Skip to main content

Home/ Groups/ TOK Friends
Rss Feed
Sort By: Most Recent | Popular Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
cvanderloo

When Christmas was cancelled: a lesson from history - 0 views

theconversation.com/d-a-lesson-from-history-149310

christmas covid pandemic england protestant reformation

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Back in 1647, Christmas was banned in the kingdoms of England (which at the time included Wales), Scotland and Ireland and it didn’t work out very well. Following a total ban on everything festive, from decorations to gatherings, rebellions broke out across the country. While some activity took the form of hanging holly in defiance, other action was far more radical and went on to have historical consequences.
  • The protestant reformation had restructured churches across the British Isles, and holy days, Christmas included, were abolished. The usual festivities during the 12 days of Christmas (December 25 to January 5) were deemed unacceptable.
  • Christmas Day, however, didn’t pass quietly. People across England, Scotland and Ireland flouted the rules.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Taking up arms and breaking the rules weren’t just about experiencing the fun of the season. Fighting against the prohibition of Christmas was a political act. Things had changed and the Christmas rebellion was as much a protest against the “new normal” as it was against the banning of fun. People were fed up with a range of restrictions and financial difficulties that came with the Presbyterian system and the fallout of the civil war.
  • The aftermath of the Norwich Christmas riots was the most dramatic. The mayor was summoned to London in April 1648 to explain his failure to prohibit the Christmas parties, but a crowd closed the city gates to prevent him from being taken away. Armed forces were again deployed, and in the ensuing riots, the city ammunition magazine exploded, killing at least 40 people.
  • This Christmas, police across the country are ready to enforce COVID regulations and break up gatherings. While the pandemic does make things different, with rule breaking a matter of safety as much as anything else, politicians could learn from the fallout of the last time Christmas was cancelled.
  • Like in 1647, many people today are fed up with the government’s restrictions. Many have also suffered financial difficulties as a result of the COVID regulations. Some may rail against the idea of ending a miserable year under what they may regard as contradictory restrictions on family fun.
ilanaprincilus06

Rate Of Gun Violence Deaths In U.S. Is Higher Than Much Of The World : Goats and Soda :... - 1 views

www.npr.org/...pares-to-the-rest-of-the-world

USA gun violence

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • The horrific mass shooting events in the Atlanta area and Boulder, Colo., just days apart have once again shown a spotlight on how frequent this type of violence is in the United States compared with other wealthy countries.
  • The U.S. has the 32nd-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world:
  • 3.96 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • In the District of Columbia, the rate is 18.5 per 100,000 — the highest in the United States.
  • "If you compare us to other well-off countries, we really stand out."
  • with deaths due to gun violence rare even in many low-income countries — such as Tajikistan and Gambia, which saw 0.18 deaths and 0.22 deaths, respectively, per 100,000 people.
  • "It is a little surprising that a country like ours should have this level of gun violence,"
  • Prosperous Asian countries such as Singapore (0.01), Japan (0.02) and South Korea (0.02) boast the absolute lowest rates — along with China, also at 0.02.
  • With the casualties due to armed conflicts factored out, even in conflict-ridden regions such as the Middle East, the U.S. rate is worse.
  • The U.S. gun violence death rate is also higher than in nearly all countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including many that are among the world's poorest.
ilanaprincilus06

Supreme Court Mulls Whether Police Can Enter Home Without Warrant To Save A Life : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...without-warrant-to-save-a-life

Supreme Court police warrants

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Just what sort of emergency allows police to enter your home without a warrant? That was the question before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday.
  • Later that day, doctors concluded he was not a threat to himself or others and released him. In the meantime, police had confiscated his guns and ammunition. So he sued, alleging an illegal seizure and search of his home.
  • she isn't answering her phone, and her back door is open, so the neighbors call the police. "Would that be enough" for the police to enter the house without a warrant to check up on the missing neighbor?"No" answered Dvoretzky, "I think that alone would not be enough."
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • The lower courts ruled that police could enter the home and under the so-called the community care-taking exception to the Constitution's warrant requirement.
  • "No," replied lawyer Dvoretzky. Police can only enter if there were a genuine emergency going on at that very moment.
  • Dvoretzky contended that a warrantless entry could only occur in a true emergency, but his definition was so narrow it didn't seem to satisfy many of the justices.
  • "Every single day, on average, there are 65 suicides by gunshot in the United States," he said, noting that "police officers are critical...as in this instance" to suicide prevention.
  • The Supreme Court has never explicitly recognized that police may enter the home without a warrant as part of their "community care-taking" duties.
  • There are some long-standing exceptions to the warrant requirement in "exigent circumstances, " such as hot pursuit of a suspect.
  • Can the police enter their locked fence around the yard to get the the cat down. "Is that community care-taking?" Roberts asked.Yes, replied DeSisto. "To me, climbing a tree and getting a cat doesn't interfere with the privacy rights."
  • "the key principle is if someone is at risk of serious harm and it's reasonable for officials to intervene now, that is enough. The officials don't need to show that the harm is mere moments away."
cvanderloo

How British people weathered exceptionally cold winters - 0 views

theconversation.com/eptionally-cold-winters-151932

winter England Britain science history

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • side from depriving schoolchildren of the sheer fun of a snow day, climate change could lead the popular imaginary of British winters into uncharted territory.
  • By studying weather observations and stories carefully recorded in diaries, letters and newspapers, it’s possible to trace winter’s icy fingerprints on the human drama.
  • During the winter of 1794-1795, temperatures struggled to climb above freezing, hovering at a daily average of 0.5°C
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Tensions did not subside with the thaw: scarcity and high food prices contributed to bread riots across the country in the following spring. “Times are now alarming”, reported the Clipston Paris Register on May 1 1795.
  • . The Victoria Relief Fund was established and soup kitchens were set up in various parishes, foreshadowing social reforms that would confront poverty in subsequent decades.
  • But the winter of 1939-1940 was one of the coldest on record, and it arrived as the country anxiously contemplated another war in Europe.
  • As Britain’s winters become progressively milder, people may never see the like of 1940 again. But these descriptive accounts and first-hand testimonials unveil the power of climate change over human lifetimes – and hint at the role weather will continue to play in Britain’s future.
ilanaprincilus06

U.S. Refugee Program Faces Challenges To Rebuild : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...-support-facing-big-challenges

Delaware refugees

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Among the more daunting challenges President Biden faces in the coming year will be to make good on his goal of admitting 10 times as many refugees — 125,000 — as former President Donald Trump allowed to enter the United States last year.
  • "One hundred and twenty-five thousand refugees being resettled this [next] year is unrealistic," says Krish O'Mara Vignarajah,
  • "Our refugee resettlement has been on life support for the past few years," Vignarajah says. Seventeen of her agency's 48 resettlement sites have closed due to budgetary cutbacks in the U.S. government's refugee program.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • "It involves reopening offices that were closed, rehiring staff we lost, and regaining crucial institutional knowledge," Vignarajah says. The staff members who were let go, she says, represented decades of experience.
  • "No back home again," Pathy says. "From the hospital, we leave and run away." At that point, they had no idea whether their daughters were alive or dead.
  • With other refugees, the Mulemas made their way to Ghana. The refugee camp there was administered by the United Nations. They spent five years living in miserable conditions, with little or no shelter.
  • In a sign of the interfaith character of refugee resettlement work, Jewish Family Services of Delaware partnered with a local Christian church, Calvary Baptist, to accommodate the Mulema family. Over the next three years, about a dozen volunteers from the church helped the Mulemas deal with the new challenges they faced.
  • Given how much work is necessary to resettle a single refugee family, however, the prospect of vastly and suddenly increased refugee admissions is barely feasible, in large part because the refugee resettlement infrastructure has been eroded over the past four years.
  • Trump allowed fewer than 12,000 refugees to enter the country last year, the lowest number in the history of the U.S. refugee program.
  • Across the United States, about one out of three resettlement sites have closed. Jewish Family Services of Delaware was informed it would not be assigned any more refugee families.
  • "The Trump Administration really did some serious damage to the infrastructure of the refugee program," Hetfield says. "Also, obviously, the pandemic put some really serious restrictions on."
  • A renewed government commitment to refugee admissions is not enough on its own to bring the program back to full strength.
  • The United States was founded as a nation of ideals, with almost a religious obligation to welcome the tired and homeless. The country has met the commitment before. It's now challenged to do so again, hard though it may be.
cvanderloo

Your genetics influence how resilient you are to cold temperatures - new research - 1 views

theconversation.com/mperatures-new-research-155975

genetics science research cold knowledge

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Some people just aren’t bothered by the cold, no matter how low the temperature dips. And the reason for this may be in a person’s genes. Our new research shows that a common genetic variant in the skeletal muscle gene, ACTN3, makes people more resilient to cold temperatures.
  • Our recent study, conducted alongside researchers from Lithuania, Sweden and Australia, suggests that if you’re alpha-actinin-3 deficient, then your body can maintain a higher core temperature
  • While only 30% of participants with the alpha-actinin-3 protein reached the full 120 minutes of cold exposure, 69% of those that were alpha-actinin-3 deficient completed the full cold-water exposure time.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Our previous work has shown that ACTN3 variants play an important role in our muscle’s ability to generate strength. We showed that the loss of alpha-actinin-3 is detrimental to sprint performance in athletes and the general population, but may benefit muscle endurance.
  • This is because the loss of alpha-actinin-3 causes the muscle to behave more like a slower muscle fibre.
  • Our study shows that ACTN3 is more than just the “gene for speed”, but that its loss improves our muscle’s ability to generate heat and reduces the need to shiver when exposed to cold.
  • The goal of our research is to improve our understanding of how our genetics influence how our muscle works. This will allow us to develop better treatments for those who suffer from muscle diseases, like Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well as more common conditions, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
cvanderloo

In Texas, price gouging during disasters is illegal - it is also on very shaky ethical ... - 1 views

theconversation.com/ry-shaky-ethical-ground-155836

Texas winter economics ethics research science

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • In Houston, as millions suffered power and water outages, food shortages and subfreezing temperatures, another problem confronted families: price hikes.Steep increases in the price of food, gas and fuel have been reported across Texas. And as millions of Texans lost power, exorbitant prices were being asked for hotel rooms with power, with some climbing to US$1,000 a night.
  • Disaster creates a scarcity of basic necessities; retailers and providers respond by sharply raising the price tags on sought-after commodities.
  • Contrarian voices argue that price hikes are good – they provide incentives for sellers to bring extra supplies and prevent hoarding.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Whether price gouging helps bring more supply to disaster victims is speculative, but a surer outcome is that it will disproportionately burden the worst-off.
  • that is, an obligation to help others in danger when doing so entails only a small cost to yourself.
    • cvanderloo
      cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21
       
      duty of early rescue
  • Rescuing someone with little risk or cost to yourself is a moral duty, not a duty enforced by law in the U.S. So, some people might ask, why should it be enforced on would-be price gougers?
  • Picture a hiker lost in the woods suffering serious dehydration. A second hiker walks by and offers to sell her his extra water, but for a large sum.This violates the duty of easy rescue because it risks failing to save someone who can easily be saved, so long as the second hiker does not need the water himself.
  • We are all better off when we cooperate to provide services that at some point we all may need.
    • cvanderloo
      cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21
       
      social contract theory
  • This extends to rescue services such as firefighters, paramedics and first responders. But when life-threatening conditions arise from lack of food, water, shelter and power, this burden of rescue can be delegated to sellers of necessities and providers of utilities. At the least, society requires that they not raise prices and turn away those who cannot pay.
  • But actual inequality provides a reason to enforce laws against price gouging. When prices rise, the worst-off suffer the most.
ilanaprincilus06

NCAA Looms Large In Debate Over Transgender Sports Restrictions : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...ransgender-sports-restrictions

NCAA transgender rights

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • When the South Dakota state legislature passed HB 1217 in early March, South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem tweeted that she was "excited" to sign it.That bill would have stopped transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams designated for girls and women.
  • These types of bills have been introduced in 25 states nationwide and have become a nationwide cause for social conservatives like Noem.
  • The ongoing fight in South Dakota is indicative not only of the way the issue of transgender girls in sports has become a nationwide phenomenon, but of the way that the NCAA looms over debates over transgender rights, and especially over the fight over transgender sports bans
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • In 2016, that state passed a bill restricting which bathrooms transgender people could use.
  • Because of that law, the NCAA and other sports organizations pulled events from the state. That included seven NCAA championship events, among them two rounds of men's March Madness basketball games.
  • Proponents believe the laws will keep girls and women's sports free of unfair competition.
  • In other words, it's a variety of NCAA events — well beyond March Madness — that can affect a city's economy, especially a small city like Sioux Falls. For now, people like Lee will be watching closely to see what the South Dakota legislature does next with the bill.
  • The NCAA is uniquely situated in this debate in that it is an economic force and a sporting organization - one that already has a policy on transgender athletes. That 2011 policy does allow transgender athletes to participate on their gender's teams.
  • Idaho passed the country's first transgender sports ban last year. The NCAA came out against that bill, calling it "harmful to transgender student athletes."
  • More than 500 student athletes have signed onto a letter asking the NCAA not to host events in states with these laws.
ilanaprincilus06

The Pandemic Pushed People Outside And Now, Some Companies Hope They Stay There : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...companies-hope-they-stay-there

Covid-19 nature

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Something weird happened on the primitive mountain bike trails outside of Kansas City last spring. Coleen Voeks says she went from seeing a person or two stretched out along miles of trail there, to seeing a mass of humanity.
  • "This global pandemic caused people to globally to change their behaviors, which ultimately has led to a global bike boom,"
  • bike sales climbed 65% last year, and electric bike sales shot up 145%, despite shortages at many bike shops. Hage says sales would still more robust if factories could keep up with demand.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • And that's not just bikes, sales of golf equipment climbed 10%, in January camper sales were up almost 40% compared to January 2020, and boats are doing even better.
  • "Anytime you see a dramatic societal shift, like we have going on right now, a certain portion of that does stick,"
  • A society shift toward outdoor recreation presents sweeping opportunity for a company like Garmin International, in Olathe, Kan. It specializes in navigation and fitness devises.
  • For Garmin, locking in those new customers is partly a matter of rolling out new activity-specific devices, like the line of Descent dive computers it launched last year.
  • "It'll make you feel good. It really does. Little time spent outside will make you feel amazing,"
cvanderloo

Long COVID: who is at risk? - 0 views

theconversation.com/ng-covid-who-is-at-risk-151797

COVID research risk science

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection – this has been dubbed “long COVID”.
  • In defining who is at risk from long COVID and the mechanisms involved, we may reveal suitable treatments to be tried – or whether steps taken early in the course of the illness might ameliorate it.
  • Indeed, early analysis of self-reported data submitted through the COVID Symptom Study app suggests that 13% of people who experience COVID-19 symptoms have them for more than 28 days, while 4% have symptoms after more than 56 days.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Patients in this study had a mean age of 44 years, so were very much part of the young, working-age population. Only 18% had been hospitalised with COVID-19, meaning organ damage may occur even after a non-severe infection.
  • Another piece of early research (awaiting peer review) suggests that SARS-CoV-2 could also have a long-term impact on people’s organs.
  • Perhaps unsurprisingly, people with more severe disease initially – characterised by more than five symptoms – seem to be at increased risk of long COVID. Older age and being female also appear to be risk factors for having prolonged symptoms, as is having a higher body mass index.
  • Rather harder to explore is the symptom of fatigue. Another recent large-scale study has shown that this symptom is common after COVID-19 – occurring in more than half of cases – and appears unrelated to the severity of the early illness.
  • While men are at increased risk of severe infection, that women seem to be more affected by long COVID may reflect their different or changing hormone status.
  • Some symptoms of long COVID overlap with menopausal symptoms, and hormone replacement using medication may be one route to reducing the impact of symptoms.
  • What is clear, however, is that long-term symptoms after COVID-19 are common, and that research into the causes and treatments of long COVID will likely be needed long after the outbreak itself has subsided.
ilanaprincilus06

Half Of The Jury In The Chauvin Trial Is Nonwhite. That's Only Part Of The Story : Live... - 0 views

www.npr.org/...e-thats-only-part-of-the-story

jury selection Minneapolis

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • The jury chosen for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, is notable because it is significantly less white than Minneapolis itself.
  • three Black men, one Black woman and two jurors who identify as multiracial.
  • 50% of the panel that will vote on Chauvin's fate will be Black or multiracial.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Hennepin County, where the trial is being held, is only 17% Black or multiracial, while it is 74% white.
  • The jury's racial makeup will assuage some of the concerns that activists and others had expressed as jury selection got underway two weeks ago.
  • An insufficiently diverse jury, they believed, would undercut people's faith in the legitimacy of a trial seen as a critical moment in the racial justice movement that Floyd's killing helped reenergize last spring.
  • Two of the Black men on the jury are not African Americans but, rather, Black immigrants. During questioning, they expressed the kind of moderate views on policing and race relations
  • None of the Black jurors ultimately chosen for the panel spoke extensively about personal experiences with racism or about having had overtly negative interactions with police. Several said they had a healthy respect for law enforcement.
  • The fate of Juror 76 highlighted a tension that often exists in jury selection, especially in cases in which issues of race loom large. The experiences that come with being Black in America are often enough to get jurors struck from a case
  • That did not seem to be the case during jury selection for the Chauvin trial. Several jurors who expressed at least some support for the movement were seated on the jury — a sign of progress, Chakravarti said.
  • On one hand, that the defense would strike people with negative views of police is understandable, given Nelson's responsibility to seat a jury favorable to his client.
  • She said his fate was a reminder that the jury selection process should be reformed to ensure more African Americans have a fair shot to serve on juries."We should start," she wrote, "by recognizing that their lived experiences with racism are not justification to excuse them."
cvanderloo

Ending testing for New York City's gifted program may be another blow to Black and Lati... - 0 views

theconversation.com/ack-and-latino-students-157381

gifted racism oppression black latino students NYC education research

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • The city’s Department of Education announced in February that it would stop testing students for its gifted program, which places top students in schools with curriculum designed for high academic achievement. Instead, preschool teachers will refer students for consideration.
  • Research has shown that teacher referrals tend to lead to fewer Black and Hispanic students’ qualifying for gifted programs, though Black teachers refer Black students more equitably.
  • gifted education is a vital service to help students with exceptional academic ability realize their full potential.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • For years, advocates for students in NYC have argued that using high-stakes tests on 4-year-olds to determine their school placement for the entire K-12 experience is unfair. It disadvantages students who didn’t attend academic-style pre-K or early enrichment programs.
  • Any test administered at age 4 will quickly cease to provide useful information, as students develop at different rates. Some accelerate during the elementary or high school years, while others who initially looked precocious settle into average achievement.
  • 3. It limited which students fully realize their potential
  • But research shows that many students start the school year performing well above grade level and are left to become bored and not reach their full potential.
  • By failing students with advanced academic needs who come from underrepresented groups, New York City’s Department of Education risks losing the entire gifted program.
  • An overhaul is possible, but it has to start with evidence-based practices, not quick fixes.
ilanaprincilus06

Octopuses, Like People, Seem To Have Active Stages Of Sleep, May Dream : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...eams-but-theyre-probably-brief

octopus sleep

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Octopuses have alternating periods of "quiet" and "active" sleep that make their rest similar to that of mammals, despite being separated by more than 500 million years of evolution.
  • During their active periods of sleep, octopuses' skin color changes and their bodies twitch,
  • And to make sure the animals were genuinely sleeping, the researchers checked to see if they would respond to a video of a swimming crab, a favorite food item, or to a vibration made by a hammer tapping on the tank.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • The scientists found that the octopuses had periods of quiet sleep, when they were pale and still, followed by short bursts of active sleep. This cycle repeated every 30 to 40 minutes.
  • "For around 40 seconds, they dramatically change their color and their skin texture. Their eyes are also moving,"
  • Their dreams, if they have them, can't be terribly complex or symbolic, given how short these active phases are, says Medeiros.
  • "because they are a separate example of the evolution of large brains. And so they are telling us something fundamental about what it is to have a large brain and what you need as part of that."
ilanaprincilus06

Biden On Track For Schools To Reopen, But Will Kids Go? : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...n-as-promised-but-will-kids-go

Covid-19 school

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • President Biden said Thursday that his administration is on track to keep a promise he made to the nation's parents and caregivers: to reopen the majority of elementary and middle schools for full-time, in-person learning within his first 100 days in office.
  • but that reopening the nation's schools doesn't mean all students will quickly return to classrooms.
  • 42% of students (fourth- and eighth-graders) represented in this survey attended public schools that, as of last month, were offering full-time, in-person learning to all students.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • "There's a lot of people that are still very wary about being in person. You know, there are those of us who have lost people we love."
  • 35% of public schools are also offering some sort of hybrid learning schedule to all students
  • While 42% of students attended schools that offered fully in-person learning, just 33% of students returned full time.
  • Students of color are much more likely to be learning remotely than white students — both because many families of color say they feel less comfortable sending their children back to school at this moment but also because, according to the data, city schools that serve large and diverse student groups are less likely to be open than largely white, rural districts.
  • nearly half of white fourth-graders were back in school full time — that's compared with 15% of Asian, 28% of Black and 33% of Hispanic fourth-graders.
cvanderloo

Sexual assaults in psych wards show urgent need for reform - 1 views

theconversation.com/w-urgent-need-for-reform-14265

women psychology reform history sexism sexual assault knowledge

shared by cvanderloo on 27 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Women admitted to psychiatry wards experience high levels of violence and sexual assaults, according to a report released this week by the Victorian Mental Illness Alliance Council.
  • Across the nine different psychiatry hospital wards surveyed in Victoria, 85% of female inpatients felt unsafe during hospitalisation, 67% reported experiencing sexual or other forms of harassment and 45% of respondents had experienced sexual assault during an in-patient admission.
  • Prior to the 1960s, it was customary for men and women patients to be managed in separate psychiatry wards. Inpatient admissions were often for several months to years. Since the 1960s, psychiatric inpatient units in many parts of the western world housed male and female patients together.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Psychiatric patients were managed in the community, with short stay admissions to psychiatry wards if required. On average, patients had two to three weeks of hospitalisation in mixed-gender wards.
  • And the level of illicit drug and alcohol use in the inpatient population, both prior to and during hospitalisation, heightens the level of behavioural disinhibiton in this population.
  • In response to escalating assaults in inpatient units, the United Kingdom government adopted a strict policy of gender segregation on psychiatric wards in 2006.
  • The report does not detail how many incidents involved women, but comment is made that both men and women are vulnerable.
  • The latest plan to combat violence against women sets out important programs in primary prevention, white ribbon campaigns, work with Indigenous communities and employment-related policies. But has no mention of action to be taken to prevent violence against women in psychiatric wards.
  • For many decades, women with severe mental disorders were thought to be “too unreliable” to believe when they told their stories of harassment, assault and rape
  • Over the past years, we have seen improvement in the reporting systems implemented in mental health services and better management of violence against patients, with some shift in the culture of inpatient units; but it is still not good enough.
  • Investment in improved building designs of psychiatric wards is urgently needed, with special areas designated for women. Wards should be designed to be safe places of healing, with sensitivity for the traumatic backgrounds of many female patients.
  • Close monitoring of the situation by the general community and governments will ensure violence in psychiatry units is not tolerated.
ilanaprincilus06

New Zealand Approves Paid Leave After A Miscarriage : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...paid-leave-after-a-miscarriage

New Zealand miscarriage

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 26 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • New Zealand's Parliament has approved legislation that will provide three days of paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, without needing to use sick leave.
  • "Because their grief is not a sickness, it is a loss. And loss takes time."
  • one in four women in New Zealand have had a miscarriage.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • "The passing of this bill shows that once again New Zealand is leading the way for progressive and compassionate legislation, becoming only the second country in the world to provide leave for miscarriage and stillbirth,"
  • The other country that provides such leave is India, which allows women to take six weeks of leave after a miscarriage,
  • Washington, D.C., recently expanded its bereavement leave for public employees who lose a child, including those mourning a stillborn baby,
  • D.C.'s new policy offers two weeks of paid leave to city employees who lose a child under the age of 21, including stillbirths.
  • "You get three days' paid leave, maybe you bury your baby or you have a service, and then you go back to work, and you carry on — and then what? That's my concern,"
  • "I'm celebrating it," she said, "but I want to see us keeping this compassion going, and looking further into the needs of these parents."
ilanaprincilus06

In Canary Islands, Tensions Are High Over African Migration : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...re-high-over-african-migration

Canary Islands migration

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 26 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • "Until December, a maximum of 50 people would come here," she says. "Now, we're serving 75. Most of the new ones are Senegalese and Moroccan."
  • Last year, 23,025 people arrived on boats — 8 1/2 times more than in 2019, according to United Nations refugee agency data.
  • Nearly all who reach the islands want to end up in mainland Spain, to find jobs or join relatives, which is more than 1,000 miles away.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Citing COVID-19 restrictions, Spanish police are stopping migrants from leaving the Canaries for the mainland — even those with valid documents.
  • The bottleneck has angered some locals, while for migrants it's causing misery.
  • Moroccans make up one of the largest immigrant groups in Spain.
  • 70% of young citizens consider emigrating due to frustrations over a lack of economic opportunities.
  • Now it is opening six new migrant camps for 7,000 people on the islands.
  • "We're all afraid!" he says. "Every day there's police around here, every day there are fights and robberies.""It's awful. One day this is going to explode because there's no solution at all. The government promises and promises and nobody helps."
  • "They eat in the camp, breakfast lunch and dinner. And us? We're hungry. Hungry and ashamed, because it can't go on like this," he says.Pockets of xenophobia have bubbled here since the crisis began. There have been anti-migrant marches and reports of organized groups attacking Moroccans.
  • "The main problem is not the migrants arriving but the local authorities and the government," Carlsen adds, "the image they are giving in front of the Canarian people — they feel like they are abandoned."
  • Somos Red was formed after one member found Diop and others sleeping on the streets. The solidarity group fundraised and rented this hostel for the men to live in.
  • "This country is not only for us, they are people!" she says. "They have the right to live well in good conditions. And if other people come, let them come."
  • The center-left government's junior coalition partner, the leftist United We Can party, demanded migrants urgently be allowed to travel, condemning what it considers the "repeated infringement of human rights" in the Canaries.
  • If he gets deported, Rida says he'll try again to come to Spain.
ilanaprincilus06

Suez Canal: A Long Shutdown Might Roil The Global Economy : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...-might-roil-the-global-economy

Suez Canal economy

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 26 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Before the grounding of the massive Ever Given container ship in the Suez Canal, some 50 vessels a day, or about 10% of global trade, sailed through the waterway each day
  • It's either waiting to transit the canal or stuck in port while owners and shippers decide what to do.
  • Lloyd's List estimates that the waiting game is costing $9.6 billion per day.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • "For vessels already up the Suez, it will take several days just to sail south on the Red Sea and get on a shipping lane around Africa,"
  • "If they start sailing (prematurely) around Africa, they are guaranteed a two- to four-week delay and several million [dollars] extra costs in fuel,"
  • for a vessel averaging 12 knots (14 mph), Suez to Amsterdam, takes 13 days via the canal. Around the Cape of Good Hope, it takes 41 days.
  • Another possible option is to go through the Panama Canal by way of the Pacific. But many of the largest commercial vessels today, such as the 1,300-foot Ever Given, are too big to fit through the Panama Canal.
  • Global supply chains, already significantly disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, could be further stressed by a prolonged shutdown of the Suez Canal,
  • "[We are] already seeing congestion and other things impacting the supply chain. This is one more thing that adds to that."
  • The greatest impact would be felt in the European market, which relies most on transfers through the canal, but given the interconnected nature of global manufacturing and commerce, there's likely also to be a knock-on effect for the United States.
  • A weeklong delay for a few hundred ships at the Suez might have only a negligible impact for consumers, but a prolonged delay could increase the cost of shipping, complicate manufacturing and ultimately drive up prices.
  • she's "relatively sanguine" about the impact on trade. But she doesn't rule out "an inflationary shock that could come right to the consumer."
  • "At worst, if the issue continues, if oil prices do see a sustained rally, the blockage could have a small and limited impact on gas prices, likely no more than a few cents per gallon on average."
ilanaprincilus06

Mexicans Travel To U.S. For COVID Vaccines As Mexico's Rollout Stumbles : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...their-countrys-rollout-stumble

Mexico Covid-19 vaccine

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 26 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • less than 5% of the population has received a COVID-19 vaccine dose, the rich and well-connected have found a faster way to get their hands on one: travel north.
  • Some Mexicans with family ties or dual citizenship in the United States, or who just can afford the airfare, are heading to the U.S. to get vaccinated faster than the many months of waiting for one back home.
  • The phenomenon has sparked intense debate: between officials who believe U.S. residents should have priority and those who feel that, in a general sense, the more people vaccinated the better
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • He said only those who have had the disease understand how he feels. He had to get his hand on a vaccine quickly. But most of Tijuana's limited supply was going to front-line hospital workers.
  • He insists that no one at the vaccination site checked whether he worked or resided in the county, the two requirements necessary to get a shot there.
  • But vaccine tourism has become a bit of a phenomenon in Mexico. It's easy to find testimonies and tips on social media and in chat groups about getting a vaccine in the U.S.
  • The Biden administration has said the United States will send Mexico more than 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
  • Earlier this month, President Biden said, "We're going to start off making sure Americans are taken care of first and then we're going to help the rest of the world."
  • "In this particular case, amid a worldwide pandemic, life and health of everyone should be priority No. 1,"
ilanaprincilus06

New York Launches First COVID-19 Vaccination, Test Result App For Event Attendance : Co... - 0 views

www.npr.org/...result-app-for-event-attendanc

New York Covid-19

shared by ilanaprincilus06 on 26 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Cuomo announced Friday that the state's health status certification, called the Excelsior Pass, will help New Yorkers voluntarily share vaccination and COVID-19 negative statuses with entertainment venues and other businesses to put the state state's economy back on track.
  • New Yorkers can always show alternate proof of vaccination or testing, like another mobile application or paper form, directly at a business or venue.
  • The pass could see New York's Broadway theaters, concert venues and sports arenas fill seats again after closures that started in March of 2020.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Airlines and technology companies have been working on developing technology to do so, but New York's is the first pass being made widely available to residents.
  • The idea is similar to mobile airline boarding passes: they can be printed or stored on smartphones, and participating businesses and venues can use a companion app to confirm patrons' health status.
  • rather than boost the economy and encourage vaccination, efforts like the Excelsior Pass could wind up further spread of variants. It's also still not clear that vaccinated people cannot spread the virus to people who have not been vaccinated.
  • Some worry that the passes might encourage fraud and increase the spread of the virus by people who claim to be vaccinated or COVID-19 negative but aren't.
« First ‹ Previous 941 - 960 of 6446 Next › Last »
Showing 20▼ items per page