This sounds just like today’s World although it was written about Israel in Babylonian captivity.
History repeats itself
Isaiah 59:9-15
New Living Translation
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So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom. 10 We grope like the blind along a wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. Even at brightest noontime, we stumble as though it were dark. Among the living, we are like the dead. 11 We growl like hungry bears; we moan like mournful doves. We look for justice, but it never comes. We look for rescue, but it is far away from us. 12 For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. Yes, we know what sinners we are. 13 We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord. We have turned our backs on our God. We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies. 14 Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. 15 Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.
The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice.
Microplastic particles flowing through Earth’s atmosphere may be quietly driving up global temperatures, a new study suggests.
Microplastics and nanoplastics—tiny bits of broken-down plastic pollution—litter the planet’s rivers, oceans, land, and air. But until now, researchers weren’t sure what effect all those plastic particles were having on an already warming climate.
A new study led by researchers at Fudan University in China suggests that the particles may significantly affect warming—for comparison, microplastics’ warming effect equates to about 16 percent of that of black carbon, or soot.
“This article shows a very worrying truth about the dangers of micro- and nanoplastics,” says Steve Allen, a microplastics researcher at the environmental advocacy organization Healthy Earth, who was not involved with the study.
If you’ve ever walked barefoot on asphalt, you know black material absorbs heat. White paint on asphalt, however, reflects it. The same thing happens with airborne microplastics—darker colors warm the atmosphere, while lighter colors help cool it. By analyzing the optical properties of various microplastics in the lab and simulating their effect on a global scale, the new study’s authors estimated that microplastics’ warming abilities outweigh their potential cooling effects—something current climate models don’t account for.
The results were published on Monday in Nature Climate Change.
The findings reveal “a long-overlooked link” between plastics and climate change, said study co-author Hongbo Fu, a researcher at Fudan University in China, at a press conference. Plastics are not just an environmental pollutant. “They can also act as a heating agent in the atmosphere,” he said.
“We still have a lot to learn about exactly how many of these [microplastics] are in the atmosphere and how they’re distributed, both horizontally and vertically,” said Drew Shindell, the study’s senior author and a professor of Earth science at Duke University, at the same press conference. “This is not the final word.”
It’s unclear how many microplastics are actually in the atmosphere. But the study team argues global climate assessments, such as those published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), need to factor in these particles. “Our work suggest that climate models need to be updated,” Fu said. “IPCC should take notice.”
More broadly, Allen says the results underscore the need to reduce our reliance on plastics—which are often made from the by-products of fossil fuel production.
“What needs to be looked at is the carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of plastic production, adding to the total climate change effect,” he says. The “takeaway message” is “that we can reduce climate change by removing plastic from our lives.”
And some are already here. Every year, one of our favorite roundups to do is the list of well-known women who are expecting. The lists always start small and blossom to more than 30, 40 ladies by the end of the year.
To kickstart the list, we’ve gathered up big screen stars, football wives, the partners of hip-hop stars, and more.
The latest mama-to-be is attorney and TV personality, Judge Faith Jenkins. She shared the news, alongside her husband, singer Kenny Lattimore, that the couple is expecting their second child in May. In their announcement, they previewed a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” sung by Lattimore, which Jenkins noted is “one of the baby’s favorite songs.”
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Be sure to click the link below the picture to view all of the ladies. Turn on the sound to listen to this post also.
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 06: Judge Faith Jenkins (L) and Kenny Lattimore attend The National Urban League’s 2024 Women in Harmony Award at The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans on July 06, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
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Democrats are struggling to respond to a major redistricting setback in Virginia, with some party leaders discussing an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea for trying to restore a congressional map voided by the court but showing little indication they have a clear plan.
During a private discussion on Saturday that included Democratic House members from Virginia and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, the lawmakers vented anger at their defeat at the Virginia Supreme Court, spoke about a collective determination to flip two or three Republican-held seats under the existing map and discussed a bank-shot proposal to redraw the congressional lines anyway, according to three people who participated in the call and two others who were briefed on it.
They did not land on a specific course forward, and Mr. Jeffries and the other members of Congress agreed to consult with their lawyers about the most prudent way to proceed, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private talk.
The conversation reflected the desperation and fury that have gripped the party after the state Supreme Court struck down a favorable map that had been ratified by voters. The most dramatic idea they discussed — which would involve an unusual gambit to replace the entire state Supreme Court, with a goal of reinstating their gerrymandered map — drew mixed reactions on the call, said the people, and it was not clear that it would even be viable, or palatable to Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly.
After Democrats had fought Republicans to a rough draw last month in a nationwide gerrymandering war, a pair of recent court rulings quickly gave the G.O.P. the clear upper hand in the race to redraw maps ahead of the midterm elections. Facing stiff headwinds, including President Trump’s low approval ratings and high gas prices, Republicans are looking for every advantage they can find to defy the odds and hold on to their narrow majority.
Any plans to enact a new congressional map for this year’s midterm elections would require action in the next few days. In a court filing last month, Steven Koski, the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, said any changes to the maps after Tuesday, May 12, “will significantly increase the risk” of his agency being unable to properly prepare for the state’s scheduled Aug. 4 primary election.
A spokesman for Mr. Jeffries declined to comment.
Scott Surovell, the majority leader of the Virginia Senate, declined to comment on Saturday evening. Don Scott, the speaker of the state House of Delegates, said in an interview that he had not spoken to Mr. Jeffries or members of the congressional delegation about the multistep proposal that came up in the discussion.
One key to the plan would be having Democrats in Richmond lower the mandatory retirement age for state Supreme Court justices, an idea that began circulating among state lawmakers and members of Congress after a column proposing a version of the idea was published on Friday night in The Downballot, a progressive newsletter.
Ms. Spanberger would have to sign off on any legislation that lowered the judicial retirement age. She has not been briefed on the proposal, the people involved in the discussion or briefed on it said. Her spokeswoman, Libby Wiet, declined to comment.
The first step in the process, as discussed on the delegation’s call, would be to invoke a January ruling by a circuit court judge in Tazewell County, Va., that said the 2026 constitutional amendment effort to redraw the maps was invalid because county officials did not post notice of it at courthouses and other public locations three months before a general election.
Democrats would aim to use that ruling to seek to invalidate the earlier constitutional amendment that created the state’s independent redistricting commission by arguing that courthouses across the state did not post notice of it at the time. That would give the legislature the authority to enact a map of its choosing.
Ensuring the plan proceeds would involve the General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, lowering the mandatory retirement age for Virginia’s Supreme Court from 75 to 54, the age of the youngest current justice, or less. Virginia judges are appointed by the General Assembly, where Democrats hold majorities in both chambers and could then fill vacancies on the court with sympathetic Democratic lawyers.
Mandatory retirement ages are in place for judges in 32 states and Washington, D.C., according to a 2015 law review article from the Duke University Law School. The article said the most common retirement age set by states is 70.
In states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Utah, Republican lawmakers have expanded state Supreme Courts in order to make them more conservative. But the Virginia proposal, which would get rid of all the sitting judges, would go considerably further.
Former Representative James P. Moran, Democrat of Virginia, said a move to stack the Virginia Supreme Court would be “just a bridge too far” and could backfire on his party.
He said he understood that many Democrats felt that their party “needs to fight back and not just be victims of unparalleled aggression.” But, he added, “We do have to keep our credibility. We have to do things that pass the legitimacy test.”
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Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, speaking at the Capitol in Washington last month. Credit…Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Archaeologists are hailing the discovery of a “spectacular” hoard of roughly 3,000 Viking coins found in a field in eastern Norway. More could yet be uncovered—the search is ongoing.
“This is a historic find. The fact that it is also from the Viking Age makes it even more spectacular,” said Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, the country’s minister of climate and environment, in a statement.
The coins were initially discovered by two metal detectorists in a field near the Norwegian city of Rena in the region of Østerdalen, according to the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. On April 10, the pair uncovered 19 silver coins; they immediately informed local officials.
The hoard includes specimens from the 980s to the 1040s C.E.—the height of the Viking Age. Notably, many of the coins were foreign-made, originating from England and Germany and including elements of coins from Denmark and Norway. The Vikings dominated much of what is now Scandinavia, but they ventured by sea to many other regions, including Britain, Iceland, and even the Americas.
“Foreign coinage dominates the circulation of money in Norway up until Harald Hardrada (1046–1066) established a national coinage,” said Svein Gullbekk, an archaeologist at the University of Oslo, in a statement from the university’s Museum of Cultural History. Hardrada, also known as Harald III, served as king of Norway from 1046 to 1066. During his tenure, the king’s mint replaced most of the foreign currency in circulation, according to Gullbekk. “The hoard was deposited right at the beginning of this development,” he said.
It’s possible that the coins are related to iron works in the area, said archaeologist Jostein Bergstøl of the Museum of Cultural History in the same statement.
“From the 900s until the late 1200s, there was an enormous iron production in this area. Ore was extracted from the bogs, and the processed iron was exported to Europe,” he said.
Archaeologists are still probing the site because they hope to gain more insight into what the extent of the treasure is and why it has lain there for so long.
“This is a truly unique discovery of the kind one might only experience once in an entire career. To be present when something like this comes to light is simply a great experience, both professionally and personally,” said local archaeologist May-Tove Smiseth in the same statement. The last time a large stash of Viking coins was discovered in Norway was in 1950, according to the Museum of Cultural History’s statement.
You’re at the playground, making small talk with another mom while your kids dig in the sandbox. The conversation follows a predictable script: sleep schedules, daycare waitlists, whether your toddler will eat anything green. It’s pleasant enough, but you’ll forget about it by the time you pile your kids into the car for nap time.
But what you really wanted to ask is: What’s something about birth and postpartum that surprised you? What do you wish your partner understood? How did becoming a mother change your marriage?
Those are the conversations that actually matter, because they deepen relationships and allow mothers to pass their wisdom to one another. But they feel impossible to start without seeming intense or intrusive.
Spread the Jelly, an 18-month-old media platform, wants to help. It has just launched a deck of cards called The Sticky Stuff, meant to prompt mothers to have deeper conversations faster. “Everything we’ve been doing is about like breaking people open, allowing people to be their messiest or their happiest selves at the same time,” says Amrit Tietz, who founded the company with Lauren Levinger in late 2024.
The Sticky Stuff, which is available on the Spread the Jelly website for $45, joins a growing number of conversation cards that have entered the market, including therapist Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin? cards that launched in 2021, Tales, which facilitates conversations with kids, and even the fast food chains Chick-fil-A, which gives out cards meant to prompt conversations around the meals.
“The popularity of the cards highlights how we desperately want to talk about deep issues,” says Nicholas Epley, a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business who has been studying conversation for two decades.
Modern Motherhood
The idea for Spread the Jelly’s conversation cards didn’t start with market research or a business plan. It started with two women in Los Angeles who desperately needed someone to talk to. Lauren Levinger had recently had her son when Amrit Tietz, pregnant and without mom friends in her life, reached out via social media. “From social media, you look like you’re doing motherhood pretty well,” Tietz wrote to her. “Can we connect?”
When they finally sat down together months later, they were surprised by how good it felt to have an honest conversation. They quickly began to discuss the things that nobody talks about, from how lonely it can be to spend your days with a non-verbal human, to postpartum sexuality. “We realized how starved we were for community,” says Levinger.
This prompted them to launch Spread The Jelly, as an online magazine for radical honesty about modern motherhood. The conversation cards came later, as a natural extension of that mission. Tietz and Levinger began to build out a deck of questions, and tested them out with their partners, families, and friends. They ended up encompassing four different categories: foundation, identity, belonging, and intimacy. They included prompts like, “Describe your childhood in one sentence;” “Describe a moment you’re not proud of,” and “How do you show up for your loved ones?”
Levinger points out that everyday conversations at the dinner table have a way of becoming stagnant. The cards suddenly unlocked a way to venture into new territory with the people in our lives.
In mid-March, Babak, a 49-year-old Iranian product designer at a tech company in Tehran, was called into his boss’s office and told that his position was being eliminated.
Iran’s government had shut down the internet two weeks earlier, at the outset of U.S.-Israeli war on the country, throwing the country’s tech industry into chaos and making Babak’s job impossible.
“Throughout my career, I have worked hard, continuously learned, and tried to grow,” said Babak, who sent voice messages to The New York Times, and asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid government reprisal. “Yet at this stage of my life, I find myself in an uncertain and ambiguous position,” he said.
Babak’s experience has become increasingly common throughout Iran as companies have instituted round after round of layoffs in recent weeks, according to interviews with businesses and employees and Iranian news reports.
A man pulling a cart filled with boxes at an intersection near a wholesale market in Tehran on Saturday..
For the Trump administration, Iran’s severe economic struggles are part of a strategy to pressure the country into submission. “I hope it fails,” President Trump told reporters this month, of Iran’s economy. “You know why? Because I want to win.”
Iranian officials insist that pressure will not work and that the country will not surrender.
Many of those companies are buckling under wartime pressures. During the war, the U.S. and Israel hit Iranian industrial sites that produce key raw materials, as well as key infrastructure. And a U.S.-imposed blockade on Iran’s ports, in place since a cease-fire last month, has cut off much of its oil exports and disrupted imports of other goods.
An Iranian government official, Gholamhossein Mohammadi, estimated that the war has caused the loss of one million jobs, “and the direct and indirect unemployment of two million people,” in comments reported by the news outlet Tasnim.
On April 25, an Iranian job search platform reported a record 318,000 resumes submitted in a single day, a figure that was 50 percent higher than the previous record, according to the news site Asr Iran.
Even before the war, Iran’s economy had been struggling from years of sanctions, entrenched corruption and mismanagement, while a spiraling currency has eroded Iranians’ purchasing power.
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People at a wholesale shop in Tehran on Saturday..
“A strange and overwhelming vortex of economic problems has emerged, and it continues to grow more complex,” Amir Hossein Khaleghi, an economist in Isfahan, said in an interview. Before the war, Iran was “already in a very poor economic situation, facing a set of mega-crises,” he said.
The private sector’s latest struggles portend a deepening crisis for Iran’s government. Its proposed budget for the year, put forward before the war, already represented a sharp reduction in public spending when factored for inflation, and depended more on taxation than in the past. Now, tax revenues from the private sector are likely to drop significantly.
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Crowds inside the sprawling Grand Bazaar in Tehran on Saturday. Imports of goods have been affected by the war.
Are you tired? If so, you aren’t alone. An alarming number of the country’s adults are tired most days, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And that could have significant implications for public health.
In 2024, the year the data were collected, nearly a third of all U.S. adults slept fewer than the recommended seven hours per night on average. Only a little more than half of U.S. adults said they woke up feeling “well-rested” on most days.
It’s hard to overstate how important sleep is for your health: Research shows that getting enough rest can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, help regulate hormones, and keep blood sugar under control, and that it may even help fight dementia. It can also affect your mood and mental health.
That is why health experts are worried that so many adults seem to be missing out on those z’s. “Our need for sleep parallels our need for air and water,” said Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, in an interview about the report with MedPage Today.
According to the report, around 40 percent of Black adults are getting fewer than seven hours of sleep per night on average and are less likely to wake up feeling well-rested than their Asian, white, and Hispanic peers. Asian adults were the most likely to report feeling well-rested—about 62 percent. The report is part of the National Health Interview Survey, a poll involving thousands of U.S. adults.
Men and women reported about the same rates of undersleeping, but men tended to say that they woke up feeling well-rested more often than women did. Women were also more likely than men to say that they found it hard to fall asleep at night—with the experience reported by about 19 percent of women versus about 12 percent of men.
Broken down by age, adults aged 65 and older reported that they woke up feeling well-rested on at least most days, with the impressive frequency of about 64 percent of the time. Adults aged 18 to 34, on the other hand, had the hardest time falling asleep of any age group.
If you are struggling to fall asleep, experts recommend techniques such as getting out of bed to do a calming activity, such as reading or breathing exercises, avoiding phone scrolling and snacking, and seeing a doctor if the problem persists.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 06: Judge Faith Jenkins (L) and Kenny Lattimore attend The National Urban League’s 2024 Women in Harmony Award at The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans on July 06, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
Innlandet County Authority
[Photo: Spread the Jelly]
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James' World 2 