Month: June 2021

Milton and the Sublime, Part 1: Preparing for ‘Paradise Lost’

Sublimity is a word rather like “mystical” in that it is difficult to define exactly what it is, but most of us have had some experience of it. Indeed, when we do experience it, and if we are not emotionally dead, it leaves an indelible impression, for it is an experience, like love, that once…


CDC Director: Vaccinated People Don’t Need to Wear Masks Amid Delta COVID-19 Variant Fears

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky issued a clarification on the COVID-19 “Delta” variant, proclaiming that fully vaccinated individuals are protected against the strain and don’t need to wear masks. Some municipalities—including Los Angeles County—and a number of countries as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended mask-wearing…


Health Canada Adds Warning of Very Rare, Serious Condition as Potential Side Effect

OTTAWA—Health Canada is updating the label for the Oxford-AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines to add capillary leak syndrome as a potential side-effect. The agency is also including a warning for patients with a history of the ailment to not get those vaccines. Capillary leak syndrome is a very rare, serious condition that causes fluid leakage…


Heath Canada Adds Warning of Very Rare, Serious Condition as Potential Side Effect

OTTAWA—Health Canada is updating the label for the Oxford-AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines to add capillary leak syndrome as a potential side-effect. The agency is also including a warning for patients with a history of the ailment to not get those vaccines. Capillary leak syndrome is a very rare, serious condition that causes fluid leakage…


New York’s Mayoral Primary Vote Count Voided After 135,000 Ballot Discrepancy

The New York City Board of Elections said on June 29 that 135,000 test ballots were accidentally included in a preliminary tally of votes cast in the city’s mayoral primary election, leading to the count being voided and drawing the ire of candidates. New York’s first attempt at ranked-choice voting (RCV) descended into confusion after…


New York City’s Mayoral Primary Vote Count Voided After 135,000 Ballot Discrepancy

The New York City Board of Elections said Tuesday that 135,000 test ballots were accidentally included in a preliminary tally of votes cast in the city’s mayoral primary election, leading to the count being voided and drawing the ire of candidates. New York City’s first attempt at ranked-choice voting (RCV) descended into confusion after the…


Putin Says the Time Will Come When He Names His Possible Successor

MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin told Russians on Wednesday that the time would come when he would name his possible successor in the Kremlin, but said the choice would ultimately lie with voters. Putin, 68, has been in power as president or prime minister since the turn of the century. His current six-year term in the Kremlin…


Texas Inmate Faces Execution After Killing 3 Family Members

HOUSTON—A Texas inmate faces execution on Wednesday after killing his pregnant wife, five-year-old daughter, and father-in-law more than a decade ago in what prosecutors called a brutal and senseless attack. Authorities say John Hummel stabbed his wife, Joy Hummel, more than 30 times in December 2009. He then used a baseball bat to beat to…


People Need to Verify News Using Multiple Sources and Sift out Facts From Opinions: Newsmax Host Stinchfield

People need to acquire skills on how to find news sources they can trust and verify what they read by checking multiple sources or websites, as well as train themselves to be able to separate the facts from opinions, said Grant Stinchfield, host of “Stinchfield” on Newsmax. He did not discourage people from reading or…


Actress Allison Mack to Be Sentenced for Role in NXIVM Cult

“Smallville” actress Allison Mack is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty to blackmailing two women as part of NXIVM, a New York-based cult whose leader was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 120 years in prison. Mack, 38, has asked U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn to spare her prison…