Monthly Archives: April 2021

IDAHO FALLS The Melaleuca Freedom Celebration, which is the largest Independence Day fireworks show west of the Mississippi River, will return with a bang in 2021 at Snake River Landing after it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot promises that the 28thAnnual Melaleuca Freedom Celebration will be bigger and better than ever with more firepower than has ever been seen before in the state of Idaho. This dazzling display will be held Saturday, July 3, at 10:03 p.m. at Snake River Landing in Idaho Falls.

Its time for our community to come back to life, so were not only planning to celebrate our nations independence but also our American way of life in spite of a virus that has dramatically changed the world, VanderSloot said. Once again, the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration will pay tribute to over one million American heroes who gave their lives over the last two and a half centuries to attain and protect our independence from any other nation and the many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted.

VanderSloot says he cannot predict the future, but he is confident that with vaccines now available throughout the country, Idaho Falls can hold this event in a safe and responsible manner. After all, its an outside event, he pointed out.

This free production, whichhonors the sacrifice of our nations founding fathers, veterans and soldiers,lasts for 31 adrenaline-filled minutes. The soundtrack inspires patriotism and appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy in America. The program is broadcast live onKLCE Classy 97.3 FMand is synchronized note-for-note and shell-for-shell with the fireworks.

Ball Ventures is hosting this years celebration once again at Snake River Landing, which features a 110-acre outdoor amphitheater that was created and designed exclusively for this show.The site provides an opportunity for people to spread out, allowing families plenty of space to social distance.

Idaho Falls is the only city in America with an amphitheater designed specifically for the Independence Day fireworks show.

To ensure the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration remains the largest Independence Day fireworks show west of the Mississippi, Melaleuca monitors other events throughout the country and traditionally increases the shows budget each year. As a result, the American Pyrotechnics Association recognized the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration as a must-see Independence Day firework display in 2017 and 2018, and USA Today, Travel + Leisuremagazine, and Yahoo! have featured it as one of the best fireworks displays in America.

When we canceled the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration last year, I promised that we would return with an even bigger fireworks display than ever before, VanderSloot said. I havent forgotten that commitment, and I can assure you that this will be an experience that youll never forget.

More information about the 2021 Melaleuca Freedom Celebration will be coming in the next few weeks atFreedomcelebration.com.

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2021 Melaleuca Freedom Celebration to Light Up the Sky with Largest Independence Day Fireworks Show West of the Mississippi River - Idaho Falls...

Sam (Yahya Mahayni) agrees to have his back tattooed with the Schengen Visa, the document that allows free movement between European countries, in The Man Who Sold His Skin. Samuel Goldwyn/Bac Films hide caption

Sam (Yahya Mahayni) agrees to have his back tattooed with the Schengen Visa, the document that allows free movement between European countries, in The Man Who Sold His Skin.

If any story has been inescapable this century, it's surely immigration. The subject has spawned so many newscasts, books, movies and TV shows that it takes real imagination to find an invigorating angle on such a well-worn and difficult theme.

That's why I was surprised and delighted by The Man Who Sold His Skin, a funny, touching and pointed film that's been nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature. Made by the Tunisian writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania, it weaves together satire and humane political awareness to create an original fable about art, privilege, freedom and identity.

The winning newcomer Yahya Mahayni stars as Sam Ali, a handsome young Syrian madly in love with his girlfriend, Abeer (Dea Liane). But when Sam's thrown into prison by the Assad regime for a trifle, he's forced to escape to Lebanon. He's burning to get to Belgium where Abeer has moved with the Syrian diplomat she's been married off to, but he can't get a visa.

Sam's situation seems hopeless until he sneaks into an opening at a Beirut gallery hoping to sponge free food. Once there, he's caught by a glamorous art-dealer who introduces him to Jeffrey Godefroi, an internationally renowned artist played by Belgian star Koen De Bouw. Jeffrey specializes in glib work that sells for millions and seems to embody Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic as one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Over drinks, Jeffrey proposes a deal that will let Sam get to Abeer. Using Sam's back as his canvas, Jeffrey creates a large tattoo depicting the Schengen Visa, the document that allows free movement between European countries. In exchange, he gives Sam a cut of the profits and because Sam is now a pricey work of art gets him into Belgium. There Sam spends his time being displayed in a museum and looking for Abeer. He finally appears to be free.

Of course, when someone says he's the devil and offers you a contract, the word "Faustian" does come to mind. Even as Jeffrey delivers everything he promised, Sam's supposed freedom finds him being pinballed in crazy directions. Among the forces pulling him are Abeer's belligerent husband, bossy museum directors, vulgarian art collectors, internet trolls, Syrian refugee groups who want to use him as a symbol, and his mother back in the war-ravaged city of Raqqa, whose travails will leave him gutted and ashamed.

While The Man Who Sold His Skin is a good film, it's not flawless: The motivating love story is a bit conventional, the plotting a shade too pat. Yet the movie is admirable in its slyness and tact. Ben Hania has a light touch. She leaves us to notice the visual similarities that link Sam's time in prison and the gallery world. Neatly evading the commonplaces about mistreated immigrants, she wittily gives us a refugee who feels himself trapped in his life of 5-star hotels and room service caviar.

Now, in real life, the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye actually did tattoo a man named Tim Steiner, turning him into a work of art. In Ben Hania's hands, that gimmicky conceptual idea takes on a richer meaning. It's not simply that Sam becomes a commodity, but that by becoming a commodity, he has more rights. As an asylum seeker, he can't get into Europe, but as a piece of artistic merchandise he can. He has more value in the prosperous West as an object than as a man. As such, Sam becomes a metaphor for how immigrants become objects defined by the meanings we impose upon them rather than by the ones they would make for themselves.

In the end, The Man Who Sold His Skin is all about Sam attempting to stop being an object and start being a man who writes his own story rather than having it told for him by a tattoo on his back.

Read more:

'The Man Who Sold His Skin' Review: A Sly Film About Art And Immigration - NPR

A few days ago, Ray Dalio, founder of the worlds largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, said there is a good probability that countries could outlaw bitcoin. Every country treasures its monopoly on controlling the supply and demand, he explained, alluding to the deeply revolutionary aspect of the cryptocurrency, which is not tied to any country or territory.

Around here, Dalios comments might as well be confined to the financial pages, as if they refer to some dull, gray business taking place in some faraway realm, while what really matters, supposedly, are the coalition negotiations that are being stymied by the impotence of people who are unable to budge in the slightest from their personal fantasies, their profound cowardice and their superficial and automatic responses to put together a coalition even when its lying right there at their feet.

But the comments by Dalio, one of the most important business thinkers today, whose tremendous success derives largely from his understanding of our reality and the directions its heading (without going into his own interests and the side that he chooses in this battle), are the real news. They are the really big story.

The questions provoked by the technological advancements that essentially undercut all our fundamental societal concepts sovereignty, popular rule, privacy, monetary policy, art, banking, manufacturing, etc. are the things we should be pondering. This is what a society that desires independence must keep talking about.

This understanding (of which we have written here numerous times) that the technology revolution essentially undermines states and their monopolies on our lives is the basic key for those who want not only to talk about change but to understand how to make it happen. The question of where freedom is to be found at present, who has an interest in promoting it and who has an interest in undermining it is, therefore, the biggest question from which everything else follows.

The recognition that human existence changes at a dizzying pace and with it, many of the tenets of reality, obliges anyone who believes in freedom, who does not fear it which most people do to ask this question with open eyes. Dalios statement underscores the obvious: What was once the agent of freedom the progress and development of the last century is, with good probability, becoming the agent of stagnation. Humanitys greatest struggles have always occurred when an old order sought to preserve its power at the expense of new and relevant forces that arose out of reality, out of life and life and advancements.

One can talk about a civil war that derives from ideology or ethnic polarization, and even craft an excellent comedy sketch out of it, but in truth its been quite a while since the citizenry was truly stirred to action by our current politics. No civil war or widespread violence is going to erupt in wake of the last election, from any side. Anyone who wishes to ratchet up this anxiety is making common cause with all those who draw on the old sentiment in order to stifle the new freedom. See: Joe Bidens inauguration.

As in the rest of the Western world, the only civil war that could erupt here would be between those who will seek to preserve the old order of monopolistic nation-states, even at the cost of severely weakening the deep democratization ushered in by the technology revolution despite its known drawbacks and those who will understand that the only real war worth fighting today is the war for freedom, that the alternative is China and that no one will be protected. See: the state of Chinese corporations and what happened to Jack Ma.

Freedom is a byproduct of an understanding of time, the recognition of its value and the courage to listen to it. Which is why the Passover Haggadah repeatedly highlights the importance of time. There can be no freedom without a connection to the spirit of the time. This is what the Arab public really grasped in the most recent election. It is the reason why it spat in the face of the Joint List.

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The only real war worth fighting today is the war for freedom - Haaretz

The Elmhurst ThreeGary Johnson,Rohan Bolt, and George Belloffer statements during the hearing to vacate their case, March 5, 2021. (Youtube screenshot via Anna Schwarz)

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One day in 2012, a year into my first real job, at the Innocence Project, my phone rang. It wasnt uncommon for intake calls to accidentally find their way to my line. For desperate family members advocating for a loved one in prison, it didnt always matter whom they spoke tothey just needed someone to hear them. On this day, it was a far more unlikely caller: a retired New York Police Department detective from Long Island named Pete Fiorillo.

Fiorillo told me at length about a case in Queens that he was certain had resulted in a wrongful convictionand not just of one man but of three: George Bell, Gary Johnson, and Rohan Bolt. All three were Black; all three had been convicted of a botched robbery and murder at a check-cashing facility in Queens. The year was 1996, at the height of New Yorks anti-crime crusades. The victims were the owner of the check-cashing facility and the off-duty NYPD officer providing security.

Fiorillos story struck me as persuasive, but since there was no testable DNA evidence, there wasnt much the Innocence Project could do to help. Still, Fiorillo was undeterred, insisting that a good article about the case was needed. I decided to start investigating.

A year and a half later, in October 2014, The Nation published the results of that investigation in an article titled These 3 Men Have Been Locked Up for Almost 20 Years. Are They Innocent? In 3,100 words, I traced the ample evidence that Bell, Johnson, and Bolt were not responsible for the crime, as well as the multiple failures of justice along the way. The case had every hallmark of a wrongful conviction: the rushed, sloppy investigation to avenge the death of a police officer; a bombastic politician (then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani) promising the cases swift resolution; the immediate focus on three Black men, two of them still essentially children; coerced confessions, which contained notably wrong facts about the crime; the absence of evidence tying any of the defendants to the crime; the use of an unreliable witness; the use of a jailhouse informant, who could only regurgitate the inaccurate coverage hed read in the papers; and, as time would reveal, prosecutorial misconduct.

The case, as Fiorillo summarized in the article, represents a total breakdown of the criminal justice system from the bottom to the top: the police that investigated this case; the DA that prosecuted the case; the judge that tried all three cases. They just didnt have the courage to do the right thing.

That courage, as I noted at the time, was still missing from the people with the power to overturn the convictions. While conviction integrity units had begun popping up in prosecutors offices across the country to review claims of innocence, the borough of Queens, with its 2.2 million people, still lacked such a unit. For Bell, Bolt and Johnson, I lamented, this means their claims of innocence will likely continue to fall on deaf ears.

For the next five years, thats pretty much what happened. But then, in January 2020, a change: Melinda Katz, the newly seated Queens district attorney, launched a conviction integrity unit, which began to investigate the case. It discovered, among other things, evidence showing that a member of a gang known as Speedstick confessed to his role in the robbery and murders, as well as mental health records indicating that a key witness had been experiencing hallucinations at the time of his testimony.Current Issue

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Attorneys for all three men had asked multiple times for the evidence that has now come to light. The Queens district attorneys office had responded, repeatedly, that no such evidence existed. In fact, the DAs office was fully aware of this information before the three convictions, but it tried the cases anyway, seeking the death penalty against Bell and ultimately, stealing 24 years of his, Johnsons, and Bolts lives.

On the basis of this long-hidden evidence, the Queens DA and defense lawyers for the three men filed a joint motion asking the court to vacate all three convictions and set the men free. On March 5, a judge did just that, declaring, It astounds me and shocks my conscience thatconstitutional violations of this magnitude can happen in any prosecution, much less the prosecution in a capital case in which the former district attorney was seeking the death penalty [for] a 19-year-old man.

That same day, almost a quarter century after they entered the prison, Bell, Johnson, and Bolt walked out, fists raised triumphantly in the air. Though the fight for a full exoneration continues, the three men are finally where they belong: free and surrounded by the people they love.

For the past 24 years, I rose each day to the view of prison cell bars, and would say to myself, Today is the day I will find the key, Bell told the court the day of his release. Today is the day I am going home!

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How the Elmhurst Three Finally Won Their Freedom - The Nation

By Gaby Garcia-Vera

New Jersey has a profound opportunity to protect and expand access to necessary and time-sensitive reproductive health care, including abortion, by passing the Reproductive Freedom Act. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church has come out against this bill, as well as frequently and consistently against all abortion care. But I am one of the majority of the faithful in the Catholic Church who understands that our tradition supports a persons right to follow their conscience on important moral matters like abortion. I know that protecting reproductive health care is undoubtedly a Catholic value.

I am proud to work for Catholics for Choice, an organization that for more than 40 years has served as a voice for the majority of Catholics everyday people like you and me who support access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion. We advocate for policies that allow each individual the freedom to make their own moral decisions about their health and their lives.

Catholics believe in prioritizing the needs of the poor and oppressed to advance the cause of justice. The Reproductive Freedom Act provides just that, by acknowledging that personal health care decisions must not only be legal, but free from financial and logistic concerns as well, or else these rights become reserved for the wealthy and well-connected. The Reproductive Freedom Act protects and expands access to reproductive health care in three key ways: affirm the right to abortion in state law; easing financial restrictions by requiring insurers to cover abortion care without out-of-pocket expenses; and lifting medically unnecessary regulations on abortion providers that serve only to block access.

As my organizations President Jamie Manson has noted, The obligation to not just care for the vulnerable but to actively privilege them over everyone else lies at the heart of the Catholic faith; its the guiding principle of the churchs work with the poor and the marginalized.

And lack of access to abortion care hits hardest among those most oppressed by systemic racism and misogyny, including Black, Indigenous and brown communities and other communities of color, immigrant communities, the LGBTQ community, communities with low income, and all of the areas where these communities intersect.

I stand with millions of Catholics in supporting the Reproductive Freedom Act, a bold declaration that all New Jerseyans have a fundamental right to access reproductive health care, including abortion, and that all people in the state have the right to make their own health care decisions without interference by politicians.

Catholic teaching regards our conscience as the final arbiter in any moral decision each of us must make. We regard it as both a gift and a responsibility in that we are called to follow our conscience and to respect the right of others to do the same.

Far too often I hear my faith used as the sword and shield that our opponents brandish to hide behind. They would stop at anything to derail us from progress; we know because they frequently harass and intimidate people entering clinics, lie about medical facts and downplay their violence in the name of their faith.

I am here to say: not today. Today we stand and bear witness to the moral arc of the universe; for today, it bends toward a more just, thriving New Jersey.

Gaby Garcia-Vera is the domestic states program manager at Catholics for Choice.

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The Catholic case for the Reproductive Freedom Act | Opinion - NJ.com

A bad thing happened in House committee Wednesday. It approved House Bill 1280, after previous failures, to allow cities and county boards to meet in private to discuss pitches for economic development deals (payout of corporate welfare in other words.)

A gift of public money shouldnt be a deal struck in secret. Subsequent presentation of a baked cake is not public disclosure. Corporate welfare is a chumps game anyway. It rarely determines an already-decided location (except maybe by a marginal operator) and many governments have sworn off participating in the bidding wars.

This bill is particularly bad because, for the first time, it puts the giant nose of a camel (otherwise known as a lawyer) in the tent of secret decision-making by a public body for the first time. When this passes, school boards will be back with the same camels.

An observer of the meeting said Democrats* , including legislators from Luttle Rock, voted for the bill, which got the minimum 11 needed to clear the committee.

A vote to give more secrecy comes at a particularly unfortunate time in Little Rock. Theres already entirely too much secrecy in the operation of Little Rock City Hall. Why legalize more?

By their non-responses to FOI requests, youd have to think the Little Rock mayor, his top aides and PR people have never exchanged a text, document or email about economic development. Topgolf? Whos that? Particulars on the mayors tax increase? Same thing. No single document was produced for FOI requests until the mayor announced it, with supporting media, at a City Board meeting. Twas a miracle of spontaneous document creation.

I dont believe several city hall responses Ive received that said there was nothing in the hands of the city responsive to my FOI requests. I think city officials may believe that cell phone texts are exempt (they are not). I think they believe if they erase texts they are exempt, because theres no longer a record and the FOI doesnt require an official to create record. Wrong. Records DO exist of erased texts at the phone companies. It is their obligation to obtain them and provide them. I also believe officials think that they can use outside servers to conduct business (they can, just not as a legal means of avoiding disclosure.) And while Im complaining, add the round-robin meetings City Manager Bruce Moore has with city directors to be a conduit between the mayor and city directors on proposals.

So back to HB 1280. Why give legal cover to someone already disinclined to be transparent?

The Arkansas Press Association has sounded the alarm on the bill, which is headed to the House floor Monday. It sent this message:

The Arkansas House of Representatives is expected to vote Monday on House Bill 1280, legislation that if passed will have a negative and dramatic impact on how cities and counties conduct public meetings.

If HB 1280 passes, city councils, quorumcourts and other governing bodies could enter into closed, executive sessions to make decisions about how to spend tax money on certain economic development projects. These types of secret discussions are unprecedented in the 54-year history of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Proponents say it would make the job easier for mayors, city administrators and others, and theyre willing to exchange a lot of transparency for a little convenience. They contend Arkansas needs to allow for publicmeetings to be held behind closed doors to keep up with effortsin surrounding states, yet they cannot provide a single example of where Arkansas has lost an economic development opportunity because of a prohibition on executive sessions for economic development.

HB 1280 also allows attorneys to attend these secret meetings. Never before have attorneys been permitted in executive sessions under FOIA, and with good reason.Please contact the state representatives in your area before Mondays vote and ask them tovote Noon this attack on government transparency.

To read the bill, go to:https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FHB1280.pdf

I hesitate to say this. Under the Rapert/Ballinger rule, their votes often are determined by the politics of the person making an argument. They dont like you, they wont like your position on a bill. The news media, such as they exist anymore, arent particularly popular in general. Some are held in particularly low regard, if you get my drift.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story misidentified lawmakers who voted for the bill. Nicole Clowney did not vote for the bill. Megan Godfrey did, as did Little Rock Reps. Andrew Collins and Tippi McCullough.

Continue reading here:

The Freedom of Information Act is under attack and Little Rock is one example of why it's a bad idea - Arkansas Times

Judith Graham

With a mix of relief and caution, older adults fully vaccinated against covid-19 are moving out into the world and resuming activities put on hold during the pandemic.

This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free.

Many are making plans to see adult children and hug grandchildren they havent visited for months or longer. Others are getting together with friends indoors, for the first time in a long time.

People are scheduling medical appointments that had been delayed and putting trips to destinations near and far on calendars. Simple things that felt unsafe pre-vaccination now feel possible: petting a neighbors dog, going for a walk in the park, stopping at a local hangout for a cup of coffee.

I feel I can breathe again, said Barry Dym, 78, of Lexington, Massachusetts, expressing a widely shared sense of freedom.

The rapid rollout of covid vaccines to people 65 and older makes this possible.As of Monday, nearly 49% of seniors in the U.S. had been fully vaccinated, while nearly 73% had received one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.(A third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, became available earlier this month and requires just one dose.)

Recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes the protection that vaccines offer. According to the CDC, people who are fully vaccinated can meet indoors without masks, without incurring significant risk. Also, they can visit relatively safely with people who havent been vaccinated, so long as those individuals are healthy and gatherings remain small.

Still, with coronavirus variants circulating and 55,000 new infections reported daily, the CDC continues to recommend precautions elsewhere, such as wearing masks, staying physically distant in public and refraining from air travel.

How are older adults whove been fully vaccinated a privileged group, to be sure, given the millions of seniors whove yet to get shots balancing a desire to shed isolation with a need to stay safe amid a pandemic thats not yet over? I asked several people Ive spoken with previously about their plans and their reflections on the difficult year weve been through.

Mardell Reed, 80, of Pasadena, California, told me she wasnt sure shed get the vaccine originally, because I was concerned about the process going so fast and drug companies maybe producing something that wasnt up to par. But she changed her mind once we all started hearing from actual scientists rather than politicians.

Now, Reed tries to educate people she knows who remain reluctant to get the shots. One of them is her 83-year-old stepsister. No one had explained anything about the vaccines to her, Reed told me. I talked about all the things that would be possible seeing her daughter, who lives up north, seeing more of her grandkids, and I think that convinced her.

Reed used to walk in her neighborhood regularly before the pandemic but stopped when she became afraid of being around other people. Reviving that habit is a goal.

Among Reeds other priorities in the months ahead: visiting with her daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and seeing her primary care physician, a dentist, a neurologist whos treating nerve damage and an eye doctor. I didnt want to go to places where people might be sick this last year; now, its time for me to catch up on all that, she said.

Harry Hutson, 73, and his wife, Mikey, 70, invited two couples to their house in Baltimore, on separate nights, after getting their second Moderna shots in February and waiting two weeks. Were going right into having safe dinners with people whove been vaccinated, Hutson told me.

He feels a touch of lingering uncertainty, however. While were 95% sure this is the right thing to do, were a little tentative. For a whole year, weve had Covid is death engrained in us. After that, you cant just go back to normal, just like that, he said.

Hutson has continued working as an executive coach during the pandemic and has recently been giving talks on hope to business groups, nonprofit organizations and churches. What I tell people is Youll help yourself by helping others. Were all emerging from trauma and healing has to be a collective, not an individual, endeavor.

On a personal note, Hutson is going through an attic full of yearbooks, letters and photos, curating my familys history. He hopes to make an across-the-country road trip with his wife later this year visiting the family of his wifes son in Madison, Wisconsin, his daughters family in Portland, Oregon, and his brother in Eugene, Oregon, as well as several friends.

Marian Hollingsworth, 67, of La Mesa, California, spent last spring and summer sequestered at home with her husband, Ed, 72, who had stomach cancer, focused on keeping Ed safe from the coronavirus. But his illness progressed and, in early October, Ed died at home, where the couples four adult children had gathered to say goodbye.

Since then, Hollingsworths son Morgan, 27, who lives in New York City, has stayed with his mom, keeping her company. But grief struck hard: Hollingsworth lost weight and couldnt sleep at night despite profound fatigue. It was like getting hit by the biggest Mack truck you could find, she told me.

The pandemics resurgence in the fall and winter made adjusting to Eds loss even more of a challenge, Hollingsworth said, since she couldnt get together with friends or get hugs a form of contact she longed for. To this day, his clothes hang in the closet because the places shed like to send them arent accepting donations.

When Hollingsworth became fully vaccinated in early March, she said, she felt for the first time that my head was coming up above water. Although shes not sure, yet, how much she wants to go out and see people, shes looking forward to simple pleasures: petting the neighbors dog and going on distanced walks with a few friends. Im going to be cautious until theres more clarity about whats really safe, she told me.

Wilma Jenkins, 82, who lives in South Fulton, Georgia, has struggled with depression off and on for years a challenge shes spoken about publicly in talks to older adults. This fall and winter, isolated at home, its been rough for me its just been so sad, she admitted.

Even though Jenkins describes herself as an introvert, she made sure she had regular social contact before the pandemic. Most days, shed take herself out to lunch at local restaurants, chatting with the wait staff and other regular customers.

One of Jenkins great loves is music the blues and jazz. A few days after we spoke, she was planning to return to her favorite nightclub, St. James Live in Atlanta, to catch a show her first such outing since becoming fully vaccinated in mid-February.

Im not afraid to move back into the world, but I will continue to be masked and socially distanced and wash my hands, she told me.

Jenkins plans to start walking outside again; go to restaurants, so long as theyre not too crowded; and resume visits with her two daughters, both physicians, who live in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Her most ambitious goal: flying out to San Diego in late July for a celebration marking her grandson Jamals retirement from the Navy.

Barry Dym is haunted by an image thats recurred often during the past year: Hes on a moving sidewalk, unable to get off, being hurried to a destination he doesnt want to reach: old age. The image is associated with the pandemic and knee pain that has worsened, painfully, over the past six months, making walking harder.

This past year was a time of adjustment for Dym, who retired four years ago from his work as a consultant to nonprofit organizations. One of the lessons of covid for me was I still need to feel useful and I love helping people. I realized maybe Id pulled back too far.

So, Dym expanded his coaching and mentoring practice an activity he plans to continue. Whatever I can do to help make this world better, Im not going to stop trying, he said.

Outside of travel plans with his wife, Franny to the Florida Keys this spring, to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts in the summer, and perhaps to Israel in the fall Dym said he finds himself more curious than anything about what lies ahead. I really dont know what my life will be like. Ill have to find out.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

This story can be republished for free (details).

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I Can Breathe Again: Older Adults Begin to Test Freedom After Covid Vaccinations - Kaiser Health News

Sometimes you just get lucky and have a good day, and I got one yesterday. Outside of my dad getting his second vaccination done, there wasnt anything special involved: slept in by an extra 20 minutes, meals coming together timing-wise without intricate planning, enjoyed an album that is new to me (The Seduction of Kansas by Priests), bought some beers. No one in my general circle of people and organizations did a terrible April Fools joke, which I am very thankful for. I highly recommend all of these things.

To the soccer!

Kaku arbitration ruling expected soon; MLS national TV broadcast breakdown: Notebook | The AthleticNormally we dont start things off with a story whose headline leads with Kaku, but the breakdown of national TV games in MLS this season leaves D.C. United dead last among American teams, with one single national broadcast (on Univision) all season long.

On the other hand, that means more of Dave Johnson and Devon McTavish, and fewer weird broadcast windows for ESPN or FS1, so honestly? Ill take it. The networks are going to miss out if this team becomes the goal bonanza (in both directions) that Hernn Losadas history points to it being.

Philly MLS 25: Stephen King was the original Medford Messi | Brotherly GameOur longtime readers remember The Standard, a loose concept where a specific player served as an indicator of roster strength. If youre starting players who arent as good as The Standard, youre gonna have a tough go of it; if The Standard cant find minutes because the team is too good, youre a contender.

Im not sure who the current standard-holder (this was intentional!) is. Joseph Mora, maybe? Take it to the comments!

P.S. that isnt actually post-script because its in the middle of the piece: were trying to arrange for in-person coverage of Sundays preseason game against NYCFC. If Im allowed to be there, Ill be making the drive up to get some in-person observations.

Washington Spirit captain Andi Sullivan added to USWNT roster for Sweden, France friendlies | Black and Red UnitedAndi Sullivan was added to the USWNT squad, and shortly after we put this piece about the news out, Saori Takarada was called up by Japan. So, this piece has an update about the impact both call-ups will have on the Washington Spirit at the start of the Challenge Cup.

Couples love of soccer leads to Washington Spirit investment | Washington BladeEnjoyed this interview with married Spirit investors Bri Scurry and Chryssa Zizos, which also has some new notes about the Spirits plan for the gameday experience at Audi Field.

The NWSL is making progress by adding sponsors, but not every deal has to be billed as a game-changer | The AthleticA sponsor logo on a sleeve being called an activation is not my favorite thing, so Im very on board with this piece. Glad the league is getting these needed and significant sponsors, but teaser announcements that could be construed as something as big as expansion news are going to get old really fast.

Yall wanna talk jerseys?

This is a wild idea, and I think Im into it.

Welcome everyone, to Emma Hayes Orchestra! | We Aint Got No HistoryOur own Andr Carlisle provided some great context for this excellent video featuring Chelsea womens head coach Emma Hayes and her in-game instructions on team shape and how/when to press. The video is in the piece, and if you want to know whats going on with all the team shape stuff you hear about now, this will give you good insight into what coaches are doing, and why theyre doing it.

And now that Im out of stories, lets finish up with an unreal goal from college woso:

The long run-up, the fact that you get more than enough time to know what shes gonna do, the bench also knowing whats coming and freaking out even before the hit...just A+ all around.

Alright folks thats all Ive got. Enjoy your Friday!

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Friday Freedom Kicks: D.C. United (not) on TV, Andi Sullivan on USWNT, and more - Black And Red United

Image Courtesy of the National Catholic Reporter

By Eduardo Castillon

Statement to Conscience; To Awaken Conscience, a petition written by Catholic University Busch School Professor Catherine Ruth Pakaluk Ph.D, has received more than three thousand signatures from faculty and even clergy.

The complaint is a reaction against the statements of many Catholic medical and scientific organizations on the moral responsibilities of Catholics to take COVID-19 vaccines that were derived from fetal cell lines. Organizations cited by the petition include the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), the Catholic Health Association (CHA), as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The petition states We deplore the lack of moral imagination displayed by public health officials, politicians, and all those who disregard the natural disgust felt by persons who wish to remain separate from the crime of abortion in every way possible.

The Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF), which was reviewed and approved by Pope Francis, states that the use of these types of vaccines is morally licit due to the dangerous circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the aforementioned Catholic organizations do not disagree with the CDFs position, the signatories do not see the statements as going far enough in opposition to the mandating of vaccines: Even if, as a matter of general principles, it is not always morally illicit to use such abortion-tainted vaccines temporarily, in extreme necessity, and even then under strenuous protest, the use of such vaccines must never be advanced as mandatory, or as a universal duty.

We are arguing instead that it cannot become morally obligatory to take the vaccinessince an evil cannot be placed on the conscience as a duty, said Dr. Pakaluk. Therefore, we wanted to remind people that the Church protects our right to resist doing an evil, if in conscience we feel we cannot do this thing and we then outline some of our reasons for seeing this as the right approach to take in the face of a culture of death.

The statement by the CDF also claims the use of such vaccines should be voluntary, but that those who refuse such vaccines on the grounds of their conscience still have a duty to take preventative measures for infection. However, the CDF also stresses the importance of ones duty to the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed.

While it is not mandatory to accept vaccination currently, the signatories believe there are legislative threats on the horizon. The petition mentions a D.C. law that has since passed which allowed for children to receive vaccinations without parental consent. A more recent example may be the Vaccine Passports the Biden administration is currently discussing.

We invite (and call upon our lawmakers to require) all product manufacturers to reveal publicly and label their use of these cells, reads the petition, so that we can go forward avoiding such products.

Naturally, as the campus is gradually reopening to pre-pandemic standards, students may be worried about the safety of returning to school next semester especially after hearing about this petition.

We should pray and trust that God will not leave the students and faculty of Catholic University in trouble because of the respect of conscience rights in this matter. said Dr. Pakaluk, We are in good hands under President Garveys leadership. He has always found a way to pursue the common good while protecting religious and conscience libertiesin fact its an area of his special expertise.

Dr. Pakaluk also cited a USA Today article mentioning how decline in COVID-19 cases have been seen before vaccines were meant to have any influence.

The new petition voices the disappointment from thousands of signatories on the soft opposition of many Catholic organizations towards COVID-19 vaccines derived from fetal cell lines. Chief amongst their concerns is the ability to morally choose not to be vaccinated as well as possible future legislation making it harder to refuse to receive vaccines.

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Catholic Petition Circulates Claiming Freedom to Choose Vaccination - Catholic University of America The Tower