Category Archives: Transhuman News

I'm Steve Gutterman, the editor of RFE/RL's Russia/Ukraine/Belarus Desk.

Welcome to The Week In Russia, in which I dissect the key developments in Russian politics and society over the previous week and look at what's ahead. To receive The Week In Russia newsletter in your inbox, click here.

There's Red Square, and there's reality. Russian President Putin Vladimir Putin rehearsed grievances and repeated falsehoods at a Victory Day military parade as the war ground on in Ukraine. Farther from the Kremlin, the clampdown continued.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

Any military parade is probably more theater than reality -- a display of pomp, pride, and power that glosses over the pain, death, and deprivation of war.

But Putin's Victory Day address on Red Square on May 9, when Russia celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, seemed particularly detached from the facts of both that conflict decades ago and the war he has inflicted upon Ukraine -- the biggest war in Europe since 1945.

The parallels he drew between those wars were also badly flawed, observers of the annual event pointed out.

Whether the parade and his remarks served their purpose for Putin is another question. It's one that numerous analysts answered in the negative, saying they underscored his distortions of events past and present and gave additional exposure to the problems Russia is facing on the battlefield.

One major distortion came almost at the very start of the short speech, when he said that "a real war has once again been unleashed against our homeland."

This is false. Russia is the aggressor in the war in Ukraine, where Putin dramatically escalated a conflict that had persisted in the Donbas region since 2014 by launching a large-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

Since then, there have been a number of artillery and drone attacks on Russian territory that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv. But these are minuscule compared to the Russian assault on Ukraine, where tens of thousands of civilians and combatants have been killed and millions of people driven from their homes. Russian forces control Crimea in its entirety, occupy parts of four other Ukrainian regions, and have laid waste to several cities and towns including Mariupol, a Sea of Azov port with a pre-invasion population of nearly half a million.

Putin's claim is false, but it fits in with a narrative he has turned to frequently as time has passed: that Russia is fighting not a war of aggression against Ukraine but rather a defensive effort against Western nations bent on tearing Russia apart. As he put it in the Red Square speech, "Their aimis to achieve the collapse and destruction of our country."

This, too, is untrue. While plenty of people in the West would like to see what the domestic opposition describes in protest chants as "Russia without Putin," and some believe the war in Ukraine could bring that about, the prospect of Russia's disintegration or demise is a widely seen as a cause of concern, not enthusiasm, for the United States and many other governments.

Falsehoods aside, did this piece of military theater work for Putin?

As a show of strength, Russia's and his own, probably not.

The parade was modest compared to previous years in the Putin era. Fewer goose-stepping soldiers, fewer pieces of military equipment trundling across the square, and the absence of warplanes overhead might make sense when the country is fighting a war. But it may also have suggested that Russia's military -- built up over years in which Putin has warned the West to take notice -- needs everything it can get at the front and, after major losses in a war that Putin apparently hoped would be over in days or weeks but is now in its 15th month, has little to spare.

The struggles on the battlefield and sharp disagreements among Russia's military leaders were on stark display in a series of angry video statements by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the ostensibly private mercenary group Wagner, who accused top generals and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of badly mishandling the war and particularly the bloody and protracted fighting over Bakhmut, a once-thriving city in the Donbas that is now the scene of horrors that seem out of place in this century -- or did before the Russian invasion last year.

In one video, Prigozhin stood before piles of corpses of what he said were Wagner soldiers and accused the generals of causing their deaths by withholding supplies of weapons and ammunition. In another, in a remark whose target he may have deliberately left vague, he came close to calling Putin a "prick."

Putin, addressing the parade from the grandstand near Lenin's tomb, was no doubt pleased that leaders from seven of the other 14 former Soviet republics attended -- up from zero in 2022. State TV made that clear by cutting to shots of them, one by one, during Putin's speech.

And the 70-year-old president "looked and sounded in good form, belying claims of his worsening health and imminent demise," author and analyst Mark Galeotti wrote in the Spectator shortly after the parade. He noted that Putin "exchanged remarks withShoigu, also bringing into question assertions of a rift between the two men."

"Yet there was also no escaping the way that the parade, for all its rousing tunes and geometric choreography, signaled a military locked in an unexpectedly tough war," Galeotti wrote. "Russia is a nation losing its international status, and its president has nothing to offer his people but false claims of victimhood."

Beyond Red Square, a different kind of parade was conspicuous in its absence. For years, Russians have held marches called the Immortal Regiment, walking the streets carrying signs with photographs of relatives who gave their lives or otherwise contributed to the Soviet war effort in World War II.

A grassroots initiative at first, the new tradition was swiftly appropriated by the state authorities under Putin, who over his years in power has become increasingly wary of what he cannot control, particularly when it involves large crowds of people in the streets.

This year, the Immortal Regiment marches were canceled. Security concerns were the official reason, but analysts say the Kremlin was concerned that Russians might carry portraits of men killed in the war in Ukraine and also, more simply, is afraid of large demonstrations.

"There is a fear that people will carry portraits of people who have been killed in Ukraine and the real casualty figures -- not the ones presented by the Defense Ministry -- will be visible," historian Ivan Kurilla told RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities. "That is the most likely reason. But more generally, the authorities are afraid of any mass demonstration by the people in public. The authorities are obviously afraid."

And in prisons, jails, and courts, the repression that Kremlin critics say is driven by that fear ground on.

On May 11, imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was sent to a punitive solitary confinement cell for the 15th time since August 2022, according to his Telegram channel.

Navalny said he was released from such a cell the previous evening but ordered back less than 14 hours later. He said he has spent 165 days in solitary confinement since he was jailed upon return to Russia in January 2021, after recovering in Germany from a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning he blames on Putin.

The Telegram post came a day after the UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Edwards, called on Russia to provide Navalny with "urgent and comprehensive" medical care amid reports that his health is deteriorating.

Edwards also cited the cases of three political supporters of Navalny who are also in detention -- Liliya Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin, and Daniel Kholodny -- saying they should be released "without delay" if prompt, thorough, impartial investigations find that they "are being arbitrarily deprived of their liberty."

In the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, popular former Mayor Yevgeny Roizman is being tried for his criticism of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, under legislation signed by Putin days after it began. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of discrediting the Russian military.

Roizman says he's being tried for calling the invasion of Ukraine what it is: the invasion of Ukraine. Russia officially calls the war a "special military operation," and officials including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have falsely stated that Russia has not invaded Ukraine.

On May 4, police detained the director and author of Finist -- The Brave Falcon, a play about Russ ian women who married Muslim men and moved to Syria that won Russia's Golden Mask national theater award in 2002.

Director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriichuk are accused of the justification of terrorism and have been sent to pretrial jail for at least two months while prosecutors assemble their case.

The accusation over the play is a pretext and Berkovich is really being prosecuted "for her powerful, beautiful anti-war poetry," Konstantin Sonin, a political economist and a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote on Twitter. "This is [about] her anti-war stance, her poetry, her bravery and independence."

That's it from me this week.

If you want to know more, catch up on my podcast The Week Ahead In Russia, out every Monday, here on our site or wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts).

Yours,

Steve Gutterman

Read more:
The Week In Russia: Theater Of War - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Shes worth every penny: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and not just any Friday but the Friday before Mothers Day but you already know that, with your reservations made and shopping done and all that.

If you havent yet gone to any Mothers Day expense, you will, according to the National Retail Federation, which projects American consumers will spend $35 billion on Mothers Day this year a year-over-year hike of $30 per person, according to the NRF.

Care package: Speaking of Mothers Day (sorta), today is National Child Care Provider Day, an annual Friday-before-Mothers Day celebration of the nannies, babysitters and other providers who let moms (and dads) do their things.

Super fudge: Things might get a little nutty today.

Other important providers honored today include therapists, psychiatrists and social workers, stars of the show on National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day.

Prose (and pecans): If someone comes at you today with There once was a lady from Venus, run fast no telling what comes next on National Limerick Day, an annual homage to English poet and May 12 birthday boy Edward Lears (1812-1888) unique nonsensical style (more birthdays below).

If that doesnt make you nuts, this will: May 12 is also the salty-sweet National Nutty Fudge Day.

Heres the scoop: Fudge-nut flavors would come later, but it was this date in 1777 when New York City confectioner Philip Lenzi ran the first known ice cream advertisement (available almost every day) in the New York Gazette.

As north as it gets: Dont know about cream, but there was plenty of ice about when the airship Norge with Italian aviator Umberto Nobile at the stick and famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (among others) on board flew over the North Pole on May 12, 1926, marking the poles first human crossing.

Just your type: Also iced out was University of Washington Professor August Dvorak, who fed up with his typewriters QWERTY keyboard patented the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard on this date in 1936. (It didnt really catch on, though its still beloved by some.)

From the shadows: Definitely catching on was the Z3, the first automatic programmable computer, presented May 12, 1941, by German civil engineer Konrad Zuse to his Nazi overlords quietly sparking the digital revolution.

Hole hearted: The center of the Milky Way Galaxy is a hole lot of fun.

Centerpiece: And it was one year ago today when astronomers released the first pictures of Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole swirling at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Produced by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, the stunning images solidified Einsteins Theory of General Relativity and confirmed numerous scientific beliefs about galactic structures.

Anthro-go-go: American ethnologist, geologist, explorer and activist Matilda Coxe Stevenson (1849-1915) who occasionally adopted the pen name Tilly E. Stevenson and always encouraged other women to pursue careers in anthropology and other sciences would be 174 years old today.

Board chairman: Hawk, at the height of his powers.

Also born on May 12 were British social reformer Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing; British engineer Sir Christopher Hinton (1901-1983), who led the development of Britains nuclear energy industry; American geophysicist Maurice Ewing (1906-1974), who dove deep into ocean basins; American actress Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), a headstrong individualist who enjoyed six decades of leading-lady status; and Lawrence Peter Yogi Berra (1925-2015), the eminently quotable Major League Baseball icon.

On board: And take a bow, Anthony Frank Tony Hawk! The American professional skateboarder and entrepreneur a vertical skateboarding pioneer and professional brand-building posterchild turns 55 today.

Wish Birdman well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips take flight and your calendar events roll on.

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BUT FIRST, THIS

Dans archive: One of Long Islands most recognizable publications has achieved a measure of immortality at Stony Brook University.

Publisher Dan Rattiner has gifted a complete archive of Dans Papers, the weekly lifestyle publication focused primarily on the East End, to Stony Brook University Libraries specifically, to the Special Collections division curating the universitys rare books and manuscripts, historical maps and other archival collections. Rattiner has presented a personal collection of his namesake publication, spanning 1960 (the year Dans Papers launched) to 2023 and comprising the most complete print run of Dans Papers held by a research library, according to SBU.

The archive is currently undergoing a preservation assessment, with the university planning to store print and microfilm copies and digitize the entire series for free online publication. Dans Papers is an important addition to the librarys distinctive collections because of its depth and coverage of the social, political and environmental history of Long Island, noted Stony Brook University Archivist Kristen Nyitray. It benefits the mission of the universitys libraries and the wider research community.

Mutual distrust: The failures of Washington Mutual and other major banks have understandably spooked middle-market CEOs.

Bank stare: Amazing how one little national financial disaster can bring down the room.

Three months after its first edition of 2023 struck a largely optimistic tone, the Marcum-Hofstra CEO Survey has returned with a downer of a top story: Middle-market CEOs quizzed byMarcum LLPand Hofstra UniversitysFrank G. Zarb School of Business in April, just weeks after the 2023 banking crisis nearly boiled over are concerned about the collapse of three major banks and its potential implications for their corporate finances, with more than 62 percent indicating they were at least somewhat concerned about their own banks stability (and 21.2 percent saying they were very concerned).

Belying the banking bummer, the 255 surveyed CEOs (of companies with revenues between $5 million and $1 billion-plus) remained largely optimistic about the current business environment, with 37.6 percent rating their outlook between 8 and 10 (on a 10 scale). However, remote-work policies are on the ropes, with 12.9 percent of respondents noting theyve discontinued the option and another 28.6 percent considering discontinuation. Full results here.

TOP OF THE SITE

Clearing roadblox: Determined to bring detailed brain mapping to her fellow neuroscientists, a well-funded SBU researcher is going where Roblox has gone before.

Gift rap: A hip-hop whos-who will help the LIMEHOF celebrate the music genres unofficial 50th anniversary and the Islands unique role in its evolution.

Suggestion box: Hey, youre a big thinker is there a one-on-one youd like to hear in Season 4 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast? Name an innovation economy leader at editor@innovateli.com and meanwhile, catch up on these classics.

ICYMI

Northwell Healths overachieving retina scans from down under; Farmingdale States futuristic science lab from the past.

BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)

Innovate LIs inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This weeks brightest out-of-towners:

From California: San Francisco-based plug-and-play financing solution Triumph brings $14 million pot to skill-based competitions for startup game developers.

From Michigan: Auburn Hills-based automotive infotainment insider Alps Alpine Co. launches audio-enthusiasts virtual park on mass-multiplayer Roblox platform.

From California: Brea-based visual-solutions provider ViewSonic Corp. keeps an eye on gamers and workers with anti-tear, anti-blur high-performance monitors.

ON THE MOVE

Brad Hibbard

+ Brad Hibbard has been promoted to chief strategy officer for the Guide Dog Foundation & Americas VetDogs in Smithtown. He served previously as chief program officer.

+ Bernadette Riley has been elected assistant secretary of the Medical Society of the State of New York in Westbury. She is director of New York Institute of Technologys Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Treatment Center in Old Westbury and an associate professor of Family Medicine at NYITCOM.

+ Cheryl Katz-Erato has joined Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana as a partner in the Tax, Trusts & Estates Practice Group. She was a trusts and estates senior associate at Melville-based Cona Elder Law.

+ Lonnie Ostrow has been hired as marketing and communications director at the Garden City-based Family & Childrens Association. He was director of marketing and communications for the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University in Manhattan.

+ Paul Pipia has been elected president of the Medical Society of the State of New York in Westbury. He serves as deputy medical director and chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

+ Mary OReilly, co-chairwoman of the Trust & Estates Practice Group at Mineola law firm Meltzer Lippe, has been elected a 2023 fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

+ Chris Dodd has been hired as first vice president/middle market relationship manager at Valley Bank in Jericho. He was senior vice president/team leader at Merchant Financial Group in Manhattan.

Like this newsletter?Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Nixon Peabody).Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.

BELOW THE FOLD (Parking Lot Edition)

A fine mess: Parking tickets can be expensive especially if theyre fake.

Income outcome: The Big Apples richest may pay higher parking fines.

Spaced out: Why parking is such a pain in the backseat absolutely everywhere.

Ticket trick: Fake parking tickets with faux QR codes are scamming the unsuspecting.

Walk in the park: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Nixon Peabody, where client engagement, collaborative spirit and unmatched experience create the best legal strategies, every time. Check them out.

More:
No. 788: Hi, Mom were getting ready for your big day with dirty ... - Innovate Long Island

The Star Trek universe is packed with a ton of fascinating new technology. The show is rarely about the science of its incredible inventions, but its world is constantly influenced by the ever-evolving machines. Thanks to all the benefits of the future, the human lifespan has sharply increased. Of all the characters in Star Trek, who would have thought that the oldest human on record is a familiar face?

Serialized fiction often features characters that may as well be immortal. If a show wants to run for dozens of years, it can't kill off a bunch of its most popular faces. This can feel cheesy in a soap opera, but a sci-fi show like Star Trek can simply explain their eternal lives with future technology.

RELATED: Star Treks 26-Hour Day, Explained

The oldest known human in the mainline Star Trek canon is none other than the doctor of the USS Enterprise, Leonard "Bones" McCoy. McCoy canonically reached the age of 137. Non-canonical sources depicted him going on to become a Starfleet Captain, the head of the Starfleet Medical Academy, and the Starfleet Surgeon General. His death has never been depicted, so the highest point of McCoy's age is still unknown. At 137, he's the oldest confirmed human. Some edge cases challenge the definition of "human" and unseat him from his title, but Bones is the winner among traditional human beings.

With a much looser definition of "human," the oldest human is a man named Flint. Flint was an immortal who lived for more than 6,000 years on Earth. He was born in 3834 BC as an ancient soldier named Akharin. He went on to take several new names and careers as he lived his very long life. Flint was Methuselah, King Solomon, Alexander the Great, Lazarus, Merlin, Leonardo da Vinci, Johannes Brahms, and more. Flint knew Moses, Socrates, Jesus Christ, Galileo Galilei, Shakespeare, and more. His immortality was very poorly explained. He could consistently regenerate tissue and instantly heal from any injury for reasons that the show didn't feel the need to get into. Flint is unquestionably the oldest human who ever lived, but he is likely dead at this point in the canon. Dr. McCoy discovered that Flint's immortality was tied to some inherent quality of the planet Earth. After Flint left his home, his days were numbered. His death hasn't been depicted, but he was actively dying as the Enterprise crew left him.

Some augmented humans would outlast Dr. McCoy. Augments like Khan Noonien Singh enjoy lifespans that are at least twice as long as any ordinary human. Khan and his siblings are superhumans. They're incredibly fast and strong, resistant to any toxin, and capable of shrugging off wounds from almost any weapon. All of their organs are substantially better than those of ordinary humans. A blood transfusion from an augment can cure diseases. These beings can no longer reasonably be counted as humans. They'd outlive any ordinary person but only thanks to some outrageous cheating. Bones is the only honest winner of the title of oldest recorded human in the Star Trek canon.

The average life expectancy for a human being on Earth in 2022 was 72.98 years. That number is highly varied by country, with nations like Monaco nearing an average of 90 years. Twenty years ago, the worldwide average was around 67 years. In 1966, the year Star Trek debuted, the average lifespan was 53.73 years. That's an impressive increase over the last 57 years. According to the Star Trek canon, the average human lifespan will reach 100 years during the early 22nd century. By the mid-24th century, the mean crested 120 years.

This gradual increase in longevity is mostly thanks to advanced medical technology. Disease is a much less severe issue in the 24th century, medical outcomes are substantially better, and most issues that would end a human life prematurely have been dealt with. In addition, humans can enter suspended animation through the use of stasis chambers. This would allow a person to pass through decades without aging. While the subject wouldn't technically "live" these extra years, going into cryogenic slumber would allow a person to see eras they'd never experience otherwise. These technological advancements come alongside a general increase in social welfare. In a society that actually cares about its people, scarcity is a thing of the past. In the real world, tons of people die young due to avoidable policy choices. A world without poverty, thanks entirely to the reasonable redistribution of wealth and empathetic treatment of the needy, will always have better life expectancy than a world that allows the disadvantaged to die on the street.

Dr. Leonard McCoy is at the forefront of medical technology. He's a decent man who knows how to take care of himself and others. It's no surprise that he would understand how to keep himself alive far beyond the average life expectancy. At 137, Bones is the oldest human around, and he's still going strong.

MORE: Star Trek: Who Is Laris?

Here is the original post:
Star Trek: Who Is The Oldest Human? - GameRant

Image Credit: Nav Photographyonpexels.com

Recently, Nineequa Blanding wrote a piece about a coalition in Washington state that established a $1.37 million fund to enable sabbaticals for BIPOC leaders. The piece struck a chord with many NPQ readers, as it did for the Health Justice desk. In the past year, weve each taken sabbaticals of our own.

Looking back on that time offline, I recognize how important it was to my work as a health justice practitioner to create space for play, creativity, and dreaming. These activities are difficult to make space for in a capitalist context. Even in workspaces dedicated to holistic health and fighting injustice, productivity and urgency loom large. Once I stepped away, I was surprised at how centering care and thriving in my own life quickly led to accepting new, healthier ways of workand imagining new approaches to health altogether.

Sabbaticals for BIPOC Leaders, the report published by the BIPOC ED Coalition in Washington that pushed for the sabbatical fund, points out that the current climate is taking an immeasurable psychological, physical, and emotional toll, especially on women of color leaders. In conversations with my peers across the movement and nonprofit worlds, Ive seen this health toll manifest in a number of ways. Chronic illnesses, deep fatigue, hypervigilance, limited emotional bandwidth, and mental health stressall are well-known phenomena to many who work on social change.

In roles that required us to envision futures and tell compelling stories, we found ourselves lacking inspiration. Truly paradigm-shifting work requires the space to think and synthesize. Instead, my peers and I found ourselves trying to cram in the minutes between endless Zoom meetings, fundraising calls, and presentations. Rarely did I encounter leaders who felt that they had the resource of time in the ways they wanted.

At first, reclaiming that time felt selfish. I worked through guilt and confusion about how much work has shaped my personal identity, and whether it was flippant to walk away from it, even for a short time. As a child of immigrants, I have watched people in my community work tirelessly to provide stability for their families. The idea of removing myself from that cycleeven if it was only possible because I had been doing the same thing, for more than 15 years.

Second, I recognized critiques about mainstream definitions of self-care, which today has been commodified into self-focused activities like yoga classes or spa treatments. This commercialized approach to restoration is often disconnected from movement frameworks like healing justice, which acknowledge that addressing collective trauma requires collective solutions. I worried that taking time off would mean reneging on my commitment to work on those very solutions.

At the same time, I grew increasingly aware of the gap between preaching and practice. Many of the mentors and healers Ive been lucky to work with were always clear about the importance of balancing energy and refusing urgency. As a public health scholar, I know the importance of rest, social connection, and a persons ability to thrive and be healthy. Even further, against the backdrop of a global pandemic, I was surrounded by constant conversations about the nature of work, and how we change our relationship to it.

Despite these forces, like so many of those I worked with, I put the sabbatical decision off for as long as I could. Finally, my body made the choice for me. I had experienced chronic health problems for years, and during the pandemic, they accumulated to a breaking point. My brain, which I had relied on for so long in order to push through those issues, also ran out of fuel. I knew that I owed this overdue time to myself, and I finally decided to make the jump.

For the first few weeks of my sabbatical, I was tapped out. Ive been an avid reader since I was young, the kid at a party with a book in tow. It scared me, then, that I had no interest in absorbing new information or synthesizing patterns. My body and brain still felt hypervigilant: anticipating task completion and looming deadlines, even though I no longer had a work-driven work list. It took me three weeks to unwind from a sense of constant pressure.

For BIPOC leaders, our time is often filled with disproportionate demands and obligations, both internally and externally inflicted. Given this, and a system of work that often limits autonomy, the freedom to move through a day in an unstructured way can feel revolutionary.

Even when we are doing work we love, the idea that we can choose how we spend our time, and how much to give of ourselvescan open up space for imagination.

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During my time off, I found myself turning to works of futurism and history. Doing so helped me remember worlds outside of the traditional healthcare spaces I frequently occupied. For example, reading about the Black Panthers free clinic model and their community-centered approach to health reminded me that people of color have long created their own systems for health, outside the White-led medical industrial complex. I also combed through fiction that envisioned health on faraway planets, or worlds where immortality yielded a whole new set of health challenges.

Time granted me the opportunity to dive into health approaches that I had always wondered about but never had the time to explore: bodywork, ayurvedic knowledge, plant medicine, sound meditation, and more. These practices, for me, held multiple meanings. First, as a person looking to heal physically and emotionally, I found that they helped me unlock various aspects of the creativity and relaxation I had been looking for. Second, they also piqued my curiosity as a public health practitioneras someone who knows that our existing healthcare complex, dominated by hospitals, insurance, and pharmaceuticals, can fall short, particularly for BIPOC communities. The more I read about these various healing traditions, the more I was inspired by the leaders, collectives, and organizations that are fostering them.

These unlikely sources led me to organic brainstorms, ideas for articles, and a whole host of questions that I had held off on as I was running around in past roles. They also caused me to rethink the work containers I wanted to build for myself, and for the various organizations I worked with.

Sabbaticals, of course, cannot remedy fundamentally extractive systems of work. Stepping into my time off, I was deeply aware of my privilege. I had few family or community obligations to carry, a network of strong professional opportunities, and the ability to save financially. A sabbatical was a viable option for me, but it was unfeasible for many of the people whose work I admired mostfrom frontline racial justice organizers to healthcare practitioners treating COVID patients.

It is for this reason that funded efforts like the one in Washington are crucial. So, too, are initiatives like New Seneca Village, which launched in 2021 to bring together BIPOC healers and leaders for reflective residences. Attendees at these residencies are not obligated to produce or even talk to their peers. With funded time to simply exist, attendees could choose to flow through their days as they saw fit.

Furthermore, while temporarily opting out of the system is crucial and nourishing, it is not a replacement for labor policies such as paid leave, wage reform, childcare support, and many other elements of a robust safety net. The European Union places significant priority on mental health in the workplace, with countries like Belgium offering paid leave for burnout, accompanied by dialogues with both employees and employers about what accommodations could be made. Shifts like these ensure that, in addition to the pathway of stepping away altogether, employees also experience options to recharge on a more consistent basis as well.

One common theme Ive observed among fellow sabbatical-takers is a commitment to rethinking structures of work we previously found immovable. Maria De La Cruz, the former executive director of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice in Minneapolis, shared in a blog post about sabbaticals and systems change that the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors are depleting people, treating them like expendable resources. These systems are rooted in racial capitalism and white supremacy.

Headwaters provides paid sabbaticals to all staff after five years of service and prioritizes a culture of openness. For De La Cruz, that included reaching out to senior leadership about struggles with mental health after months of spiritual toll, trauma, and stress. The organization supported her through a month-long leave of absence to focus on healing. It is possible to create a culture of abundance where people have the time, the resources, and the space to focus on their health, their relationships, and their joy, De La Cruz shares.

Greater cultural and funding support for these shifts is crucial at the individual, institutional, and systems level. This could look like joining advocacy efforts to promote more models like that in Washington, as well as joining campaigns focused on robust labor protections and worker support. For those in social change leadership roles, learning from grassroots and organizing groups that prioritize restorative labor practiceseven while engaging in urgent, high-stakes workis a great start. So, too, is opening dialogue with your own coworkers and collaborators to identify practice changes, as well as opportunities for collective imagination.

Creating this culture and placing it in the context of broader movements is key to ensuring the ongoing health of our workand nonworksettings. A sabbatical was crucial for me to remember essential truths about what it means to engage in social change. First, it is possible to imagine and build work systems that centers spaciousness and creativity. Second, implementing these systems enables leaders to both rediscover and redesign models of health that go far beyond the medical industrial complex. Prioritizing reflection and autonomy can bring us creative institutional spaces and models where wellbeing is part of the process, not just the outcome.

More here:
Sabbaticals: A Gateway to Reimagining Health - Non Profit News - Nonprofit Quarterly

She wrote 'Notes on Nursing' (1859) which is generally described as a classic introduction to nursing. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

New Delhi: Every year on May 12, the world celebrates International Nurses Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, someone who dedicated her life to helping others and stands as a shining example of humanity. The The Lady with the Lamp, as she is famously known was a social reformer and pioneer of modern nursing who showed during the Crimean War that human civilisation can best progress if we help each other, if we have empathy in our hearts and the aim to reach out to those who are in need. In this article, we will look back at the life of this gargantuan personality who became a beacon of compassion at a time of crisis.

Also read: Why is International Nurses Day celebrated?

Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Italys Florence. Her family was a British one who had good connections in the upper echelons of society, and they returned to England in 1821. Nightangles family was liberal in their outlook, and the varied education that she got in her childhood would go on to help Nightangle immensely in the long run.

But despite her familys liberal views, when she announced her decision to become a nurse in 1944, it agitated her mother and sister greatly, as Florence did not conform to the conservative thought that women of her status should become wives and mothers only. Despite her familys opposition, Florence studied with great passion to learn the craft of nursing. It was not that Florence, a reportedly attractive woman, did not have her suitors, especially the politician and poet Richard Monckton Milnes. But she gave up the idea of marriage as it would interfere with her passion for nursing.

From October 1853 to February 1856, between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Sardinia-Piedmont were embroiled in a battle which is now known as the Crimean War. On October 21, 1854, she and the staff of 38 women volunteer nurses were sent to the Ottoman Empire, and the situation that they found there was appalling.

The medical staff was stretched in the face of the humungous challenge of caring for the dead soldiers, the officials could not care less about the situation, the lack of medicines, and nobody bothered about hygiene which resulted in the spread of other infections.

Through The Times, Nightingale appealed for a government solution to the dilapidated facilities for the wounded soldiers. The British government asked Isambard Kingdom Brunel to design a prefabricated hospital that could be shipped to the Dardanelles. As a result, the Renkioi Hospital was built.

It is said that Nightingale brought down the death rate from 42 per cent to 2 per cent, either by improving overall hygiene herself or by calling for the Sanitary Commission. She reportedly started the practice of washing hands in the hospital where she worked.

Her experience during the Crimean War convinced Nightingale that sanitary living conditions are vital to lead a healthy life. It would help her to bring down peacetime deaths in the army and focus on the sanitary design of hospitals and the introduction of sanitation in working-class homes. Also, it was during the war that Nightingale got the nickname The Lady with the Lamp from a phrase in a report in The Times.

Nightingale did extensive social reforms in her later years as well. She wrote Notes on Nursing (1859) which is generally described as a classic introduction to nursing. Also, in the 1870s, she mentored Linda Richards, Americas first trained nurse, who would go on to become a nursing pioneer in the US and Japan.

Florences name and her works became well-known not just in Great Britain, but all over the world. She died in London, on August 13, 1910, at the age of 90, leaving behind her immortal legacy as the founder of the modern nursing profession.

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Florence Nightingale birth anniversary: The Lady with the Lamp who founded modern nursing during Crimean War - News9 LIVE

Today, I want to update the House on Russias attacks on civilians and critical national infrastructure in Ukraine.

We are now on day 442 of the conflict. During this period Moscow has, according to the UN, provoked the largest displacement of people in Europe since World War 2, including almost eight million refugees and almost six million internally forced from their homes. We must not lose sight of these staggering statistics. But, worse still, Russias battlefield setbacks have led it to cynically targeting energy infrastructure - putting millions of people at risk of sickness and death in cold unsanitary conditions. Take, for example, the besieged city of Bakhmut, where there are now fewer than 7,000 residents, one-tenth of the original population. Who, for the last nine months have been hiding in basements, without clean water, electricity, or gas and minimal connection to the outside world.

From the scale of Russias attacks, it is clear that they have not limited themselves to military targets - their purpose is simply to terrorise the local population into submission. That conclusion is the only one that can be drawn when you look at Russias ever-expanding charge sheet of international humanitarian law violations.

As of 2 April, there have been 788 attacks on healthcare facilities - hospitals, clinics, medical centres. There have been instances of damage to educational faculties schools, day care centres and nurseries.

Meanwhile, Russia has plundered crops and agricultural equipment on an industrial scale, destroying grain storage and handling facilities. According to estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics, Russia stole or destroyed 4.04 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds, valued at $1.9bn, in Ukrainian territories during the 2022 season. And the Kremlins continued intransigence is contributing to the current backlog of grain exports.

Besides this, Russia has bombed industrial facilities, including the Azot chemical plant (Severodonesk) risking toxic industrial chemical release and environmental impact. It has attacked Ukraines largest refinery at Kremenchuk on at least three occasions. It has bombed airfields, ports, roads and rail networks preventing refugees from fleeing the danger. It has taken out communication networks affecting banks, internet and cell phones with residents in some areas now forced to barter for food. And Kremlin strikes on substations, powerplants and powerlines have impacted water treatment facilities leaving cities like Mariupol without water and reliant on delivery of bottled supplies.

At the same time, Russia has forcibly occupied and undermined the safe operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant the largest in Europe. As International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi has said: Every single one of the IAEAs crucial seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security in an armed conflict has been compromised. He recently warned the situation around the plant was potentially dangerous.

Sadly, so far at least 23,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded, although the actual figure is likely to be substantially higher. Thousands of citizens have been sent to sinister filtration camps before being forcibly relocated to Russia. Some 6,000 children - ranging in ages from 4 months to 17 years - are now in re-education camps across Russia.

The UN as well as US investigators have found that Russia has committed war crimes with reported evidence of executions, torture and sexual violence in civilian areas. In early April, President Zelensky said more than 70,000 Russian war crimes had been recorded since Putins invasion. The names of Bucha and Izium have become synonymous with mass murder. The world will not forget the bombing of the drama theatre in Mariupol where 1,200 civilians sought shelter under a giant sign reading children - no matter how much Russia tries to hide and bulldoze over the scene we will not forget. Even in the territories Russia has illegally annexed, citizens find themselves subjected to the worst excesses of totalitarianism. A Russian passport is increasingly essential to access vital services a nightmare for those with newborn babies. Civilian infrastructure such as healthcare facilities are being seized and repurposed to treat wounded servicemen. Kill lists of civic leaders have been drawn up, citizens executed in cold blood and concerted attempts made to erase Ukrainian, culture, history and identity.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we should be clear. The targeting of civilians and infrastructure essential to the civilian population of Ukraine has not happened by accident in the fog of war. Much of it was planned Russian policy. Russia has form. Weve seen their handiwork in Syria.

In March, President Putin was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

But we should also be clear, as numerous credible reports indicate, Russias morally bankrupt approach might have been made in the Kremlin but it is often carried out willingly - not just by rogue units - but by the ordinary rank and file across the Russian armed forces.

An even clearer picture of Russias barbaric approach emerges when we look at some of the weapons they are using against innocent civilians. I am not referring here to the extensive strikes against Ukraines electric power network from cruise and surface-to-surface missiles. Or even the use of short-range ballistic missile like the Iskander which infamously hit a railway station in the city of Kramatorsk, killing 60 and wounding more than 110. Or even the two 500kg bombs dropped by Russian fighter aircraft on the Mariupol theatre.

The fact is Russia has used cluster munitions with wholesale disregard for human life and civilians. They have been dropped near a hospital in Vuhledar. A 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile delivering a 9N123 cluster munition warhead killed four civilians and injured another 10, including six healthcare workers. It has used 9M55K Smerch cluster munition rockets in three neighbourhoods of Kharkiv Ukraines second largest city - resulting in reports of nine civilian deaths and 37 injuries, according to the United Nations.

Russia also relies on massed fires. Indiscriminate artillery bombardments to built-up areas, that account for the vast majority of civilian casualties injured or killed.

And Moscow makes extensive use of conventional anti-personnel mines and improvised booby traps to indiscriminately harm civilians. Dead bodies, the homes and vehicles of Ukrainian civilians and even childrens toys have been rigged up as lethal devices. Russia has laid mines remotely and mechanically, covering significant areas of farmland with scant evidence of either marking minefields or warning civilians about their presence. These mines will leave a legacy of danger long after the conflict ends.

Russia has used hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack targets in Ukraine. Loitering munitions sent on numerous suicide missions have repeatedly taken their toll on civilians. Last week these weapons struck a university campus in Odesa and, once more, innocents were in the crosshairs in Kyiv.

Mr Deputy Speaker, from the start I have been clear that our support for Ukraine is responsible, calibrated, coordinated and agile. Aligned and united with the international community, we are helping the Ukrainians defend their homeland. Most importantly, it is responsive to Russias own actions. None of this would have been necessary, had Russia not invaded. But now it is about pushing back their forces and deterring them from committing yet more crimes by holding the Russian military establishment to account for their actions.

In December, Mr Deputy Speaker, I wrote to Russian Defence Minister Shoigu and set out the UK governments objection to the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure. And that further attacks contrary to International Humanitarian Law for example, the Principle of Distinction, codified in Articles 48, 51, and 52 of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention, would force me to consider donating more capable weapons to Ukraine, so they may better defend themselves within their own territory.

Unfortunately, Russia has continued down this dark path. This year, Russias leadership has continued to systematically target civilians and civilian infrastructure with bombs, missiles and drones. More medical facilities were targeted in January than in the previous six months combined.

It has bombed power facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa oblasts. Incidents of civilian casualties have increased; especially in areas close to the frontline, such as Kherson and Bakhmut - a city now reduced to a smoking ruin. In January, a block of flats in Dnipro was wiped out by a 5.5 tonne Russian AS-4 KITCHEN missile probably causing 124 casualties, including 45 fatalities. In March, a five-storey apartment block in Zaporizhzia was attacked with a S-300 missile - almost completely destroying the building. And between April 27 and May 2, Russian forces conducted strikes against Ukraine using Kh-101 and Kh-555 long-range Air Launched Cruise Missiles. Despite Kremlin claims that it is targeting Ukraines military-industrial facilities one of the buildings struck was a nine-storey apartment block. The salvo left 23 dead and dozens more injured. Last week, Russian shelling struck residential buildings, and on Monday they bombed a Red Cross warehouse full of humanitarian aid. And drone footage from Bakhmut appeared to show white phosphorus raining down on a city ablaze. The use of incendiary weapons, which burn at 800 degrees Celsius, within concentrations of civilians is a contravention of Protocol 3 of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as I have said many times in the past we simply will not stand by while Russia kills civilians. We have seen what Ukrainians are able to do when they have the right capabilities. In recent days, 30 Shahed drones have been shot down. The Ukrainian Air Force say 23 out of 25 cruise missiles fired from sea and land have been downed. And we have had confirmation from Lieutenant General Oleschuk, the Ukrainian Air Force Commander, that even Russias much-vaunted AS-24 KILLJOY air launched hypersonic ballistic missile has been brought down.

That is why the Prime Minister and I have now taken the decision to provide longer range capabilities.

In December, I informed the House that I was developing options to respond to Russias continued aggression in a calibrated and determined manner.

Today, I can confirm that the UK has donated Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. Storm Shadow is a long-range conventional precision strike capability. It compliments the long-range systems already gifted, including HIMARS and Harpoon missiles, as well as Ukraines own Neptune cruise missiles and longer-range munitions already gifted.

The donation of these weapon systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against Russias continued brutality. Especially, the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian Civilian Infrastructure, which is against International Law. Ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself against this. Their use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian Sovereign Territory.

Im sure the House will understand that I will not go into further details of the capability. But while these weapons will give Ukraine new capability, members should recognise that these systems are not in the same league as the Russian AS-24 KILLJOY hypersonic missile or Shahed Iranian one-way attack drones, or their Kalibr cruise missile with a range of over 2,000km. Roughly 7 times that of the Storm Shadow missile.

Russia must recognise that their actions alone have led to such systems being provided to Ukraine.

It is my judgement as the Defence Secretary that this is a calibrated proportionate response to Russias escalations.

Mr Deputy Speaker, travelling through Ukraine as I have several times since the invasion you see smashed buildings where once there were businesses, and piles of rubble where once there were homes full of life.

They reveal the truth of Russias invasion. Their needless destruction and gratuitous violence. Their continuing violations of international law and the deliberate targeting and killing of civilians. They are the visible and tragic symbols of the Kremlins desperation.

Try as they might, the Kremlin cant hide the fact that their invasion is already failing. They can only occupy the rubble left by their destruction.

And this weeks Victory Day parade showcased only, really, this historic failure. It demonstrated Putins efforts to twist the Soviet Unions sacrifices against the Nazis in the Second World War and was an insult to the Immortal Regiment.

It was the faade of power and distraction from a faltering invasion. The appeal to unity while even the Russian leadership loses confidence. The hypocrisy of claiming victimhood while waging a war of their own choosing.

The reality is that this is a war of President Putins own choosing. At the expense of Ukraines sovereignty and its civilians lives.

But Mr Deputy Speaker, as you know, the UK stands for values of freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and the protection of civilians. We will stand side by side with Ukraine, we will continue to support them in defence of their sovereign country.

And that is why I commend this statement to the house.

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Defence Secretary oral statement on war in Ukraine - GOV.UK