Life is Short

Why Didn’t I Know This at Twenty?!

I remember my mom and great-aunt lamenting how quickly the years go by, but at eight, or twelve, or even sixteen, that had no context for me. They were “old” and even though I saw photos of their younger selves, to me it seemed they had always been that way. Then it happened to me.

I’m not super old yet, but I turned sixty several months ago, and even though I still feel pretty good physically, I’m starting to see changes on my face that disclose the fact that I’ve been around for a while.

And I have been—that’s the point. My grandmother died before I was even born, at fifty-nine; her sister (the woman I knew as a grandmother, my great-aunt) was sixty when she finally got married, and she looked old to me in her wedding pictures. So even though I’ve tried to take care of myself, let’s…

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A espera deste amor

MasticadoresBrasil Editora: Miriam Costa

Por: Renata Rodrigues Batista – https://sentimentosemformadepoesia.wordpress.com/

Foto por How Far From Home em Pexels.com

Tão pouco

assim o coração espera.

Bate forte e acelera

confiante….

Aquela menina apreciando a vista pela janela

e sem imaginar despertará o amor

daquele que impaciente espera!

Na esperança torcepara que o destino

seja de sorte,

às vezes chorasozinha

mas tem fé,

de que algum diaaconteça o encontro

de dois coraçõesna mesma sinfonia, perdidos na paixão…

(Com a intensidade frenética, loucadesta vida.)

E que assim seja

despertado omais belo sentimento

que chamamos de amor!

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Those who cannot remember the past

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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

~ Santayana
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Zij die het verleden niet kunnen herinneren

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Zij die zich het verleden niet kunnen herinneren zijn gedoemd het te herhalen.

~ Santayana

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Voorbij dit aardse leven!

Foto & tekst credit: “Return To Eden” op Facebook

“Je *moet* je ogen ver *buiten de aarde verheffen
en erkennen waarheen je pad na dit aardse leven leidt,
zodat je je tegelijkertijd bewust wordt waarom
en met welk doel je hier op aarde bent!”- De Graalsboodschap “In het Licht der Waarheid” http://grailmessage.com/en/about/

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Vertaling van Beyond this earth life!

Voorgaande

Het doel van dit glorieuze leven…

Alles op aarde heeft een doel…

Dromen en doelen met Focus op groei

Food market pioneer taking on the cost of living crisis Dorothy Bowker at her low-cost community supermarket

Dorothy Bowker at her low-cost community supermarket, the Bridge at Leigh. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

At 75, Dorothy Bowker felt compelled to set up a low-cost supermarket for her community. Now it is her turn to be treated

Sirin Kale

‘I’m one of those people who says yes to things,”

says Dorothy Bowker, sounding bewildered. I’ve just asked her why she decided to launch a community supermarket at an age when most people are enjoying a quiet and retirement, or spending time with their families. (Bowker, 75, is a mother of three, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of three.)

…

Since 2015, Bowker has been a trustee of the Bridge at Leigh, which was originally a community cafe in this town small near Wigan. It was her husband, Frank, who first got involved; he brought her in, and Bowker helped transform the space into a low-cost food market. The group collects surplus stock from supermarkets that would otherwise go to waste and sells it at low prices to members of the community.

“People pay a £2 yearly membership fee,”

Bowker says,

“and can shop at really low prices. If they spend £5, they’re probably getting a bag of shopping worth £20 or even £25.”

The supermarket welcomes all, but particularly people on low incomes, families that are just about managing, and those who may have to choose between heating and eating.

“Anyone can join,”

says Bowker.

“We don’t ask how much they earn. Sometimes we attract people who are more worried about food waste than cost, and they may pay extra. Other families are on benefits, and come regularly. You get to know everyone.”

Continue to read and know more:

• The people making a difference: the food market pioneer taking on the cost of living crisis
• The Bridge at Leigh – Fighting hunger and food waste

The key to self-motivation is self-esteem

Self-motivation is rooted in self-esteem, writes Christian Dashiell in Fatherly.

“Self-motivated kids have a core belief that they can do hard things or things that might feel unpleasant, even when they fail at first,”

says educational psychologist Richelle Whittaker. One way to help kids build that sort of confidence is to allow them to help around the house — even when it’s inconvenient. Encourage kids when they take an interest in a new activity, and if possible, join them in the challenge and model the persistence involved in mastering a new skill. It’s fine to use treats or screen time to boost a child’s motivation, but remember that the

“incentivization that works best for developing self-motivated kids focuses on effort, initiative, and persistence — not simply on task completion,”

writes Dashiell. [Fatherly]

Quandary of Reflections

Amitav Chowdhury

Drifting and darting around insanely, mine, but once-in-a-lifetime, not anymore

Dying like a shooting star, flashes of brilliance through their brokenness

Lighting up my horizon, but here I am misaligned, not even a parallel existence

Exited the misunderstood reality shadowed with innumerable untruths, unfaithful promises

Mirrors are thoughtful, exposing the reality of altered reflections, I go deeper through a portal

Another world, another type of shadow, a complex puzzle envisioned; I am unaware of my role, even my existence

Are their only reflections, if only the images had clarity, but the reverberation of changes unsettle everything

-Amitav Chowdhury

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Spirit Rest

paddypicasso

Mental work is the hardest of all, requires concentration, ask any student preparing for an exam, trying to focus. If your artistic, its a little easier, thoughts become you work, no day a write off, the ups and downs, all part of the routine.

In praise of Spiritual women, those who try to hold on to the beliefs they have. What is turbulence to them; the over emphasis on the lower spirit, a power that drives so many. The identity of the body, as a parts brigade, rather than as a whole, the man wars started, to satisfy the greed of a few, no thought for the victims, just more pain in the offing. Do those who start wars ever think of the innocent victims, or the lasting legacy they leave behind. Call it baggage, but does it not feel a heavy load, years later, when the reality of divine…

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Russia’s next stages in Ukraine

The Florida Squeeze

The Russians have had a tough time combating the Ukrainian conventional forces as they wisely dispersed prior to the Russian invasion.  These forces are now being used to launch hit and run raids against the Russians.   An outmatched Ukrainian military has sought to avoid pitched battles which they could easily lose. 

The Russians have now recognized this and seem to be pursuing a fairly clear strategy.  The Russians will surround the major cities between the Donbas and the Crimea to create a land bridge between their occupied territories.  They are already implementing this strategy in Mariupol.  They will likely do the same in Kharkiv and Kyiv, although either may be flattened to secure the surrender, capture or death of the government’s leaders. 

The Russians are attempting to implement a second cease fire with humanitarian corridors so as many civilians as possible can flee.  This is important politically for the Russian…

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Where are the church-members gone

When COVID subsided somewhat, and the nation began to open its doors again, churches also began to open and regroup initially with some level of precautions involving masks and social distancing. After several weeks, most churches were back to a semblance of normal operation. What wasn’t normal was that only about half of the pews or chairs were filled. Half of the congregation was looking around wondering where the other half went. Research shows that a few are still not comfortable with indoor crowds, since the pandemic has not yet fully ended. A much greater number have grown too comfortable with watching services from their home and are still in that mode. And, the hard truth is many have simply gotten out of the habit of church, actual attendance or on TV, and can’t get motivated to return. Being an online church member or avoiding church altogether can become addictive, but it comes at a price, spiritually and socially. {It’s Time to Get Back into Church}

Find out more:

1. Has Bible Engagement during Coronavirus Increased or Decreased?
2. About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated
3. Less Americans interested in praying
4. My perspective: Virtual v Physical church attendance

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Related

1. Normal Christian Doctrine Explained: Church Attendance
2. Millions skipped church during pandemic; will they return?
3. Why We’re Not Going Back to Church
4. Probe 2020 Survey Report #3: Religious Practices and Purpose for Living
5. Why are people attending church less frequently?
6. “I Can’t Come To Church Because Of Covid”
7. Sellers: The Church is Losing Its Way
8. Church attendance is often a distraction from biblical Christianity
9. Is church attendance linked to higher rates of coronavirus?
10. Some Assembly Required
11. Only megachurches and “minichurches” in the United States?
12. Where Should You Go to Encourage & Be Encouraged?

Destination

I love music

She works, she sees,

nothing but her destiny

Small talk, Laughter sounds

Lost in the pursuit of her destiny

She loves company and the crowd

Shut in the dark

Destiny flickering like a flame.

She hears and sees

Nothing but the sound of celebration

But she’s lost in the pursuit

Of her destination.

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Gratitude …

Beatriz Esmer

On the clothesline, I extend gratitude to the complicit eyes who have visited my yard over the years. I am grateful for the generosity of those who, in the letters and messages in which I have sewed my comfort and contentment, I will also rest in them for so long. I thank all those who made me into the word a bridge for honored encounters. To those who, unknowingly, took my seeds beyond my limited horizons, expanding into literary realms that we all walk through. I thank you all for allowing me to be a small translator of our immensity, confessional of the inner tides, an anonymous informer by the very storms that we have just celebrated by recognizing ourselves in the mirror of human equality. I thank those who know their names, those who do not know anything and who somehow have also crossed my path. I ask for…

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God Loves Me

Recently I was thinking on my many sins and failures over the years,
the wrong I have done and the good that I have left undone, and this thought came to me:
The Creator of the Universe loves me.
Is it possible that when I come to Him in genuine repentance to ask His forgiveness and help and ongoing love,
He grants forgiveness and then says something like this?
‘I love sinners. You are all I’ve got to work with’.
This thought encourages me to sin less as I snuggle into the warmth of His love.
~ Alan Hermann

Va’Eschanon 5751: To See That Moshiach Was Born on Tisha B’Av

Dvar Malchus 770

Shabbos Parshas Va’Eschanon is also “Shabbos Nachamu”, the first of the “seven [Sabbaths] of comforting”, named after the haftorah which begins with the words “Nachamu Nachamu ami” (Be comforted, be comforted, My people).

The double expression of “Nachamu” (double-comforting following the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh (twice) on Tisha B’Av) implies a true, unlimited comforting after the destruction of Tisha B’Av.  (The Rebbe points out that: “Since the comforting is (not only words of comfort and the like, but rather) through the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash.” — (one of the jobs of Moshiach.))

The first Beis Hamikdosh was primarily due to revelations from Above to below; the second was primarily an effort from below to Above.  The third Beis Hamikdosh, which is eternal, (because it) will be a union of those two qualities.  In other words (explained in footnote 52 in the original), the revelation of G-dliness that occurred…

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Streams caused by temperature differences

Andreas Kluth in The Day, a daily newspaper covering a 20-town region in eastern Connecticut, in his guest opinion piece writes about weather disasters spanning the globe this summer, looking at the many infernal fires in California and Greece, deadly floods from Germany to China, heat waves from Canada to Siberia that according to him

are really just nature’s shots across our bow.

That becomes clear if we absorb the recently published report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the United Nations that assesses the state of science on global warming. He writes:

No matter what policies we adopt − and obviously we should aim for good ones – the weather will keep getting more catastrophic more often.

A lot of people would agree with the fact that even when we are so progressed in science, there is still what we do not know.

Part of what makes the overall problem of climate change so psychologically daunting is that there’s so much we know, but so much more that we know only partially, and even more that we have yet to understand at all.

We know perfectly well, for example, how coal-fired power plants pump carbon dioxide into the air – bad. We only partially understand how the thawing permafrost could release enough methane on top of the greenhouse gases we’ve emitted to cause additional, sudden and terrifying spikes in warming – really bad. And we have yet to figure out exactly how all this would affect the earth system as a whole, and in particular the massive currents of air and water that have made the world a familiar habitat to us.

One current of particular concern is the polar jet stream, a group of winds that whips at enormous speeds around the Arctic from west to east (owing to the earth’s rotation) at a height of six-to-10 miles up in the atmosphere. Another is the Gulf Stream, a vast oceanic conveyor belt that makes warm water from the tropics flow northward on the surface until it cools and, around Iceland, sinks down and heads back south.

One thing these streams have in common, with each other and the many other currents all around the world, is that they’re caused by temperature differences between the hot tropics and the cold poles. Another thing they share is that, in their own ways, they protect or nurture us humans.

The complex swirls of the jet streams tend to blow away pressure systems that could otherwise kill us on the ground with storms and floods and heat. If these streams blow less hard, or more weirdly, or not at all, those meteorological danger domes just hover in place without moving, until they discharge their payloads on us. Although the details aren’t clear yet, scientists believe this partially explains why the floods in Germany, the heat waves in North America and forest fires in Greece and Turkey turned into such doozies.

Changes in the Gulf Stream work more slowly but are just as consequential. It’s already known that the current is at its weakest in a millennium. There are many reasons, including torrents of freshwater pouring in from melting ice and bloated rivers (freshwater is lighter than saltwater and prevents cooling water from sinking) and shrinking temperature differentials between south and north as the Artic heats up. A new study in Nature suggests that the whole Atlantic circulation and convection system may “collapse” altogether.

Read more about it: If jet or gulf streams collapse, we’re in for it

A woman throws away flood damaged rubbish July 19 in the center of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany. (Bram Janssen/AP Photo)

Cleanup begins after deadly floods in Europe

The Weather Man

Flood damage, Pepinster, Belgium, 17 July 2021 (Twitter/@RagnarSkre)

A 1-in-100-year deluge may describe heavy rains which led to deadly floods in western Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg this week.

While hundreds are still missing, officials say the death toll has climbed to at least 170.

Two months’ rain (up to 200 mm) fell in just 24 hours causing rivers and streams to burst their banks.

The flash flooding destroyed homes, stranded vehicles on highways and required many rescue operations of people stranded on rooftops.

As the cleanup begins, many communities are still without power and communication systems are down.

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Vakantie en reizen in coronatijden

Voor heel wat mensen is op vakantie gaan gelijk geworden als op reis gaan, ook al hoeft dat zo niet te zijn. Maar de meeste mensen zijn vergeten hoe ze thuis vakantie kunnen door brengen.

Reizen
De zomervakantie is aangebroken en heel wat mensen voelen er wel een beetje nood aan om de kerktoren te verlaten en andere horizonten te verkennen.

Het Nationaal Overlegcomité heeft regels vastgelegd om deze zomer vrij en veilig te reizen binnen de Europese Unie. Dat zal kunnen op basis van het Europees digitaal coronacertificaat. Het certificaat kan vanaf 1 juli in alle EU-landen worden gebruikt en is het bewijs dat iemand tegen corona is gevaccineerd (+ 2 weken), negatief op corona is getest of van corona is hersteld.

Men moet wel weten dat reizen naar landen buiten de Europese Unie intussen sterk afgeraden blijven. Lees hier meer over wat je moet doen bij vertrek of terugkomst uit het buitenland.

Passagier Lokalisatie Formulier blijft behouden Aan het gebruik van het Passagier Lokalisatie Formulier, verandert er niets.

Het onderscheid tussen professioneel en niet-professioneel reizen is gelukkig vervallen. Heel Kafkajaans mocht het zijn dat voor mensen die voor hun beroep de grenzen moesten oversteken heel wat paperassen moesten verwerken en heel wat moesten betalen voor de nodige testen en vergunningen, dit terwijl zij die voor de lol de landsgrenzen over staken goedkoop tot zelfs gratis hun testen konden krijgen.
Ook voor professionele reizen moet vanaf 1 juli wel nog een PLF worden ingevuld in plaats van de Business Travel Abroad-tool (BTA).

Algemeen zouden wij het liefst hebben dat zich niet te veel mensen zich verplaatsen naar regio’s waar veel mensen tesamen zijn. Dus kan men best al die populaire badplaatsen vermijden.
Minder erg is het als men ergens ver weg van de massa gaat zitten. In een eigen ‘hutje’, appartement of huisje, in zulk een afgelegen plek dat men er zelfs minder mensen tegen komt dan in de eigen huiselijke omgeving.

Geniet van het samenzijn met familie en vrienden, maar probeer toch steeds de maatregelen en het zorgen voor ieders veiligheid en gezondheid in het achterhoofd te houden.

In ieder geval wat u ook wenst te doen: Houdt het veilig, niet enkel voor u en uw gezin, maar ook voor alle anderen.

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Gerelateerd leesvoer

1. Rustige zondag
2. Vakantie EHBF
3. Aangepaste Coronamaatregelen en vakantietijd
4. 3 (h)eerlijke vakantieparken in eigen land
5. Kleurplaat – ‘Slakkantie’
6. Drie geweldige wandelingen in het Zwarte Woud

100 Pasajes Bíblicos Populares # 14 La zarza ardiente

 

Exodo 3

1 Apacentando Moisés las ovejas de Jetro su suegro, sacerdote de Madián, llevó las ovejas a través del desierto, y llegó hasta Horeb, monte de Dios.
2 Y se le apareció el Angel de Jehová en una llama de fuego en medio de una zarza; y él miró, y vio que la zarza ardía en fuego, y la zarza no se consumía.
3 Entonces Moisés dijo: Iré yo ahora y veré esta grande visión, por qué causa la zarza no se quema.
4 Viendo Jehová que él iba a ver, lo llamó Dios de en medio de la zarza, y dijo: ¡Moisés, Moisés! Y él respondió: Heme aquí.
5 Y dijo: No te acerques; quita tu calzado de tus pies, porque el lugar en que tú estás, tierra santa es.
6 Y dijo: Yo soy el Dios de tu padre, Dios de Abraham, Dios de Isaac, y Dios de Jacob. Entonces Moisés cubrió su rostro, porque tuvo miedo de mirar a Dios.

7 Dijo luego Jehová: Bien he visto la aflicción de mi pueblo que está en Egipto, y he oído su clamor a causa de sus exactores; pues he conocido sus angustias,
8 y he descendido para librarlos de mano de los egipcios, y sacarlos de aquella tierra a una tierra buena y ancha, a tierra que fluye leche y miel, a los lugares del cananeo, del heteo, del amorreo, del ferezeo, del heveo y del jebuseo.
9 El clamor, pues, de los hijos de Israel ha venido delante de mí, y también he visto la opresión con que los egipcios los oprimen.

10 Ven, por tanto, ahora, y te enviaré a Faraón, para que saques de Egipto a mi pueblo, los hijos de Israel.
11 Entonces Moisés respondió a Dios: ¿Quién soy yo para que vaya a Faraón, y saque de Egipto a los hijos de Israel?
12 Y él respondió: Vé, porque yo estaré contigo; y esto te será por señal de que yo te he enviado: cuando hayas sacado de Egipto al pueblo, serviréis a Dios sobre este monte.
13 Dijo Moisés a Dios: He aquí que llego yo a los hijos de Israel, y les digo: El Dios de vuestros padres me ha enviado a vosotros. Si ellos me preguntaren: ¿Cuál es su nombre?, ¿qué les responderé?

14 Y respondió Dios a Moisés: YO SOY EL QUE SOY. Y dijo: Así dirás a los hijos de Israel: YO SOY me envió a vosotros.

15 Además dijo Dios a Moisés: Así dirás a los hijos de Israel: Jehová, el Dios de vuestros padres, el Dios de Abraham, Dios de Isaac y Dios de Jacob, me ha enviado a vosotros. Este es mi nombre para siempre; con él se me recordará por todos los siglos.

16 Vé, y reúne a los ancianos de Israel, y diles: Jehová, el Dios de vuestros padres, el Dios de Abraham, de Isaac y de Jacob, me apareció diciendo: En verdad os he visitado, y he visto lo que se os hace en Egipto;
17 y he dicho: Yo os sacaré de la aflicción de Egipto a la tierra del cananeo, del heteo, del amorreo, del ferezeo, del heveo y del jebuseo, a una tierra que fluye leche y miel.
18 Y oirán tu voz; e irás tú, y los ancianos de Israel, al rey de Egipto, y le diréis: Jehová el Dios de los hebreos nos ha encontrado; por tanto, nosotros iremos ahora camino de tres días por el desierto, para que ofrezcamos sacrificios a Jehová nuestro Dios.
19 Mas yo sé que el rey de Egipto no os dejará ir sino por mano fuerte. procuraban tu muerte.
20 Pero yo extenderé mi mano, y heriré a Egipto con todas mis maravillas que haré en él, y entonces os dejará ir.
21 Y yo daré a este pueblo gracia en los ojos de los egipcios, para que cuando salgáis, no vayáis con las manos vacías; pueblo.
22 sino que pedirá cada mujer a su vecina y a su huéspeda alhajas de plata, alhajas de oro, y vestidos, los

Exodo 4

1 Entonces Moisés respondió diciendo: He aquí que ellos no me creerán, ni oirán mi voz; porque dirán: No te ha aparecido Jehová.
2 Y Jehová dijo: ¿Qué es eso que tienes en tu mano? Y él respondió: Una vara.
3 El le dijo: Echala en tierra. Y él la echó en tierra, y se hizo una culebra; y Moisés huía de ella. o: A la verdad tú me eres un esposo de sangre.
4 Entonces dijo Jehová a Moisés: Extiende tu mano, y tómala por la cola. Y él extendió su mano, y la tomó, y se
5 Por esto creerán que se te ha aparecido Jehová, el Dios de tus padres, el Dios de Abraham, Dios de Isaac y Dios de Jacob.
6 Le dijo además Jehová: Mete ahora tu mano en tu seno. Y él metió la mano en su seno; y cuando la sacó, he aquí que su mano estaba leprosa como la nieve.
7 Y dijo: Vuelve a meter tu mano en tu seno. Y él volvió a meter su mano en su seno; y
8 Si aconteciere que no te creyeren ni obedecieren a la voz de la primera señ
9 Y si aún no creyeren a estas dos señales, ni oyeren tu voz, tomarás de las aguas del río y las derramarás en tierra;
10 Entonces dijo Moisés a Jehová: ¡Ay, Señor! nunca he sido hombre de fácil palabra, ni antes, ni desde que tú hablas a tu siervo; porque soy
11 Y Jehová le respondió: ¿Quién dio la boca al hombre? ¿O quién hizo al mudo y al sordo, al que ve y al ciego?
12 Ahora, pues, vé, y yo estaré con tu boca, y te enseñaré lo que hayas de hablar. por el
13 Y él dijo: ¡Ay, Señor! envía, te ruego, por medio del que debes enviar. ed a vuestras tareas.
14 Entonces Jehová se enojó contra Moisés, y dijo: ¿No conozco yo a tu hermano Aarón, levita, y

15 Tú hablarás a él, y pondrás en su boca las palabras, y yo estaré con tu boca y con la suya, y os enseñaré lo que
16 Y él hablará por ti al pueblo; él te será a ti en lugar de boca, y tú serás para él en lugar de Dios
17 Y tomarás en tu mano esta vara, con la cual harás las señale

18 Así se fue Moisés, y volviendo a su suegro Jetro, le dijo: Iré a

19 Dijo también Jehová a Moisés en Madián: Vé y vuélvete a Egipto, porque han muerto todos los que procuraban tu muerte.
20 Entonces Moisés tomó su mujer y sus hijos, y los puso sobre un asno, y volvió a tierra de Egipto. Tomó también Moisés la vara de Dios en su mano.
21 Y dijo Jehová a Moisés: Cuando hayas vuelto a Egipto, mira que hagas delante de Faraón todas las maravillas que he puesto en tu mano; pero yo endureceré su corazón, de modo que no dejará ir al pueblo.
22 Y dirás a Faraón: Jehová ha dicho así: Israel es mi hijo, mi primogénito.
23 Ya te he dicho que dejes ir a mi hijo, para que me sirva, mas no has querido dejarlo ir; he aquí yo voy a matar a tu hijo, tu primogénito.

24 Y aconteció en el camino, que en una posada Jehová le salió al encuentro, y quiso matarlo.
25 Entonces Séfora tomó un pedernal afilado y cortó el prepucio de su hijo, y lo echó a sus pies, diciendo: A la verdad tú me eres un esposo de sangre.
26 Así le dejó luego ir. Y ella dijo: Esposo de sangre, a causa de la circuncisión.

27 Y Jehová dijo a Aarón: Vé a recibir a Moisés al desierto. Y él fue, y lo encontró en el monte de Dios, y le besó.
28 Entonces contó Moisés a Aarón todas las palabras de Jehová que le enviaba, y todas las señales que le había dado.
29 Y fueron Moisés y Aarón, y reunieron a todos los ancianos de los hijos de Israel.
30 Y habló Aarón acerca de todas las cosas que Jehová había dicho a Moisés, e hizo las señales delante de los ojos del pueblo.
31 Y el pueblo creyó; y oyendo que Jehová había visitado a los hijos de Israel, y que había visto su aflicción, se inclinaron y adoraron.

 

 

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Vaccinatieongelijkheid kan structurele ongelijkheid wereldwijd doen toenemen

2021 lijkt op een overgangsjaar te worden voor de ontwikkeling van (corona)vaccins. Maar er zijn nog heel wat hindernissen te overwinnen. Ook moeten heel wat verzinsels de wereld uit geholpen worden.

Rusland beet de kop er af en startte als eerste te vaccineren met hun Russisch vaccin. Groot-Britannië is deze week begonnen met het Pfizer vaccin, dat vervolgens ook in de V.S.A. zal aangeboden worden. Verder op de kandidatenlijst staan AstraZeneca,  Johnson&Johnson en Moderna in de wachtrij. China, waar het allemaal begon, is nu ook gestart met de distributie van een eigen vaccin. In deze coronacrisis is er heel wat geld en tijd tegen aan gegooid om zo vlug mogelijk een doeltreffend geneesmiddel of preventiemiddel te vinden.

Aangezien het bij de koplopers veelal gaat om westers gefinancierde research, is het niet onlogisch dat er daardoor in eerste instantie naar deze, overigens rijkere westerse markten wordt gekeken als afzetgebied. Hoewel deze multinationals eerder aangaven dat ze niet van plan zijn om winstbejag tot hun centrale drijfveer te nemen, kan verwacht worden dat de informele onderhandelingspositie van dergelijke bedrijven inzake fiscaliteit en goedkeuring van toekomstige projecten in de komende jaren zal versterken.

Mondiaal speelt hier ook een geopolitieke race; er is immers een nieuwe revolutie in de farma, virologie en epidemiologie ontstaan als gevolg van corona. In 2009 lanceerde de Amerikaanse president Obama bijvoorbeeld het PREDICT-project (red.nota: in 2009 gelanceerd als reactie op de uitbraak van het influenza A-virus subtype H5N1 “vogelgriep” in 2005.) om nieuwe gezondheidsbedreigingen reeds vooraf wetenschappelijk te kunnen detecteren. We kunnen verwachten dat de Biden-regering zulke projecten zal versterken, in eerste instantie samen met Europa en de ontwikkelde economieën.

Lees hier meer over: Gezondheidsbeleid als geopolitieke strategie