Drug in brave new world crossword

I love how open the world is in Diablo 4, from exploring and finding events to random elite packs roaming the world. I picked up a quest expecting to go to a dungeon but it was a boss that just spawned in the open world (probably my favorite boss so far too). I’m having so much fun and haven’t even left the area around kyovashad yet (gotta get that potion upgrade). I was picking a new skill after a event and was caught pants down almost died ,and it was a completely different experience because a group showed up to help which made different enemies spawn.

I just got back into casual reading and love Jules Verne. “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” is my favorite, then “Around the World in Eighty Days” and very much last was “Journey to the Center of the Earth”.
I was recommended to read “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” for sci-fi themed reasons. Although I respect it, I’m not a big fan. Any suggestions on a different path I could follow authobook wise? Maybe more old timely (or new) adventure.

Where do I start? Hmm, my name is Trent and I have a cute doggo.
I'm hoping to find a friend, I know right, wild! No, but I am hoping to find someone I connect with, if it grows into anything else that's cool too. I know it's not easy to build friendships and what not but there's gotta be some cool people out there, I just know it!
I'm sort of an introvert, don't enjoy big crowds or shitty people, and most of the time I'm only really hangin out with my few close friends, oh and my doggo ofc.
I like to be caring, open, supportive the best I can and I'm pretty sure that I'm a good listener or at least I try my best to be and give advice when asked.
I am not the most creative but I enjoy trying out new things even if I kinda suck at it 😌, I like to explore new places, cook or bake new things when I can. I also like to play video games, watch anime, hang out with friends.
Just to give a little more insight about me here are some strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths: I'm a very honest person, I use a lot of communication so that I can understand people and their boundaries better, their wants, needs as a friend/partner. I am also a very silly person and I will never judge anyone for their beliefs, who they are, or what makes them happy. I'm sometimes sarcastic and annoying but in a good way haha I swear! I can also be a very affectionate person to the people I'm close to.
Weaknesses: I care maybe a little too much for people, always wanna make them happy and that can sometimes be at the expense of my own needs. I try my best to communicate but I'm not the best at articulating my words (hopefully you won't hate me for that🤞), and last but not least I'm not the best with my tone, I don't mean to come off harsh with things but I think sometimes things come out as a little mean, that's never the way I intend, so I'm sorry in advance. Other than that... I've lived in Canada my whole life, I enjoy audio books, not hard back, and I'm really up to watching or playing anything, as long as it's not Barbie Life in the Dream House hehe
Oh and if you're interested I play Ark, World of Warcraft, Runescape, Pokemon, pretty much any survival game. I like to watch Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama, Bob's Burgers, Lucifer, Star Trek, The Boys, Rick and Morty, Documentaries, Murder Mysteries and my favorite movie is Howl's Moving Castle. I know, I'm a bit of a Nerd. 🤫🥲
Anywho, feel free to shoot me a message if you'd like and maybe tell me a little about you?
At the very least, I hope you have or are having the best day.💙

I'm sure this is another case of entitled brat naive to the world but I started a new job about a week and a half ago at an Italian in name pizza place bc I couldn't do my retail job anymore and I had to do something to stop my landlord from garroting me. Places on Indeed weren't calling me back until this one did and I rushed in expecting something similar to the last time I was a line cook. That was hectic and rough on my mental like everything else but the pay was decent and I was somewhat happy especially getting tipped out in a busy ass pizza place.
Short answer, no. Shit pay. No tips till Christmas. No hours until I "know what I'm doing". But I sit there and take it. Because I fucking hate myself. And I don't expect anyone to even want to associate with me and I'll take it. And you know what it's not awful. Pretty small place. I can knock out dishes, prep, stocking the toppings for the cooks and cleaning the front and back by myself even with a lot of phones coming in. Mostly fine except the nagging feeling I get at every job that no one anywhere will ever need me for anything, ever. But again that's more my own special thing.
But today one of the co-owners asked me something that even my own people pleasing bitch ass couldn't say yes to. Can I come in on a weekend and train for free? All so I can eventually leave my better paying 2nd job I get 4 hours of sleep for and work here for, all in all, less than I'm making now. Oh but there's tips at the end of the tunnel. All calculated by the "fudging the numbers" types. The work me for free types. Got it. Been told multiple times in as nice a tone as possible that they don't "need me" so idk. Someone joked i was working for free that night because I spilled a can of pineapples. Maybe this is a whine post. Fuck it. Fuck me. I'm not a convicted felon. I didn't drop out of high school. Why tf I did this to myself, idk. Can't wait to see my paycheck tomorrow so I can put a feasible amount on how much I'm capable of wasting my own fucking time. I did meet a good plug though. So there's that.

I started a new medication and I've been told that in the first few weeks it may heighten anxiety before getting better. Well I've been in constant derealization. I've had bigger and bigger bouts of it in the past few months so it's why I went back on the meds, but right now it's CONSTANT. Like, never-ending. I just realized (no pun intended) that it was derealization.
Here is how my derealization feels: -like I'm in a dream -everything is oversaturated (colors are very bright) -i feel minuscule (figuratively and literally in the grand scheme of the universe) -i "feel" my surroundings -i feel very nostalgic, but there's no memories attached to that nostaglia. I feel like when you smell something and it takes you back a certain time and place. It sounds cool but it's really not. -when people say their derealization makes everything feel "flat" or 2d, me I think it's the opposite, my perception feels very deep and wide.
I also feel like there's a wall between me and others, I feel like an "alien", my time perception is absolutely fucked (anything before yesterday is a blur).
I've had this most of my life in waves. Right now it's really bad. And I feel like I'm going crazy, losing my mind, my brain is damaged. I'm scared I'm gonna feel this way forever because I've felt like this most of my life. I want to die. I'm very hurt.
I don't think I'm having depersonalization right now althought I have in the past. My head has felt like "a camera", just looking at the rest of the world.
Please someone tell me they relate. And if there's anything I can do to make it stop please enlighten me. Going outside during the day is extremely hard because of this. "Going out for walks" is not something that makes me feel better it makes me feel worse. It's more tolerable at night because there are less bright lights and less colors in the sky. It's always constantly dark. It still happens, but it's not as bad. I'm considering never stepping a foot outside again, but I can't because I have a job.
The way I describe it isn't how everyone experiences derealization so it scares me even more to think it's something else and that I will feel this way forever.

Welcome back to another Pick'Em thread!
This post can be used to discuss your picks for 06/03/2023. If you have any feedback or suggestions on improving the thread further, drop a comment below or message the moderators.
Don't forget: picks must be submitted during the twelve-hour window before Noon EDT on game day, you can only make one selection per day, and missed days count as losses, so choose wisely and don't delay!
Games for Saturday, 06/03/2023:

Matchup and Team Records	Probable Pitchers (Season ERA)	Estimated Win Probability
Tampa Bay Rays (40-18) @ Boston Red Sox (29-27)	Trevor Kelley (4.91) / TBD (-)	52% / 48%
Tampa Bay Rays (40-18) @ Boston Red Sox (29-27)	Tyler Glasnow (6.23) / TBD (-)	52% / 48%
Detroit Tigers (26-28) @ Chicago White Sox (23-35)	Michael Lorenzen (3.50) / Dylan Cease (4.88)	43% / 57%
St. Louis Cardinals (25-32) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (28-27)	Jordan Montgomery (4.48) / Luis L. Ortiz (4.35)	52% / 48%
Seattle Mariners (29-27) @ Texas Rangers (35-20)	Bryan Woo (-) / Andrew Heaney (3.76)	45% / 55%
Philadelphia Phillies (25-31) @ Washington Nationals (24-32)	TBD (-) / MacKenzie Gore (3.57)	56% / 44%
Los Angeles Angels (30-28) @ Houston Astros (33-23)	Patrick Sandoval (3.42) / Cristian Javier (2.97)	41% / 59%
Colorado Rockies (24-34) @ Kansas City Royals (17-39)	Austin Gomber (7.00) / Daniel Lynch (3.38)	48% / 52%
Toronto Blue Jays (30-27) @ New York Mets (30-27)	Jose Berrios (3.86) / Tylor Megill (4.67)	48% / 52%
Oakland Athletics (12-46) @ Miami Marlins (29-28)	Luis Medina (6.83) / Eury Perez (2.84)	35% / 65%
Milwaukee Brewers (30-27) @ Cincinnati Reds (26-31)	Colin Rea (4.89) / Graham Ashcraft (5.55)	55% / 45%
Cleveland Guardians (25-31) @ Minnesota Twins (30-27)	Logan Allen (2.72) / Sonny Gray (1.94)	44% / 56%
New York Yankees (34-24) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (34-23)	Gerrit Cole (2.93) / Michael Grove (8.44)	46% / 54%
Baltimore Orioles (35-21) @ San Francisco Giants (28-28)	Kyle Bradish (3.89) / Anthony DeSclafani (3.48)	46% / 54%
Chicago Cubs (24-31) @ San Diego Padres (26-30)	Drew Smyly (3.45) / Yu Darvish (4.61)	39% / 61%
Atlanta Braves (33-23) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (34-23)	Spencer Strider (2.97) / Ryne Nelson (5.37)	55% / 45%

1. All columns are Away / Home. Records are typically current as-of the time of posting, and do not always contain the matchup results from the day of posting.
2. A bolded matchup means that there is a "Probability of Precipitation" greater than 50% in a non-domed stadium at the time of this post.
3. An italicized matchup means that it is Game 2 of a doubleheader, which for Pick'Em purposes will not be applicable (only Game 1 is counted, but Game 2 is still included above so that you can be aware that pitching management may be different than a non-doubleheader game day).
4. Probable pitchers and stats sourced from mlb.com (via the MLB-StatsAPI); weather data soured from the OpenWeather One Call API.
5. Estimated chance of winning percentages sourced from FiveThirtyEight’s 2023 MLB Game Predictions, an ELO-based, easy to understand ratings system.

Details such as probable pitchers, winning odds, and match certainty are subject to change. Note that a pick for a team in a cancelled game (weather or otherwise) is automatically counted as a correct guess.
View Poll

I just finished the show and I am obsessed!!! I initially gave it a miss because I had read a few negative reviews and I wasn’t a fan of Cynthia Nixon but Ada is just so darn caring and loveable, she’s become one of my favourites - along with Pumpkin. I think I just didn’t like Cynthia’s character in Sex and the City and it clouded my judgement somewhat (sorry Cynthia!). I’m from the UK and the reviews I read here referenced Downton Abbey which I get, the same creator and producer, and as a big DA fan I could see some of the similarities. However I found after the first few episodes I totally forgot about them and was immersed in this world of New York. I don’t know anything about this part of history so it’s been really fun reading up on things. I’ve added so many books to my Amazon wish list and last Christmas I got ‘Women of Means’ by Marlene Wagman-Geller, must have been fate! I know the future of the show lies in the reviews in America and I was wondering how well received it has been over there? I read some are worried about Series 3 due to the writers strike - I hope that’s not the case. Sorry for the giddiness, I haven’t found a show that I’ve loved in so long and I don’t have anyone else to talk about it with apart from my mother (she’s also a big fan).

Tuya Smart, a global provider of IoT development platform services, has launched what it claims is the world's first 5-inch Smart Control Panel Solution for smart homes that incorporates both Matter and Alexa Built-in.
Through Tuya Smart's new solution, customers can create unique, controllable smart home devices under their own brands. These devices are based on Tuya's PaaS2.0 and can be managed via a central control panel, fostering a comprehensive software and hardware ecosystem. This development not only facilitates the expansion of the smart home business into international markets but also supports innovation and the development and availability of a broader range of distinctive smart home devices.
The market potential for this sort of compatibility is significant. According to Parks Associates, 41% of U.S. internet households have smart home devices, and the adoption of smart home solutions is on the rise. The central control panel, with its graphical screen and ability to manage interactions can be a driver of increased adoption and market growth.
It also enables simultaneous connections of 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi signals, ensuring uninterrupted interactions with smart devices and central control panels across various network protocols and ensuring all ecosystem-enabled devices can function normally at all times.
This isn’t Tuya’s first smart control panel solution – it previously released similar versions for 4-inch, 3.5-inch, and 10-inch panels.
Tuya Smart is also planning for the future by leveraging generative AI technology, which is expected to usher in a new era of smart home connectivity.
See full article @
https://www.iotevolutionworld.com/smart-home/articles/456034-tuya-smarts-matter-alexa-integration-designed-expand-smart.htm#:~:text=Tuya%20Smart's%20Matter%20and%20Alexa%20Integration%20Designed%20to%20Expand%20Smart%20Home%20Market,-By%20Erik%20Linask&text=Tuya%20Smart%2C%20a%20global%20provider,Matter%20and%20Alexa%20Built%2Din.

In some world languages, there are only three vowels (either a, i, u or a, i, o or some other variant), and any borrowed word from another language would replace the vowels with their closest equivalent. In Arabic, for example, the vowel "e" turns to "i" and the vowel "o" turns to "u." Since Toki Pona is designed for most speakers around the world (including those who only use these three vowels) then one would argue that there should be only three vowels, not five.
Actually, almost all the words with "e" and "o" can be replaced with "i" and "u" respectively. Here's an example:
mi wile tawa tomo sona. -> mi wili tawa tumu suna.
soweli li moku e telo kili loje jelo. -> suwili li muku i tilu kili luji jilo.
(Keep in mind that syllables "ji" and "ti" can still be pronounced like "je" and "te" as "e" and "i" are in complementary distribution.)
The only exception to this is the words "ken" and "kin," which do affect the sentences in the language. Another example:
mi ken pali e pali tomo. -> I can do my homework.
mi kin pali e pali tomo. -> I also did my homework.
This means that "mi kin pali i pali tumu" unfortunately can mean either of these two options.
On the other hand, maybe having more vowels is okay. Even if the language didn't have the distinction between "ken" and "kin," it would be much harder to understand someone speak the language. Toki Pona already has the problem of words sounding alike, such as "mama," meaning parent, and "ma ma," meaning country country. After all, Arabic is one of the few exceptions to the languages that don't follow Toki Pona's phonological rules. If everyone needs to know the difference between a few new sounds, then that can still make it easier to communicate with other Toki Pona speakers.
tawa puna, u awin i suna i tuki!

Welp, since we finally have Noel's fourth album out into the world the Every Oasis Song + Beady Eye + NGHFB + LG Solo Playlist on Spotify is up to nearly 33 hours. I've gone ahead and put Noel's new record on there in the order of how he released each track + placed the Radio 2 acoustic versions to the date when they were recorded/streamed.
Here's the playlist again -- let me know if any songs are missing/out of order (no remixes on this playlist)
PS: know that 33 hours of Oasis/Gallagher brother music is a lot so for anyone just getting into Oasis, Noel, and Liam...
Here's an Intro to Oasis Playlist and then Noel's Vocals Only Playlist and a Liam Vocals Only Playlist

We have fallen into a time where everyone’s isolated experience has afforded the world great confusion, and thrusted us into a spiritual warfare. In a world where patterns have caused many to question God’s existence, we’ve silently built a relationship with demonic energy that will cause us an infinite regress. Yet, this isn’t a regress that will warn us as the depths become lower. This is a regress that comes with comfort in misery, a regress that we see others taking, and within this unanimous regress there is silent lusting in undertaking this world and our sole purpose. It’s becoming a very hard world for boys and girls, within the sun, we howl at the moon. When presented with our gifts, we see benefits in the other route, and we’re taking this route. While taking this route, we become selfish in our findings and desires. We become deficient in empathy, and we’re alright with the downfalls of our neighbors, holding them responsible for their influencing.
One doesn’t need to be at the height of spiritual intelligence to battle or fight this war, but this is the silent assumption. We’ve grown fearful of not only the Lord, but the devil as well. We see his influence, and some of us feel the warmth that he brings us in our selfish indulges. We feel how good it is to be bad, to deny the calling of our God to influence spaces, changing one another’s lives for the better. We are scorned by the uncomfortable and harsh realities of our past, we feel as if most that’s been done to us has been allowed by God; Most have grown a disdain towards him. We hold him responsible for the world’s condition, indirectly painting him as the Devil, and the Devil as God. Such as the world is being flipped, so is the representation of energy. Demonic energy is being shown giving us insight, validity in angefrustration, likability in sinful patterns, etc. To stomach the world, we’ve silently agreed to being one with it’s downfall. Written down, its severity is diluted, and that’s the tactic that we should look past. Demonic energy has tied itself to many of the doings that allow us spiritual connection in human design. Skepticism has been pasted on those spaces that these brave conversations are being had in, immediately stifling the connection that’s had with their higher self. Individuals who see the world in its true nature are hermits fighting for their right to live sanely. Please continue to wake up and speak the truth, have endurance.

I wanted to write a novel with you,
An epic penned through the ages,
Of two boys born amidst Victorian echoes,
Found in the spring of life's pages.
​
Our days, they were poems, written in sunsets,
Through wheat fields and cobblestones we tread,
Running through dreams that were yet unformed,
Each one beginning where the last one had led.
​
We were two halves of an old soul's song,
And as the years passed, our spirits converged,
Two rivers running wild and untamed,
In the arms of one another, our love emerged.
​
The whispers of our hearts spoke a language,
Understood only by the moon and the stars,
A language of stolen glances, hidden smiles,
Carved silently in time's unyielding bars.
​
We became more than just fast friends,
In the silence, we discovered a love so true,
A bond unseen, yet felt deeply,
As if an old book found a verse it never knew.
​
The War came, unbidden, thunder in its wake,
Stealing the rhythm of our days serene,
Shoulder to shoulder, we braved our duty,
Merciless in the ebb of war’s cruel scene.
​
When you died, so did I, but only you moved on,
My heart crumbled like the fields of Flanders,
A part of me lay there with you in the mud,
As I clung to your memory, to your life's final ambers.
​
I, the eternal wanderer, expelled from home,
Knowing the agony of countless goodbyes,
Still despite every dawn and dusk I've seen,
I found myself lost in the depth of your eyes.
​
This pain was new, a bitter sting,
The wound of a love that time had severed,
I knew of loss, but never like this,
A heartache echoed through eternity, unweathered.
​
From life to life, I carry our story,
A tale of love, its ink still wet,
In my mind, an unbearable prayer,
For a lifetime where we'd never met.
​
Between us, there were endless tales, true.
Stories I’d cherish through the ages,
I wanted to write a novel with you,
but time didn’t give enough pages.
​
Feedback 1: https://www.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/13ypsqk/comment/jmopp7d/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
​
Feedback 2: https://www.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/13yniw9/comment/jmoq145/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Talk about scaring new players away from the game. I was at a local driving range today. Let me tell you, this place is not one of the 7 wonders of the world. Pretty much a hayfield with grass cut about an inch long. But it’s cheap and close to work, so I can easily hit a bucket on my lunch break.
I was out there today and there was a kid (probably 16-17) struggling next to me. Had a case of major slices and shanks. The employee (>65 years old) in charge of picking up the balls was standing in the shade 20 yards behind us and just kept making derogatory remark after derogatory remark. “Hey the goal is to hit it that way”. “I’m going to have to use twice as much fuel picking up your balls”. And mind you, these weren’t playful. He was genuinely pissed. He made a point to throw a rake he was holding down and shouted “Jesus Christ” after yet another shank.
I’ve never felt worse for someone. Wish I would’ve said something.

HAVOC ZERO - DEER ISLE 🌿
Third Person PVE ⛺ / 1st Person PVP Zones ☠️ / Friendly, Social, Balanced Gameplay / No Raid / DayZ Dog / Helis & Boats
Map: Deer Isle
Name: Havoc Zero DeerIsle PVE 1PP PVP Zones Helis Boats +
Direct: 185.240.135.38:2302
US Central Hosted/EU Playable - 120ms Ping for Western Europe, perfectly good ping for everyone! :) Hosted on a beefy, dedicated machine colocated at a datacenter with 10Gbps networking.
https://havoczero.com
Havoc Zero - Deer Isle is a new and already populated server, offering a PVE experience, with PVP zones for those wanting to choose when they risk it all. Chill out with us, meet some new people, explore the amazing Deer Isle map full of adventures and mysteries, build a base and grind through our cars, helis and now boats! We have custom trader locations, do our best to use stable mods, and look after the community.
Current population is mostly US and around 25 people at any given time. Really nice folks looking to grind out gear and vehicles, and do a bit of PVP when they feel like it :)
* Friendly players, really great helpful community and admins
* Balanced grind, a lot of loot-only necessary items - Enjoy success at any play rate and style!
* Advanced Clan System - Build your group, promote, control base permissions, shared bank
* Cars - custom and carefully selected, themed appropriately to the apocalypse. No silly supercars.
* DayZ Dog - Have a loyal companion alongside your travels, or to help with hunting.
* Boats and Helis - Explore Deer Isle's vast disconnected lands and mysteries in various ways
* Mighty's Military Gear - Armoured vests and helmets
* Tactical Flava - Variety of guns with attachment systems, more gear
* SCWS Weapons Pack - High quality, high calibre, rare and fun.
* MuchStuffPack and BaseBuildingPlus to expand on base, item and storage
* No drugs on our servers - Make money by looting gear, finding collectables, and hunting dangerous animals
* Beekeeping, Hunting, Collectables, Gun Running - Varied money making methods.
* More Stamina - No unlimited stamina silliness, but still much more than vanilla.
* Varied Zombies, mostly vanilla, military zombies are tougher!
* Custom Trader Locations
* Incredibly helpful, mature and chill community.
Join us on discord - Come hang out, or check out some more information!
https://discord.com/invite/MjxeTeC

So I watched Hellraiser 2022 recently and I enjoyed it. It's obviously not perfect (some slight corniness, Roland could have had more screen-time, a couple of the side characters were meh) but the violence was effective, the aesthetic was lovely to look at yet dark and moody, the special effects were excellent, the story was gripping, it moved at a decent pace that despite the 2 hour runtime really didn't feel too long or at all padded, it got the whole Hellraiser feel whilst also being a fresh new take on the story, the lead character's journey was interesting and tragic and the Cenobites themselves were genuinely scary.
My favourite aspect was the whole addiction theme which was more deep and well thought out than I expected. I could write an analysis on how the major characters intertwine with that, but I think it's interesting how this theme intertwines with the Cenobites. The biggest thing I noticed amongst Hellraiser fans was the dislike of how they were more evil and willing to kill people in this film, seemingly repeating the whole issue of the sequels making them just villains rather than evil observers. Obviously Roland Voight is the greater scope villain that set this film into motion but it still didn't sit right with people.
Personally, I feel like this isn't as much of an issue when looked at under the lens of the addiction angle. The Cenobites not only have flayed bodies and pale skin which by the end we learn for sure is a sign that these creatures were once human (via Voight changing), but said Cenobite transformation is viewed as a reward with the iconic "Such Sights to Show You" being repurposed to be before a Cenobite transformation. They also seem to relish the opportunity of killing and punishing/rewarding, even having the rule be that anyone injured by the box has to die with the only difference being who dies.
In terms of how this relates to the whole Cenobites being more evil, the Cenobites are representative of the eternal cycle, of never getting enough and always getting more and always causing more problems for the people they give their "Pleasures" too. They're almost like the drug dealers who are addicted themselves but never enough to OD/die and who seem to delight in harming their clients, no matter what. Whether it be a person who makes a deal (with the devil in their case) or someone who just happens to be in the vicinity and get to them via the specifics, they'll dish out whatever taste of their Vice they have.
Pinhead does show honour in letting Riley go and honouring the agreement, but as she states, Riley is gonna carry emotional pain with her rather than physical pain. Like any form of addiction, it'll leave behind scars and that's what the Cenobites want, except they view these as rewards. Roland is punished for his desires twice in different ways with the first way essentially kicking off the narrative since that happens because he wants to get rid of it (get clean basically but clean in the wrong way and via the people who punished him in the first place), Riley's shifting personal desires regarding the box indirectly gets her brother and an innocent women killed (plus puts her brother's boyfriend in danger), Trevor gets killed in his attempts to please his boss, even Serena pays for her past actions ultimately. No one seems to win.
But who do win ultimately? The Cenobites. They're the winners no matter what because they're Addiction in it's purest form and Addiction wins in some fashion everytime even when the addicted person beats it, as I said there's always emotional and/or physical scars left behind. It's a dark and scary take on this theme but metaphorically it makes sense and I think the depiction of the more evil Cenobites works well with this theme.
TL;DR: Addiction theme blends well with the Cenobites being more evil since they represent addiction in it's most dangerous and predatory and damaging form.

Chris Masterjohn has a twitter thread where he is talking about his findings about vaccines from the book: "The modern rise of population".
Have vaccines saved millions of lives?
The best place to start to answer this question is Thomas McKeown’s 1976 “The Modern Rise of Population.”
As the title suggests, McKeown’s book is not about vaccines so much it is a thesis to explain why the world population dramatically increased beginning in the 1800s.
He first looked at whether this was driven by a reduction in mortality or an increase in fertility.
Mortality declined, so he looked at which specific diseases accounted for the decline.
Then, what could account for those disease mortalities declining.
The following graphs are for UK mortality for each disease, not the incidence of the disease.
This is tuberculosis.
Eradicated in the US with no vaccine, the decline in mortality was almost over before vaccination was introduced in the UK.
This is bronchitis, pneumonia, and the flu. Prior to flu vaccines, it simply shows that drugs were introduced during a decline that started much earlier.
This is whooping cough.
Vaccine introduced when mortality was almost gone.
This is measles.
Mortality practically eradicated by the time the vaccine was introduced.
And so on.

Nestled in northern Lawrence County, Indiana, just six miles from Bedford, lies Ramsey Ridge Road. Just under three miles in length, the rural pathway once referred to as “Skin Ridge'' winds through the sparsely populated area’s dense woods atop a hill overlooking Little Salt Creek and nearby Bartlettsville. In the 1970’s, two completely unrelated deaths occurred within the confines of a modest green house that once stood along the ridge. Referred to by locals as “The Mysteries of Skin Ridge,” this is the story of the unusual deaths of Dennis McArthur, and Gerry Lee.
Dennis McArthur
On April 11, 1976, 44-year-old Pearl McArthur returned home after a lengthy stay at Madison State Hospital. Pearl, who would later be diagnosed with schizophrenia, had committed herself to the hospital in early December, leaving her 18-year-old son, Dennis, to care for the house in her absence. Accompanied by her 23-year-old daughter, April, who lived in nearby Bedford with her husband Gary, Pearl made her way inside the small two-story farmhouse.
Inside, Pearl and April found the home in complete disarray. Trash laid strewed about, lamps and furniture were overturned, and the stove was caved in, its exhaust pipe torn from the wall. It was unusually cold inside as though no heat had been recently used, and a strange smell permeated the air.
Alarmed, Pearl and April began to frantically search for Dennis. As they made their way over to a small couch located in a bedroom on the second floor, they noticed a pile of blankets lying on the sofa. As Pearl peeled back the layer of quilts, she was met with a horrific scene; Dennis’s decomposed body lay beneath the bedding. They immediately summoned police.
Dennis was found in a fetal position on the couch, facing inwards. Although covered by quilts, he was nude from the waist down. The coroner estimated he had died one to two months prior, however the cold weather had, in part, delayed the decomposition process making it difficult to give an exact time of death. During an autopsy, it was discovered that Dennis was severely emaciated, to the point of starvation. No evidence of external or internal injuries were found.
Police discovered several bottles of pills in the home; vitamins used for energy, an antidepressant, and a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. All of the pills were prescribed to Pearl, and were still relatively full. A toxicology test was conducted and proved negative, however the state pathologist who performed the test admitted that the test was incapable of detecting substances such as LSD. He also explained due to the amount of time that had passed since his death, the tests might not be one hundred percent accurate. Dennis’ cause of death was listed as malnutrition and exposure.
Investigators found several clues at the scene that struck them as odd. Although the cabin appeared ransacked, nothing seemed to be missing, including a small amount of money that was found within the disheveled home. Along with money, a small amount of, now spoiled, food was found in the cabinets and refrigerator. An upstairs window was found to be broken from the inside. Also upstairs, investigators discovered several large pools of blood, including one beside the couch where Dennis’ body was found. They also found blood on the backside of the couch, on a rug, and on the kitchen door frame, along with splatter on a wall. Testing confirmed the blood to be human.
Dennis was well known to both police and the county’s social workers. His mother, Pearl, was frequently in and out of mental institutions leaving Dennis and his two siblings to fend for themselves. The children’s father, Walter, had abandoned the family and moved to Georgia years prior. In 1972, Dennis was arrested for theft and truancy. That same year, he was expelled from school and never returned.
He was again arrested in 1973, this time for driving without a license, fleeing from police, possession of alcohol, and curfew violation. After his release, Dennis was sent to live with a man named Al Hagopian, a case worker for the Youth Services Bureau. Al was quoted as saying; “Finding him a place to stay was hard. The house where he had been staying was pretty grubby, and the state thought he was too young to live alone. His mother was in and out of hospitals a lot and he worried about her constantly. He didn’t want to return home, but said he had to go back to help care for his mother.”
Al discovered that Dennis “read and wrote backwards,” and was “practically illiterate.” After reviewing Dennis’ school records, he found multiple instances where teachers labeled Dennis as having disciplinary problems when it came to schoolwork, however not once did they mention he had a clear learning disability. Al further explained that attempts to secure employment for Dennis were nearly never successful. Aside from being unable to read or write, he had no vehicle. He also had no stable address or phone number and was oftentimes dirty and dressed in near rags.
Dennis’ unfair hand he had been dealt did not stop him from trying to act like an average kid most of the time, Al added. He explained that Dennis had an interest in cars, enjoyed hanging out with his friends, and was always chasing girls. He had also told Al he wanted to someday save up enough money for a new guitar, as he loved to play music. Al admitted that Dennis was also into the “street scene” and had dabbled in drugs and alcohol. Dennis returned home after two months of living with Al.
In 1974, after another arrest and his subsequent release from a youth detention center, Dennis went to live with his father for a short time. Dennis’ arrest had made headlines when it was learned the young man had been kept with adult men for a long period before being transferred to the youth detention center. Dennis and Walter reportedly couldn’t get along, however, and Dennis ran away to Florida. He lived there for a few months, washing cars to make money, before returning to the home on Ramsey Ridge in Indiana in 1975. He was again arrested, this time in Bloomington, Indiana for carrying a concealed weapon, alcohol consumption, and curfew violation. At the time of Dennis’ death, the charges against him were still pending.
According to his sister, April, she had gone to visit Dennis at the home on Ramsey Ridge on Christmas Eve. April said Dennis was sitting on the couch, playing his guitar. He also showed her a new rug he had purchased for the home. According to her, he seemed his usual self and the home was clean. April offered him some money, however Dennis refused claiming he had enough to get by.
Lucy Lively, an aunt of Dennis’ who lived “within hollering distance,” claimed she entered the home on February 1st to turn off a lamp that had been left burning. While she did not see Dennis, she claimed the home's interior was in normal order. Joe McArthur, Dennis’ paternal grandfather who also lived nearby, said it was not unusual for Dennis to disappear for long periods, so he thought nothing of the youths' absence as of late.
When Walter, Dennis’ father, was informed of his son's death, he informed police that Dennis, along with two male friends, had come to visit him in Georgia in mid December. He gave a description of the two teens and told police they had been introduced to him as “John Boy'' and “Blonde John.”
Police were able to track down “Blonde John” who was identified as 18-year-old John Fonk of Bloomington, Indiana. John told investigators that he and Dennis had driven to Florida together in October, not December, as Walter had stated. John explained they had stopped by Walter’s home in Georgia on their way back home. He was confident in the date as he had joined the Air Force in December. He also explained that “John Boy” had been a hitchhiker they had picked up along the way. According to John, “John Boy” rode back to Indiana with the pair, but he had not seen him, or Dennis since. He described him as being in his mid 20’s. After learning of the discrepancy in Walter’s story, police again tried to contact him, however phone calls and letters went unanswered. Unfortunately, they were never able to identify “John Boy.”
Further questioning of social services showed that Pearl had filled several grocery orders provided by state services, however the orders ceased when she had been again hospitalized. Eventually the Lawrence County Welfare Office had taken control and promised to look in on Dennis, however they could provide no evidence they had followed up on the case. They suggested that Dennis, overwhelmed with his impoverished lifestyle, had simply starved himself to the point of being comatose, before succumbing to the harsh cold of winter. They were quoted as saying “We were aware of him of course, but he never came to us. We don’t go looking for people if they don’t come to us for help. Now if he had, we would have done something.”
The local sheriff as well as members of Dennis’ family were unsatisfied with Dennis’ listed cause of death and continued to pursue the investigation for several months. Unfortunately due to a lack of funds, more elaborate tests that may have presented some clue as to how Dennis died could not be conducted. Sheriff Robbins was quoted as saying, “This is a very disturbing mystery, because even if someone confessed to killing him, I doubt we would have the evidence to prove it. But it sure is hard to believe he could kill himself like that, by just laying down and dying. We aren’t closing the case, it will remain open. But until we have something more to go on, there’s not much more we can do at this point.”
Dennis was laid to rest at Heltonville’s Gilgal Cemetery. Few attended the modest closed casket funeral and subsequent burial. One journalist gave a last description of Dennis’ final resting place,
“The dogwood trees are in full bloom on the hillsides of Gilgal Cemetery, and though Dennis’ body now rests peacefully beneath a carpet of fallen petals, his soul will surely never rest until the reasons behind his death are discovered.”
Pearl, Dennis’ mother, passed away in 2000 at the age of 67. Walter, Dennis’ father, died in 1988. His sister, April, passed away suddenly in 2006 at the age of 53. Dennis also had an older brother, Gordon, who passed away in 1994 at the age of 42.
Gerry Lee
On the evening of May 28, 1978, police were again summoned to the little green house on Ramsey Ridge. The home was now occupied by 27-year-old Gerry Lee, a divorced self employed carpenter, and his roommate, 25-year-old Michael Davis. When police arrived, Michael informed them that Gerry had committed suicide.
Gerry was found hanging from a maple tree located 20 feet from the home's front porch. The rope had been tied off to a branch approximately 10 feet above the ground and fashioned into a noose. His feet were found to be touching the ground, and his knees were bent. Blood was discovered on Gerry’s hands and pants, despite having suffered no visible wounds. An autopsy would reveal that Gerry had died of asphyxiation as a result of a fracture to his cricoid cartilage located at the base of his larynx. The coroner stated this was not an injury normally associated with suicidal hangings, but instead blunt force trauma to the throat. Inside, more blood was found on a television set, the phone, and on the kitchen floor. A window on the home's back door had been broken from the outside, leaving shards of glass lying on the kitchen floor.
When questioned, Michael gave an explanation for the unusual findings. He claimed that he, Gerry, and two other friends, Mike Oakly and Roberta Chandler, had spent the day in nearby Bedford before the foursome returned to the home on Ramsey Ridge. There, Michael told police that he and Gerry got into a “friendly scuffle” that resulted in Michael falling into the window in the kitchen. He suffered a deep laceration to his forehead that left him bleeding profusely.
According to Michael, Roberta and Mike accompanied him to seek medical treatment in Bedford, while Gerry stayed behind at home. Michael returned home alone from the hospital, having left Roberta and Mike in town. It was then he discovered Gerry’s body and summoned police. He added that that evening Gerry had threatened to shoot himself multiple times with one of the loaded guns kept in the home.
When Roberta and Mike were taken in for questioning, they gave similar accounts of the night's events. Both were released. Aside from having a visible wound, medical staff confirmed Michael had been to the hospital that evening, having sought treatment for a laceration to his forehead.
Still, both the prosecutor and the county coroner stated they were not entirely satisfied with a verdict of suicide. The coroner stated “Some things have not fallen into place like they should with a suicide case. Although it looks as though it could be a suicide, there are so many angles that do not fit in with the suicide verdict.” The prosecutor agreed, “I’m not satisfied with how the investigation was handled,” he said, “and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Several months later, Gerry’s case was brought before a grand jury who ultimately returned a verdict of “probable suicide.”
Gerry was laid to rest in Bedford’s Breckenridge Cemetery. Despite his death being declared a suicide, many locals, including Gerry’s friends and neighbors, continued to believe that something more sinister may have happened that evening, and the suicide was in fact staged. The community’s more superstitious elders shared a similar belief, however adding that a “strange ethereal force” inhabited the room where Gerry once slept, and where two years prior the body of Dennis had been discovered.
Whatever your opinion may be, it seems for some the books will never fully be closed on “The Mysteries of Skin Ridge.”
Sources
Newspaper Clippings, Death Certificates, Photos- https://imgur.com/a/4kQ3rEl
Find a Grave Dennis- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63100083/dennis-scott-mcarthur
Find a Grave Pearl- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/254365281/pearl-m-mcarthur?createdMemorial=Yes
Find a Grave Walter- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80652726/walter-rufus-mcarthur
Find a Grave Gerry- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47074796/gerry-wayne-lee
National Library of Medicine- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22442828/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20neck%20structures%20fractures%20were,the%20cricoid%20cartilage%20of%2020.6%25.

TW - Suicide, pet loss.
I (24f) have an older sister (27f). When I was 21 I bought my own condo to live in with my cat. It was a 2 bedroom condo and I used the other room as a study/cat room.
My sister and I have never really been close through no fault of either one of us (in my opinion). But she fell on hard times and needed a place to stay so I offered up my second bedroom to her. I hadn’t seen her in about 6 months at that time, and it became clear very quickly that she had either a drug or mental health problem but I suspect both. I tried my best to help her by gently giving her mental health resources and helping her with the job search. She was very receptive to both, and things seemed nice. I introduced her to my friends, and through them she made some friends of her own. I felt like we were building a relationship that we had never had before, things were looking way up.
All this time I did not charge her rent or groceries, I just asked her to help out around the house. Nothing too major, just to clean up after herself and if she noticed something needed to be done (dishwasher emptied/loaded, laundry switched over, etc) to do them or to at the very least let me know about them so I can do them. I had no problem carrying the financials because I had a nice job and could do so. She helped out a ton in other ways and made friends with my cat who was my baby. He was attached to her and so I didn’t mind that he slept in her room and stuff. In fact he had helped me through so many tough times and I was grateful he was doing the same for her.
So everything was nice until it wasn’t. Long story short I came home one evening to my cat dead and her having taken a bunch of different prescription pills. She had left a note stating that the world was hopeless and she was done living and couldn’t bare to leave my baby without her. I called 911. I made sure she got the help she needed, and then I stopped speaking to her.
To this day (it’s been about a year) I still pay for her place in a psychiatric facility, I do help her make medical decisions (we speak through a third party about certain care decisions), but outside of that I will not speak to her. She has tried to bridge the gap but I’m not ready. I am so angry that she decided to take my sweet boys life, and I’m sad that she felt like she couldn’t tell me. Some of our mutual friends tell me it’s rude and that I’m an ah for not speaking to her personally, and making this about myself, but I can’t do it yet. So, AITA?

After your first playthrough, how did you play your game? What was your headcanon?
Mine was something like this--- Harry had vague memory of the Pale in the Church and that's what brought him back to the area. Regardless of whether or not he actually managed to zapp himself, he decided the night before he was done being "this kind of animal." and his psyche, already fragmented and talking to him, aided this in repressing his memories.
Through the course of a couple nights he first ends up taking a nighttime walk and making the fateful call. (Kim is already in bed, thank God) Shortly after, he opens his clipboard and lets go of the letter, following the White Mourning path.
Discovers the church and has his experience with the spirit of Revachol and Dolores.
After his talk with Crabman, his psyche begins to solidify into the "new" Harry. Who is still a tremendous fxxk up, but he is aware of it sn actively attempting to be better. He apologizes to Slyvie, helps Cuno with his dad situation, decides on "Something beautiful is going to happen" for his mural.
Helped basically discover the drug running plot from Ruby. She survives confrontation. Beautiful necktie does not survive the encounter. - Kim is not shot. "The good outcome" here.
----here's where it becomes "headcanon"----
After the phasmid and inital interview with the Commie, he sleeps. Has his dream, goes the way it does in the game.
Harry was too focused on the case and his weird inner turmoil to do drugs or drink. Phasmid proof- boring moralist. Kim comes to our presinct. After bonding with Cuno, Harry asks for them to go back for Cuno; which they oblige to do the next day.
They give Lena the photo (After a photocopy has been made) and take Harry home.
Harry has 1 more dream. The same repeating dream of her leaving him.
But in this one, Jean and Kim are standing beside him, just out of site. And rather than the pitiful goodbye it normally was, Harry stands up for himself, finally beginning to move on with the help of his partners.
What headcanon did you have for your playthrough?