Throughout his Gospel, John has a diversity of people—people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences—all testifying to who Jesus was. Who were some of these people, and why did they testify as they did to the identity of Jesus?

As school districts consider how to approach learning this fall with no sign of the coronavirus slowing, the virus has already had devastating consequences in one rural Arizona school district. Jena Martinez-Inzunza was one of three elementary school teachers at the Hayden Winkelman Unified School District who all tested positive for COVID-19 after teaching virtual summer school lessons together from the same classroom. Martinez's colleague and friend, Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd, who taught in the district for nearly four decades, died. "She was very dear to me. She's one of my closest friends," Martinez told Morning Edition. Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died after testing positive for coronavirus. Other teachers she worked with tested positive as well. "She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind," says her colleague Jena Martinez-Inzunza. Luke Byrd "She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind. She always loved watching kids find their way,

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York will face Representative Lee Zeldin this fall. Two Trump-endorsed candidates won key primaries in Illinois. Here’s what else happened.

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Updated at 7:57 p.m. ET To help figure out the U.S. citizenship status of every adult living in the country, the Trump administration has been accumulating driver's license information from states including South Dakota, NPR has learned. South Dakota Public Safety Secretary Craig Price — who was appointed to President Trump's commission on law enforcement this year — signed an agreement in April to share information from driver's licenses and state ID cards with the U.S. Census Bureau, according to a copy of the memorandum of understanding the state's Department of Public Safety provided to NPR. In the past year since the Trump administration failed in its attempt to add the now-blocked citizenship question to 2020 census forms, the Census Bureau has been gathering state and federal records under directives from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross , who oversees the bureau, and an executive order Trump issued in July 2019 . In addition to allowing states to redistrict using the number of

Matthew Panzarino returns to the show to talk about the new iPhones 15.

The incoming Trump administration has expressed a desire for a big overhaul at the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Millions of people are on the move today, in the biggest forced displacement since the Second World War. And unlike in decades past, new technologies are changing the narratives of their movement — both by reinforcing and extending borders, and acting as a lifeline for those trying to cross them. 

Dido’s fourth album is both familiar and surprising, taking some unexpected turns.

A Mississippi State Trooper dished out some punishment Saturday as he escorted Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin off the field.

The post WATCH: Mississippi State Trooper Brutally Punches Fan Who Got Too Close to Lane Kiffin appeared first on Breitbart.

By Fran Kritz, NPR

The ancient scourge of tuberculosis for years was the deadliest infectious disease. Then SARS-CoV-2 came along and grabbed the notorious title of #1 killer: In 2020, COVID-19 was responsible for 3.5 million deaths worldwide vs 1.5 million for TB.The 2024 Global Tuberculosis Report, published last week by the World Health Organization, puts TB back in the top slot with 1.25 million deaths in 2023 compared to 320,000 COVID-19 deaths. There's also been an increase of hundreds of thousands of new TB cases in 2023 compared to the year prior.

The 1.25 million TB deaths in 2023 is down from 2022’s number of 1.32 million (which that year was second to the COVID toll). But it's still indefensibly high, say public health leaders.

“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, in a statement issued on October 29.

According to the report, approximately 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2023 — the highest number since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995 and a “notable increase” from 7.5 million people newly diagnosed in 2022.

TB sleuths are trying to figure out the reasons behind the increase. Anand Date, global TB branch chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says population growth may account for the increase in cases last year -- and that it may take until the 2024 to find out if that is so or if the leap in 2023 reflects an undercount of annual TB totals during the pandemic.

“Disruptions to TB programs during the height of the pandemic led to more people going undiagnosed and untreated for TB. [And] guidance to shelter in place may have also limited the spread of TB, says Yogan Pillay, who heads efforts to improve TB program delivery at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which is a funder of NPR and this blog).

COVID-19 did trigger a new setback in the effort to control TB. But most of the reasons the infection persists are frustratingly well-known, says Lucica Ditiu, executive director of the Stop TB Partnership. There's too little money for research, treatment. and patient care needs. And there's stigma that can keep the most common victims of TB, impoverished people including migrants and sex workers, from seeking help or being offered treatment.

In addition, health conditions like malnutrition, diabetes and smoking that can exacerbate TB and keep medications from being fully effective, says Luke Davis, a TB and HIV specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. “TB is unusual,” says Davis, in that most people who are exposed to the bacteria won’t progress to infectious TB. Only about 10% do, and they are usually among the world’s poorest people often with poor health to begin with, which exacerbates their condition.”

So what's the solution?

And that brings us to the Tedros point. The world knows how to vanquish TB — but is not doing a good job.

Money reigns as perhaps the biggest obstacle to conquering tuberculosis. A spokesperson for WHO tells NPR: “Compared with global funding targets for TB set at the 2023 U.N. high-level meeting on TB, there are large funding shortfalls for TB research as well as prevention, detection and treatment services. To close these gaps, more funding is needed from both domestic sources in the countries most impacted by TB and from international donors.”

Global funding for TB prevention and care decreased in 2023 from $6 billion in the three previous years to $5.7 billion and remains far below the yearly target of $22 billion, according to WHO.

What would more money bring? WHO cites expanded rapid diagnostic testing as critical. Then treatment can start sooner. And people wouldn’t have to travel long distances to a clinic then wait for days for the results.

Increased funding would also help reimburse families for lost wages and food and travel expenses incurred as they go for treatment. Those costs keep some patients and their families from seeking care.

The WHO report and other investigations also say that countries burdened by TB also have to step up and spend more money on prevention, diagnosis and treatment. A report by MSF/Doctors Without Borders published last month, for example, found that, only 5 out of 14 countries have adapted their guidelines — based on WHO recommendations -- to initiate TB treatment in children when symptoms strongly indicate TB disease, even if bacteriological tests are negative.

And increased funding would speed up the pace of research says the CDC’s Date. Funding for TB research has stagnated at around $1 billion per year, constraining progress, according to WHO. The target at the U.N. meeting: $5 billion per year by 2027. “The world also has the most promising R&D pipeline of new TB tools in decades,” says Pillay. “What’s needed now is greater investment to deliver on the promise of that pipeline and ensure patients and those at risk of TB have affordable and equitable access to these tools when they are available.”

Vaccines in the works

Pillay says there are more than a dozen TB vaccine candidates in clinical trials, including one whose late stage (stage 3) clinical trial is sponsored by the Gates Medical Research Institute. The trial began recruiting patients last March. That vaccine candidate is called M72/AS01E and if proven effective would be the first new TB vaccine in 100 years. The lone TB vaccine available now is not predictably effective in adults, and can cause a false positive result on TB skin tests.

But even an effective vaccine won’t do that much good if there aren’t funds to purchase it for countries impacted by TB. Janeen Madan Keller, deputy director of the Global Health Policy Program at the Center for Global Development, based in Washington, D.C., says that while Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, pays for [a variety of] vaccines in some of the poorest countries such as Afghanistan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, some countries with high rates of TB are middle income countries, like Indonesia, and no longer eligible for support. Ahead of a TB vaccine’s approval, says Keller, there needs to be a better match of policy and funding.

“Often it seems that when we find a way to help vanquish TB,” says Lucica Ditiu, “we also find another barrier.”

Fran Kritz is a health policy reporter based in Washington, D.C., and a regular contributor to NPR. She also reports for the Washington Post and Verywell Health. Find her on X: @fkritz

"Donald Trump is not a politician who guards his words carefully to avoid offending anyone. But we don't need a politician now." -- Angie Many, Eckert

Gardeners care more about their zinnias and tomatoes than they do about fashionable overalls or clogs.

A daily preview of "Just Keke" guests.

Spunji, Rockybot, and Sensation dance their hearts out

Boeing reported a loss of more than $6 billion in the third quarter and immediately turned its attention to union workers who will vote Wednesday on a contract.

If Jarrett Stidham is the quarterback under center for the Broncos in 2024, will coach Sean Payton be on the hot seat this time next year?

After a multi-week trial that started in October, an Adams County jury found Ricardo Perales-Cordero guilty of murder in less than two hours, court officials said.

From NYC to ATL, everyone heard The Message.

From Marcy to Madison Square.

Who should get the part? You tell us!

Public Policy expert Dr. Amara Enyia says it's Pres. Biden.

Video of the shocking incident went viral.

He sat motionless as the judge gave him his sentence.

Social media reacts.

He languished for hours before getting treatment.

Friend or foe?

Kara vs. mom.

Way to drop a bomb, Pauletta.

“Know your difference and run with it.”

A report in the UK’s Daily Mail over the weekend highlighted “the swimming pigs of Bermuda” – the only problem being that we don’t have swimming pigs, with the article having confused us with the Bahamas. The headline initially read, “The swimming pigs of Bermuda become YouTube stars,” and the story went on to mention […]

Genesis Lynea has been cast in the latest series of the global hit television series Dr Who. The 34-year-old, who has had starring roles in Death in Paradise, Casualty, Shadow and Bone, and Silent Witness, will join the upcoming series of the BBC sci-fi show. In the latest issue of Doctor Who magazine, showrunner Russell […]

FBI CIA NSA are not only spying on American citizens but also are illegally unmasking their identities to journalists who support our fascist government Continue reading →

THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE USING JANUARY 6TH. IT'S DEMENTED TO COMPARE 9/11 AND JANUARY 6TH BUT IT'S SO CENTRAL TO THE AGENDA OF THE SECURITY STATE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, TO ESSENTIALLY INITIATE A SURVEILLANCE REGIME, A DETENTION REGIME, AGAINST PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT WHO ARE AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT. AND THEY’RE ALREADY DOING IT. AND THEY PUT PEOPLE ON THE NO-FLY LIST, THE KIND OF DEFINING FEATURE OF THE FIRST WAR ON TERROR, THEY WANT TO DO NEW LEGISLATION THAT GIVES THE FBI AND THE CIA NEW POWERS, SPENDING MORE MONEY ON LAW ENFORCEMENT. THIS WAR ON TERROR IS CRUCIAL TO THEM. Continue reading →

The post #58 Enlightenment – Questioning Who We Are appeared first on Enlightenment Podcast.

REVIEW – Fall is here, and the weather has turned chilly at night.  That means Christmas is coming soon, and before I can say “Jingle Bells” it will be time to decorate the house.  While many of the decorations in our house are traditions that have been used for years, we are always up for […]

Good fundraisers typically stick with what works in a fund raising campaign choosing not to ask to many questions about why it works. While intuitively, many fundraisers know that women tend to make more donations in a given campaign or series of campaigns and perhaps if the fundraiser is intuitive enough, that men who give, generally tend to give higher amounts overall.

It’s not always easy to understand why this is so, and therefore for a fundraiser to take full advantage of this information.

Many studies have been done on philanthropy; fewer have been done on telephone fund raising, however the research on this subject is not insignificant. Two studies that we will highlight here at onfundraising are one commissioned by the Share Group Inc on fund raising and direct mail campaigns, and the other is “The Effects of Race, Gender, and Marital Status on Giving and Volunteering in Indiana” as published in the Nonprofit and voluntary Sector Quartley, in 2006 while report focuses on Indiana, much of the reporting is general in nature and therefore suitable for this post. The study’s main purpose was to examine whether factors like race, age, education or marital status make a difference to philanthropy of volunteering.

Both studies are available on line, and are linked to at the bottom of this article.

In 2006, Share Group. Inc, of Massachusetts participated in a comprehensive study on donor characteristics .Among other things this study quantifies some of the major difference between male and female donors; something that many people knew intuitively but lacked the hard data to validate. The study also measured donor contributions by age, and gave some general insights into what age group is the most supportive of charitable organizations.

According to the study, when contacted, women are more likely to support a charity campaign than men.

This data corresponds with past studies on philanthropic giving, but is limited to telephone fund raising The data indicates the women generally are more likely to donate to fund raising efforts and are also more likely to leave bequests to charitable organizations. The research indicates that woman as a whole are more likely to donate than men are.

However, the study found that based on the statistical evidence, men who do give to a campaign are likely to make larger contributions than female donors. This information as well is corroborated by independent research.

The study observes that the optimal donor age is fifty years old. Contributions tend to dwindle as donors reach retirement age. Donors ages sixty five to seventy five were most receptive to and renewal of support campaigns.

Interestingly for fund raisers, the study found that female callers secure pledges less often than male callers, but the average size of the pledges female fundraisers secure is larger than their male counterparts.

In general, women according to the research in both studies, are more likely give a larger contribution than they have previously given (upgrade). Men who could be convinced to upgrade generally upgraded at higher percentage versus female donors.

Breaking down the data further showed that when it comes to the actual giving of money, single women give twice as much as single men. These results are consistent with what has been published in the past. Furthermore, single women are more likely than men to give to a variety of charities and philanthropic efforts. A not so surprising finding was that married men also were 2-3 times more likely to give as much as single men or single women. However, the amount of money donated by single men was found to be far greater than that of married couples.

When the race factor is assessed for donation, there is little or no difference. Whites, Blacks and other minorities are no more or less likely to give relative to each other. The one obvious finding is that donations are significantly increased when the donor is educated, earns a higher income, and is older. This finding was again observed in all ethnic groups.

The Indiana study also looked at another aspect of giving-volunteering. The results are not much different to the philanthropic study. Again, single females are more likely to volunteer their time when compared to single men. Infact single females are more likely to volunteer for many more hours (>146 per year) than single men. The one surprising finding is that there is no difference in volunteering between married couples and single individuals when it comes to volunteering. It would be expected that married couples would have less time due to their familial obligations but this is not so.

Race did not reveal any differences in volunteering- Blacks, Whites and other minorities were just as likely to volunteer.

Volunteering was found to decrease when the levels of income and education were low. In fact, there was a sharp drop in volunteering levels for those with less than a high school education relative to the general population, and this was seen across all age groups.

However, increased income did not correlate with the numbers of hours volunteered. Individuals with low income were just as likely to volunteer for longer durations of time and vice versa.

The one curious observation from the study is that when individuals were asked if they had volunteered in the past, women were more likely to recall this act. Minorities could not recall if they had volunteered. Why someone can’t remember a dignified act like volunteering is a mystery- perhaps an error in how the questionnaire was set up or comprehension difficulty. The writers of the Indiana study surmised that often minorities do volunteer work without formally characterizing it as such.

Most of the results of these studies are also supported by many previous national surveys which have also found that education and higher income are the strongest and most consistent predictors of philanthropic activity.

Why single women volunteer more is not fully understood but it is speculated that because single women have less social and financial means, they compensate this by giving more of their time as volunteers while at the same time establishing their social networks.

These studies provide some insight into differences in donors by sex, marital status, race and income. Both men and women are motivated to give to charity for different reasons therefore when communicating with donors, fundraisers are advised to take this into effect and structure their solicitations accordingly.

We can take from these studies the fact that most Americans do give to charity in one way or another. Fund raisers can best serve the causes they work for buy understanding the broad characteristics of donors and structuring their donation requests accordingly.

OMG. I can't believe October is over already. I blame Satisfactory which, okay, I do get it now, and it did destroy my body and mind. I am inches from being done now; I just want to make sure that I finish it with enough force that I do actually put it away, as I could imagine tinkering with my saddest factory forever.

The game isn't without flaw, but I think most of those flaws are not interesting to talk about. I do have one petty but important criticism, which is mildly spoilerful and anyway will only be interesting if you played the game. There is an object called the Somersloop ("cool S") which allows you to double the output of a machine. Canonically this item is some kind of "loop" and the flavor text talks about how it is able to create more energy than you put into it. So when I'm out hunting for Korok seeds I have this thought that maybe I could create a loop of factories whereby it would create infinite resources by repeatedly doubling. And I'm thinking about it but the crafting tree doesn't have any notable loops in it, but I remember the "packager" which allows you to put a fluid in a container or the converse, and I'm like: Yes, that's great! So I get back to base and I am doing this, just for fun to create an infinite fuel factory or whatever, and I realize that the packager just doesn't have a slot for a Somersloop. They must just hate fun, elegant twists. It would not break the game to allow this (you can always get infinite resources lots of other ways) or cause any other problem I can think of. Hmph!

The thing about constructing a factory and watching it churn is that it's basically the same thing as a programming project that you invented for yourself, and it's probably better to do the programming project. Here's progress on my mysterious rectangle:

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