Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Florida workers brace for summer with no protections: ‘My body would tremble’ | Extreme heat | The Guardian

A new law recently signed by Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, that prohibits any municipalities in the state from passing heat protections for workers ensures that it is likely to stay that way.

Source: Florida workers brace for summer with no protections: ‘My body would tremble’ | Extreme heat | The Guardian

Direct impact of COVID-19 vaccination in Chile: averted cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths | BMC Infectious Diseases | Full Text

We estimated that, from December 20, 2020 to July 2, 2022 the vaccination campaign directly prevented 1,030,648 (95% Confidence Interval: 1,016,975-1,044,321) cases, 268,784 (95% CI: 264,524-273,045) hospitalizations, 85,830 (95% CI: 83,466-88,194) ICU admissions and 75,968 (95% CI: 73,909-78,028) deaths related to COVID-19 among individuals aged 16 years and older. This corresponds to a reduction of 26% of cases, 66% of hospital admissions, 70% of ICU admissions and 67% of deaths compared to a scenario without vaccination. Individuals 55 years old or older represented 67% of hospitalizations, 73% of ICU admissions and 89% of deaths related to COVID-19 prevented.

Conclusions

This study highlights the role of Chile’s vaccination campaign in reducing COVID-19 disease burden, with the most substantial reductions observed in severe outcomes.

Source: Direct impact of COVID-19 vaccination in Chile: averted cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths | BMC Infectious Diseases | Full Text

Florida: Behind the Duelling Decisions About Abortion | Diane Ravitch’s blog

“The voter may think this amendment results in settling this issue once and for all. It does not.”

Is it too cynical to believe that the Florida Supreme Court would approve a referendum that they intend to invalidate?

(Me: if they did that, they would break the court and people would take voter action to change the governor, the legislature and the court.)

Source: Florida: Behind the Duelling Decisions About Abortion | Diane Ravitch’s blog

धारणा / Perception  – Kaushal Kishore

 

आसान है मूर्ख बनाना 

कुछ लोगों को,

लेकिन कठिन है 

यह विश्वास दिलाना 

कि उन्हें मूर्ख 

नहीं बनाया गया है…

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾

It’s easy to fool 

some people, 

but it’s hard 

to convince them 

that they haven’t 

been fooled…

.

–Kaushal Kishore 

Source: धारणा / Perception  – Kaushal Kishore

Rainy Day ‘Toons | Filosofa’s Word

Another dreary, rainy Saturday afternoon.  I wonder what might brighten the mood?  Hmmm … I could write about the latest mass shooting, or Governor DeSantis’ law banning plant-based meat, or Margie Greene’s latest idiocy, or campus protests, or he-who-I-don’t-want-to-write-about … sigh.  OH … I KNOW!!!  I’ll turn the afternoon over to the cartoonists!  Their talent and sardonic wit will surely brighten the afternoon!!!

Source: Rainy Day ‘Toons | Filosofa’s Word

 

Peter Singer: We are gambling with the future of our planet for the sake of hamburgers – Palm Oil Detectives

Peter SingerPrinceton University

I wasn’t aware of climate change until the 1980s — hardly anyone was — and even when we recognised the dire threat that burning fossil fuels posed, it took time for the role of animal production in warming the planet to be understood.

Today, though, the fact that eating plants will reduce your greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most important and influential reasons for cutting down on animal products and, for those willing to go all the way, becoming vegan.

Singer - We are gambling with the future of our planet for hamburgers

A few years ago, eating locally — eating only food produced within a defined radius of your home — became the thing for environmentally conscious people to do, to such an extent that “locavore” became the Oxford English Dictionary’s “word of the year” for 2007.

Source: Peter Singer: We are gambling with the future of our planet for the sake of hamburgers – Palm Oil Detectives