Forbes | 5 Reasons Gen Z Should Consider Going To College In China Forbes According to CNBC, 75% of Gen Z-ers feel strongly that their work should have greater meaning than simply earning a good living. What they want out of a job is fulfillment, but also personal empowerment and a belief that what they're doing actually ... |
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5 Reasons Gen Z Should Consider Going To College In China - Forbes
Season 3 Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski (Netflix)
It doesnt take long for the third season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to remind its audience why its such a powerful and unexpected treasure; by the time the first new episode Kimmy Gets Divorced?! is over, its proven itself, once again, to be a truly wacky and wounding oddity. The first season of the show introduced the audience to Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper)the perpetually enthusiastic former cult member unleashed onto the streets of New York after being held captive for over a decadewith aplomb and style. It was a fantastic season of television, and if the second season expanded the narrative goals somewhat unsteadily, the third installment is a rollicking return to form by getting to the sadness beneath its day-glow wonderland aesthetic.
When were reintroduced to Kimmy, shes received divorce papers from her former captor and cult leader, Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (Jon Hamm). Initially, shes ecstatic to have another remnant of her old life pushed aside, but falters in signing the document, partly because her friend, the wealthy Upper East Side socialite Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski), introduces her to the idea of spousal power dynamics. Kimmy, Jacqueline argues, is now the powerful party by virtue of the fact that she has something that Richard wants. For a woman who had all of her agency removed from her and whose life was a constant struggle for even small shreds of personal empowerment, the prospect of withholding something Richard wants is irresistible.
Its an enormous testament to the show in general that this comedic set-up, in which Kimmy comes up with more and more elaborate excuses for not signing, feels so nuanced and emotional. Kimmys motivations are evident without being signposted; the joke ends up being a funny one, but its the emotional wallop that leaves a bruise. When she finally decides to grant her enemy a divorce, it feels like genuine development rather than an easy narrative cop-out, because its so rooted in character growth. Kimmys reminded that even if shes at the head of the table, shes allowing Richard to have a seat next to her; power means proximity, which ultimately leads to powerlessness again. Characters have realizations like this throughout the showKimmys outrageous roommate Titus (Tituss Burgess) more than anyonebut they never feel cloying or blithe, and never get in the way of the joke.
For many sitcoms, the trick to longevity and success is finding ways to constantly re-establish the formulae, to reset at the end of each episode so that the audience knows exactly what to expect next time; but Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt blows that dynamic up, demanding that the viewer accept that these people will be different with each passing episode: that sadness will seep through, that trauma will rear its ugly head at inopportune times. Part of what made the second season feel fragmented was the difficulty it had in giving each character side-plots whilst still maintaining the fun group dynamic that was so successful.
Season three feels much more fluid, making a virtue of the fact that Kimmys apartment is a place of perpetual forward motion; characters whizz in and out of it with remarkable speed, whilst still touching base with each other. Each character is integral to the fabric of the show, so their own stories feel like extensions of the narrative rather than peripheral to it. This is helped by the fact that there isnt a dud story amongst the four main cast members; each have their moments of whimsy, horror, and breakthrough.
Thats whats always been the shows greatest strength and perhaps the thing that may stop people from entering its world: the clash between the bubble-gum pink colour scheme and the darkness of the premise takes a few beats to get used to, even for someone who knows what to expect. Its a sad show enacted by characters that, at least on the surface, appear to be clowns. Kimmys gee-whiz-ness, Jacquelines privilege, Tituss zaniness, are all extremely well-constructed joke personas until the characters are revealed to be all too human: lonely, impatient for change, waking up to the injustice around them. Titus, who left New York to pursue a career as a cruise singer in season two and returns under mysterious circumstances, gets a particularly well-shaded character arc that forces him to realize that love isnt owed as much as its earned.
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All of this makes it sound like the third season is significantly gloomier than what preceded it; it isnt. It still has a manic comedic energy like nothing else on television and follows the Tina Fey school of lobbing so many jokes at the screen that if some miss it doesnt really matter. Maya Rudolph has an especially loopy supporting role as Dionne Warwick in a plot line that sees her playing against Burgess expertly. In order to pay her way through college, Kimmy takes part in the gig economy in increasingly elaborate and ludicrous ways. A recurring joke about robots being part of the New York populace is absurd, precisely because the show refuses to acknowledge its absurdity. Fred Armisen returns with his weirdly modulated Robert Durst impression and Krakowski is excellent in a late season twist that sees her husband getting crushed by a reversing car and emerging from hospital as a significantly younger, significantly hunkier version of himself.
It certainly has one of the highest joke to screen time ratios on television at the moment, and its remarkable how smooth each delivery is; there are very few times when the episodes feel as if theyre reaching for a punchline. A sequence that shows Titus happily singing extremely offensive things about politics, religion, and gender, only to be horrified and offended at singing a breakaway pop hit called Boobs in California, is particularly noteworthy for its strangeness and hilarity.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is still, rest assured, very bizarre and rabid in its pursuit of a punchline. The sheer variety of joke formats is impressive; puns, pratfalls, satire, camp, word play, musical comedy, pop-culture riffs and sheer showmanship are thrown at the screen, making the whole show worthy of a second watch. Yet, its hard to argue that this year the show isnt more interested in the darkness that constantly threatens to disrupt the candy-toned hilarity. In the third episode Kimmy Cant Help You! the excellent Laura Dernthe queen of making sadness feel funny and vice-versamakes an appearance as Wendy Hebert, a divorce attorney who wants to rush through Kimmys divorce in order to marry Richard Wayne Gary Wayne herself.
Eventually, its revealed that Wendy is in love with the cult leader because hes incarcerated, not despite of it. Her previous relationships have been so bad and abusive that the prospect of being in love with someone whos physically incapable of damaging her seems like a dream. Its heartbreaking, but made even worse when Kimmy, in an attempt to convince Wendy that shes doing the wrong thing, calls Richard a rapist. Previously, the show has referred to Kimmys history with weird sex stuff, but its never been so forthright in its depiction. Kimmys recovering from trauma the likes of which she doesnt completely want to reveal to those around her; putting a label on her experiences, its made clear, makes them feel more real to the protagonist.
It also makes sense of one of the seasons more thought-provoking elements: Kimmys constant cycling through institutions and ideologies. In the aptly titled episode Kimmy Is a Feminist!, Kimmy comes up against the multitudes of modern feminist thoughts, vacillating between staunch feminism and rejecting it all together. Kimmy also decides to throw herself into religion, only to discover that shes replacing the indoctrination of her past in the bunker with a new, more socially accepted one.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is at its most humane when it allows itself, and its characters, to try on different lifestyles and points-of-view, building Kimmys worldview in front of the viewers eyes. By showing Kimmy coming up against the concept of utilitarianism, the season poses interesting questions about how difficult it is to wrestle with morality, especially for a person who was forced into arrested development. It makes the show deeper than a lot of much more traditionally serious shows on air; its its levity that allows it to sneak in so many interesting concepts about personal responsibility and reinvention.
That isnt to say that everything works. Season three doubles down on the storyline that many fans have found the most off-putting; Jacquelines personal struggle with her Native American heritage and her guilt about passing in the extremely white, extremely wealthy Upper East Side. This may not sound controversial, but Jane Krakowski is decidedly not Native American, and the show has been criticised in its clumsy handling of the whole thing (the show was also criticised for its handling of Asian American characters), and this season sees Jacqueline taking on the owners of the Washington Redskins. Its certainly an interesting discussion about the role of heritage vs empathy, but its still never fully convincing or barbed enough to be cutting. Theres also a strangely pointed joke at the expense of college campuses insistence on sexual consent, which seems strangely out of synch with Kimmys history, that amounts to arent young people sensitive about rape culture.
Overall though, its a very good, thoughtful season of television, buoyed by a fantastic performance from Kemper, some truly hilarious punchlines, and a keen, startling interest in the emotional lives of its characters. By being brave enough to suggest that the world isnt always fair or kind, even to those who approach it with nothing but fairness and kindness, it emerges as an inspiring and inspired, sly and sentimental. Oh, and if youre a Beyonc fan, you wont believe what Titus has planned when he decides to Lemonade.
Rating:
Jay has a BA in English Literature and Film Studies from Roehampton University and an MA in Film and Screen Cultures from the same institution. His debut novel Until There Was You was released last year and the follow-up, The Restart Project, is forthcoming, both with Less Than Three Press. You can read his television rants on Twitter or his website.
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'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt': Season 3 Embraces Its Sadness ... - PopMatters
Investors greeted ShotSpotter with a warm reception on Wednesday, on its first day as a public company. After pricing the IPO at $11, the stock closed at $13.86, or up about 26 percent.
ShotSpotter notifies police departments about gun violence by using sensors that ignore ambient noise. Their sophisticated technology alerts authorities within 45 seconds of the trigger being pulled.
Its currently used in about 90 cities, including New York, Chicago and San Francisco. ShotSpotter estimates that about 80 percent of gun violence goes unreported, and they are in the process of convincing municipalities worldwide that their technology will reduce fatalities.
According to CEO Ralph Clark, its not just about catching assailants, but they hope to deter crime also. Nopolice responseleads to normalization of gun violence, he claims.
ShotSpotter makes money by charging local governments on an annual subscription basis. According to their IPO filing, they had just $15.5 million in revenue last year and $11.8 million the year before. Losses increased from $6.2 million to $6.9 million in that time frame.
That is likely why the IPO was so small, raising just over $30 million. They will be using some of the proceeds to pay down debt.
But they are optimistic they will expand to more cities, because clearly gun violence is a fairly big problem in the U.S. and globally, said Clark. We want to continue to invest in customer success, he said.
The largest stakeholders are Lauder Partners, Motorola Solutions and Claremont Creek Ventures. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company previously raised at least $67 million in funding.
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Gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter soars 26% in public debut - TechCrunch
Dive Brief:
President Trump's decision to abandon the Paris accordand largely, the global conversation on climate changehas created a domestic climate leadership vacuum that industry, states and local governments have rushed to fill. And on the global stage, China may be stepping into that role as it develops growing amounts of renewables.
All that set the stage for this week's meeting between Brown and Xi, and a green technology agreement that could be the beginning of a broader partnership.
"California is the leading economic state in America and we are also the pioneering state on clean technology, cap and trade, electric vehicles and batteries, but we can't do it alone,"Brown said during his meeting with the Chinese President, according to his office. "I have proposed that California will cut its greenhouse gases 40 percent below 1990 levels and that we'll have 50 percent of our electricity from renewables. To keep that goal, we need a very close partnership with China - with your businesses, with your provinces, with your universities."
The technology agreement expands cooperation on the advancement of "low-carbon, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies"specifically, zero-emission vehicles, energy storage, grid modernization and low-carbon urban development.
"Under the agreement, California and China will also deepen their partnership and coordination on greenhouse gas emission and air pollution reduction programs, including emissions trading systems and carbon capture," the statement said.
While California's sixth largest economy may expand the state's reach, all total a dozen states and Puerto Rico have formed the U.S. Climate Allianceand committed to achieving the goals of the Paris accord. The states, including California, New York and Washington, will reduce emissions 26% or 28%from 2005 levelswhile meeting or exceeding the targets of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.
Signed by 195 nations at the end of 2015, the Paris accord aimed to limit global warming to 2C this century. President Trumpsaid the agreementis a "bad deal for Americans" that "disadvantages the United States. The country's commitments would have translated into an 80% economywide decarbonization for the U.S. by 2050.
Excerpt from:
California, China strike collaboration on clean energy technology - Utility Dive
The technology sector is on fire. Potentially blazing out of control as a matter of fact. For the ride higher is being driven largely by momentum at this point. Where and when it stops, nobody knows. But we have entered territory across the sector where the risks to the downside are accumulating at a compounding rate the further the current run continues to the upside.
Blazing Hot
The run higher in technology stocks over the past year has been remarkable. After languishing in a sideways trading pattern for the better part of two years since the end of 2014, technology stocks finally broke out to the upside in early July 2016.
The catalyst for the breakout? This, of course, was the immediate aftermath of the surprise 'Brexit' vote, which raises an initial eyebrow. I am not yet clear how the departure of the United Kingdom (NYSEARCA:EWU) from the European Union (BATS:EZU) is a boon for the prospects of the technology companies found in the S&P 500 Index (NYSEARCA:SPY), but what I do know is that central banker support stood at the ready to calm financial markets in the wake of the vote announcement. And soothe tech investor fears they appeared to achieve!
Tech stocks trended sideways following the July 2016 channel break until the end of the year. Then suddenly, the sector completely caught fire and has been riding a growing wave of upside momentum ever since.
Fundamental Support, But To A Point
At first glance, it appears that the upside in technology stocks is enjoying fundamental support. And to a certain degree, this is true.
Consider the path of the Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEARCA:XLK) over the past six years since the summer of 2011. Why the summer of 2011? Because it was at this point during the post crisis period where U.S. stocks (NYSEARCA:DIA) and the rest of the world (NASDAQ:ACWX) including developed international (NYSEARCA:EFA) and emerging market (NYSEARCA:EEM) parted ways with U.S. stocks (NASDAQ:QQQ) continuing to rise to the moon as stocks across the rest of the world effectively have gone nowhere ever since.
Unlike some other market sectors, the rise in technology share prices has been supported by an increase in underlying earnings growth. During periods when earnings growth was accelerating, so too were technology stock prices. And during periods when earnings growth either stalled or showed signs of fading, the advance in technology stocks ground to a halt. Thus, the contention can be made that technology stocks are behaving consistently with the fundamental patterns implied by underlying earnings growth.
This is certainly constructive. But the one problem with this assessment over the past six years is the following. While technology stocks are advancing in correlation with rising earnings, the price that investors are paying for technology stocks is rising at a much faster rate than the underlying earnings. Put more simply, investors have been consistently paying increasingly more for each dollar of earnings growth that the sector is generating. This is reflected in the second chart below where the XLK and underlying sector earnings are placed on the same scale.
This can also be reflected in the following chart, which shows the daily rolling trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio on the XLK from July 1, 2011 to the present.
Whereas technology stocks were once priced at an attractive 13x to 15x trailing earnings back in 2011 and were still pricing in the expensive but still somewhat reasonable 17x to 20x range as recently as a year ago, they are now trading in the 25x times trailing earnings range.
Putting this in a different perspective, technology stocks are now offering an earnings yield of roughly 4%. Given the cyclical nature of the industry, this is not a lot of "yield" to receive even in today's persistently low interest rate environment.
Of course, technology stocks can overcome this premium status through an acceleration of underlying growth beyond its already robust +20% pace over the past year. Such a feat is not out of the question, but it is a tall order given the fact that technology is still a highly cyclical sector whose annual earnings growth rate has fluctuated between -10% and +20% at any given point in time over the past six years and is currently running at the very top end of this range coming out of the most recently completed quarter in 2017 Q1. In short, it's possible, but not likely.
Momentous Momentum
This is where the momentum trade comes into play for the technology sector. Over the past six years, the tech sector has evolved initially from an "intrinsic value" theme to more recently a "growth at a reasonable price" to lately a "growth at any price" pursuit.
It has been widely noted how stock market breadth has narrowed in 2017. For example, the percentage of NYSE stocks trading above their 50-day moving average has fallen from a peak of 84% at the start of the year to roughly half of stocks in recent months.
In addition, economic growth forecasts have steadily faded since the start of the year from the enthusiastic growth expectations that initially sparked the markets at the end of last year.
Yet despite this narrowing market leadership and fading economic growth prospects, the S&P 500 Index is still up strongly in 2017. The primary driver of these gains has been the strength of the technology sector. And part of the driving force behind this move has been the sentiment that excess liquidity is looking for a home and that technology is the one sector where investors can still buy growth while also gaining a degree of downside protection. Put more simply, investors have been parking money in tech lately regardless of the price driven by notion that they can continue growing regardless of the economy. Hence the still accelerating upside momentum despite the already impressive run.
This has been a great trade for those that have ridden the upside to this point. My premium service on Seeking Alpha, for one, went long technology stocks via the XLK back in mid-December 2016 as a hedge against a cyclical acceleration in economic growth. But through the end of February after an already impressive run to the upside that pushed the relative strength index to readings above 80, which was an overbought level that had been rarely reached in its two decade history, the decision was made to take profits. Thus, I have been merely a spectator to the sector's latest leg to the upside that began in late April and continues to date, which serves as another important reminder of the powerful upside momentum that remains in today's stock market.
Maintaining Momentum
The challenge for the technology sector going forward is its ability to maintain its recently remarkable upside momentum. One of the primary risks associated with the momentum trade is that it is not necessarily built on fundamentals or even technical for that matter. Instead, it is built primarily on enthusiasm and the willingness of the next buyer to pay more for the right to own shares of the company than the previous buyer. And this all works beautifully for a time until it does not. And the longer the forces of momentum take hold and the longer they run, the more painful the subsequent downside adjustment can end up being.
Such is the primary risk facing the technology sector at this stage of its recent run. The sector itself is expensive and becoming increasingly expensive with each passing trading day. And this is something that is true not only of the sector itself but many of the underlying individual stock names in the XLK.
Consider the following trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratios for the following notable companies make up roughly 40% of the entire XLK.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
2011 P/E Ratio: 12.0x
Current P/E Ratio: 18.0x
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)
2011 P/E Ratio: 21.8x
Current P/E Ratio: 33.7x
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
Current P/E Ratio: 38.9x
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
2011 P/E Ratio: 14.7x
Current P/E Ratio: 31.9x
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)
2011 P/E Ratio: 9.7x
Current P/E Ratio: 15.6x
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO)
2011 P/E Ratio: 12.7x
Current P/E Ratio: 16.0x
Does value still exist in the technology sector? Perhaps among selected individual names. But at least in so far as the above list is concerned, it would require an acceleration of already robust earnings growth as of late to create this value. And in an environment where the pace of economic growth is fading and the U.S. Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, this is becoming an increasingly tall order.
The Bottom Line
The technology sector has enjoyed a tremendous run to the upside in recent months. But it no longer represents a good buying opportunity for investors with a more conservative to moderate risk tolerance, for the downside risks now outweigh the expected returns at this stage of the rally. In short, the reasonable upside opportunity set in the sector has played itself out long ago now.
Does this mean that the sector is done advancing to the upside? Not by any means, for once a momentum trade takes hold it can run indefinitely and well beyond what might be implied by fundamentals. But the sector is now running increasingly ahead on price of an already heady pace beyond its underlying earnings, thus the associated downside risks with such technology holdings are rising accordingly with each successive gain in price. Thus, selective profit taking in tech holdings may also be a prudent approach depending on your investment strategy and how your technology stock holdings fits into your broader asset allocation.
Is the technology sector then an attractive shorting opportunity? It will be at some point, but not until the upside momentum has been broken. This will be worth watching for in the days and weeks ahead. But if the current market environment has taught investors anything, any future short allocations are better implemented as part of a pair trade to hedge against a broader market that remains determined to advance to the upside no matter what is taking place in the underlying economy.
So while the tech sector that is filled with glamorous, headline grabbing stocks continues to run to the upside, equity investors with a value or "growth at a reasonable price" orientation are better served to look elsewhere at this stage of the rally.
Disclosure: This article is for information purposes only. There are risks involved with investing including loss of principal. Gerring Capital Partners makes no explicit or implicit guarantee with respect to performance or the outcome of any investment or projections made. There is no guarantee that the goals of the strategies discussed by Gerring Capital Partners will be met.
Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: I am long selected individual stocks as part of a broadly diversified asset allocation strategy.
Originally posted here:
Financial Times | Smile to enter: China embraces facial-recognition technology Financial Times China's technology giants are rushing to embrace the commercial use of facial-recognition technology, attempting to leapfrog western rivals that have taken a more cautious approach for fear of alarming privacy-conscious consumers. While privacy ... |
Excerpt from:
Smile to enter: China embraces facial-recognition technology - Financial Times
As the worlds second fastest-growing major economy and third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, India is at a crossroads.
Intent on raising its standard of living and extending reliable access to electricity to the nearly 19 percent of its citizens who lack it, India is expected to more than double its energy consumption by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.At the same time, the nation has pledged to make reductions in greenhouse gas emissions intensity (the ratio of carbon dioxideemissions producedto gross domesting product) as specified in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate. Achieving these seemingly conflicting goals will require energy technologies and policies that are both economically viable and efficient at cutting emissions.
That's whyArun Singh, a masters degree student in the Institute for Data, Systems and Societys Technology and Policy Program (TPP), decided to help India's decision makers weigh their options. Singh, who is also a fellow of the Tata Center for Technology and Design and a research assistant in the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, has analyzed climate policy options for India by building and applying a model of the Indian economy with detailed representation of the electricity sector.
Developed with his advisors, MIT Sloan School of Management Assistant ProfessorValerie Karplusand MIT Joint Program Principal Research ScientistNiven Winchester, the model enables researchers to gauge the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of different technology and policy choices designed to transition India to a low-carbon energy system. Singh used the model to assess the economic, energy, and emissions impacts of implementing Indias Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement which aims to reduce carbon dioxideemissions intensity by 33 to 35 percent from 2005 levelsand increase non-fossil based electric power to about 40 percent of installed capacity by 2030.
Singh determined that compared to a reference scenario of no policy constraints, an economy-wide emissions intensity reduction policy (simulated as a carbon price) would cost at least 43 times less per ton of carbon dioxidethan a mandated expansion of non-fossil-based electric power capacity. He also found that an economy-wide emissions-intensity reduction policy would also reduce carbon dioxideemissions in all sectors of the economy, whereas a non-fossil mandate in the electric power sector would lead to increased emissions beyond that sector.
These findings appear in Singhs masters thesis, Clean Development Pathways for India: Evaluating Feasibility and Modeling Impact of Policy Options, which was awarded the honor of being the TPP's best masters thesis for 2017.
Aruns thesis stands out because it goes beyond modeling policy options for meeting Indias climate goals to evaluating their feasibility in practice, based on an on-the-ground understanding of Indias institutions, stakeholders and technology, Karplus says. This combination has produced results that are likely to be both relevant and actionable for policymakers in India.
Singhs paper may also have broader application.
The thesis extends a single-country modeling framework that can be used to analyze the impacts of policies consistent with the Paris Agreement in other countries, Winchester says.
Singhs model projects that achieving Indias NDC emissions intensity target with a so-called purecarbon pricing policy (in which no additional targets are set to expand non-fossil electric power capacity) would require a price of $17.40 per metric ton of carbon dioxide. Becausethis is a higher carbon price than whats been implemented in most developed countries, Singh acknowledges the political intractability of such a policy. If a carbon pricing policy were combined with enforcement of non-fossil electric power capacity targets, the carbon price would go down to $2.06, but consumers would face higher commodity prices resulting from more expensive utilities. However, declining wind and solar costs in the future could lead to lower utility prices, making a hybrid carbon pricing/electric power capacity expansion policy a viable option to meet Indias electric power demand and climate goals.
Singh shared preliminary findings from his research on clean energy development pathways for India last November as a panelist for a side event of COP22, the 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Morocco. He was the only graduate student among nine speakers on the panel, which explored strategies to implement the Paris Agreement.
With this modeling endeavor, we aim to provide policymakers in India with a tool that they can use to assess the impacts of proposed climate policies, says Singh, who will receive a master of science degree in technology and policy at Commencement this week.
Upon graduation, Singh plans to continue working with Karplus and Winchester on expanding the models capabilities and developing collaborations with policymaking bodies in India.
Continued here:
Giants position coaches spoke with the media Wednesday and gave updates on the 2017 Draft class:
Nobody knows a football player better than his position coach.
From the meeting room to the practice field, thats who they spend the most time with at the facility. And that goes double for rookies.
TE EVAN ENGRAM
Tight Ends Coach Kevin M. Gilbride: He shows, very much so, a willingness to block and to finish. Its not pads [in OTAs], so that will change things to an extent, but I dont see him backing down. He has a toughness and a willingness to go against anybody on our defense, and Im hoping thats how itll be throughout the course of the season.
He certainly has some development to go, but he has a good knack for [catching the ball] in the fact that he understands coverage. He understands how the leverage of the coverage is going to change how he needs to run his route. He came in with that, and its continued to progress from there.
DT DALVIN TOMLINSON
Defensive Line Coach Patrick Graham: I think any rookie, as they come into the league, they dont know anything about this league aside from the stuff they read in the media and see on TV. So I think its important for them just to stick with what theyve done just in terms of being a good football player up until this point. An organization in the NFL wanted them. To be humble there, listen to the players and listen to the coaches and just diligently work through the process. [Tomlinson is] a pretty even-keel guy. Hell be able to handle it. We will see how it plays out once the competition comes and the season comes.
You never know with anyone. This league is unique. The day-to-day grind is very unique. Guys will just have to experience it. We will see where it goes from there. We wanted him for a reason. Hes a good football player, and he comes from a good program. Hell just work through the process, and we will do our best to make sure we facilitate that as much as possible.
QB DAVIS WEBB
Quarterbacks Coach Frank Cignetti Jr.: The adjustments been great. Hes functioning, hes intelligent, he has the willingness to learn, and every day hes making progress. [The biggest challenge coming from his college system] is a couple things. Lets start with the fundamentals. The fundamentals of the footwork are totally different. Then you talk about the pass game reads. Not only is the scheme different, but the reads are different. Then youve got to look at the pass protection. We have multiple protections in the National Football League. Then lets talk about even being under center, taking a snap under center, and having a run game. So there are a lot of things, and hes done a great job learning it.
RB WAYNE GALLMAN
Running Backs Coach Craig Johnson: I think he brings a lot to the table, but hes like all young backs that I know. Most young backs have to figure out how [they are] going to be good in all three phases in the NFL early. Number one thing: As Im running the ball, how are my guys blocking so I can know my tempo and timing to hit the hole? Number two: What am I going to do in my pass protection to make sure I protect my quarterback? I have to do that. Thats a key asset to be able to get on the field, and certainly in the NFL game, the blitzes and the pressures and multiple, so that takes a lot of time. And then last but not least: Wheres my spacing in the passing game? Am I a check-down option? Am I a primary option? Where am I supposed to be? How does my quarterback want me to run this route? That is key.
Every rookie that I know that has come into this offense is kind of slow and overwhelmed early; thats just part of the process. And then you start seeing them play faster. You can see it. They go, Oh yeah, Ive got this now. Then when they feel good about it, well give them a little bit more.
DE AVERY MOSS
Defensive Line Coach Patrick Graham: Avery Moss, my buzzword is diligent. He is very diligent in working in the classroom and on the field. Hes a rookie, so hes learning to work through the system and work through the meeting time and the grind of the day-to-day in the NFL. I think on the field hes definitely shown why we wanted to get him, and I think well see how it plays out in the competition in training camp.
OT ADAM BISNOWATY
Offensive Line Coach Mike Solari: Its still early, but right now weve got him at right tackle. But again, hes a guy that has versatility. He could go to guard. He has played a little guard in his career, but obviously left tackle [mostly in college]. Right now we like him at right tackle. Were trying to get him as many reps as possible, just again, so when training camp comes, these young rookies are ready to compete.
Read more:
Coaches give latest updates on Giants rookies' progress - Giants.com (blog)
RIVERSIDE Just run and jump.
The secret to being a good long jumper is probably more complex, but running fast and jumping is a good way to start.
For UC Riversides Tayler Fleming, that was enough to earn the Highlander junior a spot in the NCAA Track and Field Championships this week at the University of Oregon.
The former hurdler at Riverside King High made the transition to collegiate long jumper last season and knew she was onto something.
I watched (the NCAA championships) last year on TV and said I was going to be there. Im going to do that. Its within reach.
Thats a bold statement for someone just learning the event, but Flemings natural athleticism proved hard to match. She became a heptathlete last season and placed second at the Big West championships. She was a quick study, particularly in the long jump, where she set the UCR record of 20 feet,11.75 inches, last year on the way to winning the Big West title. She also set a school record in the heptathlon.
When I started I was a good jumper but technique-wise I didnt know what I was doing, Fleming said, adding her speed helped overcome her inexperience in the event.
This season was supposed to be about improvement and continuing to perfect the nuances of the long jump. Fleming also wanted to challenge for the heptathlon title at the Big West championships, but her season was slowed by injuries. A few weeks of missed practice meant she had to basically restart her training and reboot her season.
She showed a lot of resiliency coming into regionals, Coach Dan Newell said.
Fleming said she was disappointed after finishing third in the heptathlon and second in the long jump with a leap of 19-06.75 at this years Big West Championships. But the NCAA regional was a chance for redemption and a chance to make the NCAA championships.
My confidence was kind of shot, Fleming said. Going into regionals I just wanted to have fun and enjoy it. Nothing else matters at this moment.
Fleming saved her best for last at the regional meet, leaping a season-best 20-8.5 on her final attempt. She waited as other jumpers finished, but her mark held up to tie for 11th place and secured the final NCAA championship qualifying spot.
That was my goal, she said. I was so excited.
Two weeks later as she prepares for the biggest meet of her career, Fleming said shes still amazed by the progress shes made in a relatively short amount of time.
Im completely surprised how far long jump has taken me, no pun intended, she said, adding that expectations will be even higher next year as she continues to improve on her technique.
Jumping higher leads to jumping further. Thats been the emphasis of training, Newell said. Flemings speed gives her an advantage, but once she learns to consistently combine it with the perfect takeoff she will be hard to beat. The process is ongoing.
She naturally had some good jumping potential that was untapped, Newell said. Its really worked out for her.
NCAA DIVISION I TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday-Saturday
Hayward Field
University of Oregon
The long jump competition is Thursday at 6 p.m. Two flights with 12 jumpers each from the East and West regionals will compete. The top nine overall after three jumps compete in the finals.
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NBCSports.com | Teddy Bridgewater surprised coach with two weeks of progress ... NBCSports.com Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was gone for two weeks, and he's still recovering from his latest eye surgery. But he could easily see a difference in quarterback ... Minnesota Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater making progress |
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Teddy Bridgewater surprised coach with two weeks of progress ... - NBCSports.com
The search to expand upon the progress made by checkpoint inhibitors Keytruda and Opdivo and others has put the spotlight on several novel mechanisms. IDO inhibition appears poised to be the next advance after release of data at Asco showing a benefit when used in combination with the Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) drugs.
Leading the pack is Incyte's (NASDAQ:INCY) epacadostat, which had detailed phase I/II Keytruda combo data that support pivotal trials in three types of cancer. Incyte's combination-agnostic approach has also enabled it to confirm clinical benefit with Opdivo, showing responses in melanoma and head and neck cancers.
Building evidence
Epacadostat is not the only IDO inhibitor in the clinic. Newlink Genetics' (NASDAQ:NLNK) two assets, indoximod and the Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY)-partnered RG6078 had data at Asco, along with Danish group IO Biotech's IO102.
But Incyte's project so far has generated the richest body of evidence. Thanks to the adaptive design of the Echo-202/Keynote-037 trial with Keytruda, Incyte was able to present efficacy data in head and neck, non-small cell lung, renal cell, triple-negative breast and ovarian cancer, along with pooled safety data.
Breast and ovarian cancer do not look promising - in the former, 30 of 37 patients had progressed or died at a median follow-up of 20.8 weeks, while in ovarian cancer 26 of 34 patients had progressed or died at a median follow-up of 23 weeks. Objective response rates of 10% in breast cancer and 8% in ovarian, with no complete responses, are not very persuasive.
On the other hand, the signs have been strong enough in numerous other diseases to proceed into phase III (Incyte dramatically ups the immuno-oncology combo ante, April 3, 2017).
At Asco, Incyte also featured lung, urothelial, head and neck and kidney cancer (see table).
Ovarian out
With the other leading PD-1, Opdivo, also reporting disappointing data in ovarian cancer in combination with epacadostat, it is safe to say that in the absence of a signal in subgroups this indication might not be one where the IDO inhibitors will be used.
On the other hand, the Opdivo-epacadostat pairing also had data in head and neck cancer - cross-trial comparisons are tricky with small patient numbers, but Opdivo and Keytruda look pretty similar at this early stage of development (see table).
Moreover, the 58% partial response rate in a melanoma cohort in the Echo-204 trial yielded the best objective response rate seen at Asco - not surprising since the skin cancer is the most responsive to immunotherapy. And Incyte has announced plans to advance the Keytruda-epacadostat combination into phase III in melanoma.
Amid the advances for epacadostat, Newlink's two IDO inhibitors were trying to remain relevant. RG6078 was tested in a phase I dose escalation trial with Tecentriq in solid tumors in which 9% of patient showed a partial response and 24% had stable disease.
Indoximod was tested following treatment with Valeant's (NYSE:VRX) Provenge in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer - patients taking the IDO inhibitor had a median progression free survival of 10.3 months compared with 4.1 months for patients taking placebo.
IO Biotech, meanwhile, had a poster on its planned phase II trial of IO102 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in advanced, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
IDO inhibition shows promise, but the onrush of combination trials with PD-1 inhibitors means that it has to fight for attention (Immuno-oncology combinations surge as sector seeks the fairy dust, June 1, 2017).
Nonetheless, combining two checkpoint inhibitors remains an attractive choice, and medical meetings next year may very well show whether that attraction was worthwhile.
Editor's Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.
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Solid Progress For IDO Inhibitors | Seeking Alpha - Seeking Alpha
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) Christian Hackenberg has plenty of critics, many of whom think the New York Jets second-year quarterback will never be an NFL starter.
And thats before the former Penn State starter has even played in a regular-season game.
Thats their opinions, Hackenberg said of the naysayers. I cant really speak for them, whoever it is.
Hackenberg was drafted in the second round last year, a pick some thought was a reach because of his struggles with the Nittany Lions in his last two seasons following a fabulous freshman campaign. He was widely considered a project who needed work on his mechanics, footwork and overall approach.
It didnt help that Hackenberg went 17 of 47 for 159 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in his two preseason appearances last summer. And, even as the quarterbacks carousel spun with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith and Bryce Petty taking turns under center during the regular season, Hackenberg never saw the field.
I know what I can do, Hackenberg said. And I know what my coaching staff feels I can do, so Im just confident in my abilities. And when I get my opportunity to play, Im going to do that.
Sounds like a guy who knows he has lots to prove to everyone other than himself.
Im confident that I can play at this level, and play at a high level, he said. So, when I get my opportunity, Im going to take advantage of that.
Hackenberg is competing with Petty and veteran Josh McCown for the starting job in what the Jets have characterized as an open competition that might not be decided until sometime in training camp.
McCown is the early favorite to be under center in Week 1 at Buffalo on Sept. 10, having worked mostly with the starters during practices open to the media. But with New Yorks offseason purge of veteran stars, including wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, the franchises sights are firmly set on the future.
Hackenberg will get the chance to show whether he can be the quarterback to lead the Jets this season and perhaps beyond. At 6-foot-4 and a solid 228 pounds with a cannon arm, Hackenberg certainly looks the part.
I love the way he prepares and the way he competes, offensive coordinator John Morton said at the start of organized activities two weeks ago. Im talking about competing in the classroom, too. Guys have to learn to do that, and be a pro and be a student of the game and learn to take notes and those things. Hes doing those things.
On one play at practice, he can hit a receiver with a pretty back-shoulder toss in the end zone. But then, he can also have some ugly throws that could be interceptions.
Thats how it has been so far this offseason for Hackenberg. Some ups, some downs and even some progress while learning Mortons offense.
Im not going to say night and day, but definitely just being able to go through it, its been really good, Hackenberg said. I feel a lot better going in there, having a greater understanding of whats going on.
Hes no longer the wide-eyed rookie trying to navigate his way through the basics of life in the NFL. The plays on the field are also coming to him a lot easier, even compared to a few months ago.
I think were getting to a point where Im not even thinking about it, Hackenberg said, and Im feeling that right now.
Hackenberg has been a starting quarterback since high school, so sitting out all of last season a redshirt year took some getting used to. It was a humbling experience in which Hackenberg had to keep his ego in check.
I really cant change it, Hackenberg said. It was in the past. It is what it is. But I think if youre a negative person, you kind of think about it negatively and you say, `Dang, I wish I had a chance. I dont want to fill my mind with that type of negativity.
Id rather focus on the positives of it and take what I learned from it, the good from it. Thats how I kind of look at last year: I try and take the positives out of it and go from there.
Hackenberg has been working closely with new quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, the two often seen chatting during practice. Theres still plenty of work to be done, of course, but Hackenberg could end up working his way onto the field during a game and silencing all of the doubters.
I think Ive grown in a lot of ways, he said. Its a long road, but I feel good where Im at right now.
For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL
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Jets' Hackenberg ignores critics, focuses on making progress - FOXSports.com
FRISCO, Texas Strictly speaking, Wednesday was just another day for Jaylon Smith.
The second-year linebacker followed his usual schedule, participating in the Cowboys OTAs after taking a day off. He did a full complement of individual and special teams drills, followed by a small amount of seven-on-seven participation.
Im just doing everything Ive been doing, taking it day by day and performing at a high level, Smith said.
The difference was that Wednesdays practice was one of just three to take place in front of reporters, who are allowed to view just one OTA per week. So as far as the cameras are concerned, Wednesday marked the media has seen the young linebacker practicing since he was drafted last year.
We certainly love the progress that hes made and are excited about what hes been doing up to this point, said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Hes getting better and better and better. Hes getting more and more comfortable with the football movements.
Its been interesting to follow Smiths progress since the Cowboys revealed their game plan for his offseason. He has practiced twice a week since OTAs started, skipping the Wednesday session. But with OTAs starting on Monday for this final week, Smith took Tuesday off and was available for the open practice.
It was pretty intense individual work and getting some seven-on-seven in, some special teams, Smith said.
Thats all incredibly encouraging to hear, but its also just one more step in what has been a long journey. Smith has obviously overcome plenty in the 15-month span since he tore both his ACL and LCL, as well as damaging his peroneal nerve in his final college football game.
But, as defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli pointed out, pads are everything and Smith hasnt quite reached that level yet.
Hes going through Stage 1 here, and its good stuff so far, Marinelli said. But to me its just step by step progress. Try not to see it more than what it is. Its just day by day progress.
That naturally poses an obvious question what is the next step. Garrett said that Smith will operate on a similar schedule during the Cowboys mandatory minicamp next week, meaning hell go through two limited practices and take one rest day.
Garrett didnt want to detail exactly what the plan would look like for training camp, but he allowed that it would probably be somewhat similar.
Well have an analogous plan. Im not going to say its going to be exactly the same, he said. But well do something like this with him and some of the other guys who are coming back from injuries.
It makes sense to be follow that approach not to give a recovering player too much before hes ready. But Garrett was asked if, at some point, he needs to find out what Smith is capable of in order to know if the Cowboys can rely on him.
Even that is a process that will play out step by step.
Within the confines of what were asking him to do, were really cutting him loose him every day, Garrett said. Hes responded so well to that. And as you go day by day and week by week, you increase the threshold.
Itll be fascinating to see how that threshold develops in the coming months, particularly when the Cowboys get to training camp and begin the grind of daily practices not to mention a whopping five preseason games.
While hes working toward those next steps, Smith said hes proud of how far hes already come.
Coming in drafted, coming off a severe injury, I understood it was going to be a process, and I truly embraced it, he said. Now that Im getting back to football, participating, being a part of the team, being a part of the guys being a part of this culture that weve built Im just embracing it.
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As OTAs Come To An End, Cowboys Encouraged By Jaylon Smith's Progress - DallasCowboys.com
Cutting-edge technologies and innovations are changing the way we live on our planet.
Our world is changing fast and it can get hard to keep pace with all the industrial scientific emerging technologies and high-tech breakthroughs that are surfacing every day. Here is our pick for cutting-edge technologies and innovations that could change the way we live on our planet:
This is another brainwave from Elon Musk and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (better known as SpaceX) that hopes to improve and ultimately change the face of transportation. The design is surprisingly elegant in its simplicity. There are specifically designed pods or capsules upheld in a near vacuum that are floating on 0.05 inches of pressurized air which are then send at high speed through a steel tube. Well, it does sound a tad claustrophobic especially that this passenger capsules would travel at an average speed of approximately 600 miles per hour with potential max speeds of up to 760 miles per hour. Energy efficient and wicked fast, this innovation could change the way people get from place to place forever.
Energy efficient and wicked fast, this innovation could change the way people get from place to place forever. (Source)
More of an intellectual movement than an invention, Transhumanism is the belief that humans can still evolve. Its that final evolution linking our minds and bodies with advanced technology, a subject thats been popularized by sci-fi films and books for years and in fact, the term Transhumanism was coined by Julian Huxley, the brother of Brave New World author Aldous Huxley. The idea is to ultimately bring forth a post-human state of being. While the concept is unnerving at its best for many, for those who embrace the idea there has never been a more exciting time to be alive, even if that life may be linked to a hard drive.
Transhumanism is the belief that humans can still evolve. (Source)
This is the name given to the design of a method of advanced space propulsion technology, also known as a radio frequency or RF resonant cavity thruster. This electromagnetic thruster uses pent up electromagnetic radiation to achieve impetus and momentum without discharging propellant. The conservation of momentum implied in Newtons laws of motion says it should be impossible and therefore there are many skeptical scientists whove given it the nickname the impossible drive. However, if they do get it to work it would completely change how we could lift off, making space exploration and defense missions that much simpler.
The EM drive uses pent up electromagnetic radiation to achieve impetus and momentum without discharging propellant. (Source)
Samsung bought the company back in 2014 and the concept is basically in the name. The idea is to produce smart home using an open platform where your appliances and devices all interact with one another. Using the internet of things, the system would work on a hub connected straight into the houses internet router, connecting devices to one another via the cloud. Compatible things could consist of locks, lights, electrical outlets, motion sensors, speakers, moisture sensors, and thermostats. Like most innovations that lurk on the border of sci-fi and reality, this sounds like it could either be amazing or a hackers paradise.
Using the internet of things the system would work on a hub connected straight into the houses internet router. (Source)
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4 life-changing emerging technologies to get excited about - Born2Invest
Green Party chairman Arnold Cassola says he has no regrets at ADs decision not to take an easy ride on PN votes
Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola with deputy chair Carmel Cacopardo
Alternattiva Demokratika, which has been contesting elections since 1992, ended up with just over 0.8% of the popular vote similar to its 2008 outing reaching once again a nadir in popularity.
As expected, the result was a bad one, said Prof. Arnold Cassola, whose party refused to take the cue of former Labour MPs Marlene Farrugia Democratic Party to contest on the PN ticket. Farrugia could now be in line for a seat in parliament after amassing over 3,000 votes on the tenth district, a PN stronghold.
Expected, because we decided to stand up for our principles and values before our personal egoism, that is, the easy way of riding on the PNs votes and trying to get into parliament with their number ones and inherited votes.
Cassola said that his partys principles had come at the cost of a social media barrage of name-calling and insults, saying he had been punished by being called barri (bull), muqran (cuckold), Judas and traitor.
But worse than that, for being principled we were demonised by the PN party machine that encouraged its supporters to close ranks and to avoid casting any preference votes for our candidates, Cassola added.
At one point, The Malta Independents own editor Stephen Calleja wrote that voting for AD, which has only ever commanded a maximum of over 5,000 votes in its history, would be a vote for Labour.
With hindsight, am I sorry that AD did not join the supposed coalition and that at the moment I am not in the running for a seat in parliament, on a par with craftier politicians than us? The answer is absolutely not.
On the contrary I am even more convinced that we did the right thing by not pandering to hunters, to the Armier shantytown owners, to the Gozo tunnel aficionados in order to get votes, but stood strong sticking to our values.
Cassola said AD had lost 3,000 votes from the last election, when the party was chaired by Michael Briguglio, who in this election took a stand in favour of the Forza Nazzjonali coalition between the PN and PD, and publicly lent his face to the effort.
Being the Chair of AD, the major responsibility for this loss is obviously mine. In the following weeks AD will have to take stock of the situation and chart the way forward for the future. But your precious 2,500 and over number one votes cast for AD make us proud. We know that out there, there are Maltese people who appreciate politicians standing up for ones principles and looking at politics not just as an opportunistic way of getting a seat in parliament, Cassola said.
The academic did not suggest he would resign, although he had already resigned after the 2008 election before taking up the position again after the resignation of fellow academic Michael Briguglio in 2013.
Indeed, Cassola might have attempted a slight dig at his predecessor, even if not mentioned by name. We are of course wounded but certainly not dead, as someone in the Maltese intelligentsia might have wished.
Your precious support gives me the strength to continue looking Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the eye and to remind him that if he does not kick out Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and Brian Tonna out of Castille, if he does not immediately convene a Constitutional convention to reform our comatose institutions, then he is leading our country into a sure future of moral and ethical decline With your help, AD can continue to be a leading beacon of honesty, consistency and credibility in Maltese politics.
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'Wounded but not dead' Cassola says AD right in not joining PN - MaltaToday
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We had an issue with one of the servers (kept passing us by because we were locals) and their Supervisor Windera Horrel, Latoya Whitmore and Jodian Henriques went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. This showed us that they are willing to make...More
Tivan D, Thank you for your comments. We are pleased to know that you will be joining us again. Pursue Pleasure, Randymon DOSM Hedonism II
"The act or practice of one who is hospitable to strangers or guests with kindness and generous liberality in reception and entertainment without reward That is the definition of customer service. While your stay at Hedonism II, its easy to forget these workers have lives...More
Hedo Greetings Amanda L, We truly appreciate your kind words and staff shout outs! We could not agree more, but then again we are just a bit biased. We look forward to welcoming you home again soon! Randymon DOSM Hedonism II
Reviewed 5 days ago
I went to Hedonism for 3 nights with my husband. I'm still on the fence about this place so I will give you all my pros and cons. This was not the first all-inclusive that i had been to, so I had other resorts to...More
Dear JenelleH_13, Thank you for taking the time to write this review. While it is apparent that you generally enjoyed your stay with us, your comments about the check in process are disappointing and we have taken your words to management. We do hope that...More
Reviewed 1 week ago
New lobby, lots of rooms renovated, food variety, very professional and friendly entertainment. Bartenders Navaro and Dan were very nice and friendly! Love the entertainers Migeal, Ricardo, Chin, Diana and Denise to mention a few. It is a fun place for adults looking for some...More
Hi Claudia P, Thank you for this review and your staff mentions. They are simply the best! Don't wait another three years before coming home again for mre sexiness! Your Pleasure Is Our Passion! Randymon DOSM Hedonism II
I have returned home from a 12 day vacation in Negril Jamaica Hedo 2 My stay was Amazing!!!! The entire entertainment staff were encredible. The food was great also. A special shout out to Winston the Entertainment Manager, Sir u are simply the best. Thanks...More
Lamarsouth, We are very pleased to read this review. Thank you! We look forward to welcoming you home again soon. Pursue Pleasure Randymon DOSM Hedonism II
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Do u have to be in costume to attend theme nightclub. Do people have sex in the club What is in the playroom
5 June 2017|
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when is a singles wacation the best with hot field and a good party
1 June 2017|
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Hi Everyone. I'm not having much luck getting a clear answer thru the Hedo email people so I'll ask here. I'm a single male and I understand there is an added fee if I don't want to be paired up with a total stranger in my room. If I'm purchasing a vacation package thru an airline to include room and airfare will I be hit with this additional fee when I arrive? I don't want to show up at the front desk in a foreign country thinking everything is paid for and get hit with a huge fee for what I thought was a private room. There doesn't seem to be much info on this "singles fee" and I really had to dig for it which seems shady to me even though it adds 50% to the cost of your room.
30 May 2017|
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Washington Health Systems Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center is about to open a new labyrinth, thanks to Scott Township resident Dorit Brauer, labyrinth creator and owner of The Brauer Institute for Holistic Medicine.
Designing this particular labyrinth was remarkably special for Brauer, as it is the first hospital-affiliated labyrinth in Western Pennsylvania, though she also has designed labyrinths in several other locations, too, including Ohio, California and even Germany and Israel.
I love every labyrinth Ive created because the experiences it generated and the connections to the people who walked it are always profound, Brauer says of her work. It is an enriching experience, and every single labyrinth walk has the potential to change how you see the world. It is a spiritual transformation power tool and therefore, every experience contains its own special gift.
Labyrinths are considered sacred circles found in every culture around the globe and date back thousands of years the circle has no beginning and no end. It is a doorway to another dimension, and it allows us to become whole and experience oneness, fulfilling the deepest yearning of the human soul, says Brauer, who also authored the book Girls Dont Ride Motorbikes A Spiritual Adventure Into Lifes Labyrinth. The sacred circle represents our origin and final destination, our divine essence that exists beyond time and space.
Though labyrinths may appear similar to mazes, which became popular during the period of rationalism in the 15th century while emphasizing reasoning and thinking, Brauer says there are distinct differences.
A maze forces you to make choices and reach dead ends, she says, but a labyrinth allows you to reach states of clarity, particularly during troubled times and turmoil, and its single-winding path invites you to give up control and relax.
As you walk through a labyrinth, Brauer suggests considering the three Rs:
Release: Release everything that does not serve your highest good. Exhale all concerns, worries, painful memories, aches from your body and beliefs and perceptions that do not resonate with the light.
Receive: As for guidance to lifes challenges. Be assured that the answers to your questions will emerge in the days following your labyrinth walk. Visualize breathing in and breathing out the light. Let your light shine bright and radiant.
Reflect: Trace your steps back out of the labyrinth. Count your blessings and all the good that you have received throughout your life. Focus on happy memories, moments of joy and love. Reflect and embrace everything that is good and nourishes your soul.
Walking through a labyrinth offers many benefits, Brauer notes. Individuals have noticed stress reduction, clarity, inner peace, self-discovery and much more. Since it is essentially a walking meditation, the positive benefits associated to meditation also apply to labyrinth walking. Labyrinths are even becoming increasingly popular in hospital settings, such as the new one at the Cameron Wellness Center.
Brauer says she first learned about labyrinths when she was growing up in Europe, but became more involved with them when she was planning a cross-country road trip for her 40th birthday in 2006.
I knew that I was embarking on a spiritual journey and that I wanted to write a book to share what I had learned, she says. Then I discovered the Labyrinth Locator and found very interesting labyrinths along my itinerary. I wanted to learn more and participated in a labyrinth facilitator training with Dr. Lauren Artress, who was then the Canon of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice.
Since then, Brauer has created more than 100 labyrinths, many of them temporary that could be found in nature, at churches, or for childrens birthday parties and other events such as Farm to Table Pittsburgh, the Healthy Womens Expo at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and in corporate settings for team building workshops.
She advises that the best way to find local labyrinths is to visit the World Wide Labyrinth Locator at labyrinthlocator.com and enter your zip code.
To see the new labyrinth that she designed on the walking trail behind the Cameron Wellness Center, stop by the opening ceremony scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 10.
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Its the waning moments of my fourth session with a new therapist. Im holding back and she knows it. My entire body feels tense, not ideal for the setting. I try to relax, but the plush leather couch crumples under me when I shift, making the movements extraordinary. Ive barely looked into my therapists blue eyes at all, and yet I think the hour has gone very well. Of course it has. On the surface, when the patient has been highly selective of the discussion topics, therapy always resembles a friendly get-together.
Well, my therapist, Lori, says, the millisecond after I become certain our time is up and I might be in the clear. I dont think I should let you go until weve at least touched on what was put out there at the end of last weeks session.
I so supremely wanted this not to come up. My eyelids tighten, my mouth puckers to the left, and my head tilts, as though Im asking her to clarify.
When you said youre attracted to me, she continues.
Oh, yeah, I say. That.
Back in session three Lori was trying to build my self-esteem, the lack of which is one of the reasons Im in treatment. Within the confines of my family, Ive always been the biggest target of ridicule. We all throw verbal darts around as though were engaged in a massive, drunken tournament at a bar, but the most poisonous ones seem to hit me the most often, admittedly somewhat a consequence of my own sensitivity. Ive been told it was historically all part of an effort to toughen me up, but instead I was filled with towering doubts about my own worth. And since 2012, when I gave up a stable, tenured teaching career for the wildly inconsistent life of a freelance writer, Ive had great difficulty trusting my own instincts and capabilities. I told Lori that I wish I was better at dealing with lifes daily struggles instead of constantly wondering if Ill be able to wade through the thick.
She quickly and convincingly pointed out that I work rather hard and am, ultimately, paying my bills on time, that I have friends, an appreciation for arts and culture, and so on. In short, I am, in fact, strong, responsible and pretty good at life.
Then Lori heightened the discussion a bit. I also feel that it is your sensitivity that makes you a great catch out there in the dating world, she said, to which I involuntarily smiled, blushed and quickly buried my chin in my chest. I was too insecure and too single to handle such a compliment from a beautiful woman.
Why are you reacting that way? Lori asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, only half looking up.
Is it because youre attracted to me?
I laughed a little, uncomfortably. How did you know?
She gently explained she could tell the day I walked into her office for the first time, after I flashed a bright smile and casually asked where she was from.
Now, a week after dropping that bomb, Lori asks, So, why havent we talked about it?
I was hoping to avoid it, I suppose. I tell her the whole notion of having the hots for a therapist is such a sizable clich that I was embarrassed to admit it. For Christs sake, I say, throwing my hands up, Tony Soprano even fell in love with his therapist.
Lori snorts, rolls her eyes. I knew you were going to say that.
I smile, shake my head and look around the room, denying acceptance of my own ridiculous reality.
Its OK, Lori says, grinning. We can talk about this in here.
I look again at her stark blue eyes, prevalent under dark brown bangs, the rest of her hair reaching the top of her chest, which is hugged nicely by a fitted white tee under an open button-down. She jogs often, Id come to find out, which explains her petite figure and ability to probably pull off just about any outfit of her choosing.
I still cant speak, so she takes over.
Do you think youre the first client thats been attracted to their therapist? she asks rhetorically. Ive had other clients openly discuss their feelings, even their sexual fantasies involving me.
What? I cackle, beginning to feel as though Ive moseyed onto the set of a porno.
Its true, she says, acknowledging her desk. Whats yours? Do you bend me over and take me from behind?
Nailed it.
If thats what youre thinking, its OK, she goes on, earnestly, explaining that shes discussed sexual scenarios with her clients before so as to normalize the behavior and not have them feel their own thoughts are unnatural. By showing the patient a level of acceptance, she hopes to facilitate a more comfortable atmosphere for the work her painfully accurate pseudonym for psychotherapy.
I take a second to let the red flow out of my face, and ponder what she said. Im a little unsure about this whole technique, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. So I go home, incredibly turned on and completely unashamed.
* * *
One of the great breakthroughs Ive had in the thirteen months since I began seeing Lori (who agreed to participate in this article, but requested that her full name not be published) is a new ability to accept the existence of dualities in life. For instance, Ive always had a tremendous sense of pride that, if it doesnt straddle the line of arrogance, certainly dives into that hemisphere from time to time. Im great at seeing flaws in others and propping myself up above them by smugly observing my character strengths. Ive never liked that about myself, but the harder concept to grasp is the fact that I can be so egotistical while also stricken with such vast quantities of insecurity.
In treatment I came to realize that all people have contradictions to their personalities. Theres the insanely smart guy who cant remotely begin to navigate a common social situation, the charitable girl who devotes all her time to helping strangers, but wont confront issues in her own personal relationships. In my case, my extreme sensitivity can make me feel fabulous about the aspects of myself that I somehow know are good (my artistic tastes) and cause deep hatred of those traits I happen to loathe (the thirty pounds I could stand to lose).
My next session with Lori is productive. We speak about relationships Ive formed with friends and lovers, and how my family may have informed those interactions. One constant is that I put crudely high expectations on others, mirroring those thrown upon me as a kid. Im angered when people dont meet those expectations, and absolutely devastated when I dont reach them. Lori points out that it must be exhausting trying to be so perfect all the time. I am much more comfortable than I was the week prior, and can feel myself being more candid. Im relieved that the whole being-attracted-to-my-therapist thing doesnt come up.
Then, a week later, Lori mentions it, and I become tense again.
I thought Id be able to move past it, I say, adding, We aired it out, and its fine.
As definitive as Im trying to sound, Lori is just as defiant.
Im glad you feel that way, she begins, but I think you owe yourself some kudos. This kind of therapy, she shares, isnt something just anyone can take on. Such honest discussion doesnt simply happen, it takes tremendous guts, and Lori can see that I am dealing with it relatively well, so I should praise my own efforts.
Shit, we both should be proud of ourselves, she says. Its not easy on the therapist either, you know.
Why not?
Because talking openly about sex is risky at any time, much less with a client. She explains that therapists are warned any semblance of intimacy can be easily misconstrued. We learn in our training to not personally disclose, for example, she says, but adds that, occasionally, transparency can be helpful.
Still, with you, she continues, until I raised the question, I didnt know for sure that you would go with it; for all I knew youd run out of here and never come back to risk being so uncomfortable again.
Shes building my confidence more, and Im learning that I play a much bigger role in how my life is conducted than I often realize. My treatment wouldnt be happening if I werent enabling it.
Then she says, And dont think its not nice for me to hear that a guy like you thinks Im beautiful.
Crippled by the eroticism of the moment, and combined with the prevailing notion that no woman this stunning could ever be romantically interested in me, I flounder through words that resemble, Waitwhat?
If we were somehow at a bar together, and you came over and talked to me, she says, then flips her palms up innocently, who knows?
I laugh again and tell her thered be almost no chance of me approaching her because Id never feel like I had a shot in hell.
Well, thats not the circumstances were in, she says. But you might. Who knows?
Im confused Is she really attracted to me or is this some psychotherapeutic ruse? Im frustrated I told her I didnt really want to talk about it. Shouldnt she be more sensitive to my wants here? Im angry Is she getting an ego boost out of this? Most of all, I dont know what the next step is Am I about to experience the hottest thing thats ever happened to a straight male since the vagina was invented?
There were two ways to find out:
1) Discontinue the therapy, wait for her outside her office every day, follow her to a hypothetical happy hour and ask her out, or
2) Keep going to therapy.
* * *
A week later, Im physically in the meeting room with Lori, but mentally I havent left the recesses of my mind.
Where are you today? she asks, probably noticing my eyes roving around the room.
I dont know.
Are you still grappling with the sexual tension between us?
Here we go again.
Yes, I say, with a bit of an edge in my voice, and I dont know what to do about it.
Lori, ever intently, peers into my eyes, wrinkles her mouth and slightly shakes her head.
Do you want to have sex with me? she asks.
We both know the answer to that question. All I can do is stare back.
Lets have sex, she announces. Right here, right now.
What? I respond, flustered.
Lets go! she says a little louder, opening up her arms and looking around as if to say the office is now our playground, and, oh, the rollicking fun wed have mixing bodily fluids.
No, I tell her, You dont mean that.
What if I do? she shoots back. Would you have sex with me, now, in this office?
Of course not.
Why of course not? How do I know for sure that you wont take me if I offer myself to you?
I wouldnt do that.
Thats what I thought, she says, and tension in the room decomposes. Mike, I dont feel that you would do something that you think is truly not in our best interest, which is exactly why I just gave you the choice.
Her offer was a lesson in empowerment, helping me prove that I have an innate ability to make the right choices, even if Id so desperately prefer to make the wrong one.
I see what she means. Im awfully proud of myself, and its OK to be in this instance. Im gaining trust in myself, and confidence to boot. But, as the dualities of life dictate, Im successfully doing the work with a daring therapist, while at the same time not entirely convinced she isnt in need of an ethical scrubbing.
* * *
I dont have another session with Lori for nearly three months, because she tooka personal leave from her place of employment. When our sessions finally resumed, I could not wait to tell her about my budding relationship with Shauna.
Ten minutes into my first date with Shauna right about the time she got up from her bar stool and said she was going to the can I knew she would, at the very least, be someone I was going to invest significant time in. She was as easy to talk to as any girl Id ever been with, and I found myself at ease. Plans happened magically without anxiety-inducing, twenty-four-hour waits between texts. Her quick wit kept me entertained, and I could tell by the way she so seriously spoke about dancing, her chosen profession, that she is passionate about the art form and mighty talented too. Shauna is beautiful, with flawless hazel eyes and straight dark hair, spunky bangs and a bob that matches her always-upbeat character. She is a snazzy dresser and enjoys a glass of whiskey with a side of fried pickles and good conversation as much as I do.
Things escalated quickly, but very comfortably, and since wed both been in our fair share of relationships, we knew the true power of honesty and openness. So upon the precipice of my return to therapy I told Shauna about Lori, and admitted to having mixed feelings about what I was getting back into. I told her I was at least moderately uncertain if my mental health was Loris number-one concern since she always seemed to find the time to mention my attraction to her.
The first two sessions of my therapeutic reboot had gone great. Lori appeared genuinely thrilled that I was dating Shauna and could see how happy I was. I wasnt overwhelmed with sexual tension in the new meeting room, though it wasnt actually spoken about, and in the back of my mind I knew it was just a matter of time before it would start to affect my ability to disclose my thoughts to Lori again.
Then, while attempting to ingratiate myself with my new girlfriends cat by spooning food onto his tiny dish on the kitchen floor, I hear my phone ding from inside the living room.
You got a text, babe, Shauna says. Its from Lori.
Im so impressed with you and the work youre doing Shauna reads off my phone from inside the living room, inquisitively, and not happily. I stuff the cat food back into the Tupperware and toss it into the refrigerator. I make my way into the living room, angry at myself for not changing the settings on my new iPhone to disallow text previews on the locked screen. Shaunas walking too, and we meet near the kitchen door. Whats this? she says, holding up the phone. Your therapist texts you?
I take the phone from Shauna and say the most obvious, clich-sounding thing: Its not what it seems.
As I text back a curt thanks, Shauna tells me shes going to ask her sister, a therapist herself, if its OK to text patients.
Dont do that. I say, a little more emphatically. I promise, this is nothing to be worried about. Were not doing anything wrong. I explain that Loris just trying to build my self-esteem.
The only reason Im even bringing this up is because you said you werent sure about her in the first place, Shauna reminds me. I can tell she regrets looking at my phone without my permission, but I completely understand her feelings.
At my next session I tell Lori that Shauna saw her text and wasnt thrilled about it.
She probably feels cheated on to some degree, Lori says. A relationship between a therapist and a patient can oftentimes seem much more intimate than the one between a romantic couple.
Lori goes on to point out that the reason she feels we can exchange texts, blurring the lines between patient/doctor boundaries a hot topic in the psychotherapy world these days is because she trusts that Ill respect her space and privacy. Youve proven that much to me, she says.
On my walk home, instead of being angry at Lori, I understand her thinking behind the text. But Im also nervous about how Lori and Shauna can ever coexist in my life.
Isnt therapy supposed to ameliorate my anxiety?
* * *
A week later, Lori begins our session by handing me a printout explaining the psychotherapeutic term erotic transference written by Raymond Lloyd Richmond, PhD. It says that erotic transference is the patients sense that love is being exchanged between him or herself and the therapist the exact sensation I was experiencing with Lori, of which she was astutely aware.
According to Richmond, one of the primary reasons people seek therapy is because something was lacking in their childhood family life, perhaps unconditional nurturing guidance and protection. Upon feeling noticed and understood by a qualified therapist, sometimes a patient can be intoxicated by their therapists approval of them. A patient may in turn contemplate that a love is blossoming between them, and, in fact, it sort of is.
From an ethical standpoint, Richmond argues all therapists are bound to love their patients, for therapists are committed to willing the good of all clients by ensuring that all actions within psychotherapy serve the clients need to overcome the symptoms which brought them into treatment. This takes genuine care and acceptance on their part. However, a patient can easily confuse the love they feel with simple desire. Theyre not quite in love with their therapist, so much as they yearn for acceptance from someone, and in those sessions they just happen to be receiving it from their doctor.
Lori tells me that, all along, she has been working with what I gave her and that because I flirted with her a bit, she used that to her advantage in the treatment. In employing countertransference indicating that she had feelings for me she was keeping me from feeling rejected and despising my own thoughts and urges.
Theres two people alone in a room together, and if theyre two attractive people, why wouldnt they be attracted to each other? says Dr. Galit Atlas. A psychoanalyst whos had her own private practice for fifteen years, Dr. Atlas has an upcoming book titled The Enigma of Desire: Sex, Longing and Belonging in Psychoanalysis, and I sought her as an independent source for this essay to help me understand Loris therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Atlas explains that there are certain boundaries that cannot be crossed between therapist and patient under any circumstances like having sex with them, obviously. But many other relationship borders can be mapped out depending on the comfort level of the therapist, as long as they stay within the scope of the professions ethics, which complicates the discussion surrounding erotic transference.
As a therapist, I have a role, Dr. Atlas says. My role is to protect you. She says it is incumbent on the therapist to not exploit the patient for the therapists own good, but admits that the presence of erotic transference in therapy brings about many challenges. [Attraction] is part of the human condition, she observes. In therapy, the question then is: What do you do with that? Do you deny it? Do you talk about it? How do you talk about it without seducing the patient and with keeping your professional ability to think and to reflect?
I ask her about the benefits of exploring intimacy in therapy, and Dr. Atlas quickly points out that emotional intimacy though not necessarily that of the sexual brand is almost inevitable and required. An intimate relationship with a therapist can [be] a reparative experience repairing childhood wounds but mostly its about helping the patient to experience and tolerate emotional intimacy, analyzing the clients anxieties about being vulnerable and every mechanism one uses in order to avoid being exposed.
Dr. Atlas says this topic speaks to every facet of the therapeutic relationship, regardless of gender or even sexual orientation, because intimacy reveals emotional baggage that both the patient and therapist carry with them into the session. But this isnt a symmetrical relationship, and the therapist is the one who holds the responsibility.
Freud said that a healthy person should be able to work and to love, she says. In some ways therapy practices both, and in order to change the patient will have to be known by the therapist. That is intimacy. In order to be able to be vulnerable, both parties have to feel safe.
After I briefly explain all that has gone on between me and Lori, Dr. Atlas steadfastly says she does not want to judge too harshly why and how everything came to pass in my therapy. I dont know your therapist, and I dont know your history, she says. But she offers that I should explore the possibility that I might have created and admitted my sexual adoration of Lori because one of my fears is to be ignored, not noticed.
Then I offer: Maybe this essay is being written for the same reason.
Exactly.
More here:
Someone Posted My Phone Number On Craigslist and Said I Wanted Strange Men to Rape Me - Narratively
CRAIG F. WALKER / GLOBE STAFF
The Johnston Gate at Harvard Yard.
An Ivy League course on the consequences of dumb and offensive behavior on the Internet just played out at Harvard. And for at least 10 kids who had already been admitted to the university, the fallout of sharing offensive images among themselves were profound and potentially life-changing.
By now, the story is well known: The teens were part of a larger Facebook group chat where they posted the vile images as Internet memes. When the university discovered the content, it rescinded their admission.
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A debate about free speech has ensued, pitting Harvard as the ruthless censor clamping down on kids goofing off. But thats the wrong way to look at the controversy. Like all universities, Harvard has wide discretion in its admissions process. Had the school discovered the memes before the students were accepted at the school, its safe to guess that Harvard would have denied them admission, period, without triggering a free-speech brouhaha. The college admissions process is inherently subjective. There are many considerations, including that of judgment, character, and ethics, and sharing puerile and offensive posts is generally not the path to the Ivy League.
Needless to say, Harvard reserves the right to rescind admission at any time before enrollment, for many reasons, including whether the prospective student engages in behavior that brings into question their honesty, maturity, or moral character. Its tough luck for the admitted applicants, perhaps, that they werent yet officially Harvard students when the images were discovered. If they were, the universitys response might have been different; student-athletes who were recently caught writing offensive, sexually charged lists about classmates were not expelled from the school.
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Its likely the meme-sharing students, who had been admitted to the class of 2021, were trying to impress each other, engaging in the type of silly, provocative one-upmanship that teens gravitate toward. Its not likely that the students, who included the daughter of a major Harvard donor, were going to start committing hate crimes when they arrived in Cambridge. But they did show a marked lack of judgment. Among the posts: a suggestion that child abuse was sexually arousing; sexual jokes about the Holocaust; and an image that poked fun at suicide and Mexicans with a piata.
Did the school miss an opportunity to educate those students about their foolish actions? Perhaps, although the incident remains a teachable moment for the kids nonetheless. And Harvards swift response sends a reassuring message of the importance of principles, civility, and standards for the rest of the university community.
For many young people, memes the wild variety of funny captions over memorable images are a second language.
Censorship, this is not. The students remain free to express themselves with any offensive or provocative memes they choose. And should the students choose to reapply to the college someday, they should be able to write quite an essay about learning lessons the hard way.
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A teachable moment, but not censorship, at Harvard - The Boston Globe
NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trump may be the nation's tweeter-in-chief, but some Twitter users say he's violating the First Amendment by blocking people from his feed after they posted scornful comments.
Lawyers for two Twitter users sent the White House a letter Tuesday demanding they be un-blocked from the Republican president's @realDonaldTrump account.
"The viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is unconstitutional," wrote attorneys at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York.
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The tweeters one a liberal activist, the other a cyclist who says he's a registered Republican have posted and retweeted plenty of complaints and jokes about Trump.
They say they found themselves blocked after replying to a couple of his recent tweets. The activist, Holly O'Reilly, posted a video of Pope Francis casting a sidelong look at Trump and suggested this was "how the whole world sees you." The cyclist, Joe Papp, responded to the president's weekly address by asking why he hadn't attended a rally by supporters and adding, with a hashtag, "fakeleader."
Blocking people on Twitter means they can't easily see or reply to the blocker's tweets.
Although Trump started @realDonaldTrump as a private citizen and Twitter isn't government-run, the Knight institute lawyers argue that he's made it a government-designated public forum by using it to discuss policies and engage with citizens. Indeed, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Trump's tweets are "considered official statements by the president."
The institute's executive director, Jameel Jaffer, compares Trump's Twitter account to a politician renting a privately-owned hall and inviting the public to a meeting.
"The crucial question is whether a government official has opened up some space, whether public or private, for expressive activity, and there's no question that Trump has done that here," Jaffer said. "The consequence of that is that he can't exclude people based solely on his disagreement with them."
The users weren't told why they were blocked. Their lawyers maintain that the connection between their criticisms and the cutoff was plain.
Still, there's scant law on free speech and social media blocking, legal scholars note.
"This is an emerging issue," says Helen Norton, a University of Colorado Law School professor who specializes in First Amendment law.
Morgan Weiland, an affiliate scholar with Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, says the blocked tweeters' complaint could air key questions if it ends up in court. Does the public forum concept apply in privately run social media? Does it matter if an account is a politician's personal account, not an official one?
San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. declined to comment. The tweeters aren't raising complaints about the company.
___
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed from Washington.
Link:
Twitter users, blocked by Trump, cry censorship - CBS46 News - CBS46 News Atlanta