>Dough
https://www.businessinsider.com/highland-park-shooting-july-4-parade-jewish-wedding-song-playing-2022-7?op=1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_Street_Klezmer_Band
A Klezmer band was playing a 'joyous' Jewish wedding song when gunfire erupted at Highland Park parade, tuba player says. 'It was surreal.'
A band was playing a "joyous" Jewish wedding song when parade-goers began fleeing gunshots.
"It was surreal," the band's tuba player Howard Prager told Insider.
"This is us at our worst and we have to turn this around," Prager said.
The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band was playing a joyful Jewish wedding song, and parade-goers should have been dancing. Instead they were running, and the band had no idea why.
The band played on, not realizing that gunfire had erupted just around the corner from them in Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven people and injuring 31.
"It was surreal," Howard Prager, the band's tuba player, told Insider. "You know, you see those disaster movies on TV and in theaters where people are running away from something and here we are going towards it, not having any idea what was happening."
Among the horrifying videos to emerge from the July 4 shooting was one of terrified parade-goers fleeing the scene as the band, unaware of the shooting, continued to play.
At the start of the parade, Prager said he could see people on the sidewalks, standing and sitting in chairs, and looking happy to be at a parade after years of COVID cancellations. The band had been on the parade route for about five minutes when they started seeing people running toward their truck.
Prager thinks he heard "some pops," but didn't think it was gunfire. His first thought when he saw people running was that there might have been a July 4 giveaway. Then the piano player said: "Something's not right."
Soon, the seven band members realized they needed to turn their truck around and head to safety, in the opposite direction.
The Klezmer music they were playing is traditional eastern European Jewish music, Prager said, and Chicago is a big center for its revival. Although it's often in minor keys, Prager said it is still "very joyful."
The wedding song they were playing at the time, "Freilach von der Chuppah," is a joyous and upbeat song, he added.
"It was just strange to be playing and then seeing this happen," he said of the scene, which is "forever etched in my mind. We saw parents with baby strollers. We saw kids, we saw people of all ages, and they were all running."
Prager said he now feels "shock and numb and sorrow" for those who were killed, injured and affected by the shooting. "And I thank God that … I'm OK and that we're OK."
Highland Park has a large Jewish population. The band has performed in concerts, weddings and special events since 1983, but Prager said they have frequently played at parades in Highland Park and Skokie, Illinois, because they have so many fans there.
Prager said July 4 is one holiday where Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs can celebrate together the birth of the nation, liberty and justice for all. "To think that someone was sick enough to use this as an occasion to unleash violence and mayhem and murder is to me, so unbelievable, so wrong," he said.
Prager wrote the book "Make Someone's Day: Becoming a Memorable Leader in Work and Life." He said it's about how we need to support one another, "and the only thing I can think of is I need to work harder getting this message out."
"This is us at our worst and we have to turn this around," he said. "We've got to stop this. This has got to come to an end because none of us deserve to live in fear."
>This is us at our worst
>An unidentified man reportedly set his car on fire and drove into a U.S. Capitol barricade before exiting his vehicle, firing a weapon indiscriminately and then shooting himself late Saturday night.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-allies-say-declassified-mar-lago-documents-experts-say-unclear-w-rcna42311
Trump says he declassified Mar-a-Lago documents. Experts say it's unclear whether that will hold up.
Legal experts say presidents have absolute authority to declassify documents, but it's not clear whether Trump ever took action to do so.
The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the President of the United States. The idea that some paper-pushing bureaucrat, with classification authority delegated BY THE PRESIDENT, needs to approve of declassification is absurd.
comms
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-the-other-hand-how-lefties-cope-in-a-right-handed-world/
On the other hand: How lefties cope in a right-handed world
They could be items found at any gift and gadget shop – scissors, pens, notebooks – but these, and scores of other products in this store, are specifically designed for left-handed people.
Take the pastry server, with its sharp cutting edge on the left side. "The correct side, we like to say!" said Margaret Majua.
You may recall the Leftorium from "The Simpsons," which sold products specifically for left-handed people. But Lefty's, opened by Majua in San Francisco in 2008, is the real thing.
Correspondent Rita Braver (a southpaw herself) asked, "You're not a lefty?"
"No, no, I can't even fake it," Majua replied. "I'm terrible with my left hand."
No surprise. Lefties make up only an estimated 10 percent of the world's population, and Majua understands that they sometimes feel, well, left out.
Of course, Braver notes, "We lefties do have greatness in our ranks." Among them: artists (Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci), actors (Charlie Chaplin, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt), musicians (Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain), techies (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg), and eight of 45 U.S. presidents, including former President Bill Clinton.
"We seem to be over-represented in certain fields," Clinton said. "Politics? Safe-cracking? I don't know!"
"Has it ever impeded you?" Braver asked.
"No, I don't think it's ever impeded me," Clinton said. "When I started studying the way the brain functions, it made me wonder whether it really was a sign of being a little more creative and non-rational in the way you think. And I have no conclusions on it."
"Even about yourself?"
"No, I don't!"
>(Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg), and eight of 45 U.S. presidents, including former President Bill Clinton.
>"We seem to be over-represented in certain fields," Clinton said. "Politics? Safe-cracking? I don't know!"
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/northshore-university-health-to-pay-10-3-million-in-covid-19-vaccine-lawsuit/
NorthShore University Health to pay $10.3 million in COVID-19 vaccine lawsuit
CHICAGO (CBS) – The NorthShore University Health System has agreed to pay $10.3 million in a COVID-19 vaccine lawsuit.
More than a dozen health care workers sued the Evanston-based group after they were denied religious exemptions for vaccinations.
In a statement, NorthShore said the settlement reflects its new vaccine policy at Edward-Elmhurst Health.
The statement in full said, "We continue to support system-wide, evidence-based vaccination requirements for everyone who works at NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health and thank our team members for helping to keep our communities safe. The settlement reflects implementation of a new system-wide vaccine policy which will include accommodation for team members with approved exemptions, including former employees who are rehired."
>statement
https://lc.org/newsroom/details/072922-health-care-workers-settle-covid-shot-mandate-for-dollar103-million
Health Care Workers Settle COVID Shot Mandate for $10.3 Million
Jul 29, 2022
CHICAGO, IL – Today, Liberty Counsel settled the nation’s first classwide lawsuit for health care workers over a COVID shot mandate, for more than $10.3 million. The class action settlement against NorthShore University HealthSystem is on behalf of more than 500 current and former health care workers who were unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate. The agreed upon settlement was filed today in the federal Northern District Court of Illinois.
As a result of the settlement, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500 to compensate these health care employees who were victims of religious discrimination, and who were punished for their religious beliefs against taking an injection associated with aborted fetal cells.
This is a historic, first-of-its-kind class action settlement against a private employer who unlawfully denied hundreds of religious exemption requests to COVID-19 shots.
The settlement must be approved by the federal District Court. Employees of NorthShore who were denied religious exemptions will receive notice of the settlement, and will have an opportunity to comment, object, request to opt out, or submit a claim form for payment out of the settlement fund, all in accordance with deadlines that will be set by the court.
As part of the settlement agreement, NorthShore will also change its unlawful “no religious accommodations” policy to make it consistent with the law, and to provide religious accommodations in every position across its numerous facilities. No position in any NorthShore facility will be considered off limits to unvaccinated employees with approved religious exemptions.
In addition, employees who were terminated because of their religious refusal of the COVID shots will be eligible for rehire if they apply within 90 days of final settlement approval by the court, and they will retain their previous seniority level.
The amount of individual payments from the settlement fund will depend on how many valid and timely claim forms are submitted during the claims process. If the settlement is approved by the court and all or nearly all of the affected employees file valid and timely claims, it is estimated that employees who were terminated or resigned because of their religious refusal of a COVID shot will receive approximately $25,000 each, and employees who were forced to accept a COVID shot against their religious beliefs to keep their jobs will receive approximately $3,000 each.
The 13 health care workers who are lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit will receive an additional approximate payment of $20,000 each for their important role in bringing this lawsuit and representing the class of NorthShore health care workers.
Liberty Counsel will receive 20 percent of the settlement sum, which equals $2,061,500, as payment for the significant attorney’s fees and costs it has required to undertake to sue NorthShore and hold it accountable for its actions. This amount is far less than the typical 33 percent usually requested by attorneys in class action litigation.
In October 2021, Liberty Counsel sent a demand letter to NorthShore on behalf of numerous health care workers who had sincere religious objections to NorthShore’s “Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.” If NorthShore had agreed then to follow the law and grant religious exemptions, the matter would have been quickly resolved and it would have cost it nothing. But, when NorthShore refused to follow the law, and instead denied all religious exemption and accommodation requests for employees working in its facilities, Liberty Counsel filed a class action lawsuit, along with a motion for a temporary restraining order and injunction.
Liberty Counsel Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel Horatio G. Mihet said, “We are very pleased with the historic, $10 million settlement achieved in our class action lawsuit against NorthShore University HealthSystem. The drastic policy change and substantial monetary relief required by the settlement will bring a strong measure of justice to NorthShore’s employees who were callously forced to choose between their conscience and their jobs. This settlement should also serve as a strong warning to employers across the nation that they cannot refuse to accommodate those with sincere religious objections to forced vaccination mandates.”
Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel said: “This classwide settlement providing compensation and the opportunity to return to work is the first of its kind in the nation involving COVID shot mandates. This settlement should be a wake-up call to every employer that did not accommodate or exempt employees who opposed the COVID shots for religious reasons. Let this case be a warning to employers that violated Title VII. It is especially significant and gratifying that this first classwide COVID settlement protects health care workers. Health care workers are heroes who daily give their lives to protect and treat their patients. They are needed now more than ever.”
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