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☆ Drugs, Sacraments or Medicine? Psychedelic Churches Blur the Line.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | Meridith Kohut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Facing the latest participants attending her four-day psychedelic retreat, Whitney Lasseter made a bold claim: The ceremonies they would take part in were sanctioned by federal law, which sets a high bar for the government to interfere in religious practices. “We are using these medicines to connect with the divine,” said Ms. Lasseter, the founder of All Tribes Medicine Assembly, one of dozens of organizations that describe themselves as churches and view their use of psychoactive substances as sacramental, even though they are generally illegal under federal law. “It’s your right to practice your religion however you are guided.”Eight guests seated in a circle in a suburban Austin, Texas, living room nodded, some looking apprehensive, as Ms. Lasseter outlined the sequence of body-jolting, mind-altering rituals ahead. First, there would be a detoxification protocol in which poisonous secretions of a frog from the Amazon are dabbed on tiny burn marks on a person’s skin, often inducing nausea and projectile vomiting.

Persons: Whitney Lasseter, ”, Lasseter, “ Organizations: All Tribes Medicine Assembly Locations: Austin , Texas

☆ Fact Check-Online conspiracies link Pixar’s use of the number A113 with adrenochrome
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet, some online link Pixar to the QAnon conspiracy theory by saying the number represents the chemical adrenochrome. A tweet that has garnered at least 980 retweets reads: “Has anyone heard of this A-113 equals Adrenochrome? A113 AT PIXARInsider reported in February that references to the number A113 are in at least 23 Pixar movies, including its first studio film Toy Story (here). GOOGLEThe link between adrenochrome and A113 may stem from screenshots accompanying these claims on social media that show that searching the terms “a113 chemical” or “A-113 chemical” on Google brings up the Wikipedia page for adrenochrome. There is no chemical link between “A113” and the substance adrenochrome.

Persons: Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton, Pete Doctor, John Lasseter, Lasseter, Pete Docter, adrenochrome, ”, Kabrena Rodda, Read Organizations: Pixar, California Institute of the Arts, PIXAR, CalArts, Reuters, Wired, McGill University’s Office, Science and Society, American Chemical Society International, Committee, Google Locations: mater, adrenochrome

☆ A Reuters journalist explores his ancestors’ ties to slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +38 min

It took me a few minutes of research to figure out why I was losing track of the descendants of the people George Julian enslaved. If the racial cleansing of Forsyth County was mentioned, I didn’t notice. Still hopeful that I might be able to somehow identify and locate living descendants of the people my family enslaved, I flew to Georgia last November. Her father was also a butler for a wealthy white family, her mother a cook. In 1860, Osby’s ancestors were enslaved and working the fields of Forsyth County.

Persons: Julian, Abijah’s, George Julian, George, ”, Adaline, –, Abijah, Dick, Lott, Aggy, Henry, Lewis, Ellick, Jim, Josiah, Reuben, Woodrow Wilson, Rob Edwards, Black, Oprah Winfrey, Forsyth, “, Cumming, who’d, Abijah Julian, ” Gov, Joseph Mackey Brown, ‘ Dick, I’d, Grandma Horseyfeather, Brice gesturing, ” I’d, Grandma Horseyfeather’s, – I’ve, “ Lott, Abijah Julian’s, Richard Julian, Charlotte Julian, Richard, Charlotte, George Julian’s, She’d, “ I’m, That’s, Martin Luther King, wasn’t, Sophia Dodd, Dodd, Elon Osby, – Dodd, Osby, Bailey, George H, Julian ” –, – “, ” Osby, ” Dodd, Ida Julian ., Ida Julian’s, Ida ., Ida hadn’t, Ida Julian, Bagley, Willie M, Willie Mae Bagley, Willie Mae Butts, Elon Butts Osby, Osby’s, ’, Elon Osby’s, Ida Bagley, William Bagley, Adaline Julian, Richard Julian –, Abijah Julian –, she’d, we’ve, you’ve, ELON, crunched underfoot, could’ve, Abijah John Julian ”, Webster, I’ve, weren’t, “ We’re, – we’re, …, Horseyfeather, gesturing, “ You’re, Tom Lasseter, Corinne Perkins, Wong, Jeremy Schultz, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Blake Morrison Organizations: ., Reuters, ”, Black, Charlotte, Toyota, Atlanta History, Elon, Lockheed, Tiffany, Atlanta Housing Authority, Task Force, Mazda, American Legion, United, Confederacy Locations: Forsyth, Negros, negros, Virginia, . Civil, Georgia, Cumming, U.S, Forsyth ., Dawson, Atlanta, Tulsa , Oklahoma, Jefferson County , Georgia, Forsyth County, Charlotte, Thai, Macedonia, Buckhead, Bagley, America, Fulton County, Fulton, Bagley Park, Iraq, Afghanistan, Osby, England, Juneteenth, Brooks County

They include eight chief executives of the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America, which seceded and waged war to preserve slavery. Although white people enslaved Black people in Northern states in early America, by the eve of the Civil War, slavery was almost entirely a Southern enterprise. South Carolina, where the Civil War began, illustrates the familial ties between lawmakers and the nation’s history of slavery. Each of the seven white lawmakers who served in the 117th Congress is a direct descendant of a slaveholder, Reuters found. In researching America’s political elite, Reuters found names – almost always just a first name – of 712 people enslaved by the ancestors of the political elite.

Persons: Black, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen, Joe Biden, –, Donald Trump –, Jimmy Carter, George W, Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch –, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, James Clyburn, Henry McMaster, ”, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Gates, ” “, ” Gates, enslavers, Tony Burroughs, Biden, Obama, McConnell, “ it’s, ” Burroughs, LINDSEY GRAHAM, Joseph Maddox, Maddox, Sela, Rubin, James, Sal, Sam ”, Graham, Graham didn’t, NANCY MACE, Nancy Mace, Drucilla Mace, John Mace, Hector Godbolt, John Mace’s, Godbolt, “, ” Nancy Mace, TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Duckworth, Henry Coe, Coe, Margaret, Isaac, Warner, George …, Isaac Franklin –, “ There’s, ” Duckworth, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Blake Morrison Organizations: U.S, Reuters, Republicans, Supreme, Republican, Harvard University, PBS, United States Congress, Geographic, Journalists, Black, Thomson Locations: America, U.S, Confederate States, Arkansas, North Dakota, Black, Northern, Southern, South Carolina, Congress, New Hampshire , Maine, Massachusetts, United States, Illinois, Virginia, Frederick County , Virginia

☆ Resources available for learning genealogy, researching your ancestry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That means you – and what you know about your parents and grandparents – are the starting points for researching your family’s ancestry. In conjunction with this Reuters series, Legacy Family Tree Webinars is making available at no charge a variety of online genealogy webinars from its extensive library to help novices and experts alike. The webinars range from introductions to genealogy for novices to courses that explore African American genealogy. Among the webinars available through July is Descendants of the Enslaved and Enslavers – Working Together to Discover Family. Legacy Family Tree Webinars has a library of about 2,000 genealogy-related webinars.

Persons: –, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Blake Morrison Organizations: Reuters, reuters

☆ Should the U.S. government pay reparations for slavery and its legacy?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

The poll found that 74% of Black Americans favor reparations compared to just 26% of white Americans. A divided America Views on whether the U.S. government should provide some form of reparations for slavery and its legacy are split along party and racial lines. They also say it’s wrong to have taxpayers finance reparations, given that no one alive today is responsible for slavery. In April 2021, Gohmert went on the attack by proposing an amendment calling for the Democratic Party to pay for reparations. In the slavery era, the Democratic Party supported slavery; the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, called for slavery’s restriction and eventually abolished it.

Persons: –, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Lloyd Doggett, Tommy Tuberville, John N, Kennedy, Louie Gohmert, ”, Black, Robert Lindsay, Gohmert, Abraham Lincoln, Lindsay, Valentine, ” Tuberville, “, Tuberville, Valentine Brazil, Nathan Calhoun, ” Kennedy, Nathan Calhoun’s, Dabney P, Calhoun, John Crawford, ’ Warren, Warren, – Crawford, Crawford, ” Warren, Isaac Hollingsworth, ’, Van Hollen, ” Van Hollen, Miller Doggett, Doggett, ” Doggett, Jim Crow, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Jeremy Schultz, Blake Morrison Organizations: Black, Reuters, –, 117th, U.S ., Louie Gohmert Former U.S, Representative, Republican, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Vigilance, Kennedy U.S, Massachusetts Democrat, Senate, Chris Van Hollen U.S, Maryland, Lloyd Doggett U.S, H.R, Texas Democrat Locations: United States, America, U.S . Civil, Louie Gohmert Former, Texas, Europe, Bowie County , Texas, Boston, Bowie County, Alabama, Valentine Brazil, Nevada, Tuberville, Saline County , Arkansas, Brazil, Ouachita, Louisiana, Abbeville , South Carolina, Massachusetts, Dorchester County , Maryland, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee

☆ More than 100 U.S. political elites have family links to slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +46 min

Then the war came, and according to the family history, Union soldiers plundered Sessions’ 27-room house. About 48 years old at the time, he did not stand a chance to succeed without slavery, the family history suggests. ‘A Better Nation’Some historians and genealogists say there is a valuable reason for white leaders – and other white Americans – to explore their links to slavery. Nicka Sewell-Smith, a professional genealogist with the family history website Ancestry.com, said people frequently ask her what to do with such documents. The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Meeks said in an interview that he has spent years trying to trace his family history back before 1870.

Persons: Black, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, James Lankford, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, Joe Biden, –, Donald Trump –, Jimmy Carter, George W, Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Trump’s, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch –, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, James Clyburn, Henry McMaster, ”, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Gates, ” “, ” Gates, enslavers, Tony Burroughs, Biden, Obama, McConnell, Burroughs, Joseph Maddox, Maddox, Sela, Rubin, James, Sal, Sam ”, Graham, Graham didn’t, Nancy Mace, Drucilla, Drucilla Mace, John Mace, Hector Godbolt, John Mace’s, Godbolt, “, ” Nancy Mace, Henry Coe, Duckworth, Coe, Margaret, Isaac, Warner, George …, Isaac Franklin –, “ There’s, ” Duckworth, George Floyd, Donald Trump, ” Biden, ‘, ’, Ben Affleck, ” Affleck, Independent Angus King, Mo Brooks, ” Brooks, Sean Kelley, Kelley, White, don’t, wasn’t, Richard Sessions, Pete Sessions, Richard’s, William Sessions, John Cowger, Tom Cotton of, ” Cotton’s, Cowger, Cotton, Archibald Crawford, Juneteenth, Shaheen, Pocahontas, Edmond Dillehay, Peter ”, Milly, Lankford, ” Lankford, Joe Wilson, Stephen H, Wilson, Boineau, General David Addison Weisiger, Wilson –, Addison Graves Wilson –, Weisiger “, ” Wilson, Daniel Weisiger, Daniel Weisiger’s, Samuel, Samuel Weisiger, Daniel, Julia Brownley, Jesse Brownley, Brownley, ” Brownley, Thomas Ferguson, Brooks, Manumission, Marie Jenkins Schwartz, ” “ It’s, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, Harvard’s Gates, Sherman, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Nicka Sewell, Smith, Ancestry.com, ” Sewell, LaBrenda Garrett, Nelson, Garrett, Rick Larsen, John Wiggins, Larsen, – Gilbura, George, Agg –, ” Larsen, Gilbura, Agg, Gregory Meeks, Meeks, Jim Crow South, – Meeks, – “, ” Meeks, “ I’m, I’m, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Jane Ross, Emma Jehle, Jeremy Schultz, Blake Morrison Organizations: Reuters, Republicans, U.S, Supreme, Republican, Harvard University, PBS, United States Congress, Representative, WikiLeaks, Sony, Facebook, White, FedEx, National Museum of, 117th, Independent, University of Essex, Geographic, American Economic, Pete Sessions, Sessions, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jeanne Shaheen U.S, CNN, Biden, Trump, ” Reuters, South, South Carolina General Assembly, Confederate, statehouse, Congressional, Chesterfield County, Mount Vernon College, George Washington University, Mo Brooks Former U.S, “, New York Times, United, Federal Government, Union, Black, Southern, Democrat, House Foreign Affairs, Klux Klan Locations: U.S, America, Confederate States, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Carolina, Congress, Black, Northern, Southern, Illinois, Virginia, Frederick County , Virginia, United States, Minnesota, ”, Mo Brooks of Alabama, American, Texas, Mississippi, Chicot County , Arkansas, Chicot County, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Yell County, Yell County , Arkansas, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Frankfurt, Germany, Chesterfield County , Virginia, California, Portsmouth , Virginia, Alabama, Haywood County , North Carolina, Antebellum, United States of America, Washington, Nicholas County , Kentucky, Queens , New York, New York, York County, Mende, Sierra Leone, Africa, Bunce

Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros.” movie and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” both animated films, have racked up big ticket sales this year. The successes of "Super Mario Bros." and "Spider-Man" also reflect a new post-COVID-19 trend at box offices, Hollywood insiders say. In his book, “Creativity, Inc.,” Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull credited Pixar's brain trust with the studio’s early box-office triumphs. Catmull and other members of the original brain trust are gone, though Docter remains, now in the role of chief creative officer. During the pandemic's peak, when many cinemas were closed, Disney launched three Pixar films directly to Disney+_in the U.S., bypassing theaters.

Persons: ”, Universal’s, Mario, Tony Chambers, Disney's, don’t, Chambers, DreamWorks Animation’s, “ Ruby Gillman, Tom Sito, King, Sito, Jeff Bock, Ed Catmull, — John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, Joe Ranft —, Docter, Domee Shi, Soul’s ’ Kemp Powers, Pixar’s, Brad Bird, Oscar, “, Darla K, Anderson, “ Coco ”, Bob Chapek, there’s, we’ve, ” Docter, it’ll, Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine, Kenneth Li, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Pixar, Inc, Walt Disney, Universal Studios, DreamWorks, University of Southern, Netflix, Disney, Apple, Relations, Thomson Locations: ANGELES, U.S, Canada, Disney, University of Southern California, ”

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