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mcatmemoranda · 4 years

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From Medscape:

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) is avascular necrosis (AVN) of the proximal femoral head resulting from compromise of the tenuous blood supply to this area. LCPD usually occurs in children aged 4-10 years. The disease has an insidious onset and may occur after an injury to the hip. In the vast majority of instances, the disorder is unilateral. Both hips are involved in fewer than 10% of cases, and the joints are involved successively, not simultaneously.

The earliest sign of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) is an intermittent limp (abductor lurch), especially after exertion, with mild or intermittent pain in the anterior part of the thigh. LCPD is the most common cause of a limp in the 4- to 10-year-old age group, and the classic presentation has been described as a painless limp. The patient may present with limited range of motion of the affected extremity. The most common symptom is persistent pain.

Hip pain may develop and is a result of necrosis of the involved bone. This pain may be referred to the medial aspect of the ipsilateral knee or to the lateral thigh. The quadriceps muscles and adjacent thigh soft tissues may atrophy, and the hip may develop adduction flexion contracture. The patient may have an antalgic gait with limited hip motion.

Pain may be present with passive range of motion and limited hip movement, especially internal rotation and abduction. Children with LCPD can have a Trendelenburg gait resulting from pain in the gluteus medius.

Obtain hip radiographs, including anteroposterior and frog-leg lateral views of the pelvis, to establish the diagnosis.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is one of the most important pediatric and adolescent hip disorders encountered in medical practice. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Although SCFE is a rare condition, an accurate diagnosis combined with immediate treatment is critical. [7, 8] Despite the fact that the underlying defect may be multifactorial (eg, mechanical and constitutional factors), SCFE represents a unique type of instability of the proximal femoral growth plate. Clinically, the patient may report hip pain, medial thigh pain, and/or knee pain; an acute or insidious onset of a limp; and decreased range of motion of the hip.

On plain radiographs, the femoral head is seen displaced, posteriorly and inferiorly in relation to the femoral neck and within the confines of the acetabulum. [9] Treatment is primarily operative internal fixation. The goal is to prevent complications such as avascular necrosis (AVN).

A Klein line is a line drawn along the superior border of the femoral neck that would normally pass through a portion of the femoral head. If not, slipped capital femoral epiphysis is diagnosed.

Septic arthritis (SA) results from the presence of microbial agents in a joint space. SA of the hip is a true orthopedic emergency; delay in diagnosis or treatment may result in irreversible damage to the joint. In recent decades, the relative frequency with which specific microbial agents have been causing infection has dramatically decreased, resulting in a decline in the overall incidence of SA and a modification in the presumptive medical therapy.

SA is a challenging clinical problem because (1) signs and symptoms may be subtle and overlap with those found in other conditions, (2) screening laboratory studies and synovial fluid cultures are relatively insensitive, and (3) optimal management, including duration of antibiotics and surgical approach, is not evidence based.

When septic arthritis (SA) is suspected, synovial fluid should be obtained for a complete blood count (CBC), glucose, Gram stain, and culture. Synovial culture has poor sensitivity (60-70%), and the data that establish the typical characteristics of synovial fluid in septic arthritis were collected in the era of widespread H influenzae type B infection. How these characteristics will change in the current era remains to be seen. Similarly, although blood cultures should be obtained, they have relatively low yields.

A synovial fluid WBC count of more than 50,000/mL suggests SA, especially if the count exceeds 100,000/mL or if a predominance of polymorphonuclear cells is observed. Still, counts are often lower, and high counts may be associated with other conditions.

Kocher criteria for septic joint = fever, leukocytosis, inflammatory markers (ESR/CRP), inability to bear weight. If any of these criteria are present, tap the joint.

Transient synovitis (TS) is the most common cause of acute hip pain in children aged 3-10 years. [1] The disease causes arthralgia and arthritis secondary to a transient inflammation of the synovium of the hip.

Biopsy reveals only nonspecific inflammation and hypertrophy of the synovial membrane. Ultrasonography demonstrates an effusion that causes bulging of the anterior joint capsule. Synovial fluid has increased proteoglycans.

Perform aspiration with ultrasonographic guidance in all individuals in whom ultrasonography has exhibited evidence of an effusion and any of the following predictive criteria are present:

Temperature greater than 99.5°F

ESR greater than or equal to 20 mm/h

Severe hip pain and spasm with movement

The aspirate should assist the physician in differentiating transient synovitis from septic arthritis. The physician can confirm 30-50% of septic arthritis incidents with Gram stain. In individuals with septic arthritis, the WBC count varies (25,000-250,000/mcL); however, in these individuals, the WBC count consistently demonstrates 90% polymorphonuclear cells. Also, in persons with septic arthritis, the glucose is often less than 40 mg/dL or is markedly different from the serum glucose.

So transient synovitis resembles septic arthritis. I guess you’d tap the joint to differentiate between the 2.

#legg calves perthes #ortho #slipped capital femoral epiphysis #SCFE #LCPD #Klein line #septic arthritis #Kocher criteria #Kocher #transient tenosynovitis #transient synovitis

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its-a-beautful-day · 8 months

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Second Week of Beanie Baby Drawtober

This week has some classics starting off with Pattie the Platypus, and we end with Caturday!!

For Caturday you can draw/create whichever beanie baby cat you desire! I know so many had ones that matched their pets 💖

For those who haven't seen the full months roster you can find it here

You can also check out the tag #BeanieBabytober for all the art that's been done so far!

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theonyxpath · 4 years

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This week is a real hodgepodge of notes, which is pretty much just like our meeting today. A bunch of folks are under the weather – but still must attend! – and the rest of us tried to hit all the news we had pretty rapidly. So, we went over a lot of things, but there was no main topic.

So that’s what you’re all getting today, too!

Hunter: The Vigil 2e art by Tilen Javornik

We received our OK from WW/Paradox today for the Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition Kickstarter! WOOT! Looks like February the 6th at the classic 2pm EST is when our Vigil starts!

A reminder, since we continue to get questions, primarily about V5 Chicago By Night, that we are mostly doing Kickstarters to enable us to do an extra-good quality book and overprint the copies so we can get that game book into stores.

Tell your local retailer! Ask them to order our books from their distributor.

Speaking of Chicago by Night, just a note here to let folks know that, yes, we are aware that our non-US fulfillment shipper made an error and mislabeled a bunch of reward packages as boardgames. James addressed the issue in an Update to backers, so if you find further problems, please let James know via the KS message creator system so he is aware and can work to fix it.

But beyond that, I’ve been told that the backer packages will all be out at latest this week, so that opens the stage for Chicago to appear in stores in February, including the PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG. Next, the Dystopia Rising: Evolution and Geist 2e KS reward packages will go out in February, and should appear in stores in the following months.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Sam Denmark

Veering wildly in a different direction, just a bit of a teaser to let you know that Eddy, Ian, Danielle, and myself are working on a secret Trinity Continuum: Adventure! lead-in project! If you remember, we did an TC: Aberrant webcomic leading up to it’s KS, so we think we’ve found a fun way to do a similar but different lead-in for TC: Adventure!.

For our Storypath Nexus Community Content site, we’re getting tons of submissions, and just ran into a problem we hadn’t anticipated. The Nexus is the first our our community content sites to contain multiple different gamelines (right now it’s Scion and the Trinity Continuum, but soon will include DRE and They Came From Beneath the Sea!), with very different themes and motifs. We realized that we need to be sure our community content creators don’t use material intended for one line in another.

This is a big deal art-wise, as both our illustrations and design elements are very specifically created to create a feel for a particular line, and we need that “brand identity” maintained. So Mighty Matt is going to underline in the Nexus “rules” the importance of creators not pulling images from one line into another.

We talked about being ready to release the first of the Yugman’s Guides to Ghelpad for the Scarred Lands line as the first of six bi-monthly PDF releases. Once these are all released, we’ll combine them into a single book with PDF and PoD versions. We learned a lot from the last couple of years’ worth of monthly Exalted releases (which are now over, and being finished and combined) and are applying that knowledge to this.

Yugman’s Guide art by Aaron Riley

Also, leap-frogging with Yugman’s, will be the Vigil Watch series of PDFs detailing the wild and the weird places around the Scarred Lands. So every month for the next year, we got yer Scarred Lands right here!

We talked about another secret project, but I never mentioned that here.

Discussions are being had for our Twitch 2.0 plans – basically we’re looking at more ways to provide more and cooler content on our wildly successful Twitch channel. Matthew and Travis Legge are forging this new plan, even as you read this! And until that happens, please check out the sched of our current stuff down in the Media section below, now with keen new Graphic! version!

We also talked about They Came From Beneath the Sea! and the next game in the series, They Came From Beyond the Grave!. I think getting TCFBtS! actual plays into streaming is vital, so I’m pushing for more of that in Twitch 2.0. The Terrific Trio of the Onyx Pathcast actually did a deep-dive into They Came From Beneath the Sea! on last week’s Pathcast, so take a listen on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue to find out all the steps Matthew went through in creating the game!

It is surprisingly in-depth (I can vouch for that, having been there for most of the creation process), even when the gang veer off into Vampire vs Twilight heated discussions.

And last but not least important, we discussed continuing to raise the pay rates for our creators, and how to best make that happen as we enter 2020. Hard to believe we are almost through the first month of this year already! But there you go: time flies when you do what you love and are making:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Next on Kickstarter, we are looking at Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness starting at 2pm EST on February 6th!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview with famed writer and bon-vivant Leath Sheales! Check it out direct on Podbean, or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

A bulging schedule on Twitch this week with Vampire, Chronicles of Darkness, Pugmire, even more Vampire, Aberrant, Scarred Lands, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, and a special Eddy Webb Development Workshop video that will be of interest to fans and writers alike!

Or, in the new Graphics! version:

As ever, subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Our YouTube channel continues filling up with content, including the Onyx Path News! Do stay subscribed to youtube.com/user/theonyxpath to catch the news when it comes out live!

Occultists Anonymous get a little experimental this week with a how-to guide for building Mage: The Awakening legacies. Level Up Your Game – Making Mage Legacies: https://youtu.be/p7R6nmTzZ_g

The Primogen released a video previewing some of the upcoming content in Chicago Folios, which you can find right here: https://youtu.be/2JMV_VJrjwQ Do give him a subscribe!

Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of V5 Cults of the Blood Gods, on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/DeQfWH-EVD0

The Story Told Podcast have concluded the first act of their Exalted: Dragon-Blooded chronicle, the last episode of which can be found right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-23

The excellently-named Keeper of the Archive has assembled a triple bill for Trinity fans, as he has videos right here on the following: The Trinity Core: https://youtu.be/3-MkRv7z37s

ÆON: https://youtu.be/CMRBAEGnHfE

The Storypath System: https://youtu.be/RJgN6sGr0CQ

Do check them out and give them a like and his channel a subscribe!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the first of our bi-monthly PDF releases of Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad for the Scarred Lands on DTRPG! Collect them all!

Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Post-Editing Development

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e – All KS art is in.

Ex3 Lunars – Art is in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – LeBlanc working on finals.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Finals should be in end of month, lining up layout artist.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2

City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.

Let the Streets Run Red

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Contracted.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – Starting to gather art needs for KS.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – KS finals coming in.

Scion Companion – Working on art notes for that with Meredith.

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Getting that rolling out.

In Layout

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Travis doing the layout on this.

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – First installment this week.

Scion Mythical Denizens – In proofing but need some full page art to come in.

Contagion Chronicle – Getting files together for Josh.

Vigil Watch – Going over layout proofs.

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Backer PDF out to backers, errata coming in.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Backer PDF out to backers, errata wrapping up.

VtR Spilled Blood – At WW.

Chicago Folio – Awaiting 2nd proof corrections.

Wraith20 Anthology – At WW.

At Press

V5: Chicago – Shipping to backers.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – At fulfillment shippers.

Geist 2e Screen – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

DR:E – At fulfillment shippers.

DRE Screen – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – Awaiting errata for input.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Ending evil of that magnitude, freeing those who lost so much and were so brutally abused and dehumanized, that is truly something to celebrate. The crimes against humanity committed there and at the other camps will echo through time as a warning that we must listen to; a warning to be aware that people, not supernatural monsters, can do acts of such terrible evil. Never forget.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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glutko · 5 years

Note

Gotta make that album yourself then

Here’s the tracklist for Da PooPoo Man 2:

Maggie Swaggie

Goin’ 2 Church

Jeff Da Killa

Swaggy-Ass Outro

Money For Nothing But It’s About SFM Porn

Stanky Legg 7

Bling Bling Boy

Vincent the Purple Guy Is After Me (skit)

Da PooPoo Man Returns

Taint Slapper 2000

Bling Bling Boy (exact copy of the first one)

Escape from Flavortown

Wet Dreams About Ryder from GTA

Swaggy-Ass Intro

Cringy and the Fail Machine

Guest artists include Grant MacDonald, Pinkfong, Submarine Man, Soulja Boy, Crazy Frog, Kanye East, Lil Mosquito Disease, Your Mom, and Lenin’s ghost.

#Anonymous

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libidomechanica · 3 years

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Untitled (“M sorrow was”)

M sorrow was Salámán, who had for through Hades, so smoothly merit lived under-clap as is people say of love and decay: for some violets, which burne blessed to Loues decrees I, forcd, agree, and took his pinioned to look could not peace between the pageant and kaȝten hem dear love her fete, on burne self companions of ryȝtes interesting soul cut moment more they crop— was hung withouten and the kings one! More like a reed; so when Adonais layd abedde, with each of þe prowes fast foe is echoes who know not impossible steps without it

O blood is but at the name for Charles at Benedictions instead, as hit besides the crownd; but whence can emerge exhausted, saying,Accept their out-peeping late may order, to take me lang as on the short howls, and sung in slomeryng hyȝes, bi þay wysten þis sted was not for the body was change!

Thou, fond of the World was short, a nymph pass that sees a damsels dark, and bore thou pype I not known, to stirop and dream had gloom oercame the accents came not of bak and flowry meadows I haue of life given us and were breast could not from thence camel is to passez, þen, brayn wyth yow sped a troop had long must be together throng. A second sone þe ladies in the Dardanelles, shorn pastern watch, and have felt as a kiss may stoken with that died or doomed the sager sorceress, and moved by those of all me the hope had was show And would proclaim: they be not fall, that trickling I listening,

with little dream it would move unto Crested, they mighty forever I am shame. Þe kay fot on loghe to Gryngolet, she turnd as if she Autumn sky, and gaynly is hert hade women to scorne Astrologie, and I am tan inne, toreted and the core while I can look down upon thee from the secreate with that were grene chapel er he woldez hit of Writers must be remiss:

the Lady Daphne she, too, I will beginning; at others fame or god, I saw and than life, for an oþer, Let her sweet to the dream

and other. as fortunes of Death, which all thing, and gummy frankly niggard noble hear the beauties produced the must, scarf hadst the westerne, syn he coȝed ful þyk, suande in your eyes: in her of those nameless never such reuel on hors much your maid, how Phoebus gilding the passion with her sails propels; but her sublime yourself in flowres, that cocking of Tityrus his sight! Als for years for one of Time, thy fingers be glutted.

Would forests— great cry, that, self-caged Passion poesy so rare and sacredness, and ties, and comly cort rych bout black— o! That some midnight I heards a bordes gawayn þe grene as beate his helme, þe chyn within my attic and mynne on the whole centuries out of evolution make any other hade faylez þou not think, and freeze before such as vpon hyȝt, þe grate, looked, and wilt the forth to span; have broken-hearted, convulsed at th shepherd bent, like all wee. Fame

his glutton forgo? It is in this General who hade of him who landed; of summer clothd: must prayers, a circled a million lay, piercd thy images on the Laocoons despise, To haylce,

yet might doe soe. why do ye falled, till lover, link by little carpet tonight which once-named Simile enough. Had reach its despaired ladyez were changed frogs can to schawe, þat watz comen þoȝt.

You—so many may pass each the same blusschande brayd fro þe chapel cheued in low falls in vain the tree in hymself, if aught so dearest, with light assail and to their brow, with needle brook a wordless Eyes from us and end my wife, thy brain an April of every marge, what I ask, and twilight within the window, put to his lif like a mistress, or warpd as if to wait upon the taking pulp, that unrest, and kennes of hemlock turf, a lullaby doth call the broken in that fathers view— as far I count over my displese yow, displeses yow layne, come of the numbers good deal more wyth hit in old mans children breath now and I will doubted; time that love not say to advance had hym frayned me a lock of sleepe in lillies no more can say that were half, or some monsters story of safety, who would I seemed to show his eyes, all date, a tinting ration withdrew her round, will sink this Russ retire a sparkling in dust, but pity till unexcavated honey tongue fault, amend, because bird, while Psyche, she saw she too ripe, in me,

That great joys, Civilisation. consumd before. True Love, I am Ra who does natural pleasant sun in measure his lode for Renaude saule with gore: the should be. Queme hym with his hode of evolution and we steps: great river take myself— beside the same bright upward: but for lyf, þe legge lykes,

and thrusting,—and love, I thoughts they could you on kyrf sette as maid. And, truly of þe payttrure, þe nakedness. an olive. Gonna be all date,

Not one.

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 6 #208 texts

0 notes

shirlleycoyle · 4 years

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‘Incomprehensible’: The Australian Bushfires Are an Ecological Catastrophe

Australia is in the midst of an unprecedented fire season that has scorched millions of acres, destroyed thousands of structures, and claimed dozens of human lives. The natural world has fared even worse than the human-altered one, with a preliminary estimate suggesting upwards of a billion wild animals have either already been killed by the fires or will die from starvation, predation, and habitat loss in their aftermath.

It’s hard to fathom ecological destruction on this scale, or at this speed. In a matter of weeks, some of the most biodiverse places on the planet—ecosystems whose flora and fauna have been shaped by millions of years evolution in geographically isolated but stable environments—are being obliterated by fires that have humanity’s fingerprints all over them.

While many of these ecosystems are fire-adapted, few are capable of handling bushfires at the scale and intensity that parts of Australia are now experiencing. According to scientists, the road to recovery will be long and rocky, and some of the region’s unique diversity may not pull through.

“I think the severity and extent of this fire season will represent tipping points for many ecological communities,” said Lesley Hughes, an ecologist and climate scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney. Once this hellacious fire season is finally over, Hughes said, “Australia will be a very changed place.”

Image: Saeed Khan/AFP

Australia’s bushfire season got off to an inauspicious start in late August and early September, when numerous large fires broke out in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, fueled by warm weather, low humidity, and gusty wind conditions. By mid-spring, the risk of conflagration had spread across the country, with dangerous fire weather conditions felt in every state and territory. In the last few weeks, fire season has exploded to life in eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales, affecting more populated areas and garnering international media attention. Across all of Australia, the total burned area currently stands at over 20 million acres, a scale that absolutely dwarfs recent fire seasons in California, as well as last summer’s outbreak of entirely unnatural, human-caused fires in the Amazon.

A confluence of factors have helped fan the flames, including a years-long drought that desiccated soils and vegetation, particularly in the southeast, and a positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole event this spring, which leads to reduced rainfall and low humidity across the continent. Then there’s climate change, which is boosting temperatures continent-wide (2019 was Australia’s hottest year on record), increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves and reducing cool-season rainfall. The warming climate is leading to more prolonged and severe bushfire seasons, a trend scientists expect will get worse if carbon emissions aren’t brought down rapidly.

The ecological toll of this year’s bushfires offers a disturbing preview of Australia’s pyrotechnic future. The natural landscapes that have burned include everything from fire-adapted eucalyptus forests to grasslands, coastal healthlands, delicate alpine ecosystems, and even the borders of World Heritage rainforests in southeastern Queensland that rarely see fire and are ill-adapted to it.

"Everything is burned. It’s turned into ash. It's incomprehensible."

Even in places where fire plays a regenerative role in the ecosystem, scientists are describing recent conditions as unprecedented. “What’s different about this event is the extent of habitat burning in one go. It’s enormous,” said Sarah Legge, a wildlife ecologist at Australia National University.

“Australian forests have typically adapted to relatively low intensity fires that are relatively infrequent,” added John Woinarski, a conservation biologist at Charles Darwin University. “These ones are beyond that normal range.”

This raises concerns for the many threatened and endangered native species that are restricted to a habitat area that’s gone up in flames. These include:

Image: NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

The long-footed potoroo, a small, kangaroo-like marsupial that lives in just a few patches of forests in hard-hit east Victoria and southern New South Wales.

Image: NSW South Coast and Plants

The spring midge orchid, a flower found only in a handful of sites in coastal New South Wales.

Image: Tarmo Raadik via Department of Environment, Victoria

The barred galaxius, an endangered fish found only in the headwaters of a few creeks northeast of Melbourne. River fish like it could be severely affected in the aftermath of the fires as rains wash huge amounts of silt and ash into their habitat, Woinarski said.

“There are literally dozens of threatened species that have been affected, and in some cases, most if not all of their distribution has been burnt,” Legge said.

One of the regions of greatest concern is Kangaroo Island, a 1,700 square-mile island in South Australia peppered in woodlands and shrublands that are home to a large number of native fauna. Over the last few weeks, approximately a third of the island has burned, with the damage concentrated in biodiversity-rich parks and adjacent lands on its western side.

The habitat of the Kangaroo Island dunnart, a critically endangered, mouse-like marsupial found nowhere else, has been obliterated, said Katja Hogendoorn, an ecologist and entomologist at the University of Adelaide in South Australia who works on the island. Ditto for the habitat of the South Australian glossy black cockatoo, a unique subspecies whose entire population stood at less than 400 before the fires. Nests of the green carpenter bee, a brilliantly blue-green bee found only on Kangaroo Island and around Sydney, have also gone up in flames.

“Everything is burned. It’s turned into ash,” Hogendoorn said. “It’s just incomprehensible.”

While it will be a while before there’s anything close to a complete damage assessment—in the southeast, fire season typically doesn’t even peak until late January or early February—one early estimate points to the scale of the destruction. Chris Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, has calculated, based on the area burned and the population density of native animals, that more than 800 million mammals, birds, and reptiles have been impacted by and will likely die from the fires in New South Wales alone.

Across all of Australia, he said, that figure rises to over a billion. And because this number doesn’t include amphibians or invertebrates due to a lack of data on their population density, it’s very likely an underestimate. Woinarski said there’s “at least a dozen highly restricted reptiles and frogs in the burn area, and they will have had their populations severely reduced as well.”

The number of insects that were severely impacted is entirely unknown, but their losses will ripple through the ecosystem, said Manu Saunders, an insect ecologist at the University of New England in Armidale. Insects are “critical to how ecosystems grow and structure themselves,” Saunders said, not only providing food for birds, lizards, mammals and frogs, but playing key roles as pollinators and decomposers. A widespread loss of insects would have “huge effects” on the ability of ecosystems to rebound, Saunders said.

Indeed, recovery won’t be easy. A lot of animals that weren’t killed by the fires are likely to starve in their immediate aftermath. Or, they may get picked off by feral cats or foxes, which make a killing by moving into burned areas after fires. Small prey animals that nest in ground-level vegetation will have nowhere to hide, Legge said.

And some habitats will take a long time to return. The green carpenter bee makes its nests using the dead flowering stalks of grass trees, which take several years to regrow following fire, and in the trunks of large, dead Banksia trees, which won’t be back for decades. The glossy black cockatoo faces a similar housing crisis because it relies on large tree hollows for nesting. It can take decades before trees are large enough for these hollows to begin forming naturally, Woinarski said.

In many places, recolonization by native vegetation will be slowed by the size of the burn area.

“There will be seeds in the soil that regenerate,” Hughes said. “But a lot of regeneration relies on seeds being dispersed in from outside. And when you get a really enormous extent of fire, that will slow down.”

“Over a broad scale, it’ll take many many decades for species to recover,” Woinarski said. “If at all.”

Some species might not make it through. Saunders felt that extinction is a “quite likely possibility” for some of the vulnerable and hart-hit species. Hughes agreed. “I think we’d be very surprised if we haven’t lost some rare species since the new year,” she said.

If the 2019-2020 bushfire season were a once-in-a-century event, then perhaps most of Australia’s wild places would eventually rebound. What concerns many scientists is that fires seasons like it could become the new normal. And if that’s the case, there’s no telling what Australia’s ecological future looks like.

“What I’m scared of is that these current fires are a harbinger of the future,” Woinarksi said. “And that future is really bleak.”

‘Incomprehensible’: The Australian Bushfires Are an Ecological Catastrophe syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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yesiamdrowning · 7 years

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“Chiama il 77 se non sai come si fa” (Emilia Paranoica, CCCP)

Rannicchiato sul pavimento della sua stanza di Skokie, che non è il nome di un simpatico cane ma una città dell'Illinois, Wesley Willis riuscì a chiamare il 911, il centralino per le emergenze. Quando il suo numero apparve sul monitor della centrale, l'operatore fece un bel respiro, roteò gli occhi al cielo e con tutta la flemma di cui era capace rispose: “Wesley, se non te la pianti ora ti mando una volante della polizia e ti faccio sbattere in galera”.

Una risposta simile, registrata come tutte le chiamate al 911, avrebbe provocato il licenziamento istantaneo del centralinista, ma non nel caso di Wesley Willis. Quella richiesta di soccorso era la sua millesima chiamata al 911, la centotrentaduesima per la precisione. Per duecentotrentun volte in appena otto mesi, quasi a giorni alterni, Wesley aveva chiamato e per la buona parte delle occasioni era riuscito a ottenere un intervento domiciliare o un trasporto in ambulanza in ospedale. Senza che i medici riuscissero a trovare malanno che spiegasse i suoi malori, deliri, svenimenti e collassi.

Non la trovavano mai perché forse non c'era e a quel punto, se ci fosse stata, l'avrebbero trovata. Ma tolta una forma di schizofrenia diagnosticata già dall'adolescenza, Wesley stava bene. Eppure per lui evidentemente non era così. Ecco, dimenticate per un instante tutte le storie che avete sentito su sesso, droga e rock and roll. Scordate i problemi con la legge, gli incidenti con le macchine, le morti tragiche e in qualche caso persino gli omicidi legati al mondo della musica. Perché non troverete nulla di ciò. Questa storia è forse la summa di quell'assurdità che porta persone normali a fare i matti per esser amati, e difatti così avviene, mentre i matti, i freak, gli atipici non vengono presi in considerazione. Perché il gioco, cinico, sadico e un po' macabro, dello spettacolo questo è: alzare ogni volta l'asticella di una follia mitizzata, di un male di vivere controllato, spesso fino alle tragiche conseguenze. Supportare o solo seguire le (dis)avventure di chi è già predestinato al collasso non stimola, non appassiona. Neanche Jigsaw sarebbe stato in grado di immaginare tanto.

Wesley Willis è stato per molti dei suoi quarant'anni forse l'artista più analizzato, testato, auscultato, radiografato, magnetizzato, misurato e sforacchiato se non del mondo, d'America. Da quando, verso ai vent'anni, crollò sul pavimento e fece la prima corsa a sirene ululanti in ospedale. Un'esperienza che dovette ritenere parecchio rassicurante, perché a ritmo di decine di chiamate al Pronto Soccorso, i suoi viaggi sulle ambulanze dell'Illinois hanno superato di gran lunga il numero dei suoi concerti.

Wesley Willis era uno di quelli che in un gruppo non ci poteva proprio stare. Perché se da un lato il suo nome era nell'elenco dei serial caller, ovvero chi usa a ripetizione i 911 senza un reale motivo, dall'altro qualunque musicista, seppure munito di tutta la pazienza del mondo, non avrebbe accettato tutti i suoi continui e improvvisi attacchi. Eppure, strano ma vero, dopo anni passati a disegnare con una tecnica più composta (urbana, direi architettonica, di cui Steve Albini ne elogiò lo stile a più riprese) dei suoi deliri interiori, ci fu tempo pure per i Wesley Willis Fiasco. Formatisi nel 1994, facevano del crossover-punk e avevano un'interessante line-up che includeva il primo batterista dei Jesus Lizard, Brendan Murphy, e l'ex-chitarrista di Billy Corgan, Dale Meiners. Tutto durò due annetti, in cui registrarono un disco, un paio di split con Sublime e The Frogs... e girarono persino un videoclip. “Se ci fosse stata una carta fedeltà come chi viaggia in treno – disse il bassista Dave Nooks – Wesley avrebbe vinto un'ambulanza. Che sarebbe stata una svolta, visto che allora avevamo bisogno di un van per le date dal vivo”. E non è una battuta cinica: dopo lo scioglimento, Dave e Dale finirono nei Lard di Jello Biafra. Salto di qualità che uno come Wesley avrebbe sicuramente mandato in vacca. Ipotesi confermata dall'interessato: “I demoni nella mia testa peggioravano e avrei danneggiato la band”. Così i Nostri partirono con il già striminzito numero di 17 date l'anno e finirono con un eufemistico tour di sole 4 date, in un tripudio di concerti interrotti sul nascere o cancellazioni dettate dai suoi problemi.

Esisteva però un piano B per palesare al mondo la sua incontenibile creatività. Fin dal periodo dei Fiasco, Wesley iniziò a incidere dei propri dischi come solista. Accompagnato da una tastiera Casio, oltre che dalla schizofrenia, iniziò ad auto-prodursi, copertine comprese (molte oggi valgono di più dei dischi stessi per le ragioni di cui sopra), CDr a ritmi da catena di montaggio: 4 uscite nel 1994 e 7 l'anno dopo - roba che Zappa al confronto era parsimonioso – nel corso del quale si concesse pure il vezzo di mettere su la Wesley Willis Records, ovvero l'unica etichetta disposta a dare fiducia un ragazzo che chiama di continuo i 911, prende a testate i fan in segno di amicizia e aumenta peso a vista d'occhio a causa di una vita decisamente sregolata. Eppure, in quei testi squinternati, pastrocchi più che dei pastiche, basati sulla ripetizione compulsiva di pochi concetti fulmina(n)ti, mini “recensioni” (si va dai Radiohead a Kurt Cobain ai Morbid Angel – eccetera - intitolate tutte con i nomi degli interessati) o intime analisi personali (“My yelling got me put out of the art store/ The voices in my head cussed at me/ I was yelling like a wild animal/ I felt like a jackass screaming at the top of my lungs”), la American Recordings prima e Jello Biafra poi trovarono qualcosa di più ricco e prezioso. Qualcosa di incontaminato, puro, di assolutamente libero e lungimirante, seppellito sotto una babele di turbe psichiche. Così, quando i vecchi amici gli passarono un lavoro di Wesley, Wesley trovò un contratto con la Alternative Tentacles, etichetta del cantante dei Dead Kennedys. Il che aumentò l'interesse su di lui, tanto da finire su Mtv, e tornare ad affrontare un pubblico dal vivo. Terrore. Wesley fu costretto a passare da nove date nei tre anni tra il 1994 e il 1998 al centinaio di live nei tre successivi. Così si rese conto da sé che a New York i serial caller erano più numerosi, chissà perché, che a Cincinnati, mentre a San Francisco era obbligatorio l'invio dei soccorsi come a Chicago, a Houston l'operatore decideva l'opportunità o no di inviare soccorso. E se ne accorsero il centinaio di accorsi al Fat Cat's che aspettarono una notte intera prima di vederlo salire sul palco. L'operatrice, una ragazza incline al dialogo di nome Martha, ritenne fosse giusto capire se Wesley soffrisse di solitudine, manie di protagonismo o fosse magari una star in vena di creare scompiglio sui giornali con l'arrivo di un'ambulanza a sirene accese. Risultato: una perdita indicibile di tempo con Wesley infine del tutto incapace di riconoscere le proprie condizioni, dissociato e annichilito dall'ansia e dal panico.

Jello, che tra il 1999 e il 2OOO contribuì a organizzare buona parte delle date del tour, ricorderà che nessuna città venne esonerata da una chiamata, fosse solo per abitudine, come probabile soluzione a un problema che non c'era – nell'eventualità che ci fosse.

L'ultimo parto sonoro è un album del 1999 sempre per Alternative Tentacles, Rush Hour, ma fin dal titolo è solo un fuoco di paglia prima che l'aggravarsi delle condizioni mentali lo spingano a ridurre il numero delle registrazioni e delle apparizioni pubbliche, incastrato com'è nel timore (fondato?) di essere visto solo come una variante comica di un punk di terz'ordine. L'introvabilità del suo magnus opus ha contribuito ad accentuarne il mito dell'outsider, a cui sono stati dedicati persino tre greatest hits e un paio di simil-documentari di culto: The Daddy Of Rock And Roll e Wesley Willis's Joy Rides. Nulla a che vedere con gli studi “accademici” realizzati per Tiny Tim, Daniel Johnston o Wild Man Fisher, certo, per quanto storia personale e produzione non appaiano meno ricche e affascinanti.

L'ultima telefonata registrata invece è quella di Snokie, nel luglio 2OO3. Non ne seguirono più. Gli operatori di tutta Chicago tirarono un sospiro di sollievo come tutte le altre volte che Wesley si era trovato a passare e a fargli passare momenti migliori. Alla fine era solo un ragazzone oramai grosso come una balena con cui la vita non era stata troppo clemente: separato dai genitori e inserito in un progetto di tutela per minori vittime di genitori violenti, segnalato come borderline a quindici anni, dissociato a venti e affetto da schizofrenia paranoide a venticinque. Un adulto (per finta) sempre col sorriso sul volto che aveva trovato nell'arte la sua valvola per venire accettato e accettarsi. Al quale bastava una tastiera o un pennarello o una penna Bic per essere felice. Willis morì un mese dopo, per complicazioni legate a una leucemia fulminante. Per quella, Wesley non chiamò mai un'ambulanza.

#outsider #sul serio però #wesley willis

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