a Better Bubble™

Aggregator

How To Be A Safe Space For Someone

2 years 11 months ago
ALTON – Have you noticed that people are brimming over with anger lately? One of the reasons for this is that we’ve bottled up too much emotion. Instead of dealing with our emotions, we’ve developed a tendency to just stuff them away. We bite our tongues, choke back tears, stifle sobs, and try to suppress every outward show of emotion because we want to be “strong.” The problem is that all those pent up emotions don’t just go away. Instead, they just keep accumulating, and we can only bottle things up until our bottles get full. There usually comes a day when, without much provocation, our bottle overflows – often in the form of an angry outburst. But let’s back up. Why are we holding everything in? Is it because we think we’ll seem weak if we cry or admit that we’re struggling? Is it because we are afraid people will think we’re dramatic? Is it because we don’t know who we can trust? Is it because we think

Continue Reading

Local student Alexandra Bergin named to Dean's List at Aurora University

2 years 11 months ago
AURORA – Aurora University has named Alexandra Bergin of Alton, IL, to the Dean's List for the fall 2021 semester. Bergin is majoring in Sport Management, Marketing. The Dean's List recognizes full-time undergraduate students who have earned a 3.6 GPA or higher. Founded in 1893, Aurora University is a four-year, private, nonprofit, accredited higher education institution offering students an exceptional education. Aurora University is located on a beautiful 39-acre campus in Aurora, the second-largest city in Illinois, approximately 40 miles from Chicago. The university serves more than 4,000 undergraduate and approximately 2,000 graduate students across more than 50 majors and programs. AU leadership, faculty, and staff are committed to the success of our students, offering academic support programs, hands-on learning activities, internships, and community partnership opportunities that prepare students to be successful beyond AU.

Continue Reading

Legislature’s rejection of Missouri governor’s health director shows extent of national rift

2 years 11 months ago

This story was first published by Kaiser Health News.  Republican Missouri state Sen. Mike Moon believes that COVID-19 vaccinations, especially among children, should cease until the long-term effects are known. He points to the research of sources of COVID misinformation like America’s Frontline Doctors and Dr. Robert Malone, a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He […]

The post Legislature’s rejection of Missouri governor’s health director shows extent of national rift appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Lauren Weber

OSFM Raising Awareness During Burn Safety Week

2 years 11 months ago
SPRINGFIELD - National Burn Awareness Week February 6-12, is an initiative of the American Burn Association. Burn Awareness Week, observed the first full week in February, is a window of opportunity for organizations to mobilize burn, fire and life safety educators to unite in sharing a common burn awareness and prevention message in communities. The theme for National Burn Awareness Week 2022, “Burning Issues in the Kitchen”, where a common risk of injury exists from scald burns, improperly used appliances, and distracted cooking occur. Annually, in the United States, approximately 400,000 people receive medical care for treatment of burn injuries. In 2018 alone, there were 3,655 deaths from fire and smoke inhalation and another 40,000 people were treated in hospitals for burn related injuries. “Every 60 seconds someone in the U.S. sustains a burn injury serious enough to require treatment. Be on alert! Stay in the kitchen while cooking and create a three-foot kid-free

Continue Reading

Flutist Abdur-Razzaq Gives Jazz-Inspired Civil Rights Lesson During SIUE's Opening Of Black Heritage Month

2 years 11 months ago
EDWARDSVILLE - The tunes were raw and gritty, smooth and haunting, and sometimes charged and electrifying. The lyrics that leapt out were of hate and love, humanity and inhumanity, and struggle and freedom. Jazz music co-starred with civil rights historical facts during the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Black Heritage Month’s (BHM) opening ceremony at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, held virtually and hosted by The Inclusive Excellence, Education and Development Hub (The Hub). Renowned jazz flutist Galen Abdur-Razzaq was the keynote speaker. The theme for BHM is “Black Excellence in Action.” “In celebration of our Black Heritage Month, we honor the many contributions that Black students, faculty, and staff have made to SIUE and our surrounding communities,” said SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook. “SIUE works every day to make our community more inclusive, diverse, and accessible. Every year, the month of February comes with the opportunity

Continue Reading

More Fallout For NSO And Israel: Gov't Police Illegally Deployed Malware Against Person Involved In Netanyahu Bribery Trial

2 years 11 months ago

More troubling developments for both NSO Group and the country it calls home.

Less than a month ago, both entities found themselves in midst of another turbulent news cycle, thanks to reporting from Calcalist that showed Israel police were using NSO spyware to engage in domestic surveillance. Worse, the people targeted weren't just dangerous criminals or suspected terrorists.

Instead, like everywhere else NSO malware has been abused, Israeli police forces targeted activists protesting then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's CVOID restrictions, as well as mayors of Israeli cities. Also included on the list of hacking targets were former government employees and "a person close" to a senior politician. In some cases, the police used the malware to phish for information from targets' phones, all without any reasonable suspicion these targets may have committed criminal acts.

On top of all that, the police deployed the malware without direct or judicial oversight. Utilizing a loophole in the law, investigators avoided seeking court authorization for these hacking attempts.

There's more of that being discovered. The Israeli government is conducting its own investigation of NSO and the use of its spyware. That has resulted in the discovery of more questionable hacking.

Israel police used spyware to access data in the phone of an individual involved in the trial of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a report said on Wednesday.

The hack, reported on Channel 13 News, was discovered by the Justice Ministry during its review of the police's use of the spyware.

This hacking -- like much of what was reported by Calcalist -- was also likely illegal.

The police reportedly claimed that the investigators never received the data, which was gathered against the police's procedures.

A failure to collect data is not the same thing as never engaging in illegal hacking at all, no matter how the police might try to spin this. The target of this attack still has yet to be identified, but the report contains a statement from the attorney representing Shaul and Iris Elovich, a couple accused of bribing Netanyahu.

There's also this tantalizing detail, which shows the police may have been lying in its earlier statement to Calcalist about every use of NSO malware being legal and authorized by the proper court paperwork.

In a brief statement that doesn't go into any specific cases, the police said “additional findings” from its internal probe “change in some ways” an earlier statement last month that ruled out any wrongdoing.

Hmm. Maybe don't offer up blanket statements when you have no other evidence but knee-jerk defensiveness when you've been caught with your hand in the domestic surveillance cookie jar. The only "way" the earlier statement could "change" at this point is to contain admissions of wrongdoing and illegal searches. That correction -- whenever it arrives -- is going to leave deep, self-inflicted bruises on the Israel Police.

Tim Cushing

Filibuster continues after Missouri Senate rejects ‘7-1’ redistricting plan

2 years 11 months ago

The Missouri Senate voted down a proposed Congressional map that would have carved up a safe Democratic seat in Kansas City to add another in Republicans’ favor, but the redistricting debate stretched into Tuesday morning as the Senate remained deadlocked. After hours of internal caucus discussion that stretched late into the afternoon, the Senate gaveled […]

The post Filibuster continues after Missouri Senate rejects ‘7-1’ redistricting plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Tessa Weinberg