Lebanon and Israel Reach a Historic Maritime Border Agreement
Lebanon and Israel have reached a “historic” deal to end a long maritime border dispute in the gas-rich Mediterranean Sea. The agreement is likely to lower tensions between the two countries and must now be ratified by lawmakers in both countries. You can read details in this article from my 1440 daily report.
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University of Oregon to Pay Tuition for Native American Students
A new program at the University of Oregon will pay the tuition and fees of Native American students thanks to state, federal and institutional grants. You can read more in this article.
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Over the Counter Hearing Aids
Hearing Aids are now available without a prescription in the US at a fraction of the cost. While most insurance and Medicare pays for hearting tests, many do not pay for hearing aids. “Manufacturers will offer technical assistance through apps and by phone,” according to this CBS News article.
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Animal Rights Activists Found Not Guilty of Theft and Burglary
Activists Wayne Hsiung and Paul Picklesimer who rescued two sick baby pigs from a factory farm in Utah were found not guilty of theft and burglary. US News has more.
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Pregnant Firefighter Gives Care to Crash Victim, then goes into Labor
Megan Warfiled was 9 months pregnant when she and her mother were involved in a car crash. After making sure they were both okay, she went to assess the scene and ended up giving care to another crash victim. In the following video, the reporter says Megan “ignored her own needs,” but I disagree. Megan made sure she was okay and stopped herself from crawling into the overturned car. After the adrenaline wore off, Megan went into labor and had her baby 23 hours later.
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Deb Haaland Confirmed as US Interior secretary and the first Native American on US Cabinet
The Senate voted 51 to 40 on March 15 to confirm Congresswoman Deb Haaland to be Interior secretary, making her the first Native American to hold a Cabinet secretary post. Here’s more from CBS News.
You can learn more about Secretary Haaland in this recording of her accepting the nomination.
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New Dialysis Facility in India Opens with Free Services
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) launched “India’s biggest” kidney dialysis facility that will offer dialysis to 101 patients simultaneously free of cost. Here’s more from tribuneindia.com.
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Study Clarifies the Economic Benefits of Protecting Nature
In the largest-ever study of its kind, a team led by the University of Cambridge concluded, “The economic benefits of conserving or restoring natural sites now “outweigh” the profit potential of converting them for intensive human use.” Most of us already know that, but it’s good to have documented research back up. Read more about the study here.
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Gorilla Fund Receives Huge Donations
The Diane Fossey Gorilla fund has received “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in donations from the WallStreetBets subreddit. You can read more about here in the Gorilla Fund’s statement.
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102-Year-Old Joins PE Zoom Class with Six-Year-Old Great Grandson
Julia Fulkerson recently got to exercise with her great grandson after his parents were vaccinated. Here’s the story from Good Morning America. I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired! Here’s a video:
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Renewable Energy Surpasses Coal for the Month of April in the US
Renewable energy from solar, wind, and hydropower generated more electricity than coal for the month of April in the US. Contributing factors include “…low gas prices, warmer weather, a significant amount of new renewable capacity connecting to the grid late last year, and lower power demand… because of the coronavirus.” Here’s more from the Good News Network.
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Elders Recovering from COVID 19
Also from the Good News Network is a story about elders recovering from COVID 19. Guadalupe and José from Spain, both 88, “had just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary a few weeks earlier when they both became ill with the virus.” Then there’s Carrie Pollock, age 99 in the UK, 104-year-old Ada Zanusso of Biella, Italy, and Cornelia Ras, the Dutch woman who celebrated her 107th birthday on March 17th. You can read their stories, along with some words of wisdom, from the Good News Network.
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Eagles are Back in England
Eagles had been almost hunted to extinction in the UK. “Now, 240 years after the last sighting, a mature white-tailed eagle was confirmed soaring in the wild high over the North York Moors.” The comeback is the result of several eaglets that were released on the Isle of Wight.” Here’s that story from The Good News Network
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Ireland Repays the Kindness of Native Americans
In 1847, when Ireland was suffering starvation during the potato blight, the North American Choctaw tribe found compassion amidst their own suffering of forced relocation. The tribe raised $170 (almost $5,000 in today’s currency) and sent it across the ocean to help Ireland. Now, the people of Ireland are paying back that debt by helping the Navajo and Hopi tribes hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. GNN reports that “almost $2.7 million has been raised so far, with many donations flowing in from Irish citizens expressing gratitude for the help they received so many decades ago.”
I had my first real date with my first high school sweetheart in 1971. I don’t know the exact date, but it was in October, if memory serves. But it could have been November. I was almost 16. His mom picked me up at my house, with him in the car of course, and she dropped us off at the movie theater to see Billy Jack, a movie about a quiet war veteran who defended his girlfriend’s hippie school and her honor from the corrupt sheriff and his corrupt son. There was a lot of racial injustice of Native American children at the school located somewhere out west. I loved that movie. Later, I learned how to play the theme song, “One Tin Soldier” on my guitar.
After the movie, we went across the street for pizza and talked about the world and Billy Jack’s motorcycle, and wouldn’t it be great to go to a hippie school like the one Billy Jack’s girlfriend ran?
We went on many more dates until my first boyfriend had to move back north with his family, 700 miles. So far away, as Carole King would sing, and I didn’t see him again for 39 years. I do remember the date of our second first date. It was July 15, 2011. If you want to know what happened on that date, you can read my book. I hope to publish it in November, or at least before the end of the year. The date is still up for grabs and up to God who knows best.
After my Stream of Consciousness slowed down and I was wrapping up this post, I looked up Tom Laughlin. I had forgotten he died in 2013, on my birthday, December 12. Does that mean something that he died on my birthday? He was way more than an actor, producer, and screenwriter. He started a successful Montessori school in California and wrote books on Jungian Psychology. I didn’t know that before. I must have known that he ran for president, but I had forgotten that. To learn more about the man who played Billy Jack, read this.
Today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt was the word, “date.” Find out more at Linda Hill’s blog:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Anything is Possible! 