Source: Olive harvest in jeopardy as tensions rise at the West Bank – BBC News
Monthly Archives: October 2020
London bans different households from gathering as it tightens rules to tackle coronavirus spike | Euronews
Cases in London have been doubling every ten days, prompting the government to bring in new restrictions .
Coronavirus second wave: Which countries in Europe are experiencing a fresh spike in COVID-19 cases?
Excellent interactive map. Source: Coronavirus second wave: Which countries in Europe are experiencing a fresh spike in COVID-19 cases?
Trump administration blocks California wildfire relief – Los Angeles Times (Trump will not serve as President of all of the USA)
The Trump administration has rejected California’s request for disaster relief funds aimed at cleaning up the damage from six recent fires across the state, including Los Angeles County’s Bobcat fire, San Bernardino County’s El Dorado fire, and the Creek fire, one of the largest that continues to burn in Fresno and Madera counties.
The move could heighten tensions between California and the president over wildfires. California saw record fires this year, fueled by several factors including climate change. Trump has repeatedly criticized California for its handling of fire policy, sometimes with misleading claims, and had rejected the role of rising temperatures as a factor.
More than 4 million acres burned in 2020, more than double the state’s previous record. The fires this year have burned an area larger than the state of Connecticut and killed 31 people.
The decision came to light when the administration denied a request from Gov. Gavin Newsom for a major presidential disaster declaration, said Brian Ferguson, deputy director of crisis communication and media relations for the governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Source: Trump administration blocks California wildfire relief – Los Angeles Times
QAnon: a timeline of violence linked to the conspiracy theory | QAnon | The Guardian
In the past two years, kidnappings, car chases and a murder appear to have been fueled by belief in a fictional narrative
QAnon adherents believe that Donald Trump is trying to save the world from a cabal of satanic pedophiles. The conspiracy theory’s narrative includes centuries-old antisemitic tropes, like the belief that the cabal is harvesting blood from abused children, and it names specific people, including Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities, as participants in a global plot. Experts call these extreme, baseless claims “an incitement to violence”. Source: QAnon: a timeline of violence linked to the conspiracy theory | QAnon | The Guardian
How Native Americans’ right to vote has been systematically violated for generations | US news | The Guardian
The rights of indigenous communities – including the right to vote – have been systematically violated for generations with devastating consequences for access to clean air and water, health, education, economic opportunities, housing and sovereignty. Voter turnout for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives is the lowest in the country, and about one in three eligible voters (1.2 million people) are not registered to vote, according to the National Congress of American Indians. Source: How Native Americans’ right to vote has been systematically violated for generations | US news | The Guardian
Freedom for All Fridays and opportunity for all? — ShiraDest: The 4 Freedoms for ALL via Language & Adult Education, Writing, and PublicDomainInfrastructure

Well, opportunity if you were born in the upper working to middle classes, anyway… — Notice who had the BMW (Bike/Metro/Walk) vs. whose access to folks with wheels got those resource advantages moving, wittingly or unwittingly… I’ve been mulling over some conversations with a person, white, grew up with a housekeeper, left home at 16 […]
Freedom for All Fridays and opportunity for all? — ShiraDest: The 4 Freedoms for ALL via Language & Adult Education, Writing, and PublicDomainInfrastructure
Japan to release treated Fukushima water into the sea | News | DW | 16.10.2020 – (inconceivable – sadly not)
The idea to release the stored water has been met by strong disapproval from environmentalists. Farmers and fishermen have also come out against the idea, saying people will continue to reject eating seafood and produce from the region. They said it would undo years of work to repair the region’s reputation.
Fishery representatives visited Kajiyama on Thursday to express their displeasure for a potential release of the water.
South Korea, which bans seafood imports from the region, has also voiced its concern about the plan.
Read more: Japan’s nuclear mishap underlines industry malaise
Despite the opposition, a panel of experts advising the Japanese government on the matter recommended releasing the water.
Source: Japan to release treated Fukushima water into the sea | News | DW | 16.10.2020
Avian Flu Diary: WHO Solidarity Therapeutics Trial: Remdesivir, HCQ, Lopinar/Ritonavir & Interferon Disappoint
Interim results from the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, coordinated by the World Health Organization, indicate that remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients.
The study, which spans more than 30 countries, looked at the effects of these treatments on overall mortality, initiation of ventilation, and duration of hospital stay in hospitalized patients. Other uses of the drugs, for example in treatment of patients in the community or for prevention, would have to be examined using different trials. Source: Avian Flu Diary: WHO Solidarity Therapeutics Trial: Remdesivir, HCQ, Lopinar/Ritonavir & Interferon Disappoint
Most Home Health Aides ‘Can’t Afford Not to Work’ — Even When Lacking PPE | Kaiser Health News
RIP – Even after a colleague on the night shift developed pneumonia, Williams-Ward tended to her patients — without protective equipment, which she told her husband she’d repeatedly requested from the agency. Together We Can did not respond to multiple phone and email requests for comment about the PPE available to its workers.
Still, Davis said, “Sue did all the little, unseen, everyday things that allowed them to maintain their liberty, dignity and freedom.”
He said that within three days Williams-Ward was coughing, too. After six weeks in a hospital and weeks on a ventilator, she died of COVID-19. Hers is one of more than 1,200 health worker COVID deaths that KHN and The Guardian are investigating, including those of dozens of home health aides.
Many home health providers care for multiple patients, who also bear the consequences of their work conditions. “If you think about perfect vectors for transmission, unprotected individuals going from house to house have to rank at the top of list,” Kohn said. “Even if someone didn’t care at all about these workers, we need to fix this to keep Grandma and Grandpa safe.”
Nonetheless, caregivers like Samira, in Richmond, Virginia, have little choice but to work. Samira — who makes $8.25 an hour with one client and $9.44 an hour with another, and owes tens of thousands of dollars in hospital bills from previous work injuries — has no other option but to risk getting sick.
“I can’t afford not to work. And my clients, they don’t have anybody but me,” she said. “So I just pray every day I don’t get it.”
Source: Most Home Health Aides ‘Can’t Afford Not to Work’ — Even When Lacking PPE | Kaiser Health News
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