Iceland's short story: vaccines work

"Vaccine opponents have gleefully pointed to Iceland as proof that the shots are a “failure.” But contrary to online misinformation and conspiratorial social media posts, infectious-disease experts say Iceland’s outbreak actually illustrates how effective the vaccines are at preventing the virus’s most severe impacts.

Many of the country’s recent infections have occurred among vaccinated people, but they’ve been overwhelmingly mild. So even as new cases multiplied, Iceland’s rates of covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths have remained low. Of the 1,300 people currently infected, just 2 percent are in the hospital. The country hasn’t recorded a virus death since late May."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/iceland-covid-surge-vaccines/2021/08/14/bdd88d04-fabd-11eb-911c-524bc8b68f17_story.htm

Iceland Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir. (Michael Sohn/AP)

wfpr.fm: A Priest A Rabbi and A Minister - 006 - December 2020

"Jay Horrigan and Dr. Pandora Carlucci join Rev. Cherry, Priest McAdams and Rabbi Alpert to discuss faith in their own congregations and how listeners can discover more opportunities to practice faith in their own lives."

Direct ink ->  https://player.captivate.fm/episode/c25496ff-369a-4b6f-9248-051fa5506f2b

wfpr.fm: A Priest A Rabbi and A Minister - 006 - December 2020

 

MIAA - The Hub - week 2 - Self Awareness (video series)

 Week 2 at The HUB: "Self Awareness"

Owning your Own Story>

@OmariPearson

shares how to develop an understanding of your personal story, what makes you uniquely different & how that story builds a stepping stone to your future #MIAA

@MSSADA9

@sbryantMIAA

http://ow.ly/NPEN50FxAcD

or go to MIAA - The Hub - Week 2 - Self Management

 http://www.miaa.net/contentm/easy_pages/view.php?sid=38&page_id=354

MIAA - The Hub - week 2 - Self Awareness (video series)

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda - August 18, 2021

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIR

This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon Channel 29.  This meeting may be recorded by others.

Chair to identify Council Members participating remotely

2. CITIZEN COMMENTS

Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to five minutes on a matter that is not on the agenda. The Council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council will give remarks appropriate consideration and may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

None Scheduled

4. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

Proclamation/Recognition: Dale Kurtz - Retirement, Veterans Service Officer

Recognition: Bristol Savings Bank - Donation to the Fire Department 

Recognition: Fourth of July Committee - Joe Carmignani & Paul Kortick

5. APPOINTMENTS

None Scheduled

6. HEARINGS - 7:10pm

Zoning Bylaw Amendment 21-874: Amendment to Ch.185 Section 21 Parking, Loading, and Driveway Requirements (to be continued)

7. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

99 Restaurants of Boston, LLC d/b/a 99 Restaurant Pub #30130, Located at 847 West Central Street, Franklin, MA 02038, Change of Manager

8. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

Department of Public Works: Trash & Recycling
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/mai/files/8a._ppt_trash_fee_1.pdf

9. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

• Capital Budget Subcommittee
• Budget Subcommittee
• Economic Development Subcommittee

10. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

10a. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

Resolution 21-46: Gift Acceptance, Fire Department, $25,000 - Bristol County Savings Bank (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-46 - Majority Vote)

10b. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

Resolution 21-47: Gift Acceptance, Fire Department $5,000 and Police Department $5,000 - Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-47 - Majority Vote)

10c. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

Resolution 21-48: Gift Acceptance, Police Department $10, Recreation Department $250, Veterans Department $200 (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-48 - Majority Vote)

10d. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

Resolution 21-49: Acceptance of Access Easement Over Property Located at 340 East Central Street (Motion to Approve Resolution 21-49 - Majority Vote)

10e. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

Bylaw Amendment 21-875: Chapter 82, Trash and Recycling Fee Increase - First Reading (Motion to move Bylaw Amendment 21-875 to a Second Reading - Majority Vote)

11. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT

12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

13. COUNCIL COMMENTS

14. EXECUTIVE SESSION

None Scheduled

ADJOURN

Note: 

• Two-Thirds Vote: requires 6 votes
• Majority Vote: requires majority of members present and voting 

The agenda page can be found ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council/agenda/august-18-town-council-agenda

The one doc PDF of the agenda can be found ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/08-18-2021_town_council_agenda_packet.pdf

DPW: Trash & Recycling fee increase proposed

Public comment on qualified immunity requested - hearing on Friday, Aug 20

The Special Commission on Qualified Immunity will host a virtual public comment meeting on Friday, August 20, at 11 a.m. to give members of the public an opportunity to share their views on qualified immunity and its impact on the administration of justice in the Commonwealth. This will provide everyone an opportunity to share their perspectives with the Commission as it works its way through the various provisions of the charge from the reform legislation passed last year. 

The public hearing will be livestreamed on the Commonwealth’s website at https://malegislature.gov/. To register to testify, individuals must provide contact information on this Form (https://forms.gle/qujupLFGAKA81jNW7) at by 5:00 p.m. on August 19, 2021. Written testimony may be submitted by e-mail to jacqueline.o.manning@mahouse.gov or by mail to Qualified Immunity Commission, 24 Beacon Street, Room 136, Boston, Massachusetts 02133. 

The legal doctrine of qualified immunity is a complex one and legal scholars do not all agree on its application, which is why Rep. Roy filed an amendment (#204) (link below) that created the special legislative commission to study the origins and interpretation of qualified immunity. The precise language that was adopted can be found by clicking here (link below).  

Over the past few months, the Commission has heard from academic experts, studied the impacts of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 (commonly referred to as the “Police Reform Law”) on the doctrine, and reviewed recent legislation passed in other states and jurisdictions relative to qualified immunity. 

To learn more about the members of the Commission, review documents discussed by the commission and read the charge please visit its website at https://qicommissionma.com/. 

Rep Roy's amendment ->  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/GetAmendmentContent/191/H4860/204/House/Preview

Language adopted ->  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/GetAmendmentContent/191/H4860/C/House/Preview

Download a copy of the PDF for this press release

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13xPpKlWapG2FimbhakTVJaZsxKl-kpkS/view?usp=sharing

Public comment on qualified immunity requested  - hearing on Friday, Aug 20

Ben Franklin's bitter regret that he didn't immunize his 4-year-old son against smallpox

"Five weeks had passed since the death of Benjamin Franklin’s son, and rumors were swirling. Four-year-old Francis “Franky” Franklin had died after being inoculated for smallpox, the rumor went, and now his pro-inoculation father was trying to hide it.

The gossip reached such a point that on Dec. 30, 1736, the grieving father, then 30, confronted it in the pages of his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette.

“Inasmuch as some People are, by that [rumor] ... deter’d from having that Operation perform’d on their Children,” he wrote, “I do hereby sincerely declare, that he was not inoculated, but receiv’d the Distemper in the common Way of Infection.”

It must have been hard to admit — Franklin had long advocated inoculation as a “safe and beneficial practice” — that his own son had gone unprotected."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1426602032807428101?s=03

A portrait of Benjamin Franklin circa 1785. (Mark Gulezian/National Portrait Gallery)

Town of Franklin, MA: Ice Cream Social and Vaccine Clinic - Aug 25

Vaccine Clinic - Aug 25

 

Join us Wednesday, August 25th, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, in the Davis Thayer Parking Lot for an Ice Cream Social and COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic! https://t.co/Zj1zWEzduQ

To register for the clinic follow this link ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/covid-19-mobile-vaccination-clinic

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOFranklinMA/status/1426183344031735811?s=03

Ice Cream Social and Vaccine Clinic - Aug 25