AD CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS HISTORICAL GENOCIDES CAUSED BY INDIFFERENCE AND ONGOING GENOCIDE AGAINST UIGHURS IN CHINA – Book Publishing Industry Today – EIN Presswire
Publisher Simon & Schuster is set to release a children’s book about Dr. Anthony Fauci later this summer.
Written by children’s book author Kate Messner and illustrated by Alexandra Bye, the book, titled “Dr. Fauci: How A Boy From Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor,” is scheduled for release June 29 and is currently available for pre-order.
CNN host Brian Stelter shared the cover on Sunday morning’s “Reliable Sources,” a clip that Messner shared on Twitter.
Exciting morning here – @CNN‘s @brianstelter just revealed the cover for DR: FAUCI: HOW A BOY FROM BROOKLYN BECAME AMERICA’S DOCTOR on @ReliableSources!
<p>The <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dr-Fauci/Kate-Messner/9781665902434#" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">publisher’s website</a> describes the book as the “definitive picture book biography” of the White House coronavirus task force member and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has become the <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/02/21/anthony-fauci-masks-still-be-around-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sometimes controversial</a> medical face of the U.S. government’s response to COVID-19.</p> <p>“Before he was Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci was a curious boy in Brooklyn, delivering prescriptions from his father’s pharmacy on his blue Schwinn bicycle,” the book’s “about” section reads. “His father and immigrant grandfather taught Anthony to ask questions, consider all the data, and never give up—and Anthony’s ability to stay curious and to communicate with people would serve him his entire life.”</p> <p>The publisher writes that the book will draw from interviews with <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/12/02/anthony-fauci-rand-paul-coronavirus-reopen-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fauci</a> himself and trace his life from his “Brooklyn beginnings” all the way to the current <a href="https://dailycaller.com/buzz/coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">COVID-19</a> crisis. <strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/18/sen-rand-paul-dr-fauci-masks-after-vaccination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">(RELATED: ‘You Parade Around In Two Masks For Show’: Sen. Rand Paul Questions Dr. Fauci On Wearing Masks After Vaccination)</a></strong></p> <p>“Extensive backmatter rounds out Dr. Fauci’s story with a timeline, recommended reading, a full spread of facts about vaccines and how they work, and Dr. Fauci’s own tips for future scientists,” the description reads.</p>
’Compassion in Times of Conflict’ — March 30, 5 p.m., on Zoom How do we find compassion and understanding for those we may disagree with, in the presence of mistrust, polarization, or conflict? How can we seek to stay in a place of respect and compassion for everyone, including ourselves? What is needed, and what can we do, in order to help create peace? Join us for a one-hour online program, beginning with a recorded talk, “Meditation on Compassion,” by GurujiMa of the Village of Light Ashram in Leverett, followed by a discussion open to all participants. Facilitated by Robert McIlwain and Gordon Kramer as part of the Village of Light’s “Meet the Community” series. Tuesday, March 30, at 5 p.m. To attend online, via Zoom, go to: www.lightomega.org, click on “Calendar” – go to March 30 and click there on “Meet the Community”, and sign-in to join the webcast. For further information, contact Robert at [email protected] or (413) 658-7456.
24th annual Lenten Discussion Series concludes Wednesday
Due to the continuing pandemic, all sessions will be live-streamed. Please send an email to [email protected] for each week’s unique Zoom log-in link.
Wednesday, March 24:
Fifth session offered by the Rev. Dr. Robert Gormbley at 7 p.m. Interim pastor of the Shelburne Congregational Church, UCC. Session Title: Failure Isn’t Fatal.
March 25: ‘Lifting the veil on racism in Franklin County’
The Interfaith Council of Franklin County is sponsoring the last of three online Zoom programs titled, “Lifting the veil on racism in Franklin County.”
On Thursday, March 25, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., a panel will feature Black, Brown and White anti-racist activists sharing their stories from the justice movement.
It is the Interfaith Council’s recognition that the change we hope to see in our country is in our hands now and it is our hope that these panels are just the beginning of anti-racism work taken on by various groups, congregations and families. To register for any of these programs, email [email protected]
Sunday: In-house worship resumes at First Congregational Church, Montague
MONTAGUE — The First Congregational Church of Montague will resume in-house worship this Sunday. The service is at 10 a.m. with Pastor James Koyama. Covid guidelines will be followed.
A Zoom link will also be offered on the church website.
Sunday: Franklin County UU churches co-sponsor ‘One World, Many Concerns”
GREENFIELD — All Souls Church hosts the Zoom presentation of “One World, Many Concerns” led by guest speaker David Roth, Sunday at 10:30 a.m. This service is co-sponsored by the Franklin County three-UU-church collaborative group comprising Greenfield’s All Souls, Northfield First Parish and Bernardston Unitarian Church.
Roth is a singer, songwriter, recording artist, and music educator who has taken his songs, experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries full-time for more than three decades. Join us on Youtube for a live online link at:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FranklinCountyUUs
Trinitarian Congregational Church worships on Zoom
NORTHFIELD — The Trinitarian Congregational Church holds worship services Sundays at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Please contact the church office for a link: 413-498-5839 or [email protected] by Thursday noon.
Gregory Maichack Pastel Art Workshop offered March 28
Subject: “Dandelions, a Jean-Francoise Millet.”
Free Zoom Pastel Art Workshop For Adults and Teens All Levels with gifted artist/teacher Gregory Maichack. Sunday, March 28, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The free workshop is limited to 24 participants. Co-sponsored by the Bernardston Local Cultural Council with funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and additional funding from the Arts & Activism Program at the Bernardston Unitarian Meetinghouse.
Register by calling or texting 413-330-0807 with your email address for confirmation and the zoom link and directions for obtaining art materials.
The World Health Organization chief has played tribute to religious leaders from around the world for the role they have played a vital role in communicating with their communities on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related
Vatican says it won’t punish those who refuse COVID-19 vaccine
“For so many people, faith communities are trusted sources of support, comfort, guidance and information,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus in a March 19 speech to faith leaders made from Geneva.
“In many countries, faith communities are also key providers of health and social services, education and food programs,” he said thanking them “for this critical role you are playing in the global response.”
Tedros said he was honoured have an opportunity to speak with senior religious leaders from around the world level dialogue on multi-religious response to COVID-19 vaccines.
In the field learned the WHO learned crucial need to have faith leaders in West Africa in the fight against the infectious and lethal EBOLA disease from 2014-2016. Both EBOLA and COVID-19 are zoonotic diseases.
“I don’t need to tell you that the COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down.
More than 2.7 million people have died and the world has registered 123 million cases since it was known of from it origins in China at then end of December in 2019.
“Millions of people have lost their jobs. Fear, uncertainty and suspicion abound,” said the WHO chief.
Tedros told journalists on Feb. 19, “After six weeks of declining cases in January and February, we are now on track for a fourth consecutive week of increasing cases.
For the moment, the number of deaths is still declining, but at a slower rate.
Five days earlier the WHO chief told d director-general said in a pre-recorded video message at an online seminar in support of a World Council of Churches-led Week of Prayer on the pandemic.
“In times of crisis, faith is a source of support, comfort and guidance for billions of people, particularly those in vulnerable situations,” said Tedros.
“This can not only help stop the spread of the disease but also reduce fear and stigma and provide reassurance to communities. I know that because of the pandemic, many faith communities have not been able to meet as you would normally,” said Tedros.
He added, “May the week of prayer bring renewed strength and resolve for you and your work.”
The role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) need more documentation and research and date is often sketchy.
In 2008 the Gates Foundation commissioned The African Religious Health Assets Program (ARHAP) (5) to carry out a wide-ranging study looking at the contribution of religious entities to health in Sub- Saharan Africa, the UK-based Christian Medical Fellowship says.
They found that the proportion of services provided by faith groups of all kinds varied across the continent, ranging from 25 percent in some Francophone Muslim countries to as much as 70 percent in parts of East and Southern Africa.
Mission hospitals and church-based clinics are the main providers of facility-based services.
That is why enlisting faith leaders in a continent like Africa is essential in fighting a deadly pandemic like COVID-19 and trying to get the populations vaccinated against the virus.
Yet in some countries, notably developed countries including the United States some churches and Christian ministries have come under fire for spreading misinformation about vaccines which are seen as exacerbating the disease.
“Some churches and Christian ministries with large online followings — as well as Christian influencers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube — are making false claims that vaccines contain fetal tissue or microchips, or are construing associations between vaccine ingredients and the devil,” The Washington Post reported on Feb. 16.
“Others talk about how coronavirus vaccines and masks contain or herald the ‘mark of the beast,’ a reference to an apocalyptic passage from the Book of Revelation that suggests that the Antichrist will test Christians by asking them to put a mark on their bodies.”
iciHaiti – Religion : The Latin American Confederation of Religious alongside Haitians 21/03/2021 10:09:35
The “Latin American Confederation of Religious” (CLAR) together with the “Consecrated Life of Latin America and the Caribbean”, publicly denounces in a declaration the “current situation of violence, insecurity and general anarchy which has makes Haiti and especially its capital, Port-au-Prince, a place where living becomes impossible.”Faced with the situation of socio-political, legal and justice instability in Haiti, CLAR expresses its support in the face of “the despair of the population, insecurity, the death of innocent people, and especially the reality of the poorest whom dignity is torn apart from every point of view.”
The Confederation explains that “[…] general confusion is aggravated by the reality of living in a geographical territory without a real State, without law, without justice and with a failing economy and expressed in the food insecurity of the majority of the most deprived.”
In its statement, CLAR calls on the National Conferences of Religious of the Continent and the Caribbean, as well as religious congregations that are doing political advocacy at the UN to “put pressure on the governments of the continent and the world to end indifference and apathy in the face of the humanitarian, legal and political crisis that the Haitian people are going through […]”
Concluding “In addition to publicly raising our voice in favor of the Haitian people who seek their complete liberation, we also want to do so by addressing the God of life, as we walk towards Easter. May the God of justice and freedom, the God of peace, the God of Jesus, who came so that we may have life in abundance, accompany you in this passion and on today’s Calvary.
We ask all consecrated persons of the continent and the Caribbean to unite in a prayer of solidarity, paschal and committed towards the Haitian people.”
Europe’s vaccine campaign has hit a crisis of confidence. Just as the coronavirus pandemic appears to be setting off a new wave of infections, leading European countries have paused the rollout of the AstraZeneca/ Oxford University two-dose vaccine following isolated reports of blood clots. Naturally, any adverse affects must be thoroughly investigated, but this is a race against time, and the virus isn’t waiting around. European leaders must get the vaccine train back on track—and fast.
More than a dozen countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, temporarily suspended the AstraZeneca rollout after reports last week that some people in Denmark and Norway who got a dose had developed blood clots. There was no evidence that the shot caused them. The company says that out of 17 million doses given in Britain and Europe as of March 8, there were only 37 incidents of blood clots, less than what would be expected to occur naturally in a population of this size.
The governments insisted they were acting out of an abundance of caution, with a goal of keeping public trust. But the European Medicines Agency urged the governments not to halt use of the vaccine at a time when the pandemic is still taking thousands of lives each day, saying the benefits outweighed any possible risk.
European vaccine uptake is already lagging. In the European Union, just 11 doses for every 100 people have been administered, compared with 32 in the United States and 38 in Britain. The AstraZeneca vaccine is based on conventional viral-vector technology, like the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but has been buffeted by problems, including questions about the clinical trial data, doubts raised (and later determined to be unfounded) about whether it would work for those older than 65, and a shortfall of the supply promised to the EU.
The “pause” in the vaccine rollout may well deepen doubts about getting the shot. That is the last thing Europe needs. Weekly infection rates are high in the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, France and elsewhere. The vaccine is a bulwark against the pandemic, but only if people are vaccinated.
A lesson of this moment is that no medicine is 100 percent safe and effective. The flu vaccine must be reformulated every year to cope with mutations. Despite widespread use of the measles vaccine, outbreaks still occur.
Europe has an enormous job ahead to vaccinate tens of millions. Everyone should expect speed bumps, be vigilant for serious problems—but avoid panic.
BRUSSELS. KAZINFORM - EU Special Representative for Central Asia Peter Burian has congratulated all Kazakhstanis on Nauryz holiday, Kazinform correspondent reports.
«I wholeheartedly congratulate all Kazakhstanis on Nauryz holiday. I wish people of Kazakhstan happiness, prosperity, and health» Peter Burian extended his congratulations in Kazakh.
«Dear friends, on behalf of the European Union I wish you a Happy Nauryz. Nauryz holiday has a special meaning and symbolism today when our countries are facing COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. I wanted to use this opportunity and reassured you that the European Union wants to continue to be a strong partner for Kazakhstan in good times, but also in difficult times», the EU Special Representative for Central Asia continued.
“During my pregnancy, my family planned to help me deliver my baby at home, following in the footsteps of my ancestors”, says tea worker Ruma Munda. “I was never aware that there were alternative, safe methods of childbirth delivery, in health care facilities with clinical specialists.
“My husband, Sunil, is also a tea garden worker, and we were never introduced to modern medicine or midwives.”
Ms. Munda’s story is an example of the health challenges faced by tea workers, most of whom have more than three children, partly because of difficulties in receiving family planning services. However thanks to the programme, couples can improve their knowledge and take advantage of their right to access family planning methods.
“One day, I participated in an awareness session, which is where I learned about prenatal care, birth planning, and safe delivery care at a clinic”, says Ms. Munda. “When I shared the information with my husband and family, we decided to seek health care from a secure clinic.
“As a result, I visited the facility for prenatal care, and they made me aware of what to expect and how to tend to my new-born child after birth.”
“During the delivery, I was aided by a tea garden volunteer who transferred me to a health facility where I delivered my healthy baby with the assistance of a midwife. Now I am a strong advocate for the Rajghat tea garden maternal health care for all expecting mothers, so they know they have the same right to access quality care”.
ILO/Alexius Chicham
Approx. 360,000 workers and their families in 166 commercial tea gardens, especially women and girls who represents 64 perfect of the working population, are some of the last mile marginalized people in Bangladesh. Over half of the tea garden workers are women and most of them are tea leaf pickers, and others work in tea factories.
Making a difference
Bangladesh is amongst the leading tea exporters in the world, with hundreds of plantations across the country. The tea industry is dominated by female workers who, despite long hours and labour-intensive work, receive very little pay and face harsh conditions.
The programme is making a difference to their lives in several ways, helping couples to improve their knowledge and right to access family planning methods, and providing education on sexually transmitted diseases and, for adolescents, information on health and child marriage prevention methods.
“I had no idea about menstrual hygiene”, says Akhi, an adolescent girl from Mirzapur Teagarden. “I now know, for the first time in my life, why this is so important, and why cleanliness, changing clothes frequently, and taking a regular bath is essential.
“I started following those messages and now I feel more confident. I am also encouraging my peers to do the same and share the information from the awareness sessions for adolescent girls”.
‘Vicious cycle of deprivation’
The sessions have helped women feel more empowered, and more likely to stick up for their rights. Srimoti Bauri, a tea garden worker is one of the three women Vice-Chairmen of the Cha Sramik Union (Tea Garden Workers’ Union) valley committees.
“I am forever grateful to this programme for providing me with the opportunity to speak on behalf of my fellow left-behind women tea garden workers and share their struggles”, says Ms. Bauri. “I never thought I could speak up for our rights and contribute to the empowerment of women tea garden workers like me. This gives us courage and strength to fight for our rights and change this system for the better.”
“I am hopeful that women like me will be able to break the vicious cycle of deprivation and exploitation of tea garden workers. Through this initiative, women tea garden workers and their families can finally achieve improved access to better education and skills, and raise their voices against discrimination and injustice in the tea gardens”.
UN Bangladesh/Tanjim Ferdous
Bangladeshi tea garden workers attend a UN-led awareness session.
ATHENS, Greece — The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their EU partners to share the burden more equitably.
“We can no longer be punished for our geographical position,” Malta’s Byron Camilleri said Saturday, summing up his position and that of his colleagues from Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain after they met in Athens.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas joined part of the meeting, Schinas is coordinating the commission’s work to revise the European Union’s pact on migration and asylum.
Ministers from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain created a “MED 5” group last year in an effort to present a united front and influence the new EU pact.
Their demands are threefold: better cooperation with the countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia where most Europe-bound migrants and asylum-seekers come from; greater willingness by other EU member nations to accept newly arrived migrants; and a centralized European repatriation mechanism overseen by the EU’s executive commission.
More than a thousand people protested in solidarity with migrants and refugees in the center of Athens on Saturday.
Southern European countries with extensive coastlines have borne the brunt of arriving asylum-seekers hoping to enter the EU. Most Europe-bound migrants travel by boat on dangerous smuggling routes, either from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands or across the Mediterranean from north Africa.
The ministers discussed whether Turkey played an active role in pushing migrants toward Europe in contravention of a 2016 migration-control effort between the EU and Turkey.
On this year’s World Down Syndrome Day, marked annually on 21 March, UN News’, Nabil Al Midani, shares his personal experience of caring for his daughter Sedra, who has Down syndrome.
” ‘I did it, Dad … I can do it!’ This phrase will continue to ring in my ears for the rest of my life. My daughter, Sedra, said it when we were in a water adventure park; she was trying hard for more than an hour to take part in a game that involved walking a path above a swimming pool without falling in.
‘I did it, Dad … I can do it!’
I tried to help her, but she refused my help, and asked me to stay away. I pretended to move away from her, but my eyes did not lose sight of her, even for a second. My heart would sink whenever she fell into the pool. But she was finally able to balance her body and pass over without falling, then she cried out to me and I saw the joy in her eyes. I hugged her and my heart was beating with joy. I said to her, ‘Of course you can do it…you are a hero!’
It was God’s will that Sedra was born with Down syndrome, but He also endowed her with awareness, intelligence, determination, and the ability to deal with anything in her life. She is extremely social, she loves people, is empathetic with children, and cares for everyone around her.
Sedra is 22 years old. She was born in Damascus, Syria, and began receiving medical care and physical therapy at the age of six months, and participated in speech therapy before she was one year old. When we were in Syria, we met regularly with other families of Down syndrome children, to share experiences and learn from eachother. I worried about her future, and the challenges that she would have to overcome.
I spent a lot of time searching for information, and contacting organizations that I thought could help me. I travelled to many countries, from Lebanon and the UAE, to Germany and the US, and got in touch with many institutions and centres, to learn how to give my daughter the best care possible.
A child with special needs requires special care so that they don’t feel there is any difference between themselves and other children, and so that they don’t feel that they are disabled, or that they cannot do anything by themselves.
UN News/Nabil Midani
Twenty-two-year-old Sedra Midani.
The impact of education
Education had a great impact on Sedra’s early life. When Sedra was three, my work brought us to the United States, where she was enrolled in an educational programme for people with special needs, a continuation of the care she had received in Syria, and she began to learn a second language, English.
Within a short period, she was comfortable in this language, and understood her teachers and classmates. At home, we followed what Sedra was learning in school, and encouraged her to write, draw, and learn numbers. Sedra’s school plays a big role in shaping a child’s personality. It offered a self-help curriculum for people with special needs in which students learn personal hygiene, tidying up, cooking and cleaning.
Special needs pupils are integrated in the school’s activities, and Sedra participates in the musicals presented by high school students every year. The school also prepares her for appropriate work in the county in which we live, for a few hours each week, or during the summer period.
A gold-medal winning athlete
When I was looking for weekend activities for Sedra, I decided to teach her to swim. It was a little difficult in the beginning, until she settled into it, wearing a life jacket. After a while she became upset with the life jacket: her brothers were all swimming in deep water without help, and one day she took off the jacket and jumped into the 11 feet deep end. I was looking at her and my heart was beating, but then I saw her swimming and diving alone, full of joy, laughing and telling me “I can swim!”
Now, Sedra participates in the Special Olympics, held each year in the United States. She has won a large number of gold, silver and bronze medals.
She also enjoys a number of other activities. She is trained in ballet, performs and takes part in competitions; she loves drawing, music and technology.
Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association
Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association offers assistance to children with Down syndrome.
Shaping a child’s personality
I believe that people with special needs can play a role in their societies, if we are able to guide and motivate them. Each of us has a part to play, as father, mother, brother, friend, school teachers, as well as the wider society and the state.
People with Down syndrome are able to manage their lives on their own, when directed and provided with appropriate care.
Those with special needs are not a burden on society. Society’s view of them should be one of encouragement, and not one of compassion, which is what we sometimes see. And if the investment in people with special needs is made in a correct way, and they are able to develop their skills, then they can become an integral part of the world we live in.”
According to the United Nations World Health Organisation, Down Syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement, which having always been a part of the human condition, exists in all regions across the globe. Photo: UNICEF/Dormino
The extra material in chromosome 21, which characterises Down Syndrome, commonly results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics and/or health. Photo: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
Early intervention programmes that include education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the affected individual. Photo: UNICEF/Noorani
Member States, relevant organizations of the UN system and other international organizations, as well as civil society, are invited to observe the Day and raise public awareness of Down Syndrome. Photo: Fundown Caribe
The quality of life of affected individuals can be improved by meeting health care needs that include: regular medical exams to monitor mental and physical condition and timely intervention, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, counselling and/or special education. Photo: UNICEF/Shubuckl
Individuals with Down Syndrome can achieve optimal quality of life through parental care and support, medical guidance and community based support systems like inclusive education at all levels. Photo: Margaret Thompson
Under the hashtag #MyVoiceMyCommunity, this year’s commemoration aims to enable people with Down Syndrome to speak up, be heard and influence government policy and action. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
