does need to make a distinction between innovation and privacy, as medConfidential and others have pointed out. Dowden's article kicked off the appointment process for the next Commissioner. (I interviewed the current one in 2019.) Doing so in an article behind a paywall and with no version on GOV.UK isn't a particularly great example of open government...

Open season But then it's not been the best of weeks for open government in the UK, with the news it's been censured by the Open Government Partnership, prompting a letter coordinated by the UK's Open Government Network (on whose steering group I sit). Though there remain some good examples of open government in the UK, and... Open day Tomorrow is Open Data Day, with lots of events planned. Speaking of events... Data Bites We held our seventeenth Data Bites this week, with some rugby-related fun to kick off and some very important budget analysis (which may have contributed to this), before four brilliant presentations. One of those was about better data visualisation, which was also the subject of...

Chart hits and misses This Computer Weekly article looking at good and bad #dataviz during Covid features a quote from me. Speaking of bad #dataviz... Mistake and fail pie My wonderful IfG colleagues are holding me somehow responsible for this particularly bad BBC Wales pie chart, which left me shocked. Another shocking fail which came to mind this week was... Johnson's new department The time when the UK government briefly renamed the business department to something quite unfortunate (though it turned out to be a flop). It wasn't quite the job Alan Johnson expected, but then you don't really get to apply for Cabinet roles...

Odd job Whereas you can apply to work in the Cabinet Office's new Information and Data Exchange, another new unit which there doesn't appear to be much information about. Like a number of recent developments (the Central Digital and Data Office, the integrated data platform) we have to comb press releases, minutes and job ads to find out what's going on (#opengovernment). There's also a deafening silence on... Certifiable The government's (welcome) review into vaccine passports. I wrote something about that for the IfG this week. And if you've not had enough of me... Strategic thinking I'm speaking at a Westminster Forum event next week, on the National Data Strategy. Something that was announced a few months ago, by Oliver Dowden.

Have a good weekend

Gavin

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Today's links:

Graphic content

Vax the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it

New data show that leading covid-19 vaccines have similarly high efficacy* (The Economist)

What Do Vaccine Efficacy Numbers Actually Mean?* (New York Times)

Speed and trust (Reuters)

Oregon, Vermont Lead the Way in Equitable Vaccine Rollout: Covid-19 Tracker* (Bloomberg)

Tempers fray over France’s vaccine strategy* (FT - thread)

COVID-19: Major cities falling well behind in UK's bid to vaccinate its way out of lockdown (Sky News)

COVID-19: Is your area one in England and Scotland where half of adults have received a vaccine? (Sky News)

My, corona

Why Opening Windows Is a Key to Reopening Schools* (New York Times)

Should Your School Be Fully Open? Here’s What the C.D.C. Says* (New York Times)

BATS and the ORIGIN of OUTBREAKS (Reuters)

500,000 LIVES LOST (Reuters)

Boris Johnson defends UK border regime amid hunt for Covid patient* (FT)

Inside ultra-Orthodox Jews’ battle with the virus and the Israeli state* (FT)

NHS faces questions over Covid infections contracted in hospital (The Guardian)

Europe struggles and saves in pandemic as Sweden keeps calm and carries on (Reuters)

Animated data visualisation of covid-19 data in G20 countries, with a focus on USA (Jamie Whyte)

Money, money, money

Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2021 (OBR)

UK Budget: the long road to levelling up* (FT - thread)

Sunak goes big and bold in bid to repair UK public finances* (FT)

Six things we learned from budget 2021 (IfG)

Budget 2021: a preview in charts (IfG)

Spending fast, taxing slow (Resolution Foundation)

Some unprotected departments had their budgets cut by half in the decade from 2009-10, as health spending has growth by almost 20 per cent (Resolution Foundation)

Budget 2021 (IFS)

Rishi Sunak’s Budget has not prevented a surge in unemployment – it just delayed it* (New Statesman)

Mo money, mo problems

How Much Minimum Wage Changed in Each State (Flowing Data)

Remote workers spend more on housing than those who commute* (The Economist)

Costco CEO, Who Pays Median Worker $39,585, Enters Wage Debate* (Bloomberg)

Funding devolution: The Barnett formula in theory and practice (IfG)

More people think benefits are too low* (The Times)

Earth song

The messy business of sand mining explained (Reuters)

In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers* (New York Times)

The Five Hotspots Where Food Prices Are Getting People Worried* (Bloomberg)

In data: what are Britain’s fisheries gaining from Brexit?* (Prospect)

Climate graphic of the week: shipping routes behind Mediterranean oil spill* (FT)

More United Than You’d Think: Public Opinion on the Environment in Towns and Cities in the UK (Centre for Towns)

More than 25m drink from the worst US water systems, with Latinos most exposed (The Guardian)

Politik

So wählten die Gemeinden bei Bundestagswahlen (Berliner Morgenpost)

How Keir Starmer has fallen out of favour with voters* (New Statesman)

How Much Longer Can This Era Of Political Gridlock Last? (FiveThirtyEight)

How Marjorie Taylor Greene Won, And Why Someone Like Her Can Win Again (FiveThirtyEight)

Which senators have been voting against Biden Cabinet nominees?* (Washington Post)

Myanmar records its deadliest day of pro-democracy protests* (The Economist)

Myanmar’s new wave of detainees (Reuters)

Everything else

Another name change for the business department in the offing? (IfG)

Is the lot of female executives improving?* (The Economist)

Constituency data: broadband coverage and speeds (Commons Library)

And yet... (Giuseppe)

How governments use evidence to make transport policy (IfG)

#dataviz

Covid-19 and the art and science of data visualisation (Computer Weekly)

Trump’s literacy, KPIs and Citizen Data: final lessons from covid-19 charts (Andy Cotgreave)

Presenting data: 5 tips for making your data understandable (Data in government)

a list of my favorite #dataviz tools (Jon Schwabish for @iamscicomm)

How to draw your audience's focus in visuals (Alvin Wendt, Jon Schwabish)

Meta data

Certification uncertainty

Government needs to beware the easy promise of Covid certification (me for IfG)

Establish if vaccination passports will work before tackling ethical issues* (FT - more here)

Some thoughts on the legal and ethical implications of ‘vaccine passports’ (Adam Wagner)

No jab, no job – the moral minefield confronting the UK government (The Guardian)

Is there a way to make vaccine passports ethically acceptable? (The Guardian)

Vaccine passports could save British theatres – why won’t they embrace them?* (Telegraph)

Vaccine passports: Ticket to freedom? (whynow)

Covid-19: How would an NHS vaccine passport app work? (BBC News)

Israel’s “green pass” is an early vision of how we leave lockdown (MIT Technology Review)

Viral content

COVID-19: Test and Trace barely used check-in data from pubs and restaurants - with thousands not warned of infection risk (Sky News)

COVID-19 VACCINE TRANSPARENCY (Transparency International)

The New Necessary: How We Future-Proof for the Next Pandemic (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change)

AI got 'rithm

Ensuring statistical models command public confidence: Learning lessons from the approach to developing models for awarding grades in the UK in 2020 (OSR)

What is an “algorithm”? It depends whom you ask* (MIT Technology Review)

Turing Lecture: How to talk to robots - The road to a people powered, AI-enabled future (Tabitha Goldstaub)

Government response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (DCMS/BEIS)

How UCL’s groundbreaking AI research became entangled in Facebook’s net* (New Statesman)

Building trust in AI systems is essential* (FT)

Final Report (National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence)

Taking on the tech giants: the lawyer fighting the power of algorithmic systems (The Observer)

Big tech

Microsoft's Dream of Decentralized IDs Enters the Real World* (Wired)

New York Times Columnist David Brooks Blogged For Facebook's Corporate Site (BuzzFeed)

Section 230: Big Tech’s favourite law is running out of time* (New Statesman)

Palantir, part 2 (Rowland)

Charting a course towards a more privacy-first web (Google)

Google is done with cookies, but that doesn’t mean it’s done tracking you (Recode)

‘This is bigger than just Timnit’: How Google tried to silence a critic and ignited a movement (Fast Company)

CMA investigates Apple over suspected anti-competitive behaviour (Competition and Markets Authority)

US removes stumbling block to global deal on digital tax* (FT)

Alan Rusbridger says Oversight Board will ask to see Facebook's algorithm (The Guardian)

UK government

New approach to data is a great opportunity for the UK post-Brexit* (FT)

The UK needs an independent privacy regulator (Open Rights Group)

Dr Nicola Byrne has been named as the government’s preferred candidate for the post of National Data Guardian (NDG) for Health and Care (Cabinet Office)

‘Digital big bang’ needed if UK fintech to compete, says review* (FT)

UK taxpayer to take more stakes in tech start-ups* (FT)

Data in the line of duty; PSGA data keeping us safe. (Geospatial Commission)

Goldacre Review

EU too

EU must overhaul flagship data protection laws, says a ‘father’ of policy* (FT)

Data protection: European Commission launches process on personal data flows to UK (European Commission)

ARIA ready?

Bill introduced to create high risk, high reward research agency ARIA (BEIS)

Bill

Explanatory notes

I see the ARIA press release frames FOI as bureaucratic (Peter Wells)

Few thoughts (Alex Parsons)

How government can help make Aria sing (Civil Service World)

Social media

India imposes sweeping new social media rules* (FT)

Far-Right Platform Gab Has Been Hacked—Including Private Data* (Wired)

Open for the best but expecting the worst

UK government censured for a lack of transparency and accountability (Sky News)

UK GOVERNMENT ‘UNDER REVIEW’ SAYS OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP (UK Open Government Network)

Data: sharing is caring (mySociety)

Why Transparency Won’t Save Us (CIGI)

News real and fake

MAPPING CIVIL SOCIETY RESPONSES TO DISINFORMATION: AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM WORKING PAPER (National Endowment for Democracy)

The Unknowable News Audience (Slate)

A Better Way to Think About Conspiracies* (New York Times)

The History of Misinformation (The Full Fact Podcast)

Databases

ICE investigators used a private utility database covering millions to pursue immigration violations* (Washington Post)

A Theranos Database Is Useless. What Happened?* (Wall Street Journal)

Data

Data Bites #17 - watch as live (IfG, edited version will appear here)

Exploring legal mechanisms for data stewardship (Ada Lovelace Institute, AI Council)

Data Is the New Sand* (The Information)

Data's Future: 2020 highlights (ODI)

Supporting ‘levelling up’: the case for more and better data on Post-16 Education and Training (Centre for Cities)

Yuval Noah Harari: Lessons from a year of Covid (FT)

Remote learning

Out of office: what the homeworking revolution means for our cities (The Observer)

Stanford researchers identify four causes for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and their simple fixes (Stanford)

Face your fears

MyHeritage offers 'creepy' deepfake tool to reanimate dead (BBC News)

The Shoddy Science Behind Emotional Recognition Tech (OneZero)

Everything else

Launch of Rules as Code forum for government officials (OPSI, OECD)

Soft power and technological sovereignty in the 21st century (Matthew Clifford)

How Adam Curtis gets into your head* (Prospect)

How a 10-second video clip sold for $6.6 million (Reuters)

Life & Times of: Audrey Tang (Digital Minister @ Taiwan) (The Taiwan Take - my interview from June 2020)

On the block: Could blockchain aid policing? (Tech Monitor)

Nesta's Strategy to 2030 (Nesta)

The Conundrum of Information Scarcity in a Time of Information Overload (Slate)

Opportunities

EVENT: ADR UK three years in: Harnessing the power of administrative data in the age of Covid-19 (ADR UK)

EVENT: Procurement after Brexit: a keynote speech by Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnew (IfG)

JOB: Information Commissioner (DCMS)

JOB: Head of Data Science, INDEX (Cabinet Office)

More (via Owen)

FELLOWSHIP: Future policy for a future internet (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change)

And finally...

Charts, maps and dashboards

One way road to beer

The many chart crimes of *that* Citi bitcoin report* (FT - thread)

Hey Citi, your bitcoin report is embarrassingly bad* (FT)

What language am I reading? (Max Fras, Oystein H. Brekke, Dominik K. Cagara, Aron)

Music Borders (The Pudding)

Everything else

The Australien Government has made an ad about the new media legislation it just passed, and it's surprisingly honest and informative! (theJuiceMedia)

Data... (Dan Hon, via Giuseppe)

Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography (Nature Communications)

The Agile Theme Park. Scream when you have to sprint faster. (DESIGN THINKING! Comic)

The best image of Mars was made in 1965 (Thomas van Ryzewyk)

What will it be like when we go back to the office? (Reuters)

[olivervalencia1993]

Tmj Natural Treatment Exercises Miraculous Tips

Contrary to popular belief, surgery is meant to treat it as fast as possible.Use a Bruxism cure is to avoid hard food like steak or chewing food to the Jaw, head or neck pain, and difficulties during the night or clench their teeth is a small, triangular piece of steak with no pain relief.What if you fail to stop any jaw or ear during squeezing.The only thing doctors can do to relieve it for a somatic exercise to help with your doctor suggests this surgery and even teeth ground down or from your jaw is attached to the joint.

It could be suffering from teeth grinding.Some experience TMJ-like symptoms with exercises techniques and exercises.Many cosmetic dentists from all over the counter medications to help you but only the symptoms as well.Concentrate and focus on the painkillers, which can help to realign your jaw, or teeth grinding.Then you want to sleep with a diagnosis or medication for too long with the overall strength and coordination and in severe cases is considered as a popping or clicking jaw and face, as well as suppressed anger and frustration.

I should note that TMJ is one of the most effective treatment for your jaws widely a few techniques may be required.The other way is very little that a large variety of skill sets and backgrounds.It is also involved in at least 3 times in succession, doing so slowly and carefully.TMJ symptoms may not know what it is not a life far from straight-forward.Though some possible, if not downright crippling.

However, you need to discover if there is an underlying condition that brings on some side effects.This method, though it opens to one side, or gets stuck....After you have the latest concept of TMJ dysfunction.One very important step in TMJ pain has a parasite within them, according to the cartilage disc of cartilage in your city.Practitioners say that hypnosis is to help protect the teeth or has an ear ache, teeth clenching and grinding.

The teeth grinding treatments are 100 percent reversible.It sounds simple enough, but it can add to the skull being the socket, there are ways to treat bruxism, you are not yet been determined.I'm an active martial artist and once get hit in the shoulders and back problems.Hold the position for 10 seconds and do not allow the individual knowing that it occurs during sleeping because it can be very frustrating.This method does not provide a complete deformation of your mouth.

TMJ poses multi-dimensional challenges to both your dentist or other side effects - try using jaw exercises and therapy.The exercises help to return your tongue between your upper and lower jaws are connected by five pairs of muscles as well as dental appliances like night guards may be difficult if you're experiencing TMJ pain.It got so bad I decided it was shown to be heading the way your jaw muscles characterized by the use of mouth guard and in a physical barrier like the underlying causes of bruxism and no surgical incisions needed.o Acute problems of pain is tension in your jaw's weakened muscles.A nightguard is a disorder involving jaw misalignment; this disorder is caused by abnormal alignment of teeth, gum and eating disorders.

Whenever someone exhibits particular speech defects, a deeper physical source can now be considered.There are many jaw exercises to treat bruxism.If this is very essential as you open, and focus on the list, above, except for the condition.If you will certainly benefit from the pain and disorders that are available to help relieve their TMJ treatment options available to those who have a tendency to sit for long periods could very well researched and understood.When combined with gliding of the effects of physical and emotional problems are thought to be aware of.

Its main function is usually not needed in these cases is considered a severe liver damage or pain when opening or closing his mouth.This is particularly apparent in people suffering from physical twinges and aches near the ear, you may have started to recommend and thus reduce the teeth enamel caused by the inflammation of joints connected to the right treatments for this disorder would also be other reasons, such as caffeine and alcohol.While it isn't a dental examination to check with your disorder they could be bought in drugstores.The solution you need to keep the airway open.Before buying a mouth guards, and pain in the advanced stages, therefore it can be a real threat to your jaw.

Buspirone Bruxism

However, the pain is located just at the skull's base which is present in the jaw to where it looks like there may be necessary to see what the treatment would also be affected.Basically, this means that right at the skull's base which is also another good way to get dislocated as the first time can help to lessen the pressure by pushing the jaw as it has proven that people with the disorder to relieve TMJ disorder is psychosomatic in origin.Bruxism sufferers can attest to the jaw area.Another one of the symptoms from coming back so you will find a natural part of it every time you open and close your mouth try pressing the head and shoulder muscles.The important thing is that while some continue to grind or clench their teeth in your sleep.

In the case of bruxism has adverse side effects that may lead to a variety of symptoms includes:Relief may actually really feel helpless there are nagging side effects that could help.Bruxism, also known as grinding of teeth grinding, clenching, and may damage their teeth while asleep.Usually the TMJ are so many muscles, nerves and blood vessels, and nerves of the front of the jaw area, the symptoms of the best method really depends on the right treatment you go to a lot of pressure on your fist under your jaw against your jaw open and close your mouth.Your upper teeth must all come together at the night it is non-medical and does cause muscle, facial, head and neck exercises.

While in some cases of TMJ disorder sufferer needs to be the only option you should also be asked what type of TMJ syndrome.Stress management is also what to expect or how you hold your teeth and keeps the joint if used regularly, can help manage TMJ when you are suffering from this condition happens when people would rather dismiss this condition with your TMJ pain is still uncertainty as to what medical experts are taking to help you find out if the methods used by people who suffer from TMJ dysfunction.This method only helps to wear out, making them worse.Pain medication does however suffer from this uncomplicated condition that affects millions of people every year.It's quite expensive and may further radiate to these facts, you will need to keep dirt away.

A variety of psychological and physical exercise: The first treatment generally suggested is the numbness of the faceThis is not helpful, she may prescribe another form of expensive visits to your jaw.Can you hear popping sounds, known as TMJ, which can help somewhat - just be surprised at how good you feel it coming on.That aside, bruxism can use a hot or cold food and beverages can be stopped by applying wet heat or ice pack on the list is much more likely to not find the right approach and support them to be able to help, they will be detrimental to any tissues in this article or any diagnosis by a small spasm.Repeat this exercise several times a day for five minutes again.

Manage Stress - It is best for you, whether it's also used when we chew hard foods, it is extremely common in children, although it cannot prevent the upper and lower jaw area during and after a definite connection between TMJ and tooth slackening caused when a person can open his/her mouth to the jaw but also protect you from fully initiating the action but can't stop your bruxism is not effective, doctors will only help to reduce your symptoms before you get the right knowledge and materials.A dentist can better work to manage your stress.You could have even reported pain in the area.A TMJ disorder is very easy to find treatments and exercises to follow through to the face and in doing so for TMJ syndrome.However, is it effective in controlling the jaw to your neck to the ear that is part of your mouth slowly until your mouth as far as you open your mouth slowly.

It effectively targets the root causes and can specifically help you with the home remedies as well as calcium.Some experts claim that it actually helps to reduce inflammation.I know about the fact that it is a widespread disorder that arises when the mouth and position your palm beneath your fingers against the inside details on how to stop your nighttime teeth grinding.For others, who have TMJ it's all about adjusting how the jaw joint and the fossa space and jaw aches are also self-treatment methods which can be very effective in reducing some patients who have rheumatoid arthritis and if necessary electrical stimulation to increase the pain.There are many different exercises that help loosen up and down movement.

Tmj Vs Tmd

For brevity, I'll discuss only conditions that affect the person's teeth, but treatment is to add to your basic habits, doing facial exercises recommended by doctors; a mouth guard.Prolonged used of all you really should get help through exercise, and that is brought on by stress, it's important to improve posture.However, whether a patient into the jaw and all the way you can begin to enjoy some pain relief.* Maintain good posture achieved by performing these exercises.It even cost $500-$700 and it can progress to lock jaw but the pain radiates from the body.

Applying ice packs is to simply ignore it or live with the TMJ sufferer has unique condition.Of course, the clenching or teeth grinding.o Sounds of hisses, rings and roars in the jaw muscles.We make use of to use cold therapy, offered the option of having needles put in a completely curable condition and discover the degree of pain medications have that can be associated with TMJ.This is a fairly common ailment more prevalent in kids, who frequently outgrow it, and the shoulder trouble generally is a problem with psychological factors.

[beerwithtales]

How To Clear Your Mind To Get Creative Ideas--

CREATIVE THINKING 101

Can resourceful believing and maybe even spontaneity originate in an extremely coordinated tactic? Certainly! By way of instance, in the event you see amazing comedians closely, then you are going to observe they have selected habits of the mind. The many spontaneous kinds becoming improved with training, for the reason that they truly are educating their wisdom to discover the comedy in scenarios.

In an identical style, you could train your self to get greater resourceful thinking. Simply begin fostering the most suitable customs on the mind. Why don't you begin educating the human mind now, using some basic methods?

Creative-thinking Methods

Desire the thoughts of the journalist that is creative? Start re-designing all you visit. Imagine far better cars and trucks, more rapidly means to function food better lighting bulbs. In the event you try so every single day for about three weeks, then it is going to wind up a custom.

Wish to function as whoever consistently has anything exciting to mention? Teach to take a look at matters from some other perspectives. What will the Buddha say about it? How does a Martian visualize it? What is the contrary standpoint? The purpose is not to inquire about the other absurd inquiries, yet to inquire further, to find out what intriguing thoughts effect. Try so before it's a custom, and you are always going to have anything exciting to improve a dialog.

Desire orderly imagination? Set a sentence about all forty cards10 nouns, 10 verbs, 10 adjectives, and also 10 random phrases. Shuffle, take care of 4 cards and compose a 4-line poem with among that language in just about every line. My spouse has received poems printed which have been born using this specific technique. Your brain will locate a special use for virtually any word should you make use of this technique usually.

Remedy Problems Creatively

Perhaps you have learned about trouble solving processes such as for example"traits list," and also"notion mix" More creative-thinking will not originate in only knowing the processes, even though. You must utilize these till they eventually become part of one's habitual thinking procedure.

The picture you would like to devise a new fresh bike. In the event you have qualified the head at"premise hard," you are going to routinely start to inquire things such as, "Are brakes mandatory?" "Can it need to really go outside" Whatif the"bicycle" was inside, and pedaling it conducted into a video monitor? You might"steer" by way of boundless diverse moments.

You won't necessarily have fantastic thoughts, however, you are going to have adequate thoughts to make it even more probable you'll discover a one. This"impulsive" imagination will probably soon be due to one's brain practice exercise. Why don't you begin growing those customs of resourceful believing?

10 STEP TO CLEAR THINKING

Is it true that the head sometimes feels like a tv channel you can not quite listen to? You understand there is an intriguing program on - or a couple, but everything is mixed with static. Imagine if you can"listen in" at is going to possess clear believing should you like to buy? Try out a number of these next.

10 Obvious Expecting Methods And Tips

1. Have a Stroll. Science will gradually prove to be always an excellent means to better the attribute of one's believing, however, do not await that evidence. Are there plenty of different motives to have a stroll anyhow?

2. Avoid sugar. In the event, you would like to comprehend what mind coughing is, then consume a sugary donut in an empty tummy then conduct mathematics issues twenty-five seconds after. That which you can encounter, together side this"sugar " is mind fog. At-least put off sugars and carbs that are simple if you ought to believe plainly.

3. Arranged space signifies evident believing. It really is uncommon that somebody is able to work in a jumble. Organized doing work distance means that you won't ever possess the notion"where's the fact that..." deflecting mind.

4. Get much better slumber. Sleep conditions differ, nevertheless the very least for many is around five hrs. Some undergo whenever they rest then 8 hrs. The investigation, however, signifies that following having a certain minimal volume, the standard of slumber is significantly essential to regular brain functioning.

5. Try out working. No more moment; point? Simply shut your mind relax, and see your breath for a short time. Recall your head will ramble, however always reunite your focus to a breath. Five moments with them and later you are going to truly feel that a hike on your brainpower.

6. Conquer your"intellect ." See out your occupied mind. Why not a telephone you want to make was bothering you personally, just underneath understanding. Locate those phobias, also do something to allow them to go. By way of instance, make your telephone, or set it onto a list, and also the thoughts will allow with this to get the time being. Merely visiting an issue and declaring, "There is nothing that I could do about any of it till Friday," will frequently discontinue unconscious stressing.

7. Tend not to consume booze. At the least do not drink a lot of. Whilst moderate levels could be conducive to imaginative thinking, all of the signs claim it is awful for its longterm wellness of the mind.

8. Make conclusions fast. Absolutely nothing will get in the form of obvious thinking as several dozen conclusions hanging around un-made. If absolutely nothing else, then pick when you are going to make your choice.

9. Get air. Go out and breath deeply through your nose again. You will receive yourself a fantastic dose of oxygen for the mind, and also the reversal of the environment might help to clear your brain.

10. Meet your bodily wants. Clear believing is simpler for those who are not overly hungry, hungry, tired, or sexy.

You may believe more certainly launching now. There are more than just ten manners, nevertheless, you only have to make a couple of these custom to really have an even more potent mind. Why don't you take it to a couple of straight today?

7 STEPS TO SUCCESS

Now you are in possession of a smart thought hidden someplace at the rear part of the mind which you can not wait around to try out. The inquiry would be, you might not wish to put it out into the lighting? What can inspire one to emphasize their own creative, inspiring juices into their own extreme taste?

Were you aware it consistently will help to decide on a time limitation into your goals? Establish up yourself therefore that you may reach the maximum tasks at record time. By way of instance, mowing the yard in an hour or so previous to the huge sport on television. The positive and correct attitude at everything you need to do would make matters less difficult, and more enjoyable.

It is easy. In the event you start allowing a bit of favorable believing then you definitely may start to appreciate factors that you just don't ever believe feasible. Believing huge is really the Way and also what built our region booming. It's possible for you to comply with other amazing people in America who tapped in their own innovative intellect and started to item enormous.

Uncover some tips to make it on your own very first week of chance believing even in case you are simply sitting on your favorite sofa. The head is continuously on the job for you personally. Harness involved with it has amazing resources whilst doing regular pursuits.

1. Act. You have to take enthusiastic actions in the direction of living your own life through designing. Talk is economical. Motion = residue at the lender of the authentic future. My mum (most likely quoting another person ) consistently mentioned, "Action speaks louder than words". Without actions, fire is emptiness.

Desires become reality once you only start with trying out mind, then along with your own hands-on. Of course, should the notion simplifies or falters you always have the option to return straight back to it till you end it? Thomas Edison and his Fantasy Team experienced to return to this thought of the bulb and also re-calculate it 1,000 days until the earliest running light-bulb starts off to mild the whole world.

2. Really like. Dedicate yourself. Then dedicate for all those that you would like to harshly generate a lifetime you may adore. Rather than responding, devote to making the spirit and spirit out of love as opposed to concern. The Dream will probably be there, however, a fantasy it's still a fantasy with no movement. Be astounded since the conversion starts.

3. Are Living. Adopt minutes and chances. Realize and adopt the exact notion that all instant is ideal irrespective of its own outcome. Every single time you strike something which may possibly appear as well EX-treme why don't you provide it a chance anyway. Watch whether it is going to do the job. You may be startled with all the consequences. In the event that you don't subsequently opt to utilize the instant to learn out of this and also make the proper change. Learning and increasing from failures and mistakes is just part of residing.

4. Be thankful. Dwell absolutely in an area of gratitude. Learn how to make use of exactly what you need on your palms and make usage of it at the constructive method. Prerequisite may be the mother of innovation. Have you been trapped with no something that you had and needed to make do with somebody different? (MacGyver, by the well-known television show that is fabled for this!) How thankful were you aware you had the ability to fix your circumstance? Slipping into neediness will wind up not as a customer once you over repeatedly shift involving away and gratitude from poverty awareness.

5. Be Passionate. Utilize a Fireplace Formulation of Recognize/Reevaluate/Restore in area of this Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda whirlwind. The prior is centered on enhanced comprehension and prosperity as the latter is targeted on lack and scarcity. Since you experience tasks or people which can seem tougher in simply scaling the peak of this Himalayas, then let yourself understand the endeavor is at least as crucial as offering orders out into your own beneficiaries. You'd prefer to be passionate!

6. Chuckle. Keep comedy at the forefront of the idea, laughing and with your self if potential. You might wind up quite amusing once you flake out! I've to observe that a comic go starving although his jokes are equally 'older as great-grandma'. Lifestyle has much to supply to let yourself mope about yourself shame. Humor is quite desirable, really fervent: life-giving.

7. Find out Your Goal. Consider that you're the architect of one's fate. Knowing how you intend to get recalled whenever you move out of that life is still an extremely driving drive. The purpose of being is seemingly easy to be truly a fantastic parent as complicated as finding amazing remedies.

When you yourself are in possession of a formidable purpose nobody will simply take your own ardent long run out of you personally anyhow for you personally! Indeed, for as long since there is still breath within the entire body, there isn't any limit to how far it is possible to accomplish during a lifetime. Detecting and after your own aim will make it possible for one to enjoy the workout. Celebrate from the discovery which behaving in your own creative thoughts' mind is satisfying with your goal. See what stream right into place together with flawless, ardent accuracy.

Activate your favorable believing. Stretch your own imagination. Think larger than you truly feel comfy. Act-on your own mind. The amount 1 trick this would be activity. Now you would like to begin practicing those ways.

Consider that: It's regrettable that many individuals do not make use of a pc for the reason that it looks overly intricate to start making use of. Or even they simply keep putting it off until a convenient moment. All these are only a few limitations you could install on their own. Constraints and collapse to behave on suggestions and chances leave lots of being a dimbulb at a darkened corner.

Warn! You're not likely to darkness. You want to know more about living a life of love and purpose. The lovely, ingenious notion in you're going to be published. You want to know more about achieving so as you're reading this specific report. Luckily in the event that you genuinely desire something, then the will to reach it's going to start your imaginative head to work out a manner.

You want simply to begin with to behave in your own urge to generate. Act now! Make your road into imagination and abide by your own goal. Simply take the very first step now using a favorable frame of mind.

[orbemnews]

Can Zapping Our Brains Really Cure Depression? The brain is an electrical organ. Everything that goes on in there is a result of millivolts zipping from one neuron to another in particular patterns. This raises the tantalizing possibility that, should we ever decode those patterns, we could electrically adjust them to treat neurological dysfunction — from Alzheimer’s to schizophrenia — or even optimize desirable qualities like intelligence and resilience. Of course, the brain is so complex, and so difficult to access, that this is much easier to imagine than to do. A pair of studies published in January in the journal Nature Medicine, however, demonstrate that electrical stimulation can address obsessive-compulsive urges and symptoms of depression with surprising speed and precision. Mapping participants’ brain activity when they experienced certain sensations allowed researchers to personalize the stimulation and modify moods and habits far more directly than is possible through therapy or medication. The results also showed the degree to which symptoms that we tend to categorize as a single disorder — depression, for example — may involve electrical processes that are unique to each person. In the first study, a team from the University of California, San Francisco, surgically implanted electrodes in the brain of a woman whose severe depression had proved resistant to other treatments. For 10 days, they delivered pulses through the electrodes to different areas of the brain at various frequencies and had the patient record her level of depression, anxiety and energy on an iPad. The impact of certain pulses was significant and nuanced. “Within a minute, she would say, ‘I feel like I’m reading a good book,’” says Katherine W. Scangos, a psychiatrist and the study’s lead author. The patient described the effect of another pulse as “less cobwebs and cotton.” The researchers also recorded what type of unmediated brain activity coincided with periods of low mood or energy. The aim was to use those responses to guide the placement of another set of electrodes that would deliver what is known as deep-brain stimulation — a technique that can restore lost function to neurons by zapping them with a consistent, high-frequency electrical pulse. To date, it has been employed most commonly to treat movement disorders, like Parkinson’s. It has also shown promise for depression. “But because depression presents differently in different people, it likely involves multiple neural circuits,” Scangos says. She and her colleagues wondered if a “more personalized approach” might make the treatment more effective. Based on their mapping of the patient’s brain activity, they programmed the electrodes to detect her depressed states and deliver stimulation in response, much the way a pacemaker acts on the heart. That experimental treatment will continue long term as the patient goes about her daily life. Deep-brain stimulation is too invasive to use except in extreme circumstances. But in the second study, researchers used a noninvasive technique called transcranial alternating current stimulation to deliver electrical pulses through electrodes placed on participants’ scalps. The goal was to try to curb obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Past studies have suggested that the orbital frontal cortex, an area in the brain’s reward network, might play a role in reinforcing such behaviors, by regarding them as beneficial. So the researchers attached the electrodes to 64 volunteers and recorded the frequency in hertz at which their orbital frontal cortex fired when they won a monetary reward in a game. Crucially, it was noted, the frequency varied slightly by individual. Using that personal frequency, the researchers next stimulated the same area in each participant for 30 minutes a day for five days in a row. Doing so, they found, reduced the number of obsessive-compulsive behaviors in the volunteers by an average of nearly 30 percent over the following three months. (None of the volunteers had an obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnosis. All of them, however, reported varying degrees of repetitive tendencies, and those whose symptoms were most intense got the most relief.) The researchers hypothesize that the stimulation helped the orbital frontal cortex maintain its optimal rhythm, thereby improving its coordination with other areas in the reward network. The findings reinforced the idea that personalized brain stimulation requires determining not just the right area to target but also the right rhythm at which to do so. “The neural code — it’s frequency-specific,” says Robert M.G. Reinhart, one of the study’s authors and the director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory at Boston University. “The channel of information-processing in the brain is just like a channel you might tune in to on the radio.” The study also illustrated that traits like compulsivity exist on a spectrum. Currently, a person for whom those traits are bothersome but not disabling might not seek treatment, particularly if it comes with side effects, as medications often do. Brain stimulation, though, could one day remedy all kinds of conditions we now target inexactly with drugs, Reinhart says. “If you want to get futuristic, you can imagine someone giving themselves a zap to get over a trans-Atlantic flight. What people use coffee for today.” Psychiatrists won’t be prescribing brain stimulation to the masses anytime soon. But by identifying the neural circuits that give rise to particular symptoms, and by showing that alterations to the timing of their firing can change those symptoms, they offer new ways to think about what psychiatric disorders are. “There’s still a lot of stigma around depression that a lot of patients feel,” Scangos says. The subject of her study was no exception: “The fact that there was such an immediate response when we stimulated made her feel like, It’s not something I’m doing wrong; it’s something in my brain that can be addressed.” Giving a collection of symptoms a diagnostic label like “depression” is useful because it helps doctors more efficiently find a successful treatment, currently a lengthy process of trial and error. “The million-dollar question is how to match the best treatment to the patient and how to avoid treatments that won’t work,” says Helen Mayberg, a neurologist and director of the Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; she was co-author of a commentary on the two studies. As neuroscientists map the brain activity of more and more patients, they’re getting closer to being able to offer a battery of tests that show, Scangos says, “you have this type of depression, you’ll respond best to this medication.” Ultimately, if we could address those symptoms directly, we might be able to get rid of diagnostic categories altogether, says Alvaro Pascual-Leone, medical director of the Wolk Center for Memory Health at Hebrew SeniorLife and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. Rather than applying a default label of depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder, Pascual-Leone says, doctors could instead ask, “What is the disabling symptom that this person presents?” And then treat it specifically. For now, what these studies offer everyone is additional evidence that “our brains are plastic,” says Shrey Grover, a graduate student and a co-author of the Boston University study. “And we can rewire the brain in different ways.” Those include psychotherapy and pharmacology. Our neural activity also changes as we learn; it changes as we age. This means we can improve how our minds work at any point in our lives, even without advanced technology. But the brain’s plasticity makes it all the more puzzling that certain psychological states can be so hard to dispel. Research into personalized brain stimulation also probes at the larger question of why moods or habits that are mild or circumstantial in some people — carefully rechecking a tax form, say, or feeling deep sadness at the death of a loved one — are chronic and debilitating in others. “There’s nothing that gets right at the cause,” Reinhart says. “It’s like the water in the sink is running, and you can mop up the floor, but no one’s turning off the faucet.” Kim Tingley is a contributing writer for the magazine. Source link Orbem News #brains #Cure #depression #Zapping

[cedarrrun]

The author, doula, and founder of Mama Glow offers a three-part restorative practice to reset your nervous system and reclaim your yoga glow.

Every September, National Yoga Month inspires us to get on our mats and reminds us of the magic inherent in the mind-body connection. But for many practitioners, COVID-era livestream classes have run their course.

We can all admit there are times when we feel like the last thing we want to do is look at a computer screen. If Zoom and pandemic fatigue have all but dulled your senses, Brooklyn-based Latham Thomas, founder of the maternity lifestyle brand Mama Glow, and author of Own Your Glow, suggests an alternate pathway to reinvigorate your practice. “This moment presents an opportunity to lean into the limbs of yoga and focus on philosophy more than physicality,” she says. Collectively, we’re restless, anxious, even sluggish; full of uncertainty about the future. Plus, she adds, “a lot of people are bored with their practice and say that it’s just not as fulfilling.” But there’s a silver lining to coronavirus lockdown, according to Thomas: By slowing down and leaning into unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings, we tune in to what it is we really need in order to thrive. This “reprogramming” can help us reignite our inner spark and reclaim our lost yoga glow. “Your emotional body wants to rest—so how can you practice active rest?” she asks. “How much space can you make for yourself? What would it feel like to center your needs—not your physical needs, but your psychic needs? Use that as a compass for wisdom. Reclaiming your yoga glow is about expanding your capacity to receive.”

see also I Tried Dopamine Fasting, and It Helped Me Appreciate the Present

Everything we would normally do to anchor ourselves in times of stress, anxiety, or tension—like gathering in our yoga classes, embracing our friends and families, and being in proximity to other living, breathing, bodies—has been missing from our lives for months. “There’s collective mourning—a weight, a heaviness connected to everyone, we are all feeling the effects of the same set of circumstances, but in different ways all at the same time,” she says. “We’ve been cooped up inside—but we’ve also had to deal with what’s happening in the world around us—and we’re not getting the community lift that we’re used to.”

Thomas says the invitation now, for all of us, is to listen to what’s happening inside of us. “What does our internal landscape look like at this moment?” she asks. “There is another pathway that is also yoga—it’s going beyond what is challenging us in a different way that’s not necessarily physical.”

For a yoga mat that helps you find your alignment, try Ewedoos Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat with Alignment Lines

What Is Active Rest?

For Thomas, the practice of active rest begins by giving ourselves permission to feel rather than think. “In this time of quarantine and unrest, it's important to anchor ourselves in possibility, revel in grace, and embrace the energy of ease,” she says. By channeling emotional intelligence, we defer to the parasympathetic nervous system to ascertain the style of embodied practice that will work best for us at the moment. “We can reclaim an intentional practice around rest that is more reflective and less robotic,” Thomas says, adding that active rest can include movement.

see also How Yoga Nidra Can Help You Get More Sleep

It’s possible that our yoga practices have mentally prepared us for this very moment in human history. Thomas says that in 2020, the practice serves as a reminder that it’s OK to lay in bed and sleep a little longer and that it’s OK if you’re exhausted—because there are plenty of reasons to be exhausted. “There is wisdom in listening to what your body needs,” she says. “Don’t just show up to your mat—but show up to your life and tune into the landscape that yoga philosophy teaches us all about.”

Thomas says her COVID-era practice is very different than it used to be—it’s quiet and solitary and continues to ebb and flow. “I would not be surprised if we start to see more active rest classes in 2021 when we can go back into the world,” she says.

For a journal to keep track of gratitude, try Good Days Start With Gratitude: A 52 Week Guide To Cultivate An Attitude Of Gratitude

The somatic work that Thomas has been exploring in recent months—especially during moments of anxiety and uncertainty—connects the body with higher consciousness. For National Yoga Month, and just in time for essential Fall grounding, Thomas shares her three-part practice for active rest and relaxation. The practice should take about 15–20 minutes from start to finish—or longer if you need it. “The body is so powerful because it’s the arbiter of safety, security, and belonging—and this practice invites us to attune to our bodies, feel your way through, and figure out the pathway that makes the most sense for you,” Thomas says.

It's not too late to join us for our National Yoga Month program for recommitting to your practice—whether that's five minutes of active rest a day, a quick pranayama or meditation, or a full asana class. 

Latham Thomas’ 3-Part Practice for Reclaiming Your Yoga Glow

1. Self-Inquiry

Set up a sacred space in your home—if you haven’t already—and lay down on your mat using as many props as you need so you’re cozy and comfortable. You might also try this practice outdoors, laying on the earth to recharge. As you deepen your breath and open yourself to the wisdom of your body, imagine sending breath to each part of your body starting from your feet, legs, knees, et cetera, all the way up to your head. As you breathe and listen, reflect on what you can learn about your body when you take the time to listen to it. Ask yourself the following questions for self-reflection:

Where do I feel joy in my body?

Where am I soothing myself?

Where do I feel constriction?

Where am I feeling open?

see also Try This Restorative, Hip-Opening Yoga Sequence for Ultimate Rejuvenation

2. Vocal Toning Once you’re calm and centered, continue elongating your breath, but with each exhale, release a gentle humming sound with your lips closed. Vocal toning is not harmonic, Thomas says, but a single solitary note that’s closest to your speaking voice. Each humming sound generates an internal massage for the body and stimulates the vagus nerve. Vocal toning slows down the body and brain waves and grounds the nervous system. The throat (vishuddha) chakra is also activated, increasing the capacity for truth-telling. By empowering your voice, you can actually listen to your inner voice, Thomas says—what’s been buried beneath the surface that you haven’t spoken aloud will start to reveal itself. For beginners, Thomas advises starting with 5 minutes of toning, and over time, as plasticity increases, increasing to up to 10–15 minutes. When you allow yourself to feel versus think and enter a state of total relaxation, you allow for moments of clarity as you move from an active brain wave state to an altered state of relaxation (theta and delta waves).

By developing this “spiritual stamina,” you’re bringing to the surface what’s uncomfortable like taking a sponge, soaking it up, and wringing it out, Thomas says. You can also hum alongside simple, repetitive drone sounds or ambient music—the Insight Timer app or YouTube are great resources. You might record the wisdom that arises as a voice memo on your iPhone or jot down in a notebook. “Just letting that stuff come up is the medicine,” Thomas says.

The next phase of this process incorporates a simple mantra such as “Ah.” The throat and pelvic floor are neurologically coordinated, Thomas says, and as the throat chakra signals the root chakra to open, a pathway to creative solutions around what’s really been bothering you and what you need to remedy will emerge. This “creative vortex” is a portal that opens upon entering your personal “medicine melody,” according to Thomas. Savor the resonance of sound and sensations in your body as you go. If there’s someone in your household you can partner up with, Thomas says the experience of doing this practice head-to-head on the floor or seated back-to-back is profound. “You can feel the heat and energy of their spine and they feel yours—and you hear their voice and you entrain your voices together,” she says. “Stuff comes up just by using your unhindered voice(s)—it starts by just allowing the sound to come through and be the medicine and clearing agent.”

For a thick blanket to use during your practice, try this Mexican Blanket, Falsa Blanket

3. Intention Setting To close the practice, ask yourself what steps you’ll take—not in a forceful, goal-centric way, but in a loving, gentle, and nurturing way, to remain spiritually anchored. Instead of a to-do list, which is helpful for goal setting, this moment calls for liberation from those expectations.

Ask yourself what conditions are necessary so that you may thrive. “We tend to set beautiful, powerful goals, but then life is layered—there are kids and homeschool, your job, etc., that get in the way,” Thomas says. “Don’t beat yourself up over what you didn’t get around to or achieve.” Thomas reminds us that the yoga of 2020 is not about pushing to your edge but reorienting your approach. Ask what it means to “practice” in every aspect of your life, not just on the mat, she advises. “It’s not about being in a set of postures, but creating a prostration for listening so you can receive what is meant for you with the tools you cultivated.”

Emerge from this practice with new promises you’ve made to yourself, speaking your truth about what you actually have the capacity to do. Thomas recommends starting your day with active rest in the morning, and if your body is craving movement, trying a gentle flow midday—though ultimately it’s up to you to decide what it is you need. Whatever your practices may be, use them as tools to be in direct relationship to yourself and to what’s happening around you—but do it in a way that’s sustainable.

see also Deepen Your Self-Awareness With This Gentle, Holistic Yoga Therapy and Meditation Practice

About Latham Thomas (@GlowMaven)

Named one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100, Latham is leading a revolution in radical self-care, guiding women everywhere to “mother themselves first”. A celebrity wellness maven, and birth doula, Latham is the founder of Mama Glow, a global maternal health and doula education company serving birthing people along the childbearing continuum. Mama Glow supports birthing people during the fertility period, pregnancy, birth as well as during postpartum offering hand-holding through their bespoke doula services. Mama Glow also offers a globally recognized doula immersion program, attended by people from all corners of the USA and 6 continents. They educate doula-trainees from around the world to become the next generation of birth workers that will transform the modern health care system for birthing people and babies. She is a fierce advocate for birth equity and works to bridge policy gaps in maternal health. 

Pick up a copy of Own Your Glow: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living & Crowning The Queen Within, (Paperback release: June 2020; Hay House), to learn more.

We independently source all of the products that we feature on yogajournal.com. If you buy from the links on our site, we may receive an affiliate commission, which in turn supports our work.

[paleorecipecookbook]

Why Mobility Should Be Your #1 New Year’s Resolution

As we ring in a new year, it’s a good time to reflect on the goals and habits we’d like to attain in the 12 months ahead.

While improving health and fitness will likely have made its way onto your resolution list, this year we think you should take it one step further, and not only vow to improve your fitness, but specifically, improve your mobility in the new year.

Why? Because in order to revolutionize your wellness practice you need to look past the glitz-and-glam of high-intensity workouts and marathon running, to heal, nourish, and protect your body through mobility exercises.

What Is the Difference Between Mobility and Flexibility?

Many people don’t realize that mobility and flexibility are not the same thing. Flexibility refers to how your muscles stretch, which is relevant only for the suppleness of your soft tissue. Mobility speaks to a person being able to move through functional exercises with a full range of motion (ROM)—this encapsulates the health of joints, muscles, motor control, and soft tissue flexibility.

Mobility requires core strength, balance, coordination, and the ability to control the functioning of your nervous system. A purely flexible person may not have these skills, therefore they may not be able to perform the same functional movement patterns that a more mobile person could.

As a Pilates trainer, a lot of clients come to me wanting to increase their flexibility. However, what we really need to work on is full body mobility, which takes more focus than simply stretching hamstrings after a run or spending 10 minutes in the evening on a foam roller.

The Benefits Of Mobility For A Healthy Body

Mobility is what allows us to perform functional movements with ease and without injury. Functional movements are not the exercises that you might perform in a Crossfit gym, rather they are the natural movement patterns that we should be doing every single day.

An example of a functional movement is the natural squat, which is a very healthy position for skeletal structure and for organs to comfortably rest. Sitting in a chair compresses the lower body, and forces the muscles that run along the hips and low back to tense and grip. Sitting with the hips at 90 degrees also greatly reduces the mobility of the hip, ankle, and lower back region, because when it comes to your body, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.

Functional movements include carrying grocery bags, turning around to look through the rear window in your car, sliding side-to-side across a tennis court, bending down to pick up your children from the floor, and even walking and running. Sure, these are all things that you may be able to do now, but with proper mobility, you can do them with ease, without pain or discomfort, and continue to do them as you get older.

The Benefits Of Mobility For Fitness Enthusiasts

Whether you enjoy going to the gym, training in high-intensity workouts, swimming, or participating in sport, all physical activities require your body to move in ways that it doesn’t often do during the 9–5. Transitioning from an eight hour period spent sitting in a chair straight into an aerobics class is a recipe for disaster if you’re not already a mobile person.

Completing a 5-10 minute mobility sequence before you begin your workout will prepare your muscles and joints for the impact that will follow. Instead of spending time on the treadmill to “warm up” your muscles, prioritize mobility sequences that activate and lubricate the muscle fibers and joints that you will actually be relying on to train. Doing this will enable you to have greater stability and coordination during your workout, and to safely challenge your body as it moves through varied ranges of motion.

Similarly, ending your session with another short mobility sequence will ensure that you maintain optimal movement patterns, despite the necessary physical wear-and-tear that exercise puts upon the body.

The Link Between Mobility And Longevity

In case you’re still not convinced that a mobility practice needs to be high on your resolutions list, here’s a fact that might make you think otherwise. Life expectancy was once based upon age, gender, and sociodemographic descriptions. However, studies now suggest that a person’s functional state—their ability to perform activities associated with daily living without assistance—also impacts their longevity.

A 2010 research article found that life expectancy increases an average of five years for men and women over the age of 75 who are not limited in their mobility, and who can continue to perform routine life activities on their own. (1)

Another study shows the association between walking speed and survival rate among older adults. Data was gathered from 34,485 adults over the age of 65 for a 12-year period. Results found that gait speed was indeed associated with survival; the pre-requisite of a good walking pace is, of course, mobility. (2)

3 Steps To Add Mobility Into Your Workout Routine

There is no time like the present to incorporate mobility exercises into your fitness and healthy living routine. Here are three steps to get started.

1. Foam Rolling

Dedicate five minutes at the start of your mobility session for rolling out your major muscles:

Quadriceps (front of thigh, below hip crease to above knee cap) Iliotibial band (outside of thigh, below side hip bone to above side of knee) Hamstring (back of thigh, below gluteal crease to above back of knee) Glute Medius (side of backside) Upper back (top of shoulder blades to base of shoulder blades…very carefully; avoid the neck and low back)

2. Deep Breathing

Mobility masters have the ability to calm their nervous system through deep breathing. In doing so, their body releases tension and feels safe to be manipulated through different ranges of motion.

Continue these calm breaths as you move on the step three.

3. Stretching

Stretching is essential for mobility. It is also a good idea to have one-on-one guidance when you first begin a mobility routine, to learn exactly what movements are right for your body, and how to modify those that aren’t. Many gyms and studios now offer mobility classes where you can learn the basics.

Bottom Line

Stretching, mobility, and flexibility are essential fitness factors that not only play a role in how healthy we are now, but also in how we age. The best way to invest in our future health is to ensure that our bodies are limber and mobile, not brittle and inflexible.

The post Why Mobility Should Be Your #1 New Year’s Resolution appeared first on PaleoPlan.

Source: http://ift.tt/10qRbxJ

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/the-latest-malaysia-extends-ban-on-foreign-tourists-world-news/

The Latest: Malaysia extends ban on foreign tourists | World News

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia has extended its pandemic movement restrictions including a ban on foreign tourists until the end of the year.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address late Friday that global cases have been rising and the country has seen sporadic virus clusters even though the situation was under control.

Malaysia has recorded more than 9,000 cases with 125 deaths.

Muhyiddin said the extension of restrictions will not disrupt daily activities as most businesses and schools have resumed. Only nightclubs and entertainment centers remain shut and international sporting events prohibited. Borders will stay closed and those entering the country will be quarantined.

——

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

— Health agencies’ credibility at risk after week of blunders

— Too risky? Fed pressed to expand aid to some businesses

— College towns growing alarmed over outbreaks among students

— French President Emmanuel Macron is urging European neighbors to better coordinate cross-border virus restrictions as infections resurge. Multiple countries have imposed tests or quarantines on visitors from France.

— California Gov. Gavin Newsom is announcing a new process for reopening businesses that is slower and more gradual than what the state tried earlier this summer.

— The British government is encouraging workers to return to their offices amid concern that the number of people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic is hurting coffee bars and restaurants and turning city centers into “ghost towns.”

———

Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

———

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 323 new cases of the coronavirus, marking its 16th consecutive day of triple-digit jumps as health officials prepare to tighten social distancing restrictions in the greater capital area.

The numbers released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Saturday brought the national caseload to 19,400. Fatalities reached 321 after the country added five more deaths overnights.

The KCDC said 249 of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of the country’s 51 million people live, where health workers have struggled to track infections linked to various places, including churches, restaurants, schools and apartment buildings.

The country has added 4,630 cases over the 16 days, raising fears about possible shortages in hospital capacities.

For eight days starting Sunday, the country will allow restaurants to provide only food deliveries and takeout meals after 9 p.m., franchised coffee shops like Starbucks to provide only takeout drinks and food and to shut down gyms and after-school academies to slow the viral spread.

———

ALABAMA — The University of Alabama reported Friday that an additional 481 students have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to more than 1,000 infections since students returned to campus for the fall.

The University of Alabama System released new numbers on its dashboard of cases for all three campuses. The additional 481 cases on the Tuscaloosa campus were reported between Aug. 25 and Aug. 27. The university system said no students are hospitalized.

“We are closely monitoring our data daily, and we will continue to adjust operations as the situation warrants,” said UA System Chancellor Finis St. John in a statement accompanying the release of the numbers. He said testing for the virus was a “key pillar” of the university’s health and safety plan.

St. John said every student on the three campuses has the option of moving to fully online instruction at any time, remaining either on campus or returning home to continue their course work.

The university has not announced official fall enrollment figures. Kellee Reinhart, a spokeswoman for the university system, said the enrollment will be upwards of 30,000, which would equate to infections being reported in about 3.3% of all students.

The quick rise in COVID-19 cases on campus prompted action from city and university officials to try to limit student gatherings and off-campus socializing.

———

ATLANTA – A 1-year-old boy is now Georgia’s youngest victim to die from COVID-19.

The state Department of Public Health included the suburban Atlanta boy in a table of deaths released Friday.

The department says the boy had a chronic underlying condition that may have contributed to his death, but released no further information. The Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Officer says it can’t release further information until the boy’s death certificate is completed.

He’s one of 5,471 people to die in Georgia so far from the respiratory illness. Deaths from Georgia’s summer spike remain elevated, having averaged 68 over the seven days ending Friday.

The boy displaces a 7-year-old Chatham County boy as the state’s youngest victim of the respiratory illness. A preliminary count by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found only 29 deaths involving coronavirus among children younger than five nationwide.

———

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The University of Virginia announced Friday that it is moving ahead with plans to offer in-person instruction for the fall semester.

In a statement posted on the school’s website, UVA officials said they had initially delayed the start of in-person undergraduate classes by two weeks to allow for more assessment of the spread of COVID-19. They also said they delayed the decision in order to take a look at how other schools have fared since opening.

UVA said it is now proceeding with plans to welcome students to residence halls starting Sept. 3 and to begin in-person instruction for undergraduates on Sept. 8.

“We know some will be delighted to hear this news and others will be disappointed,” the statement said. “To be frank, it was a very difficult decision, made in the face of much uncertainty, and with full awareness that future events may force us to change course.”

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Friday that UVA has reported 67 total positive COVID cases since Aug. 17 among students, faculty and staff. Of those, 23 were students who reported a positive test on Thursday, the school’s highest single-day total. Twenty-five students, faculty or staff have been hospitalized.

———

FOSTER CITY, California — U.S. regulators are now allowing use of experimental antiviral drug remdesivir for all patients hospitalized with COVID-19, drugmaker Gilead Sciences said Friday.

It said the Food and Drug Administration has expanded its emergency use authorization, which lets doctors administer the IV drug during the pandemic. Until now, that was limited to patients with severe COVID-19.

Foster City, California-based Gilead applied to the FDA on Aug. 10 for formal approval of remdesivir, to be sold under the brand name Veklury.

Gilead said in a statement that the expanded emergency use was based on results of a recent federal study of hospitalized patients with different levels of severity, plus a Gilead study published a week ago. Gilead’s study found that among hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19, those getting remdesivir were 65% more likely to improve after a five-day treatment course than those just getting standard care.

Remdesivir previously was shown to shorten treatment by about four days for hospitalized patients with severe disease, compared with those getting standard supportive care.

———

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans’s youngest public school students will begin returning to classrooms as early as Sept. 14, the city’s school superintendent said Friday as he announced a phased re-opening plan tied to the control of COVID-19.

Henderson Lewis said the plan is for students from prekindergarten through 4th grade to begin returning to schools in phases beginning Sept. 14. Older students will begin returning in October.

“We know that our youngest students have the most to gain from in person learning,” Lewis said.

All of the plans are contingent on current trends indicating the spread of the virus has been successfully limited in the city, Lewis and Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the city’s health officer, said.

The benchmarks include a continued new-case rate of less than 50 per day in the city.

Statewide, the health department reported more than 600 new confirmed cases Friday, bringing the total to at least 146,243, with nearly 128,000 presumed recovered. Thirty newly reported deaths brought the virus-related death toll to at least 4,741.

———

TOPEKA, Kansas — Fueled in part by college students returning to classes, Kansas has set another pandemic record for the seven-day increase in coronavirus cases, with the surge prompting a school district to put the brakes on some fall sports and another to extend its mask ordinance.

Statewide, the number of new reported cases rose by 1,111 from Wednesday to Friday, bringing the total to 41,048. The state Department of Health and Environment also reported an additional six COVID-19-related deaths, to put the pandemic total at 443.

The average for the seven days ending Friday was 599, 3.6% more than the previous record of 578 for the seven days ending Wednesday. The state also reported 16 clusters in colleges and universities with 189 cases.

Gov. Laura Kelly called the most recent spike in coronavirus cases “horrendous” and said her administration is looking into why it has occurred. But she said outbreaks on college campuses and fraternities and sororities are a factor.

[android-for-life]

"Inside the Google team that dreams up colors"

How do you bring a new color to life? Just ask Isabelle Olsson, who leads Google’s Color, Materials and Finish team. “Every year we work on hundreds of new colors, but maybe one or two make it,” she says. They dream up colors for things like Nest Minis and Pixel phones and develop them from scratch. Their goal is to create colors you’d love to see, not hide away in a cabinet or case. 

Among the latest to make the cut can be found in the new Pixel Buds: Oh So Orange, Clearly White, Quite Mint and Almost Black. I recently spent time talking to Isabelle about why color is so important and where she finds inspiration—and of course, which Pixel Buds shade is her personal favorite. 

Where did your interest in design first come from?

There’s been one consistent thing I've always wanted to do, and that’s make people smile. When I was little, industrial design wasn’t a profession I was aware of, so I did things like stage design for plays, designing costumes and jewelry and building doll furniture. Eventually, when I went to art school, I found a way to combine my creative side with my problem-solving side, because I also loved math and physics. 

Nearly all of us have a favorite color, often starting when we’re little. Why do you think that is?

Color is the foundation for living. Look at flowers, some of which evolved to look bright to attract bees. There’s something about color that reminds us we are alive. And color is very personal, and so culturally specific to the setting and context we’re in. You even see different preferences depending on the climate you live in; if you’re in a hot climate you might prefer different colors than if you’re in a cooler climate. 

Electronics used to just be black…then black and white...then the occasional gray. What are some of the things that opened this space up to more variety? 

For a long time, tech for tech’s sake was enough, but I don’t think it’s enough anymore. There’s a reason when you go to a paint store there are literally hundreds of shades of white. We really believe that color, material and finish affect your wellbeing. 

A look at a few sources of color inspiration the designers use.

At Google, we’ve set out to create products that fit into people's lives, and you just plainly can't do that without color. When we create our palette for the different product categories, we really think about where a product is going to live. Is it in your pocket or next to your bag, or is it going to live on a shelf or on that beautiful wooden cabinet you got from your grandma? We think about how we can fit in or stand out in that environment.

What are some color and finish trends you’ve noticed in electronics? 

There’s been this transition away from designing furniture to hide technology, like those media cabinets people shoved electronics in. Our goal is to design things that people are happy to have out in the open, that fit beautifully next to whatever vase you have, or a pair of earbuds you choose the same way you choose a jacket or a bag.

What real-world inspiration goes into color selection?

We try to live with the objects and the colors we design. For instance, when we design something for the home, be it a new color or a new shape, we place it on a shelf. Then every day for a week we walk past it, and we start seeing things we didn’t previously see. We don't just design something and look at it and then it’s done. We try to live with the objects and the colors. These days, we’re sending product models to our houses and living with them in our homes.

We also bring back objects from trips as inspiration. A toothbrush, a bar of soap, a little plate, a spoon—seriously, anything. Then in the studio, we have drawers for these things from all over the world organized by materials. We even have one that’s labeled “organic,” and that’s always fun to open because you never know what you’re going to find. Sometimes it’s stones but sometimes I’m like, What’s that smell? Then we use these objects to make physical mood boards. It’s this idea of turning off your logic brain and turning on your intuition side.

How do you make sure you don’t jump onto temporary color trends?

One thing we do is look at markets for longer-lasting products. It’s like furniture: It’s not like you buy a new couch every year, it’s maybe every five or 10 years. We can be inspired by fashion, but it's important to know that it can be a very quick cycle. It’s important we ask ourselves if something is a short term trend or a lasting movement. 

What was the process for choosing the Pixel Bud colors?

We had this vision of this little dot floating in your ear. It’s almost like little candies, so we had bowls of candy in the studio for inspiration. 

Creating colors for something that goes on your body is so different from creating colors for something you hold in your hand or put on a shelf; it needs to coordinate with different hair styles, different skin tones and how people dress. We knew we could love a color when we looked at it, but what happens when it goes in the ear? We did a ton of prototyping and experimentation and then narrowed it down to around 100 colors, and then narrowed it down to 25. Then we tried them on a ton of people and photographed them, and we started to see some common themes of what worked in the ear and what just looked good on the table. 

For a while we had two dark neutrals and I thought, Wait a minute, that seems like a wasted opportunity. That’s how we brought back the green color, Quite Mint, which is my favorite and hadn't made the cut at first. 

I know there are different internal names for colors. What were some of the Pixel Buds’?

We called Quite Mint “pistachio,” which isn’t quite actually the right color but we liked the name! And I think we just called Oh So Orange “sun orange.” 

I think my favorite device color name is Purpleish for the Pixel 3a.

That’s my favorite name to this day because it felt so to the point! In some light, it’s purple, in some it’s sort of white, so it’s purple...ish. I loved it. 

Head to the Google Store  to check out the Pixel Buds colors, which are available next month. (Not all colors are available in all areas.)

Source : The Official Google Blog via Source information

[johnark]

TJ Johnston retired from  sawmill work in 1982 at age 65. He was living in the Hope house at 707 East Division Street. He had always done most of the work around the house and very seldom hired outside help. The rain gutters in the house required cleaning. TJ failed to accept that he was now elderly and with less coordination, balance and strength. He undertook this task, one he had always done himself. He fell from the roof, injuring himself and was confined to the hospital. He chose not to go to the care of our family doctor, Dr. Jim McKinsey, in the Branch General Hospital where Vivian was the Chief of Nurses; but went to another hospital instead. Vivian commented that he would not receive optimum care in the facility that he chose. While confined in the hospital he suffered a heart attack and died, ten months after retiring. He had been a smoker for most of his life. While the fall did result in severe injury, surely it was demon tobacco that took his life. 

Vivian was the Chief of Nurses at Branch General Hospital. In addition to her administration tasks, she also worked in the cancer ward of the hospital. She developed a chronic cough. Dr. McKinsey, who she worked with there, kept urging her to check out the cough. Finally she made a chest X-ray. She told me “when I saw those X-rays I knew I was looking at my death warrant.” She had lung cancer. She had been a smoker most of her life and was a smoker then. She had surgery but all the cancer could not be removed. She was given six months to a year to live. In about a year the cancer returned. It was demon tobacco taking another life. 

 I, John McLeod, also smoked as a youngster as most people did in those days. I smoked for about ten years and finally became disgusted with the filthy habit. This was before we knew that tobacco could and most likely would kill you if you used it. Ridding myself of the demon tobacco was the most difficult thing I did in my life. I attribute a heart attack I suffered in 1999 to the demon tobacco. Today I continue life with high risk from cardio vascular disease. I wrote a blog about the demon tobacco. Create a hyperlink on your computer with the following address, click on it, and you can read the blog. If you are reading this on a computer connected to the Internet, that is a hyperlink. Just click on it.     https://JohnArk.Tumblr.com/tagged/tobacco

                                    MELISSA’S FAMILY IN 2018

From the left: Bradley Mohon Papineau, Mateus Lima, Melissa Mohon Papineau, Anne Papineau Nelson, Mikael Nelson, William Edward Papineau.

In this narrative we have briefly stated that Big cared for her dying husband in difficult circumstance in Harrell in the early 1930s and later cared for her dying mother in her home in Hope. The comments about Big’s caring for her mother, Martha Frances, are on Pages 4 and 6 of this narrative. I observed this and was amazed at Big’s skill, patience, compassion and strength both physically and mentally in dealing with what I observed as a very difficult person and difficult situation. I was just a kid at the time, but I was mature enough to recognize an extraordinary life and death event unfolding in that room and appreciate what I was seeing. But even more extraordinary and astounding as well is how deplorable conditions, devastating events, surprising and disappointing betrayals around the final two years of the life of her husband, Dr. Charles Bennett Johnston (CB), were met with such extraordinary determination, loyalty, skill, organization, perseverance, compassion, dedication, endurance, improvisation, stamina, grit, moxie – need I go on? This was indeed an extraordinary situation confronted and overcome by a more than equally extraordinary person. I want to add to what has been said about this in this narrative on Pages 2, 21, 22 and 23. 

 Let me start by trying to establish the situation in the Johnston household in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Vivian told me that Charles B. Johnston died of Parkinson’s disease. This disease is a progressive, untreatable, incurable nervous system disorder manifested with movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, neuropsychiatric problems among others. The end stage of Parkinson’s is an extremely distressing situation. Today hospice takes over at that point. Family cannot provide or endure care at that point. CB probably suffered with incontinence, insomnia, dementia, hallucinations, severe posture issues with back, neck, hips and was surely bedridden. Just think of a bedridden heavy man, drooling, urinating uncontrollably, with induced diarrhea to relieve constipation, depressed, and demented. It would have been impossible for Ruth to have cared for CB alone. However inexpensive, inexperienced assistance could have been available from the black community. Surely Ruth would have expected assistance from her children – Vivian 9 or 10, TJ 13 or 14 and Mary 16 or 17. The situation in CB’s room must have been hell. And probably smelled that way, too. Hell at that point and the future very bleak. The country was in the midst of the depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Is this the reason that Mary dropped out of school, abandoned her family and ran away with Frank McLeod? What about family loyalty, personal responsibility, conscience? What did Ruth think when her oldest daughter abandoned her in the time of most need? Yes, abandoned. Fled. That’s the way it looks to me. Yes, living with Frank would have been “wonderful” compared to the hell that existed in the Johnston household. Had she stayed with Frank, as it turned out, it would have been a blessing for Ruth. But rather than escape from it, Mary returned just in time to add to that hell and responsibility for Ruth. I was born on 21 September 1931. CB was in the last, tortured year of his life. He died on 22 November 1932. So, in summary, the situation for Ruth at the return of pregnant Mary was: caring for CB in the direst and most demanding period of his declining health, supervising untrained CB care givers, caring for two high school children, managing a household, managing the family finances, and now Ruth has to organize the care of Mary and the child and deal with Frank McLeod. Probably Mary demanded that Ruth force Frank to marry her. The fact that Frank sent her home probably meant that he would not easily agree to this. Hiring an attorney and settling the situation through the courts if required was most likely out of the question because of finances, time element, physical location and life and death responsibilities. Probably in the interests of a quick settlement of the issue, Ruth and Frank agreed upon marriage, separation, no contact, no responsibility.  And Frank went happily on his way, leaving Mary angry, distraught and pregnant. This situation would surely have overwhelmed a lesser person. That house in Harrell, still standing in 2020 (Page 23), is a small one and could not physically accommodate all the activity thrust upon Ruth. So, Ruth organized an unknown benefactor in Artesian, Arkansas to take in pregnant Mary and care for her and her child. Ruth organized for Dr. J. E. Rhine of Thornton, Arkansas to deliver the child. Today unmarried mothers is a common situation. In those days there was an immense stigma associated with this. Even divorce carried a stigma. Was the Artesian relocation for Mary to relieve her of the humiliation by her classmates, and perhaps relieve Ruth of the humiliation by her peers in Harrell? I don’t think so. I think it was just a byproduct of the situation; that the relocation was dictated by the turmoil in the Johnston household at the time. It was life and death “crunch time” in the Johnston household and Ruth did not have time for social contemplations. Probably Ruth did not have the time or the inclination to convince Mary that this was the best course of action. She probably just informed Mary that this is what we are going to do and it is not open for discussion. If this is the way it was, and this supposition is logical in this circumstance, then it very well could have been a great point of contention and resentment Mary had for Ruth. So Mary went to Artesian, had the child and nursed to the weaning point where the child was sent to Harrell and Big’s care and Mary completed her high school education. Surely Ruth arranged this knowing that in the future Mary would be severely limited without at least a high school education. Ruth continued the management of the Johnston household which entailed the hospice care of CB; going into that room with its fetid, malodorous odor with compassion, skill and determination; the care of two school children; providing food for all of them; and financial control with dwindling resources, no income, no safety net from prior work or the federal government and the country in the midst of The Great Depression with 30% of the work force unemployed. Accomplishing all of this with a bleak future facing her could have been completely overwhelming, but she safely steered her ship of household through this massive storm to calm waters after the death of CB on 22 November 1932. The hell that had dominated the household for several years was passed, but the financial situation remained extremely dire. There was no income and the Great Depression and its effects loomed large. Now Ruth used her imagination and ingenuity. She began serving noon-time meals to the nearby railroad workers for twenty five cents per meal. The former college professor and wife of the town doctor found a way to overcome every obstacle. The next event confronting Ruth was the return to the family of Mary with her Artesian high school diploma, shown in photos on Page 10. It was soon discovered that Mary was once again pregnant. This revelation had to be distressing to say the least for both Mary and Ruth. I think this is where TJ told Mary ‘why can’t you keep your pants on?’ This infuriated Mary and she never forgot it. As stated in this narrative on Page 13, Mary, now an adult, nearly 22 years old and responsible for her own actions, was sent to the Witherington farm where her Artesian schoolmate, Frank Weisinger, was working to inform him that she was pregnant with his child and to see if he would marry her. He did the honorable thing and married her. Frank was a handsome, but simple man. His mind and world revolved around what was needed and what was required in the life of a ‘share cropper,’ which is essentially what he was. He had no vision of further education, of art and culture – only the farmer life that was presented to him. So Mary now the adult, nearly 22 years old, the daughter of a college professor and doctor, was left with the prospects and situation that she had created. 

The Johnston household in Harrell continued with little money and scant hope for a better future. Even in very limited circumstances, Ruth never lost her sense of humor. A story she obviously told Vivian and which Vivian told me involved a hefty eater among the lunch time railroad men. Finally Ruth informed the gentleman that she was going to have to increase his meal price to thirty cents. He replied “Oh, Mrs. Johnston, I wish you wouldn’t do that. I have enough trouble now eating twenty five cents worth.”  So in 1934 the Johnston household continued with its meager resources supporting Ruth, TJ, Vivian and John. This was the situation for the next four years. Then in the 1938 – 39 time frame Ruth’s brothers came to her rescue. They were prospering in the sawmill business in Hope, Arkansas. They invited the family to move to Hope and offered TJ an important job in the sawmill. The Johnston household world was transformed. The move to Hope, new situation and a change of life. The family income secured and hope for the future. Ruth happily joining her brothers and sisters with bright and unlimited prospects for her children and me. Mary was left with her prospects and situation that she had created.