Addendae 7
How many voters does it take to make a majority? Why Ohio's Issue 1 is controversial
#Ohio #OhioIssue1 #GOP #FarRight #neofascism #abortion #StateConstitutions
A new clue to the reason some people come down with long COVID
* infection by SARS-CoV-2 can result in Long COVID (https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/fact-sheets/item/post-covid-19-condition) characterized by symptoms of fatigue, pulmonary & cognitive dysfunction
* preliminary research suggests genetics plays a role
* transcription factor FOXP4 variant associated with developing long COVID
FOXP4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOXP4
Genome-wide Association Study of Long COVID
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.23292056v1
#COVID19 #FOXP4 #LongCOVID #GWAS
I shouldn't have to 'look' non-binary for my identity to be respected
I like my feminine name and wearing the occasional dress. But that doesn't define me
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/i-shouldn-t-have-to-look-non-binary-1.6903041
* This First Person article is the experience of Julia Wright, a student at McGill University in Montreal
* Julia Wright, 19, says almost every person they meet assumes they're a woman because of their appearance
Thoughtful read. 🙏
#Canada #gender #GenderIdentity #lgbt #🏳️🌈 #🏳️⚧️
... cont'd 2/2
* intact CD58:CD2 interaction necessary for anti-tumor immunity
* Defects in this axis lead to multi-faceted immune evasion through impaired CD2-dependent T cell polyfunctionality, T cell exclusion, impaired intra-tumoral proliferation, & concurrent protein stabilization of PD-L1
* 2 potential therapeutic avenues, including rescued activation of human CD2-expressing tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes using recombinant CD58 protein, & targeted disruption of PD-L1/CMTM6 interactions
... cont'd 1/2
... cont'd 2/2
* intact CD58:CD2 interaction necessary for anti-tumor immunity
* Defects in this axis lead to multi-faceted immune evasion through impaired CD2-dependent T cell polyfunctionality, T cell exclusion, impaired intra-tumoral proliferation, & concurrent protein stabilization of PD-L1
* 2 potential therapeutic avenues, including rescued activation of human CD2-expressing tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes using recombinant CD58 protein, & targeted disruption of PD-L1/CMTM6 interactions
... cont'd 1/2
* regulator protein CMTM6 inhibits degradation of bothCD58 (which stimulates T cell activity) & cell surface protein PD-L1 (which inhibits T cell activity)
* CD58 & PD-L1 compete for binding to regulator protein CMTM6
* tumor cell that express less CD58 free up more CMTM6 to stabilize PD-L1
The CD58-CD2 axis is co-regulated with PD-L1 via CMTM6 and shapes anti-tumor immunity
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1535610823001812
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.21.485049v1
* cancer immune evasion
...
George Benson - Breezin'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1QjyskJ9jw
Breezin'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breezin%27
* 15th studio album (1976) by jazz/soul guitarist/vocalist George Benson
* chart-topper in the Jazz category but also #1 on pop/R&B charts
* panned (C; transition album; mush) by contemporary critics
Namaste 🙏 🕊
#MorningPeaceIn #GeorgeBenson #Breezin #Jazz
Terry Fox cont'd 3
* On 1979-09-02Fox competed in a 17-mile (27 km) road race in Prince George (B.C.)
* He finished in last place 10 min behind his closest competitor, but his effort met w. tears, applause f. other participants
* Fox initially hoped to raise $1 million, then $10 million, but later sought to raise $1 for each of Canada's 24 million citizens
* ...
#TerryFox #MarthonOfHope
Addendae 1
Mitch McConnell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell
* McConnell withheld Republican support for Obama presidential initiatives
* frequent use of filibuster
* blocked Obama's judicial nominees incl. SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland
* During Trump admin. McConnell/Senate Republican majority eliminated 60-vote requirement to end filibuster for SCOTUS nominations
* Trump won SCOTUS confirmation battles: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett
#MitchMcConnell #LeonardLeo #filibuster #SCOTUS
Addendae 1, cont'd
* McConnell led opposition to stricter campaign finance laws, culminating in Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC that in 2010 partially overturned Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
Citizens United v. FEC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC
* SCOTUS: freedom of speech clause of 1st Amendment prohibits gov't from restricting indep. expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, nonprofits, labor unions, other associations
* opened dark money floodgates
#CitizensUnited #DarkMoney
Mitch McConnell Drowned Out With Chants of Retire!
https://newrepublic.com/post/174866/mitch-mcconnell-getting-booed-like-crazy-retire-kentucky
* Spectators drown out Mitch McConnell’s attempts to give speech w. boos & demands he retire
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110793100837022327
[2020-10-14] Mitch McConnell LAUGHS When Confronted for COVID Failure
https://persagen.com/index.html >> search
"mitch mcconnell" AND scotus
"mitch mcconnell" AND filibuster
"mitch mcconnell" AND "citizens united"
"mitch mcconnell" AND "dark money"
#MitchMcConnell #GOP #neofascism #SCOTUS #DarkMoney #filibuster
Addendae 1
Mitch McConnell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell
* McConnell withheld Republican support for Obama presidential initiatives
* frequent use of filibuster
* blocked Obama's judicial nominees incl. SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland
* During Trump admin. McConnell/Senate Republican majority eliminated 60-vote requirement to end filibuster for SCOTUS nominations
* Trump won SCOTUS confirmation battles: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett
#MitchMcConnell #LeonardLeo #filibuster #SCOTUS
Heat camera captures what it looked like when Phoenix surfaces hit 150 degrees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydMJWEXJZVA
* Phoenix, Arizona experienced a record-breaking heat wave in 2023-07
* Using thermal imaging camera, Reuters captured surface temperature of people & landscapes
* revealed how temperatures rose to dangerously high levels
#ExtremeHeat #Phoenix #Arizona #GlobalWarming
Addendae 5
Everything You Need To Know About Ohio Ballot Measure That Could Block Abortion Rights
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ohio-issue-1-abortion-ballot-measures
* Ohio Issue 1Z: Should amendments to Ohio Constitution require 60 percent supermajority vote to pass?
* requires petitioners to get signatures f. all 88 Ohio counties to get constitutional amendment on ballot
* became proxy fight over constitutional amendment to guarantee reproductive rights
* Ohioans vote 2023-11
#Ohio #FarRight #neofascism #abortion #StateConstitutions
Addendae 6
Abortion Drives Ohio Election on Amending State Constitution
* Republican-controlled Legislature called special election to raise bar for amendments f. a simple majority to 60% of vote
* since SCOTUS overturned Roe, U.S. voters elections approving ballots protecting right to abortion
* similar election scheduled for 2023-11 in Ohio
* GOP legislators hoping higher bar for passing amendments will lead to its defeat
#Ohio #GOP #Ohio #FarRight #neofascism #abortion #StateConstitutions
AI language models are rife with political biases
From Pretraining Data to Language Models to Downstream Tasks: Tracking the Trails of Political Biases Leading to Unfair NLP Models
https://aclanthology.org/2023.acl-long.656.pdf
* LM pretrained on news, discussion forums, books, online encyclopedia ...
* this data includes opinions & perspectives which both
(i) celebrate democracy and diversity of ideas
(ii) are inherently socially biased
#LLM #LargeLanguageModels #bias #PoliticalBias
Addendae 1
Ambassadors seek answers from Poilievre; Tory caucus offers foreign policy hints
* diplomats at several embassies uncertain about whether Conservatives would stick to global climate commitments & continue staunchly supporting Ukraine
* Poilievre "is trying to establish his domestic economic narrative, and leaving heavy lifting on the foreign-policy side to others," said Garry Keller, VP of lobby firm StrategyCorp
#Canada #FarRight #populism #PierrePoilievre
Addendae 2
Where is outrage about “grooming” by religious institutions?
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2023/08/06/letter-where-is-outrage-about
* lg-scale sexual abuse of minors by religious figures: Catholic Church clergy members in Portugal
* abuse of minors by people in religious positions of power: Catholic priests; Southern Baptist pastors; ...
* Why hasn’t been an outpouring of condemnation, boycotts & laws directed at these apparent “grooming” institutions?
#ConspiracyTheories #CultureWars #ReligiousRight #ChristianRight #religion
Addendae 3
Motorcycle group makes difference for PTSD across Canada
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/motorcycle-group-makes-difference-for-ptsd-across-canada-1.6509545
* Rolling Barrage: https://therollingbarrage.com
* “We served in the former Yugoslavia’s peacekeepers & there was no peace to keep and when we came home, we were all changed men and one of my good friends took his life in 1989” said Rolling Barrage PTSD Foundation founder Scott Casey
* catalyst to start doing things in the veterans community & trying to help soldiers deal with PTSD
#RollingBarrage #PTSD
Mitch McConnell Drowned Out With Chants of Retire!
https://newrepublic.com/post/174866/mitch-mcconnell-getting-booed-like-crazy-retire-kentucky
* Spectators drown out Mitch McConnell’s attempts to give speech w. boos & demands he retire
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110793100837022327
[2020-10-14] Mitch McConnell LAUGHS When Confronted for COVID Failure
https://persagen.com/index.html >> search
"mitch mcconnell" AND scotus
"mitch mcconnell" AND filibuster
"mitch mcconnell" AND "citizens united"
"mitch mcconnell" AND "dark money"
#MitchMcConnell #GOP #neofascism #SCOTUS #DarkMoney #filibuster
Addendae 5
Everything You Need To Know About Ohio Ballot Measure That Could Block Abortion Rights
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ohio-issue-1-abortion-ballot-measures
* Ohio Issue 1Z: Should amendments to Ohio Constitution require 60 percent supermajority vote to pass?
* requires petitioners to get signatures f. all 88 Ohio counties to get constitutional amendment on ballot
* became proxy fight over constitutional amendment to guarantee reproductive rights
* Ohioans vote 2023-11
#Ohio #FarRight #neofascism #abortion #StateConstitutions
Addendae 3
Texas Judge Says Doctors Can Use ‘Good Faith Judgment’ in Providing Abortions
The ruling sought to clarify the medical exceptions in the state’s bans, and was in a response to a lawsuit from women who were denied abortions despite medical emergencies
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/04/us/texas-abortion-ban-lawsuit-ruling.html
* Judge Jessica Mangrum, elected as a Democrat in 2020
#Texas #abortion
Addendae 4
GOP’s Stealth Plan to End Direct Democracy in Ohio
Republicans are trying to make it harder to pass ballot initiatives to block abortion rights and protect gerrymandering
Extremists Are Attacking Abortion Rights & Democracy in Ohio. Here’s How We Fight Back.
Ohio voters heading to polls to decide Issue 1, which would make it harder to change state constitution. It's an attack on abortion
#GOP #Ohio #gerrymandering #abortion #neofascism #democracy #FarRight