#finland davis

[stomach-rental]

The kids from my OTHER endosoma story that is much more developed: Perennial! I will be talking about it more and more as time goes on, but for now...you get them.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Ansa Ikonen (Kaikki rakastavat, Kulkurin valssi and Vaivaisukon morsian)— Arguably one of the biggest 30s movie stars in Finland. She also acted in theatre and radio but is mainly remembered for the 40 movies she acted in. She is especially beloved for acting as a pair with the actor Tauno Palo, who she had incredible chemistry with on screen.

Kay Francis (Jewel Robbery, I Loved A Woman, British Agent)— kay francis was an icon of glamor in her time and a top star of the 30s - she was the highest-paid actress at warner bros from 1930 to 1936. she tended to play characters who were charming, sophisticated, and elegantly dressed, and starred in at least one legitimate masterpiece, the sublime 1932 comedy trouble in paradise. her first big role was in the marx brothers movie the cocoanuts in 1929, and she and william powell made seven movies together between 1930 and 1932. even in her sillier movies she always elevates the material with her charm and presence - she never phones it in and there’s a sort of warm, knowing wittiness about her. a really good short promo from a retrospective of her movies that i think really gets her Vibe across

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Kay Francis:

trailer for jewel robbery with william powell, an unhinged movie that i highly recommend

Jewel Robbery clip

"From 1932 through 1936, Francis was the queen of the Warner Bros. lot, and, increasingly, her films were developed as star vehicles. By 1935, Francis was one of the highest-paid actors, earning a yearly salary of $115,000, dwarfing the $18,000 Bette Davis – who would one day occupy Francis's dressing room – made. From 1930 to 1937, Francis appeared on the covers of 38 film magazines, second only to child sensation Shirley Temple's 138." Source: Wikipedia. Kay Francis is like the MOST FAMOUS Actress from the 1930s you've never heard of--and it was her and Norma Shearer who wore and made classic the 1930s tall, slim, bias cut silhouette. She ALSO has a WHOLE PODCAST episode devoted to her life and career in Hollywood--it's fascinating! She is both tough and a total wet cat.

One of the TALLEST Warner Brother stars at 5’9” and known as a “clothes horse” for her glamorous roles wearing the height of 1930s fashion. She fell out of popularity in the 40s, but her 30s work sizzles. The scene with her and Herbert Marshall in Trouble in Paradise where she says she doesn’t care about his reputation (because she’d rather sleep with him?) HAWOOGA

melted my gay heart with her butch look in stolen holiday

"My life? Well, I get up at a quarter to six in the morning if I'm going to wear an evening dress on camera. That sentence sounds a little ga-ga, doesn't it? But never mind, that's my life ... As long as they pay me my salary, they can give me a broom and I'll sweep the stage. I don't give a damn. I want the money ... When I die, I want to be cremated so that no sign of my existence is left on this earth. I can't wait to be forgotten." —From Kay Francis's private diaries, c. 1938

[mihotose]

Taskmasters around the world

Greg Davies, Taskmaster (UK) Gert Verhulst, Het Grootste Licht (Belgium) Babben Larsson, Bäst i Test (Sweden) Anabel Alonso, Dicho y Hecho (Spain) Reggie Watts, Taskmaster (US) Lasse Rimmer, Stormester (Denmark) Atle Antonsen, Kongen Befaler (Norway) Jaakko Saariluoma, Suurmestari (Finland) Jeremy Wells, Taskmaster (New Zealand) Ivan Šarić, Direktor Svemira (Croatia) Vasco Palmeirim, Taskmaster (Portugal) Louis Morissette, Le Maître du Jeu (Canada)

[cdntennis]

Davis Cup 2024 : Round robin (Group D) - Canada vs. Finland

Denis Shapovalov (CAN) def. Eero Vasa (FIN) 7-6(2), 6-2

Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) def. Otto Virtanen (FIN) 6-2, 6-3

Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) / Denis Shapovalov (CAN) def. Harri Heliövaara (FIN) / Otto Virtanen (FIN) 6-2, 7-5

Canada wins its second round robin tie 3-0 over Finland. They will next face Great Britain in the last round robin tie on Sunday.

(Picture : © Martin Sidorják)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Lisa Selin Davis

Published: Apr 11, 2024

A long-awaited report out this week found that medical professionals in the UK who advocate for gender transition in children are misguided ideologues.

Written by British pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, The Cass Review, which is nearly 400 pages and took more than four years to compile, comes to the following conclusions:

Thousands of vulnerable young people were given life-altering treatments with “no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.” 

“It has been suggested that hormone treatment reduces the elevated risk of death by suicide in this population, but the evidence found did not support this conclusion.”

“Social justice” ideology is driving medical decision-making, and “the toxicity of the debate” has created an environment “where professionals are so afraid to openly discuss their views.”

Activists insist the science on this matter is settled, but Cass’s tone recalls a stern British nanny calmly explaining to unruly children how to get their room in order. She shows us that everything about this issue is unsettled, and unsettling. For instance, she notes that “social transition”—when very young children assume other gender identities—is an “active intervention” that may set youths on a path to medical transition. And it may even make gender dysphoria worse.

The review, commissioned by England’s National Health Service, comes after more than a decade of whistleblowing by clinicians at the country’s Gender Identity Development Services, or GIDS, which was established in 1989 (but mostly off the radar for its first 20 years, because few children and families sought its services). 

These whistleblowers detailed how kids were fast-tracked to medication while a culture of fear grew around raising any concerns, even as demand for youth gender medicine exploded. Eventually, the NHS decommissioned GIDS and hired the neutral, no-nonsense Cass to detail what went wrong and what to do right moving forward.

Her report made the further damning conclusions:

Clinicians “are unable to reliably predict which children/young people will transition successfully and which might regret or detransition at a later date.”

A disproportionate number of patients were “birth registered females presenting in adolescence. . . . a different cohort from that looked at by earlier studies.”

Many parents feared their children had been medicalized by professionals who didn’t take other difficulties into account, “such as loss of a parent, traumatic illness, diagnosis of neurodiversity, and isolation or bullying in school.”

There is a lack of strong evidence to show that puberty blockers “may improve gender dysphoria or overall mental health.”

The majority of gender-dysphoric patients in early studies found that their symptoms desisted during puberty, with most coming out as gay or bisexual later.

Cass notes that “for most young people, a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress.” She supports expanding the treatment to regional, holistic centers, essentially ending the specialist gender clinic model. That treatment should be based on unbiased psychological care, and robust and consistent evaluation tools must be developed so reliable evidence can finally be gathered. 

This final report—and an interim one Cass issued in 2022—echoes what a number of Western nations, such as Finland and Sweden, have found when they reviewed their own youth gender services. It also underscores what we see in the United States: poor quality research, an unstudied population, and detransitioners traumatized by the treatment they received.

Today, red states are banning the medicalization of gender dysphoric youth, while some blue states have declared themselves medical sanctuaries for minors seeking transition. Medical associations—from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the American Psychological Association—continue to support the “affirmative” model criticized by Cass in her report. 

In her review, Cass directly addresses the 9,000 young people who have moved through gender treatments via the NHS, stating bluntly: research “has let us all down, most importantly you.” 

The U.S. needs to form a truly bipartisan commission that looks at the evidence regarding youth gender medicine. As things stand now, we will continue to be stuck in a perpetual culture war, with parents and distressed kids paying the price.

[dragoneyes618]

For the first two years of World War II, Stalin and Hitler were allies.

There is no denying that a vast number of Soviet citizens lost their lives in World War II. Without the Russian people’s appalling suffering and sacrifice, the Allies might not have triumphed in the end.

But there is also no denying that Moscow was Nazi Germany’s partner in unleashing the war, the deadliest in human history, in the first place. Russia is culpable for plunging the world into war — a record the Kremlin’s propagandists have been trying to obscure for decades.

On Aug. 23, 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression treaty, agreeing to conquer and divide Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe.

World War II is commonly said to have started on Sept. 1, 1939 , when German forces invaded Poland. But it would perhaps be more accurate to date the start of the war nine days earlier. On Aug. 23, 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signed a treaty of non-aggression, whereby their governments agreed to conquer and divide Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe. It was under the terms of this pact that the Nazi Wehrmacht moved into western Poland on Sept. 1 and Josef Stalin’s Red Army invaded Poland from the east 16 days later.

“Soviet and German forces set up brutal occupation regimes in their respective spheres and forcibly transferred hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens to forced-labor sites,” recounts Mark Kramer, the director of the Cold War Studies Project at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

On 22 September the Soviet and German forces celebrated the conquest of Poland with a joint military parade at Brest-Litovsk (Brześć-Litewski), a small city on the demarcation line established under point 2 of the secret protocol to the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Sporadic fighting continued for the next two weeks, but by early October 1939 the Polish state had ceased to exist.

Devouring half of Poland didn’t slake Moscow’s appetite. In the months that followed the Nazi-Soviet takeover of Poland, as Hitler’s troops conquered Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and France and bombed much of London into rubble, Stalin’s forces continued their illegal war of aggression and conquest. Writes Kramer:

Even as the Red Army was imposing Soviet rule on eastern Poland, Soviet troops also began moving into the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), which had enjoyed some two decades of independence after the First World War. In subsequent months, as Soviet military and state security forces continued to pour into the Baltic countries, they compelled the local governments to comply with Moscow’s demands. Eventually, in mid-1940, Soviet occupying forces replaced the indigenous governments with puppet regimes that voted for “voluntary” incorporation into the USSR. The same pattern was evident in the formerly Romanian territories of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, which the Soviet Union occupied and annexed in late June 1940. The only major impediment to the expansion of Soviet rule in Eastern Europe came in Finland, where the entry of Soviet troops at the end of November 1939 sparked a brief but intense war.

In short, for the first two years of World War II, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were allies. They secretly planned and jointly began the war that inflicted such horror and destruction. Later, of course, Hitler double-crossed Stalin and ordered the Wehrmacht to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941. But before that turning point, the two totalitarian powers cooperated closely. The Soviet military, for example, was supplied with enormous quantities of German military technology. In the fall of 1939, the Germans agreed to supply Soviet submarines fighting against Finland. At the height of their cooperation, notes Ian Johnson, a professor of military history at Ohio State University, Stalin even authorized the German navy to operate a naval base near Murmansk to attack British shipping and support the invasion of Norway.

From 1939 through mid-1941, Soviet Russia collaborated with the Nazis in wreaking slaughter and savagery on the nations of Europe.

In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it a crime for Russians to “spread intentionally false information” — i.e., to tell the truth — about the atrocities committed by Soviet forces during World War II. As a result, writes Kramer, “the brutality of the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, including massacres and widespread rapes, is a taboo subject in Russia nowadays.” In much the same way, Putin has made it illegal for Russian journalists today to report on Moscow’s massive violations of human-rights crimes in Ukraine.

From 1939 through mid-1941, Soviet Russia collaborated with the Nazis in wreaking slaughter and savagery on the nations of Europe. The regime that rules in Moscow today is of course not responsible for Stalin’s evil alliance with Hitler. But no one should be fooled as Putin seeks to cloak himself and his calamitous Ukraine war in the “heroic” history of World War II-era Russia. Moscow and Berlin together started that horrific war, and used it to impose a reign of tyranny across Europe. Germany no longer terrorizes its neighbors. Russia still does.

[anewbeginningagain]

​Have to say that while the top 4 skated well, it was the teams below them that I enjoyed the most, Lajoie/Lagha and Carreira/Ponomarenko especially. 

Going one by one:

​Harris/Chen - finally redemption for them after a horrible season, still have a way to go but this was a step in the right direction.

KoKo - surprisingly enjoyable and overall clean and getting decent levels, I was positively surprised.

Soucisse/Firus - will forever be hampered by their ability to only interpret one style of dance, mostly stagnated even after moving to Carol Lane but at least the country switch will get them to the Olympics before retirement.

Orihara/Pirinin - I dig them so much and they nailed their Chicago FD, not in the same class as some of the rest in terms of skating skills but my god do they commit to their performance. Kudos to Juho for legit committing to the performance more than 99.99999% of ice dance men.

Taschlers - clearly not over their injury, sloppy unfortunate mistake in the RD with the lift, and not enough experience to save the situation. FD was better but they need time to heal.

Demougeot/Le-Marcier - I like them a lot but they are being held up by lifts and pazzez, their step sequences were not great, especially the one-foot.

Davis/Smolkin - terrible swan lake program, terrifying straight line lift that is supposed to impress but is mostly shaky, and mediocre skating skills. Their score was a travesty and seeing their swan lake followed by that of the Mrazeks was so telling.

Mrazeks - the first time I was really impressed by them, their FD was powerful and skated with confidence beyond their experience, they will go places for sure.

Smart/Dieck - not gelling together like you would have expected or they would have wanted just yet. Potential is there but it will take more time. Decent first half of the FD but then really falling apart. Scores too harsh though.

Lim/Quan - like the Mrazeks they are going places, but with them I'm not surprised. Hannah Lim is a STAR. Their FD grew on me and improved over the year, but I did miss their Dance Macabre FD.

Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen - For the first time she was way more shaky than he was, I feel for her as mentioned before, this FD was skated overall well but it was clear that they didn't stand a real chance of winning anything, doubt they can even feel it was that much rewarding. My hope for her is that they will move on and retire, and that she can somehow put this behind her (whatever way she chooses to).

Turkkila/Versluis - the first time I managed to enjoy their FD, still not my favorite team and I find their skating skills lacking in the step sequences. It's legit a travesty how they are scored in and out of Finland, one of the most egregious cases of home ice inflation when you think about it.

Reed/Ambrulevicuis - love them, would have had them behind CPom overall, they are great but the basics are not as good as some of the rest.

Carreira/Ponomarenko - one of the two major highlights for me, improved power and speed, best one-foot of the event (L/L close second), and while Christina has been on an upward trajectory for two seasons now, today Anthony really managed to deliver as well, strong twizzles, and great interpretation. I will miss this FD so much, and I pray Scott, Madi, and Adria can get them two great programs for next season as well.

Lopareva/Brissaud - just not the team for me, nice skating but doing nothing for me. I hope they move on from Gui's pretentious choreography not gonna lie.

Lajoie/Lagha - second highlight of the night for me, stunning FD skated to close to perfection, and with so much emotions. After the injury they had it's just a testament to their strength that they managed to nail this FD. They too are going places, and hopefully very soon.

Fear/Gibson - were close to unwatchable for me since they were following the emotional high of L/L's FD. To their credit no matter how cringe their material is for me the audience always gets behind them and they did so today as well. But that Rocky FD is a big no for me, and it's depressing to know they will come out with another campy cringe FD next season as well.

Chock/Bates - came close to disaster with the rotational lift but saved it with their experience, this FD is not their strongest and it was skated well but didn't create a moment. Will they retire or not is the biggest question for me.

Guignard/Fabbri - came close to disaster too and also saved it with experience. He was shaky during the FD but they skated well. Bronze makes sense here. I kind of wish they would retire as well but at this point, it is clear Milano is their target.

Gilles/Poirier - Dislike their shtick, but manged to enjoy their FD for the most part. Put of the top 3, deserved to win the FD. Here as well, will they reitre is the biggest question for me (time to leave the stage to L/L).

Final note - praying P/C don't come back, with so many amazing young teams on the horizon it will be super depressing watching them do the same FD for the 8th and 9th years but still be rewarded.

[fumblingmusings]

Just for my own clarification regarding timeline stuff and baby America as is depicted in canon.

What is actually shown in canon is Finland is the first to see America after the Netherlands takes over New Sweden. This happened by 1655. The Anglo-Dutch War then occurs, which kicks the Netherlands out of America. This happened by 1674. England and France argue over who gets to be America's big brother - this is presumably resolved before the end of the century, say by 1697 with the end of King William's War.

We know from the Davie comic that Arthur visits at least twice over the course of a human life. We know that by the end of the Seven Year's War both America and Canada were babies still. America then grew at a human pace, Canada about half the rate of that.

I guess, essentially, what I'm saying is that England and America barely spend time together. I'd say, between England officially taking ownership of America and the Revolution, England is shown to visit on at least six occasions.

The length of time he spent visiting America in that field,

the time informing America about the flowers that are native to the UK,

the time he returns to give America the flowers,

the time when he introduces and spends time with both Canada and America as one household,

one more time when America looks like a six or seven year old,

and finally when England comes back to see America as a seventeen year old.

Six visits in around 100 years. (I have definitely misremembered other instances, but you can probably even conflate some visits into one event).

America was separated from other nations for around seventy years, and Canada seemingly had to wait until the Seven Year's War for a decision to be made about his prescence. The NA pair were alone for a significant chunk of their existence, and having England or France barge in changed very little.

I think my point is, yes, fanon enjoys creating familial connections, but in canon, you can't argue that they are genuinely present. And that’s the point almost. England saying he's going to look after America and then being awol for the next 100 years means the War of Independence was less a breakdown of what relationship there was and more a cracking of something that could have been.

It's never been an equal relationship (because America was a colony) compared to now where the two go on holiday together or spend new years in the pub. Distance and how to traverse it is an issue, yes, but it’s also a sign of how much England is delusional on what his relationship to and his understanding of America actually is. And what it is is very little.

By the end of the 18th century, the two genuinely were strangers to each other. If they were anything more, it was playing pretend almost, trying to squeeze a dynamic out of a strained acquaintanceship. It's telling that Canada is then shown to spend far longer stints next to England going forward. Not exactly the right lesson learned, but... well, it's something. Canada actively sought out England to spend time with him. America never did that.

[dailytennis]

Francisco Cerúndolo celebrates as Argentina defeats Finland and advances to the 2024 Davis Cup Quarterfinals (Sept. 14)

[anglophile-alfred]

Okay, headcanon time. Which Maya Kern skirts fit which Hetalia characters? I'm obsessed with her skirts, so I have to make this Hetalia somehow x'D This page has all of the skirts she's ever made since what's currently in her store doesn't include every skirt.

And this question can be about male, genderbent, or even just the vibes. Not necessarily if the character would wear the skirt, it can just be which skirt reminds you of who.

I would say this skirt and outfit gives Arthur vibes:

This skirt is also so Arthur. I mean, come on, snakes and roses are so him!

This skirt is very Ukraine and fem Russia to me:

This skirt is sort of Alfred because the flowers remind me of Davie's flowers:

This skirt would be Finland because of the aurora borealis being seen in his country:

[tennisarchives]

catching up on davis cup and omg finland????

[burlveneer-music]

Oiro Pena - Puna - spiritual jazz from Finland, new album out today

Oiro Pena is a Finnish jazz collective helmed by prolific composer Antti Vauhkonen. Their forthcoming album, Puna, recorded in bedrooms, studios and other salubrious locations around Helsinki during 2022, is a mix of lo-fi spiritual jazz, experimental, and avant-garde music forms. It includes four vocal tracks recorded with Merikukka Kiviharju, which feature both original lyrics and those sourced from traditional Finnish folk songs. Vauhkonen first attracted attention as saxophonist in the group Soft Power. He then launched Oiro Pena as solo multi-instrumentalist with two self-titled, astral, outsider jazz 10” EPs, released by Ultraääni in 2019, limited to 200 copies, since repressed three times and seriously in demand. With a background in electronic music, Vauhkonen explains his transition into avant-garde / spiritual jazz: "It came from Krautrock first, I started listening to Can, and searched through all the psychedelic German rock bands. There was a lot of jazzier elements there, horns and saxophones, I think it came from there, and then I found Miles Davis and John Coltrane (and) started listening to the early Sun Ra material." Puna features the interplay of vocalist Merikukka Kiviharju (Fat Chance, Jazzgangsters) on tracks 'Puna', Kaiju Kaiija', 'Kuinka Kukaan' and 'Calamity Caravan', matching with the intensity of Johannes Sarjasto’s saxophone, and Staffan Södergård’s piano. The album, like previous releases is built around Vauhkonen’s propulsive drumming and Philip Holm’s upright bass that provides the band with its forward momentum. Johannes Sarjasto’s flute, so much a part of previous Oiro Pena group recordings, also features on this release.  Antti Vauhkonen: Drums Johannes Sarjasto: Saxophone, Flute Philip Holm: Double Bass Staffan ''Wolf'' Södergård: Piano Merikukka Kiviharju: Vocals Mastered By: Noah Mintz at Lacquer Channel Mastering in Toronto. Artwork: Riina Tanskanen Layout: Steve Lewin

[soliti]

SOLITI 2023: THE END OF YEAR LISTS

Triani from Soliti

The Good Times Lovely Soliti releases from Ghosts on TV, Juppe, Stinako and Knife Girl.

Old Music Ennio Morricone – Quando l’amore e Sensualita Beach Boys – Friends George Michael – Older Felt discography The Songs of Bacharach and Costello was on constant rotation (my fave reissue of the year.) Teardrop Explodes – Culture Bunker box set Lana Del Ray – Norman Fucking Rockwell Rip Rig & Panic – I Am Cold Plush – More You Becomes You Neil Young – Chrome Dreams Stevie Wonder – Fulfilling His First Finale Joan Baez – Blessed Are Paul Weller – 22 dreams Sault discography Velvet Underground – Loaded Thelonious Monk – Straight, No Chaser Arthur Russell – Picture of Bunny Rabbit David Sylvian discography

New Music I didn’t think this year offered much until I put this list together. It’s been quietly fabulous.

Lana Del Ray – Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd Kara Jackson – Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love? Robert Forster – The Candle And The Flame SAZ – SOS Feist – Multitudes King Krule – Space Heavy Christine and the Queens – PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE Overmono – Good Lies Ryuichi Sakamoto – 12 The Lemon Twigs – Everything Harmony John Cale – Mercy Bar Italia – Tracey Denim Sufjan Steven – Javelin Wilco – Cousin Sparklehorse – Bird Machine Amanda Brown – Eight Guitars Durand Jones – Wait Til I Get Over Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here. Beach Fossils – Bunny ANHONI – My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross Lankum – False Lankum Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We El Michels Affair & Black Thought – Glorious Game

Best tracks Everything But The Girl – Nothing Left To Lose Dexys – My Submission Lana Del Rey – A&W

Devendra Banhart – Sirens Kara Jackson – no fun/party Knife Girl – Estrogen Felt – Primitive Painters

TV, films books The Bear (TV series) The Last of Us (TV series) Mrs Davis (TV Series) The Last Movie Stars (TV Series) Welcome to Wrexham (TV Series) Dirty Harry movie box set (all five movies) Richard Jewell (Film) Crimes oF The Future (Film) Barbie vs Oppenheimer (loved both of these) The Exorcist (Film) Love to Love You, Donna Summer (documentary) Quentin Tarantino – Cinema Speculation (Book) Dylan Jones – Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground (Book) Alan Moore/Jacen Burrows – Neonomicon (Book) Collected Judge Dredd (Books) Sight & Sound (magazine) The Guardian (online) The Quietus (online)

This is a good thing My family and home life. It’s still my favourite place to be. Football in all its gross financial injustices, still remains a truly entertaining, all welcoming spectacle – a break from our  realities. I spent a lot of my days obsessed with the beautiful game. My own team Tottenham’s reimagining as a team for the neutral under Ange Postecoglou. I’ve had a serious post-covid hangover about going out; crowds and especially going to concerts. But still this year I managed to catch a few shows. John Cale and Knife Girl at the Helsinki Festival was very special. Elvis Costello at Kulttuuritalo was a great way to spend an evening – I didn’t really want it to end (and this was also a rare date with my partner!) Emma Ruth Rundle, Sorry, Jake Xerxes Fussell were good festival experiences. I’m an eternal optimist with dreams that we can all get along, people can be who they wanna be and somehow humanity pulls together to save the planet. My dream state staves off the dark feelings that are increasingly hard to ignore.

This is a low The Israel demolition of Palestine in response to Hamas atrocities is a key world happening which will resonate for decades to come. British Conservatives and all right wing ideologues who – in collusion with the mainstream media – spend most of their time demonising refugees and the trans community. The public discussion around minorities in Finland is base and inhumane. This right-wing Finnish government has been a hard dose of reality that has sprung many of us out of our comfort zones. The casual racism of the Finnish government has normalised terminology that should offend everyone. Disgraceful. The lack of a moral compass or compassion in world politics – who exactly are the good guys? I hope someone could point out who’s looking out for us all nowadays? Elon Musk and the destabilising of Twitter. He just couldn’t leave it alone could he? The unstoppable rise of AI. It’s a slow process (or maybe a fast one) that results in the death of a certain kind of creativity. Hearing that some people in the Music business are using AI to write press releases is a little sad. The Saudi exploitation of football.  It doesn’t stop. How long till the whole of football is owned by Saudi Arabia? The Vinyl market  becoming an expensive artefact for the wealthy. In typical Music Industry fashion, the vinyl format becomes revitalised only for the music industry to make the price prohibitive for most people. Own goals are rarely clearer.

Future To be a better me.

Happy holidays x

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Ian Kingsbury

Published: Jan 9, 2024

New studies raise more red flags on pediatric gender medicine.

American medical associations are doubling down on their support of so-called gender-affirming care for children even as lawsuits mount and European countries reverse course. America’s public reckoning with the harms inflicted on kids by pediatric gender medicine ticks closer by the day, and indeed several studies published in recent weeks bring the tragic and profound risks into sharper focus.

A study headed by Finnish researcher Riittakerttu Kaltiala examines the psychiatric needs of gender-dysphoric individuals in Finland. The researchers observe that the dysphoric population was substantially more likely than age-matched peers to have received specialist-level psychiatric contact before their first visit to a gender clinic. Worryingly, mental-health needs intensify after they begin the process of medical transition. Whereas 15 percent of patients who underwent gender-reassignment interventions had received psychiatric treatment before visiting a gender clinic, 53 percent had psychiatric contact after their first visit.

“Experts” profess certainty that “gender-affirming care” alleviates mental-health distress. They arrive at this conclusion through deeply flawed studies that rely on patient self-reports of mental health. But other clinical indicators suggest that medical transition in fact exacerbates mental-health distress. A 2021 study found that prescriptions for psychotropic medications increased after kids initiated medical transition. A 2011 study from Sweden meanwhile found that those who underwent sex-reassignment surgery had an appreciably lower life expectancy than the general population, in part due to an increased incidence of suicide.

Lower life expectancy among those who medically transition is also likely attributable to the regimen of cross-sex hormones that transitioners take. Previous research has documented that cross-sex hormone therapy is associated with increased risk of heart disease and obesity. A new study published by University of California, Davis, researchers also hints at greater cancer risk. Specifically, the researchers observe that natal male veterans who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and/or prescribed estrogen or estradiol have almost double the incidence of thyroid cancer compared with other male veterans. The researchers note that “estrogen probably has a role in the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer,” a good indication that the higher incidence is not simply correlational or coincidental but a direct result of hormone therapy.

It is unclear whether doctors are advising teenage boys that cross-sex hormones potentially increase their risk of thyroid cancer, and another matter altogether whether teenagers possess the mental maturity to provide informed consent to such weighty medical decisions.

Two other studies drive home the enormous risks of making “gender-affirming” medical interventions available to children. A study in PLOS One features interviews with Canadian detransitioners. Canada, like the United States, has remarkably low guardrails around “gender-affirming care.” Interviews with 28 detransitioners reveal a consistent theme that they were not properly informed of the risks, complications, and limitations of the treatments. “Reflecting back, they felt they lacked insights such as the extent to which their sexual orientation, mental illness, or neurodivergence may have intersected with dysphoria or desire to transition and many said they would have benefitted from ‘neutral’ therapy.”

Disturbingly, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that watchful waiting is “outdated” and that expressions of gender diversity in children should be immediately affirmed by parents and clinicians. The experiences of these detransitioners prove why watchful waiting and differential diagnosis is in fact pivotal for child safeguarding.

In another study, Lisa Littman and co-authors revisit the topic of “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” Littman coined the term in a previous study to describe the phenomenon whereby kids suddenly arrive at a trans identity because of trauma, mental-health challenges, or social contagion rather than persistent feelings of gender dysphoria. Trans activists deny the rapid-onset phenomenon, but the new study provides good evidence of its existence. In the study, Littman and colleagues interviewed 78 Americans who previously identified as transgender but desisted in that identity. The researchers find that by retrospective reporting, fewer than 17 percent of participants met clinical diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria in childhood. Moreover, 53 percent of participants responded affirmatively when asked if their dysphoria appeared “suddenly” during or after puberty.

Activists insist that trans-identifying kids simply “know who they are” and that medicalization of their expressions of dysphoria is a sensible and compassionate intervention. Littman’s new study indicates the opposite: Many trans-identified children are vulnerable and confused. Pushing them into receiving irreversible medical interventions is irrational and cruel.

[ Via: https://archive.md/yXOwJ ]

[ellmovy]

Some of my favorite episodes are the Davie episode, the one where France talks about Jean d'Arc, the american revolutionary war one and the one where Finland talks about the battle of Grunwald

ah thank you! already got those first 3, and i love the battle of Grunwald one as well, will see if I can fit it in

[laresearchette]

Sunday, December 31, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: GARDENERS' WORLD WINTER SPECIALS 2023 (BritBox) OFF SCRIPT WITH THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (AMC+/Sundance Now) DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVEN WITH RYAN SEACREST 2024 (City TV) 8:00pm CNN NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE WITH ANDERSON COOPER AND ANDY COHEN (CNN) 8:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE: NASHVILLE'S BIG BASH (CBS Feed) THE YEAR: COUNTDOWN TO 2024 (ABC Feed)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CRAVE TV NEW YEAR’S EVE

NETFLIX CANADA BLANCHE (Season 1) BLIPPI WONDERS (Season 3) DAVE CHAPPELLE: THE DREAMER THE MILLIONAIRE MATCHMAKER: (Seasons 3-4)

IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (TSN/TSN3/TSN5) 6:00am: United States vs. Slovakia (TSN4/TSN5) 8:30am: Sweden vs. Finland (TSN3/TSN5) 11:00am: Czechia vs. Switzerland (TSN4/TSN5) 1:30pm: Canada vs. Germany

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 1:00pm: 49ers vs. Commanders (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 4:00pm: Steelers vs. Seahawks (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 8:20pm: Packers vs. Vikings

NHL HOCKEY (TSN3) 2:00pm: Jets vs. Wild (SN) 5:00pm: Bruins vs. Red Wings (TSN5) 6:00pm: Sabres vs. Sens (TSN2) 7:00pm: Habs vs. Lightning (SN/SN1) 8:00pm: Oilers vs. Ducks (SNWest) 8:00pm: Flyers vs. Flames

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW (CBC) 6:00pm: The Great New Year Bake Off: Kicking off a new year with a friendly competition over comfort food.

NBA BASKETBALL (SN Now) 7:00pm: Nets vs. Thunder (SN Now) 7:00pm: Celtics vs. Spurs

LAUGHING ALL THE WAY (Global) 7:00pm: Put in charge of a holiday variety show, an aspiring comedian worries she may not have what it takes, until a famous comedian makes her see how talented she truly is.

DEATH ON THE NILE (CBC) 7:30pm: Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot's Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple's idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short.

CHRISTMAS IS CANCELED (Super Channel Fuse) 9:00pm: When Emma's father and her high school frenemy start dating, she embarks on a mission to break up the happy couple after her dad insists they spend the holidays together.

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND: DRILLING DOWN (History Canada) 10:00pm: The Fellowship has been intensely investigating Lot 5 since the Laginas purchased it more than a year ago, and now Matty Black takes a deep dive into the clues the lot has provided and what those clues could mean.

JUST FOR LAUGHS (CBC) 11:00pm: Mae Martin: The Gala: The hilarious comedian Mae Martin hosts a stand-up special at the renowned Just For Laughs festival; featuring Carolyn Taylor, James Davis, Mark Forward, River Butcher, Sydnee Washington and others.

THE COUNTDOWN (CHCH) 11:10pm: A New Year's Eve Special broadcasting from the CHCH Studio in Hamilton, ON and featuring local Hamilton talent.