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A professor has faced fierce backlash for refusing to say pregnant "people" instead of women. Carole Hooven, from Harvard University, complained about "ideology infiltrating her classroom" with regards to sexes and claims pressure has gradually mounted to not be offensive. But a member of her own faculty has criticised Prof Hooven's comments on TV, arguing it is not exactly difficult to "respect for EVERYONE who has the ability to get pregnant". The Ivy League professor told Fox News last week: "I've been feeling pretty frustrated over the last five years or so. It's been gradual. "This kind of ideology has been infiltrating science. It's infiltrating my classroom, to some extent. "Part of that science is teaching the facts. "And the facts are that there are in fact two sexes – there are male and female – and those sexes are designated by the kind of gametes we produce. "Do we make eggs, big sex cells, or little sex cells, sperm. And that's how we know whether someone is …

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The US national public health agency announced Tuesday that fully vaccinated Americans should go back to wearing face masks in public indoor settings in areas with high coronavirus infection rates. The reversal of previous guidelines is in response to the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus . The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, said data suggested that vaccinated people can spread COVID-19 in rare cases. She said the data was based on evidence from several states and other countries. The CDC also recommended indoor masks for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status. US President Joe Biden, speaking later in the day, said, "the CDC announcement makes clear that the most important protection we have against the delta variant is to get vaccinated." He added that he hoped people in affected areas would follow the new CDC guidelines, noting that he would. What …

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SIR – It was Tony Marlow MP, at a 1922 Committee meeting during the battles of the Community Charge (poll tax), who coined the phrase “A government should not go to war against its own people”. Huge fines for allowing friends to drink together? The Army called in to help police contact informers against their neighbours? University halls of residence as prisons? Compulsory isolation for unproven disease-carriers? Curfews and lockdowns? Michael Stern SIR – Your headline “Neighbours told to call the police on isolation cheats” (September 28) sits uneasily with the picture next to it of a police officer hugging someone during a minute’s silence for Sergeant Matt Ratana. Andrew Blake SIR – The nation is urged to report to the police anyone who has tested positive for Covid and is not self-isolating. How will they know who has tested positive? Will a red plague cross be painted on their door? A O H Lewis SIR – The brilliant idea of fines up to £10,000 for …

[Read more...] about Letters: The Government should not go to war against its own people through coronavirus restrictions

Surfing the web boosted the mental health of older people during lockdown . A University of Surrey study found that 55-to 75-year-olds who used the internet once a day or more had much lower levels of depression than those who used it once a week or less. Researchers who analysed 3,000 participants believe the web allowed older people to stay in touch with family and friends. But they also found those who used it to search for health-related information reported higher levels of depression. Surfing the web boosted the mental health of older people during lockdown, a study has found Cycling during dialysis treatment can prevent life-threatening complications, British researchers have found. Kidney-failure patients are given dialysis, which removes waste products from the blood. But it can lead to scarring of the heart, which can accumulate over time and lead to heart failure. Only a quarter of kidney failure patients survive for longer than a decade …

[Read more...] about HEALTH NOTES: Surfing the web comes of age in lockdown as study finds it boosts mental health of older people

Ethan Mccann, six, was heartbroken when he realised his beloved Peter Rabbit toy dressed in a tiny replica of David Beckham ’s kit from the 1998 World Cup was missing. The toy was left on a bus in Devon, and sadly multiple attempts to find the bunny were ultimately unsuccessful. Grandma Rosalyn Ainsworth even posted dozens of messages across social media in the hope that one of them would lead to Peter’s recovery. While Peter was never returned to Ethan, someone suggested to Rosalyn that the family send postcards as if they were from the rabbit on holiday. The idea caught on and spread far and wide, with Ethan having now received postcards from as far away as Australia. Sam Ainsworth, Ethan’s mum, from Redditch, Worcestershire, thanked the people who’ve taken part so far, adding it has cheered up her son no end. Sam, 36, said: ‘I think it’s amazing when people do these things. It really restores your faith in humans. Ethan is loving it. ‘We’ve come to our …

[Read more...] about Boy who lost Peter Rabbit toy gets postcards from people around the world saying they’re the rabbit on holiday

A Utah sandstorm led to a series of car crashes, killing at least eight, including children, and injuring 10 others Advertisement Utah sandstorm Credit: Utah Highway Patrol At least eight people were killed, including several children, and 10 were injured after a sandstorm in Utah caused a series of car crashes on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Ground and air ambulances were called to a 22-vehicle pileup on Interstate 15 near Fillmore after high winds created a sand or dust storm that obstructed the view of drivers around 4:30 p.m., the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a press release . Get push notifications with news, features and more. + Follow Following You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications. Five of the eight people killed were in the same vehicle, and two others were in a second vehicle, the release said. An additional fatality was …

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The urgency to become an “adult” combined with a limited menu of higher-education options can seriously derail young people from poor neighborhoods who are looking for opportunities to succeed. In a report published this month, The Century Foundation takes a look at the cycle of poverty that Baltimore’s young people often find themselves in and offers recommendations for how cities and lawmakers might begin to break some of the challenges they face. While the report, by Stefanie A. DeLuca and Susan Clampet-Lundquist, touches on everything from housing vouchers to mentorship, the role that some postsecondary schools seem to play in exacerbating inequalities is particularly interesting. The researchers found that many of the low-income Baltimore-area young people they have been following for nearly a decade gravitated toward for-profit colleges or trade schools when they decided to continue their education after high school. These schools tended to have lower graduation rates and …

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HOUSTON—Omar Díaz is well on his way to becoming a towboat captain. At 18, he already has some of the required training to make it happen. By the time he graduates this spring, the high school senior is set to be the proud owner of an OSHA-10 card, a standard workplace-training requirement for maritime industry jobs, and a boating license. Díaz is pretty sure a maritime career will be a good fit. He has already been down to the Port of Houston, one of the world’s busiest, with his class to meet some of the workers who keep the place running, and he can envision himself as part of the team. “We actually got to meet the people we’re going to work for,” he said, standing after class on a rainy November afternoon in one of his high school’s many bright hallways. In other words, while thousands of high-school seniors around the country ponder where they might land in that seemingly distant post-college landscape, Díaz has a firm plan. He developed his plan with the help of his …

[Read more...] about How Houston Is Redefining Learning to Prepare Its Future Workers

NASHVILLE—Around the time that Vanderbilt University released the results of a large-scale study outlining the most effective solutions to homelessness, Pastor Jeff Obafemi Carr was moving into a 60-square-foot house with no bathroom, kitchen, or even a sink. Carr’s idea was to temporarily leave behind his wife and five kids to live in the tiny house, which looks like a tool shed, to raise $50,000 to build more such homes for the homeless. After two months living in the home, Carr had raised $66,967—enough to build six. The buildings are now set up, on wheels, in the backyard of the Green Street Church on Nashville’s east side, part of a sanctuary that also houses homeless people living in tents who moved from an encampment in one of Nashville’s parks that recently closed. The homes are brightly painted yellow, blue, orange, and purple, with red doors and white trim. They cost about $7,000 each to build, and measure 5-by-12 on the inside. Residents use bathrooms in the church, …

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Tory backbenchers are threatening rebellion if ­ministers break the pension triple-lock promise as experts warn many ­retirees are sliding deeper into debt. Under a manifesto pledge the state pension rises by the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% – whichever figure is highest. But ministers last week held talks on the triple-lock after soaring inflation from a pandemic bounceback meant pensioners would get a rise of more than £700 next year. The planned betrayal sparked fury on the backbenches. One Tory MP said: “This is madness. I know they’ll try and sell it by saying the young shouldn’t shoulder the cost of the pandemic, but this is not on. “Not only does it break a promise we’ve held for a long time, this will alienate our core vote.” For more great news content sign up to one of our newsletters here Breaking the pledge would prove a blow for many retirees after research showed a third of those retiring this year have debts, with £20,650 owed on …

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