Category Archives: News to use

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

Russian-installed Crimean leader praises FSB for terrorizing Crimean Tatars

Really cruel and dumb

Sergei Aksyonov confirmed that the operation on Monday evening was aimed at intimidation, and effectively threatened to treat acts of solidarity with Crimean Tatar political prisoners as ‘abetting terrorism’.

No, A “Glitch” in Michigan Election Software Didn’t Switch Trump Votes

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has dispelled a viral conspiracy about the state’s election system. Michigan’s official ballot tally was not impacted by a “glitch,” though human error did lead to a miscalculation in one county’s unofficial tally.

Source: No, A “Glitch” in Michigan Election Software Didn’t Switch Trump Votes

Atlanta Falcons Players Want More Georgia Voters – The New York Times

Falcons fullback Keith Smith wore a T-shirt that bore a quote from the late Representative John Lewis of Georgia during warmups before a September game.

Before the season started, players on the team’s three-year-old social justice committee searched for more impactful methods of grass-roots activism after team-wide conference calls and meetings with local leaders following George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police in May. The committee decided that one area where it could make a bigger impact on voter engagement was speaking directly with high school football players, whom they figured would share a connection over being athletes.

WWI Hero Sgt. Henry Johnson Receives Long Overdue Medal of Honor | HuffPost

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Sgt. Johnson

A fair bit of information about both soldiers can be found online, and while their bravery is beyond dispute, personal details about Sgt. Shemin are mostly accurate, while Sgt. Johnson’s are frequently distorted. As the genealogist who had the privilege of researching both of these Medal of Honor cases for the Army, I had the opportunity to seek out and steep myself in more than 1,300 pages of Sgt. Johnson’s paper trail, so I’d like to clarify some misconceptions.

  • His full name was William Henry Johnson, but Sgt. Johnson preferred to go by his middle name of Henry and only occasionally used his full name for formal purposes, such as when he married. This is why, for instance, newspaper reports of his death can be found under both the names of Henry Johnson and William Henry Johnson.

Source: WWI Hero Sgt. Henry Johnson Receives Long Overdue Medal of Honor | HuffPost

NYC’s Pandemic Ventilation Plan For Winter In Public Schools Involves Space Heaters, Air Purifiers, And Lots Of Layers – Gothamist

Following complaints from NYC public school teachers about uncomfortably chilly temperatures in some classrooms, the city Department of Education has put forth a plan intended to keep classrooms warm even when windows must remain open to slow the spread of COVID-19. The plan will include air purifiers, space heaters, and filters to ensure proper airflow, in addition to keeping windows open in rooms with poor ventilation.

The approach will vary depending on the needs of each school, according to a three-page memo drafted by the DOE and obtained by Gothamist. The plan states that 13,700 more MERV-13 filters will be ordered and installed in school HVAC systems to help keep the virus out of the air in classrooms. These filters — adding to an already existing supply — are ordered in accordance with guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends high-quality filters to combat COVID-19.

The remaining HVAC filters are scheduled to arrive between mid-November and mid-January, 2021. More filter deliveries will come weekly, which the DOE says “will allow all buildings to have at least one complete filter set installed.”

The city is also ordering another 20,000 HEPA-rated air purifier units for schools, adding to the 10,000 it already ordered for the start of in-person learning. Those new air purifiers will be prioritized to classrooms with “limited windows and no mechanical ventilation,” inoperable windows, and with no windows at all.

Source: NYC’s Pandemic Ventilation Plan For Winter In Public Schools Involves Space Heaters, Air Purifiers, And Lots Of Layers – Gothamist

Dengue, deadly viral disease silently sweeping through the Caribbean – Repeating Islands

A vast majority of cases are asymptomatic or mild and self-managed, and hence the actual numbers of dengue cases are under-reported. Many cases are also misdiagnosed as other febrile illnesses. The number of dengue cases reported to WHO increased over 8 fold over the last two decades, from 505,430 cases in 2000 to over 2.4 million in 2010, and 4.2 million in 2019. Reported deaths between the year 2000 and 2015 increased from 960 to 4032. This alarming increase in case numbers is partly explained by a change in national practices to record and report dengue to the Ministries of Health, and to the WHO. But it also represents government recognition of the burden, and therefore the pertinence to report dengue disease burden.  Therefore, although the full global burden of the disease is uncertain, this observed growth only brings us closer to a more accurate estimate of the full extent of the burden.

Source: Dengue, deadly viral disease silently sweeping through the Caribbean – Repeating Islands

Covid-19

By Hook Or By Book

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I know many of us are currently basking in the glow of the Biden/Harris win yesterday, but here’s a grim reminder of what is still at stake in terms of the pandemic. There’s another outbreak at the White House with at least six aides testing positive, including Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows. More than 130,000 new cases were reported Friday, and hospitalizations and deaths are increasing in 27 states. With almost 10 million people who have been infected, we have now lost more than 237,000 souls. President-elect Biden is making the pandemic a priority and will be announcing his coronavirus task force on Monday. As you try to wrap your head around the unimaginable toll Covid-19 has taken on this country, check out artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg’s “A Field of Flags.”

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