स्टोरेज / Storage  – Kaushal Kishore

 

बहुत ही खाली है स्टोरेज मेरे दिल का,

ठीक वैसा ही जैसा है मेरे मोबाईल का…

पर तैयार हूँ फिर से इसे प्रेम से भरने को,

और इसकी आत्मा को रिचार्ज करने को…

💌💌💌💌💌💌

Storage of my heart is empty and bare,

Like my phone, it’s space is empty there…

But I’m ready to refill it with love and light,

And recharge its spirit, to shine so bright…

.

–Kaushal Kishore  

Source: स्टोरेज / Storage  – Kaushal Kishore

Smotrich Proposes Plan to Annex West Bank, Cites U.S. Support Under Trump Administration | PNN

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to dismantle the Civil Administration in the West Bank, signalling a push toward annexing the territory into Israel. Speaking with Civil Administration officials, Smotrich described this move as a critical step toward achieving what he called “full normalization” and integrating Israeli government ministries into the area.

“We have a significant opportunity alongside the new U.S. administration to create full normalization and bring government ministries here,” Smotrich said, according to Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday. “This is a vision for the Day of Reckoning, and we can achieve it.

Smotrich stated that the proposal had been discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was planned for implementation during the tenure of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. He also revealed plans to seize over 24,000 dunams (approximately 6,000 acres) of Palestinian land in the West Bank to expand Israeli settlements.

Source: Smotrich Proposes Plan to Annex West Bank, Cites U.S. Support Under Trump Administration | PNN

A 2006 study found undocumented immigrants contribute more than they cost Texas. The state hasn’t updated it since.

A comptroller’s report found that deporting the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants living in Texas in 2005 would have cost the state about $17.7 billion in gross domestic product.

Source: Texas hasn’t updated 2006 study on undocumented immigrants | The Texas Tribune

Romanian court annuls presidential election citing Russian ‘aggressive hybrid action’ – UPI.com

Romania’s Constitutional Court Friday canceled the presidential run-off election between far-right candidate Calin Georgescu and centrist Elena Lasconi. The court cited a Russian propaganda campaign as the reason.

The court said in a statement that its decision two days before the run-off was to occur “annuls the entire electoral process regarding the election of the president of Romania.”

Declassified Romanian intelligence documents contained a security services warning that Russia had attacked the election system with an “aggressive hybrid action” to elevate a far-right previously politically unknown candidate.

The declassified intelligence documents said Georgescu’s victory was “not a natural outcome” and a “state actor” elevated him with an artificial coordinated social media campaign.

Source: Romanian court annuls presidential election citing Russian ‘aggressive hybrid action’ – UPI.com

75 Years of Lead in Gasoline Caused 150 Million Mental Health Disorders, Study Finds – Slashdot

Gen X bears an extra burden of conditions such as depression, anxiety, ADHD and neurotic behavior because of the leaded gasoline they were exposed to as children, according to a study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Leaded gas was banned in the United States in 1996, but the study said years of exposure during development made them particularly vulnerable.

Lead gas peaked from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s, and children born during that era would later develop some of the highest rates of mental health symptoms, the study said. The study also linked leaded gas to “disadvantageous” traits, such as struggling to concentrate, stay on task or organizing thoughts. “I tend to think of Generation X as ‘generation lead,'” said Aaron Reuben, a study co-author and assistant professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Virginia. “We know they were exposed to it more and we’re estimating they have gone on to have higher rates of internalizing conditions like anxiety, depression and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder….”

Researchers linked the lead exposure to an estimated 151 million “excess mental disorders” in the United States over the 75-year period. The estimates should be “considered a floor” because it relies mainly on gas and not exposure from lead in paint and pipes, Reuben said… Those born between 1966 and 1986 generally had higher mental illness levels linked to lead exposure with the rates peaking for those born between 1966 and 1970, the study said. Those rates coincided with the peak use of lead in gas from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s… The study said the peak lead use coincided with increased demand for psychiatric care and higher rates of juvenile delinquency.
Today there’s routine blood screenings for high levels of lead, study co-author Reuben says. But in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, “folks were walking around with an average blood lead value that today would trigger clinical follow-up.”

Source: 75 Years of Lead in Gasoline Caused 150 Million Mental Health Disorders, Study Finds – Slashdot

Il Grittibaenz di San Nicola di Mira | le pagine dei nostri libri

L’omino di pane dolce in Svizzera ha vari nomi a seconda delle zone: Grättimaa, Chläus o bonhomme de Saint Nicolas, Elggermaa, Brötige Maa ed è anche accompagnato da Grittli, il suo corrispettivo femminile.

È un pane dolce che deve sempre essere presente in occasione della festa di San Nicola di Mira che il 6 dicembre di ogni anno porta in dono dolci, frutta secca e leccornie ai bambini.

Source: Il Grittibaenz di San Nicola di Mira | le pagine dei nostri libri

Canada’s largest Asian supermarket opens 1st U.S. store – AsAmNews

T&T grand opening checkout lines. The opening of the mammoth store in Bellevue was one of many milestones for her and her family. In 1993, she opened her first T&T stores in Burnaby and Richmond, British Columbia, soon followed by dozens of other locations. As she spread her empire, the stores became magnets for Asians living in both Canada and the United States yearning for real Asian food and products. For decades, Asian Americans living in the Seattle area have driven up across the Canadian border to frequent the T and T Markets across the border.

“Finally, I don’t have to drive three hours anymore,” said one Chinese fan on social media.

The opening of their first U.S. branch was fraught with an untold number of disasters. COVID delayed it, as did delay in getting a transformer and other electrical parts. Tina Lee, speaking to reporters at a pre-store opening event on Wednesday, said the minutiae of American tax laws and other regulations required a comprehensive overhaul of their approaches.

She vowed the company will enforce stringent safety requirements for many of its goods imported from overseas, such as sending products to independent laboratories for testing for 300 different heavy metals.

“We’re not afraid of product recalls if they are necessary. Safety is our number one concern,” she said.

So far, it seemed like their bet had paid off. The day before the grand opening, Tina Lee was still crossing her fingers, literally, and telling reporters she hoped people would show up. Plans to open two more stores in the U.S.—one in Lynnwood, Washington, and the other in San Jose, CA—to some extent depended on the success of this one. Boy, was she wrong to worry. As of noon, even hours after their official opening, the outside of the store, painted a bright cheery green, was still throbbing with double packed lines of customers.

Source: Canada’s largest Asian supermarket opens 1st U.S. store – AsAmNews