Category Archives: News to use

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

Writing Process: Nonfiction vs. Novel vs. Story/Novella -when is pantsing really plotting?

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

  I notice that I’m seeing vast differences between my process for writing Do Better, which is a nonfiction work, and those processes for my fiction.  While I’ve always considered myself a “plotter” due to my meticulous outlining process for articles and nonfiction books (as seen in today’s earlier post, for example), and my plot outlining process for Who By Fire, I’m realizing that what I thought was “pantsing,” as I wrote Ann & Anna off the top of my head each week, was really plotting, but just in my head.   Why?

  Because the history of one of our Anna’s, maria_weems_escaping_in_male_attire_28page_220_crop29   Anna Marie Weems, is already well known.  Not to mention that: 

 
1.)   I knew the characters intimately, for Ann & Anna, because I’ve done years of research on the topic of slavery, and even dreamt of my own ancestresses escaping bondage,

 

View original post 364 more words

Let’s save the wildlife – Polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

Myrela

Polarni medvjed je medvjed hipermesožder čiji se prirodni atar uglavnom nalazi unutar Arktičkog kruga, obuhvatajući Arktički okean, okolna mora i okolne kopnene mase. To je najveća postojeća vrsta medvjeda, kao i najveći postojeći kopneni mesožder. Iako se većina polarnih medvjeda rađa na kopnu, većinu vremena provode na morskom ledu. Njihovo naučno ime znači “pomorski medvjed” i potiče od ove činjenice. Polarni medvjedi love svoju omiljenu hranu, foke, sa ivice morskog leda, često živeći od rezervi masti, kada nema morskog leda. Zbog očekivanog gubitka staništa izazvanog klimatskim promjenama, polarni medvjed klasifikovan je kao ranjiva vrsta. Decenijama je lov velikih razmjera izazivao međunarodnu zabrinutost za budućnost ove vrste, ali populacija se oporavila nakon što su kontrole počele da stupaju na snagu. Hiljadama godina polarni medvjed bio je ključna figura u materijalnom, duhovnom i kulturnom životu cirkumpolarnih naroda, a polarni medvjedi ostaju važni u njihovim kulturama. Polarni medvjed poznat je i kao “bijeli…

View original post 15 more words

Leader of North Carolina Chapter of Oath Keepers Pleads Guilty to Seditious Conspiracy and Obstruction of Congress for Efforts to Stop Transfer of Power Following 2020 Presidential Election | OPA | Department of Justice

William Todd Wilson, 45, of Newton Grove, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol breach. As part of the plea agreement, Wilson has agreed to cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation.

Wilson is the third Oath Keepers member to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges. Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2022. Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia, pleaded guilty on April 29, 2022.

As described in court documents, Wilson was an Oath Keeper member since 2016. He was a leader of a chapter from Sampson County, North Carolina. The Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias. Though the Oath Keepers will accept anyone as members, they explicitly focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first-responder personnel.

In his guilty plea, Wilson, a military and law enforcement veteran, admitted that he agreed with others to take part in a plan to use force to prevent, hinder and delay the execution of the laws of the United States governing the transfer of presidential power. He and others used encrypted and private communications, equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear and were prepared to answer a call to take up arms.

According to court documents, Wilson and other conspirators engaged in numerous communications in the weeks leading to Jan. 6, often using an encrypted messaging application called “Signal.” In one post, on Dec. 14, 2020, Wilson wrote, “It is time to fight!” In another, on Dec. 30, 2020, he posted, “Things are about to get real . . . and we need to be ready as ever!” On Jan. 5, 2021, in response to a message anticipating unrest after the next day’s Congressional proceeding, Wilson replied, “That’s why I have all my gear with me.”

On Jan. 5, Wilson drove to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He brought an AR-15-style rifle, a 9-millimeter pistol, approximately 200 rounds of ammunition, body armor, a camouflaged combat uniform, pepper spray, a large walking stick intended for use as a weapon, and a pocketknife.” He stayed at a Virginia hotel with other Oath Keepers leaders. Wilson stored his firearms, ammunition and combat gear in the hotel room and was prepared to retrieve the weapons if called upon to do so.

On the afternoon of Jan. 6, Wilson and others marched to the Capitol. Shortly after 2 p.m., he and others in the group bypassed barricades and Capitol Police officers and unlawfully entered the restricted grounds. At 2:34 p.m., Wilson entered the Capitol through the Upper West Terrace Doors. He was the first of the Oath Keepers co-conspirators to breach the building. Wilson was armed with a pocketknife and wore a neck gaiter and beanie hat to mask his appearance. By 2:38 p.m., he had marched through the Rotunda to the east side of the Capitol, where he joined in the center of a mob of people trying to push open the Rotunda Doors from inside the building. About one minute later, the Rotunda Doors were forced open, and a mob of people, including more Oath Keepers, moved inside.

Wilson exited the Capitol at 2:55 p.m. He later met with other co-conspirators at a restaurant in Vienna, Virginia, where one member advised that incriminating materials should be deleted from their cell phones. On Jan. 7, after arriving at his home, Wilson took steps to conceal incriminating evidence of his participation in the conspiracy from being stored in his Apple iCloud account. In late January 2021, he intentionally discarded his only cell phone into the Atlantic Ocean to prevent law enforcement from discovering incriminating evidence about his participation in this conspiracy…

Source: Leader of North Carolina Chapter of Oath Keepers Pleads Guilty to Seditious Conspiracy and Obstruction of Congress for Efforts to Stop Transfer of Power Following 2020 Presidential Election | OPA | Department of Justice

HHS chief Xavier Becerra says Biden administration to ‘double down’ on women’s healthcare – UPI.com

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday the Biden administration plans to “double down” to ensure women receive reproductive healthcare to which they’re entitled days after a leak suggested the Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

He made the comments during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Committee on Appropriations to discuss the HHS’ budget. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked Becerra what the HHS’ Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force was doing to ensure access to reproductive health.

Source: HHS chief Xavier Becerra says Biden administration to ‘double down’ on women’s healthcare – UPI.com

Supreme Court Confirms Leak but Says Text Is Not Final – The New York Times

Yesterday, a news organization published a copy of a draft opinion in a pending case. Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Court’s confidential deliberative work. Although the document described in yesterday’s reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., provided the following statement:

To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.

We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce — permanent employees and law clerks alike — intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.

I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.

1 in 5 Parents of Children Under 5 Intend to Get Them a COVID-19 Vaccine Right Away Once Eligible; Most Say Approval Delays Have Not Shaken Their Confidence in Vaccine’s Safety and Effectiveness | KFF

About a Third of the Public Thinks the Nation is Facing a New COVID-19 Wave as Cases Rise About a fifth (18%) of parents with children under age 5 say they intend to get their child vaccinated “right away” once federal regulators authorize its use for their child’s age group, the latest KFF COVID-19 VaccineMore

— Read on www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/press-release/1-in-5-parents-of-children-under-5-intend-to-get-them-a-covid-19-vaccine-right-away-once-eligible/