Category Archives: News to use

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

Republicans are coming after same-sex marriage – and won’t stop there | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian

Republicans are aggressively undermining gay marriage

An adult marrying another adult of the same sex? Outrageous; the Lord will smite thee. An adult marrying a child of the opposite sex, on the other hand? Totally fine with God, apparently.

Such is the perverse logic of the always righteous Republicans, a number of whom recently sponsored legislation that would legalize common law marriage in Tennessee. While that sounds innocuous on the surface the legislation is a shameless attempt to undermine same-sex marriage, which has been legal across the US since 2015. The bill’s mastermind, the Tennessee state senator Janice Bowling, explained that the bill declares “that the marriage between a man and a woman is not a creation of the state government or its statutes, it is a common law right”. Bowling also noted that the bill provides “an alternative form of marriage for those pastors and other individuals who have a conscientious objection to the current pathway to marriage in our law”.

These conscientious objectors were so busy being homophobic that they didn’t have any time to be concerned about minor things like child marriage, it seems. The original iteration of the bill essentially eliminated minimum age limits to get married and paved the way for child marriage. As another state senator, Raumesh Akbari from Memphis, told reporters: “It’s ugly enough Republicans are advancing an unconstitutional bill to undermine marriage equality, but the fact that this bill reopens the debate on child marriage is outrageous.” The Republicans backing the bill didn’t seem too bothered by the whole child marriage thing when it was first pointed out but, after international backlash, they inserted an amendment adding a minimum age requirement of 17. Very noble of them.

Source: Republicans are coming after same-sex marriage – and won’t stop there | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian

Column: For two years, I’ve tried to protect myself from COVID-19. Now I’ve tested positive – Los Angeles Times

What this past week has taught me is that we are just pretending to understand this virulent, mysterious and unpredictable pandemic.

We bury ourselves in statistics, as if that gives us a sense of control. But what does the case count even mean now that so many folks are testing themselves at home and no one is tallying those results?

I appreciate all the work the researchers are doing. Rutherford said there are now tantalizing hints that blood type may be linked to COVID-19 immunity. That kind of revelation might lead to new ways to prevent or treat the disease. But even a perfect understanding of the big picture won’t mean we can predict the course of an individual infection.

“From a public health standpoint, we’re not worried about you. … You’re a good outcome,” Rutherford said. “Not as good as having no infection. But having an asymptomatic infection, we’ll chalk that up as a win.”

And right now, that sounds pretty good to me.

Source: Column: For two years, I’ve tried to protect myself from COVID-19. Now I’ve tested positive – Los Angeles Times

The Missed Poem #poetry #blogging #friends

penned in moon dust

Like a cherry blossom

you fluttered on my cheek

with a waft of fragrance

the smell of pink

you lingered for a day

perhaps it was two

tried to catch up

with the poem and you

you vanished with the sunset

you flickered out of sight

no sign of the poet

you had taken flight

Reflecting on a dear talented poet Jackie Dick who passed several years ago. We met in the blogsphere and I am glad we had a cherry blossom moment. This poem is dedicated to her and other poets who have taken flight.

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Who By Fire: תכירו את הדמות :Hopkins / Meet the Characters: Hopkins

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

Our next meeting from my Work In Progress: Who By Fire: I Will -Book 1, is Hopkins :

  M. אני לומד את האלפבית העברי מחברי  

I am learning the Hebrew Alphabet from my friend M.

Our dear Hopkins is a man of very few words. 🙂

Hopkins is a Free Man of Color, eager to learn the language of the Bible, in 1838 Baltimore, and our hero’s particularfriend.

I’d planned to start drafting in time to finish 100k words of a 1st draft as part of NaNoWriMo last year, but Do Better took precedence. I’m starting #WhoByFireIWill drafting again, still working out the various character voices.

I am currently outlining the scenes as a historical urban portal fantasy, sub-genre of either suspense or thriller.

I began writing this historical portal fantasy novel in June, 2020, when certain characters would not let me alone, and my ancestors seemed to…

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Covid and the Heart — More

CRAIN'S COMMENTS

A new study indicates that Covid=19 can infect key heart cells and affect how the heart functiom. The so-called “pacemarker” cells affect the rate at which the heart beats. Infection triggers a process of cell death (ferroptosis) that can drastically slow heart rate.(1)

The research was conducted by a team from the Weill Cornell Medicine, Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health in New York City.

Statistics show that 17% of Covid patients admitted to hospitals have heart arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats). EKG assessments identify tachycardia (excessively fast heart beat) as the most common heart complication of Covid-19. However, 56% of those with Covid who are admitted with a fever have brachycardia, an excessively slow heart rate. Both conditions present risks for the heart itself, as well as affecting the supply of oxygen to other vital organs including the brain.(2,3)

Now, a study of Syrian golden hamsters (which are vulnerable…

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In my Life.

Coisas da SIL

Na minha vida tanta coisa boa já aconteceu e por esses últimos anos tem sido muito especial e importante também. Novas escolhas, pessoas, lugares, área de profissão, espiritualidade. Novos desafios. Novas respostas. Novos olhares. Novos livros. Novos amigos. Novos hobbies. Nova rotina. Nova sintonia. Nova forma de enxergar. Nova pessoa me tornei. O Bom da vida é que você aprende o tempo todo. Todo tempo é momento de ser novo ou nova. Fique atento! Fique a vontade pra aprender. Com amor: Coisas da SiL

Novos hábitos.

In my Life

In my life so much good thing has happened and for these last years it has been very special and important as well. New choices, people, places, area of profession, spirituality. New challenges. New answers. New looks. New books. New friends. New hobbies. New routine. New tuning. New way to see. New person I became. The good thing about life is…

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How nice is Barack Obama when there’s no camera around? Reblog

NANMYKEL.COM

My brother said he was just a pretty chilled and relaxed cat. Drank his beer from the bottle and sat on plastic chairs like anyone else. Very happy to take selfies with staff and chat amiably with whomever. And then he went back to his kite surfing or whatever. Seems like a pretty ordinary and pleasant American Dad out on holiday – he just also happened to be famous.

Credit: Quora and Wikipedia Commons

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