All posts by nedhamson

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

Civil Rights Icon and Political Adviser Vernon Jordan Dies at 85

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Vernon Jordan, an iconic civil rights leader, presidential adviser and lawyer who held leadership roles at the United Negro College Fund and the National Urban League, and who worked as a Georgia field secretary for the NAACP and director of the Voter Education Project for the Southern Regional Council at the height…

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H.Res. 179: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1) to expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthe ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the pu

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Agreed To (Simple Resolution):
Last Action: On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 218 – 207 (Roll no. 51).
Explanation: This simple resolution was agreed to on March 1, 2021. That is the end of the legislative process for a simple resolution.

Myanmar police fire stun grenades at rally, critically injuring three protesters

Three people have been critically injured after security forces fired live rounds at anti-coup protesters in north-western Myanmar, medics said, as south-east Asian powers met to pressure the junta over its deadly crackdown.

Police also fired stun grenades and rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse protesters in the city of Yangon, according to witnesses, as demonstrations continued over the military’s removal of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago.

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Police clear demonstrators in parts of Yangon as ministers from Asean grouping seek end to violence

Three people have been critically injured after security forces fired live rounds at anti-coup protesters in north-western Myanmar, medics said, as south-east Asian powers met to pressure the junta over its deadly crackdown.

Police also fired stun grenades and rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse protesters in the city of Yangon, according to witnesses, as demonstrations continued over the military’s removal of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago.

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‘I don’t have money for food’: millions of unemployed in US left without benefits

Before the pandemic hit Stephanie Gaither worked as a driver for Uber and Lyft in Indianapolis, Indiana, making around $600 to $900 weekly. Now she is facing eviction and has her utilities shut off.

Like millions of other Americans who have seen their work dry up as the virus has spread, Gaither has fallen through the huge holes in the US’s unemployment benefits system. Her unemployment benefits expired in December 2020 and she has waited several weeks without any benefits while caring for her children who are currently learning remotely.

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Delays, backlogs of claims and errors have left workers without any unemployment benefits while out of work due to Covid

Before the pandemic hit Stephanie Gaither worked as a driver for Uber and Lyft in Indianapolis, Indiana, making around $600 to $900 weekly. Now she is facing eviction and has her utilities shut off.

Like millions of other Americans who have seen their work dry up as the virus has spread, Gaither has fallen through the huge holes in the US’s unemployment benefits system. Her unemployment benefits expired in December 2020 and she has waited several weeks without any benefits while caring for her children who are currently learning remotely.

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Government stops councils enforcing masks in English primary schools | Education | The Guardian (Brittle Boris just can’t stick to preventing illness and deaths with simple masks)

The government has intervened to stop councils requiring children in primary schools in England to wear face masks when they return to school next week.

The move came after it emerged that Redbridge council in east London had advised headteachers that all primary school pupils in the borough should be encouraged to wear a face covering when indoors as part of Covid health and safety measures.

Source: Government stops councils enforcing masks in English primary schools | Education | The Guardian

Researchers read sealed 17th-century letter without opening it | Manuscripts and letters | The Guardian

Computer-generated unfolding sequence of a sealed letter. The researchers believe that virtual unfolding will have an impact “far beyond” the Brienne collection, because so many collections around the world contain unopened documents. “One important example is the hundreds of unopened items among the 160,000 undelivered letters in the Prize Papers, an archive of documents confiscated by the British from enemy ships between the 17th and 19th centuries,” they write in the article, titled Unlocking History Through Automated Virtual Unfolding of Sealed Documents Imaged by X-ray Microtomography. “If these can be read without physically opening them, much rare letterlocking data can be preserved.”

Source: Researchers read sealed 17th-century letter without opening it | Manuscripts and letters | The Guardian

Fauci warns of risks from single-dose strategy for Pfizer, Moderna vaccines | TheHill

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said in a new interview that Biden administration officials plan to stick with a two-dose approach for Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines as they work to inoculate Americans even though at least one other country has used a single-dose method.  “We’re telling people [two shots] is what you should do … and then we say, ‘Oops, we changed our mind’?” Fauci told The Washington Post on Monday. “I think that would be a messaging challenge, to say the least.” Fauci warned that adopting a strategy to administer the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines with just a single dose in an effort to get more people vaccinated more quickly could render Americans too susceptible to infection and spark more doubts about the vaccines’ efficacy.

Source: Fauci warns of risks from single-dose strategy for Pfizer, Moderna vaccines | TheHill

Chinese vaccines sweep much of the world, despite concerns – The Washington Post

China’s vaccine diplomacy campaign has been a surprising success: It has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country tally by The Associated Press. With just four of China’s many vaccine makers claiming they are able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year, a large part of the world’s population will end up inoculated not with the fancy Western vaccines boasting headline-grabbing efficacy rates, but with China’s humble, traditionally made shots. Source: Chinese vaccines sweep much of the world, despite concerns – The Washington Post

Israeli attorney general slams Netanyahu’s vaccine diplomacy – The Washington Post

Israel’s attorney general has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that he cannot single-handedly share the country’s surplus vaccines with far-flung allies in Africa, Europe and Latin America, and that such an important decision cannot be made by the prime minister alone.

In an official letter, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit argues that Netanyahu should have consulted the Cabinet for such a plan. The justice ministry released the letter, addressed to the national security adviser, Meir Ben Shabbat, on Monday.

Netanyahu’s announcement last week of his decision to share some of Israel’s vaccine stockpile had caused an uproar and was later frozen, due to legal questions in Israel, but not before thousands of vaccine doses were shipped to Honduras and reportedly the Czech Republic as well.

Source: Israeli attorney general slams Netanyahu’s vaccine diplomacy – The Washington Post

Nigeria receives nearly 4 million vaccines from COVAX – The Washington Post

Nearly 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the third and largest delivery so far to an African country by the global COVAX initiative, which was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccines.

The COVAX program shipped 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, from Mumbai to Abuja, according to a joint statement from UNICEF, which is working in partnership with the World Health Organization, GAVI, which is an international vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

Source: Nigeria receives nearly 4 million vaccines from COVAX – The Washington Post