Welcome to the Overnight News Digest (OND) for Tuesday, June 07, 2011.
OND is a regular
community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Creation and early water-bearing of the OND concept came from our very own Magnifico - proper respect is due.
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This diary is named for its "Hump Point" video: Pets by Porno For Pyros
Please feel free to browse and add your own links, content or thoughts in the Comments section.
Any timestamps shown are relative to each publication.
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Top News |
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Blair Mountain: A new milestone in the climate justice movement?
By Tim DeChristopher
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In 1921, Blair Mountain, W. Va., was the site of a major milestone in the history of the labor movement when 15,000 union miners took a stand against the coal industry. This week, Blair Mountain may end up being a new milestone in the movement to abolish mountaintop-removal coal mining and perhaps the larger climate justice movement. Hundreds of activists are recreating the miners' historic march from Marmet to Blair Mountain to try to protect the controversial historic site from being blown up for the thin seam of coal underneath.
This week's March on Blair Mountain may be a turning point in its own right, by helping to dispel the mythical clash between jobs and the environment that exploitative corporations have been promoting for decades. The demands of the march include sustainable job creation in Appalachia and stronger labor rights. While the decision to reach out to rank and file union miners for this week's march may have made some anti-MTR groups uncomfortable, it can help unify the focus on the real villains who have impoverished West Virginians for 150 years: the coal industry.
As the coal industry drastically cuts its workforce in the shift towards heavily mechanized mountaintop removal, it tries to lay the blame for those job cuts on the people fighting to protect their mountains. This is nothing new. When the mechanization of the timber industry in the Northwest allowed companies to lay off workers while increasing destruction of the forests, the blame fell squarely on those who wanted to protect the spotted owl. But the history of West Virginia demonstrates that exploiting the environment and exploiting workers usually goes hand in hand. After 150 years of making coal executives rich, West Virginia still ranks almost dead last in per capita income, education, and life expectancy.
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We are often taught to consider the consequences of our actions, but rarely reminded to weigh the consequences of inaction. In this case, the consequences of inaction are the obliteration of a historic landmark, the continued poisoning of water and air, the destruction of communities, and more deaths from coal. Those marching on Blair Mountain this week know that their action is risky, but they understand that the consequences of inaction are far greater. If the rest of the movement learns from their example, we will look back on this week as a big step forward in the struggle for a healthy and just world.
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Universal Flu Vaccine Clinical Trials Show Promise
By (ScienceDaily)
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A universal influenza vaccine targeting a protein common to all strains of influenza A has safely produced an immune response in humans. If proven effective, the vaccine could eliminate the practice of creating a new flu vaccine annually to match predicted strains, with major implications for global health.
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Unlike traditional flu vaccines, which target antigens that change continuously, the prototype VAX102 represents a vaccine that would not require annual updates, an important barrier to influenza prevention throughout the world. The technology used to produce the candidate vaccine would eliminate many of the limitations of current influenza vaccines, including inefficiencies related to manufacturing -- such as limited production capability and the inability to change the target antigen should the vaccine not match the circulating strains.
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Pending results of future trials, VAX102 could be used as a stand-alone vaccine to prevent influenza A infection. Other possible strategies include use in conjunction with vaccines that target traditional influenza antigens, as a part of an approach to increase efficacy when infection occurs with mismatched strains.
VAX102 efficacy would have major global health implications, as worldwide annual influenza vaccination is not currently available due to limitations of licensed vaccines and international immunization infrastructure.
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GM's CEO Praises Obama, Calls on Gov't to Pump Up Gas, Income Taxes
By Jason Mick
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It was almost two years ago this month that General Motors Comp. (GM) became the largest bankruptcy in U.S history and the largest nationalization. Taxpayer money was spent restructuring the company, removing unprofitable segments.
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The current CEO, Dan Akerson recently sounded off in an interview with The Detroit News, portions of which will likely offend some readers.
Most notably Mr. Akerson called for a massive gas tax hike in the U.S. commenting, "You know what I'd rather have them do — this will make my Republican friends puke — as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas. People will start buying more Cruzes and they will start buying less Suburbans."
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Aside from gas taxes to incentivize buying fuel-efficient vehicles, Mr. Akerson also called for more taxes in general, stating, "Now, we need practical decisions. I think you need to cut the hell out of the budget and you've got to increase taxes … on everybody — including the middle class and the rich people."
He added that the U.S. government must increase the debt ceiling from $14.3T USD, a change that Congress has until Aug. 2 to think over. He states, "We're too good a nation to let ourselves be a banana republic" and calls the possibility of a government default "unimaginable."
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East Africa faces 'world's worst food security crisis'
By (BBC)
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The world's worst food security crisis is continuing in the eastern Horn of Africa, a US agency has warned.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet) said areas of particular concern were in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
It said large-scale emergency assistance was urgently needed "to save lives and treat acute malnutrition" in the region.
It also stressed that the current humanitarian response was "inadequate".
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Gaddafi vows to fight to end amid NATO raids
By (Al Jazeera)
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Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has vowed to fight to the end in a speech broadcast live on state television, amid one of the fiercest NATO air strikes on Tripoli.
"We only have one choice: we will stay in our land dead or alive," he said in the audio address on Tuesday, calling on his supporters to flock to his Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital.
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"We are stronger than your missiles, stronger than your planes and the voice of the Libyan people is louder than explosions," he said.
Gaddafi said he was ready to unleash between 250,000 to 500,000 armed Libyans to swarm across the country to cleanse it from "armed gangs", a reference to the rebels controlling parts of the North African country.
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International |
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Iraq's Chalabi, who sought invasion, now wants U.S. out
By Laith Hammoudi
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Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi politician who played a key role in persuading the administration of President George W. Bush to invade Iraq and overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, said Tuesday that it's time for U.S. forces to go home.
"Are Iraqis ready to carry the responsibility for their country?" he asked rhetorically during a panel discussion held with political supporters at his family compound in Baghdad. "Is Iraq ready to be its own master?"
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To date, only the followers of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr had come out publicly opposed to extending the American stay, with most Iraqi politicians remaining mum on the topic. Whether Chalibi's formal opposition will matter is unclear. Although he's a member of Iraq's parliament from the largest political bloc, he doesn't lead that bloc.
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Ominous signs for Afghanistan's north
By (BBC)
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The north was once the most peaceful part of Afghanistan. But as Nato prepares to transfer control of parts of the country to Afghan forces in July, riots, suicide bombings and high-profile killings point to an ominous decline in security. The BBC's Bilal Sarwary reports.
Last week the memorial service for one of the Taliban's most determined opponents in northern Afghanistan took place in Farkhar, home to pistachio forests and a serene valley with a shallow river flowing through.
Gen Daud Daud had been killed in a Taliban bomb attack. He was the police commander for Takhar province and a key player in Nato's plan for handing over security to local forces.
It was a solemn scene and the grief was palpable. Hundreds of mourners from all walks of life gathered there because Gen Daud was a charismatic leader who understood the contradictions of this country.
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China ends wind power subsidies after US challenge
By (BBC)
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China has agreed to halt subsidies to wind power manufacturers that violate World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, according to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
The move comes after the the United Steelworkers Union filed a complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The Chinese currently subsidise wind-power firms that use domestic parts instead of imports.
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The struggle for succession in Yemen
By (Inter Press Service)
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Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia leaves something of a power vacuum in the country, which has been ruled by one man for decades.
Tareq al-Shami, a senior member of the ruling General People's Congress, said on Sunday that Saleh would return from Saudi Arabia "within days". But a number of political actors will surely vie for power in Saleh's absence - and after his potential return.
Tens of thousands of people remain on the streets of Sana'a and other cities, the same men and women who have spent months demonstrating - often braving tear gas, snipers and armed thugs. They have pledged to remain, with leaders of the movement describing Saleh's departure as a first step and promising to push for further democratic reforms.
But complicating that goal is the handful of political players who see Saleh's absence as a chance to seize more power.
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USA Politics, Economy, Major Events |
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Timothy Geithner tells banks to accept new rules
By (BBC)
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US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told US banks to accept new financial regulations instead of asking Congress to weaken them.
He criticised banking executives who are supporting Republican attempts stop the new laws being implemented.
He argued that big US banks should support the rules because it would be their foreign competitors who would benefit from any new loopholes.
Mr Geithner also criticised the UK's old "soft-touch" system of regulation.
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US growth will strengthen this year, says Bernanke
By (BBC)
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The Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says the US economic recovery will rebound in the coming months.
Speaking to a banking conference in Atlanta, he acknowledged that growth had been slower than expected this year but said momentum would build in the second half of the year.
He did not suggest the central bank was planning any further monetary easing.
The latest economic news from the US showed employment growth slowed sharply in May.
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As GM Hires, Michigan City's Outlook Brightens
By Sarah Hulett
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Hamtramck, Mich., has seen its fortunes rise and fall with the auto industry. In recent years, they've been falling. But now there's reason for some optimism. General Motors says it will add 2,500 jobs at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, and bring production of the next-generation Chevy Impala to the facility.
The plant, which straddles the border dividing the two cities, has not exactly been humming with activity in recent years. Sluggish demand for the cars it produced had the plant running one shift, four days a week.
But Mark Reuss, GM's North American president, recently told workers that's about to change.
"We're going to add a second shift, and then a third shift at some point after that. Three shifts," Reuss said as workers cheered.
The line at Detroit-Hamtramck has never run more than two daily shifts in its 26-year history. But company officials say they're confident that demand for the vehicles the plant now produces — the hybrid-electric Chevy Volt, the Malibu and later the Impala — will be strong enough to triple its workforce and run production around the clock.
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Welcome to the "Hump Point" of this OND.
News can be sobering and engrossing - at this point in the diary, an offering of brief escapism:
Random notes related to this video:
. . .
Following the demise of the critically and commercially successful Jane's Addiction, frontman Perry Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins formed Porno for Pyros after acquiring guitarist Peter DiStefano and bass player Martyn LeNoble. Farrell named the band after viewing an ad for fireworks in a pornographic magazine. The name has also been connected through song lyrics to the LA riots which occurred in the band's hometown around the time of Porno for Pyros inception. . . The video for the album's first single, "Pets," received heavy airplay on MTV. Following the album's release, Porno for Pyros continued a heavy touring schedule, including an appearance at Woodstock 94 and licensed the song "Pets" to the Chevy's Fresh Mex restaurant chain changing the chorus of the song to "We'll make fresh mex, we'll make fresh mex". . .
Back to what's happening:
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Environment and Greening |
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Italy to hold referendum on nuclear power
By (UPI)
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In a victory for anti-nuclear campaigners, Italy's Constitutional Court has cleared the way for a national referendum on the re-introduction of nuclear power.
The referendum, set for June 12-13, is expected to be a major test for Premier Silvio Berlusconi and his ruling coalition, which suffered a defeat in local elections last week.
Reviving nuclear power and reducing the country's dependence on foreign energy had been a key plank in the government's policy platform, ANSA reported Tuesday.
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GE Combines Natural Gas, Wind, and Solar
By Kevin Bullis
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GE has announced the first power plant to integrate wind and solar power with natural gas—a 530-megawatt plant that will start operating in Turkey in 2015. The power plant is made practical by a flexible, high-efficiency natural-gas system the company announced two weeks ago and a solar thermal power system created by eSolar, a Burbank, California-based startup that GE recently invested in.
Such hybrid plants may become the dominant type of new power plant in some parts of the world, GE says. The new technology is aimed at countries that use 50 hertz electricity (the United States uses 60 hertz). In particular, it could make it easier for China and the European Union to meet their renewable energy targets.
Adding solar power to natural gas plants isn't a new idea, but it hasn't been economical without government subsidies. GE says that because of its new turbines and related equipment, these hybrid plants can, for utilities with the right combination of sunlight and natural gas prices, be competitive even without government support.
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Climate change buildings may hurt health
By (UPI)
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Environmental Protection Agency should ensure building weatherization and energy-efficiency do not create health problems, a report says.
The report by the Institute of Medicine says efforts to address climate change by installing energy-efficiency retrofits should not create new indoor problems or exacerbate existing ones, such as mold-causing dampness, secondhand smoke and chemical emissions from building materials.
Indoor dampness, poor ventilation, excessive temperatures and emissions from building materials can contribute to health problems, the report says.
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Science and Health |
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Health Care Providers Need Training to Recognize Signs of Domestic Violence, Says Nursing Expert
By (ScienceDaily)
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Despite billions of dollars spent on health care each year, the United States ranks 27th out of 33 developed countries for life expectancy at birth. Leading causes of infant mortality are complications related to pre-term birth or low birth weight-outcomes that have been linked with domestic violence. A University of Missouri researcher says a key factor in addressing this issue is preventing violence against mothers and children.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released "Healthy People 2020," a 10-year plan for improving the health of Americans. Tina Bloom, an assistant professor in the Sinclair School of Nursing, says the 2020 objectives provide support for those who work to prevent domestic violence, but more training is needed for health care providers to recognize the signs of abuse and connect victims with appropriate resources in their communities.
"Health care providers are not well trained to routinely screen or recognize the signs of domestic violence," Bloom said. "They don't know how to ask about abuse, what to say or how to connect abused women with help. We need to engage with current students, our future health care providers, to bring this issue to the forefront."
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Bursitis a Common Cause of Painful Hips, Knees, Heels and Elbows: Most Conditions Can Be Managed With Simple, Nonsurgical Techniques
By (ScienceDaily)
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As warm weather arrives and the great outdoors beckons, more and more men and women will be taking to the trails, the beaches, or their yards and gardens, embarking on physical activities that may result in sore, aching, swollen joints. While it may be tempting to ignore these aches and pains or treat them with a little over-the-counter liniment, a wiser choice is to visit a physician who can determine if the symptoms are due to bursitis, inflammation of the fluid-filled bursae, or sacs, that surround and cushion the joints.
Bursitis occurs when the bursae become irritated or infected, often causing pain on movement. When infection is involved, medical intervention is necessary to fight the underlying infection and prevent it from spreading; when infection is not involved, prompt medical attention can prevent the condition from becoming worse over time.
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"Bursitis is a common cause of musculoskeletal pain and often prompts orthopaedic consultation," said study author Daniel Aaron, MD, a clinical instructor in the department of orthopaedics at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "One of the challenges facing clinicians is to differentiate bursitis from conditions with similar symptoms, including arthritis, tendinitis, fracture, tendon or ligament injury and tumor. Additionally, bursitis arises from infectious and noninfectious causes, and distinguishing between the two can be challenging.
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Drug firms cut vaccine prices to the developing world
By (BBC)
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Several major drugs companies have announced big cuts to the amounts they charge for their vaccines in the developing world.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi-Aventis have agreed to cut prices through the international vaccine alliance Gavi.
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Rotavirus-related diarrhoea kills more than 500,000 children a year.
The vaccine will be subsidised by higher prices being charged in richer countries.
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Technology |
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Soon Your Cut Will Tell You When It’s Infected
By Kelly Hodgkins
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A Ph.D. student from Melbourne, Australia has created the ultimate minor medical tool for moms. It's a bandage that monitors the health of a cut and lets you know when it's infected.
The bandage is the brainchild of Louise van der Werff, a Ph.D. student at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She developed a temperature sensitive fabric that can be weaved into a band-aid or a roll of medical dressing. When you wrap a wound, the dressing will change colors when an infected wound gets warm. Forget poking and prodding for pus, all you have to do is wait for a color change.
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Enormously moving speech on the way the Internet transforms lives
By Cory Doctorow
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I'm at the Personal Democracy Forum at NYU today, and the morning plenary has been a series of fascinating short talks. But one talk, by Jim Gilliam's "The Internet is My Religion," brought the house down. Jim worked in many early and influential Internet firms, went on to produce Robert Greenwald's extraordinary films, and do many other notable things. Among them was surviving two bouts of cancer and a double-lung transplant. The story of how he went from a Jerry Falwell born-again to an Internet advocate and film producer ended with a standing ovation and not a dry eye in the house. . . |
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Cultural |
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Einstein show cancelled after Confucius merge move
By (BBC)
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The Historical Museum of Bern, Switzerland, has cancelled plans to put on an exhibition about the scientist Albert Einstein in Shanghai, China.
Shanghai's Science and Technology Museum had suggested merging the Einstein show with a display about the Chinese philosopher, Confucius.
A Hong Kong newspaper said Beijing had earlier asked for all references to World War I to be removed.
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Shanghai is where Einstein is said to have officially learned that he won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics.
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Your sex scandal questions answered
By Hadley Freeman
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To quote those wise sages of human behaviour, Salt'n'Pepa, let's talk about sex. That is no random reference for it does seem that a certain gospel from Sage Salt and Prophet Pepa has been doing the rounds among high-profile men, judging from their kamikaze approach to pushing it, to quote the holy text, into the most poorly chosen of places.
Oh, for the days when a sex scandal meant a handsome young president discreetly smuggling a Hollywood actress into the White House. Somewhere in the interim, sex scandals stopped being vaguely sexy and are now more akin to an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show. Back in ye olden days pre 26 May, the unfortunately named congressman Anthony Weiner was best known for his admirable rant last summer against Republicans who voted against providing health care for the 9/11 recovery workers who have suffered health problems since. Post 26 May, any past professional achievements have been obliterated for he will always be known as yet another example of nominative determinism.
Late last month a photo of what I shall coyly describe as a physical expression of male excitement was sent from his Twitter account to a 21-year-old woman. Weiner then put the passion he once used to defend 9/11 workers into denying that he sent a photo of tented underwear, but was decidedly less clear whether the photo is of him, suggesting that either he takes photos of the Weiner wiener and keeps them on his computer, or two, he cannot recognise his own body. This is what is known as a lose/lose situation.
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If I were sex, I'd look for a better PR because, frankly, whoever is looking after its image has not been doing a very good job recently. Sex is being flaunted by a very non-aspirational demographic, and now sex is suffering from brand fatigue; it is the Gap of procreational pastimes.
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