While we would love for election season to be over right about now, we've gotta admit that the resulting political memes have been top-notch. The internet has been loving this particular dank meme, which shows Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripping up Donald Trump's State of the Union speech.

PotterCast is back with episode 218! In addition to the latest Harry Potter news, we have a treat this week bringing you the writer, crew and actors of the PotterCast Acting Troupe! Learn in this episode how to download the FULL Albus Potter and the Founders Fountain!

Episode 218 — Inside the Acting Troupe Studio

Find the latest episode and explore PotterCast interviews, discussions and more at PotterCast.com

Visit the-leaky-cauldron.org for the latest and greatest from Harry Potter's Wizard World.

At long last - enjoy our post Deathly Hallows Part 2 episode of PotterCast recorded live at LeakyCon FEATURING EVANNA LYNCH (Luna Lovegood) and SCARLETT BYRNE (Pansy Parkinson) and many of YOUR questions about the film!

Episode 242 — Deathly Hallows Part 2 Live At LeakyCon!

Find the latest episode and explore PotterCast interviews, discussions and more at PotterCast.com

Visit the-leaky-cauldron.org for the latest and greatest from Harry Potter's Wizard World.

We have a special episode for you today: a full episode of "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text," a podcast you should really check out. Melissa was a guest on one of their shows, and speaks about chance, J.K. Rowling, and the Harry Potter fandom. Then hang with Vanessa and Casper as they break down "The Dream" chapter from Goblet of Fire!

Thanks to our friends at HPatSS for the collaboration - and we can't wait to have them on PotterCast!

Welcome to a very special episode of PotterCast!

This week, J.K. Rowling angered and saddened many fans when she came out in support of a woman whose company had not renewed her employment contract because she refused to recognize the legally protected rights of trans people. In coming back from a months-long Twitter hiatus, J.K. Rowling mischaracterized the facts of the case in support of a dangerous and unscientific movement that invalidates the trans experience, and in doing so flies in the face of medical consensus worldwide.

Her comments also confused a lot of fans who are not fully familiar with the issues at stake, or cannot understand how someone whose book series is so vehemently about tolerance can express support for a woman whose views invalidate so many people's existences. That's why in this episode, we are going over it all.

Jackson Bird, longtime friend of the podcast and of Leaky, as well as author, trans activist and educator, and expert Waffler, joins us to explain and process what this means for Harry Potter fans. We discuss:

• What actually happened
• What J.K. Rowling said versus what happened to the woman in question, Maya Forstater
• Why many fans saw this coming
• What to do now that the creator of the series we love so dearly has taken this stance
• How to support trans and non-binary communities
• How we as fans are feeling about all of this
• What to do now, especially since we still love this community

We hope you'll listen and share. Here are some helpful resources, including things we mention in the show:

• Jack's book! SORTED: Growing up, coming out, and finding my place
• A list of information from medical communities around the world validating that trans and non-binary people exist
• GLAAD's transgender media program has great resources, FAQs, ways to take action, and ways to learn
• Transstudent.org has more Information regarding sex and gender
• GONADS, the great series by RadioLab

News articles regarding this incident:

• The Cut
• Vox (on British culture and the "gender critical" movement)
• The Mary Sue

News articles regarding past incidents that have also upset the community:

• The Mary Sue on Johnny Depp and the Crimes of Grindelwald
• Past indicators that J.K. Rowling was following trans-exclusionary ideologies
• The Guardian on J.K. Rowling's writings on Native American cultulre
• "The Harry Potter Series Makes a Mess of Its Commentary on Racism" — The Mary Sue
• "Is Fantastic Beasts 2 Racist? Not Quite" — The Washington Post

PotterCast and Leaky stand with our trans and non-binary friends and colleagues. 

This episode is in the process of being transcribed. For more, see pottercast.com.

People Powered Health and Wellbeing (PPHW) are asking people to share their experiences of co-production in their survey.

https://t.co/tjwD5HQWM4 Valuing retirement #housing: explores economic effects of specialist housing 4 #olderpeople Strategic Society Centre

We find 3 new hires for every 10 layoffs caused by the shock and estimate that 42 percent of recent layoffs will result in permanent job loss. That is from a new paper by Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom, and Steven J. Davis, top experts on this and related topics.  As for policy: Unemployment benefit […]

The post Labor market restructuring and its possible permanence appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one bit: The first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic brought serious economic damage for thinly capitalized face-to-face retailers, such as small family-owned restaurants. But many of those same institutions will lead the recovery — that is, if they have built up trust among their […]

The post America’s reopening will depend on trust appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

  Who let the dogs out????? To kick off #NationalPetMonth, we want to remind everyone about pet fire safety. With stay-at-home orders in place in many jurisdictions, we have been made aware of many fire departments responding to fires, then

When: Thu Dec 3, 2015 to Fri Dec 4, 2015 

Where: Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Event Status: confirmed
Event Description: Aimed at delegates from across Europe, this conference offers an opportunity to share the successes and challenges of recent developments across Europe, and to explore the creation of inclusive services for all children and young people as part of our shared vision of how they can fulfil their potential. For further information, please visit the event website

Clusterfuck Nation For your reading pleasure Mondays and Fridays Support this blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page The cable news announced the other day that Covid-19 patients placed in critical care may have to be on ventilators for 21 days. Only a few years ago, I went in for an ordinary hip replacement. A month or more »

The post People Get Ready! appeared first on Kunstler.

As the nation marks the one-year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando this week, a group of experts on active shooter/hostile incident response will assemble at National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) headquarters to develop NFPA 3000, Standard for Preparedness and Response to Active Shooter and/or Hostile Events. It is expected that the initial standard will be completed by early 2018; then the public will have the opportunity to offer input for immediate review.

Knowing that today’s homes burn faster than ever, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) announced “Every Second Counts: Plan Two Ways Out” as the official theme for this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, October 8-14, 2017. Experts say you may have as little as two minutes (or even less) to safely escape a typical home fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds.

В конце 2015-го я заглянул в Final Fantasy Record Keeper – поглядеть, что это за мобильная финалка такая. Ей тогда было полгода всего, сейчас же – пять лет, и всякая игра-как-сервис за это время растёт. Не стала исключением и Record Keeper – так что пора бы в ней вернуться ещё раз.

Во многом я хочу это сделать потому, что с 2015-го я не переставал в неё играть. На то есть целый ряд причин. Во-первых, она (почти) бессюжетная, аутентичная и посвященная знакомым боям из знакомых финалок – она не городит что-то своё, а ремикширует знакомое и хорошее. Во-вторых, она очень мало требует от игрока в плане инвестиций времени/денег: я стабильно каждый день выигрывал там три боя за десять минут, и этого мне хватало, чтобы тащить почти весь актуальный контент и даже не задумываться о том, чтобы занести разработчикам бабла. Я до сих пор не заплатил ни копейки и всем доволен. В-третьих, в ней такие длинные лоадинги, что играть на ночь идеально – за десять минут усыпляет. Ну и в-четвёртых, она продолжала постоянно обновляться. С обновлениями не только появлялись новые испытания, но и расширялись возможности бойцов, и менялась мета.
Дальше »

Amazing! NYT found someone to clean up Trump’s “tests aren’t great because they tell you that you’re sick” argument. pic.twitter.com/1xvPpqsL9w

— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) May 9, 2020

Goals and dreams are two concepts that are often used interchangeably in the quest for success. Although they can be used to complement one another, they do mean different things. This article looks at what goals and dreams are and how they can be used hand-in-hand in order to achieve personal success. What Are Goals? [...]Read More...

Posted this to collector's edition topic, but figured I'd give everyone a heads up:

https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/playstation-4/games/products/persona-5-royal-phantom-thieves-edition/11098855.html

Claude is among the best bottoms and would certainly be the winner of the cutest dimples award. Given his expertise as a bottom you might be as shocked as we were to find Claude topping Peter. Yet there’s no mistake it is Claude in control using the compliant Peter for his pleasure. See more at... View Article

The post Freshmen: Peter Annaud and Claude Sorel appeared first on QueerClick.

Cy rubs one out for us! See more at Peepshow.tv.

The post PeepShow.tv: Cy appeared first on QueerClick.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and my social media feed is more snarky than smarmy. The Hallmark holiday gets us thinking about love, but it also highlights our unquestioned assumptions about romantic relationships. The culture of love is tied up in all kinds of expectations: what we buy, how we date, even who does the dishes. A lot of […]

After it was revealed Friday that Mike Pence's spokesperson, who is Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller, tested positive, Trump gave an illogical and moronic response to the media about her and coronavirus testing in general.

Trump said, "She tested very good for a long period of time, and then all of a sudden today, she tested positive."

That's the way any virus spreads, especially one as infectious as COVID-19. One day you don't have it, and the next, if you're not protecting yourself, you've got it.

Trump said he and Pence tested negative after her results came back.

"So she tested positive out of the blue," he said.

A person doesn't test positive out of the freaking blue. They were contaminated by somebody else. It's Basic Science 101.

Trump continued, "This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great."

Trump has admitted how much he hates the idea of testing Americans in general, not because they are unreliable, but because it affects the number of cases that are reported, and makes him look bad.

What a swell guy.

Then he made another baffling statement that makes no sense in any reality. Trump said, "The tests are perfect, but something can happen between a test where it’s good and then something happens and all of a sudden…”

read more

It's true what they say. Not all heroes wear capes. They wear gloves, masks, and gowns. That's especially true these days.

Source: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - A young boy chooses a nurse as the superhero he wants to play with over Batman and Spiderman in a new artwork by Banksy that encapsulates the gratitude Britons have felt toward the country’s National Health Service during the coronavirus crisis.

The painting by the secretive street artist was unveiled at University Hospital Southampton, in south England, on Wednesday.

An image of the work was also posted on Banksy’s Instagram page with the caption “Game Changer”.

Hospital chief executive Paula Head said: “So proud to reveal this amazing piece of art ‘Painting for Saints’, created by #Banksy as a thank you to all those who work with and for the NHS and our hospital.”

“An inspirational backdrop to pause and reflect in these unprecedented times,” she added on Twitter.

Full Article

Product Info: Developer: Digital Continue Publisher: Digital Continue‬ Website: SuperMash Twitter: @digitalcontinue

Cooler Master has just released an updated version of their Hyper 212 Turbo dual-fan single-tower CPU air cooler, which is being called the Hyper 212 ARGB Turbo.

The post Cooler Master Releases the Hyper 212 ARGB Turbo CPU Cooler appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

The HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini mechanical gaming keyboard features HyperX red linear mechanical switches built for performance, longevity and an 80 million lifetime click rating per switch.

The post HyperX Teams up with Ducky and Launches HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

The United Arab Emirates had its sights set on Mars the day before it launched its second satellite ever.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks overnight tonight (May 4), with the best views arriving before dawn on Tuesday (May 5).

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk just tweeted an image looking up at the belly of the latest Starship prototype, the SN4, which is on the test stand ahead of a key engine firing.

by Nina Coslov

In my early 40s, I started noticing changes in my body. A once great sleeper, I was now waking at 2 a.m. – often with lots of energy and sometimes with anxiety. I’d be awake for about 3 hours before I could get back to sleep. Around the same time, premenstrual breast tenderness returned — something I hadn’t experienced since my 20s, before I had children. Not long after, I’d notice from time to time a pervasive edginess, a revving — an energetic ... More

The post The Very Early Perimenopause: What We Can Learn from Dr. Jerilynn Prior’s Research appeared first on Our Bodies Ourselves.

These challenging times require fierce, broad, and intersectional activism – which is just what Civil Liberties and Public Policy (CLPP) has been doing for the past four decades. This now-independent nonprofit, which used to be affiliated with Hampshire College, continues its unique movement-building work preparing younger activists to work on the front lines of today’s struggle for reproductive justice. Please consider supporting CLPP today with a generous donation. 

As we know, the Covid-19 pandemic is disproportionately harming those in our communities who were already facing ... More

The post Please Support Civil Liberties and Public Policy During the Covid-19 Crisis: An Appeal from Judy Norsigian appeared first on Our Bodies Ourselves.