Category Archives: News to use

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

Newest Omicron subvariants can evade boosters, antibody therapies | CIDRAP

Source: Newest Omicron subvariants can evade boosters, antibody therapies | CIDRAP

Global monkeypox cases top 6,000, WHO says | CIDRAP

“Testing remains a challenge, and it’s highly probable that there are a significant number of cases not being picked up,” he warned during a speech. “I plan to reconvene the Emergency Committee so they are updated on the current epidemiology and evolution of the outbreak, and implementation of counter measures.”

The committee will reconvene on Jul 18 or sooner. During a meeting last week, the WHO experts decided the outbreak does not yet warrant a public health emergency of international concern.

Yesterday the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO released a new toolkit aimed at event organizers who wish to minimize the spread of monkeypox at large gatherings.

“Mass gatherings do not amplify transmission by themselves—it is the behaviour during events that matters. As events may be a conducive environment for the transmission of monkeypox if they entail close, prolonged, and frequent interactions, especially sexual activity, targeting at-risk behaviour can help reduce the spread of monkeypox,” the ECDC said.

Source: Global monkeypox cases top 6,000, WHO says | CIDRAP

Masks matter for more than mandates – Virology Down Under

  • Wear a good mask well – reduce the particles you inhale. Masks matter.
  • Don’t spend long inside crowded stuffy spaces – limited time = limited dose
  • Advocate for cleaner air. The purity of our air is as important to our health as the cleanliness of our food and water

Source: Masks matter for more than mandates – Virology Down Under

Biden Ally Says White House Criticism Is ‘the Same Foolishness That Got Us Donald Trump’

The former director of the White House’s Office of Public Engagement and top ally of President Biden, Cedric Richmond, says Democratic attacks and criticisms of the Biden White House are “the same foolishness” that got former President Donald Trump elected Business Insider reports.

Source: Biden Ally Says White House Criticism Is ‘the Same Foolishness That Got Us Donald Trump’

UK Home Office launches new assault on the rights of modern slavery survivors | openDemocracy (Me: new slaves not right type for help from Boris’ Britain?)

Yet, seemingly overnight in March 2021, Boris Johnson’s administration chose to re-interpret growing awareness of slavery as an “alarming rise of abuse within the modern slavery system”. In fact, despite 86% of trafficking cases receiving a positive final decision in the first quarter of 2021 from the Home Office, the home secretary Priti Patel argued that “the law on modern slavery is being exploited”. The government later admitted, via a freedom of information request, that there was no evidence of system abuse, let alone a rise in abuse by “foreign national offenders” or “child rapists” as a Home Office press release had originally claimed.

Without the backing of a single survivor-led group, sweeping changes to survivor rights were proposed in order to make it much harder for victims to secure support, such as access to safe housing, caseworker advocacy, counselling, or legal help. These plans were not made accessible to those who spoke a language other than English or Welsh during the consultation, excluding survivors with language barriers from sharing the impact of these changes on their lives. The resultant Nationality and Borders Act comes into force this month, and will take away survivors’ guaranteed support. Decision makers will instead be granted new powers to prevent survivors from getting the help they need due to factors irrelevant to their case – such as the victims’ offending history or even the time it takes them to share evidence.

 

Source: UK Home Office launches new assault on the rights of modern slavery survivors | openDemocracy

Boris Johnson refuses to publish official pandemic diaries | openDemocracy

Boris Johnson has refused to release the official diary of his meetings during the pandemic, sparking accusations that the prime minister “does not believe rules apply to him”.

Over the past year, openDemocracy has been battling behind the scenes to see logs of ministers’ calls and visits – which could give a crucial insight into who was lobbying Johnson’s government while its members shaped the UK response to COVID.

New chancellor Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday that “evidence and transparency is what you are going to see from this team, from this prime minister”.

Yet 18 ministers have refused to tell us how they spent their time as Britain’s biggest health crisis in a century unfolded.

Source: Boris Johnson refuses to publish official pandemic diaries | openDemocracy

Do Better Wednesdays, & An American Salt March?

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

A tool building related prompt from chapter 8, if we could find something as useful to do as making salt in defiance of an oppressive and economically fundamental law:

“Pilgrimage for empathy and Human Rights across the USA”

Who would be interested in leading such a march, do you imagine, or maybe just starting a walking group in your area?

And walking is a harmonious tool for keeping both the body and the mind sound, or making it sound if it is not.

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Click here to read, if you like:

B5,Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, orLupinReviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

orLong Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction

Thoughtful Readers, if you are on Twitter, please consider following   #Project Do Better.

Shira


Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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