Merck Will Share Formula for Its Covid Pill With Poor Countries – The New York Times

Merck has granted a royalty-free license for its promising Covid-19 pill to a United Nations-backed nonprofit in a deal that would allow the drug to be manufactured and sold cheaply in the poorest nations, where vaccines for the coronavirus are in devastatingly short supply.

The agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool, an organization that works to make medical treatment and technologies globally accessible, will allow companies in 105 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, to sublicense the formulation for the antiviral pill, called molnupiravir, and begin making it.

Merck reported this month that the drug halved the rate of hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk Covid patients who took it soon after infection in a large clinical trial. Affluent nations, including the United States, have rushed to negotiate deals to buy the drug, tying up large portions of the supply even before it has been approved by regulators and raising concerns that poor countries could be shut out of access to the medicine, much as they have been for vaccines.

Biden Bars Immigration Enforcement in ‘Protected Areas’ – The New York Times

The Biden administration on Wednesday designated the nation’s schools and hospitals, as well as a wide array of other locations, off limits to immigration enforcement, the latest sign that it is committed to protecting millions of undocumented residents from deportation while efforts to offer them a path to legalization remain stalled in Congress.

The new guidelines, effective immediately, list “protected areas” where immigration agents are to refrain from making arrests, conducting searches, serving subpoenas or carrying out other enforcement actions.

The sites include schools and university campuses; hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities, in addition to Covid-19 testing and vaccination sites; places of worship; and sites where children gather, such as playgrounds, day care centers and foster care facilities.

California Wineries Are Trading Pesticides for Owls – RTBC

owl

Today, 80 percent of Napa Valley winemakers control their rodent populations using owls, while only 21 percent use rodenticides. “Whether the use of barn owl boxes caused that reduction in rodenticides is, of course, not proven,” said one wildlife researcher. “Nonetheless, this result is encouraging.” Source: California Wineries Are Trading Pesticides for Owls – RTBC

I Don’t Do Love Anymore

Inhale Peace; Exhale Love. Joy will Follow! - RUELHA

This poem is divided into two parts. The first one I dedicate to someone very special. The second is inspired by this song from Four More Shots Please which is like the desi version of Sex and the city. I’ve not yet watched it. But it seems like a fun show. It’s definitely on my list especially since it’s highly recommended by this one {MMB}! It’s about four friends, two of whom are in their 20s and the other two are in their 30s. One’s lesbian, another’s a divorcee. And I’m unsure about the other two. If you notice, the setup is pretty much Bombay. For such a layout, it could also be Delhi, Pune or even Bangalore. But, there’s no way this is remotely possible elsewhere in India. I am very intrigued and really want to watch this series.

Like all my music-inspired poems, I suggest playing the song…

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Continued erasure of Indigenous peoples

LANDBACK Friends

How can the atrocities of the Native residential institutions of forced assimilation, continue to be ignored by the mainstream media, governments, and the public? (These institutions should not be referred to as “schools”. )

How can faith communities, some of whom were involved with these institutions, not advocate to have the truth revealed, and work toward reconciliation?

Some of the following might be traumatic for those who have had experiences related to forced assimilation.

The Facebook group, Every Child Matters, documents the progress in locating the remains of children on the grounds of some of these institutions. And stories of those who have been affected. Searches continue in the lands called the United States and Canada.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/125050373031500/permalink/217155080487695/

A community to provide educational resources, generate awareness, share events and actions and work together to create a world our 7 generations yet to come can feel proud to be a part…

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Wednesday Wisdom…cont…Facts about Halloween and Samhain

Lolsys Library

I am going to be lazy and start off with a article first…

10 fun facts you didn’t know about Halloween – USA Today:
Meghan Tankersley
Editor OCTOBER 31, 2019

Long there has been debate whether or not Christianity “stole” Samhain and made it a holiday called Halloween. When large numbers of Irish people emigrated to the United States after the Great Famine in the 19thcentury, they carried their Christian-Pagan tradition with them, which lead to the popularity of Halloween in America today.

Jack o’lantern” comes from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack. The story goes, that Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him, but Jack didn’t want to pay for the drink, so he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin. Instead of buying the drink, he pocketed the coin and kept it close to a silver cross…

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The Polluted Environment – And the Damage Done to our Food

FunWritings

Our food is not the same as it was many years ago

We want food cheaper and then we have sorrow

It is time for us to wake up and pay attention

Food can be our medicine if we get rid of new inventions

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Farmers suffer when we don’t care about their welfare

We just want to eat and don’t think about environmental care

We say the environment will take care of itself while pesticides gets into our water

However, the farmer wants to earn more and uses chemicals and think of health after

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

That is why we are seeing more Cancer patients and obese people every day

Even though the price of food keeps on going up as farmers do things in a new way

More machinery and chemicals are used as there is a need for increased earnings

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Workplace changes due to Covid

Raffaello Palandri's Blog

A question that I am often asked as a consultant, in the last year is: are you aware of any changes in workplaces due to Covid?

The most obvious one is the widespread adoption of remote work (or WFH – Work From Home). Now that the situation is easing, many companies are trying to figure out if it would be better to continue with this hybrid approach or not.

I started adopting more consistently the same measures I was applying before COVID.

These measures are meant to foster a deeper understanding of the most intimate needs and purposes of the employees.

I am advocating for remote workplaces since 1998 and I have worked since in building what today are called hybrid workplaces/jobs. I am convinced that finding and then living according to your core purpose and values is more important than just money.

Photo by Andrew Neel on

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