If lions were discovered weaving antelope-catching nets ten lion-lengths wide, it would be headline news. Yet spiders weave intricate insect-catching nets hugely bigger than themselves, and we treat it as commonplace. What’s the difference?
Nineteenth-century depictions of the nisse show a child-sized, bearded man in a pointy red cap, the traditional garb for farmhands. Yet earlier portrayals were much more monstrous. In an illustration from Olaus Magnus’s 1555 book, A Description of the Northern Peoples, a demonic-looking creature sweeps a barn. Tangherlini notes this may be one of the earliest known illustrations of a nisse.
A family that wanted to stay on their nisse’s good side could offer him a tasty present. On Christmas Eve, before the harsh winter had truly set in, farmers left a bowl of porridge in the barn. Everyday porridge was made by boiling barley, rye, or oats in water. But the nisse received something special: a luxurious, sweet porridge of rice boiled in milk and topped with butter.
Woe to the person who forgot the nisse’s butter. In one story, a milkmaid decides to play a trick on her farm’s nisse, hiding the butter beneath the porridge. Seeing his offering ungarnished, the nisse flies into a rage and kills the family’s cow. When he finishes his meal and realizes his mistake, he “solves” the problem by stealing a neighbor’s cow and delivering it to his family’s farm.
People keep saying that Trump is only fighting to keep the money coming in, which most likely started out true, but as with everything else, Trump keeps losing the script and thinking that it really is about overthrowing Democracy and installing himself dictator:
?NEW: Trump called Pennsylvania’s Speaker of the House *twice* to seek his help reversing his election loss.
Trump is abusing the courts, pressuring public officials and using incendiary rhetoric to undermine democracy and subvert the will of the people.https://t.co/HKJLDGStQ0
And his band of sycophants line right up behind him:
Asked if Trump should concede once electors vote on Dec. 14, Jim Jordan said: “No. No way, no way, no way.”
“We should still try to figure out exactly what took place here.” Conservative Rs press for floor fight, tho it stands little chance of succeeding https://t.co/fAgbMqM1Hr
The first person (well, outside of trials l suppose) has been vaccinated against Covid-19. She is a 90 year old grandmother in the UK:
Margaret Keenan received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at about 6.45am at her local hospital in Coventry.
Originally from Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, she has lived in Coventry for more than 60 years. She will receive a booster jab in 21 days to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the virus.
Ms Keenan, who turns 91 next week, is a former jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago.
And after asking himself to vaccine or not to vaccine, that is the question, the 2nd person stepped unto the breach:
Trump Administration only ordered enough vaccine to vaccinate just 50 million Americans. Declined to order more last summer and now Pfizer is back ordered until June. I’m so angry at this murderer I can’t say most of what I feel about this. https://t.co/aWtjt6StrS
Coronavirus is causing more than eight times the number of deaths from flu or pneumonia, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics.
In the week to 20 November the ONS said there were 2,697 deaths where Covid-19 was listed on the death certificate and 2,361 deaths where the virus was considered the main cause of death.
This compares to just 280 deaths with flu or pneumonia listed as the cause of death in the same week. There were 2,605 deaths which involved flu of pneumonia.
Across England and Wales, there were 20 per cent more deaths in the seven days to 20 November than the five-year average, with a total of 12,535 deaths reported.
A quick overview of how the Covid-19 vaccine works:
Here I describe a brief overview of how the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines work. Taking a vaccine is one’s personal choice, and I hope this video can help someone make that decision rooted in science. pic.twitter.com/ZjFH0DH5ca
Mrs. C’s birthday was yesterday. We celebrated it alone because we’re not fucking idiots who think that gatherings are a good idea during a pandemic. Yes, it sucks not being able to spend time with loved ones, or even go out to a restaurant for a change of scenery, or to a museum, but those aren’t acceptable risks to us at this time.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t do other things. Like work on our baking skills. I made these for her:
I used a bit of a few different recipes but the bulk of it came from this video from the Preppy Kitchen:
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lead “attorney” for his coup attempt, unwitting star of Borat who runs his microphone cord under his nutsack, giver of press conferences at local luxury garden shops, public microphone farter, and dripper of hair dyes despite being 80% bald (what a couple of months this guy has had!) has finally tested positive with Covid-19 and become a one man superspreading event. I’m really shocked it has taken him this long to catch it. He is currently hospitalized:
76-yr-old cancer survivor #RudyGiuliani has been hospitalized w #COVID19 days after his son and staff aides tested positive. Rarely seen wearing a mask, Giuliani has traveled widely thru several states in recent days, trying to prove election fraud.https://t.co/zACSmeP0AD
And allegedly, Giuliani has been feeling ill for the past few days but it didn’t stop him from interacting with everyone he could.
Arizona Capitol Times: The Arizona Legislature will be closed all next week after at least 15 current or future Republican legislators may have been directly exposed to COVID-19 by meeting with Rudy Giuliani. https://t.co/z3yKzxl8T2
The coronavirus surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States this week, as many of the nation’s hospitals are overwhelmed and officials implement new COVID-19 restrictions.
The GOP has been mocking people for being worried about Covid now for months. And the GOP in Minnesota is now pushing people out of the way so they can be first in line for a vaccine.
In Michigan, it’s perfectly acceptable to people with weapons to intimidate you outside your home:
Armed protesters alleging voter fraud surrounded the home of Michigan’s secretary of state https://t.co/YhzuqxVteX