#COVID-19 second wave | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

renthony · 3 months

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Just curious. How bad has Biden been at controlling COVID-19 in your view?

First: I already responded to a similar question you left on this post.

Second: Biden has been atrocious for COVID-19 safety and management. COVID-19 is still killing people, and our president has done a horribly insufficient job in mitigating that. "Better than the Republicans" is not the same thing as "good" or "effective." Biden's abysmal reaction to COVID-19 is part of why I'm so thrilled that the Uncommitted campaign for the Democratic primary has achieved some success. That particular campaign is focused on ceasefire in Palestine, but the People's CDC explained in a statement how Palestine is also very much a public health issue. We need to scare the bastard and actually do some of that "pushing him left" that people claimed they'd do after getting him elected. Though it seems to me like a lot of people just settled for, "okay, we got rid of Trump, we don't have to worry anymore."

Third: While I'm at it, people have to do more than vote. You have got to get involved. You have got to do more than participate in the presidential election once every four years. Join a union (may I recommend the IWW?), follow the guidance of The People's CDC, volunteer for your local Food Not Bombs, get involved in a tenants union like the Autonomous Tenants Union Network, read Riot Medicine, get trained in first aid and get involved in a street medic group, read up on your local politics and get involved on the small-scale, do something in addition to voting in the presidential election. Even if you're limited in how much you can personally participate, find the people who are talking about these issues and signal boost them, and share the information with others who may be more able to participate more. If you can tell people to go vote in the presidential election, you can also tell them to go do other things, too.

Now, with all of that out of the way, here are some links related to Biden's abysmal COVID-19 response:

During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised immediate $2K stimulus checks. Instead, he delivered $1,400. Sources: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Velena Jones for NBC Bay Area: "‘Too expensive': Bay Area residents shocked over new COVID vaccine prices"

Reuters: "COVID vaccine manufacturers set list price between $120-$130 per dose"

Joseph Choi for The Hill: "Free COVID-19 test program to be suspended for now"

Disability activist Alice Wong writing for TeenVogue: "Covid Isn't Going Anywhere. Masking Up Could Save My Life," and the follow-up article, "COVID and the 2024 Election: What Biden and Democrats Owe High-Risk People."

Laura Weiss writing for The New Republic: "Democrats Can't Keep Ignoring Covid in 2024."

David Cohen and Adam Cancryn for Politico: "Biden on '60 Minutes': 'The Pandemic is Over.'"

Alex Skopic for Current Affairs: "COVID-19 is Still a Threat. So is Biden’s CDC."

Adam Cancryn for Politico: "Biden Appears to be Over Covid Protocols."

Paul Thornton for the Los Angeles Times: "Covid Still Rages, and the Biden Administration Isn't Helping."

Eric J. Topol for the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. is facing the biggest COVID wave since Omicron. Why are we still playing make-believe?"

We should have free, universal testing. We should have free, universal vaccination. We should have free, universal treatment. We should have financial assistance for those of us who can't work outside the home. We should have mandated work-from-home for any job that can be done remotely. We should be emptying prisons and paying attention to the way disease and abuse proliferate inside their walls. We should have COVID-19 safety PSAs and government support for universal masking. We should have free distribution of N95s. We should have mandated masking in medical settings and public spaces. We should have a higher minimum wage. We should have healthcare reforms. We should have strong worker protections. We should have improved infrastructure. We should have a president who gives a single flying fuck about how many of us are dying.

And we have none of it.

But we sure seem to have money to keep dropping bombs, arming cops, terrorizing the vulnerable, and imprisoning innocent people to use for slave labor.

#original post #covid 19

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justinspoliticalcorner · 10 days

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Mark Sumner at Daily Kos:

Hints that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are working their way toward an alliance have been increasing for months. Trump has wanted to tap Musk’s billions to solve some of his fiscal problems—like the hundreds of millions he owes after being found liable for fraud, sexual assault, and defamation. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Musk might be offering something that Trump finds even more attractive than his bottomless wallet. Because Musk, along with fellow billionaire Nelson Peltz, is offering Trump a shiny new “data-driven” election system to stamp out voter fraud that doesn’t exist. On top of that, Musk and Peltz are conducting regular soirees with other billionaires to convince them to turn against President Joe Biden. Musk isn’t satisfied with cutting a massive check for Trump; He’s trying to cut any support out from under Biden by putting pressure on other members of his billionaire boys club. And he’s coordinating his efforts with regular phone conversations and meetings with Trump.

[...]

The budding alliance might seem surprising, considering Trump continually attacks electric vehicles, and Musk makes electric vehicles. Not so long ago, the two men were slinging insults at each other, but that was before Musk’s private jet started dropping in near Mar-a-Lago and Musk began insisting that the U.S. could only be saved by a “red wave” in the upcoming election. Now, according to The Wall Street Journal, Musk is considering an “advisory role” in a second Trump White House. Trump and Musk have found common ground on immigration, where both are big fans of the racist Great Replacement conspiracy theory that insists progressives are seeking to destroy Western culture by allowing a flood of immigrants into the U.S. Musk has repeatedly spread and amplified lies about non-citizen voting and promoted the Great Reset conspiracy theory, which insists that COVID-19 was part of a vast plot to somehow install a “world government.” That’s just a fraction of the long list of COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation Musk has promoted.

Right-wing X owner Elon Musk wants to team up with Donald Trump with the intent to stop nonexistent “voter fraud.”

Before he became a far-right mouthpiece, Musk left the Trump Administration’s advisory boards in 2017 over 45 pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

#Elon Musk #Donald Trump #Voter Fraud #2024 Presidential Election #2024 Elections #Nelson Peltz

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theofreakingbell · 8 months

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forgive me if I'm a little late to this? but let me get this straight:

Neil Gaiman asks for fans coming to his events to please mask for everyone's safety

when asked why he isn't mandating them he says he tried but the venues won't allow it

many people don't listen, or don't see the ask bc it isn't official from the venue, and show up maskless

Neil now has COVID (for a second time, which means his risk of complications is higher) along with anyone else who got infected at that event

I just. y'all. please.

If you are going to a fan event, especially a big one like a con where there will be tons of people, you need to be wearing a mask right now. Actors and other people who work in entertainment who meet with many people and frequent large gatherings or are part of con staff for instance are at significant risk of COVID from the sheer amount they are being exposed to, not only from acute infection but cumulative damage from multiple infections or long COVID and post COVID complications. COVID levels are nearly as high as they were in the first wave in 2020 and being vaccinated does not guarantee u cannot catch and/or transmit it(this study from this year says it's around 1 in five). Please be excellent to each other and do your best to not get your faves, their staff, or other fans sick.

why and how masks work and what types are the safest (you can get good masks in all sorts of colors now btw if u want to match ur cosplay or stuff, ProjectN95 is a good source, and Jelli has clear masks if u want to have ur face visible)

I wish Neil a speedy and full recovery, and I hope more people listen to him and others trying to keep fans and creators and staff safe right now ❤️

#FansMaskUp

#NYCC happening this week and I'm like 👀 good luck guys #neil gaiman #good omens #coronavirus #covid isn't over #covid cw #solidarity with neil here #comic con this year got a bunch of people sick too #this whole situation has me so angry. how many creators and fans have to be severely harmed or killed before the community reckons with #the fact that we still very much need safety precautions against COVID at these things #blurb

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reality-detective · 6 months

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"World Patriots, Rejoice: The Deep State's Second Pandemic Plot Unravels!"

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Patriots and Freedom Fighters, this is a moment to celebrate, for your unyielding spirit has once again triumphed against the shadowy deep state and their globalist agenda.

Your voices, your unshakable commitment to the truth, have played a pivotal role in exposing the hidden agenda, thereby thwarting the second planned pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The globalist deep state has been forced to abandon their malevolent scheme thanks to the MASSIVE AWAKENING INFORMATION CAMPAIGN!

Across more than 100 nations, their sinister plan has crumbled, with fewer than 5% of Americans succumbing to their booster shot agenda. Across the globe, consensus has been reached that the world refuses to bow to new lockdowns, and most now see a sinister elite agenda lurking behind the pandemic, vaccines, and lockdowns. Moreover, nations are awakening to the stark corruption undermining their two-tier governments, suppressing human rights, and censoring freedom of speech!

"Secret Vaxx Warehouses - A Billion-Dollar Fiasco"

Behind closed doors, the colossal failure of vaccine storage and distribution unfolds. Warehouses across the globe are overflowing, and the blunders are costing BlackRock and others hundreds of billions as vaccines languish without proper storage and cooling. Quietly, these vaccines are being destroyed, making this revelation a powerful testament to our fight against the deep state cabal.

"The Power of the Great Awakening"

This moment signifies a monumental victory against the deep state cabal and underscores the potency of the Great Awakening, spreading like wildfire worldwide. Your voices are the antidote to the deep state's lies, overcoming mainstream media misinformation, social media censorship, government suppression, and globalist narratives.

"Deep State Panic and the WW3 Scheme"

As the globalist cabal panics, they endeavor to concoct a WW3 scenario to fuel their illicit money laundering operations, extracting trillions from the U.S., EU, Canada, Australia, Israel, and the puppet Ukrainian regime controlled by the CIA. But their war machinations have crumbled as Ukraine's regime, feeling betrayed and abandoned, admits defeat.

"Israeli Civil War Looms"

Behind the curtains in Israel, the military plans to remove Netanyahu, paving the way for tribunals. A civil war looms, scheduled for 2024, as over 80% of Israelis lose faith in their government. White hat military strategists are preparing intricate Game Theory Operations for a bloodless military coup.

"Revelations Await in 2024"

In 2024, brace for groundbreaking revelations as military white hats and courageous individuals in the medical, government, and the broader pharmaceutical industry unleash hidden data on vaccine tests, fatalities, damages, and the corrupt agendas of global investment giants such as BlackRock, who manipulated, bribed, blackmailed, and laundered money to push through COVID-19 vaccines.

"Global Riots and Protests"

A wave of worldwide unrest will sweep through the streets, targeting the establishment in the medical, big pharma, big tech, and industries entwined with governments, presidents, and regimes beholden to globalist agendas and control. The depopulation agenda will cease to be a conspiracy, as the U.S. Congress launches investigations, intersecting with the 2024 election interference and the previous 2020 election meddling.

"A Planned Military Coup?"

This looming storm will be masterfully framed by the white hats as a meticulously orchestrated military coup engineered by the globalists, in collusion with the likes of Obama, the CIA, Pentagon, and the DOJ, extending its reach to the European Union, Canada, Australia, and the rest of the world.

Remember, Patriots, everything converges towards Q.

"Trust the Plan, Military Is the Only Way"

Place your trust in the plan, for the military stands as the only bastion against the encroaching darkness.

The revolution is imminent

- David Wilcock 🤔

#pay attention #educate yourselves #educate yourself #knowledge is power #reeducate yourself #reeducate yourselves #think about it #think for yourselves #think for yourself #do your homework #do some research #do your own research #ask yourself questions #question everything

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gumjrop · 5 months

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The Weather

All areas of the country are now at High or Very High levels of COVID Transmission.

According to the new CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) dashboard, all regions are experiencing increased COVID wastewater levels, with the Midwest being the highest. Nationally, wastewater levels are “very high.” Driven by the JN.1 variant, we are currently seeing the second highest wastewater levels since BA.1, the first Omicron wave in January 2022.

We continue to stress the importance of mitigating the spread of COVID, especially during this time of increasing transmission. Please continue to wear a high quality respirator mask (such as an N95) in indoor settings of any capacity, and postpone crowded events. In addition, make sure to take appropriate precautions when meeting with others.

Wins

Amidst this new surge, many hospitals – some responding to staffing shortages, and some responding to public pressure – have reinstated mask mandates. We celebrate the work of organizers across the country including those at Care Not COVID Chicagoland, COVID Safe Maryland, COVID Advocacy NY, and MaskBlocs around the country who organized a call-in to hospitals last week to demand they reinstate – and make permanent – masking policies. A coalition protest by Sacramento Jewish Voices for Peace, Sunrise Movement Sacramento, International Jewish Anti-Zionist network, Bay Area JVP, & Youth 4 Palestine Sac organized a fully masked (N95!) and tested (2 days in a row!) pro-Palestine protest at the CA State Capitol in Sacramento last week. ACTUP’s New York chapter has voted to require and provide KN95 masks at all upcoming meetings and actions “due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and recent surge, as well as to increase safety from surveillance at protests.” Solidarity means we protect each other, and these organizers are showing us the way!

Variants

JN.1, a BA.2.86 descendent, is rising to prominence quickly in the United States. Nowcast estimates predict that by 1/6/2024, JN.1 will account for 61.6% of circulating variants. According to preliminary non-peer reviewed data, the newest (XBB.1.5) booster helps to protect against the JN.1 variant. Conversely, older vaccines did not offer significant protection against JN.1. It is important to receive the updated booster, especially since uptake is currently low–according to a poll conducted by Gallup, only 29% of 6,000 participants surveyed received the updated vaccine as of December 7, 2023. This is in stark contrast to flu vaccine rates, polled at 49%. This is likely due to an imbalance in public health messaging–while efforts were poured into advertising the flu vaccine, not as much emphasis was placed on receiving the updated booster.

Hospitalizations

Weekly COVID hospitalizations continue to trend upward, now at 34,798 for the week ending December 30, 2023. The numbers for currently hospitalized patients with COVID are also increasing, currently at 25,430. In terms of regional trends, the Northeast and Midwest are seeing higher rates of hospitalization. When reviewing these numbers we must also remember that patients who are already admitted for other reasons and are suffering from nosocomial, or hospital-acquired infections, are not accounted for in this data.

Hospitals are overwhelmed. Healthcare workers are demanding support from administrators. Read this account of ER nurses at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx who say that the hospital executives are refusing to open up vacant areas of the hospital to accommodate the surge in patients – leaving the ER dangerously overcrowded and forcing patients into hallway beds.

Long COVID

A new cross-sectional study published in Nature Communications found that Long COVID patients with post-exertional malaise (PEM) exhibit skeletal muscle changes that are exacerbated by exercise. PEM patients are also found to have unique pathophysiological changes, such as amyloid-containing deposits in muscle tissue. These findings contribute to mounting evidence that COVID infection can significantly damage the body, and more research is necessary in order to fully understand manifestations of Long COVID. If readers are curious, summarized findings can be found in this X (Twitter) thread, penned by one of the authors. Long COVID research is important. This is why it is essential that all Long COVID research centers adhere to the strictest infection prevention protocols. Read this account of a person disabled by Long COVID who dropped out of a study because the study personnel refused to mask. We saw this same phenomenon last spring at Stanford during a study of Paxlovid’s impact on Long COVID rates.

Take Action

This week Jewish Currents put out a report on The Epidemiological War on Gaza, which amplified WHO’s January 2nd announcement that “there are currently 424,639 [reported] cases of infectious disease in Gaza,” an area with only 2 million residents total. With the ongoing destruction of hospitals and deprivation of food and water and environmental pollution from continued bombardment, the occupying forces have ensured the conditions for continued deaths even in times of ceasefire. Call your representatives and join a protest this week to demand a ceasefire and the reconstruction of Palestinian medical infrastructure towards fair health access for all peoples! Let us support Massachusetts General Brigham Long COVID patients by telling the hospital to 1) meet all patient accessibility requests including wearing N95 respirators upon request and 2) make universal masking their new standard of care. They can be contacted through their contact form, or by calling 1-800-856-1983. Rashida Tlaib sent out an email blast informing constituents of the current surge. The message included acknowledgment of COVID’s airborne nature, recommendation to wear a well-fitting mask, a link to access free tests through USPS, and information on updated vaccines and COVID transmission. Let’s contact Congresswoman Tlaib and thank her for this invaluable action!

Future Weather Reports

Starting next week, we will begin to publish the Weather Report on a bi-weekly basis. This will allow our team to focus on crafting action campaigns to push for a comprehensive public health approach to the pandemic, including mask mandates, paid sick leave policies, testing access, Long COVID research, next generation vaccines, indoor air quality regulations, and more. We hope to see you in our expanded actions to end the COVID pandemic soon to come!

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bloodyke · 6 months

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(aqui esta el articulo en español de CPIPR)

(link to english articule from washington post)

[image ID: the first image is a picture of a road on one of puerto ricos forrested mountains with the headline "Más personas muerten en Puerto Rico mientras el sistema de salud se desmorona." The subheading reading "Pese a las vacunas y a la disponibilidad de medicamentos para el COVID-19, en 2022 murieron 35,400 personas en el Isla, la mayor cifra de los últimos 20 años."

the second image is an overhead shot of various graves located in Puerto Rico, with the headline reading "More people are dying in Puerto Rico as its healthcare system crumbles." The subheading reads "Islanders died of chronic conditions and COVID-19 in 2022 at numbers that surpassed even Hurricane Maria's toll." : end ID]

Excerpt from The Washington Post Article:

AGUAS BUENAS, Puerto Rico — In a purple house along a narrow road in Puerto Rico’s Central Mountain Range, Margarita Gómez Falcón’s breathing suddenly grew labored one March evening. She called an ambulance and began a grim two-hour wait for paramedics to arrive.

Health services across this self-governing island have been deteriorating for years, contributing to a surge in deaths that reached historic proportions in 2022, an investigation by The Washington Post and Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism has found.

[....]

The case of Gómez Falcón, 67, underscores the many ways a faltering medical system has contributed to elevated death rates.

[...]

Aguas Buenas, a small, working-class town in the central highlands, had one working ambulance for its 25,000 people when Gómez Falcón called for help, so dispatchers sent a private one that had trouble finding her home in the town’s winding back roads.

[...]

Puerto Rico, with a population of 3.3 million people, experienced more than 35,400 deaths last year. That’s nearly 3,300 more than researchers would ordinarily expect based on historic patterns, according to a statistical analysis by The Post and Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI).

This “excess mortality” — a term scientists use to describe unusually high death counts from natural disasters, disease outbreaks or other factors — resulted in part from a covid spike early last year that killed more than 2,300 people, health data shows.

[...]

The recent jump in mortality is the latest warning sign that years of natural disasters and financial crises have taken a deadly toll.

[...]

“It’s been nearly six years since Maria, and nothing has been resolved,” said Nereida Meléndez‚ a community activist in Aguas Buenas. “Here there are bridges that no one has done anything for. There are damaged highways no one has done anything to fix. Here one says, ‘What about that money they sent us? Where is it? What are they doing with it?’”

[...]

Puerto Rico’s public health system was once the envy of the Caribbean. Then-Gov. Pedro Rosselló privatized it in the 1990s, in what became known as “La Reforma.” Most government-owned hospitals were sold in an effort to control costs and streamline operations. But the opposite took place: By 2006, Puerto Rico’s economy tanked and public debt ballooned[.]

Puerto Rico's healthcare system is crumbling (alongside many other public utilities - one notable such example is the powergrid, as many of you have probably heard about recently due to the massive wave of protests against LUMA the current private company in charge of maintaining it) due to lack of resources and support. This is a crisis that has been building for decades due to many factors, such as the installment of an unelected board of overseers who have control of the puerto rican economy due to the enactment of. PROMESA in 2016, the enactment of ACT 60, a bill that incentivizes wealthy mainland U.S. citizens to move to Puerto Rico due to the increased tax breaks they will recieve that include a 100% tax exemption from Puerto Rico income taxes on: dividends, interest, short-term and long-term capital gains, and an exemption from the local and state property taxes equal to 75%, the withholding of emercency aid and support after natural disasters (the most notable example being the absolutely horrendus response to Hurricane Maria, that ended with the then Governor, Ricky Rosselló, resigning from his position after his sexist, racist, and homophic Telegram messages that included disparaging remarks about the victims of Hurricane Maria were leaked.)

This also includes the contiuned privitization of all aspects of puerto rican life, including the attempt to privatize the public beaches, lakes, canals, and parks in 2020, and the attempt to privatize the Taíno Caguana Ceremonial Indigenous Heritage Center in April 2023, though these are only two of many many many examples.

#zenith.txt #puerto rico #boriken #boricua #puertorico #puertorriqueños #im not sure how to end this post other than support puerto rican independence NOW

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languagehealing · 1 year

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Navajo Phonology: Vowels

Requested by @okaylinguist | Part 1/2

This does not cover every possible way of expressing sounds, as regional varieties are very diverse, this is just a general guide based on my experiences with my family's language.

Simple Vowels

There are 4 core vowels in Navajo:

A = [ɑ] - Similar to father

E = [ɛ] - Similar to pet

I = [ɪ] - Similar to lip

O = [o] - Similar to boat

These vowels can be modified in three different ways: lengthening, shifting to a high tone, and/or nasalization.

Lengthening is indicated with double letters (aa, ee, ii, oo). The core sound listed in IPA above is maintained for all lengthened/double vowels except for ii, which turns to [i] instead of [ɪ].

A high tone is indicated with an upper accent mark (á, é, í, ó). When applied to a long vowel, it can either affect the whole lengthened sound (áá), or show a rising (aá) or falling (áa) tone.

Nasalization is indicated with a "hook" under the vowel (ą, ę, į, ǫ). Some nasal vowels are not written with the hook (for instance, after the letter 'n' typically). Nasal markings can be combined with the high tone mark (ą́, ę́, į́, ǫ́), and obviously also can apply to lengthened vowels. Though unlike the high tones, which can be over the first letter but not the second and vice versa, nasalization always affects the whole lengthened sequence

Constant tone + nasalization: ą́ą́, ę́ę́, į́į́, ǫ́ǫ́

Rising tone + nasalization: ąą́, ęę́, įį́, ǫǫ́

Falling tone + nasalization: ą́ą, ę́ę, į́į, ǫ́ǫ

Diphthongs

The 4 main diphthongs are:

ai = [aɪ] - Similar to bike

ei = [eɪ] - Similar to wait

ao = [aʊ] - Similar to how

oi = [ʊɪ̯] - Similar to bouy

Similar to the simple vowels, they can also be modified.

When lengthening them, typically the second letter is what is repeated (aii, eii, aoo) however for oi, I mostly only ever see ooi written. Another semi-irregular one is aai - some people I know pronounce it as long [aɪ], while others separate the long aa from the i sound more so. This is a case where the regional variety plays a greater role in my experience, as well as some words just preferring one to the other on a case by case basis, so I recommend just following what your teachers/resources tell you.

Miscellaneous Notes

Some people include subtle little "pauses" in their long vowels - not fully stopping and separating it into two vowels, but having a little dip in their tone, as if bridging a gap between the two vowels, especially if it is in the high tone register.

Did you enjoy this post? Do you want to help protect the Navajo language? Consider donating to my tribes' COVID-19 relief fund. The language cannot survive if Diné elders and youth alike are dying.

#navajo #original #langblr #languageblr #native american languages

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ourjobagency · 1 year

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Job Openings adversely-Survey

The Survey says that in the middle of the COVID-19-second wave, the career opportunities for fresher level permanent workers adversely affect.

To know more, visit-https://ourjobagency.com/job-openings-adversely-survey/

#job openings survey #current job openings survey #career survey #career survey questions #second wave of covid-19

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naturalrights-retard · 8 months

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For three years, innocent individuals, from the elderly to children and even unborn babies, have been intoxinated for no useful purpose by dangerous messenger RNA vaccines.

‘I was already an admirer of Dr Peter McCullough who features strongly in Unchain Australia . Havng met him, I am in awe of this noble Texan cardiologist whose every action is evidence based. Directly saving very many lives in his own practice through early treatment protocols, Dr Mcullough has inspired medical practitioners worldwide to uphold evidence-based medical practice in protecting patients against Covid-19, and to uphold evidence-based medical practice in protecting humanity against messenger RNA vaccines. Ally against governemntal overreach Christopher Mobray has helpfully provided this:

LINK TO DR. McCULLOUGH’S 13 SEP 2023 EXPERT TESTIMONY TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT.

File size is around 56 megabytes.

The full text is below, with apolofgies for likely errors in my transcription. Please email corrections to [email protected] or sms to 0400 764 197,

Expert Testimony by Dr Peter McCullough, 13 September 2023

Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen. As introduced I am Dr Peter McCullough. I am a practising internist and cardiologist and epidemiologists and I've been completely dedicated since the onset of the pandemic to doing everything I can to help each and every patient. These are my observations and this is my analysis.

There have been two waves of injury to the world. The first has been the SARS CoV2 infection, which preyed upon the frail and the elderly. And then the second wave of injury now has been the Covid-19 vaccines. The role of the WHO appears to be adverse in both of these.

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mariacallous · 7 months

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It only took a jury four hours to decide that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had committed large-scale fraud—and that included their dinner break. Leading politicians, investors, and observers, not to mention a number of high-profile journalists, in contrast, managed to stay oblivious to it for years. Two recent books illustrate how and why he got away with it, at least for a while.

The first one, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis, illustrates it by example. Early reviews alerted me that the book took a charitable view of SBF and his enterprise, and yet I still struggled to believe what I was reading as I started making my way through it. The preface is a flashback to 2021. Interesting, I thought—Lewis is taking us back to the day when he fell for SBF’s narrative of crypto-fueled do-goodery. That assessment was overly optimistic.

The first real chapter of the book is a litany of examples of Bankman-Fried behaving like an unbearable, childish jackass who lies a lot … written in the manner of a hagiography. “The funny thing about these situations was that Sam never really meant to cause them.” Lewis writes. “He didn’t mean to be rude. He didn’t mean to cause chaos in other people’s lives. … With him it was never personal. If he stood you up, it was never on a whim, or the result of thoughtlessness. It was because he’d some math in his head that proved that you weren’t worth the time.”

It does not improve much from there. Somehow, the villain of his book is John Ray, the current FTX CEO, who was appointed after the crypto exchange’s bankruptcy, and whose filings suggest that he has made significant progress in recovering missing customer funds.

The second book, Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud by Ben McKenzie with Jacob Silverman, illustrates Bankman-Fried’s rise and fall by painting a picture of the whole crypto industry as a hive of scams and villainy. Its basic argument runs as follows. Loose monetary policy after the global financial crisis of 2007-09 and bailouts of chunks of the financial industry produced a context of distrust that facilitated the creation of cryptocurrencies as an alternative to sovereign money.

A new wave of easing was set loose when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an economic crisis and led to a situation where asset bubbles were more likely. The main bubble that flourished was crypto, and with bubbles come fraudulent schemes—or so the story goes.

The juxtaposition of the two stories highlights an interesting aspect of SBF’s rise and fall: the class markers that convinced those around him that he was a genius, not a spoiled con artist. Sure, macroeconomic conditions mattered. In response to concerns about currency debasement and expansionary monetary policy as drivers of cryptomania, I would make note of the generous U.S. fiscal response to the pandemic that gave households plenty of cash to speculate with, as well as the boredom of especially the first months of the pandemic. I ended up watching all of the films Jeanne Dielman and Sátántangó for the first time; far be it from me to blame people for turning to drinking or gambling.

But macroeconomic conditions alone do not account for Lewis’s sympathetic approach to SBF. Lewis wrote The Big Short! The heroes of that story are the likes of Steve Eisman and Meredith Whitney, not Joseph Cassano and Howie Hubler: the people who saw through the bubble, not the people who gambled and lost. A Going Infinite-style account of the global financial crisis would find a man who behaved obnoxiously while assigning incorrect ratings to collateralized debt obligations and treat him sympathetically, if not admiringly. And that’s even before we get to the fraud that Bankman-Fried so clearly committed.

While the macroeconomic context may offer a partial explanation for the crypto bubble, it does not explain why Lewis and many others admired SBF the way they did. Nor do the regular features of every bubble—the fact that lots of money is involved, or that riding a bubble until (just before) it bursts can be very profitable, while shorting one is difficult.

A number of idiosyncratic characteristics of the crypto bubble, and of SBF and his firm, may better explain their appeal. First, there is the nature of the technology—can we say of the securities?—itself. While the underlying assets in the global financial crisis were tangible, cryptocurrencies, with their reliance on algorithms and distributed consensus and proof-of-work or proof-of-stake mechanisms, are very much unlike real estate. Who are we to doubt those who know magic?

There was a deep conviction among those who didn’t understand crypto that there must be something to making money out of thin air, even as skeptics pointed out that it was, in fact, just as stupid as it sounded.

All that was happening was large-scale gambling: Will the price of Dogecoin, featuring the face of a Shiba Inu dog, continue to go up? Will the official cryptocurrency of the Cameroonian separatist entity of Ambazonia appreciate further? What will this non-fungible token representing Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet sell for tomorrow? Nothing but a continued inflow of speculative cash could keep these bets afloat; no value or income was being generated by the underlying technologies.

Then there was the ideological edge of the movement. While the housing bubble was aligned with a political push to promote homeownership and a broader ownership society, those ideas never inspired the kind of commitment that crypto does among its biggest fans. That commitment is fueled by skepticism of government-issued currencies and an appreciation of some level of privacy (or an even more hard-line libertarian attraction to the ability to pay for illegal goods and services, or to evade taxes).

McKenzie highlights a related aspect of the crypto craze: its cultlike nature. The loss of trust in traditional financial institutions that he diagnoses created a desire for community that manifested itself in the creation of multilevel marketing (MLM) dynamics of enthused individuals spreading the gospel of the new currencies. The get-togethers and online communities that he describes in the fourth chapter of his book highlight how this works in practice—a world where “being scammed is a necessary educational experience in order to be reborn in the community of the free.”

For a more recent illustration of the bizarre groupings forming around blockchain technology, I refer you to a Bored Ape Yacht Club event that took place in Hong Kong earlier this month, where attendees who had paid thousands of dollars to say they owned digital art of an ape gathered to accidentally get blinded, reportedly by shoddy ultraviolet lights. Cryptocurrencies and related technologies are better suited for MLM schemes, because unlike mortgage derivatives, retail investors can easily access this gambling technology.

But to some extent, all of that was for the rubes, and SBF was playing at a very different level—one where he was able to con people as smart as Lewis. The cult-like scene most important to SBF’s appeal to intellectuals was a different one: the world of so-called effective altruism.

This is a movement focused, at least in theory, on doing good effectively and efficiently. It is associated with ideas ranging from the purely altruistic—such as kidney donations—and the relatively uncontroversial—cost-benefit analysis: dollar for dollar, do mosquito nets save more lives than water sanitation projects?—to more speculative ones, such as an emphasis on long-term catastrophic risk and “earning to give.”

Assessments of existential risk often come down to calculations involving small, hard-to-estimate probabilities, as well as difficult decisions around modeling uncertainty and the relative value of benefits enjoyed by future generations. This leaves a lot of room for rigging the numbers—especially when science-fiction fantasies about the impact on future generations come into play. Why eradicate malaria today when you could save billions of lives in the future from the threat of super-intelligent artificial intelligence—by investing in a buddy’s project?

That suspicion was not alleviated by the calculations a prominent effective altruist produced to show that donating $50 million to his buddy’s congressional campaign would serve humanity better than donating it to various charitable purposes. Earning to give, which SBF claimed to engage in, is the idea that instead of working directly toward one’s cause, one should maximize one’s earnings and use the proceeds for good.

This should, of course, trigger at least two concerns. One, how do you commit to using the proceeds that way as opposed to channeling them to your relatives? Two, once you place yourself at a remove from the good works, what constraints remain? Does consequentialism force you to violate rules, norms, and basic accounting standards?

Effective altruism is important to the story of FTX both directly—Bankman-Fried recruited a good number of self-described effective altruists to work for his firm, and he used the network to raise money for his crypto exchange—and for our purpose of figuring out why SBF was and remains so appealing to at least some outside observers.

A few examples: In May 2022, commentator Matthew Yglesias wrote a piece titled “Understanding Effective Altruism’s move into politics” with the subheading “SBF is for real,” a judgment based, among other things, on the academic work of Bankman-Fried’s mother: “SBF was raised by a leading consequentialist moral theorist.”

Writing for the New Yorker, Gideon Lewis-Kraus argued earlier this month that “one can’t help but feel like the existence of the trial, as necessary as it is, seems a little arbitrary” because Bankman-Fried might well have gotten away with his crimes. Perhaps long-termism, taken to an extreme, leads one to think that of life as a mere game of probabilities without real stakes, not unlike the video games that he so obnoxiously used to play (not very well) during video calls.

Either way, effective altruism gave SBF, and crypto with it, a veneer of respectability that it might not have had otherwise. The alternatives, like the argument that the purpose of our large-scale gambling is to give the unbanked access to financial services, were not an easy sell.

The effective altruism connection does not matter solely because of the ideas and human resources it brought SBF. The movement is one with close ties to elite academia, associated with academics such as Will MacAskill at the University of Oxford, who served on the board of a grantmaking operation funded by FTX and was a close SBF associate, or Peter Singer at Princeton University. Bankman-Fried’s father is a professor at Stanford Law School, though he also worked for FTX for 11 months. His mother is a professor emeritus at Stanford Law School, where she specialized in the field of legal ethics, such as it is.

These connections—and these are certainly not the only ones—may explain some of the sway that SBF had over America’s intellectuals. “None of what the Bankman-Frieds did was for show; they weren’t that kind of people,” writes Michael Lewis.

FTX’s post-bankruptcy lawyers allege that the couple enriched themselves by accepting $26.4 million from their son. Surely our kind of people wouldn’t do such a thing.

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sataniccapitalist · 5 months

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#thewaronyou

Another winter of death is now unfolding in the United States and across the Northern Hemisphere as the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus continues to surge globally. Wastewater data from the United States released Tuesday indicate that upwards of 2 million people are now being infected with COVID-19 each day, amid the second-biggest wave of mass infection since the pandemic began, eclipsed only by the initial wave of the Omicron variant during the winter of 2021-22.

There are now reports on social media of hospitals being slammed with COVID patients across the US, Canada and Europe. At a growing number of hospitals, waiting rooms are overflowing, emergency rooms and ICUs are at or near capacity, and ambulances are being turned away or forced to wait for hours to drop off their patients.

According to official figures, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Charlotte, North Carolina are now at their highest levels of the entire pandemic. In Toronto, Dr. Michael Howlett, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, told City News, “I’ve worked in emergency departments since 1987, and it’s by far the worst it’s ever been. It’s not even close.” He added, “We’ve got people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them. People being resuscitated on an ambulance stretcher or a floor.”

Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, told the Today Show website: “The current strain right now seems to be packing a meaner punch than the prior strains. Some features of the current circulating strain probably (make it) a little bit more virulent and pathogenic, making people sicker than prior (variants).”

Indeed, two recent studies indicate that JN.1 more efficiently infects cells in the lower lung, a trait that existed in pre-Omicron strains which were considered more deadly. One study from researchers in Germany and France noted that BA.2.86, the variant nicknamed “Pirola” from which JN.1 evolved, “has regained a trait characteristic of early SARS-CoV-2 lineages: robust lung cell entry. The variant might constitute an elevated health threat as compared to previous Omicron sublineages.”https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/1MGIQxPf0Ig?rel=0An appeal from David North: Donate to the WSWS todayWatch the video message from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North.DONATE TODAY

The toll on human life from the ongoing wave of mass infection is enormous. It is estimated that one-third of the American population, or over 100 million human beings, will contract COVID-19 during just the current wave. This will likely result in tens of thousands of deaths, many of which will not be properly logged due to the dismantling of COVID-19 testing and data reporting systems in the US. When The Economist last updated its tracker of excess deaths on November 18—before the JN.1 wave began—the cumulative death toll stood at 27.4 million, and nearly 5,000 people were continuing to die each day worldwide.

The current wave will also induce further mass suffering from Long COVID, which has been well known since 2020 to cause a multitude of lingering and often debilitating effects. Just last week, a pre-print study was published in Nature Portfolio showing that COVID-19 infection can cause brain damage akin to aging 20 years. The consequences are mental deficits that induce depression, reduced ability to handle intense emotions, lowered attention span, and impaired ability to retain information.

Other research indicates that the virus can attack the heart, the immune system, digestion and essentially every other critical bodily function. The initial symptoms of COVID-19 might resemble those of the flu, but the reality is that the virus can affect nearly every organ in the body and can do so for years after the initial infection. While vaccination slightly reduces the risks of Long COVID, the full impact of the virus will be felt for generations.

The latest winter wave of infections and hospitalizations takes place just eight months after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Biden administration ended their COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declarations without any scientific justification. This initiated the wholesale scrapping of all official response to the pandemic, giving the virus free rein to infect the entire global population ad infinitum.

A virtual blackout of any mention of the coronavirus in the corporate media accompanied the swan song of official reporting. From then on, if illnesses at hospitals or among public figures were referenced at all, it was always with the euphemism “respiratory illness.” The words COVID, coronavirus and pandemic have been all but blacklisted, and the facts about the dangers of the disease have been actively suppressed.

Summarizing the cumulative results of this global assault on public health, the WSWS International Editorial Board wrote in its New Year 2024 statement:

All facts and data surrounding the present state of the pandemic are concealed from the global population, which has instead been subjected to unending lies, gaslighting and propaganda, now shrouded in a veil of silence. There is a systematic cover-up of the real gravity of the crisis, enforced by the government, the corporations, the media and the trade union bureaucracies. Official policy has devolved into simply ignoring, denying and falsifying the reality of the pandemic, no matter what the consequences, as millions are sickened and thousands die globally every day.

In response to the latest wastewater data, there have only been a handful of news articles, most of which have sought to downplay the severity of the current wave and largely ignored the deepening crisis in hospitals.

The official blackout has given rise to an extraordinary contradiction in social life. The reality of mass infection means that everyone knows a friend, neighbor, family member or coworker who is currently or was recently sick, or even hospitalized or killed, by COVID-19. Yet the unrelenting pressure to dismiss the danger of the pandemic means that shopping centers, supermarkets, workplaces and even doctor’s offices and hospitals are full of people not taking the basic and simple precaution of masking to protect themselves. Every visit outside one’s home carries the risk of being infected, with unknown long-term consequences.

As the pandemic enters its fifth year, it is critical to draw the lessons of this world historical experience. The past four years have demonstrated unequivocally that capitalist governments are both unwilling and incapable of fighting this disease. Their primary concern has always been to ensure the unabated accumulation of profits by corporations, no matter the cost in human lives and health.

The real solution to the coronavirus is not to ignore it, but to develop a campaign of elimination and eradication of the virus worldwide. To do so requires the implementation of mask mandates, mass testing and contact tracing, as well as the installation of updated ventilation systems and the safe deployment of Far-UVC technology to halt the spread of the virus. The resources for this global public health program must be expropriated from the banks and financial institutions, which are responsible for the mass suffering wrought by the pandemic.

All of these measures cut directly across the profit motive and the real disease of society: capitalism. As such, the struggle against the coronavirus is not primarily medical or scientific, but political and social. The international working class must be educated on the real dangers of the pandemic and mobilized to simultaneously stop the spread of the disease and put an end to the underlying social order that propagates mass death. This must be developed as a revolutionary struggle to establish world socialism.

#the enemy is strong #protect yourself #protect your family

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beardedmrbean · 3 months

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Even liberal San Francisco voters are getting tough on crime and public disorder.

Residents of the City by the Bay approved ballot measures Tuesday to set minimum police staffing levels, allow officers to chase suspects under reasonable suspicion they have committed or will commit a felony or nonviolent misdemeanor — with the help of drones — and set up public safety cameras that could use facial recognition technology to apprehend perps.

Another proposition that passed requires anyone who receives employment assistance, housing, shelter, utilities or food from city coffers to submit to drug screenings — and denies them those benefits unless they enter a treatment program.

The San Francisco Police Department had prohibited officers from pursuing nonviolent offenders unless there was an imminent risk to public safety.

Mayor London Breed, a Democrat, backed the ballot measures as she eyes re-election to a second full term in November — while facing challenges from Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive, and current and former city officials including ex-interim mayor Mark Farrell.

“We want San Francisco to be exactly what the people who live here want to see,” Breed said at a cocktail bar surrounded by supporters as the results rolled in Tuesday night, according to Politico. “And that is a safe, affordable place to call home.”

Voters also overwhelmingly approved tighter ethics rules for city employees regarding the receipt of gifts and mandating the teaching of Algebra I in schools by eighth grade.

Ballot measures allow voters to directly change laws during elections without the help of their elected officials.

Following a spate of state and local changes to crime policies in recent, San Francisco has been dogged by retail crime sprees, burglaries, rampant open-air drug use and public defecation.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, during a high-profile TV debate this past November against former San Francisco Mayor and current California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pointed to the city’s downfall as proof of failed liberal policies.

Dozens of big-name businesses have departed the city’s formerly bustling downtown area since 2020, the year after Breed was elected. Drug overdose deaths also hit a record high last year, with 806 recorded.

The descent into lawlessness was turbocharged by the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread rioting following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in summer 2020, as San Francisco and other cities embraced calls to defund law enforcement.

Breed supported a $120 million cut from the city’s police budget in 2020 — but reversed course the following year and pleaded with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to restore funding.

“I’m proud this city believes in giving people second chances,” she said in December 2021. “Nevertheless, we also need there to be accountability when someone does break the law … Our compassion cannot be mistaken for weakness or indifference … I was raised by my grandmother to believe in ‘tough love,’ in keeping your house in order, and we need that, now more than ever.”

The pivot to the center came just in time, as disgruntled San Francisco voters went on the following year to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a progressive prosecutor and former public defender.

Before that, parents had ousted three members of the city’s school board for pushing a progressive political agenda and keeping classrooms closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

A former city supervisor, Breed was elected mayor in 2018 to finish out the term of the late Ed Lee, who died in office. She was later elected to a five-year term in November 2019.

She is still working to regain the trust of law enforcement officials, however, with the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association saying in November that her “commitment to dismantling the criminal justice system has remained a focal point.”

Breed is battling a high disapproval rating, with 71% of likely general election voters taking exception to her job performance, according to a San Francisco Chronicle poll last month.

The city’s ranked-choice voting system could also throw a wrench into Breed’s re-election bid if she does not receive at least 50% support in the initial round, as second- and third-place candidates often receive more votes than those at the top of the ticket.

#nunyas news #whoopsie

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upismediacenter · 5 days

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DALOY: UPIS Celebrates Return of Field Demo and Powerdance

The UP Integrated School (UPIS) rejoiced as the face-to-face Field Demonstration and Powerdance returned on May 22, 2024, at the UPIS 7-12 Gymnasium after a years-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The event featured performances from different batches.

This year’s theme was “Agos: Mga Kilapsaw na Nagkakaisa, Iisang Alon ng Pag-asa”. Titled “DALOY”; the activity aimed to inspire students to unite and work towards a common cause, emphasizing the importance of solidarity in creating a wave of hope and positive change.

DALOY was divided into two programs: the first was the Field Demonstration for Grades K-6, and the second was the Powerdance competition between Grades 7-10. There were special numbers from the UPIS Dance Company, Grade 12 students (Batch 2024), and the UPIS Pep Squad. Both programs were hosted by Mx. Ey Calso from the Health and PE Department, and Mr. Harold Badilla from the Mathematics Department.

FIELD DEMO

The performances and cheers for the Field Demo had to answer the question: “Bilang kabataan, paano mo mapapabuti ang kalagayan ng mundo? (As a youth, how can you improve the state of the world?)”. The event started with the opening remarks from the Dean of the UP Diliman College of Education, Dr. Jerome T. Buenviaje. Afterward, the judges were promptly introduced: Mr. Carlo Pineda from the Filipino Department, and UPIS alumni Ms. Danna Sumalabe and Ms. Tristine Anne Badong.

The first to perform were the K-2 students from Batch 2036, 2035, and 2034. All three batches wore blue T-shirts, differing in intensity of shade with Kinder wearing the lightest and Grade 2, the darkest. Their dance ended with the teachers blowing bubbles in the air and waving blue cloths that mimicked ocean waves. Their performance showed that your abilities hold the power to better the world. At the beginning of their performance, K-2 declared, “Saan ka man dalhin ng agos, sundan mo lang ang daloy (Wherever the current carries you, simply follow its flow)”. They won two awards: Crowd Favorite and Most Synchronized. Watch their performance here.

The next to perform were the Grade 3 students (Batch 2033) who wore PE jogging pants and donned white shirts with a colorful design encircling their batch number (on the front) and their batch logo design (on the back). They cheered about how, despite their young age, they will shine persistently. They also formed small circle formations near the end of their performance. They won the Best in Formation award. Watch their performance here.

Next were the Grade 4 (Batch 2032) students; they raised white fans, producing a domino effect and later on revealed colorful fans to surprise the crowd. In the beginning of their performance, they chanted about how they will forge a new path amidst the waves, and utilize their strength and dreams for a brighter tomorrow. They won the award for Best Interpretation. Watch their performance here.

The penultimate batch performance was from the Grade 5 students (Batch 2031) who wore colorful cloaks over white shirts during their dance. Their chant ended with, “Kami ang magsisilbing liwanag sa dilim (We will serve as the light in the darkness)”, conveying the message that the youth serves as light in times of darkness, and they are determined to use that light to make the world better. They won the award for Best Choreography. Watch their performance here.

The last performers were the Grade 6 students (Batch 2030), who wore red caps and a batch shirt with their batch name and a butterfly design. Their chant at the beginning of the performance urged the people to cherish the environment and to stay true to themselves, no matter what. They won three awards: Best Cheer, Most Energetic, and Best Costume. Watch their performance here.

The track “Go Up” by SB19 was the required song in the performance of all the batches while “Liwanag sa Dilim”, either as sung by Rivermaya or the All Star version, was coincidentally present in every batch’s performance in response to the aforementioned question of the event.

After the performances, the UPIS Dance Company presented a special number to the song, “Treasure” by Bruno Mars, indicating that the Field Demo performances had come to an end. Watch their performance here.

For the complete videos of all DALOY performances, visit the UPIS Media Center's YouTube channel.

After that, the winners were announced and the awards were given by Asst. Prof. Mia Baygan and Ms. Cathy Olivar, the advisers of the Pamunuan ng Kamag-Aral (PKA)—3-6 and 7-10, respectively.

The Field Demo concluded with the closing remarks by Asst. Prof. Baygan, who thanked all the supporters, the parents, and the students who showed up and gave their support that led to a successful Field Demo. The program ended with the singing of the “UP Naming Mahal” led by Ethan Lakip, president of PKA 3-6.

There were many challenges that the advisers and students encountered during the preparations for their Field Demo. These include the cancellation of face-to-face classes due to the high heat index and the changes in venue.

K-2 Daloy Team Head and Teacher Jessica Terante shared how the sudden shift to online mode affected their practice for the performances. According to Teacher Jessica, preparations included planning the timeline for the joint practices and goals for each week, shooting a dance video tutorial so students can watch/practice at home, and deciding on the students’ costumes and props, they reported.

Despite the challenges that were faced, the Field Demo pushed through and the K-6 students completed their performances despite limited practice time.

POWERDANCE

The Powerdance performances revolved around the question: “Ano ang dapat ipinaglalaban ng mga kabataan sa henerasyon ngayon? (What should the youth be fighting for in this generation?)” All the performers started with an introductory speech/cheer and answered the question through their dances.

The event began with opening remarks from UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II and an introduction of the judges. The judges for this year’s Powerdance were Ms. Mary Ann Ignacio, a K-2 teacher, and Ms. Liway Perez and Ms. Iya Oliva, both alumni of UPIS.

The performances commenced with the Grade 7 students (Batch 2029) performing in colorful cloaks and masquerade masks. Their vibrant dance showcased the flowy cloaks, ending with a dramatic toss in the air. Their cheer centered on how even when faced with big waves of hardships, they, the youth, shine as beacons of hope. They won third runner-up. Watch their performance here.

The next performers were Grade 8 students (Batch 2028), half were dressed in pirate-themed costumes while the other half wore civilian-themed blue attire. Their dance was filled with pirate flair, complete with props such as swords and flags. The speech that accompanied their performance conveyed a simple yet powerful message: anyone, whether mermaid or human, can contribute to positive change in life. They won second-runner up. Watch their performance here.

After them, Grade 9 students (Batch 2027) made an entrance, clad in contrasting black or white attire. Later in their performance, they revealed their vests in a spectrum of colors underneath the neutral fabrics. Batch 2027 hoped to spare the next generation from darkness, aspiring to be their guiding light. As their batch said at the beginning of their performance, “Kabataan ang ating pag-asa at sagot (the youth are our hope and answer)”. They won first-runner up. Watch their performance here.

In the second-to-the-last Powerdance performance, Grade 10 students (Batch 2026) captivated the audience with their all-black attire, their mouths initially veiled with cloth. Later in their performance, they cast aside the cloth that had been covering their mouths, and their long skirts, initially black, were revealed to be in different shades of blue. Their performance demonstrated how powerful the youth’s voices could be, affirming that they will never be silenced, regardless of who tries to quiet them. They were the Champion of the Powerdance competition. Watch their performance here.

All the Grade 7-10 Powerdance performances included a dance to BINI x SB19 x Jonathan Manalo’s “Kabataang Pinoy” as it was a required song for their performances.

The final act featured a special farewell performance from the graduating class, Grade 12 (Batch 2024). They donned violet shirts bearing their batch number (on the front) and surnames (on the back); their homeroom advisers and teachers joined them at the latter part of the performance. A special recognition award was given to the batch. Watch their performance here.

After the Powerdance performances, there was a special number from the UPIS Pep Squad.

The group performed multiple cheerleading dance routines that consisted of tumbling, stunting, dance, pyramids, cheers, and the renowned “Unibersidad ng Pilipinas” chant. During a costume change for the dancers, the drummers presented a solo. Watch their performance here.

For the complete videos of all DALOY performances, visit the UPIS Media Center's YouTube channel.

After the culmination of all performances, PKA Advisers Asst. Prof. Mia Baygan and Ms. Cathy Olivar and the judges took the stage to announce the winners for the Powerdance competition. Two Stunner Awards were also given to recognize individual students who performed exceptionally. The two stunners were Jude Camba from Batch 2029 and Xinia Maza from Batch 2027.

To wrap up the event, Ms. Cathy Olivar delivered the closing remarks, expressing gratitude to the students, supporters, and parents for their dedication and support. The event concluded with Francine Candido, treasurer of the PKA 7-10, leading the singing of “UP Naming Mahal”.

Preparing for the Field Demo and Powerdance involved various challenges and adjustments, according to PKA Presidents Ethan Lakip and Justice Aguinaldo.

“One of the major challenges we faced was the high heat index,” Aguinaldo said. “Due to this, many of the Field Demonstration and Powerdance practices were canceled, leading us to revise the schedule repeatedly to adjust to the new setup.”

PKA 3-6 President Ethan Lakip also stated that face-to-face classes were suspended due to the heat, forcing them to reschedule the UPIS days including the Field Demo.

The preparations that were made specifically for both the Field Demo and Powerdance event weren't just one thing— there were many plans and ideas that came along the way to be able to have the appropriate preparations, they reported. Additionally, the UPIS Executive Committee recommended holding the event indoors or under a roof due to the weather conditions, necessitating careful venue considerations.

"Our main priority was the health and safety of the students," Aguinaldo emphasized. She added that the PKA drafted a schedule for all Field Demo & Powerdance practices, adjusted for the high heat index and the shift to remote learning. They secured suitable shaded venues and managed extensive paperwork, including letters to secure venues and invitations to judges and the UP Diliman Chancellor, said Aguinaldo.

In addition to managing logistics, the PKA ensured thorough coordination with various parties, including the UPIS Executive Committee, Homeroom Advisers, and the students, to address any challenges and ensure a smooth and successful event.

//by Faye Obaña, Aisha Timbal, Margaret Tolentino, Athens Hombrebueno, Elis Reyes, and Aila Orillaza

#MC2025 #News #English #Athens Hombrebueno #Faye Obaña #Aila Orillaza #Elis Reyes #Aisha Timbal #Margaret Tolentino

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