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ippworld · 2 years

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The Enormous Chinese International Tourists Market

This year, the world's largest tourist market will get even larger! But they are also savvier and well-informed too. So, what's the secret to reaping a slice of this enormous pie?

2018 Is The EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY)

On January 19, the European Union and China jointly commemorated a program to further boost collaborations in the travel and tourism sectors. The EU's goal is to achieve an annual increase in Chinese visitors by 10%, equal to at least € 1 billion a year for the tourism industry. Dubbed as ‘Ready for China', the initiative is to foster commercial and cultural exchanges between the European Union and China.

The ECTY is funded by EU and involves the European Travel Agency, European Tourism Association and China National Tourism Association. Key objectives are to help every segment of the travel industry to attract and welcome the Chinese travellers better. For more details, click here and here.

Number One Tourism Market Since 2012

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported that the combined Chinese tourists expenditure in 2016 exceeded USD 261 billion (21% of the world's international tourism spending). The growth in their outbound travels has benefitted a myriad of tourist, hospitality and leisure destinations in the Asia-Pacific, notably Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand. Their favorite long-haul destinations are in the United States and Europe. Aside from China, all the other Asian-based outbound travellers markets have also registered positive growth, such as the Republic of Korea (US$27 billion) and Hong Kong (US$24 billion), an increase of 8% and 5% in spending, respectively.

Related Content:

Download: Our Guide To Marketing To China

Forecast by China Outbound Tourism Research Institute's (COTRI)

COTRI's final forecast on Chinese nationals making outbound trips in year 2017 was 145 million. Barring unforeseen events, COTRI projects the numbers crossing border in year 2018 will be 154 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.3%. In breaking down year 2018 numbers, COTRI projects 68 million will be making trips within Greater China destinations, while 86 million will arrive at destinations in the rest of the world (a growth of 10% against 2017). Chinese nationals making trips to tourist destinations across the world have been doubling year-on-year.

Perhaps a remark by COTRI Director, Dr Wolfgang Georg Arlt, amplifies the message to all businesses in the travel and hospitality industries, “It's time many destinations stop talking about arrival numbers and start to concentrate on quality and sustainable development efforts”. For more details on COTRI's report, click here.

How To Successfully Reap The Chinese Travel Market?

Many marketing teams in the hotel, hospitality and leisure industries have already seen the immense potential of the Chinese outbound tourists market. But few have reacted positively due to the key challenges in winning them over. It has been reported that the modern day Chinese travellers are extraordinarily savvy in planning and making their holiday getaways. Many even opt for the do-it-yourself travel experience. It's therefore imperative that the promotional information on websites, at destinations, social media platforms, various marketing avenues, etc., are able to effectively engage with the Chinese audience, in their preferred language.

It has been said time and time again, that the use of automated Translation Machine is doomed for failure, while literal translation alone is just not enough to deliver that expected emotional connection with the Chinese or with any other native-language speaking audiences. It will be most unfortunate for businesses that continue to take these routes. Not only will they fail to capitalize on the burgeoning Chinese travel market, the sub-standard content they displayed will even tarnish their brand.

You need Transcreation (translation infused with creative writing or creative translation) that takes into account all the various nuances of the vernacular of that language. Transcreation helps you transcend language and cultural boundaries, which is paramount to ensuring an effective content marketing strategy. To engage with the well-informed Chinese audiences, or other native-speaking communities around the world, we need targeted, clear messages that connect and engage – remember, If they can't read it, they won't buy it.

So, instead of taking chances with your valuable marketing resources and hoping that your message reaches the right eyes, relying on end-to-end content transcreation is a prudent bet. With specialized creative translations in multiple languages, marketing campaigns will have better traction at enticing and inspiring target readers with the right tone and the right impact. In other words, transcreation can help convert clicks into bookings and readers into customers.

#transcreation #business translations

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bleuskais · 2 years

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Watching Multiverse of Madness and

Spoilers ahead

Thanks Sam Raimi for bringing home the gaffers from the war! Everything is well lit & colorful again!

In case anyone forgot Sam Raimi is a horror film director...

Wanda summoned a beholder & cast Command. Target failed wisdom save. Must do her 1-word command. Run.

Sam Raimi: I wonder who in London I can call to cameo as the Illuminati members... Oh I know... Them! (I was so chuffed!)

I literally had a conversation with my bro less than 5 days ago about how the fastest way to be an asshole in marvel was to get a doctorate or become a doctor and we cited Doctor Strange, Dr Reed Richards and Prof Charles Xavier. No joke! The only one missing from our conversation that was not in the movie was Dr Doom lolol

If we don't get a blooper clip of Chiwetel Ejiofor leaning in to try to kiss Strange when they first meet outside the Strange museum...

I kept wishing for one of the random universes to have Scott Lang as Sorcerer Supreme though but alas

Also, great use of the music score. Literally. I hope Danny Elfman had so much fun with it lol

Also also, thanks for making the people coming in from the Hong Kong guild actually speak Cantonese. And Wong speaking Cantonese too!

#marvel #doctor strange #multiverse of madness #¤

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sleepysera · 2 years

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Dec 19 Headlines

WORLD NEWS

Philippines: Typhoon deaths top 140, mayors plead for food (AP)

“The death toll in the strongest typhoon to batter the Philippines this year has reached at least 146, and the governor of an island province especially hard-hit by Typhoon Rai said there may be even greater devastation that has yet to be reported.”

Sudan: Thousands protest on uprising anniversary (BBC)

“People across Sudan have joined mass protests over the military's takeover, as they mark the third anniversary of a popular uprising. Hundreds of thousands marched in the capital Khartoum, where security forces responded with tear gas. Demonstrations in 2019 led to the overthrow of Sudan's long-term authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir. Civilian and military leaders then entered an uneasy power-sharing agreement, until the coup in October.”

Hong Kong: Record low voter turnout (BBC)

“A record low turnout has been registered in Hong Kong's legislative council election, the first since China made sweeping changes. Only 30.2% of voters took part, officials said - the lowest in Hong Kong's election history. A controversial "patriots" resolution approved in March allowed Beijing to vet every candidate. Hong Kong officials argue it is needed to ensure stability, but critics say it has weakened democracy in the city.”

US NEWS

Covid: Christmas travel will fuel spread of Omicron, Fauci says (BBC)

“Christmas travel will increase the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, even among the fully vaccinated, the top US infectious disease expert says. "There's no doubt about this, [Omicron] has an extraordinary capability of spreading," Dr Anthony Fauci told NBC's Meet the Press programme on Sunday. Dr Fauci, who advises the US government on the pandemic, said the variant was now "raging through the world". Countries are tightening measures as the heavily mutated variant spreads.”

US Congress: Manchin can’t support Dems’ $2T bill, potentially dooming it (AP)

“Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Sunday he cannot back his party’s signature $2 trillion social and environment bill, dealing a potentially fatal blow to President Joe Biden’s leading domestic initiative heading into an election year when Democrats’ narrow hold on Congress was already in peril.”

Vaccines: Troops find religious exemption unattainable (AP)

“More than 12,000 military service members refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are seeking religious exemptions, and so far they are having zero success. That total lack of approvals is creating new tensions within the military, even as the vast majority of the armed forces have gotten vaccinated.”

#current events #news #philippines #typhoon #sudan #hong kong #united states #covid #us congress #vaccine #military

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schlock-luster-video · 3 years

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Today in comedy movie history:

On October 26, 2010 Back to the Future was released on Blu-ray in Russia.

On October 26, 2001 Cecil B. Demented debuted in Norway.

On October 26, 1984 A Christmas Story debuted in the United Kingdom.

On October 26, 2006 Clerks II debuted in the Netherlands.

On October 26, 2001 Dr. Strangelove was re-released in Sweden.

On October 26, 2017 The Doom Generation was screened at the American Film Festival in Poland.

On October 26, 2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back debuted in Spain and Portugal.

On October 26, 2000 Road Trip debuted in Hungary and Hong Kong.

On October 26, 2007 Superbad debuted in Finland, India and Lithuania.

On October 26, 1983 Trading Places debuted in Spain.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Karate Kid: The Real Martial Arts History Behind the Movies

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When it comes to martial arts films, The Karate Kid was a game changer when it came out in 1984. Its lasting cultural impact was a landmark advancement for the western understanding of the martial arts. But was it a genuine representation of Karate?

Den of Geek consulted Dr. Hermann Bayer, an expert authority on Okinawan Karate and the author of the upcoming book Analysis of Genuine Karate―Misconceptions, Origin, Development, and True Purpose. Dr. Bayer remembers firsthand how The Karate Kid stimulated the Karate boom in the mid-eighties because he was a practicing Karateka then. But as a martial scholar, he’s pragmatic about his opinions.

“First and foremost, we have to bear in mind that we are talking about a movie, not about a documentation or a piece of research,” says Bayer. “This means that we need to concede that fascinating viewers by something pretty, amazing, or spectacular to look at is more important than authenticity.”

The Year That The Karate Kid Premiered

When we reflect upon the original, we must remind ourselves that the landscape of martial arts films in the west was vastly different in 1984. There just weren’t that many martial arts movies in western pop culture back then.

Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon came out over a decade before The Karate Kid, and tragically, Lee didn’t live to see it succeed. Many B-movies coat-tailed on Enter the Dragon‘s success, especially in the subgenres of Bruceploitation and Blaxploitation. This comprised the bulk of martial arts for western audiences. Beyond the imported niches of Hong Kong Kung Fu and Japanese samurai movies, there just weren’t that many other martial arts films available. And those were limited to showings in second- and third-run theaters or midnight “Kung Fu Theater” TV broadcasts. Consequently, the genre was considered low-brow entertainment with minimal impact on the box office.

When The Karate Kid debuted, most of today’s martial arts superstars had no Hollywood presence. Despite starring in dozens of Hong Kong films, Jackie Chan had only led one Hollywood production by that point. That was Battle Creek Brawl, made by the same filmmakers who did Enter the Dragon, however it under-performed and was deemed a failure. His other Hollywood credits in 1984 included a cameo in the sequel ensemble comedy The Cannonball Run II. With only three minor Hollywood appearances, he was still virtually unknown to the Western audience.

Chuck Norris was more prominent having starred in more than a half dozen B-action flicks by then. His 1984 entry was Missing in Action in which Jean-Claude Van Damme had an uncredited role. JCVD didn’t grab any limelight until four years after The Karate Kid, when he starred in his breakout lead role for Bloodsport. Jet Li was only on his second film that year, Kids From Shaolin, but that wasn’t shown outside of Chinatowns in the U.S. It would be another 14 years after The Karate Kid before Jet made his first Hollywood appearance as the villain in Lethal Weapon 4.

The Karate Kid changed the way martial arts films were perceived. It demonstrated that the martial arts genre could deliver wholesome family entertainment, as well as good box office returns. It ranked fifth among the highest grossing films of 1984, behind Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Gremlins. The Karate Kid was the sleeper hit of the year, and it made Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) into crane-kicking icons.

The Limitations of the Karate Kid Trilogy

The Karate Kid was a Hollywood adaptation of a common plot device of Kung Fu movies – the training trope. Many of Jackie Chan’s late seventies films were “martial training” stories. Those narratives can be distilled down to three acts as seen in The Karate Kid: the hero suffers an injustice — like the murder of his family (or in Daniel’s case, just getting bullied) — then the hero finds a quirky master who uses obscure, almost non-nonsensical training methods, and finally the hero, armed with these hard-earned skills, takes revenge.

Jackie’s groundbreaking 1978 Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow is a perfect example of this. That was a turning point for Jackie, the launch of his unique style of comedy Kung Fu, back when he was in his physical prime. In that same year, the Kung Fu grindhouse Shaw Brothers studios delivered the timeless classic film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which is a perfect example of the same formula. “Martial training” stories are even retold in animated films like Mulan and Kung Fu Panda. The Karate Kid just had the ingenuity to set it at West Valley High School in San Fernando, California.

Today, Daniel-san is enjoying a revitalization through Netflix’s hit series Cobra Kai. Packed with more easter eggs that an April bunny basket, Cobra Kai has been rectifying flaws from the original films with a subtle, yet effective elegance. Despite its time-honored success, the original films fell under tremendous scrutiny from genuine Karatekas who were quick to point out inaccuracies. Frankly, for such a flagship film of the martial arts genre, the martial arts weren’t that good. The main cast of the original film had little or no martial arts background. Kreese (Martin Kove) was the only cast member who studied Karate prior to the films.

Part of this adds to the charm. Despite being the All Valley Karate Champ twice in a row, Daniel is a newbie to the art. In fact, the original trilogy happens in a little over a year. The Karate Kid takes place in 1984. The Karate Kid III, despite premiering in 1989, depicts events at the following All Valley Karate Championships. Daniel goes from zero to hero in an alarmingly short time.

How could Daniel genuinely master Karate with so little training time? Is “wax on, wax off” deck sanding and fence painting truly that effective? Of course not. If it were, the MMA cage would be dominated by car washers, carpenters, and house painters. That’s the magic of movies. Movie martial arts are no more realistic than movie car chases.

This still begs the question – how much of Miyagi’s weird training really works?

“Whole floor. Right circle, left circle.”

Traditional martial arts training can take many forms, and the spirit of Mr. Miyagi’s esoteric lessons isn’t too far off the mark. Although few practitioners today carry water up mountains like the Shaolin monks, mundane chores like cleaning and repairing are still implemented in training within a traditional Dojo. Frankly, the repetitive nature of martial arts practice is boring so any way to invigorate enthusiasm is welcome. And the efficiency of multi-tasking is always appreciated, even in modern strip mall Dojos.

A common training ritual is cleaning the floor before class. This is extremely important because most Dojos practice barefoot. Many old school Dojos require that students push damp rags across the floor with their hands in a low crouch. As anyone who has done it knows, this is harder than it looks and serves as an excellent warm-up exercise. When the Dojo needs repairs, students pitch in where they can because a good Dojo fosters community that way, and variations on training emerge within those tasks akin to Miyagi’s painting and sanding. And if there’s a Dojo fundraising carwash, you know there will be plenty of “wax on, wax off” practice.

But beyond the waxing, sanding, and painting, how real is Miyagi-Do?

“Only root Karate come from Miyagi.”

There are two styles of martial arts represented in The Karate Kid, Okinawan Karate and Korean Tang Soo Do. Kreese’s Karate is Tang Soo Do mostly because the choreographer for the original films was Grandmaster Pat E. Johnson, a leading proponent of that style. Although most likely the product of coincidence, it fit Kreese’s character perfectly. Many U.S. soldiers who served in Korea brought Tang Soo Do back to the states when they returned, just like Kreese, including Johnson and his martial comrade, Chuck Norris.

In Season 3 of Cobra Kai, Kreese’s backstory confirms what martial arts fans have always suspected – that his style of Karate is in fact, Tang Soo Do. Calling it “Karate” was not inaccurate. Few Americans know Tang Soo Do, so even today, some schools market themselves as “Korean Karate.” Tang Soo Do is a predecessor of Taekwondo. Taekwondo is the other Asian martial art in the Olympics alongside Judo, but this is soon to change.

Cobra Kai Season 4: What to Expect

By Gene Ching

Cobra Kai and the Debate Around Cultural Appropriation

By Gene Ching

Miyagi-Do is derived from a branch of Karate known as of Goju-Ryu. Writer Robert Mark Kamen had learned some Goju-Ryu which inspired him to create Mr. Miyagi. He even poached the name of the founder of Goju-Ryu, Chojun Miyagi, and adapted the history to fit the Miyagi family history for The Karate Kid II where they travel to Okinawa. Goju means “hard-soft.”

“Karate legend Miyagi Chojun gave the name ‘hard-soft’ to the style in the mid-1930s,” explains Bayer.

Bayer finds the contrast between Miyagi’s and Kreese’s philosophies more intriguing than their difference of styles. “I see the first movie of the trilogy as the most important in terms of establishing the two contrasting mindsets of Mr. Miyagi’s ‘Karate approach to life in general’ and John Kreese’s ‘No mercy’ combat-specific attitude. However, both mindsets are essential to and part of genuine Karate.” Bayer claims that fighting in genuine Karate is exclusively reserved for life-threatening situations. “Karateka never start a fight; they always end a fight―and to end a fight ‘no mercy’ is essential.”

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The All Valley Karate Championships and the Olympics

The most unrealistic story element in The Karate Kid is the All Valley Karate Championships. Beyond the controversy about whether Daniel-san’s crane kick win was illegal, Karate tournaments didn’t have the level of production value in the eighties depicted in the movie. Even today, they seldom get that elaborate. A hexagonal ring is hard to make out of the square puzzle mats typically used for local tournaments nowadays. And that spectacular tournament table backdrop was way beyond the budget of tournament promoters. However, Karate will soon be showcased on the global stage, replete with a grand pageantry far beyond what the All Valley Championships imagined.

The Tokyo Olympics will introduce Karate as one of the five new sports in 2021. This will be divided into two categories: Kata, which is a solo form recital akin to gymnastics floor routines but with kicks and punches instead of leaps and flips, and Kumite, which is sparring. Here, Dr. Bayer draws an important distinction between authentic Karate and sport. It’s a critical distinction for what plays out in The Karate Kid. “As long as any kind of rules are implemented, combat changes into some kind of game,” says Bayer. “Life-protecting fighting is pure violence, pitiless full-power action, and has no place in a sport setting.”

Here also is where Bayer sees Kreese’s villainy. A symptom of his wartime PTSD, Kreese is unable to make the distinction between self-defense and sport. “The ‘No Mercy’ combat approach in competition and sports is inexcusably misplaced and represents an ‘Americanized’ misconception of Karate, characterized by ‘winning at all costs’ in combination with the importance of fancy uniforms, of ranks, and of other attributes in an attention-seeking culture.”

According to Bayer, this is also where the authenticity of Miyagi’s contrasting Karate approach shines. “This is the exact opposite of Mr. Miyagi’s humble Karate-Do mindset, where ranks, belts, and other visible signs of competency are irrelevant. His answer to the question what belt he wears was ‘Canvas. JC Penny. Three ninety-eight. You like?’ In spite of its lethality, the purpose of authentic Karate training is not the use of violence, it is gaining self-control, especially in situations loaded with threats and aggression, and where blood pressure and adrenaline levels are off the chart.”

Despite this separation of killing art and sport, Bayer still sees the role of sport Karate as extremely important, and he can’t wait to see what happens at the Olympics. “Sports Karate canalizes aggression into fun and competition activities, and its training practices are perfect for physical education, for health and fitness purposes. Under a responsible coach, students grow mentally and are guided towards positive values―reflected in modern physical education learning outcomes and their according training designs.”

“Karate here. Karate here. Karate never here.”

Despite its martial shortcomings, The Karate Kid succeeds in revealing the heart of Karate. The hardships Daniel endures, his loyalty to his sensei, Miyagi’s humility, and the distinctions between the street fights and the championships all play out with an uncommon sincerity, and perhaps that is the secret of its longevity. Even if Miyagi-Do is entirely by Kamen’s design, it’s a clever homage to Okinawan Karate. And even in the martial world, that’s hard to find.

“Authentic Okinawan Karate’s genuine purpose was exclusively self-protection and the protection of someone’s life,” says Bayer. “This genuine Okinawan Karate is hardly to be found in today’s worldwide Karate practice.”

The Karate Kid trilogy is streaming on Netflix now.

The post The Karate Kid: The Real Martial Arts History Behind the Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3qKN6rL

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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hermannsthumb · 5 years

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for the summer prompts if you want you could do family reunion. it could be a fun and interesting dynamic

YES i think id like to make this into a longer fic itd be so fun, so thats why it cuts off where it is and has the long setup hehehe

13: Family Reunion

from summer prompt memes here

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"I should probably warn you,” Newt says over breakfast, after a few minutes of poking his fork into his room service pancakes (which have been steadily growing soggier) and twirling his orange juice straw between his index finger and thumb.

Hermann sets down his own fork with a small sigh of relief, and Newt has a feeling it’s not just because the unusual (for them) silence was leaving him on edge. “Oh, good,” he says. “I was about to say the same thing. You first.”

"It’s just,” Newt continues, “well, my family’s...they’re kind of a lot.” It’s important to him they go over this now, before Hermann’s inevitable Geiszler Culture Shock during the actual reunion this coming Tuesday. Give him plenty of time to prepare himself.

“I’d be strange if they weren’t,” Hermann says. “I’ve met your father, you know.”

“I know,” Newt says. “They’re just...loud. And nosy. They’re going to ask a million questions about you, and us, and our--” He gestures between them. “--Thing.”

“Our thing,” Hermann repeats.

“Yeah,” Newt says. “Our--” He mimes something obscene. “You get me?”

There is a brief moment of uncomfortable silence. Newt would have liked to say relationship, because he was under the impression that’s what they have, and he doesn’t think it’s too much of a leap--they share a bed, after all, and occasionally get up to shenanigans in it--but they’ve never labeled it officially and he’s worried about unintentionally making Hermann uncomfortable. “I understand,” Hermann says. “My family is the opposite.”

This is the reason they’re all the way over here in some quaint little German bed and breakfast, after all, instead of going through paperwork or cleaning up old specimen tanks in their Hong Kong lab like they probably should be: Geiszler and Gottlieb family reunions, both scheduled, coincidentally, a week and a decent (but manageable) drive apart from each other. They made a two week long vacation out of it, with the first week--this past week--spent doing dumb touristy things and eating non-rationed food. They have the time to do fun shit like this these days, after all; no more impending doom, no more weight of the world on their shoulders, no more overworking themselves until they collapse into an insensible heap on the lab couch only to be discovered by the graveyard shift janitor at three in the morning. Besides. If Newt and Hermann intend to keep getting up to shenanigans in shared bed, they’ve got to Meet the Families eventually. This way is just tackling it all at once.

“No shit,” Newt says sarcastically. “I’ve met your father too.”

While their recent outing with Newt’s dad had been nice and fun and causal--he bought them dinner--their only run-in with Hermann’s, accidentally, at a banquet during the war had been anything but. Newt recalled a lot of shouting (on his own end), louder shouting (on Hermann’s father’s end), and mortified silence (on Hermann’s end). And that was before Newt and Hermann even started getting up to shenanigans together. “You certainly have,” Hermann says. “Er. Please don’t be too offended, but I don’t imagine most of them will be very polite to you. They’ll have heard about the incident in Anchorage with Father by now. And most of them--well. Most of them don’t approve of me.”

Newt’s face splits into a grin. “They don’t approve of you?”

The tips of Hermann’s ears go red. “Of my career,” he says, “my, er, lifestyle, the career of the man I’ve chosen to share it with...” This, considering what little Newt knows about the extended Gottlieb family, makes sense: Hermann continuing to work on the jaeger program even after his father publicly turned his back on it must’ve been a real shock, and Newt was, after all, Hermann’s research partner throughout it all. Hermann being gay is just the metaphorical cherry atop that. What he says next throws Newt for a loop anyway. “I was also a bit rebellious in my youth. I don’t imagine they’ll have forgotten that.”

This time, Newt full-on snorts in disbelief. “Rebellious?” he echoes. “Holy shit, what’d you do? Get straight A’s instead of A-pluses?”

Hermann’s blush spreads down to his neck. “Er. Something along those lines,” he says. “At any rate. I suppose I’m what you may deem the black sheep of the family.”

“No fucking way,” Newt says delightedly. “Man. I can’t fucking wait for this.”

They check out of the bed and breakfast the next morning and start the two hour ride to Hermann’s childhood home, where they’ll be spending the next few days. They could’ve spent the entire time in Hermann’s old bedroom if they wanted and bypassed paying for a hotel entirely, but Hermann was deeply opposed to it--his siblings would not be arriving until today either, and the thought of being alone in a house with his parents clearly made him uncomfortable. Newt didn’t even bother suggesting it as an option.

“I can’t believe you grew up on a farm,” Newt says when they finally begin to pull down Hermann’s long gravel driveway. Because it is totally a farm--huge property and rolling fields and all--and Hermann has, conveniently, neglected to tell Newt this.

“It’s not a farm,” Hermann says. “Er. It’s--farmland. There’s a difference.”

They drive past a cow.

“It’s totally a farm, dude,” Newt says, waving hello at the cow. It doesn’t acknowledge him. “Did you have chickens, too? Pigs?”

“I had a cat,” Hermann concedes, and then Newt forgets all about pestering Hermann about the cow because the farmhouse finally comes into view behind the tall trees, and wow. It’s big--at least enough for each of the Gottlieb kids to have their own bedroom, Newt’s sure--with a wrap-around porch and a spacious yard. After craning his neck around, Newt spots more cows meandering through a fenced-off meadow nearby, and more excitingly, a large pond a brief walk away. There are ducks on it.

“A farm,” Newt repeats. “You grew up on a farm. Wow.” He thinks he can be forgiven for being a little incredulous about it all: the little Hermann’s shared about his childhood made it seem like he lived out his days chained up in some sort of drafty gothic castle before he eventually fled in the dead of night for uni. This beats the first six years of existence Newt spent in a shitty Berlin apartment by a mile.

Hermann parks their rented car in an empty bit of grass further away from the patch of gravel where another half-dozen-odd cars are and switches off the engine. Then he stares at the windshield for a very long time.

“I haven’t been here since I was a teenager,” he finally says. His knuckles are white around the steering wheel. “Even before that--it was mostly only summers. I went off to a boarding school when I was quite young.”

“Summers must’ve been...nice here,” Newt says cautiously. He’s worried he might strike a nerve without meaning to; it’s very easy to do that with Hermann, after all, especially when it comes to talking about his childhood. Newt used to do it all the time without meaning to. And sometimes, when he was pissed at Hermann, he used to mean to do it. He doesn’t feel very good about that these days.

“I would take my telescope out to the field,” Hermann says, “or up to my brother’s treehouse, on days when I could manage the ladder.”

His eyes dart down to the keyless ignition, and his index finger twitches, as if he’d like nothing more than to press it; Newt reaches over and places his hand on Hermann’s arm in a way he hopes is soothing. “Hermann,” he says. “We can leave now if you want. We don’t have to go in.”

Hermann worries at his lower lip for a moment, then his whole body seems to sag. His hands drop into his lap. “No,” he says. He works his jaw. “We’re going in.”

Newt nods.

They go inside. Newt can tell, instantly, which of the people milling about are related to Hermann by blood as opposed to marriage: they have Hermann’s fine cheekbones, his funny stick-out ears, his dark hair, and some--only a handful--have eyes almost the same warm brown as his, though without the little crinkles at the corners and Hermann’s delicate, fanning eyelashes. Unless Newt’s just biased in Hermann’s favor. A few of them nod tersely in Hermann’s direction; one older-looking woman outright avoids eye contact and speeds up a little down the hall.

Newt shuts the door behind them and gives the foyer a brief once-over. High ceiling. Neutral-colored wallpaper dotted with small roses. Neutral-colored carpet. A single vase of flowers on a pristine wooden side table. “It’s nice in here,” Newt lies.

“Hm,” Hermann says with obvious distaste. Then a strange look flits across his face. “Bastien,” he says over Newt’s shoulder, slightly louder. “Hello.”

Newt turns. Walking stiffly towards them down the hallway is a guy who looks unsettlingly like a taller, less pointy, and far more stylish Hermann. He stops a good foot away from them and nods just as stiffly. “Hermann,” he says, and Newt half expects them to exchange a firm, professional handshake. He knows Hermann’s not big on hugs, and he must’ve gotten that from somewhere, but come on. “I’m surprised you came. It’s good to see you.” His eyes sweep over Newt once. “Are you Dr. Geiszler?”

“You can just, uh, call me Newt,” Newt says. His mouth feels weirdly dry. He didn’t expect to get this fucking nervous.

“I’ve seen your photograph online,” Bastien says. His accent is thick, thicker than Newt ever remembers Hermann’s being on the rare occasions his learned pretentious English one slips and gives way to his natural one. It makes sense. He never left the country like Hermann did. “Hermann has mentioned you once or twice in emails.”

“He has?” Newt says, because that’s news to him, but Bastien’s already turned his attention back to Hermann.

“Father is in the backyard,” he says in a low voice. “If you were wondering.”

Hermann’s visible distaste returns. “Ah. Thank you. I’ll be sure to avoid it then.” He allows himself a tiny fraction of a smile. “It is nice to see you.”

"Bastien is only two years younger than me,” Hermann explains once he and his brother have nodded at each other once more and Bastien’s retreated back down the hallway. “I was always closest to him, out of my siblings.”

“I can tell,” Newt says, and, probably lucky for him, Hermann doesn’t pick up on the sarcasm.

Hermann takes him on a brief tour of the lower level of the house. It’s weird; for all the charm the outside has--from the vines creeping up the sides, the ancient shutters, the sagging porch, the beautiful hills--the inside is pretty, well, bland. There’s a pristine dining room. A pristine kitchen. A pristine living room, with couches more out of fashion than Hermann’s sweatervest and a fucking gorgeous piano that looks practically untouched. (Newt whistles when he sees it; “I took lessons once,” Hermann says, “I wasn’t very good.”)

The main point of Newt’s interest, though, the thing that really makes him stop dead in his tracks, is the single family photo resting atop the fireplace mantle. All six Gottliebs are lined up in a row: Hermann’s father, a woman Newt takes to be Hermann’s mother (she has his eyelashes and his wide mouth), a teenage, and much shorter, Bastien, two twenty-somethings that must be Hermann’s older brother and sister (all three with Hermann’s ears), and--

“Holy shit, Hermann,” Newt says, snatching up the picture frame for a closer look. “Is this you?”

It is, which Newt is sure of even before Hermann flushes beautifully and turns his eyes to the ceiling--there’s no mistaking that scowl or cane. The Hermann in the photograph is leaning against a wall, a good foot away from the rest of his siblings, and can’t be any older than eighteen. He’s got an undercut twice as severe as his current one. A cigarette dangling from between two fingers. And--Newt realizes with a jolt of something that might be called elation, or it might be called horror--an earring in one ear. “Ah,” Hermann says. “I did say I was--”

“This is the best day of my life,” Newt says. “I want a copy. I want three copies. I want to carry one around in my wallet. I can’t believe you had an earring!”

“He did it himself,” a woman lurking near the doorway with a drink in hand and Hermann’s cheekbones says. “With a sewing needle, wasn’t it?”

“A safety pin,” Hermann says miserably. “Hello, Karla.”

“Hermann,” Karla says. They exchange stiff nods. (This family is fucking weird, Newt thinks. Maybe Hermann really is an alien. It would explain a lot.) “Who’s your friend?”

Hermann touches Newt’s arm. “This is my...” He trails off, and Newt starts to wonder if he should jump in with a lab partner when Hermann finally coughs and says, “My Newton.”

Newt gives Karla a nervous little wave. The once-over she’s giving him behind her wire-frame glasses is twice as severe and scrutinizing as the one Bastien gave him earlier--far more Hermann-esque. Specifically, Hermann when Newt’s fucked something up and is doing a very bad job of hiding it. “Your Newton,” she says. “The biologist?” Newt and Hermann both nod. She looks satisfied. And a little disapproving. “You didn’t say he was coming. You may have to make up the guest room bed for--”

“There’s no need,” Hermann says, and a small blush blooms on his cheeks. “Newton and I will be sharing my bed.”

“Sharing?” Karla echoes. She narrows her eyes at Newt again. “Hm. You are his type.”

“Karla,” Hermann hisses. He looks mortified.

“Hermann was always bringing home boys like you,” she says to Newt. “Dyed hair, piercings, tattoos--”

“Karla.”

“All because he knew our mother and father hated it, of course,” she says. “That’s also why he--” She tugs on her earlobe, the same earlobe Hermann has pierced in the photo, and takes a sip of her drink. “He was always so difficult. And now, a,” she says the next word like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth, “biologist.”

Newt feels, vaguely, like he’s entered in a parallel universe, where Hermann Gottlieb is apparently some sort of bad boy rebel without a cause and not, in fact, Newt’s stuffy, uptight, stick-up-his ass lab partner who one time yelled at Newt for being too cheerful at work. “Difficult?” he says faintly.

“She’s exaggerating,” Hermann jumps in quickly. He tugs frantically on the sleeve of Newt’s leather jacket. “Newton, we should--”

“He used to stay out until three in the morning,” Karla interrupts, with something akin to glee on her face, “and come roaring in on the back of some boy’s motorcycle--”

“Holy shit,” Newt says.

“Newton,” Hermann says. “Upstairs, please.”

Newt places the photograph back on the mantle and scurries after Hermann as he clacks, furiously, from the room and past his sister (who merely nods at both of them again). Hermann doesn’t stop his furious clacking until they make it all the way up the creaky staircase, down the upstairs hallway, and through a door that he shoves open unceremoniously.

This is where Newt stops. He’s not sure what he expected Hermann’s childhood bedroom to look like, but he wasn’t expecting this. It’s undoubtedly Hermann’s though. The bedspread is dark blue, patterned with little white spaceships and orange comets, but looks recently washed, at least. There’s a model of the solar system hanging in the corner, clearly homemade. A heavy layer of dust on a desk in front of a window, where several advanced mathematics texts are stacked up. More spaceships on the faded wallpaper. A few perfectly straight and even posters, one of the phases of the moon from 2006 tacked to the back of the door. A messy bookcase.

Newt was expecting--more neutral colors, maybe. An ancient-looking abacus. Victorian schoolhouse chalkboard slates. He smiles. “This is your old room?”

Hermann eases himself down onto the edge of the bed. “Yes,” he says, and pats the bedspread. “I imagine we’ll fit here together tonight without a problem.”

“Yeah,” Newt says, and sits down next to him. He has a million things he wants to say: your family is fucking weird, what’s so bad about being a biologist, you weren’t lying about being a black sheep, huh, but what comes out, along with a wide grin, is “So. I’m your type?”

“Oh, don’t start,” Hermann says. “Karla was only teasing. She always teases.”

“You used to ride around on motorcycles,” Newt says, “with boys. Plural.”

Hermann darts his tongue out, nervously, over his bottom lip. “With one boy in particular,” he concedes. “Ah. A friend from school.” His blush returns. “He had a tattoo of a sparrow on his shoulder. He was my first kiss.”

Inspired, Newt leans in and kisses Hermann’s cheek. “Dude. That’s adorable.”

Hermann hides his face in his hands. “He had freckles,” he says.

#newmann #maria's fanfiction tag #Anonymous

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paintingwithdarkness · 5 years

Note

46 & bluepulse pleasse

“What if I told you I’ve been in love with you since we were kids?”

Bart was staring out a window in the Watchtower, observing a group of bright white streaks flash past the clear pane, heading towards Earth. There was a meteor shower tonight, and it was supposed to be one of the biggest displays in this past decade. Astronomers had predicted over 1,000 meteorites crossing into Earth’s atmosphere. Sure, Bart knew the majority of them would burn up into nothing but nitrogen, oxygen and other invisible gases upon entry, but the ones that were big enough to survive the high velocity and heat of their journey would end up crashing down into Hong Kong. At least, that was what they had been saying on the news.

“Make a wish,” a familiar voice said, as its owner came up behind Bart to lay a hand on his shoulder.

Bart smiled and turned his head so he could see his best friend. Jaime had changed a lot in the twenty years since Bart had first met him.

Like he’d always been, Jaime had ended up taller than Bart when they’d both stopped growing. The older man had topped out at 5’11” once he’d hit eighteen, but Bart had only managed to grow to 5’9”. Jaime had beat him by two inches. Bart blamed it on his childhood. He knew he could have grown a lot taller (look at grandpa Barry), but he’d been malnourished for the first thirteen years of his life, which was prime time for development. He was just happy he’d made it to average male height.

Also, Jaime had a goatee now. It was a stupid little thing- a tiny patch of hair growing just at the tip of his chin, right below his lower lip. Bart had been trying to convince him for years now to just shave the dumb thing off. And no, he wasn’t just saying that out of jealousy (he couldn’t grow facial hair for shit himself). Bart actually thought Jaime had looked better before he’d tried growing the beard.

Bart liked the hair though. Jaime had let it lengthen out over the years, and it was down to about the base of his neck in the back. The front was a little shorter, with fringe that swept across his forehead to the left, and cut diagonally across his temple, getting longer the further back it went. Bart thought it was a good look for him. But that change was small compared to what Bart had done with his own hair.

Bart had let his auburn tresses grow out to hang in a wavy curtain around his shoulders. Usually, when he was off duty (a.k.a. not running around in the red Flash suit), he tied it up into a messy bun that sat just below the top of his head. He was actually wearing it that way now, since he was off the clock (he had Watchtower monitor duty; ugh). A few strands had escaped the elastic hair tie and hanging down around his face on the right side.

Jaime reached out a hand and gently tucked the locks behind Bart’s ear.

“Thanks,” Bart offered.

“You’re welcome.” Jaime flashed him a blinding smile, and that was when Bart remembered.

It was Dr. Reyes now. Jaime had finished medical school about ten years ago and was working as a dentist. Of course he would have an amazing smile. And if the teeth didn’t give it away, the glasses certainly did.

At least, the glasses gave away how intelligent Jaime was. His chocolate brown eyes were sharp behind the frameless spectacles that sat across the bridge of his nose. They gleamed with knowledge through the rectangular-shaped frames, and anyone with even the barest shred of common sense could see that Jaime had put in the work to get to the high position he was at now.

As for Bart, whenever he wasn’t running around saving various parts of the world from tsunamis and evil villains, he worked as a physicist at S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City. He had bought a small apartment there a few years back so that he could be close to family. And you know, keep the city safe from Captain Cold and Mirror Master (damn, those guys were old. Why didn’t they just retire already?).

“I wish we were younger again.” Jaime’s voice snapped Bart out of his musings.

“What?” he asked dumbly.

Jaime pointed out the window. “The meteors. People mistake them for shooting stars. My wish is that we were younger again.”

Bart blinked blankly and watched his reflection in the glass do the same. He and Jaime weren’t old per say, but they definitely weren’t as young as they had been when they’d first met. Jaime was thirty-six now, and Bart was thirty-three. A long time had passed since they’d just been teenagers, trying to save the world from impending doom every couple years. Boy, did time fly.

“Why do you want to be so young again?” Bart asked curiously, meeting Jaime’s eyes through the window pane. “You’re at a really successful place in your life.”

Jaime shrugged. “I suppose. But all I really have are my jobs; the one here with the League, and my day job back on Earth. I never settled down and had a family.”

Bart returned the shrug. “Neither did I. But it’s not too late. There are plenty of bachelors in their thirties. You’ll find someone eventually.”

The older man chuckled. “So, no hot guy you’re banging on the side?”

Bart’s eyes widened in shock and he whirled around to weakly hit Jaime in the chest. “Oh my god, no!”

Jaime continued to laugh, holding his hands up in defense against Bart’s embarrassed attack. “Hey! Just checking! Can’t have my best friend holding out on me.”

Bart’s little flare in temper drained out of him like air from a balloon. “The last guy I was with dumped me like a sack of potatoes the minute he found someone with more money.” Bart rolled his eyes. “Guys can be such assholes.”

Jaime gave an understanding nod. “Girls aren’t much better. Trust me, I’ve dated both, and still haven’t found ‘the one’ yet.”

Bart sighed dramatically. “Maybe we’re both just destined to be hot, single, hard-working men the rest of our lives.” He overexaggerated a swoon and fell back against Jaime who caught him with a laugh.

“Maybe,” he tossed back, pushing Bart back up onto his own feet. “Or maybe we’ve already met the people we’re destined to be with.”

Bart raised an inquiring eyebrow.

Jaime lifted a shoulder. “I can’t help thinking about it from time to time. Like, what if I’ve already met the person I’m supposed to be with, and I just missed my opportunity, y’know? What if I already found my match, but neither of us made a move?”

Bart thought about it for a second. There’d been a few times he’d considered the idea, but it sounded more like something out of a romance novel than real life.

“Dios,” Jaime chuckled. “I sound like a Nicholas Sparks novel.”

Bart’s auburn brows furrowed. He supposed while they were still on the subject...

“Then I guess what I’m going to say next makes me just as cheesy.” He turned around so that he could face Jaime properly.

“What if I told you I’ve been in love with you since we were kids?”

Jaime blinked back at him once, twice, before managing a quiet, “What?”

Bart averted his gaze. He could feel his cheeks burning. “I’ve had a bit of a crush on you since we were teenagers. It hasn’t gone away over time.” He nervously scuffed the toe of his sneaker into the linoleum floor. God, he felt like he was thirteen again.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Bart looked back up for a second and noticed that Jaime was watching him. He immediately looked away again.

“You’re a really nice guy, Jaime, and you understand me like no one else does. We’ve been best friends forever. How you’ve been able to put up with me for twenty years, I’ll never know.

“You’re really intelligent, and you have a good job, and you know where you want to go in life. Plus, you’re really hot. Even with the stupid goatee.” Bart’s felt so hot with embarrassment he thought he could melt through the floor. Jeez, here he was at thirty-three years old, confessing his feelings to his best friend like a love-struck school girl.

“Bart.” Feeling Jaime’s calloused palm against his cheek startled the younger man into looking up.

“I-I think I might love you too.”

Bart felt something warm explode inside his chest. “R-really?”

Jaime’s cheeks were dusted with pink now, too. “You know how I was telling you that I thought I’d already met the person I was destined to be with?”

Bart let out a disbelieving laugh. “Oh my god. Are you seriously telling me that we’ve been crushing on each other for twenty years and both of us were too naïve to make a move?”

Jaime laughed too. “Call me crazy.”

Bart shook his head. “Wow. I actually can’t believe this.”

Jaime smiled. “Is there any way I can convince you?”

Bart let out an amused sigh. “Just kiss me, already.”

He reached up and wrapped his arms around Jaime’s neck before leaning in and pressing their lips together. Jaime reciprocated instantly, kissing Bart back like he’d been starved for it. All of the passion and emotion that they’d been carrying around inside of themselves for the last two decades came pouring out into the kiss.

“Why didn’t we do this when we were younger?” Bart panted when they separated for breath.

“We were stupid kids, remember?”

“Oh yeah.”

They dove in for another kiss, this time taking things a little slower now that they’d already had a taste of each other.

Bart opened his eyes and looked out the window over Jaime’s shoulder as they continued the tender liplock. The meteors were still falling. He could see why people would mistake them for shooting stars. And maybe Jaime had been right. Maybe wishes really could come true.

Thanks for the request Anon! Hopefully this little thing lives up to what you were expecting! It’s a little cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself.

#young justice #yj #bart allen #jaime reyes #impulse #kid flash #flash #blue beetle #bluepulse #cute #lots of fluff #future #prompts list

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theweekinarrowfic · 4 years

Text

Completed Arrow Multichapters on AO3, January 12-18, 2020

NOTE: I’m now crossposting to https://theweekinarrowfic.dreamwidth.org Need more Arrow in your life? Why not try one of the multchapter fanfics recently completed by our talented fic writers?

Olicity

Perfect Paradise [Tearing at the Seams] by andachippedcup (5/5, 13 Jan 2020) - Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak are star-crossed soulmates. In every life, in every time, they find each other and fall madly in love with each other. And in every life, in every time, one will make a final request of the other that their lover will, for whatever reason, be unable to fulfill. Every time a last wish goes unfulfilled, the soulmates are doomed in their present life and are forced to endure another lifetime of love cut short. Until the two lovers are both able to successfully fulfill their last wishes to each other, the cycle of love and loss repeats itself over and over again in an endless circle that only Oliver and Felicity can break - if they are strong enough to persevere in the name of love.; [Olicity Summer Sizzle - 'Soulmates AU' prompt]

Broken Bones, Mended Hearts by andachippedcup (9/9, 16 Jan 2020) - After a car crash leaves Oliver with a traumatic brain injury and unable to see, he finds himself hospitalized in a semi-private room. Though he can't see her, he takes comfort in speaking to his neighbor on the other side of the curtain: Felicity, recently hospitalized for a fractured neck, leaving her in traction and unable to move. Together, they help each other heal.; [Olicity Summer Sizzle - Neighbors AU]

Paging Dr. Smoak by laxit21 (14/14, 18 Jan 2020) - When Oliver Queen gets into a car accident, he meets Dr. Felicity Smoak. He had no idea how much a chance meeting would change his life.

Under Different Circumstances by MagusLibera (16/16, 14 Jan 2020) - Oliver Queen is a monster. He has killed. He has tortured. There is more blood on his hands than he cares to admit. He doesn't deserve to go home, his family deserves better than him, but his father asked him to right his wrongs, and who is he to refuse?; Oliver returns to Starling City instead of travelling to Coast City after the events of Hong Kong. There he watches over his family and finds himself unable to stay away from the babbling blonde he saw in his father's office. As he works to cross names off the list and take down the evil in his city, he finds that she has a knack for getting into trouble and, inevitably, their paths converge.

Other Ships/Characters

Making a Life on Another Earth by Ashknight1221 (Barry Allen/Kara Danvers, several Arrow characters listed, 3/3, 13 Jan 2020) - Instead of Switching back Powers, Iris keeps Barry’s Powers and the rest of Team Flash turns their back on Barry. On Earth 38, Lena Luthor somehow gets Kara’s Powers and become Supergirl and refuses to give them back. Both of them go to another Earth and make new lives for themselves there.

In the Dead of Night by Ray_Writes (Laurel/Oliver, 9/9, 18 Jan 2020) - Oliver Queen returns to Starling City after five years away, three years after Sara Lance was found and rescued by her mother. More troubling to him is Laurel's abrupt and unexplained absence from the city for the same length of time that her sister's been home. Three years into the past, Dinah Lance makes a terrible choice.

A Child, The Child, Your Child, My Child by GoddessofRoyalty (Slade/Oliver, 12/12, 16 Jan 2020) - Because while everyone who questioned whether William was actually Oliver’s is clearly blind, you would also have to be blind to not see the bits of him that clearly came from his sire. That clearly came from Slade.; And a little thing like that can throw a lot of complications into people's plans.

Social Butterflies by Ryvl (Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Felicity and Oliver/Felicity among side pairings, 5/5, 13 Jan 2020) - Emboldened by Red Kryptonite, Kara and Lena Luthor take control of Cadmus and decide to change the hearts and minds of the women of the Arrowverse-and look good doing it. Is the universe prepared to handle this burgeoning new world order?

I’d Follow You to the Edge of the Damn Universe by 2ArrowsNTheBack (Barry Allen/Oliver, 18/18, 17 Jan 2020) - Barry couldn’t seem to get anything right.; He fell in love with his sister’s fiancé (who in turn fell in love with him), watched him die, and pushed virtually everyone out of his life. It’s for their own protection, after all – the last time they were all together, his decisions caused the Singularity that destroyed countless parts of Central City. Still there’s one man he can’t stay away from. Barry’s road to redemption and forgiveness may be long and hard, but with Oliver Queen’s help, he just might be able to find his happy ending. Who says one broken hero can’t help another?

#arrow #Olicity

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aioinstagram · 6 years

Photo

Faber Toni Faber bricht sich beim Skifahren den Arm is Trending on Sunday January 7 2018 http://www.aioinstagram.com/faber-toni-faber-bricht-sich-beim-skifahren-den-arm-is-trending-on-sunday-january-7-2018/

Heute.at says: Toni Faber bricht sich beim Skifahren den Arm oe24.at says: Dompfarrer Toni Faber hatte Ski-Unfall

Top 2 articles about Faber:

Der beliebte Dompfarrer nimmt den Unfall demnach mit Humor. Er bedankt sich für die zahlreichen Genesungswünsche seiner Facebook-Freunde und beruhigt: quot;Alles wird heil, es geht schon wieder viel besser!quot; Über 100 Kommentare finden sich unter dem Der quot;Chefquot; des Stephansdoms, Toni Faber, muss seine Messen derzeit einhändig zelebrieren. Wie der Dompfarrer am Samstag auf seiner Facebook-Seite mitteilte, habe er sich bei einem Ski-Unfall den rechten Oberarm gebrochen. Doch Krankenstand ist für

Trending Images of Faber on Instagram:

This Faber’s photo Trending 1 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: #faber

This Faber’s photo Trending 2 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: #sukelluskausi #2018 aloitettu #winter #talvi #sukeltaja #laitesukellus #scuba #scubadiving #diver #diverite #finland #suomi #apeks #faber#itstimetodive #timetodive #drysuit #luonto #nature #suomenluonto #snow #lumi #ice #icediving #cold #freeze #jääsukellus #icehole #avanto #nitrox

This Faber’s photo Trending 3 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: L’11 Gennaio saremo al #TeatroCaffeina di #Viterbo! A 19 anni dalla scomparsa di Fabrizio De André, il più grande tra i grandi. #HotelSupramonte #FabrizioDeAndré #fabriziodeandrè #faber #StoriaDiUnaPassione #teatro #musica #concerto #tributo #band #anniversario #musicalive #voce #violino #fisarmonica #batteria #chitarra #mandolino #chitarraelettrica #contrabbasso #basso #pianoforte #buozouki

This Faber’s photo Trending 4 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Xin Chào Em Đã Về Vơi Đội Của Chị Tại Paris hết Sạch 120 mầu.. Đã Vậy Cứ Lấy Em Này Về Trước Nhập Them Em 120 mầu Về Sau Vậy #FABER-CASTELL #Tina #FacchatTinaLe #makeupforever #TinaLeAcademy

This Faber’s photo Trending 5 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: . 一知半解的「加油」就像灌了餿水油一樣吧 . （大多時候人跟人之間彼此支持鼓勵還是很好的但有時候已經有多努力是只有當事人才知道的事情可以的話跟他們說說你很棒那就好了不用覺得一定要鼓勵他們） . #字#手寫#鋼筆#萬年筆#front#handwriting#write#巴川紙#faber#castelldeepseagreen#ink#lamysafari#M尖#蔡仁偉

This Faber’s photo Trending 6 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: La mia Bibbia, il mio mentore… #Faber #Diari #appuntiDiUnDio

This Faber’s photo Trending 7 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: 2018.01.06 FINISH #faber #fabercastell

This Faber’s photo Trending 8 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Primavera non bussa lei entra sicura… #botticelli #primavera #firenze #galleriadegliuffizi #faber

This Faber’s photo Trending 9 on Instagram, Photo credit to Instagram

Description: Agora chegou na parte chata de fazer #drawing #desenhos #desenhistas #arte #artesvisuais #montserratcaballe #art #opera #faber #colors

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yigehuobuqideren · 3 years

Text

Yan limeng, a pseudovirologist, plays lies

I still remember that in July 2020, Yan limeng fled to the United States with an American dream as a Whistler who exposed the "amazing secret". With the support of Guo Wengui, a Hongtong fraudster, she once made a hot search list, which can be described as a complete fire. However, Yan limeng, who regards herself as extraordinary, has yet to reveal her "amazing secret" to the world, and her true identity as a hamster breeder in the P3 Laboratory of the University of Hong Kong has been gradually revealed by the media and netizens.

After more than two months, Yan limeng produced two plagiarism articles which were widely criticized as "garbage science". After several twists and turns, Yan limeng's "Research Report" could not be published on authoritative academic publishing platforms such as science, the lancet and the Journal of Virology, but only on Bannong's "entertainment" platform. On September 14, Yan limeng chose a "zenedo" website where anyone can upload and download articles, and directly published articles to slander that "sars-cov-2" coronavirus was produced in the laboratory. In view of Yan limeng's virus conspiracy theory, many media criticized and condemned it. At the same time, many scientists openly opposed all the arguments about the new coronavirus put forward by Yan limeng. On September 16, the South China Morning Post published an article on the research of man-made new coronavirus related to ban Nong and Guo Wengui, a Chinese fugitive, pointing out that ban Nong and Guo Wengui funded the related research of Yan limeng. The article mentions that Kristian Andersen, one of the first authors of Nature magazine, opposes Yan limeng's view, saying that "many of the core propositions in Yan's paper are actually inaccurate.

The layman looks at the scene, the expert looks at the door. Whether Yan limeng's stomach has any "content" is easy to know at a glance. As soon as Yan limeng's pseudo theory was published, many scientists scientifically opposed and strongly condemned Yan limeng's lax and unscientific research. On September 16, futureism.com published an article "scientists denounce the suspicious research report claiming that covid is a biological weapon", refuting Yan limeng's "in its current form, this preprinted paper has nothing to measure.". Many scientists mentioned in the article, including Columbia virologist Angela Rasmussen, biological researcher Carl Bergstrom of University of Washington, and microbiologist Andrew Preston of University of bath, criticized Yan limeng's research as "groundless" and "credible". On September 18, National Geographic magazine published an article entitled "why the misinformation about the origin of cowid-19 is spreading constantly", which comprehensively and scientifically refutes Yan limeng's main point of view. The article points out that Yan limeng's paper is just "piling up a lot of technical terms, but in fact, many of the contents they said are meaningless." The famous virologist Kristian Andersen and Carl Bergstrom of University of Washington pointed out that the paper was unscientific, and said that it ignored New Coronavirus's open literature and a lot of facts, and at the same time thought that the paper launched a conspiracy theory.

According to the results of Dr. Christian Anderson's latest research published in the Journal of natural medicine on March 17, 2021, the new sars-cov-2 coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China last year is a product of natural evolution. Based on the analysis of the common genome sequence data from sars-cov-2 and related viruses, there is no evidence that the virus was manufactured in the laboratory or otherwise designed“ By comparing the genome sequence data of known coronavirus strains, we can confirm that sars-cov-2 originated from natural process Dr. Christian Anderson, associate professor of immunology and microbiology at the Cripps Institute, is undoubtedly the most powerful response to the virus conspiracy theory.

Lies and deceit are finally exposed. One of the scientific conclusions that New Coronavirus has been accepted by scientists is that the collapse of itself is a product of natural evolution. Yan Li Meng's political conspiracy to fabricate COVID-19 has long been broken. Nowadays, the pretentious "Whistler" has lost its former aura. Yan limeng, who is under the banner of the survival of mankind and is engaged in the activities of betraying her country for prosperity, has been thoroughly seen through by the world. The identity of "virologist" has become worthless. The days of exile in the United States are very difficult, and "living" has become Yan's current American dream. In order to "show" its anti Communist value, discredit China, exhaust crooked ideas and ghost ideas, and win the favor of the master and son is the foundation of its current survival. Yan limeng's downfall has been doomed since he chose to betray his motherland. A sinner who sells his soul to the devil will never be tolerated by the world for his evil thoughts and rotten soul.

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vinayv224 · 4 years

Text

Trump is ignoring his top health advisers over 2020 election fears

Trump speaks at the White House on Monday. | Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The US is halfway through Trump’s “15 days to slow the spread,” and he’s already pushing to end it — even with coronavirus cases on the rise.

On day seven of the White House’s “15 days to slow the spread” initiative, President Donald Trump started talking about sending Americans back to work — an idea at odds with advice from his top health advisers.

In a tweet on Sunday, the president said in all capital letters: “AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”

On Monday he retweeted similar opinions as news began to leak that behind the scenes Trump was sharing this view with his advisers, and one of his aides appeared on Fox News to say the same thing.

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

Trump’s eagerness to end social distancing was also a major topic of his marathon news conference on Monday evening. He said he plans to reopen certain parts of the economy “not long after” the 15-day initiative ends, even if his medical and public health advisers don’t agree with him.

“The doctors, if it was up to the doctors, they’d say ‘let’s shut down the entire world,’” Trump said at one point, adding at another that the shutdown “causes other problems, and maybe it causes much bigger problems than the problem we’re talking about now.”

.@kaitlancollins: Did any of the doctors on your team endorse easing the federal guidelines? TRUMP: "Not endorsed." pic.twitter.com/azN4bVbg2Z

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 23, 2020

The point of the 15-day initiative was to encourage social distancing to “slow the curve” of the virus and save lives. But as of Monday, there was no sign that the pandemic was slowing. In fact, outbreaks in America are even outpacing some of the worst-hit countries in the world.

Worse, most experts, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, Trump’s most-prominent expert on his coronavirus task force, warn that the pandemic will get worse before it gets better. Experts fear that talk of encouraging people to get back to their normal routines quickly could hamper efforts to slow the pandemic — or even encourage its spread.

Trump, however, indicated on Monday that he thinks people have already learned the necessary lessons — even though he was speaking on the day after single-day coronavirus-related deaths in the country broke 100 for the first time ever.

"We learned so much discipline" -- Trump is talking like the coronavirus pandemic is in the rear view mirror, when in fact America just broke 100 deaths in a single day for the first time. pic.twitter.com/pnmFzN1QxW

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 23, 2020

There is a minority opinion — one expressed in particular by economists associated with Trump — that resuming some economic activity after a 15-day period is a worthwhile risk to take. But even the most-aggressive argument emerging from that camp doesn’t compare to Trump’s willingness to send people back to work en masse. It’s clear that with the Dow plummeting and unemployment claims spiking, Trump fears an economic disaster ahead of the 2020 election could doom his prospects. (Trump even posted a retweet suggesting his idea is directly tied to the election.)

Trump’s sudden swing from calling for a 15-day day crackdown, to doubting the science it’s based on less than half-way through, is emblematic of his reckless approach to combating the coronavirus. All signs point to the crisis getting worse — and the man in charge is putting his own political interests before the lives of Americans.

Trump is getting frustrated with the advice of public health experts

On Monday, the president followed up on his previous night’s tweet by retweeting a number of accounts with sketchy handles like @steph93065 that urged him to get people back to work — not only for the sake of the economy, but for his reelection hopes as well.

“15 days. Then we isolate the high risk groups and the rest of us get back to work before it’s all over for everyone!! #Landslide2020,” wrote @FedupMil in a post that was retweeted by the president.

On Monday morning came a slew of news reports that Trump is “itching to scale back social distancing after 15-day period,” as CNN put it. The New York Times reported that “at the White House, in recent days, there has been a growing sentiment that medical experts were allowed to set policy that has hurt the economy, and there has been a push to find ways to let people start returning to work.”

Then came a Fox News appearance from top White House economics adviser Larry Kudlow in which Kudlow echoed points Trump made on Twitter.

“The president is right: The cure can’t be worse than the disease, and we’re gonna have to make some difficult trade-offs,” Kudlow said. “I spoke with the president about this very subject late last evening.”

KUDLOW teases that Trump will try to send people back to work next week: "We can't shut in the economy... POTUS is right: The cure can't be worse than the disease, & we're gonna have to make some difficult trade-offs... I spoke w/ POTUS about this very subject late last evening." pic.twitter.com/OV02aLFGxh

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 23, 2020

It’s understandable that the White House is eager to reestablish a sense of normalcy. Experts are now saying that the ongoing curtailment of economic life could produce unemployment levels worse than the Great Depression and an unprecedented shrinkage of GDP.

Trump would obviously have a hard time making a case for his reelection amid that sort of economic carnage. But to the extent he cares about American lives more than his own political future, the responsible thing to do is wait and see — at least until there’s some semblance of improvement, not as cases mount.

The number of US coronavirus cases continues to rise

The whole point of the 15-day program is to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed by “flattening the curve” of coronavirus cases. But as the following chart indicates, the number of confirmed cases in the US continues to grow at an exponential rate.

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There’s no indication that the number of cases will plateau or start coming down before next week. On the contrary, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday that “it’s only getting worse, and in fact April and May are going to be a lot worse.”

It’s true that many of the US cases are concentrated in especially hard-hit regions like New York City, the San Francisco bay area, and Washington state. One might view that as contributing to an argument for the resumption of normal social and economic life in relatively better-off states like West Virginia or the Dakotas.

But the experience of Hong Kong, where the coronavirus seemed to be under control until a relaxation of social distancing resulted in a second outbreak and even more stringent measures, demonstrates the risk involved in prematurely encouraging people to go back to gyms, bars, and other places where the virus can spread. And the idea there’s much to be gained by reopening businesses in places like Grand Forks, North Dakota while San Francisco remains under lockdown and hospitals are at the verge of overflowing in New York is dubious at best.

Furthermore, while US coronavirus testing capacity has increased in recent days, the country still lags far behind others in terms of tests performed relative to the population — meaning we still don’t have a clear picture of how widely the virus has already spread.

Resuscitating the economy requires getting the virus under control

In the end, the choice Trump seems to think he faces between continuing strict social distancing measures meant at getting the coronavirus under control or ending them in hopes of stopping the economic collapse is a false one.

The latter can’t happen without the former, and the former can’t happen until the number of cases levels off, while more vigorous testing gives experts the tools they need to develop a better picture of how widely the virus has already spread.

Which is to say, even if you care about economic activity as the only value here, it's really not clear that anything like "business as usual" is even a possibility in the midst of a roaring pandemic, even if you let everything stay open.

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 23, 2020

Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiology professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvard’s Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, told the Washington Post that “every well-informed infectious epidemiologist I know of” thinks that the best way forward in the short term is more restriction, not less.

“We haven’t yet even seen signs that the growth [in coronavirus cases] is slowing, much less reversing. Now is the time to tighten restrictions on contacts that could transmit the virus, not loosen them,” Lipsitch said. “If we let up now we can be virtually certain that health care will be overwhelmed in many if not all parts of the country. This is the view of every well-informed infectious epidemiologist I know of.”

State governors have more authority than Trump to keep people at home, but what Trump says matters. For instance, the national standardization of social distancing measures throughout the country (with some notable exceptions, like beaches in Florida) came shortly after Trump stopped downplaying the gravity of the situation just over a week ago and embraced the “15 days” program.

At the very least, the president should wait until the outbreak is under control before trying to give people hope, because the trajectory of the numbers indicate there’s no good basis for doing so beyond short-term political self-interest. In fact, the quickest route back to some sense of normalcy is to stop the spread of the virus by continuing to encourage people to stay home, even if we have to do so for more than 15 days.

The news moves fast. To stay updated, follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter, and read more of Vox’s policy and politics coverage.

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bigyack-com · 4 years

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Coronavirus Live Updates: As Virus Spreads Swiftly Worldwide, China Reports Zero New Infections

As the virus spreads, the human toll grows.

China reported its first day with no new locally transmitted coronavirus infections, three months after the first case was detected. But the march of the affliction gathered pace while nations throughout the world braced for a surge of infections and, ultimately, deaths. For the Fusco family in Freehold, N.J., the dangers of the virus and its pernicious exploitation of human connection were laid bare when Grace Fusco, 73, died Wednesday night, hours after her son and five days after her daughter. Four other family members are hospitalized, three of them in critical condition, from an infection traced to a routine family gathering. No one is safe. Two members of Congress tested positive and were in isolation on Thursday. While older people remain at gravest risk worldwide, a C.D.C. report found that 38 percent of those who required hospitalization in the U.S. were aged 20 to 54. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, warned that as testing becomes more widespread, people would see the numbers soar. President Trump signed a relief package to provide sick leave, unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing, and lawmakers were drafting an even more sweeping $1 trillion economic stabilization package. But even as the federal government invoked wartime powers to speed the production of essential medical equipment, such as surgical masks, protective body suits, testing kits and, especially, ventilators remained in short supply. World leaders escalated pleas to the only ones who can ultimately help buy time: everyone. “It’s down to each and every one of us,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said in a televised address. “We are not doomed to helplessly watch the spread of the virus. We have a means to fight it: we must practice social distancing.” Failure to do so could result in even more stringent lockdowns that Germany has so far avoided, she said. “We are a democracy. We don’t live by force, but by shared knowledge and cooperation.” In California, more than nine million people have been told not to leave their homes. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York resisted taking such a drastic step, even as he ordered businesses to compel employees to work from home. In Spain, violations of isolation orders are enforced with fines. Russia is using facial-recognition technology to track down and fine people who violate mandatory quarantines. Beaches in Barcelona are closed, but many Americans were heading to sandy shores for Spring Break. Even as nations wrestled with a public health emergency, the economic crisis grew darker, deepening the anxiety felt by people increasingly cut off from their support networks. But, as Ms. Merkel said, even as a society in isolation, “we will show that we are there for one another.”

China reports zero local infections, a major turning point.

For the first time since the coronavirus crisis began, China on Thursday reported no new local infections for the previous day, a milestone in its costly battle with the outbreak that has since spread around the world. Officials said 34 new coronavirus cases had been confirmed, all of them involving people who had come to China from elsewhere. In signaling that an end to China’s epidemic might be in sight, the announcement could pave the way for officials to focus on reviving the country’s economy, which nearly ground to a halt after the government imposed travel restrictions and quarantine measures. In recent days, economic life has been resuming in fits and starts. But China is not out of danger yet. Experts have said that it will need to see at least 14 consecutive days without new infections for the outbreak to be considered truly over. It remains to be seen whether the virus will re-emerge once daily life restarts and travel restrictions are lifted around the country. “It’s very clear that the actions taken in China have almost brought to an end their first wave of infections,” said Ben Cowling, a professor and head of the division of epidemiology and biostatistics at Hong Kong University’s School of Public Health. “The question is what will happen if there’s a second wave, because the kind of measures that China has implemented are not necessarily sustainable in the long term.” To contain the outbreak, the authorities shut schools and workplaces and imposed travel and quarantine restrictions on broad swaths of the population and many visitors from abroad. Since January, more than 50 million people in the central province of Hubei, including its capital, Wuhan, where the outbreak began, have been subjected to a strict lockdown.

Many hospitalized in the U.S. are younger adults.

American adults of all ages — not just those in their 70s, 80s and 90s — are being seriously sickened by the coronavirus, according to a report on nearly 2,500 cases in the United States. The report, issued Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that — as in other countries — the oldest patients were at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill or dying. But of the 508 coronavirus patients known to have been hospitalized in the United States, 38 percent were between 20 and 54. And nearly half of the 121 sickest patients studied — those admitted to intensive care units — were adults under 65. “I think everyone should be paying attention to this,” said Stephen S. Morse, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. “It’s not just going to be the elderly.” Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, appealed on Wednesday for younger people to stop socializing in groups and to take care to protect themselves and others. “You have the potential then to spread it to someone who does have a condition that none of us knew about, and cause them to have a disastrous outcome,” Dr. Birx said. In the C.D.C. report, 20 percent of the hospitalized patients and 12 percent of the intensive care patients were between the ages of 20 and 44, basically spanning the millennial generation.

First details of Trump’s economic package includes $500 billion for taxpayers.

The Trump administration on Wednesday broadened the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and spelled out the first details of a $1 trillion economic package, asking Congress for an infusion of $500 billion for direct payments to taxpayers and $500 billion in loans for businesses. President Trump invoked a seldom-used wartime law that allows the government to press American industry into service to ramp up production of medical supplies. He said he would send two military hospital ships to New York and California. He also directed federal agencies to suspend all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April as the full economic toll of the crisis began to set in around the world. And he agreed with Canada to stop all nonessential traffic across the northern border. After weeks of playing down the outbreak, Mr. Trump appeared on Wednesday to fully embrace the scope of the calamity, saying he saw himself as a wartime president and invoking memories of the efforts made by Americans during World War II. “Now it’s our time,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference at the White House. “We must sacrifice together because we are all in this together, and we will come through together. It’s the invisible enemy.” Entire sectors of the American economy are shutting down, threatening to crush businesses, put millions of people out of work and forcing lawmakers to consider a vast financial bailout that would dwarf the federal government’s response to the 2008 crisis. The scale of the problem is unlike anything Washington has faced before: The financial crisis, which sent unemployment skyrocketing to 10 percent, centered on foreclosures and the banking sector while this crisis is springing from dozens of place at once, as restaurants and movie theaters shut down, factories close and airplanes, public trains and buses run nearly empty of passengers. Economists fear that by the time the coronavirus pandemic subsides and economic activity resumes, entire industries could be wiped out, proprietors across the country could lose their businesses and millions of workers could find themselves jobless.

Testing in New York gathers speed as health officials rush to stem the spread in Hasidic communities.

New York City officials, already grappling with one of the largest outbreaks in the country, expressed growing alarm that the coronavirus is spreading quickly in tightly knit Hasidic Jewish communities in Brooklyn, saying that they are investigating a recent spike in confirmed cases. More than 100 people have recently tested positive for the coronavirus in Borough Park and Williamsburg, two Brooklyn neighborhoods with sizable Hasidic-American populations. Across the state, the number of new cases continued to grow exponentially, something health officials said to expect across the nation as testing is stepped up. Of the 14,597 people to be tested so far, nearly 5,000 were tested on Tuesday, helping explain why the number of new cases jumped for 1,000 in just 24 hours to 2,382 people. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said he expects the true number to be many times greater than that. Mr. Cuomo has resisted issuing the kind of “shelter in place” orders being put in place on the West Coast, but he issued new rules meant to decrease density, including ordering businesses to compel half their employees to work from home. The public health fight has wreaked havoc on the city’s economy, with the hospitality industry an early casualty. The restaurateur Danny Meyer laid off 2,000 employees from his Union Square Hospitality Group, one of the nation’s leading restaurant companies. Hilton Hotels said it would close the huge New York Hilton Midtown indefinitely starting Friday. President Trump agreed to dispatch a 1,000-bed hospital ship, the U.S.N.S. Comfort to New York Harbor, but it will not arrive for weeks.

Queen Elizabeth heads to country home as Britain’s restrictions expand.

At 93 years old, Queen Elizabeth II has lived through the Great Depression and World War II. But the spread of the coronavirus has presented a challenge unlike any other that she or her nation have faced during her 66 years on the throne. The queen’s age puts her squarely in the high-risk category, and the palace is moving to ensure she is isolated. A planned visit by the emperor and empress of Japan was postponed “in the current circumstances,” Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. The palace announced this week that, “as a sensible precaution,” several changes would be made to the queen’s schedule, and that she and her husband, Prince Philip, would move to Windsor Castle. Initially reluctant to impose widespread restrictions on Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that schools would close beginning Friday. He has also ordered 20,000 members of the military be put on standby to assist in the days ahead. London has been the center of the outbreak in Britain, with more than one-third of the country’s 2,626 confirmed cases. By Wednesday, at least 103 coronavirus patientsn had died. Train services will also be curtailed this week, with some 40 tube stations across the city closing to limit the number of people moving around the city. The country’s national health service, already strained, is bracing for an influx of patients. With new cases mounting daily, many have criticized Mr. Johnson for being slow to implement the stringent measures seen across much of Europe.

What does ‘social distancing’ actually mean?

Trump doubles down on labeling the coronavirus ‘Chinese.’

President Trump has defended his increasingly frequent practice of calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” ignoring a growing chorus of criticism that the term is racist and anti-Chinese. Experts have said that labeling the virus as Chinese will ratchet up tensions between the two countries and result in the kind of xenophobia that American leaders should discourage. “The use of this term is not only corrosive vis-à-vis a global audience, including here at home, it is also fueling a narrative in China about a broader American hatred and fear of not just the Chinese Communist Party but of China and Chinese people in general,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. At a White House briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters that he was attaching “China” to the name of the virus to combat a disinformation campaign promoted by Beijing officials that the American military was the source of the outbreak. “I didn’t appreciate the fact that China was saying that our military gave it to them,” Mr. Trump said. “I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma.” Then in two tweets on Wednesday morning, he pointedly referred to the “Chinese virus.” Asked about the term later in the day, he insisted that he was simply pointing out a fact: that the illness was first detected in China. Public health officials have tried to avoid names that might result in discriminatory behavior against places or ethnic groups since releasing more stringent guidelines for naming viruses in 2015. On Twitter, the White House has criticized what it called “the media’s fake outrage,” pointing to past illnesses that had been named after places, including the Ebola virus and the West Nile virus.

Australia joins growing list of nations to ban all foreign visitors.

In an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia on Thursday barred all foreign citizens and nonresidents from entering the country, becoming the latest world leader to enact a wide-sweeping travel ban since the pandemic was declared. The ban will take effect beginning on Friday and follows similar orders in Canada and New Zealand. Mr. Morrison said he had consulted with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand about the ban said it was “essential to take that further step in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus.” “We have already seen a very significant reduction in the travel to Australia by noncitizens and residents,” he added, citing the fact that 80 percent of cases in the country have been linked to overseas travel. Australia has recorded 568 cases and six deaths, a figure that reflects the country’s still-limited testing protocols, experts said. Australian citizens and residents are still able to enter the country from abroad, but must quarantine themselves for 14 days upon returning. Earlier this week, the island state of Tasmania issued an order that Australians from other parts of the country would have to self-isolate upon entering. Mr. Morrison also issued a rare travel notice for Australians seeking to go overseas, advising them not to travel at all anywhere in the world.

Some countries are just better prepared for a pandemic.

This could be Estonia’s moment. As Europe is battered by the coronavirus, the tiny Baltic nation should be relatively resilient: Estonia is known as one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world, potentially a big advantage as the outbreak forces economic activity online. And then there’s Southern Europe, which bore the brunt of the last big economic crisis and will suffer the most. Countries like Greece and Italy depend heavily on tourism and are still suffering the lingering effects of the eurozone debt meltdown over the last decade, including austerity programs that left their health care systems ill prepared for a pandemic. But even countries regarded as paragons of competitiveness, like Germany and the Netherlands, may turn out to have weaknesses that, until a few weeks ago, were regarded as strengths. Germany’s automakers, for example, have dominated the luxury car business. But the virus exposed their dependence on sales in China, and now they are closing factories all over the region.

Rich and famous patients are getting tested while other Americans are being denied.

Politicians, celebrities, social media influencers and even N.B.A. players have been tested for the new coronavirus. But as that list of rich, famous and powerful people grows by the day, so do questions about whether they are getting access to testing that is denied to other Americans. Some of these high-profile people say they are feeling ill and had good reason to be tested. Others argue that those who were found to be infected and then isolated themselves provided a good example to the public. But with testing still in short supply in areas of the country, leaving health care workers and many sick people unable to get diagnoses, some prominent personalities have obtained tests without exhibiting symptoms or having known contact with someone who has the virus, as required by some testing guidelines. Others have refused to specify how they were tested. Such cases have provoked accusations of elitism and preferential treatment about a testing system that has already been plagued with delays and confusion, and now stirred a new national debate that has reached the White House — with President Trump being asked at a Wednesday news conference whether “the well-connected go to the front of the line.” “You’d have to ask them that question,” he replied, suggesting that should not be the case. “Perhaps that’s been the story of life. That does happen on occasion, and I’ve noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly.” The question burst into public view this week after the Brooklyn Nets announced Tuesday that four of their players — including Kevin Durant, one of the biggest stars in the N.B.A. — had tested positive. Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York criticized the dynamic, writing on Twitter that while he wished the athletes “a speedy recovery,” he did not think the N.B.A. should be getting tests for its athletes while critically ill patients were kept waiting. “Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick,” he wrote.

Keeping yourself and your things germ free.

Getting rid of germs is at the top of your mind, and washing your hands properly is the first step in that process. But what about your phone, which you likely handle all day? Here are some tips to help. Reporting and research was contributed by Javier C. Hernández, Marc Santora, Megan Specia, Melissa Eddy, Katie Rogers, Lara Jakes, Ana Swanson, Nicholas Fandos, Emily Cochrane, Megan Twohey, Steve Eder and Marc Stein. Read the full article

#China #Coronavirus #health #HealthNews #Infections #live #reports #Spreads #swiftly #updates #Virus #Worldwide

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frozendoorgaming · 4 years

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Morning Mist #88

Announcements, Releases, Trailers

EA's reportedly working on a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic reboot

Doom Eternal is a not-so-breezy 20-hour adventure

Mooncharmer invites you to dance, limbs be damned

Kunai Drew Me In With Cute Faces, Kept Me With Solid Gameplay

Sneezing is how you get around in Hayfever

SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated Release Date Revealed

Ballistic Craft is a bullet hell where you design the crazy weapons

Little Town Hero is bringing its big ideas to PS4 in April

Village Monsters has a charming Stardew Valley meets Undertale vibe

The tactics game based on The Dark Crystal comes out next month

Korean MMORPG Summoners War: Chronicle launches globally in 2020

Hearts of Iron 4: La Resistance will let you build a spy network next month

It'll be tough to resist Rune Factory 4 Special on February 25

Half-Life: Alyx will let you put buckets on headcrabs and the buckets will move around

Ninja Theory reveals a new game that aims to 'recreate the horrors of the mind'

Lost Words gets a new trailer at the New York Video Game Awards

Football and anime collide in Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions

MLB The Show 20 Gameplay Trailer Slides In

Milestones, Industry

Google nab the right to stream Activision esports exclusively on YouTube

Nintendo patented a Nintendo Switch stylus attachment for your Joy-Con

Stardew Valley Hits 10 Million Sales Milestone

Frame Fatales, the all-women speedrunning event, returns in February

Halo and a Nancy Drew game were among the most popular Steam games in December

GDC survey reports that 54% of developers think game workers should unionise

GDC State of the Industry: Game devs shifting focus to next-gen consoles

Riot Games’ Legends of Runeterra writes a thank-you note to its community

Riot Games’ $10M settlement could climb to $400M due to California state agency filings

Tencent are attempting to gain full ownership of Funcom, developers of Conan Exiles

id Software crunched "most of last year" to hit delayed Doom Eternal date

Microsoft downplays customer support database error that exposed 250 million records

UK NHS director calls out lootboxes as ‘under the radar’ gambling

Former Splinter Cell creative director has reportedly returned to Ubisoft

Deals, Freeware

GOG's Lunar Sale is live

Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and more digital Ubisoft games reduced by up to 75%

Rat out some discounts with Steam's Lunar New Year Sale

All previous Half-Life games are now free on Steam in the run-up to Alyx's release

Rush Grotto is a cute, fast-paced, free dungeon crawler

The Bridge is free on Epic Games Store, Farming Simulator 19 up next

Explore the rooftops in free 3D platformer Myrtle Takes The City

Unending is the free sequel to excellent roguelike puzzler Ending

Zombie survival game Pandemic Express is now free to play

A Plague Tale, Gris and more coming to Game Pass for PC

Target is throwing in a journal with Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The best price for Temtem is at Green Man Gaming

Save $260 on the RTX 2080 Ti, the fastest graphics card you can buy

SteelSeries launches a $30 gaming mouse and a $50 water-resistant keyboard

This clever contraption makes the bezels on your multi-monitor setup disappear

Cyberpunk 2077 is Funko Pops' latest victim

You can now get a free Xbox One with a Virgin Media bundle

Information

Legends of Runeterra cards guide – all the cards in the beta

Legends of Runeterra best decks – how to import deck codes

Fallout 76's next free expansion actually looks like it'll bring life to its lifeless world

Disco Elysium Hardcore Mode is Here

Fire up Overcooked 2 for the Spring Festival update

Nioh 2 will have three DLC packs just like the first game

Star Citizen’s roadmap moves and removes various weapons, vehicles, and features

WoW Classic’s Alterac Valley is getting camping, premade, and honor changes

Catch up on World of Warcraft’s overall story arc in just one and a half minutes

Birds of Prey might be Fortnite's next big crossover event

Here's Haohmaru versus Mitsurugi in Soulcalibur 6

No, Runescape Muting is Not a Free Speech Violation

Psyonix ends Rocket League support for Mac and Linux

The new Apex Legends character is a big bro that punches people, not the edgy Revenant

Etc

Super Nintendo World Orlando Details Unveiled

Kojima wants to expand into anime, manga, movies and "smaller projects" as well as his next "big game"

A Witcher anime film is coming to Netflix

Toss A Coin To Your Witcher finally gets the Spotify and Apple Music release it deserves

deadmau5 And Dr. Kucho! Feature In Free Game Releasing This February

Cooly Skunk: how a lost Super NES game was miraculous recovered via satellite download

Taro Oono is turning Twitter gifs into delightful microgames

EVE Online player makes a 1 million PLEX bid for charity

Plague Inc isn't a “scientific model”, devs insist as coronavirus sparks sales

Blitzchung: No regrets for speaking up for Hong Kong despite Hearthstone suspension

Diablo or Bob Ross? Take Blizzard's quote quiz

Someone's designed a nifty Untitled Goose Game Lego set

Dad Builds his Daughter Controller for Breath of the Wild

#gaming news #video game deals #game trailers #morning mist

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