“COVID-19 magnified the polarisation and persistent social, economic, and racial inequities that already existed across US society, but the next pandemic threat need not do the same. US states that mitigated those structural inequalities, deployed science-based interventions such as vaccination and targeted vaccine mandates, and promoted their adoption across society were able to match the best-performing nations in minimising COVID-19 death rates. These findings could contribute to the design and targeting of clinical and policy interventions to facilitate better health outcomes in future crises.”

I asked my 11 year-old daughter if she wanted to go see it with me.

I got a withering “no” in response.

“Oh, ok. I just thought it would be cool to see it in 3D in the theater.”

“What now?” she asked. “It’s in 3D? Yeah, I want to see that!”

When Avatar first came out, there was talk of it legitimizing 3D tech in movie making and birthing a new era of 3D movies. The fact that it failed to do that probably helps Avatar 2 sell tickets today. A lot of us saw the first one because 3D is a rare thing in modern movies. That’s still true today, which is probably helping the sequel, too.

Like I said — and the downvoters seem to have missed it — this probably didn’t really happen, and if it did, I’m as appalled as you all are.

But, yes, my wife thinks better sex is better. (She credits the deepened emotional bond of sharing parenthood together. Which is totally probably the answer.)

This was a great TIL, OP, thanks!

A lot of us learn about the American Revolution from an exclusively “13 colonies” point-of-view, when the truth is a whole lot bigger than that.

For me, it was learning about Florida history that first expanded my view on the American Revolution.

See, I thought I knew my Revolutionary War history pretty well. But I knew nothing about the BRITISH colonies of East and West Florida.

I knew nothing about these two loyalist colonies that decided not to join their fellow Americans in revolution against the King.

I knew nothing about the battles fought between Spain and Britain in Florida during the American Revolution.

I knew nothing about Spain capturing West Florida in battle during the American Revolution.

I knew nothing about Britain ceding East Florida to Spain during the peace talks ending the American Revolution. (Since Spain was one of the “winners” of the war, after all.)

And lastly, until today, I knew nothing about this British attempt to cut off Spanish forces in North America from those in South America during the American Revolution. It makes sense — by taking a small area around one lake in Nicaragua, the British hoped to disrupt Spanish operations across two continents. The American Revolution was a global conflict, after all.

Thanks again!

I was a kid in the early MTV days, and I remember the Rolling Stones were one of the bands making videos back then. They were, even in the early 1980s, an “old” band, identified with the ‘60s. But still, Mick & Co. were no more out-of-place in those early video days than Duran Duran or Pat Benatar.

I’m surprised songs like “Beast of Burden” or “Start Me Up” weren’t bigger hits, based on record sales — they got tons of airplay on MTV.