pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 61
1M
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.800793
| 0.800793
|
Now Reading: Texas Gaining National Rep for Executing Innocents
Texas Gaining National Rep for Executing Innocents
Revelations in Carlos DeLuna case feel eerily familiar.
Dave Mann May 21, 2012, 9:40 pm CST
I was talking to a couple from Philadelphia at a cocktail reception on the East Coast last week. When I said I worked as a journalist in Texas, the husband mentioned that he’d heard the state had executed an innocent man. He asked if I knew about the case.
“Well,” I said, “you’ll have to be more specific.”
Yes, it has come to this: Credible claims of innocence in multiple cases of men executed years ago. It’s becoming a disgrace for the state. What else can we say after the recent disturbing revelations in the case of Carlos DeLuna?
DeLuna was convicted of stabbing to death 24-year-old Wanda Lopez at a Corpus Christi convenience store in 1983. His conviction was based largely on the shaky testimony of a single eyewitness. Police had the eyewitness identify DeLuna at the crime scene while DeLuna was in custody—not ideal policing practice to say the least. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. Yet the state executed DeLuna in 1989. Now it appears they had the wrong man.
In 2003, Columbia University law professor James Liebman and a group of students began an eight-year reinvestigation of DeLuna’s case. Their results were recently published in a book-length Columbia Human Rights Law Review article.
The evidence strongly suggests that not only did Texas execute an innocent man, but that prosecutors and police could have easily discovered that another man named Carlos was the likely perpetrator. Carlos Hernandez, who looked remarkably like Carlos DeLuna, had a record of stabbing people with a buck knife—the same weapon used to kill Wanda Lopez. It was widely rumored in the neighborhood that Hernandez had committed the murder. Corpus police officers even heard those rumors, yet didn’t act on them. DeLuna himself told his attorneys about Hernandez, yet his defense team and the prosecution claimed they couldn’t find such a person. At trial, prosecutors suggested that Carlos Hernandez didn’t exist. But he did. An investigator hired by Liebman tracked down Hernandez in a matter of hours. He had died in prison in 1999.
Texans have sadly grown accustomed to the horrifying tales of wrongful conviction after more than two dozen DNA exonerations in Dallas County and the high-profile cases of Anthony Graves and Michael Morton. But the DeLuna case is one of the most dispiriting yet. Though the details are different, what happened to DeLuna is eerily similar to the infamous Cameron Todd Willingham case and to the Claude Jones case. (If you’re not familiar with the Jones story, which the Observer broke in November 2010, then read this story. DNA tests debunked the key evidence against Jones, who was executed in 2000, though the tests didn’t conclusively establish his actual innocence.) Then there’s the case of Ruben Cantu, a former special ed student executed in 1993 for a crime he almost certainly didn’t commit.
In all these instances, prosecutors, judges and police officers could have easily unearthed major problems with the evidence: the existence of Carlos Hernandez in DeLuna’s case, the debunked arson evidence against Willingham, the DNA test that Jones requested before his execution but wasn’t granted, and the key witness who said police pressured him to implicate Cantu. As with Willingham, Jones and Cantu, officials in the DeLuna case seemingly didn’t care to learn the truth. And an apparently innocent man is dead because of it.
Now Texas is quickly gaining a national reputation as the state that executes innocent people.
Dave Mann is a former editor of the Observer.
by Dave Mann
Ed Graf Trial Ends in Guilty Plea
At Ed Graf Trial, Prosecutors Rely on Circumstantial Evidence
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535755
|
__label__cc
| 0.645853
| 0.354147
|
Source of Online “Boycott Green Inferno” Petition Revealed
Podcaster gets to the bottom of “Jungle Gate”
by Josh Millican August 10, 2015
Back on July 16th, The Blood-Shed was one of the first to report on a Change.Org petition that sought to extinguish the Eli Roth helmed cannibal/survival horror, The Green Inferno, on the grounds that it’s “dehumanizing” to indigenous South American tribes. Launched by the account Boycott Green Inferno and including a quote attributed to Amazon Watch (a respected organization long at the forefront of Rain Forest conservationism and Indigenous Peoples’ rights) the petition lambasted Roth for creating a potentially damaging representation of Peruvian Indians based on long-standing stereotypes. It reads, in part:
Films like this have always portrayed negative stereotypes against indigenous people as brute savages. These films have psychological effect as indigenous people have been through colonial trauma assimilating to white culture being taught self-hate. “Westerners are unfortunately ignorant about Amazonian indigenous cultures and depicting them in such a violent story dehumanizes their peoples and couldn’t be farther from reality. Shame on you. As a storyteller you hold a great responsibility to influence others. Propagating such hate towards peoples who have been ravaged and raped for decades by white supremacist culture is not constructive in our fight to save the Amazon. Most indigenous communities are more in tune with nature than you’ll ever be, and would never conceive of such violence for profit. It’s a shame, we should be creating stories than accurately depict indigenous way of life which is holistic, sustainable, spiritual and harmonious with our earth and brothers and sisters.
News of this petition elicited two primary reactions. 1st: Disdain for so-called “Social Justice Warriors”, and; 2nd: Speculation that it was actually a marketing ploy initiated by the promotional team charged with drumming up interest during the final sprint towards The Green Inferno’s theatrical release date. If the second assumption was true, and someone at Camp Roth was misusing Amazon Watch’s good name and reputation well, that’s not fucking cool.
Horror journalist and podcaster Stuart Andrews who operates on Cinephobia took it upon himself to get to the bottom of the online petition by confirming its authenticity—a process that took more than just a couple days. His ultimate discovery (the petition’s source) is discussed in length (or ad nauseam) in a two-part podcast that aired on Cinephobia Radio August 6th called “Jungle Gate”. If a combined total of 3 hours of often bombastic pontifications sounds exciting to you, by all means, indulge in Jungle Gate yourself HERE. If, however, you’d like to cut to the chase, keep reading.
If you’re hoping for a saga of lies and deception with a smoking-gun or aha!-moment, you won’t get it. The Jungle Gate podcast attempts to convince you that this is a scandal worthy of your attention; while I agree it’s a somewhat interesting story, I hardly think it’s worthy of a 3-hour discussion, nor is this something you’ll feel compelled to rush out and tell your friends. At issue: Who initiated the Boycott Green Inferno petition on Change.org, was it a marketing ploy, and did the author of the petition fabricated the quote attributed to Amazon Watch?
Quick answers: Some guy, no, and no. Let me break it down for you.
The Boycott Green Inferno petition started life as an Instagram post that included a poster for Eli Roth’s upcoming film and ran under the title “Asshole of the Week”. Instagram user amerindian_1491 is known for posting issues of concerning to Indigenous peoples and has a decent number of followers. At issue: The assumed damaging, stereotypical portrayal of lost tribes in Peru. After receiving a few comments of support, who should enter the fray but Eli Roth himself, coming to his own defense. Roth claimed that the vitriol was unnecessary as Amazon Watch had seen the film and, according to him, “loved it!”. Well who should show up next for the fight but Amazon Watch; they slammed Roth for the statement, assuring him, among other things, that The Green Inferno was not endorsed by their organization. And far from loving it, Amazon Watch went to great length to express their displeasure with everything they knew about the film so far.
Asshole of the Week?
The Boycott Green Inferno petition was initiated, unsolicited, by a supporter of amerindian_1491, using text from the comments section for Asshole of the Week, specifically those made by Amazon Watch, as the accompanying text. You can put the pieces of the puzzle together for yourself: HERE. It was not created by anyone affiliated with Amazon Watch, who has attempted to contact the poster, requesting the petition removal—to no avail. In fact the creator of Boycott Green Inferno has not responded to anyone’s attempts at contact.
Amazon Watch, in a statement released through Andrews and read during the Jungle Gate podcast, seek to distance themselves from the petition by declaring they never made a “formal” statement regarding their position regarding Roth’s film. Apparently, they wish to withhold their official stance until after they find out how much guilt-money they can squeeze out of Roth. While that may be unfair, I find the organization’s backpedaling unprofessional.
Amazon Watch claims to have never released an official statement regarding The Green Inferno, but when someone manning their Instagram account made comments directed at Roth on the Asshole of the Week post, their words were as formal as anything they’ve released to the public before or since. When writing under the Amazon Watch moniker, everything stated is a formal declaration. In the age of the eternal internet fingerprint where off-handed comments can destroy careers and families, there are no “take-backs”. The organization might wish it had made a formal declaration before someone mouthed-off on Instagram, but once the statement was out there, it takes on a life of its own. This should be a lesson to all of us who use the internet as a platform. It’s something I think about every time I press the “Publish” button on one of my articles. And I’ve learned some of my own lessons the hard way.
To recap: The Boycott Green Inferno petition was created by a supporter of amerindian_1491, using comments made by Amazon Watch. Andrews (and his guest David Pace) must have been disappointed when it turned out there was no grand conspiracy at its core. They clearly don’t think very highly of Roth, as the three hour passive-aggressive podcast makes ridiculously apparent. When it turns out there’s no one to point a finger at, Andrews abruptly changes targets and skewers all horror journalists who reported on the petitions (myself included) for not taking the time necessary to verify its validity.
It’s a shame he went so suddenly agro, because instead of discussing his insights or praising his detective skills, it forces his peers into a defensive posture. I don’t appreciate being accused of shoddy reporting for a few reasons. First of all, our original article from July 16 attributed the Change.org petition to the account that initiated it, not to the organization mentioned in the accompanying text. That wasn’t by accident; Amazon Watch was never even named (directly or indirectly) by The Blood-Shed. Andrews belittles writers who took the petition at face value, even though his own search for a conspiracy theory (which played out like a witch hunt) proved there was absolutely nothing deceptive about it. Sure, the petition’s initiator didn’t exactly go about things the right way, but this was no false flag operation.
It wasn’t a marketing ploy, and, while it didn’t start at Amazon Watch, the quote attributed to that organization, statements made directly at Eli Roth regarding The Green Inferno, are legitimate. If anything, it’s proof that Change.org petitions are becoming less reliable. And it’s a lesson to anyone who speaks on social media under the banner of an organization: Anything you say can and will follow your ass until the end of time.
I can’t help but concluding that this has been much ado about nothing, not even worthy of the amount of time I’ve put into this article. Being accused of lazy journalism and pushing disinformation has derailed any deeper discussion of The Green Inferno’s subtext. And, unfortunately, I’m left with more disdain than respect for Stuart Andrews. As horror journalists, we should build each other up and support one another; this community isn’t as big as you might think, and a shot against one of us is an affront to us all. Any backlash is yours to bare.
And to you, Eli: I love you, but be careful about who you claim “loves” your movie.
Let’s deflate Jungle Gate and get back to issues that, you know, actually matter.
Do you agree that Jungle Gate is a bunch of over-inflated hooey? Are you excited to see The Green Inferno, hitting US theaters on September 25th? Sound off in the Comments section!
Follow me on Twitter @josh_millican for quality horror articles worthy of your attention.
11 Comments on this post.
10 August 2015 at 3:07 am - Reply
Much to take issue with here. And while you’ve ignored much of our critiques of the marketing of the film, you score some points with me for actually following up on the issue, something not all the Eli supporters were prepared to do. I’ll respond in more detail on another bombastic podcast.
I’ve been waiting for this movie for quite some time. And I appreciate your statement regarding horror journalists, that encouragement and a sense of community is what should be taking place within our beloved genre.
10 August 2015 at 1:15 pm - Reply
As many of your readers may not listen to the show in question, I have to point out that you’re being unfair to Amazon Watch. They were forced to make a statement on that thread in response to Eli’s false claims that they were in support of his film. It was creating confusion for their supporters and they needed to clarify the situation.
And though you’re not guilty of this yourself, I saw more than a few instances where horror pundits running with the story put Amazon on blast for the petition, something they obviously had nothing to do with.
And I get that you’re an Eli supporter but it’s Eli who’s at fault here, not Amazon Watch. But I’m glad you provided a link to that revealing discussion. That’s the heart of this issue – not the person who posted the petition, but the context in which the statement was made and the outrageous promises Eli made to the indigenous people, only to mock them with an irresponsible marketing campaign designed to amplify the voices of bigots.
I hope your readers take the time to sift through that thread and reflect on his comments. It reveals a very different situation than what he said last year in a Rue Morgue interview that the only people who’d object to his representation of indigenous tribes in the Amazon are, “North Americans who want to appear to be concerned.”
Amerindian has other threads on the subject. And though I don’t agree with all of the comments, it’s a fascinating read to get a sense of how some of the indigenous people feel about a movie like this. As far as I know, there’s no horror sites out there written by natives so it’s a perspective a lot of us don’t normally hear (and I guess a lot of us don’t want to hear, as the YouTube rants Eli has been retweeting will attest to.)
As for your dismissive comments and criticisms of the show, it’s true, I put you in a defensive posture so I have to accept a reaction like this. And I will. But as an EX horror journalist, one with an extensive history, my frustration with the state of online horror journalism continues. The fact that you listened to our show – one of the extremely rare instances where journalists examine an issue from the horror world with a shred of critical perspective – and came away with almost nothing of value does not do much to restore my faith in this culture to be honest.
Having said that, I don’t know much about your work personally so I’m not going to judge you purely from both this issue and your response, especially as I put you in a defensive posture to begin with.
And as for my efforts to reach out to Amazon Watch to get clarification on the situation….
You’re welcome! 😉
Stuart F. Andrews
cinephobia.xxx
What a tool
Josh Millican
Thanks for the in-depth reply Stuart. I admit I didn’t give the issue a thorough examination like you did. I might have had the inclination to do so if I didn’t feel compelled to defend myself for having previously reported on the petition’s existence. I feel that the details of your detective work and my defense was all the room I had in this particular post (frankly, readers don’t often read anything over 1000 words). The marketing tactics, Roth’s inaccurate claims of support, and how this fits into the current climate of SJW backlash are issues for additional articles. Your podcast was a extensive and exhaustive whereas, as a blogger, I feed my readers complex issues in digestible chunks. The totality of your podcast was not lost on me. Thanks again for the time you took getting to the bottom of this situation. Hope there are no hard feelings.
None at all, sir. I appreciate the response.
(As for Man’s comment. Hello there, Hot Carl! Nice to see you again, my old friend.)
After being unwittingly dragged into the film’s publicity (due to Eli’s inaccurate claims and a petition falsely attributed to the organization), AMAZON WATCH have finally released a formal statement on the GREEN INFERNO:
http://amazonwatch.org/news/2015/0812-amazon-watch-denounces-eli-roths-racist-film-the-green-inferno
Whether or not you agree that Eli’s depiction of indigenous people is racist, this is well worth a read for some much-needed context into what’s actually happening in the Amazon.
Will def bring this statement to our readers. This time, aspects of Roth’s marketing campaign will be discussed. Thanks as always for helping me deliver the most accurate information. Much appreciated!
Josh, as a small human rights and environmental NGO, Amazon Watch’s primary function is to accurately reflect the perspectives and opinions of our indigenous partners. Therefore, it was imperative that we meet with our indigenous partners before releasing any type of formal statement. You can now read that formal statement here:
Amazon Watch did not “backpedal” nor were we “waiting for cash from Roth.” As you can imagine, most of our partners live in the remote rainforest and sometimes it can take awhile to communicate with them. All of our programmatic work is based directly on our indigenous partner’s perspectives, requests and opinions. It was simply a logistical issue that delayed the release of our own formal statement.
I will make sure to present you’re official statement with our readers. While we may agree to disagree on certain aspects of The Green Inferno, I appreciate that you have taken the time weigh in! Thank you!
‘Saturn Awards’ 2019 – The ...
Winners for the 45th annual Saturn Awards, honoring motion picture,...
See the Short Film that Inspired Hellraiser: ...
Originally conceived as a stand-alone in 2013, Gary J....
NSFW: Asian She Drops Extreme Slasher-Themed ...
Asian She just released their debut album, Milk the...
Boy Bands Battle Zombies in DEAD 7
Official Synopsis: This is a post-apocalyptic Western that follows...
Origins of Terrifying Russian Lullaby “TILI ...
One comes across an abundance of nightmare-fuel when probing...
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535758
|
__label__wiki
| 0.673263
| 0.673263
|
Young Adults Hit Hardest by Rough Economy
Annabel Adams has seen a lot in her life: 9-11, the dot-com bust, the housing collapse, the financial crisis, the Great Recession. That may sound like a lifetime of experience, but she is just 28 years old. If your birth year is essentially a genetic lottery, which drops you into the economic circumstances of the day, then it's no exaggeration to say that the 70 million millennials, or Generation Y, those born in the 1980s and '90s, appear to have lost that lottery.
"We grew up believing that we would have all the things our parents had: With a college education we'd get a dream job, health insurance, a 401(k), a home," said Adams, a Long Beach, California, resident and public relations manager for a healthy-eating firm. "Now nothing is sure anymore." As a result, Adams has shelved a lot of those expectations. She lives at home with her mom, does not have a 401(k), and is coping with $20,000 in student loans. While she enjoys carving out a niche as a health writer, the prospect of becoming a homeowner seems distant.
RELATED: How Well Can You Live on Minimum Wage?
Much has been made of the millennials as an entitled generation, constantly whining about the obligations of adulthood while fiddling with their iPhones. But life has been tough for many of them. Student debt has now surpassed $1 trillion, with the average college grad who took out loans saddled with more than $25,000 in debt. Americans aged 20 to 24 now face 13.2 percent unemployment, up from 7.7 percent five years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Back in 1984, households headed by Americans 65 and older used to have ten times the wealth of those 35 and under; by 2009, according to Pew Research, that spread had multiplied to 47 times. "We've now had five years of a very difficult economy, and young adults have been hit hardest of all," said Paul Taylor, executive VP of the Pew Research Center, which did a comprehensive study of the troubles Gen Y is facing. "It's having a major ripple effect in how they're living their lives. All the classic milestones of adulthood – getting married, having kids, settling down and buying a home – are happening much later."
RELATED: How Clinging to Mommy and Daddy Is Ruining a Generation
Still, the millennials are not the first generation to come of age in hard times. For example, the recession of the early 1980s was deep and powerful as well. In 1980 inflation rose to 13.5 percent, and by 1982, the interest rate on 30-year mortgages was 15.5 and the housing market had stalled. Yet the baby boomers who were 20-somethings then seem to have found their financial footing. While millennials surely have some tough sledding ahead of them, the difficulties are not insurmountable, and could even work to their advantage.
"I hold a contrarian view on Gen Y-ers and how the recession is affecting their career prospects," said Amy Hirsh Robinson, who advises Fortune 500 corporations on generational issues as a principal with Interchange Group in Los Angeles. "There are stronger social and generational forces at play than the recession, and the fact that large companies are trying to recruit top talent from this generation proves my point."
Indeed, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that Gen Y job prospects might be finally starting to turn around, with companies looking to hire 10 percent more grads than last year.
RELATED: The 10 Best Cities for Young People to Find Jobs
"We're not lost," affirms Matt Grager, a 25-year-old communications associate with the San Francisco nonprofit Give2Asia. "It's just that the system we were raised in – study, go to college, get a job, work for 40 years – is no longer relevant. Instead, thanks to things like social media and crowd funding, it's up to us to find our own way to success. When you think of it that way, the opportunities are endless."
Of course, not everyone is entrepreneurial, and not every entrepreneur is going to found Facebook. And if the formative years of your career are hobbled by a dreadful economy, it could create a financial echo lasting for years to come.
For a glimpse of what could await today's grads, consider the research of Yale School of Management economist Lisa Kahn. She looked at the earnings of those who had the bad luck of entering the work force during the powerful recession of the early 1980s. Her findings: The long-term salary damage is very real, and can sometimes echo for 15 years or even more.
That is the reality of where we are. But it does not determine where millennials will go from here. Here are a few silver linings to the economic clouds that have gathered over Generation Y:
Hard financial lessons have been learned early. Members of Gen Y have absorbed key financial precepts very early in life - the importance of living within one's budget, of not getting overextended on loans, of refusing to recklessly speculate with one's savings. Indeed, according to a survey by online bank PerkStreet, most financial experts believe Gen Y is better-prepared than the slightly older Gen X to face an uncertain financial future.
Expectations have been revised. If the traditional American dream featured a suburban McMansion and a ski getaway, younger Americans are realizing that such lofty expectations are unrealistic. More young adults are choosing to live with their parents well past graduation, for instance – a move that used to be a major social stigma, but is now just seen as financially savvy. Millennials remain optimistic about their financial futures – almost nine in 10, says Pew Research – despite the significant hurdles they have already encountered.
Historic collapses are also when fortunes are made. Would you rather start your investing career during a market boom or bust? A study by Baltimore-based fund shop T. Rowe Price found that the answer is a no-brainer: "Those who began systematically investing in equities in past severe bear markets were significantly better off 30 years later, than investors who began in bull markets."
It's not over yet. Yes, millennials have had to launch their working lives in uniquely volatile times. But the past is no determinant of the future, and there are many chapters yet to be written. "We know the beginning of the story," said Pew Research's Taylor. "But we don't know the end of this story yet. The full life path of Generation Y has yet to unfold."
(The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.)
Millennials Give Credit Cards the Cold Shoulder
Although credit card use is an important tool in building a credit profile as a consumer, a large portion of young...
The Surprising Reason College Grads Can’t Get a Job
Nearly everyone agrees that recent college graduates are having an inordinately tough time finding work almost five...
Why Recent Grads Have Lowered Their Expectations
It’s no secret that recent college grads have struggled over the years to find suitable employment in the wake of ...
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535759
|
__label__wiki
| 0.823296
| 0.823296
|
Where’s the Affordable Carbon Fiber Automobile?
A test drive of the Alfa Romeo 4C reveals what a difference carbon fiber can make in a car.
Bradley Berman archive page
Car parts made of carbon fiber have been used for decades in $1-million-plus European supercars, from the likes of Ferrari and McLaren. But for the first time, a handful of 2016 models sold in neighborhood car dealerships will feature ultralight yet expensive carbon fiber materials. The new BMW 7-series sedan, which starts at about $80,000, as well as the similarly priced Alfa Romeo 4C and Chevrolet Corvette Z06 sports cars, use carbon fiber elements.
The chassis of the BMW 7-series combines steel, aluminum, and carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. In the image above, the black parts around the door frames and across the roof are carbon fiber.
But don’t let this fool you into thinking that carbon fiber cars are on the cusp of the mainstream. While the cost of carbon fiber materials and production has declined in recent decades, it remains prohibitive for anything but limited applications in niche vehicles. Though rising fuel efficiency standards have undeniably motivated the auto industry to pursue the technology, it’s only going into production when carmakers believe the material can bring some supercar-style appeal to an expensive model.
Carbon fiber is a flexible fabric-like material that, when combined with a polymer, can be molded into the shape of a car part that is stronger and lighter than today’s steel and aluminum parts. The higher cost is based on the fiber material itself, as well as longer production times. Metal parts can be stamped in seconds, but it can take several minutes for a carbon fiber part to be molded and cured.
BMW is using carbon fiber in key roof elements, supporting roof pillars, and door frames—essentially anything that’s high off the road. Meanwhile, steel and aluminum are employed for the chassis. “We’re saving weight, but we’re saving weight up high,” says Paul Ferraiolo, head of product planning and strategy for BMW North America. “It allows our engineers to design a car with a lower center of gravity.”
A BMW 7-series, including carbon fiber in parts of the frame, is produced at the company’s plant in Dingolfing, Germany.
BMW’s use of carbon fiber on the 7-series leverages investments and experiences in using the material on its i3 and i8 plug-in electric cars. Carbon fiber makes more economic sense for electric cars, because lithium-ion batteries are expensive. Less weight means a smaller battery pack, a worthwhile trade-off. The shift from the i3 to the 7-series is a kind of migration of carbon fiber from one limited application to another—to offset investments that might not reach everyday products for a decade or more.
The same intra-company migration of technology explains the liberal use of carbon fiber on the $75,000 Alfa Romeo 4C sports car, manufactured by Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. “Fiat-Chrysler has a vast resource of experience and expertise in carbon fiber technology, including lesson learned from Ferrari and Maserati,” says Fabio Migliavacca, a senior product planner for Fiat-Chrysler (which also owns those high-end Italian brands).
I recently drove the Alfa Romeo 4C for five days. Fiat-Chrysler used carbon fiber for the entire chassis of this model, and what a difference it makes. The Alfa Romeo 4C weighs about 2,500 pounds, whereas similar luxury roadsters commonly weigh about 3,000 pounds or more. The experience of moving such a lightweight body swiftly into and out of corners is far more thrilling than what you would otherwise expect from a 237-horsepower four-cylinder engine. The carbon fiber body felt highly maneuverable—with a remarkably quick response to inputs from the roadster’s taut steering.
The Alfa Romeo 4C is a $65,000 roadster, but what about the more accessible Mazda MX-5 Miata, which starts at about $25,000? “Carbon fiber is not cost-effective at this point,” says Dave Coleman, development engineer of the new Miata. “We have long-term plans for reducing weight in the future, but all the technologies have big question marks next to them.”
The list of questions is long. When will we have faster-curing resins to reduce carbon composite production times? Will more efficient internal combustion and alternatives like electric vehicles yield enough fuel efficiency improvements even if cars don’t get much lighter? Will autonomous safety features allow carmakers to make cars safe enough to save weight by removing existing structural elements?
“It’s a matter of all the relative prices for all the moving goal posts,” says Anthony Vicari, an analyst at Lux Research, which studies adoption of carbon fiber. Multiple interrelated moving goals and cost curves make it very difficult to predict when the materials might jump from exotic sports cars, EVs, and high-end luxury vehicles to high-volume cars produced in quantities of 100,000 units a year. “My best guess is 10 years,” says Vicari.
Bradley Berman
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535761
|
__label__cc
| 0.699176
| 0.300824
|
Gymnast In Gold Takes The Mat. In No Time Crowd Realizes It’s Not Your Typical Routine
Ever watched a performance via video and thought to yourself: “Wow; I wouldn’t be able to do that in a million years”? Well, that’s most likely the feeling you’ll get while watching this incredible gymnast execute her routine as well.
Now, there’s no denying that in order to become a gymnast in the first place, you have to possess some pretty extraordinary abilities; like incredible mental strength as well as great flexibility and stamina. But the gymnast in the video below has something else that makes her stand out from the rest.
Daria Kondakova is a Russian rhythmic gymnast with a quality that makes her truly memorable: it’s her amazing rhythm and charisma that have turned her into a three-time silver medalist in the World Cup.
Born in Sochi, Russia, Daria is no stranger to the spotlight, as she has been competing professionally since she was just a little girl. She won her first gold medal at the 2006 Holon Junior Grand Prix and Calais International tournament, and her career only progressed from that point on.
Now, she is one of the most highly-acclaimed gymnasts in the world, and you’ll understand why once you take a look at her performance captured in the video below.
Man Purchases Old Secretary Desk At Auction, Unaware There’s A Huge Secret Hiding Within
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535763
|
__label__cc
| 0.523175
| 0.476825
|
Package of new decisions to accomplish the single card and security sector reform
Baghdad-Iraq-Presse -24 August / August: approved the National Security Council, the package measures to facilitate the completion of a unified national card project and the reform of the security sector and facilitate procedures within the reforms carried out by the Prime Minister, also agreed to develop a rapid plan for e-mail notification about the detainees, and Project Health News and the breasts which speeds up the completion of transactions of the citizens, and the establishment of three data centers belonging to the pilot project for the integration of criminal justice data. This came during a chair-Abadi, the National Security Council meeting, Sunday, where the Council discussed "ways to facilitate the completion of a unified national card project, and security sector reform measures, and to facilitate procedures within the reforms carried out by the head of the government package, and review the implementation of previous resolutions, as well as a number Last topics on the agenda, "according to a statement to the media office of the Prime Minister.
The Council agreed, according to the statement, the "rapid development plan for e-mail notification about the detainees, and instruct direct the project to the concerned authorities," he "has to approve the draft health news and breasts which speeds up the completion of transactions of the citizens, and to facilitate the procedures."
The Council agreed to "the establishment of three data centers belonging to the pilot project for the integration of criminal justice data in the Supreme Judicial Council and the Ministry of the Interior, forensic evidence, and told police affairs."
The Iraqi government has launched, in, the 25th of July, the national card project, and called on the House of Representatives to the law of the security benefits legislation, and conservatives to provide the buildings and facilities for the simplification of procedures issued because a means of addressing Alvesad.anthy (1)SOURCE
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535766
|
__label__wiki
| 0.890838
| 0.890838
|
Queiroz thanks Colombia after parting ways with national team
BOGOTA, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Carlos Queiroz has expressed his appreciation to Colombia's players, officials and fans, a day after being sacked as head coach amid a poor run of results.
"When saying goodbye is not easy, it means that we only have reason to proudly express our enormous gratitude," the 67-year-old Portuguese said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
He added that he was honored "for the opportunity that the Colombian Football Federation and its president have given me to serve the national team."
Queiroz, a former manager of Real Madrid, South Africa, Iran and Portugal, guided Colombia to nine wins, five draws and four defeats after his appointment in February 2019.
Under his command, the Cafeteros reached the quarterfinals of last year's Copa America in Brazil. However, the team has struggled for much of the past 18 months.
Heavy defeats to Uruguay and Ecuador in World Cup qualifiers last month left Queiroz's team seventh in the South American Football Confederation's (CONMEBOL) 10-team standings.
"With humility, I leave with the certainty that the work and positive technical legacy developed by everyone in the team will translate into the success that all Colombian football fans dream of and deserve," Queiroz added.
Mostly Cloudy in Tehran
UFC Fight Night: Max Holloway pummels Calvin Kattar
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535767
|
__label__cc
| 0.595958
| 0.404042
|
Apply for a Hard Money Loan Now!
Real Estate Courses
Live Event and Seminars
TNG Investor Roadmap
Florida Hard Money Loans
Hard Money Loans FAQ
Hard Money Video
Hard Money Testimonials
Hard Money Loan Terminology
California Hard Money Examples
California Non-Recourse Hard Money Loans
Socal hard Money Loans
Norcal Hard Money Loans
Note Programs
Trust Deed & Mortgage Video
Investing Process
Free Trust Deed and Mortgage E-Book
Note Investing FAQ
Radio Archives
Bruce Norris – California Real Estate Educator
Coronavirus Real Estate Resources
TNG Real Estate News Blog
California Real Estate Investment Clubs
I Survived Real Estate
California Auctions
Real State Dictionary
ADUs, Prefabs, and Stick-Built Homes with John Arendsen #645
Norris Bruce
Your browser does not support the audio element please use an HTML5 compatible browser.
File type: MP3 --- File: Download --- Date: 31/5/2019 --- Size: 25.3M
Find show on: iTunes, Google Play, Tunein, SoundCloud, PlayerFM
Aaron Norris is joined again this week by John Arendsen. He is a licensed general contractor and manufactured home contractor, a licensed real estate broker and a manufactured home dealer. John has been in the industry in all kinds of facet as well as his entire family for a really long time. He was on the show back in January and February, and Aaron promised to have him back because he was awesome in helping The Norris Group build a chapter on accessory dwelling units. He brings a really interesting angle because he’s on the ground of helping homeowners and real estate investors decide what’s best for them.
Why has Amazon invested in a prefab plant?
What is the normal turnaround time for a prefab home?
Why is construction seeing higher demand amidst labor shortages?
What are the comparisons of cost savings when looking at the different onsite prep?
What is the construction timeline for a stick-built home compared to an ADU of the same size?
What route do they see 3D-printing going?
What are these tiny homes available to buy on Amazon?
Last week, they started talking about a lot of updates when it came to SB 13 and accessory dwelling units. Aaron started by saying he was afraid he and John were both going to be troublemakers in the ADU space with everything they have found. Aaron has been exploring 3D printed housing, but he was also really interested in finding out that Amazon had made a little bit of an investment in a manufacturing plant where the office was based in Santa Monica, but the manufacturing plant was in Fontana. He wondered why Amazon would be investing in a prefab plant and what it was like touring the plant.
John said it was a pleasant experience. For every manufacturer he is a dealer, he has been to many many of their factory tours. He also visited many other factories that he was not necessarily a dealer for that had been interested in over the years. The prefab house is really a first class act and a nicely balanced and organized facility. Their production is just impeccable, and their quality is better than anything he had ever experienced in the field just because they used jigs and rigs and make everything fit the way it’s supposed to fit. In addition, their process makes it airtight, and there’s just so many advantages to going with modular or you know manufacturing versus site built.
Aaron said it’s interesting how that’s happening right here in California in our own backyard. The prefab plant has a beautiful web site. They currently have one ADU on their site, and its base price, not including the permit, is around $100 grand. Aaron asked John what he thought of that model, and he really liked it. It was very open and spacious, and it had a lot of windows in it. In fact, it had so many windows that he questioned the gentleman who showed him the factory about the title 24 earthquake He said they could always retrofit that back into it. They had been using that particular model as a model in shows and exhibits.
Aaron said it’s very modern. It’s only 400 square feet, and it says the base price is $99,000. It’s a one bedroom, one bathroom, and the completion estimates are at $160 grand. It’s pricey, but at the end of the day, it’s probably a lot less expensive than going with a site built and doesn’t take nearly as long to get put on your property and COd (Certificate of Occupancy). Then you can actually start using it for investors, especially where time is money. You want to go with the fastest way possible and certainly visit your cash.
Aaron asked what their turnaround times have been, which John said was 4-6 weeks. This is not bad at all. During the summer months, it could extend to six to eight weeks. That’s typical with most manufacturers who have it seasonally adjusted. Aaron has experienced this on his flips in California. It’s about finding skilled labor to do a lot of construction. Knowing that you’re in a plant where people are building the same thing over and over-assisted by machines, there’s something very exciting about that from a quality control perspective. That’s the way of the future.
Construction in general, both commercial or residential, is the way of the future. He has a good friend who lives right down the street from a Hallmark a property that’s all factory built. It’s all done in plants. This Hallmark is not the card store, it’s a manufactured home manufacturer. Aaron said he has been learning a lot through this process, and the offsite building makes a lot of sense to him. He doesn’t see it changing; if anything it’s going to be the wave of the future, especially here in the state of California. It’s seen as very green.
With the few stick homes they built, the attention to detail you have to have now about runoff and dust can make it very expensive. It will be interesting to see the cost of that when you’re not having to build like that on site. Aaron asked John if he has seen a comparison of the cost savings when you don’t have to do that kind of onsite prep. John said absolutely. If you have to do a slab on grater or a raised stem wall foundation, you’re talking in the neighborhood of $10-$25,000 depending on the type and style you use. That’s just for openers. You then start building from there, and that’s what makes on-site construction so expensive. Right now the rate is probably right around $350 per square foot.
That’s expensive, but as he said, there’s labor shortages and high demand right now for new construction. There’s more demand for rebuilding and remodeling room additions than for just about any other segment in construction. There is a lot of new construction, particularly a lot of rehab work and remodeling.
If you’re comparing timelines right now, the planned prefab turnaround time of four to six weeks is really amazing. Aaron asked how the manufacturer builders are doing, whether they are behind or of a similar timeframe. John said they are pretty much getting caught up. They have had that run of bad luck with all the crises that were happening up and down the state, including the fires and the floods. They were also in high demand. John bought his first ADU at the end of 2016, and he did not receive it until April of 2017. This was right in the midst of all the other crises that were happening. He had been a dealer for this particular company for 22 years, and they still couldn’t do anything about it. They have caught up now, and they’re getting normalized and are back to a 4-6 week period.
John had just spent a day at Silvercrest getting re-indoctrinated with several new dealers, old dealers, and personnel from Silvercrest. He was brought up to date on their inventory and where they are in production. He left feeling pretty good that they can deliver in four to six weeks. Hallmark was recently acquired by a Canadian company. He is one of their dealers, although he is not entirely sure what is happening. The sales manager for Hallmark said that they probably weren’t going to continue making ADUs because the demand for what they do is significantly on the higher end, both multi-sectional, multi-story, and multi-dimensional site projects. The ADU thing was almost a thorn in their side, so he was glad to see prefab houses come along.
Aaron said at the builders show in Vegas, he talked to several people about ADUs, and it was not on their radar. If it does get big in California, he thinks that could very much change. Aaron next asked what the timeline is with stick built for an ADU of the same size. John said it’s not even comparable. You do a site build project, and it’s going to take you anywhere from six months to a year no matter how you cut it. You have so many trades involved, and you have so many scheduling issues happening. You also have change orders going on as well as site preparation. Sometimes you run into obstacles there. Also, the waste factor is unbelievable. The amount of waste on a site built structure is almost shameful.
Aaron asked if Clayton Homes is wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway. John said he knows Buffet has the majority of it, and he remembered when that transaction took place. It’s been over 10 years now. When they first started, it was a little more low key. It was right after Hurricane Charley in 2004. He remembered taking a lot of people back there and helping them set up a bunch of homes that got blown down, or he had to put new ones in. He spent over a year back there, and that was in 2004/2005. This was right when Clayton Homes was being acquired by Buffet, so he has had it a while now. Now he’s on a roll. John wasn’t sure about it at first because he didn’t hear a whole lot about Clayton Homes when they first acquired the company. Now it’s pretty much a known factor that Buffet’s a major player.
Aaron said he doesn’t see anything under 750 square feet. It looks like the smallest thing that they have, at least on their Web site, is called the VAO, and it looks like a wobbly box. It’s $80,000, 920 square feet. As of now, they’re not going to play the ADU game. They’re also not in California, they’re located in Tennessee. They have a whole different demographic, and they have a whole different appetite or lack thereof for ADUs. It’s not as big a deal back there because it isn’t a law yet. Maybe at some point it will be, but right now there’s really no major incentive to start delving into the world of ADUs for a lot of manufacturers that are out of state. Almost all of your manufacturers that are here in the state, or even in Arizona, are into the whole ADU thing and almost all of them are coming up with some type of an ADU product. He just saw a very nice ADU brochure with some really good pricing. They’re leading the field to be perfectly honest.
Aaron next asked what it looks like and the size of it. John said they go anywhere from 400 to 840 square feet. In their brochure, they have eight different models. Those are the ones that he was talking about earlier that could be purchased for under $100,000 and installed. If you stay within the Florida 5600 foot square foot range of one bedroom, one bath, and then you start adding bedrooms and bathrooms, then your costs start going up almost exponentially.
Mighty builder is a 3D printed builder that, rumor has it, will be out this year with the under 400 square foot 3D printed home. He does not know the details on how long that will take from them vetting the site to actually 3D printing the outside structure. It’s such a new process. A lot of these 3D printed home manufacturers are saying things like, “Oh, we can print the structure in 48 hours or less.” Well, what does that mean? Is that just the core structure, and before that you have to pour the pad? After that, it’s got to dry for a week, and then all the insides are going to take another couple of months. He doesn’t have an exact timeframe, but it’s great in theory.
John did a couple of inspections for them down in San Diego not too long ago, and it’s an interesting company. It’s a great concept, and he hopes it works. It would be fantastic if they can start printing these things out. They had to marry up with a modular manufacturer near them in order to get their product out because they’re not licensed modular builders. In order for them to really expedite and facilitate any of their projects, they had to marry in with an existing builder manufacturer. There was a couple of issues there, it wasn’t all printed, and it had to be part printed and part modular. There was a question as to how they were going to integrate that. He thinks they did get a little bit ahead of themselves and retreated back to the drawing board.
Aaron said they are still heavily advertising, at least on his Instagram. He hopes to get them on the radio show at some point, and he actually invited Icon, a 3D-printed home manufacturer who he met at the builder show. He reached out to the CEO, Jason, and his PR team, and they said they would pass for now as they’re not ready to talk. They’re based out in Austin, and it is his goal to be able to print a structure for ten thousand dollars. That’s probably going to be a few years away.
It’s a substrate that they’re printing out, and from what he gathered the copyright is actually on the substrate with which they’re printing. Aaron wondered all along where this fits into the code and how long it will take. He still doesn’t have a lot of answers, but he is interested in the price point because if you could really print something for under $50 grand that fell under Title 25, that would be pretty exciting if you could rent it out for $1,500. That would make a big difference and would be huge.
This seems to be going the way of solar. When they first came out with solar and started experimenting with photovoltaic, it was taken from the 70s from the first energy crunch when they started developing and became serious about solar. That’s when they started with the photovoltaic solution, and they’re still working on that today. They just haven’t been able to really get that thing under wraps. It’s still macro technology, and they need micro technology to make it all work. He doesn’t think they’ve found that silicon chip yet, but he thinks that 3D printing will go that same route, although hopefully not as long. Aaron does not think it will take as long either. It’s going to take them some ramp up, and everyone’s trying to be real quiet to do the stealth attack. It would be really interesting to see how that could really help the housing issue that we’re having here.
Aaron and John next went on to talk about another factor with prefabs. John sent Aaron an e-mail with some structures that he could buy on Amazon, and he laughed because it was $8,000. Aaron asked if they were positioning themselves as a granny flat. John said it came across that way. His wife laughed at it too, and she’s the one that showed it to him because she’s an Amazon jockey. There’s not a day that goes by where they don’t get a package from Amazon where she looked at it and asked if she should order on.
If you go on Amazon and type in “tiny home,” there are these beautiful structures, but they’re basically glorified tree houses or playhouses because the base prices obviously do not include the pad, plumbing, or air conditioning. So we’re not comparing apples to apples here. This one is labeled a cabin kit garden house and is 209 square feet. It’s not like a habitable dwelling. Kids will probably go spend the night out there, and so will mom and dad if it’s next to the pool and it’s hot out. But as far as making it an actual legitimate dwelling structure or a property permitted and positioned on a parcel, they’ve got a long way to go. This is not going to pass the code enforcement.
They would never issue a permit. The first thing you would have to do when you pull a permit is take in your plans and specifications for the project or the model of the manufacturer on your venues. They couldn’t do it because they would not be approved drawings. In SB 13, there is a notice of correction for ADUs. If somebody had illegally converted a granny flat outside a detached structure or even the garage which was attached, as long as it doesn’t have health and safety issues, there’s going to be a 10-year hiatus for the owner to have time to fix it. This definitely wouldn’t fall under that, so Aaron didn’t want anybody thinking they were gonna be really cute, go to Amazon, and buy something for $8,000. Health and safety are definitely going to be an issue there.
John said after reviewing SB 13, it had redlined for 10 years, and then there were 5 years next to it. Aaron had not seen that, so he doesn’t it’s in its final stages and doesn’t know when it will go up for a vote. Aaron is sending out an email next week for Senator Wieckowski’s team because I think they really need to hear from the investor community, especially horror stories. He thinks they’ve been really good so far in working with him and telling him to send any horror stories he might have into them because they need real examples of some of the nonsense that’s going on and the park fees. They were trying to charge a $20,000 park fee in some city in Southern California. Like really.
These are all ridiculous entitlement fees. Looking over SB 13, John said he could see where if it does pass, it’s going to really tighten the noose around their necks to start complying with some of these issues and reduce some of these costs. It’s changing the rules and regulations, and it’s almost like they’re doing it as often as you change your sheets on your bed. Aaron said it’s a moving target, and he thinks what some investors don’t appreciate is that if they get in early and we give them case studies of things that they’re experiencing, sometimes those legitimate case studies could end up working their way into the bill, which is really exciting. He is going to send out a sample letter and write one himself, which he will take care of next week. This way, they get as much feedback from investors as possible.
Something that worries him about the panel that he and Bruce will be on is if the audience is full of owner-occupants, it’s going to be interesting since they will be creating a pool of new landlords who are inexperienced. Aaron loves that SDCIA has decided they really want that to be the audience because they’re going to need a resource when they get sued and have to evict people. Aaron wondered how you would even evict people from an ADU and if it is the same as if it is a regular single-family residence. John said they’re going to be writing books about this for a year. There’s a whole floor of obstacles and challenges out there that they haven’t even been able to address yet, one being insurance.
Aaron asked John what issue he is seeing right now with insurance. John said mainly he’s sure how they’re going to address it in many cases. He has been reaching out to a few insurance companies. He has been with AAA for 25 years, and they have insured everything he owns practically. But they said that they have to take it on a case by case basis. The first thing they will want to know is whether it will be an A or B unit or a one-half type unit with a separate address. That may you know impose certain standards by which they evaluate the insurance. It’s treated as its own single unit.
Then there’s the manufactured housing element. There’s only about two companies in the United States, Foremost being one of them and the other one being American Modern, that even insure manufactured homes. Unfortunately, the first one he mentioned is owned by Farmers Insurance. They won’t have anything to do with manufactured homes. So there’s at least one purveyor in the United States that will write it and that’s American Modern and that’s why I have the manufacturers the homes that I own now are all insured by American Modern.
They seem to be about the only game in town. They will have to write two separate policies: a homeowner’s policy and an American Modern to cover the manufacturing part of it. There’s so much going on that you can’t wrap your arms around it, and it makes him feel a little reticent to really start pushing too hard with folks on manufactured homes, although he will and he does. He also disclosed to everything he is disclosing to Aaron on this show. He doesn’t want them coming back to him later and saying he didn’t tell them about something, or they can’t get insurance, or the bank won’t let them fund it because it’s manufactured. He tells them upfront they could have these issues, and he probably turns away a lot of business that way or converted it over to a site built for which the people had to budget it. In short, he turned away a deal but also a lawsuit.
For real estate investors who are looking at this as an opportunity, it is an opportunity but it is also a moving target, and unfortunately every municipality is dealing with it differently. Now the state’s trying to come in and throw their weight around. Last week they covered Senator Wieckowski the specific city that one of the investors said they decided that there was a moratorium so they could study parking. Wieckowski said that’s not allowed.
As an investor, you have to decide to go ahead and move forward, but the city could make your life very miserable. At the end of the day, if you tried to sue the city, it’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of money, and at the end of the day you’re going to be a case study on whether it would even work or not. Be very careful as you approach this.
Stay tuned as The Norris Group will keep covering this in many interesting ways. If you can join us and you’re close to San Diego June 11th, you’d be able to be around some experts including John to ask questions personally. If you want to get a hold of John, the best way to reach him is online at www.crestbackyardhomes.com. There’s a lot of good information there, and they’re actually redesigning the Web site as we speak, so there will be a lot of new forthcoming information. You can also download their guide, which you will see on the right hand side of every page. It will say ADU Guide in red. Download that, and you’ll learn everything you need to know about what to do prior to even hiring a contractor if you follow the eight steps in there.
The Norris Group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE License 01219911, Florida Mortgage Lender License 1577, and NMLS License 1623669. For more information on hard money lending, go www.thenorrisgroup.com and click the Hard Money tab.
More on Hard Money Loans
Florida hard money loans or call (407) 706-9700
California hard money loans or call (951) 780-5856
Information on Note Investing
Florida mortgage investing or call (407) 706-9700
California trust deed investing call (951) 780-5856
Real Estate Investor Education & Resources
Upcoming real estate investor speaking engagements and training
Real Estate radio show and podcast
Weekly news and videos
Free Investor Roadmap – How to get started in real estate investing
Free access to our web portal for real estate investors
norris group blog
The Norris Group
1845 Chicago Avenue, Ste C,
Real Estate Seminar Events
California Real Estate Investment Training
Real Estate Hard Money Loans
Trust Deed Investments
California Rehab Loans
Bruce Norris
Real Estate Radio Podcast
Blog About Real Estate
1845 Chicago Avenue, Ste C, Riverside,
E: info@thenorrisgroup.com
NMLS ID 1623669 (See the NMLS consumer access page). Cal DRE 01219911. Florida Mortgage Lender MLD1577
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535771
|
__label__cc
| 0.725418
| 0.274582
|
Home » Loans » Student
Two-Sided Coin: Is College Worth the Cost?
Jon Gorey – Contributing Editor Last Updated: October 29, 2019
Holly: College Isn’t Always Worth the Money
Most of us have been told the same story our entire lives: If you do your best in school, you can get into a good college. And if you put in the work and graduate in good standing, you’ll be rewarded with a great career and a lifetime of financial security.
Sadly, history is showing that this narrative is no longer as true as it once was.
The graduating class of 2015 left school with average student loan debt of over $35,000. When it comes to paying off those loans, the struggle is real – and sometimes, catastrophic. According to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal, more than 7 million borrowers were at least 12 months in default on their student loans as of late 2015. That’s 17% of student borrowers who are desperate and may never dig their way out.
In addition to those in default, another 2.8 million students were in some stage of Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or income-driven repayment as of 2015. While PSLF requires only a 10-year commitment in a public service position before loan balances are wiped clear, existing income-driven repayment plans can request 10% to 15% of your discretionary income for up to 25 years. For many people in these plans, that means making payments on their student loans until they are age 50 or older.
In the meantime, millennials are experiencing record levels of unemployment and underemployment. According to data shared by the New York Federal Reserve, as many as 44% of college graduates in their 20s are stuck in low-wage, dead-end jobs. To add insult to injury, 40% of our nation’s unemployed are millennials. That figure translates into 4.6 million young people struggling to find work and earn an income, many of whom are also struggling with student loan debt.
Check Your Student Loan Rates
So is a college degree worth it? Most signs point to maybe.
As these sad events play out, students and their parents are right to wonder if the investment is still worth it. While many studies have proven that, overall, a college degree is generally a good investment, I would argue that all families should take a close look at their options – and the potential costs – before sending their child off to school.
A lot of people will say that higher education is always worth it. “It’s good debt,” they’ll say. Or they’ll spew out this lie: “College is a learning experience that all young people need to go through.”
Or, they’ll simply point out that many professional jobs actually require a four-year degree. When you hear someone argue that, unequivocally, college is always a good investment, ask yourself these questions:
If a college degree was always worth it, would there be 7 million student borrowers in default?
If college degrees always paid off in spades, would nearly 3 million borrowers be in some phase of loan forgiveness or income-driven repayment?
If college was always a good investment, would 44% of new college graduates be working as baristas or waiters?
Obviously, the answer to these questions will always be “no.” That’s why anyone who says a college degree is always worth it is either unaware of reality or promoting their own agenda. Sadly, it’s always the students who pay when they believe this advice without doing some research on their own.
How to decide if your college degree is worth it
When an adult tells you that college is always worth it no matter what, don’t listen. Instead, let the research you do on your own serve as your guide.
In an article I wrote last May, I showed how future college students can research the variables of their potential major before making such a huge decision. With sites sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, it’s fairly easy to research employment projections and salaries for any college major and corresponding career trajectory.
While there are numerous ways to figure the future return-on-investment of your college education, a cursory look at the numbers can give you a really good idea of what to expect. If your projected out-of-pocket costs for a private school are $40,000 per year, for example, and you plan to pursue a career as a kindergarten teacher, you can easily see that starting salaries for that profession (salaries in the 10th percentile) were only $33,460 in 2014.
If you find that spending well over six figures to begin a fairly low-paying profession no longer strikes your fancy, run from this option as fast as you can. Or, at the very least, weigh the pros and cons of a state school that charges a fraction of the cost.
Likewise, let’s say you decide to pursue a two-year degree in diagnostic medical sonography. After determining the program at your community college will cost you less than $10,000, you find that the starting wage in this profession was around $46,930 nationally, but grew to $68,390 on average. Most people would say that’s a winning combination.
At the end of the day, both sides of the equation matter – not just what you borrow to attend school, but how much you’ll earn once you graduate. Most of the time, the wider the disparity, the worse off you’ll be.
Student Loans 101
Need to pay for college?
Consider a Student Loan
Want to pay off your Student loan?
Check Out These Tips
Consider Refinancing Your Student Loan
Consider these options, too.
While the idea of attending a technical school or learning a trade may not excite you, it’s important not to sweep these alternative options under the table, either. In the real world, a technical education can serve as low-cost alternative to a pricey four-year degree, but with better job prospects and even higher pay to boot.
We’ve written about the fact that a two-year degree is the ultimate investment before, and it still rings true. While pursuing a career in healthcare, dental hygiene, masonry, or any number of technical fields may not make you feel as fancy, you could experience exceptional job security and good pay for life. And maybe, just maybe, you could avoid walking away from school with so much debt that you’ll be stuck paying it off until you’re 50.
While many people still insist that college is always worth it, the numbers say otherwise. In the real world, the value of your college degree will depend on an array of factors, some of which may not be in your control. Never believe anyone’s advice on college without doing some research on your own. Due to growing costs and economic uncertainty, the landscape has changed. If you truly want to get ahead without spending your entire life in debt, you have to mold your goals to change with it. And sometimes, that means ignoring the advice of your elders and forging your own path.
–Holly Johnson
Jon: College Is Worth the Price (Most of the Time)
I was fortunate enough to get a partial scholarship to my college of choice, as well as a pretty cushy work-study position in the campus snack bar circuit (free chicken tenders and all-you-drink coffee!). This was back when college tuition was only extremely expensive and not insanely expensive.
But truthfully, looking back, I would have paid just about anything for the experience. In fact, if Syracuse sent me a bill right now for $1 million, I would understand.
At today’s tuition rates — which averaged $9,410 a year for in-state students at public universities and $32,405 annually at private colleges in 2015, not even including room and board — it’s only natural (and smart) to second guess whether a college education is worth all that money.
The thing is, even at that price, it usually is.
Photo: TSD/Amazon.com
There is such a thing as ‘good’ debt.
As Holly pointed out, the average student loan debt for the class of 2015 was $35,000 (that’s among students who graduated with loans; some do not). Okay, that’s a ton of money, and it’s admittedly lousy to still be paying for something 10 or more years after you bought it.
But here’s the thing: The average American takes out almost as much debt — $29,000! — just to buy a stupid new car. Many people stretch out that debt over six or even seven years.
And what do they get at the end of it all? An aging vehicle that has lost almost all of its value. When it conks out, they’ll take out a new car loan all over again.
A college degree, meanwhile, remains the single best way to boost your long-term earning potential — by about a million dollars over the course of your lifetime, compared to someone with just a high-school diploma.
Think about that: An extra million dollars, over the course of your career. That’s essentially a winning lottery ticket, where you forego the lump sum in favor of annual payments.
Would you take out a $35,000 loan if it returned an average of $1,000,000 over the next 40 years? Yeah, I would, too. That’s good debt.
It’s not always about the career – at least, not right away.
College doubters also point out that nearly half of 20-something college grads work in dead-end retail or restaurant jobs.
To that I say: So what? Many of these grads were probably liberal arts or communications majors. Engineering may be the best major to land a job the week after graduation, but not everyone wants to leap straight into 9-to-5, wall-to-wall math for the rest of their life. That sounds like my nightmare.
Working a crap job in your early 20s is a time-honored tradition among the creative class. After graduation I worked at a bookstore, and then as a van driver for a radio station, both at minimum wage and while splitting housing costs with literally a dozen different roommates, before finally landing a (similarly poorly-paying) job in my field as an editorial assistant. But those mundane jobs were some of the best I’ve ever had.
Now I have a real job on the straight-and-narrow path of adulthood, on the road to retirement — and frankly I miss those carefree days of driving a gaudily painted van around town and ringing up beach reads and bestsellers. You’re only young once, but you’ll have 30 years or more to act like a grownup and work in a cubicle or some other professional environment; God knows there’s no need to rush into it.
It’s not always about the classes.
This will sound trite and cliche, but college isn’t all about academics or degrees, either. There were only a handful of classes I took that truly formed the foundation of my professional skills, such as Intro to Graphic Design. But the breadth of classes I took and the variety of personal and shared learning experiences I had made me a more curious and successful person in the long run.
What’s more, surrounding yourself with other thoughtful people is the incubator of innovation. Steve Jobs famously obsessed over where to locate bathrooms and common areas to try and manufacture more serendipitous encounters among employees. Physical proximity matters.
Economist Edward Glaeser once summed it up like this, in an ode to New York City’s human soup: “Homo sapiens are a social species; almost all of what we know we learn from each other. Dense cities, like New York, succeed when they take advantage of this fundamental aspect of our humanity. They thrive by enabling us to connect with each other, which then promotes learning and innovation.”
Immersing yourself in such an environment is simply a smart and intellectually inspiring professional decision. Friends of mine from college went on to do amazing things. They author books and work on major television shows and write for Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers. I’ve literally gotten jobs in large part because of my college connections, and vice versa.
And this who-you-know phenomenon isn’t limited to fancy-pants private schools: Your big, state university already has thousands of alumni working in managerial positions all over the country, and one day some of your friends will hold those positions, too. When you inquire about a job or go in for an interview with such a person, you have an automatic ice breaker at your disposal — especially if your alma mater miraculously made it to the Final Four.
But not every college is right for everybody every time.
Not all colleges are worth the cost, though. If you get into Harvard or Stanford, by all means, take out the loans you need to go. But there’s no sense in paying private-school tuition rates at a college that’s no better than your state university or even your local community college — and unfortunately, plenty of people do just that. By and large, the in-state tuition at your public university system is going to give you the best bang for your buck.
In particular, don’t throw your money away at a for-profit college. That is and always was a terrible idea, and the only way they’ve survived this long is through predatory marketing practices. Millions of the student borrowers Holly mentions who are defaulting on their debt hold loans not from a state university or community college but from these questionable institutions.
Plus, there are plenty of people who just don’t need college. If you’ve always wanted to be a carpenter, you don’t need to go to college: Go to trade school or better yet get into an apprenticeship program, where you’ll make money as you learn the trade. (I would argue that a college degree from a state school is still not going to hurt, even if you have to take on some debt, since you’ll learn the skills to turn your trade into a full-scale small business later on.)
If you simply hate school and always have, then good lord, don’t pay all that money for more of it. Find a career that inspires you, where you can work with your hands or work with people. Many good, growing jobs don’t require a college degree at all.
Likewise, not everyone is ready for college at the age of 18. My brother struggled during his first bout with college, and dropped out of school after a year and a half. He found a regular, decent-paying job, and only several years later went back to school to finish his degree part-time in the evenings. And that time around, he absolutely crushed it. He was focused on what he wanted to do for a living, and responsible enough to take it seriously. Now you can barely fit his income on a calculator screen.
In the end, smart and driven people like my brother will probably be successful no matter what they do. But a college education can go a long way toward ensuring and amplifying that success over the course of a lifetime. On the other hand, some people may struggle to make ends meet even with a college degree, especially if they go to an overpriced school that leaves them saddled with debt, or go at the wrong time in their lives.
So what I’m saying is: Don’t blindly go to college because you think you’re supposed to. It’s not for everyone at all times. But don’t blindly discount it as a rip-off either. In fact, if you’re interested in a professional career, it’s pretty much the best investment you can make.
–Jon Gorey
College Decision Time: How to Compare Financial Aid Offers and Pick the Right School
Why I Sometimes Regret Choosing Harvard over Community College
A former personal finance reporter at TheStreet and columnist for MarketWatch, Jason Notte’s work has appeared in many other outlets, including The Newark Star-Ledger, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and The Boston Globe. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S. and the layout editor for Boston Now, among other roles at various publications. Notte earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1998.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535775
|
__label__cc
| 0.55886
| 0.44114
|
First Student school bus drivers strike Wednesday in Seattle
Teamsters 174: Company illegally imposed inferior health plan
The following is from Teamsters Local 174:
SEATTLE (Nov. 29, 2017) — In an effort to mitigate any hardship faced by Seattle parents, Teamsters Local 174 announced on Tuesday that there will be a one-day strike today, November 29, 2017, by the group of more than 400 First Student school bus drivers that will impact all yellow bus service to the Seattle School District. The Unfair Labor Practice strike will protest First Student’s unilateral change and implementation of an inferior medical plan for its employees — an illegal action under the National Labor Relations Act, as health care is the subject of negotiations and cannot be changed without bargaining with the employees’ union.
Teamsters Local 174 does not typically announce strikes in advance; however, in this case, the union and its members wished to give Seattle parents adequate notice to make arrangements for their children. Bus service should resume on Thursday, Nov. 30; however, a longer strike can be called at any time if a deal is not reached.
First Student and the Teamsters have been in negotiations over health care and retirement security since July of this year, but to date, First Student has shown little effort to reach a deal with its employees. The vast majority of school bus drivers do not have any health care through their employer, and none of the drivers have an adequate retirement plan. As part of a contract deal reached with the Teamsters last year, a decision was made to delay discussion of health care and retirement benefits for one year. The intervening year was meant to allow First Student an opportunity to settle its new contract with the Seattle School District and lobby for additional funds to cover health care and retirement benefits for drivers. First Student did not hold up its end of the deal.
“This company has shown over and over again that they do not value our members, and quite frankly, they do not value Seattle’s families either,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “First Student has had every opportunity to prevent this from happening, but instead of taking action to protect Seattle families from the headache of a strike, they have sat smugly back and continued to offer nothing of substance to our members at the bargaining table. Now they have committed Unfair Labor Practices related to the very issues they are supposed to be bargaining with us. They have left us no other choice.”
“It is our sincere hope that this one-day strike will show First Student and the Seattle School District that our members are serious about addressing the disgraceful lack of decent healthcare at this company,” Hicks continued. “If we need to take this group out on strike again, the chaos and disruption will not last just one day.”
Parents of children in the Seattle School District who ride the bus to school are encouraged to make alternate transportation arrangements, as bus service throughout the School District will be impacted.
TAKE A STAND — For anyone who would like to show support to the striking drivers, there will be active picket lines outside of First Student bus yards in Lake City and South Park.
First Student – South Park Bus Lot:
8249 5th Ave S.
First Student – Lake City Bus Lot:
13525 Lake City Way NE
Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 7,200 working men and women in the Seattle area. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.
Posted by David Groves on Nov 29 2017. Filed under LOCAL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535777
|
__label__cc
| 0.556766
| 0.443234
|
THE #1 SOURCE FOR ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO HEAL THY SELF!
US Herpes Protocols
US Leaky Gut Protocols
International Products >
Intl. Herpes Protocols
Intl. Leaky Gut Protocols
Treatment Application
Herpes 101
What is Oxygen Therapy
Oxy Powder Facts
DMSO Facts
herpescure
How to manage Herpes? - Infographic
Do you know the nature way to manage herpes with best herpes medication? For further details check our helpful infographic below:
Herpes in Men: Separating Fact from Fiction
Herpes is one of the most commonly transmitted sexual diseases. The HSV-1 is responsible for causing cold sores and fever blisters while the HSV2 is responsible for causing genital herpes. The HSV-2 can lead to sexual dysfunction and psychological problems. According to statistics, 1 out of 6 people in the U.S. is exposed to the risk of contracting genital herpes.
Another survey by the World Health Organization in 2012 suggests that 142 million men aged 0-49 may have herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)in the U.S.
Is Genital Herpes Curable?
If you’re suffering from genital herpes, there’s nothing to be ashamed about. You’re not alone. 1 out of 6 people in the U.S. have genital herpes.
People diagnosed with genital herpes may experience severe depression, which causes them to isolate themselves from social gatherings. They don’t want to risk passing on the infection and may end up avoiding intimate bonds with others.
The reason why people stigmatize this problem so much is that they’re conservative about matters related to sex.
Here’s what you should know about it:
HSV-1 & HSV-2 Viruses: The Primary Cause of Genital Herpes
Sexually Transmitted diseases are increasing at a record rate in the U.S. According to a report by the CDC, 2.3 million cases of gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia were reported in the U.S. last year. This requires a need for herpes cure more than ever.
Herpes is one such sexually transmitted disease. A survey by WHO concludes that a global population of around 417 million has the HSV, which can lead to genital herpes.
Genital Pimples vs. Herpes
People often confuse sores caused by herpes with other skin conditions. The similarity between these conditions often misleads patients into considering herpes cure news to be a minor skin condition.
One such infection that genital herpes is often misinterpreted with, is genital pimples. Both infections are accompanied by the appearance of pus-filled, small bumps.
Some Painful Facts about Genital Herpes That You Need to Know
The fact of the matter is that herpes (best herpes protocol) is a common problem not just in the U.S. but also all over the world. A survey by WHO suggests that over half a billion people between the ages of 15–49 develop a genital infection caused by HSV-1 or HSV-2 on a global scale.
Common symptoms for herpes (oral and genital) include painful sores, blisters, and a burning sensation felt during urinating. The severity of these symptoms ranges from mild to severe.
HSV-2 is generally responsible for causing genital sores, while HSV-1 if left untreated, can lead to genital ulcers.
Coping with Psychological Issues Associated with Herpes
Facts and figures about herpes aren’t difficult to come by on the internet. There are countless sources—governmental, medical, academic, and otherwise—which will enlighten you about the numbers involved: that there are 3.7 billion people less than 50 years of age in the world who have HSV-1 infection.
These sources will tell you that 417 million people of the same age in the world suffer from HSV-2. These sources will also tell you that 10 in every 100,000 births in the world are rare because the infant extracts neonatal herpes.
But none of these sources will enlist a number when it comes to talking about the mental health issues which are an integral part of the infection. Nobody talks about the stress, about the anxiety, about the crushing sense of worrying which accompanies the acknowledgement of symptoms.
But just because nobody talks about them doesn’t mean they’re not affecting a vast number of people.
4 Common STDs Men Face That You Should Know About
If you suspect that you may have been infected with a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), don’t delay getting it checked out by your doctor. Most STDs can be quite painful and the road to recovery isn’t always easy.
Unfortunately, many cases of prevalent STDs in men get mistaken for other conditions. This is why it’s important to understand the signs and symptoms of common STDs men face.
Below are 4 of the common STDs you should know about.
As per the World Health Organization, 67% of the world population under 50 is affected by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). There are two kinds of HSV namely, HSV-1 (oral herpes) and HSV-2 (genital herpes).
The means of transmission include direct contact with an infected person’s genitals (e.g. during oral sex) or mouth (e.g. while kissing).
HSV symptoms don’t always appear in men and women. However, a common symptom is the formation of blisters from 2 days to 2 weeks post-infection. Some men experience tingling, burning, and itching on the penis or testicles, anus, and buttocks.
This is a bacterial infection which can negatively affect the throat, urethra, and anus. The modes of transmission include vaginal, anal, and/or oral sex with an infected person. Typically, men with gonorrhea don’t display noticeable symptoms.
Those that do, experience symptoms like pain during urination and colored discharge from the penis. Sometimes, painful joints, swollen testicles, and rashes may also appear.
Chlamydia is also a bacterial STD and is transmitted in the same way as gonorrhea. According to a 2016 CDC report, around one million cases of Chlamydia were reported, making it a highly prevalent STD in the U.S.
Symptoms start appearing after several weeks post infection and commonly include penile discharge and swollen testicles. If the bacteria have reached the rectum, the following symptoms may occur:
Rectal pain
Rectal discharge
The ancient bacterial disease has more serious implications than other types of STDs in men. Syphilis has been linked to HIV as well as the risk of developing Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
There are four main phases of syphilis; the primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary stage. There are certain symptoms characterizing each stage. Those for the primary stage include small, painless sores on the lips, penis, and/or anus as well as swollen nymph nodes these areas.
Alternative Treatments for Herpes
Myths about Herpes that you should Stop Believing - Infographic
Do you know most "facts" about Herpes are Myths? Read more to find out:
Stages Of Genital Herpes
Genital herpes, or HSV-2, is a prevalent type of herpes and one that affects one in five Americans. It’s important to understand the stages of genital herpes in order to receive optimized treatment.
There are 8 main stages of genital herpes.
Stage 1: Tingling
As the first round of outbreak starts, the initial stage of herpes might not be immediately noticeable. However, the tingling sensation becomes more and more noticeable a few hours of subsequent outbreaks of lesions. Some symptoms include genital pain, itching, and tingling on the buttocks, legs, lower back, and hips.
This stage involves the areas affected by herpes lesions to become erythematous or red and inflamed. This is why some doctors refer to this stage as the erythematous stage. Some patients mistake the red spots for pimples, ingrown hair, or insect bites.
Stage 3: Blistering
The inflammation stage is followed by the blistering stage. In the third stage of herpes, raised lesions known as blisters appear on the skin surface. The following areas may be affected:
Upper thighs
It’s possible to have blisters appear one at a time with a tender and swollen head. During urination, patients may experience stinging due to the lesions.
Stage 4: Pustulation
Pustulation is the process of turning the blisters opaque. The process is completed gradually and at the end converts the clear liquid-filled vesicles in to pus-filled ones. Similar to stage 3, these lesions are painful and easy to rupture by accident.
Stage 5: Ulceration
The lesions break open and begin to ooze. This ulceration occurs a few days after the lesions first appear and causes them to look like sores. Typically, they are red in color and ooze for 2 days to up to 2 weeks.
Stage 6: Crusting
This next stage of herpes outbreak is characterized by the drying of the skin sores. As they begin to dry out, they form a layer of crust which looks like a scab.
Stage 7: Swelling
The residual swelling stage is experienced by only a few people infected with the herpes virus. It marks the onset of the final stage of genital herpes; healing. Even though the crusted lesions may still be tender to the touch, they start to heal with no further outbreaks.
Stage 8: Healing
The crusted legions begin their natural healing process as they flake off. New, pinkish skin emerges underneath the crust which too, fades without leaving scars. Fortunately, there will be no noticeable signs of the outbreak post-healing.
Best Cure For Herpes
Best Herpes Medication
Best Herpes Protocol
Cure Herpes
Herpes Cure News
Herpes Protocol Kit
Herpes Symptoms
Hsv1
Natural Cure For Herpes
Stop Herpes Outbreaks
The Herpes Protocol
Got Questions? Email Us: undergroundcure@gmail.com
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535779
|
__label__cc
| 0.549965
| 0.450035
|
white bellied sea eagle
PROGRAM NOTES by Phillip Huscher Ludwig van Beethoven Born December 16, 1770, Bonn, Germany. Allegro - free-scores SHEET MUSIC; Symphony No. The Symphony No. 67, was written between 1804 and 1808. 5 in C Minor (principal) - composer Beethoven, Ludwig van SHEET MUSIC; Symphonie 5 c-moll - 2. Andante con moto - free-scores SHEET MUSIC; Symphonie 5 c-moll - 3. 5 has undergone much analysis since Hoffmann’s colourful assessment, and its first four notes have drawn much attention.The pitches and rhythm of those notes—three Gs of equal duration followed by a sustained E-flat (below the G)—partially outline a C minor chord and ultimately announce the home key of the symphony. Symphony No. Allegro - free-scores SHEET MUSIC; Symphonie 5 c-moll - 4. 5 in C minor of Ludwig van Beethoven, Op. Died March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria. 67 - LEONARD, ANDERSON SHEET MUSIC Symphony No. First performed in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808, the work achieved its prodigious reputation soon afterward. Project Gutenberg has two MIDI-versions of Beethoven’s 5th symphony: Etext No. It is one of the best-known compositions in classical music and one of the most frequently played symphonies, and it is widely considered one of the cornerstones of western music. 5 in C Minor, Op. 156 Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is in C minor, the first five notes of which are C, D, E-flat, F and G. Placing your right hand on these keys, the finger numbers in this instance happen to correspond to the scale degrees: C is scale degree 1, and your thumb is also finger number 1, etc. 5 in C Minor, Op. Analysis of the Beethoven 5th Symphony, The Symphony of Destiny on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Page; Program notes for a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC. Symphony No. Beyond this obvious one sentence answer there are many mysteries and interesting anecdotes concerning the Fifth Symphony, especially the first few notes, the famous fate motif.. One of the curious topics regarding the first movement is the tempo. 67 Beethoven began to sketch this symphony in 1804, completed the score in the spring of 1808, and conducted the first performance on December 22 of that year in Vienna. 117 and Etext No. The tempo of the first movement in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is 108 half notes per minute (bpm), originally Allegro con brio..
Aldi Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich, Olive Oil Composition, Serum Urea Normal Range, Brother Cs7205 Reviews, Best Foods For A Summer Cold, Sea World Uk Location, Lucio Battisti Cause Of Death, Pi Tau Sigma Berkeley,
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535780
|
__label__cc
| 0.522798
| 0.477202
|
Jamil Rivers -Putting the Power in the Hands of Black Women
Tigerlily Foundation > Blog > Living with MBC > Jamil Rivers -Putting the Power in the Hands of Black Women
This video has been brought to you by the #MyLifeIsMyLegacy Campaign
Jamil Rivers was diagnosed with mBC in 2018 at the age of 39. As a mother of three, caregiver, and working professional, Jamil has a fierce determination to survive. She has learned a lot about life and herself through her struggles with mBC. For one thing, she knows that she’s strong and can make a positive difference. In her first year of chemotherapy, Jamil worked her first year of a new job. Worried about the possibility of losing her job (including income and benefits), she did not disclose her diagnosis at work. She shaved and tattooed her eyebrows, wore a wig, and went to work and chemotherapy every day. Fortunately for Jamil, her treatments were showing positive results and her tumors were shrinking. Now on an oral treatment, she is focused on living her best life and leading as an advocate for other Black women who may face inequalities and disparities in the medical system. Before her cancer diagnosis, she says, “I never questioned God’s path for me.” Yet when she received her diagnosis, it immediately followed her husband’s recent recovery from cancer. And so at first, she thought, “My kids already have one parent with cancer. Now you’re going to give them two parents with cancer?” But eventually, she realized, “Well, why not me. Cancer focuses your life. It clears out everything that’s not important. It educates you about who you are. I’m stronger than what I ever believed possible and I have accomplished more than I ever thought possible.”
In response to mBC, Jamil became motivated to survive for her family and become an advocate for change. Jamil believes that the most violent aspect of cancer is the unequal medical system and unjust racial health disparities that prohibit treatment and worsen cancer outcomes for many Black women. This is the most violent aspect of cancer because of Black women’s vulnerability to “a system with unconscious bias and structural racism.” This bias can impact care with devastating effects. But if Jamil can make a difference in “penetrating people’s thoughts, emotions, and motivations in order for us to really get to the crux of the problem, then, okay.”
In addition to her own work, Jamil has also seen growth in her children. She explains that they also express learning and becoming motivated from their parents’ experiences with cancer. “I see my kids growing into these empathetic, compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful, curious people,” she says, “and they’re amazing human beings.” Of cancer, Jamil says, “I never believed that cancer is a gift,” but it’s a crucial “part of my story.” Even though it is horrible and scary, Jamil accepts it. “I’m still here,” she says. “I’m still breathing. So I’m going to live my life and do what I can with this.”
Jamil Rivers, who was raised in New Jersey and now lives in suburban Philly, is married to the love of her life and has three amazing boys. Jamil and her husband are both cancer survivors and have both been caregivers and patients at different times. Jamil is close to her family, sisters, and girlfriends, loves crossword puzzles, and describes herself as a foodie. She also works full time as Chief Financial Officer of Education Works; is Board President of Metavivor Research and Support, Inc.; a Board member of Living Beyond Breast Cancer; and an Angel Advocate with the Tigerlily Foundation. Jamil also founded a breast cancer education and navigation organization called The Chrysalis Initiative.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535782
|
__label__cc
| 0.51177
| 0.48823
|
Environment Pollution
5 Environmental Consequences of Oil Spills
Oil damages wildlife, marine ecosystems, and coastal environments
Larry West
Larry West is an award-winning environmental journalist and writer. He won the Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting.
Ben Osborne / Getty Images
Oil spills caused by damaged tankers, pipelines, or offshore oil rigs often result in immediate and long-term environmental damage that can last for decades. These are among the most notable areas of environmental damage caused by spills:
Beaches, Marshlands, and Fragile Aquatic Ecosystems
David McNew / Stringer / Getty Images
Oil spills coat everything they touch and become unwelcome but long-term parts of every ecosystem they enter. When an oil slick from a large spill reaches a beach, oil coats and clings to every rock and grain of sand. If the oil washes into coastal marshes, mangrove forests, or other wetlands, fibrous plants and grasses absorb oil, which can damage plants and make the area unsuitable as wildlife habitat.
When oil eventually stops floating on the water's surface and begins to sink into the marine environment, it can have similar damaging effects on fragile underwater ecosystems, killing or contaminating fish and smaller organisms that are essential links in the global food chain.
Despite massive clean-up efforts following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, for example, a study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that 26,000 gallons of oil were still trapped in the sand along the Alaska shoreline. Scientists conducting the study determined that residual oil was declining at less than four percent annually.
Stockbyte / Getty Images
Oil-covered birds are a universal symbol of environmental damage wreaked by oil spills. Some species of shore birds might escape by relocating if they sense danger in time, but sea birds that swim and dive for their food are most likely to be covered in oil following a spill. Oil spills also damage nesting grounds, potentially causing serious long-term effects on entire species. The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, occurred during prime mating and nesting season for many bird and marine species, and long-term environmental consequences of that spill won't be known for years. Oil spills can disrupt migratory patterns by contaminating areas where migrating birds normally stop.
Even a small amount of oil can be deadly to a bird. By coating feathers, oil not only makes flying impossible but also destroys birds' natural waterproofing and insulation, leaving them vulnerable to hypothermia or overheating. As birds frantically preen their feathers to restore their natural protections, they often swallow oil, which can severely damage their internal organs and lead to death. The best estimate of the Exxon Valdez oil spill is that it killed 250,000 seabirds.
Handout / Getty Images
Oil spills frequently kill marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, seals, and sea otters. Oil can clog blowholes of whales and dolphins, making it impossible for them to breathe properly and disrupting their ability to communicate. Oil coats fur of otters and seals, leaving them vulnerable to hypothermia.
Even when marine mammals escape the immediate effects, an oil spill can contaminate their food supply. Marine mammals that eat fish or other food exposed to an oil spill may be poisoned by oil and die or experience other problems.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill killed 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, and up to 22 killer whales. In the years after the Exxon Valdez spill, scientists noted higher death rates among sea otters and other species affected by the spill and stunted growth or other damage among additional species. Thirty-five years after the disaster, researchers have found that the Prince William Sound ecosystem seems to have finally recovered, and localized effects on sea otters appear to have been resolved.
Vstock LLC / Getty Images
Oil spills often take a deadly toll on fish, shellfish, and other marine life, particularly if many fish eggs or larvae are exposed to oil. Shrimp and oyster fisheries along the Louisiana coast were among early casualties of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Similarly, the Exxon Valdez spill destroyed billions of salmon and herring eggs. Fisheries impacted by the Exxon Valdez took over three decades to recover.
Wildlife Habitat and Breeding Grounds
Julie Dermansky / Contributor / Getty Images
Long-term damage to species and their habitats and nesting or breeding grounds is one of the most far-reaching environmental effects caused by oil spills. Even species that spend most of their lives at sea, such as various species of sea turtles, must come ashore to nest. Sea turtles can be harmed by oil they encounter in the water or on the beach where they lay their eggs, their eggs can be damaged by oil and fail to develop properly, and newly hatched turtles may be oiled as they scurry toward the ocean across an oily beach.
Ultimately, the severity of environmental damage caused by an oil spill depends on many factors, including the amount of oil spilled, type and weight of oil, location of the spill, species of wildlife in the area, timing of breeding cycles and seasonal migrations, and even the weather at sea during and after the oil spill.
View Article Sources
“Oil Spills.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“Understanding Oil Spills And Oil Spill Response.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“Water Marks: Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration News.” Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act of 1900.
Short, Jeffrey W., et al. "Slightly Weathered Exxon Valdez Oil Persists in Gulf of Alaska Beach Sediments after 16 Years." Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 41, 2007, pp: 1245-1250., doi:10.1021/es0620033
“Five Years & Counting: Gulf Wildlife in the Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.” National Wildlife Federation.
“Oil Pipelines and Spills.” Auburn University.
Mathewson, Paul D., et al. “Experimental and Modeled Thermoregulatory Costs of Repeated Sublethal Oil Exposure in the Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus.” Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 135, 2018, pp. 216-223., doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.07.003
King, Mason D., et al. “Effects of Petroleum Exposure on Birds: A Review.” Science of The Total Environment, vol. 755, part 1, 2021, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142834
"Questions and Answers About the Spill." Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.
Fingas, Merv F., editor. Handbook of Oil Spill Science and Technology (First Edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015.
Short, Jeff, Stanley Rice, and Mandy Lindeberg. "The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: How Much Oil Remains?" AFSC Quarterly Research Reports, 2001.
Fukuyama, Allan K., et al. "Status of Intertidal Infaunal communities Following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska." Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 84, 2014, pp. 56–59, doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.05.043
Harwell, Mark A., and John H. Gentile. "Assessing Risks to Sea Otters and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: New Scenarios, Attributable Risk, and Recovery." Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, vol. 20, 2014, pp. 889-916, doi:10.1080/10807039.2013.828513
“How Does Oil Impact Marine Life?.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Quintana-Rizzo, Ester, et al. "δ13C and δ15N in Deep-Living Fishes and Shrimps after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico." Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 94, 2015, pp. 241-250, doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.02.002
“Plan for Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Injury Restoration: An Overview.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“Oil and Sea Turtles.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Harms, Craig A., et al. "Crude Oil and Dispersant Cause Acute Clinicopathological Abnormalities in Hatchling Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta)." Frontiers in Veterinary Science, vol. 6, 2019, doi:10.3389/fvets.2019.00344
“Catastrophic Spill Event Analysis: High-Volume, Extended-Duration Oil Spill Resulting from Loss of Well Control on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.” Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. U.S. Department of the Interior.
Effects of Oil Spills on Marine Life
Effects of Oil Spills On Sea Turtles
National Parks in Florida: Beaches, Mangrove Swamps, Sea Turtles
Top 6 Environmental Issues
What Is Marine Conservation?
Sea Otter Facts
Geography of the World's Largest Oil Spills
Lakeview Gusher of 1910 Bigger, Not Worse, Than BP Oil Spill
Facts About Marine Life in the Gulf of Mexico
The Problems With Oil and Gas Pipelines
Which Presidents Were Republican?
10 Geography Facts About Florida
9 Types of Marine Ecosystems
The Top 10 Wildlife Conservation Organizations
The Environmental Impacts of Hurricane Katrina
Sea Turtle Facts
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535786
|
__label__wiki
| 0.994112
| 0.994112
|
James Todd Smith, better known as LL Cool J, began rapping at the age of 9. Thirteen years later, he released his first studio album, Radio, through Def Jam Recordings, marking the beginning of hip-hop's "golden age." The 1985 release eventually went {latinum in 1989 with singles "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells" contributing to its success. The New York native quickly developed a romantic style—epitomized by his mainstream breakthrough single, "I Need Love." His second album Bigger and Deffer, was a stepping stone into stardom, while his 1990 release and his fourth studio album, Mama Said Knock You Out, solidified his icon status. The two-time Grammy Award winner has released 13 studio albums and two greatest hits compilations. LL Cool J also has a lengthy acting career appearing in films like Any Given Sunday and had a starring role on the long-running series NCIS: Los Angeles.
http://llcoolj.com/
“Through The Lens” Def Jam Recordings To Premiere New Docu-Series Focusing On Titans Of Hip-Hop Photography
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535787
|
__label__wiki
| 0.738889
| 0.738889
|
lifter.com.ua
Week's balance: President vows support to businesses, energy ministry raises electricity tariffs, while industrial output drops
Kateryna Zhyriy
4 min. 318
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has promised to support businesses in the face of tougher quarantine bans, the new acting energy chief announced the coming increase in electricity tariffs for households, while the State Statistics Service reported a higher pace of industrial output slide – these are the key economic developments of the outgoing week.
The last week of autumn was marked by new coronavirus spikes. The weekend quarantine, which started in early November, affected many domestic entrepreneurs, and a New Year's lockdown is still looming ahead.
In this regard, Head of State Volodymyr Zelensky announced an initiative to support businesses affected by the government's quarantine restrictive measures.
The president promised in the near future to submit to the Verkhovna Rada a bill providing for compensation for the payment of a single social contribution (SSC) for employees at enterprises whose operations were suspended. This is a total of almost UAH 1.5 billion for about 120,000 legal entities.
Photo from UNIAN
"If due to tougher quarantine your operations get prohibited, you will receive compensation for the payment of SSC for your employees. A small coffee shop employing five people will receive compensation of about UAH 8,000-10,000. Of course, all these programs will be available not only to cafes, but also to everyone who has been affected by quarantine," the president said.
He also said bills had been submitted to the Rada providing for the payment of one-time financial assistance to businesses and workers whose field of activity will suffer from increased quarantine.
By the way, Zelensky has already submitted to parliament a bill on social support for insured persons and business entities for the period of restrictive anti-epidemic measures.
The Cabinet also decided to support businesses by extending until the end of the year the program of financial support for entrepreneurs who use the simplified taxation system of the first and second groups, and also have children. That is, the support program for private entrepreneurs will be extended, which was in effect in May-August. In this way, the government intends to compensate for the losses incurred in November and December by entrepreneurs.
As Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted, it is about paying UAH 2,000 for each child under the age of 10. In general, funding for the program will amount to UAH 1 billion by year-end.
Harmonization of 2021 budget
At the end of the outgoing week, the government approved the draft law "On the state budget of Ukraine for 2021", finalized for second reading. The document has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for futhr consideration.
According to PM Shmyhal, the revised bill provides for a deficit of the state treasury next year at 5.5% of gross domestic product, revenues – at UAH 1.092 trillion, expenses – at UAH 1.328 billion.
"We've done a lot of joint work and consultations with people's deputies, experts, took into account most of the proposals, based on the priority of expenditures, the existing possibilities of the ervenue part of the budget and the current state of the national economy. The key aspect is that the budget remains balanced and realistic for implementation," the prime minister said.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said that during the drafting of the budget, more than 2,500 proposals were received from the people's deputies, most of which were taken into account. There was also a budget dialogue with the IMF.
"In the process of finalization, we consulted with the mission of the International Monetary Fund to form a joint vision of the main budgetary indicators within the framework of the partnership between Ukraine and the IMF, the framework of revenues, expenditures, and deficits. In general, the parameters of the 2021 budget coincide with the estimates of the Fund's experts, which was important for continuing successful cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF," the minister noted, adding that an opportunity was found to reduce the state budget deficit from 6% to 5.47% of GDP.
Prospects of rising electricity prices
In the outgoing week, a new acting Minister of Energy Yuriy Boyko said he considered it important to revise the current cross-subsidization mechanism from 2021, according to which households receive electricity at a reduced price.
"The next priority is to reduce cross-subsidization. Behind this phrase is the objective need to revise the approaches to the formation of tariffs for household consumers. Since today there is a large number of manipulative statements about the final cost of electricity for the population," he said.
According to him, as of November, the current tariffs cover only the cost of transporting electricity through the networks.
"So, in total, delivery costs UAH 1 03 kopiykas, and the weighted average price of one kWh for a household consumer for the last two months is statistically UAH 1.04. That is, in fact, within the framework of the current model, according to which Energoatom and Ukrhydroenergo sell electricity to the Guaranteed Buyer at 1 kopiyka, only the supply is being paid for," Boyko explained his position.
He also said that next week the ministry may submit a proposal on new approaches to the formation of tariffs for the population.
At the moment, in Ukraine, the price of electricity for the households is 90 kopiykas per 1 kWh with a consumption of up to 100 kWh, and over that - 168 kopiykas per kWh. It has remained unchanged since 2017. Prices for residential consumers have not been rising due to the Special Obligation Mechanism imposed on power generating companies.
Higher pace of industrial output decline
In the outgoing week, the State Statistics Service reported that the decline in industrial production in Ukraine in October 2020 accelerated by 5% on year, without calendar adjustment after falling by 4.4% in September.
With such adjustment, industrial output in October slid by 3.9% on year.
Compared to the previous month, industrial production in October increased by 5.8%, excluding calendar adjustments, and decreased by 0.5% with such adjustments.
As for the drop in production in the context of the main activities, the extractive industry and quarrying in October saw a drop of 2.5% on year, the processing industry – saw a decline of 6.6%, and the supply of electricity, gas, steam, and conditioned air was down 1.8%.
In the context of the main industrial groups, the annual production decline for investment goods amounted to 19.3%, for consumer goods of short-term use – to 6.1%, and for energy – to 3.4%.
Only the production of consumer durables showed positive dynamics, with a growth of 5.4%.
Next week, a calendar winter with frosts and snowfalls will come to Ukraine. The deputies will gather for a plenary session and, possibly, pass the law on the state budget for 2021.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535788
|
__label__cc
| 0.57079
| 0.42921
|
In the framework of the Geneva Consultations, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Staffan de Mistura, met today with Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, who presented his views about the peaceful future of Syria and its various communities.
“It is very important that the voices of the religious leaders and their communities be heard and taken into account as we search for peace in Syria. Their representatives have an essential to role play in promoting peacemaking and reconciliation in the Syria of tomorrow", Mr de Mistura said after the meeting.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535789
|
__label__wiki
| 0.727163
| 0.727163
|
Vienna, November 14, 2015
Meeting in Vienna on November 14, 2015 as the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the Arab League, China, Egypt, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States to discuss how to accelerate an end to the Syrian conflict. The participants began with a moment of silence for the victims of the heinous terrorist attacks of November 13 in Paris and the recent attacks in Beirut, Iraq, Ankara, and Egypt. The members unanimously condemned in the strongest terms these brutal attacks against innocent civilians and stood with the people of France.
Subsequently, the participants engaged in a constructive dialogue to build upon the progress made in the October 30 gathering. The members of the ISSG expressed a unanimous sense of urgency to end the suffering of the Syrian people, the physical destruction of Syria, the destabilization of the region, and the resulting increase in terrorists drawn to the fighting in Syria.
The ISSG acknowledged the close linkage between a cease fire and a parallel political process pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communique, and that both initiatives should move ahead expeditiously. They stated their commitment to ensure a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition based on the Geneva Communique in its entirety. The group reached a common understanding on several key issues.
The group agreed to support and work to implement a nationwide cease fire in Syria to come into effect as soon as the representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition have begun initial steps towards the transition under UN auspices on the basis of the Geneva Communique. The five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council pledged to support a UNSC resolution to empower a UN-endorsed cease fire monitoring mission in those parts of the country where monitors would not come under threat of attacks from terrorists, and to support a political transition process in accordance with the Geneva Communique.
All members of the ISSG also pledged as individual countries and supporters of various belligerents to take all possible steps to require adherence to the cease fire by these groups or individuals they support, supply or influence. The cease fire would not apply to offensive or defensive actions against Da’esh or Nusra or any other group the ISSG agrees to deem terrorist.
The participants welcomed UN Secretary General Ban’s statement that he has ordered the UN to accelerate planning for supporting the implementation of a nationwide cease fire. The group agreed that the UN should lead the effort, in consultation with interested parties, to determine the requirements and modalities of a cease fire.
The ISSG expressed willingness to take immediate steps to encourage confidence-building measures that would contribute to the viability of the political process and to pave the way for the nationwide cease fire. In this context, and pursuant to clause 5 of the Vienna Communique, the ISSG discussed the need to take steps to ensure expeditious humanitarian access throughout the territory of Syria pursuant to UNSCR 2165 and called for the granting of the UN’s pending requests for humanitarian deliveries. The ISSG expressed concern for the plight of refugees and internally displaced persons and the imperative of building conditions for their safe return in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law and taking into account the interests of host countries. The resolution of the refugee issue is important to the final settlement of the Syrian conflict. The ISSG also reaffirmed the devastating effects of the use of indiscriminate weapons on the civilian population and humanitarian access, as stated in UNSCR 2139. The ISSG agreed to press the parties to end immediately any use of such indiscriminate weapons.
The ISSG reaffirmed the importance of abiding byall relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including UNSCR 2199 on stopping the illegal trade in oil, antiquities and hostages, from which terrorists benefit.
Pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communique, incorporated by reference in the Vienna statement of October 30, and in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2118, the ISSG agreed on the need to convene Syrian government and opposition representatives in formal negotiations under UN auspices, as soon as possible, with a target date of January 1. The group welcomed efforts, working with United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and others, to bring together the broadest possible spectrum of the opposition, chosen by Syrians, who will decide their negotiating representatives and define their negotiating positions, so as to enable the political process to begin. All the parties to the political process should adhere to the guiding principles identified at the October 30 meeting, including a commitment to Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity, and non-sectarian character; to ensuring that State institutions remain intact; and to protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination. ISSG members agreed that these principles are fundamental.
The ISSG members reaffirmed their support for the transition process contained in the2012 Geneva Communique. In this respect they affirmed their support for a cease fire as described above and for a Syrian-led process that will, within a target of six months, establish credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance, and set a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution. Free and fair elections would be held pursuant to the new constitution within 18 months. Theseelections must be administered under UN supervision to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians, including the diaspora, eligible to participate.
Regarding the fight against terrorism, and pursuant to clause 6 of the Vienna Communique, the ISSG reiterated that Da’esh, Nusra, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the UN Security Council, and further, as agreed by the participants and endorsed by the UN Security Council, must be defeated. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan agreed to help develop among intelligence and military community representatives a common understanding of groups and individuals for possible determination as terrorists, with a target of completion by the beginning of the political process under UN auspices.
The participants expect to meet in approximately one month in order to review progress towards implementation of a cease fire and the beginning of the political process.
In the framework of the Geneva consultations, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Mr. Staffan de Mistura met today with a delegation from The Day After Association, led by Mr. Murhaf Joueijati, and a delegation from the Cordoba Working Group, led by Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Barmou.
Both delegations shared with the U.N. Special Envoy their perspectives for a political solution in Syria and discussed the worsening situation on the ground.
At the end of his meetings, Mr. de Mistura reiterated his strong conviction that only a political solution can address the root causes of the ongoing conflict in a sustainable manner and bring it to an end.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535790
|
__label__wiki
| 0.877185
| 0.877185
|
Who Will Win at This Year’s Tonys (Besides Hamilton)?
By Adam Green
Thomas Kail, Michael Arden, Savion Glover, Sara Bareilles, Stephen Karam, Danai Burira, Ivo van Hove, and Joan SmallsPhotographed by Mikael Jansson, Vogue, June 2016
On Sunday, the 70th annual Tony Awards will be broadcast live on CBS from the Beacon Theatre. Radio City Music Hall, the former—and much larger—home to the Tonys for the past several years was booked, meaning that several thousand low-level publicists, hangers-on, and random theater nuts will be left in the cold, by which I mean forced to watch the show on television. The truth is, the Tonys, like all awards shows, are best watched in a living room with snarky friends by your side and the Twitter app open on your phone.
If you haven’t seen many (or any) of the nominated shows and performances but want to sound in the know, you could probably get by with exclaiming #TonysNotSoWhite or, just before the announcement of the winner of virtually any award, proclaiming, in an award-presenter voice, “Hamilton!” For those who want to get a little more detailed, here are my predictions for the major categories.
It has been an unusually good year for serious new plays on Broadway, examining a wide swath of humanity, from an old man slipping into dementia (The Father, by French It playwright Florian Zeller) to women enslaved by a warlord during the Liberian Civil War (Eclipsed, by Walking Dead actor-playwright Danai Gurira) and a future English monarch’s imagined reign (King Charles III, by Mike Bartlett). But the Tony will, and should, go to Stephen Karam for The Humans, his deeply humane and crushingly sad look at the sorrows of an ordinary family.
This has been the year of Arthur Miller, two of whose plays—A View from the Bridge and The Crucible—are nominated in thrillingly off-kilter productions by the brilliant Belgian director Ivo van Hove. (Noises Off and Blackbird were also wonderfully revived this season.) Still, the consensus seems to be that Jonathan Kent’s powerful production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night will prevail, but I’m picking A View from the Bridge, which revealed Miller’s almost-masterpiece as the real deal.
Critics and audiences alike have shown a lot of love for the nominees in this category, among them Bright Star, School of Rock, and Waitress. In another year, Shuffle Along would probably take home the trophy in this category. But . . . well . . . uh . . . Hamilton?
Best Book of a Musical; Best Original Score; Best Direction of a Musical
Lin-Manuel Miranda; Lin-Manuel Miranda; Thomas Kail (Hamilton; Hamilton; Hamilton).
Best Revival of a Musical
Another strong category, in which any of the nominees could plausibly win. If I had my way, the near-perfect revival of the near-perfect She Loves Me would win. But the award will go to The Color Purple, and probably should, for turning a flawed show into an emotionally stunning evening of theater.
Fine performances across the board by Gabriel Byrne (Long Day’s Journey), Jeff Daniels (Blackbird), Frank Langella (The Father), Tim Pigott-Smith (King Charles III), and Mark Strong (A View from the Bridge). It’s a toss-up between Langella and Strong. I’ll go with Strong.
Another neck-and-neck race, in this case, between Michael Shannon, as a flamboyantly self-hating man in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Reed Birney, as a quietly self-hating man in The Humans. I predict that Birney, a consummate New York stage actor, will get a boost to his self-esteem with a win in this category.
In a category that includes shattering performances by two movie stars—that would be Lupita Nyong’o in Eclipsed and, my personal choice, Michelle Williams in Blackbird—I predict that movie and TV star Jessica Lange will take home the trophy for her terrifying performance as the morphine-addicted Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which could have been subtitled American Horror Story.
With two actresses from Eclipsed (Pascale Armand and Saycon Sengbloh) and two from Noises Off (Megand Hilty and Andrea Martin) in contention, the winner will be New York stage veteran Jayne Houdyshell, for her affecting performance as a mother whose family is in free-fall, in The Humans.
As in the mega-hit musical and real life, it’s Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) versus Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom, Jr.). It could go either way, but my guess is that, contrary to the historical record A dot Ham will not be throwing away his shot, and Miranda will go home the victor.
Three out of the five nominees in this category are from—what else?—Hamilton. That show’s wildly talented and charismatic Daveed Diggs, who plays both Lafayette and Jefferson, will walk away with the statue.
Despite superb performances by Laura Benanti (She Loves Me), Carmen Cusack (Bright Star), Jessie Mueller (Waitress), and Phillipa Soo (Hamilton), The Color Purple’s Cynthia Erivo has a lock on this category for a luminous, powerhouse performance that is nothing short of miraculous.
There are many fine performances in this category, among them those by Danielle Brooks, who made the transition from Orange Is the New Black to The Color Purple with panache; Jane Krakowski in She Loves Me; and future star Adrienne Warren in Shuffle Along. But the winner will be Renée Elise Goldsberry for her fierce, heartbreaking turn in Hamilton.
If Hamilton fever sweeps through the Tony voters unchecked, then Andy Blankenbuehler will win for his hip-hop–meets–jazz hands choreography for that show. But I’m betting my tap shoes on Savion Glover, whose effervescent dance numbers for Shuffle Along are the work of a bona fide genius.
TopicsTony Awards 2019BroadwayVogue Instagram
Vogue Daily
The best new culture, style, and beauty stories from Vogue, delivered to you daily.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535798
|
__label__wiki
| 0.547149
| 0.547149
|
In a Reflection published on August 25, 2010 under the title of “The Opinion of an Expert”, I mentioned a really unusual activity of the United States and its allies which, in my opinion, underlines the risk of a nuclear conflict with Iran. I was referring to a long article by the well-known journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, published in the US journal The Atlantic in September of that year, entitled “The Point of No Return”.
Archives | Havana (Cuba) | 7 January 2011
Majid Shariari assassination
Goldberg was not anti-Israeli, quite the opposite; he is an admirer of Israel and holds double citizenship with the US and also did his military service in that country.
At the start of his article he wrote: “It is possible, as well, that “foiling operations” conducted by the intelligence agencies of Israel, the United States, Great Britain, and other Western powers—programs designed to subvert the Iranian nuclear effort through sabotage and, on occasion, the carefully engineered disappearances of nuclear scientists—will have hindered Iran’s progress in some significant way”
The parentheses in the paragraph are also his.
After mentioning the enigmatic phrase, I carried on with the analysis of that Gordian knot of international politics that could lead to the war which was so feared by Einstein. What would he say if he had learned about the “frustration operations” destined to make the most capable nuclear scientists disappear?
Maybe because it was so absurd and incredible, I didn’t pay too much attention to it, but months later, upon reading the recent accusations by the Iranian government, as well as news and opinions of well-informed people, the memory of that paragraph returned to my mind with a vengeance.
Four weeks before the end of 2010, an AFP agency dispatch informed:
“An Iranian nuclear scientist has been killed.
“Teheran accuses the United States and Israel of being behind a double assassination.
“AFP. November 30, 2010
“‘The hand of western governments and the Zionist regime is behind the assassination attempts’. Mahmud Ahmadineyad had no doubts when it came to look for the people guilty of the double attack on the nuclear experts that took place early yesterday in Teheran. Majid Shariari, professor at the Shahid Beheshti University of Teheran and member of the Nuclear Society of Iran lost his life and his wife was injured in an explosion reported a few metres from their home. His colleague Fereydoon Abbasi, a laser physicist at the same university and his wife were also injured after a similar attack. Even though some newspapers announced Abbasi’s death, it was finally the Mehr agency that confirmed that he had managed to save his life. According to the Fars agency, ‘unknown terrorists’ on motorcycles drove closet o the vehicles to plant the lapa bombs.”
“Members of the Ahmadineyad Executive and the Minister of the Interior, Mostafa Mohamad Najjar, directly accused the CIA and Mossad – the intelligence services of the US and Israel, respectively – of being behind these actions that presume a new blow for the country’s nuclear race at the doors of a possible new round of talks with the 5+1 members...”
“With yesterday’s attempt there are now three Iranian scientists who have been killed since 2007. Dr. Masoud Alí Mohamadi lost his life in Teheran last January after the explosion of a bomb as he was leaving his home, a death that has not yet been cleared up by the authorities who also accused the western intelligence agencies of trying to abort what they considered to be a right, the nuclear race for civilian purposes. The first victim in the heart of the scientific community was Ardeshir Hosseinpour, killed under strange circumstances in 2007 at the nuclear centre of Isfahan.”
I don’t remember any other moment in history when the assassination of scientists has been transformed into official policy on the part of a group of powers armed with nuclear weapons. The worst is that, in the case of Iran, it is being applied on an Islamic nation, with which, even if they are able to compete and surpass it in technology, they could never do it in a field where, for cultural and religious questions, it could surpass them many times in the willingness of its citizens to die at any moment if Iran should decide to apply the same absurd and criminal formula on the professionals of their adversaries.
There are other serious events related to the carnage of scientists, organized by Israel, the US, Great Britain and other powers against the Iranian scientists, something about which the mass media does not inform world opinion.
An article by Christian Elia published on the Rebelión website on August 25, 2010, reports that:
An explosion has killed the father of the “drones” (unmanned planes) – of Iran – but he is just the last of the scientists who have lost their lives in the country.
“To find a photo of Reza Baruni on the Internet is a mission impossible. However, in the last few days, his name was at the centre of a mystery that has many international aspects...”
The only thing certain is that Reza Baruni, the Iranian aeronautical engineer, is dead. An air of absolute mystery hangs over everything else. All the industry analysts consider Baruni to be the father of the [...] UAVs (unmanned vehicles) of the Islamic Republic [...]. On August 1st, 2010, his house was blown up.”
“On August 17, 2010, Debka (very close to Israeli intelligence) publishes news of Baruni’s death and reveals its conclusions: the Iranian engineer’s home blew up because of the explosion of three very powerful explosive devices. Baruni was murdered.”
“But the murkiest episode in contrast is the death of Massud Ali-Mohammadi, professor of nuclear physics at Teheran University, murdered on January 11, 2010 in the Iranian capital. Professor Ali-Mohammadi died in the explosion of a motorcycle-bomb detonated from a distance at the time the professor was leaving his home to go to work…”
An article published on the CubaDebate website informs:
“Israel acknowledges that it has murdered an Iranian scientist last week.”
“Mossad, the Israeli secret service, acknowledged that last week it murdered Majid Shahriari and wounded another physicist in Iran, according to Mossad sources, in an operation carried out in Teheran. ‘It is the latest operation by the head of the Mossad’, the people heading Israeli secret services state with satisfaction at a meeting in their Gelilot headquarters to the north of Tel Aviv.”
“Gordon Thomas, a British expert in the Mossad, confirmed in Britain’s Sunday Telegraph that Israel is responsible for this double murder destined to obstruct the Iranian nuclear program.”
“Thomas states that all the Israeli assassination attempts in the last few years against personalities associated with the Iranian nuclear project have been committed by the Kidon (bayonet) unit. According to the Jewish newspaper Yediot Ahronot this unit is made up of 38 agents. Five of them are women. They are all between 20 and 30 years old and they speak several languages – including Persian – and they are able to come and go from Iran with ease. They are based in the Negev Desert.”
In the days of the Diaspora, the left wing in the world united in solidarity with the people of Israel. Persecuted for their race and religion, many of them fought in the ranks of the revolutionary parties. The peoples condemned the concentration camps that the European and world bourgeoisie wanted to ignore.
Today the leaders of the State of Israel practice genocide and are associating themselves with the most reactionary forces on the planet.
The alliance between the leaders of that State and the South Africa of the hateful apartheid regime is still to be cleared up; in complicity with the United States they supplied the technology to develop the nuclear weapons directed towards striking at the Cuban troops which, in 1975, were confronting the invasion of racist South Africa, whose disdain and hatred of the African peoples was no different from the Nazi ideology which murdered millions of Jews, Russians, gypsies and other European nationalities in the concentration camps of Europe.
If it hadn’t been for the Iranian revolution – stripped of weapons it swept over the best-equipped ally of the United States on the flank of the Soviet super-power – today it would be the Shah of Iran, supplied with nuclear weapons, and not Israel, who would be the principal bulwark of the Yankee and NATO empire in that region that is so strategic and immensely rich in oil and gas for the sure supply of the most developed countries on the planet.
It is an almost inexhaustible subject.
Cuban Agency News
La Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) es una división de la Agencia de Información Nacional (AIN) de Cuba fundada el 21 de mayo de 1974.
Cuban News Agency
Israel/State of Palestine
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen in Saudi Arabia
Israel threatens Iran with nuclear annihilation
Israeli High Court rejects motion to ban arms sales to Azerbaijan
Artsarkh accuses Israel of complicity in preparing genocide
Low intensity warfare
Illaria: the stinging truth
The USA’s decades long war against China
The USA’s decades long warfare against China
Malala, the worthy victim
Source: “What would Einstein say?”, by Fidel Castro Ruz, Cuban Agency News , Voltaire Network, 7 January 2011, www.voltairenet.org/article168033.html
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535799
|
__label__cc
| 0.638884
| 0.361116
|
VFW Celebrates Native American Heritage Month
'I salute the amazing contributions our Native American service members, veterans and families have made, and continue to make'
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) celebrates the instrumental contributions our Native Americans have made in our military as we honor Native American Heritage Month.
“I salute the amazing contributions our Native American service members, veterans and families have made, and continue to make, every day to ensure our nation remains the democracy it is today,” said VFW National Commander Harold “Hal” Roesch II. “Their dedication, selflessness and sacrifice to the greatest nation in the world is a shining example of who we are as a country.”
For centuries, Native Americans have fought passionately to protect and defend the United States. Without the many contributions of our Native American brothers and sisters, we would not be able to enjoy the freedoms bestowed upon us today.
We ask you to celebrate the strong and rich culture of our Native Americans with us by using the hashtag #CelebrateNativeAmericanHeritage on social media.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535800
|
__label__wiki
| 0.612676
| 0.612676
|
NSPCC offers advice on child radicalisation
The NSPCC has set up a new helpline to provide advice on the problem of child radicalisation.
Those who are worried about children being radicalised by the influence of extremist views can now call the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) for advice.
The charity has launched a new, free, 24-hour helpline service, which people can contact if they are concerned a child is at risk of radicalisation.
NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless stated: “The fact that a young person might hold extreme or radical views is not a safeguarding issue in itself. But when young people are groomed for extremist purposes and encouraged to commit acts that could hurt themselves or others, then it becomes abuse.
“That?s why we?ve trained our helpline practitioners to cope with this fresh danger to young people.?
While radicalisation can be difficult to spot, the NSPCC has highlighted a number of indicators that may suggest a child is at risk. These include becoming isolated from family and friends, talking as if from a scripted speech, an increase in anger and becoming disrespectful and asking inappropriate questions.
The charity also said that children who have low self-esteem, are members of a gang or a victim of bullying may be more vulnerable to radicalisation. People with radical views can take advantage of these vulnerabilities by convincing children they can help them to become ‘something special’ and begin isolating them from their family and friends, the NSPCC warned.
According to BCC research, 17 Britons aged between 15 and 20 have been killed after leaving the UK to fight for jihadist organisations in Syria and Iraq. Overall, at least 800 people are reported to have left the country to join such groups, with around half having returned.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36897596
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535802
|
__label__wiki
| 0.709338
| 0.709338
|
Stuart McCook
sgmccook@uoguelph.ca
(519) 824-4120 ex. 53213
346A University Centre
Coffeecultures
PhD (History), 1996
MA (History), 1992
MS (Science and Technology Studies), 1990
The University of Toronto
BA (History and Philosophy of Science), 1988
The University of Guelph
Assistant Vice President, International, since 2019
Professor of History, since 2018
Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies), College of Arts, 2009-2015
Associate Professor of History, 2003-2018
Assistant Professor of History, 1997-2002
The University of Minnesota
NSF Postdoctoral Research Associate in History of Science and Technology, 1996-1997
I am interested in the history of tropical agriculture, especially export commodities. My doctoral research (which became my first book) explored botany, agriculture, and nation-building in the Greater Caribbean. This project led me to an interest in the environmental history of tropical crops — especially to a series of catastrophic plant diseases that afflicted almost every major tropical crop, starting in the mid-nineteenth century. Following these diseases led me to expand my geographical focus from Latin America to the global tropics. I decided to write about one of the most important of these diseases: the coffee leaf rust. This disease first broke out in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1869, and has since spread to virtually every coffee-growing region in the world. It caused the collapse of arabica coffee cultivation in Ceylon and Java, and continues to disrupt production around the world. The history of the epidemic is a history of ecological globalization, and of the complex interplay between economic, environmental, social, and cultural forces. This is the subject of my second book: Coffee is Not Forever: A Global History of the Coffee Leaf Rust, published in 2019.
My other research and teaching interests include global history, commodity history, the history of science, technology, and medicine, disease and history, the history of natural disasters, and Latin American history.
Coffee is Not Forever: A Global History of the Coffee Leaf Rust (Ohio University Press, 2019)
States of Nature: Science, Agriculture, and Environment in the Spanish Caribbean, 1760-1940 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002).
Articles and Book Chapters
with Paul D. Peterson. 2020. “The Geopolitics of Plant Pathology: Frederick Wellman, Coffee Leaf Rust, and Cold War Networks of Science.” Annual Review of Phytopathology 58 (1): 181–99. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-082718-100109.
“Greater Caribbean: Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies.” In Modern Science in National, Transnational, and Global Context, edited by Hugh Richard Slotten, Ronald L. Numbers, and David N. Livingstone, 1st ed., 8:782–98. The Cambridge History of Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139044301.040.
“Prodigality and Sustainability: The Environmental Sciences and the Quest for Development.” In A Living Past: Environmental Histories of Latin America, edited by Claudia Leal, John Soluri, and José Augusto Pádua, 226–45. New York: Berghahn Books, 2018.
"Environmental History of Coffee in Latin America", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, June 2017.
“‘Squares of Tropic Summer’: The Wardian Case, Victorian Horticulture, and the Logistics of Global Plant Transfers, 1770-1910.” In Global Scientific Practice in an Age of Revolutions, 1750-1850, edited by Patrick Manning and Daniel Rood, 199–215. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016.
with John Vandermeer. “The Big Rust and the Red Queen: Long-Term Perspectives on Coffee Rust Research.” Phytopathology, September 3, 2015,
“Ephemeral Plantations: The Rise and Fall of Liberian Coffee, 1870-1900.” In Comparing Apples, Oranges, and Cotton: Environmental Histories of the Global Plantation, edited by Frank Uekotter, 85–112. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, 2014.
“Prodigality and Sustainability: The Natural Sciences and the Environment.” In New Environmental Histories of Latin America and the Caribbean, edited by Claudia Leal, José Augusto Pádua, and John Soluri, 89–94. RCC Perspectives 7. Munich: Rachel Carson Centre.
“Global Currents in National Histories of Science: The ‘Global Turn’ and the History of Science in Latin America.” Isis 104.4 (2013): 773–76.
“The Ecology of Taste: Robusta Coffee and the Limits of the Specialty Revolution.” In Coffee: a Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry, edited by Robert W Thurston, Jonathan Morris, and Shawn Steiman, 248–261. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013.
“The Neo-Columbian Exchange: The Second Conquest of the Greater Caribbean, 1720-1930.” Latin American Research Review 46, (2011): 11–31.
“La roya del café en Costa Rica: epidemias, innovación, y ambiente, 1980-1995. [Coffee rust in Central America: Epidemics, Innovation, and Envrionment, 1980-1995].” Revista de Historia [Costa Rica], no. 59-60 (2009): 99-117.
“Nature, God, and Nation in Revolutionary Venezuela: The Holy Thursday Earthquake of 1812.” In Aftershocks: Earthquakes and Popular Politics in Latin America, edited by Jürgen Buchenau and Lyman Johnson, 43-69. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2009.
“'The World Was My Garden': Tropical Botany and Cosmopolitanism in American Science, 1898-1935.” In Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State, edited by Alfred McCoy and Francisco Scarano, 499-507. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009.
“Chronicle of a plague foretold: crop epidemics and the environmental history of coffee in the Americas.” Varia Historia 24, no. 39 (2008): 87-111.
“Global rust belt: Hemileia vastatrix and the ecological integration of world coffee production since 1850.” Journal of Global History 1, no. 02 (2006): 177-195.
“Plantas, petroleo, y progreso: las ciencias agrícolas y las ideologías de desarrollo en la época de Juan Vicente Gómez, 1908-1935,” in Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe 14:1 (January-June 2003): 67-88.
“Las epidemias liberales: agricultura, ambiente, y globalización en Ecuador, 1790-1930” in Estudios sobre historia y ambiente en América Latina, Vol. 2, Norteamérica, Sudamérica, y el Pacífico, edited by Bernardo García Martínez and María del Rosario Prieto (México, El Colegio de México/Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia, 2002), 223-246.
“‘Giving Plants a Civil Status’: Scientific Representations of Nature and Nation in Costa Rica and Venezuela, 1885-1935,” The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History 58 (April 2002): 513-536.
“Promoting the ‘Practical’: Science and Agricultural Modernization in Puerto Rico and Colombia, 1920-1940,” Agricultural History 75 (Winter 2001): 52-82.
with Angel L. Viloria, Franco Urbani, and Bernardo Urbani, “De Lausanne aux forêts vénézueliennes. Mission géologique de François de Loys (1892-1935) et les origines d’une controverse anthropologique," Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 86 (September 1999): 157-174.
“Creole Science: Botanical Surveys of Costa Rica, 1880-1940,” Endeavour 23 (1999): 118-120.
“‘It may be truth, but it is not evidence:’ Paul du Chaillu and the Legitimation of Evidence in the Field Sciences,” Osiris 11 (1996): 177-197; reprinted in Science, Race, and Ethnicity: Readings from Isis and Osiris, edited by John P. Jackson, Jr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 341-361.
“Cosechas inciertas: la investigación agrícola bajo la dictadura de Juan Vicente Gómez (1908-1935),” in Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad en América Latina ed. Hebe Vessuri (Caracas: ALAS/Nueva Sociedad, 1994), 129-140.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535804
|
__label__wiki
| 0.982945
| 0.982945
|
Feb. 25, 2016 / 10:56 AM
Christina Aguilera on new album: 'I'm super, super excited'
"I'm more inspired than I've been in a really long time," the singer said.
Christina Aguilera at the American Music Awards on November 24, 2013. The singer is working on her eighth studio album. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
Christina Aguilera at the American Music Awards on November 24, 2013. File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI | License Photo
Christina Aguilera at the TIME 100 gala on April 23, 2013. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo
Christina Aguilera performs at the American Music Awards on November 18, 2012. File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI | License Photo
Christina Aguilera at the American Music Awards on November 18, 2012. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Christina Aguilera is looking forward to releasing a new album, possibly later this year.
The 35-year-old singer discussed her various projects in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, saying she is hard at work on new music when not coaching on NBC reality competition The Voice.
"When I'm not doing The Voice, this particular time around, I'm working on multiple albums," she revealed. "One being a followup to my debut Spanish album, [and] a few solo projects with some incredible producers."
"I'm reuniting with [some producers] to make classic magic," she added. "I'm super, super excited. I'm more inspired than I've been in a really long time and it's been [a] really, really exciting time for me."
Aguilera released her debut Spanish-language album, Mi Reflejo, in 2000, and last released Lotus in 2012. The singer recently told The Hollywood Reporter she is waiting to share details about her new album until the project is more complete.
"I've been loosely working on it the last couple of years," she said. "But I really started toward the middle and end of last year to really buckle down and meet with new collaborators and producers, people I want to work with and people I have never worked with before."
"I can't say much about it yet because I want to wait until it's good and ready," she explained. "I am working on it and will be ready when it can be the authentic masterpiece that it deserves to be. But later this year, most likely."
Aguilera will return to The Voice on the Season 10 premiere Feb. 29 after a season-long hiatus to care for her 18-month-old daughter, Summer Rain Rutler. The singer is also mom to 8-year-old son Max Liron Bratman with ex-husband Jordan Bratman.
Stefani, DeGeneres talk Blake Shelton's 'big question' Christina Aguilera, Will Ferrell sing 'Tight Pants,' face off with Jimmy Fallon Gwen Stefani to advise Blake Shelton's team on 'The Voice' Hayden Panettiere and Christina Aguilera perform 'Lady Marmalade' on 'Lip Sync Battle'
Jordan Bratman
Mary J. Blige turns 50: a look back
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535805
|
__label__wiki
| 0.563681
| 0.563681
|
Posted on August 28, 2020 by Urbana Daily Citizen
The Restore Our Parks Act will preserve Ohio’s treasures
By Sen. Rob Portman
Earlier this month marked a momentous breakthrough in our efforts to safeguard our public lands when President Trump signed into law my Restore Our Parks Act — bipartisan legislation that will protect and conserve our national parks for generations to come. I have worked for years to get this important legislation passed to protect America’s treasures. Ohio is home to eight incredible National Park sites that need to be preserved. From the sprawling Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which protects more than 33,000 acres of natural lands in Northeast Ohio, to smaller sites like the boyhood home of President William Howard Taft in my hometown of Cincinnati, all of these parks are monuments to the history of our country and great places to visit.
Unfortunately, Ohio’s park sites, and many other park sites around the country, have deferred maintenance because annual funding for the parks have not kept pace with maintenance needs. In some places, that lack of funding has led to crumbling trails and unusable parking lots. In others, the woodwork and roofing of historic homes and buildings are rotting away.
Over the years, I have repeatedly visited Ohio’s national park sites to see this maintenance backlog firsthand. Earlier this summer, I visited Wilberforce, Ohio, to see the home of Charles Young, who was the first Black colonel in the United States Army and the first Black superintendent of a national park. What’s more, the home was also a site on the Underground Railroad, giving it even greater historical significance. But this single important National Park site alone requires more than $2 million for essential repairs to its foundation and other maintenance needs.
It’s the same story elsewhere in our state. In June, at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I saw rusted railroad tracks and unsafe bridges that contribute to a more than $50 million backlog there, while at the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial at Put-In-Bay, Ohio, a crumbling seawall and other hazards require about $48 million worth of repairs against a budget that is a fraction of that amount. In total, Ohio’s eight park sites require more than $100 million in urgent maintenance needs, while nationwide there is a more than $12 billion backlog.
These repairs should have been made a long time ago, and the costs only keep increasing the longer we wait. In this sense, these repairs are a debt unpaid to the American people. The good news is that the Restore Our Parks Act pays those debts. By using unobligated revenues from energy development on federal lands and waters, the Restore Our Parks Act will allow us to address over the next five years the highest-priority repairs needed at our national parks, about $6.5 billion of the $12 billion backlog. Although this funding will not cover every needed repair, this is truly a historic level of support — never before have we had so much funding go towards fixing up the parks.
The benefits don’t stop at getting our parks back into shape — the Restore Our Parks Act will benefit our economy, too. The repair projects funded by this law will directly or indirectly support more than 100,000 jobs, according to a study by the National Park Service. It’s a good long-term investment, too — as of 2019, visitor spending in communities near our national parks resulted in a $41.7 billion benefit to the nation’s economy and supported 340,500 jobs.
The Restore Our Parks Act is a reaffirmation of America’s commitment to protecting its greatest treasures — our national parks. More than 100 years ago, when Teddy Roosevelt created the National Park system, he envisioned these monuments to history and nature standing tall for the rest of time. Thanks to the funding provided by the Restore Our Parks Act, we will be able to get our parks back in shape and make that vision a reality.
https://www.urbanacitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/08/web1_portman1-2-.jpgPortman
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R) represents Ohio.
Hi! A visitor to our site felt the following article might be of interest to you: The Restore Our Parks Act will preserve Ohio’s treasures. Here is a link to that story: http://www.urbanacitizen.com/opinion/columns/77465/the-restore-our-parks-act-will-preserve-ohios-treasures
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535807
|
__label__wiki
| 0.967475
| 0.967475
|
Phil Spector, an influential music producer of the '60s who was later convicted of murder, dies at 81
New postseason Vegas 16 tourney only features 8 teams
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Vegas 16 postseason college basketball tournament has become the Vegas 8.
The new tournament to be played March 28-30 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas will feature eight teams instead of the originally announced 16. Organizers said Monday that they only wanted 16 teams if they could secure top-quality programs. After some unusual results in several conference tournaments, they were hesitant to fill out the bracket with just available teams.
The eight teams are Louisiana Tech (23-9), East Tennessee State (23-11), Tennessee Tech (19-11), Old Dominion (22-13), Northern Illinois (21-12), UC Santa Barbara (18-13), Oakland (21-11) and Towson (20-12).
Tournament chairman Jim Livengood says he's confident the event will grow into a primary option for teams in postseason play because of its location, neutral site and its dates set two weeks after Selection Sunday.
The tournament will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535809
|
__label__cc
| 0.617654
| 0.382346
|
On the Trails: with birth of Daughter, author ponders future in the outdoors
UVTA > Uncategorized > On the Trails: with birth of Daughter, author ponders future in the outdoors
Three months ago, we welcomed a new baby into our lives. She has big puffy cheeks, crystal blue eyes and a whole life ahead of her that’s ours to try to impact.
We are doing all the recommended things: reading to her every night, giving her Vitamin D, laying her on her stomach a few times a day to build up her muscles even though she doesn’t always like it. So far, it’s going great.
But my mind can’t help but think of the future to the more intangible parts of raising a child. How should we introduce technology to her? How can we give our child the best chance of being a healthy adult?
Children under the age of 8 spend an average 139 minutes on screen media, and children under 2, somehow, spend 42 minutes. How can we instill a love of the natural world in our child with so little of it remaining?
There’s no clear answer, no perfect way to raise a child — that is perhaps the best advice I have heard so far.
But when I look back at my upbringing, I notice a pattern with the things that had a profound effect on my character and worldview. I remember exploring the nature center by my house. I remember getting lost with my dad canoeing on the tiny lake across town. I remember meeting my friends down the street and making cardboard box forts in the patch of trees by the creek where we would try to catch frogs and crayfish.
I remember my first soccer goal, with an assist from Bobby Blevins, even though I haven’t seen him in 20 years. Sure, we probably played video games too much, we rushed home every day after school to catch the latest Pokémon episode and we became obsessed with every silly pop culture fad our parents had to endure, but truth be told, I remember very little of that — outdoor spaces were the antidote.
Even in a suburban neighborhood dominated by the digital revolution, what stuck with me were the golden moments spent in awe of wild places. Now, two or three decades later, I watch the newest generation grapple with the same issues but in a more advanced state of crisis.
Natural places are shrinking globally, while access becomes more fragmented and gentrified. When I visit my mother, who still lives in the same house where I grew up, I notice the small things. The field where we played kickball for more than 10 years now has three fences across it, defining the lots of the three houses that had always been there. The patch of trees where we built box forts has long been cleared, even though nothing has been built in that lot. The stream that used to be so full of salamanders that all you had to do was lift a rock to find one has been barren and brown since upstream development diverted stormwater into the watershed.
As a child, I didn’t realize how lucky I was to have the opportunity to explore outside or how precious a few scraggly trees behind my house were. It instills within me a new appreciation for accessible green spaces, no matter how small. And although there are many things to lament, there are also things to celebrate.
In fact, my childhood home in South Knoxville, Tenn., has become nationally recognized for its spectacular Urban Wilderness initiative. A loop trail connects dozens of different parcels together to create a massive network of parks, trails and natural features that provides recreational opportunities for hikers, bikers, climbers, naturalists and everything in between.
The effect on the community has been an unequivocal success no matter who you are or what your values may be. Almost singularly because of this initiative, South Knoxville is booming: Restaurants are opening, the waterfront has been restored, breweries and bike shops have popped up along the route of the main route.
When I talk to my childhood friends, many with children of their own now, and ask why the Urban Wilderness was so effective, I always get the same answer — access and knowledge. All of these places existed when was a child, but they just weren’t known or accessible. When I study the map, there’s a particular strip of trees that jumps out at me behind my old middle school. I remember countless discussions by the school about what to do with this overgrown patch: whether it should be a parking lot or storage sheds or maybe another baseball field. Luckily, none of these plans came to fruition and the land was eventually given a conservation easement and now provides the vital connection between two of the outlying parcels. One had been an abandoned quarry, the other an endless patch of kudzu.
I know that if I had not had the tiny patch of trees and a stream with salamanders in it next to my house, I wouldn’t be where I am today. As the trail programs director for the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, I get to conserve the wild places I know positively impact all types of life on our planet, but I also get to work with youths of all ages to try to instill the love of the natural world that is so dearly needed. Each summer with the High School Trail Corps, I celebrate (internally) each time a participant laments the lack of cell phone service and has a conversation with their friends instead. Every year, I work with third-graders in the community to build bog bridges on the Cross Rivendell Trail. even when they just play in the mud and yell, I can take solace in knowing that we are making a positive difference in their lives and for the environment.
So when I look into the wide eyes of my new baby and I ask myself how I can instill a love of the natural world in our child with so little of it remaining, I already know the answer: Protect the small amount that remains and cultivate it so that it may flourish for the next generation.
Written by Sean Ogle and published in the Valley News on February 14th, 2020
Take part in our Trail Corps
700+ Trail Systems on Trailfinder
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535810
|
__label__cc
| 0.724472
| 0.275528
|
Dr. Seth F. Berrier
College College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management
Department Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Department
Email berriers@uwstout.edu
Office 207 Jarvis Hall-Science Wing
Seth earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2012 where he worked with Professor Meyer in the disciplines of computer graphics and visualization. He also holds a B.A. in Music from the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University in Indianapolis. He is a classically trained tenor and an active participant in community theater in and around the Chippewa Valley.
Teaching Interests: Introductory programming courses, data structures and algorithms, software engineering, and computer graphics.
Research Interests: Seth is interested in using the visual power of graphics and visualization to bridge the pure technical disciplines of math and computer science with design and the arts. He has interests in design disciplines ranging from architecture to fashion and game design and seeks to develop new tools that enable the creative processes in these fields. He is also interested in advancing the primitive world of music visualization through the disciplines of formal music theory and form and analysis. In computer science, he is most interested in image based rendering and light field acquisition, photogrammetry and light fields for digital heritage, real-time photo-realistic rendering with graphics hardware and high-level shading languages.
Real-time 3D Rendering
Light-field Rendering
Ph.D. Computer Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, WI, 2012
M.S. Computer Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2006
B.A. Music, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, 2002
Dr. Seth F. Berrier - CV
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535811
|
__label__wiki
| 0.861642
| 0.861642
|
Listen Live: Marsh Chapel Service
Marsh Chapel Service
Front Of The Stage: Backup Vocals Virtuoso Lisa Fischer Brings Solo Tour To Boston Area07:31
Copy the code below to embed the WBUR audio player on your site
<iframe width="100%" height="124" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://player.wbur.org/artery/2016/03/31/lisa-fischer-boston"></iframe>
Lisa MullinsTwitter
Lynn JolicoeurTwitter
Singer Lisa Fischer. (Courtesy Djeneba Aduayom)
You may not know her name. And you may not know her voice. But you know how she makes you feel.
The sound of vocalist Lisa Fischer has moved audiences for decades now. She’s the back-up singer top artists tap to complete their sound on stage — from Tina Turner to Sting, from the late Luther Vandross to the Rolling Stones.
Fischer is a virtuoso. You can see that in the film “20 Feet from Stardom.” The documentary profiles back-up singers who often spend their careers in the shadow of the stars.
Fischer is so versatile, she fronts her own band called Grand Baton. She seems as comfortable playing in a quiet club in Manhattan as she is singing in a stadium with the Stones.
Fischer and her band are on a world tour now. And she’s on her way to the Boston area for two gigs. Friday night, she’ll perform a benefit concert for the organization Historic Newton at Newton North High School. Saturday, she’ll be at the Cabot Theater in Beverly.
Fischer told WBUR’s All Things Considered the key for her to feel at home in a new venue is to take note of everything she can prior to the show, while the crew checks the sound.
“Sound check is a really important time for me, because I actually get to stand on the stage and feel the room and look at the ceiling and meet the people that are working there, and just get a sense of what the walls feel like, what the parameters are,” Fischer explains. “And then once people come in, it shifts again.”
People in the audience give her energy. She feels it even when she can’t see them.
Just as Fischer learned to respond to the audience, she learned as a back-up singer to listen closely to the lead singer. That means putting her own ego aside and understanding her main job, she says.
“[It’s about] supporting the artist completely — because sometimes you’ll be in the studio and you’ll listen to something, and you may not quite get it. And so a lot of times people are quick to say, ‘I don’t get it,’ and shut down, instead of really staying open. And [it’s important] to not take up unnecessary space. A lot of times we sort of over-speak things, and some things don’t need to be explained to death. Sometimes there’s a lot of wisdom in the silence.”
Fischer says fronting a concert is a very different experience than singing back-up. When backing up a lead vocalist, she says, there’s a lot more time to re-group and prepare.
“You’re pulling your energy together for the next burst of energy that has to come out for the background part. And you’re constantly watching if the lead singer needs anything in particular, or just anything that’s going on around you. You’re just trying to be aware of what’s happening in the silence. So it’s a different spurt of energy that goes on. But what I’m learning now with singing a song beginning to end, is that it’s a different kind of focus. It’s a different kind of pacing. And it’s like taking a needle and thread and beading all these little colorful beads together in a really rhythmic and flowing sort of way.”
<b></b> ‘Twenty Feet From Stardom’s’ Lisa Fischer Returns Center Stage
Lisa Mullins Twitter Host, All Things Considered
Lisa Mullins is the voice of WBUR’s All Things Considered. She anchors the program, conducts interviews and reports from the field.
Lynn Jolicoeur Twitter Producer/Reporter
Lynn Jolicoeur is the field producer for WBUR's All Things Considered. She also reports for the station's various local news broadcasts.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535812
|
__label__wiki
| 0.702775
| 0.702775
|
How I met Rachel, my wife
The moment I thought of leaving Israel
Uri Avnery Social activist
101. Publishing the story of the massacre at Kafr Qasim 14 03:26
102. The moment I thought of leaving Israel 9 03:38
103. How I met Rachel, my wife 9 04:41
104. The accident that led to romance 11 03:29
105. Moshe Dayan does me a favour 13 03:13
106. A very special wedding 9 02:32
107. Defined by our similarities and our differences 11 04:24
108. Born to be a teacher 11 03:19
109. My magnificent wife 13 04:18
110. Rachel falls ill 8 03:12
English | Hebrew
Then Ben-Gurion did something very smart. Instead of waiting until we published the booklet and forbidding and blaming us – I don't know what he would have blamed us for, at the very least for violating censorship orders which would have been published and would have leaked one way or another – he himself went to the Knesset, and disclosed that 'a dreadful thing has happened'. What was his expression? He had a special expression, 'extraordinary', 'irregular' something like that, and told the Knesset about the entire incident: 'It was a mistake, orders weren't received', something like that. And I remained with the paper. The testimonies lost their validity after they were not published in the time originally planned for publication, but we collected the serious responses. There was an article by Dahn Ben-Amotz. Dahn Ben-Amotz was so shocked that, for the first time in his life he revealed, or at least hinted, that he had not been born in Israel, and he gave us a story from the Holocaust. All kinds of people wrote. I also wrote an article and this booklet was published. The case went to trial. Of course, I was also at the trial either at Nabala or Sarafand. And who was the judge? Benjamin Halevi! That same Benjamin Halevi and here, too, he gave a crazy judgment. It was so severe that the IDF has just pardoned everyone and everyone went home after a fairly short time. Malinki, the regiment commander who was the main person responsible, was sent to Dimona to be in charge of security for the nuclear reactor there. And Dahan, who actually gave the command for the murder, became a security officer afor the Municipality of Ramla. So this is the story of Kfar Qasim. It was shocking, I must say, I remember the shock I felt when I read the raw evidence collected by Tawfik Toubi. If ever there was a moment in my life when I thought of leaving Israel, I think it was then.
ואז בן גוריון עשה דבר מאוד חכם: במקום לחכות שאנחנו נפרסם את החוברת, ולאסור אותנו ולהאשים אותנו אני לא יודע במה, לפחות בהפרת צווי צנזורה, שאז היה מתפרסם והיה דולף בצורה זו או אחרת. הוא בעצמו הלך לכנסת, וחשף את הדבר הזה: "קרה דבר נורא״, מה היה הביטוי שלו? היה לו ביטוי מיוחד של "יוצאים מן הכלל", "חריגים", משהו כזה, והודיע על כל העניין בכנסת: "הייתה טעות, הפקודות לא עברו", משהו כזה. ואני נשארתי עם הנייר. אז במקום לפרסם את העדויות, שכבר עבר זמנם ובטל קורבנם. במקום זה אספנו את התגובות החמורות מאוד. היה מאמר של דן בן אמוץ. דן בן אמוץ היה כל כך מזועזע, שבפעם הראשונה בחייו הוא גילה, או לפחות רמז, שהוא לא נולד בארץ, אלא נתן סיפור מהשואה. וכל מיני אנשים כתבו. גם אני כתבתי מאמר. והופיעה החוברת הזאת. זה הלך למשפט. אני כמובן הייתי גם במשפט, או בבית נבאללה או בסרפנד. ומי השופט? בנימין הלוי! אותו בנימין הלוי, וגם פה הוא נתן פסק דין משוגע, שהיה כל כך חמור, שצה"ל פשוט העניק חנינה לכולם וכולם יצאו אחרי זמן די קצר. ומלינקי, האחראי המרכזי, המג"ד, נשלח לדימונה להיות אחראי לבטחון של הכור האטומי. ודהאן, האיש שפיקד על הרצח ממש, הפך לקצין הבטחון של עיריית רמלה. אז זה פרשת כפר קאסם. זה היה מזעזע, אני מוכרח להגיד, אני זוכר את הזעזוע שעבר עלי כשקראתי את העדויות הגולמיות של תופיק טובי. אם אי-פעם בחיי היה רגע שבו חשבתי להגר מהארץ, אני חושב שזה היה אותו רגע.
Uri Avnery (1923-2018) was an Israeli writer, journalist and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. As a teenager, he joined the Zionist paramilitary group, Irgun. Later, Avnery was elected to the Knesset from 1965 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1981. He was also the editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine, 'HaOlam HaZeh' from 1950 until it closed in 1993. He famously crossed the lines during the Siege of Beirut to meet Yasser Arafat on 3 July 1982, the first time the Palestinian leader ever met with an Israeli. Avnery was the author of several books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including '1948: A Soldier's Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem' (2008); 'Israel's Vicious Circle' (2008); and 'My Friend, the Enemy' (1986).
Title: The moment I thought of leaving Israel
Listeners: Anat Saragusti
Anat Saragusti is a film-maker, book editor and a freelance journalist and writer. She was a senior staff member at the weekly news magazine Ha'olam Hazeh, where she was prominent in covering major events in Israel. Uri Avnery was the publisher and chief editor of the Magazine, and Saragusti worked closely with him for over a decade. With the closing of Ha'olam Hazeh in 1993, Anat Saragusti joined the group that established TV Channel 2 News Company and was appointed as its reporter in Gaza. She later became the chief editor of the evening news bulletin. Concurrently, she studied law and gained a Master's degree from Tel Aviv University.
Tags: Kfar Qasim, Dimona, Tawfik Toubi
Duration: 3 minutes, 38 seconds
Date story went live: 11 May 2017
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535814
|
__label__wiki
| 0.87591
| 0.87591
|
Schedules as of September 2018
General Assembly 2018
Economics & Economy
Fall 2018 Fund Drive Prizes
In Canada, some doctors are prescribing heroin to treat heroin addiction
By Elana Gordon • Sep 27, 2018
2018_0924_04.mp3
Every day, Brent Olson travels some 20 minutes by train into Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood. He has a degenerative hip disorder and uses a walker to get around. But there’s no way he’d miss this clinic appointment.
“The best decision I’ve ever made in my life was coming here,” Olson said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here talking with you. I’d be dead.”
He makes his way past the double security entrances, checks in and heads to a room in the back of the Providence Crosstown Clinic. There, a health worker hands him a syringe through a window. Then he sits at a long, metal table against a wall that’s lined with mirrors. He finds a vein on the inside of his arm and injects the drugs while a nurse stands nearby.
Related: In Vancouver, people who use drugs are supervising injections and reversing overdoses
“I put a cap on the lid, return it and that’s the name of that show,” Olson said after a recent injection.
Olson, who’s 55, is one of several dozen patients at Crosstown Clinic. He and the others come in three times every day to receive a closely-monitored dose of diacetylmorphine, otherwise known as pharmaceutical-grade heroin.
Related: Is acupuncture a viable alternative to opioids for patients in pain?
Like the US, Canada has been wrestling with a growing drug crisis. Deaths from overdoses in Canada have reached unprecedented levels, up to nearly 4,000 last year. In response, the government has pledged more resources for addiction services.
Primary treatments involve maintenance medications like methadone and newer ones like suboxone. Still, not everyone responds to these medications, whether because of continued cravings or harsh side effects. That’s prompting a small but growing number of doctors to take another approach: prescribing heroin to treat opioid use disorder.
Related: US health care companies begin exploring blockchain technologies
“This is just one treatment for a chronic, manageable illness — just like diabetes or high blood pressure,” said Scott MacDonald, Crosstown Clinic’s lead doctor. “[Prescription heroin] is a life saving intervention for a small number of folks with a chronic, manageable illness that haven’t responded to anything else.”
When patients no longer have to spend their time and energy on getting their next fix, MacDonald adds, they can tend to other parts of their life, like housing and employment, and the underlying issues driving their addiction.
For Olson, who’s been a patient at Crosstown for about five years, drugs have consumed most his life. Growing up, he had professional hockey dreams. They imploded when he wrecked his ankle during practice.
Related: Trump wants to stop the 'flood of cheap and deadly' fentanyl from China. The dark web will make that harder.
"It was a real blow,” Olson said. “I did turn to drugs."
He describes much of his life after as a blur, spending years shoplifting, going to jail and doing whatever he had to do to feed his heroin addiction. He tried traditional treatment — taking methadone every day — but says the side effects were rough and the treatment didn’t work for him. So, back on street drugs, he knew he was risking his life. He never knew exactly what he was getting — whether that heroin fix he so desperately sought would be his last.
It’s this sort of situation that prompted MacDonald’s move to Crosstown.
Related: As opioids land more women in prison, Ohio finds alternative treatments
MacDonald previously worked at a clinic nearby, providing traditional treatments, like methadone, for opioid use disorder. Methadone and buprenorphine are standard medications, taken by mouth. They work in different ways to relieve cravings for heroin and suppress withdrawal symptoms. But not everyone benefits.
MacDonald points to findings that about one in 10 people don’t respond to conventional addiction treatments. He’d seen lots of people choose street drugs instead, with unstable lives and the persistent risk of overdose.
With prescription heroin, his patients aren’t dying of overdoses. They’re rarely overdosing at all, he says.
Turns out, heroin as a form of replacement therapy is not actually a new idea.
The United Kingdom has used prescription heroin for nearly a century as an option for drug users who’ve repeatedly failed with traditional treatments. Several other European countries run their own programs.
In Canada, Crosstown got its start as a pilot project in 2005, becoming the first place in North America to prescribe heroin. It imports the drug from Switzerland. The dropout rates were much lower for those being treated with heroin, compared to the average dropout rate for those treated with methadone. Patients receiving prescription heroin were also much less likely to turn to street drugs, compared to those taking methadone.
Related: Opioid addicts are turning to a clinic in Mexico to break their addiction, but there's a catch. The treatment is illegal in the US.
Treating a substance use disorder with the very drug that people are addicted to may seem like a radical idea, but it’s catching on in Canada. That’s, in part, because of more recent research at Crosstown on the use of injectable hydromorphone and prescription heroin — as well as an increasingly contaminated street drug supply.
“Now, everything’s changed,” said Mark Tyndall, director of British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control.
Tyndall, a longtime doctor in the neighborhood near Crosstown Clinic, has spent his career working on ways to reduce the harms of drug use. But even with these efforts, he says a deadly narcotic called fentanyl has upped the stakes, making its way into the illicit drug supply fueling a surge in fatal overdoses. British Columbia experienced about 500 overdose deaths in 2015. In 2016, the number rose to about 900, and then to 1400 by 2017.
“If it’s at the point where every flop of drugs that people are buying could have a high amount of fentanyl and a potent, deadly supply of fentanyl, I don’t know what harm reduction service we could do to fight that,” Tyndall said. “We need to get people the opportunity to get a safer supply of drugs.”
The Canadian government has eased the regulatory burden on Crosstown Clinic. The regional health agency has also been pushing for expanded use of prescription heroin, by working on ways to make it easier to access, backing new clinical guidelines and supporting more doctor trainings.
Related: Thamkrabok Monastery has a reputation for its cold-turkey detox
Tyndall recently started working at a new clinic just outside Vancouver that offers injectable hydromorphone, which is easier to get. He’s also getting ready to launch a government-funded pilot that would give registered patients access to the drugs outside a clinic.
But using heroin as a way to treat addiction is troubling to some people, like Jeremy Devine.
“Prescription heroin is numbing pain in trauma. It's not getting to the root cause,” said Devine, a doctor working outside Toronto and beginning to specialize in psychiatry.
Related: A scientist who finds pharmaceutical promise in the venom of cone snails
Growing up, he says he watched a close family member struggle with drugs. To him, prescription heroin reduces what it means to quit.
The policy has faced opposition from Canada’s opposition party, too.
“Keeping somebody safely addicted to drugs is not my definition of success, nor my party’s,” said Marilyn Gladu, a member of the Canadian parliament representing part of Ontario and the conservative party’s shadow minister of health. “We would really prefer to see people not get on drugs in the first place, or see them treated to get off drugs.”
When her party was in power in 2013, it blocked Crosstown’s prescription heroin orders. The clinic challenged the decision, and when the liberal party took control of parliament, the government restored its support.
In recent years, the Canadian government has loosened restrictions on who can provide oral addiction treatments, as well as prescription heroin, and where. Health leaders say it’s vital to have a range of options for people, and British Columbia’s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions is now putting about $40 million a year into recovery and treatment services. But, despite that, the drug crisis has created what might seem like a surprising advocate for prescription heroin: police.
“I think it would prevent people from having to go out and commit crime in order to support their habit, or spending every dime that they earn to, you know, maintain their opioid addiction,” said Bill Spearn, a member of the Vancouver Police Department for 22 years.
Spearn says his unit makes plenty of drug busts, but fentanyl is cheap and widespread. He sees drug addiction as a health issue and prescription heroin as one of many types of treatment for it.
He says it could help keep people out the criminal justice system.
British Columbia now has at least five places that offer injectable hydromorphone or prescription heroin, according to BC’s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. The number of newly enrolled patients is still tiny compared to the tens of thousands of people injecting illegal drugs. Crosstown’s waitlist is about 400 people. A handful of new clinics in other parts of Canada, including Alberta and Toronto, are preparing to open.
This reporting was supported by WHYY's The Pulse.
From PRI's The World ©2018 PRI
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535815
|
__label__wiki
| 0.805844
| 0.805844
|
WESTGRANDBRASSBAND
ANTISOCIALMEDIA
MEETTHEBAND
Matt Couzens - Alto Sax
Matt has been playing alto/tenor/
baritone saxophone for over 20 years. He holds degrees in music (classical and jazz) from Santa Rosa Junior College (AA 1998) and Sonoma State University (BM 2000). He also briefly studied post graduate at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Matt studied saxophone (reading, tone, technique, etc.) with Ralph Carney, Duane Ewing, Ari Camarota, Ernie Small, and Harvey Weinapple. He has also studied jazz improvisation with Bennett Friedman, Jeff Pittson, and Mel Graves. He has toured and recorded extensively.
www.mattcouzens.com
Chris Lundeen - Trombone
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Chris studied trombone with Ross Holcombe and jazz improvisation with David Fague at Gonzaga University, where he received a minor in jazz studies. In 2015 he was honored as a "Young Giants of Jazz" featured soloist with the Spokane Jazz Orchestra, and he has toured and recorded with a multitude of West Coast ska bands. Outside of music, Chris daylights as a scientist, and holds degrees in chemistry from Gonzaga University (BS, 2015) and the University of Oregon (MS, 2016).
Adam Borden - Trumpet
An East Bay native currently hailing from Oakland, CA, Adam, the lead (well... only) trumpet in WGBB has been playing trumpet since the 4th grade. While in school, Adam led the ACSI California honor bands in both 2002 and 2003, and spent time with the Diablo Wind Symphony and the Concord Blue Devils. His professional career began around 2008 with encouragement and direction for Steve Sage, a local legend who helped raise many Bay Area Musicians. Despite having a number of students and a busy gig schedule, in 2015, Adam graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Rhetoric and a minor in Music. He is very excited to be a part of WGBB and is looking forward to brilliant future with a great up and coming brass band.
Noah Ortiz - Bass Trombone
Noah has been playing the trombone for over 15 years. He received his BA in Music from Cal State East Bay, where he became close with bandmates Tom and Jordan. Along with WGBB, Noah also performs with bands Shark Punch, Day Labor, Jokes for Feelings, and has the occasional freelance gig.
Jordan Nadell - Sousaphone
Arguably the most famous sousaphone player to come out of Truckee, CA in the last decade, Jordan Nadell traded in his skis for a horn and began studying at CSU Chico. After some soul searching in Europe, he found himself in the Bay Area where he has been performing, composing, and producing for the past 5 years. His hobbies include cooking, yoga, and (like most tubists) drinking.
Tom Dreiman - Drums
Tom Dreiman graduated from CSUEB in December of 2016, where he studied Classical Percussion Performance and Composition with Artie Storch and Jeffery Miller, respectively. Tom regularly performs with community, semi-professional and professional orchestras around the Bay Area, including the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, Livermore-Amador Symphony, Prometheus Symphony and Oakland Civic Orchestra. Tom teaches the percussion studio and ensemble at Mt. Eden High school and gives private basic piano lessons.
NEWSFEED
ALBUM RELEASE!
Good News Everyone! After months of work, we have finally set a release date for our debut album! Look for Party To The People on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, and more starting next week on Tuesday, Novermber 20th!
Want to be notified as soon as it's available? Visit our Distrokid page to pre-save the album on Spotify so it'll be ready when you are. We'll have some fun stuff coming your way before then, so keep your eyes peeled!
NEW SINGLE!
May 1st, 20120
Check out our newest release, a brassified cover of a classic from East Bay legends Green Day - Basket Case! We just happened to finish tracking this in early March, and are stoked to be able to release something new at a time when we can't provide much music to the outside world. Give it a listen and tell us what you think!
© 2018 by West Grand Brass Band
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535817
|
__label__wiki
| 0.983755
| 0.983755
|
Former councillor banned for 15 months after Facebook posts breached code of conduct
Phil Baguley was a councillor on Sully and Lavernock community council but resigned last year
Alex SeabrookLocal democracy reporter
Sully Community Council's Jubilee Hall pictured in in 2011
Want to keep up to date on Welsh politics?
Sign up and get political news sent straight to your inbox
A former councillor has been disqualified for 15 months after his Facebook posts breached a code of conduct.
Phil Baguley resigned from Sully and Lavernock community council last year but has now been banned from standing as a councillor again for almost a year and a half.
The Adjudication Panel for Wales found in December that three posts on Facebook “brought the council into disrepute”.
Mr Baguley claimed the posts were personal and about the Labour party’s handling of Brexit. The Adjudication Panel would not verify what the three posts were about, but said they breached the council’s code of conduct.
The panel received a letter from the Public Services Ombudsman in September about allegations made against Mr Baguley.
The allegations included the three posts, made on January 10, March 9 and March 11 in 2019; and also that Mr Baguley failed to comply with the ombudsman’s investigation.
Mr Baguley responded to the panel’s decision by asking to be banned for life, rather than just 15 months. He said he would be tempted to stand again in the local elections due for May 2022, but a life ban would prevent him from doing so.
He confirmed he didn’t cooperate with the ombudsman’s investigation, saying: “I just told them to get lost. I don’t want anything to do with it. I want banning for life.”
He claimed bullying in the community council led to the complaints made against him.
He alleged the monitoring officer for the Vale of Glamorgan council “ignored” allegations of bullying. He said: “She wanted to silence me. So I resigned. I had had enough. Then [the adjudication panel] decided in December to suspend me.”
A spokesman for the Vale of Glamorgan council said: “Having resigned at the end of September as a community councillor, Mr Baguley was disqualified for 15 months from being a local government councillor by an unanimous decision of a case tribunal of the Adjudication Panel for Wales.
“This followed a referral from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The case tribunal found that Mr Baguley had posted three public Facebook messages the contents of which could reasonably be regarded as bringing his office and Sully and Lavernock community council into disrepute.
“It also found that he had failed to comply with the requests for information made by the ombudsman during the course of his investigation and as a result had breached the community council’s Members’ Code of Conduct.
“The monitoring officer and the Vale of Glamorgan council’s standards committee continues to work closely with the community council’s clerk and chairman (at any given time) to assist with addressing any concerns regarding compliance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.”
A spokesman for Sully and Lavernock community council declined to comment.
The Adjudication Panel for Wales is an independent body funded by the Welsh Government. Both the members and decisions of the panel are independent of the government.
walesonlinepolitics
Vale of Glamorgan Council
AberdareMan, 43, dead after collision involving van and pedestrian in AberdareA 30-year-old has been arrested
UK NewsPeople are being urged to get tested for STIs when restrictions are eased to stop the spread
Live updates as police cordon off street in Ferndale, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda Cynon TafThe road has been closed in both directions
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535821
|
__label__wiki
| 0.882317
| 0.882317
|
Trending Now in Travel
Best Places to Ski Near DC, VA, & MD
Doreen Gentzler likes Wintergreen. Topper Shutt prefers Wisp. Here are local ski resorts that Washingtonians love.
Written by Sarah Zlotnick
and Melissa Romero
| Published on December 5, 2011
Favorite Slopes
We posted the piece below on local ski resorts Washingtonians love in 2007, and the article has become one of the most popular travel pieces on our website. Below is the original 2007 article with updates (read more from our January 2014 issue here); we will continue to add updates as new information becomes available.
2014 Winter Getaways package
Skiing Around Washington package
Fun Day on the Slopes
Often called the “skiing White House reporter,” Connie Lawn, BBC and USA Radio freelancer, has been hitting the slopes for nearly 40 years.
Lawn, who’s done ski reports for WTOP radio and Snowcountry.com, steals away when she can to Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania. “When I was in New Zealand skiing at resorts used for summer training by the US Olympic ski and snowboard teams, I noticed that these have the same feel, the same conditions, and the same altitude as Whitetail,” she says.
Lawn isn’t the only White House reporter who likes Whitetail. Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier heads there with his wife.
“You can get there easily on a Saturday morning for a day of skiing,” he says. “The snow can be as good as out west. We like moguls, and they have trails with bumps. I’ve had a few wipeouts at Whitetail, so they definitely have some difficult terrain.”
Whitetail has a 900-foot vertical drop and 23 trails, all but one lit for night skiing.
Update: Since 2007, Whitetail has pumped $4.4 million into improving the resort. Additions include a new beginner trail, a half pipe, a lift to Jib Junction (an advanced-terrain park), and a “magic carpet lift”—a standing conveyer-belt lift—for beginners.
Update (2014): Since 2010, Whitetail has invested $2.8 million in various updates to its ski facilities. The equipment available for rent includes 600 Burton snowboards. Other updates include a second outdoor patio with heated pavers, a loading carpet on the EZ Rider Quad Lift, new snowmaking equipment, and more lighting for ski trails.
Whitetail Resort, Mercersburg, Pa.; skiwhitetail.com; 717-328-9400. 1½ hours from Washington.
Ski After Work
Scott Smith, editor of DCSki.com, also enjoys Whitetail for day trips because of its high-speed lift and free ski check.
“However, if I want to get in a quick skiing fix, it’s hard to beat Liberty,” he says.
Liberty Mountain Resort is in Pennsylvania, an hour from the Beltway. Smith has swung by after work—his office is near Baltimore—to get in a little skiing under the stars.
Liberty has a 600-foot vertical drop and 16 trails, all with lights for night skiing.
“The quality of the snow and the people there make it a nice experience,” says Boyd McHugh, manager of the area’s oldest ski shop, Ski Center, which has been in business since 1959.
Update: College students can ski cheap every Wednesday at Liberty. A valid college ID and $30 will get you a four-hour day pass or a night (5 to 10 PM) pass, equipment rental, and a free lesson if you need it.
Update (2014): The resort invested more than $1 million in 2011 for additional automated snowmaking—meaning more fresh powder for the slopes. On Wednesdays, discounts for college students are now $40 for a four-hour day or night pass, equipment rental, and a free lesson. The resort was also recognized as one of the best in the nation for beginners by the National Ski Areas Association. From opening day until December 23, and every Thursday in January, skiing rookies can pay just $39 for a learn to ski or snowboard package (regular rates are $78).
Liberty Mountain Resort, Carroll Valley, Pa.; skiliberty.com; 717-642-8282. 1½ hours from Washington.
Topper Shutt, meteorologist at WUSA Channel 9, knows snow. He recommends Wisp Resort near Deep Creek Lake.
“Few people realize that Garrett County has the same growing season as Fairbanks, Alaska,” he says. “It’s only three hours from DC, and they average over 100 inches of snow per year.”
Kendel Ehrlich, wife of former governor Robert Ehrlich, also loves Maryland’s only ski resort.
“I grew up skiing at Wisp,” says Ehrlich, who recalls being there at age six on wooden skis with leather boots.
Her seven-year-old son, Drew, started learning there at age four. When her husband embarked on a political career, she says, she told him she’d go into politics only if he learned to ski.
“We go to Wisp every year as a family,” Ehrlich says. “The whole area is family-friendly, from the restaurants to the wide variety of activities.” The area offers cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, dogsledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides, and snow tubing.
With last season’s opening of North Camp Mountain, Wisp now has 34 trails and a vertical drop of 700 feet. The new trails are wider and good for beginners.
Update: A new ice-skating rink opened in December. Since 2007, the park has also opened a year-round Mountain Coaster ride—a seated, elevated-track ride that glides through the forest and is the only one of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic.
Wisp Resort, McHenry, Md.; skiwisp.com; 301-387-4911. 3 hours from Washington.
More Places to Take the Kids
Topper Shutt also takes his family to Timberline Resort in West Virginia. “They have a fantastic program for kids. Kids can learn to ski and take breaks for cookies when they want,” says Shutt, the father of three, ages 10, 12, and 15. “Timberline makes it fun to learn.”
Timberline features 39 trails and a 1,000-foot vertical drop. It offers telemark-skiing clinics several times a season.
DCSki.com’s Scott Smith also likes Pennsylvania’s Seven Springs for families. “Everyone will find something to do, either on the slopes or in the lodge,” he says.
The lodge at Seven Springs encompasses 11 bars and restaurants, nightclubs with bands every weekend, swimming pools, a bowling alley, miniature golf, and a roller rink. One of the region’s oldest ski areas, it has 33 trails and a 750-foot drop.
Update: Timberline has added lights to White Lightning—the resort’s second most popular trail—for night skiing.
Update (2014): Previously named the number-one resort for terrain parks on the East Coast by TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine, Seven Springs has an urban park that is a replica of a city landscape that will be a haven for freestyle skiers and snowboarders. It’s also now one of the two resorts on the East Coast with an Olympic-size half-pipe.
Timberline Four Seasons Resort, Davis, W.Va.; timberlineresort.com; 304-866-4801. 3 hours from Washington.
Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Seven Springs, Pa.; 7springs.com; 800-452-2223. 3 hours from Washington.
Good Food at Trail’s End
“The keys to good skiing conditions are elevation, snowmaking, and grooming,” says Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore.
In the Mid-Atlantic, the place with all this, besides Wisp, is Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. Both resorts are high enough to receive lake-effect snow, and both have state-of-the-art snowmaking and grooming. Cantore says he finds the slopes at Snowshoe more challenging.
Snowshoe receives an average of 180 inches of snow a year. The region’s largest ski resort, it has snow tubing, snowmobiling, an indoor/outdoor swim center, and 57 trails.
Plus, Cantore says, “I love the restaurants at Snowshoe Village. It’s some of the best food I’ve eaten.” The mountaintop village has a dozen restaurants, including Cantore’s favorite, Foxfire Grille, a lively barbecue joint.
Update (2014): Snowshoe has a 26-acre terrain park with six freestyle areas. Kids are also welcome to join Snowshoe’s new ski, ride, and play program for ages four to six. Midweek discounts are available, and a Winch Cat Groomer perfects the slopes every night.
Snowshoe Mountain Resort, Snowshoe, W.Va.; snowshoemtn.com; 877-441-4386. 4½ hours from Washington.
Ski and Swim
“Massanutten is an amazing place,” says Steve Buckhantz, a broadcaster for Comcast Sports. “I went to college at James Madison University, and we used to do a lot of night skiing there. Back then it was just some slopes and a basic lodge. Now there’s a new lodge, condos, and snow tubing.”
Russel Cunningham, executive chef at Jurys Washington Hotel, is a fan of the tubing. “It’s fun to do after beating yourself up on the slopes all day,” he says. He also loves to snowboard and says that “Massanutten has a great terrain park with good jumps.”
Massanutten features an 1,100-foot vertical drop and 14 trails, all lighted. The resort has a heated, 42,000-square-foot indoor water park where you can pretend it’s summer all winter long.
Update: Massanutten’s renovated spa—now a stand-alone building with double the floor space—was finished this past summer. New amenities include a facial room staffed by an in-house aesthetician, waxing services, and an emphasis on couples’ treatments. Attractions at the indoor water park include inner-tube and body slides, a lazy river, and an extra-large hot tub for parents.
Update (2014): The resort has a 4,250-square-foot ice-skating rink in its LeClub Recreation Center, open from mid-December through mid-March.
Massanutten Resort, Harrisonburg, Va.; massresort.com; 540-289-4954. 2½ hours from Washington.
Without the Crowds
John Phillips, author of Ski & Snowboard America: Mid-Atlantic, knows all the area’s ski resorts. His favorites are Blue Knob and Elk Mountain, both in Pennsylvania.
Blue Knob has 34 trails and a 1,072-foot vertical drop. “The terrain,” says Phillips, “is some of the most challenging in the region.”
While Blue Knob’s Extrovert is considered the toughest trail in the Mid-Atlantic, Phillips’s favorite Blue Knob slope is Stembogan: “It’s like a bowl out west, and there’s nothing else like it in the Mid-Atlantic. You want to do it over and over again.”
Elk Mountain features 27 trails with a vertical drop of 1,000 feet. “It’s a very laid-back resort,” he says. “The people are friendly, and it doesn’t attract big crowds.”
Elk has no on-site lodging, but there are nearby inns and motels.
Update (2014): Elk Mountain offers Wild Wednesdays: College students will pay just $20 for a lift ticket with a valid ID. Starting January 7, 2014, seniors ages 65 and older will also pay just $20 for lift tickets on Tuesdays. Tickets are typically $20 to $68.
Blue Knob, Claysburg, Pa.; blueknob.com; 814-239-5111. 3 hours from Washington.
Elk Mountain Ski Resort, Union Dale, Pa.; elkskier.com; 570-679-4400. 5 hours from Washington.
Backcountry Fun
“Canaan Valley is interesting because it has great backcountry terrain,” says outdoor photographer Skip Brown. “Canaan gets the best snowstorms and the best powder, and that’s what you need for skiing in the wilderness.”
The Allegheny Mountain resort features 43 trails, an 850-foot vertical drop, and more than 18 miles of cross-country trails. Other activities include snowboarding, tubing, snowshoeing, and ice-skating. There’s an indoor pool, sauna, and fitness center. The newly renovated facility includes 160 new guest rooms and suites, and there are cabins and cottages to rent.
Canaan Valley Resort, Davis, W.Va.; canaanresort.com; 304-866-4121. 3½ hours from Washington.
Ski and Spa
While Fox News’s Bret Baier likes Whitetail for a quick day of skiing, he prefers Virginia’s Wintergreen Resort for a weekend.
“They have a new section that is their answer to the bowls out west,” he says. “It’s called Outer Limits.” The expert slope offers 2,000 feet of steep, exciting terrain. “And at the end of the day,” Baier adds, “you can get a massage at the spa.”
WRC Channel 4 anchor Doreen Gentzler also likes Wintergreen, but you’ll probably find her on the less demanding slopes. “They have nice, easy learning hills and lots of intermediate blue slopes,” she says.
Wintergreen has 26 trails and two tubing parks: “My whole family loves the tubing,” Gentzler says. “It’s fast and icy.”
Wintergreen, near Charlottesville, has a lodge, four sit-down restaurants, shops, and nice mountainside condos and houses for rent. During the winter it’s possible to ski the mountain and golf in the valley on the same day because the Blue Ridge mountaintop, at 3,800 feet, is 15 degrees cooler than the valley. As if a skier would golf when there are snow-covered slopes.
Update: The Adventure Dome, an indoor game lounge featuring Wii, Xbox 360, pool tables, and big-screen TVs has proved popular among teenagers and teenagers-at-heart. For the even younger crowd, Ridgeley’s Fun Park, opened in December 2008, features mini-tubing, tunnel paths, sledding, and a carousel. Wintergreen recently revamped its Coppermine Bistro to showcase Mediterranean tastes in both the menu and the decor. The resort also added the Zip—a 30-second, 40-mile-an-hour zipline thrill ride—to its Discovery Ridge Adventure Center in December.
Update (2014): The resort has a restaurant, Edge, which features salvaged-wood decor and beamed ceilings. At the Market at Wintergreen you’ll find sandwiches, salads, and local coffee. The resort has also added extra snow guns, so fresh powder can be made more quickly.
Wintergreen Resort, Wintergreen, Va.; wintergreenresort.com; 434-325-2200. 3 hours from Washington.
>> 12 Winter Getaways
More: Great GetawaysMarylandSkiingVirginiaWeekend GetawaysWinter Getaways
Sarah Zlotnick
Sarah is the Editor-in-Chief of Washingtonian Bride & Groom, and writes about weddings, fashion, and shopping. Her work has also appeared in Refinery29, Bethesda Magazine, and Washington City Paper, among others. She is a Georgetown University graduate, lives in Columbia Heights, and you can find her on Instagram at @washbridegroom and @sarahzlot.
Melissa Romero
Most Popular in Travel
There’s a Stunning New National Park, and It’s Just a Few Hours From DC
The 9 Best Ski Resorts Close to DC
8 Luxury Weekend Getaways That Are a Short Drive From Washington, D.C.
Great Small Towns Near Washington, DC
12 Great Restaurants In Arlington
Seniors and Those With Health Concerns Are Now Eligible for the Covid Vaccine in Virginia
After Joining Capitol Protest, Virginia State Representative Says Critics Should Focus on “Colored Community” Instead
Maryland’s New Covid Restrictions Target Holiday Gatherings
Vacation-Home Rentals at Area Resorts Are Surging: You Get Privacy but Also Access to Lots of Activities
Would You Pay $900 a Night to Camp? You’re in Luck.
Three Animals You May Be Surprised to See in the Potomac
Life on the Potomac River: The Culture Keeper
Life on the River: The Anacostia’s Hero
Life on the Potomac River: The “SUP Garbage Man”
Life on the River: The Potomac’s Watchdog
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535822
|
__label__wiki
| 0.986308
| 0.986308
|
AlphaGo takes the series title. DeepMind's AI defeats Chinese world number one Ke Jie
DeepMind is holding a Future of Go Summit where AlphaGo is playing with humans, and against them
By Matt Burgess
In March last year, Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence completed an historic victory. Its AlphaGo system beat world Go champion Lee Sedol in a five-game contest of the famously complex board game.
AlphaGo's Ke Jie defeat offers a sobering look at the future of man versus machine
Not content with defeating one of the world's best players four games to one, in one of the most challenging board games to exist, the firm can now add another victory to its tally.
At DeepMind's Future of Go summit in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, AlphaGo took the first and second encounter in a best-of-three game series against 19-year-old Chinese world number one Ke Jie. Ke, who has been the top-ranked Go player for the past two years claimed last year he would never lose to a "cold machine."
We asked an AI to write the Queen’s Christmas speech
The night before the event, Ke wrote on Weibo that "the advancement of AI has far exceeded our imagination" but added he would never play it again after this week and said he "cannot feel its passion and longing for the game of Go".
At the summit, AlphaGo is taking part in three different challenges.
During its Pair Go challenge, instead of directly taking on a human player, AlphaGo will be paired with a Chinese professional who will play against another human-AI combination. Each player will take alternative moves.
Subscribe to WIRED
There is also set to be a mass challenge, where more than one human mind is pitted against the AI. "A game between AlphaGo and a five-player team consisting of China’s top pro players, working together to test AlphaGo’s creativity and adaptability to their combined style," Deepmind said in a blog post.
AI can now help us detect disease at its earliest stages
By Craig Venter
During Lee's battle with the AI in March 2016, he slumped to a 3-0 defeat before winning a consolation match, then losing the final game. Before the event started, the 17-time world champion predicted he would win the series 5-1 or 5-0.
Until DeepMind completed the victory against Lee, the 3,000-year-old board game had been proving one of the hardest problems within the world of AI. The game has been called one of the "grand challenges" of AI and has seen Facebook working on the issue.
The AlphaGo system aims to mimic how a human brain learns and effectively, through neural networks and machine learning, defeated humans at Go through a process of trial and error.
Using 12 layers of neural networks, it selects its next move using just one element of its system while the others predict how the rest of the game will play out. Predicting the future in this way, it adjusts its strategy and moves gradually towards victory.
As well as games, the DeepMind conference will include panels on the future of AI. It was organised with support from the China Go Association and the country's government.
Coronavirus triggered a healthcare AI boom. Was it worth it?
By David Cox
Forget about artificial intelligence, extended intelligence is the future
By Joi Ito
Inside DeepMind's epic mission to solve science's trickiest problem
By Greg Williams
DeepMind's AI is getting closer to its first big real-world application
By Matt Reynolds
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535823
|
__label__wiki
| 0.620502
| 0.620502
|
What is a Special Master?
Mary McMahon
A special master is an officer of the court who performs special tasks on request from a judge. A judge can appoint a special master to assist with investigation and documentation in a case, as well as to administer claims in a civil matter. Usually, an attorney serves as a special master, although a person with specialized experience applicable to the case at hand may also be considered for appointment. Such positions are relatively unusual.
A judge can opt to appoint a special master to manage complex claims.
The scope of a special master's responsibilities can vary, depending on the case, the court, and the nation where the person is appointed. In a case with highly technical aspects, a judge may appoint someone to investigate and provide advice and information to help the judge understand the material being heard. Judges, while experts in the law, may not necessarily be familiar with technical trades and other issues, and can use expert advice when hearing a case to make sure they fully comprehend the material under discussion.
A judge can also opt to appoint a special master to manage complex claims, particularly in civil cases involving the government. People with a claim related to the case can contact this court officer and provide material to support their claims, such as verification that they are indeed a member of the class named in a class action lawsuit. Special masters process claims on behalf of the court and the government, offering payouts as appropriate and conducting investigations into other claimants to make sure they are eligible.
A special master is often appointed in complex suits where administering claims requires technical expertise. The judge selects someone with appropriate legal and professional experience. This court officer also has a support staff and can select staff members with special skills or areas of training to make sure they provide appropriate levels of service and assistance to people filing claims. The staff can assist with investigations, processing of claims, and generating court records.
The scope of authority and responsibility given to people in this position is sometimes criticized. In the United States, where special masters can potentially exercise considerable authority in government cases, some people believe they act as an extra-judiciary, with the same authority as the court system without the natural checks and balances. If a special master denies a claim, for example, it can be difficult to appeal and sometimes impossible, as the special master's office is in charge of all claims processing, including any theoretical appeals.
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a wiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
What is the Judicial System?
What does a Judicial Officer do?
What is a Clerk of Courts?
What are Judicial Proceedings?
What is a Matter of Law?
What is a Judicial Notice?
What is Administrative Law?
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535824
|
__label__wiki
| 0.859794
| 0.859794
|
House investigators subpoena 3 more administration officials
by: ALAN FRAM, Associated Press
Posted: Oct 25, 2019 / 01:31 PM EDT / Updated: Oct 25, 2019 / 03:05 PM EDT
President Donald Trump talks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, before boarding Marine One for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base. Trump is heading to South Carolina to speak at Benedict College in Columbia. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Impeachment investigators issued subpoenas Friday to three more Trump administration officials, demanding their testimony in the probe of President Donald Trump’s efforts to force Ukraine to feed him damaging information about his Democratic political opponents.
The chairs of the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry subpoenaed two officials of the White House Office of Management and Budget: acting director Russell Vought and Michael Duffey, who oversees national security programs.
They also subpoenaed State Department counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl.
Investigators asked all three earlier this month to testify, but none have appeared.
As House investigators pushed forward, Trump continued his defiance with another round of combative verbal volleys.
He predicted that if the House impeaches him and the Republican-run Senate holds a trial on whether to remove him from office, he would prevail “for one reason: I did nothing wrong.”
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for an appearance in South Carolina, he said people are “angry” because “this isn’t a takedown of the president, this is a takedown of the Republican Party.”
He also renewed his assertion that the impeachment effort is endangering the economy. He said that “if anything ever happened,” the result would be “a recession, depression the likes of which this country hasn’t seen.”
The Trump administration has refused to make its officials available for depositions in the investigation and resisted supplying documents as well. But witnesses have been appearing anyway after they are issued subpoenas, often on a daily basis for hourslong appearances behind closed doors.
“The committees therefore have no choice but to issue a subpoena compelling your mandatory appearance,” the letters read.
Investigators want to know why nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was delayed, even though it was approved by Congress and signed into law by Trump.
Ukraine has relied on U.S. help during a five-year war with Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east, where the rebels control territory. More than 13,000 people have died in the fighting.
Brechbuhl is said to have been the source of a mysterious packet of materials that House investigators were given. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has said the package contained information from debunked conspiracy theories about Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election. The significance of the packet is unclear.
Others have testified that Trump was demanding investigations of Democrats in exchange for the aid and for an Oval Office meeting coveted by Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The committees want Duffey to appear on Nov. 5, and Vought and Brechbuhl the following day.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535825
|
__label__wiki
| 0.78838
| 0.78838
|
March 10th official date ontario pcs new leader
MARCH 10TH OFFICIAL DATE WHEN ONTARIO PC'S TO HAVE NEW LEADER
By Jane Brown
Ontario Progressive Conservatives will choose a new leader to succeed Patrick Brown on March 10th.
The decision Wednesday night by members of the PC Party executive kick starts one of the party’s shortest campaigns in recent memory. It also marks the official launch of a leadership race just four months before the provincial election.
March 9th is the deadline for voting, which will take place by secure remote electronic balloting starting March 2nd. Candidates will be allowed to spend up to $750-thousand. The minimum entry fee is $100-thousand.
The rules for the 2018 Ontario PC Leadership Race have been posted on the Ontario PC website.
Former Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford is the only declared contender to date. He will be a guest on Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer today after the noon news.
Meantime, a new poll suggests Doug Ford has a strong base, but is unlikely to woo those who are considering voting PC in the June provincial election.
The Angus Reid survey of soft PC voters reveals that Toronto Mayor John Tory, former MPP Christine Elliot, and current MPP candidate Caroline Mulroney are among the would be PC leaders Ontarians say would make them more likely to support the party.
John Tory has no intention of becoming a candidate, saying a number of times since Patrick Brown’s resignation, he’s running for re-election as Toronto’s mayor. Christine Elliot is now Ontario’s patient ombudsman and is said to be happy in the post, although she is said to be listening to those who are encouraging her to run. Caroline Mulroney is considering a run. There is also word that Federal Conservative MP Erin O’Toole is considering a run for the Ontario PC leadership.
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535829
|
__label__cc
| 0.690922
| 0.309078
|
conservation, fisheries, seafood, spiny dogfish
Flag of the European Union. Image from euroesprit.org.
Last week the European Union considered a petition to ban on all products made from spiny dogfish. The petition, put forward by the representative from Germany, would have banned trade of all spiny dogfish products, and barring that called for changing the names of some European seafood names (including Germany’s own Schillerlocke) to explicitly state that they were made from the meat of spiny dogfish. The full text of the petition and the EU’s response are available here. This petition, had it passed, could have had a huge impact on dogfish fisheries worldwide, including our own here in the United States.
The end result was a rejection of both measures by the EU, on the grounds that while spiny dogfish are indeed as endangered as can be in Europoean waters, other stocks (such as the U.S./Canadian population in the Northwest Atlantic) are healthy and capable of being fished sustainably. The EU has already responded to their crashing spiny dogfish population by making them a no-take species in targeted commercial fisheries, which means the vast majority dogfish consumed in Europe is imported. A good amount of that comes from the U.S., and was really what drove the development of the fishery. After the beating the U.S. dogfish fishery has taken from the domestic market, it really dodged a bullet with the rejection of this petition.
The Parliament also decided against changing the names of dogfish products, since a wholesale name change may cause confusion among consumers (more so than the actual mislabeling going on right now?). It also smacked down Germany for not actually listing Schillerlocke as spiny dogfish on its own official list of seafood names.
I’m actually cool with the EU’s decision to not ban dogfish products, since it’s the all-too-uncommon fisheries management decision that actually seems to be based on sound science and reasoning over politics. However, as a proponent of proper seafood labeling I’m a bit disappointed in the decision on labeling dogfish products. Spiny dogfish meat is commonly sold under different names (like “fish and chips” in the U.K.), presumably because the mental image of the fish or the name itself are unappetizing. However, other “trash fish” species such as monkfish (way uglier than dogfish) and skates have gained acceptance (and proper labeling) even at high-end seafood restaurants. A concern with shark meat in particular is that sharks have received so much attention for being both endangered and packed with mercury that consumers may be turned off by knowing they’re eating shark. On that issue, is it more important to inform the consumer or market the product?
My take? If your dogfish is from a decent source, chow down. But make sure you’re calling it dogfish.
Tip o’ the hat to David “WhySharksMatter” Shiffman for bringing this to my attention.
European Union petition Schillerlocke spiny dogfish
What Drives Dogfish Distribution?
|
cc/2021-04/en_head_0047.json.gz/line1535831
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.