How rich musicians billed American taxpayers for luxury hotels, shopping sprees, and million-dollar bonuses

https://www.businessinsider.com/lil-wayne-chris-brown-covid-relief-funds-svog-grant-2024-12

The money came from a program called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. Signed into law by Trump in 2020 and championed by lawmakers including Sen. Chuck Schumer, it was established as a lifeline for struggling independent venues and arts groups during the pandemic.

But pop stars used the program as a piggy bank to keep the party going, reporting by Business Insider shows. [...]

In a statement, the SBA said it followed the law. But the law directed the SBA to examine revenue, not assets. Musicians with huge bank accounts and multiple mansions were still eligible for the awards as long as their loan-out company's revenue had declined.

Kristen Faulkner on mental health

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjhjF1luwo2/

World Mental Health Day 🌍 👏 is important to me because I have struggled with depression & bipolar since I was a kid. I used to blame people for misjudging me, even though I was scared to let anyone know what was going on. The only thing worse than suffering is suffering alone. I finally accepted help 4 years ago, and I am sharing my story because I don’t want anyone to suffer alone. To seek help is to treat ourselves the way we want others to treat us: with love, support, and compassion.

While I would not wish depression upon anyone, I want to celebrate what it has taught me:

1. Compassion towards myself and others. I learned to never judge, because there is so much behind-the-scenes in people’s lives we don’t know about. In being judged, I learned to never judge. Just because we cannot see someone’s suffering does not mean it is not there.

2. Vulnerability. I can be a “strong independent woman” and ask for help. Authenticity is more fulfilling than perfection. The more comfortable I became with my depression, the more comfortable I became with my quirks and my goofiness. It’s different sides of the same coin of self-acceptance.

3. Standing up for myself. It is my responsibility to communicate if I want others understand me. But, I cannot blame myself if they cannot or do not want to understand me.

4. Self-awareness and self-care. I learned to listen to my body and give myself what I need for mental stability. I learned to be curious about myself, rather than convincing myself that I am or should be a certain way.

5. Gratitude. When we’ve suffered through difficult times, we appreciate the good times that much more. I am grateful for the support network I’ve built, the health resources I have access to, and all the times I get to smile.

6. Unconditional Love from those who hold & carry us through our difficult times and are there when we need them. In receiving unconditional love from others, I learned how to give it. We can all do that for someone else.

7. Bravery. Mental illness forced me to develop courage and resilience, and those skills have helped me go after the things I want in life. Dealing with mental illness is incredibly scary. Way scarier that leaving my job and moving to Europe to be a professional cyclist. Mental illness forced me to develop courage, and that courage has helped me go after the things I want in life.

By taking care of our mental health, we can turn our struggles into growth. There is strength in seeking help. There is also so much joy on the other side. Happy World 🌏 Mental Health Day Everyone ❤️

🍫 TABLEAU FINAL DES PRESQUE-MÉDAILLES 🏅

https://x.com/FFLose/status/1822698497755304270

(translation) 🍫 FINAL TABLE OF ALMOST MEDALS 🏅 

I’m a Polio Survivor. I Don’t Want You to Get It.

https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/as-a-polio-survivor-i-dont-want-you-to-get-it/

What is the most effective way to get a family to vaccinate their child? Explain to them in person the nuances and oddities of polio. Many families do not realize polio affects every body system, not just lungs or a paralyzed leg. Families do not realize the day to day reality of disability or the logistics and planning involved to keep functioning in a world not made for disabilities.

Misinformation is why a 20 year old was diagnosed with polio in 2022. Misinformation is why hundreds of thousands unnecessarily died of covid instead of being vaccinated. Misinformation will continue to disable and kill people as long as it remains unchecked. 

When celebrities advocate against vaccines, physicians retweet for attention, and pastors hold church during the height of a pandemic, a human life may pay the price. Polio, along with other vaccine-preventable diseases, will remain prevalent and history may repeat itself.

Asleep at the Wheel in the Headlight Brightness Wars

https://www.theringer.com/2024/12/03/tech/headlight-brightness-cars-accidents

The crusade against bright headlights has picked up speed in recent years, in large part due to a couple of Reddit nerds. Could they know what’s best for the auto industry better than the auto industry itself?

 

u/CdrCosmonaut on challenges finding community

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1glkm5y/what_is_going_on_with_masculinity/

It's basically impossible to form meaningful relationships these days.

Everyone lost their "third space." There is work or school, and home. Not too many people go to clubs, or social events anymore. Why would you go out and be uncomfortable when you can be at home, on your couch, and use your phone?

It's cheaper, it's safer, it's easier to stop any interaction that you don't enjoy.

If anyone reading this hasn't tried online dating, go make a profile. Try to approach anyone. Especially as a male. Try to make a friend. Try to get a date.

Interactions are nearly worthless. People barely respond. Bare minimum in effort and time. One sided conversation is the most common conversation.

This all culminates in making each person more and more insular. Everyone is more isolated than ever before. Those ever important relationships are dwindling to nothing at an alarming rate.

Metro prepares to crack down on bus fare evasion

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/metro-prepares-to-crack-down-on-bus-fare-evasion/3775169/

A major fare enforcement campaign is about to ramp up on Metrobus. WMATA has been getting tough on fare evasion on the rails for some time now, but the transit agency says it's now turning its attention to its buses.

More than 70% of bus riders aren't paying the fares right now, Metro officials say.

WMATA General Manager Randy Clarke has a direct message to bus riders: Pay the fare.

"We've heard loud and clear from people. It's something that we are working on. So, starting the week after Thanksgiving, we are going to go after the bus system much more significantly," Clarke said.

Uniformed officers, plainclothes officers, video monitoring, special police and Metro Transit police will all be used in this effort.

Clarke says most of this enforcement will happen without the bus operator getting involved, protecting them from confrontation.

A space station fell to Earth. An Australian boy brought it to San Francisco

https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/the-skylab-race-to-san-francisco-18074888.php

After its launch in 1973, Skylab was a successful observatory and laboratory that saw three separate crews climb aboard to conduct experiments over 24 weeks. But by 1979, with the country’s interest in space already waning, diminished budgets and a delay in construction of a shuttle needed to refuel it, the only solely American-owned space station in history was left derelict, and would eventually fall back to Earth.

While the agency insisted that injuries were very unlikely, it did add that if citizens of any country heard that the space station was falling nearby, they should maybe hide out in the lowest floors of their homes.

Skylab was the size of a three-story house and was expected to break into about 500 pieces upon reentry anywhere in a wide band around the Earth that covered 90% of the population. In late June, NASA said that Skylab would hit around July 10 to 14, but that NASA would only have a two-hour period of notice to pinpoint where it would land after the space wreck pierced the atmosphere.