Category Archives: News to use

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

Technology Makes Life Comfortable & Complex

Foundation Operation X for Languages, Cultures and Perspectives

Written by Ken Ho

Technology has played an important role in advancing human civilisation. Without technology, we would still be cavemen hunting with primitive tools. There would be no skyscrapers, no television nor air-conditioning.

However, every good stuff always comes with a catch. Technology brings us closer to one another, but it makes relationships also more complex. Technology has changed our social interaction with others. While we only knew the people who lived nearby before, we are now connected to everyone else in the world with access to the worldwide web. It is true that humans are social beings, but the current scale of interconnectivity exceeds human capacity and makes having real and meaningful connection difficult. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it is actually not.The quality of connection is more important than the quantity thereof. We humans do not have an unlimited amount of empathy and careful rationing is…

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Port Authority Threatens Face Mask Scofflaws With $50 Fine At Airports, PATH Trains – Gothamist

The Port Authority is implementing a new $50 fine for anyone who isn’t wearing a face covering inside of the transportation agency’s facilities starting Monday.

The Port Authority says the “primary emphasis” remains on getting travelers to voluntarily wear a mask, but the fine would aid existing COVID-19 face covering rules in New York and New Jersey.

“This move is part of agency’s commitment to supporting the New York and New Jersey state requirements on mask wearing in transportation facilities,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a release.

All Port Authority facilities will fall under the new rule—including LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark airports; PATH stations and trains; AirTrain stations and trains; the Midtown Bus Terminal; the GWB Bus Station; and the Oculus in Lower Manhattan.

Source: Port Authority Threatens Face Mask Scofflaws With $50 Fine At Airports, PATH Trains – Gothamist

There’s no alternative to lockdown, Boris Johnson tells MPs | World news | The Guardian

Boris Johnson has sought to persuade mutinous Conservative backbenchers to support his plan for a new coronavirus lockdown across England, saying that failing to act now would risk the “medical and moral disaster” of an overwhelmed NHS. Addressing the Commons about his plans for a four-week shutdown starting on Thursday, the prime minister also rejected the idea he had been too slow to act, saying it had been right to first try a regional system of different tiers of restrictions.

Source: There’s no alternative to lockdown, Boris Johnson tells MPs | World news | The Guardian

Thessaloniki in full lockdown for two weeks, flights suspended | New Europe

Greece has imposed a two-week lockdown in the regions of Thessaloniki and Serres, in a bid to curb an alarming spread in COVID-19 cases. The new measures that were announced on Monday by government spokesperson Stelios Petsas and will come into effect on Tuesday 6am, aim to salvage the national h

Source: Thessaloniki in full lockdown for two weeks, flights suspended | New Europe

‘His Lies are Killing my Neighbors’: Swing-state Health Workers Try to Defeat Trump | Kaiser Health News

Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Appleton, in eastern Wisconsin, said she struggles to find the right words to describe her anger over the rallies, which have been linked to subsequent coronavirus outbreaks. On Oct. 24, at a rally in Waukesha, about 100 miles south of Appleton, Trump falsely accused health care workers of inflating the number of COVID cases for financial gain. “His lies are killing my neighbors,” she said. Lyerly, who is also running for state assembly, said she spends her days trying to reassure terrified pregnant patients, while fearing she might contract the virus herself. She and her colleagues are overwhelmed. She keeps her PPE in her car to ensure she never goes without it. “We’ve completely forgotten about the human impact on our health care workers. Our health care workers are exhausted, they’re burned out and they feel entirely disrespected,” she said. Lyerly said she decided to run for office in April, after the Republican-controlled assembly refused to postpone a statewide election, in which the Democratic presidential primary and a key state Supreme Court seat were on the ballot. The state GOP also stymied efforts to make it easier for Wisconsinites

Source: ‘His Lies are Killing my Neighbors’: Swing-state Health Workers Try to Defeat Trump | Kaiser Health News

Medicaid’s Future Hinges On Who Wins The White House | Vermont Public Radio

At this point, Anchia’s best hope is that his wife will be covered by a federal assistance program for uninsured COVID-19 patients. But that’s because he lives in one of the dozen holdout states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act. That part of the ACA was intended to provide health coverage for adults who are working but who have no insurance through their job — either because it’s not offered or because they can’t afford the premiums.

Medicaid provides health care for millions of low-income Americans. But its future depends very much on politics. Over the past four years, the Trump administration has tried to impose conservative principles on the program and shrink it. A Joe Biden presidency would attempt to go the other way.

“For example, me, I always work. I’ve been working 36 years in the same company,” says Anchia, who builds signage for airports. “And now I find myself in this position. Medicaid would be great for regular people. I’m not the only one.”

Anchia’s wife is out of the ICU, but he also expects he’ll need help paying for prescription medication when she’s sent home.

In Florida alone, roughly 1.5 million people would be eligible for coverage under Medicaid expansion, according to estimates by the Florida Health Justice Project. It’s a number that has grown recently because of the economic trouble and job losses triggered by the pandemic.

Source: Medicaid’s Future Hinges On Who Wins The White House | Vermont Public Radio

A Soldier’s Agony (India)

For us, who are too busy vandalising the country’s property in the name of religion. Let’s make a nation where we are able to live happily and prosper together because we belong together. Let’s make the world of that limbless soldier or that war widow a better place and making their sacrifice worth it.

quotidian

For an unemployed boy from a poor family, it isn’t about ‘having a career’ or having a five year plan. It is about getting a job that pays well. The Indian Army provides such an opportunity to young men, who need not be highly educated but should be physically fit.

No soldier was ever born a patriot. The training they go through completely changes their outlook. The boys become stronger and focused men. This manhood exposes the fissure between philosophy and the truth. The cracks in this masonry of reality gets filled with the grout of love for the nation first, then the fellow men and lastly his own life.

A boy who was raised with love is now in a war. The tourniquet is dripping red and fatigue in every inch of his body. This deracinated being, is now emotionally detached. He possesses the raw power to face the…

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3rd Day of November – Fat Cow Co – 1911 – Chevrolet Officially Enters the Automobile Market

1911 – Chevrolet Officially Enters the Automobile Market

Chevrolet, colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors.

Louis Chevrolet a Swiss race car driver and automotive engineer and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company.

Source: 3rd Day of November – Fat Cow Co

For two U.S. diplomats from St. Paul, Appeals Court ballot ruling may mean losing their vote | MinnPost

Four weeks ago, all four of them sent in their ballots. All of them have checked the Secretary of State’s website. And they’ve been in contact with Ramsey County.

Ramsey County doesn’t have their ballots.

All four of them contacted Ramsey County and sent new ballots via FedEx on Friday (they paid extra for expedited shipping). But even then, there’s no guarantee that the ballots will get there by Tuesday afternoon on Election Day.

The group’s situation may be unique, but is exemplary of the hurdles facing voters who thought they had a one week grace period to send in their ballot, as long as it was postmarked by Election Day. That grace period, established by a consent decree between the Minnesota Secretary of State and the Alliance of Retired Americans, was just disputed in a 2-1 decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday after a legal challenge from Republicans in the state. The court ruled that now, all ballots received after Election Day must be separated and the legality of their acceptance, at least with respect to the presidential election, decided at a later date.

For Weber and Palmquist, the confusion so close to election day, and the lack of answers about where their ballot went, isn’t comforting.

“I represent the United States here,” said Palmquist. “I’m a diplomat representing the United States government. And for me to have questions about why my ballot is not being received or counted makes it harder to do my job.”

Source: For two U.S. diplomats from St. Paul, Appeals Court ballot ruling may mean losing their vote | MinnPost

Uruguay’s unified response to COVID-19 has helped it avoid the same fate as its neighbours – ABC News

People go for a walk as the country has managed to get the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) under control. The entire population has access to safe drinking water and, while informal settlements exist, the percentage of the population living in precarious conditions is lower than in most parts of the region (about 5 per cent).

The healthcare system stands out as well. Uruguay invests significantly in health (9.2 per cent of GDP in 2017, similar to Australia’s spend at 9.6 per cent) and boasts one of the highest quality healthcare systems in Latin America, with more than five practising doctors per 1,000 population (the OECD average is 3.5), above average immunisation rates, active epidemiological surveillance, and 20 ICU beds per 100,000 population (again, more than the OECD average of 12).

Source: Uruguay’s unified response to COVID-19 has helped it avoid the same fate as its neighbours – ABC News