#habitually throughout the pandemic

[kenobion]

Andrew Garfield on Live Kelly and Ryan

[growingboi]

Somehow the concept of snacking throughout the day instead of stuffing a bunch on an empty stomach sounds even better, because is a slow process, kinda mindlessly filling up bc you're used to always be munching on something. Or maybe purposely doing it, knowing that you're just giving yourself time to process it all, sounds like a great way to "train" yourself into a bigger appetite...

Yeah!! I honestly got into the habit organically, with no mind for gaining weight... I got my first work from home desk job early in the pandemic and just ended up constantly grazing while I worked.

Once I started putting on weight and eating more, it got... maybe a little more intentional. There's just something so hot about eating a lot in such a mindless, habitual way. And finishing the work day already full, getting up from my desk (and brushing chip crumbs off my taut, round belly) to make myself dinner... 🙃

But I have actually heard gainers recommend constant snacking as the best way to gain, so I think it does work! I have been known to indulge in a massive meal, but the vast majority of days, I'm just snacking all day & clearly it is working

[billysdigiblog]

Reflection 10: Fuga Modus

(Task 3.2)

I came across Joyce Camilleri’s pandemic-encouraged series quite by chance; currently they are a body of work exhibited at the relatively little Jo Borg Gallery in Sliema, which I randomly happened across while walking home in the evening along Manuel Dimech. Finding the works to my liking, some research told me that the series has travelled around various exhibitory avenues, including MUZA and Il-Kamra ta' Fuq, and with some luck ended up in my own very area. The series themselves were created with a veritable multitude of media; oils, inks, and graphite on canson, acid-free paper, archival boards, or hot-pressed paper. They were created consecutively after one another during the onslaught of lockdowns and quarantine measures at the beginning of 2020, as a result of the termination of live-drawing classes that Camilleri habitually attended. Normally a figurative-oriented artist, Camilleri regularly practiced figure drawing and portaiture during these lessons. When it was announced that they were to be discontinued, Camilleri set about in a new direction, propelled by a vastly changing charged atmosphere of tension and uncertainty. 

Owing to the fact that Camilleri lives in Luqa in close proximity to the national airport, two factors relevant to this were responsible for conceiving the series. First, Camilleri noticed the lack of revving engine noise that she was accustomed to hearing – a change she in part appreciated – and instead was confronted with a newfound silence that just kept on lasting (Camilleri, 2021). Secondly, the clear space and fields around Luqa presented Camilleri with a newfound subject matter to draw inspiration from. The natural shape language of the familiar Maltese landscapes readily available to her began to take precedence as a point of inspiration in her work. Thus, sitting at her drawing table, she “switched [her] mind on flight mode” (Camilleri, 2021) and began to work.

A prolific user of the printing press, Camilleri’s oeuvre is rich in aesthetic derived from and composed of print. Monoprints, especially, form a large part of the artist’s process, often creating the print first as a collection of vague, outlines forms and contours, and setting about filling the spaces with a range of simultaneously wet and dry media. The variety of techniques applied to paper are perhaps not evident from photographs, but very much so in real life. Plentiful amounts of grain and noise inform every inch of the achromatic fields and sections, lending the paintings a pleasant matt texture, which prevents the spaces from acquiring a glossy and plastic-like consistency. I feel this is significant, as it creates a certain feeling of void or absence; an empty negative space full of millions of particles, rather than a smooth and gleaming ruber-iness. 

The works take a change of direction over time. Placed on the walls according to size and visual theme, the smaller works begin as vertically-oriented and sectioned into large, sharp value shapes selected from the low-key range. They then exponentially increase in scale, and lines begin to faze out through the rendering and blending of forms; the depictions acquire a more palpable sense of volume and resemble turbulent landscapes, seascapes, and horizon lines. All throughout, they keep their texture, value, tone, and adherence to flowing in a singular direction. 

The works can be analysed endlessly. Camilleri exemplifies her talents in composing with value, and mastery over the simple basics in order to evoke an essence of timelessness and absence.

[intercreativepudlo]

On intercultural sensitivity.

Reading through Bennet's article on the developmental approach to increasing intercultural sensitivity lead me to consider my own trajectory in relation to it.

My attitude to cultural difference has been generally very open throughout my adult life and so culture shock is not something I experienced much. The way I normally experience cultural difference is lead chiefly by curiosity, I generally accept difference as an integral part of the experience of other cultures therefore I never really feel shocked. Rather I tend to observe and learn. In my life so far, I visited many different countries. I also lived in a few different countries, and in most of those countries, I travelled well outside the established tourist circuit to places where regular people lived and faced life challenges that were regular to them.

Because of this, it was strange to me when I last visited my hometown, Kraków, the place I grew up in and still identify with, still call home at least some of the time. I experienced something that, upon my return to Australia, I could only describe to people as a culture shock. I wasn't sure what it was. Was it the weather? I travelled there during the most miserable part of the year, coming from the end of Australian summer straight into late winter slosh. Was it the people? The way they dressed, all dark, all rugged up? Or the way they talked, the language and the new phrases that weren't really used when I grew up here, because of course the culture has changed? Was it what they talked about? It was the beginning of the war right next door, in Ukraine. Everyone felt this heavy reality, refugees waited outside the Ukrainian consulate every day.

The last time I visited was prior to the pandemic. The pandemic has worn the people down too. I spent it in the Byron Shire, where complaints about state control were voiced loudly, of course, but most of the time, all it meant was fewer people at the beach. I mean, compared to basically everywhere else, we barely even felt it. All around Europe, the pandemic was a much different experience.

I still felt at home among my friends but somehow being out in public felt like I was indeed in a different country, which I was, of course. I don't know why I was even expecting to feel at home the way I had felt so many times before.

I have now been an emigrant for 16 years. I visited home many times throughout that time and lived there for a few months at a time between stints in other countries. I've lived in Australia continuously for over 8 of those years. I think it's safe to assume that something about my habitus has shifted. I developed a feel for a different game and suddenly the old game felt somewhat alien. Perhaps because there was no longer an old game - the Kraków I left was not the same place I came to visit. Somehow, this was harder for me to accept and engage with than visiting places I've never been to, meeting people I've never met, learning about cultures I didn't know anything about.

Here's a gif of the kind of winter I remembered:

Now, I remember that when I first started travelling outside my own country, despite being generally open minded, I still tended to look for similarities to my own culture and understanding of the world. I came from a majority Catholic country and it wasn't hard to find traces of Catholic influence in many of the places I visited. There was a sort of universalism that came with it - I mean, it is ingrained deeply within a Catholic understanding of the world. Reading through Bennett's article, I would place my initial attitude somewhere around 'Minimization' on the scale of development of intercultural sensitivity with 'transcendent universalism' being the unconscious default (Bennett, p.184). I looked for commonalities, points of sameness, treating points of difference as a sort of curious quirkiness that made it all the more fun. But in the end, to get along, my instinct dictated to focus on things we had in common.

But that is one way to never truly be enriched by someone else's perspective or cultural knowledge. Experiencing other cultures only within a sort of reassuring comfort that, in the end, we are all the same, assuming that whatever it is that we have in common is what matters most because they have it in common with us, emphasises the primacy of our own cultural perspective and is linked to the assumption of its superiority. And this assumption is deeply ingrained in many people from a European background. I have had many conversations (arguments) about this with my own mother.

When considering this, I always remember the 2003 lecture by the late Richard C. Lewontin, an evolutionary biologist, entitled 'Does culture evolve?' delivered at the Santa Fe Institute in which he systematically dismantles the idea that there exists any kind of hierarchy of cultures.

It is fascinating really just how much we assume that in order to communicate, to connect with others truly, we must somehow agree on 'universal values and principles' (Bennett, p.184), we must look for points of sameness. I have now found that not to be the case at all. Most people are capable of connecting, communicating, and respecting each other despite our differences. We are only stuck seeing things our way until we decide to try something different. And we are all capable of this, because neuroplasticity is a real thing with which we are all blessed.

I can't really recall at which point of exposure to other cultures and different people this began to change for me. But I do remember realising it had happened. It was in the context of living in a country made up of immigrants coming from a wide variety of cultures, many so very different to my own set of cultures, a place where the first people here had been here for 80,000+ years and whose culture with all its richness still lives today. Considering this made me realise that I loved this country with all its different people and I loved that we're not all the same, that there was so much we could learn from each other. Cultural diversity makes our world a fascinating place to live in where you never stop learning, where you never stop expanding your understanding. In a world like this one, I don't know how anyone can ever be bored.

References:

Bennett, M. J. (1986). A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 10, 179-196.

Does Culture Evolve? (n.d.). www.youtube.com. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEUoqmeO5hs

Ramsey, G. (20 April, 2023). Pierre Bourdieu & Habitus (Sociology): Definition & Examples. Simply Sociology.

[dangeroustastemakergalaxy]

Learn all About Malcolm Gladwell Dating History

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The Covid-19 pandemic, she provides, additionally habituated folks to online interactions, and made many really feel the need to display screen their dates earlier than meeting them in real life. If you discover that your partner does this, be affected person and provides them the area they want. Our quiz will assist you find out! Take a stroll on the wild side by playing this quiz! Which hunky Hollywood star would you fairly take a selfie with? No. I'm messy and I don't care! Love impassions you to care extra and create more, and it encourages you to be more yourself than ever earlier than. He and his good good friend Other Ryan run the channel, which has greater than 900,000 subscribers. I need thus far someone who's good sufficient to faux being good at volleyball. Now we have brief-listed some of the most effective herpes dating sites that will definitely make it easier to discover a herpes date. ’ll discover a number of relevant internet websites. Considered one of the largest advantages of becoming a member of DoULike is to search out an exhaustive listing of native singles who're into casual relationships and are prepared to satisfy up in non-public. The software requires no technical knowledge and is extremely simple to make use of; the images are massive sufficient, the design is intuitive, the profile settings are fast, and the matching idea is easy.

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We want to discover are horizons and meet new people. Or are you as awkward as a bull in a china shop, rarely saying the correct thing and tripping over your individual toes? I inform them it is not working out over dinner. From falling in true love again and again to easily having passionate flings throughout time, only your truest loves will stand out in our scrupulous love quiz. If you're easily embarrassed, this is not the quiz for you! I like myself because I'm an exciting individual. My personal habits have modified to accommodate this new particular person in my life. Leon Burns, like most celebrities, prefers to maintain his private and romantic life private, so test back incessantly as we'll proceed to replace this web page with new dating information and rumors. In this quiz, we're going to reveal which animal you act like when you're in love by asking you a sequence of very private questions. Which animal do you act like when you're in love? I don't prefer it a lot. Love is a much deeper connection to another individual, and it doesn't come straightforward. But romantic love conjures up our most animalistic behavior, perhaps because love is such a primal pressure.

[jocia92]

In a Zoom interview, Stevens explains he knew how to speak German having studied it in school and having visited Germany several times in his youth. Eggert also spoke about the film via Zoom from Berlin, where she is rehearsing for a play that ironically is about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Angela Dawson: Dan, were you fluent in German before signing onto I’m Your Man?

Dan Stevens: I’m always nervous about the word “fluent” because I feel like if I say that somebody’s going to throw me into a situation where I’m totally out of my depth. I would say that my German is good. I’ve always loved the language. I’ve spoken it since I was about 13, maybe even earlier because my parents had friends who lived in Germany. We used to vacation there quite a lot when I was a child, and then I studied it at school. I did a movie (Hilde) there about 13 years ago playing an Englishman who spoke German. So, I had been in a German movie previously, but nothing like this. This was a totally different thing.

The level of German that is required for Tom, even for a German, is pretty strange and unusual. So, I definitely polished it up to get out there and tackle this role but I (had the language skills) to begin with.

Dawson: Maren, how was Dan’s German?

Maren Eggert: He really worked on it a lot. He did well because he has a talent for languages. He really wanted to do it so he threw himself into it. I’d tell him I wanted to speak to him in English so I could practice it, but he wanted to speak German so he could practice it. So, he really worked on that. I think it was great for the part because he’s just so charming and friendly. As an actor, he has the ability to go straight into a character. He doesn’t make mistakes with his performance.

Stevens: Sometimes she would speak to me in English and I would answer in German, which is a great exercise. I had the whole cast and crew speak to me in German the whole time. Occasionally, we’d have certain conversations in English but most everything was in German. It was great because it kept me in the zone of thinking in German.

Dawson: Dan, you play a robot so there’s something not-quite-human in how you act as Tom.

Stevens: Ultimately, he has to be lovable but also a little strange. I think that was one of the motivations for Maria (Schrader, the director) looking to cast outside of Germany for a foreign actor who could speak German. However good your German is, it’s rare to find an outsider who can sound totally German. The idea that Alma’s ideal robot would speak German, for practical purposes, but maybe have a bit of an accent—a little bit exotic, but not too exotic is what he defines it as—so they settle on British for her. She’s confused by this but the algorithm—the program—has created this for her. It’s one of the many things that throws her about this whole experiment.

I wanted to create something that was uncanny but not in a too weird a way. It’s strange but also intriguing and ultimately kind of lovable.

Dawson: The scene in which Tom is in a field with a herd of deer surrounding him unafraid has a lot of symbolism in it. Alma sees him as this man she’s falling in love with yet she also realizes that the reason the deer are unafraid is because he’s not human. What’s your interpretation of that scene?

Stevens: That whole sequence with the deer and with Alma and Tom lying in the grass and talking about memories, that was a big step on in terms of the evolution of Tom’s humanity, I suppose. Most of the time, we’re in Alma’s apartment or in the museum. As he says, (being out in the field), “is a nature experience.” Getting them out of the city and out of those conventional settings and putting them in this bucolic setting of a German forest and having these lovers wandering through it, it has that classical feel to it. Whether directly or indirectly, it gets through to the viewer that we’re in this beautiful setting, isn’t it romantic? It tees up what’s to come. It’s a beautiful sequence. It’s also the first time I’ve spoken Korean.

Dawson: Maren, what’s your interpretation of that scene?

Eggert: For Alma, it really helps her put Tom in the right space. At this point of the film, she’s already falling in love with him but there’s this moment where she can watch him from a distance.

Dawson: The release of I’m Your Man couldn’t be timelier because so many people have been locked away unable to pursue romantic relationships for over a year now. People are lonely; they miss human contact.

Stevens: I don’t know about the loneliness so much but it definitely spoke to me when I read this in the Spring of 2020. It was the peak of the pandemic. It was definitely a time of deep reflection both inward and outward—that sense of “how did we get here?” It was a collective thing about looking at humanity which is sort of what Tom does all the way through the movie. He’s looking at Alma but also trying to learn about her environment—this world that she’s in—as quickly as he can. He’s trying to get that information. The most affecting scenes I found in an odd way was the sequence where Tom is watching a young couple watching epic fail videos at the coffee shop. It’s not something I habitually watch but my kids love them. Maria forces us to sit with them quite a bit. It’s not just one or two fails, it’s a whole bunch of them. It goes on almost too long and stops being funny and starts being a little sad. You get contemplative about humanity in that scene and start feeling sorry for Tom that he has to absorb all this. It’s like, “What are we doing?”

So, a lot of that sentiment I was really feeling last spring and summer. I feel that a lot of that went into the film. I guess it’s still resonating with people. The technological question of coping with loneliness—I hadn’t thought of that as a consequence—but I suppose you’re right.

Dawson: In films and other stories about robots, people always seem to be mistrustful, yet robots are increasingly part of our lives. Why do you suppose our first instinct as humans is to be wary of robots?

Eggert: I don’t know. Maybe because we can’t control it. We can’t see inside. It’s like a stranger and we always react (with caution) to strangers. Personally, I can totally understand Alma’s reaction because I would react the same: I’d want to control the robot. Throughout the story, she has to learn to know this robot. That’s the fascination she has with it.

Dawson: Do you think having Maria Schrader direct this, an actress herself, helped tell the story from a woman’s point-of-view?

Eggert: Yes, of course. She really encouraged me a lot. We have a lot in common in terms of how we look at filmmaking and how scenes work and with the character, she really pushed me to go a little further. She encouraged me and I think that really was between us women.

Dawson: What are each of you working on now?

Stevens: I’m shooting Gaslit, a miniseries about Watergate in which I play John Dean. People I’ve spoken with remember watching (the Congressional hearings) and seeing it as one of the first political soap operas. It was very much an analog political soap opera scandal. So, that’s been a lot of fun. We’re in the final weeks of that.

Eggert: I’m working in theater; I do a lot of theater here in Berlin. It’s a project on Frankenstein and Mary Shelley. That too is also about artificial intelligence and connects to I’m Your Man. It’s really fun to think about what scares me and what is this monster. It opens in two weeks. Afterwards, I’m doing another movie where I’m playing a conductor, so I’m training to do that. I wanted to be a conductor as a child, so I’m looking forward to playing one.

[binunus]

midnight dip | yoon sanha

a/n ah!! my first written post! thank you love @astrolight25​ for requesting hehe i hope you like it!

{requested: How about a Scenario about the reader and Sanha go to the beach? With a alot of Fluff! 💕}

pairing: sanha x reader

genre: fluff, slightly (barely) suggestive

word count: 2.2k _______________________________________________

Your POV

Nights like these came very rarely. With Sanha and your busy schedules taking up most days, a date night — no, full date day — where both of you were free was a blessing. 

Most of your dates were indoors in the comfort of your apartment, it made sense amidst the pandemic and also because if you ever had a date in his dorm, the boys would never let you two live.

“Baby,” Sanha mumbled nuzzling his face drowsily against your stomach. You took your eyes away from the show you were both watching and looked down, lightly combing your fingers through his hair as you hummed, smiling at him. “Let’s go to the beach.”

You snorted a little, surprised at his sudden request, “Huh?”

Your boyfriend sat up with a little yawn, placing his hand on your thigh, “I wanna go to the beach.”

“Sanha,” you laughed, “right now? It’s almost 10 pm, what if we get caught?”

“We won’t,” he reassured, standing from the couch, “Eunwoo hyung told me about this one private beach he went to, there’ll be no one there baby, promise.”

You were hesitant, but you knew with Sanha’s pout and big pleading eyes that you were a goner. He beamed when you let out a sigh, knowing that you agreed, and leaned down to press a kiss on your lips. “I’m gonna pee real quick, pack a change of clothes baby!”

“I am not getting in the water!” You called as he turned to go to the bathroom. He only chuckled, not even looking back as he teased, “We’ll see about that!” ___

Before you could even get behind the wheel, Sanha took the keys from your hand, shooting you a wink before opening the driver’s door and getting in. You only grinned and took your place in the passenger side. Usually when you and Sanha were going out for a drive, you let him take the wheel since he didn’t drive much himself when he had schedules with the boys. 

He held out his right hand, which you immediately took, and laced your fingers together as he backed out of your apartment and started driving to the beach. Your destination was about a little more than an hour away, the whole drive there full of laughter, singing, bad attempts of rapping, and stolen kisses at stoplights.

Much like Sanha said, the beach was empty, your little beach towel where the two of you sat sticking out like a sore thumb in the wide open sand. Sanha leaned back against his palms, you fitting snugly in his side as you rested your weight on his body. He hummed along to the music playing from his phone, no conversation needed as the two of you watched and listened to the crash of the waves.

It was so serene and romantic, all anxieties you had of your relationship being exposed was washed away in the water along with the sand. “Ahh, this is nice.”

“It is,” You nodded with a soft smile, craning your neck kiss his cheek, “I’m glad you convinced me to go on this date.”

“I knew you would agree anyway, baby.” He teased lightly, nudging your head with his nose. Scowling, your hands grabbed at his sides, tickling him in revenge for how much he teased you. “Ah! y/n!”

Sanha shrieked, laughing uncontrollably at your attack. His arms gave in as he thrashed his body around, causing him to fall back on the beach towel—you following in his wake. The two of you giggled at your current position, Sanha quickly wrapping his arms around your waist to prevent you from moving. 

You couldn’t help the blush that crawled itself onto your cheeks as the two of you locked eyes. He smiled, adoration written all over his face as he stared at you. Habitually, you both leaned in, closing the distance and connecting your lips. 

Kissing Sanha like this always gave you butterflies, even though it’s been more than a year since you began dating. He moved his lips gently against yours, wanting to savor this moment. You gasped against his mouth as he flipped your positions, his arm anchored next to your head as he hovered above your figure. Your hands gripped at his shoulders, marveling at how broad they’ve become as you pulled him closer. You made a mental note to thank Bin later for forcing Sanha to work out with him—the progress he’s accomplished only making you crave for his body more, your stomach churning as his kisses started to get more passionate, desperate.

You moaned as his tongue weaved its way in your mouth, the corner of Sanha’s mouth tilting up in a satisfied smirk at your reaction. He pulled away all too soon, your face flushed as you stared up at him with a glazed expression. Your boyfriend looked at you, pride filling him with the fact that only he can make you like this with just a kiss. You blinked your eyes in an attempt to compose yourself, trying to read the look on his face. “Babe, no.”

He laughed as you deadpanned at him, your sweet goofy boyfriend back as he peppered little pecks all across your face, “Why not?”

“I am not about to have sex with you on the beach. The sand will get everywhere! Sanha, do you know how dirty sand is—we could get bacterial infections or something—“

“I’m just kidding, baby.” He giggled brushing his pants as he stood up, offering his hand to you. You took his hand, not before you scolded him by hitting his shoulder, and laced your fingers together, your boyfriend swinging your arms up and down as he led you to the shore. You shivered as you feet made contact with the cold water, it didn’t help that the sea breeze also blew past you, snuggling into Sanha to conserve warmth. “You cold?”

“Just a little,” You nodded, your free hand hidden in the sleeve of your cardigan. He hummed, pulling you in front of his body, wrapping his arms around your waist and easily resting his chin on the top of your head. Sanha’s height towered over yours, blocking the wind from hitting you. “Oh! Baby, it’s a full moon, look!”

Sanha smiled at your excitement, looking up in the direction where your finger was pointing, “You’re cute.”

Blushing, you lightly elbowed his stomach, the boy only pecking your crown in response as he tugged you flush against his chest. He swayed your bodies side by side in contentment, humming along to the song that you can vaguely hear from his phone back by the beach towel. “Do you have your phone with you baby? Let’s take a picture.”

You nodded, fishing it out of your shorts pocket and pulling up the camera app. You had dozens of photos of you and Sanha together on your phone, often looking back at them when you missed him throughout the day and he was busy with his schedules.

A couple selfies suddenly turned into a photoshoot, your boyfriend casually directing you in how you should pose. You laughed as he made you do the typical couple shot where you hold hands and you look back at him as he takes a picture. You couldn’t take Sanha seriously as you glanced back, unable to stand still for a single shot.

“Waahh! This is it! Baby, you have to send me this one, I’m going to make it my background.”

“Hey, what if someone besides the guys see it? We’re dead if it happens.” You whined, stomping your feet in the sand. 

“We won’t get caught, promise.” He said reassuringly as he removed his cardigan, dropping it on the ground and gently placing your phone on top. You gave him a pointed stare, “Yoon Sanha, what are you doing?”

“It got hot,” He said simply, walking towards you. You scoffed, not believing his bullshit one bit and turned on your heels, attempting to run away. Sanha laughed as he chased you, a teasing I’m gonna get you leaving his mouth as he closed in on you.

You knew you could never outrun him, especially with all this sand, but you should at least try a little before he captures you. He giggled as he hooked his arm under your knees, easily picking you up in his arms. “Baby, please, the water’s cold!”

“We’ve been standing in the water for the past 10 minutes, I’m sure our body temperature has acclimated to it.” He grinned, a tight grip on your figure so that you wouldn’t wrestle out of his grasp. You pouted, pinching his ears as he walked into the sea, a curse leaving you as you felt your skin get wet. “Sanha!”

The boy dunked you both under water, the sudden cold causing you to shoot up and resurface. He laughed fondly, watching as you brushed your hair out of your face. “Isn’t this refreshing, baby?”

“You’re annoying,” You said tilting your head to try and remove the water that got stuck in your ear. Sanha smiled cheekily, hands on your waist as he pulled you in face to face, leaning his wet forehead against yours, “But you love me.”

“Yeah, I guess.” You mumbled deliberately avoiding his eyes.

“y/n,” He said quietly, almost a whisper, brushing your noses together. “I love you.”

Your heart pounded loudly in your ears at his serious confession, not even missing a beat as you responded back, “I love you too, Sanha.” Snaking your arms around his neck, you kissed him sweetly, the boy smiling into your lips.

“Thank you for being with me.” He said, hugging you tighter, “I know that it must be hard having a boyfriend you can’t even post or tell anyone about, I feel sorry to you a lot, y/n...”

“You shouldn’t feel sorry baby,” You said gently playing with the bangs of his wet hair, “I know what kind of situation I would get into when we decided to date and I’m fine with it, really! As long as at the end of the day, I’m still yours and you’re still mine.”

“Always,” He nodded, a somber smile on his lips. 

“Besides, it makes dates like these even more worthwhile,” You said pecking his nose, your boyfriend agreeing instantly. The two of you played around in the sea for a little bit until the feeling of clothes sticking to your skin felt uncomfortable.

You both shivered as the wind hit your wet skin, clinging to each other for heat. You jumped in surprise as Sanha’s ring tone blared loudly in the quiet night, the boy answering after seeing the caller ID.

“Yoon Sanha! Where are you?! It’s almost 2 am!”

“Ah Jinjin hyung, I’m with y/n-”

“Why are you wet?!”

You snorted at the flood of nags that the older boys gave your boyfriend. Sanha scrunched his nose up at you, turning his phone so that you were in view. You waved in greeting, the five boys on the other side of the call struggling to fit in the frame as they affectionately called your name.

“y/n-ie! We miss you!”

“y/n, you’re wet too. Oh my, what are you troublemakers doing?”

“We’re at the beach, guys.” You said with a laugh, “I’ll bring Sanha home safe, I promise~”

“Our schedule doesn’t start until noon! Have fun and be safe until then kids!”

“Be smart! Use protection!”

Without even giving the chance for either of you to respond, the boys hung up leaving you in silence. Your boyfriend only shook his head at the chaos of his brothers, swinging your arms again as you approached your car. After changing out of your wet clothes and into the spare that Sanha convinced you to bring just in case, the two of you got back into the car, getting ready for the hour drive back to your apartment.

“You alright to drive, baby? You’re not tired?” You asked, a bit of worry in your tone. Sanha nodded with a smile, leaning over to kiss your cheek. “The water woke me up, I’ll drive us back safely, don’t worry.”

The drive back to your apartment was calmer in comparison to the drive up to beach, the two of you enjoying the quiet streets and highways as soft sounds of r&b filled your car. You glanced at him every so often, a smile of admiration on your face every time you did so.

“Hm?”

“Nothing,” You grinned, “I just feel lucky to have you.”

Sanha met your eyes quickly before looking back at the road, “And I’m lucky to have you, baby.”

“I love you.” You said cutely, squeezing his hand. He laughed, his voice rising two octaves, taking his hands off the wheel as you stopped at a red light. Sanha cupped your face, squeezing your cheeks together before planting a kiss on your lips, “I love you too, y/n.”

You smiled as the butterflies fluttered in your stomach again, he really was your boyfriend, huh?

Sanha let out a giggle as the light turned green, putting his attention back on the driving, “You’re so cute.”

You scrunched your nose at him in disagreement, but said nothing as you played with his hand in your lap. Humming, you looked out the window and enjoyed the rest of the drive. Dates like these with Sanha came once in a blue moon, but every time they happened made all the waiting and sneaking around worth it. _______________________________________________

a/n ah !! im soft !! i love sanha pls he deserves the world and more. anyway! request me for anything hehe I love all our boys

1-22-21

[hobidreams]

miss rain i can’t stop crying the boys posted that...

it’s been hard for me for the past couple weeks because ive been the subject of verbal hate as an asian myself (and thinly veiled racism throughout my life) and i just... the pain is now doubling because i also feel hurt for the boys even though we all knew what usually happened whenever they stepped foot here in the west, but at the same time i feel comfort because they were brave enough to address what they themselves have gone through and decided to share it with us—and me as an asian in particular.

the second i finished reading their letter it felt like they took my hand in their own bloody and bruised up hands and told me we could get through this together.

they have no idea how much strength i will always draw from that letter.

hi baby 💕 i feel so honoured that you came here to talk to me about this because honestly, i’ve been feeling really emotional about the letter as well & i’m glad to be able to share these feelings with you (& the other asians here with us). it’s been a fucking tough year. i remember sitting on a bus with my grandpa last April, when things were just starting to get insane, & listening to white people near us bashing on Chinese people for eating bats. my grandpa has a habitual cough, which he’s had since he was in his 30s & has nothing to do with covid whatsoever, but i was terrified that these people would hear it & want to hurt us or discriminate against us. it truly breaks my heart that our people have had to face pain like this so much more since the start of the pandemic, though we both know it has gone on for far longer before that. sighhhh. i’m so glad the boys spoke out about it. it means a lot.

all we can do is get through this together. we’re not going away, despite anyone’s fucked up attempts to try & hurt us. we’re fighting for our rights & our lives 💓 love you!! wishing you all the best 😘

[bobbystompy]

91 Quotes I Enjoyed From 2020

Below are my favorite quotes from 2020. Though most occurred throughout the year, some took place before but were encountered during.

1) “You don’t have to be new to make new.” - Rick Rubin

2) “He put the beat on and go to sleep then wake up with a verse.” - The Lox

3) “Every opinion is bad.” - Blink-155

4)

(via Twitter)

5) “At the start of every disaster movie, there’s a scientist being ignored.”

6) “Be brave enough to suck at something new.”

7) “Comedy is the only job you can have where you can use everything you know” - Robin Williams via Dave Chappelle

8) “What’s the worst swear word where you live?” - Josiah Hughes

9) “Cookies are a really great way to get everybody to like you for a short period of time” - YSAC

10) “The worst dancer at a wedding is the one who’s not dancing.” - John Mulaney

11) “I never saw the end of the tunnel. I only saw myself running out of one." - Kobe Bryant

12) "A good movie begins as you're walking out of the theater" - Ethan Hawke

13) “When I was young and starting in cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart which is, 'The most personal is the most creative.’ That quote was from our great Martin Scorsese.” - Bong Joon-ho

14) “Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow” - River Phoenix via Joaquin Phoenix

15) “Thank you -- I will drink until next morning.” - Bong Joon-ho

16) “Men will bury their emotions for decades and then take it all out on children tubing while they drive the boat.” - @krauter_

17) “They help you with the dumb face stuff, but they don’t tell you how to fix it” - Adam (Nate’s friend), on having older sisters

18) “We all had our connections, but it’s not the details themselves that matter, it’s the feeling behind them. There are a million coming-of-age tales. Lady Bird’s secret sauce is how deeply its creator gave a shit. The older I get, the less I care about anything but the sense of a filmmaker’s personal connection to the material. It doesn’t matter what it’s about, what genre it is, or whether it’s genre at all. I only really care that it feels like something the filmmaker had to tell me, and that it was that filmmaker in particular who had to tell it. It has to answer the ‘why are you telling me this’ question, and not just why are you telling me, but why are you telling me.

Lady Bird is a movie that feels like only Greta Gerwig could’ve made. And it’s only because it’s so specific to her that it can be so meaningful to so many people.” - Vince Mancini

19) "I have cast some lonely votes, fought some lonely fights, mounted some lonely campaigns. But I do not feel lonely now.” - Bernie Sanders

20) “Ever hear a Beatles song you haven’t heard before?”

21) “Drinking is an emotional thing. It joggles you out of the standardism of everyday life, out of everything being the same. It yanks you out of your body and your mind and throws you against the wall. I have the feeling that drinking is a form of suicide where you're allowed to return to life and begin all over the next day. It's like killing yourself, and then you're reborn. I guess I've lived about ten or fifteen thousand lives now.” - Charles Bukowski

22) “You shouldn’t have to hear a band to know if they’re good or not” - Josiah Hughes

23) “I was raised by OGs.  Some of you were raised by IG.  I understand.” - Ice-T

* * *

[Here is where I note the line of demarcation that was the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the US, pushed forward by Tom Hanks’ announcement, the NBA and NCAA shutting down, and, then, the nation itself.]

* * *

24) “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” - Vladimir Lenin

25) "Taken together, this is a massive failure in leadership that stems from a massive defect in character. Trump is such a habitual liar that he is incapable of being honest, even when being honest would serve his interests. He is so impulsive, shortsighted, and undisciplined that he is unable to plan or even think beyond the moment. He is such a divisive and polarizing figure that he long ago lost the ability to unite the nation under any circumstances and for any cause. And he is so narcissistic and unreflective that he is completely incapable of learning from his mistakes. The president’s disordered personality makes him as ill-equipped to deal with a crisis as any president has ever been. With few exceptions, what Trump has said is not just useless; it is downright injurious." - Peter Wehner

26) "Epidemics have a way of revealing underlying truths about the societies they impact." - Anne Applebaum

27) “A funny thing about quarantining is hearing your partner in full work mode for the first time. Like, I’m married to a ‘let’s circle back’ guy — who knew?” - Laura Norkin

28) 

(Jojo Rabbit)

29) “The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. - Deadwood: The Movie

30) “All bleeding stops eventually.” - Deadwood: The Movie

31) “Our Father, which art in heaven… / Let him fucking stay there” - Deadwood: The Movie

32) “It’s like a power outage, but we still have power” - Ryen Russillo, on the pandemic

33) “Whenever Sox baseball returns, it’ll be weird to not have Farmer on the call any more. The relationship between a fan and longtime announcer is always built in the little moments. One afternoon, he’s the soundtrack as you clean the garage. On another night, he’s your bookmark for the game as you stand in line for churros or walk down the ramps at Sox Park to try for better seats in the 100 level. A voice like Farmer’s becomes so familiar that you only really notice when it’s no longer there.” - Kevin Kaduk, on the passing of Ed Farmer

34) 

(via Twitter)

35) “In my songs, I try to look through someone else’s eyes, and I want to give the audience a feeling more than a message” - John Prine

36) “Observe everything. Admire nothing.” - Generation Kill

37) “Trump, by that definition, has always been a wartime president -- always willing to sacrifice people he doesn’t know to things he only sort of cares about” - David Roth

38) "Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen." - Michael Jordan

39) "Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach." - Hunter S. Thompson

40) “Airlines sending me “we’re in this together” emails. When my suitcase was 52 pounds I was on my own.” - Mike Dentale

41) “Sometimes you can be the worst source of your own story” - Ryen Russillo

42) “Family is not necessarily blood, but instead who you would bleed for.”

43)

(via Twitter)

44) "This is the deal that Jordan made, knowingly or unknowingly — that he would trade everything he had for everything he wanted. And then, when he won all those things, he found that he had nothing but that.” - David Roth

45) “I’m brand loyal, but the brand doesn’t matter” - Caitie Miller, on why she doesn’t like generic peanut butter

46) “NOBODY shitposts Gene Hackman!!” - Mark Dehlinger

47) “When a man concludes that any stick is good enough to beat his foe with—that is when he picks up a boomerang.” - G.K. Chesterton

48) “You can be appalled forever, but shocked only once.” - Jeff Weiss, on early Eminem

49) “Whether I’m pessimistic or optimistic, the fight’s the same” - David Simon

50) “Freedom can never be completely won, but it can be lost.” - Bernard Simon

51) “Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands.” -Kareem Abdul Jabbar

52) “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist -- we must be anti-racist.” - Angela Davis

53) “Start as close to the end as possible” - Kurt Vonnegut, on creative writing

54) “You can’t stay woke all the time — that’s insomnia.” - Dr. Cornel West

55) “No, I get it. I’ve dated a lot of Geminis.”

56) “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” - John Krakauer, Into The Wild (via Tyler Keller)

57) "I couldn't show them my For You because it's pretty much just lesbian stuff and depression memes" - Maggie Loesch, on showing TikTok to her coworkers

58) "It's 1 a.m. in Slovakia and I've already had one bottle of wine and I don't know how long this press conference will go, so good luck to me." - Marian Hossa, following his NHL Hall of Fame announcement

59) “All I want in life is to go on an Anguilla group trip” - Mandy Gilkes

60) “You miss old friends when you don’t see them, but you miss them more when you do.” - Chuck Klosterman

61) “The only way to appreciate the present is to pretend it’s already the past.” - Chuck Klosterman

62) Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh, never mind You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth Until they've faded, but trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back At photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now How much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked

(”Everybody's Free [To Wear Sunscreen]”)

Second time that essay’s been quoted on this list.

64) "I mean, it's just human nature to suck up to the people above you, crap on those beneath you, and undercut your equals” - Brian, Family Guy

65) “You never quit a job. You quit a manager.” - Brian Bedford

66) “All the pictures in my house are of people I’m not friends with” - Tracy Cunningham

67) “In order to leave something behind, you have to leave.” - Dr. Herman, Grey’s Anatomy

68) 

(via Twitter)

69) “You can obsess about death if you don’t have to obsess about dying.” - Brendan Kelly via “White Noise”

70) “If it’s right to do, it’s wrong to wait.” - Andy, doorman 

71)

72) “When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

73) "America is mostly people who’ve never left their state saying we have the best country in the world." - Billy Wayne Davis

74) “A writer is someone who knows at least 80% of their writing sucks.” - Gabe Hudson

75) 

(via Twitter)

76) “You’re dead twice” - Brendan Kelly

77) “Perfect is the enemy of good” - Voltaire (via Zach Lowe)

78) “I don’t want to be a savior, I want to be a mirror.” - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

79) “I get bad Twitter FOMO but not real life FOMO. That just goes to show I need to get off the Internet.” - Josh Thomas

80) “Is there anything you love in life that you engage with seriously that you don't also engage with humor?" - Sam Sutherland, on his relationship with Blink-182

81) “My favorite genre of music is my friends' bands" - Josiah Hughes

82) “Let’s fall in love like both our parents aren’t divorced.”

83) “Seabiscuit may be the only earthling that was on both sides of the stamp.” - Brendan Kelly

84) “There’s no shame in coming in second, except in, like, wars.” - Family Guy

85) “I feel like I experience writer’s block 100% of the time, and when I do write, I have impostor syndrome.” - Phoebe Bridgers

86) “We teach based on what we most need to learn.” - psychologist on Grey’s Anatomy

87) “Having too many choices is the leading cause of stress” - Grey’s Anatomy

88) “I think we've all gravely underestimated the extent to which this year has changed all of us, permanently” - Kelli Maria Korducki

89) 

(via Twitter)

90) “I wonder if people understand why they don’t have polio” - Sandra E. Garcia

91) “Ending songs is terrible, so let’s keep singing” - Dave Hernandez

[mygeekscore]

Covid-19 variant with K417N mutation

Genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2 square measure rising and current around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Viral mutations and variants at intervals the U.S.A. square measure habitually monitored through sequence-based police investigation, laboratory studies, and medical specialty investigations.

Read more on What is K417 Mutation?

[eltigreus]

what’s changed?

when I was younger (not that I now am old or anything), I used to tweet, livejournal, post, share, reblog (with vivacious commentary), and unabashedly expose my self and my expressions in whatever manner I could think of on a daily basis, wherever possible. multiple times a day, in fact. the epitome of screaming into the void - simply for the sake of assuring myself that I am alive and I have thoughts/feelings. but now...

I find myself: habitually/obsessively running my thoughts and opinions through judgement filters before even allowing myself to consider them; reactively scrutinizing the art and expressions of others for no good reason other than to be contradictory; scavenging the depths of my mind for good content and throwing out practically every seed I pull up before it even has a chance to be germinated; refusing to share anything of myself that feels underdeveloped or inadequate for this social platform or that; and (at times, desperately) looking for any minuscule moment of every day life interesting enough to capture on video that I could share with friends, family, followers, and anyone else that might help to contribute to the proliferation of vast opportunity for creation in the realm of entertainment for myself and my cohorts.

“What happened?”

how did that bombastically outspoken, overly-enthusiastic, naïvely ostentatious young artist end up this way?

a while ago, I spoke to a friend who told me,

“You’re all dusty? You used to be so much... shinier?”

to which I immediately shrunk in reaction. “life happened,” I thought to myself.

but, whose life is it? whose life are you leading? whose life are you aspiring towards? is it one of your own creation and desire or is it the one you were indoctrinated to believe is the only “true” option for success in your profession? the one with flagrantly rapid [commercial] success, un-stifled money flow, influential notoriety, and - of course - lots and lots of beautiful [men] of all shapes and sizes at the tips of your fingers awaiting your beck and call?

the reality of this enviable latter life is one only a privileged few get to lead in the business of entertainment; and it is apparent that a vast majority of those few don’t look like me, nor would they refer to themselves as “movement artists” - nor do they seem to register aloud their own contributions (or lack thereof) to the privilege of living this reality; that’s another tangent emotional pi.

“You’re all dusty?”

I’ve had the dirt kicked up on me quite a few times before that day when I met my friend. I had felt myself becoming much more dull in the months that preceded this meeting, but never was able to admit to myself what was happening until someone else was awake enough (and loved me enough) to point it out to me.

“You used to be so much... shiner? You can’t keep giving and giving your light away to other people. You have to replenish and recharge yourself if you want to have anything at all to give to someone else.”

these were some of the things my very conscious friend had said to me that day. he was/is right.

I love to give and I love to avoid myself. but, clearly, this wasn’t always the case. frequently, I attributed this development to the consistent loneliness I was experiencing (even before the quarantine). upon further reflection, I think it would actually be more accurate to say “this re-development” of myself. I think, perhaps, the reason that bombastic young artist was so unapologetically expressive was because he had the time to be so; he had the time to be bored enough to indulge in his own organically-sprouted curiosities and decided to respond to his findings aloud - to himself, to anyone who might hear in passing, to whomever.

the reality was that the make-up of his audience was of no importance; the importance was the act of sharing, the purity of expression - of earnestly recounting experience and emotion. not being concerned with how to indulge in dialogue but inherently knowing that the conversation must be started in order for one to begin to learn.

so how can I expect myself to be so suddenly inspired now when I never give myself enough time to relax and be bored?

quite probably possibly, the production mindset has skewed my view of [my] value. though the efficiency skills I now posses are very useful in a creative process when time is not on our side, the incessant need to constantly produce something in order to feel sufficient - to feel purposeful or worthwhile in any manner - can take irreversible tolls on the body and psyche.

“You’ve got to save some light for yourself.”

I have given my light to choreographers, directors, producers, employers, educators, entrepreneurs, puppet masters, and clowns all with varying degrees of mutual benefit as collaborators and acquaintances. you can tell the ones who are ready to reciprocate your efforts of light-giving from a mile off and - hopefully - you make the effort to ensure that you are able to stick around and continue trading frequencies/creative opportunities. but, why is it that one would choose to stick around when one’s intuition screams at them that their currently-involved endeavor is a one-way highway and all signs along the road offer (clearly threatening) admonitions of fines, tickets, and legal action against those that pick up... hitchhikers?

though you inherently know better, for some reason, you still hope the ones who are there to take what they need and then thank u, next themselves out of your realm of existence will somehow (miraculously) see you as something... special? some thing “worth” taking the time to get to know and grow with. unique enough to take a chance on for a fantastical project that is bound to be the next multi-million dollar franchise which will set you up to do whatever it is celebrities do when they’re not being famous... for the rest of your life? it sounds as ridiculous as it is.

it’s hilarious (and unsurprising), but my professional life and personal life have very closely mirrored parallels. to consider myself a “hitchhiker” in regards to my past methods of approach at forming relationships (romantic and otherwise) with humans is, unfortunately, fairly accurate. the co-dependent nature of matrimony which had been instilled in me since I was a young one has very undesirable affects when put into practice as an “independent adult.”

but how could you expect anything different when your focus is divided between your profession, your partner, your bills, your friends, your dog, your chores ... this list goes on and on. when do you turn your undivided attention inward to reflect on what it is you need/want? I’ve found that even when I am involuntarily alone, I tend to refuse avoid every opportunity for relaxation and self-consideration. (un)fortunately (for me), the Pandemic currently circulating our Mother Earth has removed virtually all possibilities for external distractions. (a moment of singularity is much more easily served surrounded by accessible bars, intoxicants, and unimaginably beautiful people, after all - no?)

before I run off my rails, I think I must pull this train of thought into the station. this lengthy rumination of my past experiences is not meant to serve as a “warning” for those interested in undertaking an artist’s life. I write this, first and foremost, to employ what I’ve criticized myself for not doing throughout this piece: I write this as an act of screaming into the void once again.

I write this to assure myself of my own ability to communicate emotions/thoughts and experiences, and to remind myself of how much I love to do so. I write this also to offer another perspective to others who may feel jaded or deceived along the current portion of their artistic journey. I write this as an act of defiance against my own insecurities.

I write this in the hopes of encouraging whomever might stumble upon it to give yourself a break and assess/pursue what it is that will bring you true fulfillment in this life.

I write this... because I wanted to? because I wanted to. because I wanted to express myself without being bogged down by the waterfall of irrelevance that my mind produces when it feels unsafe or exposed. because I am an expressive human who must allow room for expression when the motivation is pure.

because I’m trying to cure myself from this long-time build up of artistic epididymal hypertension.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[kramlabs]

New Study Highlights Serious Accounting Error Regarding Covid Deaths

:::

:::

WebArchive to the rescue:

https://web.archive.org/web/20201126163323/https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2020/11/a-closer-look-at-u-s-deaths-due-to-covid-19

:::

According to new data, the U.S. currently ranks first in total COVID-19 cases, new cases per day and deaths. Genevieve Briand, assistant program director of the Applied Economics master’s degree program at Hopkins, critically analyzed the effect of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in her webinar titled “COVID-19 Deaths: A Look at U.S. Data.”

From mid-March to mid-September, U.S. total deaths have reached 1.7 million, of which 200,000, or 12% of total deaths, are COVID-19-related. Instead of looking directly at COVID-19 deaths, Briand focused on total deaths per age group and per cause of death in the U.S. and used this information to shed light on the effects of COVID-19.

She explained that the significance of COVID-19 on U.S. deaths can be fully understood only through comparison to the number of total deaths in the United States.

After retrieving data on the CDC website, Briand compiled a graph representing percentages of total deaths per age category from early February to early September, which includes the period from before COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. to after infection rates soared.

Surprisingly, the deaths of older people stayed the same before and after COVID-19. Since COVID-19 mainly affects the elderly, experts expected an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. However, this increase is not seen from the CDC data. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same.

“The reason we have a higher number of reported COVID-19 deaths among older individuals than younger individuals is simply because every day in the U.S. older individuals die in higher numbers than younger individuals,” Briand said.

Briand also noted that 50,000 to 70,000 deaths are seen both before and after COVID-19, indicating that this number of deaths was normal long before COVID-19 emerged. Therefore, according to Briand, not only has COVID-19 had no effect on the percentage of deaths of older people, but it has also not increased the total number of deaths.

These data analyses suggest that in contrast to most people’s assumptions, the number of deaths by COVID-19 is not alarming. In fact, it has relatively no effect on deaths in the United States.

This comes as a shock to many people. How is it that the data lie so far from our perception?

To answer that question, Briand shifted her focus to the deaths per causes ranging from 2014 to 2020. There is a sudden increase in deaths in 2020 due to COVID-19. This is no surprise because COVID-19 emerged in the U.S. in early 2020, and thus COVID-19-related deaths increased drastically afterward.

Analysis of deaths per cause in 2018 revealed that the pattern of seasonal increase in the total number of deaths is a result of the rise in deaths by all causes, with the top three being heart disease, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia.

“This is true every year. Every year in the U.S. when we observe the seasonal ups and downs, we have an increase of deaths due to all causes,” Briand pointed out.

When Briand looked at the 2020 data during that seasonal period, COVID-19-related deaths exceeded deaths from heart diseases. This was highly unusual since heart disease has always prevailed as the leading cause of deaths. However, when taking a closer look at the death numbers, she noted something strange. As Briand compared the number of deaths per cause during that period in 2020 to 2018, she noticed that instead of the expected drastic increase across all causes, there was a significant decrease in deaths due to heart disease. Even more surprising, as seen in the graph below, this sudden decline in deaths is observed for all other causes.

COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND

Graph depicts the number of deaths per cause during that period in 2020 to 2018.

This trend is completely contrary to the pattern observed in all previous years. Interestingly, as depicted in the table below, the total decrease in deaths by other causes almost exactly equals the increase in deaths by COVID-19. This suggests, according to Briand, that the COVID-19 death toll is misleading. Briand believes that deaths due to heart diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia may instead be recategorized as being due to COVID-19.

COURTESY OF GENEVIEVE BRIAND

Graph depicts the total decrease in deaths by various causes, including COVID-19.

The CDC classified all deaths that are related to COVID-19 simply as COVID-19 deaths. Even patients dying from other underlying diseases but are infected with COVID-19 count as COVID-19 deaths. This is likely the main explanation as to why COVID-19 deaths drastically increased while deaths by all other diseases experienced a significant decrease.

“All of this points to no evidence that COVID-19 created any excess deaths. Total death numbers are not above normal death numbers. We found no evidence to the contrary,” Briand concluded.

In an interview with The News-Letter, Briand addressed the question of whether COVID-19 deaths can be called misleading since the infection might have exacerbated and even led to deaths by other underlying diseases.

“If [the COVID-19 death toll] was not misleading at all, what we should have observed is an increased number of heart attacks and increased COVID-19 numbers. But a decreased number of heart attacks and all the other death causes doesn’t give us a choice but to point to some misclassification,” Briand replied.

In other words, the effect of COVID-19 on deaths in the U.S. is considered problematic only when it increases the total number of deaths or the true death burden by a significant amount in addition to the expected deaths by other causes. Since the crude number of total deaths by all causes before and after COVID-19 has stayed the same, one can hardly say, in Briand’s view, that COVID-19 deaths are concerning.

Briand also mentioned that more research and data are needed to truly decipher the effect of COVID-19 on deaths in the United States.

Throughout the talk, Briand constantly emphasized that although COVID-19 is a serious national and global problem, she also stressed that society should never lose focus of the bigger picture — death in general.

The death of a loved one, from COVID-19 or from other causes, is always tragic, Briand explained. Each life is equally important and we should be reminded that even during a global pandemic we should not forget about the tragic loss of lives from other causes.

According to Briand, the over-exaggeration of the COVID-19 death number may be due to the constant emphasis on COVID-19-related deaths and the habitual overlooking of deaths by other natural causes in society.

During an interview with The News-Letter after the event, Poorna Dharmasena, a master’s candidate in Applied Economics, expressed his opinion about Briand’s concluding remarks.

“At the end of the day, it’s still a deadly virus. And over-exaggeration or not, to a certain degree, is irrelevant,” Dharmasena said.

When asked whether the public should be informed about this exaggeration in death numbers, Dharmasena stated that people have a right to know the truth. However, COVID-19 should still continuously be treated as a deadly disease to safeguard the vulnerable population.

:::

https://www.aier.org/article/new-study-highlights-serious-accounting-error-regarding-covid-deaths/

[felipeandletizia]

June 10, 2020: King Felipe and Queen Letizia held a videoconference with the Taxi sector

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have maintained their preferential interest in recent weeks with those who have guaranteed essential services for citizens. And a primary sector, also during confinement, has been that of Transport, which has guaranteed the mobility of people and goods to supply the population. In successive conversations with representatives of ports, airports and rail, road and suburban transport, in contact with AENA, RENFE, the Association of Air Lines, EMT and the Madrid Metro and the Transport Business Committee. Today with the top managers of the taxi sector. FEDETAXI and ANTAXI account for one hundred percent of the licenses and taxi workers in Spain, both self-employed and salaried entrepreneurs.

The associative representatives have explained to the Kings that during the month of February the taxi drivers already began to notice the effects in a sensible way, when they received the news of the epidemic that came from Asia. During that month, congresses, fairs and meetings were canceled or postponed. At the beginning of March, the activity was halted at Renfe stations, ports, airports, transport interchanges and points of generation of habitual high demand for travelers.

There was a drastic drop in mobility according to data from the General Directorate of Traffic, recorded at the beginning of the state of alarm. In the accesses to cities, passenger traffic decreased 67%, and 61.29% for long-distance trips. The reduction in traffic in cities like Madrid was 71.3% and Barcelona produced similar figures. These figures increased until, at the height of the pandemic and the restriction of the fundamental right to mobility (the first days of April), it has reached practically 90%, gradually recovering up to 50% in which We found it in the last days of May.

The collapse of the urban circulation of taxis has been absolute. The sector itself estimates the request for services by applications or stations at only 10% compared to the usual until practically the last week of May, discounting those services that have been carried out free, voluntarily and in solidarity for health workers and other essential personnel.

Some cities have taken measures to reduce the supply of taxis such as, for example, Seville where only 25% of the fleet could work daily, Barcelona 20%, Madrid up to 50%, Calviá 20%, Jaén 25%, Puerto de Santa María 50%, Fuerteventura 20%, and thus hundreds of Spanish municipalities. Consequently, the economic activity and the turnover of taxi drivers have been until the end of May around 10-20% of the normal figures. Activity has been less than 75% of normal, and is now going back to 20-40%, according to the Autonomous Communities.

During the health emergency, the Taxi has been providing services mainly for the elderly, hospitals, patients, nurses, doctors, often altruistically and disinterestedly. When there has been compensation from the Administration, it has been returned to compensate for the deficit in sanitary material. This performance has occurred throughout Spain.

The representatives of FEDETAXI and ANTAXI contemplate the current situation, which is still very complicated, and it will take a long time to reactivate the activity and return to relative normality. As for all clients, the service projections in the months that remain until the end of the year are not rosy, so that the red numbers in the sector would continue.

A reduction in traffic is expected in areas of demand such as airports, ports and train or bus stations, hotels, etc., due to a collapse of national and international tourism; the possible cancellation of all kinds of events such as festivals, concerts, popular parties, congresses, sports events; the fall of "the night"; or the promotion of telework.

In smaller or less tourist cities and in rural areas, where taxi revenues are much lower than large capitals, the direct and indirect costs of the activity will exceed the income or reduce the net return on the activity to levels insufficient for subsistence .

Although a transfer of passengers from public transportation to the taxi is also expected, with the number of potential taxi users growing - for fear of the spread of COVID19, it is not estimated that this represents an increase in turnover of more than 8-12%.

The taxi sector in Spain is made up of 63,494 taxi license holders, of whom 98.3% are self-employed, and around 35,000 salaried drivers, supporting 100,000 families throughout Spain.

Taxi drivers are grouped into two associations: FEDETAXI, which represents 61% of licenses; and ANTAXI, which represents 39% of the licenses.

FEDETAXI (Spanish Taxi Federation) was established in 2012 as a group of associations or organizations of taxi drivers from the different provinces or communities of Spain with the purpose of defending, promoting and promoting the interests of taxi drivers and the organizations or associations that form part of it. It is made up of the Madrid Auto Taxi Association, the Castilian-Leon Taxi Federation, the Andalusian Federation of Autonomous Taxi Drivers, the Union of Autonomous Taxi Drivers of Catalonia, the Taxi Association of the Balearic Islands, the Taxi Free Self Employed Union with offices also in Valencia and Galicia, the Provincial Association of Taxi Drivers of Zaragoza, and the Confederation of Taxis on the Costa del Sol. Together they include more than 60 taxi drivers' associations.

In addition, FEDETAXI is part at the national level of the National Federation of Autonomous Workers (ATA) and within the European Union, of the Taxi Europe Alliance (TEA) where, among others, taxi drivers from Italy, Portugal, and in which FEDETAXI holds the presidency.

The current (acting) president of FEDETAXI is Miguel Ruano Bravo, first vice president of the entity, as long as the current electoral process of the federation ends.

ANTAXI (National Taxi Association) is an Organization that has the presence of Associations from the various Autonomous Communities, whose objectives are the fight against intrusion and unfair competition; ensure that the taxi is of universal, plural and quality access; defense of the taxi as a public service; and the development of regulations that protect the activity.

It has a presence in practically all the Autonomous Communities. The Associations that are part of ANTAXI are the Autonomous Confederation of Taxis of the Valencian Community, the Basque Taxi Federation, the Professional Taxi Federation of Madrid, the Independent Taxi Federation of the Balearic Islands, the Cantabrian Taxi Federation, the Independent Association of Taxi Drivers, Self Employers of Navarra, Agrupació Taxi Companys (Barcelona), Radio Taxi Aragón, Association of Taxi Drivers of La Rioja, Radio Taxi Mérida, Associació del Taxi Intermunicipal de Catalunya, Radio Taxi Murcia, Rural Taxi Associations of Seville and Córdoba.

The president is Julio Sanz. Borja Musons is the vice president and the president of the Basque Taxi Federation.

The taxi is a public service of general interest within the municipalities and, therefore, it is the municipalities that have the main powers over it and determine the maximum number of taxi licenses in each of the municipalities according to their volume of population or other objective parameters. It is appreciated how Madrid and Barcelona are the cities with the highest number of licenses, with 15,000 and 10,000 licenses, respectively.

Regarding the distribution of energy sources, for example, Madrid has 4,295 hybrid taxis (27.62%), 2,784 LPG-powered (17.89%) and 8,135 (52%) with a diesel engine, while pure electric ones (BEV) barely reach 20 vehicles. The Barcelona Municipal Area has 3,221 hybrid vehicles (30.71%), 797 LPG (7.60%) and 6,201 (59.12%) diesel. The average age of the fleet in the capitals is close to 6.4 years, with a 10-year limit for all taxi vehicles. FEDETAXI believes that the sector needs a strong impetus for the green transition and would be a great "test bed" for the electrification of urban mobility.

Taxi drivers' taxation is subject to the direct estimation regime (modules) of personal income tax and VAT. The average income of a taxi driver, before taxes, is not homogeneous, varying greatly between cities and Autonomous Communities, ranging from 16,000 to 36,000 euros. The dependence on tourism, events, leisure and hospitality activities exceeds, on average, one third of its turnover, even reaching double in tourist towns and large capitals.

The taxi sector has been dragging a strong crisis due to the emergence of the liberalized rental vehicle with driver (VTC) modality from 2009 to 2015, which has gone from 2,500 vehicles to almost 17,000 throughout Spain. The emergence of digital platforms has produced a high degree of disruption and competition from VTCs with taxi drivers. In recent years there has been a conflict that has taken to the streets and to the political and judicial sphere, and even to the European institutions, without having yet fully settled. This is the complex context - marked by the technological and digital revolution and the changes in user habits - that the COVID pandemic has impacted19.

Participants in the videoconference with the Kings:

• FEDETAXI representatives:

   • Miguel Ruano Bravo, vice president FEDETAXI (acting president), president of the Andalusian federation of autonomous taxi drivers (FAAT) and active taxi driver in Córdoba.

   • Ángel Julio Mejía Noguerales, president of the Madrid taxi union (AGATM), candidate for the presidency of FEDETAXI and active taxi driver in Madrid.

   • Emilio Domínguez Del Valle. Lawyer and technical secretary of FEDETAXI and National Land Transport Advisor (MITMA) for the taxi sector.

• ANTAXI representatives:

   • Julio Sanz, president of ANTAXI and active taxi driver in Madrid

   • Borja Musons, Vice President of ANTAXI and President of the Basque Taxi Federation

[antheae0420684]

Blog 7

In chapter 2 (Cultural field and the habitus) of ‘Understanding Bourdieu’, Webb et al elucidates Bourdieu’s definitions of key terms such as cultural field and habitus, using sports as the primary reference to explain they operate in the real-world. In particular, Webb et al introduces six concepts relevant to the cultural field, such as misrecognition and symbolic violence, and also objectivist and subjectivist perspectives to expound on the notion of the habitus. In essence, all these concepts of Bourdieu are interwoven with those of Webb et al to present how one’s tastes and preferences are formed, and how these tastes may relate to social class. 

As stated in the reading, an important concept of the habitus is that people’s attitudes or beliefs are often heavily influenced by their cultural trajectories. These result in rules and structures of perception that shape people’s understanding of others’ actions outside the same cultural sphere, and the example used in the reading to expound on this is the western meat-eating patterns, where the consumption of domestic animals like dogs are cats is a taboo. Hence, it is expected that Westerners tend to view people of China, for instance, to be barbaric and uncivilised for eating dog meat. Looking at the recent covid-19 pandemic, social media had seen a huge wave of xenophobia targeting the Chinese - all over apps like Tik Tok, people left videos and comments blaming the Chinese for causing COVID-19, due to them eating ‘strange’ animals like bats. As evident from this outburst, the rules and structures pertaining to such habitus are upheld strongly, and when met with contradiction, creates strife and tension.

From another perspective, this example highlights the Western desire to universalise its values and enforce them on other parts of the world. By degrading the Chinese for eating animals such as dogs, they are essentially putting forth the belief that they belong to a higher social class since they do not partake in such activities. Such beliefs are then reinforced and spread through the media, where news reports and social media content are skewed to portray the Chinese as lower class citizens with bizarre eating habits (probably made worse with Trump’s addressing of Covid-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’). With such media bias, others around the world are blinded to the fact that even within one nation, habitus is not uniform throughout all individuals; as a result of different subcultures, people have differing habitus even within the same geographical boundaries. For instance, people often do not take note of China’s efforts to ban the consumption of non-livestock (in Shenzhen and Zhuhai), and the changing attitudes of Chinese youths disposed towards saving these animals and wildlife. Indeed, it seems that the combination of technology and habitus can create negative effects, where people compete to prove their culture as superior over others.

[lioninsunheart]

“Please empathize and try to imagine being cooked alive in boiling water while screaming for help, or even being eaten alive on a dinner table. This kind of ignorant cruelty causes unspeakable pain, terror, and suffering. It also has tragic effects on our own humanity. Make no mistake - most animals are being unnecessarily killed for our preferred and habitual taste - and specifically for our casual vanity.

The fatal Covid-19 virus now spreading dangerously throughout the world is reported to have originated (please stop with the ridiculous conspiracy theories and finally take responsibility) in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in China, where countless fish, bats, snakes, and other animals are tortured and killed for human consumption.

This isn’t even close to the first time this has happened - from hoof and mouth, bird flu, SARS, Ebola, HIV and many other diseases - so many of our self-created epidemics and tragic loss of our environment is directly connected to the mistreatment and killing of animals.

While you are at home contemplating you are encouraged to look at your part in all of this - we all have a role in this interconnected suffering. If you yourself get sick, when you see a friend, a relative or others die or the economy collapse please don’t forget to reflect on the causes and conditions of the suffering we face - and how we have brought this upon ourselves and have brought this pain into the lives of others. It is true and it is time to accept the certain reality of cause and effect - for those of us who survive perhaps we will collectively look in the mirror?

This particular pandemic - this devastation, this collapse of our economy, this job loss, this mass loss of lives and our collective broken dreams is directly attributable to our killing, abuse and mistreatment of animals. It is simply impossible for us to rationalize or justify this in any other way - we are responsible for our own suffering. Please stop.”

-Jeff Brown-

[tomorrowusa]

We can’t blame Donald Trump for 100% of the COVID-19 deaths in the US; even countries with diligent leaders like New Zealand and South Korea had a few fatalities. But it’s clear that Trump’s incompetence, lassitude, ignorance, and irresponsibility caused the virus to spread out of control throughout the US and kill over 163,000 Americans -- so far.

The pandemic is a tragic reminder that Trump is habitually dishonest. If he says something then there’s an excellent chance that it isn’t true. He has been lying about the pandemic since the day the first infection was reported in the US on January 22nd.

You can take back control of America by registering to vote and then voting on the earliest date your state allows it.

Electing Biden won’t cure COVID-19, but at least competent medical professionals like Dr. Anthony Fauci will have a much stronger say in federal pandemic response and won’t kowtow to stupid-ass Republican governors who are almost as worthless as Trump.