Paul McCartney listening to his transistor radio in New York, 9th February 1964

The audience [at the first concert in Washington DC in February 1964], despite the various parental presences, was mostly teenage, and very hot. In the seat next to me, a little girl was bouncing up and down and saying, ‘Aren’t they just great? Aren’t they just fabulous?’ ‘Yes, they are,’ I said, somewhat inadequately for her, I suppose. ‘Do you like them too, sir?’ she asked. ‘Yes, I do rather,’ I said, all too aware that she couldn’t understand what this old man was doing sitting next to her! But perhaps she was put more at ease when the boys played a song like ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, and everybody in the audience started singing with them, for then Judy and I just found ourselves standing up and screaming along with the rest. That may sound daft, but it was exactly the same screaming that adults do at football matches. And for us especially, in the midst of sixty thousand people who were all enjoying themselves to the full, identifying completely with the people who were performing, people we knew intimately, people with whom we had made all the records and every little bit of music—in that situation it was all too easy to scream, to be swept up in that tremendous current of buoyant happiness and exhilaration.

[—from All You Need Is Ears, George Martin]

The Maysles Brothers' footage of THE BEATLES performing "She Loves You" at their first concert at the Washington Coliseum. February 11, 1964.

geography class is so dangerous… they’ve spent this entire unit emphasizing how easy and fun it is to travel around Europe…

my bank account is sweating.

*

"If a pig catches both a human influenza A virus and an avian influenza A virus at the same time, it can spark a process known as viral reassortment — a genetic exchange in which flu viruses swap gene segments." "Those swaps can introduce dramatic changes, producing a new virus with certain properties of a non-human strain coupled with the capacity to infect and spread between people." "The death rate in humans may be upwards of 50 per cent, World Health Organization data suggests, though it's possible that milder infections are getting missed, skewing the case fatality ratio. Still, in a population that's never been exposed, the global impacts could be dire." "More human cases could also be happening under the radar among farm workers who've moved to the U.S. from abroad, don't speak English as their first language, and may be hesitant to seek medical help, he added." "So I think there's probably underreporting on both sides," Armstrong said." "If [H5N1] gets into a population where there's constantly animals going in and out … it might not ever leave."

I've been watching this develop for the past several days, and apart from being terrified most people will not take this seriously (I've seen a handful of people already shout conspiracy on social media and it's alarming to see, as always). What I wanted to point out is that pandemics are going to continue to be our 'normal.' I watched a great video on YouTube a while ago (I believe it was by Vice?) that touched base on how this is going to become our new reality because of multiple factors (such as our proximity to animals, and environments/etc). It was when Covid hit and they did a piece debunking some of the misinformation floating on the internet. If I can find it I will post it here because it was informative and relevant to pretty much any world crisis we will see around any virus that spreads among a human population.

This post isn't trying to fear monger anyone, I just hope more people are aware of what is happening because this is important to talk about. There are already cases (of cows getting this bird flu) in the US, and I won't be surprised if there will be instances in more countries around the world. As usual, keep washing your hands/keeping good hygiene practices, masking up (and if you aren't I hope you consider it), and taking precautions if you do happen to visit/work or go near a pig or poultry farm too:

I'll keep track of this here of course, but please stay informed folks. And also FU to any governments who will try to minimize this or try to diminish the severity until it's too late and community spread happens like Covid because their actions are influenced by capitalistic interests.

Update (April 7th, 2024, 9:32pm EST): to anyone wondering where some of the source information originates from -here is a link to the CDC. They are tracking documented avian virus outbreaks in the US and the public can access it here:

I love her. Oh, I do, so, so, so much! Can't wait to see her one day. Because I'll show her all the love and care I've wanted to give her finally. Just gotta wait. At least 2 more years until I'm 18 (as I turn 16 this year. So that makes it 2 more years to wait.) Then I can get my stupid Passport and finally leave outside of the U.S.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence started when three friends banded together to dress as nuns and recite a loving and forgiving liturgy to drive homophobic evangelists off of Castro Street in San Francisco. It worked. The organization quickly expanded as an advocacy group for gay rights.

When asked why they are dressed as nuns, the answer was, "We do all that traditional nuns have done for centuries. Our look might be unique, but our ministry is common. We serve our community. We have raised lots of money for AIDS and other social causes. We visit the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and sometimes disrobe the clothed! We are 21st Century queer nuns."

The Sisters primarily made a name for themselves through their AIDS activism. In 1982, The Sisters published Play Fair! which was the first humorous and easy-to-understand sexual health and safety pamphlet specifically intended for gay men.

The Sisters also used their presence to shame homophobic public figures, performing "exorcisms" on Phyllis Schlaffey, Jerry Fallwell, and Pope John Paul II, as well as on the steps of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2023, The Los Angeles Dodgers caused a huge controversy by selecting the Sisters to receive a "community hero award" on their Pride Night game (again, the Sisters are a legendary charity group that has literally saved lives), but then they gave in to right-wing pressure and cancelled it. Eventually, they realized how badly they had fucked up and re-invited the Sisters to their game.

The sisters remain active today with many chapters across the U.S. and Canada. Membership is open to all genders and sexualities.

A big cost and concern for many seniors in the U.S. is the price of prescription drugs and other healthcare expenses—and this year, thanks to The Inflation Reduction Act, their costs may go down dramatically, especially for patients fighting cancer or heart disease.

I learned about the new benefits because my ‘Medicare birthday’ is coming up in a couple months when I turn 65. I was shocked that there were so many positive changes being made, which I never heard about on the news.

Thousands of Americans on Medicare have been paying more than $14,000 a year for blood cancer drugs, more than $10,000 a year for ovarian cancer drugs, and more than $9,000 a year for breast cancer drugs, for instance.

That all changed beginning in 2023, after the Biden administration capped out-of-pocket prescriptions at $3,500—no matter what drugs were needed. And this year, in 2024, the cap for all Medicare out-of-pocket prescriptions went down to a maximum of $2,000.

“The American people won, and Big Pharma lost,” said President Biden in September 2022, after the legislation passed. “It’s going to be a godsend to many families.”

Another crucial medical necessity, the shingles vaccine, which many seniors skip because of the cost, is now free. Shingles is a painful rash with blisters, that can be followed by chronic pain, and other complications, for which there is no cure

In 2022, more than 2 million seniors paid between $100 and $200 for that vaccine, but starting last year, Medicare prescription drug plans dropped the cost for shots down to zero.

Another victory for consumers over Big Pharma affects anyone of any age who struggles with diabetes. The cost of life-saving insulin was capped at $35 a month [for people on Medicare].

Medicare is also lowering the costs of the premium for Part B—which covers outpatient visits to your doctors. 15 million Americans will save an average of $800 per year on health insurance costs, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Last year, for the first time in history, Medicare began using the leverage power of its large patient pool to negotiate fair prices for drugs. Medicare is no longer accepting whatever drug prices that pharmaceutical companies demand.

Negotiations began on ten of the most widely used and expensive drugs.

Among the ten drugs selected for Medicare drug price negotiation were Eliquis, used by 3.7 million Americans and Jardiance and Xarelto, each used by over a million people. The ten drugs account for the highest total spending in Medicare Part D prescription plans...

How are all these cost-savings being paid for?

The government is able to pay for these benefits by making sure the biggest corporations in America are paying their fair share of federal taxes.

In 2020, for instance, dozens of American companies on the Fortune 500 list who made $40 billion in profit paid zero in federal taxes.

Starting in 2023, U.S. corporations are required to pay a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent. The Inflation Reduction Act created the CAMT, which imposed the 15% minimum tax on the adjusted financial statement income of any corporation with average income that exceeds $1 billion.

For years, Americans have decried the rising costs of health care—but in the last three years, there are plenty of positive developments.

-via Good News Network, February 25, 2024

The Beatles meet Muhammad Ali in Miami, 18th February 1964

As George [Martin], Brian, and Judy looked on in horror, one of the diplomats’ wives sneaked up behind Ringo and, with her nail scissors at the ready, snipped a sizable lock of his hair as an impromptu souvenir. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the usually amiable drummer shrieked. “It almost created a diplomatic incident,” George wrote. Not surprisingly, the bandmates and their entourage beat a hasty retreat, with John later saying, “Some bloody animal cut Ringo’s hair. I walked out, swearing at all of them, I just left in the middle of it.” But of course, it was worse than that. In an instant, George and the Beatles had been reminded, in a deeply personal way, about the role of class in British social politics. Already keenly aware of their social station, the bandmates couldn’t help but feel that the event had put them in their place. […] The incident made for yet another reminder, as [Ringo] would later put it, that to the kinds of folks who frequent high-society embassy soirees, the Beatles would always be “shitkickers from Liverpool.” Perhaps even worse yet, it was how, in their darkest moments, the Beatles (and possibly even George, their elder statesman) still saw themselves. Photographer Harry Benson was especially struck by the group’s reaction as they left the embassy that night. “They were very sad,” he later remarked. “They looked as if they wanted to cry, John, in particular. They weren’t pugnacious. They were humiliated.”

[—from Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, Kenneth Womack]

THE BEATLES: THE FIRST U.S. VISIT

"Research on a police diversion program implemented in 2014 shows a striking 91% reduction in in-school arrests over less than 10 years.

Across the United States, arrest rates for young people under age 18 have been declining for decades. However, the proportion of youth arrests associated with school incidents has increased.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, K–12 schools referred nearly 230,000 students to law enforcement during the school year that began in 2017. These referrals and the 54,321 reported school-based arrests that same year were mostly for minor misbehavior like marijuana possession, as opposed to more serious offenses like bringing a gun to school.

School-based arrests are one part of the school-to-prison pipeline, through which students—especially Black and Latine students and those with disabilities—are pushed out of their schools and into the legal system.

Getting caught up in the legal system has been linked to negative health, social, and academic outcomes, as well as increased risk for future arrest.

Given these negative consequences, public agencies in states like Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania have looked for ways to arrest fewer young people in schools. Philadelphia, in particular, has pioneered a successful effort to divert youth from the legal system.

Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program

In Philadelphia, police department leaders recognized that the city’s school district was its largest source of referrals for youth arrests. To address this issue, then–Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel developed and implemented a school-based, pre-arrest diversion initiative in partnership with the school district and the city’s department of human services. The program is called the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program, and it officially launched in May 2014.

Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker named Bethel as her new police commissioner on Nov. 22, 2023.

Since the diversion program began, when police are called to schools in the city for offenses like marijuana possession or disorderly conduct, they cannot arrest the student involved if that student has no pending court case or history of adjudication. In juvenile court, an adjudication is similar to a conviction in criminal court.

Instead of being arrested, the diverted student remains in school, and school personnel decide how to respond to their behavior. For example, they might speak with the student, schedule a meeting with a parent, or suspend the student.

A social worker from the city also contacts the student’s family to arrange a home visit, where they assess youth and family needs. Then, the social worker makes referrals to no-cost community-based services. The student and their family choose whether to attend.

Our team—the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel University—evaluated the effectiveness of the diversion program as independent researchers not affiliated with the police department or school district. We published four research articles describing various ways the diversion program affected students, schools, and costs to the city.

Arrests Dropped

In our evaluation of the diversion program’s first five years, we reported that the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia decreased by 84%: from nearly 1,600 in the school year beginning in 2013 to just 251 arrests in the school year beginning in 2018.

Since then, school district data indicates the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia has continued to decline—dropping to just 147 arrests in the school year that began in 2022. That’s a 91% reduction from the year before the program started.

We also investigated the number of serious behavioral incidents recorded in the school district in the program’s first five years. Those fell as well, suggesting that the diversion program effectively reduced school-based arrests without compromising school safety.

Additionally, data showed that city social workers successfully contacted the families of 74% of students diverted through the program during its first five years. Nearly 90% of these families accepted at least one referral to community-based programming, which includes services like academic support, job skill development, and behavioral health counseling...

Long-Term Outcomes

To evaluate a longer follow-up period, we compared the 427 students diverted in the program’s first year to the group of 531 students arrested before the program began. Results showed arrested students were significantly more likely to be arrested again in the following five years...

Finally, a cost-benefit analysis revealed that the program saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

Based on its success in Philadelphia, several other cities and counties across Pennsylvania have begun replicating the Police School Diversion Program. These efforts could further contribute to a nationwide movement to safely keep kids in their communities and out of the legal system."

-via Yes! Magazine, December 5, 2023

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #9

March 9-15 2024

The IRS launched its direct file pilot program. Tax payers in 12 states, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, Massachusetts, California and New York, can now file their federal income taxes for free on-line directly with the IRS. The IRS plans on taking direct file nation wide for next year's tax season. Tax Day is April 15th so if you're in one of those states you have a month to check it out.

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into the death of Nex Benedict. the OCR is investigating if Benedict's school district violated his civil rights by failing to protect him from bullying. President Biden expressed support for trans and non-binary youth in the aftermath of the ruling that Benedict's death was a suicide and encouraged people to seek help in crisis

Vice President Kamala Harris became the first sitting Vice-President (or President) to visit an abortion provider. Harris' historic visit was to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul Minnesota. This is the last stop on the Vice-President's Reproductive Rights Tour that has taken her across the country highlighting the need for reproductive health care.

President Biden announced 3.3 billion dollars worth of infrastructure projects across 40 states designed to reconnect communities divided by transportation infrastructure. Communities often split decades ago by highways build in the 1960s and 70s. These splits very often affect communities of color splitting them off from the wider cities and making daily life far more difficult. These reconnection projects will help remedy decades of economic racism.

The Biden-Harris administration is taking steps to eliminate junk fees for college students. These are hidden fees students pay to get loans or special fees banks charged to students with bank accounts. Also the administration plans to eliminate automatic billing for textbooks and ban schools from pocketing leftover money on student's meal plans.

The Department of Interior announced $120 million in investments to help boost Climate Resilience in Tribal Communities. The money will support 146 projects effecting over 100 tribes. This comes on top of $440 million already spent on tribal climate resilience by the administration so far

The Department of Energy announced $750 million dollars in investment in clean hydrogen power. This will go to 52 projects across 24 states. As part of the administration's climate goals the DoE plans to bring low to zero carbon hydrogen production to 10 million metric tons by 2030, and the cost of hydrogen to $1 per kilogram of hydrogen produced by 2031.

The Department of Energy has offered a 2.3 billion dollar loan to build a lithium processing plant in Nevada. Lithium is the key component in rechargeable batteries used it electric vehicles. Currently 95% of the world's lithium comes from just 4 countries, Australia, Chile, China and Argentina. Only about 1% of the US' lithium needs are met by domestic production. When completed the processing plant in Thacker Pass Nevada will produce enough lithium for 800,000 electric vehicle batteries a year.

The Department of Transportation is making available $1.2 billion in funds to reduce decrease pollution in transportation. Available in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico the funds will support projects by transportation authorities to lower their carbon emissions.

The Geothermal Energy Optimization Act was introduced in the US Senate. If passed the act will streamline the permitting process and help expand geothermal projects on public lands. This totally green energy currently accounts for just 0.4% of the US' engird usage but the Department of Energy estimates the potential geothermal energy supply is large enough to power the entire U.S. five times over.

The Justice for Breonna Taylor Act was introduced in the Senate banning No Knock Warrants nationwide

A bill was introduced in the House requiring the US Postal Service to cover the costs of any laid fees on bills the USPS failed to deliver on time

The Senate Confirmed 3 more Biden nominees to be life time federal Judges, Jasmine Yoon the first Asian-America federal judge in Virginia, Sunil Harjani in Illinois, and Melissa DuBose the first LGBTQ and first person of color to serve as a federal judge in Rhode Island. This brings the total number of Biden judges to 185

LANA TURNER does her part, 1942 She was a pin-up girl of the first order. She was a soldier’s dream during World War II, officially “The Girl We’d Like to Be Stranded on a Deserted Island With,” “The Girl We’d Like to Find in Every Port,” and “The Most Gorgeous, Spectacular, and Pulse-stirring Thing on High Heels.” The 18th Bomb Squadron of the U.S. Air Force painted her on the nose of their B-17 and named the plane “Tempest Turner.” In 1942 she raised $50,000 selling war bonds with kisses and her efforts altogether brought in an estimated $5,000,000. Back home she was a regular at the Hollywood Canteen and on the studio lot she played hostess to large groups of soldiers. She also performed broadcats for Armed Forces Radio, where soldiers could have any wish come true, no matter how random, if it could be transmitted over the airwaves. They could hear Carole Landis sigh, Judy Garland sing “Over the Rainbow,” or Lana Turner cook a porterhouse steak smothered with onions. That’s the request that was made of her and she was happy to oblige. Visiting hospitals was the most difficult because she was easily affected by injuries and sad stories. The soldiers loved her. They were convinced she was the last pretty girl they would ever see. - LANA: THE MEMORIES, THE MYTHS, THE MOVIES