In the past year, Anisa lost her mother, her job and her house and had hoped Hajj would help her find solace.
from BBC News - Africa https://ift.tt/3hIqKRS
via Gabe's Musing's
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
How to Set Up Nginx Server Blocks (Virtual Hosts) on Ubuntu 20.04
At times, you may need to host more than one domain or website on your Nginx web server. For that to happen, a Server Block (Virtual Hosts) needs to be configured to encapsulate all
from Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides https://ift.tt/30WyOYn
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
from Tecmint: Linux Howtos, Tutorials & Guides https://ift.tt/30WyOYn
via Gabe's MusingsGabe's Musings
With Perseverance and a little MOXIE, MIT is going to Mars
On July 30, a two-week window of opportunity opens for Perseverance — the newest Mars rover, forged in the spirit of human curiosity — to begin its journey toward the Red Planet with a launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Center on the eastern Florida coast. With MIT’s help, this latest NASA mission will build upon the legacy of its roving laboratory predecessors and dig deeper than ever before into questions about life on Mars.
In its current state, Mars is inhospitable; the surface is dusty, and the only available water is frozen near the poles, deep underground, or so tightly bound to the soil that it would have to be cooked in an oven to extract it. The air is unbreathable, and the thin atmosphere allows worrisome levels of radiation while maintaining an average temperature of -81 degrees Fahrenheit. At one time in the past, however, it may have looked a lot more like Earth, and may have been more sustainable for life.
The goals of Perseverance — a signature component of the larger Mars 2020 mission — are to explore questions of this former habitability, to characterize the environment, and to help pave the way for future human exploration. One of seven experiments traveling on the rover will specifically address future human missions to Mars: MOXIE, short for the Mars OXygen In situ resource utilization Experiment, will help us prepare for those first missions by demonstrating that we can make our own oxygen on Mars to use for rocket propellant and for the crew to breathe when astronaut explorers arrive there. MOXIE was proposed and developed through a collaboration between researchers at MIT’s Haystack Observatory and the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro), along with engineers at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
MIT is well-represented in other aspects of the mission as well. Perseverance will carry a sophisticated system for selecting, coring, caching, and preserving rock and soil samples to someday bring back to Earth. Associate professor of geobiology Tanja Bosak and professor of planetary sciences Ben Weiss, both from the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), are participating scientists who will work with this system to help choose which samples from the Martian surface to collect and analyze. And Ariel Ekblaw, a graduate student in media arts and sciences and the founder and lead of the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative, contributed to a rover experiment during a summer at JPL that will search for evidence of past microbes.
The little mechanical tree
In the 2015 film The Martian, when astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) was left stranded on Mars, he managed to survive long enough to coordinate a rendezvous rescue mission with his crew by living off the land of the Red Planet. This is the basic principle behind in situ resource utilization, or ISRU, and MOXIE represents an important first step in realizing ISRU for future Mars explorers.
“Not only do you need oxygen for people to breathe, but you need it for the rocket to breathe too. If you are burning fuel, you need oxygen to consume it,” says Michael Hecht, MOXIE principal investigator and director of research at MIT Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts. “There is a reason why oxygen tanks are the heaviest items on a spaceflight manifest.”
Launches consume a lot of fuel: Propelling a spacecraft to exit the Earth’s gravitational pull requires a great deal of energy, and returning back to Earth requires doing it all over again. What's more, the heavy tanks required to transport the oxygen needed for a given mission take up precious real estate in a carefully calibrated spacecraft. This is where the ISRU approach comes in.
“Instead of taking it with us, why not just make it when we get there as we need it?” Hecht says. “Oxygen exists on Mars, just not in a form we can use it. So that is the problem we were trying to solve with MOXIE.”
MOXIE will collect carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Martian atmosphere and electrochemically split the it into oxygen and carbon monoxide molecules. Animation: NASA/JPL
One potential source of oxygen is ice that exists under the Martian surface. But mining this ice would require complex machinery, and the physical act of digging and drilling would put significant wear and tear on equipment, which is a problem when a repair person is a planet away. Thankfully, there was another potential resource the team can tap to generate oxygen: the atmosphere.
“With the mining approach, you have to mine the ice, refine and process it to release the oxygen, and bring it back, which is just not something we can do robotically, especially within our space constraints,” says Hecht. “I wanted to find a much simpler approach. The Martian atmosphere is about 96 percent carbon dioxide, so we built a little mechanical tree, because that is much easier than building a miniature, self-contained mining company.”
MOXIE’s objective: collect the carbon dioxide abundant in Martian air, convert it to oxygen, and measure the oxygen’s purity. After pulling in Martian air, the system filters out dust, compresses it, and then feeds it into the Solid OXide Electrolyzer (SOXE), the key element that takes pressurized carbon dioxide and uses a combination of electricity and chemistry to split the molecule into oxygen and carbon monoxide. The purity of the oxygen is analyzed, and then the oxygen is released back into the Martian atmosphere.
Currently, the plan is to perform at least 10 oxygen-producing runs throughout the mission under as many different seasonal and environmental conditions as possible. Due to the intense amount of energy required to run the MOXIE experiment, the team will coordinate with the other researchers, who will have to power down for the duration of MOXIE’s several-hour run time, and then wait for most of a Martian day (called a sol) for Perseverance’s batteries to recharge. The data will be sent back to a lab on MIT’s campus, where MOXIE’s performance will be analyzed.
Assembling the team
In 2013, NASA put out a call for proposals for oxygen-generating experiments for the 2020 rover within specific parameters. Despite working on the Phoenix Mars Lander mission during his 30-year tenure at JPL, when Hecht moved to his current position at MIT Haystack Observatory in 2012, he didn’t expect to be a “Mars guy” anymore — he thought he was done with Mars for good. But his former JPL colleagues disagreed and asked him to lead the experiment as principal investigator. According to Hecht, even after he signed on, he believed the project proposal was a long shot, but in July 2014, he and his colleagues got word that they landed the project.
“Researchers at other NASA labs had a huge head start and a lot of technology heritage. MOXIE’s selection was a huge surprise to me,” says Hecht. “Since this mission has a human-centered focus, I knew we had to establish real credibility with the human exploration community, that we weren’t just looking for an excuse to do some interesting science. So, how do we convince them that we are for real and we want to help with human exploration? It took me about five minutes to think of Jeff Hoffman.”
Hoffman, a professor of the practice in MIT AeroAstro, certainly knows a thing or two about human space exploration. He logged four spacewalks on his five space flights during his career as a NASA astronaut — including the initial rescue/recovery mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993.
In addition to Hoffman’s extensive experience with human spaceflight, he shared another connection with Hecht: Hecht was Hoffman’s first graduate student advisee as a new MIT researcher before he was called up to enter the astronaut program in 1978 and pursue a career with NASA. He returned to the MIT faculty in 2001, and in addition to being deputy principal investigator on MOXIE, he directs the Human Systems Lab at MIT and teaches courses about human spaceflight systems.
“It’s a great experience to collaborate with a former graduate student as colleagues, especially on a project like MOXIE because it shows how important graduate students are to the research process in a story that comes full-circle,” says Hoffman. “Not only do graduate students carry out the day-to-day work on a project, but we are also developing the next generation of people who will carry on the exploration of not just Mars, but the entire solar system.”
AeroAstro PhD students Eric Hinterman SM ’18 and Maya Nasr ’18 have been on the MOXIE team since 2016, when Hinterman was working on his master’s degree and Nasr was performing a MOXIE-related research project as a junior in aeronautics and astronautics.
For her master’s thesis, Nasr focused on calibrating the sensors in the MOXIE unit by performing experiments under different pressures and temperatures and conditions that mimic the environment on Mars. The goal of her master’s work was to understand how the sensors may behave differently in an environment like that of Mars, and to calibrate them accordingly so they would send back accurate data while on the mission. Her PhD work will focus on processing and analyzing both the MOXIE experimental laboratory data and telemetry data that will be sent back from Mars, which will help determine how well the unit functions at its task of extracting oxygen.
“For me personally, it means a lot to work on this project and it’s amazing that the launch is already happening. I grew up in Lebanon and remember watching the Curiosity Rover landing, and at the time the NASA JPL director was Dr. Charles Elachi, who is originally Lebanese,” says Nasr. “Seeing him in mission control made me realize that it was possible to be part of a Mars mission, and it’s one of the reasons why I applied to MIT.”
The newest member of the MOXIE team is AeroAstro master’s student Justine Schultz, who joined in the late spring of 2020. Schultz, who also works full time at General Electric, will focus her graduate work on constructing a detailed thermal model of MOXIE.
What’s in a name?
Since “Mars OXygen In situ resource utilization Experiment” is a mouthful, Hecht wanted to get creative with the project name. The initial inspiration comes from Moxie soda, which was invented in Massachusetts in the 1800s as a nerve-calming tonic. When the company mixed it with soda water for added carbonation, it started flying off the shelves and became one of the first mass-produced sodas in the U.S.
In addition to the local connection and the important role of carbon dioxide in Moxie soda’s success story, Hecht thought the meaning behind the word that has become part of our cultural lexicon was particularly fitting to the project. Merriam-Webster defines “moxie” as “energy, pep, courage, determination, and know-how.” The deeper meaning became even more relevant as the world grappled with a dangerous global pandemic with the finish line in sight.
“The situation with the coronavirus certainly caused some delays from where we thought we would be, but thankfully it never endangered the mission. Despite some setbacks, we were able to pivot and adapt to keep the launch on track,” said Hecht. “But Covid-19 be damned, we are launching this rover.”
The launch window is an important factor because it marks the period of time where Earth’s orbit around the sun is aligned with that of Mars in such a way to allow a rocket to follow a flight trajectory like changing lanes in a highway to rendezvous with its target landing point on Mars’ Jezero Crater. The window closes on Aug. 15, and won’t open again for another 26 months.
“While it will be sad not to have that moment of celebration in person together, the critical thing is that we are going to get on the surface Mars and produce oxygen, which we will be doing online from home,” says Hoffman. “Looking at everything that has happened over the past few months and all the people who have worked hard to get Mars 2020 ready for launch despite the world around us closing down, I’m happy we went with the name Perseverance because hanging in there and persevering with the mission has become the name of the game.”
from MIT News https://ift.tt/333JtTL
via Gabe's Musing's
Patrick Mahones becomes part-owner of Kansas City Royals
The reigning Super Bowl MVP recently signed a 10-year contract extension worth up to $503 million.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has become a member of the new ownership group of the Kansas City Royals.
“I’m honored to become a part owner of the Kansas City Royals,” Mahomes, 24, said in a statement on Tuesday. “I love this city and the people of this great town. This opportunity allows me to deepen my roots in this community, which is something I’m excited to do.”
The reigning Super Bowl MVP recently signed a 10-year contract extension, worth up to $503 million. The new deal is said to be “the largest contract in sports history.”
The lucrative deal came after Mahomes led the Chiefs to victory against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, and was named NFL MVP for the 2018 season, USA Today reports.
Read More: Roger Goodell announces cancellation of NFL preseason games
“We are very proud and excited to have Patrick as our partner in the ownership group of this franchise,” John Sherman, chairman/CEO and principal owner of the Royals said in a statement. “Along with the rest of Kansas City, I have watched Patrick compete and become an extraordinary leader, both on and off the football field.”
Mahomes spent a large part of his childhood hanging with his father, Pat Mahomes, in various MLB clubhouses, as the family patriarch played for the MLB for 11 years as a pitcher.
“Consistent with the entirety of our ownership group, he has a deep commitment to Kansas City and a real passion for the game of baseball – dating back to his childhood,” Sherman said, before adding that the Royals “look forward to many years of a winning partnership.”
Mahomes is the latest celeb to buy into a sports team.
LeBron James is part owner of the Liverpool Football Club. Russell Wilson is part owner of the Seattle Sounders F.C., and tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams are part owners of the Miami Dolphins, per CNN.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
[jwp-video n=”1″
The post Patrick Mahones becomes part-owner of Kansas City Royals appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/3hPGUcl
via Gabe's Musing's
Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, donates millions to HBCUs
Among the beneficiaries are Howard University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated millions of her personal wealth to historically Black colleges and universities.
Scott recently noted on Twitter that she dropped the ‘Bezos’ surname and is now using the “middle name I grew up with, after my grandfather Scott,” she wrote. As the third richest woman in the world, Scott announced in a Medium blog post on Tuesday that she has donated $1.7 billion to charity.
Among the beneficiaries are Howard University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University. Each confirmed that they received the largest single donation in their schools’ history.
Read More: Jeff Bezos champions ‘Black Lives Matter’ in response to customer
“I would like to thank Ms. Mackenzie Scott for her investment into Howard University and our 153-year mission of serving a diverse community of dynamic scholars who come here for an education and leave here with purpose to serve the world,” Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement. “We plan to immediately put this eight-figure gift to good use to support components of our 5-year strategic plan to help students graduate on time, retain our talented faculty, enhance our campus infrastructure and support academic innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Howard did not disclose the amount it received but Xavier was reportedly given $20 million. The university noted in a statement announcing the donation that the institution has produced “more African American MDs than any other institution in the United States, also federal judges, civil rights attorneys, renowned artists and musicians, business leaders, and elected officials – serving on local, state and national levels.”
Hampton University did not reveal the amount received but intends to put the funds towards the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute, “where lives are saved daily from the devastating effects of cancer,” the university said in a statement.
Scott reportedly has a net worth of $36 billion, according to Forbes. Most of her wealth comes from the 4% stake in Amazon that she bagged as part of her divorce settlement.
Read More: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fans out after meeting Lizzo at the Super Bowl
In her Medium post, Scott vowed to continue paying it forward “until the safe is empty.”
“There’s no question in my mind that anyone’s personal wealth is the product of a collective effort, and of social structures which present opportunities to some people, and obstacles to countless others,” she wrote.
She listed some of the organizations she has donated money to over the past year:
- Racial Equity: $ 586,700,000
- LGBTQ+ Equity: $ 46,000,000
- Gender Equity: $ 133,000,000
- Economic Mobility: $ 399,500,000
- Empathy & Bridging Divides: $ 55,000,000
- Functional Democracy: $ 72,000,000
- Public Health: $ 128,300,000
- Global Development: $ 130,000,000
- Climate Change: $ 125,000,000
“Though this work is ongoing and will last for years, I’m posting an update today because my own reflection after recent events revealed a dividend of privilege I’d been overlooking: the attention I can call to organizations and leaders driving change,” she wrote.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Loading the player...
The post Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, donates millions to HBCUs appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/2EvjKJV
via Gabe's Musing's
Terry Crews gets dragged for tweeting acronym for ‘coon’
The ‘America’s Got Talent’ host and actor continues his war with Black Twitter
Terry Crews sure knows how to become a trending topic.
After weeks of making headlines for his comments about Black Lives Matter and racism in America, the actor has yet again ruffled feathers online for tweeting about race.
Crews, 51, tweeted on Tuesday what appeared to be an acronym for ‘coon.’ The America’s Got Talent host used the four letters that spelled out the racist slur to say: CONQUER OUR OWN NEGATIVITY.
Read More: Terry Crews responds to backlash over Black Lives Matter tweet
Twitter users quickly picked up on Crews’ apparent attempt to spin a word he’s been called on the internet after criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement and later challenging the Black community to focus more on Black-on-Black crime than police brutality.
“Terry Crews just made an acronym for COON,” tweeted rapper Bobby Sessions. “Put 2020 in rice.”
“We the Black Delagation, trade Terry Crews to the southernmost continent of Antarctica for one penguin,” another Twitter user joked.
One Twitter user expressed their offense to Crews’s use of the slur, writing:
“Sir! Have You looked at the the ACRONYM Of Your message/Thought/Movement. I love your work and Family values but do not agree with You on some of Your stances, But this Acronym is Not You. It’s an outdated Term used to tear each other down.”
Crews responded: “I agree. That word is horrible. But I’ve learned to catch the lemons thrown at you, Make lemonade. Then make lemon bars. Make a lemon scented hand sanitizer, sell the rinds in the spice aisle for bbq lemon pepper wings then take the seeds and grow more lemon trees.”
Read More: Terry Crews, Don Lemon go head to head over Black Lives Matter
One person replied, “Dear Mr. Crews, you can make lemonade and bring people along with you — or, you can squeeze the juice in their eyes and tell them to make lemonade with their tears…which is what it sounds like you are doing.”
While most people overwhelmingly took issue with the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star’s tweet, there were some who came to his defense. “The word Coon has been thrown at Terry a lot recently and he’s turning it from a negative to a positive, I understand you don’t agree with the acronym but he deserves a little respect for standing by his values 100%,” one person tweeted.
His latest comments come after Crews drew the ire of Black Twitter for comments he’s made about Black Lives Matter. In June, Crews tweeted, “We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter.”
He previously sent out a tweet about race relations he meant to be inspiring but swiftly turned to controversy writing, “Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth. Like it or not, we are all in this together.”
Crews doubled down on his controversial statements during an interview with Don Lemon on CNN. “There are neighborhoods being held hostage by people, who are literally running [them] with violence and then [claiming] that Black lives matter.” Crews said.
Crews most recently was a star of the NBC show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine where he plays a police lieutenant named Terry Jeffords. Crews has claimed that the show, which is on hiatus, has been halted due to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis.
However, the producers have said that they are also trying to address the filming during the coronavirus pandemic.
theGrio’s Biba Adams and Ny McGee contributed to this report.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The post Terry Crews gets dragged for tweeting acronym for ‘coon’ appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/2BHtqjq
via Gabe's Musing's
Maya Wiley to leave MSNBC to possibly run for NYC mayor
The MSNBC Legal Analyst is a staunch support of police reform and harsh critic of the Trump administration.
Maya Wiley is stepping back as a contributor with MSNBC and NBC News to focus on her political ambition.
Wiley, a former top attorney for Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and chairwoman of New York City’s police oversight agency, is reportedly eyeing a run for mayor of the Big Apple. If she wins, she would become the first female mayor of the NYC, New York Times reports.
Wiley previously served as chairwoman of the Civilian Complaint Review Board. She also serves as senior VP for social justice at The New School and the Henry Cohen Professor at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy.
Read More: Mayor Bill de Blasio to slash NYPD budget by $1 billion
Wiley dished about her possible run for mayor of New York City with MSNBC chief legal analyst Ari Melber.
Mayor de Blasio is term-limited and cannot run next year.
“There have been reports in multiple outlets about some people discussing whether or not you might run for mayor of new york,” Melber noted. “Not as friend of Maya, but as a journalist, do you have any comment on that? Are you considering running for mayor?”
Wiley said, “I have been so overwhelmed by just the amount of support and kind words and outpouring I’ve gotten as a result of these news reports. All I can say to you is, I am certainly exploring it because I’ve been extremely privileged to be asked by folks to think about it.”
She added, “For me the biggest issues of the city is whether or not we’ll have a bold future, not one of tinkering, where we have leadership advancing the fundamental historical moment we’re in, which is to do history-making, not deal-making so this is a city we can all stay in, this is a city we can all live in.”
Read More: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is leading the vanguard on police reform
Wiley, whose father George A. Wiley was the former head of the National Welfare Rights Organization, resigned as De Blasio’s lawyer in 2016, amid rumors that she felt slighted about not being part of his core team.
“Anyone who has been in Maya’s presence knows that she is a force,” said Rebecca Katz, former adviser to Mayor de Blasio, “and I would not underestimate her.”
Wiley is a staunch support of police reform and was present at recent social justice protests. She has even called on de Blasio’s police commissioner, Dermot F. Shea, to resign.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Loading the player...
The post Maya Wiley to leave MSNBC to possibly run for NYC mayor appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/2BHnQO0
via Gabe's Musing's
Joe Biden to name VP running mate first week of August
The former vice president previously said he intends to choose a female running mate and voters are pressuring him to choose a woman of color.
Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will choose his VP running mate the first week of August.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, made the comment to reporters after a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, Politico reports.
“I’m going to have a choice in the first week in August,” Biden said. “I promise I’ll let you know when I do.”
When asked by reporters whether he will meet in person with finalists, Biden remarked, “We’ll see.”
Read More: Biden says post-pandemic economy can fight racial inequality
“I’m going to try to figure out how to trick you all so I can meet with them in person. You’ve got crews outside my house,” he said jokingly.
The former vice president previously said he intends to choose a female running mate and voters are pressuring him to choose a woman of color.
Biden’s former primary rivals, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are reportedly being considered for the Democratic ticket. Stacey Abrams, the former top Democrat in the Georgia House and ex-gubernatorial candidate, has also publicly campaigned for the VP position.
According to CNN, other female powerhouses who have been considered include Obama’s former national security adviser Susan Rice, Florida Rep. Val Demings, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Rep. Karen Bass, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
When Sen. Harris appeared on Joy Reid’s former MSNBC morning show in April, she made clear her stance on Biden‘s running mate veepstakes.
“I believe it is important to have a woman of color, or a woman, as he has said, on the ticket, and you can take Joe Biden at his word,” the California Democrat said.
Read More: Charlamagne slams Biden for claiming Trump was first racist president
theGRIO previously reported, Biden announced in April his plans to assemble a team to vet potential candidates by May 1 and then the list of contenders would be narrowed down in July, according to CNN.
“The first and most important quality is someone who, if I were to walk away immediately from the Office for whatever reason that they can be president and the public could look at that person and say she is capable of being President of the United States tomorrow,” Biden said during an appearance on CBS’ “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
During his speech at a local community center on Tuesday afternoon, Biden spoke of his economic recovery plan aimed on combating racial inequality. He proposed spending $30 billion to help Black and Brown small-business owners.
On Twitter he wrote, “Small business ownership is one of our country’s cornerstones for wealth building and job creation. But Black and Brown entrepreneurs face far too many barriers to ownership, growth, and success. I’ve got a plan to change that.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Loading the player...
The post Joe Biden to name VP running mate first week of August appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/2X394IE
via Gabe's Musing's
Serita Jakes, Wife of T.D. Jakes, Launches Home Collection Line to Help Others Create Sacred Space
With a calming presence that quietly and confidently commands peace, strength, and grace, Serita Jakes, wife of Bishop TD Jakes, is internationally beloved. As a parent, grandparent, ministry leader, and entrepreneur, she has had to learn how to thrive as an introvert in an extroverted world. The wave of her leadership impact has rippled into millions of lives around the world. Her voice is relevant, welcomed, and offers peace-filled solutions. Serita Jakes Home is an inviting and refreshing lifestyle brand that reflects and captures her core values, authentic persona, and all that she holds dear.
“I have always loved coming home and as our family grew, my goal was to always ensure that our home was a sanctuary—a sacred space of happiness and serenity.” ~Serita Jakes | Serita Jakes Home
As her husband would travel for ministry throughout the years, she would tuck a little token away in his luggage—a candle, loving note, or some simple reminder of home to put his mind at ease. In the wake of heightened panic and accelerated uncertainty, it is reassuring to know that there are inspired solutions that support and serve the total person—particularly the soul (mind, will, and emotions.)
Now with Serita Jakes Home, she has opened her home through an inspirational line of decor and accessories curated to introduce an aura of domestic excellence and give others the opportunity to create their own sacred spaces of serenity and style. The collection offers a sensory delight and lifestyle experience through smell, touch, and texture, ushering in an inviting presence that soothes the soul and invokes tranquility. The newest candle, “Adoration,” boasts a sweet and feminine aroma derived from hibiscus floral, freesia, vetiver, and peony that empowers any room or space.
In an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Jakes shared briefly why sacred spaces are especially important, especially during the present pandemic and time of quarantine and how to nurture those sacred spaces in business and in life. According to her, no one else can create and control this space but you.
“It’s important that everyone has a sense of rest no matter where they are in life. We need to always have a place where we’re safe.” ~Serita Jakes | Serita Jakes HOME
Centering – the ability to be at peace within yourself. And for me, it is the ultimate sacred space where I can simply commune with God. Your sacred space is not limited by physical location—it can be transported to your car or while you are “masked up” while grocery shopping.
Finding – a quiet space inwardly so that it will radiate outwardly. This applies within those of your own household (that you live with every day) or even conducting a Zoom call online as you’re engaging in business activity.
Creating – a circle of love and peace, not creating harm or terror. This applies to personal and business relationships alike. Our world is riddled with symbols and acts of hatred—now is always the time to perpetuate love and promote peace.
Gathering – this includes your thoughts, your tears, your laughter—and bringing them into an internal place within (sacred space.) There is where you are giving your soul permission to process change and embrace healing.
Lastly, Jakes left us with some sound words of wisdom and practical advice on how to nurture and protect our sacred spaces such as:
Acknowledge Your Sacred Space – you are allowed to have a sacred space. Therefore, you have to guard it. Do not allow just anyone to come in and evade your territorial bubble.
Decide Who’s Worthy of Access – your space is comprised of layers. Therefore, use wisdom and invite people in with caution. For example, I do not develop deep, deep relationships with anyone that I cannot nurture through their hard times.
Without question, these are unparalleled times but may peace, serenity and sacredness remain a permanent resident in your heart and soul.
Welcome Home.
from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2BFIpuc
via Gabe's Musing's
FDA warns of deadly hand sanitizer products with expanded list
US Food and Drug Administration tells consumers to stay away from products that contain methanol, a dangerous chemical that is in many products from Mexico
The increased demand for hand sanitizer due to the coronavirus pandemic fears which have caused shortages throughout the nation. This has prompted the US Food and Drug Administration to warn of potentially deadly products.
The FDA is urging consumers not to use hand sanitizer products that contain methanol or that are under recall.
READ MORE: Rapper E-40 gifts 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to California prisons
Methanol is a chemical that has been found in numerous products manufactured in Mexico.
Symptoms of methanol poisoning may include a decreased level of consciousness, poor or no coordination, vomiting, abdominal pain, and a specific smell on the breath. Decreased vision may start as early as twelve hours after exposure.
Long-term outcomes may include blindness and kidney failure.
In a statement printed by CNN, Dr. Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the FDA wrote: “Consumers must also be vigilant about which hand sanitizers they use, and for their health and safety we urge consumers to immediately stop using all hand sanitizers on the FDA’s list of dangerous hand sanitizer products.”
The risk of using the products on hands is a bit lower than ingesting it. Earlier this month, four people in New Mexico died after drinking hand sanitizer products.
“We remain extremely concerned about the potential serious risks of alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing methanol. Producing, importing, and distributing toxic hand sanitizers poses a serious threat to the public and will not be tolerated,” Hahn wrote, “The FDA will take additional action as necessary and will continue to provide the latest information on this issue for the health and safety of consumers.”
READ MORE: Brothers looking to profit off coronavirus now stuck with 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer
If a consumer is concerned about whether a hand sanitizer product contains methanol, the FDA encourages checking the recall list and not using any products by those manufacturers.
“Practicing good hand hygiene, which includes using alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not readily available, is an important public health tool for all Americans to employ,” the agency noted, while encouraging American consumers to “remain vigilant.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
Loading the player...
The post FDA warns of deadly hand sanitizer products with expanded list appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/306rY3q
via Gabe's Musing's
Sen. Chuck Schumer Calls to Extend $600 Weekly Unemployed Benefits To 2021
Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to see the $600 a week federal unemployment insurance extended until Jan. 31, 2021, but added Senate Democrats have been ignored.
According to Forbes, Senate Democrats have been left out on what the future of federal unemployment will look like. Senate Republicans are still working on their second coronavirus relief bill Monday, in which the federal unemployment benefit would be cut from $600 to $200.
“Leader McConnell—stop the dithering, start negotiating. Put a bill on the floor of the Senate ASAP,” Schumer said Sunday during a briefing, adding that Democrats will fight “tooth and nail” to make sure there are no cuts to Social Security or Medicare in the bill.
Schumer said, “there have been no negotiations” whatsoever between Democrats in the Senate and Republicans over what will be put into the next stimulus package. The $200 figure comes from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin who said that future unemployment payments will be based on a “70% wage replacement.”
The House has already passed and released its second coronavirus relief package. In it, the $600 weekly benefit will be extended through January 2021.
The eviction moratorium established by the federal CARES Act also ran out last week, meaning as many as 24 million U.S. families are behind on rent are at risk of losing their housing. White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Sunday the Senate’s proposal for the next stimulus bill, CARES 2, includes “plans to lengthen the federal eviction moratorium.”
Republicans have also announced a second $1,200 stimulus check will be included in the bill. The first stimulus check was sent in March. The total package is expected to cost around $1 trillion, a third of the price tag for the bill that passed the House. The White House announced it will meet with Democrats on the bill to discuss the package, but the parties differ significantly on specifics they’d like to see in the bill.
from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/3g5Ttji
via Gabe's Musing's
1st presidential debate moved from Notre Dame to Ohio’s Case Western
Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic’s Health Education Campus are more equipped to host the political badminton match
The first debate between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden will take place on September 29 in Ohio at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic’s Health Education Campus.
The event was scheduled to be held at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. However, the strain of producing a successful debate during the coronavirus pandemic made it less feasible for the institution.
READ MORE: Joe Biden leading polls, thanks to Black women who went to an HBCU
In a statement reprinted by The Hill, Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John Jenkins, wrote “I am grateful to the many members of the University community who have devoted countless hours planning this event, and to the Commission on Presidential Debates leadership for their professionalism and understanding.”
“But, in the end,” Jenkins wrote: “the constraints that the coronavirus pandemic put on the event—as understandable and necessary as they are—have led us to withdraw.”
Case Western officials have said that their partnership with Cleveland Clinic, a top-tier medical facility, will make hosting an easier task. The debate will take place at the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, part of the Health Education Campus.
Cleveland Clinic recently tweeted a video tour of their campus where the debate will take place.
It has not been decided if there will be an audience present at the debate.
“We are honored to host this presidential debate at our shared Health Education Campus,” said Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic and Case Western President Barbara Snyder in a joint statement.
“This pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of healthcare and scientific discovery in unprecedented ways. To have the presidential candidates discuss these issues in our innovative learning space represents a tremendous opportunity for both institutions — and our entire region.”
READ MORE: Trump slams Obama over new Biden sit-down video
According to a new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll, the president currently has a 1-point lead over Joe Biden in Ohio.
The three presidential debates are scheduled for Sept. 29, Oct. 15, and Oct. 22.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
The post 1st presidential debate moved from Notre Dame to Ohio’s Case Western appeared first on TheGrio.
from TheGrio https://ift.tt/30UapTh
via Gabe's Musing's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)