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qlddemolition · 2 years

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What Is Demolition

Demolition work is high risk due to the methods involved and the instability of structures during the demolition process. A demolition contractor can ensure that every project is completed safely and within regulations, ensuring the health and well-being of you and those around you.

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Explosive demolition: Falling like a tree, Falling into Its Own Footprint.

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#demolition #demolitioncontractors #demolitioncontractorstownsville #demolitioncontractorsnearme #demolitionservice #demolitionservicesnearme #asbestosremoval #asbestosremovalcompanies

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wolveria · 3 years

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Inside Your Wires - Chapter 1

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Summary: Assigned all cases involving android-related crimes, saddled with a prototype that follows him around like a plastic puppy, Detective Connor Anderson knows this must be karma for all the bad shit he’s ever done.

He thought he'd hit rock bottom, that he didn't have much left to lose, but he's proven wrong by the android sent by CyberLife. And Connor learns just how much further he can fall.

Prompt: For the @dbhau-bigbang 2020 challenge!

Series Warnings (18+ only): Eventual smut, slow burn, fantasy bigotry, violence, brief noncon elements, angst with a happy ending

AO3

(Story moodboard by @uh-kitty-got-wet)

November 5th, 2038

Friday 11:21PM

The whiskey was harsh and burned like liquid fire as it slid down his throat. He dropped the shot glass onto the bar top and closed his eyes and savored the bloom of the cheap booze warming his chest. The music from the old jukebox behind him belted out tunes that would have been considered outdated when the place opened.

It was like this most nights. He was alone, exhausted, and well on his way to a pleasant buzz. The one thing Connor had going for him was that he hadn’t started in on his third drink until 11 PM.

That had to be some kind of record. On a Friday night, he was usually shitfaced by 10. Call it the long hours he’d been working, or maybe the fact he felt more self-loathing than usual, he’d somehow managed to hold off on spiraling until nearly midnight.

Definitely a record. And Connor deserved to celebrate.

When he tipped the glass with one finger and caught Jimmy’s eye, he nearly looked away in shame. The bartender had never given him shit before, at least in a verbal sense, but the cool stare he gave Connor now made him want to crawl into a hole and die there.

But Jimmy didn’t say a word, just gave him another dose of poison and turned away, leaving Connor in relative peace to enjoy the game. Denton Carter was kicking ass tonight, so at least there was that.

It was all going beautifully until the door opened and the sound of rain echoed throughout the tiny bar, along with a distinct smell of wet asphalt and dirty concrete. Out of the corner of his eye, Connor saw two of the other regulars shift in their seats to stare at the newcomer.

Not another regular, then. And by how lengthy the stares were and the sudden shift in atmosphere, Connor guessed the barometric pressure had taken a drop due to a pair of long legs and pretty eyes.

Turning his body only far enough to get a glance for himself, Connor was not disappointed, eyeing the stranger from their black dress shoes, up their shapely legs clad in dark jeans, past curvy hips and—

Oh.

Connor turned back in his seat, hunched over and grimacing in disgust, put there by the sight of a blue triangle on a lapel and a glowing armband around one arm. He hadn’t even needed to look higher for the LED to know what the fuck had just waltzed into the joint like it actually belonged there.

He nursed his whiskey, praying the thing would pass him by and leave him the fuck alone. Or better yet, Jimmy would throw it out.

No such luck, of course.

“Detective Anderson,” spoke a smooth, raspy voice to his right. “I’m the YN800 model sent by CyberLife.”

He elected to ignore it. Maybe if he did so for long enough, it would take the hint and go away.

Again, Connor’s luck was not holding out.

“I called your cell phone, but you didn’t answer,” the voice continued, unimpeded. “I then looked for you at the station after checking your home, but you weren’t there either. Your colleagues indicated you tended to frequent the bars in the area, and I was fortunate to find you at the fifth one.”

His eye twitched. This thing had gone to his apartment?

“Well, here I am,” he answered, dry and caustic as he stared straight ahead at the wall of bottles. He calculated how angry Jimmy would be if he took out his service pistol and shot it through the head.

Pretty angry, Connor decided. It would probably leave a stain. Also, he didn’t want to compensate some asshole company for property damage.

“What do you want?” he finally growled, scratching his nail into the bar top already marred with various scuffs and dings.

“You were assigned a case earlier this evening. A homicide.”

Already, a headache was forming between the eyes at the sound of the android’s irritatingly friendly voice.

“Yeah, and?”

“It involved a CyberLife android,” it said in that same smooth inflection. “In accordance with procedure, the company has allocated a specialized model to assist investigators.”

You have to be shitting me.

Connor grit his teeth and clenched his glass tighter, a flush of heat moving through him that had nothing to do with his blood alcohol content. A fucking android was sent to help cops do their job?

Fuck that, and fuck this hunk of junk.

“Good for them,” he answered as he tipped the glass up to his lips. “I couldn’t give less of a shit. Now get the fuck out of my face. We don’t need any help, especially from a plastic pair of tits like you.”

He should have known that wasn’t the end of it. The android spoke again, adopting a tone of what it had probably been programmed as “sympathetic.”

“I understand you may be experiencing reluctance to having an android’s assistance in this matter, but I am—“

“—ruining a perfectly good evening, butting your nose where it doesn’t belong and sure as fuck isn’t welcome.”

Connor put his glass down harder on the bar top than he meant to, nearly spilling his drink.

“I suggest you leave before I void your warranty.”

Connor thought the machine got the message when it finally went silent. He could even see its mood ring spinning yellow out of the corner of his eye before it settled on that annoying placid blue.

He’d just brought the glass halfway to his lips when it said, “I’m sorry, Detective, but I must insist.”

Connor set the glass back down and started to count to ten. He couldn’t lose it now, he’d promised Jimmy he wouldn’t break anything else after the last brawl he’d gotten into.

But the fucking thing just kept on talking.

“My instructions stipulate that I have to accompany you.”

“You know where you can stick your instructions?” Connor growled before downing the glass of whiskey.

It was a good thing he had, because its next words made him choke on spit.

“No. Where?”

Connor set the glass down, and for the first time that evening, fully turned toward the android and stared at it.

The damn thing was staring back, head slightly tilted like a curious puppy. It had large eyes to match the image too, earnest and innocent and entirely too sincere. Its attire at second glance wasn’t the typical android faire. A smooth grey android jacket and a dark, patterned tie marked it as something different. Unique.

And just a little too pretty. Every designed, group-focused imperfection on its face made it that much more appealing. Its hair was neatly coifed, pulled up and pinned behind its head, exposing the smooth curve of its neck.

Hanging down the left side of its face was a strategically-placed lock of hair that Connor immediately want to twirl his finger around. He suspected that was the point.

The further down Connor’s eyes traveled, the more he lost his train of thought. The perfectly sensible tie was lying on the slope of its breasts, something even the jacket couldn’t cover. Why the fuck androids had breasts to begin with, Connor couldn’t begin to fathom, and it seemed even more ludicrous now seeing them on a “specialized model.”

The android hadn’t moved apart from its artificial breathing, another thing about the machines that was uncanny. They weren’t human, and the fact CyberLife kept trying to pass them off as such was a goddamn insult to humanity.

He met the thing’s eye, gave an unimpressed huff, and went back to nursing his drink. If the fucking tin can didn’t understand a dirty innuendo, he certainly wasn’t going to ruin its pristine, virginal programming.

Connor doubted everything that had just gone through his head as those unnecessarily realistic tits were pressed against his elbow, without warning or any sense of decency or a concept of personal space.

“How about this, Detective?”

Connor fumbled, nearly spilling his drink, a massive what the fuck! warning flashing in his head as the machine pressed closer.

“I’ll buy you another drink, on the house. Surely that’s worth a few minutes of your time? And if not, you can send me on my way.”

Connor couldn’t speak with that voice right into his ear like a close confidant, sultry and low and borderline pornographic, so it was a good thing the android didn’t bother waiting for a response.

Instead, it turned to Jimmy and said in a louder, more normal tone, “Bartender, another round for the detective, please.”

Jimmy turned from where he was cleaning glasses on the counter, eyebrows shooting upward as he looked from the machine to Connor. It had backed up a few inches, but there were a lot of reflective bottles on the wall. Connor wondered just how much Jimmy had seen.

Connor gave a little helpless shrug as if to say, Don’t look at me, I don’t know what the fuck it’s doing!

But when the damn thing actually brought out real paper money and set it on the counter, Jimmy got moving. Seemed he wasn’t picky about where his money came from, and Connor almost resented the fact he hadn’t thrown the android out on principle.

Who the hell gave it money in the first place? CyberLife? What, did they hand it a few bucks of allowance before letting it off its leash?

Despite all his reservations, and there were a great many of them, Connor was not about to turn down a free drink. Or two.

“Make it a double,” he grumbled, purposefully avoiding the android’s focused gaze. He could practically feel the thing staring into the side of his head, but at least it remained at a distance and wasn’t pressed against his side like a drunk, horny badge bunny anymore.

“Thanks, Jim.” Connor took the glass and tipped it back, drowning it in one go. The slide of the familiar burn down his throat, spreading throughout his limbs, did quite a lot to help ease the tension in his muscles.

He released a heavy exhale, pushed away from the bar, and got to his feet.

“You want to play plastic cop? Okay, then. Keep up,” he said, tilting his head in its direction without actually looking at it. “Or I’m leaving your ass behind.”

Connor didn’t wait for a response, only raised his hand in parting to Jimmy, and pushed open the door to let the rain-drenched Detroit night swallow him whole. But even through the sound of the rain pinging off the hood of his nearby car he could hear the even footfalls behind him, just a little too close for comfort.

Fucking androids.

Next Chapter

#connor x reader #detroit: become human #human!connor #android!reader #dbh au big bang #my writing #my fanfiction #inside your wires #i make connor suffer but he's gonna be hard about it

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marjorieee125 · 4 years

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Best Amazon AWS Accounts 100% Verified

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plague-of-insomnia · 4 years

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Tyvm for the detailed answer about how to support my trans friend!! I was just wondering could you explain more abt the medical interventions for transitioning and its effects?

Hi again, anon. I’m glad you found my last answer to your previous ask helpful.

This is a big big question so I would suggest if you really want extensive details, @transgenderteensurvivalguide has a fantastic FAQ and an entire section about medical transitioning for trans masculine people, which you can find here.

I’ll do a very basic overview here if you want something a bit simpler as it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything. Do keep in mind that not everyone wants or is able to medically transition, and some people want to fully medically transition and others only want to do one or two things.

The most common medical transition for transmasc people, and generally the “starting” point is to take testosterone, the “male” hormone.

Some people elect to stick to a low dose, others start low and go higher gradually, while still others start with a higher dose from the beginning. By taking testosterone (generally called HRT, hormone replacement therapy, or just “T”), the individual will go through puberty the same way that someone with functioning testees does.

The effects are slightly different depending on whether or not the person has already gone through puberty with estrogen, and you can see more about all this in detail, with a timeline if you go to that page I recommended.

But generally, T will cause fat redistribution (away from hips/face), body and facial hair growth, growth of the clitoris, deepening/lowering of the voice, and increased sex drive, among other changes. It will also be easier to build muscle. The whole series of changes takes months to years, and can vary from person to person. If this is the individual’s first puberty or they are still growing, they may see more dramatic effects such as increased height, broader shoulders, etc. Again, I recommend reading that FAQ if you really want details.

Most people who know a transmasc person on T will notice the drop in voice as one of the first significant changes, but again, everyone is different, and it also depends on dose.

Besides HRT and social transitioning, some transmasc people elect to have surgery to give them a body closer to the one they feel is “right.”

The most common surgery is called “top” surgery and involves removal of the breasts and resculpting of the chest in order to create a flat look like that of a person who never underwent estrogen puberty. There are many diff variations on how this is done; some surgeons do it in steps with multiple surgeries while others do it all in one. Being on T isn’t required to have top surgery, but some insurances/surgeons/places do.

The other kinds of surgery are called “bottom” surgery and there are a few diff types. [Tw: genitalia mention follows.]

These involve using the existing anatomy to create a penis and/or scrotum, usually sealing the vagina in the process and sometimes rerouting the urethra so that the individual can urinate through their new phallus much like a person who was born with a penis can. Being on T is almost always required for bottom surgery (the FAQ goes into detail about why this is).

Fewer transmasc people undergo these surgeries. One reason is for many, their dysphoria is much more troublesome with their breasts/chest than their “bottom” area (and/or using protheses is enough to calm any bottom dysphoria they may have). Another, is that it can take many surgeries in steps to get a “complete” revision. And yet another is the current state of ftm bottom surgery is not in a place where it is satisfying enough in its results to merit the pain and expense of the surgeries.

There are other kinds of surgeries/procedures that can be involved in transitioning, but generally these are the main three. I hope this helped answer your questions, and again my box is always open if you have others. 💕

#poi answers #anon #transgender issues #transmasculine resources #ftm #tw genitalia mention #medical transitioning

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omeliashepherdhunt · 5 years

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Simple Ch. 1

Seattle was carrying on its stereotypical behavior with the nonstop rain. Owen hated having to drive in torrential downpour so late at night but another day at work got away from him with a steady flow of traumas. By the time he parked in the driveway, the clock on his dashboard read 10:28. Maybe his wife would still be up to see him.

With his keys and bag hung up on the hooks by the front door, Owen quietly walked through the entryway and into their living room to see what Amelia was up to. Part of him was disappointed to see she was asleep but he couldn’t help but smile when he saw baby Abel still latched to his mother’s breast, both of them contently asleep. He was a miracle no doubt. Born with Down Syndrome and ASD, he had undergone heart surgery at 4 days old to correct the hole in his heart. However he flatlined twice during the procedure which shook the Hunt family to their core.

In typical Grey-Sloan surgeon fashion, Amelia and Owen had been up in the surgical theater watching as none other than Sam Bennett operated on their newborn so they witnessed their son come back from the brink of death twice. Amelia decided right then that she would be taking an extended maternity leave. Abel would be immunocompromised more than typical babies with his heart issues, and he already had 2 school aged siblings and 2 parents that worked inside a hospital to provide plenty germs. Owen on the other hand was so bothered by what happened, he didn’t want to think about it ever again. In return, he buried himself in work so he hadn’t been home much the past month other than his one off day he’d take.

When Owen leaned in to unlatch Abel to move him to the bassinet in their bedroom, he took a moment to admire Amelia’s beauty. However the longer he looked, the more he noticed. Her cheek bones were more prominent, her collarbone was even more noticeable, and even her ring looked a bit loose on her finger. She was already a petite woman so her apparent weight loss didn’t sit right with Owen.

He quickly moved Abel off of Amelia which only startled her awake.

“What the hell?”

“It’s just me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“He was sleeping. We were fine.”

“I know but you can’t sleep in the recliner all night. Let’s go to bed. It’s coming close to 11 o clock.”

Amelia was definitely drowsy but was happy to settle in their bed. She wasn’t used to Owen being around anymore. They hadn’t really discussed it which in the long run would only worsen whatever riff they had, but she didn’t know what to say to him anymore. He just wasn’t around. Instead of focusing solely on their newborn son, she also had to split herself for the older three. Flynn had baseball and Bella was in gymnastics. Between two school kids, their sports, a very clingy one and a half year old, and their specially abled baby, both of which she was still nursing, there was no time for herself. She didn’t have Owen around to help offset the heavy load that was their life and honestly she didn’t have it in herself to fight with him about it. Amelia was spread as thin as possible and it showed. The house wasn’t trashed, but it was messier than they usually kept it. She felt that if she could keep the four kids alive, fed, and on time for school and sports each day, that was enough. Anything else could wait for another day.

“Well, good night. I hope the kids behaved for you.”

Amelia hugged into her pillow and not Owen like she normally liked to.

“They were great. Flynn and Bella are great helpers. He has a baseball game tomorrow at noon but don’t worry, he already knows Dad will probably be at work. Bella mastered her back handspring tonight so she’s really excited about that. Rosie is cutting all four molars at the same time so she is miserable.”

“What about Abe?”

“He’s good. He’s as strong as ever. Not at all scary.”

Owen shook his head at the very intentional dig she threw at him. While she didn’t care to argue, she would make it known how much she hated that he willingly chose to stay away.

“I’m not scared of my own son, Amelia.”

“Really? When was the last time you held him for more than 5 minutes? I mean hold him just to admire him, not just because I need to brush my teeth and hair. They’re only a baby once.”

“I saw the monitor both times his heart stopped. It haunts me. I’ve doubted my ability as a parent ever since that day. I wish I could forget that that happened, but I can’t. Instead I save lives. I focus on that.”

“I was there too! You weren’t the only one. Ya know, I would’ve never done what you did. Then again, I was never given that option. You have three other kids too. They miss their dad. Sam knew what he was doing in the surgery too. Abel is strong and he made it. We clearly aren’t on the same page but just know I’m done covering you with the kids. Flynn and Bella are both old enough to understand what is going on. They will remember when you weren’t around. If you can live with yourself knowing that, okay. I am so exhausted day in and day out. So do what you want but they know Dad has no true reason to always be gone.”

Not another single word was spoken from either of them. Owen didn’t like knowing how much he was impacting his kids. Apparently he hadn’t thought too much into it until now.

Amelia was woken up just after 8 a.m by Bellamy climbing in bed with her.

“Mama, Daddy is cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Flynn is helping squeeze oranges for orange juice. Daddy put Rosie in her highchair with some banana and the baby is sleeping.”

“Oh thank you for coming to see me. Good morning my sweets.”

“Daddy isn’t working today?”

“It’s supposed to be his weekend off so he shouldn’t...”

Bellamy’s face lit up but Amelia didn’t want her to be disappointed in case he elected to go in.

“... but if he gets paged, then he will have no choice but to go. Mama and Daddy save lives.��

“And if you and Daddy are here, there are people that may not make it.”

“Yes but we love you all the same.”

Bellamy curled up to her mom’s side, basking in the rare moment of being the only one with Amelia.

“Mama, can we do something fun today? Like going to the aquarium? I want to see the otters again like we did on my field trip.”

Amelia kissed the top of her daughter’s head, taking a second to breathe in the sweet scent of Bella’s strawberry shampoo.

“Your brother has a baseball game at noon but we can go tomorrow if everyone behaves today. Do you still want to spend the night with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Maggie?”

“Yes please! They let me help give Emma and Evan their baths at night. It’s so much fun. Will Daddy come to the aquarium on Sunday?”

“I don’t know, sweets. You’d have to ask him.” Amelia laid there a little bit long with her oldest daughter until she heard her youngest start to fuss on his baby monitor.

“Bella, go see Dad. I’m going to feed Abel then I’ll come eat breakfast with everyone.” “Okay mommy! I love you very much.”

“Love you too sweet girl.”

By the time the older kids were dropped off with their aunt, uncle, and twin one year old cousins by Owen, Amelia had Rosalie and Abel nursed to sleep for their mid-afternoon naps. Shockingly he had been at home with her and the kids all morning and afternoon. Now she was uncertain of what to do. Amelia wasn’t used to his undivided attention since typically the kids were running circles around them or the whole house was asleep by the time Owen got home at night.

Owen carefully sat down beside Amelia on the couch. “Babe, can we talk about last night?”

“What about it?”

Owen ran his fingers through his tousled curls. This wasn’t going to be easy for him but he could only blame himself.

“There’s no excuse for my absence. I have let my wife down and all of my kids. Sorry won’t suffice, I know. I am just going to work on being here. Seeing you last night with Abel still latched onto you and you both fully asleep, looking like a pair of angels, I noticed you have even lost enough weight for your wedding rings to not fit properly anymore. If there’s no one here to help you, you won’t have time to get proper rest or eat meals that isn’t pb&j and goldfish. That’s my fault and I hate myself for it. I have two weeks left of paternity leave that I haven’t used since I went back to work 2 weeks after Abe was born. I called Bailey on the drive home to let her know I’m using those two weeks effective tomorrow.”

“But why? You have been so happy since you went back to work…”

“Absolutely not. I’ve just kept busy. I let my entire family down and now I need to redeem myself. I love you so much Amelia. I love you, Flynn, Bella, Rosie, and baby Abel more than anything. I’m also going to make sure to bond with Abel has much as I can these next two weeks.”

Owen finished his long winded statement to see Amelia’s eyes filled with tears. “Owen, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say something like that.”

She hugged into his side and was happy to have him with her now. “It’s true. I promise. I’ll be right here with you. I’m all yours for two weeks straight.” “I love you. This doesn’t fix everything but it’s a good start.”

“I love you too. I know it’s not gonna get back to normal overnight but we can take it day by day together with the kids.”

#omeliashepherdhunt #owenhunt #ameliashepherd #simpleomeliashepherdhunt #simpleomeliafic #omelia #omeliafics #omeliadrabbles

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failtoplan · 4 years

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Future Imperfect - On Capitalism, Technology and Ideology

Looking out from the 31st floor balcony, it doesn’t seem high until you look down. Shenzhen stretches 80 kilometres east to west, but is only 10 deep, North-South. The city snakes laterally, littorally, between the hills of the Hong Kong border, along Shenzhen Bay to the Pearl River delta, like a badly kept concrete lawn, with clumps of seventy and eighty story towers sprouting like steel weeds. The 115 story Ping An Tower, the worlds 4th largest, the town’s own tall poppy. When night falls, the entire town lights up like a circuit board, streaming with steel and light. The immaculately kept, perpetually swept, cycle path along the Dasha river is filled with office workers on dockless rental bikes, hired by the half hour, headed to one of the city’s many tech clusters, downstream, deeper into Nanshan district. They’ve phased out almost all the old taxis, replaced with a fully electric fleet. The same for the buses. Pretty much every transaction, from street-corner noodles to legal fees are carried out with QR codes and digital wallets. Cashless, silent, sleek.

This is not ‘The Future’, but it is ‘A Future’. Two days a week I commute from Shenzhen to Hong Kong. The journey takes around an hour and a half, but the time travelled is greater than the distance covered. After getting stamped out of Mainland China and into Hong Kong at the vast Shenzhen Bay checkpoint, coaches and cars spiral up onto the five-and-a-half-kilometre bay bridge to cross over to the New Territories. As we roll up the overpass onto the bridge, the plaiting of concrete weaves carriageways from right-to-left and left-to-right. The first sign that they do things differently here. At least for now.

Hong Kong, like Tokyo, represents a certain obsolete near-future in the collective imagination. Having had its image and form repeatedly appropriated by Hollywood as a stand-in for numerous dystopias, the familiarity can make it seem almost underwhelming. Hong Kong looks exactly like ‘Hong Kong’ - a trait it shares with New York. It also feels like yesterday’s vision of tomorrow. The stuttering neon signs and diesel-streaked streets, PoMo towers and marble-lined lobbies are a particularly sharp contrast with Shenzhen’s unironic modernity. From its peak in 1993, Hong Kong has declined from twenty-seven to less than three percent of China’s GDP. But beyond the numbers, it feels like a city in decline. Slowly, megaprojects such as the Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai bridge and the China High-speed Rail Link are stitching the territory together with the mainland, bringing Hong Kong’s greatest fear ever-closer, becoming just another mid-sized Chinese city. With the perceived erosion of its Rule of law, the Special Administrative Region has become a contested space. The acute confrontation over the ‘two systems’ principle, is also representative of a bigger conflict between two ideas. Two visions of what the future could be.

Words can be problematic; they are both the obstacle to articulating a thought and the best way to try. This clash of ideas, in which Hong Kong is just one front, isn’t easily reduced to opposing pairs as the Cold War once was. Capitalism’s ‘victory’ over Communism was always an artificial, lexigraphic binary that pitted an economic system against a total political, social and economic order. ‘Capitalism’ is synecdochic, an easy shorthand for ‘democratic capitalism’ and the free and limited, markets, open societies and shared small-L liberal consensus regarding the primacy of the individual. Democratic Capitalism is Limited Capitalism. And it was ‘Limited Capitalism’ that ‘won’. The front line crossed by the arcing span of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge is not the battle between capitalism and communism. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is Capitalism unencumbered by Democracy. It is the front line between Total and Limited Capitalism.

Limited Capitalism was never an outright winner, but in its rhetoric, it strived to achieve the illusion of permanence. The rights of the individual – the societal sidekick to the economic superhero - has never been inevitable and maybe not even natural. Increasingly this relic of our post-Enlightenment experiments feels like a humanistic blip. In the face of Brexit and Trump, Bolsanaro and Orban, I have found myself increasingly having to defend the ‘pragmatism of the primacy of the individual’ to friends not just in Singapore and Shanghai, but Boston and Berlin. Yes, it is the freedom to screw up, but it is also the freedom not to be screwed with.

When measured in terms of human development Limited Capitalism has been a great success. But ‘Capitalist Democracy’ is a productive tension, not a synonymic pair. Capitalism privileges results, Democracy, the process. One is fast, the other is slow. The market is majoritarian, while the democratic enshrines the individual, not merely responsible to a simple majority. This makes elections, perversely, the least important aspect of a democracy. Limited Capitalism is an uneasy hybrid. You are free to consume, you are free to participate, but the between the two there is no equivalence. The human flourishing this has propagated cannot be measured by statistics alone. It is this tension that universalised the franchise, enshrined judicial independent and – aspirationally -declared Universal Human Rights. Less tangibly and more significantly it gives each of us a hope of genuine human dignity and all of us some faith in a societal-level trust. Maybe it was easier to win hearts and minds in the late 20th century with Right to Buy than the Rights of Man, but failing to promote the civil alongside the economic conflates consumption with participation, creating the opportunity for Total Capitalism.

-- Shenzhen’s subway tunnels are lined with motion-synced LED screens that animate adverts outside the carriage windows selling pizza and pet food station to station. My connected TV won’t switch on without first showing me a short film promoting the latest toilet paper or plastic surgery procedure. Pop-up ads and promotions are a pervasive part of every single product or service, physical or virtual that I use. Upsell, cross-sell, resell. The imperative to consume is everywhere, the Chinese Dream constantly reinforced as the route to individualisation and self-actualisation. Judged by the old Communist clichés of a “decadent West,” focussed on temerarious consumption, contemporary China is the most “western” place I have ever lived or been. One where I am no more and no less than the sum of my purchases. I buy therefore I am.

At the same time deep integration of seamless technology has evolved a new species of human as consumer, Homo Emptus. The local branch of KFC lets me buy a Family Bucket with nothing more than my face, using cameras linked directly to my virtual wallet which holds my credit cards and fictive cash. Recently I was walking through the precinct by my block, when a young woman ran up to me, apologising. Her cleaner’s phone had stopped receiving transfers and she didn’t have the cash to pay. Did I have any? Pulling a handful of 100 yuan notes out of my pocket, she pulled out her phone, scanned my wallet and transferred me the 300 kuai which I had in cash. In less than a minute I had become a human ATM. It was demeaning and thrilling at the same time, I imagine not dissimilar to the excitement felt by the freshly humiliated submissive.

Sometimes living here can feel like magic. But if you only immerse in the wonder, you miss the cost. Recently, a group of cyclists in Shanghai rode past a police officer, stopped by the side of the road, deep in an animated discussion with the driver they had just pulled over. The group, aware the policeman was otherwise occupied, slowly rolled through the red signal ahead, traffic light on a quiet Saturday morning. Fifteen minutes later by the time they had reached their café stop and pulled out their phones to pay, they had all been fined. Facial recognition cameras mounted on top of the police car had ID-ed them and then allowed the officer digitally ensure justice was done. When we are defined only by our consumption, this make complete sense, our economic life is simply ‘life’, giving the state unprecedented control in return for our convenience. Seamlessness may be fast, but to protect Limited Capitalism, we need seams.

The reality is though that our willingness to conflate commercial choice with civil freedoms has makes it easy for us to walk backwards into Total Capitalism. Using ‘Capitalism’ as a shorthand for so long has meant a lack of focus on the social and political dimensions that has allowing the market to perform as a poor stand-in for the whole. This has led to declining trust in the very institutions that underpin both our societal freedom and our consumer choice. The recent World Values Survey shows a minority in both Europe and the US of people born after 1970 believe it is ‘essential to live in a democracy.’ If this is the case then we have collectively failed to remind ourselves what ‘democracy’ really entails. It has also led to the bizarre inversion for many on the neoliberal right who see any democratic limit placed on the market as ‘undemocratic’

The rising indifference to the democratic can be seen in part as a consequence of Limited Capitalism’s success. Just as a fish does not know that it is wet, we take for granted the protections afforded the individual. We have collectively and systemically failed to remind ourselves of the importance of the water we all swim in. Political leaders and populist demagogues who owe their very existence to the small L liberalism that underpins Limited Capitalism have failed to give credit, choosing instead to pee in the pond for short term gain. Taking our collective socio-political foundations for granted has led to their erosion. Ignoring them has also reduced the success of a state to its economy alone. Whilst freedom of speech won’t feed my children, GDP won’t make them happier or more morally rich. This tyranny of the economic means that states which favour the fast and the outcome will be judged the best performing, outshining those that optimise for the slow, the process, the individual. By judging a state by its economy rather than their humanity, we set up a framework in which the Total Capitalism is not only increasingly easy to admire, but objectively ‘better’, with no way to quantify its glaring qualitative flaws. The fallacy that our economic lives are an adequate stand-in for our civic ones provides the ideological misdirection to pull the trick off. Only what is counted is valued.

Total Capitalism, by succeeding on these terms, promotes a worrying model of growth and unfreedom, chipping away at the old liberal consensus. As pervasive technologies allow ever-greater accumulation of information, we are reaching an inflection point, two divergent versions of how this data is used and its implications for how we live. Progress marches an there is a decision to be made, inaction is not possible. A battle that is waged by only one side, even one of ideas, is not without bloodshed; it is a massacre.

Unencumbered by the limits that the state apparatus of Limited Capitalism places on it, technology can quickly become dystopian. The Limited Capitalist model is not just a check on economic entities – as the EU has proved with its fines on Google and Microsoft - but also on governments. And it adds an implicit societal dimension to the economic role. When Apple refused to provide a back door to iPhone for the FBI, it was asserting its social responsibility, not just its economic function. It helped that these two impulses were congruent here, but the difference between that and the case of the Shanghai cyclists is stark. Tencent, makers of the ubiquitous WeChat Wallet in question, were doing nothing wrong by allowing the state to pick pockets; they were fulfilling their duty, legally obliged to do so in the People’s Republic. The FBI’s response to Apple’s refusal was that American lives might be lost, but people died enshrining the rights Apple was upholding. Do we still believe the defence of the individual is worth dying for?

It would be worth asking that question to the millions of minority Muslims constantly surveilled, or interred in camps in Xinjiang. Advanced monitoring technologies, sharpened to scalpel-like precision, have created an unprecedented digital panopticon. The whole region is monitored at a level of detail that previously would have taken vast armies of watchers and handlers. Now instead, the state has the ability to micromanage human life at a macroscale; facial recognition, device tracking and digital monitoring turn an entire country-sized region into a prison colony. Xinjiang is not just a tragedy though; it is a testbed. China has rolled the same systems across the entirety of its domestic train network as well as at every airport, port and major public area. More disturbingly, it is a showroom for the implementation of its own particular strain of Total Capitalism. A sinister demonstration of how to unshackle the market from democracy, providing economic liberation whilst maintaining total control. For parts of the world that were previously faced with the choice between an all-inclusive version of modernity, open society and all, China offers an alluring alternative, a cake-and-eat-it model powered by pervasive technologies and financed by Belt and Road loans. And it is one that has succeeded by our own ‘Capitalist’ yardstick.

Total Capitalism is by no means inevitable, and its vision of the future not the only one. Technology is neutral and can be used co-opted for community as well as commerciality. The liberal limits within Liberal, Democratic, Limited Capitalism have allowed it to do both. But our willingness to collapse the social, political and economic into one big flat now have left us at a critical juncture. Hong Kong’s fight is an imperfect allegory for the decision that we need to make about what we should measure and what really matters, particularly in the developed world. We cannot take for granted what we already have. An era is only named after it has long passed. It is up to us to decide if we are to witness the end of this one.

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possibilistfanfiction · 6 years

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where the days have no numbers (to slow among roses, or stay behind)

[yall were rly cute abt the fic where lexa needs to retire & they have hale so here’s a little continuation for u. lexa’s hip gets better n they go on VACAY! ao3.]

where the days have no numbers (to slow among roses, or stay behind)

if it’s harmed, it’s harmed me, it’ll harm, i let it in —bon iver, ‘00000 million’

lexa looks out of place, and uncomfortably so, in a hospital gown and the beds that on many warriors look tiny. but you’re struck again—as you are sometimes, when things are calm and the world smells like flowers, and lexa’s hair is loose from its braids and you are sure she has never loved anyone as much as she loves you—you are struck that your wife is small, and slight, and delicate.

she is, also, incredibly stubborn and sort of ridiculous, which right now is helping the pang in your chest lessen, just a little bit.

‘stop trying to take those off,’ you tell her, and try to be gentle about it, because you know she’s mostly just scared and not trying to be consistently obstinate.

lexa lies back against the pillows, looking impossibly younger in the soft gown, without any armor or warpaint. she huffs. ‘this procedure is for my hip, clarke. i do not see the use for all of these.’

she looks toward the oximeter on her finger with absolute disdain, and you can’t help but laugh.

she glares.

‘they’re just so we can make sure that you’re healthy the whole time.’

‘i am healthy,’ she says, and without swords and daggers her annoyance looks a little like a pout.

‘you are,’ you say, grant her that at least, kiss her cheek gently when she petulantly turns away. you smile against her skin, though, and you feel her resolve start to waver. ‘you’re very healthy, and once your hip is healed, i have all sorts of plans to increase your flexibility.’

she turns toward you. ‘yes?’

‘mhm, commander,’ you tell her, and her pupils grow in size immediately. you want to laugh because you have been having sex with her for almost fifteen years and still this never fails. ‘lots of range of motion exercises.’

it takes her a moment to laugh, but then she does, softly and with resignation. ‘i look forward to that, clarke of the sky people.’

you smile fully then, and tug her in for a kiss. her IV line gets caught in your hair and you have to carefully untangle yourselves, but she doesn’t seem nearly as frustrated as before.

the hospital in polis is coming along—she’d given you and raven free reign, essentially, to build an equipped hospital in polis, to work with the healers to blend both your practices of medicine. raven had been able to salvage some ark tech, and replicate it as well, and so now you have x-ray machines in polis, and three surgical theaters that are almost up to your mother’s exacting standards. you’ve spent your years setting up clinics in most clans, educating their healers, traveling with—and without—lexa to the far reaches of all of the land you could’ve never dreamed of. you’ve delivered babies, and treated head wounds, and tried to chart every poison and antidote the grounders seemingly have an endless supply of; you have given yourself to leadership and education and healing.

your mother had grumbled when you’d insisted she travel to polis to do lexa’s surgery here, but when you’d pointed out that there was no good way to transport your wife after her surgery back to your home, you had seen your mother consider having to have a sore, stir-crazy commander in her pristine arkadia hospital, and she had agreed.

you’re waiting for her to be ready, now, with lexa in this small sterile room that she hates, hooked up to all sorts of machines that she hates, and you can understand: she has been hurt before, but never electively. you think this sort of decision goes against her very nature: to give in to the way of grace, to let something heal her when the earth cannot.

but she loves you, more than you ever could’ve known, so she’s here, quiet and stubborn and grumpy, in this hospital bed. she’s nervous, fidgeting and stoic, and you adore everything about her.

you’re about to tell her this, or try to, when your mother walks in, brusque and professional, in her surgical scrubs.

‘ready?’ she asks.

‘yes,’ lexa says, very seriously, and you squeeze her hand with a little smile when she looks to you.

‘she’s good to go,’ you tell your mom, and her eyes are soft and understanding when she sees the two of you. it had been difficult at first, because of the mountain, but your mother had grown to love lexa, because they both want to give you the world.

lexa swallows and turns to you, kisses you gently, chastely. your wife—the most powerful person in the world who comes with cities that have fallen under her hand, an army that looks at her like a god—is scared, and you kiss her forehead. ‘you’re going to be just fine.’

love is not weakness, you have learned, and she is the strongest thing you have ever known.

your mom smiles gently as you back up and she steps up next to the bed, explains the surgery quickly once more, as per procedure that she insists on sticking to, which is comforting in its own way. and then she puts her hand gently on the side of lexa’s face, cups her cheek, in the same way she’s done for you, in a gesture of incredible comfort, and fondness, and tenderness, your whole life, in the same way she does for hale, now.

‘you’re going to fall asleep, and you won’t feel anything, and the next thing you know, clarke will be right here again when you wake up. it’ll be just like a blink.’

lexa nods. ‘thank you, abby,’ she says, and then turns toward you.

‘see you soon, niron,’ you say, and she kisses your knuckles.

‘ai hod yu in,’ she tells you, and this surgery is, in the long run, not dangerous at all—not compared to every battle you have ever seen her off to fight, every tense meeting among generals in the tower, even.

but still, you feel it, feel her and your life together, the very center of all you are.

‘i love you too.’

she smiles and your mom nods at you seriously and wheels her away.

you stay staring for a while at your hands, where hers had been.

she is just as obstinate when she’s out of surgery as before, trying to take the oxygen cannula out of her nose, generally just being a pain in the ass to the post-op staff as they usher you in the room with a sigh of relief.

‘my love,’ she breathes out when she sees you, stops her struggle against a lead stuck to her chest.

‘hi,’ you say, trying not to laugh, and sit down next to her bed, take her hands in yours—out of comfort but also stillness. ‘how are you feeling?’

she shrugs unevenly, a gesture so young and unlike her you wish you had one of raven’s cameras with you.

‘are you in any pain?’

‘pain is just,’ she says, then leans back her against her pillows like the words have taken a lot out of her. ‘pain is merely a state of mind, clarke.’

‘well, you just got a bunch of new nerves and twenty-one stitches after my mom reconstructed your bones, so—’

‘shhhhh,’ she tells you, and closes her eyes. ‘brevity.’

you laugh and kiss the top of her hand, which makes her smile lopsidedly. ‘get some sleep.’

‘i’m not tired,’ she insists, still with her eyes shut.

you can’t help but smile, because your mom told you with utmost confidence that everything went better than expected, and that your wife is, indeed, very healthy.

‘get some sleep, lexa.’

she’s still for a few moments before she nods minutely and then whispers, ‘stay?’ a little roughly.

you feel eighteen again, in love and blown away and aching. but now it’s easy— you have built a word full of peace together: ‘always.’

lexa is tired, you can tell, but the good kind of spent because you had hiked to the tidepools together, and she had told hale stories after stories about all of the small creatures you can find there. your daughter had been delighted, and you need to thank raven again for the camera she had managed to salvage, because now you have a picture of your wife holding your daughter while they peer in wonder at phosphorescent starfish, their hair wild in the wind, their eyes bright.

lexa had carried hale all the way back on her shoulders, telling you both about the different kinds of birds, and trees, and generally finding what you can tell is an immense amount of joy in sharing the ground with you.

it’s been months, and she’s regained almost full mobility, only feeling pain when it had gotten especially cold, and then it was mostly just stiffness.

when she had been well enough to quietly pitch the idea of a vacation to you—six whole days with no duties to anyone—you had cried, because you still owe your lives to your people, and you always will, but there is a sort of breath now, the same sort of healing that came to her bones.

she had brought you to this grand, single story house on the beach, one that apparently she had been having built for three years now, before hale was even born, hoping for this day. it’s the most spectacular gesture: the big windows looking out over the ocean; the aisle in front of them; the big bed with soft, warm linens and a driftwood headboard—all of it for you; all of it for your love.

tonight lexa grills fish she caught this morning, somehow managed to have something called a lemon to squeeze over them, and herbs she apparently planted herself, over a year ago, in a small garden on the side of the house.

so much of her love is unspoken, and tender, and grander than you know how to give sometimes. but you tuck hale in together and you take a blanket and some wine out to the beach with her hand tucked in yours, the air salt and warm, the waves of her hair loose and long—and you try.

this is your private beach, and you take your clothes off together and touch each other, like have for fifteen years, like you do with more care and attention every day.

she traces a tiny scar under your eye and you pay careful attention to the one down her hip, but then you don’t think about harm so much anymore. you touch her and she arches into you, and she kisses you—down your skin and into your core—and you look up to see the stars; you close your eyes and see them all the same.

afterward you laugh into her neck about the sand somehow stuck to the side of her face, and she wraps her strong arms around you and spells out words on your skin that you can’t follow.

you lie like that for minutes together, listening to the sea and looking at her under the moonlight, washed out and stunning; you are incredibly in love.

‘what are you thinking about?’ you ask her, after a while.

she hums. ‘your medical procedures are so odd.’

your lips quirk up.

‘i had to choose to let your mother harm me so that i could heal, in the long term.’

the way she says it, full of softness, makes you remember her all those years ago, when you’d first met, the way she wanted more than just survival, her trust in you, the way she knelt before you in reverence.

‘i am going to grow old with you, clarke of the sky people,’ she says, with the same conviction she does when she gives speeches as the savior of her people.

you kiss her, deeply, and when it grows too heavy you tickle her side and she laughs with a yelp into your mouth, kisses you softly afterward.

you say, ‘i don’t plan on anything else.’

hale wakes you both up in the morning, crawling over lexa with an oomph to plant herself in the middle of the bed. lexa groans and rolls over, throwing an arm over both of you.

‘rest, strikon,’ she says, her morning voice rough and only one eye peeking open. you kiss hale’s forehead with a little laugh when she huffs but snuggles up against your chest and sighs into it.

she’s quiet for a few minutes but then wrinkles her nose and sits up, her little fist held high.

‘why is there san, mama?’

‘sand,’ you say, and you can feel yourself blushing, even though lexa glares at you both and hale has no idea what’s going on. ‘and, um, we were playing in it last night before bed.’

lexa snorts from below her pillow and that’s all it takes for hale to squeal in delight and pile on top of her, mixed english and trigedesleng about playing in the sand almost in full sentences, and lexa laughs and turns over and hugs hale to her chest, blowing a raspberry against her cheek.

your heart is full, and whole, and hale reaches for you and pulls you toward both of them, into a clumsy embrace where you knock limbs and feel the summer sweat already beginning. your chest aches, and the air is warm; you are at peace and your wife is looking at you like you are the first person any sort of gods ever found holy: you are so far from harm.

#possibilist #possibilistfanfiction #no plot 2.0 but its CUTE!#moms! vacation!#clexa fanfiction #clexa week 2018

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aalt-ctrl-del · 2 years

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one of the things we may see come from covid, is the pressure for America to shift into Universal Healthcare system.

And before people go, “nah, that’ll never happen.” or “hah, no. Loser!” Or even get sort of excited for the prospect, I will go over some few projections I have.

America, if this country shifts to that system, will not see it done overnight. It will take a decade, or more. It will be hammered and heehawed over in the oncoming elections, or the next 2, before it can gain traction. But it will be brought under scrutiny and become a center piece in our coming elections.

Why will America shift to Universal Heathcare? A lot of reason for this, actually.

If my projections for the covid virus and its behavior are accurate, as my projections have been since March 2020, the variants which are produced by covid-19 and its children will have severe effects on the general population. Because there is such discrepancy with what a variant is and why each prominent mischief worries us, those who deny that covid is a threat to our society and economy, will court the unknown threat and inevitably develop the hemolytic properties the covid virus passes to its host carrier.

A person can stack variants. Patients have contracted both 19 and delta simultaneously, because the two strains of virus are not the same. This may be why some people seem to contract covid several times a year, aside from everything about this virus and its behavior being a cluster fuck disaster (relapses aside) the US can be a producer of variants. We have enough dumbasses for this. But the Variants of covid may be so similar that our top epidemiologists cannot differentiate the two viruses.

Likewise, not every variant is a successful new strain or long lived. As I’ve noted, the bulk of variants that come about are short lived - either they are too fatal and do not travel far due to incapacitating the host carrier, or variant is too weak the immune system destroys it upon initial encounter - due to natural immunity or prior vaccination. A new, SUCCESSFUL variant MUST come into existence every 6 months - this follows two factors of the virus life cycle. 1) the virus follows natural herd migrations - it spreads a new variant to new reservoirs (blood) to germinate and spread, where antibodies are not present. And 2) the incubation of the virus and subsequent course of infection, wherein the host carrier reaches Peak Infection Rate (PIR), and can spread optimally to new herds before the host begins recovery, or perishes.

What the fuck does all this Virus variation talk have to do with shuffling American out of third-world country mode? Well, I’ve given all relevant data.

Those who recover from covid, or from one of the variants masquerading as 19, may be more susceptible to a new variant infection - as in the case of delta, which has a blitzkrieg manner of infection. I believe Delta was not cited as more deadly than 19, but survivors were far more likely to come away with permanent health issues. The long-term or ongoing adverse health effects of 19 and delta remain unknown, and may not manifest fully in the general population for another 3 to 10 years.

This is pulled from our experience with the Polio virus, which has historical similarities to covid, though they are far from similar in terms of family or genus.

Seriously. You should read up about Polio.

How does this affect the America for shifting to the Universal Healthcare system? I hear you screaming. This is how it works.

Covid 19 affects the blood or the bonemarrow - I’m leaning on the hemolytic anemia which the majority who are asymptomatic for covid 19 express. In the past, the majority of children fully recovered from polio virus and many did rehabilitate from the paralytic affects, however, many still suffered nerve damage and ongoing adverse effects 5 - 15 years post recovery.

But this all comes about once the population followed strict vaccination procedures and worked in unity to purge out the polio virus. All of this was achievable, because Polio is less transmissible and much more difficult to contract, than our ongoing covid crisis. And that, with the heavy division caused, and certain groups perpetuating misinformation regarding the severity of covid 19. Covid is far more adaptive, and capable of leaping species, which augments its capacity for making stronger, more virulent strains of the virus. Covid is very versatile and the perfect predator. All of this is an exponential increase of destruction, to those who persist that the virus does not warrant concern.

This will inevitably lead up to the systemic destruction of a population across the nation, which will then require routine medical therapy in order to maintain function. This therapy treatment will be anything from oxygen tanks, bone marrow transplants, angiostent, other transplants from organ failure.

Today, we are seeing the demands for such treatments in those who had severe covid. People have had lung transplants, limbs amputated due to clotting, and strokes - this is all the beginning. This has only been 2 years with a highly adaptive, illusive infection, capable of jumping species.

If a percentage of a poplation in each state succumbs to chronic effects of post-covid syndrome, we will have clusters of people highly dependent on intervention aid in order to function. Because the percentage of people who begin manifesting ongoing, covid-trauma, may also not be able to return to work. As is the case with many long-haulers today.

Likewise today, we are seeing issues with individuals who are not chronically ill with covid, struggling to find resources and assistance with their ongoing illnesses - unrelated to covid. Today, many are unable to secure procedures they need to function, or have been waiting a year for, because the health care system is overrun with lunatics trying to exercise their ‘freedumbs”. People are having to wait an extensive time for wound care/therapy, to secure medications - due to shortages in supply distribution brought on by idiots. We are seeing a lot of issues TODAY, which others claim that Universal Healthcare is ‘plagued’ by. long waits, and questionable care - because our healthcare workers are being demanded to die for idiots entitled to luxuries.

A shortage of health care workers multiplied by the number in a population, insisting on carrying and spreading a highly adaptive and contagious pathogen, will push the America economy to a breaking point. It will be a sum of all these ends, which will throw this question into the presidential debates. It is possible by then, there won’t be a debate about the issue. There will be no more facts, opinions, or case studies to argue around. The country will have too many struggling people who cannot get out to work, without medical intervention to grant them the capacity to get down the walk.

It may not even be an issue that American will be allowed to squabble about. It may come down to the top nations observing our behavior, and the contagions the America colonies are breeding, and it may come down to a unanimous agreement that the America government insure the people are looked after regardless of income or status, or there will be problems.

At this point, America is producing at least 5% of variant strains. At this reach, we might see a .1% chance of a viable variant emerging in the next 6 months - come the beginning of March.

At some point, the politicians will no longer be able to debate about whether or not who should pay the medical bills when their people go to hospital. As we move forward, we will have more conversations regarding who should pay the hospital bill - is it the voter, the state, the insurance company. The majority of the American population, an estimated 80 Million, are doing everything in their power to mitigate the spread of the virus and keep themselves safe. 70 Million Americans insist on doing the opposite.

So. Who is responsible for the deviant 70 Million?

#covid #delta #universal health care #rambling #.001 #That seems like a low number #but you have to figure a lot of variants come out of covid #delta might be a big variant maker but I dont think its variants are viable or long lived #delta can make a strong variant but it seems like a 3 sort of scenario #like every three cycles were delta makes a variant only on the third would it be viable to replicate #but that doesn't insure the variant is as contagious or far spreading because delta has a short incubation period of 3-5 days #then PIR happens but by then the host carrier is incapacitated

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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Which Democratic Candidate Would Republicans Vote For

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/which-democratic-candidate-would-republicans-vote-for/

Which Democratic Candidate Would Republicans Vote For

How Are Primary Elections Conducted In California

Why lifelong Republican voted for a Democratic candidate in GA

All candidates for voter-nominated offices are listed on one ballot and only the top two vote-getters in the primary election regardless of party preference move on to the general election. Write-in candidates for voter-nominated offices can only run in the primary election. A write-in candidate will only move on to the general election if the candidate is one of the top two vote-getters in the primary election.

Prior to the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, the top vote-getter from each qualified political party, as well as any write-in candidate who received a certain percentage of votes, moved on to the general election.

The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act does not apply to candidates running for U.S. President, county central committee, or local office.

Why You Need To Vote In The Primary Elections

True or false. You only need to vote in the November presidential election and not the primary elections.

FALSE!

For most American voters, the presidential primary elections matter more than the general election. Like Ive said before, if you live in a red state or a blue state, your vote in the presidential election wont make a difference. The rest of your state will overwhelming vote for a Democrat or a Republican. Your vote wont change your states outcome. .

But the primary elections are an entirely different story.

The presidential primaries determine who will represent the Republicans and the Democrats during the November election. Instead of voting between just 2 candidates, you have the choice of 3 Democrats or 12 Republicans. Unlike the general election, you actually have a chance of voting for your preferred candidate, not just the lesser of two evils.

How Do I Register To Vote

You have a few options:

If you have a New York drivers license or state ID from the Department of Motor Vehicles, you can register online using this tool from NYC Votes and TurboVote.

If you dont have a New York drivers license or state ID, the law requires that you sign a form and mail it to the Board of Elections office.

You can use this site to have the forms mailed to you, or you can and print the forms yourself to fill out and mail in. If you request to have the forms sent to you, they come with a pre-addressed envelope to return them.

You will be asked to plug in your name as it appears on your state ID. If you dont have one, thats OK. Just put how your name appears on official documents.

If you need language access or you want to help someone register to vote in another language, you can download the registration forms and FAQs in a bunch of languages here.

You can also request voter registration forms in various languages by calling 1-866-VOTENYC.

Lastly, you can pick up voter registration forms at any library branch, any post office or any city agency office.

After you fill them out, mail them to the BOEs main office:

Board of Elections

New York, NY 10004-1609

And make sure its postmarked by May 28.

Other materials needed: If you dont have a state ID, you will need to provide the last four digits of your Social Security number.

Don’t Miss: Democrats More Educated Than Republicans

Listen To The Podcast Episode

A dizzying selection of 46 candidates appear on the ballot in California’s recall election. Here’s a closer look at four of them three Republicans and one Democrat.

Aired: August 23, 2021 |

Early voting is underway in the Sept. 14 recall election that will decide whether California Gov. Gavin Newsom will be removed from office. The first question on the ballot is a simple yes or no: Should Newsom be recalled?

The second question who should replace Newsom if the recall passes has many voters scratching their heads. Forty-six candidates appear on the ballot, most of them longshots with little to no name recognition or political experience.

KPBS chose to examine the four replacement candidates who have most frequently polled near the top and have raised the most money. Here are details on those four.

Conservative radio host Larry Elder has led in most polls, likely helped by his national profile. But his right-wing politics would be a dramatic departure from the leftward trend in California.

Elder, who is Black, denies the existence of system racism. He opposes gun control, abortion rights and clings to the outdated term “illegal alien” to describe immigrants who are in the country without legal permission.

Elder also believes the minimum wage should be abolished.

Aired 8/23/21 on KPBS News

Listen to this story by Andrew Bowen.

Democratic Majority Whip Says He’s Disappointed But Not Surprised Republicans Voted To Block The Bill

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic Majority Whip, said on CNN that he was “disappointed but not surprised” that Republicans voted to block the sweeping voting rights bill today.

“I thought perhaps some of the;Republicans would step up and;say that this national strategy;of changing state laws and;making it more difficult was;just wrong, but they didn’t.;They stood together,” he said.

Durbin went on to criticize Republicans as “the party that is supporting voter suppression.”

“I hope they understand, as we;do, that going in history as a;party that is supporting voter;suppression is not a good place.;For many decades, the Democratic;party of the early 20th century;was that party.;I’m not proud of that moment,;and I don’t make any excuses for;it.;I don’t want to be part of it in;the future, and I hope many;Republicans feel the same,” he said.

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What You Need To Know

The Democrats voting and election bill failed to advance in the Senate after a procedural vote to open debate on the legislation was defeated by a tally of 50-50, falling short of the 60 votes needed to succeed.

Senate Democrats pitched the legislation as necessary to counter efforts by GOP-led legislatures to swiftly pass state laws that would impose restrictions on voting.;

All 50 Senate Republicans united in opposing the bill, having decried it as a partisan power grab and federal overreach into state voting and election systems.

Our live coverage has ended. Read more about today’s vote here.

List Of Registered 2024 Presidential Candidates

The following table lists candidates who filed with the FEC to run for president. Some applicants used pseudonyms; candidate names and party affiliations are written as they appeared on the FEC website on the date that they initially filed with the FEC.

Candidates who have filed for the 2024 presidential election Candidate

Also Check: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

Democrats Are United In Support Of Cooperation With Us Allies Differ On Importance Of Us Military Superiority

Democratic registered voters overwhelmingly agree that the United States should address the interests of its allies when conducting foreign policy. This view varies little among supporters of Democratic presidential candidates.

Fully 87% of Democratic voters say the U.S. should take into the account the interests of its allies when making foreign policy decisions, even if it means making compromises with them. Few say the U.S. should follow its own national interests, even when its allies strongly disagree.

Republican and Republican-leaning voters are divided over whether the United States should follow its own national interests, even when allies disagree or address the interests of allies, even if this means compromises .

There is far less agreement among Democrats in views of whether U.S. policy should work to maintain its global military superiority. Among Democratic voters who name Warren as their first choice for the nomination, 65% say that in the future it would be acceptable if another country became as militarily powerful as the U.S.; just 31% say U.S. policies should try to maintain its position as the worlds only military superpower.

Majorities of those who support Sanders and Buttigieg also say it would be acceptable if another country became as militarily powerful as the U.S.

Republican voters, by a margin of about 4-to-1 , say U.S. policies should try to keep it that America is the only military superpower.

Recent History Isn’t As Bleak As Dems Might Think

California Primary 2020: Why independents can vote for Democrats, but not for Republicans

In 2020, national Democrats looked to Texas with hope and helped raise money for State House races they thought could be flipped to take control of the chamber in Austin. The goal was to have Democrats steering the wheel when redistricting maps were drawn in 2021.;

The Democrats didnât lose any seats, but they didnât pick up any either.;

That election came on the heels of 2018 when Texas Democrats flipped 12 seats in the State House and former congressman Beto OâRourke came within 2.5 percentage points of beating Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.;

While 2020 may have been a disappointment after 2018, the Democratsâ position needs to be put into perspective, Van Meter said.

“Texas Democrats have spent the last 20 years trying to build up infrastructure in a state where everyone believes that it’s not possible to elect a Democrat,â she said.;

More and more Democratic candidates have entered local and state races in recent years after decades of election cycles when there would often be no opposition challengers to the Republican candidates.

Democratsâ momentum in 2020 continued with increased registration and voter turnout, she said.;

âIt just so happened that so did the Republicans,â Van Meter said.

The fact that Donald Trump was on the ballot proved to be a huge motivator for Republicans who previously werenât registered to get to the polls.

Read Also: What Caused Republicans To Gain Power In Congress In 1938

Democrats’ Recall Dilemma: Should They Cast A Vote For A Candidate To Replace Gavin Newsom

For many Democrats and other opponents of the recall, question No. 1 is easy. They plan to vote ‘no’.

But what about question No. 2?

That’s a dilemma for Democrats because the best-known recall candidates are Republicans like Newsom’s 2018 opponent John Cox and conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. By not voting on question No. 2, Democratic voters risk ceding the recall election to a candidate whose views they oppose.

Elder, for instance, believes that the minimum wage should be abolished and supports former President Donald Trump. Cox courted Trump’s endorsement in 2018. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, another well-known candidate, supported Trump’s 2020 campaign.

There are 46 candidates on the recall ballot, including nine Democrats.

The California Democratic Party is urging left-leaning voters not to select anyone on the recall ballot’s second question.

“The California Democratic Party is activating voters to vote no on the Republican Recall and leave the second question blank. It’s the only way to stop Republicans who want to take California back to some very dark days,” said party spokeswoman Shery Yang.

Former Newsom spokesman, Nathan Click, reiterated Yang’s advice for Democratic voters.

“Leave it blank. Voting no is the only way to block the Republican power grab and prevent the Republican takeover of California,” Click said.

‘No on recall, yes on Bustamante’

Bustamante told his supporters to vote “no on recall, yes on Bustamante.”

Rutherford B Hayes: Campaigns And Elections

The Campaign and Election of 1876

As the favorite son of Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes had much in his favor. Both regular and reform Republicans liked him. He was a war hero, had supported Radical Reconstruction legislation, and championed African American suffrage. He also came from a large swing state. His reputation for integrity was excellent, and his support of bipartisan boards of state institutions endeared him to reformers. Hayes ultimately, though, realized that his simple “availability” was his greatest strength. Distasteful to no one, he was the second choice among the supporters of the other leading candidates. Nevertheless, Hayes insisted on a united Ohio delegationand at the same time did nothing to lessen his availability.;

Moreover, the 1876 Republican convention was in Cincinnati, which teemed with Hayes supporters. “Availability” did work for Hayes. James G. Blaine, the frontrunner and the favorite of partisan Republicans, was tarnished by allegations of corruption; Oliver P. Morton, the favorite of Radicals, was in ill health; Benjamin H. Bristow, the favorite of reformers, was anathema to Grant; and Roscoe Conkling, the quintessential spoils politician, was unacceptable to reformers and to Blaine. In the end, none of these candidates could muster the votes of the majority of the convention. By the fifth ballot, Hayes had picked up votes; by the seventh, he had clinched the nomination.

The Disputed Election of 1876

Read Also: Donald Trump Saying Republicans Are Stupid

Harris: The Fight Is Not Over

Vice President Kamala Harris’ told reporters that “the fight is not over” after Republicans unanimously blocked the Democrats’ sweeping election and voting reform bill.

Harris expressed that she and President Biden intend to continue to push for voting reform, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is likely to come to the Senate floor later this year.

This what Harris told reporters after leaving the Senate floor where she presided over the vote:

“I was here today because obviously this is one of the most critical issues that the United States Congress could take up, which is about the fundamental right to vote in our country. And I think it is clear, certainly, for the American people that when we’re talking about the right to vote, it is not a Republican concern or a Democratic concern. It is an American concern. This is about the American people’s right to vote unfettered. It is about their access to the right to vote in a meaningful way. Because nobody is debating, I don’t believe, whether all Americans have the right to vote. The issue is the access to the voting process. Or is that being impeded? And the bottom line is that the President and I are very clear. We support S-1. We support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the fight is not over.”

Watch Harris’ remarks:

Cancellation Of State Caucuses Or Primaries

The Washington Examiner reported on December 19, 2018, that the South Carolina Republican Party had not ruled out forgoing a primary contest to protect Trump from any primary challengers. Party chairman Drew McKissick stated, Considering the fact that the entire party supports the president, well end up doing whats in the presidents best interest. On January 24, another Washington Examiner report indicated that the Kansas Republican Party was likely to scrap its presidential caucus to save resources.

In August 2019, the Associated Press reported that the Nevada Republican Party was also contemplating canceling their caucuses, with the state party spokesman, Keith Schipper, saying it isnt about any kind of conspiracy theory about protecting the president; Hes going to be the nominee; This is about protecting resources to make sure that the president wins in Nevada and that Republicans up and down the ballot win in 2020.

Kansas, Nevada and South Carolinas state committees officially voted on September 7, 2019, to cancel their caucus and primary. The Arizona state Republican Party indicated two days later that it will not hold a primary. These four were joined by the Alaska state Republican party on September 21, when its central committee announced they would not hold a presidential primary.

Virginia Republicans decided to allocate delegates at the state convention.

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The 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Wild Cards

The first Democratic debate back in 2019 had 20 TWENTY! candidates, so dont be surprised if the Republican field is just as large or larger. We could have some more governors or representatives run, or even other nontraditional candidates, like a Trump family member, a Fox News host or a celebrity, like Dwayne The Rock Johnson, whos said hes seriously considering a run. Stranger things have happened.

No Party Preference Voters: Pay Attention

Registered Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians and other party members, rest assured. You are guaranteed a primary ballot with all of your partys presidential contenders on it.

But voters who dont belong to a political party the fastest growing voting block in the state will have to navigate a more daunting set of obstacles to cast a presidential primary vote.

Some parties have members only policies:

The Republican Party

The Green Party

The Peace and Freedom Party

If you want to vote in one of these three primaries, youll have to join that party. You cant do it as a member of any other party, or even as a no party preference independent. No exceptions.;

The following three parties do allow political independents to cast ballots in their presidential primaries :

The Democratic Party

The Libertarian Party

The American Independent Party

But and this is an important caveat these voters do have to specifically request the ballot they want.

For those who vote in person, this is a cinch. Just go into your polling place when its time to vote and ask. But independents who vote by mail need to let your county know which ballot they want ahead of time.

Maybe you received a postcard that looks like this:

And if youve already received a ballot in the mail and were disappointed by the lack of presidential candidates, do notfill it out. You can always request a new ballot, but trying to vote twice is frowned upon .

Recommended Reading: Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Names

Counties Are Doing Things A Little Differently This Time

If you live in one of the counties highlighted below, voting might look a little different this year.

In 2016, California passed the Voter Choice Act, a law aimed at modernizing the states election system, such that:

Every registered voter gets a ballot in the mail

Voters are no longer required to go to a specific polling place, but can vote at any number of voting centers or drop-off points

Voters can cast their ballots in person beginning 11 days before, and up to and including, Election Day

In 2018, five counties rolled out the new system. This year, 10 more will join their ranks. Thats fifteen counties in all containing 49% of the state population.

This is key for no party preference voters living in these counties who may not get the ballot they want in the mail. See the previous section for details.

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covid19updater · 3 years

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COVID19 Updates: 08/09/2021

Malaysia: JUST IN : The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) urges the government to delay the relaxing of restrictions for the fully vaccinated until cases are significantly reduced. #COVID19

US: JUST IN - Top Biden officials are growing frustrated with the lack of internal visibility into #COVID19 data being collected by the CDC: "Where the hell are the data?," a source describes the tension to Axios behind the scene.

Arkansas: Arkansas hospitalizations for Covid-19 have risen nearly fourfold in just over a month, said a Republican state legislator and emergency room doctor. The patients he is seeing are younger and younger. “It’s never looked like this.”

Texas: Austin, Texas, activates emergency alert system as COVID crisis reaches "critical" point LINK

US: The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he is optimistic the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the vaccine by month’s end. LINK

World: Holy GoF! They aggregated VOC-associated spike substitutions into a single polymutant spike protein and showed 20 mutations were sufficient to confer near-complete resistance to neutralizing Abs generated by convalescents and mRNA vaccine recipients. LINK

Israel: A third of Israeli adults over the age of 60 have already received a coronavirus booster shot, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said LINK

China: Several Chinese virologists and biologists who have worked with US peers shared concerns about #US’ unclear #biosecurity system. “There is possibility a single researcher or team may have secretly created a virus like #COVID19 without permission.” LINK

Texas: Half of Texas' hospital regions are reporting 10 or fewer ICU beds available. Corpus Christi is reporting 0 staffed ICU beds available. They reported 52 on Monday. The state passed 9,000 COVID hospitalizations today. Most since Feb. 9. New info from DFW Hospital Council: There are now 55 children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the region…“which are some of the highest levels of pediatric COVID-19 patients we have ever treated.” They add pediatric hospitals are at 97.7% capacity because RSV cases are high too

World: Head of notorious Wuhan lab warns more COVID-19 mutations are coming LINK

World: ‘This Is Really Scary’: Kids Struggle With Long CovidLingering physical, mental and neurological symptoms are affecting children as well as adults, including many who had mild reactions to the initial coronavirus infection. LINK

California: Beginning Aug. 11, visitors to any of California’s hospitals will only be allowed access if they are vaccinated against COVID-19, or provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test LINK

US: Some Americans altering vaccine records to get unauthorized 3rd shot LINK

US: 12h Rolling 7-day average of daily coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 4 weeks ago: 19,145 3 weeks ago: 32,217 2 weeks ago: 51,323 1 week ago: 79,892 Today: 112,147

District of Columbia: DC giving away AirPods to encourage youth vaccinations LINK

Israel: Despite its record-setting vaccination campaign, #Israel is struggling to contain the spread of the delta variant of the #coronavirus. LINK

US: A Doomsday COVID Variant Worse Than Delta and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say LINK

France: An extension to France’s “health pass” covering activities including going to restaurants and cafes, taking long-distance train journeys and visiting hospitals has come into effect after a fourth weekend of protests;

Australia: Australia expanded its NSW LD, amid fears that covid has spread from Sydney. The rural town of Tamworth, 257 miles NW of Sydney & Byron Bay, a popular tourist spot 478 miles from the city, entered a week long LD on Monday - despite neither having recorded a single case;

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka holds mass cremations as Covid cases surge LINK

Philippines: Hundreds of Philippine hospitals near full capacity as virus cases surge LINK

China: China punishes dozens of officials as Covid-19 Delta outbreaks spread LINK

UK: Extremely tense interaction at bbc studios between police and protestors demanding no jabs for children. Jabs for over 16 and 17 year olds are set to go ahead soon without parental consent.

Georgia: Metro Atlanta hospitals report packed emergency rooms as COVID-19 cases surge LINK

Georgia: As of Friday, Camden County was seeing the highest transmission rate in Southeast Georgia -- 1,014 cases per 100,000 residents.

World: #BREAKING No need yet to adapt BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine for Covid variants: BioNTech chief

RUMINT (Florida): Just heard on the news that one in every five kids tested in Florida is COVID-19 positive.

Mississippi: There were ZERO available ICU beds in Mississippi as of early this morning. None. That means hospitals across the state may not be able to provide the level of care needed to you or your loved one. Not just for COVID-19 but FOR ANY EMERGENCY CARE.

World: ‘Goldilocks virus’: Delta vanquishes all variant rivals as scientists race to understand its tricks LINK

Ohio: Judge adds COVID-19 vaccine condition to man's probation LINK

UK: Wrexham father in intensive care after refusing Covid vaccine LINK

Texas: Texas woman with COVID-19 arrested after allegedly spitting on officer who was executing a search warrant at her home.

UK: 16 and 17-year-olds across the UK are being invited to book their Covid vaccine. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tells #BBCBreakfast she would support vaccinating children of an even younger age. LINK

Canada: Dozens of vehicles with U.S. plates line up at B.C. border as COVID-19 restrictions lifted LINK

Florida: Orange County wastewater shows significant increases of Covid-19 virus LINK

North Dakota: North Dakota hospitals bracing for rise in delta variant COVID-19 cases. Are they prepared? LINK

World: Remember Beta? New data reveal variant’s deadly powersPeople infected with a variant first identified in South Africa are more likely to die than those infected with other variants. LINK

UK: Anger at overflowing Covid test drop boxes LINK

World: Op/Ed: The really worrisome thing about the Delta variant LINK

Texas: Texas is reporting 394 staffed ICU beds available statewide. That's the lowest number since the start of the pandemic. However, we are NOT are a record high for COVID patients in ICU and still well below our total hospitalization peak so it could be more of a staffing issue

Texas: LBJ Hospital in Houston has set up tents to treat patients. They don’t have medical personnel to staff them. Sheila Jackson Lee has requested for Abbott to help TX hospitals that are overwhelmed by the rise of COVID hospitalizations paired with a shortage of nursing staff.

RUMINT (US): So a friend just called me up who lives in Tennessee... tested positive after thinking she had a cold. In the summer. Just a sore throat so far, and general feeling like crap. No loss of smell or taste. Not vaccinated. Asked how she was doing on food or if the kids were gonna bring her by stuff... she said no was all set as she stopped by the grocery store to load up on stuff to ride out the quarantine.

Florida: #BREAKING: @GovRonDeSantis office released a statement to #CBS4 that @EducationFL could withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members who implement #maskmandates.

Georgia: Georgia school district shuts down within a week of opening due to COVID-19 LINK

California: Shortly after 14 y.o. Daniel Salinas recovered from COVID, his behavior began to change. He developed a migraine, then began talking to himself. He was rushed to UC Irvine and diagnosed with COVID psychosis. He's still hospitalized. LINK

Canada: Steinbach COVID testing site turning people away due to large #'s, and sending them to Winnipeg. Not a good sign.

US: Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the Covid delta surge may be the ‘final wave’ in U.S. LINK (Wishful thinking)

Maine: #BREAKING: Maine Medical Center says it reported a COVID-19 outbreak to the Maine CDC last Thursday. Maine Medical Center says it reported a COVID-19 outbreak to the Maine CDC last Thursday. The hospital says the outbreak consisted of nine employees in its Emergency Department, including staff who were fully vaccinated. LINK

Iowa: More than 50 Iowa nursing homes have experienced a #COVID19 outbreak since the #vaccine roll-out in December, and the home with the highest number of outbreaks is run by the state itself. LINK

Florida: .@ProfDrAMarty "Our hospitals in Miami-Dade are somewhere between 100% and 160% capacity. This is also affecting urgent care centers and children's hospitals and it's overwhelming our staff & impacting not just the care of COVID victims, but all health care." #AMRstaff

Canada: Alberta adds over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend LINK

Texas: Greenville Texas Hospital Using Tents Outside To Triage Patients Amid COVID-19 Case Increase LINK

World: Update: CDC warns against travel to Israel amid surge in Delta variant cases

US: "We are hospitalizing record numbers of children," a New Orleans doctor tells @ABC News. "Half of the children in our hospital today are under two years of age. Most of the others are between five and ten years of age—too young to be vaccinated just yet." LINK

Florida: BREAKING: Both Volusia County and Advent Health Orlando are finalizing the purchase of fleets of refrigerated mobile morgues amid Florida's COVID surge, a rep from Mopec confirms @WJCTNews

Florida: ABC News #DavidMuir just reported Florida has ordered 300 ventilators Expert saying “ if this continues another 4-5 days which it looks like it will, it will collapse the hospital system”

Texas: NEW: Texas Governor Greg Abbott asking hospitals to postpone some elective procedures to avoid a shortage of hospital capacity

Iceland: US CDC has become wary of #Iceland: it has now been escalated to "LEVEL 4 - Very High Level of #COVID19" (bear in mind, Iceland has a 90%+ vaccination rate)

Australia: NSW recorded 356 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Texas: Governor: Today I announced new measures to respond to the spread of COVID-19: * bring in additional medical personnel to staff hospitals * expand Antibody Infusion Centers to prevent hospitalization of those with COVID * make it easier to get a vaccination

US: BREAKING: U.S. reports 164,153 new coronavirus cases as many states dump weekend backlogs

Iowa: Blank Children’s hospital has suspended elective surgeries (that is, non emergency) that would require a hospital stay.

Iceland: COVID-19 in Iceland: “We’re nearing the limits of our infrastructure” LINK

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