Month: August 2021

Hurricane Ida Leaves Indelible Mark in Louisiana

The one thing Debbie Russel of LaPlace, Louisiana, remembers about Hurricane Ida is the wind—“It was unreal.” “The wind was so strong,” she said. “We just got in the hall and prayed. I had my hands over my ears—the wind.” With gusts blasting in at 150 miles per hour, the Category 4 storm made landfall…


Los Angeles County Registrar Office Verifies 1 Million Recall Ballots Ahead of Election Day

Southern California registrar offices are working to provide a secure recall election on Sept. 14 as 300 unopened vote-by-mail ballots were found in a parked car in Torrance earlier this month. According to the Los Angeles County registrar’s office, the ballots obtained by the Torrance Police Department were “unopened and unvoted,” spokesperson Mike Sanchez told…


Louisiana Power Outages Could Last for Weeks

People living in the areas hit by Hurricane Ida could be without power for weeks, a large utility provider said Tuesday. Entergy, which delivers electricity to some 3 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, said it restored power to 85,000 customers who were affected by the hurricane, which slammed into Louisiana on Sunday—plunging…


No Need for COVID-19 Booster Shots Yet: Disease Expert

There’s no evidence COVID-19 booster shots are needed yet in Australia, an infectious diseases expert says. This comes after the Czech Republic announced this week it would offer booster shots to anyone vaccinated at least eight months earlier, joining a growing list of countries stepping up measures to curb the spread of the Delta variant….


No Need for COVID-19 Booster Shots Yet

There’s no evidence COVID-19 booster shots are needed yet in Australia, an infectious diseases expert says. This comes after the Czech Republic announced this week it would offer booster shots to anyone vaccinated at least eight months earlier, joining a growing list of countries stepping up measures to curb the spread of the Delta variant….


Military Budgeting Portends Pivot Towards Great-Power Conflicts

Details emerging from the 2022 military budgeting process suggest that the United States will refocus from the Middle East towards China and other perceived emerging threats against America. Previewing the Sept. 1 House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) markup of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—the annual congressional allotment to the Department of Defense and…


The Unexpected Joy of Journaling

I was in the bookstore looking for a new journal. I pulled one with Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting on the cover off the shelf, assessed how many pages it had, and checked the price. It had lines. An unlined journal is better for drawing and sketching, which I like to do, but other…


Facts Matter (Aug. 31): Mother Loses Parental Rights for Not Being Vaccinated, Judge Backs Down

In Illinois, the mother of an 11-year-old boy was shocked when a judge told her that unless she gets vaccinated, she will not be able to see her son. This was despite the fact that her own doctor advised her against getting the shot because of a previous health condition. Because of this case, as…


Fixing Bad Habits

You know smoking is taking years off your life. You wish you would stop checking your phone first thing in the morning because looking at Instagram photographs of your friends’ beach vacations is making you miserable. You are determined to start taking a daily walk but no matter how firm your resolve the night before,…


California Church That Broke COVID Rules Will Get $800,000 From County, State

LOS ANGELES—A Sun Valley church that repeatedly flouted health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic will be paid $800,000 to settle its legal battle with Los Angeles County and the state—with the county Board of Supervisors voting Aug. 31 to pay half that cost. Los Angeles County has already spent more than $950,000 in attorneys fees…