Category Archives: Covid-19

The University of Iowas student governments said they feel like the rules are stacked against them when navigating COVID-19 incentivization and mitigation on campus.

The University of Iowa strongly encourages mask-wearing and the COVID-19 vaccine, which is the most that the university can do, with the state Board of Regents holding the gavel to mandate masks on campus.

Regents President Mike Richards lifted the state of emergency for regent-governed universities on May 20, ending the requirement of masks for all faculty, staff, and students.

Moala Bannavti, UI Graduate Professional Student Government president, said she thinks the UI is doing everything it can legally to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among faculty and students, but as a UI leader, she has non-negotiables about the pandemic.

The question becomes, If peoples lives are at risk, are we all going to just sit around and stop and stare at the law, or are we going to do something beyond that to save lives, even if its intermediately? Like I said, we all have to have a hill that were willing to die on, Bannavti said.

Bannavti said she has been speaking every day to university personnel about COVID-19 to do everything she and her executive board can.

Somebody is going to have to lose, so let us all be on the right side of history when this is over and take the side of public safety, she said. Weve seen time and time again, where things that were law and legal were not correct. And we, as a country, have rectified them.

As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, the UI is the only Big Ten institution that does not require masks on campus.

Undergraduate Student Government President Regan Smock said it has been a frustrating time to work within the rules. The UI has not been able to collect information on which students are vaccinated.

It felt like playing within a game where it was completely stacked against you, Smock said. But its been kind of honestly, like, a great learning experience for me to be able to think outside of that, and how we can still do stuff.

Smock said the UIs student governments plan to announce a COVID-19 vaccination incentivization program for students to win prizes like Apple products, a tour of Kinnick Stadium, dinner with UI President Barbara Wilson, meditation app subscriptions, and private yoga lessons.

I think something else, and one of the almost hardest things to work with, is just not being able to collect any information about vaccine status, Smock said. Because if students are, like, 90 percent vaccinated, we dont know that, and itd be a very different situation.

GPSG Vice President Walt Wang said a lot of the graduate and professional students that he has talked to are very disappointed right now.

He said after going to the UIs Campaign to Organize Graduate Students Union meeting last week, COGS members said they feel that there has been a breach of their contract and safe employment.

The fact that they happen to feel that way indicates a problem because students arent supposed to feel that their workplace will pose a danger, Wang said.

Smock said while she thinks the general population of Iowa City would opt for a mask mandate against the regents orders, the UI administration has done the most it can right now.

Weve been able to speak with President Wilson so many times about it, Smock said. I really do think shes doing an amazing job with what shes handling, especially like her first year and how to navigate a very different political climate than her last state. Its a tough thing, and honestly, having that door be so open has been really nice.

Excerpt from:

UI student governments respond to regents' COVID-19 rules - UI The Daily Iowan

Texas Pastor Danny Reeves plans to share his own dire experience with COVID-19 with his congregation and encourage everyone who's eligible to get vaccinated. Courtesy of Danny Reeves hide caption

Texas Pastor Danny Reeves plans to share his own dire experience with COVID-19 with his congregation and encourage everyone who's eligible to get vaccinated.

Last month, Pastor Danny Reeves was fighting for his life in the ICU at Dallas' Baylor Medical Center. He had COVID-19 and he wasn't vaccinated.

Now, the senior pastor at First Baptist Corsicana in North Central Texas regrets not getting the shot earlier, and he plans to tell his congregants his story on Sunday when he returns to the pulpit.

"I was falsely and erroneously overconfident," Reeves told NPR's Debbie Elliott on Morning Edition.

Reeves says he isn't against vaccines, and he encouraged certain people in his community mostly seniors to get vaccinated before he contracted coronavirus. But he thought since he's in his 40s and generally healthy, getting the virus wouldn't be a big deal.

"Unfortunately, that was the attitude that I had: That if I did get it, I thought it would just be a nothing issue. And in that I was deeply, deeply wrong."

Pastor Danny Reeves, on why he didn't get a COVID-19 vaccine

Reeves describes his experience at the hospital as "harrowing." At one point during his two night stay at the ICU, a doctor told Reeves he might die.

Weeks later, Reeves is still recovering.

"It ravaged my healthy body," he said. "There's no doubt."

COVID-19 cases are surging across North Texas and projections indicate they may soon reach last winter's peak.

Of his first service back, Reeves says, "We're going to praise God together for his rescue. I'm going to lay out lessons that I've learned ... And certainly I'm going to talk straight to our people about who we can and should be as God's people and what it really means to love our neighbor."

Reeves says he plans to get vaccinated once his doctor tells him it's safe to do so.

This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.

See more here:

Texas Pastor Who Almost Died Of COVID To Preach Vaccination - NPR

As governments and industries work toward a net-zero future, the food system remains a stubborn source ofone-thirdof total global emissions. While some new technologies are finally nudging carbon outputs in the right direction, one underutilized technology stands out as a climate game-changer genetically engineered crops.

In 2018, greenhouse gas emissions from the global food systemtotaled16 billion tons CO2equivalents per year (GtCO2e/yr), and of global food system emissions, a quarter (about 4 GtCO2e/yr) comes from conversions of natural ecosystems to farmland. Our research shows that modifying key crops in the US with just one new genetically engineered trait could increase yields by 15%, thereby decreasing global food system emissions from land conversion by 5%, or 214 million tons CO2equivalents per year (MtCO2e/yr). With the addition of two more genetically engineered (GE) crop traits, that yield increase could quadruple to 60%, causing dramatic emissions reductions on a global scale.

Crop yield increases have historically played a crucial role in limiting land conversion and associated emissions without them, land use for cereal production would haveexpandedover 6 times more than it did. Improvements in crop genetics have contributed roughlyhalfof historical yield gains, making yield growth a powerful way toreduceemissions.

Increasing crop yields by using genetic engineering to improve crop genetics has a large, but largely overlooked, potential to reduce agricultures climate footprint. By someestimates, dramatic improvements in plant breeding, including genetic engineering, could reduce global agricultural GHG emissions by almost 1 Gt CO2e/year by 2050, mainly by increasing yields.

Historically, most GE crops commercialized in the US were not designed explicitly to increase yields, but that is changing. A long-pursued application of genetic engineering in agriculture has been to improve photosynthesis in crop plants because photosynthesis is a key determinant of crop yields. Plant breeding has led to huge agricultural improvements, but photosynthesis is a process that cant be improved much using conventional breeding. Until relatively recently, improving photosynthesis in field crops was hypothetical. But three studies published from 20162020 through the National Science Foundation-funded Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project show crop yield increases of1540%from different GE traits that improve photosynthesis by improvingadaptationto changing light,detoxifyingphotosynthetic byproducts, andaddingcellular machinery. All these traits combined could increase crop yields by a revolutionary60%, compared to the13%average annual yield increases in UScorn, soybeans, and wheat since the 1960s (Figure 1).

If we apply just one RIPE-developed improvement to photosynthesis with the smallest [1] yield increase to the five most widely-grown GE crops in the US, avoided emissions could total 214 million tons CO2equivalents per year (MtCO2e/yr). If this photosynthetic improvement were also adopted on half the US acreage of wheat we assume lower adoption because no GE wheat is currently grown in the US avoided emissions could total 221 MtCO2e/yr.

Of this total 221 MtCO2e/yr in emissions avoided, Figure 2 above shows that the vast majority is due to avoided emissions from land-use change, with only small increases or decreases in production emissions. Avoided emissions from land-use change are based on the assumption built into the Carbon Benefits Calculator we use fromSearchingeret al.(2018) that increased crop production in one location leads to a proportional decrease in production and related land-use change elsewhere. Because the US typically has higher crop yields than the global average (Figure 3), increasing US production by growing GE crops with higher yields results in a net reduction of global agricultural land area and emissions.

We project that production emissions, on the other hand, would not change much. These include the emissions associated with inputs to production including fertilizer application, on-farm energy use, and production of fertilizer and pesticides. Since production emissions are measured per output, they only increase if higher input levels dont lead to higher yields. The only crop for which production emissions would increase is soybean because cultivation in the US has higher emissions per bushel than the global average due to high fertilizer use. Figure 2 also shows that different crops contribute vastly different amounts of total emissions savings, due primarily to the total area on which theyre grown in the US, and secondarily to the difference between average US and average global yields for that crop.

To be sure, there are limitations to our analysis. In using theSearchingeret al.(2018)Carbon Benefits Calculator, we assume a 1:1 relationship between increased crop production in the US and decreased crop production elsewhere. While raising yields in one location does generallyreducethe need to convert new cropland elsewhere (because global crop demand and production are rising), it is difficult to predict how land use will respond to crop yield increases in aparticularsituation becauseoutcomes vary. However, even under the conservative assumption that only half of increased crop production in the US leads to decreased crop production elsewhere, the mitigation potential is still large at 109 MtCO2e/yr.

Of course, GE crops can mitigate the climate impacts of agriculture via mechanisms beyond increasing yields, and the two are not mutually exclusive. Another long-pursued goal of plant breeding is to make more crops, particularly grain crops, able tofixtheir own nitrogen as legume crops like soybeans, chickpeas, and lentils do through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that pull nitrogen gas out of the air and convert it to a form plants can use (production of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer also pulls nitrogen gas from the air but using an industrial process). More nitrogen-fixing crops could decrease the need for fertilizer application and related emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, as well as fertilizer runoff that pollutes waterways. Even crops bred for increased nitrogen useefficiency(i.e. how plants take up, assimilate, and allocate nitrogen) could achieve a portion of this impact. A 1% increase in nitrogen use efficiency of cereal crop production just in Brazil could decrease nitrogen fertilizer application by over20,000 tons(compared to almost 2 million tons total applied to cereal crops in Brazil in 2011).

In order to fully benefit from agricultural applications of biotechnology, the US and other countries should make sure that regulations adequately mitigate risk without unnecessarily stifling innovation and commercialization of useful technologies. Likely all photosynthetic improvements will be achieved using transgenics, which involves the insertion of DNA from outside a plants species or natural breeding pool; and while the new 2020SECURErule for biotechnology regulation in the US is a dramatic improvement for non-transgenic traits, the regulation of transgenic GE traits isnot substantially improved. [2]The SECURE rule first categorizes the level of potential risk from a GE trait based on the way it was engineered rather than the actual characteristics of the resulting plant, which isinconsistentwith the factors that influence risk. By remedying this issue the USDA would better allocate resources and reduce the unnecessary regulatory burden on low-risk traits. Similar regulatory changes in other countries would allow more global benefit from GE technology in agriculture.

To maximize the environmental potential of biotechnology, countries must also allow for imports of human-edible GE foods such as wheat. Wheat is largely used for human consumption, while GE soybean, maize, cotton, canola, and sugarbeet mainly go to animal feed, non-food products, and/or highly processed products for human consumption (which containlittle to noremaining genetic material). Regulations in many countries prevent the import of GE crops for human consumption, which has hampered the commercialization of GE wheat even in the US. A GE wheat could be commercialized and grown for human consumption domestically, but this would jeopardize wheat exports. Recently,Argentinaapproved the worlds first GE wheat for commercialization, but only after confirming thatBrazil which buys almost 50% of Argentinas wheat exports would accept the product for importation. These examples of GE wheat demonstrate that global regulatory change is needed to amplify the global benefit from GE crops.

Despite the greater potential benefit from GE crop adoption on a global scale, the climate benefits are clear even with the adoption of yield-enhancing photosynthetic improvements in the US. We show that using genetic engineering to improve photosynthetic efficiency in crops just in the US could increase yields by at least 15%, and thereby decrease global food system emissions from land conversion by 5%, or 214 MtCO2e/yr. With multiple improvements to photosynthetic efficiency, yields could increase by a revolutionary 60%, with a concomitant decrease in global food system emissions. Further emissions-reducing GE traits like nitrogen fixation and increased nitrogen use efficiency make it eminently clear that GE crops are powerful tools for making agriculture more climate-friendly.

In order to calculate potential avoided emissions from cultivation of crops with enhanced photosynthetic efficiency, we used a 15% increase in biomass yield at flowering [3] as shown in field trials of tobacco byKromdijket al.(2016). SinceKromdijket al.(2016) measured plant biomass at flowering, we assumed an average of 50% yield partitioning to the harvested product for our six crops, meaning that the increase in harvested product would be 15%. We then applied this yield increase to the top five most widely-grown GE crops in the US (soybean, maize, cotton, canola, and sugarbeet). We also applied the yield increase to wheat but assumed adoption on only half of wheat acreage since GE wheat is not currently grown or approved for production in the US. [4] We used crop acreage and yield data from FAOSTAT, and fertilizer use data fromZhanget al.(2015). We modeled a scenario where a GE trait that increases crop yields by 15% was available in 2017 and adopted at the same rate as other GE traits in the US that year, using values for percent adoption from Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2017, (ISAAA).

When calculating production emissions using theSearchingeret al.(2018)Carbon Benefits Calculator, we entered site-specific values only for fertilizer application, using default values for on-farm energy use and energy used to produce fertilizer and pesticides; for fertilizer application, we made the conservative assumption that it increases in proportion to the increase in crop yield. When calculating the carbon benefits for each crop, we used the default carbon opportunity cost for each crop with the default 4% discount rate; under the scenario where only half of the increased crop production in the US leads to decreased crop production elsewhere, we reduced the percentage of replacement crops attributed to intensification to 50%.

We use the low end of yield increases achieved through RIPE research as a conservative estimate. Results will vary with different traits across different growing conditions, but gains from all three of these traits together would likely be consistently above 15%.

According to RIPE scientists, traits developed through the project will take15-20years to pass through the US regulatory process.

A 15% increase in vegetative biomass, assuming 50% yield partitioning to vegetative biomass and 50% to reproductive biomass, results in a 15% increase in reproductive biomass: 0.5 vegetative/0.5 reproductive=0.15 increase in vegetative/x -> x=0.15 increase in reproductive. In modern grain cultivars about 60% of yield is partitioned to the grain, so 50% is a reasonable conservative value for maize and wheat(Longet al., 2006). Yield partitioning in modern soybean cultivars is approaching 60%(Koesteret al., 2014). In modern canola cultivars, yield partitioning is around 40-50%(Zhang and Flottmann, 2016). Yield partitioning in sugarbeet ranges from 50-85% depending on how yield is calculated (De, Moore, and Mikkelsen, 2019;Hoffmann, 2019). For seed cotton, yield partitioning ranges between 55-65% (Pabuayon, 2020;Makhdum, 2007).

After27 yearsof commercialized GE crops in the US, Argentina is about to commercialize the worlds first GEwheat.

Emma Kovak is a food and agriculture analyst at the Breakthrough Institute. Follow her on Twitter@EmmaKovak

A version of this article was originally posted at theBreakthrough Instituteand has been reposted here with permission. The Breakthrough Institute can be found on Twitter@TheBTI

Read more from the original source:

Viewpoint: Carbon-preserving regenerative agriculture inextricably linked to CRISPR and gene edited crops - Genetic Literacy Project

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden apply a combination of spatial resolved transcriptomics profiling, single-cell RNA sequencing and image analyses to identify new microarchitectural nuances in human white fat (adipose) tissue, whose inherent disparateness has been poorly understood, until now.

They identify 18 different types of fat cells (adipocyte) with unique tendencies to form different types of clusters in white adipose tissue. These include three mature fat cell subtypes with distinct location-specific mRNA and protein signatures, only one of which (called AdipoPLIN) responds to insulin in the body.

Spatial mapping of human white adipose tissue under the skin, detects 18 cell types [Backdahl et al/Cell Metabolism]The findings are reported in the article, Spatial mapping reveals human adipocyte subpopulations with distinct sensitivities to insulin published in the journal Cell Metabolism. The findings may help develop better treatments for metabolic diseases such as obesity and insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes.

Niklas Mejhert, researcher at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, at the Karolinska Institute says, These findings increase our knowledge about the function of fat tissue. They show that the overall capacity of fat tissue to respond to insulin is determined by the proportion and function of a specific fat cell subtype.

The researchers examine how the different subtypes of fat cells in white adipose tissue respond to transient increases in insulin levels, to assess whether the fat cell subtypes perform different functions. They observe insulin activates gene expression in the subtype AdipoPLIN but not the other two subtypes (AdipoLEP and AdipoSAA). They also observe the response to insulin stimulation in these cells is proportional to the individuals overall insulin sensitivity.

Our findings challenge the current view of insulin resistance as a generally reduced response to insulin in the fat cells, says Mikael Rydn, PhD, professor at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, at the Karolinska Institute and co-corresponding author on the study.

Mikael Rydn, PhD, professor and senior consultant at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institute [Souce: Ulf Sirborn]Instead, our study suggests that insulin resistance, and possibly type 2 diabetes, could be due to changes in a specific subtype of fat cells. This shows that fat tissue is a much more complex tissue than previously thought. Like muscle tissue, people have several types of fat cells with different functions, which opens up for future interventions targeted at different fat cell types, says Rydn.

Niklas Mejhert, PhD, researcher at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institute is co-corresponding author on the study [Nancy Farese]Rydn and Mejherts group developed the spatial transcriptomics approach for this study in collaboration with Patrik Sthl, PhD, associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and SciLifeLab, scientific consultant to 10x Genomics which holds the IP rights to the spatial transcriptomics technology and co-corresponding author on the study.

This study is unique in that it is the first time weve applied spatial transcriptomics to fat tissue, which has a special set of characteristics and composition, says Sthl. We are very happy that the technology continues to contribute to solving biologically complex questions in an increasing number of research areas.

The study brings forth other novel insights on adipose tissue. For instance, earlier studies have shown adipocyte size affects their function, including the amount of signaling molecules they release. Spatial mapping in the current study confirms gene expression differs in large versus small fat cells, however, it also shows that the distribution of fat cells of different sizes is similar among the different fat cell subtypes, indicating fat cell size does not determine the difference in fat cell function. The study also suggests the specialized mature fat cells are derived from specific precursor cells.

Further studies will be needed to ascertain whether the different progenitor cells that the authors have identified contribute to the heterogeneity of mature fat cell structure and function.

Read more here:

Microarchitecture and Insulin Responsiveness of Fat Cells Uncovered by Spatial Transcriptomics - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

The return of Euphoria for season two seems to be the hot topic of the summer, and everyone in the cast is talking about it. Since the HBO series first aired in 2019, its become an obsessive binge watch of many not only inspiring a new generation of style and beauty, but sparking an open conversation around controversial topics that depict the harsh realities of love, identity, drugs, pain and trauma for young people. Both critics and viewers approved, with over five million people tuning in to watch the seasons premiere.

With new cast members comparing season two to a long music video and the shows lead star Zendaya gravely warning us that its not going to be fun to watch, teasers for Euphorias next chapter are finally coming through. From potential plot lines to a possible release date, heres everything we know about it so far.

With a series of unanswered questions. It took us on a journey with 17-year-old narrator, Rue, as she navigated her ongoing battle with drugs following an overdose. After meeting new girl, Jules (thats Hunter Schafer), Rue finally warms to the idea of happiness which ultimately leads to a confusing and uncertain romantic relationship between herself and Jules.

In the final episodes, the pair assemble a plan to run away for good, which Rue backs out of at the last minute, leaving Jules to go away on her own. Back at school, on-and-off again, Nate (Jacob Elordi) and Maddy (Alexa Demie) finally sit down to discuss their toxic relationship and whether a future still exists between them, while Kat (Barbie Ferreira) and Ethan (Austin Abrams) finally admit their feelings for each other.

The finale sees Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and her story develop as she finally opens up to her mother about her unplanned pregnancy and the prospects of having an abortion, after football star McKay (Algee Smith) exclaims he is not ready to be a father. A debt with drug dealers sees Fezco (Angus Cloud) take a dark turn, attempting a high-risk robbery. The season ends with Rue relapsing after several months of being sober.

We dont know exactly what Euphoria season two will look like yet, but in an interview with Teen Vogue last month, Zendaya disclosed that this seasons storyline will definitely be a lot more intense than the first. Its a challenging season, she said. I think this season is not going to be easy though. Its not going to be a fun watch. Perhaps Euphoria will move away from the hedonistic storylines that dominated season one?

This week, in an interview with Variety, 18-year-old actress Storm Reid (who plays Gia, Rues 15-year-old sister) revealed that emotions in season two have heightened and we will be seeing a lot more of Gias development within the show perhaps even her own storyline. Even though I am 18 now, I dont think Gia is quite there, Storm said, but I think she will be evolving as a character and as a human and hopefully get her own episode and we start to see a little bit more of her storyline.

New cast member, the musician Dominic Fike, even compared the show to one long music video when speaking to Variety. All of this, while not giving too much away, tells us that this season is set to be uncomfortable, but beautiful and emotional too.

Filming for season two was set to take place last year, but due to our good sis coronavirus, the schedule was halted, leading to delays. At the time, the team announced on Twitter that they would be pausing production for the foreseeable future to make sure the cast and crew remained safe. Filming officially started again in 2021. In May, Zendaya posted a series of photos on her Instagram stories of her fellow cast members, which revealed that production for season two was back in full swing. It seems like theyre shooting as we speak, but its not unusual for shows to start airing while the filming of later episodes is still underway.

All of the show's main characters will be returning for the second season. Season one introduced us to key characters such as Rue; Jules, a trans girl who is new to the town; Kat Hernandez, a body-conscious teen exploring her identity through camming; and Nate Jacobs, a star quarterback struggling to deal with his sexuality. Then theres Maddy Perez, our favourite muse and Nates on-and-off-again girlfriend, forced to deal with the weight of his emotional baggage; and Cassie Howard, who deals with being a victim of revenge porn and having rumours about her sexual history circulating the school.

Season two will introduce at least three new cast members to the show: Dominic Fike, Minka Kelly and rapper Lil Meech. Waves star Kelvin Harrison Jr. was previously set to appear in the show, but dropped out due to other commitments clashing with the rescheduled shoot.

According to Deadline, at least one of those characters will be recurring. Dominic told Variety he will play a degenerate homie of Rue and Jules, but exact details of the roles that new cast members will play is yet to be disclosed.

Last month, in an interview with the AP, Zendaya revealed that the cast and crew were about one-third of the way through the filming process. The new series is being shot on film, so factoring in that added morsel of aesthetic beauty, were prepared to wait a little longer for new episodes. Fingers crossed HBO will announce a premiere date of late 2021 or early 2022 for Euphoria season two very soon.

Follow i-D onInstagramandTikTokfor more on Euphoria

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Everything we know about season two of Euphoria - i-D

When it comes to breakfast, I've long believed people can be split into two camps: those who see the first meal of the day as a time to inject the right fuel into the body so that it runs like a well-oiled machine, and those who are hedonists. They're the ones who eat like they've been invited to a feast at Marie Antoinette's castle, all cakes, batter and attractive men feeding them fruit dripping with chocolate.

Lavish Turkish breakfasts aside, I've actually never been one for consuming anything besides coffee until midday, but the one dish that brings me Marie Antoinette-level undone? Hamur kzartmas, a super-yeasty dough which is fried until it balloons like a pillow and is then consumed piping hot and sprinkled with sugar. In Turkey, land of the dedicated glutton, it is considered a breakfast food and I hear it goes well with cigarettes, disappointment and endless cups of tea (I'm a non-smoker and pretty happy-go-lucky so I can't and won't vouch for this). What I will say, however, is my commitment to this dish is absolute.

HAMUR KIZARTMASI IS SPECIAL, TOO

My aunty's name is Sabiha, but I refer to her as "the drug pusher" for she is the one who first introduced me to this dish back when I was visiting her in Ankara as a small child. Frustrated by my unwillingness to eat anything, she got to work in the kitchen, hands busily kneading a particularly pungent dough (decades later I now know it smells like beer), a lit cigarette dangling from her lips. "If this doesn't get you eating, I don't know what will," she uttered as she pulled the dough into small pieces and pounded them with the palm of her hand. She was terrifying in her determination, but with a mouthwatering smell filling the kitchen as the fritters fried, I had to admit I was also excited. "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!" Dom Perignon apparently said when he tasted the first Champagne, and this is precisely how I felt when I took my first bite of Hamur kzartmaz. Stars that stretch on for eternity.

Over the years, it's become our little habit, a starting gun sounding the beginning of my annual trip back to Turkey. "Yenge, I'll be there next week," I'll message my aunt before my trip. "Excellent! I'll go and get the dough," she'll respond, sticking to her time-honoured tradition of buying her dough ready-made from a specialty shop around the corner. When I arrive in Istanbul, where she now lives, she throws open the door, runs toward the kitchen and begins throwing pieces of dough into the oil. Hamur kzartmas bookends each trip to Turkey. It's our first meal and our last. I always savour the last bite knowing it will be a year before I eat it again. Well, I did until COVID-19 hit.

"Hamur kzartmas bookends each trip to Turkey. It's our first meal and our last."

It's been two years since I've tasted my aunty's hamur kzartmas, indeed, two years since I've seen my family and how I yearn for both. There are recipes for the dish online of course, but something about making and eating it in my own home feels off, like a betrayal. I stick to my coffee and my weekend Turkish breakfast spreads and try not to think about what I'm missing. Or, that was the case until recently when I came across a version of the dish at a stall at Kings Cross Organic Food Markets. It didn't quite look the same (this one is rolled into a snail like brek), but one bite was all it took for me to be transported back to my aunty's house in Istanbul. "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!" I shouted to my children playing in the playground beside us. Then, together we sat, side by side, eating the Milky Way together. It's a new tradition that will have to make do until we can go back and reclaim the old, and I for one, cannot wait.

Originally posted here:

Hamur kzartmas: the breakfast choice of hedonists - SBS

Get bottomless bloody Marys, mimosas, and margaritas at dLena. Photograph courtesy of dLena

Bottomless brunches used to be prolific around DCbut like everything else, the pandemic has changed the landscape (blame staffing shortages and shorter table time limits, among other things). Still, those looking for free-flowing mimosas, all-you-can-eat brunch plates, and other trappings of a hedonistic morningor lets face it, mid-afternoonarent without options.

Ambar and TTTAmbar (523 Eighth St., SE; 2901 Wilson Blvd., Arlington) TTT (2900 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 8407 Ramsey Ave., Silver Spring)Theres a reason restaurateur Ivan Iricanin is known as the All You Can Eat King of Washington. His Balkan concept, Ambar, and TTT Mexican restaurants serve AYCE food menus for both brunch and dinner, with bottomless drink options in DC (libations are a mere .25 cents in Virginia, per state laws). Options are plentiful on the menus, which are mostly below $40 per personit just depends whether youre more in the mood for rakia cocktails and Southeastern European fare, or margaritas and huevos rancheros.

Compass Rose1346 T St., NWRose Prevites globetrotting Shaw restaurant is a relaxing space to linger on a Sunday, when endless orange or grapefruit mimosas are yours for $30. The menu spans from North African shakshuka to the restaurants famed Georgian khachapuri (cheese bread). While its not bottomless, per se, you can get a very filling taste of all small plates in a brunch tour of the world ($30 for omnivore or vegetarian).

dLea476 K St., NWRestaurateur Richard Sandovals new wood-fired Mexican restaurant in Mount Vernon Triangle serves bottomless food and drink for weekend brunch ($49 per person; $30 without drinks). Plates include options like birria tacos, tuna ceviche, shrimp enchiladas, and Mexican scrambled eggs, which you can wash down with any of the four Ms (mimosas, Marys, margaritas, and micheladas).

Dukes GroceryLocations in Dupont, Woodley Park, and Foggy BottomIn addition to having one of the lengthiest happy hours in DC (it runs from noon to 7 PM on weekdays), this string of gastropubs encourages patrons to lingerup to 90 minuteson weekends with bottomless bevvies (their word). Pick between mimosas or house bloody Marys ($24) and then order up one of the decadent brunch burgers or a proper English breakfast.

The Fainting Goat1330 U St., NWThe U Street corridor gastropub dishes up a comforting, no-fuss brunch menu with dishes like sausage-egg-and-cheese sandwiches and waffles. Soak up bottomless sangria, bloodies, or mimosaswith a choice of orange, cranberry, or mango juiceplus a must-share for the table: goat cheese fondue. The all-you-can-drink option is $22 per person.

Palette 224053 Campbell Ave., ArlingtonAll-you-can-eat isnt just a weekend affair at this artsy-industrial space in Shirlington. Diners can order bottomless menus for lunch ($29.22) and dinner ($34.22) as well as brunch ($26.92). Theres a lot to choose from on the eclectic menus. At brunch that means anything from pizza to tacos, bao buns, waffles, and lumpia spring rolls. Add on brunch drinks like bellinis, mimosas, and bloodies for $4.22 each.

Mission1606 20th St., NW;1221 Van St., SEThese sister Mexican bars in Dupont and Navy Yard throw brunch for a young party crowd with bottomless house margaritas, Bud Lights, mimosas, and Marys ($26.99 per person). The menu chides that you must order a food itemone taco doesnt count! You must get two!and adds: Its a marathon, not a sprintplease drink responsibly (responsibly-ish?).

Join the conversation!

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia Universitys MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.

Originally posted here:

8 DC-Area Bottomless Brunches That Are Totally Worth the Splurge - Washingtonian

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

I sometimes experience guilt over nothing. Why is this?

M.G.: The Bible says that all have broken Gods laws and guilt is inescapable. Guilt rests upon the entire human race due to sin. Some people may feel it more intensely than others, but the guilt is there whether in the conscious or in the subconscious realm. It must be dealt with before we can become normal, fulfilled personalities.

Jesus died on the cross to take our guilt away. He shed His blood to purge our dead conscience. So guilt is not all bad. Without it, there is nothing to drive a person toward self-examination and toward Gods forgiveness.

All through history, mans heart has not been attuned to God; therefore, the heart becomes a catch basin for every device of the devil. Satan is at work in our world (Job 1:7). This is what the Bible says. Satan exists and has control over multitudes whose hearts have never been captured by Jesus Christ. The devil has hundreds of agents writing pornographic literature and producing immoral movies to pollute human minds. He has intellectuals in high positions teaching a hedonistic and permissive philosophy. He has recruited even church leaders who are advocating more promiscuity. While the culture has had great success in infiltrating peoples minds, not all is hopeless. The Bible is filled with testimonies of those who, by Gods grace, were victorious over Satans power.

John Newton was a slave trader on the west coast of Africa. One day in a storm at sea, he met Jesus Christ and it changed his life forever. He will always be remembered for writing the hymn Amazing Grace. No one is beyond the reach of the loving arms of the Savior.

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Guilt rests upon the entire human race due to sin - Brunswick News

Snake EyesGI Joe

The shrouded history of ninjas dates back to feudal Japan but these martial arts masters became an unavoidable pop culture craze in the 1980s. The 1982 GI Joe action figure line included breakout character Snake Eyes, a ninjutsu-trained US commando whose damaged vocal cords made him literally silent but deadly. In the new prequel movie, Henry Golding offers a chattier take on the mythos.

The Japanese actor Sh Kosugi made a loose trilogy of ninja movies for cheap thrill specialists Cannon Films in the 1980s. In Enter the Ninja (1981) he was a baddie; in Ninja III: The Domination (1984) he was an eye patch-sporting exorcist. As Cho Osaki in Revenge of the Ninja (1983) he got to play the lead, a noble, retired shinobi smashing a heroin ring.

From early arcade classic Shinobi to the unkillable Mortal Kombat franchise, video games have always loved a good ninja. Raiden was the breakdancing cyborg shinobi from the Metal Gear series who earned his own spin-off in 2013. The brilliantly titled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance game added Fruit Ninja-style sword-swiping to his skill set.

The on-off squeeze of Marvels blind crimefighter, Elektra is heir to a Greek shipping fortune with a side hustle as a ninja assassin. Embodied on the big screen by Jennifer Garner in 2003 and more recently by lodie Yung on Netflix she is notorious for her wicked sai blades and seeming inability to stay dead.

What if James Bond was Batman? That is the premise of Ninjak, the comic-starring, katana-wielding MI6 agent Colin King. Hes gone through various revamps since debuting in 1993 but the current Ninjak series featuring art by Javier Pulido evokes psychedelic 1960s spy-fi such as The Prisoner.

In the early days of the vigilante TV drama, society girl Sara (Caity Lotz) was forcibly recruited into gloomy ninja clan the League of Assassins. Fast-forward to now and she has swapped ascetic fealty for hedonistic ass-kicking, leading time-travelling super-team the Legends of Tomorrow.

Manga artist Masashi Kishimotos magical coming-of-age tale about an orphaned ninja with the malevolent spirit of a nine-tailed demon fox inside him began as a sprawling comic series in 1999 before being adapted into hundreds of anime TV episodes. The plucky teens characteristically headlong Naruto run has also become a resilient inspiration for memes.

Linnear is the half British, half Asian, fully deadly protagonist of the doorstop-sized novel by Eric Van Lustbader first published in 1980. Saturated with vague mysticism and featuring as many sex scenes as martial arts duels, Linnears lurid misadventures which continued in multiple bestselling sequels helped stoke the decades ninja fever.

The word ninja was considered so alarming it was replaced with hero when the Turtles cartoon debuted on Childrens BBC three decades ago. Based on the surprisingly gritty series of comics created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the pizza-guzzling reptilian warrior dudes have proven surprisingly hardy, surviving countless reboots in TV and film.

Across myriad construction sets, a long-running cartoon (Ninjago: Rise of the Snakes, which began in 2011) and a 2017 film, the Lego Ninjago franchise sees six colour-coded champions protect their island realm using the art of spinjitsu. Stressed green teen Lloyd has the added problem that their arch-enemy Lord Garmadon is his estranged dad.

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Martial arts masters to pizza-guzzling turtles: the best ninjas in pop culture - The Guardian

Exploring the Hippie caves of Matala, Crete

Ive always wanted to visit Matala, to explore the Hippie caves and get a sense of how these people lived, how they spent their days and nights under the starry Cretan sky. Maybe it was because I loved listening to Janis Joplins, Bob Dylans and Joan Maezs voice echoing the stone walls or Joni Michells song Carey travelling down the deep blue Matala Sea.

The night is a starry domeAnd theyre playin that scratchy rock & rollBeneath the Matala Moon

Before visiting Matala, I read a lot about Hippies in this fishing village of the 1960s and its caves. Once upon a time, during the Neolithic Age, the prehistoric inhabitants of the island sculpted the rocks of the area and later, during the Roman occupation, these rocks were used as graves.

The first people that went to Matala and stayed in these sculpted caves were Beatnik, in 1965. These bohemian hedonists, praised their independence from the conservative society, the American dream and the acquisition of material goods and experimented with sex and hallucinogenic substances. Two years later, Hippies arrived. They stayed in the caves as primitives.

During winter they wore lambs wool to protect themselves from low temperatures and during summer they were half-naked. Most of them were highly educated and had consciously chosen to refrain from consumer society. They chose to live with peace and meditation. They wanted to be one with Mother Nature, to become Children of God.

Inside these caves, a famous love story began a story that would remain in rock history forever, as it stood in the tradition by an immortal child. The song Carey written by Joni Mitchell is about Carey, a Hippie who came from America to find the real meaning of life and to discover its truth.

Come on down to the Mermaid CafeAnd I will buy you a bottle of wineAnd well laugh and toast to nothing andSmash our empty glasses down

We will drink in the health of nothing, says the verse, to this nothing that encloses the concept of absolute freedom, which would soon stop violently from the Greek military junta (1967-1974).

Matala became known in a somewhat peculiar way. The first person who revolted against the hippies was Michalis Vamvoukas, who despite his young age started sending letters to the Cretan newspaper PATRIS asking for the vulgar to be removed, but also to the Despot of the region, who was convinced that Orthodoxy was at risk. Then, Metropolitan Timothy (later Archbishop of Crete) issued a circular against the hippies. The circular was also published by Athenian newspapers and made international headlines.

American Magazine Life sent a journalist to Matala and in July 1968, the magazines cover featured a young couple in the Matala Caves, with Thomas Thompsons write up and the stunning pictures of Denis Cameron. Everyone was reading about Matala, the Land of the Hippies Promise!

In the summer of 1969, however, the Cretan newspaper Mediterranean described the hippies as bummer, unbalanced and abnormal and that they want to create the third sex. Following such publications, the Prosecutor of Heraklion Michalis Tsevas ordered a special investigation into Matala Caves. Police raids by day and night searched for orgies. Evidence of third-sex creation was not found, but cannabis was discovered and as a result, there were seventeen convictions in total.

Today, Matala caves have been fenced, protected by the Archaeological Service and are accessible to tourists (with a 3 euros ticket) but no one is allowed to live there or stay overnight. However, residents told me that there are a few more Hippies living in the caves in the surrounding mountains, continuing the bohemian way of life.

Dekapentavgoustos in different parts of Greece

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Exploring The Hippie Caves Of Matala, Crete Greek City Times - GreekCityTimes.com