Thought on new year

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – We welcomed 2021 more than a month ago, but today is the beginning of the Lunar or Chinese New Year. Think of it as Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July all combined into one celebration. It’s also another chance for new beginnings. A normal celebration calls for fireworks, traditional Chinese dancing and a feast for hundreds. Today is the first day of a two-week festival but, like everything else, it’s different this year because of the pandemic. RELATED: Taxpayers Get 1099 Forms From Unemployment Office For Income They Never Received “This is a time that we’re supposed to be proud and happy and unfortunately no one thought it was going to be a full year,” said Marian Lien, the Organization of Chinese Americans President. But many are still keeping some of the traditions alive. Tina Chuang is the owner of Ting’s Kitchen. She’s also a native of Taiwan. She’s trying to make the best of this year’s celebrations with a scaled-down feast. “Normally … [Read more...] about Organization Of Chinese Americans To Help Struggling Asian Restaurants In Pittsburgh For Lunar New Year

The fast approach of the New Year causes profound reflection. Deep, thought-provoking questions enter our minds as we search for answers. Questions like, “How much does the Ball in Times Square weigh?” or “What does ‘Auld Lang Syne’ mean?” pop into mind as the days roll on. Never fear, oh enlightened ones, this New Year’s Trivia Game was concocted just for you. Play the game to see how much you know or follow the answer key at the bottom of the page to quench your thirst for knowledge! RELATED: 'Supernatural' stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki on the Show's Final Day 1. In what year was the first “Ball Drop” in Times Square? (via ibtimes.com ) 1921 1899 1907 1960 (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) 2. About how much does the Ball in Times Square weigh? (via ibtimes.com ) 6,000 lbs 12,000 lbs 100,000 lbs 50,000 lbs 3. What color underwear do Italians wear on New Year’s Eve to them bring … [Read more...] about The New Year’s Trivia Game

(CNN)Is burying the dead a practice unique to Homo sapiens? Or did other early humans such as Neanderthals lay their loved ones to rest under the earth? It's a topic of long-standing debate among archaeologists. Now, evidence of funerary behavior could shed light on the cognitive abilities and social customs of Neanderthals and whether, like modern humans, they were capable of symbolic thought. Dozens of buried Neanderthal skeletons have been discovered in Europe and parts of Asia over the course of 150 years. The most well-preserved ones, however, were found at the beginning of the 20th century and weren't excavated using modern methods. This has led to skepticism about whether Neanderthal burial practice was deliberate. How Neanderthal DNA affects human health -- including the risk of getting Covid-19 A new analysis of a 41,000 year-old skeleton of a Neanderthal child, found in a French cave in the 1970s, provides fresh evidence that the Stone Age hominins intentionally … [Read more...] about Neanderthal child’s skeleton buried 41,000 years ago may solve long-standing mystery

Evan Mawarire is a Zimbabwean pastor and founder of the #ThisFlag movement, which challenged corruption and bad governance in Zimbabwe. For his work, Mawarire was charged with treason and faced 80 years in prison under former President Robert Mugabe's regime and under the new President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He is a 2018 fellow of Stanford University's Centre for Democracy Development and was selected as a Yale World Fellow in 2020. The opinions in this commentary are solely his. (CNN)Ever since news broke of Alexey Navalny's arrest and subsequent imprisonment by the Russian government, one question I have heard frequently was, "Why did he go back?" Navalny had previously survived an assassination attempt by poisoning from the Russian government which it denies, and then recovered in a safe foreign country, so why would he go back to Russia? For many observers, there was just no logic to him going back to the country on January 17 to face almost inevitable arrest. However, what … [Read more...] about Opinion: Navalny’s stand shows Putin a new generation of freedom seekers are no longer prepared to flee

(CNN) More than 8 million people around the world die each year as a result of breathing polluted air that contains particles from fossil fuels, a new study has found. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil produces greenhouse gases that trap solar radiation in the atmosphere and cause climate change. But it also releases tiny poisonous particles known as PM2.5. Small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, these particles can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma and can lead to lung cancer, coronary heart disease , strokes and early death. Exposure to dirty air in the world's most polluted region linked to pregnancy loss, study finds Research has also found a link between higher levels of long-term pollution and more deaths from Covid-19 . In a study published in the journal Environmental Research on Tuesday, researchers from Harvard University, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and … [Read more...] about Fossil fuel air pollution causes almost 1 in 5 deaths globally each year