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Here's what you need to know about rent relief during the pandemic

Many renters across the U.S. don't have to worry about being evicted during the pandemic. Yet they can find themselves in a lot of trouble when the relief expires.




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If there's coronavirus relief money, scammers will try and steal it

Business owners, the unemployed and recipients of stimulus checks are among the targets of financial thieves trying to access trillions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief.




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Families of dead Covid-19 victims may have to give back stimulus checks

New guidance from the IRS makes it clear that stimulus checks cut to deceased people must be returned. But what about those who die from the coronavirus? That depends on the timing of the deaths and receipt of the checks.




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Gottlieb: Covid-19 vaccine may be available for selective use before official approval

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, member of the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina and former FDA commissioner, tells "Squawk Box" that a Covid-19 vaccine could be made available for use in "selected circumstances" before it receives official approval for wider distribution.




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Why Goldman's Jan Hatzius believes job losses may be higher than reported

Jan Hatzius of Goldman Sachs joins "Squawk on the Street" to discuss the latest jobs number, which saw the unemployment rate soar to 14.7 percent.




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Dr. Scott Gottlieb on remdesivir rollout and US coronavirus response

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Former FDA Commissioner, joins "Closing Bell" to discuss the coronavirus pandemic.




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Betrayal and bombast: the surreal story of the Terry v Bridge saga | Jonathan Liew

More than a decade on, fact and fiction remain entangled in the tale of former teammates turned enemies. The human core of the entire episode, though, is not a footballer

Officially, nothing happened. This is, by the way, no minor detail: to this day Vanessa Perroncel fervently denies that any affair took place between her and John Terry in late 2009, and she has the printed apologies and legal documents to back it up. Normally this bit is begrudgingly buried at the bottom of the piece. But it’s worth dwelling on, if only because it forces us to confront the vast, incalculable gulf between what we definitively know and what, over the years, we’ve simply assumed.

A decade on, fact and fiction remain knottily entangled. Over time, the story of how Terry and his former friend and Chelsea teammate Wayne Bridge found themselves at the centre of one of English football’s most hysterical scandals begins to feel surreal, perhaps even a touch unreal: a bad memory that most would prefer to pretend never happened.

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Julie Felix obituary

Folk singer whose TV appearances on The Frost Report in the 1960s made her a household name

In 1966, at the height of the folk music boom in Britain, David Frost’s satirical television show The Frost Report featured a young American folk singer whose thoughtful songs, strong voice, charm and good looks endeared her to audiences, turning her into a household name. Within a year, Julie Felix, who has died aged 81, was hosting her own television series, with an impressive list of special guests.

Having landed in England in 1964, Felix performed in folk clubs in London, including the famous Troubadour in Earls Court, and on the strength of a tape of her singing that was sent to Decca, she was signed to the record label. Living on the third floor of a Chelsea block of flats, she was on her way to her debut album’s launch when she met Frost, a fifth floor resident, in the lift. Frost tagged along and, impressed by her singing, persuaded the BBC to engage her for his forthcoming television series.

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Millie Small obituary

Singer whose joyful vocals on My Boy Lollipop took Jamaican music to new audiences

With international sales of 5m copies in 1964, the year of its release, the hit single My Boy Lollipop, sung by Millie, who has died aged 72, “opened the door for Jamaican music to the world,” said the producer Chris Blackwell. He had flown the 16-year-old Millie Small from Kingston to London to manage her career. Millie’s shrill, joyful vocals, married to a galloping ska rhythm in Olympic Studios in London in an arrangement by the Jamaican master guitarist Ernest Ranglin, were beamed out all that summer from the new pirate radio stations, such as Caroline, that were instrumental in helping promote the record. In May 1964, two months after the release of My Boy Lollipop, Millie was given a guest appearance on the ITV special Around the Beatles.

In both the UK and the US, My Boy Lollipop was a No 2 hit, kept off the top slot respectively by the Searchers and the Beach Boys. In America Millie rode the slipstream of the British Invasion started by the Beatles six months earlier; in New York she stepped off a plane – dubbed the Lollipop Special by a clever publicist – from the UK to a 30-strong police guard; fans screamed as she was presented with what was said to be the world’s largest lollipop.

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Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 - Growth Option

Category Equity Scheme - ELSS
NAV 27.03
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




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Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 - Growth - Direct Plan

Category Equity Scheme - ELSS
NAV 28.92
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




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Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 - Dividend Option

Category Equity Scheme - ELSS
NAV 119.29
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




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Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 - Dividend - Direct Plan

Category Equity Scheme - ELSS
NAV 199.49
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




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Julie Andrews: 'I was certainly aware of tales about the casting couch'

The celebrated actor had a turbulent upbringing before becoming world-famous for playing two perfect nannies. Now she’s bonding with a new generation of children through her storytelling podcast

“I’ll tell you what, shall I go outside?” Julie Andrews asks. We are talking by phone, but, alas, the reception inside her home on Long Island is, she says, “always terrible”. Torturous minutes pass in which I can hear only fragments of her conversation, and if anyone knows of a sweeter agony than being barely able to hear Andrews’ still lovely, melodious voice, I don’t want to know what it is. Eventually, I have to tell her this phone conversation isn’t working.

“I can stand out in my garden, although it is a bit nippy …” Andrews suggests.

Continue reading...




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TV tonight: light relief with the Last Leg Locked Down Under

Coming live from Melbourne, London and Huddersfield, the Last Leg presents its take on the week’s events. Plus: VE Day 75: An Evening Celebration

The lighthearted TV responses to lockdown have been abundant so far, from video-linked episodes of Have I Got News For You to Matt Lucas’s sketches and Grayson Perry’s Art Club. Yet, none have quite managed to capture the mix of anxiety, uncertainty and unexpected humour many of us have been experiencing – which is where the Last Leg comics come in. Live from Melbourne, London and Huddersfield, the trio will present their typically incisive take on the week’s events. Ammar Kalia

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The Arctic Circle: A hike from Lloyds Hotel to Lilliehöökbreen

Here is our trip log from Sunday, October 7:


Sunday 07.10 – Day 7

Lloyds Hotel – Lilliehöökbreen – North

-3/4°C Celsius, almost no wind in the morning, clear sky, beautiful sunrise. More wind in the evening going from WNW 2, to N 2-3 and later NW 4.

09:30 - Morning landing Lloyds hotel – Hike to Lilliehöökbreen.

11:15 – Anchor up Lloyds Hotel.

13:30 – Anchor down Lilliehöökbreen.

14:30 – Hikers back on board (Piet still smiling).

16:30 - Afternoon zodiac cruises Lilliehöökbreen.

19:00 - Going North.

Our leader, Sarah Gerats, kept this log for us throughout the trip… And October 7 was one of my favorite days. I woke that morning and, as happened most mornings, came out on deck to a view I'd never seen before.


If you take a close look at the middle of this picture — maybe click on it to make it bigger and more detailed — you might see an orange rectangle. This is a hut that's been decorated and painted orange. It's called Lloyds Hotel, and it is definitely the fanciest hut on Spitsbergen — though maybe more of a tourist destination then a destination for any anyone actually seeking shelter. You can read more about its history here.

We climbed aboard the zodiacs and crossed onto land to visit it.





I, for one, was less interested in the evidence of human activity inside the hut, and more interested in the COMPLETELY GINORMOUS polar bear prints outside the hut. They were fresh, for this was new snow.


This sight — evidence of a polar bear (or three or four) recently shuffling through — was quite common on our journey.


This time we got a special treat: evidence that it had lain down and rolled around :o)


I think it's time to introduce you to our wonderful, kickass guides, who always knew how to read the prints in the snow. Emma, Sarah, Åshild, and Kristin were our guides and guards, our organizers, our friends, our helpers, and our protectors. Any time we went on land, they were there with rifles, ensuring our safety in the land of polar bears.They had so much to share about the landscape, the environment, the animals, the history. They were wonderful storytellers and guides! And of course, Nemo was very, um, helpful as well. :o)


After exploring Lloyd's Hotel, we split into two groups. Some stayed put, working or enjoying the scenery, then returning to the ship. The rest of us set off on an 8km (5 mi) hike across the base of the fjord where we'd landed. See the little arrow I drew on the map below? That shows where we hiked, in this northwestern section of Spitsbergen.

Click here to check this out on Google Maps and see more details about where we were.

As we moved away from shore, we saw the Antigua sail off — abandoning us! Not really. The ship was circling the fjord to pick us up on the other side. Even knowing that, though, it was strange to see her go.

We hiked through spectacular terrain. Click on any of these to make them bigger and more focused.


The snow was pretty deep, but also very, very dry. It made for easier hiking than a snow-free terrain, for we were on a rocky moraine of loose stones much of the time. The snow evened out the terrain for us.


The sun was low behind us for the entire hike. If you see the sun in a picture, I'm looking back.


Our way was mostly flat, but every once in a while, we climbed a steep hill. The light was brilliant, everything white and blue! And lavender, pink, gray, if you looked closer.


At one point, Nemo was sorely tempted by this duck, who taunted him as he tried to walk out onto the thin ice and grab it. Sarah, Nemo's person, could not get him to desist. So we all took a little break and enjoyed resting, eating snacks, and watching the show :o). (The duck was fine. The duck was in charge the whole time really.)


Our path skirted the frozen edges of two beautiful lakes, this one crossed with the tracks of an Arctic fox.


I included the picture below because in the foreground, you can see what I mean about the terrain of loose stones. It's exactly the same backdrop as above, actually, but I'm standing at a higher point, so the sun is more visible.



Near the end of our hike, we climbed a steep ridge…


And there below us was another fjord, a glacier, and, waiting for us, the Antigua. Such a beautiful sight on a freezing day, after a long walk. I stood and stared, breathing fresh air, for a long time. As I watched, I heard her anchor fall — a familiar metallic clicking that was SO much louder on our ridge, echoing around the fjord, than it ever was from inside the ship.


And that was our hike from Lloyds Hotel to Lilliehöökbreen! If you're curious about the place in the log where it says "Piet still smiling," well, you may remember from a previous post that Piet was our chef. And we got home very late for lunch :o). But he fed us a delicious feast anyway.

I'll post another adventure soon! Maybe those zodiac cruises mentioned in the log, or maybe an explanation of some of our exciting activities on deck.




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They Say There’s No Room for Immigrants While Desperate Rural Towns Lie Empty All Across the Western World

Here’s a thing I keep noticing, and it drives me nuts. In Italy, a ship captain is arrested for bringing immigrants to shore after rescuing from them near death at sea: The number of migrants reaching Italy’s shores has drastically diminished – just 2,800 so far this year – and the country is now led… Continue reading They Say There’s No Room for Immigrants While Desperate Rural Towns Lie Empty All Across the Western World




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May Day People's Strike! Target, Amazon, Instacart Workers Demand Safe Conditions & Pandemic Relief

This May Day, an unprecedented coalition of essential workers from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target and FedEx are calling out sick or walking out during their lunch break to demand better health and safety conditions, along with hazard pay. Others are joining them for May Day actions that include rent strikes, car caravan protests and online organizing calling for a "People's Bailout" and economic recovery plan that prioritizes workers. We speak with Kali Akuno, co-founder and co-director of Cooperation Jackson, which issued a call for a people's strike starting May 1. "The corporations and the government are willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of us," Akuno says. "We have to put people before profits."




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Tara Reade's Ex-Neighbor on Biden Sexual Assault Allegation: I Believed Her Then & I Believe Her Now

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden denied sexual assault allegations against him on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday, breaking his silence after weeks of mounting pressure to respond to claims put forward by former staffer Tara Reade, who says he sexually assaulted her in 1993. In a statement, Biden said, "I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago. They aren't true. This never happened." Tara Reade first came forward with her allegations in March, saying Biden pushed her up against a wall and digitally penetrated her. In a Democracy Now! broadcast exclusive, we speak with Reade's former neighbor Lynda LaCasse, who says that Reade told her about the encounter and described it in detail in the 1990s. LaCasse is a lifelong Democrat and Biden supporter. She says of Tara Reade, "I believe her 100%." We also speak with investigative journalist Rich McHugh, who first interviewed LaCasse for Business Insider.




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ER Doctor: Pulse Oximeters Detect Oxygen Deprivation Earlier from COVID-19, Help Avoid Ventilators

We speak with Dr. Richard Levitan, an emergency physician based in Littleton, New Hampshire, who volunteered at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April. Based on what he saw, he argues patients should be going to hospitals sooner and that medical professionals could use a small device you clip on your fingertip, called a pulse oximeter, to help detect the virus earlier by revealing oxygenation problems and elevated heart rates. "A pulse oximeter is just a measure of identifying how well the lungs are working, and, I believe, can be basically an early warning system in terms of patients to know who has COVID pneumonia," says Dr. Levitan.




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Trump Death Clock: Times Square Billboard Tallies Lives Lost to COVID-19 Inaction

A 56-foot billboard called the Trump Death Clock was unveiled in Times Square in New York City. The tally of lives lost to government inaction was created by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who says, "On behalf of all of those who needlessly lost their lives to this failed leadership in a pandemic, we need a symbol, a symbol that cries out not only for accountability, but also for more responsible and responsive stewardship, going forward." As of the Friday morning broadcast, the death toll count was nearly 47,000 and growing.




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GST update on landmark decision granting exemption to ancillary supplies in relation to supply of electricity

Recently Gujarat High Court ([TS-858-HC-2018(GUJ)-NT-Torrent Power Ltd]) has held that when a company is engaged in the business of supply and distribution of electric power which is principal supply, the ancillary and related supply such as application fee for release of connection, meter testing f




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How to Understand Aliens.

Last night, having just watched a documentary on the Connecticut River flood of 1936, my wife and I discovered that our basement had flooded — apparently the sump pump had failed. So this morning we called the Barstows (it’s great to have contractors you can rely on in emergencies) and they sent a crew over […]




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THE CAT LIES




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Jacob Collier: The man dubbed 'jazz's new messiah' on making music in lockdown

Four Grammy awards, tens of millions of views, Quincy Jones as a manager, Herbie Hancock as a fan and Chris Martin as a collaborator: 25-year-old Jacob Collier has been compared to Mozart and Prince and called jazz's new messiah. The north London prodigy speaks to Eve Jackson from confinement about his four-volume, 50-song album "Djesse", being managed by the man who produced the best-selling album of all time, and what he's learned in lockdown.




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Relief in Nigeria as main cities ease Covid-19 lockdown

Nigeria's main cities of Lagos and Abuja see an easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, but many businesses are still shut and social distancing measures remain in place. Our correspondent tells us more. Meanwhile, South Africa also sees some businesses reopen after five weeks of lockdown. Plus, charities and organisations in Morocco come together to support those in need during Ramadan. In a country where the informal economy accounts for more than 20 percent of GDP, the lockdown has been tough for many people, as our correspondents report.



  • Eye on Africa

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‘Today is wonderful’: Relief in Lagos as Nigeria emerges from Covid-19 lockdown

Africa’s biggest city, Lagos, returned to work on Monday at the end of a five-week coronavirus lockdown.




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Kim Jong Un is not believed to have had surgery, says S. Korea

South Korea's assessment is that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not have surgery, local news outlet Yonhap said, citing an unidentified senior official at presidential Blue House. 




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Believing everyone else is wrong is a danger sign

I have a guest post for the Research Digest, snappily titled ‘People who think their opinions are superior to others are most prone to overestimating their relevant knowledge and ignoring chances to learn more‘. The paper I review is about the so-called “belief superiority” effect, which is defined by thinking that your views are better … Continue reading "Believing everyone else is wrong is a danger sign"




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internet lies

Today on Toothpaste For Dinner: internet lies


I NEED YOUR HELP: Please chip in $1 or more on Patreon and I can keep Toothpaste For Dinner updating daily, PLUS you'll get to see bonus comics & writing!










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A Pack Of Scammer Lies


Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

How do scammers entrap unwary writers? The other day, an especially egregious example came across my desk, in the form of this "proposal" shared with me by an author who really, really wanted to believe it was real (I've redacted the author's name and book title to protect their privacy).


Not to beat a horse, dead or otherwise, but if you'll glance at the sidebar, you'll see that Alpha Books United is on Writer Beware's big list of Philippines-based Author Solutions copycat publishing and marketing scams. (When I got hold of this proposal, on September 26, Alpha Books' website was working fine, but when I checked it today it refused to load. "Mr. Ken Davis", however, has not stopped emailing and calling the author who contacted me.)

(UPDATE: Just a few hours later, Alpha Books' website is back online. Check out its specifics-free About Us page, on which it tells the following lie: "Once you’re earmarked, we open the possibility for you to be eligible for a non-contributory agreement with us.")

Here's the bait. Author empowerment! Amazing expertise! Commitment! Relationships! Sounds good, right? (Other than the complete lack of any verifiable specifics, of course.) Like most scammers, Alpha Books is counting on establishing a direct line to the author's deepest hopes, dreams, and ego.

Note that there's no mention of money. The initial phone calls and emails sent by "Ken Davis" didn't mention money, either.


Here are the "PUBLISHING Inclusions" supposedly on offer (only "if needed", of course!). Kind of bare bones basic, right? But for an author who isn't all that savvy about what goes into design and production, it hits the high spots: cover design, print and ebook format, and the all-important "content evaluation," which Alpha Books is hoping the author will wrongly interpret as "editing".

Again: no mention of money. That will come later, after the author has responded with interest to what they may believe is an amazing offer, especially if it's accompanied by flattery about how their book has been "discovered" or "recommended" by "book scouts" or "literary agents". These scams are successful in part because they solicit so relentlessly, but also because they have an acute grasp of author psychology. They know that it's easier to hook victims if you first get the victims to hook themselves.


And here is the pack of lies. Well, pretty much everything the scammers offer is a lie, but these are mostly slant lies: they could be true (it's just that they aren't). Alpha Books, on the other hand, distinguishes itself by going well beyond the usual obfuscations and half-truths with a great big alternative fact: guess what, we have access to Penguin Random House! Which will pay you $40,000!

If Alpha Books' previous phone calls and emails haven't convinced the potential victim, this magic name surely will. It's an especially sneaky tactic because there really is an Alpha Books associated with PRH: it's under the umbrella of the DK imprint, and publishes, among other things, the popular Idiots Guides series.

Of course, to anyone who knows a little bit about publishing, Alpha Books' claims about PRH are laughable:


The author who received this pitch nearly fell for it. Only when "Ken Davis" told them they'd have to pay $7,000 for this wonderful opportunity (the "true" cost being $19,000, of which Alpha Books would supposedly defray the bulk) did they start to balk. At that point, this happened:


As brazen as most of these scams are, this is just about the worst I've seen.

Fortunately the author contacted me, and I was able to convince them they were being scammed. (It wasn't the first time: they'd originally published with one of the Author Solutions imprints, and had previously been solicited by scammers Bookwhip, Stonewall Press, and True Media Creatives.)

I'm guessing that at least a few of my readers will be thinking "Well, if someone is that naive/ignorant/unwary, they deserve what they get." Believe me, I get frustrated too with writers' gullibility, and in particular with how many writers fail to educate themselves about publishing and self-publishing before trying to publish. But no one, no matter what, deserves to be deceived and ripped off by a pack of con artists.

That's why I keep doing what I do. Suck it, scammers.




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Cats, PJs, alien eyes unwelcome as work video calling boom prompts new etiquette

(This March 17 story corrects stock symbol of Zoom to ZM.O, not ZOOM.PK in the last paragraph)




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Do you believe you were infected by coronavirus at a big event in March?

We’d like to hear from those who attended events between the end of February and early March such as Wolves v Espanyol and Cheltenham Festival

We’d like you to help us document the spread of coronavirus due to some of the mega-events that went ahead between the end of February and the first couple of weeks in March.

Those events include: Wolves v Espanyol Europa League game, Liverpool v Atletico Madrid Champions League tie, Six Nations cup games and the Cheltenham Festival.

Continue reading...




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The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months

When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman

For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. That cynical image of humanity has been proclaimed in films and novels, history books and scientific research. But in the last 20 years, something extraordinary has happened. Scientists from all over the world have switched to a more hopeful view of mankind. This development is still so young that researchers in different fields often don’t even know about each other.

When I started writing a book about this more hopeful view, I knew there was one story I would have to address. It takes place on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. A plane has just gone down. The only survivors are some British schoolboys, who can’t believe their good fortune. Nothing but beach, shells and water for miles. And better yet: no grownups.

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Irish support for Native American Covid-19 relief highlights historic bond

  • GoFundMe page for Navajo and Hopi aid lists many Irish names
  • Choctaw Nation sent donation in 1847 for potato famine victims

The list of recent donors reads like an Irish phone book. Aisling Ní Chuimín, Shane Ó Leary, Sean Gibbons, Kevin Boyle, Kevin Keane, Clare Quinn, Eamonn McDonald, on and on down a GoFundMe page that by Friday had raised $3.15m of a $5m goal.

The individual amounts are not remarkable – $10, $20, $30, some exceeding $100 – but the story behind the donations stretches back two centuries and encompasses a singular act of generosity that forged a bond between Native Americans and Ireland, a bond now renewed in the coronavirus era.

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Fossil ‘monster’ looks alien but may be related to primitive fish

The Tully Monster is a famously odd 300-million-year-old fossil that looks like an alien, but a new analysis suggests it was a backboned animal like a hagfish or lamprey




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Telling Lies review: A twisting mystery for the age of video calls

Telling Lies is a game where you sift through video calls to solve a mystery. Half the time you don't know what you should be doing, but that's part of the fun, says Jacob Aron




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Friday Polynews Roundup — Kids of polyfamilies, more TV, by 2030 "a growing market for ‘polymoons’" after multi-weddings, and more



  • children of polyamory
  • Friday Polynews Roundup
  • kids
  • Poly 101

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Friday Polynews Roundup — Not all polyfamilies are FMF throuples, upcoming in TV and film, and a future of extended chosen family.




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PMQs: Villiers and Johnson on London Underground services

In response, Boris Johnson suggested a "bigger and more expansive" Tube service in London would help people travel more safely.




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Coronavirus: Mass testing earlier 'would have been beneficial'

The UK's chief scientist tells MPs mass testing is "part of the system that you need to get right".




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Ellie and Nele: From she to he - and back to she again

When two trans men fell in love they began to have second thoughts about their gender.




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Blasian love: The day we introduced our black and Asian families

Blasian - black and Asian - couples now exist in South Africa... but they don't always have an easy time.




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Electrosensitivity: 'I didn't believe people had it, then it happened to me'

Velma, Emma and Dean believe mobile phone signals, wi-fi and other modern technology makes them ill.