Tag Archives: COVID-19

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Love & Relationships, Pleasures, Politics, Science & Health

Stephen King Knows Anti-Vaxxers Are Going to Hate His Latest Book: ‘Knock Yourself Out’ | Rolling Stone

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The horror writer talks Holly and why he chose not to erase Covid from the detective’s world

By Brenna Ehrlich, September 5, 2023

Author Stephen King wrote his latest book during the pandemic — and Patrick Semansky/AP

THIS POST CONTAINS spoilers for Stephen King’s new book Holly, which comes out today.

Stephen King is readying himself for a flood of hate when his next book, Holly, drops on Sept. 5. “I think that a lot of people are not going to like it,” he says. “I think that a lot of people — particularly people on the other side of the Covid issue and the Trump issue — are going to give it one-star reviews on Amazon.

But all I can say to those people is, ‘Knock yourself out.’”

While inviting bad reviews before publication may seem like an odd sentiment from one of the most prolific, acclaimed horror writers of all time, well… a lot of things are topsy-turvy these days.

And unlike many writers who have released books over these past few years, King — as is his custom — doesn’t shy away from that discomfort in Holly, which follows the PI he introduced in the Mr. Mercedes series, as she attempts to solve a string of disappearances during the height of Covid.

Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/stephen-king-interview-holly-anti-vaxxers-1234816605/

Current Affairs, Nevada, Politics, Science & Health

Three Shots for Fall: What You Need to Know | The New York Times

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The F.D.A. approved a new shot to protect infants from a deadly respiratory virus. And here’s what we know about who should get the flu, Covid and R.S.V. vaccines, and when.

By Apoorva Mandavilli, Sept. 6, 2023

This fall, in addition to the flu and Covid vaccines, older Americans will be able to get a shot for respiratory syncytial virus.Credit…Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Most Americans have had one or more shots of the flu and Covid vaccines. New this year is the first shots to protect older adults and infants from respiratory syncytial virus, a lesser-known threat whose toll in hospitalizations and deaths may rival that of flu.

Federal health officials are hoping that widespread adoption of these immunizations will head off another “tripledemic” of respiratory illnesses, like the one seen last winter.

For people with insurance, all the vaccines should be available for free.

“This is an embarrassment of riches,” said Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the precision vaccines program at Boston Children’s Hospital and an adviser to the Food and Drug Administration. Here’s what he and other experts say about who should receive which immunizations, and when.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/flu-covid-rsv-vaccines.html

Current Affairs

Life Advice for Book Lovers: Finding Joy in Retirement ‹ Literary Hub

Book Recommendations for the Troubled Soul

By Dorothea, January 19, 2023

From article…

Dear Dorothea,

I’m sixty. I just took my pension after having worked in the Quebec health system for forty-two years. Yes, I survived COVID. I saw a lot of my old patients die, and I had to work under less than ideal conditions. We were forced to wear masks, scrubs and gloves all day.

Moreover, there was a lack of personnel because many employees got the bug. Therefore, the rest of us had to work like dogs but did not sleep like logs, afraid as we were of falling sick too. It was a time of distress.

So, I should feel joyous not going to work anymore, but not as much as I think I would. I’m telling myself that I will finally be able to finish and polish the sci-fi series of adventure novels I began years ago. However, in the morning I feel a little bit depressed. I have trouble believing that the whole time of each new day (or at last a big part of it) can be spent pursuing my heart’s desires.

It’s like Society is whispering in my utilitarian programmed brain: do something useful, start a garden, cook with your wife, find a part-time job, study theology, etc. How can you believe that what you write will interest anybody?

Should I read positive thinking books, although most of them are written by Republican car salesmen?

Thank you, Morning Hope, Morning Sadness

Source: Life Advice for Book Lovers: Finding Joy in Retirement ‹ Literary Hub

Food & Drink, Love & Relationships, Travel

Where do French people travel in France? Cote d’Azur Burgundy Brittany | CNBC Travel

By Monica Buchanan Pitrelli @MonicaPitrelli, Published Fri, Jul 1 20221:59 AM EDT

The Sofitel Golfe d’Ajaccio Thalassa Sea and Spa hotel, located in southern Corsica.
Source: Accor

International travelers may prioritize visits to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre when they visit France. But French residents have other ideas.

Border restrictions during the pandemic largely gave locals the chance to explore their country without foreign tourists, which in 2019 numbered some 90 million.

The French did not squander the opportunity. More than two-thirds of French residents traveled in 2021, with 84% of France’s metropolitan residents choosing to stay within the country, according to the French tourism marketing research firm Raffour Interactif.

Top destinations

As the desire for nature and outdoor activities grew during the pandemic, several areas emerged as top destinations among local travelers, said Maud Bailly, the CEO of southern Europe for the multinational hospitality company Accor, which has more than 1,600 hotels in France.  

Domestic travelers were drawn to the coasts of Brittany — or Bretagne in French — because of the “the sea [and] the wideness of the landscape,” she said. The northwest province is home to charming seaside towns, such as Cancale and the walled port city of Saint-Malo, famous for its gastronomy and history.  

Source: Where do French people travel in France? Cote d’Azur Burgundy Brittany

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Politics, Science & Health

On Books: Read Dangerously, In the Margins, Write for Your Life : NPR

By Sharmila Mukherjee, May 13, 2022

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

What does this perilous time of disease and destruction ask of us as readers and writers?

Three new books spotlight the power of the written word to foster creative responses to confinement and oppression — and to inspire deep change within us.

Azar Nafisi’s Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times, Elena Ferrante’s In The Margins: On The Pleasures of Reading and Writing and Anna Quindlen’s Write for Your Life are all about the transformative possibilities that underlie political, social and personal crisis.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: On Books: Read Dangerously, In the Margins, Write for Your Life : NPR

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Politics

The Collapse Of American Teaching

Teachers all over the country describe problems that touch every aspect of our culture and society, from technology dependence to stats-obsessed bureaucracy to a post-COVID behavior crisis.

By Rosie Gray, BuzzFeed News Reporter, Updated on April 1, 2022, 6:29 am, Posted on March 31, 2022, 3:38 pm

Paige worked in corporate America for several years before deciding at the beginning of 2020 to switch to a career she found more meaningful.

When the pandemic hit a short time later, she second-guessed her decision, but the crisis also made her feel “more compelled to rise to the occasion.”

She completed virtual training. Paige — who spoke on the condition that only her middle name be used — started her first job as a teacher at an under-resourced Dallas-area middle school in January 2021.

The district was using a hybrid classroom model, blending remote and in-person instruction. Paige had the advantage of a previous career that prepared her for the technological headache. She felt she was able to build constructive relationships with her students, especially the roughly 30% who came to school in person.

Though her subject, reading, is a perennial testing priority, she was liberated from test pressure since states were given the option to waive the usual battery of exams that year. In hindsight, her first few months of teaching were “breezy and manageable” in comparison to what came after.

Source: The Collapse Of American Teaching