The Invisible, Afflicted Spy Who Led the U.S. Army Into Occupied Manila – Atlas Obscura

Since the early days of the Japanese occupation, Guerrero had been walking, carrying messages for the Filipino resistance fighters. She ferried news tucked into her chignon—at least until the day a Japanese sentry pulled at her hair, threatening to dislodge her secrets—or tucked between two pairs of socks or secreted away in hollowed-out fruit that she carried in a street vendor’s basket. Guerrero, known to most as Joey, moved around the city and into the surrounding mountains more easily than most. As a woman, she was dismissed as frivolous and flighty. Japanese soldiers answered her seemingly idle questions about their fortifications—never suspecting she was meticulously mapping their garrisons.

Japanese troops march toward Manila in late December 1941. They would occupy the city for more than three years.
Japanese troops march toward Manila in late December 1941. They would occupy the city for more than three years. ULLSTEIN BILD DTL. / GETTY IMAGES

Guerrero also had another unexpected advantage: she was sick. Before the occupation, Guerrero had been diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy. The symptoms included headaches, fatigue, and tell-tale skin lesions. Before the invasion, Guerrero had been able to manage the disease, but medication was scarce in a country at war, and as she developed more noticeable lesions, she found herself shunned. Leprosy was misunderstood as a disease of the unclean and impure, and sufferers were cast out of society and expected to live in isolation; Guerrero had already been separated from her husband and daughter. The affliction kept most Japanese soldiers at bay, too. No one wanted to search her. “I’m a leper,” she’d cry if a sentry approached her.

Source: The Invisible, Afflicted Spy Who Led the U.S. Army Into Occupied Manila – Atlas Obscura

Immigrant-owned meal delivery business offers refugees their first jobs in a new country — Grid Magazine – Erin Flynn Jay

Tsao began to offer family meal packages to suburban subscribers, effectively bringing Chinatown to them. He also invited other restaurant accounts to be on his website, most of them in Chinatown. Tsao’s restaurants EMei and GTH–Tsao’s new restaurant with business partner Eric Rosenfeld–are also included on the site.

Three months later, the new venture was being used by more than 35 restaurants. Nine months later it was serving more than 2,000 families.

That’s how RiceVan, a grocery and takeout delivery service that takes suburban orders up to 60 miles away within the tri-state region, started.

From there, it’s also evolved as a way to pay homage to Tsao’s immigrant roots.

Over the past three months, RiceVan has been providing daily lunch and dinner, and weekly grocery service to several hundred refugees living in temporary housing in Center City. Nationalities Service Center, the largest refugee resettlement agency in Philadelphia, pays for the meals. The business also has five refugee employees, three of whom are full time.

Tsao arrived here as an immigrant from China more than 20 years ago.

“Both myself as an immigrant and the refugees, we share the challenge of a language barrier and cultural barriers,” he says. “For them, career, and education for [their] kids—there’s going to be a journey.”..

Source: Immigrant-owned meal delivery business offers refugees their first jobs in a new country — Grid Magazine

Even Mild Covid is Linked To Brain Damage, Scans Show – Slashdot

During at least the first few months following a coronavirus infection, even mild cases of Covid-19 are associated with subtle tissue damage and accelerated losses in brain regions tied to the sense of smell, as well as a small loss in the brain’s overall volume, a new British study finds. Having mild Covid is also associated with a cognitive function deficit. NBC:These are the striking findings of the new study led by University of Oxford investigators, one that leading Covid researchers consider particularly important because it is the first study of the disease’s potential impact on the brain that is based on brain scans taken both before and after participants contracted the coronavirus. “This study design overcomes some of the major limitations of most brain-related studies of Covid-19 to date, which rely on analysis and interpretation at a single time point in people who had Covid-19,” said Dr. Serena S. Spudich, a neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. Source: Even Mild Covid is Linked To Brain Damage, Scans Show – Slashdot

Vladimir Potanin donated millions to Oxford University | openDemocracy

Vladimir Potanin is one of Russia’s richest men, with a fortune of over $23bn. He served as the country’s deputy prime minister in the 1990s and is now president of one of the world’s largest metal producers, Norilsk Nickel.

The Russian oligarch’s £3m Oxford endowment, for an Earth Sciences fund, was first reported on Friday by the Cherwell student newspaper.

Now openDemocracy has discovered that the oligarch’s foundation donated a further $150,000 to an Oxford University fellowship scheme named in his honour.

Source: Vladimir Potanin donated millions to Oxford University | openDemocracy

Creativity Heals #art #depression

penned in moon dust

I just read a blog by a blogger who was really pressing down on herself for feeling that things are so bad. They are and they are not. It’s a matter of perspective.

BUT…

Something that helps so much is expression.

Blogging, art, writing are all forms of media that help us keep from that tipping point.

When I was very active on Social Media (sorry guys I am all over the world at the mo and so blogging is really a back door thing) I was meeting people coming out of Alcoholism, attempts at suicide, a divorce that drove the person batty…

there is that place to go to splash paint and get it off the head and heart.

And there is always prayer…

Reverse Thunder

I hear thunder in the distance

rolling onward like the waves

gaining power it surges forward

and like a child I am afraid

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School in the Dirt #children #Uganda

penned in moon dust

“Please teach us,” many children surrounded her.

Her arms were full of folders for a meeting in the hut down the path.

“Yes, of course,” She smiled as she set her things down.

A little boy proudly presented her with a stick that was perfect for writing in the dirt.

“We will start with the alphabet.” She placed her stick in the ground and drew a letter.

“A” a boy called out.

“Very good. Now we must all say “A.”

Several of the children knew their letters very well.

She tried not to frown as the two children a brother and a sister struggled. The teacher knew they had not been in school for some time and it made her sad. They tried very hard and finally got the sounds right.

All the children knew their numbers but addition and subtraction was much more difficult. One boy was very bright…

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In destroying the Amazon, big agribusiness is torching its own viability

  • A new study has found that the transition zone between the Amazon and Cerrado in the northeast of Brazil has heated up significantly and become drier in the past two decades.
  • The research points to deforestation in the Amazon and global climate changes as factors prolonging the dry season and warming up the region, leaving it susceptible to severe droughts and forest fires.
  • Ironically, the changes being driven by the intensified agricultural activity are rendering the region less suitable for crop cultivation.
  • The authors of the new study say there needs to be a balance of sustainable agricultural solutions and an environmentally focused political agenda to protect the region’s ecosystems, its economy, and its people.

Source: In destroying the Amazon, big agribusiness is torching its own viability

On A Personal Note …

Filosofa's Word

Sometimes there is just so much rambling in my head that I cannot focus on a single topic, and this is one such time.  So, I thought to clear out my head by sharing some of those thoughts with you, my friends.

I would like to start by telling you how very proud I am of my daughter, Chris.  Last Friday, she was informed that she had won the monthly “Employee Incentive Award” of $500.  The person who had nominated her for the award was one of her staff members, interestingly, who had argued with Chris on more than one occasion, but in her nomination praised Chris saying she was always there when her employees needed her, worked harder than anybody else, etc.  But all of that isn’t what made me so proud.  That evening, as Miss Goose and I both congratulated her on the win, she asked if there…

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‘COVID zero’ regions struggle with vaccine complacency

For the handful of places around the world that effectively stopped COVID-19 transmission, vaccine complacency has become an unintended side effect of their success. Although some regions have managed to blunt transmission of the highly infectious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, others are experiencing considerable outbreaks in populations with low vaccination rates.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Hong Kong. Its ‘dynamic zero COVID-19’ policy is being put to the test as daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbed to 56,000 this week and deaths reached 246 on 1 March…

Source: ‘COVID zero’ regions struggle with vaccine complacency

See Something, Say Something

From Behind the Pen

Image Credit: Video Girl 

If you see something, then say something. We’re constantly reminded of this call to action over and over again, every day. If you don’t take a stand against acts of hatred, abuse, sexual predators, sex trafficking, kidnapping, hate crimes, violent crimes, or road rage, then here’s something you need to think about. If you choose to turn a blind eye to heinous and senseless crimes or decide that it’s not your problem, then what if you or one of your family members are victimized, and you need a witness to come forward, do you think someone will?

Sadly people who witness such an atrocity either remain mum or are too afraid to talk to law enforcement. Police officers and detectives plead to the public to come forward and give any information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. Often, we see a…

View original post 280 more words