Author Archives: Danzig

Do Not Offend the Gods: 8 SFF Books Featuring Deities – tor.com

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When I was growing up, my world was neatly divided into monotheism and pantheism. On the monotheism side there was the god of Abraham and on the pantheism side there were the GreeksZeus, Hera, Athena, etc. Youre probably noticing some signs of a very limited world view. I had been told that the Romans had gods just like the Greeks only with new names like Jupiter and Juno. I knew there were other religions, and I was at least passingly familiar with the Norse gods. My fifth-grade social studies textbook made sure I knew a little about the Sumer and Ur and the Egyptians, but their gods? Their gods just didnt show up very often back then and there were so many other gods to whom Id never even been introduced.

When I wrote my first novel The Thief, I knew I wanted to set it in the landscape of Ancient Greece with a Byzantine level of technology and pantheistic religion, but I didnt want to co-opt the Olympian gods or the Titans for my story. In so many textbooks over the years, the Greek pantheon has been reduced to one dimensional versions of their former selves. I wanted three dimensional characters and I was afraid there would be too much dissonance between my gods and their schoolbook definitions.

By then, Id read and loved Diana Wynne Joness Dalemark books in which she created, particularly in Drowned Ammet, gods and goddesses so real that you thought they must be based on some religion you just hadnt yet learned about. I wanted to make up gods that felt that real. My gods are a mix of very human traits and the unknowable. They meddle in human affairs and the mortals must make the best of it. Im going to take it as a win that a disturbing number of reviewers refer to them as Greek gods and dont seem to realize that they arent.

And now, I think Im living in a golden age, with so many fabulous writers bringing us stories of gods and goddesses drawn from cultures all over the world or invented from whole cloth. Here are some of my favorites. Some of the gods are very down to earth while others are far from it. They are sometimes kind and sometimes cruel. Some seem like mortals writ large and some are ineffable. The one thing they all have in common? Just like the god Eugenides in Return of the Thiefyou want to stay on their good sideif you can.

Apollo took from them the day of their return.

The Iliad is an excellent example of just how much misery that gods can inflict on humanity, but that story begins with the wrath of Achilleswhen the events that led to the war on Troy are long over. With The Odyssey, we get a front row seat as Odysseus slays the Cyclops and makes a lifelong enemy of his father, Poseidon. We see his men eat the cattle of Apollo and then we get a ten year long lesson in why you shouldnt offend the gods.

I was in my twenties when I read this book. Id only ever read one book by Jones, Dogsbody. I had no idea she had written anything else. Her books werent on a shelf in any library Id visited and this was long before you could look up an author on the internet. The best we had was an out of date collection of Books in Print. I hope it seems bizarre to at least some of my readers, that this may have been the first time I read a story with gods and goddesses that werent either Greek or Celtic. It was Athena and Artemis and Zeus or it was Arawn and Cernunnosthose had been my only options. Sure, there was The Lord of the Rings, but Tolkien stripped much of the identifying features out of his source material. Jones was writing about Thor and Odin and Loki and I was delighted.

David, a perfectly ordinary British school boy is home from school for a miserable holiday with his miserable family, distant relatives who are his guardians and who make it clear his presence is deeply unwelcome. In the back garden, venting his misery, David shouts out nonsense syllables that just happen to be the words that will release Loki from an underground prison where hes been holding up a bowl to catch the poison dripping on him from a venomous snake. Loki appears a boy, just Davids age, charming and little odd and up for some fun, like, setting a whole department stores on fire, for example.

When the other gods show up looking for escaped Loki, David has to decide whose side hes on. Its a shame you cant help out one god without pissing off a bunch of others.

Mortals believe gods to be omnipotent and ever-knowing. The truth is more slippery

The Lord of Xibalba has had his head cut off by his twin brother and his bones have spent 50 years in a trunk before Casiopea discovers them. When a single bone shard pierces her skin, the Mayan god of death is reconstituted. He draws life from her, but with that nourishment comes Casiopeas humanity, changing the nature of the god even as they work together to reinstate him on the throne of Xibalba. While Casiopea is tied to Hun-Kam, her unpleasant cousin Martin, works for the new Lord of Xibalba, Hun-Kams brother. Mortal, gods, witches, demonsall have to take sides and hope their side wins.

Trail of Lightning is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the Dinetah has become an independent nation with a wall around to keep the that have flooded the outside world. Maggie Hoskie is a monster slayer. She didnt offend Neizghani, her immortal teacher so much she disappointed him. She was his apprentice until he left her behind without warning or explanation. With no other choice, she carries on, on her own.

I love everything about Roanhorses work, but particularly the fact that it is set in the future. In this story, perhaps the gods should have been more careful they didnt offend Maggie Hoskie.

Jemisins Broken Earth trilogy won her well-deserved Hugos, but its The Inheritance Trilogy that I love. She fuses gods and science together, and in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, she makes creating gods look easy.

Yeine Darr is summoned to the capital city, Sky, by her grandfather to be a pawn in a terrifying competition to be heir to his throne. Her only possible allies are the gods bound to serve her family. On the one hand, they are very powerful, on the other, theres nothing to make a god dangerously angry like being trapped and enslaved in a mortal body.

What happens when the gods are not merely capricious they are all out monsters?

Lazlo Strange is an orphan who grows up dreaming of a city that so offended its gods that its name was wiped from everyones memory and replaced with the word Weep. When the hero of Weep, the man who slayed its gods, comes to the librarians of Zosma, seeking help for his city, Lazlo seizes the chance to see Weep for himself.

Lainis writing so vivid, so confident that there is no limit to the poetry she brings to her prose. Her gods are truly horrifying and just as truly captivating.

You have the four cardinal godsthe Dragon, the Tiger, the Tortoise, and the Phoenix. Then you have local household gods, village guardian gods, animal gods, gods of rivers, gods of mountains

Rin is an orphan, fortunate enough to have a marriage arranged with a local inspector who will accept her as a wife in exchange for looking other way while her adoptive parents run their opium business. Rejecting that future, Rin sits for the Keju, the Empire wide test that selects candidates for Sinegard, an elite military school.

In the scene quoted above she is arguing for the common viewpoint of the gods in her experiencethey are cultural references, metaphors, personifications of emotions or significant events. As in the world of The Thief, people give lip service to the gods. They never expect them to appear.

Who is Adam Black, also known as Ablahka? His librarians used to be children. What are they now? Caroline doesnt know. After being locked away in an infinite library, trained by an adoptive father who might be God, and dying a few times in the process, shes not really all there anymore. When her Father, Adam Black, Ablahka, disappears, perhaps murdered by any one of the other terrifyingly powerful gods the Duke, Barry OShea or the mysterious Q-33 North, no one on Earth knows what happens next.

New York Timesbestselling author Megan Whalen Turner is the award-winning author of six novels set in the world of the Queens Thief. These epic novels of intrigue and adventure can be read in any order, but were published as follows: The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings, Thick as Thieves, and Return of the Thief. Megan Whalen Turner has been awarded a Newbery Honor and a Horn BookBoston Globe Honor, and won the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Young Adult Literature. She has won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Childrens Literature and was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award. She worked as a bookseller for seven years before she started writing. Her first book was a collection of short stories called Instead of Three Wishes.

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Do Not Offend the Gods: 8 SFF Books Featuring Deities - tor.com

Former NASA administrator: Biden will reestablish ‘constancy of purpose’ in space and nation | Opinion – Florida Today

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Charles F. BoldenJr., Your Turn Published 1:26 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2020

During my years at NASA, first as an astronaut followed by my appointment as NASA administrator in 2009, a fundamental principle upon which all programs were operated was constancy of purpose. Coined by Vice Adm. Joe Dyer, chairman of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel during my tenure as NASA administrator, this concept recognized that, to be successful, our efforts must be consistently funded, managed, and carried out over long spans of time.

NASA programs unfold over years, from Apollo, to the space shuttle, Hubble Telescope, and the International Space Station. The same will be true of the development and implementation of the Space Launch System, Orion crew capsule and the hoped-for Gateway that will orbit around the moon. These are multi-year, multi-administration projects that will need constancy of purpose to be successful.

Constancy of purpose also has an important place in my life as a father, grandfather, husband and citizen.

Our Constitution is the original example of constancy of purpose for the United States. It is the foundational document providing the underpinning of our society over hundreds of years. It is a living document that changes when it needs to adapt to give us guidance to us as a nation. Adapting that document to fit our current needs requires steady leadership and integrity that we do not see in our current administration.

Holmdel, NJ- 05/18/11- The 78th annual commencement of Monmouth University takes place at PNC Bank Arts Center on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. Commencement speaker, the Honorable Charles F. Bolden Jr., Administrator of NASA; Astronaut, addresses the crowd.DOUG HOOD/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER(Photo: DOUG HOOD/ASBURY PARK PRESS)

Constancy of purpose has been attacked across our society over the past four years.

The Affordable Care Act has provided critical health care coverage for more than 20 million Americans but is under attack with nothing proposed to take its place.

Our local governments have been forced to manage the worst worldwide pandemic in a century without guidance from the federal government the entity capable of effectively dealing with such an emergency.

Science is under attack on a daily basis from the very individuals who should be supporting the advancement of understanding.

Internationally, our nation, which President Reagan called the shining city on the hill, is no longer looked to for leadership in issues that cross the globe.

It is for these reasons that I joined almost 500 former public servants in signing a public letter endorsing Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States.

Along with my colleagues, I believe that Biden is, above all, a good man with a strong sense of right and wrong. He is guided by principles that have long made America great: democracy is a hard-won fight we must defend and support at home and abroad; Americas power and influence stem as much from her moral authority as it does from her economic and political power. Biden understands that.

Biden is compassionate, empathetic, and grounded in the utmost integrity. He has a love of people, the ability to listen, and the human capacity to care for and offer counsel when it is really needed. These are marks of the strong leader we need today.

Critical organizations such as NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the State Department need leadership that shares these values and uses constancy of purpose to carry out their missions. Biden understands that and will lead us back to President Reagans shining city on the hill.

Maj. Gen.Charles F. BoldenJr. is a retired Marine officer, astronaut, and former NASA administrator.

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Former NASA administrator: Biden will reestablish 'constancy of purpose' in space and nation | Opinion - Florida Today

Atheists Have a Hard Time Running for Office (But It’s Getting Easier) – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

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In a political season when weve seen the first openly gay presidential candidate, the first Black woman to run for Vice President, the first whatever-the-hell-Marianne-Williamson-was, why is it still shocking to consider an openly atheist candidate running for federal office? Rep. Jared Huffman is openly Humanist the only non-theist in Congress willing to say that but even he came out after getting elected.

Why is there still such an antipathy to electing atheists?

Thats what Phil Zuckerman tries to answer in a piece for The Conversation. Zuckerman, a professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College and author of What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, says that there are two reasons people dont feel comfortable voting for an atheist:

There appear to be two primary reasons atheism remains the kiss of death for aspiring politicians in the U.S. one is rooted in a reaction to historical and political events, while the other is rooted in baseless bigotry.

Lets start with the first: atheisms prominence within communist regimes. Some of the most murderous dictatorships of the 20th century including Stalins Soviet Union and Pol Pots Cambodia were explicitly atheistic. Bulldozing humans right and persecuting religious believers were fundamental to their oppressive agendas. Talk about a branding problem for atheists.

The second reason atheists find it hard to get elected in America, however, is the result of an irrational linkage in many peoples minds between atheism and immorality. Some assume that because atheists dont believe in a deity watching and judging their every move, they must be more likely to murder, steal, lie and cheat. One recent study, for example, found that Americans even intuitively link atheism with necrobestiality and cannibalism.

I would add another reason to the list: People just arent used to it. It sounds paradoxical, but if more atheists were elected, more atheists would be elected. Or, if more politicians came out as atheists after election, it wouldnt be such a burden for future candidates. Voters just need more examples of atheists in office so they can see that the sky isnt falling.

Theres also a sideways approach to the matter: Openly atheist candidates can be elected simply by downplaying that aspect of themselves since its not necessarily relevant to policymaking. It would be strategic and honest for candidates to admit theyre not personally religious before explaining why they value evidence-based policies and care about the issues that matter locally. If anyone tries to use atheism against you, throw it right back at them like youre an Amy Coney Barrett defender discussing her Catholicism. Use the opportunity to pivot to issues that matter to other voters.

That sort of approach is precisely what more than one hundred candidates for statewide and national office have been doing this year.

According to research from myself and the Center for Freethought Equality, those candidates are on the ballot this November, many of them having survived primary challengers, and are not shying away from using non-religious labels. None of them, to my knowledge, have made atheism a central part of their campaign. Theyre just not running away from it.

Thats the key to winning. And the more of them who succeed, the easier itll get for other atheists during the next election cycle.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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Atheists Have a Hard Time Running for Office (But It's Getting Easier) - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

Why is it so hard for atheists to get voted in to Congress? – The Conversation US

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Every election cycle has its firsts.

This year, the selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Bidens running mate presented the U.S. with its first politician of Indian heritage and the first Black woman to be on a major party ticket. It followed Hillary Clintons becoming the first woman to win the popular vote for president in a 2016 election to replace Americas first Black president, Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay candidate to win a presidential primary and Ted Cruz became the first Latino to do so. In recent years Americans saw the first Jewish American win a primary, Bernie Sanders, and Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar became the first Muslim women elected to Congress.

But in this era of increasing diversity and the breaking of long-rigid political-demographic barriers, there is no self-identifying atheist in national politics. Indeed, throughout history, only one self-identified atheist in the U.S. Congress comes to mind, the late California Democrat Peter Stark.

This puts the country at odds with democracies the world over that have elected openly godless or at least openly skeptical leaders who went on to become revered national figures, such as Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Swedens Olof Palme, Jose Mujica in Uruguay and Israels Golda Meir. New Zealands Jacinda Ardern, the global leader who has arguably navigated the coronavirus crisis with the most credit, says she is agnostic.

But in the United States, self-identified nonbelievers are at a distinct disadvantage. A 2019 poll asking Americans who they were willing to vote for in a hypothetical presidential election found that 96% would vote for a candidate who is Black, 94% for a woman, 95% for a Hispanic candidate, 93% for a Jew, 76% for a gay or lesbian candidate and 66% for a Muslim but atheists fall below all of these, down at 60%. That is a sizable chunk who would not vote for a candidate simply on the basis of their nonreligion.

In fact, a 2014 survey found Americans would be more willing to vote for a presidential candidate who had never held office before, or who had extramarital affairs, than for an atheist.

In a country that changed its original national motto in 1956 from the secular E pluribus unum out of many, one to the faithful In God We Trust, it seems people dont trust someone who doesnt believe in God.

As a scholar who studies atheism in the U.S., I have long sought to understand what is behind such antipathy toward nonbelievers seeking office.

There appear to be two primary reasons atheism remains the kiss of death for aspiring politicians in the U.S. one is rooted in a reaction to historical and political events, while the other is rooted in baseless bigotry.

Lets start with the first: atheisms prominence within communist regimes. Some of the most murderous dictatorships of the 20th century including Stalins Soviet Union and Pol Pots Cambodia were explicitly atheistic. Bulldozing humans right and persecuting religious believers were fundamental to their oppressive agendas. Talk about a branding problem for atheists.

For those who considered themselves lovers of liberty, democracy and the First Amendment guarantee of the free exercise of religion, it made sense to develop fearful distrust of atheism, given its association with such brutal dictatorships.

And even though such regimes have long since met their demise, the association of atheism with a lack of freedom lingered long after.

The second reason atheists find it hard to get elected in America, however, is the result of an irrational linkage in many peoples minds between atheism and immorality. Some assume that because atheists dont believe in a deity watching and judging their every move, they must be more likely to murder, steal, lie and cheat. One recent study, for example, found that Americans even intuitively link atheism with necrobestiality and cannibalism.

Such bigoted associations between atheism and immorality do not align with reality. There is simply no empirical evidence that most people who lack a belief in God are immoral. If anything, the evidence points in the other direction. Research has shown that atheists tend to be less racist, less homophobic and less misogynistic than those professing a belief in God.

Most atheists subscribe to humanistic ethics based on compassion and a desire to alleviate suffering. This may help explain why atheists have been found to be more supportive of efforts to fight climate change, as well as more supportive of refugees and of the right to die.

This may also explain why, according to my research, those states within the U.S. with the least religious populations as well as democratic nations with the most secular citizens tend to be the most humane, safe, peaceful and prosperous.

[Youre too busy to read everything. We get it. Thats why weve got a weekly newsletter. Sign up for good Sunday reading. ]

Although the rivers of anti-atheism run deep throughout the American political landscape, they are starting to thin. More and more nonbelievers are openly expressing their godlessness, and swelling numbers of Americans are becoming secular: In the past 15 years, the percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation has risen from 16% to 26%. Meanwhile, some find the image of a Bible-wielding Trump troubling, opening up the possibility that suddenly Christianity may be contending with a branding problem of its own, especially in the skeptical eyes of younger Americans.

In 2018, a new group emerged in Washington, D.C.: The Congressional Freethought Caucus. Although it only has 13 members, it portends a significant shift in which some elected members of Congress are no longer afraid of being identified as, at the very least, agnostic. Given this new development, as well as the growing number of nonreligious Americans, it shouldnt be a surprise if one day a self-identified atheist makes it to the White House.

Will that day come sooner rather than later? God only knows. Or rather, only time will tell.

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Why is it so hard for atheists to get voted in to Congress? - The Conversation US

Pastor Who Said Atheism Has Never Healed a Disease Tests Positive for COVID – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

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Yesterday, we learned that John Hagee, the senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, tested positive for COVID.

His son Matthew made the announcement:

Thats quite a reveal from John Hagee, given that he once said Hurricane Katrina was the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans because there were plans for a gay pride parade that would supposedly reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. (I dont know what that means.) Hagee later backed away from that comment when he was trying to help elect Republican John McCain in 2008. McCain later rejected the endorsement.

Hagee has also said Hitler was fulfilling Gods will by pressuring Jews to return to Israel.

So was COVID Gods way of punishing Hagee?

If it happened to a Democrat, no doubt thats what Hagee would say.

I wont stoop to his ignorance. But I will point out that Hagee has a long history of promoting Christian Nationalism and conspiracy theories. Which is to say: If God wanted to punish him, theres no shortage of reasons to do it.

While Hagee has been in the Oval Office to pray for Trump, he wasnt spotted at any of the recent White House super-spreader events so its not clear where he picked up the virus.

Lets note, however, that Hagees church has been hosting in-person, indoor, mask-option, not-very-socially-distanced services for weeks now. He has also claimed Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in God has, but not atheism.

For his sake, lets hope his doctors are relying on proper science and not just sending prayers his way. God hasnt stopped the virus, but the nations that have followed the best advice of epidemiologists have been most successful at combatting the disease.

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Pastor Who Said Atheism Has Never Healed a Disease Tests Positive for COVID - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

Please Support the Work I Do Through This Site – Friendly Atheist – Patheos

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I post this article once a month, and the options have changed. Thanks for your support! The latest project Im working on involves a Substack newsletter that sums up atheism-related news three times a week.

Over the past decade, what began as a personal blog has turned into a hub with several contributors and multiple posts per day. I create YouTube videos, put out a podcast each week, and have released books! More recently, I created a podcast about the history of the Pledge of Allegiance.

In order to facilitate all of this, I have a Patreon page.

If youd like to help out, you can pledge a certain amount every month (with rewards along the way!) from as low as $3 a month.

As always, Im grateful for the kind words and support you all send my way. Its a pleasure being a source of information (and solace) for you, and I hope to continue it well into the future.

If Patreon isnt preferable for you, you can use a credit card through Venmo (My address: Mpromptu at gmail) or send mail to P.O. Box 9734 Naperville, IL 60567.

And for those who prefer to make a one-time donation only, since Patreon doesnt allow those right now, you can always give via PayPal:

Thank you!

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Please Support the Work I Do Through This Site - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

Leading Irish atheist wades into the Dawkins disinvitation row – Patheos

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THE CHAIR of Atheist Ireland Michael Nugent has written to the Historical Society at Trinity College Dublin, known as the Hist, asking it to reconsider its recent decision to drop Professor Richard Dawkins from its 2021 list of speakers because his presence could make students uncomfortable.

Auditor of the Hist Brd ODonnell announced the cancellation in a statement on her Instagram page at the weekend, saying that she had been unaware of Richard Dawkins opinions on Islam and sexual assault until this evening, adding that the society:

Will not be moving ahead with his address as we value our members comfort above all else.

Amidst growing fury over Dawkins disinvitation, Nugent, above, said in his letter that he had spoken as a guest of the Hist several times:

I have always enjoyed it as a place of intelligent debate where ideas are tested robustly, passionately, and rationally from all sides of an issue. That is what a good debating society does.

You have a particular responsibility to protect this reputation as custodians of the worlds oldest student debating society.

I am writing to ask you to reverse your decision to unilaterally break your agreement to host Richard Dawkins as a speaker. Like Richard, I had a speaking event unilaterally cancelled, speaking about atheism to final year students in a Roman Catholic school. Thankfully, the school reconsidered, and honoured their agreement. I hope you are open to doing the same

Your decision harms the credibility of the Hist as a debating society, and your stated reason misunderstands the nature of debate. The priority of a debating society is not to value our members comfort above all else.

Indeed, part of the purpose of good debate is precisely to cause some discomfort, by challenging peoples beliefs from all sides of an issue.

Your decision also harms the integrity of the Hist as a body that can be trusted to keep its word. There is a major distinction between a decision to not invite someone, and a decision to publicly disinvite someone after inviting them. Richard has done nothing so unpredictable to justify unilaterally breaking an agreement.

The Council of Europes Venice Commission advises democratic governments. In a report on the relationship between freedom of belief and freedom of expression, it concluded:

The purpose of any restriction on freedom of expression must be to protect individuals holding specific beliefs or opinions, rather than to protect belief systems from criticism. The right to freedom of expression implies that it should be allowed to scrutinise, openly debate, and criticise, even harshly and unreasonably, belief systems, opinions, and institutions, as long as this does not amount to advocating hatred against an individual or groups.

Richard has never advocated hatred against anybody. Whether or not you agree with him, he is an honourable man who pursues truth and promotes education and human rights. I ask you to please reverse your decision, and I look forward to your response.

Nugent referred in his letter to two articles hes written about Dawkins. You can access them here and here.

His intervention coincides with a petition calling on the Hist to reverse its decision. It says:

Richard Dawkins is a renowned philosopher, biologist and author who has made major contributions to the field of evolutionary biology with his works The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype.

He is also an outspoken critic of organised religion and has garnered a reputation as one of the worlds most prominent atheist intellectuals.

The Hists decision to prioritise the comfort of its members over debate and discourse is an outrage of the highest order. This ludicrous decision contradicts the fundamental idea of a debating society and deprives the student body of the opportunity to both engage with and challenge the views of one of the most prominent intellectuals of the 21st century.Not only does this damage the reputation of the Hist, but is also an abject embarrassment for the college as a whole.

We ask the Hist to reverse this cowardly decision

One of the most damning criticisms of the decision was published on Monday by The Burkean, which said:

Let us make something clear, the views held by Dawkins in relation to Islam are completely reasonable, and the very fact he has been deplatformed from an Irish college is outrageous in itself. However, his deplatforming is merely a symptom of a far greater travesty that has occured over the last number of years

The modern progressive has managed to worm its way to the top of Irish society. While the likes of ODonnell would have been laughed out of the room less than a decade ago, they now rule the roost, forcing their views down the throat of everyone they can.

Dissent in the minds of these ideologues should never be tolerated, as demonstrated by how frequently they will try to get people deplatformed, and even depersoned, when they are perceived to have sinned against their new form of Cultural Maoism

It is clear that ideologues have gained control of the halls of debate in this country and its colleges. Whether it be online, on television, or in our universities, what used to be the source of much needed dialogue within an often fractured island now do not permit even a slight deviation from dogma. For those of us rightfully horrified by such a state of affairs, we need to act now, or the consequences will be disastrous

Hat tip: Antony Niall and Angela_K

Id love a cup of coffee

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Leading Irish atheist wades into the Dawkins disinvitation row - Patheos

The ending of Raised By Wolves explained – Looper

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Although it's not for the first time, in this episode, Mother is confronted by Father about the fatalistic streak she's been developing over the course of the story, one that seems unbefitting of her self-described atheism. Father's position, that their mission is their own to determine, better represents atheism than Mother's, which is essentially a dogmatism based around another person's design for them.

Mother has always revered her "creator," Campion Sturges, after whom she named her youngest child. There's a logic to this as an artificial life-form, she has a certainty of purpose that few humans can ever experience. She is not only programmed to serve a specific aim, but she is conscious of that programming and aware of the person who created it. Her feelings intensify after uncovering archived memories of their time together on Earth, during which she falls in love, and the feeling may even be reciprocated.

Mother may retain the capacity for faith from her time as a Mithraic-made Necromancer, but as she points out to Father, her effective worship of her creator does not actually require faith. Faith implies the possibility for doubt, and Mother hasmet her god. Sol, on the other hand, is an immaterial god, who, until recently, could be dismissed as superstition. It will be interesting to see how she copes with the strange new physical evidence of Sol's existence that has just been born from her body.

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The ending of Raised By Wolves explained - Looper

Dealing with the unexpected: 7 financial steps to take after the death of a spouse or loved one – CNBC

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Brenda Pickens lost her husband, Howard, to Covid-19 in March.

Source: Brenda Pickens

Brenda Pickens' life changed dramatically this past spring, when her 63-year-old husband, Howard, died from Covid-19 complications.

His death, which occurred a month after the couple's 28th wedding anniversary, was something they never really planned for.

"We didn't think either one of us would be alone so early in our lives," said Pickens, 62, who also contracted the virus and spent months recovering.

With only a small life insurance policy payout and some retirement savings, she contemplated selling her home in Waveland, Mississippi, and her husband's barbershop, Fade 1, in nearby Bay St. Louis. Pickens was also furloughed from her job at a naval base barbershop.

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These days, she's seen some temporary financial relief, including a grant from the state of Mississippi that will keep the barbershop running for about six months. However, Pickens is now battling new health concerns. Since contracting the coronavirus, she has developed heart issues and is seeing a number of specialists.

Fortunately, she has good insurance and is receiving paid time off from her job while on medical leave.

"I'm trying to hang in there, but if push comes to shove, I'll file for disability," she said.

While she has a support system, she is still grieving the loss of her husband.

"It still gets kind of lonely," Pickens said. "He was my best friend."

However financially prepared, or unprepared, you may be, losing a loved one is overwhelming. Not only are you dealing with grief, but there are financial decisions that must also be made. Here are seven steps you can take to help ease the transition.

"It might be tempting to make a lot of decisions all at once," said certified financial planner Stacy Francis, president and CEO of Francis Financial in New York and a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

That may mean moving to a new place, selling a house, going right back to work and taking a new job.

Her advice: Don't do it.

"Give yourself a little bit of a pause so that you have time to allow yourself to start the grief process and that you give yourself time to navigate this new normal for yourself," she said.

"When you have been through trauma, it is very hard to think clearly."

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Finding professional support through, for example, a grief counselor or therapist can help you navigate the mourning process. A financial expert, meanwhile, can help you through money issues concerning insurance, wills, debt and the like.

"Put yourself on a path of not only recovery, but to eventually be able to rebound," said Francis, who specializes in working with widows and widowers and is a certified grief recovery specialist in The Grief Recovery Method approach.

Once you are ready, you can review your finances and reset.

The first thing to do when it comes to finances is to take a look at what money is coming in and how that may have changed since your loss.

You may be facing lower income without your spouse's salary, or you may have some additional funds through a life insurance payout or inheritance.

It is really important to see where you are and to then, once you have all of that information, start to create that new road map for your family

Stacy Francis

president and CEO of Francis Financial

If you have children under age 18, be sure to apply for spousal survivor benefits from Social Security, Francis said. Also, make sure you are collecting any life insurance money you may be entitled to, so reach out to your loved one's employer to see if there was coverage, as well as any private insurers.

Another potential source of money may come from any unclaimed funds. Do a search on your state's online unclaimed funds site for both you and your loved one.

The coronavirus pandemic has already hit people's expenses. Losing a spouse will add to that.

You may need extra childcare or therapy sessions. On the other hand, you may see a decrease in some expenses, like a payment for a second car.

List everything and compare it to what you have coming in and see what needs to be adjusted.

If you have outstanding credit card bills, check with your creditor. Many are already offering programs, like payment deferments or a reduction in interest rate, to help people get through the pandemic.

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If you are left with high medical bills in the wake of your loved one's death, talk to a medical billing and health insurance expert, Francis advises.

That can help you truly understand if these are bills you need to pay or if your health insurance wasn't billed properly, with the proper medical coding.

"We've also seen some individuals be able to negotiate with their health insurance," she said. "They just want to get paid.

"The last thing they want to do is have you declare bankruptcy."

Get an understanding of what your finances look like now.

That includes retirement and brokerage accounts, your home's value, your mortgage and any other loans you may have.

Taken together with your expenses and cash flow, it will help you form a plan for your near-term and long-term future and could impact college, retirement and the rest of your life, Francis said.

If you lost your spouse and have children, appoint guardians as soon as possible, even if you aren't ready to take a look at your overall will and estate plan, said New York-based estate-planning attorney Robert Steele.

When things settle down, you can then update your will and beneficiaries on any retirement plans or insurance policies.

"Your will, your estate plan is going to most likely need to change, especially if you have younger children," Steele said.

That includes creating a trust for your kids if they are young, so they don't receive the money outright, and naming a trustee to oversee it.

Additionally, if you lost your spouse, he or she was likely your health-care proxy and had power of attorney. You'll have to choose another person "who you trust and value," Francis said.

In the end, coming up with an overall plan will help you move forward both emotionally and financially.

"While it might be frightening and scary to look at all of this, it is really important to see where you are and to then, once you have all of that information, start to create that new road map for your family," Francis said.

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Andrew Raven Thompson – Journal Review

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Andrew Raven Thompson of Waveland passed away Sunday night, Sept. 27, 2020, after an auto accident. He was 13.

Born June 1, 2007, at Crawfordsville, he was a seventh grade student at Southmont Jr. High. He loved video games, riding his bike, playing with his brother and sister, going to grandpas, riding tractors and four-wheelers, and had just learned to do a back flip on the trampoline.

Surviving family include: parents, Andrew and Kynda Thompson; brother Odin Thompson; sister Audry Thompson; grandparents, Brad and Yvonne Jones and James and Lisa Bailey; great-grandparents, Ed and Donna Priebe and Keith Brock; uncle Kory Jones; and aunts, Rebecca Jones and Katie Bailey.

He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Tyrina Cronk; great-grandparents, Beverly Brock and Clyde and Carolyn Jones; and uncle James Bailey.

Visitation will be 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Waveland Christian Church, 212 W. Main St., Waveland. Services will begin at 5 p.m., led by Pastor Dave Keesee. Arrangements were made through Burkhart Funeral Home.

Online condolences may be made at http://www.BurkhartFH.com.

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Flooding impacts Treasure Coast drivers – WPBF West Palm Beach

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Hundreds of drivers across the Treasure Coast were impacted by road closures and accidents caused by flooding throughout the area. Well, the rain today just seemed to sit upon us. And kept coming down at times a little heavier than others, said Jeff Stafford, Surfside Grill Employee. Continuous rain caused flooding near Jensen Beach Club north of Waveland, where more than 9 inches of rain fell in the area. Its a lot more than normal in a short period of time, I would say, Stafford said. According to the St. Lucie County sheriffs deputy on scene, low visibility and flooding cause one driver to end up in the drainage ditch in front of Surfside Grill. The accident happened despite the restaurant's efforts to alert customers of the entrance to the parking lot. Well, we purposely put the American flags there so people could see the entranceway, Stafford said. Obviously, he missed that by quite a lot.In Fort Pierce, officials closed Midway Road between 25th Street and Oleander Boulevard.With the amount of flood water, I would say be more careful when you know its raining like that and to slow down and obey the signs, Stafford said.

Hundreds of drivers across the Treasure Coast were impacted by road closures and accidents caused by flooding throughout the area.

Well, the rain today just seemed to sit upon us. And kept coming down at times a little heavier than others, said Jeff Stafford, Surfside Grill Employee.

Continuous rain caused flooding near Jensen Beach Club north of Waveland, where more than 9 inches of rain fell in the area.

Its a lot more than normal in a short period of time, I would say, Stafford said.

According to the St. Lucie County sheriffs deputy on scene, low visibility and flooding cause one driver to end up in the drainage ditch in front of Surfside Grill.

The accident happened despite the restaurant's efforts to alert customers of the entrance to the parking lot.

Well, we purposely put the American flags there so people could see the entranceway, Stafford said. Obviously, he missed that by quite a lot.

In Fort Pierce, officials closed Midway Road between 25th Street and Oleander Boulevard.

With the amount of flood water, I would say be more careful when you know its raining like that and to slow down and obey the signs, Stafford said.

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Flooding impacts Treasure Coast drivers - WPBF West Palm Beach

What Are the Good Benefits of Ginger? – The Daily Meal

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While it may seem like ginger is a recent trend in holistic and alternative treatments, the plant, which originated in Southeast Asia, has been used for medicinal purposes in countries like India and China for centuries. In fact, many Asian households used it to help treat anything from a headache to a sore throat to menstrual cramps long before studies and scientific evidence proved gingers health benefits.

Healthy Brain Foods You Should Be Eating

According to a study discussing the effectiveness of ginger in the journal Integrative Medicine Insights, the anti-nausea properties of ginger come from gingerols, which are natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds found in raw ginger that activate spice receptors on the tongue.

If you've ever had ginger ale or ginger tea to settle an upset stomach, you already know that ginger can help with nausea and digestive problems. But to get the largest amount of health benefits from ginger, you should be consuming it raw.

Along with its anti-nausea properties, ginger also stimulates gastric emptying, moving things out of the stomach more quickly and thus providing relief to tummy troubles.

Beyond its use for nausea, ginger is also packed with nutrients that benefit both the body and brain andwhile these healing properties are present in many of its forms, you might consider having a few fresh ginger roots on hand.

In 2013, researchers studied the antiviral effects of both fresh and dried ginger on a respiratory virus in human cells. The study indicated that fresh ginger was an effective tool in protecting the respiratory system, while the dried ginger was not.

Raw ginger is a low-cost and easy-to-find natural remedy that you can use to help treat several everyday issues like sore throats and headaches. If youre unsure how to consume raw ginger, there are a few different ways.

The first is to mince raw ginger and blend it up in a healthy fruit smoothie. To lessen the zing, use fruits that have a lot of sweet flavor like fresh mangos. In this recipe for a mango smoothie with turmeric green tea and ginger, matcha powder adds a soft earthiness that tones down the sharp ginger.

Another option is to add a chunk of ginger to a hot cup of tea or hot water. You dont even have to peel it simply place a piece of ginger in your teacup and pour boiling water over it. Add some honey and a squirt of fresh lemon if you like, and youve got the perfect remedy for fall sniffles.

You can also grate some ginger into your favorite comforting or spicy soup. When you grate ginger as opposed to dropping it in raw, the result is milder and much more dispersed. Its a staple in Indian cooking and brings both heat and a slightly spicy, slightly sweet flavor.

If youre more of an amateur baker, you can also add chopped pieces of ginger to muffins or cake batter or try pumpkin desserts with fresh ginger for a zesty fall twist.

But if you dont want to whip up a recipe, you can eat it raw just as is you only need a tiny sliver to chew on. Cut an inch off the ginger root, use a spoon to peel the brown skin off and nibble on it. You can also use a vegetable peeler to shred super thin slices of ginger and let them sit on your tongue before chewing them down for a less pungent experience.

If youre not familiar with storing raw ginger, it can last in the fridge for three to four weeks and even longer in the freezer. Simply place the root in the vegetable drawer or in an eco-friendly produce bag to keep it fresh, and when youre ready to use it, you can use a grater or zester to grate the frozen piece of ginger right in without needing to thaw it.

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Clenched Teeth? How That Tension Might Affect The Rest Of The Body – mindbodygreen.com

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"The mind and the body are so intertwined," Fulop says. "If a person is dealing with the constant stresses of daily life it is likely to manifest in physical aches and pains in the body." To break it down: When the brain releases stress hormones, triggering the fight-or-flight response, heart rate and blood pressure can increase. When these two vitals go up, Fulop says the muscles will tighten.

"When muscles will stay in a contracted state and shorten, pain will eventually set in," she says. "How we treat our body through our eating habits, exercise habits, and dealing with stress will play an extremely important role in our overall health and wellness."

On top ofthat, living with chronic pain will begin to change how the body processes pain over time, Nerurkar says. "And long-standing chronic pain can have an impact on the mind-body connection." Managing these symptoms before they become chronic can increase the overall quality of life.

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New study finds antidepressant drug effective in treating lazy eye in adults – Newswise

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Newswise Irvine, Calif. September 30, 2020 In a new study, published in Current Biology, researchers from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine reveal how subanesthetic ketamine, which is used for pain management and as an antidepressant in humans, is effective in treating adult amblyopia, a brain disorder commonly known as lazy eye.

Our study, demonstrates how a single-dose of subanesthetic ketamine reactivates adult visual cortical plasticity and promotes functional recovery of visual acuity defects resulting from amblyopia, explained Xiangmin Xu, PhD, a professor of anatomy and neurobiology and director of the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping at the UCI School of Medicine.

Subanesthetic ketamine, commonly used to treat depression and pain, evokes rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects in human patients. There was evidence that ketamine may control how the nervous system makes structural changes in response to internal and external demands, a process called neural plasticity. But, how the drug worked remained elusive, until now.

Our research team showed that ketamine down-regulates NRG1 expression in PV inhibitory cells, resulting in sustained cortical disinhibition to enhance cortical plasticity in adult visual cortex, said Steven F. Grieco, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Xu lab and lead author. Through this neural plasticity-based mechanism, ketamine mediated functional recovery from adult amblyopia. Xin Qiao, PhD, a postdoctoral staff in the Xu lab is a co-first author for the published paper.

Amblyopia is a vision disorder in which the brain fails to process inputs from one eye, favoring the other eye. The condition can result in decreased vision in the affected eye. Each year, between one and five percent of children worldwide, are diagnosed with this condition.

Fast and sustained ketamine actions show promise for therapeutic applications that rely on reactivating adult cortical plasticity. Further testing is needed to determine the full implications of this discovery.

This study was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

About the UCI School of Medicine

Each year, the UCI School of Medicine educates more than 400 medical students, and nearly 150 doctoral and masters students. More than 700 residents and fellows are trained at UCI Medical Center and affiliated institutions. The School of Medicine offers an MD; a dual MD/PhD medical scientist training program; and PhDs and masters degrees in anatomy and neurobiology, biomedical sciences, genetic counseling, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, pathology, pharmacology, physiology and biophysics, and translational sciences. Medical students also may pursue an MD/MBA, an MD/masters in public health, or an MD/masters degree through one of three mission-based programs: the Health Education to Advance Leaders in Integrative Medicine (HEAL-IM), the Leadership Education to Advance Diversity-African, Black and Caribbean (LEAD-ABC), and the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC). The UCI School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Accreditation and ranks among the top 50 nationwide for research. For more information, visit som.uci.edu.

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Skyhawk Therapeutics Expands Leadership Team with Chief Medical Officer and Head of Chemistry, and adds to its Scientific Advisory Board – BioSpace

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Joseph Duffy PhD brings 20+ years of small molecule discovery chemistry and operations to his role as SVP Chemistry of Skyhawk Therapeutics, Elliot Ehrich MD brings 20+ years of clinical development for novel pharmaceuticals to his role as Chief Medical Officer of Skyhawk Therapeutics,and Rob Hershberg MD-PhD with 25+ years of biotech and pharma experience has joined Skyhawk's Scientific Advisory Board.

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyhawk Therapeutics today announced that Dr. Elliot Ehrich has joined the Company as Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Joseph Duffy has joined as Senior Vice President of Chemistry. The Company also strengthened its Scientific Advisory Board with the addition of Dr. Rob Hershberg.

"We are delighted that Joe and Elliot have come on board at Skyhawk," said Bill Haney, co-founder and CEO of Skyhawk Therapeutics. "Their combined scientific and clinical accomplishments will be invaluable in shepherding our novel RNA-targeting small molecule drug candidates successfully into the clinic. We are also excited to welcome Rob to our Scientific Advisory Board. His clinical and scientific insight and deep experience as a drug developer will be a tremendous addition to Skyhawk."

Elliot Ehrich, MD most recently served as a Venture Partner at 5AM Ventures and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Expansion Therapeutics, a 5AM Ventures portfolio company. Previously, Dr. Ehrich spent 17 years at Alkermes ultimately as Executive Vice President of R&D and CMO. At Alkermes he led the development and successful FDA registration of multiple new medicines. Dr. Ehrich has also worked in clinical pharmacology and clinical research at Merck &Co, Inc..

Dr. Ehrich received a BA in biochemistry from Princeton University and an MD from Columbia University. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in immunology and rheumatology at Stanford University Medical School followed by postdoctoral research the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Over the past four years, Joseph Duffy PhD, served as Executive Director of Discovery Chemistry atMerckResearch Laboratories in Rahway and Kenilworth, New Jersey, where he oversaw multiple preclinical drug discovery teams. Dr. Duffy's contributions over 24 years at Merck included all phases of drug discovery, from lead identification through clinical phase candidate development. He directed successful lead optimization efforts for multiple indications, resulting in clinical candidates and Investigational New Drug (IND) applications from both internal projects and international collaborative research with biotech organizations. Dr. Duffy received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Kent State University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Rob Hershberg MD-PhD began his career as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Later, Dr. Hershberg co-founded VentiRx Pharmaceuticals and, as President and Chief Executive Officer, led the company through its transformational partnership with Celgene. Dr. Hershberg joined Celgene in 2014 to lead their efforts in Immuno-Oncology, was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer in 2016, and was subsequently Executive Vice President and Head of Business Development & Global Alliances and served as a member of the Executive Committee until the acquisition of Celgene by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2019. Rob is currently a Venture Partner on the Frazier Life Sciences team. He completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles and received his Ph.D. at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Dr Hershberg joins Skyhawk's distinguished Scientific Advisory Board which includes:

Skyhawk Therapeutics is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing therapies that use its novel SkySTARTM (Skyhawk Small molecule Therapeutics for Alternative splicing of RNA) platform to build small molecule drugs that bring breakthrough treatments to patients.

For more information visit: http://www.skyhawktx.com, https://twitter.com/Skyhawk_Tx, https://www.linkedin.com/company/skyhawk-therapeutics/

SKYHAWK MEDIA CONTACT:Anne Deconinckanne@skyhawktx.com

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SOURCE Skyhawk Therapeutics

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Cold Water Therapy & Hot Coffee: A GI Doc Shares His Morning Routine Essentials – mindbodygreen.com

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Most mornings can benefit from a cup of coffee, but that doesn't mean every morning should start with a cup of coffee.

"Something that's become a big game-changer for me is starting the morning off with two large glasses of water," Bulsiewicz says. "I have not given up coffee. I will not give up coffee. I've just found that my body responds better when I reach for water first."

Think about it. To avoid waking up in the middle of the night to pee, urologist Vannita Simma-Chiang, M.D., recommends taking a final sip of water about three hours before bed. If people follow that rule, by the time they wake up, about 11 hours will have passed without any source of hydration.

"Your body needs that water to start working properly," Bulsiewicz says. "My brain, my gut, and my kidneys all seem to function better when I start with water instead of coffee."

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Winston-Salem trauma surgeon Dr. J. Wayne Meredith installed as the 101st President of the American College of Surgeons – Newswise

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Newswise CHICAGO: J. Wayne Meredith, MD, FACS, MCCM, an esteemed trauma, thoracic, and critical care surgeon from Winston-Salem, N.C., was installed this evening for a one-year term as the 101st President of the American College Surgeons (ACS). The installation occurred during the Convocation ceremony that is a highlight of the virtual ACS Clinical Congress 2020, one of the largest educational meetings of surgeons in the world.

Dr. Meredith is the Richard T. Myers Professor and Chairman, department of surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, and chair of surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine since 1997. Dr. Meredith joined the faculty of Wake Forest University Health Sciences in 1987. In his years of service at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Dr. Meredith has taken on leadership roles: he served as director of surgical sciences through June 2014 and was appointed chief of clinical chairs of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in July 2019.

In addition to serving as the Richard T. Myers Professor and Chair, he has served 10 years as residency program director, department of surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine. Along with serving as medical director of The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, Dr. Meredith holds a cross-appointment at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as well as a joint appointment as professor of pediatrics, department of pediatrics. He is chairman of the medical executive committee, a member of Wake Forests graduate medical education committee (1999present), the risk and insurance management advisory council (2002present), the faculty executive council (2002present), the cancer center oversight committee (2004present), the health system management council (2011present), and chairs the medical executive committee (2011present). He has served on the boards of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

During his ACS presidential address, entitled Lessons Learned on the Way to this Podium, Dr. Meredith told more than 2,000 newly initiated Fellows of the American College of Surgeons numerous words of advice on having a successful and rewarding career in surgery.

A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) since 1990, Dr. Meredith has devoted much of his expertise and energy to ACS trauma-related activities. He served as the Medical Director of ACS Trauma Programs (20062010) and Chair of the Committee on Trauma (COT) (20022006). He has chaired the COTs National Trauma Data Bank Ad Hoc Committee (19972002), the Trauma Registry Subcommittee (19942002), and continues to serve on the Verification, Review, and Consultation Committee (1996present). In addition, he has been a liaison member of the Program Committee (20022006), a member of the national faculty for Advanced Trauma Life Support (2002present), and the ACS COT representative to the American Board of Surgery (ABS) Trauma, Burns, and Critical Care Advisory Council (20052006).

Dr. Meredith is an ACS Governor at-Large (2017present) and serves on the Board of Governors Surgical Training Workgroup. He previously served on the Health Policy Advisory Council (2018).

Furthermore, Dr. Meredith has played a significant role in state-level ACS activities since joining the North Carolina Chapter of the ACS in 1991. He has served as a member of the chapters Board of Directors (1994present), as a member (1991present) and Chair (19911997) of the North Carolina COT, and North Carolina Chapter President (2005).

The College honored Dr. Meredith for his contributions to the ACS with the 2014 Distinguished Service Award (DSA), the Colleges highest honor. The Board of Regents of the ACS presented the DSA to Dr. Meredith in appreciation of his continuous and devoted service as a Fellow and in recognition of his distinctive scientific contributions in cardiovascular physiology during resuscitation, trauma registries, and trauma systems.

In addition to his previously noted service in leadership roles in ACS Trauma Programs, Dr. Meredith has been active in the field in various capacities both nationally and globally. He has been named a visiting professor or named lecturer at more than 20 institutions around the world, from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Quito, Ecuador. He serves on the editorial board of several journals, and is the author or coauthor of more than 170 scientific publications, more than 20 book chapters, and one textbook,Trauma: Contemporary Principles and Therapy.

Dr. Merediths research interests include thoracic trauma, the biomechanics of crash injury, injury severity measures, and trauma systems development. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has been awarded 10 grants for various trauma research studies. He is the principal investigator for a National Institutes of Health grant for Integrative Training in Trauma and Regenerative Medicine, as well as a joint project with Wake Forest School of Medicine and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that established a Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network Center of Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, Blacksburg.

Dr. Meredith has held leadership roles in many other professional organizations including president of many surgical professional societies: the Southeastern Surgical Congress, the Eastern Association for the Surgery on Trauma, the Halsted Society, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Southern Surgical Association. He has held multiple other leadership positions, including service as director of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr Meredith lives in Winston Salem with Gayle, his spouse of 46 years and constant source of inspiration and love. They have two wonderful children Russell and Amanda, aged 37 and 32.

Other ACS officers installed this evening include:

First Vice-President-Elect H. Randolph Bailey, MD, FACS, FASCRS, a respected colon and rectal surgeon who practices at the University of Texas (UT)/McGovern Medical School, Houston. Dr. Bailey is professor of surgery and emeritus program director of the UT colon and rectal surgery residency training program. He is chief, division of colon and rectal surgery, Memorial Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center, and deputy chief of surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital.

Second Vice-President-Elect Lisa A. Newman, MD, MPH, FACS, FASCO, is director, interdisciplinary breast program; chief, division of breast surgery; and medical director, International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes; Weill Cornell Medicine-New York Presbyterian Hospital Network, N.Y. She also is an adjunct professor of breast surgery at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.

FACS designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

# # #

About J. Wayne Meredith, MD, FACS, MCCM Dr. Meredith graduated from Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., with a bachelor of arts degree in physics. He earned his medical degree and completed his surgical training in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at what is now Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C. He completed his trauma/critical care fellowship as visiting assistant professor of surgery/trauma under the supervision of the late Donald D. Trunkey, MD, FACS, at Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital, Portland.

About the American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 82,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visitwww.facs.org.

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Hazy road to legalise marijuana: The case for it and risks involved – Yahoo Canada Shine On

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New Zealand, which will go into elections on October 17, will also be holding a referendum to decide whether cannabis should be legalised or not.

If New Zealanders are to vote for legalising cannabis for recreational usage, it would join the likes of countries such as Canada, Uruguay and certain states in the United States where consumption of marijuana is legal. Early poll numbers, from the latest Newshub Reid-Research poll, however, reveal that only 37.9 per cent population support the proposition.

In India, the investigations into Sushant Singh Rajputs death has thrown open a Pandoras box of drug abuse in Bollywood. The arrest of actor Rhea Chakraborty by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) over the discovery of 59 gms of curated marijuana seized, and the questioning of lead Bollywood actors such as Deepika Padukone over certain WhatsApp chats which referred to maal and hash, has brought back a much-debated topic - that of legalisation of marijuana.

Also known as Weed, Pot or Ganja, Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world.

Around 3 crore people use it in India, alone, with Delhi the third-largest cannabis consumer in the world and Mumbai, the 6th largest.

India also grows some of the most sought after varieties of weed in the world the stunning Parvati Valley in Himachal Pradesh is a Hippies paradise, where the hugely popular Malana weed is cultivated. Keralas Idukki Gold is renowned as one of the best strains of weed in Asia.

Ariel view of and from the mountain village of Malana, India. The place lushes with greenery in the summers, but as it is at 10000 ft, conical rooftops are made to stand the snowfalls of the winter. Its famous for its Quality Hashish, 5K

India is no stranger to marijuana, a drug that has been used for thousands of years, dating back as far as 4000 BC. The cannabis plant even finds a mention in the Vedas and is closely associated with Lord Shiva. The drink Bhang or thandai served during Holi is prepared from dried cannabis leaves and milk, with other spices added to it. Bhang is legal in the country and is sold at specific government authorised shops.

Weed also has a connection with Ayurveda, which, while connoted as a toxic substance in Ayurvedic texts, has traditionally been used in medicines. In 2018, the Centre Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences in collaboration with Gujarat Ayurved University found that cannabis leaves can be effective in alleviating pain and other symptoms in cancer patients post-chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Further, research is being conducted to develop cannabis-based drugs for the treatment of pain in illnesses such as epilepsy, anaemia and cancer by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR - IIIM) in collaboration with Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO), a startup which works with industrial hemp.

So, with such religious and historical connections to it, how can the consumption of marijuana be illegal in India?

The recreational usage of marijuana is illegal in India and is governed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Consumption of marijuana is punishable with a jail term of six months or a fine of Rs 10,000, while illegal production and cultivation can be punished with a jail term of up to 10 years.

However, marijuana was legal in India until 1984. It was in the 1960s that the United States launched an offensive against the drug and a drive to ban it. During the 1961 Convention on Narcotics Drugs, India had even opposed the classification of marijuana as a hard drug.

Bucking under pressure, the Rajiv Gandhi administration passed the NDPS Act in 1985 which criminalised cannabis in its resin and bud form, but allowed the sale of bhang at government-approved shops.

Ironically, several states in the United States have now either legalised marijuana or are considering it. In India, various NGOs and activists have been asking for its legalisation. Their argument is that the criminalisation of marijuana has pushed the drug underground and to onto the hands of criminals who make it more potent and dangerous.

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Arguments favouringlegalising marijuana also say that it could lead to fewer chances of addiction. A study conducted in 1994 by epidemiologistJohn Anthony who surveyed more than 8,000 people about their marijuana usage, discovered that the chances of getting addicted to the drug were 9 per cent. For alcohol, this figure was 15 per cent, for heroin 23 per cent and for nicotine, 32 per cent.

Legalisation will also help villagersin areas like the Parbati Valley and the upper reaches of Kullu and Manali, and Idukki in Kerala whose main source of income comes from cannabis. Currently, with marijuana being illegal, farmers are forced to sell it to drug peddlers at low prices, and have problems with the police. Those for legalising the drug argue that by making the drug legally available, farmers would benefit from a more regulated market.

However, the fact remains that cannabis, when taken recreationally still remains a drug which could have harmful effects on the consumer. While a plant, it contains the mind-altering chemical, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol(THC), which is responsible for the intoxication that people who consume it feel.

The plant also has over 400 other chemicals. Researchers from the University of Alberta have identified potentially toxic chemicals in marijuana smoke which could have health effects. In a single puff of cannabis smoke, researchers have isolated around 110 toxic chemicals which may have carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic effects, which could affect the development of the embryo or foetus.

Research conducted in Pittsburgh has also discovered that children of frequent marijuana users have relatively less attention span than their peers. Early marijuana usage has also been linked to a loss in I.Q levels of pre-teens.

Further, The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study conducted in Dunedin, New Zealand has found that people who smoke even one joint a week are prone to developing respiratory illnesses. Occasional smokers who cut down on weed, also had reduced symptoms, while heavy smokers had a persistent cough and wheeze even after cutting down, or quitting completely. This proves that the side effects of smoking weed on heavy smokers may linger for long.

Those who are against the legalisation of weed are also worried that its usage could prove to be a gateway to other, more potent, hard drugs.

Marijuana, if used responsibly, could help those cultivating it and using it. However, with India already grappling with problems of alcoholism, excessive tobacco usage, much more research needs to be carried out to ensure that the risks do not outweigh the potential benefits.

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Hazy road to legalise marijuana: The case for it and risks involved - Yahoo Canada Shine On

5 Alternative Therapies That May Help With Depression and Anxiety – LIVESTRONG.COM

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If you have trouble expressing your feelings and emotions in words, you may find art therapy helpful.

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If mantras or mindful breathing aren't your vibe, that's OK. When it comes to managing your mental health, the best therapies are the ones that work for you.

Sure, some people swear by meditation, and yes, sometimes that involves word repetition or deep breathing. Meditation can be calming and has been shown to benefit overall health and wellbeing, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Heath (NCCIH). But it's not for everyone. In fact, the NCCIH points out that meditation, in rare cases, may even cause or worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression.

That's where alternative therapies come in, and there are quite a few. Finding a therapeutic approach that resonates with you is part of the wellness journey.

Here are a few non-traditional methods worth considering.

As with any new therapy, you should consult your health care provider before going all in.

Adding music to your day is an alternative therapy that might help ease anxious thoughts.

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Making or listening to music may be an effective tool for tuning up your mental health. It helps people explore their thoughts and feelings, according to the American Psychological Association.

Music therapy can ease treatment- or illness-related anxiety, and there may be short-term benefits for people with depression, too, per the NCCIH. And, adding music therapy to "treatment as usual" improved depressive symptoms and anxiety, compared with usual care alone, according to a November 2017 analysis published by the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

This therapeutic approach transcends the limits of language, according to the American Art Therapy Association. In other words, it gives people a different way to express their feelings, symptoms or emotions, according to a May 2019 review in the journal Psychiatric Research.

Jill McNutt, PhD, a board-certified, licensed art psychotherapist and licensed professional counselor at the Art Therapy House in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, tells LIVESTRONG.com that she works with clients to establish their personal story, then deconstruct areas of discomfort and, ultimately, "rewrite" that story.

"Through imagery creation, reflection and re-creation, clients renegotiate their relationship with psychological states like anxiety and depression," McNutt says.

Four studies showed "significant reductions" in depressive symptoms, compared with baseline measures, following eight- to 12-week art therapy sessions, according to the Psychiatric Research review.

Some people find it calming to be around horses.

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If working with horses appeals to you, you might find this form of animal-assisted therapy to be quite soothing. Small studies and anecdotal evidence show that it can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to NAMI.

Is it as effective as traditional psychotherapy? That remains unclear. An August 2019 review published by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health identified just one relevant study: After six weeks of equine therapy, 10 U.S. veterans with PTSD showed no significant improvement in symptoms, resilience or stress levels compared with a control group, according to the January 2019 study in the Journal of Integrative Medicine.

There were no such studies comparing the effectiveness of equine therapy alone or as an add-on to traditional treatment for anxiety and depression, the Canadian agency noted.

4. Dance Movement Therapy (DMT)

No, this is not about a night at the club. DMT is a type of psychotherapy that uses body movement as a non-verbal language, according to the American Dance Therapy Association.

"In the therapeutic setting, movements and the way they are conducted are an expression of emotions," explains Silvia Birklein, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist, board-certified dance movement therapist and founder and director of SYNC Psychological Services in New York City.

The therapist, for instance, might non-verbally attune to her client's body rhythm using a technique called "mirroring." People feel "seen and understood in what they are experiencing," Birklein tells LIVESTRONG.com. She says it "creates a feeling of 'being in there together': it breaks through the isolation of depression."

Tell your negative thoughts to take a hike.

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When's the last time you communed with nature? If you have anxiety, depression or PTSD, you might consider harnessing the power of the great outdoors.

"Ecotherapy" encompasses numerous therapeutic approaches. How about a trail walk in the woods or outdoor cycling?

There's evidence that these types of activities can lead to positive improvements in health, per a January 2011 systemic review in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.

Walking in nature, versus an urban setting, reduces activity in the region of the brain associated with ruminating over negative thoughts, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Spending time in nature may also lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, per Harvard Health Publishing.

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Global Health Coaching Market Potential Growth, Share, Demand and Analysis of Top Key Players Research Forecasts to 2026 – The Daily Chronicle

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Global Health Coaching Market Potential Growth, Share, Demand and Analysis of Top Key Players Research Forecasts to 2026 - The Daily Chronicle