Two years ago today...
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Chinese officials investigate cause of pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan
December 31, 2019
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese health authorities said they are investigating 27 cases of viral pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan, after rumors on social media suggested the outbreak could be linked to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Of the people infected, seven were in critical condition and 18 were in stable condition, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said on Tuesday on its Weibo social media account. The condition of two other patients had improved to the point where they would be discharged soon, it said.
“The cause of the disease is not clear,” the official People’s Daily newspaper said on Weibo, citing unnamed hospital officials. “We cannot confirm it is what’s being spread online, that it is SARS virus. Other severe pneumonia is more likely.”
All of the patients had been isolated and their close contacts are under medical observation, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said. An investigation and cleanup were under way at a seafood market in the city, which is suspected to be connected with the cases, it said.
Initial laboratory tests showed that the cases were viral pneumonia. No obvious human-to-human transmission had been found and no medical staff had been infected, the commission said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chin ... SKBN1YZ0GP
Modern History (1800 – present)
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
North America's First Website Turns Thirty Years Old
December 30, 2021
https://www.futurity.org/north-americas ... y-2675172/
Introduction:
December 30, 2021
https://www.futurity.org/north-americas ... y-2675172/
Introduction:
(Futurity) As the World Wide Web was poised to begin its transformation of modern communications—and, well, life as we know it—a group of staff at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Lab at Stanford University saw an opportunity to vastly improve the exchange of information within large, international physics collaborations.
That inspiration led to the first website ever created in North America on a server at SLAC.
Physicist Tony Johnson was part of the group known as the WWW Wizards for their role in the project. Today, Johnson works on the control system for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera.
On the 30th anniversary of the first website, Johnson recalls the landscape of its birth and shares his thoughts on how the web continues to evolve the way scientists work: (see link to article above the quote box).
Don't mourn, organize.
-Joe Hill
-Joe Hill
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
Making sugar: Chinese laborers Toiled Alongside Black Workers on 19th-century Louisiana Plantations
by Moon-Ho Jung
https://theconversation.com/profiles/mo ... ng-1299324
Introduction:
by Moon-Ho Jung
https://theconversation.com/profiles/mo ... ng-1299324
Introduction:
(The Conversation) The recent surge in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. has put a spotlight on Asian American history, at least for a moment. “Racism is real in America, and it always has been,” Vice President Kamala Harris said on March 19, 2021. “In the 1860s, as Chinese workers built the transcontinental railroad, there were laws on the books, in America, forbidding them from owning property.”
In fact, far more Asian workers moved to the Americas in the 19th century to make sugar than to build the transcontinental railroad. It is a history that can force Americans to contend with colonial violence in the making of the modern world, dating back centuries to Christopher Columbus and his search for trade routes and quick wealth.
Don't mourn, organize.
-Joe Hill
-Joe Hill
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
Anne Frank betrayal suspect identified after 77 years
Published
30 minutes ago
A new investigation has identified a suspect who may have betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis.
The Jewish diarist died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, aged 15, after two years in hiding.
Her diary, published after her death, is the most famous first-hand account of Jewish life during the war.
A team including an ex-FBI agent said Arnold van den Bergh, a Jewish figure in Amsterdam, probably "gave up" the Franks to save his own family.
The team, made up of historians and other experts, spent six years using modern investigative techniques to crack the "cold case". That included using computer algorithms to search for connections between many different people, something that would have taken humans thousands of hours.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60024228
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/uR7GnZL.jpg)
Published
30 minutes ago
A new investigation has identified a suspect who may have betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis.
The Jewish diarist died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, aged 15, after two years in hiding.
Her diary, published after her death, is the most famous first-hand account of Jewish life during the war.
A team including an ex-FBI agent said Arnold van den Bergh, a Jewish figure in Amsterdam, probably "gave up" the Franks to save his own family.
The team, made up of historians and other experts, spent six years using modern investigative techniques to crack the "cold case". That included using computer algorithms to search for connections between many different people, something that would have taken humans thousands of hours.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60024228
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/uR7GnZL.jpg)
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
Puerto Rico
by Anyuli Gonzalez
January 23, 2022
https://manomagazine.com/puertoricocolonizers/
Extract:
by Anyuli Gonzalez
January 23, 2022
https://manomagazine.com/puertoricocolonizers/
Extract:
(Mano Magazine) A colonial possession since 1493, Puerto Rico has seen its fair share of hucksters and invaders. Comdr. George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, attacked San Juan in 1598. In 1625, a Dutch fleet invaded under the command of the infamous privateer, Hendrijks Boudewijn. The English tried to invade again in 1797, this time by Lt. Gen. Ralph Abercromby. Legend has it that, the people of Puerto Rico, afraid that the Spanish garrison would be unable to repel the attack, took to the streets in a procession. Thousands of people carried religious objects and torches in the dead of night. Abercromby, upon seeing thousands of flaming torches, decided to retreat rather than face what he thought were massive reinforcements marching from San Juan.
In the end, however, Puerto Rico came under the control of the United States in 1898 after Adm. William T. Sampson bombed San Juan and Gen. Nelson Miles landed at Guánica with 1,300 troops. The island has been kept as a colonial possession to this day.
In 500 years of written history, sanjuaneros have withstood sieges, pirates, plagues, and bombardments—and somehow we are still here. San Juan belongs to its people. People like Ricardo Alegría, who fought to preserve its distinct architecture. Or like Pedro Albizu Campos, a leader of the independence movement, who was arrested at his home on the corner of Calle Sol and Calle Cruz for charges of conspiracy and sedition against the U.S. government. El Viejo San Juan (The Old San Juan) belongs to my mother’s great-great-grandfather, imprisoned in a dungeon in El Morro for opposing Spanish colonial rule. It belongs to classical music lovers, who make the yearly pilgrimage to the Casals Festival. Or the old lady that goes to mass every Sunday, the piragüero that sells shaved ice on the street, the couples watching the sun set on the bay, the artesanos selling crafts on the street. It belongs to my nephew and my daughter, and all the children of Puerto Rico.
El Viejo San Juan will always belong to the people that love it. Love is what binds us to a place. I feel love all around me in Old San Juan.
…
The colonizers may be able to buy el Viejo San Juan, but it will never belong to them.
Don't mourn, organize.
-Joe Hill
-Joe Hill
Re: Modern History (1800 – present)
Gandhi’s Last Fast
by Kumkum Sangari
January 23, 2022
https://janataweekly.org/gandhis-last-fast/
Introduction:
by Kumkum Sangari
January 23, 2022
https://janataweekly.org/gandhis-last-fast/
Introduction:
(Janata Weekly) “Who knows, what is going to happen before nightfall or even whether I shall be alive?” Gandhi said, mere hours before he was shot to death by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948. Every year this day is observed as Martyr’s Day to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Today, Gandhi is one of the oft invoked and appropriated figures by the ruling Right-wing government.
Seeking to ensure peace in the nation, Gandhi’s last two fasts unto death were for communal harmony. This made him a much disliked figure in the eyes of the RSS and other hindu fanatics. When Gandhi sat on what would be his last fast, he demanded the settlement of Pakistan’s share of the cash balances of undivided India, amounting to Rupees 55 crore. He also dictated his seven point charter of demands to Maulana Azad. His demands were as follows:
He broke his fast on the January 18, 1948, only after all his demands were agreed to from various quarters, including the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha. 12 days later he was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a hindu fanatic and a member of RSS. In today’s climate of intolerance, the relevance of Gandhi’s last fast and his demands is ever increasing. He firmly believed that violence destroyed religion from the inside and his message of communal harmony should not be forgotten.
- Complete freedom of worship to Muslims at the tomb of Khwaja Qutub-ud-Din Bakhtiar and non-interference with the celebration of the Urs which was due to be held there within a week; Voluntary evacuation by non-Muslims of all the mosques in the city which were being used for residential purposes or which had been converted into temples; Free movement of Muslims in areas where they used to stay before the disturbances; Full safety to Muslims while travelling by train; No economic boycott of Muslims; Full discretion to Muslims to invite non-Muslims to live in areas occupied by them, and Freedom to Muslim evacuees to come back to Delhi if they so desired.
The following are excerpts from Kumkum Sangari’s article entitled “A narrative of restoration: Gandhi’s last years and Nehruvian secularism”, first published in 2002 in the Social Scientist (March – April, 2002), in the wake of the Gujarat riots. (See article linked above quote box).
Don't mourn, organize.
-Joe Hill
-Joe Hill