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Rightly Dividing and its Eternal Importance

"Know Who's Saying What, and to Who, and Why it's Being Said" and "Seeing Clearly Through the Correct Lens" From Angles and Aspects of Salvation

Know Who’s Saying What, And To Who, And Why It Is Being Said

We must always be very careful to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15); this essentially means to correctly apply the Scriptures. The Bible is, among many things, a book of instructions. It contains instructions on a lot of topics. Those included are salvation (receiving the free gift of salvation/eternal life), and discipleship, which is the growing in the Lord that we do AFTER we have received the free gift of salvation. Salvation of course must come FIRST (I really hope I have made that clear). Think of a mechanic using a comprehensive repair manual for instructions to work on a car. If he is trying to fix the brakes, but refers to the chapter on the electrical system for instructions on how to repair those brakes, no matter how diligently he may do so, it is not going to go well. It may very well wind up resulting in the death (again, like sin) of the driver, as well as anyone else who may be in the car with him, and/or whoever may be in his way! In comparison, when passages that are meant for instructions on discipleship are treated as instructions that are necessary for salvation (words works being mixed with grace for “salvation”), a situation resulting in a far deadlier disaster very well may occur: that being people believing, as well as teaching and spreading, a deceptive false gospel that has zero power to save, thus resulting in them ultimately receiving the second death; eternal damnation; the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14-15)!

Please know that this unspeakable, incomprehensibly terrible and permanent second death is the fate of ANYONE, no matter how “good” or “nice” or religious they may be, who goes to their death without believing on/fully trusting in the finished work of Jesus! Satan does not care who or what you may trust or believe in, just as long as it is not the real Jesus Christ of the Bible, along with the finished work that He accomplished for you. Satan does not care, because no matter how he can keep you from fully believing on/trusting in Jesus, he gets the same result (John 14:6). He hates you and will go any length to keep you out of the Kingdom of God, and in eternal damnation, which he is destined for (Revelation 20:10). To those of you who are parents: Satan hates your children and wants eternal damnation for them as well. Ponder that for a little while!

Seeing Clearly Through The Correct Lens

When we read the Bible through the lens of the true Gospel message, with the understanding that the believer has two natures (the flesh that is born of man in sin, and the spirit that is born of God in perfection), treating discipleship passages as discipleship passages, and treating salvation passages as salvation passages, differentiating between the addressing of a nation or a church (such as the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation 2 and 3, and the numerous prophecies made about NATIONS in the Old Testament), versus the addressing of individuals, also differentiating between the addressing of people before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, versus addressing people after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, etc.; all of these being examples of rightly dividing, the supposed “contradictions” in the Bible seem to just go away. When we read the Bible this way (the correct way), we see a perfect love letter written to us from outside of/beyond time and space, at least as we are currently able to know and perceive it (just think of all of the fulfilled prophecies for starters!). This love letter shows us how to live life abundantly (John 10:10), and gives us ASSURANCE of the most wonderful promise imaginable; that being of eternal life in a state that is free of any sort of pain, physical or otherwise, in the presence of, as well as in perfect communion with God (Revelation 21: 1-7). A side note: When you find something that seems to be “contradiction” in the Bible, do some proverbial digging (studying) and you will uncover a gem.


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Who’s the Natto Dealer Supplying Japan’s Stinkiest, Slimiest Food to New York Chefs?

Ann Yonetani, the woman behind NYrture, wants to introduce America to the beloved Japanese specialty

By Amanda Arnold

Published on March 29, 2016

Ann Yonetani teaches food science in the New School's Food Studies department by day, but for the past six months or so, she's been trying her hand at dealing. And she's good at it. With little marketing or self-promotion, her client-base has gone from nonexistent to receiving calls from the likes of Ivan Orkin and David Chang. When she was contacted by Masa Takayama, the sushi chef behind New York's super-high-end Masa, asking if he could try some of her product, she was completely blown away. Yonetani, the woman behind New York-based NYrture, is only the second person in the United States to make natto from scratch and sell it, and she had no idea demand would be this high.

A ubiquitous Japanese specialty that has yet to make its way into Americans' diets (despite our obsessions with Japanese culture and fermented foods), natto is made using two simple ingredients: soybeans and the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, which cohabitate for about a week before turning into a sticky, slimy, pungent tangle of fermented beans. In Japan, it's commonly consumed over hot rice for breakfast (which is how Orkin likes his), but Yonetani uses it like you a funky cheese, tossing it with pasta, eating it with crackers, and even topping her pizza with it. On a recent trip to New York City's Italian restaurant Bar B, she instagrammed a picture of scallops, uni, and natto, with the confession, "OK, #NYrture #newyorknatto was my own post-plating addition #dontleavehomewithoutit."

No shame in a natto selfie.

"In Japan, they joke that natto's one of those things that Westerners can't handle," she says. But because natto is the most concentrated known food source of vitamin K2, has a slew of other healthful benefits, like being full of probiotics, and is such an iconic Japanese food, she wants to make it less intimidating. The only other people producing it in the US are Megumi NATTO in Los Angeles, so Yonetani is attentive to the product she makes, knowing that her natto may be many people's first experience with it.

After inoculating the soybeans with the bacteria, she isn’t done with the batch. “I’m very careful about what I put out there, so I taste every tray,” Yonetani says. “These days, I’m eating quite a lot of natto.”

Yonetani never planned on going into the food business. With a Bachelor’s in biology, Master’s in biochemistry, and PhD in microbiology, she had spent the past 12-plus years working in labs and studying microbiomes. But last summer she decided to book a trip to Tokyo, where she studied the natto-making process with a fifth-generation maker who thought it was strange that a culturally American woman would want to eat natto. She considers it “a coming-together of many interests and experiences”—her Japanese heritage, her studies about probiotics, and her fascination with how Japanese food is portrayed in the West. And last fall, NYrture was born.

“Natto is really one of the staples [in Japan], but for whatever reason, even though sushi is on every corner here, natto is socially, at least of yet, unknown here,” she says.

Visit Yonetani's NYrture instagram and you'll see that when she says she loves natto and eats it all the time, she means it.

Today, she churns out around 100 jars a month from the Organic Food Incubator in Long Island City, all of which she tries to deliver herself via public transportation—especially if the buyer is new. She likes to form a relationship with her clientele because the vast majority of her customers aren't Japanese who grew up eating natto; many of them are people who've never tried it before, a statistic that Yonetani didn't expect at all. And because a good batch of natto is like a fine wine or cheese, she feels connected to her product. It is living, after all.

“The human is not in total control, and that’s kinda the beauty of it,” Yonetani says.

Buy 4 oz. jar for $6 or an 8 oz. jar for $10 at Only available for those in NYC.

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News and Opinions

Sayoni releases first, groundbreaking report into violence and discrimination facing lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer (LBTQ) persons in Singapore

on . Posted in Advocacy.

first groundbreaking report into violence and discrimination facing lbtq persons in singapore 1

SINGAPORE, 24 May 2019 - Lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBTQ) rights group Sayoni has published a groundbreaking research study highlighting violence and discrimination against LBTQ women in Singapore, to be launched on 25 May.

Through a series of in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 40 participants, the qualitative study presents evidence of physical and emotional violence committed against LBTQ women in private and public spheres. Most participants did not report these incidents to the relevant authorities due to the fear of further stigma.

The first such systematic study on LBTQ women in Singapore, the book (entitled "Violence and Discrimination Against LBTQ Women in Singapore") sheds light on their lived realities as well as the invisibility of the problems faced, and recommends sensitive and responsive policy changes.

Some key findings from the book:

1. LBTQ women who came out or had their sexuality revealed experienced physical, psychological and sexual violence from the people closest to them - family members and intimate partners.

2. Both younger and older persons were vulnerable: Adults lived in fear of losing their jobs or homes if found out by homophobic employers or landlords, while younger people were in danger of losing financial support from their families. Younger people also experienced bullying in school if their gender presentation was not normative.

3. As purchasing and renting housing was challenging, some participants could not move out of their homes and were forced to live with abusive or risky family situations. Housing challenges for transgender individuals were pronounced.

4. LBTQ women had difficulty securing stable employment, particularly those who did not conform to gender stereotypes or did not pass as heterosexual. Transgender individuals were thus particularly vulnerable. Incidents of harassment and discrimination experienced by transgender individuals were not documented in company records. LBTQ employees in both the private and public sectors faced discrimination.

5. The societal stigma associated with sexuality further isolated LBTQ persons, impacting their mental health.

Despite these findings, incidents of violence and discrimination were not reported to the police, employers or other authorities for fear of further stigma. Individuals said that they blamed themselves and believed that reporting would not help them or change the situation.

Sayoni's co-founder Jean Chong said: "LBTQ persons' experiences of violence extend beyond the private sphere to the public domain in our streets and schools. Violence happens, whether exceptional or commonplace, and its effects on LBTQ adults and young people are devastating."

The study also observed ways in which LBTQ persons cope with their struggles, which largely comprised seeking help and support from friends and LBTQ social networks. Help from informal networks and friends could fail if those offering support were also dependants without resources. Employers were rarely supportive but were important sources of assistance when they were.

The research team proposes a series of measures to combat prevailing prejudices, assist victim-survivors and improve the social climate for LBTQ persons:

· Provide LBTQ-affirming sensitivity training for healthcare professionals and social workers

· Change housing, healthcare and education policies to recognise that LBTQ individuals are part of society

· Include information on sexual diversity and gender in school syllabuses and sexuality education

· Launch awareness-raising campaigns to educate the general population on LBTQ issues and sexual diversity

· Equalise censorship guidelines for heterosexual and homosexual content

The publication is the result of a qualitative study conducted by Sayoni, a feminist group that works to uphold equality and human rights protections for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women as well as transgender men. The group initiated this research as part of its advocacy for the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified by the Singapore government in 1995.

first groundbreaking report into violence and discrimination facing lbtq persons in singapore 2

At the launch event, members of the research team and expert panelist Jolene Tan discussed key findings and themes from the study, with an opening address from our keynote speaker Constance Singam, a veteran civil society activist. Sayoni also shared its policy recommendations and plans for advocacy based on the findings of this study.

As Ms Singam wrote in the book: "This is a call to action, one which I hope the authorities in particular will heed. Individually, we all have a role to play in bringing forward the day when LGBTQ persons, everywhere, are accepted and treated as equals. The time really has come."

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News and Opinions

Advocacy for UN Child Rights Convention: Reflections Part 2

on . Posted in Announcements.

If you haven't already read my reflections from the 15th and 16th and would love to, please feel free to read it here first. This is going to be a LONGGGGG read, so get some snacks, sit down and play some nice music while you read haha...

(Some people have asked me to explain more about what exactly I am doing here in Geneva. I'm happy to explain!!!)
Okay, so, what exactly am I doing here in Geneva? Why did I have to come all the way here?

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) is the body set up by the United Nations (UN) to monitor the progress that States make in fulfilling their obligations with regards to children’s human rights. The Committee is composed of eighteen independent experts who are elected by States parties to the CRC. Countries get reviewed by the UN CRC once every few years, and Singapore's turn is this year!

It goes a little something like this:
The Committee studies the State's report from the previous year + reports that NGOs have submitted to the UN CRC --> they think about questions they want to bring up in line with their interests and specific themes they are in charge of (they call it "clusters" here) --> They bring up these questions during the session --> the delegation attempts to answer these questions (the last two points repeat itself throughout the session)
The review took place over the course of two days (on the 16th and 17th) and all of us met for 3 hours each day (so 6 hours in total!).
After the sessions are over the Committee writes up a concluding report that they submit to the State, in which they will draft out some outstanding questions they'd want the State to address, and also put in apt recommendations to urge the government to follow.
So my job over at Geneva is really trying to lobby the Committee members to get them to represent at least some of the important points brought up in the report that we had submitted to the UN CRC and try my very best to urge get them to mention LGBTQ+ children and related issues in the concluding report. In essence, we are trying to (and hope to) get the government to better answer these questions about LGBTQ children in Singapore, or follow certain recommendations put out by the UN CRC (which, to be fair, is very difficult for Singapore). Lobbying would mean meeting with allies that can help introduce us to Committee members who are likely to be LGBTQ-friendly or those who are more open to helping us raise LGBTQ related questions (as with real life not all Committee members are, unfortunately!).
Okay so now that you are (hopefully!!) more clear about what the UN CRC review process entails and what I was doing all the way in Geneva, let me just tell you more about what had happened these two days...

16th May/ Thursday/ Childs Rights Connect + Review session 1

It was difficult to sleep last night because my heart just could not feel at ease, but not in a bad way. I sometimes think these moments of unease make me feel even more clarity and certainty about many things, ironically.
I woke up early to head to Palais Wilson (the place where the conference is held!) to have some lunch before a meeting with some folks from Child Rights Connect at 2. Before meeting I had looked through the previous review's State report and State reply (which are both available here!) again just to familiarise myself with the State's position on child's rights in Singapore. There were many things inside the report that made me feel very distant from Singapore, and despite having read it before, and having lived in Singapore all my life, there was something very deeply alienating about reading this report while inside the headquarters of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Palais Wilson!), while big standing posters on human rights quietly stand right outside where I was:

2019-05-18%2016.11.59.jpg 2019-05-18%2016.12.06.jpg

My heart hurt reading about how certain the State sounded in their report about every child being as precious as the next and all children being valued equally. It hurt just a little bit more when I read about their staunch stance on defending the use of corporal punishment (aka physical punishment, such as caning), including in schools. My siblings and I (my sister more than me) were caned and punished physically growing up all the way to upper primary, and I remember my kindergarten teacher hitting me because I didn't finish my water in time. I remember a friend I had in primary school who had dark bruises, cuts and blood trickling down her calves, while she laughed to tell me it was "nothing much, just caning". Many of these memories send shivers down my spine. I looked over at the Sayoni report on discrimination and violence against LGBTQ children in Singapore, looked back at the State report at where they said they value all children equally and I chuckled under my breath thinking about how ironic and vacuous their assertion seemed to be in the face of our report.
2pm came along and I met up with Emma, Natalie and Ilaria from Child Rights Connect. Child Rights Connect is an independent, non-profit network made up of more than 80 national, regional, and international organisations. They work with these organisations to make sure that children can fully enjoy their rights, as defined by the UN CRC. They also work with UN CRC to organise and facilitate certain child rights events and discussions. They really were the sweetest people ever and I am eternally grateful I had met them during the stressful day. They gave me the best tips on how I could catch Committee members during the breaks (which is apparently, the best time because they might have meetings before and after, and they were right!) and how I could most effectively lobby during the short sessions. They comforted me when I told them about my concerns that LGBTQ issues would not be brought up during the session, and they told me they would support and help me in any way they could. They also told me about two Committee members I should get to know and speak to personally (José and Otani), and that proved to be of utmost importance during the sessions. Ilaria told me that in the six years she had been working at Child Rights Connect she had only seen two other reports on LGBT children, and she told me about how important our report is in encouraging other countries to do the same. I smiled a lot thinking about that (Mandy, if you are reading this, isn't that kinda incredible that the third report she has ever seen is from Singapore?) I think something Emma said that made me feel very, very empowered was that me physically being there really does show dedication to the report, and that she was sure the Committee members would be able to see that and realise that what we are writing about is extremely important and worth mentioning in the concluding reports. Their presence during the sessions were precious to me, because of just how alone I had been feeling (of course, theoretically I really wasn't because I had the support of so many people along the way but all of them were back home in Singapore but being physically there in the sessions alone is a whole other story to tell haha).
The moment I stepped into the conference room it immediately felt different from the Malta's review session I had sat in the day before. For a change, people sitting in the NGO section of the room (nearer to the back) spoke in the Singaporean accent but I felt like it made it feel even less like home. The energy was immediately tense because almost all of the folks sent by these (governmental *cough*) NGOs all knew one another, and were all dressed similarly - black blazers, black shoes, black hair... I stuck out like a beautiful thumb (not sore!!) because I was wearing my rainbow lanyard, large Sayoni badge and a flowery dress. I felt less at home, but not in a negative way at all! Instead, I felt very empowered because I felt very visible and very queer, and that feeling was most endearing and close to me. I felt comfortable and a little defensive when I saw that I was being constantly stared at by the rest of the black blazer-ed people.

Before the review started, I had already spoken to both Otani and José, and both of them were so friendly and warm, and that put my heart at ease (or more like, I had turned my uneasiness into excitement). I told them about our concerns and that we hope they would ask the Committee some LGBTQ children related questions, and they told me that they would try their best. José was shocked to know that in Singapore's constitution ensuring equal rights for all, Article 12 recognises discrimination only in terms of race, religion, or place of birth, but excludes gender, sex, and sexual orientation.
The review started and the Singapore delegation spoke about 15 minutes about the things they were doing to ensure children's rights in Singapore. Once again the whole "every child to us is precious" rhetoric came up again (and again) and I sighed a little each time this was brought up. This time a very particular incident came to mind - about the first time as a child where my mother had told me that if she found out I was lesbian she would drag me to a psychiatrist to take medication to "become straight again". That incident had stayed very frightfully close to me growing up, because it had struck so much fear and hatred, not so much toward my mum, but within myself and the feeling had followed and tortured me for years as a child (and all the way to adulthood, too). I guess this incident came to mind because my mum had told me the same thing many times- that every child is precious... except for when they are LGBTQ+, I guess... I was slightly lost in my thoughts, experiences and memories at times during the review, which proved to be a recurring theme the rest of it, but for obvious reasons because of how this topic is so close to my heart.
Still, all I could do was to wait patiently and with eagerness for the questions and we had our fingers crossed, hoping for a mention on LGBTQ children.
The question came at around the 40 minute mark. Otani had asked two questions related to non-discrimination of vulnerable groups of children:

1. (On children of LGBT parents) In light of criminalization of same sex sexual acts in Singapore, I’m concerned with these children may suffer from discrimination and stigmatisation in society.

2. Related to this is the situation of children who are themselves are LGBT. Do you have any information that LGBT children are experiencing discrimination, bullying, intimidation or violence? Are they feeling safe in schools and community? What are the attitudes of parents, schoolteachers and public general toward those children?

The moment the word LGBT was being projected out into the universe that day my heart screamed in joy... I looked around and saw that of course, I was the only one jumping in my seat, and the man next to me (of course he was in a black blazer) stared at me because I was shaking in excitement and joy but that did not bother me one little bit. I thought, A-hah!! Now the Singapore delegation is being forced to account for LGBTQ children...

Jean was right, it really was very special and that moment I shall keep with me for a long, long time. During the break I had ran up to thank Otani who was very, very kind and humble about everything. We spoke a bit about LGBTQ rights in Japan and Singapore, and she told me more about her experiences in working on some similar reports (but on rights in Japan instead) and it was really really nice getting to talk to someone about LGBTQ issues. She told me I was doing good work and my heart... I was getting emotional just being able to share about the state of LGBTQ rights in Singapore and hearing her speak about queer stuff... the feeling is very powerful and incomparable.

After the break, the Singapore delegation replied to Otani's question:

(On 1. and 2.) The Committee asked about whether LGBT children suffer from discrimination, bullying or violence, and whether they feel safe in our schools. Our concern is for all children regardless of whether they are LGBT or not. And we take a very serious stance against bullying and violence.

Upon hearing this I rolled my eyes so far back I almost lost my pupils (hah), not because I did not already expect this response, but it becomes so grossly artificial and empty when uttered by someone who is not LGBTQ, a ministry that had done no research on LGBTQ children, and in front of a room that wished very much to hold countries accountable to human rights ideals. The response made me sick to my stomach thinking about how performative everything was. This time another incident came to my mind, and this time it was regarding a very precious LGBTQ youth I know from the TBCSG youth group. One day at work he had urgently called me to tell me about how he was forced to hide in the school toilet, after one of the boys in his class laughed while he made a comment about how the Bruneian decision to stone people to death for being queer is too lenient and not enough of a punishment. Thinking about that incident and the fear and sadness in his voice, I became increasingly angrier with the responses to these questions given by the State, and tears had started welling in my eyes without me even realising...

The last round of questions for the day made me feel hopeful again because José had brought up a question on sexuality education, which was one of our primary concerns in our report:

3. I’d also like to know the approach adopted (referring to the abstinence-based approach for sexuality education), and I’m referring to sex education, when it comes to treatment of LGBTI persons.

After the session, someone from MSF approached me to say hi and asked me some questions about where I'm from, and when I had reached Geneva and whether it was my first time at the review etc. I quickly said hi back and left. I felt immediately threatened but at the same time I felt very emotionally and mentally drained thus I did not want to engage with them much... I was so drained I fell asleep while standing up for a few minutes on the bus home. I immediately went to a grocery shop to get dinner and headed right back to the hotel.
I am very very drained in so many ways, but also I felt very fulfilled that three questions related to LGBTQ children were brought up, and I really could not have asked for any more (I really could I guess, but I really went with not too much expectations because as a queer person you just prep yourself for disappointment anyway).

17th May/ Friday/ Taiwan + IDAHOT + Review session 2 + lots of emotionS!!!

I woke up to news of Taiwan legalising same-sex marriage. I was full of anxiety the night before not only because of the review but because of this Taiwan situation as well... I spent thirty minutes sobbing in bed from pure joy, happiness and hope (I literally am tearing up now thinking about this haha). For all who don't know me personally/ do not know of my thesis, my Masters' thesis is actually studying the social movement strategies employed by the LGBTQ+ movement in Taiwan, and I had spent a month in Taiwan speaking to activists from various queer organisations and groups in June, and it was honestly the most eye opening experience I had last year. Mostly I wanted to look at Taiwan because I felt like there were really many things queer organisations in Singapore could learn from them, and I also had, during my time there, shared with them about things we do here in the community as well (but more about that another time, maybe!!).
I think it was especially symbolic since today is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) as well, so I was already FULL of emotions (mostly happy ones) in the morning! The session today was at 10am, so I had to wake up early anyway, might as well wake up to the best emotions! Taiwan's news really rejuvenated me, and I felt very ready to give it my all during the last session (not that I did not before today, of course, but this time it was really a different kind of invigorating energy with Taiwan + IDAHOT).

Once again I stepped into the room of black blazer-ed people...

Today I had my pink blazer on (hah, not-very-subtle) and I felt INVINCIBLE!!!

Once again, I walked in to a lot of staring... and somehow it became increasingly more annoying. Literally every time I moved to take something from my bag, the man beside me stared. One time I was taking my sweet from my bag and he also felt the need to stare... truly... the gaze was very frustrating, disgusting and empowering all at once. The more they stared at me the more powerful I felt? Yet at the same time, it was almost like I wished they did not stare THAT much... Emma later told me that she had noticed the staring as well during the two days, and that she knew how uncomfortable I must have felt because it was really that obvious...
Either way I tried very hard to ignore the staring and was full of anticipation before the start of the session. When Otani and José had walked into the room in the morning I smiled very brightly at them and they smiled back!!! There was a lot of good energy in the room that morning (minus all the staring!!!) and I was already feeling very encouraged.
After patiently waiting for the Singapore delegation to respond to the sexuality education question posed by José yesterday, it happened:

(On 3.) The committee asked about the approach adopted for LGBT issues in sex education. Our overarching objective to empower students to be safe, confident and well-informed. We prepare them with social, emotional competencies for positive self development and self identity, so they learn to make wise and considered decisions. Students are also taught to not stereotype and appreciate one’s unique strengths and talents and the importance of respect and empathy for others who might be different, including those of LGBT background. Additionally teachers are trained to handle these issues sensitively.

Respect? Empathy? Trained? Sensitively? Sensitively??? I almost could not believe my ears hearing that, it was everything (EVERYTHING!!!) the report had fought against and this was completely contrary to everything in the report. I think I felt mostly upset not only because this is a cookie cutter textbook answer that they spent little thought on, but also because they brought this up without any concrete examples thinking they could slide past the José's question. I was frustrated with their just assertion without concrete proof and research, especially since they had not done research on LGBTQ children. I thought of not only my own experiences with sexuality education (I did not even know what LGBTQ really meant until I found out on my own through the internet), but many others' experiences as well (whether straight or LGBTQ). I thought of students who were/are taught that being queer is wrong and immoral, students who were/are taught that they needed to "change" their sexuality, students who were/are taught they have to look a certain way to fit their "gender", students who were/are taught their desires are nothing but a phase... I had to hold back my tears hearing these words being thrown around so very carelessly and thoughtlessly...
During the break while the black blazer-ed people were talking about their holiday plans and hotel stays, once again I had approached Otani and José to thank them for their help. I did this many times during these two days because I knew how damn important it is to be a visible reminder for the two, and this really proved to be super effective!!! José had brought up yet another question relating to sexuality education and LGBTQ folks:

4. Turning now to sex education… if a teenager decides to engage in sexual relations at the age of consent with another teenager, I’d like to know if they receive neutral counselling as to how to be protected and how to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and what would happen if that teenager comes from the LGBTI community?

I almost burst into tears when I heard this 4th question being uttered... not one... not two... but four questions!!! Previous UN CRC reviews nothing even remotely close to LGBTQ issues had been brought up, but 4 were brought up these two days alone... I had many, many emotions thinking about how amazing it was that I could be there and then listening to these questions being uttered. Later on after the review session was over, I approached José to shake his hand (I wanted to give him a big hug but was too scared to ask hehe) and he told me that he brought up the last question because he had seen me from the corner of his eye looking all loud, queer and emotional and he told me he remembered our concerns about sexuality education. Even just thinking of that moment now my heart swells with a lot of joy and happiness just thinking of how important these visual reminders are (thank goodness for the rainbow reminders, but also it really helps that the rest of the folks sitting on the tables were all dressed so boring it hurt)...

Photo caption: me being v happy about José

Going back to talking about the session, the Singapore delegation's answer to José's question was what really broke me this last session, I guess...

(On 4.) Maybe I’ll reiterate our purpose for sexuality education which really is to empower our children to be well informed in how they make their decisions and to be confident and safe as they explore the sexuality journey themselves because they are going through adolescence for many of them, and they are going through a lot of change. So we want to keep our sexuality education very professional, the intent is not to impose personal values. Nonetheless we need to recognize that we operate in a society that has its societal norms and a certain mainstream attitude towards sexuality and relations and so and so forth… so what we do is that we do try to create a safe space in school psychologically and physically for children to express themselves, clarify doubts, seek help, seek support… so we do have specially trained teachers in sexuality education who would conduct this kind of counselling and support, specifically… because I think there was a special question on children from LGBT community… all school counsellors are trained and reminded that they would need to provide assistance to such children because they face more issues to deal with their psychological and emotional needs… so we would provide neutral counselling as far as possible in terms of answering the questions they may have but really the goal of allowing them to make well informed decisions.

At this point I think my heart, mind and soul was just so exhausted I felt like I wanted to pack my bags and go see my duck friends and cry a lot by Lake Geneva... I was especially triggered by this last response because well, I especially hated that they used the idea of "safe spaces" when this is so blatantly untrue for so many LGBTQ children in schools and in a wider context, just society in general. This made me so upset because many in marginalised communities use the phrase "safe space" to connote the idea that one can feel comfortable and feel like they can be truly themselves in that space, and schools are definitely not it for so many LGBTQ children. It was very alienating for me to hear this being spoken at an international level, if that makes sense? I felt like I was hearing the voice of someone who obviously had never been through what a LGBTQ child had been through growing up, and the fact that she got the opportunity to speak on behalf of LGBTQ children made me feel very, very sick. Who gave her the right? Who gave her the space to speak? Why is it she gets the chance to represent LGBTQ children when she herself is cis and straight? At that point in time tears were already starting to roll down my cheeks and I could feel myself wanting to throw up from the response given to the Committee. These are just some messages I had sent to someone during the time this happened, and though these are merely messages, I hope it can show y'all a glimpse of the rawest form of how I felt during that short but very painful period of time.

The review ended shortly after that response. At that time I wanted to run out of the room to cry by the lake because I did not wish for anyone to see me cry and be very emotional of course. After the review was over I wiped my tears away from my eyes and approached José and Otani to thank them for all they had done. (This was when José told me about the whole noticing me from the corner of his eye thing... hehe a precious man...) Something that made me feel a ton better was that José, noticing that I was very shaken by the response, asked me if I was agreed with the Singapore delegation’s response to the sex education question and was satisfied with it… I of course said no vehemently and he said “Really?” and I said yes, and that we had spoken about how terrible Singapore's sexuality education is in our report. He told me he actually had thought that the government’s response was very good and complete and it sounded very great theoretically but he said he was happy I came up to him to talk because he wanted to ask me about it. I told him there were many flaws in the response they had for LGBTQ questions, and he told me we could send him our responses to their answers and he gave me his email. I was overjoyed thinking of how we were given that opportunity to clarify anything we wanted to, and of course we had used that chance to really challenge the State's responses to the questions.
I guess was still shaken when I went back to my table to pack my things because when I saw Emma I immediately started to tear up again... Emma was very kind and she empathised with my emotions and she gave me a lot of comfort... it was during this time people from MSF (including the Minister Faishal) approached me again to ask me to join them for food, I politely declined and left the room with Emma. She gave me a big hug outside and I was (and will always be!) very thankful for her support and encouragement during these two very intense and difficult days. We took a selfie after, hehe:

We said our goodbyes and I immediately walked to Lake Geneva and started to cry... I walked along the lake and saw my duck friends and felt a lot better. I had many thoughts running through my head and it was drizzling, so that made it conducive for a lot of deep thoughts under a tiny umbrella. I had been very affected by the sessions, and it was very emotionally soothing to breathe fresh air and be able to see ducks (of course!!)

I also managed to catch the Geneva water fountain from a distance... and tried to take a selfie with it of course!! My friend told me it looks like a huge bidet and i was like you are very right lol

I also chanced upon this family of swans and this pigeon who tried to pretend to be one!!! And for some reason the moment I saw that I felt like I wanted to tear up again because I think a lot of us queer people can relate to being the only pigeon in the sea of swans... i don't know... i related to this pigeon... don't mind me...

Other than that I stress-ate ice cream (which turned out to be a terrible decision because... sugar headaches are not fun + I'm lactose intolerant) but either way I felt like I needed it... and I did.

I walked towards the Old Town area and guess what I chanced upon... okay this time I legitimately sobbed when I saw this but for the best reason...

GENEVA SCREAMED GAY RIGHTS ON IDAHOT!!!!!! My heart........... truly.... this made me cry a little (or a lot!) in the best way... I felt like I could finally release some tension I had in my heart looking at the Pride flag flying very proudly in the wind. There was a wonderful complexity in not being able to differentiate the sound of the little waves hitting the sides of the bank and the sound of the flag folding in on itself.
I walked back to a bus station and took the bus back to the hotel. Dinner was the best I've ever had in four days... curry that didn't taste like melted fox candies and gyoza sauce that was actually savoury + vinegary??? I'm satisfied.

18th May: Some closing thoughts while waiting for a nine-hour transit at London Heathrow

These four days were some of the most anxiety-inducing, intense yet fulfilling and eye-opening four days of my life. (And trust me, I've had a lot of dramatic things happen in my life...) Less than two weeks ago Jean and Mandy had encouraged me to go on this trip and it was so utterly nerve-wrecking because I felt like I was completely unprepared, and did not know what I was meant to do, who I was meant to meet, how I was meant to act etc. I was not sure whether or not I could best represent Sayoni given it was such a last minute decision. I had a lot, a lot, of immense fear and uncertainty about this whole trip.
During the trip the fear and uncertainty stayed, mostly, but I think the turning point was really attending Malta's UN CRC session (if you haven't read about it, it's in my previous post! Link is above!). Hearing them debate issues regarding the welfare and wellbeing of trans and intersex children, as well as mentioning LGBTQ children and children of same-sex parents, really made me feel like this is the kind of conversation I wanted to bring (even just 5% of it) to the Singapore review sessions. A lot of my courage came from the support of everyone, but also just being constantly reminded about my own experiences of growing up queer, together with the experiences of other LGBTQ+ people around me, and the experiences of the LGBTQ+ children I know and are in contact with. A lot of courage also stemmed from the pain and hurt I had kept to myself for most of my life being a closeted queer kid. This whole experience (from the focus groups to the report writing to the going-to-Geneva-thing) was all part of the healing for me; It felt like I had took a walk back to my 10 year old self to give myself from the past the biggest hug I can ever give... many days I wake up in the morning and I cannot believe I am who I am today. I wanted to use this chance to extend that hug to all who grew up queer, especially all in Singapore. I have a lot of love and empathy for all of you.

As Ryan had said here, this is a very big and important step for us, and I just have a feeling that, you know, this is all going to be a positive big and important step, too. It really is very significant in that queer kids' issues are (hopefully) going to be more spoken about in future UN CRC sessions, and that governments can be held increasingly accountable for the lives, survival and protection of these precious, precious children.
Jean was right when she told me that I'll never feel like I'm prepared enough to go for something as major as this. I am very, very, very grateful I got the opportunity to represent Sayoni and LGBTQ+ children/youths in Singapore. These four days I had the chance to see first-hand how something so seemingly "small" like a personal experience or struggle or narrative can translate into something so big on an international level. While I leave Geneva with hurt, pain and disappointment because of the responses from the Singapore delegation, I also leave Geneva with a lot of hope, motivation and good (!!!) energy. The only thing I wouldn't miss from these four days is really the food haha.
It has shown me what NGOs can try to achieve, even if they aren't sure if the outcome would be what they desire, but every small tiny step is still a step in the right (I hope!) direction. This whole experience also helped me feel more confident in running the collective, and that no matter how small I think something I am doing is, that it really has its impact somewhere, some place, some time, even if it's not visible now, or ever.
For now we are patiently waiting for the concluding statements and report to be out... fingers crossed!
I hope reading this has inspired you to think differently about being vocal about your own experiences, and the power of research, activism and advocacy. I also hope that we get to see more queer representation in UN CRC in the future, and that more NGOs across the world (especially Asia) would be motivated to send in their own reports on the situation of LGBTQ children in their own countries as well. All children are precious, including those who are LGBTQ+.
Look, ma, I made it to the a United Nations review session as a proud queer person!!! Maybe this time you can finally be proud of me for me (nah, my mum shall never read this and probably never would... I still want to stay in my house for a while more I guess...)

So thank you, thank you to all who have supported and encouraged me in so many ways, and even those who are just observing from the side but supporting me silently!! Even if we have never met, we are very grateful for your love and support, really!!! I have a lot I want to say about LGBTQ advocacy and activism, but I will write about that in a separate blog post! Lots of other things I plan to write too... so there's those to look forward to!

- Sappy thank you notes -

There are people I wish to thank specifically, and these are people who play a v v v big part of this journey all the way from the start:

To Jean, thank you for having trust in Mandy and I to work on the report. Thank you for having faith in me, and for your constant support and encouragement before, during and after the trip. Thank you for being sort of a mother figure (hah!! you are the real aunty, not me!!! joking haha) to me and for believing in me always, even when I didn't believe in myself! Hope I have made you feel proud in some way or another :')
To Mandy, AHhhHHHhhHHHHh you are brilliant, wonderful and all things amazing!!! You had worked so much and so hard on the report and I wish you could have been there with me in Geneva T.T It is because of the report that this could even happen, so thank you for putting in so much hard work. I know how stressful and difficult it was for you, and I am so glad we worked on it together. When I was struggling during the period of time during the under-18s focus group you were there throughout, thank you.
To Claire + Cari + everyone else who helped with transcription, thank you so much for your help!! Transcribing is really not easy (I KNOW AND EMPATHISE!!!) and your transcriptions were so good + well-organised, thank you so much.
To Yen and Ryan, you both were so inspiring during the workshop that I just felt very compelled to work on the report. Thank you for providing me with so much support before, during and after the trip. Thank you for always reminding me to care for myself, and thank you for connecting me to these important organisations.
To ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, thank you for helping make this trip happen, I am very honoured to have had this opportunity to go on this trip to represent Singapore's LGBTQ children at the UN.
To Kseniya and Zhan (from ILGA), thank you both for being so sweet and friendly. I felt very welcomed and warmed by you both, and thank you for giving me so many useful tips regarding the sessions, I really really appreciate them all!!
To Emma, Natalie and Ilaria (from Child Rights Connect), all of you really were so important to me during the sessions. I felt very supported and cared for throughout because of your presence and smiles and words of support and comfort. I cannot thank all of you enough for being there for me, and for giving me so many brilliant and important tips. Thank you for also believing in our cause, and believing in me. I cannot thank all of you enough for your kindness. I told all of you I felt like y'all were my only friends in the sessions and it really felt very much like that :')
To all who participated in our focus groups + Sayoni's report, without all of your experiences and narratives this report wouldn't have been a reality at all. Thank you for being brave and for being willing to share so much and so intimately. Your bravery had touched and inspired me in many, many ways. I have a lot of love for all of you.
And finally, of course, to Alicia, I really could not have done any of this without you. Thank you for all the emergency phone calls (and non-emergency ones!!!), listening to all of my recordings (yes, even my silly food reviews and the unintentional 40 minute one lol), helping me out a lot with essentially all of the trip details (thank you to your mum too!) + research stuff without any complaints. Thank you for caring for me, for believing in me, for making me laugh, for being proud of me, for keeping me grounded and sane always. Though you weren't physically there with me this trip, it felt like you were always close to me, and never far at all. Thank you. An infinite times (and beyond heh), thank you.

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Updated: Nov 17, 2021

What better way to learn than with music. If your scholar struggles with learning geometric shapes, StepByStep has the best solution for you. Thanks to educator Mrs. Russell, our scholars have a catchy and fun way to learn about geometry.

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Resources for Immigrant & Refugee Families

The following resources are community organizations that support immigrant families with information related to citizenship, individual rights, and refugee services. In addition, contact information to state and local government officials have been provided.

Please note that these resources are provided for information purposes only and do not represent an endorsement by the South Bay Union School District.

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Internet Hilariously Claps Back On 'Roomy Vagina' Emoji Comparison

Image via Twitter/Bettina Arndt

This ‘small dick emoji’ rebuttal went hilariously wrong

After the “pinching hands” emoji was released as part of the new emoji lineup of 2019, many people had hilarious reactions to its perfect, alternate use as the “small dick” emoji. Well it wouldn’t be the internet if someone didn’t try and ruin everyone’s fun, but when a Twitter user tried to bring up a “roomy vagina” argument, the internet had a field day.

You will be gasping for breath by the end of this post, guaranteed.

It all started with the announcement about new emojis earlier this week. The “pinching hands” emoji will soon find its way to every group chat and girlfriend text thread in existence. Because, let’s be honest, absolutely no one is using this emoji to convey a pinch.

The internet had, naturally, a very big and very funny reaction to the new emoji. But not everyone was laughing, because every party has a pooper:

Yes, how would feminists feel about an emoji that symbolizes our roomy vaginas? Because that is a very real thing women discuss — the size of our vaginas. In addition to sending unsolicited vagina pics, women everywhere are known for yukking it up about the depth and width of our vaginas. Totally the same thing.

Well, let’s find out how they feel, shall we?

Roxane Gay brings up perhaps the most important point, because women — unlike men — don’t care about shit like this.

Other people were quick to point out the hypocrisy at play here, because women overall aren’t going to get violently angry over being “sneered” at for the size of their vaginas.

Also? Women are “sneered” at all the time. Literally and metaphorically. And if this argument is truly supposed to exist for “equality” purposes, how does being insultingly misogynist make things any better? While plenty of jokes can fly about the emoji itself representing small, uh, things, in reality — it can be used for literally whatever anyone wants.

Interestingly, even the founder of Emojipedia, Jeremy Burge, acknowledges the “pinching hands” symbolism. “In context, having an emoji … to refer to a small amount of something seems like it might be helpful,” he tells BuzzFeed News. “But I can definitely see how the gesture out of context does seem to imply a man’s small package.”

Speaking of which, the new batch of emojis hitting our phones this year is more inclusive than ever. And not just regarding dick size!

If you’re curious, here’s the full list of (more PG and inclusive) emojis that will be added to our repertoire this year. It includes a person in multiple types of wheelchairs, a person who is blind, an ear with a hearing aid, interracial couples, service dogs, a sloth, an oragutan, a skunk, a juice box (holler to all the moms), an oyster, and more.

Sadly, out of all of those emojis, not one of them accurately represents a roomy vagina. If nothing else, though, “Roomy Vagina” is a killer band name.


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Entries Tagged "activism"

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MacOS Zero-Day Used against Hong Kong Activists

Google researchers discovered a MacOS zero-day exploit being used against Hong Kong activists. It was a “watering hole” attack, which means the malware was hidden in a legitimate website. Users visiting that website would get infected.

From an article:

Google’s researchers were able to trigger the exploits and study them by visiting the websites compromised by the hackers. The sites served both iOS and MacOS exploit chains, but the researchers were only able to retrieve the MacOS one. The zero-day exploit was similar to another in-the-wild vulnerability analyzed by another Google researcher in the past, according to the report.

In addition, the zero-day exploit used in this hacking campaign is “identical” to an exploit previously found by cybersecurity research group Pangu Lab, Huntley said. Pangu Lab’s researchers presented the exploit at a security conference in China in April of this year, a few months before hackers used it against Hong Kong users.

The exploit was discovered in August. Apple patched the vulnerability in September. China is, of course, the obvious suspect, given the victims.

EDITED TO ADD (11/15): Another story.

Posted on November 12, 2021 at 9:07 AMView Comments

WhatsApp Sues NSO Group

WhatsApp is suing the Israeli cyberweapons arms manufacturer NSO Group in California court:

WhatsApp’s lawsuit, filed in a California court on Tuesday, has demanded a permanent injunction blocking NSO from attempting to access WhatsApp computer systems and those of its parent company, Facebook.

It has also asked the court to rule that NSO violated US federal law and California state law against computer fraud, breached their contracts with WhatsApp and “wrongfully trespassed” on Facebook’s property.

This could be interesting.

EDITED TO ADD: Citizen Lab has a research paper in the technology involved in this case. WhatsApp has an op ed on their actions. And this is a good news article on how the attack worked.

EDITED TO ADD: Facebook is deleting the accounts of NSO Group employees.

EDITED TO ADD (11/13): Details on the vulnerability.

Posted on October 30, 2019 at 9:36 AMView Comments

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Toronto Metropolitan University: Discover Toronto Met - Open House

Looking to make an impact on the lives of others? Connect with TMU's engaged community who will help you think differently about the future and your ability to shape it, at the Discover Toronto Met: Open House.

Join us online for virtual information sessions designed to introduce you to the programs, people and unique hands-on learning opportunities that will help shape your experience. In-person campus tours will be available Friday, November 18 and Friday, November 25 and led by current students.

Registration is required for all sessions, so find your session below and sign up today — we're excited to meet you!

Friday, November 18, 2022 - Friday, November 25, 2022, Eastern Standard Time (EST)

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And finally… paw and order

A cat has been fined nearly £100 for trespassing in a neighbour’s garden.

Ñirka, a young tortoiseshell cat, was spotted in the garden twice while owner Ramon Correa was on holiday.

On his return to his home in Victoria, Canada, he was slapped with a $150 CAD fine (around £100) for his cat’s trespassing, Capital Daily reports.

City officials said they issue up to around 10 fines every year under animal control by-laws covering any animal on private lands without consent of the person living there.

Mr Correa rejected suggestions that he should confine the cat permanently to his home. “I got that cat out of a barn, I’m not going to do that to the cat,” he said.

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8 min readSafeguarding measures for pupil and staff wellbeingposted about 1 year ago

In the UK and elsewhere in the world, we are seeing children and young people return to early years, schools, and colleges gradually and will continue to see more educational settings opening up in the coming weeks. While it’s exciting for them to be able to join back their social circles in person, this inevitably also brings concerns about their safety and wellbeing.

Safeguarding has now become a part of our phraseology as the pandemic has created or deepened many vulnerabilities in our systems, disrupted schooling schedules, and added novel responsibilities for the staff. Children’s experiences of the pandemic have been very varied — they might have been safely isolating at home, or the past year might have been challenging, grief-ridden or traumatic. As children return to school, it’s important to acknowledge these differences and how they’ll impact their progress going forward.

There is also a need to put safeguarding measures in place that will ensure the physical as well as mental safety of the children. At the same time, the staff, especially the safeguarding leadership, will confront unprecedented challenges in the process. Their well-being, too, needs to be prioritised.

In this blog, we enumerate some safeguarding measures and wellbeing provisions that can help ensure safety in schools in a holistic manner.

scr tracker single central record tracking register isi ofsted inspection school academy trust multi lasbm isba sne partner leading market solution partnership register

Photo by Muneer ahmed ok on Unsplash

Extend mental health support

In order to address how the mental health of children and staff has been impacted, it’s important to understand the various possible ways the past 18 months may have impacted them. Some children may have gone through a direct loss during this time, like losing a relative to the virus or other illnesses, or witnessing a close relative/friend go through a tough period of ill-health or hospitalisation.

For others, the loss may look different: parents who were furloughed or lost jobs (and in turn took to unhealthy coping mechanisms), families that moved homes, and more. The impact of long-term isolation from relatives, extended family, and friends can also weigh heavy on children.

"This", Kate Young, founder of the Safeguarding Association, reminds us, "could have led to a lot of children who previously weren’t even on the radar now falling into the vulnerable category. My main suggestion is to identify who these vulnerable young people are, finding a way to identify them without compromising their safety, also helping them self-identify, and then making the information on support resources readily available,” she adds.

Information about how the mental healthcare support at school works can be key in making newly vulnerable children comfortable about reaching out for help or opening up about their issues. This would entail looking out for less obvious signs of distress like children seeming withdrawn, uncharacteristically irritable, angry or confused. Children will also respond to grief differently. There should be robust processes in place to support students through this time as well as awareness amongst the children about the support they have available. One of these without the other will make the safeguarding plan ineffective.

Cruse Bereavement Support has a range of resources that can be helpful for the school staff to support children, including a guide on creating a school bereavement policy.

single central record tracker scr tracking register isi ofsted inspection report safer recruitment safeguarding safeguard section 128 check dbs identity schools north east partnership lasbm isba partner

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Accelerate relationship building

Under normal circumstances, school staff are able to identify vulnerable children through cues from their behaviour and other warning signs. Now, vulnerable children (especially the newly vulnerable ones) may have fallen through the cracks created by the changed mode of learning and teaching.

Young shares her number one concern from the past 18 months: that the rapport-building of the staff with parents was interrupted:

“We’ve only seen parents online, so the school staff don’t have a relationship with them, and, therefore, cannot make judgement calls on whether a particular situation is risky and what level of risk is being held because they don’t have the background information on the family that they would ordinarily have. This gap is especially true for parents whose children have been in the school for just 2 years. There’s a huge piece of the puzzle missing there. For safeguarding, being able to build that trust with families quickly is important.”

In line with that, it’s important for schools to devise a plan where they can get to know the children and their families better. We need to get to know them before we can support them with their needs, understand who they are, what they’re struggling with, what their vulnerabilities are, what the risk factors look like. This plan should involve measures to help identify the vulnerable groups and also sharing information and resources so they can self-identify.

Exercises to feel safe in the new normal

Another aspect of children returning to schools is anxiety around rejoining social spaces, starting social interactions again, and feeling safe with respect to infection. Karen Liebenguth, an accredited mindfulness teacher and supervisor & founder of Green Space Coaching & Mindfulness shares some tips on how to stay calm and grounded as we return to school, useful for both staff as well as the students.

  1. Pause 5 times daily to take 3 deep breaths (it takes about 20 seconds): Set your alarm or remind yourself with a post-it note. Connecting with the body and breath in this way activates the parasympathetic nervous system that lets the brain know that you are safe; it brings you back into your direct sensory experience (primary experience), into the here and now where we can feel safe, grounded and calm. It’s a direct antidote to spiralling off in our head (secondary experience) which activates the sympathetic nervous system, the alarm system (amygdala) of the brain.
  2. Take regular mindful breaks (before you need one): Taking regular breaks keeps you resourceful, creative and productive throughout the day vs feeling completely exhausted and overwhelmed at the end of the day. Breaks do not have to be long. Just a 2-minute break and several during the day can make a big difference.

For school staff, she suggests an informal system of work buddies:

“Ask a colleague to be your work buddy and arrange to talk with each other regularly. Share how your work has been, what you’ve managed to do, what you’ve found challenging. Avoid going into catastrophic thinking together. Help each other come back to primary experience, to what’s actually going on, in the here and now. Find out what you need and how you can best support each other.”

single central record tracker tracking leading market solution safeguarding safeguard safer recruitment check checks identity dbs disclosure criminal record filtering filter partnership partner lasbm isba sne

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Support your leadership & DSLs in their work and emotional wellbeing

In addition to resources and exercises for self-help, the school leadership and Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) need to be thoughtfully supported through more hands-on professional and emotional support. They will be looking at supporting vulnerable children with different needs from a variety of angles. DSLs are going to be dealing with huge volumes as well as the serious nature of cases for a long while.

For someone working on this caseload volume, they need adequate resources at their disposal as well, not just around their case management, but also in terms of emotional support structures for themselves. A big part of Young’s work, she shares, is supporting the leadership team and DSLs by offering them a space for one-on-one support where they can come and offload, have an open conversation in confidence, and get their batteries recharged.

Provision of training, support and guidance along with the creation of policies that foster work-life balance, decent pay and conditions will also positively impact their wellbeing.

Infrastructural Safeguarding to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission

As schools reopen, it's important to think of ways to create safety in community settings. This includes infrastructural adjustments like CO2 monitors, creating seating arrangements that abide by social distancing norms, crowd-control measures, one-way systems, robust COVID testing, among other measures.

Ventilation has been a cause of concern as we return to schools since the possibility of infection shoots up in poorly ventilated rooms.

single central record tracker tracking scr register dfe department for education safeguarding safer recruitment section 128 check dbs identity checks school academy trust multi trusts

The Department for Education (DfE) is spending £25m to provide 300,000 CO2 monitors (September 2021). These monitors will send out alerts if the CO2 levels rise and the fresh air is scanty. Former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson shared, “Providing all schools with CO2 monitors will help them make sure they have the right balance of measures in place, minimising any potential disruption to education and allowing them to focus on world-class lessons and catch up for the children who need it.”

Some schools are choosing to keep face coverings mandatory, others are also considering ozone disinfecting machines. If the school experiences an outbreak, bubble groups and face masks are advised to be enforced strictly.

Apart from this, many schools are encouraging children to take lateral flow tests at home and self-isolate if testing positive. Children in the age group 12-15 years are also being offered the COVID vaccines — a dose of Pfizer — to curb possible infections.

To successfully return to schools and in-person teaching, it’s important to minimise the risk factors and to highlight the available support for both children and staff.

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Kritika M Narula

Kritika M Narula

Kritika is a research and media professional based in India.


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text: There are about 500 species of sea urchins worldwide, but the major commercially valuable species in the United States are the red, green and purple sea urchins. The spherical echinoderms have a hard, spiny shell called a “test,” which contains a star-shaped mass comprising five skeins of gonads (in males) or roe (females); both are marketed as roe. The sushi designation uni is also widely used, because the Japanese are major urchin consumers. All three urchin species are harvested on the U.S. Pacific Coast; red and purple are found from Baja, California to Alaska, and greens are taken from Washington to Alaska. Only green urchins are commercially harvested on the Atlantic Coast, from eastern Canada to Cape Cod. The largest U.S. producers are California (red urchins) and Maine (green urchins). Most product winds up in Japan. West Cost urchins are harvested by divers. East Coast urchins are taken by diving and trawling.


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Articles of Faith: Inviting Warren fits Obama's inclusive ideals

SHOULD RICK WARREN be giving the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration?

You might think that after the months-long saga surrounding Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, the president-elect would do whatever he could to avoid further pastor-politics dramas.

Apparently not. Inviting Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Orange County, Calif., and popular author of the "Purpose-Driven Life" series of books, has touched off a controversy.

During the Jeremiah Wright controversy I suggested that Wright needed to be seen within the context of the black church experience. In a similar way, it seems important to set Rick Warren within the context of evangelical Christianity in the U.S.

Warren embodies what many see as the new evangelical spirit. As an evangelical Christian, he is clear about his commitment to Christ and about conversion as the path. But Warren has parted company with fundamentalism and its political arm, the religious right, over its mean-spirited approach to politics and its fixation on abortion and homosexuality as the be-all and end-all.

Warren has emerged as an evangelical who puts both mouth and money on the line for AIDS prevention and care, issues of poverty and the global gap between rich and poor, and climate change. For this evolution Warren has incurred the wrath of those on the religious right. In the larger scheme of things, Warren represents an important shift in the influential evangelical world. This shift meant Obama captured support among young evangelicals who care about poverty, social justice and climate change.

While people on the fundamentalist religious right are incensed that Warren would agree to take part in the inauguration and give his blessing to a president who supports choice on abortion, folks on the other side are ticked off by Obama's choice of the bearded, aloha shirt-clad pastor from Southern California because Warren has questions about gay marriage.

While Warren was not out in front on this, he supported Proposition 8 in California's recent election, a measure that took back what California courts had granted, the right of gay people to marry. Warren is concerned about "redefining the 5,000-year-old institution of marriage," which he sees as a foundation of human civilization. This has elicited charges that Warren has "defamed" gays. Others tagged Obama himself a bigot for daring to invite Warren.

Here's what I think. Obama is doing what he said he would do, namely, reach across the culture-war divides, across the polarized minefield of American political life, to invite to the party someone who doesn't agree with him on every issue. Some argue that Obama lacks the courage of his convictions on full inclusion of gays. It seems to me, rather, that Obama is remaining true to his convictions of a post-partisan, nonideological approach and style. After all, inclusion doesn't really mean much if you include only those who already totally agree with you.

This is, remember, the man who wrote "The Audacity of Hope."

"I believe any attempt by Democrats to pursue a more sharply partisan and ideological strategy misapprehends the moment we are in," he wrote. And, "it's precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political debate that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face as a country." Inviting megachurch pastor Warren, who is also challenging old orthodoxies, fits these sentiments.

Personally, I can think of people I would prefer to Rick Warren for the role of inaugural prayer-giver. But Obama's choice seems to me consistent with what he has said and his operative philosophy. Moreover, the attempt to reach out to more centrist evangelicals, whom Warren represents, is important. To claim that because Warren has questions about gay marriage means that he's a bigot or that he has "defamed" gay people is a stretch.

Finally, it is important to note that Rick Warren is not being asked to take up a cabinet post or otherwise make or administer policy. He's been asked to give a prayer. My hunch is that if this country has a prayer, it will be because we do find a path beyond ideological purity and rigid orthodoxy.

In closing, a personal note: I lost one of my most faithful readers last Sunday when 95-year-old Jim Jambor of Olympia died. Jim watched for this column, "the Saturday Special" as he called it, and seldom failed to comment. We'll miss you, Jim!


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OLYMPIA — More resources for coronavirus testing and contacting tracing. More state aid for struggling businesses and workers. Getting young children back into school in January, if the public health metrics show it is safe.

Washington’s most powerful business and community leaders are urging Gov. Jay Inslee to take such steps, and more, to better navigate the pandemic.

A six-point plan from the organization Challenge Seattle declared support for the governor’s latest restrictions intended to curb the spread of the virus. But it also offered a glimpse into what top business leaders think should be done differently, or prioritized now.

The letter doesn’t come from your garden-variety community advocacy group. It’s an alliance of the state’s top chief executive officers, including among others the leaders of Microsoft, Boeing, Nordstrom, Alaska Airlines, REI, Starbucks, Weyerhaeuser and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Christine Gregoire, chief executive officer of Challenge Seattle — who also happens to be Washington’s previous governor — didn’t criticize Inslee’s approach and praised his work on responding to the virus.

“We really believe that the governor had to come out and do the kinds of restrictions he’s done to address the health issues,” said Gregoire in an interview. But, “We wanted to raise the issues about the tremendous social impacts and economic impacts and how can we go about mitigating those impacts.”

“We need to respond to the pandemic now, with a sense of urgency, on both public-health and safety,” added Gregoire later. “But also on the social and economic consequences to our community.”

The letter came during the week in which Inslee saw perhaps the biggest pushback against his emergency orders since the original shutdown in March. The governor on Sunday imposed a sweeping new set of orders, that include a halt to indoor dining at restaurants and any indoor gatherings, plus the closure of gyms and movie theaters.

That spurred several Democratic lawmakers this week to make a rare public break with the governor.

The lawmakers — including Sens. Rebecca Saldaña of Seattle, Mark Mullet of Issaquah and Joe Nguyen of White Center — penned a letter urging Inslee to roll back new restrictions on restaurants. Groups like the Association of Washington Business have also expressed concern about the new restrictions.

By Friday, Inslee — after consulting with lawmakers and others — announced a new, larger relief package to help businesses and workers.

Friday’s $135 million package includes the $50 million in business relief that the governor originally announced on Sunday along with his restrictions. That comes from remaining funds on hand from the federal virus aid package approved by Congress this spring, known as the CARES Act.

The new package now includes $70 million in grants to help small businesses — up from the original $20 million — as well as loans for businesses. It also includes $20 million in residential rental assistance and $15 million in aid for households affected by the pandemic to help pay utility bills.

Asked about some of Challenge Seattle’s proposals, Inslee in his news conference said he hadn’t looked at the letter, but “those measures all sound reasonable.”

The state is working on improvements to boost the efficiency of contact tracers — who reach out to infected people, checking on their close contacts in an effort to stem outbreaks, said Inslee. More contact tracers are becoming available soon in King County and other areas, he added.

The Challenge Seattle letter also urges the state to get younger students, like those in K-5, back in school in January, if public-health metrics show it is possible.

“Studies, including by local experts of global renown, have established that it is possible to reopen schools safely, especially for elementary age students.” according to the letter. “This can lay the foundation for the even broader work that will be needed to address the learning loss of our state’s students, with an emphasis on those disproportionately impacted.”

Also recommended is more resources to help distribute a vaccine when it becomes available, and better and more public data on coronavirus activity, such as positivity rates in hot spots and more detailed figures on hospitalizations.

The governor’s restrictions — and debate over his approach — come as Washington’s cases continue to soar. State health officials Friday reported 2,132 new confirmed cases, as well as 16 deaths. Thanksgiving and holiday gatherings could push numbers even higher.

In her interview — which came before Inslee’s announcement about expanded relief for businesses — Gregoire said the state must not wait on Congress for another virus aid package.

She called it “extremely frustrating” that Congress hasn’t taken action since approving the CARES Act in March.

People are living paycheck to paycheck, Gregoire said, many of whom must go to work outside the home, where they face exposure to the virus.

Inslee has repeatedly said a special session of the Legislature isn’t necessary to authorize any additional spending or make decisions on the virus until legislators return as scheduled in January.

Some Democratic lawmakers — who hold strong majorities in the House and Senate — this week continued to dismiss the idea of a special session.

Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane and the chief Democratic budget writer in the House, earlier this week brushed off the suggestion of one, after being asked in a news conference whether Washington should follow the steps of Colorado. There, lawmakers and the governor earlier this week announced a special session to debate economic stimulus amid the pandemic.

“I find it interesting but otherwise irrelevant what Colorado is doing,” said Ormsby, adding that he felt the distribution of federal CARES dollars by Inslee has been good. “I think that each of these state economics has their own unique dynamics.”

House GOP Minority Leader. J.T. Wilcox of Yelm said he supported Challenge Seattle’s ideas, and he still wants to see a special session, which Republicans have been calling for since May.

“I think the Legislature could help build confidence” in the state’s virus response, said Wilcox, “if we were part of it.”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Amazon as a member of the organization Challenge Seattle.


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Blackhawks vs. Oilers game thread: Part 2

The Blackhawks trail the Oilers 1-0 after 20 minutes on W. Madison Street. Here's your thread for the second period.

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Niklas Hjalmarsson deking and passing like Patrick Kane? The Oilers putting 18 shots on goal? In a period? Against the Blackhawks? At the United Center?

It was a weird first 20 minutes, and the Blackhawks trail 1-0 thanks to a Derek Roy goal. Here's hoping things start going more like we'd expected them to for the rest of the night.

Let's go Hawks.


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Linked In Therapy animals produce smiles - Sedgwick

Therapy animals produce smiles

If you attended RIMS 2018 last week, chances are you were smiling in the conference hall. The Therapy Animals of San Antonio were our guests in the RIMS WellnessZENter as our designated charity this year. Their mission of bringing people and animals together for healing came to life this week. I watched people go past the WellnessZENter, look in, keep walking and then the magnetic appeal of a furry four legged friend led them back and smiles immediately came to tired faces. Just like our therapy animals, we had a diverse stream of visitors who were eagerly petting the animals, laughed and got wet kisses from their new friends.

“This is the best RIMS ever because we have dogs to pet!”

“I really needed this and I feel so much better.”

“You will have the animals again next year in Boston right?”

Sedgwick sponsors WellnessZENter 2018 RIMS
Therapy dogs travel in style

These were just some of the many quotes we heard from RIMS attendees commenting on the positive impact of interacting with therapy animals. As attendees interacted with Bonnie, Bailey and Zeus, they heard Virginia Baba from Petsmart talk about the value of animals in the workplace. She also addressed many questions about creating and writing policies to have pets in the workplace. Virginia felt that the positives far outweighed the negatives if you take the proper steps.

Sedgwick donates $10,000 to Therapy Animals of San Antonio
Dave North, Sedgwick CEO and Therapy Animals of San Antonio

I was proud once again that while Sedgwick wanted to show that “we are here,” our theme for the week, we also wanted to look back and say we are still there. A check for $10,000 was presented to the Therapy Animals of San Antonio to support their mission of using animals for healing. Bailey, a crowd favorite, was trained to work with burn victims and has been trained to not put his paws on anyone but to offer up kisses instead to avoid accidently hurting the patient and yet creating a healing bond with that person while they recover. They visit hospitals, schools, nursing homes and work with PTSD veterans, just to name a few of the many ways therapy animals can bring a positive outcome. In addition to the dogs, they also have therapy cats! Our own Dr. Bartlett also addressed the crowd on the topic of alternative pain management.

Zane Grey the cat
Yes cats also make great therapy animals

I think I can speak for my colleagues and for the hundreds who stopped by the RIMS WellnessZENter that we were all better for the experience. Travel and hectic work days on the road can be draining – everyone agreed they felt rejuvenated and happier after just a few minutes petting and playing with our furry friends. Best of all, our contribution will be felt for years to come through a cold nose, a wet kiss and soft furry coats being petted, and knowing that when that happens we will smile.

RIMS 2018 WellnessZENter

Therapy animals bring smiles

As always we encourage you to learn more about the Therapy Animals of San Antonio; or find a local organization to contribute to or become a certified therapy animal team with your furry family member. If you would like to see more photos click here

Jonathan Mast, Director Social Media

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LaFonn February Birthstone Necklace

# BP001AMP20

LaFonn February Birthstone Necklace

# BP001AMP20

February - Amethyst. Adorn yourself with Lafonn's birthstone jewelry. This cross pendant features alternating simulated amethysts and Lafonn's signature Lassaire simulated diamonds in sterling silver bonded with platinum. The pendant comes on an adjustable 20" chain.

Product Details

Dimensions: Approx. 25mm (H) x 12.5mm (W)
Stone Count: 11
Accent Stone: FEBRUARY
Material Plating: Platinum
Total Carat Weight: 0.33cts

Name February Birthstone Necklace
Stock Number BP001AMP20
Department Fashion
Type Necklace
Sub Type Gemstone Necklaces
Style February
Collection Birthstone
Materials Amethyst, Platinum Plated Silver

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Segner's Jewelers LaFonn

Lafonn offers extravagant expertly crafted designs in sterling silver, handset with the world’s finest simulated diamonds. Unsurpassed quality and dazzling perfection are the foundation of Lafonn's brilliance and fire. As a design house and manufacturer with over 30 years of experience in the art of fine jewelry, Lafonn is proud to offer our collection of couture sterling silver jewelry. The moment you touch and handle our jewelry, you will experience the difference. Lafonn products give the opportunity to own a beautiful, well made piece of jewelry at a price that is within reach.


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