#no one figured out the most recent infected had to participate in the kill for it to spread

[astrowarr]

i actually don't think it would've made sense for martyn to get the boogey task.

it was literally.. a boogey task. you know, the mechanic where greens and yellows were forced to kill against their wills? because it wasn't actually a zombie apocalypse, remember. not to mention it would've completely destroyed the enter gimmick of the typical red life tasks, which are meant to be fun creative new ways of hurting/killing. also, I think red tasks are set up the way they are in part to increase the survivability of red names, which was super important this session seeing as there was only one left.

also, we all saw how low gem got leading that army through several kills. she died eventually, and even if it was scar killing her accidentally, she was so low at that point it was guaranteed she was going to die for that task. if that was martyn, he wouldn't have even been able to go get a new red task and get some hearts back you know?

"martyn didn't get to do anything because of it!" that was also his choice though! he could've said hey, you guys are slaughtering people? awesome let me tag along. instead he made the decision to stay far away from that because he was very concerned about the way that was going. he purposefully excluded himself from that; there was no stipulation in the book saying "red names can't be involved or help you kill people". I'm not sure if martyn thought that was the case, but it certainly wasn't

idk, I think the fact that it was referred to as "the zombie apocalypse" all session made people forget they weren't actually zombies. they were boogeymen. that distinction matters a LOT

[thethrillof]

For the ask meme, I'm curious on your own interpretations of Sephiroth! If you'd prefer perhaps a less cliché suggestion, maybe The Hollow Knight? Or both!

all good \o/

under a cut b/c a bit long!

the hollow knight:

First impression

tbh, i looked up the entire plot to hollow knight on tvtropes before looking at any part of the game itself, never expecting to give a damn. so i thought oh, they’re sad and a little scary-looking...and that’s about it.

Impression now

baby. they were doing their best. they were loyal and trying so fucking hard. the shit they went through is so terribly upsetting and i love them so much.

Favorite moment

when their shade shows up to help the little knight to finally end the radiance.

Idea for a story

HMM. hollow meeting everybody in dirtmouth, ending up basically being adopted by iselda and cornifer and accidentally terrorizing the hell out of poor elderbug for the first few months.

Unpopular opinion

while it’s not unpopular, it is divisive: the idea that they wouldn’t blame the pale king for his fucked up plan and being angry at him, instead turning it into self-hatred and a sense of failure unless someone else steps in. 

Favorite relationship

i like their familial relationship--or the potential for one--with their siblings. (ship-wise, i’m pretty apathetic.)

Favorite headcanon

the World Sense the pale king left ‘em and the infection wiring everybody with the radiance and so the hollow knight too...has given them a lot of weird habits and knowledge. a lot. they absolutely know what mushrooms are good to eat, even though they’ve never been to that part of hallownest. if someone lead ‘em through greenpath and they were stressed out, they’d immediately dunk their body in leaves like a moss knight, etc etc. 

sephiroth:

First impression

my genuine first impressions were from collecting information over paying a tiny bit of attention to gaming stuff in general over the past couple decades, and was skewed a bit by thinking final fantasy was for a younger crowd than it actually is. i thought Sephiroth worked for a company called Jenova, was a solider alongside Cloud as an equal, and ended up going off after being experimented on and given wings, and that he lost one of ‘em by probably getting ripped off by Cloud. also i knew he had the one-winged angel theme iconic and a lot of people think he’s a very badass and scary boss villain. 

my more solidly recent “first” impression that i feel counts was the smash bros. trailer, where i was impressed and like “oh, he’s cool! neat, i’m going to actually pay attention to this guy.”

Impression now

okay yeah he is impressively powerful, but oh my god. oh my god. i had no clue the dude was such a fucking wreck, man. his life was such a pile of trauma. he is such a desperate, lonely person who was puppeted and used his entire life. holy fuck. i love him. i want him to have a friend

Favorite moment

the expanded reactor scene in crisis core. watching his life fully fall apart and him fall apart too. very painful and fascinating to watch.

also, his entire smash reveal trailer tbh, seeing as i probs wouldn’t have given him another glance otherwise.

Idea for a story

hmm. i’m not actually familiar enough with all of the FF7 canon to not just parrot a million fics i’de read, so sticking to smash: being forced into semi-sane and weaker state by the Hands for a chance to actually participate in the tournament aspect (and not kill everyone), slowly falling apart again internally as he has a chance to be himself while acting like his usual unsettling calamity’s son on the outside, and accidentally forming bonds with other smashers when they see through the act. bowser in particular, since he’s a very hammy villain, but also has big Dad Instinct and he deserves a good dad figure. can’t do fuckin worse than hojo amirite

Unpopular opinion

i don’t actually think it matters whether or not jenova was a sentient being responsible for manipulating sephiroth, or if jenova was fully taken over by sephiroth’s will--either way, he was goddamn sick. it doesn’t matter. diseases, viruses, parasites in general will fuck up peoples’ senses and reasonability even if they’re not goddamn space magic and i think arguing it’s all sephiroth’s fault is ignoring this.

also, as much as i enjoy angsty fic about it, i don’t think he actually grew up in the labs. i feel like it would’ve twigged that he was more than “a special existence” if he was blatantly used as a lab rat for most of his life.

Favorite relationship

sephiroth and cloud, absolutely. 

Favorite headcanon

man i love the one where his eyes expand like a cat’s when spotting something intensely interesting.

in more seriousness, really do not imagine the guy with any fragment of life outside of shinra. no experience with things past missions for the company, to the point of not really having casual clothes.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Alabama, Georgia pick up the pieces after deadly tornadoes (AP) Chainsaws buzzed through fallen trees, stunned residents dug in the rubble that had been their homes, and neighbors rushed in to help on Friday after multiple tornadoes ripped a path of devastation across the Deep South. At least five people were killed. As many as 10 tornadoes—an estimated eight in Alabama and two in Georgia—carved a tremendous path of devastation on Thursday, uprooting 100-year-old trees, stripping roofs from houses, seriously damaging schools and businesses, and scattering treasured family possessions far and wide. Charlene Watson’s apartment building was ripped apart by the tornado. She awoke to sirens and moved as quickly as she could to the basement of her building before the twister tore the roof off her building. “Just be thankful for everything you’ve got, because you are not promised the next day. Nothing is,” Watson said, holding back tears.

Biden’s inner circle maintains close ties to vaccine makers, disclosures reveal (The Intercept) In the coming months, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Joe Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations, will hear from a growing chorus of developing nations about the foundering efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccine globally. The nations, many of which have not even begun vaccinating their populations, are demanding that the U.S. support proposals to temporarily waive certain patent and intellectual property rights so that generic coronavirus vaccines can be produced. The proposals have been fiercely opposed by American drugmakers, including Pfizer, a pharmaceutical giant that Thomas-Greenfield’s former consulting firm has recently counted as a client. Thomas-Greenfield and her number two, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, previously worked for the Albright Stonebridge Group, or ASG, a consulting firm founded by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The firm, which represents Pfizer, specializes in helping large corporations understand and influence international trade policy, including on intellectual property. Many leading figures in Biden’s administration, including key White House advisers, State Department leaders, and health care officials have financial stake in or professional ties to vaccine manufacturers, which are now lobbying to prevent policies that would cut into future profits over the vaccine.

Children Trapped by Colombia’s War, Five Years After Peace Deal (NYT) At 13, she left home to join the guerrillas. Now, at 15, Yeimi Sofía Vega lay in a coffin, killed during a military operation ordered by her government. Nearly five years after Colombia signed a historic peace accord with its largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country’s internal war is far from over. Remote towns like Puerto Cachicamo have yet to see the schools, clinics and jobs the government promised in the agreement. Thousands of dissident FARC combatants have returned to battle, or never laid down their arms, and are fighting rivals for control of illicit markets. Mass killings and forced displacement are again regular occurrences. And young people—trapped between an often absent state, the aggressive recruitment of armed groups and the firepower of the military—are once again the conflict’s most vulnerable targets. That was evident this month, when the government bombed a rebel camp in an effort to take out a high-profile dissident FARC leader known by the alias Gentil Duarte. The camp turned out to be full of young people who had been recruited by the group—and the operation killed at least two minors, including Yeimi Sofía.

Why Uruguay’s Schoolchildren Are Doing So Well in the Pandemic (Der Spiegel) Two weeks after Amelia’s first day of school last March, she was suddenly unable to go anymore. Her school had been shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. But for the first grader from Uruguay, it wasn’t such a big deal. She learned the alphabet by way of digital tutorials, and she had so much fun with the digital math lessons that she did additional exercises. There were video conferences three times a week, so she could get to know her teacher and classmates better. And under the leadership of her physical education teacher, Amelia, 7, did gymnastics exercises in her living room. Amelia, though, is not some well-off pupil at a private school. She goes to a public school in Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo. And like all of the other schoolchildren in the small country sandwiched between Argentina and Brazil, she received her tablet computer from the state. Uruguay has been investing in digital education for years in addition to making it accessible to everyone. The country’s education system was better prepared for the pandemic than most of the other countries in the region, and also better than many in the wealthy West. Whereas some teachers in Germany had no contact with their students for several weeks, there was a constant exchange between pupils and teachers in Uruguay. Instead of blurry scans and erroneous internet links hiding content that could not be found, Uruguay was able to offer schoolchildren digital schoolbooks with science experiments, homework in the form of quizzes or games, interactive video conferences, personalized exercises, and chats to clear up any questions. It has already been more than 10 years since the country—as one of six around the world—introduced a one-laptop-per-child policy. On top of that, Uruguay installed free internet in public squares around the country, including in rural areas, and also founded a state agency for digital education called Plan Ceibal. “In general, the last school year worked quite well,” says Fiorella Haim, a manager at Plan Ceibal.

Spurred by lockdown, Spain gives 4-day week a try (AP) After years of waiting tables, Danae De Vries is one step closer to achieving her lifetime dream of becoming a theater coach. Ironically, she owes that to the pandemic. It was after last year’s brutal lockdown that shut the Spanish economy down for weeks that the owners of a small restaurant chain in Madrid offered De Vries to cut her weekly work schedule by one day. Already struggling to make ends meet in a city that has seen rental prices spiral, the 28-year-old was hesitant at first—and then enthusiastic when she was told her wages would remain untouched. Experimenting with cutting back one workday per week is about to go nationwide in Spain—the first country in Europe to do so. A three-year pilot project will be using 50 million euros ($59 million) from the European Union’s massive coronavirus recovery fund to compensate some 200 mid-size companies as they resize their workforce or reorganize production workflows to adapt to a 32-hour working week. The funds will go to subsidizing all of the employers’ extra costs in the first year of the trial and then reduce the government’s aid to 50% and 25% each consecutive year.

Myanmar security forces kill over 90 in 'horrifying' day of bloodshed (Reuters) Security forces killed more than 90 people, including some children, across Myanmar on Saturday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, news reports and witnesses said. The lethal crackdown, which took place on Armed Forces Day, drew strong renewed criticism from Western countries. British Ambassador Dan Chugg said the security forces had “disgraced themselves” and the U.S. envoy called the violence horrifying. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. At least 29 people, including a 13-year-old girl, were killed in Mandalay, and at least 24 people were killed in Yangon, Myanmar Now said.

Beaten, Cuffed, Hauled Away: When Myanmar’s Military Comes Knocking (NYT) When the police and soldiers arrived in the middle of the night, they fired their guns into the air, threw stones through the windows and threatened to drive a car through the front door if no one opened it. U Shwe Win and his family were asleep. It was 2:30 a.m. The police and soldiers had come to arrest Mr. Shwe Win’s son, Ko Win Htut Nyein. When they found him, they beat and handcuffed the 19-year-old before hauling him away. His offense, the family was told, was taking videos of the police at a protest in Mandalay the day before. More than two weeks later, Mr. Shwe Win is still searching for his son. The authorities say they have no record of his arrest. Since the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, millions of pro-democracy protesters have joined demonstrations against the military and participated in general strikes and a civil disobedience movement that have brought the economy to a virtual halt. Security forces have responded with increasing ruthlessness, shooting people in the streets and arbitrarily beating and arresting people. Soldiers and the police invade homes in the middle of the night, searching for opponents of military rule. Many have gone into hiding. Some are arrested and released. Others wind up missing, tortured or dead.

Israelis gather for Passover, celebrating freedom from virus (AP) A year ago, Giordana Grego’s parents spent Passover at home in Israel, alone but grateful that they had escaped the worst of the pandemic in Italy. This year, the whole family will get together to mark the Jewish feast of liberation and deliverance from the pandemic. Israel has vaccinated over half its population of 9.3 million, and as coronavirus infections have plummeted, authorities have allowed restaurants, hotels, museums and theaters to re-open. Up to 20 people can now gather indoors. It’s a stark turnaround from last year, when Israel was in the first of three nationwide lockdowns, with businesses shuttered, checkpoints set up on empty roads and people confined to their homes. Passover is the Jewish holiday celebrating the biblical Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt after a series of divine plagues. The week-long springtime festival starts Saturday night with the highly ritualized Seder meal, when the Exodus story is retold. It’s a Thanksgiving-like atmosphere with family, friends, feasting and four cups of wine.

Salvager hopes to free ship blocking Suez Canal by start of next week (Reuters) A giant container ship grounded in the Suez Canal could be freed by the start of next week if heavier tugboats, dredging and a high tide succeed in dislodging it, a Dutch firm working to free the vessel said. The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became wedged diagonally across a southern section of the canal amid high winds early on Tuesday, disrupting global shipping by blocking one of the world’s busiest waterways. About 15% of world shipping traffic passes through the canal, and dozens of vessels are waiting in the waterway and around its northern and southern entrances for the blockage to be cleared.

Piracy fears mount as ships take long way around Africa to avoid blocked Suez Canal (Washington Post) Brand-new Kia automobiles, cases of Heineken beer, live animals and billions of dollars of crude oil and other commodities remained stranded in the Suez Canal throughout the day on Friday. Meanwhile, a number of global shipping companies on Friday began steering ships toward the longer route to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. Detouring around Africa is likely to add a week or two to most itineraries. It will also mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional fuel costs. With more ships potentially being diverted to the Cape of Good Hope, piracy could increase. Pirates have long preyed on ships moving in the waters off the Horn of Africa, and the seas off oil-rich West Africa are now considered among the world’s most dangerous for shipping.

A Year Into Remote Work, No One Knows When to Stop Working Anymore (WSJ) The daily alarm Katie Lipp sets isn’t meant to wake her up. It reminds her to go to bed. The employment attorney in Fairfax, Va., said she has tried a range of techniques to set boundaries while working long days from home running her law practice during the pandemic. Few measures work as well as the 9:45 p.m. alarm she started setting last month, though she admits to snoozing it occasionally to fire out one last email. “You never feel like what you’re doing is good enough, so you get stuck in a trap of overworking,” Ms. Lipp, the mother of a 5-year-old, said. A year into the Covid-19 era, many can relate. Employees say work-life boundaries blurred, then vanished, as waking life came to mean “always on” at work. Experts warn that working around the clock—while slipping in meals, helping with homework and grabbing a few moments with a partner—isn’t sustainable, and employers are trying ways to get staff to dial back.

[morekersunil-blog]

Childhood and future of India down the drain? Not if experts can help it ,by mobilising community participation in searching for  solutions

A child , all of eighteen months, goes down the drain and disappears during the ongoing monsoon and subsequent floods in Mumbai . It is not only one child but many who suffer , not on just a particular day but every monsoon, throughout the monsoon ; not just affected by floods on the day but also days after the floods;  due to leptospirosis , dengue and other diseases which follow the rains 

 What policy changes are necessary  , what community  action is essential and  who are the stakeholders  involved who need to act for this vulnerable age group to be better cared for, across all economic strata , since this is the age group which is our country’s future ?

 Early Childhood Association President Dr Swati Popat speaks to us about important issues this event brings to the forefront about early childhood care.

“ Mumbai floods” is now a buzz word in Mumbai but it is a  regular affair. Deaths have been so many that most of us are probably now numbed . 268 events of flooding were reported between 1995 and 2015 and it has affected 825 million people and left 17 million homeless  and has killed 69,000 people all over India .Greater Mumbai has a population of 12 million as per census 2011 figures and the most vulnerable are slum dwellers who comprise 41 % of the city’s household. The world bank policy research paper number 7481 examines the vulnerability of the poor in Mumbai with respect to their displacement during floods. Floods affect not just the poor but also the affluent . Brain drain is something that many hear of but the best of brains Dr Amrapurkar dying by drowning in a drain shocked Mumbai a couple of years ago.Many efforts were made to make sure  such an event doesn’t occur .  Yet just two days ago yet another child was lost as the child slipped down an open drain as seen on a cctv footage of an adjoining mosque .

The following picture from India Today speaks volumes about toddlers in rains and floods 

The drains are wide open like shown in the accompanying picture 

And when it rains children are walking along the flooded roads not knowing where the drains location is 

( Picture : School going children looking for manholes ) 

The flood water enters everywhere , even in homes 

Sushmita ( name changes on request )  is a home help whose husband is a jobless alcoholic , who has abandoned her and she makes a living as a cook in the high rise buildings next to her dwelling in the slums . She cooks at five households earning three thousand rupees from each household , that is an income of fifteen thousand rupees a month with which she keeps her life afloat. When the rains came this year her life drowned , like every year , year after year. 

“ The water came rushing in , drowning everything .I do not have a life at all and I live only for my children and it hurts very much, when they were really affected. All the clothes  got wet, children’s  school uniforms , books , everything got wet .They still went to school since the school had not declared a holiday .Till they come back home I am really worried , ever since the news of the child drowning cake out, we all are extremely worried” said Sushmita . “ I am most worried about the toddlers my relatives  leave behind in a play school or with neighbour when they go to work “

She has a good idea of why these issues plague the area,  because  she is a little more informed ,due to the conversations she has, during her work at an educated household . She takes us to a nullah which is overflowing . She points to an area where the drain is blocked. We see  numerous plastic bags blocking the drain . The sewage is overflowing. The water supply and sewage lines are overlapping and the sewage contaminates the water supply line . “ When the water flows and the children wade through these waters , they come back home and have a fever three to six days later . Three children in our locality were identified with fever” said Sushmita.

After the rains , one can see dead rats along the pavements and roads. 

Picture : Dead rats along the pavement near the manholes 

These rats cause Leptospirosis 

According to the National Health Portal of India, leptospirosis is one of the world’s most widespread disease  transmitted by animals to humans.In 2014-15, 179 cases were reported and  seven people died across the state of Maharashtra of which Mumbai is a part. In 2016, 367 were people infected and 13 had died. In 2017, the cases increased to 398 with 18 succumbing  to the disease.Mumbai has recorded the highest number of cases, with 218 of the 309 cases recorded in 2018 coming from Mumbai.To address the rising burden of the disease the Government of India in started  a Pilot project on Prevention and Control of Leptospirosis as a “New Initiative” under XI Five Year Plan.” Radio spots and Radio Jingle under Programme for prevention and control of Leptospirosis (PPCL) were  prepared. Although the programme is still in its nascent stage , it has been able to sensitize the state Governments about the significant public health impact of the disease. The surveillance of the disease has been strengthened and cases and outbreak are regularly reported through IDSP portal.” says the program website . A recent meeting was held on June 13 th . But would it fair to expect only the government to act . 

The Center  for Disease Control and Prevention , USA on its website explains that  leptospirosis cases are seen more often when there are floods ( https://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/exposure/hurricanes-leptospirosis.html) A large increase in the number of patients seen with leptospirosis was reported from days 7 to 12 following a deluge in Mumbai. In 2005 at one of the hospitals 432 patients were diagnosed with leptospirosis (  Maskey M, Shastri JS, Saraswathi K, Surpam R, Vaidya N. Leptospirosis in Mumbai: Post-deluge outbreak 2005. Indian J Med Microbiol 2006;24:337-8.) .

So prevention of wading should be a first step

The next step would be treating the ones who waded in rain water , literally wading inti trouble.

A community prophylaxis program prevented Leptospirosis. “ There were reduced number of cases of leptospirosis due to community chemoprophylaxis with 432 confirmed cases in 2005 v. 128 [59 confirmed] in 2017 “ reported the research paper ( Supe A, Khetarpal M, Naik S, Keskar P. Leptospirosis following heavy rains in 2017 in Mumbai: Report of large-scale community chemoprophylaxis. Natl Med J India 2018;31:19-21)

“I saw my employer’s children being given some medicines when they came back home after wading in the water . Our children in the slums did not any medicines which many of the children in the houses where I work received  “ said Sushmita when we asked her if any prophylaxis was given to the children in the area of the slums. The government has a policy under which free Leptospirosis prophylaxis is given to anyone who waded through flood water. There are print articles in prominent dailies. But Sushmita who doesn’t read them is not aware of these facts. 

There are so many issues . Who has the solution ? Is it all the responsibility  of governments? What can be done in the community ? How can private professionals make a difference ?. What role do schools play? . How can school teachers and doctors guide government policy and how can they generate public opinion , which can further guide policy, through inputs of various stakeholders? .

Dr Swati Popat is a pre school director and an advocate for  the extremely young students education , and she is the one who represented India at eye annual conference of World forum in early care and education in Macao , China where  over 80 countries had sent their representives ; all of them gathering to network and discuss challenges and innovations in early childhood development and safety .

(Picture : Dr Swati Popat at the United Nations Global Goals day for pre schoolers which she organises at Mumbai every year )

Disasters like floods need a different policy at government level, especially when school children may be stuck during floods in schools . On this issue Dr Popat said “We need to change the summer holidays in India to suit the climate of the state/city! Mumbai should be closed in June and July as June is extremely hot and July is extremely wet. Government can come out with standard operating procedures for disaster management but the schools will ultimately implement it, so it is better if parents and schools work together for the safety and security of young children and work out solutions to prevent and take care in the aftermath. Where preschool children are concerned, sadly our government departments are still figuring out, who will take care of the early years!!!We have a School Development Committee for this reason, this committee has representatives from each class and they meet with the head of the school regularly and recommend, advice etc.” That is the democratic structure for welfare of pre school children with involvement of all stakeholders.

Dr Swati Popat said “ In a family we first ensure that our youngest children are taken care of and safe, whereas in government policies and budget we ignore them, literally!Pre-schoolers are ‘nobody’s child’ ! Human Resource department HRD feels they come under WCD (women and child development ministry), WCD ministry struggles with women and child problems and is either able to cater to health or nutrition, so education goes for a toss. Urban planning ministry chooses to ignore that extremely small children also live in a city. And the lesser said about the Municipalities of every city!! These young pre-schoolers who are growing up in our city today, what are they learning when they see the city flooded, drains open, people dying? They learn to become immune to this and tolerate it because that is what they see their parents do! We need to take our children more seriously , they are our human resource, and they are the ones who will take care of our cities and country. If we give them polluted rivers, choking drains, substandard infrastructure then they will not know quality and will never uphold it. We cannot ask them to save the world when we give them a world that is already destroyed.We need the government to understand that children maybe 20% of our population presently but they are going to be 100% our future, invert the pyramid, invest in early years, in their health, hygiene, education and you will  need lesser investments when they grow older.”

A quick response and declaration of holidays saved the lives of many children in Mumbai .But sometimes the whole city may not be involved and a section of the road in front of schools may be afeected and that is when the schools have act in time .

Dr Swati Popat , President of the Early Childhood Association of India said “It is important that’s we  take a quick call whether to keep the school closed, and then we inform the parents accordingly . Sometimes the rain gods play a trick and it is bright and sunshine in the morning and suddenly torrential rains, then we keep the school closed for second shift,  for parents of young toddlers and children not to leave their children unattended during the rains, especially in a city that is close to the sea or prone to frequent flooding. Sadly our urban planning ministry and municipalities never think of children (or the disabled) when planning cities or investing in infrastructure. Due to this the entire responsibility of the safety of children falls on parents and schools. I would advice parents to hold the hand of their child while walking in the floods and to keep a long stick or an umbrella and keep tapping the area in front of you so that you come to know if there is a pothole, manhole open etc. Teach this to the attendant that takes care of your child too. Also umbrellas are useless in rains like Mumbai, raincoats are the best for children and parents who are walking with children because it frees you from worrying about holding the umbrella, getting wet, holding the child and looking for potholes!”

Early childhood pre school children are easily prone to infections which are common when children wade in waters .Regarding this issue of infectious diseases post monsoon, Dr Swati Popat said “Health and hygiene are the most important aspects of early childhood education. Sadly parents today do not give enough importance to health and hygiene and that is why we regularly release these posters to warn and educate parents about what they can do for their little ones. Children may be small but that does not mean that they are not susceptible to all illness and health issues that ail adults. We also want parents to understand that precaution is better than cure and hence release these advisories often on all subjects like Hand Foot Mouth Disease ( HFMD), Dengue, Malaria, etc.”

Routine health education programs help parents know what to expect and what to do and what not to.

( Picture : The health education pictures that the school puts up on social media and as posters at prominent places where parents can see them as they wait at school to take their kids home  )

If schools are proactive and declare holidays , potential drowning events and wading in flood water events can be prevented . Speaking about the use of technology as a policy while declaring holidays before the situation turns dangerous Dr Swati Popat said “We use whatsapp, Facebook, between us portal on the school website”.

So what are the causes of flooding ? 

Following the deluge and floods and massive death of over one thousand people in the 2005 floods of Mumbai , the concerned citizens group gave its report available on India Environment portal . This is the link http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/Mumbai-Marooned.pdf Following this the civic body did some wonderful ground work and made excellent laws but yet the situation seems worse .

 The main causes for flooding are tidal variations , flat gradients and mud flats with many reclaimed areas vulnerable to floods . Other contributory factors are unsanitary methods OT solid waste and sewage disposal and problems with drainage syste  (Sherbinin, A., Schiller, A., Pulsipher, A. (2007). The Vulnerability of Global Cities to Climate Hazards. Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 19(1). International Institute for Environment and Development. Sage Publications.)  Manmade factors like  inappropriate levels of outfalls, loss of holding ponds due to land development, increase in the run‐off coefficient, encroachments on drains and obstructions due to crossing utility lines are well known (MCGM (2014a). Greater Mumbai City Development Plan 2005 to 2025. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.http://www.mcgm.gov.in/irj/portal/anonymous?NavigationTarget=navurl://095e1c7b9486b1423b881dce8b106978)

This shows that part of the problem lies within the communities and the practices within the communities . Changing this needs community participation . Community participation cannot be elicited without awareness campaigns of a larger scale . 

Schools organise events like UN Global days ,events which create awareness of such issues . On this Dr Swati Popat said “advocacy is the best tool to create awareness in adults and pester power is something that we use to ensure that parents listen! When we teach children about eco friendly festivals or reduce, reuse and recycle or harmful effects of plastic, we are creating powerful crusaders who will not only go and tell their parents about the message but will pester the parents till the parents change! Children have that power and through our UN goals day celebration we are ensuring that the goals are not only on paper but become a part of a child’s every day life and living. This is true life skills education or experiential education.” Through such events they also educate community through indirect education of the parents . So the involvement of various stakeholders including parents , teachers , doctors through parents and teachers all is essential 

The issues which need urgent action are as following 

a) Mangrove destruction :30 percent of mangroves along the river Mithi and Mahim Creek have been destroyed between 1995 to 2005 . Mangroves are natural barriers against flooding . Satellite maps of Mumbai comparing mangroves in 1998 vs 2017 shows this destruction .( https://qz.com/india/1065455/satellite-photos-reveal-how-mumbai-killed-its-rivers-and-mangrove-forests-to-risk-epic-floods/)   The mangroves are used for building construction . Rampant construction with total disregard to law has occurred . This needs to be checked .

The example of a village near where the child just died down a drain. The village ( gaon ) is called Charkop . Here are two pictures comparing the village charkopgaon in 2004 and 2018 which shows the massive loss of mangroves 

Milind Deora  a former Minister of State (MoS) with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and also a former MoS with the Ministry of Shipping within the Government of India who is now in opposition party , tweeted in support of mangroves 

b) Sewers and industrial waste from Construction buildings force tremendous waste into Mithi River . The drainage system is old and for buildings which were four storey and housing four families per storey and are now catering to reconstructed buildings with 8 to 11 floors and each floor having four families each on an average consisting of four people . The drainage systems made for 64 people in one building now  carry domestic waste and sewage from  128 to 178 per building and are obviously going to overflow . This is further damaging the fragile ecosystems around Mumbai .

“Mumbai’s drains have the capacity to carry only 25 mm water per hour, and siphons and other utility services create numerous obstructions in the larger drains” , a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) recently tabled in the state parliament . 

c) Plastic usage by people : This causes blockage of drain pipes and sewers . The Bombay Municipal Corporation did good by banning plastics since it clogs drains and contributes to flooding . But the issue remains becuase slum dwellers continue to use plastic , since it doesn’t address behavioural change in public . https://hwww.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-mumbai-plastic-ban-goes-down-nthe-drain-bmc-blames-it-on-slum-dwellers-2754420.  

d) Food waste and other waste dumped into river and sewer : According to a report in  USA , Smithfield Foods  was fined $ 12.6 million for dumping hog waste into river tributory of Cheasapeake Bay Area in virginia , USA . In Pattaya , Thailand food vendors were fined 1000 baht each for dumping food waste into sewer system . This waste can be used to generate electricity and biogas instead of choking drains and causing flood . The decision to penalise ( https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbaiites-to-be-penalised-for-dumping-trash-in-nullahs-near-railway-tracks/story-zFHHK32NbLs2ijAa8Rb72M.html)  those dumping waste in nullas has been welcomed by experts  but the fine is too small at Rs 1250 to act as a deterrent . The fine against firms has also been welcomed  (https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/case-filed-against-mumbai-firm-owner-for-dumping-debris-causing-flooding-1560041-2019-07-01) if they dump thrash . But just levying fines on  them may not be a final solution because they will find other ways to stealthily dump somewhere else . Sending a person to jail is also does not solve the problem but making the offenders do community service may help feel experts . 

Even the larger picture also should not be missed , that  of climate change . From 1995 to 2015 a three fold rise in extreme rain events have been seen in Mumbai ( Reference : Roxy , MK et al A three fold increase in widespread extreme rain events over central India . Nature  Communcations 8 (2017 ) . All this will require behavioural cat a national level, 

The Swatchh  Bharat ( Clean India )  campaign  has been successful in eliminating open defecation in Mumbai and a similar large behavioural change campaign is needed. Who will do it ? Shouldn’t all stake holders do their bit ? 

Dr Swati Popat and her schools as well as the chain of schools attached to the Early Childhood Association she heads have made a huge contribution in this area.

The preschools and schools organised program, the United Nations Global Goals day is an event where every year  the students make projects which address  these climate , plastic and water issues and the parental involvment makes  sure community awareness improves 

Considering the vast network of schools that Dr Swati Popat and Dr Vandana Lulla work with , the effort should work indeed . 

The future is not so bleak but action is necessary right away . One child went down the drain , but India’s children in Mumbai and their futures will not go down the drain. It is the citizens who should be doing their bit to ensure that besides the civic authorities and government .The private players in addition to the government are doing their bit . What have we done ? That’s the question all of us need to answer .

[isanyonetoknow]

Well, well, well, if it isn’t week one of WAT (Writer Accountability Team).

For now, I’ll just answer the asks I got about it. 

“As a fellow Writeblr accountability team participant, I wanted to ask: What’s the last “new” thing you remember learning about a character or your world and did it have any lasting effects on how you view them? (Ask coming from gottaenjoythelittlethingzz)”

I guess this would have to be the extent of poverty Sean goes through and what affect having his magic stolen* from him did to him. The magic part was new and I already knew he went through poverty and some Really Bad Stuff*, but I never really acknowledged how much that changed not only his mindset towards his family, but his behavior in general. @gottaenjoythelittlethingzz

“wip accountability: what did you enjoy the most doing this week?”

Trying to draw my characters. I’m not a terrible artist, so I’m kind of proud of the drawings. @quartzess

“For the writer accountability team: what accomplishments from the past week are you the most proud of?”

Probably figuring out Sean’s recent backstory. It was just a vague blur, as he was just a minor minor character, but I recently elevated him to minor character which meant actually figuring out what happened to him. @jojoscoffeeandwriting

If I get more asks today (feel free to send me asks about anything), I’ll either just edit this post or make a new one. Probably the latter. 

Taglist and some explanations (for things with * by them) below the cut.

FYI, the Really Bad Stuff (which is one thing) is described pretty briefly/not too graphically and it’s how Sean lost his leg. It implies some things relating to acid. If you don’t want to read that, then don’t click Keep Reading.

Stolen magic: Magic in the Narrations-verse comes from the planet and it’s not a gift but an infestation. The power seeps out and if it finds a recipient host, goes there. Signs of magic start to appear at age six. Sean, before anyone could realize he had magic, had his removed and stolen. Due to the process, he doesn’t remember it at all. Magic, once stolen, can be ingested and the person who ate/drank it has the power. The original Power, on the other hand, will get more prone to mental and physical ailments. Eventually, Sean’s magic returned to him, though he didn’t realize it. At that point, though, he had depression (among other things), and magic feeds on stability. If there isn’t stability, it kind of goes crazy and makes its host go crazy too. So that’s what’s happening with Sean. :)

Really Bad Stuff: He may or may not have gone to a different time/alternate reality and worked in a town that had acid/poison rain. As a result of a pissed off customer, he got pushed into the rain and fell into one of the deep holes they have to kill vermin. As a result? A lot of scars from where the acid hit and an amputation because he lost quite a bit of his leg to the acid/infection.

Taglist:

@gooseandcaboose @katerinarevel @writernour @call-signtracer @amaranthine-inscriptions @rainy-rose @ quartzess 

[mensbodybuildingtips]

Fat vs. Fiction

If your goal is to boost your health and improve your figure, you require fat in your diet plan-- as well as the appropriate kind.

We have actually been fed false publicity that claims fat misbehaves. The phone call to stay clear of dietary fat is a motif in information media and emanates from flawed and antiquated clinical literature. Specialist bodybuilders as just recently as One Decade ago were eliminating all fats from their diet and also in the process, restricting lean muscle gains. My old buddy, bodybuilding tale Lee Labrada, is a best example. Early in his career I used to chide him constantly about just how poor it was that he utilized to eliminate all nutritional fat. I informed him that if he would certainly eat fat he would've been much, a lot bigger and also even harder. Yet exactly what I enjoy concerning Lee is that he admits when he's wrong. It was while we were hitting a breast exercise with each other in San Antonio some 10 years earlier, when Lee came clean as well as finally informed me I was. To now he honestly sells fat-based products like EFA and also krill oil as part of his signature line.

She'll most likely kill me for saying it, but even my u ̈ber- shredded physical fitness fanatic partner, Tricia, is a reformed fat-o-phobe. Nutritional fat, which made use of to be missing in her diet regimen, B.C. (Before Colker), is now central to her eating. Tricia would certainly be the first to confess that when she consumed no fat she had more body fat, less muscular tissue, worse form to her body, suboptimal physical performance, as well as a lot more injuries. All that is now A.D. (After Doc) a thing of the past. With ample fat in her diet, Tricia has less body fat, even more muscle mass, much better physique, improved performance, and also much less injuries. Plus she's a sex-related monster in bed! Err ... I wish I didn't just say that aloud. (Oh, but I did.) Anyhow, you can additionally benefit in this means when you recognize which fats to include.

For years customers were pumped incorrect information that all unsaturated veggie fats were good for you. We were advised by the food market, and also our physicians, to prevent butter, as well as rather use things like margarine, veggie shortening, and corn oil. Obviously, now we now know that these same oils are straight linked to weight problems, heart disease, and even cancer.

Similarly, we utilized to think that it was as easy as just saying that saturated fats are the bad ones and unsaturated fats are the good ones. But this is certainly not the case and, at the very least, overly simplistic. For example, coconut oil and avocado (85% fat) are both saturated fats, yet they're extremely healthy. Coconut oil supports hormones in the body by augmenting the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone, which is an important precursor to various hormonal agents including the sex steroids and also adrenal hormonal agents. There are extra positive infuences, particularly on thyroid function. It has a prometabolic effect in countless methods, therefore helping keep body fat down.

Coconut oil additionally boosts blood sugar control, thus improving energy and endurance. It has the added advantage of enhancing food digestion, aiding absorb fat-soluble vitamins, as well as supporting immunity by withstanding viral, bacterial, yeast, as well as fungal infections. Coconut oil has lauric acid, a kind of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT). It has actually been shown that lauric acid raises the "good" form of cholesterol (HDL) and also is a potent body fat burner, thus explaining why medical research studies verify lower abdominal body fat amongst research study participants as well as lower cholesterol. Likewise, avocado has countless health benefts. Along with a number of the aforementioned, avocado has an unusually big load of healthy and balanced polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols ( PFA's) along with a fat called oleic acid. These all-natural compounds lower infammation in the body and also assistance healthy and balanced food digestion as well as vitamin absorption.

Further complicating matters is that much of the nutritional information available today fails to also state that there are "necessary" fats. Simply as with amino acids, words " vital" refers to the lack of ability of the body to manufacture the nutrient and also the necessity to obtain it through diet. Two key essential fatty acids are the polyunsaturated fatty acids alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3 or "n-3"), and linoleic acid (omega-6 or "n-6"). These two types of necessary fats stand out from one another. Omega-6 is right away energetic when consumed as well as fairly commonplace in the diet. Deficiency is less most likely (it's conveniently available in foods like chicken, eggs, nuts, and also grains). In contrast, omega-3 in the diet plan isn't really especially metabolically active till it undertakes a conversion to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) as well as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). EPA as well as DHA are not found in dietary abundance, occurring mostly in cold-water fish, bunnies, as well as wild video game. The likelihood of omega-3 deficiency is far greater.

I made use of to recommend consuming a terrific offer of sashimi (raw fsh) in order to obtain the biggest amount of healthy and balanced fat from their diet plan, hence limiting the demand for excess fat supplements. In recent years the arising worry over hazardous mercury levels has actually made this technique troublesome. Supplemental fluid fat-- anywhere from 3-10 tablespoons each day (depending upon your size)-- now appears to be the most reasonable strategy. It can be taken straight or contributed to salads, on meats, or into protein trembles. - FLEX

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/the-latest-australia-receives-over-142000-vaccine-doses-national-news/

The Latest: Australia receives over 142,000 vaccine doses | National News

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia will begin vaccinating its population against COVID-19 next week after its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine was delivered on Monday.

More than 142,000 doses had arrived at Sydney airport, the government said. Health care, aged care and quarantine workers will be among the first to be vaccinated from Feb. 22.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will also be among the first to receive a dose in a bid to raise public confidence in the program.

Australia decided against accelerating the vaccine regulator’s approval process in order to increase public confidence that the Pfizer product was safe.

So far, Pfizer is the only vaccine approved for use in Australia. But the regulator is expected to also approve the AstraZeneca vaccine soon.

Australia is contracted to receive 20 million Pfizer doses and to receive or manufacture at home 53.8 million AstraZeneca doses.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

Scientists say it’s still too early to predict the future of the coronavirus, but many doubt it will ever go away entirel y. The average of new U.S. virus cases has dipped below 100,000 a day for the first time in months. With more vaccines available, business owners wonder whether to require employees to be inoculated. Disability groups are pleading for the vaccine. Japan has formally approved its first COVID-19 vaccine. With street parties banned, Brazil Carnival goes online.

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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

———

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

NEW ZEALAND — New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland has begun a three-day lockdown following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus cases in the community.

Health officials say the cases are of the more contagious variant first found in Britain and that genome testing hadn’t linked them to any previous known cases.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the lockdown after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She says they decided to take a cautious approach until they find out more about the outbreak.

The rest of New Zealand has also had restrictions imposed, including limiting crowd sizes to 100.

The lockdown, which extends through Wednesday, is the first in New Zealand in six months and represents a significant setback in the nation’s largely successful efforts to control the virus. It has also forced a delay in the America’s Cup sailing regatta.

———

LOS ANGELES — The rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to fall across California, but the state’s death toll remains persistently high.

California on Sunday reported another 408 deaths, bringing the total since the outbreak began to more than 46,840 — the highest in the nation.

Despite the grim death count, health officials are confident that California is emerging from its worst surge of the pandemic.

The number of patients in hospitals with COVID-19 slipped below 9,000 statewide, a drop of more than a third over two weeks.

The 8,842 new confirmed cases are more than 80% below the mid-December peak of about 54,000.

———

ROME — On the eve of what was supposed to finally be the much-delayed opening of Italy’s ski slopes, the government yanked permission because high circulation of a coronavirus variant.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza’s ordinance on Sunday forbidding amateur skiing at least until March 5 effectively kills hopes of ski lift operators and resort owners to salvage at least some of the season.

The ministry noted that analyses of virus samples indicate that a variant found in Britain is present in 17.8% of recently infected people in Italy.

The ski industry swiftly complained that operators have repeatedly prepared facilities only to be denied permission, as Italy’s crucial tourism industry takes another blow.

The day-old government of Premier Mario Draghi promised to quickly compensate the ski sector for economic losses.

———

MEXICO CITY — Mexico received a shipment of 870,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from a plant in India Sunday and laid out plans to vaccinate elderly people in the country’s poorest, most remote areas first.

Mexico has so far used Pfizer shots to vaccinate frontline health workers, but has nearly run out of those. So the government will start applying its first doses of the AstraZeneca shot, which it purchased at $4 each.

Critics say it would be quicker and more efficient to start vaccination efforts in the worst-hit urban areas, where the elderly live closer together. But the government announced plans to send teams by truck, plane and helicopter to 330 outlying townships.

“The decision has been made to start in the most remote, marginalized towns with the country’s poorest population,” said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Mexico hopes to get enough vaccines from Pfizer, Russia, China and India to vaccinate all Mexicans over 60 by mid-April.

———

LONDON — U.K. government scientific advisers say the COVID-19 variant now predominant in the country may be up to 70% more deadly than previous variants, underscoring concerns about how mutations may change the characteristics of the disease.

The findings from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, published Friday on the government’s website, build on preliminary research released Jan. 21. The group includes experts from universities and public agencies across the U.K.

The new report is based on analysis of a dozen studies that found the so-called Kent variant, named after the county where it was first identified, is likely 30% to 70% more deadly than other variants. The studies compared hospitalization and death rates among people infected with the variant and those infected with other variants.

The results of the analysis are worrisome, said Dr. David Strain, a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School and the clinical lead for COVID at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.

“The higher transmissibility means that people who were previously at low risk of catching COVID (particularly younger fitter females) are now catching it and ending up in hospital,″ Strain said. “This is highlighted by the latest figures for hospitalization that now suggest almost 50:50 male to female ratio compared to this being predominantly in men during the first wave.″

———

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — School officials in Alaska have implemented a new policy requiring masks at sporting events last week in response to coronavirus outbreaks at a half-dozen Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District schools.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Friday that three large high schools in the district — Colony, Palmer, Wasilla — are among five facilities currently closed because of the outbreaks.

It is unclear when they are expected to reopen.

Public health officials say some of the confirmed COVID-19 cases started with students mixing at school lunches, but most are attributed to extracurricular activities, including sports.

Claudia Blydenburgh, assistant principal and activities director at Joe Redington Sr. Junior/Senior High School, said student-athletes would rather wear the masks than not participate.

———

PRAGUE — The Czech government has re-declared its state of emergency for next two weeks to be able to effectively tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the hardest hit European countries.

The decision has been approved in defiance of the lower house of Parliament, which has refused the government’s request to extend the tool that gives the Cabinet extra powers necessary to impose and keep in place strict nationwide restrictive measures and limit people’s rights.

Some lawyers and politicians say the government’s move violates the country’s Constitution.

The current state of emergency would expire on Sunday. The government could use other legal options to reimpose some measures but not all of them.

That means bars, restaurants and cafes would reopen Monday as well as services could return to business while the nighttime curfew and a ban for more than two people to gather in public would be cancelled.

The government warned that would worsen the pandemic and might cause the health system to collapse.

Sunday’s move comes at the request of the heads of governments of all 14 Czech regions who say have not enough powers to fight the pandemic.

———

HONOLULU — Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has extended coronavirus restrictions through mid-March, but said that could change if confirmed cases remain low.

Blangiardi said during a news conference on Friday that he believes he is being realistic and is managing expectations following potential coronavirus superspreader events like the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day.

Blangiardi said he will shift the island to the next reopening stage before March 15 if numbers remain low.

Some business owners have disagreed with the decision, arguing their businesses are still struggling.

Meanwhile, the city extended the deadline to renew driver’s licenses, state identification cards and permits to mid-April in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Friday, Hawaii has had 26,743 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 425 deaths since the pandemic began in March.

———

UNDATED — Though many people with disabilities are more vulnerable to COVID-19, in some U.S. states they’re being left behind in the massive effort to get limited vaccines into the arms of those who need them most.

People with disabilities have been pushed down the priority list in places such as North Carolina and California, where the state reversed course after days of public pressure.

In Minnesota, parents are begging unsuccessfully to give their vaccination spots to their children whose Down syndrome makes them up to 10 times more likely to die if they catch the virus.

A trade group for disability service providers found 20 states haven’t explicitly placed people with disabilities on their priority lists.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often immunocompromised, putting them at greater risk for complications if they get sick. They’re also more likely to lose their jobs, can have a harder time with mask-wearing and social distancing, and have had to worry about whether they would be less likely to get critical care at hospitals.

Many have also had to make do with less help, since caregivers can be an infection risk.

———

LONDON — The U.K. government said Sunday that it reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to at least 15 million of the most vulnerable people in the country by mid-February, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January.

More than 15 million people, or 22% of the U.K. population, have received their first shot. The figure includes most people in the government’s top four priority groups, including everyone over 75, frontline healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents.

“15,000,000! Amazing team,″ Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said in a tweet that featured a red heart and three syringes. “We will not rest till we offer the vaccine to the whole of phase1 the 1-9 categories of the most vulnerable & all over 50s by end April and then all adults.″

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to unveil his roadmap for easing restrictions on Feb. 22 amid signs that infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths have fallen sharply since England’s third national lockdown began on Jan. 4.

Johnson said in England, everyone in the four top priority groups had been offered the vaccine. He plans to release further details on the vaccination effort on Monday.

———

NEW YORK — Millions of New Yorkers with health conditions that leave them at high risk of illness from COVID-19 can theoretically sign up for appointments at state-run vaccination sites starting Sunday, but a lack of vaccine supply means many will be frustrated in their search for a shot.

Seven million New Yorkers, including health care workers and people over 65, were already eligible for vaccinations under previous state rules. About 3 million people over 16 with so-called comorbidities will become eligible starting Monday.

In order to be vaccinated, people will have to provide a doctor’s letter, a signed certification or other medical information showing they have an eligible health condition.

———

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[khalilhumam]

Yemen’s children: A crisis within a crisis

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/yemens-children-a-crisis-within-a-crisis/

Yemen’s children: A crisis within a crisis

By Omer Karasapan The Yemeni conflict, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, grinds on. Despite a rare exchange of prisoners, fighting in October claimed over 50 lives in the port city of Hodeida—the main conduit for aid. More died fighting in Marib and Jawf provinces. This worsened a devastating toll of 80 percent of the population—24 million people—needing humanitarian aid. Nearly half are acutely food insecure, with 2 million facing crisis levels of hunger. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this tragedy and the U.N. says deaths could exceed 230,000 with a death rate five times the global average. Only half of the country’s health centers are fully operational. Cholera continues to spread with 180,000 new cases reported in the first eight months of 2020. Economic activity is down by 50 percent, and the poverty rate is up to 80 percent as the middle class erodes. The 10 percent of the population reliant on remittances are seeing declines of up to 80 percent. There are 3.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country with 155,000 added in the first half of 2020. Even if the war ends in 2021, development would have been set back 25 years—40 years if it ends in 2030. Within the broader tragedy, Yemen’s children, especially the 2 million who are IDPs, are the most vulnerable. UNICEF says 12 million need urgent humanitarian assistance. By the end of 2020, the number of malnourished children under age 5 could reach 2.4 million—half the children under 5 in the country. The mental and emotional toll has also been high with over half of children struggling with depression—with long term consequences for their future as productive individuals. As of June 2019, over 7,500 children had been killed in Yemen since the beginning of the war due to airstrikes, shelling, mines, and other ordnance. The U.N. says current figures are worse but unreported since monitoring is increasingly difficult. Yet the toll mounts unabated and even after the much-reported 2018 death of 44 children in a school bus bombed by the Saudis, such attacks continue. As do arms sales to the Saudis from, among others, the U.S., France, and Canada. The U.N. has also documented thousands of child soldiers, most with the Houthi rebels but also with the government and other fighting forces. Before the pandemic, 2 million children were out of school and another 3.7 million were at risk of dropping out. Girls were at greater risk with 36 percent out of school versus 24 percent for boys. Pandemic closures increased that number to 8 million. While schools have begun to slowly reopen, many children will likely stay away, some succumbing to negative coping mechanisms like child labor, child marriages, child soldiers, or other forms of exploitation. Other children are kept home for fear of infection or because parents cannot afford the cost of schooling. Prior to the pandemic, 4.7 million children needed educational assistance across the country, including 3.7 million in acute need. Some 2,000 schools, 20 percent of the total, have been rendered unusable, either destroyed or used to house IDPs, or as centers for isolating COVID-19 patients, etc. In the past five years, 380 schools have been attacked, caught in crossfire, or occupied by fighters, including 153 hit by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition. Yemen’s teachers are largely unpaid, forced to take second jobs or move on to other employment. Many try to work out of a sense of responsibility, but their situation is not tenable as evidenced by recent strikes. UNICEF needs $70 million to pay stipends to 160,000 teachers and school-based staff, less than half the total number. Lack of educational supplies and inadequate sanitation, especially for girls, remains a challenge. Furthermore, repairing schools, furnishing educational supplies, and providing more support to teachers may not get all kids back in school. A joint World Bank and World Food Program study underlines that education is a multi-sector issue. Families reporting lack of income or those with incomes from less stable and lower paying jobs were less likely to send their children to school. Lack of access to education also overlaps with poor access to food and health. As the report notes, ”Poor health and nutrition outcomes cause children to be absent more often due to illness, participate less in class, and have lower test scores. … Improving access to health care and food would likely also promote both better school attendance and improve the quality of schooling.” Of the $3.4 billion requested by aid agencies in 2020, only 42 percent had been received by October 2020. Aid now only reaches 9 million people a month, compared to 13 million in January 2020. Obstruction of aid delivery by Houthi authorities in the north but also to a lesser extent by the internationally recognized government and the UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council has led donors to slash funding. Numerous agencies have called for aid flows to be resumed, especially to the north but to little avail so far. Despite these challenges, Yemeni resilience provides some hope. We see communities rebuilding their own schools, others using solar power to connect homes and schools, including women-run solar microgrid stations. Mobile phone technology and platforms like WhatsApp are used to reach more students, including for remote psychotherapy. TV and radio educational programs including community stations in rural areas are at play. There are also Yemeni institutions that have proved resilient, including the Social Fund for Development (SFD)—established in 1997 and used by donors to deliver humanitarian and development assistance. Underlining the multisector approach, perhaps a similar structure with local branches or a designated window within the SFD could provide support on blended education technology and further support to teachers and others working with children. Without additional funds, millions of children will be at even greater risk. This is a recipe for disaster for Yemen and beyond. By now the international community knows that potential threats from millions of young people having little hope do not stay confined to national borders. In speaking of children and the trauma of war, psychologist Michael Wessells says, “One of the greatest effects I see … is a loss of hope. Once young people feel hopeless, they really do give up. They don’t take steps that might build a constructive future.” This will not only prevent stabilization within their country, but with the dangers of radicalization, criminality, or becoming mercenaries, they can destabilize whole regions, near and far. Now is the time to act.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Quarantine Blues and the Power of a Jigsaw Puzzle (Worldcrunch) A sudden rush of stress, trouble sleeping or eating, overwhelming feelings of helplessness, general fatigue. Does it sound familiar? With approximately half the world still forced to live in lockdown, old and new psychological disorders are a widely diffused side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent study led by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 45% of Americans feel the current health crisis had impacted their mental health. In France, Le Figaro reported this week that 74% of adults in a recent survey developed sleeping disorders and 34% showed signs of psychological distress. Humans are social animals, and while we can acknowledge that our modern digital tools are providing instant links in the face of our respective quarantines, we are also seeing how crucial in-person interaction and stimuli are to the human experience. Alongside the more severe threats to our emotional state is a seemingly less menacing effect: boredom. There is a fine line between enjoying some spare time to do nothing and repeatedly having nothing to do, especially when we yearn for distraction from the current uncertainty of the outside world. Board games that were piling up dust in the basement are seeing the light of day again and solo players indeed are able to play across the computer screen with friends and strangers. Similarly, the lockdown has created one of the highest recorded demand for jigsaw puzzles, a pastime whose time had seemed to have passed two or three generations ago. The American Puzzle Warehouse reported a jump of 2,000% in business compared to the same period last year. When the world seems to fall apart, putting back pieces together could be the ultimate satisfaction.

Coronavirus could erode global fight against other diseases (AP) Lavina D’Souza hasn’t been able to collect her government-supplied anti-HIV medication since the abrupt lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people last month during the coronavirus outbreak. Marooned in a small city away from her home in Mumbai, the medicine she needs to manage her disease has run out. The 43-year-old is afraid that her immune system will crash: “Any disease, the coronavirus or something else, I’ll fall sick faster.” As the world focuses on the pandemic, experts fear losing ground in the long fight against other infectious diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and cholera that kill millions every year. Also at risk are decadeslong efforts that allowed the World Health Organization to set target dates for eradicating malaria, polio and other illnesses. With the coronavirus overwhelming hospitals, redirecting medical staff, causing supply shortages and suspending health services, “our greatest fear” is resources for other diseases being diverted and depleted, said Dr. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

IMF warns of social unrest (Foreign Policy) The International Monetary Fund has warned of social unrest developing in countries where coronavirus prevention measures are seen as insufficient or unfair to poorer workers. The IMF said that although governments have taken swift action to inject stimulus funds into their economies, even more money would be needed once the crisis subsides. The organization expects global public debt to rise by 13 percent in 2020 to almost 96 percent of global gross domestic product.

After Coronavirus, Colleges Worry: Will Students Come Back? (NYT) For years, Claire McCarville dreamed of going to college in New York or Los Angeles, and was thrilled last month to get accepted to selective schools in both places. But earlier this month, she sent a $300 deposit to Arizona State University, a 15-minute drive from her home in Phoenix. “It made more sense,” she said, “in light of the virus.” Across the country, students like Ms. McCarville are rethinking their choices in a world altered by the pandemic. And universities, concerned about the potential for shrinking enrollment and lost revenue, are making a wave of decisions in response that could profoundly alter the landscape of higher education for years to come. Lucrative spring sports seasons have been canceled, room and board payments have been refunded, and students at some schools are demanding hefty tuition discounts for what they see as a lost spring term. Other revenue sources like study abroad programs and campus bookstores have dried up, and federal research funding is threatened. Some institutions are projecting $100 million losses for the spring, and many are now bracing for an even bigger financial hit in the fall, when some are planning for the possibility of having to continue remote classes.

‘Pretty Catastrophic’ Month for Retailers (NYT) Retail sales plunged in March, offering a grim snapshot of the coronavirus outbreak’s effect on consumer spending, as businesses shuttered from coast to coast and wary shoppers restricted their spending. Total sales, which include retail purchases in stores and online as well as money spent at bars and restaurants, fell 8.7 percent from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The decline was by far the largest in the nearly three decades the government has tracked the data. Even that bleak figure doesn’t capture the full impact of the sudden economic freeze on the retail industry. Most states didn’t shut down nonessential businesses until late March or early April, meaning data for the current month could be worse still. “It was a pretty catastrophic drop-off in that back half of the month,” said Sucharita Kodali, a retail analyst at Forrester Research. She said April “may be one of the worst months ever.”

Now Arriving at La Guardia Airport: One Passenger (NYT) Jim Mack had made several trips to New York City before, but had never been the only passenger on a commercial jet landing at a deserted La Guardia Airport. Instead of shuffling into the madhouse that is Terminal B on a typical weeknight, Mr. Mack was greeted by an eerie silence. “It felt like it was either closed or I had landed in the wrong terminal,” he said. He had flown from Tampa, Fla.--just him and a Southwest Airlines crew--and now he was striding up the concourse toward baggage claim. The only luggage on the carousel was his. The lone Uber driver was waiting for him. The coronavirus pandemic has unraveled air travel in the United States and turned some of the world’s busiest airports into giant voids. The nation’s air-traffic system is still functioning. But airlines have slashed their schedules, and even on the dwindling number of remaining flights very few seats are filled.

As Danish schools reopen, some worried parents are keeping their children home (Washington Post) The children pressed down on a hand sanitizer dispenser and kept a safe distance from one another as they filed into Ellebjerg School in central Copenhagen on Thursday. But while they settled into their lessons, with a new limit of 10 students per room, some of their classmates remained at home, their families resistant to participating in what they see as a public policy experiment. Denmark this week became the first country in Europe to reopen schools--nursery and primary up to fifth grade--as a start to lifting a coronavirus lockdown imposed on March 12. Although the country has reported 6,879 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 309 deaths, new infections have been decreasing since a peak on April 1, giving the government confidence that a cautious reopening was possible. But thousands of families are opposed to sending their kids back to school so quickly. It’s unclear whether the same opposition will arise in other countries as they try to pivot from more than a month of restrictive measures aimed at slowing the pandemic’s spread. Officials are weighing the negatives of distance learning, which can exacerbate inequality, and the reality that many parents won’t be able to return to work if their children are still home--a point that Denmark’s prime minister specifically noted Wednesday in a surprise visit to a school here.

At least 668 sailors infected after coronavirus outbreak aboard French aircraft carrier, Defense Ministry says (Washington Post) Nearly a third of the crew aboard a French aircraft carrier and its support vessels have tested positive for coronavirus, the country’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday. As test results from 1,767 sailors on the Charles de Gaulle and other ships within its battle group continue to arrive, at least 668 have contracted the virus, officials said. More than 30 are now being treated in the hospital with one person in intensive care, Agence France-Presse reported. In the meantime, the rest of the crew has been quarantined at a military base in the French port city of Toulon.

Germany to ease lockdown (Foreign Policy) Germany is following the lead of its southern neighbor Austria by preparing to ease its lockdown measures. Starting May 4, Germany will begin reopening smaller shops and allowing schools to reopen, with priority given to final-year students. Hairdressers will also be allowed to open, but larger gathering points like bars, restaurants, and cinemas would still be banned. German Chancellor Angela Merkel played down talk of larger scale reopening, saying Germany had achieved merely a “fragile intermediate success” in its battle against the coronavirus.

China tries to revive economy but consumer engine sputters (AP) China, where the coronavirus pandemic started in December, is cautiously trying to get back to business, but it’s not easy when many millions of workers are wary of spending much or even going out. Factories and shops nationwide shut down starting in late January. Millions of families were told to stay home under unprecedented controls that have been copied by the United States, Europe and India. The ruling Communist Party says the outbreak, which had killed more than 3,340 people among more than 82,341 confirmed cases as of Thursday, is under control. But the damage to Chinese lives and the economy is lingering. Truck salesman Zhang Hu is living the dilemma holding back the recovery. The 27-year-old from the central city of Zhengzhou has gone back to work, but with few people looking to buy 20-ton trucks, his income has fallen by half. Like many millions of others, he is pinching pennies.

U.S. Navy complains of harassment in Persian Gulf (Foreign Policy) The U.S. Navy said Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels conducted “dangerous and provocative” approaches to U.S. Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf in a statement on Wednesday. The U.S. Fifth Fleet said it was in international waters and carrying out exercises when the boats approached. Iran has yet to respond to the U.S. statement.

Australia to send aid to Fiji after cyclone tears across Pacific (Reuters) Australia is to send humanitarian aid to Fiji after a tropical cyclone caused widespread destruction across the Pacific, Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said on Thursday. Cyclone Harold, a category five storm, lashed several island nations in the Pacific last week, killing dozens of people, flooding towns and leaving many homeless. In Fiji, thousands of people remain without electricity, aid agencies say, and many need immediate assistance.

[mechagalaxy]

Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184: An assignment stinking to high heavens

(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) An assignment stinking to high heavens

The war of `58 was just around the corner, and we of the Star League had as usual signed up to participate in it.

Admittedly, our ranks have thinned over the decades, and finding Commanders willing to join us is harder than getting a double win in the lotto. At the moment, our rooster had just enough Commanders to allow us to participate in a regular clan war, but Tony Hoogheem, -head of the Rumors and Deduction department, had gone under the radar years back trying to localize all of Gorax` bases and henchmen.

When he succeeded, this hopefully would let the combined weight of the Mercenary clans wipe him out for good. But in the meantime it left a gaping hole in Star Leagues offensive capabilities.

I recieved a summon from the temporary head of Relations and Diplomacy (Clan leader) -Drake Hunter, and arrived promptly at his office. He was busy studying the roosters of the probable opponents we would face, and he was not a happy man. At the sight of me he shook his head and in a tone that signaled the decision had been made he said "I have a job for you, suited to your particular talents"

Last time those words were directed to me in that tone had been when the drill sergeant in my recruit platoon wanted me to clean the latrines. But surely that was not what Drake had in mind? But after listening to him explain what he wanted me to do, I fervently whished the job had been to lick the latrines clean instead.

As those of you that follows the news should be aware of, Team Banzai recently came upon one of Gorax` Mechs while it was being swarmed by Snavurms. It turned out the Snavurms skin oils somehow did kill off the Gorax virus, and had actually restored both the Mech and the pilot to normal. So far so good, but managing to get hordes of wild Snavurms into contact with the Gorax infested Mechs would be close to impossible. Say you found a tribe of them, how to get them to the Gorax infested Mechs instead of swarming over your own was more than I had any idea of.

Of course, Drake was not thinking of using some random tribe of wild Snavurms. He wanted me to bring my uplifted Snavurms along and take care of the problem.

I was really tempted to tell him where he could put that job, but held my tongue. While the uplifted Snavurms on Kongo at this point probably could field twice as many Mechs as the Shogunate and the Hegemony combined, having armies of Snavurms shoving up all over the Galaxy, -even on a mission to eradicate Gorax, could well trigger a xeno-war.

So I nodded and went to the hangar, mind busy trying to figure how to solve the problem, not just following orders. Getting the Snavurms to volunteer was no problem, and when I explained to Boris and Keikko what their part of the mission would be, they tried to kiss my hands while prostating themselves. Question was what Mechs to use.

I finally decided on using my Nifthels as the main force. Heidrun (my first Apototron) would be our mobile HQ/destillery/lab, Boris and Keikko would of course ride their customized Hoplites (Pala Hobog and Hobog Ka?), and we brought along some factory fresh Nephilax`es where all the armament and communication gear had been removed as test vehicles/lures. To avoid possible contamination risk we would operate from one of the recently discovered planets in the Clarke federation where no other humans were supposed to be.

The first part of the plan was to capture some pirates. Scouring the Pirate Moon we found some Kanabo Crusher posers. If the real Kanabo Crushers had discovered that those wannabees had posed as the real thing, their fates would probably have been even worse than what we had in mind for them. Meanwhile, Boris and Keikko had been busy distilling kiloliters of Snavurm spirit.

That concotion is probably the second worst drink ever made. 140 proof alcohool and 30% Snavurm sweat makes it something no sane person would want within lightyears of their solar system. The only drink that is worse is the Old Karelia. Produced from rotting fish oil, it is banned on most planets that have ever heard of it, and classified as chemical warfare on those that have experienced it. If you were to give a pilot a choiche between the two of them, the most likely choice would be to power up the Mech and vaporize both you and the drinks in question. -On second thought, they would prefer to burn you and the drinks.

While most of the task force was building holding facilities for the pirates, I got the dubious plesure of leading some Snavurms on what was perhaps the most foolhardy part of the plan. -Capture some live Gorax virus.

After blowing up some of Gorax`s minions, my Snavurms (in contamination suits so they wouldnt kill the virus) got plenty of samples sealed in specially prepared containers. Hopefully the virus would not escape into the Snavurm-smell filled cockpits and perish before we got back to the base and could put it to better use.

At the base, the holding facilities for the pirates had been finished. Each pirate was in a small, windowless cabin placed in a deep hollow it should be impossible to escape from. Now, the Nephilax`es were being prepared. Each of them were rigged with a small container of Gorax virus that would be released when the cockpit were opened.

Boris and Keikko had also been busy on the second part of their job. The question had been how to deliver the Snavurm spirit to Gorax infected Mechs. They had come up with three possibilities. Removing the warheads in the Small Cluster Rack missiles, and filling them with a container of Snavurm spirit. Tinkering with the Small Flame launchers so instead of a stream of fire it delivered a spray of Snavurm spirit. And putting some Snavurm spirit in the shells for the Dynamo Cannon.

Personally I thought the Small Cluster Rack missiles had the best potential. They had a decent payload and long reach. The Dynamo Cannon were faster, and had similar range, but would the small amount of liquid be enough? As for the Small Flamers, they sure would cover a target in fluid, but it was shorter ranged, and the tanks were after all not that big. -Besides, the stench would surely reach the one firing the Flamer as well, making its continued use questionable.

But it was time to test my theories. The first Nephilax were carefully winched to the outside of one of the cabins. The Snavrums ringed the rim in their Nifthels, and the locks in the cabin disengaged. It took a few minutes before the pirate inside pecked out. When he saw the parked Nephilax he sprinted for it, ripped open the Cockpit and dived inside. At first he tried to scale the walls, but soon the Nephilax started sprouting the spikes asosciated with the Gorax virus. The Mech started gyrating vildly as the pirate was infected, but after a couple minutes it started a methodic digging to make a ramp for its escape.

Now was the time to check the weapons. As feared, the Small Flamer`s Reach was short, but enough of the stream converted into droplets that the Nephilax soon glistened in the little light that reached it. The Gorax spikes vilted away and soon the cokpit opened and the pirate dived headfirst out of the Mech. The fall only stunned him for a minute, and when he came to he was scraming as a lost soul. "THE STENCH!!!! I CANT STAND IT" Stumbling around, he fell into a small puddle of snavrum spirit and the screams reached a feverish pitch. He ran toward the ramp he had tried to make, and before we had any inkling of what he planned he had picked up a big rock and bashed in his own head.

As it turned out, even one of the Dynamo Cannon`s shells had enough payload to do the job, -eventually. And as I had hoped, the Small Cluster Racks payload was big enough that one hit would kill off the virus in about eight seconds.

Three more pirates died during the testing when their headlong dives brpke their skulls or their necks. The rest were tranquilized and strapped down on the cots in the cabins we had preapared for them earlier.

Of course, that left the question of caring for them. The Snavurm stench was so strong that only a Snavurm could stand it, and using the Snavrums as nurses were both maintaining the smell, and driving the pirates into a catatonic state due to fear.

But. The mission were acomplished. And it was time for me to return and report the success. The blueprints for the changed weapons were copied, and the destillation process for making the Snavurm spirit was painstalkingly detailed.

Unfortunately, we had been away for a long time, and when we returned the base was in ruins. The first battleday had ended, and the Death`s Collectors had flattened us. Still, Drake took some time to listen to the reports, but was not satisfied. "What you have come up with, is a cure most will consider worse than the plague. You simply have to do something about the stench. And speaking of stench, get out of here before you contaminate the whole base."(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) An assignment stinking to high heavensThe war of `58 was just around the corner, and we of the Star League had as usual signed up to participate in it.Admittedly, our ranks have thinned over the decades, and finding Commanders willing to join us is harder than getting a double win in the lotto. At the moment, our rooster had just enough Commanders to allow us to participate in a regular clan war, but Tony Hoogheem, -head of the Rumors and Deduction department, had gone under the radar years back trying to localize all of Gorax` bases and henchmen.When he succeeded, this hopefully would let the combined weight of the Mercenary clans wipe him out for good. But in the meantime it left a gaping hole in Star Leagues offensive capabilities.I recieved a summon from the temporary head of Relations and Diplomacy (Clan leader) -Drake Hunter, and arrived promptly at his office. He was busy studying the roosters of the probable opponents we would face, and he was not a happy man. At the sight of me he shook his head and in a tone that signaled the decision had been made he said "I have a job for you, suited to your particular talents"Last time those words were directed to me in that tone had been when the drill sergeant in my recruit platoon wanted me to clean the latrines. But surely that was not what Drake had in mind? But after listening to him explain what he wanted me to do, I fervently whished the job had been to lick the latrines clean instead.As those of you that follows the news should be aware of, Team Banzai recently came upon one of Gorax` Mechs while it was being swarmed by Snavurms. It turned out the Snavurms skin oils somehow did kill off the Gorax virus, and had actually restored both the Mech and the pilot to normal. So far so good, but managing to get hordes of wild Snavurms into contact with the Gorax infested Mechs would be close to impossible. Say you found a tribe of them, how to get them to the Gorax infested Mechs instead of swarming over your own was more than I had any idea of.Of course, Drake was not thinking of using some random tribe of wild Snavurms. He wanted me to bring my uplifted Snavurms along and take care of the problem.I was really tempted to tell him where he could put that job, but held my tongue. While the uplifted Snavurms on Kongo at this point probably could field twice as many Mechs as the Shogunate and the Hegemony combined, having armies of Snavurms shoving up all over the Galaxy, -even on a mission to eradicate Gorax, could well trigger a xeno-war.So I nodded and went to the hangar, mind busy trying to figure how to solve the problem, not just following orders. Getting the Snavurms to volunteer was no problem, and when I explained to Boris and Keikko what their part of the mission would be, they tried to kiss my hands while prostating themselves. Question was what Mechs to use.I finally decided on using my Nifthels as the main force. Heidrun (my first Apototron) would be our mobile HQ/destillery/lab, Boris and Keikko would of course ride their customized Hoplites (Pala Hobog and Hobog Ka?), and we brought along some factory fresh Nephilax`es where all the armament and communication gear had been removed as test vehicles/lures. To avoid possible contamination risk we would operate from one of the recently discovered planets in the Clarke federation where no other humans were supposed to be.The first part of the plan was to capture some pirates. Scouring the Pirate Moon we found some Kanabo Crusher posers. If the real Kanabo Crushers had discovered that those wannabees had posed as the real thing, their fates would probably have been even worse than what we had in mind for them. Meanwhile, Boris and Keikko had been busy distilling kiloliters of Snavurm spirit.That concotion is probably the second worst drink ever made. 140 proof alcohool and 30% Snavurm sweat makes it something no sane person would want within lightyears of their solar system. The only drink that is worse is the Old Karelia. Produced from rotting fish oil, it is banned on most planets that have ever heard of it, and classified as chemical warfare on those that have experienced it. If you were to give a pilot a choiche between the two of them, the most likely choice would be to power up the Mech and vaporize both you and the drinks in question. -On second thought, they would prefer to burn you and the drinks.While most of the task force was building holding facilities for the pirates, I got the dubious plesure of leading some Snavurms on what was perhaps the most foolhardy part of the plan. -Capture some live Gorax virus.After blowing up some of Gorax`s minions, my Snavurms (in contamination suits so they wouldnt kill the virus) got plenty of samples sealed in specially prepared containers. Hopefully the virus would not escape into the Snavurm-smell filled cockpits and perish before we got back to the base and could put it to better use.At the base, the holding facilities for the pirates had been finished. Each pirate was in a small, windowless cabin placed in a deep hollow it should be impossible to escape from. Now, the Nephilax`es were being prepared. Each of them were rigged with a small container of Gorax virus that would be released when the cockpit were opened.Boris and Keikko had also been busy on the second part of their job. The question had been how to deliver the Snavurm spirit to Gorax infected Mechs. They had come up with three possibilities. Removing the warheads in the Small Cluster Rack missiles, and filling them with a container of Snavurm spirit. Tinkering with the Small Flame launchers so instead of a stream of fire it delivered a spray of Snavurm spirit. And putting some Snavurm spirit in the shells for the Dynamo Cannon.Personally I thought the Small Cluster Rack missiles had the best potential. They had a decent payload and long reach. The Dynamo Cannon were faster, and had similar range, but would the small amount of liquid be enough? As for the Small Flamers, they sure would cover a target in fluid, but it was shorter ranged, and the tanks were after all not that big. -Besides, the stench would surely reach the one firing the Flamer as well, making its continued use questionable.But it was time to test my theories. The first Nephilax were carefully winched to the outside of one of the cabins. The Snavrums ringed the rim in their Nifthels, and the locks in the cabin disengaged. It took a few minutes before the pirate inside pecked out. When he saw the parked Nephilax he sprinted for it, ripped open the Cockpit and dived inside. At first he tried to scale the walls, but soon the Nephilax started sprouting the spikes asosciated with the Gorax virus. The Mech started gyrating vildly as the pirate was infected, but after a couple minutes it started a methodic digging to make a ramp for its escape.Now was the time to check the weapons. As feared, the Small Flamer`s Reach was short, but enough of the stream converted into droplets that the Nephilax soon glistened in the little light that reached it. The Gorax spikes vilted away and soon the cokpit opened and the pirate dived headfirst out of the Mech. The fall only stunned him for a minute, and when he came to he was scraming as a lost soul. "THE STENCH!!!! I CANT STAND IT" Stumbling around, he fell into a small puddle of snavrum spirit and the screams reached a feverish pitch. He ran toward the ramp he had tried to make, and before we had any inkling of what he planned he had picked up a big rock and bashed in his own head.As it turned out, even one of the Dynamo Cannon`s shells had enough payload to do the job, -eventually. And as I had hoped, the Small Cluster Racks payload was big enough that one hit would kill off the virus in about eight seconds.Three more pirates died during the testing when their headlong dives brpke their skulls or their necks. The rest were tranquilized and strapped down on the cots in the cabins we had preapared for them earlier.Of course, that left the question of caring for them. The Snavurm stench was so strong that only a Snavurm could stand it, and using the Snavrums as nurses were both maintaining the smell, and driving the pirates into a catatonic state due to fear.But. The mission were acomplished. And it was time for me to return and report the success. The blueprints for the changed weapons were copied, and the destillation process for making the Snavurm spirit was painstalkingly detailed.Unfortunately, we had been away for a long time, and when we returned the base was in ruins. The first battleday had ended, and the Death`s Collectors had flattened us. Still, Drake took some time to listen to the reports, but was not satisfied. "What you have come up with, is a cure most will consider worse than the plague. You simply have to do something about the stench. And speaking of stench, get out of here before you contaminate the whole base."

[seriousbusinessforhumans]

MARCH 10, 2020 - by JOHN FEFFER

In the world of things, the coronavirus has infected the global supply chains that connect manufacturers and consumers. Port traffic in Los Angeles, the largest U.S. port, declined by 25 percent in February. Container traffic in general was down over 10 percent last month. Manufacturers that depend on the sourcing of components in far-off countries had already been rethinking their participation in the global assembly line because of tariffs, the costs of transport, and increased automation. This “reshoring” will get a boost from the disruptions of the coronavirus.

After blithely ignoring the coronavirus outbreak in China for most of February, markets took a major dive in the final week of the month. The stock market lost $6 trillion in value last week, its worst showing since the financial crisis of a decade ago.......... It might seem ridiculous to expect that a pathogen, even one that spreads at the rate of a pandemic, could reverse an economic trajectory that’s more than a century in the making. But the coronavirus outbreak coincides with attacks on economic globalization from many different quarters.

On top of these systemic challenges, a rising political populism has targeted the global economic elite as the enemy of “the people.” Donald Trump challenged this elite and their orthodoxy of free trade by imposing tariffs on allies and adversaries alike and by withdrawing U.S. participation in big trade pacts, like the Trans Pacific Partnership. The trade war he began with China has had perhaps the greatest impact. It has hit both economies hard, with job loss, higher bills for consumers, and lost markets for manufacturers and farmers. The recent agreement between Beijing and Washington notwithstanding, most of the tariffs remain in place.

The coronavirus, by itself, will not put an end to this most recent wave of globalization. Like the flu pandemic of 1918, it could contribute to a trend of greater fragmentation. Or, by serving as a reminder of how the health of humanity has been mutually dependent across borders for millennia 

Because of the coronavirus, China has rediscovered how dependent it is on the rest of the world — to buy Chinese products, to supply Chinese consumers, to provide raw materials for Chinese business............. Sociologist Walden Bello has long argued that the Chinese economy is in fact quite fragile — with overcapacity in the manufacturing sector, a real-estate bubble, high rates of debt........... The coronavirus is a wake-up call for both Beijing and Washington. The new status quo of a revived Cold War between the two hegemons is unworkable. It’s time for another wave of globalization, but this time one that reduces carbon emissions, proceeds more equitably, and strengthens the capacity of international institutions to fight pandemics. It won’t happen without U.S.-China cooperation. And that won’t happen without a different U.S. president and a different approach in Beijing.

--------------

Thanks to Covid-19, Neoliberal Globalization Is Unraveling But internationalism is more essential than ever.

By Jeet Heer

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/globalization-unravelling-internationalism-coronavirus/

Trump won in 2016 on a nationalist platform consisting of protectionism, opposition to immigration, and foreign policy unilateralism. The underlying thread of these policies was xenophobia, in keeping with Trump’s racism. Trump promised to protect white America from trade agreements with foreign nations, competition from foreign workers, and the machinations of foreign institutions (like NATO and the UN). With the Covid-19 crisis, this America First agenda has a perfect event to stoke nationalist paranoia.

Opposing economic globalization isn’t exclusively a position of the nationalist right. Economic globalization has been pushed by corporate interests who have used trade agreements to entrench the power of capital, often at the expense of both labor unions and environmentalists. 

What’s novel in the current situation is that business elites are starting to echo their criticism of globalization. The case for decoupling from China is gaining traction not just in military circles but also among business elites. Bloomberg reports, “Businesses are reassessing China’s role in global supply chains, and by the time this virus burns out, many of them will have started planning to relocate at least some of their production elsewhere. Deglobalization is accelerating.”

Globalization shouldn’t be confused with internationalism. In his campaign, Bernie Sanders articulated an anti-globalist position that would redress the flaws of trade agreements, while also seeking to work more closely with other nations and international organizations like the United Nations to deal with issues of planetary import like climate change.

Even if global supply chains are disrupted, the need for nations to cooperate is all the more important during the crisis. Medical knowledge needs to be shared quickly, as scientists all over the world gain new insights into how the virus spreads and what treatments work. Covid-19 travels so quickly that no nation can be safe unless it is fought everywhere. Once scientists figure out which treatments work, or even develop a vaccine, there will have to be a massive program of international aid to share these discoveries as widely as possible.

(select segments of the articles)

[serenavangstuff]

Juniper Publishers-The Exercise Continuum and the Role of Doctors

Introduction

Everyone can be placed somewhere on an exercise continuum with the idle at one end and the hyperactive at the other. At both extremes, health suffers. Exercise is essential to health and managing it is the responsibility of individuals but few know what they should do. Doctors seldom teach how to be healthy and act only when repair is needed.

The Idle

In the oceans, lakes and rivers are creatures that stay in one place and water flows over them bringing food to their open mouths and removing waste from the opposite end of their bodies. Of all land animals, humans are the only creatures able to exist by the same idle method. The human brain can contrive a situation in which other humans care for idle ones and this is not about looking after a patient in bed, it is feeding an idle person who commands others. That image, perhaps of ancient kings, is seen by many to represent ultimate ambition; servants supplying all needs. The reality is that the idle one is the one that suffers and those scurrying around have more benefits.

These days, physical inactivity is available to all, rich and poor and some of the poor appear to love it. Getting food has become no more arduous than opening a packet. Ordering and paying for it is done by pressing buttons on a smart phone and getting the money in the first place is in some countries only a matter of getting state aid on the grounds of unemployment or being unable to work. The more idle they are, the less they are able to work. The consequences are obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Muscles weaken and joints are unable to carry the added weight. Generally, idleness is accompanied by little mental stimulation which leads to further decay of the body. Doctors are then asked to make repairs. In go the drugs, up go the pharmaceutical profits and up go the costs to insurers and governments. Should the doctor take the smart phone away, ban them from television and send them swimming three times a day because swimming is less damaging to fat limbs than walking and to run is impossible? Such hardship would help the patient and in some rare cases it is being done. Usually they get drugs and a suggestion that they should exercise but no enforcement. This is the situation in the prosperous countries in recent years.

The Hyperactive

In racing sports, they talk of going through the pain barrier. The margin of safety is considerable. Grin and bear it and you will win. By that means, it was not always the strongest who won but the person who could tolerate most suffering. When drugs became available, the pain barrier ceased to be a barrier and the body lost its protection. The determination to win would expose the body to excess stress that could be fatal (Figure 1).

I took this photograph of a bicycle hill climb in 1965. Almost certainly no performance enhancing drugs were used. At the finish line, all the competitors were gasping for breath and some lay on their back to recover but they were up again in a few minutes grinning and eager to find out their time. The winner I knew well back in those days and he went on to become the National Hill Climb Champion. He was only a year older than me and, from what I have been able to find out, he died some years ago of a strange illness. He had suffered a crash in a race and had never properly recovered. This, as I see it, is a danger. He had pushed himself too far, not just in physical effort but by taking chances. It was a risk he would not ordinarily have taken but, in a race, where everything is about winning it becomes combat.

The drugs scandals at the Olympic games and in the Tour de France cycle race are now headline news. That competitors will sacrifice their lives for the vanity of winning shows the danger of sport at this level.

Amongst amateurs, dangers abound. There are combat sports that were encouraged because they prepare soldiers for battle. With less hand to hand fighting in modern armies and more alternatives in schools that are threatened by lawyers there is less boxing but rugby is still popular especially in fee- paying schools. A young boy's father will tell him that the rough treatment in a game of rugby will make a man of him. If the boy is stocky enough and determined, it is very likely he will have a life changing injury before he is thirty. Physiotherapists and orthopaedic surgeons specialising in joint replacements are grateful to football, squash and tennis for the business it brings. Footballers get kicked as well as adding pressure to their knees and hips. Racquet games twist the knees more violently than straightforward running with the result that a titanium implant is offered as the easy repair. The fact that a revision (another replacement) will be needed ten to fifteen years hence is seldom mentioned.

At the extremities of all sports there are dangers even in those that are danger-avoidant. Rock climbing is all about fall prevention until the glory of not using a rope takes over and then there is no back up. Mountaineering is safe until risk taking becomes more attractive than the scenery and the threats of bad weather, an avalanche or thaw (the ice giving way) are pushed to one side believing that these hazards have been overcome before. Confidence leads to invincibility, a concept that has never been proven.

Over confidence is as much a danger as depression. The role of exercise in combatting depression with the suicides and anger that arise are seldom appreciated. Mental health benefits from exercise as much if not more than bodily health.

There are many activities classed as sports that do not involve muscles and cause damage to the participants and even more so to spectators. Motor racing is a major culprit. Deaths on the track are less than they used to be but they instil a culture of speed which on the public road will kill. It was often commented years ago when people went to the cinema that after a James Bond film the cars were hurtling away a break neck speeds with the drivers inspired by what had enthralled them half an hour before. Motor racing is nonsense. The winner is not the most skilful but the one prepared to take most risk. Is that meritous? It is not even a sport. Shooting must be equally condemned. Just as the ancient Greeks may have delighted in wrestling and the Romans in gladiator fights, those sports gave way to fencing and when those weapons were superseded by guns it was shooting that was applauded. To aim, it is necessary to be fit, so the argument goes, so that one can hold one's breath when firing to keep the gun steady as one breaths. Does that compare with the fitness of a swimmer or any athlete? When the target for shooting is an innocent wild animal or bird, the claim that this is a sport is hard to sustain.

It is a fact that most people are impressionable; they are followers and do not question those they admire. This gives role models a responsibility many of them do not understand. A star footballer is seldom an intellectual. From being groomed at school to being paid to play the game, he has learned only that what he does is right; it must be because he is paid a lot to do it and whatever he does must be right. He has a licence to do anything because at the extreme end of the exercise continuum he excels. Brawn beats brain and entertainment damages a thoughtless majority. Doctors are left to pick up the pieces. Could they have advised so that the damage is avoided?

The Importance of Exercise

Between the extremes of immobility and hyper-activity is where we should be but where is it? A good observation is a report on cycling to and from work:

Kevin Murnane writes: The effects of walking and cycling were measured by comparing them with the Non-active mode of transport. Cycling to work was associated with very large health benefits. Commuters who cycled to work had a 41% lower risk of dying from all causes than people who drove or took public transport. They also had a 46% lower risk of developing and a 52% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and a 45% lower risk of developing and a 40% lower risk of dying from cancer.

This is a study of ordinary people doing what everyone does, getting around as easily as possible. When it involves exercise, there are great benefits - listed in the article:

a) Cycling makes you happy

b) You lose weight

c) And build muscle

d) Without worrying about over eating

e) Good for the lungs

f) Cuts heart disease and risk of cancer

g) Less damage to joints

h) Saves time and money

i) Mental skill of route finding

j) Better sex

k) Better sleep

l) More brain power

m) Improved reactions and responses

n) Better immune system

o) More friends

Each one of the above would be a medical breakthrough. To get the lot for free is astounding and true.

In richer countries in the last decade cycling has become more popular and is said to be the new golf. For those who have always cycled, it is flattering to be recognised as sensible and not shouted off the road as used to happen. When the scientists investigate, they explain what to the cyclist is obvious.

Michelle Arthurs-Brennan reports that a study followed 125 long-distance cyclists. The riders are now all in their 80's but their immune system function is similar to that of 20-year-olds. The research, published in the Aging Cell journal, showed that the ageing cyclists produced the same number of T-cells - which help the immune system respond to new infections - as adults still in their 20s, and a separate study revealed that cyclists didn't lose muscle mass, strength, or gain body fat in the same way as non-cyclists.

Co-author of the report, Prof Norman Lazarus of King's College London is 82 himself; he told the BBC: "If exercise was a pill, everyone would be taking it. It has wide-ranging benefits for the body, the mind, for our muscles and our immune system."

In parallel, the same journalist presents a report on the sex lives of female cyclists:

Saddle discomfort is mentioned and the solution is a well- made lady's saddle of which there are many on the market. They have a slot along the top to avoid pressure on the genitalia. Usually the nose of the saddle is angled down for a lady whereas a man will have the saddle horizontal. Every woman should be able to ride comfortably. If you have a problem, a good bike shop will help you. (BioFlex O-Zone Gel Womens Saddle - Black).

The reports about Robert Marchand are incredible. He is the first of many in his category. One year after setting a new Hour Record for his age category, centenarian cyclist Robert Marchand has decided to hang up his wheels and retire from competitive riding at the grand old age of 106. A multiple record holder for age-group events, Marchand has now been advised not to take on any further competitive events on medical grounds. He can continue cycling but should stop racing. Read the report and note that there is nothing extraordinary about Robert other than he is doing what others half his age could not do. If he can do it, others can. Born in Amiens in 1911, Marchand started riding at the age of 14, but gave up the sport only to return to cycling in 1978 aged 67. Since then he has maintained a daily routine of riding and stretching, eating plenty of vegetables and little meat, not smoking, and generally avoiding alcohol.

Here is a report on a study of aging published on 6th January 2015 in The Journal of Physiology:

a) Emeritus Professor Norman Lazarus, a member of the King's team and also a cyclist, said: "Inevitably, our bodies will experience some decline with age, but staying physically active can buy you extra years of function compared to sedentary people.

b) "Cycling not only keeps you mentally alert but requires the vigorous use of many of the body's key systems, such as your muscles, heart and lungs which you need for maintaining health and for reducing the risks associated with numerous diseases."

c) On the 8th March 2018, Prof Lazarus's team published another study in Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. and appears to be a similar group of people, maybe the same.

d) Study confirming old cyclists same as healthy young.

e) The benefits of exercise all one’s life has always been known. The biological data is now measured in the Aging Cell report of the study by Birmingham University.

f) Dr Ross Pollock, who led the team of scientists from King's College London, warned that most of us are inactive, which causes 'physiological problems at any age'.

Study of cyclists found they were physically younger than most their age Underwent extensive tests of their heart, lungs and exercise capacity Researchers found they had muscle strength similar to younger people Say it proves cycling keeps the body and the mind staying young Aging and Physical Performance.

Mind and Body

If the articles referred to above suggest that all that is needed to get all the benefits is to move muscle, think again. The mind and body are inseparable. In a paper published last year on The Body’s Operating System, I discussed the effect of mind on body. The interaction is also body on mind. The Birmingham and Kings Studies accurately report the biological effects of exercise. It should be obvious that the same effect will apply to runners, walkers, swimmers and all active people. In these studies, cyclists formed a convenient group that could be identified and measured. Kevin Murnane's article listing 15 benefits is correct. This includes mental health. One cannot cycle without thinking. The machine has to be maintained. It can fail when you are miles from home and you have to fix it. Problem solving is where our brain excels. It distinguishes us from other animals and has got us to the stage where we can disrupt our environment; to solve the problems we have created (Figure 2).

The man repairing a puncture became the British National Hill Climb Champion. With modern tyres and less glass on the road, punctures are not as common as they were. We used to always repair the puncture, not just fit a new tube, and competed to see how many patches were on a tube before it was eventually discarded. You will see that his friends are there to tell him what to do even though he would do better without their distraction. This is social interaction at its best. The group broke up as members dispersed to study and work, married and, in some cases, died. I am still cycling and, if this article makes sense to you, am still fit and cognitively active. The Birmingham-Kings studies required the old cyclists to be able to ride at ten miles an hour for over six hours. Believe it or not that is very easy. Normal cycling speed is 14 mph and a club (chain gang) can be doing evens (20 mph or more). For 10 mph to make the difference between being as fit as a person 40 years younger is very interesting.

This shows that the discovery is not that exercise helps, it is that no exercise is damaging. To exercise always all one's life is normal. To refer to the cyclists as a remarkable minority is to forget what we are, animals born to forage and hunt from dawn to dusk. To feed, we had to exert. When people are astounded that I can ride a hundred miles (160 km) a day, I tell them it is only ten miles an hour for ten hours. If there was more time available, I would be able to cover longer distances. It is not a matter of strength. A normal person is well capable of these distances. The pity is, they don’t know it.  Nevertheless, more people are discovering they have hidden talent. Often a bicycle is daunting and they do not live where there are quiet roads. They make go walking, Scottish dancing, swimming or just flogging themselves in the gym.

Resistance

Look at again at the photo of the puncture being repaired. This was before most wheels had quick release hubs. He has taken the tube out of the cover without removing the wheel to avoid getting his hands dirty on the oily chain but he is still going to end up with the grime of the road and aluminium oxide from the rim on his hands and nowhere to wash them. The simple answer is to peel and eat an orange. We were never ill. In the summer of 1966 I cycled from Graz to Athens on unsurfaced roads through the Balkans averaging over a hundred miles a day. There were no plastic bottles of water for sale in shops back then. The water bottle carried in a cage on the bike frame was topped up at roadside wells and pumps. I never had diarrhoea and I drank a lot cycling in the heat through Greece. Nowadays, our exposure to germs is no less but our resistance is far less. Go on an airline flight for a few hours and breath the air expelled by your fellow passengers and be prepared for a sniffling cold for a few days afterwards. These are serious dangers.

Exercise in the open air, away from cities and pollution and your immune system improves not just from exercise but from the simple relationship with your environment, a relationship with which we have evolved. India has a campaign for indoor toilets to be flushed clean by water and proper sewage management. Outdoor defecation that had served for centuries became impractical as population density increased and privacy, especially for the girls and women, became difficult. They are moving to a modern system in which chemicals will certainly be used to solve one problem and cause others. The immune systems will adapt maintained by exercise, sleep, diet and a balanced approach to hygiene. We can be too careful.

Sunshine

Use of gyms is growing and is to be encouraged. For a traditionalist and outdoors man like me, a gym is hard work and uninspiring. In some climates, extremes of hot and cold, it can be the only option. In temperate climates the smell of fresh air, birds singing and wind in the face is pleasure. What the scientists investigating the improvement to the immune system did not record is the vitamin D from sunlight. You don't get it in a gym and the modern practice of protecting the skin from the sun reduces the essential vitamin intake. Sunglasses are worn too often. There appears to be a belief that they protect the eyes. If that were true, I should be blind by now. Bright sunshine tells the skin to beware, it changes and adds protection. People outdoors all the time seldom have the skin cancers that attack those exposed infrequently to unfiltered sun. In high altitude Switzerland and under the thin skies of New Zealand and the southern hemisphere, the conditions are dangerous and protection is essential. Under the haze of The Gulf, sunburn is less a risk.

Diet and Drinks

The old cyclists who have cycled almost all their lives learned what to eat and what to avoid. Very few smoked and that made them outcasts in the 1950s and 60s when the majority of people smoked. You did not need to be a scientist to see that the smoker had not got the puff to pedal. In other words, his lungs were being damaged by smoke. In those days, and I remember them well, almost all doctors  smoked. In their ignorance, they gave their patients bad advice.

Food was frequently discussed. We had large appetites. There was more organic food fifty years ago and it was fresher because transport was less efficient than today; food had to be grown locally. Knowing what was best to eat was understood by all and we worked it out empirically. One rider worked as a window cleaner during the week and cycled at the weekend so he was physically active outdoors every day in all weathers. He was our advisor and paid little attention to books. His knowledge came from experience. He never added sugar to his drinks or salt to his food and his explanation made sense to all of us. There was enough carbohydrate in a balanced diet and too much sugar meant too little roughage. Bran and the bike kept him regular. The amount of salt added to bread was more than enough in a temperate climate. Maybe in hot weather when sweating increased the water through-put there is a case for additional salt and more fluids but for the mileage we were doing, about 80 miles on a Sunday run, no additives were needed.

We learned to not be on the road after 10 o'clock at night because the drinkers would be driving away from the pubs drunk. It was not illegal to be drunk driving a car. Indeed, when there was a crash, the defence was that the alcohol made the driver incapable so it was only an accident, not deliberate bad driving. If the driver was incapable, he could not be blamed. Eventually this nonsense led to laws banning drivers from drinking alcohol and there seems to be a recent understanding amongst the general population that alcohol damages health. Cyclists knew it many years ago and by avoiding alcohol they have maintained good health. People have to be told. Is that the duty of doctors?

Resilience

Whether you are on a mountain ridge in the mist or miles from anywhere on a bicycle, you have only yourself to depend on. You may have companions and they look to you for leadership. You have no choice but to be resilient and carry on, map reading, apportioning your energy, not taking risks. It is all about survival. Move then to a city job and your mental attitude goes with you. Exercise maintained your health mentally and bodily.

The Role of Doctors

Clinical evidence that the minority group of old cyclists have an immune system comparable to people in their twenties is proof that the majority of people are in poor health because they do not exercise. If a doctor’s duty is to improve people's health, then the doctor has to tell them to exercise and say it before the deterioration goes too far. On the other hand, if a doctor is there only to repair the damage however caused, the doctor can let people make mistakes through ignorance and this will keep the doctor busy and prosperous. Do we not argue that in an ideal world there need be no police? By the same reasoning, doctors should not be needed if people live properly.

Has science got us to the stage where all illness is a mistake? Humans live and work in communities with many specialising thanks to their education. Theoretically we can prevent all illness and injury by education, control and prevention. For example, from the earliest age, teach and practice the benefits of exercise. Avoid the dangers of extremes. Control individuals by implanted chips so that everyone is answerable to an artificial intelligence central computer thereby eliminating the benefits of crime and war (and I would resist this being done to me and demand that it be done to others, such is hypocrisy and was well foretold in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell). Ensure that the makers of pharmaceuticals and machines serve the majority in the world and not just the rich. Ebola can be controlled. Cancer is avoidable.

Guidance on these policies can only be given by those who understand the body and mind and they are doctors. Now is the time for doctors to work towards making themselves redundant. I am sure that  will never happen but it ought to be an objective. The police do little to prevent crime. They advise people to lock their doors but does nothing to change the motivation of potential burglars other than apply threats of punishment. Similarly, doctors prescribe drugs on top of drugs without getting to the source of a patient's problem. People respond to carrot, not stick. The evidence is clear. Most people can be maintained in good health by simply changing their lifestyle so that they exercise as much as their bodies have evolved to do. You are a doctor so tell your patient the blunt truth and when you say to them you don’t want to see them again, you mean it in the friendliest way.

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[monkeyandelf]

The president of WHO warns that the outbreak of coronavirus is a serious threat to humanity

Information about the new deadly coronavirus has gone viral. Conspiracy theories have spread across the global Internet since the Chinese government first announced, on December 31, that a mysterious pneumonia was sweeping the city of Wuhan. A little more than two months later, the coronavirus has killed more than 1,000 people and infected tens of thousands in more than 20 countries, and has already become a major concern not only of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but also for technology companies such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok. Real human life is in danger, and censorship has spread to social networks.

President of WHO states Coronavirus is a threat to humanity

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, president of the World Health Organization, has acknowledged that the outbreak is an immediate emergency for China, but also acknowledged that other countries could be in serious danger . He urged countries to share samples of the virus and accelerate research on medicines and vaccines. “With 99% of cases in China, this remains an emergency for that country, but a very serious threat to the rest of the world,” said Dr. Ghebreyesus. Dr. Ghebreyesus made these controversial statements at a conference held in Geneva with more than 400 researchers and experts in the field, including some who participated in a video conference from mainland China and Taiwan. According to official figures, more than 43,000 people worldwide have contracted the deadly infection, and more than 1,000 people have died. The WHO president also emphasized in poorer countries, such as Africa and Asia, that do not have the money or the ability to contain the virus. “What matters most is to stop the outbreak and save lives,” Dr. Ghebreyesus continued. “We hope that one of the results of this meeting will be an agreed roadmap for the research around which researchers and donors will align.”

Geneva (Switzerland Schweiz Suisse), 30/01/2020.- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to the media after the WHO’s Emergency Committee meeting on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), during a press conference, at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 30 January 2020. The WHO has declared an global public health emergency over the outbreak of the Coronavirus. (Suiza, Ginebra) EFE/EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT He added that countries, companies and scientists around the world must work together to try to understand the virus and find a way to stop it. Experts are concerned that if people travel to poorer countries with worse health systems, the virus could spread without control . Although worst of all, Dr. Ghebreyesus acknowledged that it is completely impossible to predict how the outbreak would be triggered. “In recent days, we have seen some worrying cases of subsequent transmission of people without a history of travel to China. The detection of the small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a major fire, but for now, it is just a spark. My biggest concern is that today there are countries that do not have the systems to detect people who have contracted with the virus, even if it arises. Urgent support is needed to strengthen weak health systems to detect, diagnose and care for people with the virus, to prevent further transmission from person to person and protect health workers, ” concludes Dr. Ghebreyesus. It could infect 60% of the world’s population The coronavirus epidemic is far from over, as it could spread to approximately two thirds of the world’s population if it cannot be controlled. According to Professor Gabriel Leung, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, he said that each infected person would transmit the virus to another 2.5 people . That gives an “attack rate” of 60-80%.

“60% of the world’s population is a terribly large number,” Leung told the British newspaper The Guardian. Even if the overall mortality rate is as low as 1%, which Leung believes is possible once the milder cases are taken into account, the death toll would be huge. Professor Leung, one of the world’s experts in coronavirus epidemics, warned in late January that outbreaks are likely to “grow exponentially.” in the cities of China, one or two weeks late with respect to Wuhan. Elsewhere, independent self-sufficient outbreaks in major cities around the world could become inevitable due to the substantial movement of infected people but who had not yet developed symptoms, and the absence of public health measures to stop the spread. But if the Chinese containment does not work, then we would face another much worse scenario: that the coronavirus might not be possible to contain. Out of control As we can verify this information does not come from conspiracy theorists or alternative news, they are from the president of WHO and one of the best epidemiologists in the world. Not to mention that it has already been shown that the numbers of dead and infected are much higher than the official ones. In addition, satellite images have shown alarming levels of sulfur dioxide around Wuhan, the zero zone of the coronavirus. High levels of sulfur dioxide have also been recorded in the city of Chongqing, which is also in quarantine. Scientists say that sulfur dioxide is produced when bodies are incinerated, and also when medical waste is incinerated, so it would show that there are thousands of cremations every day. And to this, we must add that as the exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui recently revealed leaks of the Wuhan crematoriums. It states that, depending on the number of bodies that burn their furnaces, the death toll could reach 50,000. He also claims to have insider information that there are 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronaviruses in China. Wengui emphasizes that these are not simply quarantined or “under observation” , but confirmed cases of coronavirus infection. It seems that no one can deny that we are facing an imminent pandemic worldwide and that it is only a matter of time that ends up infecting more than 60% of the population. Are you ready for the new pandemic of the 21st century? Read the full article

[junker-town]

Kaurs, Singhs and Kings

Dickey Singh via Sikh Coalition

How a ‘Sikh Heritage Night’ at a Sacramento Kings game sparked a movement against bigotry

Inderjit Singh Kallirai’s white whale was a performance of bhangra on ice. Four years ago, he was in talks with the San Jose Sharks to stage just such a performance between periods of a game. Having set up similar events in NBA arenas, he knew that bhangra, with its high-energy beats and whirling dance, could electrify the crowd.

The issue was this: How do you dance on ice? One idea was to lay mats over it, but the Sharks worried that might damage the playing surface. Then the kids, the troupe of dancers Kallirai had found, rebelled. “They turned around and said to me, ‘Uncle, you can’t do bhangra on ice’,” says Kallirai, now a 61-year-old retired state employee in Sacramento, says. “‘Bare feet and ice don’t mix.’”

There was a long back-and-forth, and the dance didn’t pan out. But it did break the ice, in another sense. In March 2017, the Sharks became the first NHL team to host Sikh Heritage Night. A few hundred community members, many of whom had never watched hockey live before, came for a game against the Vancouver Canucks. Their kids received special “Sikh Heritage” t-shirts and got to take photos at center ice.

There wasn’t any bhangra, but the community got to showcase its culture in other ways. Outside the arena, performers twirled swords in a traditional martial arts demonstration. Inside, on the concourse, community members manned a booth where fans could get their heads wrapped in that most visible of Sikh garments, a turban. Demand was high, especially for the teal ones. Every last turban was gone after one period of play.

These days, the organizers bring more turbans. Sikh Heritage Night has become an annual tradition in downtown San Jose, driven by the local gurdwara, or temple. For this often-misunderstood community, long accustomed to keeping a low profile in a country where they’ve often been targets of intimidation and violence, the event is a chance to stand at the center of one of the city’s iconic venues.

And other cities are following suit. Over the last five years, Sikh heritage events have become increasingly common at pro sports stadiums around the United States. They started in California, where half of America’s Sikh population lives, and have since popped up as far away as San Antonio, Detroit, and Philadelphia. They’ve been held at NBA, NFL, and NHL arenas. Many are spearheaded by Sikh “uncles” and “aunties” — that’s how South Asian-American kids refer to the grownups in their communities — who love sports. “Uncle Indi” Kallirai, who claims to be infected with a “desire not to be idle,” has organized about a half-dozen of them himself, and had a hand in many more.

At a time when many minority groups feel isolated, events like these are an unthreatening way to reach thousands of people. Teams appreciate them too; at a minimum, they are a great way to fill seats and inspire new fans. For Sikh-Americans, though, these events carry a greater charge.

Four days after the Sept. 11 attacks, a gunman in Mesa, Arizona, drove to a gas station and shot dead its turban-wearing owner Balbir Singh Sodhi. This attack turned out to be among the first of hundreds of hate incidents targeting Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, and Middle Easterners among others that have occurred since 9/11. More recently, Sikhs have been targeted as part of the broader climate of racism and anti-immigrant bigotry in America. Anti-Sikh hate crimes surged almost 17 percent in 2017, according to FBI data. The Sikh Coalition, a civil rights group, says even that figure reflects systemic underreporting by law enforcement and individuals.

Sikh advocacy groups have responded to the violence with aggressive outreach, concentrated toward public institutions like Congress, school districts, and courts. Still, 60 percent of Americans admit to knowing zero about Sikhs, according to a 2015 survey sponsored by the National Sikh Campaign. Sikhs are frequently confused for Muslims and Hindus, a double inaccuracy. Sikhism is not just a different religion; it forbids discrimination against people of any faith.

In California where the Sharks play, half of Sikh children say they’ve experienced bullying, according to the Sikh Coalition. In 2018, two Sikh men were viciously beaten in Northern California less than a week apart.

”Sports is one activity that’s based more on sporting rivalry than anything about culture, race, or anything.” - Inderjit Singh Kallirai, Sikh heritage event organizer

This climate can push Sikh-Americans to retreat to their communities, where they know they are safe. “Because of numbers, because of our own personal lifestyles, we don’t want to be too much in the face of anybody,” Kallirai says.

But as Kallirai tells it, a point comes when enough is enough. For him, that was in August 2012, when a gunman in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, went to a Sikh gurdwara and murdered six people before killing himself.

Kallirai grew up in England and has lived in America for 30 years. He has never felt any great affinity for sports, much less American sports. But to him, the Oak Creek tragedy showed that for all of Sikhs’ advocacy in America, it wasn’t reaching ordinary people.

He wanted a new frontier of outreach, one that could reach the masses.

”Even Nelson Mandela brought it up. That sports is one activity that’s based more on sporting rivalry than anything about culture, race, or anything,” Kallirai says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Manchester United fan, and you’re brown, green, whatever. The only person you don’t like is a Liverpool fan.”

Kallirai’s efforts began in his own backyard, with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and its legions of adoring Sikh fans. Sikhs’ history in California’s Central Valley goes back more than a century, when they were among the immigrant laborers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Some stayed in California and got into farming, a career choice reflective of their roots in agrarian Punjab, the region where Sikhism was born and that today sits on both sides of the India-Pakistan border. America’s first gurdwara went up in Stockton in 1912, 50 miles from where the Kings play today.

Sikh-Americans now work in a much broader range of fields, from gas stations and convenience stores, to trucking, engineering, medicine, and tech. Still, many Sikhs sense a distance from the neighbors and customers they see every day. They know they are marked, by clothing as well as race.

”Community can be difficult. You’re different,” says Jimmy Gill, a 37-year-old engineer who grew up outside Pittsburgh. “We have a lot of these light-touch relationships. Not very many deep relationships with people in the community.” On weekends, his family often drove to the Sikh temple more than an hour south.

Kallirai had been mulling putting together a Sikh-oriented sports event of some sort when an excellent opportunity came along. In 2013, Indian entrepreneur Vivek Ranadivé became owner of the Kings. Ranadivé wasn’t Sikh, but Kallirai knew how to pique his interest.

There was the obvious, of course. Sacramento, one of the most diverse cities in the U.S., is home to scores of South Asian, and Sikh, Kings fans. Less obvious, but known to Desi uncles, was that Ranadivé had grown up in an era when many of India’s star athletes, particularly in field hockey, were Sikhs from Punjab. He would have known that Sikh men take the last name Singh, and women the last name Kaur, to signify, among other things, the equality of all people.

The owner didn’t need much convincing. Ranadivé quipped, according to Kallirai, that as a kid, he heard calls like “Singh passes to Singh and Singh scores!” on the radio.

The Kings’ first-ever Sikh Heritage Night took place on Sunday, April 13, 2014, the same day as the Sikh holiday of Vaisakhi, which celebrates the spring harvest and the implementation of many of the core religious practices Sikhs observe today. “We reached out to the community and said, ‘We’re gonna do this,’” Kallirai says. “‘You’ve gotta go to the gurdwara to celebrate Vaisakhi, go do it. It’s over at one. Three o’clock, come over, four o’clock our thing starts.’”

Kallirai and two other “uncles” — Ravi Kahlon, a soft-spoken former bhangra teacher, and Guri Kang, a gregarious small businessman — spearheaded the event, playfully nicknamed “Kaurs, Singhs, and Kings.” The cultural tie-in worked even better than expected. Sikh fans drove in from all over Northern California.

Kallirai is proud of the event. The Kings even gave him and his partners a plaque for “Best Heritage Night.” But for him, the day’s greatest success was showing thousands of people that Sikh-Americans aren’t cloistered foreigners, but active participants in their community. At some level, he thinks, that message was received.

”When we had the bhangra performance at halftime, the audience all stood up and gave a standing ovation for the performance,” he says. “The excitement of the kids to be performing in an NBA arena, I don’t think anybody’s gonna take that away from those kids. Those kids were the first to do this in an NBA arena!”

The three uncles knew they were onto something. After the event, they found themselves on the phone with Sikhs around the country — cousins, friends, perfect strangers. Their question: How do we do this, too? Kallirai and his partners were happy to advise. Kang had an extensive personal network, Kahlon was the dance expert, and Kallirai was the hype man and promoter. They came up with a name befitting their ambition: K3 International. Why not? First Sacramento, then the world.

Dickey Singh via Sikh Coalition

South Asian uncles come in every variety, from boisterous and charming to reserved and stern. Kallirai leans eccentric. He’s enthusiastic when talking about racial equality, but tight-lipped about his personal life. (The extent of it: He has three sons; the middle one is a Marine.) He gushes with the energy of a quasi retiree — even in retirement, he’s working part-time in a real estate office at a Sacramento strip mall — and sometimes edges into salesmanship. He holds ideals of racial equality that would resonate with many liberal Californians, but also thinks gender identities have become too fluid and that cops should get more benefit of the doubt in police-related shootings.

Like many Americans, he holds views that are complicated and sometimes contradictory. But one thing always comes through: a passion for fighting religious and racial discrimination. He traces that passion back to growing up in Derby, England in the 1960s and 1970s, a time of deep hostility toward South Asian immigrants. He was nine years old in 1967, the year the far-right National Front party formed. He remembers the firebrand “Rivers of Blood” speech of 1968, when anti-immigrant politician Enoch Powell warned of demographic replacement by migrants. He remembers hearing about South Asian people — or anyone who could remotely pass for South Asian — getting beat up by skinhead gangs.

Sports brewed the same dangerous atmosphere. “We were pretty much accustomed to the thuggery or violence that would happen after soccer games,” he says. “Even after I came [to the U.S.] I read a local news report that some of these individuals were bank managers, accountants and many other things, by day and during the week. But when it came to Saturday soccer they were coordinating and planning these vandalistic activities. It was something you could not imagine of these people and the walks of life they come from.”

But when South Asians retracted from society, he felt, things just got worse. So he encouraged people to do the opposite. As a young teacher at a Derby-area junior college, he pushed South Asian students to organize outreach and charity events. In 1986, inspired by Live Aid, his students put on a show with South Asian bands from all around England and donated the proceeds to earthquake relief in Mexico.

Kallirai moved to America in 1989 and became a citizen 10 years later. Throughout, he kept up his charity work outside of his day job. He visited local senior centers. He sat on the World Bhangra Council. He helped raise money for local sheriffs and mayors.

After the 2012 attacks, he found himself talking to Kahlon and Kang about why it felt like nothing was working. How were Sikhs still not reaching the people who feared them, even more than a decade after 9/11? Then the insight hit them. How do you reach people? You go where the people are.

”Our concept was hey, why don’t we go where some of these people — we can call them hillbillies, rednecks, whatever they are — narrow-minded, we can label them many ways. But one thing they do, they are actually part of football, basketball, sports. The best way to be in these places is to be part of them,” he says. “We’re actually sitting and having direct contact with these people.”

Following the Kings event, K3 organized events with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2015, then the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns in 2016.

Teams were receptive, in part, because K3 had figured out all the little things. “In all these events, they’re timed to the T,” Kallirai says. “You can’t go in and put on a 10-minute bhangra show.”

“You don’t have to do anything different. You have to be you, but you have to be out there.” - Sachdeep Singh Arora, Sikh heritage event organizer

In fact, NBA teams told Kallirai the performance had to be kept under three-and-a-half minutes. Simple enough. But there was another issue: Which way should the kids face?

”When you’re dancing on the stage it’s easy, you just face one side,” Kahlon, a former bhangra teacher, says. On a pro hardcourt? “North, South, East, West,” he says. “We took so many days, the whole choreography, so people can dance like that.”

Once the choreography was hammered down, it could be replicated.

Similar events popped up elsewhere, sometimes with K3’s help but not always. 2014: Los Angeles Clippers. 2015: San Antonio Spurs. 2016: Philadelphia 76ers. “Word gets around,” says Rucha Kaur, a community development director with the Sikh Coalition. “Folks talk to each other — teams talk to each other.”

Gurpaul Singh, who organized Sikh heritage events with the San Antonio Spurs, guesses that approximately 1,000 Sikhs live in the greater city area. He says the community wanted to broaden its reach beyond local parades and cultural festivals. “We wanted to take it to the next level in creating awareness. We wanted to reach a larger audience,” says Singh, CEO of a San Antonio consulting firm.

Heritage events are also a chance to add texture and depth to the public’s notions of Sikhs. Many of the events showcase Punjabi culture, whether it’s dance, music, or martial arts. One event had a Sikh UFC heavyweight fighter as its special guest. Many feature local Sikh kids performing the national anthem, or holding an American flag. An event put on by Sikh-American veterans had two representatives in combat fatigues. Gurpaul Singh’s school-aged son, Jeeve, sang the anthem once. “Our values are similar to the American values,” he says. “Religious freedom, equality, social justice.”

These displays of American patriotism by Sikhs aren’t without critics within the community. One performer, who asked not to be named, said that an “almost extra display” of patriotism has become the norm in post-9/11 Sikh-American advocacy, even though Sikhs have already lived in America for over a century. In academic quarters, some go further, questioning whether Sikhs should buy into American values if those values include imperialism, genocide of Native Americans and structural racism toward African-Americans.

But these arguments don’t get far with most of the Sikh-night organizers. They argue that sports, unlike politics, is a universal language. And it’s one that Sikhs love as much as their fellow Americans.

This love runs deep, all the way back to Punjab. One village, Sansarpur, has produced at least a dozen Olympians. Athletes of Punjabi heritage have distinguished themselves in cricket and pro basketball, in addition to field hockey. As for non-athletes, many Punjabis who move to America have no trouble transferring their love of Indian sports to Western ones like baseball, basketball, and ice hockey. Reflecting that, both the NBA and NHL have Punjabi-language broadcasts.

That love of sports has been passed down to people like Sachdeep Singh Arora, who grew up in New Jersey.

Dickey Singh via Sikh Coalition

”Basketball around here is like a gospel. You go to anybody’s house during the Finals, there’s a party or reception. Everybody — the men at least — is crowded around the TV watching the game,” says Arora, a civil engineer who still lives in the Princeton area. “You go to any Sikh kid in this state and they love basketball. They want to be the next Michael Jordan.”

Arora used to be one of those kids, but now he admits he’s an uncle. “I mean, I guess I would identify as an uncle. I got four gray hairs this year.”

Arora also grew up looking for ways to promote interfaith understanding in his diverse Jersey community. He ended up volunteering with an interfaith charity, ONE Project, that had connections to the Philadelphia 76ers.

As a diehard 76ers fan, Arora had seen members of his faith recognized before. He says an early form of Sikh night occurred in 2015, when a Sikh colleague of his bought a bundle of Sixers tickets and gave them away to local communities. Then Arora saw events being held in San Antonio and L.A. that had a totally different scale of outreach, with dancing, anthem performances, info booths, the works. “I said, you know what, we can make this one bigger,” he says.

He talked to the 76ers, and at the end of 2016, the team held its first official Sikh Heritage Night. The event has become an annual fixture. Last year, it featured traditional drumming and bhangra. The color guard included a Sikh Boy Scout and a Sikh U.S. Navy servicewoman.

Like others, the event got attention in the region. Arora was recruited to help set up the first-ever Sikh heritage event for the New Jersey Devils, held earlier this year.

Arora is well aware of the discrimination directed at people who look like him. He experienced some of it after 9/11. But he says his faith is not about victimhood. It’s about everlasting optimism in the face of injustice.

Maybe that’s why his favorite part of the Sikh heritage events is when people sit down with a Sikh and get their heads wrapped with a turban like his. “Obviously tying turbans on random fans could go either way,” he says. But “it’s a very intimate experience, because you get a four-to-five-minute window to have a one-on-one conversation with somebody.”

”I think that what happens in our communities is, [Sikhs] get objectified, they get racism against them. The issue is that they cower. They hide. People are going to make comments so let’s just go cower in the corner and not come out,” he says. “The thing that I’m trying to promote differently is we have to be out there. You don’t have to do anything different. You have to be you, but you have to be out there.”

Among the many Sikh heritage events that have been held over the last five years, some have become annual, some biennial. Organizers say more teams, and more leagues, are inquiring. In a few cases, they’ve ended for lack of anyone to take charge.

Indi Kallirai, for his part, has stepped back from doing these events. He never figured out Bhangra on Ice, and his talks with NHL teams died. He says he and the Kings were all set to host an event in 2017, but it fell through at the last minute, and K3 hasn’t organized one since. (Others stepped in, and the event continues. The Kings did not reply to a request for comment for this story.) Work, personal matters, and fatigue took his focus off K3. There was a website, but they took it down three years ago.

”If somebody else wants to do it, we’ll help them, but we’ll take a step back. That’s pretty much where it ended,” he says. Sometimes, he and his buddies talk about getting involved again.

The headlines often remind them of how much work remains. In August, a 62-year-old Sikh man in Tracy, Calif., was stabbed to death while taking an evening walk in the park. Police arrested the 21-year-old white male suspect at his Tracy home, and he has pled not guilty.

Maybe that’s why Kallirai, the man who can’t fully retire, can’t fully let go. He’s never found anything that reaches people, that touches people, quite like sports.

”You’re not going to change somebody just by doing bhangra in front of them. But when it’s in front of a large audience and there’s a minor piece of education ...” he trails off.

”There are individuals who’ve been turned around, even in Oak Creek,” he says. “If you converted one to come back onto the humanitarian side, it’s been a success.”