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Despite an open letter from 50 ambassadors and international representatives, Polish officials deny any suggestions of infringement on LGBT rights. This is in direct contradiction with the claims Polish leaders have made that LGBT rights pose a threat to the 'traditional family'.

This article talks about how despite the Occupy Wall Street movement being relatively disjointed and lacking a single rallying point, it has gained huge success both domestically and worldwide. They have occupied a park just off of Wall Street for nearly a month now, and they are receiving massive amounts of donations. Monetarily, they have raised $300 thousand.

This is a great article. The funniest part was about the packages of swimming goggles and wool that the protesters receive. While it is annoying that the protesters can't seem to make some sort of agreement, this is inherent in a LARGE group of young, politically charged citizens. I wouldn't say it's completely hopeless though, for they've already managed to draft a constitution. I'm glad Obama supports them too.

I just thought it was interesting how (and why) other countries are now getting involved in attacking ISIS.

A letter from the vice president of the NRA to president Obama, he focuses on individual rights to bear arms and advocates for Obama to solve the problem of gun violence without stripping people of what he thinks is the right to bear arms.

In the wake of China's recent expansions in Hanoi, both Japanese and Vietnamese Prime Ministers have decided to increase their defenses. This agreement included authorization for Japan to export defense equipment and technology to Vietnam. They see this "alliance" as something that will likely have to continue as China continues to expand across disputed territories in Asia.

In Ukraine, thousands joined together to in the March for Equality to support the rights of the country's LGBT community. Ukraine has made some efforts in progress for LGBTQ rights, but many conservative groups have worked towards backpedaling their progress. Interesting to see the difference in equality in other countries, especially with Head-Royce celebrating bi-awareness week.

I personally don't know very much about the queer community and LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine, but I hope these protests help make the situation there better. While I hope for swift and immediate change, it seems like these protests might be met with inaction for a while. It's also possible that there's backlash from conservatives in the country. I think that the path to queer rights in Ukraine will, unfortunately, be a long and hard road. That said, I'm glad to see that people are willing to speak up and fight for rights in a country like Ukraine.

Yes to all of the comments, and this observation: social change is often not linear, though it may appear so at first.

This act is one that can be compared to our own countries' push back against confederate statues in the south. Both acknowledge history, but a dark and twisted one to say the least.

Good find, Julian! and yes to your comment.

The Nipah virus has a high fatality rate, and there is no vaccine available currently. I wonder if quarantine efforts against Covid would also help to prevent this virus from spreading.

It's always scary to hear about a new virus, and I wonder how contagious the Nipah virus is, especially since it is more deadly than COVID.

Scary to hear about, especially since the fatality is 40% and 75%. I wonder if previous experience in dealing with the Nipah virus (the 2018 outbreak) will be of assistance.

Senators Sinema and Manchin, the two moderate democrats holding up Biden's infrastructure plan, were both pushed to back the bill in semi-private situations. The question is whether or not is a form of political action we should encourage or not

While not directly related to the freedom and equality paradox, I think this article is related. As freedom is going down with government restrictions on speech in Hong Kong, equality is too (as human rights abuses are more likely to continue). So maybe the freedom-equality inverse relationship is only the case in terms of economics.

yup, I think so.

In total, 400 Mawozo, a Haitian gang, kidnapped twelve adults and five children. The U.S. is working to get them out, and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. and other countries need to invest and aid Haiti in general.

Monsoons in Pakistan have killed thousands of lives this past summer, so multiple neighboring nations sent aid to help those stranded. Heavy rains may be caused by climate change, and the unprecedented monsoons have washed away infrastructure/homes.

Overall, there has not been as much news coverage of this flooding as many other events going on in the world. However, I noticed that emphasis on aid to this climate catastrophe has been covered even less. What does this say about news bias and possibly even censorship?

Good questions, Subby. I think that charitable donations are down, even as intense needs are rising. see https://afpglobal.org/covid-era-fundraising-stalls-donations-soften-and-donors-retention-rates-fall-first-quarter-2022