US: Fathom Events Celebrates #BlackHistoryMonth With First Film Series This February [Trailers Included]

This February, Fathom Events will launch the company's first Black History Month film series, Fathom Events Celebrates Black History Month, in cinemas across the U.S. 

Movie-goers will have the opportunity to delve into the diverse lives, historic accomplishments and award-winning filmmaking of some of the most influential African American entertainers in modern history. The five-film series includes acclaimed feature films that highlight the lives, experiences and impact of American musical icons, a documentary that explores an entertainer's groundbreaking work with NASA, and a faith-based drama about the importance of family and lifelong faith.

The lineup for the 2021 Fathom Events Celebrates Black History Month film series is:

• Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA
• Ray
• Get on Up
• God's Compass
• TCM Big Screen Classics: Boyz n the Hood 30th Anniversary

"Fathom specializes in curating and distributing a wide variety of content for all movie-goers. We are privileged to utilize our platform to honor Black History Month with films that bring important stories to the big screen," said Ray Nutt, Chief Executive Officer, Fathom Events. "We hope this film series will reach new audiences who will learn about the amazing contributions of these entertainers and experience some great movies."

'Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA'

Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA (2020)

• DATE: Tues., Feb 2
• CAST: Nichelle Nichols, Ashley Eckstein, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Dorn, George Takei and Pharrel Williams.
• DIRECTED BY: Todd Thompson

Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA - Trailer:

In 1977, with just four months left, NASA was struggling to recruit scientists, engineers and astronauts for their new Space Shuttle Program. That is when Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek's Lt. Uhura, challenged them by asking the question, "Where are my people?" With NASA's backing, she embarked on a national PR blitz, recruiting 8,000 of the nation's best and brightest, including the trailblazing astronauts who became the first African American, Asian and Latino men and women to fly in space. This is her—and their—story.

ADDED VALUE: Following the feature presentation, fans will be treated to an exclusive behind the scenes documentary about the making of Woman in Motion, which includes additional interviews with Nichols and other notable guests from the documentary, deleted scenes and additional footage from the making of the film.

Ray

Ray (2004)

• DATE: Tues., Feb 9 & Sat., Feb 13
• CAST: Jamie Foxx, Regina King and Kerry Washington
• DIRECTED BY: Taylor Hackford
• SCREENPLAY: James L. White

Ray (2004) - Trailer:

Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx (Dreamgirls) stars as the one-of-a-kind innovator of soul who overcame impossible odds to become a music legend. Ray is the triumphant and remarkable story of one of America's true musical geniuses, Ray Charles. From his humble beginnings in the South through his meteoric rise to the top of American music charts, Ray's inspirational journey is a tale of hope, redemption and the power of the human spirit. "Ray is Electrifying" hails Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. Witness the incredible true story of a musician who fought harder and went further than anyone could imagine.

Get on Up

Get on Up (2014)

• DATE: Tues., Feb 23 & Sat., Feb 27
• CAST: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, and Viola Davis
• DIRECTED BY: Tate Taylor
• SCREENPLAY: Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth

Get on Up (2014) - Trailer:

Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, Get On Up gives a fearless look inside the music, moves, and moods of James Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Chadwick Boseman (42) stars as Brown, and is joined by Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, Jill Scott, Craig Robinson, and Dan Aykroyd in the Tate Taylor directed drama.

God's Compass

God's Compass (2016)

• DATE: Thurs., Feb 25 & Fri., Feb 26
• CAST: Karen Abercrombie, T.C. Stallings, Jazelle Foster and Joey Ibanez.
• DIRECTED BY: Stephan Schultze

God's Compass - Trailer:

On the night Suzanne Waters celebrates her retirement, she is faced with a series of decisions that change her life forever. Trusting God's direction, her truth becomes clear as she takes in a troubled teenager, Eli, and her family embarks on the journey of adoption, healing, and renewed faith.

• 2016 "Best Screenplay" winner - International Christian Film Festival.

ADDED VALUE: An exclusive introduction from beloved lead actress, Karen Abercrombie, as she revisits God's Compass for its special return to the big screen.

Boyz n the Hood

TCM Big Screen Classics: Boyz n the Hood 30th Anniversary

• DATE: Sun., Feb 28 & Wed., Mar 3
• CAST: Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Morris Chestnut, and Larry Fishburne
• WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: John Singleton

Boyz n the Hood - Trailer:

Writer/director John Singleton's acclaimed debut is a graphic and powerful look at life in South-Central Los Angeles as a trio of young men attempt through different means to escape the violence-filled life of the streets.

• Singleton was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 64th Academy Awards, making him the youngest person and the first African-American to be nominated for Best Director.

ADDED VALUE: This special 30th anniversary event includes exclusive insights from Turner Classic Movies.

Tickets for Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA, Ray and TCM Big Screen Classics: Boyz n the Hood 30th Anniversary are available now at FathomEvents.com/blackhistorymonth or at participating theater box offices. Visit the Fathom Events website to purchase tickets for all titles in the series which will become available closer to the event date. 

• Please continue to check the Fathom Events website and sign up for alerts. (theaters and participants are subject to change)

SOURCE: Fathom Events

Trump's Twitter Ban Obscures The Real Problem: State-Backed Manipulation Is Rampant On Social Media

Trump's Twitter Ban Obscures The Real Problem: State-Backed Manipulation Is Rampant On Social Media (ozrimoz/Shutterstock)

Donald Trump’s controversial removal from social media platforms has reignited debate around the censorship of information published online. But the issue of disinformation and manipulation on social media goes far beyond one man’s Twitter account. And it is much more widespread than previously thought.

Since 2016, our team at the Oxford Internet Institute has monitored the rapid global proliferation of social media manipulation campaigns, which we define as the use of digital tools to influence online public behaviour. In the past four years, social media manipulation has evolved from a niche concern to a global threat to democracy and human rights.

Our latest report found that organised social media manipulation campaigns are now common across the world — identified in 81 countries in 2020, up from 70 countries in 2019. The map below shows the global distribution of these 81 countries, marked in dark blue.

The countries marked in dark blue experienced industrial disinformation campaigns in 2020. (OII, Author provided (No reuse))

In our report, we focus on the use of “cyber troops”, which are teams from the government, the military or political parties which are committed to manipulating public opinion on social media. Cyber troops regularly conduct what we call “computational propaganda” campaigns.

Computational propaganda involves the use of programmed bots or humans to spread purposefully misleading information across the internet, often on an industrial scale.

To do this, computational propagandists make use of an extensive toolkit of disinformation tools. Political bots amplify hate speech and create the impression of trending political messages on Twitter and Facebook. The illegal harvesting of data helps propagandists target messaging at specific, often vulnerable individuals and groups. Troll armies, meanwhile, are regularly deployed to suppresses political activism and the freedom of the press.

In 2020, we identified 62 countries in which state agencies themselves are using these tools to shape public opinion. In other countries included in our study, these tools are being used by private organisations, or foreign actors.

Disinformation for hire

Despite the Cambridge Analytica scandal exposing how private firms can meddle in democratic elections, our research also found an alarming increase in the use of “disinformation-for-hire” services across the world. Using government and political party funding, private-sector cyber troops are increasingly being hired to spread manipulated messages online, or to drown out other voices on social media.

Our research found state actors working with private computational propaganda companies in 48 countries in 2020, up from 21 identified between 2017 and 2018, and only nine such instances between 2016 and 2017. Since 2007, almost US$60 million (£49 million) has been spent globally on contracts with these firms.

Additionally, we’ve uncovered relationships between hired cyber troops and civil society groups who ideologically support a particular cause, such as youth groups and social media influencers. In the United States, for example, the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point Action was used to spread online disinformation and pro-Trump narratives about both COVID-19 and mail-in ballots.

To achieve their political ends, smear campaigns against a political opponent are the most common strategy employed by cyber troops, featuring in 94% of all the countries we investigated. In 90% of countries we observed the spreading of pro-party or pro-government propaganda. Suppressing participation through trolling or harassment was a feature in 73% of countries, while in 48% cyber troops’ messaging sought to polarise citizens.

Social media moderation

Clearly, debates around the censoring of Trump and his supporters on social media cover only one facet of the industry’s disinformation crisis. As more countries invest in campaigns that seek to actively mislead their citizens, social media firms are likely to face increased calls for moderation and regulation — and not just of Trump, his followers and related conspiracy theories like QAnon.

Donald Trump was banned from Twitter in the aftermath of the Capitol riots (pcruciatti/Shutterstock)

Already this year, the prevalence of computational propaganda campaigns throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the US election has prompted many social media firms to limit the misuse of their platforms by removing accounts which they believe are managed by cyber troops.

For instance, our research found that between January 2019 and December 2020, Facebook removed 10,893 accounts, 12,588 pages and 603 groups from its platform. In the same period, Twitter removed 294,096 accounts, and continues to remove accounts linked to the far right.

Despite these account removals, our research has exposed that between January 2019 and December 2020 almost US$10 million was spent by cyber troops on political advertisements. And a crucial part of the story is that social media companies continue to profit from the promotion of disinformation on their platforms. Calls for tighter regulation and firmer policing are likely to follow Facebook and Twitter until they truly get to grips with the tendency of their platforms to host, spread and multiply disinformation.

A strong, functional democracy relies upon the public’s access to high-quality information. This enables citizens to engage in informed deliberations and to seek consensus. It’s clear that social media platforms have become crucial in facilitating this information exchange.

These companies should therefore increase their efforts to flag and remove disinformation, along with all cyber troop accounts which are used to spread harmful content online. Otherwise, the continued escalation in computational propaganda campaigns that our research has revealed will only heighten political polarisation, diminish public trust in institutions, and further undermine democracy worldwide.

About Today's Contributor:

Hannah Bailey, PhD researcher in Social Data Science, University of Oxford

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[Blog Tour] 'Beneath Black Clouds and White' By Virginia Crow #HistoricalFiction

'Beneath Black Clouds and White' By Virginia Crow - Blog Tour Banner

The Book:

Beneath Black Clouds and White 

By Virginia Crow

• Publication Date: 11th April 2019
• Publisher: Crowvus
• Print Length: 637 Pages
• Genre: Historical Fiction/Military Fiction/Family Saga

The Blurb:

Despite adoring his family and enjoying frequenting gaming tables, Captain Josiah Tenterchilt’s true love is the British Army and he is committed to his duty. As such, he does not hesitate to answer the army’s call when King Louis XVI of France is executed.

Accompanied by his wife to Flanders, Josiah finds his path crosses with a man who could not be more different from him: an apprentice surgeon named Henry Fotherby. As these two men pursue their own actions, fate and the careful connivance of a mysterious individual will push them together for the rest of their lives.

But it is a tumultuous time, and the French revolutionaries are not the only ones who pose a threat. The two gentlemen must find their place in a world where the constraints of social class are inescapable, and ‘slavery or abolition’ are the words on everyone’s lips.

• Beneath Black Clouds and White is the prequel to Day's Dying Glory, which was published by Crowvus in April 2017.

'Beneath Black Clouds and White' By Virginia Crow - Front Cover

Beneath Black Clouds and White - Excerpt:

Major Tenterchilt nodded and walked into his study and, pulling open the top drawer, he looked down at the pistol that rested there. He lifted it up and studied it with a fascination but set it down quickly as the door opened and his wife walked in.

“Good lord, Josiah! What are you doing with that?”

“Sparing you from terrible news.”

“Surely you mean robbing me,” she continued, her usual measured approach returning to her tone. “Robbing me of an explanation.”

“Robbing you of your inheritance, my dear.”

“Major Tenterchilt,” she began, pushing the pistol beyond his reach and kneeling down beside where he sat on the chair. “You have claimed all that was mine since that day we met. Do you recall it? Meeting on the roadside. I still wonder what made me talk to you. It was most out of character.”

“You would have been better if you had not done.”

“What has happened?” she asked fearfully. “For I cannot imagine life without you.”

“You were wearing a yellow gown and wide brimmed bonnet,” he whispered, smiling sadly across at her. “I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life.”

“Thomas was horrified,” she replied as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “For a lady to talk to a soldier without introduction? It was unheard of. But I knew. I knew even then.”

“And you shared all that you had with me, and I have lost it.”

“Lost it?” she whispered as she leaned away from him and stared hard at his guilty face. “What have you lost?”

“Our home, my dear. I have lost it all to a man who, I am certain, sat at the table with the sole intention of humiliating me.”

“You gambled Chanter’s House?” she hissed, rising to her feet. “How could you?”

“And the estate. I had a certainty of winning,” he responded as he dropped his head into his hands. “I could not lose.”

“And yet you did.”

“Every day for the past fifteen years I have thanked God that your carriage wheel splintered. Until now. This night I lament it.” He reached across the table and picked up the pistol. “As you can see, my dear, it would have been better if you had left the door unopened and me with this.”

Mrs Tenterchilt stared at her husband, willing herself to hate him for taking this house and the land that had been her only gift from the mother she had lost so many years ago. But, as she watched him lift the pistol, she tried to imagine her life without him and she felt an emptiness seize her. She snatched the gun from him and threw it across the room.

“I cannot believe that you have lost the house and estate, and I cannot bear to consider what is to become of us and our daughters. But nor can I bear to face it alone. Do not leave me, Major Tenterchilt, for I do not think I shall survive without you.”

Rising to his feet, Major Tenterchilt embraced his wife, trying to find the strength to support her but feeling that, in truth, she was by far the stronger half of the couple. For her own part, she needed her husband and loved him far more than she could admit at this moment.

The following day Mrs Tenterchilt rose early and ensured that she had time to discuss matters with her husband before he departed for Horse Guards. She sat at the dressing table and watched his reflection as he came to stand behind her.

“I shall visit Mr Dermot today,” she said flatly. “He will be able to advise us on what is the correct course of action.”

“Thank you, my dear.” He leaned forward and kissed her hair.

“There is something more, Josiah,” she said sternly, turning to face him. “I cannot bear that this might ever be repeated. Therefore, you must make me a promise.”

“What is it?”

“I will not tolerate gambling of any kind. For I have lost greatly to it and gained so little. And know this,” she added, steeling herself to speak the words that she had tried to contrive through the sleepless hours. “If you should fail in this promise, I shall take our daughters and begin a new life for us, for I shall not have you lose all that is theirs as well as my own.”

Major Tenterchilt stared down at her, his face becoming hard and stern.

“I mean it, Josiah,” she continued. “I will not compromise my children for a roll of a dice or a turn of a card.”

• Buy Links: Amazon UK • Amazon US • Smashwords • Kobo • Barnes and Noble

Virginia Crow

Author Bio:

Virginia Crow grew up in Orkney, using the breath-taking scenery to fuel her imagination and the writing fire within her. Her favourite genres to write are fantasy and historical fiction, sometimes mixing the two together such as her newly-published book "Caledon". She enjoys swashbuckling stories such as the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and is still waiting for a screen adaption that lives up to the book! When she's not writing, Virginia is usually to be found teaching music, and obtained her MLitt in "History of the Highlands and Islands" last year. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of music, especially as a tool of inspiration. She also helps out with the John O'Groats Book Festival which is celebrating its 3rd year this April. She now lives in the far flung corner of Scotland, soaking in inspiration from the rugged cliffs and miles of sandy beaches. She loves cheese, music and films, but hates mushrooms. 

• Connect with Virginia:  Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Publisher

'Beneath Black Clouds and White' - Blog Tour Schedule

QAnon and The Storm of The U.S. Capitol: The Offline Effect of Online Conspiracy Theories

A supporter of President Donald Trump, seen wearing a QAnon shirt, is confronted by Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber during the invasion of the U.S. Capitol.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

What is the cost of propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories? Democracy and public safety, to name just two things. The United States has received a stark lesson on how online propaganda and misinformation have an offline impact.

For months, Donald Trump has falsely claimed the November presidential election was rigged and that’s why he wasn’t re-elected. The president’s words have mirrored and fed conspriacy theories spread by followers of the QAnon movement.

While conspiracy theorists are often dismissed as “crazy people on social media,” QAnon adherents were among the individuals at the front line of the storming of Capitol Hill.

QAnon is a decentralized, ideologically motivated and violent extemist movement rooted in an unfounded conspiracy theory that a global “Deep State” cabal of satanic pedophile elites is responsible for all the evil in the world. Adherents of QAnon also believe that this same cabal is seeking to bring down Trump, whom they see as the world’s only hope in defeating it.

The evolution of QAnon

Though it started as a series of conspiracy theories and false predictions, over the past three years QAnon has evolved into an extremist religio-political ideology.

I’ve been studying the movement for more than two years. QAnon is what I call a hyper-real religion. QAnon takes popular cultural artifacts and integrates them into an ideological framework.

QAnon has been a security threat in the making for the past three years.

The COVID-19 pandemic has played a signficant role in popularizing the QAnon movement. Facebook data since the start of 2020 shows QAnon membership grew by 581 per cent — most of which occurred after the United States closed its borders last March as part of its coronavirus containment strategy.

Aggregate growth of QAnon membership in Facebook groups and pages between January and September 2020. Data collected and visualized September 4, 2020 courtsey of CrowdTangle.

As social media researcher Alex Kaplan noted, 2020 was the year “QAnon became all of our problem” as the movement initially gained traction by spreading COVID-related conspiracy theories and disinformation and was then further mainstreamed by 97 U.S. congressional candidates who publicly showed support for QAnon.

Crowdsourced answers

The essence of QAnon lies in its attempts to delineate and explain evil. It’s about theodicy, not secular evidence. QAnon offers its adherents comfort in an uncertain — and unprecedented — age as the movement crowdsources answers to the inexplicable.

QAnon becomes the master narrative capable of simply explaining various complex events. The result is a worldview characterized by a sharp distinction between the realms of good and evil that is non-falsifiable.

No matter how much evidence journalists, academics and civil society offer as a counter to the claims promoted by the movement, belief in QAnon as the source of truth is a matter of faith — specifically in their faith in Trump and “Q,” the anonymous person who began the movement in 2017 by posting a series of wild theories about the Deep State.

Trump validated theories

The year 2020 was also Trump finally gave QAnon what it always wanted: respect. As Travis View, a conspiracy theory researcher and host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast recently wrote: “Over the past few months …Trump has recognized the QAnon community in a way its followers could have only fantasized about when I began tracking the movement’s growth over two years ago.”

Trump, lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, and QAnon “rising star” Ron Watkins have all been actively inflaming QAnon apocalyptic and anti-establishment desires by promoting voter fraud conspiracy theories.

Doubts about the validity of the election have been circulating in far-right as well as QAnon circles. Last October, I wrote that if there were delays or other complications in the final result of the presidential contest, it would likely feed into a pre-existing belief in the invalidity of the election — and foster a chaotic environment that could lead to violence.

A shirtless man known as the ‘QAnon Shaman’ was one of the high-profile members of Trump supporters who invaded the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Hope for miracles

The storming of U.S. Capitol saw the culmination of what has been building up for weeks: the “hopeium” in QAnon circles that some miracle via Vice-President Mike Pence and other constitutional witchcraft would overturn the election results.

Instead, QAnon followers are now faced with the end of a Trump presidency — where they had free rein — and the fear of what a Biden presidency will bring.

We have now long passed the point of simply asking: how can people believe in QAnon when so many of its claims fly in the face of facts? The attack on the Capitol showed the real dangers of QAnon adherents.

Their militant and anti-establishment ideology — rooted in a quasi-apocalyptic desire to destroy the existing, corrupt world and usher in a promised golden age — was on full display for the whole world to see. Who could miss the shirtless man wearing a fur hat, known as the QAnon Shaman, leading the charge into the Capitol rotunda?

What will happen now? QAnon, along with other far-right actors, will likely continue to come together to achieve their insurrection goals. This could lead to a continuation of QAnon-inspired violence as the movement’s ideology continues to grow in American culture.

About Today's Contributor:

Marc-André Argentino, PhD candidate Individualized Program, 2020-2021 Public Scholar, Concordia University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Long COVID: Who Is At Risk?

Long COVID: Who Is At Risk? (fizkes/Shutterstock)

For most people, infection with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – leads to mild, short-term symptoms, acute respiratory illness, or possibly no symptoms at all. But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection – this has been dubbed “long COVID”.

Scientists are still researching long COVID. It’s not well understood, though our knowledge about it is growing. Here I take a look at what we’ve learned about it so far – who is at risk, how common it is and what its effects are.

In defining who is at risk from long COVID and the mechanisms involved, we may reveal suitable treatments to be tried – or whether steps taken early in the course of the illness might ameliorate it.

Broad vulnerability

Long COVID is characterised by a constellation of symptoms, including – variably – shortness of breath, marked fatigue, headache, and loss of ability to taste and smell normally. A relatively large study of 384 individuals ill enough to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19 showed that 53% remained breathless at a follow-up assessment one to two months later, with 34% having a cough and 69% reporting fatigue.

Indeed, early analysis of self-reported data submitted through the COVID Symptom Study app suggests that 13% of people who experience COVID-19 symptoms have them for more than 28 days, while 4% have symptoms after more than 56 days.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, people with more severe disease initially – characterised by more than five symptoms – seem to be at increased risk of long COVID. Older age and being female also appear to be risk factors for having prolonged symptoms, as is having a higher body mass index.

Those using the app tend to be at the fitter end of the population, with an interest in health matters. So it is surprising that such a high proportion have symptoms one to two months after the initial infection. Generally, these aren’t people who are highly vulnerable to COVID-19.

Even highly fit people are being stopped in their tracks by long COVID.(Rido/Shutterstock)

Another piece of early research (awaiting peer review) suggests that SARS-CoV-2 could also have a long-term impact on people’s organs. But the profile of those affected in this study is different to those reporting symptoms via the app.

This research, which looked at a sample of 200 patients who had recovered from COVID-19, found mild organ impairment in 32% of people’s hearts, 33% of people’s lungs and 12% of people’s kidneys. Multiple organ damage was found in 25% of patients.

Patients in this study had a mean age of 44 years, so were very much part of the young, working-age population. Only 18% had been hospitalised with COVID-19, meaning organ damage may occur even after a non-severe infection. Having a disease known to lead to more severe COVID-19, such as type 2 diabetes and ischaemic heart disease, wasn’t a prerequisite for organ damage either.

Finding out what’s going on

There are many reasons why people may have symptoms months after a viral illness during a pandemic. But getting to the bottom of what’s going on inside people will be easier for some parts of the body than others.

Where symptoms point to a specific organ, investigating is relatively straightforward. Clinicians can examine the electrical flow around the heart if someone is suffering palpitations. Or they can study lung function – tissue elasticity and gas exchange – where shortness of breath is the predominant symptom. To determine whether kidney function has deteriorated, components in a patient’s blood plasma are compared to those in their urine to measure how well the kidneys are filtering waste products.

Rather harder to explore is the symptom of fatigue. Another recent large-scale study has shown that this symptom is common after COVID-19 – occurring in more than half of cases – and appears unrelated to the severity of the early illness.

What’s more, tests showed that the people examined didn’t have elevated levels of inflammation, suggesting that their fatigue wasn’t caused by continued infection or their immune system working overtime. Risk factors for long-lasting symptoms in this study included being female – in keeping with the COVID Symptom App study – and, interestingly, having a previous diagnosis of anxiety and depression.

Fatigue is the most common long COVID symptom. (Stock-Asso/Shutterstock)

While men are at increased risk of severe infection, that women seem to be more affected by long COVID may reflect their different or changing hormone status. The ACE2 receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect the body is present not only on the surface of respiratory cells, but also on the cells of many organs that produce hormones, including the thyroid, adrenal gland and ovaries.

Some symptoms of long COVID overlap with menopausal symptoms, and hormone replacement using medication may be one route to reducing the impact of symptoms. However, clinical trials will be essential to accurately determining whether this approach is both safe and effective. Applications to launch such research have been made.

With so much having happened over the last year, we will need to tease apart which impacts stem from the virus itself versus which might be the consequence of the massive social disruption wrought by this pandemic. What is clear, however, is that long-term symptoms after COVID-19 are common, and that research into the causes and treatments of long COVID will likely be needed long after the outbreak itself has subsided.

About Today's Contributor:

Frances Williams, Professor of Genomic Epidemiology and Hon Consultant Rheumatologist, King's College London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

[Book Blast] She Sees Ghosts - The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls (Part of the Adirondack Spirit Series) By David Fitz-Gerald #HistoricalFiction

She Sees Ghosts - The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls (Part of the Adirondack Spirit Series) By David Fitz-Gerald

Book Title:: She Sees Ghosts―The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls
(Part of the Adirondack Spirit Series) 
Author:: David Fitz-Gerald
Publication Date:: October 25, 2020
Publisher:: Outskirts Press
Page Length:: 270 pages
Genre: Historical/Supernatural
 

She Sees Ghosts - The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls (book cover)

The Blurb:

A blazing fire killed her family and devoured her home. A vengeful demon haunted her. Ghosts of the Revolutionary War needed help that only she could provide. A young woman languished, desperate to survive, and teetered on the edge of sanity.

Mehitable grew up in a freshly tamed town, carved from the primeval forest. Family, friends, and working at the mercantile filled her days and warmed her heart. For Mehitable, life was simple and safe, until tragedy struck. When her family perished in their burning home, she retreated into a world of her own making.

As a young girl, she had seen glimmers, glimpses, and flickers of the spirit world. She closed her eyes. She turned her back. She ignored the apparitions that she never spoke of, desperately hoping they would leave her in peace. She was mistaken.

Grief-stricken, Mehitable withdrew from the human world. Ghosts were everywhere. They became bolder. She could no longer turn her back on the spirit world. Her friends feared for her survival. Nobody understood her. She would have to find her own way.

Fans of TV’s Ghost Whisperer and Long Island Medium will especially love She Sees Ghosts. This historical novel features memorable characters and delivers bone-tingling, spine chilling goosebumps. It stands on its own and it is the next installment in the Adirondack Spirit Series by the award-winning author of Wanders Far―An Unlikely Hero’s Journey. David Fitz-Gerald delivers a historical novel with a bittersweet ending that you won’t see coming.

Would she save the spirits’ souls, or would they save her? Only time would tell.

The Trailer:

Buy Links: 

Amazon 

• She Sees Ghosts is FREE on #Kindle for a Limited Time

David Fitz-Gerald

Author Bio:

David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past. He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprising when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing. She Sees Ghosts―A Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls is the next instalment in the Adirondack Spirit Series.

She Sees Ghosts - The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls (Part of the Adirondack Spirit Series) By David Fitz-Gerald

Social Media Links:

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Book Tour Schedule:

She Sees Ghosts - The Story of a Woman Who Rescues Lost Souls (Tour Schedule)

We Are Facing A Difficult Winter – But Philosophy Can Help

We Are Facing A Difficult Winter – But Philosophy Can Help (Photo by Sam Wordley)

All around the world, Christmas dreams are becoming nightmares. As R numbers increase and the epidemic spikes, people are seeing long cherished plans go up in smoke.

In England, plans have been curtailed as the five-day Christmas bubble which would have allowed three households to celebrate together has been reduced to one day for two households. For those in the new Tier 4, no household mixing at all is permitted.

After months of lockdowns and social distancing guidelines, many people will be feeling defeated – and exhausted by the prospect of a long winter to come, with further lockdowns possible before vaccines have been widely rolled out. If even the goal of spending one warm and happy day with friends and family cannot be attained, what is the point of all the hard work?

Here's information on Tier 4: Stay At Home.

Check the rules in your area https://t.co/NkFmf7sFmh pic.twitter.com/ukDTJBUUL2

— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) December 20, 2020

In times like this, though, we can find solace in a few philosophical ideas. One is the concept of human finitude. Simply put, human finitude means we are imperfect creatures with a limited lifespan. We are far from god-like; we do not have a god’s eye view, nor are we immortal.

In philosophy, finitude refers to the study of our human limitations. Many philosophers have explored finitude, including Kant, Heidegger, Levinas and Nietzsche.

This may seem an odd idea to cling to, but recognising that we are finite, imperfect creatures can bring comfort during trying times. It is understandable to feel bewilderment at changing government advice. It is understandable to resent other people telling us to stay away from our loved ones, and to feel deep sadness at cancelled plans. And it is understandable to begin to lose the resolve to do the right thing. If finitude tells us anything, it is that we are only human.

And as finite humans, we are vulnerable. Among other things, we can die, we can lie and we can be used against our wishes.

COVID-19 has taught us how intensively mutually vulnerable we really are. We depend on each other – but this dependency also puts us at risk. More socialising means an increase in virus transmission. Carrying on socialising during a spike in the epidemic might mean an increase in the number of people suffering severely from COVID-19, and a rise in the number of deaths.

So, while finitude tells us that it is understandable to feel the desire to break lockdowns and travel limits, vulnerability keeps us committed to doing the right thing by others – others who might be more vulnerable than us.

There is another philosophical concept that can keep us going in trying times. It is also more recognisably upbeat: hope.

Philosophically, there is a difference between “good hope” and “bad hope”. While bad hope is simply unrealistic optimism, good hope has warrant; it is based on the idea that goals and aspirations are possible, no matter how bad things seem.

In our current situation, hope is an attitude we have warrant to adopt: what we hope for is really possible. A vaccine is already being rolled out, and with it come warranted hopes: for summer meet-ups with family, holidays with friends, the continuance of lives and loves.

In fact, hope is also related to human finitude. Were we god-like, we would be immortal and all-knowing, and hope for how the future might turn out would be unnecessary. Uncertainty is an inescapable part of the human condition. Even when we cannot be certain of the end result of a commitment or aspiration, we can still hope.

It is understandable to feel resentment when plans are changed – and to feel the desire to ignore guidelines. Yet, recognising our mutual vulnerability means we cannot ignore the small voice telling us that the right thing to do is stay home. And hope can help us. Even as some hopes this Christmas are dashed, we can begin to formulate others. Spring is coming, and with it the hope of a better future.

About Today's Contributor:

Katy Dineen, Assistant Lecturer in Moral Responsibility and Political Theory, University College Cork

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Being Safe At Work: What You Need To Know

Being Safe At Work: What You Need To Know (Image by malateronald)

Being safe at work is something that all employers and employees need to bear in mind at all times. Although it is the employer’s responsibility to put systems in place that make working safer, the employee also has a responsibility to ensure they are following the rules and not making any mistakes that could ultimately be dangerous.

Read on to find out more about healthy and safety at work and how you can ensure you are always keeping as safe as possible.

Know The Risks

The first thing that anyone, employer or employee, is going to need to know about are the risks involved in any tasks or processes that take place within the business. Some will be more problematic than others, but everything will need to have a risk assessment carried out.

This is particularly true of equipment and tools. There must be a risk assessment about each item, looking at what might be an issue and working out ways to resolve it. If you have ladders, for example, that need to be used a lot, then you might minimize the risk by having harnesses available to use or ensuring that working at heights is always done in pairs (with one to hold the ladder). If you use a conveyor belt then wearing the right safety equipment is essential, and so on.

Once you know the risks you can determine how to avoid or reduce them, and everyone will be much safer. This might involve additional training which is always a good idea.

Implement Regular Break Times

Although it might seem as though it would be more productive to work non-stop without breaks – you will get more done in the same amount of time – it is actually the opposite. Working without breaks leads to less productivity due to tiredness or neglect. The brain needs to rest regularly for it to work at its best, and by forcing someone to work without taking regular breaks, you are causing problems. It is unsafe for someone who is tired due to lack of breaks to continue working.

As a business owner, you should implement regular break times throughout the day, or allow your workers to take breaks as they are required to ensure the safest and most productive team. As a worker, you should always make use of the break times you are given to ensure you are always safe.

Use Protective Equipment

If a task’s risk assessment identifies that you need to use protective equipment or clothing – otherwise known as ‘personal protective equipment’ or PPE – then this is what you must do when carrying out a specific task or using a piece of equipment.

If you are an employer, it is your responsibility to ensure that this equipment is provided, and if you are an employee, you must wear the equipment as instructed. If PPE has not been provided and you need it, then you must speak to your employer about the issue so that it can be addressed.

MasterClass Announces Salman Rushdie to Teach Storytelling and Writing [Trailer Included]

Salman Rushdie (Courtesy of MasterClass)

MasterClass announced today that Booker Prize–winning author Salman Rushdie will teach a class on storytelling and writing. Drawing from his celebrated career as a novelist and essayist, Rushdie will help members explore their innate storytelling ability to write and tell the stories they are meant to tell.

"Salman's prose is magical; his storytelling, worldly," said David Rogier, founder and CEO of MasterClass. "In his MasterClass, Salman discusses the seminal works that have influenced him, providing all writers—even those just starting to put pen to paper—lessons in how to harness the power of words."

In his MasterClass, Rushdie will share his storytelling framework, which is equal parts discipline and freedom, from how to build rich and complex story structures to crafting characters, researching and editing, providing a wealth of examples and insights from the global literature that has influenced his work. 

In addition to offering big-picture advice and his seven useful tips to becoming a better reader and writer, Rushdie will offer valuable insights on the psychological aspects of writing, including navigating writer's block, negotiating feedback with editors and more. 

Through intimate stories of the struggle and learnings from Rushdie's early career, members will get an insider's look into his journey, leaving the class inspired by his wisdom and eager to write their own unique stories.

Salman Rushdie (Courtesy of MasterClass)

"I've always been fascinated with the universality of storytelling and how shared human experiences unite us all, no matter where we are in the world," Rushdie said. "In my MasterClass, I hope I can help members transition to the other side of the page and reach new heights creatively with their writing."

Rushdie is an award-winning novelist, essayist, fiction and nonfiction writer known for his humorous and often-surrealist style. Rushdie's work examines themes of movement across cultures, modernity and the influence of world events on individuals' lives. 

His second novel, Midnight's Children, was a commercial and critical success, earning the esteemed Booker Prize in 1981, as well as the "Best of the Booker" prize twice in the years following. In 1983, his third novel, Shame, won the French literary prize Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, cementing Rushdie's place among the literary elite.

Over the course of his career, Rushdie has published 14 novels that have been translated into more than 40 languages. He has been internationally recognized with many of literature's highest honors, and in 2007, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the literary world. Some of his top accolades include the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature, the Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy), the Writer of the Year Award in Germany, PEN Pinter Prize (U.K.), Golden PEN Award, Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, and Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Humanism.

The Trailer:

• Rushdie's class is now available exclusively on MasterClass, where subscribers get unlimited access to all 100+ instructors with an annual membership.

Follow MasterClass:

• Twitter @masterclass
• Instagram @masterclass
• Facebook @masterclassofficial

Follow Salman Rushdie:

• Twitter: @salmanrushdie
• Facebook: @salmanrushdieauthor

SOURCE: MasterClass