BC FOR LATER READ
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

We’re in a new year and we have also entered a new phase of this pandemic. So I thought I’d start off the new year with a quick catch-up thread on the UK variant B.1.1.7 and where we are at in this pandemic.

 The variant caught scientists' attention in early December based on a surge in cases around Kent and sequencing data showing it carried a host of mutations. (I wrote about this and how a quirk in the PCR is helping track it here: https://t.co/HupLMpgHPt).
CAVEAT: The pace at which we have learnt about this new variant is astonishing. But it’s important to realize that a lot of crucial lab experiments take longer. Most data now is looking at noisy epidemiological data and making inferences based on that.
Having said that: The picture is becoming clearer.
Good news first: There still is no evidence that the variant causes more severe disease or that it can reinfect people more easily or circumvent vaccine-induced immunity. Still, we need to stay vigilant.
The bad news: The evidence has only become stronger that B.1.1.7 is more transmissible and potentially a lot more transmissible than previously circulating #sarscov2. That has potentially massive consequences for the course of this pandemic.
Evidence comes from this preliminary report from @_nickdavies and others from @LSHTM for instance, showing the variant increasing in frequency across the UK. https://t.co/W8FzqvXYdZ
@_nickdavies @LSHTM "The continued rapid spread of VOC 202012/01 in England to high frequencies (50% or greater in all NHS regions as of 29 December 2020) makes it less likely that the spread of this variant is due to a founder effect or an otherwise selectively neutral effect."
@_nickdavies @LSHTM Recent report by Imperial College makes the same point:
"While rapid growth of the variant was first observed in the South East, similar growth patterns are observed later in London, East of England, and now more generally across England.”
https://t.co/QcyT8CmEb3
@_nickdavies @LSHTM Additional data from Denmark (which like UK is doing a lot of sequencing), suggests they are observing a similar pattern of the new variant spreading fast locally.
https://t.co/HMTNQLXa7R
@_nickdavies @LSHTM While the evidence is convincing that B.1.1.7 is spreading faster there are still a lot of question marks about how much faster. Given the data it’s hard to disentangle the effect of the variant spreading faster and changes in behaviour etc.
@_nickdavies @LSHTM Imperial report estimates what the variant adds to the R of #SARSCoV2 in a number of different ways. As you can see, best estimates range from 0.36 to 0.68. That would mean, on average, every person infected with B.1.1.7 infects an extra 0.36 to 0.68 persons compared to earlier
@_nickdavies @LSHTM Even if the truth turns out to be close to the lower estimates or please, please, please, below that, it is still a big effect. And remember: This is exponential growth, so the effect over time becomes massive.
I don’t think it has really sunk in, how serious this is.
@_nickdavies @LSHTM What does this mean for the pandemic?
Many countries have managed to reduce infections to low numbers by layering a lot of public health interventions on top of each other: teleworking, physical distancing, masks, no large gatherings, some kinds of shutdown etc.
@_nickdavies @LSHTM The idea was that if you do these things well enough, you get the effective reproduction number Rt below 1, so every infected person on average infects less than one other person. That means the virus does not spread and there is some wiggle room to keep schools open for instance
@_nickdavies @LSHTM That wiggle room has just become substantially smaller. If estimates are roughly right, keeping schools open is probably not possible.
Or, if you think of it in terms of the Swiss cheese model, we can afford fewer, smaller holes in the cheese.
https://t.co/FhC5Tw7qwq
@_nickdavies @LSHTM We have entered a new phase of this pandemic. On the one hand vaccinations have started, on the other hand this new variant is spreading faster, potentially causing a lot more sickness and death in a short time. Also: more people will need to be immunised to reach herd immunity.
@_nickdavies @LSHTM It’s not what anyone wants to hear, but the coming months may well be the hardest of this pandemic. If you’ve been thinking of vaccines as the light at the end of the tunnel: Yes, that light is there, as bright as ever. But the tunnel just got a bit darker and a little bit longer
@_nickdavies @LSHTM One addition: This is not the time to throw up your hands in despair and give up. Quite the opposite. We know what we need to do. We just need to do it better. This is the time to draw on whatever strength we have left and redouble our efforts to stem the spread of this virus.
@_nickdavies @LSHTM People love to say how this or that measure is "just postponing” things. Well, with vaccinations underway, “just postponing” things is exactly what we need to do. The variant is probably in many, many countries, but it is still early days and slowing it down will save lives.

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I was asked to do a tweet on how to be a good Minceir Ally. So here are my thoughts ... Other Minceiri are welcome to add.
Allies can do the actions you can.

Learn about Traveller Culture, history and issues affecting us from us not others. You can do this by checking Traveller org websites, chat with us, invite us to give inputs in your place of work.

Educate others and challenge Anti Traveller racism when you see it.

Get to know Travellers locally and local issues. Support the work of local and national Traveller orgs.

Get to know Travellers locally becoming friends. Invite Traveller children to your parties/playdates. Let your children go to Traveller children parties,playdates in their home.
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THREAD ON IRONFLY

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You can also view the position as a combination of Cal & Put credit spreads, if that makes it more easy for you.

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1) Initial size of the Wings
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(2/n)

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X : Do you think cloud will decentralise?
Me : Already has - started with regions and AZs and is now rapidly expanding into outpost, greengrass, EKS anwhere.
X : No, I mean many providers.
Me : There are two forms of decentralisation - provision and control (i.e. authorities) ...

... what is happening is decentralisation of provision (i.e. cloud everywhere, at the edge) but under centralised authorities (Amazon, Alibaba, MSFT, Google etc).
X : What about decentralisation of control?
Me : Many companies working to a common standard ...

... that was the dream of OpenStack but they blew that on day one creating a collective prisoner dilemma. They are trying to recorrect this with K8s but the cloud has moved on, higher up the stack ...

... so, the idea of a marketplace of many different companies each having authority is ... wishful thinking by past vendors and clients they've hoodwinked. Maybe in 15-20 years we will get another go ... open source is a long game ...

... more likely is many points of provision i.e. companies offering EKS anywhere on a utility basis but under centralised authority e.g. AWS.

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To the person who thinks that they might be autistic. - a thread. /1

I imagine you have gone your entire life wondering why you are different, why you can't seem to understand things the way that others can and why everything just seems so hard. I'm proud of you for getting this far. /2

Part of you might be thinking:
"But if I was autistic, surely it would've been noticed when I was a kid? So maybe I'm making this up."
So many autistic people aren't diagnosed until they are adults, if diagnosed at all. You would not be the first and you won't be the last. /3

"My family and friends don't think that I could be autistic."
People's understandings of autism tend to be based off of the media, which doesn't show every possible presentation of autism, or based off of someone they know, and all autistic people present differently. /4

People's perceptions of autism can also be based off stereotypes, for example, "autistic people can't make eye contact, so you can't be autistic." While this is true for some, it isn't for all, so you can begin to see how one presentation of autism can't possibly fit everyone. /5
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I shared this on my FB page and asked, can ya really blame him?

I was half kidding. I also assumed someone would think of what I did pretty quickly and waiting for the comment to mention what I assumed was obvious.

The timing. I was sure someone else had thought of it.


But no one did. 20+ comments in people discussed the morality or bad sense or libertarian perspectives. Someone even said I’m thinking about doing that. No one said what I thought was obvious. Have you thought of it? Is it obvious to you?

Here’s a clue...recognize it?


How about this?


The author discusses it with Mike Wallace in 1958
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At first, I resisted believing this because it is illogical and dumb and frankly, doesn't reflect well on the human race of which I am a member (and thus have long been hopeful that it is more of a distinction than it actually turns out to be.)

But if you actually are interested in facts you begin to notice how little most people care for them. Sometimes it is because they are heard to learn and bullshit is so much more widely and easily available. Sometimes it is because facts make them uncomfortable about themselves.

Sometimes it is because just one tiny fact will upset a whole worldview that has grown as comfortable as an overstuffed chair. (Settling into such worldviews is a lot like settling into chairs like that because the longer you're there and the deeper you sink...

...the harder it is to hoist yourself up and out of your fat-assed intellectual laziness.) But I actually think the reason people have such an appetite for bullshit goes deeper, goes to an aspect of ourselves we just can't accept.
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Guillaume Chaslot
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This spring at SxSW, @SusanWojcicki promised "Wikipedia snippets" on debated videos. But they didn't put them on flat earth videos, and instead @YouTube is promoting merchandising such as "NASA lies - Never Trust a Snake". 2/


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https://t.co/TumQiX2tlj 3/

https://t.co/uAORIJ5BYX 4/

https://t.co/yOGZ0pLfHG 5/
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Pretending that voting for Trump or denying climate change or suggesting the solution to every problem is more guns is a legitimate point of view, worthy of respect is not "how America works." It is how it dies.

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But suggesting that something ignorant or divorced from reality warrants the same kind of treatment in public debate as something based in fact or at least credible is absurd and when done on behalf of a society in public media or academic settings it is self-destructive.

We would not grant media coverage or much bandwidth at all to a group that argued that unicorns exist or that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet views like denying climate change or basing policy decisions on sweeping, obvious lies, are just as unsound.

Somewhere, somehow, judgments must be made. Some behaviors are wrong and must be condemned. Someone must challenge lies and demand facts. Coddling people who embrace idiocies does not help them no matter how loudly they demand to be coddled.
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MDZS is laden with buddhist references. As a South Asian person, and history buff, it is so interesting to see how Buddhism, which originated from India, migrated, flourished & changed in the context of China. Here's some research (🙏🏼 @starkjeon for CN insight + citations)

1. LWJ’s sword Bichen ‘is likely an abbreviation for the term 躲避红尘 (duǒ bì hóng chén), which can be translated as such: 躲避: shunning or hiding away from 红尘 (worldly affairs; which is a buddhist teaching.) (https://t.co/zF65W3roJe) (abbrev. TWX)

2. Sandu (三 毒), Jiang Cheng’s sword, refers to the three poisons (triviṣa) in Buddhism; desire (kāma-taṇhā), delusion (bhava-taṇhā) and hatred (vibhava-taṇhā).

These 3 poisons represent the roots of craving (tanha) and are the cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain) and thus result in rebirth.

Interesting that MXTX used this name for one of the characters who suffers, arguably, the worst of these three emotions.

3. The Qian kun purse “乾坤袋 (qián kūn dài) – can be called “Heaven and Earth” Pouch. In Buddhism, Maitreya (मैत्रेय) owns this to store items. It was believed that there was a mythical space inside the bag that could absorb the world.” (TWX)
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Lu_lu\U0001f498
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Some thoughts on episode 53 of #Hercai

Love,that is not real,has no passion. Its fire turns into embers, it doesn’t not smell. The day, the night, the moon&year burn without sun, light, comfort&sleep.
Ömer Hayyam

#Reyyan #Miran #ReyMir #EbruŞahin #AkınAkınözü
#HercaiThoughts


1
PRAISE
The praise in this episode goes foremost to Ebru because she portrayed Reyyan so realistically like a woman who truly lost her unborn child. I was in awe and pain watching her along the episode, all her breakdowns and tears were so real.
#Hercai

2
Of course also Akın took his part and did his part masterfully, but he rightfully was the one who stood aside in this specific episode that needed to be about Reyyan’s pain and thus concentrated on Ebru.
#Hercai

3
And last but not least, if I say thank you to something that B gave us this year, then it’s to have Ali as our director. Also in this episode we saw the artistic eye behind every shot and I loved it.
#Hercai

4
OVERALL COMMENT
I don’t know who wrote ep. 52 but ep. 53 was going strong once more on symbols: roses, stones, fire and trees were incorporated and especially the ReyMir dialogues were written very well. I truly loved every ReyMir scene.
So let's get into it.
#Hercai
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