herid @herid@qoto.org

How are you doing, friends and colleagues? Let’s end this week in solidarity. I’m a family doctor and trustee in Ottawa, Canada. Here and worldwide, #AbortionIsHealthcare and #TransRightAreHumanRights. We need, more than ever, to be advocates and allies. Will you join the chorus?

Judge tosses Devin Nunes’ lawsuit against magazine, says family farm used undocumented labor
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article274733536.html

Ars Technica has joined the Fediverse. Please follow.

https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica

Is Covid "like the flu"?

We asked how many years (pre-2020) it would take for flu & pneumonia cumulative death rates to equal 3 years of Covid

Answer: 17 years

In one state, Hawaii: Covid deaths were like recent (unusually high) flu deaths

Otherwise: nope

#Covid #Covid19 #influenza #pneumonia #pandemic #DeathRates #mortality #PublicHealth #demography #hawaii

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.24.23289045v1

1/ The Siberian village of Mama is finding that Russia's huge military expenditure is coming at the expense of basic services. The villagers face "ruin all around" and are having to dismantle and burn old buildings to keep themselves warm due to a lack of coal. ⬇️

So folks, don't forget to check if your Ikea chair is compatible with your screen. I'm not kidding. A thread 🧵.

I've had the problem with my new screen for several weeks now, that every now and then the screen goes black for a few seconds.

Today I had enough and wanted to investigate the problem. So I started changing all the cables, plugging the screen into a different socket, and and and. Nothing helped.

Republican legislators in Montana today banned their Democrat #ZooeyZephyr from attending floor sessions of the House, after previously disallowing her from speaking in these sessions— their response to Zephyr’s floor speech telling them they would have blood on their hands if they passed a law banning gender-affirming medical treatment for trans young people. I’m compelled to raise funds for Zephyr’s campaign and the Missoula Democratic Party. Here’s why. 1/ (thread) https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mastodonforzooeyandmissouladems

Him: can I have a gun?
Cops: yeah sure why ... wait, hold on a minute, whoa, holy shit, no, you're off-the-deep-end crazy. And we'd normally let *basically anyone* have a gun

DOD: would you like a TS/SCI clearance and unrestricted access to the JCS brief

Him: OK

* two years later *

DOD, in hot-dog costume: Look, we're all just trying to work out who did this, ok

I’m old enough to remember a time when the public uncovering of a politician’s corruption would result in them pretending to be ashamed and resigning. (After which they’d quietly get a cushy board position somewhere)

Now they skip the pretence and resignation, and the scandal serves as a handy advertisement that they are open for business. Those board positions can wait.

#topoli

Students in all schools should feel safe from homophobia and transphobia. If you say they shouldn't, you're a bigot.

If you say "Oh, but it's different because it's a Catholic school" then you're a bigot who uses their religion as a cover. But you're still a bigot.

As Rail Profits Soar, Blocked Crossings Force Kids to Crawl Under Trains to Get to School
==

When crossings are blocked for hours, kids risk their lives to get to school by crawling through trains that could start at any moment.

Ambulances and fire trucks can’t get through. The problem has existed for decades. But it’s getting worse.

#Railroad #Safety #Kids #Rail #School

https://www.propublica.org/article/trains-crossing-blocked-kids-norfolk-southern?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Via @KlasfeldReports:

Interesting moment from earlier in the day:

Echoing the state judge who presided over Trump's arraignment, the federal judge presiding over #EJeanCarroll v. #Trump warned the parties to refrain from making statements that would incite violence or civil unrest.

There are precisely two cases I've covered in more than a decade in which I can recall the judge giving such a warning, both with case captions ending in "vs. Trump." #legal

Here are my thoughts about the future of mastodon

https://justingarrison.com/blog/2023-04-24-mastodon-is-doomed/