Theyre wise, Dinkel said. They said, You always have to start a conversation like that with empathy.

The class explored the idea of an empirical truth in science, and how to use that truth to educate other people. As the students designed their videos, Dinkel circulated around the lab space, reminding students of how empathy is crucial when trying to encourage people to see a different perspective.

Our goal is not to alienate or belittle, Dinkel said. Our goal is to recognize that people's concerns are really valid and they're rational. And so thats your mission as scientists, is to offer them in an accessible way, entertaining way, evidence that helps them consider a different point of view.

To start, the students researched some myths and misconceptions about COVID vaccines.

Then they studied, as this video shows, what the coronavirus is, how its spread, how it interacts with the lungs and the immune system response, how precisely the vaccine works, how messenger RNA gets into your cells to make antibodies to fight the virus later on.

The students say they can understand why there are so many myths and misconceptions about the vaccine. Its new science. Its the first time a vaccine has used messenger RNA as the molecular agent used to teach the body how to recognize and fight the virus. Hayden Wright said his group is tackling the spooky myth that mRNA will alter peoples DNA.

We have to explain that the mRNA doesn't actually affect the area of the DNA, it's the layer outside of it, he said.

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On The Fence About COVID Vaccines? These Teens Want To Talk To You - Colorado Public Radio

As a kid, I heard of oversalted soil on which nothing would grow anymore. In ancient times, sometimes, the winners of a battle would salt the earth of their defeated enemy in order to prevent future harvests; Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus did this to Carthage after the third Punic War. You wouldnt believe, therefore, how that Bible verse, Matthew 5:13, bewildered me back then that being the salt of the earth was something desirable. Nor did it occur to myself how much influence on our western cultures salt has had. These days, having not many better things to do than pondering and writing, the topic of salt popped up in my mind. And its only partly as a culinary matter.

Of course, we all know that salt is a mineral. The chemistry fans amongst us know that the edible ones formula is NaCl as in Latin natrium chloride; English chemist Sir Humphry Davy used caustic soda when isolating the element, therefore, the English language uses the term sodium, not natrium. Quite interesting already, isnt it? We all know that all forms of life need a certain amount of salt as an electrolyte, but that in human nourishment an overly amount of salt can cause hypertension and heart diseases. We also know that there is rock salt and sea salt, and that kosher salt is coarse rock salt and has no additives like iodine. But did you know that the salt in itself is not produced under any kosher rules but used for dry-brining aka koshering meat?

As I walk the grocery aisles and grab another pack of salt, just as I would pluck a flower or an herb in my garden, it occurs to me that I will pay for it with money that comes from another salty term, a salary. Indeed, salt was so precious in former times that Roman soldiers got paid extra-money to buy salt, the salarium. Another word that dates back to the Romans is salad; they used to salt lettuce leaves. Food items like salsa, sauce, saucisson (the French term for sausage, which also seems to be of a salty linguistic heritage), and salami all derive from the Romanic word salis, salt.

Because salt was so rare and hard to extract out of rock or sea, it had to be imported sometimes from places as far as China. Salt routes developed, and to this day, you can still recognize through which places they went. Has it ever occurred to you that Salzburg, Austria, means salt fortress? And that the Salzach, which streams through it, was used for the transport of salt on floats, and its meaning is salt river? That the ancient German currency of Heller was coined off the term halhus, which was a building in which the rock salt was extracted from the rock, and that a Heller signified the value of a certain amount of salt? That a Hellweg in Germany simply means salt route? That Christopher Columbus travels were at least partly financed by Spanish salt taxes, and that one of the causes for the French Revolution was an excessive salt tax? Why? Consider that salt was used to preserve food preserving food was always also a thing of frugality; and now think of all the people who couldnt even afford as much salt as they needed. It would be as if our freezers and refrigerators were constantly without power! Salt taxes were one of the causes for the American Revolution (not just taxes on tea) as well as the cause for Ghandis Independence Movement in India.

Bread and salt are welcoming and housewarming gifts in numerous cultures to this day. Salt is supposed to bring good luck if you toss three pinches over your left shoulder; I prefer not to, as I am not superstitious and Id have to clean the mess But it means bad luck if you accidentally spill some. I have my doubts that the adage take it with a pinch of salt comes from the fact that salt makes something more palatable to swallow, as it means to interpret something more skeptically. I think it means that salt brings out some underlying flavors that otherwise you might not perceive. But that is just MY humble pondering.

So, after all these salty facts (and this concerns just the edible portion of it), the Bible verse is so much more logical. Salt of the earth is something incredibly precious, hard to be gained. Come to think of it, there is also a fairy tale that has a king ask his three daughters how much they love him. He rages and bans his youngest from the court when she answers that she loves him like salt; thereafter she secretly works in the kings kitchen and cooks all his meals without salt you may guess what this leads to. And, of course this tale comes from Southern Germany, a salt producing region. Of some Northern Germans legend has it that you need to eat a pound of salt with them before they befriend you figure how long it takes to eat a pound There are a lot more saucy tales and adages about the topic of salt. Dig around they are out there

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Across the Fence: Salt On Our Tongues - The Suburban Times

WILLMAR A New London woman was transported to the hospital after she drove through several yards Wednesday morning in Willmar, according to a news release from the Willmar Police Department.

According to the news release, Kathy Peterson, 65, of New London, exited Walts Car Wash on the 1200 block of First Street South and proceeded to travel northbound across Roise Avenue, driving through several yards on the 1100 block of Third Street Southwest.

Peterson drove through two fences, hit a shed and eventually came to a stop after her vehicle struck an unoccupied garage.

Peterson was transported to the Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital emergency room by ambulance as a precaution. No other injuries were reported.

CentraCare Emergency Medical Services, the Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad and the Willmar Fire Department responded to the incident reported at 8:24 a.m. Wednesday.

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New London woman drives through yards and fences, crashes into garage after leaving car wash in Willmar - West Central Tribune

"Good fences make good neighbors," says the neighbor in Robert Frost's famous poem "The Mending Wall."

Having heard Frost's words used to defend building fences and walls, I'm not sure that's what he writes in the poem, and it's certainly not what I believe makes good neighbors. I prefer bridges rather than walls. They connect rather than divide people.

In the poem, Frost questions his neighbor's adage that good fences make good neighbors.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offense,

Something there is that doesn't love a wall.

That wants it down.

Before a wall is built, I'd like to know who is walled out and also who is being walled in. After all, walls not only keep people out of somewhere but keep them in as well. And walls, of course, are not only physical structures but also mental. You can wall people in by promoting only one point of view and denying opposing points of view. Free, responsible speech is not only necessary for dialogue but democracies.

I think I prefer building bridges rather than walls between people. After all, you can't really keep ideas walled in. A great and good idea goes around, under, and through walls as President Ronald Reagan knew when he challenged then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall, which separated a country.

Of course, nations need boundaries to describe their territories. So, too, do individuals need boundaries to tell others what they consider fair and just limits to relationships. Without boundaries, people can lose all sense of their limits and sometimes sacrifice their integrities.

I've often thought Frost was arguing that "good fences make good neighbors," but reading the poem again I think he felt the opposite: "Something there is that doesn't like a wall."

Most poems begin from some experience in a poet's life. I can imagine Frost talking with a neighbor about the wall between their homes. My column and a poem arose as I await a fence being constructed around a portion of my backyard. But it's not being built to keep my neighbor off my property but my new dog in my yard, Being a beagle who follows the scents of the wild to lure her anywhere, she needs the fence to be safe.

I'd still rather build bridges than walls, especially when it comes to new ideas and people. I'd rather take the time to learn something new than simply repeat the old, time-worn saying that "good fences make good neighbors." Good bridges make good neighbors, or as 17th century English poet John Donne wrote: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"

John C. Morgan is a writer and teacher. His columns appear here each Wednesday in this newspaper. A collection of his poetry, "Thin Places," is available on Amazon.

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Everyday Ethics: Fences and neighbors [Opinion] - Reading Eagle

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The city has approved changes to its policies on fences, hedges and walls for both residents and businesses after a proposal from the building official.

The existing ordinance regarding fence type, fence height and placement of shrubbery had led to several questions and issues regarding property lines, neighbors and distances according to a letter from Building Official Michael Gero to Mayor Greg Kurtz.

The proposed changes were suggested to provide clarity and specification for residents and business owners.

The (modified) ordinance requires the property owner who is seeking a permit to verify property lines, notify adjacent property owners and resolve any potential conflicts before requesting the variance, Gero said.

The original ordinance -- Chapter 1363, according to codelibrary.amlegal.com -- outlined the rules for fence construction, gave height limitations for fences and said the Board of Zoning Appeals may permit exceptions to the restrictions on fences and walls when necessary.

The proposed changes add more information to the ordinance.

Gero outlined the additions: It specifies permit application requirements, eliminates the survey requirement specifies location requirements, (and) clarifies language which requires that any fence be installed in a location that allows the property owner, or their agent, to perform maintenance without entering any adjoining property.

These changes clarify that it is the property owners responsibility to identify property lines and communicate about their planned fence, wall or hedge construction with the owners of adjacent properties.

Gero said during the January City Council meeting, We are adding statements where the city is not approving, we are not responsible; but our goal now is if someone applies for a fence permit, my vision would be to have somebody from the city meet with the property owner and the neighbor to make sure that they both agree, or at least understand what the intent is.

He said that if a neighbor challenges the fence construction or location, it is the responsibility of the property owner who is requesting the variance to resolve the issue.

During the City Council meeting, Councilperson Tom Narduzzi said: Its a very uncomfortable situation for Mike, the Building Department, the person putting the fence up and the neighbor when things dont work out the way they are supposed to. It gets a lot of people involved that really shouldnt be involved. So, I think the mayor is doing the right thing by changing this legislation.

A resident must now provide a scale drawing with the location, height and type of fence, as well as the distance from structures, easements and swales. The city will inspect the property to ensure that the fence is constructed the way it is laid out in the plan submitted as part of the process for obtaining a permit.

Temporary fences that protect vegetation are exempt from needing a permit and must not be higher than 6 feet nor closer than 10 feet from a property line.

The changes to the ordinance also dictate the actual construction of a fence, including not being located within 3 feet of an adjoining propertys driveway or parallel structure, and having a gate to provide access for safety forces.

Gero said this is not a retroactive ordinance, meaning that any existing fencing can remain installed as it is.

Kurtz signed the legislation for these changes to take effect on Jan. 12, following the City Council meeting.

Read more from the Parma Sun Post.

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Independence amends ordinance on fences, hedges and walls - cleveland.com

Acting chief Yogananda Pittman proposed permanent fencing in a statement provided to reporters Thursday, but DC Mayor Muriel Bowser quickly slammed the idea and said the city will not "accept extra troops or permanent fencing as a long-term fixture in DC."

The proposal for permanent fencing comes weeks after a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, leaving five people dead and extensive damage to the property.

"In light of recent events, I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol," Pittman said.

She continued: "I look forward to working with Congress on identifying the security improvements necessary to ensure the safety and security of the Congress and the U.S. Capitol."

Bowser acknowledged the need for extra security for upcoming events but made it clear she did not want those enhanced measures to be permanent.

"Based on conversations with federal partners, there are some potentially volatile events upcoming that will require extra security. Fencing and the presence of troops will be a part of that," Bowser tweeted. "But we will not accept extra troops or permanent fencing as a long-term fixture in DC. When the time is right, the fencing around the White House and U.S. Capitol, just like the plywood we've seen on our businesses for too long, will be taken down."

"More needs to be done to protect the Capitol complex, but the failure of Capitol security leaders to plan for the predictable terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, does not justify closing the complex from the public, to whom it belongs," she wrote.

Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts freshman, tweeted that it would be a "mistake to turn the home of our democracy into a fortress. The Capitol needs to be safely open for constituents, press, and visitors."

Rep. Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, also spoke out against the idea on Twitter. "This is the People's House. I am adamantly opposed. There has been no threat briefing given to Members of Congress to justify this proposal," she tweeted.

The California Democrat met with retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honor, who is conducting a security review of the Capitol, on Thursday but provided few details.

"I was pleased to be briefed on the General's initial assessment which covered operational readiness, interagency cooperation, security infrastructure and the morale and readiness of institutional staff. As we consider the need for an emergency supplemental funding bill to meet institutional security needs, I want to thank the General for reviewing what is necessary for the Capitol Police to do their jobs," Pelosi said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

When asked if the fencing around the Capitol should stay up permanently, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, "I would tend to defer to the experts as to what is the safest way to be. We'll see, I don't know."

The New York Democrat added: "There should be both safety and the right to access the building."

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN's Ali Zaslav and Nicky Robertson contributed to this report.

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Proposal to build permanent fence around the Capitol meets resistance - CNN

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Holmes County Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs believes Democrats whove just taken over the apparatus of government in Washington are prioritizing the wrong fences by erecting a network of security barricades around the U.S. Capitol complex while halting construction of the wall on the border between the United States and Mexico that was championed by President Donald Trump.

Gibbs spent January 27-30 touring the border between the United States and Mexico with a group of Republican Congress members assembled by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs. The group, whose members also included Miami County Republican Rep. Warren Davidson, visited border stations on Sasabe, Nogales, and Sierra Vista and met with Border Patrol agents, members of local law enforcement, customs officials, and the mother of a former City of Mesa police officer who was killed by an immigrant who was in the United States illegally.

In a Wednesday interview about the excursion, Gibbs said the Border Patrol agents he met and ranchers who own property along the border all agreed it was a mistake for President Joe Biden to stop the walls construction with a proclamation he issued the day he was inaugurated. Bidens proclamation called the wall a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security, and said that Trumps declaration of a national emergency on the southern border was unwarranted.

Gibbs said finishing the wall Trump envisioned will save money by allowing fewer agents to patrol more miles along the border. Fenced sections of the border require one agent to patrol two linear miles, while unfenced sections require three to five agents per mile. Gibbs says completing the border wall will also help crack down on the murderous cartels that smuggle drugs and humans across the border. He said a porous border is contributing to a humanitarian crisis where desperate people from impoverished countries who hope to enter the United States are victimized by criminals.

You hear so much from the other side that the borders not a problem, that the fence is worthless, that it doesnt do anything, and thats absolutely not true, said Gibbs, who said all the border agents he met fully support completing the wall.

Gibbs criticized Democrats who control the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for not removing a network of security fencing topped with barbed wire that was installed around the U.S. Capitol complex after a Jan. 6 riot by supporters of Trump, resulting in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer. He calls the fencing totally unnecessary.

Gibbs said theres no longer a threat of mayhem at the Capitol, and that security forces had advance warning that a mob was headed there on Jan. 6, but failed to act. Gibbs said he believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has kept the fencing up as part of an agenda for power and control, starting to scare everybody.

A letter that Pelosi sent to colleagues on Tuesday said Congress and its members are face serious and ongoing security threats, and called for an emergency supplemental funding bill to meet institutional security needs, as well as establishment of a 9/11-type Commission to examine and report upon the facts, causes and security relating to the terrorist mob attack on January 6..

The irony here is, we build a fence around the symbol of a democratic republic, and we cannot have a secure border, said Gibbs, who represents a district that includes parts of Medina, Lorain, Huron, Richland Stark and Tuscarawas counties and all of Ashland, Coshocton, Holmes and Knox counties.

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Rep. Bob Gibbs gives thumbs up to border fence, thumbs down to Capitol Hill security fence - cleveland.com

New Delhi:

Days after barbed wire fences, concrete barricades and makeshift barriers of buses were put in place at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border - to virtually imprison farmers protesting the agriculture laws - similar measures are being rolled out at Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border.

Delhi Police are digging up vast stretches of NH-44 to build rows of barbed wires set in concrete, and are setting up strips of sharpened nails and iron rods in the middle of the road - those pieces that have not been dug up - to stop farmers and their tractors from entering the national capital.

The police have also placed massive shipping containers as temporary walls, have stopped all traffic for several kilometres in all direction, and deployed a huge force, including armed officers. They have also stopped media from entering and suspended internet services since last week.

"The protest sites are looking like international borders. It is as if we have come from Pakistan. On one hand, they (the government) want us to talk, and on the other hand they are doing everything to de-link us (from the city)," Kulwant Singh Sandhu, a farmer leadertold news agency PTI.

Over the past couple of days this has become the norm along the Delhi border, with barbed wire barriers, strips of iron rods, and concrete walls built to stop farmers from advancing into the city.

Stretches of NH-44 have been dug up to place barbed wire barriers and now resembles a war zone

The escalation in containment measures comes after last weeks' tractor rally descended into chaos; a group of protesters veered off the course farmers and police had agreed on, storming the Red Fort complex and clashing with cops at the ITO junction and Nangloi.

That violence - in which a farmer was killed and over 300 hundreds cops injured - was after protesters and tractors burst through police barricades, hours before they were to be allowed in.

Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava pointed to that when asked about the new measures.

"I am surprised that when tractors were used... police were attacked... barricades were broken on January 26, no questions were raised. What did we do now? We have just strengthened barricading so that it's not broken again," he said Tuesday.

Row upon row of police barriers, concrete walls and barbed wire fences have penned farmers in

The authorities have also suspended internet services in Haryana, where the farmers are gathered, although it is functional a few hundred metres away, where the police are amassed.

The farmers have also alleged that water tankers have been blocked off, but have reiterated that these "attacks" will not break their spirit. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha said "... trench-digging... fixing nails... barbed wire fencing... are all part of multiple attacks (by the government)".

These measures have drawn sharp criticism from those supporting the farmers and the opposition, for whom Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has led the charge.

On Tuesday Mr Gandhi lashed out at the government for "crushing" farmers and urged them to "build bridges, not walls". On Wednesday he warned the government that the farmers would not back down.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been dug in since late November - and more join them every day - in their battle to force the repeal of laws they say will endanger their livelihoods. The centre insists these laws will help farmers and has refused to scrap them. It has, however, offered a temporary stay.

Their protest caught the attention of global celebrities on Monday, when international pop star Rihanna tweeted: "Why aren't we talking about this?".

Rihanna's tweet triggered a wave of support and also a sharp response from the government, which dismissed it as "sensationalist".

With input from PTI

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Watch: More Barbed Wire Fences, Spikes On Roads At Singhu Protest Site - NDTV

A Republican congressman said Wednesday that its time to tear down the fence that was hastily erected last month around the Capitol, saying its turned the seat of American democracy into a fortress more akin to a military base.

Rep. Ted Budd, in a commentary at Townhall.com, said the danger of another attack similar to the Jan. 6 assault has passed, President Biden is now in the White House, and theres no similar threat still looming against lawmakers.

We should not allow the tragic events of a single day to permanently alter the peoples access to the seat of our representative government, the North Carolina congressman wrote.

The temporary fence was erected after Jan. 6, when Congress was attacked by a pro-Trump mob seeking to disrupt the counting of electoral votes that confirmed President Bidens victory. Authorities feared a repeat in the run-up to the inauguration, and created the fence, and stationed troops along it.

The new acting chief for the U.S. Capitol Police said in recent days that the department believes the fence should be made permanent. Mr. Budd said that would be a symbolic stain on our country.

Opposition to a permanent fence is bipartisan, with some Democrats also saying they hope the Capitol complex can do without a barrier between them and the school groups, tourists and voters who stream through the grounds each day.

Mr. Budd said lawmakers will press the issue with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who this week said Congress will need to pass an emergency spending bill to create a safer environment at the Capitol.

My House colleagues and I are willing to have an honest debate about providing the Capitol Hill Police with the resources they need to be better prepared without turning the Capitol into a permanent fortress, Mr. Budd wrote.

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Rep. Budd tells Congress to tear down its fence - Washington Times

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office corrections personnel conducting a routine patrol of the property at Silverdale Detention Center on Tuesday morning located a section of the outer perimeter fence that had been cut. Once the damage was located, the inmates at Silverdale Detention Center were immediately placed on lock-down and a head count was conducted.

A facility-wide headcount has been completed and all inmates are accounted for at this time, officials said.

The HCSO Criminal Investigation Division is currently investigating the damage to the outer perimeter fence and how it occurred.

Since the transition of the Silverdale Detention Center from CoreCivic on Dec. 30, corrections and law enforcement personnel have conducted several searches throughout the facility and have located illegal contraband and weapons, including over 30 edged weapons and numerous illegal narcotics, it was stated.

Chief Deputy Austin Garrett said, "This type of criminal activity risks the safety and well-being of our personnel and the inmates in our charge and will not be tolerated. This incident reinforces our ongoing efforts to prevent inmate escapes and the smuggling of weapons and contraband into the facility.

"As part of our continued efforts to strengthen security measures, we are in the process of installing additional perimeter fencing and surveillance based technology facility-wide.

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Section Of Fence At Silverdale Detention Center Found To Have Been Cut; All Inmates Accounted For - The Chattanoogan