Notices by Violet Blue (violetblue@mastodon.social), page 3

If you don't already have a VPN -- get one NOW.

I wrote a book for this moment that Adafruit calls "the techno-resistance cookbook"

- Adafruit, on USB bracelet: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3532
- Direct: https://www.digitapub.com/products/how-to-be-a-digital-revolutionary
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Digital-Revolutionary-Violet-Blue-ebook/dp/B07173KXGX

"We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say
I'll say it anyway"

Trevor Project: 866-488-7386; txt 678678 START
US Suicide Prevention: 800-273-8255
Veterans Crisis: 800-273-8255, text 838255
Deaf Crisis: 321-800-DEAF (3323) txt 839863: HAND
Befrienders, 32 countries: befrienders.org

Please have a heart for all US LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, disabled people, outsiders, artists, activists, writers and authors, and more, who have been trying to fix this shit (or simply survive), can't fix it now, and are trying to figure out how to survive whatever comes next.

New:

- Japan COVID deaths 14 times that of flu after guidelines lifted
- Factcheck: “Herd immunity” not possible with Covid
- XEC 1/5 of UK cases; NHS advises 10-day isolation
-Switzerland: "exploding" Long Covid cases in kids prompts government response
- Biden's Covid was "last straw" for nomination

More here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-115042386

Please share and support this free news resource!

#LongCovid #Covid

Keep an eye on this. This week XEC's impact on UK saw cases rise 6th week, Independent cited XEC 4 days ago reporting "Covid hospitalisations have surged across Britain at an 'alarming' rate" and now this: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/health/covid-deaths-rise-25-per-30176729

#Covid #LongCovid

Great new art from design magazine / publisher Uppercase, in conjunction with World Health Network -- also check out Uppercase's incredible policy on Covid-safe interviews, meetings and conferences: https://uppercasemag.notion.site/COVID-safety-measures-92e2bd05395b4b1297e21b105cdbdc98

#LongCovid

Remarked to a friend that I felt bad for the people trapped inside the robot suits after thinking they'd only agreed to a brain implant and didn't read the Terms, but that they also deserved it, but the hand controlling the robot in this gif does prove my theory wrong: https://gizmodo.com/elon-musks-beer-pouring-optimus-robots-are-not-autonomous-2000510899

New: #Covid ⬆️ heart attacks, strokes, and deaths for 3 years: finding is “unique to Covid-19," Japan’s self-amplifying mRNA booster Kostaive holds up at 12 months, UK: cases rise 5th week, US: 10K+ dead in 2 months, must-read #LongCovid Kiwi series, more, all free:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-113718299

New:

-US: 74 days of 1M infections/day, “3.4-10.1M likely #LongCovid outcomes”
-Covid "evolves more rapidly in the brain than lungs”
-Art: Kiki's Mask Delivery Service
-Long Covid takes Sergio Mendes
-#Covid conspiracy beliefs in Japan
-Paxlovid 411

More: https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-111900852

And THEN, this happened.

There is a group coming at both VUWSA *and* Salient.

And their choice for Bird of the Year 2024 is the Hakoakoa, or brown skua (also known as the Antarctic skua).

Victoria University of Wellington Student Association (VUWSA) are backing the karure for Bird of the Year.

BUT

The student newspaper, Salient, is backing the kororā.

And oh, IT'S ON.

VUWSA: https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/black-robin/

Salient: https://www.salient.org.nz/post/vote-koror%C4%81-for-bird-of-the-year

I was very confused. Why *this* bird, I wondered?

Then I googled the Hakoakoa and the first image I got back seems to have answered my question -- and explained the next three flyers I found in student common areas.

There is a massive battle underway at Victoria University of Wellington. These flyers in one of the main halls are the most low-key.

Bird of the Year 2024 propaganda spans the entire country right now.

Just look at this gull inviting interference in a foreign election. The below post did not prepare me for what I saw this week.

If you're unfamiliar, each Bird of the Year nominee is sponsored by a group. This year, the Tūhura Otago Museum is not holding back.

This photo's tweet reads: "Hoiho, one of the world’s rarest penguins, needs your vote! With only 131 breeding pairs left on mainland NZ, it’s time to act."

The Bird of the Year 2024 memes reflect personal and cultural Kiwi touchstones.

The Bird of the Year 2024 meme game is already off the hook.

Behold these standalone memes.

The US is asleep: come with me on a journey about birds.

It's Bird of the Year time here in Aotearoa New Zealand and friends I had NO idea.

I knew about the event of course. John Oliver has his own mural here in Wellington.

Buckle in.

Link: https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/

But I did not expect the Bird of the Year 2024 to cross over offline into daily life here in the form of propaganda wars.

Here is one example of a poster on the street.

Finished writing a book *and* fixed my NAS array, feeling like a baddie, look out