Psych ward isolation room

A rare failure was Nicolae's bid as an independent candidate in Romania's December parliamentary election, when he fell just 17 votes short of a winning a seat after being denied a recount. Nicolae had hoped to press for education reforms to enable access to basic schooling, and also for better management of public money. … [Read more...] about Romania Activist Urges People to Do Something Good Every Day

In 1922, according to the Castle's literature, an Italian immigrant named Julius Roz opened his turreted restaurant and soon-to-be speakeasy on the eastern side of Telegraph Hill. He had been inspired by the so-called German Castle, a restaurant and hotel that perched on top of Telegraph Hill at the turn of the century before burning down. The building (which really does look like a castle, except that it's pink), made an appearance in one of Dashiell Hamett's novels, and was declared a historical monument in the late '70s. From the outside, it looks like it did in 1922, but the inside was most recently remodeled in 1995. … [Read more...] about Places in Time / A toast to the Bay Area’s historic 20th century-and-still-going watering holes

If I had known in January of last year that we'd still be living this Covid lockdown life, and that I'd still be conducting interviews from my basement until, say, a vaccine was developed, in many ways it would have been a very difficult pill to swallow. But in at least one way it would have been easier: There would be a calendar, a timetable, about how things should progress -- and a tangible end. The certainty of a countdown to zero, as opposed to the inherent ambiguity of counting up for what feels like forever. We're not nearly as good at counting up as we are at counting down. However painful, when we countdown, we still have the anticipation of an end date. … [Read more...] about Dr. Sanjay Gupta: The United States’ one-year coronavirus checkup

Bolton is making headlines this week with the release of his new book "The Room Where It Happened," which levels serious claims against President Trump, including one that alleged the president asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him with his reelection by urging him to buy agricultural products from farm states. He also claims that Trump condoned Xi's concentration camps, telling him it was "the right thing to do." … [Read more...] about Lin-Manuel Miranda suggests that John Bolton stole book title from ‘Hamilton’ song

While instant coffee has been around since the 1800s, single-serve coffee started taking off in the U.S. in the early 2000s thanks to Keurig’s explosively popular pod-based brewing system. Interest in single-serve coffee has only increased during the pandemic, as people are drinking coffee much more often at home instead of nursing cups at cafes, restaurants and office buildings. They might not want to invest in coffee brewing equipment or take the time to learn how to use it, and they often are only serving themselves. … [Read more...] about Bay Area specialty roasters used to scoff at instant coffee. Now, they’re making it in droves to meet demand