Category Archives: News to use

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

Indigenous farmers reclaim time-honored techniques (Growing traditions) — High Country News – Know the West

Suazo and her team work with the Taos Pueblo community’s youth, teaching them the ins and outs of farming and paying them above minimum wage for their labor. Suazo makes sure the young ones learn to see the greater good in the work they’re doing, just as she did as a child, and that they learn how to provide healthy traditional foods for their own families. She sees the continuation of these age-old practices as part of a nourishing cycle, much like Biyáál’s blue corn mush.

Like the plants the farmers work with, this cycle is far from new. For millennia, Suazo said, children have watched their parents go out to the farm, and they have learned which plants should be planted in spring, how to harvest them and, most importantly, how to access a rich and healthy diet. 

And, as Suazo was quick to point out, knowing the life cycle of the crops is necessary for young tribal members; it’s the way they learn about how and why certain plants are used during ceremonies and why there are different dances for various crops.

Source: Indigenous farmers reclaim time-honored techniques (Growing traditions) — High Country News – Know the West

The Recorder – Indoor masking optional at UMass, required at other colleges as semester begins

Masks and face coverings will be optional in most indoor places at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus as the fall semester begins, but Hampshire County’s four private colleges will require them inside their buildings, at least through part of September.

“Masks are welcome on campus and masking is strongly encouraged during the first few weeks of the fall semester, particularly in crowded settings, or for individuals who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19,” UMass Public Health Director Ann Becker and Environmental Health and Safety Executive Director Jeffrey Hescock, who co-direct the UMass Public Health Promotion Center, wrote in a letter to the campus community.

Smith College’s policy will be similar to Amherst College’s, where a requirement for masks to be worn in all indoor locations resumed last week. That will remain in effect through Sept. 12, with exceptions to this rule being inside residence halls and when an individual is alone in a private office with the door closed.

“We fully anticipate moving to a more relaxed masking protocol once we are past the first few weeks of the semester,” wrote Catherine Epstein, provost and dean of the faculty, Liz Agosto, chief student affairs officer and dean of students, and Kate Harrington, chief human resources officer, in a joint statement. “That decision will be made based on the prevalence of the virus on campus at that time and communicated prior to Sept. 12.”

At Mount Holyoke College, Beverly Daniel Tatum, interim president, sent a letter to the community about its rules.

“Masks will be required inside all campus buildings from Aug. 21 through Sept. 16 while the campus quickly densifies. Students need not wear a mask in their residence hall room,” Tatum wrote.

Source: The Recorder – Indoor masking optional at UMass, required at other colleges as semester begins

Pentagon OK’s COVID-19 Vaccine that May Ease Some Religious Objections | Military.com

The Pentagon said Monday it will now offer a new COVID-19 vaccine to the rank and file that claims not to have used fetal tissue or cells in development – a move that could help settle resistance among thousands of troops who have requested exemptions from the jab on religious and moral grounds.

Service members can request the Novavax vaccine – a two-dose series that, unlike its mRNA predecessors, is a protein-based vaccination with a lineage that has been tested for decades, according to a DoD press release. The Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which have been widely available, reportedly used fetal cell lines derived from decades-old fetal tissue in the vaccines’ testing.

While none of the vaccines contain any tissue – fetal or otherwise – according to the Centers for Disease Control, Novavax says that it did not use fetal tissue or fetal cell lines in its development, manufacturing or testing at all.

Source: Pentagon OK’s COVID-19 Vaccine that May Ease Some Religious Objections | Military.com

« Oggi abbiamo più gruppi ambientalisti e meno foreste, più ‘aree protette’ e meno specie, più tasse sul carbonio e più emissioni di carbonio, più …

Sì, fa riflettere riconoscere che, infatti: “Oggi abbiamo più gruppi ambientalisti e meno foreste, più ‘aree protette’ e meno specie, più tasse sul …

« Oggi abbiamo più gruppi ambientalisti e meno foreste, più ‘aree protette’ e meno specie, più tasse sul carbonio e più emissioni di carbonio, più …