Advocates race to save Civil War sites with Black, Latino legacy – Axios

Source: Advocates race to save Civil War sites with Black, Latino legacy – Axios

Why Cuba Is Making Its Own COVID Vaccine : NPR

Developing a new vaccine usually takes a decade or more, but Eduardo Ojito, the head of the Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology, says the country should have enough doses of Soberana 2 to immunize the whole country by the end of summer. This is assuming the vaccine candidate sails through phase 3 trials and wins regulatory authorization.

“We are preparing to produce between one and two million doses each month,” Ojito says. Despite being in the midst of a foreign currency crisis that’s limited imports of vital raw materials for vaccine production, he says the country is on track to have 1 million doses available in April.

Cuba’s government is already talking about distributing the vaccine in Iran, Mexico and Venezuela. Officials say they hope to produce enough of the vaccine to be able to distribute in other parts of the world, too.

The big question: Does this island nation of 11 million people have the capacity to pull this off?

“Yes,” Helen Yaffe says definitively, “Cuba has the capacity.” Yaffe is a Cuba specialist at the University of Glasgow. She has written about the country’s pharmaceutical sector and its previous success developing its own vaccines.

Source: Why Cuba Is Making Its Own COVID Vaccine : Goats and Soda : NPR

Black Man Sues Chicago After 60 Police Stops in 15 Years

On Thursday, Cole filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago stemming from his allegation that Chicago police officers have stopped him at least 60 times over the past 15 years, all due to a case of mistaken identity that no one in the system has seen it necessary to correct.

According to Cole, there appears to be an open-warrant in the police department’s database for someone who shares his name and his date of birth. As a result, since 2006 and as recently as December of last year, every time Cole drives a vehicle in the city he is at risk of being stopped and detained by police. Cole alleges in his lawsuit that during those encounters cops have verbally and physically assaulted him, punched him and pointed guns at him—but they have never ended up charging him. He says the mistaken arrests happen so frequently that when he is taken into police stations, other officers will point out to their colleagues that the warrant isn’t actually for him.

That hasn’t led police to update their database to reflect that he isn’t the Darren Cole they are looking for, however. The man who the warrant is meant for is reportedly wanted for driving on a suspended license.

Source: Black Man Sues Chicago After 60 Police Stops in 15 Years

Flowers against bullets Belarusian women are turning everyday objects in protest symbols — and facing persecution for it — Meduza

On March 25, Belarus commemorated Freedom Day — an unofficial holiday marking the date in 1918 when the Belarusian Democratic Republic declared its independence. Traditionally, this day is an occasion for opposition marches and rallies, making it a thorn in the side of dictator Alexander Lukashenko (Alyaksandr Lukashenka) and his regime. Ahead of Freedom Day 2021, Meduza asked a photographer known by the pseudonym Volya to photograph Belarusian women involved in the country’s ongoing protest movement, alongside the everyday objects they have used to express their political discontent. Since these women are under threat in Belarus, their stories and commentary remain anonymous.

Source: Flowers against bullets Belarusian women are turning everyday objects in protest symbols — and facing persecution for it — Meduza

Sweyn’s Vengeance

English History

Book 2,Chapter 9, Edward 975 AD to 1016 AD – Sweyn’s Revenge

It was, however, an impolitic revenge, and but that its authors were blinded to all reflection, it might have been foreseen that sure and fearful retaliation would be provoked. Among the slain in this massacre was Gunhilda, sister to Sweyn. This princess had embraced Christianity, and had married Palig, an English earl of Danish descent. Her husband and children were killed before her eyes, and she herself was put to death by lingering tortures, declaring, amidst her agony, the swift retribution which her brother would inflict.

No sooner did the news reach him than he prepared to take dire vengeance. He collected a large fleet, greater than any which had before invaded England, and manned it with picked soldiers from among those who flocked to his banner from every part of the north, instigated by the prospect…

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The Moon

From The Quill

I had sworn. I had sworn I will never write about the Moon.

It did. It made me gasp at its beauty each time I looked at it; filled me with endearing wonderment for the silver it spilled; had me looking for a braveheart who had the courage to bring it down for me; 
I kept looking,
I kept running,
I never found,
I never wrote.

Picture Credit: Pinterest (Hometalk.com)

A deep black cloud, the wrath of a thousand thunders, scents of far-fetched rain-drenched soils, and me… I sat under the sky- naked, poisoned, cloaked, and redeemed.

Magic for the hearts who wander, set camps at nights, travel afar in the days and wish for homes at dawns; magic unbound, magic unfound- the magic of the phases of the Moon.

It waxes and wanes, grows upon the darkness of each heart, only to fade away later.
Sorcery for the lone…

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Children Of The Moon

Good story – enjoy.

Weekend Stories by Trishikh

Dawa moved slowly across the cold desert surface. The sun was bleak, and the land was dry. The wind blew mercilessly stinging on the little exposed skin of the old man’s face with fine particles of needle-like sand. The chill in the air made everything bow in its path. The landscape was sad, stretching flat for miles to the horizon where stood the mighty mountains of ancient snow and ice.

The Cold Desert lay in the lap of the gargantuan Himalayan range that separated the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetian Plateau. It stretched into unfathomable miles on the eastern side of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Bound by the mighty Karakoram range in the North and the mysterious Zanskar mountains in the South, the Cold Desert of Ladakh was one of its kind in this lonely planet of ours.

It was perhaps the only place in the…

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RED FLAG

CRAIN'S COMMENTS

Why on earth would a doctor prescribe a drug to a senior adult that increases the risk of falling?

If you are older, or there’s an older person you love, you need to know this.

A new report from the University of Buffalo School of Public Health states that in 2017, 94% of seniors (age 65+) were receiving drugs that increase fall risk. This is a massive increase from the 57% receiving such drugs in 1999. In the same period, deaths from falls doubled.

Even where falls aren’t directly lethal, head injuries and hip fractures can destroy quality of life.

Medications are among the most common causes of increased fall risk in older people.
Medications are usually among the easiest risk factors to change, when it comes to falls in older adults.
Medication-based risks are often missed by busy regular doctors. Older adults and family…

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What makes a friend?

Saania's diary - reflections, learnings, sparkles

The people we choose to let into our lives leave one of the greatest impacts on our hearts. Kenzoku “眷族” is a Japanese word that loosely translates to ‘family’. However, it suggests a deeper meaning: the deepest connection of friendship. It is camaraderie, the family we choose for ourselves. The other day I was marveling over the kinds of people who have stumbled across my life. Then I came to wonder, what makes a true friend?

💜 A true friend is someone who accepts you for who you are. When you are around them, you never have to pretend to be someone you are not. They accept your flaws and love you just the way you are.

💜  A true friend is never envious. They understand that you may have to do your thing, so they do their thing, and you celebrate one another without jealousy or animosity.

💜…

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