Friday, August 7, 2020

In the news, Wednesday, July 29, 2020


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JUL 28      INDEX      JUL 30
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from BBC News (UK)

Stonehenge: Sarsen stones origin mystery solved
The origin of the giant sarsen stones at Stonehenge has finally been discovered with the help of a missing piece of the site which was returned after 60 years. A test of the metre-long core was matched with a geochemical study of the standing megaliths. Archaeologists pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles (25km) north of the site near Marlborough.

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from CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
Media/News Company in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Some might say you can't die of loneliness or a broken heart, but Corinne Tulk doesn't believe that. The western Newfoundland woman blames her mother's death on the isolation caused by pandemic restrictions. Tulk's mother died suddenly on May 3, at the age of 70, less than three months after her husband's death. "COVID-19 did not invade my mom's body, but I know COVID-19 took my mom's life," said Tulk. "She died of a broken heart, and nobody can convince me otherwise." The sudden deaths of both her stepfather and her mother this year has left Tulk questioning whether she made the right decision to stay away from her mother in what would turn out to be the final weeks of her life.

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from Conciliar Post

IT IS A SIN NOT TO WEAR A FACEMASK
Anyone perusing social media these days will be well aware that the latest politicized controversy dividing American society is about wearing facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. One cannot make a simple trip to the grocery store without becoming bogged in a morass of invisible social pressure, judgment, and labels regarding whether one decides to don a face covering or not. Christians and Christian Churches are divided, largely along political lines, as to the compulsoriness of facemasks. A recent article published by America Magazine, describes the mask issue as dividing faithful Christians, because, “some see mask use — or not — as a partisan issue or a political statement, with political conservatives less likely to mask than political liberals.” Evincing this division, some Catholic dioceses, like St. Louis, require facemasks for mass attendance, while others, like Milwaukee, only recommend masks, presumably out of respect for personal freedom and decision-making. Arguments for wearing facemasks by Christian authors and theologians thus far have tended to make the case that wearing a facemask should be seen as a form of charity for one’s neighbor, or as a sign of respect for authority and care for the weak among our society, i.e. as a voluntary action that goes above and beyond what is strictly required. I think Christians and the Church need to go further in taking a moral stand on this issue. I argue that freely refusing to wear a facemask is a sin. Period. ... Avoiding dying is good. Avoiding a lot of people dying is good. Avoiding a significant risk of a lot of people dying is good

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from Fox News (& affiliates)

Planned Parenthood sues pop-up church over noise, but pastor says there's more to the story
The Church at Planned Parenthood (TCAPP) in Spokane, Wash., is being sued for making too much noise and allegedly harming patients, but the anti-abortion pastor says, "it's false accusations across the board." TCAPP's First Amendment rights are at odds with the health care of the patients at Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho (PPGWNI), according to the suit filed in June by Legal Voice against five area pastors and Covenant Church, which started the ministry. "You have a billion-dollar industry suing local church pastors that aren't wealthy at all, for singing and peaceably assembly," TCAPP Pastor Ken Peters told Fox News. "We've been running for two years. We've never been cited. We don't cause destruction. We don't loot. We don't riot. We literally go to Planned Parenthood and we hold church once a month," Peters explained. "We do this after hours. We are not causing any harm."

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from The Heritage Foundation
RIGHT BIAS,  MIXED  American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Non-compliance with gun-confiscation laws has been widespread even in countries that don’t protect the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. Americans are already notoriously non-compliant with strict gun-control measures in states that have enacted them on a smaller scale. The firearms and magazines that gun-control advocates wish to confiscate simply are not a driving force behind homicides—and America’s lawful gun owners know it.

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from HumanProgress.org  Education Website

“There are decades where nothing happens; and, there are weeks where decades happen,” observed Vladimir Lenin. The recent weeks grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic certainly fall into the weeks-where-decades-happen category. What’s more, the trillions of dollars being spent on pandemic-fighting strategies might well make or break the decades to come, as I recently wrote. ... The basic idea is that six key drivers of humanity’s progress—computing, communications, information, energy, water and transportation—are headed toward zero cost. That means we can plan on being able to throw as much of these resources as we need to smartly address any problem. Success in doing so would bring us closer to the Future Perfect. Alternatively, like gluttons at an all-you-can-eat buffet, we could binge in ways that exacerbate societal issues such as health, equity, civility, privacy and human rights.

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from KXLY 4 News (ABC Spokane)

Spokane Bar Assoc. announces project to help tenants struggling with eviction
Being kicked out from a home is not allowed right now, at least, under many circumstances. However, people are still facing evictions during the pandemic. Governor Inslee put out an eviction moratorium early on in the pandemic and has extended it several times, now ending in mid October. The Spokane Bar Association says it’s trying to help as many people as it can right now. The association announced the Eviction Defense Project, under its Volunteer Lawyers program.

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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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from U.S. News and World Report
Publisher in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Renters Owe $21.5 Billion in Back Rent; Republicans Offer No Eviction Relief
More than $21.5 billion in past-due rent is looming over Americans struggling to make ends meet, global advisory firm Stout, Risius and Ross estimated on Wednesday, as Republicans and Democrats fight over a new COVID-19 relief package. Senate Republicans this week proposed a new plan that would not reinstate the recently-lapsed federal eviction ban, which carried a stay for rent due for one-third of renters. Adding to the strain, enhanced $600 weekly federal unemployment benefits are set to evaporate this Friday.

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