All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Seychelles most vaccinated nation on Earth but Covid-19 has surged

The majority of vaccinated people have received China’s Sinopharm vaccine (approved for emergency use by the WHO last Friday) as well as the AstraZeneca shot (known as Covishield locally, a version produced in India). In total, the Seychelles with a population of over 97,000 has recorded just under 8,200 cases and 28 deaths during the pandemic.

On Monday, the Seychelles’ health ministry reported a steep rise in the number of cases. From 120 new cases reported on April 30, a week later over 300 cases per day were recorded on May 7 and May 8, respectively.

Source: Seychelles most vaccinated nation on Earth but Covid-19 has surged

Ohio offers million-dollar prizes and scholarships for people who have COVID-19 vaccine – ABC News

Ohio’s governor is offering big lottery incentives — including a $US1 million ($1.29 million) prize and college scholarships — in a last-ditch effort to get people vaccinated before the state’s mask mandate and most other coronavirus-related state orders end on June 2.

All Ohio’s COVID-19 orders, except those applying to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, will end, Mike DeWine said during a primetime address.

However, the Republican noted that stores and businesses still may require customers to be masked.

With three weeks to go before restrictions were to lift, Mr DeWine rolled out big-ticket motivators.

Beginning May 26, adults who have received at least one vaccine dose may enter a lottery that will provide a $US1 million prize each Wednesday for five weeks.

In random drawings, the state will also provide five full four-year scholarships to an Ohio public university — including tuition, room-and-board, and books — to vaccinated Ohioans under 18.

Source: Ohio offers million-dollar prizes and scholarships for people who have COVID-19 vaccine – ABC News

Say it ain’t so…

{French and English below)

News from Ibonoco

(Réédition)

” Dis que ce n’est pas vrai, Joe, s’il te plaît, dis-moi que ce n’est pas le cas, aujourd’hui, nous n’avons encore quelque espoir mais tout peut s’effondrer, du jour au lendemain, d’un instant à l’autre, tout est devenu si fragile : la vie, les saisons, la gaîté, les belles soirées entre amis… Dis que ce n’est pas vrai, Joe, s’il te plaît, dis-moi que ce n’est pas le cas : le bon vieux temps est révolu ? “

John Ibonoco

DIS-MOI QUE CE N’EST PAS VRAI

Murray Head – Say It Ain’t So Joe

Dis que ce n’est pas vrai, Joe, s’il te plaît
Dites que ce n’est pas le cas
Je suis sûr qu’ils nous mentent Joe, s’il te plaît, dis-nous que ce n’est pas vrai.

Ils nous ont dit que notre héros a joué sa carte maîtresse
Il ne sait pas comment continuer
On s’accroche à…

View original post 1,028 more words

Y un día, entendí… — Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright Y un día, a cierta hora, cuando regresaba a casa, me di cuenta de que la vida es breve y no tiene caso desperdiciarla en tristezas ni en desamores, y menos en causar daño a otros. Y un día, mientras recapitulaba los días de […]

Y un día, entendí… — Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

B.C. grandfather helps sick kids with handcrafted wooden bowls | Globalnews.ca

Using discarded wood to create one-of-a-kind bowls, an 80-year-old Vancouver man has turned what he calls a small gesture from his garage into a large fundraiser with global interest. “I feel so happy to do something for somebody,” Nirmal Singh Bhogal said about his effort to raise funds for kids with cancer in B.C. Bhogal’s labour of love begins at the crack of dawn nearly every day, working well past dusk and taking his core value of selfless service, known as seva in Punjabi, to a new level.

Source: B.C. grandfather helps sick kids with handcrafted wooden bowls | Globalnews.ca

Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin as payment for its cars. – The New York Times

Three months after Tesla said it would begin accepting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as payment, the electric carmaker has abruptly reversed course. In a message posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, said Tesla had suspended accepting Bitcoin because of concern about the energy consumed by computers crunching the calculations that underpin the currency. “Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment,” Mr. Musk wrote. “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”

Biden Signs Executive Order to Bolster Federal Government’s Cybersecurity – The New York Times

For the first time, the United States will require all software purchased by the federal government to meet, within six months, a series of new cybersecurity standards. Although the companies would have to “self-certify,” violators would be removed from federal procurement lists, which could kill their chances of selling their products on the commercial market.

The order also establishes an incident review board, much like the teams that investigate airline accidents, to learn lessons from major hacking episodes. The White House is mandating that the first incident under review will be the SolarWinds hack, in which Russia’s premier intelligence agency altered the computer code of an American company’s network management software. It gave Russia broad access to 18,000 agencies, organizations and companies, mostly in the United States.

The new order also requires all federal agencies to encrypt data, whether it is in storage or while it is being transmitted — two very different challenges. When China stole 21.5 million files about federal employees and contractors holding security clearances, none of the files were encrypted, meaning they could be easily read. (Chinese hackers, investigators later concluded, encrypted the files themselves — to avoid being detected as they sent the sensitive records back to Beijing.)

For the first time, the United States will require all software purchased by the federal government to meet, within six months, a series of new cybersecurity standards. Although the companies would have to “self-certify,” violators would be removed from federal procurement lists, which could kill their chances of selling their products on the commercial market. The order also establishes an incident review board, much like the teams that investigate airline accidents, to learn lessons from major hacking episodes. The White House is mandating that the first incident under review will be the SolarWinds hack, in which Russia’s premier intelligence agency altered the computer code of an American company’s network management software. It gave Russia broad access to 18,000 agencies, organizations and companies, mostly in the United States. The new order also requires all federal agencies to encrypt data, whether it is in storage or while it is being transmitted — two very different challenges. When China stole 21.5 million files about federal employees and contractors holding security clearances, none of the files were encrypted, meaning they could be easily read. (Chinese hackers, inv

Netanyahu’s ‘disastrous strategy’ is ‘blowing up in Israel’s face’ – In the press

As violence continues, Israel’s The Jerusalem Post calls on other countries to “stand with Israel”, while Haaretz blames PM Benjamin Netanyahu for pursuing a “disastrous strategy” that is now ‘blowing up in Israel’s face”. Emirati paper The National and Saudi paper Arab News decry Israel for “raining death on Gaza”, while other regional papers criticise Palestinian leaders and the Trump administration. In the US, The Washington Post warns Joe Biden against getting dragged back into the “long-moribund” peace process.  Source: Netanyahu’s ‘disastrous strategy’ is ‘blowing up in Israel’s face’ – In the press