obi 🍍 @obi@qoto.org

@taz @freemo @obi
For the record, I never cared because I was never on there in to begin with- it never affected me.

Kinda like how what an people do on solitary instances here keep to themselves- it doesn't affect me.

The vile and toxic shit I've been dealing with from outtside of QOTO has put my stress levels to a point I've never expiernced before... It is effectively my health both mental and physical. I am having trouble sleeping, and is very quickly moving from anxiety to depression to a point where it is very dangerous for my health..

My blood pressure is so high right now it would be enough to get me admitted to the emergency room alone.

The really messed up part is if all these lies and toxicity wind up killing me these people are so horrible they would probably dance on my grave....

Frankly im not sure where to go from here. But I do want to say thank you foe the overwhelming support from so many of you, it helps.

Itts such a shame QOTO is the only place on the internet I've ever known that has a complete lack of toxicity, where everyone is kind to both eachother, and almost always to others....

Yet here we are, drama from the outside :(

I think I found the only post he could have possibly meant by "harassment". I want to post it here for the record, as this was the last communication we had before his server blocked me.

In short he had boosted an inflammatory (and outright lie) about QOTO. It was about one of our features and it lied about how itt worked in order to frame us as privacy violating, despite the feature respecting post privacy.

Since me and David at this point were on very good terms as far as I knew I was personally hurt by this but responded respectfully. I even made sure to do it in private so he didnt feel attacked. Attached our the interactions from me that he considered "harassment", as you can see I went out of my way to be considerate.

A shame he wouldnt post the evidence itself, probably because he knew if he did it would discredit his accusation... really a shame.

🌧️🌧️

So it seems joinmastodon removed QOTO from their directory without cause, without contacting us, and without any discussion or due diligence.

Since this is the only way to actually find QOTO for new users if it isnt reversed soon it could mean the end for our wonderful community.

If you care about this place remaining fair, respectful, and inclusive environment I highly suggest everyone reach out to them annd voice your objecttion and your disapointment and having no procedure to keep this fair and inclusive.

If you want to see QOTO stick around you can email your objecttion here:

hello@joinmastodon.org

Feel free to CC me here: jeffrey.freeman@qoto.org

Please be respectful, we want to show them we are the good guys and not give them any reason to object.

@Gargron @trinsec @khird

Some advice I have seen (which you may find useful):

* post about things that interest you, and include hashtags (for instance "birdwatching")
* boost posts that you find interesting from others - while there is no algorithm which those actions drive, it fosters connections as well
* spend some quality time finding people to follow - I love reading a variety of science topics, and I found a list of science journalists to follow on Reddit

On that last point, doing a more general web search to find mastodon users with whom you share interests is probably better than trying to find them on Mastodon itself.

"Server admins can read your private DMs so Mastodon is bad" boy howdy do I have some bad news about Twitter, Discord, Instagram, Facebook, Google Chats, Skype, IRC, AIM, MSN messenger, ICQ, SMS, Email,

CW Long post. Original content.

How Covid curbs on church-going harmed public health

During the Covid-19 pandemic, people were barred in many countries from attending religious worship for long periods, and nowhere more so than in Ireland. When they were not barred, severe restrictions were put on the numbers who could attend. But strictly from a public health perspective, was it worth it? An important new study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292122001672) suggest it was not, and the restrictions may have done more public health harm than good.

The research, just published in the European Economic Review is based on a nationally representative sample of over 100,000 responses from 52,459 individuals in the United States. It was carried out during the period from March 2020 to May 2021, when most American States limited the number who could attend a house of worship.

A crucial finding of the study is that the severe restrictions on religious worship do not seem to have slowed the spread of the virus.

It says: “there is no statistically or economically significant association between restrictions on houses of worship and either COVID-19 infections or deaths regardless of how restrictions are measured”. (p. 12)

The article concludes that “there is almost no evidence that the restrictions had a positive effect on public health, consistent with a growing body of evidence that has evaluated the launch of State quarantine policies.” (p. 12)

But the restrictions or ban on public worship did harm the mental health of some worshippers.

The author focuses on two variables: current life satisfaction and self-isolation.

The study confirmed that religious people have higher level of current life satisfaction overall, compared to the rest of the population. This is partly achieved by being part of a religious community. Therefore, it is no surprise that is also found a “strong negative association between state restrictions and current life satisfaction, particularly for religious adherents.” (p. 6).

If one of the main sources of their wellbeing was removed, how could it be otherwise?

The author notes that going to a church, or attending any other religious venue, offers people the opportunity to forge relationships and grow stronger in their faith. The survey established that the restrictions had “a disproportionate impact on self-isolation among religious adherents.” (p. 7)

Self-isolation among religious people increased by more than among their non-religious counterparts. This is one of the reasons why their well-being suffered more as a result of the pandemic.

The decline in well-being was stronger in Catholic than in Protestant congregations, and non-existent among Mormons, who are concentrated in Utah where no significant restrictions were put into place.

The main result of the study is that “religious adherents experienced systematically lower levels of well-being and isolation following the adoption of such restrictions.” (p. 11)

The study focuses on the United States only. It would be interesting to see such research extended to other countries, particularly to Ireland that had the longest period of worship restrictions in Europe.

Don’t say, “I didn’t do it” to the person. Who knows how to get into the logs.

Where is the Artemis Orion spacecraft this morning?

It is currently at a distance of 296,000 km from Earth, ~213,000 km from the moon.

https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/sc_artemis_1

Go #Artemis #Orion

Yup