Category Archives: News to use

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

Jamaican vaccine update: Yes, there’s a global shortage and Yes, there is nothing certain about COVID-19

Petchary's Blog

A sort of mild panic seems to have set in among some Jamaicans about obtaining their second dose of AstraZeneca. It has all become a bit muddled over the weekend, as another blitz began. The Ministry of Health and Wellness has repeatedly stated that this weekend would be for the over-50 age group only who are due for their second dose and who have confirmation from the Ministry via text message or phone call. However, there seem to have been some problems at the National Arena in Kingston, which closed early – because, according to the Ministry, a lot of people turned up who didn’t come into that category.

The basic problem is – as Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton explained in Thursday night’s press briefing – “not vaccine hesitation, it’s vaccine access.In other words, stocks are running low and the Ministry is having to prioritize…

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“Sickle Cell, Jamaica and Beyond” book presented to National Library of Jamaica

Petchary's Blog

Professor Emeritus Graham Serjeant is one of those people from overseas who came to Jamaica “for a year or two” and ended up remaining for decades. I know a few of those!Now, in recognition of World Sickle Cell Day (June 19) the Professor presented two copies of his book of memoirs and thoughts to the National Library of Jamaica.

The Sickle Cell Unit at the University of the West Indies in Kingston conducted a study between 1973 and 1981, which concluded, among other findings, that 15% of Jamaican adults are at risk of having a child with Sickle Cell Disease and that 1 in every 150 Jamaicans are born with Sickle Cell Disease, which is hereditary and not contagious. It is caused by abnormally shaped red blood cells, and it is extremely painful. Read more about it here on the National Health Fund of Jamaica’s excellent website and also

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Juneteenth — Another Point Of View

Filosofa's Word

While I have applauded the passage and presidential signing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act and have chalked up most of the objections to both ignorance and racism, I did come across one thought-provoking OpEd.  This piece by a professor at Morehouse College, a historically Black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, makes some very valid points.  Professor Robert A. Brown is not against the Juneteenth holiday, but reminds us that declaring it a federal holiday is not the end goal, that there is much work to be done in this country yet before Blacks have true freedom and equality.  The phrase, ‘Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words’ comes to mind as I read his words and ponder what he says …


Juneteenth As A National Holiday Is Symbolism Without Progress

June 19, 2021  6:00 AM ET

ROBERT A. BROWN

This week, President Biden signed into law

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June 2021 Solstice

bluejayblog

Living plants and animals follow a natural set of rules. Our lives depend on our planet’s relationship to the Sun, the Moon, and the other planets of the Solar System. Ever since the first people, we have configured our lives according to climate and seasonal weather situations.

Depending upon whether we live in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres, the two Solstices visually mark either the longest or shortest days and the shortest and longest nights. The Summer Solstice marks a way-point of the warmer time of year.

Living beings are by and large at our most active and vital stages. Winter Solstice is the midpoint of hibernation and anticipation of nature’s reawakening. It is on the June Solstice that I entertain fantasies of visiting my friends and readers who live south of the Equator. During the December Solstice, I feel most at home in mind and spirit. Since today is…

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A month of violent attacks by gold miners against Yanomami communities without protection from the Brazilian state! – «If the gold miners dig everywhere, the forest’s rivers will be full of mud, motor oil, and trash. They wash their gold powder in the streams, mixing it with mercury – dirty and dangerous…» 

Barbara Crane Navarro

Yanomami men in the forest – photo: Gullane/Pedro J Marquez

A conflict erupted on April 27, when a group of Yanomami intercepted illegal gold miners who were going up the Rio Uraricoera in a speedboat loaded with fuel for their planes, helicopters and the industrial excavating machines they use for uprooting trees and moving soil. The Yanomami seized 990 liters of fuel. Then, another group of gold miners heading downriver to Boa Vista fired guns at the Yanomami in an attempt to intimidate the indigenous community who have been trying for years to prevent illegal gold miners from coming up the rivers into their territory.

On April 30th, Yanomami contacted government authorities to alert them regarding the episodes of violence in the Palimiú region. The region consists of 1,129 indigenous people in 15 villages. 

No effective action was taken by the state security forces.

Gold mining site in indigenous territory

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Brazil: Indigenous communities reel from illegal gold mining — The Free

Barbara Crane Navarro

Spike in violence linked to illegal mining activities prompts Indigenous communities to demand protection. BySam Cowie at Al Jazeera shared with thanks 14 Jun 2021 A Yanomami man stands near an illegal gold mine during Brazil’s environmental agency operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in Roraima[…]

Brazil: Indigenous communities reel from illegal gold mining — The Free

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“Biosphere reserves: Mobilizing against deforestation in the Amazon.” UNESCO has partnered with LVMH, the luxury goods group, to fight against the direct and indirect drivers of deforestation in the Amazonian region? – Is UNESCO Greenwashing the luxury LVMH brand ???

Barbara Crane Navarro

Biosphere reserves: Mobilizing against deforestation in the Amazon – India Education Diary https://ift.tt/2Sf3La6 Biosphere reserves: Mobilizing against deforestation in the AmazonIndia Education Diary Superforest via “deforestation” – Google Newshttps://ift.tt/2Pik6Fi

Biosphere reserves: Mobilizing against deforestation in the Amazon – India Education Diary —

LVMH owns TIFFANY & CO

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Annoying Father|پدر آزار دهنده

Father’s Day 2021.

A Voice from Iran

“120th story”

First Published: Dec.05.2019

Kyle was twenty-six years old, a young man with a bachelor’s degree, still living with his parents. He was looking for a job and couldn’t wait to get out of his father’s annoying discipline prison.

entrepreneur-1340649__340

Kyle: “My father always had something boring to say, like when you are not in your room, turn the lights off. Don’t waste water when you are brushing your teeth.

Don’t drop your garbage on the streets. The environment around you is your home too take care of it. I have a critical interview, in a very successful company. If I get that job I can afford to have a great life free of my bothersome father.”

Kyle wore his best clothes and got ready to leave for the interview. There was his father again mumbling: “Be positive my son. Have confidence. Believe in yourself. You can do this.”

Kyle…

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More than 100 celebrities, prominent Canadians ask B.C. premier to preserve remaining old-growth forest | CBC News

More than 100 prominent Canadians — and a few international celebrities — have signed an open letter to British Columbia Premier John Horgan demanding he preserve the province’s remaining old-growth forests.

Campaign organizers are demanding an immediate stop to logging of the remaining old growth, saying B.C. used to be a place where trees swayed at 76 metres tall and now only 2.7 per cent of the large-tree old-growth forests remain.

The signatories span a range of professions, from politicians to musicians to athletes and activists, including former prime minister Brian Mulroney, musicians Bryan Adams and Neil Young, poet and author Michael Ondaatje, former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, and global climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

Source: More than 100 celebrities, prominent Canadians ask B.C. premier to preserve remaining old-growth forest | CBC News

COVID-19: Vids + Plants + Pets + Podcasting

Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Quick question and get your ears ready for another Happiness Between Tails podcast soon:

Have you checked out the new podcasting integration between WordPress and Anchor? I’m getting ready to try it and wonder if you have thoughts to share regarding it. (Here’s a podcast I published some months ago.) According to WordPress’ recent email, “We’re excited to announce a new feature that automatically converts the text of any page or post into a podcast on Anchor, the world’s largest podcast platform. If you’re already blogging on WordPress.com, there’s a good chance it’s podcast-ready—because our new integration with Anchor means you can now turn your words into audio in a few steps. The blog-to-podcast process is simple, and it opens up your work to new possibilities and listeners.”

COVID-19, staying-at-home included, is plenty hate-worthy. (I’ve griped about it here and here and here.) But not…

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