%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
Gathered mainly from international media sources December 2020 - March 2021 |
For recent entries click "Invalid Item"  These are news/opinion items which caught my eye. Click on the link below: 31 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 21 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 26 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 25 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 22 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 16 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 15 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 9 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 8 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 30 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 28 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 27 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 26 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 24 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 23 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 20 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 12 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 11 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 10 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 2 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 27 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 24 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 23 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 20 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 19 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 18 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 16 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 15/12/20 "Invalid Entry" 13 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 12 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 11 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" For earlier entries drill down the list 10 Dec 2020 - Covid: Genes hold clues to why some people get severely ill 10 Dec 2020 - Referendum for the state of Texas to secede from the U.S. ? 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: More single day dead than in 9/11 terror attack or on D-Day landing 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: France moves to night-time curfew from 15 December 10 Dec 2020 - Elon Musk has launched the latest prototype of his Starship vehicle from Texas. 9 Dec 2020 - Covid-19 - $600 direct payment to most Americans? 9 Dec 2020 - Hunter Biden under federal investigation 9 Dec 2020 - Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine data gets positive FDA review 9 Dec 2020 - Is BIG TECH censoring different ideas about COVID-19? 9 Dec 2020 - Clashes in Portland 9 Dec 2020 - UK is investigating two possible allergic reactions to Pfizer coronavirus shot 9 Dec 2020 - Open letter by the Prime Minister of Hungary to the European Union 9 Dec 2020 - VACCINE OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM 9 Dec 2020 - UK EXIT FROM THE EU (Last supper?) 8 Dec 2020 - ROALD DAHL AND A WOKE APOLOGY |
| Patrick Foster hit rock bottom in March 2018. The teacher had racked up huge gambling debts and could not see a way forward. Looking back on his life, the 33-year-old recalled placing his first bet at university. It was just a bit of fun with his friends. But his taste for gambling became an addiction when his career as a cricketer ended abruptly and he started working in the City. Things only got worse when he left to be a teacher, borrowing money from his students' parents and lying to his colleagues. He decided he could win it all back with one final bet and staked £50,000 on a single horse. When it lost, he accepted his life was over. Here, in his own words, is the story of how he got his life back on track. I had one dream in life and that was to become a professional cricketer. I managed to achieve this after accepting a sports scholarship to Oundle School in Northamptonshire, one of the top schools in the country. When I left at 18, I signed a two-year professional contract with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. That summer things went incredibly well for me and I got called up to the England under-19s squad. I decided to get a degree so that I had something to fall back on and got in to Durham University. One Saturday morning, shortly after fresher's week, I got a knock on my door and a few lads said they were going to the bookies. I didn't really know what I was letting myself in for. I watched a guy playing on a roulette machine and I was transfixed. He stormed out and I jumped his chair. I had £2 in my pocket and decided to put it on green zero. It came in and my life changed forever. I walked out that night with £250. I thought: "Do you know what? I can make loads of money from this." And it gave me an unbelievable rush. 'My dream was over and it hit me really hard' Unfortunately, I injured my ankle and couldn't play cricket. I started to gamble more and more. When I got fit again, I had this distraction. I used to be the first into training and the last out. Now I wanted to get out of training as soon as possible to get to the bookies and it started to affect my performance. At the end of that year, I got called in by the head coach and I was released. My dream was over and it hit me really hard. It was the first time in my life that I was told I wasn't good enough at something. I didn't like it and I didn't know how to respond to it. My way of dealing with it was to run away. I graduated with a 2:1 and moved with four mates to London, where we earned huge graduate salaries in the City. I continued to gamble but I was excelling at work and I thought I didn't have a problem. I was offered a promotion and a pay rise with a big bonus. 'I won £35,000 and lost it within weeks' Two nights later, I arranged to meet my friends in a bar to celebrate. I was feeling pleased with myself and put £500 on a football accumulator. I won £34,988. The feeling it gave me was like nothing else. It totally changed my relationship with gambling. Every time I placed a bet, I thought I would win £35,000. If I didn't, I thought I would win it again at some point. The worst thing was that smaller wins didn't give me the same buzz anymore. So I started putting £2,000 on a horse to try and get that feeling. I lost that money in five weeks. When it had gone, I wanted it back. I started to chase it and I told myself I would stop gambling if I won it again, but I never came close. By this stage, I had taken out two bank loans, maximised my overdraft and missed my last month's rent. I realised things were spiralling out of control. 'That was the biggest mistake I ever made' Patrick Foster and family ived huge support from his family and credits them with saving his life I decided to go home and speak to my parents. I had a choice that day but I was so worried about what they would think. I didn't want them to be disappointed in me so I chose not to tell them. That was the biggest mistake I ever made. Instead, I blamed it on the London lifestyle. I told them I wanted to do something different. I said I wanted to become a teacher. I thought that would stop me gambling because it would be a completely different environment. I got a job at a school in Oxford teaching history and Latin. But as soon as I settled in, I started to gamble again. I wasn't earning as much and I started to get into more debt, with more loans and credit cards. Once that money had run out, things escalated to the next level. I was surrounded by very wealthy people. I started to approach them for money and I lied to them. I told them the taxman was after me, I said I had crashed my car and that I needed money on a short-term basis. I started to borrow huge amounts and gamble it all away. 'I had £250,000 of gambling debt' At the end of 2016, I decided to move schools because I was worried I would be found out. My life was a mess but I met my girlfriend Charlotte and somehow I managed to hide everything from her. I kept thinking about telling her the truth but I was so worried I would lose her, I thought the second I admitted it that she would leave me. By the start of 2018, things were out of control. I had 76 different online betting accounts and 23 payday loans. I had borrowed money off 113 different people and I had £250,000 worth of gambling debt that needed to be paid back immediately. I hit the self-destruct button and for the next two months I was gambling huge sums of money all day and all night, in the knowledge that when I got found out, that would be it. I got called in by the head who had received complaints from colleagues and parents. I had nowhere to hide. They said they were going to open an investigation and I knew I would lose my job, and could lose my house and be taken to court for fraud. I decided gambling was my only way out and I thought one big win would save me. It was the start of the Cheltenham Festival and it was the perfect opportunity. I rang someone and said a family member had been in an accident and I needed £10,000 to pay off a medical bill. I managed to turn that into £50,000 by getting lucky on a horse but it wasn't enough. I needed more. 'My world came crashing down' So what I decided to do was probably the most stupid thing you could possibly imagine. I decided to put a £50,000 bet on one horse race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. I was convinced a horse called Might Bite was going to win. I watched that horse lose by a single length and my world came crashing down. A few days later, I resigned from my job and I picked up my car keys and drove round for three hours. I decided to end my life because I felt like there was no other option. One thing going through my mind was: "You've got to tell someone." I decided to reach out to my little brother. I sent him a message saying what I'd been doing and what I was about to do. I asked him to say goodbye to everyone. He tried to call me but I didn't want to pick up. My mind was made up. Then he sent me a message - and that message saved my life. He said: "Whatever you do, do not do this." He said he wouldn't be able to cope and neither would my girlfriend or my family. That was the moment in my life that I stopped thinking about myself and started thinking about other people. 'I've got a second go at life' I told my family everything. The lies, the debts, the situation with my job. It is impossible to describe how tough that was but it was the moment I was able to move on with my life. They didn't go mad. They recognised I needed help and they arranged for me to go to rehab. I thought: "I've got a second go at life." The next month in rehab was really hard, I had to take full responsibility for what I had done. I got engaged to my girlfriend when I came out but I had no idea what to do with my life. I contacted the Professional Cricketer's Association (PCA), who look after current and former cricketers, even if they had a short career like mine. They helped me financially and emotionally, organised more treatment and worked out a plan to start paying my debts. I had a burning desire to share my story. I'm not proud of what I did but I recognised how easily I had fallen into this trap. I started giving talks to cricketers through the PCA, to try to stop them from making the same mistakes and I went back to give a talk at my former school in Northamptonshire. same time, I started working for EPIC Risk Management, a consultancy that helps prevent gambling-related harm. So far, I have spoken at more than 200 schools, more than 100 sporting organisations and around 50 businesses. I really want to get the message over to young people in particular, who have such easy access to gambling online. If I can make a difference to one person then it will all be worthwhile. Gambling has had a huge impact on my life. I will be paying off my debts for the next 15 years. I'm now writing a book about my life which will be published early next year and I want to carry on sharing my story. It's just a small way of giving back after taking an awful lot away. It is my way of saying thank you to the people who have saved my life. |
| Some 1,900 years ago, Jewish refugees fleeing the Romans made their way to the Judean Desert. Among the belongings they carried with them were scrolls featuring the biblical books of Zechariah and Nahum. Two millennia later, fragments of those texts have reemerged, the Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Tuesday. It is the first such discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 and the early Fifties. The inhospitable environment was considered a safe haven as the war between the Roman Empire and the Judean rebels led by Shimon Bar Kokhba raged around 130 CE. Jews found shelter in the caves and brought what they thought they needed for their new life. In recent decades, the caves have been targeted by looters eager to find artifacts to sell on the private market. For this reason, a few years ago, the IAA, in cooperation with the Civil Administration’s Archaeology Department, launched a rescue operation to survey all the caves in the area. The findings, which include not only the biblical fragments, but also dozens of artifacts dating back as early as 10,000 years ago, have been astounding. “More than 80 fragments of different sizes have been uncovered, some of them carrying text, some not,” Dr. Oren Ableman from the IAA Dead Sea Scroll Unit told The Jerusalem Post. “Based on the script, we dated them to the end of the first century BCE, which means that by the time it was brought to the cave, the scroll was already a century old.” The researchers ascertained that the artifacts matched other fragments uncovered several decades ago and preserved at the IAA laboratory. They belonged to a scroll featuring the biblical Book of Zechariah, written in Greek, except for God’s name, which was marked in paleo-Hebrew. “This was probably a way to show the importance of the name of God,” Ableman said. The excavation of the caves was conducted in difficult conditions Photo: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities AuthorityThe excavation of the caves was conducted in difficult conditions Photo: Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority The new discovery is particularly groundbreaking because one of the excerpts that was deciphered presents a version of Zechariah that was never encountered before, he said. Verses 16 and 17 of the eighth chapter of Zechariah read: “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate – declares the Lord.” In the fragment, the word “gates” is replaced by the word “streets.” “We had never seen this before,” Ableman said. It is not uncommon for texts appearing on the Dead Sea Scrolls to be different than the biblical text we know today. Scholars rely on these differences to understand more about how the canonized version of the Bible developed. “In this manuscript, we can see the effort of the translators to remain closer to the original Hebrew compared to what happened with the Septuagint,” Beatriz Riestra of the IAA Dead Sea Scrolls Unit said, referring to the earliest Greek translation of the Bible from the third century BCE. The practice of leaving God’s name in Hebrew was already found in other Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, as well as in several manuscripts from more recent periods from the Cairo genizah, a collection of hundreds of thousands of documents kept in the storeroom of a synagogue in the Egyptian capital, she said. Together with the manuscript, the archaeologists found several coins minted by the Jewish rebels under Bar Kokhba’s leadership, carrying the writing: “Year 1 for the redemption of Israel.” “Coins are an expression of sovereignty,” Donald T. Ariel, head of the IAA’s Coin Department, told the Post. “Minting coins meant to be free.” The bronze coins feature a palm tree and a vine leaf. The basket as found in Muraba‘at Cave. (Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority)The basket as found in Muraba‘at Cave. (Yoli Schwartz, Israel Antiquities Authority) “At the time, the palm tree had become the quintessential symbol of Judea. The Romans themselves put the symbol also on their Judea Capta coins,” Ariel said, referring to a series of coins minted by the empire to commemorate their victory in the region. The cave offered several other unique findings, including the skeleton of a child dating back some 6,000 years. “By moving two flat stones, we discovered a shallow pit intentionally dug beneath them, containing a skeleton of a child placed in a fetal position,” IAA prehistorian Ronit Lupu said in a press release. “It was obvious that whoever buried the child had wrapped him up and pushed the edges of the cloth beneath him, just as a parent covers his child in a blanket.” The skeleton underwent a process of natural mummification and is exceptionally well preserved. The cave, known as “the Cave of Horror” in the Judean Desert’s Nahal Hever, is some 80 meters below the cliff top and can be accessed only by clinging to ropes. Some 80 kilometers of caves have already been surveyed within the IAA operation, including very remote and inaccessible hollows. Drones and mountain-climbing equipment have been employed. About half of the area remains to be explored. Organic materials, including parchment, wood, textiles and human or animal bodies, usually do not last that long. However, the exceptionally dry climate of the Judean Desert preserved thousands of remains to this day. Another cave harbored another surprise: a prehistoric basket woven some 10,500 years ago, about 1,000 years before the invention of pottery. Experts believe the artifact, with a capacity of some 90 liters, is the earliest intact basket ever discovered. “The aim of this national initiative is to rescue these rare and important heritage assets from the robbers’ clutches,” IAA Director Israel Hasson said in a press release. “The newly discovered scroll fragments are a wake-up call to the state. Resources must be allocated for the completion of this historically important operation. We must ensure that we recover all the data that has not yet been discovered in the caves, before the robbers do. Some things are beyond value.” 6,000-year-old skeleton of a girl or a boy who was buried wrapped in cloth. (Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)6,000-year-old skeleton of a girl or a boy who was buried wrapped in cloth. (Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority) Hananya Hizmi, head staff officer of the Civil Administration’s Archaeology Department in Judea and Samaria, said: “As early as the late 1940s, we became aware of the cultural heritage remains of the ancient population of the Land of Israel, with the first discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now, in this national operation, which continues the work of previous projects, new finds and evidence have been discovered and unearthed that shed even more light on the different periods and cultures of the region.” “The finds attest to a rich, diverse and complex way of life, as well as to the harsh climatic conditions that prevailed in the region hundreds and thousands of years ago,” he said. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
