Monthly Archives: July 2020

Ben Lomond High teacher, victim of COVID-19, remembered as caring educator – Standard-Examiner

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OGDEN Next month, when students, faculty and staff return to Ben Lomond High School following an extended absence caused by the global pandemic, one of their own will be missing.

According to her obituary, on June 23, COVID-19 claimed the life of Darla Checketts, 58, a family and consumer science teacher at the school.

Tammy Brown-Johansen, who also teaches FACS classes at Ben Lomond, has been a friend and neighbor of Checketts for more than two decades. She doubts that the word got out to all the students, so it will be a difficult time when they return to school and Ms. Checketts is nowhere to be found.

Its going to be rough when the students come back and go, Well, where is she?, Brown-Johansen said. Theyll have questions. Some of them, these inner-city kids, bond with these teachers, and this will be hard.

Its a tragedy; its horrible. For the family, its devastating, but for us ... Brown-Johansen said, trailing off.

After Checketts died, Brown-Johansen remembers being at the school one day when she ran into a couple of the student custodians who clean the building over the summer.

One of the custodians was one of Darlas students, Brown-Johansen recalls. I told her Darla passed, and this cute little student contacted all her friends, and they collected money to have a tree planted in the forest in her name.

Some of those students showed up at Checketts viewing.

And then they gave me the $60 left over from their collection for me to give it to the family, Brown-Johansen said.

For these students many from lower-income families that donation represented a lot of money, Brown-Johansen said.

STERLING SCHOLAR

According to her obituary, Darla Jean Payne Checketts was born Jan. 20, 1962, in Ontario, Oregon, the oldest of four children. She grew up in Kaysville, graduating from Davis High School in 1980, and was chosen as the Sterling Scholar in home economics.

Beginning at age 14, Checketts spent nine summers working in West Yellowstone, Montana, with the goal of paying for all her college expenses, according to the obituary. Her plan worked, and she graduated from Utah State University with a bachelors degree in home economics education.

A fan of the Peace Corps, Checketts spent two years teaching home economics at a high school in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She later taught at the high school in Malad City, Idaho, for five years.

In 1989, Checketts married Cameron Checketts in the Logan Temple, and they raised five children at their home in West Point. She was a stay-at-home mother, working at a local preschool when her children were at school.

Brown-Johansen says she and Checketts had a lot in common they lived in the same neighborhood, their daughters were the same age, and the two women had studied the same major in college.

It was Brown-Johansen who approached Checketts about a teaching job at Ben Lomond High.

As her kids got older and her youngest, twin boys were in high school, we were in need of another family and consumer science teacher, Brown-Johansen said. It was a part-time position, and Darla only wanted to work part time. I asked her to please come and work with the students at Ben Lomond.

For five years, Checketts worked with Brown-Johansen and two other teachers in the FACS department at the school. She knew how to help students who were struggling in an academic setting, her colleagues say.

SILENT LEADER

Ben Lomond High Principal Steve Poll remembers Checketts as a quiet but powerful force at the school.

She was not one of those teachers who has a loud, big presence on campus, he said. She was more of a silent leader.

Poll said Checketts chose to teach half-time at the school every other day so she could spend time with family.

She still liked to teach, but she also wanted to be there for her grandkids, Poll said.

Poll praised Checketts strong connection with her students. He said she was one of those dedicated teachers who would sacrifice her own personal time to help her charges.

Makenzie Thompson, who also teaches in the FACS department at Ben Lomond, frequently saw that personal sacrifice in action. In a social media post after Checketts death, Thompson wrote: There were many lunches where she wouldnt take a break because she was busy tutoring or letting students retake tests. ... She worked diligently to empower and teach her students enough so they could make better futures for themselves.

Thompson also praised Checketts organizational skills, calling her the most organized teacher I have ever met.

The poor dear had to share a classroom with me this past year and let me just say that I have kind of embraced the chaos of glitter everywhere and students leaving their stuff in each crevice like its their bedroom, Thompson said. Despite this, Darla just went with the flow and made the best of the situation.

ALL ABOUT FAMILY

Brown-Johansen echoes the organized-yet-laid-back vibe of her friend. She said that although Checketts was incredibly clean and organized, shed let her whole house get messed up playing with the grandkids.

Theyd be making something in the kitchen, and thered be flour all over the place, Brown-Johansen said. But it was OK, because her grandkids were with her.

On the day Thompson posted her social media tribute to the person she called her sweet friend/work mom, she and Brown-Johansen had just gone through Checketts classroom, collecting her personal belongings to return them to her family.

Darla did not have many personal items at the school, Thompson wrote. They all fit in 1 box, but in that single box there were 3 framed pictures of her family.

Thompson says that showed Checketts priorities. She loves her children and husband so much and I know that she will continue to love and watch out for them, she wrote.

However, both Thompson and Brown-Johansen say their friend saw her students as her kids as well.

My only thing Id want people to know is that she really, really, really cared about the kids at school, Brown-Johansen said. Thats the thing about working at Ben Lomond. Its not a job; its a stewardship. If its not about the kids, youre not doing it right. And she knew that, and she did it right.

WHAT HAPPENED?

According to Brown-Johansen, Checketts son had recently returned home from an LDS mission.

He was the first one sick, then she got it, and then her husband got it, she said. I didnt even know she was ill. She was only ill one week.

Brown-Johansen said Checketts had gone to the doctor the night before she died because she wasnt feeling well and said she couldnt breathe.

They knew she had it ... but they sent her home; they didnt think she needed to be hospitalized, Brown-Johansen said.

The next day, her condition worsened. Her son, whod been frequently checking on her, decided to take her back to the hospital.

He went in to get her to take her to the emergency room and she was gone, Brown-Johansen said.

Brown-Johansen remembers the last time she was with her friend. It was June 2, just three weeks before her death, and the teachers in the FACS department were meeting at the school to deep-clean the kitchen in the foods lab at the school. She doesnt specifically remember their final conversation, but shes fairly certain it had to do with either kids or school.

It was always either talking about her children, or my children, or the kids at school, she said. Thats what we mostly talked about.

COVID WAKE-UP CALL

Thompson says shes taken the opportunity of her friends death to refresh her commitment to following the recommended safety guidelines during the pandemic including wearing face masks and maintaining social distance in public.

Even though the percentage of COVID-19 cases compared to the general population may not seem scary to some, please know that the family and friends of that percentage of peoples lives have been altered forever, she writes.

Adds Brown-Johansen: This has been a wake-up call to those who think COVID-19 isnt real.

Poll, the principal at Ben Lomond, said the personal nature of the loss makes it a bit more real for everyone involved.

The thing that makes it seem a little more concerning is that it was somebody that we actually know, Poll said. Its not a news story, its not somebody in New York, its not a number or a statistic its somebody you know.

Poll said he realizes that some educators may be uncomfortable about going back into the classroom this fall, but he said district and school administrators have been attacking the problem for months now.

I can see teachers being more concerned because they havent been in on the day-to-day planning, Poll said. But the administration, weve worked on it all summer long, and we have a good plan.

Still, Poll said Checketts death has been a shock to the entire community.

It definitely hits home, he said.

A viewing for Checketts was held July 10 in Layton; a graveside service followed the next day at the West Point City Cemetery.

Brown-Johansen said she feels empty and cried forever over the loss of her friend.

It was like losing my sister, she said. Honestly, it makes me sad to talk about her, but it also makes me sad not to talk about her.

As for Thompson, she said the family and consumer science department at Ben Lomond High will be forever altered.

Even though Ive only known Darla for 4 years, I feel like its been much longer, she wrote in her online tribute. I dread returning to school without my friend. Our team will not be the same without her.

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Ben Lomond High teacher, victim of COVID-19, remembered as caring educator - Standard-Examiner

They have been married 46 years and just overcame Covid-19, cancer and chemo together – CNN

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Robert and Janice Beecham have been married for 46 years, and this year they are happy to be recovering after a spring full of turmoil.

"It's a blessing to be here because a lot of people didn't make it," Janice told CNN.

Robert Beecham said he and Janice had been following the safety rules but he started to feel symptoms of Covid-19. A week and a half later he still wasn't feeling well so the couple got tested for the virus.

The next day, on March 25, he called his son and agreed to be taken to the hospital.

"He knew me agreeing without a fight meant that I was feeling pretty terrible," he said.

His anniversary was a motive to get home

Robert was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas alone, and found out the next day that he was COVID-19 positive. He was moved to another floor and started his road to recovery, a feat he attributes to his doctor, Satyam Nayak.

"Dr. Nayak and I would open up casual conversations and it would take my mind off the virus," he said.

Robert told the doctor about having two strokes, one in 2012 and 2016, and missing out on an anniversary. He found himself in the same situation this year, so Nayak decided to use that as motivation to get him home.

Nayak came up with a plan where Robert could go home and get the care he needed from his wife. He made it home in time for their April 15 anniversary.

Janice has a positive test of her own

Meanwhile, Janice had just recovered from having surgery in February after finding out about a second battle with breast cancer and a new diagnosis with ovarian cancer. She also tested positive for COVID-19, but luckily, she told CNN, her symptoms were mild.

"Once I got home, and we did the quarantine, I was getting progressively better but Janice still had issues with her health," Robert said.

"We're best friends, it was just tough," Robert told CNN.

Because of her diagnosis, Janice had not yet started the chemo treatments required for her cancer diagnoses.

Now, after surviving two surgeries, two coronavirus diagnoses, chemo and being declared cancer free, the Beechams only have one thing to say.

"It would have been impossible to make it with all the odds against you without God, and he has been our help, all these many years," Robert said.

Janice still has preventative radiation coming up, but the two said they are blessed to be alive and blessed to have celebrated another year together.

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They have been married 46 years and just overcame Covid-19, cancer and chemo together - CNN

Twenty thousand COVID-19 tests still available in surge testing program – WBRZ

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BATON ROUGE There are still 20,000 freeCOVID-19tests available for anyone to take advantage of.

That's out of a total of 60,000 provided by the federal government.

Originally, the goal of the program was to use all the tests in twelve days. But when that didn't happen, Mayor Broome announced the sites willremainopen until supplies last.

We've been very lucky that we've been allowed to keep them open until we exhaust all 60,000 tests, said community testingcoordinator, Kim Hood. Sixty thousand tests over twelve days would have been a pretty big lift for a metropolitan area the size of Baton Rouge.

There are a handful of testing locations. The latest site opened up downtown at the Capitol Park Welcome Center.

We really intended it as a way for folks who live and work downtown be ableto accesstesting as part of their workday. So either on their way into work or on their way home or on their lunch break. Weve seen steady numbers go through there and it's been good, said Hood.

So far, just over 40,000COVID-19testshave been completed. Hood expects the kits to run out during the first week of August.

We just want to make the service available for as long as we can whether it's because someone is symptomatic and they need to come get a test with afive-dayturnaround, or because they are just concerned about theirCOVIDstatus and want to know. Some are getting ready to go back to school, so we're just very happy that we're able to make it available, said Hood.

The testing site locations include:

-HealingPlace Church (closed Sundays)-LSU(Alex Box Stadium)-SouthernUniversity (FGClark)-CortanaMall-LamarDixon Expo

- Capitol Park Welcome Center

The Mayor's office says though residents can simply show up at any of the above sites for a test, itis encouragedthat all who are able pre-register atwww.DoINeedaCovid19Test.com

At the testing sites, residentsshould bepreparedto give medicalpersonneltheir phone number and email address.

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Twenty thousand COVID-19 tests still available in surge testing program - WBRZ

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-20-2020 – 5 PM – West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

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TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 20,2020, there have been 234,857 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 5,142 total cases and 100 deaths.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (25/0), Berkeley (549/19), Boone(58/0), Braxton (7/0), Brooke (38/1), Cabell (219/7), Calhoun (5/0), Clay(17/0), Fayette (101/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (25/1), Greenbrier (80/0),Hampshire (51/0), Hancock (61/4), Hardy (48/1), Harrison (140/1), Jackson(149/0), Jefferson (269/5), Kanawha (534/12), Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (21/0),Logan (47/0), Marion (136/3), Marshall (82/1), Mason (30/0), McDowell (11/0),Mercer (74/0), Mineral (73/2), Mingo (60/2), Monongalia (748/15), Monroe(16/1), Morgan (21/1), Nicholas (21/1), Ohio (179/0), Pendleton (19/1),Pleasants (5/1), Pocahontas (38/1), Preston (92/22), Putnam (115/1), Raleigh(105/3), Randolph (199/2), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (12/0), Summers (2/0), Taylor(29/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne (160/2), Webster(2/0), Wetzel (41/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (203/9), Wyoming (8/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is thecase of Boone, Cabell, Fayette, and McDowell counties in this report.

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

Please visit thedashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-20-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

The ‘7 Social Sins’ as a Warning and Way Onto a Path Toward Equality and Liberation – The Good Men Project

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Pope Gregory I, in 590 C.E. released a list of the Seven Deadly Sins 1. lust, 2. gluttony, 3. greed, 4. sloth, 5. wrath, 6. envy, and 7. pride to keep Catholics from straying off the path toward God.

An Anglican priest, Frederick Lewis Donaldson, first uttered what he referred to as 7 Deadly Social Evils in a sermon delivered in Westminster Abbey on March 20, 1925.

1. Politics without Principles

2. Wealth without Work

3. Pleasure without Conscience

4. Knowledge without Character

5. Commerce without Morality

6. Science without Humanity

7. Worship without Sacrifice

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi renamed this as the 7 Social Sins and popularized the list for a modern audience in his weekly newspaper Young India on October 22, 1925.

Gandhi published the 7 Social Sins without commentary except that it was given to him by a fair friend and this line:

Naturally, the friend does not want the readers to know these things merely through the intellect but to know them through the heart so as to avoid them.

Unlike the Catholic Churchs list, which was meant as a compact between Christians and their God, Gandhis intent in promoting the list focused on the conduct of the individual within society. Gandhi who preached and practiced non-violence and the interdependence of every individual warned that these 7 Social Sins give examples of selfishness, egoism, and greed winning over the common good.

Gandhi presented the list on a slip of paper to his fifth grandson, Arun Gandhi, in 1947 saying that it contained the seven blunders that human society commits, and that causes all the violence. That was the last day grandfather and grandson would ever meet. Three months later, an assassin murdered Mohandas Gandhi.

The theory of a Social Contract developed as far back as ancient Greece. Though iterated, reiterated, and reformed by numerous philosophers and public figures, the foundations of this social contract stand on the premise that people live together in community with the agreement that establishes moral, ethical, and overarching political rules of behavior between individuals, groups, and their government in the formation of a civil society.

A violation by any of the signatories individuals, groups, governments jeopardizes the very stability of that progress toward a fully civil society.

Within our current Trumpian age, with all the problems and inequities that abound, these 7 Social Sins in the Gandhian sense can help to assist us in the ways we descended to this level of social dystopia and how to rise from it.

The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, wrote his Politics (Greek: , Politik) whose title means literally the things concerning the polis. A polis (plural: poleis) was the typical organization of a community in the ancient Greek world.

Politics can be defined as the way people living in groups make decisions, and about coming to an agreement so people can live together.

Politics rests on issues of power regarding having control over ones life and influencing others. People and groups holding power in influencing others must follow the axiom that bioethicists and healthcare workers follow: Primum non-nocere (First, do no harm).

Mohandas Gandhi believed that politics without truths and values as the basis for actions generates chaos, which ultimately leads to violence. He defined principle as the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practice perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice.

Gandhi wrote, An unjust law is itself a species of violence. However, he did not believe that violence against unjust laws or actions of the state justifies violence:

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

The concept of Draconian laws or rules that are terribly harsh or oppressive comes from Draco who created and enforced inordinately strict laws in ancient Athens.

There is nothing intrinsically sinful with inheriting great sums of wealth. Do we, though, as individuals within society have certain responsibilities that come with privilege, unearned as well as earned?

Several extraordinarily privileged individuals and families throughout the generations have signed the social contract by giving of themselves and their material wealth to improve the chances and conditions of people in the world community.

We must ask, however, how much wealth is enough? How much is not enough? In other words, how much is too much when so many have so little?

Wealth without Work describes many people and families in U.S.-Americas top economic 1%. And no, Gandhi would not have considered investments as work.

The effects in our age so-called neo-liberal age of standardization, corporatization, globalization, privatization, and deregulation of the business, banking, and corporate sectors can negatively affect teaching and learning in our schools and diminish workers control and power over their lives in business.

Our schools have become mere sorting machines geared to funneling or allocating potential workers into the corporate sector. Schools drive individuals to fill certain roles or positions, which are not always based on their individual talents or interests.

The tenets of neoliberalism, taken together, claim those who favor neoliberal ideas, will ensure the continual growth of the economy, that wealth will trickle down from the top, while protecting individual autonomy, liberty, and freedom. Neoliberalism rests on the foundation of meritocracy.

Though the neoliberal battle cry of liberty and freedom through personal responsibility sounds wonderful on the surface, what are the costs of this alleged liberty and freedom?

Pope Francis answered that question in his Evangelii Gaudium:

[S]ome people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.

Researchers have charted cultures as falling along a continuum with several variables, including Individualism versus Collectivism: the degree of support for and emphasis on individual goals versus common or collective goals. Most of these same researchers place the U.S. and many other Western nations on the Individual side of the continuum

Ayn Rand, philosopher, novelist, and essayist, contradicts most if not all of Gandhis 7 warnings. She has become the intellectual center for the economic/political/social philosophy of Libertarianism. She constructs a bifurcated world of one-dimensional characters in her novels.

On one side, she presents the noble, rational, intelligent, creative, inventive, self-reliant heroes of industry, of music and the arts, of science, of commerce and banking who wage a noble battle for dignity, integrity, personal and economic freedom for the profits of their labors within an unregulated free market Capitalist system.

On the other side, she portrays the looters represented by the followers, the led, the irrational, the unintelligent, the misguided, the misinformed, the corrupt government bureaucrats who regulate and manipulate the economy to justify nationalizing the means of economic production, who confiscate personal property, who deliver welfare to the unentitled, the lazy, who thereby destroy personal incentive and motivation resulting in dependency.

Welfare Ayn Rand terms unearned rewards, while arguing for a system of laisse-faire Capitalism separating economics and state. In other words, Ayn Rand paints a world in which the evil and misguided takers wage war against the noble and moral makers.

Ayn Rand bristles against some long-held notions of collectivism, of shared sacrifice and shared rewards. Rather, she argues that individuals are not and should not be their brothers and sisters keepers; that one must only do unto oneself; that one must walk only in ones own shoes and not attempt to know the other by metaphorically walking in their shoes; that personal happiness is paramount; the greatest good for you rather than the greatest number of people; it takes the individual to raise a child, not a village.

She titled one of her non-fiction books, The Virtue of Selfishness.

Scientia potentia est (or scientia est potentia or also scientia potestas est), a Latin aphorism, meaning knowledge is power is commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, though no known occurrence has been found in his English or Latin writings.

How one uses this power of knowledge often depends on the character (the underlying values and beliefs) of individuals and groups.

The organization, Character Counts, enumerates its 6 Pillars of Character, as core ethical values that transcend cultural, religious and socioeconomic differences. These Pillars are: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship.

Breaking any of these essential pillars seriously jeopardizes the stability of the entire structure, whether that be the family, the group, the culture, the nation, or the world.

Think about the political leaders who contrived justifications to wage war to benefit their own pollical ends (the so-called wag the dog syndrome).

Think of the political leaders who failed to take actions, again for their own political ends, on intelligence reports that foreign or domestic actors posed security risks to their nation.

Think of the political leaders who failed to mount a reasonable and sustained defensive strategy to limit and ultimately defeat deadly pandemics, and the enablers and colluders (politicians and media outlets) who refused to speak up and speak out.

Morality includes the values and behaviors of right and wrong, good and bad, and the beliefs and actions on the continuum between the poles.

What has been the result of the innumerable damage fossil fuel companies have perpetrated on the worlds environment by knowing the irreversible harm their products cause? What has been the incalculable number of people the tobacco companies have killed even decades ago as they understood tobaccos destructive health effects?

In our information age, technology has improved the lives of many people in significant ways, while connecting the human family as never before on a global scale. Although the possibilities are only limited by our imagination, so too are the dangers for abuse of these technologies by individuals, companies, and nations.

Computer abuse is a form of cyberwarfare, which is the waging of war in cyberspace through the use of electronic means. Individuals, companies, and nations have and continue to sell their snake oil products to unsuspecting and vulnerable populations to embezzle what people have taken a lifetime to accumulate.

Let us look at an example of the notion of science without humanity in the case of race.

Looking back to the historical emergence of the concept of race, critical race theorists remind us that this concept arose concurrently with the advent of European exploration as a justification and rationale for conquest and domination of the globe beginning in the 15th century of the Common Era (CE) and reaching its apex in the early 20th century CE.

Meanwhile, geneticists tell us there is often more variability within a given so-called race of humans than between human races, and that there are no essential genetic markers linked specifically to race. They assert, therefore, that race is socially constructed a historical, scientific, and biological myth. Thus, any of these socially conceived physical racial markers are fictional and are not related to what is beyond or below the surface of the body.

Though biologists and social scientists have proven unequivocally that the concept of race is socially constructed, however, that has not negated the effects (the privileges of some and marginalization and violence against others) on the lives of people.

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), born Carl Linn (also known as the Father of Scientific Racism), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, developed a system of scientific hierarchical classification.

Within this taxonomy under the label Homo sapiens, (Man), he enumerated five categories based initially on the place of origin and later on skin color: Europeanus, Asiaticus, Americanus, Monstrosus, and Africanus.

Linnaeus asserted that each category was ruled by a different bodily fluid (Humors: moistures), represented by Blood (optimistic), Phlegm (sluggish), Cholor (yellow bile: prone to anger), Melancholy (black bile: prone to sadness).

Linnaeus connected each human category to a respective Humor, thereby constructing the Linnaeus Taxonomy in descending order:

Europeanus: sanguine (blood), pale, muscular, swift, clever, inventive, governed by laws;

Asiaticus: melancholic, yellow, inflexible, severe, avaricious, dark-eyed, governed by opinions;

Americanus (indigenous peoples in the Americas): choleric, copper-colored, straightforward, eager, combative, governed by customs;

Monstrosus (dwarfs of the Alps, the Patagonian giant, the monorchid Hottentot): agile, fainthearted; Africanus: phlegmatic, black, slow, relaxed, negligent, governed by impulse.

In 1883, Sir Francis Galton of England, a cousin of Charles Darwin, coined the term eugenics, from Greek meaning well born, of good origins and breeding. He established a new branch of science to improve qualities of a race by controlling human breeding.

Harry Hamilton Laughlin (1880-1943), U.S. Eugenicist, became superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office from 1910 until 1939. He advocated for mandatory sterilization of the unfit, and he crafted his model sterilization law for the uprooting of inborn defectiveness (Laughlin, 1914, p. 13).

His law included involuntary sterilization for the feeble minded, the insane, criminals, epileptics, alcoholics, blind personal, deaf persons, deformed persons, and indigent persons. Most U.S. states passed sterilization laws, and as late as 1992, 22 states still had these on their books.

Now let us briefly take the example of the social construction of sexual orientation.

The first Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I) (the APA-sponsored and endorsed handbook of mental disorders) published in 1952 listed homosexuality, for example, as a form of sociopathology. The updated 1968 DSM-II described homosexuality as an Ego-Dystonic Disorder, a mental illness in a similar category with schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder.

By 1973, the American Psychiatric Association had finally changed its designation of homosexuality, now asserting that it does not constitute a disorder: [H]omosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or general social or vocational capabilities.

The American Psychiatric Association published DSM-III in 1980 listing a diagnosis of gender identity disorder, which the manual imposed upon transgender people. However, the diagnosis has been updated in its DSM-V, published in May 2013. The subcommittee considered its change to gender dysphoria as a more neutral designation, which it views as descriptive rather than diagnostic and pathologizing.

Basically, in the case of the APA, a group of people, primarily men, met together and voted on whether people attracted to their own sex and people who expressed gender diversity would be considered sick or well.

How many people attend their houses of worship on designated occasions without following its basic precepts? How many people talk the talk of their spiritual values, whether within or without an organized religious tradition, without walking the walk?

In worshipping a deity(ies) or humanity in general, one cannot remain active in word while staying inactive in deed. One cannot truly help to improve the world, to help solve inequitable social, political, and economic conditions without some form of sacrifice, whether that be time and energy, economic resources, and/or truly working to disassemble ones own issues of arrogance, pride, and prejudice.

Gandhi always viewed violence negatively. He identified two forms of violence: Passive and Physical.

Passive violence occurs daily and regularly consciously and unconsciously through inaction, collusion, ignorance, denial, fear, and by other means. Passive violence is the fuel sparking physical violence (from the Sanskrit root: himsa, meaning injury).

In the context of violence, to Gandhi, one is blessed with the capacity of nonviolence. During physical violence, Gandhi extolled the practice of nonviolence (ahimsa). With nonviolence amid violence (passive and physical) one needs to understand and practice the notion of tapasya (the willingness to self-sacrifice). This self-sacrifice, as Gandhi himself modeled, comes in many forms.

The 7 Social Sins serve as a warning for the causes of many of the problems, the inequities, and flaws in our communities, nations, and world. They also can be taken as a menu of sorts for transforming and liberating individuals and nations in getting onto a path of repair.

There is a concept in the Jewish tradition known as Tikkun Olam meaning the transformation, healing, and repairing of the world so that it becomes a more just, peaceful, nurturing, and perfect place.

Let us go out into our lives and practice Tikkun Olam and obliterate the 7 Social Sins. Let us transform and liberate our world.

***

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The '7 Social Sins' as a Warning and Way Onto a Path Toward Equality and Liberation - The Good Men Project

Afraid of touching objects amid COVID-19? This Virginia Tech professor has a solution – Richmond.com

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Since earlier this year, William Ducker has not liked going to the supermarket and navigating a shopping cart around the aisles.

Everybody is very worried about touching communal objects, and Im one of those guys, said Ducker, a professor at Virginia Tech.

But unlike everybody, Duckers field of expertise made him realize he could alleviate that worry.

Im a surface chemist. ... I look at surface coatings, he said. I thought I could fix this problem.

So Ducker and a team of graduate students at Tech created a liquid coating that destroys SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, when the coating solidifies on everyday items such as doorknobs and pens.

The thin layer of copper-based coating retains its virus-disabling property for at least six weeks, meaning such surfaces would no longer need frequent cleanings. Ducker says he thinks the coating could be effective for years but is only confident about a few weeks because the coating has only existed for that long.

Last week, Ducker and colleagues became one of the first teams if not the first to publish an academic paper showing that such a coating is effective against the new coronavirus. A Surface Coating that Rapidly Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 appeared July 13 in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, a journal published by the American Chemical Society.

The surface coating is made from particles of cuprous oxide, which can be made out of recycled copper pipes and wires, bound with polyurethane, a varnish commonly used to finish wood.

Although previous research has established cuprous oxide as effective against viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is a novelty. While conducting a Google Scholar search on the longevity of the virus on surfaces, Ducker came across the research of Leo Poon, a professor at the University of Hong Kong and a leading expert on emerging viruses.

Ducker emailed Poon: Would he be interested in testing the new coronavirus on his coating? Poon replied about 20 minutes later, and they began a collaboration.

Honestly, I was unbelievably excited when Poon said he agreed to test it, Ducker recalled. And then after we found out it worked, oh my God, I was just so excited. I think this is just such a great thing.

After about an hour on glass or stainless steel painted with the coating, the effectiveness of virus samples was reduced by about 99.9% on average, the paper says.

Poons team put bits of SARS-CoV-2 in little drops that mimic as a respiratory droplet which is how COVID-19 spreads and plopped them on the coated surfaces. After varying periods of time, they lifted off the droplets and measured their virality by attempting to infect a monkey kidney cell, a standard mimic of a human cell.

After being exposed to the coating, droplets could no longer infect the monkey cell, Ducker said.

Swapan Ghosh, a polymer scientist in India who has developed a silver-based anti-viral coating, said the novelty of the paper lay in the experiments ability to test it on SARS-CoV-2.

Its good work, because in this pandemic its very diligent work, so I appreciate it Ghosh said.

Ghosh questioned whether the surface coating would work in the dark, since light activates the antiviral properties in cuprous oxide. He also wondered whether the toxicity of the copper elements should be measured.

Ducker agreed testing the coating in the dark would be interesting but doesnt foresee that happening because the experiments are done in high-level biological safety labs that make such a test tricky. .

The actual product, I think what Im after, is people being and feeling safe, Ducker said, which is why he wants to call the material SafetyCoat. That was always my objective.

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Afraid of touching objects amid COVID-19? This Virginia Tech professor has a solution - Richmond.com

Olivia de Havilland, Gone With the Wind actress and Hollywood royalty, dies at 104 – Mexico Ledger

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Olivia de Havilland, one of the last pillars of Hollywood royalty and a contemporary of Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, died "peacefully from natural causes" Sunday at the age of 104, talent agent Jim Wilhelm told USA TODAY. Her death marks the passing of one of the last stars of classic films of the 1930s, an actress before her time in the fight for equality, and an icon who took on the studio system and won.

Best known for her sweet-natured role as Melanie Hamilton in "Gone With the Wind," the two-time Oscar winner (for 1946's "To Each His Own" and 1949's "The Heiress") will be remembered most for her beautiful diction, an air of refinement and gumption, and grace on and off camera. Outspoken and steely in real life, de Havilland starred in more than 50 films on the big and small screen from 1935 to 1988, and was known as a staunch advocate for actors rights and creative freedom in Hollywood.

Bound by the grip Warner Bros. held on her career, the 27-year-old star sued the studio in 1943, prompting a collapse of oppressive long-term contracts in Hollywood. And in the latter years of her life, the British-American actress reminded she was no pushover, making headlines by filing a lawsuit in Los Angeles over being portrayed as a gossip monger in Ryan Murphys FX show "Feud: Bette and Joan," which chronicled the longtime rivalry between actresses Davis and Joan Crawford.

She was born Olivia Mary de Havilland in 1916 in Tokyo, where her father Walter Augustus de Havilland taught English at the Imperial University and then became a patent attorney. Her mother Lilian Augusta Ruse was a stage actress educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, but she left her career to move to Japan with her husband.

On a family trip to California in 1919, Olivia became ill with a bronchial condition and her younger sister Joan (later to become the actress Joan Fontaine) developed pneumonia. Lilian decided to remain in California with Joan and Olivia for her daughters health. They settled in Saratoga, a suburb of San Francisco, while her father abandoned the family and returned to Japan. De Havillands mother divorced in 1925 and married George Fontaine, a strict stepfather the girls resented.

Fontaine died in 2013 at age 96. De Havilland's death was also preceded by son Benjamin Goodrich in 1991. She is survived by her daughter, Gisele Galante Chulack, son-in-law Andrew Chulack and niece Deborah Dozier Potter. Funeral arrangements will be private, Wilhelm said.

After making her Hollywood debut in a version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," de Havilland - named for the Bard's "Twelfth Night" character Olivia - made an early mark opposite Flynn. In 1934, she had signed a contract with Warner Bros., who decided to pair her with the then-unknown Australian They starred a year later in "Captain Blood," a swashbuckling hit that made the two of them bonafide stars, and they made seven more movies as one of Hollywoods most memorable on-screen romantic pairings. She played Maid Marian to Flynn's title rogue in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" in 1938, and they last appeared together in 1941s "They Died With Their Boots On."

With David O. Selznicks 1939 Civil War epic "Gone With the Wind," de Havilland said at the time that having read the Margaret Mitchell novel, she knew she could bring the character of Melanie to life, and the actress' soft voice and graceful manner made her the perfect fit for a pivotal role: Melanie's indelible goodness saved Scarlett OHara (Vivien Leigh) from social ruin more than once and even touched Scarletts hard heart. Though far less showy than Scarlett, de Havillands iconic role is deeply etched in audiences hearts.

The character earned de Havilland her first Oscar nomination, for best supporting actress, but she lost to her "Wind" co-star Hattie McDaniel. De Havilland's second nod came for 1941s "Hold Back the Dawn," where she shared the best actress category with her sister, who won for "Suspicion." De Havilland took home her own best actress Oscar five years later, for her performance in "To Each His Own," and they are still the only siblings ever to have won lead acting Academy Awards.

But de Havilland and Fontaine fostered a heated competitiveness that lasted all their lives, from childhood to stardom. That rivalry rumored to have escalated into a feud where the two didnt speak was the subject of Hollywood gossip for decades.

In 2016, three years after her sister's death, de Havilland finally broke her silence on their relationship to the Associated Press: "A feud implies continuing hostile conduct between two parties. I cannot think of a single instance wherein I initiated hostile behavior." However, she added, "I can think of many occasions where my reaction to deliberately inconsiderate behavior was defensive.

In 1949, Fontaine put it differently, telling columnist Hedda Hopper: You see, in our family, Olivia was always the breadwinner, and I the no-talent, no-future little sister not good for much more than paying her share of the rent."

De Havilland referred to her sister as Dragon Lady.

"Dragon Lady, as I eventually decided to call her, was a brilliant, multi-talented person, but with an astigmatism in her perception of people and events, which often caused her to react in an unfair and even injurious way," de Havilland said in 2016.

De Havilland, who won her second best actress Oscar for "The Heiress," was also nominated for her performance in 1948s "The Snake Pit," one of the earliest films to feature a realistic portrayal of mental illness. That role also cemented her reputation for embracing flawed and unglamorous characters.

I believed in following Bette Davis example, she told the Los Angeles Times in 1988. She didn't care whether she looked good or bad. She just wanted to play complex, interesting, fascinating parts, a variety of human experience. I wanted Melanie to be just one of the images. Let's have a few others.

Being as well-received as she was both by the public and critically for her part in "Gone With the Wind," de Havilland longed for more substantial parts early in her career, particularly more serious ones than as Flynns demure leading lady, who was usually a damsel in distress. But Warner Bros. did not support her efforts. De Havilland grew increasingly frustrated by the lack of challenging roles and began to reject scripts.

While De Havilland wanted to pursue opportunities with other studios, Warner Bros. told her they added six months more to her seven-year contract for times she had been on suspension. (Legally, studios could suspend contract players for rejecting a role, then add that time to the contract period.)

At the urging of her lawyer, she sued Warner Bros., supported by the Screen Actors Guild. The case went to the Supreme Court of California and the court ruled in her favor in 1945. Known as the de Havilland Law, the landmark decision proved to be one of the most important and far-reaching legal rulings in Hollywood, reducing the power of the studios and giving greater creative freedom to actors.

Performers of that era and later benefited from her legal case, and the law won de Havilland much respect among her peers and colleagues. Fontaine was even quoted as saying Hollywood owes Olivia a great deal. But Warner Bros. circulated a punitive letter that essentially blacklisted de Havilland. She did not work for a film studio for two years until Paramount signed her in 1946.

"As soon as my victory was legally confirmed and I was free to choose the films that I made, Paramount presented me with the script of 'To Each His Own,' " playing an unwed teenage mother. This was exactly the kind of challenge for which I fought that case," she told the AP with pride in 2016.

In addition to championing actors rights, de Havilland was known for her liberal political stance. She organized a fight for control of the Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions, which she felt was being manipulated by a small group of Communists. She failed and then resigned, triggering a wave of resignations, including that of an actor she had recruited to the group, Ronald Reagan. Even though she had very publicly worked to organize Hollywood resistance to Soviet influence, she was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1958 because of her vocal liberal activism.

On the personal front, de Havilland was romantically involved with Flynn, Jimmy Stewart, director John Huston and filmmaking mogul Howard Hughes, though Havilland eventually married Navy veteran and novelist Marcus Goodrich in 1946, before divorcing in 1953. They had one son, Benjamin, who died in 1991 after a battle with Hodgkins disease.

She wed French journalist Pierre Galante in 1955, moved to Paris, and had a daughter, Gisele. De Havilland's adjustment to Parisian life was recounted in her 1962 memoir "Every Frenchman Has One." The couple divorced in 1979.

De Havilland only appeared occasionally in films in the 1950s and turned down the role of Blanche Dubois (which won Leigh her second best actress Oscar) in 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire." While some thought it had to do with the suggestive themes of the story, she said in 2006 that she declined the part because she had recently given birth to her son.

Her few film roles in the 60s included "Lady in a Cage" (1964) and "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" (1964). In 1965, she was the first woman to preside on a jury for the Cannes Film Festival.

De Havilland continued acting in films until the late 1970s and on television through the 1980s. She won a Golden Globe in 1987 and also earned an Emmy nomination for "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna." And In 2009, she lent her distinctive voice to the narration of a documentary on Alzheimers disease entitled "I Remember Better When I Paint."

In her later years, she maintained perspective on her impressive longevity: All the artists I had known during the Golden Era (live) elsewhere, she said in 2016, including the after world.

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Olivia de Havilland, Gone With the Wind actress and Hollywood royalty, dies at 104 - Mexico Ledger

The History and Philosophers of Nihilism

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The term nihilism comes from the Latin word nihil which literally means nothing. Many believe that it was originally coined by Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev in his novel Fathers and Sons (1862) but it probably first appeared several decades earlier. Nevertheless, Turgenevs use of the word to describe the views he attributed to young intellectual critics of feudal society generally and the Tsarist regime, in particular, gave the word its widespread popularity.

The basic principles which underlie nihilism existed long before there was a term that attempted to describe them as a coherent whole. Most of the basic principles can be found in the development of ancient skepticism among the ancient Greeks. Perhaps the original nihilist was Gorgias (483 to 378 BCE) who is famous for having said: Nothing exists. If anything did exist it could not be known. If it was known, the knowledge of it would be incommunicable.

Nihilism has been unjustly regarded as a violent and even terroristic philosophy, but it is true that nihilism has been used in support of violence and many early nihilists were violent revolutionaries. Russian Nihilists, for example, rejected that traditional political, ethical, and religious norms had any validity or binding force on them. They were too few in number to pose a threat to the stability of society, but their violence was a threat to the lives of those in power.

Atheism has long been closely associated with nihilism, both for good and for bad reasons, but usually for bad reasons in the writings of critics of both. It is alleged that atheism necessarily leads to nihilism because atheism necessarily results in materialism, scientism, ethical relativism, and a sense of despair that must lead to feelings of suicide. All of these tend to be basic characteristics of nihilistic philosophies.

Many of the most common responses to the basic premises of nihilism come down to despair: despair over the loss of God, despair over the loss of objective and absolute values, and/or despair over the postmodern condition of alienation and dehumanization. That does not, however, exhaust all of the possible responses just as with early Russian Nihilism, there are those who embrace this perspective and rely upon it as a means for further development.

There is a common misconception that the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was a nihilist. You can find this assertion in both popular and academic literature, yet as widespread as it is, it isnt an accurate portrayal of his work. Nietzsche wrote a great deal about nihilism, it is true, but that was because he was concerned about the effects of nihilism on society and culture, not because he advocated nihilism.

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The History and Philosophers of Nihilism

This weeks TV: Corporate humor, dating on the spectrum, and dogs seeking forever homes – The Boston Globe

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Your TV GPS, Globe TV critic Matthew Gilberts look at the week ahead in television, appears every Monday morning on BostonGlobe.com. Todays column covers July 20-26.

WHAT IM WATCHING THIS WEEK

1. The corporate setting can be soul-crushing, as Dilbert, The Office, and Better Off Ted have noted. But Comedy Centrals cheeky Corporate, one of my pet favorites, takes that idea to new blackly comic heights. Matt and Jake (played by co-creators Matt Ingebretson and Jake Weisman) are junior execs in training at the nefarious Hampton DeVille company, a kind of Amazon whose slogan is We make everything. The guys know theyre buying into evil, but their cynicism and passivity keep them in the race. Its nihilism at its most entertaining. The third and final season is starts Wednesday on Comedy Central at 10:30 p.m.

2. COVIDs Hidden Toll, the latest installment of PBSs Frontline, looks into the immigrants and undocumented workers who help maintain Americas food supply during the pandemic. Workers talk about having to choose between their health and their jobs, as well as what they say is a lack of protection from their employers. Its on WGBH 2 on Tuesday at 10 p.m.

3. Exploitation? Explication? Revelation? Love on the Spectrum is a new reality show about the world of dating for young adults on the autism spectrum. It joins Born This Way, The Good Doctor, The A Word, Parenthood, Atypical, and Speechless in bringing special needs into the mainstream. Netflix will make the five hour-long episodes available on Wednesday.

4. Get ready for tears. The Dog House sets up dogs with humans to see if theyre compatible. Each episode shows the arrivals of pets at a rural British rescue organization, tells their stories of abandonment, and looks into the lives of the people who might adopt them. Cameras in the pen record the first meetings between the dogs and their prospective new owners. Its on HBO Max on Thursday.

5. Rage ritual, anyone? Nine strangers, each undergoing stress, attend a wellness retreat in Costa Rica in a new unscripted series called Lost Resort. They work with a team of alternative healers who push them to their limits, with rage rituals and vulnerability circles. Premiering on TBS at 10 p.m. on Thursday, the reality show is from the producers of The Real Housewives of New Jersey and will of course feature hookups and breakups along with all the healing.

CHANNEL SURFING

Fear City: New York vs. the Mafia A limited series about Mafia families in New York in the 1970s and 80s and the feds trying to take them down. Netflix, Wednesday

The Pale Tourist Jim Gaffigan delivers a new stand-up set. Amazon, Friday

Rogue Trip Bob Woodruff and his 27-year-old son, Mack, travel to overlooked destinations. Disney+, Friday

RECENT REVIEWS

I May Destroy You An intense, intricate series about sexual trauma. HBO

Father Soldier Son A complex documentary portrait of a wounded warrior and his young boys. Netflix

P-Valley A compelling drama series about the workers at a Mississippi Delta strip club. Starz

Little Voice A musical rom-com series featuring songs by Sara Bareilles. Apple TV+

Stateless A six-part drama about life in the dirty, bureaucratically impacted limbo of an Australian refugee camp, featuring Cate Blanchett. Netflix

Ill Be Gone in the Dark A docu-series about true-crime author Michelle McNamara and her search for the Golden State Killer. HBO

Perry Mason The legendary attorney, played by Matthew Rhys, gets a backstory in this series, to mixed effect. HBO

Love, Victor A sweet, somewhat simplistic coming-out series aimed at young adults. Hulu

Laurel Canyon A two-part docu-series about the vibrant L.A. music scene in the 60s and 70s. Epix

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.

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This weeks TV: Corporate humor, dating on the spectrum, and dogs seeking forever homes - The Boston Globe

Afterland review: A thought-provoking tale of life without men – New Scientist

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Lauren Beukes's new speculative novel imagines a world stripped overnight of men. Do women do a better job of running things?

By Sally Adee

Getty Images

Afterland

Lauren Beukes

Michael Joseph (UK) and Mullholland Books (US)

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IF ALL the human cells in your body were to suddenly dematerialise, your outline would briefly persist, in all its exquisite detail, in the form of the billions of bacteria and viruses that colonise your every nook and cranny, still suspended in the shape of the frame your body provided.

Something analogous happens in Lauren Beukess novel Afterland, available in July worldwide and in September in the UK. Over about two years, a pandemic kills nearly every man in the world, leaving its patriarchal systems staffed exclusively by women. Cole, the mother of one of the precious few surviving boys, needs to get him out of the US and back to their home in South Africa. Her sister, meanwhile, wants to sell him. This gives the novel its structure and speed: it is a deceptively simple heist caper, with Cole on the run across the US from both her sister and the Department for the Protection of Males.

The organisation is charged with imprisoning the few males that remain, probing them to find whatever biological quirk has spared them from the plague and using that knowledge to find a vaccine for the virus. Its aim of jump-starting society back to normal will be uncomfortably familiar as we too languish in a pandemic limbo between the Before and the After, hoping for our own vaccine. The misguided waiting game in the novel results in a few temporary accommodations to reality: straight women negotiate awkward first dates with one another, while fake baby bumps become the hottest fashion accessory.

So who gets to maintain civilisation now, and do women run a better society than men? This is where the book shines as one of the best thought experiments of its kind, in which Beukes has stitched together the surprise matriarchy of The Power, the millenarian despair of Children of Men and the deeply intelligent questions of Ursula Le Guins The Left Hand of Darkness.

The Power in which women develop the ability to give electric shocks, ending their status as the weaker sex once and for all concludes that women are just as bad as men when in ultimate control.

Beukess take is more ambiguous. Like Le Guin, she seems to conclude that it doesnt much matter if it is women or men in charge of society, as it is the structures themselves that turn us into monsters. You have to be bigger and meaner as a woman to claim your turf, Coles sister tells herself, negotiating her nephews kidnapping on behalf of the widow of the kingpin she used to work for. The widow has slid into his place, just as easily as the thugs around her have shifted from being vicious beauty queens to vicious enforcers. The Sisters of Sorrow, the religious community in which Cole and her son take refuge, somehow figures out how to make Christianity even more violently misogynistic in a world without men.

There is no guarantee that the once-oppressed will wield power any more judiciously than their oppressors

Yet it isnt all nihilism. Beukes seeds the book with hopeful rumours of matriarchal societies that have sprung up in other countries. There are never many details beyond the promise, like mirages just over the horizon. They say the matriarchal societies have been a lot better about getting rid of the homosexuality laws, promises an email from a friend trying to help them escape across the Atlantic. It is a promise of a better body politic.

Afterland is that rare creature, a ripping tale that neither shies away from big questions nor interesting answers. What happens when the powerless get power? There is no guarantee that the previously oppressed will wield it any more judiciously than those who oppressed them. It isnt about the individuals. It is about the society they need to maintain.

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Afterland review: A thought-provoking tale of life without men - New Scientist

Is The UK Ban On Huawei The Endgame For Free Trade? – Forbes

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: This picture shows the London offices of "The Economist" 16 February, 2005. ... [+] Figures due to be released on Thursday, while officially still secret, are widely expected to show that the London-based news magazine has exceeded the one million mark for weekly sales worldwide for the very first time. AFP PHOTO/ALESSANDRO ABBONIZIO (Photo credit should read ALESSANDRO ABBONIZIO/AFP via Getty Images)

Britains decision to ban Huawei actually, completely, perhaps irrevocably from the UKs 5G wireless networks seems to have caught some of the medias solid citizens by surprise. The Economist popped a monocle, and spun up a bright red cover story, subliminally hysterical, entitled Trade Without Trust

The Economist goes on to explain, adopting their once-upon-a-time style:

And after tendering the reader anarchy and collapse,the editors push on to their conclusion:

(This verges on economic nihilism. Unworthy of such a venerable journal, I would say. One wonders how much of Chinas nature we are obliged to go along with. Does that include hostage-taking as a negotiation technique (viz., the two Canadians being held by the Chinese state in solitary confinement since 2018, to trade for Huaweis CFO Meng Wanzhou)? Does it waiver the re-education camps in Xinjiang which Huawei may or may not be helping to technologize?)

But as to Huawei first, to recap: They are of course the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world. They are Beijings number 1 national champion. They are deeply invested in the narrative of Chinas Rise. Yes, they have been under siege by various branches of the U.S government but the American campaign was seen by many as mere sound and fury, to be resolved in the end as part of the Really Big Deal on trade between the economic superpowers.On what was this supposition based? Well, last year President Trump himself allowed that it was possible that Huawei would be included in a trade deal. And after all, wed seen this movie already once. Huaweis Chinese rival, ZTE, was accused, threatened, roughed up, dangled over the ledge, and then reprieved and restored to a (somewhat diminished) legitimacy. Yes, it is vexing that Huawei and Beijing havent drawn the obvious lesson. But still, it had seemed inconceivable that the U.S might actually go nuclear on Huawei. The company is too big, too important to China, and too well-established in the market to quash completely. The pressures being applied to our allies were interpreted as the usual pro forma American bluster. As recently as January, it seemed as though the Brits would essentially stand pat on Huawei.

The UK ban transformed a colorful tactical skirmish in the US/China trade spat into a tectonic event. Suddenly (as per The Economist) we are at the endgame. It was noticed that Canada and Singapore have decided in favor of Ericsson and Nokia (even though they have not formally banned Huawei). And the French government, while not endorsing a ban, has advised the operators there to steer clear of Huawei.Germany is wobbly. Merkel hesitates, but members of almost every German political party are pushing for a ban If there were a vote in parliament today, Huawei would lose. Telecom Italia also announced this month that it was excluding Huawei from its 5G tenders in Italy and Brazil. Not a good trend for Huawei.

The Chinese are threatening to retaliate, perhaps by banning or restricting European competitors Ericsson and Nokia. Thus, it seems to some that Huaweis take-down must portend a much larger shift in the global order, a New Cold War.

There is overreaction here (where perhaps there was under-reaction before). The Huawei episode is likely not an end but a beginning, a sign of what will become a long turnabout in world economic affairs.

It is not plausible that the global trade network can operate for long without trust. Finance certainly cant function without trust, and trade wont run without finance. The investment process, the capital markets, are based on trust.We can go all the way back to 1913, to J.P. Morgan himself, called to testify on his business practices before a skeptical Congress. Towards the end of a long interrogation, when he was asked by the chief counsel for the House Banking Committee Is not commercial credit primarily based on money or property? Morgan famously declared,

Morgan spoke of trust as personal matter, rooted in the character of ones counterparty. There were very few institutionalized forms of trust in his day. There were no financial reporting standards (no GAAP, no FASB), no true audited statements, no securities or banking regulators (no SEC, no FDIC).There was no central bank in the U.S. In fact Morgan was the Central Bank CPF .

We have spent the past century laboriously constructing the common framework to support trust in the financial system, systemic, structural trust, trust-worthy institutions, like the Dollar, the Federal Reserve, the stock exchange and all its plumbing, the system of financial regulation, modern accounting standards The commercial contracts that enable the global trade process today rest upon these foundations. This is the framework that gives an investor, or a business executive, the confidence that a transaction here (in New York, say) will be honored in London, or Hong Kong, or Shenzhen, and vice versa. Trust is the name of the game today as much as it was in Morgans time. We have built the whole system to uphold and strengthen it, and to make it more fungible. We have made trust which began as a handshake and an eye-to-eye connection into a commodity, which the world can trade in confidence. It underpins our prosperity.

The Economist will regain its composure. Beijing has some sorting out and reflecting to do. Over time, they will build the same framework of trust that the U.S. has assembled, and for the same reasons.

As for Huawei, their predicament as dire as it seems right now is in principle recoverable, as ZTEs was. Not without a price, and with some obvious adjustments. Their basic problem is in a word a loss of trust. They have been careless with that most intangible, but most valuable, of all corporate assets. Still, recovery is possible. Unlike in Morgans day, the world is well stocked with institutions and mechanisms to create and validate trust and confidence. Trust today can be acquired, almost like any other commodity. Huawei has really only to avail itself of these resources. In the companion piece to this column here I have proposed how this might work.

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Is The UK Ban On Huawei The Endgame For Free Trade? - Forbes

Bitcoin Breakout on July 22? 5 Things to Watch for BTC Price This Week – Cointelegraph

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The price of Bitcoin(BTC) begins a new week, ranging north of $9,000 as it awaits cues from macro markets.What could be in store for the coming days?

Cointelegraph takes a look at the major factors that could impact BTC's price this week.

Equities led a somewhat uneventful start to the weeks trading, with major stocks' futures slightly down on the day by a maximum of 0.6% at press time.

Bitcoin likewise had a quiet weekend, with volatility remaining negligible and a narrow trading corridor continuing to characterize price performance.

On Monday, BTC/USD hovered at around $9,180, having hit local highs of $9,226 earlier its highest since July 15.

As has become standard in recent weeks, coronavirus sentiment and reactions to associated remedial measures from governments and central banks dictate macro action, and Bitcoin remains susceptible to copycat moves.

With calm reigning prior to the opening bell on Wall Street, room for maneuver appeared limited, given the compression in BTC/USD over the past several weeks.

A cycle of higher lows and lower highs, the current compression cycle showed little sign of breaking this month. As Cointelegraph reported, however, the status quo is ripe for change and that should happen this week, say analysts.

This feels like a little World Cup of sorts. #bitcoin could break out on or about the 22nd, Jason Williams, co-founder of crypto hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital, tweeted on Sunday.

Investors should not treat Bitcoin as a safe haven too literally within the current market, says the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Speaking to Bloomberg on July 20, Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ in cryptocurrency circles, cautioned against considering BTC/USD as having a particular relationship to stocks.

I think people should not take that meaning of 'safe haven assets'too literally there are always multiple factors affecting the price of an asset, he told the network.

If you imagine Bitcoin as the same as a float and theres the Titanic sinking beside it, if theres a rope tying the float to the Titanic, then the float will sink down with the Titanic, even though the float does have floating properties its just not able to sustain that kind of load.

As Cointelegraph reported, quant analysis has suggested that Bitcoin is 95% correlated to the S&P 500.

CZ added, however, that fiat inflation and its impact on investor holdings would ultimately increase Bitcoins safe haven profile over time.

On the topic of safe havens, attention stayed focused on gold over the weekend. Similarly, as a result of coronavirus fallout, the precious metal is now up 19% year to date.

Even in the eyes of mainstream media, appetite exists among investors for an exit from fiat, which has been tarnished by central bank money printing and lower interest rates.

According to Bank of America Securitiescommodities strategist, Michael Widmer, gold may have even more room for growth than its current nine-year highs.

We need a little bit more visibility before gold prices start peaking, he told CNBC.

Data from on-chain monitoring resource Skew, meanwhile, confirms that Bitcoin has firmly beaten golds year-to-date gains:27.7% versus 18.4%.

Bitcoin versus gold 1-year chart. Source: Skew

Binance further reported significant growth in its futures products focused on altcoins, contrasting with a tailing off in activity for Bitcoin.

In July alone, the exchanges altcoin perpetual futures volume grew 150% to $5.1 billion from $2 billion, while daily volume on altcoin futures hit $2 billion.

This, it said in an accompanying blog post, underscores investor attention concentrating on altcoin markets in the wake of uninspiring Bitcoin price action.

The unusual stagnation in Bitcoins price has shifted investors appetite towards altcoins as prices surged to new all-time highs, the blog post stated.

This explosion in Altcoin demand has ushered in an altcoin season, as seen by Bitcoins declining market capitalization dominance.

Bitcoin futures aggregated daily volumes 1-month chart. Source: Skew

Which direction a Bitcoin price breakout could take is open to debate, however. Analysis suggests a pullback of 11%, in line with support as part of the current descending price channel.

At the same time, Bitcoin network fundamentals and miner sentiment remain conspicuously strong. Difficulty is forecast for another 6.3% rise in seven days time, which will constitute its highest level ever. Likewise, the average hash rate remains near its historical all-time highs.

Bitcoin difficulty 2-month average chart. Source: Blockchain

Difficulty refers to the effort required to solve equations on the Bitcoin blockchain, while hash rate is a rough measure of the computing power dedicated to mining.

While both metrics only give an impression of network health, consistent upward growth has previously resulted in a knock-on effect for price action.

Chief among the proponents of the theory that price follows hash rate is Max Keiser, the RT host who continues to be highly bullish on BTC/USD, forecasting a $500,000 price target.

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Bitcoin Breakout on July 22? 5 Things to Watch for BTC Price This Week - Cointelegraph

Committing is the Hardest Part – Bangor Daily News

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Recently, a participant in our KickStart Program shared this: Ive learned that committing is harder than the actual task.

That. Is. So. True.

So many people ride the fence in life, never fully committing.

Tony Robbins says, It is in our moments of decision that our destiny is created. But most people never actually make that decision.

Then Tony said once you make the decision, you must burn the boats so that you are ALL IN with your choice, forgetting any other possible outcome.I know there have been times in my life where I have made major decisions and once the choice is made, it feels like a huge weight is lifted. Anyone else? I would love to hear your story!

WANT MORE OF THIS?Be sure to connect with us on Social Media. We post daily on bothFacebookandInstagramfor motivation, inspiration, and helpful tips, tricks, and strategies for healthy living. You can join ourprivate Facebook groupto go even deeper with us orbook a callto see how you can get started training with us in person. We cant wait to connect with you and support you along your journey with healthy living!

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Bitcoin And Other Crypto Assets Excluded From Central Bank Experiments – Forbes

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A picture taken on January 15, 2020 shows the facade of the Banque de France building in Paris. The ... [+] bank is working with the European Central Bank to re-imagine how new technologies can change the way money works.

The central bank of France is on the verge of conducting a series of sweeping experiments whose lessons could be used to change the way money works. Cryptocurrency wont be included. In a statement from the Banque de France, the nations central bank, which works together with the European Central Bank to determine the monetary policy of the continent, the institution today released the names of eight participants in the experiments and the scope of the work.

Participants are consulting giant Accenture ACN , settlement giant Euroclear, the HSBC bank, French firm, Iznes, etheruem platform LiquidShare, little-known startup, ProsperUS, crypto bank Seba, and Forge, Societe Generales digital capital markets spinoff. The broad parameters of the experiments include everything from testing regulation using digital currency to improve cross-border payments, an analysis of how a central bank digital currency should be made available, and importantly, to explore new methods of exchanging financial instruments (excluding crypto-assets) for central bank money.

The statement from one of the words leading central banks shows how the vaunted institutions are scrambling to learn the best that cryptocurrency, and its underlying blockchain technology have to offer, but only within limits. Neither blockchainthe shared ledger that lets bitcoin existnor the more sanitized word to describe the larger group of technologiesdistributed ledger technology were mentioned by name in the statement. As such, the work also helps define the limits of what any actual adoption of the technology might look like.

The strong mobilization around this call for candidates testifies to the interest of the actors of finance and technology for this approach aiming to explore the potential contributions of a digital money issued by the central bank to improve the functioning of financial markets, in particular interbank regulations, according to a Google GOOGL translation of the statement. A representative of the Banque de France declined to share any additional context.

Over the coming days, the Banque de France will begin conducting experiments with each of the candidates, according to the statement, with some of the projects expected to take as long as multiple months. Candidates were asked to respond to the banks call for applications for CBDC experiments by May 15. The experiments could have far-reaching implications to the decision-making processes for the central bank, which in addition to helping define Europes monetary policy and implement it in France, regulates Frances banks and insurance companies and ensures risk management.

Beyond the confines of France though, lessons learned from the central bank digital currency experiments will be contributed to the international work being led by the Eurosystem, the monetary authority of the European Union. Earlier this month, the bank joined Germanys central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, and the European Central Bank in co-hosting a new innovation center in Europe within the framework of the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements.

In May, European Central Bank executive board member, Yves Mersch, confirmed in a speech at industry conference Consensus, that the European Central Bank was one of at least 66 central banks exploring how lessons learned from blockchain could change the very fabric of what we consider money.

For example, Chinas central bank, the Peoples Bank of China, has taken a giant first-mover advantage in the space, starting its CBDC experiments years ago, and currently testing a working implementation. If successful, one side-effect of CBDCs could be borderless transactions, possibly giving people the choice to store Chinese Renminbi in addition to, or instead of dollars, as a global reserve currency,

Based on what we know of the nearly pervasive experiments around the world looking into the nature of CBDCs, some of the other possible changes to the way money works could include giving citizens accounts at central banks, allowing them to occasionally bypass commercial banks and receive direct access to stimulus checks and more. Another possible, but controversial side-effect of central bank digital currencies could enable online payments while maintaining the privacy citizens have historically enjoyed with cash.

Skeptics of the CBDC concept argue that so long as central banks continue to have the authority to print or issue nearly unlimited amounts of the currency the underlying problems of inflation will continue to drive people to more distributed, deflationary alternatives such as bitcoin, which has a set amount. Other skeptics point to the unlikelihood that central banks will ever actually allow citizens the same privacy they have in the real world, online, and could use the technology as a way to track their own citizens spending habits.

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Bitcoin And Other Crypto Assets Excluded From Central Bank Experiments - Forbes

FINRA Approves Names For Grayscales Bitcoin Cash And Litecoin Trusts – Forbes

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KATWIJK, NETHERLANDS - JULY 7: In this photo illustration, visual representations of the digital ... [+] Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Etheream and Litecoin, are placed with a gold chain necklace and silver coins atop Euro banknotes on July 7, 2020 in Katwijk, Netherlands. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images)

Grayscale announced yesterday that shares of their digital asset funds, Bitcoin Cash Trust and Litecoin Trust, have FINRA approval for public quotation under BCHG and LTCN.They will be the first digital asset-based funds to be publicly quoted in the U.S. market.

These funds will be open-ended trusts sponsored by Grayscale and are intended to enable exposure to the price movement of the trusts underlying assets through a traditional investment vehicle. The idea is to provide an accredited investor the opportunity to invest in digital assets while avoiding buying, storing, and safekeeping digital Bitcoin or Litecoin directly.

The trusts are not yet DTC eligible. Grayscale said in its press releases, There will be no trading volume in the Shares public quotations until the respective Shares are DTC eligible, which BCHG and LTCN are expected to receive soon.The company continued, The Trusts are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not subject to disclosure and certain other requirements mandated byU.S.securities laws.

Cryptocurrency exchanges, in general, are not yet fully regulated by FINRA and the SEC. The result has been limited adoption by large institutional investors and hedge funds.

But Grayscales achievement by moving in that direction signals that regulatory barriers can be resolved.Digital assets may become more commonplace in funds seeking alpha value opportunities and diversification.

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FINRA Approves Names For Grayscales Bitcoin Cash And Litecoin Trusts - Forbes

Why BitMEX Just Invested In This South African Bitcoin Exchange – Forbes

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The parent company of BitMEX invested in South Africa's largest Bitcoin exchange.

100x Ventures, the venture arm of the parent company of BitMEX, invested in South Africa's largest Bitcoin exchange, VALR.

Two factors likely propelled 100x Ventures to invest in the exchange. First, it positions the company for additional growth in overseas markets. Second, it allows the firm to meet the demand for regional exchanges and trading services.

The Series A funding round led by 100x Ventures raised $3.4 million for the exchange. VALR says it has 40,000 users and has processed 13,000 BTC in the past month.

Reasons the Investment Could Have Been Compelling For the BitMEX Parent Company

100x Venture's investment in VALR directly positions itself to gain exposure to a developing crypto market in South Africa.

BitMEX has remained a dominant force in the futures market for several years. But, regional investments allow BitMEX and 100x Group to diversify its business further.

According to data from Skew.com, BitMEX remains as the most dominant Bitcoin futures exchange in the global market. It has an open interest of $1.02 billion, more than double its competitors, like Binance and Bybit.

The open interest of Bitcoin futures exchanges.

Another reason for the investment could have been the rapidly expanding regional peer-to-peer Bitcoin markets. In many countries outside of major cryptocurrency markets, there is a shortage of well-regulated and transparent Bitcoin exchanges.

Consequently, the volume of peer-to-peer exchanges that allow users to trade directly with one another began to surge.

Technology researcher Kevin Rooke found that peer-to-peer Bitcoin volumes recently hit record highs in India, Ghana, the Philippines, and Mexico.

Peer-to-peer trading is typically an alternative to exchanges in regions or markets that lack a proper exchange infrastructure.

Given the evident increase in demand for regional exchanges, the investment of 100x Venture fills a gap between major and relatively small crypto markets.

Arthur Hayes, the CEO and co-founder of 100x Group, said:

"South Africa has an incredibly exciting and fast-growing cryptocurrency ecosystem, and we believe VALR is well-placed to capitalize on future growth of bitcoin trading. In VALR we're backing not only a successful early-stage business, but a management team with the ability to scale operations significantly."

The Timing of the Investment Coincides With Positive Market Sentiment

After the highly-anticipated block reward halving in May, the hash rate of the Bitcoin blockchain network soared to record highs.

It shows that the mining sector is healthy, despite the abrupt decline in a large portion of their revenues.

A stable mining industry could cause selling pressure on the cryptocurrency exchange market to gradually decline in the medium-term.

The investment comes during a period when the sentiment is largely positive. The price of Bitcoin has tended to rally following every block reward halving, and some investors foresee a prolonged uptrend.

Jason Williams, the co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital,saidhe expects a new all-time high for Bitcoin in 2020.

A confluence of the growing demand for regional exchanges, the need to diversify 100x Group's portfolio, and positive market sentiment appear to have led to the investment in VALR.

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Why BitMEX Just Invested In This South African Bitcoin Exchange - Forbes

Russia Shelves Plans to Criminalize Bitcoin Transactions – For Now | Regulation – Bitcoin News

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Russia has dropped plans to criminalize bitcoin transactions for now, according to local media reports.

The Digital Financial Assets Bill (DFA), due to be read for the second time in the Russian parliament or State Duma on July 21, has removed references to administrative and criminal liability for dealing in bitcoin (BTC). A third and final reading will establish it as law.

There will be no liability in this bill, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the parliaments financial markets committee, told local news agency Ria Novosti. Aksakov, who is sponsoring the draft law, said the idea to penalize BTC investors with fines and jail terms had been set aside for the time being.

Theyve removed everything, theres only a link that the regulation of digital currency will be determined in another law, he stated.

An earlier version of the DFA bill proposed to levy fines of up to $7,000 or seven years in jail for individuals buying bitcoin with cash. It also planned to punish companies that issue or operate virtual currencies without approval from the Russian central bank, with fines of up to two million rubles or about $28,000.

Under the original bill, companies would have to pay the equivalent of one million rubles ($13,900) and individuals at least 200,000 rubles ($2,800) for violation of the rules for transactions with cryptocurrencies, if they are used as payment for goods or services.

According to Aksakov, the revised draft law, in its current format, now deals with issues around the definition of digital financial assets and establishes requirements for blockchain operations, among other matters.

He expects the proposed law to enter into force on January 1, 2021, once it is adopted in the second and third readings, in the spring session. The State Duma spring session ends July 23, Ria Novosti reported.

However, Russian lawmakers are planning another special law on crypto regulation that might reintroduce severe penalties for dealing in BTC, as originally proposed.

There will be a special law on digital currency, which can be adopted in the autumn session, Aksakov was quoted as saying. The autumn session ends in December.

Cryptocurrencies remain a grey area in Russia, with the legal status of smart contracts, initial coin offerings and mining not clearly defined despite a raft of proposals brought to parliament for this purpose.

What do you think about the Russias proposed crypto law? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Here’s What You Need To Know About SaaS vs PaaS Cloud Computing! – HostReview.com

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Cloud is a hot topic among global enterprises that supports the majority of online businesses. Many companies in different verticals use Cloud computing services to run a business online. Cloud is a big deal in the present worldwide business environment!

At present, Cloud is powering modern technologies for mobile app & software development for the business infrastructure deployment.

Basically, it refers to data storage and data management, i.e., how and where data is to be stored! More importantly, how to use the data for running businesses for more profits using Cloud!

The cloud allows you to run the software, applications, and services online. I mean, instead of running them locally on your devices, you can store data remotely across a variety of different servers online.

Cloud is all about real-time usage. Therefore, understanding cloud services is necessary.

With the help of internet browsers, you can access online applications, software, services, etc. anytime, anywhere as Cloud allows it.

According to Forrester.com, the cloud market will grow $236 billion in 2020, which was $146 billion in 2017.

Cloud services are similar to playing online games, where players can play games and communicate with each other from anywhere. The same happens in the cloud!

The employees work simultaneously on the same software and track each other's work. Furthermore, the Cloud helps you to collaborate on Google Docs instead of working on one to one Microsoft Word document.

But, the main questions are how cloud-based are services built? What technologies are used in it? What are the different cloud services? How are they used? Why is the Cloud skies ahead between other modern technologies?

To get answers to these questions, you need to know briefly about SaaS vs. PaaS cloud computing services. Todays article is about SaaS vs. PaaS and how they make your business successful online.

Also, we would tell you how a SaaS web development services company decides to use SaaS or PaaS for developing Cloud based software and applications!

There are mainly three types of cloud services: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). In this article, we will compare SaaS and PaaS, as their usage is more.

Whether it is SaaS or PaaS, each of these has its benefits, variances, and differences. Furthermore, their usage is also different and depends upon the business requirements.

PaaS and SaaS are the two main categories of cloud computing!

Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

While in PaaS, hardware & software tools are directly available on the internet, the SaaS is available via a third-party on the internet.

Today, SaaS accounts for 24% of all enterprise workloads, while PaaS hovers around 32%.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most commonly utilized option in the cloud market to run an online business. SaaS uses the internet to deliver applications from third-party vendors to users. Nearly 95% of SaaS applications run from internet browsers.

It means you neither need to download SaaS applications nor have to install applications on the client-side. It is all about real-time online usage!

On the other hand, PaaS delivers a framework for developers upon which they build and create customized applications using cloud components.

In SaaS, third-party enterprises manage all the servers, storage, and networking, but in PaaS, the developers maintain and manage the software and applications.

"SaaS products are fully managed by a third-party company, right from the data, servers, networks, and applications on them, while PaaS products act as the foundation to build new products on the cloud platform's network."

As the SaaS cloud service model is a web delivery model, it eliminates the need to download and install applications on every IT staff members individual computer.

SaaS allows the vendors to manage all potential technical issues related to data works, servers & networks, middleware, storage, and streamlines the maintenance and support for business.

Though the PaaS delivery model is similar to SaaS, the PaaS cloud services deliver the software over the internet; thus, providing a new platform for creating software.

The PaaS platform delivers the freedom to the developers via the internet, while concentrating on the software building and creation without worrying about the operating systems, software infrastructure, version updates, features up-gradation, and storage capacity.

PaaS lets the businesses design & create applications by integrating new cloud components in it. Such applications are also known as a middleware as they take on the characteristics of the cloud and become more scalable, flexible, and secure.

SaaS can give you and your business staff, employees many advantages by reducing the time and money tasks like downloading, installing, managing, maintaining, and upgrading software.

As SaaS runs in real-time, time of technical staff easily gets saved, they spend more of their time on building issues within the organization.

On the other hand, with PaaS, no matter what is the size of your company, PaaS can offer several advantages. PaaS is a scalable, highly available, simple, cost-effective, and easily migratable cloud computing model.

Furthermore, in PaaS, the developers easily customize apps and software, significantly by reducing the coding.

When To Use SaaS and PaaS?

SaaS cloud services model benefits in the following situations:

l For startup and small companies who want to launch eCommerce quickly

l For short-term with quick, easy, simple, and affordable collaboration

l For the applications that require both web and mobile access

Also, there are some other ways where SaaS can be utilized with its full-force such as to manage all business centers from a central location, hosting on remote servers, and when the users arent responsible for any hardware-software updates.

However, PaaS applications benefit when multiple developers are working on the same development project. Actually, the PaaS helps in streamlining the workflow of the project. As a result, PaaS easily simplifies some challenges of rapid development and deployment.

Therefore, it is not wrong to say that PaaS can provide you with exceptional speed & flexibility while you customize your applications.

Below are some of the PasS characteristics:

l As it is based upon the virtualization technology, you can scale up or down the resources as the business requirements changes.

l Also, it provides many services and assists in the phases of development, designing, implementation, testing, and deployment.

l PaaS can easily integrate web services & databases.

SaaS Examples: BigCommerce, Hubspot, Google Apps, Slack, Salesforce, DocuSign, Dropbox, ZenDesk, MailChimp, etc.

PaaS Examples: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Magento Commerce Cloud, Heroku, Apache Stratos, Windows Azure (mostly used as PaaS), OpenShift, Force.com, etc.

PaaS cloud services model-based products allow the developers to build custom online applications without dealing with data serving, storing, and managing.

On the other hand, SaaS products are used by those companies who want to create and grow their businesses by using cloud services. Compared to PaaS, SaaS cloud models are scalable, easy to manage, and highly usable.

One of the biggest advantages of the PaaS model is that it provides a lot of control to IT administrators over the software and applications upon the building.

However, one disadvantage of the PaaS model is that you can only control what's built over the PaaS platform. In case, if there's an issue with the OS & hardware, it will also take out the PaaS based software application with them.

However, the story with SaaS is quite different!

A big advantage of using the SaaS product is its easy setup. The SaaS products are cloud-based products, which don't need any local hosting of software on the servers of your office or business.

Just log online, and start accessing the applications!

However, this easiness is disadvantageous because while using SaaS products, you have no control over the infrastructure on which the product is running. In turn, it impacts your business processes.

Thus, SaaS deployment needs more care and time!

Both PaaS and SaaS offer specific features and functionalities to your companies & organizations depending upon their built-in structure. Hence, as per your business requirements, you should know about both.

No matter what you choose, we know your online business will ultimately migrate to the Cloud, which is the future of technology and business!

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Sponsored: Pearson and Amazon Web Services develop first Cloud Computing BTEC Higher National qualifications to help address the cloud computing…

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Pearson is really pleased to announce, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), the development of the first BTEC Higher National qualifications in Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing has become an extremely desired skill for employers over recent years, with demand for skilled talent rising month after month. It is now one of the top hard skills that companies seek. The World Economic Forum reports 133 million jobs will be created in the industry by 2022. The Covid crisis has also shone a light on just how critical Cloud Computing is to our new, virtual world powering many of the applications were relying on to go about our daily lives.

So the launch later this year, following validation and approval, is extremely timely. These new Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications will help address the skills gap in the industry across the globe. Companies will have access to a wider pool of skilled Cloud Computing talent, while graduates will gain a new route into employment in this exciting field. In addition to new Pearson providers, any of our 500+ Pearson Approved Centres in 50 countries worldwide will be able to offer these qualifications, including across the Middle East, South-East Asia and Europe.

BTEC Higher Nationals are designed to provide the relevant expert subject knowledge and academic rigour of UK higher education, combined with practical skills for the industry they serve. With these qualifications under their belt, students can either go straight into employment and/or progress to a university degree.

We are always challenging ourselves to find new and innovative ways to make sure our qualifications are as focused as possible on giving our students a direct route into successful careers. AWS Educate is Amazons global initiative to provide students and educators with resources for building skills in cloud technology. Through this, theyre providing us with their expert knowledge and industry endorsement, as well as supporting us to deliver the qualifications through a comprehensive package of cloud computing learning resources. These resources are mapped to in-demand IT jobs and will be available to our approved Higher National Cloud Computing providers. As with all our BTECs, we are also working with other external parties within the cloud computing sector, including academics, professional body representatives, tutors and employers, ensuring the qualifications meet industry needs.

The new Level 4 Higher National Certificate (HNC) will give students a sound knowledge of the fundamentals of this specialist area of computing, alongside training in different approaches to problem solving. The Level 5 Higher National Diploma (HND) will provide a specialist focus by providing a choice of three pathways in Cloud Support, Cyber Security and Software Development, designed to support progression into the workplace in a specific cloud role (such as a Cloud Support Engineer, Cyber Security Engineer and Software Developer).

We look forward to working with AWS to develop these career-focused qualifications and to give students the knowledge and skills to follow a pathway into a job or progress to a degree in this important sector. There is a real industry need for higher technical qualifications such as these around the world, and we are pleased to be helping to fill a skills gap in a growing field.

For more information on BTEC Higher Nationals, please our qualifications page.

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Sponsored: Pearson and Amazon Web Services develop first Cloud Computing BTEC Higher National qualifications to help address the cloud computing...

Former Amazon vice president calls for the company to split its retail and cloud businesses – CNBC

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Tim Bray, anAmazon vice president and senior engineer who resignedin protest in May, is calling for the company to spin off its lucrative cloud-computing business.

Spinning off Amazon Web Services from the company's retail business would allow it to grow AWS even more, since Amazon would no longer risk alienating potential clients who are wary of working with a competitor, Bray said in a "Squawk Box" interview on Friday.

"That's a headwind because you could be reluctant to sign a deal with a web services operator if you're worried that by doing so you're funding one of your competitors," Bray said. "I think it would unleash AWS's growth, which is already very good, if it were not joined at the hip with Amazon."

AWS remains one of Amazon's biggest profit drivers. In the first quarter of 2020, operating income from AWS totaled $3.08 billion, accounting for 77% of Amazon's overall operating income. However, AWS only represented 13.5% of Amazon's total revenue for the quarter.

Bray resigned dramatically from Amazon in May via a fiery blog post, in which he spurned the company's decision to fire two former user experience designers, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, who were both outspoken critics of Amazon's labor practices. Bray said Amazon's decision to fire whistleblowers was "evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture" and remaining at Amazon would have meant "signing off on actions I despised."

Bray has laid out similar arguments for breaking up Amazon in the past.

In June, hesuggested in a blog post that Amazon might choose to proactively split off AWS from the company as an effort to get ahead of looming antitrust scrutiny.

Amazon's cloud business is reportedly beingscrutinizedas part of an ongoing antitrust probe by the Federal Trade Commission into the company's retail operations. In addition to the FTC, Amazon is also being investigated by the House Judiciary Committee, which is overseeing an antitrust investigation into big tech companies.

Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS, said in a June interview that Amazon would "follow U.S. law" and comply with regulators if they required a spinoff, but added that there isn't a benefit to separating AWS now.

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