Category Archives: News to use

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

“Namaste Laxmi Aunty”

quotidian

In an independent age we are living in, we usually talk about how all forms of labour contribute to the welfare of the society.

In many western countries, the dignity of labour is well recognised. Students do not mind in earning money by working as food delivery boy or waiters at a restaurant. Much of the domestic work like cooking food is done by the members of the family. However, in countries like India, many middle-class families have house hold help. There are benefits for sure, but comes with a slight implication when we look at the society as whole.

My son was five, when he very innocently said to me,

“Mummy I want to be a driver of a garbage truck when I grow up”.

I had a hearty laughter. But I realised it was the right time to teach him about dignity of labour. I answered with a…

View original post 468 more words

Things That Disabled People Always Hear

The Wheelchair Teen

When you’re a disabled person like me, there are certain things that able-bodied people always say to you. I’ve only been a wheelchair-user for six years and I already feel as if I’ve heard it all thousands of times before. Because I’m black, I don’t only hear the things that disabled people frequently do, I also hear things that black people often do too. Here are all of the things that I constantly hear from able-bodied people, as well as the things that they frequently do when they see me:

h

Twelve Things Able-Bodied People Always Say

1. Unoriginal Jokes

Unoriginal jokes are things that you will probably hear a lot as a wheelchair-user. The type of joke seems to depend on where you are: I often hear American wheelchair-users talk about people saying: “I hope you got a licence for that thing!” to them in a jokey manner when…

View original post 2,083 more words

“ Mahatma Gandhi ”

Dream diaries

An old and simple man ,
Dressed in white ,
With a stick in hand ,
But the resolute credence glowed deep within !!

Non violence , was the path he preached ,
Believed in simplicity, lived in austerity ,
Wrapped in a dhoti and shawl , not an elaborate attire ,
Immense contentment he still attained !!

Harmony and morality he believed in ,
Countless times , when he had been put behind the bars ,
Fought to gain his right , but violence had never been a part of his fight ,
Satygrah , he followed , for the nation he was a star !!

The swadeshi movement ,
A warning for the British to quit the country ,
To Boycott the British goods ,
He himself spun the cloth ,
Evoked the spirit of freedom in the country’s heart !!

The Dandi March ,
He set off…

View original post 212 more words

Avian Flu Diary: MRC Report #34: COVID-19 Infection Fatality Ratio Estimates from Seroprevalence

In summary, we estimate that the overall COVID-19 IFR ranges from 0.14 – 0.42% in low income countries to 0.78 – 1.79% in high income countries, with the differences in those ranges reflecting the older demography of high income settings. The IFR is also likely to vary depending on available healthcare and underlying health conditions.

Our results suggest that the overall risk of death from COVID-19 doubles with approximately every eight years of age. Our estimates of the IFR of COVID-19 are consistent with early estimates and remain substantially higher than IFR estimates for seasonal influenza (<0.1% in the USA) 40 . 

Source: Avian Flu Diary: MRC Report #34: COVID-19 Infection Fatality Ratio Estimates from Seroprevalence

Amazon Now Has More Than 1 Million Employees – Slashdot

Amazon.com said it now has about 1 million employees after hiring 250,000 workers in the third quarter, part of a growth spurt driven by booming ecommerce sales during the coronavirus pandemic and a milestone for a company founded in 1995 by Jeff Bezos as an online bookseller. Despite its rapid ascent, Amazon still has fewer workers than the nation’s biggest private employer, Walmart, which has 2.2 million global workers.

Even so, Amazon’s explosive growth underscores the historic shift in financial might from manufacturers such as General Motors, U.S. Steel and General Electric. In the 1950s, these three corporations were the country’s biggest employers, with a combined workforce of more than 1 million employees at the time. Today, the three employ about 400,000 workers as the U.S. economy has shed factory jobs in favor of service-oriented work. In a conference call on Thursday, Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said the company hired “a lot more people to support the strong customer demand.” After hiring 250,000 full-time and part-time workers in the quarter ended in September, Amazon has hired another 100,000 workers in October, he said. The jobs pay a minimum of $15 an hour and include benefits such as health insurance, retirement benefits and parental leave, he added. Source: Amazon Now Has More Than 1 Million Employees – Slashdot

Sean Connery (RIP) Reads C.P. Cavafy’s Epic Poem “Ithaca,” Set to the Music of Vangelis | Open Culture

This video combines three things that make me happy: the voice of Sean Connery (who passed away today), the music of Vangelis (Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire), and the poetry of C.P. Cavafy.

Source: Sean Connery (RIP) Reads C.P. Cavafy’s Epic Poem “Ithaca,” Set to the Music of Vangelis | Open Culture

COMMAND YOUR INTERNAL DIALOGUES

Klien Rai

Our body always carries a concurrent source of generating thoughts, which we call as mind. Our mind, which if not controlled by us, controls us and overrules us and our personality. This thought simply which we talk with, think with, act with is your internal dialogue. It is that voice echoing within you that waves up your words, thoughts and action. It is continuous all the time, without any control on your thoughts, consciously or subconsciously. (That is another point that being in a thoughtless state is attained meditation.)

Once this thought generating process is disturbed, the person is tagged with a tagline of “disturbed mind”. Thoughts keep on generating and get transformed into the words still in that condition too, but they actually loose your control. This happens only in the condition when your thought process is either negative or too much attached with the worldly desires . As…

View original post 118 more words