Okay but what about cultural differences? Isnt the European part russia and the Asiqn part of russia like….very different? I mean, countries have split due to cultural differences before, why not continents?
So, please tell me the cultural similarities of Qatar and Japan. How are Egypt and South Africa tied together? Give me the run down on how the same Norway and Italy are.
All im saying is that its not that far fetched to split Europe and Asia since they’re not really connected by culture like at all. I didnt say EVERY continent has to be split that way
…..yall know that some things are allowed to have varying definitions right? I mean, geologists have Tectonic Plates for science. So its not like….this isnt it just another line we draa on a map???
If you really wanna consider continents being connected by land, then why not Afroeurasia??? The Suez canal is literally as wide as a river! Its just around 200 meters wide! That’s not even among the top 5 widest rivers in the world!
So why, pray tell, do we not consider Europe, Asia AND Africa as one continent??
While we’re at it! The Panama Cannal is ridiculous. Fuck that shit. Lets join North and South America.
No but my dad actually did this at McDonalds in the 70s!
So here’s a true story: my father, sometime in the 70s was looking for his first job. He went to the local McDonalds and told the staff, [manager’s name] said I was supposed to start today. They took his word for it and started training him and by the time the manager saw him and asked who he was, people just said “oh that’s the new guy.”
Somehow this actually worked. My dad worked there for a couple of years as a cook. He even won an award plaque which he had on the wall until the day he died.
Experts predict how the new COVID variant first identified in South Africa may affect vaccines, the pandemic and more.
Uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty — that’s the message infectious disease specialists are spreading about the new variant named omicron that was recently identified in South Africa.
The World Health Organization designated omicron as a variant of concern on Friday and followed up Monday with a risk assessment stating that a high number of mutations located within the spike protein may make the variant more transmissible and immune-evading.
But the key word there is “may.” The WHO also emphasized that there are many uncertainties about omicron and we don’t yet know if or how the variant could impact the course of the pandemic.
Though a large number of mutations could certainly make the variant more problematic — hence the reason for all the hype — it’s also plausible that they won’t have a meaningful impact on our vaccines or therapeutics.
This is a time of tremendous uncertainty, but we will know more in the days and weeks ahead.
“We don’t know to what extent, if any, this will evade some protection from the immunity via vaccination or recovery from infection. We still don’t know, if at all or to what extent, this might have different clinical symptoms or different clinical spectrum. And we still don’t know, if at all, if this is more transmissible. We just don’t know — but best to approach with caution,” Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician and scientist with the University of Toronto, told HuffPost.
What we know about the COVID omicron variant so far
South African scientists announced their discovery of the omicron variant last Thursday after the region experienced a rapid uptick in cases.
Since then, the variant has been detected in several other regions — including the United Kingdom, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong.
Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and an infectious disease expert, thinks there’s a good chance omicron is already in the United States, too.
“I do suspect that it’s in the United States. Efficiently spreading respiratory viruses are often gone from the place they originated by the time they are recognized,” Adalja said.
The variant has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein — the part of the virus that binds to our cells. The spike protein is also what the vaccines teach the immune system to go after.
Some of the mutations identified in omicron have been seen in other variants — including beta, gamma and alpha — and have been associated with increased transmissibility and some ability to evade protection from vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments.
But it’s hard to know exactly how this variant, with these mutations, will actually behave in a real-world setting, Bogoch said.
Viruses mutate and a large number of mutations does not automatically mean the variant will be more dangerous — though it is surely something to look into. Most mutations have no meaningful impact on the behavior of a virus.
The recent spike in cases in South Africa, for example, could have been triggered by superspreader events or the region’s low vaccination rate, rather than the variant itself.
“What we need to do before we panic is find out whether the mutations translate into three worrisome potential problems — one, increased transmissibility, two, increased severity of disease, and three, loss of effectiveness in the vaccines — but the mere number of mutations doesn’t necessarily translate into a doomsday situation,” said Lucy McBride, a practicing internal medicine physician in Washington, D.C.
Early anecdotal reports also suggest the bulk of hospitalizations are happening in unvaccinated people and that vaccinated people infected with omicron — who tend to be younger — appear to have milder symptoms, if any at all.
“This suggests, to me, that the vaccine does protect against serious illness, hospitalization and death,” Adalja said, noting that we need more data to know this for certain.
What experts predict could happen with the omicron variant
It’s too early to guess what kind of impact omicron will have on the pandemic — we don’t know for certain yet whether it’s more transmissible and whether it has some immune-evading traits.
“The best-case scenario, assuming it’s more transmissible, is that it’s less severe and omicron is a mild respiratory illness that the coronavirus may ultimately become. The worst-case scenario is that it’s more severe and evades immune protection from the vaccines — but we’re definitely not back to where we were in 2020,” McBride said, adding that we really need more time and data to make these types of predictions.
We’ve learned so much about the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and now have the tools — vaccines, masks, ventilation, testing, monoclonal antibodies and soon antivirals — to manage variants.
In addition, even if the vaccines trained our bodies to fight the original strain, our immune systems are complex and will make fresh antibodies that can help neutralize whatever new variants we’re exposed to, McBride said.
Bogoch would be surprised to see a variant that completely evades protection from our vaccinations; it might erode the efficacy of our shots, but it wouldn’t erase their benefits.
“I think the vaccines will still have some reasonable protection against this particular variant — total speculation, let’s get the data — but I think that you see heavily vaccinated regions, they’ll fare much better,” Bogoch said.
If omicron diminishes the power of the shots to some degree, there might be a stronger push for boosters (as studies have shown a booster not only restores but exceeds neutralizing antibodies after the first two doses). Though, as Adalja points out, it wasn’t a lack of boosters that led to the emergence of omicron — it was a lack of first and second doses.
Ultimately, even if the vaccines don’t prevent every single omicron infection, experts suspect they’ll likely continue to do a great job at protecting people against severe illness, hospitalization and death.
“November 2021 is very different, even with omicron, than January of 2020,” Adalja said.
Experts are still learning about COVID-19. The information in this story is what was known or available as of publication, but guidance can change as scientists discover more about the virus. Please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most updated recommendations.
Everyone talks about how Tony was tortured in Afghanistan, and Bruce survived his abusive father. Steve was in the ice for seventy years, and Bucky was under the control of Hydra for so long.
And they all always talk about them and how sad their pasts are, how strong they are for surviving that, and they have PTSD because of it.
But for some reason, Natasha’s time in the Red Room is always glossed over.
To me, that is just so weird, because yes-being kidnapped, living with an abusive parent who murdered your mother, and forever trapped somewhere and your life just slips away because of it-that must be painful, awful, and would scar your life forever. But the Red Room…that must’ve been a living hell.
Natasha’s parents died in a fire created by the Red Room when she was just a little girl-probably between the ages of 6, or 8, and then she was kidnapped and taken away to something awful. Her life was ripped away from her before she even had a chance to live it.
She lived in a place where dreams, hopes, and freewill die. Where she was chained to a bed every night with 27 other girls who were also chained to a bed.
Natasha was trained to kill, to lie, to seduce. And that doesn’t come your own choice. She was brainwashed. They implanted false memories into her head so she wouldn’t even have a choice. For years, Natasha believed she was ballerina, learning to dance; the fact that entire time she thought was learning to pirouette, she was actually learning how to slit throats. Two sets of memories, and of them never even happened. The Red Room warped Natasha’s brain.
Seduce. Natasha learned how to seduce men. I’m guessing that was exactly a simple process either. Which means she was probably raped.
If you didn’t already know this; Natasha is enhanced. A less intense version of the super soldier serum; and if you’ve seen “Captain America” you know that the process isn’t exactly a pleasant process. And she most likely didn’t just have it one time, they probably also used other ways to enhance her, like surgery. To take unnecessary things out of her, to improve performance. For example, the appendix; what if it decided to burst in the middle of a mission, that would compromise her. They made Natasha sterile; something of value has no place in her line of work. Steve was given the super soldier serum to become a better soldier, Natasha was enhanced to becoming a killing machine, she was being dehumanized.
The Red Room is not made up of nice people. Natasha trained under them, but not of her own decision. So not only did they brainwash her, enhance her, and raper her; but they beat her, too. If she failed at something, they punished her; The Red Room literally battered Natasha into submission. They trained her to be the best of the best, the best assassin, the best spy, and that means she was ever kidnapped and someone wanted to get information out of her, they would probably use less friendly measures. The Red Room didn’t want that to happen; which means only one thing, training Natasha to have a higher threshold for pain. They physically tortured her, ever since she was just a little girl.
Natasha is the only Black Widow out of 28 girls. One by one, they all died, only leaving her. She killed some of them, snapped their necks, shot them. Others may have died at the hands of the trainers. Until only a few were left, and the Red Room pitted them against each other-like the Hunger Games-until there was only one left standing. Natasha is the only Black Widow out of 28 girls.
The Red Room is one of the most horrifying things in the MCU. And yes-there are many painful pasts that exist; Bruce’s, Tony’s, Steve’s, Bucky’s. But don’t ever forget Natasha’s.
She’s a freaking warrior with one too many scars for surviving it.
An animation I did of my most recent drawing. Animating is so much fun and I look forward to doing more for future drawings. Prints available in my shop. Etsy | Instagram
— He can picture the door perfectly. The precision of the paint. The trompe l'oeil effect he couldn’t name at the time. The bee with its delicate gold stripes. The sword pointed upright toward the key.
One of my favorite illusionary descriptions of one of the paintings from the novel, The Starless Sea by @erinmorgenstern.
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Aaaaaaah Y'ALL. You have no idea how much this book shook me. If you follow my captions, you’ll know that I’m a HUGE fan of tweezer-plucking out symbolisms from novels to integrate into my pieces. It’s no irony that this book is freakin OOZING symbolism and metaphors, dripping from its pages like honey, and @erinmorgenstern basically served this painting up for me on a platter. Took a few liberties with the key accents, but it otherwise closely follows her description from the novel. ( Somehow Dorian’s character design ended up channeling sexy Aladdin? Not mad? )
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Truly one of many more opportunities to illustrate fantastical scenes from this world.
I don’t post about novels much on here but I’ve been reading a lot (For Work as well as For Fun) so I thought I would list some recommendations from what I read in the first half of this year!
(Basically, presume these all have LGBTQIA+ heroes lmao)
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Determined to prove his gender and his place in his magical family, Yadriel sets out to summon a spirit. He succeeds, save for the fact that he called upon the wrong soul, and is now stuck with the rowdy ghost of school “bad boy” Julian Diaz. All Yads wants to do is prove his worth and get rid of Julian’s ghost before Día de Muertos, but as the murder mystery thickens and the two boys grow closer, things become a little more complicated.
A vibrant and fun adventure (and heartening romance) with two charming leads (Julian, ghost himbo, is the absolute Best Boy), a rich and engaging setting, and a spooky mystery, all with a delightfully rebellious and affirming queer throughline. (CW: depictions of transphobia; parental death)
Even If We Break by Marieke Nikjamp
A murder mystery TTRPG party gets a little too real for five estranged friends now trapped together in a secluded mountain cabin.
Just the right mix of earnest and schlocky, genuinely gripping, and altogether satisfying for the part of my brain where my love for Until Dawn lives rent-free—but with the added bonus of a queer cast of heroes! (CW: somewhat graphic description of injuries; character dealing with drug addiction; general murder-horror)
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
In a spacefaring, magic-infused future, The Immortal Emperor sends out a call: a call that reaches even the rocky, desolate, and skeleton-filled pit that is the Ninth House. Harrowhark, bone magic prodigy, sees an opportunity to finally strut her stuff and gain some imperial prestige. Gideon, Harrow’s childhood nemesis, sees an opportunity to get out of dodge. The two reluctantly team up as mage and bodyguard and set off, only to end up entangled in an interstellar murder mystery and a quest to uncover the Emperor’s secrets.
Anyone who follows me here and/or on Twitter knows this one rearranged my brain chemistry. It’s good. It’s just really good. (CW: supernatural body horror; parental death; descriptions of suicide; a terminally ill character with some graphic descriptions of her symptoms)
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
Hani wants to prove to her friends that she’s really bisexual. Ishu wants to prove to her parents that she’s a better high achiever than her older sister. The two hatch a plan: pretend to date each other. Ishu will serve to “prove” that Hani has dated girls, and Hani will help Ishu get popular so she can run for Head Girl. Shenanigans, as I’m sure you can imagine, ensue.
Just a delightful romance that touches on some heavy themes with a real sweet sincerity. (CW: casual biphobia and homophobia; obnoxious entitled White girls doing casual racism like no one else can)
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Cynical, pragmatic August moves to New York with the aim of keeping her head down and leaving her past behind, and it’s all looking up when a handsome woman named Jane steals her heart while on their shared commute. But Jane doesn’t just look like a cool butch punk-rocker from the ‘70s, she is a cool butch punk-rocker from the ‘70s: somehow unstuck in time, and trapped on the Q trainline for eternity. It’s up to August to throw away her rulebook and work out how to save her girl, and it’s a delightfully romantic and sharply-written ride. (CW: descriptions of historical homophobia including violent hate crimes; missing family members)
The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
Saorise has impending doom on her mind, and refuses to enter into a serious relationship. Lucky for her, an optimist named Ruby breezes into town and suggests a romance with only the fun parts included: all the sappy, picture-perfect moments you’d seen in the falling in love montage in the middle of a rom-com, nothing more and nothing less.
Naturally, while this seems like a good idea at the time, such things are never so simple, and the resulting coming-of-age story is a fantastic exploration of love stories and why we tell them in the first place. (CW: terminal illness; parental death)
The Lost Coast by A.R. Capetta
The Grays are a tight-knit coven of teen witches, working their magic among the ancient redwood trees of California’s Lost Coast… that is, until their charismatic leader, Imogen, vanishes into the forest one night. Gorgeous prose, with a dreamy nonlinear narrative about finding your way home even if you don’t know what “home” can look like. (CW: mentions of homophobia, poetic yet gnarly descriptions of dead bodies)
The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Flora—disguised as a boy named “Florian”—is a pirate indebted to her bloodthirsty captain. Evelyn Hasegawa is a lady, shipped off to an arranged marriage with her luggage stored in her own coffin. The pirates’ plan is simple, the same one executed countless times before: kidnap the rich girl, sell her for a profit. But as Flora and Evelyn begin to fall for each other, alliances shift, and the two end up on the high seas in a battle for their own agency—helped along by an unexpected friend in the Sea itself.
A dark, satisfyingly grimy swashbuckling fantasy where the greatest sea monster of all is Imperialism. (CW: multiple, multiple threats and discussions of sexual assault)
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Postgrad student Zachary Ezra Rawlins borrows a strange book of fairy tales from the uni library, and is startled to discover that one of them is about him, recounting an event from his childhood that no one else witnessed. Trying to chase the book’s origins, Zachary finds himself on a beautifully bizarre adventure that takes him all the way to the underground archive on the shore of The Starless Sea: the place where all stories begin, end, and are kept safe, a place tangled up in prophecies and shifting timelines, and a place that is under threat. Downright enchanting—just as The Night Circus enchanted me in my teens, The Starless Sea arrives just in time to be Exactly My Shit in my twenties.
Fucking iconic. It would also allow suing rapists and domestic abusers with awards starting from 10,000, where if the case is won, half the money goes into a fund for women seeking abortions in other states. It’s modelled exactly from Texas’s unconstitutional bullshit bill. Anyone who opposes the constitutionality of this bill would also be calling into question the anti-abortion bill.
bbc atlantis // bbc merlin official books, arthur and the unicorn // the chaos of stars // bbc merlin official books, arthur and the unicorn // bbc merlin 5.13 // the song of achilles // bbc merlin 3.10 // landslide // bbc merlin 5.13 // becca fitzpatrick // (insp)
