Six Ways

Reported in The Week 17 July 2021

Chicago, Illinois

Gun violence: The mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, has pleaded with President Biden for more help and resources in tackling the city’s epidemic of gun violence, following an Independence Day weekend that saw 18 people shot dead in the city and at least another 90 injured.

Five children aged under 13 were among those who suffered gunshot wounds, on the US’s deadliest and most violent weekend of the year so far.

According to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a monitoring group, 189 people died across the US and 516 were injured 1n shootings over the three-day holiday weekend from 3-5 July.

The number of people shot dead in the US rose to 43,555 last year, and is on course to hit a new record high in 2021.

In April, President Biden passed a number of executive actions relating to gun control measures, and instructed the Department of Justice to published “model” legislation for individual states to enact.

In times of inflation, the value of bonds is eroded and so is the value of the interest payments.

The word ‘sardonic’ comes from the Greek for the word meaning ‘plant from Sardinia’ because the Greeks believed that eating that plant caused one to make a face resembling sardonic laughter.

Libreville Saving the forest: Gabon’s success in protecting its rainforest has led it to be the first nation to receive a financial
reward under a UN scheme to fight climate change. Rainforests play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide, and 18% of the Congo Basin rainforest (the world’s second biggest after the Amazon) lies in Gabon, covering 90% of its territory.

In 2015, Gabon and five of its neighbours signed up to the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), a UN scheme backed by the UK and other international donors.

And this week it received $17m from the scheme after Norwegian experts verified that by reducing deforestation and degradation, it had cut its carbon emissions. If the pattern of success continues, it will be the first tranche of payments totalling $150m.

From ‘The Week’ 26 June 2021

Petrichor is the word for the earthy scent of rain falling on stones or dry soil. The word is made up of the Greek word petra, meaning stone, and ichor, – (pronounced eye-ker) – the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.

More prosaically the word ichor was at one time used to describe the watery discharge that seeps from a wound.

I received an email from Netflix with the subject line “Don’t forget to finish {name of film}” and body text that read “Continue Watching. Pick up where you left off”

I contacted Support and asked them to please kindly tell their bosses to stop sending emails telling me what to do.

I said I don’t want emails telling me to watch a film that I decided I did not wish to continue watching. The tone is condescending and annoying.

I suggested this to help them understand:

Let’s try an analogy that your bosses might understand. Let’s imagine I bought a sandwich. I took a bite and didn’t like it. I put it in the garden for the birds to eat. Or in the compost bin. Then I get an email from the sandwich maker telling me to finish the sandwich.