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REHOVOT and TEL AVIV, Israel; MENLO PARK and BERKELEY, California, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NeoTX announced today the acquisition of InterX. InterX, is a drug discovery company utilizing advanced proprietary tools of biomolecular computation for the discovery and design of novel therapeutic molecules based on Nobel Prize Laureate Prof Michael Levitt's discoveries. These tools allow a detailed quantum mechanical process assessment of biochemical interactions resulting in faster, more accurate and efficient drug discovery. In addition to the discovery engine, this acquisition also comes with a pipeline of early drugs.
"We are excited to be expanding NeoTX capabilities to include a suite of proprietary drug discovery technologies. InterX is a world class team that includes three Nobel Laureates who have developed technologies that have the potential to increase the speed of drug discovery. These technologies augment traditional Computer Assisted Drug Discovery (CADD) and are designed to replace much of the typical synthesis and testing cycles that are needed after obtaining results from the traditional CADD process, while potentially saving three-plus years of the typical drug discovery timeline" said CEO, Asher Nathan.
"InterX's technology is the most advanced in the industry, and when combined with the development expertise of NeoTX, we will be able to advance best-in-class drug candidates, increase the value of our pipeline, and strive to contribute to improvement of quality of life within society," said Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Roger Kornberg, Chief Scientist of NeoTX and cofounder of InterX. InterX will benefit from the experience and infrastructure of NeoTX while maintaining a culture of innovation and creativity. Post-merger, Prof. Kornberg has also assumed the role of Chairman of the Board of NeoTX.
About NeoTX
NeoTX is a clinical-stage company developing targeted anticancer immunotherapies utilizing its proprietary Tumor Targeted Superantigen (TTS) platform. TTS binds a genetically engineered bacterial determinant to the tumor surface while simultaneously activating and expanding tumor specific immune cells that are then redirected from the periphery to the tumor to mount an immune response. The company's lead TTS molecule, naptumomab estafenatox (NAP) is currently in clinical development for advanced solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.neotx.com
About InterX
InterX is a drug development company, based in the United States and Israel, which is revolutionizing biomolecular computation of chemical and biological systems. The company aims to achieve robust and accurate prediction of molecular and ensemble properties of biological systems using computational methods. InterX is led by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Roger Kornberg. For more information, please visit www.interx.dev
Media Contact:
Aviram Uzi
Head of PR and Communications
Gelbart-Kahana Investor Relations
aviram@gk-biz.com
+972-525329103
Investor Contact:
Robert Harow, CFOO
NeoTX Holdings, Ltd
robert@neotx.com
+1 609-718-2305 x204
+ 972 3 912 5853 x204
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SOURCE NeoTX | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/neotx-acquires-interx-adds-world-class-discovery-arm/ | 2022-05-12T15:11:43Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Time now for StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative, recording and sharing the stories of service members and their family.
In 1965, Ron Amen of Michigan was one of the first Americans to be drafted for the war in Vietnam. He became a specialist in the U.S. Army and left his younger brother Alan back home. The brothers came to StoryCorps to talk about that war, what it means to have each other's back. Here's Alan.
ALAN AMEN: We were walking home from school, and that kid Hot Rod...
RON AMEN: Right.
A AMEN: ...Stopped you. He wanted to fight with you in the alley. Then he hit you. And you started fighting.
R AMEN: I do remember that one.
A AMEN: You were handling him. So, you know, I went to the house. I walk in. Pops says, where's your brother? I says, he's in the alley. He said, what's he doing in the alley? He's fighting with a Hot Rod. Said, what? He jumped up, and he ran out. And I remember, he says, don't you ever let your brother fight and you don't help him. So when you got drafted to go to Vietnam, I was more angry about it than I ever would have been if I was the one that was drafted. But I don't know how you felt about it.
R AMEN: I thought to myself, eh, how bad could it be? But couple of days before I departed for Vietnam, one of the guys from the neighborhood - his body was shipped back home for burial. And I went to his funeral. I remember walking up to his casket, and now I'm looking at him dressed in the uniform I was about to put on. And underneath that uniform, he was in, like, a rubber suit that showed up just above his tie, I guess, to keep him all together. And I thought to myself, damn, I don't know if I'm going to get back from this adventure.
A AMEN: Any close calls?
R AMEN: Crashed a helicopter - survived that.
A AMEN: Really?
R AMEN: Yeah.
A AMEN: I didn't know that.
R AMEN: Yeah. One of the other crew says, hey, Amen, you're bleeding. There was a piece of shrapnel stuck in my knee. I didn't even realize I was hit, you know? I had some lucky breaks but eventually finished my tour. And then I was home. I remember I was going through all my belongings.
A AMEN: You had set up a little bonfire to burn your Army uniforms.
R AMEN: Yeah. I was going to burn it all because I was just sickened by what I saw and what I had to do when I was there.
A AMEN: I remember, when you applied for a job after you got back, they couldn't hire you 'cause you were a liability to the company. I got the boss, and I ripped him up one side, down the other. I said, you dirty, rotten, miserable people - you refuse to hire my brother, a Vietnam veteran.
R AMEN: Yeah. You are definitely a force to be dealt with. And I admire that about you a great deal.
A AMEN: Well, I think it's something we both inherited. Nobody goes down alone.
R AMEN: Yeah.
A AMEN: And if somebody makes it, we make it together.
R AMEN: Blood is thicker than water.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Ron Amen and his brother Alan at their StoryCorps interview in Dearborn, Mich - his interview will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/storycorps-brothers-share-how-their-relationship-changed-after-one-was-drafted | 2022-05-12T15:11:48Z |
CADENAS PARTsolutions is expanding the usability of the eCATALOGsolutions digital catalog platform, by offering a NEW integration with the HubSpot marketing platform.
CINCINNATI , May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Powered by Brijr.io, the integration seamlessly brings analytics from the CADENAS eCATALOGsolutions account into HubSpot, simplifying the process of entering, routing, and attributing online conversions from eCATALOGsolutions. The tool seamlessly adds new leads, as well as contact level activity details, for easy access and analysis.
Benefits:
- All your data in HubSpot, where you want it
- Gain better insight into how prospects and customers engage with your CAD content
- Never worry about data entry, exporting/importing, or missed leads again
- Increase efficiency and save time
Features:
- View eCATALOGsolutions CAD / BIM / PDF activity directly in HubSpot contact timeline
- Contacts and activity sync hourly
- New contacts automatically import into HubSpot as a conversion
- System checks for duplicates and adds new activity to existing contacts
- Ability to filter (blacklist) email addresses and domains
- Supports custom contact properties
- Generate reports and dashboards on eCATALOGsolutions activity
- Compatible with HubSpot Free, Basic, Professional and Enterprise
About eCATALOGsolutions:
Today's industrial buyers require on-demand product data, instant CAD & BIM downloads, and high-quality product images. Manufacturers use eCATALOGsolutions to increase leads and sales by streamlining the path to digital product data. By providing interactive 3D previews and online configuration directly from their website, manufacturers are enabling their audience to find the right product for their application, when it is most convenient for them. Engineers can download CAD and BIM models to test fit products virtually within their designs. When complete, they can download a configured 3D PDF datasheet to for documentation and purchasing.
Learn more at: https://partsolutions.com/ecatalogsolutions/
About Brijr.io:
Data-sharing has never been more important. However, industrial companies are often frustrated by complex requirements. That's where Brijr.io comes in. Brijr.io is an integration platform designed for the industrial marketplace. Whether you need to move leads between marketing systems, or inventory, pricing, and product information to your distribution partners, we make it easy to share data.
Brijr.io - Industrial Strength Integrations
Media Inquiries
CADENAS PARTsolutions
Adam Beck
Director of Marketing
400 Techne Center Drive, Ste. 301
Milford, OH 45150 USA
Phone: 513-453-0453
Fax: 513-453-0460
adam.beck@partsolutions.com
https://partsolutions.com
@partsolutions
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SOURCE CADENAS PARTsolutions | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/never-miss-lead-again-cadenas-partsolutions-launch-hubspot-connector-powered-by-brijrio/ | 2022-05-12T15:11:49Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Nearly all major airlines, transit systems and ridesharing services have made masks optional. That's after a ruling earlier this week from Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle that abruptly struck down the rule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that required masks on public transit. The Biden administration waited a couple of days before announcing they'd appeal the ruling.
NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has been speaking with health law experts all week. Selena, thanks for being with us.
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Hi. Morning, Scott.
SIMON: First, remind us, please, of what was in Judge Mizelle's opinion.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah, so Judge Mizelle was nominated by former President Trump, and she was given a rating of unqualified by the American Bar Association because of her limited time practicing law and her lack of trial experience. In this ruling, she found that CDC didn't have the authority to issue this mask requirement and that it didn't follow the right procedures. Legal experts I talked with this week had very strong words about this opinion. One called it a legal abomination. Another said it read like a first-year law student's exam. And they said the reasoning was a stretch and that she ignored legal norms, and that this ruling has huge implications. Not only did it lead to people pulling off their masks mid-flight all over the country, but it could have the effect of limiting the power of CDC to issue public health rules down the line.
SIMON: Then why did it take a few days for the Department of Justice under the Biden administration to file an appeal?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah, it's kind of strange. If the government wanted this back into effect right away, you would have expected lightning speed - like they would have asked for an emergency pause on her decision right away, but they didn't. Stephen Vladeck teaches law at the University of Texas, and he has a theory about this, which relates to the fact that the mandate is set to end on May 3.
STEPHEN VLADECK: Because the mandate's about to expire anyway, it seems just as possible that the government's real goal is to wipe off of the books Judge Mizelle's ruling, striking it down.
SIMON: How does that work? I mean, I took civics in high school, but I still don't understand. How does that work?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: It's a little obscure. So this is the part of the story that has a surprising connection to underwear from the 1940s.
SIMON: You know, a hundred jokes are passing through my mind, and I think I'm going to avoid all of them. Why don't you just pick it up, Selena?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: OK, stick with me. Back in 1944, the federal government sued Munsingwear, a Minnesota-based underwear company, because it said the company had overpriced its heavy knit underwear, and that violated wartime price controls. It took years for the case to wind its way through the appeals process, and by the time it got to the Supreme Court in 1950, there were no more price controls on the underwear. So in its decision, the Supreme Court established the Munsingwear doctrine. Basically, if the dispute has gone away during the appeals process, the higher court can wipe the lower court's ruling away. So in this case, after May 3, Vladeck says...
VLADECK: The government can say, look, we're not going to have a chance to argue why Judge Mizelle's ruling was incorrect. Therefore, the proper thing to do is to wipe that ruling off the books and just dismiss this entire lawsuit.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Of course, he says, only the government knows its legal strategy here. But every day that the government does not request a stay, he's more convinced that this is the real goal - to vacate the ruling so that, legally speaking, it never happened.
SIMON: Nobody talks about underwear and the Constitution as lucidly as Selena Simmons-Duffin. Thanks so much for being with us, Selena.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/the-biden-administration-will-appeal-the-transportation-mask-mandate | 2022-05-12T15:11:55Z |
PCORI and CZI awards lay foundation for game-changing growth and research momentum
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A Foundation Building Strength (AFBS), a 501©3 non-profit has been approved for two major awards that will significantly benefit the Nemaline Myopathy (NM) community:
- The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has awarded AFBS a three-year, $600,000 grant to develop a patient-led collaborative research network, with a key focus on improving diagnosis and diversity, equity, and inclusion within the disease area
- The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) awarded AFBS a two-year, $248,646 award through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards program. Funds will support efforts to build community capacity and build toward patient-centered outcomes research in NM
Marc Guillet, Executive Director and co-founder of AFBS, will lead both projects, along with AFBS Scientific Director Gustavo Dziewczapolski.
Activities included in these projects include:
- Building a patient-led network
- Recruiting 75 families to partner in 10 webinars over the course of two years
- Working with diverse NM stakeholders to launch efforts that address the affected community's most urgent concerns
- In-person gatherings, including a Scientific and Family Conference in Nashville, TN (6/30 - 7/3/22)
"I'm excited that we have the opportunity to build meaningful momentum in NM research, incorporating the most valuable factor in the work we do: our community members," says Guillet. "I'm eager to work more closely with families around the world over the next two years."
PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and healthcare decisions.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 to help solve some of society's toughest challenges. AFBS is one of only 20 organizations selected for this year's competitive CZI "Rare As One" network.
A Foundation Building Strength was founded in 2008 by two Palo Alto parents of a child affected by Nemaline Myopathy (NM), a rare congenital condition causing incurable muscle weakness. Many people with NM can't breathe, swallow, speak, or walk on their own. AFBS is the largest organization that operates solely to advance research of NM and support families affected by it. AFBS works to create a fully functioning NM ecosystem, where researchers, clinicians, and the affected community supports each other to ease the NM burden and advance research.
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SOURCE A Foundation Building Strength | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/palo-alto-non-profit-receives-two-significant-multi-year-awards-capacity-building-network-building/ | 2022-05-12T15:11:56Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in energy prices worldwide. As we've noted, Russia is a major exporter of oil and gas, and officials in the U.S. and Europe are looking for ways to reduce Russian profits from those exports. One side effect - the race is also on to find more reliable domestic sources of green energy materials, such as lithium, an element used in electric car batteries. Willem Marx has this report from the U.K., where a small mining boom for lithium is already underway.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: British geologist Robin Kelly's spent his career searching for the right variety of rock - first in Africa, focused on gold, zinc, copper, now much closer to home, on a windswept hillside in Cornwall, England, where he works for a firm called British Lithium, focused on a rock called lithium mica granite.
ROBIN KELLY: We've spent all these years conducting exploration work to really understand that. So we're now at the point where we believe we have an economic body of lithium mica granite.
MARX: Less than 1% of the rock is metal, but it still makes economic sense to mine because of soaring prices for lithium, a crucial component in the race to electrify our world. And the extraction technique here in Cornwall is unique, says the company's CEO Andrew Smith.
ANDREW SMITH: Lithium is not rare. There are many occurrences, but what we need to do is translate that into a final product. So there's a number of chemical stages that we've got to go through.
MARX: Heat, electricity and quicklime help extract the lithium. And since they're digging in old, abandoned mine pits and using water, not acid, to refine the lithium, the environmental impact is far less significant than usual. By rehearsing this extraction process on a small scale now, researchers like Katerina Omelchuk from Ukraine hope they'll soon be working on a much larger project driven by global demand for better batteries.
KATERINA OMELCHUK: Now we want something bigger, larger, quicker, stronger with more performance, so we have to work on this.
MARX: Despite some $4 million in British government funding, Smith says policymakers should pay even more attention to battery metals like lithium.
SMITH: If we were to transition our economy away from hydrocarbons to electric vehicles, we're going to need those raw ingredients. And if we can source them domestically, I think that should be part of government policy.
MARX: Mining was once central to Cornwall's economy, but in recent decades, almost all of it stopped. Now these new technologies could help restart this industry and help the U.K. end its reliance on countries like China, which controls most of the world's lithium market. Steve Double's a member of Parliament representing Cornwall's historic mining region and says more government support for mining could create local jobs.
STEVE DOUBLE: Both Brexit but also the pandemic has really put a spotlight on supply chains and some of the fragility that there is in our supply chains and also how we are so heavily dependent on one part of the world.
MARX: The lithium mined in Cornwall will help reduce carbon emissions, powering not just cars but possibly trains, too. The Japanese giant Hitachi is building electric trains that will run between London and Cornwall. Jim Brewin heads Hitachi in the U.K.
JIM BREWIN: This is why, when governments set targets like we've seen in the U.K., in Japan, in the U.S., these really change how we look at what we need to offer to society through the work that we do and batteries the one step forward. And the trials that we're doing here can be a global offering.
MARX: Brewin says Hitachi's worldwide trains will rely on British-made battery technology since local production can also help decarbonize supply chains.
The batteries are built at a business in northern England called Turntide funded by American billionaires - Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg - and Britain's own innovation agency. In large warehouses, Turntide's team develops battery systems that power trains, cherry pickers and potentially even mining machines to be sold around the globe.
CHRIS PENNISON: That on the end is where we test them.
MARX: Chris Pennison, senior VP of operations at Turntide, says his company gets a lot of support from the local and central governments but insists this battery revolution must remain a priority.
PENNISON: We need to make sure that we're ahead of the competitors, the other countries. We have to make sure that we can attract talent with what we're doing and how we're doing it. But we also need to know if we're going to play in that arena, we have to support the change that the country has to go through.
MARX: For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx in St. Austell, England. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/the-growing-demand-for-clean-energy-sources-could-mean-a-resurgence-in-mining | 2022-05-12T15:12:01Z |
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Parsley Health announced that it is moving in-network with Aetna New York, a CVS Health company. This is the first time Parsley will be available in-network with a major insurance provider. Parsley has plans to expand to additional providers in the near future.
"By becoming an in-network provider with Aetna New York we're able to immediately increase access to personalized, longitudinal medical care that helps patients make lasting improvements to their chronic conditions," said Dr. Robin Berzin, M.D., Founder and CEO of Parsley Health. "Our data shows that by offering a comprehensive, holistic approach that addresses the root cause of chronic conditions, we are able to improve or resolve symptoms for more than 80% of patients in the first year of membership, while also significantly reducing prescription drug usage and referrals to specialists. We offer life-changing care for patients who have been suffering. And reducing the cost of our care through insurance is paramount to reaching those who need us most."
Parsley Health was founded in 2016 to serve the complex health needs of women and families. According to the CDC, approximately 6 in 10 Americans suffer from chronic conditions. The majority are women. And many more remain undiagnosed. Yet the complexities of women's health needs are not well served by the conventional primary care model, in which 1 in 5 women report feeling dismissed by their doctors. Parsley's unique clinical model blends functional medicine with conventional primary care to address the root cause of chronic conditions – creating personalized, holistic care plans that put food, lifestyle, and proactive diagnostic testing on the prescription pad alongside medication.
Parsley treats patients comprehensively throughout their lifecycles and across multiple conditions, while also caring for their partners, children, and family members of any gender or identification. As a result of this approach, the majority of Parsley Health patients improve or resolve their conditions within their first year of care – putting an end to the revolving door of specialist-referrals and prescription-drug-overload for those seeking relief from gastrointestinal, autoimmune, hormone, fertility, metabolic, and mental health concerns.
"Parsley Health's move to go in-network with Aetna New York is essential to supporting the health of New Yorkers, and it is also a signal that we're on the cusp of a sea change," said Carladenise Edwards, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer at Henry Ford Health System and member of Parsley Health's Medical Advisory Board. "Insurers are beginning to accept providers, like Parsley Health, that have a holistic approach to healthcare and are designed to prevent and treat the suffering caused by chronic diseases. This is the one of the first steps in an insurance revolution that will have positive ripple effects across the country."
Since launch, Parsley has grown into the largest holistic medical practice in America, serving tens of thousands of patients across the U.S. through telemedicine nationwide and in-person care in New York and California. Parsley's membership includes 5 doctor's visits and 5 health coach visits per year – ensuring more than 3 hours of dedicated doctor-patient time annually to identify the root cause of health concerns – in addition to advanced diagnostic testing, unlimited messaging, personalized medications and nutritional guidance.
Parsley's doctors are trained in conventional medicine, have undergone additional training in holistic care and have completed Parsley's in-house fellowship program. They are paired with health coaches trained in nutrition and lifestyle interventions to provide Parsley's comprehensive whole-body approach to health.
About Parsley Health
Parsley Health is the nation's leading holistic medical practice for women and families, designed to address patients' complex health needs and drive powerful outcomes. More than 80% of Parsley patients feel better within their first year of care, while also significantly reducing prescription drug use and specialist referrals for gastrointestinal, autoimmune, hormone, fertility, metabolic, and mental health conditions. At Parsley patients see the whole picture of their health, identify and address the root drivers of illness, and experience accessible, supportive care from providers who listen. Parsley combines advanced diagnostic testing, personalized medications and nutritional guidance to provide best-in-class modern holistic care -- all online. Learn more at https://www.parsleyhealth.com/aetna-ny-insurance.
Media Contact: press@parsleyhealth.com
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SOURCE Parsley Health | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/parsley-health-moves-in-network-with-aetna-new-york-bring-coverage-holistic-primary-care-more-new-yorkers-with-chronic-conditions/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:03Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
If you're looking for a new TV show, we've got you covered. The HBO Max show "The Flight Attendant" is back this week for a second season. In the first season, Cassie, who's played by Kaley Cuoco, woke up with a stranger after a night of partying. But it was a little more than your usual awkward situation, as she called her best friend Annie for help.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT")
KALEY CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) Who's the girl, the Italian girl - actually, she was the American girl. She was in Italy, and the murder thing - but she was - she was innocent?
ZOSIA MAMET: (As Annie Mouradian) Are you talking about Amanda Knox?
CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) Yeah. Did she call the police, the Italian police? Did they come? Do you know what happened there?
MAMET: (As Annie Mouradian) They arrested her. Cass, why are you asking me about Amanda Knox?
MARTIN: The answer is that the stranger in Cassie's bed is dead, and she doesn't know how he ended up that way. Cassie spent the season tracking down what had happened and trying to clear her name. The show was nominated for nine Emmy Awards, and now it's back to continue its story. And one of the people who eagerly waited for the show to return is Linda Holmes of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, and she's here to talk about what we might be able to expect in the second season. Hi, Linda.
LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Hi, Michel.
MARTIN: So what kind of show is "The Flight Attendant"? It's submitted itself to the Emmys as a comedy. But I don't understand. It's not - it doesn't sound like a traditional comedy series.
HOLMES: It's not. It's sort of a mystery-comedy drama. Cassie turns out to be a pretty troubled person, and there's a lot in that first season and in this second one, too, about how she got that way. And it also gets into how her behavior and especially her abuse of alcohol has hurt people that she's close to and obviously hurt her. But it's also got a lot of very comedic dialogue and a lot of people running around in beautiful clothes in cities of the world, sneaking behind pillars and that kind of thing. So it's kind of a character-driven suspense spy comedy, if that makes any sense. That's sort of how I would describe it.
MARTIN: OK. Sounds good. So if Cassie spent the first season solving this mystery and getting herself off the hook for murder, what's she up to now?
HOLMES: Well, at the end of the first season, after getting involved in all this spy stuff and eventually getting out of trouble, Cassie ended up deciding to work with the CIA. So when we find her at the beginning of this season, she's living in LA. She's in AA. She has a new boyfriend. Her life has kind of calmed down. But on the other hand, she's doing these very daring side jobs as a CIA asset while she's still working as a flight attendant. And naturally, during one of these jobs, something happens. and she's back on the trail of a new mystery. So she's all over the place again, and, you know, she also has all of her personal problems still to deal with.
MARTIN: So do you think it's successful, this idea of bringing this mystery series into another season?
HOLMES: It is. I really like the show a lot. I like the performances so much. It's very entertaining, and it always looks great to me. It's very playful. It's also always very tense. It's a very, like, tightly constructed show. And ultimately, Cassie's story is really affecting because it is about her trying to be better person in a way. So it does really work on me.
MARTIN: There are some experimental elements in the show. Cassie spent the first season having a lot of conversations that were really fantasy sequences where it was all taking place inside her head. You know, that works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't.
HOLMES: Right. Right.
MARTIN: Are they still doing that?
HOLMES: They are. It's really interesting. As you said, throughout the first season, she would have these long conversations with the guy who had died, actually, in what the creators of the show call her mind palace, right? There - these are those fantasy sequences that are a way to sort of get at her internal monologue. And this season, rather than talking to other people in her head, Cassie talks to different versions of herself. So her party girl self and her more kind of sedate self and her younger self, they're all trapped in, essentially, this big hotel bar together, the way that it sometimes feels, I think, to anybody, like aspects of who you are are in conflict with each other. The visual effects are quite good, so it really does seem like there are a bunch of Kaley Cuocos in this big hotel arguing and so on. Here's a clip of Cassie being offered a drink by a different, more self-destructive version of herself.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT")
CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) Also, this drink will really take the edge off.
CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) OK, well, I can't have a drink because if I have one drink, then I just want all the [expletive] drinks. You should know that.
CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) Oh, I think we both know that. By the way, your new friend Grace seems cool, kind of like how you used to be cool. That little, like, scarf on her neck, like, who am I? I'm so effortless - fun new party friend.
CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) Yeah, well, I'm more the designated driver these days.
CUOCO: (As Cassie Bowden) Yeah, well, no one wants to hang out with the designated driver. You want to know why? Because it's boring. By the way, your hands are shaking.
HOLMES: So as you can hear there, she's having a lot of these kind of internal struggles over her drinking and other things. These scenes are sort of how those play out.
MARTIN: And you can see it - because don't a lot of us have these arguments in our own heads, right?
HOLMES: Absolutely.
MARTIN: This is a very different role for Cuoco, who became a huge sitcom star when she was on "The Big Bang Theory." How did she make this leap to this different part?
HOLMES: Well, her production company optioned the novel that the series is based on before it was even published. So she was in very early setting this project up for herself to produce and to star in. And there are there are a lot of actors now who do this. They start production companies and produce their own projects where they can kind of get the roles that they want and have a little bit more control.
MARTIN: The first two episodes of the second season of "The Flight Attendant" are streaming now on HBO Max. And you heard it from Linda - she likes it. Linda Holmes, thank you so much.
HOLMES: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/the-hbo-max-show-the-flight-attendant-is-back-for-a-2nd-season | 2022-05-12T15:12:07Z |
Company recognized for its innovative healthcare payment platform that connects patients and providers
GILBERT, Ariz., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PayGround, a healthcare fintech payments platform, was among the companies recently honored by Fast Company as part of its 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards. The Awards are designed to honor clean technology, innovative corporate initiatives, brave new designs for cities and buildings, and other creative works that support the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change and public health crises.
Founded in 2018, PayGround launched its mobile app, which gives patients one convenient place to pay any medical bill, in December.
A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected PayGround's mobile app as a winner in the 'On the Rise: 0-4 Years in Business' category, from a pool of approximately 3,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, health, social justice and more.
"We started PayGround to help people gain more control over their healthcare payments and make the process easier for both providers and consumers," says PayGround CEO and co-founder Drew Mercer. "We are honored to be recognized by Fast Company for our work in making it easy for patients to pay all of their medical bills in one place."
"We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society's most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges," adds David Lidsky, interim editor-in-chief of Fast Company. "Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution."
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company's major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
About PayGround
PayGround provides a mobile app enabling patients and their dependents to manage bills from across all providers in one place. PayGround removes the complexities of paying a bill by helping patients understand their responsibility and providing various payment methods to fulfill that responsibility. Welcome to PayGround, the place for healthcare payments.
Media Inquiries: Jana Berrelleza, jana@payground.com
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SOURCE PayGround | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/payground-mobile-app-honored-fast-companys-2022-world-changing-ideas-awards/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:10Z |
DALLAS, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ is on the rise, expanding its business with two new distribution facilities to serve a growing elevator industry nationwide.
May is a big month for PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™, with grand openings scheduled in both Texas and Colorado:
TEXAS
May 13
10990 Petal St., Suite 700
Dallas, TX 75238
COLORADO
May 20
5405 W. 56th Ave., Unit F
Arvada, CO 80002
These locations are fully stocked to ship the essential parts that elevator service companies and mechanics need to reduce customer downtime and grow their businesses. In addition to shipping across the United States, the PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ new distribution centers offer same-day delivery and parts pick-up or shipping to clients nationwide for the fastest service available.
PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ is a division of PEAK Elevator™, a privately owned company that has specialized in all sectors of the vertical transportation industry since 1980. With our forefront focus on customer service, PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ strives to set new standards and launch innovative parts procurement options to the elevator industry.
Please join PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ in celebrating our May grand openings. For more information or other inquiries, contact Brandon McGinnis or Natalie Twigg-Baetke at (800) 458-3726.
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SOURCE Peak Elevator Parts | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/peak-elevator-parts-offers-same-day-delivery-nationwide/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:16Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Tomorrow is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, commemorating the lives of 1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Past U.S. administrations had been reluctant to officially mark the day, concerned it might offend Turkey, an important strategic ally. But President Biden issued a statement last year acknowledging the genocide and saying, we do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.
Peter Balakian, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, comes from a family that fled the Armenian genocide. Some relatives were killed there. Here he reads this poem "After The Survivors Are Gone."
PETER BALAKIAN: (Reading) I tried to imagine the Vilna ghetto, to see a persimmon tree after the flash at Nagasaki. Because my own tree had been hacked, I tried to kiss the lips of Armenia. At the table and the altar, we said some words written ages ago. Have we settled for just the wine and bread, for candles lit and snuffed? Let us remember how the law has failed us. Let us remember the child, naked, waiting to be shot on a bright day with tulips blooming around the ditch. We shall not forget the earth, the artifact, the particular song, the dirt of an idiom - things that stick in the ear.
SIMON: Peter Balakian - his new poetry collection is called "No Sign."
(NATALIA LAFOURCADE FEAT. LOS MACORINOS' "GAVOTA (INSTRUMENTAL)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/to-remember-the-armenian-genocide-a-poet-reads-after-the-survivors-are-gone | 2022-05-12T15:12:19Z |
DALLAS, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™, a leader in serving and supporting the elevator industry, proudly announces the grand opening of its new Dallas distribution center:
TEXAS
May 13
10990 Petal St., Suite 700
Dallas, TX 75238
The recent acquisition of a huge inventory of components positions PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ to become the first elevator parts distribution company in Texas.
Our conveniently located distribution center offers same-day shipping and delivery as well as pick-up options. Our same-day delivery minimizes elevator downtime caused by out-of-service elevators.
With parts readily in stock, service companies nationwide can grow their businesses with convenient access to parts when they need them most. PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ also carries a large assortment of obsolete components.
PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ is a division of PEAK Elevator™, a privately owned company that has specialized in all sectors of the vertical transportation industry since 1980. With our forefront focus on customer service, PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ strives to set new standards and launch innovative parts procurement options to the elevator industry.
Please join PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ in celebrating our grand opening on May 13 in Dallas, Texas. Lunch served from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. For more information or other inquiries, contact Brandon McGinnis or Natalie Twigg-Baetke at (800) 458-3726.
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SOURCE Peak Elevator Parts | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/peak-elevator-parts-opens-new-dallas-distribution-facility/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:23Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now let's talk about the benefits of spending time outdoors. Whether it's a hike in the woods or a walk down a tree lined street, research has found that getting out into nature leads to better health and can boost your mood. It can take a learning curve to get comfortable outside, though. Gabrielle Horton with NPR's Life Kit, offers this guy to finding your footing outdoors.
GABRIELLE HORTON, BYLINE: For me, being outdoors often stirs up images of lush green forests or snowy slopes. But smaller moments in nature, like walking my dog around the neighborhood or even listening to a rain sounds playlist before bed have been just as valuable. And they don't require the time, money or physical mobility of a big trip. And that's something that scientist Ming Kuo has been studying for years.
MING KUO: Nature includes everything from capital-N beautiful, spectacular, untouched wilderness all the way to a window box or having a view of squirrels from your office window.
HORTON: So it makes sense when Ming describes nature more like a multivitamin. Which leads us to our first takeaway - get your daily dose of nature and experience a range of emotional and cognitive benefits.
KUO: If we get our breaks or even our micro restorative moments through the view outside, we recover some capacity to use that mental muscle so we can do things that are hard to do, and we can do them more easily and less painfully.
HORTON: And the cool thing about nature is that you don't have to be outdoors to experience its wonder. Not to mention, getting outside might not be accessible for a whole host of reasons. So that leads us to our next takeaway - bring nature into your world. That might include caring for a houseplants or a pet. Or maybe it looks like logging on to virtual aquarium tours and social media games. Herpetologist Earyn McGee created a #FindThatLizard for this very reason.
EARYN MCGEE: #FindThatLizard is a game that I run every Wednesday, and essentially I post a photo of a lizard camouflaged in its natural environment. And people have to find the lizard in the photo. They don't have to go outside.
HORTON: As you start playing your way through nature, you might realize that you want to share those experiences with others. So that's our next takeaway - find your adventure crew. It's a practical way to stay safe. And for those who haven't always seen themselves in the big outdoors, it's a good way to find your community. And plus-size explorer Ash Manning knows this firsthand.
ASH MANNING: I think being bigger, it's always been like, am I the only one doing this? The answer is no, absolutely not.
MANNING: Ash eventually found their people in a group called Unlikely Hikers. Other groups filling similar gaps and knocking down those barriers to access include Latino Outdoors, Disabled Hikers and Outdoor Afro, just to name a few. As you explore in community or on your own, take the time to learn about the rich indigenous history of the land, which is our final takeaway. Anthropologist Spirit Brooks recommends apps like, Who's Land, to help get you started.
SPIRIT BROOKS: This could be as simple as learning about the indigenous place names in your area for streams, for mountains, for parks, and then making an effort to learn about contemporary efforts to steward local native lands and sustainable ways by tribes.
HORTON: So no matter if you're playing nature games on your phone or spending time in the sun, I hope that you'll find your footing in the great outdoors because it's a beautiful thing no matter where you are.
MARTIN: That was Gabrielle Horton with NPR's Life Kit. For more tips and life hacks, go to npr.org/lifekit. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/use-these-tips-and-tricks-to-find-your-footing-outdoors | 2022-05-12T15:12:25Z |
ARVADA, Colo., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™, a leader in serving and supporting the elevator industry, proudly announces the grand opening of its new Colorado distribution facility:
COLORADO
May 20
5405 W. 56th Ave., Unit F
Arvada, CO 80002
The company's new elevator parts distribution center is the culmination of an endeavor to broaden the scope of its service to customers in Colorado and across the country.
Our strategic location offers same-day shipping and delivery as well as pick-up options. Our same-day delivery service enables PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ to significantly minimize elevator downtime caused by out-of-service elevators.
PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ also provides faster access to a vast array of obsolete components for customer repairs and upgrades. With parts readily in stock, service companies nationwide can grow their businesses with convenient access to parts when they need them most.
PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ is a division of PEAK Elevator™, a privately owned company that has specialized in all sectors of the vertical transportation industry since 1980. With our forefront focus on customer service, PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ strives to set new standards and launch innovative parts procurement options to the elevator industry.
Please join PEAK ELEVATOR PARTS™ in celebrating our grand opening on May 20 in Arvada, Colorado. Lunch served from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. For more information or other inquiries, contact Brandon McGinnis or Natalie Twigg-Baetke at (800) 458-3726.
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SOURCE Peak Elevator Parts | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/peak-elevator-parts-serves-denver-metro-with-new-distribution-center/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:29Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Another dilemma for the administration - the lower risk from COVID-19 prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lift the rule known as Title 42 beginning about a month from today. NPR's Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: And some Democratic lawmakers - not just from border states, even Delaware and New Hampshire - openly question whether these restrictions ought to be lifted. What are their concerns?
ELVING: Well, first off, Title 42 was imposed to protect public health in the pandemic, and it's contributed to a big buildup of humanity along the southern border. Those throngs are straining resources to accommodate them on both sides of the border. Many are coming from Central America, from Cuba, some from Ukraine, even from Russia. So the Democrats' fear is that lifting Title 42 just now will allow this enormous backlog to surge into the U.S., igniting a new firestorm over immigration levels, much like the one that fueled the rise of former President Trump and lots of other like-minded Republican candidates.
SIMON: But President Biden and the Democrats campaigned on a promise of making immigration more humane in this country. What do - how do they back away from that?
ELVING: Well, it should be hard to back away from it, and there's a consortium of more than 90 groups called Welcome With Dignity that's working hard to hold Biden to his campaign position. But this is one of those cases where what you said in getting elected collides with what you may need to do to stay in office - or to keep your party in power in this case. A week ago, we were talking about how Biden was opening federal lands to drilling for oil and gas. That was a total reversal of his campaign promises. But gas prices were driving inflation to levels that looked fatal for Democrats in November. Immigration has some similar points to that. Biden promised a more humane policy, started off in that direction, stopped Trump's wall, his Remain in Mexico policy - at least until the courts weighed in on that latter. But it's really the court of public opinion and the threat of losses in November that's got the Biden White House trying to find some middle ground now.
SIMON: Many Republicans are also trying to do battle with their own ideals. Governors of Texas and Florida are each taking dramatic actions with political consequences. What do you see?
ELVING: We have some aggressive governors in the second and third most populous states in the country, both of whom are considered presidential contenders in 2024 or beyond. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott wanted more inspections for trucks on the Mexican border. That caused horrendous backups, forced the governor to recalibrate. In Florida, we have the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, fighting a pitched battle not only against the Democrats, but now also against Disney and Disney World, which is the state's single largest employer. Disney had been critical of DeSantis's new laws that restrict what teachers might say about gender identity and racial history in the classroom. That's made DeSantis something of a hero to social conservatives around the country, but it also raises questions about doing business in Florida going forward.
SIMON: Let's hear the audio The New York Times released this week of Republican leader Kevin McCarthy shortly after the attack on the Capitol last January 6 talking about then-President Trump.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KEVIN MCCARTHY: I've had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it.
SIMON: So when Kevin McCarthy said he never said what we just heard him say - that's a lie?
ELVING: It will so appear, Scott, and that's awkward for a guy who wants to be speaker of the House. But his real problem here is not about his personal integrity. It's about saying something that embarrasses his party - something that highlights the role that President Trump still plays in that party. You know, McCarthy did something similar six years ago, saying something about the Benghazi hearings that was a little too revealing about his party's motives. And suddenly, the party found someone else to be their new boss. That was Paul Ryan at the time. So this is another situation where McCarthy's kind of gotten himself into a difficult spot.
SIMON: Why are we just hearing this audio now when two people have a book to promote? Should we have heard it earlier? Should they have broken it earlier? They're both reporters, after all.
ELVING: The simple answer is yes, but we don't know where and how they got this tape. We don't know who leaked it or why. The reporters have said only that they got this in the course of reporting for their book, which implies it might have been a while ago, yet they did not advise - advertise, rather - having that tape, even writing the initial stories about it. That has been noticed.
SIMON: Ron Elving, thanks so much.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/week-in-politics-some-democrats-question-plans-to-lift-immigration-restrictions | 2022-05-12T15:12:31Z |
LINCOLN, Neb., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest Sandhills Global market report on the aviation industry reflects a third consecutive month of inventory expansion across all categories after a long, steady decline. However, the recent sustained growth in inventory levels hasn't reversed the rise in asking values for piston single or turboprop aircraft in Sandhills marketplaces. Pre-owned aircraft on the market are still relatively scarce in comparison with a year ago.
Sandhills' aviation products include Controller, Controller EMEA, Executive Controller, Charter Hub, Aviation Trader, Aircraft Cost Calculator, and AircraftEvaluator. AircraftEvaluator is Sandhills' proprietary asset valuation tool for all types of aircraft, built using the same technology behind FleetEvaluator. Widely used and trusted across equipment, truck, and trailer industries, FleetEvaluator identifies asset values with unparalleled accuracy.
The key metric used in all of Sandhills' market reports is the Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI). Buyers and sellers can use the information in Sandhills EVI to monitor equipment markets and maximize returns on acquisition, liquidation, and related business decisions.
Chart Takeaways
This report includes detailed analysis of asking values and inventory trends in the worldwide used aircraft market along with charts that help readers visualize the data. It describes and quantifies important trends in the buying and selling of used piston single, turboprop, and jet aircraft.
U.S. and Canada Used Piston Single Aircraft
- The Sandhills EVI for the piston single aircraft category posted a 24.1% year-over-year rise in asking values, up from 23.8% YOY the month prior. April 2022 values were $239,000 compared with $193,000 in April 2021. Month-over-month piston single aircraft asking values were up 1.4% over March 2022.
- For the third straight month, inventory of piston single aircraft has exhibited an upward trend after a steady decline. YOY inventory was still down by 11.3% overall in April. However, this represents a 9-percentage point improvement from the previous month, and a 29-percentage point increase from the beginning of the year.
U.S. and Canada Used Turboprop Aircraft
- Among turboprop aircraft, the Sandhills EVI logged a 24.1% YOY gain in asking values. April 2022 equipment values showed $1.8 million compared to $1.4 million in April 2021. Asking values in this category increased by 2.6% M/M.
- Turboprop aircraft inventory was down 64.7% YOY in April 2022, up 2 percentage points from March 2022.
Global Used Jet Aircraft
- Sandhills market reports break out the worldwide jet aircraft category into Light, Mid, Super Mid, and Large classes.
- The Large Jets class (EVI), which constitutes the highest percentage of total inventory, charted a 20.5% YOY value increase within the asking market. This was a decrease of approximately half a percentage point from the month prior. Asking values for April 2022 were $21.5 million, up from $17.8 million one year earlier. April's large jet inventory level was 58.4% lower on a YOY basis, but 5 percentage points higher than in March 2022.
Obtain the Full Report
For more information, or to receive detailed analysis from Sandhills Global, contact us at marketreports@sandhills.com.
About Sandhills Global
Sandhills Global is an information processing company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our products and services gather, process, and distribute information in the form of trade publications, websites, and online services that connect buyers and sellers across the aviation, construction, agriculture, and commercial trucking industries. Our integrated, industry-specific approach to hosted technologies and services offers solutions that help businesses large and small operate efficiently and grow securely, cost-effectively, and successfully. Sandhills Global—we are the cloud.
About the Sandhills Equipment Value Index
The Sandhills Equipment Value Index (EVI) is a principal gauge of the estimated market values of used assets—both currently and over time—across the construction, agricultural, commercial trucking, and aviation industries represented by Sandhills Global marketplaces, including Controller.com, AuctionTime.com, TractorHouse.com, MachineryTrader.com, TruckPaper.com, and other industry-specific equipment platforms. Powered by FleetEvaluator and AircraftEvaluator, Sandhills' proprietary asset valuation tools, Sandhills EVI provides useful insights into the ever-changing supply-and-demand conditions for each industry.
Contact Sandhills
www.sandhills.com/contact-us
402-479-2181
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SOURCE Sandhills Global | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/piston-single-turboprop-aircraft-values-still-gaining-altitude-despite-continued-growth-inventory-levels/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:36Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
At this point, most people know that climate change is or soon will affect how we live. And because climate plays such a crucial role in what we can raise or grow or catch around the world, that means climate change is going to affect what we eat. And soon, by 2050, for example, California avocados could be extinct. That's according to the food and culture magazine, Bon Appetit, which has dedicated its entire May issue to sustainability and the future of food. They've included everything from recipes and tips to reduce food waste at home, to envisioning what people may be eating a hundred years from now. Bon Appetit Editor-in-Chief Dawn Davis is with us now to tell us more. Dawn Davis, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome.
DAWN DAVIS: Thank you, Michel, for having me on.
MARTIN: So where are we already seeing climate change's impact on food?
DAVIS: Well, we're seeing it in everything from avocados, which, as you mentioned in the introduction, may go extinct by 2050. We're seeing it in coffee beans, which are also in danger of going extinct. Even in our stone fruit, they are, you know, they take cold weather to really kind of reach their full tastiness. And with increasing global warming and droughts, we're seeing some of our fruit impacted already.
MARTIN: So can you just start by explaining the concept of sustainable foods for people who aren't really sure what that means?
DAVIS: Sustainable foods are foods that we can grow without taxing the environment. So we want to think about vertical farms that may take less water, less farmland, and can feed more people. We want to think about our meat products being local so that we don't have to drive them and truck them across country. And also in our May issue, we talk about sustainable sushi. We all love sushi. But if that fish is flown halfway across the world, what about swapping in local fish? What about looking at invasive species as a way of swapping in those fish for fish that might be caught in Japan or elsewhere? So thinking sustainably about food means being willing to kind of make some new choices and some bold choices but doesn't mean necessarily sacrificing taste. In fact, I think if you're strawberries are grown locally, if your blueberries are grown locally, you're going to get more taste.
MARTIN: One of the things that I noticed in the magazine is - and some of the reports - is that - is this sort of the duality. On the one hand, that a lot of people are aware of climate change. It's a big subject of public concern. But say, for example, one of the chefs that one of your writers interviewed when he talked about taking certain things off the menu because he just couldn't ethically condone, you know, flying some fish, you know, halfway across the world to serve it, people got mad. You know, I thought that was fascinating. Is that how, you know, and, you know, obviously, I don't know these people. I wasn't there when these confrontations take place. But, you know, you think it's on the one hand, people say they care about this sushi, but then when it comes to making these kinds of changes in their own lives, I don't know. I just found it fascinating that people actually got furious. Were you surprised by that?
DAVIS: I was surprised by that. That's our story. Can sushi survive? And the chef is Fueng Lei (ph). And people wanted the same old, same old. And he tried to be experimental and swap in local fish, which again, is more sustainable. But other chefs have had more success with that. I'm thinking of Jeffrey Miller at Rosella, where he makes a point of using local fish and really kind of finding out when it is at its most tastiest. And he's had consumers and restaurant visitors who love what he's doing. So we really have to change the way we approach sushi. Sushi has always changed. It hasn't been a static food. And so as we embrace, again, possibly invasive species, which will help the environment and it can be delicious, we have to know that things will change, but it doesn't mean that we're going to sacrifice flavor.
MARTIN: OK, Dawn. I'm going to put you on the spot. The piece features sort of - I don't know how to describe it - maybe projections or a kind of envisioning of what people might be eating 100 years from now, 50 years from now. Was there anything that you just were like, no, ew, I'm not eating that?
DAVIS: We looked at 2032, 2042, and in those scenarios, we talked to real scientists and marine biologists and got some real experts to weigh in. For 100 years from now, it's all, you know, fantasy and projection. So we actually turned to four acclaimed science fiction writers. So we have java coffee made from okra seeds. I think that sounds particularly interesting...
MARTIN: Yeah, I could go for that...
DAVIS: ...3D printed tortilla chips. Yeah. I mean, 3D printers are all...
MARTIN: No, I can handle that. OK...
DAVIS: ...Yeah. 3D printers are already used. They're just too expensive to be used on a macro level, but they're already being used by caterers and in hospitals. I think the cricket tartare served on a bed of plankton might have gone a little bit too far. But, you know, I'm willing to try everything at least once.
MARTIN: At least once. OK. Well, good. You first.
DAVIS: Exactly.
MARTIN: That was Dawn Davis, editor in chief of Bon Appetit. The magazine's May issue, "The Future Of Food," is out now. Dawn Davis, thank you so much for being with us.
DAVIS: Michel, thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/what-climate-change-could-mean-for-what-goes-on-your-plate | 2022-05-12T15:12:37Z |
ATLANTA, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Volato, the most efficient way to own a private jet, today announced the addition of Keith Rabin to the team as Chief Financial Officer. Keith is a serial aviation entrepreneur and investor with over 25 years of experience. In his new role, Keith will oversee the financial operations of the company including scaling financial processes, overseeing our external audits, identifying growth opportunities, and facilitating aircraft and base acquisitions.
Keith brings over a decade of private aviation experience to his new role. He was formerly President, Co-Founder and CFO of JSX. During his time at JSX, Keith was responsible for equity and debt fundraising and grew the team to 250 employees. Keith's aviation operations experience adds unique insights to his financial acumen, having touched multiple facets of private aviation including sales, maintenance, system operations, human resources, and IT.
"Keith has a proven track record of steering companies through significant growth, making it the perfect time for him to join the Volato team," said Matt Liotta, CEO at Volato. "We're excited to have Keith on board and looking forward to pushing the company further, together."
"My career in private aviation has been incredibly rewarding, and I am excited to continue it at Volato," said Keith Rabin, CFO at Volato. "The company has identified a unique and innovative opportunity in the private aviation industry and a world-class team of professionals to make it happen. I'm honored to be on board and eager to help grow the business."
Prior to working in private aviation, Keith started his career as a management consultant for The Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte Consulting with Fortune 500, private and public sector clients. Keith has a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds an MBA from Columbia University.
For more information, visit https://www.flyvolato.com.
About Volato:
Volato is the modern way to buy and own a private jet, creating a more accessible, sustainable category of private aviation ownership through an innovative business model that reduces costs while increasing the convenience of ownership. Volato focuses on missions of up to four passengers and operates a fleet of bespoke HondaJet Elite aircraft.
PR Contact:
Tori Mattei
tmattei@virgo-pr.com
631.942.5069
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SOURCE Volato | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/private-jet-company-volato-adds-industry-veteran-keith-rabin-chief-financial-officer/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:43Z |
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Wimbledon bans players from Russia and Belarus. Is this wise or fair? Does it set a precedent? Howard Bryant from Meadowlark Media joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine, thanks. Now, this includes some of the top-ranked players in the world, men and women. Is this just what we call virtue signaling these days by Wimbledon - the tennis club saying, we condemn the Russian invasion, and you know what we're going to do in response? We're not going to let Aryna Sabalenka play. That'll show Putin.
BRYANT: Well, it can be seen that way, but it can also be seen as the type of pressure that we say we want sports to apply in using its influence in the world. You can make the argument that the proper course here is to isolate Russia because this war needs to end, and the only way to do that is to isolate it in the most maximum of ways and to have the most prominent people pay some of the price for this and that we don't separate the individual from the country. And we've seen it with some of the team sports where the Russian flag is not held or in the case of Formula 1, where Russian teams are not allowed to compete.
The question that we have here is the precedent that this sets. Clearly, the argument has to be that the World War III-level implications with the United States getting involved, etc., is - it creates an extreme case because there are conflicts all around the world that you can get involved or not get involved in. And we've been told that sports is supposed to be separate from these conflicts, especially when you add the Olympics involved in - the number of times we've talked about China's role, and yet the Games keep going on. So what is happening here is very, very different and does create a precedent. And it's going to be very interesting to see how this is applied going forward.
SIMON: Boycotting a location in a dictatorship with internment camps like, you know, the recent Olympics in Beijing or Sochi, I understand, but - because the event confers recognition and economic reward for a regime. But how are human rights advanced by barring a Russian tennis player who, by the way - like, I looked it up. A lot of Russian tennis stars have lived in California anyway or Florida or Monaco, for a number of reasons.
BRYANT: Well, exactly. And that is the question. The argument, of course, is that someone like Vladimir Putin gets a great deal of prestige from his athletes and uses the athletes as representation of the nation and the nation's vitality and its interests. Now, once again, I understand these arguments. What I - I'm not sure how effective it's going to be or the fairness level of it, but - and also, once again, the precedent of it is that what are we actually saying? And it also suggests that we as the West are always on the right side of issues. The other thing is, too - is tennis itself. Tennis can't get itself together. What does this mean?
Now, we know that the Grand Slams can do whatever they want, but, boy, Scott Simon, if I remember correctly, they all acted in unison against the great threat of Naomi Osaka not wanting to give an interview. But Wimbledon is acting this way. The French Open has said that they are going to let the Russian players play. The United States hasn't taken a stance on this, and neither has the Australian Open. So if you're going to take this really precedent-setting extreme step, what does this mean? I think they should be on the same page. And also what does this mean for the non-Slam events? It really is something that I think hasn't been completely thought through, even though I do understand the reasoning behind it.
SIMON: Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media, thanks so much for being with us, Howard. Talk to you later.
BRYANT: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-23/wimbledon-bans-players-from-russia-and-belarus-from-competing | 2022-05-12T15:12:43Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Major General William Cooley is now the first Air Force general convicted of a crime in a court martial. The two-star general was found guilty this weekend of one count of abuse of sexual contact. He was acquitted on two other counts. Leila Goldstein of member station WYSO has our report. And we should warn you that it includes descriptions of sexual assault.
LEILA GOLDSTEIN, BYLINE: The military judge Colonel Christina Jimenez announced the verdict to the small courtroom Saturday morning at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. The trial revolved around an encounter in 2018, when Major General Cooley was staying at his brother and sister-in-law's house in Albuquerque, N.M. His sister-in-law, the victim in the case, testified that Cooley pinned her against the inside of a car door, kissed her and touched her breast and groin over her clothes without her consent. She also said he yanked her hand and touched it to his crotch. She said the assault on her was like an F5 tornado - coming into her home without her consent, ruining everything in its path. Joshua Kastenberg is a retired Air Force judge advocate and teaches at the University of New Mexico School of Law. He says the case is unusual because the witnesses were family members.
JOSHUA KASTENBERG: It's a rare day that someone's mom testifies against them. And I've prosecuted over 250 cases in the military and in other U.S. courts, and I've been a judge of over 200 cases, and I never saw that in my entire time.
GOLDSTEIN: But beyond that, the case is historic because of the military rank of the person on trial.
KASTENBERG: I have to travel back to the 1950s to find a general that was on trial. And I've seen plenty of cases like this one, but they've usually been, you know, sergeants and captains who've been on trial, not major generals.
GOLDSTEIN: The verdict from the judge was split when it came to the three specifications he was charged with. He was found guilty of kissing the victim without her consent, while he was found not guilty of touching her breast and groin and forcing her to touch his genitals. Cooley faces dismissal from the military and up to seven years in prison. Rachel VanLandingham is retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who teaches at Southwestern Law School. She says the verdict sends a message down through the ranks of the military.
RACHEL VANLANDINGHAM: This case strongly demonstrates that rank in the Air Force is no longer a shield for criminality and that there will no longer be impunity for general officer misconduct - and not just sexual assault, but any type of misconduct.
GOLDSTEIN: The victim says she hopes the world is just a little bit safer as a result of this trial. Her attorney, Ryan Guilds, read a statement from her after the verdict.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RYAN GUILDS: The price for peace in my extended family was my silence, and that price was too high. Doing the right thing, speaking up, telling the truth shouldn't be this hard. Hopefully, it won't be this difficult for the next survivor.
GOLDSTEIN: The sentencing phase will begin on Monday. The victim plans to read a victim impact statement at the hearing. For NPR News, I'm Leila Goldstein in Dayton.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/a-court-martial-ends-with-the-first-conviction-of-an-air-force-general | 2022-05-12T15:12:49Z |
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Private Wealth Systems, a multi-asset class portfolio management and reporting platform uniquely designed for ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals, family offices and private banks, today announced it was recognized in the 2022 Family Wealth Report (FWR) Awards as a finalist for excellence in two categories – Portfolio Management and Consolidating Reporting.
The annual Family Wealth Report Awards program recognizes the most innovative and exceptional firms, teams and individuals serving the family office, family wealth and trusted advisor communities in North America.
"We are pleased to have made the finalist list for both the portfolio management and consolidated reporting categories, both critical technology needs in the wealth management industry," said Craig Pearson, CEO of Private Wealth Systems. "Our portfolio management technology platform is uniquely designed for ultra-high net worth investors, making it ideal for wealth owners and single family offices, as well as multi-family offices that serve UHNW investors. Our family office clients are realizing value from the Private Wealth Systems platform in the areas of greater reporting efficiency, improved data accuracy and better portfolio insights."
In addition to its success working with single- and multi- family offices, Private Wealth Systems has gained market recognition for its ability to serve UHNW individuals and private banks seeking better data accuracy and operating scale.
About Private Wealth Systems
Private Wealth Systems is reimagining the world of ultra-high net worth portfolio management through a cloud-based platform uniquely designed to improve efficiency, accuracy and agility. UHNW individuals, family offices and private banks leverage Private Wealth Systems to transform how they aggregate investment data, validate data accuracy, report on multi-asset class portfolio performance and evolve complex investment portfolios over time. Private Wealth Systems' UHNW portfolio management technology platform provides critical insights investors needs to effectively manage portfolio performance, risk and liquidity – delivering an accurate pulse of the portfolio. Visit privatewealthsystems.com.
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SOURCE Private Wealth Systems | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/private-wealth-systems-recognized-excellence-portfolio-management-consolidated-reporting/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:49Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Aaron Nigel Smith and Andy Furgeson make music for kids - but not just for kids. They call their genre family music and say they write their songs for all generations.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) We got to mix it up, stir it all together. Little (ph) cup by cup, it's well-mixed better (ph). And just one drop can change the whole batter, so don't you stop. Each step matters.
RASCOE: So far, the two artists have had separate careers, Aaron Nigel Smith making music under his own name, and Andy Furgeson under the moniker Red Yarn. Now they've teamed up on a new album that blends their independent sounds of reggae, funk, folk and country. It's called "Smith & Yarn," and they join us now to talk about it. Thanks for being here.
AARON NIGEL SMITH: We're so happy to be here. Thanks for having us.
ANDY FURGESON: Thank you for having us.
RASCOE: So let's start by listening to the first song on the album. This is "Brothers & Sisters."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BROTHERS & SISTERS")
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) We all need another heart to beat in time with voices singing in tune (ph). We're all brothers and sisters. Now, I'll be here for you.
RASCOE: What tone did you want to set with this song for the rest of the album? Aaron, let's start with you.
SMITH: We just wanted to capture the sound of unity, the sound of brotherhood and sisterhood, you know, and what does that look like, what does that sound like sonically? You know, and there was this interest in cross-genre collaboration. So we feel like we did a good job of - with this tune of really setting the tone for the other songs to come.
FURGESON: Yeah, this was also the first song that we wrote together and that we brought to the....
RASCOE: Oh, cool.
FURGESON: ...Brought to the table and that we started recording together. So it was kind of a mission statement for the whole project and kind of touches on a lot of the themes of friendship and unity that we end up carrying on through the whole album.
RASCOE: You have both worked in Portland's family music scene for a while. How did you find your way into making that kind of music?
SMITH: Yeah, I mean, we're intentional. We're really intentional about creating a space for families, you know? And the genre is really known as children's music or popular kindie music. And we're kind of diligently trying to make that transition to it being called family music. You know, we want the families - mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles - to be out in the field dancing, and playing, and singing and enjoying our music together.
FURGESON: And I think for both of us, this really feels like a calling. You know, we both had extensive backgrounds making music for adults and for other audiences as well. But we both work as educators, too. We do a lot of work in the schools in Portland. And, you know, for me personally, like, when I began to combine my music performance career with my work in education, it just felt like such a perfect fit. And I know, having watched Aaron do his work in the community, that it's absolutely a calling for him as well.
RASCOE: Let's listen to another song on the album. You know, this one is called "Make Some Change."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAKE SOME CHANGE")
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) Dust off yourself, and roll up your sleeves. We've got work to do like making changes. Why, man? (ph) Change, man. What's right from wrong? Not true to ages, it's the same stages, hey, justice in stages. Hear me now, chief. We need a relief. Lots of stress and too much debris (ph).
RASCOE: This song was inspired by, you know, the racial justice protests after, you know, the murder of George Floyd. That's a heavy topic for kids. Like, how do you write about heavy topics like making change in a way that's age-appropriate but that doesn't, like, talk down to kids? 'Cause they understand a lot more than we usually give them credit for.
SMITH: Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, the youth that we're working with, a lot of times, they're some of the first to want to make the signs and stand out, even if it's just in front of the school, to demonstrate, you know? So we feel that they're ready and they're hungry to create a better world. They're, like I said, leading us in a lot of the ways with the climate crisis and Black Lives Matter, you know? It's so inspiring to see them take the lead. So I think a lot of the music that we provide for the youth, it may be playing to just the most basic part of their character or personality or needs rather than trying to expand and expand their mind and expand their horizons.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAKE SOME CHANGE")
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) With our ears, with our eyes, we can hear and recognize what is wrong, what is right, what needs change.
RASCOE: Andy, you know, like, is there a different approach to writing songs for kids as opposed to adults? I will say that my 4-year-old came in as I was listening to this album, so she, like, immediately was like, oh, this is for me; I like this.
FURGESON: (Laughter).
RASCOE: And what - like, so - but what is it about a song that draws kids into it?
FURGESON: Yeah. I mean, I think so much of what both Aaron and I do is really written for performance, you know? And so much of what we do is, like, based around movement and connecting our bodies. You know, hopefully, they're gracefully written, but they have actions that you can do within them both physically, but also, like, in a song like "Make Some Change" we're thinking about, like, what are actions that children can take to, you know, stand up and be activists, right? And, like, how can we translate these big ideas into sort of, like, simple instructions and simple actions that even young people can grasp on to and take hold of? And I've got, you know, 5- and an 8-year-old, so they help tell me if a song is going to work or not. And yeah, trying to infuse the songs with imagination and with movement and with, you know, rhythm and with singalongs - those are some of the challenges and fun ways we try to, you know, engage kids even with heavy topics.
RASCOE: And, you know, I want to listen to another song on the album, which is about the pandemic. And it would have some movement, too. It's called "Swing Your Partner."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWING YOUR PARTNER")
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) A long time since we've had a jam. I can't wait to high-five and hug my friends again. One thing I miss more every day is moving to the music with some friends or family. When it's safe to open up again, yeah...
RASCOE: What's really - you know, a lot of kids and people in general can obviously relate to is missing their friends and not being able to, you know, high-five and see their friends and give them a hug during the pandemic. Like, that was really hard. Aaron, what did you want this album to do for the families who listen to it, who are coming out of this hard time?
SMITH: Yeah. I mean, we all need healing. I mean, we have all, as a world, gone through trauma. And so we just really wanted to intentionally give people something joyful, something powerful, something fun. And the song "Swing Your Partner" specifically, you know, we were just envisioning, imagining that day when we're back onstage, you know, again - and which is starting to happen finally now, you know? - and looking out in the crowd and seeing the joy of people just being together, you know, in fellowship and in community.
RASCOE: Aaron Nigel Smith and Andy Furgeson. Their new album is "Smith & Yarn." Thanks so much for being with us.
SMITH: Thanks for having.
FURGESON: It's an honor to be here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWING YOUR PARTNER")
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) Connected here in hope and harmony, yeah. We're all in this together, so grab a hand, and sing with me. Swing our partners round and round.
RASCOE: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Ayesha Rascoe.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWING YOUR PARTNER")
AARON NIGEL SMITH AND RED YARN: (Singing) Swing our partners round and round. Our hearts can be together while we're moving to the sound. Swing our partners round and round and round. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/aaron-nigel-smith-and-andy-furgeson-on-their-new-album-for-children-smith-yarn | 2022-05-12T15:12:56Z |
Only major staffing firm to make it onto DiversityInc's leading assessment of diversity management, earning 21st place
ATLANTA, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Randstad USA has been recognized by DiversityInc as a top 50 company for diversity for the fourth consecutive year, earning 21st place on the celebrated list. As the world's largest staffing and solutions company, Randstad takes seriously its responsibility for supporting diversity, equity and inclusivity in the workforce.
"Belonging is at the center of Randstad's culture, and people are at the heart of our success," said Randstad USA Chief Executive Officer Karen Fichuk. "We're honored to earn a spot once again on the DiversityInc Top 50, which solidifies Randstad's position as an EDI&A trailblazer. I hope at the same time this inspires our peers to continue their actions to advance inclusion and belonging in a meaningful way."
The recognition from DiversityInc comes on the heels of Randstad USA's inaugural Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDI&A) report, released in March 2022. The report illustrates how the firm has consistently exceeded the 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics Professional Services benchmarks for gender and ethnicity inclusion in its workforce, in addition to creating a sustainable impact in local communities.
"Equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility are not just words at Randstad—they are core values that we live by each day," said Randstad USA Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Audra Jenkins. "Being on the DiversityInc Top 50 list reinforces our efforts to become a more dynamically diverse, culturally skilled, and inclusive organization."
Embedded in Randstad's services is a human forward promise, and driving that is a commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce. Important achievements in 2021 include:
- Growing Transcend, a best-in-class skilling program designed to progress social justice by removing barriers and addressing widening divides in both skills and opportunities.
- Helping women survivors of exploitation, homelessness, and human trafficking find a pathway back into society via Randstad's Hire Hope program.
- Advancing Black talent in the workforce through Randstad's partnership with the OneTen initiative, a coalition of companies that aims to place one million individuals from underserved communities into family-sustaining careers over the next 10 years.
- Making significant investments to bolster diversity among suppliers, with tangible impacts on economic growth, job creation, and sustaining families.
The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity ranking is the leading assessment of diversity management in corporate America, assessing performance in six key areas: human capital diversity metrics, leadership accountability, talent programs, workplace practices, supplier diversity, and philanthropy. Randstad USA moved up to 21st place in 2022 from 30th place in 2021. The firm was also included in eight of DiversityInc's Specialty Lists, including being placed in the top five companies for black executives and people with disabilities.
About Randstad USA
Randstad North America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Randstad N.V., the world's largest HR services provider. Driven to become the world's most valued 'working life partner', supporting as many people as possible in realizing their true potential throughout their working life, we provide companies with the high quality, diverse, and agile workforces they need while helping people get rewarding jobs and stay relevant in the ever-changing world of work. In 2021, Randstad had on average 39,530 corporate employees and generated revenue of € 24.6 billion.
Randstad's North American operations comprise 5,700+ associates and a deployed workforce of more than 86,000 in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to staffing and recruitment, Randstad offers outsourcing, consulting and workforce management solutions for generalist and specialist disciplines, including technology, engineering, accounting and finance, clinical and non-clinical healthcare, human resources, legal, life sciences, manufacturing and logistics, office and administration and sales and marketing. Global concepts available to North American client companies include RPO, MSP, integrated talent solutions, payrolling and independent contractor management and career transition services. Learn more at www.randstadusa.com or www.randstad.ca.
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SOURCE Randstad US | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/randstad-usa-recognized-one-diversityincs-top-50-companies-diversity/ | 2022-05-12T15:12:56Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
"We Own This City" - that's the title of a new miniseries on HBO. The we is a corrupt police unit. The city - Baltimore. The story - how damaging that corruption is and how difficult it is to root out.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WE OWN THIS CITY")
WUNMI MOSAKU: (As Nicole Steele) Could there ever be a moment where a police officer performed their job in such a manner that you would agree with a finding that he or she should be fired for abusive behavior or brutality? Could that ever happen in Baltimore?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Certainly.
MOSAKU: (As Nicole Steele) Has it ever happened?
RASCOE: "We Own This City" is based on the book by Justin Fenton, a former crime reporter for The Baltimore Sun, who covered this real story of the city's Gun Trace Task Force. This elite unit was once hailed for its success, bringing guns and drugs off the street. But ultimately, eight of its officers were convicted of racketeering, armed robbery, planting evidence on suspects and selling drugs. Wunmi Mosaku plays a Justice Department lawyer in the series, and she joins me now. Welcome.
MOSAKU: Thank you.
RASCOE: Your character, Nicole Steele, is working on crafting this consent decree following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody. She definitely went through an evolution as she was peeling back more layers and finding out just how dirty and how bad things were in this police department. Like, did you feel that change over the series about what was going down?
MOSAKU: I mean, I definitely felt that change as I was reading and then, you know, popping on my phone to look at, like, Wikipedia and the internet and - like, this was all very new to me. I had started reading that script thinking it was a drama. I hadn't realized it was real until Freddie Gray's name came up.
RASCOE: One of the takeaways from, you know, looking at the series is, like, how corruption within a police department - it affects the entire department, even those who are trying to do the right thing. And then, of course, that abuse - it lessens the trust, obviously, of the public. You grew up in the U.K., and policing is different. Like, did working on this series affect you at all when it comes to your thoughts on policing?
MOSAKU: It definitely affected me. You know, I'm Black in America. My husband is African American. I guess, like, the complicitness of everyone - it's not just the police; it's the whole system. Here, it just - it feels a little more scary because of the militarization of the police. Police officers in the U.K. generally don't have guns, you know? So the jeopardy is a little different. The fear I have is very acute here.
RASCOE: There's a scene later on in the series where your character, Nicole, is talking about her experience but then also talking about her brother, a Black man in America, and what he had been through. And, like, I mean, it's a conversation that's had over and over again, right?
MOSAKU: Over and over again.
RASCOE: And the question is, how do you not be absolutely consumed by it? And it seemed like that's what Nicole was grappling with. I'm a Black woman. I'm trying to deal with this system. I'm trying to make it better, but it's very hard. But how do I not have it consume every part of me?
MOSAKU: I feel like that is the alchemy of humanity and hope, you know? Like, we go through such terror and still have the audacity to hope and dream and fight because what is life, really, without that hope and drive?
RASCOE: That makes sense. That makes sense. I mean, you're playing a lot of Americans. Do you feel like there's something that you feel like they have a certain air about them, you know, us Americans...
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: ...That you think is different than if you were playing someone from the U.K.?
MOSAKU: I do. And I think it's the fearlessness of saying the truth, fighting for the truth and being honest. I feel like, in the U.K., we can be so nice and polite and not actually acknowledge what is really happening, whereas I feel like here, especially within our community, the people are honest. Like, my husband's friends and family - they hold each other accountable.
RASCOE: They're more frank.
MOSAKU: They're frank. And it's all with love. And it scared me. I was raised in a very, like, Nigerian, British household. And, you know, the carpet is lumpy from sweeping everything underneath it, you know what I'm saying? It is lumpy.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yes. Yes.
MOSAKU: And I guess that is an attraction towards being here because I can be honest.
RASCOE: You've done some pretty heavy roles. You have this role. You are, like, in a whole lot of stuff. You are all over the place. You know that, right? You're all over the place. You were in "Lovecraft Country," which was also very heavy, dealing with racism.
MOSAKU: Yeah.
RASCOE: And, like, did you see this for yourself?
MOSAKU: No, I really didn't. To be honest, I didn't even see TV and film in my future. I mean, growing up in the U.K., I didn't see hardly anyone who looked like me, definitely of Nigerian descent. I felt like maybe I would have a career in theater. I went to drama school thinking I want to be the most-demanded Shakespearean actress on the - of the stage.
RASCOE: Wow. That was the goal?
MOSAKU: That was the goal.
RASCOE: I mean, you say you didn't see yourself. I mean, but even in Hollywood, there are not a lot of actresses who look like you and certainly don't look like me or my shape, my size in Hollywood. How have you navigated that?
MOSAKU: You know, I was dealing with that in the U.K., too. I remember someone said like, I don't know if a 17-year-old would look like her. And I was like, well, here's a picture of me at 17, you know?
RASCOE: You've been 17 before.
MOSAKU: Right. Like, you know...
RASCOE: Yes.
MOSAKU: ...And this lack of understanding of all of our shapes and sizes and shades and, you know, hair textures and - I was told once when I was, like, 22 to lose weight. A costume designer said something about my stupid thighs. I was like, wow.
RASCOE: Oh, my God.
MOSAKU: So all I could do was embrace me fully. And my mom told me if I straightened my hair, my hair would all fall out. So I couldn't even - I couldn't do that (laughter).
RASCOE: So you wouldn't do that?
MOSAKU: I wouldn't do that.
RASCOE: So you didn't get a relaxer because you're like, it's going to fall out?
MOSAKU: Yeah, you know? So, I mean, I was just - she was just like, you have to love all of you regardless of what people say, think, expect. And so, you know, I remember from a very young age, I was like - I would do these little self-affirmations in the mirror from like - in the mirror every morning before school.
RASCOE: What were your affirmations?
MOSAKU: I'd say, I love you. I love you, hair. I love you, teeth. I love you, belly. I love you, stretch marks. I love you, everything. I was just there. I would just go from head to toe - I love you.
RASCOE: Oh, that's amazing. That is amazing. I needed to do that. Oh, my.
MOSAKU: Yeah.
RASCOE: I really needed to do that.
MOSAKU: Yeah. It was interesting growing up because representation really does - it does matter. But self-love, self-acceptance, that's really what matters.
RASCOE: Yes, absolutely. Wunmi Mosaku, starring in the new HBO miniseries "We Own This City," which premieres tomorrow - thank you so much for talking with us today.
MOSAKU: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/actress-wunmi-mosaku-discusses-we-own-this-city-and-police-corruption-in-baltimore | 2022-05-12T15:13:02Z |
New platform release further strengthens capabilities to prevent brand abuse, detect compromised credentials, visualize and prioritize threats, and defend attack surfaces
BOSTON, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recorded Future, the world's largest intelligence company, today announced a major new release of its cloud-based Intelligence Platform with new capabilities for exposing and remediating threats to organizations' brands, identities, and attack surfaces.
Threats continue to accelerate and converge in today's digital-first world, and adversaries are taking advantage, infiltrating weak targets with cyber, physical, disinformation, and even kinetic attacks. With the latest release of its Intelligence Platform, Recorded Future expands on the most comprehensive coverage of intelligence across adversaries, their infrastructure, and targets, giving clients the visibility they need to take decisive action to disrupt adversaries.
"Staying a step ahead of state-sponsored and criminal threat actors has never been more challenging. With Recorded Future's latest release, organizations have powerful new tools to prevent brand abuse, detect compromised credentials, visualize and prioritize threats, and defend attack surfaces." – Craig Adams, Chief Product & Engineering Officer, Recorded Future
Real-Time, Internet-Wide Monitoring of Brand Threats
Only Recorded Future Brand Intelligence uses mass-scale machine learning to detect threats across the internet to a brand's logo, typo-squats, and malicious domains. Now, organizations are able to monitor past and current threats in real time with new functionality that surfaces threat details and provides playbooks for validating and responding to findings. Also added is internet-scale logo abuse detection with character recognition to initiate takedowns anywhere on the internet.
Going Beyond Multi-Factor Authentication
With over 10 billion identities and enhanced coverage across sources such as malware logs, data leaks, and credential harvesting, Recorded Future Identity Intelligence helps to detect compromised identities in real time, providing an extra layer of defense beyond multi-factor authentication. In addition, Identity Intelligence boosts the effectiveness of Identity Access Management (IAM) solutions through integrations that infuse intelligence into existing processes and workflows.
Protecting an Expanding Attack Surface
Proactive attack surface management is vital as cloud migration increasingly exposes organizations to a new and more complex attack surface. Recorded Future Attack Surface Intelligence provides a unified view of external infrastructure, prioritizing the riskiest assets for remediation based on vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and out-of-policy assets, and reduces an organization's attack surface.
Visualizing Threats Targeting Organizations and Governments
With Recorded Future Threat Intelligence, organizations can interactively prioritize threats and proactively hunt adversaries before they become a target. Recorded Future prioritizes the threat actors and TTPs specific to each organization; provides insight into the attack lifecycle and attacker behaviors aligned to the MITRE heatmap; and provides automatic downloads for YARA and Sigma rules based on emerging threats, enabling security teams to take immediate action.
Request a demo of the Recorded Future Intelligence Platform at:
https://go.recordedfuture.com/demo
About Recorded Future
Recorded Future is the world's largest intelligence company. Recorded Future's cloud-based Intelligence Platform provides the most complete coverage across adversaries, infrastructure, and targets. By combining persistent and pervasive automated data collection and analytics with human analysis, Recorded Future provides real-time visibility into the vast digital landscape and empowers clients to take proactive action to disrupt adversaries and keep their people, systems, and infrastructure safe. Headquartered in Boston with offices and employees around the world, Recorded Future works with more than 1,400 businesses and government organizations across more than 60 countries. Learn more at recordedfuture.com.
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SOURCE Recorded Future | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/recorded-future-arms-defenders-with-most-complete-intelligence-purpose-built-action/ | 2022-05-12T15:13:03Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Crude oil prices are down more than $20 from their peak last month. President Biden has tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and reopened oil leases on public land, and yet gas prices remain stubbornly high. So then where's this stubbornness coming from? We're going to talk petroleum now with Ben Storrow, an energy reporter for E&E News. Ben, thanks for joining us.
BEN STORROW: Thanks for having me.
RASCOE: So a couple weeks ago, Congress called oil executives to testify about prices. And there were accusations about price gouging and profit hoarding from the lawmakers, including Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DIANA DEGETTE: The American people, who we represent, provide the industry with more than $30 billion a year in subsidies while the oil and gas companies report record-high profits and while American families are forced to pay record-high prices at the pump.
RASCOE: Ben, is that an accurate statement about profits and about subsidies?
STORROW: Do they receive subsidies? Yes, they absolutely do.
RASCOE: Well, they say they - when I covered the oil industry, they said they did not (laughter). That's their argument.
STORROW: I mean, they...
RASCOE: But, of course, they receive tax breaks, right?
STORROW: Right, right. So, I mean, it all depends - what is your definition of a subsidy? But I would say that the political narrative around oil prices is really detached from economic reality. For the Democrats, we're hearing about Putin's price hike and price gouging. From the Republicans, we're hearing about Keystone XL and public lands drilling. Those are really secondary factors, at best, for why Americans are paying more for gas today.
RASCOE: So what is driving the price of gasoline for people?
STORROW: In a word, it's COVID. There was a day early in 2020 when oil prices went negative.
RASCOE: I remember that.
STORROW: The oil companies essentially slashed their drilling budgets, they lay down their drilling rigs and the drilling teams dispersed. But then, you know, oil demand came back really pretty quickly, to the point where, today, there's labor shortages. You know, one of the most common jobs in the oil field is truck driving. Well, who's hiring truck drivers? Amazon. You got to get those guys back now. And then on top of all of this, you throw the Ukraine war into the mix.
RASCOE: So this past week was the fifth in a row that U.S. energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs. Does that mean that supply is going to start, you know, catching up with demand?
STORROW: You know, one of the things that's been really interesting about this is that normally when you see prices where they are, that number - that rig count number would shoot up pretty quick. And it's been going up slowly. And so the question has been, why? The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank did a survey of oil and gas producers last month, and 60% of them said the reason was capital discipline, which is to say Wall Street doesn't want them going out there and drilling a million wells and flooding the market with oil because that's just going to taint the business.
RASCOE: You know, I mean, is it a bit of, like, the eye of the beholder? You have oil companies calling it capital discipline. But Diana DeGette - Congresswoman Diana DeGette calls it gouging the consumer.
STORROW: I mean, to be totally truthful, I was wondering the same thing. And I asked some people about it with a number of different viewpoints on the oil industry. And, you know, in general, the answer that I got was, no. What's happened with oil and, really, as an industry, one of its big long-term challenges is that two years ago, prices were negative, and today, they're over a hundred dollars. And one of the reasons why oil has become so fundamental to our life is because it's been stable. And these big fluctuations in price - they introduce a lot of risk into investment decisions. The analysts that I talked to said that it wasn't so much gouging because it's a very risky business.
RASCOE: It seems like the fundamental thing is that what is good for the oil business is not necessarily good for the energy consumers. And that seems to be the conflict that continues to happen. You know, I mentioned earlier that the Biden administration tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and they're going to restart oil lease sales on public lands. Is there anything else that the government can do to help relieve high gas prices?
STORROW: In the short term, there's really not a lot they can do. And, I mean, those releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - you know, those were coordinated with a number of other countries around the world - amounts to about 1 million barrels a day. The global oil market is a hundred million barrels a day. It's a drop in the bucket. And there's not a lot that the administration can do in the short term.
The interesting question for the Biden administration is, can they use this moment to try to prepare for future crises, and can they drive more investment in electric vehicles or public transportation, things like that - things that might sort of reduce that demand side in the future so that Americans are not really subjected to these really volatile swings in oil price?
RASCOE: That's Ben Storrow of E&E News. Ben, thanks for joining us.
STORROW: Thank you for having me. This is great. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/crude-oil-is-down-more-than-20-from-last-month-but-prices-at-the-pump-remain-high | 2022-05-12T15:13:08Z |
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recruitment marketplaces, battered two years ago by the pandemic, are growing from last year's "Big Bounce Back" into a "Great Move Forward," finding new revenue models and technology to consolidate their growth.
The 2022 Recruitment Marketplace Annual from the AIM Group shows how artificial intelligence, applicant tracking systems, CVs and resumes, and programmatic advertising factor into the industry's evolving terrain.
"It's been an astonishing three years for recruitment marketplaces," said Peter M. Zollman of the AIM Group. "The speed of change — and new business models like programmatic, cost-per-hire and others — are having a profound impact on companies helping connect people with jobs."
The 145-page report focuses on the world's biggest recruitment marketplaces: Indeed.com, LinkedIn, Seek (Australia), 58.com (China), Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, Craigslist and more. It covers three "companies to watch," College Recruiter, which has developed global
programmatic advertising; Talk'n'Job, an inexpensive tool for job applications on mobile phones, and ViecLamTot.com, a blue-collar site in Vietnam.
The report ranks the world's Top 15 recruitment marketplaces by revenue and the Top 15 freelance marketplaces. It also lists the global Top 50 marketplaces by traffic, and the Top 3 marketplaces in 65 countries from A to Z (Argentina to Zimbabwe).
The $1,495 report is sold at AIMGroup.com, where a free preview is available.
"Job boards aren't just job boards any more, and they can't be," said Zollman. "They have to offer a wide range of products and services — in some cases, more like a staffing agency than an old matching-algorithms site."
The report examines Facebook's pullback from job listings; Google's Cloud Jobs API; JobIndex in Denmark, the world's first job aggregator, and the growing use of AI in hiring.
Note to editors: Free copies are available for coverage by emailing info@aimgroup.com. AIM Group founding principal Peter M. Zollman is available for interviews at peterz@aimgroup.com, 1-407-788-2780.
The AIM Group provides global business intelligence for automotive, real estate, recruitment and horizontal marketplaces and classified advertising sites. We work at senior levels with marketplace companies, investors and vendors on strategic and operational opportunities and challenges. We're a global team of about 40 experts who understand the industry in greater depth than anyone else. We publish AIM Group Marketplaces Report and run leading global conferences. Founded in 1998, the AIM Group is based near Orlando, Fla.
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SOURCE AIM Group | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/recruitment-marketplaces-great-resignation-great-move-forward/ | 2022-05-12T15:13:10Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Many cities across the country have faced an increase in gun violence in recent years, especially since the start of the COVID pandemic. That's true in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, where, on Friday, a shooter fired multiple rounds from a high-powered weapon at and around a school close to pickup time, wounding four people and sending panicked parents, students, nearby residents and pedestrians running for cover. The incident provoked a massive law enforcement response and national news coverage before the suspected gunman was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours later. Remarkably, no one other than the shooter was killed, but it was just one of several episodes of gun violence that same day in the District of Columbia and around the nation.
We called the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, to hear her thoughts about all this, and she is with us now. Mayor Bowser, thank you so much for joining us.
MURIEL BOWSER: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: So you met with parents of kids who gathered at a library while their kids were kept under lockdown at the school that was at the epicenter of Friday's shooting in Washington. You said on the news that night and you later said in a letter to constituents that, you know, you had to look into the eyes of parents who were terrified, thinking about what might have happened. Do you mind sharing - like, what were some of those conversations like?
BOWSER: Well, it was a striking and gut-wrenching moment as I walked with the police along Connecticut Avenue where parents had come, just sitting on street corners waiting to get news. And as I updated them, I could see the sheer terror and panic in their eyes, and it reminded me of all the other school shooting incidents that we've seen around the country. And it made me sad that since babies were shot and killed at Sandy Hook or since high school students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas even highlighted the shooting violence in our country to a very high level, we still haven't had meaningful change. Here's the truth. We had a 23-year-old in an apartment that had bought weapons of war legally in the state of Virginia and brought those guns to D.C. to terrorize our community.
MARTIN: Talk a little bit more about that. I mean, obviously, you know, Washington, D.C., is surrounded by other jurisdictions with different laws. I mean, the district has very strict gun laws, or at least it did until some recent Supreme Court decisions made it substantially easier for people to buy and obtain weapons in the city. But still, it's pretty hard in the city to get weapons, but it's, as you noted, near a jurisdiction where the laws are different. What's the relevance of that to people who may not understand what that means?
BOWSER: Well, I think there are - there's a lot of things, low-hanging fruit, that we have to do federally and among the states to address easy access to guns. And we know there's so much illegal trafficking of guns happening, too. And now we have the increased problem of ghost gun production. So we're happy to see the administration addressing ghost guns, but we have just a proliferation of guns.
MARTIN: So last year, municipalities like D.C. received federal funds from the American Rescue Plan. Cities and states used the funds in a variety of ways. Your administration put some of those resources into policing, creating the Building Blocks program. You know, as briefly as you can, could you just give us some ideas, or just could you just describe what this program is? And what's it supposed to do? How is this supposed to contribute to helping with this problem?
BOWSER: Its aim is to identify the people and places that are contributing to the most violence. What we know is that there are about 450 blocks in D.C. where over 80% of the violence happens. So really focusing environmentally on those places is important and - in terms of all of our law enforcement efforts. The people who are contributing to the most gun violence are also a relatively small number of people. We have identified about 200 people right now - and that number changes week to week - that we believe that, with intent services, if we can get them on a more productive path, that we will improve safety not just for them but their families and associates, thereby making the community safer.
MARTIN: Could you just talk a little bit more about that? What does that mean? I mean, does that mean law enforcement reaching out to this particular group of people? Does it mean social workers reaching out to this particular group of people? How does it work?
BOWSER: It means both. It means that law enforcement certainly is aware that they contribute to a lot of violence. It may mean that they're already under a parole or probation supervision so that aspect of law enforcement monitoring is happening. But it also means that they have intent services, so they'll have a violence interrupter, a caseworker. They will be offered mental health support. And we will also identify their family members and associates that need similar services.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, mayor, the shooting near that school on Friday provoked a massive law enforcement response, as we said earlier. But there were other shootings that day in the city that didn't get as much attention from law enforcement or, frankly, the media. There was one incident where three men were shot on one street. There was another where a man in a wheelchair was shot. No one was killed in those incidents, thankfully, either. There was a homicide in the city early Saturday morning. I'm sure it won't come as a shock to you that there are some feelings about what is seen as a different response to something happening in a predominantly white area versus something happening in a predominantly Black area. You can see this already, this response on Twitter and on, you know, neighborhood chat boards, for example. You know, even recognizing that the weapons in that shooting near the school - I mean, bullets were found nearly a mile away. Given the velocity, given the caliber of the weapons involved, that could have been a horrendous mass-casualty incident. Thankfully, it wasn't. But nevertheless, there are feelings about this. And it seems that, you know, some constituents are saying it seems like there's a different tolerance for violence depending on where it is. I mean, how do you respond to that?
BOWSER: Michel, I think that's a very cynical question or view, and it's sadly a reflection of how polarized our political times are. There was a sniper shooting in the direction of a school. If a sniper had been shooting at any other place in the District of Columbia in the direction of the school and was at large, it would have had the same response. So I'm not a law enforcement official, but there are different law enforcement responses for different activities. An at-large sniper using high-powered weapons is going to provoke that type of response.
MARTIN: Muriel Bowser is the mayor of Washington, D.C. Madam Mayor, thanks so much for speaking with us today.
BOWSER: Thank you. Thanks, Michel.
(SOUNDBITE OF KASPAHAUSER'S "IT'S ALL GOOD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/d-c-mayor-muriel-bowser-talks-about-a-multipronged-approach-to-curb-gun-violence | 2022-05-12T15:13:14Z |
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ReHeva Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical startup helping people live longer and healthier with cancer through botanically-derived complex drugs, is announcing the first patient enrolled and dosed in the Phase I Safety Trial for the company's drug, RH324. This Trial is being conducted in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients at University Hospitals in Cleveland.
"At ReHeva, we do not accept that unwanted side effects and brief remission periods are an inevitable part of cancer treatment. Our transformative approach targeting multiple tissues and mechanisms of action through botanically-derived agents addresses an unmet need and opportunity to develop drugs that treat major diseases with long term safety, efficacy, and affordability," said Dr. Zeenia Kaul, CEO, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ReHeva. "The first patients enrolled in our Phase I Safety Trial is an exciting step in making our mission a reality."
This clinical study addresses the safety and tolerability of three dose levels of RH324 in patients with advanced NSCLC who take RH324 twice daily for 28 days. The study should be completed by end of 2022.
Founded in 2016 by Kaul, ReHeva is built on more than 20 years of pre-clinical research and development and supported by studies published in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals.
ReHeva received FDA Investigational New Drug allowance (IND) in 2018 to conduct Phase I Safety Study in advanced NSCLC patients. ReHeva's approach relies on the multifaceted and broad-spectrum benefits of RH324, allowing it to have a positive effect on a multitude of pathways involved in cancer.
A biopharmaceutical startup, ReHeva has raised more than $4 million in pre-Series A funding. Learn more at ReHevaBiosciences.com
About RH324
RH324 is an investigational new drug manufactured by ReHeva Biosciences. The botanical drug substance retains a "full spectrum" of the plant's natural constituents: proteins, amino acids, various fatty acids, carbohydrates, and vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. RH324 is being developed in accordance with the FDA Guidance for Industry for Botanical Drug Products (Chemistry June 2004/revised Dec 2016).
About ReHeva Biosciences
Founded in 2016, ReHeva Biosciences is a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing naturally occurring complex drugs to help people live longer and healthier with cancer. ReHeva is committed to finding the ideal botanical raw material and drug development processes through rigorous and advanced agriculture practices.
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SOURCE ReHeva Biosciences | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/reheva-biosciences-announces-first-patient-enrolled-rh324-phase-i-safety-trial/ | 2022-05-12T15:13:16Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Today is Easter Sunday for millions of Orthodox Christians. The holiday comes at a time of war for the faithful of Ukraine defending their homes against Russia's invasion. But as NPR's Brian Mann reports, some are still finding time for joy and tradition.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: The city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine is a rough place these days - sandbagged barricades, people evacuating because of the Russian shelling. Men with assault rifles ride past in trucks. But when I glance into a little shop on a street corner, I see row after row of bright colored cakes.
TATIANA KRAVCHENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MANN: That's Tatiana Kravchenko. She explains through my interpreter and fellow journalist, Iryna Matviyishyn, that these are Easter breads decorated in a special way because of the war.
KRAVCHENKO: "This Easter bread is called Ukrayena (ph), Ukraine. We are decorating it with this yellow cream, and then we put macarons on it, blue macarons."
MANN: Those, of course, are the colors of Ukraine's flag. Tatiana also wears yellow and blue ribbons woven in her hair.
KRAVCHENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
IRYNA MATVIYISHYN: "These are patriotic ribbons. We are trying to show that we are Ukrainians. We are in our own land. All this brought us together even more."
MANN: Tatiana says all these Easter breads were made for Ukrainian soldiers serving on the front lines outside Mykolaiv for delivery Sunday morning. She still has a lot of work to do to make that happen. But Tatiana urges me and Iryna to sit and try a piece of bread. So we unwrap the decorative paper.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAPER RUSTLING)
MANN: Mmm. Little sweet macaron on top.
KRAVCHENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MANN: Tatiana tells us these Easter breads have special meaning this year.
MATVIYISHYN: "This Easter bread was blessed yesterday by our priest. So we hope we get more blessing this Easter and that our victory is getting closer."
MANN: The people here in Mykolaiv are under incredible strain - attacked nightly by Russia, no running water, electricity failing constantly. But before we know it, Tatiana is insisting we stay for a full meal. She puts big pieces of fried potato bread on the table and bowls of hot soup.
MATVIYISHYN: You can try the borscht that they cooked for the military men. And she wants you to try the green borscht.
MANN: It's delicious. And this hospitality found at the edge of war feels powerful. I asked Tatiana why she hasn't evacuated with so many of the other women of Mykolaiv. She makes a fierce face.
KRAVCHENKO: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MATVIYISHYN: "We will stay here till our victory."
MANN: So as this Russian assault continues, there is still celebration in Ukraine on this Orthodox Easter Sunday and worship and also defiance. With Iryna Matviyishyn, I'm Brian Mann, NPR News, Mykolaiv.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/finding-joy-on-easter-sunday-in-ukraine | 2022-05-12T15:13:20Z |
Ashley Graham and Knix collaborate on their first collection.
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Knix is excited to announce its first style icon collaboration with their Global Brand Ambassador, supermodel and entrepreneur Ashley Graham, for their sexiest collection yet!
The campaign centers around showing off our sexual side as it isn't something many people get to see, but it's just as much part of us as the side we show the world. This collection celebrates the importance of embracing your sensuality through self-love and living true to Knix's core mission of allowing all people to live a life that is unapologetically free; free in your body, free in your choices and free to reveal your - "self" to the world.
Knix and Ashley Graham continue to build on their previous narrative that all women deserve to be celebrated and given the space and time to reveal themselves and show their sexual side regardless of their life stage, body type, career, background or ability. This collection was inspired by Ashley Graham's admiration for the art of various bodies and is accompanied by the reliability and comfort of Knix. This collection will shed light on Knix's impact mission to be industry advocates and changemakers and challenge the systemic and normative ideas around what and who is considered sexy. The campaign reminds us that embracing ourselves and celebrating our bodies is always sexy.
To showcase this new collaboration, Knix and Ashley Graham put out a casting call to Ashley's audience to model alongside her in New York City. The casting call winners include a group of women with incredibly unique stories: Carly Compton, Korrina Estrada, Tatiana Plascencia, Arielle Estoria and Indi Robinson.
"We wanted this photoshoot to be more than your typical lingerie photoshoot," says Ashley Graham. "It was important to me to cast women with real stories in this campaign. I wanted the women in this photoshoot to represent what this collection is truly about: being empowered in your body and yourself."
The collection launches May 19th, 2022 and includes a variety of products in a new mesh fabric with cheeky peeks of sheerness as well as luxurious Micro Modal fabric. Both collections include a variety of bras, underwear and bodysuits. The Mesh collection is available in black, peony and ginger cookie, and the Micro Modal collection is available in peony, daylight, cloud and black.
To view the Knix x Ashley Graham collection please click here
Contact Information:
Knix Media Relations - Press@knix.com
About Knix
Knix is a direct-to-consumer intimates and apparel brand. Through innovative products and a community-first approach, Knix is on a mission to empower people everywhere to live unapologetically free. Every product, campaign and image that Knix puts into the world is tied to this mission that has been embedded in the company's DNA since day one. Founded in 2013, by Joanna Griffiths, Knix is one of the fastest growing DTC brands in North America and is globally recognized as an innovator and disrupter within the apparel space.
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SOURCE Knix | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/reveal-your-self/ | 2022-05-12T15:13:23Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's election day in France. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron is facing far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff vote today. It's a repeat of their match-up five years ago with some notable differences this time around. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley is at a polling station in Paris and joins us now.
Eleanor, thanks for being with us.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: It's great to be with you, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So what are voters telling you there in Paris?
BEARDSLEY: Well, I'm in the courtyard of an elementary school here, and I've been talking to voters. There's not huge lines, but people are steadily streaming in. Most of the people I'm talking to are voting for Macron either out of conviction or to block Marine Le Pen. In fact, there's a long tradition in France; it's called building a damn - faire barrage - against the far right. That means you could cross over and vote for another party candidate just to block them. It's broken down a little bit this year because many people don't want to see five more years of Macron either. But I just spoke with a 30-year-old voter, David (ph), who - he just voted for Macron. He doesn't want his work colleagues knowing his politics, so he asked me not to use his last name, but here he is.
DAVID: It's not that I'm fully for Emmanuel Macron, but I think - but he's more of the French and France than Marine Le Pen. We have to show that she's not going to be the president. We have to demonstrate that there will be a gap and not going to be tight.
BEARDSLEY: So I think that how close this race is, that's key to this race, how close the polls will be at the end.
RASCOE: So what are the latest polls saying about where things stand with this race?
BEARDSLEY: Well, right now, Macron has anywhere from 10 to 14 points' lead over Le Pen from 57% or 55% of the vote, which sounds significant. But five years ago, he beat Le Pen with 30 points. And things are different this time around. Just, first of all, look at him. He's not seen as this young genius centrist who's come to unite the country. He has a record now. Many people say he's been a president of the rich, and he's an ultracapitalist, and he's arrogant and disdainful of the little man. Working-class voters say he does not have their best interests at heart.
She has moderated and softened her image and that of her party. And that was - she was helped by a ultra-far-right candidate who was knocked out in the first round. He did all the anti-immigrant and xenophobic talking, so she ran a very good grassroots campaign, say critics, on the economy, cost-of-living issues. And those are the No. 1 issues in France today. And he barely campaigned at all, Macron, only, like, the last two weeks before this second-round vote.
RASCOE: So how different would France be if Le Pen wins?
BEARDSLEY: Oh, very, very different - she's a nationalist populist. She doesn't advocate for leaving the EU anymore because after Brexit, the French don't want to leave. But analysts say her policies are Frexit in disguise. Germany and France, together, they lead the EU. That wouldn't be happening anymore. France would probably be opting out of EU policies, turning inward. You know, France's alliances would change. The U.S. would maybe not be such a close ally with France. She has said that she wants to re-examine the U.S. alliance. Maybe France will be closer to Hungary and even Russia.
The bottom line is, this election, Macron is supposed to win. He's expected to. But the whole key is going to be how close it is. And analysts say it's going to be a lot closer than last time. He will no longer have that same mandate. It'll be much weaker. He's going to have to compromise and consult with others. And analysts say that's not something Macron's really good at. He likes to decide alone.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Eleanor, thank you so much.
BEARDSLEY: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/france-votes-today-between-incumbent-president-macron-or-populist-candidate-le-pen | 2022-05-12T15:13:26Z |
Key NorthStar Executives to Obtain Leadership Positions Within Revere
MIAMI, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthStar Investment Banking, a globally active boutique investment bank, announced today that the Company has been acquired by Revere Securities, a premier Wall Street investment banking firm. The new deal will allow NorthStar to offer its clients access to a larger organization, under the umbrella of Revere, which can handle bigger transactions at a global scale, all with the same exceptional client service and boutique approach they've grown accustomed to.
This marks the third company Managing Director Julien Meyer has successfully exited and he will be joining the Revere team as an Executive Director of Investment Banking. Other key NorthStar executives joining Revere include James Sackey, who will join as Vice President of Investment Banking and Matthew Davis, as a Senior Analyst.
"Since our inception nearly five years ago, we've been steadfast on developing something scalable while working with the best-in-class investment banking, advisory and law firms to provide high caliber due diligence and transaction services to our clients made up of entrepreneurs and mid-level business," said Meyer. "By partnering with Revere, we look forward to taking the NorthStar services to the next level while also having the opportunity to grow alongside such a powerhouse team and operation. We couldn't be happier to join Revere at such an exciting time for both our firms."
"As Revere expects to continue our rapid expansion, we have been actively looking to bolster our execution team and NorthStar fits the bill. Our team has had a close relationship with the team and have tracked them closely over the past three years as they've closed nearly a half billion dollars in transaction value. We welcome Julien and his team and are thrilled to bring them on as assets to our banking group here at Revere," said Arthur DeFilippo Banking Principle.
Throughout his career, Meyer has launched a top-ranked podcast "Startup Financial News" that yielded more than 20,000 subscribers at its peak, wrote and published the book "First Money In", and has been featured in numerous nationally recognized media outlets including Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, Ascent, Orlando Business Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, and more.
For more information about Revere Securities LLC, visit https://www.reveresecurities.com/. For more information on NorthStar Investment Banking, visit https://northstarib.com/.
About NorthStar Investment Banking
NorthStar is a globally active boutique investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions, access to capital, and managing company sales and valuations. The company is on a mission to offer transparent pricing, upfront disclosures, easy-to-understand engagements, and the fact that M&A has the power to positively change organizations and lives. NorthStar specializes in business formation, capital raises, growth through acquisitions, and M&A services for companies across the globe.
About Revere Securities LLC
Revere Securities is a global broker-dealer firm providing strategic and financial support to institutional investors, hedge funds, and individual investors. The firm's professionals are involved in all components of the sales and trading process and include extensive compliance and operational personnel. In addition, Revere Securities LLC provides differentiated corporate access, helping institutional clients gain access to management as a component of their investment process. The firm has industry focused sales specialists who possess "buy-side" experience; therefore, providing a sound, alternate perspective, to the investment process.
Media Contacts:
Julien Meyer
845-548-7279
julien@northstarib.com
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SOURCE Revere Securities LLC | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/revere-securities-llc-announces-acquisition-northstar-investment-banking/ | 2022-05-12T15:13:30Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Emmanuel Macron has won the French presidential election tonight with an estimated 58% of the vote. That's higher than expected but a slimmer margin than the last time he faced off against Marine Le Pen and her far-right party. We're going to go now to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris, who's been following events and was at Macron's victory celebration. Eleanor, thanks so much for being here.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Great to be with you, Michel.
MARTIN: As we said that these results are better than had been predicted for Macron. What's the mood there in Paris?
BEARDSLEY: Well, I would say joy and relief. You know, they have this funny tradition here in France that they announce the winner on the nightly news at exactly 8:00. And there's this countdown, and then the winner's face pops up on the TV screen. So I was under the Eiffel Tower where Macron supporters and his campaign were, and there were giant TV screens everywhere, people waving flags - thousands of people - and everyone just kind of counted down together. And let me let you hear some of that sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Speaking French).
(CHEERING)
BEARDSLEY: So then everyone just exploded in joy as Macron's face popped up, you know, with 58.2% next to it, compared with Le Pen's roughly 42%. People were happy but also very relieved because this was a hard-fought race, and Marine Le Pen brought her far-right party closer than it's ever been to taking power.
MARTIN: Yes. And as you were telling us, the margin is slimmer than the last time he beat her five years ago with 10 more points. I mean, that was 66% of the vote. What's changed?
BEARDSLEY: Well, you know, this year there wasn't as much enthusiasm for him. He wasn't this new maverick politician anymore. He has many detractors. Working-class and left-wing voters feel particularly betrayed by him. And she's changed her image. She's moderated her tone. She's drawn new crowds. Here she is in her concession speech tonight.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
MARINE LA PEN: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: She called it a stunning victory because her party actually got more than 42% of the vote. And it is huge for her. The populist right has never been so popular. And many people who voted for Macron today actually voted against her to try to block her. And his supporters know that.
MARTIN: So does this suggest that Macron will have to change? I mean, how is he going to govern this time around?
BEARDSLEY: Yeah. I mean, he's been accused of being just arrogant and aloof and just like a king, you know? And analysts say his mandate and his legitimacy are a lot weaker this time around. And he's going to have to govern differently in consultation, you know, not alone from high up. He's going to have to compromise. And, you know, many analysts say he's not really good at that. Macron came on stage tonight under the Eiffel Tower, and here he is speaking to the crowd.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: So he acknowledged. He said, I know that many of you here tonight did not vote for me and my ideas, but you just did it to block the far right. So I think he knows that things are different this time around, and people are hoping that he might be a little more humble. So we'll see.
MARTIN: That was NPR's Eleanor Beardsley from Paris. Eleanor, thank you so much.
BEARDSLEY: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/french-president-macron-is-staying-in-power-with-sundays-win | 2022-05-12T15:13:32Z |
Global scent marketing company introduces new air purification technology by partnering with clean air leaders.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ScentAir®, the global leader in scent marketing, has partnered with HealthWay® to add a new air purification technology to its innovative line of indoor air quality systems, combining HealthWay's leading, patented technology with ScentAir's world-class service.
Since the launch of its air purification line in 2020, ScentAir has committed to strategic partnerships with indoor air quality leaders. With the help of elite partners, ScentAir aims to give customers access to best-in-class air purification technology with the advantage of ScentAir's unparalleled service. The addition of HealthWay's technology brings a third air purification category to the ScentAir line—air filtration.
Featuring HealthWay's patented DFS (Disinfecting Filtration System) technology, ScentAir's new systems, the DFS Compact and DFS Ultrafine, provide safe and clean experiences in high-traffic spaces. More importantly, the DFS Compact and DFS Ultrafine are totally portable in-room solutions. Rated to cover 500 and 1,200 Sq.Ft. respectively, the systems make it easy to provide pure air on demand.
Individually tested to guarantee better than HEPA efficiency, DFS technology has been proven to capture 99.99% of particles down to 0.007 microns, including ultrafine particles and COVID-19 sized viruses. This technology is currently used in diverse environments including hospitals, schools, performance halls, restaurants and more.
About the partnership with HealthWay, ScentAir CEO Brian Edwards said:
"HealthWay is at the center of American innovation today. This long-term partnership aligns us with another leading global air purification brand, allowing us to deliver best-in-class air filtration systems for our clients. We continue to identify innovative partnerships that enable us to maintain our position as a global scent and air quality leader. Our partnership with HealthWay is an excellent way to bolster our product lineup with best-in-class DFS technology. We are delighted to be aligned with HealthWay and excited to evolve our long-term partnership."
About ScentAir:
ScentAir Technologies, LLC., privately held and founded in 1994, provides best-in-class ambient scent marketing solutions to many of the world's most recognized brands. As the global leader in olfactory marketing, the Company creates memorable impressions for both small businesses and global enterprises, elevating their customer experience through the power of scent. Based in Charlotte, NC, USA, and corporate offices in the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. The Company's 425+ global team members service customers in 119 countries through its dedicated global supply chain and manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, and Asia. ScentAir is committed to the creation of customized scent strategies that boost clients' brand sentiments, customer loyalty, and sales. To learn more, go to ScentAir.com.
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AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The devastating human cost of Russia's war in Ukraine fills headlines and news stories every day. Back in early March, though, hundreds of international law and environment experts signed an open letter warning of the risks the conflict posed to the environment in Ukraine and Europe. Carroll Muffett is one of its lead authors. He's president and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law, and he joins us now to talk about how this dimension of the war is playing out.
Welcome.
CARROLL MUFFETT: Thank you for having me.
RASCOE: So Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago. What do we know about the environmental impacts of the conflict since then?
MUFFETT: One of the important things to understand about the environmental consequences of war is that they are human consequences in another form. And they are often difficult to discern, and they can be very long-lasting. It's really important to recognize that eastern Ukraine, where much of the conflict has occurred, is highly industrialized. This means that there are petroleum refineries and chemical plants, and as we've seen too clearly, Ukraine has nuclear installations around the country. And so the risks are enormous.
We've seen fires at a nuclear facility. We've seen attacks and missiles striking ammonia pipelines and chemical plants, causing releases of highly toxic substances. Even beyond this, there are enormous impacts on agricultural lands as lands are mined, as unexploded ordnance and munitions accumulates on the cropland. And we've even seen attacks and military operations in wildlife refuges and protected areas.
RASCOE: The thing about war is that it's very difficult to get information. So are these instances being tracked?
MUFFETT: Some nonprofit efforts have been undertaken to track that, but it's extraordinarily difficult. It's important to recognize that one of the environmental consequences of war is that the people who are protecting land, who are managing water safety infrastructure are unable to do their jobs, or they're doing it in the midst of live-fire zones. Often what we find is, in the wake of the war, that's when we begin to count the true environmental cost of the operations.
RASCOE: You mention, obviously, the nuclear reactors, which is a huge concern. Is that the biggest area of concern when it comes to the environment?
MUFFETT: If a disaster were to occur at one of the 15 active reactors, you could have impacts that not only affected the local area and Ukraine as a whole but the wider European region. And as we saw with the Chernobyl disaster, these impacts can last years to decades. And that speaks to one of the other, you know, indirect consequences of this invasion - is that if the U.S. and Europe, you know, respond to Russia's invasion by simply replacing Russian oil and gas supplies with new infrastructure to import oil and gas from other places, what we could see is that this has a long-term impact on the global response to climate change.
RASCOE: In a time of war, obviously, the focus is on people hiding in bomb shelters, running for their lives. So many people are losing their lives. Why do you feel it's important to focus on the environment? I guess from what you said before, you feel like this is also a part of the human damage.
MUFFETT: It is absolutely part of the human damage. And one way to look at it is that the environmental consequences of war are simply consequences in human impacts of war that can continue long after the shells have stopped exploding, long after the bullets and the guns have ceased. And so when we talk about the environmental consequences of war, what we're really talking about is simply the impacts of war on humans and on the places where they live in another more protracted and often more insidious form.
RASCOE: Carroll Muffett is president and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law. Thanks so much for speaking with us.
MUFFETT: Thank you very much.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/how-the-war-in-ukraine-affects-the-environment | 2022-05-12T15:13:38Z |
NEW YORK and AMSTERDAM, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TransPerfect, the world's largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, celebrated its 30th anniversary at the company's ELEVATE global conference held in Amsterdam this past week. The four-day event was capped by an engaging and interactive session with Sir Richard Branson. Additional program keynotes featured Liz Wiseman, author of Impact Players and Multipliers, as well as Natalie Reynolds, author of We Have a Deal.
ELEVATE was TransPerfect's largest-ever internal event and the most ambitious professional development initiative in the company's history, with more than 330 sessions led by a combination of internal and external speakers. TransPerfect's Chief Technology Officer, Mark Hagerty, was honored by the company with a lifetime achievement award.
"At ELEVATE, our goal was to bring all divisions of TransPerfect together to highlight the importance of teamwork and innovation," commented Kevin Obarski, Chief Revenue Officer for TransPerfect. "It's essential that we continuously learn and raise our ability to deliver transformative solutions for our clients."
TransPerfect President and CEO Phil Shawe stated, "ELEVATE was a rare opportunity for us to come together, train, and collaborate on new ideas that will better support our customers. Special thanks to the TransPerfect team members who led sessions, sharing their knowledge and experience with colleagues."
About TransPerfect
TransPerfect is the world's largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business. From offices in over 100 cities on six continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. More than 6,000 global organizations employ TransPerfect's GlobalLink® technology to simplify management of multilingual content. With an unparalleled commitment to quality and client service, TransPerfect is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified. TransPerfect has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.
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AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Cryptocurrency is becoming more and more mainstream. A recent survey by the business research company Morning Consult found that 20% of American adults own cryptocurrency. With that growth has come another - a rise in donations by cryptocurrency executives and investors to political candidates friendly to the new industry. Tory Newmyer took a closer look at those donations for this year's midterm elections for The Washington Post and joins us now. Welcome.
TORY NEWMYER: Thanks for having me.
RASCOE: So this isn't necessarily a new trend. Individuals with ties to cryptocurrency have made donations to candidates in the past. But is there something different about this year and the upcoming midterms?
NEWMYER: The difference, I think, is the scale of the giving and the fact that it's organized. So the industry has really grown at a super-fast pace over the last few years. I mean, at this point in the last election cycle, the industry was an eighth as big as it is now. So the industry is planning to make a really big splash in the midterm elections. They are organizing super PACs. They're organizing fundraisers for key members of Congress. They are finding new candidates who are emerging and getting behind them early. And they are going to be spending tens of millions of dollars sort of announcing themselves as not just an economic force, but a political one, too.
RASCOE: And so who are these pro-crypto candidates that are being targeted by these super PACs?
NEWMYER: This is a range of candidates across the ideological spectrum. So there's a candidate named Blake Masters who's running for Senate in Utah - very right wing. You know, there's sort of a libertarian ethos around Bitcoin and, for that reason, it appeals to - tends to attract people from the right wing. There are other candidates on the progressive left, like Aarika Rhodes. And she says there is a progressive case to be made for the technology because it has the potential to disrupt traditional finance and traditional tech and give consumers faster, cheaper access to these services. So the industry is being very opportunistic. They are wary of this becoming a partisan issue, and so they are spreading their money on both sides of the aisle.
RASCOE: Are there lawmakers who are anti or critical of the crypto industry?
NEWMYER: So it's been an interesting dynamic on the Hill, where Republicans, by and large, have been very accepting, enthusiastic of crypto. Democrats have been much more split. You hear this a lot from leading progressives like Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown, who say this whole thing is a hype-driven house of cards that is only enriching people who are already rich. And in the meantime, the mining of Bitcoin, which is still the most popular crypto in the world, is gobbling up, you know, eye-popping amounts of electricity and contributing to climate change. And the only thing that the technology has really achieved to date is enabled illicit finance. And so they don't see any real redeeming value here and have taken a very aggressive, critical posture towards the whole enterprise.
RASCOE: And, of course, the reason why people pay attention to when industries start giving money is because they're not giving money just out of the goodness of their hearts. Like, what are they trying to achieve by backing these candidates?
NEWMYER: I mean, they recognize that the people that they are backing are, if they get to Washington, going to be writing rules for the industry. And it's a really remarkable moment for this industry because it has really come out of nowhere to become this major sort of market force. And so the industry is very keen to be at the table while these rules are getting written to make sure they're crafted in such a way that it's favorable to them.
RASCOE: Tory Newmyer is a business reporter with The Washington Post. Thank you so much for sharing your reporting.
NEWMYER: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/political-donations-by-cryptocurrency-are-on-the-rise | 2022-05-12T15:13:44Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
When you think crisis, you think quick. Quick, the flood water's rising, we need to climb; or the fire's raging and we've got to get out. Quick, get this man to the hospital. But now it's been two months since Russia's invasion, which was expected to topple Kyiv within days, prompted a crisis in Ukraine. It's been two years of a pandemic that then-President Trump said would be behind us by Easter 2020. And while January 6, 2021, may feel like a long time ago, that crisis is also ongoing as we learn more details about the events leading up to and stemming from the attack on the Capitol. Scott Detrow joins us now for an update. He's an NPR White House correspondent and a host of the NPR Politics Podcast. Good morning, Scott.
SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha. Good morning.
RASCOE: So let's start with Kevin McCarthy and Mark Meadows. McCarthy is the House GOP leader, a position he held on January 6. And Meadows, at that time, was White House chief of staff, right?
DETROW: And they were both in the news this week because details emerged, yet again, that really undercut the public line they have taken, which is the line that we've heard from so many Republican leaders - that what happened on January 6 has been overblown, that it wasn't that serious. So in McCarthy's case, The New York Times reported that in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Capitol, he was talking about urging then-President Trump to resign because he viewed Trump as responsible for the violence. And we also had, in recent days, the House committee investigating all of this providing evidence in a court filing that Meadows - and, by extension, the Trump White House - was warned that the day could turn violent ahead of time and yet continued to embrace the rallies being organized for January 6.
RASCOE: So McCarthy said no one could defend Donald Trump's actions on January 6, and no one should. Later, he denied saying what he said, but we got it on tape. So why is there - why was there a change in heart?
DETROW: Well, the same reason - the same change of heart that has motivated so many Republican officeholders since 2016 - the fact that so many Republican voters are devoted to Trump and will support him no matter what. And he has continued to test the no matter what. You know, the details this week were glaring, but they're really not that much different than what we saw in real time in public in January 2021 - that widespread Republican outrage in the immediate aftermath, then only 10 House Republicans vote for impeachment a week later and then most Republican senators vote to acquit in the trial.
And Trump summed this all up well in an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week. He was talking about McCarthy's fast shift from suggesting Trump resign to flying down to Mar-a-Lago and posing for pictures with him. Trump said, quote, "I think it's all a big compliment, frankly. They realized they were wrong and they supported me."
RASCOE: So Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's been in court because of January 6. What's that case, and how did she defend herself?
DETROW: Yeah, this is an interesting legal argument to bar Greene from holding office because of support for being, quote, "engaged in insurrection," which is language from the 14th Amendment written in the wake of the Civil War. Some legal groups are trying to apply it to lawmakers who have voiced support for January 6. And so far, they have not been successful. But the argument here - and it made it to court - is that Greene encouraged the attack with social media posts. She testified about this on Friday in Georgia. She repeatedly said she's never encouraged violence. When she was confronted with past social media posts where she did really seem to encourage violence, she said she didn't recall them. Worth noting - Georgia's primary is just about a month away, so we'll likely see a ruling pretty soon.
RASCOE: I mean, we can talk about all of this, but is there any sense about how much this actually matters to voters?
DETROW: Yeah, a lot of polls and focus groups increasingly show just not that much. And it's similar to the Mueller investigation, kind of - something closely followed by D.C. reporters like you and me, that partisan Democrats care very deeply about and that just is not registering as a top concern for voters. Not to minimize how serious or even existential January 6 was, but right now, it shows that any lawmakers who are paying a price for what they said or did about January 6 are the handful of Republicans who spoke out against it. And just one example of this - Utah Senator Mike Lee was yet another lawmaker whose text messages supporting attempts to overturn the election made public in recent days. He's gotten a lot of scrutiny about this. But in - this weekend, Utah Republicans overwhelmingly backed him for another term at their party convention.
RASCOE: And just quickly, longtime Utah Senator Orrin Hatch died yesterday at 88. What about his legacy?
DETROW: You know, in this context, I'm thinking about the fact that you just don't see careers like that anymore - decades long, dozens and dozens - probably hundreds - of serious pieces of major legislation, helped shape the tax code, the Supreme Court. And he did it all working with Democrats, even though he was incredibly conservative.
RASCOE: That's NPR White House correspondent Scott Detrow. Scott, thank you so much.
DETROW: Always good to talk to you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/politics-chat-more-details-about-the-insurrection-emerge | 2022-05-12T15:13:50Z |
Sortium creates immersive virtual experiences allowing audiences to engage with interactive narrative and new world concepts, bridging the gap between digital life and reality
MIAMI, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sortium Blockchain Studio ("Sortium"), the pioneering Web3 technology provider, announces the launch of their "metaverse as a service" offering establishing the future and standard of Web3 technology while expanding access and ownership for innovators from every corner of gaming, art, entertainment, fashion, and education industries to build virtual worlds.
Utilizing their vast experience building next-generation bespoke web3 platforms for major brands such as Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, MLB, UEFA, Topps, and more to elevate client brands into the future of digital interaction, ownership, and community, Sortium has become the leading Web3 technology provider delivering immersive virtual experiences while producing top-tier Web3 experiences that are accessible to all. The state-of-the-art service Sortium's team has created powers unbridled imagination by fusing AI, blockchain and extended reality to create a suite of comprehensive products and services that deliver vibrant, sophisticated experiences and drive fundamental change throughout industries.
"We innovate so future innovators have access to the technology that allows them to unleash their biggest ideas," said Sortium CEO Marc Seal. "At Sortium we saw the potential for uniting blockchain and AI technology to drive even more ambitious ideas and change how we could live, create, imagine, and generate wealth."
Sortium's first-class team has a track record of success creating unrivaled customized Web3 platforms that extend accessibility and create new avenues for community, entertainment, and wealth setting the foundation for others to build the future. As the building blocks for the world's next best ideas, they are outpacing anything else on the market by helping creators harness the power of Web3.
For more information about Sortium Blockchain Studio and their products and services, please visit them at www.sortium.com.
About Sortium Blockchain Studio
Sortium Blockchain Studio, the pioneering Web3 technology provider offering innovators from every corner of gaming, art, entertainment, fashion, and education, advanced technology to build immersive experiences inside metaverses and virtual worlds. Sortium creates immersive virtual experiences allowing audiences to engage with interactive narrative and new world concepts, bridging the gap between digital life and reality.
From defining advancements in the Entertainment, Artificial Intelligence, Simulation, Blockchain and NFT industries, Sortium empowers enthusiasts by giving them ownership of their digital assets and experiences by making blockchain technology accessible to everyone. Sortium's founders have been trusted by major brands such as Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, MLB, UEFA, Topps, and more, to build tailored web3 platforms to elevate their brands into the future of digital interaction, ownership, and community. For more information, visit www.sortium.com.
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There's something undeniably magnetic about Rosalía. The Spanish artist's music, persona and visuals are gripping in a way that's distinct from your typical pop star. Her album Motomami, released in March, has its fair share of upbeat tracks, but they're not the kind of pop anthems that feel made for 24-hour radio play. The album's 16 tracks are energizing in their seamless dynamism — shape-shifting and genre-bending within songs. And this style is reflective of Rosalía herself, who is unafraid to play and pull from every part of her world.
Rosalía recently announced her first-ever world tour, and while she says she's excited to perform classics like "Malamente" and "Con Altura," fans should expect new territory from her. "People who've seen the El Mal Querer shows, now they're going to feel, 'Oh, this is something different,' " she says. The artist recently spoke with NPR Music's Anamaria Sayre about recording the globe-trotting Motomami, choosing to forgo viral features and turning a poignant voice memo from her grandmother into a song.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To listen to the audio version, click the link above.
Anamaria Sayre, NPR Music: I want to talk about this beautiful album that you put out not too long ago, Motomami. You made most of this album during COVID-19, right?
Rosalía: A lot of the project was done in 2020, but also while I was touring in 2019 [and] in 2021 too. It's been a whole process of three years. I've been in the U.S. and far from my family and far from my country. It was tough, but it made me really grow as a writer, as a producer. I'm very grateful that I could do this project.
Obviously [making the albums] Los Ángeles, El Mal Querer, you were close to family. You were close to home when you made those. That distance, [can] we hear that in the record?
One hundred percent. If I didn't travel and if I didn't spend so much time in Miami, in Los Angeles, New York and then Puerto Rico, Républica Dominicana — all of that really affected the way this album sounds, even the way I write the Spanglish. Before, all my lyrics would be full of Spanish. Because I was going to the grocery shop and I would buy stuff and talk in English, those things would make me even think in English, and then that would affect how I write. I think that it's such a blessing that I could spend time here because I could learn. [The U.S.] is such a different place and I love it. I think it changes the way I make music.
Flamenco is a sound that keeps coming back in every single work that you create, but now you're incorporating salsa, bachata and reggaeton. As you evolve, as you go from incorporating these sounds, how do you see yourself continuing to grow?
I [have] always felt music not in a compartmented way. I think [that's] always been there [and] that now it's more radical. It's just that now, because I've been traveling and my life changed, I have more stimulus from more places and people. That makes it even more obvious to me that it's about this human manifestation. This expression — which is music and style for me — I choose these styles, the bachata, the reggaeton, all of that, because I love them and I want to honor them. And I feel like those were the right styles for what I wanted to express in this album.
I'm a big fan of [the Spanish artist] Martirio.
She's like the OG "motomami," you know what I mean? How she sings, [how] she puts her sunglasses on. The energy's crazy.
I feel like hearing sounds like hers, there is almost this precedent for Spanish artists experimenting in [that] way, combining flamenco with other sounds. Do you feel like there's something distinctly Spanish about your openness to experiment with all of these different sounds?
If you think about it, flamenco — for example, guajira, rumba, Colombiana, milonga, all of that is part of the flamenco corpus. Which shows how flamenco [has] always naturally been like a riddle since its origin. For me [and] contemporary artists, the traveling and all of that affects and makes artists [make] music that is inspired [by] different places. But also the digital era — the digital era and the internet made such a difference. In flamenco you can always see those influences, and I think it's always been a dialogue between artists, between places, between cultures. I love that cultural diversity. I think that even nowadays, it's more radical. It's something to celebrate.
Speaking of diversity of sound, you've been featured on a ton of different artists' records, but on this album you only have two features. I love that you very much own this album — it's your record, you own the sound. Where did that choice come from?
It's pretty intentional. This is the first time that I did an album that has autobiographical content. It was really important that the personal tone, the confessional tone, would be present from the beginning to the end. If I [made] an album with this intention, but then make so many collabs just because of streams and numbers, it would lose that original intention. So I was like, no. [The rapper] Tokischa is such an amazing "motomami," you know? She's such a beautiful, creative mind, and why not celebrate her in the album the same way. Abel [Tesfaye, The Weeknd], he's always been an amazing musician that I love and I wanted him to be present. I had "La Fama" and then I was like, "Okay, let me call Abel, let me see if he feels like jumping on this song." And he jumped in.
What I love about your record [is that] you are so present. Experiencing it, I'm like "Rosalía is taking us on a journey and it's on her terms." It makes me feel like, yes, own your creativity.
Of course, there's a lot of people that I admire who contributed to the project. At the same time, I've been the first going to the studio and the last to leave. I've spent more than 16 hours a day for months producing, writing and that's been a hard process. Fun sometimes, but very hard too. And of course it's an honor to work with these people that I admire and to curate the ideas they put on the table. But at the end of the day, this project has a lot of personal content.
When you're in the recording studio with male artists, how do you assert your creative interests?
I just express. I love to go to the studio. It's something that I've always needed since I started in music when I was 16. I've always experimented, I always work long hours and I always say what I want to achieve. I usually have an idea of a song that I want to do before I do a song. Sometimes it can be playful, like, start this beat. "Saoko," for example, the first song on the album, you can hear there's an intention of [making] a song work that has some reggaeton — OG reggaeton influence — but also touches of jazz here and there. I went to the studio knowing that I wanted that, but then it took me time to get there. The people that I work with, there's a lot of men [and] also women. But my whole team is made of women and a lot of times I feel like I'm surrounded by men and I'm grateful. I'm always very sure about what I want to create.
How do you remain empowered in expressing your sexuality in your work, your music and your visuals, when you're operating in an industry that's all about marketing sex appeal? Where do you say, "This is something I'm doing because I want to do it and this is who I am." How do you express that and maintain that certainty?
I think people feel it when it's real, when it comes from the center. When it comes from the center of an artist you can express with more honesty. I really don't want to share something that is not honest. And then sexuality is part of my life — it's part of life. It's something to celebrate too. I was thinking in Motomami, how can I make an album and make songs about stuff that [is] part of my life. I celebrate transformation. I celebrate spirituality, but the same way that I celebrate sexuality. That's where you can find a song like "Hentai."
When you were being featured on different songs and you walked into the studio with these huge reggaeton heroes, what was that like [for] the young version of you who just [wanted] to make music? What was that experience like for you?
I've always seen myself as a musician. I grew up studying music in college. When I go to the studio, I don't see myself in any other way than as a musician, and I put myself [in] service of the song that we're going to do that day. So, I really don't care who is there. I'm really grateful always for the people that I can be surrounded by. The big artists that I've been able to share with, I've learned a lot from them. But I see myself as a musician and I see them when they are in the studio with me as a musician, too. And it's just about the song. It's about nothing else but the song. I think when you put yourself in service of something that is worthy — for example a creative process — that is very powerful.
I have to bring up one of my favorite moments on the album. It's the moment where you include your abuela. It was like listening to my abuela. On the song "G3 N15," your abuela says, "God and la familia. Like, that's it. That's the focus." And she says, "Family's always important. You bear a path that's a bit difficult. When I look at it, I think what a complicated world is the one Rosalía has gotten into. But well, if you're happy, I'm happy as well."
My abuela, mi yaya. She said that in a voice note actually in WhatsApp. It was in the middle of the pandemic and I was in the U.S., in Miami. And she sent me this note and I was in the studio and I was like, "No, I have to use this." Like, this is exactly what I wanted to talk about and share. I put the voice of mi abuela in a Pro Tools session and I thought, "What music should I put on besides her voice? What should I use?" And then it came to my head. When I was a kid, I used to be in my grandma's house and she had this clock that would sound with this melody. I don't know if that sounds familiar to you but it's [Rosalía sings the "Westminster Quarters" melody.] That melody is my grandma's clock.
Did she want you to be a singer? I know my abuela, she's from Mexico, and she's always wanted me to sing boleros. She's like, "Oh my god, if you would just sing boleros." If she could have you singing anything, what would it be?
I think that my grandma would have loved it if I would sing like Maria Callas. She would like me to be an opera singer. She always thought that opera is much better than anything else. You know, like the crème de la crème.
The opera is so grand, so impressive.
Exactly. But the thing about the new generation, I think it's different. I always felt, and the people around me always felt, like there's no music better than others. There's no style better than others. There's no good or bad in music.
Do you feel like there's any one sound or idea that will always stay with you as an artist, as you evolve?
I think transformation for sure — celebrating change and freedom. It's something very important to me, that word. I think it was very present during Motomami. And how can I be freer? I always think that. I think my favorite music is very human. My favorite artists are very human. They show their contradiction. They show how they change. And I love that and I feel like I am connected in the perspective.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/rosalia-is-unafraid-to-pull-from-every-corner-of-the-world | 2022-05-12T15:13:56Z |
WINDSOR, Conn., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSNC), a global provider of software and software-enabled services for the financial services and healthcare industries, today announced Patrick Pedonti, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will present at the 17th Annual Needham Technology & Media Conference on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022 at 9:30 am ET.
Webcasts will be made available on SS&C Technologies' investor relations website at http://investor.ssctech.com .
About SS&C Technologies
SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and has offices around the world. Some 20,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale, and technology.
Additional information about SS&C (Nasdaq:SSNC) is available at www.ssctech.com.
Follow SS&C on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.
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SOURCE SS&C | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/ssampc-present-17th-annual-needham-technology-amp-media-conference/ | 2022-05-12T15:13:57Z |
Updated April 24, 2022 at 5:18 PM ET
BILASHI, UKRAINE — When the bomb squad arrives here, it is peaceful. The trees have new leaves; the fields are green.
One resident comes out of his house and shows NPR reporters a handful of shrapnel. When the bombs explode, he says, they fly through the windows.
He's on the verge of tears. "I cannot understand how a brother fights a brother," he says.
He walks away without giving his name, but his neighbor Yuri Yes'Kov explains that this little village not far from the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine has been shelled incessantly since March.
The night before, Yes'Kov says, a Russian rocket flew overhead, dropping bomblets all over the fields.
"One of them exploded today," he says.
What he is describing bears the hallmarks of cluster munitions, bombs that scatter over a wide area and blow up either on a timer or when something or someone goes over them.
They are banned internationally because they maim or kill indiscriminately, but human rights groups say the Russian military has been dropping them over Ukraine. Back in March, Human Rights Watch documented the use of cluster munitions in Kharkiv, just south of Bilashi. In a statement, Steve Goose, the arms director at Human Rights Watch, said that using cluster bombs in a populated area showed "callous disregard for people's lives."
When the bomb crew finish suiting up, they hang a charge on what looks like a fishing pole. They walk it slowly to one of the bombs, drop it on top and set it off from a distance.
Maksim, the deputy chief of the Kharkiv pyrotechnic department, who asks that we only use his first name to comply with Ukrainian government policy, says what they found here was a "PTM-1," a kind of Russian anti-tank mine.
As they get ready to blow up another mine, a small group of Ukrainian military servicemen show up in a pickup truck. They're a reconnaissance team. As soon as they fly a drone, the Russians begin to shell.
Yes'Kov, the resident, says it has been like this since the war began. A small group of Ukrainian troops show up; they leave and then the Russians start shelling their houses.
He shakes his head. His vegetable garden is now full of mines. His son has been fighting in the trenches and he can't seem to make sense of this war.
"We want peace," he says. "We don't want this shelling. We want peace."
Hanna Palamarenko contributed reporting.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/see-how-kharkivs-bomb-squad-neutralizes-cluster-bombs-in-ukraine | 2022-05-12T15:14:03Z |
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Managing and improving search results just became transparent, faster and more effective. Knowing how to better manage search results is a breakthrough new feature announced today by Lightbox Search, the only communications platform that instantly analyzes Google Search results. The Lightbox Search "Action Plan" provides real-time identification that reveals threats and opportunities and provides the user recommended steps to improve search results and online profiles.
"Google is the nation's most trusted source of information," said Jesse Jacobs, Chief Technology Officer of Lightbox Search. "We now give professional communicators the tools to not only monitor, review and better understand search results but our new technology provides custom action plans to help strengthen page one results or mitigate negative, incorrect or damaging information."
Lightbox Search is the first and only platform to provide critical and actionable intelligence for monitoring and measuring Google search results. Online search, dominated by Google, has become the homepage for all businesses and organizations: 93 percent of all online experiences, and two-thirds of all website traffic, begin with search. Leveraging artificial intelligence, custom-built databases and proprietary algorithms, the intuitive platform offers historical tracking that demonstrates how results change — improve or decline — over time.
"The 'Action Plan' feature now provides real-time solutions for communicators to mitigate negative search results and also helps strengthen positive results," said Jacobs. "We developed this feature by incorporating feedback from our many significant beta clients."
"This tool was built by people who feel our pain and understand our problem," said Joe Scannell, managing director and head of digital communications at Prosek Partners. "You have no idea how much time this platform saves – before we had to go to multiple platforms and really dig through to get what we needed."
Lightbox Search offers free real-time search analysis for brands, companies, executives, political campaigns and associations. It was built specifically for professional communicators, drawing its data from dozens of complex SEO and SEM sources to provide public relations, public affairs and brand managers with understandable, actionable business intelligence.
Lightbox Search operates in 149 languages and can provide insights into local markets on a city-by-city or country-by-country basis. It offers automated monitoring and historical comparison tracking so users can easily prove ROI or measure changes over time.
It relies upon native language artificial intelligence provided by IBM's Watson along with custom-designed databases and proprietary algorithms and reflects the input of dozens of beta users at agencies, corporations, healthcare systems and political campaigns.
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SOURCE Lightbox Search | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/strenthening-search-results-now-click-away-with-lightbox-search/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:04Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
And it's time to play the Puzzle.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: Joining us is Will Shortz. He's puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION. Good to talk to you, Will.
WILL SHORTZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So remind us, please, of last week's challenge.
SHORTZ: Yes, it came from listener Joseph Young, who conducts the blog "Puzzleria!" I said name a vehicle in two words - four letters in the first, five letters in the last. I said, move the second letter of the last word into the second position of the first word, and the result, phonetically, will name a popular figure from legend. Who is it? Well, the vehicle is a fire truck. Move that R, and, phonetically, you get Friar Tuck.
RASCOE: We received nearly 1,800 correct responses. And the winner is Bob Clark of Scranton, Pa. Congratulations, Bob, and welcome to the show.
BOB CLARK: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
RASCOE: So, Bob, how did you figure this one out? Because I would be confused, but you got it.
CLARK: Well, normally what happens with these for me is either I get it within an hour or I don't get it ever.
RASCOE: OK.
CLARK: So this one came to me almost as soon as it was out of Will's mouth, to be quite honest.
RASCOE: Oh, wow.
CLARK: But that doesn't often happen.
RASCOE: And what do you do when you're not playing the Puzzle?
CLARK: Well, I like sports of all kinds. I like to travel. I love music and concerts.
RASCOE: All right, Bob, are you ready to play the Puzzle?
CLARK: I'm ready with your help.
RASCOE: OK, I'm going to try to help you as I can (laughter), OK? Will, take it away.
SHORTZ: All right, Bob and Ayesha, I'm going to give you two four-letter words. Add the same two letters at the front of each of them to complete two common six-letter words. For example, if I said mire, M-I-R-E, and vise, V-I-S-E, you would add A-D at the front to make admire and advise.
CLARK: OK.
SHORTZ: Here's No. 1 - goon, G-O-O-N, and tent, T-E-N-T.
CLARK: Lagoon and latent.
SHORTZ: You got it. No. 2 is gust, G-U-S-T, and burn, B-U-R-N.
CLARK: August and auburn.
SHORTZ: You got it. Phew, P-H-E-W, and gate, G-A-T-E.
CLARK: Nephew and negate.
SHORTZ: Uh-huh. Read, R-E-A-D, and wart, W-A-R-T.
CLARK: Thread and thwart.
SHORTZ: You got it. Rile, R-I-L-E, and ewer, E-W-E-R. OK, I'll give you a hint.
CLARK: Yeah - a hint, yeah.
SHORTZ: The answer is a consonant and a vowel.
RASCOE: That's the hint (laughter)?
CLARK: Right. Yeah. You can do better than that. My gosh, that's an awful hint (laughter), a consonant and a vowel.
RASCOE: A consonant and a vowel.
SHORTZ: Yeah. All right, here's another hint. If you watch TV, that means you are a...
CLARK: Viewer...
SHORTZ: Yeah, and virile.
CLARK: ...And virile.
SHORTZ: You got it. You got it.
CLARK: Good one.
RASCOE: OK. OK. OK. Yeah, that was a toughie.
SHORTZ: All right, try this one - nine, N-I-N-E, and shew, S-H-E-W.
CLARK: Canine and cashew.
SHORTZ: Uh-huh. Even, E-V-E-N, and apse, A-P-S-E.
CLARK: Eleven and elapse.
SHORTZ: Uh-huh. And here's your last one - long, L-O-N-G, and eyed, E-Y-E-D.
CLARK: Oh, oblong and obeyed.
SHORTZ: Oh. Well, that is brilliant, you know, except for that little trouble with virile and viewer.
CLARK: Yes, rile and ewer.
SHORTZ: Boom, boom, boom.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yeah, no. I mean, that was amazing. You're like the Michael Jordan of these puzzles. You didn't need any help (laughter).
CLARK: I'm glad I could give you the week off. How's that?
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Exactly. But how do you feel after that? Because you ran away with it.
CLARK: Well, I'm relieved about that because I was afraid of blowing it, that's for sure (laughter).
RASCOE: Oh, well, you definitely did not do that. So for playing our puzzle today, you'll get a WEEKEND EDITION lapel pin, as well as puzzle books and games. You can read all about it at npr.org/puzzle. And, Bob, which member station do you listen to?
CLARK: I'm a sustaining member of WVIA.
RASCOE: Very nice. Bob Clark of Scranton, Pa., thank you so much for playing the Puzzle.
CLARK: Thanks for having me.
RASCOE: All right, Will, what is next week's challenge?
SHORTZ: Yeah, this one comes from listener Jeff Balch (ph) of Evanston, Ill. Name a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter in it to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a color associated with that animal. What's the sound, and what's the color? So, again, a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a color associated with that animal. What's the sound, and what's the color?
RASCOE: When you have the answer, go to our website, npr.org/puzzle, and click on the Submit Your Answer link. Remember, just one entry, please. Our deadline for entries is Thursday, April 28, at 3 p.m. Eastern. Don't forget to include a phone number where we can reach you. If you're the winner, we'll give you a call. And if you pick up the phone, you'll get to play on the air with the puzzle editor of The New York Times and puzzlemaster of WEEKEND EDITION, Will Shortz. Thank you, Will.
SHORTZ: Thank you, Ayesha.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/sunday-puzzle | 2022-05-12T15:14:09Z |
No Big Sugar Money campaign spotlights the economic, health and environmental damage caused by Big Sugar
Republican Congressman Brian Mast, Democratic state lawmaker Anna Eskamani, Patagonia and Florida environmentalists lead broad coalition
STUART, Fla., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VoteWater, a Florida-based group with a mission to fight political corruption and defend the public's right to clean water, today announced the launch of the No Big Sugar Campaign (www.nobigsugar.com), a landmark effort to end the influence of Big Sugar money in politics and free elected leaders to act in the best interest of their communities.
Big Sugar is a network of private companies that exploits special government treatment to rake in billions on the backs of American consumers and communities, killing local jobs and poisoning our air and water.
The campaign's goal is to prove that Big Sugar money is a liability, not an asset — members of Congress and candidates are better positioned to win elections without being on the take. The vehicle for advancing this goal is an open letter and pledge to reject political contributions, direct and indirect, from Big Sugar. Candidates and public officials can take the pledge; meanwhile, advocacy groups, businesses, and the general public can sign the open letter to show support for the effort.
"The energy behind this campaign is unlike anything we've seen," said Gil Smart, VoteWater's executive director. "Change is in the air. Floridians across the political spectrum have had enough of this industry's toxic impact. So we charge ahead, knowing the industry will fight to keep the system rigged, but also knowing real reform is possible."
Social and Political Changes Set the Table for Bipartisan Reform
In the past, free-market advocates, opposed to the industry's federal handout, led the reform fight with support from sugar-using American companies. (Current federal policy requires American companies to pay far more sugar than their international counterparts.)
But American politics has changed in ways that open new paths to sugar policy reform. With the emergence of movements for social justice (Black Lives Matter), national concern about damage to our natural resources (Florida's toxic algae blooms), and bipartisan anger over political corruption, there is an opportunity to build a diverse, bipartisan reform coalition unlike any we've seen before.
Tectonic Political Shift in Florida
Florida lawmakers have long served as Big Sugar's most useful line of defense. But times are changing, including in Florida's 20th Congressional District. For the first time in decades, the home district of US Sugar elected a member of Congress – Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick – who did not take money from Big Sugar during the campaign and called the industry out for its political corruption and environmental abuse. In 2020, she said "all industries that take part in practices that jeopardize human health through pollution must be regulated and fined. This includes Big Sugar, who has silenced legislators by donating large amounts to their campaigns." Just as important, seven other candidates on both sides of the aisle took a VoteWater "no Big Sugar money" pledge.
The district has gone from the industry's greatest booster to someone concerned about the industry's impact on the district's people. That's a tectonic shift.
Building a Strange Bedfellows Coalition
Piggybacking on the FL-20 special election, this campaign launches with support from a diverse set of Florida groups, including Muck City Black Lives Matter, Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, Florida Council of Churches, Florida Keys Outfitters and the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club. At a national level, Patagonia is supporting the cause. A full list of supporters is at https://nobigsugar.com/current-signers.
The campaign's roots in Florida are a critical difference from previous sugar reform efforts. In the past, government efforts to hold big sugar accountable failed in part because pro-reform politicians outside Florida never had support within Florida. This time, a bipartisan groundswell in Florida is calling for change.
"The sugar industry does not have the right to demand Florida's environment kneel to their wishes," said Republican US Representative Brian Mast. "As representative of the Treasure Coast and the Palm Beaches, I will not let them make backroom deals that poison our waterways or starve Florida's Everglades."
"I've dedicated my career in public service to fighting polluters who hurt Floridians and our environment," said Democratic Florida Representative Anna V. Eskamani. "Change is possible when more elected officials stand up to one the most powerful industries in the state and say no to their practices of polluting our air and water. This campaign is fighting to protect our environment and our people, and I'm proud to be a part of it."
"In my community, toxic chemical ash from burning cane falls on baby showers, on weddings, on funerals - and on our children's faces every day. That's our tragic reality in 2022, and it's been that way for generations," said Robert Mitchell, a founder of Black Lives Matter Muck City. "'Her soil is her fortune' is our city's tagline. The truth is her soil and her people are her fortune. This campaign is the best shot we have at proving that point."
"This campaign will limit big sugar's money and influence in politics, protect the planet, and make lives better for people," said J.J. Huggins, spokesman for Patagonia.
Contact: Gil Smart, gsmart@votewater.org, 772-212-2939
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SOURCE VoteWater | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/surge-momentum-bipartisan-effort-sugar-industry-reform/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:10Z |
On-air challenge: I'm going to give you two four-letter words. Add the same two letters at the front of each of them to complete two common six-letter words.
Example: MIRE / VISE — ADmire and ADvise
1. GOON / TENT
2. GUST / BURN
3. PHEW / GATE
4. READ / WART
5. RILE / EWER
6. NINE / SHEW
7. EVEN / APSE
8. LONG / EYED
Last week's challenge: Name a vehicle in two words — 4 letters in the first, 5 letters in the last. Move the second letter of the last word into the second position of the first word. The result phonetically will name a popular figure from legend. Who is it?
Challenge answer: FIRE TRUCK --> FRIAR TUCK
Winner: Bob Clark of Scranton, Penn.
This week's challenge: This week's challenge comes from listener Jeff Balch, of Evanston, Ill. Name a sound made by a certain animal. Change one letter in it to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get a color associated with that animal. What's the sound, and what's the color?
If you know the answer to next week's challenge, submit it here by Thursday, April 28, at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/sunday-puzzle-sharing-tops | 2022-05-12T15:14:15Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We want to turn our attention to a subject where the lurid details either caught your attention or made you want to turn far away, maybe both. We're talking about the trial involving the actors and former spouses, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Depp, formerly the megawatt star of a lucrative movie franchise, filed a lawsuit against his wife after she penned a Washington Post article describing what she said was her experience of domestic abuse, although she didn't specifically name him. He said her allegations cost him his livelihood. Heard and her representatives have stood by the allegations in trial, but Depp has answered with disturbing allegations of his own, testifying that Heard physically and emotionally abused him during the marriage.
Now, the truth or falsity of these allegations is not something to be sorted out here, but it occurred to us that what celebrities face in public is something that less famous people often face in private. So that made us wonder if there's anything we could learn from this unusually public discussion about patterns of domestic violence. So we called Katie Hood. She is the CEO of the One Love Foundation. That's an organization formed to educate young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships. And she's with us now. Katie Hood, welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.
KATIE HOOD: Thank you so much for having me.
MARTIN: Could you just briefly explain how the One Love Foundation got started, and what does it do?
HOOD: Sure. Well, One Love was started in 2010 after a young woman named Yeardley Love was killed at the University of Virginia. She was a fourth-year student, about to graduate. She was a Division I lacrosse player. And her ex-boyfriend, who was also a UVA student, Division I lacrosse player about to graduate, broke down the door and beat her to death a few days after they'd broken up. I actually am a friend of the family, which is how I was connected at all. Her cousin is one of my closest friends.
And I can say, having been there at the beginning, that they were absolutely in shock. Nobody saw this coming. Nobody thought she was in an abusive relationship. Nobody ever thought this outcome was possible. But as the dust settled and they started to learn more and people started connecting dots and talking about things that they had seen, they realized that if a domestic violence expert had been dropped into the middle of their friend group, that they would have understood this was an unhealthy and increasingly dangerous situation, and they would have known where to go to help.
So her family really shifted the focus of One Love, which was originally just to honor Yeardley's life, to really, how do we make sure others have the information that could have helped Yeardley, information about what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like way before something becomes abuse?
MARTIN: Well, thanks for that. So this trial has been going on for some days now. What signs of unhealthy relationships are you seeing in what has been made public so far?
HOOD: Sometimes in an abusive relationship, there's a clear abuser and a clear victim. And then other times, they're really just sort of - they're doubly toxic both ways. And everybody knows physical abuse is wrong, but that's not usually how it starts in a relationship, and it's not usually the only thing going on. Emotional abuse, which could be intensity or volatility or, you know, demeaning, belittling language and behavior - these are unhealthy behaviors that can become abusive patterns and can really wear someone down. So some of the research has shown that emotionally abusive relationships do even more psychological damage than physically abusive ones. So I think that we're seeing a lot around emotional abuse here that we should all really pay attention to and take seriously.
MARTIN: One of the things that, frankly, has stood out is that Depp claims that Heard battered him and that - would pursue him to batter him when he was trying to get away from her. I mean, there was testimony that he, you know, locked himself into a room at one point to try to get away from her, and she ridiculed him for this. This is what was presented. We're not taking a position about what actually occurred because we don't know, but we don't often hear men talk about being victims of domestic violence, either emotional or physical. And I'm wondering, you know, why you think that is and what strikes you about that.
HOOD: Well, a couple of things. The stats show that over 1 in 3 women, nearly 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 transgender or non-binary people will be in an abusive relationship in their lifetime, which, really, those numbers - when I heard them for the first time, I just thought, well, this is a public health crisis. We - there's no doubt. While the stats around over 1 in 3 and nearly 1 in 3 men are pretty close, it's important to say that physical violence and sexual violence happen more men to women in a heterosexual relationship. Three women a day are killed in this country by their partners or ex-partners. And that stat is not nearly the same for men.
So I guess what I would say is, yes, men can be in abusive relationships for sure. I've talked to many men who've been in abusive relationships. And I don't want to - some men are in physically abusive relationships. But the stats aren't quite as high. I think it's really important for men to recognize - we call this issue a women's issue, and I understand why, because women are at greater risk. And I should say women of color, Black women and Indigenous women are at even higher risk. But we also need to come back to this idea that it's a human issue. Relationships are hard. None of us are taught from the beginning how to have a healthy one and avoid an unhealthy one. And that could really help us all live healthier and less abusive lives.
MARTIN: You've given us a lot to think about here. But in the time that we have here, can you just give us some takeaways? What is it that you would like people to be thinking about, particularly how you would encourage people to identify signs of a relationship that could be unhealthy before it escalates, you know, whether they're a young person just exploring relationships for the first time or somebody who's a little bit more experienced in life?
HOOD: I think it's relevant to all of us because none of us have ever actually been proactively taught about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. And what One Love is trying to do is create awesome learning materials. It's all anchored around our 10 signs of healthy and 10 signs of unhealthy relationships that anyone anywhere can use to educate themselves or people that they love. It's all freely available on our website, joinonelove.org, and it's a great starting place. And the 10 signs in particular are - we have these 10 sign cards that people tell me they use with their kids or they use with their friends to try to identify, well, what are you actually experiencing that is not healthy or not good in this relationship? And down the road, I hope this will be required curriculum in every school in this country.
MARTIN: That was Katie Hood. She's the CEO of the One Love Foundation. Katie Hood, thank you so much for spending this time with us.
HOOD: Thank you so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/the-depp-heard-trial-has-made-public-an-issue-that-most-people-endure-in-private | 2022-05-12T15:14:16Z |
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tag, a leading end-to-end creative production partner to brands and agencies, launches a new podcast series, Tag Talks: Happy Hour with Ajit Kara. Starting today, the 20-minute episodes will drop every Thursday throughout northern summer on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and PodBean. The goal is to foster employee engagement in today's distributed workforce, which has fewer opportunities for in-person interaction.
"What started as a temporary virtual work arrangement to enable social distancing when COVID-19 first hit has resulted in lasting changes. Like many companies, Tag has implemented a permanent volunteer hybrid model," says Ajit Kara, Tag Americas CEO. "And although the digital workplace has many benefits, I recognize that it requires new approaches to ensure that every employee, regardless of location, feels connected to the company's people and culture," he adds.
One-part small talk, all parts real talk, Ajit's lively conversations with Tag Americas employees pick up where pre-pandemic in-person happy hours left off. The first episode features Jenn Dee, VP Studio Lead at Taylor James (a Tag company), in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month and the remarkable work she has done to promote mental health and suicide prevention. Future episodes feature Tag employees and clients who divulge details about their lives beyond their job titles. The series is open to all podcast listeners, globally.
In the absence of casual in-office, coffee-break conversations, this podcast series is the next best thing.
About Tag
Tag is one of the leading end-to-end global creative production and sourcing partners for brands and agencies. We work with 40 of the top 100 global brands to make their marketing more effective and more efficient.
As production and sourcing specialists, we offer a complementary skillset to in-house teams and advertising agencies to bring to life, extend and deploy creative ideas. As client partners, we bring a consultative and collaborative approach to developing bespoke solutions for unique needs. We balance pragmatism and imagination, supported by market-leading technology to drive efficiency, speed and transparency.
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SOURCE Tag Worldwide | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/tag-americas-ceo-launches-podcast-connect-with-distributed-workforce/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:17Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We're 60 days into Russia's assault on Ukraine. Much of the fighting is now concentrated in the south and east of the country after Russian troops were forced to retreat from areas in the north near the capital, Kyiv. For the battles ahead, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made it clear he wants more military aid from the U.S. and other nations. He said as much yesterday when he disclosed that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would be visiting Kyiv today.
We're going to focus for the next few minutes, though, on something else that's going on in Ukraine as the war drags on. Many of the Ukrainians who speak Russian are distancing themselves from that language. Nearly a third of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language. Some grew up speaking Russian. But as Ievgen Afanasiev reports, things are changing.
IEVGEN AFANASIEV, BYLINE: Every day, thousands of displaced Ukrainians pass through this train station in the western city of Lviv, looking for a safer place to live. On this chilly spring day, Svitlana Panova is among them.
SVITLANA PANOVA: (Through interpreter) Now I came to Lviv. I'm a patriot of my country, and I'll stay here.
AFANASIEV: Svitlana is a manager at a software company. Before coming to Lviv, she lived in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. Before that, she lived in Crimea until Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.
PANOVA: (Speaking Russian).
AFANASIEV: "Russia left me without my home," she says, "without my family." In normal times, Svitlana, like many Ukrainians from the south or eastern parts of the country, would explain all this to me in Russian without much thought. For centuries, these areas were under the rule of the Russian Empire. The Russification of the region continued when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, where Russian was the lingua franca. But after all Svitlana has gone through, after losing her home now twice to Russia, speaking Russian doesn't feel quite right at this moment.
PANOVA: (Through interpreter) I do not speak Ukrainian, but I understand everything. It's hard for me to switch to Ukrainian, but I will learn it for sure.
AFANASIEV: Svitlana is one of many internally displaced people who are moving away from Russian and trying to learn Ukrainian.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NAZAR DANCHYSHYN: (Speaking Ukranian).
AFANASIEV: Soon after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, professor Nazar Danchyshyn helped launch a Ukrainian language class. It's taught at the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations of Lviv Polytechnic University.
DANCHYSHYN: (Through interpreter) When people moved away from their shock and were able to think of something other than saving their family, it was time for these kinds of courses.
AFANASIEV: The club quickly filled up.
DANCHYSHYN: (Through interpreter) More than 800 people signed up for the club in the first three days. We had to stop the registration.
AFANASIEV: Now, twice a week, Nazar and other professors teach multiple virtual classes. His students join from all over Ukraine.
DANCHYSHYN: (Through interpreter) Different regions - Kherson, Odessa, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kyiv, Luhansk. That's a very broad geography.
AFANASIEV: Nazar says that while students discuss Ukrainian culture and learn everyday phrases, these classes also serve as a psychological support club.
DANCHYSHYN: (Through interpreter) In class, most of them want to share their pain, their experience. They tell their stories of how difficult it was for them to leave their hometowns - Kharkiv or Irpin or other cities that were bombed.
AFANASIEV: One of the students taking the class is 57-year-old Oleh Myrhorodskyy He's connected from the southern port city of Odessa. He's been practicing his Ukrainian for a few weeks and is still a little bit shy-speaking.
OLEH MYRHORODSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
AFANASIEV: "I don't feel confident," he says. But Oleh eventually warms up and tells me why, for him, it's important to learn Ukrainian.
MYRHORODSKYY: (Through interpreter) It is a question of becoming a nation. It is a question of our existence. That's why everyone needs to put some effort into building a national foundation. And the language is that national foundation.
UNIDENTIFIED PROFESSOR: (Speaking Ukrainian).
AFANASIEV: At one point during the session, as I get ready to leave, one of the professors tells his students he's proud of them. He says listening to them speak Ukrainian gives him goosebumps, because learning this language in this moment, it is more than just an education. It is about asserting Ukrainian national unity. For NPR News, I'm Ievgen Afanasiev in Lviv, Ukraine. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/the-war-has-many-ukrainians-who-speak-russian-abandoning-the-language | 2022-05-12T15:14:22Z |
In partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies' Greenwood Initiative, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund Supports Creation of Public Strategies that Prioritize Financial Mobility of Black Residents
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the national nonprofit Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) announced that Cincinnati, OH; Mobile, AL; and South Bend, IN were selected to participate in the CityStart initiative with a new focus on racial wealth equity. The CityStart initiative helps local leaders develop and implement proven strategies to help local families and communities become more financially stable. Bloomberg Philanthropies' Greenwood Initiative, whose mission is to accelerate the pace of Black wealth accumulation in the U.S., will advise the CFE Fund on the design and execution of the latest iteration of the CityStart program with a specific lens on racial wealth equity.
"Across the nation, more and more local leaders are turning to innovative financial empowerment strategies to improve their residents' financial stability. CityStart gives local governments an opportunity to engage stakeholders to advise on blueprints to leverage policies, programs, and funding streams to transform residents' financial lives," said Jonathan Mintz, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. "With this new equity-focused iteration of CityStart, and with the generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, these mayors and their teams will work to harness the opportunities of financial empowerment work to benefit racial equity and wealth priorities."
In this new equity-focused iteration of the seven-year old CityStart program, the CFE Fund will partner with three mayors and their teams, to help them address the financial empowerment needs of residents and the opportunities to meet those needs, prioritizing the financial stability needs of Black residents. Each of the three cities selected will also receive a $75,000 planning grant, drawn from a previous $19 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
"The CFE Fund's CityStart focus on helping define wealth creation and financial mobility strategies is essential for the stability of neighborhoods across the country," said Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies' Greenwood Initiative. "This partnership aligns with the mission of the Greenwood Initiative – to support Black families in earning more and passing wealth down to the next generation. We are excited to see these communities create a blueprint for cities prioritizing racial wealth equity in the future."
This is the fourth CityStart cohort; these three new local partners join twenty-nine localities that have already completed the CityStart financial empowerment public blueprint process. Past partners have since created blueprints that outline their administration's public vision for integrating financial empowerment efforts within local government infrastructure – some working to open an Office of Financial Empowerment to serve as a platform for overall efforts, some identifying strategies centered around a specific municipal priority such as affordable housing, and some replicating existing programs such as the Financial Empowerment Center initiative.
The CityStart initiative draws on the CFE Fund's extensive programmatic work over almost a decade with local government leaders in over 100 cities and counties, connecting critical on-the-ground insights about the impact of financial instability on families, communities, and municipal budgets with tangible, measurable, and sustainable municipal strategies to improve families' financial lives. The CFE Fund will assist partners in crafting a municipal financial empowerment blueprint identifying actionable implementation steps based on the financial needs of residents, especially Black residents; key Administration priorities; and partnership opportunities. In each city, blueprint development will be informed by a series of meetings with key stakeholder groups, with a specific focus centering the needs of Black residents and identifying opportunities to address the racial wealth and assets gap; facilitate intergenerational wealth transfer; and build resident, family, and community financial stability.
About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund)
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. By translating cutting edge experience with large scale programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund assists mayors and other local leaders in over 100 cities and counties to identify, develop, fund, implement, and research pilots and programs that help families build assets and make the most of their financial resources – including 29 local governments that have already completed the CityStart engagement. The CFE Fund has disbursed over $59 million in grant support to municipal partners. For more information, please visit www.cfefund.org or follow us on Twitter at @CFEFund.
Media Contact:
Max Leitenberger
max.leitenberger@hkstrategies.com
212-885-0477
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SOURCE Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/three-cities-kickstart-local-municipal-financial-empowerment-efforts-with-specialized-focus-racial-wealth-equity/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:24Z |
One thing everyone agrees on is that Stephanie didn't have to die. Even months after it happened, her family is struggling to figure out why.
"There is no perfect puzzle piece," says Stephanie's daughter Laurie. "I literally go through this all the time."
Stephanie was 75 when she succumbed to COVID-19 this past December. But Laurie says it wasn't just COVID that killed her mother. In the years leading up to her death, Stephanie had become embroiled in conspiracy theories. Her belief in those far-out ideas caused her to avoid vaccination and led her to delay and even refuse some of the most effective treatments after she got sick.
"I don't believe she was supposed to die," Laurie says. "I blame the misinformation."
As America approaches a million deaths from COVID-19, many thousands of families have been left wondering whether available treatments and vaccines could have saved their loved ones. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 230,000 deaths could have been avoided if individuals had gotten vaccinated.
Not everyone who refuses a vaccine believes in elaborate conspiracy theories, but many likely do. Anti-vaccine advocates have leveraged the pandemic to sow mistrust and fear about the vaccines. Local papers across the country are dotted with stories of those who refused vaccination, only to find themselves fighting for their very lives against the disease.
Stephanie's family wanted to share what happened to her in the hope their story can help others. NPR agreed to use only family members' first names to allow them their privacy as they continue to grieve.
"I know we're not alone," says Laurie. "I know this is happening all over the place."
From vaccine supporter to skeptic
Stephanie was a native of the Bronx, and for almost 55 years she was married to a man named Arnold. They met shortly after he returned from the war in Vietnam. Her family's dry cleaning shop was just a few blocks from his parents' house.
Parking in the Bronx was always tricky, Arnold quips. "So I said, 'You know, this isn't bad — she's very attractive, she's pleasant to be with — maybe I'll start dating her and I won't lose my parking spot."
They got engaged after just one month. After a few years of marriage, they moved to Long Island and bought a fixer-upper home. They had two daughters, Laurie and Vikki, who Stephanie stayed home to raise. Vikki remembers Stephanie had an unwavering belief in her children's ability to achieve whatever they wanted.
"She just believed we could do anything, and I think that's really powerful as a parent," she recalls.
When the daughters reached high school, Stephanie began to get into astrology and tarot. She did readings to advise people about things like houses, kids and jobs. It was quirky, but Laurie says that Stephanie brought a lot of positivity and optimism to her sessions.
"Everybody loved it, because everybody is always trying to figure out their lives. There's always the struggles," she says. "She spread hope with people."
For all her star charts and spiritual ideas, Stephanie was practical when it came to her health. She went for regular checkups, and she was a big believer in vaccines. "She made sure I took the flu shots, we took the shingles shot, we took the pneumonia shot," Arnold recalls. "I mean, I was like a pincushion."
The family lived for many happy years this way. The daughters grew and started families of their own. Arnold retired from a job working for the gas company.
Then, just before the pandemic began, there was a change in Stephanie. Nobody can exactly pinpoint when it happened. Part of it was physical. Throughout her life, she had played tennis. But it had taken a toll on her knees. She was finding it hard to walk and had to have a stair lift installed in her house.
The loss of tennis from her life also had a psychological impact, says Vikki. "It was her everything. It's where she felt really valued and strong and important."
Perhaps partially because she was isolated and feeling down, Stephanie got into watching strange videos and sending them to the rest of the family. Vikki says it was Laurie who was really the first to notice.
"She called me up one day and was like, 'All right, have you been watching these videos that Mom is sending us?'"
The videos covered a wide range of far-fetched conspiracy theories: JFK Jr. is still alive; reptilian aliens control the government. Arnold says he wouldn't even look at them: "Watching them, to my way of thinking, would have reinforced that they were valid. Even if I'd argued against them, she wouldn't have accepted my argument."
Stephanie's fringe ideas were troubling, but the family still hung out. Laurie says sometimes they fought over her beliefs, but often they kept the conversation on things like the grandkids.
Then came the pandemic, and everything changed. Stephanie's videos told her COVID was a hoax. But Laurie and Vikki took it seriously. They were worried about giving their parents the virus. So they stayed away, trying to keep them safe.
"We just stopped seeing each other as a family," Laurie says. "We didn't do Thanksgiving that first year."
While the family stayed away, others did not. Through her astrology, Stephanie had formed a spiritual group that met weekly at her house. And like Stephanie, other members of that group didn't believe the virus was real.
The more time they spent together, the more Stephanie became invested in her beliefs. Arnold says it was "tribal": "Staying in the same clique, reinforcing each other, and not getting outside opinions."
When the COVID vaccines came along, Stephanie absolutely refused to get one because she falsely thought the shots contained tiny microchips. Moreover, she began avoiding her daughters, who had gotten vaccinated, because she believed false information that the vaccines were being used to somehow spread COVID.
Arnold didn't get vaccinated, to try and keep the peace.
Good vs. evil
The family felt stuck. They didn't know how to shake Stephanie out of her beliefs. And they are hardly alone. Diane Benscoter runs a nonprofit called Antidote, which seeks to help families whose loved ones have been taken over by cults and conspiratorial thinking. She says she's inundated with emails from families facing the same struggles.
"My inbox," she says. "It's horrible."
Much of the public conversation around misinformation focuses on fact-checking and flagging false posts online. But these methods don't provide much help for people like Stephanie, says Sander van der Linden, a professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge in the U.K.
"Most people who are really into disinformation and conspiracy theories don't believe in a single conspiracy theory," he says. Rather, they're drawn into a self-reinforcing conspiratorial worldview in which conspiracies build on one another. While the theories can seem disparate, they often have unifying themes: They feed distrust in sources of authority; they claim insider knowledge that makes the believer feel valuable; and frequently, that knowledge includes a secret plan to defeat the forces of evil.
Van der Linden says there are three major reasons why people are drawn into this world in the first place: fear and anxiety about the future, a desire to have a simple explanation for complex or seemingly random events, and the social support that communities around conspiracy theories can provide.
While it's impossible to say exactly what drove Stephanie, her daughters identify several things that seem to roughly correspond to those broad categories of motivations. First, they say Stephanie suffered from a lot of anxiety throughout her life. With her tennis days behind her, much of her self-esteem now lay with her astrology work and her spiritual group. And that group was clearly playing the role of echo chamber, reinforcing her ideas and beliefs.
Benscoter thinks the pandemic has also pushed many people further into the shadows of conspiracies. "The pandemic increases fear, and fear is a really hard emotion. And isolation is a really hard place to be," she says.
Benscoter herself is a former cult member. She says the conspiracy narratives provide reassurance. Even if the facts seem crazy, they can provide emotional stability. Speaking of her own past, she says these tales gave clarity because they turned complex problems into simple questions of good versus evil.
"It feels so good; I never felt so secure. I mean I knew what was right and wrong. There was no question," she says.
Because those motivations are all about psychological needs, arguing the facts around individual conspiracies will do little to shake people out of their beliefs. Moreover, "when you try to pull on one, the whole thing collapses for people," van der Linden says. "So the resistance becomes much stronger."
Efforts to dissuade Stephanie from her beliefs were frequently met with outbursts of rage, her family says. "She was angry that we weren't listening to her and believing what she believed," Vikki says. "A couple of times I tried to speak to her on an analytical basis," Arnold says. "But I could see she was getting defensive, and I didn't want to alienate myself from her."
Both Benscoter and van der Linden say there is no surefire way to get someone from abandoning conspiratorial thinking. They also say one of the best strategies is to try and get a person to question the messenger, not the message. "People, especially these kinds of people, don't want to feel like they're being manipulated," van der Linden says. He says it's good to ask questions like: "Do you think it's possible that other people are profiting off you?"
It was a strategy Stephanie's family said they tried a few times. But even then, van der Linden says, these interventions take time. People can't change their thinking instantly, and often will backslide as they talk again to their fellow conspiracy theorists.
"It's an extensive process," he says.
Out of time
Unfortunately for Stephanie, she did not have time. In November of 2021, just before Thanksgiving, Arnold and Stephanie met two other couples for dinner at a popular local restaurant.
"Afterwards, she started developing symptoms," Arnold says.
But she refused to get tested. Instead, she ordered drugs online from a natural healer in Florida. Two of the drugs, ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, are ineffective against COVID, but many conspiracy theorists believe they work. Stephanie waited for the pills to come.
"She was waiting for the pills and I said, 'Why wait? You could go to the doctor right now. You have amazing health insurance. You don't have to wait,'" Laurie says.
All the while, she was getting sicker and sicker. The daughters got her a device to check her blood-oxygen level: It was at just 77%.
Vikki called a friend who was a nurse: "She said, '77?! You need to get your mom to the hospital. She could die!' And I said, 'Really?'"
Stephanie still didn't want to go, but after hearing she could die, she eventually gave in. Arnold drove her to the hospital.
Even after she was admitted, she turned down some effective treatments for COVID. One drug, called remdesivir, has been proven to reduce the severity of COVID, but Stephanie believed conspiracy theories claiming the drug was actually being used to kill COVID patients. Stephanie also refused another treatment shown to be very effective for patients with COVID-19: monoclonal antibodies. Laurie remembers how one doctor responded when he learned that Stephanie had refused the drugs:
"He was like, 'Why didn't you take any of the treatments Stephanie?' She found every little piece of energy in her and yelled back at him, 'BECAUSE IT'LL KILL ME!'"
Meanwhile, Arnold had developed symptoms and was getting sicker and weaker. He eventually asked his daughters for help.
Vikki drove him to get monoclonal antibodies. He worsened overnight, and the next day, he was admitted to the same hospital that Stephanie was staying in. Unlike his wife, Arnold accepted every treatment he was offered.
"He said yes to everything. He said yes to every treatment they were willing to give him," says Vikki. "My Mom said no."
He was discharged after just five days.
"I felt hopeful, because I told her I was going home. I told her, 'I'll be waiting for you.' And then, everything started deteriorating," Arnold recalls.
"She was fighting a fight without any defenses," says Perihan El Shanawany, a doctor with Northwell Health, who was part of the team that cared for Stephanie. As Stephanie grew sicker, she started developing blood clots on her lungs. El Shanawany knew that as things progressed, Stephanie would only suffer more.
"Patients at that point feel like they're suffocating, they're drowning," El Shanawany says. "It's a horrible way to die."
The only option Stephanie had left was to go on a ventilator. So Dr. El Shanawany sat down with her and asked her what she wanted.
"She did say that she's had enough. That's her words, 'I've had enough. This is not a life. I can't live like this anymore'," El Shanawany says.
During a video call, Laurie heard her mother's wishes. She had been urging Stephanie to fight because she felt it wasn't her time. But hearing those words, "I can't live like this anymore," something changed. For years they had been battling over the lies and conspiracies. Laurie knew it was time to make peace with the mother she loved.
And that meant helping Stephanie to die comfortably. "My whole mission after hearing that was to help her get her wishes," she says.
Laurie stayed by her mother's side, reading text messages from friends and relatives who wanted to say goodbye. At one point, seeing she was suffering, Laurie played her some music written by a family member: "She gave me a thumbs up," Laurie recalls. "She was there."
"We all said goodbye and told her she was the best," Laurie says.
Stephanie died the next day. It was Dec. 28, a few days after Christmas.
At the funeral, Arnold heard from scores of people whom Stephanie had helped over the years, through her astrology, and just her advice and friendship.
"They all said, 'She changed my life,' " he says tearfully.
In the months since Stephanie died, the family has begun the long road to healing. Arnold has received the COVID vaccine. And Laurie recently bought a home closer to her father and sister. "We'll be able to be in each other's lives more," she says.
She also says she's slowly making her peace with Stephanie's death.
"I'm a lot less angry," she says.
But she still thinks about the people who make the paranoia-laced videos that her mother consumed day after day. She understands that something inside her mother drew her to those voices, but Laurie still sees Stephanie mainly as a victim of the grifters and attention-seekers who generate many hours of falsehoods every day to grab money, likes and shares.
"Whoever is creating all this content, is on some level waging a war — here in America — inside of every family," she says. "I think people need to wake up to that."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/their-mom-died-of-covid-they-say-conspiracy-theories-are-what-really-killed-her | 2022-05-12T15:14:29Z |
Tom Golisano, Founder of Paychex and Noted Philanthropist, to Lead the 78th Annual Columbus Day Parade Up Fifth Avenue on October 10, 2022.
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbus Citizens Foundation announced today that Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex and noted philanthropist, will serve as the 2022 Grand Marshal of the Columbus Day Parade on New York City's Fifth Avenue. Golisano's visionary business acumen led to the creation and success of Paychex, which streamlined payroll and human resources services to businesses nation-wide. Golisano is also an investor in 18 businesses across the country. Golisano's charitable work is undertaken by the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation, with a primary focus on awarding grants to organizations that provide opportunities for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
The annual Columbus Day Parade, the largest celebration of Italian American heritage and culture in the United States, will take place on Monday, October 10, 2022, beginning at 11:30 am. As Grand Marshal, Golisano will lead marching bands, floats and over 100 marching groups up the Fifth Avenue parade route, from 44th Street to 72nd Street. The parade will air live on WABC-TV from 12 noon to 3 pm.
In speaking of Mr. Golisano as Grand Marshal, Columbus Citizens Foundation President Christopher Loiacono praised his success as a prominent Italian American both in business and philanthropic endeavors.
"We are honored to have Tom as this year's Grand Marshal. As a visionary in the business world and a truly charitable individual, he is the perfect candidate to lead our 2022 Parade," Mr. Loiacono said. "Tom's personal philanthropy and the work of the Golisano Foundation have greatly benefited the state of New York, and we are thrilled to have him lead New York City's Columbus Day Parade this fall."
"It's an incredible feeling to join the great Italians and Italian-Americans who have served as Grand Marshal in the past," Mr. Golisano said, "My Italian heritage is so important to me, and it's one of the many reasons why I am excited to be a part of this major celebration of all things Italian."
The tradition of a Columbus Day Parade began when Generoso Pope led a group of Italian Americans from East Harlem to Columbus Circle in 1929. The parade was formalized as an official celebration of Columbus and Italian heritage in 1944, and this year's event marks its 78th Anniversary. Groups, institutions, and partners from across the United States and Italy will take part in this year's celebration.
The 2021 Grand Marshal was Michael Pascucci. Prior Grand Marshals of New York's Columbus Day Parade have included: Sophia Loren; Frank Sinatra; Massimo Ferragamo; Joseph Plumeri; Luciano Pavarotti; Guy Chiarello; Frank Bisignano; Lidia Bastianich; Leonard Riggio; Kenneth Langone; Robert LaPenta; Joe DiMaggio; Alberto Cribiore; Mario Andretti; Joseph Perella; Roberto Cavalli and Maria Bartiromo.
Event: Columbus Day Parade
Location: Fifth Avenue from 44th – 72nd Streets, New York City
Date: Monday, October 10, 2022
Hours: 11:30 AM – 3:00 p.m.
Broadcast: WABC-TV, 12 Noon – 3:00 p.m.
ABOUT COLUMBUS CITIZENS FOUNDATION
Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement. The Foundation, through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities, provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American students through various scholarship and grant programs. The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has celebrated Italian-American heritage on New York's Fifth Avenue since 1929. For more information, contact jwilson@columbuscitizens.org
ABOUT TOM GOLISANO
B. Thomas Golisano is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader who has demonstrated an ongoing dedication and commitment to building innovative businesses, supporting numerous non-profit organizations, and advocating for inclusive health and several civic issues.
Mr. Golisano is the founder of Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, benefits, human resources, and insurance services. Tom Golisano served as Paychex's president and chief executive officer from 1971, when he founded the company, until October 2004, when he retired from his position as president and CEO. Golisano served as Board Chairman for the last 17 years. With more than 50 years of industry expertise, Paychex has 16,000 employees, serves almost 700,000 clients in the U.S. and Northern Europe, pays one in 12 U.S. private-sector employees, and is the largest HR company for small to medium-sized businesses. It is headquartered in Rochester, New York.
Mr. Golisano and Paychex have consistently been recognized by business, financial and national media. Mr. Golisano was listed among the FORBES top 10 bosses in the U.S. for three consecutive years; the annual ranking is based on chief executives who provide the best balance between their compensation and shareholder return.
In 1985 Mr. Golisano launched his first philanthropic endeavor by establishing the Golisano Foundation, which is now one of the world's largest foundations that award grants to organizations providing opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities. His philanthropic contributions, both personal and through the Golisano Foundation, have exceeded $330 million helping hospitals, educational institutions, and many other organizations. Three children's hospitals bear his name.
His commitment to educational excellence includes the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences and the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at RIT. Niagara University's B. Thomas Golisano Center for Integrated Sciences, the Golisano Training Center at Nazareth College, the Golisano Community Engagement Center at Roberts Wesleyan College and many more.
His global commitment to advance inclusive health for people with intellectual disabilities has exceeded $95 million supporting the Golisano Autism Center, the Golisano Center for Special Needs at Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital, the Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing at St. John Fisher College, the Golisano Center for Community Health at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, the Golisano Pediatric Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at URMC, the Golisano Medical Oncology Center at Niagara Memorial and more. The launch of Special Olympics Healthy Communities in 2012 has improved health care for people in more than 120 countries on six continents.
His advocacy for civic and political causes encompasses founding the Independence Party in New York State, which acquired ballot status in 1995; a three-time run for NYS governor; establishing Responsible New York, a political movement to return Albany to its rightful owners – the taxpayers. In 2018 Mr. Golisano launched Tax My Property Fairly, an online resource for property owners in Upstate NY to get information and tools to fight for fair property taxes. He has also advocated for initiatives to reduce illegal drug trafficking, alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy. From 2005 to 2013, he was a major underwriter of the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.
Mr. Golisano is married to Monica Seles, professional tennis player and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He has two children, six grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.
CONTACT:
Jefferson Wilson
Director of Marketing & Communications
Columbus Citizens Foundation
Phone: (212) 249-9923 x242
Fax: (212) 737-4413
jwilson@columbuscitizens.org
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SOURCE Columbus Citizens Foundation | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/tom-golisano-named-grand-marshal-2022-columbus-celebration-will-lead-nyc-columbus-day-parade-october-10/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:31Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says he will meet today in Kyiv with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The two would be the highest-ranking U.S. officials to visit Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion. The visit comes just days after the Biden administration unveiled another $800 million in military aid for Ukraine. NPR's Franco Ordoñez is in Kyiv and joins us now.
Franco, thank you for being with us.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Thanks, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So what can you tell us about this trip?
ORDOÑEZ: You know, I'll just note that Biden administration is keeping pretty much a tight lid on this so far, likely for security reasons. At this point, they're still not commenting, but if this visit does happen, it would be very significant. As you mentioned, they would be the highest-ranking officials to come here. And they're expected to discuss the $800 million package, which is intended to provide more heavy weapons, including howitzers and drones. The trip, though, will also likely be seen as a trial run for President Biden to eventually visit. Here's Zelenskyy at a press conference yesterday talking about that.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) We're waiting for the security situation to allow Mr. Biden to come as well, just to support Ukrainian people. We will have this conversation, and we'll talk about that armament list that we need.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, there is increasing pressure on Biden to visit. The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and others have visited in recent weeks, and there are calls for Biden to do the same. But so far, the White House says there are no plans for that kind of visit.
RASCOE: Zelenskyy also talked about Ukraine's relationship with the United States. Like, what did he say about that?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, he did. He says Ukraine wants more weapons, and they're being given, but that right now, the best military support they're receiving comes from the United States and from Britain. He says U.S. weapons have been crucial to their defense of the country, and he adds that the influence (ph) on other European nations to do more is also very key.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) USA are the leaders. This is the country who is the leader, and they set the tone. They actually set the tone for early (ph) negotiation, and they set the tone for this dynamics of support. And they affect, quite often, if any European country can provide armament - they actually can change the situation. This is a very important strategic partner, and I do believe in the strategic partnership.
ORDOÑEZ: You know, Zelenskyy was very thankful for U.S. support, and he mentioned the bipartisan support he has as well. He said he just needs the weapons to arrive faster for him to save more lives.
RASCOE: So what more did we learn from Zelenskyy's press conference?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, it was a two-hour press conference that touched on several issues. He addressed his willingness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin while at the same time investigating him and other Moscow leaders for war crimes. He said he would do anything he can to save Ukrainian lives, but he was also clear that Russian leaders will be brought to justice. He said it may take years. He said it may even be up to the next generations of Ukrainians to complete the job. But he said he was confident that they will be held accountable.
RASCOE: And what do we know this morning about the fighting going on there in Ukraine?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. There were new strikes yesterday on the port city of Odesa. Ukrainian officials say at least eight people were killed, including a 3-month-old child. Zelenskyy yesterday got, you know, pretty emotional speaking about that child - a young girl - even asking, what did she do to threaten Russia?
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) A 3-month newborn child died - 3-month child. Just try to grasp it - 3 months old. When the war started, this child was a month old, and the child died. Just realize it. Grasp it.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. You can really hear the passion in his voice. And Ayesha, it's also getting worse in the east. There has been increased fighting in the Donbas region, where Russia is shifting its focus as it seeks more controls of areas such as Donetsk and Luhansk.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Franco Ordoñez in Kyiv, Ukraine. Thank you so much, Franco.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/ukraines-president-says-he-will-meet-with-u-s-secretaries-of-state-and-defense | 2022-05-12T15:14:35Z |
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now it's time for one of our favorite things - poetry. April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, we've been inviting you to submit your original poems via Twitter and TikTok using the #NPRPoetry hashtag. Of course, we love to read them, and we hope you love to read them. And we also invite an accomplished poet to come and select a few of the entries to share some that stood out to them. Today we've called upon Victoria Chang. She teaches creative writing at Antioch University in Los Angeles. Her latest poetry collection is called "Obit." Victoria Chang, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us.
VICTORIA CHANG: Oh, thanks so much for having me.
MARTIN: Before we dive into the poems, can we find out some more about you? Do you remember when you started writing poetry and why?
CHANG: Sure. I started writing poetry in first grade and second grade during elementary school when there were - in a public elementary school in Michigan. And they had these little poetry contests for all the little kids. And that's pretty much my first introduction to poetry.
MARTIN: That's amazing. You were a poetry prodigy. What attracted you to the form?
CHANG: You know, I didn't really know that poetry was a thing because, you know, my parents were immigrants. And so it's not like they were speaking in English at home. And it just wasn't a part of our culture in our house. And so when the teachers introduced us to poems, it just occurred to me that that's how I viewed the world, was through images.
MARTIN: Your last collection of poems addresses something that's very much not for second-graders, but it addresses themes of memory and family. It's called "Obit." I have to say, I found it exquisite and excruciating and so true and so real. You wrote it after your mother died. And I was just wondering if I could ask, how did the idea of writing about this in this way come to you?
CHANG: Sure. Yeah. So the poems are shaped like obituaries in a newspaper. And I really resisted writing a traditional elegy because everyone else in my mind had done it better - you know, Whitman and all the old elegies, Milton. I just didn't feel like I could do anything justice - like, my mother justice. And then I was listening to NPR, interestingly, and they were talking about the documentary "Obit" and about obituary writers. It was about - you know, they were just talking about the film. And that word was just so - it resonated with me, the long O and the sharp T at the end. And it just occurred to me that everything dies when someone you love dies. And then I started writing these poems that were shaped like obituaries, where logic dies. Optimism die. I die. You know, friendships die. So that's sort of how they came about.
MARTIN: Hmm. It's really lovely. Just - one called "Language." (Reading) Language died again on August 3, 2015, at 7:09 a.m. It just - it's so piercing. And I was thinking that "Obit" came out in spring of 2020, so it was written before the pandemic, when so many people have experienced grief, in some cases - in many cases - in ways that they never expected. And I wondered, did that time change anything about how you thought about poetry and writing or what writing is for?
CHANG: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I wrote these poems in the midst of the deepest sense of loss that one could experience, which now I discover having, you know, written this book and published this book in 2020, and so many people have contacted me in different ways and told me that it really resonated with their own experiences of loss. And so that really made me think, wow, I've really reached out my hand to touch people in some unknown way. And I wrote it for myself because I was so lonely in my own grief.
You know, I always say that grief is very asynchronous. You don't go through it at exactly the same time as anyone else. And even when you do, you don't feel the same things. And so I wrote it for myself, but to know that it connected with so many people changed my view of the role of poetry and the power of poetry. And then the pandemic came, and that collective grief just blew my mind in terms of how we are - you know, all of us experienced this together during this time. I mean, I've never felt that way before. And my book resonated with people in that way, too, because, you know, I was talking about very personal grief. But then what is personal grief? It's collective grief because we're all feeling the same things because we're human. We're all human.
MARTIN: That's lovely. So let's get into some of the poems. Why don't you start us - start us off with a Twitter poem.
CHANG: Sure. I'll just start with this one by @j_edney, and it's called "Early Spring." And it's a haiku, which is five, seven, five syllables.
(Reading) Through the crusty snow, crocus thrust vivid banners, urging spring forward.
MARTIN: Tell us why you picked this one.
CHANG: Oh, I just love that second line, crocus thrust vivid banners. And what I look for in poems is always a sense of strangeness or surprise. And that word, banners, is just this kind of injection of unusual language in a poem that's about nature. And so that really is the reason why I selected that poem.
MARTIN: I love it, too. I love that you picked it because it reminded me of, like, teenagers, basically. Like, we're out. We're out. We're out. You know how they - the minute they can - we're out.
CHANG: Here I am. Look at me (laughter).
MARTIN: Here I am, right? All right. Here's one from TikTok that you picked out. We'll play it.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Talking to pages. The things I never tell you, I avoid telling myself. Shroud them in pages, of observations, of things in view from afar.
MARTIN: OK. Wow. OK. What stood out to you about this one besides that amazing voice?
CHANG: Yeah. (Laughter) Yeah. I mean, I feel like there's tension in this poem. Like, there's, like - the title's "Talking To Pages." So it's like, yes, I'm talking, but then the first line is, the things I never tell you, I avoid telling myself. And then there's hiding - shroud them in pages of observations. And then there's distance - of things I can view from afar. So this one's a little bit, I think, more complex than some of the other ones. It's a little bit longer. But there's this feeling of speaking, observing, not speaking, seeing things from far away. And there's that feeling of a sense of confusion and loss. And so I like that kind of mystery in that poem.
MARTIN: You know what I like about it journalistically? - because it's so true. You know what I mean? Speaking as a journalist, like, yeah, that sounds right.
Well, thanks for playing. We sure appreciate that you spent this time with these submissions and gave it such care. You teach poetry at the college level, so I wanted to ask, for people who might want to try this and might be a little shy about getting started or if they already write, taking their writing to the next level. Do you have some advice?
CHANG: Yeah. I think reading as much as you can and not just sort of reading the things you learn in high school. But there's so much vibrant poetry being posted on social media, both old poems and then also contemporary poems on Twitter and Instagram, in particular, and TikTok even now. And so, you know, once you kind of get into those communities, you'll see people posting poems all the time. And I actually post poems almost every day, too. And so I think it's just a great way to read what other people are posting. And that's the perfect way to learn.
MARTIN: That was poet Victoria Chang. Her latest book is "Dear Memory: Letters On Writing, Silence, And Grief." Victoria Chang, thank you so much for joining us. It's really been a delight.
CHANG: Yes. Same here. I enjoyed it.
MARTIN: And if you'd like to participate in our celebration of Poetry Month, you can post your original 15-second poem to TikTok with the hashtag #NPRPoetry. Please remember to keep it radio-friendly and 15 seconds or less. Of course, we are also still doing the original Twitter poems. You can tweet those at @npratc, also with the #NPRPoetry hashtag. The original Twitter rule still applies, so poems must be 140 characters or less. Next weekend - it's last weekend in April, so we will have one final poet join us on the air to talk about some of the submissions that caught their eye.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/victoria-chang-shares-her-favorite-nprpoetry-submissions | 2022-05-12T15:14:36Z |
TCM Tactical Opportunities Fund II will deploy flexible capital solutions to companies in underserved markets that solve liquidity needs up to $20 million
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Troob Capital Management LLC ("TCM" or the "Firm"), a leading private investment firm specializing in providing capital solutions to entities in underserved market segments, today announced the close of its TCM Tactical Opportunities ("TCM Tac Opps") Fund II LP at $209 million.
TCM Tac Opps Fund II is one of a select number of private investment funds that offers an unconstrained approach for providing access to debt or equity capital to companies with liquidity needs up to $20 million. Fund II builds on its first fund which closed in 2019 and has since sourced and executed on a broad array of differentiated opportunities based on an investment mandate designed to listen to companies' needs and provide flexible and tailored solutions to help them achieve their business objectives.
TCM's core investment team has worked together for nearly 20-years and possesses extensive backgrounds in alternative investments, investment banking, distressed investing, and business operations. The team's deep and broad sector and geographic expertise continues to provide TCM with a solid foundation and platform for sourcing and capitalizing on a consistent stream of directly sourced investment opportunities.
"There is a tremendous supply and demand imbalance that exists in the market for capital needs up to $20 million," said Peter Troob, Co-Founder, Troob Capital Management. "While larger private equity and private credit deals tend to generate more attention, smaller enterprises are increasingly in need of capital from trusted and credible investment partners who operate with integrity and transparency. We are positioned to meet this demand and we are looking forward to deploying capital to a broad array of distinctive investment opportunities."
Douglas Troob, Co-Founder, Troob Capital Management, added, "Institutional investors, family offices and high net-worth individuals continue to express a strong appetite for access to established and proven private investment platforms that offer outstanding investment talent, disciplined investment approaches and tailored risk/return solutions. We appreciate the support we have received from our investors and are grateful for their continued commitment to TCM."
TCM Tac Opps Fund II will focus on deploying capital across existing and new platforms with trusted partners that allow for repeatable and scalable investments. These include specialty and structured financings with shorter duration and cash-flowing assets such as working capital and secured financing facilities, as well as private capital financings ranging from private debt and equity and real estate development to trade claims and litigations.
About Troob Capital Management LLC
Troob Capital Management LLC and its affiliates ("TCM") is an RIA founded by Douglas and Peter Troob in 2002. The firm manages investment funds pursuing a tactical opportunities strategy. TCM has developed an expertise in structuring investments across the entire capital structure within multiple asset classes. TCM's founders have over 50-years of combined investment management and financial industry experience and have built an institutional quality organizational infrastructure with a core team that has worked together for nearly 20 years. For more information, please visit www.troobcapital.com or contact Kathy O'Donnell at kodonnell@troobcapital.com.
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SOURCE Troob Capital Management LLC | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/troob-capital-management-announces-209-million-close-its-second-tactical-opportunities-fund/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:37Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Today marks exactly two months since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Since then, efforts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into ending the war have mounted. There's been unprecedented sanctions levied against Russia and talks of an expansion of NATO at their border. But at the United Nations, some of these efforts have stalled. Russia is one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, which gives it the power to veto any security resolution. That's led to questions about just how effective the U.N. is during times of conflict and what can be done to reform its current structure. To talk about this now, we are joined by Richard Gowan. He's the U.N. director at the International Crisis Group. Welcome.
RICHARD GOWAN: Thank you very much for having me on the show.
RASCOE: So could you explain to us briefly, why does Russia have veto power on security resolutions?
GOWAN: The winners of the Second World War - Britain, France, China, the U.S. and Russia - have had this power since the body's inception. And the Russians have always used their veto quite aggressively over proposals on issues, like Syria, that they do not like.
RASCOE: Well, so what are the consequences of that, of having five very powerful countries with the ability to block any security resolution?
GOWAN: Well, it means that these five countries fundamentally dominate U.N. diplomacy in matters of war and peace, and a lot of smaller countries really resent that. But the reality is that the U.S., for example, wants to keep its veto because it can use it to defend Israel from negative resolutions in the Security Council. And I think that if Russia didn't have a veto, it would probably walk away from the U.N. altogether.
RASCOE: And there is no way that Russia could ever be removed from the Security Council, right?
GOWAN: There's an irony here. There is a article in the U.N. charter that says that countries can be expelled from the U.N. altogether. But to do that, you have to get a recommendation from the Security Council, and Russia can use its veto to block the recommendation. So you're trapped.
RASCOE: Is there any way to pressure them further? Obviously, there are sanctions. There are all these actions that are being taken to isolate Russia. But it seems like as long as they are part of this very powerful body, how isolated can they be?
GOWAN: Well, the U.S. and other allies of Ukraine are working really hard to isolate Russia in other parts of the U.N. system or to condemn Russia. And actually, the U.N. General Assembly has actually spoken out very firmly over this war. It's passed two resolutions, back in March, very explicitly condemning Russia. And, you know, these votes have passed by big margins. I mean, I think we're going to see Russia really penned in across the U.N. now. But what they care about most is the Security Council seat and the veto. That's the part of the U.N. that matters to Russia politically. So they're willing to take these hits in other U.N. forums, knowing that they're still safe in the Security Council.
RASCOE: When you have a member that is, as you said, engaging in this behavior that the rest of the world has said is unacceptable - you know, and they're OK with being isolated to a certain extent - like - I guess, like, what does that mean for diplomacy in the U.N. itself?
GOWAN: I think if you look at the track record of the U.N., what it is useful for is dealing with conflicts that don't involve the main strategic interests of the veto powers. So the U.N. is very useful in terms of deploying peacekeeping forces to weak countries in Africa, like South Sudan. And it has a very important role to play in getting humanitarian aid into challenging countries, like Afghanistan today. That's where the U.N. usually makes a difference. Whenever you come to a crisis directly involving one of the big powers, the council always gets deadlocked. That was true in 1960s over the Cuban missile crisis. It's been true, very sadly, on repeated occasions over the last decade over Syria, and it's true today of Ukraine.
RASCOE: You said recently that the war in Ukraine is, quote, "the single biggest crisis to hit the U.N. since the end of the Cold War." So how do you think that diplomacy that you're talking about with the U.N. will look going forward?
GOWAN: Look, there is a scenario in which relations between the Western powers and Russia become so bad that they can't even keep up routine diplomacy in the Security Council over issues other than Ukraine. And there's also a scenario in which - I think not very soon, but at some point down the road - Russia and Ukraine make some sort of peace settlement. And actually, the Security Council could have a role in endorsing that or even sending U.N. peacekeepers to help monitor the settlement. I don't think that we're doomed to a new Cold War at the U.N., but I certainly think that, even in the best-case scenario, relations with the Russians are going to be awfully, awfully difficult in New York for a very long time to come.
RASCOE: Richard Gowan is the U.N. director at the International Crisis Group. Thank you so much for being with us.
GOWAN: Thank you very much indeed. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/what-is-russias-place-on-the-u-n-security-council | 2022-05-12T15:14:42Z |
LAKE FOREST, Ill., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Transworld Systems Inc. (TSI) announced today the appointment of Candice O'Brien as Chief Customer Officer. Ms. O'Brien joins TSI after its acquisition of EOS USA, where she served as the Chief Operating Officer.
"We are excited to have Candice join the TSI team to lead our efforts to become more customer centric and build deeper customer relationships," said Joseph Laughlin, Chief Executive Officer of TSI.
"I want our customers to know and feel that they have voice, a true advocate for their success. Every TSI customer has a team of industry professionals working on their behalf, aligned with their goals, and driven by their success, and I look forward to meeting more of our customers as I step into this new role," said Ms. O'Brien.
About Transworld Systems Inc.
TSI is the largest technology-enabled provider of Accounts Receivable Management (ARM) solutions in the United States and Canada. The Company's solutions include debt collections, customer relationship management and business process outsourcing. TSI also owns UAS, a technology-enabled primary loan servicer for student loans. TSI differentiates itself with its collection analytics, digital collections technology, global scale, and an industry-leading compliance management system. Its clients include Fortune 100 corporations, financial institutions, hospitals, government agencies, property management companies, and small and medium-sized businesses. To learn more, please visit tsico.com.
Media Contacts:
Jonathan Thompson, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
Jonathan.Thompson@tsico.com
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SOURCE Transworld Systems Inc. (TSI) | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/tsi-appoints-candice-obrien-chief-customer-officer/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:44Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Sometimes what you need isn't to read a good book; it's to listen to one.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS")
SHAUN TAYLOR-CORBETT: What had it been like, sitting there while the buffalo flowed down through the air within arm's reach, bellowing, their legs probably stiff because they didn't know for sure when the ground was coming? What had it felt like bringing meat to the whole tribe?
RASCOE: That's Shaun Taylor-Corbett, the narrator of Stephen Graham Jones' thriller "Only The Good Indians" (ph). According to my next guest, it's a really good audio book. She's listened to a lot of them. Kendra Winchester is a contributing editor for Book Riot, where she writes about audiobooks, and she joins us now from Hilton Head, S.C.
Kendra, good morning.
KENDRA WINCHESTER: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
RASCOE: So first of all, tell us a little bit more about what we just heard. What makes "Only The Good Indians," in your view, a good listen in addition to being, presumably, a good book?
WINCHESTER: "The Only Good Indians" is an excellent audiobook because Shaun Taylor-Corbett captures the tense atmosphere of a thriller. You have these young men who have killed this elk, and according their customs, they are supposed to treat it in a certain way, and they don't. And a little while later, these men start being killed, and it's this whole mystery. There's drama and horror. And I normally am not a horror novel person, but Stephen Graham Jones has definitely made me one now.
RASCOE: OK, see, what - now, you know, I'm a horror person, so (laughter) I really need to check this out. I mean, I had always heard from - my uncle is a really big fan of audiobooks, right? But he is always very clear that you have to have a good narrator, and if you don't, the book will be horrible. So what makes for a good narrator of these books? Like, what makes someone stand out?
WINCHESTER: Well, like I mentioned with Shaun Taylor-Corbett, the narrator has to capture the atmosphere of the book. So whether it's a romance, a horror novel, a children's book, they have to set the right tone. And then they perform it, so it's like a one-person show performing this text. And it all depends on their voice and their ability to communicate what the characters are feeling.
RASCOE: What about when authors read their own work? What has been your experience with that?
WINCHESTER: Oh, it is the most amazing magic that I have ever heard. And Ashley C. Ford, for example, reads her memoir, "Somebody's Daughter," and there's this little moment where she talks about her mom, and she does, like, her mom voice for her mom. It's really special the way that she does it.
RASCOE: And we have a clip of it. It's her talking about her mother but not actually doing the mom voice.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER")
ASHLEY C FORD: When she said that thing to me, that I could always come home, part of me wanted to reply, mama, I love you, but I'll work myself past the white meat down to the bone and fist fight every stranger I run across on the street before we live under the same roof again.
RASCOE: I mean, you can hear the personality in that, right?
WINCHESTER: Yes. And you also hear the deep layer of emotion. Just with the way that she performed the words, you know a lot about that relationship really quickly.
FORD: Yeah. What are some other memoirs that are really well-done when they're read by the author that you think the audience might be interested in?
WINCHESTER: Well, I really like "Sissy" by Jacob Tobia. They talk about being assigned male at birth and then eventually discovering that they are nonbinary. And there's a lot of really deep stuff in this book. There's a lot of emotion. But the way that Jacob Tobia performs their audiobook is so funny.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "SISSY: A COMING-OF-GENDER STORY")
JACOB TOBIA: Some days when I look in the mirror, I feel like I'm the spitting image of my grandmother, except that she was 5'3", and I'm 5'13", and I'm significantly hairier than she was. Also, my grandmother probably wouldn't have worn a leather dog collar as an accessory. But other than those things, we're basically the same person.
RASCOE: So Jacob Tobia - what's another author who really spoke to you through their memoir audiobook?
WINCHESTER: I have to tell you about "Nanette." I am a huge Hannah Gadsby fan. And I had this book preordered. I had the audiobook ready to go. And as soon as it got into my hot little hands on my phone app, I was listening to that. And I listened to the whole memoir in probably 24 hours. The way that Hannah Gadsby - as we know, she is a comedian, and she had the comedy special called "Nanette," and now she's here with her memoir, "Ten Steps To Nanette: A Memoir Situation."
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "TEN STEPS TO NANETTE: A MEMOIR SITUATION")
HANNAH GADSBY: "Nanette" was dropped into the stream smack bang in the middle of the #MeToo movement, which is the only time to release a comedy show which includes a story about a violent assault followed by 10-minute screed calling [expletive] on the patriarchy. But that's why I'm such a great comedian - because comedy is, after all, all about timing.
RASCOE: (Laughter) And audiobooks too. So she hit that timing right on the head. And I know there is another book that you wanted to mention that has a bit of a surprise to it, right?
WINCHESTER: Yes. So I picked up Brandi Carlile's memoir, "Broken Horses." And this memoir is very special because Brandi Carlile performs music for the audiobook. So she'll read the chapter, and at the end of each chapter, she has a song. And maybe it's a song she wrote when she was a kid, or maybe she's talking about how some of her most famous songs came to be, and she will perform that song in studio when she's recording the audiobook. And it creates this very special atmosphere. And this book has now become the memoir by which I judge all musician memoirs at this point. It's so good.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RIDE ON OUT")
BRANDI CARLILE: (Singing) I'll sing my sad song beneath the purple sky.
RASCOE: So those are some very good suggestions. Kendra, for people who are listening to this but have not listened to an audiobook in a while or have not considered reading in this way, what do you think they need to keep in mind before they hit play on that audiobook?
WINCHESTER: Well, how it often works for people is, if you love books, you usually can read pretty fast as you build up your reading comprehension over the course of time. You have to do something similar with audiobooks. So I encourage people to start with maybe a book that they read in print before or maybe a children's book. And so the key is that, if your attention wanders, then if you've already read it, you won't get lost. But "The Only Good Indians" or something very character-driven, something that's very funny, like some of these memoirs, is often a great place to start.
RASCOE: That's Kendra Winchester, contributing editor for Book Riot. Kendra, thank you so much.
WINCHESTER: Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/what-qualities-make-an-audiobook-good | 2022-05-12T15:14:48Z |
The new sustainability initiative plants trees in the yards of homes reimagined by Wedgewood
LOS ANGELES, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wedgewood Homes, a leading real estate group that provides creative solutions with a focus on revitalizing communities throughout the United States by buying aged single-family homes in need of repair and returning the homes to the market, is pleased to introduce its newest sustainability initiative, TreeLC, a program to plant trees in the yards of Wedgewood's remodeled homes. TreeLC aims to bring more trees into dense urban areas where the lack of trees and shade can contribute to higher-than-average temperatures. Trees can help cool streets, lower temperatures inside the home, improve the air quality, and provide other climate benefits. This new program expands Wedgewood Homes' existing efforts to make a positive environmental impact in the communities in which it works and is part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability practices.
"Sustainability has been a core value of Wedgewood since it first launched in 1985, so we're thrilled to continue these efforts with this new program that will not only add value to the homes we build, but also enhance the communities in which we work," said Jamie Bender, Senior Vice President of Wedgewood Homes.
This initiative is yet another addition to Wedgewood Homes' ongoing environmental practices. Historically, Wedgewood's business model has taken a sustainable approach by renovating, restoring, and reimagining the existing structures of single-family homes in contrast to other approaches where homes are demolished to build new construction. Additionally, Wedgewood Homes' award-winning design is widely known for creating homes with xeriscape landscaping that is low maintenance and reduces water consumption. Furthermore, the company equips homes with cool roofs, energy-efficient appliances, and lighting fixtures that promote energy conservation and provide cost-saving benefits to future homeowners. And, Wedgewood employees have access to electric car chargers and solar carports at the company's headquarters in Redondo Beach, California.
About Wedgewood Homes
Wedgewood Homes, an award-winning real estate group that operates in 22 states and more than 800 cities across the United States, believes in the value of 'home' and the importance of providing home ownership opportunities. Wedgewood Homes' acquisition, renovation, and resale model utilizes local expertise, community real estate professionals, and nearly four decades of experience to revitalize neighborhoods, one home at a time. Employing a sustainable and strategic design approach, Wedgewood Homes specializes in restoring homes and placing them back on the market, providing new homeownership opportunities for thousands. Wedgewood, the parent company of Wedgewood Homes, has been in business since 1985.
Visit Wedgewood at www.wedgewood-inc.com and Wedgewood Homes at www.wedgewoodhomes.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
CONTACT:
Wicked+
Alicia Mistry
alicia@wicked.is
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SOURCE Wedgewood LLC | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/wedgewood-homes-launches-plant-a-tree-program-with-treelc/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:51Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
There's a certain kind of TV show we're getting to see more and more of these days.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DROPOUT")
AMANDA SEYFRIED: (As Elizabeth Holmes) If you choose to forget certain things, do you think that's lying?
RASCOE: That's Amanda Seyfried playing Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, a company that duped patients and investors with promises of reliable blood tests from just a drop or two of blood. Stories like hers, of scammers and con artists, are taking center stage in the entertainment world. And if you are anything like me, you can't get enough of them. Alyssa Rosenberg is an opinion columnist covering culture for The Washington Post. In a recent column, she argues there's great appeal for viewers in seeing a scam play out and thinking, I would never fall for that.
Alyssa Rosenberg, welcome.
ALYSSA ROSENBERG, BYLINE: Thank you so much for having me.
RASCOE: So why do you think it feels so good to see these kinds of stories play out?
ROSENBERG: So I want to be careful to distinguish between stories about sort of any kind of con and the specific kind of scammers that we're seeing depicted in pop culture right now because I think what is uniquely appealing about Elizabeth Holmes' story, about the story of Anna Sorokin - better known as an Anna Delvey, who grifted a lot of prominent people in New York - it's not that they are just clever scammers. It's that they're scamming people at the pinnacle of American society, the pinnacle of American governance. And so when you watch them trick people, when you watch Elizabeth Holmes put one over on George Shultz or Henry Kissinger or General Jim Mattis, when you watch Anna Delvey duping investment bankers and top New York lawyers, what you're able to say to yourself is, you know, I am smarter and savvier than these people who ostensibly run the world.
And at a moment when a lot of the American system feels incredibly rigged to people, I think there is something very satisfying about that. It's cold comfort. But I think it gets at something very primal - that desire to, you know, have recognized your sense that something has gone really off the rails and that the people at the top of the American pyramid have led us there, and sort of here's the proof.
RASCOE: And sort of - it's kind of like goes by - and this is something I would hear all the time growing up. It would say, OK, well, you got book sense, but you don't have no common sense, right?
ROSENBERG: Yes.
RASCOE: ...Like, the idea that these people were able to have somebody get over on them because they didn't have, like, a sort of street sense that said, this girl is lying.
ROSENBERG: Yes.
RASCOE: They're lying to you - or like, you know, this man is asking you for all this money with the Tinder swindler. Like, he don't have no money. He don't work for the FBI, whoever. That's - these are lies. (Laughter) Like...
ROSENBERG: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that a lot of these stories get at, you know, the myths that people want to believe in and how far folks will go to convince themselves that they are participating in a sort of enabling (ph) story, right? I mean, look; I have a lot of sympathy for some of the victims of these crimes, right? It's - with Theranos in particular, there were ordinary people who lost money.
RASCOE: Right, yes.
ROSENBERG: There were ordinary people who got bad blood test results. But they were guilty of nothing more than sort of believing what was presented to them in a kind of mundane way. It's the people at the top who convinced themselves that they were, you know, enabling some genius, that they were smart enough to have seized on something that no one else saw. Those are the people who I think really revealed themselves by falling for some of these scams.
RASCOE: Con artists, like, have a way of compelling people through their lies and misrepresentations. But they're good at it - and getting people to, like, separate them from their money or their name or their prestige. I mean, that is the part that is fascinating to me.
ROSENBERG: Yes. And, I mean, look. We - the last president of the United States was someone who, you know, practiced kind of puffery and exaggeration for his entire career. And I think it's very easy to look at Trump and Trump voters and say, I would never be convinced by anything like that; I would never fall for anything like that. But the truth is, everybody has a mode of communication that they're vulnerable to, right? I mean, everyone has a narrative or a script that is kind of their soft spot. And, you know, whether that's the desire to be on the ground floor of, you know, incredibly groundbreaking medical technology - everyone has an area where they're vulnerable or they're less skeptical. You know, I think, as much as it's easy to look at these stories and be triumphal - and I think that's one of the real pleasures of them - it's also a little bit of a warning too, right? It's like, you know, we can tell ourselves that we never would've fallen for Elizabeth Holmes, and we never would've fallen for Anna Sorokin, but we might have fallen for somebody.
RASCOE: Yeah.
ROSENBERG: ...And keeping an eye out for that, never being too sure that you're not a mark, I think, is a sign of healthy skepticism.
RASCOE: Alyssa Rosenberg, columnist for The Washington Post, thank you for being with us.
ROSENBERG: Thank you so much for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMMY GUERRERO'S "THANK YOU MK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/why-documentaries-and-tv-shows-about-scammers-are-so-popular | 2022-05-12T15:14:55Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
We're now a couple years into a global exercise in risk assessment - first, a new virus more dangerous to some than others with no tailored treatment or vaccine; then vaccine and lightning-fast progress on therapeutics but also new variants and subvariants of the virus with all of their individual differences in transmission and severity. And masks - don't get me started on masks. They are all caught up in partisan politics and now going through the judicial wringer - all that to say, it is a good time for a level set. And for that, we have Dr. Carlos del Rio. He's a distinguished epidemiologist at Emory School of Medicine, and he joins us now from Atlanta.
Dr. del Rio, welcome to the program.
CARLOS DEL RIO: Ayesha, delighted to be with you.
RASCOE: So let's start with BA.2. The estimate from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that this omicron subvariant accounts for 85% of COVID-19 cases here in the U.S. What do we need to know about it?
DEL RIO: Well, you know, what we need to know is that - one thing we've learned with COVID is delta was more transmissible than alpha, and omicron is more transmissible than delta. And now this new subvariant of omicron - BA.2 - is even more transmissible than omicron. Chances are, we're all going to get infected. This is highly transmissible. And for that matter, the good news is that the vaccines are still very effective in preventing you from getting sick or ending in the hospital or dying from COVID.
RASCOE: So obviously, big news that came out in the past week is that the mask mandate on public transportation has been removed for now. Should we expect cases to rise because of that?
DEL RIO: Well, cases were going to rise irregardless (ph) - right? - because most people were not wearing mask in most places.
RASCOE: A lot of people, though, feel like they have been taking precautions, will say they are frustrated because they feel like other people haven't taken it seriously. What do you say to those people who are just so frustrated right now?
DEL RIO: My advice is, you know, if you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. But make sure you're using the right mask - a high-quality, well-fitted mask like a N95 or a KN95 is the best mask you can use. And what I remind people is, as a physician, I take care of people in the hospital with COVID and with tuberculosis and with other infectious diseases, you know, that - which are transmitted through a repertory route. But I wear a well-fitted N95 mask when I see those patients. And as a result of that, I - you know, I've yet to get infected. So my recommendation - if you think you want to wear a mask, wear the right mask.
RASCOE: You know, now if you test positive, you can go get therapeutics. But there is a question about, how easy is it for me to do that?
DEL RIO: Therapeutics used to be not very available when they first came out, but now they're fairly available. There's a website that tells you exactly how many doses are in each drugstore; you can go down to the zip code. If you develop symptoms, get tested right away. And if you test positive, start the drugs right away. You have to do them within five days of diagnosis. But - and you need to have access to somebody, right? And a lot of our patients, a lot of our, you know, minority patients, a lot of our uninsured patients don't have that access, and they need to go to an urgent care center; they need to go to an ER. And if that visit is going to cost you, you know, a hundred, $200, you're not going to do that. So we need to address that.
RASCOE: And, you know, speaking of people that need, you know, care the most, what is the delay? And for all those parents out there, like me, with a children or a child under the age of 5, what is the delay with the vaccine?
DEL RIO: Well, first of all, there was a delay in doing the clinical trials - right? - because kids are not small adults. They have different metabolism. They have different needs. But those tests, those studies have been completed both for the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. I was a little taken aback, to be honest with you. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Fauci. But I read in the paper that the FDA is ready to look at the Moderna data, but he said we should delay this until the Pfizer data is ready so they can approve both at the same time. I tend to disagree. I think we need to accelerate this process. And my feeling is that hopefully by the summer, we should have vaccines for kids under 5.
RASCOE: Right now, you know, as we talked about earlier, like, the people have to do these different risk assessments, right? How differently are you living your life now versus how you were living it in, say, April 2020?
DEL RIO: I am now traveling. I am going to restaurants. I'm going to concerts. I'm doing many things that I wasn't doing April of 2020. But I'm vaccinated and boosted. I'm confident that if I get infected, you know, I'm not going to die; I'm not going to get critically ill. And I also know that if I develop symptoms, I can be tested and start myself on therapy and therefore prevent - you know, prevent developing disease.
RASCOE: What do you say to those people who are like, I don't want to catch COVID because I'm scared of long-term effects?
DEL RIO: If you are diagnosed with COVID, get diagnosed, get treated right away because even though we don't have the clinical data, my experience as an infectious disease physician, understanding the pathogenesis of the disease suggests to me that the risk of developing long COVID is going to be significantly decreased by getting treated.
RASCOE: That's Carlos del Rio of Emory School of Medicine. Dr. del Rio, thank you so much.
DEL RIO: A pleasure to be with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/with-less-societal-masking-how-to-avoid-catching-covid | 2022-05-12T15:14:56Z |
Wylder Hotels, known for transforming and reimaging iconic boutique hotels in unexpected destinations, debuts an instant classic in Windham, New York
WINDHAM, N.Y., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wylder Hotels announces today that its third hotel opening, Wylder Windham, is expected to open August 2022. With a focus on iconic soulful properties and wide-open spaces, the newest resort celebrates the unique local vibe of the magical town of Windham, New York, and embraces the timeless pleasures that the land has to offer. Following the acquisition of the legendary The Thompson House Resort, the top-to-bottom reimagining will feature seven separate lodges with 110 combined rooms, 20 acres of expansive property, an oversized in-ground pool, an on-site restaurant and bakery, 4,000 square feet of private event space, and fresh air galore.
Wylder Windham follows the openings of Wylder Hope Valley in 2020, which was named one of the best new properties in the world by Travel + Leisure's 2021 "It List" and Wylder Tilghman Island in 2018, which was recognized as a Conde Nast Traveler's Mid Atlantic Readers' Choice.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Each of Wylder Windham's seven historic lodges, inns, manors, and cottages have been lovingly restored by local craftsmen for the next generation of upstate adventurers. The Pines Inn (28 rooms), The Tamarack Lodge (16 rooms), The Manor (14 rooms), The Spruce Cottage (14 rooms), The Evergreen Lodge (25 rooms), The Main Lodge (13 rooms), and The Farmhouse (1 key residence) all have unique personalities that have been redesigned in collaboration with Brooklyn-based design firm Post Company and local architect Jason Anderson, and rebuilt by local craftsmen from Baxter Built.
The dog-friendly hotel offers a collection of 110 suites and king- and queen-bedded rooms featuring oak floors, custom furniture, and luxurious bathrooms for a timeless getaway. Guests can breathe in the fresh air as 82 rooms feature oversized balconies with unobstructed views of Windham Mountain or the Batavia Kill, creating both indoor and outdoor living spaces. The Main Lodge's infamous "The Baller Suite" features double balconies overlooking the pool with sweeping views of the mountain, making it the perfect room for keeping things "wyld." From Victorian buildings to modern accommodations and residences, guests can rent out Wylder Windham for private events and functions or enjoy an intimate weekend getaway.
ADVENTURE-BASED ACTIVITIES
Wylder Windham is brimming with opportunities to explore the natural beauty of the Great Northern Catskills. Sprawling across 20 pastoral acres, Wylder Windham is directly adjacent to Windham Country Club, an 18-hole public golf course, the Windham Path, a local favorite hiking trail, and a short, 2-minute drive to Windham Ski Mountain. For off-site activities, complimentary guest transportation will be offered in a restored vintage Land Rover Defender 110 Shuttle to local businesses including The Vineyard at Windham and Windham Fine Arts.
On-property amenities include a heated pool, electric bikes, hammocks, fire pits, tubing, tree swings, a wood-fired sauna, a hot tub, a dog run, lawn games, pickleball, and more.
DINING
Wylder Windham is home to Babblers, the property's approachable yet refined restaurant offering honest, comfort food and local fare in a lively, welcoming atmosphere with outdoor dining on the Batavia Kill. Open every day, Babblers serves as a place where visitors and locals can share supper, stories, and smiles. Adjacent to the restaurant, guests will find Babblers Bakery serving up its signature strawberry rhubarb pies, soft-serve ice cream, house-made croissants, and fresh coffee. End the evening at Babbler's handmade bar, serving strong libations including classic cocktails, spiked punch, local beer, and approachable wines.
EVENT SPACE
Wylder Windham offers over 4,000 sq. feet of indoor & outdoor event space, creating the perfect setting for a wide range of corporate meetings, wedding celebrations, family reunions, or social engagements. The Windham Ballroom can accommodate up to 200 guests while providing views of the Batavia Kill and surrounding Windham area. Wylder is one of the few resorts in the region that can accommodate all event guests on property and offers entire private lodges to house family and friends.
RESERVATIONS
For reservations, please visit https://wylderhotels.com/windham/. Nightly rates start at $265.
HOTEL CONTACT INFORAMTION
For questions regarding reservations, please email GuestServicesWW@WylderHotels.com or call (518)734-4510. To keep up with Wylder Windham's adventures, follow @wylderhotelwind on Instagram and Facebook.
ABOUT WYLDER HOTELS
Wylder Hotels are uncluttered by trends, brimming with distinct character and effortless sophistication. Wylder exists for travelers who appreciate adventures, big and small – known for seeking out storied locations and reimagining them. Recently recognized as one of the most innovative hotel companies by Business Insider, Wylder Hotels preserves the historical integrity of its properties while adding the trappings of modern luxury (without the attitude). A Wylder Hotel is made in the details. For more information visit wylderhotels.com or follow on Instagram @WylderHotels.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT WAGSTAFF MEDIA & MARKETING
wylderwindham@wagstaffmktg.com
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SOURCE Wylder Hotels | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/wylder-windham-open-all-season-resort-gem-catskills/ | 2022-05-12T15:14:57Z |
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
For the Yup'ik and Inupiat people of Alaska, a spelling bee is more than a friendly competition. As Alaska Public Media's Katie Anastas reports, spelling bees are a way for kids to connect to their culture and to make sure native languages live on.
KATIE ANASTAS, BYLINE: At this year's Yup'ik and Inupiaq spelling bees, 16 students from all over Alaska took the stage. Freda Dan organized the Yup'ik competition. She also served as a judge who read aloud the words and gave students the definition.
FREDA DAN: Kagia. He is sweeping it. He is sweeping it.
MEGAN CARL: Kagia - K-A-G-I-A. Kagia.
ANASTAS: That's Megan Carl getting it right. Dan says the spelling bee lets students read and write in a language they might only speak or hear spoken by elders.
DAN: This might be the only time they'll ever get to learn how to spell. Maybe afterward, it never happens ever again. So this is a really big opportunity.
ANASTAS: Dan set up the first Yup'ik spelling bee 10 years ago. She came up with a list of words and created study guides for coaches and students around the state.
DAN: It feels like they're reaching for this. They're reaching to have this. They take it upon themselves to do this. And that's what keeps me going year after year, is feeling the enthusiasm of the spellers.
ANASTAS: More recently, she worked with volunteers to set up an Inupiaq spelling bee. Spectators weren't allowed at last year's competition because of COVID, and only one school signed up to participate in the Inupiaq bee last year. But for Dan, that was OK.
DAN: The pandemic made me realize that it was really OK just to have one school in because their effort was so inspiring, and they were so brave.
ANASTAS: The winner of this year's Yup'ik competition was seventh-grader Alayna Canoe.
ALAYNA CANOE: I'm a bit shocked. And I was just a little bit scared, but mostly confident.
ANASTAS: There was one word she found really difficult to spell.
ALAYNA: Cuukiiq.
ANASTAS: It means sock, and it's spelled C-U-U-K-I-I-Q.
ALAYNA: I just forgot one U.
ANASTAS: The Inupiaq spelling bee winner was fifth-grader Kaitlyn Alston. Suzzuk Mary Huntington coordinated that competition. She says promoting literacy in native languages is vital.
SUZZUK MARY HUNTINGTON: Almost any place in our language-learning journey of second-language learners of our heritage languages have so many structures built in that shut us down and make us feel inferior and incapable.
ANASTAS: The spelling bee, she says, is a place where students can make mistakes, ask questions and take pride in their culture.
HUNTINGTON: Any opportunity to eliminate the judgment and the inadequacy factors - they're not just helpful; they're a hundred percent needed.
ANASTAS: This year's participants are part of a new generation, making sure the sounds of Yup'ik and Inupiaq don't fade away.
For NPR News, I'm Katie Anastas in Anchorage. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-24/yupik-and-inupiaq-spelling-bees-keep-native-alaskan-languages-alive | 2022-05-12T15:15:02Z |
SHIJIAZHUANG, China, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Yiling Pharmaceutical disclosed Wednesday that it had received the medicine approval document for Lianhua Qingwen Capsules from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria. The Product Category is Herbal and Nutraceuticals.
Lianhua Qingwen is one of Yiling's leading products. As a drug included in China's national essential medicines list and the catalog of medicines covered by China's national medical insurance system, Lianhua Qingwen has been selected for the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocols for COVID-19 Patients (4th-9th Editions) issued by China's National Health Commission, and widely used in the designated hospitals for Covid-19 patients.
As of now, Lianhua Qingwen has been granted market access in nearly 30 countries and regions. It has been approved COVID-19 indications in Kuwait; in July 2021, it has been adopted as a treatment in the COVID-19 patients' self-care protocol at home by the Cambodian Ministry of Health.
As the largest economic entity (GDP of USD 432.3 Billion in 2020) and most populous country (206 million people) in Africa, Nigeria is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and becomes the 8th African country that has approved Lianhua Qingwen.
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SOURCE Yiling Pharmaceutical | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/yiling-pharmaceutical-lianhua-qingwen-approved-nigeria/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:04Z |
Can an upstart, independent union stage a repeat victory?
That's the question on Staten Island this week as more Amazon warehouse workers vote on whether to join the Amazon Labor Union.
Roughly 1,500 workers who work in a facility sorting packages for delivery are eligible to vote in the election. Voting, which is taking place in person under a tent outside the warehouse, began at 4:30 a.m. on Monday and concludes at 11 p.m. on Friday.
The election comes less than a month after the Amazon Labor Union won a historic victory, unionizing the first Amazon warehouse in the U.S. — a massive facility across the street where some 8,300 workers pick and package up items for customer orders. Led by former and current Amazon workers, the Amazon Labor Union accomplished what well-established unions with deep pockets had long set their sights on but failed to accomplish.
The Amazon Labor Union is calling for longer breaks, better health and safety policy, and raises, among other demands. In Amazon warehouses, the work is fast-paced and physically demanding, with workers lifting packages as heavy as 50 pounds.
In the weeks since the union's win, union president Chris Smalls says he's heard from workers at more than a hundred other Amazon facilities, expressing interest in unionizing.
Meanwhile, Amazon continues to fight back, spending millions of dollars on anti-union consultants and filing objections in the election it lost.
Amazon says the National Labor Relations Board's regional office in Brooklyn, which oversaw the election, favored the union and facilitated its victory. The company also raised objections to some of the Amazon Labor Union's actions, charging that organizers harassed and threatened employees who weren't supporting the union and handed out marijuana to workers in return for their support. In fact, the union organizers have spoken openly about providing workers with marijuana, but not as a bribe.
A hearing will be held to consider these objections at a future date.
Meanwhile, the union election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, still hangs in the balance, with hundreds of contested ballots unresolved. Both Amazon and the Amazon Labor Union have filed objections in that election.
And a petition for a union election at a 200-person Amazon facility in Bayonne, New Jersey, was withdrawn just days after it was filed. The union behind the petition, Local 713 International Brotherhood of Trade Union, has no contact name or number on its website. Since 2012, two of its leaders have been indicted on corruption chargers. A lawyer for the union declined further comment on the election petition or its withdrawal.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/a-2nd-amazon-warehouse-on-staten-island-begins-voting-on-a-union | 2022-05-12T15:15:09Z |
Now accepting reservations, the futuristic venue will bring YOTEL's community-centric atmosphere and signature design and technology to South Florida
MIAMI, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The hotel experience of the future has arrived in Downtown Miami. Opening on June 1 2022, YOTEL will introduce the global hospitality brand's first ever combined YOTEL and YOTELPAD concept at 227 NE 2nd Street. YOTEL Miami boasts cleverly-designed rooms while YOTELPAD, situated right above the hotel, features sleek apartment-style pads. A landmark location fueled by ultra-modern amenities, guests can experience two on-site restaurants and bars, pool deck and state of the art gym. With innovation at the forefront, travelers will also benefit from check-in under a minute via self-service stations, SmartKey mobile entry, in-room mood lighting, and amenity delivery via concierge robots.
"As YOTEL continues to push boundaries in the hospitality industry, we're proud to launch our first-ever hotel and pad concept in flourishing Downtown Miami," said Hubert Viriot, CEO of YOTEL. "YOTEL Miami and YOTELPAD Miami are unique in that there's something for everyone, regardless of length of stay. Our experience is led by smart design and tech-forward amenities, coupled with a sophisticated yet relaxed atmosphere that allows guests to define their own travel journey. As our third US opening in less than two years, we're delighted to continue to expand the US footprint and bring travelers the latest in a seamless, smart stay."
YOTEL Miami's 222 cleverly-designed hotel rooms range from 225 sq. ft. to 430 sq. ft. in king, queen and twin categories. All rooms benefit from the brand's smart innovation – including the convertible SmartBed™, clever storage and open concept bathrooms. Guests may also choose their own mood lighting with the room's color wheel tool and take advantage of in-room mobile casting.
For those looking for an apartment-style stay with YOTEL design and amenities, YOTELPAD Miami's 231 pads are bookable from one night to monthly rates. Pad spaces – ranging from studio to one bedroom and two bedrooms – feature a full kitchen with appliances, dishware, washer and dryer, living room with custom Murphy bed, and a balcony with breathtaking views of Biscayne Bay and Downtown Miami. An extension of YOTEL Miami with the same level of exceptional service and experiences, YOTELPAD Miami guests will benefit from daily housekeeping service and access to all public spaces and facilities.
"Guests will find ease and comfort in every touchpoint of their experience, from checking-in to settling in, coupled with unrivaled amenities," said Gilberto Garcia-Tunon, General Manager. "Standing 31 floors high along the Biscayne Bay skyline, YOTEL Miami's dining and entertainment will embody the same energy as the city around us. We can't wait to welcome everyone."
Situated on the ground floor of YOTEL Miami, guests will enjoy a tapas-style Middle-Eastern experience at Mazeh. The restaurant is a perfect spot for shareable bites and craft cocktails. Located 12 floors high with views of Biscayne Bay, guests will find the property's pool and its restaurant Float, an elevated outdoor lounge to enjoy drinks and light fare while taking in the Miami breeze. Diners will be surrounded by art installations and live music series. Grab + Go on the first floor will ensure guests are fueled 24/7, featuring snacks and pre-packaged meals.
YOTEL Miami and YOTELPAD Miami is developed as a joint venture between Aria Development Group and Aqarat. The building's 231 pads, which are designated for full time residents, sold out in record-timing upon hitting the market. YOTELPAD Miami is the brand's second pad location worldwide following the 2020 opening of YOTELPAD Park City. Miami marks YOTEL's sixth location in the US and 21st location globally.
Contact: Carma Connected, yotel@carmaconnected.com
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SOURCE Yotel | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/yotel-launches-first-ever-joint-hotel-pad-concept-downtown-miami/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:10Z |
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The end of public health restrictions around the United States may feel like the endgame of the pandemic. Try telling that to COVID. For weeks, infection counts have been slowly ticking up in the U.S. with the omicron BA.2 subvariant the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the country. Those rapid at-home tests that so many of us now have stashed in a drawer - they could help if we can trust them with this subvariant.
So let's bring in Dr. Wilbur Lam, professor of pediatrics and biomedical engineering and one of the lead investigators assessing COVID-19 diagnostic tests for the federal government. Dr. Lam, welcome.
WILBUR LAM: Thanks for having me.
KELLY: Let's start there. Can we trust the rapid tests? Can we tell that the rapid tests pick up omicron BA.2 as well as they did previous variants?
LAM: Yeah. In general, I think the answer is yes with a couple of caveats. One caveat is that these rapid tests don't detect as much virus as the standard PCR test. However, to mitigate that, because these things are more available than PCR testing, each person, if they're able to get hold of them, can test themselves serially, like when they - the first day of symptoms. They can test themselves on the second day, third day. And that serial testing does end up mitigating the drawbacks of at least the accuracy of these types of tests compared to PCR tests.
KELLY: So the key is repeat, repeat, repeat.
LAM: Exactly, if you're able to get them.
KELLY: I mean, you may be hearing some of the same things I have. Purely anecdotal, but a lot of friends who are symptomatic, they take the rapid test, it's negative. They take it again, it's negative. When they finally get a PCR test, positive. And what do you say to them?
LAM: Yeah, and that's the other caveat with omicron. One aspect about omicron is biologically, it likely is more infective than the other previous variants. They jump from person to person much more quickly than the other variants. So the test might not even have time to pick it up before it jumps from one person to another person in a household. So the test theoretically still works. It's just that the biology of this virus may enable it to jump from one person to person before the test can even catch it.
KELLY: In terms of what we should do, if I have COVID symptoms, I take my rapid test. It's negative. What is your advice? I mean, I hear you saying take it again the next day and the next as long as you have symptoms. Should I also go get a PCR test? Should I think about isolating?
LAM: Yeah, that's a great question and something I deal with my own family and even my patients. So I would say it's really about the context. If you're going to - example - for - to a large meeting or conference, and you're trying to screen yourself, and if you get COVID, as you've said yourself, this newer variant isn't as fatal. Maybe that's OK. However, if you're trying to test yourself, and you're going to visit, for example, an elderly family member who is immunocompromised due to cancer and chemotherapy, that's when I would say take some extra precautions even if you're negative. So continue to mask, test again, maybe get a PCR test.
KELLY: Okey-doke. Just about 30 seconds left, but how is supply doing? I mean, I remember in the winter, it was hard to get a rapid test. Are there more out there? Are there enough?
LAM: Thankfully, at least as of right now, supply's OK, and that's thanks to some of the new government policies that's been instigated since the winter where we've been trying to bring in more tests, absolutely.
KELLY: OK. Dr. Wilbur Lam - he's a professor at Emory University and Georgia Tech and a physician with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Lam, thanks so much.
LAM: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/a-lead-covid-test-investigator-on-how-well-at-home-rapid-tests-work-for-ba-2 | 2022-05-12T15:15:15Z |
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
For years, Alexei Navalny has been a thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The new film "Navalny" focuses on likely the most dramatic episode of the opposition leader's life - his near-fatal poisoning from the nerve agent Novichok, allegedly at the hands of the Kremlin.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NAVALNY")
DANIEL ROHER: You might hate this, but I really want you to think about it. If you are killed, if this does happen, what message do you leave behind to the Russian people?
ALEXEI NAVALNY: Oh, come on, Daniel. No, no way. It's like you're making movie for the case of my death.
SCHMITZ: That's Alexei Navalny, and the man he's speaking to is Daniel Roher. He directs the film "Navalny." Welcome, Daniel.
ROHER: Thanks so much for having me, Rob.
SCHMITZ: You filmed Navalny's time in rural Germany, where he's recovering from the poisoning and rebuilding his strength. But in the film, we learn that's not all he's doing. Tell us about what he was working on.
ROHER: Well, when I met up with him, he was obviously in recovery. He was working on his own physiotherapy. He was working on a number of anti-corruption videos. But he was also engaged with this Bulgarian investigative journalist named Christo Grozev trying to uncover the insidious plot of who tried to murder him.
SCHMITZ: And the data journalism organization Bellingcat is approaching Navalny's team in your film. They say that they believe they've discovered who has tried to poison him. At first, Navalny's team is skeptical about how Bellingcat got this information, suspecting that they were working maybe with the CIA or MI6. Putin has accused Navalny and his group of being affiliated with foreign intelligence, so how did they put those fears to rest?
ROHER: Well, first and foremost, Christo Grozev had a long track record of uncovering Russian state crimes, specifically Russian state poisonings. In 2018, he solved the case of who poisoned Sergei Skripal in London. And so when he approached Alexei, I think Navalny was keen to listen because he understood that this was Christo's professional track record, was uncovering state poisonings and dealing with Russian state crime.
And when we met Alexei for the first time, the Navalny camp really almost interrogated Grozev, really made him open up his laptop, go through his emails, show his bank accounts, his bank statements. They wanted to make sure that this guy who had these extraordinary leads was not actually working for another nation's intelligence organization. They want to make sure he wasn't CIA or MI6 or something like this.
SCHMITZ: And the most riveting moment in your film, Daniel, comes as Navalny, posing as a Kremlin subordinate, calls a Russian chemist demanding to know why his assassination attempt failed. And for listeners, if you haven't seen it yet, this may feel like a bit of a spoiler. The chemist talks about what went wrong in great detail, to the shock of everyone in the room around Navalny, who does an amazing job of staying in character.
This is both a comical moment, but also a very dark one as Navalny and his team realize that this chemist will likely be killed for spilling the beans. And it should be noted here that this man has gone missing since this call was aired. What does this moment tell us about Navalny's enemies and about Navalny himself?
ROHER: Well, I think what the Kudryavtsev phone call's emblematic of is the ineptitude of the Russian Security Services. There's this idea that the Russians have the best spycraft, that their military is the - one of the best in the world, that these guys are serious, sophisticated operators. But what the phone call communicates is the utter incompetence of Putin's security organizations. But it absolutely was shocking to be in that room, for sure.
SCHMITZ: It was a remarkable moment. And your film isn't the first place that that aired. I mean, the Navalny team shared it widely with media organizations. Was there a moment when the Navalny team considered not releasing the footage, knowing what would likely happen to the chemist?
ROHER: Absolutely not. I think that the Navalny team understood that there might be an awkward moment asking me as the filmmaker and the film team to release the footage. We shot it with the intention of using it in our documentary. That's why we were filming that day.
We understood that there was a necessity to release it immediately, and I was a champion of that from the very beginning. I just - I told Navalny and his staff that of course they can - they must release it. And as a filmmaker, I understood that their efforts to weaponize this footage and to weaponize this phone call and show it to the world would inevitably thread itself back into my film.
SCHMITZ: Do we have any idea of what happened to that chemist?
ROHER: We believe Kudryavtsev's dead. We know that he disappeared - that's five months ago. And what our sources have told us is that he is gone. He was killed. There's no way to know for sure. We never will. When I heard that information, I was gutted. I was staggering around for a day or two.
Obviously, this guy is part of a murder squad. You know, he was working to try and kill people for their political opinions. But as a human being, you can't help but think of the family he left behind and realize the shocking real-world implications of the work I was doing that day, just thinking I was getting up for another day just to film another scene, and a man is likely dead because of it.
SCHMITZ: Yeah. Juxtaposing to another family that's featured in this film - Navalny's wife Yulia is incredibly strong and supportive of Alexei in - through the most stressful thing that you can imagine, but we never see her break down, not once. Was she really like that, or do you have that footage of her having a little more emotion and decide not to use it?
ROHER: Rob, I promise you, if we had footage of Yulia showing a little bit more emotion, that would 100% be in the film. But the reality was that woman is ironclad. Her character is strong. Her backbone is made of steel...
SCHMITZ: Wow.
ROHER: ...As is her husband's. The strength of that family is extraordinary. His children, his wife support the mission that he's on. And I can't imagine a world in which Yulia doesn't get emotional and doesn't express her emotions, but she does that privately.
SCHMITZ: At the end of the film, you asked Navalny to speak directly to Russians.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NAVALNY")
NAVALNY: (Speaking Russian).
SCHMITZ: And he's saying, "we don't realize how strong we are. The only necessity for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing, so do not be inactive."
You know, it's impossible to hear that and not think about what's going on in Ukraine right now. So when you were making this, you know, there was no way you could have known what kind of world that we are living in now. But how does the war influence the message of this film?
ROHER: The war reminds us of something that's very important. Vladimir Putin is not Russia, and Russia is not Vladimir Putin. What this film reminds the world is that there is another vision for what the country can be, a future for - where Russia can be free and democratic, where the Russian people can determine their own future. It's just going to take immense courage to achieve that vision of the future. And what Alexei is trying to do is be the moral leader of the nation and live by that, be the example, have the courage that will inspire others.
SCHMITZ: That's Daniel Roher, director of "Navalny." It's on CNN on demand now and HBO next month. Thanks for joining us, Daniel.
ROHER: Thank you so much, Rob.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/a-new-documentary-focuses-on-the-near-fatal-poisoning-of-russian-opposition-leader | 2022-05-12T15:15:16Z |
MILAN and BOSTON, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zambon, a multinational pharmaceutical company focused on innovating cure and care to improve people's health and the quality of patients' lives, today announced that the Company will attend the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2022 Annual Meeting being held May 13 - 18, 2022 in San Francisco, CA. Zambon representatives will be at booth #10 in the ATS 2022 Clinical Trials Awareness Area to discuss advancements in the Company's two Phase 3 development programs for the treatment of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), two severe respiratory diseases with high unmet medical needs.
The meeting comes as Zambon advances its Phase 3 PROMIS clinical program consisting of the PROMIS-I and PROMIS-II trials, both designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of colistimethate sodium powder for nebulization solution (CMS I-neb®) in patients with NCFB who are chronically infected with P. aeruginosa. PROMIS-I evaluated 377 patients in Europe, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, and PROMIS-II is closed and evaluated 287 patients in 12 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, France, and the United States.
A presentation highlighting the efficacy and safety of colistimethate sodium via CMS I‑neb® in patients with NCFB and P. aeruginosa was selected by the ATS International Conference Committee and will be presented at the Clinical Trials Symposium by Dr. Charles Haworth, Respiratory Physician at the Cambridge Centre for Lung Infection at Royal Papworth Hospital and PROMIS Chief Investigator on May 16, 2022.
The company reported positive results from the PROMIS-I study at the 2021 European Respiratory Society Congress which showed that twice-daily treatment with CMS I‑neb® significantly reduced the annual rate of exacerbations in patients with NCFB and P. aeruginosa chronic infection, the primary endpoint of the trial. In addition, the trial met important secondary endpoints, including reduction of severe exacerbations and prolongation of time to first exacerbation, and improvement in Quality of Life (QoL). The treatment was demonstrated to be well tolerated with adverse events similar between groups.
"We are excited for the opportunity to develop and bring innovative treatments like CMS I‑neb® to patients who face tremendous unmet medical needs. Currently, there is no approved therapy for people with NCFB and P. aeruginosa chronic infection," said Paola Castellani, CMO and Head of R&D at Zambon. "The Phase 3 PROMIS-I and PROMIS-II trials will provide important evidence to help further characterize the potential clinical and quality of life benefits of CMS I‑neb® as a treatment option for patients with this devastating disease, if approved. With the PROMIS-II trial now complete, we look forward to reporting results from this important clinical program very soon."
CMS I‑neb® has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration Qualified Infectious Disease Product, Fast Track, and Breakthrough Therapy designations for the reduction in the incidence of pulmonary exacerbations in adult patients with NCFB colonized with P. aeruginosa.
Details about the ATS 2022 Clinical Trials Symposium presentation are as follows:
Title: Efficacy and Safety of Colistimethate Sodium Delivered Via the I-Neb in Patients with Bronchiectasis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Presentation Time: May 16, 2022, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM PDT
Presenter: Charles Haworth, M.D., Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Location: Room 209-211 (South Building, Level 2), Moscone Center
Session B12: Breaking News: Clinical Trial Results in Pulmonary Medicine
To learn more about the Company's late-stage development programs for the treatment of rare and severe respiratory diseases, please visit booth #10 in the ATS 2022 Clinical Trials Awareness Area in the South Lobby of the Moscone Center.
About the PROMIS Development Program
The PROMIS-I and PROMIS-II are multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials investigating the efficacy and safety of inhaled colistimethate sodium administered via the I‑neb® Adaptive Aerosol Delivery System (CMS I-neb®) in adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis chronically infected with P. aeruginosa. The primary objective of both trials was to investigate the annual rate of pulmonary exacerbations in patients receiving CMS I-neb® administered twice daily versus placebo.
Secondary endpoints included the time to first pulmonary exacerbation, annual rate of severe pulmonary exacerbations, time to first severe pulmonary exacerbation, quality of life measured by the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire and the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B), number of exacerbation-free days, P. aeruginosa density and susceptibility, any developing resistance, and overall safety and tolerability.
The PROMIS-I trial enrolled 377 patients in 12 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. The PROMIS-II trial is closed and was conducted in 12 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, France, and the United States.
About NCFB
Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) is a chronic lung disease characterized by recurrent airway infection and inflammation, persistent cough, and sputum production. Its prevalence is increasing worldwide. NCFB has a progressive course that is primarily determined by the rate of pulmonary exacerbations, many of which are related to infection with P. aeruginosa. Consequently, research efforts directed to treat infection by P. aeruginosa and its associated acute exacerbations remain a clinical priority.
The objectives of treatment in bronchiectasis are to prevent exacerbations, reduce symptoms, improve quality of life, and stop disease progression. Cough and sputum production, along with breathlessness, are the most frequent symptoms but rhinosinusitis, fatigue, hemoptysis, and thoracic pain are also common.
About Colistimethate sodium (CMS)
Colistimethate sodium (CMS) is a pro-drug (the form used for inhalation therapy) of the antibiotic colistin. Colistin is a polymyxin antibiotic derived from Bacillus polymyxa var. colistinus. The polymyxin antibiotics are surface active agents and act by binding to and changing the permeability of the bacterial cell membrane, causing bacterial cell death.
Colistin is an active agent against aerobic Gram-negative pathogens that can cause life-threatening infections, an example being P. aeruginosa. Colistin remains one of the few active antimicrobial agents against multi drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria and is currently considered one of the last therapeutic options for infections such as carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa.
About I-neb®
The I-neb® is a third-generation nebulizer for Adaptive Aerosol Delivery (AAD). The I‑neb® is a small, battery powered, lightweight and silent drug delivery device, delivering a precise and reproducible dose of the drug.
The AAD technology ensures optimal drug delivery by only delivering medication when the patient inhales, (not continuously as in other nebulizers). This gives the medication the best opportunity to reach deep into the lungs and greatly reduces waste to the environment. AAD delivers the right amount of medication, regardless of breath size or breathing pattern.
I-neb® generates a fine-particle low-velocity aerosol, by forcing the liquid medication through a fine mesh. Faster than conventional jet or ultrasonic nebulizers, I‑neb® support shorter treatment times (usually 3 to 4 minutes) and precise drug delivery.
About Zambon S.p.A.
Zambon S.p.A. is a global pharmaceutical company established in 1906 in Vicenza, Italy, and built on the values of an Italian family committed to innovating cure and care to improve patients' lives. With innovative quality products commercialized in 87 countries, Zambon has a global presence with 2,400 employees across Europe, America, and Asia, including production facilities in Italy, Switzerland, China, and Brazil. Alongside its three historical therapeutic areas of focus, which are diseases of the respiratory system, urinary tract infections, and pain management, Zambon is also focused on developing treatments for Parkinson's Disease and Cystic Fibrosis. Additionally, Zambon is currently advancing its clinical development programs of potentially first-in-class treatments for Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB) and Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS). If approved by regulatory authorities, the Company intends to launch the NCFB and BOS treatments globally, including in the U.S., which is the latest market entry for Zambon as an organization. In Europe, Zambon also plans to market and distribute, upon regulatory approval, an innovative oral formulation of riluzole for patients suffering with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). For further information, please visit www.zambon.com.
For more information, please contact:
Zambon S.p.A.
Cabiria Reina
Global Pharma Communication
+39 348 0404321
cabiria.reina@zambongroup.com
Zambon USA Ltd.
Bonnie Ortega
Corporate Communications, USA
+1 858 245 3983
bonnie.ortega@zambongroup.com
Zambon USA Media Contact:
Elixir Health Public Relations
Lindsay Rocco
+1 862-596-1304
lrocco@elixirhealthpr.com
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SOURCE Zambon S.p.A. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/zambon-announces-attendance-american-thoracic-society-ats-2022-annual-meeting/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:17Z |
This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series from the Hidden Brain team about people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
One of the most significant people in Sunita Kramer's life is a stranger whom she has never met. She doesn't know their name or what they look like.
She encountered them the same day she almost lost her 7-year-old daughter.
It was a summer day in New Jersey, and the pair was planning to take a train to an art camp at Rutgers University, where Kramer works. She had to drag her daughter through the throng of people to get to their train.
"And I think I was anxious," she remembered. "I was wanting not to miss the train and be late."
The train pulled up, and it was time to board.
"And instead of patiently letting her get on the train first, I stepped on the train first and pulled her behind me," Kramer said.
In her rush, she had forgotten just how wide the gap between the train and the platform could be. In her haste, she didn't notice that her daughter had tripped and slipped into the gap.
"It's something that I have a lot of difficulty talking about, because my whole life flashed in front of my eyes," Kramer said.
Just as the train doors were closing, a stranger on the platform grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her out of the gap directly on top of Kramer, knocking them both over and into the carriage.
"My daughter's shins were all scraped up and we were just lying there," Kramer remembered. "And I had no time to thank this stranger that saved my daughter's life."
"I think the hardest part was just lying there and knowing that no one on the train understood what happened to us, how close I was to losing her. And we had to just pick ourselves up and find a seat."
She found some tissues in her bag and cleaned up her daughter's legs. When they arrived at their stop they walked to the art camp where they found some bandages for the scraped-up shins.
"And then I went into my office, which was a few blocks away, and closed the door and just cried," Kramer said. "I was traumatized, but what I think about now is just who that stranger was and how they were able to react so quickly and how I wish I could thank them or even see what they looked like."
The next day, Kramer and her daughter got back on the train.
"Because I didn't want to be afraid," she said.
As they walked toward the train, Kramer searched the crowd, wondering if the stranger who saved her daughter's life was there, if they remembered her or even knew who she was.
"I wanted to be able to thank them because this unsung hero of mine changed my life," she said.
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday and Thursday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/a-stranger-saved-her-daughters-life-but-sunita-has-never-been-able-to-thank-them | 2022-05-12T15:15:23Z |
Employee feedback determined Milwaukee Journal Sentinel list of Top Workplaces in Southeastern Wisconsin 2022
MILWAUKEE, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ALeading insurtech provider, Zywave, has been recognized for the 10th consecutive year as a Top Workplace in Southeastern Wisconsin by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as chosen by its employees in a 24-question survey.
Employee feedback is the sole basis for determining the employers that make the Top Workplaces list, which is in its 13th year. For 2022, Zywave was selected as one of 147 top employers, from the more than 2,100 organizations invited to participate.
"We are delighted that, year after year, our employees have embraced Zywave's lively, inclusive culture and continue to recognize it as a valuable place to grow both personally and professionally," said Zywave CEO, Jason Liu. "As Wisconsin's largest software company, we're proud to be headquartered in Milwaukee and continue to search for top local talent as we expand our global footprint, transforming our industry and powering our customers' growth."
Surveying for the awards was completed between September and December 2021, with more than 61,000 surveys sent out to employees in the region. Employer categories were based on the number of employees working in the region to ensure a comprehensive look at the feedback of similar-size groups. Organizations that exceeded benchmark scores for each size group were selected to the winners list. With 400 of its 1,000 employees working in Southeastern Wisconsin, Zywave was classified in the medium category.
For more information on Zywave, visit www.zywave.com.
About Zywave
Zywave leads the insurtech industry, fueling business growth for its partners with cloud-based sales management, client delivery, content and analytics solutions. Zywave's all-in-one platform provides customizable, user-friendly options that enable insurance professionals to build a unique solution to fit their specific growth goals—their own Modern RevOps Machine. More than 15,000 carriers, agencies and brokerages worldwide—including all of the top 100 U.S. insurance brokerages—use Zywave solutions to enhance client services, achieve business growth and promote greater health, wellness, risk management and safety. Additional information can be found at www.zywave.com.
Contact: Megan O'Shea
megan.oshea@zywave.com
414-454-6117
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SOURCE Zywave | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/zywave-named-top-workplace-10th-consecutive-year/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:24Z |
When actor Michelle Yeoh first read the script for Everything Everywhere All at Once, she gave a big sigh of relief: Finally, here was a film that put a middle-aged mother in the role of action hero.
"When [people] think 'superhero' ... it's always the guys who seem to be first in line for it," Yeoh says. "Why is it that we older women cannot be the superhero?"
Yeoh originally trained as a ballet dancer, but turned to acting after becoming sidelined with an injury. In the 1980s and '90s, she starred in martial arts films in Hong Kong before becoming more internationally known for her performance in the 2000 art-house film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
In Everything Everywhere All at Once, she plays Evelyn Wang, a Chinese American immigrant who made a choice decades earlier to leave her parents behind and follow her boyfriend to America. Years later, Eveyln's life is a mess. Her laundromat business is being audited by the IRS, her husband is serving her papers for divorce and she has a tense relationship with her daughter, who is queer. But through the film she is presented with alternate versions of her life — including the glamorous existence of a movie star.
Yeoh describes Everything Everywhere All at Once as five genres wrapped up into a single film. "It's science fiction, it's comedy, it's drama, it's action, it's a little horror. But I think the core of the story, it's about a mother and daughter," she says.
Yeoh credits filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — aka "the Daniels" — with crafting a nuanced story about the type of character Hollywood often overlooks: a "very ordinary housewife ... a woman that you pass by when you go to Chinatown or in the supermarket."
"I felt that it was so important for someone like that to be given a voice and then to be shown that she is actually a super heroine," Yeoh says. "And we allow her to prove herself, her self-worth and to shine."
Interview highlights
On Everything Everywhere All At Once originally being written for Jackie Chan as the lead and Michelle Yeoh as his wife – but the Daniels rewrote it
They realized, I think, we're telling the same old story if it was really Jackie Chan and myself as playing the husband and wife, and he is the one who goes on the multiverse thing. But I think the good news was ... the Daniels are surrounded by very, very strong women. ... I think it's an homage to all the strong women who are around them. ... So I think that cemented the mother and daughter story a lot more. I think it's much more relatable. It's much more emotional on many levels.
On the intensity of shooting the film
One thing that bonded us always together was the fact that the Daniels would have a 15-minute warm up for everyone. And that means everyone from behind the scenes, anyone who's working on sets in other departments who are normally not seen when we are working, would come together and know and feel that we are in this together. I think that really helped all of us really be a family. So we basically just linked hands, looked at each other and say, "We're diving into the everything bagel with commitment and passion." We just trusted in each other and there was no other way to do it, because if any one of us let go, it would have been chaotic and it would have been a chaos that would have been very difficult to pull back from.
On mourning for the end of her dance career after a back injury
When I was first told that I should consider something else, I just saw in front of my eyes the mirror shatter in front of me. But I was very fortunate, possibly because I'm a foreign student, that the principal felt that it was much more of a responsibility. And she just took me aside and said, "Now don't be a silly young lady. There are many aspects of dance, and if you truly love dance, we will find another place where you don't have to do so much physical dancing but still be very much involved and over time you will heal your back. There will be exercises and it will take a little bit of time. It will become better and hopefully it will be stronger." And so she took me under her wing. She enrolled me and got me to audition for another college where it was more academic rather than physical. So I went from there to be given another chance, another door opened where I was still very much in the world that I wanted to be. So I was very blessed. I must say I've been very blessed all through my life. There's always been someone who's watched out for me.
On her severe stage fright
I have stage fright. If I have to go on stage and say something, I won't be able to sleep the night before or the nights before that, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I am so bad. It's OK when I dance. It's perfect when I'm just using body language. But once I have to start saying something or give a speech ... it is quite the nightmare for me. So I think if you ever said to my lecturers when I was in college and say, "One day you're going to have Michelle Yeoh on the screen," they'll bet their last dollar that it would not happen.
On breaking into the boys' club of martial arts and stunts
I went into training, like with the stunt boys and all that, and I think they were very curious to see this young girl who wanted to play in the sandbox. And I was very fortunate, they were very agreeable to it. I had some of the best instructors who taught me how to protect myself. [I] did learn that they took the blows. ... All the top action stars, they did not get it handed to them on a silver platter. And so I remember thinking, if I want to join this boy's club, you better be able to take the blows as well. I had to persuade them. I had to demonstrate to them that I deserved to be there. I think that's the most important thing is that we fight for gender equality, we fight for all these kind of things. And when we are given the opportunity to be able to do it, we must be able to prove our worth. I think that's the simple message.
On her first stunt
I remember the very first stunt that I did in my first action film, and I will never forget that one, because even Quentin Tarantino can, frame for frame, tell you how it was done. I was on the second floor sitting on a railing and two guys like, swipe my head with their swords. So, hanging on the balcony on the railing, I bend backwards, go through a pane of glass and drag these two guys down onto the first floor in one take. And at that point, I didn't know how to think of the danger, the repercussions if things did not go right, because I only knew how to focus on how to get the stunt done properly. I was probably too fearless for my own good. Plus, the fact that physically and mentally, I was so fit, so that egged me on, because I did feel that I had a lot of things to prove to stay in what was the boys' club, and to constantly demonstrate that I deserve to be there.
On proving herself among Jet Li and Jackie Chan and taking risks she wouldn't take now
All of us would be injured in some way or the other. But today, with the help of CG, with the help of rehearsal time and things being done in a safer environment, we are much better protected. But would I take risks like that again? No, definitely not. I'm glad I paid my dues.
If I agree to do something, it must be to the best of my ability. But I do assess —whether it's as a script, whether it's a character, and especially if it's a stunt — the reason for it and should I be doing that. In the old days, there was not so much the thought for safety as much as there is now. It was much more: How do we make a much more dynamic, a bigger stunt that the audience will be satisfied with? That was much more the intention of the stunt coordinators. ... And constantly, all of us would be injured in some way or the other. But today, with the help of CG, with the help of rehearsal time and things being done in a safer environment, we are much better protected. But would I take risks like that again? No, definitely not. I'm glad I paid my dues. That's all I can say.
Ann Marie Baldonado and Thea Chaloner produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Natalie Escobar adapted it for the web.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/actor-michelle-yeoh-wants-to-change-the-way-we-think-of-superheroes | 2022-05-12T15:15:29Z |
Mega Millions mistake: NY Lottery temporarily pauses payments after ‘human error’
NEW YORK (WABC) - Mega Millions temporarily suspended prize payments after a mega mistake during a drawing in New York.
It happened Tuesday night when the host mistakenly called the wrong number.
It looked like any other televised Mega Millions drawing with an $86 million jackpot at stake. The five winning numbers were drawn normally.
But a closer look revealed instead of the six that was announced, the actual number is a nine, the digit on the ping-pong ball underlined to avoid confusion.
Not only did announcer John Crow repeat the error, the six was displayed graphically onscreen.
“I would definitely be mad. I would definitely be mad. But I don’t know how they’re going to work that out,” lottery player Ingrid Campbell said.
That is the question. Even Wednesday’s New York Lottery printout of winning numbers lists six as the Mega Ball, though the official page of the multistate lottery correctly lists nine.
So do players with a Mega Ball of six have any recourse?
Not really, said attorney Matthew Eyet, because of a regulation on the books that says, “The correct numbers are the ones that are drawn, not the numbers that were reported. And so they anticipated this as a possibility, probably because they thought a clerical error would occur in just transcribing what the number was, not that the announcer would call out the wrong number. But, be that as it may, it still, in my opinion, would apply in this case.”
There were no grand prize winners with either six or nine as the Mega Ball.
In New York, there were two $10,000 prizes with a six. There were 30,000 other players with smaller jackpots totaling nearly $130,000.
Would the state absorb that cost? Possibly, Eyet said.
“It’s not good for the game from the state’s perspective if people are going around feeling slighted by the state,” he said. “So yeah, they could absolutely pay out those people if they wanted.”
In a statement, New York Lottery cited human error, adding the lottery has temporarily suspended prize payments for all Mega Millions tickets and all Mega Millions players should hold on to their tickets for the May 10 drawing until the issue is resolved.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Copyright 2022 WABC via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/05/12/mega-millions-mistake-ny-lottery-temporarily-pauses-payments-after-human-error/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:30Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Let's turn now to COVID. Case numbers are rising, but hospitalizations are at their lowest level since the lockdowns of March 2020. This is happening as mask mandates have been lifted on trains, planes and buses. So what's the outlook for the summer? Let's ask Dr. Ashish Jha. He heads the White House Coronavirus Response Team. Good morning, Dr. Jha.
ASHISH JHA: Good morning. Thanks for having me here.
FADEL: Thanks for being on the program. So cases are creeping up again. Should we be worried?
JHA: Yeah. So we are obviously paying very close attention to this and making sure that this does not translate into a lot more people getting seriously ill. But if you take a step back and look at the big picture, it's really worth understanding that this is happening in a context where more than 200 million Americans have been vaccinated; more than a hundred million Americans have been boosted. And so we absolutely have to continue to pay attention to this and minimize infections as much as we can. But I do think we're in a much better place than we've been in the past.
FADEL: So with the numbers going up, I want to ask you about COVID treatments. A powerful antiviral can keep people out of the hospital. And that COVID pill, Paxlovid, was considered part of the Biden administration's arsenal to fight the pandemic. But so many people just haven't heard about this pill; few prescriptions have been written. Do you plan to change this?
JHA: We absolutely plan to change this. So Paxlovid first became authorized by the FDA at the end of December, and there were very, very few pills around. The administration worked incredibly hard to both increase production and acquisition. And the good news is we've made really substantial progress. Now we've got to turn those pills into, you know, prescriptions and into things that patients can get so they can get better, if they get infected, with Paxlovid. And we have a big set of efforts that we have been working on and launching. And we're going to be doing a lot more this week. You know, the good news is we are seeing an uptick. We've seen a doubling of prescriptions just in the last 14 days. And my expectation is that is going to continue to increase in the days and weeks ahead.
FADEL: So if you're successful in getting the word out, do you have enough pills then?
JHA: We do for the short run. I mean, right now, we've done a really good job of acquiring pills. We have to make sure that this is more than a short-term solution. And there, we're going to need help from our friends in Congress. We're going to need Congress to help us fund acquisition of more pills. There are other treatments that are coming online. I want to make sure that Americans have access to those. So there's a lot of progress ahead, but we really need Congress to step up and fund that progress so we can continue getting these things for the American people.
FADEL: Before we get to the funding - I want to ask you about that - I want to first talk about equity. COVID has disproportionately hurt Black and brown communities, rural communities, basically poorer communities with less access. Are you working to make these more advanced treatments accessible to them?
JHA: Absolutely. So there are lots of ways that we improve access. First and foremost is we got to make these treatments free to people so that there are not financial barriers, right? But that's not enough. We actually need to make sure that as we're working on things like setting up tests to treat sites, thinking very deliberately about where are we setting them up, communicating to people; people who have very busy jobs, a single mom who might have three jobs, not so easy to take time off in the middle of the day and go see a doctor. There are lots of things that we can do to improve accessibility, things that will really address those disparities. And one of the things that we're doing is we're tracking this stuff to make sure that all of these efforts are translating into equitable distribution of these therapies.
FADEL: Now, you mentioned funding, and Congress is back in session this week. And the Biden administration is expected to renew its push to ask for $22 billion in COVID funding. How badly is that money needed?
JHA: Well, we should just think through the consequences of what happens if we don't get that funding. What happens is we run out of money to have pills, COVID pills, for Americans reasonably soon. We actually aren't even going to be able to pay our bills for what we've already entered into a contract with Pfizer for. So that's going to be a problem. The other part is, you know, FDA and working with manufacturers to identify the next generation of vaccines - that should be coming late fall, that should be even more effective and more durable - Americans aren't going to get access to any of those vaccines. And as I mentioned earlier, there's a whole new generation of treatments that are coming online. We will be not - we will not only not be first in line, we'll probably be last in line in getting those if Congress doesn't step up. I'm actually very confident Congress is going to do the right thing. You know, I really think Congress understands that they can't not fund this work.
FADEL: But Congress appears unwilling to give that full $22 billion. Is there a different, a lower number that will work?
JHA: No. I mean, you know, the bottom line is that that number is something that the administration really cut back its original request to arrive at. It has a very modest sum for fighting the pandemic on a global scale. There is no such thing as a domestic-only strategy for a global pandemic. We have to have a global strategy. It has very modest funding for therapeutics and vaccines and diagnostics. It's really the bare minimum that we need.
FADEL: So let's turn to masking now and the Justice Department. It's appealing the ruling that struck down the federal mask mandate on public transportation. But I've got to ask, is this more about the CDC's credibility, which has taken a hit as guidance has changed, and its public authority then about bringing back the federal mask mandate?
JHA: Well, it's about two things. I mean, first, it's about protecting the American people now. CDC scientists asked for a 15-day extension because cases were rising, as we discussed earlier. BA.2 has become dominant. And the scientists at the CDC said we need a little time to assess what the impact of this will be on severe disease, on hospitalizations and deaths. I think they deserve that time. And I was saddened to see a federal judge step in and not give the CDC that time. But the second is absolutely essential, that we preserve the CDC's authority to be able to intervene and protect Americans' public health at moments like this, at moments of health crisis. And if we lose that authority, that is something that will leave Americans far more vulnerable in the future.
FADEL: Very quickly, all this back and forth on mask mandates, it's confusing for people. Can you give us some clarity on who needs to wear masks when?
JHA: Absolutely. So CDC right now is very clear. If you're on public transportation, you should be wearing a mask. It's a good way to protect yourself and others. If you're high risk, if you're in an area with substantial transmission, indoors with poor ventilation, that's a really good time to be wearing a mask.
FADEL: OK. Thank you very much. Dr. Ashish Jha is the White House coronavirus response coordinator.
FADEL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/as-covid-cases-rise-the-u-s-is-in-a-better-place-than-before-jha-says | 2022-05-12T15:15:35Z |
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The U.S. is making plans to send its diplomats back to Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement after a visit to Kyiv, where he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Cabinet officials also pledged more cash and more weapons to Ukraine. Speaking in Poland this morning, Secretary Blinken voiced confidence in Ukraine's military.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANTONY BLINKEN: Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding. Russia has sought, as its principal aim, to totally subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That has failed.
MARTIN: NPR's Brian Mann is in Odesa in the south of Ukraine, where we reached him earlier today.
What more can you tell us about what came out of this visit?
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Well, I think the first big message here was that the U.S. plans to stick by Ukraine. Along with all the money and firepower promised, this was really a symbolic gesture, this visit to high-level U.S. officials in Ukraine's capital just weeks after the Russian army tried to capture Kyiv. Austin and Blinken did promise to boost military aid to Eastern Europe by another $700 million, including money to help countries in the region support Ukraine with guns and ammunition and the heavy weaponry that Ukrainian officials say they desperately need. Secretary Austin said those big guns from the U.S. are already arriving.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LLOYD AUSTIN: We are doing everything that we can to get them the types of support, the types of artillery and munitions that will be effective in this stage of the fight.
MANN: The Biden administration did also announce today, after a long delay, that they've nominated an ambassador to Ukraine, an experienced foreign service officer named Bridget Brink. She's now serving as ambassador to Slovakia. And the U.S. is going to gradually reestablish its permanent diplomatic presence in Ukraine, eventually even reopening the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.
MARTIN: Although we should say that's a slower pace than several European allies, which have already sent their ambassadors back to Kyiv or have plans to do so. So, Brian, as we noted, you're in Odesa. This is the main port city in the south of the country, and it's been pretty quiet there for the duration of the war. There were, though, these missile strikes over the weekend that killed eight people. Can you tell us what happened?
MANN: Yeah, this was really the latest wrenching moment in Russia's assault, Rachel. A missile struck an apartment building here. A young mother and a 3-month-old child were among the dead. Odesa had felt relatively safe, as you mentioned. And this was a shock coming on the Orthodox Easter weekend. Now some people are choosing to leave. I spoke last night with Ira Volkova (ph), who was getting on an evacuation train to leave Odesa with her two young children.
IRA VOLKOVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MANN: "We felt these explosions threaten us, and I'm afraid for the kids," she told me. And Volkova's situation gets at what so many Ukrainians are experiencing right now.
VOLKOVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MANN: She told me her husband is away fighting in the war. She doesn't know where he is. Her father was wounded fighting the Russians and is now in a hospital, and her brother is one of the defenders of the devastated city of Mariupol. We haven't heard anything about him for a month, Ira told me. We hope for the best.
MARTIN: So this is happening in the south where Odesa is. Russians are obviously pushing very hard in the east as well. Is there any evidence at this point, Brian, that they are tipping the balance?
MANN: The Russian military says they're hitting hundreds of Ukrainian military targets, and this is shaping up to be a slow, bloody grind but no big breakthroughs. The Ukrainian military actually claims to have retaken some territory and villages here in the south where I am around Kherson. NPR could not confirm that. Also, it does appear some of those Ukrainian soldiers dug in at the steel plant, Mariupol, are still alive. I will say, though, Rachel, the Ukrainians I talk to on the street here are really hopeful. They think their army has bought them time so that those bigger weapons can arrive and be deployed.
MARTIN: NPR's Brian Mann reporting from Odesa, Ukraine. Thank you, Brian.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/blinken-and-austins-trip-to-kyiv-demonstrates-the-u-s-supports-ukraine | 2022-05-12T15:15:36Z |
Air Products Foundation will Donate up to $15,000 to the AIST Foundation
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE:APD) will showcase industrial gas solutions and technologies for all phases of iron and steel production at AISTech2022 from May 16-18 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Those attending are invited to stop by Air Products' booth, #1641, to speak with an industry specialist and learn how Air Products' industrial gases, technologies, and supply solutions can help iron and steelmakers optimize process efficiency, reduce cost, and decarbonize their processes.
By visiting the Air Products' booth attendees will also be helping the AIST Foundation, which funds initiatives to promote the steel industry as a viable and rewarding career choice for young engineers. The Air Products Foundation has pledged to donate $100 to the AIST Foundation – up to $15,000 in all – for each registered attendee who visits the Air Products booth.
In addition to showcasing solutions in its booth, Air Products industry experts will also be taking part in the following presentation and panel discussion during the Energy and Utilities sessions in Room 407 on Monday, May 16.
- 2 p.m. Air Products' presentation on "Hydrogen Production and Supply Methods for Decarbonizing Iron and Steelmaking" given by Anup Sane, Air Products' Applications Technology Lead – Metals and Minerals and Michelle Schoonover, Air Products' Manager – Syngas Technology.
- 4 p.m. panel discussion on "A Pathway to Making Your Reheat Furnaces Green while Improving Capacity and Reducing Energy Consumption." Sane will be one of five participating in the discussion.
As a global leading industrial gas supplier, Air Products brings decades of experience in gas supply and technology to improve the operations performance of metals producers. Air Products offers a full line of gases including argon, carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and gas blends, with a broad range of supply mode options and purity levels to suit the needs of every operation. Air Products can also provide a wide variety of technical services and innovative gas-based technologies to help companies lower costs and improve productivity, while minimizing the environmental impact of production processes.
Air Products' expertise, gases, supply modes and technologies combine to provide ferrous and non-metals producers a wide range of operational capabilities and process efficiency improvements, from primary production and refining to secondary recovery and processing, that can result in significant benefits including increased yield, increased productivity, increased fuel efficiency, reduced emissions and lower operating costs.
For more information on how Air Products' industrial gases and expertise can assist with metal production visit www.airproducts.com/ironsteel.
About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the Company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The Company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world's largest industrial gas projects, including: gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals; carbon capture projects; and world-scale low- and zero-carbon hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition.
The Company had fiscal 2021 sales of $10.3 billion from operations in over 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $55 billion. More than 20,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.
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SOURCE Air Products | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/air-products-showcase-industrial-gas-solutions-aistech2022/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:37Z |
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
MRI scans that allow researchers to peer inside the human brain are great to reveal things like stroke damage, but brain scans have yet to offer much insight into mental health conditions like depression. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on a new study that suggests why.
JON HAMILTON, BYLINE: In 2018, Scott Marek was working on a paper on how children develop cognitive abilities - in other words, intelligence. Marek, a researcher at Washington University in Saint Louis, planned to use data from a federal study that was scanning the brains of thousands of adolescents.
SCOTT MAREK: What we wanted to do is just ask the question with this huge sample - how is cognitive ability represented in the brain?
HAMILTON: Previous studies had found that intelligence is strongly linked to the thickness of the brain's outermost layer and to the strength of connections between certain brain regions. So Marek's team analyzed nearly 1,000 brain scans. Then, they checked their work using 1,000 more scans.
MAREK: And what we noticed was that we couldn't replicate everything. It didn't look great.
HAMILTON: An area or connection that seemed important in one set of scans might appear insignificant in the other. It was only when they increased the sample size to thousands of brains that the results became more reliable. The team wondered whether this was also the case with other brain scan studies, especially those involving mental illness. So they got brain scan data from about 50,000 people, then used a computer to conduct lots of simulated studies. Dr. Nico Dosenbach, another team member, says they were looking for brain differences associated with a range of conditions.
NICO DOSENBACH: Mood, anxiety, potential abilities, you name it.
HAMILTON: Once again, the team found that it took thousands of scans to get reliable results. But a typical MRI study includes only a few dozen scans. And Dosenbach says those small studies have produced lots of scientific papers on mental illness.
DOSENBACH: But it hasn't really translated to tangibles for patients. And I think these results give us a clue as to why.
HAMILTON: Dosenbach says one problem with small studies is they can only find brain differences that produce large effects, but the effects associated with mental illness tend to be quite small. Another problem, he says, is something called publication bias.
DOSENBACH: If multiple groups are doing the same research using small samples, just by chance, one of the groups of several will have a significant result, and that's what's going to get reported.
HAMILTON: And become the conventional wisdom. Dosenbach says this doesn't mean all of these small studies are necessarily wrong.
DOSENBACH: Even a tiny study could hold true, right? It's just the chances of that happening are much, much, much, much smaller than for an extremely large study.
HAMILTON: So it's risky to apply the findings from a small study to the general population. The team outlined these concerns in March in the journal Nature. And their paper has been getting a lot of attention in the brain-scanning world. Paul Thompson is a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California who was not involved in the research.
PAUL THOMPSON: It's a little like an earthquake in Los Angeles, so it sent a few aftershocks through the neuroscience community here.
HAMILTON: Thompson says the results weren't a complete surprise, though. The field of genetics went through a similar experience with small studies.
THOMPSON: Twenty years ago, you'd hear someone had discovered a gene for criminality or for psychosis or a gene for autism. And then another group wouldn't find the same thing, or they'd find another gene, and people would be scratching their heads.
HAMILTON: The solution has been genetic studies that include millions of people. Thompson says brain scan studies don't have to be that large, and the problem could be addressed by combining the scans from many small studies into one large database. One group already doing that is the ENIGMA Consortium, which Thompson helped create. It maintains a database with more than 50,000 MRI scans. And Thompson says scientists have already used the database to identify brain features associated with schizophrenia.
THOMPSON: There's huge differences all over the brain in schizophrenia. The auditory centers that are involved in hallucinations are abnormal. There's alterations in memory systems and vision systems.
HAMILTON: The differences are far less obvious in depression and bipolar disorder, which means it may take even larger studies to find them. But Terry Jernigan of the University of California, San Diego, says just making studies bigger isn't enough. They also need to be more diverse.
TERRY JERNIGAN: You want to know to what extent your observations are generalizable to all the groups in our society.
HAMILTON: And so far, she says, we don't.
Jon Hamilton, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF EMPRESARIOS' "SIESTA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/brain-scan-studies-need-to-get-much-bigger-to-offer-insight-into-mental-illness | 2022-05-12T15:15:43Z |
Stevie winners will be recognized at June 11 awards ceremony in New York
DALLAS, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall, the leading provider of next-generation broker services, today announced the company was named the winner of a Bronze Stevie® Award in The 20th Annual American Business Awards® in the Insurance Solution category, recognizing the success of BenefitMall's Marketplace solution.
BenefitMall's Marketplace offers brokers a completely digital solution that is paperless, secure, and cohesive across every point of client engagement, from new quotes to annual renewals. Marketplace enables brokers to offer a General Agency experience that differentiates them from their competition.
Marketplace, powered by Ease, offers a more efficient selling experience, an easier renewal process, and increased sales on new lines of coverage through a completely digital agency/employer/employee experience. By providing full-service support that includes pre-sale quoting, point-of-sale enrollment, and post-sale census management support, Marketplace can deliver faster, best-in-class processing and turnaround times due to digital automation and complete enrollment data.
"We are pleased that our partnership with BenefitMall allows us to offer the broker community a comprehensive benefits solution," said David Reid, CEO of Ease. "Helping brokers digitize their business and remain competitive in an ever-changing benefits landscape is core to our work at Ease and at BenefitMall."
"BenefitMall's integration and partnership with Ease represents a digital and technology-based leap forward that we provide to our broker partners. The integration of the tools and capabilities of both companies represents a future vision for the industry that could have only been accomplished by the BenefitMall and Ease team members together," said Bob Love, president of BenefitMall. "We are honored to have our work recognized once again by this prestigious awards program."
The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.'s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.
Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning "crowned," the awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Monday, June 13. Tickets are now on sale.
More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners.
Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2022 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.
About BenefitMall
Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall is the largest general agency partnering with a network of 20,000 brokers to deliver employee benefits to more than 140,000 small and medium-sized businesses. BenefitMall uniquely leverages innovative technology backed by human expertise to provide the fastest, easiest, and most secure benefits selling experience for carriers, brokers, and their clients.
BenefitMall is owned by Management and The Carlyle Group. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com.
About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.
Sponsors of The 2022 American Business Awards include HCL America, John Hancock Financial Services, Melissa Sones Consulting, and SoftPro.
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SOURCE BenefitMall | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/benefitmall-honored-bronze-stevie-award-winner-2022-american-business-awards/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:43Z |
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Because of the megadrought that's gripping the southwestern United States, the federal government is cutting back how much water it delivers to California, Arizona and Nevada by a lot, about as much as Las Vegas uses in a year. It's something water managers never thought they'd have to do. Alex Hager reports on the Colorado River from member station KUNC in Greeley, Colo., and joins us now to explain what's going on. So decades ago, the U.S. built huge dams on the Colorado River specifically to store water as insurance against droughts. Why isn't that system working now?
ALEX HAGER, BYLINE: Well, right now, we are in a truly massive drought unlike anything we've seen in more than a thousand years. One of those giant dams, which holds back Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona, it is now lower than it's ever been, thanks to more than 20 very dry years. And water levels are still dropping. It is the nation's second-largest reservoir, and now it's reaching a crisis point. If levels drop just a little further, they will get too low to generate hydropower at the Grand Canyon Dam. That is something that's never happened before. So this move from the federal government is a scramble to avoid that. It'll add an emergency boost of water and keep the turbines running. So water managers are going to release a lot less water from Lake Powell to keep those turbines running and to keep supplying electricity to about 5 million people.
SCHMITZ: And help us - give us a sense of how dire the drought is right now.
HAGER: Yeah. A study that came out earlier this year really puts that into perspective. The dry period we're in right now is the worst the western U.S. has seen in 1,200 years.
SCHMITZ: Wow.
HAGER: You know, nowadays it can be pretty easy to get a little numb to that word, unprecedented. But the data shows that we are really in uncharted territory here, and that calls for some desperate measures. I talked about the plan with Kathryn Sorensen. She is a water policy researcher at Arizona State University.
KATHRYN SORENSEN: There isn't one overarching solution that's going to save the day. I don't know that anyone thinks that what's being proposed is fantastic, but it might very well be least worst.
SCHMITZ: So, Alex, by holding back water in Lake Powell, does that mean big cities that rely on the Colorado River for drinking water just won't get it - places like Phoenix and Los Angeles?
HAGER: No, not yet. California, Arizona and Nevada still have enough stored water that they are not going to have to shut off anybody's taps, you know, at least for now. All three of those states - they have also been coming up with new ways to conserve water - recycling it, making rules against lawns, really stretching out their limited water supply. Tom Buschatzke is the top water official in Arizona. He says the first thing to go would be outdoor watering for things like grass and swimming pools.
TOM BUSCHATZKE: I think there's going to be potentially those kinds of restrictions on the horizon if Mother Nature doesn't turn around and start providing a lot more water than it has over the last decade.
HAGER: They are likely going to have to do more of that because they are cutting into their reserves. At the end of the day here, there is more demand and supply. Populations in the southwest are growing, so demand is only going up. And all the climate scientists I've talked to say we should not expect the water to come back in any significant capacity.
SCHMITZ: Alex, seven states share the Colorado River. And how are they responding to this federal plan to hold back water from three of these states?
HAGER: Yeah. All of those states signed off on the federal plan. In their letter, they acknowledged that this kind of move is painful but necessary. The fact that all seven states in the basin are agreeing to this, even the states that would lose water as part of the plan, that says something about how dire this is getting.
SCHMITZ: Alex Hager reports on the Colorado River for member station KUNC in Greeley. Alex, thanks so much.
HAGER: Thanks for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF BRAD MEHLDAU'S "THE FALCON WILL FLY AGAIN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/california-arizona-and-nevada-face-major-water-cutbacks-from-the-colorado-river | 2022-05-12T15:15:49Z |
SINGAPORE, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Binance, the world's leading crypto and blockchain infrastructure provider, has strengthened its team with the recruitment of Jarek Jakubcek as the Head of Intelligence and Investigations for Asia-Pacific. Jarek is a leading global expert in cybercrime and former cryptocurrency specialist in Europol Cybercrime Centre's (EC3) Dark Web team.
During his seven years at EC3, Jarek provided operational and strategic support for major cryptocurrency investigations. He also led the world's largest cryptocurrency experts' platform with representatives from hundreds of law enforcement agencies internationally. Being a specialist and educator in the field, Jarek's expertise is widely respected in the law enforcement community. Jarek will be an essential link between law enforcement and the crypto industry in assisting large-scale investigations.
"With its growing role in the industry comes growing responsibility, which Binance is taking the lead on. This is evidenced by Binance's ongoing support of law enforcement investigations and recent strategic moves, including hiring an impressive team of key personnel in both its investigations and compliance teams," commented Jarek Jakubcek.
Jarek added: "I am proud to join Binance and work alongside the most experienced and talented team within the blockchain industry, including former law enforcement colleagues. It will be our duty to ensure efficient cooperation with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in the detection and prevention of criminal activities. Together, we will be stamping out illicit activities from the blockchain ecosystem and ensure that Binance remains the safest exchange in the world."
Tigran Gambaryan, Global Head of Intelligence and Investigations at Binance, said: "Jarek is a hugely impressive cybercrime expert with connections to law enforcement agencies all over the world. His role will be pivotal in ensuring that Binance works effectively with police and prosecutors to keep the Binance ecosystem and wider crypto industry secure. As the world's leading exchange, Binance is totally committed to take the lead on crypto security."
Jarek joined EC3 in 2014, shortly after EC3 had opened its doors for business, and had been a driving force for Europol's pioneering activities in the area of cryptocurrency investigations since the very beginning. Prior to Europol, Jarek spent over five years at An Garda Siochana, Ireland's National Police and Security Service, where he won international awards for creative use of OSINT technologies. He has lived in five countries and earned two MSc degrees.
Jarek has played a key role in a number of high-profile investigations across a variety of criminal activities, including ransomware, dark web, corporate hacks, phishing incidents, investment fraud, kidnappings and money laundering. He has also de-anonymised mixing services, published practical law enforcement guides, organised specialised conferences, developed relations with the cryptocurrency industry and trained investigators worldwide.
Jarek joins Binance's industry-leading security and investigations team which includes Tigran Gambaryan, Matthew Price, Nils Andersen-Röed, and Aron Akbiyikian.
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SOURCE Binance | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/binance-brings-renowned-europol-cryptocurrency-expert-jarek-jakubcek-head-intelligence-investigations-apac/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:52Z |
Elon Musk will soon hold the keys to Twitter.
The company announced on Monday that it has accepted the Tesla CEO's $44 billion offer to take the company private. That means the world's richest person who has a penchant for theatrics and erratic behavior is about to have the power to reshape discourse on a social network used by more than 200 million people every day.
How might Musk wield that power?
Here are some proposals for Twitter that he's floated.
Loosen up content rules in the name of free speech
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO describes himself as a "free speech absolutist" and has criticized what he sees as excessive moderation on online platforms.
He nodded to these beliefs in his statement announcing the purchase by saying that "free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."
Musk has argued that social networks should not remove comments that, while offensive, are still legal. During a recent interview at a TED conference he said, "If it's a gray area, let the tweet exist."
Twitter currently bans harassment, abuse and posts that wish physical harm to someone. The platform has other guardrails too, like a prohibition on misinformation related to COVID-19.
Experts who study social networks fret about Musk's push to loosen the rules of engagement on Twitter. They say that could give license to harassers, trolls and others who abuse the platform to target people.
They also worry relaxing the rules on Twitter will empower those looking to exploit the platform by spreading misinformation, or flat-out lies, about political events, government officials and matters related to public health and safety.
Create an edit button so users can change their tweets
One of the most requested product changes among Twitter users is an edit button.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram and other social media apps, it is not possible to change content on Twitter once it's published.
Musk has said he supports letting people change what their tweets say, a proposal that has stirred a heated debate among academics, journalists and other heavy users of the platform.
The fear among experts is that adding an edit button feature would be weaponized by bad actors, who could use it to cover up abuse or harassment as if it never happened, or to dupe or manipulate people.
But others say safeguards could be put in place so that tweets could be edited to clean up typos, while also showing a history of how the tweet was edited to preserve the original content.
Open up Twitter's algorithm to the public
Musk has said that the software that determines what people see and how widely content spreads on Twitter should be cracked open. He supports placing Twitter's algorithm on GitHub, a site popular with programmers for sharing computer code.
While some advocates of more transparency at social media companies say the that could be a step towards greater openness, others say revealing Twitter's dense and complicated algorithm to the public would accomplish very little. Furthermore, allowing anyone to see Twitter's algorithm could give spammers and malicious actors a way to exploit the system.
Then there's the fact that a social network the size of Twitter processes billions of pieces of content every day. How and why tweets go viral, and how Twitter's recommendation system works, is so dense and complex that the company's own software engineers can be perplexed trying to understand its logic. And without the underlying user data, which would not be public, the algorithm alone would likely provide few clues about how ranking works at Twitter.
Launch a war on 'bot armies'
Combating the proliferation of bots on Twitter — fake accounts that are programmed to respond to tweets on certain topics — is another change Musk favors.
Musk's business empire has been known to attract is fair share of bots, including bots supportive of his electric car company Tesla that attack Musk critics.
He has not said he would like to temper those kind of bots, but he has suggested that there should be a crackdown on scammy bots promoting cryptocurrency hustles.
"If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!" Musk tweeted last week, adding that he'd like to "authenticate all real humans."
It should be noted that Twitter already has strong rules against spam, and it bans things like attempting to artificially influence conversations on the platform with fake accounts and bots, so the question remains how exactly Musk would strengthen an already robust anti-spam policy?
Scrap advertisements
Right now, almost 90% of Twitter's revenue comes from advertising, but the company has struggled to attract advertisers to the platform, which often devolves into political firestorms and ugly online brawls.
With the company going private, it will not be under the same pressure from shareholders to continually grow advertising revenue. Musk has said it should move to a subscription model.
Twitter has already taken some steps in that direction with the introduction last year of Twitter Blue, a premium service that cost $2.99 a month for addition features, like an undo button that allows for tweets to be recalled before they are sent.
Musk has said Twitter Blue should be cheaper, that if people are paying, they shouldn't have to see advertisements and that the cryptocurrency that started as a joke, Dogecoin, should be an acceptable form of payment for a Twitter subscription.
And a big unknown: Reinstate Donald Trump?
Musk has not publicly said whether he would allow former President Donald Trump back on the platform after the company permanently suspended him for rhetoric that broke its rules and stoked the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump called Musk "a good man," saying he was pleased with the billionaire's acquisition, but Trump said he has no plans to try to return to the Twitter. Instead, Trump said he will be focusing on his alternative social network known as Truth Social.
At an all-hands meeting on Monday afternoon, a Twitter employee asked CEO Parag Agrawal whether Trump would be reinstated. Agrawal said that was a question for Musk.
"Once the deal closes, we don't know which direction the platform will go," he said.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/elon-musk-bought-twitter-heres-what-he-says-hell-do-next | 2022-05-12T15:15:55Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Thirteen people die in the U.S. every day while waiting for a kidney. Reporter Laurel Morales tells us about one transplant recipient in Arizona who's celebrating National Donate Life Month.
LAUREL MORALES, BYLINE: Monica Brown was raised Catholic and at a young age became preoccupied with ideas of good and bad.
MONICA BROWN: When the nuns told me that we are born with original sin, I took that very seriously. And so often, I never felt good or worthy enough.
MORALES: At night, she would pray for forgiveness for things like getting her shoes wet. She'd make the sign of the cross again and again. She also prayed for her mother's kidney disease to be cured.
BROWN: It was terrifying to have a mother who was sick and so young and vibrant, to have an awareness of mortality and danger.
MORALES: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in your kidneys. It gets worse with time, and it's inherited. Monica's mother had it. Her grandmother died from it. Monica was in graduate school when she got her own diagnosis.
BROWN: I thought I had it. I knew to my bones that I had it. So it felt like a confirmation rather than a revelation.
MORALES: Monica and her then-boyfriend didn't waste any time. They got married, moved to Flagstaff and had two daughters. Years passed. Then one night, in her mid-40s, Monica's stomach started hurting badly.
BROWN: If 10 is passing out, I am a nine (laughter). It is agonizing.
MORALES: She wound up having the first of 12 surgeries and being put on the long waitlist for a kidney from a donor who died. While waiting two years, Monica became sicker and sicker. Her husband, Jeff Berglund, pleaded with her to ask friends for a living kidney donation. Still, those earlier worries about feeling good enough crept in.
BROWN: I felt ashamed, but I certainly did not feel worthy of asking.
JEFF BERGLUND: And I said, what is the worst-case scenario? The worst-case scenario is you've educated a lot of people, about hundreds of thousands of people who are on the waiting list where they're at, and that's a good thing.
MORALES: Eventually, she agreed. So on May 9, 2018, Jeff posted a letter on Facebook.
BERGLUND: Dear friends, family and readers of Monica's work, it will probably come as a surprise to you that my amazing wife, the writer Monica Brown, has been living with an incurable, inherited kidney disease.
MORALES: Within minutes, responses came pouring in. A total of 27 friends got tested to see if they were a match.
BROWN: The response was unbelievable. It was probably one of the most overwhelming, blessed moments of my life.
MORALES: Unfortunately, none of Monica's friends was a match. She was close to dying. But then she received a call from her doctor - a kidney, a match.
BROWN: I would have danced into the surgical room if they had let me.
MORALES: It's been three years since her transplant. Monica is now 52 and just walked her first 5K.
BROWN: When I was the most vulnerable and the most literally near death in terms of an organ I needed to live failing, I felt so worthy of love and like I could contain it all without qualification.
MORALES: Monica Brown received a kidney and finally felt worthy of the gift.
For NPR News, I'm Laurel Morales. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/encore-getting-a-kidney-transplant-saved-a-woman-who-didnt-feel-worthy | 2022-05-12T15:15:57Z |
BEIJING, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Investors remain pessimistic on China's A-shares stocks and real estate as investment in precious metals such as gold increases by 10.2%, according to the new quarterly Investor Sentiment survey from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). The survey, which polled 2,500 investors from 13 major cities in China found that about 60.9% of investors expect A-shares stocks to rise. Only 55.9% of the investors polled believed house prices in first- and second-tier cities will rise in the next 12 months, down from 69.4% at the end of 2020. Respondents remain consistent on expectations for China's GDP growth at 5.4% and inflation at 2.7%.
Financial practitioners felt more optimistic than retail investors with 79.7% of financial investors expecting China's A-shares to rise compared to 54.9% of retail investors. Investors' expectations for Hong Kong stocks also diverged with 63.7% of financial investors expecting an increase compared to 41.2% of retail investors.
The proportion of investors willing to invest in wealth management and stable funds increased to 83.4%, up from 75.9% the previous quarter. Only 37% of people polled were willing to invest in stocks and funds, a decrease from 45.2% in the previous period.
The Q1 survey findings are based on data collected in March 2022, just before the negative impact from China's strict COVID-19 measures were fully apparent. According to 68% of investors surveyed, the pandemic will be the most significant factor affecting future investment.
"Omicron and the geopolitical instability are two challenges that are unprecedented in the 40 years since reform and opening up, surpassing the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008. In order to reverse the pessimism in the market, domestic policy adjustments need to be made," says Liu Jing, Professor of Accounting and Finance at CKGSB, who leads the research.
The Cheung Kong Investor Sentiment Survey (CKISS) is a quarterly survey to gauge investor sentiment and expectations in China's domestic equity market. It has been running since January 2018. It is sponsored by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business' (CKGSB) Center for Investment Research and led by Doctor Liu Jing, CKGSB Professor of Accounting and Finance, and CKGSB researcher Chen Hongya.
For more information, please visit:
https://english.ckgsb.edu.cn/worldwide/insights/the-ckgsb-investor-sentiment-survey/
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SOURCE Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/ckgsb-investor-sentiment-remain-pessimistic-chinas-capital-markets/ | 2022-05-12T15:15:59Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Whether it's a hike in the woods or a walk down a tree-lined street, research has found that getting out into nature can lead to better health and boost your mood. But there's a learning curve to getting comfortable outside. Here's Gabrielle Horton with an encore presentation from NPR's Life Kit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
GABRIELLE HORTON: For me, being outdoors often stirs up images of lush, green forests or snowy slopes. But smaller moments in nature, like walking my dog around the neighborhood or even listening to a rain sounds playlist before bed have been just as valuable. And they don't require the time, money or physical mobility of a big trip. And that's something that scientist Ming Kuo has been studying for years.
MING KUO: Nature includes everything from capital-N beautiful, spectacular, untouched wilderness all the way to a window box or having a view of squirrels from your office window.
HORTON: So it makes sense when Ming describes nature more like a multivitamin, which leads us to our first takeaway - get your daily dose of nature and experience a range of emotional and cognitive benefits.
KUO: If we get our breaks or even our micro restorative moments through the view outside, we recover some capacity to use that mental muscle so we can do things that are hard to do, and we can do them more easily and less painfully.
HORTON: And the cool thing about nature is that you don't have to be outdoors to experience its wonder. Not to mention, getting outside might not be accessible for a whole host of reasons. So that leads us to our next takeaway - bring nature into your world. That might include caring for a houseplants or a pet. Or maybe it looks like logging on to virtual aquarium tours and social media games. Herpetologist Earyn McGee created a #FindThatLizard for this very reason.
EARYN MCGEE: #FindThatLizard is a game that I run every Wednesday, and essentially I post a photo of a lizard camouflaged in its natural environment. And people have to find the lizard in the photo. They don't have to go outside.
HORTON: As you start playing your way through nature, you might realize that you want to share those experiences with others. So that's our next takeaway - find your adventure crew. It's a practical way to stay safe. And for those who haven't always seen themselves in the big outdoors, it's a good way to find your community. And plus-size explorer Ash Manning knows this firsthand.
ASH MANNING: I think being bigger, it's always been like, am I the only one doing this? The answer is no, absolutely not.
MANNING: Ash eventually found their people in a group called Unlikely Hikers. Other groups filling similar gaps and knocking down those barriers to access include Latino Outdoors, Disabled Hikers and Outdoor Afro, just to name a few. As you explore in community or on your own, take the time to learn about the rich indigenous history of the land, which is our final takeaway. Anthropologist Spirit Brooks recommends apps like Who's Land to help get you started.
SPIRIT BROOKS: This could be as simple as learning about the indigenous place names in your area for streams, for mountains, for parks, and then making an effort to learn about contemporary efforts to steward local native lands and sustainable ways by tribes.
HORTON: So no matter if you're playing nature games on your phone or spending time in the sun, I hope that you'll find your footing in the great outdoors because it's a beautiful thing no matter where you are. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/encore-tips-and-tricks-to-find-your-footing-outdoors | 2022-05-12T15:16:03Z |
Recording, processing, and archiving of entire Zoom communication now possible
HÖSBACH, Germany, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ASC Technologies AG, a worldwide leading provider of software and cloud solutions for omni-channel recording, quality management, and analysis is announcing the launch of its solution for Zoom. Users can now record, analyze, and archive their communication from Zoom Meetings and Zoom Phone in a legally compliant way.
Over the past few years, Zoom has evolved into one of the most popular collaboration tools worldwide. Thanks to the integration of Recording Insights, Zoom users can now profit from a secure and efficient recording solution for their audio, video, and chat communications. This is of particular interest to all companies obliged to record and process their communications in accordance with regulatory compliance guidelines as compliance breaches may result in high fines. In 2020 alone, the 50 largest banks in the US and in Europe paid about 13 billion euros in compliance fines.
ASC's cloud service Recording Insights uses the dedicated Zoom Meetings and Zoom Phone API to record communication. And what's special: There are individual Recording Insights apps for Zoom for the regions Asia (APAC), Europe, and the US. This means that the communication data is transferred via an encrypted connection from the local Zoom backend and processed by Recording Insights in the respective region – in strict compliance with legal regulations.
"By integrating Recording Insights into Zoom, we offer all Zoom customers obliged to record their communication in a legally compliant way an easy and seamless solution of highest compliance standards as a cloud service," says Dr. Gerald Kromer, Chief Executive Officer of ASC Technologies. "Zoom users now have all functions of Recording Insights right at their fingertips."
For more information about ASC's portfolio, please visit www.asctechnologies.com.
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1625820/ASC_Cloud_Solutions_Logo.jpg
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SOURCE ASC Cloud Solutions | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/compliance-recording-zoom-with-recording-insights/ | 2022-05-12T15:16:06Z |
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
There's a nightmare that haunts electric vehicle drivers - getting stuck in the middle of nowhere without any battery left. NPR's Brittany Cronin reports that building a network of chargers is a critical part of getting more Americans to go electric.
BRITTANY CRONIN, BYLINE: Phil Torres and his wife were thinking about buying an electric car for a while. They go on a lot of road trips with their kids, and one of the main things they thought about was whether they'd be able to charge on those trips.
PHIL TORRES: We spent a lot of time, like, literally doing the calculations of, can we get from here to there and back without getting stuck on the side of the road?
CRONIN: They decided, let's just try it. And they bought an electric sedan - a Polestar 2. A couple weeks later, Torres set off on a six-week road trip with his son to look at colleges from Chicago to Maine down into the mountains of West Virginia.
TORRES: Everybody's just like, weren't you worried? You went on that long trip. You weren't scared? I was totally nervous. I mean, we had to be places. And if we missed it, it would not have been good.
CRONIN: And this fear of running out of juice - it's a huge reason why people are hesitant to buy electric vehicles. The Biden administration says they have a solution, announced in this spiffy video by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on his way to pick up Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PETE BUTTIGIEG: There she is.
CRONIN: ...In, of course, an electric vehicle.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BUTTIGIEG: Hey. Hop on in. I can't believe they let me drive this thing.
JENNIFER GRANHOLM: Wish me luck.
CRONIN: They were there to present the administration's plan - $5 billion to build 500,000 chargers. But Britta Gross at energy consulting firm RMI says it could take eight times that to get there, so this announcement is just a start.
BRITTA GROSS: But it's such an important start because that could be the confidence-inspiring trigger that says, hey, private investment, pick up now where the federal government has now stepped aside, and now it's time for the free market to take this thing into scale.
CRONIN: In fact, the private sector is already getting involved. There's Tesla, of course, and also a company called Electrify America. It's funded by a $2 billion investment from Volkswagen as part of a settlement from an emissions scandal a few years back. They're building ultrafast charging stations across the country.
MATTHEW NELSON: The typical Electrify America station can charge a car for five minutes and adds 100 miles. It's not quite as fast as a gas station, but it's pretty darn close.
CRONIN: That's Matthew Nelson with Electrify America. Big picture, the country has about 46,000 charging stations right now. Most of them are not fast-charging. They could take more like five hours to charge a vehicle. Nelson says Electrify America is building several fast charging stations a week, but it's still not enough.
NELSON: We're really sprinting a marathon, and we need to keep that mentality in order to reach our goals.
CRONIN: And this is a marathon with some major roadblocks. There's a huge upfront cost. It can cost anywhere from 30,000 to $140,000 to buy a fast charger. Plus, there's all this red tape for things like planning and permitting. But if the U.S. can pull it off, this could be a game changer for electric vehicles. Phil Torres still remembers the stress of watching his battery icon drain on his trip with his son.
TORRES: All along the way, you're really holding your breath. Am I going to make it? - 'cause you could just, like, see you go from, like, 4% to 3%.
CRONIN: In the end, they made it to all his son's college visits. But he's excited about all these new chargers. He says he wouldn't have to plan his route so meticulously. He could just trust that a charger will be there when he needs it.
Brittany Cronin, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/encore-to-get-more-people-to-drive-electric-cars-more-charging-stations-are-needed | 2022-05-12T15:16:09Z |
HERNDON, Va., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, marked the end of 2021 with significant momentum across its product portfolio, spotlighting the growth of its Deltek Ajera solution – built specifically for small architecture & engineering (A&E) firms and professional services companies to manage the entire project lifecycle.
Deltek experienced rapid growth among new Ajera users, with a 90% increase in sales in the last six months of 2021. That momentum continues into Q1 2022 as Deltek saw a nearly 60% year over year increase of new customers choosing Ajera. Deltek also reported a trend in movement from its on-premises customers converting to the cloud, as well as a trend in customers moving from Deltek competitors.
Deltek Ajera, used by over 3,400 companies, is an integrated project management and accounting system that benefits every role at architecture and engineering firms by ensuring accurate and up-to-date data, communication and accessible reporting. Central to Ajera is configurable dashboards and in-depth insight into project management and performance, offering users instant access to the information needed for better insight and decision-making.
A&E firms have applauded the solution on G2, a peer review platform, calling it a "must-have system" and a "powerful tool." Corey Middleton, AIA, NCARB and Principal Architect at Mint Architecture added, "We chose Ajera because it gives us the ability to see where we've been, where we are, and where we are headed. It allows us to make the decisions that will help us grow our company."
"We are delighted with the incredible results we are achieving – in particular, the trends in new customers choosing Deltek Ajera and in existing customers moving from on-premises to the cloud. Deltek is committed to the Ajera product and to furthering the business success our customers receive from their Deltek solutions," said Warren Linscott, Chief Product Officer at Deltek. "We continually work with customers and gather their feedback – and we have listened to their requests for even deeper functionality in Ajera. I think customers will be very excited about the new features coming soon, such as automatic bank feeds for accounting staff and more accessibility for project managers from their dashboard. We continue to invest in Deltek Ajera and it will only get better with our next release coming in mid-2022."
For more information on Deltek Ajera or to request a demo, visit Deltek.com.
About Deltek
Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management and collaboration. Our industry-focused expertise powers project success by helping firms achieve performance that maximizes productivity and revenue. Learn more at www.deltek.com.
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DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
For the Yup'ik and Inupiat people of Alaska, a spelling bee is more than a friendly competition. As Alaska Public Media's Katie Anastas reports, spelling bees are a way for kids to connect to their culture and make sure native languages live on.
KATIE ANASTAS, BYLINE: At this year's Yup'ik and Inupiaq spelling bees, 16 students from all over Alaska took the stage. Freda Dan organized the Yup'ik competition. She also served as a judge who read aloud the words and gave students the definition.
FREDA DAN: Kagia. He is sweeping it. He is sweeping it.
MEGAN CARL: Kagia - K-A-G-I-A. Kagia.
ANASTAS: That's Megan Carl getting it right. Dan says the spelling bee lets students read and write in a language they might only speak or hear spoken by elders.
DAN: This might be the only time they'll ever get to learn how to spell. Maybe afterward, it never happens ever again. So this is a really big opportunity.
ANASTAS: Dan set up the first Yup'ik spelling bee 10 years ago. She came up with a list of words and created study guides for coaches and students around the state.
DAN: It feels like they're reaching for this. They're reaching to have this. They take it upon themselves to do this. And that's what keeps me going year after year - is feeling the enthusiasm of the spellers.
ANASTAS: More recently, she worked with volunteers to set up an Inupiaq spelling bee. Spectators weren't allowed at last year's competition because of COVID, and only one school signed up to participate in the Inupiaq bee last year. But for Dan, that was OK.
DAN: The pandemic made me realize that it was really OK just to have one school in because their effort was so inspiring, and they were so brave.
ANASTAS: The winner of this year's Yup'ik competition was seventh grader Alayna Canoe.
ALAYNA CANOE: I'm a bit shocked. And I was just a little bit scared but mostly confident.
ANASTAS: There was one word she found really difficult to spell.
ALAYNA: Cuukiiq.
ANASTAS: It means sock, and it's spelled C-U-U-K-I-I-Q.
ALAYNA: I just forgot one U.
ANASTAS: The Inupiaq spelling bee winner was fifth grader Kaitlyn Alston. Suzzuk Mary Huntington coordinated that competition. She says promoting literacy in native languages is vital.
SUZZUK MARY HUNTINGTON: Almost any place in our language-learning journey of second-language learners of our heritage languages have so many structures built in that shut us down and make us feel inferior and incapable.
ANASTAS: The spelling bee, she says, is a place where students can make mistakes, ask questions and take pride in their culture.
HUNTINGTON: Any opportunity to eliminate the judgment and the inadequacy factors - they're not just helpful. They're a hundred percent needed.
ANASTAS: This year's participants are part of a new generation, making sure the sounds of Yup'ik and Inupiaq don't fade away. For NPR News, I'm Katie Anastas in Anchorage.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT'S "JESSFIELD PARK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/encore-yupik-and-inupiaq-spelling-bees-keep-native-alaskan-languages-alive | 2022-05-12T15:16:15Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Emmanuel Macron won reelection, but as we just heard, the results were much closer than when he ran against Marine Le Pen five years ago. Political analyst Gilles Ivaldi is with the Center for Political Research at the French research university Sciences-Po, and he joins us now from Paris. Welcome.
GILLES IVALDI: Good morning.
FADEL: Good morning. So let's talk about 2017. Back then, Emmanuel Macron claimed 66% of the vote. Yesterday, he took just over 58%. Why such a significant shift?
IVALDI: Well, remember; five years ago, Emmanuel Macron was the - I would say, the new kid on the block. He was the new political leader. He had a promise for change in French politics. Now he's been the incumbent for five years. He's gone through major crisis - of course, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine. He also went through the yellow jacket movement a few years ago, which was a very strong protest movement in France. So, of course, it's a completely different situation. And now it was - this year was much more difficult for Macron to create the sort of political momentum around his candidacy.
FADEL: Did the war in Ukraine help Macron in the race?
IVALDI: Well, actually it did, yeah, because we've seen in the polls a - some typical rally-around-the-flag effect, especially in the first two weeks of the war. But what we've seen at the same time is that the domestic impact of the war in Ukraine and especially the economic impact on rising prices and worries about cost of living, they've helped Marine Le Pen because she's the one who's pushed a very strong social populist agenda with increasing wages, increasing pensions, you know, lowering VAT and the whole pay package for redistribution. So in that sense, I would say the war in Ukraine has worked both ways.
FADEL: So Macron won, but Le Pen did really well, and she says she's actually feeling hopeful after her loss. And as we just heard, there will be parliamentary elections in June that could determine how much power Macron actually has. What kind of traction can Macron's opposition and Le Pen's party reasonably expect come June?
IVALDI: Well, in this election, there were clearly two fronts. One was the Republican front against Le Pen, and the other one was the anti-Macron front against the incumbent president. And we see those two fronts, they will probably go into the legislative elections in June. And at the moment, we have a clearly divided France. Half of the French, they want Macron to have a majority in the legislatives, and the other half, they just don't want him to have a majority. So at the moment, it's very hard to tell. But I would say that in the end, because of the institutional framework, Macron should win a majority, only it will be a narrow majority, and it will clearly be a more fragmented majority because Macron has, together, a number of small political parties within La Republique En Marche, his own party, and I think in that sense, the majority that he will get in the next election should be more fragmented, and therefore, it will be more difficult for him to push, you know, unpopular reforms such as the pension reform, for instance.
FADEL: Now, Macron acknowledged that many of his supporters were actually casting ballots against Le Pen rather than supporting him, and he's pledged to reunite France. How possible is that in this climate?
IVALDI: Well, that's the problem. You know, in this election, we've seen the rise of, you know, polarization and negative partisanship. Just to give you one figure - half of people, the people who voted for Macron, half of the people who voted for Le Pen, they voted against the other candidate, not in favor of their preferred candidate. So we see now in France sort of American type of polarization between Macron and Le Pen...
FADEL: I was going to say, it sounds familiar.
IVALDI: Yeah, it sounds familiar. It clearly does. And in that sense, reuniting France will be a very difficult task for Macron, especially because his first reform is the pension reform, which as you know is extremely unpopular in France. So I think we are heading for very turbulent political times in France again, I'm afraid.
FADEL: Political researcher Gilles Ivaldi with the French research university Sciences-Po in Paris. Thank you so much for being on the program.
IVALDI: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/examining-the-factors-that-helped-macron-win-reelection | 2022-05-12T15:16:17Z |
NPL 2022-1 Includes the Company's Nineteenth Community Impact Pool Offering
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) today announced its latest sale of non-performing loans as part of the company's ongoing effort to reduce the size of its retained mortgage portfolio, including the company's nineteenth Community Impact Pool (CIP). CIPs are typically smaller pools of loans that are geographically focused and marketed to encourage participation by non-profit organizations, minority- and women-owned businesses (MWOBs), and smaller investors.
The two larger pools include approximately 3,320 loans totaling $489.6 million in unpaid principal balance (UPB), and the CIP includes approximately 120 loans totaling $36.3 million in UPB. The CIP consists of loans geographically located in the New York area. All pools are available for purchase by qualified bidders. This sale of non-performing loans is being marketed in collaboration with BofA Securities, Inc. and First Financial Network, Inc. as advisors.
Bids are due on the two larger pools on June 7, 2022 and on the CIP on June 21, 2022.
Terms of Fannie Mae's non-performing loan transactions require the buyer of the non-performing loans to offer loss mitigation options designed to be sustainable for borrowers. All buyers of non-performing loans are required to honor any approved or in-process loss mitigation efforts at the time of closing, including forbearance arrangements and loan modifications. In addition, non-performing loan buyers must offer delinquent borrowers a waterfall of loss mitigation options, including loan modifications, which may include principal forgiveness, prior to initiating foreclosure on any loan. In the event a foreclosure cannot be prevented, the owner of the loan must market the property to owner-occupants and non-profits before offering it to investors, similar to Fannie Mae's FirstLook® program.
Interested bidders are invited to register for future announcements, training and other information here. Fannie Mae will also post information about specific pools available for purchase on that page.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
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SOURCE Fannie Mae | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/fannie-mae-announces-sale-non-performing-loans/ | 2022-05-12T15:16:19Z |
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Utah is remembering the life of longtime U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch. The longest serving Republican senator in U.S. history died on Saturday at 88. Lexi Peery of member station KUER spoke with Utah residents who recalled the former Senate president pro tem and a political legacy that was forged over 42 years.
LEXI PEERY, BYLINE: Northern Utah resident James Dean has been camping the past few days and missed the news of former Senator Hatch's passing. Sitting on a bench in St. George Town Square, Dean says he's devastated by the news.
JAMES DEAN: He was a strong figure when he spoke. I think he was really concerned on making his point across more than he was concerned about hurting people's feelings or what the other people thought. And it was probably for the best.
PEERY: Hatch is remembered for his strong conservative views. He wanted to limit abortion. And he championed President Trump's 2017 tax reform. Though numerous state and national leaders remember Hatch for his bipartisanship, like when he worked with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy to pass religious liberty legislation. But for some residents, like 67-year-old Marvin Allred of central Utah, Hatch was actually too progressive.
MARVIN ALLRED: He was a conservative, but not as conservative as I would like him to have been. He was more along the Bush-type presidency, was not as bad as Romney, but kind of a little bit leaning that way.
PEERY: Mitt Romney filled the seat Hatch left open in 2019. Tyler Galt is 29 and lives in Spanish Fork. He says, growing up, he saw Hatch as well-liked and respected.
TYLER GALT: I think it's a big loss for our state's leadership. And it's sad. I mean, I think he lived a great life. And I think we should be sad as a state. But we should celebrate everything he did at the same time.
PEERY: Hatch helped author more than 750 bills that became the law - the most of any living senator - when he retired.
For NPR News, I'm Lexi Peery in St. George, Utah.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/former-utah-sen-orrin-hatch-died-over-the-weekend-at-age-88 | 2022-05-12T15:16:23Z |
New Roles Bring Added Experience and Leadership to the Organization
CANTON, Mich., May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fraza, an end-to-end material handling solutions provider headquartered in southeastern Michigan, is pleased to announce the hiring of Jeff Fuller as vice president, aftermarket operations, and Tom Wood, senior sales director. With these new roles, Fraza is strengthening its position as a leader in warehouse and automated solutions.
In his role, Fuller will be responsible for overseeing the service, parts, used equipment, dock and door, and rental departments. He is a decorated former US Navy sailor who, during his ten years of duty, served several deployments around the world and earned the Navy Achievement Medal. He then joined the material handling industry as a shop technician in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Fuller progressed through the ranks holding positions such as field service technician, service trainer, service manager, operations manager, branch manager, and vice president of operations for several employers.
"I'm very impressed with Fraza," said Fuller. "The sincere commitment to its people, its customers, and the industry is demonstrated by actions, not just words. I'm excited to join the Fraza family and help lead the company to be the best service organization, period."
Wood, like Fuller, joins Fraza after holding multiple material handling roles such as parts customer care, parts sales rep, service sales representative, account manager, and sales manager at Crown. More recently, he served as regional sales manager at Carolina Handling in North Carolina. At Fraza, Wood will be responsible for overseeing the forklift and other material handling equipment sales department which includes a large team of territory sales, national accounts, and warehouse solutions representatives.
"I'm most excited to join the Fraza team for the opportunity to grow the business into a dominant industry leader and contribute to the already fantastic family culture," said Wood.
"I couldn't be more excited about adding Jeff and Tom to our team," said Roger Runyan, CEO. "Both gentlemen bring a wealth of material handling experience and leadership to Fraza. As our business grows, these two will be integral to ensuring our customers continue to receive the same great service and support we're known for."
About Fraza
Fraza is southeast Michigan's fastest growing material handling and facilities management provider, committed to providing its clients excellent customer service, experienced technicians, and the industry's most advanced technology. Fraza offers new and used equipment; parts and service for any make or model of material handling equipment; dock and door products and service; rentals; related warehouse and industrial supplies; batteries and chargers; and operator training. In business since 1938, Fraza has four full-service locations in Canton, Sterling Heights, Bridgeport, and Grand Rapids. Learn more at frazagroup.com, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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SOURCE Fraza | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/fraza-hires-jeff-fuller-tom-wood-operations-sales-leadership-roles/ | 2022-05-12T15:16:26Z |
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
French President Emmanuel Macron has won a second term. He beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen with 58.5% of the vote. His majority is solid, but it is still nearly 10 points below Macron's margin of victory when he faced the same candidate in 2017. This time around, many French voters are feeling less euphoric than relieved.
NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Trois, deux, un.
(CHEERING)
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Thousands of Macron supporters gathered under the Eiffel Tower and counted down as the election results were announced at 8 o'clock Sunday night on the nightly news. As the winner's face popped up on giant screens, the crowd exploded.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking French).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking French).
(CHEERING)
BEARDSLEY: Along with the joy came an intense feeling of relief for many of having barely avoided catastrophe. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party has never won so many votes. She was a better candidate this time - more moderate, connecting with voters on core economic issues and facing a president many find arrogant and aloof.
Macron supporter Aymerick Andriamihaja says everyone knows it's different this time around.
AYMERICK ANDRIAMIHAJA: France is really divided. After the gilet jaunes, the yellow vest, after the COVID crisis, I think we have a melt of a lot of things, from anti-vax movement, from the protests during the yellow vest. And I think all the people here around us, we understand that.
BEARDSLEY: In polling places across the country Sunday, many voters turned out not so much as for Macron as against Le Pen, in line with the long tradition of erecting a dam to faire barrage against the far-right.
Karine Harris cast her ballot in an elementary school in Paris's 15th arrondissement.
KARINE HARRIS: We have no choice. As the French say, it's between peste and cholera.
BEARDSLEY: She's talking about choosing between the plague and cholera - in other words, an impossible choice.
HARRIS: I have to choose not the worst one. So I chose Emmanuel Macron.
BEARDSLEY: OK. So you are actually voting against her?
HARRIS: Yes, exactly.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Macron acknowledged these voters and has promised to govern differently this time around.
Vincent Martigny teaches political science at the University of Nice. He says Macron's legitimacy is not quite the same as in 2017.
VINCENT MARTIGNY: His mandate is a lot weaker, so we'll have to make compromises. And the problem with Mr. Macron - he's not a very good compromiser. He's somebody who says, I listen, and at the end I decide.
BEARDSLEY: Le Pen conceded shortly after the results were announced. But she sounded triumphant, not deflated.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARINE LE PEN: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: With more than 41% of the vote, she called the results a stunning victory, insisting her party is more determined than ever. Le Pen's strong results means the battle is on for crucial legislative elections in June that are often referred to as the third round of the presidential vote. If a French president wants to implement his agenda, he must get a majority in parliament. Macron's victory was hailed across Europe. You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief. A victory for Le Pen, an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, would have been a terrible blow to the bloc at a crucial time.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN'S "ODE TO JOY")
BEARDSLEY: Macron took to the stage at the Eiffel Tower with his wife, Brigitte, and a group of French schoolchildren to the accompaniment of Beethoven's "Ode To Joy," the anthem of the European Union. Bravo, Emmanuel, wrote European Council President Charles Michel on Twitter. In this turbulent period, he said, we need a solid Europe and a committed France. Macron also got a congratulatory tweet from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called him a true friend of Ukraine.
(CHEERING)
BEARDSLEY: Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/french-presidential-election-incumbent-macron-beats-far-right-rival-le-pen | 2022-05-12T15:16:29Z |
SAN FRANCISCO , May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman urges DENTSPLY SIRONA, Inc. (NASDAQ: XRAY) investors with significant losses to submit your losses now.
Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/XRAY
Contact An Attorney Now: XRAY@hbsslaw.com
844-916-0895
DENTSPLY SIRONA, Inc. (XRAY) Investigation:
The investigation focuses on DENTSPLY's assurances that its financial statements fairly presented in all material respects the financial condition of the company.
The assurances began to come into question on Apr. 11, 2022 when DENTSPLY announced that CFO Jorge Gomez resigned to take another job and Moderna (MRNA) announced Gomez was hired as its CFO effective May 9, 2022.
On Apr. 19, 2022, DENTSPLY announced that it fired CEO Donald M. Casey Jr. and that he ceased to serve on the company's Board of Directors, both effective immediately.
On May 10, 2022, DENTSPLY announced that its audit committee commenced an internal investigation in March 2022, before Gomez resigned and before the company fired Casey. DENTSPLY said: (1) it would not timely file its quarterly financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2022; (2) it commenced an internal investigation of allegations regarding certain financial matters submitted by current and former company employees; (3) its investigation is focused on its use of incentives to sell products to distributors in Q3 and Q4 2021 and whether those incentives were properly accounted for and adequately disclosed in SEC filings; and, (4) the investigation includes allegations that certain former and current senior executives directed the use of the incentives to achieve executive compensation targets in 2021. In addition, DENTSPLY notified the SEC about these matters.
On May 11, 2022, Moderna (MRNA) announced that Gomez "departed" effective immediately and noted his departure follows DENTSPLY's May 10, 2022 announcement of its internal investigation into DENTSPLY's financial reporting.
These events have driven the price of DENTSPLY shares sharply lower.
"We're focused on investors' losses and whether DENTSPLY cooked its books," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.
If you invested in DENTSPLY SIRONA and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding DENTSPLY SIRONA should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email XRAY@hbsslaw.com.
About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman is a national law firm with eight offices in eight cities around the country and over eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com. For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw.
Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895
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SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/hagens-berman-national-trial-attorneys-encourages-dentsply-sirona-inc-xray-investors-with-significant-losses-contact-firms-attorneys-xrays-former-cfo-departs-moderna-days-after-dentsply-announces-probe-financial-reporting/ | 2022-05-12T15:16:33Z |
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Annis Waugh is an expert in braiding hair. Her classes in England are usually full of women, so she decided to host a session at a local elementary school specifically for dads. She called the class beards and braids. It didn't just sell out; she had to start a waitlist for the dozens of dads who wanted in. Waugh told The Washington Post that at times, it was totally silent; their concentration levels were through the roof. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/hair-braiding-expert-offers-a-how-to-class-for-dads-and-it-is-very-popular | 2022-05-12T15:16:35Z |
Updated May 3, 2022 at 1:04 PM ET
When the question comes, David Simon answers plainly: Is the new, six-episode limited series, We Own This City – developed by him and longtime producing partner George Pelecanos for HBO – something of a sequel to The Wire?
"This is the closest thing you're going to get to a sequel," Simon says, laughing cagily.
For fans of critically-acclaimed, groundbreaking police drama The Wire, hearing that Simon and Pelecanos were teaming up to tell a new story for HBO about corrupt cops in Baltimore was a little like hearing Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo were going to make a new movie about the Mafia.
(Full disclosure: As the author of a piece for The BBC analyzing why critics chose The Wire as the best show of the 21st century so far, I am arguably one of those fans.)
When it aired on HBO starting in 2002, The Wire spent five seasons exploring how a host of important institutions were failing a great American city — from labor and politics to education, the media and, of course, police. Simon created the show and brought in Pelecanos as a writer and producer, centering its story on a bold critique of the war on drugs — suggesting it had turned police into an occupying army that bullied black and brown residents in high-crime areas rather than protecting them.
In We Own This City, Pelecanos, Simon and many other Wire alums have reassembled to tell the true story of how an elite squad of Baltimore police officers called the Gun Trace Task Force began stealing money and drugs from criminals and – eventually – even law-abiding citizens.
With the new show, Simon also gets to say something else about the drug war and The Wire.
"You know, we told you so," he says. "We told you where it was headed. We told you...what was valued by this police department and what's not valued when it came to police work. So that's what The Wire showed you. Fifteen years later, along comes the story and says, yeah, it went there, and it's worse."
A fact based story on the futility of the war on drugs
Pelecanos, a renowned crime novelist who also worked with Simon on HBO series like Treme and The Deuce, says he got excited about pulling together old collaborators from The Wire after talking with an executive at the channel about adapting the story from former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton's book, also called We Own This City.
"The story itself got us jacked up...and it is a completely fact-based dramatization," Pelecanos added, noting they stuck to what they could verify in creating scenes for We Own This City. "Whereas The Wire...some of those folks were based on real people and the issues were real, but [that show] was fiction. [We Own This City] really is a coda to The Wire in the sense that it's Baltimore 15 years later. You might say it's an evolution, but it's really a de-evolution."
Simon was already loosely connected to the book; after reading Fenton's coverage of the task force scandal in The Baltimore Sun newspaper, he called the reporter to connect him with his book agent. He says We Own This City reveals the debilitating legacy from generations of pursuing a fruitless drug war with mass, indiscriminate arrests.
"The guys involved in the task force...they weren't out of the academy when The Wire finished its run [in 2008]," says Simon, himself a former police reporter for The Sun who saw his own books Homicide: Life on the Street and The Corner turned into TV shows interrogating the Baltimore police and drug addiction.
"It's as if the guys who had learned the worst elements of police work from the drug war and had failed to learn how to police properly...they're the ones explaining to the next generation of guys who are now coming on how not to do the job," Simon added.
Police trained to disregard official training
In We Own This City, that dynamic is highlighted through the story of Wayne Jenkins – a star police officer played by The Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal, with a pretty solid Baltimore accent. Bernthal excels at playing cocky, energetically physical guys with something to prove, so Jenkins – a former Marine seen as a rising star in the BPD – is in his sweet spot.
In the series' first episode, Jenkins is shown giving a speech to new officers as head of the Gun Trace Task Force, telling them that brutality on the street only racks up complaints and negative attention and won't be tolerated in his unit.
But viewers soon learn the truth was very different, as the task force became a repository for officers who had a long list of complaints and problematic behavior in their history. These are officers who were willing to aggressively arrest people, even after protests and prosecutions following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody led to a work slowdown among other cops.
[We Own This City] really is a coda to The Wire in the sense that it's Baltimore 15 years later. You might say it's an evolution, but it's really a de-evolution.
The series' story often jumps back in time, showing Jenkins as young officer learning that what was expected by their superiors and training officers was often very different than the lessons taught in the police academy.
"In the academy, they teach you constitutional policing...then as soon as they go out, [a superior says] 'Everything you just learned is b***s***, this is Baltimore,'" Pelecanos says. "We talked to police who told us that's exactly what happened to them. They were told to throw out everything they had learned that was correct...It's kind of a tragedy."
Viewers see a sad progression of tactics. First, officers arrest everyone on the streets in high crime areas, hoping to bring murder and shooting rates down just by clearing everyone out. Eventually, members of Jenkins' task force wind up stopping people on trumped-up pretexts to search their vehicles, take whatever cash they find and even take their apartment keys to ransack their homes.
HBO's We Own This City tells the story with a page-turning intensity that feels a bit like watching a novel on TV – a refinement of the storytelling techniques Pelecanos, Simon and many of their crew learned on The Wire.
Pelecanos says his secret weapon is one you might not expect from a TV producer: listening.
"I always liked to get the details right when I was writing books, so the main thing is talking to people and listening to people," he says. "That's where I always felt [other TV shows] sort of fell down; they weren't listening or showing people respect...even while we were shooting, we had people in the neighborhood who would come on the set and talk to us and we listened to them."
Even while we were shooting, we had people in the neighborhood who would come on the set and talk to us, and we listened to them.
One telling detail from the series: Courts were shown struggling to seat juries, as large numbers of potential jurors admitted they or someone they knew had been in situations where police lied about their conduct.
Simon sums up the show's lessons tartly: "We have to end the drug war. We have to change the mission, because it's not policing, it's attacking...All this mass incarceration accomplished exactly nothing. But it did destroy law enforcement and corrupted it. So we have to change that. And until we do, nothing good is going to happen."
Actors from 'The Wire' show up in new roles
Fans of The Wire will see a lot of familiar faces in the cast of We Own This City.
Jamie Hector, who played ruthless drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield in The Wire, surfaces on We Own This City as Sean Suiter, an officer who finds it difficult to move on after serving on the Task Force. Delaney Williams, who played sarcastic homicide squad supervisor Jay Landsman on The Wire, is Baltimore's beleaguered police commissioner on the new show.
And, like The Wire, We Own This City doesn't tell a typical TV cop show story. Because, even though the series details how Wayne Jenkins and his task force are exposed, the conditions which allowed their corruption to fester still remain.
"Most network television talk shows are about making the viewer feel good in the end," Pelecanos says. "In other words, the perpetrators get caught. They're brought to justice. In a way, it's a fascistic notion that you're telling America, if you do something wrong, you're going to get punished. We don't do that. It'll sound grandiose to say we tell the truth, but that's what we're trying to do."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/hbos-we-own-this-city-is-the-closest-fans-will-get-to-a-sequel-of-the-wire | 2022-05-12T15:16:37Z |
An unprecedented 1.1 million women left the labor force during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This initiative aims to support moms who want to return to work and empower working moms to make motherhood more visible in the workplace.
NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Motherhood is a training ground for leadership. The loss of working mothers from the paid workforce makes the U.S. economy less competitive and families less prosperous, leading to worse outcomes for households over the long term. That's why HeyMama, the nation's largest and fastest-growing online community of entrepreneurial and working moms, is bringing back its Motherhood on the Resume® initiative, which urges moms to add "mother" to their resumes to underscore the value mothers bring to organizations and the workforce.
"Last year, more than 1,000 women added 'motherhood' to their resumes, and while awareness has been raised, we are still seeing and hearing mothers in our community speak of increased stress and emotional distress," said Erika Feldhus, CEO of HeyMama. "Of the women who stopped working during the pandemic, 82% could not afford to be out of work. The time is now to tear down the cultural bias against mothers that's impacting their careers and recognize the strengths moms bring to their professional lives because of parenthood."
On May 17, 2022, HeyMama will kick off its Motherhood on the Resume® campaign with a virtual event to raise awareness of the historical and current disparities working moms face and to change the way working moms are viewed in the workplace. Over the course of the event, participants can attend interactive workshops and panels designed to provide inspiration and support for working mothers and moms who want to return to work. Workshops and panel topics include:
- Working Mom Skills: Motherhood makes women better employees and team members. This workshop will cover how and why that's true and ways moms can gain visibility in the workplace.
- The New Working Mom: This panel will detail the importance of normalizing kids on Zoom calls, working reasonable hours and lifting awareness of both roles: parent and professional.
- Back and Better Than Ever: Returning to work as a mother adds value to her team and family. This workshop seeks to provide moms with confidence in their ability to return to work.
- Mom on the Calendar: In addition to putting "mother" on their resumes, this workshop encourages working moms to put motherhood on their calendars too, making the time moms devote to their kids (e.g., pumping, doctor's appointments, dance recitals, etc.) visible and valuable in the workplace.
Guest speakers and panelists include Stephanie LeBlanc-Godfrey, global head of inclusion for women of color at Google; Lauren Smith Brody, founder of the Fifth Trimester; Noelle Johnson, global DEI strategist and trainer at PowerToFly; Limor Bergman, director of Product Business Development at PowerToFly; Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, MD, founder and CEO of Gemma; Julie Solomon, brand expert and coach, author and host of "the Influencer" podcast; Alexandra Sourbis, senior public relations and communications manager at Elvie; and Sarah Lacy, founder and CEO of ChairmanMe.
"The income penalty for moms taking a break from work is 15% per child under the age of 5, and for Black and Indigenous women, it is nearly 20%," said Amri Kibbler, co-founder and chief community officer at HeyMama. "The unprecedented departure of women from the labor force over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic could set women back financially for decades. The Motherhood on the Resume® campaign has never been more necessary. It's imperative that employers and colleagues recognize the skills we bring to the table because we are mothers, not in spite of it."
Reaching more than 350,000 mothers in all 50 states, HeyMama is redefining the way working motherhood is valued. For more information about HeyMama's Motherhood on the Resume® campaign and to register for the event, visit Motherhood on the Resume 2022.
This year's sponsors of HeyMama's Motherhood on the Resume® include Elvie, Evereve, PowerToFly and MullenLowe.
About HeyMama: HeyMama is a membership-based professional networking group for moms that connects mothers who are growing careers and families. The juggle is real, and we're here to provide you with a community of women and experiences to propel you forward. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Contact:
Erica Samadani
MullenLowe PR
Erica.Samadani@mullenlowe.com
310-210-4071
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SOURCE HeyMama | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/heymama-launches-its-second-annual-motherhood-resume-campaign-event-address-growing-female-recession/ | 2022-05-12T15:16:39Z |
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The number of new COVID cases has been creeping up again as omicron subvariants circulate around the country. At the same time, the CDC is fighting a legal battle over the authority to require masks on planes, trains and buses. NPR's Allison Aubrey is back with us this morning. Good morning, Allison.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Good morning, Rachel.
MARTIN: OK. Let's start with the grim stuff first. Cases are on the rise; by how much?
AUBREY: Well, the U.S. is averaging about 40,000 to 50,000 confirmed cases a day. That's about a 50% increase this month. But it's nowhere near the winter highs - I mean, really small potatoes by comparison. The upticks are attributable to spring travel, the great unmasking. We can talk about - more about that in a minute. The most notable increases have been on the East Coast from D.C. up through Pennsylvania, New England. But the rise in cases seems to be petering out, really trailing off. Here's Dr. David Rubin of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He's been tracking the situation in the Northeast.
DAVID RUBIN: I think it's been more of a ripple than a true wave. When you look at what's the impact been on hospitalizations, it's been fairly mild. There's been some uptick for sure around hospitalizations. But the Northeast, I think we would anticipate, would start showing significant improvement over the next week or two.
AUBREY: So he's pretty optimistic about the outlook.
MARTIN: OK. That's the Northeast. What about the rest of the country?
AUBREY: Lots of regions have seen a little spring ripple; in the Midwest - Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota have seen more cases; out west in Oregon; in the southeast in Florida. But, you know, big picture, Rachel, the scientists at the CDC who look for early warning signs of significant upticks by tracking wastewater tell me what they see now looks pretty reassuring. Here's the CDC's Amy Kirby.
AMY KIRBY: In previous surges, we've seen it starting in an area like the Northeast and then spreading across the country. We have not seen that kind of spread happening over the last few weeks. So we don't see anything that looks like the evidence of a new surge coming. These are very modest increases.
AUBREY: So another pretty encouraging forecast. And deaths from COVID have continued to fall pretty significantly.
MARTIN: All of which is good news. But, you know, Allison, the scientists have been hopeful before.
AUBREY: That's right.
MARTIN: The virus has proven very wily. There have been all kinds of surprises. Is their optimism different this time?
AUBREY: You know, of course, it's unpredictable. It could happen again. No one knows the future. But as people have gained more immunity, we're just more resilient as a population given this combination of vaccination - 82% of eligible people have had a COVID vaccine - and immunity through infection. You know, there's been this open question about how much immunity people have after getting sick with COVID. And a new study by researchers at the University of Chicago found that among unvaccinated people, getting COVID led to some pretty durable protection on par with the immunity people get from vaccination. I talked to one of the authors, Dr. Jessica Ridgway, about the study.
JESSICA RIDGWAY: I still definitely would recommend, you know, that everyone be vaccinated, but I think it can provide some comfort for folks who, you know, have had COVID, that there is some additional protection that they have against reinfection.
AUBREY: The study was done before the omicron surge, so there were likely more reinfections amid omicron. But bottom line, it's more evidence, they say, that this combination of infections and vaccinations is bolstering immunity across the population.
MARTIN: OK. Well, with that, let's talk about the great unmasking, as you have dubbed it. The bump in cases in the Northeast appears to be leveling off, as you noted, even decreasing. But let's talk about Philadelphia. Does this explain why that city lifted its mask mandate just a few days after it was reinstated?
AUBREY: Yeah. I mean, officials there in Philadelphia pointed to a decline in hospitalizations, justifying an end to mandatory masking. And really, ever since the ruling by a federal judge in Florida led to this abrupt end to masking on planes and other transportation hubs one week ago, there's really been confusion. I talked to epidemiologist Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota about whether lifting mandates at a time when so many people were not really following them has had much of an impact one way or another.
MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: The challenge we have is what is actually happening in most instances is that people are using face cloth coverings, which are largely ineffective. They wear them under their nose, which is like, you know, closing three of the five doors on your submarine. So in a sense, the mandate really has had very little impact.
AUBREY: Because people just weren't following it very well.
MARTIN: Right. But even so, there's still value in continuing to wear a mask if you're a person who, for whatever reason, is still trying to be careful, right?
AUBREY: Absolutely. If you're a person who is vulnerable because of underlying health conditions or age or you're concerned about your own health, wearing a mask that's well-fitted, a KN95 or an N95 mask, can help protect you. I talked to Dr. Judy Guzman. She's an infectious disease pediatrician in Oregon, and she says even at this point, people should be encouraged to mask up if they want, if they need protection. If you're wearing a high-quality mask, there's still benefit, even if the people around you are not masking, which at this point is many people.
JUDY GUZMAN-COTTRILL: Masking is such a simple way to decrease transmission risk. So I have a teenage daughter with a history of an autoimmune disease. She still wears a mask all the time at school. She still wears a mask when we go to the grocery store. And so there are a lot of people out there who are still trying not to get COVID.
AUBREY: And they want to feel supported at school or out in the community if they choose to mask up.
MARTIN: In the meantime, Allison, the Justice Department is appealing that decision out of Florida, a Florida judge's choice to strike down mask mandates on planes and other public transit. Where does that stand?
AUBREY: At this point, getting the decision reversed so that a mask mandate could go back into effect on planes or transportation hubs is very unlikely. It was set to expire next week anyway. What's more important now, legal experts tell me, is preserving the CDC's power for future decisions. I spoke to Matthew Lawrence - he's a law professor at Emory University - about what the Florida district court's decision did.
MATTHEW LAWRENCE: The district court judge reinterpreted the law to take away CDC's power to say the CDC could not impose a mask mandate, no matter how important it is, no matter if there's another wave, no matter whether there's another pandemic. And the really important thing about the case now is just clarifying that CDC has the power given it by Congress and the Public Health Services Act.
AUBREY: To impose a mandate in the future when the agency deems that it is necessary to protect public health.
MARTIN: NPR's Allison Aubrey. Allison, thanks as always. We appreciate you and your reporting.
AUBREY: Thank you, Rachel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-25/health-officials-say-a-rise-in-covid-cases-looks-more-like-a-ripple-than-a-wave | 2022-05-12T15:16:43Z |
HOUSTON, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hobas Pipe USA, Inc. (Hobas), the leading North American manufacturer of corrosion-resistant fiberglass pipe products for water and wastewater related infrastructure, announced today a $60 million, five-year capital investment program that will support the continued expansion of their Houston-based manufacturing facility.
"This investment marks our continued commitment to the infrastructure landscape of North America," said Martin Dana, President and CEO of Hobas.
Hobas plays a critical role in rehabilitating and replacing aging infrastructure with its corrosion-resistant, 150-year design life products. The company kicked off the program with the purchase and installation of equipment to become the first U.S.-based manufacturer of non-circular fiberglass shapes for the rehabilitation of non-circular sewer systems.
And to-date, Hobas has deployed 60 percent of the capital to secure technology, equipment, land, and manufacturing infrastructure to support its growth initiatives. The company has also expanded its workforce by 30 percent and expects total job growth to exceed 45 percent when the capital program has been fully executed.
While the company has experienced significant growth over the past several years, Hobas's mission remains the same–to ensure today's infrastructure solutions do not become tomorrow's problems. Dana said, "It is critical we educate the community on the longevity of corrosion-resistant fiberglass pipe, its economic advantages, and the cost savings achieved by using Hobas's 150-year design life products."
The remaining capital will be used to further grow the portfolio of products Hobas offers to the water and wastewater infrastructure markets.
About Hobas Pipe USA, Inc.
Hobas Pipe USA, Inc. is the leading North American producer and supplier of corrosion-resistant, fiberglass pipe systems. Hobas opened its Houston headquarters in 1987 dedicated to engineering and manufacturing pipe solutions for municipalities that demand safe and reliable infrastructure. Today, Hobas provides fiberglass pipe solutions for clients across the United States and Canada. Hobas is wholly owned by WIG Wiestersdorfer Holding GmbH, a family-owned group of companies operating since 1893 and headquartered in Klagenfurt, Austria. To learn more, please visit www.hobaspipe.com.
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SOURCE Hobas Pipe USA, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/12/hobas-pipe-usa-inc-launches-60-million-capital-investment-program/ | 2022-05-12T15:16:46Z |
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