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How accessible is Lethbridge for people with disabilities? | May 30 to June 5 marks National AccessAbility Week, which acknowledges and celebrates contributions made by Canadians with disabilities, the removal of barriers to accessibly and inclusion, and the work to oppose discrimination against those with a disability. Diane Kotkas, director of DaCapo Disability Services with Lethbridge Family Services, said its important to see people for who they are and what abilities they have, and not just for their disability. Every one of us has challenges in some form or another, she said. Individuals with disabilities are members of our community and should be treated with the same rights and opportunities as any other citizen. Kotkas added its important to acknowledge the barriers some face, and the ease at which many people are able to navigate the community. Read more: Lethbridge Transit introduces new cityLINK network Story continues below advertisement As ambulatory individuals, we more often than not take accessibility for granted, she said. But for many folks with a disability, accessibility is a daily challenge. According to Chris Witkowski, the parks planning manager with the City of Lethbridge, there have been recent improvements in the mobility accessibility around the city. (The) last couple years weve really put a high-priority on making the city more accessible, Witkowski said. Probably the biggest accomplishment was completing our mobility accessibility master plan, which was completed in summer of 2020. Also a member of the Mobility Accessibility working group, Witkowski said the city is always welcoming input from residents and organizations about what improvements can be made. I know facilities is always making improvements to the public buildings, he said. If youre walking on intersections, youll see new sidewalk ramps, trying to improve accessibility for wheelchair use, strollers, walkers, those with visual impairments. For playgrounds, weve started to add some playground surfacing, some hard-rubber surfacing to increase wheelchair access in there. Putting a lot more inclusive play pieces into our playgrounds. 4:27 Canadas Week of AccessAbility Canadas Week of AccessAbility For Bill Brown, who is blind and runs the Lethbridge Association for the Blind, many additions to the city have been positive. Story continues below advertisement Citys done a lot of work in putting ramps at all the corners, and thats very beneficial to people in wheelchairs, but it certainly helps people who are visually impaired as well. However, he does believe some improvements could be made within the citys transit operations, and hopes the general public is able to become more educated on disabilities. Its amazing how people have difficulty in dealing with someone with a disability, and I think thats not only blindness but practically every disability, he admitted. People sometimes, when they meet someone whos blind, they think they have to talk loud, because theyre thinking of deafness. According to Witkowski, the recently-approved Capitol Improvement Program includes funding for improvements to accessibility at city facilities and funding for a benchmark study. | https://globalnews.ca/news/7919847/accessible-lethbridge-people-with-disabilities/ |
Where should recreational pot shops go up in ABQ? | Public invited to weigh in on issue Share Shares Copy Link Copy Hide Transcript Show Transcript WITH PEOPLE ON ALL SIDES OF THIS ISSUE AND THEYRE TELLING ME THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE THOSE SHOPS GO UP ANYWHERE NEAR SCHOOLS OR DAYCARE. THEY JUST DONT WANT THEM YOUR KIDS OTHER PLACES THOUGH. THAT STILL HAS NOT BEEN FINALIZED. HERES A LOOK. RECREATIONAL POT IS NOW LEGAL IN NEW MEXICO LAWMAKERS PASSED IT DURING THE LAST LEGLATIISVE SESSION. SO IN MAY CITY LEADERS WENT TO WORK TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE SHOPS CAN GO UP DURING THE FIRST ZONING PLANS MUCH OF CENTRAL WAS A NO-GO. THE CONCERNS ORIGINALLY ARE STILL CONCERNS TODAY OF PROTECTING THE HISTORIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ROUTE 66 AND OF OLD TOWN AND SOME OF THE AREAS IN TOWN THAT ARE REALLY MAKE ALBUQUERQUE UNIQUE. NOW THOSE CITY LEADERS ARE RETHINKING THAT SAYING THEY MAY EASE UP ON SOME RESTRICTIONS WHERE POT SHOPS CAN OPEN AND I THINK THATHE T LAYERS TEAM HAS DEFINITELY MOVED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. I THINK WE STILL HAVE A LITTLE WAYS TO GO BEN LUENTURE IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW MEXICO CANNABIS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WHEREVER WERE WILNGLI TO PUT A STARBUCKS. WE SHOULD ALSO CONSIDER PUTTING IN A DISPENSARY. HE SAYS THE STIGMA AROUND MARIJUANA THAT THERE WILL BE A BUNCH OF IMPAIRED PEOPLE HANGING AROUND ISNT TRUE AND HES NOT THE ONLYNE O WHO SAYS POT SHOPS OFTEN GET A BAD RAP PAT DAVIS IS A CITY COUNCILOR HIS DISTRICT INCLUDES NOB ALL DAVID SAYS MORE DICLUDES NOB ALL DAVID SAYS MORE SPENSARIES SHOULD OPEN UP HERE IS THAT THE MAYORS PROPOSAL WOULD ESSENTIALLY BLOCK OFF NEW CANNABIS LOCATIONS FROM HUGE PIECES OF CENTRAL FROM OUR PRIME REAL ESTATE AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITYOM CMERCIAL BROKERS THAT HAVE VACANT REAL ESTATE SPACE LIKE THE ONE HERE BEHIND ME ARE ANXIOUS FOR NEW TENANTS TO COME IN. NOW THOSE CITY STAFFERS SAY THEY WILL TEAK ANOTHER LOOK AT ZONING AND WEAR NEW SHOPS CAN OPEN UP. OKAY, YOU ALL CITY LEARSDE TOLD ME THERE ARE A LOT OF ZONING PLANS THAT ARE FLOATING AROUND OUT THERE. THEYRE GOING TO BE BROUGHT BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL ON MONDAY AND THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO WEIGH IN LIVE IN ALBUQUERQUE CITY LEADERS SAY ITS NOT ONLY SCHOOLS, BUT OPENING POT S GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Submit Privacy Notice | https://www.koat.com/article/where-should-recreational-pot-shops-go-up-in-abq-albuquerque-new-mexico-marijuana-weed-news-stores-dispensary/36624283 |
Do South Asians get the same protection from COVID vaccine? | How much protection the COVID vaccine provides South Asians living in the Greater Toronto Area will be studied by Hamilton researchers. South Asians are among the highest risk groups for COVID they are between five and 10 times more likely to be infected and up to twice as likely to die according to the COVID CommUNITY research groups study. The research will investigate the immune response to the vaccine within this population as well as confidence and hesitancy around immunization. It is imperative that we study the immune response to vaccines, said Dr. Scott Halperin, co-chair of the Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group, which is one of the funders. We need to ensure that the level of antibodies achieved is comparable across various populations. The study involving 3,000 South Asians from the GTA and Greater Vancouver Area is led by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) affiliated with McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. South Asian communities across Canada have been hit hard by the pandemic and its vital that they understand the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, said Scott Lear, principal investigator in British Columbia and professor in the faculty of health sciences at Simon Fraser University. This study will also help us understand why some people may be hesitant about being vaccinated. The research aims to understand if differences can be explained by sociocultural factors, such as multi-generational households, or occupational factors, such as doing essential work, or biological factors such as susceptibility or response to infection and vaccination. It will enrol participants at community vaccination clinics in South Asian hot spots and collect information on their living and work conditions, as well as their access to health care. The research is getting $1.5 million from the federal government through the Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. It is critical that we increase vaccine uptake for all Canadians, but we know that the South Asian community will need specific attention and targeted outreach, particularly given the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on this ethnocultural community, said Dr. Lawrence Loh, co-investigator and medical officer of health in Peel Region. | https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2021/06/03/do-south-asians-get-the-same-protection-from-covid-vaccine.html |
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Is 60% fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the end good enough for Illinois? | COVID-19 vaccine fever has abated somewhat in Illinois, it appears, compared to crowds flocking to mass sites this winter. Daily Herald File Photo CVS is promising a Bermuda vacation, Cook County is rolling out Six Flags Great America tickets, and Illinois lawmakers recently permitted bars to give patrons free drinks if they're fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But despite incentives, the state's vaccination numbers are only inching up, with average daily shots currently at 37,328 compared to nearly 133,000 on April 12. "I have a feeling that we're approaching that saturation point here," said logistics expert Hani S. Mahmassani, a Northwestern University professor. "Vaccination results are lower than we were hoping at this stage, especially given the availability of vaccine." As of Thursday, 5,317,858 Illinoisans are fully vaccinated, or 41.7% of the entire population of 12.7 million, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. However, just 10.8 million residents age 12 and older are actually eligible to get COVID-19 vaccine shots now. That means about 49% of eligible Illinoisans are fully vaccinated although shots have been widely available for weeks. Current turnout data indicates the best Illinois might hope for is that in the end about 60% of residents become fully inoculated against the deadly disease, said Mahmassani, director of Northwestern's Transportation Center. "Overall, a 60% range would be a reasonable target, and that's going to require effort to get there," he said. Pfizer and Moderna each have a two-dose vaccine, and Johnson & Johnson offers a one-dose version. But Pfizer is the only drug manufacturer whose shot was approved for children age 12 through 17. In September, Pfizer is expected to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval to give its vaccine to younger children, and that should spark more inoculations, Mahmassani said. "When schools open up in the fall, there's going to be probably a vaccination wave for younger folks," he said. The federal government approved the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15 on May 10. There are 659,053 children in that age bracket, the IDPH reports, and 158,811 or 24% have received their first shots so far, state data showed Thursday. Meanwhile, over 67% of all Illinois adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That's higher than the U.S. average of 63%, and it appears the state is on target to reach President Joe Biden's goal of 70% of American adults receiving one shot by July 4. The start of school this fall, and many universities requiring returning students to be inoculated against the virus, should bump up tallies, Mahmassani said. In addition, "I have high hopes that when some of these festivals start again, that's going to get some more vaccinations," he said. Lollapalooza is requiring patrons be fully vaccinated or provide a negative COVID-19 test result for each day of attendance. | https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20210603/is-60-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-19-in-the-end-good-enough-for-illinois |
What Is Happening in the United States? | Vicente Navarro is a professor of health and public policy at Johns Hopkins University. He is emeritus professor of political and social science at Pompeu Fabra University and is the director of the John Hopkins University-University Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center. An expanded and modified version of this article is forthcoming in the International Journal of Health Services. In order to understand what is happening in the United States, in the aftermath of the presidential election, one needs to comprehend the distribution of power in the country. It is widely recognized that white people in the United States have more power than Black people, and that men have more power than women. Race and gender are indeed two very important variables for understanding what is occurring in U.S. political life. There have been many analyses put forward in academic, political, and media forums explaining how racism and sexism operate and are reproduced in the political institutions of the country. Many articles have also been written on the role that both sexism and racism played in the last presidential elections, and in the huge mobilizations both for and against Donald Trump, who is widely perceived as the de facto leader of the racist and sexist forces. Race and gender, however, are not enough to explain what is going on nationally. Many studies have done a very good job of explaining the results of the elections, both in 2016 and 2020. But their overall analyses are insufficient. Race and gender alone are insufficient to explain the results of the last elections. Another variable of power is needed that very rarely appears in the treatment of U.S. political life: social class. Indeed, even in academic circles, the concept of social class rarely appears, as though in the United States there are no social classes. But there are indeed social classes. At the top of the U.S. class structure is the corporate class (the owners and managers of large companies), a very small sector of the population. Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Sveriges Riksbank (Bank of Sweden) Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, has called them the top 1 percent, a term popularized by the Occupy Wall Street movement. This is followed by the middle class, which has different layers. The upper-middle class can be divided into two major groups: the professional middle class (professionals with higher education), the majority of whom are men, but with a quickly growing female population; and the owners and managers of medium-sized enterprises, equivalent to the petit bourgeoisie in the European narrative. In the United States, a considerable portion of small business owners and more privileged workers in the private sector, such as lower-level supervisors, corporate sales people, lower-level technicians, maintenance workers, and the like, predominantly white, make up the lower-middle class occupying a position above the working class and below the upper-middle class. This is typically the most reactionary segment of society, often allied against both the working class and the upper-middle class, and, if mobilized by those at the apex of society, it constitutes the mass basis for what is now called right-wing populism or neofascism. Then there is the working class, which is the majority of the population. It has four major components; three very large and the fourth very small. Administrative (such as secretaries) and commerce workers (such as those working in supermarkets) make up one of the larger components of the working class. A first observation is that the majority of them are women. Other groups include industrial workersalso known as blue-collar workersthe majority of whom are men; service workers, who occupy roles in hospitals, medical institutions, social services, transport, post offices, and other essential services, the majority of whom are women; and agricultural workers, a very small, but extremely important, group, who produce most of the food consumed in the United States. The second observation that should be made is that the U.S. class structure is very similar to the class structure of most major Western European countries. There are, of course, some differences (such as a larger industrial sector in Germany), but for the most part, the similarities outweigh the differences. The third observation is that the majority of people in the United States are aware of the existence of social class and define themselves as working class. Chart 1, Class Identification of Employed Persons Aged 25 and Older, by Family Income, summarizes the subjective existence of social class. It is important to underline that social class exists not only objectively, but also subjectively. The perception widely promoted by the academic and political establishments is that the majority of the United States considers themselves middle class. And indeed, when Americans are asked to define themselves as upper, middle, or lower class, most answer that they are middle class. This is the evidence most frequently shown to support the position that the United States is a middle-class society. In such an argument, no mention is made of how extremely biased the question is: the prevalent classism in the dominant culture does not seem to realize (or acknowledge) that the term lower class is profoundly offensive. It is one thing to refer to a low-income class and quite another to refer to a lower class. If, however, Americans are asked if they are members of the upper class, middle class, or working class, more people define themselves as working class than middle class. Incidentally, the same happens in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Chart 1. Class Identification of Employed Persons Aged 25 and Older, by Family Income Source: General Social Survey. Chart 1 shows the results of one of the most detailed studies ever done in the United States on class perceptions, where people were asked to which social class they belongedupper, middle, working, or lower class (this last one referring to the unskilled working class). The chart shows how the overwhelming majority of families earning below the median family income ($62,000) defined themselves as belonging to the working class. In this study, people were asked how they felt about many subjects, from culture and music to their perceptions about what the government should do. And it appears clearly that each class, besides being aware of the class they belong to, has different views. Social class has an impact on peoples answers to a question about taxing the rich: answers vary greatly depending on the social class of the respondent. When asked if taxes for the rich should be increased, upper-class people said no, whereas the response was much more positive among the working class. The same occurred with several other questions regarding the governments role in redistributing income and related issues. For the most part, the differences between objective and the subjective class identity are not as large as we may be led to believe. This is similar in Western Europe (I have lived in Spain, Sweden, and Britain, and lecture in many other European countries as well, such as Italy and France, and I can testify that this is indeed the case. I have also lived in the United States for half a century, and believe I know the country very well). Of course, there are many differences, but the populations class self-identification is not so dissimilar between the countries on either side of the North Atlantic. Class mortality differentials are much larger than race or gender mortality differentials. Such similarities between the United States and Western Europe appear not only in how their populations live but also in how they die. Chart 2 shows U.S. mortality rates for heart conditions by social class. The corporate class is not included, because there are so few that they do not appear in the sample population. Notice that the blue-collar worker has a mortality rate from heart conditions double that of the professional class. Mortality differentials by social class are much larger in the United States than in Western Europe, and class mortality differences are larger than race and gender mortality differences on both sides of the North Atlantic. How Class Power Appears in Political Institutions Chart 3 shows the class configurations of the three top federal political institutions during the last twenty years: the Cabinet (the Council of Ministers in Europe), the Senate, and the House of Representatives. At the top of the chart is the U.S. class structure. The majority of the members of these institutions belong to the corporate class, closely followed by upper-middle class. The working class does not appear anywhere in the Cabinet nor the Senate, and only appears in the House with an extremely limited representation of 1.3 percent. Unsurprisingly, Black people and women are also underrepresented in the Cabinet, Senate, and House. Chart 3. Social Class Composition of the United States and the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Federal Government Sources and Notes: Class composition elements derived from U.S government records with data from the 2020 U.S. Census. How Class Power Is Reproduced in Representative Institutions Chart 4 shows that the U.S. president is not chosen directly by the electorate. On November 3, 2020, the electorate voted for 435 representatives in the House of Representatives and the 100 members of the Senate. This last representative chamber is actually very unrepresentative, as the system used to elect its members is biased and favors small rural and conservative states over large and highly industrialized states (where the majority of the working-class lives). All states, regardless of their demographic size, have two senators. A voter in California, which has almost forty million inhabitants and two senators, is much less influential than a voter, for example, in Wyoming, which has only half a million inhabitants but also has two senators. Small rural and conservative states have as much power as the larger states, which helps explain the conservatism of the powerful Senate. For example, the Senate, until recently controlled mostly by the Republican Party (which has become ultraright with Trump), approves the federal budget, the presidential appointments, including the members of the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court judges. Source: Derived from U.S. government records. The U.S. president, however, is not elected directly by the House or by the Senate. Instead, the president is elected by a special chamberthe Electoral Collegewhose membership is 538, equal to the number of Senators (100), plus members of the House of Representatives (435), plus 3 members from Washington DC. Its composition is decided on a state level by the electorate via a system that also favors small states over large ones. To take the example of Wyoming again, it is a Republican state with only half a million people and three delegates in the Electoral College. If elections were proportional, California (a Democratic state), with 40 million inhabitants, would have 240 delegates, yet it only has 55. Similarly, Kentucky, a Republican state with 4.4 million inhabitants, has 8 delegates in the Electoral College, while New York, a Democratic state with 19.8 million people, has only 29, when it should have 35 if the Electoral College were proportional. And again, South Dakota, a Republican state with 885,000 people, has 3 delegates, while Illinois with 12.8 million people should, proportionately, have 43 delegates, rather than 20, and so on. This situation explains that, even though in the last twenty years more votes have been cast for Democratic presidential candidates than for Republican candidates (except in 2004), the bias in the composition and membership of the Electoral College means that the U.S. president has been a Republican for most of these years, despite Democratic candidates having received the majority of the popular votes from the U.S. electorate. In spite of the unpopularity of this body, the chances of it being eliminated are close to null. It would require the support of two-thirds of the Senate plus ratification by three-quarters of the fifty states. Chart 5. Popular Votes for Presidential Candidates The electorate does not choose the president. It is the Electoral College, which does not reflect entirely the popular vote because small rural states are over-represented. In the last twenty years, there have been more votes for the Democratic Party than for the Republican Party (except in 2004). 2000: Al Gore obtained 543,000 more votes than BUSH. Years with Democratic presidents (during 20002020): 8 2004: BUSH obtained 3M more votes than Kerry. 2008: OBAMA obtained 9.5M more votes than McCain. 2012: OBAMA obtained 5M more votes than Romney. Years with Republican presidents (during 20002020): 12 2016: Clinton obtained 3M more votes than TRUMP 2020: BIDEN obtained 7M more votes than Trump The lack of proportionality reproduces a very unrepresentative congress, with the exclusion of left-of-center and left-wing parties. The federal electoral system effectively allows for only two parties, both of them right wing: the Republican Party (ultraright) and the Democratic Party (a liberal, center-right party and observer to the International Association of Liberal Parties), thus excluding left or left-of-center parties. Proportionality would mean that a party obtaining, say, 30 percent of the popular vote would have 30 percent of the parliamentarians. It is not so in the United States. Unless a party obtains a plurality of the votes, the party loses absolutely, regardless of whether it is losing for receiving 49 percent or just 1 percent of the vote. This makes it very difficult for new parties to have a presence in representative chambers. The only opportunity for individuals from other parties to be elected is in the primaries of either of the two traditional parties. This is how a socialist, Bernie Sanders, ran in the presidential primaries of the Democratic Party. Sanders, a well-known independent senator from Vermont, put forward progressive proposals such as the establishment of a $15 per hour minimum wage, single-payer health care, and a Green New Deal, all of which became very popular even among conservative voters. But Sanders was clearly marginalized by the apparatus of the Democratic Party in 2016 and again in 2020, making it very difficultpractically impossiblefor him to win. It is yet another example of how practically impossible it is for a left-wing candidate to attain a meaningful political space in the U.S. government. The countrys very weak labor movement helps explain the absence and limited influence of left-wing parties in representative U.S. institutions, which in turn serves to lead to further restrictions on labor rights in a vicious circle. There is a lack of awareness outside the United States about how severe the limits of U.S. democracy are. One indicator of this is that 150 million people voted for two candidatesone Republican (Trump) and one Democrat (Joe Biden)both explicitly against the Green New Deal and Medicare for All (the slogan of the call for universal health care), proposals that are very popular but were not offered to the electorate in the recent elections. The very limited proportionality of the electoral system and near impossibility of third parties to appear in the two representative chambers gravely curtail U.S. democracy. A further limitation of U.S. democracy is the privatization of the electoral process. Most of the funding of elections is private, and there is no limit to how much money can go to the Democratic or Republican party or their candidates. This money is used primarily to buy access to the media, which is available to the highest payersagain, without any limitations. The contributions from large economic, financial, and professional associations are particularly important before the electoral process starts, when the candidate is not yet well known. Afterward, other contributions are added to that list, including smaller contributions from individual citizens, as was the case with Sanders (whose average donation was, famously, $27). This private funding does play an important role in the electoral process, since it can limit candidates who are unable to obtain as much private funding to support their candidacy. This private funding also appears in some European parties, but for the most part is illegal and can be considered corruption. In the United States, it is legal, normalized, and expected. This insufficient democracy primarily affects the working class and limits the defense of its interests, including the development of its political instruments such as left or left-of-center political parties and class-oriented trade unions. The absence of left-wing parties in U.S. representative institutions is accompanied by the limited power of major trade union associations. Unions, such as those that are part of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, are practically forbidden by the Taft-Hartley Act to function as rank-and-file unions. Sympathy strikes (meaning a sector of labor supporting another sector), as well as universal or general strikes, are forbidden in the country. Strikes and collective bargaining agreements are only sectoral and are very decentralized, weakening labor. In reality, U.S. trade unions are much more expressions of business unionism than of class unionism. Such weakness of labor is the dream of the liberal parties, funded and created by the large employer class in the majority of Western Europe. All of the neoliberal public policies implemented in Western European countries (including the social democratic ones) are aimed at weakening labor, taking the United States as the model in attempts to Americanize labor markets and welfare states. This situation of powerlessness explains the majority of the U.S. working classs great distrust and disinterest in the political process. Only half of the population votes in presidential elections (and even less in congressional elections that do not coincide with presidential ones) and there is a direct relationship between level of income and electoral participation (the lower the income, the lower the participation). The half of the population that does not vote is the majority of the working class. This means that the majority of the voting population are members of the lower-middle class, upper-middle class (professional class), and upper class. Polling agencies (which predicted a large victory of the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 and of Biden in 2020) erroneously predicted a landslide victory of Biden over Trump, failing in their estimates because they focused on the voting populations in previous elections without taking into account the behavior of the abstentioniststhe majority of the working class. Trump: 2016 and 2020 Much has been written about why Trump won in 2016 and how he mobilized the highest number of votes for a Republican candidate in history in 2020. Many attribute the high mobilization and polarization of the electorate in support of Trump to a supposed increase of racism and sexism in the United States (take, for example, The Upswing, the latest book by Robert D. Putnam from Harvard University). The primary reason was thus considered a cultural one: the politics of identity seem to have substituted the politics of redistribution in recent years. Without denying that racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression play an important role, classwhich is often overlookedalso needs to be considered. The victories of Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom had a significant and long-lasting impact. Neoliberalism, promoted by the dominant classes, was their response to the advances of the labor movement on both sides of the North Atlantic during the postwar period (around 1945 to 1974, known as the golden age of capitalism), and their neoliberal policies significantly weakened forces of organized labor. Before the neoliberal revolution, the Democratic Party in the United States stood in the complicated tradition of the New Deal established by Franklin D. Roosevelt (the most popular president after the Second World War and the founder of the U.S. welfare state). The New Deal was followed later by the Great Society that established, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, Medicare and Medicaida health care program for the elderly and disabled, and a program for the poor, respectively, as defined by each state. During this period, the Democratic Party, as Ted Kennedy once indicated, was not a labor party, but it intended to obtain labor support. And indeed, although the majority of the working class abstained, those who voted, voted Democrat. The Democratic Party, however, changed significantly with Bill Clinton, who was very representative of the educated upper-middle class or professional class. After winning his 1992 election (with a fairly progressive platform, borrowed from Jesse Jacksons campaign in 1988, including a call for a national health program), he abandoned such commitments and doubled down on the neoliberal project, adopting major components of it such as the deregulation of capital and establishment of worldwide free trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (initiated by George H. W. Bush) and new treaties favoring the mobility of industries moving out of the United States. In many ways, Clinton inspired Tony Blair in the United Kingdom, becoming a reference for the Third Way (the incorporation of neoliberalism and abandonment of critical elements of social democracy), followed later by Gerhard Shrder in Germany, Franois Hollande in France, and Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero in Spain. This change affected the working class in the United States very directly. I saw it in Baltimore, where I live and work in the United States. Baltimore used to be a steel town until the mills relocated, economically hurting the city. Most steel workers were well paid, white, and lived in the large neighborhood of Dundalk. When the steel mills left, Dundalk changed dramatically. In 2016, the neighborhood overwhelmingly voted for Trump, whom they perceived as being against the liberal establishment that, they believed, controlled the federal government. The neighborhoods hatred of the liberal establishment stems from a number of factors. First, they believe that it is responsible for what has happened to them. Second, they perceive the federal government as helping others over themnamely, Black people and upper-class women. As mentioned, the U.S. welfare state is not universal, but rather means tested. Medical care is not a right for the majority of citizens and Medicaid is only for the poor, who those in Dundalk wrongly assume to be majority Black (the majority are white, although the poorest are Black). Whites in Dundalk believe that their taxes are going to East Baltimore (a majority Black working-class neighborhood), not to them. This interpretation of fiscal public policies was clearly promoted by Trump, in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns; identity was weaponized based on perceptions of institutional favoritism. The belief that the federal government supports only minorities and upper-middle class women with academic degrees played a key role in Trumps campaign. Thus, racism and sexism did play a major part, but in themselves do not explain why substantial sections of the white working class (coupled with the lower-middle class) were mobilized on this basis now but not before. As has happened in Europe, the instability, uncertainty, and limited social protectionsconsequences of the neoliberal policies applied by the left-of-center, supposedly progressive governing partiesplay a crucial role in maintaining racism and the rejection of the other, whether it be immigrants or specific racial minorities. An attempt to explain the growing white working classand the increased lower-middle classvote for Trump primarily according to racism and sexism ignores the enormous damage that neoliberal policies have wreaked among the larger sectors of the working class, and particularly in the white working class, which went from having a decent standard of living to a life of misery in a very short period (take, for example, the increasing mortality rates and declining life expectancy among white working-class people caused by diseases of despair). To focus only on racism ignores other facets of the situation, such as that many white working-class people who voted for Trump had voted for Barack Obama in his first run for president. Trump presented himself as the voice of those who hated the liberal establishment, represented by Hillary Clinton (seen as the candidate of liberal feminists) and Biden, a politician with a long career typical of the liberal federal establishment. Trump in 2020 got 42 percent of the vote from those with incomes under $50,000 a year, and 42 percent of the vote of those with incomes between $50,000 and $99,000. He only won the vote in the $100,000 segment of the population and over. Nevertheless, the number of working-class votes for Trump were considerable.1 These pro-Trump voters included some industrial counties that had voted for Obama in 2012 and then switched to Trump, who presented himself as the voice of the people against the economic and financial establishment, characterizing Biden as the voice of Wall Street. He himself comes from a sector of the corporate class (real estate private equity, casinos, and services) that is not perceived as a real part of the liberal Washington establishment, although he has had the support of oil and gas companies, as well as defense, construction, the energy industry, and the major pharmaceutical corporations. His antiestablishment and critical tone toward the liberal establishment and its media explains the enormous loyalty of his supporters, who have become the solid base of the Republican Party. This explains how, despite being the first modern president who never enjoyed a majority approval in national polls, Trump had the loyalty of at least 40 percent of the eligible voting population. It is wrong to interpret Trumpism as a populist movement. Such a reading underestimates the nature of the phenomenon, and incorrectly assumes that when the leader disappears, the movement also disappears. But the movement preceded Trump. It is characterized by an extreme nationalism, with nostalgic remembrance of an idealized imperial past, based on: the superiority of the white race and its Christian religions; profound sexism, with women seen primarily as sexual objects, appendices in a mans world, to be assigned primarily reproductive roles; protectionism and economic growth above all else; and policies of deregulation of labor markets and the elimination of social and environmental protections. This movement is profoundly against the federal government, which is considered a mere instrument of the interests of minorities and upper-middle class women. This ideology is profoundly authoritarian, caudillist, and antidemocratic, considering democracy as an obstacle to obtaining its ends. It is a crusade, defending Christianity against maligned religions such as Islam and others. It has very similar (actually, identical) features to the majority of ultraright-wing parties in Western Europe. Class Polarization and Pandemic in the United States A major intervention applied to control the pandemic has been quarantining the population (primarily the professional middle class, the lower-middle class, and some relatively privileged sections of the working class). The majority of quarantined, non-essential workers were non-manual workers (able to work from home). In general, members of this group, who voted primarily for Biden, have work stability, and thus their primary concern has been health and the pandemic. Half of the U.S. population, however, could not quarantine at home. Because of the manual nature of their work, as well as its essential character, they were forced to keep working. Moreover, because of their very limited job stability (many are women of color with precarious work) and lack of social protections, they could not afford not to work. Many voted for Trump because he paid lip service to the prioritization of the economy and the production of jobs above all else. The pandemic clearly showed that there is a working class in the United States who has to continue working to sustain the whole society. It is interesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorized essential workers as not only health and social workers, but also workers in food industries, transport, commerce, education, and more, adding up to almost 70 percent of the labor force, with frontline workers making up 42 percent of these. The majority of this last group are women and low paid. The Republican Party increased its votes by nine million with Trump, many of them cast by the largely abstentionist white working class. The number of votes he receivedseventy-four millionwas the largest ever for the Republican Party. Needless to say, many other sectors voted for Trump as wellincluding the majority of people who earn more than $100,000 a year, most of them whitethe only section of the population, divided by income levels, where Trump won a majority. The Democratic Party votes increased by fourteen million for Biden, compared to the votes gained by Hillary Clinton. However, the huge electoral mobilization was aimed at stopping Trump, rather than supporting Biden. The majority of Black and Latinx people, women, the professional middle class, and unionized workers who voted, voted for Biden. He won seven million more votes than Trump. The total of more than eighty-one million votes for Biden were the most for a single candidate of any presidential election.2 However, in the Electoral College, the difference between candidates was very limited, closer than in previous elections for successful Democratic presidential candidates (Clinton and Obama). The Republican Party lost its majority in the Senate, but gained in the House, although the Democratic Party maintained its majority. It is likely that Trump will run for president again in 2024. The future now looks extremely difficult because Trumpism is very powerful, and the leadership of the Democratic Party is not willing to make the changes in the economic and political institutions required to satisfy the enormous needs of the majority of the multiracial U.S. working class. Needless to say, there is a large mobilization from many different social movements that could pressure for change. But a primary condition is to find transversal elements that can unite themclass and solidarity included. Notes | https://monthlyreview.org/2021/06/01/what-is-happening-in-the-united-states/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-is-happening-in-the-united-states |
Why is James Rodriguez not playing for Colombia against Peru tonight? | JAMES RODRIGUEZ has long been regarded as Colombia's most valuable player, but this summer, the Everton midfielder has been deemed surplus to requirements. Colombia are taking part in this summer's Copa America tournament, but will be without star player Rodriguez, who has had injury problems with loan club Everton throughout the course of the season. 3 James Rodriguez will not get the chance to shine for Colombia this summer Credit: Getty Copa America starts on June 13 and will be hosted by Brazil after Covid-hit Colombia and Argentina pulled out as hosts. And before then, the Colombians have two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Argentina. Unfortunately and unexpectedly for Rodriguez, he simply wasn't chosen by manager Reinaldo Rueda because they deemed him not to be at the 'optimal level'. Rodriguez had been hit with injuries throughout the 2020/21 season with Everton but performed well when he played for the Toffees. RIP ALAN Alan Miller dead at 51: Former Arsenal and West Brom goalkeeper passes away Exclusive PAUL IN Logan Paul looks 'like a gladiator' and 'nothing like YouTuber who fought KSI' DISGUSTING & DIRTY Everything to know about NHL player Jake Evans' injury GAME ON Tokyo 2020 chief confirms Olympics WILL go ahead despite Covid emergency in Japan Pictured PAIGE-TURNER Paige VanZant teases bikini malfunction while preparing for Ostovich fight The former Real Madrid star, however, worked his way into a position to be fit for this summer's tournament, but boss Rueda still didn't fancy taking Rodriguez. A statement read: "The coaching staff of the Colombia Men's Senior Team reports that the player James Rodrguez has been called off for the games against Peru and Argentina for the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and the CONMEBOL Copa Amrica 2021. "In recent days, the midfielder was subjected to medical examinations, which determined that he is not at the optimal level of competition, therefore, he will not be able to join the group called by Reinaldo Rueda for the aforementioned commitments and the South American championship. "The coach and his team of collaborators regret not being able to count on James Rodrguez this time and hope that soon the midfielder will be able to be part of a call, representing our country with the height and professionalism as he has always done." 3 James Rodriguez will be watching Colombia from the sidelines this summer Credit: AFP Rodriguez came back with a statement of his own, noting that he was disappointed with the decision. I want to express my thoughts and feelings regarding the decision made by the coaching staff of the Colombian team for the upcoming knockout dates and Copa America," he explained. I come from a recovery that is in its final part. In which I took enough time to fully integrate myself to the practice of soccer and in this way not affect my participation in the next commitments of our Selection. The pertinent times of this process suggest that I be careful to participate on date 7 of the tie, but they would allow me to fully integrate on date 8 and of course be for the Copa America 2021. With surprise I receive the statement from the main technical body stating that they do not count on me and wishing me a full recovery. 3 James Rodriguez spent periods of the 2020/21 season on the injury table Credit: Reuters Recovery that I already made and in which I have sacrificed a lot. The above filled me with deep disappointment because for me it means playing for my country. Not receiving the trust from the technical body breaks with everything and causes me enormous pain, since for the shirt of the Colombia team I have always left even my life. "For my colleagues the best energy and best wishes. From a distance I will support with the passion of always. Colombia's Copa American campaign will begin on June 15 against Ecuador. | https://www.the-sun.com/sport/3006032/james-rodriguez-not-playing-colombia-peru-world-cup-qualifier/ |
What Are the Advantages of Using Essay Samples? | With everything becoming more challenging as the days pass by, working on written homework assignments has also become difficult for students to handle. Many of them now consider taking a look at writing examples to avoid several complications associated with the task. Lets take a look at ways essay samples benefit students. Written by Professional Writers There is a great deal of difference between a professionals way of approaching an assignment and an amateurs approach towards a piece of writing. A student will always struggle with one or another instruction and might not develop exciting points to add to the argument. A professional has a lot of experience in the field. They know precisely how to go about an essay and overcome several complications that wouldve drowned a student. An expert writer follows every detail and instruction to ensure no unnecessary deduction in marks due to incorrect formatting. 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It Helps Understand Theoretical and Practical Aspects Often, students dont understand the reasons for working on an essay and the topic. Without a clear understanding of the topic and ways in which theory and practical aspects can be distinguishable in the paper, one cant produce an A-grade assignment. When you get yourself good essay samples, it becomes far easier for you to understand ways to write pieces based on theory and why. A theoretical piece will have a different tone and writing style because you will build on concepts. If you look at a practical essay, then you will see that the approach is very different. The tone will be firm and informed about ways you can deal with a situation at hand in practical life. Samples are one of the best ways to find the distinguishing factor between these two aspects of an essay that students often ignore because they dont understand its importance. Rather than making mistakes on your paper due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of these aspects, you should get a sample and go over it thoroughly. No, it will not be a waste of your energy or finances. It is like a long-term investment because you never forget them once you know how to deal with essays. Great Help When Writing There are many advantages essay samples have to offer students. Furthermore, they can be your helping hand when you begin writing. It is not easy to develop writing skills in a short period all by yourself. You guessed it right, an example essay! You can learn a lot by viewing examples. Whether its about the tone of a specific type of essay or the ideas associated with the topic at hand, you will learn everything in detail rather than having to take an extra course to build your knowledge. You can develop writing skills by looking at how professionals approach such essays, which will go a long way for you! These skills dont apply to one type of essay or just one course, and you can benefit from writing skills in all fields of education and stand out from the rest of the students and get your desired grade! Conclusion Keep these advantages in mind before tossing an excellent opportunity of getting a sample for a reasonable price. It can do wonders for your writing skills and save your grade by a considerable margin! Think of it as a one-time investment that will benefit you for a lifetime. Author of the article: Cody Rhodes is a learning specialist at EssayZoo, he designs and delivers learning initiatives (both in-class and online) for a global and internal audience. He is responsible for ongoing development, delivery, and maintenance of training. He has the ability to manage competing priorities to execute on time-sensitive deliverables within a changing environment. He contributes to continually improving the teams processes and standards and works as a member of the team to assist with team initiatives. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube | http://xpressmag.com.au/what-are-the-advantages-of-using-essay-samples/ |
What is a bidet? How to use a bidet toilet? | If youre reading this, were pretty sure youve just stumbled upon one of lifes greatest gifts: the humble bidet. Perhaps youre overseas or at a friends house and you went to the bathroom to find a magical thing there. You werent quite sure, but it certainly piqued your interest. Then, after you answered natures call or made a special sacrifice to the porcelain throne, you thought, why not. And lose you did, but only the will to ever have to rely solely on scratchy, unhygienic toilet paper ever again. Upon using the bidet, you discovered what post-toileting freshness really felt like, and now you never want to go back. The experience has left you more than curious. Never fear, bidet convert, weve got all the answers for you. History of the bidet To understand what a bidet truly is, we have to understand where it came from. And the bidet certainly has an intriguing history. Sadly, weve got no-one to hug for the invention of the bidet we simply dont know who created the first ever one. But what we do know is that in the second half of the eighteenth century, the Queen of Naples and Sicily personally requested a bidet in her bedroom at the Royal Palace of Caserta. She really started something, it seems: bidets now feature in 97% of bathrooms in Italy (their installation has been compulsory since 1975). Back then, though, bidets werent necessarily the stuff of royalty, despite the fact that most royal families used them. They were similar to what we might call a chamber pot a small, hand-held device for washing after youd used the loo. By 1900, the bidet began to evolve in leaps and bounds because we invented plumbing! Suddenly, bidets became that bit more hygienic as they moved from bedrooms to bathrooms. And people saw them as not just hygienic, but useful in a myriad of other ways. Then (and up until the pill was invented in the 1970s), bidets were often used as a form of contraception. It wasnt until 1928, though, that the bidet inherited one of its now infamous features the nozzle. A gentleman by the name of John Harvey Kellogg applied for a patent on the anal douce (John, go you good thing), and the modern bidet with a nozzle spray was born. But of course, bidet innovation didnt simply end there. In the early 1980s, the Japanese made the bidet even fancier by adding electricity to it. Named the Washlet or, aptly, the Super Toilet suddenly, there wasnt anything the bidet couldnt do. From spraying warm water, to night lights, heated seats, deodorisers and remote controls, the bidet became a true legend in its own right. Nowadays, at its most basic, a bidet is a plumbing fixture or type of sink thats used to wash our private parts. But as bidet-converts would know, it certainly feels like much more than that. If youre fresh off a bidet, youll know why you should use one: because, quite simply, washing in a bidet just feels good. But as it turns out, theres a whole bunch of other reasons why you should consider using a bidet. Yes. Of course. A bidet is the epitome of good personal hygiene, and heres why: you get to leave all of that nasty toilet bacteria behind. Whenever we use toilet paper (and especially after weve done a number two), we wipe bacteria into different places. Sure, we mostly get what we can off with subsequent wipes, but what about what we cant see (or, awkwardly, leave behind?). Leaving behind remnants can cause serious issues. Dr. Austin Chan from Bostons Brigham Womens Hospital says that poor wiping can, over time, lead to irritation and infection, and if youre a woman, it can also lead to urinary tract infections or bacterial vaginosis. But even if theres no remnants per se, the bacteria in our poop can be just as bad. It can contain e-coli and the norovirus that causes diarrhea, as well as bacteria that causes other respiratory infections such as hand-foot-mouth disease. Wrong. Research shows that a staggering 95% of people either dont wash their hands or dont wash their hands well enough to kill harmful bacteria. So its fair to say that when it comes to feeling and being hygienic, bidets have a very useful role to play in washing away bacteria. Yes. But you can use a helluva lot less of it. Were not going to paint you a mental image of this because we know you just get it. Youve dropped the kids off at the pool and its a bit, err, messy. Theyd also run out of the soft stuff at your local supermarket so every pooping incident in your house has been a bit rough lately. But right now, its about to get a whole lot rougher. Eugh. Bidets make this potentially rough situation survivable. Or potentially avoidable. Thank you, bidet. The truth is that bidets are beneficial in any situation. But in some situations, they are more beneficial than most. When it comes to our parts down there, sometimes things get a little icky, and weve all just accepted that thats part of life. But with a bidet, you can help wash away that ick and restore that glorious clean feeling, faster. For women, for example, bidets are particularly marvellous when youve had a visit from Aunty Flo. Theyre equally life-changing if youre pregnant, especially in the third trimester, when your baby belly literally gets in the way of a good wipe. And if youre experiencing any uncomfortable issues down-there, such as haemorrhoids , a bidet can provide the welcome relief youre craving. Theres many other situations in which a bidet is likely to become your best friend. Whether it be a broken arm, or the sheer effort of repetitive wiping that youd rather avoid, a bidet is there to do the hard yards for you. Back in 1928 when John Harvey Kellogg patented the anal douche, the environmental impact of toilet paper was probably far from him mind. Fast forward to 2019 though, and this is something we should all think about. In the Western world, most of us use a staggering 20,000 sheets of toilet paper per year. Thats 22 kilograms worth! And to produce all of this paper in the first place, we have to engage in some pretty hardcore environment thrashing. Collectively, we flush 27,000 trees down the drain every day . But it gets worse. To produce a single roll of paper, we need to use 37 gallons of water. Bleaching it can then use up to 235,000 tons of chlorine, and manufacturing and transporting it wastes 17.3 terawatts of electricity every year. Thats a lot of environmental impact for not a lot of benefit. So if you care about our environment and climate change, know this: a bidet is an investment in your childrens future. Bidet toilet seat vs. Bidet toilet suite By now, were pretty sure youre ready to invest in a bidet of your very own. Heres a run down of the different types of bidets. A bidet toilet seat is typically is a bidet thats used in your existing toilet. This means no need for any additional water supply outlet, as it is attached via a threaded tee pipe (T-valve) adaptor. Although the bidet toilet seat is the most basic of bidets, theres still a heap of options to choose from. Some add-on bidets have movable or fixed nozzles attached to the existing toilet, and some replace the toilet seat. Others still produce a vertical water jet, and some even have whats called a family nozzle for washing the anus and a bidet nozzle for washing the vulva. But! A bidet toilet seat can also be a bidet thats been plumbed entirely separately to the toilet (if you so choose). If you invest in one of these, youll have a bidet throne of your own! A bidet toilet suite is the next step up in bidet-land. Its the bidet that is truly a service to yours-truly. Bidet toilet suites are most usually electric, so they often conveniences that include, but are not limited to, electronically-controlled nozzles, heating, automatic flushing, and much, much more. Invest in one of these and going to the toilet will sure be a treat. Disclaimer: we realise that you either found this article because youre interested in bidets or alternatively, because youre in a land faraway, youve just discovered a toilet with a million buttons in a language you dont speak, and youre wondering just how much fun you can have. Given that bidets come in a million different varieties, its hard to provide uniform instructions, But in general, follow these guidelines: Do your thing: Answer when nature calls or crunch that grumpy, you good thing. Adjust the temperature: If youre using an adjustable bidet, adjust the water pressure and temperature to your liking. Angle the nozzle: After youve made the adjustments, its go time! Angle the nozzle to the right spot or alternatively, angle your body! Dry off: After youre all done, pat yourself dry or if theres the option, use an air drying function. Given that bidets range in form and functionality, they also range in price. Bidet toilet seats (the most basic toilet seat attachment) start at around $100 and can be anything up to $1000+. If you decide to have a separate bidet altogether, youll also have to factor in plumbing costs. Bidet toilet suites are usually more expensive (but worth it!). Given their incredible range of functionality, they usually start at $1,500. From here, you can really toilet like a king they can range up to $11,000. Bidets are truly incredible inventions, and worth every cent invested in them. Its time to discover one for yourself! | http://xpressmag.com.au/what-is-a-bidet-how-to-use-a-bidet-toilet/ |
How Fast Will Olivia Smoliga Swim at U.S. Olympic Trials? | Olympic and World Champion Olivia Smoliga dropped a surprise best time in the 200m free, clocking 1:57 flat at the Atlanta Classic. That time puts Smoliga in the hunt to make the Olympic 4200 free relay, but it conflicts with her schedule at the U.S. Olympic Trials. 100m back is her top priority, and shes a little cagey about whether or not shell swim 200 free in Omaha. 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Olivia Smolgia PREDICTIONS Olivia knows what it takes to perform at Olympic Trials, and she appears to be brimming with confidence after the Atlanta Classic. I think Smoligas third trip to Olympic Trials is successful. I see a 58 flat 100m back to make the U.S. Olympic Team. For the 200m free, I see a prelims swim only, a 1:56 mid, enough to put her name in the hat for the 4200 free Olympic relay. Its all about what you think. Bring me your best expert swimming analysis. Follow Olivia Smoliga on Instagram here. Follow Gold Medal Mel on Instagram here. RECENT EPISODES This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website. | https://swimswam.com/how-fast-will-olivia-smoliga-swim-at-u-s-olympic-trials/ |
What Makes a Customer Experience Professional Stand Out? | The answer may be different for everyone, but across the board, rockstar CX pros possess specific key qualities. Whether these attributes come naturally or are cultivated over time, CX professionals can step up their game and ensure theyre performing at a high level by adopting the practices below. Theyre Endlessly Curious Effective CX pros are constantly looking for opportunities to better understand their customers needs, behaviors and motivations. Its this genuine curiosity that enables them to design products and services that hit the mark. Asking questions and seeking a specific answer, or inquiring just to close the loop and move forward doesnt cut it. CX professionals need to think outside of the box and shouldnt be afraid to wander a bit in their quest to understand customers. In fact, Jeff Bezos attributes this willingness to wander and ask questions without too much focus on the end goal to Amazons massive success. Creating innovative solutions is very rarely a linear process. Related Article: Why Curiosity Is the Key to Business Transformation They Listen Openly Once a question has been asked, listening openly and without bias is essential. It is also easier said than done. Confirmation bias the tendency to favor evidence that confirms existing beliefs, while ignoring facts that refute it is one of the most common proclivities in human nature. CX pros are aware of their preconceived notions and how they impact listening. They make a conscious effort not to categorize what theyre hearing or draw hasty conclusions. Instead, they look at the bigger picture and listen for the underlying needs and motivations behind what customers are saying. Related Article: B2B Customer Experience Fundamentals: Listening Theyre Exceptional Storytellers Storytelling is an integral part of the human experience dating back nearly 30,000 years. Today, it looks different than the ancient cave drawings of Lascaux and Chavaux, but it remains just as important. CX pros know that people can relate to humans more than they can relate to data. Take the customer of a banking app, for example. This customer lives in a cold climate and winter is approaching. Between heating bills and other upcoming expenses, they wont have enough money in their savings to purchase a new winter coat for their child. Then, imagine the data that reflects this persons circumstances for example, 60% of customers dont have sufficient savings pasted into a pie chart. Hearing about real, human experiences will always have a more significant impact than simply viewing data. Related Article: The Power of Storytelling They Dont Silo Themselves CX teams tend at times to be siloed from the rest of the company. This acts as a roadblock to building a truly customer-centric culture. CX pros understand the importance of collaboration and partnering with other teams to accomplish goals. They take an active interest in what other teams are working on, what theyre curious about, what they need help with, etc. By truly partnering with the rest of the company, their knowledge and expertise can help other parts of the business and vice versa. Related Article: The Customer Experience Hierarchy Theyre Always Campaigning for Customers Anytime CX pros learn something new and important about customers, they make a point to share it throughout the company. Since CX teams are working directly with customers (whereas other teams may be more removed) its their responsibility to educate others and campaign for customer needs. This can be accomplished by using storytelling versus presenting teams with raw data that may not be as easy to digest or remember. CX teams can also share new customer insights during all-hands meetings so that everyone within the organization walks away having learned something new. They Connect CX Back to the Business Perhaps most importantly, CX pros can always tie their customer experience initiatives back to the business. They can show how what theyre working on positively impacts top-line growth, cost savings, efficiency, getting to market and innovation. Lets revisit the example about the winter coat. Connecting customer data and CX initiatives back to the companys goals and bottom line is key. Customer expectations are at an all-time high, and the need to innovate and strengthen brand loyalty is ever growing. CX pros who embody these traits can expect to see positive outcomes for both customers and the business alike. | https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/6-traits-of-customer-centric-pros/?utm_source=cmswire.com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=cm&utm_content=all-articles-rss |
Is Tikanga Now The Law? | Today is the last day Government has to appeal a ruling that granted Mori property rights based on tikanga, says ACT Leader David Seymour. The Whakathea decision, made under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act, the legislation that replaced the Foreshore and Seabed Act, granted customary marine title and protected customary rights to several Bay of Plenty hap. The previous National Governments decision to include references to tikanga in the Marine and Coastal Area Act has come home to roost because it has resulted in a complete distortion of the common law. Former Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson argued in court on behalf of the Landowners Coalition that it was necessary for hapu to prove not just that a system of tikanga existed, but that they had held the area in a manner consistent with other property legislation and Western ideas of property rights. The Court disagreed, instead choosing to rely on tikanga: The task for the Courtis therefore not to attempt to measure the factual situation against western property concepts or even the tests at common law for the establishment of customary land rightsThe critical focus must be on tikanga and the question of whether or not the specified area was held in accordance with the tikanga that has been established. Passages from the courts ruling reveal how ill-defined the notion of tikanga is: The tikanga also relates to the belief systems of Mori where they have genealogical ties dating back to Ranginui [Father sky] and Papatuanuku [Mother earth] and also the belief system of belonging to an ancestor that was already living here in Aotearoa way before the Greet Fleet (the canoes) landed In the Mori view of creation, the central figures are Papatnuku (the earth mother) and Ranginui (the sky father) with the earth being created when these two were thrust apart by their children. They are regarded in tikanga as ancestors and one does not own ones ancestors. Ancestors are the source of whakapapa and whakapapa is a tikanga that dictates Mori societal norms and relationships. In tikanga rather than there being an emphasis on exclusive individual or collective title to any part of land, the focus was on the use of and relationship with resources of the land and sea including manaakitanga. Perhaps most importantly for this litigation the concept of exclusion was fundamentally inconsistent with the tikanga values of manaakitanga and whakapapa. The law must be certain for all New Zealanders. Importing ill-defined spiritual beliefs into the common law is untenable. However, a growing number of people in government and the judiciary are determined to incorporate tikanga. The implications of the judgment are disturbing because there are around 200 other such claims currently before the courts. Treaty Minister Andrew Little appeared on Newstalk ZB last week to say that the Government is considering the implications of the ruling. The Attorney-General David Parker must appeal the decision before the ruling becomes part of the law of the land. He must do that today. If, however, undermining the common law is the outcome the Government wishes to see, it should tell New Zealanders. Scoop Media | https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2106/S00040/is-tikanga-now-the-law.htm |
Why do so many Mass. communities have contaminated drinking water? | Science Why do so many Mass. Certain PFAS chemicals can stay in our bodies for years. Since Massachusetts enacted new drinking water regulations last fall, some towns have found elevated levels of certain chemicals in their water sources. In October 2020, Massachusetts began mandating water testing for levels of six PFAS chemicals, a class of chemicals widely used in the manufacturing of common products that are linked to negative health outcomes. Testing results recently became available from around half of the public water sources and, according to the Boston Globe, 20% of them found PFAS levels above the states limit. Bostons water is safe by these standards: The Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, which fully serves much of the Boston area, has not found elevated PFAS levels in the two reservoirs which supply to full-serve municipalities. Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been used since the 1950s to manufacture stain and water-resistant items. Theyre used in things like nonstick pans, outdoor clothing, carpets, skis, and a particular type of firefighting foam used on oil or gasoline fires. Since PFAS are water soluble, they make it into soil and groundwater, and have been found in lakes, fish, and other wildlife. PFAS travel widely. Dr. Laurel Schaider, senior scientist with the Silent Spring Institute, told Boston.com that PFAS have even been detected in polar bears up north. Certain PFAS chemicals can stay in our bodies for years, she said Certain chemicals have been phased out of production in the U.S. because of their ability to stay in our body and because of concerns about harmful health effects. Advertisement: Schaider noted that there are thousands of PFAS, but Massachusetts has chosen to test for these six chemicals because of the research linking them to health effects like certain types of cancer, elevated cholesterol, effects on the thyroid, and changes in the immune system. This has been on a lot of peoples minds lately with the pandemic everyone is thinking about immune response, vaccinations, and antibody levels, she said. There have been a number of studies showing that exposures to PFAS can impair the immune system and affect the ability of the body to produce antibodies, which is part of our bodys normal response to vaccinations to protect our health. How its impacting local communities Several towns like Ayer, Holbrook, and Randolph continue to deliver contaminated water while seeking solutions. When water testing showed that one of Wellesleys three water treatment facilities had chemical levels above the states limit, the town shut it down. Wellesley is partially served by the MWRA, so Public Works Director David Cohen said the town will be maxing out the amount of water they can use through that contract. The town has implemented a mandatory outdoor watering restriction, which assigns specific days residents can water outside, and asked people to reduce overall outdoor watering by 20%. Since water rates are set based on the previous years usage, Cohen said Wellesley wont know the exact financial impact until the next rates are set. Advertisement: Well be looking for all avenues [of support], he said, Weve actually engaged a consultant to help us develop a treatment solution for the Morses Pond Treatment Plant, so theyre going to help us navigate the various sources that might be available We absolutely will be looking for all of thatwe expect there will be some assistance to help us come up with a solution and hopefully to implement the solution. Wayland was spending $20,000 a week to distribute bottles of water to 1,400 households, the Boston Globe reported. The town has also instituted an outdoor water use restriction, but a permanent solution will cost millions. A DPW employee loads a case in this trunk. Because of the elevated levels of PFAS found in its public water sources, Wayland is distributing bottled water to the public. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff) To impose all of it on ratepayers at the local level seems unfair and really burdensome, Town Administrator Louise Miller told the Globe. I think both the federal and state government should look at spending more on specific water infrastructure. Schaider said the steps Massachusetts has taken are a great starting point, but there needs to be more broad work done to prevent these chemicals from getting into our environment in the first place. She referenced the essential uses framework, which would prioritize PFAS use where theyre necessary in things like medical devices and eliminate use in popcorn bags, fast food wrappers, and even firefighting foam. There are things all of us can do individually to reduce our reliance that will help reduce our familys exposure, but really its a broader issue, she said. We shouldnt have to be worried about toxic chemicals when were buying products for our families and I think the challenges with PFAS point to the shortcomings of how we regulate chemicals in this country. Check MWRA results for the Boston area and find the states water testing results on the Boston Globes website. | https://www.boston.com/news/science/2021/06/03/massachusetts-communities-contaminated-drinking-water/ |
Are vaccine incentives a good idea? | CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) West Virginia is now among several states offering incentives to encourage those who havent rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated. Many states including West Virginia and Ohio are offering incentives like a million dollars, college scholarships, and free guns. Some residents of Mason County told 13 News Reporter Haley Kosik they think these prizes are unnecessary. I hate to use the word bribe, but I feel like theyre trying to, oh well if you do this, well give you this, you know, and some people just cant resist that, said Point Pleasant resident Brittany Sayre. Last night Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the two latest winners of the states Vax-A-Million drawing, Jonothan Carlyle won $1 million and Zoie Vincent won a full-ride scholarship to any in-state school. Any family members who have decided to get vaccinated? DeWine asked Vincent. Yeah, I havent really had anyone say they want to get vaccinated as a result of this. My family wants to in general, Vincent answered the governor. In West Virginia, Governor Jim Justice is asking residents to get vaccinated for Babydog, but Brittany Sayre cant get vaccinated because she had COVID-19 in March and has to wait 90 days for the vaccine. They still cant get it, they physically cant either they have a medical problem, theyve already had it, just a multitude of things, so how is that far to them? Sayre said. Some residents also told 13 News they think incentivizing a vaccine could actually turn people away from the idea. Follow Haley Kosik on Facebook and Twitter for the latest local and breaking news. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/are-vaccine-incentives-a-good-idea/ |
Is coleslaw healthy? | Coleslaw is a salad made with raw sliced or shredded cabbage and a dressing such as a vinaigrette or mayonnaise. The term coleslaw actually comes from the Dutch phrase koolsla, meaning cabbage salad. Advertisement You can buy ready-made coleslaw or make your own. Build on the cabbage base by adding onions, carrots, celery or apple, and make the dressing more flavourful with mustard or spices to create variety and different tastes, depending on what you are serving it with. Coleslaw is often eaten alongside burgers, barbecue foods such as ribs or chicken, in sandwiches or with fish. Discover our full range of health benefit guides and check out some of our delicious healthy coleslaw recipes. Nutritional benefits of coleslaw There are lots of different types of coleslaw available from supermarkets and health food shops. This breakdown is based on a standard shop-bought coleslaw made with cabbage, carrots, onions and mayonnaise. A 100g serving (about 2 heaped tbsp) contains approximately: 173 calories 0.8g protein 1.2g fibre 16.3g fat 296mg sodium 153ug vitamin A 4mg vitamin E 156mg potassium 36mg calcium 21mg phosphorus Coleslaw generally has a high fat content due to the mayonnaise dressing, but this is mainly unsaturated fats and you can buy lighter versions. The lighter versions will also be lower in calories. A 100g serving of coleslaw provides about a quarter of your recommended daily vitamin A thanks to the cabbage and carrot content and the total recommended daily allowance of vitamin E from the plant oils found in mayonnaise. When buying coleslaw, check the ingredients and make sure it doesnt contain too much salt. Its advised that adults should consume no more than 6g of salt a day (2.4g sodium) a day. Some shop-bought coleslaws contain up to a quarter of the recommended daily allowance in just 2 tbsp (100g). How to include coleslaw as part of a healthy diet Coleslaw is designed to be an accompaniment, so having a few tablespoons alongside a main such as grilled fish, meat or other salad ingredients means that it can easily be part of a healthy diet. You can also make your own coleslaw, which can often be a healthier alternative to shop-bought (as long as you go easy on the mayonnaise). Alternatively, you can swap the mayonnaise for natural yogurt, sour cream or crme frache, which will provide the creaminess for fewer calories. You can then try combining your own mix of thinly sliced or grated cabbage, onions, carrots, apple or celery, adding different herbs and spices (such as mustard, fennel seeds or turmeric) for extra flavour and nutritional goodness. Coleslaw recipes Classic coleslaw Coleslaw with tahini dressing Sweet potato falafels with coleslaw Lemony chicken skewers, herbed potatoes & apple coleslaw No-cook Asian prawn coleslaw Winter slaw with warm celery seed dressing This article was published on 17 May 2021. Nicola Shubrook is a nutritional therapist and works with both private clients and the corporate sector. She is an accredited member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). Find out more at urbanwellness.co.uk. Advertisement All health content on is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other healthcare professional. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local healthcare provider. See our website terms and conditions for more information. | https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/coleslaw-healthy |
Should all MBTA and regional transit buses be free? | Martha Velez Martha Cruz For people who struggle and depend on public transit, the question shouldnt be why free fares? but rather, why not? Here in Lawrence, free fares for bus service are a success. Transportation choices some take for granted are out of reach for many. AAA estimates that annual car ownership costs $9,561. Many residents cannot afford a vehicle, and have trouble getting to work, school, medical appointments, the supermarket, or other services. For them, public transit is a lifeline, and fares are a barrier. Under the leadership of former mayor Dan Rivera, we decided to pay for the bus route that originates at the senior center and travels through some of our poorest neighborhoods. The city set aside $225,000 for the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority to make three of our busiest routes fare-free for two years. The City Council recently approved funding for an extension, and with federal support, the program is now funded for four years. Ridership on these routes rose 20,636 riders, or 25.6 percent, in the first six months of the program before the pandemic. Advertisement We then conducted 312 face-to-face rider interviews, in English and Spanish. People were thankful! Most riders made less than $10,000 per year; 90 percent under $20,000. The discussion of free fares is not abstract. Its real to people. One woman said, If I didnt have this bus, I wouldnt be able to work. An 89-year-old man said he wouldnt be able to get to his medical appointments. Another woman said that money saved from fares paid for groceries. As a Commonwealth, lets encourage transit ridership as a pathway to opportunity, to grow our economy, protect the climate, and reduce roadway congestion. We must both eliminate financial barriers and fund transportation capital investments and operations. More state funding is needed to allow both free, or reduced-income fares, and for transit agencies to provide and expand reliable, safe, clean service. Advertisement In Lawrence, we have shown how transit fare policy can succeed when we put people first. Lets build on that idea by extending free fares to all MBTA and regional transit buses. NO Frank Conte Director of external relations for the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research; Wakefield resident Frank Conte Cathleen T. Lange In promoting free bus service for the MBTA and Regional Transit Agencies, well-meaning advocates ignore the direct and indirect costs associated with such a plan. Removing fares eliminates a revenue stream transit agencies need to maintain current levels of service. Free bus service sounds wonderful and yes, it may bring some increase in ridership. But getting people to leave their cars behind and jump on the bus will be difficult. Transit agencies may need larger subsidies to absorb lost fares. Then, there is another unintended consequence; Current subway riders may choose the bus instead diminishing overall revenue further. Clearly, there is no such thing as a free lunch or a free ride. Equity for low-income riders is a commendable goal. But there are other ways to help those low-income riders, such as offering them reduced fares, something the MBTA already does with seniors and students. Certainly, they have the ability to pay for service, so shifting costs away from them makes no sense and is not equitable. Advertisement Advocates argue that with free fares, ridership increases, and does so at a minimal cost since the expense of fare collection goes away. However, one study noted that expanded ridership can result in higher maintenance, vandalism, and potentially operating expenses. In a recent report, the MBTAs Fiscal and Management Control Board noted that free bus service would require significant capital investment in new buses, and higher operating costs. Advocates also ignore the implications for The Ride, the paratransit, on-demand door-to-door service for people with disabilities. According to federal law if bus service was made fare free, The Ride would also have to be free which translates into a loss for the MBTA. Money from Washington, D.C., may help bridge the budget shortfall for a couple of years, allowing for some experimentation with free ride services. But once that money is gone the MBTA and RTAs could find themselves mired in deficits, hardly in position to forego fare revenues. Free bus service, a blunt instrument with questionable goals, would destabilize rather than help our public transit agencies. As told to Globe correspondent John Laidler. To suggest a topic, please contact [email protected]. This is not a scientific survey. Please only vote once. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/03/metro/should-all-mbta-regional-transit-buses-be-free/ |
How to write an essay for college applications? | Essay forms an integral part of any language studies. It is comprehension or a context of ideas and even factual information. An outcome of our imagination, an essay is an indirect means of communication. Classified into several types, articles have vivid applications apart from mere academics. Formal work pertained to governance, offices, military even news and media are essays being used but seldom enjoy the limelight. A letter is also itself an essay, just being called a letter. The same, but depending on the purpose, they are differentiated into articles and letters. An essay is made mandatory for specific application processes, especially the elite colleges. The goal is to evaluate the personality of the applicant and understand their point of view. As the population is ever exploding, so is the rising competition. A stand-out stance is crucial for selection. Not only in college but everywhere. In this article, we will learn about creating a stand-out essay required in college application processes. Ideology An important part the colleges wish to evaluate is the ideology of the applicant. How to portray the just right ideology entirely depends on our personality and how we perceive things. Each individual is different and so are their views. No two individuals will define, for instance, ideology as the same. An approach that can prove to be essential towards portraying your ideology in a manner that pleases the college is discussed further. Every college has its slogan. They tend to show the values they wish to inculcate in their students even If the practical reality is different. Please go through the brochure or their website and stroll or read through their philosophical conjecture. Have an idea what could please them. Lets say, for example; they had discussed qualities like leadership, sportsmanship in their ideological context. Match your essays context with the same. Please include the words or rather adjectives they have been using to portray themselves in your writing. Create a mist of imaginative lookalike ideology that provokes the reader to be relative to the college, and there you have a better chance of being accepted. It is always such a dilemma when writing college application essays because we do not know where to start and what to include. Heres a quick guide ahead. In the introductory phrase or paragraph, provide a general overview of your previous educational background. You may have your residential history and also include your areas of interests pertaining to academics. Here you may pitch why you wish to opt for this particular college and highlight how the college provides your study interests or field of interest. Also, state how it will help you develop and enhance your knowledge and personality. In the following main body paragraph, you may highlight important life events that particularly inspired you and helped you become the personality you are today. Never give away the whole life story but highlight only the important events. The conclusory paragraph makes a difference. Make It thought-provoking and curiosity-inducing regarding your viewpoints and your overall personality. The reader is forced to take an interest in your application if you land the rightful and effective conclusory paraphrase. This is something that can be a crucial essay writing help. We get lost in the flow of our imagination and keep writing information that may be irrelevant as an applicant. Some points that are never to be included in the college application essays are discussed here. First and foremost, never discuss your financial background. No matter how wealthy or poor you are, that information is irrelevant as your personality, and your ideologies are being judged here. Also, there is no need to make your essay sound like an autobiography; an overview is just enough, excluding the details. Focus on discussing aspects more rather than all talking about yourself. That provides a lousy impression. Another point that has to be strictly excluded is our weaknesses. Nobody includes their shortcomings in the application-themed essays, but topics are given, or aspects asked to be discussed in the same are tricky. Avoid giving even a glimpse of your weaknesses in the report. Language The language in your essay has to be commanding, authoritative, confident, and firm. The article must portray you as a firm believer in yourself and an optimistic thinker. The use of solid vocabulary is highly recommended. You are improving your language through British-originated tv series, movies, or the most effective of them all; reading forms a crucial part. Have a hobby of scanning such media to have a substantial inventory of words at your disposal. Have a bold stance while writing and maintain a steady and relatable flow of information for the reader. Your writing style and handwriting have a profound impact on the reader. The first impression is the last is a relevant quote in this context. Language skills can also be improvised by referring to dictionaries frequently and maintaining a notebook to note down extravagant and uncommon words. Once writing down the word with the actual meaning is just enough to memorize it for almost forever. Future endeavors Though indeed, we are all always oblivious about the future, our intuitions somehow make us believe and help us imagine it. You may discuss how you see yourself in the upcoming years and also mention your ambitions. Write about how you wish to excel in your field of interest and build a memorable career. Highlight the goals you want to achieve and develop a sense of goodwill with the readers through writing. Let them know you are ambitious young blood and are determined with dedication. Your hunger for success and self-respect needs to be portrayed in your essay. Let them know you have a pure and incorruptible mind. Also, you may state that you wish to be a well-recognized alumnus of your college and how you both can mutually benefit from each other in terms of college and alumni. The above blueprint for writing an application-themed essay for a college has been developed through my trial and error. My experience has taught me relevant and valuable lessons that helped me get into the college of my choice. I am sure following these guidelines will help you too. Best Luck. | https://wheon.com/how-to-write-an-essay-for-college-applications/ |
Which is the favorite NT for UEFA Euro 2020/2021? | The next European Football Championship, to be played between June 11th and July 11th, 2021, promises excellent football and very exciting and unpredictable games. Perhaps for this reason, the predictions for the favorite team are being much debated among commentators, experts and football lovers themselves. As this was a shorter European season, but with a very high volume of games, and some news that could make things different like the possible creation of the Super League (read more). The euro 2020 bookmakers themselves, with special offers, have results that can be surprising. A proof of this is that, instead of France being the favorites, it ends up being the English team that is at the forefront of this theoretical favoritism. Just so you can get a better idea, the current European champion, Cristiano Ronaldos Portuguese team, is only being placed in sixth place in favoritism, behind the following teams: England France Belgium Spain Germany. As a team that hasnt won major titles for several decades, it might even sound strange that bookmakers are putting England ahead of France, the current world champions, for example. The main reason this is happening, however, is that England will have the privilege of playing at home if they manage to reach the semi-finals and final of the 2020/2021 Euro Cup, as it is confirmed that Wembley Stadium, in London, will be the host of the last games of the championship. In addition to this factor that could be important, England ended up being one of the best teams in the most recent mens World Cup. And their young talents are among the most coveted across Europe. Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho are singled out as two of the greatest talents in the world of football and could end up contributing a lot to the England teams potential success. First, it is important to highlight that, in addition to being European champion, Portugal won the UEFA League of Nations 2018/2019, so Cristiano Ronaldos team always seems to be in the running, even though it is not the favorite team to win these competitions. In addition, teams such as Germany and Belgium have managed to prove that their renewal has paid off, and it is impossible to deny the impact that both could end up having in this edition of the Euro Cup. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the French team is the current world champion and, thus, many fans cannot understand why England are placed as the main contenders for the title. It should be noted that the French team came close to winning the 2016 Euro Cup, having been runner-up. At the 2018 World Cup, which was held in Russia, they managed to win the title with even relative ease, proving that they are the strongest team in the world. We certainly dont know. Another team that has been placed as a possible champion is Spain, and we can say that this would be a big surprise. Despite being a world champion, the current team in Spain does not have as many strong names as in other times. But of course we cant ignore that La Furia can surprise and who knows how to go further in the competition than many imagine. In addition, we also have Netherlands, which did very well in the last Nations League, losing the final to Portugal. The great highlight of the team goes to Memphis Depay, which has been improving its game more and more. Unfortunately we wont see great defender Virgil Van Djik in action as he is still recovering from a serious injury. Either way, the Netherlands may surprise and, who knows, reach the final. Which teams you should keep an eye on In addition to the big favorites for the title, there are also those national teams that will be looking to simply do their best in the competition. But many of them are worth following. Scotland, for example, played very well in the qualifiers for the Euro and will certainly try to do their best. One of the highlights of this team is the left-back Andy Robertson, from Liverpool, who has shown great football not only in the Reds but also for his country. Wales could also surprise just as they did at Euro 2016 with their star Gareth Bale finally looking to get back to his best form since returning to Totten ham. And then theres Poland, with incredible striker Robert Lewandowski. Although they dont fight for titles, these are some countries you should keep an eye on. Conclusion Although it is not yet possible to define who will actually be the winner of the competition, one thing we can say: Euro 2020 will provide many amazing games. The excitement is guaranteed, with many teams wanting to improve their performance or maintain the good performance of recent competitions. And there are still those who want to try to surprise the greats and make history. In a few days, all this emotion will begin and we will be able to follow who will become the new European Champion. | https://wheon.com/which-is-the-favorite-nt-for-uefa-euro-2020-2021/ |
What has changed in the year since Waterloo Region's Black Lives Matter march? | The death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, sparked global outrage, reigniting the Black Civil Rights movement and calls for systemic change. The calls echoed around the world, and in the Waterloo Region, thousands of people marched in solidarity in a peaceful protest through downtown Kitchener. We've seen a lot of people get hired, there were a lot of positions created. In terms of actual change I don't think we've seen much of anything, said Teneile Warren with ReAllocate Waterloo. According to Selam Debs, a local anti-racism educator and activist said it is encouraging to see how grassroots organizations have mobilized and created a shift in the community. What I would say has not changed that institutions have in many ways doubled down," Debs said. Since the Black Lives Matter march last June, two additional anti-racism rallies have taken place in Waterloo Region in recent months. Warren said this speaks to the fact that working to end systemic racism is an ongoing process. Its not stagnant and it won't be addressed by committees, and taskforces and anti-racism town halls," Warren said. Municipal governments and Waterloo regional police told CTV News that they are working with local community groups. Both Warren and Debs say their calls for institutional change have not been answered. Kerann Hutchinson was among the thousands of people who marched through the streets of Kitchener on June 3rd, 2020. One year later, Hutchinson notes we are at a critical point. We need to understand that we're at a critical stage right now. We all have to have our boots on the ground and get this done; it's for the good of all of us," Hutchison said. According to Debs, moving forward, progress comes down to a shift in thinking for allies and non-racialized community members. Where you begin to become curious, ask questions, examine yourself. Integrate an anti-racism and anti-oppression lens into everything that you are doing. The thinking needs to be these systems are oppressive and it's unethical for us not to act," Debs said. Although there is a long road ahead, Hutchinson, Warren and Debs are hopeful that meaningful steps towards actionable change can happen. COMMUNITY LEADERS REFLECT One year has passed since thousands of people rallied in Waterloo Region to support the Black Lives Matter movement. CTV Kitchener asked leaders in the Waterloo Region community to reflect on the year since the historic march. Here's what they had to say: Bryan Larkin, Chief of Waterloo Regional Police Service "It's a pivotal moment in the history of our region," Larkin said of the march one year ago. He said it sent a strong message to leaders of public institutions in Waterloo Region. "For me, it was a point of having, internally, a larger discussion saying the work we're doing has to progress and it has to be expedited and our community is looking and demanding opportunities for change," Larkin said. He said it's important to recognize that systemic racism exists in the institution of police and other community institutions. "In many ways, it solidified the need to continue to do the work," he said. "The tragic murder of Mr. Floyd created the opportunity for larger systemic and system change." One of the continued calls from a year ago including defunding the police and reallocating funding for police budgets. Larkin said they've heard the message from community members, but said it's a complex issue and discussion. "I don't think that simply removing money from the food service budget and reallocating it somewhere else will solve and address some of the challenges we're facing, I do believe in a united discussion," he said. He added the force is working to better address mental health and use of force, and they have a group working on an equity team looking at race-based data. Dave Jaworsky, Mayor of Waterloo "The Black Lives Matter in Waterloo Region will go down as a very big turning point in our entire community," Jaworsky said. "As far as I'm concerned, the rally was simply a starting point. That was a starting line and the finish line is so far ahead of us that we don't know where it is yet." Jaworsky added the city has formed a team focused on diversity at the municipal level and staff are receiving training to address racism. He said it's important for everyone to feel a sense of belonging in their community. "We have a long journey to go, so we'll just keep on marching forward." Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Kitchener "As we reflect on the past year, it's certainly been a transformative year for communities like Kitchener and around the world," Vrbanovic said. He said the community needs to work to make things more equitable in the future. Vrbanovic added Kitchener has also assembled a task force to work on equity and anti-racism initiatives, including training for city staff and volunteers. "This is work that the City of Kitchener, both from a staff and a council perspective, is incredibly committed to," he said. "This is work that we prioritized throughout the pandemic and will continue to be a priority for us in the months ahead." "It's very much an active commitment from the city to build a community that is aware of these issues, that talks about these issues, that tackles them head-on and really moves the community forward in terms of equity and diversity." Laura Mae Lindo, NDP, MPP Kitchener Centre "It's interesting that despite over 20,000 people marching in Downtown Kitchener a year ago, and over 10,000 people participating online, I'm still having to justify the call for resources from the province dedicated to Black people in Waterloo Region," a statement from Lindo said in part. She said Waterloo Region wasn't included in the Black Youth Action Plan released by the Liberals in 2017 and expanded by the Conservatives in 2020, along with the Student and Family Advocates initiative aimed at helping Black families in the educational system. According to Lindo, the funding went to the GTA, Hamilton, Ottawa and Windsor. "That means that Black communities in Waterloo Region have no access to $60 million over three years simply because the government has decided there are not enough of us in Waterloo Region to warrant these investments," the statement said. "Real system change for Black communities across Waterloo Region requires real investment not only municipally but provincially and federally as well." | https://www.iheartradio.ca/ctv-news-content/what-has-changed-in-the-year-since-waterloo-region-s-black-lives-matter-march-1.15346273 |
How Much Will the Meme Stock Surge Help AMC Theatres in the Long Run? | The Apes of Twitter and Reddit have helped save the theater chain from bankruptcy, but long-term challenges remain Buoyed by millions of meme traders, AMC has transformed from a company on the brink of pandemic-induced bankruptcy to amassing the highest cash flow in its history amidst a meteoric stock surge. While analysts who spoke to TheWrap commended AMCs CEO Adam Aron for navigating through the pandemic and using an unexpected internet craze to his companys advantage, they note that challenges lie ahead, some that are tied to AMCs still substantial debt load and others facing the movie theater industry as a whole. They have over $1 billion of cash and still have quite a bit of debt, but they are doing the right thing, selling equity at elevated levels and using the proceeds either to grow or to pay down debt, said Wedbush financial analyst Michael Pachter. I think the CEO deserves congratulations for being willing to sell stock up here, since he is charged with keeping the company in good shape. He has navigated the COVID seas and avoided the icebergs, and deserves accolades for doing so. Just a day after AMC announced a new equity deal in late January that would provide enough liquidity to get through 2021, the Reddit page r/wallstreetbets phenomenon kicked off, sending the company along with others like GameStop on a wild stock ride. The efforts of the meme traders, or Apes as they call themselves, combined with strong Memorial Day box office numbers, sent AMCs stock soaring as high as $67.29/share. Thats nearly double the previous 5-year high for the stock of $35.80 back in 2016; and while financial analysts have warned that such a high price cannot be sustained for long, AMC closed Thursday at $51.31. Meanwhile, Aron announced on Tuesday that his company had made a stock sale for $230.5 million and would use the new cash flow to acquire new theaters, particularly shuttered locations once owned by Pacific Theaters and ArcLight Cinemas. While it is a risk for a company with nearly $5 billion in debt to use its new windfall on more acquisitions, very little of AMCs debt is immediate. According to the companys financial reports, only about 10% of its debt $418 million is due within the next three years. Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock says that the acquisition plans send a sign to studios that there is renewed confidence in the strength of the box office. This is the sort of sign you want to see from the biggest cinema chain in the world, Bock said. While we dont know whether AMC will customize offerings to provide the sort of experience ArcLight customers were accustomed to, the investments they put into recliners, premium food and bars and other luxury offerings would make them a natural fit to acquire some of those closed theaters. | https://www.thewrap.com/how-much-will-the-meme-stock-surge-help-amc-in-the-long-run/ |
How Did Justin Timberlake Get So Rich? | Look, we all know Trolls star and self-described "man of the woods" Justin Timberlake is rich. Like, you don't give it your all on Mickey Mouse Club, join a boy band, spend most of your life selling out stadium tours, star in a gazillion movies, and write a McDonald's theme song to not be rich. But Justin, man who is constantly pissing off the internet, isn't just regular rich. He's mind-blowingly wealthy, with even more money in the bank than the likes of Kris Jenner. Time to break down exactly how much money Justin Timberlake has made from his lifetime in the spotlight. NSYNC's Finances Were...Complicated You might think that Justin would have earned a ton from his boy band days, but it was a whole THING due to NSYNC being managed by the notorious Lou Pearlman (who ended up going to jail for a Ponzi scheme, fyi). Because of Lou's antics, the members of NSYNC only saw $10,000 each after an entire album's worth of touring. As Lance Bass said in the full-blown documentary he made about this ordeal, I open up the envelope, I see the check, and oh, my gosh, my heart sunk. I couldnt believe the number I was looking at. The check was $10,000. And not to sound ungratefulbut when you compare it to how many hours we had put into this group for years, it didnt even touch minimum wage. At all. This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. This inevitably lead to a lawsuit and NSYNC eventually signed a $12 million deal with Jive Records, which is when they started making BIG money. Example: their PopOdyssey Tour earned over $90 million in 2001. Which is, um, yeah, a lot! Justin Timberlake's Solo Career Is Wildly Successful Some of us (me) still aren't over NYSYNC breaking up and Justin going out on his own, but one can't deny it was the right business move for our guy. The success of Justin's solo albums and tours made him one of the wealthiest celebrities of the early aughts, and he consistently appeared on ~celeb rich lists~ thanks to record sales, touring, and generally just being super savvy with his finances. Per Forbes, JT earned a cool $44 million in 2008. He was the third highest-paid musician in 2013, with earnings of $31 million according to Billboard. Justin made $57 million in 2014 and $63.5 million in 2015. More recently, his 2019 Man of the Woods tour (shudder, not my fave era) earned a whopping $226.3 million at the box office. Impressive. Now excuse me for a moment whilst I make us listen to this: This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Justin has partnered with a gazillion brands over the years, but most significantly he got a rumored $6 million for McDonalds' "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. Though, to be fair, he did record a whole freakin' song for them. Sony, Givenchy, Sauza Liquors, and Levi'sto name a few. He's been busy!!!! Levi's x Justin Timberlake Varsity Trucker Jacket Levi levi.com $380.00 SHOP NOW He Made That Sweet, Sweet Trolls Money Justin has been in a lot of (actually good) movies, including The Social Network. But nothing pays bigger than the monster franchise that is Trolls (shudder again). While we don't know his exact paycheck/residual situation, it's likely in the seven figures based on a deep-dive into Trolls World Tour from The Hollywood Reporter. I regret to inform you that we'll now be watching this: This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. :( Justin Timberlake's Net Worth Is Bonkers Please prepare to scream into the gaping void that is your bank account, because our dude has $250 million to his name, per Celebrity Net Worth, thanks to a combo of music sales, tours, endorsements, savvy business moves, andof coursesome fancy real estate. Yeah. Life lesson: make your future children audition for the Mickey Mouse Club at a young age. You love all the deets on celeb $$ So do we! Lets overanalyze them together. Mehera Bonner Mehera Bonner is a news writer who focuses on celebrities and royals. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io | https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a36620166/justin-timberlake-net-worth/ |
Did a new poster for Season 2 of The Witcher just drop? | Season 1 poster for The Witcher Pic credit: Netflix News is starting to circulate that a new Season 2 poster for Netflixs epic fantasy series, The Witcher, just dropped. As of yet, there has been no official word regarding when Season 2 of The Witcher will premiere on the streaming service outside of the fourth quarter of 2021. But, if the poster is legit, it appears that the new season could drop a little earlier than that. The new poster was shared on Twitter and shows Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) and Ciri (Freya Allan). Ciri is the child that he acquired through the Law of Surprise in Season 1 of The Witcher. Sign up for our TV newsletter! The pair are standing back-to-back as they appear to be scoping the surrounding terrain and each giving off their own version of a steely gaze. Around them, snow is falling and it appears there is some sort of forest behind them. While it is some cool new imagery of the duo, it is the very bottom of the poster that has gotten fans so excited. The words coming soon are written in white text next to the red lettering of the network. With these two words, speculation is now rife regarding an earlier arrival of Season 2 of The Witcher. However, before fans really start to narrow down the premiere date, a closer look needs to be taken at the account that is sharing this image. Bearing an official-looking logo for The Witcher as a profile picture, it looks like a genuine account for the Netflix series. The account also has a pretty stellar following as well. Unfortunately, it is missing Twitters verified blue tick, meaning that this is not an official account. Plus, the admission that it is a fan account in the accounts bio is another dead giveaway. A check on Netflixs official Twitter account for The Witcher doesnt reveal this new poster either, indicating that this might not be the official poster for Season 2 either. Because of this, fans need to curb that enthusiasm and wait it out just a little bit longer because the good news is that the official news might drop as early as next week. Geeked Week is likely when new official details will drop Geeked Week is a virtual event hosted by Netflix that runs from June 7-11. Already, the network has revealed that new content will drop during this event regarding The Witcher. A wide array of exclusive news, new trailers, live art, drop-ins from your favorite stars, and much more about all your favorite Netflix series and films, Netflix revealed in a statement. While the expectation is that a new trailer will drop for Season 2 of The Witcher, it is also possible that a premiere date could be revealed as well. The first season of The Witcher is currently streaming on Netflix. Geeked Weekend will run June 7-11. | https://www.monstersandcritics.com/tv/did-a-new-poster-for-season-2-of-the-witcher-just-drop/ |
Which Kalashnikov pistol did the Rosguard forces just adopt? | Its the first modern Russian pistol that has surpassed the legendary Makarov in combat. In May 2021, the Federal Service of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation for the first time in several years adopted a new pistol - the so-called Lebedev Modular Pistol (or simply MPL), as well as its special version - the MPL1 - developed by the Kalashnikov Group. The new models will increase the existing arsenal of pistols, as well as replace outdated weapons, such as the iconic Makarov and Yarigin pistols. The development of the MPL and MPL1 clearly shows that the Russian defense industry has significantly strengthened its competence in the development and production of modern pistols, as well as was able to establish their mass production, says Dmitry Litovkin, editor-in-chief of Independent Military Review magazine. New gun for law enforcements The development of the MPL began in 2017. It involved the creation of a promising pistol with a 9x19 mm chamber and advanced tactical capabilities. A few years later, in February 2021, the MPL successfully completed testing, which opened the way for the new pistol to be adopted by military forces. Its main advantages are improved ergonomics, a large modernization potential, as well as the ability to install various accessories (including red dots, high-capacity magazines, a trigger mechanism with automatic firing mode, etc. ), thus allowing soldiers to modify the new gun to perform almost any tactical task. It is worth noting that the family of Lebedev pistols also includes a compact model, which received the PLK (Lebedev compact pistol) designation (which you can read about here). The state tests of the PLK were successfully completed in August 2020 and the pistol was recommended for adoption by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of the Russian Federation. Ergonomics and powerful ammo Dmitry Tarasov, General Director of Kalashnikov, told Russian media that Rosguard forces have adopted both basic and special modifications of the pistol (MPL and MPL1, respectively). Among the main differences of the new model is the low-placed barrel, which makes the gun have a more stable recoil while firing. According to Tarasov, the shape of the handle of the MPL and MPL1 pistols provides a comfortable position of the hand. It also reduces the aiming time and provides a smaller recoil, as well as allows a user to fire faster. It is worth noting that both pistols are equipped with replaceable pads on the handle, while the shape of the control mechanisms of both pistols allows you to use them with equal convenience, both with the right and left handed users. According to Kalashnikovs general director, one of the distinctive features of the MPL is the possibility of using high-power ammunition, including 9-mm 7N21 type cartridges, which, according to the international classification, belong to the +P+ category. Shooting with other 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridges is also possible. The MPL and MPL1 pistols have advanced tactical capabilities, thanks to the universal Picatinny rail mounted in the lower part of the frame. The pistol can be equipped with under-barrel devices, including tactical flashlights and laser designators. Another distinctive feature of the new pistols is a 16-charge magazine. The length of the MPL is 205 mm, which provides high speed and ease of use, including in a confined space. The MPL1 pistol, equipped with a barrel with a thread for attaching a device for reducing the sound of firing (PSZS), is slightly longer-220 mm (400 mm with PSZS). The height of the base MPL is 140 mm; in the MPL1, this figure is increased to 145 mm, due to higher sighting devices necessary for conducting accurate fire with the PSZS. The mass of the MPL and MPL1 with an unloaded magazine is 0.8 kg and 0.815 kg, respectively; when the PSZS is attached, the mass index of the MPL1 increases to 1.15 kg. The pistols are equipped with barrels with a length of 112 and 127 mm, respectively. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. | https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/333857-kalashnikov-pistol-for-rosguard |
What Is The Queens Gambit Star Anya Taylor-Joys Ethnicity? | Finding the right hair color is a transformative undertaking. After years of trial and error and wearing shades that wash your face out or dont fit your coloring, discovering your exact hue is like winning a long battle. And such victorious moments can be credited to the talent and expertise of the right colorist. For the past decade, Tracey Cunningham has been just that: the go-to color guru for stars like Jennifer Lopez and Anya Taylor-Joyand for women who wont be walking red carpets, too. No matter who they are, Cunninghams clients will travel across the globe for her talents. The leading coloristwho also happens to be an advisor at Olaplex released a book this week titled True Color, which reflects on her decades-long career working at the top of the beauty industry. True Color not only gives key hair advice based on the knowledge Cunningham has amassed over the years, but also provides a detailed look at some of her most unforgettable hair looks. Below, the Los Angeles-based colorist shared some insight on a number of the topics explored in her new bookfrom avoiding dry locks to the effects of mineral buildup on the hair. | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2262982695169/what-is-the-queen-s-gambit-star-anya-taylor-joy-s-ethnicity |
What's the Point of Standup Meetings? | Its no secret around the office that Im a bit of a process wonk. In the past, Ive been certified as a scrum master, and I have opinions about agile workflows. So it may surprise you to learn that when a former coworker explained how the daily standup meetings at her company were a waste of time, I agreed with her! Then I explained the trick to fix them. If youre in a hurry, heres the primary takeaway: The point of a daily standup meeting is so the team can check their progress towards a shared goal. If its turned into justify your salary time, somethings gone wrong. For the rest of this post, Im going to be referring to Scrum things like story points and sprints. But standup meetings have become a standard part of our industry, even for teams that dont use Scrum. Regardless of what process your team uses, the purpose of the standup meeting should apply, as long as the team has a shared goal theyre working towards. For Scrum, that will be the sprint backlog. Elsewhere, it might be a feature release or a client milestone. Either way, what Im about to say should be applicable. In Scrum, there are a small set of prescribed rituals that help the team increase transparency, inspect progress, and adapt their approach. The most important of these is the daily scrum, or standup, a short daily meeting where the project team plans their work for the next day and checks their progress towards a sprint goal. The standup meeting is not for the engineering manager to make sure people are doing their work. It is not for team members to tally the hours theyve spent, or give status updates to clients. It is a meeting by and for the project team to plan their work for the day and check progress toward their goal. By answering the three questions and reviewing metrics. You may have noticed Ive highlighted meet the sprint goal in all three. This is the key point that I think a lot of teams lose track of. If you did something yesterday that wasnt related to the sprint goal, then it doesnt affect our confidence that we can meet our sprint goal. Everything you say in the standup meeting should help answer the question: is our team going to be able to deliver on the commitment weve made? A problem Ive often seen with standup is it becomes justify your salary time. Some team members may feel paranoid they will be judged by an apparent lack of progress, so they give lengthy updates to ensure they sound busy. Well, I wrote an email, and I was in three meetings, and I reviewed several PRs from another team, and I wrote a bunch of tickets All of those are fine, but none of them are relevant to the sprint goal. It should be safe for a team member to not have an update at standup. If they dont feel they can be honest about why theyre unable to contribute toward the sprint goal, then the team may not discover the issue until its too late to course-correct. How your team addresses blockers depends on your process. In traditional Scrum, addressing blockers is the responsibility of the scrum master, so the team can stay focused. In other workflows, this may fall to an engineering manager, project manager, or even the team itself. The point is not how they get addressed, but that issues are raised as early as possible. Anything that jeopardizes the teams ability to meet their goal. These might be individual or team level: If you need to update a database, but dont have access. If the team is working on a feature that will impact another team. If the changes youre making may lead to collisions with another developer. If you opened a PR two days ago and it hasnt been reviewed yet. If a story turned out to be more complex than originally estimated. Any of these might put the team in danger of failing to deliver the work they committed to. As a result, theyre all legitimate blockers and should be raised in standup. The earlier potential issues are raised, the better the chance they can be addressed, and the team can accomplish their goal. So, now we know standup is a meeting where the team plans their work for the next day and checks their progress towards a sprint goal. When everyone is done answering the three questions, they should have a clear understanding of what tasks to focus on today. Thats where metrics come in. There are a lot of options when it comes to seeing if the team is making progress at the expected rate. I wont go into too much detail here, but in a nutshell, you want something that will let you easily tell if the team is where they expect to be. Two of the most common metrics are velocity and a burndown chart: Burndown Chart: A burndown chart shows the work completed over time compared to an ideal trend line. Im a big fan of this because it is clear at a glance if the team is on target (their work tracks the trend line), ahead of schedule (their work drops below the trend line), or falling behind (their work extends beyond the trend line). Most project management tools can generate a burndown chart, including Jira and Trello. Velocity: In Scrum, velocity is a rolling average of how many story points the team completes in a sprint. Its useful as a planning tool to determine how much work to accept in a sprint, but also for checking progress during the sprint. If your teams velocity is 30 points, then you know by the midpoint of the sprint they should have completed roughly 15 points of work. Keeping an eye on that can help surface problems earlier in the sprint. What metrics will be most valuable for your team will vary depending on what process you use. Look for something easy to understand and quick to review. The goal is that your team should be able to check this metric at the end of standup, and it should increase their confidence in whether theyre on track to meet their goal. If you feel your standup meetings are not valuable, consider the following: Standup is a meeting by and for the project team to plan their work for the day and check progress toward their goal. Ask the three questions, and make sure the answers are relevant to the teams goal. Review your metrics to confirm the team is making progress as expected. At the end of standup, the project team should be able to confidently answer Are we on course to deliver the work weve committed to? References | https://spaceninja.com/2021/06/02/whats-the-point-of-standup-meetings/ |
How Does A Decline In Churchgoing Affect American Politics? | Gallup recently found U.S. church membership at a record low. The decline may be a long-term threat to the GOP, and why culture war issues often supplant more overtly Christian messages in the party. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: For the first time on record, a majority of Americans are not members of a church. That's according to a Gallup survey from this spring. The numbers of American churchgoers have been declining for decades. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports. DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: When Ronald Reagan accepted the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, he ended the speech with a request. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) RONALD REAGAN: I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest. I'm more afraid not to. KURTZLEBEN: It was the preface to a presidency that would help make white evangelicals the staunchly Republican voting bloc they are today. Fast-forward to a 2016 campaign event when soon-to-be-president Donald Trump dismissed a key tenet of the Christian faith. (LAUGHTER) DONALD TRUMP: I'm not sure I have. I just go and try and do a better job from there. I don't think so. KURTZLEBEN: Over the last decade, the share of Republicans who are church members fell from 75% to 65%, according to Gallup. That's a rapid fall, though it's still a solid majority. The key bloc of white evangelicals is also shrinking as a share of the population, while the share of religiously unaffiliated Americans grows. This makes religion one key part of a looming demographic challenge for Republicans. Whit Ayres is a Republican pollster. WHIT AYRES: Republicans clearly have a stronger hold among the religiously affiliated, especially evangelical Protestants. And consequently, any decline in evangelical Protestant affiliation is not good news for the GOP. KURTZLEBEN: To Ayres, the upshot is that in the long term, Republicans will have to expand their reach by winning over younger voters and more of the growing Hispanic electorate. For now, though, the GOP has intensified its support among parts of its base. To Ayres, it's fair to say that religious rhetoric is being replaced by broader culture war issues. AYRES: While religiosity may be declining, people attracted to culturally conservative causes may not be - cancel culture, TV shows and movies that exalt more left-wing values that cast aspersions on right-wing values. KURTZLEBEN: Christian Gaffney, pastor at Expectation Church in Fairfax, Va., feels the pull of those cultural causes. Congregation members have pushed back when he has preached about things like masks as well as race. Conflict arises for him when congregants see their identities as partisan rather than as Christian. CHRISTIAN GAFFNEY: I think it goes back to the idea of culture wars, the idea that everything is so polarized. And because there's this trajectory of polarization, Trump kind of gives a lightning rod for one of those polls, one of those sides to really rally around and adhere to. My job as a pastor is to show people it's not about rallying around either side. It's about rallying around the person Jesus Christ. KURTZLEBEN: Gaffney's church has been growing. But on the whole, the shrinking church may counterintuitively tighten the bond between the Republican Party and conservative Christianity. Sarah Posner is author of two books critical of the politics of white evangelicals. SARAH POSNER: These kinds of data about the shrinking share of the population of white evangelicals or declines in church membership actually intensify the relationship. As those numbers shrink, the demography is not in their favor, and so intensifying their relationship becomes ever more important in terms of winning elections and so forth. KURTZLEBEN: Which brings us back to Trump, who initially appealed more to Republicans who weren't regular churchgoers. Later, he won over more staunch Christian conservatives. In the process, he wrapped together more traditionally conservative Christian issues like abortion in with other cultural fixations like race and grievance politics. I reached out to a young Republican to see what he thinks about the religious future of the Republican Party. Jackson Avery is president of the College Republicans at George Mason University and a Christian himself. He doesn't hear his fellow young Republicans talking a lot about their faith, but he nevertheless thinks maintaining a Christian identity is good for the party. JACKSON AVERY: I don't think, like, the Republican Party saying, we are not the party of not only the Christians but atheists, I think that drives away more people. You know, you only need enough percentage to win. Like, there is this idea where they go back to Ronald Reagan, where he gets like 60% of the popular vote. Republicans will never get that, at least in, you know, our lifetimes. I don't think so. KURTZLEBEN: In other words, holding tightly to a shrinking group may still be the smart move, at least for now. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. (SOUNDBITE OF FLORIAN HOEFNER GROUP'S "THE LONG RUN") Copyright 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. | https://www.npr.org/2021/06/03/1002772775/how-does-a-decline-in-churchgoing-affect-american-politics |
What is Synthetic Graphite? | Synthetic graphite plays a significant role in a few highly specialized industries. Heres a look at what it is and why investors should know about it. Synthetic graphite is a unique material that is often used in metal manufacturing and in energy devices such as batteries and solar panels. Synthetic graphite is comprised of high-purity carbon and is known for its ability to withstand high temperatures and corrosion. Those characteristics make it a great option for highly specialized industries that need predictable results from their carbon materials. Understanding the difference between synthetic and natural graphite is important for investors, as industries typically need a specific type of graphite for their applications. Heres a look at the synthetic graphite market and what it has to offer. The EV Revolution Has Begun. The Battery Metals Market Will Change Everything. Our FREE Outlook Report Will Provide You With EXCLUSIVE Content Such As Expert Advice, Trends, Forecasts and More! Don't Miss Out On This Lucrative Market! Grab Your Report Synthetic vs. natural graphite Synthetic graphite is intriguing for investors because of its presence in lucrative industries with rising demand. However, before diving into the space its important to understand the nuances of synthetic graphite and some of the misconceptions surrounding it. Firstly, the graphite market covers a range of different types of graphite, both synthetic and natural, that are used in their own applications and do not compete. Synthetic and natural graphite have no relationship except theyre both called graphite in the more broader marketplace. Synthetic graphite is purer in terms of carbon content and tends to behave more predictably, which is why it has found a niche in solar energy storage and arc furnaces. Synthetic graphite can be significantly more expensive to produce than natural graphite, as the process is fairly energy intensive. In fact, the cost can be double or triple the standard price for natural graphite. Restrictively high prices and specific use cases for synthetic graphite mean that in most markets it doesnt often compete with natural graphite. Types and uses of synthetic graphite Synthetic graphite typically comes in two forms: electrodes and graphite blocks. The form of graphite directly determines which industries it will be used in. Electrodes Electrodes are primarily created using petroleum coke as a precursor and are almost exclusively used in electric-arc furnaces these furnaces are used for melting steel and iron, and producing ferroalloys. Graphite blocks Graphite blocks or isotropic graphite are primarily used for energy storage in the solar industry. These blocks are made using the same petroleum coke process as electrodes, but differ slightly in the structure of the coke used. Secondary synthetic graphite Producing synthetic graphite also creates a by-product known as secondary synthetic graphite typically yielded as a powder. Its considered a low-cost graphite material and some forms of it can compete with natural graphite in applications like brake linings and lubricants. Primary synthetic graphite Primary synthetic graphite is not a by-product like its secondary counterpart. It is typically manufactured in powder form and used for high-end lithium-ion batteries. However, it is more expensive to produce and can cost the same amount as manufacturing an electrode. Graphite market information The outlook for the overall graphite market is positive, and is tied to the battery industry and energy storage applications. In terms of graphite demand, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence expects to see double-digit growth from the battery sector from 2022 onwards. Andrew Miller, product director at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, has said the firm attributes the growth to stimulus packages boosting the long-term battery market trajectory, and ongoing commitments from original equipment manufacturers. Graphite demand from the lithium-ion battery sector is expected to rise substantially from the current level of nearly 200,000 tonnes per year in a 700,000 to 800,000 tonne market to nearly 3 million tonnes a year in a 4 million tonne market by 2030. Roskill sees growth opportunities for both synthetic and natural graphite in the lithium-ion battery market. It expects total graphite demand to rise by about 5 to 6 percent per year over the next decade. As a whole, it appears that the future is bright for graphite. However, synthetic graphite will still face somewhat of an uphill battle. Natural graphite is set to be the fastest-growing subset of graphite through 2030 and improvements in purity are helping natural graphite enter the nuclear technology and high-end battery markets, which have typically been owned by synthetics. Price will certainly continue to be a determining factor in the competition between natural and synthetic graphite. Tell us below. This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2017. Dont forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates! Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. | https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/battery-metals-investing/graphite-investing/synthetic-graphite/ |
What is Bexhills giant worm and where did it come from? | Sculpture by Holly Hendry outside the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. SUS-210106-131235001 This giant, pink, twisting tube, which has popped up by the De La Warr Pavilion, is in fact part of a landmark arts project stretching across East Sussex, Kent and Essex. Called Invertebrate, the piece is an Englands Creative Coast Waterfronts commission: a landmark project between seven outstanding arts organisations to create new, outdoor cultural experiences with the aim of connecting art with landscape and local stories with global perspectives. It brings together the seven Waterfronts commissions and the worlds first art GeoTour, with each partner presenting their own section of the project and a local engagement programme at its heart. Holly Hendrys Invertebrate is a giant composite form, worming its way around the outside of De La Warr Pavilion, stretching from the seafront lawn to the first floor balcony and the roof. Inside, an accompanying exhibition by Hendry titled Indifferent Deep will show the after-effects of the invertebrates actions. SUS-210206-103940001 The artwork is not to everyones taste, with one resident likening Invertebrate to a ventilation system and a childrens play area. But the giant sculpture has proved popular with visitors to the town who have followed the Creative Coast arts trail through Eastbourne, Bexhill, Hastings, Folkestone, Margate, Gravesend and Southend-on-Sea. Invertebrates anatomy joins together different materials that resonate with the seaside location. Sandbags made from boating canvas, wrinkly and filled with pale local sand, connect with segments made using the same casting techniques used to create tetrapod sea defences. These join onto wobbly metal ducting and sections in brick, with the artist saying the contrast conveys corporality and vulnerability to the elements. | https://www.bexhillobserver.net/news/offbeat/what-is-bexhills-giant-worm-and-where-did-it-come-from-3258213 |
Will either Downtown Jacksonville development plan become reality? | On left: Photo courtesy of SouthEast Development Group. On right: Photo courtesy of HKS and Iguana Investments. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Two massive development proposals for Downtown Jacksonville have been in the spotlight this week. On Tuesday, a developer laid out a plan to redevelop a large swath of the Northbank. And on Thursday, the Jaguars unveiled updated plans to redevelop The Shipyards and bring a Four Seasons Hotel to the downtown banks of the St. Johns River. Any plan to build downtown first goes through the citys Downtown Investment Authority. Lori Boyer is the CEO. Jaguars owner Shad Khan has expressed an interest in developing areas near the stadium downtown for years. The comprehensive proposal he and the Jaguars unveiled Thursday, Boyer said, is something that has a better chance to succeed than the Lot J proposal from several months ago. Ad RELATED: Controversial Lot J deal defeated in City Council vote Its not an entertainment venue this time. And it is different in the way theyre processing it, because The Shipyards property is being submitted as a regular private development through the Downtown Investment Authority, Boyer said. Boyer, former president of the Jacksonville City Council, explained that the Jaguars proposal is really two projects. You saw a performance facility that is really a training facility for the team and facilitates the future renovation of the stadium. And then you saw the presentation on The Shipyards property, which is a private development of hotel, office building, medical facility, et cetera. So, very different, she said. The news Shipyards development plan includes a Four Seasons Hotel that would open in 2025 if all went according to plan. Boyer said thats not far-fetched. Ad I think theres a real chance of that. Weve been spending a lot of time working together on all the development issues on the site right now. A lot of work has already been done in that regard, and I think that they are moving forward with their architectural design and construction costs. So I think its realistic, Boyer said. The Jaguars project is expected to cost cost about $440 million. Apart from that, the other project -- announced by the Southeast Development Group and dubbed Riverfront Jacksonville -- is expected to cost at least $1.1 billion. It would include the former home of The Jacksonville Landing. At this point, Boyer said that project is not as likely to come to fruition and that the proposals are in very different stages. The one that the Jaguars presented today is going through an official city process for actual disposition of the property. The other one is simply a private developers vision for what downtown might be, Boyer said. Ad Boyer said the DIA will take the month of June to complete its review and analysis. The group hopes to take up the Jaguars proposal in July. The earliest legislation would make it to City Council would be August. | https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/06/04/will-either-downtown-jacksonville-development-plan-become-reality/ |
How long will my COVID vaccine last? | SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Governments and businesses across the country are creating incentives to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19. Its been about six months since the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out began. Theres still differing views throughout the United States about the vaccine, which extend into discussions surrounding the possibility of booster shots as well. Dr. Mike Wilde with Sanford Health says we might not need to worry about booster shots or at least not anytime soon. Studies looking at our immune system, looking at our immune system and the response to the vaccine, or natural infection, are showing prolonged, the theory of prolonged immunity, Wilde, Vice-president medical officer for Sanford Health, said. So, were optimistic that, for the foreseeable future, we will not need a re-vaccine or a booster, but of course, thats always subject to change as well. That includes protection against the different variations of the virus as well. The more we get vaccinated up front, evidence again, in the last couple weeks, has shown that, regardless of the three vaccines available in the United States, regardless of which one you get, they do a really nice job of preventing infection from any of the COVID variants out there, or SARS-CoV-2 variants out there, Wilde said. Wilde encourages everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine so we can reach herd immunity. As people maybe have conversations with their primary care clinicians around should I take the vaccine or shouldnt I, Wilde said. And as they have those conversations, were able to get those vaccines in the primary care offices. And theyre in our neighborhood so you dont have to travel across the city or travel to a town to get it. | https://www.kxnet.com/covid-19/how-long-will-my-covid-vaccine-last/ |
How Effective Are The Vaccines? | Image by Jeyaratnam Caniceus from Pixabay The "boots on the ground" when it comes to surveillance are the state health departments that, in turn, rely on the reporting of local health departments. The CDC aggregates the information and investigates the cases. Lets start with a definition. A breakthrough infection occurs when COVID-19 is detected based upon RNA or antigens in the respiratory specimen (a more polite way to describe phlegm) in a person who has completed their immunization at least 14 days previously. What they found As of April 30th, As evidenced by the CDC graphic, case volume and deaths are dramatically dropping in the general population. For example, during the last week of the reporting period, there were 355,000 new cases of COVID-19; this week there were roughly half, 166,000. There have been 10,262 breakthrough cases reported. That is 0.01% of the vaccinated. These vaccines, and this includes J&J, work exceedingly well. The Demographics of those "breaking through" 6,446 (63%) in women, consistent with the demographics of the vaccinated. Median age 58 27% were asymptomatic 10% were known to be hospitalized. Within that group, another 29% were asymptomatic or hospitalized for a reason unrelated to COVID-19. That would bring the asymptomatic percentage up to almost 47% 160 of these individuals died. For the breakthrough cohort, this was a case-fatality rate of 2%. It is difficult to determine the current case-fatality rate for our general population, but, I believe, an estimate of 1.78% is not far off. That, of course, suggests that breakthrough cases fare no worse than the unvaccinated. But when talking about the vaccines protection against death, the case fatality rate would be roughly 0.00015% - 4 fold less. current case-fatality rate for our general population, but, I believe, an estimate of 1.78% is not far off. That, of course, suggests that breakthrough cases fare no worse than the unvaccinated. But when talking about the vaccines protection against death, the case fatality rate would be roughly 0.00015% - 4 fold less. The median age of those dying was 82, and nearly 20% of these individuals were asymptomatic or died from a cause unrelated to COVID-19. Only a tiny fraction, 5%, had specimens with sequencing data. Of those cases, two-thirds involved variants of concern predominantly the British B.1.1.7 variation. The proportion of cases attributed to these variants, and again the number is exceedingly small, reflects the ratio of the variants in circulation. Caveats The CDC believes they are reporting an undercount of breakthrough cases because reporting is voluntary and needs to be sent to the CDC; they are not actively requesting the information. More importantly, the asymptomatic may not be seeking medical attention and therefore not be identified. I will give the last word to the CDC. FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. CDC recommends that all persons aged 12 years be vaccinated with an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine. Source: COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections Reported to CDC United States, January 1April 30, 2021 MMWR | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2263005463613/breakthrough-covid-how-effective-are-the-vaccines |
Were criticisms of Israeli response fair? | Chennai : How should, in fact, Israel respond when Hamas launches thousands of rockets? Ryan asked. On my Facebook page, Joel put it this way: Mr. What would the American response be to repeated rocket attacks from Mexico or Canada on American cities? We probably would not turn the other cheek: When the Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa attacked a New Mexico town in 1916, the United States sent 6,000 troops into Mexico (albeit after getting Mexicos permission). And in response to the 9/11 attacks, America invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet its also fair to note that this impulse to lash out didnt work out any better for America than it has for Israel: Pancho Villa escaped, our ruinous Iraq war benefited Iran, and we are now retreating from Afghanistan with the Taliban resurgent. As well see, other countries have dealt with attacks far more judiciously. More to the point, though, the question of how the U.S. would respond reflects a myopia about the origins of Hamas shelling. Israeli officials did not wake up one bright morning to find thousands of rockets raining down, notes Sari Bashi, an Israeli human rights lawyer. Israeli security forces, led by a prime minister desperate to stay in power to avoid jail on corruption charges, created a provocation by using violence and the threat of violence against Palestinians in Jerusalem. They stormed a sensitive religious site, used excessive force against demonstrators and threatened to forcibly transfer Palestinian families from their homes as part of an official policy to Judaize occupied East Jerusalem, which is a war crime. So the question of how the United States would respond if Canada started shelling Seattle seems misplaced. After all, Israel deliberately nurtured Hamas in the first place (to create a rival to existing Palestinian groups), and the United Nations and most experts consider Israel to be occupying Gaza (because Israel controls it, even though it withdrew in 2005). As Bashi, who is now research director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, puts it: A better question would be: What would the U.S. do if it conquered and occupied British Columbia, and then Canadian armed groups, resisting the occupation, shelled Seattle? Hmm. A bit more complicated. Meanwhile, lets note that other countries have responded to attacks with more restraint and wisdom than either Israel or the United States. India and Afghanistan have repeatedly suffered terrorist attacks plotted in Pakistan; one such series of attacks in 2009 in Mumbai killed 164 people. India did not respond by shelling Lahore or Islamabad but with diplomacy. These analogies are inexact and imperfect, yet this lesson emerges: No peace deal between Israel and Palestinians is achievable today, but there are steps that make peace more possible 15 years from now and those that make it less likely. Every time Hamas shells Israel, it makes a solution less likely. And every time Israel grabs more land or kills more children, it likewise makes peace less achievable. Extremists on each side empower those on the other. There is no doubt that Hamas committed war crimes in shelling Israeli civilians. But most scholars believe (with not quite the same certainty) that Israel also committed war crimes with its attacks on Gaza that were far more lethal to civilians than attacks by Hamas. A basic principle of getting out of a hole is to stop digging. A basic principle of peace-building is to stop committing war crimes. Thats the only path to making insoluble problems solvable. Nicholas Kristof is an Opinion Columnist with NYT2021 The New York Times | https://www.dtnext.in/News/World/2021/06/04041133/1298605/Were-criticisms-of-Israeli-response-fair.vpf |
Which 49ers Rookie Will Have the Best Season? | Previously on the All49ers junior roundtable, my esteemed panel of 13- and 14-year-olds analyzed the biggest obstacles facing the 49ers in 2021. This time, check out which rookie NotYourAverageSportsKid, Benjamin Kamperman and Amin the Dream think will have the best season. NYASK: "I'm going to say Trey Sermon. I would say Ambry Thomas, but it's just a known fact that rookie corners in the NFL just don't do great. Let at Jeff Okudah last year. He did not play great at all. So I'm going to say Sermon because Jeff Wilson Jr. is out, he's going to learn from Raheem Mostert. So Sermon should get 10 carries per game. If Mostert gets injured, Sermon will get 15 carries per game." BK: "This is a sleeper. I like him a lot. He plays right tackle. He can give Mike McGlinchey some healthy competition. I think he could emerge. Daniel Brunskill was an undrafted free agent, and it doesn't take much to beat McGlinchey." ATD: "I'm going to go with Trey Lance. Jimmy Garoppolo is going to get injured again. He hurt his ankle Week 2 last season. He gets hurt so easily. So Lance is going to play. And Mike McDaniel is going to be the offensive coordinator. He can use Lance the way the Ravens use Lamar Jackson. He can hand off to Mostert or Sermon, or he can run the ball himself. No defense will have answers for that. And McDaniel can do that because he used to be the run game coordinator. Lance is going to play." | https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/which-49ers-rookie-will-have-the-best-season |
Can the Chanel Boy Bag Remain a Beloved Classic? | The 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You was a seminal movie for me, particularly for Julia Stiless wardrobe, which seemed the platonic ideal of fashion at the tender age of 14. Stiless costuming seemed ripped directly from a non-existent, slightly high-end Delias catalog, all clothes that I wanted very badly but never could afford. Her shoes spoke to me: platform, foam flip flops, with a bamboo sole. I bought the shoes because of Stiles and wore them until the bamboo wore out. And now, like everything else of the late 90s and early 2000s, they are back. Time has only strengthened my ardor. I love them now as I did then, and must have them for my own. So I bought a pair on a whim, wore them for a day, and feel mostly good about my choices. Though my feet are currently recovering from the first blister of the season, I have high hopes that the flip flops of my past will also be the flip flops of my present. | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2263061076278/can-the-chanel-boy-bag-remain-a-beloved-classic |
Can Hackers Access My Snapchat Account? | We all carry a mobile phone in our pockets and each one has a telephone number linked to it which, over the years, has ceased to be a simple form of communication to become an identification factor at the level of the DNI itself. And it is that thanks to him it is possible to verify our identity in practically any site, web page, online platform or whatever. So, as you can imagine, hackers are aware of the importance that telephone numbers have acquired in our day-to-day lives, so they are on the lookout for all those who stop being used and that, or we give them up because we change work, or because for personal reasons it is time to go to another operator without waiting to cancel the stay. We have to go and we do, even if we are forced to change our numbers. Those users who leave old phone numbers behind are often not aware of all that it entails and of the infinite number of places where it is known that it belongs to us. Hackers know that, who have tools to force attacks on websites and internet providers to identify those numbers that are recycled over the years, in order to get hold of them and gain access to email accounts, services online banking, etc. From the computer science department of the University of Princeton they have carried out an interesting study on 259 telephone numbers that have been recycled and discovered that in 171 cases, their former owners left them active when they were still the key to access (or recover passwords ) to services within popular websites. Which means that hackers could hijack those credentials very easily. In addition, of those 259 investigated numbers, 100 had appeared in online leaks linked to web startup credentials, which would allow hackers to override the authentications in two steps that require verifying a link that reaches us through an SMS to our phone number. According to the researchers, Our key finding is that attackers can take advantage of recycling numbers to target previous owners and their accounts. [] The moderate to high hit rates of our test methods indicate that most recycled numbers are vulnerable to these attacks. Additionally, by targeting likely recycled number blocks, an attacker can easily discover available recycled numbers, each of which becomes a potential target. | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2263070532182/can-hackers-access-my-snapchat-account |
Is WWDC a hardware event? | If you ask a bunch of people in Apple community if WWDC is a hardware event or not, youll get a bunch of different answers, but I think most people consider WWDC to be a software event mostly aimed at developers. I dont think thats wrong. The bulk of WWDC takes place in sessions and labs, where developers get an in-depth look at what makes Apples updated operating systems and platforms tick. Over the years, however, WWDC has also become a place for Apple to speak to the public. Sure, most users dont know what it is, but for those who are plugged into what the company is doing, the WWDC keynote is a big deal. As such, I got wondering. I decided to look back twenty years. Its a nice round number, and its roughly the start of the modern era, as Mac OS X was taking shape pretty nicely by 2000. | https://sixcolors.com/member/2021/06/is-wwdc-a-hardware-event/ |
How does age discrimination affect the economy? | This is just one of the stories from our Ive Always Wondered series, where we tackle all of your questions about the world of business, no matter how big or small. Check out more from the series here. Discriminating against older workers not only means they lose out on billions of dollars, but it can also result in lost GDP. The advocacy group AARP released a study last year that found bias against workers age 50 and older reduced the nations gross domestic product by an estimated $850 billion in 2018. The study also found that age discrimination may have led to $545 billion in forgone wages and salaries for older workers that year. By 2050, the annual loss could amount to $3.9 trillion, according to the AARP. Joanna Lahey, an expert on age discrimination and an associate professor of economics at Texas A&M University, said that generally, when people want to work but are unable to get a job or receive training, the result is lost economic productivity. One belief Lahey has heard is that older workers should leave the workforce to pave the way for younger workers. She called that a line of thinking that adheres to the lump of labor fallacy the notion that increasing the number of workers will decrease the work available for everybody else. You can have older workers in the economy and still have room for younger workers, she said. Patrick Button, an assistant professor of economics at Tulane University, said older people who face discrimination tend to retire early, which leads to people drawing from Social Security earlier or applying for Social Security Disability Insurance. Either way, its going to put pressure on the Social Security system, Button said. Because of population aging, there are more people withdrawing from Social Security than putting money into it. He pointed out that the Social Security trust fund is projected to be depleted by 2035. When it comes to different fields, Button said certain industries can be more ageist than others. The tech industry is one that gets lambasted for having age discrimination, he said, noting that some tech firms will put up job requirements favoring technology natives, which means theyre looking for younger workers. Lahey noted that age discrimination is different across gender and race. For white women, it starts as early as age 35, she said, while for white men, age 50 may be an inflection point. For Black workers, age discrimination hits twice when they enter the workforce and when they near retirement. Both Lahey and Button said our current laws dont fully address intersectional discrimination. Button noted that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 covers, of course, age, while Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or nationality, among other characteristics. Because sex and age are in different statutes, like different pieces of the law, that means that a lot of courts dont allow you to bring forward an intersectional discrimination case, Button said. So if you say, I faced intersectional discrimination for being older and female, which is very common, effectively the courts would say you have to pick one. Button said some Supreme Court cases weakened the ADEA and raised the burden of proof that employees have to present. Policywise, to counteract bias, Button said there could be amendments to the act that undo some of these decisions and allow people to bring intersectional cases. One policy change Lahey suggested is that the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission could audit large companies and penalize those who discriminate based on age during hiring. The COVID-19 crisis has worsened economic conditions, with more than 82 million Americans filing for unemployment insurance since March 2020. The pandemic pushed 1.1 million older workers (those 55 and older) out of the workforce, according to a February report from the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, part of the New School for Social Research. That report listed its own policy recommendations, which include lowering the Medicare age to 50 and creating a bureau devoted to older workers, which could formulate policies that promote their welfare and improve their working conditions. Button said theres a possibility that COVID-19 has increased age discrimination and may continue to do so because of the belief that older people, who are more vulnerable, shouldnt be working during a pandemic. He also noted that age discrimination always worsens during recessions, when jobs are harder to come by. | https://www.marketplace.org/2021/06/03/how-does-age-discrimination-affect-the-economy/ |
What Should We Make of the Highly Disorienting UFO Story? | B e very careful about delving into the world of UFOs, because youre not just in danger of stumbling down a rabbit hole, you might find yourself in freefall down a rabbit abyss, tumbling and flailing until youre so dizzy and disoriented that finally splatting against the bottom might actually help you get your bearings. Alien abductions, crashed saucers, ancient astronauts, government conspiracies, Martian monuments, hybrid extraterrestrial-human babies, crop circles, cattle mutilations, alien autopsies, good versus bad extraterrestrials some of these stories can make QAnon seem like straight-up reportage. However and a pretty awesome however it is we may be on the verge of getting some answers about just what government agencies have learned about UFOS after decades of tantalizingly mysterious sightings, including incidents with enough evidence behind them to keep skeptics working overtime. Sometime this month, the director of national intelligence will dip a toe down the rabbit hole by releasing a report with the mandate to include every unclassified fact the government has gleaned about the phenomenon, now officially called UAPs, for unintified aerial phenomena. The report could be the biggest letdown of the young millennium or turn up an already simmering obsession with the issue to a full boil. (Update Thursday:The New York Times is reporting it has spoken with officials who were briefed on the report, which appears to be inconclusive.) One former Navy pilot, Alex Dietrich, who is one of those involved in a well-known 2004 close encounter with an unidentified object, said on a recent San Diego Union Tribune podcast that she doubts the report will reveal any fantastic new insight into whats happening in our skies. But Nick Cook, the former longtime aviation editor for Janes Defence Weekly, who specialized in covering the Pentagons black budget programs, says he doesnt think the government will be able to dodge what he believes is significant evidence that these unexplainable objects are real craft of a type that demand scrutiny. The less tenable position to take now is the one that this is not a phenomenon we should be paying attention to and we need to move on because it flies in the face of the evidence, said Cook, who has made documentaries examining the relationship between black world aerospace projects and UFOs. Y ou can probably thank The New Yorker and The New York Times, two arbiters of what we like to call the "national conversation," for increasingly serious interest in a subject that has long been steeped in little-green-men ridicule. The magazines May 10 issue features a 13,000-word piece on the UFO phenomenon, covering the entire modern history of the topic up until the present. Much of the story recounts the work of journalist Leslie Kean, a veteran of Berkeleys KPFA, who has spent more than two decades reporting on UFOs. Kean is one of the reporters whose byline appeared in a now famous New York Times front page article in 2017 about the Defense Departments $22 million Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The Times reported the program, funded at the request of now-retired Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, investigated reports of unidentified aerial phenomena and produced documents that describe sightings of aircraft that seemed to move at very high velocities with no visible signs of propulsion, or that hovered with no apparent means of lift. In an accompanying story, the newspaper reported the account of two Navy pilots who had been sent in November 2004 to investigate unidentified aircraft off the coast of San Diego. For the previous two weeks, the objects had been tracked by a Navy cruiser, as they appeared "suddenly at 80,000 feet, and then hurtled toward the sea, eventually stopping at 20,000 feet and hovering. Then they either dropped out of radar range or shot straight back up. When the two F/A-18 fighter jets closed in on one of the objects, it seemed to vanish from radar. One pilot spotted the object hovering close to the ocean surface and descended to meet the craft, only to have it climb toward him before racing away. It accelerated like nothing Ive ever seen, he told the Times. In May 2019, the Times was back with a follow-up. The same reporting team, which included the papers Pentagon correspondent, spoke with five Navy pilots who had reported UFO encounters during training missions off the Atlantic coast. The objects were not only identified they displayed extraordinary flight characteristics, capable of hypersonic speeds and making sudden midair stops and turns, all with no apparent jet engine or exhaust plume. The Times stories included videos captured by the Navy jets onboard infrared cameras. One includes the pilots amazed chatter as they watched an object speed across the surface of the ocean: Oh my gosh, dude! Wow! Look at it fly! But it was The New Yorker story that seemed to crumble the wall that has been a reliable bulwark between UFOs and acceptable public discourse for the last 70 years. Since its publication, just about every mainstream media organization has taken a bite at the UFO apple: NBC, CNN, CNBC, CBS, ABC, USA Today, USA Today, The Washington Post (and The Washington Post, The Washington Post, The Washington Post and The Washington Post) among them. A segment on 60 Minutes, though, was a highlight, because it featured the pilots from both the 2004 and 2015 incidents described earlier by the Times. One of the pilots, former Navy Lt. Ryan Graves, told show correspondent Bill Whitaker that his squadron had begun detecting these unaccountable objects in 2014 after a radar equipment upgrade. Graves said pilots training off the Atlantic Coast saw objects like this with both their radar and new infrared cameras every day for at least a couple years. Graves best guess as to origin: The objects were part of a threat observation program by some other nation. Two pilots from the 2004 incident, Cmdr. Dave Fravor and Lt. Cmdr. Alex Dietrich, were also interviewed, describing a little white Tic Tac-looking object moving across the surface of the water plus some incomprehensible maneuvering. I don't know who's building it, who's got the technology, who's got the brains, Fravor said. But there's something out there that was better than our airplane. The segment also featured Luis Elizondo, the former intelligence official who ran the Defense Departments Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program revealed by the Times in 2017. Elizondo had this to say: Imagine a technology that can do 6 to 700 G-forces, that can fly at 13,000 miles an hour, that can evade radar and that can fly through air and water and possibly space. And oh, by the way, has no obvious signs of propulsion, no wings, no control surfaces and yet still can defy the natural effects of Earth's gravity. That's precisely what we're seeing. All of this seemed to crescendo, bizarrely enough, on CBSs Late Late Show with James Corden, where Barack Obama was asked about the issue. After cracking wise, Obama turned a tad somber: But what is true, and Im actually being serious here, is theres footage and records of objects in the skies that we dont know exactly what they are, we cant explain how they move, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is. For some UFO fans, Obamas admission was the Big One. An actual former president providing vindication in front of a mass audience that their interest in a phenomenon that has long been relegated to supermarket tabloids and basic cable is actually worthy of serious investigation. Christopher Mellon, a deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, told 60 Minutes he has a very high degree of confidence that the objects are not secret U.S. technology. On CNBC, he called the incidents a massive intelligence failure. Nick Cook, the former Janes Defence Weekly aviation editor, said in an interview that its important the military does not exclusively own this narrative because it will begin to shape it to its own ends. The threat narrative will build and build. I asked him if the most likely scenario wasnt that this is secret military tech that is only now being revealed to the public, a situation analogous to how stealth jets were rolled out in the late 1980s and 1990s. That comparison doesnt apply, he says, because of the capabilities some of the unidentified craft have displayed. These things appear to exhibit antigravity, no visible forms of propulsion, and obviously to make transitional speeds from stationary to hypersonic in, you know, metaphorically the blink of an eye. Theres also invisibility and cloaking. Stealth technology, he points out, is rooted in known physics. But these craft, if verified and understood, would trigger a sort of tech and science revolution, much more akin to the development of the atom bomb in the 30s and 40s. The possibility that the unidentified objects encountered by Navy fliers and others is extraterrestial has definitely been in the conversation, although the pilots who have gone public have done their best to tamp down the belief that what they witnessed came from outer space. Just because Im saying that we saw this unusual thing in 2004 I am in no way implying that it was extraterrestrial or alien technology or anything like that, said Dietrich in the Union-Tribune podcast. Skeptics, of course, have always said there are far more prosaic explanations for UFOs, and the objects shown on this current crop of videos are no exception. Mick West, a former video game designer and debunker of conspiracy theories, is not buying any of it. West believes the strange attributes the Navy videos appear to show can be accounted for by lens glare, a nonstationary and fast-traveling camera, and high zoom rate, analyses he recently laid out for the Union Tribune. West argues that two of the three sensational and widely viewed Navy videos likely captured distant jet planes. He says the third which inspired such childlike enthusiasm from elite Navy pilots was very likely a weather balloon. In fact, West points out, that explanation is specifically listed on a Department of Defense form authorizing release of the videos. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, which searches for signs of intelligent alien life not by watching James Corden but by scanning the heavens for radio or light signals, is also of the opinion there is nothing even close to a smoking gun here. Shostak acknowledges the videos are certainly intriguing. I mean, you see something in these infrared camera scope displays and so forth. But, he said, at least in the case of the 2004 encounter, those cameras are looking at heat. So you're looking up the tailpipes of a twin engine jet and it looks like a peanut from five miles away or whatever. Other scientists have also started to speak out about the inconclusive nature of the videos or the pilots' accounts. Nick Cook says its a mistake to focus on the limitations of any one piece of evidence. For the last 20 years or so, he said, military systems, like fighter jets, haven't just relied on their own sensors, like their own onboard radar, their own infrared search and track system. They get data piped to them by offboard sensors like satellites and airborne early warning systems and also some people on the ground. And all of that data in the case of that Tic-Tac encounter was coming from a multiplicity of different sensors across the fleet. | https://www.kqed.org/science/1975081/what-should-we-make-of-the-highly-disorienting-ufo-story |
Is the Fed tightening cycle already happening? | The Federal Reserve surprised markets this week by announcing it will begin to gradually sell off its corporate debt holdings accumulated during the pandemic, a tiny step toward dialing back its far reach into financial markets. The central banks holdings of corporate bonds and related exchange-traded funds account for about $14 billion in combined assets, or roughly 0.1% of the $10.6 trillion U.S. corporate bond market. But the Feds move away from corporate debt does signal a shift in its prior full-throttle approach to the crisis. I think its a good sign, said Patrick Tadie, Wilmington Trusts head of structured finance, adding that it shows the Fed thinks that some supports in place for a while may not be as necessary, and that private-sector investors should be able to pick up the slack. The reaction in funds that specialize in U.S. corporate debt has been muted since Wednesdays announcement, with the closely watched iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF LQD, -0.39% down 0.4% Thursday, the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF HYG, -0.21% off by 0.2% and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF JNK, -0.14% down 0.1%. Stocks also booked modest declines Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.07% off 0.1%, but enough to snap a five-day win streak. Meanwhile, the return investors earn by owning corporate debt has dropped dramatically since the Fed swooped in roughly a year ago with its first-ever purchases in the sector. Read: The Fed has bought $8.7 billion worth of ETFs. Here are the details Investment-grade and high-yield U.S. corporate bond spreads, or the premium bonds pay over a risk-free benchmark, have been inching closer to 20-year lows, helped along by the Feds backstop. The Feds corporate assets represent a drop in the bucket compared with its record nearly $8 trillion balance sheet, which has nearly doubled in size since March 2020, mainly through its massive $120 billion-a-month program to buy risk-free Treasurys TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.629% and agency mortgage bonds. Thats the main liquidity program the Fed talks about in terms of restarting asset purchases in a crisis or when considering tapering as the economy recovers. While no tapering plans for that key bond-buying program have been put on the table yet, debate has emerged within the central bank about when to discuss scaling back purchases as the threat of COVID-19 subsides in the U.S. with ramped up domestic vaccinations and as progress picks up elsewhere. New York Fed President John Williams weighed in Thursday, saying that he thinks its too soon for the central bank to start slowing down its asset purchases. But signs of overkill with the Feds Goliath-like presence in the Treasury and mortgage-bond markets already might be emerging, particularly as banks struggle to find places to park cash overnight and housing prices skyrocket. Read: Why demand for Feds reverse repo facility is surging again Mortgage lending also has slowed as 30-year home loan rates have ticked up and as more eligible borrowers have refinanced during the pandemic, adding to concerns that the Feds $40 billion-a-month mortgage bond purchases might need to slow. Still, some investors view the Feds corporate-debt exit as timely, particularly since the program has been a success in terms of helping to limit corporate defaults during a global public-health crisis, but also that it would be easy to restart. They came in with shock and awe, said Nicholas Elfner, co-head of research at Breckinridge Capital Advisors. Now they are pulling it back but they are there. Essentially, there is kind of a feeling that the Fed will be involved in U.S. bond markets, as needed, he said. Why wouldnt they do it again? Read next: Why the bond market might not suffer another taper tantrum when the Fed signals its ready to move | https://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-the-fed-tightening-cycle-already-happening-11622770731 |
When Will Greys Anatomy Season 17 Be on Netflix? | Another season of ABCs Greys Anatomy is in the books. Greys has been renewed for Season 18! The beloved medical drama probably wont return with new episodes until late September. If you need a new show to fill that Greys Anatomy-shaped hole in your viewing schedule, you may want to try Netflixs sensational dramedy Feel Good (Season 2 debuts June 4), Virgin River (Season 3 drops July 9), or HBO Maxs witty new comedy Hacks. If you want to catch-up on previous seasons of Greys Anatomy, we can help you out with that too. While every Season 17 episode is on Hulu, the first sixteen seasons are available on Netflix. Great question. Heres everything we know about the probable release date. Yes! Earlier this year, ABC renewed their long-running medical drama for an eighteenth season. You bet. The first sixteen seasons of Greys Anatomy are currently on Netflix. No official Netflix release date for Greys Anatomy Season 17 has been announced, but based on recent history, we have a pretty good idea of when new episodes may debut on the streamer. Season 13: Season finale aired May 18, 2017 on ABC and the season premiered June 17, 2017 on Netflix Season 14: Season finale aired May 17, 2018 on ABC and the season premiered June 16, 2018 on Netflix Season 15: Season finale aired May 16, 2019 on ABC and the season premiered June 15, 2019 on Netflix Season 16: Season finale aired April 9, 2020 on ABC and the season premiered May 9, 2020 on Netflix New seasons of Greys historically premiere on Netflix 30 days after the season finale airs on ABC. With the aforementioned dates in mind, we expect Season 17 of Greys Anatomy to debut on or around Saturday, July 3, 2021 on Netflix. No problem. Every Season 17 episode of Greys Anatomy is available on Hulu. Where to stream Grey's Anatomy | https://decider.com/2021/06/03/greys-anatomy-season-17-netflix-release-date/ |
Is Annabelle Based on a True Story? | The latest Conjuring film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, is nearly here. In order to prep yourself for the new, horrifying installment, youll want to watch the series from start-to-finish which includes the 2014 horror Annabelle, along with the films prequel (Annabelle: Creation) and sequel (Annabelle Comes Home). We have answers. The creepy porcelain doll made her debut in the very first Conjuring film in 2013, later earning her own spinoff in 2014. The first film follows John Form (Ward Horton) and his expectant wife Mia (Annabelle Wallis), who purchase a vintage doll in a white dress to welcome their new baby. But the gift soon turns into a nightmare when devil worshippers invade their home to launch a violent attack. When a bit of blood is dripped on the doll, she turns evil. The prequel traced the origins of Annabelle, and most recently, the sequel tapped Conjuring duo Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) to look into the mystery of the doll. No. Nothing about the story in Annabelle is based on real events John and Mia are fictional characters. The films are, however, based on the real Annabelle doll, a normal-looking Raggedy Ann Doll with no porcelain, like in the film. Again, no. Ed and Lorraine Warren are based on real people when they show up in the third film, though their story is not based on any real-life occurrences. Yes! Sort of! The Conjuring films are based on true stories. Or at least, stories that the Warrens claimed were true (your mileage may vary on the whole ghosts are real side of things). The films follow investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they unpack paranormal activities, and all of the stories are drawn from what they said at the time were real-life experiences. Annabelle, along with the films sequel and prequel, is available to stream on HBO Max. Its also streaming for free on Tubi, though you wont find the other Annabelle movies there. Where to Watch Annabelle | https://decider.com/2021/06/03/is-annabelle-based-on-a-true-story/ |
Why are COVID vaccine manufacturers so keen on indemnity? | There is much uncertainty surrounding the virus and its variants, and vaccine makers are looking to hedge their risks There has been as much debate, controversy and confusion surrounding the COVID vaccine as there has been around the viral disease itself. While nations elsewhere in the world were quick to place the need for speedy vaccination well above every other concern, the story in India has been different. In India, from day one, the COVID vaccination drive has been lukewarm at best, guided perhaps by a misplaced sense of triumph over the pandemic. The government miscalculated the numbers, did not place adequate orders, and let domestic producers accept huge export orders. The widely prevalent vaccine hesitancy in the country did not help either. Now, following biting criticism, the Centre is trying to bring in vaccines in large numbers, and a huge speed-breaker here is the foreign pharma majors insisting on indemnity from legal liability. Now, however, the Centre is set to grant such indemnity to Pfizer and Moderna to speed up vaccine approvals. The indemnity will protect the companies from any potential legal hassle that may arise from the administering of their vaccines. Pfizer enjoys such immunity in the US (where it is based) and other countries if a lawsuit is filed over adverse vaccine side-effect, the respective government will bear the compensation burden. All the countries that Pfizer has exported its vaccine to have agreed to this clause. Not to be outdone, Serum Institute of India (SII), the Pune-based pharma firm that bought a manufacturing licence from AstraZeneca to produce its vaccine candidate in India under the Covishield brand, wants similar treatment. SII and other domestic manufacturers do have a fair point: if taxpayer money can be used to provide indemnity to a for-profit foreign company, why not to them, too. Drug firms have been developing and selling vaccines for several virulent diseases for centuries now. Also read: Indias failure on the vaccine front, and what needs to be done now The answer perhaps lies in the fact that the COVID vaccine was among the quickest to hit the market. While vaccine candidates are typically tested over several rounds of trials, over several years, the COVID vaccines were out in less than a year after the viral disease hit pandemic proportions. This brings with it a lingering sense of fear. There have been claims of adverse reactions that are further pushing vaccine makers to demand indemnity from liability. From allergic reactions to respiratory symptoms the blood clots, the alleged effects traverse a wide range. No vaccine maker wants a pile of lawsuits to deal with. The vaccines are critical, and their manufacturers want indemnity against legal action. Yet, the Indian government not granted it till now, for strong reasons. Firstly, it is a lot of money. Both Pfizer and Moderna are giant multinational companies. Their estimated legal burden, especially in a highly populated country like India, is bound to be huge. If SII, Bharat Biologicals (Hyderabad-based company producing Covaxin) and other domestic firms that enter the vaccine fray later want indemnity, too, the bill could become massive. This is an expenditure that requires careful thought. There is also the question of why. As legal experts point out, the companies are selling the vaccines at a profit, which should cover the potential legal cost, too. Unlike the domestic makers, the foreign firms including Russias Sputnik V have not promised any subsidised sale to the government. To date, the government has not given any manufacturer indemnity against legal action over adverse side effects. But it may do so shortly, media reports said, so that the vaccination drive can be hastened and the second wave of COVID addressed. That would be prioritising public health over everything else, akin to nations that have beaten the pandemic. | https://thefederal.com/covid-19/why-are-covid-vaccine-manufacturers-so-keen-on-indemnity/ |
Can a business require COVID-19 vaccination evidence? | In bars, you may be asked to indicate your ID. If you visit Costco, you cannot sign in or purchase anything without your membership card. Currently, you do not have to flash your COVID-19 vaccine card at most businesses in order to buy or get a table. However, businesses usually require this clients show evidence of vaccination, sometimes known as the vaccine passport. Legal experts have compared the demand to a t-shirt, no shoes, no service policy. A business can absolutely ask that question, if a client is vaccinated, said Lindsay Wiley, director of the Health Law and Policy Program at the American University College of Law in Washington, in an interview with USA TODAY. Retailers who have removed the rules of masks for vaccinated people have said they do not plan to interrogate people or ask for them vaccination card te dera. The growing list includes Walmart,Clubs and Sam,Costco, Starbucks,The aimANDCVS. For the most part, letting consumers go without masks has begun honor system. But there are some exceptions. In Oregon, the state health authority issued instructions last month asking businesses to verify the vaccination status of people who visited without masks. In Chicago, businesses may apply for a vaccine exemption to increase capacity in their institutions provided they require clients to prove they have been fully vaccinated. AND published reports have come to the surface showing examples of some small businesses making their own policies and sometimes increasing fees for unvaccinated guests. For example, a concert promoter in Florida hosted a $ 18 ticket show for vaccinated participants and a $ 1,000 ticket for unvaccinated concertgoers. reported NBC News last month. Meanwhile, lawmakers in more than 40 states have introduced legislation often backed by vaccine skeptics and advanced by Republicans banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Some measures prevent businesses from asking clients for vaccination proof. The higher number of bills requires employers not to request COVID-19 vaccine, USA TODAY has previously reported. Throughout the pandemic, managing and monitoring client behavior has been difficult.Brian Dodge, president of the Association of Retail Industry Leaders, said store employees have been at risk trying to enforce mask policies and that the piece of state and local rules around masks has created confusion. The transition of retail workers from mask tracking to vaccination status would have been no less complicated. This is obviously impractical and impossible to do, Dodge said in a recent interview with USA TODAY about identifying who has been vaccinated and who has not. They should never have been masked police and could not be vaccine police. So it is impossible to confirm the vaccination status of the guests. A letter to the directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration by groups representing U.S. businesses warned that implementing policies requiring vaccination status verification could put workers in dangerous situations. Retailers and other employees are not equipped to enforce health restrictions and, if asked to do so, it will not protect them but subject them to confrontations that put their health and well-being at risk. much greater risk, reads a fragment of the letter. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Philadelphia Childrens Hospital, said the CDC update to disguise the guidelines came very quickly. He said there had to be security from the CDC to help consumers feel safer. In a recent interview with USA TODAY, Offit said one possibility was if retailers were looking for anyone who enters stores without disguise to show evidence, which is cumbersome and difficult to do. Plus, there will no doubt be scams because you can buy a vaccine certification right online. What qualifies as a vaccination test Support among Americans for some form of vaccine verification depends on the type of activity. According to a Gallup poll conducted in April,57% of adults in the US support air travel verification while 55% again verify their vaccination status to attend a major event such as a concert. However, only 40% support proof if you want to dine inside a restaurant. While there are laws requiring businesses to provide housing for people with disabilities and for those who refuse to be vaccinated for religious reasons, institutions can still require clients to prove their status. Its the newest legal field, but most likely as long as businesses have an excuse and they exclude people based on those reasons, they will most likely be legally permissible, said Alison Hoffman, professor at the School of Economics. University of Pennsylvania Lawyer and a health law and policy expert. The issues facing businesses may be more practical than legal. Hoffman said businesses are in difficult and somewhat tired ground trying to determine what qualifies as a vaccination test. The closest documentation available to Americans is the CDC vaccination record card supplied and updated by post-dose vaccine providers. Then there is the challenge of what to do if someone cannot provide evidence does not want to share that information. They have to decide what to do next if the person says, No Im not vaccinated or says, Ire not going to answer that question,' Wiley said. They have to think practically, whether they will offer alternatives like surrender in some cases or, yes you can come in but you have to wear a mask. That too is permissible. Save better, spend better:Tips and tips for money are delivered right in your inbox. Register here Contributed by: Daniel Funke, USA SOT Follow USA TODAY reporters Brett Molina AND Kelly Tyko on Twitter. | https://exbulletin.com/world/963333/ |
Has Jagan Reddy government crossed a new line by charging TV news channels with sedition? | For decades, the media in Andhra Pradesh has been divided on party lines. Politicians seem to frequently attack newspapers and television channels seen as supportive of the party opposing them. Yet, even in this highly politicised media landscape, it seems Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddys government has crossed a line. On May 14, the Andhra Pradesh police registered a case of sedition against YSR Congress Member of Parliament Raghurama Krishna Raju who has, since his election, differed with the ruling partys leadership for attempts to create hatred, contempt, disaffection towards the government. The first information report said that Raju has particularly targeted the Reddy and Christian communities by creating a false narrative that the state government favoured them. Raju had made comments targeting the Andhra Pradesh governments Covid-19 response. The rebel MP was arrested the next day. On May 16, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered his transfer from the Guntur district jail to a private hospital after a report from a lower court that said Raju had several injuries. The MPs lawyers and family alleged he was tortured by the police, though the state maintained they self-inflicted injuries. While this drama was playing out, what went out of focus was the fact that the FIR against Raju had named two television channels. TV 5 and ABN Andhra Jyothy were also accused of sedition for carrying Rajus comments by giving him premeditated and organised slots, allegedly showing a meeting of minds to commit the crime. The two channels immediately moved the Supreme Court. While under usual circumstances the channels would have been asked to approach the High Court for remedy, the Supreme Court took it up following its own observations in an earlier case that the media should not be targeted for being critical of governments in their response to the pandemic. The comments from the Supreme Court, as it ordered the Andhra Pradesh police not to take coercive actions against the TV channels, showed how drastic the move to book the channels was. The three-judge bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud not only observed that the FIR did not establish the crime, it also said that the time has come to define the limits of sedition, especially in relation to freedom of press. In other words, the state governments attempts to muzzle the local press has become an event of national importance that may lead to a landmark judgement on sedition and its use. Andhras politicised media However, political commentators in Andhra Pradesh feel the rap from the Supreme Court may not change the relationship between the media and the political parties in the state, given how politics works there. It did not take too much time for Jagan Reddy, who was elected as chief minister in May 2019, to indicate what was in store for media that were seen as opposed to the YSR Congress. In his very first public speech after taking over as chief minister, Reddy singled out three media houses and delivered a warning. He said his government will not hesitate to file defamation cases against Eenadu, Andhra Jyothy and TV 5, all three regarded as close to the rival Telugu Desam Party. This attitude towards the three media houses began to make itself evident almost immediately. In the budget session of the Assembly that year, ETV, owned by the Eenadu group, ABN Andhra Jyothy and TV 5 were barred from covering the session after they allegedly violated Assembly norms. This animosity is not recent. Jagan Reddys father YS Rajashekhara Reddy, a giant of the Congress in formerly undivided Andhra Pradesh, used to consistently hit out at Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy. Congress followers often referred to these newspapers as yellow papers, a derogatory term usually used for gossip material. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy In fact, in 2008, Rajashekhara Reddys family launched the Sakshi group, which now publishes the Sakshi Telugu newspaper and owns Sakshi TV. The media group was started as a counter to pro-TDP media houses and played a vital role in Jagan Reddys Assembly election campaign in 2019. However, former journalist and political commentator Telakapalli Ravi said that division among media houses as pro-TDP or pro-Congress and later pro-YSR Congress has a long history going back to the 1950s. And all three parties have attacked media houses when they held power. In the 1950s, the Congress used to consistently attack Telugu media as being pro-Communists, he said. The divisions were entrenched with the advent of NT Rama Raos Telugu Desam Party. Eenadu, for example, has always been seen as favouring the Telugu Desam Party. In fact, Rajashekhara Reddy used to cite an affidavit that Eenadu had once filed in which it apparently claimed openly that it was anti-Congress, Ravi said. Government pressure The former journalist added the acrimony has deepened with the explosion of electronic media in the Telugu states. This is not only about Andhra Pradesh. You also see such divisions sustained in Telangana after the bifurcation, he pointed out. These divisions mean media houses come under varied forms of pressure from the party in government. While the most commonly used threat is that of defamation, there are also indirect measures like cutting down government ads and blocking the transmission of channels in the local cable networks. TV 5 and ABN Andhra Jyothy have accused the Jagan Reddy government of blocking their transmission through multi-system operators, who provide cable TV connections, since September last year. Executives of the channels have told media houses this unofficial ban continues even after orders from regulators to lift it. This apart, in 2019, the Jagan Reddy government passed a controversial order that delegated powers to secretaries of various departments, giving them powers to file defamation cases against the media, a move that saw widespread criticism. What is to be noted, however, is that such actions against media houses are not peculiar to the Telugu states in South India. In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was known to file hundreds of criminal defamation complaints against newspapers and television channels for critical comments against her. Almost all of these cases were invariably thrown out by the Madras High Court. Crossing a new line Observers feel that the Jagan Reddy government may have crossed a new line this time by invoking the sedition, something that even the Supreme Court has now slammed. I cannot think of another instance where sedition was invoked against TV channels and that too for merely carrying the comments of an MP, Ravi said. He said he does not see the relationship between the media and the political parties improving any time soon given the deep bitterness that exists. AS Panneerselvan, Readers Editor of The Hindu, said the culture of slapping sedition cases against journalists and media houses started in North India. The sedition clause has been used so frequently in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states in the recent years that it has almost normalised its invocation. In my opinion, such drastic measures are adopted in the South after they succeed in the North, he added. In this context, he said the Supreme Court judgement on Thursday quashing a sedition case filed against senior journalist Vinod Dua in Himachal Pradesh was extremely important. We can see this as the first pushback from the higher judiciary against such abuse of law, he said. Panneerselvan added that after the 1990s, a significant change in the way governments have functioned was the manner in which enabling elements of fundamental rights were undermined and focus shifted to the reasonable restrictions. On any law, the focus used to be on enabling elements and the restrictive clauses were used sparingly, he said. What is happening now is that the restrictive clauses have become the main focus and the clauses enabling the rights have been undermined. This is not only about sedition and this is a scary trend. | https://scroll.in/article/996571/has-jagan-reddy-government-crossed-a-new-line-by-charging-tv-news-channels-with-sedition?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=public |
Where to Find a Philly Cheesesteak in Illinois? | Sam Moqadam/Unsplash Illinois is in the Midwest of the United States. Illinois's GDP comes from a diverse economic base, natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities, and massive agricultural productivity in the north and center, making it the fifth-largest GDP in the United States. One of the locals favorite food is the Philly cheesesteak, and here are some picks where you will find the Philly cheesesteak in Illinois. Follow me to see more articles like this. ... Follow Philly's Best, Illinois: Philly's Best is first in our list of restaurants serving Original Philly Cheesesteak in Illinois. The Restaurant is dedicated to providing its customers with the highest quality Philly Style steak, which is available competitive. The food is surprisingly excellent and available at affordable prices. The Restaurant is located at 769 W Jackson Blvd Chicago, IL 60661, United States. The Cheesesteak House is open from Mondays to Sundays from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Services like takeout and delivery are available. For more detail, you can contact them on the phone at (312) 715-9800. Lawn Restaurant - Hamburger, Illinois: The Lawn Restaurants cheesesteaks are delicious, but they have these seasoned fries that are just as delicious. The atmosphere that the restaurant has makes it more fun. They have a lovely outdoor patio with a warm and clear sky above you. Their staff is friendly, and the best part is you can play board games while waiting for your food to arrive. The Restaurant is located at 1141 N Ashland Ave Chicago, IL 60622, United States. Lawn Restaurant is open from Mondays to Sundays from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Services like takeout, Curbside pickup, sit-down dining, indoor and outdoor dining, and delivery are available. For more detail, you can contact them on their phone number (773) 904-8608. Tony's Original Philly Steaks & Wing's, Illinois: The Tony's Original cheesesteaks are made out of fresh ingredients, and the meat they use is pure grass feed without any use of hormone growth. Other than the cheesesteaks, they have Cuisines, including Barbecue, Chicken, American, Sandwiches, Take Out, and Steakhouse. It is located at 1400 W 95th St Chicago, IL 60643, United States. Tony's Original is open from Monday to Saturday from 10:30 AM to 10:00 PM. For more detail, you can contact them on their phone number (773) 233-6200. Sal's Famous Cheesesteaks, Illinois: Sal's Famous cheesesteaks are some of the juiciest cheesesteaks there are. The portion of meat is good, which makes every bite delicious. You can find Sals Famous Cheesesteaks at 8025 W 79th St Justice, IL 60458, United States. Sal's Famous Cheesesteak is open from Mondays to Sundays from 10:00 AM to 9:30 PM. For more detail, you can visit their website salsfamouscheesesteaks.com, or you can contact them on their phone number (708) 728-0725. Phillies Original Steak & Lemonade, Illinois: Last on our list is Phillies Original Steak & Lemonade. Phillies Original Steak & Lemonade serves serious cheesesteaks. Perfectly sliced ribeye added to grilled onions, marinara sauce, and white American cheese in a soft French roll. Moreover, the place is also famous for its mac and cheese pie. It is positioned at 2472 E State St Chicago, IL 60633, United States. The Restaurant is open from Mondays to Sundays from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. For more detail, you can contact them via their phone number (708) 832-4846. | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2262297717912/where-to-find-a-philly-cheesesteak-in-illinois |
Where and when can I watch the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? | This is the first time we will visit Azerbaijan since 2019, as the race was unable to take place due to the coronavirus pandemic last year, and the fifth race at this venue since it arrived on the calendar. The circuit features long straights mixed with a very technical middle sector featuring the dramatic and extremely tight castle section. This mixture means that there are some decent overtaking opportunities in the race, but also rewards cars with efficient aerodynamic packages. We first saw Baku on the Formula 1 calendar back in 2016 under its previous guise as the European Grand Prix. The following year it was known as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the stunning Baku street circuit has seen a different winner every year since it arrived on the calendar. The previous race at Monaco saw a low-key affair from reigning World Champions Mercedes. Red Bulls Max Verstappen capitalised on Valtteri Bottass retirement and Lewis Hamiltons tricky race to claim victory around the Principality. Ferrari looked strong around Monaco with local hero Charles Leclerc unable to make good on his pole position and, tragically, retired from the race even before it started with a driveshaft failure following a crash in qualifying. Teammate Carlos Sainz claimed a podium for the Scuderia finishing up in P2. However the battle for the mid-field seems a little more complex this weekend with Ferrari admitting that they may not be as quick as they were in Monte Carlo. The Italian team feel that they will be battling Aston Martin, Alpine, and Alpha Tauri with McLaren coming out as third best. Here are all the times you need for this weekends action. All times BST. Friday 4th June Free Practice 1 (FP1): 09:30 10:30 Free Practice 2 (FP2): 13:00 14:00 Saturday 5th June Free Practice 3 (FP3): 10:00 11:00 Qualifying: 13:00 14:00 Sunday 6th June Race: 13:00 15:00 The race will be broadcast on Sky Sports F1 in the UK and Ireland with Channel 4 showing highlights later in the day. | https://formulaspy.com/f1/where-and-when-can-i-watch-the-azerbaijan-grand-prix-75074 |
Whats a Granny Pod and Whats It Doing in the Backyard? | 23 million Americans are taking care of elderly parents whether they're in a senior living facility or living in your home. But, unfortunately, when you've decided to move your Bubbe (Yiddish) into a spare room in the house, several things can go horribly wrong within a short period of time. According to nhregister.com, the CT State Senate recently passed a bill that would allow owners of single-family homes to convert a section of that home into "accessory units" without special permission from local officials. This bill would also include standalone "modular structures like a tiny house. Keep this in mind, if you're moving Grammy in, and you have small children, expect her to become involved in the discipline of the children on a day-to-day basis as in, there will be NO discipline. Instead, there will be a wide variety of treats, such as cookies, candy, and junk food because that's what Memaw's do with their grandkids. Get our free mobile app If I may, let me offer a compromise. Rather than inviting grandma to come live with you, you might want to consider a Granny Pod, which is, according to danburyseniors.org, a temporary structure or accessory unit. These units, tiny houses, guest houses, or whatever you choose to call them are detached from your home but remain on the property so you're able to keep a watchful eye out for aged parents. Check out this laid-back dude talking about granny pods. LOOK: Famous Historic Homes in Every State | https://wpdh.com/whats-a-ct-granny-pod-and-whats-it-doing-in-the-backyard/ |
What's Going On With Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH) Today? | Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd (NYSE:PSTH) is trading lower Thursday night following a report by the Wall Street Journal stating that the Bill Ackman-backed SPAC is nearing a deal with Universal Music Group that would value the world's largest music company at around $40 billion. The report, which cited people familiar with the matter, said it would be the largest SPAC deal to date and noted that the deal is not yet finalized. Ackman was asked about his PSTH SPAC at the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival on May 12. The billionaire hedge fund manager told the Wall Street Journal that he had been working on a deal with an "iconic company" since November. Related Link: Bill Ackman Talks, The Timeline Reacts: What Pershing Square SPAC Is Looking At To Buy Maybe Tontine Structure: The structure of PSTH is unique in that it offers two-ninths of a warrant with each share, exercisable at $23. Investors do not receive the warrants if they choose to redeem their stock prior to the closing of the acquisition. The structure was formed in order to encourage long-term investments in the SPAC. Price Action: PSTH stock began trading at the IPO price of $20 per share in September 2020. Since that time, it has traded as high as $34.10. At last check Thursday, PSTH was trading down 5.36% in after-hours trading on Thursday at $23.65. | https://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/21/06/21422449/whats-going-on-with-pershing-square-tontine-holdings-psth-today |
How did news of Carletons antiracism training spread to conservative websites? | On Monday, May 24, faculty and staff participated in their last anti-racism training session, marking the end of a series of monthly community-wide webinars and affinity group discussions that have been required since January. The impetus for the training was the August 9 Open Letter for Carleton College and demands made by the Ujamaa Collectivewhich is composed of student leaders from the Black Student Alliance, African and Caribbean Association, Men of Color and Student Department Advisors for Africana Studies. This document outlined experiences of racism, discrimination and disenfranchisement of Black students, staff and faculty, and included mandatory anti-racist training for all incoming and current faculty, staff, administrators, and students among its initial set of demands. In response, the college developed a plan for a required program of externally-provided anti-racism training for all current faculty and staff and critical volunteer groupswhich includes members of the Board of Trustees, Multicultural Alumni Network Board, Parents Council and Alumni Council. By September, Kathy Evertz, former Community, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI) co-chair, was appointed as project manager and tasked with carrying the anti-racism training forward. Evertz shared that the CEDI Action Team then researched more than 30 potential trainers, and the Antiracism Training Task Forcea group that had some overlap with the Action Teamcompleted interviews with potential trainers in order to develop a short list. They identified Minnesota-based Dr. Bryana French and Dr. Stephen Brookfield of antiracistraining.org as the trainers most able to respond to the spirit and recommendations of the CEDI Action Team Proposal, said Evertz. French and Brookfield had previously worked together to address race and racism as a Black and white, female and male team. Once appointed, French and Brookfield submitted a proposal to lead a conversation across institutional silos that would familiarize everyone in the Carleton community on some issues surrounding race and racism and to introduce a common vocabulary over the nearly five months of training, as part of a multi-year effort for institutional change. Their first college-wide presentation on January 21 stated their intent to normalize race talk by making it an expected theme that will inform everyday meetings, teaching and planning across the communitynot something that only arises when hate speech or some other event clearly diminishes Carleton BIPOC community members. The training was structured around four main themes: racial identity, racism, microaggressions or implicit bias and bystander interventions or allyship. Brookfield said they decided to begin with racial identity because in predominantly white institutions weve worked in weve noticed that some of the white majority dont acknowledge that they have a racial identity at all. Each month, French and Brookfield opened with a community-wide webinar. Faculty and staff were then expected to choose from one of twelve affinity groupsincluding one biracial/multiracial group, three BIPOC affinity groups, one open to all racial identities group, and seven white affinity groupsin which they discussed the topic introduced at the community-wide event. French led all the BIPOC groups and Brookfield led all the white affinity groups, and together they facilitated the open to all racial identities group. In our experience, there are benefits to processing the experience of race and racism with people who have a shared racial identity or racialized experience, said French. The same reasoning behind shared experience and positionality influenced our decision of who would lead which sessions, and is a strength of our team. Nonoko Sato 00, who participated in the training as a member of the Carleton Alumni Council and the Task Force, said that as an Asian woman, [she] appreciated the opportunity to break into affinity groups to be with other folks of color. She also liked having two facilitators of different genders, race, age and experiences, as they were able to cater to the wide range of participants. French and Brookfield write, We appreciate that these affinity groupings may feel overly simplistic and binary given the complexity of racial identity development, yet believe the benefits outweigh the limitations. These affinity groups are what led a number of right-leaning websites to pick up the story. On April 19, The College Fix published an article entitled Minnesota college forces faculty to attend racially segregated anti-racism training and within the week, it had spread to a number of other sitesincluding The Center Square, Newsweek, and The Daily Wire. French was the first to learn of this coverage, when she received an email from an editor of The College Fix asking for her response to some questions about their approach. She then also received an email from Mark Perryan economics professor at the University of Michigan-Flint who is associated with the American Enterprise Institutewho had concerns about the affinity groups. Dr. French consulted with Carleton leadership and chose not to respond. The College Fix mentioned a particular presentation slide from March, which read: weve been told that in some groups that after saying that theres no racial problem at Carleton some people just refuse to participate. Evertz said she was unsurprised by this statement because youre always going to see a range of reactions to anything thats mandatory, and I think the intensity of some reactions can be attributed to the subject matter. I recall hearing about a few refusals to participatein the small breakout discussionsduring the first month or two training [] but this was not a widespread reaction. Dr. French said that for people participating in the BIPOC and Multiracial groups, a particular appreciation was shared for a space to feel supported and affirmed as a racial and ethnic minority on campus, and many expressed hope to continue those affinity groups, while she acknowledged that she and Brookfield have also received critiques and are aware of limitations. Some of the feedback they received was: the desire for unit-specific discussions, discussions with people at similar levels of expertise around race [and] racism, and a concern that this will not lead to institutional change. According to Evertz, CEDI will be working with Assistant Vice President of Institutional Research and Assessment Todd Jamison in the coming weeks to assess the training. Update: Tuesday, June 1 A number of small stylistic updates were made following a final revision of the article by the author. The content of the piece was not changed. | https://thecarletonian.com/2021/05/30/how-did-news-of-carletons-antiracism-training-spread-to-conservative-websites/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-did-news-of-carletons-antiracism-training-spread-to-conservative-websites |
Is it Legal to Own a Rooster in the Town of Great Barrington? | Nowadays, more and more people are taking control of producing their own food. For example, raising chickens in private backyards has become popular due to a number of reasons including reduced waste in landfills as chickens gobble up leftovers or spoiled food that would otherwise end up in the trash. Plus, you can ensure having a steady flow of fresh, nutritious eggs or meat. In addition, it's both a fun and educational activity for children as it gives them a sense of responsibility and an opportunity to produce their own food. The benefits of raising chickens are endless and you can learn about all of them by going here. Many towns across the Bay Sate legally allow residents to own and raise chickens with a permit required in many cases. However owning a rooster is illegal in a number of towns. This includes Great Barrington. This makes sense as roosters can be loud via their crowing and as a result can disrupt the peace. Get our free mobile app While not every town in Massachusetts is listed, below is a list of towns where you can legally own a rooster according to NOFA Mass (certain paperwork, permits, fees, permissions and restrictions are required in some cases) Adams Amherst Ayer Boxford Bridgewater Concord Dedham Foxborough Freetown Holland Hudson Maynard Mendon Northborough Palmer Quincy Southwick Stoughton Westborough Westminster Westwood You can get more details on poultry regulations by town in Massachusetts by going here. As you can see NOFA Mass didn't list many Berkshire County towns. Most Wanted Fugitives by Massachusetts State Police 12 Movies Filmed in the Berkshires KEEP LOOKING: See What 50 of America's Most 'Pupular' Dog Breeds Look Like as Puppies LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice. Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you. | https://wsbs.com/is-it-legal-to-own-a-rooster-in-the-town-of-great-barrington/ |
What is Eid Al-Fitr and how is it celebrated? | Eid Al-Fitr also known as, the festival of breaking the fast is a joyous occasion that marks the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting for Muslims, when they abstain from food and drink between dawn and sunset. Advertisement Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and Eid Al-Fitr is significant in celebrating the end of a very intense month of fasting, prayer, self-reflection and charity. It is a time for families and friends to come together and rejoice with food and drink, gift each other presents and dress up in new clothes. Keep reading to discover what rituals are observed and what mouth-watering dishes you can make to join in with the celebrations. The traditions of Eid Al-Fitr can vary somewhat since Muslims originate from many different countries, especially when it comes to food, however some things are universal. Eid is centred around celebrating the end of a month of fasting and spending time with family, friends and people within the community. Giving thanks to God is core, which is why on the morning of Eid, Muslims offer a special congregational Eid prayer. In the last days of Ramadan, the head of each family is obligated to pay a charitable tax, known as Fitra or Zakat Al Fitr, to help those who are less fortunate celebrate the occasion. Even when celebrating, Muslims must be mindful of families within the wider community who may be struggling, so no one is left out. Muslims dress up on Eid morning in their best, often brand-new clothes and many decorate their houses for the occasion. Muslims greet one another on Eid day by saying Eid Mubarak which means blessed Eid and also exchange hugs. This is to create a feeling of good will and unity. People also visit relatives throughout the day, enjoying food at every stop. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar and starts with the sighting of the new moon. Muslims in Muslim countries tend to celebrate Eid for three consecutive days, whilst Muslims in the UK may take a day off work or school to celebrate. Since Muslims use a lunar calendar, the Gregorian date of Eid Al-Fitr changes yearly, with Eid being eleven days earlier each year. Muslims also celebrate another Eid festival known as Eid Al Adha which commemorates Prophet Ibrahims willingness to sacrifice his son upon Gods command. Eid Al Adha is also significant because it is celebrated on the last day of Hajj, another one of the five pillars of Islam, which is the holy pilgrimage Muslims make to Makkah (Mecca). In the weeks leading up to Eid, Muslims shop for new clothes and gifts. It is customary for Muslims to decorate their houses and dress up in their best attire on the day. For breakfast, Muslims indulge in rich dishes before offering congregational Eid prayers. Prayers are offered at the mosque or outdoor spaces to facilitate the large numbers of people attending. Families and friends then slowly gather together, throughout the day, to enjoy a rich, opulent feast, at which time loved ones also often exchange gifts and money. Eid is all about feasting, since it comes after a month of fasting (Muslims are not permitted to fast on this day). Whilst there is no set menu for what should be on the table, dishes prepared are always rich and decadent. To create your own menu of mouth-watering dishes, try our favourite Eid recipes. Savoury snacks will often include samosas, nunor bora (salty rice flour puffs), meat-filled pastries, kebabs and veggie pakoras or a chicken pakora or two. Sweet snacks may include, sheer kurma, halwa, handesh and coconut samosas. For starters you may want some chicken tikka or a Bengali roast chicken dish. No Eid banquet is complete without a biryani or pilau of some sort. Bengalis for example almost always cook akhni fulab (also known as akhni fulao) for Eid, a rice dish that is cooked with tender masala-cooked meat pieces. Something a little simpler like jeera rice, can be just as satisfying. You can serve any of these rice dishes alongside a classic lamb and potato curry, beef bhuna or chicken korma. A salad is also a must, something like a classic tomato salad is simple but goes well with the rich meatiness of everything it is typically served with. Some people also like to cook dishes like lamb shanks, known as nihari, and serve it with either a flatbread, say naan. If you have any space left after snacking and lunching, then you may consider finishing off with some homemade gulab jamun, rasmalai, kheer or firni for afters. Sweet zarda and handmade biscuits like nankhatai are firm favourites, especially with a cup of tea. If however, youre not keen on Indian sweets then a fresh cream cake is perfectly acceptable too. Leave a comment below | https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-is-eid-al-fitr-and-how-is-it-celebrated |
When will new Real Salt Lake striker Bobby Wood make his debut? | Wood will give Freddy Juarez another option in attack, but he's not the only new face on the way. In recent days the club announced the signing of winger Jony Menendez and center back Toni Datkovic . "With Jony and Toni, we're in the process of doing the immigration application and getting their immigration sorted out," Fall said. "Once we can get them visas and approvals, we'll get them on the ground straight away. They'll likely have to serve a quarantine period as well then they'll be with the group. You never know with immigration, but we hope to have them both on the ground in Salt Lake in the next few weeks." | https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/when-will-new-real-salt-lake-striker-bobby-wood-make-his-debut |
How much is Kourtney Kardashians new Palm Springs home? | THE Kardashians are known for their lavish lifestyles and millionaire mansions that appear on their reality TV show. Kourtney Kardashian splurged on a new Palm Springs home for her vacations with boyfriend Travis Barker and her children. Kourtney Kardashian purchased $12million on a new home in La Quinta, California on May 27, 2021, The Sun can exclusively confirm. The home is a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion filled with state of the art amenities. It was listed for sale on February 3, 2021 for $13,995,000. According to Realtor, the contemporary and luxurious home is newly constructed and located in the prestigious Madison Club. 5 The mansion has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms Credit: Realtor.com The most stunning feature of the abode is the tranquil courtyard that features a sitting area and fire pit with panoramic views of the Santa Rosa Mountains and the 16th tee of the Tom Fazio-designed golf course. The massive pool has an infinity edge and is lined with palm trees for a relaxed feel. The home features a custom bar and wine room with quartz counters. The chefs kitchen has top-of-the-line appliances and a butler's pantry, according to the real estate site. She showed a sneak peek of the home during Memorial Day weekend, as her and Travis Barker along with her three kids, Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, five enjoyed the pool. Kourtney is also the owner of a 12,000 square-foot home in Calabasas, California. She purchased the mansion in 2014 from retired pro footballer Keyshawn Johnson for $7.45million. The home had been listed for nearly $12million in March of 2011 but was significantly reduced to almost $8million by the time Kourtney got the listing. 5 Kourtney owns a home in Calabasas that she purchased in 2014 Credit: MLS The home is located at the Estates of the Oaks guard-gated community. On February 17, 2021, Kourtney confirmed their romance by sharing a sweet photo of the couple holding hands. The pair had been exchanging flirtatious comments on social media before their first official post together. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star took to Instagram to post the picture of the two holding hands. 5 Kourtney and Travis Barker went official on social media back in February Credit: Social Media - Refer to Source MORE ON KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN KAN'T KEEP UP! Kim cries over Kanye divorce and says he 'deserves wife who can follow him' KEEP YOUR DAY JOBS Inside the Kardashians' failed careers featuring Kim's pop star turn Exclusive LOVE NEST Kourtney buys $12M La Quinta mansion featuring infinity pool & mountain views KEEPING UP WITH CANCELLATIONS Kardashian spin-off FLOPS featuring Khloe's talk show FRUSTRATED Kris tells Kourtney to 'grow old' with Scott in KUWTK clip before Travis romance Travis and the Kardashian family have known each other for years. Kourtney, Khloe and Travis are neighbors and live down the street from each other in the same gated community in Calabasas. Additionally, Travis and Kourtney's children are friends and regularly meet up for playdates. | https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/3013447/how-much-kourtney-kardashian-new-palm-springs-home/ |
Why did Kim Kardashian divorce Kanye West? | KIM Kardashian and Kanye Wests 13-year marriage has been officially over since February of 2021. The couples split was not a shock to fans and followers, as the pair had been going through a rough patch for nearly a year. Kim Kardashian revealed in Thursday, June 3rds episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians why her and ex-husband Kanye West called it quits. During the latest episode of KUWTK, Khloe, 36, asked Kim: How are you and Kanye doing? Kim looked sad as she said: Theres no fighting, like now its all calm so I just roll with it now. Khloe said in a confessional: Kim is dealing with so much right now. And its tough because right before we got here, Kim and Kanye got into this huge fight. 5 Kim said she felt 'stuck for years' in her marriage Credit: Getty Images - Getty A clip is then played of Kim sobbing on the bed next to sister Kylie Jenner, as she said: I cant do this anymore. I cant. Like he goes and moves to a different state every year." The mother of four continued: "And I have to be in a place where Im together for the kids. "And hes an amazing dad. And hes done an amazing job." She continued: "I think he deserves someone that can support his every move and go to Wyoming to be with him and follow him everywhere. "He deserves a wife who travels with him and is there for everything. I feel like a f**king failure." 5 Kim said that she just 'wants to be happy' despite the end of her marriage Credit: E! Kim concluded: "Yeah I feel like a f**king loser its the end of a 13-year-marriage. "But I cant even think about that. I want to be happy." As Kim continued to break down, Kylie began to cry next to her older sister. The Sun also exclusively revealed back in February that the couples last straw was when they could not agree about a summer vacation destination. A source told The Sun: "Friends have been told that the final straw came when Kim and Kanye were making family summer plans and they couldn't agree." The source continued: "What seemed like nothing more than a simple conversation over dates and locations escalated, and sadly it turned into a huge blowout argument. 5 Kim and Kanye's last straw was reportedly not agreeing on summer vacation plans Credit: Reuters "The final fight that ended their marriage was over nothing more than summer plans. "It was one blowout fight that wasnt even that serious and it pushed Kim over the edge. "Kim was just fed up with the endless conflict and finally called it quits." In the divorce documents, Kim is asking for joint legal and physical custody of the couple's four kids, TMZ reported. Sources close to the family told the outlet Kanye is "fine" with the joint custody arrangement as the couple is "committed to co-parenting together." According to the insider, a prenup is already arranged to handle the pair's massive $2billion fortune and neither party is contesting the agreement. The couple is also in the stages of reaching a property settlement agreement. 5 Kim and Kanye are reportedly committed to co-parenting their four children Credit: Social Media - Refer to Source According to Forbes, the TV personality turned business owner is estimated to be worth around $900million. The prenup revealed that Kim would remain the beneficiary of one of Kanye's life insurance policies, which is valued at $20million - even if the two divorced. Kim and Kanye married in 2014 in Florence, Italy after dating for three years. MORE ON KIM KARDASHIAN KAN'T KEEP UP! Kim cries over Kanye divorce and says he 'deserves wife who can follow him' Breaking KIM'S TEARS Kim cries that she 'failed' Kanye as he 'deserves wife who's there for him' KIM'S HEARTBREAK Kim Kardashian addresses divorce from Kanye for the first time on KUWTK KEEP YOUR DAY JOBS Inside the Kardashians' failed careers featuring Kim's pop star turn EI-LOVE BILLIE! Billie gets shout out from Kim after she wears SKIMS in new music video They had been friends since 2003, with Kanye famously saying in 2013 that he had wanted to be with Kim for a while. He said: "I just knew I wanted her to be my girl for a long time." The couple share daughters North, 7, Chicago, 3, and sons Saint, 5, and one-year-old baby boy Psalm. | https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/3013610/why-did-kim-kardashian-divorce-kanye-west/ |
Why is Aymeric Laporte playing for Spain at Euro 2020 and is he French? | SPAIN will be hoping to win back the European Championships they lost five years ago in France when they partake in this summer's tournament. And La Furia Roja will have the chance to do it with Man City stalwart Aymeric Laporte in their side, despite having never capped him before. 2 Aymeric Laporte has been selected to play for Spain at the Euros Credit: Reuters The 27-year-old will be taking part in his first ever major international tournament, thanks to his inclusion. Laporte was born in the French Basque Country so is French by nationality. Because of his Basque links, Laporte played his youth career and the first part of his professional career with Spanish club Athletic Bilbao. Laporte, however, played 51 times for France's youth sides, from Under-17s all the way up to the Under-21s. RIP ALAN Alan Miller dead at 51: Former Arsenal and West Brom goalkeeper passes away Exclusive PAUL IN Logan Paul looks 'like a gladiator' and 'nothing like YouTuber who fought KSI' DISGUSTING & DIRTY Everything to know about NHL player Jake Evans' injury GAME ON Tokyo 2020 chief confirms Olympics WILL go ahead despite Covid emergency in Japan Pictured PAIGE-TURNER Paige VanZant teases bikini malfunction while preparing for Ostovich fight He then earned a big-money 57m move to Manchester City, where he's gone on to become one of the Premier League's best defenders. Despite that, France boss Didier Deschamps has never selected him for the senior side. France have the likes of Lucas Hernandez, Clement Lenglet, Raphael Varane, Prensel Kimpembe and Kurt Zouma in the central defensive roles. Laporte then officially changed his international allegiance to Spain, who granted him a Spanish passport last month. The player Aymeric Laporte is eligible to play for the representative teams of the RFEF Spanish Football Association with immediate effect, it said in a statement. 2 Aymeric Laporte won the Premier League with City last month Credit: PA Players are allowed to switch allegiances, so long as they haven't played over three times for their country before the age of 21. Spain manager Luis Enrique then selected Laporte in his Euro 2020 squad on May 21, electing to leave out Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos. Laporte will going Pau Torres, Inigo Martinez and City team-mate Eric Garcia as the squad's main centre-backs. | https://www.the-sun.com/sport/3013641/why-aymeric-laporte-playing-for-spain-euro-2020/ |
Which countries could become global 'hotspots' for emergence of new coronaviruses? | China, Japan, Philippines and Thailand may turn into "hotspots" favourable for bats that carry coronaviruses and conditions in these places could become ripe for the disease to jump from bats to humans, finds a new study. The study showed that this is because of the global land-use changes including forest fragmentation, agricultural expansion and concentrated livestock production. The findings were published by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) and the Massey University of New Zealand. While the exact origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus remain unclear, scientists believe that the disease likely emerged when a virus that infects horseshoe bats was able to jump to humans, either directly through wildlife-to-human contact, or indirectly by first infecting an intermediate animal host, such as the pangolin, sometimes known as the scaly anteater. Horseshoe bats are known to carry a variety of coronaviruses, including strains that are genetically similar to ones that cause Covid-19 and SARS. The study used remote sensing to analyse land use patterns throughout the horseshoe bat`s range, which extends from Western Europe through Southeast Asia. By identifying areas of forest fragmentation, human settlement and agricultural and livestock production, and comparing these to known horseshoe bat habitats, they identified potential hot spots where habitat is favourable for these bat species, and where these so-called zoonotic viruses could potentially jump from bats to humans. The analysis also identified locations that could become easily become hot spots with changes in land use. "Land use changes can have an important impact on human health, both because we are modifying the environment, but also because they can increase our exposure to zoonotic disease," said Paolo D'Odorico, Professor of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley. Most of the current hot spots are clustered in China, where a growing demand for meat products has driven the expansion of large-scale, industrial livestock farming. The analysis also found that parts of Japan, the north Philippines and China south of Shanghai are at risk of becoming hot spots with further forest fragmentation, while parts of Indochina and Thailand may transition into hot spots with increases in livestock production. "While we are unable to directly trace the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from wildlife to humans, we do know that the type of land use change that brings humans into the picture is typically associated with the presence of these bats who are known to carry the virus," D'Odorico said. | https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-which-countries-are-global-hotspots-for-emergence-of-new-coronaviruses-2893162 |
Is Gearbox about to announce Project 1v1 at E3 2021? | The writing on the wall suggests that Gearbox Software may be showing off a project with 'years of work' behind it. In the dark corners of Gearbox Software projects, Project 1v1 is a bit of a mystery. It was a game that was purported to have mixed card and deckbuilding elements with first-person arena shooter gunplay. There have even been technical tests and NDA conversations surrounding the game But it went dark for years. Nobody knows whats been going on with it. Or at least they didnt until Take-Two Interactive revealed it was in collaboration with Gearbox on an all new IP for release within the next year - something Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford said had years of work behind it at this point. There's very little substantial info out there about what Project 1v1 is, save for the fact that it was apparently an arena shooter with card mechanics. It was during Take-Twos 2021 fiscal year-end report that it shared details about some new IPs coming within this coming year (FY 2022 for Take-Two). During the conference call that followed, Take-Two president Karl Slatoff shared that of the two IPs slated to arrive in its coming fiscal year, one was a collaboration with longtime partner Gearbox Software. Slatoff didnt speak to specifics on the matter during the call. However, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford would later tweet on the situation. When asked if Gearbox was making another game so soon, Pitchford claimed that years of work had gone into whatever the Gearbox crew is has up its sleeve. Many might think that Gearbox is working on a Borderlands 4, but the fact that Take-Two said its an altogether new IP leaves that in doubt. Instead, it could very well be the return of Project 1v1. After years of quiet on the matter, Gearbox might be finally ready to unveil more of what this game is about. Having heard word of it back in 2017, it would certainly fit the bill for an all-new IP which would have years of work behind it at this point. We also saw technical tests for the game as late as 2019. Its hard to say, but both Take-Two and Gearbox have prominent, separate events during the overall E3 2021. It seems possible that we could learn more about what the two of them are working on together at either of their shows. With E3 2021 right around the corner on June 12 to June 15, 2021, stay tuned for updates and news from the show, as well as Gearboxs Project 1v1 if it happens to make an appearance. | https://www.shacknews.com/article/124720/is-gearbox-about-to-announce-project-1v1-at-e3-2021 |
Who are they? | A commentary from Darrell Kerby, from Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Now, most of our new citizens that have immigrated to our beautiful North Idaho are not the subject of this writing. Only a few of them who believe and have self-anointed themselves as our saviors are being discussed here. North Idahos accepting nature has been turned against us by these new people who have run for political office as Republicans, were voted into office because of our own complacency of either not voting or not taking the time to learn who they were. Today these recently minted elected officials now believe they have garnered enough power to begin to expel locally grown and raised Republicans from our party by calling them names like non-Republicans or RINOs (Republicans in name only). Well, its high time those of us who have buried loved ones for generations in the hallowed soil of our home ground to stand up and make our statement that enough is enough. Recently a group of these newly minted radicals who are trying to co-opt our party have come out to smear one of our own locally home grown veteran heroes who we elected as our state senator, Jim Woodward. Using his brain when he votes. He actually doesnt listen to the organization that is being used as a shadow government known as the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a Boise-based lobbying organization that has set itself up as judge and jury for anyone who has the audacity to vote against their radical will. Our Republican Party has never been against public education, has never been about preventing efficiency in emergency response to wide-spread disasters in our state. Our Republican Party has never been racist, or tolerant of radical white supremacy groups, or individuals who advocate violence against our state and nation. Its time to call them out for who they are. Lets look at who Jim Woodward really is. A decorated veteran who was born and raised in Bonners Ferry. He attended and graduated from the University of Idaho, willingly put his life on the line to protect our freedoms by serving in our Armed forces and due to his high IQ and intellectual intelligence raised to the level of being entrusted with the most powerful weapon that has ever existed, a Trident submarine. Jim literally was trusted with the keys to launching nuclear weapons. Today, he started and owns a successful construction business home based in Bonner County where he also is raising his family. Jims ability to reason and understand complex issues has placed him as one of Idahos most respected leaders. His personal adherence to our local North Idaho moral values and his proven strength of functioning under extreme stress has allowed him to stand up to the bullying tactics used by the Idaho Freedom Foundation. It is time for all of us who value the lifestyle and freedoms that we all grew up with here in North Idaho to reject the agenda of these radical newcomers. While we are naturally accepting and willing to provide people a lot of slack when they arrive, we are also willing to tighten that slack when we see it clearly abused. Darrell Kerby is a former mayor of Bonners Ferry. Share Share +1 Stumble Shares 0 | http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/2021/06/03/who-are-they-2/ |
Why Is George R.R. Martin Going to the Hellfire Gala and Not Writing Winds of Winter? | Why Is George R.R. George R.R. Martin is a man known for one thing at this point: trying to finish The Winds of Winter, the latest, long-awaited novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire saga that gave us Game of Thrones. Hes had years and years, hes had a global pandemic locking him down from appearing at conventions and whatnot. Mister Martin apparently decided that the natives of the sovereign nation of Krakoa were more important than the book fans who have waited over a decade to produce more than a preview here and there of The Winds of Winter. So, instead of delivering us pages which he has repeatedly insisted he has how dare this venerable author, crafter of beloved worlds and inspiration to one of the largest television series of the last 10 years, cast us aside to rub shoulders with elite stars like Eminem, Megan Rapinoe, Patton Oswalt, and Jimmy Kimmel! For some reason, comics publisher and Disney subsidiary Marvel Comics revealed the full guest list of international dignitaries attending 2021s hottest event of the social calendar, which you can see below. And presumably be mad at, because these are the VIPs Martin will be swanning around with, instead of doing the only thing a man in his 70s should be doing: working. For us. The fans. Mutants aren't the only attendees of the #XMenHellfireGala. Keep an eye out for these VIP guests as you explore the party! pic.twitter.com/FYt8e7XLul Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) June 3, 2021 Honestly, enough is enough at this point. No matter how many times Martin has promised that Winds of Winter is just around the corner, it keeps getting delayed, and he keeps saying theres been progress. But here we are, still waiting while he is escorted to some giant private island nation in the Pacific to hang on a minute. And George R.R. Ah. OK. Carry on then! The Hellfire Gala begins in the pages of the entirely fictional Marauders #21, X-Force #20, and Hellions #12 this week. | https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/06/why-is-george-r-r-martin-going-to-the-hellfire-gala-and-not-writing-winds-of-winter/ |
Will Duterte's one-two punch knock out Manny Pacquiao from Philippine election? | Boxer-senator Manny Pacquiao faces the fight of his life but it wont be in the boxing ring. Allies of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte seem bent on knocking him out of contention for the 2022 presidential elections in favour of his daughter, Sara. Dutertes palace aides have hatched a complicated plan for the highly popular leader to run as the vice-presidential candidate of the ruling PDP-Laban Party and give him the leeway to choose his presidential running mate. The aides have also specified that the running mate should be presidential daughter Sara, which would in effect enable Duterte should the father-daughter team win next year have a surrogate presidency through 43-year-old Sara. Under Philippine law, a president is only allowed to govern for one six-year term. We believe that as vice-president, he can also be able to continue those reforms and continue on what he has started in his capacity as vice-president, Dutertes close aide Karlo Nograles, who sits as a member of PDP-Labans National Council, said in an ABS-CBN interview on Tuesday. He said this even though a Philippine vice-president has constitutionally no role except as a successor and requiring the president to put his running mate in the Cabinet is tantamount to imposing a condition. The wisdom and the experience that he gained from his entire political career culminating in his presidency [would allow him to] offer so many solutions, guidance and wisdom to the new president, Nograles added. A Duterte-Duterte tandem has been done by the family before, just like other Filipino political families, and with much success. A banner showing support for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to run for president is seen in a community in Manila. PHOTO: Reuters In 2010, when Rodrigo Duterte could not run again as Davao City mayor due to constitutional term limits, he persuaded his daughter to run for mayor and he ran as her vice-mayor mate. They won. When Sara hit a court sheriff in 2011, she took a leave of absence and her father became acting mayor for months. There is no constitutional bar to stop this scenario from happening on the national level should Sara get elected president and have to take a leave of absence. Unverified reports are circulating in Mindanao that due to her health problems, other presidential contenders like Pacquiao and Senator Christopher Bong Go have surfaced. What gives those rumours legs is the fact that Sara has taken medical leave four times since 2016, and has needed to fly to Singapore for health check-ups. She took a three-week leave of absence starting July 1, 2016, the first day of her term; a 60-day medical leave starting July 19, 2019; an eight-day leave starting Sept 28, 2020; and a weeks leave when she flew to Singapore in April. Neither she nor her family has ever disclosed the medical reason for these absences. Despite this, Dutertes chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo floated the idea of a Duterte-Duterte tandem in January this year a scenario that will knock out Pacquiao from the political ring. Duterte had dismissed the idea and said in February that his daughter was not running. I have really, really put my foot down, he said. I pity my daughter. Politics is swinish in this country. This was a marked departure from a year ago, when political analyst Ramon Casiple said he spoke with Duterte and our topic was his daughter. He really wanted her to run but she was hesitant, Casiple told This Week in Asia on Tuesday. He said he was not told why the Davao City mayor was hesitant but she might decide by June. The analyst disagreed with the idea that two Dutertes running together would be a sure-win. He noted that politics in the Philippines always involved making alliances with parties from other regions. . A south-south combination wont win, Casiple said, referring to the fact that both father and daughter have their political bases in the southern island of Mindanao, the least populous compared to Luzon island in the north, and the Visayan Islands in the centre. That is why you get someone else from another party in another region so you can get more votes, he said. Nograles, however, has dismissed such analysis. He said during the ABS-CBN interview that Duterte was a very popular president especially among overseas Filipino workers, and he could pull votes for his presidential running mate and help the latter hit the ground running. But he added that Duterte had not yet made up his mind about running himself. As for Pacquiao, Nograles hinted that the boxer-politician could lose his post as acting president of PDP-Laban, since this did not pass through the National Assembly or vote of all members. Pacquiao, known by fans as PacMan, was handed the post by Senator Koko Pimentel when the latter stepped down as party president last year. The move to sideline Pacquiao began on Tuesday with the convening of the party National Council, despite Pacquiaos objections that it did not have his approval. The Council consists of the top party officials led by its chairman, Duterte, who made it clear he had authorised the meeting. The Council approved two resolutions. First, it overwhelmingly backed Duterte as the partys vice-presidential contender next year and authorised him to pick his presidential running mate. Second, it shelved the ousting of Pacquiao as party president and instead called for the convening this July 17 of the entire National Assembly to decide on the boxers political fate. Pacquiaos allies inside the party immediately spoke out after the Council met on Tuesday. Party spokesman Ronwald Munsayac told reporters that Pacquiaos leadership remains strong. Were in constant communication with our over 100,000 party members all over the country, theyre in the grass roots, and they continue to support him. Munsayac expressed confidence that Pacquiao would not be removed because of the support of our grass roots members. He said that Pacquiao respected Dutertes decision to call the meeting but he was also seeking to meet the president to clear the misunderstanding. Munsayac, who chairs the partys public relations committee, also told reporters that the presidential standard bearer next year should belong to PDP-Laban, effectively shutting the door to supporting a Sara run, since she was not a party member. He said: Our advice to our members is: if we have a strong candidate from our party, why should we support a candidate from outside the party? There was no immediate counter-jab from Pacquiao, who has been described as the greatest southpaw fighter of all time, and who even came up with his own signature knockout punch called the Manila Ice. Pacquiaos Facebook and Twitter pages made no reference to his political woes. The last post on May 31 merely quoted Pacquiao as saying: At Senate session. Another days work to serve our people. Happy Monday to all! At Senate session. Another days work to serve our people. Happy Monday to all! pic.twitter.com/rPoxozC5hO Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) May 31, 2021 But on Wednesday, Pacquiao gave Dutertes energy secretary Alfonso Cusi a public thumping. Cusi, also the party vice-chairman, had been busy manoeuvring to oust Pacquiao on Tuesday when Metro Manila was hit by hours-long power outages, despite Cusis previous commitment there would be none. If I were the president, I would replace you, Pacquiao said. Asked why Duterte might not support Pacquiao as his successor, Casiple put it bluntly: I think he does not trust anyone except his family. Thats why he needs Sara. The analyst said how Pacquiao handled this fight with Duterte could affect his political future. This article was first published in South China Morning Post. | https://www.asiaone.com/asia/will-dutertes-one-two-punch-knock-out-manny-pacquiao-philippine-election |
What Is The Endgame In Nigerias South East? | NIGERIA has been struggling with insecurity for over a decade. Against reasonable expectations six years ago when President Muhammadu Buhari was voted in, things have worsened. Compared with a number of other hotspots around the world in December 2020, however, Nigeria was not even among the three riskiest places. According to global medical and security specialists, International SOS, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan were the deadliest places to be. The group also projected that these places would retain the record by the end of 2021. It seemed so. In April, for example, the United Nations reported that in the first quarter of the year in Afghanistan extremist attacks caused close to 1,800 casualties, including 573 deaths, a 29 percent increase compared with the same period last year. Syria, Libya and Yemen, too, are also haunted by a legacy of sectarian violence that appears to have exhausted the worlds care and attention. Race to the bottom But the picture in Nigeria has changed dramatically in six months. Nigeria, with nearly four times the populations of Syria, Libya and Yemen combined, appears to have joined the race to the bottom. Events since January could force a reassessment of the global insecurity map, with Africas most populous country firmly in contention for the bloodiest title. The Council on Foreign Relations reported that in the last five months of this year, 3,915 persons have been killed in violent attacks across Nigeria mostly in herder-farmer clashes and what, quite frankly, now appears to be killing for sport.The Northern states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara and Benue have recordedstaggering casualties. No part of the country has been spared. While a common thread of insecurity runs through, each of the three main regions appears to have its own peculiar franchise: banditry, farmer-herder clashes and kidnapping for ransom in the North; kidnapping and deadly herder-farmer clashes in the South West; and in the South East, random killings and systematic attacks on police stations, personnel and state institutions, including courts and electoral commission offices. The situation in the South East, also the hotbed of resurgent separatist agitations in the last few years, has deteriorated so sharply that the five states in the region, home to Nigerias third largest ethnic nationality, have virtually become a war zone. Flaring tensions Only this week, a former presidential adviser and Northern politician, Ahmed Gulak, who was visiting the East, was murdered in daylight, raising ethnic tensions. The murder has also lengthened the list of unresolved violent murders in a region where at least 127 police and security personnel have been killed this year and extra-judicial killings of innocent civilians have become rampant. Two states, Imo and Anambra (the most populous states in the region), have witnessed the most brazen and extraordinary assaults by unknown gunmen, the latest official description for violent criminals who have overwhelmed the security forces. The dangerous anti-North rhetoric by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has inflamed passions and inspired the brutal murders of innocent residents from the North. ALSO READ: Why gunmen target security formations, personnel in South East, South SouthYet, even indigenes have not been spared. One widely circulated and verified video last week showed gunmen in Enugu State dragging a man out of his car in daylight at a road junction in the city centre. They gunned him down with automatic weapons and then casually drove off. The man whose life was so casually and bestially taken, was a retired judge of the Enugu High Court, Justice Stanley Nnaji. The unknown gunmen are still at large and still unknown. Heart of the matter A cross-section of the elite in the region has blamed the rising violence on three major factors: a) the ascendancy of illegitimate politicians installed by hook and crook b) the tone-deafness of Buharis administration and his politics of spite and, c) the irresponsible conduct of leaders from the region, who have mismanaged the resourcefulness and energy of the teeming youths. Its difficult to say which factor has been the most telling. When the leadership of the political parties, especially the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was selling party positions to the highest bidders before the last general elections, most sensible people feared there would be consequences but didnt know when or how. The cohorts bought party tickets and wherever they could not buy votes during the election, bullied or suborned their way to office. Now the fruit of their corrupt harvest is keeping the regions teeth on edge. Also, the boys used as electoral fodder by politicians have not only become men, they have become monsters. Buharis tone-deafness and insensitivity have not helped matters. He has mismanaged the countrys ethnic diversity so badly that however loudly other nationalities may complain, none has been treated as shabbily, unfairly and disdainfully as the Igbo. Its been argued in some quarters that the Igbo have no reason to complain because Nigeria gave them extraordinary opportunities before the civil war. Thats nonsense. The Igbo earned what they got before the war on merit and bona fides. After the war, they fought to re-establish themselves by the straps of their own shoes. They are not asking for quota or preferential treatment, but justice and equity. Long memories Yet, whether its a minor communal clash, some misguided youths waving theBiafra flag, or Nnamdi Kanu sharing his mad fantasy about the so-called Buhari double from Sudan, this governments response has been fairly standard: it deploys a venom of force and language that suggests that whatever his claim to the contrary, Buhari still holds the Igbo in scorn and suspicion 51 years after the civil war. ALSO READ: Insecurity: South East cant achieve its demands by abusing Buhari, Govs, Says UmahiOf course, the President insists that he has nothing against Igbos and invokes his governments infrastructure record as witness. Yet what he does by soft power like passing over the Igbo man who is the next most qualified general after the death of the former army chief or his recent tweet, which evokes unpleasant memories of the civil war makes it difficult to believe him. To make matters worse, Buhari does not seem to make a distinction between extremists and their sympathisers on the one hand, and on the other, South Easterners genuinely alarmed and repulsed by the mayhem being unleashed on the region. The regions elite have not helped matters. They have preyed on the youth with their politics of opportunism and mismanaged the legacy of enterprise and industry inherited from their past.They have squandered state resources on a scale that defies belief. Perhaps the icon of this madness was former Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State who built a statue to every known god of profligacy. Nnamdi Kanu has only cynically exploited the catastrophic gaps in the failure of leadership at the national and state levels. It depends. For Buharis government, its obviously to crush and bury opposition and whip the remnant in line. But that would only produce the peace of the graveyard. For the elite, the endgame is to exploit the violence in the South East to secure a place in the next election cycle. Politicians, being politicians, crisis is the currency of relevance. And they wont waste this one. The problem is that they cant be too sure that the flame from the current blaze wont catch the hem of their pants before they have had time to escape the crime scene. Its actually sold on the delusion that the South East can secede with Nnamdi Kanu as president-in-waiting. For the last four years or so, IPOB has been working closely with a fairly well-funded separatist movement in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon which has the ambition of a breakaway Ambazonia. In April, Foreign Policy reported that Nnamdi Kanu and Ambazonian leader, Cho Ayaba, held a live-streamed joint conference to join forces, an indication that theyre taking themselves seriously. Thats a clear and present danger, but it would take more than one live-streamed fantasy to secure a separatist homeland. Catalonia is an example of how long it could take; and South Sudan, a nearby example of how to be careful what you wish for. The current strategy that treats the South East as hostile territory, deploying gross, indiscriminate and heavy-handed force would only lead to further alienation in the region. Nnamdi Kanus goal may be to secure a territory, but he wont get one, because Biafra is not a tangible space its an idea, a heartfelt cry for justice, equity and fairness. That, quite frankly, should be the endgame. Vanguard News Nigeria Like this: Like Loading... | https://thestreetjournal.org/2021/06/what-is-the-endgame-in-nigerias-south-east/ |
How to color-code shared drives' folders in Google Drive? | Google Drive has extended the color-coding capability from My Drive to shared drives and shortcuts, allowing users to customize the color of folders in shared drives and shortcuts to folders. "Assigning colors to specific folders can help you visually organize your Google Drive. For example, you can assign colors to your most important folders, making it easier to quickly navigate to them in Drive," Google said. Advertisement It is worth noting that custom folder colors in shared drives, which empower teams and organizations to store, access, and collaborate on files, and shortcuts -that make it easy to surface content without creating copies of files - are only visible to you. The new functionality is gradually rolling out to Rapid Release domains and will take up to 15 days for the feature to be visible to everyone. For Scheduled Release domains, the rollout will start on June 17, 2021. The new color-coding capability in Google Drive will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers, and users with personal Google Accounts. To set a folder color: | https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/technology/1599424-how-to-color-code-shared-drives-folders-in-google-drive |
What are terpenes and how do they affect my high? | If youve spent enough time scrolling through a weed delivery services offerings or consulting with your local budtender, youve probably heard of terpenes and how they can shape your experience of cannabis, offering what seems like a fun way to tailor your high to your vibe. To better understand what terpenes are and whether they can actually enhance your high, I spoke with Lewis Nelson, chair of the department of emergency medicine and chief of the division of medical toxicology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Terpenes are a class of small compounds that impart cannabis with flavor and fragrance, Nelson tells me. Theyre a major reason why Lemon Drop tastes lemony and OG Skunk smells skunky. And many plants contain them, not just cannabis. The limonene that makes some strains smell and/or taste like lemon, for instance, is also found in citrus fruits. While terpenes dont get you high, Nelson says there are claims that they can affect your high through whats known as the entourage effect the idea that the panoply of compounds in cannabis, which vary across strains, work synergistically with each other to make you feel a certain way. For simplicitys sake, lets focus on how terpenes influence the effect of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the compound that gets you lifted. THC does this by binding to specific endocannabinoid receptors distributed throughout your body. Nelson says that some scientists have suggested that terpenes and other molecules in various strains of cannabis change the way the THC affects your receptor and makes your experience different. This supposedly explains why one strain, which contains a specific set of compounds, gives you a lethargic body high, while another, containing a different set of compounds, yields an energized head high (although its worth pointing out that some believe that the scientific basis of weed strains is a little sketch). Clearly, terpene profiles vary from one strain to the next, so that each one tastes and smells different, Nelson says. Martin Deja/Moment/Getty Images The science is very mixed, Nelson says. The people who have looked at this in the most strident ways that is, those who have conducted rigorous clinical trials designed to minimize bias dont really show the entourage effect to be very robust. At the same time, he believes in the entourage effect to some extent, given that pure, pharmaceutical THC like Marinol, used to curb nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy and stimulate appetite in people with AIDS is not very psychoactive. Weed, on the other hand, is absolutely psychoactive, he says, suggesting that other compounds in cannabis act on THC to result in its characteristic high. "I do think there is something to be said for chemicals interacting with THC and causing it to have a different effect," he explains. Its just hard to pinpoint which chemical is doing what. Some cannabis websites say that certain terpenes have certain psychological effects limonene can supposedly quell anxiety and jumpstart energy, for example, while pinene can improve memory. But Nelson says these claims are backed mostly by surveys and anecdotes, not strictly-controlled clinical trials. Part of problem is that conducting research on a federally illegal substance like cannabis involves a ton of legal hurdles, he notes, and an elaborate study to show the subtle differences between strains, though interesting, isnt exactly lucrative to the pharma companies with the ability to fund it. But at some level, what matters is how it makes you feel, not whether or not science has proven it makes you feel that way, Nelson says. The placebo effect is real, he explains, that is, the limonene really did chill you out, even if it mightve been because you expected it to do so. In short, terpenes may affect your high, but we arent sure how. I find that the taste and aroma that terpenes provide enhance my overall experience of smoking weed, beyond the high. If you think terpenes add to the experience, whatever that means for you, then they do, even if it may not be "scientifically proven" in the traditional sense. | https://www.mic.com/p/what-are-terpenes-how-do-they-affect-my-high-81056428 |
How Did Hamas Become the Darling of the West? | JNS.org In February 2009, I wrote an essay about a symposium at UCLA that marked the beginning of Hamass penetration into academic circles. I also described the culture of fear that had overtaken many of my colleagues, who felt it was unsafe to admit to supporting Israel. Twelve years later, in the wake of the most recent conflict between Israel and Gaza and the ensuing antisemitism on our campuses and in our streets, I have revised and updated my original essay, which is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written. Written in the late 1950s, the play describes the transformation of a quiet, peaceful town into anarchy when one after another of its residents is transformed into a lumbering, thick-skinned brute. Only Berenger, a stand-in for the playwright, tries to hold out against the collective rush into rhinocerism. First, the townspeople notice a stray rhinoceros rumbling down the street. No one takes a great deal of notice other than to say that it made a lot of dust. Its a stupid quadruped not worth talking about, although it does trample one womans cat. Before long, an ethical debate develops over the rhino way of life versus the human way of life. Why not just leave them alone, a friend advises Berenger. You get used to it. The debate is quickly muted into blind acceptance of the rhino ethic, and the entire town joins the marching herd. Berenger finds himself alone, partly resisting, partly enjoying the uncontrolled sounds coming out his own throat: Honk, Honk, Honk. Related coverage With Antisemitism on the Rise, Deafening Silence From Human Rights Organizations Recent weeks have seen the most severe global spike in antisemitism in recent memory. In the United States, synagogues have... These sounds from Ionescos play have echoed in my ears twice. First in 2009, when Hamas gave its premier performance at UCLA and, second, this past week, when rhinos roamed the streets of Los Angeles shouting, Honk, Honk, Honk. Lets start in January 2009, when an email from a colleague at Indiana University queried: Being at UCLA, you must know about this symposiumpretty bad. Attached to it was Roberta Seids report on the now infamous Human Rights and Gaza symposium held a day earlier at UCLA. To refresh readers memory, this symposium, organized by UCLAs Center for Near East Studies (CNES), was billed as a discussion of human rights in Gaza. Instead, the director of the center, Susan Slyomovics, invited four speakers with long histories of demonizing Israel for a panel that Seid describes as a reenactment of a 1920 Munich beer hall. Not only did the panelists portray Hamas as a guiltless, peace-seeking, unjustly provoked organization, but they also bashed Israel, its motives, its character, its birth and conception, and led the excited audience into chanting Zionism is Nazism, F, f Israel, in the best tradition of rhino liturgy. But the primary impact of the event became evident the morning after, when unsuspecting, partially informed students woke up to read an article in the campus newspaper titled, Scholars Say Attack on Gaza an Abuse of Human Rights, to which the good name of the University of California was attached, and from which the word terror and the genocidal agenda of Hamas were conspicuously absent. This mock verdict, presented as an outcome of supposedly dispassionate scholarship, is where Hamas culture scored its first triumphthe first inch of academic respectability, the first inroad into Western minds. Naturally, when students complained to me about how abused and frightened they felt during the symposium and how concerned they were about the direction taken by the Center for Near East Studies, I felt terribly guilty. What is a legitimate military target? In 2009, these were new dilemmas that had not surfaced prior to the days of rockets and missiles, and we, the Jewish faculty, ought to have pioneered their study. Instead, we allowed Hamass sympathizers to frame the academic agenda. Burdened with guilt, I called some colleagues, but quickly realized that a few had already made the shift to a strange-sounding language, not unlike Honk, Honk. Some had entered the debate phase, arguing over the rhino way of life versus the human way of life, and the majority, while still speaking in a familiar English vocabulary, were frightened beyond anything I had seen at UCLA in the 40 years that I had served on its faculty. Colleagues told me about lecturers whose appointments were terminated, professors whose promotion committees received incriminating letters, and about the impossibility of revealing ones pro-Israel convictions without losing grants, editorial board memberships, or invitations to panels and conferences. And all, literally all, swore me into strict secrecy. Hardly. I invite skeptics to repeat the private experiment that I conducted among Jewish faculty in a reception hosted in 2008 by the Center for Jewish Studies at UCLA. I asked each of them privately: Tell me, arent you a Zionist? I then counted the number of times my conversant would look to the right, then to the left, before whispering: Yes, but. I am sure that anyone who repeats this experiment will be as alarmed as I was about the level of academic terror that has descended on US campuses, especially in the humanities and political and social sciences. Our generation of Jewish students are paying dearly for the failure of our academic leadership to acknowledge, assess and form a unified front to combat this academic terror. And this brings me to 2021 and to the latest war in Gaza. To the New York Times front page depicting the victims of Israels defense operation, as if they had never heard the word Hamas or read Hamass charter. To CNNs anchor Fareed Zakaria asserting that Israel is a military superpower, hence Hamas does not pose an existential threat to it. To NYT analyst Nicholas Kristof asserting (in an interview with Bill Maher) that Israel, too, positions its military headquarters among civilians. To UCLAs Department of Asian American Studies stating (on its official university website) its Solidarity with Palestine and its authoritative understanding that such violence and intimidation are but the latest manifestation of seventy-three years of settler colonialism, racial apartheid, and occupation. To the statement of scholars of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies from various universities who, in the Forward, condemned the state violence that the Israeli government and its security forces have been carrying out in Gaza. To members of If Not Now, saying Kaddish for fallen Hamas fighters (among other victims). And, finally, to the mob roaming the streets of Los Angeles and shouting, Honk, Honk, From the River to the Sea. Looking back on the past 12 years, there is no question that Hamas has gained a major uplift in status and respectability. It has become, in fact, the darling of the West. Western analysts will go to any absurd lengths to fabricate symmetry between Israel and Hamas, because symmetry is our new goddess of right and wrong. But lets not forget that it all started in academia, with a herd of passionate intellectuals who managed to hijack the name of their academic institution, which hardly cared. Do not blame them. After all, intellectuals are trained to cheer their peers when the marching band starts playing, and academic institutions are too slow to understand what is being done in their names. Sadly, as Ionesco understood so well, we are all herd-honking organisms. Please take another look at the rhinos roaming the streets of Los Angeles (here) and see for yourself how hard it is to hold back and not join them with: Honk, Honk! Judea Pearl is a chancellor professor at UCLA, co-author of The Book of Why and president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation (www.danielpearl.org), named after his son. He and his wife, Ruth, are editors of I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl (Jewish Light, 2004), winner of the National Jewish Book Award. This article was first published by the Jewish Journal. | https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/06/03/how-did-hamas-become-the-darling-of-the-west/ |
Are Swing Voters Worried About Cancel Culture? | Leading The Bulwark RICH THAU: A conversation with Trump-to-Biden voters about cancel culture. Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark podcast, Stephen Fowler joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss SB 202, the new Georgia voting law, Marjorie Taylor-Greene and the Anglo Saxons, and how white nationalism and America First have seemingly become synonymous. Also: The Chauvin verdict is coming. Join now From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark... TOM KLVAA: For President Biden, it should be a wake-up call to strengthen pro-Western forces in Central and Eastern Europe. SHIKHA DALMIA AND ARTHUR MELZER: Conservatives should accept their victoriesnot just stew over their losses. BRENT ORRELL: The brain enhancements and robotic friends of Kazuo Ishiguros Klara and the Sun. ADDISON DEL MASTRO: The industrys assault on a Sony innovation presaged a sea change in the music landscape. Join now OVERTIME Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was as enjoyable as mine was. I got to take my family to church for the first time in 14 months, and our parish is taking it very seriously. While my daughters were sad they couldnt take up non-perishables before Communion, they still got to bring some food to help stock the pantry. Speaking of the pantry You should check out The Department of Salad for some great dressing recipes from Emily Nunn. I am pretty picky, but there are a lot of great recipes here that I plan to try. #5 in our programs. #1 in our hearts. Another thing I did this weekend was watch the memorial service for Bobby Plager, the Ambassador of the Saint Louis Blues. If youre a hockey fan, tune in for some of the tributes, youll appreciate them. Its a long one, but if you want to see what Bobby Plager meant to Saint Louis hockey fans, just watch this one bit. Thinking back about Gregg Pruitt. One of the best Cleveland Browns players in history, and a very interesting story about how he ended up in Cleveland. Cops, Crime, and Race Read our friend (and occasional contributor) Cathy Young in the newly re-launched Arc Digital (subscribe!) on the toxic discourse surrounding the very real problems in policing. Speaking of things you should consider supporting Our friend Stephen Gutowski has launched his own publication covering all things second amendment. If youre interested in the shitshow that is the NRA bankruptcy, Stephen is covering that like no other. He is, hands down, the best gun reporter I know of. The Congressman representing one of the worst gerrymandered districts in the country is retiring. I know youre not all from Ohio like I am, but come on: THE. BEST. IS. YET. TO. COME! The worst video game ever created. In The New Yorker, meet Desert Bus. Ive achieved a Zen-like state while playing it, where it doesnt bother me as long as I dont think about it, Stark continued. If I do think about it, its goddam awful. Enjoy that #LongRead. Falling from the edge of space. The strange, true tale of Bill Weaver, whose SR-71 Blackbird broke up mid flight at the edge of the atmosphere. Seriously. The $100 New Jersey Deli youve never heard of. At Defector, a story of a hole-in-the-wall concept that seems not very above board. Thats it for me for today. Well see you back here tomorrow. Drop me a line: [email protected]. 30 Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/are-swing-voters-worried-about-cancel |
Can Reporting Change the World? | Review: News of the World (PVOD and Theaters Now) Theres a moment midway through News of the World that will either be too hokey for your taste or appropriately earnest, a soothing balm against the roughness of modernitys sores. Which way you lean will probably determine how much youll enjoy the picture. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) has been shanghaied by one Merritt Farley (Thomas Francis Murphy), a petty tyrant who has claimed Texass Erath County for himself. Captain Kidd travels the trails, charging a dime a head from folks who want to hear about the world beyond their borders; Farley demands he hold a reading for those who work like dogs in his town, skinning buffalo by the dozen and slaughtering Indians at the same pace. Wary, but sensitive to the danger this Farley presents not only to him but also his young charge, Johanna (Helena Zengel), a girl of German extraction raised by Kiowa following a raid on her homestead, Captain Kidd agrees to do the reading. The small dinginess of Erath contrasts with the beauty of the open country and the grandeur of previous stop on the reading trail, Dallas. Kidds reading in Erath is outdoors, lit not by oil lamps but by burning torches. Bottles of booze are passed around as men and women hang off of one another. The staging and the lighting by Paul Greengrass practically screams, Be careful what you say: this is a mob. Kidd reads not from the Erath Journal but from a northern periodical, Harpers Illustrated, highlighting a story about a group of miners in Pennsylvania caught underground and fighting off a fire. Poor people, people oppressed by a Farley of their own. Eraths citizens, this gathered mob, are roused by Kidds readingperhaps there is a better life for them, after alland Farley is nonplussed. He demands Captain Kidd read from the Journal. To tell the assembled rabble stories they already know. The sort of thing these people expect to hear, as Farley puts it. You can almost hear him muttering under his breath feed them fake news. But the people dont want to hear what they expect! Their voices rise in opposition, demanding to know more about the coal miners, about the world outside their little warren. A better world. So, naturally, Farley tries to kill Captain Kidd. And, equally naturally, one of the townsfolka soft-headed boy named Fred (John Calley) enthralled by Captain Kidds storytellingis inspired to rise up against the towns wicked ruler, slaying one of his minions and allowing Kidd and Johanna to escape. News of the World is quite good, the sort of amusingly revisionist western that treats the cavalry with mistrust while keeping the brutality of the Kiowa tastefully offscreen. All we see of their violence against Johannas family is faded blood spatters and a stray arrow in a door frame. The Kiowa are practically elvish in their bearing, Greengrass shooting them on the march while weather shrouds them from our sight; theyre first seen across a river in a thunderstorm and later within a sandstorm, stoic ghosts in the mist sailing into the west. Hanks radiates fatherly assurance, while Zengel is nearly feral as the girl who has been made an orphan twice over. There is action and adventure, there are Western landscapes, there are men looking to redeem themselves and find purpose in the world. But the western tropes exist merely to serve this little vignette in the middle of the movie: The power to change the world through storytelling is the crux of the matter. And while the intention is undoubtedly good, I wonder if its not just a little bit Pollyannish. Because the problem with the world, as weve seen in the last few years, isnt that people are force-fed fake news though they yearn for something better. The problem is that they want fake news. Its that they want to hear stories about their brave leaders protecting them from filthy outsiders. Its that they want to be cocooned in a reality of their choosing, one where facts dont matter altogether much. And if the Erath Journal, by some miracle, started presenting news that made them uncomfortable, well, theyll just pick up ErathMax or One Erath News. I admire Paul Greengrass, who got his start in the world of journalism, for maintaining his faith in the power of the pen to shape the world in a more pleasing way. Im not sure I share it any longer. The Age of Scission (Pictured above: a niche program in the Age of Scission.) One of the more pleasing aspects of News of the World is the idea of people coming together to hear stories chosen by a stranger to help them make sense of their world. News from locales near and far compiled to give them a better idea of the universe in which they live, a common frame of reference. Sometimes those stories are deadly serious, as when Captain Kidd relays the mounting death toll from a meningitis outbreak; others are funnier and more playful, as when he relays a story of a man who was buried too early and interrupted a wedding with his entombed pleas for help. We dont really live in such a world any longer; everyone is their own assignment editor and the algorithms that surround us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and YouTube are designed to feed us more of the same, to reinforce our views and our notions. Ours is a more fractured world, one in which its harder to determine what experiences are communal and what are niche. As I suggested in my newsletter last week, we live in The Age of Scission. Now, biggest can have several meanings: critical prestige versus raw viewership versus viewership in the demo for TV; raw box office versus per-screen averages versus Oscar gold for movies. But, generally speaking, biggest means most watched. As one of my favorite writers, the Entertainment Strategy Guy, demonstrates, we have no idea how to answer that question now in any sort of concrete way. Oh, we can make gestures toward what was most popular by looking at Nielsen data and Google searches and datecdotes released by Netflix. But its all a black box. When the ESG suggests that Tiger King was the biggest show of 2020, I have no reason to doubt him and no ability to conjure up a particularly persuasive counter. Wonder Woman 1984 likely drove the most signups of any individual movie to any individual service, and for that HBO Max is undoubtedly grateful, but it received mediocre reviews and we dont, you know, know how many people actually watched it. The Nielsen data suggests Hamilton was the most-watched non-kids movie in America, though I dont think theres any reason to exclude movies for kids! But maybe whats the biggest is simply no longer an operative question. In the Age of Scission, even the biggest hits are relatively small. Perhaps we need a new way of thinking about measuring impact and influence. Assigned Viewing: Captain Phillips (free with ads on Prime) Greengrass and Hanks previously worked together on Captain Phillips, which chronicled the efforts of Richard Phillips (Hanks) to save his crew and his ship from Somali pirates who had hijacked his container vessel. Captain Phillips, like News of the World, is about an everyman trying to keep innocents from harm while also navigating a cultural clash and the shifting tides of a changing world. And Captain Phillips, like News of the World, features some solidly rousing action and impressive suspense, given that we all know how that story turned out. What Captain Phillips has that News of the World lacks is a compelling villain: Abduwali Muse, played by Barkhad Abdi. Emaciated and ferocious, Abdis Im the captain now entered the lexicon as a meme. But his is a subtle, sad performance, one that doesnt excuse Somali piracy even as it humanizes those who choose this particularly dreadful line of work. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/can-reporting-change-the-world |
What Happened To Marcel From Friends? | Jennifer Aniston combines ageless, stunning beauty with humor, approachability and familiarity that few other celebrities can match. While she looks every bit the movie star, you can still picture her at your average girls night sharing stories over margaritas, or sitting next to you while you get pedis and gossip about your love lives. You want to look like her and hang out with her. You cant help but like her, and it pays Aniston very handsomely to be likable. From horror movies to failed TV shows to Friends and megastardom, find out Jennifer Anistons net worth and exactly how she made it. | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2262975224940/what-happened-to-marcel-from-friends |
Can We Get Along Together After Trump? | Leading The Bulwark Brian Karem: Lets learn from the example of Daryl Davis. Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark Podcast, Tim Miller joins Charlie Sykes to discuss Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and the Art of the Steal. Megan McArdle of the Washington Post joins the crew to discuss the Keystone coup, how Biden should try to heal the nation, and what to do about Coronavirus. For Bulwark+ Members Bill Kristol, Charlie Sykes, Sarah Longwell, and Mona Charen held a discussion on what the future of the party is. Remember: Whenever we have a livestream, the video will be archived on the post with the log-in information. Were going to be doing livestreams between now and the Inauguration of President-Elect Biden, and afterwards. You can get access to them if youre a member of Bulwark+. If youre not: Join now From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark. Ben Waldman:With a new team at the Pentagon and the freedom of a lame duck, President Trump may be about to indulge his most dangerous foreign policy desires. Nicholas Romanow: If the United States is to fend off the challenge from the Chinese Communist Party, it must recommit to its own ideals and values. Screen Time with Sonny Bunch: Matthew McConaughey's 'Greenlights' reviewed Join now OVERTIME We made it to Friday! I may have run out of parmesan cheese last night, but the Rigatoni with White Bolognese was a success. If youre not doing a big Thanksgiving dinner, consider it as an entree. Trumps new lawyer is Q-Anon adjacent. "Its over, Johnny! The last free episode of the Sub Beacon podcast is upon us. What was a podcast that started at TWS, and later migrated to the Washington Free Beacon, is ending their run as a free podcast. Were it up to me (its not, obviously), wed call it the Sub Bulwark since 2/3 of the show is now here at The Bulwark. But if you love this cult classic pop culture podcast, dont worry! Its moving to Patreon. This was one of the first podcasts I ever produced, and I was worried it would go away, but Im glad to see it live on. Time to stand up and move on In The Detroit News, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, and Republican Rep. Paul Mitchell argue: The continued refusal to acknowledge the election results risks corroding our democracy by literally hollowing it out. If we no longer believe in our own system with our local elected clerks following the laws then our ability to choose our leaders is at fundamental risk, as is our system of governing. This isnt about any one person. This is about maintaining the system that our Founding Fathers designed, and that defines us as a nation. House Hunters My neighborhood was on the HGTV show House Hunters last night. I dont watch housing shows, but HGTV even got a drone to do a flyover of the community. Ultimately, the recently married couple opted to buy in our community. Celebrities: they walk among us! Condi kneecaps Scott Atlas. Turns out Stanfords faculty is getting fed up with the Presidents unqualified COVID-19 czar. In a resolution condemning him, Rice said Atlas has gone well beyond the boundaries of what is appropriate. Axios scolds the media Again. At Washingtonian, Andrew Beaujon takes the scolds to task: Jim VandeHei, co-founder of the Arlington-based media company Axios on Friday offered some unsolicited tough love for something called the media: The media remains fairly clueless about the America that exists outside of the big cities, where most political writers and editors live. The coverage missed badly the surge in Trump voters in places obvious (rural America) and less obvious (Hispanic-heavy border towns in Texas). Admonitions like this come with some depressing frequency from VandeHei, going back to a godawful series of articles he and Axios co-founder Mike Allen wrote at Politico, notably one that scolded the mediaby which they meant two East Coast newspapersfor how they played stories about President Obama and his then challenger Mitt Romney in their print editions. VandeHei and Allen called an article about Romneys equestrian activities more voyeuristic than relevant and managed to overlook that their own East Coast publication had already published six items about it. (Politico later aggregated criticisms of the column in a separate blog post.) As Walt Kelly once sketched: Reminds me of The Simpsons: In Georgia, its over Of course, not without some Trumpian drama, but consider these results certified: RIP Lola Bistro. Cleveland celebrity chef Michael Symon is closing his flagship restaurant, Lola Bistro. The Cleveland Scene reports: If someone could tell me that this will all be over, whatever, pick a month, then you plan to make it to there, he says. But no one knows. Im fortunate to be friends with some of the smartest people in the business and nobody has an answer because you dont know what the future holds. The end of an era in Cleveland dining. Thats it for me today. You know how to reach me: [email protected] Remember, you can sign up for Bulwark+ here: Join now If you want to generously give a gift of Bulwark+ membership for the holidays, you can do that, too. Give a gift subscription Or if you want to share the sad news of the end of Lola Bistro with somebody, you can share my newsletter, which is the free one, with anyone and everyone. Id appreciate it. Share Overtime Ill be back on Monday, where I will have more holiday gift ideas. Stay safe and Ill see you then. 30 | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/can-we-get-along-together-after-trump |
Can We Stop Americas Free Fall? | Leading The Bulwark Richard North Patterson on the characteristics of our decline. Join now On the Pods On today's Bulwark Podcast, Kim Wehle joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss the bombshell NYT story about President Trump's taxes, the supreme court vacancy, the future of the court, and the 2020 elections. This week, on the Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, Sonny talks to Chris Yogerst about his new book, Hollywood Hates Hitler: Jew-Baiting, Anti-Nazism, and the Senate Investigation into Warmongering in Motion Pictures. Lawfares Jack Goldsmith discusses his new book, After Trump. The group then tackles the Supreme Court and Trumps threat to election integrity. From our friends at Checks & Balances At Checks & Balances, Paul Rosenzweig has a great new episode of Threats to This American Election with Nina Jankowicz and Cindy Otis about Russia's influence on the 2020 elections, and threats from American disinformation. Listen here From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark James Wigderson: Tracing the decline of the Wisconsin GOP. Amanda Carpenter: The rush to confirm Barrett is all about 2020 anyhow. Tim Miller: The freeloader-in-chief paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. Mark Weinberg, a former Reagan aide, asks what his boss would have done in 2020. Daniel McGraw: Kanye Wests candidacy will have no importance on the outcome of the election in spite of his name recognition and the chaotic news cycles he briefly commanded. Rich Thau: Inside a focus group with African-American voters who stayed home or went for a third-party in 2016. Brian Karem: I was surprised by his answer about a peaceful transfer of power. I shouldnt have been. Overtime YIKES. Michelle Bachmann has totally lost it. Facing financial ruin, Donald Trump sought control of his elderly fathers estate. The family fight was epic. A must read in the Washington Post. Our kind of crook. Six years ago today, Jim Traficant died. #BeamMeUp. I was not a Traficant fan, at least politically, but as a student of politics, I always was interested in characters. In my home office, I have two prison paintings from Congressman Jimbo. Prisoners arent allowed to hawk their prison-made wares, so Traficant traded them to a local printer when he ran for Congress right after getting out of prison for signs. One is of a vampire, the other of a goblin. John Kelly and Corey Lewandowski allegedly fighting is the story of 2020 you didnt need. Because we know who would win. Truly Amazing The degrees to which Mollie Hemingway will stoop know no bounds. As a former staffer for members of both congressional tax writing committees, I can tell you that probably all of or most of us dont try and write off our haircuts, for example. The North Koreans are probably watching this and blushing. Come on. Thanks to those of you who have joined us as members of Bulwark+. If you havent joined yet, please consider it! Join now If you have, and know somebody who would appreciate our little concern, you can gift Bulwark+ to those who might be interested. Give a gift subscription Thats it for me for today. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, you know how to reach me: [email protected]. Until next time 30 | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/can-we-stop-americas-free-fall |
Does Coach Norv Turner Now Have A Role With the Washington Football Team? | ASHBURN, Va. -- Scott Turner enters Year 2 as the Washington Football Team offensive coordinator. While he's still young and largely new to his position, make no mistake, he has plenty of experience and DNA on his side. And now he has his dad, Norv Turner, at his side, too. Scott Turner has more talent to work with this year, including a quarterback that he and the staff believe in. Ryan Fitzpatrick needs to be stable, but the electric speed and playmaking ability of Curtis Samuel and Dyami Brown should compliment already proven target Terry McLaurin. Turner has last year's experience to build off for 2021. He also has his father, Norv, welcome in an unofficial capacity to pitch in. Norv Turner, the former WFT head coach, returned to the team facility a couple of weeks ago for the first time since being fired by owner Dan Snyder. He can now be wherever he wants something that was not possible last year due COVID regulations. READ MORE: Norv's Back in Town It's great. Last year was tough because he would have been out here, but obviously with all of the COVID regulations and rules we couldn't have him in here," Scott Turner told reporters Thursday. "Just to see him and have him be here and not only here but staying at my house around my kids and hanging out with my mom here too was great. He watches our tape and we talk all the time anyway, but just having him here in the meetings with guys was good. He worked with most of our staff and a lot of our players that we had in Carolina, so they were happy to see him and he was giving them all a hard time. Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator in Carolina until Rivera was fired by the Panthers, yielding the responsibilities to his son for the final four games of the season. READ MORE: Washington Hopes to Take New Steps Under Del Rio in Year 2 When Scotty told me, Hey we invited him to practice. I said it is kind of cool having Coach (Norv) around," WFT coach Ron Rivera said last month. "I was very fortunate to have worked for him and have him be part of my staff in Carolina. Very familiar with Coach, I really do value his opinion. I think its kind of cool to have him around to look at things and be able to talk to him about whats going on and what he thinks. The thought of the Turner's return to working with Rivera was always an option. There's now an answer. Norv Turner can be around. Norv will continue to have access to all of Washington's coaches tape so he can at least review and advise from afar - essentially the setup will be similar to how it once worked here for Mike and Kyle Shanahan. This can only help WFT as Norv Turner is one of the more respected offensive minds in the game. Now, he's essentially working for Washington for free, for fun, and for the benefit of his son. READ MORE: OTA Observations From Ashburn | https://www.si.com/nfl/washingtonfootball/news/coach-norv-turner-role-washington-football-team |
Is Jason Kenney is trying to lose and make Rachel Notley Albertas premier again? | Ive known Jason Kenney, the premier of Alberta, for most of my life. We became buddies when I was a law student in Edmonton, and he was the head of the taxpayers federation in Alberta. Even when the pandemic caused other Canadian politicians to go into panic, Kenney didnt. He didnt lock down as widely or deeply as Ontario or Quebec or B.C. did. He held out; which I think is what Albertans pretty much wanted. Then something changed I have no idea what. Until that moment, Kenney had been the decider he listened to advisors from the public health bureaucracy, but he gave their advice a certain weight no less, but no more than it was due, balancing it against other concerns. Like the harms from lockdowns. And, the alleged positive effects of lockdowns. But then something flipped. I sense that the senior politicians themselves never really believed in the lockdown. Because would you look at this: From the DMs... As of June 1st, outdoor gatherings are allowed if theres social distancing, no indoor component & max 2 households is the goal. Unless youre the @UCPCaucus. On the roof of the sky palace. Then its scotch for everyone!#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli #patio pic.twitter.com/ClcYDYr47a The Breakdown (@TheBreakdownAB) June 2, 2021 These pictures were published yesterday. Its Kenney, and his health minister Tyler Shandro, and other senior staff, having a luxury, white table cloth dinner with wine, whiskey and servers. On the patio roof of a tower overlooking the city of Edmonton. Theyre the masters of the universe! Living the high life! Except they were caught. See, in Alberta right now, you cant go to a restaurant and have that many people sit together. Heres the rules, as of June 1st: Restaurants outdoor patio dining for up to 4 household members per table, or 3 people if diners who live alone are with their 2 close contacts Thats an outdoor patio. Theyre each from different households. More than three people there. More than four. And then theres the waiters. Looks like it. Table. Tablecloth. Waiters. Service. In a government building. Because no other restaurants are allowed in Alberta right now except as described above. Well, that is a very special place. Its nickname is the Skypalace. Its where the king and his court can look at their kingdom, master of all they survey. They can maybe even look down, with a telescope, to make sure the little people arent gathering in groups of more than four. With liquor. With white linens. With servants. Looking over the city. Yeah, no. Im so sorry, because Ive known Jason Kenney for most of my life, and he truly has been a conservative champion. But this bell cant be un-rung. The polls say hes going to lose the next election. And those polls were before these photos. Hes going to make Rachel Notley the NDP premier again. I just think its going to happen. GUEST: Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot on Twitter) on Joe Biden's destruction of American energy independence. FINALLY: Your messages to me! | https://www.rebelnews.com/ezra_levant_show_june_03_2021 |
Did We Forget Our Democracy Is Still Under Threat? | Leading The Bulwark SARAH LONGWELL: Complacency is an inherent weakness of democracy. Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark podcast, Kim Wehle joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss the Chauvin trial and verdict, the GOPs state-level push against protesters, the first amendment and cancel culture, as well as a discussion about police and election reform. Nicholas Jareckithe writer and director of the opioid crisis thriller Crisistalks to Sonny about the making and casting of Crisis, the evolving international market for feature films, and the difficulties of promoting a movie when one of the actors is undergoing a PR crisis of his own. For Bulwark+ Members MORNING SHOTS: The GOP Attacks the 1st Amendment CHARLIE SYKES with an update on a boondoggle THE TRIAD: How to Grow Old Ancient advice for both the young and the elderly. From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark... TIM MILLER: Police violence, the culture, and opportunities for progress. OLIVIA TROYE: What started as campaign rhetoric became government policy and, for a few days, a congressional caucus. OVERTIME Happy Thursday! Remember, we have TNB tonight at 8 eastern. Details are above, and will be emailed again at 7. Well see you there if youre a member of Bulwark+. The strange case of Myrna Bain National Reviews first black staffer. Beyond parody. Buying a piece of wood for the performative culture wars. Annual elections. I dont own a lot of stocks. When I was a kid, my grandfather, head of a business school at a community college in Ohio, gave each grand child $3,000 to invest, but we had to write a proposal about what we wanted to invest in and why. I picked U.S. Airways and Philip Morris. (U.S. Airways CEO apologized to me when I told him this story when he was lobbying my boss because they went bankrupt and lost me half of my investment. I told him it was a good life lesson.) Airlines are often bad investments. Cigarette conglomerates, well, were a very good investment. A few times a year, my wife looks askance when I get a magazine wrapped in privacy plastic like its some obscene magazine. Its the Annual Report! Why they do this, I dont know. Probably to protect my ballot in case my USPS delivery person wants to vote on my behalf. Today, I got Southwest Airliness annual report. They are my favorite airline and obviously I didnt learn my childhood lesson. Reading these reports are interesting, at least to me. (If you care to read, here it is.) While I have no plans to fly anywhere anytime soon, I do look forward to flying SWA when I do. Marcos performative Twitter. A few years ago, Marco Rubio sent his followers a tweet suggesting they show up in person or call a restaurant in his state owned by a guy who cozied up to a brutal dictator. Now, Marco is wondering why people dont want to work service jobs. Speaking of restaurants A new one opened up by me during the pandemic, but Ive yet to try it. Its a really interesting concept. I Escaped the Cult. But I Couldnt Escape the Cult Mentality. A worthwhile #longread by Daniella Young. Thats it for me. See you tonight. Drop me a line at: [email protected] if you want to reach out, and Ill do my best to get back in touch with you. 30 Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/did-we-forget-our-democracy-is-still |
Did Draymond Green throw shade at Warriors during TNT broadcast? | Draymond Green was talking about the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. But that may not have been what he was really talking about. The Golden State Warriors star was back on TNTs Inside the NBA as a studio analyst. During a group discussion about the Wizards, Green gave an interesting take on what the teams plans should be moving forward. He said Washington needs to decide if they are committed to Russell Westbrook. If so, Green said that they should go get veteran players to complement Westbrook and Bradley Beal instead of draft picks. That dont work, Green said bluntly. Of course, that sounds suspiciously like Golden States own situation with Green and Stephen Curry. The Warriors chose to keep and develop No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman this year. But Wiseman had a hard time fitting in as a rookie and ended up suffering a season-ending knee injury. Though Curry had an MVP-caliber year and Green continued to make a strong two-way impact, Golden State still failed to make the playoffs, in part due to their odd roster construction. The Warriors may get a boost next season from Klay Thompsons expected return from injury. But Green has made clear on other occasions that he is somewhat skeptical about the direction of the team. | https://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/draymond-green-throw-shade-warriors-tnt-broadcast/579809 |
How Can a Voter Be "Undecided" About Trump? | 1. The Perfect Undecided Trump Voter There is this weird theory of victory for Trump that goes something like this: You political obsessive think the rest of America looks at every little scandal the way you do. The rest of America doesnt know what the Hatch Act is, let alone care about it. They dont know that Trump told Xi he was onboard with concentration camps. They havent heard any tapes Bob Woodward made and wouldnt trust they were real if they did. The people who will decide the election in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are low-information voters who arent political obsessives. They dont follow every scandal. They just take a 35,000 foot view of the world and their lives. And they might well vote for Trump. I dont buy this argument. If you knew nothing about politics and only went by the macro indicators, then your view of the world right now is: Holy crap. Everything is terrible. Hundreds of thousands of dead Americans. No jobs. No school. Masks everywhere. No normal life. And if you know everything about politics, then you arent going to vote Trump either. Because you watched Trumps COVID press conferences. You know about the Russian bounties on American soldiers. You heard the testimony of a string of former Trump staffers saying hes unfit for office. You saw how Trump sucked up to China and North Korea and tried to extort American allies. So the Trump theory of victory relies on the existence of a very specific type of voter, in some very targeted places, with very peculiar information sets. They know about the 200,000 dead and the unemployment, but . . . They have a sophisticated enough understanding of epidemiology and economics to believe that the pandemic was unavoidable and we are heading into a V-shaped recovery. They dont know about any of the Trump scandals, but . . . Theyre familiar with unpopular ideas such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, which make them suspicious of Democrats. Theyre not happy with the direction of the country under an anti-establishment president, but . . . Theyre wary of going back to the establishment politics that created peace and prosperity for most of the previous decade. The undecided voter who breaks for Trump has to be a perfectly calibrated individual who knows exactly enough to be open to Trumpbut not one iota more. The only possible answer is through the creation of an artificial information bubble that is part pipeline and part shield. Which is fundamentally different from electioneering or campaigning as we have understood the terms for the last several generations. I bring this all up because it points to what the Trump campaign is really trying to do: The Trump campaign has no intent to capture undecideds. Instead, the campaign is banking on two long shots: That there are enough people who hate Democrats / the media / brown people that theyll vote for Trump because of the halo-effect he gives them as a lifestyle brand. The influence of the pandemic will create a Black Swan election in turnout, where the number of voters will either be so high or so low as to produce a result totally divorced from all current polling assumptions. The Biden campaign, on the other hand, is taking a two-track approach: Trying to win over undecideds and cement the partys bond with recently-disaffected suburban Republicans while also reassembling the 2008 Obama coalition. If turnout is within expected parameters, then Biden is likely to win if he succeeds with either of these strategies. If he succeeds with both, he is likely to win by a very large margin. Join now 2. Catholicism Inc. Trumpisms conquest of the Catholic Church continues apace. See this amazing piece by my buddy Ed Condon over at the Catholic News Agency: In an interview Wednesday, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission accused Catholic bishops of hiding behind the Churchs tax exempt status instead of backing political candidates, and said that priests and lay Catholics have a right to conduct political activity on parish premises. Before we go on, I just want to be clear about whats happening: This is basically the head of Trumps FECwho is Catholicsitting down with a rad-trad interviewer in order to demand that bishops, priests, and Catholic laypeople campaign for Donald Trump at their churches. With that straight, lets continue: The Catholic Church has had long-standing policies against endorsing particular candidates for political office. Experts in civil and canon law explained to CNA why Catholic clerics do not endorse political candidates, and why that issue touches on the religious liberty of the Church. James E. Trainor, a Catholic, was appointed to the bipartisan commission by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate earlier this year. He spoke Wednesday in an interview with the website Church Militant. In his interview, Trainor questioned the legal and moral authority of bishops to limit the endorsement of candidates from the pulpit and in the pews. I dont think a bishop has the right to tell a priest that he cant come out and speak When the priest takes the vow [sic] of obedience to the bishop, it is in the area of faith and morals, but they have a higher duty to our Lord, and if the bishop is putting something out there that is not right then the priest has an obligation to the faithful to correct it, he said. . . . Trainor also said bishops are too cautious about their ability to engage directly in partisan politics under civil law. The bishops are using their nonprofit status as a shield to hide behind, he said, from having to make a decision about who to support [in the elections]. . . . During the interview, Trainor also said that in his view, civil law prevents bishops from prohibiting their priests from endorsing candidates. If you look at it just from a legal perspective, the priest to bishop is still an employer-employee relationship and thats the employer telling the employee what they can and cannot do. We dont tolerate that anywhere else, in fact there has been this huge uproar over NFL owners not allowing players on the field to be able to protest. You can read Eds piece if you want to see Trainor taken apart. But the point of this isnt Trainors grasp of either civil or canon law. No, the point is that the cult of Donald Trump demands total obeisance from its supplicants. Also: That Trump views the Catholic Church itself as a supplicant. And finally: That there is a faction of the Church which agrees with him. Give a gift subscription 3. Friday Steiner Share The Triad | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/how-can-a-voter-be-undecided-about |
How normal will Jim Jordan's new district be? | Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark podcast, Will Saletan joins Charlie Sykes to discuss Americas nation of victims, and how the two parties have switched culture war strategy, seemingly turning it upside down. Bulwark+ Content & MORNING SHOTS: Scenes From The Culture War CHARLIE SYKES: Yoga, the 1619 project, and Critical Race Theory THE TRIAD: The Dictators Are Winning JVL on why the democracies don't seem to care. JVL on Life and death and the grift. CHARLIE SYKES reads your emails on Cheney, Kinzinger, the Arizona Fraudit, and third parties.... TIM MILLER on why the triumph of the normcore is the real story. Join Now to Get Access to Bulwark+ From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark... DAVID J. KRAMER: The administration is signaling it wants to reach an understanding with Moscow. Its predecessors made the same mistake. ADDISON DEL MASTRO: Vornados twisting corporate history tracks long-term trends in retailing and manufacturing. OVERTIME Its Monday And I hope you had a great weekend. My family was in town for my nieces third birthday, and it was great to see all of them (at least briefly.) And I took the fam down to southern Maryland for a day to visit a buddy from high school and college who lives on the water. My twins got to ride tractors, Power Wheels cars, and see how crabs are caught. And enjoy a local delicacy called Ledo Pizza, a family favorite we dont have anymore where we live. All in all, a good weekend. I also made some of my favorite Can Cooker ribs this weekend, and if it stops raining, will grill a chimichurri flank steak and make some potatoes. As you can see from the above, I was largely offline this weekend, and it was pretty awesome. Now that things are sort of getting back to normal I did get a kick out of this D.C. traffic guide from local FM radio station WTOP. Since my family moved before the pandemic, I havent driven to work in quite some time. But those who have lived here (or visited) know what Im talking about. Thinking about life without parole. Im a victim of violent crime from back in my high school days, and I try to think about criminal justice through my experience as a victim and trying to put that aside. Heres a deeply honest take from Susan Lawrence on her experience as an opponent of life without parole. There are things I read there and thought: Gee, I wouldnt have written that. And things I did agree with, and things I learned. I hope youll read it and consider her experience, regardless of your views on life without parole in prison. (Im generally for it, but open to determining how and when it is employed.) Dont worry, the bad takes are still coming from the election truther right As youll recall, the host, David Clements, was part of Michelle Bachmanns bizarro townhall. Cicadas are here. I cant hear any cicadas. Some people are taking apart the shells and making horrifying creatures with them, apparently. Dont click unless you want to be grossed out. I warned you. Hollywood actors save a soccer team. I am a sucker for cities that lose their franchise, because I grew up in one. So did my wife. So when Wrexhams football team (soccer to us Americans) was at risk, two Hollywood actors bought it and are going to make a real life Ted Lasso show about it. I care minimally about soccer (outside my SLU Billikens, D.C. United, and Tottenham), but I am going to watch the heck out of this series on FX. Deep Fakes are about to get way more real. Weve done a couple deep dives on Deep Fake technology here, and Ive written a lot about it in my newsletter. Basically, if youre on television a lot (or radio or podcasts), and you put all of that data into a super computer, you can fake people saying things. Last night, I discovered, due to a realistic looking and quasi-realistic sounding video on Twitter about a right-leaning personality I do not respect, that there are now audio versions you can make, and with some clever editing. Hoo boy, you can make them very realistic sounding. Here are some of the selections not related to politics. There are some funny possibilities here, and some neat opportunities. (i.e. rather than buy a Captain Zoom record, like my parents did, Winnie the Pooh could talk to your kids.) But there are some also very real, very scary, and quite dangerous possibilities as this technology gets better. And we need a solution. This is very bad. Read the whole thread. Sohrab Ahmari, salesman. But I wouldnt take this deal from Ahmari, given the frequent nature of his conversions to radically different worldviews. Nobody tell Donald Trump. Thats it for me for today. Well see you back here tomorrow. Email [email protected]. Drop me a line: [email protected] Give a gift membership 30 Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/how-normal-will-jim-jordans-new-district |
Is Lindsey Graham Literally the Worst Person in the World? | 1. Sweet Lindsey Despite my cheap-pop headline, I think the answer is definitively no. Lindsey Graham is not the worst person in the world. Weve got a lot of bad hombres out there: Kim Jong-Un, Mark Zuckerberg, the BTK Killer. If youre talking the literal Worst Person Alive, Lindsey might not even make the top hundred. But he might be the most despicable man to ever serve in the United States Senate. I mean, yes, thats a tough list to crack, too. Im aware. But something amazing happened yesterday. Lindsey Graham went on Fox & Friends and said the following: Thats right. I want the American people to know that . . . people wonder about the peaceful transfer of power. I assure you, it will be peaceful. Now, we may have litigation about who won the election, but the court will decide, and if the Republicans lose, we will accept that result. That would be the same guy who said: And this: And then this: Look, anyone can change their mind on a giant matter of principle once. Consistency, hobgoblins, etc. At least Lindsey hasnt spent the last four years lyisorry. I forgot. 2. While were talking about Graham, its worth parsing exactly what he said yesterday: [T]he court will decide, and if the Republicans lose, we will accept that result. This is not a slip of the tongue. Note that he doesnt say voters. He doesnt even say Electoral College. He says the courts. Think about that for a minute. Donald Trump has given up on winning more votes than his opponent. Both he and the Republican party have conceded this. Theyre not even trying to win more votes. Instead, for the better part of a year they have focused on trying to win just enough states to squeeze out an Electoral College victory. But with just a bit more than a month remaining, theyre abandoning that hope too. They seem to believe that they cannot get to 270 with a straight-up count of votes. So their new goal is to try to manufacture 270 electoral votes by using the courts to challenge ballots in the interregnum, once the voting has ended. That is literally their strategy. Lindsey Graham said soexplicitly. The sophisticated view of all of this is to say, Yes, yes, Donald Trump is terrible. But hes such a buffoon and so incompetent that he couldnt subvert an election. Hes not Juan Pern; hes Bozo the the Clown. Lets say youre 95 percent sure that Trump is so incompetent that he wont be able to steal the election. A 95 percent confidence interval is really high! If you told me that you had a 95 percent confidence interval on winning the lottery, Id be very excited for you. But risks are different than payoffs. And the larger the stakes, the more reticent you should be about taking even a 5 percent risk. Example: If I told you there was 5 percent chance of you losing $10 today, you probably wouldnt worry too much. If I told you there was a 5 percent chance that you were going to die today, youd be pretty freaked out. You should be pretty freaked out: 95 percent sounds like a big, impressive number. But 1-in-20 events happen All. The. Time. My own estimation is that it is unlikely that Trump will subvert the election. It is more likely that the election will be relatively orderly and will proceed in a fashion that is considered legitimate to a broad majority of the country. But there is a non-trivial chance that this estimation is wrong. That Trump is capable of doing what he says he wants to do. That either he isnt Bozo the Clown or that the system is weak enough that even Bozo can get lucky. Whats at risk here is our experiment with self-rule. Anyone who does not take that seriously should not be taken seriously. 3. Friday Steiner | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/is-lindsey-graham-literally-the-worst |
Is 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' As Interesting as It Thinks It Is? | Sonny (The Bulwark), Alyssa (The Washington Post), and Peter (Reason) have a lot of thoughts about the Oscars, both the show and the winners. And we have a lot of thoughts about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a TV show that thinks it has a lot of thoughts, but none of them really go anywhere. Leaving that aside, though: was it any good and is it worth six hours of your time! All that and more discussed on this weeks episode of Across the Movie Aisle! And make sure to check out this weeks special bonus episode, in which Peter and Sonny mansplain Mortal Kombat to Alyssa. Become a member today to get access to it right now! Join now | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/is-the-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier |
Is the Stimulus a Clunker? | Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget offers her insights. The group also discusses prospects for a Jan 6 commission, and Europe's response to Biden. Join now Subscribe to The Bulwarks Beg to Differ with Mona Charen on your favorite podcast platform. Apple | Google | Castbox | Castro | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Spotify | Stitcher SHOW NOTES: NYTimes: Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and Power at Smith College The Atlantic: The 5 Trump Amendments to the Constitution NYTimes: Mitt Romney Has a Plan, and Joe Biden Should Borrow From It The White House: A Proclamation on Revoking Proclamation 10014 | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/is-the-stimulus-a-clunker |
Is Trump Experiencing Drug-Induced Mania? | 1. Incapacitated One of the drugs President Trump is currently taking is Dexamethasone. DXM is a corticosteroid, meaning that it replaces a hormone produced by the adrenal gland. DXM is used to reduce swelling and is commonly prescribed for a number of conditions: Its used in the treatment of various forms of arthritis, asthma, and even certain cancer treatments. Its use is both common and safe. Like almost all drugs, DXM has potential side effects. All of them are minor. One of these minor side effects is mania. Heres the abstract from a 2001 study on these effects: Results: Symptoms of hypomania, mania, depression, and psychosis occur during corticosteroid therapy as do cognitive changes, particularly deficits in verbal or declarative memory. Psychiatric symptoms appear to be dose-dependent and generally occur during the first few weeks of therapy. Patients who must remain on corticosteroids may benefit from pharmacotherapeutic approaches, such as lithium and the new antipsychotic medications. Conclusion: Mood and cognitive changes with corticosteroids appear to be common but generally mild and reversible side effects. With that in mind, consider the following: On Sunday, President Trump decided to leave Walter Reed to take a short drive so that he could wave to supporters. On Monday night, after checking out of Walter Reed, President Trump made a bizarre appearance on the Trump Balcony, where he saluted . . . a bank of press cameras. I say this because any of those actions above might seem bizarre or manic in a normal person. But they all fit within the known parameters of Trumps cognitive profile. I dont know. But heres the thing: If the presidents judgment is not functioning at its normal level and all were talking about are superficial campaign optics and misleading tweets, then fine. I mean: Its not really fine. There are people who work in the White House who will be exposed to the virus unnecessarily. Dealing with this exposure will cause at least some minor hardshipsand possibly real suffering and danger. Spreading more misinformation about COVID will continue to stoke conspiracy theories, divide the public, and make it harder for America to deal with the virus. It might cost a few lives and make the economic recovery somewhat harder. So, you know, not fine. But also, not cataclysmic and not appreciably different from the trajectory we were already on. I would not want to be living in Taiwan right now. 2. The Bottom Never believe an individual poll. A single poll can be an outlier. You get a bad sample. The survey period reflects some turbo news event. The house model of the electorate is off. The MOE is big enough to dilute the polls value. A dozen things can go wrong to reduce the usefulness of a single poll. But you can believe in the polling average. Not as gospel truth, not as a report from the future, but as a fairly accurate portrait of the state of play as of a couple days ago. All of which is to say that I dont believe the new CNN poll showing Biden +16. The sample is only a thousand likely voters. And I have a hard time believing that 16 points is possible in the current environment. I dont believe the USC poll from Monday showing Biden +12. The sample is bigger4,836 likely voters. But its a longitudinal survey, meaning that theyre polling the same group over and over. So if their original sample wasnt good, then the results will be skewed. While were at it, I dont believe the NBC/WSJ poll from the weekend showing Biden +14. That sample is only 800 registered voters. You see where Im going with this. I dont believe any of these polls, but in the aggregate I believe that something is happening, right now, in the race. A few possibilities. (1) Post-debate bump. Usually, debates dont matter. When they do matter, the winning candidate can get a small, temporary boost in the polls that usually dissipates within a couple weeks. (2) COVID uncertainty. Its possible that the movement is related to Trumps COVID diagnosis. Historically, voters freak out about potential health issues for candidates. Maybe this is voters getting nervous about Trump, but after hes healthy againthoughts and prayers!the numbers will revert. (3) Late break against the incumbent. Again, historically speaking undecided voters eventually break against the sitting presidentespecially if the presidents approval rating is sitting close to 40 percent. If the POTUS hasnt given them a reason to vote for him after 204 weeks, theyre not going to flip in the last month. Those voters eventually decide they want change. I can see both sides on each of these scenariosand theyre not mutually exclusive. It could be some combination of all three. Or something else, even. What matters most here, though, is whether or not this moment is transitory. If its just the debate, then well tick back to Biden +6/+7 at some point in the next 14 days. If its the late-break, then the shift is permanent and the gap between the candidates will probably increase grow. Then, again, I can see it either way. Uncharted territory. 3. Hikikomori Ive long been fascinated by Japans Lost Decade, which turned out to be something much bigger. This is the story of Japans Gen-X, the generation that was left behind: The doors open only once. Thats how people often describe Japans hidebound hiring system, in which college students have their best shot at landing a coveted salaried position in the year approaching graduation. Those who successfully navigate the arduous corporate recruiting process will be rewarded with a secure place on the corporate ladder, along with regular raises and promotions. The rest are largely condemned to flit from one low-paying job to the next, with little avenue for advancement and zero job security. The divide was solidifying when I finished college in 2000. It had been a decade since Japans bubble economy had collapsed, and employers drastically scaled back new hires to protect older workers. The labor market had entered an ice age, according to media reports. Having watched my older brother struggle to establish himself in a career, I chose to emigrate to the U.S. to pursue my interest in journalism. Over the years, I read stories about the travails of the so-called lost generation. Faced with limited job prospects, many ended up single and childless. Japans 2015 census revealed there were 3.4 million people in their 40s and 50s who had not married and lived with their parents. Read the whole thing. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/is-trump-experiencing-drug-induced |
How Does Google Reviews Affect SEO Rankings? | Explore the power of almighty Google reviews. Please join us. Before technology changed the way people find their businesses, word-of-mouth determined whether businesses would prosper or disappear. If too many people say negative things about a company, the performance of the latter will be seriously affected. Fast forward to today when reviews are still having a big impact on your business. The only thing that has changed is that the brands reputation has been greatly digitized. Reviews are in the form of online reviews, especially Google reviews. The answer is simple. Google trusts the power of word-of-mouth marketing. To evaluate your search ranking, consider the quantity and quality of your reviews. Search engines such as Google take a similar stance, just as customers use online reviews to validate their purchase decisions. This is not surprising, as users and search engines have similar goals. Google wants to slip through the vast web and deliver the right information, services, or products as quickly as possible. This is in line with our goals as a user. In fact, reviews act as crowdsourced recommendations. When you enter a local search term in Google (such as a Thai restaurant), there are three main factors that affect the ranking of each site you see. Relevance Distance Prominence The first two ranking elements are descriptive. Google will try to show you the options for Thai or Thai fusion restaurants in your immediate vicinity. Reviews fall into prominent categories. A Thai restaurant with hundreds of high-rated reviews may be ranked higher than its closer local competitors if it has a low rating or review rating. The following details how reviews are a key component of SEO performance. Lots. According to one survey, the fifth most important parameter that determines a businesss rank is online reviews. As of 2017, the impact of Google reviews on SEO has increased by more than 20% year-on-year. This percentage continues to rise as more and more customers are using online reviews to make informed purchase decisions. Also, Google reviews and Google Maps are linked. Optimized Google listings can help your company become more aware, more competitive, and better ranked in SERP. Google looks at the quantity, quality, frequency, and up-to-dateness of online reviews. This means that companies that consistently receive high star ratings and reviews are likely to get more consideration from popular search engines. For example, a rating of 4.5 or higher indicates customer confidence in a particular brand, which Google recognizes. The role of user-generated content Removing large amounts of regular content is important for SEO. Googles algorithms use fresh content to assess whether a website is active. Thats why companies invest in content marketing. However, maintaining a consistent content strategy is not easy. This is where user-generated content comes in handy. Media created by users, such as photos, videos, and product-related Q & A, and shared through social media channels, serves as genuine fresh content for search engine crawlers. Sharing shopping experiences, opinions, and advice with real customers without marketing shows Google that the company is in a prestigious position in the market. In other words, search engine crawlers pay attention not only to what a company has to say about itself, but also what people have to say about a company. Amount of Google reviews Shops with a lot of reviews and high ratings are likely to be ranked high in SERP. Part of this correlation is that many of these reviews include related keywords that people use to express their opinions, especially the long tail keywords. Many websites have been downgraded as a result of Googles removal of anonymous reviews. This alone shows that the amount of online reviews has a direct impact on your websites ranking. It also emphasizes the fact that the algorithm prioritizes both quality and quantity of reviews. Online reputation management Reviews, for better or for worse, affect the reputation of your business. Getting the latest reviews on trusted platforms such as TrustPilot, Google My Business, and Yelp is a vital source of SEO. That naturally raises the question of what about bad reviews. Given the discussion so far, it makes sense to speculate that Googles negative reviews will cause the rankings to plummet. But thats not the case. Search engines verify the reliability and versatility of reviews before performing such actions. One weird review doesnt cause you to lose your position. For example, reviews left by package delays or accidental encounters with rude managers usually dont affect a businesss reputation or its ranking on Google. However, a compelling and credible report of financial misconduct can lead to a very negative reputation and a drop in ranking. Therefore, its not just the number of reviews that matters to SEO, but the nature of the reviews themselves. Final idea You cant diminish the impact of Google reviews on your SEO rankings. Customers rely more than ever on online ratings and reviews to assess brand reputation and quality of products and services. Therefore, there is no doubt that a large number of positive but genuine reviews will give you a higher ranking in SERP. What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. 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Is Vaccine Bribery a Good Idea? | TNB is coming! This week Ill be joined by Mona Charen, Bill Kristol, and Tim Miller. Its exclusive for Bulwark+ members. Come hang out with us. Join now 1. Vaccine Bribery The Great State of West Virginia has decided to pay people to take the free vaccine that it is giving away. But its not just the banjo Mensa crowd thats into vaccine bribery. In Maryland, The Good Republican, Larry Hogan, has started a program to give state employees $100 for getting the vaccine. There are a few ways to think about vaccine bribery. The first is to separate mild incentives from outright bribery. There are private partieslocal breweries, for instancewhich are giving people a beer when they get vaccinated. In Detroit, the government is giving people $50 if they drive someone to get their vaccine. I dont view either of these are real bribery. In the case of the beers, its a private party doing the donation. In the case of the drivers, its closer to compensation for taking time out of your day to help someone else. The real issue is the government paying people to take something for freethose cash payouts to people who have thus far refused to get vaccinated. If you wanted, you could justify these programs on cost alone. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure, etc. If you didnt want to be so cold-blooded, you could justify them based on the idea that all life is precious and its worth spending money to save people from their own bad choices. Even if the expenditures dont pay for themselves. If you didnt want to be so altruistic, you could justify it on public health grounds: This is really about slowing the emergence and spread of variants and protecting vulnerable populations who cant tolerate the vaccine. Intellectually, Ill cosign onto all three of those rationales. They absolutely make sense. Im sure theyre the right reasons and that using our tax dollars to bribe idiots who are endangering themselves and others is the wise course of action. And yet . . . Okay, thats not fair. Its a faulty analogy. I mean, sure, bank robbing is bad. Its dangerous for the robber, dangerous for the people in the bank. And because the stolen money gets repaid to customers by the federal government, robbing a bank imposes a measurable cost on all of society. But the analogy breaks down because you cant actually pay someone not to rob a bank. You can pay them, sure. But after the payment is disbursed, you have no control over their bank-robbing behavior. They could still decide to rob a bank. This analogy is a little bit closer to the mark. Sterilization is less reversible than a decision of whether or not to rob a bank. There are societal costs to children. (As well as societal benefits! Dont @ me. I literally wrote the book on this.) Which is why paying people to get sterilized is a practice that you see from time to time. A bad practice! We are against paying people to be sterilized! Its monstrous and should never be done! So maybe that analogy isnt perfect, either. (Those are addictions more than objective choices.) (Fitness has economic effects for society, but not downstream consequences for the rest of societys health.) But maybe the bank robbing analogy isnt so wrong. Because of this: If you were going to try to reduce robbery, you wouldnt want to pay everyone. You would only pay the people with a history of larceny, since theyre the ones most likely to rob a bank. In other words: The people following the law would not get paid not to rob banks. Only the lawbreakers would get paid. Which is kind of where we are on vaccines. The people refusing to get a COVID vaccine are, by and large, the people who helped spread this pandemic by not taking the virus seriously in the first place. Theyre the eNd THe LOcKdOwNS crowd. The anti-maskers. The people who freak out about vaccine passports. In other words: Theyre the people who helped make COVID so widespread and so deadly in this country. If we were talking about paying them to change their behaviors back in January, when the biggest risk they posed was to wider society, then that would be one thing. But now that the vaccine is widely available, someone refusing to get it is mostlynot entirely, but mostlyassuming the risk for themselves. I guess the question comes down to this: There are obvious short-term societal benefits to getting more people vaccinated, even if we have to bribe them to do it. But there are also going to be long-term societal benefits to people experiencing reality. At some point, you have to move on with your life, let him smash his thumb, and then adjust his future choices accordingly. Theres a deep level of paternalism in offering to pay grown-ass adults to take a free, life-saving vaccine. Like most forms of paternalism, this is well-meaning. It aims to protect people from the consequences of bad choices. Maybe you can justify paternalism when the reason people make bad choices is a lack of resourcesintellectual, educational, societal. But in the long run, Im not sure how well paternalism works when the bad choices are being driven by decadence. Because the best cure for decadence is reality. If pure utility is the right answer, then we ought to keep sliding the scale until we hit the price point where every gettable anti-vaxxer has been bought off. And if were not willing to do that, then it tells us something about the entire notion of vaccine bribery. #RealTalk Join now 2. Last week, the news broke that the editor of Believer magazine, Joshua Wolf Shenk, had suddenly stepped down. I love Believer. Its a tiny, beautiful literary magazine run out of Las Vegas. Im a subscriber and I periodically link to their stuff in the third item. Anyway, what happened is this: In a farewell letter shared with the staff, Shenk said his resignation followed "a dumb, reckless choice to disregard appropriate setting and attire for a Zoom meeting. I crossed a line that I can't walk back over. I sorely regret the harm to you and, by extension, to the people we serve. I'm sorry." I know what youre thinkingthat sounds like a Jeff Toobin situation. But the reality seems closer to an Ian Grimm situation: The incident occurred during a video meeting in early February with about a dozen staff members of the Believer and BMI, according to three sources who were in the meeting. According to Ira Silverberg, a literary agent and editor who is acting as Shenk's adviser, Shenk was soaking in a bathtub with Epsom salts during the meeting to alleviate nerve pain caused by fibromyalgia. He had chosen a virtual background to mask his location and had worn a mesh shirt. When Shenk's computer battery died, he got up to plug it in, believing the camera was off. But the video kept running. And heres the kicker: Shenk immediately self-reported to HR that he had accidentally flashed his dong. Isnt this . . . Im not going to lie: I like to imagine that something similar once happened to William Shawn. And then Dorothy Parker and John Updike mocked him for it relentlessly. And finally, on the day Mr. Shawn died, the New Yorker staff smiled remembering the story. Now maybe theres a deeper story here. Maybe this wasnt a one-off. Or maybe Shenk was a tyrant and everyone hated him and this was just getting Al Capone for tax evasion. I dont know. Its not my magazine. But if the situation really is as reported, then this is not, as Shenk says, a harm which cannot possibly be repaired. Its a human foible, a screw-up, one of those pandemic stories that a healthy society would laugh about as we try to make it through a prolonged period of grief and tumult. Its the kind of thing that we should laugh about not (just) because its funny, but as an act of grace. I love the Believer and I hope the magazine continues to prosper, no matter what. But even more than that, I want us to live in a world where we can laugh at our stupid, honest mistakes and view them as a form of fellowship, rather than harm. Your Home for New Yorker Slash Fic Join now 3. Nostalgia and the Hurst/Olds Ive linked to Regular Car Guy before, but this episode about the Hurst/Olds is a masterpiece and its worth watching even if youre not all that into cars. Because its about the deep human affinity for nostalgia. And how corrupting it is. For those of you who arent into cars, the link here will take you to the 7:21 mark, where the riff on nostalgia starts. The key insight here is that the Hurst/Olds was a manufactured lie. It was a premium priced car (almost $50k in todays dollars) designed to mimic the car culture of the early 70s. But it was rolled out in 1984 to sucker in the Boomers nostalgic for their teen years. And so everything about the Hurst/Olds was fakestarting with the insane lightning shifter transmission set up. Its an automatic transmission for suckers. Really and truly, I hope youll watch the whole thing. But if youre super short on time, jump to the 10:31 mark where Mr. Regular hits on why nostalgia is so sad. In America, cars have always been an expression of who we are. Or maybe, who we think wed like to be. With the Olds/Hurst, Im not sure which option is more damning. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/is-vaccine-bribery-a-good-idea |
Is Will Smith Right to Bail on Georgia? | Sonny (The Bulwark), Alyssa Rosenberg (Washington Post), and Peter Suderman (Reason Magazine) ask whether or not Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua were right to pull Emancipation out of Georgia over its voting rights lawor whether Georgia should be the go-to spot for film production at all. And then the gang reviews The Father, a devastating portrait of dementia that maybe, just maybe, is the best of the best picture-nominated films. And make sure to check out our members-only bonus episode in which we ask whether or not Dwayne The Rock Johnson should run for president. (Alyssa, it should be noted, was his earliest booster on this front.) | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/is-will-smith-right-to-bail-on-georgia |
Will the Greens Succeed in Getting The Chancellorship When Germany Votes Later in The Year? | Europes largest economy will elect its new government on 26 September for a four-year term whose primary task will be to lead Germany into a post CoVID world. The battle lines are drawn and the debate is heating up on a variety of issues, both internal and external, that matter to the voters. The major parties have announced their Chancellor candidates and the race is wide open in what promises to be a close call. There is only one certainty that the four-time Chancellor Angela Merkel will not be leading the next government having announced her intention to step down two-and-a-half years ago. Also Read - THIS Country Resumes International Flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore Germany is a multi-party democracy. But the contest has largely a shoot-out between center-right CDU/CSU and center-left SPD with a variety of smaller players aligning on one side or the other sometimes after electoral results. But in this election, it is one of the smaller parties the Greens that is setting the pace and in some opinion polls is ahead of the two major parties. It is for the first time in post-war Germany that a non-CDU/CSU and non-SPD candidate has a realistic chance of becoming the next Chancellor. Also Read - Several Forged Vaccine Certificates Emerge in Germany That leader is the 40-year old Annalena Baerbock, born in the same year that the Green Party was founded, the co-leader of The Greens since 2018. In a departure from the tradition of having joint nominees, for the first time, the Greens have nominated one Chancellor candidate. Official ratification of the Chancellors candidature is due in June and it looks all but a formality. As the 16-year long Merkel-era is coming to a close, Baerbock was quick to position herself as standing for a new beginning against forces of status quoism. With SPD staring at all-time low numbers, she stands a good chance to gain the most from continuity fatigue. Also Read - Now Dogs Can be Trained To Sniff Out Covid Positive Patients, Could be Used At Airports Baerbock was a gymnast in her teens and is credibly threatening to jump to the top of the pile. The political science and public law graduate from the University of Hamburg also has a masters degree in Public International Law from the London School of Economics. If one doesnt count the anti-war and anti-nuclear protests that she joined as a child with her parents, she has been associated with the Brandenburg unit of the Greens since 2005. Her rise in German politics has been rather swift, swift enough for her to be termed a rising star. She started off as an assistant to Green MP Elisabeth Schroedter. In 2008, she got a seat on the executive board of the partys state group in Brandenburg and also served as the spokesperson of the Green Partys working group on European affairs from 2008-13. She was unsuccessful in her first attempt at a parliamentary seat in 2009, but she didnt have to wait long as she clinched a seat in 2013 and retained in 2017. She was the Greens climate policy spokesperson, a core theme for Greens, and later its co-leader. She was also part of the Green delegation that was working out a deal to form the government with CDU/CSU in 2017. In their 40 year history, Greens have had two sections within the party comprising of fundamentalists and realists called Fundis and Realos respectively. The irreconcilable differences between the two camps have been a major reason why Greens have had co-chairpersons, one from each group. Baerbock has played an important role in uniting the camps which yielded results in 2018 when she along with Robert Habeck won the election as co-leaders even though both were centrists. It reflected the evolution of Greens as a centrist party that appeals to voters disillusioned by CDU/CSU. But it has also meant tempering some of the radical aspects of the Green agenda specifically related to NATO and multilateralism. Radical environmental issues are where the origins of the Green Movement lies and the campaign is likely to be woven around them. Baerbock has already spoken about further accelerating the ambitious emissions targets. She has called for 70% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2030, compared to the current goal of a 55% reduction. She is also insisting on the phase-out of coal and nuclear energy to be replaced by clean renewable energy. The biggest impact would be the reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuel-powered cars on Germanys roads, which is nothing short of radical for a country with proud auto engineering history. On foreign policy, Baerbock has been vocal in her criticism of Russia in relation to Ukraine and even more so on Nordstream 2 which is unsurprising given its environmental implications. Despite her willingness to do business with China, she is not accommodative of human rights violations or letting Germany be a market for goods produced through forced labor. No wonder there is already a surge in hate and fake content on social media in order to discredit her and her campaign which goes to show that she is already making certain sections uneasy. As things stand currently, the Greens are poised to head the next government with the CDU/CSU. There is a reasonable chance that they would be doing it with Baerbock as Chancellor, something that was unthinkable some years ago. Theoretically, she could also land the top job in a three-party coalition with SPD and FDP, though a three-party coalition with SPD and Left looks unlikely given her hardline stance on Russia and China. Despite Merkels long reign, German politics remains dominated by middle-aged men and Baerbock is only the second candidate ever to be nominated as a Chancellor candidate. The Greens have had a more gender-inclusive policy and they have had co-chairperson of the party, one man and one woman, an affirmative attempt to be gender-neutral. But Baerbock has many more barriers to break. Arising out of the 60s student movements, Greens were traditionally a radical anti-establishment party who decided to participate in government only in 1998. They have tempered their stance over the years which has won them more centrist voters than the left-leaning voters they have lost and are mainstream to a large extent. They have also been helped by mainstreaming of environmental issues and their appeal transcends their traditional well educated and culturally progressive. If Baerbock ends up leading a government in Europes economic powerhouse, it will not only be a momentous occasion for Germany but a cataclysmic one for the green movement across west Europe where voters are still sceptic to hand over reigns to an anti-party party. (Zeyaur Rahman holds a Masters degree from JNU. Along with his day job, he blogs on socio-political affairs and curates subaltern historical content.) | https://www.india.com/news/world/will-the-greens-succeed-in-getting-the-chancellorship-when-germany-votes-later-in-the-year-4714280/ |
How are Coloradans automatically entered into vaccine lottery? | COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis, along with partnerships with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado Lottery, unveiled the Colorado Comeback Cash Promotion. The promotion is a chance to win one of five $1,000,000 cash prizes. According to Gov. Jared Polis during a Press conference on Tuesday, "anybody who got the vaccine in Colorado or who gets the vaccine will be an automatic participant" in a vaccine lottery. Several states, including Ohio, conducted similar sweepstakes in hopes of encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In Ohio's vaccine lottery giveaway, vaccine recipients are required to register online to participate in the grand prize drawing. 13 Investigates asked Colorado health officials and the governor's office how the state obtained vaccine recipients' permission to automatically make them a participant in the Colorado Comeback Cash Promotion. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 'all vaccine providers must report all administered vaccines into the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS), a lifelong immunization record tracking system created by the Colorado Immunization Registry Act of 2007.' In a press conference, Gov. Polis said more than 58% of Coloradans received their first dose of the vaccine and are automatically registered for the lottery. According to CDPHE, the state is pooling all of those vaccine recipient's information for the lottery from the CIIS. "The information included in CIIS typically includes the individuals name, date of birth, address, email and phone number as well as the individuals immunization information," CDPHE said in a statement to 13 Investigates. According to the rules of the lottery, the CDPHE will randomly assign a number to each eligible person in CIIS and report those numbers to the Colorado Lottery on the day of each drawing. No personal health information will ever be disclosed to Colorado Lottery. CDPHE tells 13 Investigates they are required to maintain the confidentiality of those records in the CIIS as well as the confidentiality of the system and the information contained in it. appeared first on KRDO . | https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2263164561087/how-are-coloradans-automatically-entered-into-vaccine-lottery |
Are the Saints preparing for life without Terron Armstead? | No one wants to see the franchise left tackle on the chopping block. Certainly not a healthy team looking to compete in the playoffs year after year after year, even with changes under center. Longtime left tackle Terron Armstead is headed for free agency in 2022, unless the team can sign him to another contract extension. If he leaves for a new start next March, though, hell leave a $13,000,625 cap charge in dead money on the books in New Orleans. The road that can could be kicked down is growing shorter. You have to think the Saints would hope for the best in keeping Armstead around (he doesnt even turn 30 until July) if hes continuing to play at a high level, but the signs are there to suggest theyre preparing for the worst in being forced to move on. Earlier this summer the Saints inked Armsteads backup James Hurst to a three-year contract extension carrying some interesting incentives; if he wins a starting job and holds it down, his contracts value rises from $9 million to $13.5 million. Hurst has started full seasons at both left tackle and right tackle, and theyre also asking rookie draft pick Landon Young to cross-train on both sides after he predominately lined up at left tackle for Kentucky. Thats a fascinating wrinkle considering the Athletics Jeff Duncan suggests that talks with Ryan Ramczyk on his own contract extension hit a snag. Right now theres a big gap between the highest-paid right tackle (the Eagles Lane Johnson, at $18 million per year) and the guy in second place (the Browns Jack Conklin at $14 million), which is because Johnson was seen as Philadelphias future left tackle, where that sort of money is more common. But the plan changed and hes remained at right tackle with a bloated contract. If the Saints take a similar approach in signing Ramczyk to play right tackle now with a potential switch later, hes got grounds to make them pay top dollar. Should Armstead leave the Saints in 2022, Ramczyk would be the most-qualified replacement. He played on the left side in college and his final year at Wisconsin, playing entirely at left tackle, catapulted him to the first round in the 2017 draft. Making him a top-paid left tackle with Hurst and Young competing to start on the other end as budget-friendly options makes sense for the Saints. At least it makes sense in a world where Armstead isnt their left tackle anymore. The 2022 salary cap isnt expected to rise too high, with a bigger spike anticipated in 2023, and the Saints could reduce Armsteads cap charge through a contract extension. Thats also something they could have done earlier this year instead of restructuring his deal, though, so clearly theres a different philosophy at work in New Orleans. The depressed salary cap doesnt help them, but the Saints put themselves in this position to an extent. They overpaid left guard Andrus Peat and doubled down with a restructure this spring, making his 2022 cap hit one of their worst ($15.45 million, third highest on the team). Its no fault of Peats that hes a snakebit player prone to injuries and lapses in matchups with high-profile opponents, but the Saints risk losing a better, healthier player up front because they mismanaged his contract. Well see how it works out for them. Maybe the Saints can get creative and structure an extension with Armstead to line his annual cap hit with expected rises for the salary cap. But it takes both parties to make that happen, and theres no guarantee that New Orleans will be able to pay Armstead what he wants next year. At this early stage, all the Saints can do is hope for the best while preparing for the worst in setting up these contingency plans. | https://saintswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/02/saints-salary-cap-terron-armstead-contract-ryan-ramczyk/ |
Did the Saints make the right call in keeping Marcus Williams over Janoris Jenkins? | A tough salary cap situation for the New Orleans Saints made for tough cap cuts, but one decision the team made in its secondary stands out. The Saints released veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins, their most consistent player at the position, which freed up $7 million against the cap. And they put that money towards issuing the $10.6 million franchise tag to Marcus Williams, locking down one of the most experienced free safeties on the market. Lets dig in. Jenkins, 32, arrived in New Orleans late in the 2019 season and made an instant impact on the back end across from Marshon Lattimore. For the first time since Keenan Lewis and Jabari Greer played together in 2013, the Saints had a cornerbacks tandem they could trust. While Jenkins missed a few games with injuries in 2020, he still racked up 14 pass deflections in 15 regular season games with New Orleans. Williams, 24, has started 67 games for the Saints dating back to his rookie year (including seven playoff games). In that span hes amassed 30 pass deflections and 13 interceptions (33 and 14 if you add postseason stats) while growing into a more well-rounded player in run support and making open-field tackles. There arent many safeties with his combination of starters experience and top-shelf athleticism. But Williams does have a history of negative plays. We dont need to dwell on the end of his rookie year, but its worth noting that was far from the last tackle he missed. The Saints chose to retain him on the franchise tag with the thinking that hes an ascendant player with more room to improve. And given his age and career arc so far, that feels like the right diagnosis. Especially compared to Jenkins outlook as a cover man on the wrong side of 30. In a perfect world, the Saints would have held onto both players. That just wasnt realistic with the salary cap nosediving this year. With Williams trending up and Jenkins likely to trend down, it sure seems the Saints made the right pick here. Well see if thats the case when the Saints fly out for a game against Jenkins and his new Titans teammates in the fall. That gives Jenkins a great opportunity to show his old squad that hes got plenty left in the tank. In the meantime, New Orleans can work on a new deal with Williams until July 15; if an extension hasnt been signed by that deadline, hell have to play out the 2021 season on the franchise tag. | https://saintswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/03/saints-salary-cap-marcus-williams-janoris-jenkins-titans/ |
Should Congress Okay a Theater Bailout? | I asked a knowledgeable friend some months ago why the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) hadnt been pushing more vocally for financial assistance from Congress. After all, government-mandated closures were crippling theaters, and the closures were in turn crippling studios, creating a sort of vicious cycle: No theaters were open, so no studios were releasing new movies, which gave no theaters any reason to reopen, which further encouraged studios to push back release dates, et cetera. This (very smart!) friend said that while some chains had taken PPP loans, exhibitors were hoping they could hold on just long enough for Christopher Nolans Tenet: that a big blockbuster would encourage folks to come out, and once they started coming out again, the movies would start coming out again. It would break the cycle, and things would get back to normal. Or, well, normal-ish, insofar as capacity would still be limited and some audiences would still be a bit freaked out. But better. Between social media scaremongering and New York/Los Angeless continued refusal to reopen theaters despite the fact that sitting silently in a cinema while socially distanced and wearing a mask presents an extremely limited health risk, the hoped-for boom after reopening simply hasnt happened. Domestic theater attendance remains sluggish even as foreign sales begin to recover. Studios have pushed release dates back yet again, delaying blockbusters to December and beyond. And theaters have started to shutter again. One small piece of data: In the Dallas area there are six Alamo Drafthouses. Four of those have closed again, as demand simply isnt there for them to stay open. I saw it firsthand during a screening of the remastered Akira: an auditorium that could fit 150 or so held seven. All of which is to say that, finally, NATO, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and the Directors Guild Association (DGA) have banded together to more strenuously argue for a bailout of movie theaters. The moviegoing experience is central to American life, those three groups write in a letter to congressional leaders. 268 million people in North America went to the movies last year to laugh, cry, dream, and be moved together. Theaters are great unifiers where our nations most talented storytellers showcase their cinematic accomplishments. Every aspiring filmmaker, actor, and producer dreams of bringing their art to the silver screen, an irreplaceable experience that represents the pinnacle of filmmaking achievement. Beyond the airy ideals are cold hard facts about solid jobs being destroyed by government-mandated closures: 93% of movie theater companies had over 75% in losses in the second quarter of 2020. If the status quo continues, 69% of small and mid-sized movie theater companies will be forced to file for bankruptcy or to close permanently, and 66% of theater jobs will be lost. Its not just the estimated 150,000 jobs provided by the theaters themselves that are at risk if movie theaters go under. Its jobs on movie sets that sport enormous budgets justifiable only because of outsized box office grosses: prop makers in Atlanta working on Marvel movies; gaffers and riggers working sets in Louisiana. These people will be hurt as well if theater chains go under and movie-watching shifts entirely to streaming. Look, there are plenty of good arguments against bailouts during normal times: let capitalism do its thing, no need to prop up buggy-makers in a time of autos, et cetera. But these are not normal times. And the simple fact of the matter is that the distress movie theaters are suffering is, in large part, due to government interference in their natural operations: Last year saw a record high box-office gross, after all. Yes, people are freaked out. Sure, this might have just accelerated the extinction of theaters. And standing by while a government-accelerated extinction occurs isnt exactly laissez-faire economics. There are obviously a great number of businesses that have suffered a great deal of damage due to the coronavirus. I have no idea if we can afford to bail them all out. I do know, however, that if something isnt done, and quickly, to rescue movie theaters theres a good chance that most of them wont survive this crisis. And that would be a terrible shame. Review: Possessor (limited theatrical) (Art by Jason Kauzlarich) With a few exceptionsTenet and Greyhound on the action front; maybe Palm Springs and The King of Staten Island and She Dies Tomorrow on the comedy frontweve had a genuine dearth of real-ass movies released during the six months of the COVID crisis. Locked down, stuck at home, weve generally had to settle for straight-to-streaming fare like An American Pickle or The Devil All the Time: not bad, exactly, but not quite kino, either. Defining a real-ass movie is a bit like defining pornography. And let me tell you: Possessor is a real-ass movie. (Its also, honestly, slightly pornographic. Two for one on the you know it when you see it front.) A genuinely disturbing vision of the near future from Brandon Cronenberg, son of David, Possessor mixes the mundanity of modernity with the terrifying intrusion into our lives that technology often makes. Mostly, though, it feels like the sort of thing that would play great in a theater, even as youre watching it via watermarked screener on your laptop. From the opening shotsas a young African-American woman named Holly (Gabrielle Graham) plugs something into her head and starts turning a dial, her face shifting from horrible sadness to sheer joy, before donning a jumpsuit-style uniform and heading to a nightclub, the camera tracking her low and from behind as she a cadre of similarly suited entertainers walk up a spiral staircase and enter the posh baryou can tell youre watching something made with special, fastidious care. And when Hollys smiling precision shifts to horrifying violence, you know Cronenberg here too is being precise, exacting. What follows isnt splatter for splatters sake: Its letting us know about the mindset of the protagonist. Cronenberg and his director of photography, Karim Hussain, frame their shots with great care, offering up both information about the story and a series of terrible tableaus: At one point, a character sits in a lake of blood, having taken a meat cleaver to someone a few times and the camera, which had been in close-up during the violence, sits back a bit and lets us soak in the carnage with fresh eyes. The room is drenched in red, practically painted afresh. Reframing and resting helps us absorb the brutality of the moment. Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a corporate assassin who hijacks the brains (and therefore bodies) of unsuspecting individuals in order to get close enough to corporate titans to kill them. Tass handler is Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a veteran of these sorts of brain-bending operations. Tass latest adventure in transmurder has left her a bit shaken; shes having trouble reconnecting with her own body, her own life. And those personal connections are a problem for Girder, who sees Tas as her own replacement as head of this murder-for-hire business. Personal attachments make this line of work difficult. The bulk of Possessor concerns Tass effort to take over the body of Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott) so she can get close to tech mogul John Parse (Sean Bean) via Parses daughter, Ava (Tuppence Middleton). Parse owns a data mining operation, the exact details of which serve as a precise metaphor for Tass more explicit brain-hopping: using cameras on laptops and the like, Parses company spies on peoples homes. Not for anything as tawdry as sexual secrets to blackmail people with, though the miners see lots of that. No. For curtains. To see what people have in their home. To see what they might want to buy more of at a future date. This sort of casually terrifying intrusion into the real lives of random people is, in an odd way, the scariest thing about Possessor, a movie that features the aforementioned lake of blood. Body-jumping murder is just the logical endpoint given what else we cede to the tech titans. Assigned Viewing: Raised by Wolves (HBO Max) A pair of androids flee a planet Earth torn to ribbons by a war between atheists and believers of the Mithraic faith. The androids were programmed by an atheist to raise a group of children made by artificial insemination on a distant planet; almost all of them die. An ark arrives from Earth filled with believers; it is destroyed by one of the androids, who it turns out was a weapon of mass destruction play-acting as a nurturing mother. The voice of God instructs an atheist hiding among the Mithraists how to act; he is eventually made their leader. The atheist murder-android kidnaps the children of the believers to raise as her own; her surprises keep coming. Theres a prophecy; how it will be fulfilled should be the central question of the show, but it keeps getting relegated to background noise. I dunno, you guys. Ive watched the whole season, which was executive produced by Ridley Scott (who also directed the first couple of episodes), and Im not sure if its good or terrible. Its probably terrible. But I really admire the way show creator Aaron Guzikowski leans into the weirdness of it all. If it is terrible its at least genuine camp in the Sontagian sense of the term: an honest effort to make something with feeling that falls apart because its just so silly and absurd. At the very least, its captivating: Abubakar Salim does this weirdly interesting thing with his voice/speech cadence as the android Father, while Mother (Amanda Collin) is delightfully deranged. You get the sense she might start screaming about wire hangers at any moment. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/should-congress-okay-a-theater-bailout |
Should Trump Be Pardoned? Should He Be Prosecuted? | Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark Podcast, Kim Wehle joins Charlie Sykes to discuss the long lasting effects of the GOPs escalating assault on voting rights following Donald Trumps loss to Joe Biden. For Bulwark+ Members THE TRIAD: Exit the Spymaster JONATHAN V. LAST: And a Trumpkin, Byron York, tries to find an exit. SECRET PODCAST: Our Independence Day Sarah and JVL celebrate the rare dual holiday: Vax Day and Electoral College Day. And yet, one of them is still cranky. MORNING SHOTS: Trump Loses Again Today CHARLIE SYKES: As a culture, we have grown accustomed to lies, and are now in the midst of a tsunami of mendacities. Falsehoods have countless outlets, and the audience for conspiracy theories seems to be growing. A Venn diagram of election Truthers and vaccine Truthers will show considerable overlap, because what we have experienced is not simply a flood of untruth, but rather what Hannah Arendt calls the annihilation of truth. CHARLIE SYKES on [A]s we have seen over the last 72 hours, we have not yet come close to exhausting that bottomless supply of crazy.Trump himself continues to rail against reality and demand loyalty. From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark JAMES C. CAPRETTA: Heres how the system can be retooled to control costs and put more money in workers pockets. KENNEDY LEE AND SHAY KHATIRI: Isolating Europes last dictator and welcoming the opposition leader would send a strong message. RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON: Understanding the diverse coalition that Joe Biden must try to hold together. THOMAS CHIAPELAS: The first step to growthand happinessis humility. OVERTIME Lets talk about the Cleveland Indians The Dolans announced today, after it was leaked over the weekend, that the team will change its name after 105 years. As Ive written here before, I understand why people think Chief Wahoo is offensive. But when you pair Chief Wahoo with the name Indians, it is hard to separate the two. Put simply: You cant pull the Dan Snyder routine, which he abandoned recently (Hello, Washington Football Team! ), which is that whole thing was a matter of honoring Native Americans. The Indians never tried that. Our logo was offensive, theirs wasnt. Their name was offensive, ours really wasnt. But there was a marriage between the two franchises, and their polar relationships between names and logos. Im not going to get rid of my Indians gear, any of it. Between the Indians and the Browns, it inspired a love of sports that endures with me, and sadly, I will pass along to my children, loving doomed franchises that once were quite successful. Heres me with my first foul ball of my career at Municipal Stadium with my late grandfather. Its not that Im especially #woke, I am not, but the Indians were telegraphing this change for a very long time. We all knew it was coming. Doesnt mean everyone has to like it. Heres the letter from the Dolan family announcing the changes. My hope is that they just dont pick an especially stupid name, like The Cleveland Spiders, which was their name before they became the Indians. I respect tradition, as that was our name before we were the Indians, but I consider it cursed. People will argue about whether the origin is really tied to Louis Sockalexis, if its political correctness, or anything that suits their needs to argue. It wont change anything. One thing is clear: A private company owns a franchise that is part of Rob Manfreds evil empire, and they can call the team whatever the hell they want. Here in Washington, the NBA franchise was named the Bullets, until they were renamed the Wizards. Perhaps the dumbest franchise rebranding in the last 50 years, except for the Seattle Kraken, but thats not their fault. Its Sidney Powells and the GOPs. If Cleveland picks a good name, Ill absolutely stick with them. If its something stupid, Im going to default to my NL team, the St. Louis Cardinals, where I went to school, and where my wife is from. And, today, while I was reliving some memories, I had my #mind #blown when I found out that the Kansas City Royals, in the early 1990s had an extremely similar pregame jingle. Here are three items I wrote about the Tribe, one for TWS, and one for BELT. (And another for TWS about Cleveland sports fandom.) I know, its not looking great. Speaking of the future of the GOP. 2024 Presidential hopeful Josh Hawley of Missouri has some ideas, which are really, really bad ideas. Matthew Sheffield on Eric Metaxas, emcee This thread is all kinds of bonkers, but then again, theres this: Lets face facts The Trump kids grifted their way through the Trump presidency. Hunter Biden is no Boy Scout; thats been well documented. But he had no official role in his fathers campaign, and he will not join his fathers administration in any capacity. Ivanka and Jared, on the other hand, work in the White House! Death threats. What you have to understand is that they do understand it, and theyre just demagoguing it for political gain in the most cynical way possible: Another day, another op-ed that totally misrepresents Section 230. This one comes from USA Today, and is written by faux-conservative Rachel Bovard, who is doing this on purpose. Sometimes we see op-eds where it's clear the author is unfamiliar with how Section 230 works. Other times they are deliberately misrepresenting it. Bovard is in the latter category. She works for an organization, with dark money funding, that pretends to be for "transparency" about the tech industry -- which is hilarious since that organization's own funding is kept secret. The only known funding for that organization comes from Oracle, a company that has made it clear it wants to do away with Section 230 (despite the fact that it wants people to use its cloud services). Bovard has had many, many experts in Section 230 explain to her why she's misrepresenting the law. And she has never once changed her arguments, nor admitted to being wrong. She just keeps repeating the bullshit. Muh principles. A Michigan Republican Congressman who is retiring formally quit the GOP today. Bye bye, Barr. AG Barr is going to be able to spend more time at home with his family, as he is retiring early. (No word yet about holiday parties at the Trump hotel!) The new acting AG will be Jeff Rosen. Thats it for me for today, folks. If you have questions, concerns, comments, drop me a line: [email protected] and Ill do my best to get back to you. Remember, if youre not a member of Bulwark+ you can join right now! Join now But if youre already a member (thank you! ), and youre looking for the perfect gift to give to somebody who might appreciate what we do, we have you covered. And you can even schedule it to take effect the day you exchange gifts, as not to ruin the surprise. Give the Gift of Bulwark+ 30 | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/should-trump-be-pardoned-should-he |
Are schools opening in Sindh from June 7? | Students of a school in Karachi listen to a lecture, wearing face masks. Photo: AFP Sindh Education Department's steering committee to take final decision in a few days. Sindh health minister had, a day earlier, said schools will not reopen till provincial government isn't sure COVID-19 cases are on the decline. NCOC had directed provinces to keep educational institutions closed till June 6. KARACHI: With just a few days left till June 7, confusion still remains among the masses on whether or not schools throughout Sindh will reopen that day or not. The Sindh government has not yet issued a final verdict on whether or not it will reopen schools from June 7, with sources saying the Education Department's Steering Committee will take a final decision on the matter in one or two days. "The Steering Committee will decide on whether or not schools should be reopened or not [on June 7]," said a source. On the other hand, several schools have asked parents to send their children from June 7. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had last month, asked provinces to refrain from reopening educational institutions in districts with high COVID-19 infection rates. The NCOC, in a letter sent to the provinces, had said educational institutions in the districts where the coronavirus positivity ratio is high, should remain closed till June 6. "The districts where the infection rate is less below 5% can reopen educational institutions (on May 24)," NCOC had said in a notification sent to the provinces. Sindh will ease coronavirus restrictions if people get vaccinated: Pechuho However, on Thursday, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said the provincial government will not reopen schools till it was certain that coronavirus cases are on the decline. "Schools will remain closed until we (the Sindh government) are certain that the numbers (of coronavirus cases) are decreasing and won't increase," she had said. Pechuho had said that despite the efforts of the government, people are still hesitant to get themselves vaccinated. The health minister had also said Sindh would ease restriction once people start getting themselves inoculated but said that the positivity ratio in Karachi was still high. "The coronavirus positivity ratio in Karachi is still above 11%," Dr Pechuho had said, adding that Sindh is yet to see an improvement in this regard. "Hospitals are still receiving coronavirus positive patients." Speaking about the COVID-19 restrictions which are in place across Sindh at the moment, Dr Pechuho had said restrictions would only be eased when people will start getting themselves vaccinated. "People aged 30 and above can now go to walk-in vaccination centres, while people aged 19 to 29 can now get themselves registered for the vaccine." Shedding light on the arrangement that Sindh is making to inoculate people, Dr Pechuho said that the government has started negotiating with industrialists. Recently, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani had also said matriculation and intermediate exams in Sindh would be held from July. | https://www.geo.tv/latest/353404-are-schools-opening-in-sindh-from-june-7 |
Do Dogs Get Tired of Barking? | Eventually, yes! But you shouldnt let it get to that point. Heres what to do instead. This has been going on for seemingly hours! Eventually, dogs do get tired of barking, but if your pooch has been woofing for several minutes, you'll need to figure out why before you can do something about it, says Haylee Bergeland, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, RBT, and Daily Paws' pet health and behavior editor. Then, your dog (and your ears) will thank you. "You can't just teach a dog to not bark without knowing why they are barking in the first place or what function the barking serves," she says. Dogs can bark for plenty of reasons, but the key here is there's always a reason, Bergeland says. Unlike us humans, dogs don't bark just to hear themselves. Bergeland lists some reasons your dog might bark at what seems like everything: Theyre alarmed Confusion Boredom Excitement They want attention Stress They want something to go away Plenty of other reasons "Barking isn't just done at somethingit is also used to communicate feelings, desires, needs, or wants," Bergeland says. "There doesn't have to be something present in their environment for them to bark at for barking to serve a function." Barking can also work as a coping mechanism when your dog is in distress, including when you might be away. Eventually, but most dog owners will tell you it'll take awhile. They'll get frustrated because they think you aren't listening to them. As the barking continues, they'll eventually get physically tired. "If they feel like no one is listening to the bark, other dogs included, they may become mentally exhausted but that doesn't mean barking itself makes them feel tired," Bergeland says. While it might be tempting to throw on the noise-canceling headphones and go on with your day, the first step to getting them to quiet down is to figure out why they're barking. Then you can work on it from there. Example: If your pup barks at every person, thing, or animal passing by your window, interrupting your WFH video chats, maybe consider closing the curtains, Bergeland says. "If a need is met, the reason for the barking is addressed, they will stop," she says. Same goes for when your dog barks to go outside: Let her outside! Don't yell or punish your dog for barking. It does nothing to address why they're barking, it's mean, and it could even make them bark more, Bergeland says. Instead of punishment, try offering your dog something else to do instead of bark. Bergeland says you can train your dog to do something instead of bark: bringing you a toy or sitting down in front of you, for example. If that doesn't work, make it impossible for your dog to bark by giving them a toy to chew or, perhaps, a peanut-butter filled Kong. Indeed! Your terriers will be pretty vocal because they were bred to alert their owners to small critters, Bergeland says. Same for herding dogs and houndsthat's how they let their owners know when they've found prey or identified a threat. But that doesn't mean your poodle is gonna stay quiet. (Can confirm as a poodle owner. They bark plenty.) | https://www.dailypaws.com/dogs-puppies/behavior/common-dog-behaviors/do-dogs-get-tired-of-barking |
What Are the Different Types of Relationships? | Gone are the days where you could describe your relationship status simply as single, married, or divorced. These days you could find yourself anywhere from talking and hanging out, to being partners or maybe just friends with benefits. Relationship titles run the gamut, says James Wadley, PhD, professor and chair of counseling at Lincoln University in Philadelphia. I see married couples who call their partner their best friends and all other kinds of terms of endearment. Its a way to make things clear. I see people looking for those definitions to determine their own rules and their partners rules for how they should function in their relationship, Wadley says. There should be an understanding about quality time, living together, and even things about when the other person is expected to come home at the end of the night. Often couples dont come up with an agreement about what theyre doing and it causes conflict. While Wadley points out that, these days, the two (or more) people in the relationship are creating their own titles, he does point to seven common types of romantic relationships youre likely to encounter: | https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/relationship-types?src=RSS_PUBLIC |
Should Prosecutors Release Videos of Officer-Involved Shootings? | A police officer shoots and kills a civilian. The shooting is captured by the officers body camera. Within hours, the media and activist groups demand that the police video of the shooting be publicly released, unless the police and prosecutors are hiding something. The police union maintains that the video should never be released, as a matter of protecting the officer. Law enforcement and the media have devoted considerable time to this question. Some argue that the videos must always be produced immediately in the name of transparency. Others believe that they should never be released. Prosecutors and law enforcement across the United States have no uniform practice. But ethical rules for prosecutors already provide the answer, which is straightforwardthough you wouldnt know it from listening to the public debate that tends to surround these episodes. Prosecutors are forbidden from releasing (or letting police release) any evidence that would prejudice a fair trial. Rule 3.6(a) of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct states, A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter. Specifically directed at prosecutors, Rule 3.8(f) states, The prosecutor in a criminal case shall . . . except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutors action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused and exercise reasonable care to prevent investigators, law enforcement personnel, employees or other persons assisting or associated with the prosecutor in a criminal case from making an extrajudicial statement that the prosecutor would be prohibited from making under Rule 3.6 or this Rule. (Emphasis added.) Most states have adopted some version of these rules for prosecutors. Thus, prosecutors cannot make statements or release materials to the public that could affect the trial or increase public condemnation of the accused. And prosecutors have a duty to enforce the same rules for law enforcement personnel associated with the prosecutor. Its hard to imagine something more likely to taint a jury pool than public release of the video of an officer-involved shooting during a criminal investigation. The video angles may be limited, distorted, or confusing. The context of the shooting regarding what the officer and the civilian were doing prior to the video is absent. Once released, the video can be reduced to certain portions or even manipulated to provide false information, then re-circulated via traditional media or social media. For anyone who views the video of the shooting prior to trial, it would be difficult not to reach a firm conclusion about the guilt or innocence of the officer. Before a charging decision has been made, therefore, prosecutors and police may not release videos of officer-involved shootings. This is not a discretionary decisionit is an ethical mandate for prosecutors, and breaching it leaves a prosecutor in danger of both an ethical infraction and irrevocably compromising a jury pool, making a fair trial impossible. Moreover, it is the prosecutors burden to make sure that this restriction is adhered to by the police. (Of course, the prosecutor cant prevent civilians who may have recorded the incident from releasing their own videos.) If the prosecutor decides at the end of an investigation to charge the officers, the same ethical rules apply. The video is now evidence that will be played and analyzed at trial. The release of the recording with charges pending is likely to result in adverse pre-trial publicity and is still an ethical breach when the matter is as serious and well publicized as an officer-involved shooting. The rules of professional conduct dont address the release of such a recording if the prosecutor decides not to charge the officers. The best practice is to release the recording with a written report. This lets the public evaluate the same recording viewed by the prosecutor in making the decision not to charge, along with the context provided by the written report. Exceptions may apply, particularly where the family of the person killed asks that the recording not be released and concurs that the shooting was justified. The inconsistent behavior of prosecutors on the release of officer-involved shooting videos does not arise from lack of familiarity with the rules. Every prosecutors office is awash in video evidence of murders, rapes, assaults, and other crimes. The release of any of these videos to the press would lead the news every day if released. Prosecutors dont release such videos because they know that such public disclosures would taint future trials. The only time such recordings are legitimately released is if there is a need to identify a suspect or if a suspect is a fugitive, and the prosecutor is requesting public help to identify or capture him. In these cases, the rules explicitly permit such releases because they serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose. To make this point even clearer, prosecutors show little confusion about their duty not to release such shooting videos in cases where a police officer is shot and killed by a civilian. Every prosecutor carefully makes sure that these videos are not released publicly prior to any trial, knowing that the release could seriously compromise a murder trial, or at least require a change of venue. The same rules apply when a police officer shoots and kills a civilian. Unfortunately, in some officer-involved shootings, the worst aspects of an unholy trinitypolitics, race, and the mediacome together in a frenzy to cast blame and make what may be premature judgments. Prosecutors themselves can be at fault for the confusion surrounding the release of videos. If officer-involved shootings were resolved with an announcement of charges or no charges within 30 days, it would be much easier for prosecutors to ask for some patience and then make a considered decision on releasing the video. Its hard to think of a shooting investigation where a prosecutor has more evidence immediately available than an officer-involved shooting. The prosecutor has the weapon, the shooters identity and full background, often multiple other law-enforcement witnesses, recordings, immediate notification and crime-scene processing, and usually the statement of the shooter. In an average homicide investigation, with all that information available, a prosecutor should be able to make a charging decision within days. Exceptions exist for truly complex shooting scenarios, but they are few and far between. Instead of expeditious charging decisions, the public has seen instances like the Laquan McDonald shooting in Chicago, where the city delayed the investigation of the shooting for over a year before the production of the video revealed what was being hidden. Any competent prosecutor could have made a charging decision in the McDonald case within a week of seeing the evidence. Such unnecessary investigative delays combined with the nature of the eventual revelations have led to a distrust of prosecutors and the police. Prosecutors facing public demands around a controversial shooting case should take refuge in the safe harbor of these ethical rules, which can be followed with little difficulty: during a criminal investigation of law enforcement personnel for an officer-involved shooting of a civilian, the video recording controlled by law enforcement may not be released. The same rule applies if an officer is criminally charged in the case. If a prosecutor decides that no charges will be filed, the video can (and should) be released. Any deviations from these rules represent ethical violations by prosecutors and the policeand should be sanctioned accordingly. Photo by Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images | https://www.city-journal.org/should-prosecutors-release-videos-of-officer-involved-shootings |
What are Chargers' current odds to win AFC West in 2021? | Heading into the upcoming season, there are many optimistic about the Chargers and their chances of being crowned division champs in 2021. Even though the odds will change as we get into the midst of season and it will also vary depending on the betting site, Los Angeles currently has the third-best odds to win the division at +600, per BetMGM. That means if you bet $100 and the Bolts win the AFC West, you pocket $600. By no surprise, the Kansas City Chiefs have the highest odds (-275). Ahead of L.A. is the Denver Broncos (+450). Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders have the fourth-best odds (+1600). Making the playoffs is a plus, but dethroning the Chiefs is the ultimate goal. Kansas City has dominated, as they have gone 31-5 against AFC West teams since 2015 and have claimed five straight division titles. Even after making notable upgrades to both sides of the ball to an already talented roster thats highlighted by star quarterback Justin Herbert, its hard to gauge how Brandon Staley will do as a first-time head coach. Plus, L.A. has a proven history of injuries occurring to key players prior to and during the regular season. If the Chargers can win games under Staley and stay healthy throughout the duration of the year, those odds of them winning the division will increase. Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. | https://chargerswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/03/chargers-odds-nfl-season-afc-west-betting/ |
What About the Dingell-Norwood Bill? | If you hopped in a time machine and went back twenty years to the debates between Al Gore and George W. Bush, you might remember this exchange. I remember it because I had just turned 18 and was spending a lot of time volunteering on the 2000 Bush campaign. What I remember taking away from this exchange was a moment of weakness from Gore, and a moment of confidence from Bush. Thats just perception. If you go back and re-read the transcript, Gore is the far nerdier candidate and Bush the more platitudinal candidate. There will be moments like these tonight tonight, but obviously the political landscape has changed a lot in the intervening 20 years. Lets talk about it. If you sign up for Bulwark+ today, youll be able to watch our special post-debate Bulwark+ Live Stream. Dont worry. Well send you an email with a link, just make sure you have your computer enabled to use Zoom. Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, Mona Charen and Charlie Sykes will share their quick takes and analysis immediately after tonights debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Theyll also take your questions. If you havent done so yet, you can sign up here: Join now Ill be there, in the background, feeding your questions to my colleagues. This is only for Bulwark+ subscribers. Just dont forget Poland. Leading The Bulwark Jeff Greenfield offers advice: What to do if you find yourself on a debate stage with Donald Trump. On the Pods On today's Bulwark Podcast, NBC's Jonathan Allen joins Charlie Sykes to preview tonight's Presidential debate in Cleveland. From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark Richard North Patterson: Democrats should seek to embody a party ready to govern, and avoid using the Barrett confirmation process for unproductive showboating or offensive signaling. Robert Tracinski: But its still probably more important than most in the last 50 years. Daniel McGraw: At the Cleveland debate, Trump confronts a state that's moving away from him. Overtime Lets start with a Presidential debate story. In 2004, I dropped out of college for a semester to work on the Bush campaign, and one of my jobs was to handle the pro-Bush crowds outside of Washington University in St. Louis. It was a pretty surreal job for a 21 year old kid. I wish I had pictures, but will have to go off memory alone. You might recall, this was the debate where Bush was accused of having the bulge where he was supposedly cheating. (Of course, Al Gore was accused of the same thing in 2000, Barack Obama in 2008, and Joe Biden, preemptively, in 2020.) In the pre-smartphone, pre-social media era, it was hard to organize people to show up. There are only so many emails you can send out or calls you can make. We rented golf carts from the course adjacent in Forest Park, but the highlight of that night for me was when buses rented by college Republicans in neighboring states showed up on Skinker Boulevard, where the motorcades would roll. It was like seeing reinforcements when youre worried youre about to lose the battle of public perception. Not that it matters to voters, but we ended up having a decisive advantage, and I felt that some of my work paid off. Especially when President Bush came down Skinker and waved to everyone. It was pretty cool. If youve never been, debates are electric. Ive only been to primary debates, but general election debates are next level. As Jon Allen says in todays podcast, today is the Super Bowl of 2020. Perhaps an imperfect comparison, since there are a few more to go. Id say its Game One of the Stanley Cup Final. Unlike 2004, there will not likely be rallies held by both campaigns immediately after. I had to sort out the golf carts and couldnt get to my car in time to get there. Missed opportunities. But tonight is going to be the first big peak on the fast-moving road to the end of the 2020 campaigns. Buckle up. And remember, were having a post-debate conversation with Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, Mona Charen and Charlie Sykes. And the only way youre going to see it is if you become a member of Bulwark+. Join now Agents of Chaos. I just finished the screener of the new HBO special and you absolutely must watch it. Chris Gibbs argues, convincingly, that we do. Admitting my homer bias for Gibbs, hes a farmer in Shelby County, Ohio, where my family is from. But these first-person testimonials from folks like Gibbs are effective. Tulsi Gabbard and James OKeefe join forces to rival Marvel for most ambitious crossover event in history. The China Connection An interesting report from Axios on how Chinese influence agents are getting caught and lawyering up. Well, thats it for me. Hope youll join us tonight on the post-debate livecast. If you jon now, you can get access: Join now See you tomorrow (or tonight, if youre a member.) Questions, comments, concerns, you know how to reach me: [email protected]. 30 | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-about-the-dingell-norwood-bill |
What About Uncomprehensive Immigration Reform? | Leading The Bulwark LINDA CHAVEZ: If a grand bargain is impossible, a series of discrete steps might be almost as good. Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark podcast, David Frum joins Charlie Sykes to talk about why Tucker Carlson is a phony, COVID-19 and risk, Liz Cheney, the GOP and moving on from Trumpism, and why the ever-changing loyalty tests arent going to stop any time soon. David French helps the panel diagnose the GOP's sickness. The group also talks about voter ID and the Biden daycare plan. For Bulwark+ Members CHARLIE SYKES on who had the worst takes on Liz Cheney, THE TRIAD: The Newsletter of Newsletters JVL on some newsletters you should really check out. Amanda, Bill, Mona, and Tim discuss: Liz Cheney and Elise Stefanik, the House GOP, Fox and COVID nuttery, and Facebook and Donald Trump. Join now From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark... KEITH OSMUN: Fiction featuring replacement theory has given the racist ideology new life. BURDETT A. LOOMIS AND MARC C. JOHNSON: If you want to see the next version of the GOP, look at the states where it dominates the legislatures. I do. But now, Wyoming is arming up to sue other states if they stop using coal. Seriously. Well, well, well, if it werent the consequences of my own actions And this follow up from Philip Bump is sure to enrage or entertain you. I never thought the Leopards would eat my face! The alt-rights favorite social media platform remains down. Aces. Eventually, Psaki ran out of patience. As Joe Biden would say, God Love her. Solidarity, baby! Good for the staff of Washingtonian, whose owner penned an ill-advised op-ed in the Post about returning to post-pandemic life. I understand some of the owners points. Theres a reason we dont have a Bulwark internship program: its hard to mentor somebody if everyone mostly works remotely. I ran the TWS internship program and it can be very rewarding. (It can also be very frustrating.) But youd think that Washingtonians owner would have learned from the cautionary tale of Ben Domenech, whose dumb joke cost a lot of time, effort, and money to play down. America was already great. This story will make your Friday. You can spend it with Lin Wood and the MyPillow Guy. If youre into that. Thats it for me for today. Well see you back here Monday. Im freezing up some home made White Castle sliders for a family Crave Fest. Drop me a line if you need to get in touch: [email protected]. 30 Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-about-uncomprehensive-immigration |
What Does a "Good" Republican Look Like? | U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rep. Todd Young (R-IN), Sen. Lisa Murkwoski (R-AK), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) talk to reporters after meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House February 01, 2021 (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 1. The Good Republicans Some conservatives have exited the Trump years convinced that the wisest course of action is to try to salvage the Republican party by working with the Good Republicans. So they prop up guys like Tim Scott and Rob Portman and hold them as contrast to the Devin Nunes - Matt Gaetz - Marjorie Taylor Greene wing of the party. Here, for instance, is an interview with Rob Portman in which he expresses his Very Sincere Concerns about the constitutionality of impeaching Donald Trump: Impeachments about removal; thats the focus of impeachment. Theres no question in my mind about that. And thats why the chief justice didnt show up, you know, because were not removing the president. So I have concerns about thatalthough Im listening as a juror; Ive said from the start Im not gonna make any decisions till I hear both sides. Well, Rob Portman listened to both sides at the impeachment trial yesterday. He heard the House managers make a detailed case as to why impeachment of a former president is constitutional, relying on both the law and precedent. Then Rob Portman heard one Trump lawyer talk about listening to record albums and getting lost in the Capitol. He heard a second Trump lawyer threaten the senators with another Civil War. He voted to not even go forward with the impeachment trial. Even the few remaining non-Trumpy conservatives will tell youat least on backgroundthat Ted Cruz is a Bad Republican. Hes one of the seditionists. A guy who relentlessly pushed the lie that Donald Trump won the election and then voted to overturn our democracy. Here is Ted Cruz yesterday explaining his view of the impeachment trial: The result of this trial is preordained, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said flatly. President Trump will be acquitted. So Ted Cruz is a Bad Republican and is clearly Not a Serious Juror. But lets compare Cruz to another of the Good Republicans, Tim Scott. Scott is, along with Nikki Haley, the great hope for a post-Trump GOP. And here is what Tim Scott told Axios yesterday after hearing from both sides andlike Cruzvoting not to proceed with the trial: "Not a single thing will change," Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told Axios. "The outcome is set." Huh. Weird. The Good Republicans are as openly indifferent to argument and evidence as the Bad Republicans. Like the Bad Republicans, they dont even feel the need to pretend to be objective. And at the end of the day, they vote the same way as the Bad Republicans, too. So maybe pinning your hopes for rebuilding a non-authoritarian political party around these guys isnt going to work out so good. The few remaining non-Trumpy conservatives might want to come up with another plan. We have a plan at The Bulwark, btw. Its telling the truth. No defining deviancy downRepublican X doesnt actively promote Q so hes okay! No make-pretend about who is on the side of the angels and what the stakes are here. Truth Over Lies No Fear, No Favor Stand With Us 2. The State of the States Im being, as the fusty conservatives of yesteryear might have put it, a bit churlish. Because there were six Good Republicans yesterdaythey are the ones who voted to proceed with the trial. Not to convict Trump, mind you, but simply to carry out the Senates duty as enumerated in the Constitution. It really shouldnt have been that big of an ask; but whatevs. One of those six was Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who had the temerity to change his position. Cassidy, it turned out, actually listened to both sides and was willing to say out loud that one side made a convincing argument while the other side rambled and made threats. For his trouble, a couple hours after the vote Cassidy was rebuked by the Louisiana state GOP. You should read their entire statement. Its a doozy. Innocent of the politically motivated, bogus charges now pending against him in a kangaroo court. That line wouldnt be out of place on OANN or Newsmax. And its perfectly in keeping with what were seeing from state-level Republican organizations across this great land of ours: The states are the laboratories of democracy, sure. But over the last 150 years weve forgotten that they can also act as laboratories of anti-democratic authoritarianism. Never forget that the guardrails of democracy arent machines that go on their own. The guardrails of democracy are people. And if we dont work to keep our democracy, we will lose it. Support Democracy Join Bulwark+ 3. MOAR Bitcoin! I cant get enough of longform pieces about the world of guys who are deep into crypto: In 2015, Agustn took a sabbatical from work with the aim of reinventing himself as an artist. He had studied engineering at the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology, or ITBA, and was making good money as a developer for an Argentine telecommunications company, but he felt trapped in corporate culture. As luck would have it, he heard about some ITBA alums who had transformed a building into a crazy hacker haven for cryptocurrency projects. The founders were on the same spiritual journey as Agustn. After a meeting and a short deliberation, the members of Voltaire House invited Agustn to be their artist-in-residence. . . . The house itself was a project, said Sacha Lifszyc, a visitor during those years. For the few young programmers in Buenos Aires lucky enough to be extended an invitation, going to Voltaire House was like entering a refuge where everything contained the potential for innovation. From the outset, its members were famously secretive: Theres scarcely any digital footprint of the talks and parties they hosted, and Voltaires events and public discussions were promoted boca en boca. Aside from a Medium article in 2017, Voltaire House avoided media coverage. All of its key members dodged interview requests for this story, making it clear through intermediaries that they werent interested, and strongly discouraged others from speaking. This ethos of being anonymous really resonates with them, said Agustn Ferreira, a coder who was friends with many in the house. Like being Satoshi, you know? . . . House members would congregate around a big table framed by a giant statue of the letter V or gather in the little back garden for cookouts. During these years, members were constantly tinkering. A visitor recalled how they had outfitted a small room with VR sensors and once tried to install a system that would play customized music for each person who entered the house. This early experimentation would lead to Voltaire Houses highest-profile creation: Decentraland, a VR metaverse powered by the Ethereum blockchain with its own crypto token.To put it in laymans terms, Decentraland was a virtual world with a limited number of properties that people could buy through a proprietary currency and sell for real money. It was a petri dish for the ideals of democracy and decentralization they championed, built on the premise that a virtual world controlled by its own citizens could more effectively govern itself and offer more stable investment opportunities than a real one governed by elites. Decentralands founders stipulated that it would be overseen by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a group of Decentraland residents who would vote on management decisions. Read the whole thing. Share The Triad Join Bulwark+ | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-does-a-good-republican-look |
What Happened to Conservatism? | 1. Lets start today with an email from reader J.S. : I was thinking about your comments on The Next Level about the conservative movement. I know you're still trying to figure out "what happened" because I've also been trying to figure out what happened and how I didn't see it. I spend lots of time thinking about it and I feel like I hardly make a dent for all the effort. Sometimes, I wonder whether it is worth it to try right now, as I don't think the crazy train has reached the station yet. I am not sure how much "fault" there is, but I think a big problem was that a large part of the conservative base thought that [conservative elites] were dog whistling when we were on the level. Conservatives three decades ago talked about Western Civilization and Great Books. In retrospect, it's amazing to me to think that people really thought the conservative base was interested in things like Aristotle or Shakespeare or Beethoven. (I was very naive.) We talked about markets and the wisdom of the massesand then a plague hits and people scoff at basic safety measures. We said personal responsibilityand they heard that African Americans were poor because they deserved it. If I had to do it over again, I am not sure I would have figured out the problem any faster. I would not have imagined that so many people were faking it. It wasn't an intellectual error so much as being a poor judge of character. Which is funnybecause we conservatives thought we had such a hard-headed view of human nature. But all along it turned out that we were deeply sentimental in wanting to believe that like-minded people cared about the same things we did, for the same reasons. This is a question that fascinates both on the macro level and on the individual level. By individual level, what I mean is this: When you see someone who was formerly respectableand not just respectable, but really quite admiredsuddenly become a crazy person . . . Today Im thinking about Alan Dershowitz, who was once upon a time kind of an iconoclastic giant, but has become a crank. But the world is full of people who fit this description: Rudy Giuliani. Richard A. Epstein. There are a few options. (1) The late-stage crazy is an aberration. They really are serious people beneath what we see now. (2) The crazy is real, brought on by some physical or chemical change. (3) They were always crazy, and we just didnt realize it for whatever reason. (Confirmation of priors, naivet, etc.) (4) Their innate character was such that the kind of crazy they possessed was once valuable, but eventually veered into the demented. It takes a certain kind of crazy to be an iconoclast in the first place. Its only when that leads to an intellectual cul-de-sac that it becomes a liability. I dont know what the answer is. And its important to note that this has nothing to do with Donald Trump. You see these transformations on both the right and left, throughout history. I mean, for the love, look at Al Haig. The man was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, White House chief of staff, and Secretary of State. And then he flipped out, tried to take control of the government when Reagan was shot, mounted a quixotic campaign for president, and joined up with Newsmax. I dont know the answer, but I think its important. Not just for understanding Al Haig and Alan Dershowitz, but for understanding what has happened to American conservatism. 2. Bulwark+ Before we start, I want to ask your indulgence. Because this item is all about me. If youve been reading this newsletter for the last year and a half, then youve gotten pretty good insights into the world around you before it unfolded. I told you Trump was likely to draw a primary challenger. He drew three of them. I told youover and overthat Joe Biden was a heavy favorite to win the Democratic nomination and that people were crazy for sleeping on him. Biden is the nominee. I told you that the coronavirus was going to be a very big deal, that it could kill scores of thousands of Americans and reshape our economic, cultural, and political landscape for years to come. It has. I told you that the natural balance of the 2020 race was Biden +5/+6 and that the race was likely to tighten again from the gaudy margins of the summer. Thats where were heading right now. Some of this is luck. Because of my background, I happen to know more about molecular biology and epidemiology than most people in the media. Some of this is experience. Ive always been pretty good at seeing around corners in politics. Some of it is that Im free to tell you exactly what I think. Because Ive never been beholden to any party or movement. Being a man without a country isnt always fun, but it does have its advantages. Thats the preamble. Now on to the good news and the bad news. The good news is that Ive had a great time writing this newsletter for you. Over the last 20 months, the number of subscribers has grown quite a lot. We started from zero and were at 75,000 daily readers without ever spending a dime on advertising. Thank you for that, and for being with me. My goal has always been to try to add some value for you as you look at the world. Now the bad news: Starting soon, The Triad is going to be only for donors to The Bulwark. Were launching Bulwark+ and moving The Triad, Charlies Morning Shots, and two of our podcasts (The Next Level and the mysterious Secret Podcast) over to Substack and theyll only be available for people who come onboard to support us. Were building something special here and Bulwark+ is the next step in that journey. I hope youll come be a part of it. Heres the button: Join now If youve been with me for a while, you know how strongly I feel about supporting publications. Ive plugged probably a dozen outlets that I think are worth your attention. Now Im asking you to support what were doing. Thanks for thinking about it. And if you decide against it right now, no hard feelings. Im grateful to everyone for reading and youll still have most of The Bulwark here for you, for free, with no ads, ever. But I hope you can swing it. Because its important. Now lets get moving. Weve got a country to save. 3. Beating the Lottery One of my favorite micro-genres is: People who hack gambling. And this HuffPo piece is one of the classics of the form: Gerald Selbee broke the code of the American breakfast cereal industry because he was bored at work one day, because it was a fun mental challenge, because most things at his job were not fun and because he couldbecause he happened to be the kind of person who saw puzzles all around him, puzzles that other people dont realize are puzzles: the little ciphers and patterns that float through the world and stick to the surfaces of everyday things. This was back in 1966, when Jerry, as he is known, worked for Kelloggs in Battle Creek, Michigan. He was a materials analyst who designed boxes to increase the shelf life of freeze-dried foods and cereals. You ever buy a cereal that had a foil liner on the inside? Jerry asked not long ago. That was one of my projects. He worked in the same factory where the cereals were cooked, the smells wafting into his officean aroma like animal feed at first, and then, as the grains got rolled and flaked and dried, like oatmeal. Near his desk, he kept a stash of cereal boxes made by Kelloggs competitors: Cheerios from General Mills, Honeycomb from Post. Sales reps brought these back from around the country, and Jerry would dry, heat and weigh their contents in the factorys lab, comparing their moisture levels to that of a Kelloggs cereal like Froot Loops. It wasnt the most interesting job, but both of Jerrys parents had been factory workers, his father at a hose-fitting plant and his mother at the same Kelloggs factory, and he wasnt raised to complain about manual labor. One day Jerry found himself studying a string of letters and numbers stamped near the bottom of a General Mills box. Companies like Kelloggs and Post stamped their boxes too, usually with a cereals time and place of production, allowing its shelf life to be tracked. But General Mills figures were garbled, as if in secret code. Jerry wondered if he could make sense of them. After locating a few boxes of General Mills and Kelloggs cereals that had sat on store shelves in the same locations, he decided to test their contents, reasoning that cereals with similar moisture must have been cooked around the same time. Scribbling on a piece of scratch paper, he set up a few ratios. All of a sudden, he experienced the puzzle-solvers dopamine hit of seeing a solution shine through the fog: He had worked out how to trace any General Mills box of cereal back to the exact plant, shift, date and time of its creation. It was pretty easy, Jerry would recall decades later, chuckling at the memory. In a more ruthless industry, cracking a competitors trade secrets might have generated millions in profits. This, however, was the cereal business. . . . So perhaps it was only fitting that at age 64, Jerry found himself contemplating that most alluring of puzzles: the lottery. He was recently retired by then, living with Marge in a tiny town called Evart and wondering what to do with his time. After stopping in one morning at a convenience store he knew well, he picked up a brochure for a brand-new state lottery game. Studying the flyer later at his kitchen table, Jerry saw that it listed the odds of winning certain amounts of money by picking certain combinations of numbers. Thats when it hit him. Right there, in the numbers on the page, he noticed a flawa strange and surprising pattern, like the cereal-box code, written into the fundamental machinery of the game. A loophole that would eventually make Jerry and Marge millionaires, spark an investigation by a Boston Globe Spotlight reporter, unleash a statewide political scandal and expose more than a few hypocrisies at the heart of Americas favorite form of legalized gambling. Read the whole thing. Share The Triad | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-happened-to-conservatism |
What If Trump Is Trying To Break the GOP? | Leading The Bulwark A.B. Stoddard: The future of the Republican party is an endless series of loyalty tests and Trump family vendettas. Good luck. Join now On the Pods On todays Bulwark podcast, David Jolly joins Charlie Sykes to discuss how Donald Trump seeks to break the GOP in half, the future of the GOP, the two party duopoly, and his political future. For Bulwark+ Members Secret Podcast: Georgia and the GOP Future An early-morning Secret show about the Georgia race and the future that Republicans havent quite figured out yet. Remember, when you join Bulwark+, you get access to special podcasts, livestreams, and newsletters. If youre not yet a member, you can join here. If you are currently a member (and thank you!) and want to give a membership of Bulwark+ to somebody who would like it, you can do that here. You can schedule it for Christmas morning for your Zoom call. Or Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you do or dont celebrate, but whenever youre exchanging gifts Weve got you covered. From The Bulwark Aggregator In Todays Bulwark Mitchell Blatt: After years of friendship, love letters, and trust, the Kim regime is as potent as ever. Eugene R. Fidell: GOP leaders in the grip of fear. Tim Miller: The president of the United States asks his supporters to overturn a free and fair election through extralegal means. Abigail R. Esman: The underrecognized web of shame, honor, and twisted masculinity that connects domestic violence and political violence. OVERTIME Its Monday And I hope you had a great weekend. I made my family some homemade White Castle clone sliders, and they were delicious. They could have been better, the key is freezing the patties once youve rolled them out and poked the five holes, but they turned out great. Here he is, offering to argue in front of the Supreme Court for Rep. Mike Kelly and failed candidate Sean Parnell in their quixotic lawsuit that would: U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, and Sean Parnell, the Republican who ran against Lamb, filed a petition in Commonwealth Court on Nov. 22 alleging that the General Assembly illegally implemented statewide mail-in voting in October 2019. It suggested that either all mail-in ballots be disqualified, or alternatively, to throw out the entirety of Pennsylvanias results in the general election so the legislature could appoint the states presidential electors. Ive noticed a trend in Ted Cruzs nihilism, and its clear to me that he really hates his job. Because he thought that the next rung was President. And that will never happen. So here he is. Its one thing for Senators to file amicus briefs before the high court, quite another to offer to be their lawyer making the oral arguments. Really, not since the days of Daniel Webster. Just as jurists should recuse themselves from cases they handled before they reached the high bench (think Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor), you would wonder whether any of the recusal ethics concerns would concern any of the three jurists Cruz supported ardently. That wouldnt bode well for Cruzs assertion that this case is important and legitimate. (Its not.) Hopefully we wont have to find out. Lets strengthen the Hatch Act. Since a lot of U.S. government policy operates on the honor system, and honor among men and women, and the ability to be shamed, the last four years have been pretty devastating for the rule of law. Insert the Hatch Act, which prevents virtually all federal officials from electioneering in their official role. The Wall Street Journal has this report on quack economist Peter Navarro, part of Trumps island of misfit toys, and how he knowingly, and repeatedly violated it. Lets put some teeth in this. Bulwark Communities! Earlier today, JVL highlighted the new Discord community, which is popular among gamers. But another reader, set up a SubReddit. If you use either platform, join up and chat with your fellow Bulwark readers. Or feel free to email or tweet us to share your thoughts. A former Israeli official claims that aliens are real and theyre talking with the U.S. and Israel. But were not ready for them yet. Apparently. Steve Kornacki adds sports. At The Ringer, an appreciation for the chart master helping bring the big board to the NFL. Lin Wood promotes a disgusting conspiracy theory. Zachary Petrizzo reports, the Georgia lawyer is apparently pushing a conspiracy that Gov. Kemps daughters boyfriend (who worked for Kelly Loefflers campaign) was seemingly killed on purpose. Everything is planned he writes. Speaking of crackpot lawsuits Sidney Powells Kraken suit got laughed out of court today. If this doesnt look like a trial balloon, I dont know what one looks like. Finally, a Lifetime movie that might interest me. Because it involves Col. Sanders and fried chicken. KFC and Lifetime created a co-branded short film with Mario Lopez playing the role of a young Col. Sanders. Heres the presser. To die, to sleep to sleep, perchance to dream... Anthony Hopkins reciting Shakespeare, to cleanse your palate. Time flies Ben Domenech and Sohrab Ahmari editions. "If there is no way to disprove your political claims, then you should confront the fact that you have made a religion of your politics." A worthwhile column from Rod Dreher on what he calls Fox Geezer Syndrome. The 70 Veepiest moments of our Trump Presidency. Do enjoy this compilation from Politico. You will see things that seem like they occurred a decade ago and you totally forgot. Thats it for me today. See you tomorrow. As always, if you have any questions or comments, you know how to reach me: [email protected]. If youre not yet a member of Bulwark+, wed love to have you. Weve got you covered. Give them a Bulwark+ Membership! 30 | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-if-trump-is-trying-to-break |
What In Conservatism Should Be Conserved? | This painting is one of my favorites. Its in the U.S. Capitol, and was painted in 1872 by William Henry Powell. When my boss was the GOP Senate Whip it was right outside his office on the stairwell between the gallery and the floor. Its of Commodore Perry, who has a monument at Put-In-Bay, who built ships from scrap and beat the shit out of the British on the Great Lakes. Below the painting is the quote: We have met the enemy, and they are ours. In Ohio, especially those of us on the lake, we fly DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP flags. Thats because this was the battle flag of the USS Niagara, led by Perry. In the battle of Lake Erie, Perry abandoned the Lawrence for the Niagara, and finished the fight. A year or so ago, a favorite high school teacher of mine (a liberal and a Bulwark reader) came by for dinner and gifted me one of these flags for my desk. I think of it every day. My thought was that he gave it to me because he wanted to encourage me, since knowing me as a young Republican, to fight for my party and what is right for our country. Even if it means that sometimes you do have to abandon the flagship, as Perry did. Its like putting country over party. Sometimes you have to abandon the flagship to win the battle. And like Walt Kellys interpretation in Pogo of Perrys quote, which George W. Bush adopted jokingly as I noted a few days back, sometimes when we meet the enemy, he is us. And finally: What must we change? On the Pods Heres what we have for you on the podcasts going into the weekend: Politicos Tim Alberta joins the BTD panel to talk about changing suburbs, the Middle East breakthrough, Electoral College woes, and perp walking ex-presidents. Listen Here On today's Bulwark Podcast, Jonathan V. Last joins Charlie Sykes to discuss Joe Biden's CNN town hall, how Team Trump sets the Biden bar too low, and what you need to know about Bulwark+. Listen Here Sonny talks to Feeding the Dragon author Chris Fenton. For seventeen years, Fenton served as president of DMG Entertainment Motion Picture Group and GM of DMG North America, internationally orchestrating the creative and business activities of DMGa multi-billion dollar global media company headquartered in Beijing. He is currently CEO of Media Capital Technologies and a Trustee of the US-Asia Institute. Listen Here From the Bulwark Aggregator Also in The Bulwark Shay Khatiri writes: The IOC and FIFA should ban Iranian teams from international athletic tournaments for the regimes killing of athlete Navid Afkari. John Gustavsson: Sweden has avoided joining the alliance for decades, but the partnership may be too fruitful for either side to pass up. Matthew Stokes: COVID is changing everything about us, including how we dress. What does that mean for our state of being? Editorial comment: Ever since I left the suit culture of Congress I have worn one of two types of CostCo pants and Shaker Heights Country Club polo shirts since 2012 pretty much every day and I dont regret it one bit. But Stokes makes a lot of good points, especially this one: like other important virtuesthrift, temperance, patience, diligencewe should try, because to be thoughtful in ones dress, or in ones housework or yard work, inevitably entails other virtues. A brief pitch for Bulwark+ If you missed yesterdays launch, yes, this looks a little different. Well, weve created a membership program to expand our content and you can sign up right here. In case that didnt come through clearly, here is a button: Sign up for Bulwark+ But if you missed the other newsletters, here is our official line on why were changing things up a bit. My newsletter is going to be one of the free ones. Ill be making the pitch for our B+ (An average my parents wished I had after fifth grade) from time to time, but TheBulwark.com is going to remain free. Same with Charlie Sykess and Monas podcasts. Weve gotten tremendous feedback since we launched Bulwark+, and were so happy that a few thousand of you have have opted to join us so quickly. If you have any questions, concerns, etc., drop me a line: [email protected]. I know theyre not that obtuse, but that they choose to be is maddening. The Claremonsters are at it again. This time, publishing Newt Gingrich accusing (checks notes) FOX NEWS of silencing his George Soros conspiracy theories. Joe Buck goes to Canton. A lot of people hate Joe Buck. I respect the hell out of Joe Buck and am glad he gets to join his dad in the hall, just down the road from where our Westie, Gus, grew up, in Canton, Ohio. Congrats. The man who made the Constitution relevant again. Yesterday was Constitution Day, and I was remiss in not promoting this AEI video about the late, great Walter Berns. As an ardent pro-life Catholic, its clear to me that rogue clergy who go Bishop shopping like Frank Pavone should be defrocked. The Amarillo Diocese is distancing themselves from his recent (deleted) comments. I will pray for him, but I will also pray for whoever his bishop is, so that they muster the courage to defrock this man from the clergy. Catholics deserve better. In Defense of Proceduralism Andy Smarick has a smart item in National Review that you should read. Nerd that I am, I suggested it in a meeting with a county official visiting my local HOA about a very obscure forestry issue. All the Dems had to do is not be insane. A primer in anti-anti-Trumpism. Come on. This kid is going to be a star. I wish I had these skills at his age. Editors Note: Substack is telling me that my email is too long at this point and GMail will clip it. Theyre probably right. First two people who respond who have read this far get an extra month of Bulwark+. Thats what Canadian Evangelist Sheila Zelinsky seems to think. I regret to inform you Mark Levin has lost it. Heres what you need to know about registering to vote online A thread. MORE ON BULWARK+: Ben Parker was the first employee of The Bulwark. He was also an intern of mine, twice, at The Weekly Standard. I remember when he and Sarah Longwell and Bill Kristol launched this site, we talked about how we could make it a thing. This was many months before I, or anyone who once worked at TWS realized this would be our USS Niagara. Heres a thread of our OG Bulwarker (#AHOY) on the launch of Bulwark+. Thanks for your support. Graphic design is my passion Yikes. Thats it for today. And I am 100% serious about an extra month subscription for the first two people to tell me theyve read this far. Just email me at: [email protected] with the subject line: HEY JIM I READ THIS FAR. NO, REALLY. And while I have you, you can share this newsletter with your friends here: Share Overtime | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-in-conservatism-should-be-conserved |
What Is a "Republican"? | Mark it on you calendar: This week I make my triumphant return to Thursday Night Bulwark. 1. This isnt like asking What is a giraffe? Being a Republican is more of an immaterial truth and there is a great deal of both self-image and subjectivity involved in the definition. But self-image and subjectivity dont negate the possibility of there being something like absolute truth. For instance, if Peter Singer were to announce Im a Republican without changing any of his views, we could dismiss his self-definition as meaningless. Peter Singer might vote for Republicans, but he isnthis nature is notRepublican in any meaningful way. We can stipulate that while the question what is a Republican is largely subjective, there are some baseline limits which define the limits of possible answers. So lets talk about Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski is the senior senator from Alaska and she identifies as a Republican. In 2010, the Republican voters of her state rejected Murkowski and she lost her partys primary. She went on to retain her seat by mounting an independent write-in campaign. After her victory, she continued to caucus with the Republican party. In 2020, the sitting Republican president of the United States vowed to campaign against Murkowski in 2022. This weekend the Alaska Republican party voted to censure Murkowski and declared that it was seeking a primary challenger to unseat her. And as of today Murkowski is . . . still a Republican. I suppose the Murkowski camp would offer a defense of her absurd self-identification that goes something like this: The eternal principles of conservatism, from Burke to Oakeshott, are greater than any personality cult and whatever Donald Trump says, Lisa Murkowski is a believer in these true conservative principles which are what define the Republican party. And if you got a couple of drinks into her campaign staff, theyd probably say something like this: Look, Alaska has a weird system. Everyone runs in a jungle primary and the top four finishers advance to the general. The Murkowski family brand is Yukon Gold. Shell finish either first or second, no matter what. And after that, shell do what she has to do. For now Murkowski has nothing to lose by staying a Republican. Turning her back on the party has nothing but downside. In Alaskan politics, the name Murkowski transcends party power. The thing is, that first argument is wrong and the second argument isnt really an argument. Political parties build their ideologies around a pyramid of ideas and on the defining idea of the Republican partyTrumpMurkowski is not onboard. Any other pieces of policy alignment are incidental. And as for the idea that Murkowski wouldnt be helped electorally by leaving the party, thats a procedural argument that concerns nothing more than the maintenance of power. It has nothing to do with the actual nature of things. The bigger question, I think, is whether the rest of the country is better off with Murkowski continuing to deny reality. Maybe it is. Im not convinced of that, btw. I can see both sides. Maybe as a prudential matter, having Lisa Murkowski pretend that A is B prevents the authoritarian body of the GOP from adding one more soldier. Or maybe its the other way round and by denying reality Murkowski is providing fungible political power that the authoritarian body of the GOP can use elsewhere, even if they dont like her. What I can tell you is that at The Bulwark, we dont deny reality. We dont do fan service. We tell the truth. Come With Us Join Bulwark+ 2. This Is a Republican Some local news from the county where I live: As debate continues over how to address local affordable housing challenges and whether to develop the rural crescent a 2019 recording has surfaced of a Republican Prince William supervisor saying that building more apartments in the county will hurt Republicans politically and result in fewer Republican votes. . . . These Republicans are just slitting their own throats with approving these apartments, [Supervisor Pete Candland, R-Gainesville] said. When you put these apartments in, youre not getting Joe Republican moving into these apartments. Theres a reason folks are not going to vote for you, and you wonder why the eastern end of the county has not just gone Democrat, its solidly blue. Huh. Weird. People in Conservatism Inc. do not like it when I say things like, Republicans understand that their only path to power in the macro is holding down the number of total votes cast in elections. But, you know, there it is. 3. Dishwasher Talk For the love of all thats holy, please load your dishwasher correctly: Dont dish-wash sharp knives, which will dull. (Butter knives are fine because they are already kinda dull.) Wooden items, like spoons and cutting boards, could warp or crack, so keep them out. Pans, especially of the nonstick variety, dont belongtheyre bulky and damage-prone. Asking for trouble. Essentially, the cardinal rule is this: Dont put anything in there that you couldnt (or wouldnt want to) replaceceramics, family heirlooms, fine china. . . . For the most powerful wash, position the tines (sharp doodads) of forks and the bowls of spoons sticking up. And keep knife blades stabbing downwards (for safety). Remember, were social distancing: For the water to properly clean every surface, and to minimize scratches, dont cram too many utensils into the basket at once. Spoons have a tendency to, well, spoon, so try to keep them in different compartments. . . . Load from back to front to fit in more stuff. Unload from bottom to top so you dont drip on your dry dishes. Thin plastics (like quart containers and takeout bowls) should live on the top rack to prevent them from melting. . . . Right after you empty the machine, add the detergent. That way, when you see the soap, youll know its ready to load. . . . At 1 a.m. it is very human to want to just shove your cookie sheet or lasagna pan onto the bottom rack and walk away. But youre going to block the spray arm. And thats like trying to dust your house by blowing on everything: Youll look dumb and youll make matters worse. Big stuff goes on the sides, and needs to sit at an angle. (Like the cups, remember?) Read the whole thing. | https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/what-is-a-republican |
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